My Iron Giant
-Twist and Shout-
'It's dark...I can't move..where am I?'
Trying to figure out where he was he remembered what he was trying to do. There was a big robot, he wanted to run but he couldn't, there was-
Protect the nice girl
The girl was trapped, hurt, and about to be crushed. The threat, remove the threat.
'Is she safe? Is she alright? The nice girl, I'll keep you safe.'
It's still dark, but he can see. He sees the girl now, but there's something on her. It needs to move out of the way.
'What's in me? I feel something moving inside my back, my arms, everything.'
Tugging at his limbs he can feel foreign objects in everything, caging him to some prison. But it doesn't hurt, he feels fine, it feels right. He sees the girl isn't getting up so he moves to help her. He can't feel himself moving, he tries to move his arms, but he knows he's moving to help her.
He can't see, but he can.
He can't move, but he still can.
The girl is small, in his care now.
'She's with me now, she's safe, no one will hurt you.'
Something is trying to hurt her, he can't allow that.
Protect the nice girl, remove the threats. There are others, he can't tell who they are but he really doesn't care. All that matters is the nice girl. He tries to speak, he can, he can hear his own voice. No one notices though, or talks back to him.
'No one can hear me.'
Protect the nice girl
"Hey! All Might! What do I do now?!" Ochaco called from her VERY high up perch. The giant opened his hand back up after taking out the rest of the robots. Now he was just watching her again, she was grateful but it was a little weird.
All Might hearing her call from above leapt up to join her atop the palm of the mech.
"Well, I think we should get you to Recovery Girl. That ankle doesn't look too good." He pointed at the swelling.
Ochaco winced looking at it now. So much was happening that she had no idea what to do. Now she had time to think, and figure out what was going to happen.
"Yeah, good idea." She looked up at the soft luminescent eyes of the giant again. It simply watched her, waiting, wait how did All Might know it was a he? Why is All Might here?
"Um, All Mi-"
"HEEEYYYY!" Present Mic called from below. "RECOVERY GIRL IS DOWN HERE READY TO HELP OUT LITTLE LISTENER!"
"Thank you!" All Might said from above. "Now then, excuse me lad! Would you let us down please?" He asked the giant.
After waiting a few seconds, the giant still gave no indication it was moving. Not even a blink.
It was hard to tell where exactly it was looking when it was in non combat mode. From what they noticed when it fought the glowing pupils shrunk and focused narrowly on targets. Now with how much they filled the eye lenses you could only really judge based on head movement.
"Um, may you let us down?" Ochaco asked, pointing to the ground.
The result was instant and slightly jostled the two as the giant lowered his hand until it reached the ground. All Might hopped off and helped Ochaco slide down the side to get to the ground. As soon as they got off the giant pulled his hand back up and rose to his full height, still watching them from above. Now, surrounded by a group of teachers/heroes, All Might took the moment to wonder the state of his successor.
"Huh, he only responded to you. Interesting..Maybe he has a crush?" All Might teased, eliciting a blush from Ochaco.
"Now now, enough of that. You can tease after I make sure they're ok." Recovery Girl said checking on Ochaco. With a quick kiss the teen felt much better to allow her to stand back up.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome. And who is this? Is this something that normally happens with their quirk?" The older woman asked looking back up.
"I don't know, but All Might seems to know him." Ochaco mentioned, earning a lot of stares from the other staff. He began to sweat under the sudden reveal of information, until he was saved by a small rodent.
"Everybody! Thank you very much for your quick response. Everyone besides All Might, Recovery Girl, and Ochaco Uraraka may leave to resume your other duties. We will discuss our next steps for what to do with our large friend here." Nezu called out, walking between many of the teacher's legs startling them. Once they nodded and went to fulfill their other work he turned to Recovery Girl and held out a folder.
"This is Izuku Midoriya's file. We confirmed the identity through reviewing the footage."
Recovery Girl opened it, and was very surprised at the information. "Quirkless?" She asked looking to All Might with an unspoken question.
He gave a small nod, confirming her suspicion. "Yes, he was labeled quirkless but somehow within one moment for protecting this young girl here he did all of this." He gestured to the rest of the testing grounds. Broken rubble, footprints, and plenty of flattened robots smashed into oblivion.
Nezu chuckled at All Might's words. Finding his multi purpose explanation humorous.
"Well, we should thank him. I regret to admit this especially in front of the one who was placed in our temporary care. But the sensors on the zero pointer didn't see our examinee here under the rubble. If he did not act I fear we may have had a casualty on our hands."
"Wait! You mean me feeling like I was going to die wasn't just my imagination?!" Ochaco screamed, realizing how close she came to death. Actual death!
"Yes, but the test is already over now and you may receive your results in a week." He looked back up at what is supposed to be Izuku, an experiment popping into his mind. "Now let us see you off, I am sure your parents wouldn't want you back too late."
"Oh, um, actually..I'm about to put my signature on a lease today for moving into an apartment. They trusted I would make it in and our house is pretty far so they got me an apartment." She sadly said. Her parents were spending so much on her, and she really wished they wouldn't. Their family doesn't have much and for them to do all this? It was really too much.
"In any case, we should get out of here. The clean up crew will need to take care of the mess and you could get a proper check up at the nurse's office." Nezu said, earning an understanding nod from Ochaco.
They started walking off to their destination, after they went away about ten feet a massive rumble shook them.
*boom*
All of them looked back up, the giant had taken a step towards them still looking down at them.
"I'm sorry, but we need you to remain here Mr. Midoriya. Unless you can turn back or get out of the giant I'm afraid your footsteps may cause unnecessary damage." Nezu called up, but no reaction was given.
"Well, we will be back soon. Hopefully you have it figured out." He started going back to the school. The others waited a moment before following.
*boom*
They turned back, most looking up with some surprise except for Nezu, who was smiling that his assumptions were being proven right.
As always.
"Principal Nezu, earlier when I asked him to let us down he didn't do anything. But when young Uraraka asked he obeyed immediately." All Might informed.
"Would you?" Nezu asked Ochaco.
"Uh, sure..Excuse me! Could you wait here please!" She yelled to make sure he heard her.
He didn't move, but after a few seconds he blinked again. That was a yes yeah? He did that before..
"Thank you." Nezu said, turning to resume his stroll. The others followed warily just in case they felt another stomp. Things looked well, they were now forty feet away from the giant and-
*boom* *boom*
The giant took two steps to catch up to them.
"Wait, why didn't he listen?" Ochaco asked.
"I have a few theories but could you ask him to turn back or exit the robot?" Nezu politely asked.
"Hey! Could you get out or change back?" She yelled up again.
He was still looking down at them but tilted his head slightly, showing he heard.
"Wait, is he stuck like this?" All Might asked, very worried for Midoriya's future.
"Maybe, but we don't know hardly anything. It's possible most of his brain is being used to simply operate the robot and either can't follow commands for long or needs a more thorough explanation. If you would." He held a paw out to Ochaco. She stepped up a little closer and pointed at him.
"You stay."
She pointed at the school.
"I go."
She wagged her finger.
"No, following."
They watched as his head went back to being straight, but still watching.
"Shall we try to leave?" All Might asked, soon they were back to walking-
*boom*
"Oh come on!" Ochaco grabbed the sides of her head, frustrated at the lack of progress.
"Wait, why isn't he responding anymore?" All Might asked.
"I think he simply has a different set of priorities." Nezu deduced.
"Explain." Recovery Girl said.
"I think my first theory on most of his thinking is being used to make sure he is able to utilize his new body. Now, even if he is capable of basic understanding, he still acts as a machine. When Midoriya ran to assist Uraraka he used his quirk. Now what do you think was on his mind?" Nezu asked out loud.
"Stop the zero pointer?" Ochaco threw out.
"Save young Uraraka." All Might stated feeling more confident in his answer. He felt he knew the heart of Midoriya very well, after all, he had to make sure he would be the one to receive One for All.
"All Might is close but missing the finer detail."
"Huh?"
Nezu walked up to the giant, resuming his reasoning. "If his goal was to stop the zero pointer his goal would be complete, the same could be said of saving Uraraka. If a machine completes its role it will do one of two things. Follow the next set of commands, or shut down until needed again. He has shown he can follow commands but ignores leaving Uraraka alone. That means his initial goal is something that needs constant attention. It could be 'Guard Uraraka' or 'keep that girl safe'. If it's anything like that then he will always make sure he fulfills his number one goal, other commands can second place."
"Ok, I see why he follows her but why only listen to her?" All Might asked. It made sense when Nezu put it like that. If Uraraka was too far away he couldn't properly keep her safe. But, to not even listen to his mentor/idol?
"What was the goal focused around?" Nezu asked.
"Uraraka." Recovery Girl noted, understanding where this was going.
"Exactly right, his only purpose is focused on her. The rest of us are just background noise unless…"
"Unless what?" Ochaco asked.
"Unless someone or something tries to hurt or poses a threat to young Uraraka." All Might concluded. While technically a hero is successful even if they save one person..to be solely dedicated to only one person and not being able to help others is hardly what he knew Midoriya had in mind for his future.
"That is correct. While we know he will not attack randomly that still leaves us with a large problem." Nezu said, walking back to the three.
"What is it?" Recovery Girl asked.
"Uraraka here can not go anywhere without Midoriya doing his best to stay near Uraraka. In short, she can't leave the campus."
"Wait?! I have to live at UA for the rest of my life?!" Ochaco cried out.
"We will have our best looking into how we can help your situation Uraraka. But, please be prepared for more long term arrangements as we sort this out." Nezu warned, earning a depressed look from Ochaco. He walked off, already bringing out his phone to make a few calls. He began walking, making the others follow behind him, trying to wrap their heads around a giant robot living at the school.
Ochaco looked behind her as the giant followed. Its footsteps were crushing the pavement under its foot as it walked. If this was 'long term' it was going to be expensive for landscaping.
"Excuse me?" She asked, the giant stopped to listen.
"Could you walk a little more gently? You are breaking the road."
The giant lifted his foot and saw the clear print underneath it. Looking back to the lifted foot, its eyes narrowed and glowed brightly. Everyone watched as the feet of the giant shifted, creating a sole that moved independently in the metal shoes. It slowly brought the foot down, the sole absorbing the impact by slightly retreating into the foot when pressure is applied.
Everyone watched in amazement as the giant walked a couple of feet in a circle. Each step making a hiss but leaving no damage to the road under it. Finishing the test the giant walked back up to them and resumed its previous actions.
"It can shapeshift?!" Ochaco let out a yell.
"I would say adapt but it looks like it." Nezu said.
"But, why couldn't he turn back or exit it?" Recovery GIrl asked.
"Not sure yet, but if he is following orders that are within his known limits then that means he either can't or doesn't see a way how. That means it's still up to us to revert Midoriya back or find a way for him to be smaller." Nezu finished his thoughts. His phone vibrated showing a call.
"Ah Cementoss, you know that project we talked about for student dorms? We might have to get started early. Right away. First year class takes priority then you can take your time with the others. I would say one week deadline for the first years and then One month deadline for the whole school. Thank you...Oh hold on a second. Ms. Uraraka?"
"Yes?"
"If I recall your name is also associated with a construction company. Would it be safe to say you are related to them?"
"Yeah, my parents run it."
"Well I suggest we give them a call. I have an opportunity for them."
No more threats, she's safe.
'I'm really glad she's ok. Is there anything else I can do though? Wait, who's that. Are they a threat? They're saying something but I can't make it out.'
"Um, may you let us down?"
She commands and he must follow. They're helping her, healing her, they are not threats, they can help protect.
'There, I did it. Who are the others? One of them feels familiar but I can't tell who it is. I'll just have to memorize their faces so I know who will help her. They're talking again, what are-'
"One...for...All"
He knows the core, the power, he knows it. How does he know it?
[Scanning...Energy signature -One for All- detected]
[Alert- External subject brainwaves also detected in core -One for All- ]
[Extracting data...New interface available upon system reboot]
'Oh, we're going somewhere. They're pretty slow aren't they?'
They stop, they walk again, they stop. It doesn't matter where she goes she could get hurt so he will go with.
Protect the nice girl
"Uh, sure..Excuse me! Could you wait here please!"
She commands
They walk away again. 'Wait, where are you going? What if you get hurt?''
[Primary Directive: Protect -Nice Girl-]
He needs to be with her, she can't go far. 'Please don't leave, I don't know what's going on, I can only understand you. I don't want to be alone again.'
Never leave her
She's talking again, must listen for further commands.
"Hey! Could you get out or change back?"
'Get out? Of what? I'm me already. I don't understand.'
"You stay."
She pointed at the school.
"I go."
She wagged her finger.
"No, following."
She commands, he must obey her commands. They start walking away, out of prime protection distance.
'Wait, no, don't go far, don't leave me. You might get hurt. I need to protect you.'
[Primary Directive: Protect -Nice Girl-]
'They're talking again. They do a lot of that. Oh, are we going somewhere again?'
"Excuse me?"
She is talking, must listen, must obey.
"Could you walk a little more gently? You are breaking the road."
She commands.
'Am I? Oh, I am breaking it. I need to find a way to fix this. My shoes don't look that good though, they look heavy and they don't have any cushioning. This is the issue, I need to fix it.'
[Calculating...Solution: -Upgrade-]
[Searching for optimal designs….Design found]
[Simulating...Rendering...Design compatible for upload.]
[Begin Upgrade….Upgrade Complete]
'There, that should work.'
"Yeah..don't worry I'm fine now just….I know I'm late for the signing but I can't leave!...Yes it involves their offer...It's hard to explain over the phone, but you'll see when you get here….love you too, bye."
*beep*
Ochaco sighed as she sunk into the couch. She was back in her normal clothes in the Principal's office. He went somewhere to talk to some of the other teachers to tell them about what's happening. Her parents were not happy when the landlord of the apartment she was going to move into called them and said she was late. They put a lot of work to arrange that, but it's not like she had the option to leave campus. Not with the giant sitting right outside the school and watching her through the window.
She didn't even bother to turn on the lights, his eyes already provided enough in the room. Now she was curious, was there anyone ever with a quirk like this? Mt. Lady could get kinda big, but nothing close to what is sitting outside. Not like she could look anything up on her flip phone. Maybe she could use one of the computers?
*knock knock*
She looked to the door, entering was Principal Nezu and two others. Vlad King and Eraserhead.
"So, you're the one stuck with the problem child." Eraserhead said sitting down across from her. Next to him Vlad King stood with one arm leaning against the couch. She was a little intimidated by these heroes, they looked like they never smiled before.
"You shouldn't call him that." Vlad King said.
"Well what else has he been other than that? He put us on full alert, wrecked our battle center, had us rush to build a dorm system, and now made UA his literal stomping grounds. And don't get me started on the fact that he is only listening to one person who isn't even an adult."
She didn't know why, but she really wanted to punch this guy.
"You probably shouldn't be saying all of that right in front of him." Vlad King pointed to the window where all the light was coming from.
"He can't hear us."
"We don't know that yet."
"sigh* I guess you're right about that."
"Um...What exactly are you two doing here?" Ochaco asked.
"Well . As we wait for your parents we came to discuss your options for being enrolled here." Nezu said, sitting down in his office chair. It had a booster seat to allow him to see above the desk but no one is allowed to even come close enough to discover it.
And live.
"Wait, you mean I got in the hero course?!" She smiled brightly.
"That's one option but don't think it will be that easy." Eraserhead commented with a dangerous tone. The light in the room grew a little brighter, making everyone curious enough to look at the source.
The eye was narrowed and clearly not looking at Uraraka. It was focused on Eraserhead.
Reacting on instinct the man jumped off the couch, prepped his capture tape, and activated his quirk. They guessed that the boy had a transformation quirk so his quirk could have a chance to work.
To his dismay it changed nothing. Two ideas came to the pro's mind.
One, he wasn't looking at the boy's actual body so it wouldn't work.
Two, he had to use it during the transformation or before for it to work.
So now he was stuck in the dilemma that he knew he was being targeted by a massive robot.
Ochaco rushed up in front of the man and stretched her arms out.
"He wasn't going to hurt me. He's not a villain." She said in a slightly shaky voice. If she was the reason a pro got killed she couldn't live with herself or even face her parents. Even if she didn't do it directly it would hurt her, and she knew that he wouldn't want to be forced to kill someone because of his quirk. It wouldn't be fair to him. She would protect him.
The eye looked down to Uraraka, watching her for what felt like eternity to the rest. Finally, it blinked, and the pupil grew and lowered its intensity.
Everyone present let out a very large sigh of relief.
"I think it goes without saying that everyone, teachers and students alike must be informed to never show hostility to Uraraka. Otherwise we can't guarantee their safety." Nezu said. Vlad King pulled out his phone and was already putting in a text to the staff group chat.
Vlad King: Update on Midoriya's reactions. Aizawa said something in a slightly threatening tone to Uraraka and was targeted by Midoriya. He did not act, but Aizawa was viewed as a threat until Ochaco stepped in and told Midoriya he wasn't a threat. Nezu says all staff and students should never show any ill intentions to Uraraka, otherwise we might not be able to stop Midoriya. We're probably going to have another staff meeting at the end of the day.
Present Mic: Holy shit.
Present Mic: Better not have her in his class otherwise he'll have to make an entire new curriculum.
Midnight: Does flirting count?
Midnight: If so, how far can it go?
Snipe: Don't
Midnight: These are serious questions!
Midnight: Like, what if someone makes a move on her?
Snipe: Stop
Thirteen: Can this wait? We're having a meeting later anyways.
Present Mic: Wait, she's got a point.
Midnight: Right?!
Ectoplasm: How do I put the chat on mute?
Present Mic: Get rekt
Snipe: ….Did you seriously send that?
Vlad King pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes it felt like his coworkers were not taking things seriously enough. "Alright, so let's get this over with so I have time to go to my agency."
"Very well. , we are very aware of you submitting an application to the hero course. And after a brief discussion just earlier with the other teachers we reviewed the footage, your points, and have concluded that you may enter the hero course." Nezu said.
"YES!" Ochaco cheered with a fist pump.
"But" Nezu continued "You will be in a very unique circumstances that could easily cripple your progress or halt it very early in your training. You see, our exercises involve lots of sparring and live exercises where you would normally be testing your combat abilities on others."
She could see where this was going, and stared at her feet feeling shell shocked. Could she be a hero? She can't even train with others without risking their lives.
"Of course, you may still enter the course and we will do our best to help you learn despite your situation. Power Loader and Recovery Girl will do their best to find a way to help Midoriya to where he can act and think for himself so he doesn't feel bound to you. That way you can each live your own lives." Vlad King said.
"But we don't know if it's possible or how long it could take. It would be beneficial and productive if you considered a different career. On your written test you showed not only interest, but aptitude for the business course. It is a non combat environment perfect to help you learn and grow while not interfering with others' progress." Eraserhead added.
"In the end, it is your choice. Your parents are coming to arrange a business opportunity in helping build the dorms. I would recommend taking advantage of their visit and talk with them about what choice you wish to make." Nezu finished. He waved his hand to motion the teachers out. They got up and left Ochaco to stew in her thoughts.
Her life was on a pivoting point, and she had to decide which way to go. It's true, in the business course she could help her parents' business and have nothing restraining her. But, her dream, the very one her parents sacrificed so much to help her achieve, was looking harder and harder to achieve.
"Oh, and Uraraka?"
She looked over to the principal.
"Please keep in mind that your decision isn't just for you...It's for Izuku Midoriya too. His mother is coming by soon and you will have time to talk to her as well." Nezu left her with that.
She gave a weak nod. Nezu closed the door behind him and left her to think once again. She felt selfish, she was hardly thinking about the giant's desires. Her only thought was that he just wanted to protect her. She smacked her own head in anger. HOW COULD SHE BE SO SELFISH TO THINK OTHER PEOPLE REVOLVE THEIR LIVES AROUND HER?!
She looked back to the window, where he was, the gia-
No
Izuku Midoriya. That was a person, trapped in a metal body. He had dreams, hopes, family, and he threw it away to stop the Zero Pointer from killing her. She wanted to die, she stole his life, it was her fault.
[Alert-Unknown variable detected.]
[Subject -Nice Girl- Is inflicting self harm.]
[Scanning for unknown threat...running results through all known sources and data bases…]
[Access core memory to cross reference recorded data…]
[Memory found]
*tap tap*
Ochaco stopped her self criticizing, interrupted by the noise. The giant was tapping the window while looking at her. The metal pieces that made the eyelids….they looked worried, or what she guessed was an expression of worry. She walked over to investigate, this might be important for the teachers to know.
At the window the giant still looked at her, then down to the bottom of the window, then back at her. Was he communicating something?! She looked to where he was looking and saw the latch to the window. Did he want it open? Forget about herself, he wanted something and she was going to do it. He did so much for her already.
She unlocked the window and slid it up, the fresh air filling into the room and bristling through her hair. The giant got up from his sitting position and went into a crouch in front of her. He held out a hand, palm up with his finger right below the window. Should she be doing this? Was it safe?
Looking up to see the giant's soft eyes, she felt the security emanating from them. No one or anything could hurt her when he was around. Without a moment to waste she crawled to sit in the window sill, then slid down to stand on his fingers. She was still watching him as she started to walk into the center of his palm. The giant stood up, wind making her clothes smack against each other along with her hair as they rose.
Once he stopped, slowly he brought his other hand to her face, and with absolute precision wiped away one of the tears from her face. Then, surprising her further, he held her against his chest. The warm hum of internal mechanics comforting her.
"How...how are you so nice to me?"
He tilted his head.
"You risked everything for me. Recovery Girl said your record said quirkless so...not knowing you could do this...risked your life to save me...But I haven't done anything to be worth saving."
The giant looked down for a moment, before bringing her higher up to be eye level. Before she could question the action a small screen played on his eye. It was the UA campus, from a much smaller perspective, it moved amongst others before coming to a stop right in front of the entrance. It moved forward, before starting to descend rapidly to the ground. Before the video perspective could end with a face full of dirt it stopped.
The camera positioned itself to view her...talking..using her quirk..and walking off.
"It was you...I totally forgot we met earlier before the exam.."
The eye returned to its normal color and the giant held his hand up to his shoulder. Ochaco hopped on and sat there, still processing what it meant. Was this his way of saying thank you? That he remembered how she stopped him from falling? But what was special about what she did?! She was just being nice at the time.
"Is that it, I was nice just once to you and that made it worth it?"
He blinked.
She would take that as a yes.
Taking in how high up she was she saw how beautiful it was from up here. The sun was setting just over the horizon making the sky dance with colors from orange, to yellows, to blues, and even purples. The few clouds were even brighter, glowing a deep red. Maybe, all the stress, the choices given to her, and everything else that happened today made right now worth it.
It was safe to say, that she made a friend with a giant robot today.
And who knew where that would lead.
"OCHACO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!" An angry woman yelled standing next to a very nervous man.
Guess it's her parents yelling from over two hundred feet below.
Wow, this got a lot more traction than I expected. A story I started to just be a side thing ended up getting faster follows, favorites, and reviews than any of my other stories I worked harder on.
Weird
Please review because those drove me to put out another chapter right away. If there's any characters you want to see let me know! Someone sent me other mech characters I didn't know about so I'll look into them and see what I can do. Either I'll introduce another mech or Izuku will turn into it.
Obsidian Nova Arc:
Oh man, you have no idea how much I want to see that happen.
And it will happen, soon after we take care of the parent situation.
Dragon drive:
Thanks! Growing up I was obsessed with the Iron Giant. So seeing how there's pretty much no stories about him I wanted to pay some homage to it.
Silent Soviet:
Yeah, I wanted Midoriya's size to be a big issue and cause some drama/problems for them to work around. Similar to how he could only use 100% in the story and it had some power, but also backlash. He will learn more and more and will be able to change his size or 'mech.'
Guest:
I don't know those mechs but I will look into them! I might not watch all of their stuff but at least some cool clips from youtube or something.
Random65:
Thank you! In reference to titanfall2 Izuku, at a future point, will turn into a similar mech. So no worries for the future size issue of his quirk.
Skeitzy12:
I'm glad that I could help. Iron Giant is one of the few VHS tapes I have and I am taking a lot of inspiration from it.