Chapter 51: Queen in Black
"This place has everything!!"
"Midoriya, we are not even through customs yet."
"That makes it even better, Iida! Look! They really do use KX-series security robots here! They're rumored to have disintegration rays that can reduce you to dust in seconds! …I'm gonna touch it!"
"Okay!" Ochako tugs Izuku harshly back, keeping him with their friend group as they make their way through I-Island's airport terminal. "How about you stick with us, okay Deku?"
"Ochakoooooo," the demigod whines in a way unfitting to his stature as he is unceremoniously pulled by his cloak through the terminal. "This might be my only chance to see one in person! At least let me take a picture with it!"
"Will you touch it, mister?"
"Nope! Trickster's honor!"
"…Will you poke it with one of your daggers?"
Denki doubles over in laughter at Izuku's 'caught red-handed' face, the green-haired boy pulling himself out of his girlfriend's grip to walk on his own two feet, and hopefully save some dignity.
It doesn't work but they humor him anyway.
All Might and the group of nine UA students, Izuku's usual squad plus Tokage and Shinso, have to split off into smaller groups when they get to customs. Everyone's wearing their hero costumes, except for Shinso, due to him not being in the hero course.
For some reason, Shinso was not as enthusiastic as Izuku when he suggested using his powers to create the other boy a hero costume to walk around in. The brainwasher clarified he only wanted to wear one when he had earned it by joining the hero course.
So, Izuku let the matter go for now. But eventually, Shinso would need a costume. And what better way to find out what fits best on him than Izuku's powers?
He steps on the conveyor belt with Tenko and All Might, their teacher 'volunteering' to chaperone their group to the island. Which was really more of an excuse for All Might to stick with his successor and not raise suspicion.
If Tsu's prolonged staring at the number one hero and Tenko, before she left with Ochako and Tokage, was any indication, All Might may have to try harder to hide his connection to the decay user.
But those are worries for future Izuku! Present Izuku is too busy having the time of his life soaking in as much as he can!
How could a place be everything Izuku dreamed of when he hadn't even officially seen any of it yet?! There are no windows, but if going through customs to enter I-Island is as streamlined and advanced as the rest of the island, Izuku doesn't think his anticipation is unwarranted.
All that is required of every visitor is to ride the short conveyor belt and wait to be scanned.
And oh, did he mention all the heroes waiting on the belts around him?! He's torn between wanting all their autographs and interrupting their trip, because it isn't just normal heroes, but international heroes!
Big Red Dot, a hero from Singapore, is scanned by the system, a holographic placard appearing after to display his information. The lights on his belt blink green. Ding! "You are clear to enter!"
And so, it continues!
Clair Voyance, a hero from Otheon!
Ding! "You are clear to enter!"
Pankration, a hero from Greece!
Ding! "You are clear to enter!"
Salaam, a hero from Egypt!
Alert! Alert! "You have been randomly selected for additional screening!"
"Of course I have…"
Izuku, Tenko, and All Might are all easily cleared, exiting the terminal, and if Izuku was impressed by just the inside of the airport, the outside blows him away. A large futuristic city with pavilions and attractions as far as he can see and somehow, still with tastefully placed open areas of nature. He could get used to this.
"I might never leave…" Izuku says in awe.
Even Tenko seems lost for words. "This is quite the sandbox…"
Fireworks sound off, a waterfall forms the word 'Welcome!' in the distance before splashing a gaggle of giggling children. Drones fly through the sky, greeting people. A music hall proudly displays a banner for 'Rogers: The Musical' near them. And-
Wait.
One of the drones flies up to them, and due to him being overwhelmed by all the island had to offer, Izuku's brain had completely skipped over what he was seeing. The robot is humanoid, with sleek red, white, and blue armor, and repulsors coming from its hands and feet.
"It's…it's a…" Izuku begs his brain to form words.
"Hello, and welcome to I-Island on behalf of Stark Industries."
"IT'S A MODEL 3 IRON LEGION DRONE!!" Izuku screeches, scrambling up to the robot, stopping just before he touches it. "I-I never thought I'd see one in person! I mean, Tenko are you seeing this?! They are some of the most advanced autonomous robots in the world! And it's just here, greeting us like we're important!"
The drone lands as Tenko walks up next to him. "And we have NPC's to interact with? Not bad. Hey!" He waves to the drone. "You got any quests for us?" Tenko jokes.
The drone acknowledges him with a beep. "Be sure to visit the Stark Industries Pavilion for this year's theme, Armors of History, where many of the most famous suits worn by the famous Iron Man will be on display. Don't forget to try our flight simulator and join us every other hour for the Iron Legion's 'Shoot to Thrill' Air Show."
"You guys will know where to find me, bye!" Izuku waves, with even Tenko looking like he wanted to join him but stopping himself for some reason. Two giant hands find their way onto each of their shoulders.
"Now, now boys. All in good time. First, we need to find your friends and then claim our luggage at the hotel. Once that's done, we can enjoy all the expo has to offer."
The drone beeps again, eyes glowing for a second. "Scan complete. Izuku Midoriya and Tenko Shimura acknowledged." It beeps again. "Stark Tech detected." Tenko rubs his arm nervously. "Tenko Shimura, registered user, reacquisition not required. Welcome user. Please be aware that the Stark Pavilion is offering diagnostic checks of users free of charge."
Another beep. "All Might acknowledged. Professional Hero. Country of origin: Japan. Rank Number: One."
"Did that thing say All Might?!"
"All Might's here?!"
"Oh my god, I love you!!"
Even the people flying remote control orbs in the sky are caught up at the sight of the hero.
"Dude! Did you see that?! All Might's here!"
"Wha- oh, sorry no. I was sleeping."
"But you were driving!"
As a crowd very quickly begins to form and prepares to rush the small group, the Iron Legion Drone turns to All Might. "I am at your service if you require, sir. I come with several forms of crowd control for you to choose from. Concussive and flash grenades, and rubber as well as lethal bullets should your life be in danger. Tear gas has consistently proven to be-"
"No, no! Thank you but that's quite alright!"
Tenko leans close to Izuku as All Might waves the drone off. "We need one of those things the next time the school is surrounded by reporters." Izuku feels like the right thing to do would be to reprimand his friend, Iida probably would, but he snickers at the joke instead.
Whispering a command to the drone, it flies away from Izuku just as the crowd converges on All Might. "HAHA, it's wonderful to see you all! Just form a line in an orderly fashion and I promise to sign all your autographs!"
Before they can reach him, Izuku creates a bright flash with his powers, blinding the crowd. When they can see again, All Might is gone, replaced by a life-size cardboard cutout.
"Look, there he goes!" Izuku yells, pointing to the number one hero as he jumps away in the distance. The ravenous fans are quick to follow, not realizing they're chasing the Iron Legion drone that Izuku made to look like his favorite hero.
When all the people disperse, Izuku snaps his fingers, turning the cutout back into the real All Might. "I must admit, I can honestly say I've never escaped a mob like that before. Thank you, but that was unneeded, young Midoriya. I never mind entertaining my fans!"
"You're running out of time as it is," Izuku shrugs. "And you said you wanted to go to the hotel before visiting a friend, yeah?"
"I suppose…I still feel guilty though. Perhaps I should hold a fan event later to make up for it…"
The sound of something streaking in the sky towards the group shakes the symbol of peace from his thoughts. Whatever it is, it's fast, and all Izuku can catch is the shape of a person as it leaps off whatever it's flying on to-
"Uncle Might!!"
"Melissa!" All Might shouts in surprise and glee, catching a girl close to Izuku's age in his hands easily. "It's been too long! Look how much you've grown!" All Might laughs, spinning himself and Melissa around.
"Uncle Miiiight, you say that every time!"
"Because it's true!"
The pair laugh together a little more, before All Might puts the girl down carefully. "Boys, let me introduce you to the daughter of that friend of mine, Melissa Shield! Melissa, this is Tenko Shimura and Izuku Midoriya." All Might points to each boy as he introduces them. "Hero course students from UA."
"Hey," Tenko greets like a normal person.
Izuku, on the other hand, is far from it, staring at Melissa with stars in his eyes. "Melissa Shield?! As in David Shield?!! The famous-"
Izuku's mouth is quickly covered by All Might. "Apologies. He can be a little excitable-"
One of Izuku's clones appears next to the hero with a pop! "The famous scientist?! With hundreds of patented-" All Might smacks the clone away, dissolving it.
Only for another to appear. Pop! "Inventions?! The same David Shield that-" Smack!
Pop! "Designed all of All Might's costumes?! The only one-" Smack!
Pop! "That could make material able to withstand his power! Along with inventing the-" Smack!
Pop! "All-Mobile! Is it here?! Can we take a ride in it?! Even better, can I drive it-" Smack!
"This is the greatest game of whack-of-mole I've ever seen," Tenko chuckles, watching on with amusement.
Izuku eventually runs out of clones, calming himself down with the help of All Might. "Sorry," he apologizes sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "It's nice to meet you."
Melissa waves him off with ease. "You're good, it happens all the time! I just can't believe I'm meeting actual hero students!" The blonde girl says excitedly, fixing her glasses. She wears some sort of purple and green armored flight suit that travels up both her arms and legs and up to her neck. There's a belt with all sorts of gadgets on her hip, including what looks like some sort of device that had been collapsed, and a cylinder shaped pack on her back.
That's a lot of tech and looks like a pretty heavy duty suit. Why would she need- Izuku catches sight of what Melissa rode to get to them, his jaw dropping as the device hovers near them. "Shield? I-is that…"
"Please, call me Melissa, and yes!" She walks over, slapping the glider. "It's a Goblin Glider! A rocket-propelled aircraft once used by the villain Green Goblin back in the day. We've obviously upgraded it since the old days, but Oscorp wanted to prove that these babies could be used by more than supervillains, and I-island was more than happy to volunteer."
"That is the coolest thing ever!!" Izuku practically teleports to the glider, stopping just short of touching it before getting a nod of approval from Melissa. He slowly puts his hand on the aircraft, exhaling when his skin makes contact. "This is amazing, I never thought I'd see one in real life."
"I thought the same thing!!" Melissa matches his enthusiasm, putting her hand on the glider as well. "It was so advanced for its time, and now little old me gets to work on one! We've already figured out how to more than double their top speed! It can go over 322 kilometers per hour! No one should be on it when they go that fast, but what Papa doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Melissa…"
"You didn't hear that from me, Uncle Might!"
"How do you not fall off?!" Izuku asks, walking around the flying machine in awe, barely stopping himself from jumping on.
"My boots lock into the stirrups of the glider with electromagnetics!" Melissa lifts her leg for emphasis, revealing the underside of her shoe. "From there, it's mostly controlling my balance and weight!"
"But there's so much more to it than that, right?!" Izuku gestures wildly.
"Well, yeah!" Melissa almost seems offended that Izuku would think that's all there was to the glider. "I have radio-linked controls integrated into different parts of my suit, so I can use the computer on my arm to control the speed and weapons system! It even has voice control!"
"No way!"
"Way!!"
Neither notice All Might and Tenko sweatdropping behind them.
"Speaking of suits, can I?" Melissa moves in closer to Izuku and Tenko before either boy can answer, blue eyes studying Tenko intensely. "Your costume looks casual from the outside, with all the advanced tech hidden, good for catching villains off-guard. Stark tech, huh? I can't do much better. Wait, are those contacts in your eyes?! Are those some sort of display system?!"
Again, he can't answer before Melissa moves to Izuku. But that may be partly due to his red face at how close the girl got to him. A phenomenon that finds its way to Izuku as Melissa gets in his personal space as well, looking over his costume.
"Your costume is somehow both subtle and full of showmanship at the same time. Not sure of the material, but it seems to provide a lot of protection, at least physically. But there really isn't any tech here?" Melissa questions, looking up at him while very close to his face.
"I-I don't really need it…"
"Is that right?" She lifts his arm to study his shoulders and the armor there. "So, this provides you protection from everything you need?"
"Yeah- w-well except fire. That still really hurts me-"
Melissa snaps his arm down, smiling brightly. "There it is! Whatever stuff this is made of, it's strong. We shouldn't have a problem running some sort of cooling system through your suit to keep your body temperature down. In fact!-"
She gets behind him, lifting his cloak. "We could probably make this whole thing fire-retardant. That way, you can just wrap it around yourself, or anyone you're trying to save, and keep them shielded from heat!"
Izuku snaps back to reality. "Wait, you can do that?!"
"Yeah!" The inventor drags Tenko back over next to Izuku, directing her next comment to him. "And while your suit doesn't need much, we can probably replace some of the material with other stuff that's lighter and offers better protection!"
"So, a buff to my speed and defense stats with no penalties?!"
"Awesome!" Izuku agrees for both of them. "How much would it cost? And can I throw in a little extra to ride on the glider? Pleeeease?"
"If you don't mind…" Tenko coughs into his hand. "I wouldn't mind going to fly on one of those either…"
"How much? Please, It's no charge," Melissa answers, still laughing at the notion that they thought they needed to pay. "All I ask is that you remember who gave you all those amazing upgrades when you need more!"
Bunching up the two boys so she could examine them both closely at the same time, which included running her hands across their bodies to see how thick the material was in certain places, Melissa asks, "So, the glider should be able to hold all of us, but it wouldn't be very comfortable. It's probably best I go with one person at a time."
"Ahem."
"Ribbit."
Tenko jumps while Izuku quickly glances over at the new arrivals. "Hi, Ochako!" He turns back to Melissa. "The glider could really hold that many people?"
"Yup!" Melissa puts Izuku's arms up and starts poking at his ribs. "We've gotten it to hold almost 455 kilograms of weight! And even at max capacity, it could still fly for over two and half hours!"
"I call first! Me!"
"Okay!" Melissa laughs into her arm. "If that's okay between you two, you can go first, Midoriya. It'd probably be best if you got behind me during the flight, not sure I could do it the other way. But make sure to hang on! I'm not gonna go easy on you while you're back there; you're gonna be in for a rough ride!"
"Please!" Izuku chortles good-naturedly. "If you're trying to get out of it, it's not gonna work! We've been through a lot this year so I think I can handle riding with you-"
"Ahem."
"Oh, sorry Ochako!" Izuku spins around, putting his hands behind his back. "Got kinda lost there talking about the glider. Everything go okay with customs?" He inquires, his voice so innocent it's clear he has no idea how what he was just saying could be taken.
Melissa turns around as well, smiling warmly. "Oh, hello! I'm sorry about that as well! Technology is one of my biggest passions so it's easy to lose where I am sometimes. I'm Melissa Shield, it's great to meet you all!" Like Izuku, it's clear she has no idea what she just said.
In front of them, most of the rest of their friends stand in disbelief over what just happened. Iida's jaw works itself open and closed, no words escaping. Todoroki looks indifferent. Shinso has a look that asks 'is this normal?' Denki and Tokage fall over themselves laughing. Tsu gives nothing away as usual, but her eyes do flicker quickly between Tenko and Melissa. And Ochako, well, looks upset?
Izuku can practically see the tick marks above her twitching eyebrow and puffed-out cheeks. Honestly, the only thing he can compare her look to is when someone takes the last piece of mochi, but it's never been this intense.
Denki and Tokage hug each other, burying their faces into each other's neck to stifle their laughter. "She's- she's gonna float that poor girl to space," Tokage puffs out, so only Denki can hear her.
"Please no one explain to Izuku what's going on," Denki breathes back.
Shinso leans over to Todoroki. "So neither of them really realize how that sounded?"
"How what sounded?"
While Izuku and Melissa look around confused, All Might groans silently behind them. It was going to be a long trip.
"You're sure you're okay to keep using One for All?"
Toshinori looks up from his open luggage at his successor. The pair currently stand in the hero's hotel room, with Tenko's being just next door. Toshinori had wanted to freshen up briefly before going to visit David, and the other kids had agreed to do the same before exploring some of what the island had to offer.
Of course, that was only after making sure young Uraraka wasn't going to do anything rash about her new boyfriend. All Might chuckles a bit to himself. He had hoped Melissa would make a good impression with the UA students. He loves his niece, but her schooling and hobbies made it so she rarely had any meaningful conversations with peers. And it appears she still has some social cues to learn.
But that barely seemed to stop her as the blonde raced to each member of the hero course, analyzing their costumes and making suggestions for alterations. Young Shinso had seemed apprehensive at telling the young lady his quirk when she asked, but when he eventually did, the look on his face when Melissa sketched him a rough idea for a costume in a minute was priceless.
"Yes, I still have plenty of time left for the day," Toshinori answers Tenko's question about his quirk usage. "As guilty as I feel for young Midoriya sending those fans away, it did save me excess time. On top of that, David knows about…this." He uses both hands to gesture weakly to himself.
"Okay…" Tenko shifts on his feet uncomfortably, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, his luggage in hand, while Toshinori waits patiently.
"And you're sure you don't need me to come with you, just in case? I don't mind standing there while you and your friend talk about when windows were invented or whatever old people do." Toshinori grimaces at the comment. "Plus I got my phone or my Switch to keep entertained anyway."
"I appreciate the offer, but no, my boy." All Might leans back, feeling the satisfaction of a few joints popping. "Go out with your friends! Enjoy the island! Have fun! You've earned it!"
Toshinori isn't the smartest hero, Gran Torino would be the first to tell you that, but he'd like to think he was far from dumb. He had chosen his words deliberately because he knew exactly what was bothering young Tenko, and his wincing at the hero's final sentence was proof.
Sighing, he walks over and sits on the large bed, positioning himself in front of Tenko. "I suppose our brief talk after your exams wasn't enough to put those feelings away." Toshinori leans forward, putting his hands together. "Your wanting to come be with the old people is because you feel you don't deserve to have fun with your friends, isn't it?"
Another wince before Tenko shrugs, keeping his head down.
"You passed your exams fair and square, the same as the rest of your classmates," Toshinori points out. "Well, as fair as it gets when young Midoriya begins doing what he always does."
"But I didn't." Tenko shakes his head. "Almost everyone else helped capture their teachers. I didn't do anything to help beat you besides watch. Why should I get to have fun when I didn't do anything?"
Tenko extends his hand, letting small strands of Blackwhip swirl around his fingers. "I still don't have complete control of this, not to mention not knowing why One for All won't buff my strength stat yet. We're on an island that lets me use my quirk all I want, I should be training. Especially since…" All Might doesn't miss how the boy rubs his fingers. "One for All is all I can rely on."
The two sit in silence for almost a full minute, Toshinori processing everything, before he eventually exhales. Okay, one thing at a time. "Tell me something. You believe you should've failed the exam?"
Tenko nods sadly.
"Then young Kaminari should have failed as well?"
"What? No!" That gets the decay user to look up. "Yeah, he didn't have any captures, but he had a ton of assists! And those points add up."
"And you didn't?"
"That's different."
Toshinori tilts his head. "How so?"
"He doesn't have the legacy of an ancient quirk to uphold."
"Maybe not," Toshinori admits. "But I'm willing to bet that being the son of the literal God of Thunder comes with its own challenges and pressures." Tenko pauses at the words. "I know young Tensei has spoken to you about it, but maybe this will help you realize there are people who have some idea of what you're going through. You just need to talk to them instead of burying yourself in training."
"How do you know that's what I'm supposed to do?"
"Because it's the opposite of what I did." Tenko guffaws at All Might's words, causing the old hero to laugh. "It's true. I thought I had to do everything all alone, so I spent all my time training."
"But you became the symbol of peace that way?"
"I did. And I should've never let it get that far." At Tenko's completely befuddled look, All Might quickly continues. "I mean, I should've never let it get to the point where I became the country's one symbol. Here." He pulls up an article on his phone and hands it to Tenko. "I'm sure you heard about this."
The blue-haired boy takes the device. "Star and Stripe becoming a member of the Avengers? Yeah, I remember reading about this, why?"
"She contacted me for advice after receiving her invitation." Tenko's eyes widen at Toshinori's words. "Star told me she was unsure because, as flattering as the offer was, she always saw herself following in my footsteps. Sound familiar?" He winks at Tenko.
"So, I'll tell you what I told her. Don't be me. Be better. Learn from my mistakes. Take a break every now and then, and get down from your pedestal. Let your mind clear itself of its unfounded worries." As he says the last part, the hero reaches out, grabbing Tenko's arm and pressing a button on his glove, causing it to uncover the boy's fingertips.
Tenko snatched his hand back, letting his glove cover his whole hand again. "One for All is the quirk for saving people. If I'm lucky, most people won't even know about my decay."
"I've witnessed you use the quirk plenty of times to aid you."
"That's just until I get better control of One for All."
"Is that so?" Toshinori grabs a pillow to rest his hands on. "You entered the hero course before knowing about my quirk, what was your plan before this?"
"To be honest? Rely more on the Stark tech," Tenko answers sheepishly, scratching his neck, "look, I get it, okay? I got it from Tensei, and now you. I have teammates I need to rely on if I want to win, I get that, I've played plenty of MOBAs. Even if I take on the solo lane, at some point, I'm gonna need the jungler and mid-laner to rotate to help me push while I do the same for them."
Toshinori nods along, pretending that he understood any of that.
"And I guess I can call them for help if I need. I just don't want to be that guy who spams the in-game chat too much and annoys his teammates into muting him. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Again, Toshinori simply nods.
"So, I get all that. It's just-" Tenko looks at his hand once again. "I have a hard time thinking of an environment where my decay could be useful."
Tenko jumps when Toshinori places a hand on his shoulder, the teen not realizing he had stood. "You'd be surprised what you'll see out there while doing hero work. You never know, inspiration on how your decay could be useful can come from the most unlikely of places."
All Might lets him go, headed back to his luggage to grab his toiletries, leaving Tenko to give a perplexed look. "Wait, are you not gonna tell me?"
The number one hero smirks, holding up his 'Teaching for Dummies' book from inside his luggage. "This book has some good advice. And one of them is letting you discover answers on your own. And I'm sure you can figure this one out."
Tenko thinks on it for a moment, before conceding and nodding.
"Great, now, c'mon! Let's get ready so I can check to make sure none of you zygotes switched rooms."
"Switched rooms?"
Toshinori hums. "Young Kaminari was speaking of a strategy of switching everyone's roommates so he ended up with Tokage, Midoriya and Uraraka ended up together, etc. And judging by the looks on young Midoriya and Uraraka's faces, something tells me they were not opposed to the idea. Let's get a move on!"
"Are you sure I'm allowed to be in here, David?" Toshinori whispers, eyeing the place in awe as he looks at the hundreds, possibly thousands of experiments that laid strewn about.
"Oh, no need to whisper, Toshi!" David laughs. "It's an unofficial rule here that we can bring family inside to see what we're working on. And you being my daughter's favorite uncle, how could I say no?"
The scientist continues to look through the clutter of tech on the workbenches, his words stabbing Toshinori's heart. Some of the old guilt of not telling David about One for All begins to gnaw at him once again.
But it wouldn't for long. All Might is many things, but not a hypocrite! At least, he hopes not, but he couldn't very well lecture young Tenko about the importance of opening up to others while he didn't do the same!
He'll have to wait until he has both David and Melissa with him to spill the beans. It was only right; they both had a right to know.
David takes out his phone and puts it down on one of the tables, speaker on, and calls someone. "Sam, it's David. Where's that robot with the key hiding today?"
"Should I be worried about why-"
"All Might's here!" David loudly proclaims. "It's only right that we celebrate! The party isn't until tomorrow night, so we have to find our own way to entertain ourselves tonight."
"And you think getting the key to the cabinet that holds the company credit card is the best way to do that?"
"If you help me, and keep quiet about it, I'll get you your favorite bottle of liquor tonight while we're out. And I mean the real expensive one."
Sam is silent on the other end. That is, until he breaks out in boisterous laughter. "You're gonna be the death of me, you know that, David?" Sam laughs some more. "It's under the diagrams bench."
"Thanks, Sam. Talk to you later." David hangs up, heading over to the appropriate bench. "We keep it with a robot programmed to hide so we're not tempted to use the card too much."
He bends down, letting out a quiet "ah ha!" When he finds the robot, picking it up to unlock its compartment. "We'll be eating good tonight, my friend. Some of the best chefs from around the world come to visit during the expo."
David gets the compartment open. "So, you said you saw Melissa, correct? Is she getting along with your students?"
"I believe they're having a good time, yes."
"HA! Fifteen seconds! Beat that score, Deku!" Bakugo challenges Izuku as his group made their way to the villain bot simulator: a timed event that featured a mountainside structure with numerous robots to destroy, surrounded by stadium seating that was located next to the central tower of the island.
"Mind if I give it a shot?" Melissa inquires with an innocent ring to her tone.
"You?" Bakugo laughs in incredulity, looking her up and down. "Knock yourself out, I don't care. You won't get anywhere near my score."
Melissa meets his words with a smile that clearly says 'challenge accepted.' She hops on her glider and floats down to the start position as the announcer introduces her.
"Is the shield protecting those in the stands ready?" The host gets the confirmation from her team. "Okay and… go!"
With a twitch of her foot, the glider shoots a small orange ball at the mountain. At the same time, she grabs the collapsed object from her side, extending it with a flick of her wrist. Izuku's eyes widen as the object forms the shape of a bow.
The cylinder container on Melissa's back opens, and she presses a button on her bow, before reaching back and pulling an arrow out from behind her.
Melissa nocks the arrow on the bow, taking half a second to aim, before firing it at the orange ball hurtling toward the mountainside. She then promptly flys away. Bakugo makes a 'tsk' sound. "What's that supposed to-"
The arrow hits the ball and, to the surprise of everyone, dramatically increases in size until it's almost as big as the mountainside itself. That's when they notice the green blinking light on it.
It explodes.
"Woah!" David stumbles and loses his feet, knocking a few containers over on his way to the vibrating ground as the lights go out.
"David!" Toshinori rushes over as the vibrating subsides. "Are you alright? Let me help you."
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." David laughs him off as he gets back to a standing position, groaning at his broken glasses. "That would just be Melissa showing off, I'd assume, don't worry." The lights come back on, and he flashes All Might the special credit card he had retrieved with a grin. "Ready to go? All we have to do is swing by my room so I can grab a spare set of glasses. Once I can see again, we can head out."
"If you're sure you're alright…"
"Of course, I am!" David leads Toshinori out of the lab. "Not all of us are as old as you, my friend. I can handle a fall or two."
Seeing his friend returning to his old sense of humor, All Might allows himself to relax and laughs long. "Maybe so, but that doesn't make you a spring chicken either!"
Both men joke together, walking out of the office in good spirits. Toshinori doesn't realize, in the darkness, the certain singular container David had knocked over in his fall. Or what had gotten out of the lab before the lights had returned.
"That's bullshit, let me go again!!"
"I'm sorry, sir. You'll have to wait until others have had the chance to participate before trying the exercise again."
Bakugo glares at the host. "You have to let me go again! If she can get six seconds, I can easily clear that!!"
"Sir, If you want, the Egyptian Hero Salaam is sponsoring his own exhibit filled with artifacts from his country. You could visit that while you wait?"
Denki snickers at Bakugo's antics as he continues to argue with the event host. He walks past Melissa explaining to Izuku and a few others what Pym Particles and pumpkin bombs are, and heads in the direction of Tokage speaking to an Iron Legion drone at the entrance of the central tower.
"Are you absolutely sure?!"
"I apologize, but the tower is off-limits to all visitors without permission."
"But someone who works here told me I could find a bathroom here!"
"That is correct, but you are not permitted to use it."
"I'll be real quick, I promise! In and out of the little reptile's room in a minute and I'm gone!"
"Since when were reptiles purple?" Denki jokes about Tokage's hero costume, making himself known.
"They could've been!" Tokage defends her color choice hotly. "We technically don't know what color the dinosaurs were! So, some could've been purple, or pink, or anything!"
"If you say so."
"I know so! I'm the queen of dinosaur knowledge."
Denki looks her up and down. "You're apparently a queen of reptile knowledge but still chose purple scales?"
"A queen can be in purple, thank you!"
Denki snickers. "Again, if you say so. Anyway, I think everyone knows where they want to go next and they probably have bathrooms there."
"Fine, I'll convince you-" Tokage loses her balance for a second.
"You good?"
"Yeah." Tokage scans the ground, not seeing anything. "I think I just lost my footing for a sec, I'm good. Lead the way!"
"Incoming!!"
Izuku ducks down below the barrier, panting. Holding his gun close to his chest, he wipes his sweaty hair from his eyes. The rest of his friends aren't in much better of a position. It's a miracle they had made it this far, but this close to the enemy base, they had fortified their defenses, and Izuku couldn't find a way to break through.
War truly is hell.
The greenette tries to peek over the barrier, but Denki tanks him down harshly. "Are you crazy?!" He seethes. "They've got Shoji on overwatch, you poke your green little bush out and the sniper will get you!"
Shaking his dumb idea out of his head, Izuku nods. "You're right." He looks at the rest of his group as best he can, the large room they were in was dark except for the scattered colorful lights on the walls and floor. "He's right. To have any chance, we need to take Yaomomo out first."
"Agreed!" Izuku admires the way Iida commits to chopping his arms even while bent down. "But she has been taking out anyone who gets close to her."
"How'd she even convert her gun into a sniper, that's so unfaaaair," Denki pouts, dramatically leaning against Shinso.
"Get off me, or die by friendly fire."
"C'mon homie, don't be a player hater."
"I'm not a player hater, I just hate you."
Denki glares at Tokage when she snorts at Shinso's…joke, Izuku thinks it is. "You do need to get off him Denki, because Shinso is our key to victory here."
Everyone straightens, glancing back at the purple-haired boy, who immediately looks uncomfortable with the attention. "What?" Shinso asks, equal parts confused, equal parts nervous. "What am I supposed to do against a team of hero students?"
"Your quirk!" Izuku responds easily. "Besides us, most of the class doesn't know what it is, you can brainwash them!"
Shinso goes from nervous to anxious. "I know we're allowed to use our quirks, but are you sure they'll be-"
"Believe me, dude." Denki bumps him. "With how much Izuku pranks everyone with his powers, getting brainwashed by you will probably be a relief!" The blond laughs. Shinso doesn't look very convinced.
"It's like you said," Izuku continues. "Friendly fire. With you here, we don't need some grand frontal assault to win. We just need to get you close enough."
"Brilliant plan," Shinso drawls sarcastically. "Except for one problem. Even if I were to go along with this-"
"We get little holographic awards if we win."
Shinso pauses. "I guess I did promise my old man souvenirs, and that'd be a good start. But it's like you said, we're not doing anything while Yaoyorozu is up in her tower, and she knows my quirk. I used it to beat her at the Sports Festival. I seriously doubt she'll fall for it again."
"I know you beat her, that's the plan." In a flash of green light, Izuku turns into Shinso. "We use that. I'll go out and try to 'brainwash' her, and most likely, she'll want to go take me out specifically, and when she gives away her position to do it, that's when our best shot takes her down."
Everyone nods, turning to the person in question. "M-me?!" Melissa squeaks, pointing to herself.
"You are clearly the best shooter out of all this," Tsu remarks. "You have more confirmed kills than the rest of us combined. Ribbit."
"Not to mention what you did at the villain bot exercise." Ochako giggles. "I'm never gonna forget Bakugo's face!"
"Then it's settled," Izuku says. "I distract Yaomomo as Shinso. Ochako, you're with me. Make an energy shield with your rings to keep me protected. Melissa, stay close but hidden and take your shot when it comes." He points to Tokage. "Put your eyes in the sky but keep your mouth by Shinso, call out enemies for him to brainwash."
"Yes, sir!" Tokage salutes playfully. "They'll never see me coming! I might as well have black scales 'cause I'm gonna blend in so well!"
"Black's more realistic than purple, I guess," Denki teases.
"If you can manage to stay hidden, your vantage point from above will give us a huge advantage!" Iida states. "Excellent thinking, Midoriya! Tokage, we'll follow the directions you relay from above."
"Is that so? Then henceforth," Tokage places a hand on her chest, eyeing Denki. "For the rest of the game, since you will all be following the orders of your black-scaled reptilian friend, you shall all refer to me as the queen in black," she says, before sticking her tongue out at Izuku's cousin, who doesn't look pleased at how Tokage turned his teasing on him.
Their laughter is cut off by the sound of gunfire and explosions coming frighteningly close. "We're running out of time." Izuku picks up from where he left off. "Tenko, decay any of Yaomomo's defenses she left behind." The boy stiffens, but Izuku keeps going before he can protest. "Iida, scouting duty, I think Yaomomo might've left mines around. Denki, Todoroki, Tsu, you're on Shinso protection duty, if we lose him, the plan goes down the drain. But still, try not to die, got it?"
"I still don't understand." Tenko examines his vest. "What kind of laser tag doesn't have respawning?"
"The kind that lets you use quirks, let's go!"
Besides a few hiccups, the plan goes surprisingly well.
Setsuna cheers with the rest of her team, having successfully captured the enemy base and won the game! And with only one casualty, Midoriya. Yaoyorozu had tossed a pink foam grenade to get him before getting shot, and the teen had pushed Ochako away and jumped on it.
But with his ear currently in her hand, he's probably gonna learn his lesson.
She wipes the sweat from her brow. Weird, she usually wasn't this tired after something like that, but Setsuna was on point if she says so herself. It was like her eye had a sixth sense while looking for enemies, honing in on them no matter where they hid!
Her stomach growls harshly. Huh, also weird. She ate on the plane. Meh, whatever. They had won! Setsuna can't help but laugh at the terrified look on Shinso's face as Mina marches up to him. Poor boy looks like he thinks she's gonna scream at him.
And in all fairness, she might. But not in the way he's thinking.
"You!" Mina points dangerously at Shinso. "Did you brainwash me?!!"
Shinso closes his eyes, as if accepting the inevitable. "Yeah…"
"I knew it…next game, I want him on my team!" Shinso's eyes re-open in shock when Mina grabs his arm, nearly shaking him in her excitement. "We're supposed to have smaller teams next game, right? I call dibs on…Shinso?" The purple-haired teen nods automatically, still processing her earlier words. "Yeah, Shinso! I call him!"
"Mina!" The floating vest of Toru waves her arms wildly, indicated by her gun. "You can't just call dibs on someone! Besides, he'd be better on my team!"
"…What if we were all on a team together?"
"That's genius!"
"Hold on, hold on, shouldn't he decide?" Sero interjects, walking up to the small group. "Besides man, all the coolest guys are gonna be on my team next round, it's where you belong."
"I-uh…" Words finally start to form from Shinso, but not much.
"Sero is correct, Shinso should be free to choose his own team," Yaoyorozu affirms Sero's words, before smiling softly at the Gen Ed boy. "But I feel compelled to inform him that others know his quirk now and will be listening for his voice. But if he were to join with me, I could make him a device to disguise it."
"Yaomomo!"
"You can't do that!"
"That's not fair!"
Shinso backs up while the rest of the students argue, his mouth hanging open. Setsuna, for some reason, is able to pick up what he whispers to himself. "They don't hate me? They're not scared? Who are these people? What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck."
She giggles. Was her hearing always this good? Setsuna hopes it stays like that if she can keep picking up little freakouts like that. Her stomach growls more.
"Hey!!" Midoriya inserts himself into the conversation. "I found him first!"
Yaoyorozu hums, crossing her arms. "Using my feelings over the Sports Festival against me, Midoriya. I must say, that was quite ruthless."
"It'd be an insult to all that time we spent training together before the exams if I didn't," Midoriya counters with a smirk.
Taking everyone off guard, Yaoyorozu smirks back. "I agree. Which is why I think Todoroki and his fire would do well on my team next round."
"…Yaomomo, we can talk about this."
Setsuna's body lurches again, and Kaminari grabs a hold of her, his blue eyes looking over with concern. "Hey, you alright?"
"Y-yeah." She swallows, giving him an uneasy smile. "I think it was maybe something I ate earlier? I don't know, I might have to skip the next round and find a bathroom."
"Want me to come with you?"
"Why?" Setsuna is barely able to leak a little of her teasing tone into her rough sounding voice. "Trying to catch sight of something?"
Kaminari rolls his eyes, chuckling lightly. "Trying to make sure you get there safely."
"Don't get all sappy on me now, I'm fine. Just enjoy the next game."
After another minute of reassuring Kaminari she'd be okay and promising to text him if anything happened, Setsuna walks out of the play area and to a quieter part of the building. This time, a worker had been able to give her much better directions, with her easily finding the bathrooms.
Entering a private one, she locks the door behind her, finally allowing herself to basically fall over the sink, breathing heavily. "What…what the hell…"
Her whole body aches, feeling like it was a chore to even move one part of it. Sweat drenches her face and her stomach becomes more pained by the minute. "What is going on?…"
"You best eat something soon. Your spleen looks more appetizing by the second."
Setsuna's head whips around. "Hello?" She asks the empty bathroom to no response. Okay…she could've sworn she just heard a deep voice that sounded like it was both inside her head and standing right next to her. But nothing.
"And I've officially fallen off the deep end," Setsuna declares flatly. "Yeah, whatever." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Probably just jet lag and food poisoning."
"You don't usually lie to yourself, why are you starting now?"
Setsuna spins around again, slipping on the tile floor and falling on her butt. "W-w-w-w-"
"It's been so long, I had almost forgotten how fun this part is."
Pressing her back against the wall, Setsuna lets out a whimper. "This can't be real…"
Her arm lifts itself on its own, causing her to scream and kick her legs, pushing her into the corner of the room.
"How is that for real, Setsuna?"
"Wh- what are you?" The green-haired girl asks, pulling her knees to her chest to feel like she had some form of protection. "How do you know my name?!"
The voice sounds like it chuckles. "I know everything about you. And it's more about what we are."
Slimy black strands extend from Setsuna's back, wrapping around to her front as a few of the cords form a reptilian-like head to face her. Sharp and elongated fangs protrude from its jaw, where it lets out a low growl as all-white eyes seem to stare directly into her soul.
"You can call me, Venom."