The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Thirty-three

A/N: This is it. The final chapter where the main plot is concerned. After this, you can consider the fic finished, but I will be posting various character interactions from throughout the fic's timeline, and some afterwards. Thanks for sticking with this for so long. (Bows) I'm grateful to all of you.

"Normal speech."

"AI/Kacchanese speech."

"Telepathic speech."

'Thinking speech.'

"Twice Prime speech. Into Other Twice speech. Into Other, Other Twice speech."

'Sign language.'

That Evening, In Izuku's Bunk

Izuku awoke with a start, then took inventory of his surroundings. 'That empathic quirk was nuts! I hope that kid gets it under control someday,' he thought to himself. Spotting Koji with a toothbrush hanging from his mouth, he asked, "How long was I out?"

The rocky-looking teen took a bit longer to respond than normal, having to finger spell due to one of his hands being occupied. 'It's still the same day as when you passed out, if that's what you're wondering. You missed dinner, but it's not like we ate your portion or anything. Go get some food in you, and check in with Eri-chan. She was worried about you,' he signed before going back to the sink to finish brushing.

Izuku nodded, and stretched out with his senses, finding out something that had him concerned for a moment. "Himiko-neechan, Is Ao-niisan okay? I have control of Unit 0 again for some reason," he asked hesitantly, receiving a feeling of amused exasperation his way.

"Ao-kun is fine. He apparently exhausted himself mentally and lost consciousness while you were out of it. Some police spotted him lying in a field, and they couldn't justify letting him go, since he was right there and unresponsive. We've transferred him to one of the prosthetic bodies, so Unit 0 is all yours again. The judge presiding over his case has decided that all he's gotta do to earn his freedom is help with transferring Shimura-san and Shirakumo-san into their new bodies, so he should be home with your mom soon. She's already at the station where he's recovering. So quit with that worrying. We're fine, baby bro. Enjoy your evening," the blond said, Izuku getting feelings of reassurance and happiness from her end.

Izuku simply nodded, knowing his sister got the message even if she couldn't see it, and he hopped out of his bunk, in search of his niece. It didn't take long for him to find her with Kouta and Haro, the three of them watching some video, from the looks of it, Ochako and Tsuyu in the corner watching the three of them with smiles and the occasional giggle. Izuku smiled at how carefree his niece was, before his musing was interrupted by Haro's excited chirping. "Izuku-san is here! Izuku-san is here!" they called out, the video suddenly interrupted, having been coming from the droid in question.

Eri got up and spun around, tackling her uncle in a hug. "Are you feeling better now, Uncle Izuku?" she asked quietly. Patting the albino's back with one hand and rubbing her head with the other, Izuku nodded, a happy sigh emerging from his mouth. Excitedly, Eri turned to her new friend. "Uncle Izuku, this is Kouta-kun! He's my new friend!" she exclaimed with glee.

With a nervous chuckle, Izuku waved. "Yes, we've met," he joked.

Kouta smirked at the teen. "Yeah, my fist met his nuts. Sorry about that. Kacchan helped me work all that out, though. Just had to vent properly, and screaming angrily at the sky has been really good for that," the nutcracker replied with a bark of laughter as Izuku instinctively covered himself when he approached.

"Izuku-chan has learned to fear the Nutcracker, it seems, kero!" Tsuyu commented with a froppy laugh.

With a slightly dark look, Eri turned to her new friend. "You hurt Uncle Izuku?" she asked ominously, approaching the concerned Kouta. Before anybody could properly realize her intent, Eri kicked her new friend in his own forbidden zone, leaving him sprawled out on the floor. "My baby cousins are gonna come from there, you asshole!" she shouted. Izuku quickly pulled Eri away from the boy while Ochako and Tsuyu did their best to help Kouta recover, even as they did their best to hold in laughter.

Setting Eri down, Izuku glared at her. "You don't hit people like that, Eri-chan! He did that months ago, and I forgave him not even seconds after it happened! Also, who taught you that language, and how do you already know where babies come from?!" the freckled empath scolded, his voice going from angry to concerned near the end.

Eri frowned slightly. "...I learned it...at my last home...Nobody really watched their language around me, and I picked up a few things about biology from Chisaki's rants...Are you mad?" she asked nervously.

Pinching his nose, Izuku shook his head. "Not about that, no. I'm upset that you hit Kouta-kun, but those other things aren't your fault, and honestly, knowing about sex education may help you someday. I'll have your mother fill in any blanks for you some other time, but for now, could you apologize to Kouta-kun for me? He really didn't deserve that," the greying teen said, gesturing behind her, where Kouta had recovered somewhat.

With a slight pout, Eri turned around to talk to the dark haired boy. "I'm sorry I kicked you, Kouta-kun. Can we still be friends?" she asked nervously.

The son of Water Hose nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. You were just angry that I hurt your uncle. If somebody hurt my aunt, I'd wanna get back at them, too. That was a really strong kick, though! Are you planning on being a hero when you grow up, or maybe a martial artist?" he asked, getting stars in his eyes.

With a shy smile, Eri nodded. "I wanna be a hero like Mama, Papa, and all my aunties and uncles. Oh, but Uncle Ao isn't a pro hero. He's a...what kind of hero did you say he was, Uncle Izuku?" the albino said, turning to her uncle with her question.

"A hero of circumstance. He doesn't like fighting, he was only doing it because he felt that he had to to protect his family. He's actually done with that now, as of a few hours ago," Izuku explained with a slight chuckle.

"That's a really weird way of saying vigilante, kero," Froppy said with a slight frown. "He's a good guy, from what little I know of him, but don't romanticize what he was doing in front of kids. You don't want them turning vigilante, after all."

With a sigh, Izuku nodded, agreeing with the rainy season hero. Ochako smacked Izuku in the shoulder, a grin on her face. "Don't worry. I'm sure Ao-kun will be fine! Now go eat your dinner. Ragdoll said she wants you for night patrol! I'll keep Eri-chan tonight, so don't worry about that!" the brunette exclaimed.

The bright hero nodded with a smile. He was looking forward to this internship.

After Sundown, With Izuku

Izuku grinned, clad in his mother's hero outfit, with Units 0 and 2 hovering high in the air above him in case extra muscle was needed. "So, Tsukuyomi is just relaxing in there while you do the heavy lifting right now?" he asked of the larger of his three companions, Ragdoll heading their patrol as he and The Raven followed. Currently, The Raven was about a third the size of Phenex, apparently with his partner tucked inside.

"Yup. You gave us a real nice idea, Master. During the day, my bro is in charge, and I do his bidding. At night, I get my turn, and he's just in charge of giving me advice. Since we're just looking around and probably not gonna be getting in any big fights, he's taking it easy right now. Honestly, if we're going by grades, he could just fall asleep, and I'd take combat advice from you!" the mass of shadowy quirk joked with a smirk.

"Do not speak as if I am not here, lest you incur my wrath," Fumikage's voice spoke from within the aforementioned shadowy mass.

The sentient quirk face-palmed. "Cool it, Fumi. Saying you're not as smart as Izuku is like saying you're not as smart as President Skroob or Eyebags Junior. You're sixth out of twenty academically in the top class of one of the most prestigious schools in the country. That's something to be proud of!" Dark Shadow chided, pushing a finger into his chest and presumably poking his brother.

Cobalt laughed softly at the duo as he turned to Ragdoll, who was heading back to them. "Well, we've checked in with all the campers who've registered with us, and everybody's accounted for and safe. We've just gotta go around quietly for a few hours and check on their status like sneaky ninja kitties to make sure they stay safe. No need to go into the campsites or anything intrusive like that. Cobalt, you still aren't sensing anybody needing help around here?" the cat-themed rescue hero asked, dimming the lights coming from the 'ears' of her costume.

Concentrating, Izuku sensed for distressed thoughts and feelings in the area. In seconds, he shook his head. "Nope, other than some prey animals being nabbed up by predators, I'm not getting anything. You want me to keep checking every few minutes?" the freckled teen asked.

Ragdoll nodded, grin never leaving her face. "Yup, please and thank you, Cobalt! Tall, dark and menacing, Little Green, WITH ME!" she exclaimed, as happy at night as she was during the day.

The trio continued on in comfortable silence for the most part, taking advantage of Izuku's telepathic abilities to make less noise after he suggested it. An hour or so in, Ragdoll made an odd request. "Cobalt, are you able to turn this chat from three way to two way real quick? It's nothing bad, I promise!" his fellow verdette asked.

"For your information, it's been a four way chat this whole time. I've just kept to myself," Tsukuyomi intoned, sending a sensation of smugness.

"Revelry in the dark, my apprentice," Cobalt responded with a grin, then turned to face the back of Ragdoll's head. "It's based on intent. If you don't want people to hear you in the 'chat,' they won't. What do you need?"

Ragdoll audibly sighed. "I learned a while ago the amount of danger we were in when Uravity and I were taken by that villain. The fact that he was going to take our quirks...Considering how close that was to happening...When I figured that out, I was spooked for a bit. You risked a lot to save the two of us. I get that you were more focused on saving Uravity, obviously, but I saw footage of the battle, and I know what Chibaku Tensei is. You saved so many lives that day. Basically, what I wanna say is, thanks. You'll always be a hero to the Pussycats," the woman said, turning around and bowing before quickly getting back to leading the patrol.

Izuku couldn't contain himself. He began shining with an azure glow, tears flying out of his eyes and onto the ground on either side of him. The Raven rolled his eyes. "If you were just thanking him for saving you from that big old supervillain, you didn't need to turn the chat private! Fumi and I have watched that battle several times now! No need to be all secretive!" the sentient quirk quipped, his intuition being right on the money.

Ragdoll spun around with a grin. "You're just jealous that Izuku got a pretty lady chatting privately with him and you didn't!" she joked.

The Raven stuck out a...tongue? Tendril? "I am not! I don't even have a sexual orientation, you crazy cat lady!" the bird brain exclaimed.

"That's called being asexual, Raven."

"Nobody asked you, Fumi!"

The group was forced to stop with the banter for a while, as Izuku was beginning to glow a little too much, the joy in his heart spilling out into their surroundings as he held in his laughter.

On The Final Day Of Internships

Izuku stretched his limbs, a grin plastered on his face. "This has been really helpful! Learning from a more experienced telepathy user, and someone who can track others like I can will really come in handy someday!" he exclaimed happily.

With a roar, Pixie Bob leaped at him, a pounce Izuku expertly dodged. "WHAT AM I, CHOPPED LIVER?!" the geomancer shouted indignantly as Tora lifted her up by her armpits, the woman still clawing in Izuku's direction.

Izuku frowned apologetically. "Sorry, sorry! I just learned the most from those two! You and Tora taught me some valuable lessons as well! The necessity of pacing oneself when writing out paperwork, and the importance of streamlining mission prep will be sticking with me for a very long time!" the greying teen insisted.

With a finger to her lip, Tsuyu added her two cents. "Honestly, one of the biggest lessons I've learned this time around was to never underestimate Anima in a rural area, or any area with animals, actually. Does stuff like that happen all the time? That incident with the honey badger and the bees was honestly kinda terrifying," the leaping hero commented.

After poking his fingers together shyly for a few seconds, Anima responded. 'More often than you'd think, really. People forget about animals being a factor a lot, but I can't forget, since I can always hear what they're saying,' the adorable golem-headed teen signed.

With a chuckle, Izuku hovered off the ground, floating backwards as he spoke while continuing the patrol. "I'm just glad we haven't had to deal with any villains for once! Both my last internships had me ending up dealing with really scary villains, so I'm relieved I was able to stick to rescue work this time!" he said with a closed-eyed grin. Seconds later, an explosion was heard back in the direction of Kashyyyk Village...then a second, and a third…

"Murphy can eat an entire bag of dicks. His law sucks," Cobalt growled, aura flashing red as he sped off in the direction of the attack, picking up his comrades as he flew.

At The Base Of The Wroshyr Tree

Uravity did her best to keep calm as she directed everybody deeper into the tree, the enormous plant being as resistant to quirks as it was. "Don't push! Keep moving together! If you're old or disabled, ask for help! If you're healthy enough to help and an old or disabled person asks, give them a shoulder to walk with! Come on, we're almost all in!" she roared over the crowd, thankful for her strong set of lungs. Also thankful for the ability to put up a green barrier that could repel the attacks of whatever was shelling them. Shutting the door after the final straggler made it inside, she turned to Tsukuyomi. "Has The Raven spotted anybody else outside?" she asked worriedly.

Tsukuyomi shook his head. "Ragdoll's reporting that nobody but a single gigantic villain is outside right now. A travel advisory has been released ordering traffic to turn away, but out here there's less infrastructure, so the quicker we can deal with this, the less likely somebody with their radio turned off will drive into it. The others are inbound, and we're planning on a pincer maneuver," he reported.

Ochako was about to respond, only to freeze when a familiar sensation overcame her, one she'd thought she'd never experience again. Silver liquid emerged from her mouth, and she found herself warped to the outside of the barrier she'd put up.

Quickly, the girl floated up and away from the ground, finding herself next to the gigantic villain in question. "Gigantomachia…" she growled out, moving into a defensive stance.

The titanic villain looked up at her, expression dark. "Hostage acquired. Bring Midoriya Izuku. Bring One for All," the colossal evildoer said darkly.

With a roar, Uravity flew at the gargantuan monster, her fingers barely missing the beast, only tagging him with two of them. "Like I'd let you hurt him!" she shouted, a bit of red bleeding into her aura. She focused harder to prevent it from turning entirely red, not wanting to allow the still attacking Nomu free reign to the base of the wroshyr tree.

With a speed that surprised her, Gigantomachia suddenly grabbed the teen up, bringing her close to his face, seemingly inspecting her. He quickly flung her away, noticing her attempt to use her original quirk on her. "Still have quirk? Tenth carrier, then. You die instead."

With two bursts of power, the fight was met in earnest.

With Izuku's Group

Cobalt bit his lip in nervousness, having learned Gigantomachia's objective as soon as his partner had. "Don't do anything crazy, Uravity! We're almost there! Just hang in there!" he said, fear and worry and anger intensifying his crimson aura as he and the others approached. Explosions rocked the area the two combatants fought in, Uravity letting loose and giving as much as she got.

"Don't worry! I've got this bastard on the ropes-"

Her comment was interrupted, as Izuku fell to the ground, dropping his friends alongside him as he felt unimaginable pain, and heard a shriek of horror from just beyond the treeline. Picking himself up, the boy stumbled as he ran through to find out what happened.

Izuku's eyes widened. The world around him seemed to stop for a moment as he saw Uravity fall.

Correction; Uravity's upper half. Her bottom half had been destroyed in the last attack.

"WRAAAAAAAH! PHENEEEX!"

From up in the wroshyr tree, the machine responded, dropping down with an angry red aura pulling it to its user like a puppet. Before he was swallowed up by the machine and his rage, Izuku turned to the others. "Get her to Eri-chan! Her quirk is our only shot at saving her!" he commanded.

Instantly going into Enhanced Aura Mode, Phenex rushed Gigantomachia, landing an explosive punch to the villain's jaw. "Sorry, Izuku. I bit off more than I could chew. How bad was the damage to my body?" Uravity asked, her soul now piggybacking in the back of his head.

Izuku kept silent, knowing he'd break down if he thought too much about it. "That bad, huh? Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you that easy, okay? Get your head in the game, we can still do this!"

The head of Phenex nodded. Izuku knew she was right. First thing was first, though. Damage control. With a burst of speed, and using some of the actual rocket fuel stored in the machine, Izuku tackled Gigantomachia, and they flew, ascending into the sky, high enough that their attacks wouldn't harm anyone. With a roar, the villain flung Izuku off of him, fleshy protrusions coming out of his back and forming holes that began blowing out some kind of blue flame, allowing him flight.

"Girl is dead. Now number nine die- ARGH!"

The villain's rant was interrupted by a blow to the face, followed by a double-fisted slam, sending him careening further from Kashyyyk. "You talk too much," Cobalt noted coldly. 'How do I stop him, though? I'm not strong enough to take him alive, and killing him would…'

The villain grinned ominously. "Kill me, you die…" he said, apparently aware of his power's weakness. Then the monstrous villain expanded, suddenly twice the size of Phenex. "Trigger."

Cobalt was rocked by an explosion, and found himself in the middle of a crater. He went to stand up, but found an issue with that. "Hatume-san is going to kill me," he groaned, lamenting the loss of Phenex's left leg and arm, along with some of the torso. Looking up, he saw his opponent quickly descending, his arm morphed into some sort of wicked, curved blade.

"DIE, HERO!"

A blast of crimson interrupted the attack, Phenex's head turning to see…

"Thank you for being crazy, Hatsume-san."

A full-sized Kshatriya hovered ominously, its chest armor smoking after having fired off a shot. "I WAS going to come and pick you guys up, chat with Eri-chan on the way home about how much fun she had and whatnot, but this piece of shit villain just HAD to get in the way of that, didn't he?!" Marida ranted from within the machine.

"Sweetie, we can rant later. Screw you, I'm ranting right now! I'm gonna hang one of your pinkies on my wall like a trophy, asshole!" Twice added.

With a roar, Gigantomachia flew at his new target. "SQUASH ALL BUGS!"

It almost looked like the Kshatriya scowled after he said that. "Meimei, drop the squad on my location!"

"Seriously?"

"DID I FUCKING STUTTER?!"

"Yeesh, fine! Squad's dropping!"

Marida and Cobalt continued their melee with the villain, Izuku having found Phenex's discarded arm, which he was now using as a bludgeoning implement. With a shout, the heroes were flung into the ground by their foe. "DIE, BUGS!" Gigantomachia roared, preparing an attack, only to be bashed in the head by something from above, sending the villain crashing into the ground not far from the three heroes.

Upon shaking off the concussion from whatever the hell had hit him, Gigantomachia arose, finding himself surrounded by an army of power armors of various models. A hundred mono eyes flashed ominously, as a red Zaku II readied a bazooka, the rest of the machines levelling their weapons at the villain as well.

"Open fire."

"Shi-"

The rest of the villain's curse was drowned out by the rain of fire blasting him, along with robotic chanting.

"Sieg Zeon! Sieg Hatsume!"

The air was alight with explosions and live ammunition. The metal army did not need to be cautious with their firing. Their target was enormous, and difficult to miss. Regardless, they ceased firing to assess the situation and fall back a bit when half of their numbers were wiped out instantly by an explosive attack.

"ENOUGH! MY MASTER WILL BE AVENGED!"

"Surpriseastronautsayswhat?"

"What? WAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaah-"

With a groan, Izuku shut down Phenex and climbed out of the cockpit, turning to smirk at his girlfriend, who had just launched their opponent into the sky. "You've been spending too much time with the Bakusquad," he said with a laugh.

Uravity stood victorious, uninjured flesh showing from where her costume abruptly ended. "I'm really glad somebody had a spare pair of pants. I didn't want to have to finish this fight in only half an outfit," she said, dropping to lie down. With a tired chuckle, Izuku floated over and joined her, dropping to stare at the sky next to her.

The two looked at one another, and held hands, their fingers interlacing. With a smile that outshone the sun, Izuku spoke. "I love you," he said happily.

A bit flustered, Ochako turned to hide her blush. "I know. I love you too, Izuku," she said, turning back around again to grin at him.

The two laughed together, glad that the fight was over. The threat of All for One was officially dealt with, and now the heroes could focus on a less dangerous future.

The End

I mean, of the main plot. You'll be getting a bit more in the form of short snippets of character interactions and whatnot, but the primary plot is done. If you wanna move on to other things, now would be an ideal time. Thanks.