Ch 29: Aftermath
"I AM HERE!", All Might announced while striking a pose as he jumped into a crowd of heroes and law officials surrounding the N.I.P facility.
"You are late. ,Nezu said next to the huge man, who had landed just inches by accidentally stepping on him.
"WHAT!? LATE?", All Might exclaimed in surprise while looking down at the mouse.
"Yes, All Might, late. The villains are dealt with, and the day is saved….mostly.", Aizawa told him as he lay on a stretcher with an EMT tending to his wounds.
All Might looked around at the area, seeing that Present Mic, Erasrehead, and Blood Vlad were in several states of injury, all of which were being tended to by EMT. They were undoubtedly in a huge battle, so he inquired, "ALL THANKS TO YOU THREE, RIGHT?"
Nezu shook his head and explained, "Not this time. It was a great deal of thanks to the scientists and staff of N.I.P and the students of classes 1-A and 1-B."
"THAT'S SURPRISING, BUT WONDERFUL TO HEAR!", All Might exclaimed zealously.
"Ahem! If I may interject.", a voice called out in between their conversation.
Nezu then walked up to the man and motioned with his paw; he introduced himself as, "Ah, All Might, this is Professor Egon Crystallo, the head researcher and owner of N.I.P."
Egon nods and says with a bit of malice, "Principal Nezu failed to mention you'd come today. But putting that aside, why were you late? You could've been of great help."
All Might taps his fingertips together and starts, "WELL, UM, WHERE SHOULD I START?"
Egon slaps his face, looks away, and wails his hand as he tells him, "On second thought, never mind."
"I HOPE NOTHING TOO BAD HAPPENED.", All Might asks in a concerned tone.
Egon raised his eyebrow and listed off, "You mean apart from being invaded, hacked, trapped, and attacked, and having in the ballpark range of a million dollars in damages due to the attack, alongside the injuries accrued by my staff?"
All Might felt awkward now, as he could almost taste the man's irritation. Trying to change the subject, he asked while looking ready, "WELL…ANYWAY, WHERE ARE THE VILLAINS?"
Present Mic shivered hard in a mix of disgust and fear, "Everywhere."
All Might was confused by his reaction and vague answer until he saw what he meant. A few hundred yards away, All Might could see a crime scene cleaning crew go in and out of the building with body bag after body bag. Adding toe tags, writing down information, taking pictures of the cadavers, and so forth. All Might saw it was bad, but it couldn't be as bad as Present Mic said. Until he overheard an officer say that they had about 200 dead villains in total to report about, and that was just a ballpark estimation since many more hadn't been found, couldn't be identified, and one of them was found inside of a plant with teeth!
All Might gulped as he tried to find a new escape plan. Seeing the two groups of UA students being questioned, he said, "I THINK I'LL JUST GO…THAT WAY."
Once All Might had dashed off in a fake attempt of concern, Nezu sighed and turned to Egon to tell him, "Well, Professor, I can't help but feel I owe you an apology."
Egon was taken aback by this statement and countered, "I mean, you did apologize for your out-of-control student, which I'm not forgiving you for, but I don't think I'm owed more."
"If it weren't for me, these villains wouldn't have come and put your facility and, more importantly, your employees in danger. I'm truly sorry. We'll pay for everything.", he told him while bowing deeply.
Egon waved his hands rapidly and said with a mix of stress and nervousness, "Nezu, please don't apologize for that. It's not your fault. No one could've expected something like this! And besides, I should be the one to thank you for allowing your students to fight in our defense. We'd probably be dead if not.", he then calmed down at seeing the mouse still bowing, only to tell him, "And please don't worry about paying for everything. I only expected what Bakugou broke; anything you give, I'll accept as a donation."
Neu smiled and said, "Thank you, professor. I hope we can rebuild our relationship in the future."
Egon smiled back but said in a serious tone, "I wouldn't mind just keeping that child on a tight leash and away from my lab until he makes a major attitude adjustment."
Nezu chuckles dryly while sweat drops, agreeing with his demand.
Egon then walked away from the mouse and back to the facility, where Izuku was sitting on the steps as the police questioned him. Once he was certain no one could hear him, he moved to Erasrehead as the EMT finished with him, and the tired man asked him, "Did you find out anything?"
Nezu nods and tells him seriously, "Lots and lots. Your source was right, Eraser. Something is going on there. And it's strange, to say the least. I'm not sure how they're doing it, but it has something to do with those Splinters. I mean, quirks in a crystal? That's new to me."
"Should I keep an eye on them?", Eraser offers.
Nezu nods and says, "Please do. I think they have good intentions, but if they turn bad, we'll have to do something drastic."
Eraserhead sighs and stresses, "I hope it doesn't come to that. I don't know how anyone is gonna take on a highly secure facility, an army of robots, a dragon, a wooly mammoth, Quirks in a bottle, two animals on the same intelligence level as you, and whatever else they got cooking up in there.", to which Nezu silently nods while thinking up all the worst scenarios.
"And is that everything?", the officer asked as he took down the final note from Egon and Izuku.
"Yes, sir, that's everything we can tell you and what's on the video feed we gave you.", Izuku affirmed.
"So about this dead monster. Where is it?", the officer asks, lifting the brim of his hat to look around and inside the building.
"Good question. I'm pretty sure the villains made off with it after they made their escape. We don't even have a recording of it disappearing on the tape. Trust me, we reviewed it after seeing it vanish."
"Well, that sure is a predicament.", the officer sighs while noting it down. I'm sorry about what happened to your facility, and I hope that you're able to rebuild it quickly. Have a nice day, sirs. " He tells them while tipping his hat before walking away.
Izuku and Egon waved off the officer, and once he was out of earshot, Egon turned to Izuku and congratulated him, "Good thinking with the invisibility Splinter, Izuku. After seeing that thing in action, I'm really curious how it ticks.", Izuku smiled at the praise until Egon followed up: "Now just one thing remains. Where did you put the invisible giant dead creature?"
Izuku opens his mouth to answer, then shoots open his eyes and goes silent and pale, which is more than enough of an answer for Egon, who sucks air between his teeth and laments, "Oh boy, this is gonna be fun."
Ch 30: Experimental Log; Top Secret: Autopsy
This is Doctor Izuku Midoriya reporting on a highly classified experiment with Professor Egon Crystallo and Professor Otto Cephalopod. For reference, a few days ago, when the head hero classes of UA came by, we were attacked by The League of Villains. We survived, obviously, but we managed to kill and hide the bodies of the monsters they called the Nomu. Now, we are starting an autopsy and dissection of the creature to discover its workings. Begin.
Looking at the cadaver, we can't immediately tell if it is human or not. Although it has an upright posture and hands with opposable digits, it could very well be an animal mutated with human DNA. Professor Cephalopod has taken several blood and tissue samples to Doctor Orpington to determine the exact creature it is.
Several things about the cadaver stick out: its massive height and muscle mass. This thing is nearly taller than all Might himself, and he's one of the tallest people in Japan, but not, if more so, muscular. I have never seen larger muscles on anything that doesn't have it as a quirk or through the use of drugs! These muscles are so big I'm surprised the creature could move in the first place, yet it could run with such grace and turn on a dime. Returning to its height-to-body composition ratio, the only other person taller than this is the Hero Fat Gum and his quirk Fat Absorption. But his height is natural, and his body fat is far less dense than regular fat, making it easy for him to walk, move, and fight. The cadaver probably has some sort of hidden mechanic in its body that is similar to it.
The second thing that sticks out right away is its brain. Although heavily damaged in the fight, its cranium was non-existent, allowing it to be exposed! Not clear, not some thin transparent filament, not even invisible, just exposed right to the nasal bone! The whole reason for the skull is to protect the highly fragile brain, which is the primary function of the entire body of any complex creature. The fact that something so important was just exposed to whatever in the world makes me think it's not so essential for the creature's survival. Despite its many wrinkles or intelligent thought, it did not show any sort of intelligence and took orders when directly given, like a trained dog or AI. The other surprising thing was its eyes, which were hooked directly into the brain. What purpose this serves, even if it could be seen, is still being determined.
The third thing that stands out is its charcoal-black skin. It's not hard or rough; it's quite soft and squishy, almost like Jello when touched. This explains why it was able to take blows but not cuts.
Then, the final thing that sticks out is its pants, which leads us to believe it was human in the first place. After all, why put any clothing on an animal? Humans are the only ones with a sense of shame. So, after...pulling them down, we were surprised to see that it had no male genitalia whatsoever; in fact, it had no genitals at all. I guess during its…transformation, it lost them, or they got removed, but no signs of scar tissue could be seen.
With the observation portion out of the way, we now move on to the actual autopsy and dissection.
Carefully removing what was left of the brain, we find that it has the same number of wrinkles, shape, size, and color as a human brain. The eyes hooked right into the optic center have shown no sign of surgical meddling, meaning that the eyes being so close to the brain tell it's a result of a Quirk. Seeing how close the distance is, we can now assess that the creature had excellent vision and could also process fast-moving images quickly. Well, send the brain off for more in-depth testing of its intrinsic signals and how they move.
Moving down, we find that the lower jaw is, or was, completely intact, with a full set of human teeth over a large beak. A normal thing for those with an avain Quirks. But why have this feature at all? Perhaps it's vestigular, like the genitals and brain. Either way, upon cutting into it, we find the vocals to be extremely damaged. Almost as if they had been inflamed and then constricted, not allowing for any intelligent speech and being limited to grunts and roars.
We opened the creature's body cavity from here, and boy, is it a mess! Its lungs and heart have been inflamed to massive proportions, which is needed for a creature of its size, in addition to having a second heart! It has no stomach, liver, pancreas, or gallbladder, and in place is a single organ that I can only guess is to keep it sustained. It has just shy of 2 inches of intestines, both large and small, no reproductive organs, and no rectum or anus. Honestly, this thing is just a mess!
After cutting it open further, we discovered that its bones are made entirely of metal! That explains how something so big and heavy could hold itself up. The metal is unique, and nothing has been seen, even amongst quirks like it. We attempted to cut into it with several methods but only got success after using a plasma cutter. We found it was metal all the way through, allowing for the support of such a huge body and showing it had very unusual metabolic needs.
Next, we examined its muscle composition, and it's amazing! The muscles are like those of an eightfold metal samurai sword—stacked on top of one another, making them huge. This explains its superhuman strength and how it was able to withstand the crushing weight of a 6-ton mammoth several times. Its ligaments were in the same category as its muscles but far more flexible, allowing for easy movement.
After this, we assumed that our dissection of the creature was complete until we saw parts of its body regenerating! We almost assumed it was still alive, but after evacuating the room and putting heavy firearms next to it, making sure if it got up, it wouldn't again, we said it wasn't still alive. After checking its unbeating heart and brainless head, it was concluded that it was most definitely dead. So, after calming down, we saw how the body was repairing itself, but ever so slowly. Even in death, this thing's regeneration is fantastic! We didn't think it would be able to self-resurrect, but just to be sure we didn't have a starfish case on our hands, we separated the creature into many different parts. After this, we took several skin, muscle, and bone samples for further study while we burned the rest. With that, this ends our dissection of the cadaver.
Note: Fire destroys the regeneration process.
This is Doctor Midoryia again, coming to report with more news on the cadaver, and honestly…..I'm terrified and sickened even to try and talk about it. After sending the blood, flesh, and brain to Orpington for further study, we discovered several things about the creature. One, that thing was definitely a human, no doubt about it. Two while…whatever was happening to it, this person was still alive. And three, the person's mind was still in there, buried deep away. We figured this was thanks to the doctor testing all its parts.
Apparently, she made a machine that, when hooked up to any amount of brain matter, so long as it's intact and not damaged to the point of being considered chopped meat, can actively read and recreate specific images or thoughts of a person. I hear the recordings, dispute Egon's warnings, and wish I had listened. The person was in there, buried deep behind who knows what, and was in pain the whole time! Begging to stop or just to kill them! These screams….god, these screams are going to haunt me. They're nothing like what you see and hear in the movies, not even close. But I can't feel bad now; what's done is done, and I hope they're at peace. At the very least, I can be assured that there is nothing that could be done for them. No reset button or cure—just the release of death.
Okay, I'm rambling, but the reason for this is the cadaver's quirk or many quirks! It had so many in its body! And I'm not talking like two or three; I'm talking like dozens! It had so many and had been mutated so far that death was the only humane thing to do. In order, it had the following quirks we designated by name: Bird Person, Soft and Stretch, Muscle Muscles, Big and Wide, Super Organ, W Heal, Metal Bones, Mind Null, Super Punch-Out.
Bird Person: An Avian quirk that was supposed to give the power of flight but only manifests as a bird's beak.
Soft and Stretch: this one allows the body to stretch and absorb blows like there is nothing, nearly making the body similar to rubber.
Muscle Muscle: this gives the increased muscle mass that stacks on top of one another but no superhuman strength.
Big and Wide: makes a person taller and wider at the shoulders.
Super Organ: makes certain organs far larger in the body and changes certain parts to compensate for it.
W Heal: grants super-speed regeneration and a natural cooling system that prevents the body from catching fire at rapidly regeneration cells.
Metal Bones: makes bones into metal.
Mind Null: makes a mind blank to the point of being immune to mental attacks and pain and acts separately for the body's action or allows for implanted control.
Super Punch-Out: this gives the super strength factor for increasing muscles.
After this, I wondered why this creature was made with such a specific set of quirks. It couldn't have been just a coincidence, and it wasn't. That's when I realized that this thing…..was designed to kill All Might. And It makes sense! The height to not be at a size disadvantage, the super strength to go against his and all the other things to accommodate it, the skin to absorb blows, the super regeneration for any damage done, and the attempted avian quirk! All Might has explicitly trouble with foes who can fly! This thing was made to be an All Might Killer! Luckily, they didn't count on us, Gammoth or Torch Wick.
We still have the skin and muscle for further testing, and Otto has requested to make a Splinter of the Cadaver's quirks. Egon green-lit this project, curious if it could even be done or if we would have to separate all the other quirks into separate Splinters. Well, find out soon enough. However, there is only one question remaining: where did the league get that thing, and who made it at all?
End of Log.
Ch 31: A New Problem, a Different Solution
"Okay, people.", Egon said as he slapped a meeting table where he and the entire staff of NIP were sitting. Now, I'm sure you all know why I've called you all here today," he asked them rhetorically.
"Because…it's your birthday?", Izuku asked innocently.
"No."
"Is it my birthday?", asked Hankyō.
"No."
"Are we getting a raise?", Genus asked hopefully.
"No!"
"You're gonna give me full and unrestricted access to the Singularity Soul?", Hatsume exclaimed excitedly.
"NO!"
"You finally got a girlfriend at 30," Cho asked while slapping the table, and Orpington clucked a laugh.
"Are we gonna do this!?", Egon asked back, already done with this charade.
Then Honey Lemon spoke up and asked cautiously, "Does it have to do with the fact that we were attacked and well underprepared, only getting out of it by the skin of our teeth due to our adversaries not doing their homework on us? What massive damages accrued from the attack? Or the rapidly developing dragon we have stored away?"
Egon sighs as he runs his nose and answers back, "Yes on all fronts. Going in no order, although the damages we faced were rather extravagant, we can fix them thanks to our funds and the ones provided by UA as a sorry/donation. On the other hand, if this event has taught us anything, it's that we are sorely underprepared for what's to come. We're working with tech and knowledge, which I'm sure countries will go to war for! So, we have to outfit this facility with all the measures of a small country's worth of military protection. So that is why I want all of you to be firing on all cylinders to make this place as secure as possible! This is a top priority. I'm talking about new tech, security codes, defenses, force fields, anti-warp quirk generators, literally anything you can think or make to get this place as safe and secure as possible!", he exclaimed.
"Yes sir!", everyone around the table replied in unison.
"And…the dragon?", Otto inquired.
"Ah yes, him.", Egon said with a huff before stressing, "Little Torch Wick isn't so little anymore."
"I liked him better when he was the size of a parrot.", Orpington squawked in complaint.
"So you could bully him?", Otto chastised her.
"He tried to eat me!", she fought back.
"Once and only once.", Otto corrected her as she tried to peck at his newly grown tentacles.
"We still haven't fully determined how big he'll grow, and I don't think we can continue increasing his enclosure sizes. Heck, I don't think such a thing could exist! Especially alongside the fact that he can fly.", Izuku lamented.
"And we can't just let him go galavanting off wherever he wants.", Cho added.
"And no country in the world is going to let us keep a dragon on their soil without wanting to know details," Hollyhock says.
Genus admits somberly, "I hate to say it, but we may have to terminate him."
Izuku looked down at the table, tightening his fists. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said back, "I hate to say it, but you may be right."
"Not really.", Hollyhock interjects.
All eyes fall on the smiling woman as Egon asks her, "You have an idea, Hollyhock?"
She nods and tells the group, "More of a working theory. You remember when you gave me a piece of the Singularity Soul?"
"What?!", Hatsume suddenly exclaimed, making everyone look at him. "You gave her a piece of it but are foraying me!?", he complained.
Egon slaps his face and tells him, "Hollyhock has her head screwed on right and doesn't want to make a death ray with it!"
"AH! But why can't I make a death ray!?", he wined like a child.
"Because I say so!", Egon yells at him, causing the man to sit down with a sulk. After calming himself down and pushing back his hair, Egon turns back and says, "Continue, Pam."
She explained to them, "Well, I took a small sample from the piece and managed to make a little something I like to call the Reset Bomb."
"Reset Bomb? What's that?", Egon and Izuku say at the same time.
She then pulls out a folder and opens a picture of something strangely shaped. It appears like a small machine on the verge of breaking to pieces, but it is held up and enraptured by vibes, roots, leaves, and other plant life, with a glow at the center that illuminates like a flame.
"When this little device hits any soil, it will instantly shoot back up an entire forest of indigenous plant life. Almost like if humans never cultivated it.", she explained to the group, making Izukus and Egon drop their jaws. "If I can make one big enough, tweak it a bit, and send it to the bottom of the ocean, I could potentially make an island that the Dragon could live on alongside any other animals or plants that can't be brought into the public and we can bring ourselves to terminate or keep.", she explained her idea.
Egon shoots up from his seat and exclaims, "Hollyhock, you're beautiful!"
She then took a saddened and serious tone as she told him, "Don't thank me yet; there's just one problem with it.", Everyone looked at her, confused by this comment, until she told them, "I have no idea how or where to test it."
Egon slumps back in his seat, deep in thought, thinking aloud, "That is a good point. Where in all of Japan could we use the Reset Bomb?"
As everyone was pondering how to remedy this problem, a thought struck Izuku, and he said, "I think I have just the thing."
Later
"You know, Izuku. I'll be honest. I didn't think you meant here of all places.", Egon told Izuku through the built-in speaker in his high-concentration radiation suite.
"Seriously? Where were you expecting?", Izuku asked back through his suite as he and Hollyhock set up what looked like a giant mechanical slingshot.
Izuku set the machine into place as the woman punched in coordinates on a device connected to it.
Egon shrugged and then, irritated, said back rhetorically, "I don't know? It's one of the several illegal logging sights in Japan. Just not Hokkaido!", he stressed while motioning to the dead zone a few yards away from them.
Dead trees, poisonous soil, and cracked ground that looked dry and mucky were just a few of the wasteland sights starched out before the once prosperous northern part of Japan that was once a hub for new and improved nuclear energy.
"But that's why it's perfect! Suppose the Reset Bomb can restore an environment to before it was inhabited. In that case, testing to see if it can destroy radioactive isotopes is just what we need.", Izuku exclaimed excitedly.
"I have to agree with him. It's genius.", Hollyhock agreed.
"Pam! I'm trying to be the voice of reason here! This place is a second Chornobyl! The isotopes here are so powerful that, even with clean up, this place will be unsafe for the next 3,000 years.", he exclaimed in a half yell, getting two sets of vastly different reactions to his outburst. Making the man deflate as he told them, "You'd better hope this Reset Bomb is as powerful as you say it is."
After this, the coordinates were locked, and each Reset Bomb was primed and ready. Egon had the pleasure of launching them and ended up laughing like a child the whole time, much to the amusement of the other scientists.
Izuku looked at a screen he was holding and said, "Alright, all 12 have been deployed."
Egon lay on the ground of the large flatbed vehicle they were riding in. He was out of breath from laughing and said, with a red flush face, "Gotta say. Launching highly dangerous eco bombs from a high-tech slingshot is tons of fun!" Eventually, he got up, and after calming down, he asked, "How long till they take effect?"
"They should start as soon as they hit the soil.", Hollyhock answered.
"Uh, Professor?", Izuku called, making Egon walk up to him as the teen continued, "The isotopes have gone down."
"Already? How far down?", he asked as he looked over his shoulder at the isotope reader in his hand. His eyes went wide as it read virtually nothing, and he asked while snatching the device and poking at it, "Is this thing broken?!"
"No. This is it.", Izuku afrimed.
Soon, the three scientists were alerted to a very strange sound. They looked out into the distance and saw all the plant life begin to resurrect from this rotten, poisonous death! All around and far into the distance, they saw trees and flowers sprout and bloom up in huge groves and thick canopies.
With eyes wide and the isotope reader dropped, Egon could only whisper, "Oh. My. Gods.", before spreading his arms and proclaiming, "It worked….it worked! IT WORKED!"
The man began to jump around for joy as Izuku hugged Hollyhock and told her, "Your invention did it, Pamela!", Pamela couldn't help but smile and look on at her work. But before they could continue, Izuku suddenly exclaimed, "Wait!" The two scientists looked at the teen as he asked the woman, "Do you have more?"
Even More Later
"And that does it. The entirety of Hokkaido is now radioactive-free.", Izuku told the scientist as he looked at his screen map of the subsection of Japan and the isotope reader.
All around them is a sea of new plant life with no harmful radiation. With no fear of mutation from radiation poisoning, they take off their suits and toss them to the side as they breathe in the new air of a long-gone place.
"And a new forest is growing on top of all of it. At least that means there's plenty of building material.", Egon said in a chipper tone while picking some wild fruit off one of the trees.
"Hollyhock, I hope you're proud. You just reopened an entire region of Japan for those who lost their homes.", Izuku congratulated the woman.
"I'm happy to have done my part for the community.", Hollyhock says with a smile, feeling the plants around her sing her praises for giving them back life.
"That's all well and good, but I suggest we beat feet out of here before the Government catches wind of the fact their cesspool of catastrophe is now safe for human life.", Egon told them while packaging the fruit and jumping in the driver's seat.
Hollyhock took up the passenger side and Izuku in the back as the tall man kicked their flatbed into a four-wheeler drive to traverse the newly roughed-out terrain.
As they drive out of the forest, Hollyhock speaks to Egon and asks him, "That brings up something I didn't get a chance at the meeting. What are we gonna do when our body of government overlords catches wind of what we're doing, and you know they will?"
"Well, we'll set up a meeting, establish ground rules, and then go public. From there, we'll be able to do more stuff.", Izuku assured her.
"Like making a new island for one dragon.", she commented back while raising an eyebrow.
Izuku smiled with a thumbs up and answered, "That's the plan."
Ch 32: Big Brother/Sister(?)
Back in Japan, at the National Diet, where the Prime minister presided, an elderly yet stern-looking woman was sitting at a table and eating a large Japanese-style breakfast while watching the news on her phone and skimming through the political section of a newspaper. Suddenly, her large office doors were slammed open, and a young man with a worm and ragged look burst in while running at top speed. He breathlessly ran to her.
"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! Important news!", the man practically yelled, a panicked look in his eyes.
Not dazed by this scene, the woman continues eating and reading while saying nonchalantly, "What is it, Ryu? I'm in the middle of breakfast."
"I-Its Hokkaido, ma'am!", he tells her in a hurried tone.
"It's a nuclear wasteland, Ryu. What about it?", she says, looking down at her paper and rolling her eyes as she changes the channel on her phone.
"It's...not.", he says vaguely.
Confused and shocked, the Prime minister puts down her paper to look at the young man and ask him, "What?"
The man took a deep breath and explained, "The science department just came with a report of the isotope levels in Hokkaido…suddenly dropping. It is safe for human habitation again!"
He placed a folder on the table and opened it. The prime minister took the folder and looked over the files within. After skimming through everything, her face growing ever more shocked, she finally put them down, took a sip of tea, and crossed her bony fingers in thought.
"I don't believe it. How did this happen?", she asked in a soft voice.
"It may have something to do with the dense forest that has sprouted up overnight.", Ryu offered.
The prime minister snapped her old head towards him, and while shooting him a look, she stated, "Really? Are you going off on an ecological miracle for an answer?"
He shrugged, then counteroffered, "Well, we also think that it may have to do with this place."
He said that he flipped through a few more pages in the folder, which brought up information about the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility, a picture of it alongside a picture of Egon and Izuku.
Narrowing her eyes at the photos, she said without looking up, "Call them up and set up a meeting."
When Egon got a call from the Prime minister of Japan herself seeking an audience, he was unsurprised but still nervous. Sure, he expected it to happen at some point and even very soon, but he couldn't hold his feelings. So he and Izuku got ready for the day that she came, even though they didn't have to get ready since they'd been prepping for it in advance. So it was all a matter of refresher and figuring out what to say.
So the day comes, and the two scientists find themselves in their meeting room with the head of government in Japan. An elderly lady who has shown years of experience and experience shit! Grey hair, wrinkles, yet sharp eyes, and an even sharper grimace. She was a force to be reckoned with. However, they had the ball in their court.
So they sat there and drank tea silently for the first few minutes.
"So, madam Priminister, enjoying your tea?", Egon inquired as she said nothing in return. Drumming his fingers to give off the sense he was nervous, he followed up, "I was wondering when you'd call. I suppose late is better than never."
She took another sip of her tea before saying, "After your most recent… "achievement" and many others hidden in the dark, your laboratory was brought to the forefront of my attention."
"Well, we did save Hokkaido and you billions in cleanup. Now all that money can go towards rebuilding.", Izuku argued back.
Sending him a hard glare, she retorted, "I didn't come to thank you for that or talk to a child."
Egon clinched his crossed hands at the comment and, trying to keep his cool, calmly told her, "With all due respect, madam, he is the whole reason that NIP exists. Without him, Hokkaido would still be a wasteland. So I suggest you respect him for that much, at the very least. He may be young, but even I have to admit he's far smarter than me."
The Prime minister looked between the man and the tree before sighing and saying, "Very well.", She then waved for one of her guards, and they brought out a huge stack of papers and two pens, and she told them, "Now onto the topic of business. Sign here and-."
"No, no, we won't be doing anything like that, madam.", Izuku quickly shut her down, making her glare harshly at him.
"I beg your pardon?", she asked back with a calm sharp tone.
"No offense, but NIP will not be one of your lap dogs held under your thumb, and there are many, many restrictions.", Izuku explained to her.
Egon chimed in and added, "Without even a single bit of help from any government funding or inclusion, we were able to build this place from the ground up and won't need it now."
She narrows her eyes at the men while tightening her hands around the pens and tells them, "I hope you realize what you are doing is illegal."
Both men resist the urge to laugh while Egon informs her, "We have plenty of certifications, notarized and accepted by the government with your seal of approval.", This fact makes the prime minister scowl at herself. While I admit we were trespassing on government property, it was also uninhabitable, and we made it habitable," Egon argues back nicely.
The prime minister opens her mouth to argue with him, but Izuku cuts her off as politely as he can and tells her, "Madam Priminister, let's just stop you right there. We're not going to budge unless you want to go in circles all day. And if you want to do a protracted court battle, I can give you the cards of the 17 law firms we hired.", he then gets a text on his phone, reads it, widens his eyes, and corrects himself, "Oh, sorry, now it's at 21 law firms."
The prime minister takes a very long, drawn-out breath. After calming herself down and maintaining the same neutral stern expression, she asks them, "What do you want, then?"
The two men smile at seeing her surrender, and Egon tells her, "In essence, we just want to be left alone. However, in return for this, you'll be the first to know about every invention, weapon, or creature we make here and have first dibs on it. Even before the public knows of it, if you want to buy it, then buy as much or as little as you want. Sounds good?"
She raised an eyebrow and asked, "So you want to be secretive and have open trade? Sounds rather suspicious. I won't know everything you're doing and for what reasons."
"We all have secrets, madam. Us with NIP and you with Hokkaido.", Egon says with a knowing hum in his voice, making the woman try her best to hide any expression. The man then continued and told her, "As for our reasons, it is for the good of humankind and science. We have no ill intent. And even if we did, we are not at a state where we can easily defend ourselves against you."
The Prime Minister closes her eyes and sits there in deep thought for a while. After that, she takes her tea glass, finishes it up, and, after smacking her lips, tells them, "Very well. You men have a deal."
Ch 33: Going Public
A few days later, an entire crowd of reporters stood around a mobile stage and podium with a microphone. The stage was set in front of the entryway of NIP, as they had heard this newly constructed research facility had a grand announcement to make to the wider public. The moment any news outlet heard this, people from all over Japan flocked to this one loan building in the middle of the city.
Izuku and Egon stood within the building, looking out into the sea of reporters eagerly awaiting the announcement. They were in their best suits and had practiced and rehearsed what they would say and do for this very day. Egon clapped his hand on the teen's shoulder and smiled at the boy as he saw him become very nervous. Izuku took a breath and smiled back at him, showing he was ready. The two of them walked out of the building and to the stage, where the hungry reporters began to shout questions and flash their cameras.
Egon strife up the mic and started off saying, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the press.", the crowd exploded into a strike of questions and flashing cameras as Egon exclaimed, "Please, please! Keep quiet!", the crowd went quite enough for him to talk. He continued saying, "Now I understand that you're all very excited and have many questions. We will get to that after the announcement we have for you. Now, before we begin, my name is Professor Egon Crystello, owner and head researcher of the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility, or N.I.P. for short. I will now allow NIP's vice president, Doctor Midoryia, to take over."
Egon stood off to the side as Izuku came to the mic, arched it down towards him, and cleared his throat while starting with, "H-Hello everyone, as the Professor has told you, I am Doctor Izuku Midoryia, vice president of NIP and second head Researcher.", yet again the whole crowd exploded the same way it did for Egon and Izuku also had to be firm in exclaiming, "Please hold on to all the questions I know you'll ask until after we've finished.", yet again they went quite enough for him to speak. After calming down internally, he continued, "Now then, I'm sure most of you have heard of our facilities attacked by the League of Villains no more than a week or so ago. Well, you'll be happy to know that we were able to handle that dire situation far better than we expected and have come out even stronger from it. Now, I'm also sure you're wondering why we here have decided to go public despite being up and running for over four months. Well, it's because we were trying to set ourselves up and stable. Our original plan was to go public much earlier until the aforementioned villain attacked. Still, I'd like to call it a blessing in disguise since we have far more defenses and security measures than before. If ever we are attacked again, then I truly pray for whoever is brave or dumb enough to do it.", he explained to the crowd.
After adjusting his overly tight tie, he said, "Now, getting to why I'm sure a few of you are here. You must be wondering what exactly it is we do here and-.", he fell off as he noticed a woman in the front row holding her hand up for the duration she was their and Izuku said to her, "Lady in the font you've had your hand up for the last five minutes and I'm getting tired from looking at it so please ask your question."
"Is it true that your facility does not have any form of government funding? And is it true that you've refused it when offered?", the woman asked after putting her hand down.
"Yes.", he answered simply, making the crowd ask even more questions, to which Izuku shut down, "Please hold your questions!", once they went quiet again, he sighed and continued from where he was before, "Getting back on track, I'm sure you're wondering what it is we do here. We have discovered a new form of energy that can be used in many ways. Still, the main application is to absorb a select type of material it is constantly soaking in and then reproduce it. This energy source, which we have dubbed Soul Energy, is placed into a special crystal that becomes what we have dubbed a Splinter."
As he explained all this, he took out an empty Splinter from his coat pocket and presented it to the crowd, who started to take pictures by the dozen. He put the Splinter away and explained, "From here, we use several methods to turn the blank energy source into something already existing or mix and match. Soul Energy can even be used by itself and causes a wide range of effects. And if you don't believe me, then how about I show you all one of our most successful and accident experiments."
At this point, Egon had vanished from sight to bring out their main attraction. A few seconds later, the glass entryway opened up like huge doors as a huge hairy animal stomped through before the awe-struck crowd. Noticing the ever-growing shadow behind him, he introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, meet Gammoth."
Gammoth, with Egon on her back, stood on her back legs and trumpeted out loud as if to show off to the crowd. They asked no questions but began to shoot as many pictures as possible of the previously extinct animal!
As they all awed before the huge creature, Izuku slyly added, "Now, with everything said, we will now be taking questions."
Just as he had planned, most of the crowd was solely focused on the mammoth, so only a select few people asked questions.
The first was an ordinary man asking, "How did you do this?! The elephant, I mean."
"Trade secret.", Izuku answered.
The next was a woman with a bird face who asked, "Was UA shown the wonders you created?"
"They were and were given a waiver not to say anything until it has gone public. So you'll see them bragging online about Gammoth and what she did during the attack.", Izuku explained.
After that, another woman, who was colored gold, inquired, "What are your intentions with such vast and seemingly limitless technology? Aren't you afraid villains and other groups will try to get their hands on it?"
"That's why we've been preparing before going public. As for our intentions, they are for the good of mankind and the pursuit of knowledge," Izuku told her.
"What are your quirks?", a man with a bird nest on his head asked.
Hearing this, Egon slid down Gammoth as she ate off some of the decorative plants. Taking the mic, he answered firmly, "That's not necessary information. Next question!"
But Izuku stopped him, grabbing at his sleeve and telling him in a low tone, "Egon, it's okay." Egon saw his assured smile, so he backed off and let Izuku speak, telling the person, "Professor Egon's quirk is used in the production of the Splinters. My quirk is more silent, unseen, and not very useful. If anything, my intelligence is my quirk."
The next person to ask was a strange man in a hoodie who covered his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Why is someone like you in a position like this?" he asked in a vague yet sinister tone.
Not realizing how he was spoken to, Izuku informed him, "I realize I'm very young for being a vice president, let alone a Doctor, but I can assure you that I-."
"Not that.", the man cut him off.
Confused, Izuku inquires, "I'm sorry. Then what did you mean?"
He calls in a loud tone, "How can someone who's quirkless get such a position?"
Causing nearly the whole crowd of reporters to stop taking pictures of the mammoth and look between him and Izuku, who now had his mouth dropped open in shock.
Taking a dry gulp, he tried to ask back, "Wait, how did you-?"
But the man angrily cut him off and proclaimed while inching his way up the stage to the podium, "You're nothing! You and the rest of your kind are nothing! You should've gone extinct long ago! This world belongs to us!"
Egon pulled Izuku behind him, took the mic, and yelled at him threateningly, "Okay, mister, that's quite enough! I don't know who you think you are, but you are done! Guards-!"
Egon tried to have him removed, but the man suddenly pulled out a gun from his hoodie, pointing it at Izuku, who was peeking out from behind Egon and shouted, "Quirk supremacy, you scum!"
The crowd screamed and began to panic! Egon covered Izuku in his body and waited for the gun to go off but never did as he heard the man suddenly scream! The two scientists looked over to where the man was and saw him dangling by his leg, high above the ground, in the trunk of a very angry Gammoth! The man tried to fire his gun at the animal, but she had enough experience with firearms to know what would happen, so she slammed him on the ground twice! Causing him to lose his weapon.
Feeling relief and calming down, Egon vexed him, saying, "Did you seriously forget about the mammoth not even 10 feet away from us? On second thought, don't answer that."
Gammoth then slammed the man down again before throwing him at one of the newly planted Willow trees. He didn't know that these were the new Snatching Willows, and he quickly found himself wrapped up in its many long leafy branches! All tried up and ready to be taken by law enforcement.
Ch 34: A New Home
"Okay, drop the package.", Izuku spoke over a radio as he, Egon, and Hollyhock oversaw the dropping of the tweaked Reset Bomb, now called the Island Bloom, on a boat in the ocean.
Egon and Hollyhock watched as the boy stood unsteady on the ship despite it not rocking at all, rubbing the newly formed dark rings under his eyes as he yawned. The two adults looked at one another, and Hollyhock motioned with her eyes. He nodded and walked over to the boy. He jumped when the man placed a hand on his shoulder and turned around with eyes full of adrenaline like a surprised animal.
"Izuku…are you sure you're okay to be out here?", Egon asks in concern.
Izuku bushes off his hand, waves him off, and replies nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Egon, we've taken every precaution possible. There were thousands of nautical miles from any sort of continent and hundreds from a human-inhabited island. Sure, the Reset Bomb is much bigger than the last, but we're over a hundred nautical miles from it and pointed in the opposite direction, so if it does get bigger than anticipated, we can easily move out of the way. We're literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
"That's not what he's referring to, sugar, and you know it.", Hollyhock interjected with a firm tone.
Egon breathed and told him, "Izuku, you nearly got killed by some quirk enthusiast. Your mother was crying while holding you for hours as police and heroes investigated the whole thing. It was such a big scandal that every news station is covering it."
"Not very well, I might add.", Hollyhock rolls her eyes at the memory of how a few news outlets reported on it.
"Aren't you in any way affected by this? What are you feeling?", Egon adds, looking at him with worry and fear.
Izuku looks off the side of the boat, his gaze distant as he replies, unconvincingly, "I feel….fine, just fine. Better to get back in the saddle than let the horse run off on you."
"You didn't have an equestrian accident; you almost died!", Egon exploded, making Izuku jump and look like a frightened rabbit. Egon calms down, breaths deep, and tells him, "Izuku, I'm just worried about you. Most people would be freaking out or trying to hide away after such an event. But not you."
Izuku thinks it over, shrugs, laughs, and tells him, "I guess I'm just built differently? I gotta keep an eye on these readings. 1 minute before sea bottom impact."
Egon and Hollyhock walked out of ear shit as Izuku had his eyes glued to the tracking screen. Once on the other end of the ship, Hollyhock stressed to him, "Egon, I'm worried about him."
Egon nods while putting his hand on his cheek and saying I'm stressed, "Me too, Pam. That kid went through a whole lot before I found him. I thought that by redirecting his interests and energy, I could help him. But I'm not sure if that's helped completely."
Hollyhock sighs as she looks over at him and says, "We all have to keep an eye on him. I think that the villain's attack might have changed something in him."
Egon nods and replies, "I think so too."
"Uh, professor?", Izuku suddenly calls, making Egon walk over to him, where he tells him, "The Island Bloom has reached the sea floor and is quickly expanding up and out."
"That's great to hear! That means it's wor-.", Egon tried to say congratulations before he was cut off.
"I said it was expanding out.", Izuku stated with more firmness and exaggeration.
Egon raised an eyebrow and said, "I heard you the first time, Izuku."
"Expanding out and fast! We gotta go!", he yells at the man, grabbing him by the collar.
Surprised and then aback by his sudden and rough actions, Egon pulls him off and assures him, saying, "Go? Izuku, we're over a hundred nautical miles from the drop point, so we should be perfectly safe. The island should be no bigger than 75 to 89 miles wide or long-.", but before he could continue, something forces him to look off the boat a before his eyes he saw an ever-growing and expanding land mass coming towards them! Egon panics and yells, "HOLY SHIT! Punch it, captain! Punch it!"
The captain sees what he's yelling about, panics, and kicks the boat into the fastest gear possible! The boat rocks hard, and the scientists on board have to hold on for dear life to keep from being thrown off! The boat pushes through the waves as fast as it can, but with its size, that is easier said than done.
Eventually, the rapidly growing island catches up and swallows them up! The boat makes landfall and crashes into the forming land, causing everyone to black out.
After some time, Izuku wakes up from his blackout session and sits up from the cold deck of the boat to run his throbbing head.
"Oh god, my head. What happened last night?", he asks himself before remembering what happened and shooting his eyes open to look around. From there, he tries to find his friends but can't, so he calls out to them in a panic. "Egon?Hollyhock? Captain? Where are you?!", he yells with increasing volume on each name, becoming more and more terrified.
"Right here!", Egon's voice calls out as he pulls himself out from one of the cabins.
"Man, that was a ride!", Hollyhock complained as she pulled herself out from some boxes.
Once Egon pulls himself up and out of a cabin, he helps the other two. From there, he cracks his back and tries to look over the boat to see where they are, but he doesn't see anything—just black darkness.
Had they been unconscious until the middle of the night? Then, his nose picks up on two things: dirt and pollen. He looks up and sees bits of light peaking out from something covering them. Then he realizes that they aren't at sea but underneath the canopy of a thick forest. Eventually, the other two realize this and look out with him as he stares in wonder.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, wow.", is all Egon can say.
"I think it was far bigger than 89 miles there, professor.", Hollyhock says in a snarky tone.
Egon raises a finger to her and says firmly, "Don't even start, Pam."
"My boat! You brainiacs owe me!", the Captain bursts out from the control deck and yells at them.
Realizing what their experiment had done, Egon assured him, "Don't worry; we can easily compensate you."
"So does that mean we can transport Torch Wick?", Izuku asks.
Egon looks around at the new environment, seeing it still grow in several smaller parts, and tells him, "I'd say we should wait for this place to…ripen a bit before doing anything. For now, let's try to get back to the mainland."
Ch 35: Mama?
One day at NIP, Egon barges into Izuku's office and calls out in a chipper tone, "You-hoo! Izuku! You….", He trails off at seeing the teen hunched over his computer and typing away at lightning-fast speeds. "Here?" He falls off while seeing the number of papers, notes, coffee cups, and other things strewn about in a mess. He gets closer to the boy and says in a careful tone, "...Izuku?"
Without looking up from his typing, Izuku replied in a monotone voice, "Hey, Professor."
Egon just stared at him for a while before trying to break the Ice by saying, "You sure are hard at work, and, um, how long have you been working?"
"Dunno.", Izuku replied with a small shrug, still not taking his eyes off the screen.
Egon felt his phone vibrate, and taking it out, he saw a text. Looking it over, he said to the inventive teen, "Your mom just sent me a text saying that you didn't return home yesterday." Izuku said nothing, thinking he did hear him. He asked a bit louder in concern, "Have you been here all night?", He still did not reply, so he just yelled, "Izuku!"
"I'm not sure.", he answered casually, only stopping to drink from the now-empty coffee cup.
Egon narrowed his eyes, put his hands on his hips, and exclaimed, "Okay, that's it!", He then took his young ward by the hand, yanked him out of his seat, and stated in a serious tone, "You and I are going out for lunch and fresh air!"
It took the teen a bit to realize what was happening, but when he did, he tried to fight back in vain to get back to his computer.
"What-huh? No! I still have tons of things to do!", He argued as he tried to reach out for it.
"Don't care! You need a break!", he exclaimed as he marched past the front desk, throwing off their lab coats. He said to his front desk lady, "Megan, we're going out to lunch!"
"Have a good lunch, sirs.", Megan said while waving them off.
Later
Egon and Izuku now sit in outdoor seating at a restaurant with an American theme. Sitting at a table closest to the street at the front of the establishment, Egon chowed down on a huge burger that was twice the size of his head! Though he seemed to be taking it all in with ease.
After wiping his face of hot cheese, he stated zealously, "Man, I love these things! They have the most authentic American food in all of Japan!"
However, he was the only one enjoying his food as Izuku sat there and stared at it with a blank and somber expression. Taking a long sip of his soda, Egon asked him, "Izuku, you haven't even touched your mega meat gut punch burger. You can't tell me you're not hungry. You've been on a liquid diet of caffeine since yesterday."
Izuku's gaze was still distant. His face was somber and pale, and the dark rings under his eyes looked darker and heavier than the last time. Whether this was from a lack of sleep or nutrition was up for debate. He just looked….sick….tired. Something was wrong, and Izuku was no good at lying.
"I'm just…thinking.", he replied in a distant voice.
"Anything you want to talk about?", Egon asked, putting his food down and giving him his full attention.
"No…", he said with a slow head shake, making Egon look away in concern. Only for the boy to suddenly perk up as he yelled, "Shit!"
Surprised by this and looking around in a frenzy, Egon asked, "What?". He then followed Izuku's eyes and saw a small group of students from UA, and more specifically class 1-A, walking towards them! "Shit!", Egon cursed with him.
"They're coming this way! What if they see us!?", Izuku exclaimed in a panic while pulling on his face.
"They won't.", Egon assured him firmly and took out a Splinter from his pocket.
Activating the blue-colored crystal shows a light around them that, when it died down, seemed to do nothing at first. Looking at himself, Izuku noticed that where Egon sat, an old man in his 80s was now. When he looked down at himself, he noticed he was in some kind of black-and-white goth outfit and was given some….attachments.
Completely dumbfounded by what was happening, Izuku babbled, "What is-?"
"Appearance changing Splinter. Just don't act like yourself.", Egon quickly answered in his normal voice.
Izuku did as he was told, took out his phone, and pretended to look at it. Just then, the small group of UA students walked by the restaurant where they were eating. The group consists of Mina, Kirishima, Kaminair, Sero, and Bakugou. They didn't mind the disguised scientist until something caught Kirishima's attention. The redhead stopped and looked over at the scientist and, more specifically, their food.
With eyes wide and mouth dripping with saliva, he asked with an excited glitter, "Woah! That's the biggest burger I've ever seen! Hey, old guy, where'd you get that!?"
"The restaurant right behind me. But I'm afraid they will stop making them at this time. You'll have to come earlier or on the weekend, but only on Saturday.", Egon put on a fake old man's voice while thumbing to the restaurant behind him.
Kirishima snapped his fingers and complained, "Ah, man! Well, thanks anyway, old guy."
As he left, Kainair said to him, "Bro, did you see that goth chick? Super hot!"
"Yeah, but she was with that old dude.", Kirishima told him, thinking up something nasty.
Kaminair waved him off and stated, "Maybe that's her grandpa?"
Luckily for them, and Izuku, most of all, throughout that whole interaction, Bakugou took no notice of them even once. Once they were out of sight, Egon took out the Splinter again and turned it off.
With a sigh, Egon heaved and offered, "That was too close. Maybe we should wrap up and eat back at the lab.", to which Izuku readily agreed.
So the scientists packed up their oversized food, left money on the table, and walked back toward the laboratory. On their way to it, Izuku, despite his distant glare, noticed something strange and brought it to his walking partner's attention.
"Hey, Egon?", the man hummed a reply as he told him, "There's a lady following us."
Egon took a peek behind them and saw a very ragged, dirty, thin, and seemingly unhinged lady walking behind them a few yards away. She looked worse for wear and almost ghost-like. Still, Egon tried to assure him, "Are you sure she isn't going in the same direction?", After several minutes of walking and the same lady still following them, now just a few feet away, he finally admitted, "Okay, she's following us."
"What do we do?", Izuku asked with concern.
Egon scanned the area around him for some kind of outlet, and when he did, he cleverly pointed it out and told him, "We're nearly at the lab. Once we reach that corner, we run like hell!"
Izuku nods, walking calmly. They resisted the urge to just boot at that very moment, even when they were only feet away from the corner. Once there, they ran like hell and didn't dare look back! Luckily for them, they didn't have to run very far since it was only a few blocks away. So their run was quick, and they made it through the front entry in record time!
"Hi Megan, bye Megan, we're back.", Egon said quickly to the woman.
"Welcome...back?", she replied, confused.
From there, the two of them ran into Egon's office, where he threw the food bags on his desk and locked his door for extra safety before finally relaxing and breathing heavily due to their lack of exercise!
"Made it!", Izuku said breathlessly.
"What a creepy old hag.", Egon huffed between words with a hard shiver.
Suddenly, they were both startled by the office phone ringing, and Egon quickly picked it up with his normal voice, answering, "Yes, Megan?"
"Sir, there's a woman here who wants to see you. She says she knows you.", the woman told him on the other end.
Izuku's eyes went wide at hearing this, and he mouthed, "You don't think."
Egon shrugged and asked her, "What does she look like?"
"Old, desperate, ragged.", Megan listed off.
Egon rolled his eyes and stated, "I meant her description, not your opinion."
"Old, dirty, crazy gray eyes, thin as a twig, blond hair, basically looks like a crackhead.", She listed off more in-depth.
Egon deflated and told Izuku, "Yep, it's that woman."
"What does she want? You're not going to see her, are you?", Izuku stressed to him in concern.
Egon thought for a bit, then instructed both his employees, "Keep the silent panic alarm ready, and bring the spider web Splinter."
Megan hangs up, and Izuku nods while going to the secret wall compartment to pull out the needed Splinter and keep it close to him. Once ready, they both walk out of the office and back to the front entryway. They haven't even gotten halfway into the room when the strange woman sees Egon and keeps at him!
"Honey!", She cried out.
Egon freaked momentarily, then activated his quirk and kept her at bay with the sharp ends of his crystals while yelling, "Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Back off, lady! I don't know who you think you are, but you'd better keep away!"
The woman looked hurt by his rejection and told him, "What are you talking about? It's me!"
Everyone was confused by this statement, most of all Egon, who replied, "You realize that "it's me, it's me" only works over the phone, right? If you're trying to be a scammer, you'd better try a different angle."
Now, she looked insulted by his accusation and stated, "What? No! I'm not a scammer. It's me, your mother!"
"What!?", Izuku and Megan shouted in unison.
"What?", Egon asked back with narrowed eyes, clearly not believing her. "Lady, just how dumb do you think I am? My mother is dead.", He firmly stated.
She then took an irritated disposition and rolled her eyes. She said, "Oh, is that what your father told you? Guess I can't blame him for how we broke things off. But I am your mother. I gave birth to you."
Suddenly, something clicked in Egon's head, and he said, "Oh! Wait a minute! Now I know you." The woman smiled at this, only to be shot down when he followed up by saying, "You're that evil witch my dad would always gripe about."
Her face twisted in anger as she yelled, "Evil witch!? The nerve of that man! I outta give him a piece of my mind! In fact, where is he? I'll go to him now!"
"Try the cemetery.", He offered while thumbing out the door.
"The what!?", She asked back in anger and shock.
"Yeah, he's been dead for well over a year. Him and my mom.", Egon informs.
"I keep telling you that I'm your mother!", The woman exclaimed, clearly annoyed with him.
Egon rolls his eyes at the claim and tells her, "No, you're not. Naomi was my mother. She died with my father in the same accident."
The woman raised her nearly gone eyebrows and asked, "Naomi? Who the hell is that?"
Egon sighs in irritation and explains, "My stepmother. She and my dad married when I was about six, and she's been my mom from then until she died. Do I have to keep talking about my dead parents to you? I'm gonna cry."
She takes a minute to process all this and then says aloud, "So….Rich is gone?"
Egon, clearly upset by this, half yelled, "Yes, how many times do I have to tell you?!"
"Rich?", Izuku inquired, noting it wasn't a normal Japanese name.
"My dad was half-American.", Egon quickly explained.
The woman then huffed, crossed her arms, and gritted her teeth, saying to herself, "Well, this seriously throws a wrench in my plans."
"Plan?", Egon repeated the word.
Not realizing she had said it aloud, she had no choice, so she explained to him, "I was going to get back together with your dad and be your mom again."
Egon's eyes shot open, and a smile exploded on his face. He laughed, "What!? Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Stop laughing! What's so funny?", She demanded.
After laughing for a bit, he calmed down and told her, "You! That's what! Even if my dad were still alive, he'd never get back with you!"
The woman took a snarky look. Placing her hands on her hips while flicking her scrappy hair, she retorted, "I wouldn't be so sure. I know my way around a man's heart."
Egon shivered at the display and commented, "More like around a man's pants."
She quickly drops the sexy act and goes back to being angry and entitled while yelling, "Excuse you!? How dare you speak to me like that! I am your mother, and you will treat me as such!"
Egon glared harshly at her and said, "How dare I? How dare you suddenly come out of, the gods know where, and try to input yourself back into my life like nothing happened! I just met you two minutes ago. Do you expect me to treat you with any decency, courtesy, or respect? Especially after what you did? Get real!"
Confused by this topic with zero context, Izuku carefully asked, "What did she do?"
Egon laughed dryly and said, with an angry, crazed look, "Oh, where do I start?"
The woman rolled her eyes and said casually, "Oh, come on, that all happened long ago."
"And it sent ripples that are felt today!", he yelled back, spreading his arms. The moment you found out what my dad's quirk was and what he did for work, you left me, took his money, and ran like thunder!", he accused her, making Megan softly whistle and Izuku look away uncomfortably.
She growled back and argued, "It's your dad's fault for lying to me in the first place! If it weren't for that, none of this would've happened!"
Confused by her statement, Izuku once again inquired, "His…quirk."
"My dad was quirkless.", Egon told him simply.
From this statement, a light shit in his head, and Izuku finally realized he had the answer to a whole host of questions he had in the back of his mind. He looked at the man and realized that of all the things he had thought up; he now knew that the man who had helped him so much had learned more about what it was like to be him from secondhand experience.
As Izuku was in a state of mindless thought, Egon continued his argument and half yelled, "And sure, I don't agree with him lying to you like that, but he was young, and the quirkless aren't given the time of day or treated like dirt. And he may have lied about his job and title, but he didn't do so about his salary."
"That still didn't make it any better.", She pouted in response while looking away.
Seeing her reaction, Egon clutched his hands and exclaimed in a rant, "And if stealing from him wasn't bad enough, you tried to throw me away the moment I was born! Like, literally threw me in the trash like garbage! And don't even try to say you didn't; my dad has proof, and I still have it. You could have left me at my dad's place or put me up for adoption, but no! What kind of sick animal would do such a thing!?"
The woman appeared to surrender. She sighed and slumped her shoulders while asking in a coy, cutesy tone, "Okay, I admit I was wrong for that, but can't you forgive me?"
Egon repressed the urge to moan in aggravation, so instead, he inquired, "By the way, Dad told me that when you ran out on him, you ditched him for some meathead with a "better Quirk" as you called it. What happened to him?"
Her face immediately shifts from cutesy to irritation, and she says in a pissed-off voice, "Oh, him? Don't even make me remember that jerk! He was lazy, leching, lying, good-for-nothing!"
Egon put on a fake expression of worry as he vexed her, "Aw jeez. Then why'd you leave him? Sounds like you two were a perfect pair! I'm sure you made a great couple."
She growled, rolling her eyes, and told him off, "Oh, don't even joke about that! Things were okay for the first few years until I had my second son and-."
Before she could continue, Egon stopped her and exclaimed, "Woah woah woah! Pump the breaks! I have a half-brother!?"
She looked confused by his focus on that part but shrugged and told him, "I guess, but he was such a pain, and even worse than his father! He got into so much trouble and eventually became a villain. My last straw was when I got a call from the police. So I left him and my son for good to find you again. And here I am! Aren't you happy?", she asked while batting her eyelashes and putting out her lower lip.
On anyone else, this might look cute, but on a meth head that looks like her, it was just disturbing. No one in the room tried to hide the intense disgust on their faces!
Which is when Megan asked, "Is she high?"
The woman immediately turned back into a Karen and demanded, "Excuse you!?"
"No, she's right. Are you? Cause you can't be serious. If you are, then let me spell it out for you. I'm not happy you're here; I don't want you to be here or in my life! I just met you, and I already hate you! I can finally see why my dad would bad-mouth you all the time. I'm sure the only reason you're here, besides your second screwed-up family life, is because you heard I made it big and wanted a slice of that pie, right?", Egon accuses her.
"Um."
"You just want my money. Not me, right?", Egon asks again, getting closer to her.
"Well."
"Well, you can forget it! I don't care what situation you're in; crawl back to whatever hole you slinked out of and continue to stay out of my life like you have for the past 30 years! You're not my mother, and you never have been! So get lost!", He shouted into her face before turning around to leave.
But she didn't leave. She stood there for a moment with her eyes down and covered over in her gaudy hair while clenching her hands.
"you….BRAT!", she yelled while jumping onto his back from behind and attacking him with her fists and nails! "GIVE ME MONEY! GIVE ME MONEY RIGHT NOW! I DESERVE IT! YOU OWE ME! BE USEFUL TO ME!", she demanded while screaming like a banshee.
"Get off, you crazy hag!", Egon yelled while trying to fend her off.
Megan panicked and froze in place at this! But Izuku did and sprang into action! Jumping on her back and ripping her off, Egon yelled, "Get off the Professor, you crazy lady!"
But she screamed loudly and harshly while suddenly getting a strange burst of strength and ripping Izuku off her and screaming, "Get off me, you quirkless runt!", Izuku was thrown against a wall where he was nearly knocked unconscious. She shivered in disgust and yelled, "How dare you touch me! I'm calling the police!"
But she never got the chance to pull her phone from her workout jeans as Egon saw red! He quickly grabbed one of the small decorative planter pillars and used it like a bat! The last thing she saw was Egon's furious expression. Before being walloped, she flew to the opposite end of the room!
Egon breathed hard while dropping the decor and commented, "Call that! Bitch!"
Sometime later, the police had been called and detained the woman. She was shoved into a cop car, but not without yelling and making wild demands before finally being driven away. Meanwhile, Egon spoke to another officer about everything that had happened. The officer had a sober expression as he had been there the last time the Laboratory was invaded.
After penciling down the last bit of information, the office apologized and said, "I'm sorry that you've experienced even more trouble at your facility, Professor."
Egon waved off his apology, assuring him, "There's no need to apologize, officer. This wasn't so bad compared to what we've been through before. And to be fair, I kinda let it happen when I should've turned her away at the door."
He tips the brim of his hat and tells the scientist, "Well, I'm kinda glad you didnt. She has several warrants for her arrest in several parts of Japan. You've done us a service."
"Galde, I could help.", Egon dryly chuckled. Just before the lawman left, Egon stopped him and inquired, "Oh, one more thing before you go. Could you look into something for me?"
The officer raised an eyebrow and replied, "That depends if it's within my reach of power."
"She had another son some time ago, my half-brother. He turned to villainy. Could you find out who he is and where he is?", he explained to him.
Again, the officer raised an eyebrow and asked, "Couldn't you do that yourself? You have the resources and tech."
"I'm a scientist, not a P.I.", Egon shoots back.
The officer laughs dryly and tells him, "Fair enough. I'll see what I can do but make no promises."
Egon nodded and thanked the man before going to where Izuku was being tended to by a doctor for his injuries. Kneeling, he asked, "How are you holding up?"
Izuku rubs the sore spot on his head and says with a dry laugh, "A bit sore, but I'm fine."
Egon sighs as he sits beside him and asks, "Remember what we talked about?"
"I don't know. We talk about a lot of things," Izuku says with a dry laugh.
Egon shoots him a look and reminds him, "About you taking unnecessary risks?"
Izuku looks away in shame and apologetically says, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it. I saw you in danger, and I blanked. I just….acted."
Egon sighed and ruffled his hair while telling him, "You are a good kid, Izuku. You just have a fuzzy head with a good heart.", Izuku smiled a bit until Egon firmly grasped his head, turning it to him as he told him in a serious tone, "But don't make stuff like that a habit. I can protect myself."
Izuku soberly nods in reply.