Izuku and Hado made their way through the streets of Tottori, the late afternoon turning the city in a trafficke hub as people started to leave their jobs and go home. The location they had been given wasn't too far from where the New Masquerade was held, and both teens wanted to get away from it fast, so after quickly saying goodbye to Detective Kaniyashiki and promising her a report on what they had seen – assuming they were given permission from the Director – by the following week.
They were led to the entrance to a large park, where they found a pair of agents, an old man in his late fifties or early sixties with hair and beard of a pure white color that made him look older. However, the muscles under his suit did betray a well-trained body and made him look his age – or made him look younger, if Izuku's estimate was wrong. Next to him was a girl around Izuku's age, seemingly sixteen at most, with black hair tied up in a ponytail and a mole on the bottom right of her lip.
"You are the other pair, right?" The old man asked.
Hado quickly showed her HASC badge, and the man did the same, before they both put it quickly back. "Agent Kentaro Watanabe." The man said, standing up. Izuku could see why he had that name, considering he was almost two meters tall easily. Definitely shorter than All Might, but not by much. "And this is my trainee."
"Nice to meet you!" The girl said with a warm smile, extending her hand, "I'm Nana Kitamura."
"Agent Nejire Hado." Hado replied, shaking the Agent's hand, "And this is my trainee."
"Izuku Midoriya." He said with a bow, managing to avoid stuttering. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure is mine." The old man said, "Now, here is the thing. We think the kid with the pathogen is training in secret deeper in the park." He said, pointing behind himself. The park indeed was more forested going forward, enough Izuku could imagine someone training hiding among the trees, if their Quirk wasn't too destructive. "We plan to go in, surround him, and 'kidnap' him. Then we will take to the closest facility and take the pathogen out. There is a car ready." He pointed to the black car with darkened windows on the side, and Izuku couldn't help but think it was exactly the car someone imagined when he thought 'Secret government agents kidnapping a civilian'. Charming.
Midoriya and Hado nodded, and they started walking.
Izuku found himself walking next to Kitamura, the black-haired girl seemingly calm as she looked around, before she glanced at him. "So… How did you join the HASC?" She asked abruptly.
"Eh? Oh, uhm…" Izuku wasn't sure what to say at the sudden question, "Uhm, someone recommended me for it. What about you?"
"Same, actually." She said with a thumb up, "At least we avoided the longer process, right?" She chuckled, before yawning. "Ugh, this has been so tiring."
"Yeah, it's been a busy day. Did you walk around the whole city?"
"Yup. You?" She asked, and Izuku just nodded. "Makes sense. Well, at least we found the target." And with that Kitamura went quiet again. Just in time, because Watanabe gestured to them to stay quiet, as they came in sight of the center of the park. A pond surrounded by thick woods made it appear almost natural, though the pond was also surrounded by a fence and there were benches here and there. Without hesitation, Watanabe gestured to his right and started making his way through the woods. Izuku put on his gas mask as soon as they were out of sight from the road, and after a moment Hado imitated him. Watanabe and Kitamura glanced at each other, and then pulled out their own.
The light of the late afternoon was barely enough to light their path, but they could see it was there, a barely visible line that stretched around the trees. There was probably a clearing not too far from there, Izuku reasoned. Size-wise, this stretch of forest couldn't be more than a kilometer long and two hundred meters wide, since he knew past that they would leave the park entirely.
They had walked less than two hundred meters when fog started to rise all around them. It was just a light mist, not enough to make them blind or anything similar, but Izuku had a bad feeling about it. He glanced at the others, but they all kept going. Hado glanced back at him when she noticed and gave a hesitant thumbs up. She clearly had at least some concerns about the mist herself.
He subconsciously tapped his gas mask. It had remained intact through the ordeal at the New Masquerade – he had checked to make sure there weren't any cracks, but he found none and was fairly sure Hatsume would have hit him with a wrench for doubting her – and now he had to wonder if it would prove more useful than originally expected. At first he had brought it as a precaution, but… Well, this was more than that.
Then, suddenly, the old man stopped and raised his hand. "We are here." He said, pointing to the center of a large clearing, where a single boy stood. He was around Izuku's age, with short grey hair and a toothy smile.
"That's hi-" Izuku started to ask.
And then Kitamura jumped Izuku, trying to pull off his mask, while Watanabe rushed for Hado. If Izuku hadn't been looking out for trouble, she would have grabbed him, but he managed to dive out of the way. Hado wrestled Watanabe off herself easily, before floating out of reach.
"Shit." Watanabe said.
"What are you doing?!"
"Helping a friend, of course." He said, pointing at the gas kid.
Izuku and Hado put it together at the same time. "He got you." Izuku said.
"Earlier, yes."
"But it doesn't make sense! It should have an incubation period!" Hado replied.
"It doesn't." The teen replied, raising both hands to release more grey gas, the mist growing thicker. "It's my new Quirk. I'm not sure if it's something Alien or if Watanabe and Kitamura are just some weirdos, but I finally got my Quirk in control. I'm not letting you take it away."
"Well said, Fujimi." Kitamura said with an approving nod.
Izuku looked at Hado. So the pathogen used the teen's gas to spread. In fact, maybe it was spreading better? Those two had been aggressive, but they didn't seem to be experiencing any serious tiredness, even assuming Kitamura's original comment was correct.
"Look, we just want to be friends." Kitamura said in that moment, "All we need is for you two to take off the masks and join our side. Then we can report to the HASC that Fujimi's track was a dud too, and 'search' a bit more before reporting the pathogen probably died."
Right, and that would mean this Fujimi guy would just claim his Quirk had changed for the better and use it on his own, while spreading the pathogen more, while Midoriya followed him around. No thanks. He already had a bossy friend once, and he had to admit that Hado's and Hatsume's brand of friendship was a pure improvement.
"Fujimi!" He shouted, "Did the pathogen reproduce yet?"
Fujimi shrugged, probably deciding it wasn't "I never saw anything like that. It doesn't really show up outside my body. I only know something is odd because it attacked me a few weeks ago while I was fishing in the Sendai and vanished inside my body.
That sounded fairly disgusting, Izuku decided, but it made sense with the timeline. The pathogen had entered the waters around the Tottori Dunes, then had followed the river upstream until it had ran into the teen, at which point he had been… taken over? Infected? Who knew if the real Fujimi was in charge or if the pathogen was just mimicking him, considering they had no idea of what he behaved like before or what the pathogen could do to a normal human body.
'And that is if Fujimi is human at all but for my sanity I will assume so.' He decided.
"So, will you take off the masks?" Watanabe asked.
"I can just call for help, you know that, right?" Hado replied, but Watanabe just snickered.
"By all means, try."
Hado checked her phone… only to find it wasn't there. The man smiled, and showed them both of their phones.
"How…"
"Natural talent." The man replied. Quirk? Alien ability? Just sleight of hand? Izuku wasn't sure, but it was probably something that allowed to steal something. There had to be a limit, though. He probably couldn't steal objects bigger than a certain surface or mass, otherwise he would have stolen their masks with it.
Kitamura was just standing next to her mentor, and when she crossed eyes with him she just smiled sadly, like they were just having a small misunderstanding. Izuku wondered what it felt like to suddenly be so loyal to a 'friend' she didn't even know existed just a few hours before.
'Can I win a fight?' He wondered. Maybe against Kitamura, she was a bit shorter than him and he had a weapon, while she hadn't pulled out one yet. That left Watanabe, who was experienced and could probably beat him up easily. The question was if he would go that far for a 'friend'.
Then again, their winning condition was taking off their masks…
Or was it?
'They don't know Hado is a Faedian.' Izuku realized. She had put on the mask for that? He had seen her take one on the way to the New Masquerade, but hadn't even considered that she didn't have a reason to wear it. And this whole plan they had couldn't work either. Even if they got Izuku, Hado was immune!
… But then, what would they do to her? How far would Kitamura and Watanabe go for a 'friend'? How far would Fujimi go? Without knowing him, Izuku wasn't sure.
He sighed. "We have to knock them out and then bring him in, don't we?"
"Yup." Hado replied, and she dove down.
What Izuku hadn't expected was for Kitamura to take flight and clash with Hado in midair. She wasn't trying to hurt Hado, thankfully, but more trying to grab her mask and pull it from her face. Still, if those two were going to fight in mid-air…
"Bad luck kid." Watanabe said, stepping forward, "I'm going to give you one more chance to just surrender. You can just join us. I tell you, Fujimi is a pretty nice guy to be friends with."
Izuku decided once again that he really, really didn't want to breath that gas. Honestly, this whole 'friends' thing felt more like a brainwashing than a simple increase in loyalty. He wondered if it just meant that Watanabe and Kitamura were willing to go that far for a true friend, or if it was truly making them completely subservient.
It didn't matter right now, did it? He dashed forward, and dodged out of the way of Watanabe's fist, before activating the Orgue… only to be nailed in the face with another of the man's attacks, a fist that would have shattered a less resistant gasmask. Thanfully, Izuku was wearing Hatsume tech. And as it turned out, the girl's hardware was more than capable to hold against a fist.
But when Watanabe pulled out an electrified stick, Izuku had to wonder how he'd deal with that one. What would All Might- no, that was the wrong line of thought. What would the HASC Agent he wanted to be do?
He glanced at Hado, who had grabbed Kitamura and was holding her in a sleeper hold in midair. The other girl was trying her best to break free, but the fact she was turning purple didn't really bode well for her.
Izuku reflected, while stepping back, and pulling out his new weapon. 'He didn't use guns.' Part of his mind noted. 'That probably means he is only trying to break my mask, not incapacitate me.' Which meant, maybe he could break through the teen, if he took out the opponent first.
On the surface, the weapon he took out looked just like a gun, but a closer inspection showed it wasn't quite the same. It was blockier, and had somewhat rounded sides, almost like a water gun. However, it was still made of metal, still about the size and weight of a gun, and it still had a charger and a certain kind of projectiles.
He fired a shot, and the projectile slammed against his opponent's chest, before bursting outward in a large blob of red goo. The man's right arm got stuck to his flank and his legs ended up tangled together. Izuku smiled.
'You want at least two non-lethal and one lethal option.' Kugisaki had explained while training him, 'The former for the enemies you want alive, the latter for the enemies that want you dead'. And that was his first non-lethal one: goo projectiles, a kind of projectile that originated on a planet called Silmer but had quickly spread through the Intergalactic Community.
Watanabe struggled forward, and before he could move again, Izuku fired two more shots. The goo projectiles exploded around his legs and other arm, encasing them completely in the glue-like material.
'He is thrashing aggressively, but he should know escaping through brute strength is only possible for someone with enhancements. One has to have the solvent, wait for it to harden and break apart, or have some natural ability to melt it, burn it or slide it off.' Probably a consequence of the increased aggressiveness, he wasn't acting completely logical, more akin to a brawler than the experienced Agent he was supposed to be. Good for them, Izuku supposed. He panted, before turning the weapon toward Fujimi.
"Alright man, hands up." Izuku said, trying to channel Kugisaki and every single tv show he had seen on the police, "And stop the gas."
Fujimi looked from him to Watanabe, struggling on the ground to get the red glue-like material off his body but not achieving much of a result, and then to Kitamura, who was still thrashing in Hado's hold, but not managing to break out. "Shit…"
"If it makes you feel better, I'll try to not have charges pushed against you." Izuku offered, "It would be hard to explain to the general public what happened, and it could be argued you are under the influence of the pathogen. It will be removed, and you will go back to your life."
Fujimi took a step back, and Izuku prepared the gun. He still wasn't that good a marksman – he had only landed the hit because Watanabe had been focusing on hand to hand and was not trying to dodge – but he was fairly sure he could hit Fujimi before he actually started running.
But then something else happened. Fujimi's hands stopped emitting the gas he had been using, and he raised them. "Fine. I'm not trying to be a Villain here. I just… I just wanted a better Quirk." He glanced at Kitamura and Watanabe, "Stop, both of you. We are done."
"Are you sure, Fujimi?" Watanabe asked, and he sounded actually caring. Izuku bit his lip. This was a really dangerous ability, uh? If it ended up in the hands of someone dangerous…
"I'm sure." He said, "I'd like to be a Pro, and it seems the game is up."
Watanabe grunted, and Kitamura cried in Hado's arms. Izuku wasn't sure what to make of that.
-x-
"Romero Fujimi, fifteen years old, soon to take the entrance exam for some Hero Schools. One is…" Mera checked the papers, "Shiketsu, and then a bunch of secondaries, like Isamu or Ketsubutsu. His Quirk is Zombie Virus, so that explains a lot."
"It does?" Izuku asked. Him and Hado were sitting in the Director's office, finally reporting back.
"Zombie Virus affects the brain of anyone that breaths the substance mister Fujimi emits, making them hyper-aggressive at the cost of their intellectual functions. It's only temporary, but I can see why mister Fujimi is worried. It's a difficult Quirk to use for Heroism. In fact, at least three schools have rejected his application entirely." Mera yawned, clearly not particularly interested, "Then in comes the pathogen. It seems that thing decided to use Fujimi's gaseous emission to spread itself. Considering Fujimi's Quirk already affected the target's brain, I assume the combination is why most side-effects were removed, the speed of infection skyrocketed, and the loyalty became even stronger than what was originally described." He shook his head, "Just a case of the perfect combination."
Izuku nodded. "What will happen now?"
"The Law Office informed me they don't intend to press charges." Mera said, and Izuku couldn't help but look at him in surprise. He had said they wouldn't press charges, but it wasn't like he had the power to decide that, he could only suggest it, and was surprised that had been taken into consideration. Mera, however, continued. "He wasn't aware he was spreading an illness until he encountered the HASC, so we decided against claiming misuse of Alien biology. We could theoretically press regular charges for unlawful Quirk use, but there is just very little reason to do so. It would put a lot of attention on him, most likely ruin his future, and the HPSC President would have some choice words, mostly swearing, if I purposefully tried to keep a guy that can turn a city into a zombie hive from going into Heroism. There are some Quirks you just don't want out there unchecked."
His hand moved to a cup of coffee, and he downed it in one go, before continuing "Not to mention, there is a valid argument for self-defense, since he was technically in danger. We usually do the same thing for anyone we have to take away in secret."
Izuku nodded. He was happy for Fujimi, he supposed, since it meant he got to go back to his life. Before he could ask more, though, Hado interjected. "And the pathogen?"
"The Medical Team extracted it from his body and safely stored it in a cryochamber. It entered a form of hibernation, and we will see how to deal with it. Don't get your hopes up though, it's likely we will destroy it."
Hado grimaced, but she nodded, so Izuku took it as a cue to ask his own question. "The other afflicted people?"
"Fujimi cooperated when we asked who he had infected. Apparently, a bunch of his classmates and neighbors, a guy that tried to rob him, and one that picked a fight with him out of nowhere, plus of course Agent Watanabe and Kitamura." He pulled out another paper, "According to Watanabe's report – the part he managed to keep objective instead of descending into a subjective rant on why his 'friend' should be allowed to keep the pathogen – the 'robber' would be a guy called Setsuno, who we identified as Toya Setsuno, a member of the Shie Hassaikai with precedents for petty theft. The other, given the description, we assume to be this 'Parappa the Rapper' that was captured during the New Masquerade confrontation."
"Uhm, about that…"
"Anything on the Family or the League is classified." The Director said, before raising a hand to prevent their protest, "I will clarify: Agent Hado can look into it if she wants. But Midoriya is still a trainee. Until he becomes a full-fledged Agent, involving him in an investigation of this caliber is out of the question."
For a moment, Hado seemed ready to ask, but then she sighed. "I understand sir."
"Good." Mera yawned, "Is there anything else?" They both shook their head, and they both made to leave, but the Director raised a hand, "Midoriya, could you stay for a moment? I would like to discuss something privately."
Izuku glanced at Hado, but she gave him a thumbs up in encouragement and left the room, leaving him alone in the office with the Director. For a minute or so, they both remained silent, the man taking the chance to grab a new cup of coffee from a machine out of sight, that Midoriya assumed was under his desk. "Sir…" Midoriya finally said, breaking the silence.
"Oh, right, my manners." The man took out a second cup, "Here, have a drink as well."
Izuku grabbed the cup obediently, took one sip, and his face scrunched. It was the bitterest coffee Izuku had ever tried, and it probably contained enough caffeine to wake up the dead. "It's… Good."
"Your face certainly says that." Mera mused, and Izuku for a second thought he had seen the man smile, though that vanished back to his usual neutral, tired expression. He wondered if this was some joke he pulled on everyone. "Still, there were two things I wanted to discuss."
"Sir?"
"First. How are things with Hado, Midoriya? It's her first time working as the senior partner and a trainer, and as much as this is a test for you, it's also a test for her."
"Hado is doing well, sir." Izuku replied, honestly. "We work well together, and she knows how to direct the investigation."
"While taking a lot of risks?"
"I was the one that suggested infiltrating the Fight Club, sir."
"And she agreed to it, Midoriya." He sighed, "I can't fault her choice, per se, but there were better ways. Infiltrating as a customer, for example."
"I… We weren't sure if they would have…"
"It was worth a try, though. Certainly more than parading a Replica Orgue in front of such an audience."
"I understand sir, but we were worried that the target might escape…"
Mera sighed, "And so you took the easy option, risking both your physical health and the mission on your skills."
"I…"
Mera raised his hand, "I'm just pointing out flaws in your plan that Hado should have pointed out herself, instead of going with it. Why do you think she didn't?"
"She… wanted me to try my plan?"
"Indeed." Mera sighed, "Faedians are very… free-thinking, when it comes to teaching and learning. To an unhealthy degree, I might add. Did she ever suggest a plan, and then immediately agree to try yours as well the moment you made one?"
"I… Yes. During the Devilfish investigation." Izuku nodded, "But it made sense to try both."
"I'm just pointing out what could become a pattern, Midoriya, so you can keep it in mind. Agent Hado is skilled and has learned well, but she is also teaching you, and sometimes she will fall into that. Much like Agent Watanabe failed Kitamura when he underestimated the target, Agent Hado has her own flaws."
"… Why are you telling me this?"
Mera took a deep breath. "This October, Midoriya, you will undergo your first Trainee Examination. You know that, correct?"
Izuku nodded. He had been told before. Every April and October, Izuku and all other Trainees would undergo physical and combat examinations, as well as a review of their academic career and an interview on the cases they had taken part in. "Is there a problem, sir?"
"I wouldn't call it a problem, Midoriya, I just decided, as the second thing, that you should be aware of what this means since you didn't join the HASC through the regular paths." He took another sip of coffee, "In short, Midoriya, people will single you out a lot in this."
"W-Why?"
"Because of your unusual circumstances. Normally, all candidates for HASC have been selected in advance. I won't bore you with the details, you can look them up, but suffice to say that every year we select fifty or so Earthlings and fifty or so Aliens. That's a hundred applicants, most of them having trained from a decently young age in preparation for it or for similar careers. For perspective, Seiji Shishikura, who I'm aware you have met, started training his Quirk privately from the age of nine to join the HASC."
Izuku nodded nervously. "I know sir. Hado started at eleven as well."
"… Yes, that would count, though Aliens are a different matter, since their process to become adults can vary wildly. Still, you understand my point." He sighed, "Still, that by itself wouldn't be a problem. You wouldn't be the first Agent that makes their way in the HASC through the recommendation of someone else, rather than through the normal process. The problem is that you weren't recommended by an Agent, but by All Might. Heroes aware of the HASC aren't exactly members, so while we can appreciate the Number One's input, ultimately he couldn't actually make you join by himself. So…"
"You recommended me, officially."
"Bingo. Recommended directly from the Director on suggestion of the Number One Hero." With that, Mera downed the coffee, putting down the empty cup, "You see why a lot of eyes will be on you? If you fail the test… Well, expect to fail hard."
"How hard?"
"Usually, we don't lose trainees on the first test, but if you fail it… I wouldn't count on still being part of the HASC afterwards."
Izuku felt his mouth dry up instantly. There was that possibility? He could just… get kicked out instantly? Hado had said only the worst got kicked out until their third or so failed test, and he risked getting kicked out on first try?
"I-Is there anything I can do to make my chances higher?"
"I wish I could help. But aside from the fact that, as the one that recommended you, that would be unfair on my part, the three examiners we select will have free range when it comes to designing your exam."
"It can be anything?"
"Well, in the past for the combat portion of the exams we have had fighting robots, fighting experienced agents, fighting other examinees… A couple of years team exercises and even a battle royale." He shrugged, "You don't have to worry too much about the physical – that's just a general test of fitness – and the academical, since that's just reviewing your schooling results, that I'm told are quite high. As for the interview… Well, that's more on them to decide. I'd make you pass, but some of the possible examiners will pick apart your missions on the most minute finesse. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions, that's my advice there."
Izuku gulped.
Well, that wasn't ominous at all.
"I-Is it ok to tell me all that?"
"You could get all that just by asking around. Again, even I don't know what the plan will be, and I won't until a week before the examination. And no, I won't pass it on to you. If it came out, we'd both be in trouble." Director Mera yawned, "That is all, Midoriya. You are dismissed."
Izuku nodded stiffly, walking out of the room. Once the door closed behind him, he took a deep breath.
'I really wonder if becoming a Quirkless Hero would have been that much harder…' He wondered.
(XX)
"Congratulation on completing the mission Midoriya."
"Thank you sir."
"Next, you will have to take part in an exam."
"Oh come on!"
But indeed, our friend was none other than Romero Fujimi from the second OVA. Training of the Dead is a fun one, and I'm glad I got to include someone from it. Who knows, it might not even be the only one.
And look, OCs, everyone loves those in fanfics, right?
... Right?
No but seriously, it's always nice to recast characters, but if I did it for every role in the story, I would end up just not having MHA in the background at all and moving the entire cast to just the Alien side of the story, at which point I might as well just write some Quirkless AU. So, of course, you will see OCs interact with the canon characters. I'm sure it will be fun.
It was fun to imagine what would happen if I fused the Kingmaker Pathogen (as it's now officially called) and Romero's Quirk. I did toy with the idea of a zombie king, but ultimately I found more spooky the idea that the people hit by the Quirk became loyal 'friends' on an unhealthy level. It felt a bit more disturbing, strangely enough.
And Izuku now has a gun. Granted, this one is a goo gun that doesn't sound so dangerous, but it's certainly not his only one. This is a spooky development.
The incoming examination is actually something I decided on the moment I started this fic. I asked myself how to keep the "Academia" part of My Hero Academia in a fic like this, and I figured making it both entertaining and important for the plot, allowing Izuku to meet other characters and preparing more groundwork for future arcs was the better solution.
It also just makes sense. While they employ you, they need to know if you are keeping up the training. People that fall aside can get moved to a different role (like the Law Office, the Recruitment Office or the Medical Team, putting them through the proper education) but the Agents need to be the best of the best.
I will probably post more details on this over the next week, since I can't really deep dive in the process in the fic without it slowing to a crawl and it's not terribly important to give so many details in the main story.