IMPORTANT NOTICE
Hey y'all just as a quick announcement, I know how annoying fake chapters are, so from now on, announcements will be posted with chapters, however, for real time comms, and to keep up to date, become one of the Vod'e and join the discord!
discord. gg/ 6Y3AEGZa
Yawning, CT-7567, sat up in his bunk, a few of his brothers falling off of him, as they had been in a cuddle pile the night before, due to some resurfacing trauma.
There were however one pair of arms still wrapped around his neck, soft, warm, had a slightly citric smell and were pink.
"Ugh… Mina… can't breathe…"
"Five more minutes, mommy…" She muttered out, still not letting go of him, Rex sighing in the process as he laid back down.
7567 deadpanned at the sleeping girl but couldn't do much.
The entire thing was a bit of an odd situation, if an understandable one.
The USJ had been a very traumatic experience for everyone involved.
And yet the rest of the school still treated it as if the class was the luckiest in the world and treated them like glory hogs… even after Izuku had made it very clear how much trauma each and everyone had gotten.
'That Monoma… a fool he is for thinking we enjoyed fighting for our lives," He sighed, before beginning to poke Mina's cheek to wake her up.
"Oi, Squishy. Wake up," He grumbled, the pink girl's cheek making said 'squish' noise every time he poked.
He was however soon interrupted by four 'clicks' and slowly turned his head towards the direction the sound had originated from, seeing the troublesome quartet, Waxer, Boil, Mayhem and Setsuna all holding their phones at him and Mina, having taken pictures.
'Oh crap…'
"And…sending to the UA Girls groupchat!"
"Please, no."
"My finger is coming closer~"
"Stop that."
"Almost there~"
"Don't you even think about doing it! Don't you even think about not doing it!"
"Aaaand, sent. Oh wow… that got popular real quick, eh boys? Boys?" Setsuna grinned, before she noticed her three friends had very strained smiles while gesturing to her to look over her shoulder.
Doing so, she quickly found out why they looked so terrified.
"It's only morning, and already you're doing misdeeds? I'm disappointed, Setsuna. As a recommendation student, you should know better," The resident clone of 1-B, Thorn said with crossed arms.
"H-hey Thorn!" Setsuna said with a nervous tone. "It's a pretty nice day outside, right? Perfect for taking Kendo out to the park or something and letting us be?"
Thorn raised his brow as she sheepishly chuckled.
"You know what? It is a nice day, I think I just might take your advice."
"Really!?"
"Yep! After we deliver your punishment, of course," He said while pointing behind Setsuna.
The lizard girl froze and turned in fear to see Kendo looking at her with a blank grin.
"Hi, Tokage~"
"Hi," Setsuna squeaked, noticing how the three clones tried to shuffle away, only to get grabbed by their wrists.
"Where do you think you're going?" The redhead asked with a dangerously sweet smile.
"Um… fishing?"
Just as the excuse had left her mouth, the greenette was grabbed by the collar by her class president, along with Waxer before she started dragging the two away, Thorn following shortly after with Boil and Mayhem.
"Looks like you have to go to the brig…"
"...You actually built that thing!?"
Both Thorn and Kendo began to chuckle as they dragged them away.
7567 sighed before looking around, it seemed that he wasn't the only one awake.
Various other clones nodded or gave other gestures of goodwill, some of them trapped under other students of 1-A.
The somber tradition had actually begun about a few nights ago, the various students coming by to check out the Topeka Dorms, also known as the Barracks.
The night had grown late and to be honest, memories were still fresh.
And although their parents didn't like it, many wanting for their children to be safe and nearby, they were eventually convinced by the fact that everybody would be together and that the clones would be ready in case of anything.
There were a few exceptions as to which of the students were present for obvious reasons.
And, one by one, they fell asleep in their separate beds.
Then it began, a clone suddenly started screaming as he thrashed about, consumed by his nightmares, waking everyone up.
"What's happening!?" One of the girls asked as they began to wake up blearily.
"Nightmare. It happens," 7567 said as they began to calm down the brother, the young boy's sobs piercing all their hearts.
"Easy vod, we're here…we're all here…"
It took a few minutes, but eventually he fell back asleep, surrounded by his brethren.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Sleep piles…they help us out," 7567 said as started to pass around blankets and pillows. "Why do you think there's almost no bunks?"
"Oh…"
"Yeah…"
They remained silent after that and went back to sleep, then, after a few hours, more cries of nightmares came.
But this time, not from a clone.
It was from one of the students.
Sero surprisingly was the first to have a nightmare, his cries being pleas for mercy against some unknown hunter.
Well…unknown to all but a few.
And the clones, showing their great solidarity and compassion, helped him out of his nightmare, Sero clutching to one of them as he tried to catch his breath.
Without any fanfare or hesitation, a squad of clones led him away to where a pile of clones were, and he was softly embraced by them.
All the students who were there observed them closely, not with derision or mockery but in solemn understanding.
And one by one, the students began to look at each other before joining in.
The clones swiftly made room for them, and soon enough, all of them fell into deep sleep.
It was not lost on them how protective the Vod'e were of them, and how even now they stood watch, always guarding.
Truly worthy of being called heroes.
A few hours later after everyone had gotten out of bed and some small talk with one another, Topeka Dorms was buzzing with life as the small group of 'chef clones' as they were known as after having started to get lessons from Lunch Rush, had begun making breakfast.
Now, normally the students wouldn't sleep in the clone dorms, however after a talk with Nezu and all of the different parents of those who had formed friendships with one or more clones, permission to stay the weekend had been given.
7567 had started to notice a few things had begun to change, although on a small scale. First of all, only someone absolutely blind wouldn't be able to see how Thorn and Itsuka were going out with one another, the other thing he noticed was Yui and Fil sometimes had their pinkies locked together, and Setsuna was becoming more and more friendly with Waxer.
Cracking his neck, he decided to not think about it too much, plus it was pretty adorable that his brothers were getting closer to girls their age, and buir Inko would definitely not complain about the thoughts of having future daughters in law and possible grandkids.
Collecting a bowl of katsudon, the sacred food of the Vod'e, he walked for a bit and was joined by Echo, Fives and Hevy, all with the same dish as they found a table with some more of their brothers and the students to sit at.
Nodding to the two, they started digging into their favorite meal after giving their thanks, before he noticed something.
"Echo, when did you get that handprint on your chest?"
"Hm? Oh this? Tsuyu was doing some hand painting, and accidentally stumbled into me when I entered the room," Fives said before chuckling. "Shoulda seen her, she was so embarrassed, first time I ever saw her face that red."
"Oh…you keeping it?"
"Yep…I like it, feels unique."
"You know, Ori'vod has been talking about setting up a day for the Vod'e to paint armor…we should invite the others to join us."
"What? Let them help design our armor?"
"...You know…that's not a half-bad idea…I mean, obviously not just let anybody help us with our armor…but maybe a few people we particularly trust."
"Kendo's for sure gonna help Thorn with his armor."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Ochako helped out Izuku, which reminds me, their armor's coming soon, right?"
"Yeah, only thing that sucks is that 'officially' it has to come from the support company."
And that was a disappointing conversation.
Earlier
"Look boys, we appreciate the enthusiasm, but there are protocols we have to follow, especially for a complete redesign. We're under contract with these support companies and we have to go by them first."
Many of the Engineering Corps slumped in disappointment in front of Power Loader, who pitied them. He knew how important this was to them.
"Look, how about this? Let them try out from the Support Company first, and if anything goes wrong, we'll go with the Vod'e, alright?"
"Alright…" They groaned in unison.
Present
"Hopefully that Detnerat is up to snuff…" Echo began, sipping his water and picked up a bit of rice with his chopsticks.
"Well…in case they aren't, I know that the Engineering Corps already has things ready, just waiting for Izuku to say the word."
"...Is it bad that we're waiting for a verified Support Company to fail? I mean, it is our friends we're talking about…"
"I mean…kinda? But at the same time it's only cause we want the best for them."
"Now, now, brothers, let's take it easy, m'kay. This is a professional and well known support company. They surely will at least make the gear decent, considering the ones using them will be in life and death situations." Rex said as he put a piece of pork into his mouth.
It would only be later he discovered just how wrong he was.
Later
"The hell is this junk?! Is-is this plastic?!" An engineer exclaimed in outrage as he held the chest plate the company had manufactured.
"I assure you, sir, that we only use the finest materials to make our support gear." The representative from Detnerat sneered at the clone, clearly feeling insulted at being criticized by a quirk.
"This is nothing more than half-baked garbage! Look at these! The designs don't follow anything from what the students sent!" He yelled before pulling out a leotard with plating that barely covered anything and showing it to 3636.
"This is definitely not what Yaoyorozu ordered!" 3636 snarled, looking at the only sports bra sized chest plate with a diamond shaped hole in the middle and crotch piece that looked like a bikini bottom. "Are you trying to make her look like a stripper?!"
"She asked for protection while still being able to use her quirk, I'd like to see you try and create something else, clone!"
"Why you-!"
"Tell me this, sir. What exactly can these plates withstand?" Another engineering clone asked calmly, yet with a sharp edge to it.
"You dare to ask that?! We at Detnerat only use the best and stro-"
PTEW
Before the words had left his mouth, the sound of a blaster firing was heard, another clone standing with a carbine and a plate, the armor having been punched cleanly through and was cracked all the way to the edges.
"Can't even handle the weakest setting above stun," He said, just as it crumbled.
"Even Hagakure's current 'costume' provides more protection, and she's literally running around naked sans the gloves and boots, thanks to a certain company full of degenerates," Rex (he'd been named by his brothers, although it was his choice in the end) said as he walked up to the representative who looked like he was on the verge of exploding.
"That's quite enough, you damned, quirk! You have no right to talk like that to a real human! The contract says that we have the last say in this, and that's final! Now farewell and good day to you!" he said as he left, slamming the door behind him.
"Really? Quirkism? What is he? A child?" Rex asked no one in particular as he sighed and inspected the rest of the costumes sent to them. "Look at these… things."
"Captain, I've been comparing Ochako's last costume with this one…it's a…I can't even sir, it's a travesty. The material's weak, armor plating's the same, they don't even have anything to help her with her quirk! I wouldn't be surprised if it ripped near her rear just by stretching."
"Oh I just know that Ori'vod's going to blow a gasket."
"Powerloader and Nezu too…and RG for that matter, no wonder so many hero students are getting injured. This company seems to be cutting as many corners as physically possible."
"You think that's bad? Look at Tsu's…" Echo facepalmed and pointed at the froggy girl's new costume; something looking more akin to a diver suit from the 1800's with oversized engines on the back, rather than a scuba diver.
Shuddering at the sight, Rex fought the urge to not reach for a bottle of something, despite being underaged.
"They're all gonna end up in bacta tanks by the end of this…" He groaned, not even wanting to imagine how much they would need to prevent Izuku from going on a roaring rampage of revenge against the company with his new toy.
"Uh, vod? I've been looking through the records…I think Powerloader's gonna want to see this."
Handing over the data to Rex, the captain began to read through it, his pupils shrinking for each sentence passing through his retina while his eyes widened more and more.
"We're taking this to him this instant. Come on," He sneered, nearly crumpling the papers as they started to march out of the support studio.
The group walked down the hallway and towards the workshop where the teacher was currently working, each of them having scowls beneath their helmets.
Knocking on the door, the group waited until the teacher opened it and let them come inside, deducing by their silence that they had something serious to talk about.
Closing the door behind him, Rex took a deep breath before showing him the papers.
"This is a scandal! The specs on the costumes are… I don't even have words! And look at the materials!" Rex nearly shouted, gesturing to the datasheets with a trembling hand.
"What?" Powerloader asked before taking the papers, reading through them carefully.
A short while later, he sighed and put the papers down.
"I'm sorry boys, I truly am, but unless it's been proven in actual action that these designs are incompatible and the gear insufficient, then our hands are tied…" He apologized to the clones who immediately began to protest.
"Hold it, brothers!" Rex said as he then caught Powerloader's attention.
"What kind of action are we talking about?"
"Field testing against real disasters or villains. That's the conditions Detnerat set for us."
Upon hearing that the clones scowled, they knew what that meant. For students to even be near something like that…nevermind the fact that they didn't want their friends to be hurt in the first place.
"Guys…more than anything I want the best for our students…but my hands are tied."
"Isn't there anything we can do? At this point I'd even beg Nezu for help."
"That, my dear Captain. Won't be necessary," Nezu said as he walked in, his fur slightly bristling from what he'd heard.
If this was true…then Detnerat was not only endangering his students, but potentially a multitude of current heroes.
"While those clauses are the main basis of our contract with Detnerat, there is one other clause to consider."
"What?"
"Oh!" Powerloader exclaimed with a snap of his fingers before paling. "Sir, you're not serious are you?"
"I am…better for them to know now than to suffer later," Nezu said grimly.
"I'm confused. What's going on?" Rex asked.
"A clause in the fine print. Stating that: if during a serious training event, sufficient damage is taken to a student regardless of the costume provided we can challenge their claim to support gear," Nezu stated while walking forward. "After all, if it cannot handle a mere training event, how could it handle the field?" Nezu said and put down the papers.
"Sir… while this is something we can use… I must urge you… please let's not resort to this. It feels barbaric." Rex pleaded, putting his hands on the dean's desk.
"It is. However it is also a sinisterly clever system developed by Detnerat. You see, they own a hospital, which means that each time someone gets injured during tests, they won't lose any money, since they're always the first to reach out to people who get injured under the guise of good will. You see where I am going with this, correct?"
Crack
Looking down at the desk, everyone in the room noticed how Rex's fingers had managed to crack into the wood, with even the clone himself looking shocked as he pulled the now swollen and slightly bleeding digits out of the wood.
"S-sir, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to break your de-"
"That was solid oak you just cracked. Impressive, Rex. Most impressive." Nezu said, sounding jovial yet there was a sharp undertone to it. "Nevertheless, Captain. If we are to ensure the safety of our students, we must use all the avenues available to us."
"Which means that you want us to do it…" Rex said as he let another clone nurse his fingers.
"Indeed…a hard decision I know, but better that they are hurt by you than killed by a villain due to faulty equipment."
Despite the rather sorrowful situation, Rex however got what could only be described as a wicked smile beneath his helmet, something that managed to send shivers down even Nezu's spine.
"This however does mean we can tear those high and mighty Detnerat jerks a new one," He said, a malicious aura beginning to emanate off of him.
Soon enough the same aura emanated from the others.
Later
"I'm sure you're all wondering why we've brought you here during the summer break," Aizawa said with his usual seriousness. "I won't go into details, but something's come up. In order to prepare you for the summer camp, we'll be doing an emergency training session to test your newest costumes."
"Hold up, our orders came in already?"
"Isn't that too soon?"
"As you've noticed, the only ones here are those that ordered new costumes with armor additions…we're here to test them out."
As previously stated, said group consisted of Ochako, Tenya, Momo, Kyoka, Yuga, Denki, Mina, Tsuyu, and Shoto.
Other students had entertained the idea, but still wanted to keep their current costumes as is, but many desired to at least review them at the beginning of the next semester.
"Your costumes are waiting inside the changing rooms. We will be heading to the USJ for this. And before you ask, yes, this time there won't be any villains," Aizawa said in a tired tone, with the students shuddering at the thought of going back there.
"Give me a minute," Izuku said, before rushing out of the room, before returning with a rather sizable basket. "Now let's go."
The trip to the USJ was a silent one, with the only noise being from the clones humming the burial hymn on their way, otherwise the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Arriving at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, the group got into two rows, with the clones standing at each side of the road too, holding their rifles in front of them, almost as a somber parade.
Walking in front of the group, Izuku went up the stairs and inside the doors, where the rebuilt facility greeted them. However, despite the restoration of the training ground, the images were still clear in the minds of the students and clones.
Slowly walking down the stairs with Rex in front, each of them had separate thoughts going through their heads.
'The remnants of the Lost Legion will forever be in this place, no matter how many years pass,' He thought, as he looked over his shoulder to see how some of the students were trembling slightly and a few of them even had a few tears running down their cheeks.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the group began to spread out,Rex staying in the middle and looking up to see Izuku kneeling down and gently running their fingers over the floor.
"Vod…" Rex sighed with a sad smile, before he stood up and began to walk once more, giving Izuku some more time to himself before they began, with all of those present deciding to do the same.
Izuku kept on kneeling for another minute, a tear falling onto the floor.
'Oh, Jango… what I wouldn't do to have you back…' He sighed, before he felt a small bump in the floor, which caught his attention.
"Hmm?"
With a gentle brush, he wiped away dust and noticed a sharp corner poking out of the ground, silver gleaning in the light. A slight spark of his quirk and a tap on the ground quickly freed it.
Izuku softly gasped as he picked up the shard, which turned out to be a slightly bent, lozenge-shaped piece of metal.
Jango's ka'rta beskar, his Heart of Iron.
Izuku once again let the waterworks open up, as warm tears began to well up in his eyes.
These weren't tears of sorrow, but of relief. Ever since the burial, he had noticed the piece missing and was afraid it had been lost, but he had finally found the lost piece.
'What's with this narrow hexagon piece? Wouldn't it be better to just have one whole chest piece?' He heard Nana wonder in a tone that was a mix of sympathy and curiosity.
'Maybe, yeah. But, we wanted this to represent something…a symbol of our Hearts. Of our dedication, our pride, our unity…our Mandokar.'
It was funny, that was the exact conversation that he'd had with Jango when they first came up with the idea.
Izuku tightly gripped the Heart in his hand, slightly trembling as feelings of grief and love surged through him, almost overwhelming him.
Aay'han…
He already had his own and to be honest, he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
A part of him wanted to keep it for himself, as a memorial. However, he also knew that Jango would want the last piece of his armor to be used correctly.
And as he looked down the stairs to where his friends were gathered, he realized that there was something special that he could do.
Wiping his tears, he put the piece into his necklace for safekeeping until they returned to campus.
"Alright then," He heard as he approached the group. "Let's get this started." Rex said just as Izuku arrived and stood next to him.
A few minutes later, their friends returned in their new costumes, with Rex looking at the floor in shame. He could practically hear Izuku's eyeballs pop out of their sockets.
"Mon ami…I…do not think that this is what I requested for my costume…" Yuga said, his armor being the same material as before but with new…accessories. In other words, a ton of mirrors which, while useful for his quirk, had been placed in very uncomfortable spots.
Also, everything was much heavier, and Yuga felt that he was almost being crushed by the weight while Kyouka said she swore she heard the ground crack with each step.
Speaking of said girl, what she wore made her look more or less like a giant set of speakers, each of her limbs and torso covered by square ones which hindered movement and at the same time pinched her joints.
Tenya…felt severely limited in his speed capability now. Enough said.
Denki was very annoyed, whoever gave him this costume made it out of a material that was very resistant to electrical current. As if he didn't have enough problems already. Who the hell decided a body glove and plates made out of rubber was a good idea anyhow!?
Momo… The poor girl looked more like a tomato, considering this costume somehow was even skimpier than the previous one.
Suffice to say, just about every costume had one problem or another.
"Hey! What gives?"
"Your first costumes weren't provided by support companies, they're actually done as projects by the Support Course. If, for whatever reason, they need to be redone, they're directed to the companies first to get a "professional's" point of view," Rex said scathingly.
"We're here to test them out before you get sent to the field," Aizawa said tiredly, with Ponds coming up with a jelly pouch.
"Do we really have to? I feel like my knee and arm joints already have blisters and they've been pricked!" Kyouka exclaimed in protest, seemingly also trying to show it via body language. The movement however, caused her to tip over.
"Oof!" She grunted before being helped up by Kaminari.
"Don't worry…" Rex said solemnly. "This training session won't last long," He sighed as they began to make their way over to the water to test Tsuyu's new suit.
At the same time, various clones began to separate the group to different sections of the USJ.
"Izuku…is everything alright?" Ochako asked as she was led to another part of the city.
"Yeah…everything is fine," He said, not noticing how Rex was currently overhearing them.
"Just…found something I need to talk about with the support department when we return," He replied, trying not to look at how much tighter Ochako's current costume was, even compared to the other one.
Walking over to Rex, who was guiding Mina towards Ochako now, he started to whisper to him. "Is everybody in position?"
"Yes."
"Then let's begin," Izuku said before One For All flashed to life and he leaped away, much to the girls' confusion.
"Attention students," They heard from the announcement system. "The training exercise is about to begin…your objective: Survive."
And as one, the clones raised their rifles.
And blaster fire echoed in the USJ once more followed by surprised screaming.
Later
Shattered pieces of armor decorate the ground, long separated from students who were left groaning in pain.
"W-why?" Ochako whimpered as she clutched her stomach and rear after taking a particularly bad shot.
Mina was already unconscious next to her, her athletic skills hampered by her costume.
More than that however, they had been taken completely by surprise and although they'd put up a good fight, managing to disarm a few clones, they had fallen to the onslaught.
And unfortunately, for this situation they couldn't use stunners.
"I'm sorry, Ochako…believe me, I am," Rex said before mercifully stunning her to eliminate the pain.
Rex then raised his commlink and called the others.
"Rex to all stations. Uravity and Pinky have been defeated."
#Monnk. Froppy is down. Literally had to break open the sardine can so she wouldn't drown.#
#Jet. Shoto is down as well.#
#Waxer here, Tenya's finally down…is he getting a name soon?#
#Blitz here, Buurenaar and Bes'laar are down.#
#3636 here, Creati has surrendered…and most of my squad is down…ow…#
#Fordo here, Nau'ur is down too.#
#Alright boys, take them to the infirmary, Principal Nezu says that he has all the evidence they need.#
Later, as the crew woke up, they would find many clones apologizing to them in a cacophony of voices, however, eventually things calmed down enough for Rex to explain things.
"Wait…so this Detenerat company deliberately sent us bad gear?"
"We've theorized that they at least send better quality gear to registered heroes, and you students have been left with the short stick. The materials you were given were not only shoddy but downright atrocious. They barely considered design input, and in the case of you girls, prioritized form over function," Rex calmly stated, although he was still pissed, he was a lot more in control now.
"So then…why?"
"Well…Nezu said that there was a stipulation in the contract, that if you suffered severe enough injuries in a training exercise that cast enough doubt on the quality of their products, UA could call the contract into question, and use alternative means to fully replace a costume."
"Indeed," Nezu said as he walked in. "Although usually, we are allowed to have the Support Course create items and minor adjustments per our contract, complete overhauls, or a completely new idea, would have to go through the company first."
"Sir, if I may bring something up; Detnerat will attempt to find as many loopholes as they can. For example, they could say that our weapons would punch through basically anything, and that the students are at fault for not being better."
"Oh, so it's my fault that I now have a blaster burn on my bare ass after the costume they made ripped while I tried to dodge?!" Ochako fumed, referring to how one of the clones had quite literally 'tapped' her by accident on the rear with the weapon.
"And is it my fault for all of these abrasions on my joints after their crappy design constantly pinched me there every time I moved!?" Kyouka sneered and pointed to her inner elbow that had some torn skin, with her knee joints being in the same situation.
Momo was too embarrassed to say anything, as she had found out very quickly that water of all things was all it took to dissolve the fabric her costume was made of, which is why she currently was wrapped in a blanket and 3636 and most of his men were covered in bruises from rubber bullets.
None had dared to peek of course, and none blamed her.
"Oh…you just leave that to me," Nezu said with a sadistic grin.
Normally, they would shiver in fear at seeing such an expression on the principal, but after the day's events, they were more than eager to have Detnerat be 'dealt' with.
As they began making their way back to the bus, Rex suddenly remembered something.
"Say, Vod? Why did you bring the giant basket?" Rex asked Izuku, making his older brother look at him.
"Lunch!" He replied with a small smile as he lifted it up just as they reached the top, before he opened it slightly and took out a literal miniature Katsudon and placed it into the small crack, before they went outside.
Getting into the bus, Izuku handed out sandwiches to his friends and brothers, each of them being very hungry after the one-sided beatdown.
"Midori-Izuku," Shoto began as he ate his sandwich. "Your clones are terrifying. I only managed to get one glacier up before I was already surrounded with fire and blasters."
"Yeah…Monnk really got me good, although the clunky suit didn't help, ribbit," Tsuyu said with an annoyed look.
"I felt so slow…" Tenya said with a depressed aura about him, although he was comforted by the clones next to him.
"Well, good thing is that since we've called into question Detnerat's competency, we can now get to the good stuff," Rex said as they stopped and left the bus, Recovery Girl already waiting to administer whatever treatment was left after the clones gave the students bacta patches.
Everybody had the grace to not mention Ochako's patches, since they knew they would end up on the moon if they did so.
After however, the long day of disappointment, they were very surprised to find boxes near their assigned spaces in Topeka Dorms.
"Well," Rex chuckled. "What are you waiting for?"
Like kids with Christmas presents, the students eagerly opened their boxes and were pleasantly surprised to see their armor waiting for them.
"To make things official, we did have to work with the Support Course, so we just provided the raw material from the Mindscape," Rex replied to which Izuku slowly turned around.
"What? You went over my helmet?" He said while squinting his eyes.
"Ah! Another man of culture, I see!" Denki guffawed.
"Hold up…you actually know where that's from?" Izuku said with a grin.
"Of course I do!" Denki said with a grin of his own.
"I am your father's, brother's, nephew's, cousin's former roommate."
"What's that make us?" Izuku replied.
"Absolutely nothing! Which is what you are about to become!"
After this exchange, the two clasped their hands together and smiled, before going back to the packages.
'What was that about?' Was the thought going through nearly everyone's heads
It wouldn't be long before the new costumes were spread out on the floor. With everybody excited to try them on.
"Hold up guys, before you try them on…well there's something we wanted to ask you," Izuku said as some of the other clones came by.
"What's up, Izuku?" Ochako asked as she admired half of a chest piece.
"Well, tomorrow we're going to I-Island, so we don't have time then, but after we come back, the Vod'e are going to host a painting session. Decorate our armor with sal, colors, I mean. We want you guys to join us for that, and if you'd like, do the same for you." He said, to which he was met with positivity.
Smiling at how everyone seemingly wanted to join, he pulled the two closest to him into a bear hug and lifted them off of the ground.
Rex smiled before he was soon dogpiled by a bunch of brothers.
"Cannonball!"
Oh great, Mina too.
Well…at least they were having fun.
Omake within an omake (Omakeception?)
The Man in Uniform
The Vod'e had recently been inspired by the other militaries around the world having dress uniforms, so they wouldn't have to constantly just wear their armor and bodysuits.
Rex had volunteered to be among the first to try them on.
It was a white uniform with blue trim and some gold accents as well as rank bars on his shoulders and he was carrying a white cover in his hand with his arm slightly curled inward.
'The Support Course really outdid themselves with this,' Rex thought as he thanked the student who sewed the uniform together.
Said student, a spider-like girl who apparently loved tea parties, bowed majestically before departing while humming a jaunty little tune.
It was of course, at that moment that Mina and Kyoka headed towards the department to get some upgrades for their costumes, with the two of them opening the door the moment Rex had finished adjusting the last piece.
Kyoka had the privilege of seeing Mina turn the most interesting shade of purple.
Mina, shaking her head as she tried to fight her blush then approached the smartly dressed clone.
"Excuse me, Captain~"
Kyoka snorted.