Ch 1: A New Purpose
This was the end. At least, that's what Izuku thought as he looked over the side of the bridge he was on. Today was the day he'd finally end it all. He has thought about this for a while but says that there was nothing else. He had no other avenue or backup plans. He gave it his all; honestly, that is the one good thing he could say for himself. But no more, the words off all around him, his best friend and even his idol, all ripped every last shred of self-drive he had left. All it would take was one final step, but something grabbed his hand before he could.
He turned around and saw a man who was red in the face, breathing heavily, and standing on shaky legs. It was apparent he was in a hurry to get somewhere. A cluster of papers was in his hands, but that detail didn't matter as he heard the man speak.
"Y-young man, w-wait.", He said breathlessly. "D-Don't do it.", He pleaded.
Izuku ripped his hand away and snapped, "Why not!? What's the point!? I have no reason to go on anymore! I have no purpose!"
"Then let me give you a new one!", The man exclaimed.
Izuku looked at the man, nearing the verge of tears; he softly asked, "What?"
"J-Just answer me this.", he told him while collecting the paper in his other hand. Holding the papers out, he asked, "Did you write these?"
Izuku looked at the papers and saw that they were the remains of his old hero analysis notebook. He remembered when he was on top of a building and tearing out sheet after sheet, letting them fly off into the wind. He was also reminded that it was one of the many times he tried to end it but chickened out before finally finishing the deed on this bridge. At least then, his body wouldn't be found, just forgotten like he wanted.
"W-Why? H-How?", Izuku stammered out.
"I saw you when you were letting them fly free. It took a day, but I got them all. Then, spend the rest of that time trying to find you. And I'm glad I did.", He explained.
Izuku said nothing as he dropped the stack, prompting the man to retrieve them quickly. Izuku turned around and told him, "You should just forget about them. Their….. worthless.", He said the last part with a shudder.
The man looked at him incredulously and stated, "Worthless?! What are you talking about? These are amazing!", Izuku felt a shiver of pride run up his spine as the man continued his praise. "Never in my whole life have I ever seen a more amazing talent! Such intricacy, such detail, such passion! You have a truly unique gift, quirk or no quirk." He said with the kindest tone ever given to him.
Izuku looked at him with shock and asked, "How did you-?"
The man then stood on the bridge with him before sitting down and letting his legs dangle as he told him, "I kinda figured it out. A lot of suicides are from the quirkless. You must've been through a lot?"
Izuku didn't sit beside him; instead, he squatted and hugged his knees, asking, "Why do you care? I'm just some nobody."
The man looked at him again like he was crazy and ranted, "Nobody?! Nobody! Young man, you have a gift for detail and analysis on a level that's even better than most valedictorians! You have something greater than any quirk in the world! A sharp mind. And being able to think is better than being able to punch.", He told him while poking his head.
Izuku felt his smothered emotions break free as he admitted, "All my life….I've always wanted to be a hero."
"I figured.", The man said softly.
"But everyone told me I couldn't, that I was weak. But I didn't care if I had a quirk or if it was strong. Heck, I didn't even care about being a popular hero! I just wanted to help people with a smile on my face.", he told him, pouring his guts out in thick tears before sniffling back and saying, "Like….like…like…"
"Like All Might?", the man finished, making Izuku look at him. The man gave a small chuckle and told him, "Yeah, I idolized him when I was younger." The man then leans back and looks up, telling Izuku, "You know…you and I aren't too different. I have a dream people say is impossible, and I started believing them."
Izuku looked away, wanting to bury his head in his arms, thinking he knew where this conversation would lead. That is until the man followed up, saying, "Until I put in my blood, sweat, and tears into my dream, and I finally made something! Something I know will change the world!", Izuku was now on his butt as he saw the man's fists tighten. Looking at him with a mix of determination and desperation, he admitted, "But I need help. Your help."
"Me?", Izuku asked while pointing at himself.
"You say you're hopeless and in the pits of despair without any other purpose in life.", The man asked Izuku while grabbing his shoulders and looking him dead in the eyes. Then, let me give you one! You may not have power, but you have brains! And that's the thing that brought us to where we are as a species." He told him seriously before pulling away and bowing to him. He begged, "So please, young man! Become my Assistant!"
Izuku was silent for a long while, which made the man worry he'd deny or jump. But Izuku did neither; he just sat and thought. After a long thought, he let one single tear run down his face as he replied, "Being a hero was a long shot. I knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted to give it my all." He then looked at the man and confidently stated, "I accept."
Ch 2: The "Lab"
After accepting his proposal, Izuku was led off the bridge towards the town. Nobody once bats an eye towards them, even when on the edge. The man walked close beside Izuku, almost as if trying to protect him or keep an eye on him. While the two of them walked in comfortable silence, Izuku took a close look at his features.
He was older than himself but younger than his mother, so maybe 30 or so. He was tall and thin as a twig, especially his legs! He was nearly an entire torso taller, and he wasn't very short himself. His hair was messy, matted, and sandy blond. It made his hair look tame by comparison! His eyes were an unusual pale color, making him appear blind, and thick glasses framed his patchy, freckled face. He wore a white lab coat, blue jeans, and green shoes that looked much like his red ones. A name tag on his chest read, 'Hello, my name is Professor Egon Crystallo'.
After taking this all in, Izuku took a deep breath, which made the professor quiver like an animal getting ready to move, and emptied his mind. He allowed himself to go into autopilot and walk with him. After walking for a long time, they eventually made it to the more suburban area of town. When Izuku's mind came back from la-la land, he was in front of a modern yet sizeable suburban home.
After looking over the house, he turned to his walking companion and asked, "So….this is your 'lab'?"
"It's my house, but yes.", Egon replied.
Izuku's face deflated at this response, and he replied in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, sir, but I was expecting…."
"More?", Egon asked as Izuku turned away, trying not to show his disappointment. "I understand. The truth is, I was kicked out of my old job for being 'too persistent in the pursuit of something unrealistic'.", he said in a mocking tone with air quotes.
"You're unemployed?", Izuku tried his best not to sound shocked.
"Yes.", He answered honestly, only to backtrack, seeing Izuku's expressions and body language, looking ready to bolt. "But trust me! I have a plan! As I said, I need your help and your mind.", He told him while poking his forehead.
Izuku gulped and asked, "So, what was this dream you were chasing?"
Egon giggles like an excited schoolgirl and waves for him to follow, saying, "I'll show you."
Curiosity grabbed his mind as he followed the man into his home. After unlocking the door and letting him in, he saw a quaint yet very messy and somewhat smelly house with a cat. After being led through stacks of paperwork, old takeout and pizza boxes, and many corkboards filled with notes, he was brought to a room lined with some kind of radiation-resistant metal and was sitting in the center, covered up in a sheet.
Grabbing the sheets, he looked at Izuku excitedly before ripping it off and proclaiming, "BEHOLD!"
"What exactly am I beholding?", Izuku asked while looking at a large, very strange-looking white glowing crystal.
"I call it the Singularity Soul. Life force energy runs through every aspect of this crystal! Creation and evolution are at our fingertips! At least that's my working theory.", Egon told him fiercely.
"Is that really what it does? What else can it do?", Izuku asked with amazement and wonder, getting closer to the crystal.
"I have no idea. I was always so busy with my work that I rarely had time to work on it. But that's where you come in!", Egon admitted with a shrug, making Izuku fall to the ground from his previous statement on it. "I need to figure out what it can and can't do! That's where you come in.", He told him while poking his chest.
Izuku took a more serious demeanor and stepped back, saying, "Before I commit fully to this, I have two questions. Question 1: How are you supporting yourself without a job?"
"My parents died some time ago and left me a fat inheritance. I didn't start using it until a few weeks ago. But it won't last long, and at the rate I'm going, I probably only have enough to get by for a year at the most.", he admitted while rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry about your parents.", Izuku told him, feeling ashamed to ask, only to get a wave from Egon. "Second question, how did you come up with the theory that this thing is crystalized God?" he followed up.
"Well, it has to do with my quirk.", He explained while rolling up his sleeve and producing a transparent crystal from his palm. "It's called Crystallized Manufacturing. I can create any crystals I want to. The only problem is I've never practiced much with it or studied the structure and chemical compounds of crystals, so I can only create one type. But that's all I need for it!", He explained before breaking off the crystal and putting it against the Singularity Soul, saying, "Observe."
Within a few seconds, the white light emitted from the Singularity Soul seemed to pass from it and into the clear crystal, turning it into the same soft, glowing white. Egon pulled it away and placed it in Izuku's hands.
Looking over the crystal with wonder and awe, he could only say, "Wow!"
"Now the power of the Singularity Soul is in this crystal and holds all of its properties. As such, I have named these Soul Splinters, or Splinters for short.", Egon proudly told him.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and Izuku asked worriedly, "Wait, won't it run out if you keep doing that?"
"I thought the same, but I'm fairly certain this is limitless.", He then turned to a closet door and, just before opening it, said, "Come and look at this."
Izuku looked into the now open door and saw it was a nicely sized walk-in closet lined with the same metallic material as the room with the Singularity Soul. However, lining every available space in the room was an enormous number of Splinters like the one Egon had just made!
"Holy!...Wow.", Izuku said in awe as he stepped into the room lit up by the many Splinters stored inside. Turning back to the Professor, he asked, "How many are in here?"
"576."
"576!?"
"Told you it was limitless.", Egon chuckled.
Izuku licked his lips, his mind racing with thoughts and decisions until he finally reached a consensus. He knew that being a hero at this point was hopeless. He had given up on that to the point of wanting to take his own life. So, what other choices did he have? Nothing. But now, the winds of fate had blown in a different direction, and here he was.
He smiled, looked up at the man, and asked, "When do we start?"
Egon smiled, snapped his fingers, and exclaimed, "I like your enthusiasm! Tomorrow, here at my place, after you're out of school.", at that moment, Egon saw Izuku's face turn from elation to doubt and finally hopelessness. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I just remembered. I have school work and tests to do.", Izuku grumbled, knowing that school, even with time management, would eat up most of it.
Egon thought. He looked at the boy's uniform and asked, "You go to Aldera High, right?" Izuku nodded and waged a finger, saying, "Wait right here." Izuku did as he said and only had to wait for a few minutes before Egon returned with a plastic bin and plopped it at his feet, saying, "Okay, here you go! Use this to help with time restraints."
Izuku opened the tub and saw it was filled to the brim with papers. He took the first one on the top and instantly recognized it.
"Wait, I know this test. We just took it today!", He exclaimed before realizing and asking, "Wait, is this-?"
Egon nods and tells him, "Yep. I used to attend Aldera. And before you say anything, of course, it'll work. They never change the curriculum. Ever."
"Isn't this….you know….cheating?", Izuku asked nervously while fidgeting with himself.
Even shrugged and offered, "Maybe. But it's not like they ever gave you a chance, did they?" Izuku gripped the paper hard and looked away with a deep scowl forming. "So use it to coast through everything to get a passing grade so you can spend more time working on the Singularity project with me.", he told him with a smile.
Izuku's lips quiver, and before he could start bawling, he bows profoundly and yells, "Thank you so so much!"
When he waves it off and pulls him up, he tells him, "Don't mention it. Now get home and rest up. You've got a busy day ahead of you."
Ch 3: The First Find
Several weeks had passed since Izuku started working with Egon on the Singularity Soul. It was strange at first, to say the least. Izuku was wary of Egon for a long while when he started. He was….strange, to say the least. He would jump at the most insignificant things, change his tone and mannerisms severely depending on the situation, and at the drop of a hat. The way he spoke, often stuttering or just talking so low, made it look like he was just mouthing words, looking off into space with a glazed expression, his reasoning for doing certain things. He was overworking himself, over-carrying things to the point it was comical, and so much more. Then, one day, Izuku realized something. This is how other people perceived him all the time! With that revelation made, Izuku became much more at ease with him.
Despite what seemed like the madness of trying to juggle school and research, he eventually came into a rhythm. He'd get up, change, eat, say goodbye to his mom, and head out. After school, he'd head to Egon's home and go through the tub of paper to pick out what he needed for homework or answers to a test he'd have to copy down. After this, he'd enter his designated office space and begin experimenting. After several hours of research and experimentation, he'd go home, eat, bathe, and go to sleep.
"Hey, Izuku. Wow! You sure are focused. Have you found anything yet?", Egon asked as he walked into Izuku's office, coffee mug in hand. He saw Izuku looking through a microscope and then skimming his computer before writing something down.
He answered without looking up from the device, "I'm just looking over its structure and chemical compounds to cross-reference anything that matches up."
"How is that going?", Egon prompted him while looking at his notes, which were just about chicken scratch.
Izuku sighs dejectedly and tells him, "Not well. It doesn't match up with anything….at least on earth."
"I had a feeling it might be alien.", Egon said with a chuckle while taking a drink.
Then a stray thought crossed his mind, and he turned around to ask, "Where'd you find this anyway?"
Egon looked serious and put the mug down—two things that were never a good sign. Then he interlaced his finger while putting his thumb under his chin and finger over his nose, yet again another bad sign, and Izuku knew he was in for a ridiculous story.
"Well, back at the laboratory, a small group was sent out on an investigative dig site from a crashed meteor, myself amongst them. Anyhow, I unearthed the crystal in a completely different sight, far away from the meteor crash site. They told me it was just a really big crystal formation but allowed me to take it back anyway.", he explained while forcing a smile.
Izuku looked at him, then at the crystal fragment he had under the microscope, then back at Egon, where he asked, "So how'd you manage to get it back here?"
"I kinda….stole it.", Egon admitted while twiddling his fingertips.
Izuku blinked, then his face fell as he replied, "I don't know what I was expecting. I'll run some tests on it and get back to you on my findings."
Then, one day, Izuku stormed into Egon's office, causing the man to spit his coffee and knock over stacks of paper as he typed on his computer. Running up to him frenetically, he began his absolute nonsense spree.
"Sir, Sir, Sir!", Izuku yelled while barging in.
"What, what, what?", Egon answers while trying to calm himself from the shock.
"Crystal, crystal, crystal!"
"Yes, yes, yes?"
"It did, it did, it did!"
"Okay, enough of the SpongeBob references! Just tell me what happened.", Egon told him firmly while grabbing his shoulders.
"Okay, so I was running several Splinters through several different tests, and I finally found something that the energy source inside is capable of.", Izuku quickly and breathlessly explained.
Egon then sat back in his chair, straightened himself and his coat, crossed his legs, and stated, "Okay, start from the beginning and leave nothing out."
Izuku nodded and explained, "So first, I took several of the crystals and placed them into jars completely submerged in several different substrates: blood, urine, sweat, saliva, tears, and…." He dropped off.
"And?", Egon prompted him.
"Semen.", Izuku admits with a cough.
Egon blinks at him before sighing and shaking his head, "Maybe I shouldn't have asked for the details, but go on."
"After a couple of days of soaking, I found out that almost no change had been made to them, so I decided to take them out and try out some other working theories. Except I forgot about the one that was still in the blood. When I finally realized and pulled it out, it had changed color from a pale glowing white to a crimson red. After cleaning it off, I felt some sort of strange connection to the crystal as I was holding it, almost like it was a switch inside my head. And when I turned it on, the crystal began to leak blood!", Izuku told him with excitement, building in every word and making Egon grow more and more intrigued. "So I decided to let it drain out into a jar, thinking it absorbed the blood inside, but after a while, I found out that wasn't the case. Instead of just expelling all the blood, it continually kept making more and more! When I retrieved the crystal, I felt the same connection again and flipped the switch off, and the crystal stopped producing the blood.", Egon's eyes widened at this revelation but didn't say anything till he was done. "So I decided to do the same thing, but this time, I put several into different jars filled with medicine—liquid aspirin, hydrogen peroxide, burn cream, and alcohol, among a few others. Anyhow, the same thing happened after leaving it inside of those medicines to soak for about five days, like the blood crystal! I was able to turn them on, and they produced all the substance in consistent amounts with no signs of running out!", Izuku exclaimed with his arms in the air, pure zeal taking over every word.
"Incredible!", Egon jumped up from his chair before being struck with a thought and asking, "Did you try to make the blood Splinter absorb anything else?"
Izuku nods and tells him, "I did, but nothing. I also found the Splinters to be very fragile, and if broken, they stop producing the substance."
Egon raised an eyebrow at this and stated, "Fragile? I have a hard time breaking these things when I make them, even with the energy inside of them."
"I guess they become more brittle when they absorb something.", Izuku guessed with a shrug.
"Did you find anything else?", Egon asks again.
Izuku nods and takes out a clipboard. After flipping a few pages, he says, "Yes, I've tested a few with other states of matter. For solids, no results, no matter what I try. It works for gases as long as there are no other air particles in the homemade vacuum chamber I made. As for plasma, the only thing I could think of doing was to try to conduct it to a power source directly, and now it generates its power signal."
Egon blinks before exclaiming, "You caught lightning in a bottle!?"
Izuku looks off to the side and makes an uncomfortable expression before replying, "I…guess? But I would like to try that one day. Currently, it's just enough to power a few appliances, and any more will shatter."
"Izuku. These are….", Egon suddenly said, his expression and face growing dark, making Izuku shudder and resend on edge. All before he exploded into a smile, he grabbed the boy and hugged him while saying, "AMAZING! I can't believe you discovered so much in just a few weeks! It would take university students and professors months, if not years, to do what you've done and make results! You should be proud."
Izuku couldn't help but smile back as a king of pride and joy swelled up in him. Once he was let down, he told the professor, "There is one other thing.", Egon raised an eyebrow at this, letting him continue. "When I was in close proximity to one of the Splinters, without anything absorbed into it, I found myself far less fatigued than what I do when I'm not. So after putting it through your radiation detector, I found it gave off a sort of harmless radiation.", Izuku explained.
Egon placed his fist into his palm and stated like a revelation, "I have been wondering why in the world you seem to be so full of energy all the time despite the work effort you put in. Having said that, I don't want you to abuse it! Who knows what could happen with long-term exposure.", Izuku nods in agreement as Egon backs away from his previous scolding mannerisms. "On the off-hand, with a bit of tweaking, we could go completely off the grid. And on the other….", He draws out while thinking of to the side and telling him, "I think our money situation has just been solved."
"How so?", Izuku questions.
Egon sits back in his chair and thinks a bit more before coming to a consensus and telling the teen, "I'm going to use most of my resources to get some medical drugs and other such things. Izuku, I want you to make splinters for each one. After that, we're going to go dumpster diving and get into contact with as many hospitals and medical providers as possible in Musutafu!"
Izuku nods rapidly and states, "I'll do my best!"
Ch 4: Big Money
A couple of weeks later, the two scientists set out to do what they had said. With Egon's connections, he was able to acquire medical-level drugs and other medications alongside many different types. Once they had it, Izuku set to work, ensuring each other would be copied into an individual splinter. The whole process would take five days, so they set off on their other chore.
Going down to a beach covered in junk, the two of them rented a pickup truck and spent the next five days taking plastic water cooler jugs back to Egon's house, washing them out, and then returning to do it all again. They even managed to find a huge fish aquarium in near-perfect condition. After having all these empty containers, they set to work on the most tedious part.
They filled each container with a different medicine. It was hard for them to figure out when they were filled, even when away, so they made a sensor that would go off to a wireless alarm when they weren't home or paying attention. They even took the time to experiment with one of the Splinters, making it fill over a dozen water cooler jugs and the fish tank. And to their surprise, it did just that without any signs of stopping.
While the filling process was happening, Egon went around calling every hospital that would listen to come to a showing at a theater that he rented out. A few weeks went by, and everything was finally set up! Egon stood behind the stage with a mix on his ear and nodded to Izuku, who was on the other side of the stage. They had practiced this situation for days on end, and now they were ready to sell their new miracle product. And hopefully, they would bite. Egon walked out from the curtain, and the theater grew quiet as he addressed the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to thank the CEOs and managers of many medical facilities for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come today." He complimented them, and they gave him a round of applause in return.
He raised his hand, and the clapping stopped. Once they all went quiet, he said, "Now I bet you're wondering why you should even give me two more seconds of your time to ask you to come out here. Well, I'm glad you think that. Because I have a little something I'm sure all of you will want to clamber over each other to get. What is that, you may ask? I'll show you."
He then reaches into his lab coat pocket and pulls out a Splinter that was colored off-white, proclaiming, "BEHOLD! The Splinter!" There was no reaction from the crowd, just confusion. So he continued telling them, "This small crystal, made with my quirk and infused with a special energy source, is capable of recreating any liquid or gas-based substance after prolonged exposure. This one, in particular, contains a mixture of lidocaine, bupivacaine, mepivacaine, and nitrous oxide or, as I'm sure most of you know it, anesthetic gas in liquid form."
At the sound of this, the whole crowd broke out into loud conversations amongst one another and to the Professor, who had to calm them down, telling them, "People, please, no questions until after the showcase, and I'm pretty sure I'm about to answer all your questions and concerns. First off, a demonstration. The Splinter needs a mental command when in physical contact to activate it. Doing so will cause the splinter to leak out its content."
To show what he meant, he took a glass beaker from his pocket, turned on the Splinter, and placed it inside when it started leaking. He left it to sit in his hand, holding it out for the crowd to see, and they all watched it with massive intrigue. After a few minutes, the beaker was completely submerged in the liquid.
Egon then took out the Splinter and turned it off while placing the beaker on the ground and telling the crowd, "As you can see, the splinter has filled this cup in a short time.", A few mutterings went around, but Egon continued, saying, "Now I'm sure you are all thinking that it will run out, correct? Well, allow me to put your minds at ease. This particular Splinter has been put through extensive experiments, and we have come to show what has been produced consistently over a period of two weeks."
Egon clapped his hand, and Izuku started to bring out small push carts with water cooler jugs filled with the same fluid in the cup on the floor. Izuku kept going back and forth, bringing out jug after jug until he took a few minutes to bring out the fish and fill it to the top with the same fluid! At this sight, the crowd once again exploded into talking and excitement! Some were even trying to offer money!
But Egon stopped their jabbering and explained, "However! I must warn you that they are extremely fragile! Observe."
With that, he dropped the Splinter in his hand, and the crystal shattered on contract with the floor! Breaking into so many that it looked like bits of crushed ice about to melt. This makes the crowd become discouraged by the product. Some were even now skeptical. However, Egon once again put their minds at ease with another demonstration.
"And for those of you who are still unsure if what I just brought out was the real deal, perhaps a demonstration.", He then clapped his hands, and Izuku brought out a hospital gurney with a man that looked like a pig lying on it with his back supported up so he could see and be seen. Next to him was a heart and brain monitor. "This is Mister Wang. Mister Wang was kind enough to volunteer for this showcase.", He introduced the man while taking out a syringe and explaining, "I will now take the liquid from both the tanks and cup I just filled to demonstrate. Using no more than 10cc of each."
He then took a sample from each spot and injected it into the IV injector on his arm. After a minute or so, Mister Wang's eyes started to flutter, and he passed out right in his seat. A slight murmur sounds around the auditorium.
Egon motioned to the man and said, "As you can see from the monitor, Mister Wang is completely under the effect of the anesthetics." But before any more commotions or explosions on deals could be made, Egon exclaimed, "And that's not all! I have Splinter of all different kinds of medications and drugs!"
He waved his hands, and after taking away the asleep man, Izuku brought out a rack full of Splinters holding different medical medicines and drugs. This left the crowd in awe and excitement.
"Now, as far as pricing. I'm sure you can all understand that such an item is bound to save any of you millions from ordering repeatedly. So, it will cost you around 20 years of what you would spend on that particular drug or medication. But think of it this way!", He quickly filled up before the crowd could get cold feet, locking their attention. "In the long term, you'll be making all that money back tenfold!", he exclaimed, which seemed to grab their interest in the objects again.
After seeing the crowd start to warm up and get hotter by the second, Egon put on his most friendly face and, in sweet words, asked, "So? What do you say?"
Several Hours Later
Izuku and Egon sat at a table in Egon's office at his home, staring at the computer screen with Egon's bank account information. They were shocked and awed at what they saw after the selling event. Neither of them said a word for a long time, but eventually, Egon was the one to state the obvious.
"50 million! 50 million dollars! We just made 50 million dollars in one sitting from just a few dozen Splinters and all those tubs of medicine!", He exclaimed in zeal while jumping up and around in his chair.
"Well, people were offering more and more. It turned into an auction.", Izuku stated, trying not to act like his mentor.
"This is amazing! I've never seen so many zeros in my account!", He exclaimed while picking up Izuku and spinning him around before stopping and asking him, "Do you know what this means?"
"No more money trouble?", Izuku answers.
"No! Well, yes, but that is not the only thing! We could use this money to start our research facility! And if we offer these to the other hospitals in the other provinces in Japan, we could make more!", Egon told him.
"I'm glad to hear that 'cause I've been doing a little cyber searching and found this.", Izuku said to him while bringing up a new page on the computer and showing a nearly run-down research facility. "It's pretty beat up and needs a lot of rework. But I'm pretty sure that would be cheaper than trying to build or even buy one already made. We might need to budge it slightly, but it's more than doable. Also, I found a good construction company to help with the first bit. Uraraka Construction Co.", Izuku explained with a nervous smile, unsure of how he would react.
"You have been a busy little worker bee.", Egon praised him while rubbing his head. "Of course, then comes the expenses of trying to get new equipment, paying for bills, and employees. We need to find a more sustainable way to make money, At least until we can get our feet off the ground.", he told Izuku.
"Oh! I have a few ideas for that.", Izuku excitedly proclaimed.
Egon smiled at this before his face turned into one of foresight and asked, "By the way, kid. Have you told your parents about what you've been doing? I can't believe I haven't thought to ask this before, but from an outside perspective, you spend so much time with me does seem…strange, to put it lightly."
Izuku's expression shifted, and he admitted while avoiding eye contact, "No, I haven't told my mom."
Egon shucked air between his teeth and told him, "That's bad."
"And now that you mention it, there is a strange rumor going around about me. Saying that I'm going on dates with older rich guys.", Izuku admitted while putting a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Ew! I don't even like to date people my age; forget somebody younger!", Egon shivered with disgust, saying, "We need to fix that."
"Yeah.", Izuku admitted, already feeling the weight of responsibility hit him.
How in the world would he be able to explain all of this to his mother easily? How would she react, or would she even accept it? Only time and the meetup date could tell.
Ch 5: Permission
Izuku sat at his dinner table, silent in his thoughts as his mother made them a hot meal. He played with his fingers, lost in his thoughts and emotions about what he should do. It has been decided that they should confront their problem head-on. But saying it on paper was far more accessible than putting it into practice. The plan was to ease her into what's been happening before getting into the heavier stuff. This is where he was now, waiting for an opportunity or instead just to work up the nerve to say it. He sighed and decided now would be the best time, especially since Egon would be here soon.
"So, um, Mom.", Izuku starts as his mother just hums in reply. He gulps and finally admits, "You know how I've been telling you that I'm doing after-school activities, which is why I'm always coming home so late.", Another him, and he takes a breath before relenting, "Well, I was….lying."
"I figured.", She said back.
Izuku's eyes shot wide open as he stared at her. His mouth gaped in shock, and he blabbered, "Wait, you knew!?"
She giggles and tells him, looking over her shoulder with a smile, "I'm your mother, sweetie. You can't hide anything from me. So what have you been up to?"
"Well, it has to do with the friend who I told you would be coming over today.", Izuku told her while looking at the third plate setup. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door, and Izuku told her, "That must be him."
Inko turned off the stove and slipped off her oven mitts as she followed her son to the front door. Izuku unlocked and opened it while introducing, "Mom, I'd like you to meet-."
Before he could finish, Egon stumbled through the doorway, clearly leaning on the door in the best business suit he owned. A thick stack of papers was in his hands, and he tried to stay on his feet and prevented himself from letting the osiers go everywhere!
Once he fixed himself, he adjusted his glasses, looked at the short, puggy woman, and stammered out in a half-exhausted mess, "Hello, Mrs Izuku, I'm Processor-no wait! I mean, I'm Professor Izuku, and you're Mrs. Egon-No! I mean, hello, Mrs. Green-Midoriya! I meant to say Midoriya!"
While Inko was more than confused and a bit on edge, Egon started to rifle through his papers and told her, "Hold on. I have it here somewhere." He then pulled out a sheet of paper and read quickly, "Hello, how are you? That's great to hear. I'm Professor."
But before he could continue on his half-pronounced gargle, all the papers he was holding slipped from his hand, and they flew all over the front entry. Egon panicked so hard that his glasses fell off, and he exclaimed, "SHOOT! Not again! I had this all set up for maximum success!" He then started to look through all the papers rapidly and pulled up some quickly while reading them off: "Potassium, zinc, hydrogen, nitrogen, sugar, oxygen!"
He paused after saying that. Looking up from the paper with tears in his eyes, he said, "That was the chemical compound for chocolate milk."
"Professor Egon.", Izuku draws out as the professor scrambles.
"Izuku, sweetie, what is going on, and who is this mess of a man? I'm honestly a bit freaked out.", Inko asked while getting closer to her son in defense.
"Professor! I told you not to overthink this!", Izuku scolded the man.
With tears streaming down his face, he blubbered out, "I tried! But I couldn't help it!"
"How are we going to explain this to my mom if you can't act normal in a non-business or professional manner?", Izuku half yelled at him.
"I have no social skills!", He yelled in self-shame and pity.
"Izuku?", Inko spoke once more, feeling freaked out.
Seeing no way out of it now, he bit the bullet and admitted, "Mom, this is the real reason I've been out of the house so often."
"Izuku!", Inko gasped while grabbing her son's face and telling him on the verge of tears, "If you needed money, you should've just asked! Don't do something like this!"
Izuku was initially confused but quickly realized what she was implying and exclaimed, "What? No, no, no, Mom, it's not like that!"
Finally forgoing his papers, Egon stood up and defended himself, saying, "Ma'am, I know I didn't give you the best first impression, but believe me, I have no intentions of that nature!"
"Then what have a 30-year-old man and my son been doing all alone for several weeks!?", she assumes back while putting herself in front of her son.
"He's been working with me.", Egon told her quickly without explanation.
"Huh?", Inko choked back, confused once more.
Izuku knew this was his chance. He had to use his ace in the hole. If he didn't, his mom would go for the phone, and everything the two of them had been building would be destroyed! So he took a deep breath and readied himself.
"Mom….I don't want to be a hero anymore.", He said out of the blue.
"Wha-What?", Inko asked, stupefied by the proclamation. She turned to her son and held his hand. She asked him, "Izuku, baby, what happened? You wanted to be a hero for as long as you could walk and talk. Why would you suddenly change that?"
"I…gave up on that dream a long time ago. It's ...not worth it anymore.", Izuku admitted while looking away.
"Izuku.", Inko said in a slight, shaky tone.
"Mrs Midoryia, uh, ma'am?", Egon butted in as respectfully as he could with a few papers in his hands. "Several weeks ago, I found these papers from one of your son's analysis notebooks. I was floored by the amount of details and information on each page. Finding things that others wouldn't! His intelligence and observation skills are unmatched! So, I tracked him down and asked him to help me with a project I was working on when he was in a slump. And thanks to him, in the last few weeks, he's made huge discoveries and some money to boot!", He explained with ever-growing excitement while handing the torn note pages.
Then a keyword hit her mind in the mists of all her confusion and emotions, and she said, baffled, "Money?"
"Around 50 million dollars.", Egon casually told her.
Dropping the papers and holding the wall, she exclaimed, "50 million!?"
Egon nods his head excitedly and tells her, "Yes! And it is all thanks to your son! Ma'am, your son is a true genius, like none I've seen before! He has a gift that so many neglect or fail to gain, your son is amazing!", He then started to get on his knees and told her while bowing and half yelling, "So I ask you, no, I beg you. Please allow your son to continue working with me! He could change the world!"
Inko remained silent for a long while, allowing everything to sink in before turning to her son and asking, "Izuku, is this really what you want?"
He nods and tells her with full sincerity, "It is. I don't think I've been so sure in a long time."
She sighed, held her son, and relented, "Then I guess I'll have no choice but to support you."
"Oh, thank you, ma'am! Thank you, thank you, thank you!", Egon practically yelled from the floor.
"But you know my son is still in school?", Inko asks as he brings up his head.
"We've taken care of that.", Egon tells her.
"He doesn't have the right certifications.", Inko argues back.
"He can work on his degree while working with me. I know of some websites that allow you to get a legal degree.", Egon assures her.
"He's about to start High School.", She continued.
"I never really made it through high school myself.", he admits.
Inko thinks it over, then barters, "I want him home at a more reasonable time."
"Trust me, I've been trying that myself.", Egon rolls his eyes while glaring at Izuku, who looks away.
"I want you to pay him.", Inko tells him.
Egon nods to this and tells her, "I was already planning on that. Once things got up and running and he had his degree, I was going to make him vice president."
"My son….a vice president.", Inko gasps while holding her chest.
Her lips then began to quiver, and before either of the two men could act, Inko started to shed tears like a faucet! Taken aback by this reaction, Egon jumped up and stepped back a bit.
"A-Are you okay?!", He asked her.
"M-Mom, please stop crying!", Izuku begs her as he starts to cry the same way she does, Making Egon think this will be a long dinner—which it was.
Ch 6: Sufficient Funds
Izuku and Egon sat at his kitchen table with the room constructed into a mock meeting room. A large whiteboard was hanging on the wall, with Egon at the front and Izuku sitting on one of the four chairs around the dinner table. Egon, with a pointer stick in hand and many colored dry-erase markers in hand, points to the board with a crudely drawn American dollar.
"Well, Izuku. We have a problem.", He told him while pointing at the drawing.
"Money?", He questioned while looking at the drawing.
Egon nods affirmatively and erases it while drawing more crude pictures and explaining, "As you well know, we are nearly out of the 50 million earned from the hospitals. Between buying, fixing, and expanding our new laboratory, plus the costs of our machinery, we're at almost nothing. We still have more expensive things to buy and do: more high-tech equipment and items used for experimentation, the monthly bill to run it, taxes, and employees."
Izuku thought momentarily and then offered, "We could go to the other provinces in Japan and sell some of the Splinters to those hospitals."
Egon thinks on this, draws a pic of a splinter and a chart, then says, "That would pay for most, if not all, of what we need right now. But it's not sustainable in the long run. And trust me, it'll go fast!", He told him while making the chart grow and then plummet before sighing in exasperation and complaining, "Sometimes I wish Japan wasn't so small. We have to think up a way to make a large and consistent cash flow without direct funding from the government."
Izuku nods thoughtfully and says, "The last thing we need is for them to get their hands on what we have."
Egon nods back and states, "I agree. The less, the better. Until we are more assured in our funds, what ideas do you have or what discoveries have you made?"
Izuku takes out his notebook and flips through it, telling him, "Do you remember how one of the Splinters absorbed blood and reproduced it?"
Egon sighed, knowing where this was going, and waved him off, saying, "If we sell blood splinters of every type to every hospital, we'll be right back where we are."
"Not that!", Izuku exclaimed firmly, making Egon jump from the suddenness. Izuku sat back down, calming himself and saying, "I mean, do you know of that one person who's been making rounds in the medical world, the one with the unique blood quirk?"
Egon raises an eyebrow, thinks, and then realizes what he means. Then answered an explanation, "The man with a blood quirk that instantly changes to any blood type it comes in contact with, even rare ones. The blood can even replace diseased or cancer-ridden cells. The blood that's more packed with cells per square millimeter than any high-altitude animal on the planet? I know about him."
Izuku exclaims, "If we could get a sample and put it in a crystal, we could sell it off in individual blood packs along with every other blood type."
Egon smiled at seeing the kids far thinking and smiled sadly before informing him, "Normally, I'd agree with you; however, there's just one glaring problem. Getting that blood is nearly impossible! He's constantly hounded by every hospital just for even a syringe full of his blood. People pay him oodles of money just to get some of it. We'd have to pay him a good chunk of our 50 million just to get a small sample. And because of all the money he's gotten, he has become an absolute self-entitled douchebag! I mean, samples of his blood on the black market go for hundreds of thousands! Sometimes even millions!"
"I don't think we have to worry about that.", Izuku tells him while reaching into his coat and pulling out a vial filled with red liquid.
"Is that?" Egon asks as he approaches and takes the vial. After looking it over, he says, ruffling his hair, "Shut up! But wait, how did you-?"
"I had to get my hands dirty…and face.", Izuku told him, looking away and rubbing a black and blue spot on his cheek.
Egon's eyes widened at this, and he looked over at Izuku, seeing the many injuries that he covered up with closed or makeup. He asks in a terrified voice, "Izuku. What did you do?"
"You know how he's prejudiced?", Izuku tells him.
"I'm aware. He's one of those quirkiest bastards. Seriously, what did you do?", Egon asked in a concerned and fast tone.
"I accidentally bumped into him after he got kicked out of a bar. I tried to sweet talk him, but he wouldn't have it.", Izuku began to explain.
Egon bit his fists and said, "I don't like where this is going."
"Then I told him I was quirkless, and he started to beat me.", The teen finished off while looking away.
"What!?", Egon shouted in shock.
"But I defended myself! And in doing so, I got a sample!", he tried to reassure the man while holding the vial like it was gold. It took hours to get rid of all the alcohol inside. But it's a pure strain!", he said excitedly.
Egon grabbed his shoulder and asked him in worry, "Izuku. Why did you do that!? He could've killed you!"
"I was prepared. We needed the money!", Izuku argued back.
Egon rapidly shook his head and told him, "That's no excuse to put yourself in danger purposefully! There were other ways we could get money without you getting hurt.", Izuku looked down, realizing his mistake as Egon leaned against the board and said in a trembling voice, "If your mother finds out she's going not just gonna have a cow with me, but a whole dang Elephant!", After he gets done venting about this, he sighs and holds Izuku in a hug. He asks, "Just promise me you won't take any risks like that again. You're far too young to be acting like this."
"I promise.", Izuku hugs him back.
Egon pulls away and says to him, "Good. This will help us reduce many of our costs, but we need more. We can only sell these at maybe a couple hundred a pack. Then, of course, that super helium we've managed to make with one of the Gas Splinters."
"I have one other idea that I have sort of put into practice.", Izuku admitted as Egon walked away to think.
"What else have you been doing behind my back?", Egon said jokingly.
Izuku pouted, arguing, "I haven't been doing anything behind your back! You're just never there to watch me."
Egon sighed and told him, "Well, I am the one who's in charge of ensuring we don't go into the red. We'll discuss this later, but tell me what you've done for now."
"You know how the crystal radiates a kind of radioactive energy?", Izuku asks him as he nods in return. "Well, I decided to see what would happen if something was exposed to it for a long period of time."
"Oh God, I don't like where this is going.", Egon says under his breath.
Iu waves his hands and tells him, "No, no, no, it's okay, I promise! I just used a pigeon for an experiment."
Egon blinks and states seriously, "Izuku, the last thing I need around here is some giant laser-shooting murder bird."
"Do you see one?", He sassed back.
Egon looked around, sat in a chair, and said, "Okay."
"Well, I'm not sure what happened entirely. Whether it evolved, devolved, or even genetically morphed?", Izuku ranted off.
Getting concerned, Egon asked him, "Izuku, can you please just get to the point? You're starting to freak me out."
Izuku then went to another room, came out with something behind his back, and brought it out while admitting, "I made…this."
Placed on the table was a creature that was a bird, about the size of a turkey, but not one.
Egon blinked; adjusting his glasses, he leaned in. After making sure he wasn't just seeing things, he sat back, not taking his eyes off the bird, and stated, "Okay, first off, that's the least bad thing I could've expected. Second, is that what I think it is!?", He exclaimed while pointing at the bird, spooking it and making it run. Before it could Juno off the table, Egon grabbed the bird and examined it all around, saying, "I mean, it makes some sense. Dodo birds and pigeons are biological cousins, and the Dodo is large and flightless. Also, how did you hide this from me?"
"You don't use the space you have properly.", Izuku told him with a shrug.
Egon opened his mouth to argue but stopped and admitted, "Fair. So what's your plan with essentially recreating an extinct species?"
Izuku then went into the microwave and pulled out a meat dish while offering, "Taste this."
Egon shrugs and pops a piece of the meat in his mouth. After chewing it a bit, he swallows and observes, "A tad gamey, but it's pretty good.", He then makes the connection and asks, "Wait, is this-?", Izuku nods, and the cigs turn in the man's head. Once he realizes this, he guesses aloud, "You plan to capitalize on the invasive and wild pigeons in the city, turn them into Dodo, and sell the meat for a profit?"
Izuku nodded and assured him, "And don't worry. I tested the meat in excruciating detail. It's completely safe for consumption. It's pretty much no different from FDA-certified poultry meat. And I got a butcher on our side with a little bit of…..incentive.", he said this while making a money sign with his hand.
"I was wondering why there was a large deposit to a butcher shop.", Egon said to himself before suspiciously asking, "Anything else?"
"I was hoping to test the crystals' radioactive effects on different plants to see if we could potentially make a superfood.", Izuku tells him pleadingly.
Egon sucks air through his teeth and tells him, "Let's put a pin on that. We don't need to be doing a recreation of Little Shop of Horrors.", Izuku looks disappointed by this, so Egon comes up with an alternative and asserts, "But you can do one plant at a time, and nothing else! Just make sure they're either small flowers or vegetables."
Izuku nods and blabbers aloud, "If only we could use one of the Splinters to make gold." Then, a thought strikes him, and he asks Egon, "Wait. Can't gold be made into a liquid?"
"And my crystals are heat resistant to a few thousand degrees.", Egon tells him as the wheels also start to turn. Then the two of them look directly at each other, and Egon states seriously, "I'll get some gold and smelt it. You run some tests. We take this to our graves!", Izuku nods and runs off to his office space as Egon does.
Ch 7: Celebration
After another long and boring day at school, Izuku finally made it to his front door. He didn't go to Egon's house today because he told him he couldn't come for some reason. So he went straight home, and now he was at the door.
After unblocking and walking in, he called out, "Mom! I'm home!"
Just then, at that moment, the dark house exploded into light, and the sound of popping hit his ears, followed by confetti and streamers falling on his face and head. Two voices cheered, "Congratulations!"
"What-huh? Mom, Professor? What's going on?", Izuku asked dumbfounded.
"It's a party.", Inko explained.
"For you.", Egon follows up.
"Me? What for?", Izuku asks back, still unsure of what they meant.
"You seriously don't know?", Inko asks as he shakes his head. She giggles and tells him, "Izuku, you passed!"
Egon saw that Izuku didn't understand, so he jumped in and exclaimed, "You passed your last test and aced it! You officially have your fourth degree! You have a doctoral degree! You can officially, and most importantly, legally work for me!"
"I thought I was still at 2?", Izuku stated, still a bit confused and overwhelmed.
"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you didn't try to shoot straight for an Honorary Degree.", Egon praised him.
Inko told him, "It's also the day that your research facility has finally completed construction."
This finally snapped Izuku out of his funk, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Wait! For real!? That's awesome!"
"It's also your graduation day!", Egon added in.
"But I thought that wasn't for another two weeks?", Izuku asked back, feeling confused and concerned if he had lost track of time, which he had done a lot recently.
Inko nods and tells him, "It is, but since you'll be so busy very soon, we thought it would be best to have the party now.", She then hugs her son and tells him, "Izuku, I'm sorry."
Taken aback by this, Izuku pulls back. Holding his mom's arms, he questions her, "Wha-? Mom, why are you sorry?"
"Because I feel partly to blame for your previous situation.", she admitted while looking away. "When I came to terms with the fact that you wanted to be a hero, even without a quirk, I was beside myself with worry. As your mother, I tried my best to support you, but in the back of my mind, I prayed you'd give up. I'm sorry.", she told him with tears in her eyes, looking away in shame. She wipes her face and then tells him with a more upbeat attitude, "But seeing you here and now. Accomplishing more than I could ever expect and more than anyone else in the world, especially myself, and at your age, I can't help but feel proud of you. So very, very proud of you!", She told him all teary-eyed again.
"Mom.", Izuku said, on the verge of tears, before wrapping her in a hug and telling her, "Thank you for always supporting and believing in me!"
"Izuku.", Egon lightly interjected at the moment. When they pull away, the man wraps his arm over his shoulder and tells him, "This time is all about you. If not for you, none of this would've happened. You and you alone made all of this happen! You should feel proud of yourself for all you've managed to achieve. As far as I'm concerned, you're my hero, Izuku."
Izuku's dam finally breaks, and he plunges his face into his chest while sobbing, "Thank you, Professor! For giving me a chance when no one else would!"
Egon pets and rubs his back for a bit but soon pulls him off while drying his face and proclaiming, "Okay, okay! Enough of the waterworks. Let's eat and be merry!"
It indeed was a great party.
Ch 8: Last Confrontation
Izuku sat up from his desk and rolled his shoulders after sitting hunched over his desk. It has been another normal, quiet, and tedious day at school. Actually, it's been nothing but boring since Egon gave him all the coursework to copy directly from and get a passing grade. Surprisingly, no one, not even Bakugou, had bothered him once in the past months.
It was kind of nice to be ignored by everyone and not have to deal with them. And he wouldn't have to any longer since this was the last day of school! Their teacher left early, allowing them to do whatever they wanted until the bell rang. And boy, was Izuku glad that it did because he could swear he could feel Bakugou trying to burn holes into his head as he sat behind him!
So, after stretching and waiting for just about everyone else to leave, he muttered under his breath, "Thank goodness it's over."
"Oi Deku!", The loud voice of Bakugou yelled at him.
"Oh no.", He mumbled with a sigh.
He turned around in time to see the seemingly ever-furious Bakugou trudge toward him with his two tagalongs.
"Don't you ignore me, nerd!", He demanded.
"Yes, Kacchan?", Izuku asked back in a neutral tone.
Seeing him not reacting like a scared dog made Bakugou make an expression crossed between irritation and confusion as he asked while poking his chest, "What's up with you, huh!? You've been acting weirder than normal! Quieter, more reserved, you're practically not here. I've forgotten you were still here for a few weeks!"
"So?", Izuku shrugged in reply.
"So!", Bakugou exclaimed.
"So what? I'm not bothering or looking down on you like you hate so much. What's the problem? I thought you'd like that.", Izuku told him without emotion in his voice or expression on his body.
Bakugou growled and exclaimed, "It pisses me off! It's like you're planning something or doing something behind my back!"
Izuku sighs, exhausted, and asks back, "Will nothing I do satisfy you? You never seem happy about the result, whether I'm in your face or as far away as possible."
"What did you say!?", Bakugou yelled into his face.
Izuku finches at him, getting into his face, but he calms himself and turns away, saying, "Goodbye, Kacchan."
"Hold it!", he yelled while grabbing his collar and holding him up to his face. "I'm not done with you, nerd! You're still acting weird, and I want to know why!" Izuku said and did nothing as Bakugou held him up, making the teen growl and yell, "You'd better not still be trying to be a hero!"
In the past, Izuku would've been like his usual self—squeaking and cowering in fear, protecting his face from any attack. But ever since the day Bakugou told him to….he's become entirely numb to anything he could do or say. It did not affect him anymore; the fear he had no longer controlled him. And Bakugou couldn't use it to control him either.
"I'm not.", He said in a cold, calm voice.
"Well, you'd better…wait, what?", Bakugou suddenly repressed his anger and went straight in, flabbergasted.
Izuku sighs again, pulls off his hand, and yells at him, "I'm not Kacchan. I give up. You were right, and I was wrong. You win. Are you Happy now?"
"I-what? Why?", Bakugou blabbered out while taking a step back.
This time, it was Izuku's turn to demand back, "Why? Why do you care? You've never cared before, so why start now?", Bakugou took another step backward, completely confused as to what was happening as Izuku continued, "I've stopped trying to be a hero, okay? You'll never see me again. You won't have to deal with me again. Isn't that what you've wanted?",
Bakugou said nothing in return; he just stared at him with his mouth open in shock. Izuku dropped his arms and told him, "And you know what? For whatever it's worth, I'm glad I won't be seeing you again.", Izuku grabbed his bag and, just before walking past him, said, "See you never, Kacchan."
After leaving the school, Izuku made a B-line straight for the newly constructed research facility. It took him about 30 minutes on foot, but only because he thought so much about what had just happened and how it would affect things from here. But before he could get any more lost in his mind, he arrived at the front of the facility, where Egon had called out to him.
"Ah! Izuku! There you are! I and your mother were getting worried.", Egon exclaimed as he waved over the boy, his mother standing beside him.
Izuku turned his head after trotting over to them and said apologetically, "Sorry, sorry. I was kind of dragging my feet."
"Did you have a good last day? I'm sorry I wasn't able to come to get you.", Inko also apologizes to him.
"It's okay, Mom. We're here now.", Izukus assures her while changing the subject.
Then, a sharp Ahem grabbed both of their attention, and they both looked over to Egon, who had a large set of scissors while standing in front of a large sheet of paper covering everything in front and 8 feet up.
"Well then, without further ado. Lady and gentleman, might I present our brand new research facility to you!", Egon cried out while cutting the banner and exposing the new building for the two Midoryias to gawk at.
The building is what you would expect to see out of a research facility. It is a huge building with squared-off everything, made of white stone from the outside, with huge glass windows and more off-shoot buildings with almost no distinguished marks, nearly uniform to everything else. All except the front, which was the most creatively designed part, which had stone stairs leading up to it as it stood on a raised surface.
As they stood in awe of the building, Egon approached Izuku's side and placed a hand around his shoulder. While motioning to it, he said, "Look at it, Izuku. This is the culmination of all of our hard work. Together, we will make some big discoveries and even bigger changes."
"I hope to see it through as long as I can.", Izuku told him with a smile.
"So do I. So do I.", Egon agreed while looking up and seeing a long-time part of his dream come true, wiping a tear from his eyes. A thought crossed his mind, and he asked, "Say, what do you wanna start on first?"
Izuku thought momentarily, looking like he didn't want to tell, but finally opened up and said, "Well….For starters, I'd like to do more experiments with the Singularity Souls radiation on plants and animals. And…"
"And?", Egon questions him after hearing the boy fall off.
Izuku shook his head and waved it off while saying, "Ah, never mind. Forget it. What about you, professor?"
Egon placed a finger on his chin and answered, "Truthfully, I'd like to figure out a name for this place. Do you have anything?"
Izuku thought about this briefly before finally offering, "How about…"
Ch 9: Experimentation Log, Subject- Plants
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting from the Tensora Research Lab, where we are performing and recording our first experimentation on the Singularity Soul and the effects of its radiation. I will be using different kinds of plant life as the first subjects for this experiment. My previous attempts at this experiment back in Professor Egon Crystallo's home were…less than ideal. Allow me to explain.
Since we needed the proper technology or facilities that could amicably be used in case of some sort of emergency in which a plant becomes too dangerous, the professor strictly forbade me from doing multiple experiments on those of much larger plants. Instead, have me do it on smaller things such as flowers. Unfortunately, after a time of being subjected to the Singularity Soul's radiation signature for long periods, even in the most compatible conditions, they would all die within days to hours. My longest-living specimen was a bonsai tree that only lived for about one week after prolonged exposure.
Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to adjust the radiation from the crystal so smaller plants may be able to survive and show some sign of change. In saying that, we now have far more resources and the facilities needed to combat any sort of….unforeseen hiccups. Anyway, the first batch of plants I've used are as follows: one American cherry tree sapling, one crawling ivy sprout, one pumpkin seedling, and one adult American pitcher plant. Note: Professor Egon told me not to use a Venus flytrap since it might, in his words, make an Audrey 2.
After planting all the plants in the facility's newly constructed greenhouse, I planted one empty Soul Splinter into the soil to absorb the energy in both roots and air. In addition, I have the plants on an automatic water and light timer for maximum production and consistent readings for all plants in the controlled environment. I will report back when any changes are made.
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting to say…that it didn't take long at all. I've only been gone about three days, and massive results have already been made! All the plants I've used in the experiment have grown to their adult size, which explains why all the flowers I used died so quickly. The energy in the crystal didn't kill it; it aged it to the point where it died of old age! I must note this down for future use!
Anyhow, as I expected, not only had the plants grown in size, but changed on a biological level. First is the American cherry tree: in addition to growing to the size of an adult tree of its genus, it also changed color. Its leaves turned blue, its flowers a bright red, and its fruit a bright white. After some testing, I found that the cherry fruits would explode like firecrackers upon being broken. However, if frozen for 20 minutes, the fruit turns a cool pink and becomes edible for human consumption. Note: they have a tart taste to them.
Next is the crawling Ivy: it grew so massive and quickly that it reached out of its pot and up towards the glass roof. When I attempted to cut them back, several vines wrapped around me and began to tickle me relentlessly. After freeing myself, I took a leaf sample and saw that it was covered in a toxin response to the tickle reaction in our skin, which was used as a defense mechanism. Note: use fire at a distance.
Then we have the Pumpkin: unlike regular ones, which simply grow a few pumpkins on one vine, this one grew several dozen tiny ones on a single vine and from a single flower. After some analysis, I found that the new mini pumpkins were the size of cherry tomatoes and tasted very sweet. In addition, when touched, they emit a faint purple light. After a round of different tests, I discovered that when they are broken off from the vine and blown into the stem, the pumpkin will begin to inflate like a balloon! And contrary to what I thought before, no matter if the gourd is broken, bruised, or cut, it will not deflate. It will keep its size and continue to swell up with more air pressure so long as its stem is intact. I even put it through a high-powered air press pump, making it swell up to 14 inches in diameter! I would've let it go longer, but it may not have a size limit. Note: this could help the worldwide hunger crisis.
And finally, the American Pitcher plant: boy, this one changed! Not only did it asexually reproduce, but it grew far bigger than any currently known pitcher plant species. In addition, it gains several larger back leaves and a new set of vibrant colors on said leaves and its body. Its innards make a very sweet and insisting aromatic that even I was drawn to. When I got within 30 feet of the plants, they began to rustle and bristle their leaves. As they did so, the waving and vibrating colors began to induce a hypnotic effect, and with the sweet smell dampening my senses, I walked toward it. Luckily, I managed to break out quickly. Though even if I had gotten too close to the plants, they were still far too small for me to fit in. And couldn't move any other part. Note: I'm really glad I listened to the professor's no Venus flytrap rule.
From this data alone, I now have several working theories on what may have happened. I will attempt one more mass test and see what happens from there. I will update again when I have started the process.
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting again on the next round of experiments. So, a day has passed, and I've set up the next round of experiments. This time, I used a corn seed, a potato sprout, a garlic clove, a carrot seed, and two different types of cactus trimmings—more specifically, a golden barrel and saguaro. I will report back when the results have been made.
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting once more to update you on the new rounds of plants and their effects under the Singularity Soul's radiation. Like last time, it came quickly! I'll start in the order I listed in my previous report.
First, the corn: like all the others, it grew to full maturity in just a few days and surprisingly sprouted the same number of ears as it usually does. However, when I opened one of them up, the corn kernels were colored and reflective like glass. When brought up to sunlight, they reflected it very similarly to a magnifying glass, and I had to quickly cover it up before it shot rays of deadly sunlight at me! In addition, I found that when dropped, whether in or out of the leaves, the corn kernels would explode and scatter like a hand-thrown grenade. Note: Attempts to make popcorn are now prohibited.
Then, the potato: I was surprised to see it was one of the few that didn't change externally. I had wondered what it could do until I placed my phone next to it, and it began to charge from the wireless function. After a bit of testing, I found out that its natural electrical charge had been amped up tenfold, and now it was like an industrial battery, no matter its size! Note: Food made with it has an electric taste to it.
Next, the garlic: I almost thought it wasn't ripe when I pulled it out because it was green. Then I found out it was when I accidentally ripped off the stem, and it quickly changed from green to yellow, then orange, and finally red. I figured out what was going on after Yellow and threw it! After it hit red, it exploded into a gas compound that irritates the throat when inhaled and smells terrible! Luckily, I was close to the airflow controls before it hit me. Note: Onions would be the same but with tear gas instead.
Now, the carrot: it's gold—solid gold. But it's edible and can be eaten raw. Surprisingly, it acts like a revitalizer in a video game. I was at my fifth cup of coffee when I ate one and felt all my exhaustion disappear! Note: don't try to trade it in for money.
And finally, we have the two cacti: the golden barrel has turned black with pink flowers, and the saguaro now has skin that seems to be some sort of natural metal. The golden barrel can shoot its spines when disturbed, and then it turns golden and regrows all its spines before turning back again. If it's disturbed while trying to regrow its missing spines, it'll spray a nasal irritant from any flowers it has that causes uncontrollable sneezing fits. As for the saguaro, it has grown twice the size of its normal kind and even wider! It has lost all its spines and now turned a metallic gray. It's made of metal! It showed the same strength as military and construction-grade metal when tested. In addition, when a piece of the cactus was removed, it would quickly regenerate the missing pieces. However, removing a piece was the hard part, as I had to cut it off with a cutting torch. Note: don't drink the water inside.
Upon careful study of what I've seen and made, one of my theories happens to be correct. The radiation of the Singularity Soul caused these plants to develop quirks! It's rare in animals, but it's unheard of in plants! Anyhow, this is unheard of and massive, and it could change everything we know about the world and science in general! So does that mean our evolution and the emergence of quirk was all thanks to radiation? If so, it couldn't have been from this single specimen. There must be more. A huge vein somewhere! We'll have to figure that out at a later date.
When I gave my findings to Egon, I expected him to be excited and not go into cardiac arrest from shock. It was a fun day with the paramedics. I will take a break from the plant-based tests and move on to animal tests to see what the radiation can accomplish. If it can cause evolution or quirks, I must find out how. I will find out how! This is Doctor Izuku Midoryia signing off for now.
Ch 10: Experimentation Log, Subject- Animals
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting on the newest Singularity Soul experiment. To recap my last round of tests, I subjected several different plants in the same controlled environment to the radiation given off by the crystal through an empty Splinter. In short, I found that the radiation causes rapid aging and the appearance of quirks, which is a world-shattering piece of news on its own.
Anyhow, my next target is to see whether the same thing happens to animals. The reason I test this and not just conclude it, despite the existence of several animals with quirks, is the fact of what happened the first time I tried it. In short, I used an empty Splinter, a different one, on a pigeon and turned it into a dodo. Was that the quirk, or did evolution take hold? That's why I'm testing it.
On a side note, the one dodo that I showed Professor Egon has been adopted by us and made the honorary Facility Mascot and pet. We call him Peet.
Continuing with my experiments, I have since marked off a few testing rooms and chambers in the animal testing to accomplish this. Now, I know what you're thinking, but don't worry; we will ensure that all the creatures used are not tortured. They live no different lives than house pets. Having said that, I decided to start small and use an order mail ant farm. After some words with Professor Egon, he convinced me to do it behind a sealed chamber door lined with thick metal. On the chance, they turn into giant monster ants. With that, I set a Splinter beside them and waited. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long since they all died a few hours later.
I can only guess that, like the flowers and their ages, they were unable to withstand the radiation and overaged to death. I'll have to use something a bit bigger.
For the next experiment, I decided to use two subjects: an ordinary pet store goldfish and a koi fish. Both subjects were placed in the same divided aquarium with the Splinter in their vicinity. I will report once any changes have been made.
This is Dr. Izuku Midoryia reporting again. After just three days, the results were finally obtained with the two fish. In short, the pet store goldfish is dead, and the koi fish now shimmers when exposed to direct sunlight. Note: These could make for good decorations at the research facility's entryway.
From this, the effects of the radiation are entirely dependent on the size of the creature and not what kind of creature it is. The next round of experiments will be subjected to amphibians and birds; I will report back as soon as I have everything set up.
Okay, I finally got my hands on all the animals needed for this next test. This time, I am using two vastly different kinds of animals of varying sizes: amphibians and birds. I am using an axolotl, a giant salamander, and a newt for the amphibians. As for the birds, I am once again using wild pigeons around Japan, such as chickens, budgies, and peacocks. In addition, I will also be testing an octopus that was accidentally sent alongside the three amphibians. Once again, I put all the animals in different testing chambers in the same controlled environments. The amphibians were allowed in the same tank but divided. I'll accept the octopus, which was put in a completely separate tank. I have placed an empty splinter within their vicinity. The birds were all placed in different enclosures in the same testing chamber, divided off for their safety. An empty splinter was placed within their vicinity. I'll report back once any signs of change are seen.
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting some fantastic news about the most recent experiments! I need to figure out where to start or how to make this reporting coherent! But first, I'll just start with how most of the experiments went before I get on to the amazing discovery! I periodically checked on all the creatures once every day. No signs had been made until about the second and fourth day, respectively. First, I will be starting with the amphibians and the octopus.
The axolotl has gained the ability to control water and can move freely from its tank. It's a good thing I checked in on it periodically because the radiation was starting to get to it, and it was using its newfound quirk to move away from the Splinter. Note: Make a covered and watertight tank.
Then there is the giant salamander, which surprisingly has shown no signs of a quirk. It's still being determined whether it's simply immune to the effects of the radiation, if some creatures like humans cannot develop quirks, or if it is merely evolutionarily perfect. Either way, it remains the same no matter how much time has passed. Note: It's sort of nice to know that some creatures can be quirkless.
Next, the newt: it's dead. Surprisingly, however, this isn't due to the radiation from the Splinter. It was actually due to its own developed quirk. I'm not sure what it was, but it just….exploded. Note: study the remains to see what happened.
Last of all was the octopus: it showed no physical changes except for its brain. The radiation has caused its brain, which normally wraps around its esophagus, to disconnect and become separate in the body, allowing it to swell up to three times its normal capacity! This also includes many more wrinkles in the brain. In short, it got smarter, a lot smarter! So smart that it now has a minor form of sentience and sapience. The way I found this out was when it asked me, in Morse code, to "give back the crystal.", so it could "continue to grow." I was both highly intrigued and extremely scared of what that could mean. For now, I have denied its request and placed it in a new aquarium to be studied. Note: learn Morse code.
After this are the birds; the first one is the Peacock. Somehow, the whole "it hypnotizes with its tail" falsehood came true. Raising and shaking its tail feathers induces a hypnotic effect so long as eye contact is constantly made. I was fortunate enough that it dropped its tail and ran as I approached. Note: Make hypnotic-proof goggles.
Then the budgie: it didn't change externally like the peacock, but instead, its vocals did. The bird can now mimic any sound it hears ideally, and at the decibels it sounds at, apart from speech. I've tested gunshots, car keys, bells, a dog's bark, Peet's grunts, the flicking of a light switch, the buzz of electricity, and the honk of a tuba. I even gave it a rendition of one of Mozart's symphonies, and it copied it perfectly with all the instruments present! My one mistake was allowing it to hear my ringtone, and now it pranks me by making the same noise. I've discovered that its intelligence has grown to that of an American Gray Parrot—note: change ringtones.
Next is the chicken: it's by far the strangest one yet. Its brain has quadrupled in size! It's so large that it stretches the skin on its head to the point it's nearly translucent! I wonder how it can still stand and walk, let alone still be alive. I'm still wondering what happened to its skull if it still has it. As I'm sure you can guess, besides having one of the largest brain-to-body sizes in the history of his species and every animal on earth, it has numerous wrinkles in its brain. This is as smart, if not smarter, than most people. Note: she has been able to speak with me through a text-to-speech generator and has formally asked for a job.
Last of all is the pigeon. I was most surprised by this since it didn't change into a dodo as I expected. It only gains a quirk similar to that of the hero Hawks. It can shoot, control, and reattach its feathers, in addition to giving off a faint white glow. This baffled me, so I'll experiment and see what happens from there.
This is Dr. Izuku. Oh, forget it! This is too important for formalities! I've made a breakthrough since my last report. I truly underestimated the power of the Singularity Soul! It's more powerful than I could've imagined! I should stop gushing and get to the point. Finding that a pigeon was given a quirk instead of being turned into a pigeon made me wonder about something.
What did I do differently that caused it to change so drastically? After a bit, I figured it out and decided to run the same pigeon test, this time with two different empty Splinter's. The first one was the Splinter, which I used to test the plants and animals, and the second was the one I originally used to turn the pigeons into dodos for money.
I placed both in the vicinity of two pigeons in different testing chambers, and after a few days, the same thing happened! One changed into a dodo, and the other gained the same quirk as the first test subject! This led me to two different discoveries. The first is that any creature or plant of the same type, except for humans, will always have the same quirk! The second is that the energy fluctuations in the splinters cause different effects!
I found this out by taking the Splinters and running them under an energy wavelength reader. I discovered that the quirk Splinter was positively charged while the evolution Splinter was negatively charged. So, it depends on what frequency it's at and how much was put into each Splinter. A fact I found out later is that it depends on what effect it gives off. Does that also translate to whatever the Splinter absorbs? I can even control the frequency of the energy to see what other effects they have—different experiments for different days.
So, I tested this once more using two female sheep. I kept them in separate testing chambers with the same controlled environment, with both splinters in each room. I'll report back on my findings.
Okay, the tests were a complete success and have revealed another important piece of information on the radiation effect. These are my full findings on each subject.
The sheep that had the quirk Splinter did develop a quirk, some form of electrokinesis. It can generate electricity through its wool to do several things. It can release the pent-up energy at will, use it to increase its speed, create a forcefield, and charge ions of electricity in the air, allowing it to float and air walk. It's also gained a taste for sugar and tobacco; I'm still trying to figure out why. When sheared and proceeded into clothes, it had a very tingly feeling to it. When its meat is cooked and eaten, it has the same effect as the clothes with no abnormal signs but is perfectly safe. Note: many of them could cause thunderstorms.
The sheep that had the evolution Splinter did something unexpected. Instead of devolving into another less evolved species of sheep, like a wild one, it instead evolved! Instead of a wild sheep, before humans domesticated them, there stood a much larger, leaner, smarter, and more muscular sheep. I almost thought it was a wolf or I had gone into the wrong room, but it was the same one.
Its legs grew longer, and it had a bigger chest and a predator-like body structure. Its wool was like regular hair, its eyes gingerly moved somewhat to the front of the face, its hooves split into three toe-like claws, and its horns now grew up before curving and shooting straight out!
After briefly observing it, I almost assumed it was turned into a carnivore! But after feeding, I found it to be an herbivore still. When approached, it acted much more aggressively than an ordinary sheep that would act curious or scared. When the wool was sheared, it worked like hair and came off piece by piece. When the meat was eaten, it was extremely tough and gamey. Note: it reminds me of an old anime my mom and I watched as a kid.
I was genuinely baffled about how and why this happened, and then I found out why. When I gave both sheep a physical exam, I discovered they were both under a lot of stress. I guess the move from an open field to an enclosed lab, coupled with the lack of noise and social interactions between their kind, set the stress level to skyrocket. That's when I realized what the radiation had done!
Due to its stress, the radiation caused it to evolve into something that could handle stress more efficiently in a predator-heavy environment! That's why it looks and acts more aggressively and like a predator! So, any external forces could cause a significant change in the subject's situation! That's why the pigeons turned into Dodo. They were so calm and in a predator-free and food-rich environment that they devolved into something more suited for such a lifestyle! I can only guess what else it could do!
Okay, so I have a dilemma or situation, however you want to see it. While I was testing and observing the sheep, the semi-intelligent octopus snuck out of its aquarium and stole the quirk, Splinter. When I finally found where it was when it was his feeding time, I had to act fast! But the fastest I could go was two hours since it took me a full hour to get him out of his tanks and then another hour to pry it from his tentacles! Who knows how long he had it!?
Luckily, he didn't turn into a giant monster octopus as I had thought. He just...grew smarter, way smarter! The way I found this out was when I came in the next day, and he was sitting at my desk in a glass bowl filled with water and typing on my computer from text to speech. Does he want to work for the facility? I'm not sure why, but I didn't deny him that. I'll have to set something up with him, the chicken, and the professor. He understands human speech and can't speak it, much like the chicken. I guess they'll be my future coworkers. This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya, signing off for now. Note: they both have given themselves names. The chicken has called herself Doctor Cluck Orpington, and the Octopus has called herself Professor Otto Cephalopod.