The Tick vs... MY HERO ACADEMIA! Issue 33
I think I was starting to understand why All Might didn't talk about his time with Gran Torino. The man was a menace! What kind of hero, retired or otherwise... training a rookie or otherwise! Why would anyone think it was a good idea to throw a teenager to the wolves like that!?
It had barely been two days and Izuku Midoriya felt like dying. He was battered and bruised, the remnants of a dark shiner on his right eye. He was lucky that his nose wasn't broken or he wasn't missing a tooth. He was looking in a mirror, checking his injuries, no broken bones, but he was covered in horrible, awful bruises. Big ugly purple splotches, smaller yellowing spots... they made it hurt to move!
"And he calls this training?" If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the Jet Hero was trying to kill him! But that couldn't be the case... he popped a pair of extra strength acetaminophen tablets and trudged downstairs.
"There a good reason why you aren't wearing a shirt, Midoriya?" He turned his head to see the retired hero at the table, then turned back to the cabinets to fix his breakfast.
"Because I want you to see what you've done to me..." He looked through the cabinets and found a box of Drama Flakes, his favorite cereal! He grabbed the milk from the fridge, a bowl, and sat down at the table.
"I've barely been here for two days and you managed to throw me into a brawl with a bunch of bikers. Which was my first day here, and yesterday... you rented a pitching machine and you told me to dodge!"
"I let you use that little technique of yours, didn't I?" He didn't look up from taiyaki. Why wouldn't he?
"If I hadn't I would have broken my bones!" He took a deep breath and he didn't need to ruin his morning, so he just went and poured his cereal and started eating.
"Goooooooood morniniiiiiiiiiing!" The Tick finally entered the kitchen, bright eyed and bushy tailed. "It is a bright beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the world cries out for JUSTICE!" He looked over to Izuku. "Oooh! Drama Flakes!"
This was quite possibly the weirdest breakfast that Izuku had ever had. Though he was dreading what was ahead of him that day. He could only imagine what torturous training the retired hero had planned for him today.
"So... what's the plan for today? Gonna throw me into the ocean? Drop me off at the top of Mt. Fuji? How about tying a weather balloon to my leg and see if I can keep from freezing to death!?" For his part, the Jet Hero seemed non-plussed at Izuku's accusations.
"You know, kid, Toshinori didn't complain nearly half as much as you did in the entire time I've known him then you have in two days." Izuku didn't know how to reply to that. He was sure that there was a difference between All Might and himself. Hell, he was certain that there was a difference between All Might and himself, actually!
"Anyway, here's the thing. You already figured out how to use One for All adequately. You got that little protection thing you got going on and you can reliable use... what? Up to 20% of your power without pulping your limbs? That's good, but you gotta learn to fight smart. Fightin' like this chump..." He hooked his thumb over to the Tick. "Or worse, Toshinori, is gonna end up with you in the hospital. Until you learn how to get all bulky like Toshinori does or hit a growth spurt, you can't keep tankin' everything."
It was something for Izuku to think about. And it was something that he heard from his classmates and teachers. That he spent too much time fighting like he was eight feet tall and bullet proof. That was fine for the likes of the Tick and All Might, who may as well have been eight feet tall and bullet proof, but he was only five an a half feet tall, and sure he put on a lot of muscle mass over the last year or so, he just didn't have the bulk to fight the way All Might or the Tick did.
In a way, Gran Torino was right. He needed to fight smarter. He needed to dodge better and learn better footwork.
"Does this mean more pitching machine sessions?" He really didn't want to know the answer, but he was certain that the answer was yes.
"It's gonna be more then just pitching machine sessions. Learning how to dodge a ball or traffic isn't going to do you much in a real fight. That means sparring, kid! And from what I'm told you're only a brawler, not much more skilled then those bikers from the first night. That's great in a school yard scrap or dealin' with drunks in a bar." He finished his breakfast, wiping his mouth off. "But if you're going to face a real villain with real skill, you'll end up sliced up like a deli ham in an alley way."
That was not a mental picture that Izuku needed so early in the morning, especially while he was eating.
"Hey, I think you're being to hard on Izuku! He's got a heart of a true hero beating in his chest! And a regular three pound universe between his ears! So what if he can't fight! Where do you think I learned how to fight criminals and evil doers? You think I had the opportunity to lie at the feat of wily wisdom in the ways of heroics? Sorry, try again! I only had the lived experiences of fighting evil directly to learn from!" He could always trust the Tick to stand up for him! Even if he was sitting.
"Ah, yes. Tick. I have a gift for you." Torino started, changing the whole tone and direction of the conversation.
"Oooooh! Watcha get me?" The Tick went from being stern to sticking up for Izuku... to being more interested in whatever it was that Gran Torino had for him. Izuku sighed as he felt another piece of himself wither and die inside. The Tick, greatest hero he ever knew... kind of an idiot. Especially when the Jet Hero produced a ball of yarn.
"Here you are, Tick! My gift to you." It was a large, blue ball of yarn, rolled tightly. It was as big as a man's fist and Torino tossed it idly.
"Gimme gimme gimme gimme!" The Tick was like a damn puppy, wanting something so inane as a ball of yarn that Torino tossed behind him and the Tick launched himself at it not unlike a kitten.
"You really shouldn't take advantage of him like that." Izuku frowned, finishing his cereal. Torino shrugged.
"I know, but it's the safest way to keep him occupied that won't end with him destroying the house or leaving in search of crime to foil."
With breakfast done and Izuku dressed in costume again, he trudged to the training grounds that Gran Torino had set up. And his new arch nemesis, a Throwmaster 9000 Mega Pitcher. The retired Jet Hero was busy pouring a bucket of baseballs into the hopper, before turning to look at Izuku.
"... aren't you going to turn it on?" Izuku was wary. He had every reason to be wary! Gran Torino was a wily old man that just waited for you to drop your guard before hitting you with everything he had! And everything he had was quite a bit, for something old enough to be Izuku's grandfather, the man was capable of throwing a truck.
"I going to. I want you to think, though, for a moment. Midoriya, you told me that you can safefly use One for All at... what? 10%?" The hero asked, wanting some clarification.
"Well, with my costume. It's specially designed to keep my limbs from exploding. A tight fit and support struts keep my arms and legs and fingers from breaking, dislocating, and... exploding." The Jet hero nodded at Izuku's explanation.
"And Cocoon... you say you build up a layer of One for All's power in your skin, stiffening and hardening it to create a protective barrier?"
"Well, it's more like a dozen layers, but yes." Izuku explained to Gran Torino. It was more then just a dozen layers and it was less hardening and stiffening then it was a protective shell.
"And Full Cowl... you go and you wear One for All's power, letting your whole body bear the brunt of it's amazing power?"
"Yes, but... I can only do up to 20% of One for All's power while in Full Cowl." He watched the Jet Hero stroke his goatee, looking for the micro expression that would let him guess when he was going to shoot at him with the pitching machine.
"Excellent. So I want you to figure out how to make it so that you can do something similar... that will help you dodge."
... ... ... he thought about Gran Torino's words. There was... well, some insight into his power from what he said.. One for All, from what Izuku could tell from the use of the quirk was an enhancement quirk. It made his skin tougher, it made his muscles stronger.
Strength was good for things like running, he could run very fast, though not as fast as Iida, but few were. Protection was good for absorbing blows, tanking them as best he could, as well as defending others. But if he wanted something that was fast twitch, good for dodging and the like.
He had his chin in hand, looking down as he pondered it. If he could put One for All's power into... say... his ligaments... his tendons... his nerves, then perhaps... it would work. The enhancement to his nervous system would make it so that he could relay his thoughts. Powering his tendons and ligaments would, in theory, twitch faster...
He was already fast, this would make him quick!
Though, he would be under constant tension, not unlike a strung bow or a compressed spring! This was his eureka moment! He felt his quirk, deep inside him and drew upon it! Channeled it into nerves, a tingling sensation he felt from the tip of his nose to the ends of his fingers to the soles of his feet. It was a little harder to local all that sinew... tendon and ligament.
"I think I got it!" He looked up just in time to see the baseball come hurtling towards him like a looming watermelon, slowly filling his vision! He tilted his head, as she stepped to the side, as the ball sped up past him.
"Excellent!" Torino called from his position by the pitching machine, flipping the switch to let the Throwmaster 9000 do what it does best: Fire off a barrage of high speed baseballs.
Thankfully, Izuku was still tense enough that he could feel his body moving, like it knew what he wanted before he did! It didn't matter how many were headed directly towards him, he was able to move before they could hit him. And he knew they were dangerous! That this wasn't some trick! The near misses that would brush a fold of his costume or a lock of his hair... he could feel the 80+ MPH they were traveling at!
Soon enough, the balls stopped flying by him and he saw Gran Torino smiling.
"I have to admit, Midoriya, you're a lot smarter then Toshinori every was." Torino nodded. "Anyway, here's your warning."
... warning? Why would he need a warning...!
And the Jet Hero launched himself towards Izuku!
He had to be fast, think fast! He tensed himself up, feeling Tension take hold of him, covered himself in his Full Cowl, and in the space of a heartbeat, built a dozen layers of Cocoon! Just in time to sidestep the Torino!
But the much older hero was a wily one, using his Jet quirk to change direction on the fly and hit him in the side, sending him flying! He righted himself in the air, slapped the ground with his, spun several times and landed on his feet! With his power still in his body, he moved his legs with the awesome strength of One for All, moving as fast as he ever had before, fist cocked back!
Fighting against Gran Torino in Hero Fighter V was a lot different then fighting the man himself in real life. Go figure! Gran Torino was capable of doing things that his in character sprite wasn't, and yet still had the same tiny, tiny hit box! He didn't have to duck around Izuku's arm at all, just shot up and slammed a fist right into his arm pit.
He flew back again, landing back on his feet.
He was laughing. This was amazing! It was just like the video games!
"I feel... I feel great!" He shouted out, still laughing, still smiling! He may as well been 4 years old again, watching that first All Might video! But why wasn't Torino attacking him again, it made him frown. Were they stopping? But he didn't want to stop!
He wanted to continue feeling like this forever!
"Izuku!" ... he tilted his head. The elder Jet Hero never used his first name. No one every used his first name. Only the Tick and his mother used his first name.
"We're stopping right now." Torino was frowning and Izuku could taste something in his mouth. He wiped his face and pulled away the red stains on his glove.
"Oh, my nose is bleeding... wow...!" And then his eyes rolled back and he fell.
Hours later, Izuku Midoriya came too with the mother of all headaches. He sat up, holding his head.
"Ugh... I feel like I spent the night with my head on a bass amp..." He looked around and saw the Tick and Torino sitting there.
"Hey, Sport!" The Tick said. "You gave us a little scare there, buddy!" Gran Torino rolled his eyes.
"What were you doing, Midoriya? During that Spar? Near the end there...?"
Izuku had this thing about it. He was using Full Cowl and Cocoon and his new technique, Tension, at the same time. He said as much.
"How much would you say you were using? Of each?" That... was a good question, actually. He started low, because he was using all three, but as he got into the fight he was quickly increasing the percentage for each.
"... uh... maybe... 30% each?" Seemed about right.
"I don't think you should do that any more. Using them at your max ability at the same time. Kid, I'm pretty sure you almost had a stroke." That would explain the nose bleed. "Look at it this way. You got three stats. Speed, Protection, and Strength. What you have to figure out is how to balance them. Because I don't think that you can use all three at the same time as max level without suffering something horrible."
Izuku thought about it. This did make sense, he was still new at using One for All and each step forward seemed to be another leap towards the stars, with it's own little drawback. Cocoon had issues with small, fast strikes. Full Cowl at 10% didn't produce the same results as 10% in his arm, but he wasn't hurt by Full Cowl. Tension made him speedier, quicker, allowed him to dodge, but it seemed like it took conscious thought out of the equation.
And using all three together? Torino was right, he was putting his body under stress that it wasn't designed to be under. He wasn't using 30% of One for All, three times... he was using 90% of One for All as far as his body was concerned!
"... I'm guessing the rest of this field training is going to figure out what tolerances I can use if I have all three up?" Izuku asked, only to see Torino sigh.
"Listen, Izuku... you almost had a stroke. I don't want you using all three unless you can help, and I want you to keep yourself under 50%... total, mind you!" He paused for a moment. "I don't want to tell Toshinori that I got his heir killed because he did something stupid with his power on his brain."
"Right... not killing myself. Sounds like a plan!" He gave a smile and a thumbs up and did his best All Might impression!
Gran Torino blinked and grimaced. "... uh... can you do that?" Izuku stopped. "Anyway, get a shower and get suited. The three of us? We're gonna go on patrol!"
"HOT DAWG!" The Tick was excited. Of course he was excited.
One shower later and the three were out in the evening air, three superheroes with their eye out for trouble and ne'er-do-wellers and all evil doers!
"So... since I got the two of you here... I ever tell you about the time I fought the Terror?" Torino asked, as they walked down the sidewalk. The other people out this late were giving them a wide berth, and for good reason.
"You fought the Terror?" Izuku was surprised. Gran Torino was the right age, but... the Terror? Really?
"Absolutely. I'm closer to 80 then 70. Every hero my age has a Terror story or two. Anyway, it was me and the Superian and... another friend of ours..."
The rest of the Evening was rather... boring, all things considered, but Gran Torino did manage to tell us some stories back when he was in his prime! Fighting the Terror! Racing Caped Wonder for Charity! A whole host of super battles that I only saw alluded to in my favorite comic books! For all his faults, and honestly, he had a few, Gran Torino truly was a fount of heroic wisdom! And All Might was right! I was going to benefit much from his teaching!