Chapter 32
A Surprise Visit
Two days have passed since Class 1-A defeated Class 1-B in a set of five scrimmages. Currently, Young Girai is riding in a black limousine with his godfather. He is irritated by what his godfather wants him to do.
"I'm missing a full day of school, so I can go to a science fair," said Joshua irritatingly.
"It's not just a regular school science fair. It's a science fair for the smartest kids in the country," said Hiro.
"Why am I coming? I didn't make anything," said Joshua.
"You are most likely going to take over the company, so the next generation needs to see their future employer," said Hiro.
"I already told you that I don't want to take over your company. My father left me one already," said Joshua.
"Your uncle is easily boosting your father's company. He can pass it on to his children. No matter what you say, I'm going to leave it to you anyways. Akuyaku is a pro and Osen has her own company to run. I won't be here forever you know?" said Hiro.
"I know that, but I have my responsibilities. You can't force this onto me," said Joshua.
"That's how the world works. In this society, you either choose to do something or someone else will force you to do it. This is your destiny," said Hiro.
"I don't even want to be a CEO. I want to be a pro," said Joshua.
"You can be both a pro and a businessman. That Bat guy in America does it," said Hiro.
"I don't even know why we're even having this conversation. You don't care about what I want," said Joshua.
"It's not like that. When I took you in eight years ago, I wanted to give you a home. I wanted to give you love. I wanted to raise you as one of my own. Even though we aren't connected by blood, we're family. Don't tell Aku or Osen, but you're my favorite. That's why I'm pushing you to become my successor," said Hiro.
"If I'm your favorite, you would let me make my own choices," said Joshua.
"I am. I just don't want you to die at a very young age. I lost my wife years ago and I swore the day of her funeral that I wouldn't let anyone else die too soon," said Hiro.
"I'm not Tsuma. I'm smarter, stronger, faster, and more skilled than her. I'm not just going to go out there and die on my first day. This world needs me," said Joshua.
"I need you," said Hiro.
"I know that, but there are billions of people on this planet. Their suffering matters too," said Joshua.
"You're too young. You don't understand this stuff yet," said Hiro.
"I have an IQ of 243. I'm pretty sure I understand this type of stuff," said Joshua.
"Whatever. We're here already," said Hiro.
Joshua looks out the window and sees a giant skyscraper outside. He opens the door and takes a sniff of the chilly winter day.
"A better day could have been chosen than this. A winter day like this should be spent snowboarding or something," said Joshua.
"Businessmen don't get days off," said Hiro.
The godfather and godson enter the building. They see large signs directing the participants where to go. They see young inventors carrying their projects throughout the lobby. They walk towards the sign and take a left. They walk until they reach a door. Hiro takes a keycard out of his pocket and places it on the keypad. The door opens and reveals a large room full of inventors.
"This is where all of the action goes down," said Hiro.
"I thought that there would be fewer people here. This seems like a lot of people," said Joshua.
"The schools have been improving," said Hiro.
"What am I supposed to do?" asked Joshua.
"Give a short speech and then we'll go around and judge the inventions," said Hiro.
"This is going to be so boring," said Joshua.
"Welcome to the adult world," said Hiro.
"I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be back in a few," said Joshua.
Joshua walks out of the room. Instead of taking a right to go to the bathroom, he takes a left and walks into the janitor's closet. He closes the door quietly.
"Come on out. It's time," said Joshua.
A shadow in the back of the closet stands up. It walks towards Joshua and reveals itself to be a musty Mei Hatsume.
"How long were you in here?" asked Joshua.
"The last two days. This closet has a lot of useful stuff," said Mei.
"Yeah. I can smell it. I snuck you into the building so you can use some of our stuff to enhance your "babies", but you decided to stay in the janitor's closet for two days. How did no one catch you?" said Joshua.
"The smell must have deterred any investigation," said Mei.
"It probably did. I could smell you from a mile away," said Joshua.
"My baby number 306 is finally complete. It's the best one yet," said Mei.
"It's good that you're finished, but please go jump in the river. You're going to kill someone by walking by them," said Joshua.
"Fine," said Mei.
Mei walks out of the janitor's closet.
"This is why I don't mess with mad scientists," said Joshua.
Joshua walks out of the janitor's closet and closes the door. He walks back towards the large room. He opens the door and Hiro walks up to him.
"It's time. Are you ready?" said Hiro.
"I can make something up," said Joshua.
"Wait, what?" asked Hiro.
Joshua walks past Hiro before he can say any more words. Joshua walks up to the podium and adjusts the mic. The room full of inventors turns to face him.
"Good morning everyone. Welcome to the 5th annual Genius Invention Contest or the GIC for short. I want to start by saying that every one that is here in this room should be proud that you were able to get this far. The reason I'm giving this speech is not to just celebrate you guys. I want to also give you some advice. I know that some of you here are older than me but still listen. What I'm going to tell you today is important or will be important in the future. There's a huge chance that you guys will become or want to become inventors in the future, but that isn't the only path that you can walk down. I've learned everything about everyone in this room. Everyone here has an average intellect of over 150. You all have amazing grades and amazing skills, so there are many things that you can do. I know that not everyone here wants to become an inventor. Some of you may want to become a pop star, train conductor, or streamer, but your parents won't allow it because of your skills. One thing that you'll have to learn is that everyone here's very young. Some of you may be first years in high school or about to graduate from high school, but there is a lot of time. The only things that your parents can force you to do are going to school, bathe, do your homework, eat, sleep, and do chores. They can't control your future. You have to decide if you want to become an inventor or something else. The only person that can control your future is you, so grab it by the balls and tell it "I'm the one in charge and I'll make the decisions." If your parents don't like that then they can go screw themselves. You can be whatever you want to be as long as it's not being a villain or something illegal. Now, let's get to judging these pro-" said Joshua.
Before Joshua can finish his short speech, he hears a large noise coming from the upper floor. Everyone in the room looks up at the ceiling. A few seconds of silence pass before the ceiling starts to crack. Joshua runs to Hiro.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Joshua.
"I don't know. Something must be happening on the floor above us," said Hiro.
"They must be working on something dangerous. They're causing the ceiling to crack. We have to evacuate before anyone gets injured," said Joshua.
"I'll get security in here to help," said Hiro.
Hiro runs out of the room.
"I should go he-" thought Joshua.
Before Joshua can finish his thought, a nomu falls through the ceiling and lands on a few of the participants, crushing them. The young inventors start to panic and run towards the door.
"It's a nomu. Why would a nomu be here? I thought I destroyed them all. There's no time to think. I have to act," thought Joshua.
Joshua clicks a button on his watch and a hologram of his suit appears on it. He taps the hologram and it disappears.
"Everyone! Follow me!" exclaimed Joshua.
The young inventors rush towards Joshua and nearly trample him. Joshua turns and runs with them. He leads them to the entrance and they rush out.
"Now that they're all out, I can take on the nomu," said Joshua.
The parts of Joshua's suit rocket towards him and attach to him. Joshua rockets towards the nomu. He charges one hundred percent of One For All in his gauntlet and punches the nomu. The nomu flies through multiple walls and creates a small crater in the final wall. The nomu looks around and sees scientists all around it. It pounces on them. Joshua sees this and runs through the holes on the walls towards the nomu. Once he reaches the nomu, he flies towards it and spheres it through the wall. Joshua carries the nomu until it slams its fist on him, causing him to rocket towards the ground. They crash into a construction site. Joshua slowly gets up and receives a punch to the stomach. The punch sends Joshua flying into a building.
"It has a mean right hook," thought Joshua.
The crowd inside the building starts to panic and run all around the place. Joshua gets back up. The nomu charges him. Joshua charges one hundred percent of One For All in both of his gauntlets. Once the nomu gets close enough, he punches the nomu with his right gauntlet, and the nomu is sent flying. Joshua quickly flies towards him and punches him with his left gauntlet. The nomu is sent flying an even farther distance than before.
"Mighty Michigan Smashes!" exclaimed Joshua.
Joshua starts to charge up one hundred percent of One For All in both of his gauntlets and repeatedly punches him over and over. The more punches that the nomu received, the less effective his regeneration quirk was. The nomu continues to get pounded until they both fly into an office building. The nomu tries to attack the people in the meeting room, but Joshua grabs his grappling hooks and ties it up with it.
"You're not going anywhere," said Joshua.
Joshua starts to spin like a tornado, causing the nomu to also spin. He throws the nomu out of the building. Joshua turns to look at the scared business people.
"I probably won't pay for this. I'll go deal with the birdbrain out there," said Joshua.
Joshua flies out of the building. He flies for a few minutes, looking for the nomu. He rockets towards it once he sees it throwing a car at a group of civilians. He grabs the car and smashes it on the nomu, stunning it for a few seconds.
"Get out of here!" exclaimed Joshua
The saved civilians run away from the monster. Joshua jumps up and charges one hundred percent of One For All in his right leg and kicks the nomu, sending him flying into an apartment building. The nomu slowly stands up.
"This guy won't go down. I'm going to have to use my Heartbreaker Beam, but I have to get him away from this apartment building first," thought Joshua.
Before Joshua can fly and grab the nomu, a yellow blur flies past him. He blinks and sees that the nomu has disappeared.
"What was that?" asked Joshua.
Joshua turns his head and sees the symbol of peace standing a few feet away from him.
"All Might?" asked Joshua.
"Don't worry young Girai! I am here!" exclaimed All Might.
"Why are you here?" asked Joshua.
"I'm a hero and this nomu is a villain causing trouble. It's my job to step up and help," said All Might.
"I don't need your help. I can deal with it myself," said Joshua.
"There are more," said All Might.
"More?" asked Joshua.
"This nomu is just a regular one. There are more over at Girai Industries," said All Might.
"Why didn't you deal with them?" asked Joshua.
"Someone else is," said All Might.
"Who is?" asked Joshua.
The nomu slowly starts to get up.
"I have no time to explain. I have to deal with this nomu. Go and fight the other nomus," said All Might.
"Ok," said Joshua.
Joshua flies off and rockets towards Girai Industries at top speed. He flies towards the back of a nomu at his highest speed and flies through it.
"The nomu bleeds human blood. Whoever created these guys must be a big fan of Frankenstein," said Joshua.
Before Joshua can attack the other nomu, he hears a familiar voice.
"It doesn't matter how many of you monsters come, my baby will destroy you," said Mei.
Joshua turns around and sees Mei in a mech, beating on a giant nomu.
"Mei! Why are you here?" said Joshua.
Mei's mech steps on the head of the nomu that she's fighting, killing it.
"I was putting the finishing touches on my baby here and I saw a lot of nomu come out of a portal and start attacking the building," said Mei.
"Kurogiri must have done this, but why?" thought Joshua.
Joshua turns back around.
"The rest of these nomu seem like fodder. We can take them down quickly if we work together," said Joshua.
"I agree!" exclaimed Mei.
Before the two can attack, Joshua is grabbed by a hooded nomu with wings.
"Joshua!" exclaimed Mei.
Mei's mech tries to jump and catch the nomu, but she is grabbed by the nomu who start to swarm her.
"Mei!" exclaimed Joshua.
Joshua tries to wiggle away from the nomu's grasp, but he can barely move.
"Stop moving brat. You're just going to make my job harder," said the hooded nomu.
"Wait. You can speak?" said Joshua.
"Yes," said the hooded nomu.
"Are the rest of you guys sentient?" asked Joshua.
"No. Only me," said the hooded nomu.
"If you're sentient, you're just choosing to kill these people and destroy stuff," said Joshua.
"That's right," said the hooded nomu.
"You're just a villain that I need to take down, so prepare to lose," said Joshua.
"How will you beat me, kid? I've got you in my grasp," said the hooded nomu.
"Not anymore. Full Cowling: One Hundred Percent!" said Joshua.
Joshua's suit and body are covered by light green lightning. Red vein-like lines appear on his suit and body. His hair starts to flow in the air like he has been sucked up in a tornado.
"You just messed up," said Joshua.
Joshua easily breaks out of the grasp of the hooded nomu.
"How did he escape?" asked the hooded nomu.
"I don't need to explain to you scum. Now, say goodbye," said Joshua.
"Why?" asked the hooded nomu.
"I don't hold back against evil pieces of trash like you!" exclaimed Joshua.
Joshua winds his arm back and punches the hooded nomu. This one punch completely obliterates the hooded nomu. The hooded nomu is nothing but ash. Joshua rockets towards Mei and easily defeats the nomu swarming her.
"My baby! I just finished it today!" exclaimed Mei.
"You can fix it up later. I have to get you out of here," said Joshua.
Joshua picks up Mei and zooms away from the battlefield. He stops running once he reaches a reservoir. He places Mei down on the riverside.
"Why did you bring me here?" asked Mei.
"You don't have your mech, so you will just be dead weight. Plus, you stink," said Joshua.
"Wait!" exclaimed Mei.
Joshua runs off back to the battlefield before Mei can protest. He returns to the battlefield in seconds, but he doesn't see any nomu.
"Where did they go? Did All Might deal with them?" thought Joshua.
"I didn't expect you to be this strong. We don't have a good relationship since the first time we met. You broke my nose to rescue your classmate. Let's start over. It's nice to meet you, Joshua," said Dabi.
The smoke clears and reveals Dabi standing there.
"Dabi, why are you here? Did you come here to be taken down as well?" asked Joshua.
"No. I may be a villain, but I know in that transformation that I can't win. I'm crazy but smart," said Dabi.
"Why did you attack this building? You killed many innocent people and caused so much damage to the city," said Joshua.
"If you want to get technical about it, you killed all of those people by not dealing with the nomus quick enough and you caused all of that property damage by throwing the nomus all over the place," said Dabi.
"Stop acting like a smartass! I'm taking you in!" exclaimed Joshua.
"Help me out, Ujiko," said Dabi.
"Who's that?" asked Joshua.
A black substance comes out of Dabi's mouth and starts to consume him.
"See you later, Joshua Girai!" exclaimed Dabi.
"Dabi!" exclaimed Joshua.
Joshua tries to pounce on Dabi, but Dabi disappears.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Joshua.