Not going to lie… I think this idea has a tonne of potential, even though I do like Oscar Pine as a character. If Penny still got hacked, then Ozpin’s presence would probably be traumatic for her before she realises what’s going on… and Ozpin would have a host who is fundamentally different than anyone who’s come before.
Apparently Project Gamma Pulse (the experiment that led to Bruce Banner’s accidental transformation into the Hulk) started off as an attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum combined with military gamma experiments. If that’s the case, how do you think Cap feels about that? Honestly, it’s quite tragic - one attempt to create the perfect soldier succeeds and allows a devoted man to finally serve his country. Another attempt fails and accidentally turns someone else into a monster.
So we’d essentially see Class A and Class B living together starting from the beginning of the Provisional License Exam arc, perhaps because of efficiency concerns surrounding each course’s number of dorm buildings. It’d be especially interesting to see how this impacts their dynamic going into the Joint Training Battle compared to canon, and I low-key feel like this concept has a lot of potential.
“So…” Izuku Midoriya tailed off as he stared at his girlfriend. “Your family sent you letters from home.”
Yui Kodai gave a stiff nod. “Yes.”
“And one of those letters… was from your pet pig? Supposedly?”
Yui nodded again. “Yes. Tonkatsu. Smart pig.”
Izuku hesitated. “Smart… how?”
“He pushed a wheelbarrow to get over a gate.”
“Okay…”
“He also removed five tracking chip collars.”
“… How?” Izuku was honestly baffled now. “Even if Tonkatsu is unusually intelligent… how would he get the collar off? He doesn’t even have thumbs!”
“Not sure,” Yui admitted. “We keep finding the collars. It scares me a little.”
Awase poked his head in. “Has your pig done anything else unusual?”
Yui hesitated, almost as if she were terrified of her next choice of words. “He… he walks. On two legs.”
“… What?”
“Cookies as rewards for standing on two legs. He learned to walk like that. Has not used four legs since.”
And that was when Hagakure dropped the bomb. “Hey, quick note. Has anyone forgotten that Nezu exists?”
Mina Ashido had been halfway through telling Denki Kaminari why his attempt at evasive manoeuvres during that morning’s training had looked, in her words, “like a drunk pigeon trying to dodge a truck,” when she abruptly stopped talking. Her grin faltered, and she shifted her weight against the common-room table. “Uh… hang on. Something feels weird.”
Kaminari’s expression morphed into something wary. “Weird… how? Did you pull something?”
“No, it’s more like,” Mina frowned and rubbed absently at her side, “Warm, I guess? Kind of prickly.” She shifted again, and the mild irritation sharpened enough to make her wince. “Okay. Ow.”
“Do you want me to get Recovery Girl?” Denki asked. “Because even at this school, I’m not assuming spontaneous burning is normal.”
“I am not spontaneously burning —” Mina broke off as the prickling sensation intensified. Her eyes widened, and both arms folded protectively over her chest as she sucked in a breath. “Oh. Oh, crap.”
Denki stared at her. “Mina?”
“It burns!”
“What burns?”
“I don’t know!”
Kyoka Jirou glanced up from her phone at the shout, looking more annoyed than concerned. “Will you two keep it down? Some of us are trying to —” She stopped, twitched slightly, and frowned. “What the hell?”
Momo Yaoyorozu slowly glanced towards her. “Kyoka?”
Kyoka shifted in her chair, then immediately shifted back. “No, no, that’s not right.” Her face twisted as the same gradual warmth Mina had experienced morphed suddenly into a vicious, acidic sting. “Fuck!”
Iida’s head snapped around from across the room. “Jirou, please moderate your language!”
“Fuck that!” Kyoka shot upright and immediately regretted the sudden movement. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why does it feel like I’ve got acid smeared all over me?!”
Mina pointed at her with both hands. “You’re burning too!”
Kyoka stared. “What do you mean, too?”
“I’m burning!”
“Where?”
Mina looked scandalised. “I’m not answering that in a room dominated by boys!”
Kyoka opened her mouth, thought about where she was burning, then immediately closed it. “Okay. Yeah. Fair.”
Then Uraraka started burning. Then Asui. Then Yaoyorozu. Then Kendo. And the Hero Course — both classes — soon realised that every one of their female membership was experiencing identical symptoms. It would be hours before they learned that someone had slipped ghost chilli hot sauce into all of the girls’ underclothes as a prank. And the girls’ collective wrath would be legendary.
Like, based on how he’s characterised, it seemed like he was one of the more senior members of U.A. staff aged somewhere between his forties or even his fifties, but apparently he’s twenty-eight? Like, this guy always came across as way older than Eraser Head, Vlad King, Present Mic and Midnight, but he’s actually their junior…
I mean, they’re both class representatives who are responsible and showcase leadership in different ways (Iida is more methodical and logistical, Kendo is more personable and direct), they’re shown to have a respect for one another, and I feel like they’d actually be really good for each other. I especially like the scenario where all of the Hero Course students have to share one dorm building after Kamino, so Iida and Kendo take over as leaders with their respective vice-representatives (Yaoyorozu and Shoda) aiding them when necessary.
Recovery Girl was not present when Mashirao entered the infirmary, Toru by his side. Ever since he’d first noticed that odd lump on his tail — the apparent source of all of the pain he’d been experiencing there lately — Toru had stayed by his side, refusing to leave. That devotion was one of the many things he loved about his girlfriend: her kindness, her compassion, her resilience and courage all among her other admirable qualities, of course. But now she stood by his side as they were greeted by one of Recovery Girl’s assistants.
Then they saw the forlorn expression lining his face, and Mashirao’s concern rose considerably. Doctors… they never gave you that look when it was good news, or even news you could handle. Which could only mean one thing: something was seriously wrong.
“Mr. Ojiro,” the assistant replied gently, “I… I think it’s best if you take a seat. Are you comfortable with Miss Hagakure being here?”
“Yes,” Mashirao said immediately. “She stays.”
He couldn’t see her face, but he knew that Toru was smiling at him, even as her sleeves lifting towards where her mouth would be, as though she were biting her nails. Still, she managed to look the doctor in the eye — or as close as she could get, anyway, with an invisible face. “He’s right. I — I wanna stay.”
“Alright,” the assistant conceded. “Mr. Ojiro… I’m going to be straightforward with you. The medical examinations we conducted on the abnormal growth on your tail… seem to indicate osteosarcoma. A - a common form of bone cancer.”
Mashirao felt his stomach drop. Cancer? “How — how severe is it?” His thoughts were immediately turning towards the likeliest result — surgery, probably even amputation. Losing his tail, the very Quirk he’d possessed since birth…
“That remains uncertain,” the assistant said. “We need to wait for the full results to come back. But while the tumour does originate from your tail… the cancer itself appears to have undergone metastasis. Which means it’s no longer confined to the bones composing your tail — it appears to have spread to other parts of your skeletal structure as well as your lungs.”
“But he can still be treated, right?” Toru asked, that normally lovely voice of hers trailing as it struggled to pass trembling lips. “Chemotherapy, surgery, something, right?”
“The best course of action will be decided once we have a full, proper diagnosis on just how severe the metastasis is,” the assistant replied. “Chemotherapy is certainly an option, as are surgical procedures, although the fact that the cancer has spread beyond the original site means that approach is less likely to be successful.”
Chemotherapy. Surgery. Almost certain removal from the Hero Course. Possibly permanently, if he didn’t fully recover or had to have his tail amputated. All of those terrified Mashirao… yet not so much as the thought that next crossed his mind. “How long?”
The assistant paused. “What?”
“You said it’s advanced,” Ojiro said. “I graduate next year — March. I’ve got about eighteen months until then. Will I still be alive by that point?”
Toru froze, her whole body shifting towards the assistant. She said not a word, but even the slight gestures made by this wonderful woman Mashirao loved so much spoke a thousand of them. Please tell him he’s wrong.
The assistant paused. “I… there is nothing known for certain regarding your longevity at this point.” the assistant admitted. “But I’ll be honest, Mr. Ojiro… it doesn’t look favourable.”
“So I might die in eighteen months.”
“… I’m sorry, Mister Ojiro.”
I will say, from a personality perspective I can see why people love these two, though I have a feeling the Big Three’s dynamic is meant to be strictly platonic.
There was David Banner from the 2003 movie who eventually became the Absorbing Man, but I think a more comic-accurate version of Brian might work best if the film itself leaned into being a psychological thriller. So Brian would still technically be dead, but the memories and trauma he left behind would serve as the primary antagonist/source of conflict for Bruce, maybe manifesting after an issue with the psychological barriers between Bruce and the Hulk (could be a great way to introduce Joe Fixit).
What’s attractive about this pairing in your eyes? Answer in the comments below!
I appreciate their efforts in saving New York from… whatever that shadow monster was… but I feel like they deserve to have their own label as a team rather than just being “the replacement Avengers”. Especially since it seems more like something Allegra de Fontaine came up with at the last minute based on the interview. So what are your thoughts? I remember seeing clips of Red Guardian calling them the Thunderbolts, which, not going to lie, is an awesome name.
We see several Hero Course exams and assignments in the series, and General Education is essentially just prestigious/elite normal schooling. But what about Support Course and Business Course, since they’re going into different aspects of the Hero profession compared to the actual aspiring Pros in the Hero Course?
Also, since we see Power Loader as Head of the Support Course, but we never see the Head of the Business Course, what are your ideas on what the Head of the Business Course might be like, assuming they’re also a Pro Hero?
It did not take much time after the Hero Course students rose from their beds to realise the glaring issues. “Why won’t my door open?”
Several started banging on their inert doors in a vain attempt to shove them open. Others pulled out their phones and began typing frantic pleas for aid in the class chat. Before long, it was clear that every Hero Course student - Class A and Class B alike - were trapped. Iida and Kendo both desperately tried to coordinate their classmates from their own dorm rooms - coincidentally, right next to each other, separated only by a wall thin enough to allow vague conversation to pass through.
Aizawa and Kan separately scanned the students’ doors, before noticing a clear, sticky substance gleaming from the frame of one dorm room. “Superglue?”
Bakugo’s voice rang out from behind his doors. “Some bastard glued our doors shut?!”
“Wait, how?” Tsunotori asked. “It can’t have been one of us — it must have been a Support, Business or Gen Ed student.”
“Well, whoever it is, they’re dead,” Bakugo snarled. “You got any idea on how to get us out of here?”
“At the moment, no,” Aizawa deadpanned. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to stay there until we can get past that glue. Do not use your Quirks in any capacity to try and escape — we are not paying for any damaged doors, especially since we might have to replace the door frames themselves anyway. Just stay where you are.”
“That’s re-assuring,” Monoma murmured. “So… we’re effectively prisoners in our own dorm rooms for the next few hours?”
“Probably,” Aizawa sighed.
I’m trying to write a fic about these two that takes place in the same continuity as my KamiJirou fic “Not Yet”, but given that we have much less to go off of in terms of character development and focus outside of general personalities, it’s harder to write these two in a way that feels authentic. So are there any things in particular I need to keep in mind when it comes to writing Koda, Shiozaki, or both of them?
Considering the nature of Dark Shadow as a sentient being and Tokoyami’s companion in addition to being his Quirk, I feel like he’d be uniquely suited to an arc like this. I can’t see him giving up on his goals of being a hero — Hawks certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of person to let him go simply because he lost his powers — but Tokoyami would still be mourning his constant companion and essentially having an existential crisis.
I’m trying to write a fic about these two that takes place in the same continuity as my KamiJirou fic “Not Yet”, but given that we have much less to go off of in terms of character development and focus outside of general personalities, it’s harder to write these two in a way that feels authentic. So are there any things in particular I need to keep in mind when it comes to writing Koda, Shiozaki, or both of them?