Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfictiuon about my work.

Midoriya Izuku felt excitement pouring through his body. First of all, it was only about seven months before the U.A exams, and he was confident in his ability to pass it. He had several designs in mind that were sure to wow the judges.

The other thing to be excited about was that he had finally managed to replenish the robots. The design for the robots themselves had been perfected over the years. Making them wasn't hard but it was time consuming. But they were going to be necessary as a last resort for any Villainous Schemes in future.

"Well, I've gotten all of them up to standard," he muttered, rubbing his chin. "Their weapons should be fully operational. I'll just have to do another test before the weekend - hm?"

He had been heading over to the beach to grab some more electronics and steel - he needed a large quantity for his future projects. Looking ahead, he saw a familiar tall, scraggly figure.

A smile broke out on his face. Seeing Yagi-san always made him feel happy. Sure, Yagi hadn't been the most safety conscious person he'd ever met, but Izuku knew better than anybody else that sometimes you had to throw caution to the wind. Yagi always had the best stories about villains that All Might had fought. If Izuku didn't know better, he would have sworn that Yagi had been there in every fight.

Maybe All Might told the stories really well. Izuku would expect nothing less from his idol/nemesis.

"I wonder what Mirio-senpai is doing," he muttered, jogging over to Yagi. A couple of weeks ago, Mirio and Yagi hadn't shown up at their normal time. When Izuku had tried texting Mirio, he'd just gotten a message from the older teenager that he had his internships to worry about, as well as exams and hadn't been able to come. They had met up a few times, but not as frequently as they had used to when Mirio was cleaning up the beach.

He squinted, seeing a shorter and similarly blonde figure to Yagi on the beach. Izuku frowned. For some reason, they looked familiar. He couldn't imagine why though.

Melissa looked at the beach. "So Mirio was cleaning this before me?"

Uncle Might simply nodded. "It's good strength training, as well as community service. Not all heroics can be punching deserving Villains in the face - sooner or later you have to get your hands dirty."

Melissa scanned the area, frowning. The beach had the potential to be a beautiful place, but people just kept throwing their trash here. She nodded to a large area of the beach that was free of detritus. "Mirio certainly did a good job."

Uncle Might - Toshinori - gave a small smile. "He did, though he can't take all of the credit."

Melissa was about to ask about that when she saw somebody approaching - a teenager her age with dark green curly hair with a wide smile on his face. "Ah! Hello, Yagi-san!"

Uncle Might's grin widened. "Midoriya, my boy! It's good to see you!"

Midoriya just grinned back even wider. "I was pretty worried about you and Mirio-senpai, Yagi-san! I know he's studying, but I really enjoyed talking with him about other heroes!"

Uncle Might's smile dropped a bit. "Don't worry too much about Young Mirio, Young Midoriya. He'll be coming along later today. "

Midoriya's face lit up like a Christmas display. Beaming, he turned to Melissa. "Oh, and, ah-" he suddenly flushed. Melissa looked him over. Had he come down with a fever?

"I-ah-oh, h-hello! Uh, how - how are you?"

Melissa gave a small smile. That explained it. Some things never changed no matter what country you were in. "It's nice to meet you - "

He flushed and stammered, trying to get words out and failing. Melissa turned to Uncle Might, who coughed into his fist. "Young Midoriya, this is Melissa Shield. Melissa, Midoriya Izuku."

Melissa just smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-san."

Midoriya was frozen in place. His eyes were unfocused, staring at some point behind Uncle Might's head. Uncle Might leaned towards him. "Um, Young Midoriya? Are you alright?"

"I-I-I - huh - Shield!"

Uncle Might blinked. "Not the first reaction I thought you'd have."

Midoriya just swayed in place. "I - I can't believe I'm meeting somebody like her, that's all! I - my hair's a mess, and I'm just wearing my school uniform, and-"

Melissa's smile widened. "Have you heard about me?"

"Heard about you - you're David Shield's daughter! He makes All Might's costumes! Of course I've heard about you!"

Melissa laughed. "Not a lot of people acknowledge that bit."

Midoriya looked offended. "Well most people are wrong! Without David Shield's research into Quirks, there wouldn't be as many innovations to help peoples' lives go smoothly with their Quirks. He's helped inspire me to go into the Support field in the first place!"

Melissa shook his hand. "I'll tell him that. As I said, not many people think about support gear."

Midoriya hummed. "Without that gear, All Might would have been unable to bring the full force of his Quirk to bear."

Melissa looked over at the beach. "So, I'm guessing that you've been cleaning up this beach as well?" She looked Midoriya over - he was more muscular than he seemed at first glance, with worn hands that spoke of a lot of hard work. "How long have you been doing that?"

"I-I haven't really been cleaning it up that much," he managed to squeak out. "I - I mainly use it for raw materials for some gadgets-"

Melissa's eyes lit up. "Wow! What kind of stuff have you made so far?"

Midoriya seemed to focus more. From his backpack he pulled out a pair of bracers. "Well, this is just a prototype - the materials here aren't the best, but they're good enough for a proof of concept. These are designed for a quick change into most of a bodysuit."

Melissa examined it. "This is pretty good! You're using a carbon dioxide jet to shoot the fabric out quickly, aren't you?"

Midoriya's eyes sparkled. "Yes! And the main fabric has-"

"Wiring coupled with a thin mesh to map out the body of the wearer? And the fabric-"

"Carbon fibre over silk for proper armour, but I could add in some kevlar for proper-"

"But you've tested that it works? This would be a major help for some heroes to build a flashy style-"

"Had to go through like twenty different versions before I got it right! But it'll be -"

"Like a Transformation watch -"

"I've been working on something similar but with special materials! To make something like this with mostly recycled material is -"

A cough from behind her snapped them out of their shared fugue. Uncle Might was watching with an expression that seemed caught between worried and admiring. "I have to admit you've kind of lost me there."

Midoriya coughed. "Well... this is one of the gadgets I'm thinking of for U.A. For the Hero on the go!" He posed dramatically, holding the bangles out. "All you have to do is press the switch, and bam! Hero costume on!"

He turned the bangles over in his hands. "Well, I'd probably have to add a belt for the pants - trying a full bodysuit from the bangles was a bad idea. You would need to wear loose clothing, but it would equip most of the costume, enough to help in a dangerous situation."

Uncle Might glanced over it appraisingly. "Well, I won't pretend to understand how it works or all the babble, but the basic idea is impressive!"

Melissa nodded. "Too many Heroes don't have access to a basic protection if they're out of costume," Uncle Might pointedly didn't look her way, "but this could be a real change! You're thinking about focusing on a high mobility Hero for this, right?"

Midoriya frowned at his gadget. "That's right. It's a good start, but I need something a bit more impressive for the entrance exam."

Melissa could understand the desire to make something more impressive. "Well, I'm sure you've heard advice like this before, but sometimes you have to look at the problem from a different angle. And maybe get some better materials."

Midoriya sighed. "Getting proper materials for my gear is a pain though," he grumbled.

Melissa could relate - even on I-Island you had to sign off on Support gear materials with several different places. Too many villains were using the gear illegally, after all. "If you need a hand with that kind of stuff, you can talk with U - with Yagi-san or Mirio if you're really worried."

Midoriya just shook his head. "Ah, don't worry too hard about me. I've found a few places that do decent materials. And this is only one idea. I've got some better ones in the works." He checked his watch. "Ah, sorry! I've got a shift coming up soon."

He hitched up his backpack, dashing over to the road. "I'll maybe see you around, Melissa-san! I'd still like any electronics for prototypes! Have fun in Japan!"

"I will!" Melissa waved him off.

As he left, she turned to Uncle Might. He stood there with a gentle smile on his face "So, are we going to get started with the American Dream Bodybuilding plan?"

Melissa nodded, checking her gloves. "Ready for anything."

She wondered, briefly, what kind of job Midoriya was working at. Probably a coffee shop job, or maybe repair work.

Midoriya Izuku got off the train and headed to a back alley near Gentle Criminal's house. Checking in both directions to make sure nobody was around, he removed his shoes then pulled a tag on his backpack. With a hissing of gas and clunking of machinery, Mastermind's villain costume assembled itself around him. Striding out confidently, he went into Gentle Criminal's house.

The villain had, with Mastermind's help, fenced off the abandoned lot behind the house. A few sheets of metal and some of Mastermind's sound cancelling technology later, and the League of Supervillains had a convenient training dojo.

Mastermind had been coming here for a reasonable length of time with the other villains, talking about what made a Villain a Super Villain. Mostly it was about fighting training; throwing a proper punch, how to properly throw, and how to best run away. A couple of times it had been on proper posture and dramatics. Inkblot had called him here for something she thought had been important.

Mastermind wasn't sure what for, but her tips had been excellent so far.

Inkblot grinned at Mastermind, hands on hips. "So, ready for more lessons in villainy?"

Mastermind nodded, fists clenched. "Of course!"

Inkblot put her hands on her hips. "Well, Mastermind, we're going back to the classics! We're talking bombs!"

Mastermind stared at Inkblot. "Bombs? That's pretty, well... dangerous, isn't it?"

Inkblot just shrugged. "I can bench-press a fridge, Golden Grin's laser can blow up cars and Gentle Criminal can beat up teams of heroes. Anything's dangerous. Now, I think that this is the ideal form of a bomb right here!" She reached behind her back, her Quirk manifesting in a splotch of spurting black and white light.

She hoisted out her creation, holding it up in front of the class.

Mastermind stared at it for a few seconds. "It's... a few sticks of dynamite rigged to an alarm clock." The items created had the signature appearance of Cartoon's creations - a thick black outline traced over the object, looking like it had been pulled out of a cartoon.

Inkblot beamed. "Yup."

Mastermind tapped his mouthplate with his finger. "Well, on the one hand it will be effective - I mean, it's a bomb. But on the other hand, I could definitely make more potent explosives-"

"It's not just about effectiveness!" As Mastermind stared at her, she explained. "See, the thing about this that I like is that it ticks! Listen!" She held it aloft, the bomb audibly ticking as the second hand went around.

Mastermind stared. "I mean, it looks and sounds cool-"

"Thank you,"

"But it would be more efficient to have a regular bomb with a digital timer."

Inkblot just shrugged. "Shows what you know. In my opinion, the important thing about this isn't the bomb, it's the tick!"

Mastermind stopped as she kept talking, her eyes shining. "See, you can hear it tick, getting closer to the big boom! It's the anticipation of it!" She frowned. "Nowadays bombs are digital or come from a Quirk. No sound, no peril."

Mastermind stood there for a few seconds. "Peril..." he muttered.

Inkblot nodded. "Exactly. It's the 'will it go BOOM or not' element that's the whole point of being a Villain."

Mastermind stood stock still for a moment, then pulled out a notebook. "That's... how could I have missed that?"

He frantically scribbled down notes, schematics. "I've got a brilliant idea for the next job! Something that will be properly villainous!" He laughed, thunder roaring with him.

Inkblot smiled slightly shakily. "Attaboy! We keep this up, you'll be tying people to train tracks in no time!"

Melissa panted, pushing the fridge towards the skip. She didn't know what muscles were being worked, just that they were all on fire. In a few more minutes, she would take a break. Uncle Might stood nearby, face set in a determined expression.

It wasn't that she was out of shape - she exercised regularly and had taken some martial arts classes before - but Uncle Might had designed this program to build her up as much as possible before taking One for All. One for All had so much strength built up that anything less than maximum strength would blow the user's limbs off.

Mirio had given her some tips, especially to prevent overtraining. She knew that overtraining wouldn't help, but there was that perpetual need to better herself. She was aiming to become a Hero, and technically wouldn't have a Quirk until the entrance exam. She was only going to be entering into a Hero course exam with other people who might have been working on their Quirks their whole lives, but no pressure.

At that dinner they had had a long, frank discussion about the future. Her dad had to return to I-Island soon due to his secret project, but she could stay as long as she liked apparently. Uncle Might had offered her the same training program that Mirio had gone through, though slightly modified to account for the difference in build. Sir Nighteye and Tsukauchi had promised to keep an eye out for any signs of All for One.

When she had been offered One for All, she had accepted after a moment's hesitation. Later, when thinking about it, she'd talked with her dad about what to do in the future. Because on the one hand she really, really wanted to be a hero. That part of her from her childhood had never grown up and had her jumping into fights between bullies and others without real conscious thought put into it. But on the other hand, she loved inventing.

Building Support Gear and working with Quirk science was just miraculous and seeing what came from researching Quirks and building technology that supported it was just fascinating. For most of her life Melissa had decided to be the Hero that kept the Heroes equipped and safe. She had fought and studied and struggled to get to her current level of skill, and had been worried that she might be encouraged to drop it.

Her father and Uncle Might had dismissed that notion. When she'd said it out loud, feeling silly saying it, they had both asked why she would put her passion on hold for Heroics. "It's a part of who you are, I would never ask you to compromise on yourself to become a Hero!"

Uncle Might had put it best.

Melissa privately didn't think she could be better than her uncle, but didn't let that stop her from hauling the fridge into the skip, leaning against it to catch her breath.

Being a Hero and saving people, and planning to do so with both her inventions and One for All... what more could she ask for?

Mastermind checked over the plans once again. With the materials they had gathered from the building firm, they would have enough to rebuild the robots.

He chuckled. Meeting Melissa Shield with Yagi-san had been quite the surprise. To be close with somebody like that... it was like third-hand exposure to the awesome power of All Might!

Golden Grin looked at him slightly funny. "Uh, you okay there Mastermind?"

Mastermind coughed. "Oh, ah, sorry! I'm just excited for the next job."

He looked at the plan on screen. It was going to be large scale, with plenty of peril. But, at the same time... there wouldn't be any actual danger.

Underneath his mask, a wide grin spread across his face. "We're going to need these supplies..."

For Mastermind, the future was looking suitably... villainous.

Author's note: I'm sorry this took so long. I was trying to figure out what direction I wanted to take this chapter.

Melissa is slightly younger than in the main story. Is this going to have a tangible effect? Not really I guess.

Next time... Another job, and probably seeing what the other side characters are doing!