"Man, it's been boring here..." Jason, a young Red Tribe Ultra sighed, his hands behind his head. He had a squarish face with oval-shaped light yellowish eyes, a knight-like head crest, a squarish shoulder pad on his right shoulder, white lines around his shins that gave him the appearance of wearing boots, white upper arms, kneepads, elbow pads, a white triangle on his chest and a white belt-like line that were connected by a thin vertical white line, and a circular Color Timer that was surrounded by five yellow rhombus-like points, giving the impression of a star. "We've had nothing to do!"
"A boring day is a safe day," Echion, a Blue Tribe Ultra replied as he and the others followed. He had large silver marks that covered his sides and legs, connecting to the underside of his arms and silver feet. He wore one triangular shoulder pad on his right shoulder, had a blue band-like brow that wrapped around his head and covered the bridge of his nose, a long face with a long blade-like head crest that pointed backwards, and squarish blue eyes. There was a silver circle on his chest that had two thin silver lines that connected to the silver patches of his sides, and much like the excitable Red Tribe Ultra, had a circular Color Timer that was surrounded by five yellow rhombus-like points. "Besides, we're in the Land of Light, one of the most peaceful places in all of the multiverse."
"But Jason's right, Echion," Asterion, a tall muscular Ultra said, his hands on his hips as they walked. The Ultra was massive, being two heads taller than his friends, and with muscles to match his height. His skin was red with silver marks and lines (with three forming bands around both thighs and biceps), black armor bands around his forearms and shins, an armored silver belt with three yellow circles and gold lines around his waist, a black armored collar around his shoulders and chest, and had a long large head crest with two smaller ones on each side and a blue Beam Lamp above his oval-shaped blue eyes. Like the others, his Color Timer was surrounded by five yellow rhombus-like points, though his Color Timer was square rather than circular. "We haven't had a chance to get off planet to do much at all. I'd love to test my strength against someone that isn't Instructor Ampion or you guys."
"Trust me, I don't want to test out my strength against you, either. Your muscles are like, five times bigger than mine," Echion snarked.
Aside from the three, two female Ultras, Medea and Atalanta, trailed behind them. Medea was the tallest of the two, with a pink breastplate and shoulder armor with black trim, had pink skin with a patch of silver around her midriff and back, and a black belt-like band around her waist. She had silver upper arms with pink forearms and silver hands with a ring of black separating the pink from the silver. Around her shins and calves was silver with pink trim, and black feet. Unlike the others, she had two pink head crests that appeared more like horns that rose from her brow above her light yellow eyes, and a pink helm that gave her the appearance of a chin-length bobcut. Her Color Timer was a ring, but much like the others, she had five rhombus-like points around it.
Atalanta, meanwhile, had silver skin with dark red lines and raised yellow fin-like ridges on her hips, forearms, and shins. She had dark red armor with black trim around her forearms and shins, with similarly colored round shoulder pads, and a dark red triangular patch on her chest and neck that connected to her shoulder pads. Around her light blue oval-shaped eyes were light red marks resembling eyeliner, and she had two bang-like protrusions framing the sides of her face, while her head crest was long and large that reached her shoulder blades, resembling a ponytail of sorts. And around her diamond-shaped Color Timer were five yellow rhombus points like her friends.
"Yea, don't you want to go off planet for once?" Atalanta asked, crossing her arms. "Like we don't even get to visit our home planets."
"I do, but we're still really early in our training here," Echion answered.
"Atalanta's right though, it's been forever since I've been to OR22," Asterion said. "Wonder how everyone there's doing..."
"I wish we could've joined Hero on his mission," Medea replied, shrugging. "Would love to go visit that Earth he found, honestly..."
"Yea, me too!" Jason said, turning around and walking backwards to look at the two female Ultras. "I still can't believe it! An Earth where most of the humans have special powers? What are the odds?"
"Are we even sure it's an Earth and not just a human-like race?" Echion said.
"Well, Hero's host and his classmates call it Earth, right?" Medea answered. "That's evidence enough for me."
"I want to see that Number One Hero that he knows," Asterion said, cracking his knuckles. "Would love to test out how strong I am against him..."
"And they've got a bunch of cute-looking humans, like that pink girl, um... Meena? And that girl with the big ponytail, uh... Nono?" Atalanta said, struggling to remember their names.
"That Earth's so cool! Do you think that if we asked Instructor Ampion that he-" Jason said, when he accidentally bumped into someone. He turned to look, and saw an older Ultra standing in front of him and his friends. This Ultra had sharp squarish yellow eyes with a green Beam Lamp in the center of his forehead. He had silver skin with red lines that connected to his red bracers and shin armor, and triangular chest armor that was open down the center, exposing his A-shaped Color Timer. Around his waist was a silver belt that the base of his chest armor connected to, with a yellow circular buckle. His hands were red, while his feet were silver. His head crest was the most peculiar about him, however. The front of his knight-like head crest formed a horn-like point, appearing similar to that of a unicorn horn.
"O-Oh! Instructor Ampion sir! Just the guy we were about to talk about!" Jason said, nervously. "So you see, I was thinking-"
"I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no," Ampion said sternly, his arms crossed. "Unique Earth or not, you're all still rookies."
"But Hero is a rookie and-" Jason began to point out.
"You know as well as I do that Hero's circumstances are completely different," Ampion stated. "Though he shouldn't waste his time at a school, learning again."
"Don't be so dour, Ampion," a female Red Tribe Ultra said, as she and a male Blue Tribe Ultra approached them. Both of them had resemblances to Hero. The female Ultra's eyes were the same light blue as Hero's without his mask, and her silver lines were the same, though she has a silver starburst-shaped patch on her chest around her circular Color Timer, and she lacked the blue. Her head crest, instead of starting at the front of her head, started at the back of her head and sloped down like a ponytail, while around her head was a red helmet that resembled short hair. Meanwhile, the male Ultra has the same facial structure as Hero, though his eyes were a pale yellow instead. He has patches and lines of electric blue that ran alongside his silver lines, silver shoulders, a circular Color Timer, and electric blue hands. "Hero's always been curious and loved to learn and teach. He's probably teaching them as well about us Ultras and our history."
"And I don't blame them for wanting to see this Earth," the Blue Tribe Ultra said, his hand on his chin in thought. "After all, our son found one of the most unique ones out there. I think I want to go see this Earth for myself."
"You see, Instructor Ampion? Mr. Dan says-" Jason began to say.
"Dan is not your main instructor. I am," Ampion pointed out. "And I refuse to let anyone else go through this ridiculous Earth where you could be arrested for just using your powers without permission."
"What if we join that UA school-" Atalanta suggested.
"The answer is no. You five are still in the middle of your training here. And none of you are prepared for off-planet training yet. I will not have you all go to another planet when you're not ready."
"You know, some people say that going out there and throwing yourself into the deep end is the best type of training-" Jason said.
"The only people who say that are people that have no idea how to teach," Ampion replied. "End of discussion."
"Mrs. Lumina, Mr. Dan, can't you-"
"Sorry Jason," Lumina said, shrugging. "But I have to agree with Ampion. You five have a lot to learn here still. You'll eventually be prepared, don't worry. Maybe even sooner than you think."
"And as much as I want to go too, Ampion's correct," Dan answered. "I'm not your main instructor, so it's his decision. Not to mention that I have a few projects to work on here."
"I told you," Echion said, shaking his head while the other four groaned.
"Well, the next best thing would be watching this message Hero sent us," Lumina said, a small rectangular hologram appearing in her hand and waved it a bit. The young Ultras perked up at the mention of their senior.
"A new message!?" Jason said, excitedly.
"It's been forever since he sent one!" Medea said.
"It's been less than a month," Echion pointed out, though he was still excited to hear about it.
"A lot can happen in just a month, you know!" Asterion said, smacking Echion hard on the back, making the smaller Blue Tribe Ultra stumble a bit.
"I mean, I guess you're sort of right, since there is that time discrepancy between their Earth's dimension and ours..."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go watch it!" Atalanta said.
"No. Today is your sparring exercises with Mebius," Ampion replied, shaking his head. "You need to get to the training ground-"
"It's fine, Ampion, we told Mebius about Hero's message, and he's fine with them being a little late since these don't take too long. They can watch some of Hero's message like always," Lumina said, pointing to a nearby crystalline building. "We were going to Dan's workshop to watch it since he needed to work on some things."
The four eager Ultras sped off into the building, leaving behind their exasperated Blue Tribe teammate to run after them, while the senior Ultras followed.
"Those five need to curb their enthusiasm, especially for this Earth," Ampion muttered.
"I think it's nice," Lumina chuckled. "It's healthy being curious and excited."
"Don't you think you're being a little too strict on them, though?" Dan asked. "You should ease up on-"
"I need to be strict with them," Ampion said, cutting Dan off. "If I'm not, they're going to get hurt. Or worse. I won't let that happen. So you need to quit spoiling them."
"Ampion-"
"End of discussion. Let's just see what the kid has to say," Ampion said, as they walked into Dan's lab.
"Come on, let's play his message!" Jason said.
"Alright alright, here we go," Lumina chuckled, as she began to play Hero's newest message to them all.
"Hey mom, dad, and Ampion sir. And Team Argo if you're there," Hero said, in his Inner Space. "Just sending you this message to tell you all about what's been happening and all."
"Things have been... interesting. Hiroshi and I finally moved into the dorms with our friends and classmates," Hero said, as a 'clip' played of his host and his friends.
"Wow, I know we saw the dorms being completed yesterday, but still, this is something else!" Setsuna said, as she, Fuka, and Hiroshi walked in front of the new dorm buildings. There were three double-sided dorm buildings so far for each year in the Hero Course. Each one was divided into two halves, the A and B sides for the two classes in each year, which were also halved for a boy side and a girl side. There were fences dividing each building, giving small yards for the students to use. "Uraraka's dad does great work!"
"Thanks!" Ochako said, joining her friends as everyone else began to gather. They were meeting in front of the First Year Hero Course dorm, waiting for the keys to be distributed to them by Aizawa and Vlad King, while their parents waited at the vehicles with the belongings that they brought. "My dad's real proud of this, too!"
"This is so exciting!" Mina said, as she and Toru bounced up and down. "To think, we get to all live under the same roof!"
"Yea, this is gonna be great!" Kinoko said. "We'll be able to hang out and work out and train together!"
"Settle down, you all," Aizawa said, as he and Vlad King walked out of the dorm. "I'm glad to see that you all are here."
"Wouldn't miss this for the world!" Toru said. "So we're getting the grand tour, right!?"
"Of course," Vlad King said, motioning them all to walk into the dorm. "Come on, we'll show you the amenities and rooms."
The Hero Course students walked inside, and were wowed by the large common room. It had kitchens, tables, couches, and TVs around.
"As you can see, the building's first floor has a common area and hallway between the Class A and Class B sides, with a few kitchens and 'living room' areas. The bathrooms and laundry rooms are on this floor," Aizawa said, as the students looked around.
"This is so spacious!" Ochako said, marveling at her father's work.
"Indeed! It's as big as my family's dining room!" Momo complimented. Ochako stared at her, remembering how rich her friend was.
"Yaoyoruzu, gotta remember that we lived differently from everyone else," Fuka said, nudging her as everyone stared at her.
"O-oh! Right," Momo said, flushed red with embarrassment.
"Nah, it should be alright-" Hiroshi said, when he noticed Minoru salivating for some reason. "... Mineta, is something wrong?"
"S-So the bathrooms are in the common area?" he said, not hearing Hiroshi. "Have my dreams come true-"
"They're divided into male and female baths," Aizawa said. "That's enough out of you."
"Got it, sir," Minoru said, wiping his mouth.
"Really?" Hiroshi said, shaking his head.
"Hey, lay off me, I've dreamed about this day for a long time!"
"The left side is Class 1A, and the right side is Class 1B," Aizawa said, pointing to the respective sides. "The boy bedrooms are on the right side of the dorms. The girl bedrooms on the left side."
Vlad King pulled out a chart of room assignments. "Here're your room assignments. They've also been painted to what specifications you wanted. But all of them have a bed, a desk, personal refrigerator and freezer, microwave, personal A/C units, closets, half baths, and a veranda. Your room keys are inside your rooms, so go up there and grab them before moving your things in."
"Yes sir!" everyone said, as they dispersed to go to their rooms.
"Wow, those are some interesting rooms," Medea said, as the clip moved to showing the decorated bedrooms of the UA students.
"Wish we could decorate ours a little more here," Atalanta said, as the students moved on to look at a room full of dinosaur plushies. "Would love to have some things from home."
"We can ask your parents to send some things over if you want, Atalanta," Lumina replied. "No harm in that."
"Really!? Thank you, Mrs. Lumina!"
"Yea yea yea, pipe down, I'm still watching," Jason said, waving Atalanta off.
"Excuse me? I-" Atalanta said, turning to Jason before moving her gaze back at the message. "Is that a concert?"
"Well, besides the dorm move-in, Hiroshi ended up getting tickets for him and his friends for a concert for an idol named Rin Kagamine," Hero said, as an image of Hiroshi and the UA students (save one or two being missing, and some other kids they didn't recognize) appeared of them at a concert watching a blond girl perform. "It was a good time. Made me miss the concerts we'd go to when I was younger. Unfortunately it got cut short when an Alien Blades assassin attempted to kill her. Which only got more complicated with the fact that there was another Alien Blades assassin that was 'supposedly' was there to protect her."
"Like, apparently one of them was hired by a fan of Rin Kagamine's to kill all of her overly harsh critics, judging from a string of murders that happened earlier. And the other was hired by one of those critics to kill her instead. Honestly it's odd, and I'm still attempting to wrap my head around the whole situation..."
"You're not going to kill anyone you assassins!" Hero shouted, firing a blast of green wind-like energy from his hands. The two aliens dodged it as he flew close to them. "So, it was a two-man job? Should've figured that Alien Bladess were behind this."
"Nope, just one man, I'm here to protect the girl, and perhaps kill the person who hired him," the gold Alien Blades said, as he brandished his hands. "That means we're on the same side, right? So I'd like for you to stand down."
"Oh please, like your hands are cleaner than mine," the silver Alien Blades scoffed, crossing his arms. "You just admitted to me that you were killing my client's friends. So if I die, you're dying with me."
"Ouch, no honor amongst fellow assassins," the gold Alien Blades said, shaking his head. "Oh well, I'm getting paid extra if I fight the Ultra, so no issue there."
The two Alien Bladess flew downwards towards UA, but Hero kept up with them, managing to grab them by their ankles and swinging them back above him in the air. The two assassins responded by launching slashes of light towards the Ultraman, who managed to create a barrier that stopped the slashes from hitting him. The collision between the slashes and barrier create a colorful green explosion. The gold Alien Blades swung its arm at the silver Alien Blades, who had fired another slash of light at Hero, who shot it with a green wind-like beam.
"Someone hired an assassin just because someone else was overly critical of a singer's music?" Asterion said. "Why would anyone think that's a strong motive to commit crimes, even through hired help?"
"That's just something that happens, kids," Lumina replied, shaking her head. "Sometimes a person's motive just isn't that deep."
"Well, strong motive or not, Hero at least apprehended one of them," Echion pointed out, as they watched the silver Alien Blades being led away by police, heavily confined to prevent his escape.
"I wonder what happened with the other one," Atalanta wondered aloud. "He just left the scene."
"Probably keeping a low profile to avoid Hero finding him," Medea theorized, tapping her foot in thought.
While the others talked, Ampion kept his gaze and focus squarely onto the message that his student had sent them.
"Oh hey, it's a... birthday party?" Atalanta said, watching as Hero's host and his friends at a party.
"One of the weirder things that happened recently too was that the UA students threw me a birthday party, since the Earth date equivalent to it was approaching," Hero explained. "It was nice, having a party again after so long, you know? But like always, it didn't stay too calm for long."
An image of an Alien Hunter and an EM being appeared next. "An Alien Hunter named Rigel Algeva and his EM being partner, Ardiana, came to this Earth chasing an Alien Scorpek that was illegal poaching animals to sell as exotic pets, Lunahs in this case. Not only did we end up helping each other, but Rigel and Ardiana have been enrolled as students here at UA for the next semester."
"A GIANT SPACE ROBOT DINOSAUR!" Setsuna screamed in excitement, her eyes sparkling at the sight of Saiphza as she shook Izuku and Ochako violently out of pure joy. Indeed, it had become an upright robotic dinosaur, the wings having turned into its legs, the rocket exhaust closing up and becoming its tail, the front of the ship turning into the head, neck, arms, and upper torso, with cannons and missile pods on its back. "OH MY GOD THAT'S SO COOOOOOL!"
"T-Tokage, ease up on the shaking!"
"Y-You're making me sick with all the shaking!"
Saiphza roared as he charged at Sargas, scratching it with his bladed claws and biting down on Sargas' neck. Sargas pulled away, and swung its scorpion tail at Saiphza. The tip struck Saiphza' metal body, but couldn't penetrate it. Saiphza bit Sargas' tails and snapped it off, causing the giant alien to screech. Saiphza tossed it to the side, making sure that no one was near where it landed.
"LOOK AT HIM GO HIROSHI!" Setsuna yelled as she bounced up and down right next to her best friend. "KICK SOME SARG-ASS!"
"H-How!? Sargas was the toughest one to catch! How can it be beaten by some robot!?" Alien Scorpek shouted, dismayed at how badly it was doing against the Alien Hunter's ship.
"Alien Hunter technology is some of the most durable in the multiverse. While people think of them as being nothing but, well, hunters, they are among the most technologically advanced races there is," Hero said in Hiroshi's head, which he relayed to everyone.
"Who cares!? ROBOT DINOSAUR!" Setsuna shouted, as Saiphza leaned forward and fired beams from his cannons and a couple of micro missiles. "I need to ride him, Hiroshi."
"I'm sure he'll-"
"I. Need. To. Ride him," she repeated, grabbing the boy by the collar.
"That is quite impressive," Principal Nezu said, rubbing his chin. "I wonder..."
"GAAAAAAH I DID SO BADLY!" Denki shouted, lamenting his absolutely abysmal placement as 21st in class.
"Hahaha, you and me both!" Mina said, laughing a bit to hide the pain of being 20th.
"I would've done so much better in any other circumstance!" Minoru said, crushed by his 14th placement. "There was just too much shit going on within the past several weeks!"
"Man, Momo, I knew you were gonna steamroll all of us on the midterms. First place," Hiroshi complimented, clapping for her. "Knew you would've been perfect for our class representative."
"Don't sell yourself so short, Hiroshi," Momo said, smiling. "You got second after all!"
"Indeed, as expected of someone such as yourself!" Tenya said, as he robotically swung his arms around. Katsuki grumbled, frustrated that he placed 4th. At least he was ahead of Izuku's 5th place.
"Man, you guys gotta host a teaching session or something for all of us sometime!" Ochako said, looking at her four smart friends. "There's soooo much I need to learn!"
"Yea, I'm down with helping with teaching sessions with everyone," Hiroshi said, when everyone heard the door slide open. In an instance, everyone was back in their seats, paying attention to the front.
"Good, you're all in your seats," Aizawa said, as he put papers down onto the desk. "Before we really get into everything, there's a new student for your class."
"A new student? This late?" Mashirao said, as the class murmured.
"It's a special circumstance like with Furinji and Ultraman Hero. It took a while to get it approved, and they're not 'officially' enrolled yet, but Principal Nezu thought it would be a good idea to let them participate in your classes so that they could get a feel for what it's like," Aizawa said, when a strange mechanical orb floated into the room, confusing everyone. A lens on the front flashed for a second, and Ardiana formed around the orb, though this time she was wearing the UA uniform.
"Greetings, it's a pleasure to be a part of Class 1A," she said, bowing before everyone as their jaws dropped.
"What!? Rigel and Ardiana are our new classmates!?" Mina said, slamming her hand onto her desk.
"Ardiana is," Aizawa clarified. "Rigel is introducing himself to Class 1B right now."
"So we're splitting them up to keep the number even?" Eijiro said, crossing his arms. "Makes sense..."
"Our class is insane! We got two aliens now! A giant one, and one made out of electromagnetic waves! What other class in the world can say that!?" Hanta said.
"We're going to be pulled into more crazy alien things, I know it!" Minoru said, fearing of what to come.
"That's nice of them, to throw Hero a birthday party," Lumina said, watching Hero, his host, and the UA students having fun. Ampion for his part seemed a little frustrated at the sight. "It's good that they can relax and be children still. Even if it did get interrupted."
"And an Alien Hunter, huh? Now there's a reliable ally," Dan chuckled, rubbing his chin in thought. "They've got some advanced and durable tech on their hands, and are almost as dedicated to protecting others like us Ultras."
"You see, they're letting other aliens join their school!" Jason said. "I don't see why-"
"And I should care about that? The Alien Hunter and his partner not my students. You five are," Ampion replied, cutting Jason off and his eyes falling onto his students for the first time since the message started. "They're free to decide what they want to do."
"Jason, just leave it be," Echion said. "It would be cool to go, but we really aren't fully trained yet, you know. This is still plenty informative, having Hero send us messages."
"Fine," Jason grumbled, as he put his attention back to watching the video. Though a thought came to him... a thought that he'll talk to the others about after they finished watching.
"After the press conference about Rigel and Ardiana joining UA and capturing the Gomess, Hiroshi and his classmates had their final exams for the semester," Hero said, as an image of Hiroshi and some of his classmates appeared, facing off against All Might. "It sort of reminded me of how final exams are like in the Inter Galactic Defense Force Academy, where we go up against our instructors to test what we've learned. For Hiroshi and his group, we ended up facing off against All Might himself. And well, at the scale we fought him, he's probably just as strong as Ampion, maybe even more."
All Might reared his fist back, and threw a punch, damaging several buildings in front of him as it travelled towards the students.
"Come on out, little heroes!" All Might said, getting into character. "Otherwise I'm going to tear this city down, and you'll all have a bad time-"
Out from the dust and smoke, Hero came towards him, fist flying. All Might matched his punch, a shockwave blowing away the clouds of dust and smoke around them. "So it seems like one of you has a backbone!"
"Think nothing of it, you villain!" Hero said, as the two began to trade blows. "We won't let you go unpunished!"
"That's cute! Do you really think that you can really beat me on your own!?"
"Nope!"
All Might raised an eyebrow at that, when he turned around and saw Katsuki coming in from behind. He threw a right hook at All Might, who managed to block it and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying away backwards. "Nice try, but it'll take more than just-"
Hero's fist collided with All Might's cheek, having taken the opportunity to catch the veteran hero off guard. "It's more than just him!"
Suddenly, Togaru came from above, blades coming out of his wrists and legs, as he spun around in the air, becoming a whirlwind of blades. All Might clapped his hands together, sending a blast of wind towards the mantis-headed teen, knocking him off balance as he fell to the side.
"Impressive!" All Might said, as he and Hero resumed trading punches. Fist to cheek, knuckle to gut. "To think that you're working together like this!"
"Not quite!" Hero replied, as he ducked. To All Might's surprise, Izuku had charged at him with a One for All powered kick. He raised his arm to block it, only for Katsuki to come back and hit him in the back with an Explosion. Hero jumped up and landed an uppercut against All Might's jaw, knocking him into the air for a bit. "We're just making sure we don't hit each other!"
"That may be what you're doing, but that won't be enough!" he shouted, as he reared his right fist back before throwing it downwards. "Texas SMAAAASH!"
The wind pressure created from the punch sent Izuku, Katsuki, and Togaru flying backwards, while Hero dug his fingers into the ground to withstand it.
"Damn, to think that this is him using only some of his remaining power!" Hiroshi said in Hero's head. "He hasn't broken a sweat at all!"
"In the end, we had to rely on using tricks to beat him," Hero recalled. "Thankfully we had Miss Komori to help us there."
"The explosions stopped," Kinoko said, her eyes looking around as she spritzed the air with her spray bottles. She and Itsuka were just a few meters away from the exit. Hero and the others had been doing a great job of distracting All Might so far, but the sudden quiet was concerning.
"I really hope that doesn't mean-" Itsuka began to say, when Izuku was thrown past them. He skidded across the pavement, and Itsuka and Kinoko froze, turning around and seeing All Might approaching them.
"A valiant attempt, using your strongest members to keep me occupied while you escaped!" All Might said, his wide smile looking much more sinister now that they were the ones facing off against him. "But the game's over for you all, I-"
A mushroom grew on All Might's nose. He sneezed, and pulled it off. "It'll take more than just one mushroom to- ACK!"
All Might began to cough, feeling his throat clog up for some reason. "M-My throat-!"
"I mush tell you something!" Kinoko said, as All Might struggled to breath. "My mushrooms can grow anywhere with moisture!"
While he was distracted, Izuku tackled the Number One Hero, and Itsuka followed him, slapping the handcuffs onto his wrists.
"Y-You-!" All Might said, his eyes widened at what they did.
"W-We might not have been able to beat you head on, even with our strongest members!" Izuku said, getting up. "But we can beat you using tricks!"
"The first group to pass is Team Bakugo! 20 minutes remain!" Recovery Girl announced. As she finished, Hero had flown towards them and landed, changing back into Hiroshi.
"Oh thank god we did it," he said, breathing heavily and sweating. "It was a good idea leaving the handcuffs with you two."
"W-Well done, you sprouts!" All Might coughed out, turning back into his skinny form and robots came to get the potentially injured. "Y-You done w-well, my- ACH! Oh boy, I need a lozenge."
"Here you go," one of the robots said, dispensing a lozenge from its claw before leaving.
"T-Thank you," All Might said, popping the lozenge into his mouth. "I-I guess I'll go see Recovery Girl to get some medicine to get rid of these mushrooms."
"I'm so sorry!" Kinoko said, clapping her hands together. "Hiroshi just suggested it to me, and well, it seemed like a good-"
"It is a good idea," All Might assured her. "It's a very strategic move, incapacitating a stronger opponent by messing up their ability to breathe. J-Just keep some lozenges or some medicine so that they can get immediate treatment after you do it."
"O-Of course!" Kinoko said, giving All Might a bow.
"G-Good, now let's get Young Bakugo and Young Kamakiri, I'm sure they're going to need some healing from Recovery Girl..."
"Really? Someone like All Might was beaten by something like that?" Asterion said, somewhat disappointed. "That seems a little-"
"I see that my lessons about not solely relying on strength have yet to get through to you," Ampion said, making Asterion freeze. "When you're faced off against an opponent stronger than you, you'll need to make use of other tactics and moves to gain the advantage. Of course matching strength with strength can work, but it's not the only way to beat others."
"Of course, Instructor Ampion," Asterion hastily said, nodding.
"Seems like we gotta remind you to not be such a meathead," Echion chuckled, when Asterion lightly tapped the back of Echion's head. Though to the physically weaker Blue Tribe Ultra, it was like getting smacked with a solid metal bat. "Ow!"
"And I have to remind you that you need to work out more too," Asterion laughed back, though one look from Ampion made him stop.
"Behave yourselves," he stated plainly.
"Yes sir," Echion and Asterion replied. The other three chuckled before Ampion shot them a look.
"That includes you three," he added, before turning around to face them more directly. "Or do you all need a reminder-"
"No! Not at all, Instructor Ampion sir!" they said, covering their foreheads.
"Good. Let's keep watching," Ampion said, turning back to the message, as they caught the tail end of Hero, his host, and the UA students at a lake relaxing.
"After we took care of that Alien Barossa and our underwater training, David Shield, an old friend of All Might visited UA with his daughter Melissa," Hero said, as an image of a brown-haired man and a young blond girl appeared, both of them bespectacled. "Mr. Shield is a respected scientist that specializes in creating support gear for heroes, with Melissa studying to do the same. I imagine that they would get along well with you and Mr. Hikari, dad. Though Mr. Shield did... have a mildly rocky conversation with Hiroshi when he visited."
"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."
"... You want me to give Hero to All Might? 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..."
"Hiroshi and I don't really blame Mr. Shield for thinking that, honestly," Hero said, shrugging. "We've thought about something like that for quite some time. In fact, I've even offered to heal All Might outright without needing to transfer hosts, but he's turned it down. Not that I blame him, considering how healing Quirks only harm Hiroshi. Who knows how it'd go the other way around, using alien healing abilities on someone with a Quirk? Though at the very least we confirmed that shrinking technology like the Dada's Micronizer Device is harmless."
"But in the end, we did get the whole thing sorted out, and Mr. Shield was very understanding of our reasons, especially after All Might talked to him as well."
"That's still pretty rude, though!" Jason said, shaking his head.
"Yea, asking his host to let someone else take over is like asking someone to hand over a family member, right?" Atalanta said.
"Maybe it would've been for the better," Ampion muttered, to the shock of Team Argo. "Because he wouldn't be wasting time playing student."
"You have to remember the legalities Hero has to go through, Ampion," Lumina reminded him. "He has to follow their laws and get a license-"
"Still ridiculous," Ampion grumbled, though he shook his head. "This message is almost over, let's just finish this."
"The next part of this message I think should only be watched by you two and Ampion," Hero's message said, to the dismay of the five young Ultras. "Team Argo, I understand that you all are probably excited to hear about the things I've seen and experienced, but this part is a little... sensitive, and I think it's best that you five go and do some training spars. This is about the end of the message, after all."
"Aw, what!?" Jason said, throwing his hands up while Lumina 'paused' the message. "Really? We can't see this last part? We never get to see the last parts!"
"You're not really going to-" Medea interjected.
"Sorry you five, but you know the rule. If he doesn't want you to see it, you can't," Lumina said, as she and Dan began to shoo the five out.
"But-"
"You all need to get to the training ground for sparring lessons from Mebius, anyways," Ampion stated. "That was what you were supposed to be doing instead of watching this with us. So no protesting. Get to the training ground, Team Argo. Echion, make sure that they get there."
"Come on, everyone, let's go," Echion said, motioning for them to follow him and Asterion. The three younger Ultras muttered but reluctantly left the room. Dan shut the door, and sighed.
"So... I guess it's time for the big Virus update, huh?" he said, shaking his head. "Never thought our kid would be facing off against someone like that."
"It's in the package of being an Ultra, sir," Ampion replied. "It's something we're all trained to do as members of the Inter Galactic Defense Force. Not to mention how vast each universe is."
"Besides that fiasco, Mr. Shield and Melissa were kind enough to invite several of Hiroshi's classmates to I-Island where they lived for I-Expo," Hero explained, as an image of a strange artificial island appeared. "I-Island is an artificial moving island where some of this Earth's brightest minds and their families live to work together on Quirk research and other scientific pursuits. And I-Expo is a special convention where they show off what they've created and discovered. It was incredible to see this island, just how far along this Earth is with its technological advances."
An image of a redhaired man and a group of masked men appeared, however. "Unfortunately, there was some complications when a mercenary team came in and managed to hold the entire island hostage to take one of Mr. Shield's inventions." And then an image of a black helmeted alien appeared as well, one that they were becoming accustomed to from Hero's messages. "And it only got worse when it caught the attention of Virus."
As the three ran through the hallways, they came to a stop when they saw Wolfram, two of his men, and David and Samuel standing in front of a vault door.
"What's dad doing in front of the vault?" Melissa muttered, as the three stayed behind the corner.
"[I'm losing my patience,]" Wolfram said, as David and Samuel tried to open the vault door. "[When are you going to get it opened!?]"
"[We're doing our best!]" David said. "[But whatever that alien's doing, he's-]"
All of a sudden, the shadowy barrier dissipated, and the vault door started to slide open.
"[Alright, looks like we're in,]" Wolfram grinned, kicking David into the vault.
"Come on, we can't leave them alone with their leader," Izuku said. They ran into the vault, and Hero used his Herorum Bolas Binding to trap the terrorists in the vault.
"[Dammit! What the hell is this!?]" the redhaired man said, trying to free himself from the energy bindings. Hero took this opportunity and held him down.
"[Dad! Are you alright!?]" Melissa said, looking at her father. He didn't turn around to face her, his eyes were locked onto something up on the stairs. When they all looked at what he was staring at, and they were also horrified at the sight of a familiar alien.
"Virus!" Hero shouted, as he and Izuku instinctively prepared themselves for combat.
"Hello, glad to see all the big players have made it!" Virus laughed, twirling a strange crown-like device in his hand while an opened suitcase laid on the ground next to him. "And suffice to say, I think I've won this little game, Mr. Abraham!"
"[G-Give that back!]" Samuel demanded, as he hesitantly took a step forward.
"[Oh, I will. But first-]" Virus grabbed the device with both hands and pulled them apart. Instead of breaking it into two, however, he had created a shadow duplicate. He dropped the original onto the ground, and Samuel scrambled to get it, making sure it wasn't damaged by the fall. "[There we go. You can have this back.]"
"W-What's going on!?" Izuku said, looking back and forth between everyone.
"Oh right, I suppose we should be speaking Japanese for your benefit, Mr. Midoriya," Virus chuckled as he paced a bit. "You see, a while ago I heard about a little project that Mr. Shield and his assistant were working on, and I simply needed to get it! What you're looking at, is a Quirk Amplification Device!"
"Quirk Amplifi- Does that mean that it can boost the power of Quirks!?" Hero said, realizing the implications.
"Exactly, Mr. Hero! That little device right can do what drugs like Trigger can do, but without creating a dependency on it!" Virus explained. "It's quite extraordinary, knowing what this can do! Imagine all the people who'd use it! All the weak heroes who want to get ahead! All the people who have weak Quirks and want to change their fate! All the villains, who'd want to use this to become the biggest crime lords in the world!"
"Why on earth would you make something like-" Melissa asked, when she, Izuku, Hero, and Hiroshi came to the realization.
"What is it? What do you think is the reason?" Virus said, leaning forward to hear. "Or should Mr. Shield explain it to you?"
"I... I made it to help All Might," David said, his fists tightening. "When he told me that he was getting weaker, I thought that I had to do something. So I came up with a way to enhance Quirks, so much that not only would he regain his power, but also be stronger than in his glory days. But when our sponsors heard about the project, they confiscated everything because of their concerns. At first, I wanted nothing more than to take it back, to the point of wanting to hire actors to stage an attack on I-Island... but then I visited All Might at UA, and talked to All Might and all of the Hero Course students... I realized how shortsighted I was being, and I called it off. I should have never made it in the first place-!"
"But then why are they here, dad!?" Melissa said, pointing to the villains that Hero had bound.
"I think that Mr. Abraham can answer that," Virus said, gesturing to the man on the ground, as he dug through the suitcase to check it.
"[Sam?]"
"[I... I had to get back at your father! We were supposed to get all kinds of accolades from the Quirk Amplification Device! Instead, all that time and effort into making it was wasted because he allowed it to be taken by our sponsors! And even though he agreed to this plan, he backed out of it! I deserve something out of this! So I went ahead with the plan, but I hired real mercenaries, because what actor would fake an attack on a place like I-Island!? But then he had to come in and interfere-]" Samuel ranted, putting the device back into the suitcase when he noticed something wrong. "[W-Where are the flash drives!? The blueprints!? They're supposed to be in here too!]"
"Oh, I took the liberty of taking them with me," Virus said, shrugging as he patted a pocket. "After all, this shadow duplicate is only good as a base for the shell. I'll still need to get the wiring and parts correct for this. But it was certainly showy, wasn't it?"
"[G-Give them back!]" Samuel demanded.
"Hm... no," Virus replied.
"So why do you want a Quirk Amplification Device? Last time I checked, us aliens don't have Quirks," Hero said, still on guard.
"Well, I've got ideas for this little gadget! Ideas that I can't tell you all about yet!" Virus laughed. "Beyond that, I just wanted to see the faces of despair and heartbreak."
"A daughter-" Virus pointed to Melissa, "- finding out that her own father had a hand in a terrorist attack! A man-" he pointed at David, who could only tremble at what his shortsightedness has cost them, "- who knows that what he's done is unforgiveable, even if he's had a change of heart! And the assistant-" he finally pointed to Samuel, "- denied everything he thought he deserved, and so went behind his partner's back to hurt him in all the ways he can! It's the only reason why I even bothered waiting for you all to come here before taking it! To see it all firsthand! And what a delight all of this is!"
"You-!" Hero shouted, as he charged at Virus. The helmeted alien stored the Quirk Amplification Device away in his trench coat, and grabbed the Ultra's fist.
"A final gift for everyone here for now!" Virus said, dark energy forming around his hand. With a wave, he managed to release Wolfram and his men, but before Hero could do anything, Virus grabbed him by the neck and the two flew towards the ceiling, crashing through and leaving a giant hole in the ceiling.
"I admit, this is quite the workout you're putting me through, Mr. Hero!" Virus laughed, cracking his neck. "It's been a while since I've had a good fight! I bet you're enjoying this, too. After all, when was the last time that something has truly challenged you?"
"Challenge or not, we're not going to let you continue tormenting this planet!" Hero cried, firing another fireball at Virus, who knocked it back.
"Oh please, Ultras protect thousands of Earths already, what's one less?" Virus shrugged. "Sure, this one's the most interesting one yet, but even then they stand no chance against aliens like you and I."
"It doesn't matter if there's thousands of Earths or not. This is the Earth where I met my partner! This is the Earth where he and our friends live on!" Hero said.
"Oh please, friendship?" Virus laughed a bit, though the joviality in his voice was gone. "I may throw the word around, but friends are nothing more than a convenience. A tool for plans and amusement. It's all window dressing to make people feel better about taking advantage of others."
"I don't care about what you think of friendship!" Hero retorted. "If it weren't for mine, I-"
Virus flew towards Hero suddenly, grabbing the Ultra by the neck as they hurled at high speeds towards the side of the Central Tower. A crater formed from the impact before they broke through altogether. Hero struggled to pry Virus's hand off his throat, though he kept a tight grip around the Ultra's throat.
"I'll enlighten you with something, Mr. Hero," Virus growled. "I learned the hard way that 'friendship' is nothing more than a hindrance, that they will gladly betray you when you least expect it. Only weaklings cling on to such trite like that."
"T-Then what about-"
"Illne and the others? They know and understand their place. They follow me because I'm the strongest. They understand and fear the consequences of ever betraying me," Virus stated. He released the Ultra from his grasp, and fell backwards onto the ground, turning into shadows.
"I'm no longer in the mood to stick around here anymore, especially since I've got what I wanted now. So remember this, Mr. Hero. In the end, the only one you can trust is yourself," Virus's voice echoed, as his shadow disappeared. Hero breathed heavily, before flying out of the hole.
"It didn't help that the mercenary leader had gotten his hands on a Devil Splinter, no doubt from Virus," Hero said, as the redhaired man jabbed a Devil Splinter into his arm, and the metal around him formed into a metal replica of the fallen Ultraman. "Since this was only a fraction of Belial's power, it wasn't as dangerous as it could've been. Especially since it seemed to struggle keeping together for most of the fight while got help from Godzillo, a half-human half-Alien Repturn that had been living under the guise of being a human with a Quirk. Still, seeing just what a Devil Splinter could do to a human with a Quirk... all the more reason to make sure that Virus is defeated."
Hero sighed, shaking his head as the clip finished playing the fight between him, the Alien Repturn, Rigel and Saiphza, and the metal Belial. "I know that I'm disappointing you with how I haven't actively investigated Virus, Ampion sir. It's just that he hasn't really left any consistent clues or leads for motivations and goals. Hell, even the one he has explicitly said, to find entertainment on this world, hasn't provided much to go on. Not to mention that I can't pull Hiroshi away from UA for long. Still, I'm certain we'll stop him, with the help of All Might and everyone at UA-"
"I think I've heard enough," Ampion muttered as he headed out of the room.
"Ampion-" Lumina said, as she closed the message.
"He's completely missed the point of why I gave him that assignment, Lumina," Ampion said, cutting her off.
"There's nothing wrong with curiosity, you know," Dan retorted. "Especially since-"
"Don't coddle him. It's about time he actually acted like a member of the Inter Galactic Defense Force," Ampion said. "Look, I'm not in the mood for arguing about this again."
"Well we are. Ampion, you should really lighten up," Lumina sighed, pinching her forehead. "You might not like that he's attending a human school with his host, but he's still doing his job, you know."
"And there's nothing wrong with taking Team Argo to visit that Earth, either," Dan pointed out. "If anything, taking them off planet might actually even help them."
"They're too impulsive, the younger ones especially. I can't have them jump in on an Earth that has regulations and powers that we still don't understand ourselves. There's still way too much that they still need to learn here properly," Ampion pointed out. "Even there, they're still trying to figure out how to handle the presence of aliens. As much as I don't approve of Hero going to school again, we're better off not wasting sending too many Ultras there at once."
"You say that, but that Alien Hunter and his EM Being partner are enrolled at UA now, too," Lumina replied. "And they've confirmed that there're even more aliens that're living on the planet that're just passing themselves off as humans with Quirks."
"The answer is no. They're not ready."
"If they're not, then why don't you join them?" Dan suggested.
"And be a student too?" Ampion scoffed.
"Maybe they'll let you be a 'professional' hero since you're Hero's and Team Argo's instructor?" Lumina suggested.
"From what we've seen, I doubt it," Ampion said, heading towards the door. "That Earth seems to be very tight on rules and regulations."
"And you're not?" Dan asked. Ampion froze and stood still at the door frame. "Ampion, I get that you're worried about Team Argo's safety. And we are, too. But we know that you're overcompensating for their safety. Rules and regulations are helpful, but there's only so much they can do before they interfere with helping people, which is what we Ultras are all about. So maybe it's best if you-"
"This conversation is over," Ampion said softly, his head barely turned to face his former teachers. "I need to go to the training grounds and make sure that Mebius is overseeing Team Argo's training spars."
"Ampion-" Lumina implored.
"End of discussion."
With that, Ampion closed the door to Dan's workshop and began heading towards the training grounds. As he walked, his mind wandered back to the past, to the day that he had told Hero the news about his first solo mission.
Some Time Before Hero's First Solo Mission
"Alright, time to test these modifications..." the Ultra said to himself, pushing the magnifying equipment away and putting his tools down. He took the mask that was laying on the table in front of him, and placed it back onto his face. He pressed on the sides of the mask for a bit, which turned his eyes green. "Hm... seems to be working so far. The alien detection feature's a little buggy it seems, but I can work on that eventually. Right now I should work on the adjustments for my artificial Protectors so it'll function better with my form changing."
The Ultra went back and began working on his armor, losing track of time as he did so. After he finished, he began putting the armor on when his instructor Ampion came into the room.
"Hey kid," the senior Ultra greeted, as the Ultra finished putting his gauntlets on. "You finished making those artificial Protectors?"
"Yea, about to test them out," he replied. He took a deep breath, and focused. Light covered him, and as it scattered, he had become buffer and larger, with his armor changing to fit around his increased muscle mass, and the natural blue of his body became orange. He took another deep breath and repeated the process, though this time he had slimmed down, his armor becoming ventilated and lighter, with green now replacing orange. He repeated the process for a third time, his armor now resembling a bit like his instructor's, though the red and blue of his body was now inverted. "Good, it seems like what I programmed into the Change Protectors is functioning as intended. Just have to connect it to the Hand to make so that my host can handle shifting forms while I fight..."
"Sounds like a plan," Ampion said, nodding. "Good timing, too. I have a mission for you. The alien Tyrannion's been invading several planets and devastating their local populaces, to the point where it'll take thousands of years for them to bounce back from it all."
"Really? Well, let me work on connecting the Hand to my Change Protectors for a bit, and we'll get to it-" the Ultra said, turning around to get back to his work table.
"I'm not going," Ampion replied.
"Huh? Really?" his pupil asked, turning to face him. He rubbed his chin. "So who's joining me then? Instructor Mebius? Xros? Oh, please tell me it won't be Z or Team Argo... They're not ready for a field mission, I think."
"Actually, Z joined Mebius and Zero for his first mission, though they should be coming back soon. Xros is doing some off-planet training with . And Team Argo's taking some remedial lessons with your parents."
"Is that so? Then who'll-"
"This is a solo mission, kid," Ampion said. The Ultra froze, and stared at his instructor.
"Come again?" he finally said after finding the words. "A solo mission? For me? That can't be right-"
"It is. I talked to the others, and even Father and Mother. They think you're more than ready for a solo mission, and I do too," Ampion said, patting his pupil on the shoulder.
"No no, I'm not ready, I still have a lot to learn, Ampion sir!" the Ultra said. "There's, um, still some fighting techniques to learn-"
"Kid-" Ampion sighed, shaking his head.
"Oh! I should learn pacifying techniques from Cosmos! So I can take a peaceful option if possible!"
"Kid-" Ampion said, more sternly as he crossed his arms.
"There's a lot to learn from Mr. Hikari, too! Like sure, he already helped me with making the bases for my mask, my armor, the Hand, Tector Gear, and, um, a lot of other things... but I'm sure there's still more!"
"Kid!" Ampion said, cutting off the nervous Ultra. "You're more than ready. Hell, you're more than ready than a lot of Ultras I've seen graduate from the Academy now."
"But I'm not ready," he replied, shaking his head. "There's so much I need to do. I need to be stronger. I need to be faster. I need to be smarter... I need-"
"But when will you be ready?" Ampion asked, pinching his brow. "You can't keep putting this off. Ultras younger than you have been going on missions now. It's about time you go and show what you know."
"That's it, I don't! There's so much I need to learn, I-"
"What don't you know, kid? You've been at the Academy long enough to graduate two, maybe three times now! You've even done missions with me! You can't just stay a 'rookie' forever!"
The young Ultra grumbled and turned to face away from his instructor, putting his hands on his work table. "I know... I just... I don't know if I'm really prepared for this."
"Well, that's a feeling that a lot of Ultras can relate with when they begin their first solo mission," Ampion replied. He patted his pupil's back. "But you're more than ready for this. You've studied almost every single class here, and even outside of the Academy itself. I've seen you train night and day to just get the ability to change forms, and then even more to learn how to use different elements in each of them."
"I... I don't know," the Ultra said. "What if I mess up with trying to help my host?"
"I don't think that'll be too hard, seeing as you've studied different fields of psychology," Ampion answered. "But, if you ever need to take a different approach, just think, 'What would my parents and teachers do in this situation?'"
"Not you specifically, Instructor Ampion?"
"Do you think you can pull of a good impression of me?"
"Good point."
Ampion chuckled as he motioned the young Ultra to follow him. "Come on, kid. Let's get you officially debriefed. After all, I was just coming to tell you the good news."
His pupil took a deep breath, and nodded as he walked after him. "Alright, Instructor Ampion."
"Hey, just call me Ampion now, I'm not your instructor anymore. Though speaking of names, I can't wait to see what name your host gives you. Finally would get something that isn't just 'kid' anymore. It'll be nice to use a name for you again."
Ampion shook his head. While he wasn't happy that Hero had chosen to become a student again (even if it's to help his host get a license of his own), he was at least doing the right thing, protecting that Earth's people, even if it seemed like several of them could protect themselves (to a degree). And it wasn't like Lumina and Dan were completely wrong about him being overprotective. Team Argo, for being impatient as they are, did come up with their own formula for an Ultra Beam by combining their knowledge of what they knew from their home planets (Jason suggesting they fuse them all into one, and Echion actually figuring out a workable formula, though with the basic Spacium Beam still being the base). And while they were still early on in their training, they did show some very steady growth.
Still, he couldn't let Team Argo go on an 'official' mission yet, with or without his guidance. They weren't ready, not like Hero, though he still has so many regrets with his former pupil. He won't repeat the same-
"There you are, Ampion," Mebius said, snapping Ampion out of his thoughts as the current youngest member of the Ultra Brothers approached him from the training grounds.
"Mebius? What are you doing?" Ampion asked. "You were supposed to supervise Team Argo with their training spars today."
"They never appeared," Mebius replied, crossing his arms. "Lumina and Dan told me that they were going to be a bit late because they would've wanted to see their son's message, but it's past the time I expected them to come. I was going to ask you about it, but I guess you don't know, either."
"They never appeared?" Ampion muttered. "But they left earlier than me to meet up with you. Where could they-"
A horrible realization hit Ampion, and he grumbled. "They better not be-"
Somewhere, far away from the Land of Light
"Are you idiots insane!?" Echion scolded, as they flew through the emptiness of space. "You know Instructor Ampion's going to have our heads for this!"
"Aw, come on, Echion! Where's your sense of adventure?" Jason laughed. "Besides, if you didn't want to join, you could've just stayed behind!"
"T-That's because I wanted to make sure that you idiots didn't get hurt!"
"You know you can just admit that you wanted to see this Earth, too, right?" Medea pointed out.
"I mean, I do, but- I-! Asterion, back me up here!"
"It's alright, Echion. With all five of us together, we'll be alright!" Asterion said.
"Not to mention we'll have Hero to help us there," Atalanta pointed out. "This might be his first solo assignment, but he's been doing great from what we've seen of his messages!"
"Yea, with him around, we'll prove to Instructor Ampion that we're more than ready to be official IGDF members!" Jason added.
"That isn't how that works, and you know that Instructor Ampion's going to be furious when he catches up to us!"
"That's why we're just going to go and take a few detours. Weave in and around some planets until we find that wormhole where Hero's last coordinates were," Jason said. "Think of this as a road trip!"
"Yea, that sounds great!" Atalanta agreed. "And hey, there's that time discrepancy between that Earth's dimension and ours! If we make it there before Instructor Ampion does, we're bound to have been there for a couple of weeks before he'd reach us, and by then we'd have done what we want, I think."
"Well, when you put it that way..." Echion said, thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "... Okay, but the moment that Instructor Ampion arrives, we're going to have to follow his orders, alright?"
"That's the spirit, Echion!" Jason said. "Besides, what could happen within a few weeks?"
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- And here's the first new UHA chapter! It's a recap of sorts so lots of copy and pasting from old chapters! Though it's also an excuse to show off Team Argo, Ampion, and Hero's parents. That, and I wanted to take it easy for a bit after pumping out pilots. Lazy? Definitely. I'll admit to it.
- It's pretty late because I've been playing YGO Master Duel and fell back into that trap hole (heh), but this time without spending money on cards. Remade my old favorites like E-HEROES and Gem-Knights, plus decks I wanted to build but the cards were VERY (and still are) expensive when I was still playing IRL, like Shaddoll, Dragonmaid, and Gusto decks, with more in planning. Side note, the Legacy Ticket Packs suck and I wish I could at least get rid of the 4+ copies I have of some cards instead of being forced to keep them.
- I'd say that the last message that Hero sent them was roughly around the dorm move. And the time discrepancy is about a few weeks apart, with the MHA dimension being farther ahead in time than the Land of Light's.
- Time for some Team Argo and other Ultra trivia!
- Only Jason and Echion are Land of Light natives. Asterion is from Planet OR22 from the Orion constellation, Atalanta is from Planet A83 from the Andromeda constellation, and Medea is an Ultra from O-50. Hey, if Leo and Astra came from L77 in the Leo constellation and Regulos came from D40 in the Draco constellation (despite his name being a reference to a star in the Leo constellation), then I can make other Ultra OCs from different ones, too. Like the moment they revealed Regulos came from a planet in another constellation like Leo in the prologue for 'The Destined Crossroad', it really made me wonder if there're just more planets in constellations that have native Ultras in the Nebula M78 universe.
- The yellow rhombus points are an aesthetic choice that Team Argo chose to get when they got their Color Timers implanted (save for Medea, who simply got them implanted around her existing Color Timer). They're not Star Marks like Zoffy's or Hikari's, since I think those are generally arranged in a very specific way, and they're a different shape altogether. Jason says that it's to cement the fact that they're a team, and everyone went along with it.
- Reason why Medea's pink instead of blue or red is 'cuz like, Grigio is orange/bronze, and Fuma's blue is way lighter than the usual blue used for blue Ultras, so I'm going on the assumption that O-50 Ultras have a much bigger range of colors than most planets with Ultras.
- Atalanta, Medea, and Lumina all have more hair-like crests and appearances because they're based on Jeanne and Amur from "Ultraman Sisters", a light novel that I found out about on the Ultraman Wiki. And hey, Mother of Ultra has ponytails, so why not give them 'hairstyles'?
- The reasons why the non-Land of Light Ultras joined Team Argo and the IGDF are all different, but they all involve Ampion. For Asterion, he challenged him to a battle when he came to Planet OR22 as a diplomat with the elders to test his strength against an experienced IGDF member, and when he lost, Ampion offered him a place at the Academy so he could train him, and he accepted. Atalanta was enrolled into the IGDF by her parents, the leaders of A83, after meeting with Ampion about the A83 Ultras becoming members. And Medea was specifically recruited by Ampion after taking Team Argo to O-50 for a lesson. They also joined in that order, while Jason and Echion, already being Ampion's pupils, were the first members.
- All of Team Argo's members are roughly around the equivalent of 14-17 years for Ultras. Atalanta and Jason are the youngest, while Echion and Asterion are the oldest, with Medea right in the middle.
- Who's Xros? He was initially planned to be the second Ultra of UHA very early on, being themed around crosses/pluses (because of 'Plus Ultra', of course). But then I found out about another MHA/Ultraman crossover, 'Ultrawoman Cross' by Navek, and well, I didn't want to feel like I was stepping on their toes with using the name Cross/Xros, so I nixed him and used what ideas I had for Team Argo instead, with them all using parts of his appearance and taking his place as a fellow student (or students in their case). But I felt like at least giving a shoutout to the original idea (especially since he's never appearing).
- Ampion's teaching style might seem inconsistent, but that's because it's all based on time. Hero's been in the Academy for a very long time, to the point where it's perfectly logical to assume that he'd be capable of doing a solo mission. Unlike Team Argo, who're still early on in their training, and thus aren't seen as being ready.