It's weird that Ant Man, a new Jojo Part and RWBY V9 are all dropping this weekend. And next week is probably a Pokemon direct. And my birthday.
I did see Ant Man 3 last night- better than I expected. Admittedly went in with low expectations, walked out thinking 'why does this have a 50% on RT'
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Open it.
Now, Xenocytes are not creatures that usually feel fear when bonded to a host. But this order...this terrified the DNAlien in question. But what choice did he have in the matter?
The DNAlien's hand was shaking before it built up the courage to twist the doorknob. He pushed the door open and jumped away. He was expecting something to burst out of there, ready to kill...
At first, nothing happened, which confused the parasitized person. They peeked in from outside before the wall on the far right exploded, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.
"WHY WAS I GUARDING THE DOOR IF IT WAS JUST GONNA DO THAT!?" The DNAlien yelled.
The person this Xenocyte bonded to was an interesting fellow. He was a burly man with a special quirk that powered up his body when in contact with sunlight.
Such a Quirk was definitely a boon for the usually physically weak DNAliens. The other Quirk powers were good, but now they had something to put them on par with their former Highbreed masters in terms of strength. The one problem with this was that the Xenocyte reacted...poorly to the chemical reactions that this Quirk produced. So instead of a simple strength boost, it was now a boost to strength, aggression and muscle mass. If anything, this DNAlien resembled less of a person and more of a mutated gorilla.
This Xenocyte was inferior. A normal Xenocyte would've reacted normally. You'd think the queen would throw out a defect...but they were such a fun wild card to throw in.
Ochako zipped out of the way of the DNAbomination's headlong rush- she watched it smash into a car, and through a store's wall. "Woah."
The DNAbomination turned to Ochako and, unlike the other parasites that had either red eyes with green sclera or the more human-like eyes the more advanced parasites, this one had a pure green eye with no obvious pupil. The tendrils that this parasite sported were much longer, almost like hair that reached down past the behemoth's shoulders. It roared out, beating its chest like the gorilla it resembled, before tearing chunks out of the store building and throwing the debris at Ochako. The stone slabs shattered against the ground as the raptor-like successor to the Omnitrix sped out of their trajectory.
Ochako changed forms, and transformed into Water Hazard. "Okay, let's get you contained." Ochako's hands generated bubbles from her hands.
"That's different." Izuku said, as Ochako launched a flurry of bubbles at the DNAbomination. They quickly swarmed around his body.
The DNAbomination looked at the bubbles that surrounded it and tried to swat some away. Some popped, but others clung to the juggernaut's body.
"Here's hoping this works...!" Ochako said before holding her hands out and then turning them to the sides.
Eventually, Ochako forced out a MASSIVE bubble that quickly captured the beast. Ochako then began to blast the bubble with water. The bubble acted as a permeable membrane, and quickly filled with water.
The DNAbomination tried to punch its way through the bubble in an effort to escape the rising water.
"How much water can that bubble hold?" Iida asked, running up next to her.
"A lot- but, the bubble...it's not exactly the most-"
The beast yelled, as it slashed at the bubble with its sharp claws. The bubble around the DNAbomination suddenly burst.
"...durable."
"At his size, I doubt he's very agile," Iida said, testing his theory by dashing at the creature and trying to get some hits in. The strikes connected, annoying the creature to lashing out in a fury, but each retaliation missed.
Izuku rushed forward with an elbow that smashed into the DNAbomination's eye. The blow was strong enough to blind the beast. Izuku grinned- he unleashed a rapid combo of punches that ended with a powerful uppercut that sent the opponent flying.
"Allow me." Synaptak grabbed ahold of the creature with his telekinesis. Synaptak's psychic powers tightened around the creature's body.
The DNAbomination stopped mid-air, its arms brought to its sides like it was grabbed by an invisible hand.
Ochako propelled herself into the air and blasted the Abomination with a point-blank range high-pressure blast of water. The blast was akin to a gunshot.
The shot slammed into the DNAbomination and sent it flying back down into the street; the shot itself severed one of the long tendrils at the tip, letting the severed part thud against the pavement.
"...oh dear," Synaptak said, "That...worked. But only in making him angrier."
The DNAbomination opened his maw and unleashed a blast of light. The attack blinded everyone around. The Abomination jumped at this opening. He lifted a chunk of the road and flipped it, sending out a wave of flying rocks at his opponents. Synaptak was hit by the attack and fell on top of a building. Despite all his incredible powers, he was very fragile.
The beast dashed at Iida and rammed them with their shoulder. Iida was sent flying into a wall, and the beast chased him down. He brought his foot down on the dazed Iida and forcefully stomps on their chest multiple times before kicking them away.
"IIDA!" Izuku yelled, rushing to help his friend.
"Kid!" Tini yelled, "Let's add more momentum to ya!"
Izuku nodded and made a running start for Tini. The Tetramand then grabbed Izuku by the collar and lifted him up, spinning around to gain more and more momentum. At the right time, just before the abomination brought its foot down again, Tini let Izuku fly, his fist reared back and glowing already. The DNAbomination turned just in time to see Izuku slam his fist into its face. With the force of the hit, and the creature already off balance, it wasn't hard to knock the behemoth on its back and give Iida some breathing room.
Ultimo flew at the Abomination and punched them in the gut, causing them to double over in pain. Ultimo took a big breath in before exhaling and blowing a huge blast of frigid air out of his lips. The gust of wind froze the beast solid.
"I...thought you said they liked the cold." Iida said, as Izuku helped him up.
"I did. Never said they could take it." Ultimo said. "You okay?"
"Actually, yes. Many of the blows were absorbed by my armor. I'm just a little woozy." Iida explained.
"Guess the positive outweighed the negative of looking like Nemesis, huh?" Tini called out.
"I had almost forgotten about that, thank you for reminding me..."
"That's all of them for now." Ochako said, looking around. "Should we take a quick rest or something? I wanna make sure Iida's okay."
"Agreed," Ultimo said, "Tini, can you check on Synaptak?"
"Already on it!" Tini said, jumping up to the roof that her octopus-like teammate landed on.
Ochako and the others dragged their two injured teammates to a nearby coffee shop. It was small, but it had waters and other things in it to keep Iida and Synaptak in check.
While bruised and battered, Iida's armor had taken the brunt of the DNAbomination's attacks. Would he be sore come morning? Yes, without question. Would he be suffer from any broken bones? Thankfully not.
"Shame there's no hospital around here." Ochako stated as she sat down next to the two. "I'd feel a bit better if we could do some quick scans on you and Synaptak."
"I am certain that we will be fine." Iida said. "Though I do appreciate the concern."
"Let's just get you something to drink." Izuku said, looking for a sink.
"There's no water." Ochako informed him. "I tried getting some out of the sink earlier, but it was a little brown."
"Gross. I'm sure there's something to drink in the fridge." Izuku said as he looked for it. "Oh, hey, here it is."
"Times like these...I am very glad at how well these suits are constructed," Synaptak said, groaning from the pain.
Izuku found a couple bottles of water and handed them to the two. "Thank you," Iida said, taking his.
Synaptak looked at the water bottle incredulously. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Drink it." Izuku explained.
"Oh." Synaptak said, taking the bottle. "I cannot drink this. I absorb waves of energy to rehydrate myself."
"I'll take it." Tini said, snatching it from Synaptak's hand. She chugged it in one go, and threw the bottle aside.
"You should really drink slower." Izuku said. "Savor it and everything."
"That WAS me savoring it. Water is a rarity on my home planet." Tini said.
"Right," Ochako said, spying a hot cocoa dispenser. "Ooooh...well, since we are in the cold." Ochako walked over and poured herself a cup.
Ultimo was making sure that none of the remaining DNAliens were trying to make a move, just keeping watch for a bit. That DNAbomination though...usually such a defect would be discarded. Maybe this queen was more intelligent than others.
Ultimo noticed something on the floor. What was that? Ultimo picked it up. It was a white glove. Ultimo looked at it. It seemed to be human. Ultimo looked to see who it belonged to.
Ochako looked over to Ultimo. "Whatcha got there?"
Ultimo turned to Ochako with the glove in hand. "Did you happen to see who this glove belongs to?"
Ochako shook her head. "No, I haven't seen it before." Ochako sighed. "Doesn't look like Izuku's glove."
"Could be a citizen's glove or something."
"No, no...this wasn't here when we got in." Ultimo said.
"Strange." Ochako said, looking around outside as well. The streets were eerily quiet, a silence that was made all the worse by knowing the queen was still out there somewhere.
She didn't like the feeling she was getting. It was like something was watching them. Suddenly, a door opened. The group all directed their attention towards the door, expecting a DNAlien to burst through or something.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" A man said as he revealed himself. The group all relaxed a little bit as they realized that this man was not a DNAlien. "I thought I was the only one left!"
"Worry not, citizen." Ultimo said, as the man stepped forward. "We're here to help."
"Why didn't they take you over?" Tini asked.
"W-well...I...kinda don't have any powers." The man admitted. "They left me out of their invasion. Just started rounding everyone up and took them all away."
"Is there anything else you know?" Ochako asked.
"No, I don't," the man said. "But I heard her say something about a 'nest' and I think she was going to take them there."
"A nest." Midoriya repeated.
"As we thought. Take over the local population, turn the town into a breeding ground. For all we know, they intend to spread to the next town and repeat the process," Synaptak said.
"Then let's go find this nest." Ochako said.
"O-oh, wait. There was...one more thing I heard." The man said.
"What is that?"
The man's fearful expression warped into a dead, uncomfortable calm. "That you're all total idiots." And that's when something smashed into Ultimo's back, and sent him to the ground.
"GAH!" Unlike usual, whatever hit him actually seemed to bring him down entirely. And as the hero was on his knees, it was like he began to shrink before Ochako's eyes.
"What?!" Ochako called out, about to use her Quirk on the citizen, thinking this was an elaborate ploy by the queen. Maybe this was just a DNAlien in disguise, a camoflauge of illusion Quirk maybe.
"Argh, my stomach..." Ultimo said, clutching at his abdomen. "It hurts so much... I can't. I can't breathe..."
"What's happening to him?!" Iida cried out, as the hero then fell over onto his side, still clutching at his stomach as he whimpered in pain.
Synaptak panicked. "Sucrotaxonite! There's sucrotaxonite in that liquid!"
"Sucrotaxonite?" Ochako said. "What is that?"
"A highly specific chemical only found in few substances around the galaxy." Synaptak said- Ultimo seemed to be shriveling up and getting weaker and weaker.
"It's in the cocoa!" Izuku gasped.
"I must be a better actor than I thought if you fell for that act," the man said, dodging Ochako trying to capture him with her Quirk. When that failed, she tried to land a few good punches to the guy.
"No!" Izuku shouted, leaping after them. But they were both moving too fast. The group watched, horrified, as he leapt out the window.
"Stop him!" Tini yelled, running to the door.
Ochako fired a few blasts from her gauntlets at the guy, trying to subdue him, only to watch him vanish. She looked around, unsure of the limitations of this Quirk. When Tini and Iidea joined their teammate, they went back to back, figuring the guy was still here.
"Invisibility, maybe? Like Tooru's, but selective." Iida suggested.
"Maybe...but if it's selective, it might have a time or size limit," Ochako answered.
"Well, whatever it is, we need to find him before he finds us," Izuku said.
Suddenly, the guy reappeared and punched Izuku in the stomach, sending him flying.
"Midoriya!"
The others turned to see their friend struggling to get up. The guy then turned his attention to them.
"You're next." The man pointed at Tini. He vanished once more, and reappeared behind her. Tini yelped as she felt his hand grip her throat. This man had a grip of iron on him, dear lord-
"L-let go!" She gasped out. She struggled to pull him off. The others rushed to help, but the guy was too quick. He vanished again, this time reappearing in front of Iida.
"Iida!" Ochako cried out. Iida tried to back away, but the guy was faster. He grabbed Iida by the throat and held him up.
"They call us 'Choke'." The man grinned. "And this body is a fun surprise." With that, he tightened his grip on Iida's throat. Iida struggled to breath, and soon lost consciousness.
The man laughed. He took off a mask and threw it on the ground. It was an ID mask- Ben mentioned something about aliens using those to blend in. The DNAlien wrapped around him was HUGE. It engulfed his face and a large portion of his torso. He was dressed in a silver suit. It was snug, like if it were a suit of armor. The pants featured a yellow belt and a yellow stripe down the sides. His boots were dark in color.
But the most important thing Ochako saw was the Xenocyte's eye. It was like multiple pupils merging together in a grotesque manner.
"The queen..." Ochako muttered to herself.
"What was that, little human?" The DNAlien asked. Its voice was distorted and menacing. "You address me in such an informal way. I am the queen of the new Xenocytes. And you will show me the proper respect."
Ochako's eyes narrowed. "You hurt my friends."
"Oh, and is that supposed to be an excuse to disrespect me? Pish posh, child."
"You call me child when you're the one hijacking a bunch of innocent humans?" Ochako demanded. "If you're going to be the queen of the new Xenocytes, then you're going to have to learn that respect and kindness are the only ways to get anything done. Otherwise, you'll just have to kill everyone and let the Xenocytes rule everything."
The DNAlien's eyes narrowed. "And you continue to dare speak to me in that tone of voice."
"Dare?" Ochako asked. "No, I don't dare. I choose to speak to you in this way because it's the right thing to do."
Izuku's eyes went up when he heard that. Woah- Uraraka had gotten a huge confidence boost since she'd put that watch on.
"And what makes you think that you're in any position to lecture me, little human?" The DNAlien demanded.
"I know that it's wrong to hurt innocent people," Ochako said. "I know that it's wrong to force people to do things against their will. And I know that it's wrong to hurt people without a good reason."
"And what makes you think that I don't have a good reason?" The DNAlien asked. "My race needs to survive, even if we have to...use unsightly methods. You humans are nothing but animals, unworthy of the powers evolution gave you. You're weak, you're stupid, and you're completely useless...but we can help you."
"No, we don't need your help," Ochako said. "We can help ourselves. We don't need your...Xenocytes."
"Oh, but you do," The DNAlien said. "You need us like we need you. You need us to help you evolve. You need us to help you become something better."
"And what gave you that idea?" Ochako said, readying her gauntlet-blasters.
"Look at your society. The 'Hero' and 'Villain' division. Under the benevolent rule of my Xenocytes, such a division would be nonexistent. Peace could last with no interior threat," the queen smirked.
"What? You're trying to present that as utopia? The way you do things, that's twisted into slavery!"
"Slavery...such a negative term. Of course, you'd throw that out there. People always seem to throw that out when a guiding hand-"
Ochako didn't even wait for the queen to finish, she just opened fire with a barrage of shots from her gauntlet.
"...rude to the end," the queen growled.
They turned invisible again. A moment later, Ochako felt herself being lifted off her feet.
"You can't win." The queen taunted as she held her in the air.
"O-oh, yeah!?" Ochako grabbed the queen's gross head with her hands- the queen suddenly felt all of her gravity vanish. She started to float upwards, losing her grip on the girl. "I'll show you what I can do!" Ochako released her gravity, smashing the queen onto the ground.
"Is that all you can do?" The queen frowned. "You're not even close to your fullest potential. But we can help you. We can help you become something better." The queen held out her hand.
Ochako looked at her hand, then back up at the queen's face. She then punched her right in the face as hard as she could, causing the queen to stumble backwards, clutching her face in pain.
"I don't want to be one of you! I don't want to be like you! I'm happy with who I am, and I'm not going to let you change that!" Ochako yelled.
The queen hissed in anger as she recovered. If Ochako wanted this thing's undivided attention, she succeeded. In the blink of an eye, the queen vanished, putting Ochako on guard(as if she ever dropped her guard to begin with). Before long, a punch slammed into her back. She turned to fire a barrage of wrist-blasts at the attacker, only to see no one there. A kick connected to her back and made her stagger and, just like before, when she turned to retaliate, there was no one there to hit.
So it's not just invisibility, Ochako thought to herself. There's a boost in her speed, too. Guess she doesn't know I can match her!
The Omnitrix's successor quickly reached for said device, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed and her arm moved away from the Omnitrix. A series of punches slammed into Ochako's helmet, the force behind them actually threatening to crack her visor.
Reeling from the attack, Ochako tried to grab her attacker, but found herself caught in a headlock.
"Time to die, child..." The queen snarled.
"Not on my watch," Ochako grunted, reaching for her Omnitrix.
The queen tightened her grip, cutting off Ochako's air supply. The girl's vision started to swim and she knew she had to act fast. Her fingers fumbled with the dial on the Omnitrix, finally managing to hit the right symbol. She gasped as she transformed, the queen's grip loosening in surprise.
Ochako's form was replaced by Big Chill. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the Queen scoffed.
"Fool- we love the cold."
"Then you'll love this." Big Chill replied.
She inhaled and blasted the queen with a stream of ice, freezing her in place.
The queen rolled her eye, more annoyed by this than anything. She unfurled two of her tentacles and struck at the ice, shattering it. But now it was Ochako's turn to mess with the parasite. The Necrofriggian faded from view and left the queen alone in the street. Instead of waiting for the ghost-like alien to strike, the parasite matriarch unfurled more of her tentacles and just unleashed them in every direction she could. She knew she wouldn't hit Ochako, but if one of her tentacles froze because it passed through her, that gave the queen time enough to dodge.
That's when Ochako hit her with a huge blast of ice from behind. The queen was momentarily frozen in place, and that was all the time the ice alien needed. She flew in close and unleashed a flurry of punches, each one sending shards of ice flying in every direction. The queen was momentarily stunned by the ferocity of the attack, and that was all the time Ochako needed to fly up and out of reach.
The queen recovered quickly, however, and came flying after the ice alien. Ochako was ready for her this time, and she sent a blast of ice right into the queen's face. The queen was momentarily blinded, and that was all the time Ochako needed to fly in and deliver a powerful punch to the parasite's stomach. The queen doubled over in pain, and that was when Ochako flew in and grabbed her by the head.
The queen hissed and had some of her tentacles try to wrap around Ochako's wrist. If she could get the leverage, the queen could flip Ochako over her and slam her into the ground. Only, the tentacles froze over when they tried to wrap around the ice alien's wrist, the gravity Quirk user having turned just the part of her arm intangible.
Ochako immediately retaliated by freezing the tentacles and striking the queen in the face with them. She may not have had the same level of brute force as Bakugo or Todoroki, but she could still pack a punch. The queen screeched and tried to back away, but Ochako was having none of that. She was going to take this alien down if it killed her!
The queen lashed out with a few punches and tentacle strikes, each one passing through Ochako and freezing over. The icy alien then let out a stream of cold mist to freeze the queen in place again. The parasite looked at all the ice covering its form, tentacles and a hand frozen over.
Izuku got back up, and tried to figure out a way to contribute to the fight. The queen's quirk proved troublesome- the ability to disappear and reappear anywhere? It would be hard to track...but he had to try.
"Uraraka, I'm coming in!" Izuku called out. His arms were crossed in front of him as he took a running start.
"What are you doing, Deku?" Ochako called out, confused.
"THIS!" Izuku shot forth an air blast that propelled him toward the queen, who was trying to back away. He crashed into her and sent her flying, and could've sworn he heard a crack as the queen's back hit a wall. Iida rushed in to add onto the attack, and his Recipro Burst sent the queen flying again. Izuku looked at the queen's abdomen and saw a large, bleeding gash. Alien blood leaked out of it- it was blue in color.
"Uraraka!"
The moth woman turned and looked at Iida. "What?"
"I don't know how much longer she can keep this up, we need to finish her off now!" He called.
"On it!" Ochako slammed down on the Omnitrix symbol and, in a flash of pink, the moth-like form of Big Chill was replaced with the crystalline form of Chromastone.
"if we're gonna finish her off, might as well make it flashy!" Ochako smirked.
"Right!" Izuku agreed. He turned back to the queen and saw that she was trying to get away. Well, she wasn't going anywhere. Iida sent a final Recipro Burst in her direction, and Chromastone immediately followed up with a powerful ray of energy from her hands. Izuku followed up with a flick of his fingers. It wasn't 100%, but it was still powerful enough to do some damage. The queen was blasted back.
"Now!" Chromastone charged at the queen, and was about to deliver the finishing blow when the queen suddenly turned invisible and vanished. "What the-?"
Chromastone skidded to a halt, power still charged up in her fist, glowing in a rainbow hue. Her eye looked around, trying to find the queen, any sign that would tip off where the queen had gone. Iida and Izuku kept an eye out for anything as well. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they didn't need to look for too long.
"You gave me a good run...I'll admit it," The queen said, "but I think enough's enough." Two of her tentacles were lifted in the air, one wrapped around the neck of a weakened Ultimo, the other around the neck of Tini.
"Forgot all about these two, didn't you?" the parasite taunted.
"Don't you DARE!" Chromastone yelled. She charged forward, flying at the queen with her fist cocked back.
"You really think you can stop me?" The queen asked, vanishing again. Suddenly, the queen reappeared right in front of Chromastone, her tentacles lashing out. One of them wrapped around Chromastone's neck, while the other went for her hands. Chromastone gasped as the queen tightened her grip.
"You're not going to stop me, little girl," the queen said. "No one can." With that, she slammed Chromastone into the ground, hard. Chromastone winced in pain, struggling to get free. However, the queen only tightened her grip.
"Off with your head." The queen said.
"Let her go!" Izuku yelled, charging in, with his fist reared back. The queen would've smirked if she could and lowered Ultimo in Izuku's path, using him as a shield. One For All's successor tried to stop himself from hitting the weakened hero. The parasite took advantage of that and grabbed Izuku by the neck with another free tentacle, slamming him into the ground too.
Iida yelled, rushing through the flurry of tentacles.
"I won't let you hurt them!" Iida yelled. He tried to grab the queen's tentacles, to yank them off of his friends, but the queen was too strong.
"Foolish boy," the queen said. "You're not strong enough to stop me." The queen then used her tentacles to slam Iida into a nearby building, hard. Iida groaned in pain, struggling to get up.
"Izuku...Iida..." Ochako muttered, struggling to get free.
But then she remembered her first fight with the Xenocytes and how they reacted to one alien in particular. She struggled to reach the Omnitrix symbol as the tentacles tightened on the group. The queen was about ready to snap the necks of everyone there...but she forgot one person. An empty and already damaged hot chocolate machine was thrown into the back of the parasite's head with a loud clang.
"Almost forgot about me...didn't you?" Synaptak taunted, getting the queen's attention.
The queen rolled her eyes. "You."
"That's right." Synaptak said. "And I'm here to stop you."
"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that," The queen said.
"Oh, I will," Synaptak said. "...but I'll let the kid shine for a minute or so."
Ochako slapped down the Omnitrix symbol, and transformed into Heatblast.
"Thank you." Ochako said. She exhaled, causing the flames on her head to grow larger. The sudden burst of flames caused the queen to drop Ochako. She was free!
The queen screeched as her tentacles were burned by the flames. Ochako got back to her feet and let the flames roar a bit.
"You're a fan of cold...but then I remembered you don't do so well with fire," Ochako said, forming a fireball in both hands.
She charged forward, and unleashed a powerful, flaming orb that smashed the queen in the face. The queen staggered back, and Heatblast hit her with a burst of fire.
"Had enough?" Heatblast asked.
"NEVER!" The queen yelled, vanishing once more.
"Where'd she go?" Heatblast looked around, before she was tackled from behind. The queen had teleported behind her, and hit her with a powerful lariat. Heatblast was sent flying, and crashed into a wall.
"You're going to pay for that," Heatblast said, getting to her feet. She charged forward, and unleashed a barrage of fireballs. The queen was hit over and over, but she just kept coming. The queen unleashed a fast, invisible flurry of tendrils that caught Ochako off guard. The attack knocked Ochako to the ground.
The queen laughed. "I'm sure you're tired of being reminded of your weakness, but I just want to rub it in at this point."
"No," Heatblast said, her voice weak. "I'm not weak...I'm just getting started." She pushed herself to her feet, and unleashed a powerful stream of fire.
The heat made the queen recoil, putting all her attention on fighting Ochako. To free up her tendrils, she threw Tini into Synaptak and tossed Ultimo into Iida.
"You're going to have to do better than that," She said.
"I will," Heatblast grit her teeth. "I promise you that." Her feet exploded with a burst of flames, shooting Ochako forward.
"BURST...FIST!" Ochako yelled, clenched her fist. She hit the queen with a powerful uppercut, sending her flying. The queen hit the ground hard- and this might have been the finishing blow.
The queen was about to get up again and keep the fight going, but that's when the "Burst" part of Ochako's move came into play. Several sparks floated down next to the struggling parasite matriarch before they detonated and covered her in flames. The Xenocyte queen hissed in agony, thrashing around like a wild animal.
Ochako smirked as she saw the result of her handiwork. "What was that about me being weak?"
Synaptak quickly binded the queen in a telekinetic hold. "Quickly! Cure her. I don't know how long I can contain her..."
Ochako nodded and reached her hand through the blaze surrounding the queen. There was a quick flash of pink and an even louder screech from the queen. The flames died down and the queen's form scattered, flaking away from her host like ash.
"There we go." Ochako said, falling back into the snow beneath her. Her body was aching. The fight had been brutal.
"Uraraka!"
Ochako reverted back to human, and looked up to the skies. Ultimo had recovered from his 'poisoning'.
"You did it." Ultimo said, flying over to her. "You stopped the queen."
"We did it," Ochako corrected him. "I was only doing most of the work towards the end."
"Ah yes. Most of the work, she says, when most everyone else was incapacitated. As humble as Tennyson as well, isn't she?" Synaptak asked.
"Yeah...how many times did he share the credit? Vilgax, Highbreed, Maltruant..." Tini listed off.
"He's just done a lot." Ochako laughed.
"A lot?" Synaptak scoffed. "He's done more than that. He's saved the world."
"Multiple times." Tini added.
"Most of those feats was when he was only sixteen." Synaptak said.
Ochako's eyes widened. Wait, what? She always thought those big invasions happened when Ben was older.
"Your mentor's had a long career," Ultimo chuckled.
"I should really look into his feats." Ochako hummed.
"I could tell you some interesting stories..." Ultimo said.
"I bet you could." Ochako said with a grin.
Ochako and the others overlooked the town report- all Xenocytes had been captured, and the queen had been destroyed. The civilians were a bit sore, but they were in high spirits.
"Everything is in order." Ochako smiled. "The crisis has been averted."
"Not quite." Ultimo said. "We still have to find out who was behind putting the Xenocytes on Earth, but...we'll take care of that. For now, you three did a great job."
"You're all shaping up to be great heroes." Tini commented.
"I'm shocked that we were able to work together so well." Synaptak said. "Beginners have a hard time with teamwork..."
"And we couldn't have done it without you guys." Izuku added. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it. After all, you got to work alongside 'galactic pro-heroes.' I believe that's the correct phrasing they'd use, right?" Ultimo turned to double-check with Synaptak. The octopus-like alien nodded to confirm it.
"In a way...I suppose this helps us prepare for the internships," Iida commented.
"Well, let's focus on finals first. We have to get through that warzone before we even think about who we're gonna intern with," Ochako said.
"Finals shouldn't be a challenge after today." Iida said. "I feel more than ready for the written portion."
"And I can't wait to take the practical." Izuku said.
"I'm just glad it's all over." Tini said. "I hate dealing with all that gunk. Part of me wants to lie down..."
"Not yet." Ultimo said. "We still have to find out who was behind this. But for now... let's just enjoy the victory." Ultimo snapped his fingers, and drink glasses shot up from out of the table, and some unknown liquid poured into them. "A toast! To another world saved."
The group clinked their glasses together and downed the drink. The enforcers enjoyed their drinks (well, Synaptak just sort of kept it by his side instead of drinking it), but the humans...
"What the heck is this?!" Ochako shouted.
"It tastes like paint thinner!" Iida said, gagging.
"It's not bad." Izuku said, trying to be polite.
"It's an acquired taste." Tini grinned.
"Not a fan?" Ultimo asked, "Hmm...strange. Maybe there's a malfunction with the synthesizer..."
There's not, Synaptak mentally said to the three students. Ultimo's species has a VERY different sense of taste compared to a human's. And...most other humanoid species.
"Well, regardless, we should send you back to Earth." Ultimo said. "We have a lot to discuss."
"I agree." Tini said. "We'll be in touch, students."
"Best of luck on your schooling." Synaptak said.
Ship was laying on the bed, just waiting for his human to come home. She didn't even say goodbye before she left, but Ship figured it must have been important if she did.
"Shiiiiip," the little Mechamorph sighed. He pursed his head up when he detected an energy signature right in front of him, the same type he saw where Ochako and her friends had been earlier. He got up and was ready to jump at Ochako.
Sure enough, Ochako, Iida and Izuku were teleported back to the apartment. Not even a full second passed before Ship pounced and tackled Ochako, catching her by surprise.
"Ship, hey, hey!" She giggled. as the little guy started licking her face. "I was only gone for a few hours."
Izuku laughed. "He sure missed you."
Ochako nodded. "I missed him too." She picked Ship up and began petting him.
"So, in a way, we saved the world," Iida commented.
Ochako said, "Yep. However, we're still not sure who put the Xenocytes on Earth."
"I'm sure we'll learn eventually," Izuku shrugged.
"Probably." Ochako remarked. "I definitely don't want something similar to happen again."
"Ship?" the little Mechamorph tilted his head at that. Xenocytes?
"Oh, uh, nothing to worry about, Ship. Just a training mission Ben set up for me. That's all."
"Speaking of which, we should probably get some sleep." Iida said. "We do still have class tomorrow. We need to get some serious rest...and also, I feel REALLY sore."
"Yeah, you took a beating out there." Izuku said. "Sleep sounds good right now..."
"Same." Ochako said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Izuku and Iida made their way back and Ochako went to her room, Ship still in her arms. She put the little Mechamorph on the nightstand and then just jumped into bed. She needed this after today. Ship jumped into bed and curled up next to her like a cat would.
"Goodnight, Ship." Ochako said.
"Shiiiiiiiip." Ship purred.
A lone Xenocyte slithered through the snow. It had escaped the Galactic Enforcers, and was the only survivor of the massacre. The Xenocyte was weak, and it knew it wouldn't survive for long in the cold. It needed to find a warm place to hide, and fast. It...needed...to survive!
And then the changes happened.
The Xenocyte's body began to mutate- their tentacles began to shape into legs, and their mouth began to grow teeth. They could feel their intelligence growing, and their body becoming stronger.
The Xenocyte had become something new.
"A hollow victory." The Xenocyte hissed. "But onto the next step..."