The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Twenty-nine
A/N: Thanks, all of you! Seriously! In the words of an angel among mortals, you're all breathtaking!
"Normal speech."
"AI/SHOOOOOTOOOOOO/Kacchanese speech."
"Twice Prime speech. Other Twice speech. Other Other Twice speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Thinking speech.'
'Sign language.'
The Morning After The End Of Last Chapter
Several of the late risers were awoken by a nervous voice in their heads. "Sorry to bother you all! Yaoyorozu-san is calling for a mandatory class meeting in the common room! Please be here in the next five minutes! Sorry!" the vice rep said in their heads, sounding even more apologetic than usual. Much like Monoma, those who were a bit grumpy couldn't stay mad.
It didn't take long for the walking dead, as well as the early risers like Tenya, to make their way to the common room, where Izuku stood nervously next to a less nervous, but still fidgety Momo. The ponytailed genius coughed into her fist, then made her announcement. "It's come to my attention that at least one of the couples in the dorm has begun having thoughts of intimacy. I've no idea which one it is, but personally I congratulate your closeness. Before you get upset at Midoriya-kun, I was the one to ask him to check for such thoughts early on when we started living in the dorms. We are young teenagers with superpowers. It is important that our...sex...is both safe, and safe.
"As such, I will encourage whichever couple, or couples, that are thinking of taking this step forward to speak with Recovery Girl. Several of us have quirks that could get in the way of intimacy, and that intimacy could get in the way of. Solutions exist for this, if you ask for them. Also, please don't bother me for a while, because something recently came to my attention that makes me incredibly angry at people I've never even met. Midoriya-kun, are you sure you don't want me to make a doom laser to shoot your middle school with?" the tall teen completed her announcement with an offer to her vice rep, turning to the shorter teen with a murderous look in her eyes.
Midoriya twiddled his thumbs. "Believe me, I want that school gone, but you can't just make a death star to blow up Alderaan. It'd make me happy for two seconds before I realized someone got hurt in the explosion," the boy mumbled softly.
Katsuki was in front of his friend in seconds. "What the fuck did they do? Be honest with me, Izuku, or I'll find out from President Skroob instead, and she's grumpy enough already," the ash blond said with frightening calmness.
Nervous enough that his words became unintelligible, Izuku resorted to signing. 'I was kicked out of the classroom when they were going to teach sex ed. I technically still haven't been properly taught it. Might have learned my sexuality sooner if I'd been allowed in, now that I think about it,' he signed, having to repeat himself once or twice due to his fumbling hands.
"SHITTY HAIR, KNOCK ME OUT QUICK, OR I'M GONNA GO COMMIT SUPER MURDER ON MY OLD MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACH-unf," the blond roared before being interrupted by Kirishima doing as he asked.
The red head then looked Izuku in the eyes and said, "If it makes you more comfortable to learn it from someone you're not close to, my Mama's a nurse, and I can definitely get her on the line in the next few days for it. Now do me a favor and don't let me outside, because I wanna commit super murder too!"
Ashido shouted with murderous glee. "All right! Class project! We're building a death star to blow up Alderaan Middle School!" she shouted.
Tooru flashed bright as she utilized her quirk. "I'll be the kyber crystal!" she whooped.
With a flourish, Aoyama took center stage. "I'll provide the focusing lens!"
As Izuku was doing his best to calm his joyously murderous classmates down, the television turned on, and Mei appeared shortly after, wearing Death Star Gunner cosplay. "Already working on the blueprints! The weapon will be designed to only work once, since we don't need that kind of firepower being weaponized, but we're gonna be blowing up Alderaan! WHOOOO!" the teen exclaimed with glee.
The cheers of the students were interrupted when the footage of Mei was pushed to one half of the screen, a figure shrouded in darkness appearing on the other part of the call. "Oh, but it wouldn't do for students of U.A. to wantonly destroy a middle school. We have to make it official business, so allow me to join! I do despise those who abuse children like this, after all," a familiar voice said, before a light shone on their mysterious ally, showing Nezu sipping from a cup of tea, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Izuku actually started crying as the shot of the principal panned out to show the other staff members in the room with him, looking incredibly livid, and he could feel their protective rage. Tears and blue aura began flooding from his eyes and body respectively as pretty much everybody took turns giving the boy a quick hug, including Katsuki who, once again, was too angry to stay down. Turning to address Mei, Power Loader tsked a little. "Mei-san, I'm sorry, but you need to focus on the prosthetic bodies for those trapped within the nomu Kurogiri. Worry not, though. There is another," he said, referring to a foreign exchange student who would be landing at the airport in…
At A Nearby Airport
A blond, teal-eyed teenager descended the steps of the private jet, one of U.A.'s automatons waiting at the base while a few of its brethren gathered her things. Tapping a button on her scouter, Melissa Shield scanned the droids that would be her escort. "Hm, you could use some upgrades. That'll be fun, won't it, Droid-kun? Flight abilities, grapple arms, the whole shebang!" the girl spoke in near perfect Japanese, before gesturing to the power armor covering most of her body. "No reason I should have it and not you!"
The automaton in charge of walking with her changed its facial display to a smile. "We are happy to host you, Shield-dono. Also, we appreciate the desire to upgrade our bodies. Hatsume-dono will appreciate a fellow tinkerer," the bot said in a monotone voice, despite the clear happy face on it.
Another bot nearby played a sound clip. "This is getting out of hand! Now, there are two of them!" it quoted, and Melissa and the other machines began laughing.
"Good to know you're programmed to make pop culture references already! Less work for me!" the girl said before taking a few of the bags herself and heading to where a bus was parked. She was really looking forward to seeing her Uncle Might again, as well as meeting his successors.
Back In The Common Room
With an apologetic look, Izuku produced a box that had been in the corner during this whole thing. "Um, wow, this is really embarrassing, but there are condoms and other sorts of contraceptives in here, and bracelets like Neechan has for each of you, in case your quirk is one that might harm your...partner. Except for Fumikage-kun, because of Dark Shadow being sentient, obviously," the boy explained with a bright red face as Tenya marched up to examine one of the aforementioned bracelets.
"So, these essentially make us quirkless when we wear them, Midoriya-kun?" the bespectacled hero asked curiously, to which Izuku nodded.
"Unless it's a mutation-type quirk, yes."
The second son of the Ingenium line nodded firmly. "Very well. I've decided," he said, then took a pair and put them on. "In solidarity for the years you went suffering from the stigma of quirklessness, I will spend the rest of the day wearing these! I will only remove them in an emergency!"
Izuku blinked as tears began emerging anew. In seconds, Ochako and Shoto had also put on their own pairs of bracelets. Not long after, everyone but Fumikage was wearing a pair, and Dark Shadow simply vowed he wouldn't help his brother with anything today outside of emergencies.
Every classmate affected by the bracelets quickly noticed something very obvious and very upsetting. "I don't actually feel any weaker," Ochako commented with a dark look.
The verdette who the sudden quirklessness was for poked his fingers together nervously. "There...honestly isn't much of a difference between someone with a quirk and someone without one, outside of the quirk itself. Even before I got my powers, I was able to take a punch just as well as, say, Ashido-chan. The main difference is the people doing the punching wouldn't have to worry about a counter with acid spray," the verdette explained.
Shoto raised a hand, as if asking for permission to speak. "Midoriya-kun, I want to commit arson against your middle school," the teen said with a blank stare.
"Shoto-kun, NO!"
"Shoto-kun, yes."
"WRAAAAAAGH! SHITTY HAIR! WE'RE DOING QUIRKLESS BRAWLING! I NEED TO VENT MY RAGE!"
"YEAH, MEET ME OUTSIDE IN FIVE, BAKUBRO!"
Himiko and Jin stared blankly at the angry teenagers, each lending a hand to cover their daughter's ears. "I've heard every curse word in the book, Mama, Papa. Remember where I used to live," the unicorn-haired girl said with a confused frown.
"It's the principle of the matter, Eri-chan. You're nine. You shouldn't have to be used to such things," the fanged empath grumbled.
"What are they angry about, anyway? His middle school couldn't have been that bad," the doppelganger dad asked curiously.
Himiko rolled her eyes and shared the memories relevant to Izuku's time in elementary and middle school. A trio of clones spawned, and Jin gave the duty of covering Eri's ears entirely to his wife for a moment. The quartet hunched themselves to look more muscular and walked oddly over to the door leading outside. Twice Prime opened the door, and pointed accusingly outside, where the trio of clones marched, determined to commit vandalism against the school in question. The door was shut, and Himiko gave her husband The Look.
"What?"
"Bring them back."
"But-"
"Bring. Them. Back."
Jin harrumphed. "You're no fun sometimes," he said before the trio from before walked right back in, then walked right back in again, this time into the body of their creator.
Himiko rolled her eyes. "If you want in on the petty vengeance, join me and the others in building that death star they were talking about," she said with a smirk, having removed her hands from Eri's ears since the others had noticed her and ceased with the cursing.
The tiny albino in question made her way over to her overly-emotional uncle. "Did people hurt you too, Unca Zuku?" she asked softly, Haro rolling over to be with her.
The verdette, who was gradually losing that title, shook his head. "No, not like you were hurt, Eri-chan. What I went through was nothing compared to-" he went to say, but was interrupted when the tiny tot pulled him into a surprisingly tight hug.
"M' therapas says abuse is abuse, n' matter how bad. Your pain matters too, Unca Zuku," the girl mumbled from where her face was pressed against his shirt.
Izuku quickly got down to his niece's level and hugged her back. "Oh god, you're so sweet. Thank you, Eri-chan," he commented shakily. Finding a weight around his ankle, Izuku saw that Haro had mimicked their friend, a pair of tiny hands having extended out and wrapped the boy in a hug. "Thank you, too, Haro-chan."
What happened next had the class gasping and wishing one of them had been recording the event. Eri gave her uncle a quick peck on the cheek and smiled at him. "Love ya, Unca Zuku," she said shyly before running back to her mother and father, who were gazing at the girl in adoration.
Izuku was pulled out of his musings when his hand was grasped in another, Ochako pulling him up from where he'd been kneeling. "C'mon, let's get a run in together with Iida-kun. Maybe I can pass him now that we're quirkless for a day!" the girl exclaimed with a bright grin.
And so, the trio did just that. Ochako never did end up passing Tenya, but since the class decided they'd try this quirkless for a day thing annually while they were still here, she'd get another chance.
About An Hour And A Half Later, In Eijirou's Room
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Mama. Yes, I know. Tell Ma I said I love her. Love you too, Mama," the softest of hard boys said, finishing his phone call with a smile before turning to his girlfriend, the pinkette grinning cheekily at him.
"You love your moms so much. It's really sweet," Mina said fondly, then teasingly added, "So, was I the only one thinking of doing sexy things, or…?"
Eijirou blushed. "I mean, it's kinda hard not to think of that lately. You're just so damn hot, and when you took me down in sparring a few days ago, well…" The redhead trailed off, letting the implication speak for itself.
The alien queen giggled as she pulled her boyfriend into a hug. "I'm not up for going all the way, especially after being reminded by President Skroob that we're still young and all that, but we can do some intensive cuddling, if you want?" she suggested as she poked the manly man in the gut, causing him to chuckle a little as well.
"I wasn't thinking of going all the way either, honestly. How about after the intensive cuddling, we enjoy some hand-holding?" he suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.
Mina's eyes lit up. "Oooh! And we can give each other really nice compliments and stuff! I like how you think, Ei-kun!" she responded with glee.
And enjoy themselves they did. They would later make lunch for one another. Good stuff.
Half An Hour Later, Out On The Lawn
Izuku gazed at the clouds, lying on the grass as he scarfed down a banana. He couldn't see him from this distance, but he knew Ao was within his line of sight, just as he was in Ao's.
"Just Gigantomachia left, then?" the younger brother asked, hope in his heart.
"Yeah. Found Shimura in an abandoned warehouse. Just had to wait till he went to sleep, and bam. Ten minutes later, and he's in police custody. He should be in Tartarus at this very moment," the machine-bound soul explained, then added wistfully, "I can't wait to be done with all this so I can go home and act my age."
The verdette down on earth smiled fondly. "Mei-san is nearly done with the prosthetic bodies. They'll be able to smell, taste, feel, and everything. Apparently the technology already exists for turning biological matter into energy, so she's working on making a reactor small enough to fit in a body around my size. And you already know she's got sight and hearing figured out," the freckled boy explained happily.
A feeling of awe flowed through their bond. "The power of science is incredible. And speaking of incredible things, your cloud-gazing is about to be interrupted. Have fun, baby bro," the teen in orbit said before becoming silent, the feeling of a grin finding its way through the bond as a familiar, brown-haired head popped into view above him with a smile attached.
"Wanna spar?" Ochako asked with a grin. "I can show you some techniques I learned from Gunhead."
Izuku nodded, and accepted his girlfriend's hand when she offered to help him off the ground. It didn't take long for the two of them to find a nice flat patch of grass (the area Izuku had been in wasn't open enough for their liking), and they stood opposite one another.
"Ready?"
"Always."
The two heroics students began exchanging blows, grins adorning their faces as they went at one another. It didn't take long for Uravity's superior technique to become evident, the girl pinning her boyfriend quickly. She quickly released him, and the two began anew.
This cycle continued for a while, until it became evident that the ninth inheritor had more stamina than the tenth, Ochako finding herself pinned beneath Izuku, the two staring into their partner's eyes. Izuku found his eyes drifting for a moment, then before she could blink, Uraraka no longer had her boyfriend pinning her, the grey and green haired boy suddenly turned around and poking his index fingers together nervously.
Sitting up, the gravity girl giggled at her suddenly shy boyfriend. "What spooked you? Did you realize I could get out of that or something?" the brunette asked.
Izuku couldn't form words in his shyness, so he simply showed her what he saw seconds before. Uraraka was now blushing bright red as well, turning around and adjusting her bra strap to no longer be visible. "S-sorry about that, Izuku," the girl stammered, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.
The freckled empath shook his head. "No, I should be saying that, Ochako-chan," the boy muttered, using an honorific due to his shyness. "I saw something you didn't intend to show me…"
Chuckling nervously, Ochako tried to placate her boyfriend. "I mean, I didn't intend to show you stuff like that today, but it's something we'll do eventually, right? Those...kinds of things…" she rambled nervously before realizing what she said.
Cobalt chuckled shyly. "I mean, Iida-kun did say I'd need that body part someday," he joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
It worked. The brunette was reminded of the event that prompted their classmate's comment. "I wonder how the little nutcracker is doing right now?" she said after her laughter died down.
Izuku smiled fondly. "I hope the Pussycats are doing all right, too. I wonder if Kota-chan would be a good friend for Eri-chan?" he wondered out loud.
Uravity grinned at the other half of Team G-Force. "We should totally see if we can get that to happen! Eri-chan needs some friends her age," she responded with a giggle.
The two teenagers laughed at the adorable images the idea put in their heads. And so, it would be done.
Meanwhile, In An Underground Laboratory
A teenager in power armor entered the lair of the mad one. A chair slowly swiveled around, its occupant grinning evilly at their visitor. "Welcome, Miss Shield. I have been expecting you. You no longer need those," Mei said, and with a wave of her gloved hand, the droids carrying her luggage skedaddled to deposit their cargo in the American's room.
With a look to either side of the door her visitor entered, the Hatsume protege commanded, "Guards. Leave us."
A pair of Zaku power armors obeyed her command, making their way out the door one at a time. Mei's goggles whirred as the girl grinned. "I look forward to aiding in your training. In time, you will be calling me...friend-o…" the rosette said ominously, before bursting into laughter, unable to keep a straight face anymore. Melissa joined her, peals of laughter roaring from her body.
The two mad geniuses cackled maniacally together. Surely, their foes were doomed...