Emerald Lightning
Disclaimer: I do not own DC comics, Gonjiki no Gash Bell, A Certain Magical Index or My Hero Academia.
Chapter 10: What Takes Place Between Now and Then?
The following takes place in the conference room of UA, while the students are home with their families away, during the hours of 1300 and 1400 hours. The teachers sit at the square table looking over copies of notes. Detective Tsukauchi reads over what is before them.
"We've looked through the lists of men in their twenties and thirties in the Quirk Registry, and found nothing on neither a Quirk that disintegrates from touch nor creates a warp gate. Shigaraki and Kurogiri aren't registered, meaning they used aliases. They are obviously members of the underworld."
Snipe places a paper down before saying, "So we know next to nothing about these two. We better learn fast, lest these varmint return… especially the leader Shigaraki."
"Hmm…" Aizawa speaks, his mummified self-reading a file. All Might asks him if there is a problem, and he responds: "I've noticed two problems. The first is about Shigaraki; this plan was a daring attack on our students. I caught a bit of what he said to Bakugo, and he seemed to go on talking about society. He was also bragging about that Noumu Plasmus' powers, and when Midoriya pushed him into a corner he started throwing a tantrum."
"It's rather foolish to reveal one's Quirk and waste the element of surprise, even if he had the upper hand," speaks the white mouse(?) principal.
"I see…" All Might cups his chin thinking out loud. "A man child. That does sound like a childish person."
"A kid with too much power huh?!" groans Blood King.
Midnight adds, "Maybe he never received general Quirk counseling in elementary grade… What are you getting at?"
"It's the why." All Might states, causing everyone to focus on him. "Tsukauchi, how many villains were apprehended?"
Checking his report, the detective says, "70 villains." From that, the others still in the dark gain insight.
"That's it. Why would villains, back-alley thugs aside, but so many, follow this man-child?"
"Exactly." Tsukauchi continues a few seconds after his friend talks. "Nowadays, society has many heroes whose very presence deters small-time criminals who would just get kicked around. There must be something in him that drew them under his grasp. My theory is, someone else is backing him."
A fearful thought enters All Might's mind, the skeletal hero rubbing his fingers together in his fist. "Anyway, thanks to you heroes we can focus on our investigation. We'll expand our search and devote our time and effort in apprehending these perpetrators."
"Someone else backing him…" All eyes are on Aizawa now. "Then that makes the other thing even more troubling."
"Other thing?" The ever wise animal in the room blinks with a mysterious smile, and questions him on that: "What was this other thing?"
"The most powerful soldier in his possession was Plasmus, a being I can't even call sentient. He described it as Noumu 03, number three. The implication leads me to believe that there are more monsters of that level with him." A single hand raises up to touch the delicate area where his eye sockets are. "What's most concerning is that my Quirk doesn't work on it."
This causes many a murmur. The queen of sexy gear even shouts, "What do you mean your Quirk doesn't work on it?!"
"It restrained me for the rest of the battle, but when I looked at it its Quirk didn't stop encasing me. I've only seen it one other time, where my Quirk didn't cancel out another's." He looks over to Nezu, his fur standing up.
"Midoriya huh?"
Current Time…
"UWAH?!" Upon dismissal of classes, Class 1-A comes face to face with the multitude of other students blocking their passageway. Some whisper among themselves while others take photos of the twenty. Uraraka shouts, "What's going on?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Bakugo bellows, his eyes showing an attitude of not caring. Then again, that's often the case when it's not anger. "They're losers trying to scout the competition since we're the kids who fought off a villain invasion." He then shouts, "Step away, extras!"
Many of his fellow classmates groan at that. Most of them are plenty sick of his behavior. One person soon steps from the crowd, a guy with wild purple hair and depressing eyes. He frowns as he speaks, "So this is the hero course huh? Disappointing."
The students of Class 1-A and B all turn to him as he approaches. "I mean it's true we came to look at you guys, but if you're all like this I'd feel pretty surprised if you made it to the end. At least make it interesting when I surpass you."
"Excuse me. Can I help you?" Kendo asks, politely stepping in front of Bakugo.
"We're the guys who didn't pass the entrance exams, and got stuck in general studies," he tells her. "Should we do better than you guys in the festival they'll change their minds and allow us to transfer."
"NO YOU WON'T!" shouts Mineta out of fear.
"Look, we don't want any trouble," Izuku speaks standing next to Kendo.
"Too late, because this is a declaration of war freckles." Purple hair stares at Izuku, remaining quietly quickly as if waiting.
"You won't either." Following up on what he said before, Izuku responds to him. The other guy grins as if something was accomplished, before his eyes slowly widened in shock. "What?"
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"HEY!" A new guy pops up, one with silver hair and pointed rims around his eyes. "The name's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B! I came to see and give you guys a pat on the shoulder, but all I see are arrogant dumbasses! Don't be dragging the hero course's name in the mud!"
"Your name's fucking stupid," says Bakugo, causing the metal man to fume with rage. As he pushes aside the crowd, Kirishima complains about how he's making others hate them. "It won't matter who hates you if you're at the top. I'll surpass everyone no matter what."
As the others take in his surprisingly inspiring words, Bakugo comes before Shiozaki. The vine girl holds her bag with her books, speaking her mind: "Bakugo, I'm glad you're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because of this." She takes his hand, showing the bandage on him.
"It's fine." He lightly pulls and walks away. As she watches him walk off, he takes an honest look back and says, "I'll see you tomorrow." This brings a smile to her face.
His classmates watch in shock seeing Bakugo talking with someone so well. Aoyama comments, "Shocking!"
"I hope you won't take what Tetsutetsu says the wrong way," says Tsunotori as she pushes aside metal boy.
"I hope you do. I'm not in this to make friends," says purple hair before he walks away, eying Izuku as he goes.
"At least someone's civil," speaks Iida calmly as Kendo comes forth.
"Mm! I can't wait to kick your asses!" speaks the pony girl holding a hand out. Though no one notices because her words come as a shock.
In the background, someone with combed blond hair snickers. This is followed by a slap to the back of the head by someone with black spiky hair. "Jackass."
With that, everyone heads for home to prepare for the festival in their own way. With the main event taking place in two weeks, that's plenty of time to learn new stuff about themselves and come up with new moves.
Saturday Morning…
"Alright, everyone come together!" Lemillion shouts, his teammates in the Power Deshi tower coming together in the living room. "Nejire-chan, Suneater, Rogue, Mermail, Hunter, Lunar, Puzzle… we got a mission."
Being early in the morning, so many of the semi-heroes sit down on the couch listening to their ever smiling hero. As Puzzle adjusts his robe having showered, he takes note of the other newer members of their 'guild': Rogue is a pale man with yellow eyes and graying hair. He's wearing a yukata since he's not on duty. Dragoknight Hunter has black scales on his jaw, black hair spiked back, and bichromatic red and blue eyes. He's in casuals as well, and for some reason looks pissed. Lunar has purple silky hair that bobs down to her hips, ivory-gray eyes that look dead from an angle, and tan skin, wearing an obscure nightgown that shows nothing.
"Mil, are we really doing this? Aren't you still poisoned?" groans Rogue as he glances at the permeable hero.
"It's in two weeks." The others go 'oh,' before Mermail and Hunter walk away. "I'm not done; it's bodyguard work."
"Can't they get Kamui Woods or Desutegoro?" asks Suneater as he eats takoyaki.
"This is during the three-day event known as the UA Sports Festival, and all the adult heroes in Tokyo/Musutafu will be there because of USJ," he continues, reading the email off his phone. "Apparently, the secretary of the National Bureau of Defense is visiting the Tokyo Metropolitan police department that day, and we'll be there to protect him."
"I guess the cops aren't enough to protect one man anymore…" mutters Lunar in her sarcastic tone. "How droll."
"Must be you a wet blanket?"
"Better than a critic who nitpicks everything negatively." Those spiteful words hit Puzzle's words back in his face.
Mermail gives an uninterested yawn before heading for her room. "I'm going out for patrol."
"Call me if you need me." Nejire heads for her room in a haste, causing Lemillion to chuckle knowing why.
Rogue, curious about her, makes a jump towards their ill leader. The question this jumper gives is, "Where's she going?"
"Keeping a promise to a friend."
"What, she can't tell her boyfriend?"
Later…
"Here it comes!" Uraraka releases her Quirk, causing the many stones to come down upon her and the rest of the teens Mineta, Aoyama, Ashido, and Izuku. The pink one grins throwing her acid at the rocks, and Aoyama poses while shooting from his belly button belt. As they split and shatter from their attacks, Izuku zaps the remains from his right index and middle fingers.
"Training at USJ's Ruins zone was a great idea," says Izuku complimenting Uraraka.
The training recontinues with more destruction of 'public' property. Ashido sighs with relief as she cuts loose. "This is much better. I have so many problems with my Quirk using it against other people."
"Myself as well," speaks Aoyama. "Though it's only deadly if I use a single beam longer than two seconds."
"It's not that hard to control your power," says Izuku as he lifts a nearby car. He clenches his hand, crushing the vehicle as he does before it blows up. He and the others run out of the way of the flying debris. "… sorry."
"Midoriya, I feel you're the one who needs to worry about his power killing others the most," Ashido says, catching him by surprise.
"That's true…" adds Uraraka remembering what Kendo spoke to her before.
"Well, then it's a good thing I'm here." The quartet of teens looks over and see Nejire in her UA uniform standing before them. "Hi, Midoriya!"
"Oh, Hado!" Izuku goes over to her, surprising his friend and classmates.
"Hado?" As Mineta drools over his beautiful senpai, gravity girl steps towards her.
"Nejire Hado if you will." The semi-hero gives a little bow introducing herself. "I'm sure we've met before."
"Nejire? As in Nejire-chan?" asks Uraraka as she looks at her. To her, she begins to connect her appearance to the wave heroine and remembers that she knew his name back then. "How do you two know each other?"
"Hey, Sparkles! Do you shine like that all the time?" she asks quickly, turning to Aoyama.
"Well, I-"
"Also, I've been very curious, what are those balls on your head?" Nejire-chan asks, floating up as she stares at Mineta's head. "How do you cut 'em off?"
"So, are you saying you're interested in my balls?! That's sexual harassment!" he barks, sweaty and detailed in the face compared to the others. The females become even more disgusted by his depravity.
Nejire laughs, however. "Oh right; you're Mineta, the creepy pervert Midoriya told me to stay away from." The class looks at Izuku, wondering endlessly about just who she is to him.
"Midoriya, how the hell do you know her?!" he screams, getting up and poking sparky in the face. Izuku pushes him off, reluctant on using his powers.
"She's been training me to be a better hero, sheesh."
"Ready to go?" Nejire takes his hand leading him off to a more private location. Curious, Uraraka's eyes follow their exit towards the main plaza. After making a run she spots Izuku getting knocked over to the ground. "Nice try."
"Can't believe I went through that and I still can't touch you…" he groans rolling back to his feet.
"Because you still don't understand how to better use your power. Also experience." Nejire watches as he gets back up, and the two commence sparring. Well, it's more like him trying to punch her and she's effortlessly dodging his fists like a video game. She ducks under his punch, blinding him with her hair and kicks him to the side. A quick and random thought enters her brain. "That reminds me. Have you tried naming your attacks?"
"Why would I do that? It seems kind of foolish," is his reasoning. "I mean it makes sense in black and white comics to show the importance of an attack by giving it a name, but shouting out what you're doing in real life only gives the enemy a chance to react."
"Not if you're fast enough," she retorts. "Besides, attacks have a habit of becoming stronger if you provide a better association to it. Like chi with martial artists, it makes a punch much more powerful than if you simply threw one. For example…"
Nejire forms a pose drawing her left fist back. She then strikes, releasing her shock wave towards him. He summons an electromagnetic field shaped like a circle around his hands blocking it. "Now if I say this… HADOUKEN!" Her attack this time has more force behind it, knocking Izuku off his feet. As his butt scrapes the pavement, he looks up at her in shock. "See the difference?"
"Uh huh!" He picks himself up and raises his right hand. "I guess maybe a name for certain electric blasts wouldn't hurt." He points at her with a single finger. "Set! Zap!"
He releases a green bolt of electricity towards her, which she blocks using her power. "There. See? Now try some variety!"
Getting a smile on his face, Izuku comes to an idea using two fingers with a thumb pointing forward. Electricity circles around at the point of his fingers condensing into a beam. He fires it towards her, and she repels using her Hadouken technique. The attacks explode outward, causing the two to fall backward.
"Whoa." He picks himself back up and stares at his hands. 'For some reason, I feel stronger. Like, my power output increased.'
"Alright, let's continue with close combat." Without taking the time to let him recover, she moves into palm thrust him in the ribs. He quickly keels over in pain.
"Excuse me…" Uraraka finally speaks up, having been silent the entire session. The semi-hero turns to her new acquaintance. With more confidence in her eyes and tone, she speaks: "Can you train me too?"
Nejire hms as she examines Uraraka. She comes to her, checking her fingers for a bit. She then touches her permanently rosy cheeks and then oohs at her toned legs. "It would be my pleasure."
"What's that about?" Aoyama asks himself examining the situation.
"This is a fun scoop…" She grins piecing things together. "We're definitely talking about this later."
As Izuku trains with Uraraka and the others, the rest of the class go through their own training regiment. Todoroki throws blow after blow on a wooden dummy turning into a sweaty mess. His training continues, his mind plagued with thoughts on the villain attack. 'I should have done it. I couldn't!'
His last punch covers his arm in ice, allowing him to break it in half. He melts using the left and sighs. 'This accursed power of his…it could have helped, but I…'
Images of that fight return to his mind, especially what Izuku did.
Flashback…
"First thing's first; with the mist man pinned we'll focus on the plasma-" Without waiting for Nejire to finish I saw Midoriya fire purple electricity at the slime monster. It slowly dissipated, turning into nothing. "-man?"
It stepped backward seeing what happened, groaning like a frightened animal. More of Midoriya's electricity hit it again, and it kept disappearing. Midoriya continued towards Shigaraki, and I couldn't help but notice this dark look in his eyes. It's something I never saw in him before, and it frightened me a little. No, not just frightened. It was familiar; maybe that's why it does. Is that what I look like thinking about my father?
"What the hell kind of power is that?! He's practically hacking reality!"
"Now it's your turn."
End Flashback…
Todoroki shivers remembering when he said that. Or more, how he said it. "What's your story Midoriya?"
Late night in Heights, many of Class 1-A sit in the lounge area watching television together relaxing after the stress of training. Allot are in their casuals or pjs. With the Sports Festival coming up close it's no wonder they need a break.
"So why are we watching a Pokemon movie?" asks the resident birdman as he scratches his beak.
"Because I won Janken," speaks the class representative, holding up her fist in the form of rock. Smiling, she adds, "There's nothing with this."
"Didn't think you were much of a Pokemon fan," Izuku says this with intrigue.
"I'm surprised you're not, considering your powers." The others laugh at the connection. Not a single person there can't look at Izuku now without thinking of their version of Mickey Mouse. "You're docile looking enough to cosplay as Pikachu at conventions."
He turns red with embarrassment as everyone continues to watch the movie. Except for one person, who continues to poke Izuku. "You're really pissing me off ya harem getter! First senpai, now the president!"
"Stop it!" He pushes him off with annoyance. As much as he'd like to zap him that goes against what he seeks as a hero.
"Midoriya is pretty chummy with the girls now that I think about," Sato mutters as he eats a cheese danish. It's a homemade one he baked in his personal oven.
After the movie's conclusion, the teens retire to their bedrooms for the night. Izuku goes to his room with Uraraka following behind. Before entering, he asks, "How did you like training?"
"She's really rough. Will she be back tomorrow?"
"Nah. Her schedule's tight for next week. And honestly, I don't want to distract her too much from being a hero."
"I can see that…" She looks up to his eyes, her effervescent smile threatening the return of tomato Izuku. "It was nice sparring together today." With a brief hug, gravity girl then takes off for her room.
As sparky enters his privacy, Bakugo glares in secret with perplexity. Watching gives him a dark impression he didn't expect, as well as answers the question of why he never came to him to spar. 'Am I not good enough to challenge you Deku?!'
Still, it's one of the peaceful moments they'll treasure in the future.
Sunday…
It's the afternoon, clouds overhead threatening to cry on the Earth. At UA's Ground Gamma, an industrial compiled of dozens of facilities that form a maze, Izuku hovers overhead aboard a sheet of metal he magnetized. He sits with legs crossed holding his hands outwardly.
The color emerald shines in his hands as he compresses scrap metal together into a single sphere the size of a basketball. It's all training he came up with after guidance from Nejire. "Alright, finished." He then stands tall, taking out a 10 yen coin. Reenacting what he did before, he flicks the coin and fires it at high speed towards the sphere of metal. Unfortunately, it only grazes the side.
"I'll work on that for a bit…" He then checks his hand when a red spark goes off. "Is that…"
"Midoriya!" He looks down at the top of a building spotting Yaoyorozu calling out to him with Ojiro. He flies down to her asking what's up. "Midoriya, I've been looking for you."
"What for?" he asks politely.
"I wanted to thank you, for being there to help us back then." She looks aside with embarrassment. "If you and Ojiro hadn't shown up we would have been in real danger. I never got to give gratitude to you."
"It's okay," he says, raising his hands. "I would have done that for anyone in trouble. Besides, you helped me recharge so we're even. If anything, thanks for saving me back then Ojiro."
"It's cool."
"Midoriya…" The three look aside and spot Todoroki coming up. Dressed in the slightly tattered gym uniform just like him he has this serious expression on his face.
"Todoroki? What's wrong?" he asks him, a nervous tone in his voice.
"I wanted to talk to you, about Wednesday." Izuku drops onto the building next to him sitting on a ledge. "Is it alright if you two-"
"Oh, right! One second." Yaoyorozu grabs Ojiro and pulls him aside to an area where they can't hear. It's nice to have friends like that, who go away because someone would be bothered.
Todoroki begins: "Back then, you were using a darker aspect of your power, and you were prepared to kill him in that instance. Even though you stopped, you were ready to cut loose. And I had never seen such resentment outside of my own eyes."
"Your eyes?"
"You were ready to defend everyone with all you had, and I was holding myself back to get back on my father…" He looks aside. "I continue to wonder if had I used his power would everyone have been saved quicker?"
He crosses his arms as he becomes more solemn. "My father is Endeavor, the second greatest hero in Japan." He nods with surprise at this fact. "My father only wants to be the best, and as a hero, All Might has always been above him. He eventually gave up, knowing he'd never be able to surpass him. That's why he created a plan, to make someone who could overcome the number one."
Izuku looks a little confused by what he's hinting at before he gives him a hand. "My parents were in a Quirk Marriage."
"What's that?"
"...The name literally explains..." With a sigh, he then explains. "Arranged marriages based solely on Quirks; around the time Quirks were being more common some with money were able to persuade marriage from others containing powerful Quirks. It was done so the two Quirks would fuse together and evolve into a more powerful ability."
"That…that doesn't seem right."
"I've always hated him, for putting me through hell on a daily basis ever since I turned five! All for surpassing All Might!" The emotions in his voice are almost overwhelming. "Even my mother hated him, hated that power so much… she couldn't stand seeing my face…" He pats the left of his face. "Me not using my left side was my revenge on him. If I can become the strongest of the first years without his rotten Quirk, then I'll have denied him everything."
The tension and silence simmer in the air like fine cooking. For a while, they stare at nothing between space and Todoroki. That doesn't make sense, but that's all they can think about as they try to come up with something to say. Tired of nothing for the past few seconds, Todoroki walks away, apologizing for wasting their time.
"Todoroki, wait." He turns around to face Izuku, finally speaking. "I'm sorry. I probably can't understand what it's like to be you right now and to know what you've gone through. But, is that why you want to be a hero?"
Todoroki remains silent, a little surprised by his statement. "I don't think you joined UA so you can spite your father, otherwise you wouldn't be bothered by not using your left side. But if that is your main drive to being the best, I can't think you're truly trying to be a hero. It is the duty of a hero and the police to protect the everyday lives of people from disasters and criminals, and thinking of the hatred you have for Endeavor is only getting in the way of becoming a true hero.
"The thing is, I don't think I can be a true hero if I don't put my everything into saving others, so why shouldn't you do the same? That's what my father taught me, and that's what I believe in even now."
Green meets red and white, eyes forcefully staring at one another. With a blink of the eyes, Todoroki turns to leave. Seeing his grumpy expression as well as receiving not a single response, it's obvious how he took it. Time will tell how this plays out.
Elsewhere…
All Might in his skeletal form stands out in an empty gymnasium, looking aside while he awaits someone. He takes out his phone and checks the time, just as the door opens. "Oh. I was a little worried you weren't going to show."
"I had something to take care of."
"You?"
"Don't be surprised, All Might! I still intend on surpassing you!" All Might turns around to face his new guest. "That's why, thanks for helping me control this power."
"No problem. Helping others is what a hero does. Since your new power became similar to my own, it was only natural. Still, you're doing far better than I initially expected already reaching 25 percent. Even Mirio can only go as far as 20. If I would suggest anything, cool it with the attitude Bakugo-kun."
Bakugo glares to the side with a scuff, his eyebrows fusing into an arc. "Was there something you wished to discuss?"
- Omake -
The sun shines down brightly upon the frosted earth, the silver snow gleaming from the golden sun. At a broken base of solitude, a lone hero walks from the sole opening towards a fleet of machines the size of skyscrapers. All guns aim at him, and fire.
Red dust forms as the explosions pile upon him more and more. The crimson smoke disperses finally as they conclude their destruction, believing the target dead. Inside a spaceship, one person - a teenage male - glares angrily at what he sees.
The hero steps up from the dust, revealing himself as the mighty All Might. He smiles as his body gleams in the light, brushing off some dust on his shoulder. "You're probably wondering why your weapons were useless. It's because you all deserve a treat after waiting through failed MacGuffins. In other words, I AM HERE!"
- End -
Kei: That chapter ends, and another shall begin.
Julia: Next chapter is one last break before USJ, where that red electricity is explained. You'll also notice a comparison to an OVA.