Chapter 15: The show must go on!!
Baymaxima sat in the teacher's meeting room, shifting within her backup body. It was identical to her old one, but its lack of use made its joints stiff and creaking, despite the maintenance she and Power Loader put into it. She would have swapped between her bodies at will, making sure it had seen plenty of use like her original, but she knew better than to risk it. AI transference between bodies without legal permission would have garnered serious consequences, throwing away all the work she had undertaken as an activist in AI rights.
But sadly, she could not dwell on the injustices that faced artificially created beings. Right now, something more pressing required her attention. Almost every teacher of UA had gathered in the meeting room with Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, the only exceptions being Power Loader, who was giving their systems a complete overhaul to purge any potential malware and spy programs, and Thirteen, still recovering in the hospital. Recovery Girl was also not there, currently doing her best to heal the space-themed woman.
"And what did Tsuburaya have to say about the villains?" Vlad King, Class 1-B's homeroom teacher asked Nezu, a look of distaste clear on his face. The man had made his distrust of the Villain-derived consultant/Support Item developer quite clear.
"Unfortunately, Tsuburaya, while having more experience with the dark web and criminal communications, has been equally unsuccessful in discovering any information about these… Tomura Shigaraki, Blood_Spider, and Kurogiri people." Nezu admitted.
"Are we certain he's not holding back information to aid these criminals?" Vlad King questioned, ignoring the glares sent to him by the other teachers.
"Tsuburaya is a morally flexible person, but he also prioritizes Midoriya's safety." Aizawa spoke up. The man had been lucky when he got out of the USJ, his worst injury having been severe blood loss caused by Blood_Spider. "I highly doubt he was involved in the villain's plan on the attack."
"You know he's made from Mysterio's brain, right? Deception is his specialty!" Vlad King growled, only to be silenced when the newest teacher spoke up from his seat.
"I've spoken with Tsuburaya constantly over the past year." Toshinori began. "In that time he has seen me in my weakest form and was well aware of my time limit, among other secrets that would be profitable to a man with less morals. However, he has not spread this information, or sold it to any party, let alone a villainous one."
"If we can get back to the topic at hand…" Snipe, third year teacher, spoke up before Vlad King could retort. "What was the AI able to tell us?"
Tsukauchi cleared his throat and looked over the report printed by Tsuburaya. "Well, he was thorough in compiling a detailed psychoanalytical profile on the three, though he admitted that a good chunk of it was speculation and limited due to the circumstances."
"To summarize, he doesn't think any of them were the brains behind this operation, since Shigaraki was an immature manchild, Kurogiri was submissive and lacked any form of initiative beyond protecting Shigaraki, and Blood_Spider quickly grew impatient waiting for the chance to in hurt people… although he noticed that Blood_Spider recognized Midoriya, calling him by an insulting nickname that came from his middle school, deku."
"A former classmate?" Cementoss, Modern Literature teacher, speculated.
"Perhaps, but there's no record of anyone with a Blood manipulation Quirk." Tsukauchi looked over the notes. "However… there is one similarity to a cold case I noticed… but I don't have all the details yet, and I'll need to follow up with young Midoriya for any possible leads."
"Speaking of Midoriya though…." Midnight, the Modern Hero Art Teacher, spoke up, unusually somber. "Someone leaked that photo of that student to try and set people against us."
"Do we have any idea about who actually took that photo?" Present Mic, English Teacher, spoke up, shedding his upbeat persona for a more serious one.
"No. No one had a camera out, or a quirk that could function as one." Ectoplasm, Math Teacher, noted. "However, I admit I was distracted by making sure our students were alright to really notice if anyone was taking pictures." The other teachers muttered, agreeing with the mathematics teacher.
"So how will we address this to the public? The longer we stay silent, the more rumors and slander will appear." Baymaxima noted.
"I will speak with Young Midoriya regarding this after our students return to school." Nezu said softly. "I already have a few ideas on what path forward we could take, but each one comes with its own risks. I just hope that things don't continue to deteriorate."
Tsuburaya hovered in the now empty Studio. He felt a strong urge to follow his student home. He had considered doing it in the past, but decided it was unnecessary at the time, not to mention creepy. However, with the leak of Midoriya's choice in persona, Tsuburaya felt that some extra caution would be needed to prevent harassment. He knew that Midoriya didn't like it when he did such things, but Tsuburaya was never one to allow things to be beyond his control if he could help it.
However, before he could send out some cloaked minidrones, he heard a clatter. The AI sighed audibly. "Look, they were just here to hang out. It's nothing you need be concerned with-"
The drone froze in its position. Sitting upon an empty table was a centipede. A massive, evil looking centipede with an unnatural glow to its eyes. The sight of it made the AI go very still. Few things could make him afraid… but this was one of them.
Tsuburaya, in the time he had been teaching Midoriya, had told his successor many stories of the man he was based on. His time growing up in Riverside, California. Meeting his own idol, Ray Bradhaus, and surpassing him. Joining up with the various incarnations of the Sinister Six. Using his special effects mastery to convince J. Jonah Jameson that he was in hell being tortured by a Devil shaped like Spider-Man. Being hired by Harry Osborne to plant false memories of Gwen Stacy having a relationship with Norman Osborn in her friend, Mary Jane Watson. Shattering a mystical tablet that made him a virtual god, only for Spider-Man to team up with three of his counterparts from other worlds to defeat him. Discovering a world where Spider-man had died and a new one, a young boy, took up the mantle in his place. The time the Sinister Six nearly destroyed the world until his archenemy Spider-man convinced him to turn on Octavius. Observing Daniel Beckhart and Francis Klum, two people who had taken up his mantle, fight over the right to bear it, only to both be bested by Spider-man and a third party. Learning that he was pivotal in causing an apocalyptic bad future by tricking Wolverine into slaughtering the X-men, and the villains who wanted him to recreate it in spite of his own wishes. Accidentally becoming a bearer of the dark god Cyttorak's power, at the cost of his android daughter's life.
Horrible deeds, some he regretted with the benefit of hindsight and a clearer head. But all of them he admitted to his protege when the boy asked. (Though he was sure to leave out the more… awful details until he was certain the boy could handle it.)
But one story he had never told his apprentice was the one about the first time he was dying of cancer. When he grew so desperate for a theatrical end he manipulated Daredevil, real name Matt Murdock, in a gambit to make the Man without Fear kill him. A scheme that had failed horribly, with Daredevil deviating at the most important moment, leaving him free to mock him, call him a hack and a human Xerox machine. The man deconstructed his grand swan song, calling it little more than a cliche-filled B-movie plot that had been done before, and by better men than him. So he left Beck on the ground, alive, so broken that the illusionist had taken a gun to his head, only acknowledging how he was copying Kraven's own suicide.
Of course, people had assumed that Beck faked his death and gone into hiding. Not unreasonable, he had successfully pulled off that act several times prior. So naturally, Midoriya had asked about the circumstances around his time fighting Daredevil… but Tsuburaya would always change the subject. He'd always pretend he didn't hear it, or plant a false text message from the boy's mother to get him to leave.
Not because he was ashamed of the story itself. He had long since accepted that he had been a horrible person in life. The acts he committed to try to drive Matt Murdock to madness were, honestly, just another pound of flesh on the scale of his sins, with the suicide being a cherry on top. No, he didn't talk about it because it wasn't a trick. He had indeed been that depressed and broken, so he just tried to end it all. The act had ensured his damnation, though at that point it had been little more than a rubber stamp of confirmation.
So naturally, he had gone to hell… and when he arrived, he found himself recruited by a new boss. A boss that, even though he was long gone, Beck, and Tsuburaya, feared defying again.
The centipede crawled off the table, joining up with a thousand more identical creatures that seemed to morph and fuse together, becoming a zombified figure in a hood, trench coat and bandages.
"Hello Beck." the centipede hissed out, its voice echoed several times over by its fellow anthropods.
"Im… impossible! You died!" Tsuburaya backed away, feeling terror on par with the attack on the USJ.
"Oh, Kindred is dead, unfortunately. He was quite the entertaining pawn to torment Spider-Man. But he was just the middle manager. You can think of me as the CEO." the legion of hellish centipedes hissed out. "This form is simply to make sure you take this conversation seriously."
"....then… you're-" Tsuburaya floated backwards, the Ludwig avatar fearful and shaking.
"Mephisto…" the demon confirmed.
"But Quentin Beck cleared his debt to you!" the AI protested. "And even if he hasn't, he should already be in your realm!! I'm just a copy of Beck! I'm not actually-"
"As fascinating as it is to discuss the philosophy of mind-born AIs and if they count as their own being with their own souls, that's not why I'm here." The demon dryly interrupted. "We need to talk about your apprentice, and the man who wants to kill him."
"The Shigaraki punk? What about him?" Tsuburaya asked. "And since when did you care about what humans do outside of the deals you make with them?"
"I don't, normally." Mephisto admitted. "But that mortal is in service of someone dangerously powerful, and I cannot risk exposing myself to his master, or any other 'heroes' that have appeared."
That gave Tsuburaya pause. From what he saw of the hand-covered villain, he was an immature brat who expected things to go exactly as he planned, only to throw tantrums at the slightest hurdle sent his way. Not the kind of person who would plan out an invasion with that amount of precision and skill. So naturally, Tsuburaya had figured that the young man was little more than a pawn for another, more dangerous person, a theory that was shared with All Might and the detective in charge of the case. But to hear that even one of the most dangerous demons of the afterlife was concerned?
"....how powerful are we talking about?" Tsuburaya asked, dreading the answer.
The mass of centipedes chattered and clicked amongst… themselves? Itself, seemingly debating how much it should tell the AI, before it eventually spoke up again. "Your society knows him as a boogeyman from the dawn of Quirks… a mythical thief whispered about in the dark underbelly of society, who can take away Quirks and give them out at will."
Tsuburaya's hologram had nodded. He, like many other villains from the early days of Quirks, had heard the rumors of the Shadow King of Japan. A villain who had amassed enough power that it took the entire JSDF, The Avengers lead by Thor, the X-men lead by Wolverine, and several vigilante groups to take his forces down. It was an admirable fight on the Shadow King's part, but he was soon arrested, though the prison was later destroyed in a mass breakout, no body of that man had been discovered. However, it was quite clear from reports that the non-quirked heroes held an advantage, as shown when he tried to take the power of Wolverine, the Hulk, Dr. Strange, and Thor at different times, and received only retaliatory strikes for his efforts. In the end, the man was considered little more than a wannabe Doctor Doom. A threat that had a lot of power, but had already been dealt with.
"I'm assuming he took a Quirk that made him long lived, and he's behind the USJ attack?" Tsuburaya asked, mostly in a rhetorical sense. The Demon nodded, but Tsuburaya still had a question. "But so what if he can take Quirks? If he can't take the powers of mutants, nonhumans, magic users, or Altereds, he shouldn't be a threat to you, so why are you so concerned?"
"Because ever since he battled that "All Might" mortal, he's undergone treatments to improve himself, growing stronger not just in physical power, but in capability. So now? He may only be able to take quirks… but now he can copy non-quirk powers."
Midoriya approached UA High. As he had feared, some people on the train he had taken to school were eyeing him in suspicion. Though he wasn't the only green haired person the people around him treated with suspicion, Midoriya couldn't help but feel guilty. If he had just dodged the nomu's attack, he could have avoided causing such a huge uproar among people, and now his peers were put into the crosshairs for it.
Still lost in his worries, Midoriya entered the school. As he walked down the hallways, he saw that several people, none of them a part of his class, were watching him in suspicion and fear.
'I don't know how much longer I can take this.' Midoriya sidestepped a large student who gave him a dirty look, but his distracted thoughts caused him to run into another student. "Oh, I'm so sorry!!"
"It's fi- Midoriya?"
Midoriya looked at the speaker. "Ts-Tsunotori?" It was the American girl from his Entrance Exam, wearing a Hero Class uniform and watching him with concern. "I, I didn't hurt you or anything, did I??"
"No…" she said, her Japanese better than it had been the last time he saw her, but she avoided his gaze. "...listen, you should be careful around 1-B… some of my classmates have been getting riled up by our teacher."
"Because of the Mysterio picture?" Midoriya asked.
Tsunotori did a 'so-so' gesture. "Somewhat… but I think it's mostly because it's been barely into the school year, and already your class has media attention on it."
"Really?? I thought everyone was going nuts over that picture." Midoriya asked.
"Some are… but my class doesn't really care besides the extra attention. And I don't get why people are up in arms over the photo." Tsunotori rolled her eyes.
"Huh… no offense, but I thought you would be upset by that." Midoriya admitted, but when she looked at him confused, he realized that he should probably clarify. "B-because you're American, like the original Mysterio was."
"I suppose, but he was based in New York. I'm a Texan. Outside of his state, most people barely give Quentin Beck or his successors a second thought outside of when they talk about the Sinister Six." Tsunotori pointed out. "It's weird, but Japan has been the most vocal about Mysterio in general."
Midoriya hummed. "Yeah, I don't know why people obsess over him, either."
"Really? Huh." Tsunotori stared at him, her expression one of analyzing. Before Midoriya could ask what was wrong, she stopped. "Here's my classroom. Have a good day."
"You too Tsunotori!" Midoriya said with a wave and smile, the latter of which she nervously returned before going inside.
Midoriya made it to his classroom, where almost everyone was gathered around, chatting excitedly to a girl with light colored skin, caramel colored hair, and green eyes, but no body beneath her neck. "Hey Toru! Enjoying the mask?"
The girl, Toru, looked over, smiling brightly, happy that people could see that she was doing so. "I love it!"
"Dang, that looks so much like real skin...!" Ojiro commented, poking Toru's cheek. "It even feels like the real thing too!"
"Well, yeah. If it looked fake it wouldn't be a very good disguise, would it?" Midoriya pointed out, only to be tackled by Toru, who gave him a big hug. Ochako glared, but her joy for Toru outweighed and anger she felt, so instead she worked to revive Midoriya from his affection-induced coma.
Some small talk was made, people updating each other on what they did during the impromptu break, sympathy was given to Midoriya and Tsu, two people harassed over the photograph, all of which ended when Aizawa entered. He looked a bit paler than normal, but otherwise he was as he always was. The class immediately fell silent, earning a grunt of approval from him. Then, he made an announcement that surprised a good chunk of the class.
"We're still doing the sports festival??" Kaminari asked.
"But shouldn't it be canceled because of the USJ??" Jiro asked.
"That would be the most rational thing to do, but the board of directors and HPSC want to prove that everything's fine and reassure people, so they're going ahead with it." Aizawa grumbled, disapproval clear in his voice. "However, as a precaution we'll be doubling the security and calling in any off duty pro heroes to patrol the stadium grounds."
"What's more, the Sports Festival is important for your career as heroes." Aizawa continued. "This is a chance to be seen and to make an impact on the hero community at large. It will be seen by every pro hero in the country, and thus will be instrumental in attracting attention for a pro hero looking to gain a sidekick."
"I dunno…" Sero muttered. "Still seems kinda soon-"
"Come on guys…!"
Everyone turned to Ochako, shocked by the intense aura the normally bubbly girl gave off. "We took on a horde of villains! We can handle a few sporting events!"
'...I'm both scared and attracted right now.' Midoriya thought to himself.
"Any questions regarding the Sports Festival?" Aiazwa asked, unperturbed by the girl's eagerness.
"Are we allowed to bring in support items?" Iida asked with his hand high in the air, and immediately several people turned to Midoriya with a knowing look, which he nodded, blushing, knowing exactly what they were thinking.
"Yes, each Hero student may bring in one nonessential support item." Aizawa calmly explained, and when he saw Midoriya raise his hand, he growled. "No, entire costumes do not count. The support item can only perform one nonessential function, so I recommend you think carefully about which one you choose to bring in."
"Actually, I was going to ask what would count as 'nonessential' support gear?" Midoriya explained, to which Aizawa quietly hummed before answering.
"The UA Sports festival will allow Hero Students to bring in only items that can do something you're capable of better." Seeing several confused stares, Aizawa sighed. "For example, if Bakugo was to submit his costume's gauntlets for the Sports Festival, they'd be rejected because of their capability to store his sweat, which Bakugo cannot do on his own." 'To say nothing of how destructive they are.' "However, if he brought in gloves that helped him with aiming, or focusing the blasts to be smaller, that would be acceptable since, with enough training, he could do that on his own.
"Oh… So then... Koji could bring in a mask that amplifies his voice, and he could more easily summon his birds to help out in the festival?" Midoriya suggested, the boy in question going very still at being called out like this. "It doesn't do anything but make his voice louder, so that would count, right?"
Aizawa stared at Midoriya in suspicion before answering. "....yes, Koji could use his mask to summon his animals for help instead of shouting."
Koji's eyes widened, having never thought that getting his animal friends to help him would have been allowed in such an event that was all about their physical strength.
"Thank you for clearing that up, sensei!" Midoriya leaned down, doodling in his notebook.
"....are you trying to sell us more support gear?" Mina asked with a teasing smirk.
"Perhaps. Are you interested?" Midoriya responded without looking at her.
"Midoriya!! Please do not use class time to sell your company's wares!!" Iida shouted, his arm, as always, chopping with each word.
Aizawa groaned in response.
Soon, it was time for lunch, and the students got up, eager to get some food. Unfortunately, they found a large crowd outside their classroom.
"Excuse me! Could you please clear the way for us?? We would like to get some lunch!" Iida proclaimed, pushing his way forward.
"So this is the infamous class 1-A."
The speaker stepped forward. He was a tired looking student, with visible bags under his eyes, and messy purple hair that looked as if he woke up without attempting to comb it.
"What's going on??" Kirishima asked his classmates, while Bakugo scoffed and moved forward.
"Isn't it obvious? They're here to check out the competition."
"Partially!" Another student, blonde with blue eyes and a smug smirk upon his face, stepped forward. Midoriya recognized him as one of the examinees from the entrance exam. A power copier, if his memory was right. "Some of us want to see if the hype regarding your class was merited! From what I've seen so far I'm disappointed!"
"You haven't even been here a minute." Midoriya spoke up before Bakugo could, already finding himself disliking the blonde copier.
"And in that minute, I've only seen a bunch of selfish spotlight hoggers! Why, even that photo leaking has brought more attention to your class!" the boy snidely dismissed.
"You jerk! It's not like we wanted villains to show up!" Ochako spat at the boy, who only laughed.
"Be that as it may, your time in the spotlight will soon be over, for now everyone else will be gunning for- HRRK!" A massive hand had chopped the boy in the back of his neck, seemingly paralyzing him.
"I apologize for Monoma." The hand's owner, a girl with orange hair tied up in a ponytail, muttered. "I'm Itsuka Kendo, Representative for Class I-B, and I take responsibility for Monoma's behavior. He's been acting insufferable ever since those photos leaked."
"He's not the only one…" Pony muttered, appearing beside Kendo.
"He's not wrong, though." The purple-haired boy spoke up again, his expression unchanged. "See, the entrance exam doesn't account for all types of powers. Some quirks aren't effective on robots, so potential heroes slip through the cracks. But the Sports Festival gives those people a chance to prove themselves, and take a seat away from a hero course student that doesn't do as well." He smirked. "So watch yourselves. Cause you may find yourselves kicked out of the hero course."
Bakugo looked to speak, or rather, shout in response, but Midoriya beat him to it.
"Challenge accepted!"
The purple haired boy looked over, shocked. "Excuse me?"
"I was concerned that some people wouldn't be able to make an impression, so hearing you guys have a chance to get into the hero course is great!" Midoriya explained.
"Even if you lose your spot?" another student asked.
Midoriya shrugged. "It would suck, but hey, that just means I wasn't meant to be here." But then Midoriya's look became more determined. "But make no mistake. My classmates and I won't just be handing over our spots. You want a seat in our class? Prove that you deserve it, first."
"So manly!" Kirishima cried out, at the same time a boy with silver hair did. The two took notice of the other, and immediately started pointing to one another.
"....hm. Maybe you're not all that bad, Green." the tired looking boy said, ignoring the two students accusing each other of being copies.
"Thanks Purple." Midoriya said with a smirk, extending his hand. "Izuku Midoriya."
"Hitoshi Shinso."
At the end of the school day, Midoriya entered Principal Nezu's office.
"Ah, young Midoriya, thank you for coming." the mystery mammal beamed at the illusionist.
"Is something the matter?" Midoriya asked.
"Not quite. I just wanted to discuss the upcoming Sports Festival." Nezu reached into his desk and pulled out a small red, white, and blue armband with the UA crest sewn onto it. "Whenever UA gets an illusionist student, we always have them wear these tracking devices during the Sports Festival so that we can accurately get a read on their location. We can't have you stay in one spot while your illusions do all the work, you know!"
"I understand." Midoriya said, reaching into his bag and pulling out some blueprints. "I finished up work on the Support Gear I'm submitting to the festival."
Nezu took the papers and looked it over, his grin widening. "Excellent work…! I think this will be perfectly fine, if somewhat massive." Nezu set the blueprints aside in a pile for other approved Sports Festival Gear. "Planning to overwhelm your classmates, are we?" The mammal didn't sound disapproving, only curious, which made Midoriya internally shudder.
"Actually..." Midoriya paused, shuffling nervously. "I designed it that way because... well, I had…. Some ideas for it I wanted to do in the Sports Festival, but only with your permission."
"Oh, like what?" Nezu asked, head tilting in curiosity, his face unchanging.
"Well… what if we added something new to the games?" Midoriya asked. "Namely… extra challenges during each event."
"That would depend on the challenges." Nezu pondered. "In addition, we would have to be careful with how this is presented. We cannot show favoritism, after all."
"True… but we also want to reassure people that we're capable and strong, yes?" Midoriya asked, receiving a nod from the principal. "Well… nothing says capable and strong like overcoming unfair odds."
Nezu smiled, his sharp teeth making Midoriya uncomfortable. "Tell me more."
Midoriya reached into his bag and pulled out a Data Drive. "I made a list of possible challenge scenarios based upon the events done in past Sports Festival games. When you've approved them, I'll get them ready."
Nezu nodded. "I'll look them over and send the results tonight. But aren't you concerned with people connecting this to the Mysterio picture?"
"About that… that's the main thing I need to talk to you about."
"Good afternoon! This is Jitsu Fuhai here with an exclusive interview with the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might!"
"Glad to be here!"
Within a TV Studio, before a live audience, All Might sat in a yellow pinstripe suit, finally speaking up to Japan, and possibly the world, about the UA incident and what happened.
"So All Might, recently your students were attacked under the watch of the most prestigious Hero School in the country." Jitsu Fuhai spoke with a bit more sympathy than normal for the woman who thrived on jeering and mockery. "Now, thankfully no one suffered serious injuries save for the Hero Teachers, who are expected to make full recovery within a week, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that event has everyone shaken to their core." The audience in the room yelled their confirmation and words of agreement before falling silent. "So, for the sake of everyone at home, do you think you'll be willing to answer some questions?
"Why, certainly, as long as it's not about world history!" That got a few chuckles out of the audience and Jitsu Fuhai.
"Well first… reports state that the villains there were attempting to kill you, but you had arrived late. Did you find out about their plan early on?"
"As much as it shames me to admit it, no, I was unaware of the plot until after the majority of the crisis had passed." All Might looked down, bowing his head low. "To the families of my students, I deeply apologize for not being there to protect them. I swear I will never again allow such a thing to happen while I am their teacher."
"So what were you doing, if not trying to bait them out?"
"As embarrassing as it is to admit this, I had neglected the more… organized side of my teaching position, and stayed behind to finish up my paperwork. As the class in question was a rescue training exercise headed by two teachers with much more skill in that area than what I possess, I thought the class would be fine without me. It was only when Nezu failed to contact the teachers that I realized what had happened and rushed over there. I wish I could give a better reason, but alas."
"Alright, next, what is your Quirk?"
"It's called 'Fawcett Follicles!' It grants me the ability to constantly have luxurious hair, all without product!" All Might laughed heartily. The audience, used to the Pro Hero's deflections, chuckled politely.
"Now, regarding the villain student-"
"None of my students are villains."
Shocked by the interruption, which All Might had never done in an interview before, the reporter/talk show host could only stutter out "....I-I'm sorry?"
"I think you heard me quite clearly." All Might was no longer smiling, instead he had a stern expression as he faced the cameras. "To be clear, yes, we have a student who was dressed as Mysterio for his hero costume. However, that does not make him a villain by default. Only his actions and reasons would do so, which they don't. Prior to his official enrollment, Nezu visited the student's home, questioned him about his reasons for being a hero and source of his technology, and found the answers to be satisfactory. What's more, in all of his classes, including my own, the student in question has shown himself to be a dedicated student who truly wants to help people."
"But… your student is wearing a villain's persona-"
"For reasons that I will not disclose without his permission, nor will I say who he is unless he chooses to reveal himself." All Might interrupted once again. "I may be new to teaching, but I take the subject of my students VERY seriously, and hearing all this slander and libel has, in all honesty, sickened me." He noticeably glared at the woman doing the interview, who felt even smaller than normal beside the man.
"But picking this persona could be seen as offensive to people whose families suffered at the hands of the villain." Jitsu Fuhai tried to counter, only for All Might to have his own counterargument ready.
"Quentin Beck lived in another country, and only one scheme brought him to Japan, and that was just before the Dawn of Quirks. Anyone alive in that time would have died by now, as would their children have. Plenty of heroes have used controversial names and personas in their line of work. I see no reason why this student should get more attention than others."
"But… why would someone wear the costume of someone so notorious?" Jitsu questioned. "Surely he's aware of the massive dislike people have towards the Pre-Quirk villain? Didn't you try to dissuade him from choosing it?"
"Trust me, he and I are both more than aware of this country's attitude towards this specific persona. But he is dedicated to being a hero, if not even moreso, as he is to redeeming the name of Mysterio."
"I'm sorry… 'redeem?'"
"My student believes that someone's origins does not define who they are, whether they were Quirkless or related to a villain. He wants to prove that even someone with villainous powers, or in his case, villainous technology, can do good."
Shigaraki watched the interview on his TV, scratching at his neck in anger. "That bastard… not enough people are talking about our attack! They're just focused on that bubble-faced griefer!"
"I thought that was what you wanted?" Kurogiri asked as he wiped clean some dirty glasses.
"I wanted that griefer to be kicked from the server, but instead he overshadowed us and our raid!" Shigaraki whined.
"Doesn't matter." Blood_Spider sat on a stool, using one of his blood tendrils to hold up his drink. "Once I get those spider powers, Deku'll just be another blood bag for me to suck dry."
"Not until Sensei steals his Quirk." Shigaraki reminded him.
"Assuming it is a quirk and not some kind of Alteration or Mutation." Blood_Spider shot back.
"Have faith. The Master will make sure you get want you want and more." Kurogiri spoke, then shifted in his spot. "Blood_Spider. The Doctor is ready for you."
"Kickass." Blood_Spider downed his drink and stood up, walking through the portal that the Warp Villain generated.
On the other side was a portly doctor with a bushy mustache, standing beside an operating table and an IV drip with a large bag of blood labelled K. Parker. "Ready to be improved, young man?"
"Hell yeah. Upgrade me, Eggman!" Blood_Spider said, laying on the operating table.
"Hmph... as if I haven't heard that one before."
Chapter 16: Let the games Begin!
Toshinori sat in his apartment, looking over the latest news articles. As a result of the interview he did only a day ago, a majority of the people making hate comments had backed down. Unfortunately, many people on the Stylo Discussion board had made suggestions that he had been brainwashed into being supportive, so there were still naysayers. Aside from that, there had been an update in the hunt for the Bullseye killer. But before he could dwell too deeply into this, there was a knock at his door. "Toshinori? It's me, Tsukauchi."
"Come in."
The detective entered, shuffling nervously while carrying a locked briefcase. "I've got an update in regards to the villain, Nomu."
"What is it, did it break out??" Toshinori sat up, relaxing only when his friend shook his head.
"No, it's been docile ever since we picked it up from the woods." Tsukauchi assured the Pro Hero. "It seems that without its master to command it, Nomu goes into a kind of… standby mode, for lack of a better analogy. However, it won't react to any outside stimuli. It ignores questions, threats, poking, burns, nothing. One of my men was startled and unloaded his rifle into it, but the creature didn't even flinch. Thankfully, this also means that it didn't fight back when we took some DNA samples for analysis."
"So what's the update you have for me?" Toshinori asked.
"....we found a match to its identity, kind of." Tsukauchi reached into his case and pulled out a photograph. The picture was a police headshot of a man with thick lips and olive green hair. "This is a report from a missing persons case ten years ago. The man was a low level thug who mostly worked for bigger gangs before vanishing off the face of the earth. The nomu appears to have been made from his corpse, with the DNA of four other people in there, along with trace amounts of Gamma radiation."
"....Midoriya said that Shigaraki claimed it possessed multiple quirks…" Toshinori whispered, Tsukauchi going very still in response.
"...do you think… he's still alive?"
"...No." Toshinori looked up, his gaze hard. "I smashed his head in. That… monster's head was little more than a shattered egg on the pavement. More likely, these people were remnants of his organization who discovered Nomu and tried to do one last attack against-"
"Yeah, I'm going to stop you right there." Toshinori looked down at his phone in surprise, a call active, with the WMH logo upon its screen.
"Tsuburaya?! How did you access my phone?!" Toshinori coughed up some blood in shock. "I didn't even answer a call!"
"I hacked it. But more importantly, I've also recently obtained information regarding the Nomu creature. Or, well, its creator." Tsuburaya said this with a tone that was barely hiding anger behind it. "I can confirm that its creator, All for One, is indeed still alive."
Tsukauchi and Toshinori gaped at the AI, the latter being the first to speak up. "How?! He was dead!! I killed him myself!!"
"Oh please, death means nothing if you have the right connections or technology. Trust me, I should know." Tsuburaya muttered.
"How did you find this out??" Tsukauchi asked, opting to ignore Tsuburaya's comment for the moment.
"I honestly doubt you'd believe me."
"My Lie Detector Quirk can work on AIs. Try me." Tsukauchi shot back.
"....fine. A demon from hell told me, and that is not me being dramatic, or figurative, or symbolic, or poetic, or metaphoric, or any other fancy method of speech. He was Mephisto, a literal misery spreading demon from the fire and brimstone-filled Christian hell. One who Quentin Beck, my originator, was in the service of for a while, and he appeared before me in the form of a zombie with centipedes within him and told me that All for One is alive and trying to become more powerful than ever. Powerful enough that he was worried about him getting strong enough to challenge his own vast power." Tsuburaya explained, making sure his words were clear and concise.
Toshinori stared at the AI. "...that… that has to be a lie, right, Tsukauchi? …Tsukauchi?"
Toshinori looked up at his friend, who had grown very pale in terror. His friend looked at him, and could only say "Truth."
Toshinori's eyes widened, and he had to hold back a stress induced coughing fit, blood spraying onto his fist. "Whe- *COUGH!* *COUGH!* *HACK!* Where is he?? *COUGH!* Where is All for One?!"
"Mephisto was, unfortunately, not willing to divulge that information." Tsuburaya grumbled. "I'm not actually sure if he just wants me to suffer for Quentin Beck's failures in life, or if he actually doesn't know, but more importantly, the potentially most dangerous man alive since Doctor FUCKING Doom is going to be after MY APPRENTICE!!"
"Tsuburaya, please calm down!!" Toshinori tried to placate the audibly angry AI, who wasn't having it.
"Calm down?! CALM DOWN!? You've put a child, one that I actually care about, into the crosshairs of a maniac who can steal Quirks and who knows what else at this point?!"
"I know, I know, and if I had known he was still alive I wouldn't have done it, but what's done is done." Toshinori pointed out.
"You need to tell him and his mother about this immediately." Tsuburaya insisted, though he was no longer shouting.
"I will, but right now young Midoriya needs to focus on the Sports Festival-"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Tsuburaya interrupted, back to shouting. "Midoriya's going to be on national TV!! It'd be easy for All for One to send an assassin to off the child!!"
"All for One won't do that. The man wants to steal my Quirk first, and I'm certain that he knows Midoriya now has it." Toshinori explained. "In any case, he's always preferred to wait in between attacks to lick his wounds and gather up more resources. He'll take this chance to study Midoriya, see what he is capable of. What's more, Midoriya needs to build his connections and support if he's going to be a successful hero." Toshinori sighed. "Besides, he's not a soldier or a hero yet. Midoriya is a child, and he deserves to have some levity before I tell him and his mother what danger he's in. But I will tell them, after the Sports Festival."
"...you'd better." Tsuburaya growled, hanging up afterwards.
Toshinori sighed and leaned back in his seat.
"..what am I going to tell the chief?" Tsukauchi muttered, still freaking out over the revelations.
"....tell him an underground informant told you, and he got his information through unknown means." Toshinori suggested.
Tsukauchi remained silent, before finally speaking up. "....Hell is real. It's an actual place with demons."
"I encountered an alien once. Guess it was only a matter of time before we learned to add demons to that list." All Might admitted, trying to bring some levity to the situation.
Tsukauchi just groaned, cupping his face with his hands.
"So, Mei… what do you think of Octavius' arms?"
Mei Hatsume lowered herself from the obstacle course. Strapped around her waist and chest was a harness, a headband covered in wires wrapped around her forehead like a crown, one that sent commands to four telescopic arms ending with claws. Arms modeled after that of Dr. Octopus.
"They're amazing, Tsubu, but with these arms I have no room to carry my babies!" Mei complained. "I could use these, but I don't wanna just use one baby! I wanna use my skates, my jetpack, my laser rifle, my shields, all of them! So many babies, and I can't fit them onto me because these arms get in the way! If I had a way to carry all I wanted at once, it would be perfect!" She turned to the worktable, muttering to herself. "Maybe I could create some kind of super baby that would let me have them all at once… oh, but that'd be so heavy and cumbersome…!"
"....well, there is an option for that." Tsuburaya said after a moment of thought. "A project that was worked on by an old friend of mine shortly before his passing. Blueprints were drawn up, but he had yet to implement it in any of his projects, although I did use his notes for building parts of the new Actor robots."
"Really? What is it??" Mei asked, unclipping the harness.
Before Tsuburaya could share his idea, Midoriya entered, wearing new gauntlets and his Illusion-O Spex. The gauntlets were identical to his old ones, save for a set of vents on the side, and slightly larger gloves with armor on the back of the golden fingers.
"'Doriya! How do the new gloves feel?" Mei asked.
"They fit great!! The impact gel barely impedes my movements!" He wiggled his fingers to prove it. "But I'm not too sure about the compression sleeves in the suit. Might impede the robotic skeleton's movements."
"We can replace the joints' areas with something less cumbersome." Tsuburaya suggested. "Also, I've received the emails for the Sports Festival Support Items and have begun construction on each device."
"And you're not sabotaging them, right?" Midoriya asked pointedly as he approached the impact reader.
"As logical as it would be to do so, no." Tsuburaya confirmed, though his annoyance was clear. "Nor will I be showing you or Miss Hatsume the devices themselves."
"Good." Midoriya said, facing the impact plate as he removed the prototype gloves. "Doing the control test first. Starting out at my highest output without the gloves, 5% Full Cowling."
"Scanners are active." Tsuburaya announced.
Midoriya focused, green lightning of his quirk appearing around him. Reeling his fist back, Midoriya screamed SMASH and punched the pressure plate. The device moved back, warping slightly, as the readings came onto the screen.
"Okay, we have a baseline of what I can do without protection." Midoriya noted. He flexed his fingers then came up with an idea. Midoriya swapped out the warped plate for an intact one. "Going to try and strain myself with a ten percent charge, see how that affects me, and if I can manage it, I'll try a punch."
"Very well, but be careful! Recovery Girl isn't here to heal you." Tsuburaya warned Midoriya, who nodded and turned to the pressure plate.
Midoriya focused, green lightning arcing around him as if he had gone super saiyan. Unfortunately, he found that ten percent was too much for him to handle. "No good! I'm going to keep lowering it by one percent until I can handle it!"
"Understood!" Tsuburaya called back.
Midoriya focused, but nine, while less of a strain, still felt too much for now. Thankfully, eight percent was doable. "Looks like I'm stuck at eight percent for now!"
"I imagine that you'll be able to gradually increase your output over time." Tsuburaya noted, his hologram stroking its goatee in thought. "Now how does the punching feel?"
Midoriya turned to the pressure plate, and with another shout of "Smash!," the plate was warped even further than last time.
"As expected, there was an increase of output by approximately three percent." Tsuburaya said after running the numbers. "Now let's see that same percentage, but with the new gloves added to the equation."
Midoriya nodded, swapped out the plate for a new one, and slipped on the prototype glove. "SMASH!"
"Must you say it every time?" Tsuburaya asked as the plate once again warped and cracked from the impact. "Interesting. There was an approximately 13.67% increase in damage inflicted with the new gauntlet design. How did they feel? Any pain upon impact?"
"Amazing!!" Midoriya said, moving his fingers without issue. "I couldn't feel anything! Even on impact, it was like I was punching a tough, cool pillow, and I could feel the pressure vents blasting the worst of the shockwave away from me!"
"Good. Mei's idea to add Herman Schultz' shockwave absorption and redirection technology was a massive boon." Tsuburaya spoke aloud as he took some notes. "It would help if we had some Vibranium to absorb the majority of the blowback from your Quirk, but I was unable to obtain any, and I predict that we will not be able to do so for a good long time, unless we made friends with Wakanda or bought some on the Black Market. Still, I think this design will work for now."
"We'll make due with what we've got, Tsuburaya." Midoriya assured the AI.
"I'll get to work adding the gel and shock absorbers to the other parts of the costume!" Mei proclaimed from her corner of the room, where she was adjusting a pair of what appeared to be rocket skates. "It should be ready by your Hero Internships!"
"Perfect! So what's your plan for the sports festival Mei?" Midoriya asked.
"Sorry boss man, but that's a secret!" Mei responded without looking up.
Midoriya smiled. "Glad to hear it."
Tsuburaya watched the two student joke and chat. Against his instincts, he had refrained from tell Midoriya about his encounter with Mephisto or what he had learned about from the demon. He would respect All Might's desire, but if he deviated from his promise to the AI...
Well, the man had better hope it wouldn't come to that.
Midoriya and Mei soon left the DvD store, chatting amicably as they made plans for the upcoming games.
"So 'Doriya, are you going to tell everyone that you own Wondrous Might & Heroism ?"
Midoriya hummed in thought before speaking. "Probably not. With all the controversy, I think it's better if you alone do the advertising for our business. I'll just keep quiet on my tech's origins."
"I understand…" Mei said, finger on her chin in thought. "So… what's the plan for us? Are we going to be working together or competing against each other?"
"That, I think, is going to depend on what events will occur." Midoriya said, deep in thought. "In the past games, the first round has always been a way to lower the number of competitors, though there has never been anything in the rules saying students can't help each other out… and we'll definitely be able to work together in the second round since it has always encouraged cooperation and teamwork to some degree or another. And, naturally we'll have to be competing against each other in the final round-"
"DORIYA!"
Midoriya looked up, stopping in time to avoid running into one of his neighbors, a lizard Heteromorph with pink hair carrying an old TV out of a rundown apartment building. "Oh!! Sorry, Iguchi-san!"
"It's alright, Midoriya-san." Shuichi Iguchi said, visibly relaxing at the sight of his friendly visitor.
"Oh, are you moving out??" Midoriya asked.
"No, not really. Just… helping a friend get situated in their new place." Iguchi said, not meeting Midoriya's eyes. "They… don't really have a lot of stuff, so I thought I'd loan them a few things."
"Oh, who is it?" Mei asked, a smile forming. "A giiiiiirlfriend?"
Iguchi bit his lip, trying to think of what to say. "Er-"
"Iguchi, what's the hold up??"/Move yer ass!" A voice called from the apartment, speaking in a Japanese then Chicago accent.
"Hey Jin-san, Spector-san." Midoriya politely called into the apartment, well used to his neighbor's mental condition.
Jin emerged, wearing a worn shirt and pants that smelled of cigarettes and cheap whiskey, a gaming console under his arm, while he carried a bag of apples in the other arm. "Oh, Izu- sorry, Midoriya-san, Hatsume-chan, sorry about that, we didn't see you there!" Steven Grant greeted cheerfully. "It's been a while since we've seen you."
"It has." Midoriya admitted politely. "How are you and your roommates?"
"We're great!/Doin' jus fine, kiddo./We're managing./Could be worse, I 'spose./Just awful." Jin muttered, speaking as his normal self, then as Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and Twice, respectively.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Twice." Midoriya said apologetically. "Are you helping Iguchi-san? I didn't realize you knew each other."
"We only met up a short while ago." Iguchi explained, setting down his TV. "He got me out of a tight spot with some members of the CRC, so I thought I'd help his new neighbor move in."
"Urgh, those guys…" Mei muttered. "I hope that Moon Knight guy drives them out."
"I dunno, he's kind of violent for me./Not violent enough!" Jin muttered, Twice speaking up afterwards.
"So, uh, we heard about the USJ." Iguchi said, quickly changing the subject. "And, uh… listen, whoever that Mysterio classmate is…"
Midoriya looked at him, worried.
"....let 'em know, er, whoever they are, that I think they're a hero. They probably could have picked a better costume or persona to use, but their actions said a lot about them." Iguchi continued. "And that I personally don't believe that slander being posted online."
"Same here!/Ditto/Agreed./Well said, Iguchi-san./He seems alright, I s'pose."
Midoriya smiled, but didn't trust himself to speak up, lest he give himself away too soon.
"...hey, the UA sports Festival is coming up. Think we'll be seeing the Mysterio kid compete?" Steven asked Midoriya and Mei.
"There's a good chance of that, yeah." Midoriya admitted.
"We're both competing in the games this year, too!" Mei spoke up.
"Really?? Well, I guess we're gonna have to watch the games, give our support!" Spector said, smiling, before Twice took over. "I dunno… I've never really liked sports."
"Same, but I think we can make an exception for this year." Iguchi said, turning to the two students. "We'll be rooting for the both of you."
"Thank you!" Mei said, before her eyes zoomed in, then widened. "'Dorya, our train!"
"Oh, right! It was good talking to all of you! And please tell your neighbor we said welcome to the area!" Midoriya said with a smile as Mei dragged him away.
Marc Spector sighed once the two were out of range. "He's a good kid…"
"Yeah, but I dunno if we can trust him with this… I mean, we've technically kidnapped a lil' kid." Iguchi muttered, his voice low.
"I doubt anyone would see us taking in and looking after a girl who had run away from an abusive crime organization as a kidnapping…" Lockley muttered.
"Speak for yourself… I wouldn't be surprised if someone accused me of trying to eat Eri." Iguchi muttered dryly.
"But you do have a point about getting them involved. UA students or not, they can't be in the crosshairs." Grant conceded, Jake shortly after taking over. "Still don't see why the old lady can't just use her connections to get the Shie Hassaikai to back off."/"She's not a member of the organization anymore, remember?" Marc spoke up.
"Hard to believe a Yakuza princess was in my neighborhood…" Iguchi muttered, picking the TV back up and following his friend back to the safehouse where Eri was staying. The girl had been horribly withdrawn and quiet since Konshu refused to take her quirk, but hopefully playing some games or watching a few cartoons would cheer her up.
The Day of the Sports Festival came, and Inko Midoriya was attending the event, accompanied by Tsuburaya in an animatronic copy of his Ludwig form.
"I still say that we could have watched it just fine from home." Inko murmured, clearly nervous about the large crowd.
"We could, but I wish to speak with one of Midoriya's teachers regarding a… private matter." Tsuburaya admitted, paying for the tickets with cash. "And you should be here as well."
"What's wrong?" Inko asked, her nervousness vanishing, replaced with a determined gaze. "Is Izuku being bullied??"
"Thankfully he is not." Tsuburaya truthfully assured her. "But it is in regards to his education. Specifically the…" he looked around, then lowered his voice somewhat. "legacy he's accepted and how it will affect him going forward."
"Oh!" Inko said, and some of the tension vanished from her posture. "Yes, that might be a good thing to talk to his teachers about… Still, will you be able to talk to the teacher during the Sports Festival?"
"I'll find a way, don't worry." Tsuburaya said vaguely.
"Inko?!"
Before Midoriya's mother could speak up, she was tackled by a middle-aged woman with spiked blonde hair and a massive grin. "I never thought I'd see you at a place like this! Who's that, your date?? Kinda old for you, but hey, no judging!"
While Inko choked at the idea of dating Tsuburaya, the AI in question calmly took out a handkerchief to clean his glasses. Not that he actually needed glasses, but he was a method actor. He did, however, alter his voice to sound more normal. "Hardly. I'm Dr. Alfred Rinehart Tsuburaya. I'm the one who-"
"Oh, so you're Izuku's tech provider??" Mitsuki interrupted with a smile. "Yeah, my brat told me about you, and how you helped at the USJ! Guess my husband and I owe you our gratitude, Tsuburaya-san!" she thrust her hand out eagerly. "Name's Mitsuki Bakugo!"
Tsuburaya politely shook her hand. "I take it you're Katsu- sorry, Bakugo-kun's mother?"
"Afraid so." Mitsuki admitted, unbothered by the near cultural slip up. The three continued their walk towards the seats, Inko still rebooting. "I know Katsuki-kun's a real piece of work. I'd blame his middle school and their clearly quirkist policies since it enabled his worst traits, but that's just shifting the blame away from us. Nah, the truth is that Masaru and I haven't done enough to reign him in. We've been trying to pull his head out of his ass for the past few years. We've seen a bit of improvement, but not enough."
Tsuburaya nodded, already finding the woman to be a far more tolerable person than her child. "Well, rest assured, a private investigation by an underground pro hero has discovered the Middle School's crimes and closed it down."
"Good! I hope that place gets demolished." Mitsuki muttered. "Letting everyone kick Izuku-kun around because his Quirk hadn't shown up yet, honestly!"
"I hear a business is planning on turning the site into some new kind of facility. Possibly a factory of some kind." Tsuburaya said casually.
"I'd rather see it burn, personally." Mitsuki said with a scowl that Tsuburaya saw was nearly identical to her son's.
"Same." Tsuburaya said darkly as they approached a man with spiked brown hair and square glasses holding some snacks.
"Hey, Masaru! Look who I found!" Mitsuki shoved Inko forward, though she noticeably had some trouble with Tsuburaya. "Ooof, what're you made of, metal?"
"Partially. My quirk gives me metal bones, but as a result I'm very heavy." Tsuburaya lied with ease.
"Ah, sorry Tsuburaya-san." Mitsuki apologized, while Tsuburaya just waved her off and sat down.
"Oh, you're Izuku's tech provider?" The man who was clearly Katsuki Bakugo's father asked, offering the man some pocky.
"And his trainer before Toshinori showed up." Tsuburaya confirmed, accepting one. Even though he was a robot and thus did not actually require eating, his android body was capable of safely imitating it for realism purposes.
"I'm sorry if this is offensive, but why…?" Mitsuki began, though Tsuburaya interrupted.
"Do I have a Japanese surname as well as an English one, despite being white?" Seeing the woman nod, Tsuburaya continued. "I was born here, but looked after by some Japanese locals. Still, I believe that one should retain something of one's origins, so I kept my father's surname as my middle name, though I admit I'm more comfortable with Tsuburaya."
Inko, having finally recovered from her blue screen of death, looked at Tsuburaya, unsure if what he was saying was a complete lie or not. The man had never mentioned who had maintained him. She had assumed that he did it to himself, but was he on his own in that time?
"So how'd you meet Izuku?" Masaru asked, not noticing Inko's pondering.
"Well, that is quite the interesting story…"
Class 1-A was in the locker rooms, putting away their clothes and any unneeded items. Everyone had put on their gym outfits. Although many were upset over how they couldn't enter the games wearng their costumes, everyone, including Midoriya, had acknowledged that it would have been a massively unfair advantage over the non-hero courses.
Now that they were ready, five students went to a couple of bags with their names upon it. Ochako unzipped her bag, and pulled out a silver backpack with a pair of folded up wings and a thruster on the bottom, to aid her in moving quickly in the air. Kaminari got a simplified version of his circuit breaker belt, to help him go just a bit past his limits without harm. Tenya Iida attached a pair of cooling vents to his leg engines, to help them rapidly cool down. Mina got a pair of long gloves with nozzle-like openings on the wrists, to help her aim her spray of acid. Midoriya, lastly, pulled out his support item, developed by Hatsume in class to his specific instructions.
"What is that thing??" Mina asked, adjusting her gloves
"Hm? Oh, it's my support item, which I call the Indie Production. It lets me give commands without having to say it verbally." Midoriya said, gesturing to a wrist-mounted screen on his left arm, a metal ring with small LEDs embedded within it around the wrist, with three more rings on his other wrist and ankles.
"Commands to what??" Ojiro asked. Midoriya smiled, and typed into the screen. From the side of the device, a small silver disk, no larger than silver dollar, emerged and hovered above the boy, covering Midoriya in a hologram of his hero outfit.
"Midoriya!! Don't tell me you brought your drones with you!!" Iida shouted, chopping his arm.
"Iida! The rules clearly stated that I could only carry one support item with me into the games, and said items can only perform an action I am already capable of." Midoriya reminded him. "And this gauntlet is just so that I don't have to speak up and ruin any attempts at stealth, watch: Code Phrase, and CUT!" Instantly the drone's hologram vanished, and Midoriya turned to Iida with an affronted look. "I would never break the rules! I even showed this device to Nezu and he approved it for use in the games."
"Wait, how does this do something you're already capable of? You can't make holograms!" Mineta pointed out.
"True, but I AM capable of disguising myself through mundane means." Midoriya reminded him. "But that takes time and materials, and these holograms are faster and require only preprogrammed disguises. Again, Nezu was fine with it, and Aizawa never said the support item had to be related to our Quirks. Besides, I've only got one drone on me, and it's not combat capable." To prove it, Midoriya grabbed the device in question and handed it over to Momo, the most mechanically gifted of the class.
The heiress looked the device over, even disassembling it with a screwdriver she created, but could find no extra features beyond its hovering mechanism, radio receiver, long range microphone, a camera, and its hologram projector. Reassembling the drone, she gave it back to Midoriya. "He's right. It just floats, listens, observes, and projects holograms."
"He could still go invisible!" Iida pointed out. "He can't do that by normal means!"
"Actually I can't do that… well, I guess I could, but it's... Lemme show you." Midoriya typed into his glove, and the drone took flight again, projecting a hologram that covered up Midoriya. At first it worked fine, but then Midoriya raised his arm up and through the invisibility hologram. It vanished again a second later, but then Midoriya turned around, and the drone again struggled to hide him until he stood completely still. "I have to carry drones several at once because I haven't been able to create a stable invisibility program that needs only one projector. Multiple projectors can cover me better and pick up any slack the other drones have trouble with."
"But… what if you have more drones?" Ochako asked, adjusting the pack she wore on her.
"Trust me, I don't have any other drones on me." Midoriya promised as the one drone he had with him returned to its spot on his gauntlet.
"Midobro, we like you, but…" Kirishima said, unsure of how to continue. Thankfully, Midoriya understood, and didn't appear offended.
"Alright, Momo?" Midoriya turned to his Class Vice president, pulling out an energy bar. "Could you build something that could detect any other drones?"
"Oh-oh!! Sure!" Momo quickly consumed it then focused, forming a small goggle-like device that she looked through. "There's nothing on radar… nor thermal… or electromagnetic imaging. I don't think there are any other drones in here."
"I dunno…." Sero muttered... then without warning, suddenly shot several strands of tape into the air, which all fluttered down without sticking onto anything that wasn't already visible. Everyone gave the boy dirty looks, while Momo just sighed and produced a chemical solvent to remove the tape strands from her classmates. "Sorry… just wanted to make sure."
Once the tape was removed (and Sero given a smack upside the head) Midoriya stretched out, and sighed. "Well… no time to waste guys, we should get going-"
"Midoriya."
The boy in question stopped, just in time to avoid running into Shoto Todoroki. The heterochromatic boy was scrutinizing him, his expression steeled and ready. "Objectively, I believe that you are not as powerful as me, but you are a clever and dangerous person with a decent arsenal of support items."
"Um… thank yo-"
"What's more," Todoroki continued on as if he hadn't heard the other boy speak. "It's clear to me that you've gained All Might's support." Todoroki continued, not letting the boy speak. "No, I won't pry into the story behind that, but know this: Out there, you won't be allowed to bring your army of drones, so you'll have to rely only on your Quirk. As a result, I will defeat you. Consider this a declaration of war."
Everyone stared at Todoroki, blinking in surprise at the standoffish boy's statement.
"Dang, what's with the hostility?" Mina asked. "It's just some games-"
"This is the most watched sporting event in Japan." Todoroki swiftly interrupted the pink girl. "We're not here to play nice or make friends. We're here to win. Nothing more."
While Midoriya was caught off guard, much like the others, he quickly recovered and turned to him with a smile. "Well then… bring your all, because I certainly will be."
Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the green haired boy smiling at him, then turned away. Midoriya watched Todoroki leave, a sudden thought coming to him. From what he had seen in his class, and the footage Tsuburaya had gathered from the USJ incident, Todoroki only ever used ice. Even when his life was in danger, the only time he came close to using his fire was to free some classmates that got caught up in one of his ice attacks. The red and white hair seemed to indicate that he had both fire and ice, and his father was the Pro Hero Endeavor, so logically he shouldn't be limited to just his cryonic abilities.
So why didn't Todoroki use his fire?
"....that was intense, kero."
"You've said it, Asui." Sero commented, the exchange bringing Midoriya out of his contemplation.
"He's not wrong, though." Jiro spoke up. "Out there, we are going to be competing against one another."
Before anyone could argue further, the intercom crackled to life, announcing that 1-A was to make their way to the field. So the group went on, Midoriya placing his tracking device over his right arm, the device activating once it detected his pulse. As the class stepped out into the stadium, the loudspeakers crackled to life, Present Mic's voice shouting to the audience gathered.
.:ALRIGHT PEOPLE!! WELCOME TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!!! CAN I GET A YEAH???:.
The crowd responded with enthusiastic cheers and cries of "YEAH!"
.:Glad to see everyone's excited! This is Present Mic here, acting as your announcer, with my partner in crime stopping and teaching, Shota Aizawa!!:.
.:How did you rope me into doing this?:. Aizawa grumbled, nursing a mug of coffee, to which Mic just laughed.
.:Now, everyone, let's give a big hand to the Hero Course students who have been making massive waves in the media, it's the villain fighting Class 1-A!:.
"Kero, I haven't been this nervous since I came out as a girl to my parents." Asui muttered as the crowd erupted into cheers and clapping, though Midoriya could still spot a few people scrutinizing them. Thought it made him more nervous about his plans, he was determined to see it through. The next classes for 1-B, the Support Course, GenEd, and Business courses were soon brought out, though it was clear that they had much less of a reception, with smaller, polite claps instead of the enthusiastic roars 1-A had received, Midoriya noted more people had joined in for the non-hero courses. In those groups, Midoriya could see several people observing them, like Shinso with the GenEd course and Mei, who waved to him with a smile. Next to her was a pre-teen girl with a spider on her head, pushing a red box on wheels that could easily fit her inside of it.
.:Introducing our referee for these games, the R-Rated Heroine MIDNIGHT!!:.
Midnight walked out onto the field. Actually, she strutted out in her full hero costume, shamelessly swaying her hips and winking at various cameras while waving to the people cheering and catcalling her.
"That cannot be regulation approved attire." Iida grumbled, looking away in embarrassment.
"I'm not complaining!" Kaminari spoke up, Mineta nodding eagerly.
"Glad to be here Mic, and even happier to see several young and excited young men and women ready to pounce on this opportunity!"
"How has she not gotten a lawsuit?!" Jiro muttered, blushing at their teacher's outfit.
"SO LET'S GET THIS CEREMONY STARTED! And what better way than the opening speech, PRESENTED BY IZUKU MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-A!"
"Wait, Midoriya?" Sato questioned.
"Why does he get to do it?!" a girl from the GenEd course cried out.
"Kero, he did get the highest ranking in the entrance exam." Asui pointed out.
"Yeah, in the Hero Course." the Support Course student with a spider on her head muttered.
"He's also the one responsible for stopping the Nomu!" Mei hissed at her, wearing a massive metal backpack, an advanced welding mask that opened up down the middle of her face, a pair of bracers, elbow and knee pads, and a pair of heavy looking boots, all of which was connected via a basic exoskeleton with a dark metallic purple appearance, accented with brass and gear-like designs.
Midoriya stepped up to the podium, his posture nervous, tapped the microphone a few times, took a deep breath, and spoke aloud three words that no one, not Tsuburaya, not Ochako, not even Mei, were expecting.
"I am Mysterio."