Ichido really needs to find a new job. It's not that working at a customer service hotline is the worst job imaginable, it's just that…no wait yeah it is. The environment his manager makes is super stressful, the people that call in are jerks and his coworkers are barely any better, and the hours are insane, evident by the fact he is leaving at eight o'clock at night after an eleven-hour shift. His dad was right; get a BA in creative writing was a terrible decision.
The man sighs as he exits the office building, ready to just go home and sleep till Monday. (The fact that Monday is tomorrow is irrelevant.) Walking under the streetlights, Ichido heads down the street, wanting to get to the station as quick as possible. Although this part of town is relatively safe, he doesn't see the need to tempt fate and have her send a mugger his way. As long as he moves quickly and stays this path he should be able to get home with his wallet and his body intact.
Later Ichdio will laugh at how foolish he was for thinking his life could be anything other than difficult.
Passing under another streetlight, the man stops his walk as the light mysteriously goes out. Looking up, he sees the light in question completely dark save for some green sparks. Ichido raises an eyebrow at this strangeness, only for the streetlight ahead of him to go out as well. Then the next, and then the next, until a few seconds later all the lights on the block go out save for the green sparks.
Ichido raises his fists in a defensive stature, having realized three streetlights ago that whatever is happening is not because of the Musutafu Electric Company. "H-hello!" he calls out into the dark, secretly praying that no one calls back. After a few seconds of silence the man lowers his fists, deeming it safe to keep walking.
Only for him to take three steps and hear a loud rattling noise come from the dark. Back in his defensive stance, Ichido takes a few steps towards the alley behind him, ready to bolt at the first (well technically third) sign of danger. "L-listen, whoever you are, y-you shouldn't mess with me! I-I have a really powerful Quirk and I'm not afraid to use it!"
xXDPMHAXx
Ichido Kyarakuta! Quirk: Fingernail Growth! He can grow his fingernails up to three inches in length! It's really not that powerful!
xXDPMHAXx
The man shakes as he tries not to cry, waiting for something to happen. And something does, in the form of the rattling dying down followed by the lights flickering back on all at once. Ichido lets a breath out as he sees this, hoping it's a sign the danger has passed.
"Hissssssssssss."
It has not.
His skin turns as white as paper as he turns around to look in the alley. At first he sees nothing, before the hissing gets louder and something slithers in from the darkness. Coiled between the two buildings is a glowing green rattlesnake approximately 20 feet in length, with two blood red eyes staring right into Ichido's soul.
In hindsight, maybe approaching the dark alley was a bad idea to begin with.
Ichido yells in fright, turning to run as fast as he possibly can, but cannot get away as the snake pounces at him. In an instant the green beast is coiled around him, squeezing its prey tight as can be. The man elongates his nails and tries to scratch at the monster in front of him but finds not even his spontaneous manicure can pierce the snake's scaly hide. The light begins to fade in the corners of his vision as he can feel his lungs starting to give out. At this rate it looks like poor Ichido isn't going to make it.
The snake unhinges its jaw, ready to take a bite of poor Ichido, when it happens. "Hey slinky, he's off the menu!" The snake looks up in confusion as to who is calling it, only to be met with punch straight to the face. The beast flies back, letting go of Ichido who begins to fall to the ground only to be caught from behind.
Vision slowly returning, the man turns around to see who caught him only to do a double take. Standing behind him is a boy no more than fourteen, decked in a white and black jumpsuit with snow white hair and glowing green eyes. What the heck? What is a child doing here?
"Are you okay sir?" the boy asks as he sets Ichido onto his feet. Ichido just stares at the kid who just saved his life in a mixture of wonder and confusion, which was apparently the wrong thing to do as the kid develops a worried expression. "W-what is it? Do I have something on my face?"
The teen went to check his face, only to be interrupted as the snake recovers and slams its tail into him, sending him flying into a nearby dumpster. The teenager groans as he sits up, shaking off the banana peel that landed on his head. "Well now I certainly do."
Its opponent momentarily distracted, the snake tries again to catch its prey but is again stopped as the boy flies out of the dumpster and grabs hold of the snake's tail. The creature struggles against the hold, and it is clear it is taking all the kid's strength to keep his hold on the reptile. "Come on, isn't there a basket I can just put you in?" the teenager cries, before a look of realization appears on his face. "Actually, maybe that's not such a bad idea."
With a grunt the teen pulls hard on the tail, causing the snake to snap backwards into the alley wall. Then before it can recover, the teen flies up and with a mighty heave chucks the snake into the same dumpster it sent the boy into minutes before. Landing hard, the snake lets out the reptilian equivalent of a groan as it lies dazed in the trash. The teen drops down from the sky, grabbing the lid of the dumpster, and slams it over the beast's head, effectively defeating it.
The teen pants as he drops back to the ground, worn out from the fight. "Well, I'd like to see you slip out of that one," he says with confidence. Only to watch as a second later the snake turns intangible and shoots out of the dumpster, hiss at him, and disappear into the ground. The kid's eye twitches as he stares at the now snake-free dumpster. "Yep, forgot about that for a second."
Ichido takes a step back from the boy, just in case this very strong teenager decides now is the time to lose his cool, right as the teen lets out a long, defeated sigh. The teen rises off the ground once again, flying off into the night and leaving Ichidio all alone.
The man stands there for another few moments before finally allowing himself to breathe again. You know what, let's wait on the job search. Right now, Ichido really needs to find a new pair of pants.
xXDPMHAXx
Izuku's had a hard week. He could possibly even consider this the hardest week of his entire life. It's been seven days since he woke up from his coma, and he has spent every available second out in the city looking for the escaped ghosts. And one would think that after a week of ghost hunting he could say he's made some infinitesimal amount of progress, but nope; Izuku can say that he has not been able to return a single ghost to the Ghost Zone. It's not for lack of trying, however; he's been working himself to death over this. There are just three major issues.
First is time. Though he wishes he could spend the entire day looking for ghosts, he's only been able to go at nights. This is due to multiple reasons: needing to eat and sleep being one, worries about pros discovering and capturing him be another. But the biggest reason has been because of Inko Midoriya. After Izuku's little "excursion" that day, the mother has been beside herself with worry of him disappearing again. (Apparently telling your overprotective mother you fell asleep in a park without your phone after coming home from a coma isn't enough to satiate her worries. Who knew?) So for the past week while he's been home his mom has been watching him like a hawk, barely letting him get away to sleep let alone go fight the undead. Meaning all of Izuku's searches have been limited to late at night when his mom finally closes her eyes long enough to rest, giving the teen roughly six-hour windows to work.
The second issue is area. While Tokyo may be the capital of Japan, Musutafu is the capital of Japanese heroes. Being where UA is, many heroes have decided over the decades to station their agencies here, which in turn has led to an increase in population, which led to the city expanding greatly over time. All of that is to say that Izuku has a lot of ground to cover and it's not like the ghosts have signs pointing him to them.
Well…that's not exactly true. Technically speaking he does have one thing that can point him in the direction of the ghosts. Apparently, that vapor that kept escaping his mouth that day wasn't due to cold weather. It is some sort of biological ghost detection system, a ghost sense if you will, that lets Izuku know if a ghost is nearby and points him towards their general direction. But while this may sound like the exact thing that Izuku needs right now, it does have two major drawbacks; those being he has to be close to a ghost for it to activate, and it only lasts a few seconds. So what could have been his saving grace has turned into another thing in life that has let him down when he's needed it the most. ("Yeah, let's not go down that road tonight.")
Finally, the last issue Izuku is dealing with is the fact that whenever he has the time and actually manages to find a ghost, he has no actual way of capturing the spirits. And he's tried everything: nets, traps, chains, iron, silver, garlic, salt, prayer. But no matter what he's used the ghosts have keep phasing out and escaping. Izuku would like to think he is a pretty patient person (whether that be by nature or by necessity we may never know) but even he is starting to reach his limit with this bullshit.
The ghostly teen flies through the fudge factory's roof, into the manager's office, and finally into the lab. Touching down by the elevator, Izuku flips the light switch on, only for the new bulbs he just installed not to turn on. Oh right, no power. As it turns out turning on the ghost portal did more than give him powers and release who knows how many ghosts into downtown Musutafu. It also completely fried the electrical systems in the lab, meaning that the only place the teen can go to train with his new powers and learn more about ghosts is completely dark save for the light coming from the Ghost Portal which he still hasn't been able to close.
Izuku goes along the wall to a panel and presses inwards, opening the wall up the reveal a funky generator, one armed with two tesla coils and a large green sticker that is so worn it's impossible to see what it's supposed to say. Bending down the teen gives the machine a smack, only for nothing to happen. He found this his second day in the lab while trying (and failing) to restore the power, but again whatever the portal did must have fried it since nothing he's done has been able to get it working again.
Resigned to working with barely any light, Izuku stands up and goes to the other wall where he has hung up a map of Musutafu, takes a nearby sticky note, and writes 'ghost snake' before putting it on the map. This is immediately followed by him flopping down on the desk and groaning.
This really sucks.
Izuku hates complaining like this. Despite the way life treats him he is usually a pretty cheerful person and can find the bright side to most situations. But honestly, he's just in a bad mood. And surprisingly it's not because of the rampaging ghosts, lack of sleep, overbearing mom, or secret basement that doesn't evEN HAVE WORKING LIGHTS! (Okay so maybe that all factors into it a little bit.) But the real reason is that today is the last day of his bed leave, meaning it's time to go back to Aldera Junior High.
Contrary to what most people may think Izuku doesn't hate the school. He just feels like…it's just that…when it comes down to it…okay let's just say he doesn't care for the way he is treated. Despite the intense week he has had to endure, Izuku can say he was happy that at least he wasn't being harassed for having an extra joint in his toe. But now he'll have to go back and deal with people not only making fun of him for his Quirklessness but also for his accident; he can already hear the sneers of the kids saying the lightning should have finished him off. The teachers won't be any help; heck they might throw their own snide comments into the mix. And then there's Kacchan. Who knows how the boy will react to Izuku's return? The greenette can only pray that the blond won't mistake his literal coma for some act of defiance, but sometimes with Kacchan he can never know how he'll react.
The teen groans again as he lifts his head from the table. Maybe he should just tell his mom that he's still not feeling great and needs to stay home. Yeah, that could work-wait, no it won't. If he does that then his mom will turn her overprotectiveness up to eleven and Izuku will never find time to sneak out to hunt ghosts again. He can't risk losing the little time he has, not after what he did. This is his problem, and he's got to do whatever he can to fix it.
Even if it means going to the one place he would rather never see again.
Izuku takes out his phone and looks at the time. 2:49; only three more hours before he has to get up. He guesses he should get some sleep tonight. After all, he's got a busy day tomorrow.
Standing up fully, the teen floats upwards and out of the lab, all the while thinking of what a mess his life has become.
It's a shame the teen left when he did, however. Because not a minute after Izuku left did someone else arrive. The swirls of the Ghost Zone pulse as a figure steps through the ectoplasm and into the laboratory. At first glance you may not be able to tell that this person is a ghost. They kind of look like a grandma, with grey hair and wrinkled skin. They wear a pink dress and apron with a hairnet sitting on their head, not unlike how a lunch lady would dress. Even her skin color, which is a sickly green, could pass for normal in this Quirked society. However upon closer examination one can see the ghostly attributes to her, namely the glowing aura or how she floats a few feet off the ground.
The ghost looks around the room, confused as to where she is. "Oh my, this isn't the cafeteria." Knowing that to be an objective fact, the specter floats upwards and away. She better hurry; there's school tomorrow after all.
xXDPMHAXx
Aldera Junior High. On the surface it looks like any underfunded school in the city: dirty walls, overgrown weeds, old equipment. But he knew of the true horrors that lie behind those doors. He knows this is the place where dreams go to die.
Okay maybe Izuku is being a bit dramatic, but can you blame him? It's his first day back to a school that has a Bully Midoriya Club (there's no definite proof but Izuku knows it's there, in the shadows). Standing in front of the brick fence, the greenette can already feel the stares of his classmates as they walk past, probably already drafting their jokes about his accident.
The teen takes a deep breath. He can do this. Its only seven hours from now until the final bell. He can totally make it until then. He just needs to keep his head down and everyone won't even notice him. Yeah, this is a good plan. This will totally work.
Straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, he walks to the door and opens it. And he immediately realizes there is one flaw to his plan: it sucks.
The hallway instantly goes silent, all of the conversations being cut off as the kids turn and look at Izuku. Their stares burrow deep into the greenette's soul as he stands in the doorway, the light of the morning sun acting almost as a spotlight on the frozen teen. No one so much as breathes, save for Izuku who at this point is very close to hyperventilating.
"Don't go invisible, don't go invisible..." the half-ghost chants in his mind as, after a full minute of awkwardness, he takes a step forward. He tries to ignore the whispers of the kids as he makes his way past but can't stop himself from making out some of the stuff that is said.
"Woah, Midoriya's back?"
"I thought he died."
"Didn't they say he jumped off a roof or something?"
"I heard he was struck by lightning."
"Seriously? Geez, first born Quirkless then that. How unlucky can you get?"
"Better hope he doesn't gamble, or if he does lets hope he'll play me."
"Kake, we talked about this-"
"I just need one more game, then I'll quit! I swear!"
Izuku forces himself not to pay them any mind as he continues down the hall. What they say doesn't matter, all that matters is getting through today. The talk will die down as long as he keeps a low profile.
Apparently though his body disagrees with this statement, as while Izuku has been focusing on maintaining his visibility, his tangibility decides it's not completely needed. For a brief second the teen's lower body goes intangible as he is walking. The teen realizes this and catches himself before he can fall through the floor, but it's too late to escape this endeavor humility intact. As Izuku forces his body back to normal, his pants stay intangible a second longer than his legs and fall down, only regaining solidity as they hit the floor.
If Izuku thought it was quiet before he would think he's deaf now. He swears he could hear a fly breathe as no one moves, all eyes locked on him and his pantslessness. And then all at once noise comes back as possibly every student in the school breaks into laughter, all pointing and cackling at the teen's misfortune.
In Izuku's defense he does not cry, even as he can feel tears prick his eyelids. Instead he just sighs as he stands there for everyone to see, realizing exactly what kind of day it is going to be.
Unbeknownst to the teen, there is one other person not laughing at his misfortune. Standing in the doorway to the classroom, Katsuki Bakugo just stares at his former friend with a scowl on his face, watching the meek teen take the laughter without fighting back.
"Deku…"
xXDPMHAXx
Let the record show that Shota was not a morning person. Or an afternoon person. Or a night person. And the claims that he is a person could also be refuted with enough effort. Point is though, the man did not like being up early. But he endured, not as a hero, but as a teacher who wanted to make sure his student's education prepared them for the dangers they would have to deal with when they left UA and became heroes themselves.
Still, it doesn't mean he enjoys getting up early. And he especially does not enjoy getting up extra early before classes start to come to UA to talk about a case that has some of the best heroes in the city scratching their heads. But again, he endures, because this time the man has a new lead.
Shota stares at the taskforce assigned to this case as they take their seats. To his right, a man in a trenchcoat pulls out a tape recorder and puts in on the desk, before taking out a notepad just in case. In front of him, a mouse- no wait a dog- uh, maybe a bear- the principal of UA finishes pouring tea for his guests as he too settles in behind his desk.
Nezu smiles as he takes his tea. "Well this is certainly a welcome way to start the day, wouldn't you say Aizawa?" That rat is going to dance on his grave one day, Shota knows it.
"Yes I would say it is, Nezu," Naomasa Tsukauchi says as he takes his drink as well. "My apologies I have not been able to meet with you both until now; things at the station have been somewhat hectic as of late what with the animal's escape."
"Nonsense, no need to apologize, Tsukauchi. You are a busy man and right now this case is technically low priority. However, I will say that if what Aizawa has told me is true, then we may need to consider expanding our little task force as it were." Tsukauchi raises his eyebrow at that, curiosity and concern filling him. Nezu then turns to the other man in the room, who puts his tea down as the focus shifts to him. "Aizawa, if you would."
Shota nods as he reaches into his capture weapon and pulls out a folder which lands on the principal's desk. Opening it reveals multiple images that look as if they were taken from surveillance cameras. "You've already been briefed on the basics. Six nights ago, what we discern was an animal with a Quirk laid waste to the Tatooin Shopping District, only to be stopped by a vigilante. The vigilante was able to escape the Pros on the scene, and later the animal was able to escape the van that was transporting it." As he explained this, he pulled out the respective photos for Tsukauchi to see. "Normally I would just chalk this ordeal up as the blunder it was and begin my search for the two involved if it wasn't for three things. First, both the vigilante and the octopus had similar Quirks. Both seemed to be able to levitate to a degree and could phase through solid matter."
The detective responds by putting a hand to his mouth in thought. "No way is that some kind of coincidence."
"No way indeed Detective," Nezu chimes in. "In fact I would say the odds of the two being in the same area with the same Quirks without outside interference are insurmountably low."
The detectives face grows a touch paler. "Quirks…plural? You don't think-?"
"I don't, at least not at the moment. What I do think however is there is something going on behind the scenes we are unaware of, made even more evident by the second point."
Raising an eyebrow the detective looks back to the Erasure Hero. Deciding to leave whatever that was alone for the moment, the man continues his briefing. "For whatever reason, during the fight my Erasure was unable to affect both the vigilante and the animal."
"What?" Tsukauchi asked in astonishment. "Has that ever happened before?"
"Only with mutant types," Shota said, the slight bitterness from the event leaking into his voice. "But I doubt those two were secretly heteromorphs. I don't know how they did it, but if criminals have basically found a way to nullify my Quirk-"
"Then who is to say they haven't found ways to nullify others." Tsukauchi finishes. Right now with those two specifics its hard not to think there isn't something else going on the heroes are unaware of. Before he can get dragged down that rabbit hole though, he turns his attention back to Shota. "What about the last thing?"
Instead of answering directly, Shota pulls one last photo from the pile, one of the young vigilante standing over the octopus with the heroes surrounding them. Immediately Tsukauchi sees the sparks surrounding the young boy. "Green lightning…"
"Precisely," Nezu pipes up, setting his tea down as the wrap up concludes. "According to several eyewitness statements, Aizawa's included, the vigilante at the scene was able to generate green electricity around themselves. Whether this electricity is the same as the type that has been appearing around town is still unknown, it is quite the interesting correlation if I do say so myself."
Tsukauchi made a noise of confirmation as he began to relook at all of the photos. "So you think that this kid is actually the villain we've been looking for?"
"Not necessarily, but I do believe he as well as that octopus have some sort of connection to them."
"It can't be just a coincidence," Shota agrees, mind made up that something suspicious was going on, and where there's suspicion, there's usually trouble.
Tsukauchi narrows his eyes narrows his eyes at the picture of the young vigilante, already agreeing with the Erasure Hero's sentiment. "So what's the plan?"
"Well its quite simple actually," Nezu says with that calculating smile Shota has grown to hate as he points at the picture on the desk. "Find the vigilante, find out whatever is going on."
xXDPMHAXx
If Izuku had to use a word to describe his day so far, it would be manageable. That's not to say it's been good, but he can at least deal with it. Sure the teen has had to deal with some unpleasantries so far, like hearing people comment on how sad his life must be or having had his desk defaced while he was gone or having the teachers nearly give him detention because his desk was defaced. However, everyone has so far stayed away from him and the day has been ticking by fairly quickly, so Izuku can be happy that he is about breaking even right now.
Now its lunchtime, the moment the teen has been waiting for. If he can eat fast enough, he might have enough time to do a quick sweep of the area for ghosts before the next period begins. At the very least it'll give him an excuse to be by himself for a little bit and not have to deal with the silent mockery of his fellow students.
He stuffs his bento down his throat, barely caring about table manners and only a few seconds away from forgoing the chopsticks and using his hands. He ignores the looks he gets, just wanting to leave the table as soon as possible. He's nearly accomplished this goal when it happens.
Chewing on the last piece of the mudpie his mom packed for him, Izuku is standing up when he feels a hand on his shoulder force him back to his seat. The greenette gulps as he looks to see two smirking faces look back at him.
"Hey Midoriya, long time no see," Yubi says, stretchy fingers curling on his arm.
"Yeah buddy," Yokei says as he takes a seat on the table, stretching his arms over his head. "It's been a hot minute. Heard about what happened. How are you holding up?"
"H-hey guys. Uh, doing well, thanks for asking," Izuku says as he begins to curl in on himself, not trusting their kind dispositions for a second.
"Really?" Yokei says in faux astonishment. "Just 'doing well?' I mean come on Midoriya, lightning strikes are no joke. I know that if Yubi or I got hit be one of those we would definitely be feeling off. Who knows how it could affect someone with your condition."
Izuku holds back the sigh as he hears the hidden meaning behind that sentence. "You shouldn't even be alive, you genetically inferior waste of space." Instead, a weak laugh escapes Izuku's lips. "Huh, just, uh, really durable I guess."
The greenette makes another attempt to stand up, but this time Yubi shoves him down with enough force to make him slouch forward a bit.
"I don't know Yokei," Yubi said with a smile on his face. "Is it me or does Midoriya look a little pale?"
"You know what. Yeah he does," Yokei smirks as he stands up, putting his own hand on Izuku's other shoulder. "Maybe we should go and bring him to the nurse's office."
"We could do that. Or…" Izuku yelps as in an instant he is face down on the lunch table, Yokei and Yubi pressing on his back and keeping him down, no one paying attention to the small crowd of students their interaction has attracted. "We could save her the trouble and check him over ourselves."
Izuku is barely able to yelp as he is flipped over and dragged onto the table, Yubi using his elongated fingers to keep the greentte pinned. The two boys smile as Izuku begins to struggle against his bonds, not liking where this is going. Yokei's grin widens slightly as he stands over Izuku, punching his fist into his open palm. "Now come one Midoriya, don't be like that. We're just trying to help."
Yubi laughs as Izuku's eyes widen. "Yeah, just make sure to tell us if this hurts."
Izuku tries to get away, but the enhanced strength of Yubi's fingers is keeping him down flat. At this point the small crowd has formed a circle around the table, all of the kids wanting to see exactly is going on and hoping to get a good view of the 'fight' that is about to happen. Yoeki grins wide as he rears his fist back, aiming to turn Izuku's face inside out. The teen on the table panics as he sees this, his eyes glowing bright for a second, before he finally finds the strength to break out of Yubi's clutches. Then filled with a desire not to get punched, he kicks his right foot out and hits Yokei right in the chest, sending the bully flying back.
And landing right on Katsuki Bakugo.
Everyone stares in silence as Katsuki stumbles back, keeping his balance while his food falls unceremoniously on the ground. For a moment no one so much as breathes as they stare at spiky haired boy who looks at was once his lunch. Then Katsuki looks up, eyes locked on the person who took his meal away from him: Izuku Midoriya.
"Welp, I had a good run."
"Deku…" Katsuki growls low as he marches forward and grabs Izuku by the shirt collar, bringing the two face to face. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"H-hey there Kacchan. Um, long time no see, uh I-I mean sorry about your food it-it was just an accident, you know. Uh, here why don't I pay for it and-" Izuku finds himself closing his mouth as he sees Katsuki raise a hand.
"You know what," Katsuki begins after another second of silence. "I don't know what you were thinking, but you've caused me a lot of trouble."
Izuku gulps at that. "I-I know, and really I'm sorry about your lunch but-"
"Not that!" Katsuki screams, cutting Izuku off. "You know what I mean!"
Through the fog of panic, a bit of confusion makes it way to the front of Izuku's brain. "Um, w-what?"
Katsuki stares at Izuku for another second before throwing him down, landing next to the ruined meal on the ground. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. What does matter is you knowing your place, you damn nerd, and I'm going to be the one to teach it to you." As he says that, he opens his palm and lets a few explosions dance across his hand.
Izuku closes his eyes, knowing what was about to happen was going to hurt. That is until he feels his mouth open and a burst of vapor flies out. He opens his eyes and watches as the unassuming cloud flies through the crowd and into the cafeteria.
"What? Now?"
Izuku squints as he tries to make out what may be here, only for them to go wide as he sees a glowing figure fly up through the floor and then into kitchen. Though he can't make out what the figure was, he can only assume its intentions. He needs to get back there, now.
"What are you looking at, Deku?" Katsuki asks in a way that makes it seem like doesn't really care about the answer. Izuku looks around him, knowing that if he wants to get back there, he needs to get away from his childhood friend first. Looking around frantically, his eyes lock onto the food next to him and, in his panic, comes up with a really, really bad idea.
Grabbing a handful of noodles and jumping to his feet, he rears his arm back and screams "FOOD FIGHT!" He then lobs the noodles right at Katsuki, who is too stunned by this to do anything other than take the food head on. The cafeteria goes deathly quiet as the noodles slide down Katsuki's shocked face. Then…
"LET ANARCHY REIGN!"
Going from zero to one hundred real fast, all of the teens in the cafeteria grabs handfuls of food and begin to throw them around the room. It's like a warzone as noodles and vegetables are flung about, kids standing on tables and others hiding underneath them. Clean uniforms are instantly dirtied as sauces land on their gakurans and the cafeteria is turned into a janitor's worst nightmare in less than a minute.
All the while Izuku stays low, crawling on his hands and knees across the battlefield and towards the kitchen. Only once does he look back, to where he sees Katsuki getting pummeled with various food products from all sides. "You're dead Deku! You hear me?! Dead!"
"Oh great," Izuku chuckles humorlessly. "I'm still his favorite."
Izuku continues to crawl until he comes to the door to the kitchen, opening it and going inside. Getting to his feet, the teen doesn't have to look far to see the ghostly lunch lady floating in the middle of the room, seemingly confused.
The greenette is floored for a moment as he looks at the ghost, one thought coming to his mind. "Woah its…she's human…" Up until this point Izuku has only come across ghosts that were more animalistic in nature like octopi and snakes. This though, this was the first time he's seen a ghost that resembles a person. Izuku was starting to doubt if ghosts like this even existed to be honest. But if this ghost used to be human, then maybe this is great. Maybe for once he can get a ghost back to the Ghost Zone by talking to them civilly.
Izuku clears his throat, getting the ghost's attention who puts down the pot of rice she is holding and turns to the teen. "Oh hello there, dearie. Any chance you can help me," she says in English. "Today's lunch is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Do you know where it might be?"
"Uh," Izuku begins, also speaking English. "I'm sorry ma'am, but the cafeteria doesn't serve meatloaf."
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as the ghost's sweet, grandmotherly persona quickly shifts to one akin to a demon, as her teeth go razor sharp and hair dances like flames. "DOESN'T SERVE MEATLOAF?!" Izuku gasps as he takes a step back, his hope for a civil conversation fading faster by the second. "WHAT ABOUT THE MENU?!"
Izuku gulps the air begins to pick up, green lightning sparking off the appliance and a green vortex appearing over the ghost's head. The teen grits his teeth, forcing himself not to run away from this being as he knows this is his responsibility. And so he calls upon the cold feeling in his chest that sits right next to his heart and shouts the words he's grown accustomed to saying whenever he needs to focus on transforming. "I'm Going Ghost!"
A halo appears around Izuku's waist before splitting, transforming him into his otherworldly persona. Crouching down, the teen jumps into the air and comes face to face with the Lunch Lady ghost.
"Maybe I can still salvage this," Izuku thinks. "I just need to find the right words."
"I command you to, um, go away!"
"Nailed it."
Surprisingly, the ghost does not agree to this and only smirks as she reaches a hand out. Along the wall, the ovens begin to spark and shake wildly as green flames erupt from the stove top, before that same green fire shoots out and towards Izuku. He manages to dodge the first blast but can't stop himself from getting hit but the second and third blasts. The teenage ghost flies back into the door, flying out and into the still chaotic cafeteria. He skids across the floor, coming to stop at the feet of the teens, who stop what they are doing to stare at the strange teen who has suddenly appeared. Izuku just stares them in the eyes before sheepishly waving.
What he doesn't see is that Katsuki, who at this point is half buried in different food products, narrows his eyes as he sees Izuku. "It's him. What the fuck is he doing here?"
Katsuki's question is almost immediately answered as the door to the kitchen flies open, the Lunch Lady ghost flying out, a torrent of wind following her. The teens see this and immediately begin to panic, all running away from what they assume to be an attacking villain. The ghost barely pays them any mind, instead looking at the food thrown about, her expression going from angry to furious. "LOOK AT THIS! SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KIDS DON'T EAT MY MENU! THEY NEED TO LEARN RESPECT! THEY NEED DISCIPLINE!" Then in a strange turn of events her anger dissipates as she resumes her friendly persona, pulling a slice of cake out of nowhere. "Anyone want cake?"
Unsure of what to do, Izuku just nods his head. This is apparently the worst thing he could have done as she drops the cake, resuming her intimidating appearance. "TOO BAD! CHILDREN WHO DON'T EAT MY MENU DON'T GET DESSERT!"
Then with a roar the ghost casts the empty trays in a green light before causing them to shoot out at a group of unsuspecting students. Seeing this Izuku quickly flies forward, spectral tail forming as he barely manages to catch the legion of dishes. Dashing over he puts the trays down before realizing exactly what he just did. "Oh great, my teachers are right. I would make a great busboy."
He doesn't get a second of reprieve though as he hears more screams as more dishes fly at another group of students. Instead of catching them, this time Izuku manages to fly behind them and praying this works, puts his hands on the kid's shoulders and goes intangible. Miraculously the intangibility spreads to the students as well, causing the trays to pass harmlessly through them.
Izuku watches as they run out of the cafeteria, leaving the room empty save for him and the Lunch Lady. "Ma'am, please calm down! I'm sure we can talk this out!"
The lady scoffs. "THERE'S NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT UNTIL MEAT IS BACK ON THE MENU!"
"But meat is on the menu! We have curry!"
And curry there is, made apparent as it flies through the air towards the Lunch Lady. Actually, all the food begins to travel towards her, the wind sucking all the food in the room towards the woman like a vacuum cleaner. It swirls around her for a moment before a piece of fish attaches to her arm. Then a piece of pork goes to her rib. And then more and more food begins to pile onto the ghost slowly but surely, until standing in her place is a hulking meat monster.
"Huh, well you don't see that every day," Izuku states, too stunned by this new development to say anything else.
The meat golem stumbles forward, pointing an accusatory finger at the teen. "PREPARE TO LEARN WHY MEAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL OF THE FIVE FOOD GROUPS!" Then once again out of nowhere, the ghost decides to act nice again, pulling a cookie off of her meat suit. "Cookie?"
Hoping to this time satiate the ghost's bloodlust, Izuku shakes his head no. Again, though he apparently chose poorly, because after a second of surprise her anger returns full force. "THEN PERISH!"
Rearing a fist back, the Lunch Lady that swings a punch so fast Izuku doesn't have time to dodge, taking it and flying into the far wall. Pulling himself from the Izuku sized crater he formed, the teen ghost flies up dazed before narrowing his eyes at the Lunch Lady. Okay, so talking is apparently not an option. That just means he only has one option…why does he have a feeling this is going to hurt?
Moving before he can second guess himself, Izuku shoots towards his adversary as fast as he can, rearing back his own punch. The meat ghost just smiles though as she dodges the readable move and returns the hit with a haymaker. Izuku takes the hit but stops himself in the air just in time. Realizing the direct approach won't work, the teen thinks up another plan.
He flies forward once again, pretending to be going for another punch. As predicted the lunch lady sidesteps the move and send her own punch, hitting the boy again but this is just what he wants. Gritting his teeth Izuku manages to hold on to the fist for dear life to the surprise of the older ghost (and if he's honest to him as well). Not looking a gift horse in the mouth Izuku takes the offered fist and pulls, dislocating the arm from the golem's shoulder, and spins it around, landing a clean hit on the lunch lady. The meat golem flies back, giving Izuku the opening to come in close and punch her straight in the face.
The lunch lady flies back into the wall, meat body crumbling a bit from the damage taken. However, she just growls, clearly no longer messing around. Raising the arm she still has, her other arm begins to glow before morphing. The shocked Izuku is too slow to stop himself from being completely covered by the meat arm. The teen falls into the floor in a clump, trapped in a meat cocoon. He manages to phase out of the meat pile a moment later, but it's clear that fall really rung his bell.
The teen pants as he floats in midair as the meat crawls back and rejoins the lunch lady's meat body. This is crazy. This is crazy. He is out here fighting a ghost who is throwing a tantrum over meatloaf for crying out loud. And worse, he's losing. He needs to figure something out here or else the whole school could be in danger. Come on Midoriya, think!
Unfortunately, as Izuku learns, in a fight your opponent rarely gives you time to think of a plan, and the Lunch Lady is no exception. Rearing back both fists the ghost shoots out her fists at the teen, causing him to break his concentration to dodge. Or at least attempt to dodge, as he manages to escape the first fist but is unable to stop the second fist from wrapping around him. He goes to phase but loses concentration as the other fist joins the first, becoming one big meat clump trapping Izuku in place.
This is fine. He can still get out of this. This fight isn't over yet. He concentrates on turning his body intangible to fly through the meat, only for the halo to again appear around his waist and travel across his body, turning him back to human.
Okay so maybe this isn't fine.
Izuku writhes in his bindings, trying to turn back into his ghost form, but again is not given a second to concentrate as he feels himself jerk forward, the meat arms retracting back to the Lunch Lady. With nothing else to do Izuku screams as the meat golem's chest opens wide and his world goes dark.
xXDPMHAXx
Izuku groans as he wakes up. God his head is killing him. And is something dripping on him right now? What the heck is going on? The teen forces open his eyes as the world slowly comes back to focus allowing him to see exactly where he has ended up.
As he looks around the room he is in, two things stand out to him. The first thing is that he is currently trapped in a giant pile of meat. Trapped against a wall, a large meat nest has been formed, starting on the floor and moving toward the ceiling where juice drips down onto his hair. "Well that's going to take forever to wash out," the soggy teen mumbles before noticing that the meat pile he is in has grown in size, being triple what it was in the cafeteria. However, Izuku can quickly deduce this is probably due to the meat that has come from the giant meat cellar that is under the school.
Which brings him to his second point: there's a giant meat cellar under the school?
Indeed as Izuku looks around the gigantic basement he has found himself in, he can see that around him are boxes upon boxes, all labeled as different meat products. Actually, he realizes, its not just meat. If he squints he can make out some boxes labeled vegetables, other labeled with fruits, some with bread, and more.
"Wait a second," Izuku realizes. "I know what this is. This must be the emergency shelter the school is supposed to use in case of a villain attack. And this must be the rations in case we need to stay here for a while."
"My you are certainly one smart cookie, aren't you," Izuku hears as he finishes his mutterings. Looking up, his eyes narrow as he sees the Lunch Lady, sans meat suit, floating around the corner.
"You!" the teen shouts with as much venom as he can muster.
Instead of glaring back, the Lunch lady offers a friendly wave. "Hello!"
"W-what are you doing here? What do you want with me?" Izuku asks, stuttering as he realizes his threat isn't working.
The Lunch Lady tuts as she comes closer to the teen, giving him a once over. "Well first I want to get some food in you. You are much too skinny you know."
"Hey!" Izuku cries indignantly. "My mom says I'll fill out during puberty!"
"Oh I'm sure you will honey, but this will definitely help," the ghost says as she lifts up a plate of steak, a piece on a fork in her other hand. "Now open wide."
"No way. I'm not going to just let you stick that in-humph!" Izuku is cut off as the Lunch Lady takes her chance and sticks the food in his mouth. He gags slightly before stopping, taking a second to chew the meat and swallow. Not bad actually. Still…
"Look ma'am, I know that maybe we have gotten off on the wrong foot here, b-but this is crazy!"
"CRAZY?!" The Lunch Lady yells, taking on her terrifying appearance because of course she does. "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO YOUR ELDERS THAT WAY BOY!"
"Sorry, bad choice of words!" Izuku shouts in a placating way, hoping to calm the poltergeist down a tiny bit. Seeing as that didn't work the teen tries again. "What I mean is, what you're doing is wrong. You can't just attack kids because they are eating their lunches!"
The Lunch Lady scoffs in response. "'Eating their lunches.' You know what I saw in that cafeteria? I saw disorder! I saw chaos! None of that ever happened when the school used my menu!"
"What menu, Meatloaf Mondays?!" Izuku yells, his frustration taking over. "Ma'am, we are in Japan, we don't really do that! I think you are in the wrong school!"
"Of course I am, don't you think I know that?!" Izuku stops, taken aback by this confession. The teen looks at the Lunch Lady, who growls for a moment before letting out a sigh. "The menu was the same for 50 years you know! Everything was perfect! Then some brat decided to change things up, unveil some ultra-recyclo vegetarian garbage and you know what happened?! The school fell into disarray! Children refused to eat, there were food fights in my cafeteria! That isn't lunch! Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules! I couldn't stop it before, but I refuse to let those rules be broken yet again!"
Izuku pauses as he listens to the ghost's story, staring at her face the entire time. And while he does sees the anger that he has grown accustomed to associate with the woman in the short time they've known each other, he also sees sadness. Grief. Like she lost something very dear to her and would do anything to get it back.
A memory tickles Izuku's brain of something he read in the past week in the guide. "While ectoplasmic entities have shown in the past to be capable of independent thought, it appears their actions are primarily motivated by Obsessions. Obsessions are a desire or goal the ghost holds dear that they will do everything in their power to accomplish or protect. It is only when a ghost's Obsession is threatened do their actions become hostile to an individual." That must be what is happening right now. This ghost must be obsessed with her menu and wants it back. Except since she isn't at her old school, she's just trying to change any school's menu she can find. Izuku suddenly looks at the ghost in a new light, feeling sorry that something she cared for so deeply was now gone. However, sympathetic villain or not, she is still a villain and a danger to the school that he needs to stop.
Focusing on the cold in his chest, the halo appears once again and transforms him into a ghost. Not taking a second to hesitate, the white-haired teen goes intangible and flies out of the web of meat. "I'm sorry ma'am but I can't let you do that. I'll give you one last chance: go back to the Ghost Zone quietly and no one needs to get hurt."
The Lunch Lady chuckles at that. "Oh what a coincidence dearie. I was about to say the same thing." She raises both of her arms and the boxes around the teen begin to rumble. The containers fly open, allowing pounds of meat to fly through the air and surround the ghost. The meat forms arms and legs until once again a meat golem is created, except this time it is triple the size of what it used to be. The beast smiles before letting out a monstrous roar the shakes the school.
Izuku gulps as the golem raises a hand, causing multiple shish kabobs to fly out and at him. Thinking quick Izuku tries to go two ways as once, leading to his body splitting in half and letting the kabobs to go harmlessly past him. So surprised by this occurrence, the teen almost misses his legs start to run away from the fight. "Hey, come back here you coward!" he yells, grabbing and reattaching his lower half.
The Lunch Lady growls at this display before another box glows, a long chain of sausages flying out. The sausages fly at Izuku who dodges the initial strike aimed at his chest. He turns midair to watch the sausages sway back and forth not unlike a cobra before diving forward again. Izuku is ready for this though, as he catches the head of the chain before flying backwards under and around the chain, tying the sausages in a big knot. The chain tries to attack again but is unable to as it just pulls the knot tighter, weighing itself down and causing it to flop on the floor.
Satisfied with his work, Izuku zooms forward at the Lunch Lady before she can command more food to do oddly fitting attacks. Rearing back a fist he punches right at the golem's head, causing it to cave in on itself and the body to fall backwards. Then before the poltergeist can recover the teen comes down hard on the creature's chest, leaving a gaping hole in its center.
Izuku pants as floats back up, waiting to see if the meat monster will recover. After a few moments of nothing, he sighs in relief. It's over, somehow he won. The teen looks down at the defeated meat monster before looking around as he knows his job isn't over yet. He still needs to find a way to get her back across town and through the portal without anyone noticing. God, where's a minifridge when you need one?
The teen looks around the room, but unfortunately misses as the meat splattered on the walls twitches before crawling down. The various pieces of meat surround the meat golem before beginning to fill in the various holes. The body twists as it stands on one leg, then another, before righting itself behind the oblivious Izuku. The Lunch Lady smiles as she raises a hand, ready to snuff this little pest away so she can really get cooking.
A scream of pain escapes the Lunch Lady's mouth as a laser beam fires, slicing off her hand. She and Izuku look to the side, only to see a man in a blue bodysuit and a red cape standing at the stairwell. "Stop right there, villains!" X-Less cries as he prepares to fire another blast from his right eye, while the two cops at his sides ready their pistols.
Izuku gulps in midair as the Lunch Lady growls, her burnt off arm regenerating minus the damaged meat. Damn, things are starting to get crowded. Though it may seem she was fine, those repeated hits were really starting to do some damage to her. She's not sure if she will be able to keep fighting if more people join the battle. Although she is against it, it looks like she may need to retreat.
The meat monster glares at her opponent one last time before she begins to phase away. "SOON CHILD, THIS SCHOOL WILL KNOW THE TRUE POWER OF A BALANCED MEAL!" With that threat in the air, she phases out of her meat body, through the floor, and away from the scene.
Izuku immediately goes to follow but is cut off by another laser blast. "That one was a warning shot," X-Less says. "I suggest you listen to it, kid."
"W-wait, wait!" Izuku cries, putting his hands into the air. "I'm on your side, honest!"
X-Less lets out a humorless chuckle. "Really? Then you wouldn't mind showing me your hero license, now would you?" Well, he certainly has Izuku there.
"I, uh, think I left it in my other suit," Izuku manages to get out. X-Less surprisingly isn't impressed as he readies another blast. Realizing he won't be able to talk his way out of this, Izuku tries one last thing. "Oh my god what's that!"
The law officials only look back for a second, but it's all the Izuku need to turn intangible and fly up and away. X-Less and the two cops look at the spot the vigilante was for another moment before X-Less speaks. "We take this secret to our graves, understood?" The cops are more than happy to agree.
Izuku gets to the surface quickly, only to be surprised with what he sees. Outside Aldera a blockade has been set up, with dozens of cops acting as crowd control. Students try to get past or peek to see what's happening, but the officials keep them from getting too far. A group of heroes arrive to the scene, before being led through the cordon and towards the school for a briefing. Huh, well it looks like his and the Lunch Lady's little appearance wasn't just brushed aside like he had hoped. The heroes are probably in there looking for him as we speak. Which means he should definitely not be right now, or at least this version of him.
The teen ducks into a nearby alley and, after checking if the coast is clear, wills the twin rings to transform him back to normal. As stealthily as he can, he makes his way to the crowd of people, hoping he can just blend in with the other students without anyone noticing him.
"Midoriya?" Well there go his dreams of becoming a professional ninja.
Expecting a teacher or another student, Izuku turns around expecting the worst only to gape as he comes face to face with Eraserhead. The Pro Hero looks between the boy gaping like a fish and the school before sighing. "Let me guess, this is your school?" Izuku is in too much shock to reply so he just nods his head. "You going to close that mouth anytime soon?" Again he just nods his head before realizing exactly what he was asked and closes his mouth.
"S-sorry Mr. Eraserhead, sir. I'm-I'm just, uh, r-really a big fan," the greenette mutters, refusing to look up from his feet.
The hero gives the teen a look before replying. "Yeah, I gathered as much from our last meeting. I'd question your choice in role models but right now I'm on the clock. I just wanted to come over to make sure you are okay."
The teen panics for a second, wondering if the Erasure Hero is referring to his fight a minute ago, before realizing he is probably just asking a kid who saw a villain attack how he was dealing. "Oh-oh yeah, I'm okay. I-I wasn't even in the cafeteria during the attack and got out with everyone else." Izuku chances a quick look down just to confirm his pants are not on fire before giving the hero a smile.
The hero squints his eyes at the teen, causing Izuku to begin to sweat. Does he not believe him? Oh god, does he know something? Did he see him transform?! Oh man, he's got to run away! He's got to skip town! Maybe there's still time to hop a train to Okayama, but where is he going to get a hobo's bindle at the time of day-
"Midoriya did you hear me?" Eraserhead asks, snapping the teen out of his catastrophizing.
"Huh?" he mutters dumbly as he looks up at the Pro. Eraserhead sighs before speaking again.
"I said the school is going to let the students go home early while we do a search of the area. You should go ahead and get home now before it gets late. And tell your mom I said hello, alright?"
"Oh, um, y-yes sir!" the greenette mumbles with a salute ("A salute, really?! Midoriya you failure of a human-!"). Luckily the man doesn't comment on it, only raising an eyebrow before walking away.
Izuku watches the man leave before letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Dang it that was nerve-wracking. But the hero was right about one thing: Izuku does need to get out of here. Because right now there was an angry ghost with a vendetta against this school, and while he can relate, he needs to find a way to stop her before anyone gets hurt.
He looks at the school before turning around. He can worry about his stuff later. Worst case scenario is that he'll come back tonight once the heroes have left and grab it. Not like he really has anything in there, well besides his analysis and autographs-
The teen pauses mid-step. No. Not again. It's not possible.
He forgot to get Eraserhead's autograph.
Again.
…this day sucks.
xXDPMHAXx
Shota watches Midoriya trudge away from the crowd. The Erasure Hero has spent the better part of his life honing his intuition and senses to pick up on hidden dangers and threats, and because of this he has learned to trust his gut. And right now, his gut was screaming at him that this kid was hiding something.
Did it pertain to the case? Probably not. Was it Shota's business? No, and he didn't want to get involved with teenage drama is if he didn't have to. And usually he wouldn't, but there was something about the kid who was struck by lightning that his gut screamed to pay attention to. But what could it be?