Ultraman Hero Academia Chapter 41: CH41: The Truth of the Matter, an Ultraman + My Hero Academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア Crossover fanfic

Friday Afternoon

"[Yes, it is true. I am half alien,]" Godzillo said to the reporters. He was currently holding an impromptu press conference to address the people about the footage uploaded of Godzillo using abilities he's never shown before. The news reporters were abuzz with excitement, cameras flashing as they talked over one another. "[My mother and I came to this Earth after being told about it by an alien traveler in order for us to live normal lives here.]"

"[If you're half alien, then what's the other half!?]" one of the reporters managed to shout over.

"[My father was a human. He was fully aware of that my mother was an alien, and yet loved her anyways,]" Godzillo said, his hands gripping the podium tightly.

"[Where is he now?]"

"[He... passed away after being attacked by other members of my mother's race. Alien Repturns have a... violent culture where the strong eat the weak, and they saw humans and Alien Repturns that got along with them as being very weak,]" Godzillo said. "[His family chased him out on his Earth because of his relationship with my mother, and he was sacrificed his life to give my mother and I the chance to escape when Alien Repturns find out about us.]"

"[So why haven't you revealed your heritage earlier?]"

"[I personally would've told the world much earlier, but there were many outside factors that pressured me to stay quiet. My mother had always stressed the importance of keeping our status as aliens a secret, as to not cause panic to everyone. Not to mention that revealing my status as an alien might fuel prejudice against people with mutant-type Quirks, which I have experienced myself as an actor in the United States. Even when Ultraman Hero and his host revealed the existence of aliens, I felt pressured to keep quiet as I've always done.]"

"[If you're here, does that mean that there are other aliens that are passing themselves off as humans!?]"

"[Indeed. However...]" Godzillo took a deep breath. "[... However, I can assure you all, that like so many people on this Earth, that aliens want peace as much as them. Many come from planets where there is unrest. Where their views don't along with that of their race's. Where they are unsafe.]"

"[But what about all of the ones that have attacked Earth!? And the most recent one that you've fought against!?]" one shouted, his eyebrows furrowed.

"[If I recall, there was a group of human mercenaries that attacked the Central Tower at the same time as that alien,]" Gozillo pointed out, silencing that particular reporter. "[And most of the giant ones that have been attacking are more like animals forced into an unfamiliar habitat. But sapient aliens are just like humans. Everyone is capable of the greatest good, or the greatest evil. The only reason why there seem to be so many villainous aliens is simply because they're the ones letting themselves be seen. I assure you, if given the chance, aliens will follow the law, and walk alongside this Earth's humans in peace. That's the world I want to inspire, to see. My father never got the chance to see an Earth where our family can just be ourselves with no fear of ostracization or hate, but I won't rest until we can all live together, and walk alongside one another with no fear! Ultraman Hero and his host have ignited the torch, but it's up to everyone in the world, human, alien, and those of both worlds, to carry it! For that is a future that we should see happen!]"

Cameras flashed, news reporters chatted, and Godzillo took another deep breath. Finally, the next step was taken. It took far too many years to get to here, but it's happening. The board members of HELPS (sans Deim) are probably panicking now after seeing all of this.

In an Undisclosed Location in the United States

"[That no good REPTILE!]" a literal bullheaded man shouted, slamming his fist onto the table as he and his fellow board members watched Godzillo's press conference addressing the rumors of him being an alien. "[I knew that he'd be a problem, but no, we had to help him become a popular actor and hero here! He's jeopardizing everything we've worked for!]"

"[Settle down, Oxford. No need to resort to insults,]" a blue-haired bespectacled woman said, adjusting her glasses. "[This was bound to happen ever since Ultraman Hero appeared with Tyrannion.]"

"[But for him to just tell it all without confirming with us about it!]" a rotund blond mustached man said, hitting his chest multiple times in four spots to calm himself down. "[He knows better than to do something unprompted like that!]"

"[It isn't like we haven't been considering doing that ourselves, Hartley,]" a woman with gradient rainbow skin said.

"[Those two are right. Quite honestly, it's about time we help aliens integrate more properly here-]" a tiger-like man began to say.

"[It's still a giant risk! There's a reason why we've kept us aliens secret, while passing those unable to disguise themselves as humans with mutant type Quirks!]" someone with a robotic face said, pinching his forehead. "[We've seen it with countless Earths before! Prejudice against those with nonhuman appearances exists even here!]"

Dalton sighed as he watched his fellow board members bicker. "[Excuse me, everyone.]"

They all turned to him. "[I understand the hesitation to change from what we've done since the dawn of Quirks. But we need to face facts. Ever since Ultraman Hero appeared fighting Tyrannion, people have already known about the existence of aliens. We've been lucky to have had no giant aliens come to this Earth like on other Earths, but that luck was bound to end eventually. I highly doubt that revealing that aliens have been living among this Earth's humans will be that much of a surprise. People have already been theorizing that online anyways.]"

"[But to reveal our existence-]" Hartley objected.

"[If I recall, he said nothing about HELPS. Just that there's been many outside factors that pressured him to keep quiet,]" Dalton pointed out. "[I suppose that is the next step after everything that has happened now-]"

"[We aren't prepared to reveal HELPS to the world!]"

"[Everyone knows aliens exist now! So when will we!?]"

As the table of board members devolved into more arguments, Dalton shook his head. He'll be lucky if they decide to reveal HELPS's existence before the end of the year.

At a hospital room with guards

"[So you're really going to have a criminal record?]" Melissa said, frowning as she looked at her father. "[But that isn't fair! You didn't have a hand in any of this-]"

"[I agreed to Sam's plan, meaning that I'm an accomplice,]" David sighed. "[Whether or not I had a change of heart, I still didn't inform the authorities about what I had even considered, so it's something I'm willing to take responsibility for. Goods news is that they're at least willing to put me under house arrest instead so that I could still work on the monster sanctuary when it opens, especially since I'm being cooperative.]"

David gave his daughter a sad look. "[More importantly, how are you doing? Are... are any of your classmates in the academy giving you trouble over what happened?]"

"[Not too many, don't worry,]" Melissa said, holding her father's hand. "[Just the ones who already have a bone to pick with me.]"

"[I see... I'm so sorry, Melissa-]"

"[It's alright, dad. I don't care what they say,]" Melissa said, smiling. "[You're still my dad, after all. I'm just glad that you're alright, and that we managed to stop this tragedy.]"

"[Still, I have to make up for all the mistakes I made,]" David said, looking out at the window. "[I have to make up for not entrusting the future to you all...]"

"Man, the news has been really excited about everything, huh?" Ochako said, as she and her classmates looked out the window to see a horde of news crews crowding out at the hospital, trying to get in, but where being held back by a number of pro heroes. The only ones that weren't there were Togaru and Katsuki, who opted to stay in their hotel rooms, and Rigel and Ardiana, who were helping with relief efforts and repairing I-Island with Saiphza's repair drones. Because of everything that happened, I-Expo was cancelled and rescheduled for a later time. Danny was with them, so All Might was in his muscle form.

"It'd figure. I-Island, one of the most secure places in the world, gets hit by a human and an alien terrorist attack in the same night? All because of a device that Mr. Shield made? Godzillo, one of the world's most popular heroes and actors, reveals that he's half-alien? The human terrorist attack here alone would be headlining news!" Denki said, crossing his arms.

"Hey, be a little more sensitive!" Itsuka hissed, pointing to Melissa, who just joined them.

"No, it's alright," Melissa said, giving her a small smile. "He genuinely regrets everything that happened, and is willing to take his punishment. And Sam's surprisingly cooperative as well, so there's a chance that their sentences for their involvement won't be too bad... Hopefully he'll still be able to work on the monster sanctuary, he was excited about that."

"Indeed. I just wish that he had told me about that device to begin with," All Might said, rubbing the back of his head. The man was bandaged around the torso, though his shirt obscured most of them. "Maybe if he did, we could've stopped all of this from happening in the first place..."

"Are you sure you should be out of bed, All Might?" Izuku whispered, mimicking his mentor. Much like his mentor, he was bandaged around the torso, though his extended to his right arm, which, while protected by the Full Gauntlet, was still strained from all the punching he had done. "I mean, you fought the mercenary leader!"

"So did you, Midoriya," Kyoka pointed out.

"Of course, it'll take more than just a terrorist attack to keep me down!" All Might said, pointing to himself with his thumb, before sighing. "Besides, I want to be here to see Young Hiroshi..."

At the mention of the Ultra host's name, everyone stared at the unconscious steel blue-haired teen laying in the hospital bed. An oxygen mask was over his mouth and nose, and his eyes were closed. He had been comatose the whole day ever since he passed out from staying transformed as Hero for too long. Luckily, he had no injuries, but it seemed like he was just too physically drained to wake up. Setsuna and Fuka had been by his side, sleeping in chairs next to him. Their parents had been busy coming in and out, as they've been working with the other sponsors over what needs to be done at I-Island now, while the twins were out helping with the relief effort in the areas damaged by the giant fights.

"Man, he and Hero really went hard on the fighting, huh?" Mina said, biting her lip.

"It's so frustrating!" Tetsutetsu bemoaned, his fist balled up. "There he was, out there, doing his best! And we couldn't even beat that alien on our own!"

"You all are lucky that he was playing around until Godzillo came," All Might said sternly. "I know we got those special alien licenses for you all, but that doesn't mean you have to go and face off against an alien on your own like that."

"Sorry..." Tetsutetsu mumbled.

"Tetsutetsu's right, though," Juzo said, his hands together as he sat against a wall. He recalled how Masocre had managed to follow him into the Softened ground and attack him. "That alien... we had been doing so well against other aliens so far, so I guess I expected this one to be no different. But he was just taking whatever we threw at him like nothing. He wasn't anything like Virus, but he was still so strong."

"And my Acid stopped working on those Valis Raiders after a while," Mina mumbled, remembering how easily she melted them only for them to grab her and her Acid suddenly being ineffective. "Probably had some sort of adaptivity to it..."

"We're glad that you guys are alright, though," Kinoko said, smiling at her classmates. "It was really, really scary at the tower..."

"There was never a moment that we could truly rest while the terrorists were there," Shihai said, closing his eyes.

"It was imperative that we reach the top as swiftly as possible," Reiko added.

"I feel bad that I couldn't do anything to help," Koji signed, sighing.

"Don't be, there probably weren't a lot of animals inside the tower to begin with," Kyoka assured him.

"I thought we were going to die multiple times," Minoru said, sweating profusely as he remembered all the close calls they had. "Even when we were on Saiphza, I thought we were going to die! Especially with that fake Belial thing! What was with that!?"

"Hero said something about a Devil Splinter..." Izuku said, scratching his head. "Those have Belial's power, right? I bet that when it powered up his already supercharged Quirk, that it manifested as that metal Belial."

"Man, that was so scary to see," Toru said. "I mean, even if that wasn't the real one, the fact that we saw SOMETHING like Belial in person is scary..."

"It didn't seem like he could use any actual Ultra abilities, though," Momo said thoughtfully.

"Yea, when he tried to use a beam attack like Hero, he just shot out the metal that made up his arms," Manga said, as a little cartoonish scene of the metal Belial losing its forearms appeared on his face.

"Maybe since it was made by a Quirk, it couldn't access them?" Yosetsu suggested.

"Perhaps..." All Might said, closing his eyes to think.

"What's going on with him, anyways?" Sen said. "When you took him onto Saiphza, he seemed to be out of it."

"He's in another hospital room," All Might answered. "When I inquired what his status was, they told me that he's in a vegetative state. Maybe the reason why the metal Belial was unable to use any true Ultra abilities is because his body and mind were unable to handle the Devil Splinter's power."

"Just where did he even get one in the first place?" Tenya mumbled. "I would highly doubt that he'd just come across one on this Earth..."

"Virus might've slipped him one at some point," Izuku theorized, rubbing his head. "Since he was here and knew about Mr. Abraham's plan, he could've given him one to see what would happen if a human from this Earth used one..."

"Are you two alright?" Tsuyu asked. "Ever since you both came here, you've been rubbing and scratching your heads."

"Yea, I have... some sort of headache going on," Izuku admitted. "After everything that happened last night, my head's been hurting. Not much, but still kind of annoying..."

"Same," All Might said. "But I'm sure it's nothing more than some fatigue."

"Just what is taking him so long to wake up?" Kyoka wondered, as Setsuna and Fuka were stirred awake.

"Hey you guys!" Pony said, rubbing Setsuna and Fuka on the back. "Are you two alright?"

"Yea..." Fuka said, rubbing her eye. "Just a little tired."

"And hungry," Setsuna added, when her stomach growled loudly.

"Me and Danny will go get some food for you guys," Pony said, which she repeated to Danny in English.

"[We'll be back as soon as possible,]" Danny said, as they waved him off. All Might took a deep breath, and sighed as he released his muscle form once the door was closed shut.

"You alright, All Might?" Fuka asked. "It looks like you were in your muscle form for a while..."

"I'll be alright when your brother wakes up, Young Fuka," All Might assured her. "I've had my fair share of scrapes and bruises over my career, but this is the first time he's ever pushed himself this far. Whatever's going on with him, I hope it isn't serious..."

"Hero? Hey! Hero, where are you!?" Hiroshi called out, looking around the strange place he found himself in. It was a completely barren land, with black smoky fog surrounding him. It felt similar to the Inner Space, but at the same time completely foreign.

"Shit, am I actually dead this time? I know that we were really pushing ourselves to the limit, but I didn't think that it would be fatal... I guess I couldn't cheat death a second time... Gah, never mind that, I have to find Hero first to really confirm this. Hero! Hero where are you!"

Hiroshi kept walking around and calling out for Hero, his search feeling like it's taken weeks. "Dammit, this is taking forever! Just when am I going to-"

"Hiroshi! There you are!"

Hiroshi turned around, and saw Hero approaching him. "Finally! I've been looking for you. Just where are we? It feels like the Inner Space..."

"I'm not sure myself," Hero said, putting a thinking hand on his chin. "I'm not familiar with a place like this..."

"Great, so we're both lost in some sort of strange mental scape that neither of us are familiar with," Hiroshi sighed. "Just what on earth is-"

"Oh? Never expected to have visitors other than the current user."

Hiroshi and Hero turned around, and were stunned to find a man with white hair that vaguely resembled-

"Shigaraki!" Hiroshi shouted, as he and Hero prepared themselves. The man laughed at their reaction, but it wasn't harsh. Rather, he was amused.

"That is my last name, but I'm not the Shigaraki you're thinking of," the man clarified. "I should introduce myself. I am Yoichi Shigaraki, the First holder of One for All."

"Wait, the First holder- Oh dammit, I am dead!" Hiroshi muttered.

"No no, I don't think you are. I'd say that we're in a similar space as this Inner Space that you and Hero have," Yoichi said, holding his hands up to calm Hiroshi down.

"So wait, if that's the case, then you're suggesting that-" Hiroshi began to say.

"- That we're in Mr. Midoriya's mind?" Hero said, to which Yoichi nodded.

"Man, I thought with how obsessed with heroes and All Might he is, he'd have a mental space full of heroes and All Might," Hiroshi said, looking around the almost endless barren land.

"Well, this is more like a mental space specifically where One for All's spirits exist," Yoichi said, as more figures formed and stepped out of the fog. Two figures opted to stay in the back, obscured by the fog, though Hiroshi and Hero could distinctly see them. They were accompanied by a vestige that wasn't fully formed, but it distinctly resembled All Might.

"You know, I thought it would be the Ninth we'd be talking to first!" a bald man with goggles said. He was muscular, with a square jaw covered in some stubble, and he wore an opened jacket without a shirt and a bandolier. "Never thought I'd be actually speaking to an alien and his host!"

"Indeed, this is quite unusual," a black haired man said. He looked rather young, wearing a jacket with a high collar reminiscent of Best Jeanist's. "Though this is no less exciting and important, I suppose."

"Too weird..." a man with two scars running over his left eye said, keeping his distance from the two, though no less intrigued. "The world's only gotten weirder after my time..."

"Hm, you two certainly are something," a black-haired woman said, giving them a small sad smile. She wore her hair in a ponytail, a sleeveless bodysuit that showed off her biceps, yellow gloves, and a white cape that reminded Hiroshi of Gran Torino. "Even this guy's vestige kept talking about how you two and the Ninth are going to push each other to become the best. He's been telling us all about the things that've been going on out there. Still can't believe that aliens are real. But I guess I don't have any room to say that, since I'm a ghost now."

"Incredible," Hiroshi said, looking at all of them. "So you're all are in Midoriya's mind... Man, All Might's going to flip when he finds out that ghosts exist."

"Ghosts, vestiges, spirits, call us whatever," the bald man said, going over and slapping Hiroshi's back. "We're here to help out your friend, and since you managed to get in, I guess we'll help you out, too! Just consider yourself the honorary Tenth! I'm Daigoro Banjo! I was the Fifth holder of One for All!"

"Ayumu En, the Sixth," the high collared man said.

"... Hikage Shinomori, Fourth," the scarred man said.

"Nana Shimura. I was the Seventh and Toshinori's immediate predecessor. I think you know him better as All Might," the woman said.

"What about those two?" Hero said, pointing to the figures in the fog.

"Oh, the Second and Third? They're... being a little difficult right now," Yoichi said. "For now, let's talk."

"Alright, so first thing to ask," Hiroshi said, taking a deep breath. "How did we get here?"

"You two telepathically connected to both the Ninth and the Eighth last night, right?" Yoichi said. "I imagine that the connection allowed you the ability to enter this mental plane, but only unconsciously after the stress you went through during your fights."

"I guess that makes sense," Hiroshi said, tapping his foot in thought. "So why haven't you talked to Midoriya yet? It feels wrong for me to take that honor from him."

"It's 'cuz we're not fully formed yet, kid," Daigoro said, pointing to his legs. Or rather, lack of, once Hiroshi took a good look, and realized that all of the previous holders had no legs, much like when the others were in Hero's Inner Space. Instead they were a part of the fog itself. "We're not strong enough to contact him on our own. It's just pure luck that you managed to drift into here."

"Though thanks to you and Midoriya pushing each other, especially during that Sports Festival, we've been able to manifest faster," Nana said, crossing her arms. "By the way, congrats on winning that. Though I'm pretty sure with the rate that One for All's growing, he's not too far behind you and Mr. Hero. In fact, I think we're just a few weeks away from actually full manifestation."

"Y-Yea..." Hiroshi said, still unsure of how to make of all of this. "Okay, I'll buy that. So-" he turned to Yoichi, "- if you're the First holder of One for All, that must mean that All for One is your brother, right?"

"Yes."

"So does that mean that Tomura Shigaraki is-"

"No, he is not my blood relative," Yoichi said.

"He's mine," Nana said, to Hiroshi's and Hero's surprise. "All Might's... All Might's vestige told us that a while ago. He found out from his police officer friend that they ran DNA tests on the fingers that you and that alien Illne tore off, and that they matched the record of Tenko Shimura, my grandson."

"I'm not surprised that you thought that, though. He most likely found him and groomed him to be his successor by giving him our last name, and to brand him as his own," Yoichi said, closing his eyes. "It's something he would do, to try and break us."

"Oh... shit," Hiroshi said. He walked over to Nana, and put an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. It must be... really hard."

"... Thanks, kid," Nana said, giving him a small smile. "You, Midoriya, and All Might are really similar, huh? Three Quirkless people with big hearts. You all were really meant to be heroes."

"Yea... So since I'm here, what is it that you can tell us?" Hiroshi said. "I'm sure there's a lot that you want Midoriya to know."

"Well I suppose one of the important things we should get out of the way is that my brother is obsessed with taking Quirks," Yoichi answered.

"I mean, kinda figures. When you're able to take Quirks and make them your own, you'd want to take everything," Hiroshi shrugged. "Hell, I'll admit, if I had a Quirk that let take any Quirk I want, I'd might want them all. Of course that's speaking as someone who's Quirkless to begin with."

"True, but the Quirk he's most obsessed over is taking One for All," Ayumu said.

"Really?" Hero said. "But with the nature of the transference, I'd assume that would prevent him."

"Indeed. One for All is the one Quirk that All for One cannot take," Hikage said. "He's tried and tried, but failed to do so."

"So it's a forbidden fruit sort of situation?" Hiroshi raised an eyebrow. "He's able to take any Quirk he wants, and yet he wants the one that he can't get with it? Any reason?"

"Hm, I assume that's because to him, all I am is just an extension of himself, and that he's entitled to what he believes is his," Yoichi said, tapping his chin in thought. "And that includes One for All. No doubt because he helped create it by giving me the power accumulation Quirk that fused with my transference Quirk."

"If that's the case, I guess he's going to go and try and force Mr. Midoriya to hand it over," Hero deduced.

"Yes, and he'll do anything to break the Ninth's will," Daigoro added. "The ability to resist being taken by force is proportionally to our willpower. Since there's nine of us now, All for One's gonna need to overpower all of us. And he's gonna have a hard time with that!"

"The man's a sociopath through and through," Nana confirmed. "He has no conscience, no empathy, nothing. As much as he wants One for All, he's unable to take muster up the necessary emotions to take it from us. It's one reason why the Quirk's evaded him for so long."

"Even so, the Ninth must be prepared for anything that my brother will try," Yoichi said. "And with those alien allies of his, I have no doubt he'll try and use whatever they can provide to him to help break him so that he can't resist."

"I see... and I can bet that Tomura's going to be a big player in this... How exactly is the big question," Hiroshi said, when the previous holders began to lose their form. "Whoa, what's happening?"

"Seems like you're waking up, kid," Daigoro said, looking at his hands. "And we didn't get through a lot of topics, damn."

"And there's a chance that you might not be able to come back in here, or at least for a long while," Ayumu pointed out. "Hopefully you can by the time we've fully manifested."

"Indeed, but we do have enough time to tell you two one more thing," Yoichi said, tapping his chin. "Namely that the Ninth will eventually gain all of the Quirks of the past holders after me."

"Wait, what!?" Hiroshi said.

"One for All is reaching its full potential now that Midoriya is the holder. It has been storing our vestiges and our Quirks, incubating them until All Might handed it over. It's why we're here, long after our deaths. And it's where we'll continue to be."

"Better tell the kid that he's gonna get six Quirks now! Get him prepared for that instead of being caught off guard!" Daigoro said. "Not bad for someone who didn't have one of their own to start with, huh?"

"And those Quirks are going to be empowered by One for All, so they're going to be stronger than ours when we had it," Hikage added. "Tell him that I'm sorry about the headaches my Danger Sense Quirk will give him."

"And Furinji-" Nana said, her head now only visible. "- tell Toshinori that I'm proud of him. He's gone a long way from the wimpy little kid I saved."

"W-Wait! There's a lot we still need to talk about!" Hiroshi said, as their faces finally disappeared. "Like what type of Quirks should Midoriya expect besides Danger Sense!? Why are the Second and Third being difficult!? Just way too many-"

"Be rest assured, for you, Midoriya, and your friends aren't alone in this fight," Yoichi's voice echoed. "We're all here as well, and the guiding light we've thrown to the future will shine ever brighter."

Hiroshi began to open his eyes, blinking a few times. As he regained consciousness, he became acutely aware of how tired and aching his body was.

"Aw, crap, if I knew I was going to be in this much pain, I'd have stayed asleep for a while longer..." he muttered, pulling off his mask.

"Hiroshi!" a cacophony of voices said. He turned his head, and saw Setsuna, Fuka, the rest of their classmates and friends (excluding Togaru, Katsuki, Pony, and Danny), Melissa, and All Might in what was unmistakably a hospital room.

"Hey guys-" Hiroshi said, when Setsuna and Fuka gave him a tight hug.

"You idiot!" Fuka said, her voice muffled from burying her face into his shoulder. "You promise both of us you'd be safe!"

"We were, though-"

"Forcing yourself past your limit isn't what I'd call safe!" Setsuna retorted.

"I kinda had to, we were in some pretty tough situations. And hey, I might feel like shit, but I take it that nothing's broken since I don't have any casts or bandages," Hiroshi said, though he patted their heads. "But I'm sorry that I made you worry, everyone... How long have I been out?"

"Just for a day," Kyoka said. "You missed a lot of things, man."

"Yea, like Godzillo being half alien!" Setsuna said. "He just finished a press conference and everything about that!"

"Really?" Hiroshi said, raising an eyebrow. "Man, I guess that conversation was a lot longer than I thought..."

"Oh, that must've been why something felt different about him," Hero said. "I must've been detecting his alien heritage."

"The mercenary leader's a vegetable right now, so we were kind of worried that was happening with you," Tsuyu said.

"Probably thanks to that Devil Splinter," Izuku said. "That was the thing that Hero saw that he jabbed himself with, right?"

"Yea, it was..." Hiroshi sighed. "And knowing what was going on last night, he probably got that from Virus sometime..."

"So... were you dreaming about anything?" Denki said. "I mean, I'd imagined that you'd be having some pretty wild dreams with how long you were out!"

"Actually, that's the thing," Hiroshi said, rubbing the back of his head. "I think you all might want to sit down for this one. It's a real big one."

Everyone's eyes widened as Hiroshi recounted what he had seen while unconscious, and they only grew bigger and bigger with each revelation.

"Ghosts are real!?" Kinoko said, shivering at the thought.

"I'm getting six more Quirks!?" Izuku said, his jaw dropped.

"You... you talked to my mentor?" All Might whispered.

"I did, and I find out something," Hiroshi replied. "All Might, when were you going to tell us that Shigaraki was your mentor's grandson?"

Everyone turned towards All Might, jaws dropped at the revelation. All Might froze at the words.

"How did you find out?" he said, his eyes on the ground.

"In that mental plane, there was a vestige of you too. It wasn't fully formed, though," Hiroshi explained. "I think that's probably because you're still alive. Apparently it's been feeding the other vestiges information about everything that you find out. And that's one of the things I learned from them."

"I see... maybe that's why I've been having a headache with Young Midoriya. You were busy discussing with our predecessors in Young Midoriya's mind, and my vestige was busy telling them all that I knew subconsciously," All Might sighed. "You're right. Tsukauchi came back to me some time during your Workplace Training, and informed me of what they had found. They tested the DNA from Shigaraki's fingers, and they're a match for my mentor's missing grandson..."

"So why didn't you tell us about this?" Izuku said, hurt by the fact that All Might didn't tell him about Tomura's true heritage.

"Because... in the end, he's still a villain," All Might said, his eyes on the ground. "And I... I can't let myself become sentimental because of who he's related to."

After Virus's impromptu solo invasion

"So that Shigaraki kid is really Nana's grandkid, huh?" Gran Torino muttered. Before he left UA, Tsukauchi and All Might had pulled him aside, to tell him about what they had found out. "Yea, her son's name was Kotaro. After her husband got killed by some of All for One's men, she left the kid at an orphanage after removing all traces of her relationship with him, and told us not to interfere with his life no matter what. I got curious some time ago, and looked up his name, only to find that the kid and his family died after their house was destroyed. So it lines up."

"I see..." All Might said, his fists tightening. "... I... I need to find him and-"

"And what? You're thinking of saving him?" Gran Torino said, scratching his head. "Typical of you to do. But the kid never met Nana. And he's been raised to be a villain by All for One. Chances are he's not going to listen to our side."

"Still, what can I do!?" All Might muttered. "Should they know-"

"Listen. We should just keep this particular one a secret," Gran Torino sighed. "There's no point in telling those kids that the leader of the USJ attack is the grandson of your predecessor. They're already dealing with the fact that they know about One for All now, and they don't have a reason to be worried about who he really is. In their eyes, he's just one of the villains that tried to kill them all with no remorse or hesitation."

"And he'll probably become more dangerous with Virus as an ally. For all we know, Virus and his allies have already given them alien tech or powers," Tsukauchi pointed out. "If that's the case and he becomes something that only Hero can handle, I don't think he should hesitate to do what's needed to protect everyone."

"True..." All Might said, though still notably downcast. "Still, to use my mentor's own flesh and blood against us-!"

"We know that this is something that he would do, but that doesn't change the fact that Shigaraki on his own is a villain," Gran Torino said. "Trust me, it doesn't make me feel any good knowing who his grandma is, either. But All for One's counting on us to hesitate and break the moment he thinks we find out."

All Might pinched his forehead. "You're right... I suppose in the end, when it comes down to the wire, we will need to do what's necessary..."

"I... I see..." Izuku said, his fist tightening. "So there's nothing we can do?"

"I won't say that," Hiroshi said. "Since we know now, they won't catch us off guard with that secret. Plus, his Quirk doesn't work anymore since he's missing a finger on both hands now, so apprehending him nonlethally shouldn't be an issue."

"Really? You want to save someone like him?" Sen said, raising an eyebrow. "The guy who attacked us at the USJ?"

"Are you kidding-" Minoru said, before getting kicked in the butt by Denki and Kosei.

"Heroes aren't supposed to be executors. The only reason why me and Hero ever kill is because some aliens are just too dangerous to let live," Hiroshi said. "But I'll admit that I'm probably not the best person to talk about this. I don't know if I'd even give Takagi and his goons a second chance, besides Watatsu. All of this depends on you, Midoriya."

"Me?" Izuku asked, pointing to himself.

"Yea. All for One's got something planned, and I'm certain it's gonna involve pitting you and Shigaraki against one another. But you shouldn't worry about handling it alone," Hiroshi said, looking at him. "So. What do you think we should do?"

"I... I feel like I want to try to help him," Izuku admitted. "Even if it isn't possible, we should try, right? If All Might said we needed to save that mercenary leader, then Shigaraki should be too, I think."

"Hm, figured you'd give an answer like that," Hiroshi said, smiling. "In that case, you've got all of us here to help when that time comes."

"That's right!" Ochako said, puffing her cheeks out in determination. "We're not going to let you do this by yourself!"

"We won't let ourselves get left behind in the dust!" Fuka added.

"All for One may have aliens helping him, but so do we!" Setsuna grinned, pointing to Hiroshi with her thumb.

"And we'll be ready for them. Me and Hero are going to beat Virus while you beat All for One," Hiroshi said, sticking his hand out for a fist bump. "So let's do our best, Midoriya!"

"Of course!" Izuku replied, as he returned the fist bump. All Might smiled, relieved that his protégé had people to depend on for help, though his mind went back to the revelation that Nana was still around in a way, inside of One for All.

"Hey, All Might," Hiroshi said, noticing the downcast look the Number One Hero had. "Before I lost my connection with the previous holders, your predecessor asked me to tell you something."

"Huh? What is it?" All Might said, snapping out of his thoughts.

"That she's proud of what you've done, and that you've gone a long way," he said. All Might froze at that, tearing up. She was proud of him.

"Heh... thanks for passing the message on, Young Hiroshi," All Might said, smiling as he wiped his tears away. "That's certainly a confidence booster!"

At the mountainous forest

"Hello everyone, how was the training?" Virus cheerfully said, stepping off a tree. He saw that there were patches of dirt and grass burnt (no doubt from Ceteria's flames), several broken trees that seemed to be haphazardly planted back in (most likely Disze's doing), and Germ, Worm, and Bug were all on the ground in a pile, with Illne sitting on top of them. "Hm, I take it that it wasn't fruitful?"

"These three idiots kept falling back onto their Quirks," Illne said, getting off the moaning pile of recruits. "And when it wasn't their Quirks, it was a shadow mimicry of them instead."

"Oh, seems like they're at least figuring out how to apply their shadow powers in one way," Virus said, nudging the pile of beaten humans-turned-aliens with his foot. "But not good enough. Sounds like I'll need to go see the good Doctor about getting some sort of Quirk suppressor or something to discourage them from that. Otherwise you might never to use learn the ins and outs of our powers."

"Hm, seems like you had fun with your little game, dear Virus," Ceteria said, scrolling through a smartphone-like device. She pulled up a news article on it, revealing a video of Ultraman Hero, Saiphza, and an Alien Repturn battling against what appeared to be a metal Belial. "I suppose this is the result of some human using a Devil Splinter on themselves? That's the only explanation I can come up with for how a metal copy of Ultraman Belial appeared, since we're the only ones on this planet that have any access to them."

"So you really gave away one of our Devil Splinters to a pathetic human," Illne grumbled. "Why?"

"Well, considering that this-" Virus pointed to the three on the ground, "- is the end result of fusing our powers into a Devil Splinter, I was curious to see how an untampered Devil Splinter would affect a human with a Quirk."

"So giving a human a Devil Splinter results in their Quirk making a Belial clone?" Maladi said. "Weird."

"Actually, I'm assuming that Wolfram's Belial was the result of the Devil Splinter amplifying his already supercharged metal control Quirk. I guess I should've taken that device into account, since I did want to take it after all. There's no telling what it might've done to him if he had a different Quirk... I suppose that's something I should experiment with next time."

"Does that mean you didn't get it after all that trouble?" Illne said, crossing her arms.

"Yes, and no," Virus said, opening his trench coat and pulling out the shadow duplicate of the Quirk Amplification Device that he had made. "I created this as a shell so I could create my own, as well as taking all the blueprints and flash drives they had for it. I'd argue that's even better than just grabbing the device, don't you think?"

"Makes sense, I guess," Maladi said, shrugging. "So what are we going to do with that thing? It's supposed to amplify Quirks, right? Last time I checked, our powers aren't Quirks."

"You remember how we were unable to get the Crystal Core Crown from the Royal Family on Planet Magic?" Virus said, storing the shadow duplicate back. "I think it will be a good replacement for it. It is a similar shape, after all. Just a little more mechanical and without the jewels, that's all."

"Really? You think something manmade can replace an ancient magical artifact? One that was protected by layers of light that we couldn't penetrate?"

"They really should've used that light barrier for their kids instead of a crown," Virus laughed. "Well, I think I should get going to the bar. Check in on our good friends there, get some Quirk suppressors, before heading back to our little old hideout to begin work on reproducing the device. Have fun, everyone!"

With that, Virus stepped back onto a tree, and disappeared from view.

Hiroshi's hospital room

"Man, I can't wait to get out of here," Hiroshi muttered. Everyone but the SiDE Team and All Might had left, seeing as it was crowded in the hospital room he was staying at. Danny had chosen to go back to the hotel room early and Melissa went to spend some more time with her father. "Aizawa won't be happy if I'm late to the special training."

"Maybe he won't be too harsh on you after everything that happened here?" Ochako said, as everyone stared at her, an eyebrow raised. "... Yea, you're probably right."

"Honestly I'm gonna be thankful that we're going to get some training done," Hiroshi said, shrugging. "Would be a nice change of pace to NOT get involved in some crazy shit through sheer coincidence."

"Ashido and the others are probably dreading it," Fuka said, thinking about the summer school hell that they were going to be put through. Everyone in the room chuckled when someone knocked at the door. All Might reflexively assumed his muscle form in case it was someone that wasn't in on the secret.

"You can come in," Hiroshi said. The door slid open, and Godzillo walked inside, having shrunk to about All Might's size to fit in.

"GODZILLO!" Setsuna shouted, before slamming her hands over her mouth, cheeks red from embarrassment.

"Why are you so small now!?" Fuka said, pointing out that Godzillo wasn't at his usual height.

"Since I came out as an alien and all, I figured that I could actually use my powers more now," Godzillo chuckled. "Me being 4 meters tall was something I came up with before my debut so I could sell the idea that I'm a 'monster hero' more easily. It's nice that I can finally enter and exit buildings now without them needing to be accommodated for that size. I'll probably still use 4 meters as my 'normal' height though since that is what I'm marketed with."

"I guess this is related to what you wanted to talk to me after the opening reception, huh?" Hiroshi said, remembering that he promised to chat with the reptilian pro hero. "Do you need everyone to leave, or-"

"It's alright, I feel like you all will become involved in one way or another," Godzillo said. "You see, I was going to ask you and Ultraman Hero how you were so confident in revealing that aliens exist to the people of this Earth, and that I was half Alien Repturn and half human."

"Oh, that? Well, firstly, it's kinda hard not to hide the fact that aliens exist when two giants from space come out of nowhere and start fighting," Hiroshi laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "But in the end, Hero and I decided that it was best that people knew the truth, you know? Better prepare everyone with the knowledge that aliens exist instead of being caught off guard when more come, right?"

"I see... What a simpleminded reason," Godzillo said, chuckling for a bit. "Honestly I wish I had that sort of courage when I was your age. To reveal that aliens exist and live here, and that we wanted to walk alongside humans on this Earth in peace. To not have to hide who we really were."

"So why didn't you?" Hiroshi asked.

"Oh, I guess you haven't had the chance to watch the press conference," Godzillo said, to which Hiroshi nodded no. "Well, it was because my mother always stressed the importance of keeping it a secret, that humans didn't need to deal with the fact that aliens exist too while Quirks were still being researched, and that prejudice against humans with mutant-type Quirks was still common. There was a point where I wanted to reveal it all, but then an organization sent a contact to stop me from doing so years ago."

"An organization?" Izuku said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure that they're going to send me some very angry messages, but considering that I went ahead and reveal my status as half alien after keeping it secret for so long, it probably doesn't matter," Godzillo said, shrugging. "There's a secret worldwide organization called Hidden Extraterrestrial Life Protection Services, or HELPS for short. They're not aligned with any world government, but they do have contacts in some of them."

"So an organization like that exists..." All Might said, rubbing his chin in thought. "So why didn't they intervene with Ultraman Hero and Tyrannion?"

"It's mostly due to the fact that despite being a secret worldwide organization, HELPS doesn't actually have any physical agencies of their own in other countries. Their biggest one is a headquarters in California," Godzillo explained. "They don't have a foothold in Japan, so I spent quite a bit of my years here without knowing they existed. Once they found out about me during my rise in popularity, they sent their Head Director there to inform me about them, as well as stop me from revealing my alien heritage."

"Why didn't you mention HELPS during the press conference?" Ochako asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, everyone knows that aliens exist now."

"Believe it or not, they want to stay secret in spite of everything that's happened," Godzillo said, shaking his head. "So I decided to respect that."

"... You're kidding, right?" Kyoka said dryly.

"No, I'm not. Their Head Director, Deim, was appointed the role when they reached out to me the first time. He's of the same opinion that we needed to reveal the existence of aliens to the world, but since he's newer than most of the board members, he didn't really have the sway to convince them. It's only recently where some of them started to consider revealing themselves and the fact that aliens live on this Earth," Godzillo explained.

"Ah, so they're trying to just bury their heads in the sand about the change in status quo," Hiroshi said, laughing a bit. "Boy, it's not a great look if they keep holding off revealing their existence after people have started to accept that aliens exist."

"They'd have to change their name to 'ELPS' since they're not going to be hidden anymore in that case," Pony laughed.

"So why tell me, well, us about them at all?" Hiroshi asked.

"Well, the way I'm thinking, I'm sure that they're going to either send a representative or invite you to their headquarters to give you a dressing down or something about ruining years of work sometime in the future," Godzillo said, shrugging. "I figured I should give you a heads up, especially since the main topic I wanted to talk about is now out in the open already."

"Fair enough," Hiroshi said. "Thanks!"

"So is Deim like, an alias or something?" Fuka asked. "Definitely isn't a normal name."

"Oh, that's because it's his real alien name. I've talked to him on the phone a while ago, and he's allowed me to tell you all who he really is," Godzillo said, tapping his chin. "He calls himself Dalton Donovan, and he's-"

"DALTON DONOVAN!? As in the director and producer of almost all of your movies!?" Izuku and Setsuna shouted at the same time.

"He's an alien!?" Ochako said.

"[Wow! I don't believe it!]" Pony said, jaw dropped.

"To think that aliens were that integrated into our Earth's society!" Tenya said, his arms robotically swinging around in shock.

"Yea, who knew aliens could be so influential!?" Kyoka said, now wondering if there were any aliens in the distributing company her parents used.

"I would have never expected a man like him to be one!" Momo said, covering her mouth with her hand in surprise. "I've met him a few times at my parents' parties, but he's never shown any signs of being an alien!"

"I as well," All Might said, equally as surprised. "His studio's offered me to make movies, but I prefer making ones in Japan rather than America."

"Yes, Deim's like that," Godzillo laughed. "He's an Alien Neril, and they're known for being some of the friendliest aliens in the universe. They learn a lot of cultures and customs of other planets in order to understand the people better. He's the reason why I moved to California all of a sudden. Not only would it be easier for HELPS to support me there, the cities there have larger roads and buildings to accommodate for bigger people, and that if I became a movie star, I could convince everyone to accept aliens since I was already in the public eye."

"That... makes sense," Setsuna said, as she began to mumble. "TheannouncementthatyouweremovingtotheUnitedStatescameoutofnowhereandmadeeveryonewonderwhyyoudidsowhenyourpopularitywasbeginningtoboominJapanandwereshockedtohearthatyouwerebeginninganactorcareeralongsideyourjobasaprohero-"

"-ifanythingthemovetoCaliforniajusthelpedboostyourpopularityandfameasamajorityofyourmovieswithDaltonDonovanwereboxofficehitswithonlyafewdudshereandtheretthoughthatwasusuallybecauseofadifferentdirectorbeinginchargewhileDaltonDonovanwasbusy-" Izuku joined in.

"Oh my god they're both mumbling like crazy," Kyoka said, as everyone watched the two mumble away, almost all in one breath.

"She always did love Godzillo when we were real little," Hiroshi laughed.

"Hahaha, you two certainly know your stuff, huh?" Godzillo laughed, catching the two's attention. They blushed as they realized what they were doing. "But yea, Deim's offer is exactly why I moved the United States all of a sudden in the middle of my pro hero career and added acting to my résumé. The guy's basically my friend ever since thanks to our shared dreams."

"Well, I've dealt with the HPSC and other governmental organizations before, so I don't think dealing with HELPS will be any different," Hiroshi said.

"Quite honestly dealing with them is the least of our worries," Hero pointed out.

"Yea, I know..."

At the seedy bar in a suspicious alleyway

"Hello hello, how is everyone here?" Virus said, as he stepped off the wall to join everyone at the bar.

"Curious," Golkin said, scrolling through his phone. "You have anything to do with that attack on I-Island last night?"

"Oh, I did," Virus said, as he took a seat at a table, crossing his left leg. "Had a little game where I'd get a certain device before those mercenaries did. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, right Teacher?"

"Oh? So you figured out my involvement with the mercenary's leader, have you?" Tomura's Teacher said through the monitor.

"His shadow was practically blurting out everything when I checked him!" Virus laughed. "I decided to give him a little helping hand of my own! Make things fair, you know? If he's going to compete against an alien, then he needs something to give him an edge. Too bad he didn't think of using that when I was still there."

"So you went ahead and some other asshole alien powers..." Tomura grumbled, becoming very familiar and very annoyed with Virus's habit of passing over him for powers.

"Oh, you should be glad that I handed him those powers instead of you. I went and checked his shadow. The man's braindead. They're saying he's in a vegetative state, but the damage is worse than they think," Virus stated. "His human body couldn't handle all that alien power on top of his supercharged Quirks."

"With that track record of alien powers screwing with humans, I think I'll pass on anything from you, so no thanks," Magne said, holding up her hands.

"I'd rather lose an arm than get screwed over by alien powers," Mr. Compress added, shivering at the thought of losing all cognitive functions in exchange for alien powers. Dabi remained silent, as he glanced over to Virus every now and then, still unsure of how to best handle the alien when he outlived his usefulness.

"Your losses," Virus said, shrugging. "Do you happen to have any Quirk suppressing technology or drugs, my good Doctor? The newly converted members on my side of things haven't made any progress with their training, and have been falling back on their Quirks. So I figure that denying them the ability to use their Quirks will encourage them to actually figure out how to use their new powers!"

"I'll scrounge something up soon and have Kurogiri deliver it to you when I'm done. But speaking of alien powers, I think you'd be happy to know that the alien Nomus you gave me are truly finished now," the Doctor said through the monitor. "It usually takes months of preparation to make high quality Nomus, but these alien ones took only a few weeks in comparison! They're simply exquisite! When will you give me some more to experiment on!?"

"Let's not be too hasty, my good Doctor!" Virus said, waving his finger in disapproval. "We should see how these ones do! Any plans that you have in mind?"

"Young Tomura has been crafting one of his own," the Teacher replied. "I suppose the alien Nomus will be tested during that time."

"Oooh, how fun!" Virus said, clapping.

"Why are you pretending to be surprised? You've probably got all the information from my shadow," Tomura pointed out.

"Indeed I did!" Virus answered. "And my allies and I will be happy to assist in it in anyway we can."

"Good, you're finally going to be useful," Tomura said. "Any aliens you're gonna hire to help us?"

"Hm... I think for your plan we only need Mr. Compress, Magne, Dabi, and Golkin, in addition to me and my allies, plus the new recruits and the alien Nomus! You and Kurogiri can just sit here patiently until we need you to escape," Virus said, tapping his chin in thought. He stood up, and started walking over to the wall. "Well, I think I'll go ahead and start on a new project! See you all soon!"

Outside at the alleyway

"Alright, time to head back to our hideout," Virus said, stepping off the wall and pulling out his multiversal remote. He opened up a dark blue portal, and walked through it. After closing the portal, he entered a hallway made of black metal that reflected the ceiling's lights. He walked in silence, with only the echoes of his footsteps accompanying him. Soon the hallway ended, and he opened a door to a catwalk. Almost immediately a cacophony of screeches and roars replaced the silence. Virus walked and leaned over the railing looked down, and watched as all of the giant aliens he and the others have captured struggle against the confines of their enclosures.

"Sorry, but there's no way I'm letting you all out," Virus chuckled to himself. "Not yet, at least. And even then, not all of you. Need to keep a reserve in case."

He hummed as he went on with his walk, enjoying the noise as he reached the end and entered another hallway. The cacophony ended as quickly as it began, and soon he found the room he was looking for. Inside the room was a workshop of sorts, with a large computer console on one end, and what seemed to be a 3D printer nearby. A large shuttered window was to the left of the computer console. Virus approached it, and pulled out his shadow duplicate of the Quirk Amplification Device, tossing it into a scanner of sorts. Machinery sprung to life as it began to construct parts based on the device, and Virus pulled out the flash drives and blueprints that he had taken.

He inserted several the flash drives into the computer, and immediately began pulling out the schematics and instructions. The computer read through file after file, some being written notes and plans, others being video entries concerning the development. After a few minutes, it began 3D printing the first parts needed for the Quirk Amplification Device. "Fascinating," Virus muttered, as he began to read through the physical blueprints. "For a humanmade device, this is quite advanced. Not difficult to replicate by any means, but still quite the surprise..."

"Ẅ̴̡̦̫͉͖̝̠̲͙̭̖̝̦́̽͠h̴̡̺̥̮͖̖̞͙͔̓͛̄͌͐̄̔͆̓̊̈́̿̈͒̕͜͠͝o̸̡̨̙͕̲͇̗̘̼̹̙͑̄̓͛̑̽̿̽̚͘̕̚͝ͅl̸̢͖͈̱̠̫̺̦̣͂̍̈́͠ͅe̴̡̨̡̻̳̫̳̞͍͈͎̦̣̭͓͆̐͑̎̐̇̐̀̊̋͑̐͐̕͘͝͝ͅ.̵̛̪̜̫̠͎̮͎̼͚̔̿̀̕.̴̳͖̠͚̣̺͙̱̥͍͕̝͙̻̘͎͐̇̈͌̈́̎̍̊̊͗̕͜.̶̘͓͓͂͑̇̈̂̆̐̈́̐̃̈́͊̚.̸̢̘̯͔̩͕̹̼̋̐̆̅̎̈́̆͗̄"

Virus picked his head up from reading the blueprints, and walked over to the shuttered window. Covering his right hand in shadowy energy, he waved it over the window, making it open and reveal a massive multistory chamber, with windows dotting along the walls. Inside was a large, swirling mass of inky black energy, with glowing red dots that seemed to blink every so often, as if they were eyes. At the center of the energy was something that resembled a large brain. A tendril slammed against the window, dragging across it. "It's been quite a while since we've chatted, huh? Been pretty busy with our operations on this Earth."

"Yes yes, I know," Virus replied. "Don't worry, we'll get you back together with your body soon enough. You've waited for thousands and thousands of years, so you can wait a while longer, right? Besides, the seal is too strong, and we need a great deal of despair to break it. Even if we unleashed everything in an instant, I doubt it would be enough. Best let it cultivate. Feed it. Build it up over time. That way, when everything finally breaks, we get an overwhelming amount in one sitting! Not enough to break it immediately, but enough to make gathering more far easier! And much more entertaining as well."

"True, you've lost quite a bit of the eloquence and intelligence you had when we met. No doubt thanks to your current host being centuries old now and running on its last legs," Virus said, shrugging. "Which is why we'll be getting you a fresh new temporary host until we can finally make you whole. I have no doubt that you're regain at least some of that eloquence back, or at least be able to say anything other than one word. And I've already got the perfect host in mind."

"Right right," Virus said, as he began to take the parts that were finished printing and figuring out where each one went, laying them out like puzzle pieces. "I remember the deal. You give us your power so that we can take our revenge, and in return, we serve you by causing chaos, despair, and disorder while searching for the Earth that your body had been sealed on. Though I have to say, I never expected the seal of light to actually be filtering your power and changing its properties altogether, like how they affect aliens differently than how they're supposed to."

Virus pulled out the Quirkology book from his trench coat and placed it on the workbench. "It's astounding, really, to read about the early years of Quirks. A few early Quirks are really just facets of your own powers. I suppose that while the seal holds your body back, it was busy filtrating all of your powers leaking from it for thousands and thousands of years until it became more suitable to bestow onto humans. Would explain why the world's first Quirk was a luminescence Quirk instead of a darkness Quirk. I bet that was their way of showing the world that the ancient darkness that plagued it was now light. Too bad Quirks still caused quite a bit of chaos in the end. Light simply draws more darkness. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow."

"Ultraman Hero? Hmph, he picked quite the interesting host," Virus chuckled, as he turned his attention to the computer and typed on it to read some more files and watch more video entries. "For as heroic as he is, he has quite the chip on his shoulder. Quite unbecoming of a hero, isn't it? And we can take advantage of that. After all, a human's heart is such a frail object. And Ultras..."

Virus's trailed off, as he recounted what Hero was trying to say at I-Island. His hand tightened, and he slammed it onto the console's keyboard. "Ultras... they're idealistic fools. Powerful, almost invincible fools, but fools regardless. We'll let Mr. Hero and his host play hero for now, but soon, they'll realize the truth. Convictions? All just justifications that fools make for their egos. Friendships? Nothing more than relationships of convenience to toss away once they're no longer useful. Hope? Peace? Meaningless trite for people that yearn for nonexistent stability."

He got up from his seat and slammed the soldering iron onto the workbench. He turned around behind him and created perfect shadow constructs of himself, Illne, and the other three, though a strange sixth figure stood among them. Their features were blurred and indistinct, their face a foggy mess, as if he couldn't stand the thought of finishing making their construct. His fist tensed, and he punched the mysterious sixth member, making it burst into clouds of shadows. "And that fool believed in all of it. He led us all as if he understood anything, and look what happened."

Virus covered his hand in shadowy energy and waved it, making the rest of the shadow constructs disappear. "Oh well. If it weren't for him, I suppose we wouldn't have met you and gain your powers, so I should thank him for that," Virus said, shaking his head as he turned to look out the window. "Our meeting helped me open my eyes to the truth of it all. Who needs justifications anymore when so few can stop you? Who needs friendships when that opens you to betrayal? And who needs the falsities of stability in a multiverse where 'peace' shatters with a drop of a pin? Don't you agree, sir?"

"Of course, I know that I'm just talking to myself at this point. I never really expected you to be a conversationalist. None of the others really are, either. It's lonely, having no one understand me," Virus said. He took a look at the computer's screen, and typed onto it, watching the 3D printer create more pieces. "I suppose I should let the computer build the bulk of the device before handling the more delicate parts. Would like to take a break from this. In the meantime, I should focus on these."

He put his hand into his pocket, and pulled out the remaining two Despair Cores in his hand. He tightened his grip around them, and shadowy energy coated his hand. "Illne and the others think I've wasted the first three on those idiots. How naïve. Do they really think we should give them to someone who could actually be useful without examining the effects they can have? Those three idiots are disposable test subjects. And I can already tell that they're providing us useful information."

He opened his hand and examined the Despair Cores in his palm. While the shape of the Despair Cores hadn't changed, the purple had become darker, almost black in shade. "Our powers do in fact negate the corruptive and maddening effects of the Devil Splinter while granting the user both of our powers. Giving that Wolfram fellow that Devil Splinter was an excellent way of testing that, considering how the instant he used it on himself, he lost all semblance of control and sanity. Not to mention that he became braindead as a result. But the amount of power I put into the Despair Cores isn't enough to stop it, seeing as those three idiots spent several days in pain while their bodies adjusted to them. I suspect that these... Tier 2 Despair Cores, I'll call them, will shorten that time significantly, but not totally. After all, while Devil Splinters are just fragments of Ultraman Belial's power, it's still powerful enough to have some influence. If these Tier 2 Despair Cores work as I planned, we can start making more and using them on more humans."

He started to toss them into the air a bit, before putting them into his pocket. "And I already have some perfect candidates in mind."

Hiroshi's hospital room

"You know, you two don't need to hang around with me," Hiroshi said, as he, Fuka, and Setsuna watched TV. The others had finally left to go for dinner, and to get some more rest since they were now comfortable knowing that Hiroshi was fine. "I'm sure that the hotel room's a lot more comfortable than here."

"But then you'd be all alone by yourself!" Setsuna said dramatically, throwing herself back a bit with the back of her right hand on her forehead. "And we can't let that happen!"

"I'm still here though," Hero said while Hiroshi rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Thanks guys," Hiroshi said, rubbing the back of his head, when there was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Hayate and Kana came in, with their parents and Mizuna following them.

"Hey you guys," Hayate said, looking at the three.

"You guys done with helping out there?" Fuka asked.

"Yea, your alien friends are really helpful. They had scanners to look for people and repair drones to take care of the damages," Kana said. "But I think... we should talk about yesterday."

"Oh," Hiroshi said, looking away. "Let me guess. I was too reckless, wasn't I? I should've been more careful, right?"

"Actually, we're really proud of you, you little rascal," Hayate said, smiling as he ruffled Hiroshi's hair.

"Wait, what?"

"Yea, I mean, of course we were worried after you got hospitalized, but Mom, Dad, Mizuna, and even All Might talked to us about our behavior," Kana said, rubbing the back of her head. "And, well, after what happened earlier yesterday, we realized that we... haven't been the best listeners."

"We're sorry about not really paying attention to you," Hayate sighed. "We had your best interests in mind, but we were totally ignorant to what you're really like."

"Really?" Hiroshi said, raising an eyebrow.

"Really," Hayate confirmed. "Besides, you got the Furinji determination!"

"And knowing us and Fuka, you're not going to let anything stop you from helping others. Not even us," Kana added, smiling as she shrugged. "So from here on out, we're going to be here for you, Hiroshi. And that includes you, Hero."

"I'm honored," Hero said.

"... Thanks," Hiroshi said, giving them a small smile.

"Granted, this is... gonna be a habit we need to break out from," Hayate admitted. "Just promise us that you'll take things slow and not try to jump headfirst into saving everyone on your own, alright?"

"I should be saying that to you two," Hiroshi said, making everyone in the room chuckle. No one noticed him gaze onto his hands, tightening them as he thought about Virus. He won't let him win next time. Not by a long shot. He and Hero...

He and Hero will stop at nothing to beat him.

ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:

- And now we've finished the I-Island arc. Next up will be the beginning of the Special Training 'Camp' Arc! But first a break from UHA, finish up writing the next BUAH! chapter, and then working on my series of pilot chapters!
- It'd make sense that while signal and wifi would be blocked, but that doesn't stop people from actually taking footage, right? I feel like I should point that out.
- I hope it's not too ridiculous that Hiroshi and Hero met the vestiges of One for All first. I figured that since they were telepathically linked, it'd allow them the ability to drift into that plane by accident.
- I chose to use 'Ayumu' as En's first name because 'mu' is one way to pronounce '6' in Japanese. I might change it to the canon name when that gets revealed eventually.
- It's been way too long since I've addressed the fact that All Might knows that Tomura's actually Nana's grandson, right? Lots of other plots got caught up before, so I figured that this would be a good time to bring it back. Much like how a good number of plot points end up being handled.
- HELPS will become important soon enough. But for now, bureaucracy and bickering is gonna occupy their time.
- The scene with Virus at the end is something I've been looking forward to because of it having big reveals, but also was sort of worried about. It very exposition and dialogue heavy for a scene with just ONE person. Though I do think I've established that Virus is just one of those people who talks to himself when he's alone in past chapters. It's just that this time he's talking in like, full paragraphs instead of just sentences. I did always intend on him having this sort of scene, though. And he IS technically talking to someone. Just someone that can't actually reply back.
- I was actually going to end the chapter the Virus scene, but then I realized that I should address the change in Hiroshi's relationship with the twins. It's a more appropriate ending, I think. Or it at least gives some more solid closure to their relationship, even if it never really got focused on through the story since the twins live on their own for the most part and Hiroshi and Fuka moved to the UA dorms.