Ch 18: Dragon
Egon looked over a large sheet of schematics on his much cleaner desk. It was a map of the facility with a detailed outline of all security measures on the premises. Hidden turrets, traps, sensors, Tesla gates, and much more were outlined in the promise of maximum security. After looking it over for quite a while, he fixed his glasses to look up at Doctor Cho's happily excited, smiling face.
He cleared his throat and told her nervously, "While I like the schematics you have for an in-facility security system, Doctor Cho. I'm just a bit worried about how, um, how should I say this? Extreme and fatal it is. Don't you think it's a bit much?"
Cho raised an eyebrow as she leaned in and shot back, "With what we got and are doing here, I'd say it's almost too little. This is honestly the water-down version of what I originally thought up."
"Holy christ!", Egon exclaimed as he thought about the ramifications, watching as Cho said back to glance at him with a smug look. Seeing her point, he told her with a sigh, "Well, I can't argue with that. I'll allow it; if need be, we'll add more later. But add some non-lethal defenses as well. You can't be all gun-hoe for every situation. You may commence construction on it.", Doctor Cho nods and rolls up the diagrams before leaving the new automatic sliding doors made by Professor Hatsume.
Once she left, the doors stayed open as someone else barged in. Egon noticed this, looked up from his desk, and saw Izuku. He was red in the face, shaking like a leaf, and two seconds from crying.
Egon sighed lightly and said, "Oh boy. Yes, Izuku. What have you done this time?"
"I had an accident.", he finally admitted through a shaky breath.
"I thought you were housebroken.", Egon replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Professor!", He shouted back in a mix of panic and anger.
Egon raised his hands and, in a calm tone, told him, "I'm just teasing. What's bugging you so badly?"
Izuku sniffs back his emotions and steadies his voice as he answers, "I was dabbling around with the Evolution and Quirk Splinters, and I made something I had no intention of making."
Egon waits for the rest, but when it doesn't come, he prompts him firmly, "Well, don't leave me in suspense. Tell me what it is."
Izuku walked up to his desk on shaky legs, his emotions just moments from spilling over as fear gripped his heart at how his boss would react to his newest blunder. He reached into his coat and brought out a small creature cupped in his hands, showing it to the man reluctantly.
"Here.", he said with a quiver.
Egon looked down at the little creature, adjusting his glasses, seeming to be nothing but an oddly colored lizard. He chuckled at what Izuku was so scared about showing him and proclaimed, "Is that it? This teeny tiny little lizard is all that you made? I was expecting something far more….", He trailed off as the small lizard took a mammalian gate, sprouted a set of tiny wings, and breathed out a puff of smoky fire. "Dangerous?", He said in confusion. He looked at the boy who was begging to shake and cry while asking him calmly, "Izuku…did you make a-."
The boy broke down into tears, hunching over and covering his face as he wailed, "I didn't mean to. I didn't realize it would happen!"
Egon was shocked by his reaction and almost froze. Luckily, he kept himself together and placed the baby dragon on his desk while he tended to the terrified, crying boy.
Holding his shoulders and petting his head, he told him, "Okay, Okay, let's calm down for a moment. I'm not mad, just surprised. It's not like you tried to hide this from me until it got out of hand or did it behind my back, and you have told me that it was a complete accident. Just give me the rundown of what happened."
"Y-You're not mad?", Izuku looked up with red eyes and a runny nose.
"Just surprised, that's all.", Egon assures him.
Izuku sniffles and gets help cleaning up his face from Egon, who explains, "Well, after testing and gaining the results of the Quirk and Evolution Splinters, I thought about what would happen if both were used on the same creature. No plant I used would work, so I used an animal instead. And to minimize any damage, I used a small baby creature."
He let Izuku breathe and collect himself a bit before he continued, but after five minutes, he gently prompted him, "Go on."
"So I used the fertilized egg case of a gecko. And when it hatched, this came out. And I came to you as soon as I did.", He finally finished.
Egon sat back on his butt on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief, which was close enough for the baby dragon to climb onto his head, down his face, over his body, and across his lap before climbing into Izuku. The little lizard crawled up to his neck and cuddled into it. Observing the animal, Egon noticed how different it was from most reptiles at a second glance. Apart from the wings and mammalian gate, it had distinct claws on all four of its limbs, a head it held upright, two stubs of horns, eyes large enough to be seen from both the side and front, colored a blood orange to red, and its skin was like a mix of scales and regular skin. Still, it was the standard size for a newly hatched gecko.
After he breathed out any stress, he told Izuku in a calm tone, "Okay, good. I know the details. We can work on finding out more pressing things about this new species, like how big it will grow, what it will eat, what temperament it will have, and so forth. After that, we will decide whether to keep or kill it while it's still young and manageable."
"There's no need for that; I have just the solution.", a voice called from the still-open doorway.
Both men looked over and said aloud, "Professor Cephalopod?"
"What do you mean by that?", Izuku asks him.
"Me and Professor Genus were collaborating.", He stared off.
"That's not good.", Egon muttered under his breath.
"And made this.", he finishes by placing a strange Splinter at their feet, which seems to change its brightness while changing to many psychedelic colors.
Egon held up the strange pulsating Splinter and asked, "And this is?"
The professor explained vaguely, "This Splinter does in days what thousands of years of selective breeding do."
"Huh?" Both said at once.
The professor rolls his eyes and explains, "Keep it near any wild thing, and it will become as domestic as a dog in just a few days."
"Well, at least this solves that specific dilemma of this thing turning on us and into a meal.", Izuku stated while admitting the Splinter's strange colors.
As the two men looked at the psychedelic splinter, Otto tried to escape, only for Egon to catch wind of something and shout, "Hold it right there, calamari boy!" Before he could scramble, Egon grabbed the Octopus under his eyes and brought him face to face, where he stated, "What else?"
"What do you mean?", Otto asked back innocently.
Egon squeezed him tighter and exclaimed, "Don't 'what do I mean' me! My IQ may not be half as high as yours, but I wasn't born yesterday! What else did you and Professor Genus make while collaborating?"
Giving a nervous laugh and rubbing the back of his head, he admitted, "Ah, yes, about that. I was going to come to you about something else."
"What!?", Egon growled while squeezing him again.
After contemplating, the Cephalopod tells him, "You're going to have to change Gammoth's feeding regimen."
"Why? To what?", Izuku was the one to inquire, being the primary caretaker.
"An adult amount.", Cephalopod tells him while trying to look away and sweating.
Izuku looks at him weirdly, and Egon adjusts his grip so the two can speak face to face. Izuku asks further, "She's a baby. She won't be an adult for another decade or so."
"About that.", Cephalopod laughs nervously.
Egon squeezed him again and snarled, "About what?!"
After tapping his tentacles, he tried to say, "Well…"
Before he could answer fully, a loud sound, like a trumped being amplified through a jet engine, sounded through the now-closed door. Both men looked at one another when the sound stopped and ran out the automatic door, Cephalopod still in Egon's hand. As they ran, the loud sound rang out once more, and they could follow it right to the front entry foyer, where they saw something that made their jaws drop!
A fully grown, wooly mammoth stood before them and ate the decorative plants while Doctor Genus tried to get a hold of it. Meanwhile, Megan, who was operating the desk, looked unfazed at the enormous prehistoric creature eating everything around her.
After letting the shock and amazement pass, Egon asked rhetorically, "Professor Cephalopod, why is our baby mammoth calf now a full-grown adult mammoth cow?"
"Me and Professor Genus have made several different Splinters for population surging. One of which causes any organism to develop rapidly.", The professor admitted.
Only to be squeezed again as he asked in a repressed, angry tone, "And you tried to hide this from me; why!"
"We needed to run more tests.", Otto explained while sweating before he tried to save himself by offering, "On the plus side, we made sure to spay her before doing so."
Egon gave him a half-lidded look as Izuku informed him, "You know that only works on boys, right?", the professor turned pale.
Egon looked ready to burst a gasket, and even the now fully grown Gammoth could sense it and started to walk away. Izuku stepped back with the baby dragon hiding in his hair, and Genus began to hide behind the desk as Megan tried to make herself look busy.
But no furry came, and he calmed himself down with an irritated sigh. He calmly stated, "Izuku, you are no longer solely responsible for the care of Gammoth. From now on, Professor Cephalopod and Genus will help as well. Understood?"
"Y-Yes sir.", The octopus and man replied quickly in unison.
After placing the octopus on the ground and fixing his hair and glasses, he returned to the facility and said, "Come along, Izuku. Let's run some tests and diagnostics on a new fire-breathing friend."
With that, Izuku followed him to a testing chamber to run tests on the new animal, Leaving Cephalopod and Genus to try and round up Gammoth back into her enclosure. Indeed, this was the first of many strange days to come.
Ch 19: Old Wounds Bite Hard
One day at the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility, the front entry phone rang for the first time in its entire opening time. It only rang once before quickly being picked up.
"Hello, and thank you for calling. This is the front desk of Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility. This is Megan speaking. How may I assist you today?" she asked while flipping her hair out of the way for her ear. Some talking was heard from the other end, and Megan replied, "Uh-huh." After a bit more talk, Megan said, "One moment, sir, I'll transfer you."
She pressed a few buttons, told her other half what was happening, and answered.
"Hello, and thank you for calling; this is Millicent, the head secretary. How may I assist you.", She answers as the voice speaks, and she replies, "Uh-huh?", A bit more talk, and Millicent says, "One moment, sir, I'll see if he's in his office."
She put the person on hold and punched into Egon's office phone. After a few rings, the receiver was picked up.
"Yes, Millicent?", Egon answers.
She informed him, "Sir, there's a man on the other line looking for you. He goes by the name of Nezu and claims to be the principal of UA."
Struck with confusion and concern, he quickly decides and tells her, "Punch him through."
Hanging up on him, she punches back Nezu on the other end and says, "Hello, sir?", Nezu replies, and she tells him, "Yes, he's in the office and able to speak. I'll put you right through.", Nezu says a few things and Millicent says, "Have a nice day sir."
Millicent transfers him to Egon. His phone rings, and he picks it up while answering, "Hello?"
"Professor Egon Crystallo?", Nezu's voice says on the other end.
Egon could tell he was the real deal from the many interviews he'd heard his voice over on TV. He breathed and answered, "Speaking."
"This is Nezu, principal of UA. I hope I'm not intruding on anything.", He introduced him with an apologetic tone.
Waving off the phone, he replies, "No, no, not at all. What can I do for you?"
There is a bit of silence, and Nezu finally tells him with some hesitation in his tone, "You see, I've heard quite a bit about you and your facilities."
Egon raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward and asked, "Really? Man, we haven't even brought out the big stuff yet or gone public, and we already have a whisper of a reputation? I hope it's good."
Nezu nods silently on the other end, and he answers, "Yes, yes, all good things. The thing is, I'm in a bit of a pickle."
"Go on.", Egon prompted him, feeling his caution rise again.
Nezu clears his throat and explains, "Here at UA, we have something called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short. And I'm sure you remember that awful typhoon that swept by here recently."
Egon blows out the air between his lips and complains, "How could I not? That storm knocked down every tree we had just planted!"
"I'm sorry to hear about your trees, but the USJ got the worst of it and requires massive repairs.", Nezu continues.
More than confused by this point, Egon gets straight to the end and states, "I'm not sure I understand where you're getting at."
"In short, we use that place to teach our students rescue work. Unfortunately, we can't now. But I recently heard about your facility and had an idea.", He told him as Egon raised an eyebrow in suspicion and intrigue. "Would you be so kind as to allow our first years to practice in your facility?", Nezu asked with as much sincerity as he could muster over the phone.
This shocked the man, and with a flabbergasted tone, he told him, "Though I love nothing more than helping the youth, I also must tell you we aren't half as big or prepared for handling the education of rescue work."
"I completely understand that which is why I have something else in mind—a treasure hunt, if you will.", Nezu explained, making Egon more curious as he continued, "The students go around and collect clues on villain activities, find out what's what, and reach the goal—like detective work."
Egon becomes intrigued with the idea and says, "That sounds far more realistic for us."
"And I also hoped to turn it into a field trip for our students. Teach them about the wider world of Science and everything that goes into their daily lives. I'm more than capable of realizing that heroes so romanticize our youth that they have no respect or idea about what goes on behind the scenes with the creation of suits and gear and such.", Nezu explained and asked him.
Egon thought it over momentarily before agreeing, "That sounds like a great idea. Oh, but I'll need a list of students attending to make proper arrangements."
"Of course. Please give me a moment and…. there! It should've gone through.", Nezu says as the sound of typing can be heard.
Egon sees an email that was sent over, and he wonders how Nezu got it, let alone the number for his facility. He'll have to find out later, as he replies, "I see it. Now let's see…" he looks over the long list containing 40 students.
There were 20 in total from two classes. As he looked over the list, a name stood out. After shaking his head and scrolling back up, he exclaimed, "Oh!"
"Is something wrong?", Nezu asked.
"Huh?", Egon said in a stupor, realizing he and Nezu were still talking. He then replied in a shaken tone, "Oh, nothing is wrong, I just….could I call you back later? I have to check up with my second in command."
Nezu is quiet but eventually says, "Of course. Take all the time you need. If I don't hear from you by the end of the week, I'll assume it's a no."
Egon repressed the urge to sigh in relief and said before hanging up, "Thank you, Principal Nezu. Have a nice day.", he slammed the phone down, huffed a sigh, leaned back with his hand in his face, and quickly stood up. He left his office, and after getting into the hallway, he said to himself in stress, "Boy, oh boy! Izuku is going to freak out when he hears this."
It only took him a few minutes to get to Izuku's office, though he wished it was a long walk since he had no idea how to go about breaching this subject. He felt more stressed than when he asked the most popular girl in school to dance and got rejected. He made it to the door, breathed deeply, pushed back his hair, and allowed the automatic to open as he knocked on the meta while poking his head in.
"Izuku? Are you busy?", He asked while looking around.
He saw Izuku sitting at his desk with the computer up, the video camera on, and the mic already plugged in. He turned around and quickly replied, "No, professor, I'm not. I was about to give my addendum on what's been going on with the laboratory, Gammoth, all the new Splinters and discoveries, and even a little Torch Wick here. But that can wait."
"There's…something I have to tell you.", he told the boy while walking, rubbing the back of his head.
"What is it?", Izuku inquired, feeling curious and a bit worried.
Egon breathed deeply with stress while pulling his fingers under his chin and told him, "Okay, you know what. I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I'll just tell you straight up.", this made Izuku more nervous as the man explained, "So the principal of UA called just earlier asking to use the lab for some kind of hero exercise or something, I don't know. He also sent me a list of students' names to see how many would attend. And we'll…this name stood out most of all."
Egon opened his phone to the email that was sent to him and reluctantly handed it over to Izuku. Izuku was more than confused as he took the device and looked over the list of names he didn't recognize except Uraraka. That is until his eyes fell upon the name that Egon dreaded to show him. He had to double back to make sure, and when he did, he freaked out.
"Kacchan!?", Izuku screamed in shock.
"Yeah.", Egon admitted uncomfortably while rubbing his head.
Izuku's head dropped, his face overcast, his shoulder shook, and his hands trembled as tears threatened to spill out. But even so, he managed to say, "I should've known. He's always been amazing at everything….always."
"I didn't tell him yes or anything like that yet. I just told him to wait.", Egon quickly assured him while waving his hands rapidly. He then took a breath, kneeled to his level, placed a hand on his shoulder, and offered, "Izuku, if you are uncomfortable with this, I can call him right now and tell him it's off. He won't mind."
Izuku wipes away the tears and replies with a quiver in his tone, "No, no…it's okay…really. It'll be fine so long as we don't see each other. I'll just stay in my office the whole day. That won't be hard."
Egon relented but told him, "If you say so. But just to be safe, I'll have a guard at your door and monitor him. If anything happens, I'll stop him!"
"Thank you. I appreciate it…really.", Izuku replied while looking away.
Egon then wrapped him in a hug and squeezed him tightly. He told him, "Of course. Anything for my favorite person in the whole world.", Izuku hugged him back, and Egon told him before leaving, "I hope this goes well."
Egon then got up, walked back through the door, and left to make his return call to the principal. He left Izuku behind in his office to turn back to the computer setup and give his addendum. Breathing deeply, he centered himself before turning on the record button and starting his report.
Ch 20: Experimental Log, subject: New Discoveries
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting once again to give an update on the goings-on here at the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility. It's less of an experimental log and more of an update report. I have yet to be able to do many experiments, and what I do have is in the planning stage. I did make one thing: hit. I'll get to that later. Okay, I'm rambling now, so I'll get straight into it.
We have hired several new employees here at the facility to help with other avenues of research. All of which are heads of their divisions. Theirs is Doctor Hankyō Suru, the head of the Sound Division. Professor Copayash Cho, the head of the Defense and Armaments Division. Professor Shishi Hatsume l, the head of the Robotics and Machine Division. Doctor Pamela Hollyhock, the head of the Botanical Division. Professor Anima Genus, the head of the Creature Division. Professor Aiko Miyazaki, or as she likes to be called, Honey Lemon, is the head of the Chemical Division. Finally, the Morgana triplets aren't doctors or professors but instead act as much-needed help for Professor Egon.
We have a lot of bases covered, and I'm glad about that. It's only been a week, and much has already been done. For instance, Professor Hatsume has already decked out the entire facility with state-of-the-art devices such as automatic doors, finger and eye scanners, and a speedier internet and network; he's even starting construction on a unit of different robots. They're there for things like defense, cleaning, tours, and so much more, mainly for the grunt work that would take up too much time.
I even heard a rumor that Professor Cho would outfit the facility with military-grade defense weapons and other things that we would need in the long run. Doctor Hollyhock is having a field day in the greenhouses. She's made so much stuff I can recall it all at once. Honey Lemon is having a great time without any restrictions on materials and has made planes and many discoveries that she couldn't before. Unlike Hatsume, who had blown up a time or ten, she has things set in place and dots all her mind to ensure nothing unexpected happens or at least attempts to mitigate the damage. The triplets have cut Professor Egon's work by a certain amount, so I'm sure he'll finally be able to start working on experiments.
Finally, Doctor Hankyō has had the most success thus far. He's turned one of the Splinter's frequencies into a baseline, and that's from both the positive and negative charges. We're unsure what a baseline frequency does, but we'll find out. He's also discovered that any Splinter's frequency can be altered with the air of sound waves. He can turn a positive into a negative and vice versa.
This brought up the topic of the central vein. He and I have crossed minds and theorized that when the Singularity Soul was subject to tectonic movements, the frequency it produced also changed, affecting both evolution on Earth and the first quirks! But it's unlikely that such a small fragment could affect a whole planet, so they plan to go to the same dig site to see if we can retrieve more.
Speaking of collaborations between Divisions, Professor Cephalopod and Genus have done the same, and quite a lot that they initially tried to hide from Professor Egon. He was not happy about that. I swear I just about saw him breathe fire. Anyway, like I said, they've done a lot. First, they somehow made Splinters, which do some of the craziest things I've seen! The goal is to help with the decline and near extinction of animals.
Instead of making Splinters that copy DNA or some kind of present gas or liquid. They were able to create them by the use of mixing several types of quirks and exposing them to the vibration therapy from Doctor Hankyō. However, most are still in testing. As for what they have, the list is as follows:
The Little Lady Splinter: this one can cause any female creature with a working set of reproductive organs to become pregnant with a biological clone of herself.
The Rough and Rowdy Splinter: This one can cause any creature, male or female, to enter its natural mating cycle, even if it isn't the time of year.
The Calm and Cool Splinter: can cause any creature to instantly become acclimated to any new environment and show no signs of stress. This allows animals like Rhinos and Pandas to mate more easily.
Growth Spurt: This one increases the potency of the Singularity Soul's natural ability to cause minor organisms to age rapidly, thus causing animals that could take years or even decades to mature to do so overnight entirely. This one has been tested; unfortunately, it wasn't smartly used on the right subject. And now Gammoth is a full-grown adult—before I found anything specific about her ancient diet.
The Good Boi: This one causes any animal that is not already domesticated to become as willing and friendly as a dog. Once again, it was used on Gammoth and other places.
The Scrambled Mixer: This one brushes away the problem of inbreeding in the case of one or two individuals left in a species. When in proximity, the subject's DNA will become scrambled entirely to the point that they are biologically unrelated, thus allowing siblings and parents to mate in times of crisis.
Note: I didn't name any of these Splinters!
All this talk of animals brings me to my next bit of news to share. In the little time I had when not worrying about other things, I tested with both the Evolution Splinter and Quirk Splinter. I had wondered what would happen when both were exposed at the same time, so I started my experiments with plants, as they would most easily get under control.
However, that didn't work, as no matter what plant I tried in any state of development or any kind, I would simply die. I guess the radiation was too much? So I decided to use an animal. And for safety, I used the smallest one I could to handle both radiations simultaneously and a baby.
After acquiring the gecko egg, I placed it in the incubator and kept both Splinters close. About five days later, it hatched into something I hadn't expected in the least! In short, it became a dragon. I was scared shitless at the thought of what Egon would say or act about this, but I knew that hiding it would be worse. So, on the verge of tears and a breakdown, I reluctantly showed him, and to my surprise, he was only surprised.
I guess I was overthinking it all, but my previous experiences with stuff like this were otherwise. Then again…I took a lot of unnecessary risks, which is why he acted that way so many times. And I didn't hide it from him; I just went straight to him once I realized what it was.
Sorry, I'm rambling again.
Anyhow, after using the Good Boi Splinter on it, we now have no issues with the dragon making a meal for us when it's older. He is so friendly now, but he was always like that with me. I guess he imprinted on me? On a side note, we've decided to call him Torch Wick, but we're still determining if he's a he.
Speaking of Torch Wick, we ran some tests to see what was what about him. There's a lot to cover, but the main thing we focused on was his rate of growth, and it is fast! It's only been about two days since his birth, and he's already gone from being the size of a gecko to a large parrot. It is strange even as he sits on my shoulder as I record this. Note: he ate several of the new animals with quirks, including the budgie that had the sound mimic quirk, the hypnotic peacock, and the glowing pigeon. Luckily, the shimmering Koi fish, hydrokinetic Axolotl, giant Salamander, and Peet were all spared. Torch Wick also learned pretty quickly not to mess with Professor Cephalopod and Doctor Orphington when they slapped and nearly pecked him to death.
On a different note, I discovered why the experimental Newt exploded during its quirk awakening. It performed some kind of self-destructive asexual reproduction. When exposed to enough stress, i.e., the radiation from the Splinter, it exploded and, from its body, expelled hundreds of tiny eggs that all grew into full-grown Newts with the same quirk.
Now we have dozens of these things and must walk on eggshells to ensure they don't cause a chain reaction of birthing. Knowing this, Professor Cephalopod and Genus wanted to recreate the quirk in their animal population project. However, Professor Egon quickly shut down that idea and forbade it, saying it was far too cruel. And I agree.
Note: keep Torch Wick away from the Newts.
And now, the final point I must bring up comes from just earlier today…just before I started this new recording. Egon told me that UA wants to go here for…reasons, and then he showed me a list of all the students attending, and amongst them….a-amongst them was…K-Kacchan. I won't lie; I thought my heart would stop at seeing that name. I didn't expect it, but I really shouldn't be surprised. Kacchan was always amazing; he always wanted to be a hero and shoot for UA….I guess he did…in the end.
…I thought I was over all of it…—wanting to be a hero and everything about Kacchan. But after seeing his name….it all just came back to me—the anger, the jealousy, the hate, the desire….the sadness. I thought I was better or at least numb…but I guess I never was.
I'm scared of what could happen to me…if I see him. I don't want that to happen. I never want to see him again! Ever!
Is it too late to tell Egon to take it all back? Maybe. But it's only for one day, and I don't have to interact with him. I can go through this…right? After all, it's not like All Might would also be joining. That would just open a whole new can of worms!
…report end.
Ch 21: A Group of Trouble
"Woah! This place is huge!", Kirishima exclaimed, looking at the huge building before them.
Before him, alongside the entirety of classes 1-A and B, was the newly constructed marvel that was The Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility. Tall white walls made of stone, windows so large they became a wall, decorative plants, two above-ground streams that had an inner connection with one another, two large manufactured ponds that housed a plethora of koi fish that shimmered as they swam in the light, and a sign on the overhead archway that lead into the front of the building with massive doorways. On the sign was the facility's name alongside its mascot, a Dodo bird.
Apart from the two classes and their respective homeroom teachers, Present Mic and the UA principal, Nezu, escorted them.
"It looks like a collage.", Jiro pointed out.
"Most laboratories double as universities.", Iida informed her.
"Looks kinda plain.", Sero stated, unimpressed.
"That's the point.", Mina side-checked him.
As they all admired the building, 1-B's heckler, Momona, approached the class and began jeering them as he usually does at any chance he gets.
"Ha! Of course, you low-grade 1-A welts can't understand the majesty and simplicity of such a structure! If you need a dictionary to expand your minuscule minds, I'll be happy to!", He began to vex them until their class president came up behind them and karate-chopped them on the back of the neck, causing him to black out.
"Shut up, Momona!", Kendo scolded him, slinging him over her shoulder and walking away with him. She said, "We're no better. Pony just started crying and asking if this place was Auschwitz. Whatever that is."
Momona tried to squeak out something but couldn't through his half-conscious state. As 1-A watched this unfold, Uraraka, who just got off the bus, said something that caught all their interest.
"I know this place! My parents' construction business built it.", she stated calmly.
Before anyone could inquire further, Principal Nezu grabbed their attention.
"Alright, alright, settle down.", he called out, making everyone go quiet as he said, "Now, I want all of you to be respectful and well-behaved. Professor Crystallo has graciously allowed access to his building for your hero training. So you are to listen to him and his staff as if they were teachers or UA."
"Yes, sir.", all the students said in unison.
"Principal Nezu.", Momo called while raising her hand. "Why were we all made to sign a waiver before coming here and wearing these wristbands?", she asked while pointing to the metallic devices on each of their hands.
"Professor Crystallo does much top-secret work that the public should not know about. So you see here today that you are not allowed to speak of it until it has been revealed to the public. As for the wristbands, they act as tractors in case any of you get lost while wandering the building.", Nezu explained.
"That's also why we confiscated your phones for the time being.", Blood Vlad told them as he and Eraserhead held small bags filled with the teens' phones.
Mina blew a raspberry and waved her hand casually, "Oh, come on, Sensi. Don't you think you might be overreacting a little bit? We're not children."
All the adults stared at the pink girl with half-lidded expressions of exasperation, apart from Nezu, who was smiling with his hands together as he told her, "Ms. Ashido, the day you got into UA, you made over 37 posts about the school with varying pictures….in one day."
"It was 38.", she argued back in a pout.
"My point still stands.", Nezu declared.
"I get that whatever they do here is top secret, but what could they possibly be doing? It's not like the public is smart enough to understand half of the fancy science stuff that goes on here.", Tokoyami interjected with logic.
"How about I just show you!", a voice called out as all heads turned to the front of the building. They saw Egon riding on Gammoth's tusks there as she stood up and trumpeted loudly. "Welcome students of UA to the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility!", Egon welcomed the students as the mammoth carefully walked down the steps and lowered the man.
"N.I.P.? NIP? You called this place NIP?", Kaminari stated aloud.
Egon looks at the teen with an expression of disbelief and flabbergasted as he replies bluntly, "I stroll in on an extinct animal, and that's what you take away from this?"
"Holy shit, is that a wooly mammoth!", Shouted someone from the large crowd.
Egon snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "That's the reaction I was looking for! And yes! Yes, she is!"
"Now I understand the waiver.", Momo says to her friends as they nod without taking their eyes off the mammoth.
Egon pets the huge animal's trunk as he rumbles with happiness and says, "This here is Gammoth, one of our first experiments, and no, I will not tell you how we did it."
"I don't know if I feel comfortable being in a place like this, seeing as they have no respect for life and are trying to play god, especially for creating…that," Ibara says aloud with displeasure.
"Well, it was bound to happen eventually, little missy. We're just the first to do so. And if you don't want to be here, you don't have to be. No one is forcing you.", Egon offers.
Ibara looks ready to accept that offer until Momona seemingly manages to sway her decision, making her stay.
Watching the teens stare at Gammoth silently for an extended, uncomfortable amount of time, he exclaimed, "Well, don't just stand there gawking with mouths agape in awe. Get in here! You, little heroes, have a nasty villain plan to stop! But many clues were left at many scenes of crimes. So you better find them and figure out what they're up to before it's too late."
Momona, on point as usual, goes to the front, stands before Egon, and loudly and proudly proclaims while laughing, "No need to fret, Professor Egon, for the glory of class 1-B will outshine and show up 1-A. And then you and your lab will see without a doubt how much better we are at overachieving in any task given!"
Egon blinks at the boy with proud sparkles around him, not noticing Kendo marching her way up to chop him down again.
Only for the man to state coldly, "Wow. I've never cared about anything less in my entire life."
Momona appeared to freeze up and shatter on the spot while Kendo halted in her tracks! Everyone stared in shock at his response as Egon's smile shifted into an unamused expression, to which Momona fell to pieces right in front of him.
One person from the crowd whistled and then said in a low tone, "Savage."
Kendo picks up the broken boy, and Egon motions for all of them to come inside. The teens do so, unnervingly quiet, as Gammoth moves away from the steps to drink from the shimmering fish ponds. As all the teens move past the professor with hurried steps, Nezu walks up to him and strikes up a conversation.
"My my, when you called me back that day and told me you do some unusual things here, I didn't think you meant this.", he told him with an impressed tone while looking over the extinct animal.
"Is it wise to show this to teenagers?" Aizawa asks in a monotone yet severe tone.
"Hey, if I'm going to make an impression, it might as well be a splash. And besides, the public is going to learn of what we do soon.", Egon argues back with a nonchalant shrug. Though if you think the mammoth is a surprise, just wait till you meet the chicken and the octopus.", he says vaguely with a wink of his eye, making the three men and the animal all look at one another in confusion.
As the teachers were looking at one another and the students were walking by, Egon caught sight of Bakugou, and once his back was turned, glared at him with every ounce of furry in his blood before returning to his natural expression! However, this glare didn't go unnoticed, and Kirishima almost froze up in fear at the sight of this but pushed through, walking normally. Once out of ear shit, he ran up to Bakugou to tell him what he saw.
"WOAH! Bakubro, did you see that?!", he asked in a panicked tone.
"See what, shitty hair.", Bakugou asked back in an irritated voice.
"That professor, dude. He just glared at you so hard and cold I swear you would've been frozen solid, or fire would shoot from his eyes.", he explained, looking pale as his body shook from fear.
"If looks could kill.", Kaminari added, who also saw the glare and shivered violently before stating, "You would've been…..everywhere!"
Bakugou raised his eyebrow and looked back at the professor, only to see him casually conversing with the other adults. Bakugou didn't notice anything, but he would keep his guard around him—just to be safe.
From there, the teens were led inside a massive building that looked like something straight out of the movies! Long hallways with automatic doors revealed rooms with bubbling chemicals, blinking lights, sparking machines, groves of plants, animal subjects, and so so much more! The main entrance was the most interesting due to its size and the giant fish tank that held several dozen specimens, including some smaller sharks. It was indeed a sight to behold.
After gawking at the amazingness, Millicent's front desk welcomed them warmly and then instructed them on what to do. Each group of four was given a scrap of evidence. They were to go around, find more evidence, and then piece it together to discover one of the five villains' dastardly plans. The teens scattered their evidence like bugs to find more clues.
They ran from room to room and checked everywhere they could, but mostly got distracted by everything they saw. They could talk to all the staff to learn more or be given a hint. Then they got even more distracted when one group found Peet and began to chase him until, after a while, they heard of teens chasing a single dodo to get a look at it!
While this happened, Nezu, Present Mic, Eraserhead, Blood Vlad, and Egon all went to the employee break room to chat and relax. It was quite a shocker for the adults when a chicken with a large brain and a walking octopus strolled in and began to talk! Nezu was a little gripped about Egon "making them," but he was assured their newfound intelligence had been accidental.
From there, the three animals begin to talk with one another until Nezu's sadistic human hate boner starts to rear its head and scares off the only other talking animals in the world. Only Egon can get a text from them saying they don't want to interact with Nezu unless necessary, which the professor told the principal, much to his dismay.
Meanwhile, Izuku is hidden away in his office behind the locked door from the outside. All signs that this was an office were taken down from the outside, and warning signs were put in place. The teen tried his best to keep busy with paperwork, but it went far quicker than expected, and when he finished, it was already there. So he just sat board in his office and took notes on future projects and theories, but that, too, got very old.
So he decided to call someone for an update on something. Picking up his phone and dialing the number, he was greeted by the sound of cluttering and jumbled energy as the line on the other end was thrown about. Soon after, he was given multiple hellos for trying to keep it together.
Rolling his eyes, Izuku said, "Professor Genus, how's Torch Wick doing?"
Collecting himself, the professor looked into the enclosure window and answered, "Oh, he's doing fine. He's acclimating to his new paddock and eating well, too. No stress or anything. But…"
"But?", Izuku repeated.
Holding back a bit, the Professor finally admitted, "We may have to build something bigger very shortly."
Izuku felt surprised by this and inquired, "That paddock should be more than big enough for him."
Genus looked into the enclosure again and saw the dragon munching on his meal. He answered back, "Sure, but he's only two weeks old, and already he's the size of a pony. We're feeding him geese, but soon that'll go to pigs and then cows.", as he said this, the little dragon polished off his meal with a giant burp.
Izuku sighs while rubbing his face and tells him before hanging up, "Let's collaborate on that later. I gotta go."
Turning away from the phone, he turned on the security feed of the building and watched as all the young heroes ran around and worked together, or at least tried to. It made him smile to know that even though he wasn't a hero, he could still help them. Then the feed switched over to a familiar face, and a wellspring of emotions burst out! Quickly turning the computer off, he spun around in his chair and placed his hands on his face! Breathing deeply several times, he attempted to calm himself down. After a bit, he finally reached the point where he could speak and talk.
"Calm down, Izuku. It's just for one day. One! He doesn't even know you're here. It'll be fine. The door is locked, and no one is allowed in. Nothing will happen," he tried to assure himself but failed.
Then he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the sound of someone trying to enter! He stayed quiet and waited for them to leave. From his end, he could hear what was happening on the other side.
"Hey! This door is locked.", Mina said as she tried to open the automatic door.
Bakugou pushed past her, attempted to open it, failed, and began to bang on it while yelling, "Hey! Open up!"
On top of the door, a PA speaker blared to life, and Hatsume's voice called to them, "Sorry, kid, no, can do."
"Why the fuck not?!", Bakugou shouted at the box while everyone else was looking around, trying to find the voice.
"There's a lot of dangerous chemicals in there. Highly explosive chemicals.", Hatsume explained.
"And?", Bakugou argued.
Already tired of this, he sighs and affirms, "Do I have to spell it out for you? Look, it's off-limits to everyone, okay? Several rooms are, in fact, off-limits to several of you with problematic quirks."
"Problematic!?", Bakugou shouted back, looking ready to find a speaker.
Rolling his eyes to the other end, Hatsume tells them in no uncertain terms, "We didn't leave any clues in these rooms, so go look elsewhere."
When he heard them leave, Izuku released a breath he had been holding in. After relaxing in his chair, his stomach complained loudly. After rubbing it, he sighed and looked at the time. It was only a little past noon.
"Man, I'm so hungry. And the cafeteria is serving Katsudon.", Izuku complained aloud while spinning around in his chair.
He thought about what to do and then realized the most straightforward solution: He took out his phone and texted.
Izuku: Hey Egon. I'm super hungry. Can you grab me something?
Egon: Love to, but I'm kinda busy. Let me text the others and see what they're up to. Gimme a minute.
Egon: Everyone is busy and can't be pulled away from what they're doing.
Izuku: What about the robots?
Egon: They've all been shut down by proxy of "needing a software update."
Izuku: Shoot.
Egon: Let me check something.
Egon: Okay, so Bakubrat is on the other end of the facility. You could sneak to the cafeteria, grab your food, and head right back.
Izuku: Okay.
Izuku sighed as he got up from his chair, walked to the door, and placed his hand on it to read. When it opened, he spoke out his head before saying, when all was clear, "Here goes nothing."
Meanwhile, with team Bakugou, the group consisting of the explosive boy, a pink queen, a red adorable strong boy, and an ADHD Pichu were all sitting on the floor and trying to make sense of the clues they managed to put together. However, they couldn't connect even two of the dots after a very long while of mixing and matching, much to the group's annoyance.
"Uck! I can't understand this! It makes no sense! I thought finding clues to a villain's plan would be easy!?", Mina complained aloud, slamming her hands on the floor.
Kirishima sighs and tells her, "It rarely is. This ain't a comic strip."
"Maybe we're not looking at it correctly. It's clues, not a set of instructions.", Kaminari said, shuffling the pieces around before arranging them into some kind of picture.
As the three of them discussed and brainstormed, Bakugou, who was standing off to the side, looked over at their complained evidence before saying, "Wait a second."
The other three teens stop and look at his sudden inclusion. Kirishima asks him, "What? Do you see something?"
Bakugou goes over, takes the clues, and arranges them for a bit. After he finishes, his eyes widen as he yells, "It's fake!"
"It is?", Kaminari inquired.
"A red herring! They're sending us off in the wrong direction on purpose! It's going to.", Bakugou begins to tell them before suddenly turning tail and blasting off down the hallway, leading to the evidence being blown off all over.
"Bakugou, wait!", Mina yells for him as his explosions snuff out her voice.
This leads the other two to wonder what had gotten into him, what he found out, and try to reclaim their clues.
Meanwhile, Egon was pouring himself another cup of coffee in the employee lounge when his phone rang. Picking it up, he answered, "Yes?"
"Sir, we have an issue. That Bakugou child is suddenly making a mad dash and heading for the cafeteria.", Millicent tells him from the other end.
Egon drops his coffee and yells, "What!? I'll call Izuku now!" The other adults look at him strangely.
Meanwhile, Izuku stands in the cafeteria with a piping hot bowl of his favorite dish in hand. After admiring the smell, he holds the food over his nose and breathes deeply.
"Ah. Sweet, sweet Katsudon. Come to me.", he says dreamily while breathing out. He takes a pair of chopsticks and says, "Just one bite before I go."
His phone rang just before he could taste the tender pork, breaking him out of his trance.
He signs and picks up the phone while answering, "Hey, professor."
"Izuku! Where are you!?", Egon says in a hurried voice.
A bit confused by his tone, Izuku replied, "In the cafeteria."
"Get out of there now!", Egon yells at him.
Now, freaked out, Izuku freezes up from his raised tone and questions in fear: "What? Why?"
However, his question is soon answered when Bakugou comes barreling through the cafeteria doors, saying to himself, "I can cut through here and-."
Bakugou freezes up at seeing Izuku, and so does the boy. The two of them stand there and stare at one another for a long while in heavy silence. Neither making a move nor speaking, they are unsure if what they see is real.
"Izuku? Izuku!", Egon begins to call him, hearing no reply until he finally figures it out and asks, "...He's there right now. Isn't he?", The only thing Izuku can do is make a yes sound through the phone.
"D-Deku.", Bakugou stated in an unusually calm and confused tone.
"K-Kacchan.", Izuku says back, not knowing what to say or do.
Then the blind-bit hands tighten into fists as his face grows red, a tack mark bulges on his head, and his face twists into a scowl.
Then, with a primal roar, he shouts, "DEKU!"
Without hesitation or any thought, Izuku takes the bowl of katsudon and chucks it right at him, landing a direct hit! Only to watch as the bowl of food falls off his face and leaves behind its contents, thus leading to an even angrier Bakugou to be left stewing where he stood.
Izuku gulped and whispered, "Uh-oh."
All before Bakugou roars like an animal, and Izuku takes off with him in hot pursuit! Usually, Bakugou could easily catch up to him, but two factors were at play, slowing him down enough for Izuku to keep ahead. First, they were in an ensouled space, making it hard to control the direction of his explosions without the force of kicking him back into a wall. And second, Izuku knew this place; it was his place, so he knew what place looked like a continuation, what was a dead end, and what spots had a turn you couldn't see right away. As Izuku ran for his life, he heard Egon calling out to him.
"Izuku! What's going on!", Egon practically yelled, hearing the explosions.
"He's after me!", Izuku yelled back, already out of breath.
"What?! Get to your office!", Egon commands him, and he hears before the line goes dead, "Deku, stop running!"
As the heroes were wondering what had gotten into Egon, suddenly, he turned on his heels and made a mad dash for the door! However, in the process, he ended up barreling straight through Blood Vlad, causing him to fall and break one of the break room tables. He accidentally stepped on top of Nezu as he raced out the door and into the hallways! As he barreled through groups of young heroes, he quickly typed in his phone and put it in his ear.
A few rings later, Cho answered, "Yes, sir?"
"Cho! I need you to activate the defense system! That Bakugou brat is after Izuku!", Egon exclaimed to her.
A brief silence, and Cho replied, "Shit!"
"What?!", Egon questions.
Cho said, "I'm running a system diagnostic on the whole facility. I can do anything on my end!"
"Shit!", Egon cursed while pocketing the phone and running as hard as he could.
He knew he couldn't fight someone with previous practice and now hero training with their quirk, but he would damn well try no matter what the outcome! Hell, he'd dropkick this kid, then get blown to hell! He just had to make it to him before he got to Izuku! Then he got a call. Picking it up, he heard ragged breathing before the sound of Izuku's voice.
"I *huff huff huff* made it!", Izuku panted out. Breathlessly.
"Good! Now, just stay there until we can—", Egon tried to tell him with some relief until he heard an explosion.
"Open this fucking door, you shitty nerd! You got some explaining to do!", he heard Bakugou yell loud enough for the phone to pick up.
"Leave me alone!", Izuku yelled through his office.
There was a long silence for a while until Bakugou exploded, "Don't tell me what to do, you quirkless bastard!"
With that, one, two, and three explosions hit the door, causing it to shake and bend inwards.
Izuku almost froze in terror but managed to say over the phone, "He's attacking the door! He's going to break it down!"
"What?! He wouldn't!", Egon stated before hearing another explosion that nearly caved it in. "I take it back. Of course, he would!", Egon exclaimed.
"What do I do?!", Izuku asked him in a hurried and frightened voice.
Egon thought fast, then told him, "Go out the back door and run to paddock number 5!"
"What?! But that's where Torch Wick is!", Izuku told him as another explosion hit the door.
"I'm very aware of that.", Egon told him as he barreled through a group of 1-B students.
"I don't like Kacchna, but I don't wanna kill him!", Izuku exclaimed as he stood by the back door, ready to push the button.
"Torch Wick is too small to kill a person, for now, plus his fire isn't anything that bad. It's just enough to set him off.", Egon tried to assure him.
"What do you mean?", Izuku questions as the door begins to gain single marks.
"That guy is covered in a nitroglycerin compound, right? And Torch Wick can only ignite things.", Egon explains.
"But-.", Izuku tried to argue.
"And he's resistant to his explosions, right?", Egon asks rhetorically.
Izuku thought momentarily, then realized what he was saying and exclaimed, "You want to blow him up with his quirk?!"
Egon groaned and told him, "Just till he's unconscious, or he gives up in the presence of a dragon! Plus, Torch Wick listens to you like a dog, so there'll be no death."
Izuku watches as the door is only one more blast from caving in. He gulps, presses the door button, and says, "Okay."
Izuku escaped as he pressed the lockdown button on the other end and ran for the paddocks. As he heard the door locks bolt down tight, he listened to his front door finally give in and fly into his office.
Bakugou stormed into the now empty office and screamed, "DEKUUUUUUUUU!"
Meanwhile, Egon hung up the phone and put it into his pocket as he continued to run through the facility, this time heading to the paddocks. On his mad dash, he nearly crashed into Doctor Genus!
As he ran, the doctor said, "Ah! Professor Egon. Can I-?"
But he rushed past him and exclaimed, "Not now, Anima! I have to get to the Torch Wicks enclosure in paddock 5!"
Genus raised an eyebrow as he ran past and yelled to him, "Paddock 5? Torch Wick isn't in paddock 5!", Egon stopped in his tracks, and with his face red and breathless, he asked back, "Wait, what?!"
Genus nods and explains, "Yeah, we moved him earlier today to Paddock 3 since we underestimated how big he was going to get."
Egon grabbed him and half-yelled, "If he's in Paddock 3, then what's in 5?"
Meanwhile, Izuku had finally made his way to Paddock 5 and was leaning on the control panel as he attempted to catch his breath. In many ways, he didn't like his more sedentary lifestyle since he went from a string bean to the pole it climbed up on. He was even more of a wimp than he was before, and even he had to admit it.
Once he could breathe enough to speak, he looked at the huge metal doors holding back a potentially world-ending creature if he could escape. He sighed, wondering if he should go through with this. Sure, Bakugou was out for blood, and Torch Wick was still small, but he didn't want to end his whole career before it started.
Did he want to take such drastic measures for his safety? Then he heard Bakugou's explosions and his anger-filled voice and decided that it was the right idea.
Bakugou, who finally caught up, kneeled after exhausting his quirk to catch up. He stood up, a wicked expression of frustration on his face, and growled like an animal, "Deku."
Finding his nerve for a second, he backed towards the control panel, "What do you want, Kacchan?! Just leave me alone!"
"I said you have some explaining to do, you piece of shit nerd!", he yelled at him.
Izuku dropped his head, and Bakugou smiled at his weakness. Then Izuku brought up his head and half-shouted at him, "I-I don't owe you anything."
Bakugou furrowed his brow, gritted his teeth, breathed in a ragged breath, and yelled out a war cry before racing towards him! Izuku did hesitate when he saw this and slammed the emergency open button, and the gates slid open in seconds! Izuku waited for the young dragon to come barreling out but stopped momentarily when he felt cold.
Just before he could question this, Bakugou was upon him and had jumped into the air to come down on him! Izuku almost freaked out, but the attacking blond was swept away by a pair of tusks that slammed into him so hard he fell to the opposite wall! Izuku was confused since he didn't see what hit him at first, then he heard the trumpeting sound of Gammoth as she walked out of her enclosure and stood between the two teens! Izuku was shocked and confused but happy to be safe nonetheless.
However, Bakugou stood up, nearly having the wind knocked out of him, and wondering what in the world had hit him! But before he could see it, it hit him once again! And by that, Gammoth grabbed him by the keg and slammed him onto the ground a few times before throwing his unconscious form! Gammoth looked to finish him off as she charged at him, but Izuku jumped in front of her!
"No, Gammoth! STOP!" he ordered the animal with arms raised, causing the creature to stop its attack.
Once she was entirely stopped, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. Gammoth placed her trunk all over his face to make sure he was unharmed. He stroked her trunk and looked back at the info boy while grimacing.
Ch 22: Last(?) Confrontation
"We are so sorry for what has happened! Truly!", Nezu exclaimed while bowing on the floor with the other heroes. The three of them attempted to make Bakugou now, all before a very angry-looking Egon.
Next to him in a smaller seat was Izuku, who was trying to look away from them, while Egon looked down on them with a repressed expression of rage. The drama resulted in two destroyed doors, damaged walls, a wrecked office, and a battered-up Bakugou.
Egon drummed his fingers on the desk as he asked, "Oh, and just what exactly are you sorry for, hmm? The destruction of my property, or the harassment and attempted assault of my employee who just so happens to be the vice president of N.I.P!"
"All of it! We're sorry for all of it.", Present Mic told him.
"No, I'm not!", Bakugou yelled while ripping his head up, only to have the three adults slam him back into the floor.
Egon glared at the teen and told him, "So that you know, I'm about two nerves away from making a police report and having your self-entitled ass arrested for what you've done. I have cameras everywhere in this facility! Do you think you'll get away with this? Then try me!"
"Shut up!", Bakugou yelled back in defiance.
"Is that all you can do? Scream, curse, and attack! You're not a person, just a wild animal! Though I shouldn't say that since it's an insult to wild animals!", Egon yelled at him.
"Why you-!", Bakugou tried to defy him again, only to have his face smashed into the ground.
All while, Eraserhead hissed, "Bakugou, shut up!"
"We are so sorry for his behavior!", Blood Vlad apologized again.
Egon then stood up, put one foot on his desk, and, pointing a finger at the boy, exclaimed, "I don't want to hear an apology from you! I want him to show remorse for his actions and beg for my forgiveness. But I can't see him capable of such things so far."
Finally, they allowed the teen to raise his head, and Eraserhead whispered to him, "Say sorry and mean it, or you're going to jail!"
Bakugou growled as he tightened his fist, shot up to his feet, and demanded back, "I won't say shit until I get some damn answers!"
Egon groaned in aggravation as he sat back in his seat, rubbed his temples, and listed off, "Oh, for god's sake. A wolverine can kill an adult moose. The color of the universe is called a cosmic latte. Apples, peaches, and raspberries are all members of the."
"Not those answers! I'm talking about him! I want answers from him!", he yelled while pointing at Izuku, who was trying to stay out of the situation.
The two of them looked at one another, and then Egon looked back at the irate teen and replied, "Well, since you two have a history, I can see that you would, but that's entirely up to him. After all, no one owes you a thing."
All eyes were on Izuku as he looked down at the desk. He thought it over briefly, tightened his hands, and told them, "Fine, I'll hear you out. But keep it civil. One more outburst, and I'm getting the elephant again."
"Honestly, I think that's the better option here.", Egon said vexingly.
Before Bakugou could do anything else, Eraserhead pulled him close and whispered, "If you mess this up, it'll be your fault. I'm warning you now; we won't help you."
Bakugou, surprisingly, calmed down as he sat on his chair by the desk with his anger under control. Once everyone else was seated and things were as calm as they could be, Bakugou asked in an aggressive tone, "How the fuck did you get this position at this job!"
"Yeah, I'm a bit curious about that myself. Why is a 16-year-old working for a 30-year-old adult as a vice president?", Present Mic interjected while narrowing his eyes and leaning right into Egon's face.
Egon twisted the man's nose hard, causing him to back up, and Blood Vlad asked seriously, "Is this even legal?"
Egon sighs and assures them, "Yes, it is legal. Izuku has every possible credential he could need to work for me legally. On that note, he's the main reason this place could even be made at all. I might run things, but he's the real brains."
Eraserhead said, "We'll need proof of those credentials you claim to have."
Egon sighs and makes a hand motion to Izuku. The teen leaves the room, returns a few minutes later, and sets a framed degree before them. All the adults look down, and their eyes widen in shock!
"Wow! An Honorary Degree!", Present Mic exclaimed.
"It's legitimate if you weren't sure.", Egon told them with a smile.
Bakugou was the most surprised of all of them as the wheels began turning in his head. Once he finally realized what he was questioning, he looked at Izuku and asked, "Is that what you were doing all along?!"
Izuku looked away and refused to elaborate, feeling as though he didn't deserve confirmation from him. Except for Egon, who stated, "That's right, bucko. In your last several months of school, while you were stomping around, acting like the big man you think you are, Izuku was working his ass off to get certified and work with me to get this place off the ground. And all right under all your noses.", he told him while bopping his nose.
"You little-!", Bakugou began to raise his voice.
"Bakugou!", Eraserhead loudly warned him, causing Bakugou to clam up.
"Seriously, kid, what's your deal anyway? Sure, he accomplished all this under your nose in such a short time. But why is that such a problem for you?", Present Mic asked the angry teen.
"Because someone like him shouldn't be able to accomplish this! EVER! Especially with what he has or rather doesn't have!", Bakugou finally exploded while pointing a convicting finger at the green teen.
Egon raised an eyebrow and asked, "You really are an angry little shit, aren't you? Nothing in life will ever make you happy. You'll just be bitter till the end.", to which Bakugou growled at him.
"Are you talking about his quirk? Is that what this whole thing is about?", Present Mic asked aloud, trying to figure out the reason, and upon seeing the teen's strange expression at his guess, he asked him, "Don't tell me you're under the notion that a quirk should match the job they do. I mean, what's wrong with it? Is it something useless like- oh I don't know-a crystal creation quirk?", at that moment, Egon, who was holding his coffee mug, broke it into several fragments as crystals began to grow out from his palm. Seeing this, Present Mic turned down his insensitive joke and said in a small, shameful voice, "Oh….um…sorry."
Earning him a cold ired glare from Egon's strange eyes.
"Mic. Go stand in the corner.", Eraserhead told him, making the man stand up and walk face-first into the nearest corner of the room.
Egon sighed to replace himself and told them, "That was my favorite mug."
"We'll pay for a new one to replace it.", Nezu offered.
"It's the last thing my late mother made.", Egon replied unamusedly.
"Oh….then we really can't.", Nezu said, trying to hide his nerves in his voice.
"Mic. Stand harder!", Eraserhead shouted as the DJ hero pushed himself harder into the corner.
Blood Vlad sighs and asks Bakugou, "Getting back on track. You think he can't do and accomplish all that you see because of his quirk?"
"I don't think so. I know! And it's not because of his quirk. It's because he doesn't have one! He's a quirkless loser!", Bakugou exposed himself with a proud shit-eating smile to all of them, making all the adults turn their heads to stare at Izuku.
The teen turned his gaze away, feeling embarrassed, and made the blond teen smile at seeing his old weakness. The adults felt a sense of dread as they saw Egon's repressed anger, drumming his fingers on his crossed arms. The adults forced Bakugou to sit back down and turn their eyes from the green teen.
"Some 'hero' your training here.", Egon told them in a displeased hum. He then turned his ire to Bakugou and asked, "And what exactly does his quirklessness have to do with anything, hmm? You realize that quirks are more recent in human history than you think. People without them created the modern world that you take for granted?", he groaned in anger as he rubberized head pain and ted at him while stating, "People like you are the whole reason that we as a species haven't evolved past violent monkeys."
But Bakugou wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, he stared directly at Izuku, who was still looking away. Their eyes met for a moment, but Izuku looked away with a sour expression, which caused Bakugou to explode once more and yell, "I knew all this time you were looking down on me! Weren't you! Admit it, you fucking-!"
"Bakugou!", Eraserhead tried to stop him.
Egon finally loses his temper and commands, "That's it! Mimicutie, capture mode!"
Without a moment to spare, the large lock box behind them opened up, shot out a long sticky tongue that wrapped around the teen, and caused him to get pulled into it before anyone could blink! The box snapped shut, licked its lid, and burped. Everyone stood in shocked silence at what they saw and didn't dare move or speak!
Until Present Mic did and screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK! You killed him!"
After getting the ringing out of his ears, Egon assured him and explained, "Calm down, he's not dead! Just imprisoned. It's no different than stuffing him in a locker."
"That thing was alive! It had teeth and everything! How is he not dead!?", Blood Blade exclaimed, looking ready to fight the box.
"He'd only be dead if he were in there for an hour.", Egon told them calmly.
"An hour!", Mic exclaimed.
"Then he'd be nothing but bones in another three.", Egon explains more.
"B-B-B-Bones.", Mic stammers out in fear.
"If you're going to continue repeating everything I say, then we'll be here all day.", Egon tells him, already fed up with the gag. After he goes silent, Egon sighs and commands, "Mimicutie, eject."
The box listens and regurgitates the blond teen into the floor, causing it to cough a bit before returning back to normal. Bakugou lays in a heap on the floor in a shock and seemingly unresponsive state.
As Blood Vlad and Eraserhead go to collect him, Egon leans towards Nezu and tells him, "Listen, Nezu. I don't have the time or patience to deal with things legally, so I will make this simple for you. Go collect yourselves, your students, that halfwit egotistical future villain you are training and gearing up to kill legally and get the hell out of my Laboratory!"
Nezu bows before him again and says apologetically, "We understand. Well, I will compensate you for the damages. Again, we are very sorry."
Egon turns away to speak with Izuku as the heroes scrap up Bakugou and leave the office. However, the already-open automatic door slides shut in their faces. Taking a moment to wait, thinking it was on a sensor or timer, they realize it isn't.
To which Present Mic brought up and stated, "Uh, Professor Egon. You've made your point; we're going."
"What?!", Egon asked while turning around in his seat.
"You can unlock the door now.", Present Mic told him as nicely as he could.
Egon got up from his seat, marched up to the door, and, irritated, said, "It's not-." When he realized the door wouldn't open, he dropped off by saying, "Locked?"
He then tried several methods of opening it, but when it didn't, he had to use the manual security code, which it finally did. Scratching his head, he said, confused, "I didn't do this."
But before they could question why this had happened, red lights filled the room, and a loud siren struck their ears.
"Warning! Warning! Warning!", Sounded off a prerecorded voice over the speaker system.
"What's that!?", Blood Vlad asked over the loud siren.
"The security system! Something has set it off.", Egon shouted while entering the manual alarm shutdown code.
Once the alarms stopped blaring loud enough to split your skull, Egon took the mic for the PA system and announced, "Attention everyone, please calmly make your way to the auditorium; this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
After a few minutes, everyone in the lab had made their way into the huge and empty auditorium, with the pro heroes and slimy Bakugou talking very loudly over one another in a full-blown panic! The pro heroes and the lab staff were trying to get the young heroes under control, but that only seemed to make the panic even worse until the echoes caused it to make the empty place even louder than before! At this point, Egon jumps onto the stage with Izuku in an attempt to grab their attention.
"Everyone. Everyone! EVERYONE!", he tried shouting over them, but he got tired of it and yelled as loud as he could: "...QUITE!"
When that didn't work, a gunshot rang through the area, causing everyone to shut up and duck their heads for cover. When they looked up, they saw Hatsume holding a shotgun into the air with a hole in the roof of the auditorium. Cho yanked the gun from his hands and glared at the smiling man.
Izuku was the first to speak, and his voice cleared while he said, "Thank you, Hatsume." The pink-haired man smiled and gave a thumbs-up. Then, Izuku told the crowd, "Now then, I know you're all very confused about what is happening and trust us, we have everything under control. It was just a slight malfunction in the system, so there's no need to panic."
The two laboratory owners were then bewildered by the sight of the crowd looking not at them but in their direction. They looked at one another, and behind them, they saw a small black hole begging to grow. The two of them backed away from it and off the stage, where the pro heroes joined them in defense.
"Professor, is this part of the security system?", Eraserhead asked him.
"I was gonna ask if it was from you guys.", Egon prompted back.
A few moments later, the black hole expands tenfold with glowing yellow eyes. Then a man covered in severed hands, greasy grey hair, red eyes, scratched neck, and shaggy black clothes emerged from it alongside a whole arm of other weirdly dressed people and a huge monster. The monster was built like a mountain, wearing ripped pants, black skin, an exposed brain, a yellow beak, and unblinking eyes. The black hole was the last to show himself as a human-like figure with a head that moved like a flame, yellow eyes, and wearing a bartender suit.
The person covered in hands glared at them and said in a crackling voice, "Hello, heroes."
"Villains!", exclaimed one of the young heroes, making the pros step in front and ready for a fight.