Chapter 52: The Quirkless Hero
Izuku's jaw dropped as he pointed up at the giant that couldn't possibly be in front of him, but was. "You! You'r—!"
"Ahhh! Wait, wait, hold on!" Star and Stripe panicked, and snatched the glasses out of Izuku's hand. In a puff of steam, she shrunk down and slapped them on her face, returning to her Melissa persona. "See, I'm just me! Melissa. You must have bumped your head when you… you…" In the middle of her extremely poor attempt to cover her tracks and make up an excuse, Melissa had bulked right back up into the patriotic hero Star and Stripe, with enough steam coming off her to sound like a teapot. Melissa looked down at herself and covered her face. "I just transformed in front of you, didn't I?"
Izuku nodded numbly, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.
"…Right." Melissa straightened up and rubbed her hands together nervously. "Okay. Midoriya. Just whatever you do, don't screa—"
"Oh my gosH YOU'RE—!"
"NOPE!" Melissa snapped forward and covered Izuku's mouth with her hand. She was now in a full blown panic mood. She needed to deal with this pronto. And she knew this was not the place to do it. So with her hand latched around Izuku's mouth, she slung him under her arm and kicked the door open, taking off in a dead sprint that would make even All Might proud.
It had been a few minutes now and Ochako had decided that just waiting around was not doing it for her, so she trailed after Izuku, guessing that at this point he was gone long enough for her to assume he was lost. She was about to turn down a hallway, the same she had seen Izuku go down, when something burst by her in a hurry. She wasn't hit, but the air wake was enough to make her take several startled steps back.
She stood, momentarily dazed, and worked to collect herself. As she did, her brain worked to make sense of what she had seen in those few moments. Because she was pretty sure she had seen Izuku. And while Izuku might be fast, he wasn't that fast. Yet. But compounding her confusion was that it didn't look like he was even running. Which was weird. It took a little longer before it clicked that he had been carried while zooming past, by someone she hadn't recognized and really only had a few features she could recall. Her eyes had been more focused on Izuku. It had been a woman, a blonde woman. She was sure of that.
So now Ochako went through the mental gymnastics of putting all that together. Ochako blinked. Many many times. Quickly, her hand reached into her belt and she yanked out her phone and dialed away.
"Yo! Toga he—"
"A BLONDE WOMAN JUST RAN OFF WITH DEKU!"
"… Wha?"
"SOME TALL BLONDE WOMAN RAN AWAY WITH DEKU!"
"Fucking hell that boy has a type... wait… As in literally? Or figuratively?"
"Literally! She had him tucked under her arm!"
"And you're calling me because—"
"What am I supposed to do?"
"…"
"Toga?! What am I—"
"FUCKING GO AFTER THEM YOU IDIOT!"
Ochako blinked, then nodded. "Oh, right. Because this is a kidnapping. Not a romantic rendezvous I could end up interrupting…"
The scream on the other end of the phone would have made Ochako wince if she wasn't still in shock. "EITHER SOME BITCH IS TRYING TO STEAL IZUKU OR SOME BITCH IS TRYING TO STEAL IZUKU FROM YOU! BOTH CASES, GO THE FUCK AFTER THEM!"
Melissa practically kicked the door in as she hurried into the room. After double checking that no one was around, she kicked the door closed and let out a long sign. Then, taking her hand off Izuku's mouth, she put the short green boy down, resulting in a long awkward stare between the two. Melissa adjusted her glasses and coughed into her hand before she turned to find the room's light switch. "Ahem… Welcome to my workshop."
"Did I just get kidnapped? Did you kidnap me?" The casual way Izuku asked the question would have made great comedy. Unfortunately Melissa was too stressed out to find it funny.
"What?! No!"
"I mean, you grabbed me and ran off without letting me talk to Uraraka. I have no idea where I am and neither does anyone else."
Melissa blinked. "Okay… I might have kidnapped you a little bit."
"Can you only kidnap someone a little bit?"
Melissa slumped against the nearest wall, pulling her glasses off and rubbing her eyes. "Maybe? I don't know. I just need a second."
"You need a second? I'm the one who doesn't know where here is."
Melissa at least felt she could alleviate Izuku's concerns in that regard while she tried to think of a way to unfuck this current situation, without actually making things even worse than they were. "We're in my workshop. It's where I can do whatever I want without worrying about people seeing."
"…"
"…" Melissa's eyes went wide and threw her hands up."Wait, that came out wrong!"
"…I need an adult?"
"Um… I am an adult?"
Izuku looked doubtful. "Are you?"
"… No." Melissa slumped, seemingly in defeat. Izuku glanced around, and finding a small chair in the corner of the room, led Melissa to it and helped her sit down.
"Do you have anything to drink here?"
Melissa pointed towards a small fridge that had some water bottles. Izuku quickly grabbed one for her and stood back while Melissa took a sip. Lowering the bottle she eyed Izuku for a few moments. "Why aren't you more freaked out over… all of this? You seemed more excited than anything before and right now… Let's be honest, I did kidnap you."
Izuku gave his answer some careful consideration. He couldn't exactly say he was used to these kinds of revelations at this point. The start of his hero journey had been seeing All Might transform right in front of his eyes. So he had seen this thing happen twice. Which wasn't a lot, but still weird. So avoiding that whole part of it, Izuku just shrugged. "Well, the League of Villains tried to kill me at USJ. Then they tried to kidnap me in Hosu City. Both of those times my life was in obvious danger. So I suppose I know when my life is being threatened and you're not threatening me. You're just trying to get control of a situation and I'm along for the ride."
Melissa laughed. "Well damn. Aren't you mature for your age." When Izuku made it a point to kinda motion to all of her Melissa conceded. "Yeah yeah, I'm one to talk."
"Plus you're my friend, so why would I feel threatened?" Izuku concluded simply. It seemed like an obvious answer, but it had a reaction he hadn't expected. Melissa looked at him with wide eyes. She looked shook. Not distressed, just not expecting what she had heard. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No… no you didn't. Just not used to hearing someone say that about me."
The utter confusion on Izuku's face made Melissa smile. "But why? When you were showing me and Uraraka around you were so much fun to be around. And you're also the States' number one hero, so you'd have to have lots of friends."
"If I was just one or the other, then maybe I'd agree with you. But being both, not so much." Melissa scratched at her neck. "I mean, sure my boys are great, but they only know me as Star and Stripe and there's a limit since it's not like I can go out drinking with them after work."
"Your boys?"
"My squad. They fly the jets I showed up on."
"But, what about school? I'm sure you hang out with lots of people…" As Izuku spoke, something clicked. How could Melissa go to school here and be a hero in America? Melissa could see the question and stepped in.
"My classes are online. The projects I work on I do on site, but for my semester exam, I had to bring them here to be tested and graded." Melissa rubbed her hands together. "It just worked out that Star and Stripe could also be here as a representative of the USA at the same time." Melissa leaned back and looked out the window of her workshop, "And even before all the hassle of being Star and Stripe, I wasn't exactly someone kids wanted to hang around."
Izuku's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "But your family is friends with All Might. I'm sure that must have made you uber popular!"
"That's not exactly something my parents went around drawing attention to," Melissa said with a sigh. "I love Uncle Might, but I'm sure you must have a small idea what it means to have any kind of connection to him. It gets people's attention. Good and bad."
That made a lot of sense to Izuku in fact. And considering this was All Might they were talking about, Izuku was sure he pushed the Shields to keep their involvement and relationship with him on the down-low. Still, Izuku didn't like hearing that there was someone else out there that had grown up without friends since they were little. Crossing his arms, Izuku frowned. "Maybe All Might would push for some discretion, but I can't believe he'd just be alright with you being isolated since you were a little kid. I'm sure he'd make some kind of visit to say how cool your Quirk was or something."
Melissa tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "That would be difficult. I grew up Quirkless."
Izuku almost swore. He almost called 'bullshit' on that. Instead the good boy just said, "Really?" His hands then motioned to all of her. "Really?"
Melissa laughed. "It's true. I was diagnosed as Quirkless when I was five."
"By like… an actual doctor?"
"Yup."
"Really?"
"Even though I was missing the toe joint, I hadn't presented any indication I had a Quirk. Plus the fact Mama and Papa didn't have Quirks… You can see why the doctor came to his conclusion."
"But… you do have a Quirk? Or is this all nanotechnology or some kind of super science? Did you take a drug and then get hit with gamma radiation?"
Melissa shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. I do have a Quirk. I just developed one really late. I was twelve and… it's just…" Melissa scratched her neck. " Okay, this is… kinda sorta a national secret. Or at least as close to one as it gets. I technically am allowed to tell people but, I have to report who knows and that can get messy if the government wants to make sure they know to keep this a secret. Easier to just not tell. But since you stumbled into it… well," Melissa shrugged, "you might get off easy since you seem kinda close to Uncle Might."
"Wait, like an actual secret?"
"I am part of the United States Military. I might not have to be a soldier or anything like that, but I do answer to an admiral. And the President."
Izuku what have you gotten yourself into… and how is this the second time you've gotten into a situation like this? I guess this time she grabbed you instead of how I grabbed All Might. "Okay… I guess All Might knows about you then?" It made sense if just knowing All Might was going to make things easier on him.
"He does. It's honestly a really small list. Mama and Papa, Uncle Might, Admiral Agpar, and a very select few members of government. Most of which are in our Department of Heroics."
"That's… not a long list at all. So then to everyone else…"
"I'm either," Melissa shrunk down,"Melissa Shield, Quirkless daughter to one of the world's leading scientists and inventors or," she bulked back up, "Cathleen Bate, graduate of Cal-L Hero Academy—go California Legionaries—and the world's greatest hero Star and Stripe."
"Ummm…" Izuku arched a coy eyebrow and Melissa pointed at him.
"Oi, I'm over seven feet tall and made of pure American muscle. You're just scraping five feet and look like a ramen noodle. Watch it."
"Ahem, so wait, if Cathleen is your hero persona, which I guess the government made for you," Melissa nodded, "which is the real you then? Between the transformations?"
Melissa put a hand on her chest. "This is how I really look. But to be Melissa I have to shrink down."
"So wait, how do you do the whole," Izuku pushed his hands together, acting like he was squeezing something, "shrinking thing?" He knew how All Might did it. Sorta. He said it was like flexing at the pool, but never went into the specifics. And that bulked him up.
Melissa tapped her chin. "Hmm, okay. You ever try to put on a pair of jeans you bought last year that should totally still fit you, but for some reason don't anymore? So you gotta just suck it in when you're putting them on. I'm doing that."
Izuku blinked, head falling to the side. That doesn't explain anything. Also, "That's not how jeans work. Either they shrunk in the wash or you put on…"
Boy, you'd be surprised how quickly someone shut up when Star and Stripe gives them a hard look. Deciding he didn't want to poke the bear, Izuku shifted gears. "So why did you have to leave?" Izuku recalled all that steam. It was exactly like All Might. So did that mean…?
"I can only shrink down for a small amount of time. Unfortunately I was having such a good time I lost track of how long I had been Melissa and… here we are."
Izuku scratched his head. "But wait. If this is you, shouldn't the personas be reversed if you wanted a secret identity?"
"Because in order for me to become a hero like my Papa, Melissa," Melissa pointed at herself, "has to be Quirkless."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, you should probably just give up on that."
Melissa, five years young and trying her absolute best not to burst into tears, clutched her father's side while the doctor in front of them with the wave of his hand dashed her hopes and dreams.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why you'd even want the tests run. Of course she's Quirkless."
David frowned. "But she doesn't have the extra joint in her pinky toe."
The doctor just shrugged. "The extra joint is an indicator that a person doesn't have Quirk. However, the lack of one does not guarantee a Quirk either. And considering her parentage… Well, best she gets used to the idea now that she's not like normal people."
While Melissa was clutching her father, a woman sitting on the other side of her had had enough. Dark cheeks now taking on an almost mahogany hue, the woman got ready to tear into the doctor for his callous and dismissive nature towards her daughter. David made sure he had Melissa's ears covered so she didn't hear her mother's colorful choice of words. And Zuri had plenty to share.
Afterwards, to help Melissa feel better, she promised to help do up her hair, just like hers. The family ended up buying a few cans of hair spray to help get Melissa an afro that matched the dark frills of her mother's.
"I AM HERE! BECAUSE I HEARD YOU NEED CHEERING UP!"
Not even a full day later, and Melissa gasped as her favorite uncle came charging through the front door and swept her off her feet and into a giant crushing hug. Then, after putting her on his shoulder, he said he was going to take everyone for ice cream. The whole way to the park, Melissa got All Might to share stories of his adventures, marveling at everything he told her. But the more she heard, the more she started to feel sad again.
"I'll never get to be a hero will I? I'll never get to help people like you do."
All Might paused in his stories and gave what he was about to say some thought. Then he reached up and put a hand on Melissa's head. "Melissa, take a look at my costume. Notice anything about it?"
Melissa blinked and looked down. "Um… No. It looks just fine."
"Exactly! See all those stories I was telling you about, well, I was wearing this very costume in all of them."
Melissa blinked and looked again. "Eh? But you were talking about jumping into tornadoes, and fighting villains. Shouldn't it be all shredded?"
"Ha ha ha! Maybe if it wasn't made by your father!"Melissa's eyes widened. "Your father has been making all my costumes ever since I started out as a hero. Nobody but your father has the tech skills to make something I can wear to go save people and fight villains."
"Nobody?"
"That's right. You see, your father is my hero. Someone I know I can always rely on to give me help so that I can go out and do the things I do." All Might gave her head a few pats. "Don't think just because you're Quirkless that you can't still help people."
Melissa nodded and looked down at her parents. "So… I could still be a hero… just like Papa."
"Absolutely."
"Come on! Don't you want to have a cool Quirk while we're playing?"
"Yeah! You can be a giant!"
"Aren't we supposed to be picking pretend Quirks?"
"Well, Melissa's Quirkless, so it still counts. Her being a giant already just makes it easier to play it!"
About seven years after learning she was Quirkless, Melissa was with her classmates at a school field trip to the beach. A couple years ago, she had started to go through a growth spurt. Not unheard of for someone her age, but what was unusual was that while classmates were all celebrating hitting five feet, Melissa was pushing six, and it didn't look like she was showing any signs of stopping. She was the lanky girl that the school had to pull a desk out of a neighboring highschool for so she could sit and study comfortably.
Melissa sighed, and put her books aside on her beach towel. She didn't really want to play heroes and villains with her classmates. They weren't mean to her or anything because she was Quirkless, but they always seemed to be extra careful, like she was delicate. It was annoying. Plus, when they did play, she always wanted to be someone that made gadgets. And while they didn't call the idea lame, she could see they didn't get how gadgets could be just as cool as Quirks.
Still, she was at the beach, and decided that it was fine to just pretend. It couldn't hurt anything.
So she walked out to the shore, where the other kids were pretending to shoot fireballs, fire ice spikes, or throw buildings into the ocean. She thought about what she wanted and put a hand on her heart, deciding that if she was going to pretend to have something, she wanted to pretend to have what her Uncle had.
"I…I'm…as strong… as All Might."
"BOOO!"
"Come on! If you're going to have his Quirk, you gotta be loud and scream it!"
"Totally! Own it!"
Melissa flushed, but she couldn't exactly argue that. Being like All Might meant she'd need to be as loud and boisterous as possible. 「I…I'M MELISSA SHIELD AND I'M SUPER STRONG, JUST LIKE ALL MIGHT!」
To prove it, she threw a punch.
And everyone on the beach, who saw the ocean explode, thought for sure a bomb had just gone off.
Heroes in the vicinity rushed to the scene. Perhaps it was a villain attack. Regardless, after a blast like that, they thought for sure, there would be multiple civilian casualties. But besides some people complaining about their ears ringing, they spotted no one that was hurt. Until they got to the source of the sudden blast, and found Melissa, clutching her horrifically broken right arm and looking out at the ocean in numb agony.
For Melissa, everything changed for her after that day. Doctors were able to heal her arm, but then more doctors arrived and started running tests. Men in suits came and asked her parents questions. All Might came and was adamant he and her parents must be with her during any kind of questioning. No one pushed the subject when he made it clear this wasn't up for discussion. Quirk specialists were brought in and went over her initial diagnosis. Melissa was sure there was some smug satisfaction from her mother when these experts called the doctor that had labeled her as Quirkless an idiot. Melissa had a Quirk, though no one seemed to know the nature of it. However, everyone agreed that it was immensely strong. And that was the key behind the specialists' theory.
Normally a Quirk manifests while a person is around four years old. The Quirk then grows with the person as they age. However if Melissa had manifested a Quirk as powerful as the one she had at such a young age, it was almost guaranteed that she'd have killed herself. Such a young body wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of power. And that was the key. The specialists pointed out Melissa's abnormal growth. She was twelve but she was already taller than her father and mother. Her body was growing fast, a side effect of her Quirk. Her body was growing to help meet the demand her Quirk was going to put on just left the question, what was her Quirk?
If not for the seriousness of the situation, Melissa would have laughed at how fast the specialists were chased out when they recommended attempting some kind of forced activation in a controlled setting. David, Zuri and All Might damn near threw the people out of the room. All Might had picked two of them up.
After that, nothing. She was kept at the hospital to make sure her arm was completely healed. During which, Melissa noted that David and All Might would sneak out to 'talk.' During those days too, All Might was only able to stay at the hospital for a few hours.
"I almost did something really bad, didn't I?"
Melissa asked this out of the blue one day while her family was sitting around a table in the hospital cafeteria. "Honey, no." Zuri put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong."
Melissa shook her head. "What if I had done what I did, but when I was playing with my classmates?" All Might coughed and glanced away. Melissa picked up on that immediately. "See! Uncle Might agrees."
The withering glare Zuri shot All Might made the hero wince. "It's not…" All Might sighed. "No one is angry with you Melissa. This was… no one saw this coming. But… we can't ignore that it did happen."
"I don't want it to happen again, Uncle Might."
David scratched his head. "We don't either."
Zuri frowned. "You saw how those men looked at her." Melissa frowned, not really knowing what that meant. She assumed her mother was talking about the strange men in suits.
"I saw. And when it comes time to deal with them, I will deal with them," David said with force. "But… We need to figure out what kind of Quirk Melissa has. And that'll… require testing."
"I have friends in the States I can call upon. At the very least, we can do this on our own terms."
Melissa wasn't sure about what was agreed upon, but after some back and forth between her parents and the government, a site was selected for the tests to determine the aspects of Melissa's Quirk. An old abandoned military base in Nevada that had once been the site of multiple military tests. It was away from the populace, so no civilians were at risk of being hurt. Plus, as an old testing site, it was built sturdy, So at the very least whatever happened there the site should be strong enough to withstand it.
Over the next few days, nothing of note happened. Melissa was hooked up to a few different machines to get readings on her Quirk factor, but it seemed to be dormant, a similar state you would see for a young child that hasn't manifested their Quirk. So it was agreed that if they were going to get any usable readings, they needed Melissa to use her Quirk.
So, put into protective support items to help keep her from hurting herself, she punched a lot of stuff. Punching bags, sand bags, the side of a truck that wasn't actually part of the test but was in the wrong spot after Melissa got mad that nothing was happening. The driver was so relieved that Melissa hadn't reduced it to scrap.
All Might rubbed his chin, watching Melissa attempt to use her Quirk. "Melissa. Is there anything about what led up to you using your Quirk for the first time that might be the key here?" A few heads looked at him. "I mean, we're assuming that this is just a case of super strength. Maybe there's another factor at play?"
"These tests were the ones you suggested though," David said carefully. "Do you think…"
All Might shrugged. "I'm not sure what I think. I just know that doing the same things over and over again isn't going to help. So, Melissa. Anything?"
Melissa frowned. "I mean… Not really? My classmates wanted to play heroes and villains. I was a little annoyed that they kept saying I needed to pick a Quirk to play. Shouldn't have to." Her parents and All Might gave her some reassuring smiles. "But then I just… picked one and…boom."
"That's it, honey?" Zuri asked.
"I mean…" Now Melissa was embarrassed. "Not exactly, but…" She looked away. "I might've been pretending to be Uncle Might."
"Ha ha ha ha! The best choice!"
Zuri rolled her eyes at the hero and turned back towards her daughter. "So what happened right after that? What exactly did you do?"
Melissa groaned, not wanting to do such an embarrassing thing, but if they wanted a total repeat of that day… "Arg, fine!" Melissa turned back to the testing range, and with her cheeks burning red that people were about to see her, "I did this." Melissa clenched her fist and got ready to throw a punch. 「I…I'M MELISSA SHIELD AND I'M SUPER STRONG, JUST LIKE ALL MIGHT!」
The computers Melissa was hooked up to suddenly went haywire, sending out data that made the technicians jump up in alarm. Quirk factor readings that were off the chart. And that was before Melissa threw her punch, and the testing range exploded.
When the dust cleared, the protective support items on Melissa were shredded, but at least she had come out of things unharmed. If just really really stunned.
New Order: A Quirk that allows the user to set a rule onto their surroundings by touching the target and calling out their name, allowing them to manipulate and bestow new properties onto themselves and the world around them. This could range from simple descriptions to more conditional ones based on cause-and-effect.
After some trial and error, it was determined that Melissa could have two rules in place at once.
To say that once her Quirk was understood, it caused a commotion, would be an understatement. Suddenly, the United States Government was very interested in the young formerly Quirkless Melissa Shield.
Which, if she was being honest, pissed her off.
Melissa took a break from her explanation to make sure everything was getting absorbed by Izuku. The greenet was soaking up every word. She had been extremely vague when describing her Quirk, keeping it as something that let her perform heroic exploits. She expected Izuku to push, since she had seen him geek out, but he was thankfully very respectful when she said that this part of her story had to be kept to herself.
It was like he understood the importance of keeping secrets. Which was very reassuring.
"No, go away."
Melissa turned and kept walking down the sidewalk, ignoring the calls of the agents that were chasing after her. One in particular, a balding overweight man was particularly annoying. He had come to visit her before, and apparently didn't know what 'no' meant.
"Miss Shield, perhaps I haven't made it clear who we are." The man was huffing to keep pace with her. "I'm agent Simpson with the DoH. The Department of Heroics."
Melissa gave the man a side eye. "I know who you are. You've called my home so much my parents have your number blocked now."
The man crossed his arms. "So you are blocking my calls." Shaking his head, Agent Simpson pressed on. "Miss Shield, I must again press upon you how important it is for you to reconsider your apparent dismissal of our requests."
"Mama's told you to go away and so has Papa. Now I'm telling you to go away." Melissa hurried down the sidewalk, trying to get home so she could slam the door in this annoying man's face.
"I don't think you understand. With a Quirk like yours, you could become one of the greatest heroes this country has ever seen. The whole world in fact. Don't you want to have some meaning to your life? Instead of wallowing away your talents in some lab."
Melissa turned, ready to scream at the agent to leave her alone, but she was cut off as her mother came walking towards her from their front yard. "I thought I made myself clear Agent Simpson. Stay the hell away from my daughter," Zuri growled as she stormed up and put herself between Melissa and the DoH agents.
Agent Simpson regarded Zuri coldly. "Ma'am. If you continue to interfere with our investigation, I will be forced to take action."
Zuri wasn't phased. "Melissa isn't interested in going to Cal-L Hero Academy, or whatever school you're trying to make her sign up for. We're moving to I-Island, and she's already gotten early acceptance letters from I-Island Academy once she's old enough to attend. This is settled."
Agent Simpson sighed, and reached into his suit jacket. "I'd hoped you would see reason, but your apparent unpatriotic attitudes seem to be rubbing off on your daughter, and that's not something the government can take lightly. Nor can we let someone with such an uncontrollable Quirk just leave the country."
Zuri frowned. "Uncontrollable? The hell does—"
Agent Simpson pulled out a letter. "This is a subpoena. You and your husband are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate's Quirks and Heroics committee, where we will determine if your actions constitute the need for your parental responsibilities to be handed over to the state." Agent Simpson waited for Zuri to take the letter. Once she had, he continued, "It goes without saying, but any attempts to take Melissa out of the country will be regarded as a contempt of congress and we will arrest you and Mr. Shield on the spot."
Izuku's eyes went wide. "They didn't?!"
"They did."
"What happened next?"
"Well," Melissa leaned back and she looked just a little smug. "Have you ever seen Uncle Might really, really angry?"
Izuku had, so he nodded with a huge grin.
"In short, New Order is a Quirk that warps reality and causality. There is no registered Quirk, past or present, that not only has this dramatic effect but also has a Quirk factor to power it. A Quirk factor that greatly resembles one belonging to All Might himself. And his is just a boost to his physical strength. That kind of power, applied to whatever a person can imagine, I shouldn't have to tell the committee the potential benefits it could have as part of this country's hero forces. Or the potential danger if it was left in the hands of an untrained individual."
Agent Simpson concluded his report with a smug grin. The committee room was large, normally host to large inquiries that held multiple witnesses and even more media members to broadcast everything to the world. However, today, the meeting was held behind closed doors, private due to the sensitive nature of the topic and because the subject in question, Melissa herself, was a minor and her identity was not something that could or should be broadcast to the world.
On one side of the aisle was Agent Simpson and his investigators. On the other were the Shields and All Might. Both were presenting their case before the Senate's Quirks and Heroics committee. This committee was made of a small but powerful group of people. The head of the DoH to handle the civilian side of the issue, the head of military operation to deal with the armed forces side of things, and a select few senators that had held office long enough to be involved with delicate matters of state to represent equally the two parties of government. All in all, six people now were in charge of determining the fate of Melissa Shield.
The members of the committee spoke to each other in hushed whispers. Soon though, one man leaned into his microphone. "Agent Simpson."
Agent Simpson turned to look at the man while the other committee members hushed themselves so the man could speak. The man had an elongated head, bushy whiskers, and large eyes, giving him an almost fish-like head, however, the way people deferred to him showed that they regarded him with an extreme amount of respect. "Yes, Commander Agpar?"
Commander Agpar was the head of military operations, specializing in joint operations with the US military forces and the civilian hero agencies. His voice was one of the two that held the most weight in the room. The other was the head of the DoH.
Commander Agpar looked over his notes one last time before addressing Agent Simpson. "You've given this committee a very thorough and articulated summary of the situation and of the New Order Quirk. My compliments to you and your agency for compressing all this information into something us older folks can understand." A few members chuckled at that. "However, there is a topic that I feel I must have missed. I'm hoping that you'll enlighten me about my lapse in concentration."
"Of course, sir. What is the matter you would like me to go over?" Agent Simpson had his agents start separating papers to give him.
"Tell me about Melissa Shield."
The agents paused while Agent Simpson tilted his head slightly. "Sir? I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Well, throughout your whole opening report, you kept talking about how New Order could help the United States heroes and government in general. But I don't think you mentioned the young lady by name once." Commander Agpar motioned towards the table where Melissa was. "An oversight on my part since I'm sure something so important wasn't left out of your report."
Agent Simpson pulled at his collar while looking over his notes. "Ah, well, New Order can—"
"Agent," Commander Agpar interrupted, "I'm not asking about New Order. I want to know about Melissa Shield."
Agent Simpson looked at his fellow agents, who were doing their best not to look panicked while they shuffled through their papers. Ultimately they couldn't give him anything. He glanced over at the head of the DoH hoping that they would step in, but the elder woman seemed content to let this play out.
When it was clear the agent wasn't able to answer the question right away, Commander Agpar spoke again, his voice taking a harsher tone than before, dropping the pretense of calm civility. "What's her favorite school subject? Her favorite tv show? Her favorite color? What does she want to be when she grows up? Anything? Can you tell me one thing about Melissa Shield that has nothing to do with her Quirk?" When Agent Simpson again glanced over towards the DoH head, Commander Agpar slammed his fist down on his desk. "I am asking you to give me an answer, Agent. Now."
"I… Sir, with respect… I focused my investigation into what was important."
It was interesting how everyone in the room but Agent Simpson knew that had been the worst answer he could have given.
"You don't think this girl is important?"
"When compared to our national security—"
"National security? Are you going to go so far as to claim that this young girl is a threat?"
"Her Quirk—"
"I know a man that can shoot lasers from his eyes hot enough to melt through steel beams. He's a tailor and always puts a little too much starch in my pants. Is he a threat to national security?"
"The job of the DoH is to recruit talent to strengthen the heroes to ensure our nation's continued peaceful existence."
Commander Agpar pointed at Agent Simpson. "Recruitment implies consent, and your damn near paranoid drive to make this girl an 'asset' to the government is something I quite frankly find alarming. The DoH is of course familiar with the laws regarding the complete banning of any kind of super soldier programs. An agreed upon set of rules that the nations of the UN all signed, ensuring that Quirk trained individuals would not serve in the military."
The head of the DoH leaned forward to address this. "We are not attempting to recruit individuals into the armed forces that have been given Pro Hero style training. Our role has only ever been assisting in joint operations between the civilian Pro Heroes of the United States and its military. And those times have been during natural disasters to ensure large scale deployments. Never for an offensive operation."
"Then the DoH does not attempt to force people to become heroes?"
"We do not."
"Then would you care to explain the actions of your agents?"
The head of the DoH regarded the agents coldly before shrugging. "Clearly they overstepped their intended assignment. Granted, Melissa Shield's Quirk would give her the potential to become a great hero for our nation, which does not excuse the methods they have attempted to use to force her into the role."
"Oh, I'd go beyond overstepping. I would say that what we have here is an abject failure by these men and women to understand even the basic rules their organization is run by. On top of the failure to realize the immediate threat they are putting us all in by acting, quite frankly, like a bunch of complete assholes."
A committee member moved to have that last line stricken from the record as it breach what they viewed as proper decorum. Commander Agpar didn't move to block that. "Agent Simpson, in your stupidity, you and your agents hounded this poor girl to the point where All Might is now ready to put himself between the United States government and his niece. You realize I don't have the words to sum up the level of incompetence you've shown to think that taking things this far was a good idea."
With the agents dressed down so openly and looking properly cowed, Commander Agpar cleared his throat. "I personally don't see that this committee should force this family or this young girl through the stress of testifying. I move that the request from the DoH that parental custody be transferred be denied and that all holds on the family that is preventing them from leaving for I-Island be removed."
The committee voted, and found in favor of the Shields unanimously.
Izuku tapped his chin. "So wait… you're saying you didn't want to be a hero… or at least not one like people tend to think. But well," Izuku motioned at her, "you kinda are? I mean you're number one in America. Sooo…?"
Melissa chuckled. "Yeah. So about that."
"Would it be alright if I talked with your daughter?"
The Shields turned to find Commander Agpar sitting alone on one of the congressional hall benches. David and Zuri, while appreciative of the man's distaste of how their family and daughter had been treated, still had justification not wanting to let anyone else from the government near their daughter.
David glanced over towards All Might. "You've had dealings with him during your time in the States."
All Might scratched his chin. "I've only had positive interactions with the man. Honestly, when I saw he was going to be on the committee I was relieved because I hoped he would be open to seeing the issues. Which he was, though even I was a little surprised he chose to be so open with his disdain for the agents' tactics. Normally these hearings are… more cordial."
The three adults looked down at Melissa who nodded that she was okay. She walked over and sat next to him.
"I wanted to personally apologize to you, young lady. The way you've been treated these past few weeks has been unfortunate."
Melissa shook her head. "Not your fault. Not your department right?"
"Perhaps not, but we're all part of the government. We share responsibilities… or at least we should," Commander Agpar sighed.
Melissa looked at the man. While his Quirk mutation made his features different from other people, Melissa felt like she could tell what he was thinking. There was a look in his eyes that even those agents had. What the committee people had too before he started talking. "You want me to go to hero schools and become a pro hero, don't you?"
Commander Agpar nodded. "Yes. I do. Would you mind telling me why you don't want to? Though I suppose the idea could be scary for someone so—"
"I'm not scared."
If Commander Agpar had eyebrows, one would be raised right now. "Oh? The joy of being young, I suppose. If it's not fear, then why do you not want to? I remember being young and all my friends and classmates always dreamed of becoming a hero."
Melissa frowned. "I'm already working to become a hero. Like my Papa. He makes things that heroes use to save people. He's made so many incredible inventions that the people at I-Island are asking him to move there. Don't you think that makes him an incredible hero?"
"Yes, I do. I'm well aware of your father's accomplishments in fact."
"I can make incredible things too. I made something that was even able to handle one of Uncle Might's punches."
"Oh? It sounds like you have a gift then. Though, regarding those grades the agents tried to use against you in the hearing…" Commander Agpar brought up with some amusement.
Melissa rolled her eyes. "I pass my tests just fine. The rest is just so boring. Besides, it's like Papa and Uncle Might say. Grades are just numbers boring people need to prove they taught something. Not that I learned anything."
Behind the pair, Zuri had grabbed both David's and All Might's ears and pulled them down. "You said what?"
"I'm following my father's footsteps to become a great inventor." Melissa frowned. "But no one seemed to care. I was Quirkless so no one cared or just nodded along and would say things like, 'oh okay I guess that neat.' Or, 'I suppose someone has to make heroes costumes.'"
Commander Agpar sighed. "It's unfortunate that the common people only see the flashy heroes and don't stop to think about the people supporting them and holding them up."
"But now, now that I have a Quirk… it's the only thing people see. They think just because I have a Quirk, I have to be something. It doesn't matter what I wanted. Who I was trying to be like." Melissa looked over at the Commander. "It's not fair that me having a Quirk suddenly makes me special now. Quirks shouldn't be what decides a person's fate."
Commander Agpar hummed. "You're right. It shouldn't matter. One of the founding principles of our nation is, 'that all men are created equal' should apply to all. But, the way the world works isn't fair or just like we wish it did. It's our home's greatest irony. Even at its founding, those words weren't meant for everyone, just a select powerful few. Even as the people tried to make sure they were applied equally, things always seemed to happen that made them seem further and further from the truth. Now, in this age of Quirks… it's sad, but there are things people with certain Quirks can do better than others."
The commander looked at Melissa, not with sadness, but with acceptance of this unfortunate truth. "It's not nice, but it's life." Melissa looked away, a deep frown on her face. "But," Commander Agpar continued, "it's the responsibility of those that have been gifted with great power to look after and help those that have none."
Melissa said nothing, not really sure what to say.
"Melissa, let me ask you something else then. Are you different now that you have a Quirk?"
Melissa shook her head. "No, I'm not."
"And you want to use your talent to help people."
Melissa nodded. "That's right! Helping people is important. If heroes don't have the right support items to do their jobs, then they can't help people. Or they'll get hurt and won't be able to help people."
"So tell me, what if there was someone in front of you that was in trouble. Let's say… There's a house fire and you hear someone calling for help inside. There's no one around, it's just you right now. What would you do?"
Melissa knew what the correct answer was of course. She was supposed to call 911 for the fire department. Or wait for a hero to show up. Those were the right answers, but it's not what she said. It wasn't the first instinctual thing that sprung from her mouth. "I'd use New Order to make the air smother the fire."
Commander Agpar nodded, "It takes a cold person to hear someone calling for help and do nothing. You have a good heart young lady. But," he held up a finger, "how do you know that the actions you take won't have consequences? And I'm not talking about our Quirk laws. I'm speaking about how you decided to help. You said you'd use your Quirk to affect the air, and smother the fire. What would that do to the people inside? Wouldn't they also get smothered?"
"I… I don't know."
"Of course not," the commander said reassuringly. "You're only twelve and you've only had your Quirk a few weeks, maybe a month at most. No one expects you to know exactly how it works or how to use it. Except in a situation where you're going to use it when other people are involved." When Melissa nodded, Commander Agpar hummed approvingly. "It's a lot to think about. It's why Pro Heroes go to school. Same reason inventors have to go to school so they'll learn how to make their inventions in a way the people buying them know that they can be trusted. That kind heart of yours, that imagination to create, is an incredible gift. So is your Quirk. And it's your responsibility to know when and how to use them. Or when not to use them."
Melissa looked down at her hands. Palms up like she was holding her two gifts. Her talent for inventing, and her Quirk. Right then, it felt like both were so heavy, and that she'd have to drop one to hold the other in both hands.
Commander Agpar could see the conflict in her and reached into his suit. "Melissa, whichever path you decide to take, I know you'll achieve great things. You have talent, you have drive, and you have the support of your family. But you're also young, and free to pick and choose as many times as you want. No one expects a child to decide their future so early." Pulling out a card he handed it to Melissa. "Here, this has my private number on it. If at any time someone from the DoH decides to stick their noses in your business again, you give me a call and I'll take care of it personally."
"I can't imagine that. Having two paths in front of you." Izuku shook his head. "Wanting to be a hero… it was always a singular goal. The one thing I wanted."
"Two paths, two types of heroes. One, I can be like my Papa. And the other, I'd be like my Uncle. A heck of a thing for a little kid to have put in front of her."
"I'm kinda shocked you were even considering the other option at that point. After everything."
"You'd be surprised what having someone talk with you vs to you makes. Commander Agpar was upfront but was never pushing his agenda. He laid things out in a way that would still let me be the one to make the choice."
"So what happened afterwards?" Izuku leaned forward, completely enraptured by the story. On one hand it seemed like he knew how things ended. Melissa became Star and Stripe. But there were parts missing.
"I talked a lot with my parents. Talked with Uncle Might too. About what each choice would mean for me. What I would have to give up either way. Then one night, maybe about a week later, I had a thought."
"Well, can you do it?" Melissa asked into the speaker phone. To her sides, her parents sat with her, hands on her shoulders in support. She had talked to them in length about what she wanted to do, and, after everything, she had their support. Now, the ball was in Commander Agpar's court.
"Hmm, I must say this isn't… what I was expecting when you called." There was a pause, and the Shields were pretty sure the commander had his secretary and other workers scrambling to get him resources and estimations over what Melissa had just dropped in his lap. "Just to be clear. What exactly are you asking?"
"Instead of just being a hero like my Papa, or a hero like Uncle Might. I want to be both. I want to prove that I could become just like my Papa, someone who can save lives and help people without a Quirk. To prove that a Quirk, or lack of one, doesn't define who a person is. But I also can't be someone that sits back and lets bad things happen in front of her. So, I need to go to hero school to become a pro hero."
"… So instead of choosing one path…"
"I'm going to forge my own. Instead of left or right, I'm walking right down the middle."
"It took some back and forth to figure out if it was logistically possible. Fortunately, the government really wanted me to become a pro hero, so in the end we were able to work things out. It did take… some sacrifices, but I was prepared for that.
"I was immediately enrolled into Cal-L hero academy under the name Cathleen Bate. Because of my size, I passed as a teenager. Most of the classes were done online of course, with the hero courses being done by private tutors or government officials. Like Japan, the government can train heroes, but not employ them directly.
"At the same time, I was also taking online courses through I-Island. Those were the invention and support item classes to get me ready for I-Island Academy. I was still going to those classes under my actual name and age."
"That… seems like a lot." Izuku wasn't sure if he was impressed or terrified at what Melissa must have gone through to make this path of hers work. But it also made her earlier statement about not having friends make more sense. If she was taking online courses and then focusing on her hero training at government facilities, of course she wouldn't have a chance to make friends."So 'Melissa' kept working to become an inventor, while 'Cathleen' was going to hero school and getting trained by the government. And all the classes were online classes. So that would help keep your identities separate. But hold on. You started when you were twelve?" Some math wasn't adding up. "Your debut… that was only…"
"Ha ha ha ha… yeah… I was fourteen when that happened." Melissa laughed nervously. "Fortunately, by that point I looked like an adult, so it wasn't a huge deal. The government just fudged some numbers around and suddenly I was a graduate from Cal-L that year."
"Were you… not supposed to debut when you did?"
"Oh, heck no. They had wanted to keep me training until I had graduated the school and then a few extra years after for more intense government training before I was out. I should have been eighteen at the least. But… So, you know I stopped a robbery, right?"
"Yeah."
"So I was in a car with Commander Agpar, getting taken to my new training facility, when the robbery happened and the villains were fleeing. And I kinda sorta just… jumped out of the car and chased them down."
Izuku's jaw dropped. "You just… rushed in and made the government have to cover your tracks so the world didn't know you were actually just still a kid?"
"Yup."
"… You get yelled at?"
"Ha ha ha… oh boy, did I ever. Everyone had something to say to me. Though," Melissa snickered, "those same people telling me I had done bad were also giving me these little discreet thumbs ups too. Uncle Might was the only one that wasn't discreet, and Mom ripped his head off."
"So by this point, New Order has made you look like this, then? So I guess that… what?"
Melissa shook her head. "New Order made my body grow up faster, yeah, but these," Melissa flexed her bicep, "I worked to get these."
"So you debut and just shoot up to the number one spot in record time… I can't imagine going pro so early made things easier for you being Melissa."
"No… though by that point things were… kinda coming apart. When I figured out how to make myself smaller, to be Melissa in public, I could make myself look my age. But as I got stronger, bigger, and as New Order got stronger… it got harder and harder to stay small. My 'small' ended up looking like… well you've seen it. And not only that… it's gotten to the point where I can only hold the form for a few hours now." Melissa leaned back, looking a little sad. "Pretty soon… I don't think I'm going to be able to be Melissa anymore." She held up a hand to stop any words of sympathy from Izuku. "I've accepted this. Kinda figured this out a little while back. All that means is that I have to work harder to reach my goal before that day comes. Gotta speedrun this side of stuff. Then… then I'll figure out how it all comes together."
"Well I think you'll do it," Izuku declared with confidence. "I'm sure you'll show the world that people like your dad are heroes. You'll do him proud."
Melissa sighed and Izuku watched her shoulders relax, like a weight had been taken off her. "Thank you Izuku. You know what, after years of working so hard to keep my lives a secret from everyone around me… it feels really good to finally just… tell someone. You know what,"Melissa sat up straighter with a smile, "getting found out might have been the best thing to happen to me."
CRASH!
The window to the workshop exploded into glass shards as Ochako burst through. Landing on the ground, her grapple lines retracting into her bracers, she deployed the metal spike from each bracer and whirled around, ready to go to war. "Okay! You're going to give Deku back to me, or so help me I'll go through… eh?"
Ochako's dramatic entrance came to a screeching halt as she turned to see Izuku sitting on a chair, gaping at her while sitting next to— "Ummmm, Deku… why are you with Star and Stripe…? And why is she dressed like Melissa?"
Melissa just sat there stunned while Izuku patted her shoulder. "Best thing that ever happened to you huh?"