Author's Note 1: My Super Robot Academia is a non-profit fanfiction series.
My Hero Academia is a property of Bones, Funimation, and Kouhei Horikoshi.
Any original characters or concepts are owned by Navek and xpegasus.
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Chapter 7: Let's Rocket!
"So what do you think I should go for?" Fukidashi asked as he and Ochako were using their set-up time to try and figure out a plan of attack for Awase and Yanagi. Which, in this case, meant Fukidashi bouncing ideas for sound effects off of the gravity girl. "I'm thinking a WOOSH sound be enough to immobilize them."
"That's the wind thing, right?" Ochako asked, getting a nod. "But won't that hit the bomb too?"
"Huh, you're right. Maybe I should just go with a POW!"
"Oh, maybe you can do a ZAP or a SHOCK!" Ochako said.
"I dunno. Whenever I do energy sound effects, it ends up draining me a lot."
The next few minutes ended up with the two discussing various sound effects. But before the two goofballs knew it, they heard the sound of footsteps and Awase kicking down the door. "Surprise, bitches!"
"The time of battle is nigh," Yanagi said, waving her hands a little for theatrics.
"Aw, nuts! We got distracted!" Ochako shouted.
"No problem! These bad guys are still gonna get their butts whooped!" Fukidashi declared. "POW!"
The sound effect appeared in the air before turning into a giant fist that flew directly at Awase and Yanagi. The two dodged, and the fist hit the wall, cracking it and leaving behind debris before vanishing.
"I ain't done yet! POW! POW! POW! POW…"
Fukidashi kept at it, effectively becoming a fist-launching turret. The hero team was forced to keep moving and dodging.
"Be wary, Fukidashi: you have entered my domain!" Yanagi stated, making a motion with her hands. And suddenly, a barrage of rocks, nuts, bolts, and other random objects flew from behind her back and began to pelt Fukidashi and Ochako!
As it turned out, Yanagi had been using her telekinesis quirk to hide a collection of floating junk behind her back, out of the sight of her foes.
Ochako used her arms to block the barrage and decided to retaliate. She used her Quirk to make herself float. But then, she aimed her left gauntlet at the wall behind Yanagi and Awase.
"Let's go!" Ochako shouted before pressing a button on the gauntlet. It fired a hook on a wire that embedded itself into the wall behind her foes. Another button press and the gauntlet started winding the wire back up, sending Ochako towards the wall with a kick aimed squarely at Yanagi.
But to her surprise, the debris around Yanagi dropped…and Ochako suddenly found herself suspended in the air with Yanagi's hands held in front of her.
"Woah! Awesome counter, Yanagi!" Awase shouted with a smile. "Now, bring her down!"
"...that might be difficult." The black-haired boy looked and saw the state his partner was in. Her body was shaking a bit, and sweat was beginning to roll down her forehead. "It is taking all of my physical faculties in order to keep our foe suspended in the air."
"Oh, okay. I'll just cap—"
"WOOSH!" Awase was blasted back by a burst of wind from Fukidashi. "Don't forget that I'm here too!"
"Dammit! Yanagi, keep Uraraka in place! I'll deal with Mr. Loud Mouth!" Awase shouted, getting a nod in response. He quickly went to work, grabbing some dust and debris from the ground. 'He's gotta take a breath at some point.'
While Awase continued to dodge Fukidashi's sound effect attacks, Ochako was struggling against Yanagi's telekinesis. She could barely move her body and couldn't even touch her hands to release her quirk.
'I have to do something!' Ochako thought. And her mind came up with a solution. 'Looks like I'm gonna have to try that.'
Awhile back…
"Are you sure you don't have any better pointers?" Ochako asked Toshinori. The two were in Ochako's apartment, trying to come up with ideas on how to get around the backlash of Ochako's new power.
"I'm sorry to say that I don't, Ochako," Toshinori said. "When I was given One for All, I was already at my physical peak. Using it just came naturally to me. You're in better shape than you were before your training started, but not only do you still have room to grow, but your version of One for All also has the power I've accumulated over the years alongside the other seven holders."
"Dang it," Ochako muttered. Nearly a year of training in order to receive One for All, and she still felt like she couldn't handle it. She remembered the near-blinding pain after using it during the Entrance Exam. She remembered the overwhelming power in her limbs, feeling as though it would tear her apart.
The two tried to think in silence. Ochako lazily looked over to her shelf. She didn't have a lot of knick-knacks, but the few she did have were special to her. Which included a model of a space shuttle from the pre-Quirk era.
And then, like a bolt of lightning, something came to Ochako's head!
"I got it!" Ochako shouted. "I'm a straight tube!"
"Pardon?" Toshinori asked as the excitable brunette went and picked up her model shuttle.
"Do you know the reason why shuttles have nozzles?" Ochako asked, pointing to the nozzles on the back of the shuttle.
"Can't say I do."
"See, the reason why is because rocket propulsion puts an incredible strain and force. A straight tube would shatter under the pressure, but a cone-shaped nozzle spreads it around," Ochako explained. "When I used One for All, I was basically a tube blasting out power and breaking."
"Ah, I see!" Toshinori clapped. "So we just need to figure out a way for you to apply a 'nozzle' to One for All."
Ochako remembered the following days they spent trying to figure it out. How her routine after school for the last few weeks was training to get a new handle on OFA. And now, it was time to put it to use.
In the control room, everyone was watching as Awase dodged Fukidashi's attacks. And when the balloon-headed boy needed to catch his breath, Awase struck, throwing dust into his face and making him cough. With him now constantly coughing, Fukidashi was unable to say anything uninterrupted, turning it into a straight-up fistfight. All while Ochako was still telekinetically suspended.
'Come on, Ochako.' Izuku thought as he watched. 'You can get out of this one.'
He didn't exactly know how, but Izuku had hope in his friend.
'You are not a tube. You are a nozzle.' Ochako said to herself as she aimed her hand at the wall behind Yanagi. 'You're not a tube. You're a nozzle.'
Small stars of pink energy shimmered around her fingers as Ochako confined to her mental mantra. She placed her middle finger behind her thumb, as someone would do when they were about to flick something.
'You're a nozzle! One for All: 2% Rocket Blast!'
Ochako flicked her finger, unleashing a blast of air that flew past Yanagi and demolished the wall behind her.
"The hell?!" Yanagi shouted. And in her shock, her concentration was broken, freeing Ochako from her telekinesis. Ochako quickly retracted her wire hook and released herself from her Quirk's effect, landing on Yanagi. After a bit of a struggle from the silver-haired girl, Ochako managed to wrap the capture tape around Yanagi's wrists.
"Victory from defeat. Impressive," Yanagi admitted.
"Thanks," Ochako said as she stood up. The gravity girl looked at her fingers…and they weren't broken! Sure, there was some bruising and tingling, but she could still move them.
'I did it.' Ochako thought, her eyes shining with excitement. "I did it! I didn't break anything! WOO—"
"WEAPON SECURED! THE HERO TEAM WINS!"
"…huh?" Ochako turned around and saw Awase had placed his hand on the fake bomb, with Fukidashi welded to the floor and still coughing.
"Sorry. You looked like you were having a moment." Awase said. "I mean, kudos to whatever personal accomplishment made you celebrate."
"C-can I *cough* get a wat-*cough*-water or something?"
"…fuck," Ochako whispered to herself.
A few minutes later, the four were standing in the observation room, with Fukidashi drinking a water bottle…though it looked less like drinking and more like just inserting the open bottle tip into his head.
"So, you know the drill by now, kids." All Might said. "So what went wrong and what went right?"
"Well, the most obvious was that Uraraka and Fukidashi were too distracted at times," Iida explained. "It didn't seem like you came up with a plan to deal with your opponents. And Uraraka, your small celebration after capturing Yanagi could've been used to try and stop Awase."
"I know," Ochako said, tapping her fingers together in embarrassment in spite of the soreness in one of them.
"Awase and Yanagi were pretty damn good," Jirou said. "Fukidashi was going ham on you guys, and Uraraka was on the attack, but you guys were really quick and responsive."
"In contrast to you, Fukidashi," Kaibara said. "It looks like you didn't really have a backup plan when you got dust thrown at you."
"You know what, that's fair," Fukidashi replied. "I'll admit that improv ain't my strong suit."
"I guess that's something we both need to improve on," Ochako said to her partner.
"Well said, young Uraraka." All Might replied. "And now, onto the last match of the day!"
Back at the cityscape, the mysterious cat boy was still watching from his little perch. With most of the fights happening inside the buildings, he couldn't really see much of them.
But his ears perked up when he saw Striker walking towards the building. 'About time!' The cat boy thought to himself, his tail moving with excitement. 'Okay, metal man: show me what you got!'
A few minutes later, Kirishima and Kendo were standing in front of their building. The redhead was practically shaking with excitement.
"Well, you looked hyped."
"Of course I am! We're going against Midoriya and his robot!" Kirishima shouted. "I'm pumped as hell!"
"I mean…we fought robots at the entrance exam."
"That's different! Those were just drones! We're going up against a dude who's got some manly spirit in him! And that spirit is clear in that robot!" Kirishima exclaimed as he looked at Kendo. "Don't tell me you aren't a little bit excited to fight against that thing?"
Kendo said nothing before a smile appeared on her face. "Okay, ya; it is pretty cool."
The prep timer ended, and Kirishima & Kendo ran into the building. But to their surprise, they managed to catch Izuku and Kuroiro hopping through the ground floor windows…leaving the fake bomb behind.
"Huh?" Both of them said as once. However, they heard the pounding of Striker's metal footsteps and watched as the robot ran up to the building and smashed the walls. Kendo and Kirishima watched, mouths agape, as Striker grabbed the fake bomb and pulled it out from the building.
"Catch me if you can, heroes!" Izuku's voice came from the speakers as Striker held the bomb over its head and ran away.
"…well, that just happened," Kendo said, as she, Kirishima, and everyone in the observation room were more than a bit befuddled by…that.
"Is that even allowed, Mr. All Might?" Tsunotori asked. The Number One Hero rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"Technically, I never said you kids had to stay inside the building for the entire exercise. I'll allow it."
Ochako slapped herself on the forehead for not thinking of that.
"Nyahaha!" The mysterious cat boy laughed to himself as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, watching Striker run with the bomb. His eyes shined, and his smile was wide. "Now, this is what I'm talking about! That's the 'zing!'"
Inside the cockpit of Striker, Izuku thought about how things were going according to plan. Though with Striker running and carrying the bomb over its head, it didn't exactly paint the most heroic image.
'This is less something Hiroshi Shiba would do and more like something Don and Pancho would come up with.'
While Striker's strides were wide, Kirishima and Kendo were close behind and trying to catch up.
"Damn, he's really hoofing it," Kirishima stated while Kendo got an idea.
"You ever heard of the fastball special?"
"Like, from those ancient comic books?" Kirishima asked. Kendo nodded in response, and Kirishima grinned. Kendo activated her Quirk, enlarging her right hand. Kirishima curled into a ball as Kendo grabbed him, and she threw her teammate as hard as she could. As the redhead zoomed through the air, Kirishima hardened himself. He slammed into Striker's back, making the robot stumble and lose its footing. Striker fell flat on its metal face. Kirishima rolled off the robot and ran for the fake bomb.
But the moment Kirishima stepped into Striker's shadow, Kuroiro emerged and uppercut the redhead.
"AH! Damn it," Kirishima growled. He swung at Kuroiro, only for the white-hair student to disappear and reappear to kick Kirishima's legs out from under him.
"You okay?" Kendo asked as she ran to her partner.
"Ya, just surprised."
"Kuroiro, follow the plan," Izuku said as Striker stood back up and placed the bomb under the shadow of a nearby building.
"Roger," Kuroiro replied before leaping into the shadows, reappearing on top of the bomb while Striker stared down Kirishima and Kendo.
"If you heroes want the weapon, you're going to have to go through me!"
Now, the idea of fighting a machine several meters taller than you would make most teens nervous. But in this case, Izuku's opponents were a girl that had been practicing martial arts since she could walk and a boy who was determined to meet every challenge straight on like a real man.
Kirishima and Kendo were more than willing to go toe-to-toe with Striker. Hell, they were downright ecstatic!
Kirishima slammed his fists together, hardening his forearms, while Itsuka enlarged her hands.
"Let's go!" Kendo shouted as she and Kirishima charged. She attacked with a series of palm strikes, but Striker blocked them with its forearms. Kirishima went for the legs and punched Striker's knees, causing the robot to buckle. Kendo took the opening, slamming Striker's chest with another giant palm strike. The attack shook Izuku inside the cockpit and pushed the machine back. But Izuku was quick to retaliate, aiming Striker's right arm at Kendo.
"Anchor Knuckle!"
Locking mechanisms inside the arm disengaged, and mini-jets blasted the metallic forearm at Kendo, tethered to the bicep by a chain. Kirishima quickly ran in front of Kendo, crossing his arms in front of his face and hardening his body to its fullest extent.
The rocket punch struck Kirishima with a mighty clang. Yet, despite the cracks in the ground around him, Kirishima didn't budge. Striker's arm fell to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Kendo asked in concern, getting a nod from the redhead while Striker retracted its arm.
"I'm probably gonna have sore arms tomorrow, but aside from that, I'm good."
Striker retracted its arm, and through the eye feed, Izuku was stunned when he saw dents in the robot's knuckles!
"This is industrial grade steel…and you were able to damage it. Your Quirk's amazing, Kirishima!"
Kirishima smirked at that praise. "Heh, it ain't flashy, but it gets the job done."
Inside the cockpit, Izuku's eyes shined with glee. The hot-blooded demeanor, the lack of hesitation to jump and protect a teammate, and the full-force fighting style. Izuku wanted to emulate the hot-blooded and heroic mecha pilots he grew up watching. And now, it was like one of them had come to life and become his classmate. "Kirishima!" Izuku exclaimed. "You're so cool!"
"Hey, don't forget about me!" Kendo shouted. She enlarged her hands and charged at Striker. She managed to land a punch that shook Izuku once more. Kendo kept up her assault with a double palm strike. But Izuku was quick to act, and Striker grabbed Kendo's massive hands. The two were in a deadlock, mechanical might against superhuman strength as they pushed back against each other.
"Just as I thought," Izuku stated. "Your Quirk doesn't just make your hands bigger: it also strengthens the muscles inside them! You've got an incredible Quirk, Kendo."
Izuku then thought about the previous matches and the physical from earlier that week. His face gained a melancholic look. "All of you…everyone in class has such cool quirks…I'm kind of jealous."
While Izuku whispered that last part out, Kendo still heard it and was slightly confused. But then, Izuku's smile returned inside the cockpit.
"But Striker and I have plenty to show, too!" The boy let out a passionate yell, tossing Kendo away. She rolled to recover and stared down Striker, eyes burning with passion. Although Kendo couldn't see, Izuku returned her look with a smile. "Round Two!"
"If that's how you want to play it!" Kendo said, her own thrill for battle overtaking her.
Kirishima watched as his partner battled the robot. His arms were still sore from earlier, so he couldn't really help her out. He scowled at this but remembered: this exercise wasn't beating the villains! Their main goal was to capture the bomb!
So with a hearty yell, Kirishima turned and rushed towards the bomb, which Kuroiro has been watching this whole time.
"I was wondering when one of you meatheads would try that," Kuroiro smirked. With the bomb and the area around it covered in shadow, he had the home-field advantage. Kuroiro leaped off the bomb, diving into the shadows. As soon as Kirishima stepped into the shadows, Kuroiro grabbed the redhead's legs and knocked him down. In an instant, Kuroiro left the shadows and jumped onto Kirishima's back, capture tape in hand. 'Victory is all but assured!'
Kirishima growled as he felt Kuroiro grab his hands. He had to act fast! Suddenly, Kirishima hardened the back of his head and threw it back right into Kuroiro's face!
"Fuck!" Kuroiro instinctively grabbed his face, unwittingly letting go of the redhead's arms. Kirishima threw his opponent off his back and ran for the bomb
"WEAPON SECURED! THE HERO TEAM WINS!"
"Hell yeah!" Kirishima shouted with his arms up…and regretted doing that as his arms winched.
"What!" Kuroiro said before rubbing his sore nose.
"We…lost?" Izuku asked. And even though Itsuka couldn't see him, she could tell her classmate was more than a bit disheartened. So she keep her right hand big and held it up.
"If it makes you feel any better, you put in one hell of a fight, Midoriya."
Inside the cockpit, Izuku smiled. "It does, actually. And you're an incredible opponent, Kendo."
Once more, they raised their giant hands, one metal, and one flesh, but instead of battling, Kendo and Izuku gave each other a fist bump as the sun shined down on them. And no one noticed the cat boy leaping from the rooftops, a mischievous laugh escaping his lips.
A few minutes later, for the last time that day, the two teams stood in front of their classmates and All Might, ready to hear what they did right and wrong.
"So did you guys have a plan besides running away?" Honenuki asked.
"Well, we figured that Striker would be able to handle both Kirishima and Kendo since both of them seemed like they would prefer close-range combat, given the nature of their Quirks," Izuku explained. "And Kuroiro was meant to act as a failsafe in case either of them broke through and decided to go for the bomb…though that didn't turn out so well."
"No kidding," Kuroiro said, still rubbing his sore nose. "I definitely wasn't expecting to get headbutted."
"Well, I think there are two lessons to take away from this…" All Might stated. "1. No matter how much you plan things out, you should always be ready to adapt on the fly. And 2. Never overestimate your own strength or underestimate your opponent. Midoriya, it seems you need to take Lesson 2 to heart. Your machine is mighty, but it's not all-powerful."
"I mean, it's still pretty damn cool!" Awase shouted, punching his fist forward. "That Anchor Knuckle was fucking badass!"
"Kendo and Kirishima were pretty badass, too," Kaibara said. "You jumping in the way of that attack was top-tier hero shit."
"Your sneak attack was on-point, Kuroiro," Iida commented. "But it seems that you, and quite a few of us, need to learn how to adapt."
Kuroiro nodded in agreement. He was a natural fit for the shadows. The last thing he needed was to fail at sneak attacks.
After that, all twenty students, and a kneeling Striker behind them, stood in the cityscape as All Might addressed them.
"Vlad King will look over your footage and give you more detailed notes in your next homeroom. But personally, I might say that between you youngsters and your fellow students in 1-A, you freshmen are quite the impressive crop. Sure, you all could use some improvement, but that's what this course is for. So be sure to take all the lessons you learned today, and ingrain them into your mind and heart. Once you do that, if you keep training and improving," He then gave one of his signature smiles, "I have no doubt that you'll all become Plus Ultra heroes!"
Even the ones who lost that day felt a little better. It was hard not to, with the Number 1 Hero of Japan giving you a pep talk.
"Well, I think that about wraps this class up. Hit the showers, boys, and girls! I've got some paperwork that needs a doing."
"W-Wait, Mr. All Might! Sir!" Izuku stuttered out.
"Yes, what is it, young Midoriya?"
Izuku pulled out a small autograph book from his pocket. "D-Do you think I ca-"
"Say no more, lad," All Might bellowed, taking a pen out of his cape pocket before grabbing Izuku's autograph book and signing it. He handed it back to Izuku, chuckling a bit as the boy's eyes widen with glee.
"Thank you, sir!" Izuku said before taking a deep bow. "This'll be a new family heirloom!"
'Nerd.' A few of his classmates thought.
"Think nothing of it, my boy," All Might proclaimed. Izuku looked up…but then noticed something that made his eyebrow raise. "And if any of you other youngsters want an autograph, don't be afraid to ask. And with that, I'm off!"
All Might took off in a burst of superhuman speed, leaving the students there to head to the locker room.
'Was that…steam coming off of All Might's face?' Izuku thought, having seen a small wisp of it when he looked at the hero. But Izuku shrugged, thinking he might've just been seeing things.
However, at the same time, All Might was racing through the halls of UA, more and more smoke appearing from his body.
'Come on, come on!' The Symbol of Peace frantically thought to himself. 'Almost there!'
To All Might's relief, he made it into the empty teacher's lounge. He quickly looked at the door, and then a huge blast of steam erupted from his body. When it faded, the heroic muscular build of All Might was gone…and in his place was none other than Toshinori Yagi. The skeletal man was practically swimming in his, or rather All Might's, costume.
Toshinori let out a sigh of relief before pulling his sleeve back to look at a stopwatch. 'Just under six hours. Looks like this is my new limit. And it's only gonna get shorter from here.'
Toshinori took a seat on the couch, leaning into the cushions. 'So it's finally happening: my days of being All Might are coming to an end. This…this doesn't even feel real.'
A heroic career spanning nearly four decades would soon end. His power had been handed over to his chosen successor, and soon, the last embers of that power would fade. All Might as the world knew him would be gone, and only Toshinori Yagi would remain.
But before that happened, the hero of heroes would make damn sure the world would be safe in his absence. And that meant doing all he could to make Ochako the best hero she could be.
Later…
"You guys think Kacchan did better than us?" Izuku asked as he, Ochako, and Iida walked towards the exit.
"I kind of feel bad for hoping he didn't," Ochako commented.
"Why would you wish for your friend to fail?" Iida asked.
"Because he'll be bragging about it for the next week if he did."
"…ah, I see. That does seem like something Bakugou would do."
"He wouldn't be Kacchan if he was humble," Izuku said.
"Yo, guys!" The three turned and saw Awase approaching them. "You heading out together?"
"Um…yes," Izuku said. "We're actually gonna meet our friends, Kacchan and Mei, and then grab something to eat."
"Cool. Mind if I tag along?"
The three looked at each other before Ochako and Izuku shrugged. Iida responded, "I don't see why not. Any chance to bond with a fellow classmate."
"Awesome!" Awase joined the three as they headed out the front doors, the sun beginning to set. They saw Katsuki and Mei chatting on the steps of the gate…but they also noticed another girl chatting with them.
"Hey, guys!" Mei said with a wave, with Katsuki and the new girl turning to look at them. Said girl had long dark-green hair with the ends tied in a bow. Her wide eyes, held-out arms, and the shape of her lips made everyone think of a frog. "Guess what? Kacchan made a friend!"
"Really? That's great, Kacchan," Izuku said with a smile, only to get a 'tch' from his friend.
"Not on purpose. Tsu here sits next to me, and we ended up teaming up for that team exercise." Katsuki said before smirking. "Which by the way, we totally killed it."
'Tsu' put a finger on her chin. "I wouldn't say we 'killed it.' Yaoyorozu and Shoda almost captured us a couple of times, ribbit."
"'Almost' doesn't count," Katsuki said before noticing Awase. "Who's Headband over here?"
"The name's Yosetsu Awase, future hero and proud mecha enthusiast." Awase proudly stated.
"So, you want to join us for a bite?" Mei asked.
"Does Go Nagai love putting tits on robots?" Awase asked. Everyone was confused, but Izuku burst out laughing. Katsuki recognized that name from the millions of times he heard his best friend ramble about old super robot manga, looking between the two of them, and came to a horrifying realization.
'Oh, god, there's two of them now.'
"By the way, my full name is Tsuyu Asui," the green-haired girl said, introducing herself. "But you guys can just call me Tsu."
"Are you sure? That seems a little informal considering we just met," Iida asked. He got a shrug in response.
"I don't really mind. I like being casual, ribbit."
"Okay, then. Tsu it is!" Ochako said, happy to have another girl in their group.
"Well, we should get going if we want to get to Rai's before the dinner rush," Izuku said.
"Lead the way, green bean," Awase said as the seven UA students headed for the train station. From the upper floor windows of the UA Main Building, Toshinori, now clad in his yellow suit, watched his successor and her friends heading out, a smile appearing on his face.
'Young Uraraka, you'll have a lot on your shoulders soon. But until then, enjoy your youth while you still can.'
There was also another person watching the group from behind a nearby tree. The same cat boy from before. But his eyes were focused on Izuku. A bit of research with the online school directory helped the yellow-eyed young man find the name of this interesting freshman.
'Izuku Midoriya, eh?' He chuckled to himself with a dangerous glint in his eyes. 'You and your robot are exactly what I've been looking for.'
Author's Note 2: So our trio of Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya clearly have a ways to go before they become real heroes! And Katsuki made friends with a certain frog girl! I'm also having a lot of fun writing Yosetsu and having him and Izuku geek out about robots. So expect more of that in future chapters.
This story's take on the USJ arc is soon to come. But first, we'll have two breezy chapters for some character work, fun interactions, and a technical breakdown of Striker's future upgrades and how it functions.
Next Time: Inner Workings!
Please remember to read, write, and review!
Plus Ultra!