Summary: Being reborn in the world of MHA without a quirk was tough enough, but when a wayward Anodite appears before him, claiming he has the spark, life as Asahi knows it flies out the window. SI/OC, X-Overs, OC/multi
AN: I'm sick, at the moment. Have been for the better part of a month, with no sign of me getting better anytime soon. I tend to write fanfiction in my free time, but never get around to posting my work. This story, on the other hand, came out of nowhere, and I was instantly hooked. Inspired by Desertchocolate's stories "Dial" and "What's a Koopa to do". Do yourself a favor and check out his works.
And lastly, English is not my first language. I'm self-taught. And seeing as I lack a beta, mistakes are likely to occur.
Chapter One: The Spark
"I guess it's my turn to play punching bag," I sighed, shooting my best friend and adoptive brother a resigned look.
"I— I can try—" Izuku began, but fell silent when I waved him off.
"Don't worry about it. Get out of here while you can. Besides, I feel like spitting in the bastard's eye today, anyway."
Never let it be said that Izuku Midoriya was anything but selfless and ten kinds of courageous, the freckled idiot. I'll admit, from what I had read of the series, that at times his timid and forgiving nature grated on my nerves. I mean, the guy was a grade 'A' pushover, who lucked out in a major way, impressing All Might as he had. But after six months of cohabitation, what with his kind-to-a-fault mother taking me in, when I had nowhere else to go, you couldn't help but love the cinnamon roll and all his good-natured 'flaws'.
"Go," I ordered more firmly this time around, glaring at him until he complied. I felt bad for all of a moment, essentially bullying him to do as I wanted until I remembered what exactly it was I was volunteering for.
"Yo Bitch-kugo," I yelled, diverting the blond's ill-boding gaze away from a hastily fleeing Izuku. "You think that fine piece of ass you call a mother would be willing to give me a hands-on demonstration of just what her quirk is good for?"
I didn't stick around to watch as his features tinged puce with homicidal rage, the violent sounds of explosions in my wake telling me all I needed to know. I had successfully garnered the bull's undivided ire. Now to shake him.
Attempting to be as quiet as possible, I sprinted down the halls of Aldera Junior High, hesitating all of a moment as I came across a stairwell. Down would lead me closer to the exit and potential freedom, but also came with the risk of stumbling across Izuku, something I was attempting to avoid at all costs, least Bakugo switch targets. My decision made and feeling like every slasher fic victim who had made the moronic choice to go up instead of down, I took the stairs to the roof two and three at a time.
Despite being off-limits to the student body, the roof as I had come to learn was never locked. And today proved to be no different. No, what was out of the ordinary was that I wasn't alone. The heavy door snapped shut behind me loud enough that I winced. So much for my quiet getaway. Not that I had time to muse on my impending doom as I found myself being scrutinized by twin iridescent pools of glowing violet.
"My, my," the being hummed, swimming through the air with the grace of a fish in water. "To think I would find another on this backwater rock with the Spark. Curious, indeed."
"Eh — hello," I greeted her uncertaintally. There was something familiar about her, strikingly so, but for the life of me, I couldn't place it. The only thing I could recall for certain was that I knew for a fact that it wasn't from My Hero Academia.
"Hello youngling," the energy-being returned my greeting with a purr, slinking through the air until she was face-to-face with me, pressing me flush with the entrance. "What an unexpected pleasure to find another Anodite here of all places."
"Anodite!?" That was why she looked so familiar! Ben 10 had been one of my all-time favorite shows growing up. Anodites, an energy-based life form, were arguably one of the stronger, more badass species in the series. It had always stuck in my caw that Ben had never used his watch to copy their genetic code. But to be mistaken for one, and here of all places was… "I don't know what you're—"
"Come now, darling," she cooed, silencing me by taking my face in her unnaturally warm hands. "You should know better than to attempt to lie to an Anodite. You've obviously spent too much time living amongst these mouth breathers to think you could pull one over on your aunty Verdona."
"V—Verdona?" I parroted, recognizing the name. There was no way she was saying what I think she was saying...
She nodded, a sultry smile pulling on her nonexistent lips as her hair, an ethereal fuschia not so dissimilar in hue to the rest of her body, levitated about her shoulders, mimicking the contents of a lava lamp. Her smile, however, vanished as the sound of explosions drifted out to us from inside the school. Before I could comprehend what was happening, she had scooped me up in her arms as if I weighed nothing, pulling me flush with her generous chest and flying high above the roof as the door was blasted from its hinges.
"Quirkless bastard!" the bane of my junior high existence bellowed when it became apparent that I had given him the slip. It wasn't until he stormed his way back inside, his fists an inferno of miniature explosions, that she returned us to the ground.
"Let me guess," Verdona mused, her earlier easy-going mood all but forgotten in the face of her contempt. "He, and others like him, target you for your lack of quirk?"
Knowing it would do no good to deny it, I nodded. She scoffed in response, looking as if she wanted nothing more at that moment than to hunt him down and throttle him.
"These hairless apes are all the same," she spat, her features twisted in a rictus of distaste. "Their puny minds couldn't begin to comprehend the forces which they ridicule and mock, never pausing to consider just how insignificant they truly are in the grand scope of the universe."
Not sure what to make of her sudden change in demeanor, I instead asked, "You called me an Anodite?"
Her expression smoothed out, becoming less severe, something akin to fondness, as she regarded me. "Oh, yes. I can sense it, the Spark inside you. It calls to me like a beacon. Once you've unlocked it, you'll be quite lovely, I imagine. Perhaps then, I'll introduce you to my beloved granddaughter. She, like you, will be something special, even by the standards of our kind, once fully awakened."
"How about it, little one," she inquired, extending a burning hand awash with life force toward my chest. "How about I hurry things along for you?"
Not trusting myself to form coherent sentences, I nodded my consent, watching on with bated breath as she reached out and tapped my chest with a single ignited digit. The effect was instantaneous.
A well of boundless energy built up within my chest, spilling forth and bleeding adrenaline throughout my limbs and body. At that moment, I knew only a single fundamental truth. It was all too much. My body couldn't sustain whatever changes her intervention had wrought. I was going to implode.
As if to lend credence to this line of thought, I watched in morbid fascination, and no small amount of fear, as the skin on my arms began to flake away in chunks, revealing an unearthly luminance beneath. My fear turned to wonder as the waves of vitality filled me with a heady, intoxicating vigor. There was nothing I couldn't do, no whim or flight of fancy too great or beyond the realm of possibility for me. It didn't even matter that my body was no longer that of a human, my flesh — if it could even be called that anymore — was life force made tangible, shining from within with a brilliant emerald light.
The change could have lasted seconds or hours, which I was uncertain. Not that it mattered, not anymore. None of my previous concerns warranted more than a passing thought. So what if I had died, only to be reborn in a world of superheroes utterly mundane. I was so much more than them now. I was their better; superior in every conceivable way.
Sociopathic bullies and teachers who pretended to see nothing were the insignificant concerns of a me who no longer existed. The bonds I had once cherished ceased to matter. Inko, Izuku—
With an anguished gasp, the swell of hedonistic desires and thoughts receded. I crashed to the ground as my world once more returned to an axis I could comprehend. Without my notice, I had begun to float. But as my flesh once more became that of a human and my connection to the spark ruthlessly severed, I came back to myself, landing in an ungainly tangle of limbs.
"W—what the hell?" I gasped. My breathing was labored and my head was pounding. Where seconds prior I had felt invincible, the universe resting tantalizing close on the tips of my fingers, I now felt hollow and cold.
Verdona clicked her tongue in disappointment. "So close," she lamented idly as if commenting on the weather. "You and my granddaughter have more in common than I thought. She too resisted the full change. A shame."
"I wasn't me," I accused, glaring at the alien grandmother of Ben and Gwen Tennyson. "Those thoughts weren't my own!"
"Oh darling," she hummed, cupping my chin affectionately. In spite of what I was feeling, I unconsciously leaned into her touch. The part of me that wanted nothing more than to surrender to my alien heritage, to bathe in and become one with my mana, sought out the undiluted source that was Verdona, a fully mature Anodite. "That was the real you."
I shook my head vehemently, though we both knew I was anything but certain. It had felt so… right. So good. Just the thought of all that power was enough to leave me with a physical reaction that, had the situation been different, would have left me scarlet in the face.
"You can try to deny it all you like, love, but we both know the truth. You've never felt more like yourself. Even now, you want nothing more than to complete the change."
"There has to be a way to control it." Ignoring where I had scraped them when I fell, I regarded my palms as if they were ticking timebombs. I could still feel it, the spark. It was akin to a livewire, just there beneath the surface, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to be unleashed once more. I knew at that moment that the next time I went full Anodite that regaining control wouldn't be as simple as it had been this time.
Verdona sighed, a worn upon sound. "Now that you've tapped into it, you should be able to draw on life force, the basis of our power, at will. But be warned, youngling, its use is like that of a drug. One taste and you'll never have enough."
"Where are you going?" I called out to her as she began to levitate away, a ghostly aura of mana streaming behind her like the tail of a comet.
"Worry not, child," she spoke with a cheshire smile. "This isn't the last you've seen of me. You and that granddaughter of mine have piqued my interest. I intend to see what lies ahead for you both."
And just like that she was gone, her blazing magenta form flickering for a moment before vanishing on the wind as if she had never been there. But I knew better. The truth of her presence, as fleeting as it had been, resonated deep in my core, a tattoo scarred onto my very soul.
It was some time before enough strength returned to my legs for me to stand. Moving with the speed and grace of a geriatric, I hobbled home, mind full of thoughts of aliens and Saturday morning cartoons.
I could admit my knowledge of the My Hero universe was far from all-encompassing. I had only read the series up to the conclusion of the Hero Killer Stain arc and watched the Sports Festival. But nowhere in the series had there been any mentions of aliens, let alone those from other forms of media. Yet proof that at least one other intellectual property existed in this world of quirks had unceremoniously landed in my lap. And what a vast lore it was. At the very least, there was an entire great wide galaxy out there with ancient civilizations and eldritch horrors lurking in wait. To what end, I couldn't fathom.
Were the Plumbers a real organization? What about the Omnitrix? And was Vilgax a real entity? Could squid-face be laying in wait for the opportune moment to strike, claiming the ultimate weapon in existence as his own? If Verdona and her beloved granddaughter were real, then it stood to reason the rest was as well.
By the time I managed to make it home, all thoughts of researching alien invasions and extraterrestrial life were forgotten as I happened upon an overwhelmed Izuku attempting to calm a balling Inko.
"What happened?" I was quick to inquire, fearful something truly terrible had occurred in my absence.
"Izuku was attacked by a villain!" Inko wailed, doing her utmost to crush/smother the younger Midoriya.
"I'm fine," Izuku helplessly attempted to assure her but to little avail.
I'd like to think I knew my adoptive brother pretty well after half a year. Well enough to recognize when he wasn't being entirely forthcoming. Despite the severity of the situation, I grinned at the viridian-haired teen, causing him to frown at me from over his mother's shoulder.
"Meet any cool heroes?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It was hours later and in the confines of the Midoriya communal bathroom that I met the searching gaze of my reflection. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be found there, at least no more than I had grown accustomed to after the better part of a year.
My hair was longer than it had been in my previous life, falling in gentle, dark waves past my shoulders. Not a bad face, if I did say so myself, though it was a few years younger than my seventeen years would suggest. The most distinctive part of my new appearance, however, were my eyes. They were a striking emerald in color, a mirror reflection of the hue I had been when Verdona had awakened my spark.
Why was my Anodite form emerald instead of the traditional purple featured in the series? Was it a gender thing, where males were different colors than females? Or was it like human beings and the wide variety of pigments that could be found amongst homospaiens? If the latter were the cause, it would make sense that all the Anodites featured in the show were the same hue; they were related, after all.
But that was a question for another time, not that it was all that important. Verdona had made it clear she would visit again. I could ask her then.
Recalling my earlier transformation, I unconsciously drew on the source of said power. Anodites were creatures made up of pure life force, the very same energy that made up mana and which resided within all living things, including nature and the greater universe. A gasp escaped me as my eyes began to smolder, like burning emerald coals. Unbidden, the same intoxicating rush of sunshine and life and all the best sensations known to man filled me.
Urged on by this altered state of mind, I attempted to channel my mana into my hands, mindful to take things slow so as not to go too far. The last thing I wanted to do was perform a full transform. Who knew what I'd do.
As it turned out, restraining my instincts to go full nova wasn't conducive to results. I wasn't sure how long I stood there, glaring at my hands, attempting to will something to happen and grunting like Goku the first time he went Super Saiyan. Yet I was forced to cease my attempts when there was a hesitant knock at the door.
"Just a minute." Being as loud as possible as I went about washing my hands, I watched as the power bled from eyes, only the faintest hint of the otherworldly glow lingering in their depths.
"What's up?" I asked as I exited the bathroom to find a fidgeting Izuku waiting for me outside.
"Can we talk?"
"Your room or mine?"
Following him to his bedroom, which doubled as a shrine to all things All Might, and to a lesser degree various other heroes and heroines, I dropped onto his bed, giving him my undivided attention. I was curious just how straightforward with me he was willing to be. I was his best friend. His only friend, really. And him mine. If anything, the anime had underplayed how ostracized he had been from his peers. But All Might was his idol and hero, the Symbol unto which he would strive to emulate.
"I—" he began, only to trail off, uncertain.
"Something more happened today that you couldn't talk about in front of your mom," I supplied knowingly. Izuku winced, nodding. "Is it something you can share with me?"
I chuckled as I watched him imitate a fish out of water for the better part of a minute, mouth working silently, before taking pity on him.
"Why not start with what you can share?" I suggested helpfully.
"I met All Might!" he was quick to blab, looking both exhilarated and disbelieving all at once. "And he's agreed to train me to get into U.A.!"
I grinned, not having to force the gesture in the least. I was both happy for him and relieved. No one was more deserving of One For All than him, this I had realized early on. But that hadn't stopped me from contemplating orchestrating events so that it was me, not him, who encountered All Might. I had planned it all out in my head. Shoving him aside as the slimeball attacked, rushing in to save a certain blond asshat when no one else dared cross that divide. It would have been painfully simple to execute. But in doing so, I knew I would be unworthy of such an honor. And after all he and Inko had done for me, I wasn't sure I could have continued to live with them, the closest thing to a family I had in this world. It would have been the ultimate betrayal, one I would have suffered the consequences of in silence.
Fortunately for all involved, Verdona had shown up when she did, making all my underhanded scheming moot.
"That's amazing," I cheered, jumping to my feet. "With the Symbol of Peace's help, there's no way you won't get in!"
Izuku was all smiles, beaming as he got a faraway look in his eyes, likely recalling the events of the day. His cheer, however, was short-lived as he once more returned to the present, smile becoming dower as he regarded me.
"The invitation is... for one only," he explained somberly. "I— I asked if you could join, but—"
"Don't worry about it," I cut him off, garnering a grateful look of surprise. "You're not the only one who had an eventful day."
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on that same well as previously, a dirge of power suffusing me from within. When I next opened my eyes, I knew they were aglow with mana, shocking my brother in all but blood.
"Wha—" Izuku started, performing a comical rendition of a startled owl. "I mean— how!?"
"I guess throwing myself at Bakugo enough times was good for something after all."
"You have a quirk… You have a quirk!" Moving faster than I had ever seen him go, Izuku dived for his backpack. Resurfacing a moment later with one of his trusted notebooks in hand, poised himself on the edge of his bed, ready to dissect this newest development. "What can you do?"
Chuckling and secretly relieved that there were no hard feelings — how could there be when he was a few short months of intense training under the hero of heroes away from inheriting arguably the second most powerful quirk in existence? — I settled in for what was sure to be a long, sleepless night.
/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\
It was more than two weeks later that I stood atop the school roof once more, glaring at my hands as if they had betrayed me. Izuku had left for Dagobah beach as soon as the bell signaling the end of our lessons for the day sounded. With no place to go to train my own fledgling abilities, I had taken to retreating to the disused rooftop. My success rate, however, left much to be desired.
"Can't you be a little more accommodating," I growled to myself. Despite my best efforts, working nonstop to learn the necessary control to wield my abundance of mana any time I wasn't occupied with schoolwork or keeping up appearances, the most I had succeeded in doing thus far was replicating the glowing eyes effect. To say I was frustrated with my lack of progress was an understatement. "We want the same thing!"
I knew from my own world what Anodites were all about. They were creatures of pure energy and extreme emotion. Hedonistic, free-spirited, and self-serving to the point of being unconcerned with the morality of their decisions and how they might affect others. In the show, it had been a struggle for Gwen — someone with high moral fiber and self-control — to temper said impulses. Luckily for her, she was familiar enough with magic that she could call on that part of her alien physiology that it had only been a concern a few times. I wasn't so lucky as to have spell tomes lying about for reference. I'd need to learn to channel my mana without succumbing to baser instincts.
"I knew I'd find you up here sooner or later, loser."
I hastily smothered the infusion of mana that came with calling up my true nature, rounding on the speaker. I groaned as I watched the blond shit-stain casually drop his backpack to the ground as he advanced on me, stalking forward like the smug cat who had caught the canary slacking.
"Of course it would be you," I groused, smothering down on the flash of fear trailing up my spine at the look in his eyes. "Don't you ever get tired of obsessing over dudes?"
A snarl was all the response I received before a palm-full of searing heat and concussive force met my face. No matter how many times I had been caught and subjected to Bakugo's brand of schoolyard bullying, nothing prepared you to take an explosion to the face. In a sick sort of way, I was impressed with the amount of control he showed. That he was skilled enough with his quirk to inflict the optimal amount of pain without permanently scarring or killing someone was a testament to his deserved title of prodigy. If only he wasn't the biggest douchebag since Endeavor.
That the only reason he showed such restraint was because not even he and the preferred treatment he received from those in charge would allow him to get away with such things didn't merit mentioning.
I awoke a moment later to a sizzling palm slapping me none too gently awake, my tormentor standing over me, a deranged look of anticipation in his eyes. My ears rang with white noise, my face bloodied and burned. Perhaps my continued fixation on the milf of milfs, Mitsuki Bakugo, had been a tad much?
"You don't get off that easily, trash," he snarled into my face. A blistering, smoldering hand went about my throat, eliciting an involuntary cry of pain from me as the stench of burning flesh combated with the coppery scent of nickels that was my busted and fountaining nose. "I'm going to beat some respect for your betters into your quirkless ass."
"In what world are you my better?" I spat, the carefully maintained latch I kept firmly in place on my other half threatening to come undone in response to my fear, indignation, and mounting anger. "You were blessed with everything, yet you get your rocks off beating on those who can't fight back. You can pretend all you want, but we both know you don't have what it takes to be a real hero. Not really. You're just a thug who takes pleasure in hurting others."
Eyes flashing dangerously, Bakugo tightened his grip about my throat, no longer content with just burning me but now actively cutting off my air supply.
"You insignificant waste of oxygen," he growled belligerently. "I should do the world a favor, and toss you off the side of the building."
Feeling particularly vindictive, I attempted to grin up at him but managed little more than a bloodied, pained grimace.
"Do it, Bitch-kugo," I gasped.
"DIE!" Vibrating with rage and his free hand an inferno of promised pain, he drew back his hand, his intent clear.
But before he could make good on his threat, I gave in. Releasing the self-imposed reigns I had placed on my power, if only for the briefest of seconds, I slapped a palm to his chest and pulsed. Mana coursed through me, blissful siren song that sang joyously at finally begin freed, exploding from my hand and rocketing into his sternum with the force of a runaway minivan. There was no time for him to express his shock or yelp in surprise. One moment he was there, snarling over me, and the next, he was hurtling away.
Had it been anyone else, I would have felt sickened at the meaty, wet sound of his skull impacting upon the side of the building. Instead, I had eyes only for my hands and the arcs of emerald mana dancing between my fingers. Left with a deep sense of loss as the energy gradually abated, leaving in its wake the same hollow I always felt after cutting myself off from my life force, I rose shakily to my feet.
By the time I reached the roof's entrance, Bakugo had managed to roll over onto all fours, a satisfying, if only to my own ears, groan escaping him. It was with a start that I noticed the fissures in the brick wall where he had hit and the destroyed material of his blazer and shirt, a vaguely palm-sized burn seared into his heaving chest.
Not bothering to clean my face, I paused short of departing, glaring down at the winded blond.
"I'm not like Izuku," I said, uncaring if he could hear me at the moment or not. That he had taken such a blow and was still conscious just went to show how much a monster he truly was. Damned explosion-quirk enhanced physiology. "He's a better person than the both of us. Me. I'm not content to live and let live. Someday soon, I'll make you pay for all you've done to us."
With my peace said, I beat a hasty retreat. I might have gotten a lucky shot in, what with him unaware of what I was capable of, but I was under no illusions as to how a confrontation between him and I would play out at present. Once I was more familiar with my powers, however, the gloves would come off and I'd make good on my promise.
Bakugo would regret his actions, this I vowed. There was reckoning on the horizon. One that promised to be most painful.
My Anodite blood would settle for nothing less.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"You do this every morning before school?" I panted as we stumbled to a stop just outside the apartment complex where we lived. Hands planted on my trembling knees, I threw my workout partner an incredulous glance, satisfied to see he was as drenched through with copious amounts of perspiration as I was.
Izuku bobbed his head in answer, too winded to respond verbally. After six months of training, day in and out, he was in far better shape than me. It just went to show how hard he was pushing himself, and how seriously he was taking inheriting One For All, that even after all this time, he still managed to push himself to the brink of exhaustion daily; multiple times a day.
"How do you function? I demanded, teasing but no less disbelieving. "Your grades haven't dropped, you workout again right after school, and you sneak in micro sessions when you're supposed to have downtime. You're a freak of nature, dude."
Izuku's boyish grin faltered at my quip. With a resigned sigh and sending off a silent curse toward a certain blond asshole, I lightly punched him on the shoulder.
"I'm kidding," I informed him, earning a weak smile in return for my efforts. "There aren't many who could maintain the pace you've set for yourself. It's hella impressive. I'm sure All Might couldn't be more proud."
His smile became less strained at the mention of his hero.
"Come on, smelly," I ordered, giving him a shove in the direction of our apartment. "You need a bath almost as bad as I do."
"Do you wanna shower first?" Izuku inquired as we made our way inside. I shook my head as I slipped out of my trainers and placed them by the door.
"Go ahead. I wanna work on my designs a bit more."
Izuku perked up at the mention of my sketches, pausing short of disappearing into his room.
"Can I see what you've come up with this time?"
I grinned. "Sure. I'll share with you later. Now go bathe. We're going to be late if we don't hurry."
Entering my room at the end of the hall, I closed the door behind me and grabbed everything I would need to prepare for the day before making my way over to my desk. Like everything else in my bedroom, it was secondhand and bore obvious signs of wear and tear. Not that I was complaining. I owed Aunty Inko more than she could possibly know for taking me in. Even though things were already tight for them, what with her being a single mother raising a teenager, she had given me a home, a place to rest my head at night, clothed and fed me. Never once complaining about the extra strain on their finances or asking for anything in return.
It was a hell of a lot more than even my own parents had ever done for me in my previous life. And for that, I was eternally grateful to her.
Grabbing the most recent notebook I had liberated from Izuku's stash — the kid had almost as many blanks as he did complete journals — I flipped to the first blank page, passing sketches I'd drawn from memory of well known and famous hero costumes. There were countless edited depictions of some of my favorites, such as Namor's and Cyclops' costumes from the Phoenix Force saga, my own spin on Terry Mcginnis' Batman Beyond suit, the pure badassery that was Miles Morales' black and red getup from Into the Spiderverse, and even some of Nightwing's and Red Hood's more famous attires.
Luckily, I had retained my previous talent with a sketch pad, so was able to make the most of my former hobby of drawing fanart.
I had gone out of my way to work on something for Izuku in front of Inko, bless her too-big heart, and had even brought her in on our discussions to make her feel more a part of the process. While I loved her dearly, I wasn't about to let her saddle Izuku with the same homemade suit he had been ladened with in the manga. I could admit that, eventually, it had made the transition from lame and unimaginative to something truly badass — while I had read only so much of the series, I kept abreast of certain happenings in the series. I wasn't exaggerating when I say his early hero costume had left much to be desired.
But this morning was all about my own hero costume. I had considered a lot of designs, and not all of them from graphic novels. I had played with and altered the Plumber Suits from the Ultimate Alien series, fiddled with Danny Phantom's minimalist costume, had been sorely tempted to straight-up rip off the Arkham Knight, and even considered some of the more hero-esque skins from Warframe. I'm looking at you, Nekros, Ash, and Nezha. Well, the latter's Empyrean skin, not his more trap-themed appearances. Yet nothing had felt truly right. I was still waiting for that one design that really spoke to me.
And as it had turned out, said inspiration had struck as we had been out for our morning run.
Like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one, indeed.
Feeling no qualms about stealing concepts from the best movie verse from back home — there was no Marvel or DC comics in this world, no matter how far back I dug! — I sketched out what would be my future super suit.
"Hey," came Izuku's voice from the other side of my door a short time later. "Bath's free."
"I'll be right there."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Asahi, are you home?"
"I'm upstairs," I called, allowing the mana I had been sculpting to dissipate into wisps of bottle-green smoke.
Hoshiko Asahi, which translated to mean "Star Child of the Morning Sun" — heavy-handed, I know — was my name now. What it had been previously escaped me, as did large swaths of specific information from my previous life. Things such as my interests and hobbies, I could recall without difficulty. But what my parents had looked like, the names of my friends, and any former paramours, all of it was fuzzy. It was as if my mind was being clouded in a dense fog that was gradually eating away at what had once been. I had found that the more I focused on such things, the less likely I was to lose said memories. Though what I did remember left me with little desire to do so.
I had never been close with my parents and had actually run away from home more than once. I knew I had gotten decent grades, which had helped once I found myself once more suffering through junior high, though I had still been more than a year away from graduating at the time of my death. And the less said about friends and other interpersonal relationships, the better.
Beyond the trauma of my death, which had been painless and had come about rather abruptly, my new life was better in every conceivable way. I was happy. Content with my lot in life, I could look back on what I left behind without remorse.
"Yo," I greeted the greenette, tossing up a hand as I set about helping her put away the bags of groceries she had purchased on her way home.
"Is Izuku out training?" she asked as she handed me the items that needed to go to the pantry.
"Of course. He's a man demented. The U.A. entrance exam won't know what hit them."
Inko tutted fretfully, a concerned wrinkle marring her brow. Knowing what needed to be done, I pulled her into a hug, which she was quick to return. Needily. Hugs. Just another reason she was about a thousand times better than my mom and old man. Memory fog aside, I couldn't recall the last time either had shown me such affection. Something told me my encroaching amnesia wasn't responsible for the lack of memory.
"You worry too much," I helpfully informed her. "Izuku is a smart guy. He knows what he's doing."
Inko gasped, attempting to clamp down on her hair-trigger emotions. No one cried quite as easily and freely as a Midoriya.
"I just worry about him, so much," she confessed wetly, pulling back to stare up at me with worry tinged eyes. "He's always been so fragile. Coming home with scrapes and bruises. But no matter what, he's always dreamed of becoming a hero. And now, he's all gung ho about working out and training to get into the same school All Might attended. I can't help but fear he's going to get himself hurt."
"Izuku's more resilient than you know," I assured her, attempting to keep the scowl from my features as I thought about the cause behind all those scrapes and bruises. "Call it intuition, but I have a feeling he's going to be something truly special one day. All he needs from us is our support and the knowledge that we'll be there for him no matter the outcome."
Smiling up at me, Inko patted me fondly on the cheek.
"You're such a good boy, Asahi. Izuku and I are lucky to have you."
I scoffed, not unkindly. "That's where we'll have to agree to disagree. I'm the lucky one, to have met you both."
Brushing tears of a different sort from her eyes, she beamed at me.
"What about you? How is your training coming along?"
Grinning my most winning smile, I held up a hand that combust in emerald light, a sphere of transparent mana engulfing my fist. Pointing said appendage at the centerpiece resting on the islander, a disk made up of life force flickered into being. With a practiced motion, the bowl of fruit lifted off the counter, hovering steadily a foot or so above where it had previously rested.
I performed a jaunty bow as Inko gave an enthusiastic round of applause at the display.
"Amazing!" she gushed proudly.
"Thanks, but it's not much. Not yet, anyway," I sighed, shuddering as I allowed my mana to bleed away into nothingness. "But hopefully soon, I'll be capable of more."
I knew for a fact, as an Anodite, I could push my abilities so much further. But with little less than a month before the all-important entrance exam, all I had managed were force fields of various sizes, shapes, and strength and the same torrent of energy that I had used for the first time against Bakugo. The latter which left me drained if used in excess.
I was certain I could earn a spot in U.A.'s prestigious hero course with what I had accomplished thus far. But knowing the full spectrum of abilities that would eventually be available to me, teleportation, advanced energy constructs, flight, and much much more, I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied with my lack of progress.
"Nonsense," Inko chided, not willing to listen to my pessimistic ramblings. "To have discovered your quirk only recently, you're doing an admirable job of learning to control it."
"Well, thank you. Let's hope you're right."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Asahi," Izuku hissed, throwing furtive glances about the crowded train. "You can't do that here! You'll get in trouble!"
Grinning mischievously, I wiggled my fingers at him, turning the dinner-plate-sized disk I had conjured into existence hexagonal. Another twitch and two more joined it, one triangular and the other diamond-shaped. Spinning about my person as if caught in a gravitational pull, I fixed my nervously fidgeting brother with a dry expression.
"You need to relax," I sassed flippantly. "We have more important things to worry about than outdated laws. How did your meet-up with the big guy go?"
A myriad of conflicting emotions flickered across his freckled features before settling on a constipated sort of concerned anticipation. "It went well… I think?"
"Well, that's comforting," I snorted, bumping his shoulder with my own. "You ready for what's ahead?"
"Not in the least," he was quick to quip, attempting for a bit of levity that fell short of successful. His complexion was sallow, betraying his nerves. "But I'm better prepared than I was ten months ago. We both are."
"You're goddamn right, we are," I enthused as the train shuddered to a stop at our intended destination. As a part of a mass exodus made up of businessmen, students, and random pedestrians, we disembarked, following the flow of foot traffic.
A companionable silence hanging between us as we went on our way, we arrived at the famed test sight. Having sat for the written portion of the exam earlier in the week, today was to be dedicated solely to the practical. It was clobberin time, and I couldn't have been more thrilled.
Despite extensive training working on my control, I had yet to have the opportunity to unleash on something, to really test my limits. And what was a better punching bag than cold, unfeeling, made-to-be-bodied villain-bots?
Unable to contain my grin, and not bothering to even try, I absently followed my viridian-haired companion, taking in the plethora of sights available to me. The campus was abuzz with activity, students from all across the providence, and beyond, coming together in one location. All vying for a coveted position amongst the elite of tomorrow.
Distracted as I was, I failed to notice when Izuku managed to trip over his feet. It wasn't until I heard a tinkling voice apologizing to him that I caught on that I had missed one of the more fateful encounters in the series. I turned to watch as Ochako released her quirk with a tap of her splayed fingers, causing Izuku to stumble as his gravity was abruptly returned to normal.
"Good luck on the test," the rosy-cheeked brunette beamed, her smile pure sunshine and cheer, waving at a crimson-faced Izuku as she made her way up the stairs.
"I talked to a girl," he stated disbelievingly, looking at me with wonder in his eyes. I didn't have it in me to point out that he hadn't said a word throughout the brief encounter. Chuckling to myself, I slung an arm over his shoulder and guided him inside.
Half an hour later, we were seated in a massive auditorium. Around us sat hundreds of candidates, a palpable energy that tasted of anxiety buzzing throughout the room. I have to confess, as excited as I was by the prospect of getting to cut loose, I barely heard a word of Present Mic's introductory speech. As cool as it was to see a full-fledged hero and celebrity in the flesh, I had heard all this before.
I did snort with poorly repressed laughter, however, when the representation for the villain-bots, silhouettes of well-known Mario villains, appeared on screen. While there was a severe deficiency of American pop culture superheroes in this world, it was good to see some classics transcend space and time.
Perhaps it was that I was sitting opposite Bakugo on Izuku's right, blocking him and his incessant mutter-storm from view, but another piece of canon intruded upon my moment of levity in the form of the future Ingenium. Arm chopping in that robotic fashion he was infamous for, Iida fixed me with his most stern no-nonsense glare, disproving in the extreme.
"And you," he intoned business-like after giving our mohawk wearing proctor a dressing down for perceived failures on the part of the administration, turning the collective attention of all those in attendance upon myself. "If you have no intention of taking these proceedings seriously, you should vacate the premises immediately."
I liked Iida. Well, like might have been a bit strong, but I could recognize him for what he was. An uptight, by the book sort. He was a good guy, and one of Izuku's closest friends in the series. If it weren't for the permanent stick up his ass, I might have gone easier on him. But I had always had a problem with authoritarian types and those who tried to impose their will upon me. It grated upon me to be told what to do, so I did what came natural. I rebelled.
"Oh yeah? Get bent, four-eyes." Smirking at his affronted expression and ignoring Izuku's whimper about 'causing trouble', I pressed on. "The only person here causing a distraction is you. If you would so kindly shut the hell up, I'm sure Mic will touch on what the fourth enemy-type entails."
"Correct you are, dear listener," Present Mic cut in before Iida could recover enough to respond, going on to explain the "natural hazard" zero-pointer. Tuning out the rest of the debriefing, I sat back and waited, impatient to begin.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A full fledge cityscape stretched out before us, complete with skyscrapers, cars, and most surprising, robotic pedestrians. The latter hadn't been featured in either the manga or anime, but given what I knew of the test, I was willing to guess their presence was meant to simulate civilians caught in a disaster situation.
In other words, they were free rescue points, ripe for the plucking.
Keeping an ear out for anything that could be construed as the beginning of the exam, I looked over my fellow examinees. Out of the more than five hundred individuals taking the exam, my test group contained fifty bodies. Of this number, few were recognizable.
There was the bespectacled sasquatch from class 1B, Kirishima's metal twin was also in attendance, and a familiar rose-haired alien queen. Said pinkette was conversing animatedly with another girl, whose hair was almost an identical shade as Mina's. But where Ashido's skin was an attention-demanding hue the same color as bubblegum, the other lass' complexion was ivory moonbeams.
Despite my attempts to pay attention, I couldn't help but leer. From where I was standing, I was only able to make out her profile. But from what I could see, she seemed almost familiar. The reason for this became apparent when, without prompting, a wire-thin, spade-like tail, her tail, perked up, swaying about her shoulders.
"No fuc—"
"GO!"
Left momentarily out of sorts by this newest discovery I had just so happened upon, I was amongst the last to heed Present Mic's call to arms. Cursing beneath my breath, I sprinted into the mock city, attempting to put alien princesses out of my mind.
Already open fires littered the streets. Buildings were missing large gouges in their foundations, the glass fronts of shops shattered beyond repair as the heinous sounds of battle, a symphony of war cries and shearing mechanical parts, drifted out to me. Cars had been overturned and destroyed, the faux pedestrians fleeing in simulated terror as U.A. hopefuls attempted to repel the hoards of villain-bots descending upon the once peaceful metropolis.
It was pure, undiluted chaos and my blood sang with anticipation in response.
My first taste of battle came moments later. Maneuvering with a surprising amount of dexterity for something so large and heavy, a two-pointer, an automation that was a cross between a spider and scorpion, skittered across the asphalt on its spindly legs, its powerful tail reared back to deliver a devastating strike to the back of an unsuspecting examinee, who was otherwise occupied combating an elusive one-pointer.
A tsunami of energy building to a tempo in my core, I threw out a hand, firing off a bolt of mana that seared through the two-pointer's head, dropping it where it stood. First blood. That was two points right off the bat, and however many I would receive for saving someone else.
When said damsel heard the two-pointer collapse to the ground, now little more than scrap metal, he made the mistake of taking his eyes off his wily opponent, searching for the source responsible for the disturbance. Seeing that the vaguely humanoid bot intended to capitalize on this distraction, I raised my hand up high before bringing it crashing down, a shield bourn from life force forming above it that mirrored the rise and fall of my arm, crushing it into the pavement with a groan of rending metal.
"Hey!" the one I had saved twice now balked indignantly.
"Keep your head on a swivel, or risk losing it!"
Not sticking around to chat, I fled deeper into the exam site, saving three, another examinee and two 'civilians', with my shields as I went, collecting a total of four more points along the way. Mood soaring, an exhilarated cackle bubbled up in my throat. I was having the time of my life.
As I rounded onto another street, I was forced to toss up a force field large enough for me to stand behind when the wall of the building I was closest to, exploded outward. Shrapnel and jagged brick peppered the construct but held firm under the assault. But before I could return the favor, the bot, a three-pointer as denoted by the large crimson three painted on its side and missile torrents that acted as pauldrons on its massive shoulders, took aim, unloading one the previously mentioned missiles at near point-blank range.
Out of reflex, I cast a second shield, layering it flush with the first. It exploded harmlessly upon the surface of my mana, more flash and bang than actual destructive force. The added durability, it appeared, wasn't a necessary precaution. Unsurprising, given that they were meant to combat untested students, not even out of middle school. Hell, Bakugo's explosions were more deadly than what the three-pointer was capable of.
Charging up my fist until it became a beacon of emerald starlight, I dropped my shields and blasted the three-pointer square in the chest. The torrent of mana melted through circuits and metal with contemptuous ease, exploding out its back in a fountain of mechanical gore.
No sooner had the three-pointer collapsed upon itself did a quad of villain-bots take its place. The heavy whir of engines altered me to the pair of one-pointers speeding toward my back, the tower shields melded to their forearms poised to strike me down. At the same time, a two-pointer spun, attempting to club me with its tail, as a three-pointer a bit further back unleashed a volley of missiles on my positions.
With no small amount of concentration, I encapsulated myself in a sphere of mana. With a roar, I pulsed, the walls of my dommed shield rapidly expanding outward, throwing the offending bots back. With the two-pointer now on its back, struggling to right itself, and the heavy hitter of the group embedded in remnants of a suv that had been unfortunate enough to arrest its momentum, I rounded on the more mobile of my assailants. Yet I was brought up short when a pink blur descended upon the downed bots, slapping a hand coated in acid to each of their faces, melting through their faceplates and corroding away at all the important bits within.
The sound of bending metal behind me drew my attention away from Mina to the three-pointer, who was now entangled in thick, unyielding vines unlike any I had seen before, binding it to the vehicle and gradually crushing both into a misshapen amalgamation of machinery. The one responsible, the same pinkette that had caught my attention prior to the start of the exam, smirked victoriously at her handiwork.
"What's the matter?" Mina quipped with a giggle as she skated past me, the souls of her bare feet producing a viscous, sludge-like acid that she used for greater mobility. Sliding to a halt next to the rosette she had decided to partner up with, both beauties turned to face me with expectant expressions. "In awe of our pure awesomeness?"
"Something like that," I chuckled, even as I formed a shield, this one reminiscent of a saw-blade or stylized shuriken, which I hurled toward the now standing two-pointer. But instead of using the broadside as I had thus far, I, feeling inspired, led with the razor-thin edge. The mana blade, now spinning like a top, severing its head and tail before it could compute what was happening. "Or maybe it's that I'm coming to terms with pink being my new favorite color."
Mina giggled appreciatively as she skated off in search of more villain-bots to melt. Her companion, however, was eyeing me critically, tail swatting back and forth, cat-like, as if I were an enigma in dire need of solving.
Feeling a bit playful, I bowed to her. "Thank you for the assistance, Princess Deviluke."
Throwing up a jaunty hand in farewell, I sped off, leaving the surprised daughter of King Gid Lucione Deviluke, Emperor of the Milky Way Galaxy, reeling in my wake.
AN: And that's that, I guess. Here's hoping that someone out there will like what I've done here enough to pick this little fic up. For anyone wondering which of the three Deviluke princesses Asahi encountered, there was a pretty telling hint there. But if you still can't figure it out, no worries. The truth will be revealed in the next chapter.
Also, I intend for Asahi to eventually spend some time in space. I'm drawing inspiration from a number of series, though please, if you have any suggestions about species of aliens that might be fun for him to encounter, do share.
If you happened to enjoy this story and you feel so inclined, please leave a review. I'd greatly appreciate the feedback.
See you, Space Cowboy...