The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Nine
AN: I need to thank my editors, who have been keeping me on my toes and helping me with figuring this stuff out. So, thank you to Penguin Lord0029 and nightwind83. You guys are friggin' majestic.
"Normal speech."
"Buff Might/AI speech."
'Sign language.'
'Thoughts without intent to share ideas/feelings. Some will be heard by Izuku regardless of intent.'
"Telepathy."
A Few Days Before The Sports Festival, At Dagobah Municipal Beach
All Might sat in the sand, looking out over the ocean. He had arrived early, eager to help his new protege. When the smiling teenager came to him with an idea to allow him to more safely use One for All, the Symbol of Peace was unable to find time in his schedule during normal hours of the day to help him, but he'd worked with Izuku and his mother, and squeezed in an hour or so to try out his new idea. The sun had set a little under an hour ago, and he and the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl, relaxed as they waited, Toshinori having offered to get a coat from his truck for the older Pro. She had smacked him with her cane, stating that not only wasn't it quite that cold out, being close to summer time, but she wasn't quite old enough yet to need it.
"Yagi-sensei! Doctor Shuzenji!" the bright-eyed boy exclaimed as he made his presence known, having just arrived. The grin on his face was infectious, and despite her misgivings, even the white mage of the pro hero world cracked a smile.
As he made his way over, Recovery Girl gently bopped his shin with her cane. "I keep telling you you can call me Doctor Chiyo in public! I know you call me that when it's just you and your mother! Stop being so nervous, child!" she said with a smile on her face, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag of gummies. "Eat one before you try your new technique. If you knock yourself out and you're really hurt, you're going to need the stamina if you want me to heal you."
Izuku nodded, already familiar with how U.A.'s school nurse's quirk worked, and the reason for the gummies. He popped one in his mouth, getting it eaten and in his stomach as quickly as was safe, then turned to the mightiest of heroes. "Okay, so I've already figured out the first part of this. I just need to find out if it's safe to use One for All while I've got this going," he explained, then moved a bit further out towards the water, beginning to glow green.
The ninth inheritor of One for All hovered a little bit off the ground, and surrounded himself in what appeared to be a cube of his green shields. He concentrated, reminding himself of the reasons he felt his life was worth safeguarding. 'I'm not just one person, isolated. I've connected with wonderful people. As I have depended on the goodness of others, soon others will come to depend on me. Mom, All Might-sensei, Uraraka-san, Kacchan, Eraserhead-sensei, Doctor Chiyo, and so many others have become a part of my life now. I'll protect myself so that I can be strong enough to protect them, and to protect the wonderful people in this world I've not even met yet! My strength has a purpose. I have a purpose!' as the green-haired hero was thinking these thoughts, feeling these feelings, the cube began shrinking around him, eventually shaping itself around his body like a second skin, phasing straight through his clothes as it did so.
Toshinori smiled a wide grin, liking just how cool his successor looked as he reinforced his body. And the result was pretty awe-inspiring, too! From his perspective, Izuku appeared to have a glowing green outline around any part of his body that wasn't covered by clothing. The sight was honestly awe-inspiring.
Chiyo hid a bit of sadness with a sigh, then spoke up. "All right, sonny! Let out a punch!" the diminutive hero called out. The boy with a heart of gold nodded, and wound up a punch, preparing to release one hundred percent.
"SMAAAASH!"
A portion of the ocean, not quite reaching the floor after fifteen meters out, was parted as the force of the punch made its way out to sea, dissipating far enough away that no one there could see how far it went. Izuku grunted in discomfort, his shoulder and the limb attached to it feeling a bit sore after the attack.
All Might and his protege grinned simultaneously, while Recovery Girl let out an exasperated sigh and smiled softly as she made her way over to assess the damage. At least it hadn't turned purple this time.
A Little Over An Hour Later, With Toshinori And Chiyo
Toshinori grinned as he drove Doctor Shuzenji home. Izuku had done so well today with his quirk! The man knew for a while that he'd picked the right candidate to inherit One for All, but he wasn't expecting to be proven right over and over again the way he was! He was surprised, then, when he heard the elderly healer in his passenger seat release a sad-sounding sigh. "Recovery Girl, what's the matter?" he asked, concerned.
The Youthful Hero scrunched her eyebrows together. "His green aura is dependent on his desire to protect something, right, Toshi?" she asked.
Toshinori nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. "His shields require that feeling to work, but he can use the green aura regardless of his emotional state, unless he's happy, which turns it blue. Why do you ask?" the skeletal man replied, a bit of a frown making its way to his face.
The Youthful Heroine's eyes narrowed. "Then why is he capable of reinforcing the bodies of others so quickly, when reinforcing his own takes so much time and effort? I don't want to assume, but he might be keeping some upsetting thoughts in that brilliant head of his. Don't make a big deal of it, but please keep an eye on him, Toshi. If I'm wrong, we'll have worried for nothing, but if he's having those kinds of thoughts, and we don't do something to help him, I don't think I'd be able to live with myself," she explained, letting a weary sigh out after she finished.
The symbol of peace grimaced, remembering the details behind Izuku's birth. "So many people were hurt by that man. I won't let two of the only survivors of his schemes fall into such despair, not after I completely failed to deal with him as I should have!" the blond vowed, gripping his steering wheel tightly as his heart turned hot with anger.
Recovery Girl leaned her head in one of her hands. "Toshi, there was nothing you could have done. Nobody even knew who he was or what he was doing until that little girl escaped and found her way to people who could help. It's upsetting, I know, but there was simply too little information to know what we were dealing with! All we can do now is help the survivors of that monster Scalpel live the rest of their lives in peace," the healing heroine lamented, for once sounding her age.
Toshinori nodded. "You're right. It's our duty to make things right in the world. Keeping the victims of such disasters happy and safe is part of that. Speaking of which, how is she doing? Aureck, I mean?" he asked softly.
Chiyo rolled her eyes. "She's been coming by a lot more frequently lately. The security cameras still pick her up, even if our own senses can't. Still keeps to herself for the most part, but she's made friends with Gentleman and Lady Love, of all people, and she's still hanging out with that Hatsume girl, all these years later. The two of them have really helped each other out. I'm glad she decided to break into her house after hiding herself away, even if the act was illegal. She's also made friends with one other hooligan I'm aware of. It seems she really likes people with goodness in their hearts, judging by the people she's revealed herself to," the healer explained, a wistful smile making its way to her face.
Toshinori raised an eyebrow in confusion. "So, she hasn't tried to speak with young Midoriya yet?" he asked, a bit concerned.
Doctor Shuzenji sighed. "She wants to, but she's afraid. She's always been afraid to open up. With Izuku, though, she's afraid of more than that," the woman explained, then lowered her head in sadness, and finished her statement, "She's afraid of how much it will hurt when she reveals herself to him, and he has no clue who she is."
With that sobering thought, the two of them spent the rest of the ride in silence.
Day Of The Sports Festival
Izuku was incredibly nervous, but also really excited. Here he and his fellow first-years stood, in front of an enormous crowd. The joy in the arena was so overwhelming, his blue aura occasionally swelled enough that he had to shape it into a pillar in order to prevent it from interfering with any of his classmates or the other students on the field. He could sense his mother in the crowd with incredible ease, the joy, pride, and anxiousness so powerful it was as if he was right next to her, and he had to stop himself from attempting to go over to where she was to calm her down. He simply sent comforting feelings her way through his empathic abilities.
His excitement nearly turned into panic when Midnight called him out. "Midoriya Izuku, as the student to come in first in the entrance exam, it's your duty to give a pledge! Come up here, you adorable first year!" the R-Rated Hero exclaimed, toning back a bit on the kind of teasing she'd usually do. She's had him faint enough times in her class to know he can't handle that much, and it'd be counterproductive to have him pass out now.
The poor boy made his way up onto the podium, sweating like mad from anxiety. The heat certainly didn't help the situation, either. As he stood for a second to try and calm down, he focused on the feelings of those closest to him, focusing on those feelings to help deal with his nerves. Pride. Excitement. Anticipation. Adoration. Some other nice thing he couldn't identify for some reason. He took a deep breath and spoke.
"Well, we're here. Today, all of us first years are here to represent our school, U.A., in this event. I may have come in first place in the entrance exam, but I was really nervous then, regardless. To get into U.A., you have to be the best of the best, regardless of what course you're aiming for. General Studies, Heroics, Management, Support? Everybody who earned their place in those courses worked long and hard to make it there. It's the biggest school in the nation, and even the worst student can't be called a slouch if they made it here. That day, we were all winners. Today, if we all try our hardest, put in the effort to be better than we were yesterday, go even just a little bit beyond our limits, we will win today, too. That's the school motto, after all, right? Go beyond," he said, then raised his fist skyward and shouted, "PLUS ULTRA!"
The crowd, and a significant portion of the students gathered erupted in cheers, and Izuku was a blue blur as he got off the stage and back to his spot amongst his fellow students, causing a few chuckles to come from the crowd, startling Izuku when he realized that people found his shyness adorable and sweet.
The sleep-inducing seductress grinned. "We have quite the crop of students here today, folks! But I bet you're all wondering, what will the first event be? It's a mystery, viewers, one that will be unravelled by this randomizer behind me!" Nemuri announced, gesturing to the display rising from an opening in the ground behind the podium.
In seconds, the randomizer stopped, though calling it a randomizer was a lie, honestly. The envoy of Morpheus grinned wider. "It's the Obstacle Race! Here are the rules! You must complete a lap around the stadium, and deal with the obstacles in your path! Do your best to return to the arena first! As for how you deal with the obstacles, well, as long as you stay inside the marked area, anything goes! Now, all of you crazy kids, make your way over to the starting line over there!" Midnight exclaimed, pointing to a section of the stadium wall that began opening to reveal an arch leading outside.
The students made their way to the starting line, waiting with bated breath. The first indicator light lit, then the second, then one more, until…
"GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT!"
Pretty much all the gathered students let out a warcry as they bolted to the course. This ended up being a bit of a mistake, since all of them being in that tunnel at once made it very crowded very fast. Finding himself in the middle of the mob, Izuku struggled a bit to make his way to a high enough position to see. As he struggled, a voice called out to him.
"IZUKU! DO THE THING!" Katsuki bellowed angrily.
"WHAT THING, KACCHAN?" the freckled teen called back.
"THE FUCKING HEROIC THING, YOU FUCKING NERD!"
Izuku blinked. "Oh."
Izuku's blue aura flooded the area, and every student still in the tunnel was gently lifted and set down on the course, allowing them all to bypass the cramped entrance tunnel. He then glowed brighter, and after releasing the other students from his hold, zoomed ahead, an incredibly loud bang heard as he broke the sound barrier. Kyoka and Mezo both telepathically thanked Izuku for having the sense to muffle their ears, a few tiny, ripped pieces of their outfits placed in their ears to reduce the damage from his takeoff sound.
Half A Minute Or So Ago, With Ochako
The smiling brunette let out a whoop as she flew, or more accurately, fell through the course, taking first place as she altered the direction her gravity took her and moved down the course at terminal velocity, easily passing up Shoto on the way. She had to change her flow and return to the ground a lot sooner than she expected, though, because suddenly, robots, tons of them!
"And it looks like our first place contestant Uraraka Ochako has come to a halt, having come across the first obstacle! Making a comeback from the practical portion of the entrance exams, it's the Robot Inferno! How will our contestants overcome these mighty metal titans?" Present Mic, always present at these events, pun very much intended, commented.
Ochako got into a ready stance and grinned. "Payback time. I'm gonna punch at least one of these zero pointers in the motherboard!" she declared, then let out a warcry before a series of explosions were heard nearby.
Jumping back, not wanting to leave herself open to the zero pointer in front of her, Ochako turned to check what the heck happened, then chuckled upon seeing Izuku tearing apart every zero pointer except the one in front of her. She sensed his attention on her, and he said one of the sweetest things he's told her in a while.
"Show that tin can the power of infinity, Uraraka-san!"
Her grin turned menacing. "Hey, you giant trash can! Can you feel fear?" she asked.
She was surprised when it answered. "Unknown. Inconclusive data."
The stargazing hero let out a warcry. "HERE'S YOUR DATA!" With a tap of all five fingers to herself, and a twist with the same hand, Ochako began falling at the droid behemoth before her, changing her gravitational pull to change her path and dodge its attacks as she made her way to the foot of the giant. As she changed the pull of gravity to ascend, she tapped the mechanical warrior with her other hand. Twisting that hand, she began to increase the pull of gravity on the zero pointer. With a loud screeching noise as metal was torn asunder, the colossus collapsed under its own weight.
"Wow, ladies and gentlemen! We may never learn if that zero pointer was able to feel fear, but I think it's safe to say that Uraraka's power is one that cannot be ignored! And speaking of ignorance, Midoriya has come to a complete stop, seemingly marvelling at his classmate's handiwork! With the speed he was clocked at when he took off earlier, he should have won the race by this point! What gives? Shota, you're his homeroom teacher. Do you have any enlightening details that might explain this mad lad's abrupt halt?" the Voice Hero asked, turning to his co-commentator for the day.
Shota rolled his eyes, and leaned forward. "Midoriya-san's quirk is a strange one. Mind and Body gives him a superpowered body, and powers you'd expect from an esper. He's probably doing this because seeing his classmates do well gives him joy, which allows him access to his blue aura. That explosion you heard when he took off like that was him breaking the sound barrier, something I've only seen him do when he's blue. Other than the previously stated hypothesis, your guess is as good as mine, Hizashi," he commented, glaring at his friend for having him actually talk.
Yamada Hizashi just laughed at his longtime friend. "That it is, buddy! Anyway, the two of them, along with Todoroki Shoto, Bakugou Katsuki, and Iida Tenya, have made their way to the second obstacle, The Fall! There is only one rule for passing this one, listeners! Don't fall! ...Unless you're Uraraka, who is falling in a completely different direction than the one that would have her fail here. Oh well, fall away, gravity girl! Fall away!"
Shota groaned in exasperation as he leaned back in his seat and rubbed his temples. It was going to be a long festival.
With Katsuki And Shoto
Katsuki was having the time of his life! Who knew interacting with people could be so fucking entertaining? The madman sang irritating songs as he chased down Half n' Half, intent on overtaking him and being a nuisance in general. He had just decided to stop singing The Song that Gets on Everybody's Nerves, and now he needed a new one.
"Hey, Diet Zuko! Do you know what fun is?" he screamed at the boy just a few meters ahead of him. Predictably, he deigned not to answer. "Here, I'll teach you about fun! F is for fire that burns down the whole town! U's for uranium...BOMBS! N is for no surviiiiivooooors-!"
Katsuki's singing was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a wall of ice. The boy stopped for a moment, offended by the obstacle before him. "I FUCKING HATE WALLS!" the ash blond roared, then let loose an explosion that tore the barrier to shards. "WALLS ONLY KEEP PEOPLE APART! NOW GET BACK HERE AND ACCEPT MY GODDAMN FRIEND REQUEST, YOU FRIGID HOT-HEAD!"
Shoto had gained a bit of a lead on Katsuki, the wall having stopped the explosive teen momentarily, and the son of second place breathed a sigh of relief. 'He just wouldn't stop singing. So irritating,' he thought to himself. He looked behind him, just to make sure the madman wasn't on his tail. He was a bit surprised not to see him behind him anymore. Heck, he couldn't even hear the telltale sound of his explosions anymore.
"HEY, KETCHUP AND MAYO, I'VE GOT A QUESTION FOR YA!" the bombastic badass shouted from...somewhere.
The recommendation student realized with some alarm where his opponent was when he saw a shadow forming on the ground a little bit ahead of him. Time seemed to slow down as he looked up to see the blond descending to where he was about to be. His grin widened and his eyes grew brighter, as he asked his question.
"EXPLOSIONS?!"
That was all the warning Shoto got before he got knocked back by the subject matter of the query, the crazy exploding teenager flying away as the scion of Endeavor tumbled.
Katsuki laughed uproariously as he flew ahead, bypassing The Fall with alacrity. He grinned as he approached the next obstacle, having heard Present Mic state previously that it was a minefield. He noticed Ochako slowing down about halfway through the obstacle, and took the opportunity before him.
"HERE I COME, PINK-CHEEKED NERD LOVER! BETTER GET READY, 'CAUSE HERE COMES THE BOOM!" the friend-seeking missile exclaimed, increasing the power of his explosions as he approached.
Seconds later, Katsuki realized that he probably shouldn't have given her a heads up. The brunette turned around and slapped him, sending him tumbling back through the air for a moment. 'Shit, this is making me nauseous! Note to self: don't underestimate somebody with a quirk that allows them to fuck around with the laws of physics as they please,' the slayer of Deku thought to himself.
Ochako wasn't done with him yet, though. "Sorry, Bakugou-san, but I've gotta take advantage of whatever openings I find!" she exclaimed, tapping herself with the hand that hadn't slapped Katsuki and making a twisting motion, as she reached out to him with the hand she had slapped him with.
The red-eyed teen felt something shift in the air, though he couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him, and then he snarled in rage (no, he did not yelp in a moment of fear. Fear was for other people, not Bakugou Motherfucking Katsuki.) as the bender of universal laws came flying in his general direction. He was incredibly confused for a moment when she flew straight past him, but then he felt that shift again, and it made sense.
"FORCE MANIPULATION: ORBITAL SLINGSHOT!"
As his fellow racer flew past him at jaw-dropping velocity and his gravity was suddenly returned, along with his position of third place, Katsuki picked his metaphorical jaw off the ground and grinned, righting himself in the air and following after her. "OI, SHITTY NERD! TELL YOUR GIRLFRIEND THAT HER TECHNIQUE NAMES ARE FUCKING BADASS!"
"She's/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend!" their voices shouted back in his head simultaneously, embarrassment and confusion not belonging to him making its way into his mind.
Katsuki smirked as he approached the finish line. Third place wasn't the greatest, but considering his competition, he'd take it. "Keep telling yourselves that! Now go find a quiet fucking corner and do some consensual hand-holding! Bonus points for eye-contact and finger-lacing!" the ash-blond menace teased, grinning as he could see the two of them stammering and separating a bit further where they'd settled after the race.
'I should have tried this whole friend thing sooner. It's fucking hilarious,' the boy lamented, even as he grinned with happiness.
A Few Minutes Later, As Everybody Prepared For The Cavalry Battle
Our favorite green cinnamon roll frowned just a little bit. He had hoped he could form a team with Ochako, Kacchan, and Tenya, but of the three of them, only Ochako had decided to join him, the other two stating their intent to compete with him. He wasn't sad about their desire to pit themselves against him in friendly competition, no. He was sad about what Tenya's reasoning for doing so implied.
'Am I hurting my friends by trying so hard to support them? I've been so excited about finally having friends that I completely forgot how much I simply don't understand about socializing with others...Am I upsetting them by helping them as much as I am? I really need to look into learning psychology...It could help with understanding how to keep from hurting their feelings…' the boy thought to himself.
A hand gently clasped his shoulder, its pinky not joining the other digits touching him. He turned to see Ochako gazing at him with a gentle smile. "You're thinking too hard about it, Midoriya-kun. It'd probably be a good idea to learn psychology regardless, considering how your quirk works, but your friends became your friends because they like you. They like the Midoriya-kun who helps with little, arbitrary things. They like the Midoriya-kun who cries entire litres of tears when he's happy enough. And they like the Midoriya-kun who worries constantly about the people he cares about. So don't worry so much about helping everybody too much, and just keep being Midoriya-kun!" she said, pepping him up and giving him a toothy grin. "That's what makes you a hero!"
"Well said, Uraraka-chan!" a voice shouted from nearby. The two of them turned to find Hatsume Mei standing nearby, a grin on her face that wouldn't look out of place on Katsuki. "It makes sense that you're the person Izuku Bonded with! The two of you complement each other so incredibly well! Now, we must seek out our final teammate! I need to show off my babies to the support companies in the audience, and I can't do that if we're one teammate short!"
Ochako cocked an eyebrow, a grin on her face. "Bold of you to assume we'll just let you waltz into our team, Hatsume-san," the brunette jested, as relieved as Izuku was that she'd been so willing to join.
The pinkette had a look of realization come across her face. "Oh, right! I'm supposed to ask for permission for stuff like joining teams! I spend so much time cooped up in my lab, I forget social necessities sometimes. So, may I join your team? You'd get access to my babies for this event, more importantly, Unit 0! And obviously, I'd get to fight alongside the team with the two frontrunners, allowing my babies to get even more attention! Oh, please, let me join your team!" the girl with the targeting pupils exclaimed, starting to sound desperate.
Izuku laughed, a grin making its way onto his face. "Uraraka-san was just messing with you. Of course we'll let you join our team. So, we just need one more teammate," he said, not knowing that their search would never need to occur.
"How about two more teammates, Master?" a pair of voices said simultaneously from nearby, causing Izuku to jump in surprise as he whirled around to see Fumikage kneeling before them, with Dark Shadow bowed next to the bird-headed boy.
Izuku giggled a little despite himself, and spoke to his newest teammates. "Rise, my apprentices. We have much to discuss," he said, gesturing as if he were The Senate himself.
Silly grins appeared upon the faces of the entire squad as they talked tactics.
A Little Over Ten Minutes Later
The ten million plus point team was ready. Izuku stood at the back left, with Mei to the right, and Fumikage and Dark Shadow in front. They had decided on an unorthodox method of attack, and Ochako being the rider was a big part of it, the girl seated atop her teammates with a confident smirk on her face.
The hero of dreams lifted the mic to her mouth. "All right, now that all the teams are in position, it's time to get this event going! Make it through this, and you'll be part of the climax that is the third event! Ready? GO!" Midnight exclaimed, and they were off.
As predicted, nearly every team gunned it for the ten million points right away. Izuku grinned as he formed a green aura shield in front of his team, adding others to their flanks. He lifted Ochako up a bit into the air as Mei pressed a button on a bracelet she'd put on. It extended across her body, until there were matching bracelets on her other arm, her legs, and a similar looking collar around her neck. A sound like a cannon shot was heard from the direction of her workshop, and she turned to her teammates with a grin. "All right, I'm good. Fly, you fools!" she exclaimed, and Ochako activated the jetpack attached to her back, flying away as Izuku and Dark Shadow covered her ascent.
Katsuki grinned from atop his team. "So you wanna play like that, huh?!" he shouted, then launched into the air after the flying gravity manipulator. "I'LL TAKE THOSE TEN MILLION POINTS NOW! ITADAKIMASU!"
Before the blasty boy could ascend high enough to get to Ochako, he was decked in the face by a familiar set of armor. With a grunt, he called out to one of his teammates. "OI, DISCOUNT SPIDERMAN! FUCKING PULL ME IN!"
Hanta rolled his eyes as he complied. He knew by this point that the insulting nicknames were a form of affection from the irritable explosion user, and that he started calling you by your actual name if you earned his respect, but it still kind of irked him. As the pomeranian from hell landed back atop his team, the tape user asked, "What's the plan now, fearless leader?"
Katsuki growled angrily. "Fuck, that's some crazy tactical bullshit Izuku's team's pulled. Uraraka's got that jetpack keeping her in the air, and two redundant methods of flight available if the jetpack gets busted. Not only that, but she's pretty high up there. We won't be able to reach her with Izuku around, and he's got his fucking gundam armor, so she's even more untouchable. Let's go make friends with that Icy Hot fucker, how does that sound?" he explained, ending with a suggestion and a grin.
His fucking badass steeds grinned and roared, "FRIENDSHIP IS INEVITABLE!"
"RESISTANCE IS IMPOLITE!" he added, then shouted to Eijiro, "Bring us closer! I wanna deck that Zuko lookalike in the jaw!"
With a warcry, Team Manly Men Plus One Manly Woman made their way to their new target. And thus, the Bakusquad began its formation in earnest.
Elsewhere, With Fumikage And Dark Shadow
The shadowy duo had found a target, and were preparing to set up their part of the plan. It was with a grin and a glare that they stood before Team Todoroki. A piece of Izuku's armor was attached to Fumikage's wrist. The child of darkness and mystery grinned internally. 'If Denki doesn't recognize what he's about to see, I'll have to confiscate his fan card,' Fumikage mused.
As soon as they got the go ahead from Izuku, the dynamic duo leaped into action. As they flew at the enemy team, Momo tossed a flashbang in his direction. "Just as Darth Midori predicted!" Dark Shadow exclaimed as he withdrew into his partner, negating any damage that may have been dealt to him. A box of green shields formed around Fumikage's head, and his arms moved to shield his eyes.
"It's a good thing you can just allow people to pass through your shields like air if you allow them, Master. Otherwise I would have faced the same fate as Darth Tyrannus just now," the befriender of a sentient quirk commented, then added, "They are close enough for the plan now."
As green aura moved beneath the five of them, Fumikage smirked. "Shadow Force Combo Attack: The Dark Realm," he called out, noting the bit of fear from his classmates as they saw a dome of earth forming around them, manipulated by Izuku's green aura.
They tried to escape, but in their haste to flee, they failed to realize that they weren't going up against just their one classmate and his sentient quirk, but their other classmate as well. Their feet were grabbed by tendrils of green aura, slowing them to a near halt.
As the dome finished forming, and Dark Shadow emerged from his partner, Shoto and his squadmates heard an eerie line from the pair, boy and quirk distorting their voices the same way they did at the mall. "The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural," the apprentices of the Dark Lord of Smiles quoted together.
Shoto grimaced. "Yaoyorozu-san, insulation! Kaminari-san, get ready!" His squad prepared the attack he'd been meaning to save for the entirety of Izuku's team and a few others, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Denki let loose with his quirk, making sure to hold back so as to not fry his brain. However, to their confusion, there was no cry of pain, nor did they see their opponents when the electric attack went off and brightened the inside of the dome for a moment.
The Class Rep created a flashlight, and shined it out into the man made cavern. In forming the dome, it seemed many rocks of various sizes had been dropped around. From behind one, Fumikage emerged, and blew Denki's mind upon activating the weapon attached to the armor piece he wore.
"Oh, shit! It's the wrong color, but that sith lord has a frikkin' lightsaber!" the boy who cried whey shouted in alarm as a sword of green light emerged from the gauntlet on Fumikage's arm.
Shoto was about to have Momo form some sort of explosive to escape the darkened battlefield when he felt one of his headbands get ripped from their position on his neck. "Momo! The flashlight! Point it in the opposite direction!" he exclaimed. The smartest first year in U.A. did as her teammate said, and managed to spot Dark Shadow as he escaped into a hole in the ground with a headband.
With a smirk, Fumikage deactivated the weapon on the gauntlet. "Our Master thanks you for your generous gift. I look forward to seeing you in the final event," Fumikage announced as the dome crumbled around them and Dark Shadow returned to his side, noticeably lacking the headband he'd nabbed as he gave his partner a high five.
Shoto growled in frustration, though noted with relief that their team retained their most valuable headband. Denki voiced the team's thoughts on what just happened quite accurately.
"We just got bamboozled hard!"
A Few Minutes Earlier, With Mei
Mei hovered around the battlefield, seeking a team to relieve of their headband. Activating her quirk, she zoomed in her view on the team with the blond from 1-B. It didn't take long to deduce the nature of his quirk, considering his use of several different quirks depending on who he touched.
Mei grinned evilly, and pushed a button, then selected her weapon of choice, the pod hovering over the battlefield that she'd sent out opening three slots ominously. "Target locked," she stated simply, as a trio of power armors descended, one landing before her and opening up to allow her inside. A trio of pink mono-eyes activated, one for each suit of armor, as each began hovering slightly off of the ground and powering up weapons.
"Uh, I get that Support Course students can use whatever gear they've developed themselves, but isn't that violating any sort of copyright? She's clearly using a trio of DOMs from the Gundam Franchise. Shota, please tell me she can do that. I don't want to make her stop!" Hizashi announced from his spot in the commentator's box, turning to his childhood friend with a look of hope in his eyes. He really wanted to see what this chick could pull off with those power armors!
Shota rolled his eyes and spoke into the mic. "She's descended from the original copyright owners of the Gundam franchise. Pretty much anybody in her extended family has the right to use such gear and can grant it to whoever they wish. She's just the first of them to do so. Regardless, she's clearly not joking about calling herself a mad engineer," he stated with a hint of a frown as she and her AI piloted partner suits started moving in the direction of Team Monoma, then turned to his colleague and said blandly, with the mic muted, "I'm honestly surprised you recognized the trio of DOMs, but not the actual gundam that joined the fray. Did you not watch Gundam Unicorn?" Hizashi could only sigh as he pulled out his phone and found the show, adding it to his watch later list.
The trio of DOM-shaped power armors lined up and accelerated to attack speed, a red energy shield deploying from the unit in front, causing an odd effect to come over all three. The copycat hero heard the sound of the hovering engines and his eyes widened to comical proportions. "Oh, you have to be JOKING!" he exclaimed loudly, breathing out a wall of Solid Air, and instructing Kosei, the original owner of Solid Air, to do the same.
Pulling out an electrified baton, since she couldn't use lethal force in this event, Mei sped up even more and shouted, "JET STREAM ATTACK!" The unit in the back of the line prepared a grappling device, while the one in the middle hopped up to fire a rocket launcher over her head at their targets.
Kosei and Neito continued forming walls with their Solid Air, which suited Mei's plan of attack just fine. Upon impact with the foremost barrier, the projectile fired revealed itself to be a flashbang, stunning all four team members, and completely nullifying Shihai's ability to use his quirk momentarily. Mei moved to one side of the group, baton extended to smack Sen, who transferred the shock to the rest of his teammates. The unit with the rocket launcher fired off two more flashbangs in the general vicinity of their group, going around to the other flank so as to affect Shihai as much as possible. The third and final unit leaped over the entire group and extended its grappling tool, picking a headband at random and taking it before speeding off with Mei and the other unit, in the direction of Izuku.
It took a moment for the flashbang's effects to wear off on Team Monoma, but they were able to do so fairly quickly. Since the attacks were powerful enough to stun most people in their general vicinity, they were not attacked in the meantime. With a snarl, Neito sought out a team from 1-A to target. Upon finding one with fairly decent quirks, he smirked. "We'll just get our points back from that group!" he exclaimed, and his team headed to their new targets, with no clue how big of a mistake that was going to be.
Meanwhile, Above The Arena With Izuku And Ochako
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, keeping an eye out for attacks from below. He'd simply look into the minds of everybody on the field, but he didn't want to accidentally come across compromising information on people who weren't even going up against his team, so he'd decided to use his mind-reading abilities exclusively on teams that targeted his team. Thus, he was only a little surprised when an attack made it to them. He was going up against promising hero students, after all. He was more surprised by how they'd been able to target and claim their primary headband, however.
"MIDORIYA-KUN! THE TEN MILLION!" his brunette partner and best friend cried out in alarm, as a hand made its way back to a team on the ground, following an eye that had gotten close as well. In a matter of seconds, the ten million points had made its way into the possession of Team Kendo, giving them first place, and drastically reducing their own point count, Team Uraraka now only having the headband taken from Team Todoroki by Fumikage and Dark Shadow.
Looking down at their new priority target, Izuku began looking into their minds to figure out what their quirks were, and what tactics they were using. "Damn, their tactics are pretty well thought out. Guys, we've lost the macguffin. I'm sending you all info on their quirks, as well as the tactics they're utilizing right now. Any input is welcome. I'm going to try to get our lead back in the meantime!" he broadcast to his teammates, then flew down alongside Unit 0, with Fumikage and Dark Shadow backing him up from the ground.
"Midoriya-chan! Get inside of Unit 0! The shield has a feature that will help, but it needs to be charged with your green aura to work!" Team Uraraka's craziest member called out to him through their telepathic link, already close enough that she'd be able to support them very soon. Izuku read her thoughts on the armor's gimmick, and grinned, entering it and beginning the process of charging it. He detached both gauntlets, giving Fumikage back his lightsaber, and giving the other to Dark Shadow. The glee he sensed from the sentient quirk put him in good spirits, and the aura emerging from him began changing in hue.
Ochako found herself being attacked by the horns of Pony Tsunotori, the girl capable of controlling four of them remotely herself. The jetpack she'd been using was quickly destroyed, Mei crying out in frustration at the damage dealt to her baby even as she carried the physics breaker over to the pod she had hovering in the sky, this redundant source of levitation less mobile but far more heavily armored than the jetpack. As she placed the headband she'd pilfered in Ochako's hand, the genius of the Hatsume family spun around and increased the volume of her power armor's speakers. "MIDORIYA-CHAN! TOKOYAMI-SAN! DARK SHADOW-SAN! THEY BROKE MY BABY! WIPE THEM OUT! ALL OF THEM!" she exclaimed, then let them know via telepathy that she wasn't actually as angry as she sounded. "I just really want the big support companies to see what my current Magnum Opus is capable of, so I'm gonna just let you guys wail on them. The angry outburst is just to make it look cooler!" she explained, with Izuku relaying the info to their other teammates.
Izuku grinned behind the helmet of his hero costume, enjoying the camaraderie his team was showing at the moment, and as he, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow fought to bypass the storm of horns being commanded by Reiko, as well as Itsuka's enormous hands, his aura extended to his teammates, altering the color of Bird and Not So Bird's lightsabers. In seconds, he heard a notification from his suit. "Enhanced Aura Mode charged," the suit informed him, then said in the voice of Grand Moff Tarkin, "You may fire when ready."
The empath with a heart of gold smiled at the reference, and activated his armor's new ability. With a hiss, panels opened up, and portions of the armor shifted slightly, with blue glowing lines going across the newly opened parts, and a pair of hilts appearing from the back of the armor. The shield, as well, began glowing a bright cobalt, lines opening up on it as well. He was aware that the same was happening with Fumikage and Dark Shadow's gauntlets, even if he wasn't close enough to see himself. Reaching out with his aura, he fed his confidence into his teammates, making them fight just a little better with that boost to morale.
"IT'S A GUNDAAAAM!" the Voice Hero exclaimed, his mic not active but his voice loud enough to penetrate the glass of the commentator's booth regardless. Izuku didn't even have to check to know that his homeroom teacher was glaring daggers at his English teacher, that is, if he was even still conscious with the epicenter of the shout being right next to him.
Izuku halted for a second, and voiced his question both out loud and telepathically. "Wait, I'm wearing a gundam suit thingy? Of all the shows I've watched, why is the one my costume is based off of amongst the ones I haven't watched?!" he complained, a bit frustrated at the fact.
Mei cackled from inside her power armor, having successfully warded off Pony's horns with Ochako's help. "Looks like you've got some required watching to do later, Midoriya-chan! I'll come by your place sometime with the Universal Century collection. I think you'll appreciate it. Hell, have Uraraka-chan over and make it a binge watching date!" she said telepathically, making him blush with the suggestion at the end, his thoughts and feelings on the matter going straight through to Ochako regardless of his intent.
"She's not my girlfriend!" he exclaimed telepathically, even as his bonded partner could sense his affection for her. The brunette frowned a bit upon learning just a bit more about his confusing thoughts and feelings on the matter.
Mei rolled her eyes from next to Ochako, having removed the helmet portion of her power armor as she turned Ochako's way with a knowing look and said with a conspiratorial smirk, "Yeah, I don't buy that for a second. He may not know it yet, but he's head over heels for you. You, on the other hand, are a lot closer to figuring things out, according to my sources."
The gravity gal frowned a bit, but didn't deny her teammate's statement. She just kept her eye out for any opportunity to help their teammates on the ground, and made sure to watch out for any more floating hands or horns.
Izuku, having gotten back into the fight after his momentary distraction, had managed to bypass his opponents' defenses, having taken control of the floating appendages with his own power, and halting them in the air. He, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow had surrounded them, with Izuku moving to where their opposing team's horned hard-hitter would be forced to contend with him. Upon an unspoken command, all three of them attacked the horses of Team Kendo, making sure to occupy their attention even as Itsuka's hands expanded and attempted to help her teammates fend them off.
All according to plan so far. Izuku then used the shield's gimmick, and eight pieces of the edges of it flew off and began hovering around, not unlike their opponent team's primary attack method. Azure beams of light fired out from them, forcing their team even more on the defensive. None of them even saw Ochako until she was right on top of them, the girl taking every headband off of them before she sped back up into the sky, sitting down on the floating pod provided by Mei with a smirk.
Their objective complete, and the event coming to a close very soon, Izuku flew back up into the sky, bringing his 'sith apprentices' with him, the more outgoing of the two making rude faces at their opponents on the ground as they ascended. Izuku wondered how his childhood friend was doing, looking down from his position to seek out Team Bakugo.
Turns out, they were doing just fine.
Several Minutes Ago, With The Bakusquad
Katsuki Bakugo roared with intense fury. First, he was repelled from getting the ten million headband from Ochako, then his team's secondary target gets surrounded by a DOME OF EARTH, of all things, said dome getting shielding the second he started attacking it, and then, just after he and his squad had obtained a headband from a team from Class 1-B, another squad from their sibling class came by and not only ganked their headbands, but his and Eijiro's quirks as well!
Well, saying their quirks were stolen was misleading, but you get the point! Katsuki was having a really shitty time thus far, and the smug bastard from 1-B had just made himself prime punching bag material, especially since he had Hardening for however long now.
Eijiro and his fellow Bakusquad members tried to cool the explosive teen down, hoping to get him to think about his next course of action rationally. "I get that you're mad, bro! I'm pretty angry too! If we rush in there without thinking this through, though, we might end up losing even harder than we are now!" the red-haired boy explained.
"Are you fuckers done trying to calm me down?" the king of explosive murders asked in a voice that left his friends feeling chills. "If you're done, I've already come up with a plan to murder those assholes' faces off."
His teammates looked at him slack-jawed. He smirked, his ego boosted a bit at his opportunity to show off what is honestly his greatest talent, honed for over a decade now. "You're giving that stupid look that tells me exactly what you're thinking. 'He was just screaming bloody fucking murder about killing his enemies! How did he figure out how to beat them while he was ranting and raving?' I'll tell you how. You think I'm angry now? You're right. I'm angry now. I was angry before the event started. I was angry yesterday, and I'll be angry tomorrow, too. I'm like the fucking Hulk. I'm always angry. I fucking adapted to that years ago. Now, Office Max, get ready to pull me back in. Admiral, get ready to make a path of acid for us to slide on straight to the enemy. And Kirishima? Get ready to Smash," he explained, before taking flight as he went on the attack.
With Team Monoma
Neito grinned in satisfaction, three headbands around his neck. He was feeling pretty smug right now, having pulled a fast one against one of the strongest teams formed of 1-A students. He was brought out of his thoughts, though, when he heard the rider of the team he'd just stolen from screaming bloody murder as he flew at them.
"BLOODY MURDER! BLOODY MURDER!" Katsuki screamed with a shit-eating grin on his face as he propelled himself through the air at his opponents. His copycat opponent breathed out a shield of solid air, the personification of a flashbang landing on it and grabbing on with one hand. "Special delivery! Did any of you fuckers order a LIVE GRENADE?!" he screamed, smashing through the shield with an explosion from the hand he wasn't using to hang onto his improvised platform.
Neito flinched, and that was all Katsuki needed to grab two of the headbands, but he was taking too long. Thank fucking God he had thought up a plan for that, too. Having two thirds of his current objective, he took off, making sure to destroy his foes' defenses as he flew back to his team, Hanta having wrapped his tape around his waist and pulled him in. He happened to overhear the Admiral questioning his nickname for her as he came in for a landing.
"It's because you have an actual fleet's worth of ships. I've seen your goddamn social media accounts. You depraved fuck. You took a picture of Izuku and Round Face holding hands. Send me a copy, damnit," he explained, then asked, "You got the acid ready?"
With a grin, Mina nodded. "Sure thing, Blasty McSplode Face!" she exclaimed with a grin, rolling her sleeves up as she flung the acid that had gathered there out in front of her team, firing more out to complete the path.
"Fucking superb, Ashido. Sero, nail the ground next to them with some of that good shit, then start reeling us in when I give the word. Kirishima, turn yourself hard enough to shit fucking diamonds. Let's do this," he said, then held his arms back, pops coming from his palms as he prepared to pull the floor right out from under their target. "FUCKING GO, ASSHOLES!"
With a grin, Eijiro, Mina, and Hanta shouted simultaneously, "BAKUSQUAD, ROLL OUT!"
The quartet of badasses exploded forward, catching Team Monoma by surprise when they saw just how fast all four of them were coming at them.
"GET FUCKING BEFRIENDED, LOSERS!" they screamed as one as they flew past, Katsuki grabbing their target's lone remaining headband and placing it upon his forehead with a sneer.
As they made haste to a less crowded part of the field, Eijiro took a look at what Team Cinnamon Bun was up to, and grinned. "Hey, Ashido? I only just now noticed, but Midoriya's armor has horns. Should we make him an honorary horn buddy?" the manliest one there asked.
Mina cracked a grin of her own and barked out a laugh. "Yeah, sure! We're both founding members, so we can add people if we want. We're the only founding members, though, got it?" she asked, surprising the rock hard boy with her insistence on that one rule.
Exchanging a fist bump with the pinkette, Eijiro nodded. "Sure. Glad we had such a productive meeting. Now let's get back to kicking ass and taking names!" he shouted.
"AAAAND THE SECOND EVENT IS OVER, LISTENERS! The top four teams will be moving on to the next event! Here are our winning teams!" Present Mic announced, ruining any chance of them kicking any more ass and taking any more names until the next round. The jumbo screen removed the team placements that had been on it previously, making the placements a mystery to anybody who hadn't been looking at the last second before it had gone blank. "In fourth place, coming out of nowhere, is TEAM SHINSO!" Hizashi announced, the faces of the team in question showing up on the board with their names.
"And coming in third, just a bit ahead of them, is TEAM BAKUGO! What a comeback for them at the end there, huh folks? Next, taking second place, is TEAM TODOROKI! They pulled off some crazy maneuvers near the end there, but it all worked out in the end! And in first place, having taken a few headbands to add to their overwhelming lead, is TEAM URARAKA! Also, because it would be criminal not to say it again, IT'S A GUNDAAAAAM!"
Izuku grinned within his hero costume, disabling its powered up state as he exited it and sent it back to the workshop from whence it came. He and the other students made their way up to the podium where Midnight stood, awaiting the announcement of the next event.
"This is where the fun begins."
