Next week is probably one of my favorite early chapters. We're gonna go on down to Kamino and meet some good friends :3
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Letting the students regroup and act like heroes at the end of a hostage crisis as well, asking the "hostage" in question gave All Might some time to assess the plan. There were two different plans All Might had to look at here, Iida's and Bakugou's. Iida's was more of a by-the-book distraction, while Bakugou's was more...flashy, for lack of a better word.
"You both had the right way of going about things, in my opinion. I've done more flashy moves in my day, but I find talking things out stops a situation faster. Plus, it means I don't have to repair my costume from bullets or slash marks or something." All Might said.
"I can deal with the battle damage," Bakugou grumbled.
"I...will admit your first demand threw all of us off, sir," Iida said.
"Yeah, what was that even about?" Mina asked.
"I'll explain it when you graduate." All Might grinned. "But! Iida, you handled the situation masterfully! I fully expected you to get the demands-"
"H-hey guys! I'm back from the lunchroom." Ojiro was running over with a tray from the rush- both with a pizza and a bottle of chocolate milk. "Sorry, I had to explain the situation to Lunch Rush..."
"Ah...Ojiro. Um...as you can see, we...that is to say...Bakugou solved the problem," Iida said.
"Byyyyyyyy being Bakugou, of course," Toru quipped.
"...rushed in and blew stuff up?" Ojiro asked.
"Rushed in and blew stuff up, tactically!"
"Your quirk was ill suited for the job, young Bakugou." All Might said. "Those explosions could be harmful to the bystanders. Don't want to be caught up in a lawsuit for saving someone."
Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Hence why I cornered you, and focused my attacks on you directly. The attack wasn't just to distract and overwhelm, it was also to contain you from the others."
"Interesting approach to it. Ensure that no one could be harmed. A bit risky, though. You're lucky I considered Mr. Tenya to be your backup, otherwise something may have gone wrong," All Might explained. Internally, he was overjoyed. Bakugou actually cared enough about the civilians to figure out a way to minimize the damage. He knew the limitations to his quirk and he adapted.
Ochako made a face. She always forgot about Bakugou's incredible battle IQ. The boy's quirk had been honed and nearly perfected by the time they were starting classes. Even during the sports festival, all of his moves counteracted anything she tried throwing at him.
Ochako took a deep breath. She found herself getting oddly worked up thinking about that match.
All Might continued for a while after that, explaining about other methods to take on a hostage situation. According to him, there was a lot to learn from the hostage-taker by just hearing them talk and a list off demands. A pro would be able to tell how desperate or how confident the villain was based off their demands and tone of voice. Sometimes, the demands were far more ideological than physical, such as when the Meta Liberation Army was still an active threat. In hostage situations with them, they always demanded some form of Quirk, or meta ability as they were known back then, regulations being revoked.
"...And of course, as of recently- the Red Fang." All Might said. "I dunno...they said something about 'humans trying to overtake the inhumans'. Truth be told, I don't pay much attention many politics nowadays. I find that it just gives me a headache."
A few mutant type students looked a bit uncomfortable with the mention of the Red Fang. All Might took note of this.
"A-anyways! How about we try this exercise again? Let's take a VERY unwilling hostage!" All Might picked up Bakugou by his head (All Might thought he was grabbing onto a cactus with that hairdo).
"Ohhhh this is gonna be...interesting," Mina said.
"Definitely one way to describe it. Same roles as last time?" Kaminari asked.
"Actually, I will hand off the 'vocal negotiator' role to one of you. Despite how short lived my first run was, it would reflect poorly on me if I took all the chances to improve. Perhaps you'd like to take charge here, Momo?" Iida offered.
Momo blushed. "M-me!?"
"Yes! You've been taking charge in helping your classmates study." All Might said. "I want to see if that translates over to the field as well!"
"Well, I-I-" Momo stammered before Toru put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, knowing you? You'll make the big guy surrender without us even needing to try and sneak past him!" the invisible girl comforted.
Momo sighed audibly. She appeared to be considering the opportunity carefully. Ochako frowned- she'd known about Momo's recent struggles with herself, not thinking she was good enough for the pros. She'd been dealing with hero work so much she hadn't really been there to support Momo. The least she could do now was hype her up.
"Yeah! You're our best conflict settler. Remember that argument Mina and Jirou had about music genres a few days ago?" Ochako asked.
"Well...yes, but that wasn't exactly very special," Momo said, downplaying the achievement. It was a pretty heated argument honestly, the type that could have evolved into a full on rivalry.
"It worked out though, didn't it? It could've gotten worse if you weren't there." Tokoyami added.
"Yeah! Plus, like, with your tutoring and everything, I feel kinda confident about exams now!" Mina ginned.
"Well, thank you, but..." Momo began, but stopped herself. She shook away her doubt and looked to Iida with a new resolve.
"Alright. I'll take negotiator," the creation Quirk user finally said.
Ochako smiled. This could be a big help to Momo...
"Right then!" All Might said, taking Bakugou under his arm. "Now! Hostage situation, part 2: electric boogaloo starts NOW!"
All Might dashed off into the building, carrying Bakugou with him. The others waited for him to get ready.
"So, Momo- what's the game plan?" Kirishima asked.
"I think I have something in mind," Momo said, thinking it over for a moment.
"I'll need to keep him talking while two teams get into position. Team 1 will consist of...Kaminari, Jirou, and Ojiro. Team 2 will consist of Toru, Iida, and..." Momo looked around the group, trying to figure out who the last lucky student would be.
Momo's eyes darted over to an unexpected pick. "Kouda. How about you help?"
Kouda's eyes widened. He pointed at himself, equally shocked by the choice.
"Yes," Momo said before activating her Quirk. She quickly made six small canisters and then handed one to each member of the two teams. Smoke grenades.
"Get into position then, on my mark, throw them in. Iida, you're on hostage rescue while Izuku's on All Might Distraction duty," Momo further explained.
Izuku nodded. "I know exactly how to overwhelm him."
"You gonna use those insane acrobatics you showed off during that course run a few weeks back?" Kirishima asked.
"A smaller scale version of it, yeah. Gonna be basing it after Gran Torino's movements." Izuku grinned.
"Alright, perfect! Now, Teams 1 and 2, only move when I give the signal," Momo said, before making a megaphone with her Quirk.
"And the signal is gonna be, what, the smoke grenades?" Kaminari asked. He was having trouble following along.
"No. You throw the smoke grenades after you're in position. The signal will just be a handle signal," Momo clarified, "After that, we let Iida save the hostage and Izuku distract the villain."
"He's going to expect that- Iida was the suspected savior the last time, wasn't he?" Tokoyami asked.
"He was. But he expected Iida alone. Not to mention, Bakugo didn't have any true cover like we're giving."
"Could work. All Might would have a hard time seeing through the smoke, but it wouldn't be impossible for him," Tokoyami said.
"HEROES!" All Might yelled, pretending once again to be the kidnapper. "I know you're out there! I have QUITE the list of demands!"
Momo frowned, as she held up her megaphone. "We will cooperate with your needs as best we can! Be reasonable!"
All Might laughed. "First- I want a tattoo kit! I want to tattoo my name on this kid's giant forehead!"
"WHAT!?" Bakugou yelled- once again, All Might's strange demands had once again thrown everyone through a loop.
"Just assume it's another inside joke and move on." Izuku said.
"Uh, r-right," Momo said quietly, before giving the signal to the two teams to start moving.
"As...odd as that request is, we...can get it. What else?" the creation hero asked, trying to keep all of All Might's attention on her.
"I'm going also need a car!" All Might yelled. "Not to get away, but to SMASH so I can show you who you're dealing with."
Kirishima shrugged. "I respect the power move."
"Also...doable, I suppose," Momo said, "It might take some time."
"You're not gonna make the car, are you?" Sero asked. "Seems like a waste of resources."
"Could just give him a toy car." Mina suggested.
Momo lowered the megaphone so All Might didn't hear, "That one was just a lie. I need something with more of a hook to get him into an argument."
"Smart." Iida nodded. "Distract him with that."
"I plan to." Momo said. "Now, what sort of car brand do you want?"
"What sort? Hmmm...what brand, what brand?" All Might mused to himself, thinking it over.
"Kouda- send some birds over. For intel." Momo advised. Kouda looked nervous, but followed her orders. Kouda began to whisper to some birds to assist in the extraction.
The bird nodded before flying off(Kouda could've SWORN that little guy saluted before flying off) and circled the building. It took note of several things including the positions of All Might and Bakugou, the latter backed against a pillar with All Might to his right, and the positions of the two teams. They were almost ready it seemed.
The bird flew back and landed on Kouda's arm. Kouda listened to their chirps, and nodded. He gave a thumbs up. Plan was almost ready to go.
"Can we settle on a Ford? I always hated Ford cars!" All Might yelled.
"A Ford? We can try that, sure. Any specific model or just a general type. Car, truck, jeep?" Momo asked.
"Getting very specific now, hm..."
Momo motioned for them to go now- there was a big window of opportunity. All Might was distracted. Ochako watched the teams rush off, ready for the extraction.
"On three," Jirou whispered.
"One..." Iida started.
"Two..." Kaminari counted down.
"THREE!" Toru yelled.
Smoke grenades suddenly flooded the building, as All Might and Momo continued their bantering. Iida and Izuku rushed in, ready to nab Bakugou and get out of there.
"Oho! So that was your plan!" All Might said, going on high alert now, watching for any small disturbance in the smoke.
"Maybe." Momo didn't smile yet. She wanted to make sure her plan went off perfectly.
"If so, I do applaud you, but it won't be enough!" All Might called out.
All Might spun around, looking for the rescuers. They had to be around here somewhere- Iida was still on his mind for who could be the main 'extractor'. His speed was unparalleled to the rest of 1-A.
Instead, he was met with a very familiar move rushing right at him. He was taken off guard for just a second, but he still managed to catch the punch in his hand.
"Young Midoriya?!" All Might yelled, rather surprised, "Well this is unexpected. Not unwelcome though!"
"Good." Izuku replied, his eyes glistening with resolve. He only had to play his part.
Izuku focused energy into his finger. He was going to try and do one of his 'smash attacks', but this one wouldn't be strong enough to shatter his hands; it was just strong enough to loosen All Might's grip. Izuku struck All Might's hand with a flick of his finger and broke free from his grasp.
As Izuku touched down, All Might exclaimed in shock. There was no time to spend; it was time to start overwhelming the renowned hero. Izuku began jumping from wall to wall- he wasn't as fast as Gran Torino, but he could act like he was.
"Well, doesn't this seem familiar!" All Might said, watching Izuku launch off the walls. He tracked his successor's movements, blocking any attack that came his way while doing his best to retaliate.
Izuku had to mix it up, of course All Might would know one of his mentor's styles. Ben had suggested that he find a way to distinguish himself from All Might- it took some thinking, but eventually...
Izuku realized something. All of All Might's attacks were primarily with his arms. For example, Texas Smash was a straightforward punch. Carolina Smash had him cross his arms in an X shape and strike at full force. Detroit Smash was an overhead blow. So on, and so forth.
The young hero was warned not to break his arms any more, for extra power. If he did, his arms could end up destroyed. So...
If I'm worried about my arms... Izuku thought. I'll use my legs. Izuku flipped over one of All Might's (held back) attacks, and delivered a powerful spear kick to his back.
That actually made All Might stagger, forcing the hero to regain his balance at the last moment. All Might was surprised, happily so. Izuku wasn't just copying him or Gran Torino; he was truly making One for All his own and that just made All Might smile ear to ear. This was perfect!
Izuku landed on the ground. He hadn't had a chance to show off his new moves during his brief stint with the Galactic Enforcers, but now felt like the perfect occasion. This time, he wasn't in any real danger.
Izuku sprung back up and started to spin. "Colorado...Smash!" The impact of Izuku's heel striking All Might's shoulder was amplified by the power of One for All.
You've been practicing! All Might thought to himself. He countered by trying to strike at Izuku's center, hoping to put enough force behind it to send the student flying back. Not into the wall, but just far enough away to give the Number One some breathing room.
Izuku took a fighting stance. Despite knowing that All Might was holding back, this was still an excellent opportunity to show his mentor what he'd learned.
Izuku still had some arm techniques—he channeled some of his quirk into his arms, crossing them in an X formation. "Chicago...Smash!" yelled Izuku, shooting his arms out. All Might was blown back by a gust of wind.
"Impressive, hero!'" All Might smirked, before rushing back in. He got back into the fight, throwing a flurry of punches at One for All's new wielder. With surprising skill, mixing in Gran Torino's training, Izuku was able to jump and weave through the barrage, landing a kick to All Might's face in the process.
"Sorry!" Izuku whispered, almost freezing up when the hit landed.
"Think nothing of it!" All Might reassured his student before grabbing hold of the boy's ankle and throwing him aside.
Izuku crashed against a wall- All Might walked over. His attention was diverted from Bakugou right now...
And that's what Izuku wanted.
Right as All Might was about to start his impromptu villain monologue, he heard the sound of someone race past him and disturb the smoke.
There's Mister Tenya! All Might smirked.
All Might prepared to rush at Tenya, trying to cut him off, but Izuku was quick to sweep his legs and send him tumbling to the ground. All Might face planted hard- Izuku would have to apologize later.
"Iida, go!" Izuku called out, but in truth, Iida already had Bakugou over his shoulder. Iida rushed off with Bakugou. Bakugou was yelling something when Iida high tailed it out of there- probably nothing good.
"Haha! Very good!" All Might smirked as Iida raced out of the building with Bakugou in tow. "Alright! Call it there!"
Izuku sighed, as he rubbed his face. "That was the first time I used those moves...hope I didn't hurt you too bad, All Might."
All Might just laughed.
"Nonsense! In fact, that was fantastic, Young Midoriya!" the top pro beamed.
"R-really?" Izuku's eyes lit up. All Might looked around, and leaned in close.
"You've been practicing, using new moves and branching out from me! Great job!" All Might whispered.
Izuku could feel a sense of pride swell up in his chest. Hearing that just felt good.
"Thank you!" Izuku finally managed to say back. Keeping his voice in a whisper was a challenge, he wanted to yell in celebration at that.
"Now...let's go grade your classmate." All Might said. "I have nothing but good things to say.:
Izuku nodded and headed back to regroup with the rest of the class.
"And you see, Momo! It worked!" Iida praised Momo, "You had nothing to worry about!"
Momo looked flushed. "Thank goodness it did! I was second guessing myself at every step of the way…"
"You had no reason to!" Mina cheered on, "Your plan went perfectly!"
Bakugo looked away. "...your plan was okay."
Coming from Bakugo, that was high praise.
"O-oh! Uh...w-well," Momo blushed a little bit from all the praise from her classmates. Of course, officially, All Might had to give the final say, but considering what Izuku heard in the building, it was going to be one hell of a passing grade.
Ochako sighed, as she stroked Ship's back. Today was a lot...busier than she would've liked. She was so sure her 'Spanner' identity was a secret.
"I dunno what to do with myself, Ship. Should I be more careful? Stick to the shadows and leave less 'evidence' of a fight?" Ochako asked.
"Ship? Shiiiiiip?" the little Mechamorph asked, as he made his head resemble a certain bat themed hero.
"No, not that much in the shadows," Ochako said.
"Shiiiip." Ship's head deflated.
"I'm kinda worried about Bakugo knowing. He's a loud mouth- I'm worried he'll just yell about it one day out of the blue." Ochako admitted.
"Ship?" His head shifted to resemble the explosive student's signature spikey hair style.
"Yeah, that's the one. Todoroki...I'm not as worried about it. I'm more worried about what happens if his father manages to overhear."
"Ship." Ship frowned.
"He said he wanted to hang out…maybe I can talk to him about the whole 'secret' thing." Ochako said.
"Ship? Ship ship!" The mechamorph turned into a black envelope.
"What?! No, we won't blackmail him! Bad boy, Ship!"
Ship liquified and slid off of Ochako's lap. Ochako sighed. "Stop being so dramatic…"
"Shiiiiiip," the techno-alien whined.
"If you want, you can come with and listen to the conversation. Don't give away you're there, though. How's that?" Ochako offered.
"…Shiiiiip." Ship nodded.
"Okay, good. Just merge with something that can fit in my bag…" Ochako said, looking around for something.
Ship instead went right for Ochako's phone. He didn't absorb and fully merge with it, he just coated it.
"Yeah, that should work." Ochako nodded. "Remind me to make sure you don't stowaway to school with me. You seem too comfy in that phone."
"Ship? Shiiiiiip!"
"...you...you haven't done that before have you?"
"...Ship!"
"That explains why Mei was complaining about missing 'babies'." Ochako shook her head.
"Shiiiiip?"
"No. But, no more, ok? Mei's gonna go crazy if more of her 'babies' keep vanishing on her."
"Shiiiiiiiip." Ship frowned.
Ochako was able to figure out breakfast plans with Todoroki- they agreed to go to a western style diner in the city to talk things out.
The diner was small and quaint, barely had anyone in it. Workers were busy making various foods for the customers. Ochako could smell eggs and toast and all sorts of yummy foods sitting in the air. Ochako sighed heartily- hopefully she wouldn't get distracted by the food. The scent was overwhelming.
Ochako and Todoroki sat in a small booth at the corner of the restaurant. It was far enough to be away from all the other customers. The waitress handed them their menus and walked off. Ochako's eyes scanned the menus for the cheapest thing- but then she remembered. Ben's credit card. She could buy anything-
The diner was small and quaint, barely had anyone in it. Workers were busy making various foods for the customers. Ochako could smell eggs and toast and all sorts of yummy foods sitting in the air. Ochako sighed heartily- hopefully she wouldn't get distracted by the food. The scent was overwhelming.
Ochako and Todoroki sat in a small booth at the corner of the restaurant. It was far enough to be away from all the other customers. The waitress handed them their menus and walked off. Ochako's eyes scanned the menus for the cheapest thing- but then she remembered. Ben's credit card. She could buy anything-
"You don't think this is a date, right?"
Ochako's eyes bulged out of her head when Todoroki said that. "U-uh, no? Why?" Ochako felt her cheeks heat up.
"Well, I did ask you out on this. And we are meeting in a restaurant."
"Oh! Haha, no, it's not a date. I would never ask you out on a date. I mean, maybe- We're just friends. Right?" Ochako felt her body cringing into oblivion.
"Of course." Todoroki said, looking back down at his menu.
Ochako gave a sigh of relief, before looking down at her menu. "Besides, we're here to talk about...this." Ochako rolled up her sleeve, discreetly revealing the Omnitrix. "I didn't want to talk about it at school, in case anyone overheard. And I didn't want to talk about it at my house, because...my dog freaks out over guests."
Todoroki tilted his head. "You have a dog?"
"Kinda." Ochako said. "So...when did you figure it out?"
"Like I said. After the internships were over," Todoroki said. "I overheard some girls talking about how you were busy all of a sudden, and couldn't hang out as much. Then, once the alien sightings in the city picked up, I started to wonder if there was this weird connection."
"You connected the dots from those two points?" Ochako asked.
"Yep." Todoroki nodded. "Plus, the aliens looked more different than Ben 10k. For starters, the symbol isn't green, its white."
Ochako made a face. "Ben said his Omnitrix didn't turn green for a few years- something about a recalibration."
"Does anyone else know? Besides me." Todoroki requested.
"Iida, Izuku...and Bakugou." Ochako forenamed. "He dropped that bomb on me a few days ago."
Todoroki chuckled. "Bakugou is smarter than he looks."
"Yeah, who knew under that messy hair of his was a brain?" Ochako joked.
"That's another thing that tipped me off- the confidence." Todoroki said. "Your confidence seemed to skyrocket, even with the academic probation."
"Having the Omnitrix does that to you, I guess." Ochako said. "I've teamed up with some Pros here and there, I fought a giant robot and a weird space parasite a while back...and it just feels so weird. I didn't even expect to do those things a year ago."
"You have a pretty good set, from the looks of it." Todoroki said, as the waitress handed them their waters. They waited for her to leave to continue talking. "Ben must be building you up."
"I've heard talks about me getting a 'second playlist' soon, which makes me pretty excited." Ochako admitted. "He's got 9,990 more aliens to choose from. Hope he gives me some good ones, this batch is kinda overpowered."
"I've read stories about Ben's accomplishments with some of his aliens- I feel giving you Heatblast might've come a bit too early." Todoroki said. Ochako raised an eyebrow.
"Heatblast was one of his first aliens. I thought he just put him there because...well, he started with him."
"Yes, and he's one of his most powerful." Todoroki said. "My father hates that form- especially with how hot Ben's flames can get. They far exceed his own...he's kind of my favorite for that."
"How...hot are your dad's flames?" Ochako asked.
"At his strongest, 1400ºC. Ben's strongest is...7760ºC. Around the temperature at the core of the Earth." Todoroki said.
Ochako nearly spit out her water. "Woah," She said, gulping down her water.
"Like I said, my father hates him for that." Todoroki smiled.
Ochako briefly wondered if Izuku knew that little fact about the heat difference. If not, she could always tell him the next time she saw him.
"Can...I be honest?" Ochako asked.
"Of course," Todoroki replied.
"The more people who knew...the lighter the secret feels...but I'd be lying if a part of me wasn't a little worried."
"Of someone finding out through one of us. Directly or indirectly."
"More indirectly."
"I wouldn't worry about it. Having a secret identity isn't that big a deal. It's not as common as it used to be, but it's still a thing." Todoroki said.
"You don't...happen to know any examples, do you?" Ochako asked, just for some reassurance.
Todoroki hummed. "That one American superhero, the Mars Rover. He was pretty quiet about his identity for a bit, until he retired."
"The...Mars Rover?" Ochako repeated. She'd never heard of that one, but she knew someone she could ask about the subject.
"Old time hero. Was the top hero in America before Stars and Stripes came around." Todoroki said. "He was a great hero."
"Retired cuz of age, I'm guessing." Ochako said.
"I read his autobiography in my free time- he retired at the age of 55 due to some heart related issues." Todoroki explained. "But- the reason he was content with retiring was because of the legacy he left behind."
The legacy he left behind. That resonated with Ochako. Her eyes wandered down to her wrist, to the hidden Omnitrix. Hopefully, in some far-off future year, whenever Ben decides to hang up the Omnitrix himself, he'd be proud of the legacy he leaves behind, too. Ochako wasn't doubting herself, it was more of a general wish, a hope.
And what are heroes if not symbols of hope?
"If the class finds out, we'd stand behind you. If the world found out, it'd support you. All I know is that...for now, let's focus on the present." Todoroki said.
Ochako nodded. "Sounds good to me."
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