Hello all!
So! It's my birthday today! And I decided to give you, my lovely readers, a new chapter in this self-indulgent story of mine :D Lucky you!
... I may have been watching too much of the "Spiffing Brit", sorry about that.
Anyway, Hope you enjoy this chapter! Because the next one is going to be BIG!
Review time:
Nexusplayer: No... just no... The only reason I mention or place a fellow author into this story (That being Zabeck) is because they are friend and is helping me with writing Himiko correctly, given how much of a fan of they are of hers. So yea, just going to say it here, I will not be adding random people just ebcause they asked.
fallendemon248: We are so glad Dean Nezu didn't give the thing its time powers.
AWeirdReader: That's the thing, she is a shipper, which is shown very well throughout the manga and show... primarily the one that tries to hook Ochako and Izuku up, while also joking about Ms. Joke and Aizawa.
That can get tiring, I'll admit, but considering what this Mina has seen and what's going to happen in the story coming up... you bet your ass she's taking that to a 11. :D
Italics - Original Story
Regular Text - Reactions
Italics and Bold - Thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia and Final Fantasy XIV, they belong to their copyright holders. If anyone reposts this or any of my stories on Youtube or any other media streaming platform) without my consent, I will be taking the appropriate actions as is my right.
Chapter 8:
CP6 - "Magnificent Rouge"
"M-Monsters?" Inko spoke softly, though looking quite terrified from what the robed man had said aloud to everyone in the theater down below, but who also made sure that both she and the young woman beside her could also hear him. Her dark green eyes looked between the on-screen version of her son and her little boy, who was stone stiff in terror. Inko was about to tear up and let loose the classic 'Midoriya Waterworks' when she felt the gentle grasp of a hand on her arm.
Turning her gaze over to Himiko's bright golden eyes, who were smiling at her with an almost dream-like look, she asked, "H-Himiko?"
"Don't worry Mamadoriya!" The blonde vampire giggled gently, seeing the startled look coming from the older woman by the nickname, "I know everything is going to be alright, no matter what Mr. Grimmy said!"
"A-And why is that, Himiko?"
The blonde's smile widened, her cheeks blushing more as she chirped out her response, "Because Izuku is there!"
Inko looked at the young woman in shock and bafflement as well; while she knew that her son was capable of many things, but fighting against monsters? However, something else was bugging her, "Why is Izuku just being there going to make everything alright? Not that I doubt my son and how capable he is… but I was under the impression you had never met Izuku before."
Himiko froze, staring at the mother of the boy she was very interested in. She quickly thought of something to say before blushing and curling in on herself, tapping her index fingers together. "I-I met Izuku… once or twice… even saw him fight in that Yakuza raid a few months back."
Now, it was Inko's turn to freeze after that admission. She brought her hands up close to her face in clear worry, "Wh-what do you mean he was there?"
Not knowing the real danger she was putting a particular skeletal former number one hero in, Himiko nodded quickly with her usual smile, "He fought the boss! You know, the one in the footage posted online with all those big arms!"
Inko continued to stare at the young blonde, her skin getting very pale, so much so that even Himiko was getting a little freaked out, "Mamadoriya?"
"Hmm?" Inko now seemed much calmer, but the aura around the older woman was actually giving the former villainess goosebumps, "Oh, I'm fine, dear… now… why don't you tell me everything about what my son did during the raid."
[Meanwhile - in the theater]
All Might froze for a moment, gritting his teeth and gripping his wound as it had started to act up all of a sudden, catching the other two teachers as well as the robed figure who was now sitting beside the trio once more after his little 'speech'.
"Is something the matter, Toshinori?" Nezu raised an eyebrow at the skeletal man, who now seemed to be breathing a little heavier.
"It's just the old wound acting up. Funny, it normally doesn't do that unless I'm in some sort of danger. Which, as our host has assured us previously, shouldn't be happening anytime soon." The former number one said while trying to show off one of his 'everything is alright' smiles and giving a thumbs up.
"Yep, you guys won't be harassed while you're here," Grim said as he shrugged and went back to watching the film, making Toshinori smile and sigh in relief. However, Aizawa and Nezu couldn't help but notice the particular way the weaver had answered Toshinori's claim and now wondered what he was plotting underneath that hood of his…
The sounds of cement and asphalt crunching under heavy metal treads echoed in the now-empty road. The zero-pointer hissed out steam as it lowered itself and "looked" through the empty windows of the buildings close to it; a low metallic rumble came from the mechanical monster before it smashed the building and started to tear it down.
Izuku and Yuga watched the monster from half a block away in one of the hallowed building windows, ducking back down before the monstrosity looked their way. They both turned towards the other two applicants with them, the blue-haired boy and the auburn-haired girl, who looked a little green on her otherwise pink cheeks. She hissed a little as the blue-haired boy very carefully removed her sneaker to check over her injured ankle.
"Huh…" Kirishima spoke up, rubbing his chin, "We didn't actually do that when we had that second rescue class in the USJ. I thought that you'd want to keep the shoes on."
"To be fair, Young Kirishima," Toshinori had called out, making the red-headed boy and all the other students, "The proper procedure when dealing with an ankle injury would be to remove any footwear to help properly assess the injury, as well as to allow for proper swelling and pain management, or when a splint is needed to be used."
"Because of how cumbersome or lack of any real way to remove any shoes from some of your hero costumes, it was decided that we would forgo the removal of any footwear for time restraints. But this is covered more in the advanced courses in your second year, as it's where we go into more procedural studies, unlike where we give the baseline during the first year. At least, that would be the normal curriculum, but considering the year you all have had so far… I may have to start that sooner rather than later." The aged hero chuckled at the last bit with a big smile. While many of the students were looking forward to that, some sighed and grumbled as if it meant more time in the classroom than practical studies.
Izuku knelt to the other side of the girl, "Hey, my name is Izuku Midoriya, and aside from your ankle, are you in pain anywhere else?" he asked with a soft tone, a smile on his lips as he looked straight into her eyes. It was a technique he had read and learned about to keep injured civilians focused on something else rather than any pain they were currently feeling.
"Another good procedure, and one that will be covered soon, its to make sure that any civilians in the danger zone are kept calm. This helps make evacuations much easier or allows the civilians to hide and avoid being targeted by the villains." Toshinori spoke up again; his finger raised into the air as he went into 'teaching mode'.
"Or have a civilian, like say, a student, and not a trained hero rushing into a delicate and dangerous situation, even with good intentions," Aizawa said from within his scarf, not even looking away from the screen, as both Toshinori and Izuku flinched from the remark.
"Just.. feel a little nauseous, " She spoke gently, staring directly into his emerald eyes, "N-name's Ochako Uraraka, a-and thanks for saving me… I couldn't get away in time when the zero-pointer came out of the ground."
"Yea, I would imagine seeing that big ass robot popping out of anywhere would make even All Might give a double take." Izuku mused, earning a soft chuckle from Ochako before she hissed in pain from her ankle.
"Depends on the size and how many weapons they have, honestly…" The blonde older man said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Granted, *that* monstrosity would definitely do that."
"As long as we are getting names, I am Tenya Ilda. Should we not be trying to evacuate away from the giant robot?" asked the now-introduced Tenya, who had balled up his workout jacket to place under the foot of the injured girl. Izuku looked at him with a huff before moving his focus toward the injured ankle.
Yuga struck another 'majestic' pose before speaking up, "As much as I would like to agree with you, monsieur Ilda, that brutish robot is searching either for us or something at this very moment... but moi, Yuga Aoyama believes that we should make a stand until the time runs out, which should be soon."
"But we were told to keep away from the zero-pointer and to avoid it as an obstacle," Tenya pointed out, chopping his arm up and down as he continued to argue with the still-posing Yuga. The two kept going back and forth before a clearing of the throat interrupted them both; both boys turned their attention to Izuku, who stood up and walked a few feet away before turning around on them.
Ochako was the first to speak up, "Um… what do you think we should do, Midoriya? It looks like you have a plan."
"Even if he's acting all 'sassy' now, at least we can count on that big ol' Midori brain to solve a problem!" Mina cheered loudly, grinning at the green-haired boy sitting in the row in front of her. Izukuflinched a little from being called out and turned around to look at her with a slight smile.
"I hope so, Ashido. Even I'm stumped as to what to do, considering the variables, but I'm sure he will figure something out."
"Going to be honest, I think this is one of those 'damned if we do, damned if we don't.' scenarios." Izuku shrugged as he crossed his arms.
"... Or not." Dark Shadow spoke from Tokoyami's shoulder, munching on some popcorn loudly as Izuku groaned and hung his head in defeat.
"And judging by how it's acting now, compared to when I was distracting it while you two were getting Uraraka out from under the debris, it's malfunctioning."
"Not to point fingers, but do you think one of your attacks against it caused the malfunction?" Tenya stared at Izuku, who had raised an eyebrow at him. The silence in the room was thick with tension as Izuku stretched suddenly, cracking his neck and back with audible pops that made the others wince.
"Geezus, that was loud…" Kyoka winced, frowning up at the screen.
"But that sounded like it felt good, though," Kaminari said with a slight shrug, earning a glare from the punk rocker beside him.
"While I can agree with your statement, Kaminari," Shoji said suddenly, "For those with superior hearing, it's much louder and can reverberate within our heads."
"Oh… sorry." The electric-blonde student looked at both Kyoka and Shoji while rubbing the back of his head.
"You're fine, 'Jamming Whey"; just remember that sounds really screw us over sometimes, yeah?" Kyoka huffed.
"Unfortunately, I never got close enough to the head, so your theory falls a little flat." Izuku's gaze turned towards Yuga for a moment. "Hey, Aoyama, could you keep an eye on what the zero-pointer is doing while I heal Uraraka?"
The French-speaking boy blinked before pointing to the weapon holstered onto Izuku's back, and what he said next caused the other two room occupants to pale, "You mean using that mist that shot out of your gun sword at moi in the alleyway, monsieur?"
"YOU SHOT HIM?!" Both Ochako and Tenya shrieked or shouted aloud, causing Izuku to jump towards them and cover their mouths. Yuga, sensing that the shouts could alert the robot, dashed towards a window to see if it had.
"While the outburst was not really necessary in that situation… I agree with that being a pretty accurate response to that revelation." Tenya sighed softly, shaking his head at his counterpart's utter silliness. Uraraka's on-screen self he could forgive for the outburst, considering how she and his friend in the theater acted similar to one another despite the age gap, but Tenya had no such luxury, given his lineage.
"Will you two calm down?" Izuku hissed, hands over their mouths, "I didn't shoot him! I merely expelled the shell with one of my abilities called 'Aurora' to heal his stomach ache from quirk overuse." He slowly removed his hands, glaring at them sternly, then looked to Yuga, who gave them a thumbs up.
Izuku sighed gently, "Sorry to do that, but rather not have big and clunky find us."
"S-sorry for shouting, I was just scared since I saw you cause explosions with your… um…"
"Gunblade."
"Y-your gunblade…" Ochako stammered a little, still not liking the idea of the strange weapon being used to heal her. Izuku nodded gently but smirked, making her understand that even the boy knew how weird the weapon's name sounded.
"Yeah, that's a pretty normal reaction, but thankfully, I won't be healing you with 'Aurora'… not the best when compared to 'Clemency' anyway."
"At least that doesn't require a weapon to use." Momo sighed gently, getting a little frustrated that the 'kit' she had inadvertently unlocked was causing so many problems with its applications.
"Clemency?" Tenya, who had remained quiet up to this point, asked, but the random words the green-haired boy was spewing out were confusing him. Even Ochako looked a little lost and tilted her head in curiosity.
Izuku chuckled gently, backing up from them as, with a brilliant flash of light and sparkles, the trench coat-wearing boy now stood in the alabaster white with gold trim medieval knight armor, sword and shield in hand with the flowing green mane out of the back of the helmet. The others all gasped to see such a change occur, especially Yuga, whose eyes shot wide open, muttering a 'c'est magnifique' under his breath.
"It *is* magnifique!" Yuga praised from his seat, posing awkwardly in his chair, which thankfully didn't obscure Koda's vision, whom the French boy was sitting beside.
"It's still weird how his hair constantly changes between the two…" Sero snickered, "Granted, it's still keeping the general messiness that is Midoriya's hair."
"Imagine if one of his kit things just gave him straight hair?" Kaminari added with a grin on his face, "Like I couldn't see it myself since it's hard to see him with a hairstyle like that."
"Hey! Don't you dare think of imagining Midori's hair like that!" Mina cried out while looking at the two boys, "At least not until I learn his secrets!"
"Secrets?" Both boys answered with a confused look on their faces.
"Yes! Like how he keeps his hair so soft-looking and fluffy!" The pink woman exclaimed, pouting and glaring at Izuku (who was blushing deeply from the conversation since they weren't speaking as quietly as they thought) with a look of utter jealousy, with both Sero and Kaminari looking at one another and then shrugging.
Izuku slowly walked over to Ochako, who squeaked a little from the imposing-looking knight before her before reminding herself that it was Izuku under that helmet. The plate-covered boy raised his hands slightly, glowing for a few seconds before he clapped his hands together and spoke in a soft tone, "Clemency!"
A bright light shone down upon Ochako as if sunlight sneaking past some clouds with what looked like sparkling feathers descended upon her. It felt warm to her as she sighed in relief from not only the nauseous feeling in her stomach being lifted but also the pain from her swollen ankle, now reduced to practically nothing.
"There has to be a drawback," Izuku said aloud, his focus shifting from the screen to his notebook. He was scribbling note after note with intense focus. "He just can't keep doing that over and over again."
"Given how unusual his powers are, I'd imagine it would be hard to determine just how many times he does that." Todoroki spoke from Izuku's side, with his hand on his chin, "But you are correct; there has to be something there."
"Technically, there is." Grim spoke up from the back part of the theater and had everyone looking towards him, "Using his spells, no matter which kit he uses, requires him to use his 'aether' or 'mana' if it's to be put in the simplest of terms." The robed figure shrugged, "There is one of his future kits that is called 'Black Mage' that has such a heavy demand for the stuff and that if anyone that wasn't properly trained or didn't have the right amount of aether to use… well, they'd die."
Everyone froze at that little tidbit, and their eyes widened in horror as Ochako slowly raised her hand. "D-does that mean that Deku could die from casting any of his spells too many times?"
"Hmm? Aside from the Black Mage kit, the worst case for the other ones that use magic is that he'd faint and need time to rest. I mean, it's still dangerous, given how thin the aether is in that world compared to where the powers came from…" The weaver then looked to Midoriya, and they could hear the shit-eating grin in his voice. "But what's a little trip to the infirmary for Midoriya, right?"
"That's fair," Todoroki replied, nodding his head in full agreement with that assessment, though he clearly missed the look of pure betrayal coming from Izuku.
"WHA?!"
"Am I mistaken?" Shouto asked with a tilt of his head, looking over to his friend, still as dead-pan as ever, "At the beginning of our year, you were constantly in the infirmary due to the power of One for All, and despite you gaining mastery over it during the internships, you still ended up in the hospital with more grievous injuries than the rest of us."
Izuku struggled to respond to his friend, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to refute the claims made by the dual-quirked boy as well as the jab from their mysterious host. Hanging his head down and letting out a heavy sigh, he finally said something that the others around them could only find a little funny with how the two rivals were acting, "J-Just watch the movie, Todoroki… please?"
Izuku offered her a hand, which she took, and hoisted her up on her other foot as she used him to balance herself. Carefully, she placed her bare foot down onto Tenya's jacket to put a little pressure on it and see if Izuku's claims were valid. She beamed up at him with a smile when she let him go and stood by herself.
"That's amazing! How on earth did you do that?" Tenya said in awe, causing both of the teenagers to turn their heads toward him. Izuku rubbed the back of his helmet, and a metallic-sounding chuckle resonated from underneath it.
"It's… hard to explain, but like I offered Aoyama after this is all said and done, we can all hang out with my other friends, and I can hopefully give a proper explanation to how my quirk works."
'I wonder how long it would take for him to explain all of it?' Momo thought to herself, given the evidence from the previous showings, that Izuku could spend the entire day talking about quirks. While she had witnessed their Midoriya on a 'quirk rant' during their classes and the time they spent all studying together in the dorms, the heiress was keen just to see how far her green-headed classmate's own analytic skills were.
Yes, that was all it was, not to find out more about the boy himself, and she would continue to deny such thoughts otherwise.
Yuga spoke from the window, "To see such sparkling brilliance, to heal mademoiselle with such extravagance, Like a 'Paladin' one could find in the greatest of fairy tales!" The boy posed dramatically, causing all three to stare at him for a moment before Ochaco went for her discarded shoe and began to put it on.
"So, is that where the name came from?" Tsuyu asked, turning towards Grim, "Or is it just a coincidence, Kero?"
"Pure cosmic coincidence." The robed figure chuckled in response to the question, "The difference between your world's understanding of what a paladin is to what Eorzea's interpretation is that the paladins there were just the personal guards of the Ul'dah royalty, similar to the gunbreaker, but for a different kingdom."
"So, no religious connection, kero?"
"None whatsoever… honestly though, I feel like it cheapens them for being just some guards to an unneeded royal line." Grim sighed heavily as that had gotten some people's attention.
"Unneeded royal line?" Momo asked with the robed figure looking towards her.
"It's a lot to cover and go over, but basically… The Ul'dah royalty is simply a figurehead, where a council of powerful merchants controls the actual government…. So you can imagine how well THAT works."
Everyone looked uneasy about how Grim was speaking, so everyone decided to drop the subject and just focus on the scene on screen.
"Anyway…" Izuku said, turning back to Tenya and Ochako, "We should try to coordinate something. You two saw my quirk in action, and based on what I saw earlier, Aoyama can fire lasers out of his stomach. What are yours?"
But just as they were about to tell him what their quirks were, the buzzer went off throughout the arena, signaling the end of the exam. The ever-loud voice of Present Mic then followed afterward, "ALL RIGHT, LITTLE LISTENER'S! THE EXAM IS NOW OVER! JUST HEAD ON BACK TO THE MAIN ENT-" *ROOOOAR*
The entire class and teachers gasped when the machine hadn't shut down. It let out a thunderous roar and began its trek toward the source of the announcement, where many of the other participants were bound to be. Many of the students in the theater were growing more worried with every possible second.
Whatever the Pro Hero was going to say was quickly drowned out by the roar of the zero-pointer and the sounds of metallic claws and treads filling the air as it got closer to the building that the small group of teenagers was hiding in. However, Izuku was already out the door and charging the beast with his sword and shield. Another flash of light surrounded the boy before hurtling the shield at the monster's head and getting its attention on him.
Yuga, Ochako, and Tenya watched for a moment from the window as they saw their new comrade rush towards the malfunctioning robot. Then, they all looked at one another and nodded with determination, running out of the building and joining the fray.
The class cheered when they watched the counterparts of Midoriya, Uraraka, Ilda, and Aoyama rush to, at the very least, keep the machine horror at bay, watching in delight because they knew that the four could do it with teamwork.
Aizawa, on the other hand, was groaning low into his scarf, rubbing his temple at the headache beginning to form because, of course, the 'Problem Child' was leading his future classmates to danger.
[As this was going on, back in the Monitoring room…]
"Sir!" Power Loader shouted out to the dean. For the last five minutes, they had been focusing on trying to get some sort of control over the area B zero-pointer. While they were still able to see through the cameras around the area and within the robot's 'eyes,' any sort of control had died after the first initial roar.
Nezu looked to the support teacher, his usual smile now almost drawn to a straight line, which looked odd on the beast, "Yes, Power Loader?"
"I haven't gotten control back on the zero-pointer in B yet, but I was able to activate its kill switch when the exam buzzer goes off!"
"It's nice to see that we, as teachers, weren't just sitting around doing nothing," Toshinori said with a smile appearing on his skeletal features.
"I doubt we would have been; Majima would always get furious whenever someone had taken control of his robots." Nezu sagely nodded, resting his paws on his stomach as he reclined in his chair, "And while whatever they were going to do will fail, since we saw that happen already, the plan is quite sound."
The smile returned, a sigh of relief escaping from his lips as he took a sip of tea, "Ah, excellent; thankfully, it hasn't caused too much damage or hurt any of the applicants. How much time is left until the exam finishes?"
"Ten seconds… five… four… three… two… and killed!" Power Loader exclaimed as the signs of the robot slowly started to fade. The entire room collectively sighed now, if only to gasp in shock as the warning lights and sirens blared, and the "dead" robot sprung back to life and roared once again.
Nezu quickly pressed an intercom button in his chair. However, he had a calm tone of voice, and the seriousness to act was heavy within it, "Attention Staff, Code Omega! I repeat, Code Omega! Report to Area B and evacuate civilian's top priority." Taking a breath, watching most of the heroes save for Power Loader, who stayed behind as Nezu raised a paw to him, "All Might; Code Epsilon! I repeat, Code Epsilon, Area B!"
While the threat of the monster made the cheers for the upcoming presence of All Might to swoop in and save the day a bit muted, the class was still in high spirits, many of them trying to think of ways for the four soon-to-be students to hold off the malfunctioning zero pointer, debating with one another as the teachers and robed figure watched with smirks, both hidden and shown, to the ways their students were thinking.
One, however, was still lamenting everything that was happening. Bakugo was simply staring at the screen, just wishing he could leave this place and not watch this entire 'jerk-off session' to Deku and the extras. He even growled when the monitors were about to show how awesome he was before cutting back to the loser.
Even if he was going to be put into the general studies once they got back, he'd show them just how pathetic they were as well as just how wrong they were for taking him out of the hero course.
Letting go of the button, he turned his head towards Power Loader. "I need you here to keep trying to find out what is going on with that zero-pointer," the dean said in a nasty tone, which caused the teacher to flinch before going back to work. Nezu sighed as he watched the various screens of his university staff escorting the applicants away from the training areas, more so from the problem area.
"Sir! Some of the applicants are fighting the rogue zero-pointer!" Power Loader called out as he raised the viewing camera from the robot's head, only to see a shield hurtle towards it before returning to its owner. Nezu smiled at this while keeping his gaze upon the scene before him, paws resting in front of his mouth as he analyzed and thought of the events transpiring before him.
'It's good to see your heroic spirit is still there.'
That caught everyone's attention, as that stray thought of the on-screen Nezu confused the entire crowd within the theater, while Grim merely sat back and chuckled to himself. While it would be sometime before the truth of where Izuku's 'blessing' had come from, it was taking the entirety of Grim's being to hold back and just start yelling out all the upcoming surprises.
He just needed to be patient, and it would be worth it.
The zero-pointer's right arm crashed down, sending bits and pieces of debris towards Izuku, who dodged the blow before retaliating with a sword swing and an 'Atonement' back at it. He grunted in frustration as he watched both attacks not leave that much of a dent in the armor and thought to himself, 'What the hell did they make this thing out of?'.
"That's a… good point." Shoji looked back to the principal, "Sir, what kind of metals are made for the practice robots anyway?"
"Any of our testing robots have fragile sheets of metal plating, to be quite honest with you, Mr. Shoji," Nezu said while keeping his beady little gaze on the screen. "While it seems illogical, perhaps the malfunction of the zero-pointer has somehow improved its defenses."
"You could almost say it was like its outer shell was boosted as if by magic…" Grim spoke up and reclined further into his seat, cryptically giving away the reason for the machine's new durability.
"Wait, are you saying that magic is the reason for the robot going crazy?" Toru asked with a curious tone, as it was something none of the students had come up with as a possible reason for the zero pointer's actions.
"Oh, sure…" Grim shrugged, still watching the fight on the screen, "It could be something magical interfering with the robot… or someone."
Everyone's eyes went wide at that little tidbit, and seeing as Grim did not say anything more, everyone decided to return to watching the fight, confused and frightened about the implications of what the robed figure had spoken of.
His thoughts were interrupted as the robot roared and raised its left arm in an attempt to strike the "knight," only for it to recoil when a large piece of building debris nailed it in the side of its head. Izuku turned to his left to see Tenya and Ochako working together, the girl pressing her hands onto large pieces of building debris, causing it to float somewhat, and the boy picking them up and racing around at blinding speeds to various points around the zero-pointer and hurling them with Ochako shouting 'release,' causing the weight to return to make-shift ammunition and denting the metal shell of the robot and recoiling it a few times.
He did ask them what their quirks were, and he was always a fan of demonstrations over explanations.
A few cheers came from the students, watching as the counterparts to Uraraka and Iida were working so well together despite having just met only a few minutes prior. Even the two sitting in the audience were smiling brightly, with Ochako blushing some because of the praise she was getting, though the brunette couldn't help but look over to Izuku, who was furiously scribbling down what the two people were doing, already coming up with ways to help perhaps both her and Iida do the same in their world. Ochako blushed with a smile, a little giddy at the prospect of more training time with Izuku once they got back and looking forward to whatever he had planned.
She quickly dismissed the idea of her and Izuku going out for some mochi to celebrate after the training session to prevent her from feeling embarrassed about coming up with the idea.
He was lobbing his shield at the robot to once again keep its attention on him; a brilliant beam of light shot over Izuku's head and pierced through the robot's skirt. A call out of an outstanding and dazzling shot from behind him made Izuku turn his head for a brief moment toward Yuga.
The French student in the audience struck a pose once more, "Ah! It is sweet justice for someone as dazzling as moi to pierce the thicken hide of the monster!"
Even though said boy looked alright (and odd given that he was posed in another elaborate way), Izuku noticed that Yuga brought a hand to his midsection, and a visible wince twitched from his right eye.
"But still not one hundred percent there, however…" Tokoyami said, which deflated Yuga's spirits. Koda gently rubbed his flamboyant friend's back to comfort him.
'I had a feeling 'Aurora' wasn't going to be enough for his stomach, but having him fight the zero-pointer wasn't on the agenda.' Izuku thought as he dodged another ground smash from the robot's right arm, 'But, his shot did show that we can breach the armor… piercing strikes seem to do it. But nothing I can do as I am now or as a gunbreaker is going to help out here, dammit!'
"Aoyama!" Izuku shouted as he side-stepped past one of the boulders on the ground that had been launched at the zero-pointer. "How many shots do you think you have left?"
"A-about… two or three, monsieur!"
Izuku grunted in frustration as he brought his shield up to block some of the smaller pieces of debris that had flown off when another large boulder collided against the 'wings.' He knew the staff would send someone eventually. But, they were at least ten to twenty minutes out from the main building, and then for the heroes to try to locate them would take even more time. They needed firepower right now, and something that could pierce this thing's metal body and get into the inner workings, or it could damage the head and render it useless.
"You know, I know we have said it before, but seeing even Midoriya, though frustrated, still keeping a calm and cool head about this is really manly!" Kirishima exclaimed, raising his fist into the air before turning towards his classmate in the rows in front of him, "Not saying you aren't like that too, Midori-bro, but it's still awesome to see!"
"T-Thanks… Kirishima…" Izuku blushed once again before looking back to the screen, his mind racing to see how his counterpart was going to get everyone out of this safely. There were only so many things he could do, and with only the two kits available, even Izuku was starting to doubt their chances.
Izuku's thoughts kept racing as he dodged and weaved through the strikes of the zero-pointer, tossing his shield and slamming his sword hard against the shell of the hand and arms. He winced and brought his hand to his head. The pain he was all too familiar with pounded against his brain as the warmth of Hydaelyn washed over him. His head turned towards Yuga after he fired another laser over his head into the forearm of the beast's right side; his eyes under his helmet widened as he struck an epiphany; smiling, he turned his head back to the zero-pointer only to see the right arm closing in on him.
Cries of 'Look out!' and 'Watch it!' echoed out amongst the students, with Izuku looking on in horror as the giant metallic hand was coming down quickly towards his counterpart, though that was suddenly interrupted when he could feel two people cling to either side of him, stunning the boy as his gaze looked down to see both Ochako and Tsu of all people holding onto his arms tightly as if he would disappear as soon as the Midoriya on screen would be killed.
He didn't know if he should be happy, as they were concerned for his safety, try to comfort them as best as he could… or, you know… freak out and remain stiff as a board from the sudden contact of his two very beautiful female friends.
It was obvious what option he chose.
The three other applicants watched as a cloud of dust erupted from the slam of the strike, their breaths caught in their throats, seeing as there was no sign of Izuku. Just as they were about to call out his name in some vain hope, a bright sphere of light shot out of the dust cloud, impacting the chest of the zero-pointer, and exploded like a bomb of sparkles, only to be followed up by a bolt of lightning after it and striking the same spot.
As the dust settled, the three applicants and the two teaching staff watching from the cameras saw a most peculiar sight: in place of the knight who was there but a moment ago stood Izuku, wearing a deep red outfit that looked straight out of medieval France.
With a tight-fitting red coat with a large coattail that hung off his waist in the back, a green frilled ascot hung down the front with black leather gloves and thigh-high boots, all of which had accents of golden accessories to add to the flair of his attire. His green hair was tied back into a fluffy ponytail with a red tri-corner hat sitting upon his head, a large green feather sticking out of the side.
What was most curious was the oddly shaped rapier he held with his right hand, as where the blade and handguard had met, it dimmed a red color with strange markings along the side, which were a more pronounced reddish color. Floating above his left hand was an odd-looking gem housed in some sort of casing that looked right out of a museum. It glowed a deep red, similar to the markings on the blade. What was odder was that the gem seemed to follow almost entirely with any sort of movements the boy would do with his left hand.
Everyone gasped when the dust had cleared to reveal the new outfit and look for the latest 'kit' that the on-screen Izuku had adopted, with a flash of light above the screen catching their attention for a brief moment to reveal the sigil within one of the dimmed circles, an odd thing where it looked like a thin crescent moon with three spikes sticking on the left covered side with one massive point at the very top, and a sphere placed sight into center space of the moon. The words of the new kit soon shimmered into life, with a medallion suddenly being shot out to land right into the lap of one Yuga Aoyama.
Grim cackled lightly as he got out of his seat, his arms out into the air, and exclaimed, "Ladies, Gentlemen, and unknown creatures! I give you the 'RED MAGE'!"
Their focus on his new outfit was interrupted by another mighty roar of the zero-pointer, only to watch as Izuku, unphased by such, started to run up the arm. The zero-pointer raised its other arm and attempted to squash him. The hand came down, and the sound of metal on metal echoed out to cause those watching to wince from the auditory pain, though they could see the red-garbed boy reach out with his left hand with the gem, and his voice shouted, "CORPS-A-CORPS!"
A beam of light shot out instantly from the gem and reeled the boy forward, where it latched onto the beast's head. As quickly as it appeared, it blinked out of existence as Izuku pocketed the gem on his belt to his side to free up his hand and grab onto one of the edges. Izuku thrust the rapier into one of the beast's eyes, and the shattering of glass could be heard once he pulled it out.
Thrusting the rapier in again, he made quick motions with the weapon, which caused the beast to roar and bend its back up as if in pain.
"RIPOSTE! ZWERCHHAU! REDOUBLEMENT!"
Izuku cried out as he swiftly struck into the gaping hole he had made with the sword. The first strike was a simple few thrusts of the weapon, digging deep into the machine's innards. The second strike was a wide slashing of the letter "Z" across its face, opening it up more to the outside world. Finally, the sword was thrust deep in once more, but with a swirl of his wrist, ethereal-like points similar to his blade appeared and widened the hole even more.
There was complete silence as they watched the swordsman on-screen skillfully and expertly perform the moves with the sword. No words could really describe the swift and vicious movements of the so-called 'Red Mage' on screen, and many were looking on in awe at the way he shredded the monstrous robot with just a tiny, thin blade.
The zero-pointer was now trying to recover from the quick and brutal attacks, struggling to right itself as Izuku let go of his hold, backflipping off of the enormous beast with a tremendous leap, shouting, "DISENGAGEMENT!"
As he righted himself in mid-air, he swung his blade in a cross that hurled another bolt of light in the same cross action he had done. Landing on the ground with a short skid, Izuku lightly tossed the sword out of his hand and then retook it with a different holding position, the blade now pointed to the ground as he took the gem and swung his hand over the top of the butt of the rapier hilt, a 'click' was heard as the gem now attached to the pommel of the sword.
The zero-pointer finally recovered from the onslaught, but just before it could move, Izuku's voice rang out once again as the entire sword and gem began to glow a brilliant white: "VERHOLY!"
"T-That was magic!" cried out Tokoyami, "By all that is dark and unholy, that was REAL magic!" the bird-headed young man exclaimed aloud, which was very different from how he usually was, getting everyone's attention at first and the knowledge of what was just said processing in their minds.
"H-Holy crap!" Kaminari's shocked expression suddenly morphed into one of pure joy, "That's freaking awesome!"
The rest of the class cheered as they continued to watch the onslaught of whatever this new power was doing to the zero-pointer. All the while, Izuku snapped himself out of his 'freak out' to try and write into his notebook, but he couldn't since both of his friends were still clinging to him. "U-Um… Ochako… Ts-Tsu? Could you um…"
Both women turned their attention towards Izuku before looking down to see their current predicament and quickly moving off of him. Both said they were sorry, but all Izuku did was blush and smile back at them, "I-It's alright… it was an intense moment…"
While both Ochako and Tsuyu smiled back at him and nodded their heads, they suddenly felt a firm hand on each of their shoulders. As they both turned to look back to see the shit-eating grin on Mina's lips, both young women stiffened in fear of what the 'alien' woman had seen.
Spinning orbs of light appeared above the robot, descending quickly in a column-like rotation before striking the ground. A pillar of light bloomed out of the circle of orbs and reached over the top of the buildings around them as the right arm of the zero-pointer had been torn off from the impact of the ability.
Izuku grinned devilishly at the robot and raised the weapon in front of him, his left hand close to the gem as it began to glow brightly, "Time to say good night… SCORCH!"
Pulling his hand back as if the gem was something hot and untouchable, a sphere of glowing red with a circle vertical around it appeared in the hole that Izuku had made prior with his rapier strikes, and from it blossomed into a fanned-out windmill-like explosion, blowing the head clean off of the zero-pointer's body and tossing it into the building to its left side. The body sputtered and seized before slowly powering down in front of the red-clad boy as Tenya and Ochaco moved from the building they were located in towards Yuga, staring at Izuku.
Easing himself up, Izuku turned around, tossed the strange rapier and gem up, and spun it like a baton, performing a few tricks that ended with him adjusting the front lapels of his jacket like a showman before catching the weapon, separating the two in a spin of his body, and sheathing them to his belt. Izuku was panting and bowing to his friends, with only Yuga clapping at the performance.
While only one person was clapping for the boy on screen, the entire theater was whistling and cheering for the finishing flourish. Even Izuku couldn't help but clap excitedly for his counterpart's final move, truly loving just how impressive the 'Red Mage' kit was despite being more 'extravagant' than what he would normally be. The hero-in-training sighed softly, just accepting that some of these new powers were going to come with these changes in his personality…
He really hoped that none of them made him act villainous.
Izuku rose and began to walk towards them, a big smile on his face as sweat seemed to run slightly down his cheeks. Tenya was the first to reach him, followed by Ochaco and Yuga, "Mirdoriya, What on earth was that?! But more importantly, are you alright? We had thought you were crushed before you… changed into that rather garish garb!"
Izuku stumbled a little and looked at the blue-haired boy with a hurt look. "G-Garish? But performing such feats of agility and magic requires one to look good while doing it, right?"
"Not when they look like a mixture of a Christmas tree and a French Renaissance nobleman!" Tenya chopped the air before he stopped and raised an eyebrow at Izuku, "Wait, 'magic'?"
"Putting the 'magic' aside for a moment…" Iida spoke up, pushing his glasses up his nose, "My counterpart does make a good point, and no offense, Midoriya, but that outfit is rather… much…"
Izuku scratched his cheek slightly, chuckling nervously, "I… I can kind of see it myself a little bit."
"Oui, even moi must admit that that is a lot of rouge…" Yuga said, and he and everyone around him nodded in agreement with the class president's assessment.
Before any more questions could be asked or Izuku could even begin explaining what he had meant by 'magic,' a loud crash of something hitting the damaged road behind the other three with an ever-familiar shouting voice.
"HAVE NO FEAR! FOR I AM…. apparently too late?" All Might had begun to speak his catchphrase but then stopped to see the utterly destroyed zero-pointer down the street. His blue eyes looked to Izuku, who gave him a soft wave and a big grin, which was thankfully not seen as the others had looked away to the Pro Hero.
"I don't think that new catchphrase is going to work, sir!" Sero called out, and everyone, including All Might himself, laughed at the jab.
"Well! To see such heroic spirits in all of you! It makes this old hero's heart swell with pride!" he flexed as the applicants raced towards him, all in looks of pure awe from the presence of the number one hero. Ochacho had looked back to gush this to Izuku when she gasped in fright, getting the attention of those all around her.
"MIDORIYA!"
All eyes were now on the green-haired boy as his body shimmered lightly, sparkles disappearing around him as the red clothes he was wearing vanished off of him, revealing the workout clothes he had started with at the beginning of the exam with no weapons, rolling his eyes back and began to fall forward.
The laughter died when they saw Midoriya begin to fall forward and faint, clearly looking on in worry, before Grim's soft chuckle caught their attention once more, "See? Told you."
As if a dozen or so lightbulbs went off as the students remembered what the robed figure had explained to them about the strain magic would have on their green-haired classmate's counterpart, with many, including Izuku himself, sighing in relief.
A burst of wind whipped around the three other teenagers as the boy fell into the waiting arms of All Might. He shifted the boy lightly in his arms to free a hand to press against a communicator in his ear, "Sir, one of the students seems to have passed out for some reason- Yes, of course. I'll take him there once the others show up." He moved his hand down from the communicator and held the boy close as the others soon caught up to their fallen comrade.
Nezu sighed as he watched the events unfold on the large monitor before him, sipping his tea when he saw the heroes Midnight and Present Mic reach the small group by the zero-pointer's 'corpse' and All Might explaining to his colleagues before racing off with the passed-out Warrior of Light.
His attention turned towards Power Loader, who was grumbling words he knew the teacher would never repeat in his classroom. He cleared his throat to get the metal-headed man's attention, "Report."
"Damndest thing, no matter what system I check, everything just keeps reporting "ok" until the kid blew its fucking head off."
"Okay, hearing Power Loader swear is pretty funny, but saying that all the systems were coming back as if nothing was wrong is clearly not right." Sero spoke up and raised an eyebrow, "Even if someone had hacked it, there would still be signs of tampering, right?"
"Mr. Grim did mention it could be magic at work here, so the system wouldn't pick that up, I believe," Momo said, holding her chin by her fingers. She clearly thought over how that would work exactly using what knowledge she had of creating sophisticated electronics.
"Language."
"S-sorry sir…" Power Loader flinched slightly, "Anyway, once we get the pieces back, we can have a more thorough check of whatever made that thing go rogue." He finished as Nezu nodded to the teacher.
"Good, take it to our robotics hanger and wait for me there. I would also like to work on this. But I wish to see the rest of the applicants safely leave the grounds, and we take care of those who are injured first," Nezu said, then sipped his tea. Power Loader nodded and headed out of the monitoring room to await the furry dean at the mentioned hanger.
As the monitors continued to play and display the various staff members helping out evacuating the arenas and university grounds, Nezu sighed once more as he placed his cup on the saucer, "What is your take on it, Mog?"
Descending from the darkened rafters came the tiny Moogle as it floated beside Nezu, who was staring at the screens, "To be honest, kupo? Izuku did a great job taking out that big robot thing!" It exclaimed happily before floating towards one of the monitors, "But why was it starting to act like a beast? That is what confuses me, Kupo."
Seeing the return of the cute little creature made most of the girls coo at sight, with Toru and Mina being at the forefront of describing how adorable Mog, and Moogles in general, looked. The outlier was, of course, Kyoka, who, while she would admit they were cute, was groaning from how crazy it sent her two classmates and would just not shut up about the damn things.
"Indeed, and your assessment of our dear Warrior of Light is spot on. He acted how I expected him to." Nezu smiled brightly at this, though his beady eyes still watched the various monitors, "But, to think that a mere mock-up of 'The Tycoon', I had planned to see if the blessing of Hydaelyn would unlock more of his abilities with the casing change, but didn't expect the robot would come to life and act similarly to the original."
"Good thing it didn't have its weapons, kupo?"
"Indeed, I would rather not have Midoriya or any of the youngsters applying to our halls dealing with 'time manipulation'... at least not until their third year." He mused, much to the befuddled and worried look of the Moogle beside him.
That statement made everyone freeze on the spot, letting it sink in that the four students had been facing a somewhat 'handicapped' version of whatever this "Tycoon" was. Furthermore, it apparently had time-manipulating powers!?
Just what sort of world did this blessing come from?!
"In any case, I'd suggest you return to the boy's home for now and keep an eye out for anything suspicious... If you see anything, you know what to do."
Mog nodded and saluted, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Nezu sighed as he took one last sip of his tea and watched the clean-up crews start gathering the zero-pointer. He climbed down off his chair and proceeded to head to the hangar himself, all the while thinking dark thoughts.
'Is this a declaration of some sort… or someone playing a game that I have yet to have all the pieces to?.'
High above the mock cityscape and floating in the air, a dark-robed being smiles under his cowl after witnessing the battle that took place. A gentle chuckle soon escapes his lips as a chaotic-looking portal of darkness appears behind him.
"Three down... Fourteen to go…" is all he says before disappearing into the void.
As the screen went dark once more, ending the current viewing, one could hear a pin drop as slowly everyone turned their gazes towards Grim, who merely sighed once he got a look at the scared look coming from most of the students and the rather on-edge stares coming from the teachers, "BEFORE you say anything or accuse me of anything I have never done…"
The weaver got up from his seat and walked towards the screen, as it came back on to show the clearly plotting villain on the screen once more, "That is an 'Ascian', a powerful ancient being and an enemy of Hydaelyn who worships the god of darkness, Zodiark. They are schemers and often work through mortals to further their own goals."
"And what exactly are they plotting, and how are we involved?" Aizawa asked, still glaring at Grim, who sighed heavily and hung his head down.
"That would give away the plot of the story… Look, want to know what part of his plan is? Do you remember what the Asican said at the end?"
"Um… something about only needing fourteen more of something?" Kaminari said with a hand raised as Grim snapped his fingers at the blonde boy.
"Exactly! Now, he also mentioned that three things have already happened… now what could that mean?"
Everyone grew quiet, many of the students thinking hard about what Grim was talking about before a ribbit from Tsu halted their thoughts, "Kero, it's the kits! Midoriya already has unlocked three of them, and there are only fourteen more."
"Correct, Ms. Asui!" the robed figure said as he began to make his way towards the theater's exit. Now we have one more viewing before we take another break, and I send you guys back home to rest, recoup, and think about what we have seen so far. But I'm going to need to go get the other two viewers who have been watching this so far and join us down here!"
"And while I go and get them, I'll let you all ponder this image… Tell me, do you remember Dean Nezu mentioning how someone's heroic spirit was still there?" Grim looked back to the crowd, with some of them nodding their heads as the screen behind them flickered suddenly to a new image. Well, take a look at who he was referring to, and let that stew in your little minds for a hot minute!"
With that, Grim left and closed the theater doors behind him as everyone turned around and gasped to see the figure up on the screen.
Presented upon the viewing screen was a young man in heavy plate armor, wielding a sword and shield that the students and teachers would recognize as a 'Paladin' or wielded the abilities of one. But what was most shocking was the cat-like tail and ears that were a dark forest shade of green where the ears could be barely seen from the rather fluffy hairstyle the man had. Their eyes were cat-like as well but were as bright as emeralds with freckles littering on the upper part of their cheek, and their facial structure looked very eerily similar to that of one of the students.
Said student couldn't do much but gawk before blushing in embarrassment when two squeals from Mina and Toru could be heard. The invisible student cried out a statement that made the hero fanboy die a little inside.
"Oh my god! Midori is a cat boy!"