Chapter 134 - Steps Toward Perfection
"To say things could've gone better would be an understatement, huh, boss?" Infernal grinned ear to ear as he watched Shigaraki howl in pain as NARA worked to fix the damage caused by New Order's revolt against his quirks, almost destroying AFO in the process. He dug his nails into the floor, seething with rage.
"I'LL KILL THEM! THAT BRAT AND HIS LITTLE GIRLFRIEND! ALL MIGHT...!" He twisted and writhed, eyes filled with hatred. "So long as the identity of All Might remains in their heads, their hope will continue to flourish!"
"Indeed, though the death of the Hero of the West has already left its mark, All For One's old allies are using this unrest to withhold any reinforcements, and those scurrying at the top hide behind walls, just like the Guardians, too afraid of what lies beyond," Kovik hummed, while annoyed the perfect trump card was taken from them, it did, however, leave the country with no other aid. "It will take time to prepare Shigaraki for the finalization process again..."
"Ah, don't worry about it, plenty of time!" Infernal waved, moving for the stairwell leading out of the hidden overlook of the mountain range. "Welp, Dabi said he wanted to try merging, if we get that nailed down, not even lil ol' Velk and her adorable fleshbag can stop us!" With a giddy laugh and skip, he left past a newcomer. The blonde with two messy buns, Toga.
Judging by her dark expression, well, darker than normal, she had something on her mind for the Kell overlooking the final preparations for the Siege Engine, large segments on display as he ran various calculations and test runs on the concealed pieces of the fragmented diagram. "I can imagine you require something, Toga?"
"You never gave me a straight answer before; what's with the freak you sent with Yuyu? He had my quirk, You gave him some stupid inferior copy of my quirk," She usually wasn't one to care what became of her power. It's a curse, one she's learned to embrace and kill whoever said otherwise. But after snooping around, she found Fragment's file. He was another of Kovik's wild experiments. The 'Chimera Rework' as it was labelled. "Thought that big freak with the cannon arm was the last straw?"
Kovik, not taking his eyes off his work, replied curtly, "It was a necessary step to keep the Thief-"
"Yuki," Toga snapped.
"-from not only disrupting the Detainment on her end, but with the amalgamation of copied quirks stolen by imprinting blood samples onto NARA, I am able to deduce how much a stronger proxy Splicer without a quirk can handle so many quirks at once, my own interpretation of a Nomu thanks to the Incubator, not to mention Halimaka was the perfect example of a Baron who sustained both his humanity and power after the metamorphosis,"
Toga studied his face, which was hard given the helmet he wore constantly, but she looked at his body language. Years of her life stealing blood from people, sometimes leading to their deaths if they got too noisy, had led to the innate ability to read a person's body for 'tells'. Kovik may have been completely metal, but his personality and thoughts were given life in how he moved. Despite sitting at a desk, not sparing the woman a single glance, she could see his body remained completely still say for his arms and head. He was apathetic, to her question, to everything. But when concerning Yuki his body made a subtle click, mimicking tension in muscles. Anger.
She narrowed her eyes for a bit, toying with the tip of the knife against her finger. "...you'll leave Izuku and Yuki alone?"
This time, Kovik turned to look at her. "If they stay out of my way, I have no reason to care for the Thief and her mate," He returned to his work. "I understand you wish to keep the things you hold dear from harm, that is admirable, I too wished to safeguard my House from harm, that will remain my intension when I leave this world, but if an enemy threatens that plan, I will not hesitate to stamp them out,"
A big, eerie grin split her cheeks at that as she did a small spin. "Well, that's all I wanted to hear! Can't wait to see them again, if I do I'll keep them from you, pinky swear!" She held it up to emphasize further. Taking his silence as the end of the conversation, Toga pocketed her knife, leaving the same way Infernal did. Her giddily smile fell, and her eyes looked devoid of that girly charm they once held. "Liar."
After giving his debriefing on the situation involving Shigaraki's condition, Siva, who had appeared on Yuki's shoulder, raised his head. "|There was extensive damage of the NARA Core | This could prove useful | Though I'll need time to devise a plan to use that|," Siva held his hand out. "|She's given us a window|,"
All Might nodded in agreement, "I'm hesitant in saying this, but it's because of Star falling in battle that we even have this chance in the first place. Make use of it to grow stronger, even if only a little. For now we must protect each other and those we hold dear," He wouldn't let a second go to waste.
"WE'VE ALREADY BEEN DOIN' THAT FOR AGES!" Katsuki roared, blowing All Might's hair back from the force.
Even Yuki giggled, patting the short-tempered blonde down. "Dumb-Dumb's right, even trapped in Rayla's world, all of us went under vigorous training with Guardians before coming back,"
"Since All Might was always out with Deku..." Ochaco trailed off.
"He's only been here for mere moments before leaving again," Iida swung his arm forward with a deadpan look.
"Ever since the Gunda Mountain and Jaku Hospital Raids, we have continued our training with the Pussycats," Ojiro replied, tucking his white gi shirt on.
"We all share the same intention; to fight alongside Midoriya and Azuru until Shigaraki and Kovik are beaten," Tokoyami concurred, he and Akio tapping fists.
"Right!" Ashido pouted, crossing her arms as if it weren't up for debate to begin with.
"Well then, Kacchan wanted to practise with me and Yuki," Hearing Izuku say this made the blonde face lock up in its yawn. "He said, 'I'll make sure you master OFA and predict SIVA',"
"Three, two, one..." Yuki immediately recoiled behind Izuku as the wind pressure struck their faces.
"HAAAA!? I didn't say anything like that! Did your eardrums get shredded during your little escapade!?" Katsuki thundered, the recoil discombobulating Izuku.
"Please don't deafen my boyfriend - hey, Ocha, you wanna reel him in for us please?" Yuki sweatdropped.
"All that character development and he still hasn't changed..." Sato shook his head next to Rayla who snorted at the scene.
"I'd honestly be weirded out if Firecracker didn't explode atleast three times a day," She considered the healthy amount for Katsuki.
"I just wanna test out my new technique, Cluster," The ash-blonde grinned devilishly, even as Yuki's pitiful punches jabbed his side while she cradled Izuku's distraught body. "If it's effective against someone who uses OFA and another with SIVA, then it's damn obvious it can work against their counterparts - Quit jabbing me already, Mute Bastard!?"
"Nah, this is more fun," She grinned, avoiding his hands while twirling Izuku in her left. "Man, do I love Eliksni and Guardian training..."
"Well, make sure to use it heaps on me too!" Kirishima proclaimed, slapping his chest.
"He's regulated himself to being the class sandbag now..." Sero grimaced.
"I suppose it is a win-win, although the eagerness is... troubling," Hana's face made a weird wavy frown, brow furrowed at the redhead's enthusiasm. Then she turned her gaze to Shoto who was eyeing up his right hand. "Would you care to train with myself and Velk?" He eyed her as she held up her fist, coating it in a haze of frost. "I still wish to learn better control over my ice without my blade."
"Sure, I might need yours and Akio's aid with something I have in mind," He agreed.
"Guess I'm out then-" Rayla ruffled Kirishima's head in passing, slipping her helmet on. "While Tekres works that big ol' head of his on our master plan, I've got patrol zones to mark out for Valstrax, get a steady flow going, y'know?"
"Good luck!" Ashido waved with Kirishima.
"For everything Ms. Star did for us, let's give it our all," Yuki raised her fist out, bumping against Kyoka's.
"I've got my own score to settle too with that creepy Wolf Fallen, count me in," She huffed.
All Might stood by, smiling proudly at his fledgling heroes raising their wings in the face of the end. There was no certain on who would come out the victor, nor who will be lost. But he had faith that each of his amazing, hard-working students would keep each other from falling. They were stronger than they realized, not in raw power, but in their bonds. Something even All Might couldn't defeat, he had seen it time and again.
"Kovik, you have done something very foolish, even the greatest villains make mistakes. For I know Class 2-A is strong."
"Okay, uh, how the hell do you put up with this?" Yuki, who was still cleaning the soot off her face, was using a comb to bring her hair back to its normal state thanks to Katsuki's new move, Cluster. It was springy like Izuku's, and he was showing her how to straighten it out again as they walked through UA.
"It's easier after the first try," Izuku smiled slightly, fixing parts of her hair again.
"Those movements on yours too, Yuki, they were quite impressive," Iida spoke up, referring to how she moved with the intense glare of hers. "Your eyes take on a very... hrm, what's the word?" He tapped his chin.
"'Dangerous'?/'Exotic'?" They replied at once, with Yuki mouthing Izuku's term as he blushed a little, using that same word he once used for one of her outfits.
"Hm, yes, both are good answers," He nodded, completely oblivious to what just happened.
"U-uh, yeah, it's something called 'Seeing the Flow of Technology', it's a rare ability that most Eliksni considered a myth, but in that state you could effectively see the movements technology will make, almost like foresight, and since we're up again nanotechnology, it's by far the best skill we have against NARA," Yuki explained. Then she shrugged, scratching her nape. "But it strains my eyes if I hold it for more than ten minutes, so I'm working to expand on that when I have the chance, though it's noticeably easier on my right since it is fake,"
"|Do not sell yourself short | Not many Splicers have learned this technique | Even I have never seen it until now|," Siva replied, watching the large door of the Support Studio come into view.
"Here," Izuku, the gentleman he is, stepped ahead to grab the door for her and Iida. The second his fingers curled around the handlebar, Yuki sprung forward.
*BOOOM!*
The doors flew off the hinges, and a blast of black smoke filled the hall for a time as Iida stood idly by with a blank face. "This Deja Vu..."
"Heeeey, Hatsume..." Yuki groaned, rubbing her head as the girl landed on Yuki's back.
"Oh my! It's been a while, hasn't it Azuru, Midoriya!" Although Izuku was unharmed, he found himself back where he was the night before, with Yuki's chest pressed to his face.
Dusting themselves off, Hatsume held her wide gold eyes to them with a smile, "Sorry 'bout that! What brings you three here?"
"My Danger Sense didn't activate, she totally caught me off guard..." Izuku was red in the face again, and shaking slightly. His heartrate was elevated too.
Reaching over, Yuki hugged him softly to calm his nerves. "You're safe, remember? Breathe deeply..." She had seen it when they first arrived back at UA, he was tired but scared, constantly jumping at shadows. He wasn't severely injured, but it wasn't physical wounds Yuki was worried about. Smiling over to Hatsume and Iida, she shook her head. "Sorry, high-nerves, all's forgiven."
The pinkette relaxed at that, "Right-right, sorry anyhow, Midoriya!"
"It's okay, I'm... okay," Taking a breath, he nodded to Iida.
"Right, as for why we're here, we needed to see about costume repairs," Iida explained briefly.
"And I just needed to check-in on Tekres' 'Master Plan'," Yuki air-quoted.
"Why don't you take them to the item office like always?" She cocked her head to the right.
"We can't count on the office since their distribution lines are completely crippled at the moment, so we thought maybe the support department could...?" Iida trailed off, head cocked to the left.
"Is that right!? I see!" She stared blankly at them.
"Huh!?" Iida had to adjust his glasses again.
"Huh!?" Hatsume copied, the hammer in her head shattering something important.
"You've got to be kidding.../Hatsume, don't tell me..." Yuki and Izuku gawked at the girl who stared up at the ceiling, white bolts striking around in her head's void. "She has no idea what's going on outside!? How long has she been in here!?"
Inside the studio, waving through the smoke coughing, a person approached with a distinct yellow helmet. "Hatsume, why do all your little experiments always end in an explosion?" It was Power Loader, and he looked as bemused as always. "You kids want costume repairs, aye? Come on in."
Inside was another revelation and a half. The studio was much, Much larger than last they saw it. Benches for tinkering lay with parts, tools, and stains all over them and the floor. A Server Room to their right and above that room was a massive monitor keeping constant monitoring of the UA Barrier and its core systems and segments. It was a mechanics wet dream. So much so, Siva appeared again on Yuki's shoulder to view his surroundings. "|An impressive development | I can understand Tekres' want to stay | I can feel every inch of technology running through this place...|,"
"Thanks, we're in charge of developing the UA Barrier, as well as controlling it when it's operational," Power Loader nodded to the sprite Splicer. Then jabbed his thumb to the far left. "Your other Splicer's over there working on something big for the upcoming fight, said they expected you for a time."
"'They'?" Yuki echoed, she and Siva sharing a look but before they would move beyond a large wall of blue fabric tarps, they followed Izuku and Hatsume.
"Mid-Gauntlet, this item uses the latest compression technology," Hatsume mused, bending backward to look underneath Izuku's arm.
"Since it's a prototype model from I-Island, stock isn't exactly..." He trailed off as he disengaged the gauntlet, the ring dropping into Hatsume's hand, nearly crumbling at her touch. They had been worn into oblivion. "I'd like it if you could fix it for me, please."
"Are you in a hurry?" She asked, seeing the dark look on Izuku's face.
"Yeah-"
"NO CAN DO, sorry!" Then she sharply walked away with a wide smile. "With the amount of damage those things have taken, I would almost have to create an entirely new one! And SIVA's a no-go since it can't perfectly replicate all metals, including the one pressure mechanism requires which is Condenium, which we have none of right now... Impossible!"
"She's walking away at an impossibly fast speed!" Izuku blinked, seeing her dust cloud after image fade beside him.
"Told you I can't help," Yuki exhaled, crossing her arms. "I get I'm like an amazing Splicer now, and sure, SIVA makes repairs a breeze, but I can't replicate metals and alloys beyond a handful of basic ones," Yuki held a finger up to puncture her point.
"|This is true | SIVA can create certain metals, alloys, fabrics, etc. | But all those materials need something taken from the world around us|," Siva explained, gesturing to the room around them. "|I need fuel to create a new object | But if that objects compounds do not match what I require | Then I cannot create a complete replica of that material|,"
"I see, sorry," Izuku slumped a bit, but Yuki patted his cheek to let him know it was fine. Even she knew her nanomachines weren't perfect.
"Hatsume! My armour needs-" Iida shot his hand up.
"No spec-sheet, can't do it!" She was curt this time.
"How straight forward!" Iida too was now in the dumps.
Off to the side, two students approached the disheartened teens, waving politely. One with long curled hair, the other with raven spiky hair held up by a headband. "Don't worry, we'll make them for you," "We're Hatsume's classmates."
"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!" The boys bowed to the support students with Yuki tossing the two a few of her clusters.
"These should help speed along repairs, especially for Izuku's," Yuki rolled her shoulder in his direction.
"Always a pleasure, Azuru," The one with a headband bowed, taking the clusters to his workbench.
"It is strange, isn't it?" Iida commented, looking to Hatsume working rapidly at her desk, her arms moving to handle several things at once without breaking a sweat, even humming a sweet tune to herself. "Being the machine-geek that she is, I would've expected Hatsume to take up on the offer instantly."
Curious, Izuku moved to see what Hatsume was doing, "What are you working on?"
She hit the 'enter' key, bringing up several evacuation blocks. "The Evacuation Blocks are looking nice!" She gave a thumbs up, returning to work.
"When the time came to strengthen the Barrier, Hatsume was called on to help, and if the time of evacuation ever arises, she comes up with new mechanisms on a whim," Power Loader nodded to his student, still smiling and tinkering away. "I think I said it before, but Hatsume's strong points are her energy and her ideas,"
"A brilliant idea can become out of date in even a minute, with that mind, I gotta grow my babies to be even bigger and better! That's my motto!" She exclaimed, proudly multitasking without even a flinch.
"|She's a Splicer through and through | No wonder Tekres likes her | Impressive|," Siva chimed in.
"Thanks a bunch, love the guy too!" She swung her thumb out to Siva then back again.
"I see, because of how busy you were, you had no idea what it was like outside, to be so immersed in your beloved inventions... you're amazing, Hatsume," Izuku praised her talents, how fixated her passion was it could be seen as almost fanatical, but Izuku had seen that same fire before in Surena before she was manipulated into become Selas.
Hatsume's face softened as she worked, "You're too naïve Midoriya, one can even say you're as soft as polyester," She mused, much to his confusion.
"Sorry, I don't quite get..."
"Even I am aware that heroes are in quite a predicament right now, we cannot fight in battle, that's why in order to protect more people than you guys, we are constantly inventing new gadgets," Power Loader smiled at his student. "You see, we're the same," Her classmates shared her optimism as she looked back at the trio with a warm smile. "Inventions are the support classes' way of being heroes,"
"Damn right we are," Yuki grinned, bumping knuckles with Hatsume.
In the far right of the studio, Yuki pushed back the thin blue fabric secluding a large section from view. Inside was something completely unexpected. A large variation of a Fallen warp pad was present, although it's circular base and generator was shadowed by the metal skeleton of a Vex Gate. Tubes and wires fed underneath the catwalks built around it, keeping the area around the gate as clean as possible. Floodlights illuminated the gate while various monitors both human and Eliksni alike were stationed on either side of the rampart leading up toward the portal. Holographic projections of the two separate gates in blue hardlight.
"That's a Vex Gate... and Fallen tech?" Yuki murmured, cocking her head.
"To maximize warp capabilities," Tekres appeared behind the trio, startling them as he brushed past with a data pad. "Many simulations, and in the space of days, how riveting," He sounded excited, that was a first for the Splicer.
"Why a portal?" Izuku inquired.
"That is quite simple, Mr. Midoriya-" A familiar voice drew their head to the right, and Yuki gasped happily. "-with coordinates given to us by an unlikely ally, this will be our ticket into the heart of Kovik's fortress,"
"Doc!" Yuki beamed, running to hug Dr. Yoshiharu tightly, the man chuckling at the girl's embrace. His eyes light green settling on the boys as the two parted. "You should've said something about being at UA! I would've showed up sooner!"
He chuckled, adjusting his round glasses again, "Far too busy with my newest associate, while biology may not be best suited for something as complex as what we're accomplishing here, I am still a scientist in many fields," He patted his heart, motioning for them to follow to where a video screen was played. "And with our distant friends helping us we've been working almost non-stop that I'm starting to see stars, hahaha,"
On the screen were two individuals, both Izuku and Yuki recognized immediately. A young girl with long blonde hair and a lab coat over her pink blouse, wearing rounded glasses too. And a man with blue eyes, and short black hair that was dishevelled compared to the last time they saw him, and with a small goatee too. "Melissa!?/Mr. Lock!?"
~Yuyu, Midoriya, it's been too long, are you guys doing well?~ Melissa waved back, leaning forward to the camera with a big smile.
~A pleasure to meet you again, Ms. Azuru, and you hear your voice too, a beautiful voice for a young maiden~ Lock bowed his head curtly to them as Yuki smiled with a timid look at the compliment.
"Hello again, Melissa," Iida greeted.
~The class rep too, Iida, right? Yes, hello again!~ She waved to him too then sighed. ~I heard about what happened at Jaku City, I'm so sorry that happened to all of you, especially you, Yuyu...~
~The news left many of us in shock, it seems my fears of nanotechnology in the wrong hands was exactly what you were fighting against~ Lock placed a hand on his heart, then cleared his throat. ~Sorry-sorry, I can imagine speaking on ill-times isn't healthy, shall we continue with out work?~
"Good question - how the hell did you guys get coordinates to Kovik's location?" Yuki was sceptical to be blunt, looking to Tekres who worked on a terminal with a clicking noise in his throat. "Not to be a pessimist, but that just screams 'Trap' to me."
"I must agree, it does come off as rather convenient for our cause," Iida frowned but Tekres merely rolled his shoulders.
"The former ally of Viral, Scourge, provided the intel," Tekres grumbled the name. "I have reference it to past exposure to Eliksni and Vex technology used my Skolaskel, while the risk of a trap is great, to pass up the opportunity to bypass their defences cannot be overlooked."
~Nevertheless, thanks to your efforts in completing my anti-virus software, I have sent the latest instalment to UA to aid in their Barrier, as well as this portal~ Lock claimed, drumming his desk. ~Haha, they say we cannot help our friends overseas, then I suppose we'll have to take matters into our own hands! Politics be damned!~
"You both..." Yuki trailed off as she saw Melissa smile, holding her fist close to her chest.
~My Papa supports my decision, all of you are taking risks to put an end to this nightmare for everyone, and if Japan falls, it'll only serve to encourage villains across the globe, we can't stand by and wait~ She was resolute, nothing on her face said she could be swayed.
They smiled, "Thank you, Melissa, we'll do our best, after all," Izuku glanced back at the tarps to where the ambient noises of the support students could be heard. "Inventions are the support mechanics' way of being heroes,"
"Yes, you're exactly right," Iida agreed.
"|The risk is great | And Kovik may know we are coming | But... I say we do this the Guardians way|," Siva floated among them, arms crossed as he faced the warp gate. "|And charge straight into their trap|,"
"You sound like Rayla..." Tekres shook his head, pressing a few keys to bring parts of the apparatus to life. "But to surpass my Kell's work? I will gladly risk it all, and to see the look of anger on the False Kell of Kells face."
Yoshiharu patted Izuku and Yuki on their shoulders, watching the portal flicker to life briefly, every second mattered, and everyone was giving it their all to a better tomorrow.
To Be Continued...
The final battle draws near, with one chapter left, this intermission arc will come to a close. Toga's starting to question Kovik's motives toward his allies, and thanks to Scourge, the heroes may have a way to attack Kovik but is it worth the risk? I hope you enjoyed, I appeciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Heroes!
Next Chapter Intermission: War For Our Imperfect World
Kovik and his Devil Splicers draw closer to unleashing their might upon Japan. Shigaraki nears completion with AFO and NARA. Izuku's mastery over OFA is one hurdle away. And Yuki addresses the battle ahead. With the final days of peace drawing to a close, their world may change forever...