Previously, on Total Command:
"Y͍̰͗̇o͚̭̎̈u̱̿n͗͟g̖ ̦̭̎͊M͖͌ḯ̯͜d͎͎̓̋ō̜̺̕r̺̓ȋ̲y͍͇̑̏a̛̻̘̿" Hissed the metal parody of All Might.
"Oh God no."
"Å͎ctiva̢͐t̰̾í̖n͈͆g̮̀ s͉͂ubr͕͊ò̻ù̯t̥̿iṉ̐e: sparring." He didn't know what was creepier, the voice it used, or the harsh contrast it had when it announced the subtitle. In any case, he panicked.
"Abort operation!" he commanded, hoping Mei had at least added voice recognition to the beast.
"V̞͛ő͍ic̗̊e ̰̓c̺̉om͙̂ma̤͡nd͒͢ r͚̉ẽ͍co̦͂gní̬ze̼̐d̮̍;̱̓ s̤̓u̙͑b̦͌j̖́ę̆ct̡ Izuku Midoriya," the machine hummed. He let out a sigh of relief and picked up the tarp wrapping Mei in it.
"V̻͠o̪͗i̡͡c̯̆e ̻̒c̺̋omm̨͋ȃ̙n͇d͚̐ ̖̐o̪͊ṿ̚e̢͒ȑ̜rų̑ḷ̛eḍ̐;͇͡ ͈̅P̄͜re͔͞p͙̑a̯̔ȓ̮e ̦͞yo̟̒ur͂ͅs̙̎el̝͛f ̈́͟t̝̚o̥̚ go̲̍͞ͅ ͔͈͑͛b͕̈e͙̋ŷ̜̞͝o̤͕̓̈n͈̞̑d̫͡," grumbled the machine while dropping into a combat stance.
"Oh fuck me sideways." He never said he didn't learn anything from Katsumi.
"V̻̄ǫ͆ȉ͖c͖̑ẻ͈ ̢̚c̭̓o̼͗m̝̑m̨͌ań̳d͞ͅ n̬̒ot rec̪̚o̻͆g̯͂n͙͆ize̛̬d͓́."
Inko's maternal senses tingled. "I wonder what's that about?" she hummed, hoping her son was safe.
Elsewhere, All Might ignored the same sensation. "Hope he isn't doing anything stupid."
"WHY-" He jumped back dodging a punch. Thankfully the machine was chasing him, away from the slumbering Mei. "ARE YOU-" He used his forearm to redirect another punch away from him and onto the ground, wincing at the power behind the punch. "IGNORING MY COMMANDS?!" he managed to scream out as the machine struggled to pull its hand out of the ground.
The robot rose back up, eye locking onto his again as it started speaking."Sṷ̓b͂͢r̨̆o̼̾ũ̩ẗ̼́i̲͡n̬è̼:̮͛ sparring c̲͊a̘̚n o̼͞nl͈͞y b̥͂e̞͒ ͎̎d̢͞e-ac̮͝tiv̠̋at̢̋ed iń̢ th͚̏e ̭̅ev̻e̱̍ṇ̉t ̬͘o̪͞f̻̔ ͐͢y̺̆oü͍ṛ̋ ͔̅ù̯nc̰̍ons͇͑cio͔͋u̔͜sņ̉eś͕s̯,̡̓ ̕͟m͈̒y͙͂ ͕̊in̢͊ŏ̠p̗̂e̗͂ra̩̅bil̯̔iţ͡y,̞ ̯͑or ̝̅by Mo̡̓t̜͌her'̰̊s̡͑ ̨͞c͖̏ọ̈m͕͛m̠̓an͕͒ḑ̀. ̬̓Yỏ̬ǘ̼ d͓̓o͕͑n̜̑'̮͆t ȟ̙av̭́e ̻̓th̜̿ẹ͊ ͚͑c̜͠leá̠r̢͆an̪̍ce͆͢, ͈̉Yó͚ư̬n͍͌g̳͒ ͜͠M͇͝i̝͌dȯ̦ṛiy͕a"
That's it. I'm gonna kill Mei when she gets up .
He ducked under another punch
"SO! "He kicked the ground, jumping over another punch. "THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS IS TO BREAK YOU?!" he yelled, rolling up to a martial art stance. Time to learn if just watching heroes fight movies actually thought him anything
The machine roared in what he assumed was supposed to be laughter; the roar of weird tones was making him dizzy- the sound itself was triggering Izuku's fight or flight instinct enough to give him high blood pressure. "Le̢͆ț̎s̯͠ s̘̈́eẻ͇ ̜͐i̭̔f̲͊ ̺y͔̾o̽͟u c̯a̗̒n ̯͒d͓̆o͙͛ t̳̓hå̞t͈̚ y̧͂oǔ͔ng͍̃ ̻̎ṃ̇aņ̓"
His eyebrow twitched. Mei gave this thing enough AI to be able to taunt people?
This time he knew the training wheels were off. The machine hissed as the hydraulics kicked in, bounding in front of him in a simple step, arm pulled back ready to punch. Izuku barely managed to limbo under the punch, anchoring himself with an arm and kick Mecha-Might in what would be the ribs. He hissed and winced as Newton's 3rd law reared its ugly head, the machine not budging.
"Go̥͝t͔̓t̟͌a͓̐ ̬͆h̗̔ḯ͜t ̮̅h̠́a̟̽r̰͞d̳̃e̜̽ṙ̳ th̠͌a̘̐n̻͐ ̫͠tha̦̐t̫͋," the machine taunted, grabbing his leg and slamming him to the ground, knocking the breath out of him. He kicked the hand on his ankle, managing to knock it off, standing back up instantly and taking a few steps back while gasping catching his breath.
He couldn't just break through its armor; that much was now apparent.
"N̲̈o̧̒w̲͘,͎̒ ͎̉n̮͂o͕̒w͌͟ ̦̍d̬̎o͓̊n̪͘'̞̆t̙̍ ̱͛be̘͠ ̜̔d̙̎is̢͞co̯͡ü͔r̹͠ag̻͆ed͔̓,̗̋ y͔͂ou a͙̽lm̧̓ỏ͇s̩̀t̊͢ ̰͞s̰̓c̨̊rat̼̊č͢ḥ̾ed̯̆ m͇̏y̦̾ ̪̐p̋͜aì͈nt̪́." The robot laughed and ran to him again. This time when it punched, he blocked it with his own, grunting as the force pushed him back.
Gotta watch its movements- the armor plating needs to have gaps in it while it moves- can't do that while dodging.
He blocked another punch, then another. It wasn't a standstill, Mecha-might was pushing him back one punch at a time and soon his back would be against the wall on the beach.
Goddammit, Mei built this thing too well- every gap is covered- the joints are even layered- he hissed as he punched again- his elbow ached loudly- wait-
Its joints.
He ducked under the next punch and punched its elbow with his other hand. He smiled as it rattled slightly. Progress.
But that smile was short lived as the machine kicked his legs under him, punching his chest as he fell down.
His vision went dark.
"Zuku, are you there, Zuku?"
He grunted softly.
"S̱̆c̤̃ā̖n̘̽s͇̚ ̝̕ś͎h̪̎o̱͘w̰̽ ̫͘t̬̒h̙͞ả̦t͓̓ ̝͐h͕̎e̖͌ ̟̀w͉̋ơ̡n̰͌'̭͋t̠͋ ̫̿ȟ̡a̅ͅv͔̽e̫͒ ͚̾å͢n̗͆y̮̐ ͈̊l̿ͅa̍ͅs̲̉t̼i̟̇n̄͜g̳̚ ̟d̺̆a͈͊m͓͛a̮͘g̡͒ȅ̱."
His eyes burst open. "I have died and gone to Hell," he muttered, rolling to his side and trying to rub the sand out of his hair.
"Ỵ͛ȯ͚ǘ̘ ͔̎a̞͌r͈͝e͙̓ ̠̾v̝̑ë̮́ṟ̍y̙̓ ̟̈́m̖̑u̻͛c̥̊ĥ̨ ͉͝a̼͌l͕͗i̪͋ṽ̮e͇, ̭̉Yo̤̅u̼̿n̖̍g̗̒ ͎͒M̊͟i̦̍d͉̂o̭͞r̞̓i̓͢y̲̒a̕͟," stated the machine while Mei nodded in agreement.
"This baby has the 3 laws of robotics hardwired in it; it can't kill you," she said, patting the kneeling Mecha-Might.
"Uṉ̬̆̚f̬̅or͓̄tū͈n͐͟ȁ̝t̼̏el̺̂y͎͌͛͢."
Mei laughed.
"Don't say such ominous stuff when I'm still groggy," he hissed, sitting up and holding his chest. He hoped it wouldn't be bruised by next morning.
"Wait- " He looked to the two. "What time is it?"
"I̲̕t̞͐'͕̾s̡̉ 5:̺̀3̻̌0 ̚͢pm̯̽."
Thank you, giant toaster. "Ugh, my mom must be worried." He stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm heading home, and you should too."
"I ̬̍d͎̅o̟̾ n̪̍ě̡ed̳̓ ̥̿to̥̐ be͚͝ ̱̽r̲͘ḛ̃c͓̑h͖̾arg̝̔e͍͡d."
"Of course you do..." Izuku muttered out. "Oh. And Hatsume, get some proper sleep, please? I can't handle another one of..." He gestured to the Mecha-Might with his eyes.
"I͊͢ ta̬̽k̼̽e ̹̎o̦f̉͜fens͈͒e͖̋ ̻̏tô̱ th͛͢å̫t̼̏," The machine hissed.
"Please," he begged.
Mei huffed but nodded in in agreement. " Fiiine. "
He looked down at his body in the mirror next morning and, just as he hoped, there was no bruising. He probably force-healed the capillaries that were damaged before the bruises could form when he was unconscious. Thank you, subconscious and thank you unnamed quirk.
I should name it.
After a few minutes of thinking about the logistics of his quirk, something came to him.
"….Total Command," he whispered to himself. I like the ring of that.
"T̢͘h͒ͅe ͎͆pr͙̓o̒͟d̻̈ig̛̰ã͟l̺̈́ ş̉o̬̾n͓̋ ͔͡ṛ͑et̞̅ur͍̈́ns͖͡." Mecha-Might nodded at him as he got to the beach.
"Hey Zuku~" Mei chimed from its side. He could feel a headache coming already.
"Please tell me we aren't sparring again-"
"Vo̼͛ice͉͛ ̳͌c̨̛omma̮͒ṋ͘d ŗ͑ec̢̏og̙̋ñ͈i̛̺ze̪͠d͔̀: ̳s͇͊p̟̑ar ̦͆co̹̐mm̖͝en̼̚c-"
"Stand down," Mei ordered, stopping the mech from getting up. "I mean, I still want you two to fight so I can actually see my baby in action. But there's no need to blindside him, right Zuku? " He shivered at the way she said his name. "You would spar with all my babies for me, right~?"
He took a step back. "Absolutely not."
She entered a giggle fit at his response. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." She waved her hand while holding her stomach, before looking him in the eye with a devilish grin.
"You don't have a choice~"
" HATSUME!"
She laughed even harder and doubled over, punching the ground as she struggled to catch her breath. "Oh- Oh God, your face!"
He didn't like well-rested Mei.
She caught her breath and stood up, leaning on Mecha-Might. "Alright, alright." Izuku pouted, the cute expression looked misplaced on his muscular body. "But you do need to fight it again,. You can't be a hero if you can't even beat my baby over here." She patted the mech. "Right?~"
He knew that she was manipulating him.
But she was right.
"Fine, I'll talk to my trainer about it," he huffed, crossing his arms. "Should be good exercise anyways..."
"Love ya, Zuku~" she teased.
The next thing he knew, he was having dinner with his mother and All Might. He tried to hide his pleased smile behind the bowl of food he was eating.
He noticed that both of them were more relaxed in each other's presence and decided that the more they were together the better it would be for both of them. Now his mother had someone other than Autie Mitsuki to talk to and befriend.
I wonder how she and Katsumi are doing?
After trying for hours to keep herself hovering with consecutive blasts and falling on her ass every time, Katsumi was fed up.
"GOD DAMMIT!"
"STOP FUCKING SCREAMING!" Mitsuki berated from inside the house,
"SHUT UP , OLD HAG!"
Another day, another defeat. Izuku huffed, picking himself up from the sand and watching Mecha-Might strike one of All Might's signature poses.
"Yȍ͓u̙͋ ̅͢go͓͗t ̈͢4% ̦̄c̡̊l̢̄ó̰s͖͑er ̥̀t͉͘o̢͂ d̻̔aṃ͌a͇̓gĭ̬n̮͆g̳̽ m̫͝e ̛̺ţ̂o̹͑da̢͒ý͇,̨͛ ̤͊go͙̾o̝̕d͍͋ jô͢b͔̈́." He should have been mad at that patronizing statement, but he honestly didn't have the power to do so.
Just take the compliment
"Way to go, Zuku~" Mei cheered from the side as she messed with...
Is that a jetpack?
"Yeah, yeah thanks, guys." He rolled his shoulders, popping them back into place. This had been going on for two weeks now. Initially, Mei couldn't take her eyes off the battles, but now though... now she was bored of it. And he was sick of losing to the damn machine.
Fuck it. He has some more fight in him.
"Hey, lets spar again," he huffed, dropping into a fighting stance.
Mecha-Might looked over him to conduct a scan. "Al̟̏r̖i̭̒g̥͠ht yo̡̕unḡ͈ o͍͛ne̙͊, " it brought its fists up, " bř͎͕͗ï̲̥͐ń͈g i̺̾t̡̍."
They clashed fists back and forth for a time every once a while the mech would throw a un-telegraphed attack similar to the one that knocked him out the first time they fought, but he had grown accustomed to dodging those. His legs automatically jumped over the kicks, body twisting harshly on its own when his brain didn't have time to process the incoming attack.
It had finally clicked.
His body had taught itself to dodge on its own.
Thank you, Total Command.
Now that he wasn't paying that much attention to dodging, he noticed something.
Every time he blocked the punch from the machine, its shoulders shuddered a bit.
Weak point?
He punched back harder, his own arm shuddering with the force when it clashed with metal. The shoulder shuddered a bit more.
Weak point!
He roared as he started hitting back harder, speeding up to a flurry of strikes. The machine's one eye widened in recognition. It pulled its arm back.
"Ţ̬̮̠̋̓̕͠Ȇ̠̞̌X̹̥̬̟͐̊̓̍A̮̩͇̙̟̍̊̽̌̾S͖̽-̮͒"
Mei perked up at that. "I didn't remove the inhibitors, what are you doing?"
Izuku flinched.
Not backing down now. He pulled a punch back himself and let it loose.
"Ś̮̼̯̮́̌͐͜͠ ̯̟̝͆͞M̪̙̠̒̑͌ ̢͇͙͌́̃A͉̬͚͓͌͌̄͞ ͇͔̃͗̌͂͟ͅS͔͎͕̖̍̓͛̀ ̩̞̼͂͂̽͜͠H̛̞͈̆͆͢!"
The two fists clashed. A large shockwave crashed through the beach.
Izuku's fist started to bleed but he held steady, fighting against the torque of the hulking machine.
He smiled through the pain.
Their fists were at a stalemate, neither budging an inch. Mecha-Might, for an emotionless robot, looked impressed. But then it's eye pulsed. "St̡r̔͜u̙͂cturâ̻l̩̓ ̣̃i͙͐nte̻gŗ͝ĭ̫t̙̑y͉͊ ͎̿a̧t̡̚ ̻̒8̲̈0͈̀%" It stated, Izuku cheered in his head as its arm started to lose power. The mechanical arm groaned while failing hydraulics and grinding metal echoed through Mecha-Might's armored frame.
Izuku felt his own tendons almost tearing under the immense pressure.
He just needed to hold it together for a little longer. He roared, flooding his body with adrenaline to keep it steady under the mechanical assault..
Mecha-Might swung its other fist. Izuku matched it with his own.
The sound of creaking metal filled the beach. "Sṭ̔͜͠r̮͝u̫̒ct̡̮͋̓u̹͚͒͝r̕͢a̱̬̕͝l̰̻̏ ̥̊î̦̫̀n͓̉ţ̉ẹ̇ĝ̜͔̽r̻̃i͇͝t̗͈͑͘ý̙ ă̡̟̚t͍͊ ̖̓̑͟64̙̲̆͋%̲̇," the machine spat out as it pulled back its damaged arm. Izuku retracted his arm too.
"Not backing down now, are you?" he taunted.
"G̯̓ǒ̗ ̝́be̻̪̚͡y̫̘͌͑õ̥nd̼̮̅̈́," it replied, pulling its arm into position.
"Bring it," he growled as he pulled back his own.
Their fists clashed again.
The sound of shearing metal overtook the sounds of the waves.
Mecha-Might fell to its knees, holding its shoulder socket.
Its arm was gone.
"Good͕̏ job͙, ̜̒you͕͠n̹͊g̟̊…̝̇. M i͚̅ ̼̉d͇̑ ȏ̆͟͜ r ̡ī̯ ̧̨̗̃̇̈ ̛̺͙̱͖͇͊̏̊͘y̨̞͍̪͌̔̑̀͢ ͚͚͍̥̲͉͆͑̏̇̏͟͝͞ ̢͓̖̱̰̠̣̬̳̟̍̊͆̅̄́̿̍̄͠ ̣̜̞̇̈͞a̯̹͙͆̉ ̨̨̝̓̽͠" it rumbled as its systems failed.
Izuku huffed and puffed, holding his own arm. It felt like it was on fire; he probably tore most of the muscle tissue with that last punch.
Izuku started to laugh maniacally, falling to his back out of exhaustion.
Mei was on her feet instantly, a radiant smile plastered on her face. Another failure, another opportunity to learn. Plus watching Zuku succeed is always great. "You did it!" she cheered as she ran up to the exhausted teen, dropping the jetpack she was working on.
"I did iiiit..." he whined softly from the ground, raising his left arm up as his bloody, destroyed mess of a right arm refused to move. But the blood was already clotting and soon enough he would be able to move it..
He's fine. Time to check out how my baby failed.
"Woah..." She looked at the machine. The shoulder joint was destroyed completely; the steel of the endoskeleton was sheared at the corner. "Metal fatigue?" she asked aloud, eyes zooming in to the surface to check it. Sure enough, she saw the beach marks: proof of metal fatigue. "You over endured it..." she concluded.
"I what?" he asked, getting up.
A good sign.
He dragged the dismembered arm over to the main body and looked over her shoulder to see the damage.
"You beat it in a battle of attrition," she elaborated. Izuku matched her smile.
Guess that's the way to beat opponents.
"I need to it fix it and make it better for next time," she said, getting up and taking a step back, hitting against Izuku's chest in the process.
"No," he hissed. Mei paled a bit at the utter force under his tone.
"But-"
"No," he repeated, his hands grasping her shoulders and anchoring her in place.
"B-but Zuk-"
" NO! "
He breathed for a second, calming down. "Just- ugh, I dunno- teach me basic robotics. You'd have an extra pair of hands to help out when you need it and you wont kill yourself anymore when you focus on these projects," he suggested, slumping. Hopefully, she would take it.
"N-" She paused for a second. An extra pair of hands that were strong enough to beat a machine into submission... "Alright, try to keep up~" she said in a sing-songy tone.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"So, like this?" Izuku questioned. He raised his goggles and looked down at his solder work. Mei glanced over his shoulder and nodded as he tried to ignore her chest pushing against his back and to keep himself from blushing madly. Why does she lack the concept of personal space?
"Yeah, good job! Now help me force this plating into place," she ordered as she walked towards some power armor.
"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled, holstering his soldering iron and running to catch up to her.
"I can't believe we got this sidetracked..." All Might huffed, looking at the beach, then at Izuku. "How long has this been cleared for? 2 months now?"
Izuku nodded simply, looking at the now densely populated beach. People had heard the ruckus when he and Mecha-Might were sparring and avoided the space, But now with their battles over, the beach rapidly repopulated.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you with the sparring and learning robotics with Hatsume. Sorry about that All Might..."
All Might huffed. "No need to be apologetic, young man. I saw the pictures you sent of the beast; taking something like that down was a good exercise before you got this power. Speaking of which…" All Might paused for dramatic effect.
"I think it's time for you to get One for All."
"Hey, mom, would you mind making some Katsudon tonight? Oh, and do you mind if Miss Yagi joins us?" Izuku asked his mother through his phone. All Might sat on the steps of the newly-pristine beach, watching the sunset and its reflection on the ocean.
"Sure thing, Hun, having a cheat day?" His mother's chipper voice emanated from the device.
"Yeah! It's to celebrate how far I've come. Thanks, Mom! See you soon; love you." With a quick goodbye from his mom, the phone call was over.
"You worked hard for this," All Might mumbled looking at the beach. It had been years since she saw its true glory; the kid really went above and beyond.
"I-it still feels like cheating to me..." he chuckled, looking at the scenery.
Toshi laughed. "You seriously have self-worth issues don't you, Young Midoriya?" She got up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "In this world where people are celebrated for what they are born with, for the luck of the draw, it's really no wonder." She pulled him into a half hug. "But this?" She gestured to the beach. "This is a result of your hard work. You earned this, and you earned my power. Never forget that." She shifted into her hero form and plucked a strand of her signature hair.
"Now, eat this!"
...
"Eh?"
Why can't I just have normal things happen to me?!