Chapter 15
CAN YOU SEE ALL OF ME?! WALK INTO MY MYSTERY! STEP INSIDE AND HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE! DO YOU REMEMBER ME?! CAPTURE YOU OR SET YOU FREE! I AM ALL, I AM ALL OF ME! (I AM, I'M ALL OF ME!) I AM! (I AM, I'M ALL OF ME!) I AM! (I AM, I'M ALL OF ME!) I AM! (I AM, I'M ALL OF ME!)
...Oh, sorry about that, I saw the recent Sonic 3 trailer and I started getting flashbacks to the mid-2000s and super faster hedgehogs riding motorcycles and shooting guns. Can't wait to see furry John Wick show the Sonic crew that he was the one that preceded Black Air Force Energy.
Anyway, last time, I ranted a bit about my feelings about the MHA ending and I was pleased to see many of you take my opinions well, understand where I was coming from, and even agree with me. Again, I still love this world of MHA and all its possible potential and I will continue writing stories for as long as the fire that burns for this world stays lit, I am grateful and humbled that so many have stuck around reading my nonsense, enduring my Asperger-damned grammar, and even my cringiest moments.
As for the story, last time, we had the conclusion of the Winter Soldier movie and the group going ballistic with all the drama, action, and heartbreak involved, from many of the students wanting to jump the screen during the End of the Line scene, Izuku's faith and hope in others partially restored with Rogers's speech and the agents that answered the call, including the young man that Mineta related to, the bromance between Izuku and Shoto proving strong enough to transcend time and dimensions, and ending on the reveal of the Maximoff twins, their counterparts, and Izuku wanting to talk with Ochaco.
What will happen in this long-awaited talk between these two adorable beans? Find out in this latest episode of Welcome to the MCU Phase 2! And on this episode, we transition to the also long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy! Vol. 1.
But first, let's answer some reviews since I failed to do so last time:
Guest: Zayden RR Martin? Aw shucks, I'm flattered but I'm nowhere near the level of that good sir. I have mere months of Asperger-induced writer's blocks compared to his 13 years' worth of procrastination.
andreilisud16: Hey, thank you for the support and I'm glad you liked this fix and wish to share it with your sisters. Unfortunately, I cannot cross-post it to AO3 because I already did, and it got taken down, and I'm not exactly itching to try my luck again in posting this and the previous story, again. If your sisters are having trouble accessing FFN, how so? Can they not access it through apps like Chrome or Safari? If that is the case, I do have some suggestions to possibly remedy the problem other than just having them read it on your phone. Two possible solutions could be to download the app called DuckDuckGo, it's a browsing app but with greater internet privacy and ad blocking, and the other suggestion is to download the app that can allow you to read these stories without a browsing app. Hope that this helps!
InsaneMakaioshin: Bucky's got the Vibranium arm during Infinity War and the one always had and lost in Civil War was Titanium, the Wiki says so at least. I never presumed that T'Challa's ring had a visible or audible reaction to Bucky's arm and if have evidence of this claim I would like to know.
Whatif-inator: I agree. While I was more on the side that appreciated Izuku gaining One For All, by the sentiment that it was a Quirk and power he earned rather than was born with like everyone else, the ending I felt made all that investment and work feel kind of pointless and contradictory. I agree that if Izuku was going to be a discount Iron Man by the end, then it would have been more fitting and satisfying if Izuku had worked on fighting and trying to be a Hero outside of One For All beforehand or just not give him One For All at all and start the journey as using Support Items and Iron Man-like tech to be a Hero because suddenly getting a power suit that took 8 freaking years to make felt like a cheaper and more out-of-left-field asspull than One For All just suddenly coming back to life inside him. That's why with Melissa in my story I'm having her go down this route and using other characters like Stark, All Might, and Izuku as inspirations to push her on and use her brains to be a Hero.
HanBraon: Firstly, and respectfully, don't also assume that because I make a political joke that infers that I support one candidate over the other that I am automatically of that political spectrum and find it flawless and the other full of bullshit. I'm neutral in my political view, with a slight leaning toward Republicans for reasons that I won't get too far into, but I don't fully align with either side and I will end this here before I go down the rabbit hole. As for canon, I was more confused with how transferring the Quirks of One For All and the Quirk itself was able to weaken Shigaraki from the inside. One For All I get because of the body-crippling power it was established to have, but not the other Quirks or how they harm Shigaraki more than any other Quirk Shigaraki could have stolen. But even after all that, I would have been satisfied with all that if they had done something different for the epilogue arc like having Shigaraki give All For One to Izuku. I explained this in my most recent MHA watches Death Battle end notes, but the basis of this idea was that in thanks for saving him from All For One's vestige and defeating him, Shigaraki would give the All For One quirk to Izuku, along with any other Quirks he wanted like the previous OFA users', and it would be an interesting epilogue where Izuku and audience wouldn't know if AFO's vestige would come back and try to take over Izuku, only to find that AFO's vestige was completely destroyed in the fight and the Quirk is now Izuku's own and his replacement for OFA. It would, in a way, restart the cycle of All For One and One For All, and then break it by having Izuku use the All For One for good, fulfilling Yoichi's thoughts about how the All For One Quirk could have been the kindest of powers, and it would be fitting for Izuku since he is Quirkless and able to withstand multiple Quirks and his analysis and love for Quirks would make him one of the most perfect individuals to have All For One, use it for good, and withstand whatever personality altering traits the Quirk may bestow like the inclination to take more Quirks. This is but one idea I have that I feel could have lined up with what Horikoshi was trying to do and fulfill and give a more satisfying ending while ensuring that OFA's sacrifice was meaningful and even giving a final examination and debate on the nature of Quirks and superpowers of this world.
Trey Qualls: Thanks for the support and I'm glad you actually like the ending. Despite my rants, I do get and understand the ending. I even like some of what happened in the end. My criticisms are more how I feel that most parts of the ending feel inconsistent and downright contradictory and unsatisfying, like why All Might was able to get a power armor suit for the final fight against AFO. At the same time, for Izuku it took 8 years to make one for him. I wouldn't say it was foreshadowed since I believe it's confirmed that most of the Team Up side story is non-canon, but I could be wrong.
crossover4:...My friend, expect a lot of thanks given to you for your wonderful suggestions. I know about that, but I am skeptical of whether or not that is considered canon, since I heard much of the Team Up side manga is non-canon, which is why here, Mei and Melissa have only just met. Yeah, though technically, Pierce was planning on killing the council members with the pins so he might have been targeted to be killed but not by the Helicarriers, though it was likewise expected of the Helicarriers to shoot at the Triskelion since a lot of Insight targets were in the building. As funny as it was, no, Momo doesn't have a crush on Edgeshot, she is just a fan who is embarrassed and pleased that a famous hero praised her. Camie will be involved later on, but don't expect it to be any time soon. There are actually lists of franchises and other IPs that exist within MHA, like Alien, Mega Man, Disney, Rambo, etc, but this is 200 years into the future after a time of worldwide crisis, the Dawning of Quirks, and a lot of history and records were lost of that time, so it's possible the Marvel movies as we know them as well as other properties like Star Wars did exist in MHA but were lost or forgotten. No, I had completely forgotten that the Senator was the same one from Iron Man 2, reviewers kindly reminded me of him.
DragonBOb: Yeah, I know, one of his suits was even made out of a very strong metal, I forget which one, to help him tank against bullets when he lost his Spider-Sense. But at least when it comes to Peter, he always gets his powers back and continues as The Amazing Spider-Man, unlike a certain ending...
ALSO, THIS PART IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SO LISTEN UP! As much as you all might want me to, and as much as I want to fully express my love for this film and its tons of music, I can't write the lyrics of the songs. FFN and AO3 are SUPER against writers using or writing the lyrics of a song that is protected by copyright laws and I'm afraid that a lot of the songs in Guardians of the Galaxy are as such not in the public domain, thus are protected by copyright laws, thus if I write the lyrics of the song, even if I give credit to the song's original composer, I am at high risk of getting the fic reported and taken down. I feel like I already skate by with me writing the story's events from scratch and not using a script of some kind, but this might be something that might take the fic down, and I don't want to chance that. So, I apologize in return and if there is a song that isn't protected by copyright laws, I will write it in if I can and it is relevant to the story, and I might even sneak in some words in a certain scene because of how iconic it is but expect that I won't be able to do so for most. Thanks for understanding and I hope that the characters referencing the songs will be enough for you to listen along with the scenes.
Next, we have the Index:
"Zayden," -Normal Dialogue
'Zayden,' -Internal or Mental Dialogue
"Zayden," -Flashback and Mental Flashback Dialogue
"Zayden," -Dark Shadow, Buff Might, and Movie Dialogue
"Zayden," -Comms, PA, and TV Dialogue
"Zayden," -Jarvis & A.I. Dialogue
"Zayden," -F.R.I.D.A.Y. Dialogue
"Zayden," -Movie Narration Dialogue
"{Zayden,}" -Music Dialogue ;)
And finally, I do not own My Hero Academia, the manga made by Horikoshi, and the anime being adapted by Bones Studios. I also do not own the MCU or any of its corresponding movies, all owned respectively by Marvel, Disney, and Sony. All credit is to be given to the actors, actresses, directors, studios, and workers who worked on the films.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Part 1: Above and Beyond
Third POV
Izuku and Ochaco left the gym/makeshift theater, doing their best to ignore the stares they received from students and adults alike. If their red faces were any indicator, they failed.
To Uraraka, it all still felt surreal to her. Talking with Deku wasn't anything out of the ordinary for her, the two were best friends after all, but the look in Izuku's eyes, the slight high pitch in his voice when he asked her, this was more than just a talk with friends, this was something serious, and as adorable as Deku was when he asked her, Uraraka's reaction she feared was just as embarrassing as Izuku imagined himself to be.
Sure enough, Izuku had been mentally chastising himself after realizing his slip-up. He tried to defend himself. Self-confidence and asking a girl to talk to him alone were still new experiences for him, but then, most things in the past year or so of his life had been new experiences after another; he figured he should be used to it by now. Still, Izuku was glad he was not the only one nervous about this talk, given how adorable Ochaco looked with that bright blush covering her whole face.
When Izuku led them out and past a corner, Ochaco's eyes widened at the scene before her. A wide expanse of ripped-up dirt, uprooted trees, plants, and grass, all from expanding outward from a single spot: the remains of a tree's trunk, the splinters of the trunk angled out to show that something blasted the tree from where she was standing, and the tree exploded out from such force that it carried on to the rest of the field after that. Uraraka knew exactly what had happened.
Whirling over to Izuku, just not realizing that she had unconsciously walked ahead of him toward the tree, she raced up to him, reaching hurriedly, yet gently for his arm. "Deku!" Ochaco gasped out, an air of chastisement and concern in her voice as she grasped the still-bandaged arm.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, Ochaco, really, I'm fine," Izuku calmed her down, placing his other hand on her shoulder. "Recovery Girl patched me up, like always."
During the halfway point of the Winter Soldier, Uraraka estimated, they all witnessed the return of Arnim Garaki, or at least his copied brain in a computer. In the scene, Garaki revealed HYDRA's resurgence and growth inside of S.H.I.E.L.D., the murders of the Starks and others by using Shoto Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier, HYDRA's hand in feeding crises for their purpose of global domination, and their plans to use Project Insight as their finishing blow. Garaki had also taunted Izuku's counterpart, Izuku Rogers, by saying that his efforts were the same as his value: a zero-sum.
After that, Izuku left the gym in a rage that startled everyone, but he was already out the doors before they could call out to him. It didn't take long after that for the group to hear the sounds of destruction outside, especially a very powerful shockwave that they all registered to be Izuku using his Quirk at 100%. By the time Izuku had returned with Recovery Girl, All Might, and Aizawa, she had healed and bandaged his arm, but this must have been what he had done.
"Really?" Ochaco asked, pressing the point while looking at his eyes, knowingly.
'She always did seem to know what I was thinking and how I was feeling,' Izuku chuckled, staring into her auburn eyes. "Really." He nodded, smiling softly. "See? It doesn't hurt at all, anymore." Izuku pinched his bandaged arm. "Try it?"
Ochaco smiled brightly. "Okay!"
What followed wasn't the pinch he expected but a punch to his shoulder.
"Hey! I meant a pinch, not that!" Izuku gasped lightly, rubbing his shoulder.
"Well, you deserve that," Ochaco pouted, gesturing to the ruined field behind her.
"Fair enough," Izuku sighed, chastised. "No more angry, explosive outbursts." Izuku raised his bandaged hand in the air with his other over his heart.
"Good. We already have one Bakugou, we don't need two," Ochaco still pouted at him, leaning forward at him with her fists at her hips.
"You mean until he and Shiozaki tie the knot?" Izuku cheekily asked.
The two were quiet for a bit before their cheeks puffed up until they couldn't it in, bursting out laughing.
"Hehe, but no, you can let out your emotions safely. That's what punching dummies are made for," Ochaco clarified her request. "It's unhealthy to keep your emotions hidden and balled up all the time."
Ochaco didn't realize the double meaning behind her words until she saw Izuku blush and look away from her. She in turn blushed and looked at the ground, silently cursing at herself, wishing the earth would open up and swallow her whole. "I-I-I mean-"
"No, no, it's okay, I get it," Izuku waved off her upcoming apology. "I know I've not exactly been the most stable of people lately."
"You had every right to be angry when you did," Ochaco reassured him.
"Did I have the right to scare you, the others, or Eri?" Izuku proposed sharply.
Ochaco blinked, looking down with a frown, understanding what he meant.
"Ever since we started watching these movies, I've been more emotional, angry, bitter," Izuku's eyes were downcast, imagining what he looked like in those outbursts to everyone, and not liking what he was seeing. "I never even wanted to admit to you all about being bullied until the first Captain America movie."
"Why? Why wouldn't you tell us, Deku?" Ochaco asked, her voice unintentionally showing her hurt. "Did you not trust us?"
Izuku looked up to her sad and worried eyes, his mouth agape and slightly surprised by her choice of relevant words. 'Trust. If that whole movie we just watched made it clear to me, above all else, how important trust is, and how important it is to be open with others, especially the ones you trust,' Izuku thought. With an internal sigh, he steadied himself for what he was about to do. 'Now or never, I guess.'
Izuku took Ochaco's hand to his, looking up to see the chestnut-haired girl's wide eyes. "It was never about trust. Out of everyone I know, I trust you the most, Ochaco," Izuku began, Ochaco's breath hitching. "You've always been there when I needed you the most, reliable, selfless, caring, heroic, you could say." Izuku chuckled, smiling at her. "Whenever I got myself into something way over my head, whenever I was done for, you were always there to help pick me up, to encourage me, to save me."
Izuku's words brought to them both the past and all of their history together. When he saved her from the Zero Pointer, she saved him in turn from falling to his death. When they were partners for their first Battle Training Exercise, he trusted her with his plan, and she followed it to the letter. When he was alone and targeted by everyone at the Sports Festival for his 10 million points, she was the first person to join his team and wanted to so much that she turned down other teams, all for him. When he, Shoji, and Todoroki tried to save Bakugou and Tokoyami from the Villains at the Training Camp, she was the one who bandaged his broken arms, wished him luck, and made the three of them weightless to help catch Mr. Compress. During their Provisional Licensing Exams, it was Ochaco, and Sero, who showed up to help Izuku against Camie Utsushimi, unaware that she was Toga in disguise; hell, the disguised Toga herself said how much Izuku trusted in Ochaco. In the Hassaikai raid, Ochaco was the one he trusted above all else to take care of the severely injured Sir Nighteye. In their Joint Training Exercise, while Izuku suffered from the first appearance of a chaotic and out-of-control Black Whip, Ochaco stepped in and helped Izuku calm down enough to have Shinsou use his Quirk on him.
Over and over again, it was Ochaco Uraraka who had been there when it counted the most. Even from the first time they met, when she saved him from falling flat on his face to when she was willing to give up her points in the Entrance Exam for him.
"You've always been there for me, Ochaco. Through thick and thin, you've been the one I could count on the most, the one who saves me when I try so hard to save others," Izuku gazed softly and lovingly at her, his eyes wet and glistening.
"De-Izuku," Ochaco dropped the nickname and sniffled and cried before him, her heart pounding with love and joy at his words.
"You're my greatest Hero, Ochaco Uraraka, the one I can turn to above all others," Izuku confessed, a tear running down his cheek. "And that is why, I know I can trust you with all of who I really am, all of whom I've hidden from you."
"E-Eh?" Ochaco blinked, suddenly confused. "W-What do you mean?"
And just like that, like last night with Melissa, Izuku told her everything. His Quirkless diagnosis, his bullied past, his encounter with the Sludge Villain and All Might, All Might's rejection and later declaration to have Izuku as his successor, One For All, his training cleaning Dagobah Beach, receiving One For All the day of the Entrance Exam and using it for the first time to save her, the true history behind his newly gained Quirk and of All For One, the Quirks of the past users manifesting in Black Whip, Float, and more to come, why he was had kept it secret for so long, and why he was trusting her with it now.
Needless to say, Ochaco was overwhelmed. To the gravity girl, it felt like she had stepped into the plot of an anime or comic as if the superpowers they all had weren't comic book material enough. Her best friend was the chosen successor of the world's greatest hero, above all others to handle a great power, destined to fight a great and terrible evil, and garner allies and trusted comrades to save the world as they knew it from calamity. 'If this isn't manga material, I don't know what is,' Ochaco had thought.
And yet, it wasn't this that had overwhelmed her the most, nor that Izuku had lied to her for so long, she completely understood the stakes of this secret and could not fault him for being cautious. What began to overwhelm her was how much Izuku cared for her and trusted her with all this, how unbelievably touched she felt that the first person he saved with his Quirk was her, and why she was the first one he decided to tell after this revelation to not keep secrets anymore. Sure, he had told Melissa last night, Izuku admitted to that, and Bakugou learned of it all on his own but didn't deny it either, but it was her that Izuku chose firstly to not keep secrets from, who he trusted first and foremost.
"You were always the first, Ochaco," Izuku began, fear and anxiety gripping his heart like a vice. "The first person to be my friend in so long, perhaps the very first person to truly be my friend, my best friend. Shoto, Mirio, Melissa, and others may also be my best friends, but you were the first to earn that title."
"Izuku, I-" Ochaco cried and whimpered, trying to say the words she wanted to say so desperately.
"The first person I ever truly came to love." "I Love You!"
...
Izuku and Ochaco froze at each other, their unison confessions finally clicking in their brains, heat rising to their cheeks to dangerously hot levels.
"W-What?" Ochaco broke the ice and stuttered out. "D-D-Did you say-"
"Yeah," Izuku broke out his shock, staring at her with shock before he smiled tearfully at her. "I wanted to say it first, but I guess we both couldn't help ourselves, could we?"
Izuku looked down at his right hand, still holding Ochaco's left, but only so much that he wouldn't have her Quirk activate. He wouldn't have that. Determined he clasped Uraraka's hand fully, not minding at all when he felt his gravity vanish and both he and Ochaco began floating into the air. 'As long as I'm with her, I know I'm safe,' Izuku thought.
Izuku raised his left hand and cupped Ochaco's round cheek, brushing the tears running like a river away. "For a long time, I never thought I was worthy of being loved, I thought that I could never open my heart completely to another," Izuku continued while more tears flowed from Ochaco's eyes even as they rose higher into the air. "But I believe you were the first one to make me see differently, the first one my heart began to beat for after so long."
"I love you, Ochaco Uraraka," Izuku finally confessed. "I've loved you since the first day you saved me, and I'll continue to love you for the rest of-"
"Izuku," Ochaco cut him off. Izuku blinked, surprised when she placed her hands on his cheeks. Ochaco flashed a smile that held nothing but true and passionate love. For him. "Stop talking."
Ochaco's lips met his, and Izuku wasted no time kissing back.
Fireworks seemed to go off around them because they could not explain otherwise why they felt so hot right now, how much it felt like they were burning with energy, love, whatever you call it. They wrapped their arms around each other, Ochaco's around his neck, and Izuku's around her waist while their lips never separated from one another. Neither could tell who was the first to lift their foot because soon their sweet and passionate kiss began to heat up.
Soon enough though, they had to separate for air, panting hard while touching their foreheads, their half-lid eyes full of love and nothing else.
"I love you, Izuku Midoriya. I have for so long, I couldn't help but say it," Ochaco panted, her face so loving, so vulnerable and open. "I wanted to keep this to myself and bury these feelings, I didn't want to step in the way of your goal of being a Hero or distract myself from my goals either. But those were just excuses. I was afraid, I was a coward, but I can't take it anymore." Tears once more flowed out of Ochaco's eyes. "I love you, and if you want to keep this a secret or hold off till we graduate, that's fine, but I promise I will never stop-"
"Just shut up, and come here," Izuku growled, cupping Ochaco's round cheeks and dragging her into another passionate kiss. Izuku didn't have a plan for what to do after this, or how this Sisterhood sharing him thing was going to work out going forward, but he didn't care. He needed to say how he felt about these girls, and he needed to do it now, damn the future, and damn waiting. Ochaco unknowingly agreed.
Neither of them noticed how Izuku sparked with green bioelectricity, how it wrapped around him and Ochaco and turned deep pink when around her, before receding to Izuku.
Breaking apart from another air-gasping make-out, Izuku shivered. 'T-That was...intense,' Izuku gasped, pondering what happened at that moment. He could almost feel as if One For All was resonating within him, but Izuku could still feel the Quirk in its entirety inside him, so he didn't accidentally transfer it to Ochaco. So then what happened? As he started to gain unawareness of his surroundings, he blinked. 'Huh. A mystery for later, for now, I think we have an issue.'
Ochaco realized it the same way: the two of them were floating a few hundred feet off the ground!
"I think we might have gotten carried away," Ochaco sweatdropped.
"With each other or with the wind?" Izuku teasingly joked.
Ochaco burst out giggling. "I know you might not like you getting so emotional, but you've also been getting more confident, Deku," Ochaco smiled, her sweet smile masquerading the arousal in her eyes. "And it's very attractive."
"Unless you want me to go for another round of kissing and let ourselves reach the stratosphere, I think we might want to hold off for another time," Izuku suggested.
Ochaco sighed, slightly disappointed but gave an understanding nod. "So, um, how do we get back down?" Ochaco questioned. "I could cancel our gravity, and we could fall but that feels a little risky, and I don't have my boots."
"I think I got an idea," Izuku smiled, holding out his hand for Ochaco to take hold of. Ochaco smiled and took the hand of her boyfriend(?) and held onto him.
Connected, Izuku shifted his body and aimed his hand above him. 'I could try Float, but it's still too new and unfamiliar for me to risk it and I have no idea how it will react, if at all, with my gravity canceled by Ochaco's Quirk,' Izuku thought, reading a thumb over his finger, channeling One For All through digits. 'So, let's take a page out of Stark's handbook for this.'
"Full Cowling! Air Force: Slipstream!" Izuku yelled out, snapping his finger and letting the resulting blast of air propel him and Ochaco down toward the ground.
"Really?! That's what you came up with?!" Ochaco questioned loudly through the wind in their ears, while also giggling, and not at his idea.
"What?! Too lame?!" Izuku embarrassingly asked while the wind blew at their hair. "I can always change it!"
"No, no, I like it!" Ochaco giggled. "It's so you, I can't help but love it, Deku-kun!"
"And I love you, Ocha-kun," Izuku replied, earning a bright blush and brilliantly bright smile in return. 'And they say my smiles are blinding.'
The two laughed and basked in each other's embrace as Izuku propelled them back to the gym with the rest of their friends, comrades, and the rest of the Sisterhood Izuku had yet to win over.
Heading back in, Izuku and Ochaco couldn't keep the smiles off their faces or their hands away from each other, with Ochaco's pinky lifted to not cancel their gravity, again.
After they had latched onto the roof of the gym with Black Whip and pulled themselves closer to the ground, they were at a safe enough distance, for Ochaco to grant their gravity back. As she did, Izuku grabbed and held her like a bride, which caused quite the red blush on Ochaco's face, which only grew worse after stealing another kiss from her.
Afterward, Izuku clarified some things he failed to mention, such as his knowledge of the Sisterhood, which surprised Uraraka, and his bet with Setsuna to claim all the girls. Ochaco was a little peeved that Setsuna ratted them out, but then Izuku made a good point that she had told him before the Sisterhood truly formed so she wasn't beholden to any secrets, which Ochaco begrudgingly agreed with. The gravity girl also allowed Izuku to admit and claim that he had claimed her and confessed his feelings first, even if they had said it simultaneously; she was pleased with the kiss that followed in thanks.
'We've only just now gotten together, and we can barely keep ourselves from sucking each other's faces off,' Ochaco sweatdropped but would be lying if her inner self was dancing a merry jig in celebration and victory.
Izuku also informed her that he had only told Melissa about One For All before her, and has yet to tell Setsuna or the others, much less confess his feelings to the other 7 or so girls he has yet to go through. Ochaco agreed to keep hush about One For All until he was done telling the girls, and whomever else he wanted to tell. When asked who he would want to inform about the Quirk, Izuku said that at least he wanted Shoto, Mirio, and Iida to know, the three were practically like brothers to him, only more evident with how often Eri called them her 'Uncles'. He also admitted he was very on the fence about telling Eri, which Ochaco understood. The girl was sweet and kind, but they worried that she could be naive enough to believe everyone should know about it, and that was not a responsible decision.
Thus, now, they finally entered the gym and walked back to the rest of the group, who met their return with strange looks. They ranged from confusion to even some teasing looks, which neither could guess what they meant.
Izuku also met All Might's gaze who had just finished talking with Melissa, the Symbol of Peace, his mentor, giving him a questioning look, a jerk of his head indicating he was talking about Melissa. Izuku looked at the blonde who had a determined and serious look about her, and All Might's confusion seemed to indicate only a few possible things.
'Make that one,' Izuku took back, realizing just what Melissa might have said to the man who was his father figure but also her uncle figure, the same uncle that lied and kept the secret of One For All hidden from her and her father. 'The secret of a Quirk that she could have had to be a Hero earlier.'
In all the excitement and heightened feelings that took place after their confessions, Izuku forgot that Melissa was a little upset at the knowledge that All Might never told her about One For All or even considered her an option as a successor. Izuku knew she wasn't jealous of him about it, but the fact that the man you call uncle chose an admittingly random stranger as his successor rather than his well-known and loved niece, would sting a little, and something that she would want to talk about with the man himself.
'Melissa must have asked for a serious conversation with All Might but didn't tell him about what it was about,' Izuku guessed, wincing internally at how awkward that conversation would be. 'And he already had an awkward conversation with me a couple of days ago about dating my mother...You know what, I should let Melissa be the one to explain it, it would be rude to take sides between the two. What's one more slight, tiny, little lie?'
So, Izuku shook his head and shrugged, feigning ignorance for his mother's boyfriend-thus ensuring his tiny act of revenge for All Might's and his mother's lies, and double ensuring that he doesn't piss off one of his new girlfriends.
As they rejoined the others as they gathered in their seats for the newt video, Asui tapped on Ochaco's shoulder, gaining the girl's attention. "So, how was it?" Asui asked.
"What was what?" Ochaco blinked, confused.
"The make-out session," Asui clarified.
"HUH?!" Ochaco exclaimed, face as bright as a tomato and eyes and mouth wide and agape. "W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
"Well, you and Midoriya left for the whole break outside, you couldn't stop holding hands or smiling when you came back, and your hair is all messed up," Asui explained, pointing out all the facts, including Ochaco's and Izuku's messed up hair, or well, messier than usual in Izuku's case.
Noticing her hair's state and how it must have looked, Ochaco now knew what those teasing smiles from Setsuna and Mina were for and steam started escaping from Ochaco's burning red face. "I-I-I-IT WASN'T LIKE THAT! I SWEAR!" Ochaco yelped and lowered her voice to a whisper while she fixed her hair. "We just talked about some personal stuff, things I can't tell you or the others." Ochaco hated having to lie to her best friend, well best female friend anyway, but she promised Deku that she would stay mum about One For All till he told the girls himself, including Asui.
"Hmm, okay," Asui shrugged, nonchalantly.
"Huh, just like that?" Ochaco blinked, surprised. "You're not going to try and interrogate me for answers?"
"I'm not like Mina and Toru. I can respect someone's right to privacy, and if my best friend and our mutual crush have something they promised to keep quiet about, I can respect that, as long as it isn't about the Sisterhood, right?" Asui replied.
"Y-Yeah," Ochaco nodded, only half lying about her talk with Deku.
"Good," Asui nodded, satisfied, and turned to look back at the screen, waiting.
Ochaco sighed, in relief. 'Keeping secrets is harder than it looks,' Ochaco whined to herself. 'Now, I know why Deku wants to stop and tell us the truth.'
"Just as long as your make-out was only that far," Asui added, slightly vindictively. "Me and the others wouldn't want you to get too far ahead of us, Ochaco-kun."
Ochaco's blush became thermonuclear and had to hide between her legs.
Setsuna noticed this all and gave an inquisitive look at Izuku, who responded with a nod to her unspoken question. Setsuna smiled. 'Two girls scored in two days. Now, that's my Green Bean,' Setsuna thought proudly. Secretly, though, Setsuna feared just what kind of stud monster she had unleashed and what said stud would do to her when he completed his end of the deal she had no intention of fighting against. 'Yep, I'm screwed, and in more ways than one if he has anything to say about it.'
When everyone was seated and accounted for, Nezu permitted Mei to select the next movie. A new file had been unlocked and upon selection, the poster of the movie was only the movie's title, made of rusty yellow words and a background full of stars and space: Guardians of the Galaxy.
"Guardians of the Galaxy," Momo repeated the name. "So, it isn't another sequel to any of the Avengers, but a whole other movie?"
"Most likely it means that there will be entirely new characters," Iida figured.
"Galaxy," Mina repeated the word to herself for the tenth time before a lightbulb lit in her mind. She immediately perked up and smiled wide. "Does this mean that we are going to space and seeing more alien life?!" Mina asked extremely excited.
"Possibly," Asui replied. "We know that Thor, the Asgardians, and all the worlds and species from Norse myth are more aliens than gods and monsters, and the Chitauri were more aliens, hostile ones, too."
All Might frowned and the memory of the aliens that invaded New York, along with the mastermind behind the entire thing, this Thanos who seemingly sought universal conquest. Thanos, whose counterpart was his most hated enemy: All For One.
'Perhaps, we may find out more about him, and All For One too, if we're lucky,' All Might pondered.
With a nod of affirmation from Nezu, Mei pressed the play button.
As the movie began on a black screen, mellow pop music began playing while yellow letters appeared: Earth, 1988.
"Oh, another adventure in the past?" Hagakure asked.
"That, or perhaps the beginning will simply set up things that will happen for the actual adventure in a more present time," Shoji replied.
The scene came to life with the young hands of a young boy fiddling with the volume of his Walkman, the mix tape inside titled 'Awesome Mix Vol. 1'.
"Wow, now that's one ancient ass baby," Mei whistled.
"At least by our standards, Mei," Melissa reminded the salmon-haired girl. "They were quite common back then."
"What were those called again?" Ojiro asked.
"A Walkman," Jiro answered, displaying her knowledge of music.
"That's Jiro for ya," Mina shrugged, smiling teasingly at her. "And I can bet you know the song playing as well?"
Jiro gave Mina a hard, yet blushing, glare for a few seconds before huffing and looking away with a pout. "I'm Not in Love, by 10cc," Jiro muttered.
The scene expanded out to see the child fully with his blue jeans, gray t-shirt, and flannel jacket. The headphones of his Walkman were on his head, the black strap going over his short gold hair, a unique lightning bolt-shaped black streak, and a reddish-purple bruise on his left eye.
Kaminari blinked in surprise, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone!" Mineta shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he did a double take. "Is that who I think it is?"
"No way," Sero muttered, astonished.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. paused the video on the boy. "PETER JASON QUILL! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: DENKI KAMINARI!"
"EH?! YOUNG KAMINARI?!" Mina and Hagakure exclaimed in shock.
"Woah, I'm...I'm in. I'm in the universe. I'm in the Universe!" Kaminari exclaimed in cheers.
"Uh, you are already in the universe, dude," Itsuka sweatdropped.
"I meant in that universe!" Kaminari clarified as he did a little jig in celebration. "Woohoo! Yeah! We found my counterpart!"
"Oh, great," Jiro pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Now, we won't hear the end of it."
"And I got in before you did, Miss Punishment!" Kaminari pointed gloatingly at her.
"Yeah, keep gloating, see what happens," Jiro glared irritatingly in response, aiming her jacks at him.
"Still, though, Peter?" Momo pondered the name. "He looks like Kaminari yet he bears an entirely different name."
"Nah, looks more American too," Tetsutetsu pointed out. "Could be like how Jurota's counterpart looked so entirely different from him."
"An excellent point," Jurota nodded his head, remembering that Bruce Banner shared little in comparison. 'Well, physically at least, and at his base form at that.'
While the song began playing words, a middle-aged man walked out of a room to see that the building they were in was a hospital at night.
"Oh, a hospital at night," Sen hissed. "That doesn't bode well."
The mention of where his counterpart was deflated whatever enthusiasm Kaminari had in finding his counterpart, replaced by a look of worry and concern.
"Peter," The old man crouched down to make eye level with the boy, who barely heard his voice through his music. "Your momma wants to speak with you."
"Uh oh," Kosei hissed quietly, rubbing his neck, awkwardly.
A mood of silent dread and sadness began to waft over the group as they easily put together the situation. Mineta and Sero patted the shoulders of Kaminari's frozen form, the blonde staring at the screen with a slightly agape mouth, his eyes covered by the shadows of his hair. Jiro and the others looked uneasy and apologetic at Kaminari, unsure of what to say or do.
The old man sighed when Peter did not respond, looking at the boy sympathetically. "Come on, Pete. Take these fool things off," The man removed the headphones from Peter's ears, the music fading in volume, yet Peter still would not meet the man's gaze. The man turned off the Walkman, leaving the two with the muted sounds of the hospital. The old man patted the boy's leg supportively while Peter sat there emotionlessly.
Eventually, the golden-haired kid got up and walked to the room, handing his grandfather his Walkman and headphones, who placed them in his backpack. As Peter walked further into the room, the beeping sounds of a heart monitor became more apparent. Walking in a few people sat and stood around a figure lying on the hospital bed, a few of the women sobbing softly. Passing into the frame, a bald and sickly-looking woman lay on the bed, her right hand held by a middle-aged woman similar to Denki and his counterpart.
A choked gasp came out of Kaminari's mouth at the sight of the woman. She was bald and super sickly, but Kaminari would know her anywhere.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED!" FRIDAY announced, though her tone was sadder than usual. "MEREDITH QUILL! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: NARIHANA KAMINARI AKA ELECTRICKS!"
"Oh, man, dude, I'm so sorry," Kirishima muttered, placing a hand on Denki's shoulder. "Is she um-"
"N-No, no, um, my mom isn't dead or sick or anything like that," Kaminari coughed as he tried to reorient himself from the spiraling sadness he was just sinking into. "S-She's still around and kicking."
"W-Wait, Kaminari, you never told us that your mom was a Pro!" Izuku shook out of his surprised daze. "And Electricks, too?! That's amazing! Is she why you wanted to be a Hero too?"
"Deku! Ochaco hissed quietly at Izuku, gesturing toward Kaminari's upset look.
"O-Oh, I-I'm so sorry, Kaminari-san! I don't know what came over me!" Deku quickly picked up on Kaminari's sadness and the situation at hand. "I-I didn't mean to-"
"No, no, it's okay, dude, honest," Kaminari waved away Izuku's apology, a small, yet sad smile directed at the green-haired teen. "We all know you're quite the Hero nerd, so of course you get excited to hear about this kind of stuff."
"Still," Izuku muttered, disappointed in himself.
"And yeah, my mom is a Pro Hero, no big deal," Kaminari continued cutting off whatever Izuku was about to say, shrugging with a nonchalant look on his face. "And you could say she was perhaps a reason for me to be a pro, but we aren't exactly super close or anything. You know how Heroes are busy with work and everything."
Jiro and the students frowned concerned at Kaminari's behavior. The signs were clear as day that the boy was attempting to mask the pain of the situation with a nonchalant attitude, but also something more. 'Could there be more to that than just not being close?' Jiro internally analyzed Kaminari's words about his relationship with his mother.
"A-And yeah, I guess it sucks what's going on," Kaminari's smile began to crack as was his tone. "But like you guys say, this is another her and another me, so no biggie, right? A-And-"
Kaminari stopped as he felt a tug on his clothes. The blonde looked down to see Eri had walked up to him and was looking at him sadly. The girl wasted no time wrapping Kaminari in a hug and whispering, "It's okay, Uncle Denki. I'm sad, too. It's okay to be sad."
The mask Kaminari was hiding in broke as tears began to fall from his eyes. Kaminari let out a couple of sobs before wrapping Erin in a hug too.
While the students and Eri did their best to comfort Kaminari, a pair of adults were discussing among themselves.
"You know of her, right?" Edgeshot asked Endeavor.
"Indeed." Endeavor nodded, his memory taking him back to his most recent team-up with the woman. "Pro Hero Electricks. Number 50 currently in the charts. We last teamed up in an operation to apprehend the League escaping in a runaway truck. Turned out that all of the League members present were clones of Twice. We ran their truck off a cliff after they had been destroyed by my Prominence Burn."
"That was when I came in," Hawks interjected. "I had just arrived to see the wreckage and when we looked inside the truck, all we saw was a life support tank. I proposed that it might have been used to contain some new kind of Nomu, like Hood, at first."
"At first?" Edgeshot quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, it wasn't long after that when Nine and his goons started their rampage, wasn't it?" Hawks pointed out, a serious look in his eyes.
"I see," Edgeshot nodded, slightly taken aback by Hawks's stare.
Hawks nodded and turned back to see the image of the Pro Hero who did share a resemblance to her son. Hawks didn't know her well, and he knew she wasn't either a PLF spy or Commission enforcer like himself, but he could see that there was a tension between mother and son, case in point when Kaminari said that she was a Pro that was always busy. That statement irked something in Hawks and his desire to see Heroes having more time on their hands, time they can use to spend with the things and people that matter to them, including a mother and her son.
After Kaminari had calmed down for a bit, Mineta spoke up. "H-Hey, man, you don't have to answer if you aren't good, but is that lady that's holding your mom's hand your grandma here, too?"
"A-Actually, yeah, she is," Kaminari confirmed, recognizing his grandma to be similar looking to the one on screen.
"You mean like the same grandma that you said was making googly eyes at Rogers?" Sero nudged with a teasing grin.
Izuku blinked in surprise, remembering how Kaminari accused him of flirting with his grandmother when the blonde woman, who Kaminari claimed looked like his grandmother in her younger years, had smiled at his counterpart back in the First Avenger. He had completely forgotten about that and now felt even guiltier. He already messed up when he let his Hero fanboy behavior take over when Kaminari was clearly hurting, but now that same woman is watching her daughter suffer, and he can't do anything about it, either himself or his counterpart who should be a block of ice at this point.
'But then what can either of us do to help, anyway?' Izuku thought bitterly and shamefully.
"O-Oh yeah, right," Kaminari let out a chuckle. "Almost forgot about that. Silly me, huh?"
"Nah, man, it's cool," Kirishima patted Kaminari's shoulder. "I too would be a little freaked out if I saw my granny flirting with one of my friends. Hell, remember when Midoriya was worried and jealous when he thought Setsuna Carter and Bakugou's dad were a thing?"
"Zip it, Shitty Hair!" Bakugou barked, yet they all still laughed.
Peter walked up to the side of his sickly mother, who breathed shallowly. "Why have you been fighting with the other boys again, baby?" Peter's mom asked, referring to his bruise.
"Oh, yeah, I barely noticed that," Ojiro muttered, blinking in recognition.
"And now back to the sadness," Sato muttered quietly.
Peter said nothing in response, looking down in sadness and shame. "Peter?" His mother asked, insistently.
"They killed a little frog that ain't done nothing," Denki's counterpart answered with a southern accent. "Smushed it with a stick."
"Awww," The girls cooed in unison.
Kaminari blushed. 'Heh, I wanted to be popular with girls but not for this,' Kaminari thought to himself.
"Hey, he has a southern accent like me!" Pony pointed out, excitedly.
At the laughs that ensued, Kaminari's blush only worsened with embarrassment.
Koda meanwhile looked at Kaminari and his counterpart with respect and admiration for fighting up against horrible boys who would kill an innocent creature like that for no reason.
Peter's mom gazed at him proudly and lovingly. "You're so like your daddy," His mom replied. "You even look like him. And he was an angel. Composed out of pure light." The woman's voice grew more wistful and dreamily as she spoke.
"I-Is she being truthful or-" Momo began to ask but cut herself off from saying anything more that she felt would be offensive to the moment.
"Unfortunately, Meredith Quill is afflicted with a tumor in her brain," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded.
Melissa choked up a gasp, covering her mouth with her hands while tears began to pool around her eyes. Izuku was there to comfort her quickly. Kaminari likewise shook with Eri tightening her hug around him.
However, as the two were comforted, Mei's eyes narrowed. 'Huh, that wasn't a yes or no answer,' Mei thought. Maybe it was because it was from an A.I. and not a human, but Mei was quick to notice that the response from F.R.I.D.A.Y. was a diversion from the question, purposeful. Mei didn't know why, but she figured the A.I. had her reasons, yet still chose to note it down in the notebook she got from Muscles.
"Mer?" Peter's grandfather spoke up. "You got a present there for Peter, don't you?"
"Of course," Mary Quill said, her pale left hand reaching for a small, wrapped box and a letter. "There."
Peter's grandpa took the gift and letter. "I've got you covered, Pete," His grandpa said while Peter remained motionless.
'He's too consumed in grief to move, too afraid to move or acknowledge what is happening,' Iida sadly thought, remembering when he arrived at the hospital to see Tensei's battered form from Stain. He and his mother were too frozen to say or do anything except wallow in despair. He saw the same in this young Quill, and he offered all his sympathy.
"You open it up when I'm gone, okay?" Mary asked. Peter looked away from his mother, his face scrunching up in sadness, sniffling. "Your grandpa...is gonna take such good care of you. At least until your daddy comes back to get you."
Melissa choked up another sob as Izuku hugged her tighter. For all her life, Melissa had never known her mother. She had died when she was too young to remember, but as she grew older, she managed to get her father to confess what she died from: brain cancer. It wasn't anything genetic either, as if that were something to help ease the pain. It was from a Villain attack, something to do with brainwaves, but she could never wretch much more from her father past that, only that she looked peaceful on her final days, and this was painting a picture of her mother's death that she didn't want.
All Might looked sadly between his niece and Dave, the latter doing his best to keep back the tears and failing. All Might placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, one the mournful man took and held in his own in gratitude.
David could still picture his wife in perfect clarity, a near-carbon copy of Melissa in her full adulthood, with seafoam eyes instead of the aqua blue their daughter inherited from him. Other than her eye color and brains that she got from him, Melissa was all her mother, from her laugh, sense of humor, and attitude to her stubbornness.
And on that final day, when she had passed, her head shaven and sickly as this poor other woman, she had looked him in the eyes with a loving look and smile, her hand on the infant Melissa in his arms. She had made him promise to always look out for her, that she would do many great things, and to help her be all that she would be destined to do. David promised to do so, repeatedly declaring he would and his love for her, even as she had closed her eyes for the final time and baby Melissa wailed as if she knew her mother had passed.
Seeing this scene now, knowing what he was doing, helping to ensure that his daughter could be the great inventor and future Hero she wanted to be, David almost let out a sad chuckle. 'Is this what you saw, Em?' David mentally asked his deceased wife, Emily Shield, from beyond the grave. 'You were always one to be right.' Tears flowed down from his cheeks in abundance.
"Take my hand," Mary said, turning her hand over for Peter to take, but the boy turned away, crying. "Peter?"
Kaminari shivered as he held onto Eri, almost begging for his other younger self to take their mother's hand. He imagined his mother, turned away from him, while Mary Quill's words translated to his mother's voice, calling out to him while his hand reached out to her. The conflicted emotions pained him to his core.
"Pete, come on," His grandpa urged him softly.
"Take my hand," Mary muttered one last time, her arm slackening while the heart monitor began to flatline.
Everything around Kaminari stilled. His eyes widened as that mental image of his mother faded and he was put back into reality, seeing his counterpart's mother's hand slacking.
"Uh no," Pony whimpered, her big eyes welling up in tears while Todoroki took her hand.
"Mom?" Peter turned back toward her with fear and tears in his eyes as Mary's eyes closed, the monitor flatlining. "No! No! No! No!" The boy reached out for her but was held back by his grandfather.
"Come with me," Peter's grandpa grunted as he dragged the boy out of the room while a doctor rushed in, all the while Peter cried out in denial.
"No! NNNNOOOOOOO!" Peter screamed for his mother.
'Why? Why didn't you grab her hand then, you moron?' Kaminari berated his counterpart, fists clenching in inner pain.
Nezu sighed sadly. 'Oftentimes, one only does what they are told when it is too late,' Nezu pondered on the often-backward logic of human mentality, either doing the opposite of what is expected of you, mainly out of spite or adhering to one's wishes when it is too late to change anything. It was so needlessly complicated. 'Then again, what else are humans but complicated?'
"You've got to stay here. Please!" Peter's grandpa urged the boy, his face cracking under the weight of his sadness. "Okay?"
"No..." Peter muttered quietly as his grandfather rushed back in with the other adults and doctors over Mary's dying body, leaving the boy standing in the hall alone and in tears.
Peter was next seen running down the hall and out of the hospital doors to the outside world, the misty field covered in the darkness of night with only the moon to illuminate the area. Peter ran through the field till he collapsed to his knees sobbing. "No," He sobbed out again.
Suddenly, a loud whirring sound and bright light shine down on Peter from above. The sobbing boy looked up; his hands raised to block the bright spotlight. In a wide shot, a large advanced-looking ship hovered over Peter, directing its light down on the boy.
"Uuuuhhhh, what?" Hagakure questioned, utterly confused.
"I-Is that a spaceship?" Mina pointed with barely contained curiosity. "And honest-to-God alien spaceship?!"
"If it is, then what would it be doing here of all places?" Momo pondered, confused. "For Kaminari-I mean-Peter?"
A beam of light descended and covered Peter, a swirling stream of energy surrounding his body. "MOM!" Peter screamed as his body, and the screen was encased in light.
"He's being Abducted!" Mineta wailed.
'Wow...talk about rotten luck, huh,' Kaminari bitterly chuckled in his head. 'First, I find my counterpart only when his mom is dying, see myself too sad to hold her hand before she dies, and now getting abducted by aliens. What are the odds?'
The light and whir of the ship faded into the Marvel Studios logo.
"Huh, what a sad and crazy way to start a movie," Kosei sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Hey," Jiro spoke up and poked at Kaminari's side with her jacks. "You good, dude?"
Kaminari was a little taken aback by Jiro's turn to actual concern for him, but it was still enough to make Kaminari smile softly. "Y-Yeah, I'm good. No thanks to this little unicorn princess here," Kaminari fondly patted and ruffled Eri's hair, to her giggles. Kaminari looked back to Jiro. "Thanks."
Jiro smiled back. "For as annoying as you are, you're still my classmate and friend, Jamming Yey," Jiro pointed out. "Don't forget that."
Kaminari did a faux salute with two of his fingers. "Roger that, Music Girl."
As the logo had finished, the scene swiftly changed to that of a shot over a planet, its skies full of stormy clouds while thunder rumbled, and three other planetary bodies were in the background. Letters came up digitally saying: 26 Years Later.
"26 years later," Shoda did the math in his head. "That would mean that this should take place in 2014. That's roughly the timeline where all the previous movies had occurred."
"Guess you were right about the beginning being a past prologue before going forward to the present where shit's gonna go down, Shoji," Sero said.
"I suppose so," Shoji nodded.
Morag, Abandoned Planet, read off next, with a series of numbers displayed below.
"Morag?" Ochaco scratched her head. "Not a planet I ever heard of. Momo?"
"No, I do not know of it either," Momo shook her head. "Is this perhaps one of the worlds connected to the Bifrost?"
"Not one on record," F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered.
"Then this must be a completely new and alien world," Melissa stated, wiping her eyes free of tears and nodding to both Deku and a returned Eri, that she was okay.
With the sad and depressing atmosphere fading away, Mina's excitement was starting to peek out from behind the restraint she held ever since she saw the title of the movie.
"And it's an abandoned planet, too," Thirteen pointed out. "Curious. What could cause an entire planet to be abandoned?"
"Maybe some mass worldwide flooding or series of catastrophic storms?" Cementoss proposed.
On the planet's rocky surface, the skies dark, thundering, and rainy, a spaceship hovered down to land beside the cliffside to a large chasm, while a large geyser shot up into the air. A lone figure hiked and trudged through the dark and misty terrain, geysers of water shooting up everywhere while it constantly rained.
"Huh, definitely quite the wet and rainy kind of planet we got here," Snipe noted. "Sounds like your world-abandoning storm theory seems legit."
"So, then why would that guy be landing on this planet?" Fat Gum asked. "Thrill-seeking? Treasure hunting?"
As he braced against the harsh winds of the planet, the glowing red eyes of the person's mask lit through the dark. A closer look at the man showed that his helmet was gray, with a respirator-like design on the chin, and his face was covered with red circular eyes. The helmet appeared to cover most of the person's head from his face to the sides and back of the head, ending around the man's hairline, leaving his wet golden hair free.
Eyes began to widen at the sight of the hair color.
"I-Is that-" Kinoko pointed at the screen.
"I mean, it's been 26 years," Itsuka figured. "He would have grown up if he was alive up to this point."
"Oooh, that's quite the nice baby on his head," Mei's eyes zoomed on the figure's helmet. "Is it some kind of mask used for respiration? Maybe defense? However, the lack of guarding on the top of the head seems like a bit of a design flaw. Or maybe he just wants his hair to be out? If it is for respiration in low-oxygen level environments though then it would have to be air-tight to make up for that small breach of area."
As the man trudged through the rainy terrain, more of his soaked outfit was shown. The man wore a dark red coat with black padding and a yellow, flame-like logo on the shoulders, dark pants, a navy-blue shirt, black gloves, and boots, with a bag strapped across his shoulder and torso and several items strapped across his body, including two weirdly designed pistols.
"Well, I guess he isn't walking around unarmed," Ectoplasm noted. "Though, what strange-looking pistols."
"Heh, alien design, I guess," Snipe shrugged, though all the teachers, and even some of the students, could tell he was extremely curious about man's guns.
The man stood in the middle of seemingly nowhere before reaching into his sack. The masked man pulled out a device, shaking the thing a few times before it lit out a blue light that scanned the area in front of him. As the blue light shined across the seemingly rocky structures, the light shaped the area into a holographic display, showing built structures, buildings, and even the holograms of people walking around.
"Oooh! Mama likey!" Mei grinned wide.
"Nah uh, get back here!" Izuku voiced, pulling the salmon-haired girl back to her seat with Black Whip.
"Aww," Mei pouted.
"It must be some kind of scanner that can recreate past scenery using the structures and terrain as evidence," David muttered out his thoughts. "Fascinating."
"Heh, if we had something like that, it would be an archeologist's wet dream," Power Loader chuckled. "Imagine scanning the ancient pyramids of Giza or those ancient South American temples?"
"I'd argue that it would take the fun out of the job for some of them," David chuckled back, knowing some archeologists had more fun in the work uncovering the possibilities rather than just having it spelled out to them by some machine.
A single large and wide building was colored red a holographic trail pathing the way forward. Settling on the building, a single location was targeted. The man resumed his trek, wherever the scanner lit its blue light, the actions of the planet's past civilians occurred in front of him, passing by or past him and away into history. The man stopped in front of the large structure that was an old forgotten building, his light showing a little girl playing with a dog.
"Huh, I guess in space, there are still humans and dogs?" Setsuna scratched her head.
"Well, remember all those alien abduction stories or crazy conspiracies about aliens taking ancient humans from Earth?" Mina pointed out. "Maybe some of them were true and the humans in outer space are those very same people from the past."
"At this point, I'm worried that she's going to become as big an alien conspiracy theorist as Todoroki," Asui croaked.
"Yeah, just trade alien conspiracy with theories about Deku-kun and All Might," Ochaco chuckled, scratching her cheek.
"Sorry, what was that?" Izuku blinked, not catching most of what Uraraka said.
"N-Nothing, Deku-kun," Ochaco denied.
As he reached the wide-open entrance into the decayed and flooded building's interior, the man turned off and pocketed his scanner. Walking closer inside and looking around, the man raised his hand to the side of his mask, tapping it. Instantly, the helmet began to deconstruct and fade away, revealing the man's face.
"KAMINARI?!" The students exclaimed.
Sure enough, thanks to the similar looks of Denki Kaminari, the man was indeed Peter Quill, now older. The man looked like Denki Kaminari only with the short stubble of a mustache and goatee, his features sharper, and his hair longer than the 16-year-old boy of Class 1-A.
"Woah, I look awesome in the future," Kaminari grinned, rubbing at his chin as if he could feel the goatee.
"Don't get so cocky, bro," Mineta grinned mischievously. "Remember what they say about learning too much about one's future. Don't put in the work and you'll never get as cool as other you."
"Heh, like you have anything to worry about," Kaminari pointed out, a teasing grin on his face, too.
"HEY!" Mineta whined.
After looking over the area one more time, Peter pulled out his headphones and Walkman.
"Wow, he still has the Walkman, but how?" Rin scratched his head. "Do cassette tapes even last that long?"
"They can last about 30 years if they are cared for well enough," Jiro replied. "And I think after the events that we just saw that he would care for that tape Very well."
"Well, okay, then what about the battery? Do they have stores that sell batteries for that Walkman in space?" Rin questioned further.
"You are asking such a question when you are witnessing technology capable of interstellar travel, helmets that can retract into nearly nothing, and highly advanced scanners that wouldn't also be able to power something as trivial as a Walkman with their technology?" Todoroki questioned back, incredulously.
"Okay, I get it, suspending all disbelief," Rin raised his hands in surrender.
"No one's asking you to suspend all your disbelief, man, just don't be a nitpicky asshole," Kamakiri spoke up.
Putting the headphones to his ears and clipping the Walkman to his belt, Peter turned it on. Funky pop music began playing. The music continued playing while Peter began walking forward while dancing, a shot of his hips thrusting the air showing the Walkman as still the same one that he had on Earth.
"Oh, no," Kaminari paled, realizing with absolute dread what was going to happen.
"Oh, yes," Jiro's grin became so wide that it looked capable of splitting her head in half.
"Get the camera ready!" Mina exclaimed to Hagakure, said girl fumbling for her phone.
"No, don't!" Kaminari wailed, only to get stopped in his tracks by vine hair wrapping around his entire body.
"No dice, Sparkplug," Bakugou grinned maliciously while Ibara did as her not-yet boyfriend begged her to do. "Just sit and face the music."
"~HAIL! (Hail!) ~" The song's beginning played while Quill danced as the title of the movie appeared over him: Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter danced and skipped through the rundown area, kicking and splashing up water while he spun.
The room was utterly consumed with laughter. Mina and Hagakure braced against each other to keep them from falling over in laughter while the latter tried to record the moment for posterity. Mineta had laughed and slipped out of his beanbag, and so too would Kinoko if she didn't have Kuroiro to notice and catch her, to both of their blushes. Most of Class 1-A were also doubling over with laughter, especially Sero, Kirishima, and Bakugou, with even Ibara beside the cackling howler monkey that was her crush giggling in amusement. Even the likes of Momo couldn't help but let out a chuckle or two.
Jiro was practically hugging her sides and almost complained that she couldn't breathe from how much she was laughing. Izuku was the only one to show a bit of sympathy for Kaminari with a pat on the back with Black Whip. He knew perfectly well what it meant to be the laughing stock of an embarrassing moment involving song and dance, reminiscing painfully about the First Avenger.
'Then again, he did also join in laughing at me and accused me of seducing his grandmother...' Izuku pondered for a moment, before his resolve broke, his cheeks puffing as he kept back the flood of laughter that nearly came out, with a chuckle or two slipping out.
Monoma's laughter, no matter how pompous it sounded, was excused by Itsuka and the rest of 1-B as they also enjoyed this very entertaining and embarrassing moment for one of the members of the rival class.
The adults weren't spared from the shits and giggles. Hawks, Present Mic, Miruko, Mount Lady, and Pixie Bob were like two obnoxiously loud hyenas, Midnight, Ryukyu, Ragdoll, and Thirteen couldn't help but giggle mischievously at the teasing and amusing situation, and Fat Gum and even Hound Dog howled in laughter, with the former tossing his popcorn bucket into the air. Fortunately, Tamaki wasn't too far gone in his light chuckles to not notice the incoming popcorn bucket and redirect it away with a tentacle...onto Mirio's head. The act would only fuel to make Eri, Nejire, and even Mirio laugh harder.
Of course, the obvious of Eraserhead, Endeavor, and Edgeshot had to be the wet blankets in this sea of hilarity, as Hawks put it. Eraserhead was sorely tempted to strangle himself again, but the cackling madman that was the principal had managed to tie him down in his seat with his own scarf beforehand as if knowing this was going to happen.
"So, he grew up to be an idiot," Endeavor growled out, doing his best to restrain himself from roaring out in annoyance.
"Unfortunately, it seems like idiocy is a plague not exclusive to Earthbound humans," Edgeshot muttered.
Meanwhile, Kaminari looked half-dead from embarrassment, pale as a ghost, with Kouta even noting how it looked like a ghost was trying to escape from Kaminari's mouth comedically. 'So, this is how it felt like, huh, Midoriya?' Kaminari mentally asked the green-haired teen, registering Black Whip patting his shoulder. Kaminari wondered if this was some cosmic-level karma for laughing at his friend during the Captain America propaganda show, and decided that maybe he did deserve this.
Regardless, Kaminari knew of three things to come from this. The first was that his friendship points with Midoriya had thus far skyrocketed, pointedly ignoring the chuckles that escaped Midoriya's mouth. Secondly, he knew he would never hear the end of this from his classmates and that he should find and delete that footage from Hagakure's phone if and when possible, as well as any other recording of this event.
And thirdly and most important of all: 'She must Never know about this,' Kaminari thought to himself. He could handle embarrassment and teasing from his friends and classmates all day long, but if She ever learned about this, it would be a never-ending nightmare for the blonde teen.
A pair of feral, alien creatures fought among themselves before noticing Quill's presence. Three of the creatures rushed at Peter as food. Peter kicked the rodent creatures away in time with the song.
"Oh, this is too perfect!" Mina brushed away tears from her eyes.
"Please, kill me now," Kaminari groaned, every act his counterpart did a further weight of embarrassment on his soul.
"Hey, we didn't put the nerd out of his misery, we most certainly aren't doing so for you either!" Bakugou laughed and mocked Jamming Yey.
However, Koda, of all people, did look angry enough to consider honoring Kaminari's request after seeing him kick those alien creatures. 'And just when I respected other you for standing up for a frog,' Koda thought to himself.
Another rodent reared back on a rock at eye level with Peter, hissing before launching itself at him, with the adult-looking Kaminari-look alike grabbing it mid-air. "~HAIL! (Hail!) ~" Quill sang with the song, using the rodent as a make-believe mic.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and Kouta howled in laughter. "This is amazing!"
"He is certainly eccentric enough to use a living creature as a mic," Midnight giggled.
"If you use your imagination, anything can be a mic and the world your stage," Mic chuckled.
"Or a circus," Aizawa groaned.
"By the way, Jiro what song is-" Asui stopped herself as she realized that Jiro wasn't in the right state to be answering any question. You know with the laughing.
"Come and Get Your Love, by Redbone," Izuku answered for Jiro. "My mom loves this song, and we used to play it and sing along whenever one of us was feeling down."
"Thank you, Midoriya," Asui nodded in thanks.
All Might made a mental note to write that little tidbit about Inko down for an important moment.
More creatures fought with each other in the background as Quill boogied his way around the abandoned building, spinning and dancing around to the song, dancing with the rodents, and spinning around the skeleton of a dead alien person.
"Hehehe, Uncle Denki is funny!" Eri laughed.
It was her laughter and words that restored Kaminari's spirit and turned what looked like a half-dead broken soul into an enlightened, at-peace man.
"Oh, I'm so making this Jamming Yey's ringtone!" Jiro declared, followed by the encouragement and fellow declarations by the rest of the class.
And there went Kaminari's mood again.
"~Come and Get Your Love! ~" Peter sang on his rodent mic. While the music played, Quill slid stylishly across the screen on the slippery wet floor.
As the scene played, some of the students even began to dance in their seats to the song, giggling and laughing with each other.
Eri even danced with Setsuna's floating upper body to the song, while Izuku smiled and held Melissa and Ochaco each in a tight one-armed hug that made the blonde and brunette giggle in delight. Izuku could almost picture those out-of-nowhere dance parties that he had with his mother and this song when he was younger, blissful, delightful moments of happiness in an otherwise dreary, painful childhood.
Denki's counterpart danced till he reached a wide gap between where he was and another platform. The older-looking Kaminari looked down at the river below filled with dangerous, carnivorous creatures. Pressing a button on the side of his belt, the rocket thrusters on his boots ignited and the man flew across the gap and landed smoothly.
"And he has rocket boots?!" Mei exclaimed happily as she once more went back to writing more and more about this version of Kaminari's gear, from what his pistols possibly do to his retractable helmet.
"They looked like they were activated by pressing on that pad by his side," Power Loader noted. "Easy to touch for activation and easy to deactivate too. Nice."
Peter danced up some short steps to a large pair of doors. He picked the lock of the door, allowing the doors to open. The doors fully opened to Peter Quill as he walked in. Peter shook a sphere in his hand, turning it on as it shined a bright white light that illuminated the room. As Peter put the glowing sphere on the ground, the music ended.
"Oh! Finally! It's over!" Kaminari sighed in relief. "I'm saved from Hell!"
"Ahem," Hagakure's exclaim made Kaminari look over to see the recording on her phone and F.R.I.D.A.Y. doing nothing to stop it. "You were saying?"
"My life is misery, existence is pain," Kaminari slumped comically with a dark cloud over his head.
"Bah! Cheer up, man! Can't you see that this at least cheered everyone up from the sad beginning?" Jiro pointed out.
Kaminari blinked, looking around to see smiles and eased looks on most of the group's faces. Even Aizawa, Endeavor, and Edgeshot looked more at ease even if annoyed compared to the somberness of the beginning. Most especially, Melissa, who seemed just as heartbroken over the beginning, was now smiling with Izuku like nothing happened.
"Huh, I guess you're right," Kaminari chuckled, glad to see his suffering helped put some smiles on people's faces. 'Then again, that's what we Heroes do. We suffer so others can live their lives with smiles, right?'
At the end of the room, a pedestal that contained an ancient, yet technologically advanced pillar stood, emitting a field of energy in the form of a barrier. What floated in the middle of this energy field was a single metallic grey orb, purple light shining down and above it.
"Huh, is that what Kaminari-I mean-Quill was here for," Ojiro corrected himself.
"Well, let's see. Flying to a literally abandoned planet that's constantly raining, scanning around for the building it was in, cracked his way open past two large metal doors, and the only thing around is that glowing field and the orb inside," Setsuna listed out all the reasons. "Yep, seems pretty likely that ball is what he's here for."
"But what is it?" Itsuka questioned. "Some highly valuable artifact?"
As thunder rumbled and lightning streaked in the clouds outside, two different ships sailed swiftly across the sky before coming around and lowering slowly to a landing. The ships were ovalish in appearance, their design that of decaying and cracking metal with ragged sails on their sides.
"Oh, well, guess he's not alone on this planet," Sen blinked in surprise. "Could they be here for the sphere, too?"
"I would imagine," Awase shrugged.
As the ships landed, the exit on the back of the ship opened and out of one of them walked out a dark-skinned man in armor of a similar design to the ship, his biceps and elbows exposed, a white and black striped goatee on his chin, and tech plating the sides of his bald head, integrated into his skull and flesh.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. paused on the man. "KORATH THE PURSUER! HOKORI INAZUMA AKA AMPLIVOLT!" The screen showed a man with black hair and a yellow stripe that trailed prominently down. The man had a jagged scar on his forehead, and a black mustache, wearing a black cloak over a grey, black-star pattern shirt and black pants.
"Okay, does anybody know who that guy is?" Mineta scratched his head, confused.
Kaminari blinked, surprised. "I-It's my uncle Hokori," Kaminari revealed. "From my mother's side."
"Huh, interesting," Momo hummed in thought. "And that codename. Is he a Hero perchance, too?"
"Um, no, not that I know of," Kaminari rubbed the back of his neck. "He and my mom had some falling out when I was too little to remember, and we barely hear of him lately. He sends me cards and some money for my birthday but that's about it. Oh, he did send me a book on my last birthday, but my mother wanted to throw it away."
"And what book may that be, Mr. Kaminari?" Nezu perked up and asked.
"Um, the Meta Liberation War, I think," Kaminari answered. "Never got a chance to read it before my mom confiscated it. Didn't care much since me and my uncle aren't close or anything, but it was weird."
That set off alarms in the heads of the adults, especially the likes of Hawks, Nezu, and Endeavor who know the real significance of this. With a name and face to match, Hawks remembered seeing the guy often in the Gunga Mountain Villa. That all but confirmed it for Hawks.
'He's a part of the Paranormal Liberation Front,' Hawks and Nezu thought similarly.
Nezu frowned at the thought that one of his students was almost compromised by the new growing power of the PLF, piecing together that Kaminari's uncle may have learned of his nephew being a student at U.A. and sent that book as the first steps in indoctrinating Kaminari into the Meta Liberation Army before it was later taken over by the League. Nezu would have commended Electricks for actions in sparing her impressionable son, and his students, from such tactics but wondered what this falling out between siblings must have been about.
'Could it be Electricks knows about the MLA rising at the time and her brother's involvement? And if so, was their falling because of it?' Nezu mentally analyzed. 'Did she know fully about the MLA's activity, or did she merely suspect it or her brother's potentially shady activity? The latter would explain why she never reported such behavior and be in disagreement with her brother, but if it's the former, then why not inform the Commission or other Heroes?' Nezu ultimately concluded that she either did and the Commission covered it up for whatever reason, or she didn't have enough evidence or assurances of their resurgence to tip us off without us believing her or starting an incident.
Following out of the ships with Korath were humanoid aliens with similar dark and bone-like armor and weapons, yet their growls and noises were anything but human.
"Uh, what are those?" Kinoko asked.
"Sakaarans," F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. "A race of insectoid-humanoids with varying appearances from their more human-like physiques to more bug-like ones." F.R.I.D.A.Y. showed an image of one humanoid-looking Sakaaran and another that looked like a large pink grub compared to another.
Mina would have grinned, especially at the large pink alien insect, combining two things she likes: pink and aliens, but her senses were telling her that these Sakaarans that were palling around with the counterpart to Kaminari's uncle and flying creepy-looking ships were not the kind of aliens to root for.
Back inside, Peter placed a device on the ground. Upon its placement, its three rectangular flaps spread out and onto the ground, sticking the base up. The base glowed with blue triangles and hummed to life. Peter stood up to look at the orb, noticing that the orb began to move and push forcibly through the energy field toward the device.
"It must be a type of magnetic device that is drawing the orb to it and through the barriers," Momo analyzed. "That way, Quill doesn't have to waste time trying to shut off the barrier or destroy it, when the object itself can come to him."
"And the object appears to be durable enough to go through the very barriers protecting it," Melissa pointed out. "Given the amount of energy that looks like those barriers have, it's enough to burn a person's hand if they tried to reach into it."
Eventually, the Orb blasted through the final barrier, sticking onto the magnetic device while the barrier shuts off. With a satisfied smirk, Quill bent down and plucked the orb, the device folding back up.
However, as he stood back up, he turned to the doorway to find himself aimed at by Korath and the Saakarans. "Drop it!" Korath yelled, aiming his weapon at Quill.
"Yep, not friendly! Not friendly!" Mineta exclaimed, almost raising his hands as if he were the one they were aiming at.
"Uh, hey," Peter blinked, surprised at the multiple arrivals.
Korath spoke in an alien language to the Sakaarans, instructing them to move forward. "Drop it, now!" Korath ordered again.
"Hey, cool, man. No problem," Quill complied, dropping the orb. One of the Saakarans butted his gun at Quill, to which the Earthborn human raised his hands in surrender. "No problem at all."
Kaminari frowned as he viewed his uncle's counterpart aiming at him. Kaminari meant it when he said that he had no real relationship with his uncle. The man was always cold and distant with him, asking more about how strong his Quirk was or how much of a handle he got in using it, and everything came second or none at all to him. He only grew more distant as he grew older, saying he was busy with work, but then Kaminari noted that he never mentioned what he really did for work.
Still, despite their lack of uncle-nephew relationship, it was still disconcerting to see his uncle from another universe essentially aiming a weapon at him.
Korath picked up the orb that rolled down to his feet. "How do you know about this?" Korath questioned Quill.
"I don't even know what that is. I'm just a junker, man," Quill answered. "I was just checking stuff out."
"You don't look like a junker," Korath replied, suspicious. "You're wearing Ravager garb."
"Ravager?" Izuku repeated the name, noting that it must be significant enough for this man to know of the garbs and profession of the outfit, whatever they were.
"This is just an outfit, man," Peter tried explaining himself, brushing off the threatening jab from the Sakaaran's gun. "Ninja Turtle, you better stop poking me."
"Did he just call him a Ninja Turtle?" Kirishima tilted his head.
"Well, I mean, he looks covered in lots of armor like a shell," Kaminari tried explaining on his counterpart's behalf.
"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!" Korath had enough and roared out.
"My name is Peter Quill, okay?" Peter answered, honestly. "Dude, chill out,"
"MOVE!" Korath roared out further.
"Why?" Peter asked, confused.
"Ronan may have questions for you," Korath answered.
"Ronan?" Ochaco repeated the name. "Is that his boss?"
"Most likely," Asui nodded.
"Hey, you know what? There's another name you might know me by," Peter spoke up before Korath could turn fully. With the man's full attention, Peter looked dramatically at him. "Star-Lord."
"...Who?" Korath questioned, his face scrunched in confusion.
"Pfftt, bahahahaha!" Mineta burst out laughing. Kaminari gave his short best friend a betrayed look and raised arms. "S-Sorry, I don't why that got me."
"I do. The guy doesn't know your name and your name sounds ridiculous!" Bakugou laughed.
"Be nice, 'Suki," Ibara chided him, slapping lightly at his chest. "Don't laugh at those if you don't want to get laughed at in return."
"Yes, thank you, Shiozaki," Kaminari nodded at the holy girl. "You have something to apologize for, Lord Explosion Murder?"
Bakugou gave a murderous look that made Kaminari back down from whatever confidence he had, raising his arms in surrender even as Ibara once more lightly chided Bakugou for his behavior.
"Star-Lord, man. Legendary outlaw," Quill repeated, his face and shoulders deflating. Korath raised his arms, shrugging with no clue what he was talking about. "Guys?" Peter looked to the Sakaarans behind him.
"Hey, it's alright, kid," Snipe chuckled and raised his hat to Kaminari. "Not a lot of people knew about many of us when we first started." Snipe gestured to himself and the pros around him. "Have patience, do good, and I'm sure you and the rest will get recognized more and more."
"Some more than others," Aoyama posed dramatically. "When people see my sparkling visage, they will surely know me and burn my sparkling visage into their minds forever."
"Yeah, they'll remember you, alright," Sato muttered, sweatdropping.
"MOVE!" Korath roared out again.
Korath turned and began to march away. "Ah, forget this," Peter scoffed.
In an instant, Peter kicked and rolled the illuminating sphere on the ground to the Sakaarans. Upon contact, the sphere exploded out in energy, covering and instantly disintegrating the two alien jobbers.
"What the-It disintegrated them!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed. "I thought that was just a fancy night light."
"Talk about making the scary monsters go away," Kaminari joked.
"Alright, we are already going to be facing one Sparkplug, we don't more lip from two," Bakugou said.
"Says the guy that can't help but listen to his billionaire version speak all the time," Kaminari muttered.
"What was that?!" Bakugou barked.
"Nothing!" Kaminari exclaimed, fearfully.
Korath turned back in surprise, in time to see Star-Lord pull out his two iconic pistols and fire twin yellow fireballs at him. The fireballs struck at the dark-skinned man, sending him back onto the floor and the Orb out of his hand.
"Well, that was easy," Kosei blinked in surprise.
"Huh, so it fires what looks like fiery balls of energy from the top ends of the blasters," Melissa noted and wrote down. "But then what would the bottom end be for?"
"Maybe a projectile that is less lethal?" Mei proposed.
The Orb rolled up to Peter who grabbed it and pocketed it in his sack. However, Korath groaned, causing Peter's eyes to widen at the man still alive. The minion of Ronan got up, aimed, and fired his weapon at Quill. Star-Lord bent backward and willingly fell to the ground as the fired bolt of plasma sailed over him and struck the wall behind him, instantly destroying it and opening up a hole to the outside. Star-Lord reached up and tapped the side of his head, his helmet materializing back around his head. Korath cocked his weapon to fire again as Peter's rockets boots ignited. The outlaw shot out toward the hole, barely missing the second plasma bolt as he sailed out into the world of Morag.
"An idiot he may be, but he is quick and resourceful," Kamui Woods nodded. "He used his downed position into the perfect launching position to escape out of the hole that this Korath made."
Landing roughly and tumbling onto the ground, Star-Lord groaned but quickly got up and began to run. Hearing Korath screaming in rage, Peter looked back to see the dark-skinned man jump out from the hole he made and onto the ground unfazed.
"And it seems like that Korath guy must be enhanced in some manner because not only did he get shot and walk it off like it was nothing, but he just jumped down from however high that hole was without issue," Death Arms pointed out.
"Well, at least now we know why he's called the Pursuer," Mic smiled. "Get it, because he pursues people."
"Yamada, sweetie, just stop, please," Kayama patted the man's back.
"Okay," Mic sighed, slumping down.
Aizawa looked at Kayama with a hardened gaze.
"What? I asked nicely. He would respond if you did too," Kayama smirked teasingly at her friend.
"No, he wouldn't," Aizawa looked away with huff.
"No, I wouldn't!" Yamada agreed with a wide grin.
Peter continued running. As he reached his ship, he noticed more Sakaaran soldiers stationed outside, guarding his ship. As they saw him, one of the Sakaaran soldiers fired his gun, a bolt of green energy barely missing Peter, and struck the rock next to him, destroying it instantly. Star-Lord grabbed another magnetic device from his belt and tossed it toward the Sakaaran soldiers. The device landed perfectly in the middle of all of them, the device activating and magnetically sucking all five of them to it and the ground.
"Resourceful indeed," Ryukyu nodded, impressed. "He used the device he secured the sphere with to likewise incapacitate a greater number of enemies."
Kaminari grinned and took the compliments in stride. He wondered if this was the same kind of praise that Midoriya, Bakugou, and the others got whenever their counterparts did something cool. 'If it is, I like it," Kaminari thought.
Korath gave chase as Peter jumped over the trapped soldiers, the scene showing the 'legendary outlaw' sailing across the air in slow motion while a geyser erupted behind him and next to Korath.
"Ooh, now that would make some good wallpaper art," Sero complimented, lining the shot with his hands as if they were frames.
"No one cares about your arts and crafts, Tape Arms!" Bakugou yelled. "Let's just continue the video already!"
Sliding into the opening cockpit, Peter tumbled inside, landing on his helmet-covered head on the metal floor, groaning.
"Always remember to wear a helmet, kids," Ochaco joked/advised the kids.
While Eri giggled, Kouta nodded, thinking about what he would want his Hero suit to look like, specifically his helmet. He knew he wanted it to be one that resembled the one his parents, the Water Hose Heroes, wore, but with a few alterations. For one, getting rid of that ridiculous snorkel they had, add in ears that looked the ones of the Wild Wild Pussycats, only sleeker, and for his mouthguard, he wanted it to resemble a certain green-haired teen's respirator collar.
Peter sat up and dematerialized his helmet. Outside, the magnetic device timed out, releasing the Sakaaran soldiers as Kothar reached them.
"Damn, it has a time limit," Awase scoffed.
Korath barked orders in his native language while Peter got into the driver's seat. Quickly, the Sakaarans built and set up an alien weapon for their leader.
"Uh, what are they doing?" Pony asked, worried.
"It looks like they are assembling some type of cannon to destroy Quill'd ship," Todoroki answered.
"Why don't they just fire on him with those blasters that they have?" Setsuna asked. "Not that I want them to do so, but it would be easier, wouldn't it? Those things looked like they packed a punch."
"Could be that this cannon or turret will be surely strong enough to destroy the ship or render it immobile," Iida replied.
With a press of a button, the engines of Peter's ship came alive, thruster fire shooting out the two blue rings on each of the V-shaped ship's wings. With the ship hovering up, Peter looked out to see Kothar aiming his newly constructed cannon at the ship, firing out a powerful Necroblast. Star-Lord reared the controls back, the ship responding and backing up, angling itself upwards and evading the ship-destroying blast.
"Woah, that was way too close!" Kosei exclaimed.
"It's a good thing that whatever kind of spaceship he has that it can maneuver like that, otherwise he would be toast," Shoda nodded.
As the debris cleared, and Kothar fired and missed thrice, Peter's ship flew away, the outlaw laughing victoriously and mockingly at Kothar and the Sakaarans, the former dismissing his soldiers angrily.
"Don't start celebrating too soon, man," Kirishima advised.
"What do you mean? My ship's taking off and everything," Kaminari gestured to the screen. "By the time they reach their ships, my counterpart will be long-"
The blue-and-orange colored ship flew over Morag's rocky surface before, suddenly, a geyser of water erupted from underneath the ship, sending it upwards into the sky and shutting it down momentarily.
"You were saying?" Kirishima raised a teasing eyebrow at Kaminari.
"...No comment," Kaminari muttered.
As the ship was blasted into the air, the blast of water ceased and the ship began to tumble and fall back to the ground, the gravity sending Quill right onto the windshield of the cockpit. The ship began falling closer to the ground while Peter was sent flying backward and away from the console, tumbling around his ship while various items inside, like an orange-haired Troll doll, flew around with him.
Groaning, Peter maneuvered his way to the controls, grabbing the seat and reaching for the handle. Finally, Peter grabbed and pulled back the handle, ceasing the ship's crash and hovering safely atop the planet's surface.
"Phew," Kaminari sighed in relief.
Peter slumped against the side of his ship, panting exhaustively. "Peter?" A woman's voice groaned out, causing Denki's counterpart to jump to where it came from. A pink-skinned, alien, humanoid woman, with frazzled brown hair, climbed up from an open panel of the ship's floor. The woman wore what was clearly one of Peter's shirts, looking around in a daze. "What happened?"
"Huh, didn't know there was another person on the ship," Ojiro muttered. "Must have been quite the wake-up call."
"Did they-?" Kirishima pointed at both Kaminari's counterpart and the pink-skinned woman, who looked remarkably similar to Mina, at least by skin, not so much in eyes or horns.
"Oh, I'm sure they did," Sero snickered.
Before Kaminari could bask in the achievement, fate had other plans.
"DENKI!" Mineta wailed before launching himself at his surprised best friend like a bullet. As Kaminari shook himself out of his daze, he was met with his purple-ball-haired friend gripping the collar of his shirt, crying jealous tears of blood, lips whimpering, teeth grinding together like nails on a chalkboard.
"BETRAYAL! BETRAYAL!" Mineta wailed as he started shaking Kaminari by his collar rapidly, with such strength that took the golden-haired teen by surprise. While Kaminari began getting dizzy, his eyes turning into comedic swirls, Mineta kept wailing. "YOU NAILED A HOT PINK ALIEN CHICK?! YOU NAILED MINA BEFORE EVEN MIDORIYA DID!"
Izuku and Mina blushed wildly at Mineta's words, Izuku looking like his head was replaced by a tomato and Mina's face a deep shade of purple. Izuku was stuck between denying Mineta's words about him trying to nail Mina -he may be trying to win over her heart, but 'nailing' her wasn't exactly in his plans at the moment- or straight-up planting Mineta six feet under, again.
Mina, meanwhile, was stuck in stuck in la-la land. 'M-Me and M-M-Midori...' Was all Mina could articulate in her thoughts before being overwhelmed by mental images of her in her short shorts and loose t-shirt pajamas, looking ruffled and panting as the shirtless muscular frame of Izuku Midoriya pinned her body against the bed, her breasts flattening against his pecs, his scarred hands pinning hers, his knee brushing her burning crotch while her long pink legs wrapped around his waist, his face, sexy and confident, leaning down toward her breathless face and...
What proceeded in her imagination caused Mina's head to steam and her eyes turned to comedic swirls while her mouth hung agape and drooling. Hagakure tried in vain to shake her best friend from her daydreams, especially since the naughty look of her pink-skinned friend was likewise arousing her, too.
"BETRAYAL! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THIS! I SHOULD-" Mineta's screeching suddenly stopped as a sparking finger pressed onto the short teen's forehead. Mineta seized up from a surge of electricity till he slumped to the ground, painlessly turned unconscious.
Kaminari steadied himself from his dizziness and looked upon his work. "Huh, now I see why you guys do that to us all the time," Kaminari admitted, chuckling. "It's really satisfying knocking him out."
"See!" Jiro walked down and helped the golden-haired teen to his feet. "Now you're making some sense, Jamming-Yey!"
The two fist-bumped in their newfound recognition, while the rest worked to strap Mineta into a chair to keep him from attacking Kaminari on sight, and to wake him up to get the movie started again.
"Oh, by the way, before you ask, that woman is a Krylorian," F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke up. "A humanoid race of pink-skinned aliens known for their beauty and often, and unfortunately, exploited and kidnapped by intergalactic criminals to be slaves by criminals."
The heroes frowned distastefully at such knowledge, knowing that even in the reaches of these alien civilizations with their advanced technologies and intergalactic travel, crime, selfishness, and debauchery aren't strictly human traits and extend to the stars, inflicting such cruelties like slavery, possibly sexual given the connotations F.R.I.D.A.Y. brought up, to innocent lives.
"Honestly, if she weren't in la-la land, I'd imagine she be saying something about how she's found her people or something," Setsuna gestured to Mina.
"That's Ashido for you," Momo sighed fondly at her classmate, friend, and Sisterhood member and the girl's fondness for aliens and alien life.
"Hey, uh...uh...I..." Peter stuttered, snapping his fingers trying to remember the woman's name.
"Bereet," The Krylorian answered, a bit annoyed.
"Bereet!" Peter acknowledged. "Um, I'm gonna be totally honest with you. I forgot you were here."
Bereet looked at Star-Lord with aghast offense and hurt.
And so too did the goodwill that Kaminari gained from his actions against Mineta from the girls was swiftly stripped away, some like Momo and Itsuka slapping their foreheads, followed up by some of the guys as well.
"You reckless, forgetful, inconsiderate idiot!" Jiro jabbed her jacks repeatedly onto Kaminari. "Not only could you have gotten that poor girl killed, but you forgot her name and treated her like a damn floozy!"
"Ow, ow, OW! Okay, stop! I get it! I get it!" Kaminari ran from the purple-haired girl, though couldn't help but feel that he deserved this retribution, even if it was a bit unfair given it was his counterpart doing it. 'Then again, I almost felt proud about nailing that chick...yeah, no I rather take this than her wrath. Thank God, she isn't watching with us, or my goose might've been cooked.'
Rock music played as Star-Lord ship sailed out of Morag.
Hagakure and Setsuna stared at Jiro.
"Stop that," Jiro growled at the two of them.
The two still stared at her, expectantly.
"Urgh, fine," Jiro grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Go All the Way, by the Raspberries. From the sounds of it, it's the remastered version."
"Thanks, Jiro/Rock Girl," Hagakure and Setsuna thanked her.
Jiro sighed, tiredly. 'If this is what Midoriya feels when he's asked about Hero or Quirk stuff, then he has better patience than me, that's for damn sure,' Jiro thought. The purple-haired girl noticed the man himself, freshly out of his blushing state, smiling gratefully at her, silently thanking her for putting up them all. Jiro blushed lightly and smiled back. 'But being helpful with the patience of a saint does have its perks.'
In the ship, the mix tape played in a makeshift, retro cassette player, flanked by various items, souvenirs, and tech, from the magnetic devices to the Troll doll.
"Wait, he also made a cassette player?" Rin blinked in surprise. "In space?"
"I'm failing to understand why you aren't getting that they are in space, with alien technology, and ships that can travel through space and planets but 80s stuff is what you are hung up on," Setsuna complained.
"Scattered riots broke out across the Kree Empire today, protesting the recent peace treaty signed by the Kree Emperor and Xandar's Nova Prime," An intergalactic news reporter informed on the screen Peter looked over, while Bereet, freshened up and with a drink in her hand sitting by the table behind the outlaw.
"Guess other alien civilizations are no different from ours," Miruko snacked another bite from her carrot.
"I suppose when they saw conflict is a universal trait, they meant that literally throughout the universe," Ryukyu chuckled morbidly.
A sudden beeping drew Bereet's attention to the tablet next to her. "Peter, you have call," Bereet said, reaching to answer it.
"No, wait, don't!" Peter quickly tried to stop her, but the pink woman's finger had already pressed the button, answering it.
As she did, the news report switched the caller's face, a blue-skinned humanoid alien man with a blue goatee and a strip of reddish metal integrated on the top of the alien's bald head. "Quill?" The man spoke.
"I'm guessing that's a call other me didn't want to pick up," Kaminari figured.
"What tipped you off? The 'No, wait, don't,' or the exasperated look on other you's face?" Jiro questioned back sarcastically.
Bereet sheepishly froze, embarrassed and mouthing 'sorry'.
"Hey, Yondu," Quill sighed, turning back to answer the man face to face.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. paused at the blue alien's face. "YONDU UDONTA! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: ENJI TODOROKI AKA ENDEAVOR!"
"Huh, would you look at that," Hawks chuckled. "I figured if you were an alien, you would be redder and angrier like you always do, but blue and angry works too, I guess."
Endeavor blinked in surprise at seeing his counterpart. He didn't know what he was expecting, given that prior examples of counterparts in this world include billionaire playboys with flying suits of armor, timid scientists that can turn into a hulking, green monstrosity, and so on, but he never would have guessed his counterpart would be blue, much less an alien. The new Number 1 Hero wondered what connected him to this Yondu.
Shoto was on the same boat, wondering what may connect his father to this blue alien humanoid. 'Already I can see that they both aren't the friendliest of faces that one wants to see,' Todoroki thought, sympathizing with Quill.
"I'm here on Morag," Yondu began. "Ain't no Orb. Ain't no you."
"So, he was supposed to stay and meet him on the planet with the Orb?" Nejire pondered out loud.
"Well, I can guess after those guys that chased after him that he wouldn't want to stick around," Mina replied. "And now that I'm seeing him more closely, look at his head." Mina gestured to the blue alien's head. "Is that a stripe of metal in his head? Like that Kothar guy had?"
"You know what it is," Mei zoomed her eyes to inspect the metal installed in the alien's noggin. "Neat. Wonder what that serves though? Ooh, maybe it would be easier to communicate if it is installed in your head! I wonder-"
"NO!" The combined declaration of Izuku, Melissa, David Shield, and Power Loader came down upon Mei.
"Pooie. You guys are no fun," Mei pouted, crossing her arms.
"Or maybe you are just too much fun, sweetie," Melissa patted her quickly-forming best female friend.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood," Peter answered. "I thought I'd save you the hassle."
"And I was chased off-planet by my uncle's metal-headed counterpart and his goons, but semantics," Kaminari muttered.
"Well, where are you at now, boy?" Yondu questioned him.
"I feel really bad about this, but I'm not gonna tell you that," Quill replied.
"Is he double-crossing Endeavor's counterpart?" Sen exclaimed in surprise.
Todoroki suddenly felt a kinship grow between him and Kaminari.
"I slaved putting this deal together," Yondu angrily replied.
"Slaved?" Quill quirked a judging eyebrow at Yondu as he began to rant. "Making a few calls is 'slaved'? I mean, really?"
"And now, you're gonna rip me off!" Yondu ranted. "We do not do that to each other. We're Ravagers. We got a code."
"Yeah, and that code is 'steal from everybody'," Peter replied pointedly.
"So, I guess Ravagers are basically mercenaries and space pirates?" Pixie Bob guessed.
"Huh, if that's the case, then our esteemed new Number 1 is the counterpart to a space pirate. Heh, imagine that" Miruko snickered.
Endeavor glared at Miruko and Hawks once he heard his snickering, but they did bring up a good question. 'How is this man my counterpart?' Endeavor questioned. 'He's practically a thief, a pirate, a mercenary, and I'm a-' The memories of his actions against his family played in rapid fire in his mind, including Nezu's words about him. Whatever justifications about not being in any way close to that kind of man were immediately shot down.
"When I picked you up on Terra..." "Picked me up," Yondu began while Peter muttered quietly with sarcastic and bitter ticks on his face. "...These boys of mine wanted to eat you."
"Yeah?" Peter glared back at Yondu.
"Wait, they were the ones that abducted him from Earth?!" Hagakure exclaimed.
"Peter's ship does bear a striking resemblance to the same one that abducted him," Momo realized. "He must have gotten the ship from Yondu and these Ravagers who must have many more just like it."
"And they wanted to eat him?!" Eri exclaimed in fear.
"Well, I would hardly presume that the appetites of another alien species, even ones similar looking to humans, would be the same as ours so-" Iida stopped himself as he noticed Izuku's hard gaze. "No, no, I'm sure he just wants to scare Quill."
"Also, they call Earth Terra?" Bondo asked.
"I guess so," Honenuki shrugged. "Earth is just a synonym for the ground and it likely would sound confusing for these aliens to call another planet by that name so calling it Terra would make sense."
"They ain't never tasted any Terran before," Yondu continued. "I stopped them. You're alive because of me!" Peter's brows furrowed and his mouth became a larger frown.
"Oooh, yeah that definitely struck a nerve there," Sero hissed.
"I mean if he threatened that to me multiple times when I was with them, I would definitely get salty at hearing that too," Kaminari muttered.
In truth, Kaminari was a bit pissed as finally meeting the man that kidnapped other him. His other younger self had just lost his mother right after he wussed out on holding her goddamn hand and then he got abducted by aliens while his grandpa and grandma were likely wondering where he was, all while his mother promised that he would see his father. And from the clues he gathered, he was raised by these Ravagers guys, possibly under threat of being eaten, for nearly 26 years!
'Yeah, definitely pissed off,' Kaminari thought, glaring and frowning at Yondu just as much, if not more, than Peter Quill.
"I will find you! I will-" Before he could continue, Peter cut the call.
On Morag, Yondu grunted as he swiped the hologram away, turning to the rest of his Ravagers. "Put a bounty on him!" Yondu ordered, walking past some of his men to one human male with a short black mohawk. "Forty K. But I want him back alive."
"Yeah, Cap," The man nodded.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPAR DETECTED! KRAGLIN OBFONTERI! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: KIDO!"
"Hey, it's one of Endeavor's sidekicks!" Izuku pointed out. "I guess that would make sense given who Yondu is."
"So, are we to expect all of your agency as counterparts to these Ravagers?" Hawks asked Endeavor.
"Probability-wise, no," Endeavor answered, wondering out of all his sidekicks, why Kido and this Kraglin deserved special mention by comparison. Admittedly, Burning was his most recognized Number 2 within his agency, while Kido and Onima weren't far behind. This Kraglin could perhaps be his counterpart's number 2, but then he wondered why Kido was chosen over Onima and Burnin. 'Perhaps something to do with his Quirk or personality?'
"Alive?!" Another Ravager, an older bearded man with shaggy hair yelled, outraged.
"That's what I said," Yondu grunted in reply as they walked.
"I told you when you picked that kid up, you should have delivered him like we was hired to do!" The man yelled, angry and annoyed. "He was cargo!"
"Delivered him? Hired?" Izuku repeated those words, eyes dancing around aimlessly.
"Picked something up in the brilliant brain of yours, Greenie?" Setsuna asked.
"O-Oh, uh, no, nothing. Not yet," Izuku answered, still pondering his thoughts. 'I mean it could be nothing. They could have picked Peter for some kind of space trafficking ring but could have chosen any kid from Earth, not specifically Peter. But then...if I'm right about what the guy meant...it would line up with what happened that night...'
"You have always been soft on him," The enraged Ravager accused.
"You're the only one I'm being soft on!" Yondu yelled, stopping in front of the man and jamming his hand onto the man's chest. The man looked down warily at Yondu's belt, looking at the advanced-looking arrowhead that glowed and hummed with an angry red glow.
"Is that arrowhead glowing?" Reiko pointed out.
"Must be some kind of weapon unique to Yondu that is so deadly it's able to keep his men in line," Jurota analyzed.
"Now, don't you worry about Mr. Quill," Yondu reassured his man. "As soon as we get him back here, I'm gonna kill him myself."
"Ah, the old 'bring him in alive so I can kill him myself' tactic that never works out," Mineta called out.
"And because it never works out, the Heroes win. End of story," Bakugou snarked back.
"What we do need to worry about is who else out there wants that Orb!" Yondu pointed out.
The two Necrocraft from Morag flew through space till they reached their destination: a massively wide ship, stretching from the solid large brick of the hull to its long sides that seemed to shift and spiral. The ship was as black as coal, nearly blending with the dark vastness of space. Lettering on the corner of the screen labeled the ship as The Dark Aster, a Kree Warship.
"Woah, what a ship," Power Loader whistled in admiration.
"A warship. Kree? As in the same Kree Empire that is facing those riots, currently?" David Shield asked.
"Good call, Dave," All Might nodded. "And those ships are the same ones that Kothar and his men were on. Maybe this Kree Empire wants whatever this Orb is?"
Inside the ship, a section of the circular floor began to open up, peeling away its segments and revealing a pool of dark water that looked black in the dark, gloomy atmosphere of the ship. The water began to drain away, revealing a blue, naked, and built individual.
"Is that another of the same species as Yondu?" Rin questioned. "They both have blue skin."
"No. Yondu's species are Centaurians, a blue-skinned people known for their spacefaring ways and red eyes with superior vision from most species," F.R.I.D.A.Y. answered. "This is a Kree, a species of similar blue-skinned but lacking the red eyes of the Centaurians and more militaristic in their way of life."
"I'm more surprised that we are discussing the semantics of different colored aliens instead of how that guy was just sleeping submerged in a pool of water," Kosei pointed out.
"They call me 'terrorist', 'radical', 'zealot', because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not," The blue man walked his exposed body toward four-robed individuals. The four poured water from their bowls onto his still frame. "Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father." The robed people brushed and dried his body. "And his father, and his father before him." The robed ones then circled him, tossing sand on his chest and arms, his legs now covered in black pants.
"Wait, so they cleaned him up only to toss dirt on him?" Kaminari questioned.
"Must be some kind of ritualistic or cultural significance," Shoji shrugged.
"More importantly, this must be who Kothar was working for," Ibara mentioned. "Someone who is part of this Kree Empire but labeled as a terrorist and zealot. Perhaps he is still fighting against the people that the Kree Empire made a peace treaty with?"
"Maybe," Bakugou nodded, commending Ibara picking up such clues. "I think that guy with the metal around his head said he worked for a guy called Ronan. This must be him then."
One of the robed individuals had her face, showing distinct markings on her nose that reached up to her forehead and spread out diagonally and upwards. The woman dipped her hand into a bowl of black paint-like liquid, reaching out to paint around the blue man's eyes. "A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!" The man declared as the robed women lifted and lowered the man's infamous headdress on him. A shot of the woman managing the last of his armor showed the man's full visage including his black armor with red painted and faded markings on the torso and his black war paint trailing like tears down his cheeks and painted his lips and chin completely.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! RONAN THE ACCUSER! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: FLECT TURN!" FRIDAY revealed, showing an image of the blue-skinned man in red robes and a long white cloak.
"Humarise's leader," Endeavor narrowed his eyes.
"You mean that nutjob that tried to use those Trigger Bombs to make people lose control of their Quirks until they died?" Mount Lady scoffed, disgusted.
Izuku's glare became almost venomous at seeing the face of the genocidal lunatic he fought in Otheon. Flect Turn was perhaps the hardest foe that Izuku had faced physically, with perhaps Overhaul and Nine being the closest in comparison. His Reflect Quirk made it so that every hit that Izuku delivered would be blasted right back at him, and it took going full 100% Full Cowling, breaking his limbs over and over, to break through the man's Quirk and defeat him, and even then, he would have failed to stop his plans if it weren't for Rody and Pino.
The man was a genocidal maniac if Izuku ever saw one, whose grand master plan was to detonate bombs full of a mutated, gaseous form Trigger, a Quirk-enhancing drug, on several major cities worldwide to cause people's Quirks to go out of control till it eventually killed them, allowing for 'pure, clean' Quirkless people to remain. The man was no better than Overhaul, both seeing Quirks as a disease or curse that needed to be wiped clean from the world and were willing to hurt, threaten, and murder anyone to get their way, from Rody's father to Eri. His methods were what killed whatever sort of sympathy Izuku could ever have for him because of his backstory and the green-haired teen wouldn't deny that he was likewise bitter over his involvement in framing Izuku for mass murder.
Seeing him again in the form of this Ronan the Accuser, after just seeing a movie of a terrorist cell infiltrating a government body, hunting his counterpart, and attempting to murder millions of innocent people, was not exactly pleasant for Izuku.
"You can't do this!" The voice of a man yelled. "Our government signed a peace treaty." A wider shot shows Ronan standing before a man with blue and black armor and clothes, with the glowing yellow symbol of three circles connected in a V-shape. The man was in an elaborate restraining device, looking bruised and bloodied.
"My government knows no shame," Ronan admitted with disgust, walking toward one robed acolyte, taking from them his infamous long war hammer. "You Xandarians and your culture are a disease."
"He must be referring to what you caught, Dave," All Might frowned. "He must be part of this Kree Empire and was likewise furious about this peace treaty."
"Yeah," David likewise frowned. "But instead of rioting, he must still be actively fighting against these Xandarians, even kidnapping and torturing them."
Ronan walked around the tortured, captured Xandarian. "You...will Never rule Xandar," The Xandarian spat hatefully past his terrified face.
"No. I Will Cure It!" Ronan growled with untamed vitriol and conviction. With a grunt, Ronan raised his war hammer and smashed it down on the Xandarian's head. Blood ran along the pathway of the restraining device and the ones on the floor, pooling in the center of the room with a unique symbol over a triangle.
"Despicable," Momo spat out, disgusted.
It was easy for Izuku to see why Flect Turn and Ronan were counterparts, and it wasn't because both were blue. Radicals, zealots, terrorists, and where Ronan believes that this planet and its people should be wiped out and 'cleansed', Flect Turn believed the same with Quirks and anyone who had them, which would be most of the Earth's population.
'Like two peas in a genocidal pot,' Izuku thought angrily.
As Ronan knelt and watched the pooling blood, a woman walked into the frame behind him wearing tight, blue leather clothing. The woman had blue skin like Ronan except for a purple stripe running down the center of her face and her neck, the patches of her exposed arm that appeared metallic, and the metal framing the top of her bald head and especially notable around her left eye and side of her head and face.
"Ronan," The woman addressed the radical Kree, her voice echoing robotically. "Korath has returned."
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! NEBULA! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: KAINA TSUTSUMI AKA LADY NAGANT!" As F.R.I.D.A.Y. revealed the counterpart, she showed an image of a curvy, beautiful woman with shoulder-length indigo hair mixed with scattered pink streaks and a cold look on her otherwise pretty face and purple eyes.
A cold chill ran through the Heroes and students who recognized the woman on screen.
"Wait, she looks familiar," Sato blinked, scratching his chin. "Where have I seen her face before?"
"You kidding, kid? That's Lady Nagant!" Snipe gestured to the screen with both hands. "One of the best sharpshooters in the world; shit, she was a better shot than me. One fine helluva Pro Hero, she was...or at least, until, um..."
Snipe cut himself off, but he didn't need to say anything else before everyone got the picture. The tragedy that was Lady Nagant was still a big deal even years after it occurred. An up-and-coming Pro Heroine, trained by the Heroic Public Safety Commission themselves, made the rounds throughout the Pro Hero circuit. Her Quirk, Rifle, was a simple one, yet it was Nagant's skill and expertise that made her a powerhouse. As Snipe attested, she was lauded as the best sharpshooter in the world. She was a hit with kids and adults alike, there were even whispers that she would have gone all the way to the Top 10.
And then this proud Pro fell from grace, but rather than falling out of relevancy or a small controversy, her fall came from the worst sins of all: murder and betrayal. Lady Nagant was caught responsible for the death of one of her fellow Pros over an argument of some kind. Whatever the argument may have been, it grew heated enough to where the up-and-coming Heroine murdered the Hero in cold blood. To this day, she is still in Tartaros Prison for her crime.
'Or at least, that's the story the Commission shoved down the people's throats' Hawks bitterly thought. In truth, Nagant was more than a Pro, she was the HPSC's assassin, their little mercenary to do the dirty work their squeaky-clean Pro Heroes couldn't afford to do and ruin their image. Until their little assassin stood up against them and killed the Commission's President at the time, and tossed her aside, throwing her in prison for another crime she didn't commit and the new president, the current one, using her as a scapegoat so that other pros would 'get with the program'.
Now, Hawks is right where his predecessor was, doing the Commission's dirty work as both their Commission-trained prodigy in public and their executioner and spy behind closed doors. The only difference between him and Nagant is that he hasn't broken and fought back against his 'superiors'.
'At least, not yet,' Hawks thought, sneaking a glance toward Principal Nezu and remembering all they discussed the Commission's dirty laundry, at the stuff he is privy to, and their dissatisfaction with how these corrupt, greedy execs are handling their society, including their thoughts on how to take them down.
Izuku frowned, looking down sadly at the memories he had about the Pro Heroine known as the Lovely Lady Nagant. When it came to his favorites among Heroes, there was no question that All Might reigned supreme as Number 1 in his heart, and even with everything that he now knew about the man, from the mistakes, the man's regrets, and even the times they didn't see eye to eye, All Might was still his favorite, and always would be.
However, if there was ever to be a Hero that would rank as a close second, it had to be Lady Nagant. Some thought she was cool by how quick, ruthless, and badass she was, others fawned over her beauty -and Izuku would not kid himself when he remembered that she was one of his top Hero crushes, alongside Midnight and later Miruko- but what drew Lady Nagant to him was the simplicity of her Quirk.
Her Rifle Quirk allowed her to turn her arms into snipe-like rifles and turn her hair into hardened bullets to which to fire from that rifle. It was simple, that was all there was to it, but the reason she was such a strong Hero wasn't the Quirk, it was the woman herself. Her aim, and how fast and accurately she could take down a Villain, all came from her years of training, expertise, and talent. She was the strength behind the Hero, not the Quirk, and Izuku admired that. Lady Nagant was one of his favorites because she proved how it wasn't the Quirk that made the Hero, and to a boy without one, that meant volumes to him. In those rare times when the grandeur and strength of All Might seemed too unreasonable to match, Lady Nagant was a realistic light to the kind of Hero he wanted to be: strong, cool, and brave.
Then when she was arrested and revealed to be a cold-blooded killer, it was like a bucket of cold water was splashed onto him -not unlike the actual buckets of cold water Kacchan and his lackeys had dumped on him not long after. Izuku, at first, didn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it, and why would he? The one Hero that connected to him to such a degree close to All Might, the one that encouraged him to be a Hero even without a Quirk, and it turned out that she was an evil Villain that was better left forgotten? Izuku couldn't accept that for a time and got his fair share of bullied sessions before he learned to shut his mouth on the subject. Still to this day, Lady Nagant remained a sore subject for Izuku to think upon, one he often tried to push to the back of his mind, yet her example of skill over natural power was still a source of strength that pushed him on in the background, even from his time training at Dagobah Beach.
Now, seeing her again, even if from an image and her counterpart, still twisted something in Izuku's chest, between the side that accepted that she was a cold-blooded murderer, and the side that still spoke up for her, that believed that there was something more to the story, that wanted to believe that she was still a Hero. And seeing her counterpart working alongside Flect Turn's counterpart wasn't helping things for that last side.
"Okay, I'm guessing that she isn't either a Kree or whatever that Yondu guy was, right?" Kamakiri guessed, pointing out the purple stripe and metallic features.
"Centaurian," F.R.I.D.A.Y. reminded him of the name of Yondu's race. "And you would be correct. Nebula is a Luphomoid and the main distinction between the two prior species and them is the purple addition to their skin. The metallic elements are more unique to her cyborg physiology."
"Man, I'm gonna need a Midoriya-written notebook to keep up with all these alien species," Mirio rubbed the back of his head. "How about it, Izuku? Izuku?" Mirio turned to the green-haired teen still lost in thought. "Yo? Bro?"
"Huh? W-What?" Izuku blinked at Mirio's tapping on his shoulder.
"I said we're probably going to need a notebook of yours to keep track of all these alien species and their differences," Mirio repeated. "You good with that, bro? Without them, I would be drawing a Blank."
"Boo!" Eri and Nejire booed, the latter preparing her knockout pan.
"S-Sure," Izuku sweatdropped, both at the pun and the periwinkle girl preparing to knock out his friend/brother.
Just as Izuku got out a new notebook to write down a list of the different alien species, their unique traits, planets, and technology, Mina appeared by his. "Midori! Can I please be in charge of this?! Please! Please! Please!" Mina begged excitedly and desperately. "I'll let you draw their models! Please!"
After easing himself from his momentary surprise, Izuku smiled at the level of excitement that Mina showed, something she only displayed as much for things like dancing, gossiping about love and relationships with Toru, and making her friends and others laugh and have fun. It was perhaps one of the best things Izuku loved about Mina Ashido, yet he only now realized just how deep that love for her really was.
"Sure thing, Mina," Izuku handed the pink girl the notebook with a blinding smile. "Go nuts."
Mina squealed and crushed Izuku into a bone-breaking hug, his years of listening to himself muttering being what helped Izuku understand the rapid-fire 'Thank you's', 'You're the best's', and what Izuku thought were unintended and slipped-out love confessions. What ultimately made Izuku a blushing mess more than the girl's assets pressed against his chest was the big smooch she gave to his cheek before running back to her seat. If the dizzy-eyed, red-faced boy were any more conscious, he would have realized the shit-eating grin on Setsuna's and Eri's faces.
"Master, he is a thief," Korath stood before Ronan sitting upon his throne at the helm of the ship while pilots maintained the ship far to the side. "An outlaw who calls himself Star-Lord."
"Aha! He said my name!" Kaminari pointed it out with a wide grin on his face.
"Really? The guy has told his terrorist of a boss about what you took from them and who you are, and all you care about is that he remembered your name?" Shinsou asked, incredulously.
Kaminari froze for a split second. "W-Well, you know, small victories," Kaminari argued weakly.
"Urgh, I see more and more why he and that Star-Dunce are counterparts," Monoma pinched the bridge of his nose.
"But we have discovered he has an agreement to retrieve the orb for an intermediary known as The Broker," Korath reported while to the side a green-skinned woman in black armor stood off to the side of the Kree soldier. The green woman's dark hair turned indigo on its ends which reached the middle of the woman's back and held an asymmetrical fringe on the front. That coupled with the black markings running from the bottom of her eyes down the cheeks of her familiar face made her counterpart easy for the group to realize.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! GAMORA! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: KYOKA JIRO!"
"YAY! JIRO! We Found Your Counterpart, Too!" Hagakure cheered and clapped.
"Uuuhhh, Hagakure, sweetie, not to curb your enthusiasm, but you do realize where said counterpart is and who she is standing beside, right?" Momo warily asked.
"Oh. Ooohhh..." Cold realization dropped onto Hagakure's invisible head. "S-Sorry."
"Y-Yeah, no sweat," Jiro muttered as she stared at her alien counterpart. It was already a shock to find herself as an alien woman, but to find her counterpart in the same room as these people with villainous counterparts, most definitely in league with them, had the purple-haired girl's stomach twist and drop with dread.
"I promised Thanos I would retrieve the Orb for him," Ronan exposited. "Only then will he destroy Xandar for me."
"Thanos," Nezu repeated the name with a grim tone. "The very same being who orchestrated the Battle of New York."
The memory of the alien invasion, the purple man's villainous smile, and the smile of his equally villainous counterpart sent a cold chill up the group's spines, especially the counterpart of the Avengers and Loki.
Jurota and Shinsou remembered with bitter anger at the manipulations of Loki and the dark master that he served, all the people their counterparts hurt, even if unwillingly. They recalled how the God of Mischief received both his infamous scepter, the one that brainwashed the latter of the two, and his Chitauri army from his alien benefactor, an army that they barely won against. Ochaco likewise grimaced at the destruction and chaos that ensued from the trickster god on the orders and assistance of the purple alien, whose counterpart earned a new level of fear and dread from what she only just learned about from her new boyfriend, that this very man was not only 200 years old, the progenitor of his Quirk, and that this evil madman's goal was to find and take Izuku's Quirk, by any means necessary.
Bakugou's and Shiozaki's hands tightened around each other's hands as they remembered the end of the Battle of New York. It was through dumb luck that Stark's body had just managed to pass through the portal back to New York before it closed, and it nearly cost Katsuki's counterpart his life to safely redirect that nuke through the portal and toward Thanos's ship and army. And yet despite his counterpart's actions, Thanos was shown to have survived and safely tanked an entire nuclear blast and showed that his ambitions for Earth and universal conquest, if those were his goals, were not over yet and that he was still operating even now. That alien's cold smile also joined with the smile of his counterpart in his mind, the very one that plagued him in his nightmares, like how his counterpart was plagued by the very events this Thanos orchestrated.
All Might growled at the mention of Thanos's name and all that it entailed. The mastermind who supposedly tortured and brainwashed Loki into launching an invasion of Earth, who launched an alien invasion on the planet his counterpart called home for the Tesseract, and the man's counterpart, his most hated nemesis who had been the root cause for every horrible thing in his life. And now, just as he predicted, Thanos was back in play.
"He and Ronan are working together," All Might growled out. "And he is willing to destroy another planet and its people for an object of power, again."
Izuku shivered, feeling cold deep inside him at the memory of Thanos and All For One. He could feel Ochaco's and Melissa's hands tightening on him, and he could understand why. Both of them now knew the truth about All For One and hearing his counterpart's name wouldn't be hard for them to turn their thoughts to the former and his goal of going after Izuku for his Quirk, One For All. Yet Izuku also knew that Thanos was someone to fear just as much, if not for than the King of the Villain Underworld. He gave a world-conquering army to Loki, and potentially a similar artifact to the Tesseract and the Aether as well to get his hands on the Tesseract, the alien survived a nuke redirected by Kacchan's counterpart without so much as a scratch on him, and if Ronan is to be believed, is willing and able to destroy another planet and all its people, a planet that would surely be greater defended or at least harder to conquer if they are just as technological advanced as the Kree Empire that Ronan is from.
Then All Might spoke, and his last words lit a light inside Izuku's head. 'Again,' Izuku thought about Thanos willing to destroy the Earth for the Tesseract and now offering the destruction of another, stronger planet for whatever the Orb is. 'Almost like The Orb is just as valuable as the Tesseract. What Volstagg called an Infinity Stone.'
Meanwhile, Monoma shivered like a dog in the cold rain at the mention of Thanos's name, remembering what his counterpart's benefactor had done for him. Secured him an army for conquest, gave him the Scepter, and potentially even tortured him, or did something that made Loki absolutely frightened by the man.
"There will be no realm, no barren moon, no Crevice where he cannot find you," Monoma recalled the Other, that alien who served Thanos, and the alien's words to his counterpart, his warning if he failed. "You think you know pain? He will make you Long for something as Sweet as Pain!"
Monoma shivered harshly again, almost recoiling as if he felt the Other's hand on his face like he did Loki. 'It's alright. He isn't here. He's not here. You're-' Monoma's reassurances were cut off as he remembered the sinister smile of both Thanos and All For One, the latter the alien's counterpart, a counterpart that resided in his world, in Tartaros, but still alive and waiting. Monoma shivered again, pointedly ignoring the stares of concern from Itsuka and Shinsou.
"Nebula," Ronan rose from his throne and addressed the Luphomoid to his left. "Go to Xandar and get me the Orb."
"It will be my honor," Nebula strode up confidently, almost arrogantly.
"It will be your doom," Gamora, who was on Ronan's right, said, walking toward the cyborg. Nebula stared down the green-skinned woman. "If this happens again, you'll be facing our father without his prize." Ronan watched the two banter, silently.
"I'm a daughter of Thanos," Nebula reminded Gamora. "Just like you."
"Daughter?!" Cried out multiple people from the group.
"You mean she is...and she too...from him?" Nejire stuttered and fumbled through her words as her scatterbrain fired on all cylinders and attempted to let them out coherently. "But they all don't even look alike. One is purple, and they are blue and green."
"They might be adopted by Thanos rather than his biological children," Ryukyu answered her protege. "That or biology and genetics are different between alien species."
All Might recoiled at the very thought of All For One ever baring a child, the very notion as horrifying as it was disturbing to imagine his greatest nemesis ever capable of loving another enough to make such a feat possible. While Thanos may be different from All For One in some ways, All Might liked to believe that children, even if adopted, were one of those differences.
Jiro did not have the same assertions as Toshinori. The earphone-jacked girl froze at the very thought of being related or under the parentage of that menacing alien responsible for New York, imagining his sinister smile and looming figure over her. 'Worse. Other me is more than just that madman's daughter, she works for him, working with all of them,' Jiro almost heaved imagining what terrible things her counterpart must have done for Thanos. And that was before getting into the idea that she was somehow related to that psycho who fought All Might, and so she didn't.
"Hey, hey, she isn't you," Jiro snapped free of her thoughts at the hand on her knee. She looked up to find Izuku had risen from his seat on the couch below to kneel before her and place a hand on her knee in comfort. "Whoever she may be or what an A.I. says, whatever your counterpart did is on her, but none of it is on you. Any of it. You are your own person, and that person could never work for a monster like him. I know it. We can only be who we wish ourselves to be, and you can be better than her. Though if she works for a madman like Thanos, then I know you're a thousand times the better woman than she could hope to be."
Jiro was at a loss for words, stunned by the bold and powerful words of this boy, her classmates, friend, and crush, all in one, staring at her like she was the most amazing person on the planet rather than the insecure wreck she was inside or the accomplice of a madman that her counterpart was. And she could find no lie or deception born out of pity or sympathy in those words, they were honest, true, and dare she hoped, loving. And that was frankly the best thing that Jiro could have ever asked for.
The purple-haired girl wrapped herself around Izuku, burying her face in his neck, planting all of herself onto Izuku's form. "Thank you," Jiro whispered, her voice shaky and vulnerable as she pressed her beating heart to his.
Izuku got over his burning blush to wrap his arms around her petite figure gently. "Anytime, Ji-Kyoka," Izuku corrected himself.
Jiro nearly shivered at hearing her name whispered out like that from Izuku's mouth, her jacks itching to wrap themselves around her crush, but the girl had enough sense to force that feeling down, not ready for that level of intimacy, she believed.
As they separated, Jiro smiled up at him, wiping a tear from her eye. "You know, I've never said this before, but you sure got a way with words, dude," Jiro admitted. "With your notes and your creativity too, you could be one Hell of a songwriter."
Izuku blushed, embarrassed and touched. "W-Well, I just said what was in my heart and just ran with it, I didn't really do any planning or be as creative as you," Midoriya replied, humbly.
"Green, the best songs have their lyrics come from the heart," Jiro tapped her jack on Izuku's chest. "Where do you think I came up with the lyrics for our song at the Festival?"
"Heh, that was an awesome song," Izuku admitted, smirking. "So, you finally admit that your singing and writing are amazing?"
"Don't push your luck, Green," Jiro narrowed her eyes, blushing, aiming her jacks at Izuk's face. "I can still shock you into next week. Ask Kaminari how it feels."
"It feels bad, dude! It feels bad!" Kaminari called out in agreement.
"N-Noted," Izuku threw his hands up in surrender.
Despite their situation, the two chuckled and giggled at each other, their cheeks still flush and red, a sight that was magical to Eri's eyes as she witnessed it.
'Damn, first Ochaco, then Mina, and now Jiro, too?' Setsuna felt a bead of sweat roll down from her brow at how smooth Greenie actually was with the ladies and didn't even try. 'Oh, I'm so totally losing our bet, and I'm so okay with that.'
"But I know Xandar," Gamora pointed out.
"Ronan has already decreed that I-"
"Do not speak for me," Ronan growled, interrupting and silencing the cyborg woman. Ronan turned to Gamora. "You will not fail." Nebula stared with bitter and jealous resentment.
"Have I ever?" Gamora answered, confidently.
"Great, so Jiro's counterpart is on the hunt for Kaminari's counterpart," Hagakure summarized. "Our we sure it's about the Orb and not if Quill made a horrible joke or something?"
"Oh haha, not every time she shocks me is because of my jokes," Kaminari fake laughed.
"Yep, sometimes it's because he's an idiot or a pervert, sometimes both," Jiro listed.
"Exactly," Kaminari gestured in agreement.
The scene shifted to a moving shot of going past a fiery yellow sun from another similar sun toward a single planet: Xandar, the Capital of the Nova Empire. A shot of the surface from high above showed a lush, technology-rich civilization.
"Amazing," Melissa's eyes widened at such the beautiful sight that was Xandar and its architecture and technology. "It's like I'm seeing Asgard all over again."
"I quite prefer Asgard's blend of medieval structuring blended with advanced technology and mysticism, but this is quite the close second," Momo admitted.
"And that tyrant wants to destroy all of this, all these innocent people, over a grudge," Ochaco fumed quietly.
"War breeds tragedy, tragedy births either a Hero or a monster," Edgeshot sagely said. "It is none but that tyrant's fault for letting himself seethe in the tragedy and his rage rather than rise above it."
Todoroki couldn't help but flinch at the words, knowing that for the longest time, he let the tragedy of his childhood, and his hatred of his father blind his path until recently, or how those words could apply to the Touya of this world and what a monster he became.
"Xandarians," A sarcastic voice rolled the name out. A trailing shot of more of the Nova Empire capital showed hover cars flying across the sky, high buildings and structures, and lush trees, gardens, pools, and rivers intermingled with advanced-looking plazas and streets full of people. "What a bunch of losers. All of them in a big hurry to get from something stupid, to nothing at all." As the voice spoke with his demeaning tone, the screen zeroed in on one particular plaza. "Pathetic."
"Hey, that's mean!" Pony pouted. "What did they do to him?"
"I'm sure his disgruntled attitude is merely born from a painfilled soul," Ibara eased the horse girl's ire.
Pony blinked confused.
"She means he is just angry and bitter about something," Todoroki clarified.
"Oh, okay," Pony nodded. "Still, that doesn't mean you can just be a big meanie about it."
"We all have our ways, Pony," Itsuka said. "I mean, look at Monoma and his constant bragging and competitiveness."
"Yes, like-HEY!" Monoma yelled out to the laughter of the students.
"Look at this guy," The individual's voice said as the screen looked through the perspective of whatever he was looking through. The lenses zeroed in on a human male Xandarian in unique clothing walking by with 'stylish' white hair. "Can you believe they call us criminals when he's assaulting us with that haircut?"
"While the man's hairstyle is not as elegant as he may believe, it is not quite as criminel as this man believes," Aoyama said.
"I don't know, man," Sato shrugged. "He looks like an old, past-his-prime K-pop idol."
"Damn!" Mina and Hagakure exclaimed.
"What is this thing?" The voice looked at a blonde infant waddling by next to his parent who took their hand. "Look how it thinks it's so cool. It's not cool to get help! Walk by yourself, you little gargoyle."
"AHAHAHA! This guy's hilarious!" Kouta laughed.
"He's seriously making fun of a baby?" Miruko snorted.
"He's mean, Papa," Eri pouted. "Why is he so mean?"
"Well, like Shiozaki and Todoroki said, sometimes people who are mad and angry at life tend to take it out on others," Izuku answered. "Those people are called bullies."
"I don't like bullies," Eri pouted still, finding people like Chisaki and other Villains to be the biggest of bullies.
"Neither do I, but I feel more pity for them than anger," Izuku continued to teach his daughter. "If you let bullies tell you how to feel or listen to them, then you're only letting them win. Sometimes the best way to deal with a bully is to walk away and not give them any more of your time. They'll either get bored and move on or they'll continue to wallow in their pain at their own faults and insecurities."
"And if they can change?" Eri asked, curious.
Izuku paused and considered what to say. "Sometimes that's the hardest thing we can do, to give our bullies a second chance and let them grow beyond what they once were," Izuku answered. But it's up to them to make that first step. All we can do is hold a hand up for them to take and hope for the best."
Eri nodded and smiled at her Papa's wise words, gazing at him with awe and love.
"And this had been Good Parenting with Papa Midoriya and Eri, the Princess Unicorn!" Kaminari jumped in, sounding like a news anchorman. "We'll be back with more at 11!"
While Eri and Izuku laughed at the blonde's tomfoolery, Bakugou overhead the impromptu lesson between father and daughter and stilled. Deku's words did not fall on deaf ears and Bakugou did his best not let his face flinch at the irony of them.
"Look at Mr. Smiles over here," The individual now turned his gaze toward ole Stan flirting with a brown, curly-haired young lady with his hand around her waist. "Where's your wide, old man? What a class-A prevert."
"Okay, what the hell?!" Kamakiri yelled. "Seriously?! It was one thing seeing him all around the place, even in the 1940s, but how is that guy here on another planet?!"
"At this point, just roll with it, man," Shoda threw his hands up in defeat. "I've long stopped making sense of things when it comes to that guy."
"Heh, I'm starting to like this guy," Mineta grinned and gave a thumbs up.
"Of course, you would," Momo shook her head, rolling her eyes.
"Is that how you say it? Prevert?" Pony questioned, tilting her head with big wide eyes.
'Cute,' Todoroki thought, a light blush on his cheeks.
The voice laughed as the screen shifted to seeing the individual himself lower his tablet to reveal himself to be...a raccoon?
"Hold the what the huh?!" Mina blinked her raccoon-like eyes at what she was seeing, her reactions indicative of the rest of the group's surprised and dumbfounded faces.
The voice's owner was indeed a raccoon, a talking raccoon standing bipedal and wearing an orange and grey jumpsuit, a weapon strapped behind his back. The raccoon had brown fur with white hairs for whiskers, on his maw, and littering around the hairs on the sides of his triangular-shaped face and on his brows. His fluffy tail was striped with brown and white hairs.
"I-Is that a talking raccoon?" Pixie Bob deadpanned stared and pointed. "In space?"
"Huh, you know, somehow I find myself more surprised that a raccoon is in space rather than it can talk," Present Mic admitted.
"Hmm, I wonder why that is," Midnight made a faux thinking gesture.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! SUBJECT 89P13 AKA ROCKET RACCOON! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: NEZU!"
"And that's why," Aizawa muttered.
"MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Nezu let out a maniacal laughter while he was drinking his tea, undoubtedly spilling some on himself without care. "Oh, glorious! This is quite a fitting turn of events, is it, not?"
"And that raccoon's foul behavior also makes more sense," Recovery Girl muttered. "It's like if you had no filter on what to say."
"Ohohoho, Chiyo, I am both charmed and offended," Nezu chuckled lightly.
"So, I have been meaning to ask, just what is he actually?" Mount Lady whispered. "A mouse? Bear? Cat? Or like a chimera of all sorts of things?"
"If it's the last one, I wouldn't surprise me if he actually has some raccoon in him," Death Arm admitted.
"What I am is for me to know and for you to speculate on it," The two blanched as they turned their heads slowly to the U.A. Principal that overheard them, staring at them with beady black eyes and a smile that somehow seemed terrifying. "Though I would rather you speculate on your own time and privacy rather than interrupt our viewing time anymore, are we clear?"
"YES, SIR!" Mount Lady and Death Arms exclaimed, so terrified they even stood up and saluted like soldiers.
The U.A. teachers sweatdropped at the sight yet could not blame the two pros for their reactions, each one of them had to learn the hard way not to mess with the U.A. principal, especially when it came to his past before U.A. and to discuss and bet on what kind of chimera the principal is when said chimera was not within ear shot, and given those ears, that was a long ear shot.
'And now there's two of them,' Was the single collating thought all the teachers had when looking between Rocket Raccoon and Nezu. If that wasn't a sign of the end of times, none of them knew what is.
"Right, Groot?" Rocket laughed and looked to his companion. "Groot?"
Said companion, who was drinking from the sprinkling water of a fountain, was a tall tree in the body and shape of a humanoid man. His body was relatively bare and consisted of trunks and thick roots that were shaped into his large and long legs, his thin arms, his thick and wide chest, and his head that ended atop with chipped bark that held green moss atop. His bark-covered face had a mouth and two small black eyes.
"Okay, that is a little more surprising," Present Mic admitted, eyes blinking rapidly in surprise.
"Eh, not when you're partners with this guy," Mount Lady gestured to Kamui Woods. "Even has the grace and tactfulness of a tree."
Kamui Woods's response was simply an annoyed glare.
"Don't drink fountain water, you idiot!" Rocket chastised the walking tree man. "That's disgusting!"
"Mmm," Groot shook his head, murmuring with wide and innocent eyes.
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART DETECTED! GROOT! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: SHINJI NISHIYA AKA KAMUI WOODS!"
"Well, I suppose we should have seen this coming," Edgeshot sweatdropped while Mount Lady erupted into laughter.
"Aww, I think he's cute," Kinoko stared with dazzling, cute eyes, something that made Kuroiro mutter in jealousy.
"Ohoho! This is too much!" Mount Lady kept laughing while the man himself was comically steaming from his burning red face underneath his helmet.
"While I wouldn't go so far so say that, I do find myself quite pleased that there is an actual Ent in this universe," Ibara smiled, reassuringly patting Bakugou's hand before he started grumbling jealous, too.
"Wait, you know about Ents, Shiozaki?" Izuku blinked, surprised.
"Oh course, she would," Setsuna rolled her eyes, smiling amusedly. "She can't shut up about how Lord of the Rings is her favorite fantasy series and all its religious references."
"I don't see why it is something to make fun of any more than your passion for those Jurassic Park movies?" Ibara raised a sassy eyebrow at the fellow greenette. "Or should I bring up your childish love of the Land Before Time-"
"Okay, touché, I admit it! Moving on!" Setsuna exclaimed quickly, turning her blushing face away from everyone's smiles, including Izuku's.
"Yes, you did. I just saw you doing it," Rocket replied and pointed accusingly at Groot. "Why are you lying?"
Rocket's tablet suddenly began beeping and flashing red. "Whoop," Rocket voiced as he lifted the tablet and aimed it. "Looks like we got one." Rocket aimed the tablet, zooming it out to find that his target was Quill saying goodbye to Bereet.
"Oh, come on!" Kaminari threw his hands up in the air. "I already have that fanatic and Jiro hunting after other me, now I got a Pro and the Principal, too?!"
"You better hope he's not as cunning as the principal, dude," Sero snickered. "Remember how your Final Exams ended?"
Kaminari and Mina both shivered as they remembered how poorly their Final Exam battle against Principal Nezu went, and the rest of the students and teachers were no better when they remembered the sadistic pleasure the principal seemed to have during the Exam...or how sadistic sounding Nezu's chuckles were right now as he too reminisced.
"Okay, humie, how bad does someone wanna find you?" Rocket muttered to himself, the tablet showing Peter's wanted poster, showing his name, wanted alive, the guarantor being Yondu, and the size of the bounty. "40,000 units? Groot, we're gonna be rich!"
Hearing gurgling sounds, Rocket turned to see that his partner was once again drinking the fountain water. Rocket sighed, tiredly, shaking his head.
"I'm getting buddy-cop-movie-vibes from them," Hagakure quietly squealed. "A Raccoon and his Tree."
Mina snickered. "Yes! Although, I guess here it's more likely buddy mercenaries, but it still works," Mina replied.
"I'd imagine that these units are a more universal form of currency that spans throughout multiple planets?" Momo questioned.
"If so, then what would the conversion rate be between Earth currencies to units?" Iida too pondered. "Would they be easier compared to US dollars or Japanese Yen?"
"Well, Rocket said that they would be rich from 40,000 units so it seems more likely comparable to US dollars rather than yen," Izuku jumped in. "Although, that's assuming if they would even accept or convert currency from Earth to be anywhere comparable to-"
"Oh my god, you're boring us to death, you Nerds!" Bakugou barked. "No one gives a shit about conversion rates! Just accept Star-Dunce has a big bounty and let's get on with it!"
"Hehe, you know who else has quite a big bounty, if you know what I mean-" That was as far as Mineta got before Bakugou shut him up with an explosion to the back of the head, not that he or anyone believed him.
Peter Quill could be seen walking among the Xandarian citizens, unaware that he was being targeted. Eventually, the Earthborn Terran walked into an advanced-looking small room full of objects and artifacts in glass containers. Peter walked up to the man at the main desk as he was trimming his nails. The man was a reddish-pale alien with wrinkly, old skin, large, elvish ears, amber eyes, quill-like hairs on his thin goatee, unique eyebrows, and three stripes of black, greying hair on his head. He wore a suit and khaki-colored cloak.
"Mr. Quill," The man greeted him familiarly.
"Broker," Peter greeted back, pulling out the highly coveted object everyone wanted. "The Orb." Peter placed it on the glass desk. "As commissioned."
"So, this is who he was getting the Orb for?" Kosei asked.
"Korath said that the Broker was an intermediary," Jurota pointed out. "That means that he is merely holding the Orb for another buyer and paying Quill for his services getting it."
"Where's Yondu?" Broker asked.
"Wanted to be here. Sends his love," Peter half lied. "And told me to tell you, that you got the best eyebrows in the business."
Broker scoffed yet smirked playfully as he looked back down at his current objects.
"They are quite...unique?" Mandalay attempted to say.
"How about nonexistent?" Pixie Bob suggested, snickering.
Be nice, Pixie," Tiger said. "Not all of us can have as good of luck maintaining our eyebrows."
"What is it?" Peter asked curiously.
"It's my policy never to discuss my clients, or their needs," Broker replied.
"Yeah, well, I almost died getting it for you," Peter argued.
"An occupational hazard, I'm sure, in your line of work," Broker argued back.
"Some machine-headed freak, working for a dude named Ronan," Peter pointed out.
Broker whirled his gaze up at Peter with alarm. "Ronan?" Broker repeated the name with fear before walking around his desk. "I'm sorry, Mr. Quill. I truly am." Broker picked the Orb and shoved it onto Quill and began speaking louder and more fearfully. "But I want no part of this transaction if Ronan is involved." Broker began trying to push the Orb and Quill out the store.
"Well, he seems freaked out," Sato blinked. "Is Ronan that scary?"
"We did just see him smash that dude's head in with a hammer," Ojiro pointed out.
"I mean, yeah, but he's just one guy," Sato argued.
"One 'guy' that mans a warship likely full of soldiers and followers and has a partnership with the alien that attacked New York," Aizawa brought up. "Never underestimate your enemies simply because they are alone."
"And if they are alone and can incite that level of fear, then it must be for a reason," Hawks tilted his head in affirmation. "A bad reason, undoubtably."
All Might frowned as he remembered the level of fear and obedience from his enemies and followers alike. The true power of All For One was not even his powerful Quirk, which was a terror in of itself, but how easily he could coerce and manipulate Villains, civilians, and even Heroes, preying on their desperation, shortcomings, and fears, using those weaknesses against them and either turning them to his side, willing or not, or disposing of them, either by one of his minions or, God forbid, himself.
'And he doesn't even have to take care of you to remain untouchable when his very name can make people bow their heads and look away,' All Might thought, recalling how society was before he became the Symbol of Peace, how All For One's name and influence could make people too afraid to act against him, just like the Broker was displaying.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Peter yelled and stopped Broker. "Who's Ronan?"
"A Kree fanatic," Broker fearfully shivered out. "Outraged by the peace treaty, who will not rest until Xandarian culture, My Culture, is wiped from existence!" Broker resumed pushing Peter and the Orb out his shop.
"He fears that if Ronan knows that he held the Orb from him, then he would be personally targeted," Edgeshot muttered.
"Well, too late for that," Miruko scoffed.
"Whoa, whoa! Come on," Peter tried to stop the intermediary from pushing him out yet to no avail.
"He's someone whose bad side I'd rather not be on," Broker continued saying.
"What? What about my bad side?" Peter asked, pissed off. Broker waved his arms frantically in front of him, the doors to his shop opening behind Peter.
"Farewell, Mr. Quill," Broker pushed Peter out the door and waved his arms again, sealing the doors closed.
"Pfft, I love how they can open and close doors like that," Nejire waved her arms like the Broker.
"Must be quite confusing if he starts running and panicking all over the shop," Asui said, pondering what would happen if the Broker ran all over his store like that and if only the doors would open and close or if other devices might activate.
"I'm sure the sensors would be advanced enough to tell the difference or have a limited range to where the hand signals would transmit," Mei answered.
"Hey, we had a deal, bro!" Peter yelled at the Broker through the closed doors.
Peter huffed, angrily, turning to his right as he heard the sounds of chewing. Leaning on the stone walls of the outside of Broker's shop, in less of the black armor she first showed up in, was Gamora herself, staring intently at Quill as she ate her snack.
"Uh, oh, she found him," Kirishima muttered. He then lifted a popcorn bucket to his lip and grabbed a handful without staring away.
Peter blinked and gaped at the beauty in front of him, turning away as he tried to calm himself and not look so flustered.
"What happened?" Jiro's counterpart asked.
"Ah, this guy just backed out of a deal on me," Kaminari's counterpart answered, the Orb in the hand he pointed at the closed doors. "If there's one thing I hate, it's a man without integrity."
"Achoo!" Mina sneezed. "Sorry, I just smelled the biggest cap I've ever seen. Right behind the size of Mineta's 'bounty'."
Mineta took that insult and replied sticking his tongue out at her.
"Peter Quill. People call me Star-Lord," Peter introduced himself, his gaze drifting downward toward Gamora's cleavage from her short, semi-transparent crop top and her slim and muscular abdomen.
The atmosphere around a certain few individuals became rather awkward rather quickly with what they realized was happening. The girls drifted their eyes to Jiro who looked a mix between annoyed at the blatant ogling from Quill and looking nervously toward a certain green-haired teen, worried about how he would feel about this.
Unsurprisingly, Izuku did not take this well. Just like he felt when he thought Masaru Stark was courting Setsuna Carter, an ugly feeling began to boil in Izuku's chest, something that left him irritated. Izuku knew it was jealousy, he'd experienced it plenty of times before, but it was only recently that he started feeling this emotion in terms of girls and romance. As humble and kind as Izuku always attempted to be, even he was no stranger to envy, seeing the kids all around him showing off their Quirks while he had none to speak of. He felt envious of them because they had what he never did, and were treated like normal people for their Quirks while he was outcasted for not having one; he even felt envious of Bakugou and his utter confidence and pride in himself, attributes that Izuku also lacked in comparison.
But this jealousy was different, Izuku could sense. It felt more primal, more irritating, it felt like his deepest insecurities were being poked and prodded, riling him up to act up and divert Quill's gaze from Jiro. But no matter how different the jealousy, it was still something Izuku could expertly shake off, shaming himself for feeling this way.
'She isn't Kyoka. I just did a whole speech saying to Kyoka that she and Gamora were different people and that their actions, feelings, and relationships were their own,' Izuku reminded himself, scolding himself for acting like Gamora, just because she was connected in some way to Jiro, was entitled to him. Just thinking that made Izuku's shame burn hotter, believing it made him no better than his classmates from Aldera, than Bakugou, who believed that they were entitled to a life of greatness for their Quirks and entitled to bully him because he was 'inferior'.
'No, I won't be like them. Like him,' Izuku's grip on his kneecap tightened, doing his best to shake the ill feelings away without directing them at Kaminari or Quill. He was met with mild success thus far.
And all the while, Izuku failed to realize that last bit of his thoughts, or to which version of Bakugou he was referring, if any.
Meanwhile, things weren't looking so good with Kaminari either. Dread and fear were most prominent among what the blonde was feeling. For one, Kaminari wasn't an idiot...well, okay, not too much of an idiot to miss what was plain for nearly everyone to see. Jiro liked Midoriya and Midoriya liked her back; hell Midoriya seemed to have an entire harem waiting in the wings for him to claim, including Tokage, Shield, and Uraraka. And Kaminari saw just how jealous and protective Midoriya can get when anyone gets too grabby or close to the girls he liked, from Masaru Stark and Setsuna Carter to the many times Izuku had to plant Mineta into the ground for either trying to perv on the girls or even a skeevy comment about how hot they were and what he would do to them if he could. Kaminari did not want to be on the receiving end of a jealous Midoriya.
And then there was the fact that well...Kaminari thought about her, how she might react if she saw this, what misunderstanding may spring up and...yeah, Kaminari did not want any of this to send the wrong message and find its way to her ears. He didn't want his relationship, or himself, to be dead in the water because someone spread the wrong gossip and thought that Kaminari was into Jiro.
A subtle ache flared in his chest for a moment before Kaminari squashed it down. 'That was in the past,' Kaminari thought to himself, looking to the screen and hoping whatever happened didn't ruin anything for him, Jiro, or Midoriya.
"You have the bearing of a man of honor," Gamora replied, flirtatiously, leaning on the stone wall with one elbow and bending her body curvaceously while jutting her wide hips.
"Oof, you know, when she speaks and looks like that, Jiro is kinda-" And that was as far before Mineta was once more planted into the ground, though the group couldn't tell what got him first, Jiro's jack or Midoriya's Black Whip.
Both Jiro and Midoriya could not be bothered to notice the actions of the other as they were too busy burning red with embarrassment.
Jiro always felt that, among the girls, she was the least attractive of them. Jiro didn't have Uraraka's curves, Asui's legs, or Nejire's hips. She didn't have Mina's ass you could bounce a quarter off of or Momo's and Hatsume's titanic cleavage, and even Hagakure, from how her school uniform hugged her body, showed she was stacked underneath her invisibility Quirk. Hell, even the newest additions to their group of girls, Melissa and Setsuna, she felt were more attractive than her, Melissa just as stacked as Momo or Nejire, and Setsuna's physique a blend of Mina's figure and her own more muscular build that was still attractive in its own way.
And it wasn't even her figure that she felt she lacked compared to the girls, it was her personality. Uraraka had her girl-next-door charm, Hagakure her bubbliness, Mina and Setsuna were masters of teasing and good-natured fun with the former more gossipy and the latter more chill, Tsuyu's blunt and forward nature held a charm to it that was adorable as it was dependable, Nejire had the perfect blend of attractive air-head and mature deviant, Melissa was sweet, charismatic, and charming, like a girl version of Midoriya, and even Mei has a personality that has a draw to it, even if a crazed, passionate one. And Momo, goddamn, the girl had it all in spades. Sophisticated, yet adorably naive, wise and level-headed, yet giddy and passionate. Jiro had little time to wonder how she fell for her best friend before even Izuku.
And what did Jiro had to offer? Her figure was more petite and slimmer, rather than curvy, bouncy, or even attractively thin, her ass, while perhaps her best feature yet held little shine compared to the others, and the less said about her breasts the better, she felt. Then there was her personality, the one thing that guys say they are attracted to the most beyond a person's body, even if she felt most were full of shit when they said it. But even if they did mean it, what personality did she have to speak of? She was cold, even standoffish, rude enough to just barely miss being called brash, and even pessimistic. Her tomboy persona wasn't something that she felt screamed prime dating material when you could have the loving girl-next-door or the sophisticated, elegant heiress.
'Hell, even my insecurity sounds like a turn-off,' Jiro thought, bitterly and sadly. 'Even if Izuku really likes more than one girl, would I even be among them?' Seeing her counterpart attempting to be sexy or cool felt super embarrassing like she was making a fool of herself. 'As if Midoriya would be into me like that?'
'How shit, why does Jiro look so hot like that?' Was the question that repeated itself in Izuku's mind, his face red from what the Jiro look-alike on screen was acting. It wasn't even the green exotic skin or the longer hair, although Izuku wouldn't say no to the latter, or prefer it to Jiro's short hair. It was mainly how this version of Jiro handled herself.
Contrary to what Jiro felt at present, Izuku definitely saw her as attractive, often way too attractive for someone like him. Her petite figure held a charm that Izuku found cute and pretty, especially when she acted all tough and aloof, and as best as Jiro tried to hide in those baggy jeans, Izuku would not lie and say that he found his eyes lingering on her backside before respectively looking away. Her purple short hair framed her face beautifully and he always found the way the light shined on her like she had sound waves in her hair was cool and unique. Her eyes people said looked cold and they were but when she smiled Jiro looked dazzling to him, almost seductive in how she could teasingly stare at him, something her counterpart was doing right now to great effect.
But all that was superficial in comparison to how Jiro acted and behaved. Izuku always found her tomboyish self to be approachable and easy to hang out and joke with, her cute displays of blushing and nervousness made her positively adorable, and even her threatening to shock them with her jacks was adorable in a tsundere way. Hell, her tsundere-like behavior didn't end there, Izuku found it incredibly cute when she twirled her jacks either by themselves or with her finger like it was a braid of hair.
And her voice, it was pleasing to hear on its own, but when she sang, Izuku could swear he was hearing the call of a goddess and angel for as cliche as it sounded, but cliche meant nothing in the face of cold hard truth. 'It would likely be more cliche to say that she sounds like a heavenly songbird,' Izuku noted, but that was beside the point. Jiro's voice was incredible to hear and the fact that she felt so insecure about her singing talent utterly baffled him. How could this amazing woman find her voice so unappealing? Izuku was glad when the School Festival came around and Jiro grew more confident in the talent she held and felt grateful to have helped bring it about, even if his contributions were small compared to the others.
But what's more, Jiro was relatable. Her passion for both Heroism and singing was inspiring, the way she took notes about her instruments, songs, and lyrics felt so similar to his Hero notebooks, and while Izuku found Jiro's confident side incredibly attractive, her nervousness and emotional shyness felt like looking into a mirror, albeit a far prettier mirror. He saw so much of his own insecurities in her and yet she held herself up in a way that he could only dream about; it was just as inspiring as her dual passions, that when push came to shove, she would overcome her fears and prove why she was meant to be here in U.A., why she was so cool, and why he realized how much he felt for her.
And now, seeing a more confident and, dare he say, sexy version of Jiro, was stirring something else in his chest. Something as hard to rid of, yet way more pleasant than jealousy. 'Honestly, it's a wonder how she could ever like a guy like me?' Izuku wondered bitterly. He already solved and accepted how Uraraka, Setsuna, and Melissa felt about him, and was making headway with some of the others, but Kyoka Jiro liking him was the most perplexing and mysterious out of all of the girls. Not that he was complaining.
"Well, you know, I wouldn't say that" Peter suavely tried to play it cool, tossing the Orb in his hand, while Gamora walked up to him. "People say it about me, all the time, but it's not something I would ever say about myself."
Swiftly, Gamora snatched the Orb from Quill's hand and straight-kicked the man in the gut, causing him to stagger and clutch his gut, groaning.
"Atta girl!" Mina cheered. "I'm so proud of you!"
"You're proud of my counterpart, who's working for a genocidal fanatic, stole the Orb from him?" Jiro raised an incredulous eyebrow at her classmate.
"Well, no, but you using your feminine wilds to make Kaminari let his guard down? I knew there was a sexy, confident badass in there," Mina wiped a faux tear from her eye. "And other you being an alien is a big bonus, too."
"Hmph," Jiro huffed and looked away, a small blush on her cheeks.
"And Izuku sees it too," Mina leaned in and whispered into Jiro's ears. The purple-haired girl's eyes widened and whirled to where she finally noticed Izuku blushing at the actions of Jiro's counterpart. "And I know it's you that he sees as attractive, Greenie."
Jiro's blush turned supernova but could do little more than remain frozen in place, her only movement being her eyes twitching and jacks wobbling unsteadily.
Peter recovered to see Gamora running away, pushing past two women without a care as they tumbled to the ground. Quickly, Peter plucked an item from his bag and hurled the object at Gamora. The device exploded out in midair, extending into a bola made of energy. The bola wrapped around Gamora's knees, tripping the green-skinned woman to the ground, dropping the Orb, as well.
Mei's and Melissa's eyes widened at the new technology and began writing down its usefulness. Melissa wrote it had more frequent usefulness than the device he used to secure the Orb and trap the Sakaarans given how it appeared to work off magnetism and this device could universally affect more targets, especially ones with little metal on them. Mei added that the bola being made out of energy also made it harder to remove and it appeared that the energy was not enough to burn or negatively affect the individual other than the obvious restraining benefits.
Gamora worked to remove the bola from her legs as Star-Lord rushed after her. Peter jumped to crash his body over hers, yet the assassin pulled up her legs and launched them upward, kicking Peter in the stomach. The man groaned and fell to the ground beside her.
"Ooooh! Bad move there!" Hawks cringed, rubbing his stomach.
"Yeah, he left himself wide open and got a green chick's feet to his stomach in return," Death Arms nodded.
Peter had little time to recover as Gamora struck him across the face with two powerful jabs. The Terran grabbed the Zehoberei's left hand before she could punch him a third time, bringing the hand down while attempting a punch from his available hand. The assassin grabbed the hand and raised it up before snatching her other hand away from Peter's grasp and slamming it onto his stomach, stunning him. In a display of flexibility, she kicked her leg high and struck the Terran across the face.
"Damn! Chick's got quite the flexibility about her," Miruko nodded, impressed.
"Oh! Jiro! You have to join me and Mina in our yoga stretches!" Hagakure exclaimed, grabbing onto Jiro's side. "Between Mina's dance skills and my natural flexibility, we could make you quite the flexible heroine. Jiro?"
When Jiro did not respond, Hagakure looked to where Jiro was staring and noticed that it was on Izuku, who was blushing at her counterpart fighting, almost like how Izuku drooled over Black Widow, aka Ochaco's counterpart. If it were any other boy, especially Mineta, she would find it gross, but the way Izuku tried and adorably failed to act and look respectively made it honest and sweat. And, looking back Jiro, Hagakure could see that Jiro noticed and felt incredibly flattered by it from her blush to her slight, satisfied smile.
As fun as this was, Hagakure shook Jiro out of her stupor. "Jiro?"
"H-Huh? W-What?" Jiro snapped back to reality and asked, confused.
"I said that I'm glad you'll be joining me and Mina in our exercises to get you more flexible and agile of a fighter!" Hagakure proclaimed.
"W-What?!" Jiro blinked, shocked. "W-Wait a second, I never agreed-"
"Oops, too late! If you wanted to say no, you should have said something!" Hagakure crossed her arms in an X.
Jiro, utterly perplexed and astounded, gaped, opening and closing her mouth to try and reply in turn.
"I'm sure Izuku will like seeing how flexible you can be," Hagakure added with a whisper. "He liked it when Ochaco's counterpart fought so flexibly, I'm sure when we are done with you, he won't take his eyes off you and your cute, perky butt."
"..." Finally, Jiro closed her mouth and turned away, while Hagakure fist-bumped in victory.
Peter tried to get up only to be kicked back down by another kick. He tried reaching for his blaster only for Gamora to pin his arm with her foot, now straddling the man she robbed.
"This wasn't the plan," Gamora muttered, drawing out a knife and raising it high to stab Peter.
Jiro's eyes widened. "Wait!" She yelled for her counterpart to stop.
However, before she could stab down, Rocket tackled Gamora, Peter watching as the raccoon straddled atop Gamora's struggling body. As civilians looked at the altercation, some even running away, Rocket looked to Groot as he arrived with a large sack. "Put him in the bag. Put him in the bag!" Rocket urged his partner.
"Oh god! Principal! You're my savior!" Kaminari cried crocodile tears full of gratitude.
"Don't thank me yet, Mr. Kaminari," Nezu chuckled, amused. "My other self only acted because Yondu wished for you alive."
"Oh...right," Kaminari's grateful mood dropped.
Vines began to grow out of Groot's body rapidly, Peter staring in surprise. "No! Not her, him!" Rocket yelled as Groot tried wrapping his vines around and restraining Gamora instead of Peter, the former of which Rocket was riding atop her head. "Learn genders, man!"
"Pfft, really, Kamui? I didn't know you were so blind to genders," Mount Lady smiled teasingly at her teammate. "Did you see any of your adoring fan girls as fan femboys?"
"I will not dignify such a ridiculous teasing with a response," Kamui Woods growled, refusing to look at her.
"Except you just did, Bark-For-Brains," Mount Lady poked at his head, grinning.
Kamui simply growled and continued to look at the screen, no matter how many times Takeyama poked at his head.
Gamora screamed in protest, biting at Rocket's hand as it neared her mouth while the talking animal tried to hang onto her. "Ow! Biting? That's not fair!" Rocket complained.
"Quite the irony, I must say," Cementoss chuckled.
"What that our rodent principal's counterpart was bitten like an animal?" Ectoplasm inquired.
"Well, that, plus that in this case, the hunter is the animal, the hunted is the human, and a walking tree is actively helping the animal," Cementoss explained.
'Hehe, that is amusing,' Nezu thought, chuckling as he overheard his employees, sipping a cup of tea.
While the three were distracted by each other, Peter grabbed the Orb and took off, people watching him as he ran past them.
"Yes, yes, run, other me! Run!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Wouldn't it be better if your counterpart were to fly away on your rocket boots?" Tokoyami pointed out.
"Oh, right," Kaminari paused. "Well, who knows? That Rocket guy-animal-thing has some kind of gun and could shoot him out of the sky."
"Take it easy!" Rocket whined as Gamora kept screaming in protest while Groot tried to wrap her with his roots. Finally, with a burst of strength, Gamora broke free from her vines, grabbing the talking raccoon and chucking him away, Rocket flying and smacking onto a glass wall in a thud.
"Impressive," Ryukyu hummed. "This Gamora must have some level of enhanced strength to be able to break free from those roots."
While Peter kept running, Gamora plucked her fallen knife off the ground and aimed it at Quill. With a precise aim, she flung it the knife sailing through the air and cutting Quill's hand, the Terran exclaiming in pain and dropping the Orb.
"Nice aim, girl," Setsuna nodded.
"T-Thanks," Jiro stuttered, still somewhat flustered from before with Hagakure and Mina.
The Orb rolled until it slipped under a gap in the railing and fell to the ground floor of the plaza. Gamora unsheathed and extended out her sword, whirling around and slashing Groot's arm. The tree man reflexively flinched and backed away, pieces of him chunked out with the slash, allowing Gamora to get away. Jumping from the walkway she was on, Gamora landed on the ground without issue, withdrawing her sword. Spotting the Orb, she ran toward it and grabbed it.
"An extendable sword, nice," Mei grinned and wrote the weapon down. "Hey, Jacks. I know those jacks of yours are your main weapon and are pretty good in close-quarters fighting, but have you ever considered some more short-range tools? Like an extendable bo staff, some knuckle dusters, or maybe an extendable sword of your own?"
"Thanks, but that's not my style," Jiro shook her head. "I'm nowhere near as good or skilled with using a bo staff like Yaomomo and knuckle dusters would interfere with my gauntlets. Plus, a sword isn't really my thing." Jiro couldn't imagine cutting someone with a sword. Well, save for the blunted one she used in the USJ, gifted to her by Momo.
"That's true, but Mei has the right idea," Izuku spoke up, suddenly flipping through another notebook till he reached the notes he had for Jiro. "While your shockwaves are good at keeping people back and attacking from long-range, it wouldn't hurt to have some tool or skill for short-range combat on the slim chance someone could reach you, like with a Quirk that mutes a person's sound or with a speed Quirk that can have them reach you before you could attack. Maybe you could practice some counterattacking measures or train to fight with your gauntlets to unleash a small shockwave on impact to increase the strength of your punches."
"She'll probably need shock absorbers in his gloves or gauntlets to withstand the blowback, though," Mei pointed out.
"Right, good thinking, Mei," Izuku pointed out and wrote down. "And maybe in her boots as well for the same reasons. Actually, I wonder if she could also use her shockwaves supportively by unleashing a blast from the bottom of her feet and use the blast as propulsion like Iron Man."
While Izuku continued rambling on, Jiro was left stunned by the information and advice she was given. It didn't sound too bad now that she thought about it; in fact, it sounded genius. Back in the USJ, the only physically offensive tool she had was the sword made by Momo and she only needed it because she couldn't blast her heartbeat out of her speakers forever and her jacks were strong or durable enough to block a physical attack like the sword did. She only thought of using her gauntlets as an added avenue to unleash her Heartbeat Distortions rather than just the speakers on her boots, but the idea of blasting a foe away with a perfectly timed shockwave punch or kick sounded badass. And she couldn't even get started on what Izuku was muttering about using her shockwaves from her speakers as propulsion, Jiro knew she would have never come up with something like that on her own.
"E-Easy there, Green," Jiro calmed Izuku down from his mutterings, gesturing to her jacks. "These things may be good for hearing, but my brain still needs to process what you say."
"O-Oh, right. Sorry," Izuku apologized.
"But what you said, about those shockwave punches and kicks, hell even this Shockwave Propulsion you think I could do, I wouldn't say no to trying," Jiro smiled, gratefully.
Izuku's bright smile was as infectious as it was blinding.
Peter bent down, removing one of the thrusters from his boots. Gamora ran and tried to escape, yet her senses spotted Quill as he fell toward her, sending the two sprawling to the ground. The green-skinned woman was quick to flip them over, putting herself on top and pinning Quill's throat with her knee.
"Fool," Gamora mocked him. "You should have learned."
"I don't learn," Peter quipped back, his voice strained under her knee. "One of my issues."
As he said that, he grabbed the Orb from her hand and latched the rocket thruster on Gamora's side. With a click of a button, the rocket thruster ignited, sending Gamora flying. The green assassin hit the water of the pool, sliding down it until she struck the cement hard while the crowd gasped.
"Ouch! That had to hurt," Itsuka cringed.
"Ha! Persistence for the win!" Kaminari cheered.
"Persistence, or stubbornness?" Asui croaked out.
"Whatever rationalizes my moment of genius for you," Kaminari shrugged.
Peter got up with his prize, only for Groot to stalk up behind him and snatch him up into the sack. "What the-" Peter's voice was muffled while he yelled inside the bag, Groot lifting it over his shoulder.
"Your counterpart's resourcefulness is good, but if I catch you as arrogant enough to miss a sneak attack like that, you're in for a serious training session, Kaminari" Aizawa warned.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Kaminari paled and saluted.
"Quit smiling, you idiot," Rocket chastised his partner as he began to walk away with their prize. "You're supposed to be a professional." Turning around, Rocket gasped and stopped. "You gotta be kidding me."
Gamora, with her sword in hand, shoved Rocket aside easily, the talking rodent exclaiming in protest. The Zehoberei advanced on Groot while he dropped the sack that held Quill. Grunting, Gamora slashed and hacked at Groot, who raised his arms to block the strikes, every hack chipping away pieces of his bark-made arms. With a downward swing, Gamora slashed off Groot's entire right arm.
"AAHHH!" Some of the group exclaimed in fright and shock at the sight, even Mount Lady who found this to be no laughing matter.
Even Kamui paled and rubbed his arm as if it was the one being cut off. While his Quirk allowed him a slight regeneration factor, it was only on his wooden body parts, those being his hands and his feet up to his forearms and knees, and the current Number 7 Hero had not tested the limits of his regeneration factor by seeing if he can regrow an entire arm or leg...and the pro was so sure as Hell not willing to risk it.
Gamora wasted no time and slashed upwards, hacking away Groot's left arm, too. With a twirl, she slashed at Groot's stomach with killing intent. She yanked the blade out and withdrew it, believing her work done, yet Groot looked at her confused and wary, still alive.
"Did she think that she killed him with that?" Ojiro asked.
Jiro buried her head in her hands at the momentary embarrassment she felt at how silly that looked.
"Is he going to be okay?" Kinoko asked worriedly for Groot.
"I believe so," Kamui Woods responded. "I-Groot was able to grow and extend roots out of his body, almost like my Quirk. However, with his entire body made of roots, I believe he has a better healing factor than myself. Though, the concern is much appreciated."
"You're welcome," Kinoko smiled, appeased.
Gamora went to the sack and opened it up, meeting Peter's gaze and the aim of his pistol. Star-Lord fired out a bolt of blue electricity, striking Gamora directly in the chest. The assassin groaned in pain before succumbing to unconsciousness.
"Oooh! Electric Bolts! I like it!" Kaminari exclaimed, grinning.
"That is the purpose of the other end," Melissa's eyes perked up wide as she wrote down more info on the gun. "One end delivers a blast of fire that is seemingly lethal but the other fires electrical bolts capable of rendering a person unconscious. A perfect blend of lethal offense and incapacitating a target."
Peter struggled out of the sack and tried to run away again, pushing past the crowd that formed. Rocket watched as he tried to escape. "I live for the simple things," Rocket muttered to himself, bringing out the gun slung behind his back, the weapon extending out to its full capability. "Like how much this is gonna hurt." Rocket aimed the large gun and fired. A bolt of electricity sailed over and struck Quill, who fell to the ground, yelling in pain from the electricity, all the while Rocket laughed. "Yeah. Writhe, little man."
"Well, talk about ironic," Sero chuckled, watching the counterpart of his classmate, who was best known for his electricity Quirk, getting electrocuted.
Kaminari slumped down downcast and embarrassed while his classmates laughed, and then shivered in fear as the manic laughter of their sadistic principal joined in the chorus. 'Great, nightmares, here I come,' Kaminari thought morbidly.
Rocket looked to Groot as he whimpered and poked at his disembodied arm with his trunk for feet. "It'll grow back, you d'ast idiot," Rocket reminded him. "Quit whining."
"Ah, I see I was right," Kamui Woods sighed.
"Feeling like testing the same out with your limbs, Woody?" Miruko grinned, cracking her fists.
"Uhm, I'm going to have to pass," Kamui Woods politely refused, a shiver of terror toward the Rabbit Hero running up his spine.
Suddenly, Rocket's body was covered in rumbling yellow light, the talking raccoon lifted into the air. Both he and Groot were lifted into the air, looking to see several blue and orange ships, designed like that of stars, emitting the yellow light that lifted and held the two in place. "Subject 89P13," One of the officers inside his ship announced. "Drop your weapon."
"Aw, crap," Rocket sighed, complying and dropping his gun.
"Subject 89P13," David repeated. "I didn't notice it before, but that is quite an interesting name. Is that the name given to him by whatever made him, if he was made?"
"Perhaps," Nezu replied, but he knew it was the truth, just as the same was with him. 'Nezu' wasn't the name he was given by the researchers who illegally experimented on him, the man with the green-shaded glasses, from what he remembered, would give affectionate nicknames to his test subjects, but the one he gave for him, Nezu had rejected and chose Nezu as his own name, one of the first things he did with the freedom he would later obtain.
And now, from what he and the others have gathered, how this Dr. Kyudai Garaki may be the creator of the Nomu and All For One's associate, but he perchance could be the very same man who experimented on him. From what Nezu has seen of his work, especially turning his own supposed grandson into a Nomu, Nezu was gladder for his decision, refusing to accept anything 'given' to him by that madman.
"By the authority of the Nova Corps, you are under arrest," The officer declared.
"Alright, come on up," Two Nova Corp officers lifted the handcuffed Peter off the ground, while the officer talking to Rocket announced his crimes. One of the officers, a large man with curly hair, looked at Peter and smiled. "Hey! If it isn't Star-Prince."
"MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPAR DETECTED! CORPSMAN RHOMANN DEY! MULTIVERSAL COUNTERPART: SANSA TAMAKAWA!"
"Hey! I recognize him!" Ochaco pointed. "He was the cop from the USJ that had the head of a cat!"
"Ah, yeah! I liked his little bell!" Mina cooed.
"He's my second in command and partner in most cases," Tsukauchi chuckled. "I'll be sure to let him know he has some fans."
"Star-Lord," Peter groaned, correcting the man.
"Oh, sorry. 'Lord'," Dey went along, amused. "I picked this up a while back for petty theft. He's got a code name." The other officer scoffed in amusement.
"Come on, man. It's a-It's an outlaw name," Quill defended himself as they escorted him away.
"Just relax, pal," Dey patted the arrested outlaw. "It's cool to have a code name. It's not that weird."
"Thank you!" Kaminari threw his hands up and gestured to the officer. "At least, he gets it. I like him...even if he's kinda arresting me."
"That's Sansa for you," Tsukauchi chuckled, shaking his head. "Guy's not only a big softy but also the biggest jokester in the office."
"Fascists," Rocket scoffed at the Nova Corp, while they likewise restrained Gamora in the light.
"Never thought I would see that day you were arrested," Aizawa said. "I mean, we all thought it would happen one day, the moment you pissed the Commission off too far, but not like this."
Nezu chuckled, amused but said nothing in reply to such beliefs. His employees and colleagues knew well his disdain and fights with the Commission, yet only one here knew the true extent of his ire and desire. Nezu looked to Hawks, smirking at him with similar amusement that he shared.
'If any of the Commission's hire-ups were to see this, they would think it a dream come true,' Nezu thought. 'Just as how it Will be My Dream Come True when I see those corrupt bastards fall.'
AAAAAAANNNNNDDDDD SCENE! Well, that was harder than expected. I don't know why, but I was really feeling writer's block with this one for a while, so that's why this came out later than intended, but hope you guys liked it.
On a similar note, I actually this to be a little longer to reach up till when Drax first appeared but after seeing how long this chapter was already, I decided to save that for the next chapter. Also, let me know if you guys like or at least understand my decision surrounding not including the lyrics of these songs. I know there are song fics that are already dancing around these issues, but after this story was taken down from AO3 in the past, I don't want to push my luck. If you guys think and believe that I can get away with it, let me know and I might re-upload this chapter with the whole lyrics present written down.
Btw, shoutouts to crossover4 for the scene with Peter, Bereet, and Mineta's jealousy, thanks a lot for that, man, and I appreciate the support!
Anyway, let me start explaining some counterparts. Firstly, Kaminari as Star-Lord. You guys all saw this coming, and hats off to all of you who realized this was going to happen ever since I revealed that one blonde who smiled at Cap in The First Avenger, who was Quill's grandmother, to be Kaminari's grandmother or at least her counterpart. But to explain this further on the reasons why these two are counterparts, both are comedic, lovable, reliable, and loyal, yet both are also idiots, given that Quill is...Quill, and Kaminari has the lowest grades in his class, pals around with Mineta, and regularly joins in the pervert's hijinks. Star-Lord also has his Quad-Blasters that fire electric bolts that are similar to Kaminari's Quirk and how he fires his electricity precisely using his targeting disks. Plus, Kaminari does have some knowledge and appreciation for music which ties together well with Quill's love of Earth music.
Next is Jiro as Gamora and this one was difficult to place at first, but not for the reasons you might expect. Some did not want me to have Jiro as Gamora solely for the fact that Kaminari would be Star-Lord and Jiro as Gamora would tie in with the shipping revolving around those two which is most definitely canon. I mean it was one of the reasons, but it wasn't the main reason. Jiro and Gamora are both also cold and have a hard time showing emotional vulnerability, they have a tomboyish style of clothing and personalities, but both also are caring and compassionate, and Gamora does end up having a love for Earth music like her counterpart. Plus, Gamora is also cybernetically enhanced like Nebula, although not as obvious, and I found it a subtle and fitting comparison to Jiro and her earphone jacks.
Then there is Rocket as Nezu, and if you guys didn't realize that this was also written in the stars ever since Guardians of the Galaxy 3, then I don't know what to tell you. Some of you guys wanted Mineta to be Rocket, but other than being short and having a weird sense of humor, one especially perverted, they don't have much in common compared to Nezu and Rocket. Both are animals that were experimented on, that can talk and behave like a sentient & sapient being, incredibly intelligent and adept with technology, and both have crazy, somewhat sadistic personalities, often that would result in Nezu finding enjoyment from the misery and drama of his students and staff or how Rocket likes to steal prosthetic body parts from everyone he meets, especially Bucky and his arm. Plus, just as Nezu is the Principal of U.A., Rocket goes on by the end of GOTG3 as the new leader of the Guardians.
Kamui Woods and Groot was also another popular choice that turned out to be accurate. Both have similar power sets with both able to grow and extend roots from their body, and yes, Kamui Wood can actually do that beyond just his arms. Kamui Woods also has a noble yet naive personality that many often find cringy, like Mount Lady, which I found fit with Groot's lovable and friendly persona, and just the two also have a similar method of fighting, with Groot and Kamui both preferring to entrap their enemies in their roots or swing them around. Though, if you guys know the truth behind what actually happens with Groot by the end of the movie and moving forward for the rest of the MCU, then well...you guys will see by the last part of this movie.
Moving on from the current roster of Guardians, we have Endeavor and Yondu. Both are gruff, rude, and start frankly antagonistic and malevolent in their respective universes but soon reveal more of their softer sides as we get to know them, such as their fatherly love and care for Quill and the Todoroki siblings, their regret and shame for their past actions, from Endeavor's abuse and obsession over surpassing All Might to Yondu's harsh treatment of Quill and betraying the Ravager code, and both would ultimately sacrifice themselves to save their respective 'sons', one dying and the other crippled for life. Yondu also is the captain of his band of Ravagers just like Endeavor was the head of his agency and the new Number 1 Hero after All Might's retirement, and Yondu's flying arrowhead reminded me of one of Endeavor's Ultimate moves: Hell's Spider, thought Yondu clearly has the better aim and ability to change the trajectory of his arrowhead.
Then there is Kido as Kraglin, and if some of you are unsure as to who Kido is, he's the Endeavor sidekick who looks like a mummy. In fact, Kido's Quirk was one of the reasons why I ultimately chose him to be Kraglin since Kido's Quirk combined with Endeavor's feels like it's one of the closest ways to replicate Yondu's arrowhead other than Hawks's feathers, but the Number 2 Hero is already Heimdall so Kido it is. Kido is one of Endeavor's sidekicks just like Kraglin is part of Yondu's crew, and both stay loyal and willing to work with Endeavor and Yondu after hard times fall on both on them, i.e. Endeavor's abusive past exposed and the hero's retirement, and the Ravager rebellion led by Taser Face.
Next is Nebula as Lady Nagant, and Nebula was actually one of the hardest characters I had to think about. I had another character originally planned for her, but Lady Nagant eventually won for a lot of reasons. For one, both are assassins that previously worked with Thanos/All For One and were both altered by the main antagonist of their franchises, one cybernetically and the other through added Quirks, including an internal explosive Quirk that nearly killed her, which is another thing in common with Nebula if you remember Thanos nearly killed her in Infinity War when he was torturing her. Nebula's color scheme also closely matches Nagant's hair color, purple and blue, and both can alter their bodies in inhuman proportions, from Nebula's cybernetic regeneration and reconfiguring to Nagant's ability to open up her elbow to produce a rifle out of it to fire her hardened hair bullets out that instantly regrow on her head. Both also eventually join the good guys in later installments/chapters.
And that's where I will wrap up the counterparts because this is plenty for one end note. Also, I hope you guys liked my Deku/Uraraka moment and my inspiration for writing this was fueled mostly by how lackluster the actual supposed confession in canon happened and how the two didn't actually get together at all, even during the 8-year time skip, which I still believe was Horikoshi's attempt not to piss off the toxic shipping community, especially the BakuDeku shippers that threatened him. I can understand why he did that, but I still can't help but feel like the decision was a bit cowardly, I mean look at me, I'm still doing the Deku/harem ship and milking it for all its worth even as some of you guys complain about it. One shouldn't let their work be determined or coerced in a certain way that they don't want, especially if that 'coercion' is manipulative and aggressive. But regardless of how I feel about the ending or Horikoshi's reasoning, it at least helped inspire me when I wrote that part, so silver linings, I guess.
And yes, if it wasn't already obvious, Kaminari is seeing someone, yet I who it is I won't say until later, but I hope that I supplied some delicious drama with him, Izuku, and Jiro, and the certainty that some of the girls that like Izuku will have counterparts that have other romantic intentions in their world, such as Momo being Wanda and who will inevitably become Vision.
But to wrap up this super long note, I hope you guys liked this chapter, leave your thoughts and opinions, respectfully at least, in the reviews, also comment on what other counterpart predictions you have, especially Drax's next chapter, check out my other stories here and on AO3 if you like, and just to clear the air: no, I will not post this on AO3, I already did that and look what happened, and I'm not going to test my luck again any further than I already have.
But on that cheerful note, this has been Zayden StormVoid signing off, and because I found the most recent movie of a certain franchise quite amazing:
TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!
