THEN
LAST SUMMER
The RV hit another bump. Neito nearly fell off the passenger's seat.
"Neito," aunt Julie said shortly, her eyes staying intently on the path in front of them. "Seatbelt."
"That will only get in the way when the watch fully recharges," Neito said back. The hourglass on the device was still colored a pesky red.
"Not unless you transform into Upgrade."
"Which alien is that?"
"The one that looks like Ship."
After going through Ben Tennyson's messages and notes left in the Omnitrix's pod, it had been decided by aunt Julie that their first step was to retrieve her dog – which was an alien dog, apparently, and was also of a species that was recorded in the Omnitrix – and use him as transportation instead of the RV. They were to meet with what "Plumbers" they could find and try to make direct contact with Tennyson if possible.
However, the dog, named Ship, along with his current caretaker had been caught in the middle of a brawl between Neito and more of those crimson robot drones sent from outer space. Neito never got the chance to get a good look at Ship or the caretaker before the two had been incapacitated, scooped up, and brought into an otherworldly spaceship, three times as big as aunt Julie's modest residence. With the Omnitrix's ten minute recharge state in effect, Neito and his aunt boarded the RV and began their pursuit of the vessel carrying Ship and aunt Julie's friend.
"I don't know what Ship looks like," Neito said as they hit another bump. This time, Neito did fall off his seat. As he scrambled back to the chair and sat upright, he looked out the window and watched the alien ship, nearly a dark but still discernible shape against the nightly backdrop of the sky, continue flying above and ahead of them.
The fact that the alien ship was still within sight was a bit baffling to Neito. Although aunt Julie was forced to go off-road across a hilly grassland to continue the chase, why did the ship not simply reach an elevation or speed to outrun its pursuers? It had arrived at aunt Julie's house at a fast enough speed, and if it had come down from the sky, surely it could soar back into the heavens.
Neito voiced his questions aloud. Aunt Julie said, "It must be CJ."
"Who?"
"My friend who was looking after Ship. Didn't I tell you about him?"
She might have. Things had been moving so fast after the Omnitrix had latched onto Neito's wrist, and he had admittedly been more focused on examining the watch, sorting through the available aliens, and testing his Quirk while in a transformation. He might have missed a few snippets of conversation here and there.
"CJ's Quirk is Technophile," aunt Julie explained, "like his dad's. He's actually one of my students." Aunt Julie wasn't a Quirk tutor, but she often worked with youths around Neito's age or a few years younger than him. She taught more conventional topics and life lessons rather than teachings tied purely to a person's Quirk or hero career. "It lets him telepathically control and manipulate technology, but he's still learning how to use it. He must be trying to keep the aliens' ship from getting too far."
"His Quirk works on alien machinery?"
"Generally any kind of machinery, yes. Ship and Upgrade can also manipulate and morph tech, but they need to make physical contact with it." Julie reached into her back pocket and handed Neito her wallet. "I have a picture of Ship, behind my driver's license."
Neito quickly found the picture. It depicted herself and… and a small creature that looked nothing like a dog. It didn't even have fur. It lacked claws or fangs, or even a face. Wait, were those little stubby protrusions supposed to be the legs?
"You keep a picture of your pet alien with you?" Neito questioned in confusion. Hadn't she said that they were supposed to keep the existence of aliens a secret?
Neito's doubtful tone prompted a small smile from his aunt. "Hey, one of your top heroes in Japan is a human who is literally shaped like a washing machine, or chooses to dress up like one. With how random or radical people's Quirks or hero costumes can be, 'alien from another planet' isn't most people's first thought when they see Ship."
"Fair enough."
After the RV hit another bump, the boarding ramp of the ship suddenly opened. A trio of robot drones flew out.
These reddish constructs resembled the stereotypical UFO, circular in shape, but sections of the top and bottom of the drones extended to reveal crab-like arms and claws. Neito had battled a few of these drones already, but they hadn't been too much trouble. Wildmutt's jaw strength alone was enough to tear a drone in half.
Unfortunately, the Omnitrix was still in the red, so Neito could do nothing as the drones rammed into the RV. Glass from shattered windows flew everywhere. It wasn't as if copying auntie's Quirk would help in any way. Neito held up his arms to shield his face.
Aunt Julie grabbed his wrist and shoved him further back into the RV. Tumbling across the floor, Neito watched as his aunt struggled to keep one hand on the steering wheel, to avoid getting stabbed or sliced by the drones' claws, and to shoot at the drones with a firearm pulled out from one of the cabinets. A laser gun, to be more precise. Such weapons weren't unheard of in the world, but they were typically a rarer sight compared to conventional firearms, even in a country like America, so this might be an alien laser gun.
As luck would have it, the Omnitrix at that moment pinged and glowed green. Grinning, Neito pressed the appropriate button and slammed his palm against the watch.
A second later, Neito took stock of this new alien he had transformed into. This alien had two arms and two legs, but the texture of his body wasn't like human skin. It felt like a malleable, smooth gelatin, yet Neito could feel solid interconnected threads across his back and over his arms. Circuitry? Like those lines that were on Ship's back in the photograph, so this alien form must be Upgrade. But Neito's instincts told him that he could will himself to disassemble and reassemble these circuits as he altered the form and posture of his body. Upgrade's form was more like countless nanomachines bound together in readily rearrangeable patterns and connections.
Another slam from the drones caused the RV to start swerving and drifting. Aunt Julie was losing control of the wheel. A drone claw snapped her laser gun in two. Reacting, Neito lunged forward, stretching out his body to shield his aunt.
When a drone stabbed its claw into Neito, it didn't pierce skin or draw blood. Instead, Neito felt himself morph over the appendage. He traveled along the arm and splattered onto the drone's body.
Within moments, Neito was no longer a gelatinous silhouette of a man. He was now, somehow, the drone itself. He had merged with the machine and was directing its movements.
Hovering in the air, Neito was able to use the eye-like sensors in his new drone form to look at the other two robots. They pushed the RV hard enough for it to tilt on its leftmost wheels. The vehicle was about to fall completely onto its side.
Neito used the repulsors on his upgraded body to move himself to the driver side window. He tore off the door from its hinges, but the vehicle was doomed anyway. Neito made a big enough space to grab aunt Julie and pull her out.
The RV slid and bumped over grass and dirt as Neito backed away. The other two drones abandoned the lost cause and approached Neito. With his circular body, he swerved his arms around so that his aunt was being carried behind him, letting the first drone tackle Neito's front side. The second drone was moving overhead, but one of Neito's spare arms twitched. He felt it morph into a laser gun like aunt Julie's.
Neito let off one lucky shot that destroyed the second drone's head. When the first drone caught the wrist of the new gun arm, preventing Neito from shooting at the remaining robot, he just spawned another gun from another arm and unloaded laser bolts.
The last drone defeated, Neito tossed away its body and returned his attention to aunt Julie. "Are you o–"
"The ship's getting away!"
Neito's sensors indicated that yes, the distance between them and the scout ship was increasing. The sensors wired to the wider network connecting the drones with their alien controllers also indicated that the ship was regaining some control of its systems, and that the "technopath" and the "Galvanic Mechamorph '' were currently surrounded.
"I'm fine," aunt Julie said hurriedly. "Let's go, Neito! Hurry! The ship's ramp is still open. You can fly. We can still help them."
Neito had a good idea who the technopath was and could only assume Ship was the Galvanic Mechamorph. They were in trouble. His aunt was right: people were in need, and Neito had more than enough power to do something about it.
Altering his body to give aunt Julie a small foundation to securely stand on the upgraded drone, Neito gave chase for the alien ship. He directed most of his power to his boosters to catch up with the spacecraft, but as more drones flew out of the ramp, Neito rerouted power into his lasers. Realizing that these drone models lacked their own projectile weapons, Neito morphed his body further. He provided a functioning turret for aunt Julie to man, allowing her to pick off the charging targets as they came near her and Neito. For the drones that came too close for comfort, Neito simply bashed their heads in with upgraded mallet arms.
Before long, the last enemy drone combusted and was consumed in a fiery blaze. Their path no longer hindered, Neito entered the ship.
The vessel was not overly spacious, but the hangar area was crowded with the debris of shattered drone components and limbs along with wires, pipes, and other manner of infrastructure torn apart from the ship. At the center of the hangar was a series of drone corpses adorned in peculiar glowing blue outlines. They were being held up in a rotating spherical shield. Bipedal humanoids, likely aliens in protective gear, were hacking away at the drones with batons. Through the gaps the aliens jammed in their batons. Neito could hear a cry of pain every time that happened.
Aunt Julie blasted the aliens away with the turret. "CJ!" she yelled across the room. "Ship!"
The improvised barrier parted, revealing a boy approximately Neito's age. The American also had blond hair but of a slightly different shade. He wore freckles and his eyes glowed a foggy blue like that of the color outlining his makeshift shields. He was down on one knee, hugging close to his chest what could only be Ship. The small alien dog resembled his form in aunt Julie's photograph, but this Ship was groaning and twitching, as was the boy. Evidently, they were both in pain.
More aliens arrived through sliding doors nearby. As Neito moved to smash them underneath his hammer hands, he felt his aunt jump off him and go to the boy and the dog.
"Self-destruct," the boy, CJ, muttered. "Th-Thirty more seconds."
Neito's vision sensors could see aunt Julie's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
"I turned it on. I don't know. They were hurting Ship. The technology here is c-confusing. I didn't know what else to do."
Another alien exited the doorway. This one was carrying what looked like a cannon over its shoulder. When it fired the weapon, Neito used his thrusters to dash out of the way.
Unfortunately, whatever the alien had fired just exploded in mid-air.
Electrical currents. They rattled all across his body, shaking his bones and strangling his heart, or they did so against Upgrade's alien equivalents. Neito had felt himself redirecting power and electricity while morphing his possessed drone, but this was different, overwhelming… overloading…
The Omnitrix symbol, placed on top of the drone's head between the barrels of the turret, started blinking and sounding off the timeout warning. These aliens had technology that could sabotage the Omnitrix!
Blinking through the flash of light, Neito found himself back as a human. He could still feel shocks going up and down his body, his limbs trembling as he fell backwards from the drone he had ridden. The machine fell on top of the rocket launcher alien, immobilizing the creature, but Neito was also helpless as his paralyzed body hit the deck. The one plus side was that he was too numb to feel the headache he must have gained from crashing against the ground without resistance.
Aunt Julie came beside him. She was holding the outer layer of one of the broken drones' heads as a shield. Keeping some of the surviving aliens and their batons at bay, she slid Neito behind the spinning barrier of drone bodies.
"Who is this?" the blue-eyed boy asked, but Neito was physically capable of answering.
"Neito," aunt Julie said to her nephew, "copy CJ's Quirk, but don't use it on the Omnitrix. Use it on Ship. Ship is like Upgrade, techno-organic."
Because he still could not move, aunt Julie picked up Neito's hand and pressed it against CJ's elbow. Instantaneously, Neito's vision took on a blue hue. Though he still had no direct control over his own body, Neito could feel the various pieces of technology around him through the copied Quirk. The disabled drones, the shock batons held by the aliens, the aliens themselves – they were in fact more robot drones, just of a different type than the flying saucers – the spaceship itself as its hardware was being turned over by its alien crew as they tried to de-activate the self-destruct…
CJ had been right. This technology was… confusing. His Quirk did not resemble Upgrade's power, where enacting changes in tech came naturally. Technophile seemed to enable a higher sense of observation of tech, but when Neito tried to manipulate and move the pieces of technology within his sensory range, it was like trying to push a giant boulder uphill. Too much resistance, not enough solid momentum. So many circuits and pathways and connections to make sense of...
Except for the alien dog… Auntie was right. Ship was a mix of organism and technology. Neito could distinguish him better, especially since his structure resembled Upgrade so much.
Ship was being hurt by internal electrical shocks, the same kind that had struck Neito. The source of Ship's pains were… there. There. Ship had been somehow injected with a device which regularly unleashed debilitating electrical currents, and now Neito just forced Ship to eject that object out of his body.
"Five seconds," CJ said.
Liberated, Ship opened up and expanded his body. Everything within sight for Neito became shrouded in a green glow.
He blinked, finding his numbness beginning to fade. Wincing upon feeling pain echo from the back of his head, Neito slowly raised himself to sit upright.
An earthquake suddenly hit, throwing Neito off-balance. Then he realized this wasn't an earthquake. Ship had transformed into an actual flying ship, small enough to fit in the hangar but big enough to carry CJ, aunt Julie, and Neito. They exited the alien vessel. The deafening explosion that coincided with the quake must have been the destruction of that vessel, and the force of the detonation managed to hit Ship.
When Ship suddenly reverted back into his dog form, leaving Neito and the rest to flounder in the air, Neito regained more of his natural senses and autonomy. He turned his head to see the grass field he was falling towards. He adjusted his body and rolled across the ground as he landed, softening his fall, just as he had learned in the hero training club at middle school.
Before Neito could pat himself on the back for accurately executing the maneuver, the CJ boy crashed on top of him. Fortunately, Ship had been attached to CJ, so the dog was able to contort its gelatin-like form to cushion the blow, but the impact still caused Neito's head to hit the ground again.
He didn't black out. He retained consciousness but it took a minute, even after Ship and CJ removed themselves from Neito, for him to reassert his will and push himself upward. Neito felt a hand gently place itself on his head.
"... gonna be fine," he heard his aunt say. Neito opened his eyes. Aunt Julie kneeled over him before she stood to pull him to his feet. He wobbled but found his footing. "Are you listening? You're going to be fine, Neito."
"Happy to hear," he said once he found his voice. CJ was standing to the side, with Ship low on the floor next to him. Beyond them Neito could see smoke billowing toward the night sky over the next hill. Likely the flaming wreck of the alien transport. With CJ's Quirk, Neito could detect no more active aliens or drones, but there was still cause for concern. "Is that going to cause another wildfire?"
"I'll make sure it doesn't." Aunt Julie whistled, prompting Ship to transform again, this time into what was some sort of military-esque power suit. The suit separated to allow aunt Julie to step into it before reforming. "You'll be okay, too, CJ. Both of you just stay here while I check the crashed ship. I'll be alright now that Ship is with me. You two just take a breather."
With that, aunt Julie marched over the hill, leaving Neito and the boy to their own devices.
His eyes were no longer blue. They were purple, so his Quirk must be completely deactivated. The boy offered Neito a small grin.
"I'm Cooper," he introduced himself, "but my friends and teachers call me CJ. For Cooper Junior. My dad's name is Cooper." The boy nervously laughed. "Obviously, I mean. My mom's name isn't Cooper, so it only makes sense it would be my dad… Uh, nice to meet you, Julie's nephew."
"... Likewise," Neito decided to say. When Cooper extended his left arm, Neito returned the gesture so they could shake hands. "You can call me Monoma."
"So…" Cooper's eyes widened as he stared at the watch on Neito's wrist. "You really have the Omnitrix? That wasn't just a Plumber Badge? You're not just a hybrid or a mutant? You really transformed into an alien with the Omnitrix?!"
The stars in Cooper's eyes became just a tad too bright for Neito's liking. "You know of the watch? How well versed are you in the world of aliens?"
"Mostly just what my dad has said about it. He got to work for the big veterans like the Tennysons and Kevin 11!"
"I imagine my aunt is one of those veterans," Neito said expectantly, but Cooper shook his head.
"I think she's gone on some adventures, too, but she retired early, I think."
Cooper's eyes glowed blue again. Then the same color appeared over Neito's watch.
Aunt Julie returned, out of the power suit as Ship was now running excitedly around them all. Aunt Julie grabbed Neito's and Cooper's wrists and kept them apart. The blue light was extinguished.
She gave Cooper a pointed glare. "You're not supposed to be messing with technology you know nothing about."
"I know a lot about the Omnitrix, though!"
"You need real technical knowledge, CJ, not anecdotal."
"But–"
"And never do that again," aunt Julie said firmly. "Flipping on the self-destruct switch?" At those words, Cooper averted his eyes from auntie's gaze. "I understand that you do what you have to do to survive when you're in danger, but rigging a self-destruct when you're at ground zero isn't survival."
"... I didn't know what else to do…"
Aunt Julie sighed. "Whatever choices you make, you have to live with them. Live. Remember that." She glanced at Neito, obviously trying to emphasize that he should heed her advice, as well.
Neito rubbed his jaw with his free hand as his and Cooper's wrists were released. "So the aliens have been defeated, the captives have been freed, but the RV has been immobilized. Can Cooper's Quirk repair it? Or are we going to use Ship's ship form?"
Her face growing pensive, aunt Julie asked Cooper, "Do you have your dad's Plumber Badge on you?"
Cooper pointed at the alien dog still bouncing and around full of energy. "I put it on Ship earlier." His eyes flashing blue for a brief moment, he scratched the back of Ship's neck. The dog stopped jumping and allowed what appeared to be the hourglass faceplate of the Omnitrix slip out of its body. The object moved to center itself on Ship's chest.
"Why does Ship have it?"
"He was helping me practice my Quirk. I was just… pretending he was the Ben 10. Just for fun." Cooper looked down at his feet, embarrassed. "When I tried using my Quirk on the robots, I think they thought Ship was someone transformed with the Omnitrix. I'm not sure why, though. I looked at the watch just now, and it and my dad's Plumber Badge give off different vibes and are made of different material."
Aunt Julie gave a reassuring pat on Cooper's shoulder. She began looking between Neito and Ship. "Whoever sent these drones might have been just covering their bases," aunt Julie speculated. "Lots of people have come to Earth to steal the Omnitrix before. They see a Galvanic Mechamorph on Earth wearing the Omnitrix's symbol, they might think their sensors are being fooled by magic or some other ruse, but they take it in anyway just to be sure. Yours and Ship's tech interference could have kept them from fully recognizing the Omnitrix on Neito, too."
"Whoa… so I helped keep the Omnitrix safe from evil aliens?!"
Neito eyed the overly excited Cooper with doubt. "You survived an evil alien kidnapping attempt and were rescued thanks to me, the wielder of the Omnitrix," Neito gracefully corrected. He didn't miss the way Ship tilted his head or how aunt Julie rolled her eyes. "Of everyone's contributions, I believe I facilitated the key components that granted us success this night. You're welcome."
"Thanks, man!"
Neito took a step back. That enthusiastic thanks hadn't been what he was expecting. "For what?"
"Uh, for rescuing me…" Cooper lost his smile. "Were you just trying to save Ship?"
"We were trying to save both of you," aunt Julie quickly cut in. She set her glare on Neito, but he appreciated the interruption from Cooper's unexpected eagerness. "And yeah, mission success. You did a great job. All of you." She leaned down and swiped the Plumber Badge from Ship. "You two keep an eye out for any more aliens," she said as she scratched Ship's chin. "I need to make a few calls."
A question suddenly struck Neito. "Why don't you have your own Plumber Badge?" he asked in genuine confusion. "You had a weapon, and you obviously have the contacts. Why not the communication device?"
"I'm not a Plumber," she said. "Like I told you, Plumbers are an intergalactic police force. Just because I'm friends with a few officers and their families, that doesn't mean I own all of their standard issue equipment. I'm a civilian."
Yet that mysterious Tennyson individual had sent his supposed civilian aunt Julie the Omnitrix, a tool capable of infinite, untold possibilities.
Neito knew that there was more to his aunt's story that she wasn't telling him, but he refrained from bringing it up right this second.
As aunt Julie turned away to make her calls, Neito was left alone with a hyper, jumping Ship and with… a widely grinning Cooper.
"I can't believe Julie's nephew has the Omnitrix!" Cooper said. He directed a look full of wonderment and curiosity at Neito. "Hey, so what's your Quirk? Something to do with copying, right? Can you still use your Quirk while in your alien forms?" Perhaps noticing Neito's second physical step back from him, Cooper also receded and lowered his voice. "Oh, uh, is it alright if I ask about your Quirk? Or the Omnitrix? Are you sensitive about it? Any of it?"
Neito rubbed the back of his neck. Most of his peers his age back in Japan were… of a more consistent and predictable temperament than Cooper. Generally, they were either more reticent or more hostile in reaction to whenever Neito opened his mouth. There was an earnety to Cooper that Neito wasn't sure how to navigate. Acting like a curious child one second, then a shy stripling the next.
"... I only learned about the Omnitrix recently," Neito decided to say. "What can you tell me about it?"
Cooper was rejuvenated with shining energy. He began to regale him of tales passed down by Cooper Senior and aunt Julie about how an alien device did what it did to an unsuspecting grandson of a champion Plumber some years ago…
Neito can get the full context from his aunt herself at another date.
NOW
Still resisting the incessant compulsion to scratch his bandaged face, Neito distracted his free hand by knocking on the door. With his presence announced, he opened the door and entered the hospital room. He was greeted by a dubious stare from the room's sole occupant.
"... I see your recovery is going well, Monoma," Tenya Iida commented from where he lay on his bed. His face was devoid of any coverings, his bandages instead strewn across his legs and arms and stretching to cover his back, so Iida's hesitant countenance was in full view. "Can I help you with something?"
Opening the door further, Neito revealed the gift basket seated in his arm. The present was fit with fruit, wine, and confectionaries.
"... Is that for me?"
"My parents were made aware of the impromptu rescue squad committed for myself and Bakugo," Neito elaborated. "While I've already said my thanks to my peers in class B, my parents thought it appropriate to acknowledge the efforts thrown in by those in class A. Hence, this gift that you may feel free to distribute at your leisure."
Iida continued to eye Neito with a mixture of suspicion and uncertainty. "That's really not necessary."
"This wasn't my idea," Neito deadpanned. Indeed, this was a highly unnecessary gesture, but Neito didn't have it in his heart to defy his parents over this simple matter after already worrying them so much. He marched to the short bedside table next to Iida and dumped the basket on it. "I have better things to do with my time, as I'm sure you do, as well. My parents have already expressed their appreciation to your parents, raising such a well-meaning boy and so forth. You can throw this all out the window for all I care, though I'm told that would be a waste of the wine."
"Why wine?" Iida muttered, looking over the items.
Neito shrugged. "Give it to your brother. I'm sure he could use the outlet to unwind from the stress you've no doubt stirred in him."
By the look on his face, Iida hadn't expected the slight jab and was caught off-guard. He turned away, self-conscious. Happy to see Iida sufficiently pacified, Neito made his way back to the door.
But then Iida spoke again. "The news coverage explained that you were caught in the explosion the League of Villains' leader had set off," he said as Neito came to a stop. "The hero Ryukyu saved you mere minutes before a vigilante, Cannonbolt, helped distract the villains long enough for the other heroes who were already nearby or just approaching the scene to help Bakugo and the rest of us who were still unconscious."
Neito crossed his arms and faced Iida. "You want to reminisce about that night together? Surely some of your gallant friends in class A can lend you an ear instead of me."
"I know Bakugo was mostly unharmed, but…" Iida trailed off before chopping one of his hands in the air. "No, my apologies. I shouldn't have said anything more."
Ah, the fact that Neito wore obvious wounds, particularly on his face, that he was allegedly given during his captivity under the League while class A's ticking time bomb did not must be bothering Iida. If only we got there sooner, or some such thoughts were going through his head. In reality, Neito's extended stay at the hospital was a result of the battle against Muscular, and from some of the lingering burns left when Bakugo had blasted an explosion directly in front of Cannonbolt's face. If only Neito had activated the Quirk copied from Bakugo earlier to have avoided that damage, or if only that idiot hadn't reacted so violently when being rescued.
Taking pity on the poor boy – a feeling which Neito should temper more, since he had already put in the time to deliver an important heroic lesson to Iida during the incident with Stain – Neito said, "Your efforts weren't in vain. As I'm sure the media at some point has mentioned, Muscular had been deployed to intercept the authorities making their way to the Nomu warehouse. Meanwhile, your team managed to cut down the henchmen who were keeping watch over those monsters."
"It didn't matter in the end," Iida said quietly. "The Nomu were instantly teleported elsewhere and those henchmen were betrayed by the League. We had little to show for our efforts." Iida gestured vaguely toward the gift basket. "I don't deserve this, or any thanks your parents want to express to me."
Neito pursed his lips. "From Kendo's recounting, you personally played a role in saving her from that gas mask villain."
Iida shook his head. "We put ourselves into that situation, put ourselves in danger. Saving Kendo was only fixing our own mistakes." Word of Kendo's and Neito's hero licenses must not have circulated the news networks yet if Iida wasn't bringing it up. "Beyond that, we contributed nothing, failed to not illegally use our Quirks during our rescue mission, and even failed to rescue you or Bakugo."
Well, that was a rather bleak way of looking back on things. "Your lot did manage to save someone."
"The real heroes saved you and Bakugo, and then the rest of us."
"But the rest of you saved Ragdoll."
Iida's frown grew more pronounced. "The… The Wild, Wild Pussycats member?"
He must have forgotten, too busy drowning in distress to acknowledge her in his recollections. Neito nodded. "I don't recall her real name, but if I have my facts straight, Ragdoll was kidnapped along with myself and Bakugo. Her Quirk was stolen, the trauma of the procedure and its aftereffects leaving her comatose."
"But… It was Tokage who coordinated Ragdoll's rescue on-the-spot. It was Yaoyorozu and Kuroiro who brought Ragdoll out of the line of fire."
"And it was all of you who kept those armored thugs preoccupied long enough for Ragdoll to reach safety."
"Of our rescue group, only Yaoyorozu was spared from any grievous harm," Tenya Iida the persistent pessimist shot back. "We still put ourselves in danger and could have easily died, even just from that first explosion caused by the League's leader."
"As a result of your efforts, you still successfully saved someone," Neito reiterated. "That should still count for something. Submit to the consequences, but remember the full context and results of your actions. Reflect on them. Live with them."
Then Neito caught himself before going further. He chuckled.
"Why am I even saying these things to you? If you can't recognize what you and your team were able to accomplish in spite of the bad luck and overwhelming odds, then that just means class B will be able to sooner capitalize on the lessons learned from that ordeal. If you're the elected representative of class A, then I feel sorry for what the rest of them must be doing to cope with what you believe to be a totally irredeemable failure." Neito turned his back to Iida. "Maybe rethink the hero career if you're so sore about this. I hear there's a promising student in general education who may be better suited in the hero course than someone with a negative mindset like yours. You'll sooner inspire dread and fear in the hearts of the public rather than awe and reassurance if you carry yourself like this as the next Ingenium."
If you asked Neito, that was a more than adequate rebuke. Satisfied, he moved to leave once more.
But again, Iida said something that caused him to stop in his tracks.
"Monoma, do you know what an Omnitrix is?"
Neito was thankful that his face was still covered in bandages. His poker face might not be at its greatest at the moment. Regardless, he looked back at Iida. "An Omni-what?"
"The villain Muscular made mention of an 'Omnitrix boy', of someone who might have been able to challenge him in a fight."
The magic spell placed on the Omnitrix should shroud its presence while Neito was human. Others would only be able to perceive it if they knew the name of the device and were aware of the fact that Neito wore the watch on his wrist. Iida knew the name, but he evidently didn't know of its wielder, or if he was just being roundabout with Neito, then perhaps Iida at least didn't know the Omnitrix's status as a compact wrist-mounted attachment. "I don't know who he could have been referring to," Neito said.
"It has to be you. I'm not blind. I know you and this Omintrix must have something to do with transformation." Iida leaned forward, an assertive and determined attitude overwriting the self-doubt he had previously been displaying. "I saw you change form during the villain attack at the training camp. You morphed from Heatblast into your regular self. And before the camp, the things you said at school, about my encounter with Stain – you knew more than you were letting on."
"Please, Iida." Neito could start to feel himself sweating. No one in his regular life outside of family except Kendo has ever gotten this close to discovering his secret. He sooner expected someone of worthy intelligence and intuition from his own class like Juzo Honenuki or Setsuna Tokage to catch an inkling of the truth rather than a class A student. "I'll admit that I have spoken directly with the Hourglass Vigilantes, but I'm not actually one of them or can transform into any of them."
Iida's stare pierced into Neito's soul, or at least it tried its hardest. Neito silently sucked in a breath and considered his options.
"... All For One did imbue me with transformations."
Iida's glare faltered. "He what?"
"Quirk mutations," Neito said dismissively with a handwave. He might as well roll with the cover story. "Don't panic. I'm no Nomu with a dim mind. My Copy Quirk has made the injection of these new mutated forms bearable to handle, but I can assure you that I'm not one of those vigil–"
"You copied Stain's Quirk," Iida interrupted, his intensity returning tenfold. "That's how Diamondhead stopped the villain right before Midoriya and I knocked him out. And you must have copied my Quirk in order to flee the scene before the authorities arrived. I know I saw you appear where Heatblast once stood."
… Did he not have anything else to occupy his thoughts during his recovery other than trying to retrace his steps with Neito's aliens? Was blaming himself for being unable to rescue Neito and Bakugo not enough for him?
"Native must have known what you can do," Iida went on. "I have to assume others do, too. Kendo? The Ryukyu hero?"
Neito said nothing.
When Iida received no further response, he seemed to finally understand that Neito would not be giving him the answers he wanted. Wavering, Iida sighed.
"I don't have any tangible evidence beyond my own testimony and theories for my claims to present to anyone, and I… I suppose I owe Diamondhead for saving me that night, so… I only have one more question for you, Monoma."
"The Hourglass Vigilantes don't do interviews," Neito said, "and they're not into merchandising if that's the market you want to get into with them."
"Is it worth it?" Iida asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Being a vigilante, fighting crime while also breaking it. Committing heroics without higher certification or approval. Is it worth it?"
Neito had to keep the Omnitrix a secret. He had to keep everything, as much as he could, a secret. So long as he never actually confirmed any of Iida's suspicions, even if Iida already believes them himself, then precautions could still be taken. Plausible deniability could still be maintained. If Iida was willing to cease looking more into Neito's relationship with the Hourglass Vigilantes, then there was little more to do than for everyone to move on with their lives.
Iida's obviously conflicted feelings on vigilantism and the law could potentially make him an ally if Neito only nudged him in the right direction, but if Neito were to gain a new ally and confidant in the world of aliens, someone from class 1-A was far from his first choice, even one with Iida's capabilities and financial resources.
Neito stepped closer to Iida and pulled out a card for him to see. Iida squinted at it before his eyes nearly bulged out through his glasses in shock. "Is that a Provisional Hero License? You're a licensed hero?!"
"Correct." Neito stuffed his license back into his pocket. He didn't want to risk Iida grabbing the card to more closely examine it. That would get his grubby class A paws and taint on the precious item. Neito still needed to get his license photographed and framed, and stains or the stench from class A student would just sully the treasure.
"But didn't you fail the final exam?"
"Yet my partner passed with flying colors," Neito reminded him. Yes, to Neito's shame, he was the only one in class B to have failed the first semester final, but had he not been so busy trying to pin down where the Forever Knights' last safehouse was located, he would have put in enough sleep and preparation for the practical portion of the test. A vigilante hero had to make such sacrifices to honor his duties. At least now Neito could make those compromises with pro hero-backed assistance instead of relying only on his family and Kendo for support. "Petty politics and intricate investigations prevented me from revealing my license to anyone. Kendo has her own, too, by the way."
"This doesn't make any sense," Iida said in disbelief. "If Kendo was licensed, she could have just told us –"
"As I said, politics." Neito can't admit to being able to transform into aliens, but he can admit to undercover vigilantism, per the cover story. "I would expect someone of your upbringing to have a better understanding and insight than an ignorant simpleton. Navigating the political and social environment of the professional hero business," and the business of aliens, for that matter, "deals with its own share of shades of gray that make it so that there is hardly a right answer for every dilemma."
Iida paused, clearly deep in reflection. "There should be a right answer," he murmured. "Follow the law, fight villains, save people. What more is there to the fundamentals of being a hero?"
Honestly, Neito was getting tired of the hero discussion. He hadn't come here for a heart-to-heart talk with class A's rep, and Neito certainly neither needed nor desired an in-depth understanding with him.
"There's nothing wrong with those fundamentals," Neito allowed, speaking softly. "The world just has a tendency to overcomplicate things more than what's necessary. It's up to you to simplify the problems so that you can find a clear path to resolve them." To add something extra to his exit, Neito audibly chuckled. "Try to make better sense of your problems, settle them, make peace, and don't come crying to me again when you realize you'd make a terrible hero."
With that last declaration, Neito made his way out of the room before Iida could say another word to him. He can stew on Neito's parting words instead of trying to get answers from him now.
Neito knew where his own convictions stood. It was a shame not everyone could be so resolute and sure of themselves as he was.
But considering that Iida was so bothered by the events of the Kamino Incident…
Neito should pay Kendo another visit. She had a better poker face than him, and she wasn't getting very far out from her room while her gunshot wound was still healing. Unlike Neito, she couldn't easily take it upon herself to pay a visit to the rest of their class B cohorts who were still hospitalized, and the distractions on her phone could only do so much.
He had already spoken with her today to go over the cover story and other logistics, but if anyone deserved his time and dedication, it wasn't the inferior class A's inept representative. It was the superior class B's superb representative, Neito's best friend.