Chapter 7: The Capstone
7. The Capstone
What is it we value? Innovation. Originality. Novelty. But most importantly...timeliness. I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate, friend.
-Hoid, The Way of Kings
"Midoriya, Hatsume, stay after class," Mr. Maijima ordered. It was the end of the first day at UA, and Izuku felt exhausted. They'd gone through all their classes and learned what the expectations for the year was, as well as tinkered in the workshop for a bit, though not as long as Mei wanted.
"Can we stay after class and work on our babies?" Mei asked excitedly.
"Just have a seat," Mr. Maijima ordered. Izuku sat down and waited while everyone else filtered out of the room, while Mei practically vibrated in her chair, gazing longingly towards the workshop door at the side of the class.
Once the last of their classmates had left, Mr. Maijima sighed and shook his head. "Well, I can already tell you're both going to be a handful."
"Sorry, sir," Izuku said, looking down.
Mei just shrugged, apparently unconcerned.
"I came down hard on your classmates for mocking you. I'm not going to tolerate that sort of behavior in my classroom, not even a little. But, I also have higher expectations, for both of you."
Izuku looked up, and Mei frowned, settling down in her seat. "What do you mean? Are our babies not good enough for you?"
"No, far from it. Hell, your work is so good I'm probably going to have to make myself go harder on you. Half of me wants to just turn the two of you loose and see what you come up with."
Mei stood, a wide grin splitting her face. "You can count on us sir! We'll build something incredible! If you have any requests, just let us know and we'll make a super cute baby just for you!"
"Sit down, Hatsume. No, I'm not worried about your abilities in the workshop. No, what I'm worried about are your, shall we say, social skills."
Mei let out a loud groan. "I thought those wouldn't matter at UA!"
"Hatsume, social skills are going to be more important than you can imagine. They're going to be what get you contracts with pro heroes. They're what help your classmates trust you enough to help you on projects. And, they're what keeps your teacher from pulling his hair out and denying you access to the Development Studio."
That immediately got both Mei and Izuku's attention. Mr. Maijima sighed and walked around to sit on his desk. "Look, I get it. As I've said, I've dealt with a lot of odd ducks before. You're not the first kid from Mr. Onizuku's class, or from another program like that I've had to deal with. And, well, Izuku, you're not the first quirkless kid I've had in the program either. But you two have got to try a little harder to integrate into the class. You're already on the back foot since you got in through recommendations and they had to take the test. Plus, you are better than them. Some of them are going to resent that."
"But, I mean, w-w-well,we're all in the s-same program," Izuku stuttered. "We're not-"
"You are," Mr. Maijima stated quietly. "It's ok. People aren't created equal. Accepting that is the first step to finding your place in the world."
"Yes, we are very sorry and will do better," Mei agreed. "Now can we go build something?"
Sighing, Mr. Maijima shook his head. "I should really say no, what with the idiot stunt you two pulled at the commencement ceremony."
Mei's look of hurt disbelief almost made Izuku giggle, as he'd never seen her look so utterly crestfallen before.
"...But I'm going to let it slide, just this once. Now come show me how you two rigged that suit of yours."
Mei leapt up and ran into the workshop, where the Power Suit had been set on a large work table. She immediately started explaining how all the hydraulics and motorized assists worked, rattling off the sources of the metal and how she'd machined or jury rigged different parts to fit within the frame.
M. Maijima asked a few adroit questions, pointing out things he had noticed when he'd inspected the work or offering a few suggestions to how Mei could have set up the system better.
"Well yeah, but we didn't HAVE those," Mei informed Mr. Maijima in a huff after the second time he made a suggestion for a material improvement.
"They're over there," Mr. Maijima said, pointing to a stack of supplies on a shelf. "You can machine them to your specs on that one."
With an eager grin, Mei ran over to do just that, leaving Izuku with Mr. Maijima.
"Now, show me how you were setting up these electrical systems," Mr. Maijima told Izuku.
"Um, well, honestly, I used a few old textbooks I found at the library and some videos online that I found," Izuku admitted. "I just had to balance the power loads with a few series of relays here, and for others I had to boost the power outputs with a backup power supply that I spliced together."
Izuku showed some of his work, feeling nervous. A lot of it he thought was clumsy and makeshift. He'd had to do dozens of adjustments to every piece to get them to work properly. "-and I had some problems with dirty power supplies, but the work around I used was to build my own capacitor series and some surge protectors like it shows here."
"How'd you get the parts?" Mr. Majima asked curiously.
"Um, mostly from scavenging from old equipment at my school. They were upgrading some stuff, and um, well, I just sort of...took it from the dumpsters," Izuku admitted.
"You took a bunch of decades old equipment? How did you ever get it working?"
"Well, a lot of it was bad, so I had to test individual circuits to make sure their connections were good and replace a lot of burned out wiring with extras I took. It...it took a really long time, I'm not very good at it."
"Midoriya, what you rigged here bears almost zero resemblence to the original. You had to hand wire each connection didn't you?"
"Um, yeah, some of the wire I had to braid together so that it could carry the voltage properly because I didn't have the right kind. I-i-it kinda failed a lot until I managed to get it right."
"Incredible," Mr. Maijima muttered, shaking his head. "Come here."
Walking over to a shelf, Mr. Majima took out coils of copper wire, then pointed to a machine. "That machine will braid your wire for you. Just figure out what you need, and it will take care of the rest. I also have raw copper you can spin into fine wire or use to braid heavier cable if you need something custom that you can't make out of standard parts. These are capacitors; we have basically whatever you need. As for power supplies, we've got access to the latest tech. Some of it you have to be really careful with; they can explode if you're not careful."
"I'm always careful, sir," Izuku promised. "Um, sometimes I have to remind Mei to take it slow though. She always just sort of guesses at her power needs. She's usually right, but, um, sometimes…"
"Sometimes there's an earth shattering kaboom because she forgot something?" Mr. Maijima guessed. When Izuku nodded reluctantly, his teacher sighed. "Yeah, it figures. She seems like a leap first look later kind of gal. Well, she's got you to keep an eye on her, anyway. I'll give you two another hour to mess around. I've got a staff meeting to go to, but when I get back I have to lock up when I go home for the day."
Left on their own, Izuku and Mei fell into a familiar routine, drafting plans and examining their prior work.
"We're going to start over from scratch!" Mei declared, quicking sketching out her plans for the Mark VI on paper. "This power suit will have better everything! Izuku, what about power sources? How much juice am I working with?"
"Well, I am still figuring it all out, but I think these would work best for the main power supply. That should just about quadruple the available power for the primary systems."
"Excellent, excellent! What about those modular systems?"
"Well, their systems will have to integrate into the primary control, but I think most of their power demands should come from built in sources. I think we're best off using battery power for that. It will sort of limit how many activations each can have, but-"
"A sacrifice we can make! Now, I think we're going to be able to add extra shock absorbers here, and here. You did punch that robot, but it sort of screwed up the arm's actuators. We need to account for that."
"Hmm, ok, what if we try-"
After an hour, Mr. Maijima returned, finding Izuku and Mei in the process of fabricating a basic skeleton for the power suit.
"Well I hate to interrupt, but it's time to call it quits. Head home you two, school starts early in the morning."
"But we haven't even begun!" Mei protested.
"It's OK, I'll take home some of these circuits to build and you can take some materials home to machine in your shop. We can finish the skeleton later and mount them," Izuku suggested.
"Well, normally I don't allow students to just take home workshop materials for home use," Mr. Maijima said. He raised his hands before Mei could protest vocally. "But, I'll make an exception. Honestly, I really want to see what the two of you can do with professional grade stuff. Get going, you're probably hungry."
"Nah, Izuku always brings food to make me eat," Mei said, pointing to a couple of empty instant ramen bowls.
"Just make sure you actually sleep tonight, OK Mei?" Izuku prompted. "We'll work better if you actually get some sleep."
"Yeah, yeah," Mei agreed, grabbing some supplies and stuffing them in her backpack.
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Maijima. Thanks!" Izuku called. He walked with Mei to the train station, bidding her farewell and urging her to remember to get enough sleep. Then it was back home for him.
His mother was of course overflowing with questions, which Izuku absently tried to answer as he worked on wiring a circuit board. The new Power Suit would have much more advanced electronics, and he had opened a few tutorials on his phone to look up just what to do. Building circuits tended to make sense to Izuku, as if you planned things out carefully and then were methodical in your implementation and testing they worked well, and he'd learned a lot in the last year.
His room was now a mini workshop itself, with soldering guns, a shelf with carefully stored racks of wire, blank circuit boards, and half cannibalized computers and machinery he'd brought back to work on in his own time. The All Might memorabilia was gone, sold to pay for Izuku's new passion. A part of him was now slightly regretful about that. Perhaps All Might wasn't as terrible a hero as Izuku had thought.
"I'm just, so, so proud of you, Izuku," Inko said, giving her son a hug. "Don't stay up to late, OK?"
"Yeah, OK," Izuku agreed. He took a picture of the board he'd built and sent it to Mei, adding a few descriptors of what he expected the specs to be. She replied with a picture of what she'd made, giving a brief description of what it was for.
Izuku frowned, trying to turn it so he could really see. He sighed and gave up, turning off his laptop and soldering iron and climbing into bed. He'd deal with it in the morning.
During the first few weeks at school, Izuku and Mei settled into a routine. They worked on their classwork alone, worked together in the lab alone, and generally were not spoken to or interacted with by any save their teachers unless it was unavoidable. While their classmates were not openly hostile or rude, they were reluctant to socialize with the duo. While this somewhat weighed on Izuku's mind, it didn't seem to bother Mei in the slightest.
"Mei, do you ever wish you had other friends? I mean, besides me," Izuku asked her as they worked together on an in class assignment in Modern Literature class.
Mei didn't look up from where she was copying from their copy of Two Heroes by Kohei Nagasaki. "Why? I have our babies too."
"Well, I mean, maybe if I wasn't around, people would talk to you more. Since, you know…" Izuku trailed off as Mr. Ishiyama, also known as Cementoss, walked by.
"People would rather talk to you than me," Mei stated simply, ignoring the teachers presence. "They think I'm weird."
"Perhaps you should focus more on the themes in the chapter," Mr. Ishiyama rumbled. Izuku still found it exciting to be taught by pro-heroes, especially a mutant type like Mr. Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, who looked like a living slab of concrete.
"Obviously the doctor betrays everyone because he wants his research back," Mei declared. "I'd feel the same way if someone stole my babies!"
"Focus on the themes in this chapter, Hatsume, not what happens later" Cementoss chided, then walked away.
"No, I mean, because I'm...quirkless," Izuku whispered.
Mei looked up at him, frowning. "Yeah, but you have better social skills. Look, do you think the doctor betrays them because he wants his babies back or not?"
"That's not really the theme in this chapter. This one's more about how he's willing to betray his ideals to protect his friend," Izuku said.
"Ok." Mei happily erased what she'd written on the worksheet, scribing what Izuku had said nearly verbatim. She was more than willing to defer to Izuku in the "boring stuff" as she put it, but was equally happy to help him in math and science.
Izuku was just filling out his own worksheet when alarms suddenly started to blare.
"Attention! Attention! Lockdown! An incident has happened on campus! Lockdown! All students, remain in place! Teachers, report to the front of the school immediately!" a voice blared over the loudspeakers.
Cementoss dropped the book he'd been carrying around and raced for the door. "Stay here! Do not move!" he ordered.
The other students gasped, looking scared and frightened, but Mei just kept working, ignoring the sudden interruption.
"It's OK!" Izuku said loudly, standing up and looking around. "I'm sure we're safe! Otherwise, Mr. Ishiyama wouldn't have left us. We should just get started on the homework."
"Don't tell us what to do," Kata Sumuri, the snailed headed boy who had been elected class rep snapped at Izuku.
"But, Kata, what should we do?" someone else asked.
Kata frowned, his eyes swiveling in their long stalks. "Um, well, I guess we should just do the homework."
Izuku flushed and sat back down, but the room had calmed down and everyone had gone back to work. He and Mei finished quickly enough, then at Izuku's prodding got out their English homework to work on.
"If we finish it now we can spend more time in the workshop later," he argued.
Mei reluctantly agreed, though getting her to do her English homework was even harder than getting her to remember to eat dinner.
After an hour, however, the principal's voice came over the PA system. "Students, you are dismissed. The school day is over early. Please carefully and calmly exit the building, and head straight home. Do not linger on campus.
"What?" Mei half shrieked, looking up. "But our babies!"
"I think something bad happened," Izuku said. "Come on. We'll go over to my place today. We can work on finishing those circuits for the jet pack."
"Did you solve the power supply issues?" Mei asked, now eagerly scooping up her books. "I've got the propulsion system ready, but you know it's going to be an energy hog."
"I'm going to build an override that sends all power to the pack while it's active. It'll make most of the suit's systems freeze up temporarily, but it's the only way to draw enough power," Izuku explained.
On the way out, Izuku noticed a large number of police and other emergency vehicles. To his shock, he saw Bakugo sitting by an ambulance, apparently arguing with the paramedics. However, he had several bandages on his body, and was clearly battered.
"Kacchan!" Izuku called, hurrying over without thinking. "What happened to you?"
Bakugo glared up at Izuku. "What do you want, extras? My gear is fine. Go away."
"But you're hurt!" Izuku protested. "What happened?"
"Sir, I need you to move along, this is a medical emergency," one of the EMTs warned.
"But this is my friend, Kacchan! It looks like he was hurt badly, what happened?" Izuku demanded.
"Go away, I don't need your sympathy, or your help!" Bakugo snapped.
"Wow, you have terrible social skills," Mei commented from behind Izuku.
"What was that, you damned extra!" Bakugo snapped, standing up, his eyes filled with rage.
"Woah! What's going on here? I knew you had an explosive personality, Bakugo, but this is too much!"
The new voice drew Bakugo's ire as he growled in anger, fingers twitching. The owner was a tall young man with blond hair in a costume with 1,000,000 printed on it. Izuku vaguely recognized him as an upperclassman, though he didn't know his name.
"Piss off! We would have been just fine without you, pantless!" Bakugo snapped.
"Ouch! Guess I earned that one!" the older boy chuckled. He turned to Izuku and Mei, smiling. "Names Mirio Togata, but you can call me Lemillion! Don't worry about your friend here, he's going to be just fine! All Might and the other teachers got there just in time! None of your classmates were hurt too badly."
"I could have handled them!" Bakugo raged. "If you and the other's hadn't gotten in my way-"
"Sir, please, calm down. You two, leave. You're upsetting my patient," the EMT ordered.
"O-o-ok," Izuku said, backing away. "I'm glad you're safe, Kacchan!"
Izuku's only answer was a very rude gesture. They walked away, Togata following after them.
"What happened?" Izuku asked as they walked away.
"Oh, just a little villain trouble at the USJ today!" Togata laughed.
"They went to Universal Studios Japan?" Izuku asked, surprised. That seemed odd for the hero course.
"Ha ha, that would have been fun!" Togata laughed. "No no, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! It's here on campus, it's a training facility for the Hero Course. You two are in the Support Course, right? You probably haven't been there."
"Oh, no," Izuku said, feeling a little dejected. He wished he could have been with Kacchan, training to be a hero. But then he glanced at Mei. Did he really? He sort of liked having a real friend in class, and he was learning useful skills.
"Well some villains broke in, nothing to worry about!" Togata declared brightly. "Just head home, take the rest of the day off! Do something fun!"
"We can't, they won't let us in to see our babies on campus," Mei sulked.
That caused the older student to do a double take. "What?! You have children here? But you're so young! But fear not, I can rescue your children, miss, and-"
"She um, she means our inventions," Izuku quickly interjected. "We're not-we didn't, um, it's not like that. We're lab partners in the Support Course, and, well, Mei calls what we make our babies."
"They're super cute! Say, could you let us in so we could see them? I'll show you the power armor! Maybe I could make you some support gear that would keep your pants on!" Mei offered.
"Ha! I might have to take you up on that! I was in such a hurry when All Might called me, I just ran over without putting on my costume first! Guess I'll have to remember that for next time," Togata said with a chuckle.
"Why would All Might call a student if there was a villain attack?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"Oh, what's that?" Togata said, putting a hand to his ear. "Goodness, I have to go! Goodbye, remember, go straight home!" with that, Togata crackled with sudden energy, and with a cry of "POWER!" ran off at such a blistering speed he caused a small gale.
"Wait, our babies!" Mei called, but it was too late. She sighed. "Come on, Izuku, let's head to your place. At least we can work on those circuits."
"Yeah, right," Izuku agreed. But he looked back to where Togata had disappeared. What was going on?
That afternoon, Izuku ended up not getting much done on the circuits.
"Oh thank God Izuku! When I heard there was an attack on your school, I got so worried! Thank goodness you're not in the Hero Course, some of those kids were seriously injured!" Inko cried as soon as they arrived at the Midoriya residence.
"Mom, I called and texted you right away, you know I was fine!" Izuku said as his mother buried him in a hug.
"They didn't let us work on our babies at all though," Mei muttered.
"Mei! Did you call your parents?" Inko demanded. "They're probably worried sick."
"Izuku reminded me," Mei said, trying to sidle past Inko. "We did our homework already, we're just going to work on those circuits."
"Wait, is there anything on the news, mom?" Izuku asked.
"Oh yes, it's all they're talking about! Come, look!" Inko hurried inside and turned on the television, where the news anchors were talking over footage of the UA campus.
"-reports indicate that a group of over 50 criminals calling themselves 'The League of Villains' attacked the UA campus. Thankfully, All Might was on hand to defeat this heinous attack."
The footage suddenly cut to All Might, waving at reporters and smiling. To Izuku's surprise, at his side stood not Principal Nezu or one of the other pro heroes who taught at the school, but rather Mirio Togata, dressed in a school uniform.
"An upperclassman, Mirio Togata, was also involved, along with the students of Class 1A. Witnesses claim that he arrived shortly after All Might, and assisted the Symbol of Peace in holding off the villains until the UA faculty could arrive."
"Him again," Izuku muttered. "What does it mean? Why would a student be helping defeat villains? Shouldn't it have been up to the teachers or other pros? I wonder what his Quirk is?"
"Probably losing his pants," Mei stated matter of factly. "That blond jerk said that he lost his."
Inko gasped and turned to Izuku. "Bakugo was there? Did he do anything to you?"
"He showed that he doesn't have any social skills," Mei said with a shrug. "I don't think he likes us. Which is weird because he said we were extra. Like, extra awesome?"
"Like extras in a movie," Izuku said absently, still wondering what Togata had to do with the incident. "He called me that before."
"I don't think we should make any support gear for him," Mei said. "He was mean to you."
Izuku glanced at Mei, somewhat surprised. "I thought you didn't care if people were mean to you."
"Yes. But he was mean to you. I didn't like that," Mei explained.
Izuku grunted. "It bothers me how rude Kacchan was to you, Mei. He doesn't even realize how talented you are."
"You two should both stay away from him," Inko lectured. "He's trouble."
Just then, the phone rang. Inko had apparently texted Mei's parents she'd arrived, and they too were concerned. Despite her protests, Hari arrived not long after to take Mei home.
"Don't worry, we'll get started all the earlier tomorrow!" Izuku promised, waving as they got into the car.
"Those villains better not have touched our babies. I'll kill them if they hurt any of them!" Mei swore.
Izuku smiled and waved again, then went back inside. He tried to work on the circuits, but his mind was elsewhere. He gave up, instead getting in another workout with his weight set.
"I should have been there," Izuku muttered to himself. "It should have been me fighting those villains with Kacchan."
But, to do that he would need better gear. Izuku resolved to find out everything he could about this League of Villains, and their quirks. It would be good practice to start coming up with countermeasures for them.
Chapter 8: Awakenings
Beta'd by kylekatarn77
8. Awakenings
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
-Abraham Lincoln
"I suppose all of you know this already, but the sports festival is in two weeks. You have 10 days to finish your equipment, and then submit it for final approval if you want to use it during the events," Mr. Majima announced the next day at the start of class.
"We're still having that? Sumuri demanded. "What about the League of Villains?"
Mr. Maijima shrugged. "All Might and the rest of us teachers took care of them. A few got away, but most of them are locked up. We need to show the world UA won't be intimidated by a bunch of thugs."
"What about Mirio Togata?" Izuku asked, raising his hand. "How did he help at the USJ?"
"He's All Might's teaching assistant," Mr. Maijima said with a shrug. "And he's quite a talented student. His help was most welcome. He saved quite a few of the students in Class 1A while All Might fought the villains before the rest of us got there."
"What's his quirk?" Izuku asked eagerly, reaching for his notebook. If Togeta was that strong, he couldn't wait to write down a few notes. He already had some ideas on how to stop the League of Villains if they came back, though the warp quirk that one of them had would be hard to counter until he knew more about it.
Mei nodded. "Yeah, he asked us to make some pants he wouldn't lose. I told him I could make him a wonderful baby!"
"Of course you did," Mr. Maijima muttered, then cleared his throat. "Well, that's probably his phasing. He's getting better, and I made him a costume that wouldn't just fall off when he loses focus, but he forgot it. Maybe you can whip him up a pair of underwear or something for casual use, as a thank you."
That got snickers from the other students, though Mei just nodded happily. Mr. Maijima frowned and glared around the room. "I'm serious. You're going to have to get used to the idea of making those sorts of things. Some heroes do need specialized clothing for their costumes. You may very well find yourself making special underwear for heroes more often than you think, and it can be the difference between life and death for someone. Anyway, go work on your projects for the rest of homeroom. Remember, 10 days to submit your list of gear and for me to inspect it for the Sports Festival."
Izuku and Mei headed over to their own work station, with Mei talking animatedly. "This is our chance, Izuku! Time for our babies to shine! We just have to show the world how amazing they are! I'm certain you can do it! You've gotten super good with the Power Suit, and with several of the modules! You're certain to catch the eye of all the support companies, and maybe even the pro heroes!"
"Yeah, I heard that if you do well enough at the sports festival, they let you transfer in to the Hero Course if you want," Izuku said, rubbing his chin.
"Well you can do that! Our babies are the cutest, most wonderful things ever!" Mei burbled.
Nodding Izuku glanced around at the various items they'd completed. There was the Power Suit of course, and the grappling hook, jet pack, and hover boots. But he needed something else…
"I think we need something to counter everyone's quirks," Izuku muttered to himself. "I know what Kacchan's quirk is, but I don't know about the other students. How do I find out what they are? Maybe I could spy on them at lunch. No, that wouldn't work, they're not using their quirks then. Kacchan probably wouldn't tell me, and spying on them during class would be hard, so how do I-"
"Hey, Mr. Maijima, if we want to work on some gear for other students, can we?" Mei asked.
Mr. Maijima nodded, coming over to their table. "Sure, who do you have in mind?"
"Well, we already have so many wonderful babies!" Mei declared. "Could we just get a list of the students in the Hero Courses and their quirks? Maybe in general studies too, especially if they want to be in the Hero Course! We could really give them a leg up!"
"Sure. I'll grab a list for you in a minute," Mr. Maijima said, and walked away. A few minutes later, he came back with a notebook. "I was going to ask the two of you to help me with the next round of costume modifications. Especially you, Izuku. There's one student with an electricity quirk who's having some serious drawbacks from over using his quirk. You're the electrical whiz, maybe take a look at it and see what you can do for him. Name's Denki Kaminari, he's in class 1A."
"Um, thanks!" Izuku said. He took the notebook and flipped it open, his eyes going wide. On it were listed the names of every Year 1 student, along with their Quirks. Even he was listed, though his quirk was just given as "NA."
"Well, does this help?" Mei demanded.
A slow grin spread over Izuku's face. "Yes, yes it does. We're going to be just like Batman, Mei. We'll look at all the Quirks, and create babies to defeat everyone! Starting with Kacchan!"
For Kacchan, Mei came up with a simple but effective solution almost immediately. "Well, if his quirk is sweat, shouldn't we just spray him with antiperspirant? He kinda stunk when we saw him. Mr. Onizuku was always telling me I should put some on but I never remembered."
Izuku blushed at that particular revelation. Mei's grasp of personal hygiene was questionable at best, and Izuku did have to remind her to wash herself after a long day in the workshop. Personally though, he sort of liked how she smelled, but he would never have been so crass as to say so.
"That's a great idea? But what about a delivery system?"
That got Mei's eyes to sparkle. "Missiles."
Unfortunately, as it turned out, creating the missiles ended up eating up most of the ten days they had. They had to come up with a launcher, machine the missiles, get the right propellent mix, and put out a few fires from their mistakes that had Mr. Maijima threatening to ban them from the workshop for life. However, Izuku and Mei were able to engineer a missile that could easily launch from the Power Suit, but could also be fitted out with a number of payloads, one of which was an antiperspirant bomb.
"Maybe we can add in a few other payloads? Like some sort of antacid foam for this girl, Mina Ashido?" Izuku suggested.
Along with building the gear, Izuku spent long hours testing it and honing his combat skills. He'd spent some time since the semester started practicing with the Power Suit, especially after his rather pathetic attempts to take out the robot when Mr. Maijima had tested them at the recommendation exam. Now, however, Izuku trained in earnest.
Mei convinced Mr. Maijima to allow them to set up a course for Izuku to train on, though their teachers flatly refused to allow them to destroy any of the robots. Despite that, Izuku practiced his skill with the grappling hook, using it to expertly swing himself around the large city-like training area. He could combine it with the hover boots and jet pack Mei had created to fly for short periods, ascending to heights of up to 30 meters. He also discovered the grapple could be used as a tether or line to wrap around enemies, though he couldn't use it on just anyone as the metal cable would crush a normal human or cut them in half when tension was put on it.
He also trained hard with the missiles, learning how to use the laser target finder he designed to improve their accuracy. He also practiced dumbfiring his shots so that he could quickly get off a barrage without first painting the target, and got fairly accurate at that as well. He also practiced some basic martial arts katas in the suit, though for those he soon found that if he tried to get too complicated, he just fell over or over-extended. Some basic punches and kicks were going to have to be enough, especially as Izuku could easily break through concrete.
"We're going to have to put limiters on the suit," he told Mei. "If I hit someone full out, I'll really hurt them."
"That won't be too hard, we can put an override in in-case you go up against someone like Kirishima or Tetsutetsu from the hero course," Mei said, tapping their notepad. "They've got quirks that make them super tough, and unless our baby is going all out, they won't even feel your punches, but for regular people we can reduce the power output so you don't kill them. How could everyone know how amazing our babies were if they were dead?"
"Um, yeah," Izuku agreed, though he was honestly just worried about hurting someone. He did practice picking up delicate objects with the power suit, starting with watermelons. The first few times Izuku accidentally cracked the melon, sending sprays of juice and pulp over the suit, and causing Mei to berate him for getting their baby dirty. After a few times though, Izuku got to where he could hold the melons tightly without breaking them, and moved on to ever more delicate objects. He finally managed to carefully pick up an egg, though he still cracked the shell most of the time.
After their two weeks of nearly sleepless nights, Izuku and Mei finally decided they had done enough. They'd only managed to make anti-quirk gear for a few combatants, but they were also the most dangerous. At the last minute, they slapped together some heat shielding to use against Todoroki in 1A, who had the powerful fire and ice quirks, and quickly added some vents that could be used to melt the exterior of the Power Suit if it became iced over.
"This is quite a lot of gear," Mr. Maijima commented, looking over the plans and the sample missile that he'd received. He looked up at Izuku and Mei, a crooked smile tugging at his lips. "Way more than most first year classes I teach submit, combined."
"Well, aren't they all super cute? It would be a shame to leave out any of our babies!" Mei declared.
"At the very least, these are all extremely well made. The electrical system on this missile is a marvel. How'd you make this, Midoriya?"
"Well, actually, I sort of ripped up a few laser range finders. Mei helped me reprogram them so that they would then home in on the laser beam. You have to keep the beam on target, or the missile flies off course, but you can also just dumb fire them. I had to rewire them a bit to get them to fit, but it works!"
"I know it does, I tested them. It's incredible! Make sure you find a way to show these off. I know some pros that would be interested in buying these. Hell, I might way a few myself, especially since you can easily swap out the payloads with this system that you designed, Hatusme. Excellent work! These are all approved! Including the Power Suit MK VII."
"You won't regret it sir!" Mei promised. "We'll get even more funding so that Izuku and I can make babies together forever!"
"I expect to get pictures from the hospital after the delivery," Mr. Maijima deadpanned. When Izuku went white, he laughed uproariously. "Go on, get out of here! Go celebrate your success! I think you'll put in a good showing at the Sports Festival! Maybe someone in my class can actually place in the finals for once. Damn you Vlad and your stupid bets…"
"This is going to be amazing!" Mei cheered as they left. "Everyone can finally see just how cute our babies are! Aren't you excited Izuku?"
"Hmm? Yeah," Izuku agreed absently. He tapped the notebook of quirks he was carrying. "I think we can handle most of the people we face with our load out. But there's one student I'm actually really worried about, and he's not even in the Hero course."
"What? Who? Who's going to hurt our babies?!" Mei demanded, grabbing the notebook and pulling it down so she could see.
"Him, Hitoshi Shinso," Izuku commented. "He's got a quirk that lets him mind control anyone who answers a question of his."
"Well, that's easy. Just don't talk to him," Mei said with a shrug. "I'm still more worried about Shoto Todoroki. Having two quirks is just cheating! I know we put on that heat shielding, but we don't have numbers on how hot his fire can get so I don't know if it will work!"
"Yeah, he's the son of Endeavor, the number 2 hero. Beating him would be tough, but there are a lot of tough opponents. I think we'll find a way though."
"Yep, you'll show everyone you deserve to be a hero!" Mei cheered. Suddenly, she stopped, looking worried.
Izuku halted and turned. "What is it? Is there something we forgot, Mei?"
"Well, it's just...Izuku, maybe...maybe you shouldn't win," Mei said softly. She was wringing her hands, and for once she looked deeply distressed instead of her usual chipper self. "If you do then you wouldn't get to be with me anymore."
At those words, something strange surged within Izuku. He felt a longing and tugging within him, but at the same time he swelled with pride, as if All Might himself had appeared to crown Izuku as the next Number 1 Hero. He also felt a sudden rush of savage lust as blood surged within him, causing sudden and embarrassing changes. Still, the sensation lingered, and Izuku wasn't sure what it was, so unlike anything else he had felt in his life before, so invigorating, and so demanding.
He awkwardly crossed his legs, trying to hide his condition. But the reason behind the emotion was obvious: Mei hadn't said he couldn't win, couldn't prove he was stronger than even the most powerful members of the UA Hero Course. No, she had said maybe he shouldn't win. As if Izuku's victory was a foregone conclusion to her. "Um, why, Mei? I thought you wanted to show off our babies? You're sure to get picked up by a support company, and I might get noticed by some pro heroes who would take me as an intern!"
"That's just it," Mei said quietly, oddly not meeting Izuku's eyes. "What if they take you away and I can't see you anymore? I don't think I'd like that."
Forcing himself forward and trying not to show the state of his pants, Izuku hurried forward, putting his arms around Mei and trying not to bump into her below the waist. "Hey, it's OK! You believe I can win, right Mei?"
She nodded, a tear suddenly rolling down her cheek. Izuku felt a sense of panic. He'd never seen Mei cry. Not when she'd burned herself with a welding torch, not when she'd been shocked by high voltage, not when she'd smashed her fingers in a malfunctioning hydraulic joint.
"Mei?" All thoughts of preserving his dignity were gone. Izuku wrapped her in a hug. "Are you OK? I'm here for you. Just tell me what's wrong!"
Slowly, Mei rested her hands on Izuku's back, then suddenly squeezed him so tightly the breath was driven out of his body. Thanks to long hours of hard work, Mei had surprising muscle strength, and Izuku hadn't been ready for this. Her fingers dug painfully into his back, but Izuku ignored that.
"Would you leave me if you won?" Mei whispered. Izuku could feel a growing wetness on his chest, and realized Mei was silently weeping. "I've never had a friend before. I don't want them to take you away if you win, Izuku."
That same feeling surged in Izuku again, and for a moment he couldn't even speak, so powerful were the swirling emotions. Tears started falling from his own eyes, wetting the top of Mei's head. Neither of the two noticed the stares from their fellow classmates, as they were standing on a busy walkway near the entrance.
"I'll never leave you, Mei. If I enter the Hero Course, if I become the top Hero, I won't do it unless you're with me. And if I utterly fail, if no one loves our babies...well, I'll work with you at your parents shop for the rest of my life!"
Mei looked up, pushing aside her goggles to reveal puffy red eyes. "You mean it? You'll always be my friend?"
"Forever," Izuku agreed. "No matter what. Win or lose, they can't separate us, Mei."
"Ok." Mei suddenly let go of Izuku, rapidly turning and striding off. "Then we'll just have to win so we can make whatever kinds of babies we want!"
"Freaks," someone muttered as they brushed by Izuku, but he didn't care. He strode after Mei, confident in what the future might hold. After all, Mei believed in him. Did anything else really matter?
Chapter 9: Made Equal
This document beta'd by kylekatarn77
9. Made Equal
God made man. Sam Colt made them equal.
-American Proverb
"We can do this, I know we can, we're ready, we're prepared, we've researched every possible opponent, we can do this, we're ready," Izuku muttered to himself as they walked through the tunnel out into the main stadium groups for the Sports Festival.
"Plus, our babies are super cute!" Mei crowed from her perch atop the two and a half meter tall Power Suit. It was now painted in garish pink and green digital camo pattern, which Mei said represented both of their hair colors. While part of Izuku was a bit embarrassed to be in such an ostentatious color scheme, another part was proud of their hard work, and wanted to stand out. "You're gonna win, Izuku!"
The suit itself was bulky and bulbous, weighing in at just over 500 kilos. The main compartment was large enough to hold Izuku's chest and torso, but his arms and legs stuck out into the limbs of the powersuit to aid in making the movement feel more natural, though they only extended about halfway down the limbs. Izuku's head stuck up out of the suit, though it was encased in a metal helmet shaped a bit like a full face mask model for a motorcycle with an opaque visor. He could take it on and off, though he much preferred to leave it on as no one could see his face then.
The arms themselves were also rather bulbous, holding modules for the various systems that they had created. The hands were to scale with the rest of the suit, which was one reason it had taken Izuku so long to get used to using them properly. They were coated in a special rubberized substance that made gripping things easier, with haptic feedback connected to the gauntlets Izuku wore. His legs were somewhat stubby for the size of the suit, though they were still half a meter longer than Izuku's own. The feet were broad and had treads like a large boot to aid in grip along the edges, with the centers holding air jets that allowed Izuku to jump farther and in combination with the jet pack, fly for a short time.
Really, the Power Suit reminded Izuku a great deal of some of the mecha he'd seen at Coruscant Comics, though it wasn't exactly like any of them, and was a great deal smaller than the larger models. Still, he had to be carefully going through the tunnel into the stadium, the top of it only centimeters above his head.
Izuku nodded, keeping his strides even and measured. Mei's presence somehow calmed his nerves, and he forced himself to keep looking forward as they made their way out of the tunnel.
"Support classes F, G, and H!" Present Mic's voice called from the loud speakers.
Izuku tried to smile and look around to wave, but felt too nervous to do so. Mei was now standing up on top of the power suit, waving both arms to the crowd. "Yes, it's us, with our super cute babies! Show off your babies, everyone, the crowd is watching! This is our chance to get funding!"
Mei's frantic energy brought a real smile to Izuku's lips, and he used one arm to steady Mei, while waving with the other.
"They're looking at us, Izuku! They're all watching our baby! Oooh, you really have to win! It will prove just how wonderful our babies are!" Mei shouted.
At last, after some frantic motions from Mr. Maijima, Mei hopped down as all the first year students assembled before the stage.
"And now, to give the student pledge, the First Year rep, Katsuki Bakugo!" Present Mic announced.
With a start, Izuku looked around wildly, spotting Bakugo walking up to the stage, a determined look on his face.
"What, Bakugo?" another student from the hero course with long earlobes that ended in electrical jacks asked. "Why'd they pick him? He's such an asshole."
"I guess he did score first in the entrance exams," another Hero Course student with spiky red hair commented. "Even if he is a jerk sometimes."
"Only for the Hero Course," someone from general studies grumbled.
But Izuku knew the truth: In the end, it was the Hero Course that really mattered in the eyes of the crowd. They were the students who always won the sports festival. Izuku had checked: Never in the history of UA had any student in any year who wasn't in the Hero Course taken first place. There had been students from other courses who made it to the final round, but the final round was always a battle, and the Hero Course not only typically had the students with the strongest Quirks, but also the ones given the most training to use them.
"This year, we'll win," Izuku swore to Mei. She grinned at him and nodded.
"I just wanna say," Bakugo drawled from atop the stage. "I'm gonna win."
Plenty of people booed Bakugo, but Izuku stared determinedly at Bakugo. He knew the truth. Bakugo wasn't boasting. He was making a promise: If you wanted to win this year, Bakugo was the one to beat. And Izuku absolutely believed it.
"See you in the finals, Kacchan," Izuku whispered.
"Why would you say something like that? You're making everyone in Class 1A look bad!" a tall boy with glasses shouted, waving frantically at Bakugou.
For his part, Bakugo shrugged and glanced behind him. "Not my fault you're all just extras in my show."
The boos and heckling continued, several students making threats to Bakugo, but the spiky haired youth just walked off the stage, shouldering his way back to his spot, apparently not bothered by the critics.
"Do you think his social skills are worse than mine?" Mei mused. "At least people just think I'm weird. I don't think anyone hates me. Hey, Sumuri, do you hate me?"
Kata shifted one eye stalk to look at Mei and shrugged. "No. But I might hate that punk who just shot his mouth off. Thinks he's better than us."
"His social skills definitely aren't," Mei laughed.
"Shh, they're announcing the first task," Izuku whispered.
This was a tricky part. He and Mei could plan for the Quirks of their peers, but they couldn't know what the challenges for the first two tasks would be. Upon seeing the trial though, Izuku let out a sigh of relief. An obstacle course. That, they could handle. The Power Suit could run at over 40 kph, and while Izuku knew that Tenya Iida from 1A could go faster than that with his engine quirk, Izuku should still be able to easily outpace most of the field.
"Ready, Mei?" Izuku asked.
"Yep!" she eagerly climbed onto his back, strapping herself in and holding on to the hand and foot holds they'd mounted onto the fame. "Let's show everyone what our baby can do!"
"On your marks! Get set, go!"
Izuku took off, throwing himself into a full sprint, using the long strides of the Power Suit to rapidly outpace nearly everyone. Most of the other students rapidly gave way for the large metal suit, which made Izuku stand just over 2 meters tall. He'd just about made it out of the tunnel again when suddenly a coat of frost rimmed his suit, sticking him to the ground. Todoroki's quirk, Izuku knew. Bakugo laughed and launched himself forward with explosions, dodging the frost, but everyone else was caught in it.
"Engaging heat shield!" Izuku shouted, and immediately the lower portion of the Power Suit heated up. Mei was wearing insulated gloves and boots for just such a purpose, and laughed in delight as they broke free and raced forward.
Ahead of him, Izuku spotted both Todoroki and Bakugo using their respective Quirks to move faster than most could while running. Well, not faster than the Power Suit.
"Hang on, here we go!" Izuku warned, and threw himself into another sprint, racing as quickly as he could along the track. He'd nearly caught up to both Bakugo and Todoroki when suddenly several enormous robots reared up, blocking their way forward.
"Oh man, those are huge!" Mei said excitedly. "Use the HE missiles!"
"Not yet," Izuku cautioned. "We don't know what's ahead."
As it turned out, they didn't need them, as Todoroki's ice covered the robots, freezing them in place, and allowing the other boy to easily bypass them.
"Izuku, those are unstable! Don't let them crush our babies!" Mei warned.
Swerving to avoid the giant robots, Izuku ran straight into a group of smaller robots, some of which he recognized from the entrance interview. Others were shaped like a sort of scorpion with laser tipped tails, and still more were larger models with missile launchers on their backs. For a brief moment, Izuku thought he would panic and run. Sure, he'd faced a single robot before, but that had been easy. Now there were half a dozen, all coming straight at him.
"Use number 54!" Mei suddenly urged, rapping her hand on Izuku's shoulder plates. "Let's show what we can do!"
Her words brought sudden clarity, and Izuku's mind snapped into focus, forming a plan. "Right!" Izuku raised his left arm, activating the module installed in it. A large laser cutter popped out, pointing at the robots. Izuku ran forward, charging up the laster. "Firing!"
A narrow red beam shot out, burning into the nearest robot, one with the missile launchers. Its armor started to melt immediately, though Izuku struggled to keep the beam on target. Still, he managed to melt a sizable chunk out in just a second, causing the robot to blare in alarm. Deactivating the laser, Izuku leaped onto the robot, punching it where the laser had weakened the armor. The frame of the robot shattered under the force of the blow, but Izuku followed through too hard, losing his footing and stumbling to his knees as his fist became stuck in the robot's guts.
"Watch out!" Mei cried. "Don't let them hurt our babies!"
With a heave Izuku freed himself, spinning to face more robots as they charged him. He raised the laser and fired it at a charging wheeled robot with one arm, then activated the grappling hook module embedded in his right. He used it to spear another missile bot through its eyes, causing it to crash into the ground, deactivated. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to hold the laser steady on the scorpion bot. Thankfully in the wild wiggling of the laser it had passed over the scorpion bot's eyes, melting it and causing the robot to start to run wildly in circles, crashing into a wheeled bot and wrecking them both.
The last robot was another wheeled one, and Izuku ran forward as he retracted the grapple. He punched with his right to deflect the shield arms, then followed up by launching the grapple into the robots torso. It speared straight through the enemy's chassis, destroying the robot.
Gasping for breath, Izuku wrenched the grapple free again, then took off once more after Todoroki and Bakugo.
"How are you doing back there?" he asked Mei.
"Don't worry about me! How're our babies holding up?" Mei demanded.
Checking his screen, Izuku frowned. "Looks like we have a bit of damage. The laser is down to 20% power, I fired it for a full 4 seconds. The arms and legs have some dents and the right arm has minor servo damage, down to 92% functionality."
"Well within tolerances! Keep going!" Mei cheered. "We're still ahead of nearly everyone."
Izuku resisted the urge to look back, instead racing forward down the track after the leaders, who were spending as much time firing off attacks at each other as they were on moving forward.
After another half kilometer, they came to a wide chasm, crossed by narrow lines.
"They call this an obstacle?" Mei laughed. "Engage the jet pack and hover boots!"
"Right!" Izuku leapt into the air, then activated the hover boots and jet pack together. They both provided enough lift to send the Power Suit 10 feet into the air in a controlled ascent. Izuku was able to land atop one of the pillars, where he had to pause for a few seconds while the system charged again.
"We need to figure out a way to have more continuous flight," Izuku muttered, watching as Bakogu used his explosions to recklessly leap from pillar to pillar, and Todoroki simply made ice paths he could skate across over the chasms.
"Use the grappling hook to give us more forward momentum!" Mei ordered.
"Of course!" Izuku quickly pointed the grappling hook at the ledge on the distant canyon side, then carefully aimed it at what looked like a weak point in the rock. The hook easily speared into the wall, and Izuku jumped as it began to rapidly reel him in. He swung on the line, which jerked his arm hard. Thankfully, the built in shock absorbers did their job, handling the sudden stresses. He swung down out over the canyon floor, and when he began to swing back up on the other side, activated the jet pack and boots once more to launch himself up and over the edge. He hit the ground hard, the sprang forward, still chasing after the leaders.
"Come on, come on, we can do this!" Mei urged. "They're catching up behind us!"
"Not for long!" Izuku promised, running as hard as he could. Suddenly, he saw Bakugo and Todoroki slow down dramatically, carefully picking their way forward.
"Minefield!" Mei shouted in warning. "Izuku, careful, don't hurt our babies!"
Izuku shook his head. "We can't stop now! We're nearly to the leaders!"
"Well if you step on those mines they'll explode and damage the suit!" Mei warned.
"We'll just have to explode them before we get there, then! Missiles, activate!"
The twin pods of missiles mounted in Izuku's torso sprang open, and he slowed slightly to point his torso upward. He also trained the laser across the field, painting the targets for each missile. "Load HE rounds!"
"I love it when you talk explosions like this!" Mei giggled. "Come on babies, make mommy and daddy proud!"
"Missiles… launch!"
Ten missiles shot out of the power suit, rising up into the sky in a wide arch. Todoroki and Bakugo looked up suddenly, then back in shock at Izuku who continued to race forward. Todaroki raised a barricade of ice around himself, while Bakugo suddenly leapt up and recklessly launched himself forward with explosions again. He was too late though: the missiles impacted the minefield in a series of blistering fireballs, which then grew into a massive ball of destruction. Bakugo was flung back behind Izuku, who put his hands before himself and threw himself into the shockwave. He and Mei grunted at the impact, but the suit weathered the blast, and Mei stayed strapped in.
"YES! OUR BABIES ARE THE CUTEST!" Mei hooted as Izuku ran through the former mine field. Todaroki was shaking himself off, his ice having protected him, but Bakugo lay on the ground, groaning slightly from the massive concussion from the blast. Izuku didn't have time to think of that, sprinting forward and into the lead.
"There, ahead of us, there's the stadium!" Mei cheered. "Go, Izuku, go! There's no one even close to us!"
They sprinted into the tunnel and out the other side to where the crowd awaited them.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Present Mic's voice boomed from the loudspeakers. "Two students from the support course finish first! Izuku Midoriya and Mei Hatsume from Class 1H are the clear winners of the obstacle course! The former leaders, Bakugo and Todoroki, have just now picked themselves up and are in hot pursuit, but there's now half a dozen others competing with them for third place! This is incredible folks! We've never seen such a finish from students in the support course!"
"We did it we did it we did it!" Mei laughed, unstrapping herself and jumping on top of the Power Suit to hug it tightly.
Izuku felt the same giddy sense of triumph, grabbing Mei and lifting her high above his head. "We did it, Mei! We won the first round!"
"That's right everyone!" Mei shouted, standing atop Izuku's hands. "I'm Mei Hatsume, and this is Izuku Midoriya! We made all the super cute babies you saw in action today!"
"She means our inventions!" Izuku laughed. "That's what we call our inventions!"
"Just make sure you keep your eyes on us! I'm going to be the world's greatest inventor, and Izuku is going to use our babies to become the next Number 1 Hero!"
"Bold words from our first place finishers!" Present Mic said, laughing. "But what else could you expect after such a showing! And here comes the rest of the field! Tenya Iida takes third place, followed by Shoto Todaroki and Katsuki Bakugou!'
"DEKU YOU DAMN EXTRA!" Bakugo roared, blasting into the stadium on the heels of his classmates. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"
"Who's Deku?" Mei asked, frowning as Bakugo stood in front of them, panting in rage.
Slowly, Izuku lowered Mei to his side, then stuck out his hand. "It was a good race, Kacchan. I borrowed that last move from you: Using an explosion to clear my way."
"Yeah? Well screw you, nerd! Do you think you're better than me?" Bakugou demanded. "You don't even have a quirk!"
"Well, he doesn't need one to be better than you," Mei laughed. "At least he has social skills!"
"And up yours, you pink haired bitch! If you two get in my way again, I'll bury you, you understand!"
"Bakugo! Calm down." The tall boy with glasses from before, Tenya Iida the third place finisher, ordered, interposing himself. It was probably what saved Bakugo from a broken jaw, and Izuku from disqualification. "They won, fairly and squarely."
"Piss off. You're not in charge of me," Bakugo snarled, then stalked away.
Iida frowned after Bakugo, but then turned and bowed to Izuku and Mei. "Please, excuse my classmate's rudeness. I assure you that not all of us in the Hero Course are like that."
Quickly, Izuku removed his helmet, trying to smile at the polite overture. "I-i-it's nothing, I, um, know Kacchan well, from when we were kids. We went to the same schools," Izuku explained, trying to keep himself calm. How dare Bakugo talk about Mei that way!
Mei shrugged. "I met him a while ago. He has even worse social skills than me!"
"I...see," Iida said, standing and looking at Mei oddly. He shook himself, then smiled and extended his hand. "Well, best of luck to both of you in the coming rounds. I'm certain you'll both do the Support Courses proud."
Izuku carefully took Iida's hand in the power suits, and gently pumped it once. "And to you, Iida. With your engine quirk, you're sure to be a strong competitor."
Iida smiled and nodded his thanks. "I aim to make the Iida family proud. My older brother is sure to be watching."
Izuku and Mei took the next few minutes to hurriedly restock their supplies from the pack Mei was carrying, reloading the missiles and doing some minor repairs to the grappling launcher, as well as swapping out the power supply for the laser.
"The next competition is a cavalry battle!" Ms. Midnight announced from the stage. "You must form teams of up to four, consisting of a single rider and at least one mount!"
"I'll be happy to ride you, Izuku!" Mei said, slapping him on the back. Izuku winced, not from the force of the blow, but for the unwitting implications Mei had made.
"Heh heh, nice one, bud. Good to see at least some of us are getting some tail!" a small disgusting gnome of a boy with odd purple hair commented to Izuku.
He flushed and looked away, focusing on what Ms. Midnight was saying.
"Teams will be given headbands with their total points, earned from the obstacle course. Normally, we'd have first place worth 10,000,000 points, with second place worth a respectable 205."
"Ten million?!" Izuku gasped, going slightly pale.
"But this year, we had some collaborators! Well, we're going to keep the spirit of this alive, so, Izuku Midoriya and Mei Hatsume, you each have a 5,000,000 point bounty on your heads!"
Izuku's eyes went wide, and he took half a step back. He could feel the eyes of everyone on him, the eyes of all the students in the Hero Course who were now determined to beat him into the dust and steal his points. How could he face all of that? Hurriedly, he stuck his helmet back on, not wanting to reveal his embarrassment.
"Ha ha! That's because Izuku and I are clearly going to win! He's going to be the world's Number 1 Hero using our wonderful babies, and I'm going to make them for him!" Mei proclaimed, throwing back her head and laughing to the sky.
"She means, um, she means the-" Izuku stammered, but Ms. Midnight interrupted.
"What's this?! A heated romance on the battlefield! Please, keep your clothes on for this competition! We'll save the spicy details for later! Perhaps these young Heroes will be in need of my expert tutelage!"
Izuku felt as though he were going to melt into a puddle and and die of embarrassment, at least until Mei put her arm around his shoulders. "Come on, Izuku, let's get you suited up so I can ride you to victory!"
Despite his feelings of utter shame, Izuku managed to smile. "Yeah. Um, let's win this."
Chapter 10: Odd Man In
This document beta'd by kylekatarn77
10. Odd Man In
The main way to keep from losing is to win.
-Yogi Berra
"Hey. Nice to see some students outside of the hero course here. You two must be pretty strong."
Izuku looked up from working on the Power Suit to see a boy with tall, fluffy blue hair and dark circles under his eyes. He opened his mouth to answer, only to have Mei put a hand over his mouth.
"Izuku! Don't you remember who that is?" she demanded.
Izuku hesitated for a moment, then his eyes went wide. He nodded quickly, and Mei removed her hand.
"We don't have anything to say to anyone that could mind control us," Mei said, turning her back to continue her work. "We've got more important things to do, right Izuku?"
"R-r-right," Izuku muttered, turning back to work on the suit, but his eyes nervously slid to the boy, whom he now recognized as Hitoshi Shinso. His quirk allowed him to mind control anyone who answered a question of his, and Izuku had nearly fallen into his trap.
"Relax. I'm not here to steal your headbands before we even start," Shinso said, giving Izuku a wan smile. "So, you know about my quirk? Wonder how that happened. Anyway, that's not important, or why I'm here. I want to team up."
"What?" Izuku turned around, shocked. "Why would you want to team up with us?"
"Izuku!" Mei snapped, smacking him upside the back of his head. "You're going to end up mind controlled!"
"Only if I wanted to. Which I don't," Shinso said casually. "No, I'm here to offer a team up, because you two are the only other students not from the Hero Course to make it to the semi-finals. And, well, I respect that." Shinso looked down at his hands, which he tightened into fists. "They wouldn't let me in, no matter how strong my Quirk is, because it doesn't fit their definition of a hero. You two don't fit the bill either. So, they're keeping you out as well. Let's work together to change that. At least for now. All bets are off in the finals."
Izuku looked to Mei, who was frowning at Shinso. "How do we know you won't just betray us and take our headband?" he asked.
Shinso shrugged. "You can choose not to trust me. If you do that, I'll just find someone else. But I think the two of you could really use my help. Sure, you're strong and fast, and that suit you've built is downright amazing. But do you honestly think just the two of you can go up against the entire Hero Course and win? You need allies."
"Ha! Izuku and I have gotten this far with just the two of us and our babies! We don't need anyone else!" Mei bragged.
"Wait, Mei," Izuku said, putting a hand on her shoulder. He studied Shinso. "Your quirk is strong, perhaps one of the most powerful ones here. And you're right. We are up against the entire Hero Course. I'm willing to partner up for this round, to prove that anyone can become a Hero. So what do you say, Mei?"
"Hmm. Well, if you think it's a good idea," Mei said with a shrug. "Just make sure he treats our babies right!"
Shinso chuckled and nodded. "Oh, I'll be sure to do that. Now, I think I'd be the best rider. Agreed?"
"Yes. I'm the horse, obviously," Izuku said, patting the Power Suit. "You and Mei can ride on top. Mei, watch our backs and look for openings. Shinso, how many people can you control with your quirk at a time?"
"It depends, but no more than four or five. So you can forget us just brainwashing the whole field," Shinso answered.
"No, but maybe getting one team to back off or hand over their head band at one time would be helpful," Izuku said. "I'll leave that part up to you. I think our best bet though is to try to stay away from other teams for as long as we can. We've already got a huge lead in points. How many do you have, Shinso?"
"Personally, 80, but those won't really matter compared to what you have."
"Agreed. So for now, we play defense," Izuku said, slapping his fist into his palm. "Let's get loaded up and ready, it starts in just a few minutes."
Soon, Izuku was back in the Power Suit, warming up the systems and waiting for the signal. Shinso and Mei were strapped in up top, with Shinso wearing the 10,000,000 and 80 point headband. Once more, Izuku felt the eyes of everyone on him, ready to take him down. He could see Bakugo glaring at him with a manic grin, riding atop Mina Ashido, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Eijiro Kirishima.
"Bakugo's team is going to be heard to beat," Izuku muttered. "Bakugo is pure offense, but he's got a nearly unbeatable defense too, between Ashido's acid, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, and Kirishima's hardening."
"We'd best stay away from them," Shinso agreed. "He seems to have a chip on his shoulder regarding you. He's got the sort of arrogance and flashy quirk I can't stand."
"He also has no social skills!" Mei chimmined in.
Izuku could almost hear Shinso rolling his eyes, but there was no time to think. "Begin!" Ms. Midnight shouted, and Izuku leapt into the air, igniting his jet pack and hoverboots to leap across the field, away from the other teams that had immediately made straight for him.
"Who's coming after us besides Bakugo?" Isuku asked as he looked for a good landing spot.
"Actually, Bakugo seems to be targeting Monoma from 1B. He's getting really angry, Monoma stole his headband in the rush to get to you. Monoma seems to be showboating, and apparently Bakugo can't stand another diva," Shinso relayed.
"He doesn't like it when someone else tries to surpass him," Izuku agreed. "Jetpack needs to recharge! Landing!"
Izuku landed, but no sooner did he touch the ground than a wall of thorny vines rose up around him. "Shiozaki!" Her quirk made her hair into living plants, which she could control.
"Don't run away, face us head on, like men!" Tetsutesu of Class 1B roared as his team barreled towards Izuku, his metallic skin gleaming in the sunlight.
"I'm not a man, dummy!" Mei called back. "And don't you dare hurt my babies!"
"Laser cutter!" Izuku cried, activating the tool to quickly scythe away the clinging vines. He tried to jump away, but the ground beneath him turned to slurry, causing his legs to sink down as he became stuck in a mire. "Crap, that's Honeuki's softening!"
"Hey, Tetsutetsu, are you harder than Kirishima?" Shinso called.
"Of course I am, you idiot!" Tetsutetsu laughed. "Metal is harder than-"
Shinso showed his teeth. He had him. "Maybe you should go after Bakugo's team. A head on fight like that would prove you're far more manly."
Tetsutetsu's face suddenly went slack, and he turned away from Isuku, pointing towards Bakugo
"What? Tetsutetsu, we were going to get the 10,000,000 point headband!" Awase, one of his riders, protested.
Tetsutestu shook his head, and pointed again.
The distraction lasted just long enough for Izuku to pull himself out of the mud, but he had to immediately dodge out of the way as a sheet of ice tried to envelop him.
"Nothing personal, Midoriya, but we'll be taking that headband," Iida called as he led team Todoroki towards them. They also had Yaoyorozu on their team, who had made roller skates for herself and Uraraka while they supported Todoroki.
"They can fly too with Uraraka's anti-gravity on their team," Izuku muttered, activating his heat shield and dashing through the ice, breaking through it and running away as fast as he could.
"Look out!" Mei called, just in time for Shinso to dodge the long tongue of the frog like Asui. She was hiding behind the tentacled arms of Shoji, along with the purple haired Mineta.
"Don't let those sticky balls touch you!" Mei warned Izuku as a few popped out from within his hiding place.
"On it! Jetpack re-charged! Engaging!" Izuku once more took to the air, but as he had predicted, this time team Todoroki followed, with Uraraka using her Zero Gravity to provide lift while Iida used his engines to give them a boost. Quickly, Izuku used his grappling hook to latch on to the far side of the arena, disengaging the jetpack and yanking himself out of the way. He slammed into the wall, gritting his teeth at the impact.
"You two OK?" Izuku asked as he pulled out the grapple and reloaded it, running along the base of the arena wall.
"Fine, worry about yourself. We've got team Hagakure and team Kendo after us!" Shinso told Izuku.
"That headband is ours, Midoriya!" Hagakure cried, the only visible part of her head band as she was carried into battle by Kamanari, Oijiro, and Sato.
"Doesn't it feel weird, carrying a naked girl into battle?" Shinso called to the three boys carrying Hagakure.
"What? No, I mean yes, I mean, she asked us to!" Sato stammered.
Kamanari laughed. "It feels great! Mineta is going to be so jealous!"
"It's not really like that…" Oijiro sighed.
"Don't be a perv!" Hagakure lectured, her headband shaking wildly with her head.
"Well, don't you think Kendo and her team would be an easier target? Why don't you go after them?" Shinso called.
Immediately, Team Hagakure stopped chasing after Izuku, moving towards team Kendo who had been trying to cut him off. Kendo soon had to fend off Hagakure's clumsy attempts to snatch her headband, and Izuku saw from the corner of his eye she actually managed to take Hagaurke's with her Big Hand quirk, then her team spirited away, Hagakure's team clumsily going after them.
"Good work, Shinso! Your Quirk is amazing!" Izuku panted. Despite the cooling unit and his training, he was starting to tire after 10 minutes of constant exertion to keep away from the other teams.
"I was born with it. It's more impressive what you two have accomplished. Don't worry, Midoriya. We'll both prove that we're worthy of being heroes," Shinso said.
"Everyone has their eyes on us and our babies, Izuku!" Mei cheered. "I can see all the support companies taking note! Make sure you use the laser a few more times, and find a way to use some missiles! They'll love those! Our babies are the best!"
Izuku winced slightly "She means the-"
"Forget it! Here comes Todoroki again!" Shinso warned
Izuku barely managed to dodge out of the way of a wall of ice, only to have to raise his left arm to hold off Dark Shadow, Tokoyomi's quirk.
"Rawwwr! That headband is ours!" the black bird crowed.
"Not today!" Mei cried. She threw a canister into the air from her backpack, then put a hand over Shinso's eyes.
Izuku's faceplate automatically darkened as the flare went off, filling the stadium with sudden brilliance.
"Noooo!" Dark Shadow moaned, shrinking back to hide under Tokoyami.
"Ha! Weak to light, just like I hypothesized!" Mei laughed, then let out a woop as Izuku had to jump high into the air with the hoverboots to avoid more of Todoroki's ice.
"Must be nice to have so many flashy quirks!" Shinso called to the other team. "How does it make you feel to pick on a team that barely has a quirk among them?"
Todoroki stayed silent, but Uraraka replied, "We're not trying to bully you! It's just part of the game! Sorry!"
Suddenly, Todoroki's team floated off the ground, spinning out of control as Todoroki fired off another blast of ice at the exact wrong moment. Uraraka suddenly vomited, and they fell back to the ground.
"Damn, she broke my control when she did that," Shinso muttered.
"It's alright, we got away!" Izuku called back. He fired his grappling hook at the center stage, realing himself in and leaping up. He was forced to leave behind the hook though, as the ground started to soften and vines sprung out of the ground.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU COWARDLY FREAKS?!" Tetsutetsu demanded as his team ran forward. "WE LOST OUR HEADBAND TO BAKUGO AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"COME BACK HERE YOU B CLASS EXTRAS!" Bakugo screamed, still in hot pursuit of Momona. "I'M GOING TO STOMP YOU ALL INTO THE GROUND!"
"Relax, maybe you should help Bakugo out," Shinso answered.
"Why would we do that?!" Tetsutetsu demanded.
"You repent of your sins!" Shiozaki added, and her team vocally agreed.
Immediately, they veered off, vines sprouting up around Momona's team.
"What?! Shiozaki, why?" Momona wailed.
"SCREW YOU, THAT'S WHY! DON'T HELP ME, EXTRAS!" Bakugo ranted, seizing Momona's headband as his team wallowed in mud and vines.
Once more, Izuku made good his escape. Mei handed him another grappling hook, which he quickly loaded into the module. For a few minutes, they simply dodged and ran, the other teams either having decided he was too hard a nut to crack for the moment, or busily engaged in a melee.
All of class B had ganged up on Bakugo, save for Kendo's team, who was playing keep away with Mineta's group. They had somehow gotten Mineta's headband, probably by trapping them in Bondo's glue and turning Mineta's own strategy on its head. Still, with Bakugo fending off three teams he was far too busy to go after Izuku. The brash boy seemed to actually be enjoying himself, using his explosions to keep away any attackers, though few could get past the quirks of his horses.
"Here comes Todoroki's team again," Shinso warned. "They just don't give up."
This time, Iida was moving much faster than before, a determined expression on his face, blue flames leaving heat waves in the air behind him as Todoroki's ice coated Iida's legs. Izuku leapt into the air again, but an ice wall blocked his path.
"That trick won't work again!" Todoroki shouted.
"Shame, it did so well on you the first two times. How does it feel, not to live up to your father?" Shinso shouted back.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes. Uraraka opened her mouth, but Yoayarozu elbowed her teammate, and Uraraka's teeth clacked she clammed up so quickly.
"They have us figured out!" Izuku gasped, punching the ice to try to break through. He activated his heat shield, but he couldn't melt the ice fast enough. It crept up around him, threatening to encase the lower half of the power suit.
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY BABIES!" Mei screamed.
She threw out several canisters, causing Dark Shadow to squawk in panic. However, instead of a flashbang, a fountain of smoke erupted, rapidly obscuring their corner of the battlefield. Shinso, Mei, and team Todoroki began to cough, tears streaming down their faces. Mei had apparently gotten the smoke mix wrong, and it was somewhat noxious. Izuku, however, was fine, his mask sealing and going to internal air supply. He managed to finally get out of the ice, and switched to thermal vision.
"I'm going to stay in the smoke," he told Mei and Shinso. "Try to be quiet!"
"Ok," Shinso said, his voice muffled. "Mei had face masks. We'll pop off a few more."
"It's no good, my engines have seized up! And I can't find them in this smoke," Iida's voice gasped, his voice sounding strangled.
"Here, put on these gas masks," Yaoyorozu called.
Sweating, Izuku watched as team Todoroki refitted. The other teams were staying well away from the smoke, apparently thinking it was too risky to go where they couldn't see clearly. Mei had popped off a few more smoke bombs, and the air was now thick and black. Izuku moved as quietly as he could, though with the roar of the crowd and the sounds of Bakugo's explosions, it wasn't hard. He glanced at the timer he'd put on his HUD. Less than five minutes to go.
Still, Team Todoroki regrouped, Yaoyorozu making heat vision goggles for her own team.
"You're better off just waiting," Shinso called to them. "You're in fourth place. You'll still make it to the finals."
The other team didn't respond, but they could only stumble forward in the smoke. Iida had overloaded his engines, and was nearly crippled. It wasn't very satisfying, dodging through the smoke to run out the time, but it worked. At last, the horn sounded.
"And that's the end of the Cavalry Battle!" Present Mic announced. "What a display, folks! Team Shinso, against all odds, has held on to the 10,000,000 point headband! Team Bakugo is now in second place, having captured three teams headbands in addition to keeping their own! Team Kendo is in third place, with three headbands! And fourth but certainly not least, our former second place condenders, Team Todoroki, who also kept their own headbands for a satisfying finish! What a display!"
Izuku squared his shoulders and strode out of the smoke, trying to project an air of confidence he didn't really feel.
"That was a mistake," Mei groaned. "No one could see our babies through all that smoke!"
"It doesn't matter, we won," Shinso said. He unstrapped himself and hopped off, gazing up at Izuku with a determined expression. "From here on out, we're rivals again. I hope we don't face each other for the finals, since you know my quirk."
Izuku nodded, not daring to speak. He reached out, extending his hand to Shinso. The other boy took it and shook silently. WIth a final nod, he departed.
"He's weird," Mei commented. "I like him!"
"He's got the same dream I do," Izuku said. "In some ways, he's actually got it harder. Sure, I don't have a quirk, but that means I had to find a completely new way to become a hero. For Shinso, his quirk is weird, and makes him seem villainous. People won't trust him, and it's not flashy enough to get him fans. But it's very strong. He could save a lot of people, if only anyone would give him a chance."
"We'll just have to make him some super cute babies to help him out!" Mei vowed. "I can think of a dozen ways to improve his quirk! It doesn't work amplified, but I bet we could get him a voice modulator to disguise it so people wouldn't know it was him!"
"That is a good idea," Izuku agreed. "But we should focus on what comes next."
Grinning widely, Mei spun in a circle in excitement. "Yes! We'll be up on the stage, showing off our Super Cute babies!"
"Yeah, um, about that, do you want to wear the Power Suit?" Izuku asked, rubbing the back of his head and glancing up at their creation.
"Nah, I'll be fine! We've got other babies too! Besides, I'm not going to win. I'll just show off for the judges for a bit. It will be your job to prove to the world that I'm the world's greatest inventor, and you're the world's greatest hero, Izuku! So don't let me or our babies down!"
"Right! Don't worry Mei, this is our chance! The whole world is watching, and I can't let them down now!" Izuku agreed.
"Finalists! Please proceed to your preparation chambers. The first round pairings will be announced shortly!" Present Mic said. "And while we're waiting on that, it's time for a few games for the rest of our students!"
"Come on," Mei said, poking Izuku. "Let's get this baby back to the shop and do some minor repairs. Then it's on to the stage! I just know all the support companies will be watching us, and every pro hero in Japan!"
"Yeah. Let's not disappoint them!"