Chapter 4: YOU'RE GONNA EAT LIGHTNING, AND YOU'RE GONNA CRAP THUNDER!
"B-b-b-b-babies?!"
Midoriya had gone into the human equivalent of the blue screen of death. Who could blame him? He had come to the lab expecting some thugs, or worse a Pro Hero, not a teenage girl with pink dreadlocks, yellow crosshairs in her eyes, and a large pair of 'GOGGLES! STARE ONLY AT THE GOGGLES!! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL MIGHT DO NOT LOOK DOWN!'
While Tsuburaya was one to indulge in schadenfreude, he knew now was not the best time, and instead cleared his throat. Well, he made the noise, at least.
"And by "babies you mean..?"
"Gadgets! Machines! Gizmos! Thingamabobs! Dinglehoppers! Support items!" the intruder elaborated on, either not noticing the green haired boy's distress or just not caring. "I saw his amazing device on the news and wanted to share notes!"
That explanation did slightly calm Midoriya down. Not enough to even begin to relax him, but now he could think clearly without… images appearing in his head.
"Perhaps we should discuss this upstairs?" Tsuburaya suggested. Midoriya was immediately in agreement, but a quick sniff made him rethink his eagerness.
"Actually… mind waiting while I shower off real quick?"
"I'm fine with waiting!" Mei agreed, pushing past Midoriya and going upstairs as if it was normal for her to break into a private building and talk to the owner and their AIs. With little other choice, Yagi followed her, Tsuburaya shut off his projection, and Midoriya went to the Studio's shower room. Before he could even begin getting undressed, a shocking thought had entered his head.
'HOLY CRAP I TALKED TO A GIRL!'
Settling down on down on a couch in the backrooms, Mei pulled out one of her inventions and began fiddling with it, humming a tuneless noise as she worked.
Rising from the ground in a zombie-like state, Tsuburaya shuffled towards Mei with a snarl, although aside from a quick glance upwards, she didn't really seem to care about the walking corpse. Toshinori, already used to Tsuburaya's pension for theatrics, got to work picking up the DvDs Mei had thrown aside while attempting to enter the hidden staircase. Seeing the general lack of a reaction, Tsuburaya tried a more standardized approach.
"I think introductions are in order. That's Mr. Toshinori, Izuku Midoriya's personal trainer, and my name is Tsuburaya. May I ask how exactly you found this location?" Tsuburaya asked, restoring his avatar to a proper human form.
Little did he know of the avalanche he'd be experiencing in only a moment.
"Nice entrance! Did Greenie design that intro animation?? Oh, wait, you asked me a question! Well, after Greenie showed off his neat smoke gauntlet and glasses in that villain attack, I just knew I had to see him! So I spent a few months writing up an algorithm to track his online profile down, but that didn't work, so I had it check the schools in the area and two months ago it found him, so I tried to get his attention, but he was always in a hurry so I couldn't get to him in time before he got home! Since it's super rude to bother people at home, I decided to try and find him somewhere else, so I followed him for a few weeks, but still wasn't able to catch him. Then I realized he was intentionally being confusing, most likely to hide his lab, so I rewrote my algorithm to instead track the trains and streets he used, and last week I triangulated the location of the store, but some creepy lady would be watching me whenever I'd approach the store, which usually wouldn't deter me, but she had a really nasty looking bokken sword at her side, so I stayed back until this morning, when she left for I think one of those public bathhouses? Anyways, I knew that was my best chance to get in, so I threw together a baby to get past any security and came here! I managed to find the panel easily enough thanks to the micro-seams in the wood being visible to my Quirk, and there were scuff marks in the carpet that let me know that the shelf moved, so I pulled down DvDs until I found the right one! That door lock stopped me from going any further though, and I was getting super frustrated until Greenie and the hospital patient found me!"
Mei Hatsume had spoken all that without having stopped to breathe, and looked at the two observing her with a large smile. Yagi and Tsuburaya could only stare, the former having picked up only every other word said by the motor mouth inventor. Tsuburaya didn't have that problem, but even he had been stunned by the sheer energy the girl had. Taking a moment to process everything, he spoke up again.
"You thought… that visiting Midoriya at home was rude, but you were okay with breaking into private property?" Tsuburaya questioned incredulously.
"Oh, is that Greenie's name?" Mei asked. "Too long, I think I'll call him either 'Dorya or Greenie! But yeah, I got excited to see him. Great inventors hold conversations through their inventions! By beating his security, I knew that he would be impressed and would let me join him in making babies!"
"...I.. think I understand..." Tsuburaya muttered after a moment of thought. Before he could ask more questions, the shelf of DvDs, now refilled, moved to the side and out emerged Midoriya, clean and sporting a green jacket over an All Might t-shirt and green cargo shorts. After that relaxing shower, Midoriya was certain he could handle the hyperactive girl who tried to break into his workshop.
"'dorya, make babies with me!!!" Mei immediately shouted to the teenage boy.
Nevermind.
Midoriya just stood there, paralyzed in shock, a strangled noise escaping from his throat as his brain attempted another reboot. Yagi sighed, and came over to Midoriya, shaking his shoulder until he snapped out of it.
"She tracked you down because she wants to work with you, kid." summarized Yagi to his apprentice.
"O-oh!" Midoriya recovered. "You want to work with me?"
"Yeah! Your gauntlet and glasses were amazing! You built a fully functional alert system and a portable support item out of garbage! You're the kinda guy I wanna be making babies with!" Mei stated, again not caring how her words would be taken out of context.
Thankfully, Midoriya only flinched at the words instead of locking up. "You… you were impressed? It wasn't anything special, I just dumpster dived for most of the materials, and I couldn't even get the holograms working earlier that-"
"HOLOGRAMS??" Mei interrupted in excitement, sitting up.
Midoriya leaned back, unused to being given so much positive attention by people his age. "Ye-yeah.. The gauntlets are supposed to emit a special fog that made holograms look more solid, since the requirements to give the hologram's continuous form retention-"
"-Is limited by computing power AND space on the gauntlet!" Mei finished, eyes dilating in joy. "But if you add microcircuitry to the glove, you'd have more than enough processor power to keep the holograms stable, no matter how much light or material passes through it!"
"I… I know…" Midoriya admitted. "The problem is we don't yet have the equipment to build micro circuitry in a cost effective way."
"And ordering such items to this location draws the wrong kind of attention." Tsuburaya added. Indeed, the whole reason the Dr. Rinehart form had been created was that the delivery men that dropped off materials needed to develop Mysterio's suit had insisted upon retrieving signatures on their tablets, threatening to call the police if it wasn't done. Midoriya had only been ten, none of the robots in storage looked human or were dexterous enough to believably hold a pen, and Tsyuburaya was still using the Mysterio look, so neither of them could have done so. It was only thanks to Miss Yashida's timely appearance that the delivery men didn't report the area as a possible spot for villain activity.
"Oh, is that it? I figured out how to do that in my first year of junior high!" Mei bragged.
"Wait, you can make microcircuitry?!" Midoriya couldn't believe his ears.
"Yup!" Mei pointed to her eyes. "My Quirk, Zoom, lets me see a mouse from up to five kilometers away in great clarity!! What's more, I was able to build so many amazing babies by focusing on the inner workings! It's also how I discovered the seams along the hidden panels, and the signs of the passageways in this building!"
"That… that's amazing!" Midoriya came closer, pulling out his Quirk analysis notebook, much to Mei's amusement. "Just how good is your Quirk's magnification on an object sitting before you??"
The two went on and on, discussing her quirk and the various inventions the two had worked on. All the while, Tsuburaya was watching in silence. He had been uncertain of how to categorize the girl with pink dreadlocks, but now he knew that she was a potential threat, should she choose to be. While she did not seem to have any intention of revealing the Studio's location, she was an uninhibited, shameless person, especially when presented with "babies," so the chances of her spilling the Studio's location to the public before Midoriya determined they were ready was simply too great. If only there was a way to ensure she'd keep quiet. Killing her was right out. Midoriya would have refused to allow such a thing, not to mention he would have been very upset with Tsuburaya, and they lacked the means of effectively hiding the body, so that idea was discarded almost instantly. His attempt at scaring her with the zombie showed that she was not one easily intimidated. Banishing her was no good, since she was able to breach all but the last line of defense, and it was only due to luck that she didn't manage to do so. Moving locations was also unfeasible, since they lacked the time, manpower, and means to get everything out without drawing attention, to say nothing of locating and/or modifying a new space that would fit their needs. In addition, the girl had shown to be dangerously clever and not above bending the rules when she thought the situation called for it. He could threaten her, but again, Midoriya would have disapproved. With all this in mind, Tsuburaya came to what he believed to be the best option, as much as he felt it was one that held its own risks.
"Miss Hatsume, how would you like a job?"
That got everyone in the room to look at him. Midoriya was gaping like a fish, Mei's smile grew to Cheshire Cat levels, and Yagi was in shock.
"A-a job?!" Midoriya stuttered out.
"Ooooh… you've got my interest, Hologram!" Mei smirked while Yagi stood up.
"Hold it, Mei is only a child, she could-" he started, glaring at the AI.
"Actually I'll be sixteen in April, so legally I can start working now!" Mei interrupted, a manic gleam in her eyes. "LEMME AT THE BABIES!"
"But.. Midoriya-" Yagi tried again.
"Is fifteen, the legal age to be working, and as the legal owner of this... Property, he is within his rights to hire anyone that he so chooses." Tsuburaya countered.
"But…" Yagi searched for anything to dissuade the AI. "Mei doesn't have an official Support Gear license yet! She needs to get through Hero School first!"
"Which is why she will not be working on the larger projects directly." Tsuburaya clarified. Ignoring the pout Mei was giving him and Yagi, he continued. "Instead, she will be acting as a consultant and making the individual parts of the items, which is perfectly legal, and those parts will be assembled by myself, commanding machines, into the completed Support Gear to be sold. It's a legal loophole that we've exploited before, back when Midoriya and I were coming up with the means for funding his ambitions."
"And I don't mind working for a guy younger than me!" Mei added, practically vibrating in excitement. "With funding I can afford proper and bigger materials for my babies and gain some workplace experience!!"
Tsuburaya raised his hands in a placating manner. "Hold on, before we can officially employ you, some things need to be… clarified."
Though visibly annoyed, Mei sat back down on the couch, arms crossed. Midoriya swallowed his spit and turned to Tsuburaya and nodded. Seeing this as permission to continue, Tsuburaya explained himself.
"This location is meant to be private. Behind the door downstairs are devices that need to remain confidential, but I calculate that you are not one to be driven or bribed away. In addition, your skills have proven to be a potentially useful resource for us, therefore I believe our best option to ensure your silence is an employment contract, starting with an NDA, or a non-"
"Nondisclosure agreement so I can't tell anyone, I know! Lemme have it so I can sign it" Mei said impatiently. Tsuburaya nodded, and from a printer in the corner of the room, the document was formed. Mei practically ran to the printer, snatched the paper, and quickly scanned it. Though excited, she was still careful to read it multiple times and think it over. Her mother didn't raise a fool, after all. Once she finished making sure the NDA was acceptable, she ran past Yagi, grabbing a pen from a Godzilla mug and writing her name and signature down on the bottom line. "Done, so whatcha working on?"
Tsuburaya scanned the document before nodding in satisfaction. "This place is the secret location of the Support Item Company, Wondrous Might & Heroism."Mei's eyes widened, and a huge smile appeared upon her face. "I see you know who we are."
"Of course! You guys are small, but you've got some of the most effective babies on the market!" Mei said excitedly.
"Thanks… though admittedly we can't really take all the credit for inventing some of those items…" Midoriya said, rubbing his neck nervously.
"Why not??" Mei asked, before gasping, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Hang on… you didn't steal them?!"
"NO, NO, NO!" Midoriya immediately threw his hands up, panicking. "It's just that-"
"The inventions we sold are either copies of, or derived from non-patented technology used by Pre-Quirk Era villains." Tsuburaya calmly explained, a holographic cloud of smoke surrounding him until he was standing before the three in his original Mysterio avatar. Mei's jaw dropped as he continued. "This technology was unclaimed and out of public usage, thus within our legal right to use as we saw fit, including to allow the new Mysterio to be a hero."
Mei fell silent, her jaw closed. It seemed that for once, she had been rendered silent. Not wanting her to get the wrong idea, Midoriya quietly spoke up. "I know the rep that people related to villains get, so if this makes you uncomfortable, then we can-"
"ARE YOU KIDDING??"
Everyone jumped back as Mei leapt up, the fire of eagerness within her eyes. "A reputation for taking the babies of baddies and reworking them to be used by the heroes of tomorrow??" standing on the couch, she threw her fist into the air and proclaimed to the shocked trio "THIS COMPANY'S REP WILL GARNER SO MUCH ATTENTION, I BET THAT WE'LL BECOME LEGENDARY!!"
"We…? So.. you mean..?" Midoriya asked.
"I'm onboard, new Mysterio!" Mei pointed to him. "We're gonna be so famous! Or infamous! Either way, people will notice us and our babies! I just wanna know when we'll go public!!"
Midoriya fell silent, silently debating, before coming to a decision. "The UA Sport Festival. Everyone will be watching, and people will see that we're not afraid of salvaging villain tech to build a better tomorrow."
"OH, THINKIN' OF ATTENDING UA TOO??? ME TOO! IT CANNOT POSSIBLY GET ANY MORE PERFECT!" Mei turned to the AI, who was still in shock at how unbothered Mei was. "DRAW UP AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT, AND I PROMISE YOU MY BABIES WILL GIVE US ALL THE ATTENTION WE COULD EVER WANT!"
And thus, an unexpected, but welcome new member had been added to Team Mysterio. Tsuburaya got to work on a contract, promising Mei full rights to her creations despite being an open hire, so she was free to go to any other business that caught her eye or start up her own business. Mei said that it was unlikely that she would leave Wondrous Might & Heroism for another, but accepted the terms. She began work that very day. Within a week, she had solved many of Midoriya's suit's problems, and suggested new additions to the items. In a month, she and Tsuburaya built the skeleton of Midoriya's costume. She spent her free time tinkering and experimenting in the workshop, though she had to be moved to a side room after one of her "babies," a modified vest version of the Scorcher's armor, nearly set a Mysterio costume on fire.
It was only a few days before the UA Entrance Exams. Toshinori drove to the beach in an old pickup truck, Tsuburaya's drone in the truck's bed. The two were expecting Midoriya to be hard at work, clearing away one of the few piles of appliances that were left.
Instead, as they pulled in, they heard a scream. Toshinori hurried out as Tsuburaya took to the air, both concerned… but instead they became still, amazement overcoming the two of them.
The entire beach had been cleared out! Even outside the designated areas, the scrapped remains of various appliances had been removed! The only sign of it was a tall pile, upon which stood Midoriya, screaming his lungs out to the rising sun, his sweat covered chest bare for the world to see.
"He… he actually did it!" Tsuburaya stuttered out, shocked. So shocked, that he activated his Dr. Rinehart hologram just to properly convey his shock, even dramatically throwing off his spectacles in amazement.
"Holy… stinkin… SUPER CRAP!"
Midoriya, limp and exhausted, fell from the pile. Tsuburaya wasn't concerned. As he predicted, only microseconds later, All Might rushed forward and caught the boy, a look of immeasurable pride radiating from his smiling face.
"You did it, young Midoriya, and with only a few days to spare!"
"I… cleared everything in sight… did I… do enough?"
"Indeed you did, mantle bearer!" Tsuburaya hovered over, and generated a hologram of Midoriya from the previous year, before generating another one. "This is you, 10 months ago! And this is you as you are now!"
While Midoriya wasn't scrawny before he met All Might, his new self, compared to the old version, looked like a small body builder! Clearly chiseled and defined muscles lined the boy's torso and arms, marking the completion of his journey to bearing the strength of All Might's great power.
"Am I…?" Midoriya asked the muscle bound pro hero.
"You are!" All Might said, gently setting Midoriya down. "You are ready to inherit this great legacy, in addition to the other mantle you plan to bear!"
"But.. are you sure..? I just met you through luck…"
"Ahahaha! Still doubting yourself, fanboy??" All Might asked. "Lemme tell you something MY mentor once said! There is a difference between being lucky and being deserving. One is happenstance, and the other is a reward! Never get them confused! And speaking of rewards…!"
The giant of a man reached up to his signature hair and pulled out a single strand, clenching it between two fingers. "You worked your backside off, studied hard, and poured all your skills into making it here, young Izuku Midoriya! I promise you, YOU ARE WORTHY OF THIS AWESOME POWER!"
"NOW…" All Might leaned to Midoriya, who with tired, Quirkless hands, reached forward to claim his prize.
"EAT THIS!"
"..."
"..."
"…huh?"
"...I… think my audio sensors glitched, did he just tell you to-?"
"He did…" Midoriya confirmed, looking at the hair in slight horror.
"Ahaha, I guess I forgot to mention that you had to eat a bit of my DNA to inherit my quirk."All Might explained sheepishly.
"Um, yeah!! Why do I have to eat this?!" Midoriya asked, disgust welling up.
All Might rolled his eyes and shoved the strand towards Midorya's mouth. "Well it was either this or I spat in your mouth, now eat! Eat! EEEEEAT!"
"WAAAGH!"
The next few seconds were blocked from Tsuburaya's memory, by his own choice, but when his vision was restored, a thoroughly unhappy looking Midoriya was covering his mouth and All Might was looking down at him.
"It tasted like… hair gel and regret…" he whimpered out. The next few minutes were spent with All Might loading his truck with all the trash it could carry; since some of the junk pile was too big for his one truck to haul on its own. Midoriya, meanwhile, decided to clean himself off in the beach's nearby shower stalls. After exiting the showers, while putting his shoes on, something occurred to Midoriya that he had been wondering about, but never got the courage to ask. "Hey All Might… if I have your Quirk now, what does that mean for you?"
"That is a good question… does that mean you are unable to be a hero now?" Tsuburaya asked. Midoriya immediately began to tear up in horror at the implications. Before the waterworks, unrelated to the shower, could begin, All Might deflated to his weaker form and held up his hands placatingly.
"Calm down! I'm not out of the game yet!" That calmed Midoriya down enough for Yagi to continue. "While it's true that I will eventually have to stop being a hero, I do have some… Residual embers within me, I guess you could say. That'll be enough for me to continue heroing for two years, maybe even three if I don't push myself."
"But.. that means… it's my fault you-" Midoriya whimpered out before All Might pointed at him.
"None of that, Midoriya!" he shouted. "This was going to happen whether or not I had found a successor! Truth be told… I should have retired after my injury. But now I can rest easy knowing that the next Symbol of Peace has been found and hatched!"
"Does this mean we're going to start work on my Quirk?" Midoriya asked, brushing aside All Might's choice in words.
"Well, once the hair finishes digesting in three hours, yeah." Yagi explained, Midoriya shuddering at the memory of the experience. Turning to the stairs out of the beach, Yagi continued. "Tsuburaya and I ordered some equipment we can use to help you gauge the full output of your power, and we had Mei clear up the front of the store to act as a training area."
"What did you tell her it was for?" Midoriya asked, following behind his flesh and blood mentor. Mei was a part of WMH, yes, but she was not made privy to who Yagi truly was, or that Midoriya had been Quirkless the whole time he had known her. When she had asked about his Quirk, Midoriya said that he "had anxieties about using it." She didn't appear to believe him, but for once, respected his desire for privacy.
"We said that you experienced a Quirk awakening and that you were concerned with how it would affect your Support items." Tsuburaya explained, dismissing the hologram while the drone folded itself up for Midoriya to carry in his lap. "Since we need to see how your equipment would handle the Quirk anyways, it seemed like a reasonable explanation."
"Yeah, I can see that…" Midoriya admitted as he climbed into the truck. "So… since Mei is probably going to be there, I should probably ask how to use One for All now."
"Good idea." Yagi agreed, before remembering something. "Oh! Real quick, lemme send a message first." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
Midoriya sat in the passenger seat and wondered who All Might would have been calling. "Sir Nighteye, maybe? No, not likely, they had a falling out years prior. Maybe it's All Might's own mentor… or a previous One For All user. It'd make the most sense, since they had experience using it, even if it's gone from their bodies..."
"Okay, good.. I'll see you there." hanging up, Yagi turned to Midorya who stopped his mental tangent. "Chiyome will meet us above the Studio, in the testing area."
"Who's that?" Midoriya asked.
"The Nurse at UA, you probably know her as-" All Might began.
"The Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl!!" Midoriya finished, excitedly. "Wait, does she know about…?"
"One for All? Yeah, she helped me out when I first got it, and also was involved in the surgery following my injury." Yagi explained. "Since her quirk immediately heals most injuries, she's our best bet to handle any… accidents that might come from using One for All."
"So… how do I use it?" Midoyira asked.
Yagi raised his left fist. "Well, you clench your buttocks tight-"
"What?!" Midoriya yelped.
"And yell "Smash" from the bottom of your heart!" Yagi stuck his arm out the window of his truck to punctuate his statement. Pulling his arm back into the cabin of the truck, he continued. "At least, that's how it works for me… the power manifests itself differently depending on the person."
"You mentioned months ago that Midoriya would not be able to handle the full output safely. What is the most likely result of this, and how do you plan to rectify it?" Tsuburaya, speaking through Midoriya's phone, asked.
"Well, first Midoriya will have to use the power. That way he can get a feel for how a 100% power up feels, then we can work on adjusting his output to something more manageable." Yagi said. "Though that means Midoriya will probably end up breaking an arm-"
"Which is why you called Recovery Girl to sit in." Midoriya added, though he still looked uneasy at the idea of intentionally breaking an arm, even if it was going to be fixed moments later.
"Yeah, exactly!" Yagi confirmed.
"Does she know about my… inheritance?" Midoriya asked.
"She knows you have an AI and a workshop, but not the source of those items." Yagi assured the boy, who visibly relaxed in his seat.
Three hours and a few trips to the junkyard later, they reached the Studio, Toshinori parking his truck close by. While he fed the parking meter, Midoriya climbed out, Tsuburaya's drone under his arm.
"Morning Midoriya!" Miss Yashida called from her favorite spot, eating a bit of tempura shrimp in a Styrofoam container.
"Morning Obaasan!" Midoriya cheerfully called out. "Listen, I'm going to be… testing some things here, so don't be concerned if it gets a bit loud. Oh, and if an old lady comes by asking for us, can you direct her around the back?"
"Of course!" she said happily. "Have fun testing your toys!"
"Come on, kid!" Yagi called. Midoriya followed him into the back of the store, then to the front, now cleaned up and remade into an impromptu gym. Mei was already there, getting a pressure plate hooked up to her homemade laptop. She was so immersed in her work that Midoriya had stepped inside and set down Tsuburaya's drone in its charging station before she finally noticed him.
"'Dorya!" Mei greeted the boy happily from her spot while Tsuburaya appeared as a mummy emerging from a sarcophagus before the bandages fell away to reveal his Dr. Rinehart avatar. Ignoring the hologram's need for theatrics, Mei continued. "You said you needed help making sure your babies could handle your Quirk's new output, right?"
"Ye…yeah… I… got a sudden quirk awakening and gained an increase in power, but now I can't really control it, so I wanted to make sure my support items would be fine." Midoriya nervously lied. If Mei suspected anything she gave no indication, just smiling eagerly as she brought over a small box labeled TEST BABIES!
"Well we can't have you breaking your babies! What was your previous output?" she asked, getting in real close to the veridian haired boy. While Midoriya had gotten somewhat used to the pink haired genius, he still found himself getting uncomfortable with her at times.
"Er… well…"
"A little under 4,000,000,000 Joules." Yagi stated without hesitation. Mei turned to him in shock, before immediately running to her laptop to plug in the numbers.
'Thank you.' Midoriya mouthed to his mentor, who just subtly nodded. Midoriya dug into the box, picking out a prototype Mysterio Gauntlet. It was a boxy thing, with hidden panels holding small dice-size holocubes and plastic vials of various chemicals used in Mysterio's fog. Sewn into the palm of the golden glove was a flat, eye-shaped pattern hiding an offensive laser and hologram projector. The metal was unpainted and a few wires were exposed, secured by zipties, but it functioned and was capable of doing anything that Mysterio would require of it. Besides, they weren't testing the gauntlet's aesthetics. Slipping the gauntlet on, Midoriya activated it, the small plexiglass screen on the back lighting up with statistics and a command menu, not that Midoriya was going to actually use it.
"Alrighty, we're all set for the test! Just go to the dummy and punch with all your strength!" Mei called up. Beside her, Tsuburaya focused on the scene before them, ready to record the results.
Midoriya nodded, stepping forward. Recalling the stances Tsuburaya showed him, Midoriya raised his arm. A surge of energy poured into his limb, a red glow radiating from the arm itself, and, with a mighty yell of "SMASH!" Midoriya punched the dummy-mounted pressure plate.
The effect was like a massive cannon firing against a football. The dummy snapped off its secure housing and was sent flying into the back wall, the rubbery material that made up the dummy flattening from the pressure like a cheap toy while the plate itself cracked almost in half, and the air force… Had Tsuburaya not accounted for the wind pressure in designing the test, Midoriya's attack would have easily torn not just through the reinforced concrete wall, but at least five other walls beyond it before slowing down. Thankfully he had, and instructed Mei to place several directional tubes with mesh covers on the wall, so instead the wind was channeled up into the air where nothing was damaged save perhaps a few eardrums belonging to some now irate pigeons.
Needless to say, Mei was stunned. Midoriya had said he had a super strength type quirk, but that was like comparing a domesticated kitten to a fully grown tiger! Already her mind began calculating what would need to be done to get the Mysterio suit capable of withstanding the pressure, the materials and possible methods they could use, but her brain skidded to a halt when her laptop showed her just how much power she would have to account for.
"Holy…! Your output was just over 231,816,000,000 joules of energy!!" Mei shouted excitedly.
"231 Billion?!" Midoriya yelped, holding his punching arm, his face contorted in pain. Mei glanced down at the limb and immediately felt sick. She was no stranger to injuries. When her babies blew up in her face, she would usually treat her own wounds when she could, since hospital trips were both expensive and usually a waste of time. But even she had never experienced an arm breakage as horrible as the one her boss had.
His arm was covered in a giant bruise, spreading up to his elbow, clearly shattered from the sheer output of the punch. Midoriya's fingers trembled, twitching uselessly in angles that they shouldn't have been in. Midoriya was tearing up, not that she blamed him, only conscious through his sheer force of will, though it was clear that the pain was far worse than anything he was used to.
Clinging to his arm, but only barely, were the remains of the Mysterio gauntlet. Only now it was a warped piece of fabric, metal and plastic. The actual glove had surprisingly remained largely intact, only tearing along the edges where it had been attached to the metal, but the laser and projector were in pieces, the bulletproof screen for the controls was cracked and darkened, and the circuit boards had shattered like cheap glass, falling to the ground in pieces with every movement. The metal frame and panels had peeled back like a banana, or those ancient American cartoons involving the devious rabbit and the hunter with the plugged guns. It stayed on Midoriya's broken limb only because it was otherwise in one piece, though Mei wasn't sure how much longer it would stay that way. Secretly though, she was relieved that none of the pieces had torn into Midoriya's arm.
No wonder he didn't like showing off his Quirk, if his previous usage was anything like this!
"...that was…a lot more power than I was expecting…" Tsuburaya stated, a tone of worry leaking through his otherwise calm words as he observed Midoriya painfully pull off the remains of his Support Item to place on the folding table where Mei's laptop was.
"You said it, Tsubu…" Mei said, ignoring Tsuburaya's glare at the unwanted nickname.
"And what were you expecting to happen?!"
Everyone immediately turned to the backdoor. Standing there, leaning on a cane stylized to look like a massive hypodermic needle, was a short old woman in a doctor's coat with her hair done up in a bun, glaring at the group with an intense gaze. Yagi came over, trying to placate the upset healer.
"Re-Recovery Girl, I can explai- agh!"
Judging by how she was hitting him with her cane repeatedly though, it looked as if explanations weren't going to be enough.
"I'm sorry…!" Midoriya whimpered out, trying not to move his arm. "I-I-I wanted to s-see how strong my new po-power levels were, so I-"
"Got excited and decided to do something reckless!" Recovery Girl interrupted with a sigh. "I swear, one of these days you people will be the death of me… well, stay there and let me make it all better."
Approaching the young man, she puckered up her lips, stretching them out far until she covered a good chunk of his arm. A soft green glow emanated from Midoriya's arms, and in mere seconds the bones reconnected, the bruising faded, and all the parts snapped back to their original places. Recovery Girl pulled back, not surprised to see the now fully healed young man had grown visibly exhausted.
Yagi ran over with a folding chair, catching Midoriya just before he fell to the ground.
"Thanks…" Midoriya breathed out, wanting nothing more than to take a nap.
"Why's 'Dorya so tired?" Mei asked.
"It's part of my quirk, dearie." Recovery Girl explained, handing Midoriya a bit of candy which he gratefully popped into his mouth. "My Quirk can heal your body in seconds, but it uses up your own stamina to do so. Major injuries like this can exhaust you, and if the damage is too severe I'd have to either wait for you to get enough stamina, do surgery beforehand, place several smaller kisses over a period of time, or some combination thereof. Of course, that's only in extreme cases done by idiots and dunderheads!"
That last comment was directed at Yagi, who gulped and shuffled away like a frightened schoolboy. Mei figured that comment was related to Mr. Yagi's sickly appearance, but decided that it was probably rude to pry, so instead she chose to focus on what she was qualified for.
"Well… it looks like Tsubu and I have our work cut out for us!" she proclaimed, snapping her laptop shut and putting it on her back.
"Please do not call me that." Tsuburaya asked her, though Mei didn't respond, focusing instead on gathering the pieces of the ruined gauntlet in a plastic bag.
"I'm going to head downstairs and study the data we got, see if I can't find a way to keep your babies from breaking!" Mei cheerfully called out, heading for the lab. After Tsuburaya gave them the signal that she was gone, Yagi turned to Midoriya.
"So, now that you got a feel for One for All, can you describe it?"
Blinking away his tiredness, Midoriya tried hard to put into words what the sensation had felt like. "Ye-yeah, it was like a… buzz, or "ka-pow" or… oh, I know! Like an egg in a microwave that's about to explode!"
"Ha-ha-ha, that's a pretty lame analogy kid, but what the hey, if it works!" Yagi laughed, ignoring Midoriya's embarrassed look. "So, now that you've discovered how it feels, you can change the output, or to use your analogy, regulate the wattage to a point that the egg cooks without bursting."
"Okay… I think I understa-and…!" Midoriya yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"For now get some rest, dearie." Recovery Girl said gently, settling down into another chair nearby.
"But… my mom…" Midoriya tried to get up, only to fall back down in his chair, eyes half lidded.
"I'll contact her and let her know about your sudden development, and handle the paperwork for your quirk." Tsuburaya promised.
"Thanks… Tsu…bur… aya." Midoriya fell into a nap only moments later. Smiling softly, Yagi laid Midoriya's favorite All Might hoodie on him like a blanket.
"You certainly picked a unique successor, Toshinori." Recovery Girl remarked.
"I know…" Yagi said, a proud smile on his face. "He's going to be like no other, I'm sure of it."
Chapter 5: All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them
At long last, the day of the entrance exams came. To say Midoriya was nervous was like saying that the surface of the sun was kind of warm. He was pretty sure he was going to vomit from nerves alone. It didn't help that he had been unable to come up with a way to regulate his new Quirk's output, even with the help of the people around him. Visualizing it did nothing, and All Might, for all his efforts, wasn't exactly helpful when he asked.
"In my case I had almost no trouble at all! Of course, I was in better shape than you… also much bigger."
His mom had nearly fainted in shock at the video of his Quirk in action, though whether it was from the joy of her baby finally manifesting a Quirk, horror at the sight of his ruined arm, or some hybrid of the two emotions, Midoriya was unsure. Even when he assured her that it had only been like that for about a minute, she fretted over his arm, checking for any bruises or scarring. Shortly thereafter she made a large bowl of katsudon to celebrate his ''emergence,'' and calmly listened to Tsuburaya explaining, or rather, lying, about how Midoriya had always had a quirk, but that due to the severe backlash, it hadn't emerged sooner for Midoriya's safety, and that his workouts with the retired pro hero Yagi Toshinori allowed him to finally unlock it. Recovery Girl had even provided paperwork, including her professional diagnosis, to back the story up, which Midoriya was grateful for, though he still felt bad about lying to his mother. At least now she wouldn't be feeling guilty over his quirklessness.
Mei, meanwhile, was unable to draw up a feasible, or safe, method of keeping the gauntlets intact, but she at least was able to create what she called "a way to keep the babies from exploding and being useless!" She was supposed to meet him and drop off his completed equipment, but he had been standing at UA's gate for an hour and there had been no sign of her.
Oh, yeah, he was also at UA! His dream school!
He'd worked so hard to get there, but now that he was, was he even worthy? He was using a villain's mantle, and a Quirk that wasn't his own! It felt like he had cheated his way in, that he was shaming the heroes who came before him.
"Doriya!"
Midoriya was brought out of his storm of doubt by a cheerful shout. Riding over on motorized roller skates, swiftly weaving through the other applicants, was Hatsume, carrying a black backpack with the Wondrous Might & Heroism logo displayed proudly on the flap. Skidding to a halt, Hatsume removed the motorized skates and slipped them into her own backpack, filled to the brim with tools and more gadgets than Midoriya could hope to count.
"Sorry to keep ya waiting, boss! I was up all night working on your babies and I finally finished them!" She handed over the backpack. "Your gauntlets, headset, and Illusion-O Spex are in there, fully charged along with a few drones, gas tanks, the suit, and the paperwork for them. Oh, regarding your Quirk, I ordered a few things online that should hopefully help with absorbing the backlash, but they wouldn't arrive until next week, so for now there's just a simple "breakaway" feature that should keep your babies alive!"
Midoriya quietly noticed a few people staring at them with a mix of confusion and horror before hurrying inside to get away from Pinkie Pie's mad genius reincarnation.
"Thanks Mei, you're a- ...wait. Did you get any sleep at all last night?!" Midoriya asked after Mei's words finally registered to him.
"Nope!" she admitted with a pop to her words. "But it's fine, I slept three nights ago, so I'll be okay!"
"The fuck is this?!"
Mei glanced over, staring at Katsuki Bakugo, who looked as though he'd stumbled upon a scandal of some kind.
"K-Kacchan! This is Mei Hatsume, she's a friend helping me with my gadgets!" Midoriya explained while Mei waved hello.
"....tcch, as if that crap you build will do any good." Bakugo dismissed. Had he bothered to look at Midoriya's friend, he'd have seen her, with an uncharacteristically angry scowl on her face, following him.
Midoriya, seeing her reach into her backpack, stopped her. "Forget it... it's not worth it... and the best way to dispute his claim is to win with these gadgets." he reasoned to his employee.
"...you're right!" she relaxed. "Nothing proves people wrong better than a demonstration!"
"Best of luck, Mei... I know you'll make it in." Midoriya said with a smile.
"See ya after the exams, boss!" she called back to him as she stepped onto the school grounds.
Inside UA, Higari Majima, better known as UA's licensed Support Gear Developer and the Excavation Hero Power Loader, was relaxing in the teacher's lounge with a cup of coffee before he had to test the prospective new students. For once he wasn't wearing his bulky excavator helmet, so his hair was free to hang over his face unimpeded. Lightly blowing into his favorite mug, decorated with a hot rod and Iron Man, he decided it was cool enough and lifted it to his mouth. But right as he was about to take a sip, he felt a horrible chill down his spine. Barely able to save his drink, he looked around, but no one else had felt that awful chill.
It was as if something horrible had entered his life.
Something that would haunt him for years to come.
Something… nightmarish.
Watching Mei leave, Midoriya looked at the gauntlets in his bag. They were a more professionally made and streamlined version of the gauntlet he used ten months ago, with cloth and velcro straps to secure the control screens to his arms. A tank of holo-fog, as Mei dubbed it, much to Tsuburaya's ire, was hooked up to the gauntlet's sprayers, along with a few drones the size of American silver dollars. The rest of the ensemble was underneath these items, but Midoriya knew they were there.
All in all, a simple setup at the core of it all. Nothing that stood out from anyone else's quirks, the origins and tech aside, of course. And yet…
Despite Mei having modified them for the Entrance Exam, the designs, the programs, the intent, the devices' very souls had been made by him. He made them. He planned this for years. Maybe he did have a quirk now, but Midoriya knew that just having a quirk wasn't enough to get him in. Nor would the Support Items on their own. But together… he had a chance. So he took a deep breath, slung the backpack over his shoulder, and stepped forward…
…before promptly tripping over his own leg.
'Whelp, I guess I'll just die.'
But he suddenly stopped. Hovering above the ground, Midoriya wondered if Tsuburaya had actually disobeyed him and followed him to school, saving him with a cloaked drone.
"Hey, sorry about using my quirk on you!"
Midoriya snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to his savior. His brown haired, rosy cheeked savior. Her hand was on his shoulder, and a quick glance at her other hand showed pads, one covering each fingertip, probably where her Quirk was emitted from. With a gentle push she easily righted Midoriya and set him down on his feet.
"I just think it's bad luck to trip and fall on the first day." She apologized. Once Midoriya had regained his balance, she pressed the pads of her fingers together and sighed in relief. "Are you okay? Your face looks a little red."
Midoriya, who had been staring at her, swallowed and shook his head. "N-n-no! It's perfectly fine! Thank you so much!"
"No problem! Well, good luck on the entrance exams!" she waved goodbye and ran up the steps to the door meant for the Hero Course.
"Ye-yeah, you too!" Midoriya waved with a forced smile. 'Holy crap I talked to a girl! AGAIN!'
With a slight bounce in his step, Midoriya went to the front desk, eyes wide in excitement when he saw who was manning it. 'The R-Rated Hero Midnight! She works here? Oh god, is she gonna be my homeroom teacher?!'
"Hello there…" she said with a smile, looking the boy over. "What course is a strapping young man like yourself hoping to apply to?"
Midoriya froze for a moment, but quickly gathered himself. Quietly thanking Mei for getting him used to…. strange comments, he handed over his Support Gear registration. "I'mmmmm h-h-oping to apply to the hero course, M-miss Midnight!"
She looked the papers over, nodding and filing them away before handing him a packet. "You're in exam room 2-1. Please leave your support gear and any removable electronics in the getaboko before the written exam begins. When you're done, you can take it back out." she stated.
Midoriya, though surprised at how quickly she changed her tone to that of a professional one, nodded. "Th-thank you… um, if it's not too much trouble…?" he handed her his notebook. "Could you… sign this?"
Apparently she wasn't expecting that judging by she blinked in surprise, but she smiled kindly and signed beneath the sketch of herself. Before handing it back, she told him. "Great likeness… though I'll have you know I'm not that scrawny."
Midoriya, fighting to keep the red off his face, just nodded and hurried away while some other hopefuls behind him snickered. Midoriya quickly found a free locker, placing his bag and phone inside before continuing on past a nice Caucasian man sweeping the floor.
"Good luck, true believer!" he waved at the boy, who didn't respond.
Midoriya was too nervous to respond. He was so nervous that he felt it was a miracle he found the right room and his seat. Beside him was a girl with horns and a short muzzle, muttering to herself in English with a hint of an accent. Texan, if his memories of studying different dialects and accents with Tsuburaya were correct.
{"Is something the matter?"} Midoriya asked in English with what he hoped was a friendly smile. She looked at him in surprise, but smiled in gratitude.
{"Oh! Yes, I'm having trouble understanding this word…"} she muttered, pointing it out on a registration form regarding her health and Quirk needs. Midoriya leaned over to look at the word, Kōtai.
{"It means Alteration, or Change, in English."} he explained before elaborating. {"It's basically asking if you were artificially altered in some way, like Captain America."}
{"Oh! Well, no worries about that."} she muttered, checking off the NO box beside it. {"Thank you so much! Now I can finish turning in my application paperwork!"} the girl leaned back in her seat with a sigh. {"I only came here a year ago, and I still have trouble grasping the local language."} she admitted sadly, before extending a hand. {"I'm Pony- oh wait, it's reversed here, call me Tsunotori!"}
{"Izuku Midoriya. Call me Midoriya, and I understand. I still have trouble with English sometimes."} Midoriya admitted, happily shaking her hand. Once he let go, he froze up. ' Oh crap I just talked to yet another girl!!'
Thankfully he was saved from awkward questions by the arrival of their instructor, the eerie hero Ectoplasm.
"Welcome to the UA Hero Course Entrance Exams." he spoke to the people observing him in awe. "This twenty minute test will test your knowledge of law, hypothetical scenarios a hero may encounter, and what it means to be a hero in your own words. Please use only the provided pencils and scratch paper. When you've finished, please hand it to me, return to Miss Midnight for your handout, and make your way to the auditorium for the introduction to the practical examination."
Midoriya looked down at his sheet. These questions… they looked hard, but he steeled himself. He spent his whole life preparing to get into the school of his dreams.
He can do this!
"Best of luck to you all… and begin."
The written exam was challenging, but not maliciously so, as expected of the number 1 hero school in Japan. Tenya Iida had been nervous, but knew not to let it be shown. This school and his family had a reputation, after all, and he would honor both of them! Once he handed his test packet in, he went straight to the auditorium, taking the best seat from which he could see the screen and the instructor. He briefly wondered who would be commentating, but the most likely candidates were the gentle but straightforward Concrete hero Cementoss, or the stoic duplicator Ectoplasm. Well, either way, he knew they would be the quiet, serious instructors he had imagined since hearing about the school.
Slowly, the auditorium around him began to fill with students. He glanced around at the people who might become his classmates. There was a boy with a self assured smirk on his face, chatting up a young girl with horns on her head. A few rows down, a girl, split into pieces, was chatting with a boy whose head resembled a speech balloon. A frog girl speaking with a tired looking boy with purple hair, and two boys talking quietly, one with a gasmask sticking out of his bag and the other fiddling with some kind of red pen?
None of them held themselves as the professional heroes they were striving to be, but it was possible they were just trying to relax, so Iida held his tongue and turned back to his packet to study it. Tensei always stressed being prepared, even in situations you think you know. The background chatter of other students was a light distraction, but nothing he couldn't handle. Still, it was starting to get annoying when that green haired boy showed up and kept muttering to himself. Sure, he was several seats away, but it was going to distract other students! Thankfully, the lights soon shut off, silencing everyone. Clearly their instructor was about to appear. The doors opened up and in walked… wait, that can't be right!
"WELCOME PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS TO THE UA ENTRANCE EXAM!! CAN I GET A YEAAAAH ??" yelled out Present Mic, the Voice Hero and radio DJ, to the excitement of the Green haired boy, who started muttering about it. No one actually responded to Present Mic's request, thankfully, but he kept his composure and continued. "Keepin' it mellow, I get it! That's cool with me! Anyways, I'm here to discuss the practical portion of the exam which you rockin' hero wannabes are gonna be undertakin'!"
Him?! But he was one of the least professional heroes! Surely they could have found someone who took this more seriously, like Cementoss!
Focusing back on the part time DJ, Iida noticed the man was now pointing to the now lit screen. Onscreen was an image of some stout man in a red shirt, cap, and overalls travelling to one seven different areas, labelled A-G. "As it says in your packets, you and some of your peers are going to designated testing areas, where you'll fight in a mockup battle of a hip urban city! You're allowed to bring whatever ya want too! Just make sure you check your handout to see which bus ya need to get on so you don't fall behind!" Well, that part made some sense. Why they were using an ancient video game character was beyond Iida's comprehension, but he was sure there was a good reason for it. Without glancing down, Iida recalled he was going to area B. He wasn't sure if any of his Somei classmates would be there, but from what the Green Hair boy was muttering loudly, probably not.
"Your objective is real simple: DEFEAT AS MANY ROBOTS AS YOU CAN WITHIN TEN MINUTES!" on screen, the video game character was facing some kind of.. Walking mushroom, a red figure in a white mask, and a yellow turtle with a hammer appeared, numbers 1, 2, 3 popping up above their heads when the overalls-wearing man destroyed them with fireballs. "Each enemy has a different point value, based on its typing and threat level! But keep in mind that attacking your fellow examinees and other unheroic actions aren't cool! Anyone does that and they're out! Ya dig??"
Wait… it can't be!! Iida immediately spotted something wrong. He could forgive a lot, but this?! "Excuse me, sir, I have a question!" he shouted, standing up to gain Mic's attention.
Smiling Present Mic pointed to him. "Lay it on me, listener!"
"On the screen there are three enemies listed, but the handouts we've received all state there are FOUR enemy types! If this is a mistake, then this is a blemish on the record of such a prestigious school!" And since he was talking and had everyone's attention, Iida decided to rectify another issue, and pointed behind himself at the green haired boy. "And you, with the green hair! Please cease your constant muttering! It is distracting your fellow students and unbecoming of a Pro Hero!"
"Isn't shouting at the top of your lungs more distracting?" the boy shot back, before clamming up when realizing what he did. Iida was taken off guard and upset by that. Didn't that boy see that he was only looking out for his fellow examinees, while he had been distracting everyone else with his inane chatter, yet the boy said that Iida was distracting?! He was just asking for clarification, not constantly making noise!
"Alright, settle down you two!" Present Mic called out placatingly. "But to answer your question, examinee 7111, yes, there is a fourth villain, BUT HE'S WORTH A BIG FAT ZERO POINTS!!" Onscreen a massive, snarling face on a jagged stone block dropped down, attempting to crush the Overalls man, who… grabbed a leaf with eyes and flew away in obvious fear while dressed as a tanuki.
Iida would never understand video games.
"That guy's just there to be an obstacle, and there's only one in every battle center! That's not to say you can't defeat him, but you won't get any villain points for it so there's no real reason to!" the Pro Hero explained to the audience. "I'd recommend avoiding him if you can help it. Think of him like a storm or an earthquake if it helps!"
Aaah! That made sense! "I see, I apologize for my interruption!" Iida quickly bowed low and sat down, ignoring the snickers and stares of his peers.
"Now, before you go to your designated buses, one final thing to bear in mind: The great Napoleon Bonaparte once said... 'True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.'"
Tensi blinked, having not expected such a profound statement to have been stated from the otherwise laid back teacher. Perhaps he truly was a professional hero full of valuable wisdom and dignity.
"NOW GIMME A PLUS ULTRA!" the DJ hero shouted, but again, got no response.
…or not.
One bus trip & change of clothes later, Midoriya stepped out to the front of the mock city. His base outfit consisted of a modified green one-piece jumpsuit with steel toed boots and metal capped leather gloves with eye-shaped palm projectors. Over that he wore his touchscreen controllers, the straps attached to one end looped around his middle fingers while other straps secured the device to his sleeves. Attached to the screens were his smoke dispensers, hooked up to the gas tanks, which were secured to his back via a black harness and belt with the WMH logo. After securing the wires and tubes to special latches on his sleeves, Midoriya slipped on his one-piece goggles and headset. One second of darkness, then Midoriya could see in ultra high definition. Status screens, transparent yet visible only to his side of the lens, gave Midoriya alerts and scans of everything around him. The headset blocked no sounds at the moment, but would alert him to anything dangerous approaching. A prototype tech-based "spider-sense," Tsuburaya called it.
'Fog and Smoke sprayers pressurized. Hologram programs online. Palm Lasers at full power. Drone controls connected. The Illusion-O Spex's Augmented reality HUD coming through clearly. It works better than ever, thank you Mei.' Midoriya silently mused to himself as he fiddled with the strap around his middle finger so that it wasn't twisted. It looked as though the strap was secured to the screen with ordinary Velcro, most likely Hatsume's way of keeping the device from shattering by breaking off when he used his Quirk.
All around him, people stared, either in confusion or in contempt, and gossiped, likely mocking the student who felt his Quirk was so inadequate he needed so many support items. It was quite the opposite, but Midoriya had been hoping to not have to break an arm to pass the exam.
Looking around, Midoriya quietly analyzed the students who would be joining him. A posturing boy with a silver belt, the smirking blonde staring at him derisively, a larger boy with a jagged rock head petting a pigeon, and- oh!
That nice gravity girl who stopped him from getting a bruise on his face! And she was talking to Tsunotori!
Midoriya approached the girl who saved him, hoping to properly thank her for saving him from falling over, when his view was blocked by that boy who called him out earlier. "I hope you're not planning on distracting those two when we should be getting ready." he looked down at Midoriya. "We're here to be heroes and yet once again you're distracting your peers with those gadgets of yours."
Midoriya looked up in shock and a bit of anger. Why was this guy so focused on deriding him?!
"Actually I was going to thank her for keeping my nose from breaking." Midoriya said, matching the glare. "And these gadgets are here for a reason."
"And START!"
Present Mic's words drew everyone's attention towards him, the doors opening. Midoriya, quickly realizing what was going on, pushed ahead as fast as he could.
"There's no countdowns in real life! GO GO GO!" the Shouting Hero exclaimed as students ran forward.
The moment he stepped in, Midoriya sent out three drones into the air, cloaking them and sending them to find what he was looking for. A 2-Pointer lunged at him, but the Midoriya it attacked dispersed into a hologram. Reappearing on the other side of the machine in a cloud of smoke, Midoriya took aim and fired a laser from his palm, taking the robot down. A virtual 2 appeared in Midoriya's view, and the boy continued on, dodging and hiding from the robots until one of them alerted him to the one robot he needed.
Midoriya immediately ran there, skidding in front of the 3-Pointer hiding in an alleyway. It lowered its missile launchers at him, but Midoriya covered himself in a thick cloud of green smoke to hide the machine's view of him. He drew out a silver drone from his pocket, taking direct control of it via his left gauntlet's screen. From the minute he was learning that they were going to be fighting robots, he had formed an… unusual plan in his mind. He wasn't sure if what he was doing was really allowed, but then, as a wise man once said. "Are you really going to let 'implied' rules stop you from saving people?"
Things were going wonderfully!
Neito decapitated a 1-pointer with an arm blade, and sped off towards another using that pretentious boy's leg engines. It looked like he chose his three copied quirks well, since he quickly found a three pointer with the aid of one kid's echolocation quirk. With it, he quickly took it down, bringing his points up to 15!
He spotted a 2-Pointer and ran over, but before he could, the robot was blown up by a missile!! Who-
"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Neito, and every other student in the area, including the pretentious boy, turned to the source of the laughter. Standing proud atop a 3-Pointer surrounded by green fog was that green haired boy in his support gear! On the robot's head was a small silver disk, most likely the source of the boy's control. From several hidden speakers around him, Saliva's Ladies & Gentlemen began blaring as the boy commanded his new robot.
"Flee before me, mechanical worms! FOR I AM YOUR GREEN DESTRUCTION!" he cried out in vicious glee as he typed on invisible buttons in midair, the 3-pointer launching missiles at several distant robots. The other teens could only watch in shock and amazement, unsure if they were allowed to attack the boy's robot before resuming their hunt for more machines. Neito also turned away, but he had only one thought, and it was to not let that boy sideline him!
In the control room, several teachers, hidden in shadows, observed the scene before them. Present Mic was rocking out to the song, while a man with a large scarf just observed, unamused.
"We're supposed to focus on more than just the flashy ones." he grumbled to his coworker.
"But ya gotta admit he's got great taste in retro tunes!" Mic said to his grumpy friend. "'Sides, the kids should have a bit of fun before we put them through the ringer!"
"Musical preferences aside, the kid is doing very well." A man in a gasmask and cowboy hat commented. "He's usin' the available resources at hand, observin' the area around him through those drones of his, and watching out for his fellow examinees. Of course, the others are doin' just fine with their own skills."
"Like that boy with the engines, letting him move fast between his targets." a woman in a puffy spacesuit commented.
"That boy with the shapeshifting arms is making good use of his Quirk for gathering intel." Ectoplasm noted.
"There's also the one who exudes confidence and a clear head, letting him be focused in spite of the chaos." Midnight pointed out to a boy firing some kind of Navel laser.
"'Course, there's a lot to be said about pure destructive power." the gasmask man noted, watching Bakugo stand tall upon a pile of destroyed robots with a feral grin.
"The ones who rank highest are those who can use some combination of these traits." a short, rodent-like figure said, a cigarette held in one paw.
"I agree… although I admit there is something vaguely familiar about his support gear.." a woman's voice commented in a pleasant, polite tone.
"Indeed there is, which we'll have to question him about later." noted the rodent-like teacher. "But I think now is the time to see how they all handle a party crasher! Present Mic, would you kindly do the honors?"
"Aw YEAH!!!" Mic shouted, slamming his fist on a red button. "Lets see some kids wet their pants at our lil' "Thwomp!"
From his corner, Toshinori Yagi watched the screen. 'I know you can handle this, young Midoriya.. But good luck all the same.'
Midoriya was having way too much fun. Turns out, if you give him a chance to stand out, preferably while wearing his gadgets, "be onstage" as Tsuburaya would put it, Midoriya was a total ham. He indulged himself in every cliche villain quote, blared metal and rock from the invisible drones around him, and just allowed himself to let loose in over the top fun. He was still careful not to hit any other examinees, instead using his robot's missiles to blow up a robot sneaking up on a short boy with balls on his head, and he made sure to leave several robots for the others to take down, but otherwise, he was having fun in this exam.
Because now that he gained control of a robot, something he wasn't even sure was possible when he made a plan to attach one of his drones, Midoriya was acing this exam! Already he had 15 villain points total!
.:Two minutes left, examinees!:. Present Mic shouted over some hidden loudspeakers. .:Also, to the kid blaring music, you've got good taste! No, I am not displaying favoritism, Midnight!:.
Midoriya allowed himself to smirk. He could relax, the teachers weren't calling him out for his trick with the robot, and no one was daring enough or willing to try and smash the robot under his command. There was no one to mock him, no one to doubt him or his mission. Just a robot under his command, some enemy drones, dozen bystanders, a robotic kaiju, and the fresh-
WAIT, WHAT?!
Snapping his head back around, Midoriya saw the towering robot, easily two thirds the size of Mysterio's fake kaiju, rolling down the street on tank treads as it crushed some cars and light posts in its path. Immediately commanding his drones to stop playing music, Midoriya considered his options. The robot was way too big to find the central processor, so he couldn't take control of it. Present Mic said it was just a an obstacle, so surely he could just ignore-
"Help!"
Midoriya turned to the voice. It was that gravity girl again! Her leg was caught under some rubble! Worse, the 0-Pointer was moving towards her with no time for her to get free, and no one stopped to help her!!
.:One minute left!:.
Midoriya didn't even think. He kneeled down, a red glow manifesting around his body, and he leaped off the 3-Pointer hard enough to destroy it, getting its points in the process. Midoriya didn't care, instead he just grit his teeth, threw back his right fist, charged all his power into his arm, and when he was close enough to the giant machine…
"DETROIT SMAAAAASH!"
The blast from the punch was enough to cave in the 0-Pointer's head, despite Midoriya being well over six meters away. The machine toppled backwards, crashing to the ground, thankfully not crushing any other examinees. A glance at his wrist showed Midoriya that Mei's breakaway system worked. When the shockwave of the impact hit his control panel, it only ripped away from the Velcro on his glove, staying attached to his sleeve around his elbow, and didn't damage the device itself…
But his arm was still shattered, and judging by that awful pain, so were his legs.
Also, he was really high up in the air.
Without any drones strong enough to carry him.
Crap.
Midoriya promptly began falling. His goggles, kept on his face by an elastic strap, kept his eyes from watering. Midoriya tried to think of something, anything! He still had one arm left! Maybe he could punch the ground at an angle and send himself tumbling! But if he didn't have enough villain points, he'd be unable to grab more-
*smack!*
Midoriya felt a sting across his cheek, bringing him out of his whirlwind of thoughts. He was still facing the ground, but he was suspended in midair. Confused, he looked towards the person who saved him. It was the gravity girl, crawling atop a floating chunk of the robot, once again saving him from a painful kiss with the ground!
"And… hnnnk, release!" she muttered, pressing her pads together, dropping Midoriya and herself to the ground.
"Th… thanks…" Midoriya whimpered out through the pain. She gave him a thumbs up… but then started vomiting a literal rainbow off to the side. Midoriya winced. 'Must be a side effect of overusing her quirk.' he thought to himself. He started crawling away. Actually, that's the wrong word. He dragged himself along the ground with his one good arm. "Maybe, If I'm fast enough, I can grab enough points to pass-"
.:Aaaand times up!:. Present Mic shouted, Midoriya slumping down in pain. .:If anyone doesn't feel well or has any injuries, just chill! Our medical staff will be comin' by to help you get back into your groove!:.
Midoriya glanced around him, seeing the students come over and staring at him in an expression that had not been directed at him for a good long time.
Awe and amazement.
Midoriya's eyes watered from the pain, but he still smiled, glad that people were noticing him, no longer underestimating him. A sigh made him look up at the disappointed looking Recovery Girl.
"All this from just using your Quirk…" she shook her head, then kneeling down, pressed her lips to his arm. In seconds, his legs and arm repaired themselves. Midoriya felt himself pass out, the last thing he heard being Recovery Girl offering some nausea medicine to the pretty gravity girl…
Wait.. what was… that last…?
All around, the students chattered, looking at the boy laying on the ground, triumphant yet broken.
"Did you see that?/He took out the 0-Pointer with One Punch!/Who is this guy, Saitama?!/Poor guy…/Why was he using that gear if he had such a strong Quirk?/Can't you see his legs and arm?!"
All of them, chattering away in confusion, making theories and comments. All, but the boy who had confronted Midoriya before the start of the exam. He too was deep in thought, but he chose not to vocalize them. Not until he could confirm it with the boy himself.
Needless to say, Inko had not been happy to hear that her baby boy had broken his limbs in the test. Yes, she knew that hero work was dangerous, but three shattered limbs?! In one exam?! Before he was even enrolled?! Sure, he tried to play it off as necessary to save that nice girl, but she was hoping that he could have relied on those gadgets of his and not his quirk. According to Izuku himself and footage from the drones, her son was planning to only use those, at least until he could handle his Quirk, but that mecha had changed things. She could only thank Thor that Recovery Girl had been at that specific site, as if she had known something like this would happen.
Tsuburaya had not given any commentary on Izuku's injuries, only admitting amusement in Midoriya's choice of musical accompaniment. Sometimes she wondered if the AI really cared about her son, or only saw him as a means to an end. He had been made by a villain, after all. But then, that kind of thinking led to her boy hiding things from her… so she kept that thinking to herself. But if that AI did prove to be a threat, Thor help him because she would do whatever it would take to destroy it in retaliation.
But since that day, there was nothing. No messages from the school. Izuku's personal trainer, Toshinori Yagi, was busy at All Might's Agency, according to her son, so he couldn't help him train or relax. That girl, Mei, showed up a day after the Entrance Exam to announce that she got into the Support Department's classes, much to Izuku's joy, but there was no news on his own status.
At least, not until a week had passed.
Midoriya had received a new toy, an American action figure of Mysterio from her husband Hizashi, and was debating with Tsuburaya (in his Dr. Rinehart avatar via a drone on Midoriya's bed) and Mei on whether he should keep it in the packaging to preserve it, or open it to battle his action figure of All Might. That very important discussion was promptly tabled when Inko ran in, a bulging envelope in her hand.
"It's here!!" she shouted. Everyone immediately sat up. Midoriya accepted the envelope, but he didn't open it, only staring at the letters upon it in fear.
"What's wrong, 'dorya? Open it!" Mei prompted.
"....what if… what if it's bad news?" he asked quietly.
"Whatcha talkin' bout?!" Mei snapped, actually sounding annoyed for once. "It's obvious you got in! All of The Support Department examinees I talked to were going on and on about that kid who took control of one of UA's robots without using a quirk, then caving in its big sister's head!"
"But… what if…?" Midoriya asked.
"You won't know for certain unless you open it." Tsuburaya reasoned.
Midoriya bit his lip, nodded, and tore open the envelope. Dropping onto the desk was, not a letter, but a device Midoriya immediately seemed to recognize.
"Is… that a-"
"I AM HERE! TALKING TO YOU THROUGH A PROJECTION!"
"Whagh!" Midoriya yelped. Shining before them was a hologram, depicting the number one hero in a banana yellow suit, smiling eagerly at the camera.
"...Mysterio's holograms are better." Tsuburaya muttered proudly. Midoriya hushed him while Mei began scheming ways to improve on said holograms for the school.
"First off, I want to apologize for not talking to you sooner, for I had a lot of paperwork to deal with. Secondly, you're probably wondering why I am here, talking to you instead of, say, Present Mic? Well, that's because you are looking at UA High's newest Hero Course instructor!" he proclaimed.
"What?! You get to be taught by him?! Lucky!" Mei teased with a smile. All Might, meanwhile, was distracted by someone off camera.
"What? No, I am not going off.. Wait, HOW MANY MORE OF THESE DO I HAVE TO DO!?" All Might balked, before clearing his throat. "Anyways, you scored extremely well on the written exam, a near perfect 99%! But as you well know, just brains alone is rarely enough, so we come now to the practical portion of the exam! Sadly, you only scored 18 villain points, which is only enough to get you in the General Education course…"
Seeing the results screen, Midoriya sagged in his seat. He failed… Even with his robot and gadgets, he spent too much time posturing and not enough hunting down the machines. Inko came over, ready to comfort her son.
"At least, if that was all there was to it, WHICH THERE ISN'T!"
Midoriya's head shot up at that. Inko turned back to the hologram in shock.
"I apologize for leading you on like that, but you're not the only hero with showmanship! There was more to the test than simply smashing robots! Before I explain, take a look at this clip!" the hologram changed to a recording, where the nice Gravity Girl (Mei & Inko slyly noticed Midoriya was focused on her with a very light blush) approached Present Mic.
"Excuse me, Mr. Mic, sir? I… have a request… in the exam, that boy who saved me, the plain looking one with green hair and freckles? Is there a way to give him some of my points? He didn't seem to get that many, going by what he said... at least the ones he lost from dealing with saving me…! Please!!"
"No worries, female listener! that kid will be just fine." Present Mic assured her. The recording stopped there and returned to All Might.
"What makes a hero? The willingness to protect others and inspire greatness! And you not only protected this girl, you inspired her to help you! What kind of a Hero School would we be if we rejected someone like that?? Which is why we have a panel of judges review the footage to assign RESCUE POINTS, AND GUESS WHO KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK??"
More screens appeared, shots from hidden cameras of Midoriya saving his classmates with the 3-Pointer and him destroying the 0 Pointer.
"Holy Newtons!" Mei exclaimed. "Hearing about it is one thing, but DAMN, 'DORYA!"
You've said it…!" Tsuburaya muttered in shock.
"You have 18 villain points, and 63 rescue points, putting you at 81 total points, the Number 1 spot on the ranking list!" All Might proclaimed. The ranking list suddenly revealed the Rescue points, and Midoriya's name shot up to the first place, above Bakugo's placement to accompanying party horns and fireworks. "Congratulations my boy! You've made it to the hero course! Enclosed are your costume, uniform, and Quirk registration forms. Welcome, my boy, to Your Hero Academia!"
He…. he did it!
Midoriya slumped back in his seat. His family and companions looked at him. He started laughing.
He did it.
He got in.
HE GOT IN!
And not only that, but he EXCELLED! He managed to honor the legacy of both Mysterio and All Might on his terms! He was going to be a hero!
"Oh, and… Principle Nezu would like to talk with you regarding your support items, specifically the… company that made them..."All Might muttered apologetically before the hologram shut off.
That comment immediately made everyone in the room freeze up in fear.
Nezu… wanted to talk with them… about Wondrous Might & Heroics ?
Nezu… one of the smartest people on the planet… wanted to talk to them… and chances were, he'd figure out the source of Midoriya's gadgets…
And his connection to Mysterio.
"...gulp." Tsuburaya muttered.