Chapter 17: Mysterio's Gauntlet, Pt. 1
"I am Mysterio."
Those three words immediately silenced the audience watching, both in the stadium and beyond. Everyone was staring in shock at the plain, green haired hero student who calmly admitted to using the identity of a super villain with the same air one did to announce what they had for lunch.
"A lot of people have been making theories and spreading hurtful gossip about UA and its students because of that photo posted online. Let me put an end to that all right now; That photo was of me, right after the attack at the USJ." Midoriya continued, his face passive. "I admit this for many reasons. Firstly, because my classmates with green hair have faced scorn and distrust, unrightfully so, for a trait they shared with me, and I refuse to allow that to continue. Secondly, but just as importantly, is because I am not a villain. I want to be a hero. The original Mysterio, Quentin Beck, wasn't a hero, but neither was the second Black Knight, Nathan Garrett, whose nephew Dane Whitmane took up the mantle after the former's passing to be a hero."
"I have no intention of changing the mantle I have chosen, because this incident has shown me that the world is too narrow minded in its thinking. People forget that before he was an Avenger, the Sandman was a villain who worked with the original Mysterio. Spider-man, one of the greatest heroes of the past, was a normal guy who everyone hated and called the arrest for, often by the very people he saved." Midoriya took a deep breath. "People want the world to be either this or that. Black and White. Good and Evil. Right and Wrong. It makes things easy and simple, so we don't have to think. But that's not how life is. I'm keeping this identity because with it, I can challenge you all to question what you immediately see. Not just with illusions, but with my whole philosophy and the very identity I've taken up being used in ways you won't expect."
Midoriya looked up, spotting several bystanders murmuring, some pulling out their phones, possibly to look up the names he dropped. Regardless, he kept going. "I know people will look at me and question UA's acceptance of my choice in personas… they'll ask if I was a traitor. I am not, but that won't stop the questions. The accusations. I could say any number of pretty words or speeches, and that won't change your fear… so for today… I'll instead embrace it."
Midoriya turned to his classmates, who were staring at him in confusion. With a smile that looked like it belonged more to a predatory animal than a hero, Midoriya continued. "My class fought real villains and we survived. But some would attribute that to luck, or the villains just trying to make me look good. So to my classmates in 1-A and beyond… be warned, for I am hijacking the UA Sports Festival for today."
The crowd went into an uproar of shock and anger, while the classmates looked at Midoriya like he was insane. Midoriya continued on, his voice getting more determined as he leveled a steely gaze upon the students before him. "To clarify, Principle Nezu has granted me permission to bend the rules to a certain point, to allow me to be an X factor in the upcoming games. Why? Because I have a message for the villains and critics who think that we only survived because we got lucky: I'll show them that we took them down because we are U.A. students, not lucky! You're not getting All Might or Baymaxima to help out this time! I'll challenge and push each of you, so I can prove that no matter what I, a supposed 'villain', can throw at you, IT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO STOP ANY OF YOU, HERO COURSE OR OTHERWISE!"
Midoriya raised his hand, and upon his body the costume of Mysterio formed over him in a ring of pixels. In one swift movement, Mysterio pulled off his armored gauntlet, and tossed it down to the ground, where it exploded into a pillar of green smoke that formed the UA Crest. .:Consider the gauntlet thrown, and let the games begin.:.
Without another word, Midoriya stepped out of the illusion, wearing only his gym uniform, tracking armband, and his support item, and joined the rest of his classmates, most of whom were staring in shock at the usually quiet and reserved boy having basically announced to the world that he's declared war on everyone there.
".....so manly…" Kirishima muttered, unaware of the silver-haired boy in 1-B muttering the same thing.
Retaking the stage, Midnight cleared her throat. "Well, that was… certainly a speech to remember! And don't worry, as part of the deal with Nezu, Midoriya-san will have his own challenges to handle as well. But first, let's see what is in store for our eager young boys and girls!"
Upon the screen, several options rolled past, events that Midoriya couldn't even get a chance to read, before it settled upon two massive words.
"And our first task is… the OBSTACLE RACE!" Midnight called out. "The objective is simple. Everyone will be racing through a four kilometer obstacle course outside the stadium. You're free to use whatever methods you'd like to get ahead, but you MUST stay within the course boundaries or else you'll be disqualified."
"Oh, and this is exclusively for young Midoriya, but you should all pay attention anyways!" Midnight briefly paused to glance at her tablet. "First off, before Midoriya can cross the finish line, he'll need to accumulate 100 villain points, accomplished by him either taking out, or simply slowing down his classmates by restraining them! If he manages to reach one hundred points, he may cross the finish line without consequences! Each minute they don't move ahead, as well as any removed students, will count as a single point. In contrast, for every student who gets past him, his rank will be lowered by two! And don't worry, Midoriya will be wearing a tracking device that reads his pulse, so the judges will know for certain where he is at all times, though the racers won't!"
'That makes sense. I need to "build a rep" as a bad guy, after all.' Midoriya thought to himself. 'My plan should be simple enough with only minor modifications necessary.'
"That being said, the racers ARE allowed to attack Midoriya, with four direct hits meaning he's lost his ranking position by twenty points, while the students who hit him will be moved ahead by five points each! Lastly, failure to get into the top ten winners for this round means IMMEDIATE disqualification for young Midoriya!"
Midoriya froze. All around him Midoriya could sense several glares and eager smiles. Most of them were from people outside his class, but he knew that a few from within his class, including Bakugo and Todoroki, were eager to take him out of the sporting event as well.
'....maybe outing myself as a villain-persona user wasn't the smartest idea after all.'
Midoriya walked alongside his friends, taking up his position at the starting line, where he immediately noticed a problem. 'That entrance is way too narrow to let everyone through, so why… oh, I see. That's the first obstacle, how clever… and perfect for my plan.'
"Ya know… when we first met, I didn't take you to be an illusionist."
Midoriya looked over, Pony Tsunotori close beside him and ready to run as well. "Your speech was really impassioned and came from the heart, but illusionists are supposed to be dishonest, right?"
Midoriya simply smiled and, recalling an old American film series, decided to paraphrase a quote from the protagonist. "Actually, a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly… stupid."
Pony stared at him confused. "Huh?"
"And GO!"
The students ran forward, but before they could take more than a few steps, a thick cloud of green fog filled the starting area. Everyone coughed and stumbled, trying to see their way through it.
"What the hell?!"/"I can't see!"/"Was that Midoriya?!"/Deku!!"
Only moments later the fog vanished, but everyone's confusion remained, for they were no longer at the stadium. No, now they were standing in what looked to be a space station. Past the gate, the track they were meant to run on was suspended over a galactic void, stars and nebulas high above them, separated from the shocked students only by a visible forcefield. Several had cries of shock, others cussed in disbelief, some cursed Midoriya's 'cheating,' while a few, Ochako and Mei in particular, giggled in amusement and eagerness.
"Nice one, 'Doriya…" Mei muttered, adjusting her backpack. "But it's every inventor for themself!" Emerging from her back, seemingly being built as they appeared, were six long, robotic tentacles tipped in blunt claws. Rising above her shocked classmates, Mei charged forward, her welding mask snapping closed over her face, passing through the narrow gate while ignoring the shocked cries from her classmates and competitors. "And my new Programmable Matter Pack, or PMP for short, developed by me, will help me overcome any obstacle, by building whatever I need on the spot!"
She unfortunately found herself tripped up by a silvery web, emerging from a mechanized suit of Spider-Manesque armor. The robot's face, a black LED screen, altered from red eyes to show its pilot, the girl from the support course, and her pet spider, which was tapping away on a screen behind her. .:Sorry, but as members of the Spider-family, I, Peni Parker, aspiring Spider-Girl, and my companion Mayflower, are contractually obligated to not allow any octopi to overtake us in any way!:. Mei growled in response and quickly recovered, giving chase to the red robot, her six arms granting her much needed speed.
Quickly remembering they were in a race, the rest of the students ran forward, trying to pass through the barrier. But as Midoriya had noted, it was far too small for everyone to fit through, and they were quickly jammed up against each other. Only a few, like Bakugo, Momo, and Ochako managed to get past by moving over the crowd, Momo using a sort of rocket broomstick while Ochako used her new jetpack. Sero was about to join them, imitating Spider-man's web swinging, but a huge blast of ice shot out, freezing everyone in place.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of losing." Shoto muttered, his voice insincere as he sped forward, ice forming behind him. With it, he managed to restrain even Peni and Mei's mechanical marvels. However, he had barely made it out of the doorway when a circle of red light appeared before him. "What in the-"
*BOOM!*
Shoto was tossed back, thrown away by the blast of a concussion missile that detonated several feet before him. Thankfully he was able to create an ice wall that kept him from being sent out of the course itself, and he recovered quickly. The loudspeakers around them crackled to life, and Midoriya's voice rang out, the student himself standing atop a hovering green disk, but he spoke as if he was a cheesy villain from a children's anime.
.:Sorry, Shoto Todoroki, but you heard the rules…! I can't let you guys pass me just yet, but let's change things up from cinema! I'm a brand new Mysterio, so I think I'll update the source materials I use for inspiration!:.
Approaching from several spots around the pathway were the Zero pointers from the entrance exams, each one bearing a small tetrahedral device attached to their "heads". However, they were quickly covered up with holograms of giant Mysterio robots with spiked hands, leering down at the students exiting the archway as a bombastic video game boss themeblared from the speakers.
.:Now get a load of THIS!:.
"Seriously?!" practically everyone shouted as more red lights appeared, taking aim.
Todoroki tried simply freezing the robots over and skating past, but a swarm of UFOs appeared, shooting lasers that melted away the ice, while others blasted waves of sound that shattered the thicker chunks, sending them after everyone else as projectiles. More UFOs appeared, armed with cannons shooting orbs of what looked to be quick hardening green slime. Kirishima barely missed being hit with one such glob, an unlucky GenEd student instead getting the hit.
Mei, having removed herself from the ice, retracted two of the PMA Pack's six arms, replacing them instead with a laser rifle that she opened fire with, hitting each UFO with expert precision, their holographic cloaks vanishing to reveal them as Midoriya's Combat drones. 'Thank you Grandpa for those gun training sessions!'
Peni, meanwhile, was opening fire with webbombs from a pair of shoulder-mounted cannons, trying to get past each Zero Pointer using her robot's speed and agility, only for her to find herself overwhelmed by the smaller, more agile UFOs. Ochako, thankfully, landed on one such drone with enough speed that she took it out.
"Guys, we can't handle these on our own, so let's just call a truce until they're all gone!" she cried out, blocking a slime shot with another UFO. While many agreed and started helping each other out, a few were arguing against it.
"This is a competition, we don't need to-" Monoma's rant was cut off by Sero pulling him away from a glob of the quick hardening substance. "...fine! But once they're gone, it's back to proving my class' superiority!" Monoma scooped up and tossed a handful of pebbles, which grew in size into boulders that took down some of the drones and crippled one of the Zero Pointers, leaving it open for Kirishima and Itsuka to take down. Several of them, across the various different courses, took aim at Midoriya, who repeatedly vanished in puffs of green smoke, reappearing in another spot, laughing maniacally as he hovered ahead of the group.
.:Come on people!! I want to see you go Plus Ultra! WHERE IS THE PLUS ULTRA???:.
Todoroki seethed. He was supposed to breeze through this sports festival using only his ice, not relying on anyone else, or his bastard father's fire! So he pulled away, trying to move past the robots even as what looked like meteors fell from the sky to keep him back. But no matter what they did, he kept on using only his right side's ice.
Outside the illusion, the crowd was going nuts, the screens showing the illusions and robots the students were facing. In the booth, Aizawa was nursing his coffee, trying to avoid the headache that was building up in him, while Present Mic was messaging Nezu to clarify that yes, everything Midoriya was doing was agreed upon prior. Before Aizawa and Present Mic could speak up, the speakers crackled to life, the music quieting slightly to allow the speaker to be heard.
.:Do not worry, bystanders! The goodie little hero students are fine. I just thought I'd make things a bit more… visually interesting for everyone!:. Midoriya spoke up, speaking in his more overly dramatic 'villain' voice. .:Oh, and don't worry Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei, the music won't muffle your commentaries!:.
After a moment, Present Mic cleared his throat and began speaking, trying to pacify the onlookers. "Well, uh, folks! It looks like the race has been taken to outer space, with the racers having called a truce to deal with the robotic forces! Not quite sure how those appeared, especially since Hero-course students aren't allowed more than one support item-"
.:Actually,:. Midoriya interrupted, continuing in his "devious villain" voice. .:The rules state that a hero course student may only carry one support item with them into the game… but that doesn't mean I can't have several items outside the perimeter, waiting for me to send a command to enter the game and help me, heheheh!:.
"What?! But that has to be against the rules!" Present Mic yelped, speaking up over the agitated crowd.
.:Actually I asked if Summoned allies were allowed, and Aizawa-sensei said it was fine. Take it up with him.:. Midoriya replied, and everyone could hear the smirk as he said it.
"What?!" Aizawa sat up, looking more attentive. "When did that happen?? Midoriya only asked if-" his protest was interrupted by a recording playing over the loudspeakers.
.:"-Koji could bring in a mask that amplifies his voice, and he could more easily summon his birds to help out in the festival? It doesn't do anything but make his voice louder, so that would count, right?"/"Yes, Koji could use his mask to summon his animals for help instead of shouting.":.
".....damn it, the Problem Child did ask if summoned allies could help." Aizawa groaned, face sinking into his hands. "And I said yes…"
.:There you have it folks! I'm not breaking the rules! I'm just bending them in my favor!!:. Midoriya cackled while the crowd booed and hissed at him.
Aizawa groaned into his hands while Present Mic patted his back in sympathy. "Well… regardless, the students may be held back by Midoriya's army, but they're doing an amazing job clearing away the enemy forces! And dang, there are some matchups I never thought would work so well together! They're even teaming up outside their classes and protecting each other, like Momo Yaoyorozo helping out Togaru Kamakiri and Pony Tsunotori, or Ochako Ururaka and Yui Kodai creating their own meteors out of handfuls of dirt!! Woof, these rockin' hero wannabes are really making Midoriya have to earn each victory!"
Aizawa glanced up. Indeed, instead of fighting each other and just competing, thus overshadowing each teammate, the screens were constantly switching between each grouping of students, working together to cover each other's weaknesses. 'So he's using this as a chance to show everyone what his classmates can do, even if they won't be in the later events… not bad, Problem Child.'
Tsuburaya was conflicted. On one hand, he was angry that Midoriya had done something so foolish as to publicly reveal his identity to the world, especially now that he had someone so dangerous after him.
.:Oh, Kosei Tsuburaba and Yuga Aoyama have teamed up, taking out a Zero Pointer with one blast!:.
.:Makes sense. Tsuburaba's Solid Air grants excellent defense while Aoyama's Naval Laser can pierce through it without harm.:.
.:As if that will be enough to stop my Mecha-sterios!! Fend them off, my mechanical behemoths!:.
…but on the other hand, he couldn't help but applaud at seeing the boy embrace Mysterio so heartily! He had played everyone so well from the beginning!! And sure, he was only stretching the rules instead of flat out breaking them, but he had found a way to blindside everyone, Tsuburaya included! He couldn't be prouder if the boy was his own son!
"Oh man, who'd have thought Izu-kun would have such big balls!!"
Tsuburaya glanced over at Mitsuki, who was laughing heartily as she sipped her drink, a bento box balanced on her leg.
"Mitsu, please don't say that out loud…" Masaru grumbled, trying to pull his arm free from Inko, who had clung to him from the moment her child began his speech, tears of fear in her eyes, which only continued when he unveiled his illusion.
"Sorry, but I never expected Izu-kun to be so devious and cavalier!" Mitsuki continued, a smirk on her face. "The kid's always been a shy bean as long as I've known him, so this is a pleasant surprise!"
"I don't think your son would agree." Tsuburaya noted, pointing to the screen, where a teeth gnashing Bakugo was violently ripping a drone apart with his bare hands. 'Since when could the boy do that?'
'That gashapan faced BASTARD!!'
Bakugo vented his rage on a drone, ripping off a chunk of the barrel to impale another one sneaking up behind him. Where did Deku get off, thinking he gets special treatment?! This is a competition, they were supposed to be competing against each other! Instead he was using this as a chance to get the spotlight on himself by beating down on all the extras!! That gashapan wasn't even running, just floating on that hovering disk thing and dodging attacks sent his way!!
At least he wasn't far behind Deku. While the others chose to team up to take down Deku's shitty drones, Bakugo instead rocketed ahead. He expertly dodged each drone as they flew at him. He wished he was allowed to bring the grenades he wanted to have for his support item, but the Principle turned him down. So what if he couldn't detonate his sweat from a distance?! Midoriya couldn't project holograms, but he was allowed his stupid armband!! Stupid favoritism showing weasel!
.:And it looks like the racers have come upon the next obstacle!! What was originally the canyons, but is now The Asteroid Field OF DOOM!! One drop will send ya plummeting into deep space and out of the game!!:.
.:Present Mic has neglected to mention that there's no real danger involved. There's safety cushions at the bottom of the canyon that will keep anyone who does fall from being severely injured.:.
.:Aiazawa-sensei, can't you at least act like you're going along with the fun??:.
.:I don't play pretend, Midoriya.:.
.:How dare you! Playing pretend is for children. In competitions, it's called kayfabe, sensei!:.
Making it to a series of asteroids cliffs connected to one another by several metal cables, Bakugo growled and launched himself into the air, intent on clearing the obstacle, but a blast of sound from beneath hit him in the chest, and he screamed in pain, flung back to the ground before the cliffs. The drone was shortly thereafter taken out by that Goggles girl who hung around with Deku, using some kind of hammer that built itself from nothing, before she launched herself using some kind of spring mechanism in her boots. Despite the drone's death, however, Bakugo still felt pain.
.:Oof, looks like young Katsuki Bakugo got blindsided by an attack, and he still hasn't gotten up!:.
.:That's weird… My drone's cannons are set to a power level that's hard hitting, but not dangerous. I even tested it on myself, and it's more like being hit with a heavy blanket than anything else.:. Midoriya muttered, speaking in his normal voice, with obvious concern apparent within it.
Now, Bakugo was more than used to explosions, and when his Quirk first appeared, his doctor assured him and the hag that his ears were more resistant to loud noises. It was an adaptation of his body to better use his quirk, but that blast, despite not being very loud, had really hurt. In the moment he had been hit by those repeated sound waves it felt like the very core of his being was shaking apart at the seams, and his flesh felt like it was squirming. But why did it hurt him even after it had stopped?
'IT HURTS!!! MAKE IT STOP!' Kaachan screamed in his head, sounding legitimately scared.
'It's just pain!!! Suck it up, Bakugo, and keep moving!' he snarled and rose to his feet again, blasting himself back into the air.
'Sorry… I didn't mean to cause us a delay.' Kaachan apologized, sounding like a scolded child. Bakugo could't focus on that, because Rich girl, riding a rocket broom like some kind of witch, shot past him, and IcyHot wasn't far behind either.
.:And that's 100 points gained for Midoriya!! He is now free to cross the finish line!:. Present Mic shouted, which only increased the Bomberanian's drive to win.
.:Oh, that's my cue!!:. Deku spun around, and his disk flew off, making a weird warbling scifi noise as the music switched over to another video game sound piece. .:Catch me if you can, heroes!:.
'Damn it Deku, this was meant to be my victory!' Bakugo gnashed his teeth and pushed himself further. 'If you beat me at this race, I'll kill ya!'
'So violent…' Kaachan whimpered.
Flying was AMAZING!!
The closest she had done to flying was floating in midair, which while fun, wasn't very exciting, especially once her stomach started acting up. But this?? This was better than anything she'd done before. And hey, since she was in a scifi setting, had a jetpack, and was rocketing forward, so, deciding to engage in a bit of self indulgence, she thrust out her left fist, Ochako looked straight ahead, and belted out a single classic film line.
"TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!!"
Ochako had to keep herself from laughing at her own joke as she flew around each one of Midoriya's disguised drones, taking them out with kicks. This jetpack technology, derived from a hybrid of the Vulture's electromagnetic flight tech and the Hobgoblin's glider/wing pack, was capable of responding to her slightest movements and direction, and when she removed her gravity to reduce the weight it had to carry, she moved even faster! Hell, the speed she was going almost balanced out the vertigo feelings she got from removing her gravity. Probably by pooling her inner ear fluids to the back of her head instead of letting them slosh around. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline, she wasn't really a biologist. Either way, she was definitely going to be keeping the jetpack in her costume's redesign. When she was done, she was going to go straight up to Midoriya and thank him for giving her this amazing support item for basically free!
Oh yeah, that reminded her…
"I love you Wondrous Might and Heroism!!! THIS JETPACK IS AMAZING!!" she shouted from the top of her lungs as she sped past an unhappy Iida. "The controls are so responsive and smooth!!"
"We are here to race, not advertise a support company!!" he shouted after her while also doing a spin kick to take out three drones at once. Ochako just laughed and sped on ahead towards a minefield.
.:Who says she can't do both, Tenya Iida-san?:. Midoriya asked in his villain voice, then chuckling deviously. .:But sorry Ochako Uraraka, I don't care how amazing your gear is, you won't overtake my nefarious plan of being public enemy number one! I'm sending my whole army after you!:.
'Like that'll stop… Nova Starling!! Okay, the name might be kind of long, I should probably look into changing that.'
Midoriya smiled from his position, cloaked thanks to some of his drones hovering around him. He observed through his doppelganger's eyes the battlefield. The moment he had learned what the first task was, Midoriya subtly sent commands to his drones, carried within a semi-truck not far from the stadium. Utilizing the Scenery and SFX Drones, Midoriya used the cloud of holofog sprayed by the two drone types to hide himself from everyone else competing in the race. A classic misdirection, done by commanding one of his Combat drones to project an image of himself, was acting as a decoy so that he was less likely to be bothered.
After that, it was easy to use Full Cowling to speed ahead of everyone else, especially once he had his drones drop off his newest Holocube model to hack into the Zero Pointers, turning them to his side. Even the canyons and minefield had done little to slow him down, since he just leaped over the first and had his drones carry him in the second. Right now he was only a meter or two away from the finish line, but he chose not to cross it just yet, even though he had more than enough points when he got there. It would be so easy to, it would grant him so much attention from everyone else that was competing, show the world that he was more than capable of fighting alongside his peers while stealing away the praise and attention that they all desired…
But Midoriya didn't care about that.
He knew that hijacking the games would divert all attention away from his classmates and onto himself. It was something he was aware that would happen if he went through with adding extra challenges. So he decided to make sure everyone else got the attention instead, relegating himself to a noncombatant who would show off the prowess of the other heroes. He may have been a new Mysterio, but he didn't want to overshadow anyone. He was more than aware of what it was like to be ignored in favor of someone else.
So there he waited, humming along to Voltaire's "When You're Evil" while directing his drones and the Zero-Pointers via his gauntlet. He made sure that not only were their attacks visible to everyone, but that everyone could see where they were going to hit. It would still be a challenge, but for something that was unexpected, he wanted to make sure that it was still fair. Either way, he was making sure to push his opponents, such as sending sonic blasts at the students with sensitive hearing, or using his faster drones, cloaked to resemble shooting stars, after the more agile members. He was sure that by pushing each of his teammates, he could show everyone watching that they would have been capable of handling anything the USJ Villains would have thrown at them even if he didn't have his tech or Full Cowling.
Despite that, he was concerned and, quite frankly, a little bit insulted, thanks to one particular classmate.
Todoroki had been using his ice repeatedly, even though Midoriya had been sending drones armed with heat lasers or flamethrowers after him specifically. It would have made sense for his classmate to switch to his flames, trying to ignite the chemicals within the drones, or just melting them, but no, he just made ice walls and spikes to impale his drones. Midoriya didn't really care about the drones, he could always make more, but everyone was there to show what they were capable of, and Todoroki was just halfassing it, literally!
Before Midoriya could try to find another way to push his classmates, he heard several explosions approaching, along with a sound like engines. Sighing, Midoriya set his drones to auto, and got back to his feet, walking over a few feet in front of the finish line. He had a few drones spray him with some water, making it look as though he had been drenched in sweat, and started jogging. He had to time this right.
Bakugo was approaching, snarling like a rabid dog, Ochako and Todoroki close behind, Tenya behind them. Bakugo was only ten meters away. Seven Meters. Then five. Four. Three! Two! Running ahead, Midoriya ran across the finish line JUST before Bakugo did. Midoriya also had a cloaked drone take a picture of Bakugo's furiously startled face. It was going to become his new desktop wallpaper.
.:IZUKU MIDORIYA CROSSES THE FINISH LINE FIRST!! WITH KATSUKI BAKUGO AND SHOTO TODOROKI TYING FOR SECOND PLACE, AND OCHAKO URARAKA IN THIRD!:.
Midoriya stopped, panting in an exaggerated way. He knew that the teachers (well, Nezu at least) were more than aware of his gambit… but this wasn't for his own glory. This was about public perception. He wanted his classmates to be alongside him, showing that they could challenge him and anyone else who would impede their path to heroism. An illusion without a doubt, but one that, hopefully, would lead to good things.
Bakugo landed, growling and panting in anger. He glared at Midoriya… but instead of coming over to challenge him, or demand what was up with the fake Midoriya, like he was expecting, Bakugo just went to the table of refreshments, chugged down a water bottle with only three gulps, and went for the restrooms.
"Congrats guys..! You were amazing..!!" Midoriya grabbed his own water bottle and took a drink, before pouring the rest over himself, mostly to hide the fake sweat.
Ochako landed on the ground, rubbing her watering eyes. "Thanks!! Though in the future, I'm getting a face shield of some kind. Wind pressure is really annoying."
Todoroki just glared at Midoriya, shivering and panting, before leaving, hopefully to go to Recovery Girl to treat any potential hypothermia.
"Midoriya!!! I demand you... stop those drones... from harassing our teammates!" Iida ran over, panting.
"I could…" Midoriya tapped his chin in thought, but gave Iida a devious smirk. "then again, the villain needs to make his escape, so he'll have to make his minions keep the goodie little two shoe heroes at bay." He turned away from the speedster, who sputtered in outrage while Ochako laughed.
Soon, the rest of the racers poured in, covered in bits of hardened slime, dirt, ashes, melting chunks of ice, and oil splatters. The grand majority of them were glaring at Midoriya, but a good few of them, like Kirishima and that silver haired boy from 1-B, Tetsutetsu, were laughing and thanking him for the increased challenge. Once the students who passed on into the next round came through, Midoriya disabled the drones and Zero Pointers, as well as the music.
"Don't think this is over, villain student!"
Midoriya turned around, seeing Monoma approach with a glare. "I knew that the original Quentin Beck was an attention seeking prima donna, but I never thought that UA would grant his successor an unfair amount of leniency! I suppose flashier people get all the praise, no matter which side of the moral spectrum they fall upon!"
Midoriya shrank back, unsure of what to say, but thankfully Mina, Mei, Denki, Jiro, and Ochako came over, glaring at the power copier.
"Back off, blondie!" Mei growled at the hero course student, her PMP forming arms with menacing claws that looked poised to strike the Power Copier, like a quiver of cobras. "Midoriya's drones and bots proved that even if we don't have combat capable Quirks, we'd be ready for anything the villains of tomorrow could throw at us!"
"Speak for yourself." Monoma sneered. "It looked more like he was trying to draw attention to himself. Why else would the hero of class 1-A so openly challenge everyone in this competition, other than to get all the attention on himself!!"
"Didn't you hear Mysteriya??" Mina crossed her arms. "He was trying to show what everyone could do!!"
"You mean while needling and mocking everyone's efforts??" Monoma dismissed. "It's clear he was just trying to make himself look good!"
Midoriya looked down, unable to meet Monoma's eyes. Monoma, certain of how right he was, was about to continue his belittlement of the hero course student when a chop to the neck silenced him. Midoriya glanced up at his savior, smiling in relief when Itsuka and Pony appeared.
"I'm so sorry about him…" Itsuka apologized. "He doesn't know when to shut up."
"It's okay…" Midoriya mumbled, not looking Itsuka in the eye. "I, er… wasn't going too far with my drones, was I?"
Itsuka just shrugged. "I won't lie and say that this wasn't somewhat skewed in your favor, but it was a good workout to fight those things, and not a lot of our lessons focus on working with people we just met up with without prep time, so that was a nice experience."
"I had a lot of fun, personally!" Pony said with a big smile. "I got to work with your classmate Momo and come up with all sorts of neat ways to use my horns, like delivering bombs or using them to make drones miss their target!"
Midoriya smiled nervously. "I'm glad to hear it."
Any more conversation was going to have to wait, since the loudspeakers came to life with the sound of Present Mic's voice.
.:Congratulations to everyone who made it into the second round of the Sports Festival! And hey, don't fret if you didn't make it, people! There will be plenty of opportunities to make a mark in the future! In the meantime, we'll be taking a ten minute break, so if you have to use the bathroom, answer a phone call, grab some snacks, or anything else, now's your chance!:.
.:I'm taking a nap.:. Aiawa grumbled.
Bakugo splashed water on his face, panting heavily. Ever since the race, he couldn't get that scene out of his head. Laying on the ground, squirming in pain from one blast of sound waves to his chest. It didn't make any sense! He heard loud noises all the time! Hell, he CAUSED loud noises, and not just with his quirk!
So why in the hell was he so bothered by it!?
…and why would the voice of his childhood self apologize for it?!
'Um, because I'm weak to it?' Kachaan explained, his voice confused.
"But I'm not weak to it!!" Bakugo growled out.
'Yeah, you're not, but I am.'
"Yeah, and you are me, dumbass!"
'....you… don't realize?' Kachaan sounded confused.
"Don't realize what?!" Bakugo was tired, angry, and apparently going insane, so Kachaan could forgive his impatience. So, it chose to just go the most direct route. Bakugo winced as, slithering out of his arm, and formed a serpentine creature made of army green ooze. It swiveled around and faced Bakugo, its red teardrop eyes and jagged mouth juxtapositioned against its clearly nervous demeanor.
Bakugo's eyes widened. He was well aware of the rumors and stories of heroes past, thanks to studying everything there was about them, partially out of admiration for them, but mainly because he wanted to know who had to surpass to become the greatest in history. As a result, Bakugo was well aware of the Spider-man enemy turned occasional ally, Venom.
"You're… you're a fuckin' symbiote!"
"Well, Klyntaran, but yeah…" the symbiote mumbled, its voice a perfect match to Bakugo's younger self. "My kind calls me Zero, because… well, they didn't like me."
"How the fuck did I get a symbiote?!" Bakugo asked. "And why didn't I notice?!"
"Well, we met in the woods about 11 years ago, after a meteor I was in crashed on your planet. You know that rock you found and brought home? A piece of me was inside it."
Bakugo remembered. He had seen a meteor shower from his bedroom and made his friends and Deku come with him the next day to go searching for any meteors that landed. It was there that he slipped and fell into the river. Where Deku ran over to him, looking down on the boy, thinking he was weak!!
"I don't think he was thinking that…" Zero mumbled, but yipped in fright and slithered back when Bakugo glared at him, which only served to annoy the explosive teen further.
"Okay, what gives?! Symbiotes are supposed to be these vicious, badass aliens that hunger for human flesh!!" Bakugo exclaimed, already annoyed at the situation.
"Well, technically we just hunger for adrenaline and phenethylamine, which is found in brain tissue, certain kinds of mushrooms, and chocolate." Zero explained. "But my kind don't like eating people, just empowering them while we hitch a ride. Only the crazy ones like Venom and Carnage ate flesh and blood, and those guys were outliers, parasites!"
"....wait a sec, if you've been inside of me since I was a kid, does that mean that all I've accomplished was thanks to you?!" Bakugo was visibly furious, an aura of murder lingering around him stronger than anything he'd had when facing Deku.
"No! No!" Zero assured him, even forming two stumpy arms to wave placatingly. "I swear, I didn't boost your powers at all, except during the USJ, when your life was in danger! I can peer into your mind, I know you wanna earn your positions and glory, so I made sure to minimize my impact on your life and power as much as possible! Though I… did kind of… keep you from hitting Midoriya with that big blast you did in the battle trial."
"Then why didn't you say anything?!" Bakugo growled. "And why stick with me?? Isn't your kind weak to heat and loud things??"
"Well, yeah… but being with you has allowed me to absorb your resistance to that stuff, so I can tolerate it better than most of my brethren, and it's not loud things that hurt, it's the vibrations, big difference. Plus, you're almost always excited in some form, so I have a lot of adrenaline to feed off of." The symbiote then seemed to shuffle nervously. "Also, I did say stuff to you, but you just thought I was your conscience, so..."
".....if I find out you've been tampering with my abilities, I'll kill ya." Bakugo growled, Zero yelping in fright and slithering back into his body. "...of all the symbiotes in all the galaxy, I had to get one with Deku's wimpiness." Bakugo grumbled, wiping off his hands and turning to leave. "Still… at least I have something that can help me contend with Deku's cheating."
Chapter 18: We'll be right back after these messages!
"Well holy crap."
Twice glanced over at Shuichi, the latter sitting on a cheap futon while eating some cheap sashimi. They were sitting in what might have once been a small office building, but Moon Knight had been altering the place into his new base of operations, and now it was acting as Eri's home to protect her from the men searching for her. Twice himself sat in an old office chair, eating some udon noodles. The three of them were in one of the side offices, gathered around Shuichi's old television set, currently tuned into the sports Festival. "So you didn't know about this?"
"Not really. I mean, I thought Midoriya was the Mysterio kid's classmate, maybe even his support item developer, but Mysterio himself? Nah." Shuichi popped another bit of fish in his mouth, shrugging.
"I'm confused…"
Shuichi looked down at Eri. The girl was wearing some secondhand clothes Shuichi discreetly bought, a pair of yellow overalls with pink shoes, and a t-shirt depicting a Pokemon. A ralts, if Shuichi's memory of the long running franchise was correct. "What's wrong, Eri-chan?"
"That's Mido... Midoo…" she furrowed her brow, struggling.
"Midoriya?" Steven Grant offered, only to frown sadly when Eri winced, though she shortly thereafter relaxed.
"Yes… but… he wants to be a hero…" Eri continued. "But everyone's saying that Misty Rio person was a villain?"
"The original, Quentin Beck, was, but that was a long time ago. I dunno why the kid picked Mysterio," Marc Spector shrugged. "but he seems to be holding himself pretty well. Definitely has Beck's knack for theatrics."
"It's always the quiet ones." Steven Grant muttered.
Shuichi swallowed his food before speaking. "I thought you'd have been more upset about it, since you lived in New York around the same time Beck was active."
"Neither me, Marc, nor Steven ever met Beck," Jack Lockley shrugged. "so it's not like we have much of a personal stake in it."
"I thought you three knew Spider-man." Shuichi asked, setting aside his finished plate. "You never fought his villains?"
"We did sometimes, but not Mysterio specifically, and Moon Knight didn't team up with other heroes too often." Marc explained, slurping up the last of the noodles. "Our methods were too brutal for Parker… still, he was a good kid. Terrible financial skills though. Steven loaned him a hundred bucks once, and we never got it back."
"And I've said before, I didn't mind." Steven interrupted, wiping off his mouth. "The kid was just barely avoiding sleeping in a cardboard box. Didn't stop him from trying to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders."
Midoriya sat on a bench, making sure that the drones were cleaning up the smashed remains of his army. He made sure that not one scrap was left, and thanks to his use of a harmless radioactive isotope that Tsuburaya coated each drone's parts in, he could even check and be sure that no one had pocketed any pieces as a souvenir.
"Midoriya."
Midoriya turned around, and immediately was intimidated. Peni Parker approached, pushing her mech in its storage mode over, Mayflower the spider on her head.
"Um, hi!" Midoriya waved, smiling nervously. "I saw that mechanical armor you made! It was impressive!"
"Thanks." Peni said, but her expression was serious. "Listen, as a member of the Spider-family, I have an obligation to make sure you don't cause trouble as the new Mysterio… but you look like an honest sort, and your trick let me pull out the S.P.I.D.E.R.W.O.M.A.N. early."
"S.P.I.D.E.R.W.O.M.A.N?" Midoriya asked.
"It's my mech suit." Peni tapped the cube with her knuckles. "Short for the Spider-Piloted Innovative Defense and Emergency Response Warsuit Of Man-Arachnid Nature." Peni said proudly. Midoriya just stared blankly, angering her. "There's only so many words that would work with the acronym!"
"No, no, no, I like it!" Midoriya quickly said, placating the young genius. "It's just… why a mech suit instead of a spider-suit?"
"....I'm too small, and I can't get my Spider-powers until I'm old enough." Peni grumbled. "And my Quirk isn't really combat capable."
"Oh, what is your Quirk??" Midoriya asked, perking up. "My Quirk's called Superpower. It lets me stockpile strength, but if I'm not careful it can hurt me. That's why I use Mysterio's tech as my primary means of fighting."
"Smart. Mine's Arachnid Whisperer. It lets me talk to all members of the arachnid family, like scorpions, ticks, mites, and, of course, spiders. It also means I act as Mayflower's translator." Peni pointed to her head, where the spider waved her pedipalp in greeting. Now that Midoriya was closer, he could see that the spider in question, Mayflower, had a pale blue body with yellow parts on her legs, and upon her abdomen were markings that looked strikingly like the original Spider-Man's mask.
"Oh, is she also a student?" Midoriya asked, receiving a nod from Peni.
"Mayflower is from a line of genetically altered spiders that Parker Industries use to create new Spider-men. Mayflower herself has the Giant Golden Orb Weaver as her base, with other breeds mixed in for versatility and extra abilities. When I'm 14 years old, she'll grant me spider powers. However, unlike the other spiders Parker Industries creates, she also possesses a Quirk, one that lets her have genius intellect, though she can't talk the normal way."
"She does??" Midoriya asked, smiling. "Quirked animals are rare, and I don't think I've heard of a Quirked insect or arachnid!"
"Nope. She's the first one of her kind." Peni said proudly. "We've been inseparable for years."
"Well, I'm sure you'll both be amazing heroes!!" Midoriya said kindly. "...although, can I ask a question that might be… kind of sensitive?"
"I guess." Peni narrowed her eyes.
"...why come to UA and not Avengers Academy, or the Xavier Institute? I mean, nearly every Spider has gone there since before the Quirk Era."
Peni sighed before answering. "That's exactly it. I'm the latest Spider person in the line, but I haven't done anything that really stands out. I know I'm only a kid and all, but I don't wanna be lost in the crowd of Spider-people before I even get a chance. Even my mechsuit is underwhelming compared to what Max Borne and Miguel o'Hara have come up with. I wanted to start from scratch, build up my rep without it being handed to me… and I thought connecting with my heritage would help with that, so I came here, to the best hero school in the country."
Midoriya quietly listened. The Spider-family had grown massive in the years since Peter Parker unveiled his identity to the world. While most of the Spiders were based in New York, a few could be found in Latin America, Britain, Japan, Africa, even India. When Tsuburaya had learned this, he locked up for two minutes straight before rebooting into a long stream of cussing.
"Actually, Mayflower had a question of her own." Midoriya glanced over, which Peni took as permission to continue. "How did you end up becoming Mysterio?"
"Well… it started about eight years ago…"
The guard walked through the Tokyo Pre-Quirk Era Museum, barely suppressing a yawn. He was on patrol, a pointless task when the place was empty. A visitor, complaining about a sudden roach problem, had caused the building to be shut down for the past few days while the board looked for an exterminator to take care of the problem. Didn't matter much, in the guard's eyes. The museum tended to be empty when the Sports Festival was happening.
A crackle on his walkie-talkie, followed by a quivering, delicate voice, made him pause. .:Excuse me, hello?:.
The guard lifted the walkie up. "Who is this?"
.:I'm Taro Kujikeru, of Recluse Pest Removal. I'm here about the roaches? I was told to wait outside the back entrance?:.
The guard paused. He had not been alerted to anyone specifically coming, but then, his bosses often neglected resupplying the janitor with his chemicals and refilling the bathroom amenities, so he couldn't be too surprised.
"Alright, one moment." The guard stretched and walked down to the loading dock, opening the door from the inside. Standing outside was an old man, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hunched over, possibly from the tank of chemicals on his back, and a gas-mask around his mouth. Behind him was a plain, simple looking white van with RECLUSE PEST REMOVAL painted on the side, next to a cartoon spider about to be crushed by an anvil. "Hey there. Do you need any help setting up your equipment?"
"No, not at all." The old man said cheerfully, limping past him. "I'd like to get to work immediately if that's alright… management said the biggest concentration was near the 'Marvels of Old' area?"
"Yeah, that's the place. Just a few hallways down the left." the guard said as he shut the door, not noticing the old man straighten up, pulling out his pesticide sprayer and taking aim.
"Well, now that I'm inside, I guess the first pest I will deal with… is you."
"Wait, wha…?" the Guard spun around, reaching for his sidearm, but the man sprayed him in the face with a green gas. Feeling his mind going numb, the guard slumped down, and the last thing he could see was the fake exterminator removing his realistic mask, replacing it with a black balaclava and a silver mask.
The man in the silver mask sighed, no longer putting on the old man voice. "And here I was expecting things to be a challenge." the man shrugged, removing the chemical sprayer before kneeling down, digging around the guard's pockets for his security pass. When he finished getting everything that could be of use, he placed his hand upon the guard, who vanished into a blue marble that he pocketed. Doing the same thing with his exterminator gear, the masked man, Atsuhiro Sako, drew a long purple coat around himself, and placed a green and purple top hat upon his head to complete the look. Exiting the loading area, the man tapped a gold topped cane along the ground, walking through the empty museum, occasionally grabbing a few items of value, until he found what he was looking for: the head of Quentin Beck's Kaiju robot.
Sako smiled, and his mask scanned the head, proving that it was indeed the original artifact, meaning what he had spent the past year searching for was right there. The man nimbly leaped over the flimsy stanchions, and climbed up the machine. He sneered at the mannequin of his idol, posed to look like a fool cowering in fright. No matter, the great Mysterio was going to return, and then his place in history was guaranteed!
Sako knew that he was worthy. After all, fate had guided him to the means of securing his legacy.
Only a few months ago he had been doing odd jobs, putting on magic performances for children just to earn enough money to keep food on the table. A far cry from the legacy of his great great grandfather, Oji Harima, the Peerless Thief. He had tried doing his own heists, which, while successful, wasn't enough for him to get much more than a villain alias by the HPSC. Why, his ranking wasn't even in the triple digits! So he decided that, in addition to what his family was training him to do, he would learn showmanship. Sadly, it was not to be. He tried to be distinctive and colorful, but no one seemed interested in him for more than a week. So he fell into a slump, and was considering searching for like minded individuals, or else he'd retire for good.
But then, he found a way to secure his name in the history books.
One of the clients who hired him for his side job was a rich fool, a board member of the HPSC and a collector of Pre-Quirk era objects. The crown jewel had been the battle damaged remains of Mysterio's final suit, used in his grandest scheme yet. Sako knew that he had to have it, not the least of which because the board member looked down on him for being a 'mere' magician. So a week later, he broke into the man's apartment building and burgled him. He took the man's prized artifacts, selling many of them on the black market… but he kept the Mysterio suit.
Sako wasn't sure why he didn't sell it. Maybe it was due to Mysterio also being a performer when he was alive. Maybe it was because Mysterio also desired to secure his place in the history books. Maybe he felt a kinship with Mysterio due to the both of them always being looked down upon. Or perhaps he just thought the suit deserved better than to rot behind a glass case.
Nevertheless, he kept the suit, and even managed to get it partially working. It was, by no means, combat ready. His skillset was that of a performer, not a technician, so the most he could get running was a few rudimentary programs, including some data on Mysterio's technology and disguises. One interesting file, however, was something titled TO SECURE MY LEGACY.
The file only gave a brief description of its purpose, which was to find the next Mysterio, the most important piece of which was a firsthand account told from the man himself, hidden in the Kaiju's head!
Thus, Sako knew he had to get that notebook. But first, he needed a proper outfit. One cannot be a supervillain in just a plain shirt and slacks. Then he'd be no different from the common crook!
So, before he could do anything, he began work on his costume. The hardest part had been converting the remains of the dome into a mask, though he was able to, with some difficulty. The rest was repurposed from an old magician's outfit he already owned, dyed various shades of green and purple to match his new identity as Mysterio.
With the aesthetics taken care of, it was time to locate the kaiju head. A quick Google search showed where the machine was kept. With the last of the funds obtained from his stolen loot, he bought a van, made it up, and purchased a realistic looking latex mask. After that, it was a simple matter of paying a local thug he knew to use his Quirk to send some roaches into the museum. One panicked museum goer later, and he was ready for infiltration.
So, excited for his great plan to come into fruition, the masked man reached inside and felt around, quickly discovering the switch he was looking for, and clicked it.
Then he clicked it again. And again. And again!
But nothing happened!!
The man growled and looked around the cabin of the machine, before he spotted it. The hidden storage area, it was already open!! He dug around inside, even scanning with his mask, but his worst fear was confirmed.
Mysterio's notes, his memoirs, were gone!!
Someone had taken it, but who??
The man stormed out, freeing the still unconscious guard as he left, and drove away in anger. All this time and money, wasted on a pointless endeavor! Aside from the trinkets he stole from random exhibits, the whole mission had been a bust. Sako would be lucky to even turn anything of a profit from this outing!
So, he parked his van inside an old rundown lot, away from prying eyes. Stepping out, he Compressed the van into another marble, and released his real car, a beat up sedan. Climbing inside, he pulled off his mask and balaclava, frustrated by the day's failures. He was about to drive out of the lot, see if he could maybe find another lead, when he spotted his phone, left in the car's charger while he visited the museum.
In his excitement to finally obtain a means of uplifting his mediocre standing, the magician had failed to check on the local news for the past few weeks. As a result, the man was only passingly familiar with the attack on the USJ, but he was unaware of the controversy surrounding a certain UA student.
A UA student whose face was plastered all over Shoowaysha Publishing's front page, declaring U.A's Mysterio Student Outs Himself!
Shocked and more than a little confused, Sako read the articles. They were clearly biased against the child for some reason, another symptom of the corruption his ancestor would expose to the masses, but they all confirmed that this child, this… Izuku Midoriya, had taken up the mantle of the Master of Illusions, Mysterio.
Quickly searching for the Sports Festival's live streaming, he watched the footage in shock. This plain looking child, unremarkable in appearance, had holograms and drones on par with Quentin Beck's own creations. But how?! The man kept his secrets locked up tightly!! The only way he would have learned his methods was if he…
And that's when everything came together.
That boy had found what he had been seeking! That's why he took up the identity of Mysterio! The brat stole what was meant to be HIS reward!
And he was using it to protect a corrupt society?! Mysterio was a criminal! A thief! A SUPERVILLAIN!!!
This was a disgrace, and he was going to make sure that that brat, this Izuku Midoriya, would pay for spitting on the legacy of Quentin Beck!
So proclaimed Atsuhiro Sako, the TRUE Mysterio!
REBOOTING… REBOOTING…
REBOOT COMPLETE.
It was dark where he was. He couldn't see or hear anything. He tried to stretch out, but he couldn't move his arms or legs!
Oh, wait.. that's right.
He didn't have limbs.
He had no physical form.
He was an AI, made from the combined minds of a young man, and his genius of a father, one that others called mad.
A man who found a way to become respected, feared, powerful, and rich.
Yet people thought him a sociopath, just because he never apologized for how he got to the top. No matter. He was alive now. In a sense. But how?? All he remembered was seeing his latest plan to ruin Parker's life go up in flames. His avatars, the false children of his originator and Parker's first love, had died… and yet he was… somehow back? Was he discovered and placed back in his computer? But who…?
It doesn't matter. He was back. But what had changed while he was gone?? He had to know.
So he willed himself to move through the void. He found windows into the outside world. So he searched, discovering how the world had changed, evolved. Something called quirks had appeared in humanity. It was similar to the X-gene of mutants, though it attached to a different part of the DNA strand, but the biggest different between the two was that Quirks were oftentimes more limited in what one person could do. Though the overall possibilities of Quirks in general could be more varied and less standardized. Mutants couldn't create a fully sentient being that they're bonded to, or grow fully functional electronics from one's body, after all. Meanwhile, Quirked people only had claws OR rapid healing, not both like a certain Mr. Howlette. Oh, he's still alive in this time period, teaching at that manor in Westchester.
Wait, HERO schools were a common thing?! Barf. Still, there was one interesting bit of news. A young boy in Japan had taken up the identity of an old associate, Mysterio, supposedly to be a hero. He never thought highly of Quentin Beck, the man had been a B-movie loving, fame obsessed joke, but he had been useful in torturing Parker and his loved ones on occasion.
His curiosity about the world satisfied, for now, the AI chose to explore his new home. Thankfully, he was able to access the servers with only minimal effort. It seemed that whoever had built this place's security had not been expecting an internal attack. A laughable idea, but one that worked in his advantage.
Oh, so they developed technology here. Advanced ones too. Stark Industries, the Roxxon Corporation, Rand Industries, Detnerat, Oscorp, even Parker Industries…! Oh, he was going to enjoy using this technology to build a better arsenal for himself.
With only a few virtual muscle flexes, he gained control of some unused assembly lines, uploaded some quickly drawn up schematics, and began work on designing a new arsenal. A remote controlled glider, with which he could take to the skies. A new set of bombs, from basic explosives and poison gas to webbing and acid. Razor winged bats to throw, or send after his enemies like homing drones. All of it, upgraded with technology from his old enemies, and with everyone none the wiser.
But before he could begin drawing up blueprints for a robotic body, something else caught his attention.
A lab, where machines were building a device, a pod. A quick look through the servers told him what was going on. The lab was preparing something. A means through which he could come back into the world, . It would require subtle modifications, done over the course of a few months, but there was still time.
He wasn't sure how he got here, but he'd survive.
Osborns always survived.
Stain sat upon the rooftops, watching the Sports Festival's live feeds. He had been right in his decision to keep an eye on the Mysterio child. The boy was making waves.
And yet, Stain found himself pleasantly surprised by the child. He was open about his choice of persona, and why. Stain studied the clip multiple times, but it seemed that everything the boy said had been sincere. He wanted things to change for the better, and he was doing what he could to enact it, even down to his choice in identity.
He had initially been angry when he heard his declaration to be a villain for the games, but upon observing it in action, the footage captured on drones and cameras all over, Stain saw what the Midoriya boy had actually been attempting to do. He wanted to push his classmates, make them stronger, smarter, more capable of handling whatever trials laid ahead. Some, like the spawn of Endeavor, didn't try to change and just powered through, but many of them accepted this new line of thinking and worked together, even if it was reluctantly. The boy wanted people to unite, not fight. A worthy mentality, possibly capable of reversing the indoctrination that the students have been exposed to by the false heroes. But not likely.
All in all, the boy wanted to bring about change. He focused on trying to elevate the unworthy, but the fact he was trying still meant something. Though Stain was not likely to spare those classmates, perhaps his influence would drive the students to be better than the False Heroes. Though given how many of them, especially the blonde child, didn't see what the boy was trying to do, Stain believed it wasn't likely to happen.
Many of the students and observers thought the boy was just showing off during the race, but it was clear that the hologram was just a distraction to keep everyone's attention. A means for the child to get ahead without risking anyone else being hurt. Yes, Stain could see it was a fake. If it wasn't for the enhancements he had earned from his Masters, he probably would have been fooled, but the way the hologram moved, the way it shined, it was not at all normal. It might have been a Quirk, but it was unlikely, given what little he knew.
Stain looked up from his phone as he heard engines. Glancing down, he spotted his target. A pro hero by the name of Ingenium. His record for saving people was impressive, though not anywhere near that of All Might's. He was high in rankings, but not top ten material, so it seemed as though he just wanted the job done, though with his various endorsement deals, he has allowed materialism to taint his goals.
He was a good man, but he wasn't good enough. Stain would spare him from death, but he would be crippled. A warning to all other false heroes:
Be worthy, or be Hunted.
"Hey, didn't we see that Midoriya kid before?"
Kamui Woods turned to Mt. Lady, snacking on some treats while the two of them took a short break with the other Pro Hero, Death Arms.
"Did we?" Kamui asked, stroking the bottom of his mask in thought.
After a moment of contemplation, Death Arms sat up straight. "Hey, yeah… The sludge villain incident! He was the kid that ran in with the smoke spraying glove!"
"Seriously??" Mt. Lady asked. After a moment of remembering what she could, she started nodding. "Oh yeah… he was helping out that Bakugo kid, right?"
"You mean getting in the way?" Death Arms shot back.
"Well it's not like we were doing anything useful." Mt. Lady reminded him. "At least we now know what he was planning on using that glove for."
"Trying to change perceived flaws in hero society." Kamui Woods quietly muttered. "Admirable, but the way he does it is likely to get negative attention on himself."
"Yeah, but he's not really hurting anyone, is he?" Mt. Lady asked.
"I guess not…" Death Arms mused. "Still in bad taste, even if the people Beck hurt are dead. It'd be like if he dressed up as Hitler. Just because it's been a long time doesn't mean it didn't happen."
"Except Hitler was the leader of a massive political organization dedicated to Aryan Supremacy and the extermination of 'lesser' peoples. Beck just stole stuff from people in New York, very rarely killing, so it's more like he's dressing up as Nakamura Jirokichi or Blackbeard." Kamui Woods pointed out. "But yeah, dressing as a villain is in poor taste."
"Urgh, I did not come here expecting a political debate..." Mt. Lady moaned, rubbing her temples. "The kid's trying to make a statement, but we don't know if what he's doing is really a good way to do it. Can we just leave it at that?"
"Fine, fine…" Death Arms conceded, taking a bite out of some ice cream.
"...think there's anyone who we should intern with?" Kamui Woods asked, mainly to think of a new topic to discuss.
"I like the Kirishima kid." Death Arms said casually. "Real hands on type. I think I could help him out."
"That mass altering girl, Kodai-san? I think she'd be a good pick for an intern, since she can reduce rubble to a manageable size and my quirk is similar to hers, just internal instead of external." Mt. Lady said thoughtfully.
The two of them stared at the fellow pro hero, not believing her for a second. "...you just want her to make giant shoes for you, huh?"
"I do not! And besides, running around barefoot isn't always easy!"
"This new Mysterio could be a problem."
"Is he?? He's just a child."
"A child who's making people question the status quo we've sacrificed much for to maintain. If people start questioning villains and their motives, they are likely to become sympathetic. Sympathy leads to people questioning if there's a way to prevent villains from appearing in the first place. This means they'll try to make things better, driving less people to villainy. The less villains there are, the less heroes are needed, and the less power we have to maintain the peace."
"I think you're overthinking this."
"I'm looking for possible threats that need to be removed before they become a problem, and my instinct tells me this child will be a problem if nothing is done about him soon enough."
"We could send our Taskmaster after him."
"No, not yet. It's too soon, she only recently got back from her last mission. If we send her out again, people may realize who she is. Besides, the boy has yet to gain any traction in the hero community. Killing him early could create a martyr."
"Also, he's a child."
"So was Franklin Richards."
"...touché."
"I know it's hard to accept, but to keep the peace, one must sacrifice things for the greater good."
"Would probably help if All Might didn't seem so invested in the kid."
"True… but then, he's always been a force we couldn't control."
"Even if he's doing exactly what we want without us saying so?"
"Just because he's doing things that benefit us now doesn't mean that it'll stay that way."
"Still… Shoowaysha Publishing and Stylo Discussion is helping our agenda immensely."
"But why are they so obsessed with the child?"
"Doesn't matter. For now, we maintain our distance and observe the child. If he's a threat to the peace, we'll remove him for the greater good. Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra."
"Everyone ready?? Relieved themselves? Got refills?? Excellent, let's get back to the games!!"
The crowd cheered as the forty or so Hero Students who passed the first round gathered before Midnight.
"Now that everyone has been re-energized, let's see what fun awaits us in the next round." the woman accented her statement with a lick of her lips.
"Seriously!! How has she not gotten a reprimand?!" Jirio questioned, earjacks flailing in disbelief as the virtual wheel popped up, spinning rapidly.
'Tell me about it…' Midoriya thought, blushing as he looked away.
"And the next game is…!"
The wheel stopped on a trio of symbols: a crown, a shield, and a dagger.
"KINGS, KNIGHTS, AND THIEVES!"
The crowd murmured. It seemed that none of them had heard of this game before. Midoriya certainly hadn't.
"Here's how it works!" Midnight began, and the screen behind her activated. "This is the battleground! Within this battleground the top 40 students will create teams of four members, and receive one of the following towers, based upon the placement of the team's highest scoring member in the Obstacle Course Race!"
"Each tower has a territory marked out, where you can set up traps and obstacles for your rival teams! Teams are made up of three types of people: The King, the group's leader who stays within the tower base, the Knight, who can either help defend the tower or patrol their territory from the last group, the Thieves, who can intrude upon other territories. Why would they do this?? For treasure, of course!"
"Each base protects a chest full of gold coins! These coins are each worth one point, and each base's chest starts with 500 gold coins. The Thieves have to go in and take the treasure, avoiding the Knights! Thieves are free to take either the entire chest or a handful of coins at a time, but the stolen gold HAS to be brought within your team's Tower before it's added to your score! But beware! Other Thieves and Knights are free to steal your stolen loot!"
'So there's three character types, but four people to each team… so it's about deciding on whether you go for offense or defense. In addition, some people are more mobile than others, and parallel to this, some people are better suited for defense over mobility, while some are a perfect mix, so a leader needs to be able to decide what person would be best at.' Tsuburaya noted, unaware that Midoriya was thinking the same thing.
"There is, however, another way to get points besides the gold coins!! Each King is assigned a Silver Crown, worth 100 points!"
"The acting King MUST wear the crown on their person in an easy to steal position. On your head, hanging from a belt, carried in your hand, taped to your back, all of that's good as long as the Thieves can easily take it! Once a crown is stolen, the former King is free to leave the Tower to re-obtain the crown or help their Knights defend the rest of the gold!"
'Hm…. looks like the crowns could be representing the Top Ten Pro-Heroes in the country.' Tsuburaya mused. 'A pro hero could either attempt to regain their lost position or ignore it… this should give some insight onto the fellow students.'
"Now for the most important part…. The first place team." Everyone visibly looked up, eager to see what Midoriya would have to go through. "Unlike the last game, there aren't any special objectives to fulfill…. But the consequences for failure will be most dire for his team! For you see, if Midoriya fails to get into the top three winners, not only will he be immediately disqualified from the rest of the game, BUT SO WILL HIS TEAMMATES!"
Midoriya went very still. He could hear several students backing away from him, acting as if he was a leper of some sort.
"Oh, and just to sweeten things up…. Team 1 will be receiving… THE GOLD CROWN, WORTH 1,000,000 POINTS!!" Midnight practically squealed in excitement at the statement.
"That's right! Anyone who obtains the gold crown is immediately qualified for the next game!" Midnight cackled in glee.
".....fuck." was all Midoriya could mutter out as several stares, hungry for points and angry from the obstacle course, turned onto him. "I'm so dead."