7. The Capstone
What is it we value? Innovation. Originality. Novelty. But most importantly...timeliness. I fear you may be too late, my confused, unfortunate, friend.
-Hoid, The Way of Kings
"Midoriya, Hatsume, stay after class," Mr. Maijima ordered. It was the end of the first day at UA, and Izuku felt exhausted. They'd gone through all their classes and learned what the expectations for the year was, as well as tinkered in the workshop for a bit, though not as long as Mei wanted.
"Can we stay after class and work on our babies?" Mei asked excitedly.
"Just have a seat," Mr. Maijima ordered. Izuku sat down and waited while everyone else filtered out of the room, while Mei practically vibrated in her chair, gazing longingly towards the workshop door at the side of the class.
Once the last of their classmates had left, Mr. Maijima sighed and shook his head. "Well, I can already tell you're both going to be a handful."
"Sorry, sir," Izuku said, looking down.
Mei just shrugged, apparently unconcerned.
"I came down hard on your classmates for mocking you. I'm not going to tolerate that sort of behavior in my classroom, not even a little. But, I also have higher expectations, for both of you."
Izuku looked up, and Mei frowned, settling down in her seat. "What do you mean? Are our babies not good enough for you?"
"No, far from it. Hell, your work is so good I'm probably going to have to make myself go harder on you. Half of me wants to just turn the two of you loose and see what you come up with."
Mei stood, a wide grin splitting her face. "You can count on us sir! We'll build something incredible! If you have any requests, just let us know and we'll make a super cute baby just for you!"
"Sit down, Hatsume. No, I'm not worried about your abilities in the workshop. No, what I'm worried about are your, shall we say, social skills."
Mei let out a loud groan. "I thought those wouldn't matter at UA!"
"Hatsume, social skills are going to be more important than you can imagine. They're going to be what get you contracts with pro heroes. They're what help your classmates trust you enough to help you on projects. And, they're what keeps your teacher from pulling his hair out and denying you access to the Development Studio."
That immediately got both Mei and Izuku's attention. Mr. Maijima sighed and walked around to sit on his desk. "Look, I get it. As I've said, I've dealt with a lot of odd ducks before. You're not the first kid from Mr. Onizuku's class, or from another program like that I've had to deal with. And, well, Izuku, you're not the first quirkless kid I've had in the program either. But you two have got to try a little harder to integrate into the class. You're already on the back foot since you got in through recommendations and they had to take the test. Plus, you are better than them. Some of them are going to resent that."
"But, I mean, w-w-well,we're all in the s-same program," Izuku stuttered. "We're not-"
"You are," Mr. Maijima stated quietly. "It's ok. People aren't created equal. Accepting that is the first step to finding your place in the world."
"Yes, we are very sorry and will do better," Mei agreed. "Now can we go build something?"
Sighing, Mr. Maijima shook his head. "I should really say no, what with the idiot stunt you two pulled at the commencement ceremony."
Mei's look of hurt disbelief almost made Izuku giggle, as he'd never seen her look so utterly crestfallen before.
"...But I'm going to let it slide, just this once. Now come show me how you two rigged that suit of yours."
Mei leapt up and ran into the workshop, where the Power Suit had been set on a large work table. She immediately started explaining how all the hydraulics and motorized assists worked, rattling off the sources of the metal and how she'd machined or jury rigged different parts to fit within the frame.
M. Maijima asked a few adroit questions, pointing out things he had noticed when he'd inspected the work or offering a few suggestions to how Mei could have set up the system better.
"Well yeah, but we didn't HAVE those," Mei informed Mr. Maijima in a huff after the second time he made a suggestion for a material improvement.
"They're over there," Mr. Maijima said, pointing to a stack of supplies on a shelf. "You can machine them to your specs on that one."
With an eager grin, Mei ran over to do just that, leaving Izuku with Mr. Maijima.
"Now, show me how you were setting up these electrical systems," Mr. Maijima told Izuku.
"Um, well, honestly, I used a few old textbooks I found at the library and some videos online that I found," Izuku admitted. "I just had to balance the power loads with a few series of relays here, and for others I had to boost the power outputs with a backup power supply that I spliced together."
Izuku showed some of his work, feeling nervous. A lot of it he thought was clumsy and makeshift. He'd had to do dozens of adjustments to every piece to get them to work properly. "-and I had some problems with dirty power supplies, but the work around I used was to build my own capacitor series and some surge protectors like it shows here."
"How'd you get the parts?" Mr. Majima asked curiously.
"Um, mostly from scavenging from old equipment at my school. They were upgrading some stuff, and um, well, I just sort of...took it from the dumpsters," Izuku admitted.
"You took a bunch of decades old equipment? How did you ever get it working?"
"Well, a lot of it was bad, so I had to test individual circuits to make sure their connections were good and replace a lot of burned out wiring with extras I took. It...it took a really long time, I'm not very good at it."
"Midoriya, what you rigged here bears almost zero resemblence to the original. You had to hand wire each connection didn't you?"
"Um, yeah, some of the wire I had to braid together so that it could carry the voltage properly because I didn't have the right kind. I-i-it kinda failed a lot until I managed to get it right."
"Incredible," Mr. Maijima muttered, shaking his head. "Come here."
Walking over to a shelf, Mr. Majima took out coils of copper wire, then pointed to a machine. "That machine will braid your wire for you. Just figure out what you need, and it will take care of the rest. I also have raw copper you can spin into fine wire or use to braid heavier cable if you need something custom that you can't make out of standard parts. These are capacitors; we have basically whatever you need. As for power supplies, we've got access to the latest tech. Some of it you have to be really careful with; they can explode if you're not careful."
"I'm always careful, sir," Izuku promised. "Um, sometimes I have to remind Mei to take it slow though. She always just sort of guesses at her power needs. She's usually right, but, um, sometimes…"
"Sometimes there's an earth shattering kaboom because she forgot something?" Mr. Maijima guessed. When Izuku nodded reluctantly, his teacher sighed. "Yeah, it figures. She seems like a leap first look later kind of gal. Well, she's got you to keep an eye on her, anyway. I'll give you two another hour to mess around. I've got a staff meeting to go to, but when I get back I have to lock up when I go home for the day."
Left on their own, Izuku and Mei fell into a familiar routine, drafting plans and examining their prior work.
"We're going to start over from scratch!" Mei declared, quicking sketching out her plans for the Mark VI on paper. "This power suit will have better everything! Izuku, what about power sources? How much juice am I working with?"
"Well, I am still figuring it all out, but I think these would work best for the main power supply. That should just about quadruple the available power for the primary systems."
"Excellent, excellent! What about those modular systems?"
"Well, their systems will have to integrate into the primary control, but I think most of their power demands should come from built in sources. I think we're best off using battery power for that. It will sort of limit how many activations each can have, but-"
"A sacrifice we can make! Now, I think we're going to be able to add extra shock absorbers here, and here. You did punch that robot, but it sort of screwed up the arm's actuators. We need to account for that."
"Hmm, ok, what if we try-"
After an hour, Mr. Maijima returned, finding Izuku and Mei in the process of fabricating a basic skeleton for the power suit.
"Well I hate to interrupt, but it's time to call it quits. Head home you two, school starts early in the morning."
"But we haven't even begun!" Mei protested.
"It's OK, I'll take home some of these circuits to build and you can take some materials home to machine in your shop. We can finish the skeleton later and mount them," Izuku suggested.
"Well, normally I don't allow students to just take home workshop materials for home use," Mr. Maijima said. He raised his hands before Mei could protest vocally. "But, I'll make an exception. Honestly, I really want to see what the two of you can do with professional grade stuff. Get going, you're probably hungry."
"Nah, Izuku always brings food to make me eat," Mei said, pointing to a couple of empty instant ramen bowls.
"Just make sure you actually sleep tonight, OK Mei?" Izuku prompted. "We'll work better if you actually get some sleep."
"Yeah, yeah," Mei agreed, grabbing some supplies and stuffing them in her backpack.
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Maijima. Thanks!" Izuku called. He walked with Mei to the train station, bidding her farewell and urging her to remember to get enough sleep. Then it was back home for him.
His mother was of course overflowing with questions, which Izuku absently tried to answer as he worked on wiring a circuit board. The new Power Suit would have much more advanced electronics, and he had opened a few tutorials on his phone to look up just what to do. Building circuits tended to make sense to Izuku, as if you planned things out carefully and then were methodical in your implementation and testing they worked well, and he'd learned a lot in the last year.
His room was now a mini workshop itself, with soldering guns, a shelf with carefully stored racks of wire, blank circuit boards, and half cannibalized computers and machinery he'd brought back to work on in his own time. The All Might memorabilia was gone, sold to pay for Izuku's new passion. A part of him was now slightly regretful about that. Perhaps All Might wasn't as terrible a hero as Izuku had thought.
"I'm just, so, so proud of you, Izuku," Inko said, giving her son a hug. "Don't stay up to late, OK?"
"Yeah, OK," Izuku agreed. He took a picture of the board he'd built and sent it to Mei, adding a few descriptors of what he expected the specs to be. She replied with a picture of what she'd made, giving a brief description of what it was for.
Izuku frowned, trying to turn it so he could really see. He sighed and gave up, turning off his laptop and soldering iron and climbing into bed. He'd deal with it in the morning.
During the first few weeks at school, Izuku and Mei settled into a routine. They worked on their classwork alone, worked together in the lab alone, and generally were not spoken to or interacted with by any save their teachers unless it was unavoidable. While their classmates were not openly hostile or rude, they were reluctant to socialize with the duo. While this somewhat weighed on Izuku's mind, it didn't seem to bother Mei in the slightest.
"Mei, do you ever wish you had other friends? I mean, besides me," Izuku asked her as they worked together on an in class assignment in Modern Literature class.
Mei didn't look up from where she was copying from their copy of Two Heroes by Kohei Nagasaki. "Why? I have our babies too."
"Well, I mean, maybe if I wasn't around, people would talk to you more. Since, you know…" Izuku trailed off as Mr. Ishiyama, also known as Cementoss, walked by.
"People would rather talk to you than me," Mei stated simply, ignoring the teachers presence. "They think I'm weird."
"Perhaps you should focus more on the themes in the chapter," Mr. Ishiyama rumbled. Izuku still found it exciting to be taught by pro-heroes, especially a mutant type like Mr. Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, who looked like a living slab of concrete.
"Obviously the doctor betrays everyone because he wants his research back," Mei declared. "I'd feel the same way if someone stole my babies!"
"Focus on the themes in this chapter, Hatsume, not what happens later" Cementoss chided, then walked away.
"No, I mean, because I'm...quirkless," Izuku whispered.
Mei looked up at him, frowning. "Yeah, but you have better social skills. Look, do you think the doctor betrays them because he wants his babies back or not?"
"That's not really the theme in this chapter. This one's more about how he's willing to betray his ideals to protect his friend," Izuku said.
"Ok." Mei happily erased what she'd written on the worksheet, scribing what Izuku had said nearly verbatim. She was more than willing to defer to Izuku in the "boring stuff" as she put it, but was equally happy to help him in math and science.
Izuku was just filling out his own worksheet when alarms suddenly started to blare.
"Attention! Attention! Lockdown! An incident has happened on campus! Lockdown! All students, remain in place! Teachers, report to the front of the school immediately!" a voice blared over the loudspeakers.
Cementoss dropped the book he'd been carrying around and raced for the door. "Stay here! Do not move!" he ordered.
The other students gasped, looking scared and frightened, but Mei just kept working, ignoring the sudden interruption.
"It's OK!" Izuku said loudly, standing up and looking around. "I'm sure we're safe! Otherwise, Mr. Ishiyama wouldn't have left us. We should just get started on the homework."
"Don't tell us what to do," Kata Sumuri, the snailed headed boy who had been elected class rep snapped at Izuku.
"But, Kata, what should we do?" someone else asked.
Kata frowned, his eyes swiveling in their long stalks. "Um, well, I guess we should just do the homework."
Izuku flushed and sat back down, but the room had calmed down and everyone had gone back to work. He and Mei finished quickly enough, then at Izuku's prodding got out their English homework to work on.
"If we finish it now we can spend more time in the workshop later," he argued.
Mei reluctantly agreed, though getting her to do her English homework was even harder than getting her to remember to eat dinner.
After an hour, however, the principal's voice came over the PA system. "Students, you are dismissed. The school day is over early. Please carefully and calmly exit the building, and head straight home. Do not linger on campus.
"What?" Mei half shrieked, looking up. "But our babies!"
"I think something bad happened," Izuku said. "Come on. We'll go over to my place today. We can work on finishing those circuits for the jet pack."
"Did you solve the power supply issues?" Mei asked, now eagerly scooping up her books. "I've got the propulsion system ready, but you know it's going to be an energy hog."
"I'm going to build an override that sends all power to the pack while it's active. It'll make most of the suit's systems freeze up temporarily, but it's the only way to draw enough power," Izuku explained.
On the way out, Izuku noticed a large number of police and other emergency vehicles. To his shock, he saw Bakugo sitting by an ambulance, apparently arguing with the paramedics. However, he had several bandages on his body, and was clearly battered.
"Kacchan!" Izuku called, hurrying over without thinking. "What happened to you?"
Bakugo glared up at Izuku. "What do you want, extras? My gear is fine. Go away."
"But you're hurt!" Izuku protested. "What happened?"
"Sir, I need you to move along, this is a medical emergency," one of the EMTs warned.
"But this is my friend, Kacchan! It looks like he was hurt badly, what happened?" Izuku demanded.
"Go away, I don't need your sympathy, or your help!" Bakugo snapped.
"Wow, you have terrible social skills," Mei commented from behind Izuku.
"What was that, you damned extra!" Bakugo snapped, standing up, his eyes filled with rage.
"Woah! What's going on here? I knew you had an explosive personality, Bakugo, but this is too much!"
The new voice drew Bakugo's ire as he growled in anger, fingers twitching. The owner was a tall young man with blond hair in a costume with 1,000,000 printed on it. Izuku vaguely recognized him as an upperclassman, though he didn't know his name.
"Piss off! We would have been just fine without you, pantless!" Bakugo snapped.
"Ouch! Guess I earned that one!" the older boy chuckled. He turned to Izuku and Mei, smiling. "Names Mirio Togata, but you can call me Lemillion! Don't worry about your friend here, he's going to be just fine! All Might and the other teachers got there just in time! None of your classmates were hurt too badly."
"I could have handled them!" Bakugo raged. "If you and the other's hadn't gotten in my way-"
"Sir, please, calm down. You two, leave. You're upsetting my patient," the EMT ordered.
"O-o-ok," Izuku said, backing away. "I'm glad you're safe, Kacchan!"
Izuku's only answer was a very rude gesture. They walked away, Togata following after them.
"What happened?" Izuku asked as they walked away.
"Oh, just a little villain trouble at the USJ today!" Togata laughed.
"They went to Universal Studios Japan?" Izuku asked, surprised. That seemed odd for the hero course.
"Ha ha, that would have been fun!" Togata laughed. "No no, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! It's here on campus, it's a training facility for the Hero Course. You two are in the Support Course, right? You probably haven't been there."
"Oh, no," Izuku said, feeling a little dejected. He wished he could have been with Kacchan, training to be a hero. But then he glanced at Mei. Did he really? He sort of liked having a real friend in class, and he was learning useful skills.
"Well some villains broke in, nothing to worry about!" Togata declared brightly. "Just head home, take the rest of the day off! Do something fun!"
"We can't, they won't let us in to see our babies on campus," Mei sulked.
That caused the older student to do a double take. "What?! You have children here? But you're so young! But fear not, I can rescue your children, miss, and-"
"She um, she means our inventions," Izuku quickly interjected. "We're not-we didn't, um, it's not like that. We're lab partners in the Support Course, and, well, Mei calls what we make our babies."
"They're super cute! Say, could you let us in so we could see them? I'll show you the power armor! Maybe I could make you some support gear that would keep your pants on!" Mei offered.
"Ha! I might have to take you up on that! I was in such a hurry when All Might called me, I just ran over without putting on my costume first! Guess I'll have to remember that for next time," Togata said with a chuckle.
"Why would All Might call a student if there was a villain attack?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"Oh, what's that?" Togata said, putting a hand to his ear. "Goodness, I have to go! Goodbye, remember, go straight home!" with that, Togata crackled with sudden energy, and with a cry of "POWER!" ran off at such a blistering speed he caused a small gale.
"Wait, our babies!" Mei called, but it was too late. She sighed. "Come on, Izuku, let's head to your place. At least we can work on those circuits."
"Yeah, right," Izuku agreed. But he looked back to where Togata had disappeared. What was going on?
That afternoon, Izuku ended up not getting much done on the circuits.
"Oh thank God Izuku! When I heard there was an attack on your school, I got so worried! Thank goodness you're not in the Hero Course, some of those kids were seriously injured!" Inko cried as soon as they arrived at the Midoriya residence.
"Mom, I called and texted you right away, you know I was fine!" Izuku said as his mother buried him in a hug.
"They didn't let us work on our babies at all though," Mei muttered.
"Mei! Did you call your parents?" Inko demanded. "They're probably worried sick."
"Izuku reminded me," Mei said, trying to sidle past Inko. "We did our homework already, we're just going to work on those circuits."
"Wait, is there anything on the news, mom?" Izuku asked.
"Oh yes, it's all they're talking about! Come, look!" Inko hurried inside and turned on the television, where the news anchors were talking over footage of the UA campus.
"-reports indicate that a group of over 50 criminals calling themselves 'The League of Villains' attacked the UA campus. Thankfully, All Might was on hand to defeat this heinous attack."
The footage suddenly cut to All Might, waving at reporters and smiling. To Izuku's surprise, at his side stood not Principal Nezu or one of the other pro heroes who taught at the school, but rather Mirio Togata, dressed in a school uniform.
"An upperclassman, Mirio Togata, was also involved, along with the students of Class 1A. Witnesses claim that he arrived shortly after All Might, and assisted the Symbol of Peace in holding off the villains until the UA faculty could arrive."
"Him again," Izuku muttered. "What does it mean? Why would a student be helping defeat villains? Shouldn't it have been up to the teachers or other pros? I wonder what his Quirk is?"
"Probably losing his pants," Mei stated matter of factly. "That blond jerk said that he lost his."
Inko gasped and turned to Izuku. "Bakugo was there? Did he do anything to you?"
"He showed that he doesn't have any social skills," Mei said with a shrug. "I don't think he likes us. Which is weird because he said we were extra. Like, extra awesome?"
"Like extras in a movie," Izuku said absently, still wondering what Togata had to do with the incident. "He called me that before."
"I don't think we should make any support gear for him," Mei said. "He was mean to you."
Izuku glanced at Mei, somewhat surprised. "I thought you didn't care if people were mean to you."
"Yes. But he was mean to you. I didn't like that," Mei explained.
Izuku grunted. "It bothers me how rude Kacchan was to you, Mei. He doesn't even realize how talented you are."
"You two should both stay away from him," Inko lectured. "He's trouble."
Just then, the phone rang. Inko had apparently texted Mei's parents she'd arrived, and they too were concerned. Despite her protests, Hari arrived not long after to take Mei home.
"Don't worry, we'll get started all the earlier tomorrow!" Izuku promised, waving as they got into the car.
"Those villains better not have touched our babies. I'll kill them if they hurt any of them!" Mei swore.
Izuku smiled and waved again, then went back inside. He tried to work on the circuits, but his mind was elsewhere. He gave up, instead getting in another workout with his weight set.
"I should have been there," Izuku muttered to himself. "It should have been me fighting those villains with Kacchan."
But, to do that he would need better gear. Izuku resolved to find out everything he could about this League of Villains, and their quirks. It would be good practice to start coming up with countermeasures for them.
Authors Note:
A big thanks to kylekatarn77 for beta reading this chapter.