Master Control

Chapter 10


"Behold!"

Mina slapped her phone in front of Izuku and Eijiro on the lunch table. Both curiously looked down at the screen. Displayed was some sort of article about UA. Eijiro quirked an eyebrow, turning to Izuku for an answer.

Not even he could decipher what got the pinkette so excited.

"What am I looking at?" Eijiro finally gave in to ask.

Mina gasped, a hand over her chest as she tried to process what she was hearing.

"How could you guys not know!"

Both boys blinked. "Know what?" Izuku asked.

"Seriously?!" She slammed her hands down and leaned closer to get into Izuku's face, her horns poking against his forehead. He might have been embarrassed if it wasn't for how intense she was right now. "I thought you would be on top of our teachers!"

"What?!" Izuku grabbed the phone with lightning speed, searching for something, anything that might reveal what he missed. Over the years his fanboyism has grown with the knowledge he had been collecting for his future in helping run an agency. It opened a new path of understanding how little decisions in policy or laws could greatly change the way heroes do their work. His finger stopped, a statement from the school itself regarding its staff.

They were opening up positions for teachers.

This information wouldn't have excited very many, but these were students trying to get into UA. Izuku had suggested they could categorize which heroes they would have expected to be working with and what they could be learning from them. So far they had a roster of twenty heroes they've identified to be working at the school. Eijiro had dug deep and made labels to identify fight styles and combos to each one and what people liked to see, while Mina had been finding out which parts of their character and costumes had done to boost their popularity. Izuku was more well rounded, keeping an eye on just about everything and throwing it all in his notebooks.

"Woah, do you think they're thinking about firing anybody?" Eijiro asked pulling out his own phone to use to find the available info.

"All I can get from this is how they are hiring more." Izuku said still borrowing Mina's phone. "Mina, have any of the heroes working there done anything to hurt their image?"

She shook her head. "No! I thought maybe Midnight pulled something with one of the students but nothing new. You think it's because they might be prepping for some stronger quirks?"

"It's possible." Izuku mumbled. "We'll have to watch out for any heroes doing their work closer to the school. It would give us an idea about who might be trying to apply."

"Ah man this is exciting!" Eijiro threw his arms up, smacking the table with a loud crack. "I hope they get some guys who have some good durability. So far they don't have any real tanks."

"Power Loader could be considered a tank." Izuku offered, but his bro shook his head.

"Nah, even with his suit he can't really take a hit. He hardly ever actually goes face to face with a villain."

"Yeah." Mina added. "Plus he's diverted a ton of his efforts towards helping other rescue groups. There's a rumor that the reason he's spending more time with the Pussy Cats is because he's dating Pixie Bob."

"Wow." Izuku blinked. "They would probably work really well together."

"Exactly!" Mina grabbed her phone back from Izuku. "A lot of people want it to happen, but it works better as a rumor. Their themes don't mesh well."

"So, we still down for watching the sports festival this Friday?" Eijiro asked.

"Yeah we are!" Mina shouted.

Their excitement was starting to earn more whispers and looks from a few other students in the cafeteria. Izuku couldn't help but notice that over time they had started giving his friends the same looks that they gave him. Eijiro had been great at handling anyone who would try to bully them while Mina would shut down any rumors that flew from the girl's mouths. Izuku...was just Izuku.

Not like he could threaten to take their quirks away or anything to make them like him. That would be rude.

"Oh!" He remembered. "By the way, Mr. Tsukauchi is probably going to join us. Is that alright?"

"You mean your private detective?" Eijiro joked.

"I don't mind." Mina shrugged. "He's already at your place every week."

"Great!" Izuku nodded. "In that case I'll let him know." Without a moment to lose he got his phone out to text the family friend.

AllMight: Hey! My friends don't mind you coming over to watch the festival.

MagnifyingGlass: Are you sure? This old man won't cramp on your style right?

AllMight: It's fine.

MagnifyingGlass: Thank you Izuku, in that case I'd be happy to come.


Naomasa Tsukauchi smiled at his phone, putting it away as he felt the odd look of the old man next to him.

"Was it the kid?" The short man asked, dragging his fingers through his short beard.

"Yeah, it was." The detective nodded, sitting down on the couch.

"You're getting pretty close to the case." Torino looked out his window, seeing a certain green haired girl with a glowing horn holding an old apple in her backyard. The apple was shimmering with the same light, the rot turning a bright red. She cut off the light of her horn, smiling and taking a bite of the refreshing fruit.

"It wasn't supposed to be a case to begin with Sorahiko." Naomasa sighed. "I just happened to notice something with a family I was getting to know."

"A family you got to know through multiple cases, and then got close when they were wrapping up. Only then did you spot another thing that caught your eye." Torino started. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, getting friendly with them that is."

The older man sat on the couch next to the detective, relaxing into the cushions and patting the arm rest. "I'm not going to complain. Night Eye even got me this lovely house to retire in as long as I kept an eye out for any hint of All for One."

All for One, the biggest one man threat either could think of. There had been plenty of people with military power, influence, or something else that they used to do horrible things. The difference between them and All for One is that a bullet could kill those men, not the villain. It took generations to cultivate one quirk to equal the man's power and put him down. Maybe they were being skeptical. Quirks were strange and did unpredictable things at times.

Yet the thought of All for One using the Midoriya family for his own purposes compelled Naomasa to make sure everything was alright.

"Have you noticed anything odd?" Naomasa asked.

"Well they are an odd bunch" Torino huffed, but then put a finger on his chin. "There is one thing I don't get though, no matter how many times I see it I can't wrap my head around it."

The old man felt his shoulder grabbed, a distressed Naomasa looking like he was about to fight someone. "What?! What is it?! Has a sketchy figure been coming by the house lately? Talking with them about odd subjects? Has Inko noticed or done anything?"

Torino became serious, grabbing the man's wrist and putting his arm down. "Yeah, there has been someone like that talking to Inko. But I don't think she realizes what's happening."

Naomasa got up, pacing to vent the energy he would want to use to punch whoever was causing her trouble. "I can get a squad to intercept the man and take him in for questioning. I've earned a good enough reputation that they wouldn't bother to question it. There I can interrogate him personally."

"You're going to interrogate yourself?"

"...huh?"

Torino started laughing, amused by the younger man's confusion. "Don't tell me you thought I wouldn't notice!"

"Notice what?"

The old man stopped his laughing, becoming more curious than humorous. "For a fella with a lie detecting quirk you sure suck at it yourself."

Naomasa scrambled for some excuse to change the subject, he didn't want to think about that. He was already incredibly close to the case but getting any closer was stupid.

"Oi." Gran Torino said grumpily to get his attention, but he softened his hard attitude for once. "You still have your shot at a life that isn't focused entirely on work. Don't become some washed up man who never bothered to slow down and enjoy the simple life with someone. Otherwise when you retire from work there's nothing else to look forward to."

The detective simply nodded, taking the advice to think about for later. "I should probably get going now."

"Sure sure. Just remember what I told you."

The Detective decided to leave the old man to ramble to himself. The advice he gave, it made sense to some degree. Yet no one could settle down when there was a monster out there who would use everyone in your life against you. He couldn't rest easy yet, not until they were safe.


"COME ON ONE MORE REP!"

"GrraaaAAAH!" Izuku set the weights down on the bar. His arms going slack and hanging by his sides, only shaking for the rapid beating of his heart.

"Good job man!" Eijiro grabbed Izuku by the back of his sweaty shirt and lifted him up easily. "You're going to be swole by the time we hit highschool."

Izuku was plopped down to stand on his own two feet in the gym. He was wearing one of his worn out All Might brand workout shirts patterned after one of his costumes. Eijiro had decided to be one of the guys who did his workouts shirtless, and if someone complained he just threw on a black tank top.

"I'm not trying to get swole though."

"Swole is the goal my guy." Eijiro poked his finger at Izuku's core, the boy wincing from contact. Today was their maxing day and they were doing everything.

"Izubro, you haven't been following the diet have you?"

"I'm eating healthy, I just eat some other things alongside what I need."

"Bro!" Eijiro squished Izuku's arm. "If you want your muscles to be cut you gotta cut the sweets out!"

"If Eri wants me to have a bite or two of whatever she's eating I'm not stopping her."

"You really can't say no to her can you."

"Can you?"

"..Alright, you make a fair point. But no one's going to see your abs if you have that layer of fat over them."

"I don't want people to see me shirtless. Look, I get why you're following the hero program to a T. It helps get your body in shape and make it look good for heroics, but I'm not going into that. I like being healthy, but it's not my goal to have my muscles look good, just be good for when I need them."

Eijiro grumbled, his bro obviously having good points. It was still disappointing that Izuku didn't share his goal to be the swolest guys around, but it's not like his diet could be perfect either. It took a long time when he got his new crystal powers to figure out what he should consider healthy for him to eat. Turns out, his body used up more minerals than your average joe, including silicon in specific forms. So instead of sugary snacks, he would take a bite out of some crystal quartz. Nothing in his diet so far he could visibly see change his level of cut, he being made of literal rock now so there was no layer of fat to burn. There might be certain layers to him, but he wasn't sure how it worked. His plan was just to be as healthy as he could be and make his muscles look the best, and he couldn't force his lifestyle on Izuku.

"Ok, I won't push it any farther." Eijiro gave in. "I'm gonna go max some squats."

The green haired boy just nodded, heading to one of the vending machines to get a sport's drink. Yeah, he would go for the All Might brand, but it tasted funky to him. Instead he went for Miruko's after workout. He wasn't sure exactly what was in it, only that it was what the heroine herself came up with for her own routine. When companies tried to substitute parts of it or add in some sweeteners she kicked their asses. Literally, once they pitched the idea she kicked their ass right there yelling at them. The footage somehow got leaked and spread like wildfire.

Taking a chug of the cold beverage he felt life return to him. Even if it didn't taste the best his body felt brand new after. He took a glance at Eijiro, who was using one of the quirk made machines and squating with a huge bar on his shoulders. On each side were a couple five hundred pound weights. He must be lifting at least a metric ton with no spotter. A while back he got yelled at about safety and stuff but when Eijiro demonstrated how tough he was by slamming a plate on his face it got them to believe the boy.

Yeah, he was going to be a super awesome hero.

"I'm sorry but I don't get what you're trying to say."

Izuku turned to look at the desk towards the front. There was an annoyed employee there speaking to a girl with long blond hair, large blue eyes, two tall horns on the side of her head, and unique looking shoes. Her attire was a simple button up yellow flannel and tight jeans with a large duffel bag on her back. A mutation quirk of some kind giving her slight features of an oxen? It was hard to tell from how slight the quirk affected her appearance. Just enough to know she had a mutation and wait, was it also because she seemed American? He would have to get closer to double check if it was because of a quirk or from lineage.

Maybe his first step was to stop staring. Good plan.

"Please! I just need directions to the train station. Train, station."

Accent was American, cool, that narrows it down as he pretends to be reading the nutritional value of his drink.

"I-don't-speak-hamburger!"

Wow, that sounded pretty rude. She just needed directions to the train station. Izuku wished he could help but he didn't speak English.

*Smack*

Izuku rubbed the sore spot of his cheek that he just slapped for being an idiot. Ignoring the odd stare of a couple powerlifters who just saw him abuse himself he approached the counter.

"Excuse me?" He asked, gaining the attention of both girl and guy.

"I think I can help." Izuku put on his best smile, feeling the corners of his mouth start to twitch and wobble. He was bad at smiling on command, unless it was an All Might impression.

The girl's eyes sparkled, grabbing his hands and giving him a wide grin. "You speak English?! Oh thank All Might. I thought that I wouldn't have a problem with the language barrier moving here since English is taught as a class, but I haven't met anyone who actually knows more than hello!"

Oh boy she was close. Luckily she granted him his personal space soon and let go of his hands.

"Yeah." Izuku started. "Not many people know how to actually speak it. It's more common to find people who read and write it though."

"Ahem." The man beckoned their attention with a not so discrete cough. "She doesn't speak Japanese dude."

"What did he say?" This mystery girl asked.

"He said that you don't speak Japanese." Izuku replied, but already was noticing a problem with talking to her in front of other people. "Hey, do you know which train station you need to go to? I just finished here so I can help."

"You would?! Oh thank you!" She bowed deeply.

Izuku didn't know just how grateful she was for this and just chalked it up to her not knowing the ins and outs of social cues here. "It's no problem. I just need to let my friend know I'm heading out early."

With a quick text to Eijiro, he escorted the girl back outside the gym to figure out where she needed to go.

"So." Izuku started the conversation. "I'm Izuku Midoriya, what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Pony Tsunotori. Nice to meet you Izuku!"

Izuku nearly tripped over himself. Did she just-?!

"Aw crap." Pony cringed. "Sorry, I forget that you call each other by your last names here. I hope I didn't offend you."

No, nononono her larger eyes gave her the advantage already. They looked sad, like a hurt puppy's.

"I-it's alright. You can call me Izuku if it's easier for you."

She brightened up, grabbing his hand to shake. "That's really nice of you! In that case you can call me Pony."

Was her name a synopsis of her quirk? She did have some equine features that-No! Stop it Izuku, she needs help not an examination!

"Alright. So what station do you need to get to?"

"Ah! Right. My dad sent me an email before I got here with his address on it." She dug out her phone from her pocket opening the email. "But, my phone's data didn't switch over to the new plan yet. I don't want to charge my Mom a ton of money by using international data so I was hoping that someone would be able to know which station I should use."

"Let me see?" Izuku offered out his hand, which Pony put her phone in. The street that the address was listed under looked familiar. It might be pretty close to where they were at. Doing the easiest thing that came to mind he pulled out his own phone and put the directions in.

Ok, she was actually within walking distance of his house.

"Good news. I know how to get there." Izuku announced, earning a huzzah from Pony.

"Awesome! Thank you so much for your help Izuku!"

"You're welcome. Here's your..phone...back." His eyes were locked on the little dangling man from her phone.

"Is this an exclusive All Might American convention key chain?!" His words came out louder than he anticipated, so he slammed his jaw shut before he could make a fool of himself.

Pony just beamed right back. "It is! I can't believe you noticed that! I managed to get it when he was in America again visiting New York City. I'm a huge fan!"

Well, everyone was a fan of All Might. It should have been expected. Although everyone else seemed to get creeped out by his level of enthusiasm when it came to the number one hero. Pony seemed to just be more excited. They chatted back and forth as they walked, supplying their bit of knowledge on the hero and gushing over his heroic spirit. Turns out Pony was a very big fan who collected some merchandise herself. When Izuku accidentally let it slip that he had the first edition of his poster in his room Pony practically begged to see it at some point.

Their conversation was cut short when Izuku got a text.

ChibiMight: Apples

ChibiMight: I need more apples

ChibiMight: For training

ChibiMight: Please get more

ChibiMight: Big crunchy ones

AllMight: How many?

ChibiMight: Yes

AllMight: Ok, I'll pick some up on my way back.

ChibiMight: =)

ChibiMight: I love you

AllMight: I love you too

"Who's that?" Pony asked. Izuku flinched to pull his head away from his shoulder where one of his friends or siblings usually peaked over. Pony wasn't like them, instead curiously looked at him for an answer and respecting his privacy.

"It's my sister. She asked if I would pick up some apples on my way home."

"An apple sounds really good right now!" Pony exclaimed, her nose, snout, thing, twitching.

He wanted to ask about her quirk so much but he knew she would ask the same question back.

"I can show you where a nice place is. It's where we usually get our fruits." Izuku offered, and Pony immediately took him up on that, following him to the train station to go and pick up the apples.

Izuku glanced down at the omnitrix, the one that had been translating their entire conversations. It was going to be a problem if people noticed that he technically was speaking two languages at the same time. Pony hearing English, and passerbys hearing Japanese or whatever they could understand. He needed to learn how to control his output, letting everyone hear one language from his so he didn't attract attention. There was a part of the back of his mind that knew when someone was speaking something else to him, all he would have to do is recognize the language or just match it.


"Is this all?" The smiling employee at the register asked Pony. The girl turned to him, expecting him to do the thing he had been doing this whole day for her.

"She asked 'Is this all?'" Izuku translated.

"Mhm!" Pony nodded with a smile, putting some money on the counter to pay for her own sack of apples. At the end of the transaction both teens were with sacks of apples. Pony already grabbing one to take a bite out of.

"Thanks for your help today Izuku! I could never afford my own personal translator." Pony joked, earning a chuckle from Izuku.

"It's no problem." His eyes glanced by the tv behind the counter, the news showing the Waterhose duo using their quirks at something off screen. They were usually a pretty happy pair, taking a page from All Might's book and smiling as they worked. Something was off this time, making a sense of dread fill Izuku's stomach.

They were panicking, yelling at the civilians to run.

"What's going on Izuku?" Pony asked beside him, now looking at the tv.

"I think something bad is happening."

He wasn't sure why, but knowing that this was happening somewhere right now made him not want to look away. His attention to the screen got the store worker to come over and turn the volume on out of curiosity.

"It's a blood bath! The villain Muscular has demolished a local hotel and is hunting down everyone in his sight! The Waterhose duo has just shown up but they are barely able to keep the villain occupied as survivors are fleeing the scene." The reporter said in a panicked yet clear voice.

They watched as the camera shakily focused on the man being hosed down by powerful jet streams from the heroes. The man started to push through it, more and more muscles splitting out of his skin and aligning themselves over him like a suit of flesh.

"Oh man! This is getting fun! You're putting up a great fight!"

It wasn't a taunt from him, it was the truth, but that man was getting way too excited for it.

The heroes were fighting bravely, doing their best to avoid any and all hits while doing as much damage as they could. Unfortunately it wasn't enough. One of them got clipped slightly by the villain's swinging fist. A normal punch grazing the flesh wouldn't have done more than cause a red mark lasting a minute, but this was the punch of a wickedly strong man.

An audible crack was heard, one of the heroes spiraling in the air, skipping across the pavement until being forcibly stopped by a light post and bending them harshly in half. They weren't getting up.

"Seriously? One little hit and that's it? I hope you last a little longer."

He swung out another fist, a blast of water from the barely standing hero managing to direct it slightly upwards. It nicked their helmet, sending it flying into the air and exposing a very pissed looking brunette woman.

"Awww, is somebody mad I killed someone?"

"Not as mad as you're gonna be." The heroine stated before lifting their hand up to Muscular's face.

His grin turned to grimace, the veins around his face bulging. He clutched his head in agony as one of his eyes quickly became bloodshot. His muscles bulged around his arms as he swung wildly, smacking against the heroine. She rolled with the hit, clutching her very broken arm to her chest. Muscular turned to her, glaring with his one good eye with the other a pooling mess of red.

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU LIKE THE BITCH YOU ARE!"

Pony turned away, not willing to see what was happening. Izuku understood how she felt, but some part of him was still locked on. It was possible to teleport, show up, and erase the man's quirk if he was about to do what he thought was going to happen. It would be easy for him, and if Muscular dodged then he could use the emergency defense blast.

But then he would expose the omnitrix.

But if he didn't then she would die.

Yet if he could do something, but didn't do it, then that's on him.

He put his hand over the omnitrix, mentally setting it to the coordinates of battle. One thought, one twitch of his finger and he'd be there. If he was going to do this then it would have to be at the moment he knew there were only two choices.

Save her, or not.

Muscular grabbed a nearby car, the metal giving under his fingers as they dug into it. He was going to throw it, there were still people watching back there behind her! Why were they just standing around watching like this is some sort of tv show?! That's it, he couldn't just stand idly by like everyone else!

Someone had to act.

Now.

His finger went to press the button, sending him into the fray and face against the villain himself.

On the television a pink barrier erupted between the car and the heroine. The vehicle smashed into it, not breaking through. The camera shifted to someone on the side, holding up their arms as pink orbs were vibrating around her fists. It was a teenage girl with orange hair and teal eyes, glaring at the villain.

Izuku kept observing, his finger twitching from nervousness.

He turned to face her, ripping out a piece of the road and throwing it at her. She threw one of the orbs, turning the dry tar into tiny chunks. He started stomping towards her.

"So, you want to play hero?! THEN YOU CAN DIE LIKE ONE!"

He charged right at her, and she copied him. Both ran at one another with fierce determination flooding their very beings. One with intent to protect, the other to kill.

Izuku wasn't sure who would win, but he was ready to be there at the press of a button.

Ready to intervene.

"It's alright everyone!"

His finger froze, his eyes picking up a voice he heard a thousand times from thousands of videos replayed thousands of times.

"Why?"

Pony snapped her head back to the screen, a bright smile lighting up her face.

All Might himself landed between the two, gripping Muscular's fist in his hand.

"BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

The number one hero announced, less jovial and more of a statement of power, demanding respect. He said something, the cameras not picking it up but his lips were moving. Muscular struggled in his grasp, trying to escape the mountain of a man. In one quick motion All Might punched right into Muscular's gut, a wild wind storm generated from the sheer force of his strength.

"YES!" Pony shouted behind him, grabbing Izuku's arm and shaking it. "He's here! He's really here! Holy shit this is why I begged my Mom to let me move to Japan with Dad!"

Izuku felt the corners of his mouth involuntarily twitch upwards, All Might was there, he would save them. His hand lowered from his watch, mentally relieved that he wouldn't have to show up. The omnitrix was his secret to keep, and he almost exposed it. If someone else's life was on the line, would he have risked the omnitrix to save them? It wasn't something he wanted to think about, instead he enjoyed the footage of All Might saving the day once again.

As long as there were heroes like him around, people would be safe. He could help get those heroes out there, Eijiro, Mina, everyone around him could become excellent heroes. So now how could he be one with the omnitrix without revealing its secrets to the world?

If he ever got to meet All Might, maybe he'd ask the man how he could be a hero.


Somewhere else, a certain skinny blond wearing an oversized white shirt was standing with his hair shifting in the breeze. He held out his hand to a familiar redhead, looking at him in awe.

"Itsuka Kendo, I deem you worthy to inherit my power."

"...what?"


Next chapter, UA entrance exam.

Credit for helping me make this story goes to Animeguy1101

Let me know what you think about it and if you want to see more! With the large amount of reviews on the last chapter I'll only be replying to ones that are asking questions or are pitching ideas.


XxGargantuaxX:

Well, we haven't seen any chronosapien DNA with her. Her quirk alone has a ton of potential for time powers.

ProjectIceman:

Fsh don't need vowels, they just need water.

Obsidian Nova Arc:

That would be interesting to see Izuku accidentally mumble teleport. To the big three no less!

D3lph0xL0v3r:

We will get an Overhaul beatdown, but not until later.

Shiroa Fubuki:

Well, we haven't reached UA yet, but we will next time!

Guest:

Don't worry, One for All is going to somebody else this time.

qazse:

Momo is overdone, Itsuka is interesting plus she's featured in this story now.

Random65:

Eri has lots of potential with her quirk. Some other time travelers are bound to notice her and help out.

A Queen Among Women:

FSH! FSH! FSH!

CCSakuraforever:

Lots of his friends want to know about the watch, but he has yet to tell anyone much of anything about it. Eri is probably the closest person to knowing the secrets of the omnitrix.

SonicMax:

By Venom do you mean "Dark Desires?"

ocomhdhain1:

Shoto is a very awkward guy, but he really likes Himiko's content and her. Who knows what will happen when he finds the girl.

LokiAstra:

That is an interesting theory, and it would make the letter more dramatic.