Chapter 34: The Day After the Storm
It was the early hours of the morning when Iida allowed himself to relax. He was in the makeshift shelter and field hospital that some heroes and emergency services had set up at some point during the night, after the Nomu creatures had been dealt with.
His brother had told him to relax and take a break despite his protests, reminding him that even the best heroes couldn't work forever. Wrong though it might feel, they couldn't always wait until an urgent situation was resolved before they stopped to take a breather.
It was a legitimate point, but he rather wished his brother hadn't made it. The adrenaline had very quickly left him the moment he'd allowed himself to relax, and he now felt dead on his feet.
Wandering over to a table with some refreshments, he grabbed a paper cup and began to fill it with lukewarm coffee from a large thermos. There was no cream or sugar to be found, but he was well past the point of caring about that.
He was taking a long pull from his cup when he belatedly noticed a figure in a scarlet hero costume nearby. "Yaoyorozu," he greeted her. "Hello. I'd forgotten you were in Hosu as well."
He immediately felt foolish about that, and admitting it, but the class rep responded with a tired smile. "I suppose it's easy to lose track of such things, given tonight."
"Indeed," he agreed.
They stood there in silence for a long moment that probably would've been awkward if they weren't both so exhausted and bleary.
"Is Kamui Woods nearby?" he asked eventually. "You were doing your work study with him, correct?"
"Yes, though we—Shiozaki and I—were separated from him early on. He gave us permission to use our Quirks to help civilians, so that's what we've been doing since then," she said. "Mostly."
Tired as he was, Iida still didn't miss that. "Mostly?"
"We were separated for a time, before later managing to regroup and resume our original mission. I may have…engaged a villain tonight as well," she admitted. "I expect Kamui Woods to reprimand me for it when I'm finally able to reunite with him, and I won't blame him for it. It was very reckless on my part, and as a UA student and the class rep, I shouldn't be doing anything so foolish." She was quick to add, no doubt anticipating criticism from him for her actions.
She looked so guilty that Iida felt bad over the impulse to scold her that he had indeed felt. "May I ask why you chose to do that?" he said instead.
"Shiozaki and I encountered the same Nomu that attacked the USJ," she explained. "It was clearly about to attack some civilians, and I thought I could stop it. I was incorrect. If Midoriya hadn't come to the city along with Majestic and realized I needed help when I made my location trackable to the class, I likely wouldn't be here right now."
Iida blinked. He hadn't seen the notification that Yaoyorozu had enabled GPS tracking on her phone until hours after she'd done it and then turned it off again, but even when he had noted it, it hadn't occurred to him that it might be a distress call on her part. He felt foolish for not having realized why she would have done that.
"And now I've opened up Midoriya to disciplinary actions for using his Quirk to save me," she added.
"I can't imagine Midoriya would regret it for a moment," Iida said.
She smiled weakly. "That is true."
The two of them were silent for another moment.
Iida was silent for a moment. "May I share a piece of my grandfather's wisdom with you?" he asked.
"Of course," Momo replied. "Your grandfather was the hero Idaten, correct?"
"Indeed. He was the founder of the 'family business' as it were," he said proudly. "He said that a hero has to want to save everyone to be good at their job, but also to be able to forgive himself for not being able to do so, to be good to himself. Or herself, of course." He added. "You may have been reckless in engaging the Nomu, especially without a license, but your reasons for doing so were righteous, and the fact that you weren't able to defeat it alone isn't shameful."
"Thank you, Iida," she nodded.
"I, for one, am still proud to have you and Midoriya as our class reps," he added.
"Thank you, Iida," she said again. "If you'll excuse me, I find Shiozaki. We agreed to continue helping civilians until sunrise unless Kamui Woods calls us back to his temporary agency here."
"Of course, don't let me keep you," he said crisply.
"What do you think, Kurogiri, not bad, huh?" Shigaraki asked smugly as he and the misty villain beheld the still burning fires in Hosu from the roof of a tall building.
"It certainly is a scene of chaos and destruction," Kurogiri said. "If that's what you were hoping for."
"Part one of the plan requires sending the stupid NPCs panicking, and it looks like the Nomu that Sensei provided were more than able to do that part," Shigaraki replied.
"I hope the cost was worth it," Kurogiri replied. "One of the Nomu was destroyed by Endeavor, while three more were apprehended, and the Anti-Symbol of Peace is missing. Even if we can eventually get them back, the doctor will not be pleased."
"He can be as unhappy as he likes. It's Sensei whose opinion matters, and he approved of this plan," Shigaraki retorted.
"True enough," Kurogiri said, knowing he could hardly argue that particular point.
"Now that the fun part of the plan's over, it's time for the part that determines whether it all matters, the influence check," Shigaraki said. "Our social media blitz should have already started hours ago, thanks to those black hat hackers that Sensei hired. We'll know by tomorrow whether or not people believe our claims about being the heirs to that arrogant dumbass Stain."
"Perhaps you'd best refrain from speaking of him like that," Kurogiri said. "If you should be recorded saying such things, this will all have been for nothing."
Shigaraki grunted, reluctantly agreeing without actually saying so.
"And if it works?" the misty villain asked.
The corners of Shigaraki's smile could just be seen around the severed hand he wore on his face. "Then we'll have claimed the followers of a zealot as our own," he said. "They'll make magnificent units, from cannon fodder to elites."
Despite his own villainous alignment, Kurogiri couldn't help but shiver slightly at the way Tomura spoke so casually of using other humans as disposable pawns. He didn't comment on it, however, knowing that All for One would approve of that wholeheartedly.
The two observed the burning city in silence for a few moments longer.
"The sun will be up soon," Shigaraki said eventually. "Let's get out of here."
"Yes," Kurogiri agreed, opening a portal back to the bar.
However, despite having been the one who said they should leave, Shigaraki lingered before fully walking through the portal, taking one last look at Hosu.
"Something wrong?" Kurogiri asked.
"Just savoring it," Shigaraki answered. "Thousands of stupid NPCs had their complacency shattered tonight by just a few Nomu. They remembered that heroes can't protect them every second. They remembered to fear people like me."
"An impressive achievement," Kurogiri allowed.
"Just think what we can do when we're further along," Shigaraki said, finally stepping through the portal entirely. "I can hardly wait for the next level."
"Heroes and emergency services continue their search and rescue efforts this morning, combing through the remains of the buildings that were destroyed in last night's villain attack at Hosu City. The mayor has released a statement that—"
Todoroki looked up as the television in the Chillblaine Agency's break room abruptly went dark, seeing Frosty, one of the agency's more senior sidekicks, holding the remote control.
"Worried about your friends?" the pro asked, smoothing down the puffy white coat he seemed to wear constantly.
"Not exactly," Todoroki replied quietly.
He knew that at least a few of his classmates were currently in Hosu, but while he didn't wish them ill, he also wasn't exactly concerned for them. He'd meant it when he'd said he wasn't at UA to make friends, after all.
No, he wasn't worried about his classmates, but that didn't mean he didn't care about the Hosu attack at all.
Creatures like the ones that had attacked the USJ had been there, meaning that group of villains had more of them, which in turn meant they were even more of a threat than Todoroki had previously believed.
It wasn't a given that the League and their mysterious abominations would come for his class; the villain leader at the USJ had made it clear his target was All Might. Yet after being dealt an embarrassing defeat before the number one hero had arrived, it was entirely possible they'd seek revenge against UA and its students.
Also, Endeavor had been at Hosu. In typical fashion, he and his agency had departed the city the moment it had ceased to be a counter-villain operation and become search and rescue, but he was still being lauded for incinerating one of the Nomu creatures.
It was just like the man: arrive, throw searing hot flames everywhere, claim credit, and leave everyone else to deal with the smoldering ruins he left in his wake.
I need to truly master my ice, he thought. I have to become strong enough to deal with this threat, and to surpass All Might…and him.
"You don't need to put on a strong face here, kid," Frosty's voice broke his train of thoughts. The sidekick clearly didn't believe him when he said he wasn't concerned about his fellow students. "You're allowed to be worried for your friends."
Todoroki just grunted noncommittally in response. It wasn't worth getting into an argument over.
"Anyway, you better go grab breakfast. Chillblaine will be wanting you for morning Quirk training," he said.
"Right," Todoroki agreed, getting up and heading for the door.
"And make sure to grab a cup of hot tea or something!" Frosty called after him. "You're going to be working with a lot of snow and ice today."
Todoroki made a wordless noise of agreement, not bothering to stop in his walk towards the agency's kitchen. He allowed the ghost of a smile to appear on his face at the sidekick's words. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
"So, you received a distress call from another member of your class who's also in Hosu and immediately rushed off to help her," Majestic said the next morning, after calm and some semblance of normality had finally started to return to the city. "You succeeded, but you needed to use your Quirk to do it. Is that about the long and short of it?"
"Yes, sir," Izuku responded.
He knew that this could have some very serious consequences for him, but he was still struggling not to smile as what had immediately become one of his most cherished memories played in his mind yet again.
"Thank you again, Midoriya. You were my hero tonight."
After ten years of having everyone treat his desire to become a pro hero as completely doomed and utterly foolhardy, having anyone unironically say he was their hero would've been a massive vindication of not just the dream he'd stubbornly refused to give up on but also Izuku himself.
That his dream girl was the one who'd said it to him made it at least ten times better.
Still, he knew how foolish it would be to show just how happy he was right then, so he made a point of keeping his expression serious, despite the dopey smile he likely would've been wearing otherwise.
Majestic sighed. "Officially, I'm very disappointed in you for taking off without informing anyone, and for violating the spirit of my instructions about not using your Quirk unless you had to, even if you could make an argument that you acted within the letter of what I told you to do," he said.
"I'm sorry, sir," Izuku said.
Majestic grunted. "In any case, I've already told the police that you had permission to use your Quirk—"
"You did?" Izuku blurted out. "But how did they know…?"
The pro hero snorted a laugh. "Midoriya, you created a twenty meter tall construct of Mt. Lady last night. Even in all the chaos, that was pretty hard to miss. And everyone knew who did it, considering you pulled the same trick in the UA Sports Festival."
"Oh," Izuku blushed. "Right."
"Anyway, as I was saying, I've already informed the police that I gave you permission to use your Quirk, so there won't be any legal repercussions for you over it," Majestic continued. "The two of you also probably saved a lot of lives by sending that creature into the stratosphere, so even if the authorities do issue some penalty to me over it, which I doubt, it'll be some symbolic slap on the wrist."
"Still, if you do get punished for it—"
"Then it's my responsibility to handle that, not yours, so don't even think of offering to pay if they hit me with a fine or something," Majestic cut him off.
"Uh, okay."
"Now, as for you…"
Izuku swallowed.
"Unofficially, I'm proud of you, Midoriya."
Izuku did a double take. "Huh?!"
Majestic finally allowed himself a smile. "Having the need to run off to help when someone's in trouble speaks of a heroic spirit, and by all indications you did a good job of saving your classmate while keeping property damage to a minimum," he said. "You do need to exercise restraint until you get your provisional license to avoid running afoul of laws against vigilantism, not to mention avoid biting off more than you can chew, but frankly I'd expect any hero worthy of the title to feel compelled to help, on a night like last night."
"I see," Izuku said carefully. He probably would've been ready to collapse from relief if he wasn't still riding the high from his encounter with Yaoyorozu last night.
"That said, no more field work for you, for the rest of your work study here. Instead, we're going to focus on Quirk training and agency operations. And lots of Eri-sitting duty for you, too," Majestic added. "I think you've had quite enough real world experience for the week, and I need to issue you a slap on the wrist, too, if only so I can assure UA and anyone else who might ask that I disciplined you for last night."
"That's more than fair, sir," Izuku was quick to agree, knowing how lightly he was getting off.
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Kannagi, kid?" Majestic grumbled good-naturedly.
"Sorry, sir. Um, I mean, Kannagi," Izuku quickly corrected himself.
The pro hero waved it off. "Don't worry about it, Midoriya," he said. "Now, let's get everyone back to the agency. We can rest up, you can show Eri you're back, and then Ms. Zee will find a nice stack of paperwork you can help her out with."
"So that's what happened, Nishiya," Momo said, finishing her explanation on her ill-advised encounter with the Nomu, having made a point of leaving nothing out. "I'll take full responsibility for my actions."
The wooden pro hero sighed. "You could've been very badly hurt last night, or worse. You realize that, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Momo said, keeping her hands behind her back.
Even though she dearly wanted a shower and a change of clothes after the long, chaotic night, the hero student was glad to still be in her costume. Despite how revealing it was, the crimson leotard felt like armor in this situation, or at least a reminder that she was a hero in training and not just some unruly student.
"I can hardly even imagine what it would be like to inform UA, let alone your family, that something awful had happened to you while your well-being was entrusted to me," the pro hero said.
Momo didn't respond to that.
"I also instructed you not to engage any villains unless they attacked you," Nishiya added.
"If I may," Shiozaki spoke up for the first time. "Your orders were not to engage any villains unless absolutely necessary. Yaoyorozu felt the situation, where the death of innocent civilians was imminent if we didn't intervene, qualified as such."
The wooden hero released a little chuckle at that. "I suppose I shouldn't have left any wiggle room in my instructions," he noted ruefully. "Though I can't imagine it would make a difference to a UA hero student. You're all eager to save the world and think you're invincible. I should know. It wasn't that long ago since I was a student."
"I don't think I'm invincible," Momo said softly. "Especially not after last night."
Nishiya tilted his head. "Then you're wiser than I was as a first year UA student, but I suppose you've seen a lot more action than I had when I was a first year hero student," he grunted. "Anyway, I'll level with you and admit I'm not going to throw the book at you over this. Frankly, even if I was inclined to punish you severely, the fact that you did indeed save lives yesterday with little to no harm done would make that difficult. People would be howling if it ever got out. And that's not even taking your connections into account."
By which he of course meant her wealthy parents, and probably All Might. Possibly even Midoriya.
"That being the case, I'm going to report the incident with the information that I gave you permission to use your Quirk, which means you won't be held liable for breaking any laws regarding unlicensed Quirk usage," Kamui Woods said.
"Thank you, sir," Momo said, shoulders relaxing as relief swept through her.
"Oh, don't thank me yet," the pro hero said. "Just because I'm ensuring there's no danger to your future prospects doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook completely," he turned to the other UA student. "Shiozaki, feel free to get something to eat, clean up, then catch some sleep. Come to the training room whenever you're ready."
"Yes, Nishiya," the vine-haired girl nodded, departing the room to do just that, no doubt.
"As for you, we're going to be doing combat exercises all day," the hero told Momo. "So let's get started."
"Yes, sir," Momo agreed.
She definitely wasn't looking forward to it after being up all night, but all things considered, she wasn't about to complain.
Chapter 35: Heading Home
"Good morning, Eri," Izuku said as cheerfully as possible as the little girl wandered into the kitchen of the Majestic agency building, her long white hair adorably mussed from sleep. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Yes, please," she said, eyes downcast and voice soft.
Izuku quickly grabbed a packet of instant oatmeal, making sure to get the apple cinnamon flavor. A couple minutes later, he was setting it down on the table and helping Eri into a chair.
She thanked him quietly then slowly began to eat.
Izuku allowed himself to drop the sunny expression on his face once Eri's attention was on her food. Today was the last day of his work study here, as well as the last day Eri could stay here, and the little girl was clearly miserable at the idea of being separated from him.
The good news was that a foster had come forward and volunteered to take Eri in, which was an immense relief to Izuku, who'd been dreading watching her be handed off to an uncaring agency that viewed her as more akin to unexploded ordnance than a child.
However, he doubted that it would make all that much difference to Eri at the moment. She was being pulled away from the one person who made her feel safe, and that was all that really mattered to her.
Izuku hated it. He hated that this little girl viewed him as the hero he'd always wanted to be, and he was leaving her.
Forcing back the tears that were threatening to come, he concentrated, an emerald hairbrush appearing in his hand. Standing behind Eri, he gently began to brush her messy hair.
"You know that we'll see each other again, right?" he said. "I'll come by whenever I can to help you practice your Quirk."
They'd made good progress on that front, considering that Kai had trained Eri to deeply fear her own Quirk, even if it wasn't enough to keep her out of a government facility for orphans with dangerous Quirks in the absence of a foster. She could mostly activate it when she wished, though she still became too panicked once it was going to stop it or control it without him comforting her.
Still, they'd learned a lot about it thanks to careful experimentation. It seemed that she had a stockpile Quirk, with her horn acting as a visual representation of how much energy she had for it. After her using it several times throughout the week when she wasn't accustomed to doing so at all if she could avoid it, her horn was tiny, and the risk of her Quirk triggering by accident was likely minimal, which was very good news for her future foster family.
Also, her Quirk apparently only worked on organic objects, reversing them to a previous state. She had turned a potted plant into a seed, then caused the seed to just vanish into nothingness, but it had no effect on rocks and other nonliving things.
It was amazing, but it also had some very unfortunate implications for the fate of her real parents, as well as why she feared her "curse" would make people disappear.
"When you get control of your Quirk, you'll be able to heal people who'd otherwise be beyond all help," he said. "Your power's a miracle, Eri, not a curse, and I'll help you practice it until you're able to use it properly."
"Thank you," she said, voice barely above a whisper.
Izuku felt his heart clench at that. It seemed like any other child in her place would cry or beg or at least ask if it was possible to stay with him, but Eri was so unaccustomed to having anyone care about her wants and needs that she didn't even bother trying.
Ms. Zee came into the room just as Eri was finishing up her oatmeal. "Your foster will be here soon, Eri," the pro said. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and ready?"
Eri nodded wordlessly, following the sidekick with all the pep and good cheer of someone off to attend a funeral.
Izuku sighed, cleaning out her now empty bowl before reluctantly making his way to the lobby where Eri would be handed off to her new foster family. As much as he didn't want to see the little girl be sad even more, he felt he needed to at least be there to say goodbye, and make sure he got the contact information of the foster family.
He was only waiting in the lobby for a few minutes before Ms. Zee appeared, holding Eri's hand. The little girl was in a bright pink dress with matching sneakers, looking no happier than she had before.
Izuku stood there awkwardly, wondering if he should try to reassure her again or if that would just have the opposite of the desired effect at this point.
Thankfully his moment of indecision was ended when the automatic doors to the agency slid open. "Hello," a very familiar voice addressed the person at the front desk. "I, um, have an appointment."
Izuku looked up, eyes widening with disbelief at who he saw. "Mom?!"
"Oh, Izuku!" Inko greeted as he jogged up to her. "I didn't notice you there! It's so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too, Mom," he replied, somewhat awkwardly hugging her. "But what are you doing here?"
The short woman blinked. "They didn't tell you?"
Ms. Zee chuckled. "Majestic insisted we keep it a secret," she said. "If it had been up to me, I would've told Eri, though, but I suppose it would've been a bit of a giveaway. In the boss's defense, we didn't get confirmation that the final paperwork was approved until Eri was asleep."
Izuku blinked, then looked at his mother questioningly.
Inko smiled. "When you told me about Eri and how attached she was to you, I started investigating whether I could get a permit to foster in time, and it turned out I could," she said.
"Does that mean…?" he breathed.
She nodded. "I can't be a hero like you, and I don't have any special insight into the pro hero business, but I do know how to be a mom," she said.
His lower lip trembled, and he probably would've burst into tears if not for Eri choosing that moment to speak up.
"Um, what's happening?" she asked quietly.
He quickly rubbed at his moist eyes and then turned to the little girl. "Eri, this is my mother. She's the one who volunteered to be your foster parent."
"So…So I don't…we're not going to…?" she seemed like she didn't quite dare speak her hope aloud, as if doing so could prevent it from coming true.
"You're going to come live with us, Eri," he said.
She gasped, then threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his leg in a tight hug.
Izuku smiled and gently stroked her hair before turning his gaze to his mother. "Thank you, Mom."
She smiled, her own eyes watery. "I failed to support you and your dream for so long, and now you have so many people who know more about being a hero than I do helping and teaching you, there's not many ways I can help," she said. "How could I ignore it when there is something I can do?" She smiled. "Though I can't take in every child you'll ever rescue, of course." She added with a touch of mirth.
He chuckled. "Hopefully I won't run into too many who need it."
Smiling, Inko turned to Eri, leaning down so she was eye level with the little girl. Given her own short stature, she didn't need to lean very far. "It's nice to meet you, Eri. Izuku's told me a lot about you," she said. "He needs to stay here a little bit longer before he's finished with his work study. Would you be okay with coming with me now? I can show you our apartment, where you'll be staying with us, and Izuku will be home later this evening."
Eri blinked at her, looking confused. "I…get to choose?" she asked, as though the notion was a foreign concept for her.
Inko nodded. "I'd like to take you to our apartment now so we can spend some time getting to know each other, and so I can make a nice dinner to welcome you to our home," she said. "But if you're too scared, I can wait here with you until Izuku's ready to leave."
The child still looked vaguely disbelieving of the idea that an adult would inconvenience herself in such a way simply to make her feel more comfortable. She looked to Izuku, who did his best to give her a reassuring smile.
Visibly gathering her courage, Eri turned back to Inko. "We can go now," she said softly.
Inko smiled at her. "That's very brave of you, Eri," she said, taking the white haired girl's hand in her own before turning to her son. "I'll see you at home tonight, Izuku."
He nodded. "See you later, Mom," he said. "And you, too, Eri."
"See you," she said softly, before allowing Inko to lead her off.
Ms. Zee approached Izuku once the two had exited the agency. "Feel good?" she asked.
He beamed. "Amazing!"
"Good," she nodded. "This profession can be rough, and a lot of times a job or a case doesn't have an ending that's so neat and happy. That makes it all the more important to treasure moments like these."
"I'll never forget this," Izuku said.
Ms. Zee nodded approvingly. "Good job, Green Lantern."
"I suppose this is farewell for now," Kamui Woods addressed the two UA students who stood before them. "I do regret that we were separated for the better part of a day."
"It's not your fault that villains attacked Hosu," Momo said.
"And we did gain some…real world experience," Shiozaki added.
Nishiya regarded Momo. "I know you still regret your recklessness in engaging the Nomu, and to an extent, you're correct to do so. However, while I can't officially commend you for it, the fact remains that there are civilians who got to go home to their families that night because you opted to step in. A true hero should always put that first," he said. "Hosu City and her people are better off because you two were here. Don't doubt that you were champions of justice that night!"
Despite her still lingering guilt, Momo had to hold back a small smirk. Overdramatic indeed…
Nishiya turned to address Shiozaki specifically. "I know you feel that you're significantly behind Yaoyorozu, but that's not the right way to measure yourself," he said. "You're stronger and more capable than you were a week ago, and that's enough, especially as early in your heroic education as you are."
The vine-haired young woman nodded. "Thank you."
He turned to Momo next. "Yaoyorozu, your potential is staggering, and I'm pleased I helped you realize some of it."
"Thank you, sir."
"Also, please give this to Midoriya for me," he said, handing her a small, colorful box.
She blinked. "A figurine of you?" she asked, looking through the little plastic window in it.
Kamui coughed awkwardly. "You mentioned he was quite the hero fan. I suppose it's presumptuous of me to give him a figure of myself, but of course I have access to the choicest pieces of my own merch," he explained. "That's one of the first action figures that was ever made of me, less than ten thousand were created. I also went ahead and signed the box for him."
Oh yes, he was definitely trying to mend whatever damage he'd done during his first meeting with Midoriya, she decided, making a mental note to see if she couldn't get the details of it from her friend at some point.
"I'm sure he'll love it," she said.
The wooden hero nodded. "Feel free to call on my agency if you need anything in the future," he said. "For now, have a safe trip back to UA."
"A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"
All Might, currently in his skinny form, coughed awkwardly into his fist as his smart phone drew every eye in the UA staff office to him. "Excuse me," he said bashfully, quickly stepping out of the conference room and the meeting in progress.
Withdrawing his phone, he winced at the name that was showing on the screen. Only the fact that it wasn't entirely a surprise prevented him from spraying blood in response.
"Hello, sir," he greeted. "It's good to hear from you."
"Hmph," Gran Torino's voice grunted. "If you really enjoyed speaking to me, you'd call once in a while instead of emailing."
All Might allowed himself a wince at the reproach. "I'm never sure when's a good time for you these days, what with, you know, the time differences," he said, the excuse sounding weak even to his ears. He decided to quickly move forward and hope his old teacher allowed the topic to drop. "How are you doing, anyway?"
"Can't find any decent taiyaki around here," Torino bellyached. "Still can't believe you left me here and went gallivanting back to Japan."
"I have obligations to the school," he replied, feeling more justified this time. "Besides, you know that people will start asking a lot of questions if All Might is missing from Japan for any extended time without explanation."
Torino grunted, which All Might knew was his way of conceding a point without actually admitting to it. "Anyway, that's not why I called," he said. "I saw the news regarding Hosu."
"So did I," All Might said grimly.
"More of the monstrous creatures that appeared to have multiple Quirks showing up…it's getting harder to hope that All for One isn't back," Torino said.
"That he could've survived after the wounds I gave him…I don't want to believe it," All Might said.
"Neither do I, but you've seen the way that group behind the attack, the League of Villains, is claiming to be the successor to that vigilante Stain?" Torino asked.
"Of course," All Might replied. "You see his handiwork in that?"
"Don't you?" the older man asked.
All Might didn't reply, mostly because he didn't want to say yes but couldn't truthfully say no.
"All for One's a lot of things, but he's a thief first and foremost," Torino said. "Stealing a dead man's street cred is absolutely something he would do."
"I can't say you're wrong," All Might admitted reluctantly.
"This attack, plus the claim that they're carrying on Stain's work will be like a beacon to everyone out there who has a grudge against the hero system," Torino said grimly. "Even if we were sure All for One was dead and gone, it would still be concerning. As it is, I think we need to assume he's pulling the strings from behind the scenes."
All Might sighed. "I was so sure I'd ended him," he said. "I…I just wish this next generation didn't have to worry about him."
Torino snorted. "Wish in one hand…"
"Yes, yes," All Might hastily agreed, not needing a lecture, or to hear the second part of that phrase, for that matter.
"If we're very lucky, I'm just getting paranoid in my old age, but we've never been that lucky before," Torino said.
All Might smiled grimly at the bit of dark humor. "You're not wrong."
"Well, no good wishing we could change the past," Torino grunted. "All we can do is try to prepare the kids to deal with the future. Same as it ever was for old men like us."
"I fear these young people may face things we never even could've dreamed of," All Might remarked.
Torino snorted. "As much as it seems like the world's always changing at breakneck speed, the fact is that when you get down to it, there's nothing new under the sun, or at least there hasn't been since Quirks came about," he said. "Anyone who thinks the challenges he's facing are unique is just flattering themselves."
"I'm sure that's been true for a long time, but, well, let's just say I recently found out the world is a lot bigger than I'd ever had reason to believe," All Might replied.
He could practically hear his old teacher narrowing his eyes. "Do you know something, Toshinori?"
"Yes," All Might answered at once. "But it's not my secret to tell, and nothing may come of it, anyway."
"Hmph, fine then," Torino grunted, well used to the idea that there were sometimes secrets in the heroics industry that couldn't be shared freely. "But it doesn't change our jobs, Toshinori."
"You're correct, of course," All Might said, then sighed. "I never imagined it would be quite so difficult to accept that I need to hand off the baton. How did you deal with it, sir?"
Torino chortled. "When I figure that out, Toshinori, I'll let you know."
All Might allowed himself a chuckle, though he couldn't help but feel a little more grim. Gran Torino might be old, but he was still spry enough that he could come out of retirement, even if he had to keep his heroic activities limited. He knew that once his time was done, he wouldn't have that option.
"Fair enough, sir," he said. "Fair enough."
"What is this thing exactly?" Kaminari asked as he looked at the gadget that Midoriya was attaching to his forearm.
It was the first day of school following the work studies, and the blond boy had expected the time before classes started to be all about people swapping stories of their exploits during the past week. He hadn't expected the class reps to immediately approach him to talk about his Quirk and his gear.
"It's a support item…sort of," Midoriya chirped. "Yaomomo made it using her Quirk."
He blinked. "You made this for me?" he asked the raven-haired girl.
"We're hoping to do something like this for every other member of the class, or at least those we believe would want it," Yaoyorozu explained.
Kaminari nodded. He'd never had a class rep who was quite so active before, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised about it from any UA student engaged enough to actually get the job. "So, what's this thing do?" he asked, examining the device on his arm.
"It's essentially a wrist mounted taser," Yaoyorozu answered. "When triggered, it will fire a pair of metal darts attached to some steel wire."
"But unlike a regular taser, it's powered by your Quirk instead of a battery," Midoriya added excitedly. "With something like this, you'd have a ranged attack that you could use without needing to unleash all your electricity and suffer from Quirk backlash!"
It was a really nice way of describing how stupid and dopey he'd get after overusing his Quirk, Kaminari decided. "Whoa, awesome," he breathed.
"Keep in mind that you cannot use this in combat, or even training," Yaoyorozu warned him. "Even aside from all the regulations surrounding support gear, there's no safety mechanism on this to ensure it doesn't transmit a lethal amount of power. You absolutely could kill someone if you're not careful with this."
Kaminari suddenly felt very nervous about having the thing on his arm. "So, uh, if I can't use it, then why are you giving it to me?"
"It's a proof of concept device," Midoriya explained. "You can try it out on some training dummies, and if it works, then you can go down to the support department and they can make you one you can actually use."
"Oh, I get it," he said, looking down at the gadget.
"How does it feel?" Yaoyorozu asked. "If it's too uncomfortable or unwieldy, I can make another one."
"Nah, it's fine," Kaminari said, moving his arm around. It wasn't perfect by any means, but for some test shots it would do just fine. "Thanks a lot! This is really cool of you!"
Yaoyorozu smiled. "Just doing our duty as class reps. Besides, this was Midoriya's idea."
"You were the one who actually made it, and you were the one who decided we should do this," the green-haired boy replied. "Oh, this is also for you." He added, handing Kaminari a small notebook.
"What is it?" he asked.
"An analysis of your Quirk and some suggestions about how to use it," Midoriya said, looking bashful. "Um, sorry in advance if it's inaccurate or anything."
"Oh, thanks, man," Kaminari said, not noticing the chiding look that Yaoyorozu gave Midoriya. "I'll take a look at it after school. You two are awesome."
By this time, more students had arrived, and the classroom was buzzing with the conversations he'd been expecting.
"Honestly, bro, I don't know why you're so bent out of shape about your work study," Kirishima was saying to Bakugo as the two of them entered the classroom, the blonde looking even more surly than usual. "It sounds like you had a pretty good experience with X-Less."
"Somebody's just pissy that the highest rated hero who offered him a work study was in the top 500, instead of the top five," Sero said under his breath but still quite loud enough to be heard.
"Shut the hell up, dumbass!" Bakugo barked. "That weakass, no-name hero couldn't teach me shit if his life depended on it!"
"Not exactly disproving the theory, dude," Kaminari remarked, getting up and walking over toward Bakugo.
"Fuck off," Bakugo snapped before stomping over to his desk.
"You grew up with him, right?" Yaoyorozu whispered to Izuku. "Has he ever been happy?"
"Of course," Izuku said. Then he paused. "Well, sort of."
"Oh wow! You actually worked to stop foreign smugglers? That's so cool!" Ashido's sudden exclamation filled the classroom as she, Asui, and Jiro traded stories.
"That's pretty hardcore," Jiro agreed. "I was just doing evacuation procedures and logistical support, no fighting. I was fine with it, though."
"That's still really amazing!" Ashido said.
"Thanks, I guess," Jiro replied.
"Sounds like a lot of you saw some real action," Kaminari remarked. "But I can't imagine it holds a candle to what the people who were in Hosu saw." He added, turning to look at Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Izuku.
"It was a very long and chaotic night, and there were some…close calls," Yaoyorozu said.
"It is true?" Asui asked. "Did you really run into the same monster from the USJ attack while you were there?"
"Yes," Yaoyorozu answered. "I tried to stop it with Midnight's gas again, but it didn't work. Midoriya had to come to my rescue."
"I couldn't have defeated it without your help," Izuku was quick to put in.
Ashido sighed like she was reading a romance manga. "You two are such an awesome battle couple! I'm jealous!"
The raven-haired girl gave her a flat look. "Really?"
Ashido just grinned impishly back at her.
Yaoyorozu shook her head and turned her attention back to the general group. "It was a harrowing experience, but I don't think that's the most important thing I'm taking away from last week."
"I must agree," Iida nodded. "I don't want to discount the significance of being there during the attack, but my time learning under my brother was more valuable to me."
"Yeah, I'm really glad I was able to help Yaomomo, but it's not like nothing else important happened over my work study," Izuku agreed.
"Oh? What else happened with you, Midori?" Uraraka asked.
"Um, well, I kind of captured a yakuza boss and saved a child, who's sort of my little sister now," Izuku said.
He wanted to smack himself a moment later, because did that ever get nearly everyone's attention solely focused on him in a hurry.
"You…want to give us the long version of that, Green?" Jiro asked, blinking.
Knowing he had no way of getting out of it, Izuku haltingly explained about the chance meeting with the yakuza boss and the results of that, nearly everyone save Yaoyorozu, who he'd already told about the story via text, and Kacchan drawing close to hear about it.
"That was so cool of your mom to take Eri in!" exclaimed Tooru, who'd entered the classroom just as he'd gotten past the actual encounter with the crime boss.
Uraraka nodded in agreement. "The thought of saving a child from a villain only to have to send her someplace she wouldn't be properly cared for is horrible!"
"Yes, it's very heartwarming that you were able to avoid that," Ashido said, borderline dismissive. "Do you have pics of the kiddo?" She demanded.
"Hm? Oh, sure," Izuku said, taking out his phone and pulling up a picture of Eri in a red and pink dress. "This is at the mall after we got her some new clothes..."
"I swear, I legit don't know whether Midoriya's a secret playboy genius when it comes to the ladies or, like, some sort of idiot savant," Kaminari remarked to Mineta as the two observed the girls in class clustered around the green-haired young man, most of them squealing and cooing at the photos of Eri he was showing them.
"The guy got Yaoyorozu, does it really matter?" Mineta asked, looking at the scene with a mixture of envy and admiration.
"I still don't believe that," was Kaminari's blunt reply.
Then he happened to look over just as the raven-haired girl decided to look over Midoriya's shoulder at one of the pictures he was showing, placing a hand on his back and smiling softly at him as she did.
"Though I'm less skeptical now than I was before," he admitted.
"Oh, I just remembered…" Mineta said, reaching into his backpack and withdrawing a small box.
To Kaminari's surprise, the shorter boy walked right up to Midoriya. "Hey, man, Mt. Lady asked me to give this to you."
The box contained a figurine of the size-changing heroine, but the whole thing was varying shades of green from top to bottom, even the skin and hair.
"What's this?" Midoriya blinked.
"It's her new 'Green Lady' figure. Apparently a ton people wanted merch like this after you made constructs of her during the festival, so she had them made up as soon as she could and started selling them," Mineta explained. "When she found out I was in the same class as you, she asked me to give you this. She told me to say she hopes there's no hard feelings over the incident with the ooze guy, whatever that means."
"Whoa, that's so cool!" Midoriya exclaimed as he examined the box eagerly. "I can't believe I actually inspired a piece of real hero merch! Is there some way I can contact her? I want to at least send her a thank you note!"
Kaminari just shook his head as he watched the green-haired guy gush over the figurine.
"Amazing," he remarked to Mineta after the shorter boy disengaged from Midoriya and came back over to his seat. "The guy's literally surrounded by hotties, and he's focusing on a toy."
"He still got Yaoyorozu. He must be doing something right," Mineta said. "And anyway, he's really lucky that those green Mt. Lady figures exist."
"Huh?"
"From what I heard while I was working for her, she was going to see if she could sue him over using her likeness at the festival, but when she got back to her agency, people were already asking where they could buy merch of green-her," Mineta explained. "If she hadn't realized she could make a mint thanks to Midoriya, she probably would have sued him, or at least tried."
Kaminari blinked. "Mt. Lady sounds savage, man."
Mineta shivered. "You don't know the half of it!"
Chapter 36: School and Space
Class 1-A's first day back following their work studies continued, with their "mundane" classes coming and going, eventually yielding to the lunch period and then their hero class. Soon the students themselves at the edge of field gamma, all of them clad in their costumes.
"Welcome back, zygotes!" All Might greeted the class in his usual booming voice. "I hope you all learned a lot since we last saw each other! Today, we've come to an area that's modeled after your typical heavy industrial zone for rescue training. I'm going to break you into groups of five, then send up a distress signal from somewhere in the city. It's a race to see who can reach me and 'rescue' me first! Do you all understand?"
There was a smattering of questions, especially about why field gamma had been chosen over the USJ, but once that was done, All Might announced that the first group would consist of Midoriya, Ojiro, Iida, Ashido, and Sero.
"Looks like All Might put all the class's mobility experts onto one team," Hagakure remarked as the group got into position.
"So it seems," Momo agreed. "Who do you suppose will take second place?"
"I'd say Sero's going to take second," Kirishima said.
"This training ground really favors him, but I wouldn't count Ojiro out," Kaminari put in.
"Ashido's reflexes are nuts! I think she'll take second!" Mineta added.
"And you're not just rooting for her because she's the only girl in this group?" Kaminari asked knowingly, getting some very loud objections from the purple hero student.
"Given his speed, I think Iida's most likely to get second," Uraraka added, ignoring the bickering of the two boys.
"Guys! Just because we all know that Midoriya's gonna win, doesn't mean you need to say so!" Ashido said, stamping her foot.
"Never mind any of that now," All Might chided. The number one hero had already made his way into the cluster of factory buildings and was communicating to the class via a walkie talkie. "Get on your marks!"
"Yes, sir," Ashido said, getting into position.
"And start!"
The quintet of students in group one immediately sprang into motion, using their respective Quirks to propel themselves towards their goal as quickly as possible. No one was surprised to see Midoriya shoot into the air, his form haloed with green light, and easily take the lead.
"Man, being able to fly is seriously OP," Kaminari remarked.
"Seems like the school might agree with you," Sato said. "Look." He pointed into the air, where four objects, too distant to look like anything other than black dots, were approaching the airborne hero student.
"What are those?" Uraraka asked, squinting.
Momo quickly created a pair of binoculars. "Some sort of quadcopter drones. They look to be armed in some fashion, as well."
"Guess UA doesn't want Midoriya just running away with this like he did with the obstacle race during the festival," Kirishima said.
The raven-haired girl scoffed. "If that's the case, they should've thrown much more than that at him."
Uraraka smirked. "My, you seem to have a lot of faith in Midori there."
A lifetime of practice at having to keep her composure in high society allowed Momo to school her features. "You saw his power at the sports festival with the rest of us."
As if to punctuate her statement, there was a series of brief green flashes from the sky, and suddenly the shattered remains of the drones were falling from the sky. Midoriya hadn't even needed to slow down.
"So OP," Kaminari sighed.
"Manly!" Kirishima clenched a hand into a fist.
To the surprise of no one, Midoriya easily claimed first place after that, followed by Sero, Iida, Ojiro, and a frustrated Mina.
"Well done, students!" All Might said. "Though Midoriya may have taken first place, I see that most of you have figured out new ways to utilize your abilities since starting school! Now, group two, get ready!"
Group two consisted of Asui, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Yaoyorozu. All Might instructed them to get into position and wait until he was able to find a new spot and order them to begin.
"This group has a lot of people with Quirks that can help with mobility, too, really," Kaminari remarked as they waited.
"It's cool All Might didn't just group us together randomly," Mineta said. "I'd hate to finish ten minutes after the guy who gets first because I got put into a group with someone like Midoriya."
"Who do you think is going to take this one?" Sero asked.
"Asui's the most able to bounce and sling her way around like you did," Sato said. "And Bakugo can just propel himself with his explosions."
"The others would need to get more creative with their Quirks, but I wouldn't be surprised if any of them managed to pull off the win," Shoji put in.
For his own part, Izuku kept silent as he watched. Yaoyorozu had told him all about her training with Kamui Woods, and he felt sure that she'd put it to good use here, but he knew by now that confidently proclaiming that the class rep was going to win would immediately invoke teasing from Ashido and probably Tooru as well.
"And…start!" All Might's voice crackled from the walkie talkie.
Immediately, the air was filled with the sounds of explosions as Kacchan went rocketing forwards, eager as ever to prove himself the best. The explosive blonde took an early lead.
Only to release a wordless yell of fury and surprise as Yaoyorozu easily passed him, using her "tape-slinging" to rapidly swing herself from building to building as she made her way to All Might.
"Whoa, look at Yaomomo go!" Tooru exclaimed, the movements of her gloves showing that she was waving her arms in excitement.
"It's just like what she was did at the festival with the destroyed zero pointers, except…more!" Ashido exclaimed.
"Check out those moves!" Mineta said as the Creation user ran along the wall of one of the buildings, a strand of tape stuck to a large pipe above keeping her from falling.
Izuku grinned proudly as he watched his friend completely blow the rest of the class's minds and leave the other members of her group in the dust. He'd seen Yaoyorozu do this sort of thing before, but before Hosu she'd done it only in instances when she'd known he was right there to catch her if she went falling towards the ground. Clearly, thanks to her time with Kamui Woods, she felt like she could do this without that safety net any longer.
"Oh man, she's better at that than I am," Sero griped good naturedly.
"Her Quirk gives her ways of correcting and altering her course that you don't have," Izuku pointed out, hoping to soothe the tape-user.
"Her performance is most impressive," Iida remarked as Yaoyorozu neared the spot where All Might was waiting. "But that method of fast travel appears quite dangerous. She seems to have too much altitude already…"
"Iida, don't jinx her!" Ashido scolded him.
"Too late!" Tooru exclaimed, pointing. "She's gonna fall!"
The raven-haired young woman had reached the apex of one of her swings, taking her directly above All Might's location, but there was nowhere else for her to shoot out a new strand of tape nearby. She hung suspended in midair for the briefest of moments, then went falling toward the ground.
Izuku tensed but resisted the urge to go flying off to catch her before she could hit the ground. Barely.
Those watching could just see her create something from her torso and fling it downwards. The object released a loud "fwoomp!" sound, expanding to easily ten times its original size almost instantly.
"Huh," Todoroki grunted. "An air cushion. Clever."
Landing safely on her self-made cushion, Yaoyorozu quickly sprang to her feet and easily claimed first place more than a minute before a seething Kacchan caught up.
"Yes!" Izuku exclaimed softly, pumping a fist.
Ashido's yellow and black eyes lit up. "Oh, what's this now?"
"Nothing!" he squeaked, face turning bright red.
"Man, Midoriya, for a guy with such a powerful Quirk, you sure go to pieces from a little teasing," Kaminari chortled as the students of 1-A changed from their hero costumes back to their school uniforms at their respective lockers. "I didn't even know it was possible for a human to turn that color, at least without a Quirk being involved."
"Leave him be," Iida scolded the electric boy. "Mocking a fellow student is most unbecoming!"
"Just having a little fun, chill out," Kaminari said, not much chastised. "Besides, I'm sure our vice rep can stand up for himself."
Still, he relented, much to Izuku's relief.
His cheeks still felt warm from Ashido's barrage of teasing and insinuation earlier. He wondered if his feelings for Yaoyorozu were that obvious, or if the acid girl just pounced at any hint of romance occurring.
"Hey, guys, I just made an amazing discovery!" Mineta abruptly exclaimed. "Look over here!"
He pointed toward a section of the wall that had previously been covered by a small poster, the darker shade of the paint beneath it indicating it had been there for quite some time.
Sato frowned. "Is that…?"
"Yes, it is!" the short boy said jubilantly. "A hole in the wall! Our predecessors must've worked real hard to make it! And you know what's on the other side of this room, right? The girls' locker room!"
"Our predecessors? So, does this mean that, like, Kamui Woods peeped on Mt. Lady?" Ojiro asked, frowning.
"Mt. Lady didn't go to UA," Izuku muttered. "So that specifically couldn't have happened, but…"
He left it unsaid that it was possible that former hero students, who were now pros they admired, might have done such a thing. Several of the guys present traded uncomfortable looks.
Even Kaminari was swayed. "Dude, I get the temptation, but I don't think we should do this."
"Fine, be a bunch of cowards!" Mineta snapped, as though the rest of the guys were betraying him somehow. "I'm looking!"
An emerald hand suddenly appeared and slapped itself over the hole just before Mineta could put his eye to it.
"No, you're not," Izuku said.
Most of the students present blinked at the unyielding steel in the normally nervous boy's voice. Koda even took a step backwards away from him.
Somehow, Mineta was the only one who didn't notice the dramatic shift in the freckled young man's demeanor.
"Oh, c'mon man!" he whined. "Just because you get to see Yaoyorozu's booborozus all the time is no reason to be blocking the rest of us!"
Izuku recoiled. "You…what…I didn't…I don't even…!" he sputtered, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wrong that the purple boy had managed to cram into a single sentence.
"I think you may have broken him," Sero remarked, lips curling up into the start of a smirk.
Then the jade hand that had been covering the hole in the wall shot out and grabbed Mineta, easily wrapping around the pint-sized hero student and lifting him into the air so he was eye-level with Izuku. Mineta's head was the only part of his body that wasn't enclosed in the emerald mitt.
"Don't ever let me catch you talking about her like that again, or looking through that hole," he said. "And for the record, I haven't seen Yaoyorozu naked. I wouldn't want to see anything she doesn't want to show me. Maybe if you showed the girls a little respect, they'd stop thinking of you as a pest."
The locker room was pin drop silent.
"Damn, son," Sero muttered, looking shocked and not a little awed.
"Manly," Kirishima whispered.
"Guess we know how to trigger alpha-mode Midoriya now," Kaminari said, even more quietly.
Even Kacchan, who'd been stonily ignoring the whole exchange, quirked an eyebrow with something that looked suspiciously like respect, though Izuku didn't even notice, and in any case he would've denied it to his dying day if the green-haired boy had.
Iida coughed. "Midoriya, while I agree Mineta's actions were reprehensible, you really shouldn't be using your Quirk on a fellow student outside a training exercise. As the vice rep, you're setting a bad example," he chided, though there was no real heat behind it.
"Yeah, you're right," Izuku allowed, gently setting Mineta on the floor and dismissing his construct.
The purple boy scowled up at Izuku, clearly unrepentant. The green-haired young man gave him an unimpressed look in return. "And before you complain how I took a golden opportunity away from you, maybe remember that one of the girls has a hearing Quirk, and you practically shouted about that hole," he pointed out. "I don't think you would've gotten more than a poke in the eye."
Mineta looked crestfallen at that.
"You been eating a lot of red meat lately, Midoriya?" Kaminari asked.
Green eyes blinked in confusion. "No, why?"
And just like that, the spell was broken. Izuku, suddenly giving off no more intensity than normal, walked over to his locker to finish changing.
Kaminari waited until he'd gone to make his way over to Mineta. "He seemed pretty insistent that he's never seen Yaoyorozu like that before," he said. "Still think they're doing it?"
"Maybe not," Mineta grumbled, still put out about the encounter. "But do you still think they're not even dating?"
Kaminari had no answer to that.
"Well, that happened," Asui spoke in her usual flat tone.
Jirou had taken note of what was happening on the other side of the wall as soon as Mineta had noticed the hole, and as Midoriya had expected, had indeed been ready to jam one of her jacks into the diminutive boy's eye if he'd actually tried to peek on them.
It hadn't been long until the other girls had noticed how much attention Jirou had been paying to a wall, and by that point the conversation had grown loud enough that it didn't take a hearing Quirk to listen to so long as they stayed reasonably quiet.
"Good to know Mineta's the only total creep over there. I really wasn't sure about Kaminari for a while there," Jirou remarked. "We should still cover up that hole, though."
"Let me finish changing, and I'll create some plaster for it," Momo said, getting a nod of thanks from the shorter girl.
"Okay, not gonna lie, Midoriya never really did it for me before," Tooru remarked, "but just now…?" she made a show of fanning herself with one gloved hand.
"Honestly, same," Ashido agreed, looking more than a little surprised. "Are we the only ones?"
God no, Momo thought, then felt a brief spike of horror, fearing she might have said that aloud. Thankfully, she hadn't picked up her friend's habit, judging by the lack of response from the other girls present.
"Oh, careful there, Yaomomo," Uraraka said with a grin. "You may lose Midoriya to someone else at this rate."
Jirou scoffed. "Like that would ever happen."
"You two…" Momo tried to scold them, but it was difficult to properly chastise her classmates with the feeling of heat rising in her face.
"Honestly, it was good of Midoriya to do that, but considering all the guys are training to be heroes, it would be pretty bad if nobody stopped Mineta," Asui pointed out.
"Girl's got a point," Jirou nodded. "Heroes are supposed to step up when something bad is going down, after all."
There were murmurs of agreement from the others, and the moment was allowed to pass.
Momo was relieved that Asui's remark had caused the others to forget about teasing her further, but the incident stuck with her, especially Uraraka's words.
Would some of the other girls really start pursuing Midoriya?
Izuku was still feeling irritated over the encounter in the locker room when he was leaving UA, despite his best efforts to calm down. He knew that he'd gotten everything out of the confrontation that he was going to, because getting Mineta to truly feel sorry for his behavior was clearly beyond even the powers of a Green Lantern ring. Holding onto his irritation would only serve to disrupt his focus.
Every time he thought he felt his anger ebbing, though, he thought about what Mineta had said and it came rushing back.
"Incoming message from Oa," the ring whispered into his mind.
He ducked into a nearby alleyway and allowed the ring to shimmer into visibility, hoping this meant what he thought it did.
"Lantern 2814 here," he said.
A small hologram of Salakk appeared in the air above his ring. "Greetings, Lantern Midoriya," he said. "I have a new assignment for you."
He tried not to show just how relieved and happy he was about that. "Tell me the details, please."
It was a good day to be a mercenary, Flicker mused as he sat in the captain's chair of the Headhunter, which was currently speeding away from the planet M'Brai at a continuously increasing rate.
"Captain, the natives have launched vessels from the planet and they're moving to pursue," a member of the bridge crew reported.
Flicker snorted, the flames that rested upon the top of his head crackling, as though expressing his amusement along with the rest of him. "Can they hope to catch up to us?"
"Not at their current rate of acceleration."
"As expected," Flicker said smugly. He was quite certain the pursuing craft were already redlining their engines, given what the Headhunter was carrying, and couldn't speed up any further. "What's the final count?"
"According to the ship's computer, there are currently 10,643 members of the native intelligent species of M'Brai in the cargo hold," another member of the crew answered him.
"Excellent," the captain said. "We'll be paid well for them. They'll make fine slaves."
The crew exchanged smiles, already dreaming of the payday they'd be seeing in the future, even if they knew the captain would claim the biggest share of the profits.
Just then, the sensor officer's terminal beeped in warning. "Captain, I'm detecting a powerful, unknown energy signature, and it's closing on us rapidly!"
"What?" Flicker hissed, his burning hair rising higher. "Don't tell me those primitives actually have something that can catch up to us?"
"Negative, captain! Whatever it is, it just entered the system from the outside. It didn't launch from the planet!"
The mercenary captain frowned in confusion. "Who the hell would come rushing in to rescue these people?" he wondered aloud, bewildered.
"Captain! The unknown contact is broadcasting a message on all frequencies! Audio only!" the comms officer spoke up.
He scowled. "Play it."
"Attention, marauder vessel, this is the Green Lantern of this sector. The Corps has evidence that you've engaged in slave trading and has ordered your arrest. Surrender peacefully, and you will be shown leniency. Failure to comply will result in—"
Flicker gestured sharply to the comms officer, who mercifully got the message and stopped playing the broadcast.
"Tactical, fire everything you've got on the Green Lantern the moment he's in range!" he barked. "Helm, take us to hyperspeed the instant you're able to!"
"Aye, Captain, but even if we ignore all safety protocols, it'll still be several minutes before we can make the jump," the helmsman reported, even as the Headhunter's laser cannons and meson blasters fired, turning the space outside the ship into a spectacular lightshow.
"Target remains," the weapons officer moaned. "No apparent damage done."
Flicker couldn't say he was truly surprised. Even when in the hands of a mewling rookie Lantern, Oan technology was still some of the most powerful in the known universe. None of the weapons on the Headhunter could plausibly overcome a Green Lantern power ring, barring a lapse of focus or will from its user.
Damn, and here he'd felt so safe in assuming the Green Lantern Corps would be too preoccupied with their rainbow pissing match with the other ringslingers to bother with him!
The bridge's main viewer was suddenly filled with overwhelming green light, the radiance blinding until the computer automatically turned down the brightness, and the ship shuddered violently. Flicker could tell just from the feel of the floor beneath his feet that they weren't at the same rate of acceleration they had been a moment ago.
"Damage report!" he snapped.
"All weapons offline! Engines are completely disabled! We're dead in space!" a panicked sounding junior member of the crew squawked.
The slaver cursed darkly. Still, he wasn't ready to surrender yet, not when he had one last card to play.
"Prime the charges on the airlocks in the cargo hold," he ordered. "We'll turn this into a hostage situation. Let's see what the glow bug does when over ten thousand lives hang in the—!"
He got no further before the ship rocked around them again, even more violently than before. Flicker was nearly thrown from the captain's chair, and several members of the crew did go crashing to the floor.
"Now what?!" he growled.
"Uh, captain, you probably need to see this," one of the crew said, tapping at his terminal. The image on the bridge's main viewer suddenly changed.
Flicker's eyes widened. An emerald construct of an enormous female of some humanoid species was floating in space, clad in a spacesuit. The helmet of the suit had horns for some reason. And in the construct's massive hands sat…
"Is that the cargo hold?" he muttered at the sight of large metallic object in the construct's grip, which was cocooned in jade energy.
The cargo hold was a modular section, made to be added when they needed more space and removed when the Headhunter needed more maneuverability and speed. That meant it was relatively easy to remove, compared to other parts of the ship.
He still never would've expected it to be just ripped off by a huge hologram, though!
Holding the cargo hold in one hand, the construct raised its free hand and held up two fingers so they formed a "V" shape, then turned and began to fly toward M'bari, the actual Green Lantern trailing behind.
There was dead silence on the bridge for several seconds, until the comm officer's terminal released a loud beep.
"The Green Lantern just sent a message, Captain. It reads, 'Sit tight. I'll be back to take you to the Sciencells later.' Message ends."
Flicker sighed heavily, fiery hair sputtering. "How long to repair the engines?"
"Without a drydock, we can't, Captain."
"Well…damn."