Chapter 3: Masks
The tension in Heights Alliance had settled much more quickly than 1A had thought. It was as if the moment Waller had left, a weight had been lifted off the shoulders of Task Force J. The 2 classes had decided to take a seat and converse over tea in the dining room. Oddly, Wayne helped Yaoyorozu with preparation, which caused the class's resident officer to become flustered every time he smiled her way. Ashido, knowing there was potentially juicy gossip to be had, takes a seat next to the flustered girl as soon as tea was ready.
Mina: So, Yao-Momo, what's going on between you and Wayne~?
Momo: N-nothing! He was… merely helping with preparation is all.
Across from them was the mysterious boy himself.
Bruce: I have to say, I never thought I'd have to pleasure to see you again, Ms. Yaoyorozu, or would you prefer I called you Momo?
Mina: Again!?
Ashido beams at the boy while Yaoyorozu merely shrinks slightly in her seat.
Bruce: Yes. If I recall, it was 2 years ago when the Yaoyorozu family came to America to do business with my company. Yaoyorozu and I had become… fairly close in that time. She even introduced me to the wonder that is Gold Tips Imperial.
Momo: Yes, well… no one can prepare it like your Butler can… I am an amateur compared to him.
Ochako, Tooru, and Mina: BUTLER!?
Shoto: So, you're THAT Bruce Wayne.
Everyone turns Todoroki's way.
Ejiro: Uhh… meaning?
Clark: Bruce has a… reputation back in America… though it seems like his name is known more internationally than I thought.
Shoto: Bruce Wayne, the boy billionaire. Took over his father's company when he was 13. Wayne Tech is one of the leading tech designers for support items in America, rivaling David Shield's work. You have a few locations internationally, and your father began his work primarily in the medical field.
Bruce: You've done your homework, Shoto Todoroki.
He has a slight smirk.
Shoto: Which begs the question… how are you training to be a hero without a quirk?
This made everyone freeze and turn towards the 2 prodigal sons. Wayne doesn't seem to react before he finishes his current cup of tea.
Bruce: Waller sees that I can be useful without the need for a Quirk. To her, it makes me a more valuable asset, since I don't have to rely on it, unlike many heroes. Tell me, Todoroki, if you were to fight someone without your Quirk, how do you think you would fair? Especially if that someone was some punk with a knife… Or a Gun.
There was a flash of intensity from his eyes as he glares at the son of Endeavor. The tension that was lifted from the room had returned for a split second in full force.
Izuku: He's Qurikless… but he's still getting the chance to be a hero? How? What kind of hero is he? How can he protect himself? How can he protect others? Does this mean… even without a Quirk… without One for All… I could have had a chance at being a hero?
Izuku's mind was in overdrive from the implications of Wayne's statement and the possibilities he could have had, had he never met All-Might, thought eh tension in the room made it hard to focus as Wayne and Todoroki continued their glaring contest.
Clark: SO… Does anyone need a snack? Cause I would LOVE a snack right now? Barry?
Barry: Right!
In a blur, everyone can see sparks of yellow lightning in the air within Allen's tailwind and hear the opening and closing of cupboards before various snacks are placed in front of them and their cups of tea had been refilled in less than a minute.
Tenya: What on Earth!?
Barry: I hope you don't mind, but I KINDA raided your kitchen for a few snacks…
In front of the boy who was previously a red and yellow blur, was a larger stack of snacks than the others.
Minorou: YOU CALL THAT A FEW SNACKS!?
Barry: Again, sorry, but with my Quirk, I have to eat 5 times my weight in calories a day. I burn off A LOT.
Izuku: That's incredible! To make so many movements at that speed without hitting anyone or anything and being precise with your cornering around objects without causing damage to everything around you-
As Midoriya goes off on one of his nerdy tangents, everyone more or less tuned him out, but Barry was actually keeping up pretty well.
Hal: Does… he mumble like that a lot?
Katsuki: Yeah, and it's annoying as hell. SHUT UP, YOU DAMN NERD!
Midoryia stops his mumble storm and locks his lips tightly.
Hal: Jeez… A little harsh, don't you think?
Tsuyu: He's always like that. You learn to get used to it.
Hal: Wait… wasn't he the guy who was chained down at the sports festival here a while back?
Kyoka: You guys watched that too?
Hal: Waller made us watch it, like, 10 times before coming here. Something about "Studying" you guys.
Hanta: That's not creepy at all…
Diana: In a way, if we are to do combat by your side or against you, it would be prudent of us to understand how you fight and how your Quirks work.
Kirishima: So, then what are your Quirks?
Arthur: You will have to learn in the field of battle.
Mina: Aww…
Tenya: I must admit, you 7 are not at all what we expected.
Clark: Let me guess, you were warned that our school is like a military school, and you expected us to be these perfect, mechanical soldiers?
Tenya: I don't mean to assume-
Clark: No, no you were right to assume it. Back home, and in the presence of Principle Waller, we're expected to show act as an example to others who see us.
Barry: Follow orders, keep our heads down, don't act against the wishes of our superiors, Blah blah, Etcetera.
Hal: We don't have many chances to really act like us, except maybe when we're out doing our jobs.
John: The concept of Masks.
Everyone looks over at the green teen, who up until now had been silent.
Denki: Huh… So, he CAN talk!
Tokoyami: You speak of the masks we form in our minds, correct?
John: Yes.
Kirishima: Anyone know what they're talking about?
Bruce: Do you act the same way in front of your friends as you do your parents?
Kirishima: No?
Bruce: What about your teachers?
Kirishima: No.
Bruce: Exactly. Your mind compartmentalizes your reactions, emotional and physical, in various settings to various people. To your parents, you feel a natural sense of safety while at the same time, look up to them as authority figures. To your friends, you see them as allies on the same level as yourself and earn trust from one another which reaches different levels based on experience. When you're in your hero uniform, you embody everything you believe a hero should be and will sometimes differ drastically from who you are out of your uniform. These masks aren't always physical, but for some, it is painfully obvious, such as All-Might when he was still active vs when he could no longer sustain his hero form.
Izuku: You know about that?
Barry: After All-Might's last fight, Waller briefed the students at school on how he had gotten injured at some point and the reason behind why people didn't see him as much anymore.
Arthur: It is a shame that he can not continue as the Symbol of Peace… he's still an inspiration to us.
Clark: I even based my costume on his Golden Age suit.
Izuku: Really?
Clark: Cape, Primary colors, and all.
He has a proud smile. Though it wasn't as big as All-Might's, there was a sense of safety and kindness that emanated from it.
Tenya: As much as we're enjoying this conversation, we will need to take it on the go. We have yet to give you a tour of the school and we cannot squander the time we've been given by Mr. Aizawa.
Arthur: Well said, Mr. Iida.
Tenya: Please, you can simply call me Iida, or by my hero name Ingenium while we are training or on duty.
Barry: Ok, but feel free to call us by our first names. We're not too used to the whole family name-proper name thing… No offense.
Izuku: None taken, All- oh, uh… Barry.
Barry: There you go!
He smiles and finger guns at him as they clean up and start to head out. As they do, a certain Pikachu wannabe tests his luck with the newest girl present.
Denki: So, Diana~, how'd a cute girl like you end up in a class like this~?
Jiro is about to jab him with her earphone jacks, but Prince was already ahead of her, picking Kaminari up by the back of his uniform jacket, like a mother cat with a kitten.
Diana: Are you implying that my strength is not equal to that of my comrades!?
Denki: N-no, ma'am!
Diana: Are you suggesting that because I am how you would call "Cute" that I am not as capable of combat as they are!?
Denki: I DIDN'T SAY THAT! I SWEAR!
Diana: THEN WHAT DO YOU IMPLY, LITTLE BLONDE MAN!?
Denki: I WAS JUST SAYING YOU'RE CUTE!
He holds his arms up in fright, in case she decided to hit him, but instead, he is set down.
Diana: Then I thank you for your compliment.
She smiles and walks forward as Kaminari is left to wonder what just happened.
Hal: Sorry about her, man… She doesn't really get flirting… or a lot of slang, really…
Denki: Jeez… How is she so strong?
Hal: Well, she has been training since she was 2.
Denki: … Huh?
Kyoka: Are you serious!?
Hal: Yup… You know those stories about how after Quirks started appearing, a lot of new groups were formed based on stuff like belief and biology?
Kyoka: Yeah.
Hal: Well, Arthur and Diana are both from some of those newer groups. Arthur comes from an island made by someone's quirk in the early days in the Pacific, where the people there have Aquatic Quirks. They call it New Atlantis.
Kyoka: And… Diana?
Hal: After Quirks appeared more in Greece, a large majority of women tired of being ruled by bad, sometimes incompetent men, overtook a small island off of Greece's coast called Skopelos, in the Aegean. They renamed it Themyscira, based on the myth of the island of the Amazon warriors.
Denki: Wait… So, she comes from-
Hal: An island completely dominated by women who train as warriors in the old ways of Greek combat since birth? Yes. They're doing pretty well for themselves, even without men to help… reproduce.
Kyoka: … Wait, if there are no men on the island, doesn't that mean she's never met one until she left?
Hal: That's right. We were some of the first men that Diana had ever met… and because the island was cut off from modern tech, we've been introducing her to the modern world. Cell Phones, modern media… she attacked a coffee maker, thinking it was some metal monster trying to burn her…
This made Jiro and Kaminari give Jordan a shocked expression.
Hal: … She's gotten better… Though, I should warn you, even though we're her first guy friends, she's not exactly trusting of men, so… try not to upset her.
Kyoka: In other words, keep her away from Mineta, got it.
Hal: Which one was he again?
Kyoka: The one who looks like a giant bunch of grapes.
Hal: Is he THAT bad?
Denki: I should probably find him and warn him before he-
There is a scream as Mineta is thrown through the air and through the trunk of a tree.
Diana: LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU, PURPLE ONE! KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF UNLESS YOU INTEND TO LOSE THEM!
Hal and Denki: …
Kyoka: … That girl is my hero.