Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

71. Raising the Signal Flare

A/N (IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ): Hey, everybody, hope everyone's having a good Friday. Before we begin the chapter, though, I wanted to address something real quick. So… I've noticed a rather HUGE influx of guest reviews recently, all of which are asking when certain things will happen, when certain characters will be introduced, ect. I've also noticed that MANY of them are repeats of the same question, and while I normally don't have a problem with this, the rate at which these repeat comments are coming in is a bit disconcerting. So, while I appreciate the love for my story, I must humbly ask guest reviewers to PLEASE slow down with the comments, especially repeat ones. Because I'd rather not see the same request asked over and over, day after day, please and thank you.

Also, to reiterate; Transformers MHA Month is in JANUARY ONLY. Please keep that in mind. So, now that we've gotten business out of the way, let's begin. We're getting started on the School Briefs novel adaptations with this one, people! This is…

Chapter 71: Raising the Signal Flare

…..

Within the depths of Sector Seven's Japanese headquarters beneath Tokuyama Dam, a GroundBridge portal opened, allowing several Autobots entry. Accompanying Optimus Prime on this important visit were Jetfire, Red Alert, Bulkhead and Springer, the latter two acting as security for the Big Bot should things go south. And as for what "things" they were there to do, they were about to attempt something that was fairly rare in these late days of war; enemy negotiations. For indeed, the Vehicon miners they had apprehended had finally awakened from stasis, fully repaired thanks to Red Alert's efforts and they were very keen on speaking to the Prime. Currently, they were captives, but Optimus was holding out hope that, with the right words, he could coerce them to abandon their Decepticon ways and join the Autobots.

Still, as most of the bots transformed into robot mode upon rolling in, there were some who weren't exactly fully on board with the idea. "Eh, I don't get it, Prime." Springer shrugged. "A Con's a Con, no matter how ya slice it. Even if they're miners, they're still Vehicons."

"Precisely, Springer." Optimus affirmed, much to the Triple Changer's surprise. "They are Vehicons. Decepticon troopers who were Cold Constructed for the sole purpose of Megatron having expendable forces that he may send out onto the battlefield or having them mine energon. However, while they do not differ in appearance, they still have sparks, making them unique in personality. And thus, they are capable of emotion."

All of this only served to confuse Springer more. "I'm still not really pickin' up what you're etting' down, Prime."

"He means to say that, while some Vehicons may believe in the Decepticon cause, most are loyal to Megatron only because they fear him." Red Alert clarified. "Something that we can alleviate by bringing them over to our side, should they be willing to listen."

"Yeah, and pretty sure most of these Vehicons are just miners anyway." Bulkhead added, giving his fellow Wrecker a pat on the shoulder. "Chances are, most of these worker bots may JUMP at the chance to get out under Ol' Bucket Head's thumb."

That managed to get the gears turning in Springer's head. "Ah, I see… and you think they'll start workin' for us?"

Optimus raised a hand. "Whether they wish to offer us their services in mining energon is up to them. My only goal today is to offer them freedom from Megatron's oppression, and nothing more."

Jetfire crossed his arms, placing a thoughtful hand on his chin. "Still, it WOULD be pretty poetic if those Vehicons DID wanna help. Sure, not many would be useful on the battlefield, but I can only imagine how Megs would react…"

"Let's focus on speaking to them first before imagining anything." Red emphasized as the bots continued their way into the base.

Before long, they were met with Agents Fowler, Fairborne and Burns, the latter actually up on his feet. "Ah, Prime!" Fowler greeted first. "Good to see you bots got the message when I called earlier. I'm sure I don't have to tell you just how crucial this whole situation is."

"No need at all, Agent Fowler." Optimus assured before setting his attention onto Jacob Burns. "And Agent Burns, I see you are standing once again. It is good to see you healed."

Jacob saluted up to the Autobot leader. "Prime, thank you for the kind words. It's definitely good to be walking again…" But then, his sights went straight to Jetfire, nudging his chin up to the big, white and red robot. "But ah, so THIS is the new guy that Merissa's been telling me about. Jetfire, right?" He extended a fist up to the bot. "Agent Jacob Burns. It's a pleasure."

"Heh, right back at ya, soldier." Jetfire slowly lowered his fist, bumping it against Burns'. "And Agent Fairborne, good to see you again, too."

"Likewise." Merissa nodded. "So, shall we get started? Our guests have been waiting for some time now." Optimus nodded to her and a massive door opened up into an adjacent room… with equally large prison cells on the other side.

The group all walked in, though Bulkhead, Springer and Jetfire couldn't help but notice that… the prison cells were pretty much perfectly sized for a Cybertronian. "So… how long have you had these cells exactly?" the former asked.

"Long before you got here, Bulkhead." Burns replied. "Our predecessors knew just how big you bots were, so they had these built incase more Cybertronians decided to pay a visit. Of course, this was before we knew which side you Autobots were on, so… yeah."

"Do not feel bad about it, Agent Burns." Optimus dismissed. "Given your ancestor's first experience with our kind, it is understandable that this measure was taken. And now…" The Prime trailed off as they approached the cells they were looking for; the only three that had their energy forcefields activated to keep its prisoners inside. "…It has been put to use."

The bots and humans all peered inside the first one, seeing eight Vehicons all gathered in various positions. Some were standing, a few were sitting, though most of them were leaning against the walls of the cell. These Vehicons, for the most part, all had the generic wheeled body type, though their heads were what set them apart from the usual foot soldiers. Rather than the sharp, angled, silver faces, their appearance resembled more of a welding mask with two, horizontal eye slits for visors. They were made to be more resilient for work, after all. One of the Vehicons perked its head up the moment Prime approached the cell, taking a step back as he gasped; "Ah! O-Optimus Prime!" It was then that the other Cons set their attention on the bots as well, muttering amongst themselves worriedly.

Springer couldn't help but smirk, nudging Optimus' arm. "Woah, seems Megatron ain't the only one they're freaked out by."

Optimus hummed at that, but still made a bid to appeal to the Cons all the same. "Greetings! My apologies if you have been frightened by our appearance. We are not here to cause you any harm, though."

"…Y-You're not?" the Vehicon in front asked.

"Nope, quite the opposite, actually." Jetfire gave a thumbs up. "We're just here to check up on ya, see how you're doin' now that you're all repaired." He nudged Red Alert with his fist. "Ol' Red here made sure you guys were in tip-top shape, after all."

The Vehicons all looked to one another before bowing their heads to the medic in gratitude. "Um… thank you. For repairing us, that is." The one in front said.

Another one off to the side piped in as well. "Starscream probably would've just left us for scrap, honestly…"

"Hm, I wouldn't doubt it." Red Alert nodded. "Especially if it meant saving his own hide."

But just then, another voice shouted from the next cell over; "Don't believe them so easily!" Slamming their clawed hands against the energy field keeping them in, one sole Vehicon glared at the Autobots, catching the others of his kind off guard. This one Vehicon, however, was actually not a miner type. Rather this one bore the sharper, silver head of the combat type Vehicon. "Starscream may have left us for scrap, but think of what he'll do to us if these bots make us spill Decepticon secrets! He'll have our HEADS!"

The other Vehicons all gasped In f"ar, 'hich Optimus took note of. 'That one is using intimidation to keep the others in line. Perhaps I should speak to him next…' Prime stepped in front of the cell, addressing the Con. "I see. Then I take it you are the leader of this mining crew?"

The Vehicon simply scoffed and shook his head. "Pheh, not me. I was only assigned to guard the mining crew on that mission. …Shows how good THAT went, huh? Beaten by a etting' human who's as thin as sheet metal!"

"Probably even thinner, honestly." Bulkhead commented, earning him an elbow to the midsection from Red Alert. "Ach! Hey, I'm just sayin'!"

"Do you have a designation, soldier?" Optimus continued, ignoring the spat behind him.

The Vehicon shook his head. "Nope. None of us are given proper names. We're manufactured in mass numbers so Megatron can send us into the slaughter, after all."

"You seem quite bitter about that… which is understandable."

Another scoff came from the nameless Con. "Pfft, wouldn't you be if your existence didn't matter in the grand scheme of things? Just another body to be thrown at the enemy."

Optimus extended a hand. "And that is why Autobots do not do such a thing. We treat all of our forces with respect." The Vehicon simply huffed, crossing his arms as he turned away. "…Tell me, then, if you are not the leader of this crew, then I take it he is?" He craned his head toward the final cell to his right, containing the final Vehicon.

"Yep, that's him. The big guy hasn't said a word since he awoke from stasis, though. Good luck tryin' to interrogate him."

Red Alert hummed as he approached the third cell, peering through its energy field to see the aforementioned bot still laying on the lift. He had a feeling that was the case as he was repairing the sole unique Vehicon amongst the bunch, but he didn't want to assume. As the other Autobots approached, they themselves were able to take in the Vehicon's details. He was indeed MUCH heavier built than the other Vehicons, and fair bit larger, equal in height to Springer. Like the others, though, he shared the purple and black color scheme, though he had hints of dark navy and even some red all throughout.

In terms of the finer details, though, his helmet was very angular, with a pair of squared off chevrons sticking out the side and what seemed to be a headlamp built into the forehead crest, along with a pair of air intake on either side of the head. His features were covered with a red visor and silver faceplate as well. Down on his legs, he had a pair of large tires on the back of each thigh, and on the back of his calves were a set of treads, indicating that his vehicle form was equally heavy duty.

The most noticeable detail about this bot, though, were his arms. The left one was fairly normal with a smooth, block-shaped shoulder pad, the Decepticon symbol emblazoned near his wrist. But his right arm… might as well have not been an arm at all. Instead, it was an entire CANNON, his massive shoulder no doubt housing all of the technical workings while down past his elbow was the four-pronged barrel of the weapon itself. Interestingly, though, it wasn't just a straight muzzle, because at the end was a large, red radar dish of sorts, which seemed to match the red riot shield he kept on his left arm.

Overall, he was a rather unique bot, to the point that the Autobots questioned something; "You sure this guy's a Vehicon?" Springer questioned. "I don't think I've seen any like him before."

"He must be some sorta… expert mining type or ettingg'." Bulkhead deduced. "Maybe Megs made these ones to head up his mining ops?"

"Doubtful." Red Alert shook his head. "Otherwise, we would've encountered more in the past."

"…I'm not a Vehicon." The sound of a deep voice caught the Autobots off guard, their attention snapping right back to the Con, who kept staring up at the ceiling. "…At least, not by choice." He said, his head shifting slightly before moving back to the slab, seemingly lethargic.

Optimus considered this before glancing toward Red Alert. "He is disarmed, correct?"

The medic nodded. "Yes, all weapons disabled. I didn't want to remove his… erm, "arm", so I simply disconnected a few key wires."

"I would like to speak with him directly, then." Optimus requested, peering down to Fowler. "Agent Fowler, please open his cell."

The Sector Seven agent was surprised at first, but seeing the Autobot leader's serious gaze, he shrugged and complied. "Well, okay. But if he gets rough, I'm etting' the others in to help out." He nodded to Burns, who went over and used his handprint to deactivate the energy field briefly so Prime could walk in. "Plus, I'm comin' with. I wanna hear more from our guest."

"I'm goin' in, too." Bulkhead assured as he stepped next to Optimus, his optics shifting up to his leader seriously. "We don't know what this Con's capable of. He could be etting' on an act for all we know."

"…Very well, I will allow it." Optimus permitted before nodding to the others. "The rest of you, try appealing to the other Vehicons. Came here for that reason, after all." With the forcefield down, Prime, Bulkhead and Fowler walked in before it immediately went back up, locking them in with the unmoving Decepticon. Optimus extended his hand, starting first. "So, you say you are not a Vehicon by choice. What do you mean by that?"

The Con rotated his head, his red visor locking with Prime's blue optics. "Pretty sure that should be straightforward; I was drafted into the Decepticon ranks."

"Drafted? Not constructed, like the others?"

With a nod, the "Vehicon" confirmed it. "Exactly."

"…Do you have a name, then?"

There was a moment of hesitation from the Con, but only for a few seconds. "…My name is Signal Flare." He answered. "Long ago, about midway through the War for Cybertron, my home city was ransacked by the Cons… and that's when they discovered me." The Autobots and Fowler were giving Signal Flare their undivided attention at this point. "You see, my brother, Offshoot, and I have a unique ability… we can sense Energon deposits."

This managed to take Prime and Bulkhead aback. In most cases, specialized equipment was all but necessary to detect energon deposits. To hear that bot was capable of doing such a thing on their own was unprecedented. "…You're kiddin' me." Bulkhead uttered.

"Not at all." Signal Flare shook his head. "In fact, there's a small deposit directly under our feet."

It was Fowler's turn to voice his disbeleif. "W-What?! You've gotta be yankin' my chain!" He folded his arms across his chest, furrowing his brow to the Con. "This place was built over a HUNDRED years ago! If there were any energon here, our predecessors would've found it."

Signal Flare received skeptical looks from the bots as well, to which he finally sat up. "Don't believe me, huh? Wanna see for yourse—" *Whrr-tzch-tzch* He didn't move an inch more as Bulkhead brought out his arm cannon, aiming it right for his head. "Woah, woah! Not tryin' anything! Honest!"

"Bulkhead, stand down." Optimus ordered.

"Yeah, Bulk! Let the guy speak!"

…The silence was long and permeable after the bots heard that. The voice, seemingly coming from out of nowhere, was actually quite easy to locate. Everyone, including Bulkhead himself, set their sights down toward his chest. And, as if taking the silence as a hint, the voice squeaked out a tiny; "Oops" when she realized her error. Bulkhead opened his chest panel and, sure enough, there sat a certain Acid user in his storage unit. "Ah… hehe… hi." She waved meekly.

"MINA?!" Bulkhead reached in and plucked the shrieking pink girl out with his fingers, holding her up by the scruff of her school jacket as he furrowed his metal brows in disapproval. "For the love of Primus, that's TWICE now that you've done this! I thought I told you to stay at base!"

With a huff and a pout, Mina crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. "And I thought I told YOU that I didn't wanna miss out on whatever you were doing!"

"You should be studying for finals!"

Mina just rolled her eyes. "I've got the entire month to do that!" Her smile returned tenfold. "Right now, I wanna see what you guys are up to!"

Optimus wasn't too impressed, though he took a softer tone with her. "Mina, this matter is of substantial importance to the Autobots cause. I understand your fascination with what is happening, but I must ask that you—"

"By the maker… it's you!" The bots, Fowler, and even Mina were surprised when Signal Flare pointed a finger at her with an astounded tone. "The one the others whisper in fear about in the corridors of the Darksyde."

Shifting her eyes left and right, the confused girl pointed at herself. "…Ya mean me?"

"Yes. You're who they call… the "Acid Spitter"."

The moment Signal Flare said that, Mina's eyes widened in realization, flashing back only a couple months ago when she'd first encountered the Transformers. …And remembering how SHE was essentially the first human to kill a Vehicon. "Oh… oh dang, that's right." Mina put on a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her neck. "W-Would it help if I said I didn't know better at the time?"

"Doubtful." The Con replied. "If my men saw you, they'd probably cower in fear just as bad as they would around Megatron."

"H-How am I being compared to the leader of the Decepticons?!"

Despite the situation, Bulkhead couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange. "Hehe, hey, look on the bright side, Mina; you've taken your next big step in becoming a Wrecker. You're etting' Cons to be afraid of your presence alone!"

Just then, Fowler coughed into his hand, wanting to return to the prior subject. "AHEM, could we maybe go back to what our guest was sayin' about the energon UNDER the base? We can discuss Miss Ashido's punishment later."

Optimus nodded back. "Agreed. You were saying, Signal Flare?"

"Well, before I was interrupted…" He shot a brief glance to Bulkhead, the Wrecker grumbling as he deactivated his arm cannon. "…I was about to show you this." He lowered his head and, to the bots' surprise, his own chest panel opened up, revealing a screen inside. Though more specifically, it was a radar display. He made sure to aim his larger arm down to the floor as well. "The doc may have disabled my weapons, but my detection unit is something not so easily deactivated."

The dish began emitting heavy pulses into the ground and, within seconds, the display on his chest lit up… revealing that there was indeed something BIG down below. Something that was distinctly shaped like a vein. "…Sweet Solus Prime." Bulkhead muttered. "He's right… there's energon probably… five, maybe six meters below us!"

Fowler blinked as that information sunk in. "…You're tellin' me that, if they'd dug a bit deeper, Sector Seven would've discovered energon DECADES ago?!"

"Funny how things like that work out, isn't it?" Signal Flare ceased his search and closed his chest back up, setting his hand upon his knee. "And this ability of mine is exactly why Megatron drafted Offshoot and I into the Decepticon ranks… whether we wanted to or not. That said, my brother eventually came around to Megatron's way of thinking."

"…And you?" Optimus furthered.

"You can probably guess where my thoughts on the matter lie." Lowering his head to Optimus, Signal Flare aired his grievances. "I'm tired of being used as a tool for the Cons… especially Starscream. I'd rather be locked up in this cell for the rest of my existence, if I'm being frank."

Prime had to admit, he was quite happy to hear that Signal Flare wasn't dedicated to the Decepticon cause, though he didn't need to go THAT far. "Let us not "jump the gun", to use a human turn of phrase." He extended a hand to the armored bot. "Signal Flare, there is a place for you where your skills will truly be appreciated. Where you will not be treated like just another cog in the machine of the Decepticon ranks. I ask you; would you care to see what it is like… to be an Autobot?"

After a brief second, Signal Flare let out a musing; "Huh… join the Autobots, eh? Hm… I dunno. I mean, wouldn't your troops hate me?"

"Depends. Have ya killed any Autobots in the past?" Bulkhead asked… which actually prompted Signal Flare to tap his chin while humming ponderously. "…Hey, it's a yes or no question. Why d'ya gotta think about it?"

"Kidding, kidding!" Signal Flare raised his hand. "No, I haven't killed any Autobots. In fact, despite all appearances, I'm not that big on the whole "shooting" thing." He clenched his fingers, making a fist. "No, what I'm more interested in is… crafting weapons out of pure energon."

That made Prime and Bulkhead's optics widen. "…Can that actually be possible?" the Autobot leader asked.

"You tell me." Removing his pure red shield, Signal Flare passed it off to the Prime. "Made this one myself, along with the radar dish on my other arm to amplify my abilities."

As Optimus peered into the material, he saw how it was… completely translucent, and seemed to clow internally. "This is… unprecedented. And quite impressive."

"And I can make more for you… if you'll allow me, sir." Bringing his hand up as he stood, Signal Flare saluted the Prime, which got Mina and Fowler to share a smile below.

"Huh, well I'll be." The agent mused. "Looks like we got ourselves a genuine face turn."

Prime saluted back, but then extended his hand out to the Energon Crafter. "Signal Flare… we would be happy to welcome you to the Autobots."

"Thank you, sir. Now, I think it's time I showed… my true colors." The moment Signal Flare's hand made contact with Prime's a bright flash enveloped the Autobot, and his paint job completely changed. Now, rather than purple and black, he was now primarily cyan in the upper torso and lower legs, with his thighs and helmet becoming a deep turquoise color. His arms had also changed from back to a light tan, though his visor had remained red, along with his silver faceplate. As he pulled his hand back, the Decepticon symbol on his wrist warped in shape, becoming the Autobot brand. "I'm glad to be on board and be of service."

"WOOHOO!" Mina cheered. "The squad just gets bigger and badder! …Ooh, do you think your Vehicon buddies would consider switching sides, too?"

Signal Flare shifted his sights down, giving her a small chuckle. "Hehe, well, the possibility is there, especially if they see me like this. …Though I think it's best if they don't see you right off the bat. Lemme do some talking first, okay?"

Once that was agreed upon, Fowler gave Burns the signal to open the cell back up, which caught the attention of Jetfire, Springer and Red Alert. The trio of bots were left even more astonished when they saw that Bulkhead and Optimus weren't the only Autobots walking out. "Woah-ho-ho! I'll be fragged!" Jetfire laughed. "Ya actually pulled it off!"

It was then that Springer spotted Mina walking with them as well, and he crossed his arms while smirking down at her. "And just WHERE did you come from, little lady?"

"Hitched a ride in Bulkhead before you guys left base." The young girl stated proudly.

"Hm, you're becoming more like a Wrecker with each passing day." Springer approved with a thumbs up. "Disobeying direct orders is part of the job."

Mina gave a cheery grin back, but Optimus couldn't help but shake is head. 'I am beginning to understand why Magnus kept saying he could not deal with the Wreckers so often.' He cleared his vocal processor, bringing the main subject back. "Ahem, in any case, has any progress been made with the miners?"

"A bit, yes." Red Alert confirmed. "We've been speaking to them for a while, and most are interested…" The medic set his red visor upon the lone Vehicon trooper standing in his lonely cell, keeping his arms crossed and turned away. "…Key word being "most"."

"Well, let's see if I can change that." Signal Flare piped up as he walked into his subordinates' lines of sight, which made them all gasp at once.

"S-Signal Flare, sir!"

"What happened to you?!"

The Vehicon trooper's attention was garnered as well, spinning around to slam his hands against the energy field. "WHAT?! W-What are you doing?! If Starscream finds out—"

"Frag Starscream and everything he stands for." Signal Flare retorted, bringing his face close to the Vehicon's. "In fact, frag the Decepticon cause all together. I should've attempted to fight back a LONG time ago. In fact, a LOT of us should've!" He raised his arms to his mining team. "Vehicons, listen to me! It doesn't have to be this way! Under the Decepticons, you are nothing, but with the Autobots, you CAN be something! You can be someone, and your skills will be appreciated! Come join me, and we can experience what it's like to be FREE."

Much to the surprise of most of the Autobots, Signal Flare's rousing speech did exactly what it needed to do. "I'm down!" "Frag yeah, me too!" "We're with ya on this one, boss!" the Vehicon miners spoke one after the other, raising their fists in solidarity with their superior.

Of course, the only one to still be argumentative about it was the lone trooper. "Y-You're all insane! If Megatron gets a hold of any ONE of us—"

"Then we'll fight back!" another Vehicon slammed his fists against the cell wall. "I'm tired of living in fear of that tyrant! It's time we stood up for ourselves!"

"HAHA! That's the sprit!" Jetfire cheered. "Burns, I think it's time we let these guys have a taste of freedom, don't ya think?" Burns complied without question, opening the cell and allowing the miners to walk out.

Needless to say, the trooper wasn't all too impressed. "So that's it? You're gonna join them, just like that?"

Signal Flare approached him once again. "We'd rather not keep living in fear and oppression anymore, soldier. If you wish to do the same, you're more than happy to join us. But first… something's gotta be addressed." He did an about-face back to his crew. "Men, we may be free, but there are still several others onboard the Darksyde who wish for what we have. With any luck, we may free them one day, too, but until then, we'll have to be patient… and learn how to do things the Earthly way."

The crew eyed one Ir In confusion at his words. "Uh… whaddya mean by that, boss?"

"What I mean is that while on Earth, we'll need to learn to work with the Autobots' human associates." Signal Flare gestured down toward Agents Fowler, Burns and Fairborne. "Of course, I'm referring to these ones, but also their younger allies as well. Including… well, you'll wanna brace yourselves for this one." The miners appeared confused, but were quickly enlightened when the Autobots stepped aside… revealing Mina Ashido to them all.

"Hiya!" she waved cheerily.

The response was… as expected. "AAAAAHH!" All at once, the Vehicons screamed in terror and practically began climbing all over one another in a vain attempt to get away from the tiny, pink menace, the fear in their voices undeniable. "IT'S HER! IT'S HER!" "The Acid Spitter!" "Keep her away, PLEASE!" "Watch out for her mandibles! They split apart when she's about to strike! GYAAAAHH!"

That last one in particular made Mina do a doubletake. "W-Wha?! Mandibles?! I don't got mandibles!" She reached up and moved her horns a little. "And if you're talkin' about these, I've got news for you, they don't do much of anything!"

But the Vehicon trooper saw this as an opportunity. "She LIES! We all saw the footage of what happened! She killed one of our own without remorse!"

"Th-The remorse came later, I swear!" Mina asserted while waving her hands, trying to calm things down.

"ENOUGH!" Signal Flare stomped his foot, which managed to do the trick. All of the Vehicons stopped what they were doing… and promptly all fell over after they had stacked themselves too high on each other's shoulders. "By Primus, show some spinal sturdiness, will you? Young Mina here means absolutely no harm. What she said is true, she felt incredibly regretful for what she did to that Vehicon afterward. Right?"

Mina nodded vehemently. "Y-Yes! At the time, I-I didn't even know you guys were sentient, I thought you were drones or something… but then Optimus told me otherwise and… I'm not going to lie, I cried myself to sleep that night."

The Vehicons all looked to one another and then back down at her. "…What does it mean to "cry"?" one asked.

"Oh, right… you probably don't know what that is." Mina scratched her chin. "Well, crying is something that we humans do when we feel sad! Or when we're overcome by ANY strong emotion, really." She pointed up to her gold and black eyes. "It's when we shed water from our eyes—we call those "tears", by the way. And before you ask, no, the water isn't acidic. It's more… salty than anything."

"…Salty water?" another Vehicon scratched his head.

"These lifeforms are truly fascinating… if utterly confusing." Said yet another.

Jetfire chuckled and gave a shrug. "Hehe, don't worry, you'll get used to it… at least, I think." The second-in-command directed his attention toward the lone trooper once again. "So, how 'bout it? Don't wanna be left out, do ya?"

"Anything's better than being stuck in there, right?" Springer added.

With a low hum, the sole combat Vehicon pondered on the idea, peering down to the Decepticon sigil on his chest. "I… was never really given any sort of choice before now. But now that I have one…" He reached his clawed hand up and swiped it across the sigil, leaving two clean slashes through it and across his chest. "…I suppose a fresh start wouldn't be too bad."

Hearing this, the other Vehicons celebrated with an uproarious cheer, all while Agent Fairborne went to let him out. However, before she did, she was stopped by Red Alert. "Wait." The medic raised his hand before drawing closer to the cell, locking visors with the Vehicon. "Just so you're aware, I will be keeping a close optic on you. These miners are one case, but you were constructed specifically for war and you HAVE killed Autobots before. Until you prove your trustworthiness, you are to stay at Sector Seven... and your weapons are to remain disabled. Understand?"

The trooper seemed taken aback by the declaration… that is, until Optimus affirmed it. "Unfortunately, that is a necessary measure. Too often, we have had Vehicon troopers claim to be switching sides, only to reveal it to be a sneak attack." He nodded down to Merissa, who opened the cell and allowed him to step through. "I wish to see your word be genuine, though, and I have faith you can prove that." Prime extended his hand with a nod.

"…Yeah, sure. I can handle a little probation." The Vehicon said… all while mentally kicking himself. 'Gah, guess I should've figured these bots were smarter than they seemed.' His gaze traveled down toward Mina warily. "Just… please make sure the Acid Spitter keeps her hands to herself, please."

"Uh, the names "Mina", jerkface." The pink girl retorted. "How'd YOU feel if someone called you a mean name?"

That managed to get a light laugh out of the Vehicon trooper. "Hah, I've been called FAR worse than "jerkface", child. I don't think any derogatory name can vex me at this point."

Mina pursed her lips at that, thinking over the trooper's words. "Hm… okay then. I'll just have to call you something mundane instead."

"…What?"

"I mean, you DO need a name, after all." Mina reasoned. "We can't just call you guys "Vehicon Numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on." She squinted up at the trooper whilst scratching her chin. "Hm… I'm thinking…" Her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers, pointing up at him. "Steve!"

"…Again, what?"

Mina winked up to him. "You heard me! From now on, your name is STEVE!"

There was a lengthy silence after the girl's declaration, but surprisingly, most of the others didn't oppose to it. In fact, Signal Flare straight up approved. "Ya know what? I kinda like it."

"WHAT?!" the Vehicon now known as "Steve" threw his hands into the air. "How in the frag could you LIKE a name like that?! What does it even mean?!"

Merissa raised a finger to interject. "Well, actually, the name "Steven" is derived from—"

"That question was RHETORICAL!"

"Woah, woah, Steve, let's not fly off the handle." One of the miners implored.

Much to his chagrin, Steve was unable to escape the new moniker. "Oh, Primus, it's spreading."

Just then, another miner made a further suggestion; "Hey, if HE gets a unique name, why don't we ALL get one?"

"How would we tell each other apart, though?" came another one's question. "Not to be THAT bot, but we all look the same."

Thankfully, Mina had a solution for that as well. "Oh, that's an easy one! Cybertronians can change their paintjobs on a whim, can't they? Well, why don't you guys just do that and then we can pick out your names?" A murmur went through the crowd as they all agreed to the idea, which only got Mina more excited. "EEEEE! This is gonna be so much fun! Okay, boys! Choose your new color schemes and report to me in twenty-four hours! I'll get your new designations ready by then, got it?" She received a collective; "YES, MINA!", to her delight.

All the while, the Autobots and Sector Seven agents couldn't help but stare on in surprise. "…Could anyone have seen this coming?" Red Alert asked.

"Nope. Not one bit." Bulkhead replied.

"And yet somehow, it's working." Signal Flare chuckled, craning his head up to Optimus Prime. "I think things are gonna work out just fine with these bots. …Though I think the term "Vehicon" should be abandoned when it comes to us."

Optimus nodded back down to his new ally. "Agreed. Feel free to choose your team's new name, Signal Flare. I leave it in your capable servos."

…..

The next day at U.A. had been a fairly strenuous one for the students. For their Hero Course training had been nothing but rescue operations, and it had been rather taxing. First, they had learned the ins and outs of using an evac chute to evacuate from a crumbling building, where THEY had been the ones in need of evacuation… so they got to go down the slide. Mina was ecstatic about that one. Then, just when they thought they were done, All Might came in and took them in a large helicopter to do some rescue exercises on top of a snowy mountain and near the waterfront. Needless to say, their day had been a full one, and they found themselves now back in the classroom waiting for Aizawa to wrap things up.

"Good work today." The tired homeroom teacher droned. "Moving right along, we'll be having Parents' Day next week."

…Well, that came out of nowhere. "HUUUH?!" the entire classroom echoed before Eijiro exclaimed; "Even the Hero Course has gotta do stuff like that?!"

"Yes. Now make sure your parents or guardians see this." Aizawa pulled out a stack of handouts, separating them into four stacks before sending them down the aisles. "And for homework, you'll be writing them letters of appreciation."

There was a short burst of silence… before the class erupted into laughter. "Hahaha! Hang on, hang on, what are we? Little kids?" Denki said as everyone agreed with him… only to be met with Aizawa's very serious glower.

"Have I ever been one to joke? During the class, you will each read your letters out loud to your parents." It was only then that it dawned on the students that Aizawa was, indeed, very serious about this.

"F-For real?! That's ridiculous!" Toru exclaimed.

"Talk about embarrassing…" Ojiro mumbled with a sheepish grin as more of his peers made their opinions vocal.

However, as always, it was the Class Rep who went to calm everything down. "Everyone, quiet down!" Tenya exclaimed, swinging his arms robotically as he shot up out of his seat. "Quiet! QUIET!"

Tsuyu, who appeared much less tired today, placed a finger on her chin as she pointed out; "You're louder than anyone else, Iida. Ribbit."

"O-Oh, my apologies, Asui." Tenya bowed before addressing his teacher. "But, Mr. Aizawa, surely you understand why we're all so vexed? Parents' Day implies an ordinary class that our parents or guardians come to observe, so I can't understand why we would instead be reading letters of appreciation!" He raised his hand straight into the air. "Shouldn't they instead bear witness to an activity more befitting of the Hero Course? Perhaps running a rescue operation for them to see how far we have come?"

Aizawa merely hummed at the suggestion. "I see where you may get that idea. But in reality, nothing would be better fit for the Hero Course than these letters."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"As aspiring heroes, you're all bound to receive thanks and appreciation from those you save." Aizawa explained. "Which is why it's essential to consider just what that entails. Well, not that you all becoming pros is necessarily set in stone."

Tenya placed a hand upon his chin, pondering his teacher's words. "Wait, so you mean to say that this exercise will confirm whether or not we have the correct frame of mind to be heroes who must remain modest, humble and always grateful?" Just like that, he was convinced. "HOW TRUE! That makes perfect sense, sir!"

"You don't take much convincing." Ochako laughed behind him, all while the rest of the class gave awkward chuckles.

After that, most of the class was more accepting of the assignment… while others weren't as convinced. "Aizawa's argument makes sense, I guess… in a world where people think backwards." Kyoka grumbled.

"This is gonna be the end of me." Kaida thumped her head against her desk. "My parents are outta the country, which means my brother gets to show up here. So I gotta right a letter of appreciation to him instead, I guess."

"Well, who knows, Kaida?" Momo piped up from behind. "Perhaps you could somehow convince at least one of your parents to fly back to Japan for a little while?"

Kaida perked her head up, glancing toward Momo over her shoulder. "It'd be a long shot, but… maybe."

Aizawa continued on from there. "Before recitations, though, we'll give them a brief tour of the campus and a practical demo."

"Shouldn't that be the main event or something?!" Denki blurted out.

…..

Later once class had gotten out, the entire team met out behind the school, gathering in the parking lot to discuss everything they'd just learned. "Man, this sucks." Tetsutetsu grumbled, scowling down at the handout in his grasp. "Here I thought we'd be exempt from this usual sorta crap that normal schools go through."

"Yeah, me too." Setsuna rolled her eyes. "Like, don't get me wrong, I love my parents and all, but I'd rather not die of embarrassment."

The 1-A students all nodded in agreement with their 1-B cohorts… though the odd one out was, of course, Mei Hatsume. "I dunno what you guys are so worried about." The mad inventor said as she placed her hands behind her head. "I mean, I show my parents my schoolwork all the time, so really, this is nothing new."

"Mei, I think you're just incapable of feeling any sorta embarrassment." Mina deadpanned. "Aren't you worried about them gushing over you in front of your classmates?"

"Psh, my mom and dad are NOTHING like that." Mei scoffed. "My dad's a gearhead and my mom's a computer technician. Bringing them to a Support Course class is probably gonna be a walk in the park for them."

"Well LUCKY YOU." Denki exclaimed before burying his head in his hands. "Ugh, my mom's totally gonna humiliate me. ESPECIALLY if I write this freaking letter!" He waved the sheet of paper around in panic. "Is there seriously no way out of this?!"

Toward the back, Shoto shook his head. "Nope. No choice but to write them."

Iida raised his hands to his crowd of friends. "Now, everyone, I realize that this can be seen as quite stressful. However, while I also had my doubts at first, I think it is a fantastic idea. Naturally, we feel grateful to our families for all they do, but rarely do we get a chance to express that in words." He tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, I wonder if there's a page limit? Too short, and I'm afraid I won't be able to fit all my feelings into the letter."

That earned him several awkward stares and a few pained chuckles. "Uh… ya could just truncate your thoughts into, like, a couple pages, maybe?" Kyoka suggested.

"Ah, Jiro, but that simply won't do! I do not intend to bestow a half-hearted letter to my parents!"

"You REALLY think you'll be writing that much, Iida?" Izuku asked. "I can't even imagine where to start." The One for All inheritor scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I'm always leaving comments on heroes' websites, but an actual letter is a different story."

That intrigued the Engine user. "Is that so? I find myself writing thank you cards every now and again."

Eijiro and several others had to do a double take. "Wait, really? For what, man?"

"When I help senior citizens across the street, for instance, they sometimes send me gifts in the mail. My parents raised me to always reply with a thank-you card on such occasions."

The way Tenya said that was so casual, yet Izuku couldn't help but be impressed. "That's actually kind of amazing!"

"You think so? It seems perfectly ordinary."

Needless to say, the other members of the team were less impressed than their resident green-haired hero nerd. "Can't say I've ever done that, honestly." Itsuka said with a deadpan stare.

"N-Not to say it's a bad thing." Ibara insisted, the Vine user smiling to Iida. "In fact, I think it's a rather gracious act for you to do, Iida. And it gives you great experience for a task such as writing a letter of appreciation!"

Hearing the praise being heaped upon Iida by the 1-B girl, something flicked on in Denki's mind. He couldn't lie, he was feeling a little jealous, and it ignited a resolve in him he wasn't aware he had before. 'Hm, she likes gracious acts, huh? Alright, then I'll write one of the most gracious letters out there!'

Iida beamed at the kind words. "Thank you, Shiozaki! Yes, a letter is the perfect way to truly make one's feelings known! Oh! Wait, that reminds me!" He thrust his hands straight into the air, much to everyone's surprise. "How silly of me to forget!" Reaching into his school bag, Tenya procured four slips of paper, which, upon closer inspection, were actually tickets to something. "I received these theme part tickets from Native! Midoriya, Todoroki, he said that they were for us and one guest!"

The two boys' eyes widened as everyone immediately focused on them, as if they had just been told they had won the lotto. "W-Woah, seriously?!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Native?" Shoto titled his head. "Who's that?"

"The hero who was on the scene when… er, "you know what" happened back in Hosu." A quiet mumble of understanding went around at Izuku's clarification. They knew that they couldn't talk about what had ACTUALLY happened back during the internships, even though they ALL knew that the three boys and Mirko had taken down Stain on their own. "I wonder why he gave these to us, though…"

"Probably just to thank you guys." Kyoka figured, giving a small smirk as she noted the number of tickets. "Heh, wonder if he initially bought that fourth one for Mirko. Now THAT would be crazy to see."

Izuku couldn't help but scratch his chin with a small blush. "Haha, yeah… seeing her going around a theme park WOULD be kinda strange…"

"All the same, we ought to take advantage of his kindness, no?" Tenya incentivized.

The greenette nodded wholeheartedly. "Hm! Yeah, you're right!"

Shoto merely gave a shrug, "I guess so…"

"However, these are only good through next week." The spectacled speedster explained further. "Are the two of you free on Sunday?"

"Sunday? …Ack! Sorry, I can't make it." Izuku grimaced.

Kyoka raised a brow at him. "And what do you got going on, then?"

Within seconds, Izuku's frown was replaced with an excited smile, his eyes lighting up in the process. "There's a hero exhibit at the culture hall! A can't miss event covering everything from the dawn-of-heroes period to now! The stuff on display isn't usually available to the public, and everyone who attends gets a deluxe photo collection with detailed profiles of those early heroes!"

Izuku was practically brimming with excitement, which proved infectious to a few of his friends. "Wow, you're really dedicated to heroism, Deku!" Ochako beamed.

"…Maybe a bit obsessed, if ya ask me." Tetsu mumbled to Setsuna, which earned him a smack upside the head from Itsuka. "Ow! Hey, what'd I do?!"

"I'm really sorry, Iida." Izuku bowed, bringing his hands together apologetically.

"And I can't do Sunday either." Shoto added. "Have to visit my mom, sorry."

Tenya seemed rather dejected, but he understood. "I see… unfortunate, yet unavoidable. That said, I would hate for these tickets to go to waste—" He was cut off when a flurry of hands suddenly shot up from his crowd of friends, many of whom were interested. "…Well, I cannot invite ALL of you."

"Man, I wish I could go." Ochako rubbed her hands through her hair. "But I gotta get my shopping done that day!"

Itsuka crossed her arms with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, and I've got the midday shift at work."

Momo nodded in agreement. "I will be busy that day as well. However, for the rest of you, I believe it would be best for you all to work that out back at headquarters rather than here." She craned her head toward Kyoka and Izuku. "As for the three of us, I believe it's time we get going. Our parents will be expecting us home soon, after all."

Kyoka groaned at the reminder. "Ugh, it sucks to be grounded… which, by the way…" She tilted her head back to Izuku. "You got a plan to actually attend this hero exhibit?"

"I… oh." Izuku became downcast, suddenly reminded of the situation he was in. "N-No, I guess I don't."

"Hah, great… then I guess it's up to me to help ya out with that."

Izuku's frown turned upside-down once again. "R-Really?! Have I ever told you that you're the best, Kyoka?"

That managed to get Kyoka's lips to curl up into her own grin. "Many times. Feel free to keep saying it." At that moment, several Autobots came pulling up to the curb, and that was Kyoka, Momo and Izuku's cue to head off. "Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Hope ya work out those tickets in a fair way."

"Bye, guys!" Ochako waved as the others all went for an Autobot as well. She, Tenya and Todoroki all climbed into Strongarm, the cadet's holoform smiling at them as they buckled up.

"Afternoon, everyone!" Stella Armstrong greeted. "You kids have an exciting day?"

The question made Ochako give out a small chuckle. "Hehe, oh, you have NO idea…" As they drove along, the Gravity user explained the situation to Strongarm, who listened intently.

"Hm… Parents' Day, huh? Sounds like you all have your hands full."

Ochako nodded in agreement with a soft sigh. "Yeah, it's gonna be pretty hectic, I think." As she said that, though, she felt the need to ask her classmates; "So, do you guys know which of your family members are coming to Parents' Day?"

"My mother." Tenya replied sincerely. "My father has his work, after all. Will either of your folks be attending, Uraraka?"

"Hm… I dunno." Ochako shrugged. "I'm gonna have to ask them beforehand. Usually only one of them can come, but they decide that amongst themselves."

Tenya nodded at that. "I see. How about you, Todoroki?"

Next to him in the backseat, Shoto merely shrugged again. "Me? …Probably no one."

The answer took both of his peers aback, that is, until they remembered his circumstances. "Oh… yeah, your mom is in a hospital, isn't she?" Ochako said with a sympathetic gaze. "And your dad's probably WAY too busy with his hero work to come."

"I'm certain your parents would be delighted to see how far you've come, though." Tenya emphasized as well. "It's a shame. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it. Nothing worth apologizing over." Shoto assured. "…Though in the case of Endeavor, I'm glad that bastard won't be there. Last thing I want is him showing up."

Tenya and Ochako couldn't help but blink in surprise. "B-Bastard?! You shouldn't call the man who raised you "bastard". Why not "father", at least?"

Shoto scoffed at that. "Even "bastard" is too good for my pathetic excuse of a father."

"If not father, then perhaps "papa"?"

"…Papa?"

"Or "daddy"?"

And that's when the threshold was crossed. Ochako could see Shoto's eyes dilate in disgusted shock, and she could see flickers of flames start jumping off the left side of his face. She quickly moved off her seat and got in between the two, raising her hands to try and quell things before they got started. "OKAY, let's not go off the deep end, shall we?! Remember, we're in an Autobot? Last thing we need is a car wreck."

Strongarm glanced back to the boys. "Exactly. Besides, we're almost at Shoto's stop. Take your seats, all of you."

With the conflict having been doused, the boys settled back in their seats, with Ochako breathing a heavy sigh of relief. 'Too close for comfort…'

…..

Once Shoto had been dropped off at the bus station near his home, the boy's feet took him… in the complete opposite direction once his friends were out of sight. He had grown accustomed to joining them after school at the Autobot base for the past week since he found out the secret, often finding himself in casual conversation with Optimus Prime. But today, he had some last-minute business to attend to, and he'd rather not let them be concerned about it. And so, there he was, stepping in front of the stark white building he was so accustomed to seeing since the Sports Festival ended, the front cast in the orange hue of the setting sun.

Shoto had made sure to visit the hospital where his mother was institutionalized on his days off pretty much every week. And though visiting hours were nearly over today, the lobby was still full of patients waiting to check out. So, he took the opportunity to slink off to the elevator unnoticed and made for the upper levels. But as he got closer to his mother's floor, he felt his nerves starting to take hold for some reason. Not since he first visited her did he feel this nerve wracked. 'What is going on?' he wondered just as the elevator stopped and opened up.

Once he stepped out, he was greeted by silence and the smell of antiseptic, which while pungent was at least better than the commotion downstairs. It even reminded him of his own recent hospital stay a little… and how it made him ponder of how long his mother had remained in such a sterile environment for so many years.

"Shoto? What a nice surprise!" the Half-Cold, Half-Hot user was jarred from his thoughts when one of the nurses spoke up to him as he passed her station, catching him off guard.

"Oh… hi." He said back while pondering; 'A surprise?' He meant to ask her about it, but her station's phone rang, so he decided against it and kept walking. All the while, a heavy weight seemed to enter his pocket… the folded-up piece of paper for Parents' Day. It seemed to grow the heaviest as he made it to his mother's room, though he took a deep breath to steel his nerves before opening the door. "…Hi, mom."

Inside, Rei Todoroki was sitting on her bed, staring out the window at the sunset. But as the door opened and she heard his greeting, her head swung right around to smile at him. "Shoto?" her eyes widened in happiness.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?"

"Far from it, honey. Come, have a seat." Rei pulled a stool out from the desk across from her bed, beckoning Shoto to sit down.

And from there, they simply… sat in silence, looking at one another as the soft amber light shone through the window. …It was kinda awkward, Shoto found. "…Mom?"

"O-Oh, sorry." Rei apologized.

"It's fine… is there something on my face or…?"

"No, it's just… I haven't had the chance to see you on a school day in quite some time." Rei explained, getting a little choked up. "…You're growing up."

Seeing her eyes twinkle as tears welled up in her eyes, Shoto couldn't help but feel sheepish in the moment. 'Now I know what the nurse meant by "surprise".' He cleared his throat a little, regaining some composure. "Sorry for showing up unannounced."

Rei reached out, grasping her son's hand upon his knee. "Don't be silly. I'm always happy to see you."

Slowly, Shoto folded his hand up, gently taking hers with a small smile of his own. His other hand, meanwhile, was still in his pocket, brushing against the handout—the reason he was there in the first place. Despite the fact that he knew full well that his mother couldn't attend. '…Is it even worth telling her?'

"Want anything to drink, sweetie?" Rei asked, once again knocking Shoto out of his own mind.

"Huh? O-Oh, sure." Shoto's throat felt suddenly very dry as he stood up, ready to head out the door to the nearest vending machine to grab a couple drinks.

But Rei held a hand up, stopping him short. "No need to leave. I have some things in the fridge." The boy's sights went to the small, white box under the desk, much smaller than any home fridge. He opened the minifridge and found quite a few soft drink bottles, along with a yogurt drink with a cartoon cow on the carton which was more meant for children. Rei knew he saw it and let out a small chuckle. "Haha, you recognize that, Shoto? Your old favorite, the yogurt with Mrs. Cow. I saw that they were selling it, so…"

Shoto froze up… figuratively, of course. He could feel a vague memory in the back of his mind crop up at the mention of that brand of drink, though it had been so long that it nearly vanished. Rei could see his reaction, though her smile didn't lose its luster. "I know, I know, you're in high school now." She nodded. "So I picked out a few other options as well. Take which ever you'd like…"

"This one." Shoto said, grabbing the Mrs. Cow yogurt drink without hesitation. With how much trouble his mother went through to get it, he'd make damn sure he enjoyed every sip. And as he drank it, the taste became more familiar to him with every sip. It was strange… and oddly nostalgic. Once the two finished their drinks, though, the room fell into an awkward silence once more. It was almost like the years apart between mother and son had taken the form of this silence, though it wasn't entirely painful as it was also how they took the time to think on what to say to the other next.

"So… how's school?" Rei started.

"Fine, I…" And just like that, the paper weight in his pocket grew heavy again. It was the perfect opportunity to tell her, but he still couldn't do it. He could see the concern on his mother's face as he hesitated, but he managed to save himself quickly. "We did rescue training in class today. Got to ride in a helicopter, even."

"A helicopter? Well, isn't that something!"

From there, the conversation became a bit more natural, though before long… something interrupted their conversation. *ding* Shoto's eyes widened and his sights snapped down to his pants pocket, recognizing it as the Messager on his phone. "Oh, sorry, one second…" He reached down and flicked the device on… and saw that it was from his best friend.

K-Saurus: Any advice on dealing with the LACK of parents on Parents' Day?

His smile widened and a soft chuckle passed his lips… which Rei immediately took notice of. "What is it?" she asked slyly.

Realizing his grave error, Shoto quickly shoved his phone back in his pants. "N-Nothing."

"Don't give me that, dear." Rei said knowingly. "I know that smile. That's the smile of someone who just got a message from Miss Kaida."

That was the one thing that Shoto wished his mother had never picked up on. She had still yet to actually MEET Kaida, and yet whenever he got messages from her during his visits, she always noticed and the conversation would almost always lean into the topic of her. … He was also pretty sure she knew he had a crush on the Sauro-Parts user, so that never made things easy. "I… yeah. She's just asking a question about homework and she made it kinda silly…"

"You know what I'm going to say next, right?"

"Hah… that you want to meet her soon."

"Honey, I only repeat it at nauseum because she sounds like such a sweetheart." Rei said, genuinely interested. "I want to get to know the friend you've stuck by since middle school."

Shoto scratched the back of his head as a light shade of pink came to his cheeks. "I… also have other friends, too."

If anything, that only made Rei's face light up even more. "That's fantastic to hear, Shoto. What are they like?"

But before the boy could properly answer his mother, a knock came at the door before it clicked open, revealing a young woman on the other side. She wasn't a nurse, however, the family resemblance between her and the two Todorokis in the room being all too clear. She was a lovely young woman in her mid-twenties with white hair that had bits of red in it, mostly hanging down at shoulder-length with a portion if it tied back. She also wore thick-rimmed black glasses over her dark eyes, which focused on her mother first. "Mom, I've got your laundry and—oh! Shoto?"

"Fuyumi." Shoto nodded to his sister.

"Ah, what a surprise!" Fuyumi smiled as she set her mother's laundry on the dresser. "You don't usually show up here on school days. What's going on?"

Shoto gave a simple shrug. "Not much, really."

Rei sent her daughter a grateful grin. "Thanks as always for taking care of my laundry, honey."

"Aw, don't mention it, mom." Once she had organized everything in the small dresser, Fuyumi strolled over to her family. "So, any special reason you're here today, Shoto?"

The younger boy glanced off to the side. "Again, not really." However, right as Shoto stood up to throw away his milk carton, the handout happened to slip out of his pocket and onto the floor, which he didn't notice until Fuyumi picked it up.

"Oh? What's this, then?"

Shoto's eyes widened as he went to reach for the paper, only for his sister to turn away. "No, don't—"

But it was too late. Fuyumi unfolded it and immediately saw what it was about. "Oh, a notice about Parents' Day?"

"It's none of your business." Shoto asserted, though he knew that the damage was already done.

"Right, right, I get what's going on." Fuyumi deduced with a knowing smile, which was met by her brother's wrathful scowl.

Thankfully, his mother's voice managed to calm him down, even if what she had to say pained him. "Oh… Shoto, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't attend…"

Seeing his mother's downcast gaze, Shoto tried his best to clear things up. "N-No, I know. I, uh… just wanted to pass on the notice. I-It's no big deal, really…" He began beating himself internally over the mistake, wishing he'd never come. Not if she felt forced to apologize over it. "I'm sorry, mom…"

"Oh, Shoto…" Rei's eyes only grew sadder as she saw her son's defeated state.

"H-Hey, c'mon now…" Fuyumi was starting to fret over the disappointed state she had put her brother and mother in. She had caused this mess, and—in that moment—she'd gotten an idea to clean it up. "Oh! I know! I'll attend Parents' Day!"

The declaration managed to get both of them to snap their heads to her. "What?" they echoed, though Shoto seemed more annoyed while his mother was elated. "That's crazy." The ice and fire wielder continued. "Don't you have your own school to worry about?"

But Fuyumi waved off his worries and gave him a wink. "Nice of you to worry, but as a teacher, I can put in for half a day off since this is a family affair. Plus, I can record the whole thing!"

Shoto was aghast, to say the least. "This isn't like Sports Day with the little kids you teach."

"Oh? Don't want me to? Trust me, Shoto, there's plenty of camcorders in the room when my kids have Parents' Day."

Before Shoto could tell his sister off for comparing a high schooler to her ankle biters, their mother spoke up to him. "…Why not, then?"

It was only then that Shoto noticed her previous delight had been overshadowed by a frown once again, and he immediately hated himself for doing that. Sure, he despised the plan, but breaking his mother's heart? Not happening. "I'd… I'd have to check with my school…"

"Please do." Rei smiled softly. "I would love to at least see what Parents' Day is like…"

"Hm, okay…" Shoto complied.

Eventually, it had gotten late and the two Todoroki siblings bid their mother farewell, heading to the elevator. "Your homeroom teacher is… Aizawa, right?" Fuyumi asked.

"Yeah…"

Despite herself, Fuyumi couldn't help but poke and prod her baby brother a little more. "What's the matter, Mr. Grumpy Pants? You want dad to attend instead?"

That made Shoto glare at her even harder. "Don't you dare speak a word of this to him."

"Hah… thought so." Fuyumi sighed at her bullheaded brother., though it didn't take long for that smile of hers to return. "Oh, fine. But you really hate the camcorder idea that much, huh? Would I be able to say anything that could convince you?"

"Yeah, I hate it, but it's more than that." Shoto lifted his head to his sister irritably. "I knew all along that she couldn't go, so she never should've had to find out in the first place."

Fuyumi winced, her hand going to her neck. "Ah… that." But even despite the awkwardness, she eventually smiled to her brother again… and booped him on the nose.

"…What the hell?"

"Listen, there's no parent out there who wouldn't be thrilled to learn their child actually thinks about them. Mom might feel terrible about not attending, but I know she was glad you came to tell her anyway." The young woman reached out, giving her brother's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Remember, it's not just your first Parents' Day notice. In a way, it's hers too."

The wisdom in her words didn't go unnoticed by Shoto. "…You oughta be a teacher or something." he replied dryly.

"You don't say." Fuyumi said with equal sarcasm. She gave him a small bop on the head as they entered the elevator, all while Shoto tried to hide his embarrassment. But, just then…

*Blip-blip*

Shoto's phone went off again, prompting him to check his messages. Sure enough, it was Kaida again.

K-Saurus: Seriously, dude, my brother's TREMBLING at the thought of going back to Aizawa's classroom. I NEED AN OUT!

"Snrk." Unfortunately, that one stifle of a laugh was enough to catch his sister's attention, leading her to peer down at his messages.

"Ooh, Kaida again?" Fuyumi smirked.

Quickly stuffing his phone back in his pocket, Shoto played dumb. "Maybe."

"You know mom wants to meet her soon, right?" the elder sister nudged her brother, only for him to nudge right back.

"Buzz off." While Shoto put up his usual cold front, he reflected on everything that transpired back there… as well as what was to come. His sister was going to be at Parents' Day with a camcorder of all things. It would be utterly mortifying… but it was a small price to pay to make his mother happy.

…..

A/N: Well, that was certainly something, wasn't it? An emotional visit with the Todoroki family, along with the revelation of Parents' Day just on the horizon… and the addition of SEVERAL new allies to the Autobots! …With some being more willing than others.

Let's start with those, shall we? Because indeed, from out of completely left field, WE GOT SIGNAL FLARE! I said I'd be pulling from ALL across the Transformers multiverse when it comes to characters for this story, and Energon is no exception. Besides, Signal Flare's got an awesome design that looks vaguely Vehicon-ish, so seeing him be a part of their forces isn't too out of the ordinary, I think. Though now, I should say he was FORMERLY part of them, along with his small crew of miner-type Vehicons, now that they've joined the Autobots.

But then… we get the lone trooper Vehicon, the one who's gonna be the hardest to convince to lighten up and fully commit to the Autobot cause. And indeed, as many predicted, IT'S STEVE! …And who better to name him such other than Mina herself? Seeing THIS guy develop is gonna be pretty interesting.

That said, it sounds like Sunday's gonna be a busy day for ALL of our heroes. Izuku's got that hero exhibit he's gonna try and go to while the others have lots of other plans. …And it sounds like there's gonna be a war starting to see who gets those spare tickets that Tenya's got. We'll just have to wait and see how that goes.

And of course, we got the visit between Shoto and Rei… with this story's first appearance of Fuyumi! Quite the dramatic visit, to be sure, but one that ended rather well… for everyone but Shoto. But hey, if he's gotta put up with his sister being there with a camera for the sake of his mom's happiness, then I'm sure it'll be worth it. But hm… Kaida's having to deal with her parents being away for the occasion… I wonder how that'll turn out? Well, let's find out, shall we?

And now, The Preview! The newly Autobot-allied Vehicons come to base to receive their official designations from Mina, as well as meet the other children before they start deciding on who gets to go with Iida to that theme park. Meanwhile, Izuku and Kyoka try to convince their parents to let them go to the hero exhibit on Sunday, and at the same time, Kaida's fretting over what she'll do for Parents' Day. Ultimately, she ends up calling her mother… who seems a tad bit nervous about something. Next Time; Family Ties. Is Kaida's mom hiding something from her? If so… then what? Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!