Chapter 16
"I am... torn," All Might said. He looked at Izuku and Melissa, not quite glaring. The two Rangers were in their respective chairs at the Command Center, de-Morphed and appearing suitably penitent.
Tommy's expression was carefully neutral. But Nezu smiled softly, amused and excited.
"On the one hand, I am grateful that you saved me, and by extension, the hostages. I was very close to doing something desperate. And even then, I might not have been able to defeat Shadow Pink."
"Psycho Pink," Tommy supplied mechanically. Toshinori's face paled.
"That was Psycho Pink?" the pro Hero asked, dropping back to his civilian voice, "I mean, I thought it might be, but there are no surviving pictures of the Psycho Rangers, so I..."
"Ahem," he switched back to his All Might voice, "Very grateful. But I told you that you couldn't come with me, and that didn't mean you should wait and then follow..."
"Ahem," Nezu said softly, deliberately copying Toshinori. They all turned to the dog-bear.
"You told them that before Psycho Pink appeared, and the complete information blackout started. Given the Echo Rangers were the only heroes available who could defeat a Shadow, I asked them to go, and authorized them in my capacity as UA's principal."
"Stretching the limits of your authority there," Toshinori muttered loudly under his breath.
"In addition, there are technically no laws regarding the use of Ranger Powers," Nezu ignored him, "After all, there hasn't been Ranger in centuries and most people don't believe in them. So really, they did nothing wrong."
Toshinori considered that for a moment. And even after he made up his mind, he pretended for a little longer. He wanted to make the teens sweat.
"Fine," All Might gave in, "You did things that skirt the intent of the law, but you did it for the right reasons. Don't think this gives you free reign."
Then he glared directly at Nezu, and said, "I am Melissa's legal guardian while she is here."
"I won't undermine your authority again," Nezu nodded, understanding his mistake.
"Also," All Might added, "I am looking into finding a way to deal with Shadows on my own."
Izuku suddenly raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Toshinori, are we supposed to be pretending, that we don't know, that you and Miss Rhian are dating?" the young man asked.
"I... umm... uhh..." All Might stammered as his body froze like a deer in headlights. Melissa and Nezu broke out laughing, and Tommy grinned.
"I... I suppose not. At least not among the five of us. And I suspect Aleia and Orisonth are also aware. But Rhian and I don't want the rest of the Dai clan learning yet. They have restrictions and regulations about dating. Especially for the six clans' main families and more so the clan heads."
"Okay," Izuku agreed seriously.
"As if any of them can claim my Uncle Might isn't good enough," Melissa scowled.
"Rhian tells me it is more about magical potential than anything else," All Might sounded depressed at the admission.
"But she doesn't care about that, does she?" Tommy reminded him.
"We all saw the way she looks at you, Uncle Toshi," Melissa agreed.
"I know," All Might said softly, "Still, I can't help but worry. If her clan pushed the issue... And even if she did pick me over them, would she really be happy? Would that be fair of me? But we haven't been dating that long, or talked about the future, so I might be putting the cart before the horse."
"Good," Nezu said, "Not to belittle your relationship woes, All Might, but we do still need to finish going over what happened this afternoon."
The three Humans sobered, and everyone looked at the monitor next to Tommy's tube. Which triggered Izuku.
"Even Dr. O," he mumbled, "the hologram projector doesn't have internal cameras. he uses the Command Center's cameras. and can view or at least read the data going to the monitors directly. does he look at the monitor so we feel more comfortable? or is it a reflective... reflexive action? should we install cameras on the tube to give him a more natural and appropriate point of view?"
"Izuku, focus," Melissa whispered.
"Sorry," her boyfriend told everyone, scratching the back of his head.
"Here is what's important," Nezu explained, "The attack on Kashyyyk Mall started at 1607. But the mall's security cameras cut out at 1539. Almost a half hour before. And the full media blackout started at 1633, after the police and press had time to arrive and seconds after Psycho Pink revealed herself. However the Echo Rangers defeated Psycho Pink at 1711, and the blackout continued until 1800."
"So Psycho Pink wasn't responsible for the blackout?" Izuku mused.
"We can't be sure," Nezu shrugged, "She could have started it in advance, and whatever she did might have taken time to fade away. Or it could have been one or more of the other Villains' Quirks."
"That also means we have no video evidence of the attack," All Might sighed, "other than a few glimpses the press caught before the shutters closed. All we have is eyewitness testimony. And we know how unreliable that can be."
"On the plus side," Nezu continued, "that also means there is no evidence of Izuku and Melissa being Rangers. The police have interviewed Melissa as a victim. But since she is a UA student and Toshinori's ward, there is no suspicion there."
"But on the minus side," Nezu said, "Stheno escaped from police custody."
"Who?" All Might and Izuku asked in unison.
"Gorgon Stheno," Nezu switched the display, "The Villain you said trapped your legs in stone."
"Ah, her," All Might tapped his palm with his fist.
"Is she related to the Gorgon sisters All Might arrested seven years ago?" Izuku realized.
"Ah," All Might repeated, his memory jarred.
"Very good," Nezu complimented the Ranger-in-training, "Yes, she is the younger sister of Gorgon Medusa and Gorgon Euryale. They changed their names sixteen years ago, and no, I don't know why they didn't reflect the hierarchy of their mythological namesakes."
Izuku closed his mouth, his query answered.
"Is there anything else?" Melissa asked.
"I'd like you both to connect your Morphers to my mainframe," Tommy prompted, "I'd like to check if the jamming had any effect on them. And if not, I'll be reviewing your battle with the Shadow."
Melissa's eyes widened and she looked at Nezu pointedly.
"Yes, I think so," the mouse-bear answered her unasked question, "We can talk to Tommy about it later."
"About what?" Izuku asked. The two geniuses just smiled.
"And that completes the chapters on pre-Quirk Heroics," Boenkyodo-sensei told 1-A, "Tomorrow we will be starting on the early Quirk era and the Troubles."
Izuku's hand shot up like a missile.
"Yes, Midoriya-kun?" Advisory called on him. Her anticipation was an even split between hope and dread. Her student had an incredible depth and variety of Heroes and their history. He had many insightful questions. But also ones that challenged her own knowledge.
"We covered mythology, comic books, and real heroes of the 20th and early 21st centuries. But are we skipping over the Power Rangers?"
The class reacted. Some with interest. Others with annoyance.
"We are not covering urban legends, Midoriya-kun," Boenkyodo pinched the bridge of her nose over her visor. She should have seen this coming, pun intended. And now she was getting a headache.
Then she saw his expression, remembered something. And deeply regretted her words.
"So that means we are skipping over 'The Shadow Over the Rising Sun'?" Izuku countered.
"What's that?" Asui-chan asked.
"An urban legend," Izuku stated, "It's in our textbook in chapter 6."
"What kind of urban legend?" Tokoyami-kun pressed, suddenly interested.
"A mysterious mastermind who supposedly united only all the Yakuza families, as well as organized crime in Korea, eastern China, and parts of Australia and even South America. Supposedly this Shadow had the power to permanently strengthen or weaken other people's Quirks."
"Sounds interesting," Bakugou-san grumbled.
"Except there is no proof," the Hero fanatic continued, "Over half the people who reported meeting the Shadow were proven to be lying, brainwashed, or mistaken. Even for the criminals the police could not refute, they gave wildly differing descriptions of the Shadow. And the Shadow was never caught or even named. After nineteen years, the rumors of the Shadow vanished, and the crime syndicates split up again. All this was about a century ago. The main reason we study it is because the mafias definitely merged, and the the merger and collapse let to modern Villains replacing organized crime."
Izuku's classmates looked interested. Advisory said nothing, but studied Izuku.
"Are you sure I can't give him detention?" Selene pressured Nezu. The dog-bear could tell that beneath Advisory's annoyance, she was joking about punishing Midoriya.
The situation amused Nezu. The principal of UA knew 'the Shadow Over the Rising Sun' was All For One. Selene knew that as well. And while neither Nezu or Toshinori had told Izuku that specific fact, Nezu would not be surprised if Izuku had figured it out from what Toshinori had told the teen. Of course that was a secret that they couldn't reveal to the other students.
Similarly, the Rangers were also real. But Izuku wasn't going to give up his secret to Advisory or his classmates. Nezu wasn't about to betray the Rangers' trust. Which led to this situation.
"Boenkyodo-sensei," Nezu addressed her formally, both because this was a professional conversation, and because he was not as close to the younger woman as he was to some of the other teachers.
"I know you don't believe in the Power Rangers," he said, "And until now I have allowed you to leave it off the syllabus for that reason, among others."
"I thought you didn't believe in them either," she frowned at his phrasing.
"Then you have misunderstood me," he countered, "I believed the many of the stories of the Power Rangers were exaggerated at best and impossible at worst. However I totally accept that the Power Rangers did exist in some form. And not just as fiction. A SWAT team fighting a terrorist group or even aliens with prototype weapons and vehicles? Perfectly reasonable. Transforming teenagers with combining mecha fighting evil wizards? Unlikely. After all, aliens must exist and might explain advanced technology. But magic, and an unlimited power source providing a level of technology we can't begin to understand or reproduce? I would need to see it to even consider believing it."
Advisory's eyebrows narrowed under her visor. She had not looked at it from that angle. The idea that the Ranger's improbable exploits held a grain of truth.
"But now one of your students is asking about the subject," Nezu tapped his fingertips, "And it is a reasonable request, considering what you have just covered."
Selene nodded reluctantly.
"That said, I have a suggestion," Nezu told her. She looked up. It was a polite affectation; she didn't need to move her head to see him. But meeting another person's eyes was good manners, and it let the other person know they had her attention.
"You do not want teach your students about the Power Rangers," he prompted. She bobbed her head again.
"So have Midoriya-kun do it," Nezu suggested with a wave of his hand.
"Have Midoriya do it?" she parroted.
"Yes. Tell him if he wants to have a class on the Power Rangers, then he can assemble a lesson plan. And if it meets your standards, he will teach it."
"That..." she paused and thought about it, "That works. If he can succeed, I'll be more than happy to let him do it. And if not, that will be the end of it."
"Excellent." Nezu smiled happily.
"You and principal Nezu want me to prepare a lesson on the Power Rangers?" Izuku sounded unsure, but Advisory could already see the gears turning in his mind.
"Yes," Boenkyodo confirmed, "Nezu-sensei agreed with you that it is worth adding to the syllabus, even though it isn't a topic in the textbook. And since you are more knowledgeable and enthusiastic on the subject, we thought you would do a better job. If you are interested, how long do you think you would need to prepare?"
"What kind of lesson are you looking for?" Izuku countered, "A quick,half-period overview lecture, I could do it tomorrow. If you wanted a longer presentation, maybe two classes longer... err, long, I could have it done by... Friday is the 25th, no major plans the rest of this week.. so yeah, have it to you this Friday, and you can review it over the weekend and we can do it next week..."
"Don't forget that the first three days of next week are the sports festival," she reminded him, "and the week of June 11th are internships."
"Then what about the last two days next week?" Izuku suggested, "I'll prepare a lighter lesson for those to days, since everyone will be coming down from the sports fest and focusing on internship offers. Since it isn't part of the normal lessons, you probably won't add it to your tests... Should I come up with homework? Maybe a quick worksheet, just to make sure they are paying attention..."
It dawned on Advisory then, that Nezu's suggestion might have been a minor revenge prank, and she had walked right into it.
Even though he said he would get it to Advisory-sensei by Friday, Izuku had the lesson plan mostly done by the time he left the Command Center Monday evening. Of course, he didn't work on it alone. Toshinori and Melissa were more than happy to help him decide what Ranger lore and teams deserved to be included. Nezu tried not to help directly, but was studying Ranger history himself, so he sometimes had a few questions. And the original Tommy had also been a teacher, so Dr. O was a great help in all parts of Izuku's task.
Izuku felt a little guilty, but his Hero History (and also Unarmed Combat) teacher had not told him he had to work on this alone. And neither Nezu nor All Might admonished him.
The Ranger-in-training still planned to spend the rest of the week, to review the lesson, tighten it, and add the multi-media elements.
Tuesday morning dawned, bright and dry. And Izuku was left thinking about something else Advisory-sensei had mentioned.
"Good morning," he addressed the rest of 1-A as they waited for Aizawa-sensei to arrive, "I was reminded yesterday that next week is the sports festival. So as class representative, I wanted to make sure no-one had any questions or concerns."
Halfway through the statement, the door opened, and their teacher slumped in.
"Good idea," Eraserhead said tiredly, "Feel free to discuss it for the rest of homeroom. Just don't make too much noise."
He collapsed into his chair and closed his eyes.
"What are the events?" Kirishima-kun asked.
"Doesn't matter," Bakugou-san scoffed, "None of you extras are going to beat me."
"I don't know a lot," Izuku said, "And probably am not supposed to let you know what I have heard. But there are things I can tell you, based on what UA has done for the last nineteen years of the sports festival."
"Nineteen?" Uraraka-chan prompted, "But we're only fifteen."
"It only makes sense to review older broadcasts, to prepare," Todoroki-san said coldly.
"Right," Izuku nodded, "Well, the sports fest is always three events, and three days. Usually, the freshman events are day one, juniors day two, and seniors day three. Five times they spread the events across the days instead of the classes, either because the events were considered too tiring, or because they took up too much space and the staff needed to take down one event to have room for the next. That isn't the case this year. We will be participating Monday, and watching our senpai on Tuesday and Wednesday."
After waiting a moment for his classmates to confirm they understood, Izuku continued.
"Next is the pattern of the events. The first event is a mass, individual contest, with only a small number making it to the second event. The second event is a small team event, usually four members, but occasional teams of two or eight. This is because it is always sixteen participants in the last round, so the teams need to fit that. And that last event is always a four round, single elimination fighting tournament."
That seemed to pique their interest. Bakugou-san smirked. Kirishima-kun, Tokoyami-kun, and Asui-chan looked excited. Koda-san and Uraraka-chan looked worried. But Kodai-chan and Todoroki-san remained impassive.
"The first event is solo," Izuku explained, "But usually their isn't a rule that stops people for working together. On the other hand, depending on the type of event, there is often a rule restricting you from interfering with the other participants. It is to see how good you are, not how much of a bully you can be."
Izuku very deliberately did not look a certain classmate. Who's smirk became an angry scowl for multiple reasons.
"Most of the time, the first event is some sort of race," the green-haired boy added, "An obstacle course, a maze, or both. Three years ago it was a massive dodgeball game, the free-for-all kind, not teams. And only the last forty standing made it through. And twelve years ago, it was a throwing contest. You had to hit targets or make baskets. The harder the target or basket, the more points it was worth. And that year only the 32 students with the highest score were supposed to make it through. But it ended up being 34, because the bottom seven were tied."
Aizawa had opened one eye, watching Izuku. But after the boy trailed off, he went back to sleep.
"Second round is a small team event," Izuku repeated, "Variations on a cavalry fight, four on four basketball, team dodgeball, things like that. One year they had four on four on four football on a hexagonal pitch, with only one team from each group of twelve advancing. And for the teams, about half of the time we have to make teams ourselves, about a quarter of the time it is random draw, and the rest they assign teams."
"And the fighting tournament is normal," he concluded, "you lose by KO, surrendering, or ring out. But you can be disqualified if you use excessive force. Or at least excessive force by UA's standards."
"Any questions?"
"What about support items?" Nekotora-san asked, raising her hand.
"That depends," Izuku told her, "Support course students can register and use items that they made. Students from the other courses can only use support items that are necessary to control their Quirks. Like, if A... Advisory-sensei were competing, her visor would be allowed."
Izuku cut himself of before mentioning their former classmate. But a few of them caught it, inspiring expressions of regret or worry.
"Anything else?"
Saturday, May 26th. The Rangers-in-training and their teachers left early in the morning for Tochigi, for the now familiar Mount Iwafune rock quarry.
"It's Morphin' Time." Two shouts ricocheted off the stone walls in unison.
"Echo Ranger One, Mode White!"
"Echo Ranger Two, Mode Blue!"
"I don't think need to explain to either of you how to play tag," Dr. O's voice rang out. Nezu and Toshinori had set up multiple cameras and other scanners so the AI could observe. Nezu's laptop, a supercomputer in its own right, was sitting on the passenger seat of All Might's Olympus, collecting the data. Tommy's AI program was still in the Command Center but was connected to the laptop to access the cameras and to use the car's loudspeaker to broadcast his voice.
"But you are to stay under the upper edge of the quarry, and inside the safety perimeter."
All Might had set up a number of flares. The Rangers were inside. The teachers were outside.
"Okay," Melissa confirmed. Izuku just nodded, focusing.
"Alright," Tommy said, "Then Izuku will start out as 'it'. You can begin in... Three. Two. One. GO!"
"Tigerzord, come forth!" Izuku shouted.
"Terrapin Tank, I choose you!" Melissa called out. And All Might face palmed.
The colossal, Bengal tiger robot appeared. Izuku jumped, and the Zord sucked him into the cockpit.
An massive turtle robot also manifested. It was shorter than the tiger, but wider, and about the same length. It's shell was patterned with blue and pink scales, and had a heavy, double barrel cannon on the top. Instead of flippers or legs, it had four large tank treads. Melissa also leaped, but since the head was lower, her Zord did not require an assist system to get her into the pilot's chair.
The Terrapin Zord shot away from the Tigerzord, taking advantage of the tiny time advantage. Then Izuku locked into his seat, and raced after.
"That tank is faster than I would have expected," All Might said.
The tiger was catching up. The turtle veered towards the wall. But the cat matched the turn.
"You shouldn't underestimate the speed of tanks or turtles," Nezu said.
"Or Zords," Tommy added.
Less than a meter from the cliff-face, Melissa yanked the right throttle back. The matching treads hard reversed. The tank's momentum carried it forward, but the treads going in opposite directions caused it to rotate, and it barely missed the stone. Then the Pink Ranger slammed both sticks full forward. There was a squealing of metal on gravel. And the turtle accelerated away.
Izuku, meanwhile, underestimated his Zord's deceleration and turning radius. The tiger slammed into the wall. The whole quarry shook.
"Oof," All Might flinched.
The Tigerzord growled angrily.
"Sorry," Izuku told the robot. It huffed lightly.
They took off after the Terrapin Tank again. Melissa aimed for the opposite wall. This time instead of turning, she put the whole Zord into full reverse. She also fired the water cannon, putting more backwards force on the tank. So as the treads sped up, for a brief moment, the Terrapin Tank was faster than the Tigerzord. Until it was far enough to lose the water's push back.
This time, the Tigerzord jumped. It rebounded off the wall. Melissa made another sharp turn. Instead of trying to follow her at speed, Izuku slowed. He made a sharper turn. In the other direction. And the tiger's tail lashed out, tapping the turtle's shell.
"Tag," Izuku shouted. Then rebounded away.
"One, two, three," Melissa started her slow ten count.
After twenty-one minutes thirty-one seconds, the Terrapin Tank Zord ran out of power. The Tigerzord only held out another eighteen seconds. Of that game time, Melissa ended up 'it' fifteen minutes even, and Izuku the other six and a half.
Then the Rangers-in-training powered down, so the Zords could recharge faster.
Melissa, Izuku, and All Might did some light karate practice while they waited.
Then they had a lunch prepared by Inko and planned by Toshinori to bolster their stamina.
Round two of tag only lasted thirteen minutes and change. This time Izuku was 'it' six minutes and Melissa a bit over seven minutes. The Pink Ranger started using the water cannon to blast the tiger back when it got too close. And the White Ranger learned how to turn and stop faster with the Zord's claws and tail.
"You both did great for a first time," Tommy told them, "Another session or two, and I should have an accurate assessment of the Tiger and Terrapin Zords for the training room."
"That's great, Dr. O," Izuku nodded happily.
"That would mean that we will also be able to pilot the simulated Zords, does it not?" Toshinori slipped into his All Might voice as he posed the question.
"Melissa, what is that?" Izuku noticed his girlfriend was not paying attention. Neither was Nezu, but that didn't concern Izuku as much.
"Well, I think we are ready," she vaguely answered without looking over, "Right, Mr. Nezu?"
"They aren't fully calibrated," the inexplicable animal said, "But that will be easier to do with live data. So I would say yes."
"What needs to be calibrated?" Toshinori asked, still in Hero mode.
Melissa turned to them, holding a tray. And stated proudly, "Tada!"
The tray held a hand sized circuit board and four SIM chips. Izuku and Toshinori just looked at her in confusion.
"After last Friday, when we couldn't contact Uncle Toshi due to the jamming, Mr. Nezu and I decided that wasn't a tolerable situation. Especially if Psycho Pink might be the cause and that could mean other Shadows might also be able to do it. But when we asked Dr. O, he said the Shadows couldn't do that during the original war. So with parts from the wall and unused schematics from the original Echo project we made these."
Izuku's eyes widened and he looked from her down to the SIM cards.
"Morphin' Grid Subwave Transmitters," she confirmed, "FTL, Grid based communications. This one is for Tommy, and the SIM cards are for our phones. We'll have to clone our existing SIM cards onto them. But afterwards, it will be much harder to cut of our comms. Plus, we won't need to use cell towers to call or text each other."
"That's amazing," Izuku declared happily. He wanted to hug Melissa, but the tray was in the way.
"Everyone get your phones out, so I can start the cloning," Nezu instructed, "And Melissa, I think you should do the honors with Tommy's mainframe."
She set the tray down, and took the distinct circuit board. She opened a panel, and slid the board into a free slot.
"Installing drivers," Tommy said.
"How hard would it be to make more of these?" Toshinori asked tentatively.
"For Rhian?" Melissa said teasingly.
"Yes," her uncle answered, unrattled, "But also Madison, Telos, and Al..."
"Incoming transmission," Tommy interrupted him, "It is partly scrambled, but... It's for you, Izuku."
They all froze and looked at Tommy. A garbled but understandable voice came out of the speakers.
"..tro Megaship Mark VI contacting the Echo Ranger. Please respond..."
