Mineta was currently training at Dagobah Municipal Beach, carrying piles of broken machinery, rusted metal scraps and damaged furniture before dumping them near the staircase for recycling later.
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he carried a broken cupboard on his shoulder.
Ever since he started training seriously, his stamina and strength had improved a lot. He was still nowhere near pro hero level physically, but compared to when he first came here, the difference was massive.
"Phew..." Mineta exhaled heavily as he dropped the broken cupboard onto the growing pile near the stairs. He stretched his sore shoulders while rolling his neck. "Why does this beach have enough junk to build an entire country?"
"Minetaaa! Check this out!"
Mineta turned toward the excited voice and saw Mei sitting on the staircase while tinkering with something metallic in her hands.
The moment Mineta saw the object, his eyes widened. 'A jetpack!?' It looked extremely similar to the jetpack Mei had made during the Sports Festival in the anime, except this one looked slightly bulkier and more unstable.
Which honestly made it even scarier.
Mei jumped up excitedly and ran toward him while holding the metallic device proudly above her head. "This baby was inspired by the Jet Hero! Isn't she beautiful!?"
Mineta stared at the jetpack nervously. Metallic wings were folded at the sides while tiny engines were attached behind it.
"...Why is it vibrating?" he asked cautiously.
"That's the combustion system!" Mei said proudly.
"Why is the combustion system vibrating!?"
Before Mineta could escape, Mei suddenly moved behind him at terrifying speed.
"Waitwaitwait—"
Click.
Clank.
Snap.
Within seconds, Mei had strapped the jetpack tightly onto Mineta's body. Mineta looked horrified. "Mei."
"Yes?"
"Is this safe?"
Mei gave him a thumbs up. "It is seventy five percent safe!"
Mineta stared at her blankly. "...THAT IS NOT A COMFORTING NUMBER!"
Mei waved her hand dismissively. "Relax! Even if it malfunctions, you can just bounce off the ground with your sticky balls!"
Mineta sweatdropped. '...She actually has a point.'
Considering the kind of hero work he wanted to do in the future, learning how to survive high falls honestly wasn't a bad idea. Still terrifying though.
Mei excitedly began pressing buttons on the jetpack while explaining things rapidly. "Okay! This button activates propulsion, this controls emergency boosters, this changes wing spread angle, and this tiny button activates maximum acceleration mode!"
Mineta blinked. "...Which one lets me land safely?"
Mei froze for a moment. "...We'll figure that out later."
"MEI!?"
She ignored his scream and pointed dramatically. "Now go fly, my test subject!"
"I AM NOT A TEST SUBJEC—" Mineta accidentally pressed the button on the chest strap.
WHOOSH!!
Mechanical wings burst open from the sides of the jetpack while the engines roared loudly.
The next second—BOOM!!
Mineta shot into the sky like a missile.
A giant dust cloud exploded across the beach as sand flew everywhere.
Mei coughed violently while waving away the dust. "Cough—! Wow! Good acceleration!"
Far above the beach, Mineta screamed in absolute terror.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
His voice became thinner and thinner as he rapidly flew away from Dagobah Beach.
Mei stared upward and only saw a tiny purple dot in the sky. Then her eyes widened.
"...Oh shit."
She suddenly grabbed her head dramatically. "I FORGOT TO TEACH HIM HOW TO CHANGE DIRECTIONS!"
Far away in the sky—"HOW DO I CONTROL THIS THING!?"
Mineta panicked as the jetpack blasted forward uncontrollably. Buildings zoomed past him at terrifying speed.
His eyes widened when he saw a building directly ahead.
"OH CRAP!"
He jerked his body sideways awkwardly. The jetpack responded instantly.
WHOOOSH!!
Mineta sharply swerved sideways and flew directly into a narrow alleyway.
"WHY IS THIS THING SO SENSITIVE!?"
At the same moment, two thugs inside the alleyway were about to rob a terrified woman cornered against the wall.
"Hand over the purse already!"
"P-Please don't hurt me—"
Suddenly—BOOM!!
A purple blur smashed through the alleyway at horrifying speed.
The woman's skirt almost flipped from the shockwave as she hurriedly held it down in embarrassment.
The two thugs barely had time to scream before Mineta accidentally slammed into them.
"GYAAAAAHHH!!"
The criminals suddenly found themselves stuck face-first against Mineta's sticky grape balls.
Mineta blinked in shock while still flying.
"...What?"
The two thugs screamed in terror while attached to his head.
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?"
"WE SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!!"
Mineta looked ahead again and immediately screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
A wall was approaching rapidly. The two thieves panicked too.
"FLY UP!! FLY UP!!"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!!"
All three screamed together as Mineta desperately twisted his body.
The jetpack tilted upward at the last second and blasted them into the sky again.
The criminals cried while clinging onto Mineta's sticky balls for dear life.
"PLEASE LET US DOWN!!"
"I ALSO WANT TO GET DOWN!!"
Meanwhile, back on the beach, Mei had activated her rocket skates.
Mechanical engines resembling Ingenium's quirk appeared behind her shoes.
FWOOOSH!!
She blasted forward at insane speed while tracking Mineta using her Zoom quirk.
"MINETA!!"
Back in the city, civilians stared upward in shock as a tiny purple blur flew across the roads at dangerous speed.
"Was that a child!?"
"Is that a support item!?"
"Record it! Record it!"
Several people immediately pulled out their phones.
Mineta flew past a police station and suddenly got an idea.
"I WON'T LET YOU TWO GET HURT!" he shouted heroically. The thieves cried tears of happiness.
"THANK YOU!!"
"We can get help from the police!" Mineta declared proudly. Then he ripped off the sticky balls holding the criminals.
"Wait wha—"
The two thieves fell screaming through the air before splatting harmlessly against the outside wall of the police station.
Splat.
The sticky balls attached them safely against the wall.
Two police officers stared blankly at the scene.
"...What the hell?"
"Aren't those the infamous purse thieves we've been trying to arrest for weeks?"
Both officers slowly looked upward. A screaming purple blur flew across the sky.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The officers blinked. "...Did we just witness accidental hero work?"
Meanwhile, Mineta suddenly saw a bridge directly ahead.
"OH COME ON!!"
He sharply tilted downward.
WHOOOSH!!
He narrowly avoided the bridge—and immediately plunged straight into the ocean.
SPLASH!!
Mineta screamed underwater while bubbles escaped from his mouth.
'WHY IS MY LIFE LIKE THIS!?'
He desperately twisted his body again. The jetpack blasted upward and launched him back out of the ocean.
"GAAAHHHH!!"
Mineta coughed violently and spat out seawater while flying above the ocean surface.
He looked downward. Only water. He looked behind himself.
Musutafu City was getting smaller and smaller. His face went pale.
"No! Turn back! HOW DO I TURN BACK!?"
He tried rotating his body again.
BAD IDEA.
The jetpack flipped sideways and slammed him into the water again.
SPLASH!!
A few moments later, Mineta emerged from the ocean once more looking completely traumatized.
"This is the worst invention ever..." he whimpered. Stress, exhaustion, panic and swallowing seawater finally took their toll.
Mineta's eyes rolled upward slightly.
"...I think I saw two fishes mating..."
Then he passed out.
The jetpack continued flying forward automatically while carrying Mineta's unconscious body farther and farther away from Musutafu.
Meanwhile Mei's panicked voice echoed from the communicator attached to the jetpack.
"MINETA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? MINETA!!"