11/01/2022

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You are the greatest!

The Emperor's Dragon
Fledgling 37

First.

Izuku was doing his homework when the message came through. He looked at his phone and waited for the follow up messages. What is it? He messaged back when it became apparent that there was nothing following the first message. He felt a flash of worry about it. Mei was never quiet, not even in texts!

I wanted to have this finished for you.

Even having the sanitation tests done.

Sanitation tests? Izuku mouthed the question to himself as he typed. What sanitation tests? Mei hadn't mentioned them.

Tests for sanitation. She sent back.

He waited, knowing that she'd explain.

For the injectors. If they are going to be multi-use then they have to be sanitary and remain sanitary between uses.

To check that I have to run tests.

I was going to do it out of the money you previously gave me but-

Izuku sighed. That money was for you to develop the drug injectors, and your time. And he knew he hadn't really paid her enough for the amount of work she was doing. Especially given how the Doctor had told him that his dad was happy with the helmet.

I wanted to finish it for you

You are doing fine, Izuku reassured her. She really was. How much does testing cost?

About 600 yen a test.

That seemed reasonable. He didn't really know what the tests needed to be but he knew Mei was insisting that everything was medical grade for this. Therefore he knew the tests would be extensive.

How many tests need to be done? Izuku asked.

I don't know.

Probably fifty or so.

I need to ensure that nothing grows

Then your dad can wear this all day.

Izuku felt his eyes widen. You mean all the time?

He'll have to take it off to sleep, Mei told him.

But there shouldn't be a time limit

And there shouldn't be any infections

Or other complications.

Izuku felt his breath become short. That was… That's fantastic! He sent through even as he calculated in his head what 600 by 50 tests was. Five sixes was thirty, plus the zeros… So 30,000 yen. That wasn't too bad. He opened his note on his investment. There was plenty left for her and he figured his dad would think this was a very worthwhile investment.

He transferred 40,000 yen to Mei.

I wanted to finish it though, she objected.

The fact that you are working on it, means a lot to me, Izuku sent to her. Her invention was better than anything the Doctor could make and that alone made it worth it.

But, I wanted to finish it. Mei repeated.

You said your Dad needs it, right?

If he needs this, then he's really sick and this is helping him.

That's why I wanted to finish it.

It is something he needs.

Izuku stared at his phone for a few moments. He could feel tears forming in his eyes as he read Mei's messages. Thank you. That was all he could say.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Mei had done all of this and he'd barely paid her. What could he do to help her? He had about 350,000 yen remaining. Well… he supposed that meant he had given her 150,000 yen but for a life support system for his dad… He knew that was cheap.

First… His phone beeped.

Yes? Izuku replied. She'd probably seen the transfer.

I don't need that much for tests.

You do, Izuku replied. I still haven't paid you for your time and … He swallowed hard, not finishing the sentence immediately. You are correct. My Dad needs this so it means a lot to me that you are working on it.

Obviously he would get Garaki to check before Dad got it but… he'd checked the first part and that was fine. Izuku had faith that the new injectors would be fine.

I've told you I want to sell my babies

But to do that, I have to go into Hero Support

Izuku knew that. He didn't like it but it was an economic reality.

Working on this makes me feel like…

I'm helping a wider community

That my babies could be sold to everyone

And that makes a lot more profit!

He smiled at that as he typed a reply. Mei was motivated by a number of things. Inventing her babies was the primary one. Seeing them used was another. She really liked that, and had loved the pictures he'd sent her of himself in the light vest. And, lastly, she was motivated by profit, for the simple reason that profit gave her the freedom to work on more babies. And more profit = more babies!

Exactly!

Izuku sighed. There had to be something he could do to help her. Beyond just supporting her. He'd have to think about it. Maybe he could ask his dad.

-ted-

"Here's a new list," Tomura said as he let himself in.

"A new list?" Izuku asked, looking up from his homework.

"Of Hero incidents," the teen said.

"Oh, thank you." He meant it.

Periodically Kurogiri and Tomura gave him information about Hero Incidents. He could compile the information himself, and he did for some events but between school, homework and training, he just didn't have the time to really focus on it. He wanted to. But time was against him.

"Is there anything big in there?" Izuku asked.

Tomura shrugged. "A couple of support heroes got into trouble and ended up killing their target. The media played it as a tragic affair of suicide by the villain," he snorted the last.

Izuku nodded his agreement. Whenever a supposed villain was the victim it was always suicide. It was never the heroes fault, even when the footage was pretty clear. Even when the villain was on record as not being suicidal. Even when the only help the villain needed was a bit of understanding or a small payout from social services.

It got worse if the villain was quirkless. Then they weren't even called villains. They were simply called madmen, if they were reported at all. Yakuni had explained to him what happened to the quirkless. It wasn't good, which was why every time Yakuni suggested someone to help out, he always went for someone quirkless. And Izuku had to admit that they didn't complain and did the job and always showed up. That was good.

"Nothing from the majors?" The majors was how the top level heroes were referred to as a collective.

"The usual," Tomura dismissed it. "Nothing changes."

Izuku sighed. "It will," he said softly. "We are going to help it change."

"Did Sensei ask you how you would take over?" Tomura actually seemed interested in the question.

"Dad asked you that as well?" Izuku replied. Dad had asked him about it but they hadn't talked about it further.

The teen huffed. "He just gives me that disappointed look after every plan I suggest."

"Oh?" Izuku was curious. "What have you suggested?"

Tomura lifted one hand to his face and chewed on a nail. He leaned back against the door. "He didn't like when I suggested bombing the Hero Public Safety Commission," he admitted.

Izuku didn't laugh at that but he was hard pressed not to. While bombing the Commission Offices might be interesting, it wouldn't affect change. "I think it might have to be something more expansive," he replied, "though that could definitely be part of it," he concluded diplomatically.

"Sensei said the same," Tomura huffed again. "What have you thought about?" He asked, ignoring the fact that Izuku had asked him the same thing.

Izuku took a deep breath. "I've thought about it for a while," he told the teen. "I think how you go about it depends on what you want your end goal to be." He nodded to himself as he thought about it again. Articulating even that basic idea with Tomura made him more sure about it.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you want to be acknowledged as the ruler after you take over, or just take over such that the rules you want are made? Do you want a functional society? How much damage do you want to do?" Izuku rapid fired the questions. "Then you have international considerations. There's no point in taking over if a foreign power takes advantage and either invades, or tries to put the previous government back in place."

Tomura nodded but he looked annoyed. "I just want heroes to be seen as the frauds they are," he said.

It was Izuku's turn to nod. "And that could be a part of taking over," he told the teen.

"What do you mean?"

"When people take over, they've usually spent the last few years fighting the existing system. Those who take over, and remain in power either have superior military force, or they have shown that the system is flawed and they can do better," Izuku answered Tomura's question. He actually felt thankful to the older teen. Talking this out was making him come to several conclusions. "Showing that heroes are frauds is a way of showing that the system is flawed. It means that the general public will then have faith in you, and that helps you get resources, and support when you take over," he nodded to himself. What Tomura wanted to do was just one part of a good plan.

Red eyes narrowed at his statements. "You promised to help me with All Might," the older teen snapped.

Izuku nodded vigorously. "And I will but I think we can work that into a plan," he said with a smile.

"Tch!" Tomura spat. "Sensei has a plan. Why won't he just tell us?"

The green eyed teen frowned. He hadn't thought about that and Dad had admitted that he had several theories. Izuku knew well enough that if his dad had theories, then he actually had plans.

He sighed. "I think it's because when we start to help Dad, he will want us to do something we enjoy and understand. If we come up with plans now, then Dad can help us refine them and we will work harder to achieve the goal. It will be our goal after all," he tried to explain.

"Tch! I just want the world to see heroes for the fakes they are!" Tomura growled.

"And as part of a plan to change things, that's important. What happens after the world sees heroes as fakes?" Izuku asked. "How do you ensure that an even worse system isn't put in place?"

"We make sure Sensei is in charge," Tomura snapped.

Izuku nodded. "Then we have to make a plan so that Dad can take control," he said cheerfully, though he was pretty sure that his Dad didn't want to be in direct control. He would have to ask.

He reached out for the folder of information Tomura had brought him. "Thank you for bringing this," he told the older teen when Tomura didn't say anything in reply.

The red eyed boy sighed. "I'll think about plans for the future," he said.

"Hmm?"

"For taking over. I'll think about what to do after the heroes are pulled down," Tomura told him.

Izuku smiled. "I'm pretty sure that if we come up with a few plans, Dad will tell us his," he mock whispered.

"Maybe," Tomura said, pushing himself off the door. "No matter what, you still have to help me with All Might," he said as he left.

"And you have to help me with Toxic Chainsaw," Izuku countered.

"Yeah, yeah."

Izuku didn't need to see him to see the eye roll but he shrugged. That was the deal and he knew Tomura thought he'd back out. He wasn't going to. Not after what All Might did to dad. If Tomura was somehow successful, the only thing he might do is stop the older teen from killing All Might until after the supposed hero had given back his Uncle's quirk. Then, it wouldn't matter what happened to the man.

He put the information folder down, and turned back to his homework. If he wanted to make proper plans then he had to understand more than just how to play a game. He had to understand the world and that… unfortunately, meant homework.

-ted-

"Mr Tanaihito."

Yakunita gasped and jumped up from his desk, turning to see his boss' sponsor standing in the doorway. There was a huge man behind him. "Sir, you surprised me!" he said, bowing slightly.

"You were deep in your studies," the man waved away his surprise as he came closer.

Yakuni had been studying in the mezzanine level that overlooked the warehouse where the Doctor performed his experiments. From here he could see the patterns the layout of the tanks made. Against the far wall were the tanks where they were copying quirks. They were smaller tanks, because the clones didn't have to grow that large. The warehouse was about 60x25m large. If the tanks were laid out evenly, then there would be about 15 tanks by 30 rows, but not all the tanks were the same size, so some of the rows only had 10 tanks. Not all of the tanks were occupied but Yakuni knew what their presence meant. It meant they would be producing more. He was looking forward to it.

"How can I help you, Sir?" He asked.

Ujiko's sponsor came forward and looked out from the window. Yakuni knew he couldn't see anything, not with the scar tissue covering his head but he behaved as if he could. A huge man squeezed into the room and eyed him.

Yakuni nodded his head at the mountainous man to show his respect. He was obviously some sort of body guard and he knew without anything being said that there was no way he'd be able to fight the hulk of a man but he didn't want to. He respected Daruma's sponsor too much for that. The man had changed his life! He could never repay that.

"The copies are going well?" The man asked.

"Very well, Sir. I believe the copies of the quirk you gave me are ready."

The man nodded. "I will check them," he said and Yakuni got the impression he was looking towards the tanks at the end. "And my special one?"

"It's been out of acceleration for a while so I am hopeful that in a month or so, it will be ready for you," Yakuni reported.

"Very good," the sponsor said. "Have you practiced with your new quirk?"

"Yes, Sir." He made time to practice every day.

"I'm glad to hear it," the man said. "I have a task for you," he announced.

"Sir?" He was ready to perform any task the man wanted.

"My Little Dragon has a friend who's quirk I would very much like a copy of," the scarred man said.

Yakuni blinked. He was confused. Why didn't Ujiko's sponsor ask Dragon's friend directly? Wait, another part of his brain immediately responded. Dragon's friends probably didn't know about his real quirk. That sort of thing was probably for the best. And Dragon's friends wouldn't know that quirks could be copied.

"You wish me to get a genetic sample," he stated.

"Yes," Dragon's dad told him. "Without my son or his friend knowing," the follow up instruction was given.

Yakuni swallowed. He would do anything Dragon's Dad wanted. He owed the man everything but at the same time he didn't want to hurt Dragon and this seemed like it would. Otherwise, why would that final instruction be given? His throat suddenly felt scratchy. It wasn't that he was nervous. This was something else. He dismissed the feeling. It wasn't an issue now and it would go away.

"Yes, Sir," he said as he nodded his understanding of the instructions. "Do you have a time frame?" The Doctor had told him that setting time frames was vitally important even if their work was experimental.

"So long as you get the sample this month, that is sufficient," Dragon's Dad told him after a moment.

It took him a moment to remember what the date was before Yakuni nodded. That was enough time. "It will be done," he assured Dragon's Father.

"Very good," the man said, before he turned away.

Yakuni watched him go. For a man who was blind he was very sure on his feet. It was uncanny but it was just the way Durama's sponsor was and no matter that he thought it odd that Dragon wouldn't know about this, he wasn't going to disappoint the man.

He owed him far too much for that.

-ted-

So a few things happening here. Firstly Izuku being ahead of his father with the helmet. AFO knew that he needs to get drugs built in and Izuku is already working on it before he asks. AFO is going to be so proud of his Little Dragon when he finds out who made the helmet for him.

Tomura and Izuku have a nice chat about heroes and what they are going to do about it. They still have a lot of work to do on their plans but now they both know they are working on the same question.

And Yakuni gets a new mission. Dear me... Will he be able to score some genetic material or not? And then what will AFO do with that quirk? Oh... it was such a good idea to let Izuku go and make friends... they have such useful quirks!

My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!