Chapter 2: Meeting Potential
"Mister Koda, may I have a word with you?"
The rock-headed student looked up from his homework, as did the rest of the class at the sound of Principal Nezu's voice, who was currently standing at attention in front of the door to their class.
Koda cringed a bit when everyone turned to look at him, all of them obviously curious as to why the principal of their renowned high school was personally coming down to talk with one of their own. Steeling himself and remembering the phrase of their school, Koda got up and proceeded to gather his things, all the while trying to ignore the mutterings coming from all around him.
"Why would Principal Nezu want to speak with him?"
"Not sure, maybe he's in trouble."
"I wonder if they have a problem with his Quirk when our principal could easily be controlled by him…"
"Nah, maybe rockhead isn't just up to speed as a hero and they're kicking him out."
Koda cringed at hearing that last one coming from their class's resident bully, just imagining the sneer that was on Katsuki Bakugo's face. He'd done his best to avoid that student's attention all year, but now he was hyper aware of what Bakugo thought of him.
Getting the last of his things in his backpack, he slugged it over his shoulder and walked out, following the principal as he allowed Koda through before closing the door.
"Don't worry, you are not in trouble mister Koda. Rather I have gotten a request for your presence by someone who works here at UA." Nezu explained, walking by Koda's side down the hall.
Koda looked at the principal with a confused look. Who wanted to speak with him so much that they would call him out during class?
"They are a recent member of our staff, and you may not have met or even heard of them since they aren't an official teacher or hero yet." Nezu continued, both hands behind his back as he spoke in that almost constant jovial tone he was known for.
As they turned down the hall, Koda wondered who exactly the principal was talking about. Normally, UA announced new teachers or heroes with great fanfare, like it did with Allmight when he became a teacher for their class. Why hadn't he or the rest of his class been informed about it?
"They've been under our tutelage here at UA and I was gracious enough to provide them with a personal laboratory." Nezu said, before stopping abruptly at the elevator. Pressing the down button, albeit having to do a tiny hop to do so, the two simply watched as the number of the elevator's location went up to their floor. "I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about, young Koda."
The chime of the elevator sounded out, and the doors opened. Koda went in, but then was surprised when the Principal simply remained out rather than go in with him.
"My apologies, but our guest has insisted that he speak to you alone and I don't see any reason to go against his wishes. Just be polite as you would to any other members of our staff and it should all go smoothly. Press the basement button and head down to the end of the hall and you'll meet him. Ta-ta!" Nezu said as he waved to the nervous student as the doors shut between them.
Koda simply stood in the middle of the elevator, processing all that he'd been told in such a short amount of time. He hoped he hadn't come across as rude to the Principal for not really saying anything, but he'd always been nervous speaking to Nezu in particular since he himself was a Quirked animal, and Koda didn't want to end up controlling him by accident. He still had no idea how exactly his own Quirk worked sometimes, which was why he typically avoided speaking often.
As the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, Koda was suddenly taken aback at the hallway before him, with it being a mostly straight line of lights with a few doors on each side spaced out evenly across. It felt almost ominous for some reason…
Inhaling and clearing his mind of anxious thoughts, the student went forward, his footsteps echoing as he went down the hallway. Stopping to take a look through the glass of one of the rooms, Koda realized that this floor seemed to be some kind of extra floor for classrooms. Which was understandable since UA did have a limit on the amount of students they accepted each year, so this floor must've have been considered superfluous.
However, just as he reached the end, Koda froze, looking at the sight before him, consisting of a large set of double doors, and had what seemed to be some sort of magnetic lock in between them. To further confused matters. they were also made out of pure metal, reminding Koda of a bank vault. The lack of windows unlike the other doors he'd passed only exacerbated his confusion.
Wonder what to do now, the student reached out and grabbed the handle, pulling on it and confirming it was locked.
"Who is there?" crackled a voice, and Koda nearly screamed at the unexpected break in silence. Looking all around for the source frantically, he saw that he was still alone, which did nothing to stem his panic.
"Look above the entrance, human." the gruff staticy voice said, and it was then that Koda's attention went to the intercom he had somehow missed, and next to that was a camera with a glowing red light that showed it was on. "State your business."
Koda took a few deep breaths to calm himself, wondering if he should chastise himself later for his reaction. It wouldn't do good to react to sudden noises that came out of nowhere if he wanted to be a hero.
Waving at the camera, Koda watched as it moved slightly, confirming whoever was speaking was indeed looking at him. "I...I'm Koji Koda sir. I was told to come here by Principal Nezu. He said you wanted to meet me to discuss stuff about my Quirk?" the student said in a calm tone. As he awaited a response, Koda couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Who would choose to work on a completely empty floor, devoid of life and completely alone? It sounded almost like something a villain would do, but he quickly put that mindset away, knowing that there was no way Nezu or any of the other heroes would allow a villain to be at UA.
There was another crackle of static, and then the gruff voice from before spoke up again, but this time it had a surprisingly jovial tone. "Well well I wasn't expecting you so soon Mister Koda. I will unlock the door for you. Please make your way in, and I'll be with you shortly."
The intercom went silent, and then the magnetic lock on the door made some whirring noises before the bars holding it in place unlatched, indicating that it was now unlocked. Koda then walked forward and pushed on it, the door opening slowly due to its weight. And then his eyes were suddenly assaulted by bright white lights that was a far cry from the dim hallway lights he had just been in. Koda blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the unexpected brightness.
Lowering the hand that he'd used to shield himself, Koda took in the amazing sight of the lab before him, as it was almost a pure white in color, with various tables full of machinery and chemicals that indicated that it was indeed a laboratory. Some of the machines were moving by themselves as they did whatever tasks they were assigned, while various burners and test tubes boiled or mixed together naturally in their processes.
What caught Koda's attention though, was a large machine at the very end of the room, which had a large computer monitor in front of some kind of round metallic orb surrounded by wires and antennas that stuck out of it at the sides. For some reason, while it didn't seem to be doing anything, Koda got the sense that this machine was dangerous for some reason, although he couldn't tell why.
"Ah, welcome to my laboratory young Kojik Koda." said the gruff voice from before. The student almost jumped out of his skin at how close it was and turned around in its direction, but found no sign of anyone there.
"Hehe I see my invisibility device works perfectly." the voice said, and Koda heard a few button clicks in front of him before hearing the telltale sound of a machine powering down, and then out of nowhere, a large being appeared before him.
The being in question was taller than him, standing at almost six feet tall, probably seven. But the thing that caught Koda's attention was the fact that rather than being a human like he'd expected, this person was actually a gorilla, and from his studies in anthropology back in school, they looked to be a silverback gorilla. What made it even odder was the fact that this ape was standing up on its feet like a person and wearing a lab coat around its person, as well as a pair of glasses that hung over its grey colored eyes, clearly full of intelligence as Koda looked at its face.
"I apologize if I scared you mister Koda, I just couldn't resist." the ape chuckled, and Koda was taken aback at the sight of the animal talking. Of course, he knew he should be used to this sort of thing considering he'd just had an extended, if one-sided, conversation with their school principal, but animals with Quirks were exceedingly rare to see in society, so all Koda could do was look on in awe at the sight before him.
"Where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Grodd, and it is a great pleasure to meet you Mister Koda." the ape now known as Grodd said, reaching a furry hand over to the awestruck student. Koda's eyes went down to the outstretched arm, taking in the amount of muscle that was visible from the sleeve of the white lab coat. Instinctively, he reached his own hand out from his side, grasping Grodd's hand within his own. The gorilla smiled and shook it while lightly squeezing, and Koda yelped a bit at the feeling of his hand feeling like it was trapped in a vice.
"Oh ho ho! I'm sorry. I forget my own strength." Grodd chuckled, letting go of Koda's hand, who brought it to his chest and nursed it a bit. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"No...its ok." Koda replied. "I understand it was an accident, sir."
"Ah good. The first step towards becoming a true hero is understanding when something is done with malicious intent or a mistake of judgment. Keep that mindset in mind, young Koda, and I'm sure you'll go far in life." the gorilla said, and the student felt a bit of pride dwell in his chest at the advice and slight praise Grodd had just given him.
"If it's alright to ask sir, I was told to meet you here by my Principal, and he didn't actually tell me what the reason was." Koda brought up, and Grodd's eyes widened.
"He hasn't? Oh dear, I was hoping you'd be all caught up." Grodd said, reaching over and placing one of his large hands on Koda's shoulder. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, I shall explain everything to you."
With that, both Grodd and Koda walked in the direction the ape was going, with the student taking in the sights of various bits of technology at work. He also felt a slight rumble beneath him with every step that the ape was taking, and the gorilla's hand was gently pushing on his back all the while, giving Koda a sense of the raw strength that Grodd possessed.
"You see young Koda, I'm a recent employee of your school, and I, just like your principal, was the product of an experiment of applying what your kind call 'Quirks' to non-human mammals." Grodd explained, adjusting his lab coat with his free hand. "I was found in the woods by some patrolling heroes, and was introduced to UA. Since then, I have taken initiative to share my genius with the world, as it seems that whatever Quirk was given to me has improved my intellect, even surpassing Nezu's if I may be so modest."
Koda suppressed a snicker, wondering if that was even possible considering how smart UA's Principal was already with his own Quirk. He decided not to say anything though, instead allowing himself to be led to yet another door, which Grodd then went to the side and pressed a few keypad buttons before the red light on it went green.
As the ape opened it for him, Koda made his way inside, and was surprised to see a wall with multiple cages stacked atop one another, each filled with rats of various fur colors and ages. The room must have been soundproofed from the outside, and there was a cacophony of squeaks and various other rodent noises being made within it.
"As I worked here, however, I became curious when I heard what UA does. A school that teaches young people how to be heroes? Why, I must say that I was fully...fascinated by the idea." Grodd said, closing the door behind them with an audible click. Koda felt a sudden sense of uneasiness well up within him for some reason. Grodd had been nothing but jovial up until now, but the way he said that last part seemed tinged with something he couldn't place.
"But oh ho, I haven't even gotten to why I've called you here haven't I? My apologies, my thoughts just tend to ramble and run away from time to time." Grodd chuckled. "Please, have a seat."
Koda nodded and saw that there was a chair at the end of the table in this room, so he made his way to it while taking off his backpack and setting it down to the side.
"In any case, I asked the principal to provide me with information on the various students that are at this school, and I must say, your powers are all so interesting to read upon. Why I've spent many a night these past couple weeks just reading files and passing out at my desk while doing so. Hehe silly me, but nothing a nice cup of coffee can't fix. Speaking of, would you like some, mister Koda?" Grodd said as he made his way to a nearby coffee machine.
"Uuuuh no thanks mister Grodd." Koda replied.
A chuckle escaped the ape as he turned his back to the student to prepare his beverage. "Oh please, just Grodd is fine. Mister Grodd makes me sound older than I think I am."
"Oh uuuh...ok." Koda said awkwardly.
"But anyway, I recently came across your file when I was browsing, and I must admit, when I first heard of your abilities mister Koda, I found myself...genuinely intrigued." Grodd said, and Koda himself creased his eyes together at the slight pause.
Turning around to face the student once more, the gorilla blew on the fresh cup of coffee he was currently holding. "I'll be honest with you mister Koda, when I heard you had the ability to control non-human animals with just your voice, I found myself kind of questioning just how detrimental that could be, particularly for not only myself, but your principal."
Koda cringed, wondering if this scientist would consider him too dangerous to himself and their principal and try to have him expelled. It was something that the student have been scared of throughout his time at UA, and he had secretly been thinking of counterarguments in case it ever became an issue.
"However…" Grodd piped in, having seen the expression on Koda's face and seemingly understanding the student's concern for his career and education as a hero. "I've seen your files and watched some of the security footage involving you, and after careful consideration, I have decided that you aren't the sort of person to use their power irresponsibly. In fact, the reason I have called you here is because I became most curious about the extent of your powers."
Taking a long sip of his coffee, Grodd watched as Koda visibly relaxed and seemed to let out a sigh of relief, glad that his future as a hero wouldn't be jeopardized. However, Koda then looked up with a confused expression as the gorilla went over to one of the cages, unlocking a few latches before pulling out the entire thing from the wall. The rat inside squealed and for the most part looked really uncomfortable for some reason, and the student felt his heart clench a little at the sight.
"Poor things have been having a fit lately. I haven't done anything unforward or illegal with them, but I assume their anxiousness is due to my large presence and scent." Grodd explained as he set the cage down on the table Koda was sitting against. "So I am giving you full permission to use your power down here young Koda, and I will go ahead and record what affects your Quirk has on this rodent."
Koda looked shocked. This intelligent animal person wanted him to test his power of controlling other animals in front of him?
"I see you are confused and concerned. Well, in short, I wanted to see how exactly your power works. Whether it be some subtle hypnotic suggestion similar to telepathy that only targets non-human beings or maybe a specialized voice box that you possess that only animals are compelled to obey."
"But...but what if I-?" Koda began to ask, before the ape raised a hand to silence him.
"I've prepared for the circumstances and will be wearing this." Grodd said as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of metal headphones, which he then proceeded to place over his ears. "This device will distort your voice just enough to make it so I won't be accidentally affected by your Quirk, but still enable me to understand you."
Koda looked surprised at how well prepared Grodd had been for his appearance, and it occurred to him that the intelligent ape must have been planning this for a while.
"So I'll suggest a few things for you to command this rat to do, and we'll see whether it follows while I gather data on it. Is that ok?" he asked, and the student nodded in confirmation. "Great. So the first thing I would like you to do is tell this rat to stand up on its hind legs. Something simple to ease us in."
Koda turned to look at the rodent as it shook slightly in its cage, clearly uncomfortable about something. But he quickly put that aside, knowing that most animals were skittish by nature. "Ok little rat, I would like you to stand up please." he told it, being careful not to phrase his command as a suggestion or a question. He'd learned long ago that animals only followed his orders when specifically told to do so, and that trying to nervously ask them to do something never really worked.
The rat seemed to pause for a moment, and then got up on its hind legs.
"Excellent Koda!" Grodd said, clapping his thick hands together. "Tell it to do something else! Anything is fine."
"Oh uuuum…" Koda said in response, before narrowing his eyes down at the rat. "Squeak three times."
The rat did so.
"Roll over."
The creature got down on its feet and proceeded to roll once before looking back up at him.
"Take a drink of water."
A few tiny slurps were heard as the rodent went to its water bottle connected to its cage and drank from it.
Grodd beamed at the sight, his eyes darting back and forth between the student and the test subject. As Koda went through every order he could think of, many thoughts began to work its way through the ape's mind. But as he stared at Koda more, Grodd's gaze went down from the teen's face to his body, seemingly noticing for the first time that this student's body was both slightly chubby but also muscular in a few places. Koda was currently bent over the table, looking down at the rat, and the gorilla's gaze traveled over the broad back he had, as well as the curve of the teen's buttocks as they pushed out against his uniform.
Unconsciously, the ape's hand went down his lab coat, gliding over his thick belly and feeling a pressure building up beneath it. He was lucky his clothing was so loose, otherwise he would have had a hard time explaining why he currently had an erection.
Shaking his head and clearing his thoughts, the ape smiled and went forward, placing a hand on Koda's shoulder and making the teen cease giving orders to the rat.
"That's good enough Koda. I can clearly tell your powers work."
Koda smiles a little, glad he was able to help.
"However, there is something I need help understanding about your power." Grodd said, bringing a hand up and cupping his chin in thought. "If you were to tell an animal to do something that would compromise its own survival, would it do it out of choice or just blindly follow your order?"
The student frowned at that. "I'm...I'm not sure sir. I've always liked and respected animals. I mean, I even have a pet bunny at home. I don't think I've ever told an animal to do something like that." he responded.
"Hmmm I see." Grodd said, before sighing. "Well would you mind if we tested that theory out before I dismiss you?"
For some reason, Koda felt a sense of uneasiness, as if something wrong was about to happen. But the ape scientist had given him no reason to be uncomfortable, so he quickly quenched it. "Like how sir?"
Grodd scratches the side of his head, clearly thinking to himself. And then his eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers. "I have an idea! And I know this sounds a bit unorthodox, but I would like you to tell this rodent to chew its own leg off."
It seemed as though the temperature in the room had dropped by several degrees in a matter of seconds, and Grodd watched as Koda's face went from confusion, to shock, and then utter horror.
"WH-WHAT?!" the teen shouted suddenly, causing the rat to squeak at the sudden noise. "WHY WOULD YOU-?! THATS NOT-!" Koda sputtered, almost looking as though he was about to throw up.
Grodd went forward, his face losing his smile as it became one of concern. "Koda! Koda calm down!"
"No I'm not going to calm down!" the teen shouted furiously, pushing on the gorilla's chest and stepping away from him. "Why would you even ask for me to do such a thing?! Why?!"
Grodd took off the earmuffs and set them aside, waving his hands back and forth in a defensive manner. "Koda please, I was just coming up with a suggestion for my theory, I didn't mean to upset you."
The intelligent gorilla attempted to walk forward and place a comforting hand on the now hyperventilating teen, but then it was knocked away by Koda's own hand.
"Get the hell away from me! I'm out of here!" he yelled, reaching over to the table and grabbing his things.
"No young Koda wait!" Grodd yelled, attempting to grab the teen, but something seemed to prevent him from doing so, as he found that once he got within a few inches to Koda, his hands simply refused to touch him.
The teen stormed out of the room they were in, bringing his pack over his shoulder as he proceeded to trudge out through the lab.
"Koda wait! That wasn't what I meant!" the ape exclaimed, keeping pace with the furious teen even though he wasn't able to touch him currently.
"I'm not gonna stay here and let you order me to torture helpless animals!" Koda said, his face in a look of anger that was incredibly rare for the normally docile teen.
"But that wasn't the test young Koda!" Grodd exclaimed, and this time the teen stopped to turn and look at the gorilla with a baffled but still furious expression.
"What the heck are you talking about?! You just told me-!"
"I was testing you!" Grodd interrupted, smiling nervously. "I...I might have gone about it the wrong way, but I was honestly seeing whether or not you would do something so inhumane as what I suggested back there."
Koda's face softened just a bit, but remained suspicious. "So wait, you were testing me?"
"Of course! Like I would ever order or harm other animals in such a manner! I was just seeing if you had enough integrity and compassion to recognize when something was wrong. And I'm deeply sorry if I shocked you." Grodd said, bowing his head low. "You've shown me you clearly have morals and lines you will not cross, and I think that proves you have the makings of a true hero in future, young Koda."
Grodd held out a thick hairy hand out to the student, who looked down at it uneasily. "I promise Koda, it was just a mistake. I should have told you what I was really doing. Please forgive me?" the ape asked.
The student looked uneasily from the pleading look on the gorilla's face and down to the outstretched hand several times, trying to decide what to do. A part of him wanted to think that Grodd was simply trying to save his own reputation at UA and prevent him from telling people about what the ape had asked of him, but as Koda thought more about it, he slowly began to cool off, thinking that maybe he should give him the benefit of the doubt and not end this session on a sour note.
With a sigh, Koda took the gorilla's thick hand in his own, much to Grodd's obvious delight.
"I forgive you, but no more bringing sudden requests like that out of nowhere. I was almost ready to notify the principal of what you'd asked."
"Oh ho ho, I guess I really dodged a bullet there, didn't I?" Grodd laughed good-naturedly. "Tell you what young Koda, why don't you meet up with me tomorrow after your classes are over and help with a few other experiments I had in mind? And I promise they'll be ethical and won't involve any of what I foolishly requested of you today."
Koda hummed to himself, wondering if he really wanted to do this. He did have homework and hero training to focus on...but on the other hand, spending more time with this intelligent gorilla might prove more exciting in the long run. A brief look of confusion appeared on the student's face, wondering where that line of thinking had come from, but he quickly squashed it.
"Ok, I'll be back tomorrow then. See you later Grodd." he called out as he walked across the lab and through the wide doors.
"Ta-ta young Koda! See you soon" the ape called out, waving with a smile on his face.
Grodd watched as Koda's figure disappeared down the hallway and his footsteps eventually grew silent...and then his jovial expression morphed into one of disappointment and irritation.
"Hmmmm lots of potential, but too good-spirited." he said to himself, turning around and heading back to the room where the rat was. The ape simply stood at the table, arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared down at the chittering rat before him, which was just sitting calmly in its cage, oblivious.
And then, Grodd's hands clenched themselves into fists and his fanged teeth bared themselves as a slow growl escaped him. Reaching down towards the cage, he quickly unlocked the top latch, and the rat squeaked from the unexpected sense of danger it was feeling from this massive gorilla.
Reaching inside the cage, the rat squealed as Grodd's hand clenched around its body, squeezing so hard it could feel its fragile bones creak. The rodent began squeaking and thrashing in the ape's grip, who simply stared at the creature with a look of anger in his eyes.
"I guess my first test...was a failure." he calmly said, before his eyes flashed and he brought the rat's body towards his mouth.
There was a loud pained squeak and a massive crunching sound, as well as the splatter of liquid. And then the gorilla pulled the rat's corpse away from his mouth, which was now covered in blood, and then spit out the head to the side. He regarded the dead headless body of the rodent in his hand with a tilt of his head, before simply dropping it to the floor.
Taking a deep breath, the ape ran a hand over his head, before exhaling through his mouth, which now had the annoying taste of wet copper. He sometimes lost control of his temper and it almost always involved getting blood on himself, which was annoying but weirdly satisfying.
Walking over to a nearby chair, the gorilla turned and sat down on it, leaning his head back with his eyes closed. He exhaled a couple times through his nose, trying to think of some way to calm himself from today's disappointment.
And then his eyes opened as he got an idea. Reaching into his lab coat, Grodd pulled out the specialized UA phone he'd been given and searched for a number, finding it quickly and pressing it. As it rang, he brought it up to his ear, using his other hand to wipe away the blood on his mouth.
"Hello? Principal Nezu? Yes it's me Grodd. Your master. I request that you come down here so we can finish another session. I have some steam I need to blow off."
There was a pause.
"Then put it on hold mouse! I will not be denied this today! Be down here within the hour or your punishment will be severe!"
Grodd then hung up, letting out a sigh. He wondered why it was so much easier to control a quirked animal than it was most of the people here at this supposed Hero school. The principal had been surprisingly simple to put under his control, but the willpower of the heroes and especially the students seemed somehow resistant to his powers. Be that as it was however, he was determined to find a way around this problem, and soon, his plans for world domination would be put into full effect.
The thoughts in his head seemed to excite him as he felt a tug on the front of his lab coat, and the ape looked down to see he was sporting an erection. A grin spread across his blood-covered face.
He could definitely have some fun before he accomplished that, especially once Nezu arrived.