Chapter 6: Power
"Ok," Izuku says, sitting on top of a raised platform, "test number 3 of joint motion." He looked down at his current project, right now a confusing body cage of metal and wiring, vaguely resembling a human upper body, hanging from the ceiling by two large metal chains. "I have a bit less than a month to get this working, so I don't have time for anything crazy, we will have to go simple for this one, easy, broad solutions to a variety of problems."
Izuku had found his stride quickly with the support course workshops, finding a familiar comfort in working on his projects. It was about midday now, the school day rapidly winding down, and like every day for the past three days, Izuku had been working away at his newest creation.
He flips the power on, the generator connected by two jumper cables to the input nodes mounted to the skeleton's right shoulder. He immediately hears the crackling of electricity, but pays it no mind. He slowly lowers the platform until he is eye level with the computer, and begins furiously typing away at the program on display.
"This will hopefully be the most difficult part of this project," Izuku muses into the dictation, "Once this program is working properly, it should respond to manual inputs and move accordingly." He clicks a final key, before picking up a controller, and pressing in on the directional pad. Immediately the left arm of the skeleton begins to move, curling upward, then raising straight into the air. Another press, and the arm lowers back to its former position. "Luckily, this is mostly a less complex version of the program I coded for Experiment 573, albeit with more moving parts." Moving the directional pad again, he makes the right arm of the skeleton move in the same way. However once the right arm reaches the apex of it's ascent, the sound of metal straining against metal is heard, and the elbow joint tears apart, the forearm of the skeleton falling limb.
"Shit!" Izuku cries out, shutting down the power and rushing over to the skeleton, checking the right elbow joint. The spring system had completely failed, then the gears slipped out of place as consequence, causing the whole system to snap apart. Izuku felt the familiar sting of failure, before shaking his head. "No…this is useful information…better it happens now than in the middle of a fight." He looks up at the clock, noting that it is almost lunchtime, which means he had to go make a request. As he leaves his booth, he sees three of his classmates leaning on the wall of the classroom. When they catch sight of him, they begin to approach.
Izuku feels the familiar bubbling of fear in him, but quickly schools his features. The three students surround him in a semicircle, blocking him from proceeding. When Izuku tries to move around them, they move to block him, so he sighs and meets the middle student's eyes. He had enough experience with this dynamic to know that the middle one was the ringleader, Slightly taller than the other two with bright blue hair and matching ice blue eyes, which seemed to narrow at him.
"Hey, where are you going, Midoriya?" The ringleader said, tauntingly, "We just wanted to have a little chat."
"I am trying to get to lunch," Izuku lied, trying to push past, but found himself being grabbed by the two lackeys and shoved back. When they laid their hands on him, Izuku felt a familiar feeling. Hands holding him down, as another palm met his shoulder, just before indescribable pain flared…
"Deep Breaths…" Izuku focused on this moment, "...don't let yourself get lost in the past." He sighed, before acknowledging the ringleader. "What do you want to talk about?"
He noted that their interaction was "conveniently" out of sight of their teacher, who was occupied at the front of the class. So, he was isolated, outnumbered, and likely outgunned.
How familiar…
"See," the ringleader wraps an arm around Izuku's shoulders, leaning into him, "I just wanted to know why you think you're so much better than we are." Izuku raises an eyebrow, and the ringleader continues, "You don't try to make friends, you don't answer any of us when we speak to you, you barely even pretend we're here!" Finally, the ringleader meets Izuku's eyes, leering at him with contempt, "So I wanted to know why you think you are so much better than us. You declare that you are going to win the sports festival, request insane amounts of extra build time, and spend all of your time in class either brushing all of us off, or actively shoving past us." He leans in, icy blue eyes narrowed at Izuku, "I bet you don't even know any of our names."
Izuku tried to rebuke his statement, before coming to the realisation that he actually didn't know any of the names of the three students in front of him, and closed his mouth. The ringleader's sneer grew, and he grabbed Izuku's shirt, lifting him slightly.
"You know," the ringleader began, "Smug superior pricks like you really piss me off. You brush everyone aside and treat everyone around you like their very presence poisons you. It makes me sick . So you better fix that attitude real quick, before someone fixes it for you."
Izuku isn't listening, memories flashing through his vision faster than he can comprehend, hundreds of moments just like this, pressed up against a wall, held down on the floor, he had to go. He had to get out of this right now .
Before Izuku realised what was happening, he had shot his right palm up, directly into the chin of the ringleader, knocking him back as metal met bone, ringing his senses vividly. He dropped Izuku, who immediately began to run down the halls.
"They knew, they had to know." Izuku threw himself into a bathroom, trying and failing to control his breathing, "They already knew he was quirkless, and decided they didn't want to be shown up by him. It had to be that. But how? How did they know?!"
Izuku closed his eyes, trying his best to calm his breathing. Deep breath in. Hold for five seconds. Deep breath out.
Deep in.
Five seconds.
Deep out.
Once his breathing was controlled, he stood up, and scanned the hallways, looking to see if the trio was still looking for him, but when he saw nobody, he walked out into the hall, quickly as he could without running, in the direction of the principal's office.
He had a request to make.
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"He wanted to ask for what now?"
Maijima spoke, astonished by the bluntness of the statement. When Principal Nezu had called him in, asking about an interesting request that one of his students had made. He had a feeling that it was one of two students, and was proven right when Nezu mentioned that a student named Midoriya had come in with a very peculiar request.
"He said, verbatim, 'I would like to request student files on the hero course, including the battle trials from the first day.'" said Nezu, sipping his tea.
"How…how did he know about that?"
Nezu shook his head, "When I asked him, he said that he heard some of the hero course students mention it during lunchtime, but I could tell that was a lie." Maijima nodded. Midoriya chose to eat lunch in the classroom, instead of the cafeteria, something that Maijima had stopped trying to fight him on. "My guess, he managed to figure it out by overhearing bits and pieces from conversations in the hallway, piecing it together over time. That or he hacked into the school's servers and acquired a hero course itinerary…though I doubt he went to that level of extreme."
Jesus this kid was going to give him grey hairs…and it was only day three!
"Well, I'm sure that Midoriya was disappointed, but that is a fairly unreasonable thing to ask given the context."
"Oh, you misunderstand," Nezu said, sipping his tea again, "I fulfilled his request wholeheartedly."
Maiima's jaw dropped, staring at the rodent in disbelief, "Y-you did what?!"
Nezu finished his tea before responding, turning to Maijima. "I gave Midoriya the student files of the hero course, as well as the footage from the battle trial."
"But…but why ?!"
Nezu held up two clawed fingers, and began to refill his teacup with his other hand. "Two reasons, first, because I am required to. It is written in the student handbook that the support course may request files on hero course students for academic purposes. The Sports Festival does technically fall under that umbrella." His teacup filled, Nezu takes another sip, before continuing, "honestly, the only thing he really needed my permission for was the footage from the battle trial."
Maijima was in disbelief. What, did Midoriya read the entire handbook?! "A-and the other reason?"
He sees Nezu's face break out into a familiar smile, one filled with an almost sadistic joy, "When I asked Midoirya why he wanted the information, he simply said to me…
…'I want to prove a point to the world.'"
Nezu put down his teacup, turning to face Maijima. "And if I am being honest, I want to see what the first quirkless student in the history of U.A. can do."
Maijima began to speak, his voice starting and stuttering, before failing him multiple times. After some time, he simply put a hand to his forehead, and walked out of the office.
Maybe it's time to break out that vintage whiskey he got for his birthday?
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"Sero Hanta, Class 1-A," Izuku said, looking over the files, "Quirk: Tape." He read over the description of the quirk, quietly muttering to himself. Looking over these files, he found himself somewhat impressed with the information present. Though he did lament that the specifics of the quirks listed were woefully light.
Some might call this cheating, reading all of the information available on his classmates for an edge. But as far as izuku was concerned, this is necessary. Izuku had to take every advantage available to him.
He didn't have the luxury to fight fair.
"Based on the battle trial, the tape he can produce is quite durable, capable of supporting Sero's own weight, not to mention he can cut the strands and immediately produce new ones…This could be devastating in the right situation, and given 574's lack of mobility options, I need to find a new angle…" Izuku scratched his head, "Though it's hard if I don't know the chemical composition of the adhesive, given that it's produced in his body, it has to be a natural molecule…"
He flips to the next file.
"Shiozaki Ibara, Class 1-B," Izuku pinned this file next to Sero's, categorising them in his mind, "Quirk: Vines." Izuku read through the pitifully light description of her quirk again, looking between both her and Sero's file. "Incredibly versatile multi-range quirk that can be used for both offence and defence. Vines are spiked, making melee engagement unadvisable, and trying to close the gap under her vines range usually leads her to rely on defensive movements, trapping herself in a vine sphere and attacking wildly from outside.
Izuku kept looking between the two, wracking his brain, before a smile found its way onto his face. "What do thorny, low moisture vines, and natural molecule adhesives have in common? Both are highly flammable under the right circumstances."
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Izuku had finished connecting the feed hose into the device, attaching a small lighter to the front of a thin metal arm. Twisting the valve on the propane tank, he watched as the hose turned. "Alright, and clear!" Squeezing the modified trigger, he watched as a jet of flame shot out towards the target, bathing it in a cloud of fire. Releasing the trigger, Izuku looked at the now scorched target, nodding to himself. "Yeah…that will do nicely."
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"Kirishimna Eijiro, Quirk: Hardening," Izuku lifted the next file, "and Tetsutetsu Tetsu..tetsu…" He paused, making sure he read that right, "...wow…what a name…anyways." He pinned both up next to each other, grouping them as close as he could on the bulletin board. "Two quirks that function incredibly similar, almost exactly the same, but with some notable key differences." He looks at Kirishima's file, "Given the nature of his quirk, it actually gives him an edge on Tetsutetsu in range of motion, as well as adding a rough surface for melee combat...though likely at the cost of durability."
His eyes then flick to Tetsutetsu's file, "Conversely, Tetsutetsu's quirk seems to be more durable, as well as having the upside of being somewhat fire resistant, though more than likely his range of motion and speed is lowered significantly, as all of his skin becomes one consistent piece of metal."
"Given the similarities," Izuku puts a finger to his chin, "it would be easy to assume that the same solution would solve both problems…and I am inclined to agree."
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Izuku lifted the old Jackhammer onto the table in his booth, immediately beginning to rip it apart, and pull out the various components.
"In layman's terms, a Jackhammer is just a metal spike attached to a piston, powered by compressed air." Izuku said, turning on an abrasive cutoff saw, and moving the handles into place. "A valve rapidly moves side to side, which extends the piston out, before an air out channel lets the piston fly back in, only to repeat rapidly."
Lowering the saw, he cuts the handle off of one side, before working to remove the trigger from the other handle. "Realistically, if I remove the valve altogether, and instead have a powered feeding mechanism, I can change it from a rapidly oscillating piston, to a single powered strike, which should have far more power behind it."
Reaching into the jackhammer, he removed the spike altogether, pulling the valve off of the top of the intake, "But…how do I go about that?"
"Have you tried a magnetic rail?"
Izuku yelped, dropping the spike and nearly crushing his foot. He turned around to see the pink haired girl, Hatsume, he thinks, staring at the table with the same manic smile on her face.
"If you use a magnetic rail, you could drive the spike backwards along a rail, before reversing polarity and launching it forward." She approaches the table, grabbing a piece of paper, and beginning to draw. Izuku simply stares in disbelief. What is her angle? Why is she helping him?
Eventually, she hands him the paper, and looking down at it, he was impressed by how organised the design seemed. Not to mention that it wouldn't be that hard to manufacture. Still, he looked up at her, sceptical.
"...why are you helping me?"
Hatsume blinks, before holding out a hand to him.
"You interest me, especially with that arm of yours." Her eyes locked to his fake arm, still hidden under the sleeve of his uniform, and a black glove, "I want to see what you can do."
Izuku stared in disbelief, before looking down to his feet, fists clenched. "...but I'm nothing special…I'm a below average inventor with above average ideas, that's it! I…" He stops himself, wondering if he should tell her, before deciding to rip the bandage off. "I don't even have a quirk!" He closes his eyes, waiting for her to laugh, maybe even sound off in disgust. But it doesn't. Eventually, he opens his eyes, and sees Mei simply staring at him in confusion.
"...But what does that have to do with building?"
His eyes shoot open wide in disbelief. But she continued.
"Inventing is inventing, and quirks are quirks," she says, as if they are the most obvious thing, "You don't need a quirk to be an inventor, most quirks wouldn't even help with inventing at all," Mei stops, looking to the side, "unless you have a quirk that increased neural processing, or lets you communicate with technology, or lets you control electricity-ooh, that would be interesting! The babies I could make with that!" She turns back to him, eyes wide, manic grin returning to her face, "Don't you think?!"
"I…yes?"
"She nods excitedly, turning around and walking out of the booth towards her own.
You don't need a quirk to be an inventor…
Izuku nods to himself, looking down at her design, and pins it up.
Well…it was worth a shot…
Izuku was so engrossed in his work, he didn't see the figure standing to the side of his booth, blue eyes clouded with anger.
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"Denki Kaminari," Izuku pins the file up, directly in the middle of the corkboard, "Potentially one of the most threatening to me in particular. His quirk, Electrification, is an instant loss for me if he gets my power supply. If he overclocks it, he could disrupt the balance of the circuit loop, and if that happens…" Izuku grabs his shoulder, hand over the hidden power supply,
"...game over."
"So…the question becomes, how do I prevent an electric charge from overloading my power supply?"
Izuku looks at the footage from Kaminari's performance in the battle trial, "Given this footage, he seems to only be able to channel a spark for about 4 seconds, and he can't control what direction it leaves his body, instead letting it loose in a wide area around him." Izuku scrubs through the footage to an image of Kaminari, bumbling about with a, frankly, amusing expression plastered on his face. "...and it seems that I am not the only one who needs to worry about feedback…"
Izuku begins sketching rapidly, ideas coming alive on the page, "...so maybe the best strategy to beat him, is to simply let him defeat himself."
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Izuku was putting the finishing touches on the propulsion boots. Realistically, the boots would not create enough force to generate lift on their own, a fact that had been tripping him up for some time now, but he had found a simple, if slightly dull solution.
Need more lift? Then add more thrust.
So he got to work, fitting the back of the armour with a single large thruster. By his calculations, even with this added boost, it still would not be enough to generate consistent flight like he had hoped, the suit was far too heavy and bulky for that. But given the initial power of the thrust, it should make for a fairly rapid ascent to about 50 metres in the air straight up, or about 100 metres forward depending on initial velocity, followed by about 7 seconds of consistent airtime.
Only problem now was figuring out how to land.
Looking up at the calendar, he sighed and looked back down to the project.
It had already been about a week and a half since school started, and time was rapidly becoming his enemy, just like always.
He didn't have time to make a proper shock absorption matrix, so he would have to improvise.
He hated doing that.
Hearing the bell ring, Izuku sighed and made his way towards the classroom for Algebra. He supposed he would have to get back to it later. Walking out to the main classroom, he immediately notices a group of students whispering to each other, eyes flicking back and forth between him and their conversation.
Izuku felt his anxiety flair, but simply stared ahead, making his way to his seat towards the back corner of the classroom. But as he got closer, he could hear bits and pieces of his conversations.
"...you think the rumour is true?"
"...but he looks so normal."
"I mean seriously…U.A. letting a quirkless in?"
The last statement made him pause, his blood running cold as the world seemed to swirl around him. How? How did they know?! He had been careful to avoid that talk, any talk, really! The only person he had told is…
…Hatsume…
He looked over at Hatsume, eyes filled with anger and betrayal. She didn't even have the decency to look at him, simply drawing away on drafting paper. She…she told everyone. She told everyone!
Why had he even told her?! Why had he trusted her?!
He felt his fists clench, glancing to the front of the classroom. No teacher yet, probably still on their way. He noticed out of the corner of his eye, the blue haired ringleader and his cronies approaching from their desks, and tried to sit down in the corner of the room.
He wasn't fast enough, the two cronies grabbing Izuku's arms and lifting him up.
"You know, I had you all wrong, defect." the ringleader said, approaching Izuku, "I figured you were just some stuck up brat, thought you were too good for us." a sneer made it's way onto his face. "But turns out, you were actually just trying to hide yourself, huh?!"
Izuku looked around, hoping somebody would do something, but he saw that everyone was simply looking away, pretending that this simply wasn't happening.
Just like before.
Instead of his learned helplessness, Izuku felt frustration, anger and most surprisingly, sadness bubble in his chest. Why was he so sad? Had he actually thought that Hatsume wouldn't betray his trust?
Really…what was about to happen was his fault…his mistake.
As the ringleader's fist connected with his chin, Izuku noted that it didn't hurt as bad as with Bakugo. Not physically, anyways. But the boy simply kept delivering blow after blow into his face and stomach. Izuku was eventually dropped, and curled into a ball.
The beating felt like hours until eventually he heard from the front of the classroom.
"Rap it up, Ectoplasm is coming!"
The beating stopped, and by the time Izuku looked up, the ringleader and his cronies were seated again, as if nothing had happened.
Ectoplasm eventually entered the room, "I apologise for my tardiness, class," said the hero, still turned around. Izuku took the opportunity to stand up, and he noticed blood leaking out of his lip. He started to stumble to his desk as Ectoplasm began to turn, "I had to take ca-" He stopped dead, immediately rushing over to Izuku, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning down.
Ectoplasm documented his injuries, noting every single bruise and cut, before turning to the class, eyes narrowed in fury. "Which of you is responsible for this?!" He spoke, voice neutral, but hiding the bubblings of rage. For a beat, nobody spoke up, everyone simply looking down at their desks. He looked to the corner and saw Hatsume, head in her hands, leaning over her desk. She appeared to be panicking, trying to say something but only able to speak in pitiful grunts and moans. Ectoplasm moved over to her slowly, leaning down so that Hatsume's eyes were level with his own.
"Hatsume", he spoke calmly, trying to get her attention, "Do you know who hurt Midoriya?" Hatsume didn't respond, seeming to be lost in her own head, only capable of impotent whimpers. Ectoplasm leaned closer, hoping that Hatsume would calm down, but it seems she was beginning to panic, whimpers coming out louder and more rapidly, his hand on her shoulder only leading her to panic further. Ectoplasm leaned back. Letting go of her shoulder, and sighed, until he heard a voice.
"It was Aoi."
Ectoplasm turned to the front of the class, the voice having come from the crimson-skinned boy in the front row. Hikaru Kubo, if he recalled.
"Ikki Aoi was the one who primarily beat Midoriya, though Tanaka and Suzuki were the ones that held Midoriya in place."
"That's a lie!" Aoi stood up, Tanaka and Suzui stood as well, "We did no such thing!"
Ectoplasm examined Aoi, eyes narrowing, "Then would you care to explain the blood spattered on your shirt, Aoi?"
Aoi paled, looking down at his shirt. There was no blood, of course, but the action spoke volumes.
"All three of you are coming with me, Principal Nezu will have words for you." He created two clones to grab the other two, grasping Aoi's shirt himself and dragging him to the front of the classroom. He then created another clone, who walked to the front of the classroom. Before leaving, Ectoplasm spoke, looking back at the students. "...I do not know what led to this, but let me be clear, silence is deafening, and all of your silence in this incident is incrediblydisappointing." With that, he walked out of the room, and his clone began to teach class, but paused, and turned to Midoriya, who had taken his seat in the back corner of the classroom, pulling out his papers and pen.
"...Midoriya, do you need to go to the nurses office?"
Izuku looked up at the clone in disbelief, before his face settled on a scowl, marred by the swelling of his cheek and lip. "...No…this is nothing."
Ectoplasm seemed to want to press the issue, but sighed, turning to the class and beginning his lesson.
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Izuku moved back towards his booth, passing by the rest of his class, still covered in a myriad of bruises, but stopped in front of the booth when he saw Kubo standing in front of it. Kubo moved over to Izuku, who stiffened and seemed to lean back, which caused Kubo to stop, settling for simply standing a few feet away from him.
"...you didn't deserve that."
Izuku scoffed and rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"
Kubo raised his eyebrow, but simply stated, "I wanted to make sure you were ok, you got beaten pretty bad."
Izuku moved past Kubo, "It's nothing, I've survived worse."
Kubo didn't speak for some time, so Izuku had assumed he had left. He began to work on the propulsion boots again, until he heard Kubo speak again.
"You know, you could stand to be nicer to people who just want to help you."
Izuku whirled around, face twisting with rage. "Oh yeah?! Because you really helped me back there, didn't you?!"
"In case you forget, I am the one who told Ectoplasm what happened." Kubo said, mouth twisting into a frown.
"Oh well great! Excellent! You told the teacher who hurt me! That certainly fixes my bruises doesn't it! Surely that will unsplit my lip! It fixes all my injuries because you told a hero, yeah?! "
"What did you expect me to do, huh?" Kubo stated, getting closer to Izuku, anger visible on his face, "You expect me to fight them off on my own? Like some kind of hero?"
"No, but you could have said something! Anythingwhen they grabbed me!" Izuku got up close to Kubo, his anger having bubbled to the surface, and began spilling out rapidly. He couldn't hold it in anymore. "But instead you sat to the side, pretending it wasn't happening until a hero came along and started to pressure the students! That's what it takes, huh? For a hero to get involved for you to tell someone to stop?!" Kubo had taken a step back, shock and a hint of guilt visible on his face. "But why am I even surprised?! That's how it's always been!" Izuku turns back away from Kub, trying and failing to hide his sobs. "Everybody sits there, watching atrocity after atrocity, only ever doing anything when a hero tells them to! Where were the heroes when I was hurting?! When I needed help! I didn't need a hero to save me! All I needed was for someone! Anyone ! To just object, even once!"
The wind was taken from Izuku sails, and he simply slumped against his workbench, the pain from his injuries pulsing with all too familiar pain. "...I never had a hero…I never wanted a hero…all I wanted was for someone to do something ." He looks up. "But I know better now. Nobody is going to help me…nobody is going to be my hero…so I will have to be my own hero…that's why I have to win this…to prove it to everyone…to prove to myself …that I am just as strong, just as powerful, just as worthy as anyone else."
There is a long period of silence, before he hears footsteps leaving his booth. Izuku feels the tears finally begin to pour out, and his sobs echo out of the booth, his anger fully leaving him, leaving only sorrow in his mind.
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Mei stood outside of Izuku's workbooth, pacing back and forth rapidly. Her hand grasping her wrist, pinching the skin tightly, and painfully.
Why…why couldn't she just have said something! Why does her mind not do what she tells it to do!
It had always been like this. She thinks for one thing to happen, only for her body to do another. Her mind always seems to scramble, like a connection losing signal, midway, and then her mind only filling with dead air. When the blue masked man came up to her, she felt herself start to panic, she wanted to speak, but her mouth just wouldn't work! She wanted to help Izuku, but her body just wouldn't move, she couldn't do anything, she couldn't fix anything!
She hated that her body didn't work how she wanted it to.
Eventually, Izuku left his booth, he seemed to acknowledge her through his bruised and battered face, before his eyes clouded with anger, and he moved to push past her.
Mei tried to call out to Izuku, to do something to fix his problem, but she couldn't say anything.
But then she heard him call back to her.
"You know…I made a mistake telling you I'm quirkless. I thought you would at least hate me to my face. Instead you pretended to be nice, and then told the class behind my back."
Mei was confused, and finally found her voice. "Why would I tell anyone about that? Why does it even matter?"
Izuku whirled around, and Mei felt her voice die in her throat, her brain beginning to frazzle under the furious gaze coming from Izuku.
" Don't lie to me! I only told one person, and you were the only one in the class who knew! Nobody could have told the class! Nobody, but you !" Izuku turned back around, walking towards the door. "I thought, maybe, you meant what you said…but like always, it was just another trick to hurt me."
With that, he left the alcove, heading towards the door, and Mei felt her hand creep over to her wrist, pinching the skin hard once again.
Why…why can't she ever say what her mind tells her to?
She looks into the still opened booth, seeing Izuku's project within. She scanned over the naked exoskeleton, looking at the multitudes of gadgets and pieces still lying about the room, and despite her current sorrow, she finds herself impressed once again by the boy with the robot arm.
She had never felt so fascinated with somebody before, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what. And she hated not knowing things!
But she did know one thing.
She would fix this…
...but first she needed to figure out how .
Chapter 7: One Giant Leap
"Test number four of the shock absorption matrix." Izuku spoke from the bottom of a drop plate, currently elevated 50 metres into the air. At the top of the plate are mannequin legs, held straight on two cables. On the legs were two simple braces, fitted with shocks taken from a car along the knees, as well as multiple shock coils fitted to the boots, currently compressed.
"With this apparatus, it should provide enough compression to avoid critical injury when landing after activation of the propulsion boots." Izuku winced, the bruises on his stomach aggravating, but he knew he didn't have much time before the Sports Festival. Looking at the calendar, he noted the circled day approaching closer and closer.
7 days.
He had 7 days before the Festival.
"...at the moment, the shocks on the boots are compressed, as well as the impact plate on the bottom. This is how the apparatus will be idle most of the time, as having the coils out too much will make basic movement difficult," Izuku looked back up at the plate, "but with this design, the impact plate should release upon descent, absorbing impact, and then compressing itself once shock has been mitigated."
Izuku moved over to the button start, holding the remote up, and pressing the key. Immediately the harness began rapidly falling, the cables keeping the legs upright. He hears the telltale click of the impact plate releasing before it impacts with the ground, a loud metallic clang ringing out. Waiting a moment for the dust to settle, Izuku rushed over, immediately checking the harness for any signs of damage.
The first three designs had not been enough, not enough shock absorption to mitigate a critical injury. But, this fourth design actually seemed to work decently. However, he did notice strain on the ankles of the mannequin, but nothing he couldn't potentially walk off.
He looked at the calendar again.
…it would have to do.
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"Shouto Todoroki" Izuku hung the file up in the centre of the corkboard, next to Kaminari, "Quirk: Half Hot, Half Cold…"
Honestly some people get all the luck.
"...there is no counter to this. His quirk is literally built to counter its own weakness…it's the perfect quirk for versatility." He looked over at the screen, playing Todoroki's battle trial.
"...Worse, I only have footage of his ice, nothing on his fire." Izuku rubbed his hair in frustration, noting that some loose strands now hung in his vision. He walked over to his desk, grabbing a rubber band, and used it to tie his hair back in a short ponytail.
With April beginning to reach its resolution, the familiar May heat began to emanate through the workshop. Izuku had taken to wearing a simple tank top and an unzipped jumpsuit while working on his project, the heat becoming unbearable for the full jumpsuit. He had gotten some stares when his classmates had laid eyes on his arm, though none as enthusiastic as…Hatsume.
She hadn't approached him since he had yelled at her, which was probably for the best. He still saw her staring at him from time to time, an unreadable expression on her face, but he tried to ignore her, not giving her the chance to hurt him again.
He also had taken to keeping his back to the wall, even in his workshop. He would rather keep the room in his cone of vision, so that people couldn't sneak up on him again. Nobody had tried anything yet, but there was still a possibility they were waiting for him to drop his guard.
Waiting for him to be at his weakest, only to bring him lower.
He sighed, and focused back on the heterochromic boy in the picture. "...This one is an undeniable threat…one I might not be able to counter. I can't quantify his fire…but I might be able to mitigate it through internal plating, and wearing something fireproof under the armour."
He looks over to his suit, "As for the ice…that I might have a solution for." Izuku's eyes lock with a schematic left untouched since it was handed back to him on the first day.
Time to test if his first design is actually possible.
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Izuku held the baseball sized metal object in his hand, the only visible imperfections to its spherical shell was the ring of LEDs and a button in the middle of the ring.
He took a deep breath, shaking the grenade around in his hand, making sure none of the steel bearings came loose. Satisfied with the lack of rattling, he is going to hit the button on the grenade, hearing it begin to thrum lightly. He took the grenade in one hand, straightening, before throwing the grenade as far as he could towards the mannequin in the centre of a target.
The grenade began to beep more rapidly, before the ball opened along an invisible seam, and released a powerful shockwave, knocking the mannequin about 4 metres back, and throwing it onto its back. Izuku immediately walked up to the grenade, which had closed up again, a slow beeping sound emanating, as a single LED blinks red.
Izuku moved over to a section of the bench, where another device sits. A short strip of cloth with a large metal clip on the front, three spherical holsters fitted into the front. In two of the holsters, two more force grenades lay waiting, while he stuck the third into the bandolier. He saw as the LED on the recently used grenade stopped blinking, and the ring of LEDs slowly began to flick back on.
Honestly, it hadn't been part of the original design, but making the grenades rechargeable was an idea he had wanted to try for a while. Not to mention that it hadn't been difficult to implement, the hardest part was making the bandolier wearable while avoiding heat. But the design did work.
He looked down at the three grenades, smiling to himself. He knew the design was sound.
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"Momo Yaoyorozu," Izuku pinned the file up once again, reading through her quirk file, "Quirk, creation. Can create any item so long as she knows the molecular makeup of it. Terrifying if used properly, unbeatable if trained correctly.
But given her performance in the battle trial, he had to say he was somewhat disappointed.
"While her quirk is definitely formidable, and if used right would be near unbeatable, she doesn't seem to be good at thinking on her feet." Izuku narrows his eyes, "She is limited by how fast her mind can think up a solution to her problem, which can take quite a while." Izuku lets himself frown, irritation creeping into his eyes.
"Honestly, her versatility actually limits her ability, she has so many options available to her that it leads to her second guessing one in favour of another, costing her precious seconds she could be using to actually do something."
Izuku sighed, allowing his irritation to make way for an almost smug grin.
"But I'm not above using that against her. After all, how can she expect to fight villains when she can't even fight her own indecision?"
He ponders for a moment. "Honestly, is it cheap to say that she could easily be taken down by a taser?" He shrugs, pinning her up next to several other files in the corner of the corkboard.
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Izuku was sitting in Snipe's class, the old hero continuing his lesson on sociology, but Izuku could barely pay attention, too busy pondering his current conundrum.
"I overcomplicated the design, there are too many gadgets to equip conveniently for one suit…" Izuku scratched his head, eyes narrowing in frustration.
"I'm in a Catch 22, I can't use all of my gadgets and modified tools because I have no room on the suit. But I need all of the gadgets to properly counter the quirks that could come at me…"
Izuku sighs,
"So…the question becomes, how do I hold multiple tools on one arm without them conflicting with one another."
Izuku was startled when he heard the Principal's voice echo over the school intercom, "All active duty teachers, we have a code Gamma at the USJ! I repeat, all active duty personnel report to the USJ immediately!" Snipe immediately jumped to his feet, pulling his revolver out from his belt, before turning to the class, nodding to them, "Stay here kids, the teachers will return as soon as the situation is resolved," and with that, Snipe left down the hall.
His classmates began to talk amongst themselves, theorising what could have happened at the USJ, but Izuku's mind was elsewhere, namely the idea that just crossed his mind.
A revolver…
That's it!
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"Ok…position, 3!" Izuku called, using the hand controls to squeeze the lever under his middle finger. Immediately he heard a click, as the forearm of the left exoskeleton arm spun rapidly, clicking with the flamethrower now locked into place above the back of his hand, now in the active slot of the wrist cylinder.
Honestly, he would have to find some way to thank Snipe for his help, however unintentional. How do you hold multiple tools when you have no space?
You make space.
Now, the forearm and wrist of his left exoskeleton arm was fitted with a rotating barrel, four gadgets that he had deemed for more specific situations fitted to the outside of it. He planned to cover the entire apparatus with an octagonal plate, protecting the gadgets within, but first he had to test the mechanism to make sure it works as intended.
"Position 1!" Izuku calls, pressing in his pinky. The barrel spun into place, locking the taser into the active position.
Perfect…this was perfect !
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Izuku looked down at the next file, his eyes seeming to stare through it rather than process the words on the page. Not that he needed to anyways.
He knew this particular file better than anyone else.
"...Katsuki Bakugo…Quirk:Explosion," Izuku pinned this file next to Todoroki, the glare from the explosive blond causing his heart to hammer, even if it was only a picture. "This quirk allows the user to sweat nitroglycerin, a highly explosive substance, and detonate it using his palms." Izuku took a deep breath. "He can only ignite the sweat using his palms, but the quirk is highly versatile, dangerous. But not as dangerous as its wielder." Izuku clenched his mechanical fist, missing the satisfaction that the pain of clenching one's fist tightly brings.
"Bakugo is ruthless, uncaring, unrelenting, and borderline sociopathic. He does not care how much damage he causes, or who gets hurt along the way, all he cares about is winning the battle." Izuku looks up, almost as if meeting the eyes of the monster that ruined his life, "...but that also makes him predictable. Bakugo is arrogant, egotistical, and narcissistic. He has an overinflated yet fragile sense of self worth, and a ruthless disposition. He is short-sighted, and naive, expecting the world to simply click into place for him…"
Izuku tore the file down, slamming it facedown on the bench. "...and he doesn't realise that his strengths can also be used against him…maybe it's time he learns that." Izuku looks at the computer, where a dictation labelled '572' is displayed, and he gets to work, a familiar glove sitting on the bench.
"...more importantly…he always leads with a right hook."
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"3 days left", Izuku muses, staring at the exoskeleton, "All of this work I've done, and yet I can't help but think there is so much that needs to be done." He took a deep breath, looking over at the exoskeleton, the entire skeleton and internal wiring still exposed. He didn't have time to add more tools, this would have to do. He needed time to finally mount the armour plating to the actual skeleton, or else he wouldn't have any protection when things go wrong.
Izuku looked over to the plates. He had let the metal printer manufacture these for him while he worked on the more sensitive components. He had also treated the plating with an epoxy powder, which is why the printer had taken so long. One of his greatest fears at this point was corrosion on the metal plates.
"Mina Ashido, her quirk lets her produce highly viscous acid from her body, information on pH is limited, but it's fair to assume that anything is on the table." He looks at the epoxy-treated plates again, "It may not be foolproof, but without knowing what concentration of acid she can make, I can't make exact counters. I know it can burn through brick and cloth, but that's about it. Hopefully I can rely on her holding back against living targets."
But he had a more immediate concern. With the plates done, now all he had to do was mount them.
"...Welding would theoretically be far better at mounting the plating onto the armor, however that would take a significantly longer time to get right, plus if I fuck up, it is harder to correct." Izuku looked at the plating in front of him. Only one set of upper body armour, meaning no correcting if he messes it up.
Izuku nods to himself, moving to the corner and grabbing the rivet hammer from the corner of the lab. Riveting was faster, and worked well enough, plus rivets could be removed. They technically provided a worse mount than welding, but it would have to do.
He didn't have the time to be picky.
Grabbing the rivets, he moved over to the exoskeleton, carrying the chest piece behind him. He could do this…he would do this!
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Izuku wiped some sweat off his brow, looking at the clock. 2 hours…the Sports Festival started in 2 hours. He looked over to 574, examining his work, holding a smooth, featureless metal helmet in his hand.
It wasn't perfect…not by any means. But it worked, and it worked well . Moving to the top of the suit, and placing a hand on the hinge located on the neck of the armour, he lifted the helmet into place, grabbing the screwgun, he moved behind the armour, mounting the helmet to the hinge in the back, and then wiggling the helmet to make sure that it worked right.
"You really did make it, didn't you?"
Izuku turned to meet the noise and saw Majima-sensei staring up at the armour, an unreadable expression on his face. He moved over to the armour, before running a hand down the bulky chestplate, his iron fingertips making a slight scraping sound against the epoxy coating.
"Honestly…I didn't think you could do it, kid…but once again you proved me wrong."
Izuku looked away from him, choosing instead to check the various joints and connections along the skeleton.
"But I gotta ask…why? Why go to such lengths?" Izuku didn't respond, so Majima continued, "You and I know you both don't want to get into the hero course. You made that much clear to Nezu on the third day. You aren't the type to show off to potential investors, and you certainly don't seem to be pushing yourself to the limit for the fun of it." Majima looks at Izuku for the first time, "...so why?"
Izuku doesn't speak for a moment, so Majima sighs, and begins to move out of the booth. But then he hears a voice ring out, weak from exhaustion, but filled with a fire he only had heard a few times in my life.
"All my life, I have been weak. A defect, a freak, a useless, quirkless waste of space," Izuku hadn't looked up at Majima, but Majima simply stood there, staring at Izuku as he spoke. ""Everybody has been telling me all my life that I shouldn't even bother trying. That I had lost before the race had even begun…but I know that isn't true." Izuku looked up at the smooth faceplate of the armour, "...do you know what it's like…to live your whole life wondering if you even deserve to be alive?"
Majima stayed silent, unable to answer Izuku's question, so Izuku continued, "That has been every day of my life. Watching as this world built upon quirks ignores something so simple, something so obvious to someone like me." Izuku looks over to Majima finally, meeting his gaze with his own. "That at the end of the day, you are not what you are born with, but you are what you make yourself to be."
He turns back to the suit, grabbing an adjustable wrench and tightening a bolt on the wrist of the armour. "And maybe…if I go out there, If I beat everyone else…If I win the Sports Festival…then maybe some of the people out there will start to think the same? Maybe more people who feel just like me will get the hope they need to make themselves better? Maybe people will start to work to improve themselves, to make themselves the best they possibly can be, instead of coasting along on their quirks…" Izuku sighs, and chuckles to himself.
"Or maybe that's all a lie…and maybe I just want to prove to myself that my life matters…that I can be worth it."
Majima sighs, and shakes his head, "You are worth it, Midoriya. I'm just sorry that you can't see it." Majima turns around, heading out of the booth, before turning around to Izuku. "...Since you got here, Midoriya…you have done nothing but impress me…and something tells me you will only continue to impress me…just know that even if you have nobody in the audience rooting for you, that I always will be."
"Now go and win this tournament, Midoriya."
Izuku didn't say anything, instead moving over to the fireproof jumpsuit hanging on the wall, a small hole cut in the right shoulder, welding gloves laying next to it, and began to strip off his school uniform, before pulling the jumpsuit on. He turned to the suit, giving it one more once over, before fitting himself into the leg harness, grabbing the remote and lowering the upper body armour onto his shoulders.
He slipped his feet into the metal greaves attached to the harness, the weight of the leg armour slightly overwhelming at first, before he got used to the weight and proceeded with the upper body. He locked the harness into place at the waistband, attaching the upper body to the harness through two screw locking carabiners.
He grabbed the two plugs within the right side of the chestpiece and carefully connected the cables to the power supply, listening for a soft whirring sound, before nodding and proceeding with affixing the chestpiece. He strapped the chestplate into place around his jumpsuit, slipping the welding gloves on and carefully sliding his arms into the exoskeleton, and locking the arms into place.
Finally, he reached up to behind his face, feeling for the helmet mounted to a hinge, and slowly lowered it down over his head, locking the helmet into place. At first, there was darkness…but then the LED optics turned on, illuminating behind the welding lenses that he fitted into the helmet, a small display visible from the corner of his vision. He reached up, unhooking the chains from the shoulders of the armour, before taking his first step. Then another, and another, his footfalls echoing potently through the empty classroom, the bay doors already open as his heavy footfalls rattled the hanging tools and loose chains. He looked out of the bay doors towards the arena in the distance, and began to walk over to his fate in the distance.
It was time…It was time to show the world what he could really do.
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Eijirou was standing in the hall next to his classmates, trying and failing to get his nerves under control. He looked down at his still shivering hands. He had been trying to hide it from the rest of his classmates, but he was terrified. The Sports Festival may have seemed insignificant, but even he could see that this was their big debut to the public. Heroes needed to reassure the world that they would be able to help them…that they were here.
Eijirou knew deep down that as long as he went out there and did his best, things would work out, but he couldn't help the small part of him yelling in his head not to screw this up. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. He had to calm down…it wouldn't do good to let his anxiety consume him.
Living life with no regrets…That's what chivalry means to me!
The rock quirked boy let his eyes steady forward, determination flaring in his eyes, as he heard the speakers crackle.
"And now, to introduce the first hero course class! The students that fought back in the USJ, and made their teachers proud! The illustrious class 1-A!"
The students began exiting the tunnel in rows, flanked by the wild cheering of the crowd throughout all the stands. Kirishima couldn't help but note the hundreds of cameras speckled around the arena, but chose to focus on the task at hand. One step at a time. As they reached the centre of the arena, finding their positions in front of the stage, he heard the microphone sound off again.
Following them is Class 1-B!"
He frowned slightly, noting the difference in introductions. A small part of him hated how unfair that was to their sister class, and how that wouldn't help the animosity he sensed between them after the USJ. But he shook his head, trying to ignore it.
"It wasn't like we asked to be attacked!" He gritted his pointed teeth, but tried to calm down.
Wouldn't do well to get upset right now.
He looked over at Class 1-B, some of the members of the other class levelling glares at his own, but more specifically at the explosive blonde standing in the front of the class.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Most of the class did not like Bakugo, and he understands their perspectives. But he can't help but try to see past the anger and bravado. He knows it isn't that simple, that Bakugo isn't just some arrogant jerk. He knows that all of his talk about beating people up is just posturing.
After all, if it wasn't, then he wouldn't have made it into the hero course.
…Right?
Kirishima had tried to be his friend, but Bakugo seemed to take an indifference to the rest of the class, choosing instead to isolate himself, and further drive a wedge in their class by calling most of the other students 'extras'. But Kirishima kept trying. Everyone needed friends, no matter how much they claimed they didn't! But it was almost like Bakugo just didn't want to get to know his classmates, boldly declaring that he would be the next number one hero, and that nobody would get in his way.
If he was being honest, Kirishima found his drive admirable, but he just wished that Bakugo would try to be…nicer? But, with his quirk, and his drive, he knew Bakugo could be an amazing hero, he just needed to learn to be better with people.
"And finally, The General Education, Management, and Support Courses!"
Kirishima rolled his eyes at the hasty introduction, but he supposes he understood. He never really got why those departments participated in the Sports Festival. He understood that if you do well, you might be able to transfer, but it just always seemed so…bizzare.
The hero course got a month of combat training, and usually their quirks were more geared towards combat. All in all, it felt odd to force the other courses to try to stack up against the hero course.
Honestly? It felt unfair.
He sees the general course walking out of the tunnel, most seeming nervous, or even scared, save for the purple haired kid mixed into the crowd. He never caught his name, but he remembered the exhausted look on his face, matched with the barely restrained anger towards Kirishima and his classmates. Kirishima didn't understand what they had done to upset the purple haired boy, but he knew for a fact that that kid was driven. He would have to watch out for him.
He saw what appeared to be the support course walking out from their own tunnel, most of the class holding or wearing various inventions and gadgets, and honestly he was impressed. One that stood out was a pink haired girl wearing an odd looking backpack and bulky metal greaves.
Then he heard the booming.
It was like thunder echoing out of the tunnel, the whirring sounds of servos spinning, gears clicking into each other, and the heavy sounds of somethingslamming against the ground. Again and again, the sound echoed, until Kirishima finally saw the glowing of two blue lights. The thumping got louder and louder, and slowly he saw a figure exit the shadow of the tunnel, into the light of day.
The figure was massive, standing at least a foot taller than himself, maybe even eye level with some of his taller classmates. Though as it came more into view, he realised the majority of that bulk was mechanical. A massive metal suit of armour, fitted with thick metal plates covering the majority of the upper body. The legs were far less armoured, instead being made of a cage-like structure with springs visible along the waist and knees. Despite being lighter armoured, the legs were still fitted with knee plating and thick metal greaves. The boots had visible springs compressed along the sides, as well as what appeared to be small rockets fitted to the rear of each boot.
The back of the armoured figure was fitted with a much larger rocket, large enough to visibly cause the figure to hunch over in order to keep balance. The chest plate was fitted around the shoulders with thick metal buckles, fusing the chest and back together. Just looking at the plating, Kirishima could not tell how thick the armour was, but he knew it would be hard to punch through something like that.
The arms of the suit were probably the most eye-catching part. The right arm was thinly plated along the upper arm, a visible metal cage surrounding the wearer's bicep. The forearm, however, was covered in a thick metal gauntlet, the hand being left relatively uncovered, where sturdy gloves were visible. Fitted to the forearm was a large octagonal bulge surrounding the whole structure. Kirishima could not see the purpose of it, but he knew it wasn't there for show.
The left arm was much more sturdily armoured, with the bicep and shoulder covered with dense steel plating. The forearm was similar to its mirror on the right arm, though instead of the same octagonal structure, there appeared to be a long rail extending back to the elbow, a long metal spike idle within.
Though to Kirishima, the most daunting feature was the helmet. It was completely featureless, save for two cut eye holes. The helmet itself covered the entire head, the chest plate extending up upward to cover the neck where the helmet could not. The eye holes were glowing a bright blue light, which seemed to stare unblinking at everyone in front of it.
All in all, the armoured student immediately drew eyes. He saw several of his classmates visibly flinching, or shivering towards the suit. Others stared at it with awe, or disbelief. Though he noted that Two in particular, Todoroki and Bakugo, had not even acknowledged the armour. However, he did notice that after the armoured figure entered the arena, the audience had gone silent. Kirishima looked up to see much of the crowd simply staring at the suited figure in shock, or disbelief. Others looked around in confusion.
He could see Midnight speaking into an earpiece from the stage, gaze shooting between the armoured student and her palm. She appeared to be confused, maybe even a bit agitated, before sighing, and putting on her normal smile, extending herself to the crowd. "Alright kiddos! Let's begin the Sports Festival with the student oath! Spoken by the first place winner of the Entrance Exam, Katsuki Bakugo!"
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"Maijima, what the fuck is the meaning of this?!" Sekijiro Kan, better known as Vlad King, bared down on Majima, an expression of shock and disbelief on his face.
"Elaborate." Maijima responded, leaning back in his chair, looking down at the arena from the teacher's booth.
"I want to know why you let a student bring a damn mech suit into the Sports Festival!" Kan raised his hands in frustration. "You cannot tell me that that boy made that in a month!"
"He did," Maijima said, with a slight amount of pride. He stood and approached Kan, staring down the much taller man, "And frankly, I find it insulting that you don't think I would verify that myself. Midoriya made that whole suit by himself, and worked his ass off to do it."
"Ok, but even still, this cannot be in the spirit of the festival." Ken Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, piped up, "This is supposed to be an event for the best that UA has to offer to make their debut." He stood up, walking over to Maijima and Kan, narrowing his eyes at the former. "Besides, there is no way that something this extreme is allowed. Are those rocketson that thing?"
"It isn't against the rules," Maijima countered, turning to Ishiyama, "The rules clearly state that support course students may bring any equipment they have built themselves into the festival, otherwise what would even be the point of them participating? At least this way, they can show off their inventions to a variety of sponsors and investors."
Hizashi Yamada, the famous Present Mic, muted his microphone, and stood up, walking over to the group of teachers. "Maybe it isn't strictly against the rules, but it's clearly excessive. I mean, where do we draw the line between 'invention' and 'weapon'?" Yamada shook his head, trying to calm himself. "I understand this machine might be impressive, but I agree with Ishiyama, this is taking it way too far!"
"How is this any different than a dangerous quirk?" Maijima stood his ground, despite being outnumbered, "How is Midoriya's armour any different from a quirk like Todoroki's? Or Kaminari's?"
Present Mic seemed to start up, ready to argue, but stalled, considering his words. Eventually, he closed his mouth, backing away slightly. Though Ectoplasm stood up and joined the conversation.
"Wait, Midoriya? You're saying the quirkless student built that?!"
You could hear a pin drop, every teacher simply staring in disbelief. Maijima, however, began to frown, turning towards Ectoplasm, his stance growing defensive.
"Yes, Midoirya built that. Just every one of my students built their own inventions for the Sports Festival. Why? Does that bother you, Ectoplasm?"
Ectoplasm stared down at the arena, "Bothered? No, I'm impressed ." Ectoplasm's stretched smile seemed to widen even further, "Honestly, I would be impressed if anyone built that, but a quirkless student? This kid just keeps surprising me."
Maijima relented slightly, but Kan seemed to grow only more incredulous. "Wait, he's quirkless ?! Why is he allowed to participate in this at all?!" Kan shook his head, "While regulated by our staff, the Sports Festival is dangerous even for students with quirks! Somebody needs to put a stop to this before that kid gets hurt, or worse!"
"You will do no such thing."
Up until that moment, Nezu had remained silent, simply listening to the conversations, but now he speaks up, moving off of his chair, and approaching the centre of the teacher's booth.
"Principal Nezu, be reasonable !" Kan turned to the diminutive principal, fanning his arms out towards the rodent, "I am only looking out for the best interest of the Festival, and the safety of our students. As impressive as Midoriya's workmanship is, doesn't it go against the spirit of the festival?"
"I honestly fail to see the issue," Nezu stated calmly, "Midoirya is a student at U.A., of the Support Course, he has followed every guideline, every rule, every single constraint he had to adhere to, and he went beyond what anybody could have expected," The rodent grinned, "even me." Nezu began to walk back to his chair, climbing into it and sitting down once again, tenting his fingers and resting his elbows on his desk.
"Besides, we don't even know what the suit can do. I say we give Midoriya a chance to show his skill, and frankly…" Nezu's grin turned almost feral, his fangs glinting against the light.
"I am curious to see what he came up with…"
Two figures had remained silent through this whole exchange. One was a shaggy looking man sitting in the corner, his expression betraying no emotion, but Maijima could see a spark of interest in his eyes. He was curious, if a bit apprehensive. Shouta Aizawa.
The other was the shrivelled form of All Might who had stood at the mention of the quirkless boy. Maijima could see his face grow pale, his blue eyes widening in concern, and maybe some guilt?
Hmm…there was definitely a story there…
_________________________________________________________________________
"I just want to say…I'm gonna win."
Immediately there was an uproar among the other students, but Bakugo didn't seem to even notice, simply stepping down from the podium. Izuku clenched his fists in barely contained rage. He shouldn't be surprised, such a statement was par for the course for Bakugo, but just seeing him on stage, completely relishing in the attention of the viewers, filled Izuku with irritation and annoyance.
"He really had faced no consequences for what he did, huh?" Izuku stayed silent, but his mind swirled with all manner of profanity. "I shouldn't be surprised, since he was four years old, the world had rolled out the red carpet for Bakugo, letting him get away with anything and everything. It checks out that after mutilating someone, he still wouldn't even get so much as a verbal reprimand."
Izuku took a deep breath, taking a quick glance at the gauges displayed in the corner of his vision. Power was holding steady between 99 and 100%, the cyclical supply feedback doing its job perfectly. Heat was also holding, though he hadn't really done much to push that too far. Hopefully he didn't need to, but he had marked the heat limit clearly.
The amputee then looked up at the crowd of students around him. Some were giving him glances, others trying their best to ignore him. Some had gone as far as to stare directly at him, as if trying to size him up but not knowing how.
Good.
His greatest ally in this tournament is surprise. Nobody knows what he is capable of, nor what he has brought into the tournament itself. He could catch them off guard easily, but he had to play the long game. The first event of the festival was always a culling, to cut the population of the active participants in half. The second event was meant to narrow the tournament down to 16 participants, the perfect number for a 4 part tournament bracket.
Some might look at those events as their chance to show their stuff, playing the short game and not looking long term, but Izuku saw it differently. The first two events were the perfect chance for him to hide his capabilities. He didn't need to win the first two events…he didn't even need to do that well. All he needed to do was place above the cutoff, and make it into the one-on-ones.
Then…he could really show what he could do...