Author Notes Time is now airing, so as you can tell I'm doing a double release today. Hope it might make up in some way for the mess of swapping between fanfics to handle writer's block.
Hope you all enjoy and take care!
Sunday Morning
Waking up with a light heart and the reassuring tingle in my mind that reminded me of my connection to Void Heart's internal space and the fragment that is staying at the beach. Noticing hefty increase in Void Heart's total mass it would seem that the idea on how to increase its capabilities is going well. Pondering lightly on the predicament I realise that there is a limit to how much I can get from Dagobah beach alone without raising suspicions too close to home. While over a few years in would get me several tonnes of material, it would be greatly reduced in volume if I shifted all the iron and gold into something like osmium. It would limit my options way too much to have to start juggling the mass and the volume of Void Heart in order to do anything meaningful in a fight.
A lightbulb goes off in my head as I sprint over to the computer and open the search engine. Reading through the recent new there had been a big fuss about the littering and the amount of junk floating out in the ocean damaging the ecosystem. A grin forms as my idea comes together. I'd keep a part of Void Heart on the Beach, before spreading most of Void Heart out in different directions in the ocean in pieces too small to easily detect and get them to trawl the oceans for junk that can be devoured to add to Void Hearts total mass. If I take advantage of the fact that mass can be instantly transferred to the storage space, I can keep increasing the little pieces that are trawling the ocean, increasing my collection rate. I clean the oceans and get stronger at the same time. It's a win-win scenario.
Cackling slightly to myself I instruct Void Heart to get started on the idea tonight, making sure to instruct it to steer clear of any oil or electrical lines to avoid accidents. Fortunately, another discovered feature for Void Heart is replicating any object it has devoured previously using its own mass. That means it can store a phone with an altered SIM to check the internet if there's any confusion as to what it should be eating and a helpful diagram that should stop any major accidents from occurring. I even give instructions to move along the oceanic currents and to only start spreading and devouring junk when reaches the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
With a smug sense of satisfaction growing in my chest, I believe there isn't a single person alive that will be able to trace this all the way back to me. Of course, if anyone wanted to suffer trying to put this little puzzle of mine together, they were more than welcome to. I welcome their challenge wholeheartedly.
UA Principal's office, Nezu
One of the few regrets I have ever had about my particular quirk is that it makes having a challenge or any kind of opponent to go against intellectually very rare and all the more precious for it. So, when the moment came that my spine tingled in a familiar rush, I was ecstatic with joy to say the least. One little detail I never mentioned about my quirk is that it also heightens my instincts and they were screaming that I would soon face a challenge that I would enjoy like no other.
The moment I started cackling and Power Loader looked at me in confusion, I responded with "I have a feeling that someone, somewhere is directly challenging my intelligence. It seems I'll have a new hobby to sink my teeth into for a while" much to the shock and pity in Power Loader's eyes for whoever just threw down the gauntlet. Noticing I smile "This isn't going to be an easy one to crack however. This is going to be a lot more fun" I chuckle as my voice grew more and more gleeful and excitable in celebration.
Jumping on the computer I set up filters to bring to my attention any particularly strange occurrences that may happen in the coming days. This was going to be a nice change of pace.
I shall await your move, my opponent
Izuku
A sudden chill tingles within me, anticipation rising of its own accord in my heart. I now seem to have an opponent that detected my challenge. Let the games begin.
Shovelling down my breakfast I head out to Dagobah Beach again to test what Void Heart is actually capable of. All I know so far is that it has a liquid form, I can telekinetically control it, it can transfer mass between different parts of itself and the storage space and it can replicate stuff it has devoured. While it is a lot, I still can't help but feel that Void Heart is trying to mention something, an instinctive nudge that I haven't managed to tease out all the different threads to the puzzle of my new companion and source of strength.
I start to walk through the piles of junk before screeching to a halt as my brain pikes up on something. Everything gets reduced to the same form in Void Heart, doesn't that mean that instead of it being stored as amounts of separate materials it has devoured, it's stored as mass to be turned into the materials themselves? With that thought in mind I take a small piece of Void Heart and using a molecular diagram focus on rearranging the matter to feel a small, flawless diamond appear in my palm. A material I had never devoured before.
Excited by the possibilities for that function alone I ponder if it isn't just the materials that can be altered but the form as well, shaping some iron into a crude tanto whose hilt fit snugly in my palm. The only strange thing that would separate it from a normal poorly forged tanto is that the material was jet black without exception. Swiftly turning it back into Void Heart I return the matter to the small stockpile in the storage space in case of emergencies I hop up and gleefully bounce back home.
At least I did until a scream of "Get back here Deku!" came from behind me. Turning into the alleyway swiftly I bounce forwards and move with efficient ease through the alleys, bouncing off the walls on the corners and rolling over short walls in my way. To my utmost displeasure it seems that Kazumi has gotten better free-running since she last chased me down like this. Sensing her rapidly approach I hit upon a sneaky idea. I don't need to beat her in a fight, I just need her to have enough "bad luck" for me to get away from her.
I pull a small pool of Void heart into my palm as I use a pole along the top of a chain link fence to pivot over it, allowing Void Heart to weaken the internal structure then return to the storage space. The plan went perfectly to plan, Kazumi trying to leap over the fence the same way I did and the pipe collapsing, sending her and her thugs to the ground in a tangled mess as I got away.
Panting outside my house I realise that I finally have a way to give Kazumi a little bit of suffering as interest for the five years she's been giving me grief. Silently grinning I give a small section of Void Heart some very specific instructions and if it had a face, it would be an expression of someone who was filled with a special joy only known to those whose jobs are mildly malicious and take a great deal of pleasure from it.
Monday Morning
Whistling cheerily to myself, I check through the report on Void Heart antics and let a shit-eating grin spread across my face. Moving stuff around her desk when she left for a drink, mixing the salt and sugar label on the containers by devouring and restructuring the labels on the containers when she went for a coffee before changing them back, messing with the shower she it was always too hot or cold to be comfortable, but never enough to hurt and never when Aunt Mitsuki or Uncle Masaru checked on it, making her shoes leaky for the puddles outside, altering her uniform to be tight and uncomfortable in all the most awkward places, tinkering with her alarm clock to wake her up at four in the morning. If it could drive someone up the wall without having any provable cause, it happened to Kazumi that day.
My smug sense of satisfaction became even better when she turned up to school all haggard and ruffled by her little encounter and she howled "WHAT DID YOU DO DEKU!" before sprinting at me, only to get tripped by a conveniently placed raised brick and kiss the floor. I only regret that I didn't have a video recorder to immortalise that moment when I felt Void Heart tug at my mind to show me a fully functional video recorder and a projector showing that most glorious of moments.
Giving Void Heart a mental burst of approval and gratitude and the promise of being pet when I got home, much to its joy, I focus on trying not to laugh at the whole situation. I managed quite well until someone else Kazumi had been bullying muttered "Damn, took long enough for some karma" which then set off everyone watching into hysterics as I whistled nonchalantly on my way to class. If I didn't have a shit-eating grin on my face beforehand, the scene of her slamming her hand on my table, only to snap the legs and bring the edge down onto her shins managed to do it perfectly.
After I breezed through the lessons on realising that I could put together a basic computer in my storage space to act as another brain for memorisation and calculation, I simply walk home, feeling lighter than ever as the sounds of Kazumi's continuous misfortune were carried on the wind to my ears. I might be enjoying this a little too much, but I had to deal with her bullshit for five years of torment. Sue me.
As I got to my room, I opened the online classes I had been running through in my spare time. I didn't want to have to put up with Kazumi's crap any longer than I had to, so graduating from an online school and telling Mum I've already done my middle school education I would be able to get out of going to Aldera Middle School ever again.
As I check in on the fragments of Void Heart being carried to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I saw them there ready and waiting thanks to their great ability to alter their shape and form miniscule corkscrews for propulsion, combined with the lack of need to worry about energy or wear on them. Thinking back to the strange sensation of an opponent as I pet Void Heart in it's strange blob like form, I send out the command "Begin Operation Blue Filter"
The ball is in your court adversary.
One week later, UA Principal's office, Nezu
I knew my opponent would have an interesting challenge, but this was outside of my expectation. In the last week, plastic waste, dumped nuclear waste, harmful chemical and other containments had suddenly ended up disappearing from the oceans, specifically concentrated on the dead centre of the Pacific Ocean. Even more strangely was that the research vessels radios were hacked into and played a message stating "Find me if you can" starting in fluent English before turning to many other major languages such as French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese among others. This event is certainly shaping up to be an interesting one.
This was someone who willingly challenged every intellect on the planet to try and find them. Such a person is either arrogant, a fool or very confident in their skill and I'm inclined towards to last one. Someone capable of causing a centuries old problem to diminish this rapidly over the short period of a week is certainly not an idiot and to accomplish something this massive and leave so few clues behind is justified in their confidence about their skills.
Someone capable of something this massive, yet still remaining hidden would make for a wonderful opponent. Running by the government to offer my aid in tracking this individual down, I start to trawl through any anomalous data on tidal patterns and oceanic current.
This might be even more exciting than I imagined!
Izuku
Thinking back on my little declaration of war against all the geniuses on the planet, I internally chuckle at the reports of people attempting to bottle up some of the seawater for testing in labs on land as I issue the command to retrieve any pieces in seawater that has been collected for analysis to a distant, unobserved fragment to be redeployed. A similar order stands for if they deploy scanners into the sea itself, to retrieve all fragments and deploy elsewhere. A small chuckle escapes my lips just in time to see Kazumi's foot slip as she sprints round a corner and smacks her head on a stop sign.
In the most obviously fake concerned voice I could muster I say "Oh dear, are you okay? Perhaps this is a sign from above to stop being a petulant cow that never grew out of throwing temper tantrums? Or maybe it's saying you should stop beating people up to feel better about yourself? After all that sounds a lot like a villain to me and you want to become the number one hero, so that won't help your case in the slightest now, will it? Then again with a quirk as destructive as yours you'd probably make a great villain, especially when paired with your whole thing of screaming 'die' this and 'kill' that. You know I'm getting a lot of conflicting messages here Kazumi, what exactly are you trying to be?"
Her irritated huff almost broke the little act I was putting on as she grumbled "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up nerd. Now cancel your damn quirk already" which infuriated me no end "What was that? The great Kazumi Bakugo not screaming bloody murder? In case you didn't notice bomb for brains, I'M FUCKING QUIRKLESS! Something that you took great care to remind me of every single day for five long years. That I was less than everyone else and that I could never compare to you if I tried my whole life to do so. Maybe you should focus less on chasing the idea of me having a quirk and more on being a decent person" before storming off in a rage.
For all of about a minute it took to lose her and hide away from her. Then I burst into internal laughter before explaining to Void Heart that I would have to keep pretending to be quirkless to keep us safe. Somewhat angry that we couldn't just make it officially my quirk I calmed it murmuring "I know it sucks, I know that you don't like seeing me get hurt, but if we reveal ourselves now before we're strong enough to not worry about someone hurting us it could go really badly wrong. If I could figure out a cover story for you then we could, but I can't think of anything convincing..." trailing off as I remember how we'd convinced Kazumi that I had one by accident.
A smile graced my lips as I chuckled "You know, I might just have an idea about that" before we whisper together to plan our cover.
I was always wondering how hard it would be to make a fake quirk that sounds believable. Guess it's time to find out then.
Next week
The doctor looked at me strangely before declaring "Miss Midoriya it would seem that your son had developed a quirk and a rare one at that. Congratulations, what do you want to name your quirk kid?" pausing for a moment as I finished my juice bottle and let the black cat in my lap reach out to tap it with its paw before throwing the bottle out a window and into an open bin without looking. A subtle smile appeared as I said "How about Karma?"
Yes, I made Izuku have a cover quirk based on his pranks and the ability to make it somewhat logical that Void Heart could take a physical form. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one