Here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
This one had been a pain to catch. Three different planets, 50 taydens spent in search of him, which is several THOUSAND dollars in Earth currency, maybe even millions, and countless drained ammo clips, but finally this runaway was in his grasp. He threw the bound alien, a hulking blue creature with a single eye in the middle of its face, with two tentacles form a sort of mustache and several more reaching back from his starfish-like head to act as hair.
"For a Monocular Generisan, you have had quite the web of connections," the bounty hunter said as he moved forward, prepping a freezing device.
"W-wait! I can pay you double! Triple than whatever the bounty is!" the blue hulk pleaded.
"Please. Even if you did, it'd still feel pretty hollow." The bounty hunter said, stepping into the light- he was the bounty hunter known as Kraab. Times had changed, and so had he.
His armor was larger, more threatening. His lower abdomen was bigger and more spherical, his claw arm now contained a bolt, and his shoulders were entirely armored. He kept his signature red and orange colors, but in a lighter tone. His lower legs ended in a wider and more pointed knee cap, and his body lines were brighter and smaller.
"C-come on, man. Please?" The blue alien said.
"I did not come to this backwater planet just to get offered something you should've given me a LONG time ag-"
Kraab's claw suddenly started beeping. He glared down at it, confused. The blue alien tried slipping away, but Kraab simply held up his claw and blasted him with some sort of tranquilizer.
"Sleep tight, dumbass." Kraab said, watching the alien fall to the ground. The only reason that alarm caught his eye was because of an interesting detail.
"Scanners say that this thing matches the power of that man-brat's Omnitrix...but there's something off." Kraab muttered, comparing the signal with a previous Omnitrix scan. "This new one has a slight discrepancy- 10% more power to it. Did he build a new one?"
Kraab hummed. "If that's the case...then maybe I should see it for myself."
About half an hour later, after the trio had gone through the usual weight training and Ochako had already somehow felt stronger, Kirishima decided to lead them on a quick jog. Ochako didn't think it would be that bad and, for the first leg of the jog, it wasn't.
They'd gone for a run through the nearby city, and it was pretty nice. Ochako hadn't really been through here before, at least not with friends.
Kirishima was still ahead of both her and Izuku, but she knew he was purposefully going slower than he could. If he wanted to, he could leave both of his classmates in the dust, but that'd just be rude.
"I gotta say, Kirishima's more knowledgeable than I give him credit for." Izuku said. "He knew exactly what kind of workout sessions I needed to practice my Shoot Style."
"It works as a specific workout for you and a general purpose one for me," Ochako said between breaths, "Didn't even need to change anything aside from the weights I was using, really."
"I'd be fine doing this with him. Maybe we should get Iida and some of the others in on it-" Izuku said, before Ochako's Omnitrix started to beep.
Kirishima perked up. "Man, that's an annoying ringtone!" He laughed, as Ochako nervously covered her wrist.
"A-ahah! Yeah, totally. D-do you mind if I take this call real quick?" Ochako grinned awkwardly.
"Go for it! We'll be just up ahead!"
"Thanks!" Ochako said, ducking down the nearest alleyway real quick to answer.
Ochako looked at the Omnitrix, and pressed it down. This beeping wasn't like the call Ben gave her last night, it was...loud and annoying.
And speeding up.
Ochako's beeping was getting faster and faster.
"What...what is this?" Ochako muttered to herself. She tried to call Ben about it, hoping maybe he had an answer.
Just as she was about to call, the beeping stopped. Ochako slapped the watch a few times and hummed. Guess it was nothing.
Ochako ran off to join back up with Izuku and Kirishima, not realizing that someone was following her...
From her stalker's point of view, a digital crosshair locked onto the watch on the student's wrist. Several stats, written in alien script appeared on the right side of the viewer's visor that said, when translated, "Power Output," "Material Composition," "Energy Source Match," and several other technical aspects.
"A knock-off or a gift?" Kraab wondered to himself.
There was an odd power spike in the output- about a 10% increase. Material composition was slightly different. But...it was an Omnitrix.
"He probably used all his smartest aliens to make that thing. Not bad for a forgery." Kraab said. "But...now it's time to get my just desserts."
With a single, threatening snap of his claw to really sell the point, he scuttled off to follow Ochako from the shadows. He'd wait for the right moment and then rip that damn watch off her arm. If the other two tried to stop him, meh, no shell off his back.
Ochako and the others continued their run. "Where are we even running to?" Ochako asked.
"Oh, there's this old skatepark Sero and I hang out at. We usually just attempt parkour and what not- he's better than me at it." Kirishima said. "Thought that could also be of some help with Midoryia's Shoot Style."
"Parkour isn't that bad an idea. It's how I perfected Full Cowling...or, at least attempted to." Izuku said, embarassed.
Ochako thought it over. Maybe she should come back here on her own time, practice with some of her more athletic aliens like XLR8. Could come in handy.
"I guess I could also use some more practice with my floating technique. I wanna see what I can do with some reduced gravity." Ochako said.
"Reduced gravity parkour..." Kirishima thought aloud, "Better for indoors, but something to remember."
"Oh! Well, it's like...my gravity is reduced by a certain percent. I'll just have to show you when we get to this place." Ochako said.
"Alright, fair!" Kirishima called back as he jogged on, "Still got...maybe an hour or so before we get there? Could be wrong, not the greatest with time!"
"An hour?" Izuku said. How far away was this place?
The abandoned skate park was...interesting. It was a run-down building with a bunch of holes in it, and big enough to let the skaters 'catch air'.
"Here we are!" Kirishima said, stepping inside. "Don't worry. That hole was there when we got here."
"Not sure if that's more or less concerning," Ochako said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.
"Well, the place never caved in on us, so it's not a real hazard or anything."
"This place is really old. Wonder what happened here." Izuku said, as Kirishima plopped himself down on an abandoned chair.
"Sero and I found this place when we were training for the Sports Festival." He motioned to some loose strands of tape on the ceiling. "We kinda goofed off, but then we were like 'hey, let's work on our mobility a bit'."
"And then you decided to make this your own private training room away from U.A," Ochako said as she looked around. She could definitely see why.
"I've brought a few of the others here- Kaminari, Satou, Jirou...we've all just hung out here and talked and parkoured and stuff." Kirishima said, taking a swig of water.
"Huh...so kind of just a private hang-out then." Ochako said. Whenever she'd be able to tell everyone in the class about her status as the successor of the Omnitrix, this might be a good place to do it.
"And close to a convenience store, too." Kirishima added. "Of course, it's like a 10 minute walk away, but that's a pretty minor problem."
"And, no one's ever told you the place was off limits or anything?" Izuku asked.
"What? Pfft, of course not. Got the place to ourselves!"
"Well, it's not all bad." Ochako said. Looked like this place used to be some sort of convenience or hardware store. "Was the furniture here when you got here?"
"Yeah, most of it was. We just kinda moved stuff around to make room for training," Kirishima replied.
Ochako walked around, examining the old furniture. She noticed a wooden cabinet in the corner that looked like it had been there for years.
"Hey, Kirishima, can I take a look inside this cabinet?" She asked.
"Sure, go ahead," He said, not looking up from his phone.
Ochako opened the cabinet and was surprised to find a stack of old newspapers inside. She picked one up and saw that it was dated from several years ago.
"Hey, check this out," she said, showing the paper to Kirishima and Izuku. "It looks like this place used to be a hardware store."
Izuku took the paper from Ochako and started reading it. "There was a fire here a few years ago. It says the store was destroyed and the owner was killed in the blaze."
"Oh, that's terrible," Ochako said, feeling a chill run down her spine. "No wonder this place is abandoned."
Kirishima shrugged. "Yeah, it's a shame. But at least we can put it to good use now."
As they continued to explore the old skate park, Ochako couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. She kept glancing over her shoulder, but there was no one there.
The ground suddenly began to shake. Ochako's eyes widened- crap! Was this an earthquake?!
Kirishima and Izuku seemed to have the same train of thought, the former of the two immediately activating his Quirk. If anything even remotely looked like it was gonna fall, he'd throw himself in the way to act as a shield. But to Ochako's shock, something burst out of the ground outside the building. It shot into the air, before landing on the ground.
Ochako was horrified to see some sort of weird...crab guy.
"There you are," the crab-man said menacingly, taking aim at Ochako with his claw. He opened it and let energy gather up in a weapon barrel in the middle.
"Uraraka!" Kirishima yelled and jumped in front of her, right as the armored alien fired off a laser.
Kirishima tanked the laser blast- the most damage it did was a small, black mark in the middle of his back. Kirishima grunted.
"Come on, man! I liked that shirt!" Kirishima yelled.
"Step aside, kid. I'll blast a hole right through your back if you don't move away from the Omnitrix user." Kraab spat.
Kirishima gave him a weird look. "Uh, dude? There's no Omnitrix here. I think it'd be with Ben 10k...and he's not here."
"So you're blind or ignorant," Kraab scoffed, "Doesn't matter. If you wanna throw your life away, I won't stop you. Hell, I'll gladly break your neck myself."
"Good luck with that, seafood platter!" Kirishima growled, "You really think that little thing can break through my Quirk?"
"Kirishima, I seriously think you should-" Ochako said.
"No! I'm not gonna let this dude target you! I'm betting it's because you worked with Ben 10k!" Kirishima said. "Well, guess what!? You're gonna have to go through me...and Midoryia!"
"I...I think Uraraka can handle this guy too." Izuku said.
"Wha-dude, what the hell?!" Kirishima asked.
"I'm sorry," Ochako said, as her voice sounded braver. "I wanted to tell you on my own terms...but I guess the universe decided 'nope!' today."
"Oh...oh, this is rich. You never told him," Kraab smirked behind his helmet, motioning his claw to Kirishima.
"Never told me what?" Kirishima asked, as Ochako walked past him.
"I was planning on telling him eventually. You just sped things up." Ochako said. "I'm guessing that beeping earlier was you trying to track the Omnitrix."
"You're perceptive." Kraab said, snapping his claw. "I know you don't wanna give it up willingly. Let's just skip to the fun part."
Ochako held up her wrist, and activated the Omnitrix. Kirishima peered over her shoulder to see the Watch. His mind was so confused right now.
"Uraraka?" Kirishima asked, as she slapped down the Omnitrix. Ochako's hands became thin, razor-like claws as her skin turned blue. Her skull became thinner and rounded. Armor similar to her hero costume formed around her body, as a tail sprouted out from her back.
Kirishima stared in disbelief at the XLR8 Ochako. "...WHAT!?"
"Explain later." Ochako said. "Let's take care of Leonardo DaPinchy over here first."
"You even sound like him...all the better!" Kraab yelled as he took aim and fired off a barrage of rockets at Ochako.
Ochako raced past and grabbed the rockets. She then began to chuck them back at Kraab, hitting him right in the chest. Kraab stumbled back, as Ochako began to charge up her speed. She raced forward, body checking Kraab into another abandoned building.
Izuku and Kirishima ran up next to Ochako, who was rubbing her shoulder. "His armor- it's super hard. Like it's made from some sort of space metal."
"Then maybe I should take a crack at him," Kirishima said, hardening his arms up. Kraab dusted himself off before locking onto all three of them.
"You were boasting about durability earlier," Kraab said, "Let's test that!" More rockets raced towards Ochako and Izuku while Kraabs claw fired off his arm, tethered to him with an energy coupling and grabbed hold of Kirishima before pulling him over to the bounty hunter.
"Deal with you first, then I rip the watch off your friend," the cyborg said.
Kirishima grinned. "Yeah. You try that." Kirishima sharpened his hand, and jabbed it into Kraab's eye. Kraab yelled, as his grip on Kirishima's hand tightened.
"DAMN IT!" Kraab yelled. "Stupid kid!"
"Gotch-AGHH!" Kirishima yelled as Kraab tightened his grip, threatening to crush the student.
Ochako once again grabbed the rockets and threw them in the air- they exploded. Ochako rushed over to Kraab, and began kicking at his chest rapidly.
Kraab reared his claw back and slammed Kirishima into Ochako to knock her away.
"Huh. Guess that durability makes you a pretty good club, too," The cyborg chuckled.
"Not cool, man..." Kirishima said.
Ochako quickly got back up. "His range is pretty limited now that he's using Kirishima as a way to bludgeon me...let's use that to my advantage."
Ochako rushed around Kraab, but now she was moving so rapidly that she appeared to be in numerous locations at once. Afterimages... Izuku realized. How fast is she moving!?
Kraab blinked and changed his vision to infrared, tracking Ochako's heat signature. He smirked, threw Kirishima into the nearest wall, before spraying an odd foam from his claw all around him. Ochako's feet were caught in the foam as it quickly hardened and stuck her in place.
"Lenopan-Lepidopterran mix. Incredibly sticky. Don't expect to run away at this point, kid." Kraab said, storming over.
"Oh no," Ochako mildly panicked as Kraab's claw grabbed hold of the dial on her chest.
"I'll be taking this," Kraab growled as he began to pull on the device, hoping to rip it free.
The watch sparked violently, as Ochako began to turn pink. She was shifting forms, and transformed from XLR8 into…
Kraab suddenly found himself passing through Ochako's body, and into the goop. Big Chill fluttered above his body, confused.
"What the-?!" Kraab growled.
"How did...I didn't even push down the dial..." Ochako rasped in surprise.
"What are you doing?! Freeze the guy!" Kirishima yelled.
"Uh, right!" Ochako recovered from her sudden shock and let out a gust of freezing air at the bounty hunter.
"Oh, not this again!" Kraab yelled.
Kraab's body started to heat up, slowly melting the ice off of him. Izuku frowned, and picked up a rock- it was about the size of a fist. Good enough. He hadn't really practiced this move, but...he had to help Ochako somehow.
"Full Cowling!" He said, as he prepared to throw the rock. "Cooperstown...SMASH!" Izuku tossed the rock, and it hit Kraab dead center in the chest.
The crustacean bounty hunter was knocked off his feet and sent flying back.
"That was new," Ochako smirked.
"Thanks. Been working on it as a way to compensate for my lack of long-range abilities. Pretty simple, but it works."
"Okay, now can SOMEONE explain to me what the heck is going on!?" Kirishima said, pointing at Ochako. "Why do you have an Omnitrix?"
"Long story short, Ben appointed me his successor." Ochako said, as she formed icy gauntlets around her hands. "And that's the only explanation you're gonna get for right now."
"Only one you're ever gonna get after I get my hands on that thing!" Kraab yelled as he got back up. His claw's lower pincer unhinged and he fired off a barrage of what seemed to be caltrops. They clattered on the ground, leaving Kirishima less than impressed.
"That's it? Really? Buddy we can see-" Kirishima began. He stopped when the caltrops began to levitate and spark with red energy.
"Nosedeenian caltrops, to be more precise. If you know how annoying those things are...these things are worse." Kraab said. He was grinning, even though those kids couldn't see it.
Ochako flew up in the air to test something- she knew it. The caltrops followed her. "Cute." She said, before she dove into the ground, turning intangible. The caltrops smashed into the Earth at full speed.
Kirishima and Izuku were less lucky. The former of the two thought maybe he could tank them, use his durability and let them smash into him. The latter, however, did everything he could to draw the caltrops around and have them slam into the environment.
"These look painful..." Izuku remarked as he hopped away from them. Kirishima could feel them 'grinding' against his body. He winced in agony.
"They are!" He screamed, recoiling in anguish.
"So, I take it he's not one of the smart ones," Kraab said, looking at Kirishima.
Ochako popped out of the ground, spinning as she unleashed a wave of cold energy. The wave of cold air caused snow to fall everywhere.
"There you are!" Kraab yelled, aiming his pincer at Ochako.
Ochako locked onto him and turned intangible right as he fired a bolas from his claw. The projectile spun right through Ochako, the weights sparking as the weapon flew. Izuku had lost the last of the Nosdeenian caltrops, only to see the shocking bolas fly his way.
Izuku flipped over them, letting them wrap around one of the building's exposed poles. Kirishima's eyebrows went up as he saw that.
"That...was awesome, actually." Kirishima said, as he hardened himself again. The sparking spikes were suddenly destroyed.
"Oh no, she's intangible. Whatever will I do," Kraab rolled his eyes behind his mask and fired off a stream of an orange chemical, spraying Ochako with it.
"Ewwww," Ochako rasped. Then she noticed she was tangible again.
"What the!?" Ochako said, trying to shake it off.
"Anti-spectral particles. Fun stuff." Kraab said. "Mostly because it leaves you without a way to dodge THIS!"
Kraab unleashed a powerful laser beam from his claw, which hit Ochako straight in the chest. Thank god Big Chill could take the hit...even if she went flying backwards. Ochako slammed into the nearest wall, bouncing off the stone and dropping to the floor.
"Uraraka!" Izuku called out, before he was blasted by the bounty hunter as well.
The beam was more 'concussive' than energy. It knocked Izuku to the ground, but he quickly recovered using his reflexes.
"Step aside kid, or I pop your friend's pretty little head off." Kraab said, snapping his pincer. Izuku's eyes lit up, as he rushed forward. He was about to spear kick Kraab right in the chest, but the bounty hunter burrowed into the ground by spinning like a drill.
"TOO SLOW!" He taunted, disappearing under ground.
Izuku only hit air as Kraab burrowed down. The bounty hunter appeared behind him as quickly as he vanished and slammed his claw into the successor of All Might's back. Izuku hit the floor and cried out in pain from the hit.
"Midoriya!" Kirishima yelled, as Kraab stomped on over to him.
"Come on, kid. Beating up a bunch of brats is getting kinda boring." Kraab said. "Now step aside!"
Kirishima grit his teeth. "I'm not gonna let you. No more hurting my friends!"
Kraab laughed. "Man, you meatbags are cute with this friendship bullshit. Wanna hear something funny? I had friends once! Then the war happened, and those bastards left me for dead. That sounds fun. Having alllll these great people in your life just ABANDON you the second shit hits the fan."
"I didn't ask for your backstory, dude. It sucks that it happened, but-!" Kirishima focused all of his hardening into his arm- it looked more jagged and rough than usual. "I DON'T REMEMBER ASKING!"
Kirishima punched Kraab's arm hard enough for it to pierce through the armor.
"How the hell-?!" Kraab yelled as the armor bent and crumpled from the impact.
Kirishima looked down at his powered up arm, and grinned. "Dunno, but if it's pissing you off...it's working." Kirishima reared his arm back, and fired off a powerful haymaker at Kraab. Kraab flew back from the impact, just as Izuku was recovering.
"One for All...Shoot Style!"
Izuku propelled himself off the ground into the air above his opponent and arched his leg back. Kraab was heading right towards him...
"St. Louis..."
He focused One For All into his leg before swinging it around and delivering a strong vertical roundhouse kick to Kraab's face.
"SMASH!"
Kraab was too slow in having his head retract into his shoulders, and Izuku's hit landed, knocking him to the side. A flash of pink glowed out from behind Kraab while he was still recovering. He suddenly felt something touch his back and he spun around to see Ochako in human form.
"You've lost your damn mind if you think you're gonna win as a human," The bounty hunter growled.
"I don't know when the last time you fought a human was...but things have changed since then. Kirishima's and Izuku's powers aren't the exception; they're the rule. So what do you think my power is?" Ochako asked, in a surprisingly threatening way. Kraab's eyes widened as the student held her hands together by touching her fingertips and, in an instant, the cyborg found himself weightless.
"W-woah!" Kraab flailed as his body floated upwards, towards the heavens. "Hey! Knock this off-!"
Of course, this was all an act. Floating in the air was the LEAST of his concerns. Landing would be a breeze. He could just deploy his airbags and snip off her hand.
"I know he can survive that fall." Ochako admitted, as she activated the Omnitrix. "So...let's make sure he doesn't get back up."
Ochako slapped down the Omnitrix, and Gravattack's form took her place. She raised her hands up, stopping Kraab in mid air.
"...uh?" Kraab said, looking around.
Ochako then slammed him down to the ground, shaking the Earth. The impact made a crater in the stone floor, the now unconscious Kraab at the center of it. Ochako transformed back to her human self.
"Oh my god, where did that come from?" Ochako asked, referring to her threat. That was one hell of an intimidation act!
Kirishima uneasily walked over to Kraab's crater, and winced. "Ow."
"I didn't realize Ben gave you Gravattack..." Izuku said, as Ochako rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah. Kind of a weird move on his part." Ochako joked.
"I can always swap it out, you know." A voice said. Ochako and Izuku looked up to see Ben 10k, flying over as...some sort of weird bug alien. It reeked of trash.
"Stinkfly?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, I don't really use him too much. He's good for flight but...stench is a major downside," Ben shrugged.
Ochako plugged her nose. "Gross."
Ben reverted back to human and whistled. "Damn. You sure showed him."
"He said something about being a bounty hunter, wanted the Omnitrix." Ochako explained. "And then he attacked the three of us."
Ben looked over at Kirishima. "So, he knows now."
"We kinda had to tell him. The crab guy exposed me." Ochako sighed.
"Kraab," Ben corrected, "That's his actual name, but spelled with a K and two a's."
"...seriously?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, alien names are weird." Ben said, walking over. "Ben 10k, how you doing?"
Kirishima looked down at Ben's hand, before he shook it. "Uh...weird way to meet you, sir."
"I get that a lot." Ben laughed.
"So...uh...how long...?" Kirishima looked over to Ochako and her watch.
"Since the internships." Ben said. "I saw her fight in the sports festival, took a shine to her and gave her one. Because I can."
"And...you told her to keep her secret?"
"Kinda have to." Ben said, pointing to Kraab. "I don't want guys like this going after her friends and family."
"...fair enough." Kirishima said.
"If...it's any consolation, I am going to tell everyone...eventually," Ochako said, rubbing her arm nervously.
"This is just...a lot to take in," Kirishima said, walking over to the building. He plopped himself down, and looked up at the ceiling.
Ben walked over to Kirishima and sat down next to him. "Believe me, I know how you feel. When I first found out about the Omnitrix, it changed my life completely. But eventually, you get used to it. And in Ochako's case, she's got a great support system in you and her other friends."
Kirishima looked over at Ben, and then back up at the ceiling. "I know that."
"You don't have to handle it all at once." Izuku said, walking over. "Take your time, process everything."
"But I just wanna do it faster, y'know?" Kirishima said. "Obviously if I'm in the know now, I gotta really start helping out."
"Huh?" Ochako blinked.
"I want to help. I want to be a part of this." Kirishima said. "We made a pretty great team during the exam, even with Bakugou kinda souring the mood. And if you've been granted a fantastic opportunity...then let's not waste it."
Ochako nodded. "You're super accepting, aren't you?"
"My moms raised me that way." Kirishima said.
Ochako blinked. Moms? She'd have to revise that Kirishima parent fantasy she had a few days back.
"I'll take care of this guy." Ben said, morphing into Astrodactyl. "Good work, Red Riot! First time I've seen someone make a dent in this armor."
"T-thanks!" Kirshima said, as Ben put a net over Kraab's body. "It was cool to meet you!"
"Cool to meet you too, kid." Ben said. "I'll see ya'll laters!"
And then Ben flew off, with Kraab in tow.
"...laters?" Izuku repeated.
"You get used to it." Ochako snickered.
"What do you say we grab some food?" Kirishima asked, standing up. "I'm starving after all that fighting."
"Sounds good to me!" Ochako said, smiling.
As they walked towards the nearest restaurant, Ochako couldn't help but feel grateful for her friends. And now, with Kirishima's newfound knowledge, she knew they were all in this together.
The future was sure looking bright for them.