I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.
Broken Quirk
"All of you stay behind me. Kyoka, you'll be the one to support me. When I tell you to, blast him."
"Understood," Kyoka nodded, one jack plugging into each boot.
"Okay," Lee said, crouching. "Time to jet."
He shot forward, throwing a punch, but just as his fist swung around toward the guy's side, electricity suddenly exploded off of the villain, slamming into Lee's arm and arcing through his body, launching backward with an agonized scream. He bounced once before crashing down hard. Kyoka sent a sonic blast at the villain, but he dove aside, grinning, then hurled a bolt of lightning at her, which she barely managed to avoid. Lee pushed himself up, noticing his exoskeleton wasn't working properly. His eyes widened and he held his breath as the light on the top of the spine flickered for several seconds before coming back on.
"Is that it?" the villain asked, no doubt grinning behind his skull mask. "I thought you'd be better than that after you took down my comrades like it was nothing."
Lee grit his teeth and shot forward. The guy's reaction time was amazing, but if he could just get behind him. He flashed around behind the man, who seemed to barely be moving to Lee, and through a punch. Lightning began to gather where he was aiming, so he twisted his arm, picoting his fist up higher, only for the lightning to move with it before arcing outward and again blasting Lee, this time launching him at the cliff.
"Lee!" Momo, Toru, and Mina all shouted as he flew, only for him to flip, his legs blurring as he repeatedly slammed them into the ground, dispersing his momentum before he could fly off the cliff.
He sighed, looking down at his exoskeleton, then up at the man. He looked back at Lee, just as Lee shot back around to the others. The man's head whipped around the wrong way, then to the others before he visibly relaxed.
"So, I was right, after all," Lee sighed. "It's not your reaction time that's fast. It's the electricity. One third the speed of light. Far faster than me."
"What are you saying?" Momo asked.
"He's not blasting me," Lee said. "My exoskeleton is attracting the electricity of his Quirk, drawing it to me and allowing him to blast me without having to try."
"Is that what's up?" the villain asked, laughing. "I was wondering why my Quirk was going off without permission."
Lee grit his teeth. "To think the thing that allows me to win a fight is what's going to cause me to lose this fight."
"What can we do?" Kyoka asked.
Lee looked down at his hands before sighing heavily, retracting the exoskeleton from his right arm. "Congratulations, girls. You're all about to find out why I wear this exoskeleton."
"What do you mean?" Mina asked.
"Yaoyorozu, at first glance, what do you think that mask is made of?" Lee asked, crouching and sliding his right foot back, right hand a fist by his waist.
"Probably some form of metal," Momo said.
Lee nodded. "I thought as much. I'll end this fight with my next strike."
"Will you?" the guy asked, electricity arcing over his body suddenly. "How's that?"
Lee grit his teeth. This was going to hurt. A lot.
"For the record, I'm sorry," Lee said.
"For what?" the guy grinned. "For los-"
Lee's fist exploded into his chest, directly over his heart. The moment it did, blood sprayed out of the front and back of the villain's chest. Blood and bone fragments exploded out of Lee's arm from fist to just above his elbow, creating a massive spray of thick red fluid. Electricity screamed as it arced from the villain's body to Lee's for all of half a second before vanishing as the villain's lifeless body sailed backward into the open air.
Lee stood motionless for a moment, arm hanging limply, then fell to his knees, clutching at his arm just above the gashes and exposed bone pieces, gasping for breath and struggling not to scream in agony. he reached up to his mask, ripping it off and throwing it aside so that he could gasp for breath more easily. Behind him, Toru began to vomit, Mina covered her mouth and fought not to do the same, Kyoka stared at Lee in shock and a hint of awe, and Momo rushed forward to help him.
"Lee!" Momo gasped, kneeling beside him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Lee said through gritted teeth, sweat pouring down his face with the effort of ignoring his pain. "But now you see why I have to wear this exoskeleton."
"Becasue your Quirk is unbalanced," Momo said, staring at his mangled arm.
Lee nodded.
Momo focused for a moment, regenerating her costume under his shirt before pulling it off. "Hold on." She tore the shirt into strips before giving him a sympathetic look and beginning to bandage his arm as best she could, padding all of the bits of bone sticking out of his arm like spikes. Then, once she was done, she formed him a sling and held it out.
"Do you want it?" she asked.
"Sure," he nodded, clenching his teeth as she put it around him and got it ready for his arm. Then, he shrieked in agony as she lifted his arm into the sling, fighting to keep from pulling away. Finally, it was done, and his arm was held in front of him by the sling. He gasped and panted for breath, suddenly feeling exhausted, and began to sway, his vision fading quickly. He felt someone catch him and his head spun for a few moments before returning slowly. He blinked several times, his suddenly foggy brain slowly registering that he was leaning to his left on Momo's shoulder, one of her arms around him to keep him upright, and Toru, Mina, and Kyoka were using handcuffs Momo had generated in order to restrain the villains.
"Did we...win..Yao..yo…"
"Yes," Momo nodded. "Don't try to talk. You lost a lot of blood when your arm exploded, and you're still bleeding. The school's staff finally showed up right after you fainted, so we're not in danger anymore. Once you've rested enough, or if one of the staff get to us, they'll collect the villains here and we'll get you to the school nurse."
"Thank you...Yaoyo...ro," his eyes began to flutter and Momo sighed.
"You can just call me Momo," she said. "It's easier that way. But for right now, rest. You need it."
Lee nodded and let his eyes slide shut, his consciousness fleeing.
Lee sighed, walking into the class room and glancing around. The attack had been two days ago, and yesterday school had been closed. He hadn't gotten the chance to see if everyone was okay, since he'd been taken to the hospital, then sent home. Besides Midoriya, whose legs had been broken from his Quirk. Lee himself was still sporting a heavily bandaged arm in a sling, since the damage had been too bad for the school nurse to handle until after he'd had corrective surgery to get his bones reconstructed. And since some of the pieces were missing, as they had shout out of his hand and into the electric villain's heart when he punched him, resulting in said villain's death, he'd had to have a move creative solution, meaning that a special healing-type Quirk user had been flown in to form replacement bones for his arm. It was effective, and worked great, except that they'd had to remove all the bone fragments they'd just put back into place, and then had had to put the new bones in. So, while his body was learning to accept the new bones, and while his arm was still basically filleted, he was still going to be wearing bandages and using a sling. By the end of the day, the school nurse should be able to heal him.
"Lee!" Mina cheered, running over and hugging him carefully, making sure not to touch his arm. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay!"
"I could say the same," Lee smiled as Toru and Momo walked over as well. "Is everyone alright?"
"We're all fine," Momo said. "In the end, you ended up being the only one with lasting injuries besides Thirteen and Aizawa."
"What happened to them?" Lee asked.
"Apparently, Thirteen tried to use Black Hole on the shadow guy, but he used a portal to make her power backfire on her, and wounded her back," Mina said. "And Mister Aizawa got beaten really badly. Both his arms were broken, he had severe cranial fractures, and his orbit something is broken."
"Orbital Floor," Momo said. "They said they didn't know if his eyesight would be screwed up or not."
"That's awful," Lee said. "I should have gone to help him after all."
"No way!" Toru said. "If you'd gone to help him, who knows what would have happened to us. Besides, the thing that did it to him apparently fought All Might to a standstill for a bit. Apparently it almost won, but Todoroki and Bakugo helped, along with Midoriya."
"I see," Lee said. "Still, I could have helped."
"You helped us," Momo said. "You sacrificed the use of your arm to save us."
"Yeah, what actually happened to your arm, anyway?" Mina asked.
"I punched someone moving almost a hundred miles and hour," Lee said. "I'll explain later. I'd like to take a break from unpleasant topics."
"Alright," Toru said. "Then, did you watch the news last night?"
"Yeah," Lee said.
"It was so cool that we got a few seconds of screen time!" Toru said excitedly, before deflating a little. "Although, I bet no one noticed me hanging out in the background."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lee said. "I noticed you. I'm sure I'm not the only one."
"Aw, thanks!" Toru gushed, stepping forward and hugging him. "I'm so glad someone noticed me., even if they couldn't see what I was doing."
Lee chuckled. "Well, when you run around wearing nothing but gloves, that's bound to happen."
"I-I'm only trying to take advantage of my Quirk!" Toru stammered, almost definitely blushing.
Lee chuckled again. "Relax. I'm just teasing."
"You're so mean!" Toru whined.
"Come on," Momo said finally. "We should take our seats."
They walked over and sat in their respective seats, listening to the others discussing All Might's fight with the villain that beat Aizawa, and about the teachers showing up and saving everyone.
"Attention!" Iida shouted, running in suddenly. "Homeroom class is about to begin! Everyone stop talking and take your seats!"
"Uh, we're all sitting," Eijiro said.
"Yeah, you're the only one standing," Denki agreed.
"Hey Su," Mina said, leaning back and almost falling over, only for Su to catch her calmly. "So, who do you think is going to teach class today?"
"No idea," Su said. "I mean, Mister Aizawa is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries."
Just then the door slid open and Aizawa stepped in through the door, his arms both in casts and slings and his face entirely bandaged.
"Mister Aizawa, what are you doing here!?" Almost the entire class asked.
"Whoa, what a pro!" Denki said.
"Mister Aizawa," Iida said, raising a hand. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"Suck up," Lee mumbled, Momo smacking him in the back of the head.
"You call that okay?" Uraraka asked.
"My well-being is irrelevant," Aizawa said. "What's more important is that your fight isn't over yet."
"Our fight?" Bakugo asked.
"Don't tell me..." Midoriya trailed off.
"Not more bad guys!" the short pervert of the class, Mineta, wailed, hiding under his desk.
"The U.A. Sports Festival is about to start," Aizawa said.
"Yes!" Eijiro grinned.
"Finally!" Lee grinned.
"Why would you scare us like that!?" everyone else asked. "The Sports Festival?"
"Let's go kick some ass!" Eijiro shouted.
"Wait a second!" Denki said, shoving Eijiro back into his seat by his face.
"Is it really such a good idea to hold the Sports Festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?" Kyoka asked.
"They'd attack once we're all in the same place," the guy with the tail, Ojiro, added.
"Apparently the administration believes this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever. Plus they're beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at U.A. It's not something we can cancel because of a few villains."
"Uh, I'm sorry, but why not?" Mineta asked. "It's just a sports festival."
"It is not 'just a sports festival' you little perverted coward!" Lee snapped. "The U.A. Sports Festival is the single biggest event of the year, and it's where scouts from hero agencies go to check out potential in students. Any one who actually wants to be a hero, unlike you, competes in the festival to show the scouts what they can do and make a name for themselves so that they'll be able to make it pro that much easier. Not that you would care. You only care about trying to cop a feel with any girl you see, then wet yourself at the mere mention of a villain."
"He's right, about the festival," Aizawa said. "Our Sports Festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world. In the past, people obsessed over the Olympic games. But then Quirks started appearing. Now the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, there's only one tournament that matters. U.A. Sports Festival."
"That's right," Momo said. "Top heroes everywhere will be watching. As Lee said, this is where you get scouted."
"Sure, unless you're dead," Mineta said.
"If you don't grow a pair of balls, I'll stick my hand to your hair and turn you into a paddleball toy," Lee warned him, Mineta shrinking back from him in fear.
"After graduation, a lot of people join pro agencies as a sidekick," Denki said.
"Yeah, but that's as far as some people go," Kyoka said. "They miss their chance to go indie and stay eternal sidekicks. Actually, that's probably where you're headed. You're kinda dumb."
Denki cringed, deflating rapidly as several in the class laughed.
"It's true that joining a famous hero agency can garner you greater experience and popularity," Aizawa said. "That's why the festival matters. If you want to go pro one day, then this event could open a path for you. One chance a year. Three chances in a lifetime. No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival. That means you better not slack off on your training."
"Yes sir!" the class said.
"Class is dismissed," Aizawa said, walking out of the room.
"So, what are you planning to do for the tournament?" Mina asked after a minute, sitting in a newly vacated seat beside Lee, the rest of the class having broken up into small groups."
"I'm thinking about running," Lee smirked. "But I might be getting a little ahead of myself."
Mina rolled her eyes, grinning. "You know what I meant."
"What, you mean, am I going to try to get scouted as a sidekick?" Lee asked, smirking. "Pass. I'm going to skip the sidekick route and go straight to hero. I've never really been the training wheels type."
"What if you were sidekick to Mt. Lady, or to Midnight?" Mina asked.
"As much fun as either of those would be, I'll still pass," Lee said. "My entire life doesn't revolve around attractive women. Besides, why be a sidekick and do a bunch of slave work when I can become a hero, then get my own sidekick to do the work for me?"
Mina rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't do that. You're too considerate for that."
"Eh, I suppose," Lee shrugged.
Mina smiled. "Maybe I could be your sidekick. That would be pretty fun."
"Hey, no fair!" Toru said from Lee's other side. "I want to be Lee's sidekick."
"Neither of you can be my sidekick until I make it pro anyway," Lee said. "Besides, you're both going to be amazing heroes of your own someday, regardless of whose sidekick you are."
"You really are clueless," Momo sighed, sitting in the chair ahead of Lee.
"Lee, I have a question," Toru said.
"Shoot," Lee said, looking over at her.
"What should I do to help me stand out to the scouts?" Toru asked. "I asked Ojiro, but he wasn't really helpful. He suggested a flashier costume."
"Well," Lee said, thinking for a moment. "Are you able to turn your invisibility off ever?"
"Not really," Toru said.
"Hm..." Lee said thoughtfully. "Well, if it happens to come down to a fight, you could really shine there by beating them up without taking a hit. Or if there's a game like hide and seek. Actually, anything stealth-oriented is basically perfect for you. Your powers aren't really combat-oriented, but stealth and information gathering would be perfect for you, since no one would be able to see you in the room."
"That's true," Mina agreed. "Not sure how that help during a Sports Festival, though."
"It just depends on the events," Lee said. "Tell you what, though. If I make it pro and you never got scouted, I'll take you on as a sidekick."
"Really!?" Toru gasped, then flung her arms around him. "Thank you!"
"Hey, what about me?" Mina pouted.
Lee rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mina, you too."
"So you complain about fangirls, then agree to take them with you anyway, huh?" Momo asked. "Are you going to make that promise to every girl?"
"What, like you?" Lee asked. "Why would I need to take you on as a sidekick? You'll make it pro before I do with your brain and your skill. You're too amazing to ever need to be a sidekick."
"Hey!" Mina and Toru both pouted.
"Just because that's true doesn't make it any less mean," Mina complained.
Lee chuckled, then stood. "I'm leaving before you three drag me out shopping again."
"What a coincidence," Mina grinned, wrapping her arms around his good one.
"We were just thinking a shopping trip sounded like fun," Momo said, setting a hand on his other shoulder.
"We could use a pack mule again," Toru grinned, hugging him from behind.
Lee sighed heavily. "Fine. But I need to go to the school nurse to get healed first."
They all cheered and walked with him to the nurse's office, the nurse letting him in, the three girls waiting outside. She kissed his arm, which glowed green under the bandages for a moment, itching badly, before the light faded. He unwrapped it and sighed, staring at the scars covering his arm. horizontal lines, round puncture wounds, a couple of vertical gashes, and a line running up the back from wrist to elbow from the surgery. He grimaced but thanked her and walked back outside, the other girls gasping as they saw the scars.
"You almost lost your arm," Momo more said than asked.
"Yeah," Lee agreed as they headed outside. "But that's what I get for punching someone without my exoskeleton."
"So, the exoskeleton is for protection?" Mina asked.
"Yeah," Lee said as Amy pulled up to the curb, raising an eyebrow at him from the driver's seat. "Well, that and a couple other things. My friends want to go shopping."
"I didn't realize you were so popular with the ladies, little bro," Amy smiled. "Hop in everyone. I'll give you a ride."
They all piled in, Lee taking the passenger's seat and the three girls sitting in back, Toru in between Mina and Momo.
"So, can you explain your Quirk for us?" Toru asked. "I'm still confused about why it hurt your arm."
Amy glanced at him, then his arm, pain showing on her face for a moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it being a conductive metal would matter."
"Neither did I," Lee said. "You three remember the conversation we had back during combat training about multi-level Quirks, right?"
"About how Quirks actually need multiple powers to work?" Mina asked. "Yeah."
"Right, well, I'm the best example of that," Lee said. "Particularly of what happens if it goes wrong. My Quirk is super speed, beyond anything ever recorded. With it, I also got enhanced stamina in order to be capable of using my Quirk without burning myself out and dying. My metabolism is exceptionally high from it, still, but I don't burn out from my Quirk. The problem is, stamina's not the only thing you need for a super speed Quirk to be used properly. For starters, you need durability. If you're moving at even twenty forty an hour, and you hit a car, with a normal person's durability, you're fucked. You'll have broken bones, tissue damage, possibly internal bleeding. If you punch someone moving at super speed...well...you saw the result without enhanced durability. My Quirk lacks the durability of other speed Quirks. It also lacks another crucial element. Enhanced cognitive ability. Moving at a hundred miles an hour is impossible, regardless of everything else, if you can't process what's happening at that speed. A normal human can't. Most speed Quirks also grant that ability. As I said, mine doesn't."
"It must have been scary the first time you used it," Mina said, both Amy and Lee's faces falling instantly. "What?"
"The first time I used my Quirk, I was so excited," Lee said. "I wanted to show my mom a kitten I'd found outside. I shattered my mother's legs when I hit her going fifty miles an hour, along with most of my own body. My mother lost both her legs, and I almost died. But I learned something that day. My Quirk is broken. It's more of a liability than a power."
"And then you got the exoskeleton to protect yourself," Toru said.
"Not exactly," Amy said. "I'm the one that designed it, but it wasn't initially an exoskeleton."
"What do you mean?" Momo asked.
"When I shattered most of my body, my spine was among that part," Lee said. "The rest of my bones were damaged in a way that they could heal in time, by my spinal column was ruined. I wasn't going to survive. So, Amy's genius brain came up with an idea, even at the age of seven, only three years older than me, she was already smarter than most inventors. She had our friend, Tatsumi, who has an Emitter-type Quirk, create a feather-weight metal that's harder than titanium, and had him shape it into a spine-augmentation that could hold mine together, and allow me to survive, and to move around again. Once it was ready, she tricked all the hospital staff, as well as my father, out of the hospital room and attached the spine. My spine had been rebuilt as much as it could at the time, so the spine augmentation was able to go on without her having to do that first. It drive anchors into the vertebrae all along my spine, then released a small amount of liquid metal of the same kind along my spinal column, coating the vertebrae and creating a metal spine with the spine of my exoskeleton being visible, but permanently attached. it took me a while to get used to. it was done, she and Tatsumi worked together to make me my exoskeleton, essentially a really fancy shock absorber system that attaches to the spine."
"And the light at the top of the spine?" Momo asked.
"It wirelessly connects to a neural implant my sister created for me, allowing me to control the arms of my exoskeleton with a thought, rather than having to deploy them manually," Lee said. "The neural implant has another purpose, though. I'm sure you've noticed my irises glow sometimes?"
The girls nodded.
"The implant is connected to my eyes, and it processes information alongside my brain, more than quadrupling my cognitive abilities," Lee said. "Even when I run at full speed, I'm still processing as though I'm running slowly, at least, when I use it."
"And the electricity from your eyes?" Momo asked.
"As near as we've been able to figure out, it's purely aesthetic," Lee said. "And if it's not, we have no idea how to use it, or what for."
The girls nodded as Amy slowed to a stop outside the mall.
"I'm going to go buy some groceries," Amy said. "Test me when you're ready to leave, alright?"
Lee nodded and they got out, Amy driving away. Lee sighed, turning and following the other girls on their shopping trip.
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