A Couple Days Later...
David stood at the airport exit, luggage in hand. He took a deep breath, and sighed. So. This was it. He was going to meet with that Ultraman Hero kid.
He didn't know what he was going to say. What he was going to ask. So many thoughts were going through his head, and he was having trouble-
"Excited to see Uncle Might, dad?"
David was snapped out of his thoughts as he turned to a blonde long-haired girl with blue eyes and glasses. The splitting image of her mother, save for the glasses. Melanie never wore glasses like them.
"Y-Yea, it's been a while," he said, smiling at her.
"I know! I can't wait see to see him either!" she said, practically bouncing at the thought of seeing her beloved Uncle Might. "Oh, and those UA alien students, too! To think that aliens are real, huh?"
"It's still giving me goosebumps, especially whenever they show footage of Hero and that robot dinosaur fighting giant aliens," David said. "Quirks were already mysterious enough as it is, to think that aliens exist too is just mindboggling."
"True, but maybe if we talk and get aliens to help us, we might figure more about Quirks!" Melissa said cheerfully.
"That is a good point..." David said, his hand on his chin in thought, before he shook it off. "Let's think about that later. Just where is All Might? I know I sent him our itinerary-"
"HAHAHA!"
David and Melissa turned to their right, and saw All Might standing outside of a UA bus, laughing as people waiting for their rides stared and gawked that the Number One Hero was there for some reason.
"I AM HERE! To pick up an old friend and his beautiful daughter!"
"Uncle Might!" Melissa said, running to All Might and hugging him. The jaws of everyone around them dropped as they watched this foreign girl hug All Might with zero issue or hesitation.
"Hahaha! Why Melissa, you've gotten so big! Last time I saw you, you were just up to my knee!" All Might laughed.
"I haven't been that small for years, Uncle Might!" Melissa pouted.
"And Dave! It's so great to see you in person after so long!" All Might said, coming in and giving the brown bespectacled man a bear hug.
"I-It's great to see you again, All Might!" David laughed. "But can you let go? I'm having a hard time breathing."
"Of course!" All Might laughed, as he opened the bus door. "I'm so glad that we're getting a chance to spend some time together before I-Expo!"
"So why are you picking us up with a bus, Uncle Might? We don't have that much stuff," Melissa said, looking at the UA bus.
"Well, you see, it's because I wanted to pick you both up myself, but we... didn't have any cars that could fit me, and the biggest vehicle we had is this bus," All Might admitted.
"Ha, that's smart!" Melissa laughed, walking in. "Come on, we just gotta go see UA and all the Hero Course students!"
"She's a real go-getter, isn't she?" All Might said, crossing his arms. "Just like her mother."
"Yea... you sure you're alright with picking us up? I mean, you must be-" David began to say, but All Might stopped him.
"It's alright, Dave! I wanted to come get you and Melissa! After all, it's been quite some time since we've seen each other in person! Besides, I have a feeling that you're going to love meeting the next generation and Mr. Ultraman Hero himself!"
"O-Of course... of course," David said, looking to the side. "It's still unbelievable to think, that I have the opportunity to talk to actual aliens... Not to mention that multiverse theory is now multiverse fact."
"It is a lot to take in, I know," All Might said. "But you just learn how to roll with the punches! Anyways, we've dillydallied long enough! Let's get to UA!"
Gym Gamma
Hiroshi and Izuku stretched as they faced off against each other at the center of Gym Gamma, both dressed in their hero costumes. The SiDE Team and their classmates were doing their own training, though they kept their eyes on the two while doing so. Even Katsuki and Togaru were eyeing them, though they were still primarily focused on their individual training regiments. Only Rigel and Ardiana had opted to stay out of it, choosing to spend their day at the dorms while studying what they could about their classes so they could keep up with their classmates.
"Are you ready, Midoriya?" Hiroshi said, his hand ready to grab his canister gun.
"Yep! I want to see what you can do!" Izuku replied, as One for All's green electricity crackled around him.
The Day at Lake Lambda
"You want to do some costumed training in Gym Gamma?" All Might said, as he flipped some burgers that he got from Lunch Rush for the Lake Lambda break (since they were going to need more for the entire class).
"Yea. I need to work on my fighting style without Hero," Hiroshi said, looking at the Number One Hero, his homeroom teacher, and Principal Nezu. "As often as Hero fights, I still need to sharpen my own skills, and it's been a while since I've done anything related to my own style and costume abilities. And well, I think I want to see what can change and all."
"That sounds like a superb idea!" Principal Nezu said, sipping some tea he had brought along. "You still have quite some time before your special summer training, and since you won't be bringing your costumes to the special training site, you can do this and decide what things could be added to your costumes, and spend the second half of your summer training getting used to the new additions!"
"It sounds like a rational idea, so I'll give you my permission," Aizawa said, as he unrolled his sleeping bag and prepared to nap on the porch.
"I'll do the same for 1B," Vlad Kind said, who, unlike his more apathetic counterpart, had changed into an outfit befitting a lifeguard, fully prepared to help out the students if they get into swimming trouble, which might be coming soon, as he spotted Denki, Minoru, and Kosei drifting away from the shore in innertubes while asleep. "It'll be good for them to decide what they need to change and improve on as well."
"Alright, that's great!" Hiroshi said, when Setsuna smacked him in the back of the head with a beachball.
"Hey, Hiroshi, quit talking about training and stuff, and hang out here with us!" she said, waving to the steel blue-haired boy.
"Alright alright, I'm coming!" Hiroshi laughed, picking up the beachball and heading over to the others.
"Hey Hiroshi," Izuku said, as he got up to them. "If we do that training, you think we can do some spars?"
"Yea of course," Hiroshi said, nodding. "After all, we still need to help you with improving your control over One for All."
Present Day, Gym Gamma
"Ready? Go!" Fuka shouted. Izuku charged towards Hiroshi, who opted to start running away from him. He pulled out his canister gun, inserted a canister into it, and fired it at Izuku. Izuku leaped to the side, dodging the can, which exploded into a pepper gas cloud. While he got away from it, a small bit of it stung his eyes and nose.
"Ow!" Izuku said, taking a second to wipe his eyes and nose before resuming his chase. Hiroshi dug into one of his pockets, and tossed a small mine at the ground. Anticipating an explosion, Izuku jumped away from it, only for the explosion to be instead a flashbang, blinding him. Hiroshi took this chance to tackle Izuku, shoving him onto the ground before Izuku kicked him off and over him. Hiroshi tumbled away, making sure that he didn't land on any of his tools or canisters hard.
"Might be something I should focus on next," Hiroshi said, checking one of his canisters and finding that one of his fire retardant gel canisters got dented and started to leak. "Make this costume more padded enough so that I can roll with stuff on me without breaking it... Good thing this is easy to wipe off."
He started to run again, getting some distance while Izuku regained his eyesight from the temporary blinding. He loaded another canister, and fired it. When it exploded near Izuku, a sticky substance flew out, getting onto his shoes and immobilizing him in place. Izuku decided to use a finger flick to stop him, as more green electricity sparked off of him.
"Delaware SMASH!" He flicked, and a giant blast of air flew out. It collided with Hiroshi, knocking him off his feet, as well as breaking several rock formations around him. Some of their classmates that happened to be nearby ended up getting caught in the blast of wind, struggling to keep a foothold.
"Dammit Midoriya!" Minoru shouted, as he struggled to keep a grip onto the ground with his balls. "What gives!?"
Fuka kept using her Gale Breath and her air compressor backpack to counter the wind, but ended up flying away with it as well. Pony fell off the horns she was flying around on, tumbling and bumping into Kinoko. Kosei's Solid Air barrier broke against the massive wind blast, and he was sent careening against the wall. Ochako, who was using her Quirk on herself, was easily knocked back and smacked into Setsuna's torso. As soon as the blast of wind ended, everyone picked themselves up and moaned, rubbing their heads.
"Ugh, good news, I think nothing broke," Hiroshi said, checking himself. "Good thing, too, since Recovery Girl's Quirk would just hurt me more..."
"I-I'm so sorry!" Izuku stuttered, going to help people up. "I-I was thinking that I could try using that move again, since I haven't used it since getting control over One for All, and you were getting away, and I-"
"It's alright, maybe that's something we can focus on," Setsuna said, dusting herself off.
"And I might need to improve on the capacity and strength of my backpack system," Fuka said, examining her gauntlets and boots. "Would be bad if I ended up fighting against someone with a stronger wind Quirk, or in a storm..."
"And my costume could be a little more padded, or make the things I use a lot more durable," Hiroshi said, pointing to the fire retardant gel on his jacket. "So... want another go at sparring, or-"
"Actually, I think I have an idea for what I can do about my Delaware Smashes..." Izuku said, putting a thoughtful hand on his chin while he thought back to an idea he had a while ago. "I should go and check with the Support Course!"
"Yea, I think I'll join you with that," Hiroshi said, crossing his arms. "As easy as it is getting direct support from my parents' company, I think getting some input from the Support Course kids would be a nice change of pace."
"We'll join up with you later, we should make the most of the time we have here left," Setsuna said, as they waved off Hiroshi and Izuku. She turned around, and noticed Shihai off to the side, sighing. She detached her head and hands, and floated them towards the pitch black boy. "Something wrong, Kuroiro?"
"... I am having trouble reentering the world of shadows that Virus and his kin use," he muttered, looking at his hands. "I have tried and tried, but it isn't as easy as before. It takes so much of my body's power to get into it, that I worry that I cannot get out. Virus and his kin might use that moment of weakness to come and strike me down."
"It's alright, Kuroiro!" Kinoko said, overhearing him and Setsuna. "Y-You don't need to force yourself to go there! That place mush sound like a horrible place to go to if Virus and his alien friends can use it!"
"No, I have to," Shihai stated, taking a deep breath. "It is my fault that so many secrets were revealed. I need... I have to make up for it all."
"It's no big deal, man," Setsuna said, smiling a bit. "Honestly, I'm sorta glad that we got everyone in on All Might secret, since it means less need to be on guard all the time."
"Maybe, but I have this ability that no one else here has," Shihai said, balling up his hands into fists. "I must master it, in order to get a step ahead of Virus and the others. That much I can make up for."
"... You're a great guy, Kuroiro," Setsuna said, patting the teen on his back. "I'm sure that you'll be able to use that shadow world better than Virus and his squad ever did!"
"Yea! I-It's scary to think about, but if anyone can do it, I believe that you can!" Kinoko said, cheering him on. He turned his eyes and face away from her, to hide the slight blush that was growing on his face.
"... Thank you, you two," he said, stepping to the shadowed wall in front of him. He stuck his hands onto the wall, and though he only merged with it normally, a smile grew on his face. "I'm not about to give up now. I must catch up with everyone, and do my part!"
At the UA Entrance
"Wow, I can't believe I'm really visiting UA!" Melissa said, looking around at the main campus. They had stopped by the First Year dorms, since Melissa was going to stay there with the 1B girls (she insisted doing so, so that she could get to spend time with the aliens), and David dropped off his stuff at the teacher's dorm.
"Hahaha! Indeed, this is a bastion of learning for every student!" All Might said, as they approached the entrance. "Right now the First Years are doing some training at Gym Gamma, so we'll be meeting them later! For now, let's take a tour of the main campus!"
"You sure you want to do this? I'm good with-" David said, but All Might stopped him.
"Of course! After all, I think I have some colleagues who would love to meet you, Dave!"
"You mean like the Support Course teachers?"
"Exactly! That will be our first stop here!"
At the Development Studio 1H
"Man, I thought we'd never find this place," Hiroshi said while he and Izuku walked. They stood in front of two giant metal doors that were sealed shut. "I wonder how they're so heavy duty like this."
"I don't know, maybe it's to keep the other Support Classes from peeking at each other while they work?" Izuku suggested. He began to knock on the door.
A Few Steps Away
"So that was a lot faster than I expected," Fuka said, as she, the SiDE Team, Itsuka, Manga, Kinoko, Mina, and Yui walked through the hallways. "Got a lot of definitive ideas I could use..."
"What are you guys thinking of getting for your costumes?" Mina said, her hands behind her head.
"I'm going to see if my armor's radiator system can be improved upon," Tenya explained. "That way, I can use my Engines for a longer duration of time."
"I wanna get some like, claws or something," Setsuna said, pointing her fingers out. "I mean, there's not much I can do with my Quirk that would work with my costume. But I could totally use things to help improve my offensive."
"I think my mobility pack and stuff could use a tune up," Ochako said, pointing at her suit's wings and fan. "Might get something stronger to help me move around while I'm weightless."
"Probably could get like, a sound gun that I can put my earphone jacks into?" Kyoka said, twiddling with one of them. "Would be pretty cool to fire precise blasts of sound."
"I don't believe that there's really much I can add to my costume, since I'm able to make my own tools on the fly," Momo said. "I just wanted to have the chance to see what the Support Course classrooms are like."
"Same! Like, I betting it's all hi tech and stuff!" Manga said, as the image of a shiny white pristine lab appeared on his face.
"I want some sort of long-distance spray so I can grow my mushrooms from far away!" Kinoko said, beaming at the thought. "But it has to match my costume! It would look really bad for it if I get something like Fuka's. Would totally clash with my look. No offense."
"None taken," Fuka said, shrugging.
"... I want a new hat," Yui muttered, thinking back to how Thirteen disintegrated her original one. She began to think of some new designs for it and her costume overall. Maybe make it look like that Ultraseven person that she saw when Hero and Hiroshi told them all about the history of the Ultras.
"That's a pretty simple one," Itsuka said. "Pretty much in the same boat of 'I'm curious as to what the Support Course classrooms look like', since I don't think I can get something that can grow with my hands... I mean, I could if Hero and Rigel let me, but I don't think they will."
"I wanna get like, horn attachments! Like lasers! Or drills! Something cool!" Pony said, as her head got into the clouds about what she could get.
"Oh, hey, there they are," Fuka said, seeing Hiroshi and Izuku standing in front of the 1H Development Studio.
"Hey you guys!" Ochako said, waving to them.
"Oh hey guys-" Izuku said, turning around and smiling at his friends.
In the other direction
"Hurry up, dad, Uncle Might! I wanna see the Development Studio!" Melissa said, as she ran through the hallways.
"Slow down, I'm getting too old for this!" David said, chuckling as he watched her almost skip towards Class 1H. "So you really think these kids are something else?"
"Absolutely!" All Might laughed. "Well, I wouldn't know personally, but Power Loader has almost nothing but glowing praise for his students!"
"Why 'almost'?" David said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, apparently there're four students that, while the best of their class, give him massive headaches for whatever reason," All Might said, scratching his head. "I'm sure it's nothing."
As they approached the Development Studio, the three noticed two people standing in front of the doorway.
"Oh, is that-" Melissa said, beaming.
"Indeed it is! Young Hiroshi!" All Might called out.
"Oh hey All Might-" Hiroshi said, turning his head around.
An explosion erupted from Development Studio 1H, consuming both Izuku and Hiroshi. Izuku was still smiling as he was blown away, while Hiroshi's helmet snapped shut from the sudden force, hiding his expression. Everyone around them (even Yui), stared in shock as the smoke cloud consumed the two students, while Manga's face became pointed like an exclamation word balloon. Meanwhile, All Might still wore a smile on his face, but this time it slightly opened in surprise at what he just saw.
"Dammit you four!" a voice cried out from the room. Power Loader came walking out of the smoke, waving his hands around to push it away. "You can't try to make everything that comes to your mind!"
"Failure is the mother of invention, Mr. Power Loader!" a girl coughed. "Thomas Edison once said that! Just 'cuz something doesn't work as intended, doesn't mean it was a wasted effort!"
"Hatsume's right," a boy laughed. "We figured out that particular wiring setup wasn't the best for that item. No issue."
"That's not the point!" Power Loader shouted.
"Well it's- what am I on?"
As the smoke parted, everyone saw Mei Hatsume laying on top of Izuku, her sizeable assets squishing against him. "Oh hey, where'd you come from?" she said, cheerfully.
"B-B-B-B-B-" Izuku stuttered, all color from his face draining in an instant.
"BOOBS!" Ochako shouted, with the utmost seriousness.
"Yuzuhira, are you alright!?" another boy asked. The smoke cleared, and there was a boy who had tossed himself atop another girl to protect her from the blast.
"Y-Yea, sorry I landed on you, Senku," the girl chuckled.
"What are you talking about, I'm right next to you," the other boy, Senku, said, sitting up to the right of Yuzuhira.
"T-Then who am I on-" she started to say, sitting up.
"Agh, god..." Hiroshi moaned, as Taiju, Senku, and Yuzuhira's eyes fell onto the helmeted boy. "Just what hit me like a fucking dump truck?"
"A-A-A-A-A-" Yuzuhira stuttered, blushing furiously at having landed on a stranger.
"ASS!" Setsuna shouted, with the same utmost seriousness as Ochako.
"Oh my gosh, are you two alright!?" Melissa said, snapping out of her shock as she ran over to help Izuku and Hiroshi up.
"Yea, just a little surprised by the explosion, that's all," Hiroshi said, opening his helmet's faceplate and rubbing his forehead.
"Oh that's good, I- oooh, are you Ultraman Hero's host!?" Melissa said, noticing Hiroshi's Hero Hand.
"That's right," Hiroshi answered, finally taking a good look at the girl. "Are... you the daughter of that friend that All Might said was going to visit UA?"
"Yep! I'm Melissa Shield! I've been wanting to meet you since Ultraman Hero came to Earth!" she beamed. She pointed to David, who gave him a polite wave. "And that's my dad!"
"David Shield," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out to shake Hiroshi's. "A pleasure to meet you. My coworkers at I-Island have been talking about you. They were really jealous when they heard that I was going to be meeting you."
"W-Wait, David Shield!? As in the David Shield who's pioneered hero costumes and Quirk study!?" Izuku said, pointing at David Shield.
"Indeed! That is the very same Dave!" All Might laughed, patting David's shoulder. "He and I go way back to my college days in America!"
"Mr. Shield, Mr. Shield!" Mei said, almost instantly appearing right in front of him. "You just have to see my babies!"
"Your... babies?" David said, raising an eyebrow.
"It's what she calls her inventions... the inventions that have a tendency to BLOW UP!" Power Loader said, gritting his teeth. "I am so sorry, Mr. Shield! When I told these four that you were coming, they were insistent on staying here to create something to impress you. Even though the Support Course dorms haven't even been completed!"
"Hey, science rests for no one," Senku said, chuckling. "We have to keep innovating and improving, don't we?"
"Especially since we're at UA!" the other boy laughed. He stuck his hand out for Hiroshi to shake, too. "I'm Taiju Oki! I've been wanting to meet you and Midoriya since the Sports Festival!"
"Yuzuhira Ogawa," the other girl said, blushing as she looked away, even though she too stuck out her hand to shake. "I'm so sorry that I landed on you..."
"It's alright," Hiroshi laughed, though he didn't notice Setsuna's and Yui's hard stares at Yuzuhira. "It was an accident."
"Senku Ishigami," Senku said plainly. "Glad to make your acquaintance."
"Come on, you just gotta see them!" Mei said, running into the Development Studio.
"Hatsume, calm down!" Power Loader said, as he ran back inside. The students looked at each other before following in, with Melissa, David, and All Might looked at each other.
"She's certainly an excitable person," Melissa laughed, shrugging as she walked in.
"I take it that those are the four students your coworker's having trouble with," David said, holding back a laugh.
"Seems like it," All Might said. "I can certainly see why now."
"Wow, it's like a secret base in here!" Pony said, marveling at the computers, tables, and tools laying around.
"Hatsume, seriously, you can show Mr. Shield your babies later," Power Loader said, as she and Senku went through and looked at a bunch of different gadgets and gizmos they had made. "Right now, there are some Hero Course students that are here-"
"Oh?" Mei said, finally looking at the other students. "Oh hey, it's you guys from the Hero Course. Um..."
"D-Don't you remember who we are?" Ochako said, pointing to herself and Izuku. "We were your teammates during the cavalry battle!"
"I'm Tenya Iida! The man used as advertisement for your babies!" Tenya said, indignantly.
"Hm... right, of course!" she said, turning her attention to Hiroshi and Fuka. "Hiroshi, Fuka!"
"Figures you'd remember us at least-" Hiroshi said.
"Did your parents like my presentation there?"
"Actually, yea, they thought it was great-"
"Haha! I knew it! I got them hook, line, and sinker!" Mei said, pumping a triumphant fist in the air.
"Good, good, we just gotta keep reeling them in," Senku said. "Let's aim for a repeat, maybe at the Cultural Festival."
"Excuse me!?" Tenya said, gritting his teeth.
"I'm sorry," Yuzuhira said, sweating a bit. "Once those two have something on their mind, there's no stopping them."
"That's one of their best qualities!" Taiju laughed.
"So I take it that you all want costume upgrades?" Power Loader said. "Just hand me your costume blueprints in your costume cases when you can so I can look over them. For small modifications and redesigns, I just need to send a report to your agencies, and they'll handle the paperwork. For bigger ones, we'll have to get a formal application submitted, though. And the government will inspect the updated costume. If it passes, they'll send it back to us. Since I work with one of the bigger support companies, as well as Furin-Kazan Corporation, it should be done within three days or so if it's big."
"Really? That's great-" Izuku began to say, when Mei and Senku began to feel him up.
"W-W-What are you doing!?" Ochako said, as Izuku blushed furiously, especially at Mei's touch.
"Feeling him up!" she said bluntly. "Wow, you are surprisingly muscular underneath this. Not as much as Oki, but still pretty muscular."
"We got to get a feel for our clients so that we know what will fit them the best," Senku said. "Don't worry, we'll be doing this with all of you, too."
"That's not reassuring!" Itsuka said, blushing as she backed away, arms over chest, as the other students followed.
"Hm, I suppose so," he muttered. "Yuzuhira, come here and measure him."
"I really don't think that's necessary," she said, sighing.
"Y-Yea! I just wanted some new gloves-" Izuku finally said.
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Mei said, as she and Senku went off to look through a pile of gear.
"They're certainly a peculiar bunch, aren't they?" David said, laughing as Ochako checked up on Izuku, Hiroshi guffawed at everything, and Power Loader's exasperation.
"So true, but befitting of UA! It's never a dull moment here!" All Might laughed, noticing Melissa standing next to the Hero Course students. "Seems like Melissa's getting into the spirit of things!"
"What's it like being Hero's host?" Melissa asked, looking at Hiroshi.
"Well, I'm never alone now, and I sometimes forget that no one else can hear Hero, so I end up talking aloud to myself," Hiroshi said, crossing his arms as he went into thought.
"Where exactly do you go when you change into Hero?"
"I'm in the same place as he is physically, just in his Inner Space. That's what his mental dimension of sorts is called."
"When he possesses you, what abilities do you get?"
"Mostly enhanced strength, durability, speed, and agility. Nothing fancy like his energy powers."
"Can you fly into space!?" Taiju said, getting up into Hiroshi's space.
"I mean, yea, that's one of the abilities of Ultras. That's how he got here after all."
"Would you be able to take Senku and us into space?"
"That's actually a really good question!" Izuku said, as everyone turned to him.
"Not without the proper tools and vehicles," Hero said, which Hiroshi relayed.
"But I bet that Rigel and Ardiana could fly us in Saiphza!" Setsuna said, snapping her fingers.
"Oh, those are those two other aliens that joined the Hero Course, right?" Yuzuhira said. "Can we meet them too?"
"I don't see why not," Fuka said, shrugging. "Though considering they already have alien gear that they handle themselves, I'm not sure we can convince them to visit you guys."
"Rigel would probably be interested, I think," Ochako said. "He's pretty interested in our Earth's culture, after all."
"Found it!" Mei said, pulling out a large, metal glove. She walked over to Izuku, and shoved it onto his hand. "Meet Baby #95! It maximizes a person's punching power while protecting their fists from getting skinned or messed up from punching! It can also use gunpowder to add an explosive touch!"
"Really? That's cool!" Izuku said, looking at it. "But I was actually thinking of something that would work more like an air cannon... you see, I can use finger flicks powered up by my Quirk, and when I flick, I create a blast of wind pressure that can knock anything back. But it's a pretty widespread move, so I was hoping to get something to focus it."
"Oh, I think me and Hatsume made something like that. Be right back," Senku said, as he and Mei walked back to the pile of gear.
"That kinda sounds like what Uncle Might can do..." Melissa said thoughtfully. "Wish I could've brought some of my own Support Gear to show off."
"Like father, like daughter, huh?" Kyoka said.
"I suppose so," Melissa chuckled.
"So what things have you two made?" Pony asked, looking at Taiju and Yuzuhira.
"I'm actually more on the textile side of things," Yuzuhira admitted. "Not that I can't help with the tech side!"
"But she's one of the most fashion forward of us in 1H!" Taiju laughed. "For me, I'm just the test subject here! After all, I'm the most durable person here! Plus I'm no good at making things on my own."
"Wait... I recognize you! You were at my testing site at the practical!" Itsuka said, as the wires connected in her brain. "You just stood there while a bunch of robots wailed on you! How did you not like, die there?"
"That idiot's Quirk is Unbreakable Body, it gives him super invincibility that I bet that not even All Might could get through," Senku said, offhandedly. "The reason why he failed the practical is because he's too much of a softie to throw punches himself."
"Violence isn't always the answer!" Taiju said, tearing up. "Those poor robots were getting broken up as is!"
As everyone settled into having conversations, Izuku began flexing his fingers with the glove Mei and Senku gave him. It was surprisingly comfortable, for something covered in metal. He could imagine using something like this, honestly.
Then the glove started to smoke and beep.
"Ummmmm is it supposed to do that?" Izuku said, as everyone stopped and stared at his hand.
"Oh, I guess gunpowder container broke and got heated by the wiring," Senku said calmly. "You might want to take that off. Right now."
Izuku began to sweat and panic as the glove began to smoke more and beep louder, and started to wave his arm around. He frantically pulled at the glove, before Hiroshi came and yanked it off. He threw it to the farthest corner of the studio, and in seconds, it exploded, leaving behind a small pile of burning, broken metal, cloth, and wiring.
"Oops, seems like Baby #95 needs some improvements," Mei said, before going back to looking through the pile. "Don't worry, Baby #105 will be better for you."
"Oops!? You almost blew his hand up!" Fuka said, incensed as Izuku examined his hand, making sure that nothing was wrong with it. Mei froze at the scolding. While she usually brushed off Power Loader's, something about this one just caught her ear. "How reckless can you be!? I get that failures are necessary, but explosions like that-"
"I mean, it's not like stuff like that hasn't happened at Furin-Kazan, Fuka," Hiroshi said, though his eyes were on the ground. "Preferably would've liked that to have happened without him wearing it, but still, it's not like we haven't had scientists and engineers get caught up in similar explosions either."
"I know, but still-"
"Honestly, as much of a pain as she and her friends are-" Power Loader pinched his helmet's forehead, coming to his student's defense, "- they'll probably be the best support crew you can get. See that mountain of junk over there?"
Off to the side, everyone turned and finally saw a true mountain of gear, unlike the one that Mei and Senku were looking through. It was easily ten times as big.
"These guys made that since the beginning of this semester," Power Loader sighed. "They spent way too much time here, even before the decision to make UA a boarding school. Seen a lot of students come and go, but these four are something else."
"They made all of that in less than four months?" Hiroshi said, looking at the pile up and down.
"Yep, that's correct. We spent a lot of time working on those here," Yuzuhira sighed. "Lots of them worked, lots of them blew up... I'm sorry that happened, by the way. #95 was one of the ones that worked fine before, but I guess we gotta refine it. And honestly, I think we forget that like, not everyone is as durable as Taiju."
"... Sorry I got upset like that," Fuka said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess, well, I'm a little sensitive about gear working properly, so..."
"... I get it," Mei said, her smile drooping a bit. "It's all the more reason why I'm glad I fail a lot. It just means we found another thing that we can avoid and improve on in the future. I... I didn't mean to come off as disregarding safety and all, I was just excited that-"
"Hey, it's alright," Fuka said, feeling guilty. She stepped towards the mountain of gear, and inspected it. "You really do like to create, huh? I think our parents would like that in someone working for them."
"Really!?" Mei said, perking up.
"Yea, they loved your enthusiasm, so if you keep that up until graduation, I'm sure that they'll want to hire you at Furin-Kazan!" Hiroshi said, grinning. "They'd probably want all of you, since it seems like you make for a pretty good team."
"Hahaha, yes! Future job secured!" Mei said, as the four of them gave each other celebratory high fives.
Melissa joined Fuka in examining the mountain of gear, and picked some out to look at. "Yea, these are actually some pretty good designs... All they need is some finetuning and power output adjustments..."
"Really? How can you tell?" Yuzuhira said, looking at what Melissa had in her hands.
"Oh, do you have a Quirk that lets you read mechanics on the fly!?" Taiju asked.
"No, actually, um... I'm Quirkless, like Furinji," Melissa said, awkwardly. "Yea, it's-"
"Wow, you're Quirkless too!? Senku, you hear-"
"Yea yea, I'm Quirkless, too," Senku said, waving him off. "It's not really something to bond over, I think. I'm pretty different from Furinji and Shield, after all."
"So is that why you two went into the Support Course?" Hiroshi asked, slightly intrigued. "I gotta say, never thought I'd meet this many Quirkless people before. I mean, I know it's not uncommon, but you'd be surprised how spread apart Quirkless people tend to be."
"Yea... I always wanted to be a hero, but when I was told I was Quirkless, that ended," Melissa said, a little sadly. "But after dad and Uncle Might told me about how being a part of a support crew meant that I could be a hero to pros, I decided that I could be just like my dad and make support gear for heroes!"
"Not the only reason for me. UA's Support Course, while mostly focus on hero work, does open up a lot of scientific careers thanks to how much we need to learn," Senku replied, examining one piece of gear before tossing it away. "I mainly want to go into space, but we haven't had a space program since the dawn of Quirks."
"And you can do that with the aliens!" Pony said, snapping her fingers. "Hero and Rigel could definitely help you with that!"
"Maybe, but I want to feel like I've earned that right," Senku said. "I want to work for it like they did back then. But since aliens exist and all, I think that chance might be happening sooner than we think."
"True, I would imagine that this sort of thing would encourage people to want to explore space again," Momo said thoughtfully.
"We can talk about space some other time," Senku sighed, as he finally pulled what he was looking for. He walked over to Izuku, and slipped the glove onto him. "Try this. Don't worry, it has no wires or anything fancy. It's an air cannon glove Hatsume and I designed after deciding to look at some videos of pro heroes with wind Quirks. It has special vents that can intake air and focuses it into a single blast."
"This... this is pretty much what I was thinking about!" Izuku said, flexing his fingers. "Could modify it some more, though. Better to suit me in terms of how my finger flicks work."
"Alright, just come with me and we'll see what we can do," Senku said, directing Izuku to a table to sit down at.
"Well, with that settled, let's focus on you guys!" Mei said, turning her attention to the others. She zipped up to Tenya. "So what are you looking for?"
"W-Well, I want to improve my costume's radiator system-" Tenya said, backing away.
"Say no more!" Mei shouted. She removed Tenya's gauntlets, and in an instant she replaced them with two new ones, this time with exhaust ports. "Boom! Baby #36! Super Cooler Electric Boosters! They'll keep the heat down to a minimum!"
"I don't need boosters," Tenya said, befuddled. "And my Quirk isn't-"
"Ignition!" Mei said, pulling out a remote and pressing a button. The gauntlets fired up to life, and Tenya flew into the ceiling, hard. He grimaced as he felt his head press against the ceiling.
"Iida!" Ochako said, as everyone looked up at the teen. Mei pressed the button again, and Tenya fell down to the ground, onto his knees.
"... Seems like we gotta finetune the power output on that," Mei laughed.
"My Quirk is on my legs! Why would I need something on my arms!?" Tenya cried.
"Well, your brother has his Engines on his arms, right? I was thinking that if you were tired of using your legs, you could use your arms instead!"
"He still uses his legs to run!"
As the teens talked, laughed, and ran from Mei and her inventions, David and All Might were laughing at the sight.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Shield," Power Loader apologized, giving the American a polite bow. "This wasn't what I wanted to show you, I assure you. The other Support Courses are much better, I-"
"It's fine," David replied, watching as Melissa getting along with the other teens, talking to them about ideas they could use, such as Hiroshi using compressed cartridges rather than canisters, since they're smaller and less likely to break if he rolls onto them, or helping Kyoka design a sound gun. "This is a lot better than I thought it would be. Those kids are gonna be something, I think."
"No doubt about it. The world's going to be in safe hands with the next generation!" All Might laughed, as he patted David's back. David laughed though, though a little more hesitantly.
His thoughts from the past few weeks have caught up with him once again. He was glad that Melissa was having fun, but still, could they really put such a burden on any of their shoulders like he and All Might?
He still had a lot to ask Hiroshi himself, but for now, he just has to let them all enjoy themselves.
Much Later
"So how do you like UA?" Fuka said, as she and the others walked around the courtyard of the campus. After getting their costume updates finished, they had gone and changed to regular clothes, and helped guide Melissa around UA for the rest of the day. David and All Might followed behind from a distance, letting Melissa interact with them.
"It's amazing! If I wasn't studying at I-Island Academy, I would've loved to come here!" Melissa said.
"Yea, it's certainly something else, huh?" Hiroshi said, as he looked back at the main campus. "Lots of crazy things have happened ever since I got here."
"... If you don't mind me asking, what did you plan to do if Hero never came into the picture?" Melissa asked, somewhat hesitantly.
"Honestly? I don't know," Hiroshi admitted. He looked at the Hero Hand, and felt the stylized H on it. "At the time, I was really pessimistic about a lot of stuff 'cuz of how I got treated by some real shitheads growing up, and a lot of people reminding me that I couldn't become a hero 'cuz I'm Quirkless. Like I believe being Quirkless doesn't mean that a person's helpless by any means, but there are just some things we can't do, and people just loved to remind me of that. It got to the point where I didn't even apply to UA so I could avoid people telling me the same things I've heard before. I probably wouldn't even want to take over our parents' position at Furin-Kazan. Maybe I might've become some sort of vagrant and wander around Japan without a purpose."
Fuka and Setsuna looked at each other, both feeling uneasy by how... easily Hiroshi said all of that. "But you know, I'm glad that everything happened the way it did. I got something arguably better than a lot of Quirks with Hero becoming my partner. We found out that there's entire worlds out there with aliens that we never thought about. And that there's even a multiverse of all things. So if I had to repeat everything so far, I think I would."
"Even with the whole 'getting vaporized' thing?" Kyoka asked, remembering how Hiroshi and Hero bonded in the first place.
"Yea, I wouldn't think that would be something you'd want to go through again," Itsuka shuddered.
"Honestly, I don't even remember how that felt," Hiroshi said, shrugging. "I pretty much got resurrected the instant it happened, so it really was like nothing happened to me at all."
David raised an eyebrow. That's right, that's something that was mentioned at the press conference they had, and something that All Might told him too. Something about that... was intriguing.
"So what was it like, temporarily dying?" Manga asked, before getting elbowed in the ribs by Itsuka, Pony, and Kinoko.
"You don't just ask someone what that's like!" Itsuka hissed.
"Nah, it's cool. The whole death thing wasn't something I think I remember, actually. The instant it all happened, Hero already got me into his Inner Space. And honestly, besides the first few minutes after changing back, I actually felt better than ever," Hiroshi admitted. "Sorta got like, reinvigorated in a way."
That made David's heart stop. Reinvigorated? Better than ever? And if that was something that happened as a result of resurrection, does that mean that bonding with Hero could actually... heal someone? What if-
"Still, to say that you want to repeat everything, even that, is kinda crazy," Kyoka said, shuddering. "You've got a steel will, Hiroshi."
"Hey, Hero's one of the best friends and partners I've ever had, I'd be crazy to choose not to go through with it again," Hiroshi laughed.
"I thought I was your best friend," Setsuna pouted, making Hiroshi roll his eyes while chuckling.
"Well, besides you, of course," he said, nudging her shoulder.
"Excuse me, Hiroshi," David finally said, approaching the steel blue-haired teen. "Can... can I talk to you in private for a while? I've got a number of things to ask and talk to you about."
"Oh, sure, Mr. Shield, no problem," Hiroshi said, nodding. "We'll be right back, guys."
While Hiroshi and David walked off, something about the upcoming conversation seemed like it was going to be... off to Setsuna. David's whole behavior this entire time had been off to her, really. For what, she didn't know, but it was something that concerned her. She looked around, and detached her right eye and ear off her face, using her hair to hide the missing parts. They flew over into the trees sneakily, while everyone started talking again about heroism.
Meanwhile, in the mountainous forest
"Wow, you three really had difficulty doing one of the most basic abilities we can use. You can't even communicate with the ," Illne said, looking at Germ, Worm, and Bug, who were on the ground, breathing hard. After Kurogiri teleported them to the meeting spot in the forest after several minutes of them wasting time trying to use their shadow teleportation powers, Virus and the others had been drilling them on how to use it. And finally, on the second day of their conversation, they've finally managed to do it. They teleported between the meeting spot and the bar, and on their return trip to the meeting spot, the three ended up being completely winded by the experience. "Are you sure that you picked the right people to try the Despair Cores on?"
"Oh, don't worry about it so much, Illne," Virus said, rocking back and forth on a shadow rocking chair he made. "After all, I recall that you had difficulty adjusting to the shadow teleportation the first time as well."
"And if anyone can criticize getting used to their abilities, it would be dear Virus. After all, he took to them without issue," Ceteria reminded them all.
"Indeed, so let's calm down and let these three get used to the whole thing," Virus stated, about to pull out one of his stolen books.
"Hey!" Germ shouted, popping his neck. "Are... are we able to become gigantic like that fucking Ultra!?"
"Oh? Are our existing abilities not good enough for you?" Virus said, moving his hand to his chin. "Well, I think the answer to that, will be said after you actually attain more control over your powers."
"FUCKING BULLSHIT!" Bug shouted, punching a tree down. "Why are we wasting time on this-"
Virus flicked his finger, and a wind-like shadow bullet flew from it, hitting Bug in the chest. He flew into several trees, turning them into a pile of splinters. When he landed, he was covered in splinters, wheezing from the impact.
"That's why," Virus stated, pretending to blow his finger like it was a smoking gun. "When you understand the basics of our powers, you get all sorts of fun techniques you can do."
"I want that, I want that!" Worm laughed.
"What I want is the ability to summon giant monsters!" Bug shouted, shooting straight up from the pile of wood he was in.
"That's not something we inherently have," Virus replied. He pulled out a remote, and twirled it like a gun. "It's all because of our special multiversal remotes. They can let us teleport aliens from a secret location, as well as allow planet-to-planet and dimensional travel, since our shadow teleportation is only good for on-planet travel. Like so."
Virus scrolled through the remote, landing on the silhouette of an alien with large spiked scales and a horn on its snout. He pressed in some coordinates, and pushed the main button. In the distance, a dark blue portal opened, releasing the alien as it went on a rampage. Germ, Worm, and Bug stared in awe as they watched it, a giant tendril coming out of its mouth as it looked around the mountain range, searching for something.
"What is that one!?" Worm said excitedly.
"That's Gymaira!" Virus explained. "He's a vampiric monster that loves to suck out blood! Any victim of his becomes his to control! Though it seems like he's just a bit too far away from anyone to suck blood from. Oops."
"Can we get that remote!?"
"Maybe. Start doing repeat trips between here and the bar until going into our shadow world is second nature to you," Virus said. The three sighed, and began to walk into the trees, grunting as they forced themselves to turn into shadows.
"Any reason why you chose to release another giant alien of ours?" Disze asked, crossing his arms. "I thought you didn't want to use too many of our resources."
"Of course I want to save our resources. After this, we'll be withholding our aliens once again. This time around, though, I think we should start looking for some more hired help," Virus said, leaning back and watching Gymaira stomp around.
At UA, away from the main courtyard
"So what is it that you want to talk about, Mr. Shield?" Hiroshi asked, looking at the older man.
"Well, I just want to know... how can you handle a responsibility like being Ultraman Hero's host?" David asked, his hands in his pockets so that Hiroshi wouldn't his Squirmy Fingers wiggling around nervously.
"How I handle the responsibility..." Hiroshi said, tapping his foot in thought. "Well, I guess it's because... I want to do the right thing? Being in a family with two older siblings who are pro heroes and that co-own a support company might've helped with that. But ever since I was a kid, I think it was just... something that I wanted to do. To make sure that as many people are happy and safe."
"I see... still, I'd imagine that it's very heavy, to be saving everyone from giant aliens and alien criminals so often as the only Ultraman on this Earth."
"It is, but I've gotten through it with the support of Setsuna, Fuka, and our friends in UA and in Isamu. And UA itself has been pretty supportive as well."
"Huh? What about the HSPC and government?"
"Oh, well, that's... kinda tough. Individual government officials like the Prime Minister have been perfectly fine. But the HSPC? I think our relationship is on eggshells on both sides. I don't think they really fully trust us, and I... don't really fully trust them either. Like there's this one board member who always gives me a stink eye whenever we have our meetings. I'm pretty sure he wants to get me dissected and experimented on."
"Really... do... do you really think someone as young as you can really handle something like that?" David forced his fingers to stay still, balling them up into fists.
"Huh?" Hiroshi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I've been doing fine so far for these past few months, so yea. Why?"
"It's just that I... I think that someone as young as you shouldn't bear that burden yet. The politics, the pressure, everything that comes with being one of the youngest people to become involved with professional heroism thanks to handling all those alien threats..."
"... What are you getting at?" Hiroshi said, narrowing his eyes, though he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what David was about to say.
"... I think that you should give Hero to All Might."
At the other end of the courtyard
"What the FUCK!?" Setsuna said out loud, startling everyone around her.
"Setsuna!? Is something wrong!?" Fuka said, going up to check her friend, when she noticed that her eye and ear are missing from her face. "Wait, are you-"
"That's right, I'm spying on Hiroshi's and Mr. Shield's conversation!" Setsuna said, gritting her teeth as she pulled her hair back to show them.
"B-But why would you do that-" Izuku stuttered, getting a bad flashback to when she did that when the SiDE Team first found out.
"Yea, that conversation's not yours to-" Melissa said, crossing her arms.
"Your dad just asked Hiroshi to give up Hero to All Might!" Setsuna spat out.
"What!?" the teens said at once, while All Might paled at what the green-haired girl just revealed.
"He couldn't be... could he?" All Might thought. But the more he let it stew in his head, the more it made sense. Uncomfortably so much sense.
"Why would my dad ask him that?" Melissa said, confused by what she said.
"I... think I have a hunch to the reason," All Might sighed, finally admitting it to himself, as steam began to pour out of his body.
"... You want me to give Hero to All Might?" Hiroshi said, having his suspicions confirmed. "Any reason why All Might in particular?"
"I-I mean, he's the Number One Hero, so he would-"
"I don't want the obvious answer. Of course giving the Number One Hero an alien partner like Hero is something a lot of people have said online if they don't trust me," Hiroshi said, crossing his arms. "Give me an answer that will make me think."
"... All Might... he's been growing weaker each year now. He's gotten bad injuries over his career, and if becoming the host to an Ultra can bring a person back from the dead, then it can heal his wounds, right? And he's an experienced hero already, so just imagine how strong Hero could become if he was the host instead! Not to mention that he's already familiar with how the government and the HSPC works, meaning that you won't have to deal with the stress of handling with them, anymore!"
"... I've known about him growing weaker and his injuries for a while, and, well, Hero and I have thought about that before-"
"So you understand where I'm-"
"I do, but we've decided long ago that I'm going to stay as Hero's host."
"What? Why!? You'd be free of all of those responsibilities! That weight shouldn't be carried by children, especially so early on!"
"We're training to be heroes here, Mr. Shield. We're already being prepared for it. I just got a head start since Hero and I are allowed to handle giant threats and aliens."
"But think about how much more effective All Might would be if he's fully healed!"
"Even if he was fully healed, we can't-"
"Giant alien has been spotted in Rishi Forest. Be prepared to evacuate all buildings along the city limits," an alarm sounded off.
"I have to go," Hiroshi said, upon hearing it. "I understand you, Mr. Shield, but honestly, I think you're being a little shortsighted on this..."
"Hold your hand and call out-!"
"HEROOOOO!"
Hiroshi reared his right hand, and threw it into the sky above him. A sphere of light surrounded him, and it flew into the air, soon followed by Saiphza flying above the main campus before growing to full size, with a light shining down and Rigel entered Saiphza before following Hero. David stood there, watching the sphere of light and the alien ship shrink in the distance, unaware of the teens and All Might approaching him.
"How could you ask my brother to give Hero up like that!?" Fuka said, snapping David back to earth.
"He's dealt with a lot of shit before for being Quirkless, and you want him to go back to that!?" Setsuna cried out.
"H-Hiroshi's the best partner for Hero!" Izuku added, in disbelief that someone he held in high esteem didn't believe in Hiroshi.
"I- What? How do you know about-" David began to say, when he noticed Setsuna's eye and ear reattaching themselves to her face. And to his horror, he saw All Might in his skinny form standing next to Melissa. "All Might-"
"I told her... I told her about my injuries and this form," All Might said, pinching his forehead. "Dave, I know you only have the best interest for me, but my time... my time as Number One Hero has been close to its end already."
"Dad, I get that you want Uncle Might to keep being the Number One Hero. I do too..." Melissa said, her eyes pointed at the ground. "But... But Uncle Might can't be here forever."
"I know, but we can't just rely on-" David objected, but All Might put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Dave," All Might said, with a small smile. He directed everyone to the front entrance. "Let's go watch them do their job."
Hero in his Original form landed a distance away from the alien, which was a bipedal lizard-like giant with spikey scales and a large curved horn on the tip of its snout.
"Gymaira... this one's a dangerous one," Hero said, as he kept his guard up and his eyes on the alien.
"That's the one that can suck blood and control its victims, right?"
"Yes. Let's stick to long range attacks-" Hero said, when Gymaira opened its mouth and its tendril-like tongue flew out. Hero moved to the side, and grabbed it, holding the tongue underneath his arm. "Or not!"
Gymaira's tongue began to send electricity to shock the Ultra, stunning him for a bit before swinging him away against a mountain. When Hero stood up, Gymaira's horn began to charge with electricity. It fired a bolt of electricity at Hero, knocking him back again. Before it could resume its attack, Saiphza rammed into it, transforming into his dinosaur mode and biting down on Gymaira's horn, while his energy barrier drones flew around and erected the energy barrier to trap the giant alien. Gymaira struggled to free itself from Saiphza's bite, but Saiphza's jaws clenched harder, cracking it.
Hero stood up, shaking off the temporary paralysis. He created a green energy blade around his right hand, and slashed it through Gymaira's horn, snapping it off as the giant alien cried out in pain. It swung its tongue out again, this time managed to get it around Saiphza's neck, though when it tried to suck out blood, it realized that Saiphza had none. Saiphza and Hero took a hold of Gymaira's tongue, and began to swing it around, slamming Gymaira against the energy barrier multiple times. With a solid bite down onto Gymaira's tongue, Saiphza tore through it and Hero released his grip letting the giant reptilian alien fly into the energy barrier. It struggled to get up, which allowed Hero and Saiphza to prepare to finish it up.
Hiroshi slammed his hand onto the Hero Hand's stylized H, activating the finishing move.
"ORIGINAL! HERORUM!"
"Let's storm through!" Hiroshi shouted, as the Hero Hand lit up red.
Rigel removed the Omnirod from its port, and held it like a gun as he pointed it out.
"OMNIROD! DINO BLAST!"
"Wrecker Rex/Wrecker Rex!" Rigel and Ardiana shouted, as he pulled the trigger.
"Herorum CROSS!" Hero shouted, slamming his arms together before pulling them apart and firing the green energy at Gymaira, while Saiphza leaned forward and fired the energy from his mouth and cannons. The attacks converged with one another, landing against Gymaira. With a final cry, Gymaira exploded in a cloud of fire and smoke, leaving behind only a H-shaped mark of light in its place. Hero leaped into the sky, vanishing as Saiphza changed into his ship mode and flew back towards UA.
On the rooftop of UA
As the group of teens cheered Hero's and Saiphza's victory against the giant alien, David stood there, still trying to grasp what he just saw. He's seen the videos of their fights, but it was something else to be able to see them in person. Just how? How could a teen like Hiroshi bear the world's burden like that? Like All Might?
"David, I appreciate that you're concerned about the future and my place in it," All Might said, putting a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "But I've long accepted that I can't always be the Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace. It's one of the reasons why I chose to become a teacher at UA. To prepare the next generation to become heroes. My time carrying the torch is coming to an end, and I'm all but ready to hand it to them."
"... You're right, All Might," David admitted, looking at the ground in shame. "I've... I've been absolutely foolish about this... I'm sorry..."
"It's alright. There's... a lot more that I need to tell you and Melissa," All Might sighed, as they watched Hero shrinking down with light covering him and Hiroshi returning in his place, and the teens went up to check up on him. "I think... it's time that you two learned about the truth of my Quirk."
"The fuck was that!?" Germ shouted, kicking a rock upon seeing Gymaira get destroyed by Hero and that other new alien. "Why didn't that stupid thing win!? It didn't even get to suck any blood!"
"Oh well, that's what I get for releasing it too far away," Virus said, shrugging. "Now get back to practicing, I want to see you cut the time down."
Germ grumbled as he resumed his shadow teleportation practice, and Virus went back to sitting in his shadow rocking chair, taking out the Quirkology book and reading it again.
"Any particular reason you chose to use Gymaira?" Illne asked. "And why you released it so far from a city where it would be useful?"
"Honestly I just wanted to get rid of it. Gymaira's useful, but with its ability to control its victims, it might've gotten been able to turn on us by using these humans," Virus pointed out. "Wouldn't have been an issue if this place was like any other Earth, but with Quirks, it could've been much more of a powerhouse. That, and it was just kinda 'eh' for me."
"That is true," Disze said, his hand on his chin as Germ, Worm, and Bug kept grunting and yelling as they turned into shadows and disappearing on the trees. "Even with our own impressive powers, an army of Quirk users controlled by Gymaira could throw a wrench into our plans."
"Which is why we really should just speed things along-" Maladi muttered, before Virus fired a wind-like shadow bullet through her shadow hammock, ripping it off from the tree it was hanging on and making her fall onto the ground hard.
"None of that again, Maladi," Virus sighed, as he turned his attention to the book again. "Besides, when we enact our final plans, it won't matter how many Quirk users rise up against us."
"My bad," she grumbled, sitting up and creating a new shadow hammock.
As Virus read through the Quirkology book, he came across a name that picked his attention. "Hm? 'David Shields, a leading scientist of Quirk study and research, as well as support gear pioneer and friend of All Might's'... I do recall that name being dropped when I listened to All Might's shadow for the first time... I suppose I should go and talk to his shadow again and get some more information about him."
He closed the book, and got up from his shadow rocking chair as it disappeared. "I'm off to go pay him a visit! When those three come back, be sure to be tough on them, and make them work hard!"
In the 1A/1B Dorm's common room
"So... that's really how your Quirk works like?" David said, as he sat across the table from All Might and Izuku. Melissa was sitting next to him, biting her lip. "You've passed it down to someone else?"
"That's right," All Might admitted, as the Hero Course students present looked at them with concern. "I'm sorry that I never told you two about this. I was told to keep it a secret for so long by my predecessors, and I wanted to keep you two safe. But after everything that's happened now, it felt wrong to not let my best friend and his daughter know. And after you started planning your trip here, I figured that it would be best to tell you two in person."
"... Is... is it rude to ask why you never thought of giving it to me?" Melissa whispered, rubbing her foot against the ground. "I mean, I'm not asking for you to hand it to me, I'm just... wondering..."
"One for All is a heavy burden to carry. For the longest time, I fully prepared to carry it alone," All Might explained. "And when you were diagnosed with Quirklessness, I was at my prime. I had no intentions of passing it down at the time. And when I got injured fighting All for One... I couldn't bear the thought of seeing you hurt like I was. You were already on your way to becoming a fine support engineer, there was no way I could suddenly change your course. I'm sorry I've disappointed you by not choosing you, Melissa, but my love for you hasn't changed one bit."
"I see... I understand," Melissa said, smiling sadly. "Well, either way, you're still my Uncle Might! That's not going to change either, whether you have your Quirk or not."
"And I... suppose it wouldn't be right to ask Midoriya to hand it back over to you, huh?" David said, ashamed that the thought even came into his head.
"Even if he did, my body wouldn't be able to handle One for All anymore in this state," All Might said, shaking his head. "But I promise you, One for All is in the best hands that I can trust."
"Mr. Shield!" Izuku exclaimed, the quiet boy catching the scientist off guard. "I... I know that you're afraid of what the future would be like without All Might... but I promise you... that I'm more than willing to take that burden off his shoulders!"
"And he's not going to be alone," Hiroshi said, walking behind Izuku and facing David. "I know that you only had the best interests in mind when you asked me to make All Might Hero's partner instead, so I'm not mad about that. But trust us when we say that all of us, not just Midoriya and me, are ready to step up to the plate when it's time."
David stared at the two heroes-in-training before looking to the rest of them. All of them had looks of determination and confidence, unafraid of what lies ahead of them. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "I've been so foolish for thinking so shortsightedly. Me, a scientist who's always looking for answers for the future. I'm sorry for my behavior, you all."
"With that all settled, I think it's time we get some dinner!" All Might said, clapping his hands together. "I'm sure that we're all hungry after everything today! The cafeteria should still be open!"
"Yea, I'm starving!" Setsuna said.
"Gonna miss being able to have the whole cafeteria to ourselves, since it'll get crowded when they finish making the other course dorms," Fuka said, as they headed out of the dorms.
"I'm grateful that you all decided to let us in on the secret," Rigel said, deeply impressed by what he heard.
"It would explain quite a bit from what you have told us beforehand," Ardiana added.
As the students headed out of the dorm, David stood there for a moment, hands in his pocket. "I... have a call to make, All Might. I need to talk to my assistant Samuel about something. Don't worry, it's nothing about what I learned today. Just checking up on him and our projects."
"Of course! And remember, we have to go see Gomess at Ground Omega tomorrow!" All Might said, as Melissa ran to join the Hero Course students, and he followed. David waved them goodbye before making a deep sigh, and walked to the most secluded area in the dorm he could for the call. He took out his phone, and punched in Samuel's number.
"Hey Sam, it's me, Dave," he said, his phone pressed against his ear.
"Dave! Having fun there? I was just about to make the calls and emails for the plan, and I-"
"We... we need to call it off, Sam," Dave said, pinching his eyebrow.
"What!? Why!? All of our research-"
"I've been talking with All Might and his students, and I... I've been foolish for thinking only about a future with All Might. These kids... they're so much more ready to take his place than I thought. I haven't told them about the Quirk Amplification Device, but still, just talking to him and those kids... Maybe it's best we let this go."
"Let it go!? Dave, we've spent so much time working on it! Are you saying that we should just accept that we wasted it all for nothing!?"
"Not for nothing. We've figured out a way to strengthen Quirks without using drugs like Trigger. That alone is a big advancement, but thinking about it now, maybe the sponsors are right about it. If Trigger's dangerous, the Quirk Amplification Device can be even more dangerous. Besides, it's not like we're out of the job now, they've asked us both to work on that monster sanctuary idea, and with that Gomess creature that they've captured alive, we can get started on it pretty soon."
"Dave, you can't be serious-"
"I am, Sam. I'm glad that we went through with the research, but it's time to move on. We need to trust the next generation, and we can start by focusing on paving the way for giant monster and alien studies."
"... Fine," Samuel sighed, though still clearly dissatisfied by David's answer. "Have a good night, David."
"Good night, Sam," David said, catching his assistant's upset tone, though he decided to let him calm down on his own. "Talk to you later."
Later, at I-Island
"- Alright, we've received your down payment, and we got your plans, maps, and tickets. We'll be seeing you at I-Expo soon, then," a voice said over Samuel's phone.
"Good, you better deliver your end of the deal if you want to get that money," Samuel said, his fingers tightening.
"Of course. Me and my boys are going to get your device no problem, Mr. Abraham. You have my word," the voice said, hanging up.
Samuel sighed, as his arm fell down onto the table, his phone clattering onto it. He couldn't believe that David would want to back out of their plan! This- This was infuriating! First he let their research get taken by their sponsors, confiscated and locked away in I-Island's vault, and now he wants to back out!? They worked for so long on this project to help people, but all that time and effort was going up in smoke! He should at least get some money out of this! And while getting to research giant aliens and monsters would be interesting, he'd be forced to start all over from scratch!
He had to do something. He couldn't let this happen. He'll get the Quirk Amplification Device back, by any means! He was thinking of getting real villains to help out, and it was a good thing he did, too. That would be a nice extra slap against David. There was no way actors would want to risk very real jailtime if they stole something from a place as secure as I-Island-
"So, you're Mr. Samuel Abraham, correct?"
Samuel froze and shot out of his chair, looking around in his room for the intruder's voice.
"W-Who are you!? Show yourself!" he cried, reaching out for a golf club (he was terrible at the game, but it didn't stop him from playing it every Sunday). To his fright, a shadow appeared on his condo's door. The shadow stepped off, forming into the alien that broke the back of that Japanese criminal Stain that he's seen on the news. With a cry, he swung his golf club into the alien's head, but instead of knocking his helmet off, the golf club bent backwards.
"Wow, that must be a very expensive and durable golf club if it can stay in tact like that," Virus said, in perfect English of all things. "Usually things like that would just snap right off."
"W-What do you want from me!?" Samuel said, sweating heavily as he backed away from Virus. "I-I don't have anything valuable you can take!"
"On the contrary, I heard that you do! You see, I've been asking some shadows around, and I've heard that you and your boss have created something that you call a Quirk Amplification Device," Virus said. Samuel stiffened, shocked that the alien knew about it. "And I want to help you get it back!"
"R-Really?" Samuel asked, apprehensively. "How?"
"By throwing in some giant aliens and monsters in for you to use! It'll be a great distraction for you to take your project back!" Virus said, moving right next to Samuel and slinging a 'friendly' arm around his shoulder.
"I-I don't need giant aliens or monsters!" Samuel cried, backing away from him. "I already have a plan to get it back, I don't need anything else!"
"Really? That's a shame," Virus sighed, shaking his head as he took a seat on Samuel's couch. "I guess this just means I'll just have to make my own plan to take it myself!"
"What!?"
"You see, your project got me interested in what I could use it for my own plans! So let's make this a competition! Let's see who manages to take the Quirk Amplification Device first! To make this fair, I won't use my shadow powers to immediately teleport into the vault where they're keeping it. Will it be your mercenaries who'll get it first? Or will it be me? All I can say is good luck to you!"
With that, Virus got off the couch and gave Samuel a bow, as he fell backwards onto the ground, turning into shadows and disappearing. Samuel fell onto his knees, the anxiety finally kicking in.
Just what had he gotten himself into?
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- Been worried that we haven't seen enough of Hiroshi doing some things on his own without Hero, since a lot of the past chapters have been focused on Hero fighting and all. So this was to rectify that, plus give Izuku a spotlight too.
- I have been meaning to bring back the whole "Shihai can go into the shadow world that Virus uses" thing, but in each chapter, it didn't feel right. Here, since they're all training, it felt like a good time to address it again, and why he hasn't used it again. The same thing is sorta happening with Tensei. I should really get back to him soon. Especially since I think his arms should be fully healed now.
- I was really looking forward to the explosion scene. It's one of my favorite canon scenes, and I was looking forward to doing my take on it. If you need a visualization of their faces, everyone has the same face as Tenya and Ochako had in the canon scene. Except for Manga and All Might, of course.
- I'm kinda nervous about the dialogue with Mei and Fuka concerning the exploding gear. Like I do think that Mei takes the whole thing seriously, it's just that she's constantly enthusiastic about inventing that it sometimes seems like she doesn't. And I feel like Fuka would take issue with that sort of attitude, but she would probably understand why Mei reacted that way. I also think that with something that happened in the Sports Festival, that Mei would be a little more careful and think a little more about others' feelings. Not by much, but just enough to understand why Fuka reacted the way she did.
- A few people I've seen wondered that since becoming an Ultra host can resurrect people, that if they could heal grievous injuries as well, like All Might's. I'm going to say that it's entirely possible, but that Hero and Hiroshi decided that it would be best if they stuck together. Not out of maliciousness, but because of the fact that All Might can't be around forever, even if he gets healed. And I think All Might himself understands that as well.
- Is it a major coincidence that Virus came across David's name in the Quirkology book? Maybe, but considering how he seems to be a big name in Quirk science and stuff, I feel like his name would have to be mentioned in the Quirkology book.
- And there we have it, the setup for the I-Island Arc! Admittedly while I always intended on doing this arc, I've always forget to mention it whenever talking about future arcs, since it's a movie rather than a manga/TV arc. I'll admit, I was going to have a transition scene between the phone conversation and Virus meeting with Samuel, where Virus had finished getting answers from David's shadow and began his traveling to Samuel, but I thought that it was kind of awkward to write, especially since he appeared so soon into the ending scene, so I removed it. Besides, I feel like him meeting Samuel already implied that he finished interrogating David's shadow before that, and that he had just finished getting information from Samuel's shadow/listened in onto Samuel's ending conversation.