20.12.2021
We have two 0's, two 1's and four 2's in the date! It doesn't change anything but looks kinda nice. Anyways the-guy-you-know-very-little-about-except-his-habit-for-making-stupid-introductions is back with another - long overdue chapter! Like, I had this one complete for almost two weeks, but basically lost all motivation to edit and post it, the christmas spirit may have gotten me good.
Let's answer some comments first and then I'll let you enjoy the story!:
Bucio - I mean, if I was going for an Ironman inspired SI-OC then I needed to have an AI, right? And I guess showing that he has a less chaotic side to him might make Martin the deeper character he's meant to be. Though he's still going to be memeing a whole lot!
Notasavior - Oh absolutely! Imagine what he could do if he had US' nuclear codes or something! Probably prank call them and then activate a warhead or two to make them tremble in panic before disarming them and rolling on the ground laughing xD Whilst this Quirk is incredibly overpowered it's also whacky as fuck. Imagine that you look at a very nice looking prude of a woman and you suddenly learn that she stars in rather... questionable videos thanks to your Quirk. As I said, incredibly useful but whacky as Martin himself if not even more!
And before I let you to the chapter, do stick around after you finish it, because there's going to be an announcement some of you might find interesting if you enjoy my writing so far. The chapter!:
After witnessing the sudden vulnerability of Martin, the students took a few moments to mull over this part of his backstory. And now they were plagued by another question - does he have anyone at all or is he simply very good at hiding his loneliness?
Deciding to abandon that depressing line of thinking, they agreed to continue exploring the ship some more.
It turned out that the ship was an excellent tool for natural disaster response as it had quite the spacious medical bay and even an entire section filled with nothing but small rooms to accommodate ones that lost their homes in said disaster.
The only thing they noticed about the ship at first glance was how impressively giant it was. Now that they were finding out more and more about the Harrier their respect rose and rose with no intentions of stopping.
It was so versatile! It was suited for combat due to housing all of these armored suits they've seen earlier, perfect for rescue work with its advanced medical facilities and temporary shelters and was even capable of going to space!
The students were currently walking around the ship just like they did for the past couple of hours when the speakers around the ship came to life.
"Attention passengers, we are approaching the transfer station, please contact the nearest genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist to find your next ride", Kravchenko's monotonous voice echoed throughout the hallway.
"Erm, I guess we should head to the bridge then, right?", Denki asked in slight confusion.
"Does anyone remember the way back though?", Kyoka questioned and everyone froze in place. They remembered the rooms they visited but not the path they took to get to them. "Judging from your expression I would say that 'no' is the correct answer. Excellent"
Just as they were about to devolve into a panicked mess, Martha in all of her holographic glory came around the corner with what looked like a gentle smile on her face.
"Are you by any chance lost?", she asked kindly.
"Kind of?", Kirishima answered and the AI chuckled.
"Just follow me and I'll guide you back to the command deck", Martha said, turned around and vanished back behind the corner.
Sensing a lifeline the students immediately rushed after her.
"So you're saying that we can't fly the Harrier all the way to I-Island?"
They were currently being led by Kravchenko… somewhere. He avoided telling them their destination for some reason so they resorted to asking about other things.
"Yup, as you probably already know, this ship is absolutely fucking giant and there's not enough space anywhere on I-Island to land, so I'm going to leave it somewhere around here in the ocean and we'll take something smaller", the man explained as they turned another corner.
"So we're going to the hangar, right?", Kirishima asked, feeling like he finally cracked the case wide open.
"This ship doesn't have a hangar", and the redhead immediately deflated at that. "You'll see when we arrive", Kravchenko added before anyone had a chance to question him further.
A few minutes later they entered a spacious room that upon further inspection was completely empty safe for the lone console near the entrance.
"Do not cross the red line on the floor please", Kravchenko warned and then started clicking something on the console. "Prepare to have your mind blown!", he suddenly exclaimed and pushed one last button.
Not a moment later, a loud buzzing noise sounded from almost all around them. Two hatches, one on the left and the other on the right side of the room, opened, but nothing happened. Then they noticed something moving in the middle of the room.
It looked like a tire? They watched in amazement as other parts of some craft started appearing out of thin air right in front of their very eyes!
"How's this possible?!", Kirishima exclaimed as he started pulling at his hair, trying to wrap his head around everything at once.
"Nanomachines, son!", Kravchenko answered with a grin.
"Senator Armstrong?", Midoriya asked, just as confused as his friends.
"Nah, still Martin Kravchenko, but I appreciate the meme!"
It took no more than a couple of minutes for the nanomachines to do their job and create their ride.
This aircraft however was different from the VTOL that brought them on board. Whereas the previous one had a blocky design made with utility in mind, the vehicle in front of them was much slicker and practically screamed 'speed'!
Its front resembled that of a plane or a jet fighter, with a pointy nose and a pilot seat just behind. That's also how far the similarities went, because the craft had not one but two engines, one on each side of the cockpit and two pairs of wings that formed a really flattened 'X' mark. There was just one small problem, literally.
This aircraft didn't look like it could fit all of them. Kravchenko must've guessed their conundrum, or simply dealt with an identical scenario already, because he spoke before any of them had the chance to usher a word.
"It's bigger on the inside, trust me", he stated and started walking towards the vehicle.
The students followed him, luggage in tow, and climbed on board via a small hatch at the back. Once inside, they could wholeheartedly agree that Kravchenko was telling the truth about there being enough space to fit them all. As it turns out, this craft was almost completely hollow on the inside! And even as they took their seats there was still room for at least three more people!
Kravchenko himself took the pilot seat in the cockpit, which was connected to the rest of the interior, and did his best 'professional pilot' impression.
"Erm, this is the captain speaking, we will be taking off shortly, please make sure to fasten your seatbelts if you don't want to be flattened against the back wall. Thank you for placing trust in Avenger Air", he even had a special voice changer or something to make it sound like he really was ways away and talking to an entire plane. Talk about commitment, and all this for a joke mind you!
Students were about to disregard the seatbelts part and treat it as a joke, but then saw Kravchenko strap himself in with what looked to be a racing harness and an additional seatbelt on top of it.
This definitely put the fear of God in them as they immediately followed his earlier command. And just in time it seemed too, because they felt the craft jerk upwards for a moment and then start ascending to the landing deck.
"Engines? Check. Landing gear? Check. Flaps? Check. Gyro? Check", Kravchenko listed off and finished just as the vehicle stopped ascending. He then looked over his shoulder at his passengers and smirked. "Brats strapped in? Check"
They felt the craft jerk once again as it started accelerating on the deck. It took only a few moments for it to lift itself off the ground. And that's where their surprise came in. They weren't moving that fast and the seatbelts didn't really seem necessary. Thankfully none of them thought to take them off, which turned out to be the right thing to do. Why?
"Alright kiddos, we're just outside of I-Island's radar system's reach which has a radius of about one hundred kilometers. We should arrive there in about five minutes from now", Kravchenko explained to them as they flew.
But something didn't add up.
"How are we going to travel a hundred kilometers in five minutes with that speed?", Kirishima asked in confusion.
"Oh, I'm just waiting for the supersonic drive to warm up. Wouldn't want it to implode and tear the space-time continuum in half, right?", the man bellowed as something pinged on his console. "Ooh, that was quick! Hold onto your innards if you don't want them flying out!"
Needless to say, accelerating from their leisurely pace all the way to the speed of sound definitely made them thankful for having the seatbelts strapped on tight, but didn't make this entire ordeal any less traumatic.
Midoriya was pretty sure that the girls and Kaminari were yelling the entire time, which was impressive even if they were flying for only five minutes.
The craft slowed down almost as abruptly as it accelerated, which meant that they would've likely joined Martin in the pilot seat if it wasn't for their seatbelts. These things were way stronger than one might think after looking at them.
"This is I-Island Air Control to the unknown aircraft. You've entered our no-flight zone, turn back immediately or identify yourself. If we don't receive an answer within thirty seconds we will open fire", a warning came through the speakers.
"Damn, they don't mess around at all, huh?", Kirishima stated as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"They sure don't!", Kravchenko confirmed and didn't say anything else.
"Um, shouldn't you like, answer them before we get shot down?", Ashido asked with worry.
"Oh please, I've designed their AA system! Their normal procedure is to fire a warning shot in the intruders general direction and as you could've noticed we haven't been shot at. That's because I-Island's automated defense system doesn't see this aircraft. To the target designation AI we don't exist. And neither does anything I make", Martin explained with a smirk, which calmed down his passengers a lot and made them relax back in their seats.
"Wait, if their systems don't see us, how do they know we are here?", Kaminari wondered out loud and the students looked back at their pilot.
"All of their weapons are fully automated, but there's an airport on I-Island so they need to have a radar and all that stuff", with that small detail cleared, Kravchenko finally picked up his microphone and started speaking. "I didn't hear no warning shot mate!", he exclaimed with a grin on his face. "Does your defense system have a malfunction or something cause I may go run some maintenance if that's the case. For a price of course", the man advertised and the students swore they could hear soft groans come from the speakers.
"- me this idiot!", they heard someone from the other side yell. "Can't you, just for once, follow the damn protocol?!", the man was audibly angry, but the high pitch in his voice made him sound almost funny.
"I can, but where's the fun in that, hey?! You have a place I can land or do I have to make my own parking spot again?", Martin seemed to completely ignore the earlier remark with his usual casual demeanor.
This time the groan was easy to hear as the man on the other side was close to his microphone now. "I'll send you the coordinates in a sec", he grumbled and the line went silent.
The entire landing sequence took maybe two minutes. Martin set his craft gently on their designated spot and they started getting out with their pilot going first.
As soon as their feet touched the concrete, a nearby set of doors opened up and a group of men wearing shades and matching suits rushed to meet them. They formed two rows on either side of the entrance, with the last two men standing about halfway to the landed vehicle.
Only a moment later another man, taller than the rest and wearing jeans and a simple red T-shirt came out. The students immediately noticed that his hair color was very similar to that of their pilot. But that's pretty much the end of their similarities.
"'Sup Ghostbuster?", Kravchenko asked with a grin as he shot some finger guns in the man's direction.
"Fuck you too", the now nicknamed 'Ghostbuster' answered.
"C'mon, don't be like that. It's a family reunion!", Martin revealed, which caught his passengers off guard. The two were related? "Guys, this is my brother Casper, hence the nickname, though you're probably two hundred years too young to know about the show, so there's really no point in me explaining this, but meh", he ended with a shrug as he turned back to his brother. "How have you been?!", he asked with a grin as he waltzed past Casper and continued on his way.
"Peaceful, but then you showed up", they heard him grumble as he turned around to follow his brother.
Just as he was about to vanish inside the building, Kravchenko suddenly turned around and started yelling to the students. "My brother and I have some catching up to do, so I'll let you on your merry way, Martha will show you around!", and with that he was gone.
A few moments later, the five UA students were the only ones left next to the landed aircraft.
"Anyone have an idea where we are?", Kaminari asked as he was looking around.
"I've been to I-Island a fair number of times already, but this part seems new. I'm pretty sure there was only a double landing strip when I last came here and now there are some helipads as well. And the control tower itself looks bigger", Midoriya recalled as he scratched his head.
That's when they heard someone speak from behind them. "Are you lost once again?", they turned around swiftly and sure enough, Martha was standing next to the- wait a sec.
"Um, has the flying thingy from earlier disappeared when we weren't looking or am I going blind?", Ashido asked, positively stupefied
"Also, shouldn't Martha be more holographic and less… lively?", Jiro asked, just as starstruck as her friends.
"Please do not try to understand this on your own. It may negatively impact your mental health", there was a smile on her face as the AI seemed to joke. At least they thought it was the AI from earlier. Whenever they saw Martha on the ship she was but a blue, transparent projection. This one looked perfectly human!
She had blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders and warm green eyes. She was wearing black leggings, white button up shirt and a light, grey jacket.
"Then explain it to us", Kirishima stated in response to her earlier joke.
"I may try, but so as not to waste time, let's get going towards your hotel", still smiling, she passed the five students, who started following her, not wanting to get lost in an unfamiliar place once again. Once they settled into a steady pace, the AI started talking. "The form you are currently walking with has been assembled from the very same nanites that have transported you here when they were still an aircraft. The excess material has been dispersed into the surrounding area for when it needs to reassemble itself into its previous shape. Hence why you can admire me in all of my non-holographic glory", she explained and the students let out various murmurs of understatement.
Except Kaminari, but he already had his gap moe moment earlier in the day so it was like a breeze of normality in this ever-expanding sea of madness that they've found themselves stranded in.
With Martha's help they flawlessly navigated the unusually crowded streets of I-Island all the way to their hotel. Much to the majority's embarrassment, Kravchenko had rented three hotel rooms instead of the two they expected and had even taken it upon himself to make sure that Kirishima and Ashido as well as Jiro and Kaminari ended sleeping together, leaving Midoriya to take up the last room all by himself.
"This guy's even more of a schemer than Nezu!", the five thought in unison.
After the embarrassment passed and the unpacking was done, the students decided to start exploring the already set up part of the I-Expo as well as the I-Island itself and Martha was more than happy to serve as their guide.
And that's a McWrap for today. Bun intended. This one two.
Before you escape my clutches though, the announcement!
So I know that most of you think that I was just lazing around for the past two weeks and not doing anything productive, which is fair because I am a very lazy person, but not this time! And to prove this I'll post not one, not two, but I don't know how many one-shot ideas that were swirling around in my head for quite some time now starting tomorrow and if any of these stories garner enough attention to continue writing then I'll do just that! I'm basically throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks...
Anyways that's everything I had to say for now so have a good day and I hope to see you around!