Master Control

Chapter 60

David Shield pushed back in his chair, taking off his glasses and giving his eyes a short rest from staring at several screens all day. Before him in several transparent coffins laid the bodies of the nomu, allowing nano machines inside to work to determine as many details as possible.

In the last one, was All Might alive and well. The last of the diagnostic nanites being pumped out of the chamber. Once the red light inside turned green, the glass door clicked open to allow the hero to sit up in his bed. "Well?"

"Completely healthy." David reiterated the data. "Though you're right, your quirk factor is diminishing faster than we would like. Are you sure we can't get it back from your pupil? It sounds like she doesn't need it."

"I will never regret my choice." He said resolutely, All Might putting back on his hero costume. "Even then, I'm not sure she can give it back without a proper body."

"There's still the other option." Reaching towards a nearby vial, David held the specialized nanites he had been developing for a while for the sole purpose of boosting All Might's quirk. Well, at least until the bombshell that was today. "The ones I currently have would need to be administered regularly, but we can at least increase the strength of your quirk so you don't have to use it as much. I'll still have to calculate how your output is related to overall deterioration but-"

"David." The hero gave a sad, knowing smile. "My time is almost over."

Standing up and flexing his body, All Might boosted his confidence with his signature smile. "Besides, I've been plenty busy managing my agency, which is the closest we have to a functioning hero system headquarters."

"But your successor….is in space!" As crazy as it all sounded, that was the reality. "Who could take your place?"

All Might, wasn't sure there should be a single symbol of peace. But, if he had to pick someone on Earth to do it, one was already proving capable. "I'll see you at the I-Gala."

The man left David alone, the man remembering that despite finding out so many things were going on in reality, there were still several I-island expo events he needed to oversee the presentations for. Especially for the nanites.

Heading back down to the main production lab, he saw that most of the employees had already left for the day. Was it already that late? Still, they weren't planning on presenting them on the opening day so he wouldn't pressure them too much.

Kleiss though, was working harder than ever. He seemed highly attentive towards the main chamber, typing away with one hand while manipulating a synthesizer with his gauntlet.

"Feeling close to a breakthrough?" He asked, almost startling the man who didn't bother to turn around.

"Yes, so very close."

"That's great, but you should take a break. You don't want to show up to the gala without properly cleaning yourself up."

"Rest assured." Van Kleiss turned back with assured confidence. "My preparations for the gala are certain to leave a lasting impression."


Aliens, yakuza, world ending threats, time travel, Izuku has handled a lot recently. His next mission didn't seem all that difficult, and one he had technically done many times. Reveal the secrets of the existence of aliens and invite people to help in cause. He's starting to lose track of the entire list of people who know off the top of his head, that's how many times he's done this.

But this time, he had to interrupt a girls' shopping trip.

It was impossible.

"I don't know." Pony spun in her wheelchair to get a better view of her new top. Hints of reflective circuit lines running through the pattern. "It feels more like a cosplay shirt than an actual shirt ya know?"

"It matches the I-island theme." Ochaco was wearing a similar top next to a mirror, sleeveless and covering part of her neck. "But I only see myself wearing it here and not really anywhere else."

"Melissa." Momo, trying on another 'wired' outfit that looked more like militarized poncho, turned to the blonde who had been giving them 'tours' of all the best places to shop. "How often do the residents wear outfits like this?"

"Hmm. I don't think I pay attention to local fashion enough to really know but I think there's a handful who wear these on the regular. I mostly notice them during events like the expo."

Izuku, sitting on the cushioned bench nearby kept bouncing his leg in place, trying to find some kind of opening to somehow segway the conversation into a way to separate Ochaco and Momo from the rest. Next to him was Shoto, who was watching an event live stream somewhere else. Finally there was Tenya, who seemed to be as attentive as ever and sitting patiently upright with a pair of sunglasses on.

"Izuku?" Spinning her motorized wheelchair around, Pony tugged at her shirt. "What do you think?"

This was becoming increasingly more difficult.

"I think it looks great!"

He was not making it any easier on himself.

"I've got to go." Shoto suddenly announced as he stood up.

One down, at least two to go.

"What for?" Melissa questioned the boy.

"I have to get my suit tailored."

…..Was he missing something? Was this an attempt at humor or-

"Oh." Momo realized what he meant. "For the gala later this evening."

"Gala?" Ochaco seemed just as lost as he was, but Pony didn't seem thrilled about the subject as the inventor began to explain.

"On the first night of the Expo I-island hosts a gala. It's normally for the larger contributors and their families, whether that be high ranking heroes, head scientists, or even investors and stockholders."

"I forgot to bring it up." The richest person in the room addressed her plus one. "But you're welcome to join my family and I Ochaco."

"Thanks." The girl sheepishly reflected on her budget. "But I didn't bring anything to wear to that, so-"

"What do you mean?" Momo interrupted like it was obvious. "You don't wear older dresses to galas, you get one custom made for events. Do, you all reuse your outfits?"

Izuku watched as Ochaco seemed to throttle Momo in her mind, her hands just itching for the opportunity.

"Well…." Melissa stepped in before Ochaco lost her grip on her self control. "I know some families have their own traditions, but I don't think a lot of us feel obligated to get a new outfit for everything. I know I've worn some of my favorite dresses to-"

*GASP* Momo was absolutely thrown back by something Izuku couldn't possibly fathom. "You WEAR your favorite dresses?!"

"Um." Wheeling herself closer to the girl before she could pass out, Pony tried to help. "You mean you don't wear your favorite outfits?"

"Of course not! That's something you get a professional to do! Right?! You submit your dresses to fashion shows and watch as someone with the necessary qualifications brings out the best of the clothing on the runway!"

You get someone else to wear your favorite clothes? Damn, rich people really do live in their own world.

"In any case." The privileged girl dusted herself off, suddenly possessed by an air of what many would mistake as royalty. "I shall call our seamstresses to begin preparations for all of us and have my mother's boutique reserved."

As Ochaco began counting along her hands to calculate how much that would normally cost, others found ways to back out.

"Actually." Melissa held up a hand. "I already have an outfit picked out. Plus, thanks to Izuku I can start finalizing a ton of designs I've been leaving on the backburner for a while that I'm dying to render. See you all there?"

"Of course." Momo nodded, Ochaco was still distracted and Izuku realized that Tenya hadn't even acknowledged anything in the conversation so far.

"Tenya?" Izuku tapped his shoulder, the sunglasses falling off to reveal he was sleeping sitting up this whole time.

"Wow." Ochaco noted his rigid posture. "What a pro napper."

Well, knowing his family Tenya was probably aware and was going to attend the gala anyways.

Wait, Ochaco, Momo, and Pony were all going to get dresses together? This was the perfect opportunity!

When he looked over with high hopes towards his partner in crime, Izuku stopped and really noticed how…down Pony seemed. Her ears were drooping, and wasn't looking at anyone.

Just her shortened leg.

Without saying anything in warning, Izuku got up and marched towards her, grabbed the handles of her wheelchair, and started carting her off. "We'll catch up with you two soon."

"Alright?" Momo watched the two go, while Ochaco found a marker that would soon have a mustached victim.

"Izuku?" Pony glanced up behind herself in surprise. "Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere we can be alone for a minute."


"That's right! TAKE IT UP YOUR FAT BOOTAY!"

Himiko, in front of a screen with a controller in hand, mashing buttons, on a stage, in front of an audience, was really doing her best to keep most of her comments PG seeing some kids around. Even if she could hear her opponent muttering all sorts of naughty words under their breath as they restrained themselves from raging out.

Ever since the sports festival, her identity was pretty much out in the open. Sure she would still turn into heroes or other known faces to mimic while playing games, but it felt refreshing that lots of her viewers liked her when she was just being herself slurs and all.

Now if only the creeps would settle for hanging in the back of the crowd instead of shoving themselves to the front.

"BAM!" With an exaggerated motion Himiko's character turned her opponent into a gory mess, ending the match.

With a roar from the crowd overshadowing the swearing of the sore loser, Himiko gave a short wave as she got off the stage. If only she could turn off her nose, her whole body could detect the sweat and unhygienic walking piles of lard.

She almost gagged seeing her logo on a shirt being stretched to its limit with mtn dew stains and dorito dust wiped over it.

"Himiko!"

It was even worse hearing her real name being used by them. Japan was supposed to be one of the healthier countries, where the hell did all of these guys come from? The only way she could even decipher the guys and girls were the neckbeards.

Not even attempting to acknowledge their presence, Himiko literally snaked past them and slithered through the masses until she was in the more tolerable sections.

So what if her follower count went down? Those were the kinds of people she did NOT want to be reminded that existed.

Huh….maybe she was getting pretty harsh. Whatever, people get canceled for less.

"Himiko." A vaguely familiar voice came from the bustle of people around her, Himiko sparing a moment of her time to see who it might be.

The girl broke out into a teasing grin. "I should have known you were one of mine!"

The boy with a head of a crow and a soul of an edgy poet stuck out from the rest, with a living shadow to give live commentating. He tried to conceal the pin on his jacket, but Himiko had already spotted it. "I only got it at a booth and thought it was-"

"Yeah yeah Tokoyami." Himiko picked at her ear. "It's too late 'Nevermore'. You've been in my chat for years, always arguing with-"

"ME!" The bird headed boy's quirk couldn't stand by any longer. "Number one shadow!"

"Yes sir." Himiko gave a salute to the sentient being. "You're also the only shadow I know about. Can't tell you how many times Izuku ranted about you."

"Excuse me." Another easily identifiable fan approached, one with a heavy lizard mutation that seemed to give Himiko some weird vibes. Not like the other weirdos who would love to put her in a jar, but something was off about this one. "I'm a big fan."

He stuck out his single gloved hand, something else that really made him stick out from the rest of the crowd. Nevertheless she shook the oddly absorbent material, internally groaning about losing more parts of herself. She hoped this wasn't some tactic he was going to use to get himself off later. "Hey, obviously you know me."

"Of course! You've given a lot of us a voice against systemic quirk oppression!"

Hold up, what was the geico gecko spouting?

Luckily Tokoyami was willing to fill her in. "I believe he's talking about the rapid growth of mutant quirk discrimination."

Ah, that.

"Why me?" Himiko, suddenly finding herself actually interested in talking to a fanboy she didn't know listened on.

"Wait." The humanoid lizard backtracked. "Your quirk is a mutation and not a transformation one right?"

"Yes? But I hardly count myself as a good example in more ways than one."

"Not at all! I mean, you call people out on their bullshit all the time! Especially with people that have turned the hero industry into a breeding ground for crime and their own popularity contest! Not only that but you show us that mutations should be embraced and don't have to be tied to who someone is as a person!"

Sure, she could agree that at a first glance over that. But she wouldn't put herself as an icon for justice for mutant quirks, and hell while she knew she was screwed in the head her previous quirk did not do her any favors for getting control of herself. Before she could actually come up with a fully formed opinion on the matter the guy pulled out a flashy business card.

"Here, I recently joined a group that I think you'd like. We have game nights but we also talk about what changes need to be done regarding the hero society a lot of people seem to blind themselves with as an excuse to hurt others who just want to be themselves."

Himiko didn't see a proper address on it, just a general location and some symbols around the corners.

This seemed kind of sketchy, but it would honestly be really nice to talk about people who didn't have a boner for hero work. Plus anything that was anti hero already threw people into a hissy fit, so maybe this was something she should check out to see if it was legit.

"Ok, I'll bite." Himiko put the card in her mouth, storing it in her body for later. "When do you guys meet up and what games we talking?"

"The club leader has a ton of stuff, a good mix of pre quirk and modern games. Though he mostly gravitates to single player story driven ones, but he's still good at multiplayer fighter games. There's just about everything there, I'm sure you'll like it."

Then he was off, someone else calling for his attention or just some other streamer he recognized. Actually, while Himiko was aware there were other popular gamers here she didn't really know most of them. A lot of the trending ones were just vtubers that would never dare show their real faces.

When she started looking for something else to do, she noticed bird brain was giving her a weird look. "What?"

"I don't think you should associate with people with a perspective that-"

"Yeah, sorry. You're a hero student. You're naturally too biased about this to change my mind."


Trying to find a place to have a private conversation was a bit hard at the equivalent of an amusement park city. Izuku's first idea was to find a photobooth, only to quickly see they weren't very wheelchair compatible. An elevator up to one of the skyline towers? That wasn't guaranteed, and if he made it stop halfway it would certainly raise some kind of alarm.

A sense of urgency was swelling in him. Pony seemed upset about something and he wanted to find a way to fix it immediately.

"Hey." She tugged at his sleeve from her spot. "Is this about, getting those two in on the secret club?"

"No." He immediately answered, only to falter as he realized that was something he should probably tell her his current plan. "Well, we should talk about that but that's not what it's about."

"Then what?" Seeing him so anxious about this made her worry even more, her own self confidence issues she's been trying to ignore bubbling into her thoughts. "Does it, have to do with me?"

"Yes." He answered firmly, still trying to find somewhere private. There weren't even any internet cafes given the whole island has wifi. Maybe he could-

*sniff*

Stopping in the middle of the street, Izuku was on high alert as he saw how Pony's shoulders began to quiver, the girl doing her best to hold in her sudden breakdown.

"Pony?!" Nearly jumping to get in front of her, Izuku got down on his knees and latched onto her hand. "Pony what's wrong?"

"Do you-" The waterworks began to start, the girl choking on the possibility. "Do you think this isn't working?"

"What do you mean?" Izuku tried to see what was the issue, looking for something his eyes refused to see. "Is it your wheelchair?"

It somehow managed to dull her negative thoughts, Pony finding herself laughing at the absurdity. "Sorry, I guess I was worried over nothing."

"It can't be nothing." He insisted as he squeezed her hand to assure her of his presence. "Please, trust me."

Her faith in Izuku was unshakable, but it was always doubts about herself that kept Pony from being more open with him. "It's just, I can't dance."

"Well, neither can I-" Oh, now Izuku was starting to see why she got upset. Everyone was talking about a grand dance that was happening, getting custom dresses for what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And all Pony would be able to do is sit and watch.

"That's part of it." She started, a mix of relief to have him so confidently stay by her side but also a swirl of self doubt. "I just, feel like you could do a lot better than me and-"

"Stop." He commanded firmly, before lifting her out of her wheelchair to wrap her in his arms. "You can't let yourself think like that. I don't think I'm a good pick either, and I still feel responsible for your leg."

"But you-"

"-I only trust, that for whatever reason you choose to stay with me is a good one. So do you trust me?"

Gripping the sides of his jacket, Pony didn't expect her chest to ache the way it did right now as she whimpered in his chest. "Of course."

"Then trust me when I say, I love you."

Stop, her heart can only take so much. "I love you too."

Izuku, when did you get to be so cool? Before they were just two nerds that obsessed over heroes. She thought she would be the one to be facing villains and keeping him safe. Somewhere along the way, their roles flipped and now she had to literally lean on him to be the hero.

"That, wasn't too cheesy right?"

There's the nerd she knows and loves.

Letting herself slip out of his arms and falling back into her wheelchair, she whipped away the rest of the tears along her reddened eyes. "We're making a scene. Let's go back to the other girls before they get worried. Then we'll figure out how to break the news to them."

"Right."

Letting Izuku push her wheelchair along the street, Pony unable to keep a straight face as they fell back into the bliss.

"So, do you trust me?" She mimicked his voice in an exaggerated deep tone.

Izuku grumbled as he tried to keep his head low and his face out of sight. "Stop it."

No way was she going to let this go. "Then trust me when I say, I love you."

"This is abuse."

Electing to ignore her teasing, Izuku kept silent as he focused on navigating back through the crowd and over towards the location sent to him by Yaoyorozu. It stuck out from the rest of the futuristic structures, made of marble carved into a work of art fitting for Mount Olympus itself.

Stunned as they went through the front doors, they were greeted by frighteningly accurate mannequins displaying exquisite dresses with fabric and styles to give a taste of what you could receive.

Izuku wheeled Pony closer to one of them as they stared at the fine stitching patterns that-

"Welcome."

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

They were alive!


So yeah, turns out they were models. Apparently rich people don't like using fake people to wear outfits so they decide to literally pay models to stand still all day while people window shop.

Just another reason why Izuku would never understand the minds of the one percent.

"That's it?" Ochaco opened up one of the doors to the side of the room, entering the main lobby area with Momo and an elegantly dressed woman. "You just need my measurements and you'll have a dress ready by tonight?"

"Please." The woman let out a haughty laugh. "I'm a professional, not an amateur."

"I don't even get to say what it will look like?"

Momo placed a hand on Ochaco's shoulder, mostly to keep her out of reach from the offended woman. "It's best not to restrict an artist. Besides, the surprise is the best part. Oh, you two have arrived! Wonderful!"

"Oho?" The seamstress stepped towards Pony, Izuku gripping a little tighter on the handles as she had no subtlety towards examining her stump. "This will be an interesting challenge."

"Um." Pony instinctively scooted back further into her seat. "I don't really plan on doing much, so-"

"Nonsense." Already teaming with ideas, she stole Pony away and began to cart her towards the private room. "This is I-island, where we can create the solution to surpass any limitations. A young lady shouldn't have to sit out from a dance."

She paused, glancing over towards Izuku who was standing out in one of the worst outfits she ever saw. The themes clashed, the colors were off, the materials abused, and the stitch work on that number ten patch was atrocious! Preventing herself from throwing up at his presence, she settled for a heavy glare. "I pray you aren't going to where anything like that to the gala."

"Oh, of course not." Izuku pulled out his phone, showing a photo of his suit that he packed per All Might's instructions. "I have this."

The seamstress regretted having eyes, her stomach lurching as she openly gagged at the sewage he planned to wear. "Please, find something else. Anything else. I don't care if it's an oversized outdated suit you found at the discount section."

Was it really that bad? But his Mom helped pick it out.

Hold on, this could be the opportunity he was looking for.

"You're right." Izuku motioned for Momo and Ochaco to follow as he went over to one of the private changing rooms. "In fact, I'm going to have these two help me pick out a new suit."

"Um." Momo wasn't sure if Izuku was aware of the fact or not. "They don't make suits her-"

"It may take a while." Izuku opened the door, nudging the two inside as he made sure the omnitrix was in clear view for Pony. "I'm very picky with what I wear."

Before the woman could point out his obscene fashion taste he had already closed the door, making her more concerned with what his true intentions could be.

"Young ma'am, please tell me you aren't looking to make him your partner."

"We're going steady."


Now alone, Izuku glanced back towards the other girls while trying to keep his armpits dry. "Ok, in case you couldn't tell there's another reason why I need to talk to you two."

"Yeah." Ochaco admitted easily. "You seemed pretty off all of a sudden."

Momo suddenly gasped. "You aren't having issues with Pony are you?"

"What? No!" Izuku made sure that train of thought crashed. "This is, a whole lot bigger than that."

"SHE'S PREGNANT?!"

"WHAT?!" Almost floating off the ground, Ochaco tried to find her footing. "M-Momo! You have to keep away from those romance novels!"

"No!" This was getting nowhere, Izuku held forward the omnitrix towards them and decided it was better to show than tell….but maybe they should have some warning. "Listen, I need you to not freak out ok? The reason I'm telling you two about this is because I think you and your families can be a really big help."

Now that the topic had shifted away from romance, Momo was able to collect herself enough to have focus. Her eyes landed on the device on his wrist being held forward, her intelligent mind coming to a conclusion. "Does this involve those heroes a part of an unheard of organization?"

"It does." Izuku confirmed, pre selecting an internal storage location. "What I'm about to share, you won't be able to tell anyone without direct permission. You've kept what you know about the omnitrix secret so far, which I'm grateful for, but the whole truth is a whole lot bigger."

"How much bigger?" Ochaco tried to imagine what it could be.

"It's better if I just show you both. Omnitrix."

The dial flashed with a small beep as it listened to its wielder.

"Take us to internal storage."

Then with a flash of green light to transport them to a universe of knowledge, the two would never be able to look at the night sky the same way again.


When it came to exposing massive universe/multiverse scale secrets that were thought to be only fictional by the world, you couldn't dump it all on at once.

Finding out aliens were real and showing enough proof was large on its own, to find out that they were already here was a whole different level, while learning those massive threats to Japan were also aliens was lighting the fuse to a rocket. Discovering the quirkless boy who you had classes with is actually a bunch of alien heroes that also mixed people's blood with otherworldly DNA?

Izuku could only cover so much while he also kept getting opinions on suits in a pocket dimension.

Hopefully their advise wasn't too heavily clouded by all the bombshells to accidentally make him look like a dork.

Standing in the semi large gathering of fancily dressed individuals, Izuku was off in the back tugging at his faded lemon white dress shirt's collar, he double checked his pine green tweed suit to make sure there was no lint. He wasn't sure how to feel about the wood buttons, but it looked ok with his tan vest and dark crimson tie. If only he had time to properly polish the buckled burgundy dress shoes that were more like boots to him.

This hardly felt like an I-island outfit, more like the most well dressed national park butler. Now all he was missing was a stetson to complete his 'rich wannabe cowboy' fit.

"I should have just gone with black tie." He whined to himself. Luckily someone was kind enough to distract him from all of that.

WIth a tap on his shoulder, Izuku hardly recognized Melissa without her glasses. Her outfit was unique, a black top cut along with a gothic trim that shimmered blue anytime the light hit it. Her skirt wasn't too complicated either, just a second piece that matched the top until it reached just above her knees where the blue leggings had its own black trims mirroring the theme. Huh, the wristband they developed to house the new nanites even matched it.

"Hey Izuku. You not going to socialize?"

"I don't even know most of these people." He looked over the crowd. "The ones I do know are just sticking close to their family like Tenya, or I don't feel like I should approach at all."

"Like who?"

"Endeavor."

"You know Endeavor?"

"He nearly took my sister to court."

"Oh, that'll do it."

Then entered Momo and her family, Ochaco tagging along with them.

Huh, honestly he was expecting something really fancy with lots of distracting features on their dresses. As nice as they were, they seemed to just make the person wearing them pop out from the crowd. Guess that lady knew what she was doing, especially with how it managed to fit just right with their-

"You're staring." Melissa warned him, Izuku snapping his eyes away immediately.

"I-it's not like that. I just thought their outfits would have been a lot different."

"I get that. Lots of the high society people tend to follow the 'less is more rule' but then end up buying out a whole cruise ship just to go fishing. Say, do they seem off to you? Like they seem really awake but lost in thought at the same time."

Ah, that was probably his fault. "I'm sure they're fine. I kind of feel the same, really out of place."

"Don't be. I'm just glad one guy here is wearing something other than black tie."

That's when she came in.

Izuku saw her golden dress flowing along with her curled hair, the bottom floating just along the surface of the floor and moving like a cloud. Pony had just the smallest hints of blush on her cheeks, her prussian eyes deeper than ever, and rosy lips that he wanted to drown himself in-

"Your mouth is open."

Snapping his jaw shut, Izuku made sure to wake himself up. "Thanks. Excuse me, but-"

"It's ok." She gave an encouraging push towards Pony. "Go spend time with your girlfriend."

With no time to waste Izuku raced over to Pony without breaking into a sprint. He felt so entrapped by her new look that he didn't even notice her mother in her hero attire until he was already in front of them.

"H-hi Mrs. Tsutonori." He fought the urge to immediately bow in greeting and instead stuck out his hand. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too kid." She accepted his offer, giving it a quick shake. "Surprised when Pony said you would make it here. I thought Japan was restricting a lot more international travel right now."

"Rebuilding has been really fast."

"I'll say. The fact that Japan is expected to have a 100% recovery rate by fall is-"

Pony butted her horns against her mother's shoulder, reminding the woman how she knew Izuku in the first place.

"Sorry hun." With a quick pat, the woman stepped aside to give her daughter some space. "I'll give y'all some space now."

Now it was just him, alone, with his really gorgeous girlfriend at a fancy event. Dear All Might even when she blinked it had him entranced. He should have worn more deodorant.

"Stop staring." Pony began to play with part of her hair out of sheer nervousness, just making it worse for him. "It's embarrassing."

"S-sorry!" He had to force his eyes towards the ceiling, Izuku fighting the gravity her body projected. "Y-you just look really pretty right now."

Now Pony was really glad he wasn't looking, because it gave her an opportunity to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "You look dapper yourself."

That did it, his face felt hot and his hands were clamming up. Pony giggled over it all, starting to feel a little more relaxed. "Are you going to ask about my dress?"

"T-that's right!" The nerd part of him found its window, overshadowing his other emotions to analyze her outfit more closely. "How are you walking so smoothly right now?"

"It has something to do with memory wire." Pony pinched part of her long dress, revealing a thin frame holding it up. "The corset I'm wearing is connected to a harness being held up by the wires. She said that all the floors of the island are compatible with the security drones, so she made my dress to be able to hover like them."

"Amazing, and to think she made this in a few hours."

"I'm pretty sure she's got a quirk to help. But I'll admit, it feels weird scooting along with my foot. It's like the floor is ice or something."

"Hello everyone." David Shield's voice halted the chatter, the lights dimming slightly as a spotlight came over him and highlighting his messy head. Izuku could relate, he could never get his hair under control. Behind him he could see all sorts of other people, probably other scientists or directors with a couple of well known heroes, including Gang Orca, Endeavor, and All Might himself.

No Dr. Kleiss though, but Izuku could see a red drape covering a large cylinder he could only guess was a nanite chamber.

"Welcome to I-island twenty second Gala. I'm sure many of you are anxious for me to stop talking, but first I just want to thank everyone for coming and giving their support to our recent efforts. I know many of you voiced your concerns over how much we requested for starter funds to be put into one particular project, but tonight we promise you, that your trust and our efforts were not in vain. After some words from our special guests we'll give you time to enjoy the music with some food. Towards the end, we'll show you just a foundational piece of technology of tomorrow."

David Shield stepped away from the podium as a round of applause was given, Gang Orca stepping up next to accept the microphone to give his words.

"So." Izuku brushed his hand along the back of his head. "Do you want to, try dancing?"

She didn't seem offended, more amused than anything. "With one leg?"

"It'll balance out my two left feet."

"I don't think that means what you think it means."

"If it means I'm a terrible dancer, then that's exactly what I mean."

The way she laughed turned his heart into putty, Pony with twisted confidence and nervousness accepted with a nod. "Sure, I'd like tha-"

'EMERGENCY TRANSFORMATION ENGAGED.'

Izuku felt his body instantly change to his reptilian speedster, his mind racing faster than ever as he processed the explosion making its approach from the stage towards him. Before he knew it he moved.

Grabbing Pony in his arms and his m he started running, the wall of heat right on his heels as he focused on getting her away from it.

Cutting through the wind, smashing through glass and doors, he had to take every shortcut he could get as the light consumed everything it touched. His rounded feet eventually found itself along the water, XLR8 creating a wave behind himself as he kept running farther and farther to escape the blast radius.

It wasn't until he finally reached land that he dared to peek behind himself.

"I-IZUKU!" Pony with her hair a complete mess and the wires in her dress permanently warped screamed in his arms as he set her down on the sand. "What the hell was that for?!"

"There was an explosion." He answered, the girl going deathly silent. "I'm going back, stay here and stay safe!"

"W-where even is here-Izuku!"

He ran back, without worrying about Pony in his arms he set a new personal record for how fast he moved as XLR8. Along the way he did some quick guestimates in his head and believed he dropped Pony off in Hawaii. At least there were people they knew there that she could get to and send word back to Providence.

For now though, he had to get back to the scene and pray people were still alive. That explosion though, didn't leave much room for hope.

He expected shattered remains of I-island burning along the black surface of the ocean's night life. Instead, he saw it still floating in one piece with only a couple lights still active.

Running over the main wall and through the city, it was a little shaken up but otherwise it was fine.

What was that light then?

Rushing back into the gala hall, where the explosion took place, XLR8 ran through the door he broke and saw bodies all along the ground, but no blood, no burns.

This didn't make any sense.

All Might was the first to pick himself up, the man shaking his head as he pushed himself up.

"All Might!" Zipping up to the man, XLR8 helped him up as he regained his bearings. "Are you alright?"

"M-Melissa." He whispered out as his eyes came into focus, seeing the girl lying on her side against one of the fallen tables.

Nodding, XLR8 immediately went to check on her, the girl groaning as he nudged her to consciousness. Spoon everyone else was starting to wake up, as if they all just had an uncomfortable nap.

"W-what happened?"

"It's ok." He hoisted her up. "It doesn't look like anyone's hurt."

Wiping at her eyes, Melissa began looking around at the crowd, and stopped as she stared in horror.

"What?" The alien turned around, freezing when he saw it.

All Might's body was twitching, alongside everyone else's. It wasn't just that, the hero's face began twisting itself upside down until his smile was a sharp frown on his forehead with everything else sinking into his skin that turned into deep red sandpaper.

They slowly backed away, watching as everyone before them had their cells forced to turn into something inhuman, not even alien.

They were monstrous.


We have finally entered the large-scale events of I-island. I'll be honest, a lot of stuff is about to go down. Not just in the story, but also in my life. I will try to get out more chapters soon, but there's a lot of stuff going down.

A sister just hung herself, my aunt is about to go into surgery we don't expect her to survive from, I'm going to go help care for my dementia grandparents and possibly try to find a place for them, my Dad is going to court, and I have to start surrounding my place with sandbags since our street is about to flood.

So yeah, I'll see if I have some spare time and I'm up for it but I have a lot of stuff to prioritize. I might end up playing some Jedi Survivor to unwind at times. I've only gotten an hour in so far but I'm loving it.

Also, in case you couldn't tell this is now simply an Izuku & Melissa team up with no one else to back them up.

List of Hybrids (In order of splicing):

Eijiro Kirishima & Petrosapien/Diamondhead

Himiko Midoriya & Lenopan/Sludgepuppy

Kyoka Jiro & Sonorosian/Echo Echo

Reiko Yanagi & Ectonurite/Ghostfreak

Shota Aizawa/Eraserhead & Thep Khufan/Snare-oh

Denki Kaminari & Nosedeenian/Buzzshock

Tensei Ida & Citrakayah/Fasttrack

Ochaco Uraraka & Galilean/Gravattack (Alien Generated Quirk)

Yuga Aoyama & Crystalsapien/Chromastone

Mashirao Ojiro & Arachnichimp/Spidermonkey

Higari Maijima/Power Loader & Talpaedan/Armodrillo

Nemuri Kayama/Midnight & Nemuina/Pesky Dust (Alien Generated Quirk)

Hizashi Yamada/Present Mic & Loboan/Blitzwolfer/Benwolf

Any grammar errors please point it out.

Credit for helping me make this story goes to Animeguy1101

Omni-Trickery: Ah, that's what you meant. While this current arc is very nanite heavy, it's still very new technology and should be introduced to the world more slowly. Otherwise, we get this.

Yes, I say he does but I haven't thought too hard about what that might be. Maybe a play on bubbles but different than Bubble Girl's quirk.

Harleking31: Maybe XLR8 could have done it faster, but then no one would have seen it.

Nathan,tan,whcl: Hope you've enjoyed the story so far! I loved your comments as you were reading.

Uber Ghidorah: I really didn't want to at first, but then it suddenly clicked how Melissa was using nanomachines in her inventions and it all just made so much sense.

Chronosign: Damn rich people

Guest: Kota's two years younger, so sort of close but way less mature than she is at the moment.

Thunder Dragon: While I'm open to new ideas for the story if it fits, I can't tell you how many times I've read you copy and paste the same request for Kota despite my responses.

I don't mind long reviews and comments, but I'd appreciate not reading the same thing over and over again.

Jimmy,oz: Glad you've read the story for as long as you have! It was fun reading every response you made along the way.

Silver Remoraid: Thanks! It means a lot when people say that, especially since this is my longest fic and I've done my best to not only make it original but also retain the reader's interest. Unfortunately I don't have any plans for the nemetrix, but that might change for Kota's arc coming up next.