The Earth Hero: The Blind Bandit ATLAxMHA FF
Chapter 5: Outfits and Teaming Up
Toph and the rest of the class went to the locker rooms to change. It was not that difficult for Toph to know how to put on her outfit as she had little bumps or marks added into the clothing to tell which side was front and which was the back.
Her outfit started with her putting on a tight black jumpsuit that was in two pieces, one for her upper body and one for her lower body. Then she put on armor around each of her ankles. Next was armor that went from her waist down to her knees. After the lower body was finished, Toph put on armor that covered her chest and her upper back, which was attached to armor that covered her shoulders. The last parts of the armor covered each of her forearms. All the armor was made up of a strong ceramic and plastic hybrid; it was also colored green and had black outlines. Finally, she put on a green headband that was attached to a thick black eye shield that covered her eyes.
Once Toph was finished, she walked over to Mina, who was finished first and asked, "Well, does everything look like I put it on okay?"
Mina said, "You look totally great! How were you able to come up with that outfit? Since… you know..."
"I'm blind, you're not going to hurt my feelings by stating the obvious." Toph stated not wanting to beat around the bush. "I had a friend help me out in designing the outfit. I just told him what areas needed to be protected and to make it cool looking."
It was true, Toph had relied upon Ren's help to design the outfit. Well, really, it was Toph telling Ren the basics of what she needed and him going to one of the maids, who was studying to be a Pro Hero Fashion Designer, for help. When Ren and the maid had described the outfit for her, Toph just went with what they made. Toph knows that outfits are huge for Pro Heroes, but she knew that others would have to tell her whether the outfit was any good.
As all the ladies began to walk out of the locker room, Toph started to sense that Toru was wearing only shoes and gloves. However, she was not going to mention anything about it, but she was concerned as to how the guys would react. Apparently, her male classmates did not seem to notice at all, which made Toph wonder what Toru looked like. Toph was not able to sense anything odd about the skin or body shape of her classmate; however, it made her question what her Quirk was that she could be basically naked.
They all went out to the training arena that All Might instructed them to go to. As they walked Toph met up with Koda, who she sensed had a simple jumpsuit and a hard mask over his face.
"Did your costume come out the way you wanted, animal boy?" Toph asked.
Koda nodded his head.
"Good," Toph said, "It feels like mine came out alright. Didn't it?"
Koda nodded again.
Toph was slightly getting annoyed that Koda still was not saying anything to her.
The class exited a large door and met All Might at the designated training site. All Might began explaining the exercise to the class. They would all be split into teams of two with one team playing the heroes and another team playing the villains. The villain team had the goal of hiding a "bomb" inside a building and defending it until time runs out or if they capture the heroes with a special tape that they would be given. The hero team had to either capture the bomb in time or capture the villains.
"To split up teams in the fairest way possible." All Might brought out a box and shook it.
He continued, "You will draw a ball with a letter from A to J and the person with the same letter ball will be your teammate."
"Now!" All Might said, "Step right up and find out who your teammate is!"
Toph nudged Koda and said, "Go up there and get the ball first."
Koda looked at Toph for a second before she said, "It'll make sense in a second."
Koda went up and was the second person to get his ball. He came back to Toph after he got his ball.
Toph stuck her hand out and said, "Can I feel the ball?"
Koda handed the ball to Toph. It only took her a second to find the braille indentations on and tell that this was ball F.
Toph handed the ball back to him and said, "Alright, wait here, I'll be right back."
She walked up to the box and began rummaging around. Toph wanted to make sure she got on the same team as Koda for two reasons. One, she liked Koda and felt he could use the help considering he was obviously skittish. Two, she wanted to avoid getting paired up with somebody she did not like.
There were still several balls in the box as she was still searching, and it did not go unnoticed.
"Hurry it up, Blind Girl!" Bakugo yelled from behind her.
"Take a chill pill, Old Yeller." Toph said, not looking at him.
"Please, students, don't call each other names." All Might said firmly.
Toph finally felt the ball labeled "F" and yanked it out. She walked back to Koda and held the ball up.
"Does this have the letter F on it?" Toph asked.
Koda nodded his head and began to lightly clap with happiness as he realized what she did.
Toph only smiled, but not everybody else was happy.
Kirishima yelled, "Hey, she literally got to pick her teammate, how's that fair?"
A few other students chimed in agreement.
All Might said, "I know it wasn't one-hundred percent fair. However, that was the point!"
"What?!" A few of the students said with surprise.
"As a Pro Hero, you will often end up fighting against a villain that might have abilities, skills, or knowledge that they utilize to tilt the battle into their favor! It is about learning to overcome this unfairness that a Pro Hero needs to know!" All Might explained with passion.
Izuku asked, "Wait, you then used Toph's blindness as an example of this?"
"Correct!" All Might said, "I know that both young Toph and Koda were in the same Entrance Exam and they teamed up. So, I assumed that Toph would want to team up with somebody that she not only knows their Quirk and that she worked with before. Or! She might have wanted to team up with somebody other than Koda if she didn't think her quirk worked with him."
Momo asked, "What if somebody else here knows how to read Braille?"
"Then they've gotten the same advantage as Toph does, so they can definitely go for it!" All Might said with confidence.
As everybody else got paired off, Toph did not know what to think about the fact that All Might use her as a lesson. Sure, the lesson made sense, but she felt a little dumb because she thought she was smart when instead she played into All Might's plan.
Once everybody was in teams, All Might pulled out two new boxes and stuck his hands in.
"I declare the first two teams to fight will be… These guys!" All Might said, as he pulled a ball out of each of the boxes.
Toph hoped that her team would be up first. Unfortunately, it was Team A (heroes) and Team D (villains).
"Alright, everybody! Head up to the viewing area!" All Might said.
Toph raised her hand and said, "All Might."
"Yes, Miss Beifong?!" All Might asked.
Toph said, "Can I stay here during the matches?"
"Oh, yes! That's right!" All Might said, remembering Toph's situation.
All Might grabbed an electronic pad and said, "You and your teammate can stay out here during the matches! And here is a viewing pad for your teammate to watch and listen from."
Toph grabbed the pad and said, "Thank you."
"Now everybody, else! Let's go." All Might said, as he directed most of the students away.
Toph saw that it was Uraraka, Izuku, Bakugo, and Iida that remained. Both Bakugo and Iida went inside and Izuku and Uraraka stayed outside. There was a slight relief in Toph that she would not be facing Bakugo this early as she had yet to figure out how to handle his explosions.
Toph nodded to Koda and said, "Let's go sit against that building."
The teammates walked to a building just across the street and sat against the building. In a few minutes, the alarm went off signaling that it was time for the first battle to begin.
"So," Toph said, "What is your Quirk exactly? Do you control animals or something?"
Koda nodded.
Toph crossed her arms and said, "You know that you have to talk to me at some point, right?"
Her classmate did not respond.
"I didn't choose you because of the reasons that All Might said. I chose to team with you because I thought that you can be too timid and that I could help you out. But that doesn't mean that you can go hide in the corner while I take on the whole fight for you." Toph said with a rough edge.
Feeling that her teammate seemed to be more nervous, Toph internally groaned. She did not handle it right and now he seemed afraid of her. Obviously, Koda does not respond well to tough love.
Instead of continuing to talk to her teammate, Toph started to pay attention to the battle that was going on in the building in front of her. Maybe, she would figure out what to say to Koda to get him to talk while focusing on… Bakugo trying to kill Izuku.
"Geez, what the hell is wrong with Mr. Pissed Off? Did Gullible steal his favorite toy when they were little?" Toph asked under her breath.
As the blasts continued to go off, Toph just tried to focus on pushing through the blast while her earth sense was continuously getting messed with. It was not really working but it was not throwing her off as badly as it did before.
Then, she sensed that Bakugo was aiming a shot at Izuku that was above her and Koda's direction.
Toph heard Bakugo talk through the viewing pad, "These gauntlets aren't just for show. They've been storing all my sweat inside for one monster blast."
A bigger blast did not sound good to Toph.
"Young Bakugo, don't do it! You're going to kill him!" All Might said with concern.
Now Toph was really concerned. If All Might thought it would kill Izuku, then what could it do to her and Koda? He was shooting right above them.
"He'll be fine as long as he dodges." Bakugo said with determination.
As his blast went off, Toph stood up and yelled, "Koda, get down!"
AN: Alright! Chapter complete! Hope you enjoyed it!
One of the reasons writing this story had taken quite a bit of time was the fact that I did not have a clue as to what Toph's Hero outfit would look like. It really stumped me for a while because I am not good at design with clothes. I did not want her Hero outfit to be either her ATLA outfit (because it provides zero protection from projectiles) or her Republic City Police uniform (because she has not discovered metal bending aspects of her Quirk). Eventually, I found an idea online that seemed decent.
Toph's Hero outfit is as follows:
Black tight jumpsuit (2 -pieces: upper body; and lower body).
Armor around both forearms.
Armor covering the waist down to her knees.
Armor covering her chest and back.
Armor covering her shoulders.
Armor covering her ankle area.
Head band that connects to a thick black eye shield covering her eyes.
All armor is made up of a tough ceramic and plastic material.
The armor is also painted green with black outlines.
However, I am open to the idea of a different look for her Hero outfit. I would be willing to take suggestions. Just please give some details. If I find something I like, I will change the current outfit for a new look in future chapters.
Thank you for your time!