HELLO EVERYBODY! AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER CHAPTER OF LEGION!
After over a month of hard work we have finally come out with our movie-sized chapter! 125 pages!
I'm honestly so exhausted rn but hey, I'm about to get a lot of free time soon before I go to my next station.
So, first thing's first, thank you all for your patience.
2nd - Reviews! There's a lot I'm not gonna lie so if you wanna just skip to the chapter look for the Title Card.
TurtleTipper123-Here's another!
Edeath756-You'll definitely like this chapter!
Redmen6blight-All things must involve patience.
Planar-Walking-Entertainment-Hehehe
The god of wolves-You'll enjoy this chapter.
Chadbunger-Here you go!
zacker1590-Fitting isn't it?
Blaze1992-Surprising, right?
TheUnknowableOne-Many thanks for your review!
Monkey D. Conan - Huh…that's interesting. Never knew about the Echani.
StrikerTheFallen-You'll see soon.
Guest-Definitely a lot of ideas to consider, and unfortunately not everyone will be applied.
Techead85-Good luck, Tech.
Guest-We have plans for those two.
R-king 93-Thanks!
Nublyss-Really? Definitely something to consider then!
Uber Ghidorah- Yeah, it would be. Don't worry though, we've got plenty of ideas for them.
SteampunkDragon987-...no spoilers
THE-Twilight-BlazeKnight-You'll see…
Solbandgus-And more on the way!
Greatazuredragon-Thank you!
RandoFox-Probably as an omake.
Hardcase501-Definitely not the last two.
AnimeFan13579-He would be and that is the most hilarious image I've ever thought of.
Austin-Oh dear…and yes I love Sabaton, my favorite is Bismarck. And those are crazy op ideas.
Rubberization-Maybe one day, at the very least another omake.
Firem78910-We're getting close!
shadowwriter329-Lots of antics to come!
The Cocoa Puffer-We've actually been considering Slick. It'll be different for sure.
Ooo-Well…that's certainly an interesting idea.
LegendaryMob-Guns. That and there's no identity crisis.
WolkaiserDrake-YOU GOT THAT REFERENCE!?
Edeath756-Under Consideration.
UndeadLord22-It is basically.
Colossus Bridger - Been in for a while now but thanks.
TurtleTipper123-Thanks!
Megatronus Uchiha - Oh well.
Fredward1-Meh.
THE-Twilight-BlazeKnight-You'll see her soon!
-Look for it by Lanterna_Eternal
Tim46billion- Yeah, that's just one of many references scattered throughout this story and true!
ZeroGs22-No big ships. Good idea. You'll see. Probably not?
DeltaWolf2038- Hehe, yeah and thanks for your multiple reviews!
Honestly not as bad as I thought it'd be. But anyways! Here we go!
NOTICE: MAKE SURE YOU READ DAILY LIVES OF THE CLONES: BLITZ BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER!
LEGION: RISE OF MAND'ALOR
"Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."
[The Night Owls (Hoot)]
You and 3 others are online
Mand'alor: everyone Guess who's goin' to the I-EXPO! The preview too!
Tenya and Froppy are online.
Uravity, Shoto and 3 others are typing…
Uravity: Ok, Izuku-kun, I know you are decent enough off, but not loaded, and tickets like those aren't cheap. What's your secret? ;b
Shoto: I can always use my father's credit card to pay for them.
Tenya: Todoroki-san! That is highly irresponsible, not to mention contradictory on how to behave as an aspiring hero student! Chopping emoji.
Shoto: …He-
Tenya: Please accept my apology, Todoroki-kun… I'm not fully awake at this time of day, so therefore I typed the reply before I was able to think about the consequences of my choice of words. I apologize. (Edited)
Bes'laar is typing
Mand'alor: Tenya, I love you, but did you just use a chopping emoji followed by a dogeza emoji?
Bes'laar: Also you do know that the dogeza emoji doesn't mean what it really means, right?
Tenya: What do you mean?
Bes'laar:...check your dms
Tenya:...I see your point, I have now changed it. I apologize.
Ochako: Wait, what does a dogeza mean?
Bes'laar: NO!
Tenya: NO!
Jamming Whey: Wait, I-EXPO? That's so cool!
Mand'alor: Wait… Kaminari-san… Isn't that the nickname that Kyouka uses to make fun of you?
Jamming Whey: Well, I don't exactly sense any malice from her when she calls me it, so I've grown a bit fond of it. Plus, my little sister loves it soooooooo
Mand'alor: Wait, you have a sister?
Jamming Whey: Yep. There is also my mum who's a hero. She also finds it funny and even cute
Uravity: I just saw Bes'laar is typing before it blanked out, anything you want to say?
Bes'laar: No.
Uravity: You suuuuure?
Bes'laar: Yes.
Froppy: Spill the beans, ribbit.
Bes'laar: No.
Froppy: Dew it.
Jamming Whey: Speaking of sisters, Froppy, didn't you say that you had siblings, too? Maybe we can set up a playdate or something with Eri.
Multiple people are typing…
Froppy: That sounds like a good idea, ribbit. Satsuki and Samidare need some new playmates.
Mand'alor: I think that it'd be great for Eri.
Bes'laar: I have no words.
Jamming Whey: For what?
Bes'laar: None of your business.
Jamming Whey: Mean…
Uravity: Anyway, how did you get tickets, Izuku?
Mand'alor: Buir got them for us, he's got connections with I-Island.
Shoto: You mean All Might, right?
Multiple people are typing…
Mand'alor: Shoto, we've talked about your conspiracy theories.
Tenya: Right, you must mean Mr. Yagi…your stepfather?
Mand'alor:...uh…he's not exactly my stepdad, but filled in?
Nau'ur: ?Let us shift the focus back to the topic at hand, monsieur Izuku!?
Mand'alor: Anyway, yeah, we got tickets!
Jamming Whey: Oh, that's right, I forgot to mention but I got a temp job there thanks to UA's connections. I work some shifts and then I get to see the expo.
Uravity: That's cool! I wasn't going to mention this, but Momo got Kyoka and I tickets. We had to win a bet though.
Froppy: I still say you cheated.
Uravity: We did not!
Froppy: Keep telling yourselves that, ribbit.
Bes'laar: Oh put a sock in it, Tsu… you're just jealous that you didn't get to go. It's not like it's even that special.
Ali3n Qu33n: Ohnonononono! You do not get to say that, Kyouka! You still won!
Bes'laar: C'mon, Mina…
Ali3n Qu33n: I will not! I'm going to miss so much tea like this! How do I know if some romance won't blossom during this event, huh?!
Bes'laar: There won't be anything like that. What do you think this is? A romcom anime? -_-
Ali3n Qu33n: Don't think I haven't noticed how you act around Kaminari and how you seem to listen in on his conversations when he talks to other girls, you tsundere.
Bes'laar has gone offline
Ali3n Qu33n: As I thought.
Bes'laar has gone online
Ali3n Qu33n: Oh?
Bes'laar: Don't think I didn't see you clutching onto Rex like a plushie doll! You were practically all over him!
Ali3n Qu33n: That was a very stressful moment! And you didn't deny it!
Bes'laar: Neither are you! And I'm not talking about the mall, I'm talking about the past few days. "Excuse me, Captain~" You certainly like a man in uniform, don't you?
Ali3n Qu33n has gone offline.
Jamming Whey: Wait, weren't they all at that one cafe?
Bes'laar has gone offline.
Froppy has gone offline.
Yaomomo has gone offline.
Uravity has gone offline.
Invisible Girl: I'm still here but I'm tucked away in the corner…I just hope we don't get kicked out.
The next morning
Eri stared wide eyed outside the plane's window, in fact, it was all that she paid attention to throughout their entire flight.
Izuku had to call her attention multiple times so that she could remember to eat and drink.
'Still it's nice to see her so fascinated by this…maybe if I can get Legion to create something with flight capabilities I can take her on a flight.
'Well, there are the jetpacks we've developed,' Nana said in his head. After the Winged Nomu incident where said beast took off with one of their brothers, the engineers inside of the mindscape had worked tirelessly to give their brothers the capabilities of flight, yet so far didn't have any luck.
'I said flight, ba'buir, not crash and burn…you know I love the engineers but the last time I was on a jetpack I slammed into the ceiling…you know, Jango had a jetpack from that Hatsume girl…maybe we should ask her?'
Multiple voices inside his head said no, primarily because they wanted to figure it out themselves. Typical. There were always those of his brothers with more pride, who for some reason always found themselves within the engineering corps.
"I should bring a couple more engineers out to check out the support course…Power Loader could certainly use the help," He muttered as the plane kept on coursing through the air.
"How do you like the flight, Thorn?" Izuku asked with a smarmy grin to the clone who currently refused to even look at him.
"Izuku, why is Thorn mad at you? Have you been fighting? Did I do something wrong?" The little unicorn asked, worry starting to fill her voice, as she thought she may have been at fault.
Before Izuku could say anything, Thorn spoke up.
"It's not your fault, Eri… it's just… vod really caught me at an… unfortunate time."
"What happened?"
"..."
"Pleeeeeaaaaaaaseeeee?" She said, as she hopped down from her seat and waddled over to him, making puppy eyes in the process.
"Alright, fine…"
A few hours ago
"Thorn? Where are you? I need to ask you something!" Izuku called out as he walked around campus searching for his brother whom he had decided would head with him to I-Island as the chief of security, along with a few of his other brothers from the Guard.
Hearing the sound of giggling, he turned and blinked in surprise as he saw Thorn leaning over Kendo as they whispered some words to each other.
Thorn then walked back and put on his helmet before gently tapping it against her forehead, with the redhead returning the gesture.
They stayed like that for some time, until Izuku had to cough while also taking a picture of the scene, the sound of the cough and 'click' of his phone's camera snapping them out of their tender moment.
"V-vod!"
"Midoriya!"
"Definitely let things play out, huh?" The freckled teen said with the smuggest grin he had ever mustered as he leaned against a wall, looking at the picture on his phone.
"G-give me that!" Thorn exclaimed as he jumped towards his older brother and tried snatching the device out of his hand to no avail due to the former having had to dodge Bakugou's explosions, kicks and punches for years, making him quite elusive.
"Ah, ah, ah! This is payback for the time back at the start of the internships!" Izuku cackled, still dodging his brother's attempt at getting his phone, while Kendo seemed to have a mental meltdown, if her tomato red face and steam shooting off her head was any indicator.
A few minutes of back and forth later, Thorn had given up trying to get the phone so he could delete the picture, instead opting to just grumble about hating karma right now.
"Anyhow, back on topic. I came to ask if you would want to come with me to the I-Expo as security along with Fordo and Rex."
"I-Expo? What business do we even have on an artificial island? One making some of the best support gear nonetheless," He asked, curious as to why they were going.
"Well, Buir has some connections there, plus a lot of our friends will be there too and who knows? We may come home with new gadgets!" Izuku said with excitement, while also being able to sense the same, yet more subtle feeling coming from his brother too.
"...Fine, but you better delete that photo!"
"I shall… think about it."
"Dank Farrik!"
Back to the present
"And that's about it," Thorn finished, before looking outside of the window again, a slightly longing look in his eyes.
Eri on the other hand tilted her head as she looked from Thorn to Izuku.
"Why won't you give him the picture? He did agree to come with you… please don't be mean…" She said, surprisingly gaining a slightly stern tone, making the occupants of the plane look shocked at what they heard.
"It's a bit… complicated… somewhat of a sibling thing?"
To this, Eri only pouted, making it harder and harder for Izuku to resist, until he finally caved in.
"Fine… here you go, Vod," He sighed while handing the phone over to the clone who took it out of his hands and went straight to the picture to delete it, but not before secretly sending it to himself so he could use it as a holographic pin up in his helmet.
After giving him the phone back, one of the clones in the plane stood up from his seat and leaned forward.
"So, ori'vod, may I ask why you specifically chose us? I mean, I can see your reasoning with Fordo, Rex and Thorn, but why us?" 2010 inquired in curiosity.
"Well, I wanted to give you some more time to have some fun outside of your shifts, and you really deserve to get outside of campus more. Many of the others have been able to thanks to internships, but barely any of you have left school grounds since the Sports Festival," Izuku smiled at them, while giving him a thumbs up.
"Isn't our main objective to be security though?" Another clone asked while tilting his head.
"Who says you can't do both at the same time? Plus, I feel like this will also be a good experience for some of you who haven't been able to do much recently."
"Well…I guess you got a point," 2010 said as he got back into his seat.
While most of the clones were chatting amongst each other, the one sitting next to Inko was currently napping with his helmet on, while the loving Midoriya Matriarch gently caressed the top of the helmet.
"Could you please quiet down, boys? Someone is trying to sleep here," She whispered and gestured to the slightly shorter clone in the seat next to her.
Truth be told, Izuku wasn't sure why he had a technically 'underdeveloped' clone. But Rookie was quickly warming up to everybody even if he did have what everybody else called a 'baby face'.
'I didn't look like that when I was twelve…did I?' He thought to himself, as he looked over at his mother humming a lullaby for Rookie.
"To all passengers, we'll be landing in five minutes, so please buckle up." The voice of the pilot said over the comms, as I-Expo came into view in the distance, Eri letting out a gasp of surprise and wonder.
"Alrighty boys, get ready for a trip like none other!" Toshinori said as the plane quickly closed the distance from their current location to the artificial island.
Quickly landing on the bay and getting their luggage, Izuku was quick to take Eri by the hand as she shyly looked away from the crowd of people.
Fortunately, they were in a relatively private section of the airport, and were able to reach the main complex of the island unbothered, even with Toshinori 'bulking up'.
They excitedly stared out at the various attractions and exhibits, technology beyond regular imagination as far as the eye could see.
Unfortunately…All Might's presence caught some rather unwanted attention.
'I told him to wait until later to bulk up…' Izuku thought as he saw his buir getting swarmed by fans.
He then shivered as he felt a dark aura radiate from his mother as she stared at the multitude of women practically throwing themselves at him.
"Keep yourselves at a distance, people! You can look all you want, but no touching!" Thorn said, as he, Rex and Fordo along with their brothers formed a circle around their family, creating a scene that looked like it came straight from Hollywood when a celebrity arrived, which it technically was, considering just how well known All Might was.
"All Might! Mand'alor! Is this a family outing!?"
"What?"
"Mand'alor, what's your connection with All Might!?"
"Wait a minute-"
"Are you Mand'alor's mother?"
"I-"
"Are all of you her biological sons?!"
"Do I really look like I could give birth to-"
"Mand'alor, are you All Might's secret love child!?"
"Oh for crying… NO! Todoroki, if you're behind this, we need to have a talk!"
Rookie on the other hand seemingly clung more to Inko, being much more of a shy kid like how Izuku used to be before Jango came into the world.
The ring their brothers had formed was effective, however it still wasn't enough to stop a young girl from using her quirk to stretch out her arms and grab a hold of Rookie's helmet, before pulling it off his head while making a 'yoink!' sound.
The crowd immediately went quiet as they took in the visage of the revealed clone.
"...he's so cute…"
"Are they all this adorable?"
"Only one way to find out…"
Before they knew it, helmets were suddenly being pulled off left and right, much to their owners' chagrin.
"Oh my gosh!"
"So many handsome faces…"
"All of you must really score, eh?"
All of them suddenly shivered as an even darker aura erupted out of Inko who stepped forward.
"I believe that we need to have a talk about personal boundaries."
"Now that we're finished, don't you all have something to say?" Inko asked cheerily.
"...we're sorry…"
"Thank you, now come along dears, let's head on to our destination!" Inko said as she picked Eri up with a hum and guided the clones away, all of them with their helmets back on.
Izuku and Toshinori looked at her before looking at each other and shuddered.
"Let's uh…let's get a move on then, shall we, my boy?"
"Yep…best not keep her waiting…" Izuku said and they followed their family.
Not even five minutes later however for the traumatized crowd did they realize what was said.
"Wait a minute…dears? My boy?"
"All Might really does have a secret family!"
After finally escaping the crowd of fans, the group breathed out a collective sigh of relief as they finally had some breathing room while sitting on the benches around the park.
"Oh, Rex dear? We need to have a talk," Inko said in a sweet tone, however each of them knew that it was anything but sweet.
"Y-yes, b-buir?"
"Will you please tell me just what you have done with your hair?" The noticeably annoyed woman asked with a smile on her face and closed eyes.
"Well, I, um, you see-"
"And don't think any of you are out of the frying pan. What have you done with your hair? Mohawks? Crew cuts? Bald? Coloring?!" She nearly screeched the last word, if it wasn't for her calm demeanor, which didn't exactly help due to the menacing aura she was emitting.
"Hey, it's not that bad, at least I didn't get a tattoo like Fives-oops…"
"...a what?"
"A tattoo…it's a stylized five…" Rex admitted, unable to keep the secret anymore.
"And where is this tattoo?"
"...On his temple…"
Inko opened her eyes again and looked at her sons, each having hair that collectively made them look like a palette.
"We just…wanted to look a bit different…we all have the same face…it'd be nice to have something that makes us…original…you know?" Fordo said while also using Rex as a human shield.
Looking around at her boys again, Inko took a deep breath and sighed.
"It's not that I don't understand where you're coming from…it's more that none of you thought about telling me…again…" She said, reminding them of the time where Jango and Izuku had kept Bakugou's abuse a secret from her too.
"Please forgive us, buir… but… we were afraid that you wouldn't approve of this…"
"Oh…my boys… there's so much that we'll have to talk about…it's not that I don't approve, but you simply should have told me…and to be quite frank, those haircuts aren't the best," She said, with the last comment causing several of them to face fault.
Before they could discuss the hair and tattoo situation any further though, a voice called out to Toshinori.
"Uncle Might!"
Turning as one, the group saw a blonde girl with glasses wearing khaki pants and a buttoned shirt running towards them while waving, a huge smile on her face.
"Melissa! Look at how much you've grown! Already a beautiful, young woman!" Toshinori said with a laugh as he lifted the girl into the air and spun her around a couple of times like one would with their daughter, both of the blondes laughing as he did so.
"It's been so long, Uncle! I can't believe you're actually here!"
"I'm truly grateful for the invitation, and the extra tickets!"
Hearing that, Melissa's eyes narrowed much to everybody's confusion, especially All Might's.
"Melissa?"
"And just when were you going to tell us that you had a secret family?"
…
"WHAT!?" The entire group asked in shock.
Melissa then flicked her wrist and a hologram popped up showing a picture of the entire group.
ALL MIGHT'S SECRET FAMILY? HIDDEN CONNECTION WITH MAND'ALOR?
"...Well…this is both unexpected and unsurprising at the same time…" All Might said, thinking back to the crowd from before who most likely were the ones guilty of the rumor spreading.
"I'm so sorry…" Inko whispered as a comically depressed aura emanated from her.
"It's fine Inko…to be honest Melissa, I only met the Midoriya's a few months ago, but I've found myself being a part of their family before I even realized it."
Izuku and Inko both smiled at him, the latter winking at having kept their little secret.
'I still need a bit more time before revealing to Izuku the truth…' Inko thought to herself, slightly guilty about it but at the same time she didn't want to distract him.
"Oh, that's…nice to hear actually…I'm glad that you've found a family of your own, Uncle Might."
"On that note, introductions! Everyone, this is Melissa Shield, the daughter of my good friend David Shield," All Might began as he presented her before presenting them to her.
"Melissa, this is Inko, Izuku, little Eri, alongside a few of the Vod'e, that is, some of Izuku's clones; Fordo, Rex, Thorn, Rookie and…I'm sorry, do you have a name yet?" All Might asked.
"Not yet, sir…I'm still 2010."
"2010 then."
"More than 1000 new people… It's honestly amazing how UA managed to be able to get enough food and housing for so many new mouths to feed in such a short notice, not to mention the capacity to make full body armor like this," Melissa said to herself, as she observed the clones and Izuku, along with their armor and weaponry, seemingly analyzing them.
"Considering how U.A. is most likely run by the Devil himself who's an animal of ambiguous origin and species, it's best to not think too much into it…" One of the unnamed clones muttered as he shuddered at the thought of how the principal did what he did.
"Besides, the armor actually comes as a part of my quirk," Izuku said and she began to closely inspect it.
"Really?"
"Well…the armor for the Vod'e, this set came from the support course…most of it at least. I think a few pieces had to be…replaced."
She went over each part with great scrutiny, many observations coming to mind.
"It's very well done considering the material…even has a few support items in terms of communications and medical gear…" She then paused as she took in the scars on his face that trailed down his neck.
"Are those scars from… that… thing from the USJ?" She asked, treading carefully in the minefield she knew she was currently traversing.
Seeing how she didn't try to be rude or prying, but genuinely wanted to know out of concern and curiosity, Izuku took in a deep breath, before letting it out as a sigh.
"They're luckily not from a direct hit from the kyramud demagolka [killer monster], but rather me overexerting my quirk to its absolute limit when I summoned my brothers."
She hummed in thought as she inspected the rest of his armor.
"Melissa…how do you know about the USJ?" All Might asked in slight confusion.
"Oh, well…the remains of it were sent here to be studied to more accurately determine what exactly had been done to its…original source," She shuddered, despite there only being small chunks of the thing left, it was still unnerving.
"Anyway…yeah…I basically spiked my power to full 100%...the strain nearly killed me…as it is, I'm left with the reminders… but… to us in the Vod'e, our scars are also a way to show who we are."
"What a noble sentiment…but still…are you able to use such high power now?"
"No…not even close, I haven't tested myself recently but I know my stable output should be around…10%, maybe 15? I've managed to spike up to 20 in moments of great need but it always leaves me strained afterwards. Recovery Girl always diagnoses me with a new type of stupid every time I do it…"
"Can't forget Kix…he's been on your case lately, vod."
"Hmm…" Izuku grunted as he recalled RG's newest 'protege'. "At least Quick-Fix and Ratchet aren't after me…"
"They will be if you don't start taking things slower, ori'vod…"
"Oh be quiet, 3126…"
"Just worried for ya, that's all…" 3126 said, most likely ironically rolling his eyes beneath his helmet, but there was genuine worry in his voice.
"Caring and being worried about one's siblings is always a noble cause," Melissa said with a smile, having already taken a liking to how different each of the boys in front of her were, despite mostly sharing the same face.
"Huh. 'Noble'... I like it," 3126 mumbled beneath his breath.
"Anyway…I might have something that could help you out…I'll show you later, for now, let's go see Papa! He doesn't even know you're here!"
"Ah, I see you planned quite the surprise then, eh?"
"Yep! Let's go!"
The group smiled at each other and after discussing things, it was decided that Izuku and Toshinori would follow Melissa, while the others would explore the Island. Izuku wanted to take Eri along with them, but he also knew that having time without him would help her out in the long run.
Besides…with the already established security, nothing could go too bad, could it?
'Oh no…I've invoked Murphy's Law.'
At a Terminal overlooking the Expo
"We've infiltrated the expo…when will the goods get here?"
"At 3pm, you'll find them at Gate 66."
"Then we'll be waiting."
Dr. David Shield was a constantly busy man, if he wasn't inventing the next big thing in Support Tech, then he was constantly doing research, overseeing projects, and generally running I-Island.
Well…mostly running it, he did have the Board to answer to.
Still…he would always do his best to prioritize his family, especially when it was his only daughter, Melissa.
Melissa, knowing this, prepared this surprise to give him a break and relax with an old friend.
"It's good to see you again, Toshi," Dave said as he fistbumped Toshi.
"On that note, it's time that I introduce you to someone, Izuku?" Toshinori turned to face his son who was almost trembling in excitement.
"It is such an honor to meet you!" Izuku said as he rapidly began to shake the older man's hand.
"I've followed your work throughout the years, ever since you designed buir's young age suit you've been known as the pinnacle in Support Tech! Even more so after you won a Nobel Quirk medal!"
Dave slightly blushed and rubbed the back of his head.
'Buir?'
"I'm flattered…and I'm glad to know that my work's been appreciated by the younger generation, too!"
Toshinori coughed slightly and both Dave and Izuku gave him a side look.
"Look, it's been a long time for us, how about you let us old folks catch up while you two see what the Expo has to offer…Melissa?"
"Sure thing, Papa!"
"Izuku, let the others know I'll be with them soon, alright?"
"Sure thing, buir!" Izuku nodded before letting himself be led out by Melissa.
"So, do you prefer Izuku or Mand'alor?" They heard Melissa ask as they went down the hallway. David sent away his assistant Sam as well and soon enough they were left alone.
"You should power down now, I can't imagine that being like that for so long is pleasant for you, Toshi," David said as he prepared to get to work.
"That's…something that we need to talk about, Dave," Toshi said as he slowly began to shrink.
Dave blinked as he could have sworn that Toshinori should be smaller.
"Toshi?" He asked in confusion.
"Wayii…this place is amazing…" Izuku said as he got the tour from Melissa, she was quick to explain the various amenities and benefits of I-Island, along with a few downsides for scientists in the name of operational security.
Izuku's grin was wide as he also took in the vast amount of heroes from all over the world, including the famous Godzillo.
"This is awesome on so many levels…"
"A lot of heroes are going to be there at the party tonight, although I guess you knew that already since you came with Uncle Might."
"Buir told me about it," Izuku commented as he kept looking around, "Yeah, I had to get some formal clothes last minute but fortunately I was able to find some."
"Buir? Oh! That's that Mando'a thing right? That new language that Principal Nezu of U.A. has sponsored?"
"Oh, right, I forgot about that and yeah…buir means parent."
"So…was I right about the secret family thing? Cause there's also the super strength and well…"
Izuku chuckled at her questions.
"You remind me of another friend of mine, he asked me if I was All Might's secret love child…to answer your question, no…but…he's grown to be the father I never had."
"That's sweet…oh! Let me show you what's inside here!"
They spent the next hour going through the exhibits with Melissa excitedly explaining each one and how they were created from her father's works.
"It's wonderful to see you so inspired by your father's work."
"Well, I plan on becoming a scientist as great as him one day!"
"Ah, then that must mean that you're studying here at the I-Island Academy. You must be quite the genius then!"
"Eh…I wouldn't go that far…I still have a lot to learn…I've got a long ways to go before I can match my Papa's footsteps."
Izuku gave a quick huff at that.
"I feel the same…" He whispered as a comfortable silence remained between them.
"I saw your conference you know…I like to keep track of what All Might does…and seeing how much attention he'd been giving you…plus what you said…do you really think he's going to retire soon?" She asked, unsure of what to expect.
Izuku remained silent for a moment as he recalled the moments of weakness, the blood, the gauntness…
One For All.
But also…the healing, the returning cells, and according to buir, a new outlook on life.
"It will come…perhaps sooner than any of us are ready…but we still have some time…at least…I hope we do."
'Melissa doesn't know…buir told me that he planned on telling her once his body was healed a little more…my words may be slightly hollow, but…hopefully we do have a bit more time.'
The somber mood wasn't one that he enjoyed so he changed the subject.
"So…what else do you like to do around here?"
A spike of fear jolted through his spine.
"You look like you're having fun, Izuku."
Swiftly turning, he was met by a blank-faced Ochako who was smiling oddly at him.
"Ochako, you're here!"
"You look like you're having fun, Izuku," She repeated.
"Ochako?" He asked, suddenly feeling an odd dread.
Nana's giggling in the back of his mind didn't help either.
"Ehem."
Turning around, he saw Momo and Kyouka standing with their arms crossed, making him start sweating nervously, as the expressions the two girls had on their faces told him they heard pretty much everything, with Kyouka even holding up her earlobes like she was getting ready for a tiny boxing fight.
"I heard everything," The punk rock girl said in a flat tone.
"Oh hey, Momo, Kyouka it's good to see the three of you. Melissa, let me introduce you to some of my closest friends," He said with a sheepish laugh
Somehow, those words managed to appease them…for whatever reason they needed to be appeased.
"This is Jiro Kyouka, also known as Bes'laar. Yaoyorozu Momo, aka, Creati and Uraraka Ochako…my best friend, Uravity," He said with a soft smile as he looked at her with a soft smile and a look in his eyes that made hers widen and she began to flush.
Melissa raised a brow at them before turning towards the other two girls who slightly nodded with smirks.
"Cough…anyway, girls, this is Melissa Shield…a new friend from a common person we know, although I can't reveal much else…not my secret to tell," Izuku said hoping that his words would clue Melissa in.
"Yeah, my uncle has a high opinion of Izuku and thought it'd be nice for us to meet, it's great to meet all of you!"
The girls greeted Melissa and soon enough she led them off toward a cafe where they could talk and relax for a bit.
'I hope the others are alright, I haven't seen them all day.'
His question was soon answered, as the moment they arrived at the cafe, he spotted a familiar tuft of electric yellow hair currently walking around with a tray with refreshments for the customers.
'So this is the job he was talking about.' He thought, as the quintet found an empty table and sat down.
"Kaminari!" He called out. The blond quickly perked up and smiled as soon as he saw them before heading over to meet them.
"Hey guys, glad to finally find you! What can I get ya?" He took their orders and before he left he leaned in and whispered something else.
"Hey uh, look, sorry again about the Sports Festival thing…thought I'd make it up to ya by warning you that Mineta's here too…"
Izuku and the girls cringed in unison and he gave out a tired sigh.
"Yeah…he's on his break right now, but if you want I can give your guy's orders to go so that you don't have to deal with any…new theories."
Izuku shook his head as he recalled Mineta loudly yelling out his 'theories' on a daily basis back at U.A.
The most aggravating was him being some kind of harem lord and using his clones to seduce the women around him before taking their place.
It had made him sick to even think about it, and fortunately, only a select few actually gave heed to Mineta's perversions. Mostly those that were part of Midnight's fanclub and were jealous of all the attention that Bly was getting.
To even think about betraying his brothers like that, such as Thorn? It was inconceivable…worse than any action the aruetii had done.
'Besides…I have my own…issue…' He thought to himself as he shyly looked at his closest friend before softly puffing his nose and shaking his head.
'Don't get distracted now.'
"Thank you, Kaminari…I think we'll take you up on that offer."
"Yeah, thanks!"
"Thank you."
"Thanks, Jamming-whey…you're not so bad after all…" Kyoka muttered as Kaminari began to chuckle.
"Hey, I know my limits," He said with a smirk before leaving to get their orders.
…
"...so…this Mineta?"
"Don't ask," They all said in unison.
It was when they got up to leave, Tenya had actually popped by and greeted them saying that he was there as a representative of the Iida family that they heard a large explosion from another section of the Island.
Quickly making their way over, they were sidetracked by Izuku finding his mother and the others and quickly greeting Eri before picking her up.
Heading over to what Melissa called the Villain Attack Course, they found multiple rocky pillars with robots being destroyed by prospective heroes.
At the top of the pillar was Kirishima.
"Kirishima!?"
"Is that one of your friends?"
"He's more Mina's friend, but he's grown to be a good classmate," Izuku answered Melissa before looking down and narrowing his eyes in annoyance.
'And of course he had to be here, too.'
Izuku let out a sigh as he saw Bakugo get ready for the course before blasting off and quickly taking them out.
"DIE!"
'Die…he still hasn't changed a bit.'
"WOW A NEW RECORD, 15 SECONDS! FIRST PLACE!"
Walking proudly at getting first place he was then shocked by Kirishima's call out.
"Hey, isn't that Midoriya?"
Growling, Bakugo quickly blasted forward and gripped the railings, already screaming.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN-URK!" He was shut up by a punch to the jaw that snapped it shut before a side fist hit his chest and knocked him off the railing.
"Eri…are you alright?" Izuku asked as he set her down and held her tightly. He could feel her shakily nod but it did nothing to appease him, only filling him with fury.
"Buir, watch over Eri for a bit, I'll be right back, alright cyar'ika?"
"O-okay…"
Izuku then grabbed the railing and hopped over.
Katsuki growled as he hit the ground harshly, a sharp sting already blooming in his jaw.
'THAT SON OF A-'
"KUGH!" He gasped as he felt something impact his chest.
"Listen here, aruetii," Deku growled with his foot on his chest.
Bakugo snarled before the foot moved and his vision was suddenly tilted to the side as the foot was now firmly planted on his face.
"DEKU!"
"SHUT UP!" Deku barked. "I'm going to make this as clear as possible. I don't care why you're here, how you're here, what you think of me or what you say. But if you EVER scare Eri like that again because of your inability to communicate like a normal human being I will tear out your voice box! Are we clear?"
Lightning surged out Deku's furious eyes as he glared back trying to convey as much hatred as possible.
"You…" He growled.
"I said…are we clear?" Deku repeated, increasing the pressure, making it nigh unbearable.
"Tch…fine!" He forced out and the pressure immediately went away, Deku not even bothering to say anything else before leaping back up.
Katsuki coughed out the dust that had flown into his mouth and snarled as his hand crackled with explosions.
Cursing out the other boy, he soon made his way back up to the stands where he saw Deku and his little entourage leave the arena, not even bothering to go for the course.
"Katsuki…" He heard from the side and his heart slightly stopped.
He recognized that voice…though admittedly, he hadn't heard it in years.
He desperately shoved some unwanted feelings down as he forced himself to stare at a woman who used to look at him with such fondness.
Now, only sadness and disappointment were in her gaze.
"A-aunty Inko…" He said, more out of habit than anything. Katsuki was not so blind that he couldn't admit that he'd lost the right to use that title a long time ago.
Inko in turn closed her eyes in pain, not physical, but emotional.
"It…it's good…" She began, opening and closing her mouth multiple times as she tried to find the words to say. "...it's nice…"
She then sighed sadly as she turned away from him.
"Take care of yourself, Katsuki…say hi to your parents for me."
Walking away from him, Katsuki swallowed deeply as he felt something hard settle in his gut and something sharp at the corner of his eyes.
As she walked away, his mouth tasted like ash.
"Are you sure you don't want to try out the course?" Melissa asked Izuku who was walking away from it.
"And give him more reason to scream? Che, I'd rather not…I just want to spend the day with all of you," Izuku said, Eri now sitting on his shoulders, much calmer but still dealing with the adrenaline.
Melissa grimaced before leaning towards Ochako and the others.
"Who was that?"
"That was Bakugo, he's another student in our class…Izuku and him have some really bad blood between them," Ochako explained as they trailed slightly behind Izuku.
"What was it he called him?"
"Deku, which means useless…it's a horrid insult, please do not ever mention the word in his presence. It infuriates him like nothing else," Momo said with a grimace as Kyoka nodded.
"Got that right, I got the details from Rex, but during his license exam, a student really hurt one of the Vod'e and called him that, apparently they knew each other from middle school…that student had to get carted away by medical personnel."
"Truth be told, he barely tolerates Bakugo's presence at school and barely pays him any attention, but he's super protective of Eri."
"Is that his sister? They don't look much alike."
"Hm? Oh no, that's his daughter."
"What!?" Melissa whisper-yelled as the three began to giggle.
"Izuku saved her from a villain group and she didn't have a home, so he basically took her in. It took him so long to admit it though," Ochako giggled as the other three then began to recall some of the cute moments between them.
Izuku, unknown to them, was able to hear every single word and was currently glad that he'd put his helmet on, (Eri liked to play with the ridges) as it currently served well to hide his blush.
"Zuku…"
"Hm?" He slightly looked up and saw Eri looking at him with concern on her face. "What's up, cyar'ika?"
"Are you sure you don't want to go?"
"Go where?"
"On that?" She said, pointing back at the course still currently flashing Bakugou's image and record on a screen. Izuku paused and grabbed her before setting her down in front of him and kneeling.
"If I did that… he would just get meaner and louder, something no one here deserves to hear, especially you."
At that, Eri seemed to think about what he said, before nodding.
"But you'll be there, right?"
Izuku blinked but nodded.
"Yes…I'll always be there for you."
"Then it's fine…I've heard worse."
Izuku's heart fell upon hearing those words, but nodded once more.
"Are you sure?"
Eri nodded and added one last thing.
"I want to see the green light again…it feels warm," She said as she started to hug his leg, a bit like a baby koala with its mom.
Turning around, he saw the girls all looking at him with teary expressions cooing over the two.
Yep. He was extremely glad that he had the helmet on.
The group eventually made their way back in time to see the remnants of a glacier break away as it melted down.
"Oh look, Todoroki's here."
"Izuku! You're back! I thought you weren't going to participate," Tenya said as he walked up and patted his friend on the shoulder and gave a little wave to Eri who waved back.
"I wasn't…but Eri wanted to see me take a shot at it, so here I am."
Tenya smiled just the slightest hint of smugness peaking through.
"Oh don't give me that look too."
"I am sorry my friend, but you must admit, you two make a very adorable sight."
Izuku somehow managed to convey a deadpan expression through the motionless visor covering his face.
"Don't think that I can't ask Tensei for baby pictures, Tenya…or should I say Ten-chan?" Izuku said in the smallest sneer one could possibly muster, to show that he was deadly serious, but didn't want to come off as a threat, like how friends usually jabbed at each other.
Now that he thought about it though, it was kinda pointless under the helmet.
Tenya gasped in horror.
"How do you know that nickname?"
"Oh you know…Tensei's always coming by for his treatments, and I just had to see how he was doing. He was so grateful that we just ended up talking and the topic landed on you. So like I said, I could easily call in… a favor…"
"You wouldn't…"
"Oh, but I would."
"Mercy!" Tenya begged but Izuku only cackled as he began to walk down toward the arena after leaving Eri with him, the girl rubbing his leg in an attempt to comfort him as a depressive aura emanated from him.
Izuku took a deep breath as the announcer girl called out his approach.
"And now we have a new contestant, we have a special treat today as we get to see Japan's newest sensation, Mand'alor!"
'Japan's newest sensation? That's a bit of a stretch, no?' He thought with a sweatdrop, only to be met with awkward silence and sheepish brothers inside of her head, while Nana just sighed.
'Really, Izuku?'
'Right, right, I get your point, ba'buir…' He groaned in defeat and resignation, before cracking his neck and preparing himself for the course as he drew his blasters.
"OYA!" He exclaimed, just as the timer started.
One For All immediately sprang to life, enveloping his body like a hurricane as he flashed from spot to spot, spinning and shooting, and even kicking and punching the villains.
He was practically lightning incarnate, and a torrent of blue bolts flew in seemingly all directions, yet each of them hit their mark perfectly.
Shortly after, the timer called to a stop, with Izuku looking up to see his score. It was a whole three seconds faster than Bakugou's.
Most people looked somewhat dumbfounded at what had just happened, until the sound of a single person clapping started to emanate from the crowd, which soon turned into roaring applause.
Izuku took off his helmet and smiled before raising his fist much to the crowd's approval.
Heading back up, he was quick to hug Eri who had wrapped herself around his leg.
Eri looked at him with such adoration in her eyes that it made him slightly choke up.
"You were great."
"Thank you, Eri."
With another hug he picked her up and they headed back towards the main group to where Kirishima was talking with the others.
"Oh hey, Midoriya! That was super manly dude, you blitzed through that course like it was nothing, even beat out Todoroki and Bakubro."
Izuku blinked.
'Bakubro?'
"Look, sorry about what happened earlier, I forgot that it's pretty much on sight between you too…"
"It's nothing to be worried about, Kirishima…how are you guys here though? The preview's tickets are a lot more expensive than the general I-Island ones."
"Oh, Bakubro got two tickets for winning the Sports Festival and he brought me along."
Izuku closed his eyes in slight annoyance.
Of course, the Sports Festival.
Sometimes it really felt that there was a cosmic being that was guiding things along and made it so that Bakugo won the Sports Festival as an excuse for him to be here and annoy him.
Bah, now he was getting off topic.
'Putting aside the existential crisis.'
"But again, I'm really sorry about him…I didn't expect him to-"
"Kirishima, let me stop you there," Izuku interrupted as he raised his hand. "Look, I honestly do not care about Bakugo being here. I was just pissed cause he can only speak in Howler Monkey and scared Eri…if you want to try and become his friend that's your choice. It doesn't change anything between us."
'Now that I think about it, where did he go? I thought for sure he'd be screaming again that I beat him…oh well, no matter.'
"Anyway, I'm glad that you got this chance to be here. Enjoy yourself, see the sights, and I'll see you later at the party tonight," He said, patting the other boy on the shoulder, trying to not sound too dismissive as he began walking away shortly after, with Eri and the rest of his friends following suit.
A few minutes of quiet walking later, he felt someone tug on his hand and looked down to see Eri's ruby red eyes look into his own.
"Something wrong, Eri?" He asked as he kneeled down to be at eye height with her, while the horned girl just shuffled her feet somewhat sheepishly.
"I'm hungry…" She muttered a bit embarrassed due to the fact that it hadn't been that long since her last snack.
Izuku only chuckled as he gently ruffled her hair, something she seemed to enjoy, before picking her up.
"How about we find a snack stall then, cyar'ika?" He said with a smile as the little girl nodded gently while he began walking once more, both of them now looking for something to eat.
Shortly after, the two would be walking inside of the Expo again Izuku with a can of matcha flavored boba tea and Eri munching on a bun with red bean filling.
While walking around however, the two once more ran into Melissa who decided to join the two on their walk, as she was curious to learn more about the both of them and their friends.
"I still can't believe how complex this armor is…it's made out of a material that I've never seen before that makes it extremely durable, yet it's also lighter compared to other types of body armor used by heroes and other countries' militaries…" The blonde girl said in awe, as she inspected every inch of the vambrace she was currently holding in her hands, after asking Izuku if he could take it off so she could get a better look at it.
"Well, the fact that the entire armor itself consists of about twenty individual plates, still makes it kind of heavy at times though…" Izuku said sheepishly, as he had on several occasions seen many of his brothers walking around wearing only parts of the armor back at campus.
"Interesting…I see that you carry a set of weapons too, if the holsters are anything to go by."
"Yeah, I have a rifle and a pistol as a sidearm, although lately I've been meaning to have a sword added to my gear. My only problem is that every blade I use shatters under the force I use."
Melissa paused as she recalled something from the back of her mind.
"Come with me, I want to show you something."
Izuku was quickly dragged off, Eri coming along with them, and he quickly waved a goodbye to the others but promised to be back soon.
Ochako's eye twitched slightly, something that was noticed by Momo.
"Are you alright, Ochako?" The heiress asked her friend, worry in her tone.
"Just. Fine," The brunette said through clenched teeth while having her eyes shut, doing her best to maintain her smile.
It took a bit, but they eventually made their way to Melissa's personal laboratory.
"Wow, you've certainly created a lot, haven't you?"
"Well…it is my passion."
She then moved to a desk where a few boxes were.
"You know…I wanted to be a hero when I was younger…but after I was diagnosed quirkless, I switched to Support Tech. I thought that if I could at least help the heroes with my tech, I could save lives indirectly."
Izuku blinked in surprise. Quirkless people were getting rarer and rarer nowadays, to find two within the last few months within his age range, and not from the older generations…
It was humbling to say the least, because were it not for his brethren, he'd be the same.
"For what it's worth, I believe that you could be a fine hero regardless…quirks don't make heroes, people do."
Melissa smiled sadly at him, before shaking her head in melancholy.
"To be a hero, you need a quirk, and a good one of that. A quirkless hero would never be accepted by hero society, let alone the Commission. And what would I even be able to do if I actually got my license? Pretty sure 'distraction' is the first thing many would think of…"
Izuku unfortunately, had no response to that…if anything it now left him worried for Isobe…was she alright? Was she still pursuing her dream? And if so, was she being blocked by it?
It was a good thing he had a particularly furry friend who could help.
"Well…it's a good thing that Nezu loves to stick it to the commission."
Melissa blinked.
"You know Principal Nezu?"
"We've had a few training events together, and he sponsored me so that I could get my provisional license ahead of schedule. You've reminded me of another quirkless girl who also wants to be a hero, and if what you said is true, then I'll have to help her reach her dream."
Melissa was taken aback at how brazen the younger boy was about defying the Commission.
"If you ever decide to go the hero route, I'm sure he'd help you too," He said, while also thinking back to what she said about what role she could fill if she managed to get a license.
"Ever considered using any of the support gear that you make?" He asked, to which she blinked a couple of times.
"I have every now and then. Problem is that they're primarily made to strengthen or help control a quirk, not the person. And… I don't think I've ever heard of a quirkless hero in history either," She said, sounding more and more deflated with each passing second.
Thinking about what he could do to try and lift her spirit and keep her hope alive, Izuku racked his brain for what he could say, until something, or rather someone came to mind.
"...Jango didn't have a quirk either, and he managed to get into the Hero Course," Izuku said, making her head perk up.
"Who?" Melissa asked as she turned her head towards the greenet, who currently looked like he was having a slightly difficult time keeping his composure, if the restlessness of his hands and feet were anything to go by.
Taking a deep breath, the freckled teen cleared his throat, before speaking up.
"Jango…he was my brother…he was the first of the Vod'e to come out…but even being part of a quirk, he didn't have access to the strength, the speed, anything. All my brothers practically fight quirkless…he…" Izuku trailed off a bit as he centered himself, feeling Nana's comfort and even Hikage's with the Vod'e.
"At the USJ, when we fought that villain…no, that monster…I got taken out of the fight. Just one blow and…I was down…he jumped in, distracted it, drove it away…but…he didn't make it."
"I…I'm sorry…"
"But that doesn't change the fact that he was a hero…he was my hero…he didn't have any powers…only the gear he was given… in their words, they're just clones…but like how a quirk doesn't make a hero, so too does the fact that they're clones doesn't make them anything less."
He bowed his head as he softly smiled. The pain was still there…no great realization or act would fully remove it. But it was more manageable…the memories bittersweet.
'Aay'han.'
"If he were here today, I'm sure he'd say the same thing…"
Her eyes widened as he fully faced her and extended his hand.
"Melissa…you can become a hero."
Melissa ducked her head and turned away, leaning heavily against her desk, her shoulders trembling as she tried to keep her cries to herself.
Izuku gently left her alone…knowing that this was something that she needed.
"T-thank you…I…you were right…I needed to hear that," He heard her say as he continued to give her space.
She then straightened up and rubbed her face, tidying up her hair and basically making herself presentable again.
Looking at how the girl in front of him had her hope rekindled, made Izuku smile softly as he closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to the time his first brother had helped him through all of his hardships. Even if he wasn't amongst the living anymore, his words still helped people when they needed it the most..
Melissa then opened a box revealing two red bracelets.
"I'm not sure how well these will work with your armor, but I created these to withstand Uncle Might's punches three times. I call them Full Gauntlets."
Passing them to him, Izuku admired the craftsmanship before taking off his armor. The black body suit would have to stay on, but hopefully it wouldn't be too tight.
Melissa quickly explained how to expand it and his eyes widened as in a flash of color his forearm was now covered.
"Hmm…it's nice but…" Melissa mumbles as she then began to fiddle with something and grabbed his vambraces from the side, in another flash of light, the armor was now slightly meshed together.
"I think it a shame to have the armor separated, it certainly does keep the look together," Melissa said with a grin and Izuku smiled back.
A slight glint from the side and his attention was caught by something else.
"Oh? What's that?" He said as he walked over to another desk where it seemed that she was working on another project.
"Oh that? It's nothing really…truth be told I've been watching you for a while now, and I saw your swordsmanship skills against Stain. I thought about creating a sword but I also wanted to challenge myself," She sighed, looking down on the ground in frustration.
"Challenge yourself? You mean as in the hilt, the design or the blade?" He asked, to which she nodded, as he picked up the project and looked at it. The hilt was made out of a silver colored alloy and looked like that of a katana used back in feudal Japan several centuries ago. And just like the ancient swords, it was a beautiful work of art.
"Pretty much, however if what you're telling me is true, then I don't know if any type of blade made of any so far known solid alloys or materials would be able to handle your quirk…"
'No blade of any solid material… hold up…'
"That's it!" Izuku exclaimed, hitting his own palm with his clenched fist and startled Eri and Melissa in the process.
"What about something energy-based?"
"Well…yeah, I've considered that too, my problem is that well…look here," She said as she pointed at the hilt he was looking at.
"The material that I used for this hilt is designed to not break because it constantly absorbs energy, particularly electrical in nature. It's sort of self-repairing in that sense, I couldn't use it for the full blade because it doesn't conduct that energy very well and would get brittle and snap even with the energy output spread throughout."
"Inside would be an energy source that could transmit a blade through a focus and out of the hilt, however, the foci that I've been using aren't up to snuff. I had a shipment of special crystals that we got from the Arctic but they were lost at sea."
"Is there anything else you can use?"
"Well," Melissa said as she motioned towards the pile of broken crystals.
"I've tried to use a multitude of foci, but every single one has been unable to handle the strain."
She sighed in frustration and shook her head.
"Maybe I should just give up on this…"
Izuku hummed as he idly fingered the crystal under his shirt.
For some reason…
"Hey…" He called out, catching her attention. "Try it with this."
He held out the black crystal, even now still appearing to absorb light around it.
"Are you sure?" She asked. "I can't guarantee that it'll survive."
"Trust me."
"...Alright."
She quickly popped open the hilt and began to do some work, carefully removing the crystal from the necklace it was attached to and inserting it into the hilt.
"Let's hope this works…would you like to do the honors?" She said, as she closed the chamber, before handing the invention towards the hero-in-training.
"Sure," Izuku said as he grabbed the hilt and pointed it towards the ceiling.
WHIIIIRRRRRR-reeerrrrr
The sword seemed to sing a haunting melody as it ignited for the first time, all of them gasping at its ethereal beauty.
It was black, but seemed to emanate a white energy that crackled around its edge and gave off an aura, an aura that spoke of authority and commanded respect, yet at the same time of protection and duty.
Whosoever would stand before this blade would know fear…and whosoever would stand behind it would feel protected.
"It's kinda heavy but…it feels…right…" Izuku muttered, as he slowly and gently moved it through the air in what normally would be a horizontal slash.
"I can't believe it's actually working! YES!" Melissa shouted in excitement, catching the other two off guard.
"Ehem…sorry…" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"It's so pretty…" Eri said as she was enchanted by the blade.
"I guess that's another thing to thank you for, eh, Jango?" Izuku whispered before turning it off.
"Take it with you…it was meant for you anyway," Melissa said and Izuku nodded his thanks.
"You've certainly helped me out a lot, Melissa…are you sure you don't want to talk to Nezu now? You're certainly becoming my hero already!" He said, giving her a bright smile, which was accompanied by Eri's eager nodding.
Melissa flushed but was pleased.
A call is here! A call is here!
"Whoops…" Izuku muttered as he grabbed his phone and saw that it was Buir.
"Buir?"
"Izuku! Where are you!? We needed to get ready for the party, and I still need to do Eri's hair! Toshi's already waiting for us!"
"Uh…we'll be right there!" He said as he hung up and grabbed Eri.
"Thank you for everything, I'll see you at the party!"
"Right! See you there!
Izuku then sped off with Eri in his arms as they quickly made their way back to the hotel.
Melissa watched them leave with a smile before she looked back to her lab.
"A hero…huh?"
Gate 66
Stepping out of the shipping bay, a man looked around at the clueless civilians walking around all over the place, before his eyes settled at the giant tower in the distance, making him let out a chuckle as he made a call.
"We've got the goods…wait what? All Might and Mand'alor?"
The villain growled as he looked over his crew grabbing the supplies they needed.
"Wait…a secret family? No way he has a secret family…that's just the media reaching for straws."
He then paused as he considered something.
"Mand'alor's family huh? Well…at least we know how to keep the both of them in line."
Dr. Shield's Private Lab
Toshinori's body had been showing wonderful results. The scar tissue was decreasing, although most likely it wouldn't ever disappear completely, his organs were reappearing at a decent pace (it was projected that he would be able to eat fully by the time the next semester started), and he was even regaining some lost muscle mass.
Overall, he wasn't a complete twig anymore, but while his physical body was one thing, there was another matter of great concern.
"I…I don't get it, Toshi…" Dave said as he stared at the screen in horror.
"Even with your body healing…your quirk levels are still decaying rapidly…what's happening? Even after your fight with All For One…"
Toshinori sighed as he stared at his oldest friend.
"I guess…when you've been a hero as long as I have…" It felt hollow to say that…and he knew he was being hypocritical…especially after telling Inko, although there'd been extenuating circumstances.
'I want to tell him, he deserves to know…but all he and Melissa have are each other, and I can't drag them into the fight.' He thought as guilt started swelling up inside of him over having to lie to people he had practically considered family for years on end now. Would David even still consider him a friend if he told him? Of course he wouldn't. Friends were supposed to be able to trust their secrets with each other, and yet he still hadn't told him about One For All in all of the years they had known each other. If he told him now, David would probably feel like Toshinori didn't consider him trustworthy.
"Then I guess this is it…the Symbol of Peace really is dying…it's only because of you that Japan's crime rate stays at 6%, other countries have about 20%, a few even worse…without you…who will keep the peace?"
Toshinori sighed as he got off the bed, and walked over to place his hand on his oldest friend's shoulder.
"Dave…there's no need to be so pessimistic, my friend. There are still plenty of heroes out there who will fight the good fight…besides…I have hope for a better future, thanks to my son, Mand'alor."
"Your…son? What?!"
"Not by blood…but in spirit and every other way that matters," Toshinori said as he put on his clothes. "Come…there's a video I want to show you, quite a few actually."
Dave let himself be taken out of the private lab and led away.
Regret filled his heart as he hoped his friend would forgive him for what he'd done.
The moment they stepped outside of the lab however, David saw something… peculiar to say the least.
"I don't remember hiring any security besides the robots?" He said, as he saw a few soldiers walking around in white armor, carrying around what could only be some kind of strange guns.
"Ah, I was wondering when they'd get here! Over here boys!"
The group of soldiers perked up and waved back before heading over.
"Good to see you again, All Might, glad to see you're doing alright."
Dave choked.
"Th-they know?"
"Oh right, I haven't had a chance to explain yet. Dave, these are some of the Vod'e, they're clones that come from Izuku's quirk. He already knows my secret, naturally, they know as well."
They made their way to an office where Dave got to know the different clones, truth be told, he was quite surprised at how unique they were.
"Come…I want to show you some of my boy's exploits."
Sitting down, Dave turned on the tv and passed the remote to Toshinori so that he could search for a video.
"Oh! Hey, All Might, show him the new video that came out!"
"What new video?"
"You haven't seen it yet? Look up 'Who is Mand'alor?' It's by that popular Hero commenter."
"Izuku's gotten a video from him? I'm quite amazed…he usually only does that for Top 100 heroes or others that catch his eye."
The Vod'e just chuckled, glad to see their brother getting the attention he deserved.
"Let's start then."
The video's thumbnail was a mash of images of Izuku at different times of his young career with a focus of his helmet.
Clicking on it, the commenter's intro played before moving onto the actual video.
"Welcome, one and all to today's video. I don't think I've seen so many requests to do a particular hero since All Might's 30th anniversary video, but here it is. He's been making waves ever since the USJ and has shocked millions with his words and actions. Allow me to introduce you to the Rising Symbol of Hope: Mand'alor!"
'Rising Symbol of Hope?' Dave thought as he let the video continue.
As they watched the video, Toshinori couldn't help but think of the future.
'My time is running out, maybe not as much as before, but one day the Symbol of Peace will fall…and in his place, a Symbol of Hope alongside a Foundation.' He thought as he recalled Izuku and his friends.
Toshinori softly smiled.
The future was in good hands.
Dave meanwhile was astonished and as he continued to watch with Toshinori commenting about everything.
A part of him began to feel hope.
Sneakily opening his phone, he sent a quick message.
D: Cancel it. Send the actors their payment. But tell them we don't need them anymore.
S: What? Why?
D: Because if what All Might's saying is true…then the future is in safe hands. Please Sam, cancel it.
S: Sigh…very well.
S: There. I sent them the message and the payment.
D: Thank you, Sam.
S: I hope you're sure about this.
Meeting up with Toshinori after the call to remind him of the party, Izuku, Inko and Eri arrived to discuss what they would do after the speech, with David also being present to greet Izuku and tell him to just have fun afterwards.
"We'll see you guys at the party, alright?"
"Sure thing, have fun with your stepdad."
"Krk."
Surprisingly enough, the choke wasn't Izuku's but Inko's.
He gave an odd glance at her, feeling that she was hiding something.
She smiled sheepishly at him before sweeping Eri up and moving along.
"Huh…that was weird."
Nana facepalmed inside the Mindscape, followed by the sound of countless of the Vod'e still inside doing the same along with exasperated sighing.
'What? What did I say? Why do you all sound so disappointed?!' He asked, wondering what prompted them to do that.
'You'll understand soon enough…' Nana said in an exasperated tone while Izuku just shrugged and began heading towards his room so that he could change into a more formal state of dress for the party, rather than his armor.
Soon they'd be meeting up with Toshinori, who was actually still in his hero suit but he'd quickly leave to take care of some quick business.
On his way there, he ran into Tenya, Denki, Ochako and Momo who decided to follow him and catch up with each other's experiences during the past few hours.
Soon enough they split up again, since they had their reservations at a different hotel so that they could change over to their more fancy clothes.
Surprisingly enough, Toshinori had come over again. Apparently, a lot of his old buddies from America and many other heroes that he'd worked with wanted to see Mand'alor.
"I'd like for you all to join me to meet them."
Izuku had changed into a nice, simple black suit with a vest. It was a simple design but comfortable and he'd even managed to get one of those nice shirts with cufflink holes.
He proudly donned U.A. cufflinks, they were a gift from Nezu from a while back.
The only thing was that he struggled with the stupid tie, so he finally decided to just get rid of it and take off the top button. It made him look like a perfect gentleman though there was one very noticeable thing that stood out, the vambrace adorning his right arm.
The moment Toshinori saw him, the older man froze for a bit before grinning and saying that he looked nice.
'Why did buir look terrified for a moment?' He thought, before shrugging it off and returning the smile as he walked up on them.
"Are you sure you want us to head in with you? It might cause more problems with the media."
Unknown to Izuku however, a few people in the crowd were eyeing him with interest, a smile spreading across their lips as they eagerly awaited for the right moment, which went unnoticed by the masses.
"Well, my boy, it most likely will, but many have requested to see you today…" Toshinori sighed slightly as his gaze met Inko's. "Besides, I want to be with you all."
Inko flushed before smiling at him in gratitude, she was wearing the most beautiful emerald dress that complimented her hair and eyes, a gift from him when she'd been too nervous to come for fear of being underdressed.
He smiled back before looking around, and spotted a group of familiar faces, before checking the time and smiled even wider than usual.
"You have a few minutes before the main event starts, so why don't you go and say hello to your friends first?"
"Ah, they're still changing, they sent me a message that they'd be a little late, besides, I'm enjoying my time with you as well."
Izuku then kneeled and picked up Eri, the little one wearing a slightly puffy red dress with her hair done up in pigtails, quite simply, she looked like an adorable little princess.
Giving her a gentle hug and a small nuzzle on the cheek, he set her down on the ground once more as he finished preparing the last things, just as the event began.
Cameras soon flashed and the media prepared to go live, as the freckled teen stepped up with All Might and faced the crowd.
All Might had decided to escort Inko as well, so she'd been under a lot of scrutiny ever since they'd walked in.
"Toshinori, I thought you wanted to keep this a secret from the public?" She whispered.
"I know…but…to be honest, I'm tired of keeping secrets…it'll be tough but I'm serious about this, about you."
"What about AFO?"
"If he truly is alive…then there's no doubt in my mind that he already knows, but either way, I will always be there to protect you."
Hearing those words, Inko flushed slightly as she clutched his arm ever so tighter.
"It's great to see you here, Toshi. And you as well, Izuku…or should I say Mand'alor? Toshi's been telling me a lot about you."
"Hopefully only good things," Izuku said as he adjusted his head so that Eri could bury her face in his neck, the poor girl was still heavily shy.
Truth be told he was worried about having Eri publicly exposed like this, but All Might had explained that having them as a united front with her would be more than enough to make any villain second guess trying to kidnap her.
Plus, having a few of his brothers hidden here and there with blasters at the ready didn't exactly hurt either. He could however swear that he heard Thorn lamenting about something in his head though.
"We're honored that everybody could be here for this historic moment. As you all know, the I-Expo is globally regarded as the pinnacle in technology, both for saving lives and improving them," David's assistant Sam began after clicking a champagne glass with his spoon.
"Today is even more historic as we have with us Japan's very own Symbol of Peace: All Might, and if we're not mistaken, his protege, the Rising Symbol of Hope: Mand'alor, would the two of you like to give a few words?"
Both Izuku and Toshinori stiffened in shock, the latter giving an annoyed glare at his friend.
"You could have warned us, Dave."
"It's not like it wasn't going to happen as soon as they knew you were here…although, I am a bit surprised that Sam asked for you to come up as well, Midoriya."
Izuku shook his head in exasperation.
"Well…we might as well go up, right?"
Toshinori nodded and Izuku was quick to pass Eri to his mother who quickly led her away from the cameras.
All Might went up first, with Izuku right next to him and began his speech.
"Well, I'm not one for speeches, so let me just say that-"
An alarm rang out as an emergency sign appeared behind them.
"THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE I-ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEM, WE HAVE RECEIVED A REPORT THAT AN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE WAS DISCOVERED SOMEWHERE ON THE I-EXPO GROUNDS."
Throughout the island, various robot drones began to file out and corral the people back to their residences, many of them rightfully confused and scared at the sudden turn of events.
"I-ISLAND WILL NOW BE IN HIGH ALERT MODE. YOUR SAFETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY. RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS SHOULD NOW RETURN TO THEIR LODGINGS AND REMAIN INSIDE. IF THAT IS NOT A POSSIBILITY, PLEASE FIND THE NEAREST SECURITY CENTER."
Many of Izuku's friends and classmates, unaware of the actual danger that would soon be known, followed the orders, but were still worried about their friends.
"ANYONE REMAINING ON THE STREET AFTER TEN MINUTES WILL BE IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW. PLEASE STAY OUT OF PUBLIC AREAS. AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE MOST OF THE MAIN ISLAND BUILDINGS WILL NOW BE SEALED OFF. I REPEAT WE HAVE RECEIVED A REPORT-."
At that moment, the doors to the party opened and armed men entered, aiming their weapons at the civilians and began herding them towards the middle of the room, threatening to mow down every single person in the room if the pro heroes tried to do anything.
Clones in the room immediately began to react, taking out pistols and other weapons they were able to conceal, causing a heavy standoff to occur.
"What is the meaning of this?!" David shouted as the armed men finally managed to put all of the hostages into one place.
The doors opened again and another man in a lab coat with dark red hair and a mask appeared.
"In case you haven't caught on, the security system is under our control," He then gestured to the screen. "I know we've got a lot of heroes here, but if you decide to make a scene?"
The screen flashed to show the numerous civilians near the security robots.
"I'll make sure that the security sentries think that the good people they have in their sights are dangerous criminals," He said with a dark chuckle, as he started walking towards the pedestal where David, All Might and Mand'alor were.
The latter was itching to run the villain through, but he couldn't. Not with so many people at risk, not with them at risk.
"So, let's play nice, because everyone on this island is my hostage!"
He then walked forward as Izuku made a slicing motion with his hand.
"What's the matter, boy? Is that supposed to be sign language? Cat got your tongue?" The man said in a mocking tone just as he reached the teenager.
He then reached up to his ear and spoke with somebody.
"Do it. All except for him."
Holes opened up in the floor and blue bands of energized chains wrapped up each hero, including All Might.
"BUIR!"
"Crap!" All Might said as he began to struggle.
BANG!
"No sudden moves. If you take a step, I'll kill everyone in this room," The villain said, holding a smoking gun which he had fired, nearly grazing All Might as the bullet impacted in the wall on the other side of the room.
The several mechanical hissing sounds could be heard amongst the crowd, as the clones turned off the safety on their blasters, allowing the gas in the cartridges to flow into their weapons.
"Villain! Hurgh!" All Might grunted as he was kicked down.
"Good boy…now as for you, Mand'alor," He said mockingly. "Why don't you tell your little clones to stand down and put their hands in the air…we wouldn't want things to get messy, would we?"
Mand'alor glared at him but forced out the words.
"[Brothers, stand down but be ready.]"
The clones jerked at the particular wording but soon enough set down their weapons and kicked them over to the thugs who picked them up and seemed to inspect them, before deciding to discard their old, projectile based guns in favor of the highly advanced blasters.
"Good…you have some sense in you, boy."
Meanwhile, Toshinori and Dave were having a silent conversation, the latter assuring him that he would ensure everyone's safety.
Somewhere else in the building
While the guests, All Might, David, Mand'alor and most of the Vod'e that had come with them were being held hostage in the main hall, most of the students and the clones usually hanging out with them had avoided being captured, however, at the moment, they were currently clueless about what they should do.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Fordo said as he bit one of his fingers in frustration, being concerned for his brothers who were stationed the same place the party was held, before trying to communicate with them by using his wrist comm, only to be met with static. "Dammit, I can't get through to Ori'vod," He said as he looked at the others.
"My phone has no signal," Shoto, who was currently wearing a white suit, said as he looked down at his mobile device that was currently being blocked out by the system.
"The elevators aren't functional either," Kyouka informed the others in a frustrated tone, before kicking the terminal. This however, only hurt her foot, causing her to swear for the next couple of minutes while clutching it in pain, having forgotten that the shoes she currently wore weren't meant for anything outside of a gala, unlike her heavy boots that were with her hero costume.
"There's something wrong here…this level of security wouldn't be needed just to handle a single explosive device…" Melissa said, with some of the clones from the permanent guard at UA nodded, having read everything in the manual about all sorts of crisis situations.
"Usually, all civilians would be asked to leave the premises, and then a squad of bomb defusers would be sent in to disarm the explosive…"
"Miss Shield, would you know a way we could get to where the party is at? Something about this smells rotten," Fordo asked, to which the blonde girl nodded.
"We can get there if we use the emergency stairs."
"Then please, lead the way," The second eldest of the Vod'e said, as the rest of the clones locked and loaded, while also handing out some spare blasters to the students, while Fordo handed one of his pistols to Melissa who looked at him with shock. "Know how to handle a gun?"
"I-I would never kill anyone!" She said in protest, a mix of fear and anger in her voice.
"Don't worry. We've been instructed to only ever use the stun setting on living beings, unless nothing else is optional, and even then we keep to the lower settings," He said, as he once more held the blaster towards her, seemingly being very insistent on her taking it, which she did after a couple of minutes, although reluctantly.
"Follow me," She said, as she led the group towards the emergency stairs.
Izuku cursed under his breath over how helpless he and his brothers were to help all of the innocent people trapped with them, while all of the other pros in the room, especially All Might, felt just as angry at themselves for being unable to do anything other than just sit and look pretty.
What no one expected however, was Sam walking over to the villain and addressing him, the action causing everyone in the room's jaws to drop, especially David's.
"Right this way, Wolfram," The elderly assistant said, as he started to lead the now named villain towards a room.
"What are you doing, Sam?! Explain yourself!" The scientist shouted, anger and hurt clear in his voice over the apparent betrayal of his friend.
"I am simply doing what you were unable to do. Sell the device to the highest bidder. You are a fool for not seeing just how much money this thing could make us, David," Sam explained in a dead serious and disappointed tone. "With this I can finally retire and disappear."
'Device? What device?' Mand'alor and All Might thought, just as they saw the butler start to walk away with the villain.
"Don't do this! Do you really think he will just uphold his end of the deal once he obtains it!? Don't be a fool!" David shouted, causing the villain to turn towards him with an annoyed look on his face, before his eyes widened.
"You're David Shield, aren't you? Perfect. You will be of much use to me," He said as he grabbed the scientist by the collar and started to drag him away.
"DAVID!" All Might shouted and tried to move in his restraints before the terrorists pointed the blasters at him.
"What did we say about moving, punk?" One of them snarled, as he walked over to one of the clones and pointed the weapon directly at his helmet, before pulling the trigger, the sound of the gas being ignited and turned into plasma echoing through the air, with the trooper collapsing to the floor less than a second later, a smoking hole left in the helmet.
"VOD!" A clone cried out as he tried to cradle the body but was pushed back by another thug.
"This is what we'll do from now on every time you move even an inch," He said as he started to laugh cruelly at the hostages horrified expressions, taking pleasure in their fear, before noticing the death glare Mand'alor was giving him, with the guard just laughing some more as he started to walk away, but not before kicking the lifeless corpse of the clone he had killed.
'I'm going to kill him.' Izuku thought to himself.
"Izuku…I'm so sorry…" All Might whispered, shame filling him as he let his head fall on the floor.
Izuku couldn't reply, merely shaking his head.
The freckled teen kept on glaring at the guard while gritting his teeth, as he looked at his fallen brother, who didn't even have a chance to defend himself, before scanning the rest of the room.
With Wolfram gone, the only ones still here were the armed guards and another villain who was approaching him.
"Well now, I certainly wouldn't want to miss out on this opportunity."
"And who are you?" Izuku ground out already getting a bad feeling about this.
"Ha ha ha! Who am I? I'm Sorc Tormo, baby!"
Izuku's eyes widened. He'd heard about this particular villain. He was infamous for capturing heroes and forcing them to participate in brutal death matches against machines, beasts and even other people.
How he managed such a large operation without ever being caught and constantly on the move was one of the biggest mysteries of the analysis world of heroics.
"Ah, it looks like you do recognize me. Well, let me get straight to the point, I'm bored. I've got orders from a man that all three of us should recognize," He said, motioning to All Might.
All For One.
"-to not kill you, but it doesn't mean I can't have some fun!"
Izuku didn't have a moment to gasp before Tormo touched his chest and he glowed before the world went dark.
"IZUKU!"
"VOD!"
Sorc Tormo grinned as he extended his hand and a miniature coliseum appeared in the middle of the room. Sure, after this his quirk would have been revealed to the world, but this was an opportunity that could not be refused.
"Now…let's see what All Might's personal apprentice can handle, eh?"
Toshinori stiffened and many others in the room gasped in shock.
"Oh? That wasn't revealed yet, was it? No matter…let's get on with the show. But what's a show without music?" He said before turning towards a group of heroes that had been banded together.
"I recognize you guys, The Hu. Mongolia's top hero team/band. Here's the deal, you guys play some music and I don't cause some damage. How about it?"
The leader of the group, and also Mongolia's number one hero, Khan, grimaced and nodded and they were released from their bonds and allowed to grab their instruments.
They spoke a few words to each other in their native language before starting the music.
Izuku woke up to the sound of cheering and drums, walking slowly forward before hearing something sounding like throat singing in a language he didn't understand, sending a shiver down his spine. This felt like a complete reversal of the Sports Festival, where his brothers had done the same, although in Mando'a.
"Finally, you're here!"
Izuku glared at the image of Sorc Tormo appearing as a giant holographic figure.
"We have a special challenger today! Japan's newest sensation! He's been catching everybody's eye, even the great All Might! It's the Rising Symbol of Hope: MAND'ALOR!"
Multiple figures in the crowd roared, although Izuku wasn't exactly sure how they were here. From what he could see, he was inside a miniature coliseum and could see the people outside.
"Let's see what he's got!"
Izuku took off his suit jacket and let it fall before quickly grabbing his newest sword and igniting it, along with drawing the blaster from the holster on his chest, which he had hidden beneath the garment.
"Ooh! Baby's got a new toy! This is going to be so much FUN!"
Slowly, the arena doors began to open and out came beasts and insects of unknown origin, far larger than anything he'd ever seen or even knew existed.
"You want a show? I'll give you a show!"
Back at the emergency stairs, the group of students and clones were making their way up the flights as fast as they could, before Kyouka stopped and made a hand signal for them to stop, while sticking her jacks into the ground and closing her eyes.
"A group of drones up ahead… numbering about five or six," She said, with the rest of the group looking around for cover and preparing their blasters.
"The best outcome would be if we are able to take them all down at the same time," Fordo whispered as he looked at Denki, giving the electric blonde a nod and gesturing for him to come closer.
Denki looked from behind the corner he was hiding and looked at Fordo and towards his classmates, each of them being ready, with the drones passing by just as Fordo gave them the signal, and they each fired a shot at the automatons.
Before the robots could react, each of them were hit by the blue blaster bolts, the ionized plasma quickly frying and shutting down their internal systems.
"Coast is clear, let's get a move on."
Making their way up to the veranda, they were all surprised to see villains having taken the party hostage.
"This is bad…All Might's down, he can't do anything…Hold up… where's Izuku?!" Ochako whispered as she tried to look around for her friend, her hazel brown eyes scanning each inch of the room, before letting out a horrified gasp and falling backwards, landing on her butt with the others looking at her in worry.
"Ochako, what's wrong?" Momo whispered, as the brunette slowly lifted her trembling arm to point at what she saw, with the ravenette's eyes following the direction, and soon covered her mouth in shock as soon as she realized what the gravity defying girl had seen.
"No…they've…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. What they'd seen was the body of a clone, having been shot dead only moments before they arrived if the small trail of smoke was anything to go by.
"Agh…poor vod…" Fordo said as he shook his head.
Right now though, they needed to focus, they could mourn later.
"Vod Jirou, plug your jack into the wall, let's see if we can communicate with All Might."
"R-right…"
Once she did, Fordo grabbed All Might's attention with a flashlight and made some hand movements so that he could speak.
All Might swallowed and responded.
"Villains have taken over the island's security system…it seems that your father was betrayed by one of his subordinates...they're heading up the tower for some kind of secret project that was locked away. Izuku's been captured by Torc Sormo, he's been miniaturized and is currently inside the arena in the center of the room, fighting for his life."
Toshinori then looked up slightly and saw that Inko and Eri were safe, much to his relief.
"Inko and Eri are safe…you need to leave here and get help."
"I need to get outside of the tower for that…" Fordo said, making most of them look incredulously at him.
"Look, I thought something like this could happen, so I asked Cody if Nezu would be kind enough to station something around the island to help us."
"What do you mean that you thought something like this could happen?" Ochako asked him.
"Easy, it's vod, something always happens," He answered in the most deadpan tone anyone had ever heard him speak in.
Trying to protest against that claim for a moment, while coming up with several excuses in her head, Ochako decided to give up arguing with him, as she knew he was right.
"We should split up. That way we can cover more ground," Tenya said, to which most of the group nodded.
It was interesting, in one universe they'd argue about leaving the safety of their unknown position or going ahead and rescuing the Island regardless of the consequences. But here, whether it be their loyalty to their friends, or their innate desire to do good, they were united in thought and action, knowing that they needed to do what was necessary.
"I'm staying here. I'll be your eyes and ears," Kyouka said, giving them a dead serious look.
"Then you'll need a comm," Fordo said as he took his off his wrist and passed it to her.
"I'll let you know if anything changes."
"Right."
Fordo then got All Might's attention, and although the man was worried, he knew that there was no choice but to place their trust in the fledgling heroes.
With one final salute, they sped off to save their friends..
The group soon found themselves tired after heading up multiple flights of stairs, barely a third of the way up the 200 levels.
Unfortunately, by the time they got to the 80th, the rest of the way up was blocked.
Mineta, in his infinite wisdom, decided to pull a lever.
Although it did open a path, Melissa warned them that whoever was at the security station would now be onto them, and as such, their time was now limited.
"I am going to shoot you when we're out of this, Mineta!" Fordo roared as they began to run again.
"I'm sorry!"
#Guys! What did you do? The main boss has found out that you guys are up there, they're sending more of those armed guards up your way!#
"We got stuck and Mineta pulled a lever, we're on the 80th floor right now!"
#What!? Nevermind, they're planning on using the barriers to lock you guys in!#
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
"Yeah, we can see that!"
"Todoroki!" Tenya roared.
"Right!"
Ice surged forward and blocked the next set of barriers from fully closing while Tenya burst forward and kicked open a pair of doors that led to another room.
It was enormous and completely filled with plants of all shapes and sizes, flora from around the world parted by waterfalls and artificial rivers.
"What is this place?"
"A plant observatory, we study the effects of quirks on flora!"
"Look! The elevator's coming up!"
"Quick, hide!"
They discussed the possibility of using the elevator, but with the security system overridden, it would have been a terrible idea to do so.
They were forced to be patient and soon enough, the two villains walked out of the doors.
"Ugh, look at this place, they could literally be anywhere!"
Hidden behind the bushes, they tensed up, hoping that they would pass by but willing to fight if necessary.
"Hey, we see you stupid kids!"
Fordo tensed and grabbed his pistols.
"What'd you say you stupid bastard?"
"COME AND GET SOME!"
All three parties paused as they stared at each other.
'Whoops.'
"What the-?"
"Bakugo! Kirishima! They're villains!"
Fordo opened fire and forced the two villains to dodge away as the others began to move.
"What the-!?"
"What's going on!"
"No time! Move!"
"I'll hold them off! The rest of you, head on up-" Todoroki was cut off as the commlink turned on.
#Guys! I need help! More security drones have been activated and they've found me! I'm holding them off as long as I can but I don't know for how much longer!#
"Jirou!"
"Copy that! Make your way up the stairs! We'll send somebody to support you!"
#I'm on my way!#
"I can head back down to help!" Kaminari said and Fordo nodded, passing him a pistol and a few grenades.
"Be careful, alright? Melissa already explained to us that your lightning's not going to do much, just get her out of there and try to meet back up with us!"
"Right!" Kaminari said as he sprinted back to the entrance.
The villains were already fighting Bakugo and Kirishima, and Todoroki would soon join the fray.
"Fordo, take the rest! I'll join you when I can!" He said as he lifted them with an ice pillar.
"Be careful, vod!" Fordo yelled as they quickly rose up and made their way to a catwalk.
"Todoroki! What's going on!" Kirishima asked.
"Villains have taken over the island!" Todoroki replied as he unleashed another ice wall.
"What!?"
"That's it! I'm through with you kids!" One of the villains roared as he burst through the ice.
"Stand fast…the fight's just beginning."
"ALL RIGHT! IT LOOKS LIKE MANDO'S PUTTING HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS! LOOK AT THAT SKILL FOLKS! THE TENACITY! HE'S REALLY SHOWING NO MERCY!"
Mand'alor snarled as he leapt back from the swipe of what appeared to be some kind of mutated frog. The thing was absolutely enormous and had three eyes and had already knocked him over once.
'DODGE!'
Following Hikage's warning, he moved to the left just as the beast's tongue shot out like a bullet and with a quick swipe of his blade, he cut it off.
The beast roared in agony but he couldn't afford to show pity or mercy. It, alongside everything else in this arena, was trying to kill him.
He leaped forward and jumped in the air before falling on top of its head and using his saber to stab straight through its brain.
"You think that was hard? Just wait."
"I can't wait to punch the grin off of his face," Izuku muttered to himself before seeing more openings appeared.
"You get the hang of it quickly!"
"Maybe you should come down and face me yourself!" Mand'alor challenged before dodging strikes from more creatures.
"Ha ha ha, I'm too busy counting my money!"
Next up was what could only be described as a rhinoceros beetle, however this one was a lot more aggressive than how the otherwise calm insects usually were.
"The hell did you do to this beetle, you bastard?!" The greenet shouted, just as the creature charged at him, barely managing to dodge out of the way of the rampaging critter's way.
"Oh nothing much…just deprived it of food for some days and boom. It is now so hungry that it would eat anything smaller than itself," the villain said in a nonchalant tone, as if it was a completely normal practice.
Dodging for a second time, Izuku didn't manage to get on his feet this time, as the rhinoceros beetle slammed into him, flinging him into the air and ran over him, causing the teenage boy to roll a couple of times as its legs kicked him a couple of times, before he managed to get out, while the beetle kept going until it reaches the other side of the arena, and skidded to a halt to charge again.
Groaning in pain while getting himself off of the ground, Izuku felt disoriented as he saw his current foe coming at him at full speed, before raising his blaster pistol and firing, managing to hit it in a small opening in its exoskeleton, causing it to collapse and slide across the ground, skidding to a halt just before it reached him.
"AND LOOK AT THIS, FOLKS! KILLING A POOR INSECT IN COLD BLOOD JUST BECAUSE IT WAS HUNGRY! IS THERE NO STOP TO THIS KID'S CRUELTY?!" Sorc Tormo announced, causing the crowd to jeer and boo at Izuku.
"Oh boohoo, ya stinkin' sack of onions! Think you can guilt trip me?! Well each and everyone of you here are sleazebags! Starving animals? Forcing them to fight to the death?! ABUSING THEM!? If anything, I performed a mercy kill!"
Not listening to him, the villain just kept on directing more of the animals towards him, with Izuku slicing through them and firing his blaster when he could, doing his best to keep himself alive.
A few minutes of dodging, blasting, slicing and dicing later, the blaster pistol ran out of ammunition, something that made him swear under his breath, as he holstered it and grabbed onto the hilt with both hands.
"Come down and face me, you coward!" He shouted at the man who had trapped him here, and just gave off a smirk to the hero in training.
"Very well then, you want a challenge? I'll give you a challenge!"
Running up the stairs, Kyouka briefly stopped to catch her breath, before firing a couple of shots at the security bots currently chasing her, managing to down one, with the other shot missing.
'The recoil on this thing is insane! How does Midoriya and his brothers hit nearly every time?!' She thought, before starting to run again, happy that she decided to wear only slightly higher than normal heels and a short dress rather than a long one.
Activating her wristcomm, she called Fordo again, both wanting to know when her backup arrived and to give them more information about her current situation.
"Fordo, this is Jirou! Is there a place I should look out for for my backup?" She asked, waiting for the clone to reply.
#Just keep your eyes on the road. Kaminari's on his way to help.#
"Note-HNGH?!"
Before she had managed to finish her sentence, one of the drones shot out a cable that wrapped around her mouth, before reeling it back in, making the punk girl lose her balance and fall backwards.
#Jirou? Kyoka!?#
She screeched and cursed, even as she was dragged away, while more bots fired their cables to restrain her even further.
She quickly planted her jacks in the ground and unleashed a blast that distorted the entire staircase in her panic, causing the bots to let go of her and all the stairs to crumble below her.
She screamed as she fell before a hand quickly grabbed her arm.
The pain was horrible on her shoulder but she was glad to not have fallen.
"I've got you!"
"Den-Kaminari!"
Kaminari grunted as he pulled her up and over the stairs, gasping for breath.
She slapped his shoulder as she sat down on what was left of the stairs.
"I'm not that heavy, noodle arms…"
"Hey, you try blitzing down 50 flights of stairs and picking somebody up…" His eyes widened as he quickly tackled her and forced them to dodge more restraints.
"No time! We've got to keep moving!"
"Right!"
They were quick to keep moving, with Kyoka using a few moments to break down the stairs and inhibit their travel.
"I really hope destroying these doesn't bite us later!"
"Got any better ideas?"
"Nothing that would leave me standing!"
"Then keep moving!" She shouted, as they started to go up the stairs once again as fast as they could, before being stopped by more of the drones blocking their way.
"Outta the way, you damn Clankers!" Denki shouted as he activated his quirk and charged forwards, guns blazing and quirk short circuiting as many of the mechanical guards in their way as he could.
Groaning as he felt his mind numbing slightly as he used his quirk, the electric boy noticed a way to the side, leading to whatever floor they were on.
Quickly grabbing Kyouka by the wrist, he started to run and pulled her with him, as the bots began to chase after them, gradually catching up as their mechanical nature meant that they didn't get tired.
"Damn it, I…I don't know what to do!" Kaminari admitted as he gasped for breath, with the robots soon being right in their heels.
"Wait, look! The barriers!"
Kaminari looked and saw a panel that was conveniently blinking and showing the status of the security system, he gave it a quick shot and the barrier closest to them immediately shut in emergency lockdown, blocking the robots from reaching them.
"Come on Kaminari, I-agh!" Kyoka screamed as she was kicked to the ground and Kaminari didn't have a moment to even speak before he was punted to a wall.
"Kak!"
"You kids have been a real pain in my ass, I've been hunting you for quite a while now!" A villain said, having snuck up on them from some side doors.
He pointed his blaster right at Kyoka's head, making her squeak in fear and Kaminari gasp in horror.
"Now, why don't you tell me where the rest of your friends are?"
"Let her go!"
The villain chuckled.
"Ah ah ah…wrong answer!"
Crack!
Kyoka shrieked in agony as he pressed his weight on her fully and cracked her ribs.
"KYOKA!"
"D-denki…" She sobbed as she reached out for him.
"I said quiet!" The villain growled, before stomping down again, this time breaking a rib while still having the blaster fixed on the other teenager.
Kyoka screeched.
Denki could only stare as his heart began to race, he could feel every cell consumed by fear, by anger as he saw this villainous scum hurt his friend.
His fingers sparked.
"Let…her…go…" He whispered, unheard by the villain.
"You've got five seconds to tell me where your friends are before I put a hole in her pretty little head…5…"
Crack!
Another rib was broken, Kyouka crying out again.
Lightning sparked between his fingers.
"4."
Crack!
Yet another one, this time her outfit slowly began staining with blood.
He could feel his heart racing, the pounding in his ears as everything began to hyper focus.
"3."
Crack!
Kyouka now began to cough blood, one of the broken ribs having ruptured something.
He could feel his brain start to fog as electricity ran through his body in a continuous cycle but he was too far away, he needed the electricity to go out.
"2."
Snap!
An arm this time.
His yellow eyes met Kyoka's gray ones, filled to the brim with fear and tears welling up due to the pain she was going through, along with a small trail of blood running down the corner of her mouth.
And Denki snapped.
"One," Denki growled.
KRAKOOM!
Kyoka ducked her head from the giant flash of light and thunder that almost deafened and blinded her.
At first all she could feel was the tingling of electricity in the air, the static that caused her hair to stand on end.
Then she could finally hear the screaming.
It wasn't Denki's.
Turning, she saw the villain that had hurt her being brutally shocked as torrents of lightning splayed out of Kaminari's fingers.
"You think…you could hurt her in front me…AND GET AWAY WITH IT!?"
Bringing forth another hand, he increased the intensity of the lightning, causing the man's screams to increase in volume and pitch, practically shrieking for mercy while the electric blonde slowly closed the distance between the two.
Finally the torrent stopped.
The scent of burnt flesh and hair filled the hallway, almost making her wretch.
"Have mercy…please…PLEASE!" The villain begged with all the strength he could muster.
Denki laughed…a sort of breathy chuckle escaping him as he stared maniacally at the downed man, electricity still sparking across his face as his eyes were dilated and glowing.
"There is no mercy," He cackled, a maniacal smile plastered over his face.
"AAAUUGHHH!" The man writhed in complete agony as the torrent returned and he was helpless to do anything.
A brief pause as Denki grinned, his eyes burning.
Lightning surged in his hands and he prepared to unleash hell once more.
"DENKI!" Kyouka cried out, as she got up as fast as she could, despite the pain of her injured ribs and broken arm shooting through her entire body, before grabbing a hold of her friend and falling back to her knees.
Denki snarled as he turned to her, almost striking her with the lighting in his palm and she gasped in surprise and fear, instinctively reaching for her neck to protect it.
A moment later, the lightning petered out and he gasped before wrenching himself from her grip.
"I…I…I don't…that wasn't-hurp"
Falling to his knees, Denki could only groan as he expelled the contents of his stomach onto the floor.
After a few heaves, he laid there trembling, horrified by his actions.
"I-that wasn't me, you gotta believe me- I, I would never!"
He looked at her pleadingly and she could only gulp before shakily nodding.
Turning to the roasted villain who was now unresponsive he could only ask if he was still alive.
Quickly checking with her quirk, she nodded and they both sighed in relief.
"Come on," She said as she tried to help him up before gasping in pain and falling to her own knees.
"You're hurt…come on," Denki said as he grabbed her and settled her on his back before moving on.
"T-take it slow…" She winced as she wrapped one of her arms around his neck to make sure she didn't fall off.
"Alright…at this point, I hope the others are alright…" He said as he walked slowly, hoping to at least find a medical center or a first aid kit to help her.
"Jirou to Fordo…I'm with Kaminari…we're heading up…but it's going to take a while," She relayed.
#Copy that, Jirou, we're doing fine so far! We had to split up though to make our way up!#
"Understood…we'll join you as soon as we can," She said as she turned off the comm, the adrenaline barely keeping her awake while Denki started to walk up the stairs.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and all the rest of you scumbags! We've certainly had quite the show tonight! But if the words of our beloved Mand'alor are to be believed, he hasn't even put up a sweat!"
Sormo's holographic projection paced around mockingly and Izuku was definitely wanting to shut him up already.
He was also most definitely tired, the last thing he'd just fought being some kind of large robot that hit like a train.
"Which is why, I've decided to implement this one-of-a-kind opportunity!"
A large flash of light hit the floor of the arena and another figure appeared at the opposite side.
"Let's see who's better? The student?"
Izuku took a step back and gasped at his newest opponent.
Toshinori rose from the dust and also gasped at his newest predicament.
"Or the master?"
"Buir!"
"Izuku!"
The crowd was now even louder than before, and Tormo grinned, dollar signs replacing his eyes.
"Place your bets now! Who will fall first and have their title replaced! Will the Symbol of Peace become the Symbol of Violence? Or will the Symbol of Hope become one of Despair?" he shouted, as the crowd somehow managed to go even wilder.
"You… Coward!" Izuku hissed at the holographic projection.
"You cannot force us to fight, villain!" All Might roared.
"Oh…can't I?"
His projection was then replaced by an image of Inko and Eri, the former clutching the latter in her arms.
The two of them gasped and snarled in fury.
"I don't think I need to explain myself any further, do I? And hey! You should be thankful! Usually I'd go for fights to the death, but I'm not crazy enough to risk that much backlash. No…I'd say a good old-fashioned beating will do just fine!"
The both of them grimaced, unwilling to actually fight each other.
"But you know what would make this even more interesting? A bit less…lopsided fight…no I definitely want this to last…cause what's to stop you All Might from just knocking the kid out in one blow and ending my fun?"
The projection reappeared and he extended his hands to both of them.
"So let's make things INTERESTING!"
Arcs of energy burst out and impacted them both, making them groan in pain.
"In this world, I make the rules, I make the laws, I govern everything! Which is why, for this fight…you two will be at equal power! And that means-"
Izuku gasped as his saber and pistol disappeared, reappearing in Tormo's hands.
"No toys for you Mand'alor!"
The energy then disappeared and they were left kneeling on the ground.
"Izuku…" He heard from across the arena and he grimaced.
"I'm sorry…about your brother…and about what's going to happen next."
"So am I, buir…but I don't blame you…only the villains that put us in this position."
All Might grimaced as he flexed his muscles and got into a fighting stance, with Mand'alor doing the same.
"LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY RIGHT HERE, FOLKS! OH I CAN ALREADY SEE THE MONEY ROLLING IN! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEE!"
Roaring in unison they charged at each other, One For All surging through the both of them.
Cocking their fists back, they struck forward and the world exploded.
Slowly climbing up the stairs, Denki made sure to hold Kyouka securely, while also making sure to not cup a feel on accident, all while panting due to having to fight both exhaustion from having to carry another person's weight, and from his mind starting to blank from the use of his quirk.
'Why… Of all things that would let me control my own electricity, why did it have to be that?' He thought to himself, as he kept carrying on, despite his knees screaming at him to take a break.
He didn't have the same advanced hearing as the girl on his back did, but he could feel how fast her heart was beating. She was scared. A constant aura of fear emanating off of her.
Hissing in pain over the burning sensation in his aching knees, he decided to use his quirk a bit more, this time by stimulating his knee muscles with electricity, allowing him to keep going a little while longer.
"A-are you alright? I…I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"N-no…I…I don't…you didn't hurt me…ow…just that guy…"
"I'm glad…"
Another silence remained between them.
"What about you…are you hurt? Fuzzy?"
"No…my mind's still clear…"
Kyoka swallowed as she tried to figure out how to ask what was on her mind.
"I know what you're thinking…about how I changed…"
Kyoka shuddered.
"What happened? You were so…different…"
"It's…something my mom told me about…before I went to U.A. She warned me about a biological problem with electricity-type quirks."
"What do you mean?"
"Well…you know how people with fire quirks can overheat?"
"Yeah…"
"The same thing can happen to people like me…our electricity can affect our brain chemistry or something…I didn't really pay attention to that…but my mom said it's worse if negative emotions are involved…it's why there's so few lightning-type heroes…and why it's so easy for us to become villains…"
"Us?"
"My uncle…he couldn't handle it…went insane…my mom had to put him down."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be…you didn't know…" Denki whispered before gasping and moving slightly quicker. He then gently set her down and opened up a cabinet with a first aid sign.
"Perfect, just what we needed," He said as he kneeled next to her before grimacing.
"Sorry…I…do you want to?"
"It's fine…just…do it…and don't you dare peek!" She yelled before coughing up more blood.
"Hey! I'm not Mineta!" He said, mildly offended.
Kyoka grimaced and nodded.
"You're right…sorry…just...stressed."
Denki nodded and gently peeled back the jacket of her outfit and, using scissors, cut open the dress to where the biggest bruising would be.
They both hissed once they saw the damage, and Denki was quick to look over what medical supplies were available.
"Wow, looks like this place has some top notch stuff…this says that it should help numb the pain and clear up some bruising," He said as he held up what appeared to be an epipen but specifically designed for bruising and contusions.
"This stuff helps with internal bleeding…definitely need that…skelegrow? What kind of first aid kit-no, focus!"
Grabbing some alcohol wipes, he gently cleaned the area where the wound was, Kyoka hissing as some of her skin had been torn open from the kicks.
Denki tried his best to pay no mind to how tightly she was clutching his arm, nor how soft her skin was.
Right now wasn't the time for anything like that.
He quickly injected the medicines and Kyoka hissed again before sighing in relief as the burning pain soon started to ebb away.
Denki then grabbed some bandages and quickly applied a gauze before wrapping it up as best as he could, while also providing a splint for her arm.
"You're…actually not that bad at this, Kaminari…"
"I…I wanted to become a paramedic with a quirk license. I thought that with my quirk I could be a walking AED. My mom convinced me to try for heroics, since sometimes paramedics don't get there in time."
"That's…that's really cool of you…" She said drowsily before falling unconscious.
"What the-Jirou! Kyoka! Wake up!"
Quickly checking the medicine, he facepalmed as he saw the side effects.
WARNING: Will cause instant drowsiness. Make sure the victim is in a safe location where they can rest for at least an hour.
"Agh…I'm such an idiot…bah…no matter…I just gotta keep her safe."
Quickly grabbing the comm, he sent a message to Fordo.
"Fordo, this is Kaminari. Kyoka got hurt by a villain…I applied some medicine from a medical station, but she's unconscious due to a side effect. I'm taking her to a safe spot where she can rest," He said, slightly stuttering through the message but managing it in the end.
#~Krrt~ Right, understood. Get to a safe spot. We're already here at the top of the tower and about to breach the security room. Just keep her safe, Denki…it's almost over.#
"Copy that," He whispered before grabbing her and a satchel from the first aid cabinet.
It took a few minutes, but eventually he was able to find a room that was relatively hidden away from the main hallways. He needed to shock the door open, but was able to get inside.
Setting her down as gently as he could, he slowly looked around the room and back towards the door, before allowing him to finally rest a bit by sliding down a wall and sitting down next to her, while making sure that he was able to draw the blaster as fast as he could, in case some of the security bots or the villains arrived.
Looking back at his friend, he noticed how beautiful she looked with the calm expression she currently had on her face, no longer contorted by pain nor fear, just looking like she was completely at peace as she was allowed to rest thanks to the painkiller.
He was not blind to the conversation they'd had on the group chat yesterday, but he knew better than to push when he didn't fully understand things.
Besides…now wasn't the time.
"Why did she have to go through all of this…" He sighed, hating how despite all of them having been through a lot, she was the only one besides Izuku who had been on the brink of death more than once in the short amount of time they had been at UA.
Denki shook his head as he gently brushed some of her hair to the side and applied a splint for her arm and some more medicine to other spots before cleaning her up as best as he could.
Once he was finished, he stood guard…waiting.
It was all he could do.
Panting in a mix of exhaustion and pain, Izuku looked at his buir, both of them glaring at their current tormentor.
Still…without a plan, all they could do was continue their fight.
Fortunately, the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. All Might had been sure to deliver quick blows, but they were slow enough that Izuku combined with Hikage were able to either block or dodge.
Still…sometimes it hadn't been enough, the exhaustion from the previous fights meant that a few accidental blows had landed and they definitely hurt.
That wasn't to say that he didn't manage to actually score a few on his buir as well.
Whatever Tormo had done had increased Izuku's durability and strength while simultaneously draining All Might's. More than likely, the energy was getting drained to him.
But either way, it just meant that this fight was dragging out a lot more than he'd like.
Izuku was forced to dodge another punch by All Might, one that rattled the entire arena and made Sormo's avatar glitch.
Izuku's eyes widened as a plan began to form in his mind.
"BUIR!" He roared, hoping that the man had studied enough Mando'a to understand. [Let's wreck some stuff!]
"[RIGHT!]"
All Might then crashed into Izuku to feign an attack and they smashed against a wall. Punching the wall brutally as Izuku dodged, the latter then bent his legs and kicked All Might straight in the chest, slamming him to the other side of the area.
"[THE ARENA'S SHAKING, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO BREAK OUT!]" Izuku roared as he blitzed forward and slammed into the wall that All Might had just crashed into, fully collapsing it.
"[SO WE JUST KEEP BREAKING!]" All Might replied as he grabbed Izuku by the suit and tossed him towards another wall.
"DETROIT SMASH!"
"ORAR [Thunder] SMASH!"
The two devastating cyclones of force impacted each other and caused the entire arena to shake once more.
"W-whoa! That-that's certainly some power you two are putting out!" Tormo sheepishly chuckled as he tried to regain his bearings.
Seeing the shockwave that had emanated from just the force of their punches colliding, they both had the same idea.
"BUIR!"
"[RIGHT!]"
The two roared and charged once more, their fists impacting harshly.
SLAM!
Again they struck.
SLAM!
Once more.
SLAM!
And finally they went all out, trusting each other fully to avoid large mistakes, their fists striking each other in unison as they let out a flurry of blows that was tearing the place apart.
"NOW THEY'RE REALLY TEARING INTO EACH OTHER! LET'S SEE WHO FALLS FIRST!" He announced, not noticing the arena gradually degrading more and more due to all of the damage it was taking, simply blinded by the sheer amount of money he would make.
The two heroes kept on punching and hitting, until they a couple of minutes later cocked their arms back, and unleashed their final blow, making the walls of the arena slowly start crumbling
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO NUMBSKULLS DOING!?"
The crowd started to panic, as a large chunk of the stands fell into the arena, and they started to shove and push each other to get away from the ensuing madness, as Mand'alor and All Might jumped over to the debris, and started to use it as springboards.
"HEY! What the-?"
"Time to bash some skulls!"
The two began to grow as the quirk's effect started to wear off, until they were back at full size.
Just as Izuku jumped up and raised his fist to strike Torno, the villain activated the saber and swung it at him, causing the teenager to backflip, with the blade of solid plasma barely singeing the tip of one of his locks.
However, as close as he was, Sormo was most definitely not a fighter. His wide swing left him open and he took a foot to the jaw.
The man crumpled after his teeth clacked together harshly and both he and All Might popped out full sized and ready for action.
They were however unable to do much, as the terrorists were quick to point their stolen guns at the guests and clones, threats beginning to fly, with one even pointing their blaster right in the face of the closest hostage.
Almost immediately, however, the security lockdown shut down, surprising them all as the heroes were now released.
And the clones were quick to jump into action.
Tackling the different villains, they were helpless against a now combined assault as the heroes joined in.
"HEY!" One particular one heard as he began to panic from the plan failing through.
Turning, he saw a very angry clone with a burn mark on his helmet along with a hole.
"W-what!? I killed you!"
"Try harder!" The clone roared before slamming his head into the villain's face and knocking him out along with a few of his teeth and breaking his nose.
Shaking his head for a bit after headbutting the villain, the clone let out a small groan. "Ugh… This is going to leave a mark and a killer headache…" He grumbled as he tapped the middle of his helmet where the burnmark was present, before picking up his blaster.
"How in the world are you alive right now, Vod?! You scared us to death!" Another clone asked while stunning one of the villains.
"The setting on my blaster was right above stun, so it luckily wouldn't do a lot of damage. However, it is apparently still enough to nearly blast all the way through our helmets when fired right in the face," He explained, before ducking a stray blaster bolt and fired a stun shot back at the one who had done it.
Pulling his brother into cover, the other clone looked at the mark in the helmet and winced.
"You should really let RG or one of the medics look at that. Even if it didn't kill you, you're still concussed, and taking a bullseye like that at such close proximity can't be good either."
"I was planning on doing that, but right now less talk, more blasting!" The blastermarked clone said, to which his brother nodded.
While the pros, clones and villains fought, some of them even getting into hand-to-hand, Izuku looked around the scenery, before grasping one of their former captors by the collar of his shirt.
"Where is your leader?" He said in a tone that would make a shiver run down even the coldest glacier's metaphorical backs.
Earlier
As Fordo and Melissa led the way up the tower, the group of hero students and clones tried to be as stealthy as possible, deactivating droids with EMP grenades that Melissa had been carrying around, however the stealth approach was getting more and more difficult, due to the constantly increasing amount of security bots.
Eventually, they had to start splitting off, with friends staying behind so that they could cover more ground, both to split off the enemy forces and to go through divide and conquer tactics.
Momo and a few clones had stayed behind on one of the previous levels, steadily holding their ground against the tide of security drones, the armor proving worthless against the blaster bolts of the clones.
"GO!" Momo roared as after being provided some schematics, was now firing a minigun full throttle against the hoard of droids approaching them, the other clones providing suppressive fire against the endless tide.
A few villains armed with stolen blasters were with the droids, providing their own hail of fire to halt their advance up the tower.
One clone looked over his shoulder and made some hand gestures, with two others wearing some form of vambraces making their way to the front and clicked on the devices, activating two blue shields which absorbed the shots as they slowly moved forward.
"Would be a lot easier if we could use explosives…" One of them said, before dodging a bolt, firing back a stun shot.
"Less talking boys, more shooting! Push forward!" Momo shouted once again, before beginning to advance up the stairs with the droid's numbers thinning by the minute.
A few minutes of skirmishing later, the droids had been disabled and the villains stunned, however there had also been a few clones who'd been hit, forcing the group to split up once again so they could get the wounded to safety.
"Let's hope that the others are doing well, keep forward!"
After a while, Tenya and Mineta ended up staying behind a while after to provide some more cover.
"Keep going Mineta!"
"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'!" Mineta cried out as his scalp began to bleed. Tenya meanwhile, was knocking down pillars and walls to form debris to impede the robots' movement.
"Hopefully they can make it through!"
Soon enough, it was only Fordo, Melissa, Ochako and 2010 reached a large enclosure filled with large fans.
"Where are we?" Fordo asked, still on alert for any more enemy forces.
"Wind generator room. There's a lot more robots inside the tower, probably waiting to ambush us. If we can climb up to the emergency exit at the top of this room, we can bypass it all. But that will require your quirk, Uraraka-san," Melissa said before turning. The three of them noticed that her hand was shaking but she still asking if Ochako could do it.
It was admirable, she was under a lot of pressure, and was more than afraid as evident by her body's unconscious actions, but she still persevered and was helping them get to the end so that they could save the island.
Truly worthy to be called a hero.
"Leave it to me."
Ochako quickly had Melissa hold on to 2010 and Fordo and sent them up. At that moment, however, more security bots came out and approached her.
"Ochako! Incoming!"
"I got it!"
Pulling out her blaster, she started to fire, taking them out one by one, but there were still too many and she was quickly getting overwhelmed.
"Release your quirk!"
"No! You might not be able to make it to the top!"
Just as the bots jumped at her, a surprise explosion erupted from the side as Bakugo appeared.
"Bakugo!"
Ice erupting from the ground announced the arrival of Shoto with Kirishima close behind, quickly providing back up for the girl.
"That was close! Are you alright?" Kirishima asked the group as he hardened his arms in preparation to fight.
"Yeah! Fordo, Melissa and 2010 are heading up!"
"Good, then that means that you can help us deal with these things!"
"Who died, (hah!), and made you boss!" Bakugou demanded, angry as ever while small explosions popped in his palms before he blasted some more robots.
"Come on man, we make a good team!"
"Dream on!"
"NICE WORK-WAAGH!" Fordo and Melissa cried out as they were blown away by a fan.
"Oh no! They're getting blown away!"
Shoto immediately shed his coat and started to run to an ideal spot while telling Bakugo to knock a fan down in their direction.
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" The raging pomeranian fumed.
Still, the boy did knock down a fan and Shoto quickly used his flames to create a surge of hot air that guided them in the right direction.
"HAHA! Good job with those flames, Todoroki! You'd definitely make vod proud!" Fordo yelled, to which he received a rare thumbs up.
"Fordo! We're about to hit the wall!"
"Right! 2010! Grenades!"
"Right!"
The two grabbed grenades from their belts and tossed them at the wall, making an entrance for them to enter. As soon as they were inside, Ochako released her quirk and they were able to land.
Somewhat safely.
The three groaned as they landed, with Fordo and 2010 helping up Melissa who struggled slightly to get up thanks to the dress she was wearing.
"Which way now, Shield-san?"
Before Melissa could respond, Fordo quickly pushed her out of the way and raised his gauntlets as a sword crashed down on them. The armor chipped and cracked, but did not break fully.
"You brats shouldn't have tried to play hero!"
"Eyes on me, too!" 2010 roared as he tackled the villain.
"You clones are a pain in the ass!" The villain said as he brought an elbow down on the armored teenager, trying to get him off of him while Fordo got into a fistfight with the villain that had tried to cut him into sashimi.
"And you villains are as annoying as lice!"
"Really 2010…that's the best you could come up with?" Fordo asked as he punched him again.
"What? I panicked!"
The villain snarled as he kicked the two younger men off and prepared to stab them both through the chest.
PWOW!
Like a puppet with its strings cut, the villain collapsed and behind him, Melissa with the smoking barrel of her pistol pointed right at his back.
"Good shot, Shield-san."
"I just shot a man…"
"Relax, he's not dead, just unconscious," 2010 said as he tapped the villain with his foot a couple of times.
He couldn't, however, refrain from the temptation of kicking the poor sod between the legs.
The villain groaned but did not return to consciousness.
"Let's roll!"
"Right!"
The trio kept moving through the stairs, quickly managing to take out two armed villains and continue on.
"Shield-san, where's the control room?"
"In front of the central elevator!"
As they made their way forward however, they found themselves blocked by more robots that were quickly taken care of by the EMPs.
"These grenades are pretty handy, Shield-san. They're perfect weapons against these robots, but why did you decide to make them?" Fordo asked, as he rolled another one of the small spheres into a group of the robots, the electro magnetic pulse popping their systems.
"Well, I originally didn't really have any intention on using them, just something I did in my spare time…but I guess accidentally having a pair of jet boots chase me around while firing micro missiles due to an error in their programming also had a finger in it…" She muttered beneath her breath.
"That's… something…" Fordo replied, before lifting a clenched fist, signaling them to stop as he peered around the corner, the hallway that would lead to the control room, meaning that they had reached their destination. Except for the fact that the entrance was guarded by at least fifty to sixty of the security bots, and they only had one grenade left, whose radius would only be able to get one fifth of them at most.
"Oh great…the path is blocked…" 2010 groaned as he cursed this place for having so many of these accursed droids. It was a given that it was necessary considering how important this place was, but still.
"Don't worry, vod, I've got a plan for getting past these guys," Fordo replied.
"Oh yeah, and what is it?" 2010 inquired.
"Live bait."
"Good idea- HEY!" He protested with indignation.
"Come on, 2010! Midoriya-san, Daddy, Uncle Might and the others are counting on us!" Melissa pleaded with him, making puppy eyes, which made the clone's resolve crumble.
"Well what the heck do you want me to do?! Dress up as a salesman selling oil for cheap?!" He asked snarkily.
"OIL HERE! GET YOUR OIL HERE! FRESH FROM THE DEPOT!" 2010 yelled as he, surprisingly enough, had managed to find a can of oil along with wearing the suit of a salaryman over his armor.
All the droids turned in unison to face him.
And immediately went after the poor guy.
"I HATE THIS SO MUCH!" 2010 screamed as he ran away, taking all of the mechanical beings with him, leaving the door unguarded.
Fordo slightly chuckled in amusement although Melissa felt guilty.
"Is he going to be alright?"
"He'll be fine, albeit a bit moody afterwards. Let's go."
Making their way a bit further, they found the door open and saw more people inside.
"We've got unknowns in there."
Melissa gasped as she recognized one.
"That's my papa!"
"And who's the balding one in a butler outfit?" Fordo gestured to the other man with Wolfram who was currently standing and saying something to the villain.
The moment Melissa saw who it was, she gasped in horror.
"That's Sam…but, it couldn't be…! He's been with our family ever since before I was even born! He'd never do anything like this!"
"The power that money holds over people is an ugly one, Shield-san. In some cases, it can even make old friends turn to the dark side," Fordo said while putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, before raising his blaster and pointing it at the man in the lab coat.
"So far we've got three hostiles. The big one is the most dangerous, I'll take him out, then the other villain, then Sam. You head for the security system and end the lockdown."
"Right!"
"On my mark."
Fordo approached as quietly as he could until he was just at the doorway, and as soon as he got a clear shot.
PTEW! PTEW! PTEW!
SLUMP SLUMP SLUMP
Three bodies collapsed on the floor and Fordo was quick to move forward and secure their weapons, destroying them. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to secure them with but with the stun bolts, they'd be out for a good amount of time.
"What's going on!? Melissa!?"
"Shield! Focus! Come with me, sir!" Fordo said as he grabbed the man's wrist, the latter carrying some kind of box.
"W-wait, there's been a misunderstanding-I-"
"The security system is almost down! Everything should be good soon!"
"Good! Now let's get out of-AGH!"
Just as Fordo started to speak, he was grabbed by the neck and slammed into the nearest wall by Wolfram who had gotten up, with the impact leaving the wall cracked and a small imprint of the clone as he slumped down unconscious.
"Aaaahhh! Fordo!" Melissa shrieked in shock as she saw the brutal knockout.
"Tch. That was very bold of you, clone, bold and stupid," Wolfram said as he got up, the stun bolt had apparently only affected him for a short time.
"S-stay back!" Melissa shouted, pointing the blaster at him while trembling from head to toe.
"You, girl, alongside the rest of those children, have become quite the thorn in my side."
KABOOM!
Wolfram grunted as he was knocked down and glared at the new intrusions.
"You rang?" Thorn called out while standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame, throwing a detonator up and down in his palm.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Thorn. And here I thought you were supposed to be smart."
"How the hell did you get out of or escape capture?!"
"Well, since I have a minute to kill, why don't I tell you?"
Thorn and a squad of clones were running up the stairs, blasters in hand while making sure to blast any of the security bots getting in their way.
"Thire, Rys, Jek, Deviss, Stone! Check the rooms for any civilians that could be trapped or held hostage! I'll head to the communications center and see if I can get comms up and running again!"
They had recently lost comms with Fordo, and with the supposed bomb threat, knew that something was wrong.
"Thorn, have you realized that everytime that Izuku goes somewhere, villains seem to follow?" Deviss asked.
"Not now, Deviss!"
"Sometimes it feels like we're in a shounen anime," Thire mumbled, before the group split up and started to search separate rooms.
"Yeah, sure thing, next thing you know, we can all stare at a camera like that one really old show and the audience can know exactly what we're feeling," Jek commented sarcastically.
"Hey look, there's a camera right there!" Rys said, pointing at said camera.
If one were to see it from the camera's perspective, they would now see a clone look at them with a deadpan expression. How they managed to do that with a helmet in the way was a slight mystery.
"Come on guys, I've found Fordo's signal, it's heading up!"
"What about Izuku?"
"Don't know, he doesn't have it on him for some reason, probably got damaged."
"Then he's probably up there! Let's go!"
"Sure we had to blast a few droids, but it was worth it in the end. Now, how about you do us all a favor and surrender, huh?"
The entire squad readied their weapons, Wolfram snarling as he saw them approach.
"Shields, get behind us," Thorn ordered, with Melissa tugging her father with her behind the clones who formed a defensive line between them and the villain, while Rys and Jek slowly made their way towards the unconscious Fordo.
Dragging the second oldest of the clones with them slowly, Wolfram suddenly put a hand on the wall, which started to bend and crack, before taking the form of iron tendrils that started to strike out at the squad, managing to smack Stone who was launched out of the room and over the edge of the stairs, with the clone luckily managing to fire his tow cable, preventing him from plummeting to his death.
The clones immediately started to open fire, but their blasts were practically useless against the metal tendrils.
In the confusion, Wolfram knocked away the clones and captured David Shield.
"Stop, villain!" Thire shouted as he aimed to fire his rifle at Wolfram, only for two of the metal tendrils to pierce through his right shoulder and shin, cracking the armor and bone, sending him into shock due to the sudden pain.
"Thire!" Jek and Rys shouted as they made their way over to the clone who still seemed to be in the middle of processing what had just happened to him before blacking out.
"Hah! Good luck capturing me now, worthless-" Wolfram hollered before being hit in the face by something.
Turning back and holding his now bloody nose, he glared at the clone who just arrived, carrying the remnants of a droid in his hand.
"OI! Come and get some!"
"ARGH! YOU CLONES ARE A REAL PAIN!" Wolfram yelled as he then grabbed 2010.
"Uh oh."
The villain proceeded to lift up 2010 like it was nothing, and threw him over the railing and into Stone who had just managed to crawl over it, leaving the two hanging once again.
"Not again…"
"Sorry…didn't plan that through."
"I've got you brothers!" Thorn called out as he fired his own tow cable, with 2010 grabbing a hold of it, with their brother pulling back and forth so they could swing back to the stairs.
Crawling over the railing, the two sighed and looked down the stairs where Wolfram could be seen running down, with 2010 aiming his pistol at him, only to be stopped by Melissa.
"Don't! You might hit daddy!" She said to him, visibly shaking the clone who after a short time nodded and holstered his weapon, before looking towards the unconscious Fordo.
"When he wakes up, we'll need to have a little talk," He half sneered.
Melissa sheepishly chuckled.
"Save it for later?"
"Right…but I do not like being used as freaking droid bait…" 2010 muttered, while the rest of the clones sans Thire and Fordo snickered.
"Heh, Droidbait…fits."
"Ha ha ha."
"Oh no! That is not going to be my name!"
"Too late, Droidbait. If Rookie can handle his, then you can handle this," Rys laughed and playfully punched the newly named Droidbait who just started muttering something beneath his breath as they gave chase to Wolfram.
Jek looked at Sam for a brief moment with a small glare before following his brothers.
"Melissa! See if you can get in contact with All Might and Mand'alor! We'll go after your father!"
"R-right!" Melissa said as she went back to the control center to try and hack through the system preventing communications from being transmitted.
After a few minutes, she managed to break the code and began to transmit to the island once again.
"Alright… now let's see here… this should give them some breathing space," She mumbled as she keyed in the codes to shut down the security bots.
All over the island and the tower, the patrolling machines shut down one after the other, leaving the clones who had been fighting them confused, along with the villains who now lost the majority of their already thinning numbers, quickly finding themselves surrounded.
"Seems like we've taken the comms." Izuku thought as he looked back to the villain and squinted his eyes. "Now I'll ask again. Where. Is. He?"
All Might's phone then rang and he saw that it was from Melissa.
"Melissa! Are you alright!?"
"I'm fine! But we have some injured clones, and the villain's taken my father! He's headed for the top of the tower!"
"Right! We're on our way! You hear that, Mand'alor?"
Izuku grinned as he looked at the suddenly fearful villain.
"I did."
With a slam, he knocked the villain out with a good headbutt and tossed his body away.
All Might then quickly grabbed Izuku and burst out of the wall before leaping up towards the top.
Meanwhile on a boat a few hundred meters from the island.
Sitting on a crate, CC-2237, nicknamed 'Oddball' by Mei, were playing some cards with some of his brothers, CC-1922 nicknamed 'Axe', CC-1041 nicknamed 'Warthog' and CC-1093 nicknamed 'Matchstick'.
"I can't be the only one here who's worried about them," Warthog said as he laid down a card, with his brothers shaking their heads.
"Ori'vod does seem to have a bad habit of attracting villains. That's why Nezu sent us out here to begin with," Oddball replied and folded his hand, before sipping his tea.
"The radio silence is odd though. Think they're in trouble?"
"Most likely. Hold on… what the hell's that?!" Matchstick yelled as he pointed at the tower where something came out from the side.
Picking up some binoculars, Axe's jaw dropped.
"It's ori'vod and buir. They're heading for the top of the tower!"
Standing up, Oddball cracked his neck and walked over to a small cabinet and opened it, revealing several jetpacks similar to the one Jango had used, minus the missile.
"Get the others. It's about time the cavalry arrived," He said while putting on the jetpack.
Said small transport devices were the latest pride and joy of the engineering division, as they had tried and failed again and again to replicate and even refine Jango's jetpack repeatedly ever since the USJ.
Barring the ceiling incident with Izuku, they hadn't had any major problems!
Not that he would believe them after all the bumps his head had gotten.
It wouldn't be long before a dozen clones all equipped with jetpacks stood ready, before taking off and flying towards the island.
"Broadside, if we make it through this, next round of Katsudon's on me," Matchstick said over the comms.
"I can already taste it," The aforementioned clone replied with a thumbs up.
There was something about soaring through the sky at high speed that just got the blood pumping in Oddball.
He hoped that one day, Izuku would be able to manifest something that would really let them cut loose, otherwise he could settle for the next best thing; speeder racing.
Something that every single brother vowed to never let Inko know about.
Nevertheless, they soared through the sky, ready to provide support for their brethren.
"Alright, brothers, call in. Green One, standing by." Oddball said.
"Green Two, standing by." Matchstick grinned behind his helmet.
"Green Three, standing by." Broadside announced, checking his blaster.
"Green Four, reporting for duty." Warthog nodded, loading a rocket into the launcher he was carrying.
"Green Five, standing by." Axe gave a thumbs up, checking the DC-15X sniper he was carrying.
One by one, the rest of the twelve checked in as they flew in the air, Oddball having already made a report to the U.A. Command Center.
"Oddball, looks like we've got activity at the top of the tower!"
"Confirmed. I see brothers firing at somebody and what looks like metal pillars erupting from the rooftop. Looks like a metal manipulation quirk."
"Roger that. Green Squadron, as we approach the tower we'll split off and circle around. Provide covering fire and see if anybody needs any assistance! OYA!"
"OYA!"
The clones desperately chased after Wolfram who was now approaching a helicopter that was readying to depart.
Quickly firing at the escaping villain with stun rounds, the five clones yelled swears at the guy that Inko definitely wouldn't approve of, and ones that should be kept away from Eri at all times.
Just as they reached the top, they saw Wolfram walk onboard a helicopter waiting for him, throwing in David before turning around with a condescending smirk.
"Damn it, no!"
They quickly opened fire at the helicopter instead, hoping to render it inoperable, but Wolfram was quick to raise up walls of metal.
As the helicopter began to fly away, all hope seemed lost.
Until the tail of the helicopter was blasted clean off by four shots, each of them cutting a section of it until it fell onto the landing platform, rendering said vehicle useless.
For the first time since arriving, Wolfram was dumbfounded as he looked at the helicopter.
"I-impossible! The steel should be too thick for the bolts to go through!" He roared in rage, before another one flew by and strafed his nose, making him look at the wall he had raised, where a new hole had shown up.
The bolt had punched straight through it.
"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HEROES!" A voice called out from afar as All Might's speed tears through the walls of the tower as he and Mand'alor appear.
"IT'S ALRIGHT NOW, BOYS! WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE HERE!"
Wolfram clicked his tongue, before throwing David aside and popped his neck.
"Showoff," He said, before his veins started to glow red, with his muscle mass seemingly increasing.
"Two quirks?! Nomu!?" Stone asked as he aimed his blasters at the villain.
"Oh please! I am far superior to those walking corpses!"
All Might quickly moved forward but grunted as he was pushed back by an even larger metallic pillar than before.
"Sam told me everything, how the great All Might's quirk is finally failing him," He smirked, before sending Mand'alor, who had fired a couple of shots at him while he was monologuing (the nerve of that brat!) flying with another tendril, launching him into the distance.
"IZUKU!" All Might roared as he began to punch away the pillars that were attacking him.
The pillars however, increased in strength and he began to struggle against them.
More and more began to attack him, much to the horror of the clones that could only look on.
But just in time, ice covered a multitude of pillars, shattering them as explosions ripped them to pieces.
"We've got reinforcements!"
"HOW CAN YOU LET YOURSELF BE BEATEN BY SUCH A WEAK VILLAIN!? HURRY UP AND GET THIS OVER WITH!"
"Heh…that Bakugo," All Might shook his head in exasperation as the clones began to move toward the students.
Todoroki also affirmed his desire to help, fire burning across his left side as the other students arrived as well.
The students and clones began to work together to break apart the tendrils and All Might couldn't help but be inspired.
If his students were working so hard, how could he let himself be inhibited by something as simple as a limit.
With a roar of exertion he burst through concrete and metal, punching through tendrils and shattering them to pieces as he approached the villain.
"CAROLINA!" He roared as he crossed his arms. "SMASH!"
A blinding flash of light erupted in the area as winds tore through the battlezone.
"PREPARE YOURSELF, VILLAIN!"
All Might roared as he approached, fist at the ready only to grunt in surprise as he was suddenly tangled up in a mess of cables.
"Nice trick! But I-hrrhn!" All Might growled as he struggled in vain against the cables and was then choked by the villain.
The villain's body began to change even more.
"Prepare myself? Take your own advice!" He said as the effects of the quirk enhancing device took further hold on his body. "You've underestimated me."
He then grabbed All Might's side and squeezed.
All Might screamed in agony as the students and clones were helpless to do anything, quickly becoming overwhelmed.
'Where did this strength come from? This power seems to enhance his muscles, but in order to do that he'd have to-'
"No! It can't be!" All Might grunted out.
"Oh yes, when we were planning this little plot of ours, we were approached by a certain benefactor saying that he wanted to help. When I asked why, do you know what he said?"
"If All Might's friend wishes to partake in evil, how could I not participate in his fall from grace? My only regret is that I will not be there when he realizes the truth of his friend and the agony that will bring."
"Dave?" All Might gasped before focusing. "SO ALL FOR ONE IS BEHIND THIS?!"
"What's the matter, looks like you've stopped smiling!"
"NOOO!" All Might roared as he tried to punch Wolfram only to be dragged back by the cables. He was then held into the air with the cables stretching his limbs out. He noticed that Wolfram had created gigantic cubes of metal and machinery and they collided, crushing All Might under their weight much to the horror of all who witnessed.
Piercing the mass of material with spiked pillars, they could only feel despair as they witnessed what appeared to be All Might's defeat.
"GOODBYE, SYMBOL OF-AUGH!" Wolfram screamed as rockets exploded on him and he was forced to protect himself.
A sudden noise startled everyone, a high pitch whistling that grew in intensity as a green and black streak of light ripped through the sky.
SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
An explosion of light erupted from the center mass of the prison as Mand'alor appeared, completely furious, Darksaber in hand as he swiped through it, cutting it in half.
Quickly turning as he cocked back his fist, One For All surged, and, protected by the Full Gauntlet, he could finally cut loose.
"ORAR [Thunder] SMASH!"
The mass erupted into a shower of metal and sparks as he and All Might were now left falling in the air.
"BUIR!"
"AD!"
Izuku quickly grabbed onto All Might and, concentrating as hard as he could, focused on Nana's power.
And with Float, he quickly slowed down their descent, although they still slightly crashed into the rooftop, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
"YOU! How did you survive that fall?!" Wolfram screeched, just as Mand'alor stood up, the saber ignited and lifted it into the air, with the smoke clearing just in time to show what had saved him; clones flying with jetpacks.
"Who said anything about falling?" Mand'alor snarled back, just as the clones landed on each of his sides, preparing their weapons.
"Izuku!" All Might called out as he got back up to his feet.
"Buir! You alright?"
"I'm fine now, you all should head back and let me handle this!" He said as he took a step forward.
"Sorry buir, but I'm afraid that it's a hero's job to save those in need no matter what right? I wonder who could have taught me that?"
Toshinori snorted in amusement.
"Somebody who's going to get in trouble with your mother."
"Eh, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"Heh. Then will you help me once more, ner ad?"
"Always, buir."
"Vod'e, head back to the others and provide covering fire along with evacuating the guests! We'll take it from here!"
"Right!" At once, twelve jetpacks roared to life and they moved out of the way.
"It's just you and us now, Wolfram," Mand'alor called out as he readied the Darksaber.
"LET'S GO!" All Might yelled as he charged forward.
"OYA!"
"THERE'S NO WAY YOU PATHETIC HEROES WILL STOP ME! YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN TO LIE DOWN AND ACCEPT YOUR DEFEAT!"
More pillars erupted, ready to crush them only to be stopped by the combined forces of Bakugo, Todoroki and the multiple clones that were opening fire with rockets, grenades, blasters and more.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW HE'S BEAT!"
"I WON'T LET YOU STOP THEM!"
"WE STAND BEHIND OUR BROTHER!"
Wolfram hissed as he sent dozens of tendrils their way, with Izuku cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.
All Might struck one head on, absolutely shattering it to pieces and then blitzing forward, increasing speed until it seemed that the very air was burning against him as he brutally punched another tendril and disintegrated it.
Mand'alor sprinted forward as One For All began to surge through him. He could feel the presence of his predecessors within him as he received a sudden burst of speed and launched forward, kicking straight through another pillar before kicking off and spinning, slicing through more.
Soon the two reunited, and ran together with the others below watching on as Wolfram roared, his discordant voice echoing over the battlefield as metal, machinery and all kinds of materials rose in the air before combining into a large cube, one that would surely devastate the entire tower if it landed.
"TO OVERCOME THE CRISIS IN FRONT OF YOU…!"
"...WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT…"
"...AND SAVE PEOPLE…"
"...NO MATTER THE COST!"
"THAT'S WHAT MAKES SOMEONE…!"
"...A HERO!"
The two leaped forward, fists at the ready as they soared through the sky together.
"I'LL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE TOWER!"
"DOUBLE DETROIT SMASH!"
The heroic duo roared in unison from the depths of their very souls, One For All surging not only from within them, as emerald and golden lightning erupted from their bodies, but also connecting them.
At the moment of impact, the two could, for a few moments, not only feel the predecessors, but also each other.
For a moment…they could see.
In that brief moment of unity, Toshinori Yagi understood more about Izuku Midoriya than he ever could have through conversation.
And the same could be said for Izuku Midoriya towards Toshinori Yagi.
And they both realized the truth of One For All.
The moment was fleeting and after it was gone, much was lost, including the knowledge gained.
But they both knew that they could do so again, and learn once more.
But right now wasn't the time to focus on that.
As they burst through the obstacle, they smiled together as they became a shining star in the dark night.
"MANDA'LOR!"
"STOP HIM, ALL MIGHT!"
"GO MIDORIYA!"
"DESTROY THIS GUY!"
"K'OYACYI!"
And miraculously, the both could see it. One For All acting on their very desire to defeat their opponent and save their island.
White, then Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Purple, Lavender, Gold and Emerald.
The visual suddenly disappeared as they both clenched their fists.
"LET'S GO!"
"BEYOND!"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
A rainbow of light surged around them as they became a shooting star heading towards the metal abomination that kept on sending tendrils and arms after them, until they struck home.
The construct began to crack and creek, before slowly falling apart after the two heroes struck the main component holding it together; Wolfram himself.
As the structure collapsed, the evacuees alongside the clones and the students looked up at the spectacle, marveling.
And David Shield, as he was freed from his prison, looked into the sky and saw his old friend from all those years ago but for a single moment before reality returned and he saw instead Mand'alor taking his place.
And he realized the truth.
'So this is what you meant…Toshinori…' He thought, before starting to fall.
It wouldn't be long, however, before the sound of jetpacks could be heard and something grabbed him, slowing his descent, with David looking to see the clones having caught him, bringing him to safety on the ground.
"Are you alright, Mr. Shield?" One of the clones asked
"I'm fine, thanks to Mand'alor, All Might and you… um…?"
"I'm Oddball, sir."
"I'm Tag."
"Thank you, Oddball, Tag. I am in your debt."
"I think that there's somebody else you should talk about when it comes to debts," Oddball said as they motioned to an approaching All Might.
"David… I would like to have a word with you. Please tell me what in the hell Sam was talking about 'selling' something for a huge amount of money back in the main hall," All Might said, looking at his old friend who seemed almost ashamed of himself.
"I'm sorry old friend…we originally intended to hire actors…Sam said he wanted to retire, but the Board had too much on him…said that he would use the chaos to disappear. But in the end, I couldn't go through with it, and scrapped the plan…guess Sam didn't want to end it…"
"But why?"
"Why else, Toshi? For you…that device was meant to boost your own quirk…restore you to your former glory…but I was worried if it would put even more strain on you after using it…" David said before morosely chuckling. "I guess in the end…it didn't matter…"
"Dave…"
"You were our guiding light that breached the darkness, All Might…I just wanted that light to keep shining a little longer…"
"Dave…I understand how you feel, but as I've said before, the future is in good hands, " Toshinori said as he gestured behind them to where Izuku was with his friends quickly running up to meet him.
"Yes…I see it now…the boy you treat as your son, and your successor. He will be the guiding light of the next generation."
"Indeed…but unlike me, he will not shine alone."
David watched as Izuku tightly hugged all of his friends, even standing back and showing off his new sword, a personal project of Melissa's if he wasn't mistaken.
"They will become the Foundation that society needs…one that will bring hope for a better tomorrow," He told his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.
David looked at the ground in shame, ashamed of himself for building the device in the first place and bringing the entire island and its residents in danger.
Hearing the sound of marching, he looked to the side and saw all of the clones marching in unison, carrying wounded and also the destroyed droids.
"Those clones…they're truly something special. Are they truly sentient?" He asked, observing as some of Midoriya's friends then surrounded the clones and hugged them as well.
Even Melissa came up to one with some quite damaged armor and helped support him, Izuku quickly going to the other side.
"They are…and they will also be a part of that Hope."
Looking around the plaza, a clone was noting down the damages, casualties and the people currently present.
"Hey! Has anyone seen Kaminari and Jirou?" He asked, looking around which was soon followed by more of the clones and students who were just as baffled at him, only now noticing the duo was unpresent.
"Where were they last seen?" 3126, now named Noble, asked.
"Somewhere on the lower levels, he should still have the comm!"
"Right! Kaminari! Do you read me? The situation has been resolved and the villains defeated, where are you guys?"
The beeping of the comm was the only thing they could hear, with several of them starting to feel slightly uncomfortable over how the electric blonde didn't pick up.
"Blitz and those two's parents are gonna kill us if they're dead…search the lower levels! We need to find them and make sure they're ok!"
#Krrt~...This is Kaminari…I'm in a sideroom…looks like a lab…uh…let me see. Room number is 73B-101. Kyoka's still unconscious…but we're both safe and she's stable.#
"Alright, we're sending a squad down to meet with you!"
#Right…we'll be right here, waiting…is everybody alright?#
"We're alright, Denki…we're all safe. Everybody's alive."
#That's good…that's good.# The teenager said, before the comm shut off.
"That kid… Despite being no good at math, he has a big heart and even medical knowledge," The clone said, as he looked at Momo walking towards him, before saluting her.
She balked at the gesture but before she could respond the squad had already walked past her.
She looked back in confusion and then turned back to continue helping the others.
"How are Jirou and Kaminari, Trip?" she asked the clone who had communicated with her current best friend and her book buddy.
"They're ok, although Vod Kaminari sounded…I don't know…distressed? Like he'd just gone through something traumatic."
"That's concerning…any idea of what could have happened?"
"No, ma'am. We're in the dark about that for now."
Momo decided to follow them, although she was tired and quite hungry, she knew that she had to be there for her friends.
They soon managed to make their way down the levels (The elevators were finally working again) and approached the room carefully as they were unsure of Kaminari's mental state and wanted to be careful.
Especially once they noticed the door was locked from the inside.
"Momo, call out to Denki!"
"Right!"
"Denki! It's Momo along with the Vod'e! We're here!"
"...What's the book I have? The one you want?!"
Momo and the clones looked at each other in confusion before she turned back and replied.
"The Lord of the Rings! An original one in mint condition from the pre-quirk era!"
A few seconds passed, before the door was unlocked and opened, with the raven-haired girl immediately covering her mouth and nose while gagging due to the stench of practically burnt flesh and static hitting her nostrils the moment it did.
"...Denki?" She poked her head in and saw Denki sitting on a chair with Kyoka still on a lab table, unconscious.
"It's not us…sorry, I turned on the ventilation but I can't get the smell to go away…" Denki said, a haunted look on his face as he could only stare forward into…something.
Following his gaze, she gasped in shock at what she saw at the other end of the hallway: One of the villains who had attacked them, but he had several burns of different degrees all over his body.
"W-what happened here?" She asked, frightened, as clones went inside and started covering the unconscious villain in bacta patches.
"That should be quite obvious…static in the air…burned guy…"
"Denki…"
"I…he was hurting Kyoka…I lost…I lost control…I…I lost control…" He whispered, his hands shaking as he looked down on them, almost as if he had blood on them.
Walking over and kneeling before him, she lifted his chin, looking at him with compassion.
"We're gonna get through this, Denki…alright?"
"I…I…," His eyes were glassy and unfocused but she still stared directly into them.
"Is she safe?" He finally managed to get out, before looking over at the clones taking Kyouka out on a stretcher.
"She'll be ok. Nothing a few days in bacta can't fix," The clone said to him, as they carried her towards the elevator.
"You can rest now, Denki…you saved her," She said as she held him tightly.
"I could've been better…" He sighed, just as Momo helped him up.
"Have I ever told you how much I dreamed of being able to control and cast my electricity, Yaomomo?"
"I do believe you have on some occasions during our book club. Why?" She replied, looking to her friend who looked more and more pale by the minute.
"Well… I finally found out how…" He said, his voice turning grim.
"How?"
"...Hatred…"
For all her literary knowledge, all the texts and poems of wisdom that she learned…she could not find a suitable reply.
Finally after many moments of silence, she simply held onto him.
"Just rest, Denki…you can rest now."
"Buir! Cyar'ika!" Izuku cried out as he ran towards his mother and Eri.
"IZUKU!" They both cried out, running towards him.
He quickly wrapped the both of them up in a hug, the three falling to their knees, Izuku sighing in relief before noticing something.
"Hold up… Where's Rookie?!" He exclaimed, looking around for his younger clone, before hearing something.
"You think you're tough, huh?! Well, why don't you talk with your fists then!" The voice similar to his, though in a higher pitch, called out followed by the unmistakable sound of a fist colliding with a face.
Quickly looking in the direction of the sound, he found said clone sitting on a downed villain and currently beating his face to a pulp.
Sprinting over, he put his younger brother into a full nelson and pulled him off.
"Easy now, Rookie! He's had enough!" He exclaimed while Inko and Eri came over, the former covering the latter's eyes so she wouldn't have to see the rather ugly sight.
"Not my fault," Rookie grumbled before mumbling something about how villains were supposed to stay down after they surrendered.
"Ugh… Feels like a tiny Jango, huh?" He said to Inko in a happy yet melancholy tone who just nodded in response to him.
"He does…" She whispered as she leaned into his hug, Eri clutching onto his leg.
After letting go, he then kneeled down to first give Rookie a lesson about how it wasn't very heroic to beat on people who were lying down, saying that's something Bakugou would do, which of course immediately made him stop and even apologize to the villain of all things, and then to see if the villain's face was too broken beyond repair.
'So cute…' Everybody in the vicinity thought.
Izuku then headed back and swiftly picked up Eri, who squeaked in surprise and marched off.
"Where are you going?"
"I…am dead tired. I am going to sleep, wanna join me, Eri?"
Eri quickly agreed and nodded before yawning, the day's events having stressed her out a bit.
Picking her up, she nuzzled her cheek against his, as they headed back towards the hotel to get some rest, while the heroes and the clones who decided to stay behind took care of the rest.
The next morning, Izuku woke up very refreshed and, checking his messages, saw that I-Island was up and running again, with the exception of the tower which had to be almost completely renovated.
Oops.
Then again, about 90% of the damage was due to Wolfram using the structure to turn himself into an amalgamation of wires and steel.
He met up with a few of his friends and brothers, some of them even being accompanied by other people of their age, amongst them a few girls.
It had both made him chuckle and wish to sink into a hole when a few of them had decided to talk about how they met, along with teasing him about the Keldabe kiss… again.
'Why can't they just let me live it down…'
He suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to Eri who held a hand over her stomach, soon followed by it growling.
"Ah, sorry, Eri. We'll go and get breakfast now. How does apple pancakes sound?"
Seeing the sparkles in her eyes made him smile as they walked towards a diner to eat breakfast and he soon found himself meeting up with Toshinori (in skinny form) and his mother.
"Oh, hey guys! What are you doing here?"
Toshinori began to cough as Inko stuttered but he was able to recover.
"Oh well, my stomach's been coming back so I thought I'd have a light breakfast and invited your mother to join me!" Toshinori said with a sheepish chuckle.
"That's great, buir! I'm so glad for you!" Izuku said, none the wiser to what was truly going on.
"Oh yes, Chiyo says that at this rate, I'll finally be able to have a full stomach by the end of the summer if I continue with the daily treatments!"
"That's awesome! Got any ideas for your first official meal?"
"All-in American Style Breakfast!" Toshinori shouted with glee, his slightly less gaunt eyes gleaming in the light with joy and anticipation.
'Waffles, eggs, bacon, orange juice, SAUSAGE, PANCAKES WITH SYRUP, HASHBROWNS!' He thought with excitement, almost vibrating in his chair.
Thorn and Rex were sitting at a different table, the latter facepalming at how dense Izuku currently was.
"If he doesn't find out about those two within a month, I'll personally tell him…" Thorn groaned.
"Are you sure about that? Pretty sure you'll be on the receiving end of the Marev [fist] if you do that…" Rex deadpanned, to which Thorn froze up and suddenly found his tea very interesting.
Back at the other table, Izuku sat down and looked at the menu, with Eri ordering a stack of apple pancakes while he himself had a hard time deciding what to choose.
Eventually he went for a simple omelet with meat and some hash browns. Later, as they began to eat, Toshinori began to explain what would happen with I-Island.
"The Expo is still going on since the only damage was really to the central tower with the laboratories. All the other exhibits are still fully functional, I've spoken on David's behalf to the Board, and since he admitted to not supporting the plan, he still retains his position but is under heavier scrutiny now."
"Well…that's good to hear I guess. What about Melissa? Is she alright? And Kyoka?" Izuku asked in concern.
"Melissa is doing fine, although she has been very active with another project of hers, apparently something to do with a certain someone reigniting hope for her dream?" Toshinori asked coyly.
Izuku slightly flushed but was pleased to hear that Melissa was taking steps to pursue her old dream.
'She could definitely be a support-class hero like Power Loader.' He thought to himself, while looking out of the window and seeing the sun shining down above, feeling happy that the threat was over, but couldn't help but be cautious, due to how it seemed that trouble did seem to follow him around like his brothers said.
"As for Young Jirou, she's thanks to that bacta tank you summoned, she should make a swift recovery. Young Kaminari hasn't left her side at all, however. Hopefully, she can recover enough to enjoy the rest of the festival."
"That's good to hear," Izuku said, glad to hear about the recovery of his friend. "I'll make sure to visit them later today."
"Any news on how it's going back home at the apartment, buir?" He then asked and looked at Inko sipping her tea.
"Well, it's certainly gotten a lot less lonely ever since Cut arrived," She said with a small smile. "Almost feels like before you moved to U.A."
"I didn't move to U.A. buir, I just…" Izuku then blinked as he realized the truth.
It had been a few weeks since he rescued Eri, and they'd established that she would stay as a ward of the school. He however, constantly stayed over to take care of her and spend the night since she had constant nightmares.
It got to the point that he had his own dedicated shower room and had a duffle bag with various clothes with a laundry hamper to separate his and Eri's clothes.
"...Huh…" he said as he more or less lived at the school now and had also practically left his sweet mother all by her lonesome, if Cut hadn't been there.
Faster than anyone could comprehend, he bowed his head in apology towards her, all but begging her for forgiveness, practically rapping the words. at a speed nearly the same as his muttering.
After forgiving him thoroughly and paying for their meal, the group decided to walk around the expo and enjoy it fully, considering they didn't have that much time to do it yesterday.
They walked towards the space exhibit, meeting Ochako along the way who was as always excited about being able to learn more about space.
The group read about the possibilities of space colonies and advanced spaceships that could have been if quirks hadn't arrived two centuries ago, with Ochako seemingly sulking slightly at the thought.
After a few hours, they parted ways with the brunette and went along to see a support gear exhibition, meeting Melissa there, along with a strange little automaton on four wheels that looked a bit like a toaster and sounded like a mouse. A contraption that Eri had a lot of fun chasing around.
It was honestly adorable, at first she was curious about it, but then the thing booped her foot. She shied away a bit before booping it back, and it devolved into a game of tag.
Izuku knew that they were so close to a true, blinding smile once he saw how the corner of her lips were perked up and how her eyes shined.
'Just one more push…' He thought with a happy sigh.
Walking down the hallway of the hospital, Izuku knocked on one of the doors and awaited a reply.
"...Come in…" the drained voice of Denki said from the door, to which the greenet entered.
"How is she, Kaminari?" He asked his friend who sat on a chair, staring at something in the middle of the room, before looking over his shoulder.
"Stable…but…all of this could have been prevented…" He sighed and looked back at what his eyes were fixated on before.
Floating in a bacta tank was Kyouka, wearing spats and a tank top while a breathing apparatus covered her mouth and nose.
The tank however, was different from the others. Rather than being a tube that stood up, this one was shaped more like a tanning bed, allowing it to be moved around much easier.
"Perhaps so, but what matters is that you saved her life. You did that."
"Almost killed somebody in the process."
"Somebody who would have certainly killed you two," Izuku said before sighing. "Look, I-...my brothers have killed already, and I…if it weren't for the situation I probably would have killed Shigaraki too…I, uh…"
He stumbled over his words before sighing.
"Look, point is, you did what was necessary…did you lose control? Yes. Same thing that I did back at the USJ and we've both been left with scars from those events," Izuku said pointing to Denki's now wrapped hands.
"I could have killed her…a stray bolt, anything…when she tried to stop me…I almost-"
"But you didn't, proving that a part of you still had control. Kaminari…Denki…just because you lost control doesn't mean that you'll become a villain. When we get back home, we'll train together, and you'll learn how to control your power," Izuku sternly said with his hand on Denki's shoulder.
A sudden motion caught his attention, and he smiled.
"Besides, I think you have bigger things to worry about."
Denki's eyes widened and he turned to face Kyoka who was waking up and slightly panicking due to being underwater.
He quickly went to her side and helped her out of the wat, showing so much care and gentleness with her that Izuku felt that he was intruding.
Kyoka softly coughed and blearily looked at Denki.
"Denki…?"
"I'm here, Kyoka…I'm here."
Izuku smiled, glad to see his friends safe and healthy.
Even after having woken up, Kyoka was recommended to stay in the bacta for at least one to two more days to make sure she recovered completely, and after her family heard about what happened, asked (demanded) that she be returned home, along with Denki after his mom got hold of the news.
Either way he would have gone with her.
"I guess we'll see you back at U.A?" Izuku asked, as he walked with Denki who was currently pushing the bacta tank with Kyouka still inside, the punk rock girl giving her friend a thumbs up.
"Yeah. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to get grounded for the weekend, just so my mom and sister have an excuse to hug me all day for themselves," Denki sighed as they approached their transport.
The vehicle looked unusual to say the least, an elongated metal hull with sharp edges along with a big glass panel at the front, where four solar panels were placed around it along with two near its tail, while the middle section was hollow and big enough to hold the bacta tank and a few other passengers.
"That's a pretty cool ride…hmm…maybe…" Izuku thought as he inspected it more.
'It would be interesting if my quirk could make flight-based vehicles…could I potentially influence what it creates?'
Something to consider for later.
Waving them off as the transport lifted off of the ground, Izuku and his friends continued on with the next few days, enjoying everything that the Expo had to offer.
And yes, Izuku did get plenty of autographs.
And as his friends and loved ones got on the final flights back towards Japan, Izuku looked back at the island and smiled.
He was glad to have been here.
The call had been…odd to say the least, but Nezu had been adamant that they arrive at U.A. as soon as possible.
"Principal Nezu, what is it?"
The mammal was noticeably tense as he walked to his office chair.
"We received an anonymous message in the mail. Whoever dropped it off was unmarked and unfortunately, unidentifiable. There aren't any traces of fingerprints nor scents either." Nezu said grimly.
Izuku grimaced at the news as he was handed the holopad.
"We've already tested it for malware, explosives, toxins and the like, and we saw the message first," Nezu said before sighing. "We felt it best that you also saw the message."
Izuku raised his brow, but pressed the button.
The holopad opened up, and a soft light filled the room, but it presented a dark room, a figure bathed in light from behind, so that only shadow was shown.
The figure spoke.
"Mand'alor…you have something I want."
AND PRESTO! WE HAVE FINISHED!
Apologies for the long wait! It took us nearly two months, but here you are! A movie size chapter for your enjoyment! We once again apologize for the lack of content from other stories, so we hope this compensates for it all! Don't worry! More Legion and DLC coming soon! Next up in the latter is our favorite Captain and what he does on a day to day basis! Until then, VODE AN!- CT-2864
KOTE!