Chapter 13: Cool Down
"So then Jirou made a joke about how the two of us should get a room already," Izuku said, nervously twisting his power ring around his finger. "And, um, I guess I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then." He added in a small voice.
"And why is that?" Mogo's avatar asked in its usual deep voice. "From what I understand of Earth culture, such teasing is quite common, especially among young people. Do you believe this Jirou meant it maliciously?"
"No, I don't think that. I guess I just…never gave the idea any real thought before," Izuku said.
"Are you attracted to young Yaoyorozu?" Mogo asked.
Izuku chuckled, blushing. "It kind of feels like it would be impossible to not be," he said. "I mean, she's gorgeous, and really smart, and super nice. Almost anybody would jump at the chance to be with her."
"Then why don't you simply begin courtship?"
Izuku blushed furiously at Mogo's choice of words, which made it sound so much more serious than simply asking someone out on a date.
The sentient planet usually managed to do a shockingly good job of making Izuku forget that it wasn't a human counselor of some kind, especially considering he presented himself to Izuku as a luminous, humanoid ring construct. Yet despite having clearly gotten a tremendous amount of data on Earth and human culture from the Green Lantern's central knowledge repository on Oa, there were sometimes moments where Mogo accidentally reminded Izuku how alien the two were to each other.
In a weird way it made the living world easier to open up to. Not only was the chance of anyone he knew back home ever speaking to Mogo practically zero, but it felt like, despite his vast knowledge, the massive Green Lantern might not truly get humanity, which made it a bit less embarrassing to talk about certain things with him.
"Well, um, I'm not really sure if I really do like her, or if it just, uh, seems like I do because she's one of the first pretty girls that was ever nice to me and seemed to view my analysis and stuff as useful," Izuku admitted.
"Are you also attracted to the young Uraraka person you mentioned before?" Mogo asked.
"Um, well, yeah," Izuku squeaked out. "She's also really cute."
"I see," Mogo said thoughtfully.
Izuku completely failed to pick up on the amusement in Mogo's tone, instead expecting the sentient planet to accuse him of being a cad and to tell him to leave and never return.
"Why don't you simply begin courtship of young Yaoyorozu anyway?" Mogo asked.
"Huh?!"
"You seem to expect that you need to entirely sort out your feelings first, but that may be impossible outside of a romantic setting," Mogo said plainly, causing Izuku's already pleasant blush to intensify. "My understanding is that the early stages of human courtship aren't extremely serious or require lifelong commitments to be made, so why not?"
"But wouldn't that be wrong?" Izuku protested.
"I think your feelings for young Yaoyorozu are stronger and more certain than you believe," Mogo said. "Regardless, you would not be 'playing with her heart' as you humans put it, if you were giving the relationship a real chance, rather than commencing courtship when you know yourself to be uninterested in her, or interested in sexual relations only," Mogo pointed out.
Izuku went so red it was amazing that steam didn't shoot out of his ears.
"I sense there may be something else behind your reluctance," Mogo said.
"I just…feel like Yaoyorozu deserves someone so much better than me," Izuku admitted softly, playing with his ring again. "So would Uraraka. Or pretty much any girl, really. Certainly any girl at UA."
"You are a top hero student, one who was recently instrumental in defeating an enormously powerful foe," Mogo was quick to point out.
"But that's only because of the ring," Izuku was equally quick to counter. "If the Guardians ever decide to take it from me, like if they decide that my profiting from being a pro hero means I violated the rule against using the ring for personal gain, then I instantly go back to being Quirkless Deku."
"It's true that it's possible for another to take your power away, but certain injuries can render other humans functionally Quirkless, if their Quirk requires a certain body part to be functional in order to work," Mogo said. "Do they lose all value if they suffer such damage?"
"That's different," Izuku said stubbornly.
"If you don't overcome your feelings of inferiority and the notion that you're essentially an imposter, they will forever hold you back, and in a multitude of ways," Mogo warned him. "This is only one example of that."
"I know," Izuku sighed in frustration. "But…how do I stop feeling like a fraud? Especially when I know that there are people who will think I'm one, if they ever found out that my 'Quirk' isn't really a Quirk at all?"
"I believe the human phrase is 'fake it 'til you make it.'" Mogo said.
Izuku did a double take, looking incredulously at the planet's avatar.
"We become what we pretend to be," Mogo replied with a shrug. "You might be surprised to find how universal that is among sentient beings."
"I don't know…" Izuku said dubiously, looking down at the ground.
A moment of silence hung in the air.
"In regards to young Yaoyorozu specifically, there is one way to resolve the problem," Mogo said eventually.
Izuku blinked. "What?"
"Tell her about the ring," Mogo said.
"What?"
The green avatar shrugged again. "Many Green Lanterns keep their identities or the source of their power hidden for personal reasons, usually to protect their friends and loved ones, but the Guardians have no edict against Green Lanterns revealing who they are or what their ring truly is," Mogo said. "If you were to reveal the truth of your powers to young Yaoyorozu, she could decide on her own whether your Quirklessness is disqualifying for her or not."
Izuku couldn't deny the logic of it, but the thought of telling someone, anyone that he was really Quirkless was terrifying. It would only take one person to spread it around, and then he'd be doomed.
Of course, he realized that, as a Green Lantern, he should be able to overcome his fears, but at the same time, just because he was afraid to do something didn't automatically mean he should do it. Some ideas inspired fear because they were obviously very stupid and would bring terrible consequences.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said.
"Think on it, then," Mogo advised. "Perhaps as you spend more time with young Yaoyorozu, you'll discover better how you want to proceed."
Izuku was about to say something in response when he ring emitted a brief chime. "I have to go," he said.
"Until next time, Midoriya," Mogo said politely. "And remember what I said about overcoming your imposter syndrome."
"…I will," Izuku said, taking off into the sky. "Bye!"
"Unfortunately, the Quirk registry shows no known men in the correct age range for this Shigaraki Tomura who possess a disintegration Quirk," Detective Tsukachi spoke to the assembled staff of UA in one of the school's conference rooms. "The same is true for the teleportation Quirk exhibited by the villain known as Kurogiri."
"So they're effectively ghosts then?" Midnight asked, her grim tone bearing no resemblance to her usual seductive lilt.
"I'm afraid so," the detective confirmed. "We apprehended over 70 low level villains at the USJ yesterday, but so far interrogation has proved largely fruitless, as it seems they were told very little other than they were going to launch an attack on UA."
"I reckon we better learn about this group, and fast," Snipe remarked. "Else what we don't know, will hurt us."
"Most of the intelligence we did get came as a result of Shigaraki's boasting," Tsukachi added.
"The reports of this Nomu creature being engineered with multiple Quirks is highly disturbing, to say the least," All Might remarked.
"Indeed," Principal Nezu agreed. "Aizawa, you had the most interaction with this Shigaraki. What was your impression on him? Do you believe what he said?"
The heavily bandaged underground pro sighed gustily, not hiding his annoyance. "I don't see the point of going over this again. I already gave my statement to the police, but fine," he huffed. "Shigaraki was smart and fierce, but he also came off as immature, reckless…unstable. He was like a child with a secret who couldn't wait to tell it to everyone. I doubt he could've kept his mouth shut about his grand plan if his life had depended on it, let alone lie."
"So, you think he was telling the truth?" Vlad King asked.
"I believe he believed what he was saying," Aizawa said.
"Hard to believe someone who's apparently so immature could convince that many villains to follow him, even if they were common street thugs," Midnight said.
"Some villains are drawn to audaciousness, and it's hard to get more daring than a plan to attack UA and kill All Might," Aizawa countered. "Doubly so if the plan is apparently feasible. And that damned Nomu creature was certainly strong enough that it could've given All Might a serious challenge, at the very least."
"Yet it never got the chance," Cementoss pointed out. "Instead, it was incapacitated by a couple of first years exploiting its vulnerability against other Quirks."
"Overspecialization," Power Loader chuckled. "I see it all the time in my students' inventions. Never thought I'd see it with a genetically engineered monstrosity."
"Weakness or not, can we agree it was a seriously impressive feat for some students to take down a villain that powerful?" Present Mic grinned. "You've got some potential greats in your class, Eraser."
"They shouldn't have engaged the villain at all, even in the indirect manner they did," Aizawa said peevishly.
"What a couple of first years in their second hero class period ever should or shouldn't have done isn't really relevant to this," Midnight broke in before the two could start bickering.
"Regardless of that, having his 'anti-All Might' taken down by a couple of students before I even arrived is something this Shigaraki won't soon forget, I'm sure," All Might said. "While impressive, it's possible that young Midoriya and young Yaoyorozu earned themselves the animosity of a dangerous villain yesterday."
"Do you think Shigaraki would be likely to seek revenge?" Cementoss asked Aizawa.
"He does seem like the type to hold a grudge," Aizawa said grimly.
"What can we do to protect them?" Midnight asked.
"Short of moving them into UA and keeping an eye on them around the clock, not much, I'm afraid," Nezu replied.
"Then we'd best make like the early bird and catch that there worm, and fast," Snipe remarked.
"That and do everything we can to make sure our students are as prepared as we can make them," Vlad added. "Classes resume tomorrow, correct?"
"Yes," Nezu agreed. "It seems all of us will need to go plus ultra ourselves."
Izuku stretched as he touched down on the roof of the apartment building he called home, yawning as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Allowing the ring to put him to sleep for intergalactic trips certainly cut down on the monotony, but he always felt groggy for a bit afterwards. Arisa had assured him that that would fade with time, but so far it hadn't happened yet.
With a thought, his Green Lantern costume—which looked exactly the physical one that was currently sitting in its case at UA—dissipated like smoke, leaving him in a simple T-shirt and jeans.
"Ring, power check," he muttered.
"Power levels at 47 percent," it answered immediately.
Making a mental note to recharge soon, he made his way through the rooftop access door and then down to his own apartment. "I'm home," he announced him as he took off his shoes and stepped across the threshold.
"Welcome home," his mother called from the kitchen. "Did you have a good trip?"
"It was…interesting," he replied.
What even is my life now? Izuku wondered, realizing he was discussing a jaunt outside the solar system like he'd just gone to the next prefecture over or something.
Part of him still expected his mother to proclaim that she didn't believe he regularly travelled to outer space and had been selected by ancient aliens to become an interstellar hero. He'd offered to take her into space, perhaps to visit the Moon or Mars, but she'd adamantly declined, face taking on a greenish pallor at the very thought.
"Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours or so," she told him.
"Thanks, Mom," he said.
Izuku went to his room and pulled his power battery from its subspace pocket, emerald light bathing his All Might merch as he reached into a hole in thin air.
"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight," he spoke, hoping, as he usually did, that he'd actually prove himself able to fulfill the oath. "Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
"Power levels 100 percent," the ring spoke.
His phone pinged at the same moment, Izuku almost missing the sound as a result. Quickly putting his power battery back in its interdimensional hidey-hole, the green haired boy grabbed his phone and looked at it, eyes widening at what he saw on the screen.
Yaoyorozu: Hello, Midoriya, how are you?
Mogo's words about "beginning courtship" and its suggestion to tell her about the ring, and his Quirkless status, suddenly rang inside his mind. A blush appeared on his cheeks, and he was glad that she couldn't see him.
He realized abruptly that he should probably respond. With almost frantic movements, he unlocked his phone and opened the chat app.
Me: Hi, Yaoyorozu. I'm okay. How are you?
Not exactly high poetry. On the plus side, though, at least texting meant she wouldn't hear him stuttering or anything.
Yaoyorozu: You can call me Yaomomo if you like, Midoriya.
Me: Are you sure?
It wasn't quite as familiar as calling her by her given name, but it still felt like a big deal to him.
Yaoyorozu: Quite sure. You've helped me realize my Quirk's potential more than anyone ever has, including the professionals my parents hired in the past, and we fought villains together just yesterday. If the other girls in class can call me that, and they do, then you certainly can as well.
Izuku tried not to ponder on how warm that made him feel.
Me: Okay, Yaomomo.
Me: …I don't have a fun nickname, but if I did, you would definitely be able to use it.
He initially felt like an idiot for saying something so stupid, but then Yaoyorozu sent a smiling emoticon. He'd never seen her use one before in the few times they'd previously exchanged texts. It immediately made him think of the way she'd cover her mouth with her fingers and giggle when she found something funny.
"Why don't you simply begin courtship?" Mogo's words echoed through his mind again, which Izuku pointedly ignored.
Yaoyorozu: That's quite all right. It's the thought that counts.
Me: So, you never answered my question before. How are you doing?
There was a pause before she answered.
Yaoyorozu: Truthfully, I have been better. I find that I can't get the battle off my mind. At the time, it barely even occurred to me to be afraid. I suppose there was too much happening. Yet now I just keep thinking about how easily things could've gone so much worse, despite my efforts not to dwell on it.
Me: Is there anything I can do to help?
Yaoyorozu: To be honest, part of why I texted you to begin with was I was hoping you might help distract me from these thoughts.
Yaoyorozu: I hope you don't think poorly of me for that.
Izuku's fingers were in motion almost before he'd fully taken in her message.
Me: Of course not! Is there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?
Yaoyorozu: As a matter of fact, yes. I was hoping we could talk a bit about Quirks.
Izuku's eyebrows shot up.
Me: Quirks?
Yaoyorozu: Yes. Usually I study things like chemistry and mechanics when I want to increase my range with my own Quirk, but since you pointed out that I can mimic a number of other Quirks, I've been looking into them. However, I haven't really studied much about Quirks and Quirk theory beyond what I had been required to learn for school. I'm sure I could learn the basics on my own, but it's clearly something you're knowledgeable on, so I wanted your insights.
Izuku felt a rush of pride at knowing that his analysis of her Quirk had impressed her that she apparently viewed him as some kind of expert.
He didn't really think he deserved that, if he was being honest. Frankly, between Yaoyorozu's amazing Quirk and how blazingly smart she was, he thought the fact that he'd been able to help her so much said more about the Quirk counselors her parents had hired than it did about him.
He almost told her as much, half typing out the message, before recalling how Mogo had advised him not to protest any bit of praise he got during an earlier session.
Izuku may not have always been willing to take the sentient planet's advice, and he'd initially been reluctant to accept that idea, but when Mogo had pointed out that he wouldn't be bragging, merely not disclaiming credit, he'd agreed to give it a try.
Me: Sure! Is there anything specific you were looking into?
It seemed like his mother was calling him for dinner only minutes later, even though it was really almost two hours.
Chapter 14: The World Beyond
Perhaps one of the things that Momo found most jarring about being a hero student at UA was how the glitzy, dangerous world of professional heroics and the mundane high school environment constantly overlapped.
Usually this took the form of having pro heroes teach all their classes, but the day school resumed following the USJ attack took it to an extreme when Mr. Aizawa, his arm still heavily bandaged and in a sling, had come limping in and segued directly from vague, ominous talk about their battle not being over yet to an announcement that the school sports festival would happen soon.
Of course, UA and the heroics track being what it was, the sports festival was far more important than it would've been at another school. Not only would the whole country, if not the whole world, be watching avidly, but as Mr. Aizawa had made sure to point out to them, it was their chance to impress the pros and get important internship offers and other opportunities.
Even disregarding the villain attack, we truly are in the big leagues, Momo mused as she headed down to the cafeteria with Midoriya and the rest of their group. We're not even a full month into our time at UA, yet everything truly matters.
"Are you okay, Yaoyoro…um, I mean, Yaomomo?" Midoriya stammered.
It was cute how bashful he got over the nickname, she mused as she gave him a reassuring smile. "Just fine," she replied. "Thinking about the sports festival."
They quickly got their food and sat down at their usual table but had only been eating for a minute before Midoriya spoke up.
"Uraraka, I just realized, I never asked you, why do you want to be a hero?"
Momo perked up at that, finding she was curious about it herself after seeing how…intense her fellow classmate had become at the mention of the sports festival.
"Oh, well, it's embarrassing really," the rosy cheeked brunette said, putting a hand to her cheek. "But I want to be a hero for the money."
Midoriya blinked. "The money?"
Uraraka nodded, her face reddening. "I know it must seem pretty unheroic."
"No, no, there's nothing to be ashamed about!" Midoriya quickly reassured her.
"Indeed! For all the talk of the ideals of heroics, practical financial matters can't simply be forgotten!" Iida agreed.
"Get that coin, girl," Jirou said with a little smile.
"Thanks," Uraraka mumbled, though she still looked embarrassed. "I…please keep this quiet. My parents run a construction company, but business is bad, so we've always struggled."
"Wouldn't your Quirk help cut costs, if you could get a permit to use it?" Momo asked.
"That's what I always said!" Uraraka exclaimed, clearly feeling vindicated "But my parents always told me they'd rather I follow my own dreams. So I'm going to become a hero and make that money so my parents can have easier lives."
"That's so sweet," Momo whispered.
Uraraka's fading blush returned at full power, and Momo's own cheeks went red when she realized she'd spoken aloud.
Still, she supposed it was better than offering to ask her parents to deposit a million yen into the Uraraka family's account; she doubted that would be well received.
Even so, she made a mental note to try and find the name of the Uraraka family's company and refer them to her parents for any building projects they had in the Mie region.
It humbled Momo to realize just how important becoming a successful pro hero, and by extension, doing well at the sports festival, was to Uraraka. She herself had her heart set on becoming a pro hero, but she knew that if it didn't work out for some reason, neither she nor her parents would feel any financial pain as a result.
"Let's all do our best at the sports festival," Momo said.
"Right!" Uraraka smiled.
It occurred to the raven-haired girl then that Midoriya had voted for her to be class rep because she'd spoken about hoping everyone in class lifted each other up. She decided it would be a good time to practice what she'd preached.
"Uraraka, my home has a training facility," she said. "Let me know if you'd like to use it. You're welcome any time."
"Oh, thank you!" the brunette said, looking surprised.
"You may also want to ask Midoriya to do an analysis of your Quirk," she added. "He did one for me and it helped tremendously."
"Oh, wow, Yaomomo, I'm not sure I can help other people like that. I was only able to help you because your Quirk's so amazing!" Midoriya protested, then went bright red as he realized what he'd blurted out.
Momo could feel a bit of heat in her own face. "You underestimate yourself," she muttered.
Jirou smirked while Uraraka giggled. "I guess we'll find out," she said. "That is, if you're willing to do an analysis of my Quirk," the brunette added, turning to look at the freckled boy.
"Oh sure, I'd be happy to!" he agreed at once, pulling out his notebook.
"You may want to wait until later," Jirou pointed out. "Lunch is nearly over."
"Right!" Uraraka agreed and proceeded to shovel rice into her mouth as quickly as she could, clearly determined to finish before the period ended.
"By the way, Midoriya, I was hoping you'd join me for a day or two of training at my home in the runup to the festival," Momo added. "I was thinking we could help each get ready for it."
"Of course!" he agreed immediately, then winced at his own response.
"Real smooth, Green," Jirou chuckled.
Midoriya was clearly very relieved when the lunch period ended a few minutes later.
As a seasoned pro hero, All Might had learned that sometimes waiting until the proper moment to strike was just as, if not more, important than striking fast and true. Which was why he waited until just after school to make his move.
"I am here!" he exclaimed, appearing from around a corner in one of the school's hallways just as the boy was approaching.
Startled, Izuku jumped back a step. "A-All Might?"
Behind him, his friends looked equally startled by his abrupt appearance.
"I was hoping to have a word with you, young Midoriya," All Might said. "Join me for a cup of tea?"
Uraraka attempted to hold back a snicker and failed. "Like a schoolgirl," she muttered.
"Oh, um, sure, I'd be happy to," Midoriya agreed, before turning back to his friends. "I'll see you all tomorrow."
They said their goodbyes, and All Might led the green haired boy into a currently empty staff room, proceeding to deflate to his skinny form the moment Midoriya closed the door behind them.
"I'll never get used to seeing him do that," Midoriya muttered to himself, waving a hand to dissipate some of the steam that had come off of the hero.
"I'll bet," All Might chuckled, getting a small yelp out of the student when he realized he'd been speaking aloud.
Chuckling again, the pro hero sat down on one of the couches by the coffee table before gesturing for the student to take the other. He poured them each a cup of green tea and handed one to Midoriya.
"Thank you," the green haired boy said softly.
It was then that All Might belatedly realized that the Midoriya looked quietly terrified.
"Hey, you don't have to worry," he assured the boy. "You're not in trouble, and I didn't ask you here to tell you I'd decided to let everyone know you're Quirkless after all."
Midoriya's shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you," he said. "I knew it was silly of me to expect that, I really did! But sometimes…"
"Some fears are hard to put to rest, even when that sort of thing is literally in your job description," All Might finished, feeling a deep pang of sympathy for the student, who reminded him so much of a younger version of himself then.
Not for the first time, he wondered what could've been if a group of space aliens hadn't managed to recognize this young man's potential before he did.
Midoriya nodded. "Yeah, that's a good way to put it."
"Rest assured, I will not expose your Quirklessness to the public at large. I swear it on my honor as a hero," All Might said. "So if I call you in for another little chat like this, please don't be think that that's what I'm about to do."
"Do you, um, plan on asking me for tea so we can talk again?" Midoriya asked, taking a small sip from his cup.
All Might smiled. "Perhaps. We're each other's secret keepers, young Midoriya. You're the only student here who knows about my injury and this form," he gestured to himself. "And I'm the only one in this school who knows your powers don't come from a Quirk. That puts us in a unique position to help each other keep our secrets," he said, not bothering to point out that, as a teacher, he'd likely be able to help the student far more than Midoriya could help him. "That's part of why I asked you here today."
The young man blinked. "It is?"
All Might nodded. "I wanted to ask you how good you are at hiding that ring," he said. "You seem quite adept at it, but the sports festival is very different from your classes. Everyone will be watching you, and it'll all be recorded."
Midoriya swallowed but then seemed to steel himself. "Thank you for your concern, but using the ring's power to conceal it is pretty much second nature to me at this point."
"Good," All Might nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "That's good."
"Um, it's possible that I'll be given a Green Lantern mission while I'm in school," Midoriya said. "If that happens, do you think you could, you know, cover for me?"
All Might hummed thoughtfully. "Probably, though you'd be a lot safer with that if we told Nezu as well."
Midoriya grimaced. "I'd really rather not tell anyone else about the ring."
"You can trust the principal, you know," All Might said. "He knows my biggest secrets, and he's never exposed them. I don't think he'd care about you being Quirkless, either."
The principal of indeterminate species would probably have a lot of questions for young Midoriya about the universe beyond Earth, though.
"I still don't want to spread it around any more than I have to," Midoriya said.
All Might shrugged. "It's your decision, young Midoriya, but know that while I can cover for you once or twice, if you needing to leave abruptly becomes at all frequent, I won't be able to shield you from consequences or shut down questions."
"It hasn't happened during school hours at all yet," Midoriya replied.
"Fair enough," All Might said.
A beat passed in silence.
"So, you said that talking about how we could help each keep our secrets was only part of the reason you asked me here?" Midoriya prompted.
All Might grinned. The young man had a keen mind; it was little surprise to him that he and young Yaoyorozu had managed to take down the Nomu together, and with far less collateral damage than many pros he could name would've done it with, at that.
"Indeed," he said. Rising from his seat, he parted the blinds enough to gaze out at the school below and the city beyond it. "As you've probably surmised, my days as a hero are drawing to a close. The amount of time I can maintain my muscle form is gradually dwindling. Before too long I won't have enough to operate as a pro at all."
"I…I had suspected that was the case," Midoriya remarked, a slight quaver to his voice.
All Might held back a sigh. He had never thought too much about how he was the lone pillar of the peaceful age he'd managed to bring about in the past, but now that retirement was approaching like an oncoming train, he was starting to see how ill advised that had been.
"It's going to be a shock to the public when they find out," All Might continued. "Which is why it's more important than ever to use the sports festival to show the country that the next generation of heroes stands ready to take the torch from the old guard. To show the world that you are here."
"All Might…" Midoriya breathed.
"You could be one of the greats," the number one hero said. "Many in your class could, I think. That why it's your responsibility to use the opportunity that the festival provides to the fullest."
Midoriya paused for a moment, staring into his teacup, before he nodded. "I think I understand, All Might," he said. "Thank you."
"Of course. And please remember you can come to me if you need help with anything, whether it's related to your secret or not. After all, as a UA teacher, that is what I'm here for," he said with a chuckle. "And I realize that Aizawa may not be the most approachable."
"Um, in that case, there's something I'd like to ask you," Midoriya stammered.
"Of course, go right ahead."
"What's your opinion on pro heroes having, uh, personal relationships?" the young man asked, face reddening.
All Might smiled. "Some fine young lady or man caught your eye, young Midoriya?"
"Something like that," the green haired youth squeaked.
"Hmm, well, as you probably know, I never really had a serious romantic partner," All Might replied. "Early on in my career there were…special considerations that made it a bad idea. And later on, I threw everything I had left into focusing on the job."
Midoriya looked slightly crestfallen. "So a good pro hero should always give everything they have to helping people."
"Whoa now, I didn't say that," All Might stopped him right there. "Just because I did it that way, doesn't mean you have to. In fact, I'd urge you to not follow my example there."
Green eyes blinked. "All Might?"
The number one hero sighed. "As the end of my heroics career draws closer, I find myself realizing just how little there is to my life outside of being a hero, and I can't say I'm exactly happy about that," he said. "Many pro heroes eventually marry, and most of them say that having a family to go home to helps motivate them to ensure they do get to go home. And while it's not common for heroes to marry other heroes, such couples often say that working with their partner makes them better at their job. So no, young Midoriya, you don't need to refrain from seeking companionship."
"I see," he said, looking relieved. "Thank you."
All Might smiled. He wondered what the leader of the League of Villains would think if he could see the young man who'd been instrumental in stopping his vaunted Anti-Symbol of Peace like this, an uncertain kid asking about dating.
"Anytime," the pro hero said. "By the way, have you given any thought to your speech for the sports festival?"
"My what?"
Meanwhile, on the far side of the Earth's moon, a small alien craft came to a landing. Moments later, a humanoid figure clad in a spacesuit crept out, casting his gaze upon the silvery, desolate landscape all around him.
"Primitives haven't even colonized their only moon yet," he scoffed to himself. "Hard to believe that there's anything in this system that anyone else could want."
Well, no matter, he decided. His mysterious benefactor would pay handsomely for this job, so he would do it and collect.
He still scowled at the thought. He had been a king once, and now he worked for shadowy figures with presumably sinister aims, like some sort of common criminal.
Telling himself that this was the first step in regaining his rightful place as the master of planet Dhor, he got to work.
A pair of small robots detached themselves from his ship and began to drill into the surface of the Moon, harvesting raw materials that they would process and refine into more useful stuff.
Unfortunately, the instruments on his ship weren't powerful enough for the kinds of scans of the planet he needed to do, doubly so with his employer having forbidden him from landing on the side of the Moon that faced the Earth. He needed to set up a base here, and even with the robots, that would take days.
That was all right, though. He had no place else to be, and it wasn't like anyone on the ball of mud nearby would ever realize he was there, let alone be able to do anything to him even if they did.
"Oh, wow," Izuku remarked to himself as he stared at the elaborate gates to what he was pretty sure was the Yaoyorozu Estate.
Looking up and down the street, he couldn't see any sign of their next door neighbors, the property was that huge.
"Ring, confirm that this is the correct address," he said.
"Confirmed," came the curt answer.
"Okay, then," he muttered.
He'd suspected from their first day at UA that her family was well off, something he'd only felt more certain about as time had gone by. However, he still hadn't expected to discover she was this rich.
Deciding that standing outside and gawking at the property wasn't going to accomplish anything regardless of how intimidated he was by the obviously enormous wealth, he reached out and pressed the doorbell next to the gate.
To his surprise, Yaoyorozu's voice immediately crackled out of the little intercom there. "Ah, Midoriya, you're right on time," she said cheerfully. "Please come in! I'll meet you at the training facilities!"
The gate began to swing open, and Izuku stepped inside with some trepidation. He followed the longdriveway (street?) deeper into the property, until he reached the front door of an enormous mansion, where a butler was waiting for him.
"Greetings, Mr. Midoriya," he said before Izuku could even think of what to say to him. "Ms. Momo is expecting you. Follow me, please."
"Th-thank you," Izuku stammered with a nod, immediately deciding that it was very weird to have an adult address him so formally.
He was a bit confused when the butler started leading him down a stone path away from the mansion rather than into it, but then he spotted another structure and realized that the training facility Yaoyorozu had mentioned was actually its own building entirely. Izuku swallowed as he realized that, while dwarfed by the mansion, it was still much bigger than the average house.
Did Yaomomo's family build this whole thing just for her? He wondered.
"Several members of the Yaoyorozu family have been pro heroes over the generations, so as such, the training facilities have existed since before Ms. Momo was born," the butler said, and Izuku realized with horror that he'd spoken his thoughts aloud. "Her parents simply had it refurbished and modernized when Ms. Momo declared her intention to become a pro hero."
"I-I see," Izuku managed to get out, amazed at the way he spoke about updating the whole big building like it was no big deal.
They arrived at the front entrance to the building, and the butler opened the door for him, gesturing for him to enter. Izuku somehow managed to mumble out a word of thanks, then stepped inside, the butler closing the door after him and then walking off.
The place, or at least the room he was in, looked like a commercial gym inside, except there weren't dozens of every piece of equipment. Still, the vast array of exercise and training equipment was nothing short of dizzying.
"Midoriya!" he heard Yaoyorozu call him.
Relieved, he turned to face her, then immediately felt his face redden.
Yaoyorozu was wearing a red jogging bra and black bicycle shorts.
I'm gonna die, he decided immediately.
The outfit wasn't that much more revealing than her hero costume, and in fact it was probably more modest in some places, but Izuku still felt like steam was about to start shooting out of his ears.
"Hello!" he greeted, voice cracking badly, causing him to wince.
Yaoyorozu giggled softly, though whether she realized the reason behind his lack of composure, he didn't know. One thing he'd observed about her was that she seemed to think nothing about going around in revealing attire, likely because she'd done her best to inure herself to it for the sake of being able to use her Quirk to its fullest potential.
"Thank you so much for coming," she said, smiling brightly in a way that made his heart pound even harder than her outfit did.
"Of course," he replied, in some semblance of his normal voice. "You, um, said you thought we could help each other prepare for the festival?"
"I did," she said. "And since I was the one who invited you, we'll start with training for you. Let's go to the sparring room."
"Oh, we don't have to," he said at once.
"Nonsense, the last thing I want is to give you the idea that I invited you over solely for my benefit," she said. "As the class rep, it's only right that I prioritize other members before myself. Besides, we'll do both today, and one of us has to go first."
Izuku didn't have an answer that, so he allowed Yaoyorozu to lead him into a room where the floors were covered in blue training mats. At this point, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that it was more than four times the size of his apartment's living room.
"So, what did you have in mind?" he asked.
"I thought we could have a spar, but with you only using constructs, and limiting yourself to objects," she explained. "Hopefully that will help you improve on that skill, and improve both our creation times."
"All right," he nodded. "That makes sense. I'm game."
She smiled, the glow of her Quirk already manifesting from her arm. "Then let's begin."
Yaoyorozu created a dull-bladed katana from her thigh. Izuku quickly responded by creating an emerald shield, bringing it up in time to block her first attack. However, she moved with impressive speed and managed to tag him with the weapon shortly afterwards.
"It looks like the first round is mine," Yaoyorozu said, putting aside what she'd made. "Are you ready to try again?"
He nodded, and his classmate activated her Quirk yet again.
This time, she created a gun-like taser, and Izuku made himself a set of jade body armor just in time prevent a painful shock from the weapon. However, she closed rapidly closed the distance between the two of them, a small, weighted club appearing in her hand, and stopped just short of cracking him over the head with it.
He swallowed. "Guess you also win round two."
"Indeed," she agreed. "I think I see what the problem you're having is, though. You're not taking too long to think over what to make, even when the rules we're operating by stipulate no constructs of heroes, but you're not making the right things. You're trying to create something to counter whatever I make, and that's not the right way to go about this. You don't want to bring a shield to a sword fight. You want to bring a gun to a knife fight. Figuratively speaking, of course." She added.
"Okay, I think I get it," he nodded. "Let's go ahead."
She agreed, putting her latest creations aside, and the two faced off again.
This time, Yaoyorozu started off with a bo staff, one of her favorite items to create. Izuku, however, countered with a flurry of viridian bolas.
The raven-haired young woman was able to block a couple of the spinning projectiles with her staff, but Izuku had made too many of them for her to avoid them all. One wrapped itself around her lower legs, while another ensnared her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. She released a small yelp as she went falling to the blue mats beneath her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, rushing over to her and quickly allowing the constructs to dissipate.
"Just fine," she smiled at him as she got to her feet. "That was better, though I'm confident you still have room to improve. Let's continue."
They went through several rounds of such sparring, with Yaoyorozu still winning most of the bouts. Izuku wasn't upset about that, however; the rules she'd set down ensured that their contest was squarely in her area of expertise. More importantly, it was helping. He was slowly breaking the habit of defaulting to the obvious solution when he made an object, and simply watching Yaoyorozu use her Quirk in a spar gave him new ideas on what he could create.
Also, it was fun. Every round was like an intense, high-speed puzzle, challenging him to figure out the smallest, simplest object that would overwhelm his opponent despite what she'd made, and he was enjoying it immensely despite his lack of success.
Eventually, Yaoyorozu called an end to the exercise, saying that her lipid reserves were running a bit low and she needed a break. Checking a clock on the wall, he was surprised at how much time had passed.
"That was amazing, Yaomomo!" Izuku said as she retrieved a stash of what looked like very high end protein bars and tore the wrapper off the first one.
She gave him a smile. "Do you believe it was helpful?" she asked before biting into the first high calorie snack bar.
He nodded. "I really think it was. It's a great exercise."
She swallowed her first mouthful. "I'm glad."
Despite his excitement making him want to ask a million questions even more than usual, he forced himself to wait patiently while Yaoyorozu wolfed down several of the bars.
"So, you had a plan for some training for you, too?" he asked when she finally finished and was moving to throw away the wrappers.
"Well, after asking some of our other classmates whose Quirks involve creating specific things for samples of what they make and figuring out how to make it myself, I feel like I have a great deal of offensive capability already," she said. "So I was hoping to work on my mobility for right now."
His eyes grew steadily wider as she went into more detail about what exactly she had in mind.
"That's an amazing idea!" he said when she'd finished. "If you can make it work, it would make you a real force to be reckoned with all by itself!"
A hint of red appeared on her cheeks. "Thank you," she said. "However, it's something that's difficult to properly practice, at least without risking a very serious fall. So I was hoping that you could perhaps…?" she trailed off, not meeting his eyes.
"You want me to flying behind you and catch you if mess up and fall?" Izuku surmised.
"…yes," she admitted. "I hope you don't mind. I realize you're not getting much, if anything out of this."
"Not at all," he was quick to assure her. "It's really no different from spotting a training partner while they're lifting weights, really."
"Thank you," she said, giving him another smile.
"So, where were you planning to try this?" he asked.
"In here," she answered. "It's not ideal, but there's plenty of room to work with."
"We can do better than that," Izuku said. "Let's go outside."
Looking slightly confused but intrigued, she followed him to the exit. Once they were outside, Izuku focused his mind, channeling his willpower through the ring for one the largest constructs he'd created so far.
"Oh!" Yaoyorozu gasped as part of the grounds on her family's estate was suddenly host to what looked like a street from an emerald city.
"Not exactly the most elaborate," Izuku said, gesturing to the green structures, which with few exceptions were just massive, featureless boxes, "but it should do fine for your training."
"You can maintain this for a while?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't need to do anything, except keep existing, so it's not a big deal," he said. "I'll create more if necessary as you go, and let the stuff you've gone past fade away."
Yaoyorozu grinned. "Midoriya, this is amazing! Much more than I hoped for! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, her excitement bubbling past her usual formal and proper demeanor.
It was nice, Izuku decided at once. Yaoyorozu usually seemed so self-controlled that seeing this unconcealed exuberance from her always felt special.
He blushed, "I'm glad I could help," he mumbled. "You deserve to have someone lift you up, too."
"Thank you," she said, favoring him with another dazzling smile.
Then she began to go through a series of stretches, the color in his face deepening as her movements reminded him of how revealing her current outfit was.
"So, um, have you ever tried anything quite like this before?" he asked, trying to distract himself.
"I've been training a bit in parkour ever since the idea came to me," she answered, rolling her shoulders.
Was it normal for jogging bras to be that low cut? Izuku was certainly no expert when it came to women's athleticwear, but he had some vague idea that they usually didn't reveal quite so much cleavage.
"Neat," he muttered without quite hearing himself.
"I also did gymnastics for several years before high school," she added, stretching her right leg up until it was almost parallel with her body.
Yes, she was definitely going to kill him, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't even realize how she'd done it or that she'd done it at all. She would stand over his dead body, totally mystified.
"All right, I'm ready," she said.
Not trusting his voice at the moment, Izuku merely nodded.
Extending an arm, the raven haired girl activated her Quirk and a strand of tape like Sero's burst out of her palm. It stuck to the side of one of the faux buildings Izuku had created, and then she was swinging through the air.
Reaching the apex of her swing, she deployed another strand from her other palm, attaching it to another building.
Then she reached an intersection in the fake city and decided to turn the corner. Holding out the hand not currently attached to a length of tape, she created a metal pole that extended until it made contact with another building, pushing her and altering her course.
Unfortunately, that ended up bringing her in a little too quickly toward another building.
Izuku, following behind, almost intervened, but then Yaoyorozu reached out a hand and emulated Bakugo's Quirk, the blasts acting like a retro rocket and slowing her down. Reaching the side of the construct at a much more reasonable speed, she began to run along the side of it for a few seconds before letting loose another length of tape.
There was a crude facsimile of a bridge in her course next. Yaoyorozu managed to do a flip in midair and land on a roll in it. However, her momentum was too great, and she went tumbling off the other side of it.
She shot out another strand of tape, but its flight was too short and it started to tumble sedately downwards before it managed to hit and adhere to another phony structure. The curvy girl started to plummet towards the ground with a yelp.
A massive green hand caught her before she could fall for more than a second.
"Thank you, Midoriya," she said, panting. "That wasn't as good an initial showing as I'd hoped."
"Are you kidding? That was amazing!" Izuku exclaimed. "That was so cool, especially when you ran along the side of the building! And the applications are practically endless! It would be super useful in indoor combat, not to mention at pursuing villains! Once you get the hang of it, I bet you'd be even faster than Iida anywhere but a straightaway!"
Yaoyorozu blushed. "Thank you, Midoriya," she said. "Would you mind if I went again?"
"Of course not!" Izuku said. "In fact…"
A construct of the rabbit hero Mirko appeared. "You want a target to chase?"
She grinned.
A few hours later, Izuku was heading home after a full day of training, a smile on his face.
He had just made it back to Musutafu when his power ring whispering into his mind. "Lantern Midoriya, incoming message from Oa."
Eyebrows rising, Izuku quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway and allowed the ring to become visible. "Accept."
Immediately, his ring projected a small construct of Salakk. "Greetings, Lantern Midoriya," the corps chief administrator said. "I trust you're well?"
"I am, thanks," he replied. "What can I do for you, Lantern Salakk?"
"We have a mission for you," Salakk answered, and a construct of a hunched figure with large, segmented eyes appeared next to him. "This is Kanjar Ro. Formally the king of the planet Dhor, his reign was brutal and warlike, and his people eventually revolted and later installed a democratic government in place of the monarchy. Ro was forced to flee his home world and has been operating as a space pirate with delusions of someday raising an army and reconquering his world. He's wanted in seven galaxies for robbery, piracy, murder, weapons smuggling, and sales of illegal drugs. And our most recent intel puts him in your world's solar system."
"I can see why you reached out to me," Izuku said. He'd just been thinking that this sounded a bit more…hardcore than the missions the corps had previous sent him on so far. "Do we know specifically where he is?"
"He's reportedly on the Earth's moon," Salakk answered.
That surprised Izuku. A quick look at the information on Earth's solar system in the Oan central data repository had revealed that there was an unexpectedly large number of unique and interesting things there besides humanity, including the remains of an advanced civilization on Mars. He'd assumed that the space pirate would be looting something well away from Earth, but if he was on the Moon, then his real interest was probably there.
"Do we know what he's doing there?" Izuku asked.
"Negative," Salakk replied crisply. "You are ordered to immediately arrest this criminal and bring him back to Oa. Be advised that Ro is considered a high-level threat."
"I understand," Izuku nodded.
"Very good. Salakk out."
Izuku took out his phone and sent a quick text to his mom, letting her know he'd be home later than expected. Then, green light swept over his form, changing his street clothes to his Green Lantern uniform.
I honestly feel a little bad, having a support company make me a costume when I'll probably just be doing this most of the time, he mused as he rocketed upwards into the sky, so fast that even to the keenest observer, he was just a speck of green light zipping into the heavens.
In only moments, the robin's egg blue of the sky gave way to diamond speckled ebony, and the deep, profound silence that came only with the vacuum of space was all around him.
"Ring, take me to the Moon," Izuku ordered, voice audible only through the wonders of Oan technology.
"Course set," the ring announced, and he began to move in the direction of Earth's largest satellite.
Izuku set his jaw, trying to look confident, but the truth was that he was extremely nervous. Most of the missions the Corps had dispatched him on so far had been disaster relief or other things of that vein. The few times he'd been sent after criminals, it had been clear that they had nothing that could possibly hurt a Green Lantern with their protective barrier up. This mission was clearly on another level.
Even so, it was impossible not to appreciate how incredibly cool it was to flying through outer space for what was effectively a hero mission to the Moon.
Izuku had half expected that a structure on the barren and relatively featureless far side of the Moon would stick out like a sore thumb, but against the vastness of a celestial body, finding one little building was impossible with the naked eye. Fortunately, his ring was more than capable of locating it.
"One life sign detected within," the ring reported as he came down for a landing in front of a large, boxy structure that was a pale metallic color very similar to the surface of the Moon itself.
"Ring, short range broadcast, all frequencies," he ordered.
"Ready."
"Attention, Kanjar Ro, this is the Green Lantern of this sector," Izuku spoke with as much authority as he could muster, automatically raising his voice even though it wasn't really necessary. "Come out now with your appendages up, or I'll be forced to come in and apprehend you!"
He didn't expect any response except possibly an attack, but to his surprise the front entrance to the building slid open only seconds after he'd issued his warning.
Izuku frowned. This looked like a blatant trap, but he couldn't very well just walk away.
"Ring, power check."
"Power levels at 86 percent," the ring answered.
He'd used up even less than he'd expected training with Yaoyorozu.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku strode inside.
He was unsurprised when the door slid shut the moment he was inside, and Izuku immediately created a green bubble around himself. However, no attack came. Instead, there was a hiss that he belatedly realized was the room being repressurized now that the airlock had been closed.
Another door swung open, and Izuku stepped inside, still on guard. Yet there was no sign of Ro or any upcoming attack. If not for the doors working on their own, he might've thought the place was abandoned. Everything was dark and quiet.
He made his ring shine out a light, illuminating things like an emerald flashlight beam. The building wasn't large, and it seemed quite basic. The first two rooms he found consisted of a very simple living quarters and a hanger for a small spaceship, both of which were completely empty.
The third and final room was crammed full with computers, all of them on and bathing the room in an eerie blue glow, alien text scrolling across the screens.
A second after he stepped inside, harsh white lights came on, making Izuku wince as they dazzled his eyes.
"You shouldn't have come here, Green Lantern," a gravelly voice crackled through low quality speakers.
Squinting against the light, Izuku looked up, seeing a figure in a dark blue hard suit on the other side of the room. He could just make out orange, segmented eyes and a long, hooked noise through the visor of Ro's helmet. In his hands he was holding a small object.
Is that a…gong? Izuku wondered, confused.
Ro struck the object, and it released an incredible explosion of sound, much, much louder than something so small should've been capable of producing. Izuku's hands flew to his ears as his whole body cried out in pain.
Nor was it just him. The consoles and monitors between him and Ro practically exploded, sparks and shards of glass flying everywhere.
Guess I know why he decided to suit up for this. Weird that he's so willing to destroy all his equipment, though, Izuku's overactive brain mused, even as he desperately tried to recenter himself.
"I wasn't even hurting anyone here," Ro said, just before striking the object again.
Izuku cried out in pain as his knees buckled and he nearly collapsed. "You're a wanted criminal," he retorted.
"I'm a king!" Ro barked, hitting the gong a third time.
Izuku did collapse this time, falling to his hands and knees and very nearly vomiting. He poured willpower into the ring as he went down, and a green Mirko burst forth, unleashing a savage kick. Unfortunately, the construct missed Kanjar Ro entirely, striking and crumpling a piece of equipment instead before winking out of existence.
"You couldn't hit a target right now if your life depended on it, Green Lantern," Kanjar Ro gloated. "Unfortunately for you, it does."
Much as he hated to admit it, Izuku thought he was right. Not only was his body wracked with pain, but he felt woozy and badly nauseous, like what he imagined being drunk was like.
"What even is that?" he slurred out.
Ro chuckled darkly. "This is one of the royal treasures of planet Dhor, the gamma gong!" he proclaimed.
Huh, so it is a gong, Izuku mused.
"The sound from it can reduce even a Green Lantern to…what you are right now," Ro added, sneering as he loomed over the junior member of the Corps.
Sound, Izuku thought, his eyes widening.
Not getting up, Izuku raising his arm and fired an energy blast from his ring.
The beam didn't come anywhere close to Kanjar Ro, who laughed derisively, but his amusement was short lived. The attack tore a big hole through the wall, exposing the room to space.
Ro released a cry of surprise as the sudden decompression practically catapulted him from the room and out to the surface of the Moon, where he slowly began to descend toward the ground.
Izuku could've resisted the pull but didn't bother, allowing himself to be yanked outside along with Ro and a significant amount of his equipment.
With a scowl, the space pirate struck the gamma gong again.
This time, nothing happened. Ro's insectoid eyes widened in horror.
Izuku, who was mercifully starting to feel better, quickly created a giant hand construct that shot out and grabbed Kanjar Ro like a child picking up a doll.
"No medium to transfer sound out here," he said. "Kanjar Ro, you're under arrest."
"Well done, Lantern Midoriya," Salakk said later as Izuku handed over a bound Kanjar Ro to a pair of Green Lanterns who were ready to take him to the Sciencells. "We've been trying to bring this one to justice for some time."
"I'm glad I was able to catch him," Izuku replied. "Um, Lantern Salakk, I was wondering, why did he come to Earth in the first place? I was under the impression that there wasn't much of anything terribly interesting about the planet, so far as the rest of the universe is concerned. I tried to check his equipment, but everything was too destroyed for it to give me much information."
"I don't know, Lantern Midoriya," Salakk answered. "We'll interrogate him, but our intelligence suggested he was working at the behest of someone else and may have known very little of the plot. It's possible that his benefactor was interested in these 'Quirks' that humanity recently found itself with."
That made sense to Izuku. While the bulk of Quirks weren't very impressive, some were extremely powerful, and it was possible that aliens with advanced technology might be able to copy those exceptional Quirks in themselves. Any aspiring alien warlord would want those kinds of abilities for themselves and their armies.
Yet…something about it felt wrong to Izuku.
Unfortunately, he couldn't explain what that was, so he had little choice but to accept Salakk's explanation.
"Is there any chance that whoever hired him will come for Earth?" Izuku asked.
"Unknown, but I'm confident that you can handle any such threat to your homeworld," Salakk said. "Presuming you haven't scared them off by apprehending Kanjar Ro and making it known that a Green Lantern calls the Earth home."
Izuku nodded. "Thank you, Lantern Salakk," he said. "If there's nothing else, I'll head back to Earth now."
Salakk paused for a moment, scrutinizing Izuku. "You may want to head to the medical center before you head home," he suggested. "Unless the green pallor in your face is normal for your species, that is."
Izuku winced slightly. He felt mostly normal again, but some residual nausea and a general feeling of sickness remained from being the target of Ro's unique weapon.
"It's not," he said. "I'll go see the doctor for a checkup before I leave. Thank you, Lantern Salakk."
Meanwhile, unknown to Izuku, the Guardians of the Universe were meeting in their citadel to discuss what the junior Green Lantern had assumed was a minor mission they'd never even notice.
"We do not know for certain what the space pirate was looking for on planet Earth," one of the small, blue-skinned beings spoke.
"There is only one thing on that world that would interest anyone from outside that solar system, never mind outside that galaxy," another said dismissively.
"The humans' Quirks…"
"There are much easier means for someone who's not a member of the human species to acquire such abilities. The resources and time that would needed to endow a 'Quirk' to an extraterrestrial are too great."
Silence reigned for a moment in the vast chamber.
"We should move it off Earth and bring it to Oa," one of the Guardians finally spoke up.
"Too dangerous! Oa is the first place any malicious actor who knows of it will look for it!" another objected at once.
"Oa is protected by the full might of the Lanterns! Its main protection on Earth was the obscurity of the planet! But someone at least suspects that it's there!"
"We don't know that!" another snapped. "There are a million billion sentient races in the universe, each with their own ways of thinking! It's impossible to say that none of them would ever be interested in Earth for anything else!"
Another Guardian scoffed wordlessly at the idea.
"It may be that sending Kanjar Ro out to investigate Earth was a ploy to try and make us move it," another Guardian pointed out. "Even if someone suspects it is on that planet, it is well hidden."
Another silence as the notion brought some of the ancient beings up short.
"Few beings could get to it quickly, even if they know the exact location," one of them finally spoke. "For now, we can wait and see if anyone else makes a move at Earth."
"Should we inform the Green Lantern who is a native of that world?"
"He is a junior member of the Corps and very new on top of that. He is not ready for the weight of such information yet."
"Agreed," the other Guardians chorused.