Emerald Lightning
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. I don't give a fuck who owns anything else.
Kei:...You sure it's an act?
Yusei: Welcome back to Emerald Lightning. And if you've been paying attention, it's been exactly one year yesterday since we first published Emerald Lighting. Back then it was called Jade Lightning, and we pissed off a lot of people for canceling the original TAD. It was kind of a mistake.
Dante: Wow, nothing gets by you, Omega. What, did you keep your eyes open this time?
Yusei: Oh, be quiet! You're about as helpful as Bakugo.
Zirnitra: Enjoy the story. Or don't, and go read something that's better. Like teenager texts or amateur screenplay. Or something where Mineta gets a harem.
Kei: That actually sounds interesting.
Chapter 25: Why Are We Putting Up With This Shit?
The night before the boat ride, our emerald protagonist can be found lying on the couch in the lounge. He waves his hand lifting his wallet up over his face, which shows a picture of Hisashi. Thinking it further, and the reason he's so angry, is that everything said about him is true. And it's far from the discipline his father taught him.
Coming out of his malaise, he looks over hearing the sound of footsteps coming his way. He erects himself standing to get a look at who's coming, seeing Bakugo. "Oh, hey."
"Oh. Deku." He huffs looking to the left. "What do you want?"
"You came in here!" His face turns red in response. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"
"Of course I am!" The explosive fighter takes a seat in the seat next to Izuku, grabbing the remote to watch late night anime. "The last time I get to do this for a week."
Yeah, that makes sense. Knowing he should give him space, Izuku gets up to leave. Before he could take more than two steps, his childhood friend slash bully says, "You seem annoyed about something. What's wrong?"
"What do you care?" he snaps, flinching when he realizes that he said that.
"I don't. But you're never gonna be a decent hero if you keep moping around with whatever it is you're worried about."
"It's just hard…" says the electric teen with the melancholy of a thousand needles. "I just found no one approves of how I do things. How do you handle it?"
With eyes narrowed, Bakugo thrusts the remote forward muting it. "Deku, you are such a softy. Tigers do not concern themselves with the opinions of wolves. If I hear any voice that tells me to be understanding and considerate, I'll kill it."
"Um, don't you mean lions do not-"
"I. AM. A. TIGER." That shuts him up. "Lions work together. When was the last time you ever saw a tiger lead anyone?"
"Uh…"
"Exactly! Now shut up and decide who you are, a wolf or a lion! Because you sure as hell ain't no fucking tiger." He then turns on the sound, leaving Izuku alone to his thoughts.
Infamous in his decision, his eyes garner a colder expression. He's right; he shouldn't care how he does hero work. Or why he does hero work. Uraraka is in it solely for money, and unlike Iida, he's been motivated by what happened to his loved one for far longer. He can't throw that away overnight, and he can't change the past. His noble desire to help other versus his undying hatred for criminals; he can't let either of them go.
"A criminal is a criminal, and they can be nothing more than that… wolf it is then." He then pauses. "Wait, wolves work together too… gah! The metaphor is warped!"
One Day Later…
"Well, looks like you're finally here." The entire crew of Class 1-A has arrived at the base camp of Achuto Island. From their very appearances, they appear to have had better days.
Shoto is sweating all over. Tenya's engines are running on fumes. Izuku's clothes have many burn marks on them. Ochako is clutching her stomach trying not to puke. Tsuyu's tongue is dry as a bug. Kirishima and Sato are just bruised all over. Mineta is bleeding from the scalp. Momo is seeing black. Koda is gasping from his throat harshly. Jirou's earphone jacks are fizzled. Ojiro's tail is bruised as well. Tokoyami is unreadable but tired. And Hagakure is also unreadable. All the while their clothes are torn and dirtied too.
Standing before them are four other heroes: the first is Aizawa, the second a blond woman in light blue clothes including a cheerleader skirt as well as cat ears, mitten claws, and a tail, the third another woman with similar clothing, only red and her hair is black, and for some reason Rogue. They stand just outside of a building where a little boy with a red hat containing horns hides.
"They really couldn't make it for lunch…" says the lady in red.
Izuku recovers just enough to take notice of who they are. His excitement slightly rejuvenating him, he says, "Ah! You two!"
"Oh, you noticed us!" The two of them step together.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!"
"Stingingly cute and catlike!"
At once they stretch and make a pose. "WILD WILD PUSSYCATS!"
Stunned, the children turn to Aizawa, who says, "These are the professional heroes who are going to oversee your training."
The fourteen kids then turn to Izuku. "What? … oh!" Obviously, they need him to explain who they are. After a healthy cough that clears his throat, Izuku says, "They're one of the four hero teams who formed the Union Affairs Office. They're veterans who specialize in mountain rescue and have 18 years of service-"
"WHAT'S THAT?!" The blue one rushes forth grabbing his face. "What you meant to say was we're 18 at heart! Right?!" Through her claws, he sees her dangerous eyes. Though he's scared, he lacks the electrolytes to properly react.
"That being said, I'm surprised you managed to make it this soon, only four hours of getting through my Earth Beasts…" she says while greedily eyeing him. "You guys did pretty well, especially you and those other two who came first." She gets closer to his face. "How would you like to work with us three years from now? We'll take good care of you…" A heart appears at the end of her sentence.
Still watching them, the homeroom teacher rolls his eyes over to her redder counterpart, asking, "Mandalay, has Pixie-Bob always been like that?"
"She's at that age. Well, all of us technically are."
Izuku turns over to Rogue after breaking free from Pixie-Bob. He asks, "What brings you here?"
"Volunteer work," is his cool response.
"Alright, everyone head inside," speaks Aizawa, his no-nonsense tone ever present. "Drop your things in your room and then go to the chow hall. After that, you'll shower and hit the bunks. The real training begins tomorrow."
"Chow hall? What are you, SDF?" mutters Mineta to himself.
The red-eyed teacher glares at him at that remark. "You wanna repeat that?"
"No!"
After that uncomfortable moment, the students finally take the time to walk inside the complex. Izuku follows up waving to his former director for his internship, coming up to the young boy who silently remained on the sidelines until then. While it's concerning why there's a child on this island, he starts to believe that most likely he's one of their children.
"Oh. Hey."
"Pointless…" the boy says coldly.
"Kouta, be nice," says Mandalay in a commanding tone. "You're going to spend the next week with these kids."
Glancing at Mandalay, Izuku starts piecing that he must belong to her family tree.
"I don't wanna abide with wannabe heroes." He spits, before walking away inside the building.
Izuku watches as he leaves going inside, narrowing his eyes. He doesn't need this, but where did that come from?
Concluding that little skirmish, the class grabs their eats and take to the hot springs. Like real hot springs, they're separated by a towering wall, almost a yard high. All the boys can be found relaxing and enjoying their time, until…
In naught but a towel, Mineta stares up at the monolithic wall separating the boys from the girls. "Food is good and all, but here is what I'm really looking forward to. Do you guys here that?"
Some of them start listening when he continues, taking note of the massive slobber coming down his mouth. "On the other side of this wall is the dream and hopes of all men!" He slams his head on the side to listen in. "Yes! They're there! Don't they know to have bathroom schedules at different times? Accidents are liable to happen."
Iida immediately stands up, shouting, "Mineta! You cannot do such a thing that will besmirch our facility's reputation! The girls will never forgive you for this!"
"Also, they can probably hear you…" Izuku says as he feels most adamant to make sure Mineta doesn't see Ochako naked. "What happened to your trauma from Mount Lady?"
"That there my friend Midoriya is a wall I have to climb! I will break that curse when I see Yaoyoroppai's breasts!" With that image in mind, Mineta stares using the balls on his head to scale the wall.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
"And he said it…" This is Kirishima.
As he climbs, Izuku climbs up from the water with a hand charged with emerald electricity. But before Mineta could reach the top, Kouta pops up from within the inner constructs of the wall. 'Kouta?'
The judgmental boy glares down at the teenager no taller than him and violently kicks him over. "Be a good person before you become a hero."
"Thank you, Kouta! Mineta's really the worst!" On the other side, Kouta glances over and sees heaven, getting a wide eyeful of Class 1-A's girls, except for Hagakure for redundant reasons. Though that's enough to send him over, nose dripping his scarlet life as he tilts over the side like a domino.
Izuku fires from his hands, capturing them in his Quirk before they could reach halfway down the wall.
Later…
"Thanks for doing this," says Mandalay. She and Deku are in her office no more than a couple of minutes after that fiasco in the baths. There the boy Kouta lies unconscious on the white couch inside.
"Why was he in the wall?"
"Eraserhead mentioned something about an avatar of lust amongst your members." This comes from Pixie-Bob, who like her team leader has removed her cat ear accessory.
"Oh, yeah… well, at least he's okay."
"You sure move quick."
Izuku, slightly embarrassed being around women in this situation, speaks: "Is it alright if I ask a question about your son?"
"Son?" Mandalay flinches at that. "No, Kouta's my nephew. Well, I guess I might as well be at this point… what did you want to know?"
"Is there a reason why he hates heroes so much?" he asks, beginning his explanation while crossing his arms over his not so toned chest. "When I was a kid, everyone I knew wanted to be a hero, so I kind of flocked to that mindset. It just seems kind of strange to me."
The red cat lady takes a knee before her nephew. "True. Kouta would like heroes too if he had been raised normally…"
"… normally?"
"Shino's cousins were Kouta's parents, and they both died I the line of duty," speaks Pixie-Bob this time. The two women gain serene yet traumatic expressions. Though like them, Izuku's face becomes deeper and solemn with thought. "They were protecting civilians from a villain, and he too his hunting out on them… there's no better way to go out as a hero."
"Kouta was just learning about the world at this point, and couldn't understand that. His parents were all he had, and he thinks they left him just to be praised by others." Mandalay closes her eyes before placing a hand on top of her only living relative's face. "He probably hates me too, but now I'm all he's got… even though he cooperates, he stills sees heroes as nasty people he never wants to understand…"
In his mind, he understands where Kouta's coming from, but in his heart, he feels distraught. He, in all honesty, believes the blame should go to the villain responsible. Even more, this makes him recognize his own faults and the drift he has caused for him and his friends. How can this boy feel hatred for people just trying to do the right thing for others? Can such a viewpoint be possible?
"Anyway, you should go back and put some clothes on. Stay any longer and I'll take my chances," says the blond heroine.
"Uh, right!" he says with embarrassment, before stepping away. As he leaves, his towel gets caught in the corner of the table and pulls off. "Eh?!" He quickly grabs his towel and yanks it out angrily.
But it's too late. His body is left exposed to the Christmas cakes in the room, both of whom have bright red faces. He quickly covers himself and runs away. 'I can never married again… no wait, that's what girls say. What's the male equivalent to that?'
"Three years can't come soon enough."
"Really, Ryuko?"
"Oh, like you're not thinking it too! Especially the one with red and white hair!"
Tomorrow Morning…
The next day begins for our protagonists, 5:30 in the am for that matter. Aizawa and Rogue can be found secluded at the base of the mountain nearest the sea. Though tired they keep their standing as the fifteen gathers.
"Good morning." Aizawa takes a glance at his class.
"I hope you all enjoyed being woken up by my trashcans," says Rogue with a laugh.
"Jerk!" shouts Jirou.
Their homeroom teacher begins. "From here on out your true training begins. Ideally, it is to make you ready for your provisional licenses, by improving your flailing Quirk."
This surprises most of them. The class vice president asks, "What do you mean by that? Haven't we all been improving by now?"
"Only your techniques and minds. And your bodies a bit…" That grin of his returns. "Your Quirks haven't kept up that pace. So from here on out, you will be strengthening the abilities of your Quirks. It'll be so tough you'll wish you were dead, so do your best to stay alive."
Elsewhere…
"DIE!" Bakugo throws a massive punch into the air. From all around his fist energy explodes upward, his fingers leaking white smoke. "ONCE MORE!"
He and the rest of the failures are out in the woods performing similar training. Kendo is currently running around the base of a mountain while having her arms remain enlarged. Ashido is creating acid and messing with its texture a bit. Aoyama is firing his laser into the sky while trying to remain standing. Sero is just shooting out a lot of tapes.
"Aw, good times," says the overseer, who in reality is just Nejire-Chan at the moment. Through binoculars, she scans the seven students at work, including the guy up o the mountain releasing yellow sparks from his body.
"Hmm... I wonder if he's even capable of strengthening his Quirk, that Denku..."
Back to Action…
On Achuto, the hero Vlad King can be seen leaving the complex with Class 1-B, save two members. "Let's hurry up. Class 1-A is already at it. We're not gonna let them outshine us anymore!"
"Question," says Setsuna Tokage. "You said we'd be improving our Quirks, but you never explained how we'd do that."
"It's similar to working out," he says with a thumbs up. "You tear your muscles, they heal stronger than before. The same applies to Quirks; use them more and they get stronger, use them less and they get weaker. Basically, smash past your limits."
Eventually, they reach the apparent site of Class 1-A, where they bare witness to a literal hell. There's a cave where Tokoyami is inside crying out something. Up top it Koda is crying out to the nearby animals. Nearby, Ochako is tumbling down a hill, a trail of puke following her. Ojiro is continuously pounding Kirishima with his tail. At a table, Momo and Sato are gorging themselves, the former to make things and the latter to pump iron. Mineta is simply pulling out his grape Pop Offs like a kid digging for boogers.
"Emitter Quirks with a maximum output must extend it, while those who are mutant or transformation types have to work those extra appendages. Ordinarily, you would do this as your body grows naturally, but we don't have that kind of time."
Aizawa points to the rest of his class, saying, "get to it, Class 1-B."
Though they understand their mission, they stare out at the older men confused. One of the other girls, a rather tall one with dark purple hair, says, "There are… let's see," she counts up the teenagers, "33 students. How will you train us all?"
"And that adds to why we're here!" The class turns around quickly to get a glimpse of who is helping them out.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" Mandalay gives out a wink.
"We've come to lend a paw to help!" A girl with emerald hair and a yellow version outfit twirls in a perfect pirouette.
"We've come from… somewhere…" This is… a guy in a brown version of the outfit, exposing his back.
"Stingingly cute and catlike!" This is Pixie-Bob giving an okay sign.
Together the four pose as one. "WILD WILD PUSSYCATS! Full version."
The yellow one wiggles her hands about. "I'm Ragdoll! My Quirk is Search! I can examine anyone and know everything about them. Up to 100 at a time."
"I'm Pixie-Bob! My Quirk is Earth Flow, which can alter the earth to make the perfect landscape!"
"As Mandalay, my Quirk is Telepath. I can broadcast advice to anyone all at once."
"I'm Tiger," speaks the sole male. "I'll punch and kick your bodies into perfection." For some reason, he's the wrong genre. "All the power types will work in my boot camp."
Aizawa gives a sigh. "UA can't throw all their resources onto one sole course, even if they're heroes. With their range of experience, they're the best for this situation. It also works for the other group, for we have helpful volunteers living in a giant A ready to assist us."
Rogue narrows his eyes at him. "I think you mean a collection of patsies who have a lot of free time on their hands."
"You said it, not me." There goes that Aizawa grin again.
Back with the students, Izuku can be found lying face down in the dirt like a trading card blown in the wind. The EM hero in training grabs a handful of sand for him to pull, for his own reason. He groans as crawls, parts of the dirt pinching into him.
"Ugh… I used way too much bioelectricity…" he says with a groan.
Kirishima stumbles back from another one of Ojiro's tail whips lowering his defenses. Coming out of it he stares down at Izuku. "What's with Midoriya?"
"It's his Quirk's downside," Ojiro tells him.
The emerald protagonist continues crawling, reaching the generator left out for him to grasp. He gets hold of it and pulls the extension cord, filling him up with red electricity. The generator's battery continues to rise until reaching a certain number, 300,000. Once it gets to that point, he suddenly releases it.
"Still only so much… why hasn't my limit gone up?" Gripping his hands smoking white, he summons the purple lightning around his hands.
Upon doing so, he cuts the juice a few seconds later. Darker smoke releases from his fingers now. "And I still can't use the purple electricity without those special gloves… have I not grown at all?"
The day comes shortly to an end. As the coastal twilight sets in, the students of Class 1-A and 1-B come together outside at wooden tables. There an assortment of trays filled with unprocessed food can be seen.
"Your pampering ended yesterday! You wanna eat?" This taunt comes from Pixie-Bob.
Flailing wildly, Ragdoll adds, "You gotta cook it yourself! Tonight's theme is curry!"
"Yeah…" The collective slur of their groan comes out. Ragdoll laughs at their lamentation.
After a few work and Todoroki's flames, their meal is ready to be devoured. "Hey, don't eat so much salt!"
"I'll be fine!" is Izuku's reply as he dumps a lot of salt onto his meal. The rest of the class cringes as he dines in on his high-calorie meal. "Wish there were bananas."
Sato looks up noticing out of everyone eating, Momo is inhaling the most food. "Wow. You sure can pack it in, Yaoyorozu."
"It's part of my Quirk. I convert the fat in my body on an atomic level to become anything I want to make."
"What, like pooping?" This results in her dropping over in disgust at the revolting – accurate – comparison, and Jirou clocking Mineta to the moon.
With that finished, everyone goes to sleep moving on from their trouble. All except for Izuku. He is standing clear at the beach stretching his arms while glaring forth at the cloudy skies taking over the night. "Alright, practice for one hour and then back to bed."
He stretches his hand up in the air before slapping it into the ground. Green lightning sparks from his fingertips across the sand, collecting black sand from within the depths of the beach. His hand stretches up pulling a tower of black sand. "Just like they all said; Achuto is filled to the brink with iron sand."
Izuku collects the sand and spreads his hand. The sand takes the shape of a cane. "Alright, next…" He then pushes, turning the sand into a ball. Green lightning sparks in his hand as he levitates the ball far away, before throwing the electric ball to blast the iron ball. As it splits apart like an exploding ball of water in a balloon, Izuku smiles with content at his vented destruction.
"That felt so good." The process begins to repeat.
Elsewhere in the forest, watching our green hero's night overtraining, Rogue sits behind a tree. He takes out his phone when he feels the vibration. "Yellow!" There's talking on the other line.
"Oh, hey. What do you want? … Oh no, he's not here. She is though… wait, why do you want that guy? He's the least likely to- … Oh, really? Well if you want, I guess so. But you're gonna wanna wait. … Okay, see you tomorrow."
The call then ends. "…jerk. Couldn't even give me time."
Kei: Well, back in the game. Wonder how long it'll take to reach chapter 40?
Yusei: What happens then?
Kei: Nothing. -eyes dart from side to side-
Illarion: I'd rather this stay on hiatus so we can finish V-Busters. Anyway, next chapter will have Deku and the rest of the heroes in training fighting against the... well, I know you know what's to happen, but let's keep some mystery.