The Bright Hero, Cobalt

Chapter Twenty-one

A/N: Thanks once more to all my readers and whatnot, as well as my editors! Some good news on the Covid 19 front: New Zealand has beaten it! Don't let up! Keep socially distancing and taking preventative measures, and we'll beat this thing eventually! We killed smallpox, we can win against this, too! (Note, this chapter was written at least a week ago, and so was the A/N. I don't know off the top of my head if New Zealand is still Covid 19-free, but I desperately hope it is. Be safe and healthy, and wear a mask in public!)

"Normal speech."

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

"Telepathic speech."

'Thinking speech.'

'Sign language.'

The Following Wednesday

The class let out a collective sigh of relief. The written portion of their exams was finally over. Two and a half days of paper, paper, and more paper!

"Wheeyyy…" the stun gun hero groaned softly, causing his surrounding classmates to chuckle a little. Kyoka rolled her eyes and handed the boy a couple pieces of dark chocolate to help Chargebolt return from Jamming Whey mode. "Kyokalate...wheeeeyyyy," the drained battery of a student said tiredly, combining his classmate's name with the food she'd just handed him as he took it from her hand and put it in his mouth. A tiny squee was heard from a certain alien queen.

The dark-haired girl blushed intensely and turned to look at Izuku. 'He doesn't...like me or some weird crap, right?' she asked with a slight frown.

The younger of the two class empaths frowned. 'You know I wouldn't tell you if he did unless he wanted me to. You'll have to ask him yourself. I will tell you that he only recognizes a few of us in this state, and you're one of the people he recognizes,' the verdette explained, causing another tiny squee from Mina, who'd been eavesdropping. Then, with a tiny smile, Izuku added, "He wouldn't be upset if you told him, I'll say that much. Trust me, you shouldn't be afraid of things like that. Your adoration for him is beautiful, and you shouldn't hide it for too long."

Earphone Jack scowled with a blush as she turned away. "I'm kicking your ass in practice for that later, but...Thanks," the violette replied as she shoved a bit more chocolate towards her blond seat-mate.

In the meantime, Aizawa had gathered everybody's papers. "Okay, problem children. Get out of my classroom, change into your costumes, and head over to Heroics."

"Wheeey ahead of yooooouuu," Kaminari said as he was picked up by Izuku, who didn't want him getting lost while in his dumbed down mode again, and carried out of the classroom like a sack of potatoes..

Later, In The Changing Rooms

The students took advantage of the ability to socialize between rooms granted by the presence of Izuku, as usual. At the moment, a recently-recovered Denki had a question.

"So, Himiko-san. You've obviously got a cover story quirk and an actual quirk. Mind explaining that to me?" the blond asked nonchalantly.

Jirou scowled. "You blockhead! Don't ask her about sensitive crap like that! You know she's shy!" the rock 'n roller scolded.

From nearby, Himiko giggled. "Don't be mad at him. He's legitimately curious. It's refreshing to be asked that without any ulterior motives behind the question. My cover quirk, as you call it, is just called Cyber Newtype. We're relying on the amount of red tape surrounding its details to prevent invasive questions from the press, along with Meimei's...unorthodox methods of dealing with the more persistent members of the media," the girl explained with a fond smile.

With a guffaw, Rikido then quoted the Hatsume genius at a recent interview. "HE HAS SELECTED THE BEES!" he exclaimed loudly, getting laughs from everybody else. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but the same can be said about bee bots with tiny laser stingers.

With a bit of hesitance, the Newtype Hero continued. "My actual quirk is a bit of a hassle. I told you guys how Izuku-kun and I experience emotions more potently than most humans, well, my quirk only makes that a bit worse. Basically, if I ingest somebody's blood, I can take their form. Their quirk is off limits unless it's a mutation-type, though. When I take these bracelets off, I get a bit of bloodthirst, along with heightened emotions, whether I'm actively using my quirk or not. I can have them off for about half a week before I become dangerous to myself and others, so I just keep them on if I don't need my quirk.

"Speaking of heightened emotions, Meimei and I finally figured out what happened with you at the Sports Festival, Izuku-kun," the cat-eyed woman said, turning her head to look at Ochako. "You and Ochako-san suffered a feedback loop, basically. You were both upset over the same thing for a long time without properly communicating it to one another. Your sadness fed hers, and hers fed yours, in an endless loop. Ao-kun decided to break it, since he cares about you, but next time you notice thoughts or feelings bothering you more than they should, discuss them with Ochako-san. Same goes for you, by the way. The Bond is a two-way street, after all."

Izuku rubbed his hair self-consciously, remembering the strands of grey hair his girlfriend had mentioned spotting. Deciding to focus on happier things, he popped Uravity a question. "How does the new costume feel, Uravity-san? The armored bits aren't weighing you down at all, are they?" he asked with a grin.

With a snap, the gravity manipulator encased her legs in armored boots that travelled nearly all the way up to her knees. "Who do you think you're asking that? Nothing weighs Uravity down, Cobalt-kun!" the brunette replied with a grin. Gone was the extra layer of costume, now replaced with bits of armor infused with Izuku's green aura covering her combat unitard, much like her new boots. The handles on her wristbands had also taken a hike, the girl deciding to take advantage of her ability to use Izuku's green aura without limit instead, for tethering civilians in need of rescue. A line of transparent teal had been added to her visor, acting as a tiny HUD that could relay useful information.

From nearby, Mina and Tooru grinned, giving each other a smirk. "So, I see you've got some of your boyfriend's colors on your suit now, huh, Ochako-chan?" the xeno monarch teased.

"She isn't the only one, Ashido! Midoriya's got a couple pink stripes on his gloves! Badass!" the manliest one in the mens' changing room exclaimed.

Uravity rolled her eyes with a little smirk. "Yeah, yeah, post aaaall about it on that fanclub of yours, Mina-chan. Izuku-kun and I will get back at you for that someday," the brunette replied dryly.

Suited up, the heroes-to-be headed out, ready to take their exams.

Later, In A Downtown-Themed Training Ground

Cobalt furrowed his brows in determination. He had been blessed with the perfect partner for this fight, however, he'd also been cursed with one of the most powerful opponents. That wasn't all, though. He could feel his mentor's desire, the raw need to see how far he and Uravity had come in their training.

All Might needed this fight just as much as the two of them did. His forced retirement was fast approaching, and it would be up to the next generation of heroes to pick up the slack. His talk with him about the issues caused by his insistence on heroing as hard as he had had been an awkward one, but Toshinori accepted that he was wrong, even if his heart was in the right place. Cobalt would not be the same as All Might, even if he intended to be number one regardless. It would be necessary to help his fellow heroes become powerful in their own right by not nurturing a dependence on him.

The world couldn't have a symbol propping it up like a single pillar. No, it needed, deserved, a proper foundation of many heroes.

From next to him, Uravity looked at her partner with a fond smile. "You're taller than me now, Izuku-kun," the girl noted with a toothy grin, then looked in the direction All Might was certainly in, and, understanding what Izuku and his mentor needed done, said, "I'll let you two muscle heads have at it."

"No."

Uravity turned to her boyfriend, who looked at her with a smile. "I'll be doing the brunt work, but we're both gonna be fighting. We're doing this Plus Ultra. We won't be escaping," he said with a confident grin, handing the cuffs to her as Unit 0 landed nearby, its shields moving to float around her instead. "We're gonna win here. Do you consent to synchronizing?"

Ochako pulled her boyfriend's glove off herself. "Hell yeah. Let's do this," she said with a grin, then pulled the boy's face closer and gave him a peck on the cheek. "For luck, and because you're too darn cute."

With a blush, Izuku pecked his girlfriend on the cheek as well. "You're...too darn cute, too, Ochako-chan," the boy said softly, getting the two of them rosy-cheeked over the decision to call her by a more intimate name.

And so, the two of them synced.

With All Might

Toshinori grinned. He could feel it in his gut. His students were going to absolutely amaze him. The real question is how. Deciding to test the waters, he threw a Detroit Smash down the main road, hearing and seeing an explosion of dust seconds later.

He was pleased when his attack was followed by another Detroit Smash, but from his protege, instead of him! All Might stood his ground as the air pressure pushed against him, nearly uprooting him once or twice. A rapid thudding was heard, and Izuku, no, Cobalt, was there! His running was a bit off-kilter, but he was adjusting quickly. The running that had destroyed his legs before now was nothing, due to his armor, but there was still work to be done. "Cobalt! I shall defeat you, hero! For I am extremely evil!" the number one hero hammed it up, rushing forward and meeting the student's punch with one of his own. The fronts of the buildings on either side of the road caved in a little, hit by the shockwave. Both heroes stood firm, grinning at their bro fist even as they moved to continue the fight.

Blow after fearsome blow slammed into the two, and soon Cobalt found himself flung into a building across the way, the teen within the armor grateful that the helmet was designed to cushion his head in such instances. He got up and swung a desk at his rapidly approaching instructor, sending the pro back outside, getting a look of surprise from the man before he let out a bellowing laughter. "I'll have to kick things up a notch, young Midoriya! After all, I can't afford to allow your teammate to make it to the exit, can I?"

The giant of a man lifted a portion of the road, and smashed it to pieces, quickly flinging the smaller chunks of concrete at Izuku, as well as the support pillars for the building he was currently inside!

Cobalt quickly formed a sphere of hexagonal shields around him, and he waited, knowing that it wouldn't be long before his partner adjusted the plan and acted accordingly. After all, they were a hive mind at the moment. From atop a nearby building, Uravity grinned. "GET SOOOOOME!" she exclaimed, miniguns that had recently been installed under the shields that currently floated around her opening fire, launching pellets of green aura at her opponent. All Might dodged towards the exit, but that wasn't going to stop them. "Dodge this!" the girl exclaimed as a few of the shield bits chopped the load bearing columns of the building she stood upon in half, causing the entire structure to tumble onto the pro below.

"Do you really think this can stop me, young Uraraka?" the musclehead exclaimed with a grin born of both pride and excitement, rearing his fist back, only to find his body slowed down drastically, feeling like it was moving through deep water. He found himself surrounded by green aura, which led to the rubble Cobalt had been buried beneath, the armored hero having escaped in the confusion. All Might braced himself for the impact that would doubtlessly take a bit to dig himself out of, only to gape in surprise as the building suddenly fell into the sky, not to return to the earth below again. The hero could only grin as he was decked in the schnozz by his protege, and placed in a hold that was surprisingly sturdy.

"G-Force Combo Attack: Binary Star Smash!" the teens exclaimed as one, and All Might found himself eternally grateful Uravity's boots didn't have heels on them, for the two students found their gravity pulling one another together as Uraraka's boots met Yagi's gut, the girl then whipping out the cuffs she'd had on her and attaching one to his wrist and another to hers.

"Team G-Force passes! I can call them that, right Shota? Oh, you're no fun! Uravity and Cobalt pass! YEEEEAAAAH!"

All Might grinned, despite his sore side. "You darn kids make me so proud! I'm not even mad that you went for that blow to my gut! Good fight, young Midoriya, young Uraraka!" the hamtastic hero exclaimed as he pulled the two into a hug, one kid in each arm, then tossed the two of them onto his shoulders and walked back to the testing booth, his proud grin never once vanishing from his face, as the two kids just accepted the ride back, silly smiles one them as well.

From inside the booth, however, Shota frowned a bit. 'Buildings were tossed around, so we know he wasn't holding back too much, so how did those two stop All Might? Either the big guy's getting weaker in his old age, or those two have gotten a lot stronger. I hope, for the world's sake, it's the latter,' 1-A's homeroom teacher pondered worriedly.

Nezu grinned next to him, knowing enough to be relieved by what he just saw instead of concerned. "Next up, we have Kacchan and The Friendly Ghost vs. Gentleman and Lady Love! Lady Love, feel free to use your quirk. We've hired a bit of extra security today, so there's no need to hold back in that regard!" the mouse/bear/honey badger hybrid announced gleefully.

Aiba and Danjuro smiled at one another and bowed low to their boss. "Thank you so very much, Nezu-san. We appreciate your kindness," Gentleman said with a kind smile.

"For legal reasons, I have to remind you two that causing either of these two serious harm will add to your probation. As your friend and colleague, though, I simply say, have a good time letting loose!" the non-human hero exclaimed, then turned to Tooru and Katsuki and added, "You enjoy a challenge, so I got you one. Do not be afraid to let loose, you two. The power of Love is formidable!"

Katsuki smirked, and next to him, Tooru giggled. "Considering what I've seen so far, I believe it. FIRST MATE BRIGHT EYES! LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE FUCKING ROAD!" the angriest one in the room roared, then headed outside as his teammate jumped onto his back, and the two of them flew off to one of the testing areas.

Seconds later, they were shouting in embarrassment when they were told their testing site was the other way.

Minutes Later, At The Correct Testing Site

Kacchan smirked as he slammed his fist into his palm. "Got the plan, Bright Eyes?" he asked just to make sure one more time.

The red head beside him nodded with a grin. "Going ghost!" she exclaimed before vanishing from view, the bright colors of her costume replaced with nothingness. Katsuki smirked and fist bumped his invisible teammate before she skedaddled.

A thoughtful look appeared on the face of the grinning grenadier. "Now, if I were a goddamn pair of lovely, charming, former villains, where would I be in this situation?" he wondered out loud, before looking up above the main road to find his answer. "UP IN THE FUCKING SKY, APPARENTLY!"

"Prepare for trouble, heroes!"

"Make it double!"

"For the remainder of this test, we are no longer heroes!"

"I am the mustachioed Gentle Criminal!"

"I am the lovely La Brava!"

"CLASS IS IN SESSION, STUDENTS!"

The happy couple descended from the sky, landing right in front of Katsuki with a pair of smirks. "Gentle Trampoline!" the hamtastic villain history teacher exclaimed, launching the test-taker in front of them into the sky, where they followed, La Brava hitching a ride on her husband's back.

The trio engaged in an intense melee in the sky, aided by their quirks, and in the case of La Brava, a few handy tools she seemingly pulled from hammer space (the baggy pants on both heroes were more than just for show). It didn't take Katsuki long to realize that the two of them were better in the air than he was, and so, he dropped to the ground, hoping his partner was ready to back him up. The two cheesetastic teachers descended with him, laughing with utter delight. As the two landed a distance away, having pulled out reinforced umbrellas of all things to slow their descent, Gentle Criminal smiled softly at his wife. "Honey, I believe it's time we wrapped this up. We can't allow for the gate to remain unguarded for too long, after all," he said tenderly..

La Brava nodded with a happy look in her eyes, as the two clasped their hands and gazed lovingly at one another and spoke three beautiful words.

"I love you."

The Blast Hero was flung back by the force of the energy coming off his two opponents, one of his gauntlets coming loose as he tumbled back. As he came to a stop and got to his feet, he found his opponents already in front of him, hand in hand, gazing menacingly at him, with an incredible aura of pink surrounding them both.

"Apologies, young hero. This is where our magnificent fight must end," Danjuro said icilly, then backhanded the student even further from his gauntlet. The two followed him, unclasping their hands and appearing surprisingly ominous as they approached. Neither saw the gauntlet rise on its own, an invisible arm becoming attached to the weapon.

Katsuki smirked as he rose, then gasped when the shorter of the two teachers vanished from sight, suddenly forcing Tooru to her level and placing her in a hold. The mustachioed former villain smirked. "Surely, you didn't think the pair of us would fall for such trivial tactics, Bakugou-kun?" Gentle Criminal asked with a sad smile on his face.

The ash blond smiled softly. "Yeah, you're right. The two of you have been a huge fucking inspiration to me for a while, you know. You're both proof that somebody can come back from a major fuckup and make things right. It's obvious you wouldn't fall for something like this, with hearts and minds as strong as yours. I'm really in a bind here. OR SO YOU'D THINK! BRIGHT EYES! DO THE THING!"

Unseen, The Friendly Ghost nodded. "GOT IT! GHASTLY BLAST COMBO!"

"FLASH BANG!"

A low powered but bright explosion popped off of one of Katsuki's arms, aimed near his teammate, who refracted the light and blinded all but herself and the blast hero, who covered his eyes with his other arm. Gentle Criminal had spun to be able to properly react to an attack from behind, only to find he should have remained still. In seconds, the married couple were bound in matrimony AND a pair of handcuffs. Even with their impaired vision, the two recognized their situation and held hands, smiling in the perceived direction of their students. "Bravo, you two! Thank you for such an excellent fight. Your teamwork is impeccable!" Gentleman said with genuine pride.

"Thanks for the kind words, too. I'm glad my husband and I were able to inspire you, Bakugou-san. We should do this again sometime," the loving dwarf said as she leaped up to sit upon her husband's shoulder, the two having released themselves from their cuffs.

Tooru grinned, coming out of stealth mode. "Yeah, that was fun. Let's get going, though! I wanna see the next match!" she exclaimed as she leaped onto her red-eyed friend, who gave a half-hearted sound of protest as he ran off back to the testing booth.

As they made their way, the human armory looked up at his friend. "Y'know, if we keep doing crap like this, people are gonna think we're a fuckin' item," he commented cautiously.

The freckled stealth expert grinned. "Honestly, I'm okay with that. Are you okay with that?" Hagakure asked curiously.

Katsuki grinned. "Two badass, beautiful bitches, in a healthy, happy relationship? Sign me the fuck up. Let's go hold hands in front of the others later. Ashido's gonna absolutely lose her shit!" he exclaimed with a bark of laughter, then launched the two of them the rest of the way with his quirk.

Upon arriving, however, they found they were too late to see the next match. "I blinked and it was over!" Izuku gasped in awe.

Nezu nodded solemnly. "It appears we have more evidence for reevaluating our entrance exams. For Shinso-san to be this good and nearly fall through the cracks, that is an inexcusable failure on our parts," the person of unusual species lamented.

"What the fuck happened? How hard did his team win?" the friendly firebrand asked, moving over to his childhood friend.

Izuku took a second to get his thoughts together. "From what I can tell, after getting behind separate boulders for cover, Shinso-kun perfectly mimicked Sero-san's voice and threw it so it sounded like it was coming from Sero's boulder. Midnight-sensei responded, and, well, the results speak for themselves," the greenette explained.

Kacchan blinked owlishly for a second. "Dude, that's OP as fuck," he said in awe, then grabbed his new girlfriend's hand and asked with a smirk, "Wanna go on a double date sometime, nerd? We can hit up the arcade, brag about how badass our girlfriends are, that kind of crap. Sound like a good time?"

Izuku smiled with joy, and Ochako leaped with glee, nearly smacking her head on the ceiling before her boyfriend pulled her back down. "Tooru-chan! I'm so happy for you! Oh, I hope we can find someplace with good deals nearby for a double date!" the gravity manipulator exclaimed.

On the other side of the room, Mina was practically vibrating in excitement. Next to her, the redheaded man of hardening grinned. "Looks like another one of your ships is setting sail, Admiral," he teased with a friendly slap to the girl's back.

The horned hero just giggled. "I'm really happy we've got some happy couples in the class. It's happening kinda fast, but I think I get why," she said with a thoughtful look. "Midoriya-kun is kind of a social bridge that makes it easier to interact with each other. When we chat through him, so much more is conveyed than normal, so we just get closer to one another more quickly. It's really nice. Even Koda-kun has been opening up more lately!"

Kirishima grinned and grabbed his horn buddy's hand. "I'll have to thank that badass later, then. We might have been waiting a bit longer for us to happen, otherwise," he said fondly, his girlfriend reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Himiko stepped forward. "If you're all done being adorable, I've got Pinky and Chargebolt. You two, come with me," she announced with a grin that honestly scared the two teens a bit.

"Oh, Ko-chan! Don't take your frustrations out on them just because your boyfriend's on a high-priority mission for a few weeks!" Hatsume's voice said from the PA system, the girl having hacked it again.

"DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE, MEIMEI! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!"

"Awesome! My parents would love to have you over again! They've been asking me how you're doing, you know!"

The genetically modified pro facepalmed. "I can't stay mad at her. She genuinely cares about me, and she's just so damn friendly," she said before putting her helmet on and calling her power armor. "Okay. Exam. Chargebolt, Pinky, with me."

Several Minutes Later

The two test-takers walked cautiously in the direction of the exit. An ominous feeling pressed down on them as they sneaked through the industrial-themed training ground. Goosebumps crawled down their arms, as through the silence, they knew for certain that they were being watched.

Marida had given them the caveat that upon uncloaking, she would not recloak, since it was unfair to fight the two of them like that. Cobalt had advised them that their best bet was escape, and that they'd have to think outside the box to win, but he refrained from elaborating on what his best tactical advice would be, since this was an exam, and they're supposed to figure things out themselves here.

Something fell to the ground nearby. Pinky and Chargebolt whirled around, frightened by the sound. A mouse scurried out of a bucket it had knocked over. The two examinees breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around to see Himiko's power armor looming over them, the pink mono-eye activating with an ominous sound.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" the pair screamed as they flung their quirks at Kshatriya, which stumbled for a second before the two were batted away by a red beam sword that emerged from one of the machine's four wings.

"Thanks for the acid wash, heroes. Kshatriya can get some really clingy muck on it sometimes," the blond within said, the predatory grin on her face felt despite being unseen. Then, another three beam swords ignited from arms under the other three wings, and a pair emerged from the suit's primary arms. "I've been trained in your jedi arts by Count Dooku. Now, attack, heroes!"

Denki's eyes widened comically. "SIX LIGHTSABERS?! We're screwed!" he exclaimed before he was dragged off by Pinky.

"Come with me if you want to live!" she screamed as the two of them fled into a nearby building, Marida laughing maniacally before she found a minor problem. Her armor couldn't fit through the doors. With a sigh, she started working on cutting through the wall, making the entrance more power armor friendly.

Two Minutes Later

The pinkette panicked. The plan had been going so well, and they were almost done, but then their pursuer had spotted her melting some of the support beams and was about to deliver the finishing blow, Pinky on the ground and in a bit of pain from the walloping she'd gotten from the lightsabers, which were thankfully blunt and not lethal. Just as the final blow was about to come down, Chargebolt leaped between them, blocking the blow with a pipe he'd electrified.

"Brave of you boy, but foolish. I thought you would have learned your lesson," the girl once known as Aureck said smugly.

Denki looked the woman in the monoeye. "I am a slow learner," he responded simply before the two of them started fighting one another with their weapons.

Before long, Mina finished her task. "CHARGEBOLT! WINDOW! NOW!" she screamed as the building started coming down on them.

The two teens leaped out a window they'd opened prior as the building came down around Marida, who telepathically roared, "You kids better hope I don't get out before you win, or you're gonna get it!"

Pinky and Chargebolt barely made it to the exit, winning mere seconds before Marida broke free of the remains of the building that had been dropped on her.

A Little Over An Hour Later

The students of 1-A breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that even those amongst them who failed would be going to the summer training camp. Red Riot and Sugarman, being the only two to fail, were incredibly glad they'd be able to hang out with their friends, even if they'd need to take some remedial classes.

The students and teachers were confident it would be a productive endeavor.

In A Pub On The Seedier Side Of Kamino

Shigaraki Tomura grinned evilly. "Game Over, heroes. You won't be getting any continues this time," the villain said menacingly as he stood with the newly formed Vanguard Action Squad.