"You're a lot shorter than I thought."
"Not a great impression, Iron Boy." Jirou chuckled behind the annoyed Kaminari as Tetsutetsu apologized to him after his comment. Kaminari looked at him before he realized something.
"Wait, don't you hate us? You seemed really angry only a week before." Kaminari said to Tetsutetsu who only laughed it off. "Well, your friend Kirishima gave me the light! He's got manliness oozing off every flex! A true man!" Kaminari glanced towards Kirishima who seemed genuinely pleased at the comments.
"Wait, so you're good now? Like, you don't want to ruthlessly beat us?" Uraraka pleaded. Tetsutetsu waved his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. You know, not everyone in 1-B wants you guys dead." He told them.
"Really? Like who?" Iida asked him.
"Well, for starters Shiozaki." Kaminari suddenly felt guilty for his conflict with her from earlier. Tetsutetsu seemed to notice this and wave him off. "Eh, don't worry. Shiozaki will probably take any apology you give her. Hell, she's probably already forgiven you." The group mumbled in agreement with Midoriya just lightly nodding.
"Well, anyone else? Gotta know our allies to make our relations better." Sero joked which earned a chuckle from Uraraka and Iida. "Well, Kendo is largely a good advisor towards friendly relations between us. She's our class president. You may know her as the redhead girl who karate chopped Monoma." Kirishima snapped his fingers as he pointed to him.
"Oh, is Monoma that guy with the copy quirk? The one who's always condescending? We went against him in the cavalry battle. Annoyed Bakugou, which was probably his worst plan ever." Sero nodded behind Kirishima and Midoriya nodded while sighing.
"Yeah, that's Kachan. He's not one to take insults lightly." Midoriya told them. "Figures. Really the type to not go down lightly." Uraraka said while tracing her finger over her bandages.
"And uh, who else… I think Kamakiri doesn't hate you guys? Don't remember, I do know that it's not as black and white with our class on an opinion with you guys." Kaminari nodded to him. The image of having 20 people on their own side hate them faded from his head and relieved his shoulders of that burden.
"Well, that's a start. Uh actually, who is the Kamakiri person?" Uraraka asked. "Oh, he's the mantis person. Did you not see him?" People shook their heads to Tetsutetsu and he groaned.
"Well, yeah. He's one of the guys who doesn't hate you." He concluded. Kaminari nodded before looking at Midoriya. "So uh, sorry you got your body destroyed. I mean, I know it wasn't me who did it but I'm sorry it happened to you." Midoriya nodded and exhaled.
"It's fine. You know this is weird. You guys are really the first people to really care for me." He admitted to them. The group fell into silence and Tetsutetsu took a step back out of awkwardness. Midoriya gauged the reaction and looked down thinking. Recovery Girl looked at him worried before he sighed.
"Well, I… I never really got a lot of friends in middle school. Only one that was somewhat close was Kachan." Sero scoffed at that and looked at Midoriya. "If you consider that friendship Midoriya, I worry then." Kaminari nodded but both of them got elbowed by Kirishima. He gave the two a glare before looking back at Midoriya.
"I know Kachan has a short fuse but he's a good person deep down. He does want to help people. He's just extreme sometimes." Everyone nearly nodded but they managed to catch themselves before doing so. "Well, is there a reason he hates you? He called you quirkless earlier. Does that have anything to do with it?" Tsu made her presence known in the conversation and stepped out into view. Kaminari jumped a little since he even forgot Tsu when with them earlier.
Modioriya looked down at his arms as his face was constrained in pain. He glanced towards Recovery Girl and she made a silent agreement with him. He looked back at his arms and relaxed a bit.
"You see, I had always known I had a quirk but it never surfaced. It wasn't until very recently that it did." Sero snapped his fingers in realization. "That would explain why you seem like a novice to your quirk. But when did you even figure out your quirk surfaced?" Midoriya bit his lip and looked down at his hands. His cheeks grew red as Uraraka and Iida dropped their jaws at some thought.
"Midoriya… please don't tell me your quirk surfaced when you saved Uraraka in the Entrance exam?" This time everyone turned to him with wider eyes while Recovery Girl turned and looked at the computer.
"Maaaybe?" He slowly spoke.
"HOLY HELL MAN!" Tetsutetsu spoke out from behind them. "NO WONDER YOU DIDN'T HAVE VILLIAN POINTS! YOU WENT IN QUIRKLESS!" Midoriya looked deflated under that shout from the 1-B student but he didn't seem to stop there.
"That just has to be…"
"THE COOLEST THING EVER!" This time, everyone except Iida and Tsu joined in on Tetsutetsu's proclamation. Midoriya looked up confused at the praise from everyone and Kaminari took a step forward.
"Dude, do you know how cool that is? We all knew you had a heroic spirit but to go into the entrance exam to join one of the best hero schools without a quirk? That's just the stuff of legend!" Midoriya blushed under Kaminari's praise. Uraraka stepped forward, gaining everyone's attention. She smiled at Midoriya and nodded.
"Thanks. I didn't know that was something new for you." Everyone looked at her confused while Iida took his own step forward. He placed his hand on his chest and looked Midoriya sincerely in the eye. "I may have already apologized to you before but I'm truly sorry for what I said about you in the entrance exam. If I knew that was the first time you used your quirk, I wouldn't have been that hard on you."
Midoriya smiled. "It's fine Iida. I'm just glad everyone came out alright." With the exclusion of those two, everyone was slightly confused. Recovery Girl looked at them and sighed to get their attention. "Well, young Midoriya managed to destroy a Zero-Pointer with his quirk to save young Uraraka's life. That's how he accumulated all those rescue points." Everyone looked at Midoriya as he lightly chuckled.
"Dude, new respect." Sero pounded his chest over his heart. Kaminari followed his friend's action while Kirishima and Tetsutetsu held back tears. They both mumbled something about him being manly. "You know, I didn't expect this level of generosity in UA. It's… a good feeling." Uraraka laughed heartily as Midoriya confessed, causing him to blush.
"How much do you wanna bet they'll start dating at least for some time?" Sero whispered into Kaminari's ear. He smirked as Iida engaged in some conversation with Midoriya with Tsu and Uraraka behind him.
"I'd say maybe by the end of our second year at most. And uh.. Maybe 2000 yen." Sero nodded before he turned away as the group of friends got more focused on their conversation. He walked out of the nurses office and Kaminari glanced once more at Midoriya.
"Hey Midoriya!" Their conversation ended and they looked at Kaminari. He gave Midoriya a thumbs up before he left. "If you ever need help with something, you got me!"
"Doubt it. You got one of the worst grades in class already." Tsu told him from behind Iida's back, causing Uraraka to barely stop some laughter. "Gee… thanks for that one Tsu." Tsu only gave him a thumbs up to add to his new sour attitude. Everyone lightly chuckled at her blunt response towards Kaminari, even Tetsutetsu who barely knew them. He clamped his hand onto Kaminari and sighed to calm himself down.
"Well, I hate to break it to you guys but Kaminari needs to prepare for his next round." Recovery Girl tapped her cane on the ground to get their attention away from Kaminari being the room's jester.
"Ah yes! I forgot you beat me so you managed to move to the semi-final round." Iida said. Kaminari thought for a second and his stomach felt lighter at his realization.
"So uh… am I going against Tokoyami?" He prayed. Recovery Girl shook her head slowly making Kaminari begin to show panic in his face. "Is it at least Todoroki?" He asked. She affirmed with him using a nod and that managed to calm his nerves down a little.
"But you're still going to lose." Tetsutetsu told behind him, accompanied with an audible and mocking laugh of Sero from behind the door. Kirishima leaned out and said something to him that Kaminari couldn't make out but a snicker was the only reply that Sero seemed to give.
"Well… the hand warmers and heavy winter blankets are getting some of the most use that they ever have before." Kaminari gulped before nodding. He turned around and went past Kirishima and Sero, who was on the other side. He had a small and sly smirk as Kaminari passed him. He lightly waved to his friend as he marched onto his doom.
"Is he going to be alright?" Kirishima leaned out of the office to watch Kaminari march down the hallway towards the stadium. Sero laughed but there was more pain in it than actual laughter. "The rest of the matches for him winning is plausible but uh, he won't have the tools to win this one." Kirishima looked hurt thinking about it before he stepped into the hallway proper.
"Well, at least Todoroki might be less brutal to him than you?" Sero shrugged. He didn't know what Todoroki was feeling about these matches but he assured that it wasn't something stable. "Kaminari's future seems rather chilling now…" Sero added.
…
The set of doors leading to the conference room opened with steam and three figures walked in. One had a large build and wore purple and black armor with multiple port holes along easily accessible parts of their body. A violet X symbol marked the only way for the figure to see out of his helm.
"OH GREAT! SixSix is here. Come to steal another one of my hunts?" A golden metallic crab voiced his annoyance. They possessed a normal five fingered hand but then a large claw for their other appendage. The one named SixSix spoke in some language that infuriated the crab-like creature. His claw echoed as he clanged it to visualize his frustration.
"You two are acting like children. Grow up." The third and final person spoke. He was more lean than the other two but he was the taller of the three. Silver armor adorned with black sleeves and a black mask covered his body. The two looked at him and laughed.
"And who might you be? I didn't expect a small fry to be so interested in moving up that he would try and hunt in a game unfit for his calibur." The crab said to the annoyance of the supposedly new hunter. "If this is what you consider high calibur, I wonder how highly you consider those wars you had with Pyros, Kraab." The named hunter moved in front of him and dropped his claw on the ground next to him. The hunter didn't flinch as Kraab stared into his soul.
"Mind repeating that to me?" The hunter chuckled. Kraab seemed to get more annoyed before the unknown hunter crossed his arms and looked down at him. "If you can't walk out of a war with Pyros without needing a cybernetic body, I doubt you'll be of any value to any employer to Vilgax's reputation." Kraab snapped. He raised his claw where a nozzle started to electrically charge. The new bounty hunter didn't flinch under the intimate threat charging in front of him but his hand was slowly shifting towards a small box on his waist.
"SILENCE!" The two stopped and looked as a holographic screen came down with the silhouette and glowing eyes of the most infamous warlord, Vilgax, staring at them. Kraab brought his arm down and turned his head around to look at the screen and the new hunter lowered his hand.
"I hired you three to get something I want! Not to break my ship even more!" The three had walked into a line and looked at the screen to stare Vilgax in the eyes but his voice weighed down most of their thoughts. "Now, you three are some of the only life forms on this ship so your bravery… or greed is something to be valued. I applaud you on that."
"Yeah but why hire three of us to-" Kraab began to speak but Vilgax's eyes squinted. "I didn't give you permission to speak. Silence until I am finished." Kraab didn't respond but he nodded to him.
"Now… I hired you three because what I want is valuable. Way too valuable for any one bounty hunter to take care of for themselves." The image changed to what was a white bracelet, with green lines that they all understood. SixSix mumbled something under his breath and the other two seemed way more interested in what that watch was.
"The Omnitrix. A while back I realized it is more than just a rumor but a reality. The device managed to slip through my grasp when my ship and body was damaged but the device is in this system." The screen changed once again, showing a green and blue planet with clouds covering its atmosphere.
"I feel as if this planet needs no introduction. Terra or Earth, I couldn't care less on what you call it. I shouldn't need to explain my disdain for that wretched back water filth." The three nodded slowly. They all knew about the planet and the stories of it's legacy around it. "Permission to speak sir." The new hunter spoke.
"Go Turning." Turning nodded as Kraab swapped a look for him. "Was the Omnitrix brought to this system for… those plumbers?" The words echoed throughout the hall and seemed to even phased SixSix and Kraab.
"Yes. Undoubtedly the Omnitrix was intended for one of those plumbers, the very same human ones that "ended" me all those years ago." The screen changed and zoomed into an island off the coast of a much larger land mass. "This is the country of Japan. It holds some of the planet's strongest humans, hero and villain. Unluckily for you, this is where the Omnitrix landed."
"My equipment tells me the Omnitrix took a radical turn away from it's path, so it's logical to assume any human could have picked up the Omnitrix. And we know this as we lost contact with a recon unit sent to recover it. What aliens the user has or even their own natural abilities is unknown. Undoubtedly it's now in the hands of some hero." The screen flickered again, showing a human at what they inferred to be a desk. On their side, a rough sketch of a cyclops from the shoulders up with tendrils on his head was displayed.
"This news report came out several days ago after an incident with criminals. If you couldn't tell, this is an accurate depiction of a member of the Conductiods. As it's Earth, this is the closest we'll get to knowing one of the wielders aliens. However, they won't be using this one out in public due to this form being labeled as a criminal by human standards. This form is dubbed Feedback by eyewitnesses." Turning and Kraab nodded.
"Now, we have noted that the Omnitrix emits a signal upon being activated. It's appeared numerous times in the past few days. So use that information however you wish. You'll have access to my fleet of drones to use at your disposal. I want this warrior to be brought to me alive. With or without the Omnitrix is up to you, but I want both of them if you wish to receive payment." SixSix spoke in his tongue before Vilgax grumbled as he thought.
"Whoever brings me both will receive, well… let's go with a billion tayden. And I'll throw in a planet of your choice. Whoever doesn't will receive nothing." With that, the screen turned off and the comms turned off. The three remained in silence before Kraab turned to Turning.
"Well, we'll settle this later." Kraab and SixSix turned and began to walk away. They stopped when they realized Turning hadn't moved. Instead he was on some holographic device. SixSix yelled at him before he stopped when Turning walked to them.
"Well, Earth has nearly 8 billion humans residing on it, with Japan holding around 125 million of those." He walked in front of them and threw his hand forward. A hologram projection appeared in front of them with a map of Japan, but different from Vilgax's was the presence of a red gradient.
"Population density." Kraab spoke. Turning nodded before the map zoomed into a more red portion of the map. A solid X appeared before a smaller window appeared. A feed of a comet striking the forest was shown into a forest on the outskirts of a human city.
"That my comrades is the recon unit sent to recover the Omnitrix. Since it's located near a city, it's safe to assume our wielder is located in this area. Add in the human's using a form of trains and we'll expand our area to around, let's say 2 hours away." The area zoomed out to fit within those parameters, which greatly reduced what they had before.
"And let's add in the fact our culprit was supposedly involved with being a vigilante in an attack." Another screen of the same report from earlier appeared, this time showing a building. "The USJ, founded in Earth year 2178, serves as an introduction to those going for law enforcement as practice of Earth's natural disasters." He explained.
"What's the point to those? You're just stalling for time aren't you?" Kraab accused. He couldn't see it, but he could feel Turning was smiling. "Gentlemen, we're searching for a single human out of over a million. Our only way to reduce is to find them using the Omnitrix, but since one of their forms is wanted, they're going to be hesitant to use it at least in one instance of the time. So we'll be on this primitive planet for ages. So… We'll lure them out after we reduce our oods."
"NOW, let's see. If our culprit was involved in this area, we may be in luck." A screen popped up and festivities were shown. An arena area that was filled to the stands with people as they cheered to what looked to be other humans on each other's backs. "Sports Festival, established in 2202 where members of the U.A. fight against another for the top. Now, if our target appeared at the USJ and likely lives around this area, it's safe to assume they'll be in this town."
"So now what?" Kraab asked Turning. The screen faded as he held up his device. "Well, we have drones. It's likely that our target is a hero so if we use our soldiers, we'll be able to draw our opponent out. But we only want our target. So we'll attack the outskirts first. With everyone focused on the festival, most won't be interested in beating a few drones. We'll keep a few drones in the forest to wait for them and once they try to attack the drones, we employ the rest and overpower them." The two bounty hunters looked at him concerned.
"You know, you're a brutal and efficient hunter. My apologies for earlier." SixSix gruggled in agreement and Turning nodded. "You have to be brutal to accept Vilgax as an employer." SixSix spoke up and the other two stopped to ponder.
"You know, I wouldn't be down to toy with him in some way. Would you, Kraab?" Turning turned to his accomplice. He scratched the small chin he had while he thought of an answer. "Maybe so. As long as they live, we can have a little fun…"
…
"Will you promise to go easy on me?" Kaminari pleaded. Todoroki remained stoic and Kaminari nodded reluctantly. The crowd cheered with enthusiasm over the semi-final match between the two. He put his hands behind his back and nervously rubbed the Omnitrix. He wished he could use it now but not in public. Swampfire probably would have been great against Todoroki.
"WELCOME TO OUR FIRST SEMI FINAL ROUND! ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE THE UNDERDOG WHO HAS PULLED THROUGH CHALLENGE THROUGH CHALLENGE, IT'S DENKI KAMINARI!" Kaminari chuckled that he didn't make an electric reference this time. Although that lack of identity hurts now.
"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE 1-A'S FRIGID POWERHOUSE, IT'S SHOTO TODOROKI!" Kaminari brought his hands back and flashed some sparks to Todoroki as an attempt at his competence. Todoroki kept his stoicism at Kaminari's gesture before him.
"Well, that's no fun." Kaminari told himself. Midnight brought her whip up and looked between the two of them. "Alright, I want no more extreme field and arena destruction nor do I want to see any potential paralyzation, even if it's temporary. You hear me?" The two of them nodded and she cracked her whip. The resonance of ice and electricity cracking gave the crowd a melody to listen to as the two began.
Ice began to swarm Kaminari as his body was coated in electricity. He jumped up and tucked his legs up as Todoroki flash froze the entire field. Coming down was an issue. His hand slipped at the attempt to catch himself and bashed his forehead into the ice. He looked up and threw his hand down. The electricity didn't reach Todoroki as he evicted a barrier of ice around him. He stood back up and rubbed his sore head.
"Sorry Kaminari. But you're not winning this one." He saw a pillar of ice behind the wall rise and Todoroki stood on it, looking down at him. Mist surrounded him like an aura and his arm was coated in his ice. "Not sure if you know this, but I have the quirk advantage."
"Because yours is more powerful, you have more control over it or the fact you can react faster than my electricity can travel?" He asked. His question made Todoroki raise his eyebrow. He scoffed at him. "Well. I didn't paint you as someone who has that level of analysis. Good job." Kaminari didn't know if he was being sarcastic, insulting or being genuine.
Genuine was going to be what he'll choose.
"But this match is over." Todoroki crouched down and placed his hand over the edge. Kaminari felt an overwhelming feeling of emptiness in his stomach as the ice crept towards him at alarming speeds. His body froze, both physically and metaphorically. Frost braced him in it's frozen arms and locked him in place, creating a large cocoon around him similar to Sero's. Todoroki stood back up and created a slide under him to get back down to Kaminari's level.
Kaminari felt numb as he approached. It also didn't help that he was coated in enough stinging ice that probably increased his weight twofold. He tried to generate electricity but it weakly crept over his body.
No way to free himself, even if he wanted to transform. The fate of the match was called by Todoroki as he placed his hand on Kaminari's chest, even reluctantly.
"My victory." Midnight cracked her whip after Todoroki's declaration. There was small amounts of cheer with the warmth that came from Todoroki's hand. His prison cracked and Kaminari thawed out of it. He stumbled and nearly slipped on the ice since Todoroki got out of his way to go to his own version of a fortress. Within seconds, it melted away in a veil of mist and steam.
Kaminari stood there for a second while they announced the winning over the intercom. There was a sour taste in his mouth from that loss. He left Todoroki on that field to thaw it out and he walked towards the entrance of the field. The hall was empty and he walked.
The feeling of defeat was persuasive, he didn't have the courage or the passion to go back to his class right now. He kept walking through the halls towards the exit he took to enter the building a few hours prior. He didn't meet anyone in the halls so no one stopped him. He looked down at the Omnitrix and turned on the faceplate. Their faces stared back at him briefly before he turned it back off.
"HEY KID!" Kaminari froze. He looked forward down the hall. The door was near, he could see the turn that would have led to it. He turned around towards the voice. He was greeted by a woman who was walking towards him. The first thing he noticed above all was the green flaming hair. The rest of her appearance reminded him of a cook, with the coat reminding him of chiefs. The only deterrent to tell him she wasn't some cook was the fact she had a mask on, a fire extinguisher on her back and that she had knee high socks on.
"Uh, hi." He waved slowly as she eyed his hand. She then locked eyes with him for a second and laughed from the bottom of her stomach. He felt warm but that was because her hair flared up in size.
"So you're that Kaminari kid huh? I expected a little more I guess!" She billowed. Kaminari's opinion of her lowered a bit from that line. "Thanks. But uh, who are you?" Kaminari asked her and she chuckled.
"Names Burnin. Here with my boss to help keep you safe. Now I'm just going to ask, what are you doing here instead of sitting with your classmates?" Kaminari tried to think for a second. He ran his head through heroes and their sidekicks, since it was obvious this hero was one. His eyes drifted towards her hair and it clicked.
"Wait, you're a sidekick of Endeavour, right? I think I remember hearing about you once." Kaminari watched as her demeanor changed into a cocky smirk. "So you know who I am? Good, that means you might know I wanna know what you are doing here. No deflecting." She told him. He noted the temperature starting to warm and he gulped.
Well, no shame in telling the truth here.
"I don't really feel like going back to my class. I wanted to know if I could go outside for a bit." He waited for Burnin to tell him no but she chuckled. "That's it? You just wanted to go outside? Eh, go for it."
"Wait, you're not going to tell me to go back to class?" Burning shrugged to Kaminari with a more sly smirk. "You're a teenager. You don't need an adult to dictate everything in your life. Go outside, hell you could even go home if you wanted. Just get back before the ceremony in a few hours."
He blinked at her and stepped away from her. She waved him off and left him. He faintly heard her grumble something about getting in trouble about this. His shoulders felt heavy for that as he reached the door. He stopped for a second and looked down at his clothes.
"Probably should change back to my normal clothing. I'll stick out like a sore thumb."
He lightly jogged towards the lockers and opened his own. He threw off his slightly damp clothing and threw it into the locker. He pulled his shirt and pants on and finished it off with his sweater. He closed the door and left the room, walking back to the door. He walked out and threw his hood up as he merged into the area of the crowd. The guy at the door wasn't there this time so no one saw him exit. He stalked the edges of the fair and made his way to the road.
Luckily no one had noticed him. He walked down the road, leaving the fair behind him as he went to clear out his head.
The streets were completely barren as Kaminari traversed them. The looming feeling of the quiet buildings spoke volumes of the popularity of the festival. Not even heroes were patrolling the streets as much since the festival is where most of the town's population was. It felt better for him to not have to be swarmed by anyone going to talk about his loss that Todoroki gave him.
He looked at a shop that appeared to be open. It had some food that he could see from the store window, which caused his stomach to grumble. He made his mind and the chime of the bell awoke the cashier who was sleeping at the counter.
"Uh?" The cashier glanced around until she noticed Kaminari standing at the door. She put on a tired smile that Kaminari had become well accustomed to at this point and weakly waved. "Welcome to Musutafu's one and only Super-Duper Mart! Please enjoy your stay!" The strain in her voice as she repeated the message she had said to many before him.
"I'm going to take the assumption and say this is the only Super-Duper Mart since I have never heard of this place before." Kaminari said to her as a joke but the cashier's face was renewed with new found relief.
"YES! I can't believe I have to say that everytime. We got easy to cook food, general items and some basic healthcare products. Take however long you need because I'm just desperate at this point. I just need some human interaction." Kaminari smiled and the girl shot him a look that already rejected him.
"Alright then." He walked through the isles looking at the food. Nothing struck him as interesting or something he wanted to eat. "So why are you here? Only person I have seen for hours." He looked over the shelf at the cashier who was looking at him out of boredom.
"Uh, I got to leave for my job. Hungry I guess. You're the only place open." He half lied. She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a stupid decision from my boss. Said it'll help us jump ahead of the competitors. Stupid. One person isn't enough to do anything. I would rather be at the festival. Why aren't you watching it?"
Should he mention he was actually participating in it? Well he already lied so another won't hurt to say.
"Eh, not interested in it." He said to her, she raised an eyebrow before brushing it off. He returned his attention towards the shelves and picked off a random pack of chips. These will have to do.
He walked to the counter and dropped his bag onto the counter. She looked it over and scanned it quickly. "Surprised you didn't get any ramen. I figured you would have grabbed some." He shrugged as he began to pull out some yen.
"Yeah, well I'm not that interesting." He chuckled.
And as some joke by some being above, they struck down his remark.
An explosion occurred outside. The pressure made the glass window crack to the point of almost breaking, although the cashier's screams would have done it anyway. Smoke wafted outside as he ran over to the cashier and pushed her down. Another large rumble came from outside as he glanced up.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" She screamed in his ear. He looked at her annoyed before he looked over at the window. He couldn't see what was going on through the cracks and smoke but he couldn't hear anyone talking or walking.
"I have to call some pros! But I don't have my phone! We have a landline in the back!" She screamed in a panic. "A landline? Aren't we several hundred years ahead of them?" Kaminari remarked. She didn't have any time to refute before she tried to get up to make it to the other side of the store. He grabbed her and kept her down.
"What the hell? Let me go!" She yelled at him. "Try to remain down? We don't know what's out there! For all we know, the villains could have guns and there is a big window that overlooks everything! Doubt any chip bag can stop any bullet!" He gestured towards his chips on the counter as another rumble came from outside. As she began to crawl to the back, he moved towards the window. He peered up as he saw something brown pass through the window.
"Oh great…" He looked at the cashier as she crawled. She'll be fine in the back. Even if anything goes wrong, he could go XLR8 or Crashopper and leave the scene. He opened the door and peered out.
Brown disks flew through the air as embers and ash ravaged the vehicles that remained in the streets. Blast marks were etched into the buildings paired with broken windows. A feeling of familiarity made his stomach twist. His hand reached for the Omnitrix. He looked back and closed the door.
"So issue!"
"WHAT?" She leaned from behind an aisle as more rumbling caused food to fall off the shelfs. "We might be under attack from uh… A robotic villian with a duplicating quirk." He lied. Surprisingly, her eyes widened at his lie.
"WELL, I'm going to go to see if we can get the good pros! No skynet is going to kill me!" Kaminari got up fully and looked at the door. He looked around for any cameras in the store as the dial of the Omnitrix came up. Luckily this place was outdated as it's communication. No cameras.
'Crashopper will have this done lickity split.' The yellow flash as Kaminari blew the door off the hinges drew the attention of the brown disks. Multiple of them expanded and showed their robotic heads. All their claws pointed at him as they glowed with red energy.
"This might not have been my greatest plan. Should have gone with Upgrade again." He groaned. He glanced to the side of the building and instinctually hopped to it as fast he could. He sprinted down the alley and passed a box. The electric warning symbol on the door didn't need to give him any idea on what it was. His eyes trailed the pipes leading on the side of the building.
"Well… guess someone is going to wait for help. Sorry." He brought his foot up and crushed the pipe under it. He dragged his claws under it and severed the wires and pushed forward with his other as the drones filed into the alley.
The next street was just as empty and Kaminari turned his attention to the forest. While heading towards the pros at the festival would be the good option, these were alien drones and most of the population was near them.
"COME AND GET IT!" He chirped at the drones.
He launched at the group of drones and shattered several. With their attention fully gained, he launched back and started to hop towards the forest that bordered the city. Energy whizzed past him along with the occasional drone that he stomped on with an electrifying crunch.
The streets became less and less urban with the treeline rapidly approaching. Kaminari skidded to a stop from his leap and looked behind him towards the drones. He jumped again, smashing through several drones as others shot at him. He felt like he was in a plinko machine with the ease of demolition.
"This is getting to be eas- AAK" A drone had managed to slip past Kaminari's attention and pushed him off course. He crashed into the trees and tumbled like a cartoonish character. He managed to catch himself and stand up. He looked around and watched as the drones began to circle him in the forest.
"Hey guys, maybe we do this one at a time like the movies?" He chuckled. The drones didn't return his humor and began to swarm him. He tried his best to fight them off but one by one, they zapped him with their claws. He managed to get a few of them down but most got him before he did.
He grunted and looked towards the trees. He was going to have to lose them somehow and keep picking them off one by one. He leapt further into the trees with the drones in pursuit. He jumped into the tree tops and traveled from tree to tree. Whenever a drone tried to get him, he either stomped on it to the ground or he took a sharp turn away.
But they were just so numerous.
For each one he took down, it seemed like two took its place. He glanced behind him and he swore that there were more drones following him than there were originally. It looked like the paparazzi from one of the first days of school with the occasional break with trees.
He stopped on a tree and looked forward. He could see in the tree line other drones were lying in wait for him to get there. He looked back and the others were closing in. They began to circle him now, blasters ready.
"Oh wait… you guys aren't just mindless robot drones now, are you? What would you want from meee.." He glanced down at the Omnitrix dial on his chest and looked back up.
"Oh." He chirped. The drones began to charge their beams and he leapt up as quick as he could, the wood of the tree splintering under his feet. His head broke the branches above him and the heat from all the blasters firing on one spot made smoke waft into his nostrils. The drones swarmed up to him and he realized he made a mistake.
He was in the air now, with nothing to hop off of. But he did have drones to use. A smirk crossed his face and he rotated in the air onto the closest drone, planting his foot onto it.
Although, since the drone wasn't secure on anything, he didn't get that much height and the drones took that to their advantage. They all rammed into him and they pushed him into the ground. Once again, he crashed into the trees and hit the ground.
A red flash alerted Kaminari to move. He looked down on his hands and clenched them. His time was up? Great, ten minutes of hiding from these bots are not going to be fun.
He looked up at them, starting to descend on his spot. He looked further into the forest and ran deeper, even with a slight limp he had from being sore. He heard their buzzing getting closer. He looked into the brush and his first transformation as Spidermonkey entered his head. He quickly shifted his way through it and went in. The bushes poked him and bugged him but he was just trying to get out of the way of the drones. He moved the branches back to try and make it look natural again and then he waited.
The drones became louder and louder. He placed his hand over his mouth to stop any noise from coming out. He waited. The feeling of being hunted by Bateson came back to him in full and he began to worry.
From the bush, he watched as the drones passed. Amazed, he lowered his hand and slowly moved his head forward to get a better look. The drones swarmed around him but they didn't seem to focus on the bush. Maybe they weren't aware he was there?
'That's great. Now how long am I going to wait here in this bush? I have to be back at U.A. soon.' He looked at the Omnitrix's red recharging lines. He was going to have to wait for that to recharge since he doubted he had the time and energy to beat the seemingly infinite drones with just his quirk.
He didn't actually know if his quirk could break them.
Could he just call for help? Not from a hero but maybe Sero or Kirishima could come to help him. But he didn't know if they could even leave the school for anything. He doubts Burnin will allow multiple students to leave the school under her influence. Now that he was thinking about it, there were probably some people wondering where he was currently.
Would his phone even work without the drones knowing? They were alien so he didn't know if they had some ability to track his phone like the government in the movies could.
He looked back at the Omnitrix. His impactice was starting to build. He slowly moved his hand to not disturb most of the bush and wrapped his hand around it. If it was electronic and his quirk could power his phone, maybe it could charge up the watch.
He generated as little electricity as he could without generating too much light to make the bush look like it belonged in a Christmas special. He waited a few moments, trying to listen over the buzz of his hand for the buzz of the drones. He looked down at the watch and was defeated at the still present red lines.
'Well, that's an advantage I don't have.' He thought sourly. He looked out of the bush. The amount of drones passing it had severely decreased. He could no longer hear any of the bulk of the drones now which was hopefully a good sign. He crawled out of the bush and waited a few seconds for any buzzing sounds before he stood up.
"Ok… now what?" He looked around to see if they weren't just hiding for him to pop out again. The sky didn't have them swarming throughout. He moved a little bit around, to see if the buzz would get louder. Nothing.
"Alright, so those drones are gone… which is NOT a good thing." He told himself. He looked for a tree to try and climb up. He couldn't get far up them. He jumped back down, he wasn't Spidermonkey this time.
"Crap… As much as I hate to say it, those drones probably need to be on me." He thought for a second. He looked up and then back at his hands. An idea sparked in his head. Literally. He raised his hand up and focused his quirk into it. He focused on the intensity. Brighter and brighter. He had already become a light source several times before but now he's going to try and become a beacon for them.
"Come on…" He increased the power until he felt a headache start to happen. By now, the electric cackle on his hand had started to move down his arm and brighten the area enough to remove the shadows. "COME ON!" He hollered. He ran throughout the forest. If he wasn't actually trying to get the attention of death bots and that the entire city was at school, he would have been embarrassed.
But he was beginning to feel a greater sense of desperation if anything.
He didn't know how long he was running around for, but his head was starting to numb. The light began to die down to keep himself from dumbing out but he felt like some level of exhaustion was going to take him out before his quirk did.
"Come on…FIND ME YOU BUCKETS OF BOLTS!" He yelled out. And then he heard it. The whir. He glanced behind him and saw a few had found him. He smirked and dropped his quirk. He began to just run. He weaved between the treeline as the sounds of the drones intensified.
He looked behind him and the distance between him and the ever growing army was getting shorter. He panicked and turned forward to pick up his speed to be as fast as he could.
"OK! MAYBE WE CAN TALK!?" He yelled behind him. He heard the sound of lasers being prepared to fire directly at him. Now he knew that unlike Crashopper, his squishy human body would not be enough to save himself.
So he hit the deck.
The drones whizzed overhead. It seemed like whoever was controlling them didn't expect that with the fact that they didn't seem to adjust themselves from it. But he knew it wouldn't take long so he rolled to the side and ran the other way. The drones quickly followed suit and the chase resumed. Strangely, they didn't try to fire their lasers again so Kaminari took that as a plus.
Their chase led them to the river that remained on the outskirts of the forest. He didn't know much about it but it looked somewhat clear and didn't look deep. As soon as the barrier was crossed, the drones took advantage of the open space and diverged. Kaminari stumbled for a bit and fell into the water. He grumbled as he looked up from the ground with water dripping down his face.
The drones did their usual circling around him like some kind of vultures. He was really starting to get annoyed at that. He rose up and looked at them. His clothes were dripping and completely soaked. He rose up and forced some sparks to cover his body. Maybe as intimidation but he doubted he had any power to destroy them all in one attack, even when wet.
That's when he heard the beep.
All the weapons of the drones popped out and began to prime as he looked down at the Omnitrix. It was primed and ready to go. He quickly threw the dial around, for someone other than Crashopper. It landed on the one alien he had yet to use, and he didn't count the orange dog one he used earlier. It had a head that came to a point and a strong looking jaw.
"Well, whatever! You drones are going down! Know why? BECAUSE IT'S HERO TIME!" He screamed as he brought his hand down with the dial.
As the drones began their attack, his body began to change. He became bulky, similar to Kickin Hawk. His jaw started to protrude out as his arms became wider. The hair on his body thickened to an incredible degree and covered his entire body before it started to weave together and harden, shifting to a teal color. Hard ridges formed, giving him a mineral look.
Two shoulder spikes grew from his shoulder as a third spike grew from the back of his head. The two spikes on his back blackened at their tip and the black streak cut through most of them as they made their way towards their base. Finally, clothing formed on him with a belt holding the Omnitrix.
Kaminari got a split second to observe his form before energy bolts began to fire. He braced himself but he barely felt them. The barrage lasted only a few seconds before the drones began to swarm him with their claws. Kaminari smiled and clenched his larger fists. The first set of drones crumbled like tin cans under his hands. He swatted more away and they were flung to the side like yesterday's trash.
"Alright then! I got a hard body like Kirishima! Can I harden too?" He looked at his fingers where the flat fingertips grew and sharpened to a point. He smiled and looked at the gauntlet-like forearms he had. "Can these become swords?" As he spoke it, the front of them elongated and sharpened into two blades.
He wasted no time. The swarm of drones kept coming and he began to swing his arms around. His makeshift sword carved through the drones like butter. One by one, the dismembered bodies of them sparked in the river below. Water was flung around as Kaminari turned to hack and slash. A few stopped trying to attack him and were swarming above out of reach. He looked at his arms and he saw that there was some slight chipping in the blades.
"Uh, that isn't good." He grumbled. He got an idea and focused. The crystal began to grow and it repaired itself back to pristine condition. He smirked and retracted them. He turned his attention to the drones still in the air. He bent his knees while he concentrated. He figured if he could change his arms, he probably could elongate his legs to soar.
But nothing really happened.
He grumbled and looked at his hand. "I don't suppose you can elongate yourself into something I can attack from a range like a lance or something." As soon as the words were spoken, his hands tingled as crystal began to form and he watched as it became a crude spear. He smirked and looked up. Gripping the spear, he threw it as hard as he could towards one of them. The drone managed to dodge the attempt with the spear soaring away.
He growled. He pointed his finger at one of them and thought about what he wanted. "If this guy can generate crystals, I gotta be able to hit that guy from here." He thought about his throwing and focused it on the drone and his finger. His body seemed to answer and his finger shot out and pierced the drone on the side. He looked at his hand and laughed.
"Ok! The Omnitrix is just full of cool guys! This guy is like a mix between Yaoyorozu and Kirishima's quirks!" He gestured his fists towards the drones and envisioned some cannon. His hands replied and morphed into jagged peaks that reminded him of some medieval trap. He pointed them back at the drones and thought of them firing.
It seemed like a bullet storm after that.
Crystal shards flew from his hands like an automated weapon. It didn't matter that he wasn't perfectly accurate, the sheer amount of the shards prevented the drones from doing anything about it. Holes began to riddle them as they fell out of the sky and they joined their brethren on the ground.
He watched as the last drone fell from the sky. He waited a second as he got his hands back. He listened for any sound of lone stranglers somewhere. His knees collapsed under him abruptly. He didn't realize some form of adrenaline was pushing him forward at that point but the big grin on his face didn't care.
He had a rush.
With that rush, there was a feeling of being complete. He's had the Omnitrix for a while at this point and today marked the day he used his last form in it.
He felt happy.