The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Twenty-six

A/N: We're getting to the tail end of planned stuff, and this chapter will have the last major fight I've planned out. I've...not actually updated my outline to reflect the plan I've got in my head for the fight scene. Penguin Lord, one of my editors, who I thank for dealing with my crap, sees me typing this, and I apologize to him for that. I also extend once more a thank you to nightwind83, who hasn't been able to help as much as he'd like due to work and whatnot. Thanks as well to my readers and especially my reviewers. When I've finished writing this, I'll post two chapters instead of one, since I'm so close to the end.

"Normal speech."

"Buff Might/AI/SHOOOOOTOOOOOO/Kacchanese speech."

"Telepathic speech."

'Thinking speech.'

'Sign language.'

In The 1-A Common Room, Many Months Later

Eri grinned as she defeated her Uncle Fumi in Smash Brothers, letting out a cheer as the results screen played. "Mewtwo wins!" the announcer exclaimed as Tsukuyomi lamented that his type advantage against the psychic type meant nothing in this game.

Himiko, who stood nearby keeping an eye on the three kids, chuckled a little. "I still love why you decided to main Mewtwo, sweetie," the blond said fondly as she ruffled the small unicorn girl's hair.

The tiny albino smiled. "They don't let their past stop them, and they look like a kitty cat!" Eri exclaimed with a giggle.

The Cyber Newtype Hero couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter herself. "They do look like a kitty cat!" she agreed.

Dark Shadow approached with a pair of juice pouches. "Two apple juices, one for my grumpy bird-brain brother, and one for the little padawan learner," the sentient quirk said fondly. It had taken a while for Eri to stop being frightened by the avian boys' appearance, but everybody's hard work was beginning to bear fruit, and that fruit just so happened to be apples.

After a sip of her favorite drink, the little girl gazed up at her primary caretaker. "Mama? Can you tell me the story about the day I was saved again?" the Rewind user asked softly.

The pro smiled at the child she had taken in as her own. "You really love your stories, don't you? Well, lucky for you, your Uncle Izuku shared his memories of that day with me a while ago, so I can tell that story just as well as he can. Our tale begins as many do, with an explosion…"

The Morning Of The Day Eri's Life Really Began

Mina's head rose from where she'd been looking at her phone. "I sense an explosion!" she exclaimed ominously. Surely enough, an explosion occurred.

"WHICH OF YOU FUCKWADS ATE THE LAST OF MY EGGS?!" the Blast Hero erupted from the kitchen, pop rocks firing off of his palms.

"Sorry, Katsuki-san. I was having one of my cravings, and your eggs were the only ones in the fridge," Himiko's voice echoed in their heads.

The pop rocks stopped instantly. He knew better than to get in the way of her cravings. "Fucking Scalpel indirectly fucking with people even in death," the explosive hero grumbled irritably. It had quickly been established that Himiko's version of puberty was a lot more irritating and bothersome than what most girls went through, and it didn't help that it would end up lasting twice as long. One of the few things that Katsuki would bow down to was the woman's unusual needs, because he learned very early in life to respect women.

"Thanks for understanding, Katsuki-san. Needless to say, I'm going to be trying to stick close to Izuku-kun today. Sorry about that, baby brother. I'll try to stay out of your way," the pro said apologetically.

Izuku, who was already on his way to the train station with Ochako, smiled fondly. "I'm just glad I can help you with this. Do you want us to wait for you at the station, or should we go ahead?" the teen replied, his girlfriend squeezing his hand in hers.

"Don't wait on me. If I get too anxious, I'll just jet up to high altitude and get to you in stealth mode. Besides, it'd be bad if you were late to your first day interning with Sir Nighteye. Make sure to thank him for me. I'm really glad he's looking after you. Guy's really good at what he does," Marida said with a fond smile. She was really proud of her baby brother.

Uravity smiled fondly at her boyfriend. "You're such a sweetheart, Izuku. I'm glad you and your siblings get along so well. Makes me kinda wish I had a baby brother or something," the girl said fondly as she used their intertwined hands to pull the pro closer.

"Ew! You're holding hands in public, you degenerates!" a fellow passenger teased with a happy laugh, causing the couple to blush, even as their grips tightened.

"Hey, aren't those two the students that got together in the finals of the U.A. Sports Festival? That was so cute! I'm glad they're still going strong!" another passenger commented.

"Oh, quit teasing the dearies! She just turned her mask opaque, and he just shut his helmet! Can't you tell you're bothering them?" an elderly woman chastised the other passengers, everybody suddenly realizing that they were, in fact, embarrassing the couple.

While everybody stopped outwardly gawking, though, the power couple could still sense the feelings of awe and adoration. "I'm glad they like us so much, but this'll take some gettin' used to," Uravity said with an unseen blush on her cheeks.

"I wasn't expecting to do this well this soon, but this is part of the job. I'm just grateful that I'm facing it with you," Cobalt replied fondly as he nonchalantly stopped somebody from falling over when the train made a turn they hadn't been prepared for. The armored boy waved politely at the person as they thanked him.

The brown-eyed girl next to him giggled. "I remember I prevented a certain someone from tripping a while ago. Now I'm dating him! Best rescue ever!" Ochako commented teasingly.

Behind his helmet, Izuku grinned. "I'm sure there will be bigger rescues in our future, but I'm glad you helped me that day, too," he said fondly, before noticing something far off and rolling his eyes. "Himiko-neechan must have gotten anxious. She's rapidly gaining altitude, so she's probably gonna be nearby when we get there."

Uravity nodded, feeling it as well through Izuku. "Speaking of your siblings, how is Ao-kun doing? I know he's on the run for vigilantism, but he's okay otherwise, right?" the brunette asked.

Cobalt smiled as he stretched his senses out and felt for his bond with his older brother. "He's okay, though he misses us. He visits Mom occasionally, and since he isn't a priority target of the police or anything, they don't bother trying to catch him when he enters our home. He likes hanging out in orbit when he's not tracking down associates of All for One. He tells me he got the idea from you, actually, and that stargazing is really fun. The police say they'll probably end up just slapping him with community service when he ends up turning himself in, since he's been really good about avoiding collateral damage and deaths when he engages with villains," the greenette said fondly.

Uravity gazed somberly at her lap. "I'm glad he's decided he'll turn himself in eventually. I didn't want to have to end up fighting him again. He doesn't seem to like fighting, from what I can tell," the girl said, recalling her first encounter with him. Izuku's only memories of that time were from her point of view, so he understood where she was coming from.

The freckled empath pulled her into a side hug, removing the entire upper half of his armor as he did so. "He wants to get to know you properly sometime. He's a bit sad that you only got to see that side of him. He also can't wait for Mei-san to finish the artificial bodies, since not having a sense of touch bothers him," the telepathic hero said fondly, before sensing something, and adding, "I sense Sir Nighteye nearby. We're near our stop."

The two disengaged from their side hug and got ready to disembark from the train. They didn't know it then, but this day would change things for them.

About An Hour Later

The group had been split up, each patrolling separate areas. Uravity was patrolling with Sir Nighteye, Centipeder was with Bubble Girl, and Cobalt was with Lemillion. Unit 2 was walking along with the two, appearing as if it were a third hero. Currently, Izuku was focusing on preventing himself from looking into the minds of those around him, having been told that would only be acceptable if there was a real threat. Little did he and Lemillion know, one such threat would be frightfully close to them soon.

"And so I tell them, 'But that's what mimes are for!'" the blond exclaimed, getting a laugh out of Cobalt and several of the passersby, when a tiny form bumped into the leg of his kohai, and he could sense that something was very wrong at that instant.

Izuku nearly collapsed, wrapping his arms around the little girl as he began weeping suddenly. "No, why, why, why? Why did he do that?" the boy mumbled in a panicky voice as he held the girl tightly, the white-haired single-horned girl panicking just as hard even as she wrapped her tiny arms around the verdette.

"Need to run. Need to get away. He's coming. He'll find me." the two of them said simultaneously as Lemillion tried to get their attention.

"Look at what you've done, Eri-chan. Making trouble for these heroes," a chilling voice spoke, and suddenly, Lemillion felt the girl's terror as well, Cobalt no longer able to hold onto it alone.

With horror running cold through his veins, Lemillion did what he had to do. Going straight into fight mode, he dove underground, before emerging again between the man and his quarry seconds later. "Phantom Menace!" the teen roared, unloading an uppercut that sent the man tumbling back, before he went to grab up Izuku and the little girl, only to find that he couldn't even get close without being overwhelmed by terror.

With a thud, Marida landed nearby, encased in Kshatriya. "Get the civilians to move away! I can get these two!" the armored woman exclaimed as she reached out through the pain and horror to touch the hearts of the two frightened children. "Izuku-kun, can you hear me? You need to let go of her fear. We can't help her with it now, but when this is all over, and we're all safe, we can help her, okay? Focus on me for now, got it? The others are on their way!"

He knew, logically, that he had to fight to save her, but it was so hard. Leave her alone with this terror? He couldn't possibly do that! So much fear and horror and despair and why, why, why did people do things like this?! Thankfully, that red hot spike of anger pulled him out of Eri's heart, and not a second too soon, for Overhaul was right over them. A punch from Unit 2 sent him stumbling away, as Izuku took Eri over to Marida and encased himself in his armor. "Keep her safe, Marida. I'll take him somewhere isolated where the others will join me," the boy said before the visor portion of his helmet slammed shut with a clank. Reaching out with Red aura, Izuku grasped the vile monster in human flesh and flew, moving to an area devoid of humans before he could break free.

He quickly found a mostly empty park. "Please evacuate this park quickly. There is about to be a fight here, and I can't guarantee I'll be able to protect you all if you stay. Call the police and inform them that I'm fighting Overhaul," Cobalt said to everyone currently in the park before creating several layers of green walls in an arena around the two of them as he landed, focusing on his desire to protect the innocent.

Overhaul rose from where he fell, and startled Izuku when he punched through a green wall he'd put up between them. "Big mistake, hero. They won't even be able to recognize your corpse when I'm through with you, you diseased creature!" the villain roared, and Izuku suddenly realized something that he wished he'd known sooner.

"My green aura's ability to protect weakens against those who are violently deranged! His conviction to cause pain is amplified by his mental state, and overpowers my desire to protect! I need to test something!" the teen thought to himself, sharing the thoughts with the relevant parties so that they'd know of this weakness as he fired Unit 2's hand off of him. "Rocket Punch!" he shouted as the golden fist slammed into his foe several times, before Overhaul swiped at it with his hand, and the fist was suddenly no more, shattering into pieces. "That's not good! He just destroyed the left hand of my armor!"

"Just keep him occupied, but don't get close! We're nearly there, Cobalt!" Sir Nighteye's voice shouted as Izuku launched his shield bits, which began harassing the villain who, smelling blood in the water, began destroying the drone-like weapons as he advanced to his opponent.

This was not an opponent Cobalt could get complacent with.

Meanwhile, With Himiko And Eri

Himiko frowned as she learned of the new development, but she was currently occupied with something else. "I'll be sending help soon, but first I need to deal with some trash," the pro said as she refused to stop meeting her new charge's eyes. A wound in her side where some villain's oddly-shaped hair had stabbed her was bleeding slowly, her body slowed by his quirk. Linking minds with the girl before her, she did her best to keep her calm. "Don't worry, Eri-chan. We're gonna be fine. Just focus on me, okay?" the fellow survivor said calmly, slowly turning her grimace into a smile, even as a gunshot went off and she felt her quirk erased.

Himiko had gotten out of her armor shortly after Izuku left, feeling it was important for the frightened girl to see her face. Unfortunately, as they were connecting, a few of Overhaul's cronies had emerged, and the first thing they did was slow her movements with one of their quirks. It really pissed her off. This girl was frightened enough already. "Just focus on me. I'll show you the power of somebody who survives the kind of fucked up shit you've been through," Marida said firmly as she refused to look away from the scared girl, arming Kshatriya's weapons as the goons continued their approach.

"You heroes have caused us a lot of trouble. If not for your value as a test subject, I'd kill you right now, hero," one of the yakuza said venomously, the hero in question scowling at the idea of being a lab rat again.

"My name…" the pro snarled mentally as Kshatriya's mono-eye activated with an ominous sound, the armor standing at its full height as it covered the two survivors with its front wings. "Is Himiko, you demented piece of shit."

Red aura surged around Marida, moving her arms for her as she pulled the girl before her into a hug, and Kshatriya launched all twenty-four of its funnels, the drones quickly disarming and subduing the group of villains as Eri held onto her savior. Himiko simply smiled as she hugged the tiny unicorn. 'I'm adopting this tiny badass,' the blond empath thought to herself as she rubbed the child's back as best as her slowed body would allow her, twelve of her funnels shooting off into the distance to back up Cobalt.

With Cobalt's Group

The gathered heroes scowled at Overhaul, who had formed an enormous armored body out of a statue in the park and some sidewalk, along with various stones in the ground. He'd taken some Trigger before anyone could stop him, and now…

"Why did he have to turn himself into a Final Fantasy boss?" Bubble Girl lamented. Indeed, the grotesque exoskeleton was similar in form to several final bosses from the famous series. And currently, it was kicking their asses, flinging mounds of earth at them and forcing them on the defensive. Unit 2 had lost its left leg and right arm, and of course, the left hand was still gone. It was down to four shield bits, and one of its shields had been destroyed. The monstrosity controlled by Overhaul was seemingly impervious to their attacks.

Suddenly, Izuku was swallowed up by the ground beneath his feet, quickly finding himself held in place in front of Overhaul. "You've pissed me off, so I'll just kill you now and save myself the headache of risking your survival," the vile villain said ominously as he reached his hand out…

A sound like thunder was heard, and Izuku was flung away from the villain, a familiar shield having fallen from the sky and pierced the space between where he'd been held and Overhaul, severing the front of the man's earthen armor. Unit 0, no, Ao, descended from the sky, Red aura surging around his form. "That's my baby brother you just tried to kill. Don't make me guilty of any more crimes, you piece of shit, because I will gladly end your life before I let you end his," the machine spoke for him, in a voice eerily similar to Izuku's own, before its head looked into the distance, and Izuku could feel his relief. "Well, good to know I'm not needed here anymore. Have fun in Tartarus, you absolute dick waffle," Ao said before rocketing back up into space, his shield following him.

A second thunderclap was heard, and when the dust settled, another hero rose. "Have no fear, my fellow heroes. I am here!" the number one hero said, gazing fondly at his former sidekick and the others nearby. "Young Midoriya, Mirai-kun, young Uraraka. I have one fight left in me before All for One is gone from my body. Please, fight alongside me!" the number one stated as he gazed at the three of them.

With everybody's confidence bolstered by the appearance of the Number One hero, Mirai patted his colleagues and interns on the back as he passed them and reached his hand out to his partner, the great hero grasping the lanky man's hand with a grin. Mirai's eye flashed purple for an instant, and he grinned. "Kick his ass, All Might," Sir Nighteye said as he relayed what he saw to the others, looking five minutes into the future for each of them

Encouraged even further by the victorious future they saw, the heroes flew into action. His sudden boost of courage made Cobalt's barriers somewhat effective again, able to withstand five blows before being destroyed. Layered with multiple green aura exoskeletons, the pros began attacking the villain before them anew, quickly removing him from the earthen armor he'd formed with a mighty blow from All Might.

Suddenly back in his skinny form, Toshinori felt a ghostly gloved pat on his back, an orb of purple entering his body before shifting to yellow, and flying off to Izuku and shifting green. "DETROIT SMASH!" Izuku roared as he uppercutted the villain, sending him skyward, and Toshinori saw the orb of green fly even further up, shifting to pink as it entered its final host.

Uravity descended from the heavens, fist pulled back and pink veins of power coursing through her body. "METEOR SMAAAASH!" she roared as she sent Overhaul tumbling back down to earth, slowing him with green aura before he could hit the ground as she sensed the man losing consciousness.

As Toshinori Yagi rose, skinny and decrepit, his former sidekick placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The two gazed proudly as Mirio walked his two kohais through first aid, the three making sure their captive was healthy enough to be restrained before cuffing him. Funnels from Marida hovered nearby cautiously just in case. "I don't think I'm ready to let them go, Mirai-kun," the ham said as he teared up.

Doing his best not to join his teacher in crying, Sir Nighteye simply quoted a wise Jedi master. "We are what they grow beyond. That is the burden of all masters," the foresight user responded fondly as police officers drew near along with paramedics.

Back In The Future, With Eri And Himiko

Himiko smiled fondly at Eri, who looked up at her with wide eyes. "You think I'm a badass?" the girl asked, causing her adoptive mother to laugh with gusto at her cursing, despite knowing she'd have to convince her not to say that anymore.

"Sweetie, I know you're a badass. No uncertainties at all there. Now come give your mother a hug, you adorable little unicorn!" the blond exclaimed as she opened her arms and her heart to her daughter, the girl running to the woman and leaping into her embrace.

"I heard somebody say hugs, and came as quickly as I could! Oh my god, that's so adorable! Gimme your phone! I'll take a pic when you get in there!" Jin exclaimed, spawning a double who took his phone as he made the hug into a family hug.

"Papa!" Eri squealed with delight as the blond joined his wife and daughter in their joy. Many adorable, happy photos were taken by the clone.

Eri's new life was just beginning, and it was looking to be a good one.