First of all, Happy New Year everyone!
2023 you better not fuck us over like 2020, 2021, and 2022 did or I swear to god I will find a way to end years as a concept.
If you have no idea who I am, I'm CraftClaw, pleasure to meet you. And not to sound like an ass, you shouldn't be here. Not that I'm going to stop you or anything, but this is a continuation of a story I finished back in March of 2022.
Here's a link if you wanna go read that first.
For those of you who are coming back, welcome back, it's cool you decided, "Hey, that one story was pretty cool, I've got some time to kill and I'll give the second one a try."
Okay, recap of things that happened in the last story if you don't feel like trying to reread the, ahem, '201,569' words (and I can barely write a five page essay, why do you do this to me brain?), that you read about a year ago and most likely forgot most things that happened in the last story.
*SPOILERS FOR SHIT THAT ALREADY HAPPENED*
I'll make this as brief as possible, *deep breath*
Story starts out with the main character arriving at Mustafar, wait, shit, Mufasa? No, that's not it either, oh, it's Mustafu, and getting attacked by thugs. Main character is rescued by Miruko, arguably the coolest character since, umm, well anyone. Anyways, the main character goes to UA and begins teaching the students how to fight good. He does some shit, argues with All Might, helps Izuku with learning how to use his quirk, and gets a job from his FBI buddy to hunt down drug dealers in Japan (totally not a contrived way to kick off the plot. Nope, not at all.) Main character fights some people, breaks into a government building, kidnaps a child with the help of his newly acquired gf and Miruko then goes on the run. All might dies, the good guys fight the good fight, the bad guy goes to jail. All For One does some crazy shit, kicks off some nefarious plan, and is generally being evil all around. Then our team of goody two shoes gets kicked out of Japan because, Political bullshit (again, totally not a contrived to continue this story, nope, not a bit), and the Russians now have a super drug to make their quirks hella strong.
Okay, I think that covers everything well enough to read this story. If you read through all that and managed to understand it,
Color me impressed.
Okay, anyways, onto the "You knew what you were getting into" statements
Fair warning, this story is rated 16+ for depictions of violence, drugs, sexual themes, and adult language since this story is primarily from the view of pro-heroes rather than the students. If you do not want to read a story that will include the words that follow this is your warning. The words are as follows, shit, dick, bastard, asshole, fuck, damnit, damn, and slut.
This is your only warning. Turn back, lest you learn highly creative ways to insult people.
["Morning Pete, any trouble this morning?"] the door closed behind him with a *clang* and Pete, the Officer from the night shift, lazily looked up from his desk computer.
["Been pretty quiet as things go, couple of noise complaints, a DUI, and four punks who stole some guy's trash can."] Pete looked back at his computer screen and continued typing up what was probably a report.
["Let's just hope it stays that way,"] replied Jonathan as he sipped his coffee and entered his office. He sat down at his desk and logged into the computer. He briefly gazed at a school picture of Victoria, and he sighed. Monday couldn't get here soon enough.
He focused on the computer and opened his email. The top five were reports from last night for him to check over; the next was an email from the academy; it was a progress report on Miruko. He wasn't surprised that she was top of her class in hand to hand, she was alright in the classroom setting, but shooting was definitely not her forte. He thought back to his days at the academy, getting into trouble, drills, hanging out with his classmates after class, drills, being grilled by the instructors, and all the drills they had to do.
He'd kept an eye on Miruko's progress through the academy, mostly because he felt responsible for what happened to her Japanese career. Maybe he'd drop by to see how she's holding up. Knowing Miruko, she's probably pissed off all her classmates and most of the instructors. Henderson probably took a shine to her, but he couldn't see Daws or Maxion having any great fondness of her attitude.
Before he could review the reports submitted by the night crew, the phone on his desk rang, ["Tarrant County Sheriff's office, this is Jonathan; how can I help you?"]
["I'm Specialist Hero Mason Dixon out in Collin County, is Specialist Hero Riot Ranger available?"] What did Colin County need from them?
["This is he, what can I do for you Mason Dixon?"] asked Jonathan.
["We could use an extra pair of eyes on a case we have over here. A family of three and their dog were found dead on a nature walk a few weeks ago. No signs of injuries and no clear cause of death."] Well, that's something you don't hear about every day.
Unfortunately, while he'd be more than willing to assist on this case, he had his own cases. Two missing children, an attempted robbery, and someone's going around and stealing batteries out of cars. ["I'd love to help, but we've got a couple cases here in Tarrant that I'm helping out with, I could pull a couple favors from Dallas or Denton County if you'd like. Wise could probably spare one or two."]
["They're already here. We need someone with a fresh perspective; I'm sure your department can live without you for a few days."] well, why the hell are they calling him? If they have heroes out of Dallas and Denton and they need more, they need to contact the FBI.
["What about the FBI? Sounds like this may be more up their alley."] said Jonathan.
Mason Dixon replied, ["We already have a spook; he's requested we get you in on this case. Says you'll be useful."]
Wait, why him specifically? Who did the FBI send? ["Alright, I'm on my way over. I'll let my chief know."]
["Thanks, Riot Ranger, we'll see you when you get here."] Mason Dixon hung up the phone, and Jonathan leaned back in his chair, ["Charlie ain't gonna be too happy bout this."]
Jonathan set the phone down on the receiver, took a deep breath, and then picked it up again; he dialed Charlie's number. After a couple of rings, Charlie picked up, ["What's up, Tyson?"]
["Hey boss, just got a request from the Collin County Sheriff's department. They're asking for my help on a case."] said Jonathan cautiously.
He heard Charlie sigh, ["Fine, wrap it up quickly, don't want something to happen here while your gone."]
["Will do, boss"] replied Jonathan as he set the phone back onto the receiver. ["She took that well."]
The drive to the Collin County Sheriff's office took longer than expected. A mile-long traffic jam slowed things to a crawl. Then he had to spend several minutes finding a parking spot, luckily he found one near the back. He walked into the building, and after the receptionists confirmed his identity, they handed him a pass and said, ["Fourth floor, second door to the right."]
["Thank's"] replied Jonathan as he walked to the elevator. He clipped the pass to his coat and tucked his helmet under his arm. The elevator dinged and opened, then Jonathan made his way to where the receptionist told him to go. He put his pass up against the scanner, and the door clicked open.
Inside the room, there was a surprising amount of activity; officers were moving back and forth. Several Specialist Heroes stood in front of a holo-board that displayed several names and pictures. That seemed like a good place to start, so he made his way through the office to the group.
One of the heroes noticed Jonathan approaching and made room for him, ["Glad you could make it, Ranger, I'm Dixon."] The man held out his webbed hand; his frog-like features stood out in the room. ["I believe introductions are in order"] Dixon got the attention of the other heroes.
["Specialist Hero, Tiger King,"] the man had eyes like a cat but otherwise looked like a normal person. His outfit was a loose-fitting police uniform; the plate carrier looked far too big for him. ["My power is a strength augmentation type, and I bulk up quite a bit when I activate it."] That explained the oversized gear. He shook Tiger King's surprisingly tiny hand.
The next one was a woman with a dark cloak; the hood was drawn over her head; she spoke softly as she introduced herself, ["I'm Echo, my power lets me silence those in my presence."] Interesting, so she can make people shut up whenever she wants. Jonathan had to admit, he was a little jealous.
A woman dressed in a stylish yellow and blue suit spoke next, ["Hi, I'm Nebula; my power lets me manipulate any electronic device to do whatever I want it to. Comes in handy more than you think it can."]
Jonathan grinned and replied, ["Oh, I know how handy that can be."]
The next was a balding man in his mid-forties; he wore a simple police uniform and rolled two small rubber balls in his palm. ["Call me Chuck. I can make rubber balls."] Not flashy, probably not all that useful, but Jonathan would bet his life savings that he wasn't a riot at parties and in the field.
Next was a woman with blond hair tied in a tight bun, and she wore the crisp tan uniform of a Texas Ranger; she even had the wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. ["Names Carla. I can make force fields."] Jonathan had been working on his "cool factor" for years but never quite managed to pull it off, but Carla was effortlessly cool.
Finally, a man in an FBI cap and shirt spoke, ["I'm Agent Pike."] Jonathan nodded to him in greeting.
["Names Ranger, my power is manipulating mechanical objects."] Nebula's eyes lit up when he said that, yellow glow and everything.
["Ranger, how much do you know about this case?"] asked Agent Pike.
Jonathan replied, ["Almost nothing. All I know was that a few weeks ago a family and their dog was found dead on a nature trail and that nobody's been able to find the cause yet."]
Agent Pike walked to the board and pointed to a crime scene picture, ["A good starting point then. Those were the first victims. Several more have been found since then. In homes,"] Pike swiped the board several pictures of dozens of victims in various places in their houses, ["At work,"] Pike swiped again showing office workers sprawled on the floor or their desk, ["Even in public areas."] Pike swiped again and showed a park with several people sprawled on the ground.
Pike pulled up some autopsy files onto the holo-board, ["Autopsies on the victims didn't show a clear sign of death, there are no visible injuries, no signs of a struggle at the scene, we're stumbling into the dark here."]
["So what makes you guys think I can help solve this?"] asked Jonathan.
["You have a track record of solving almost unsolvable cases."] said Chuck.
Jonathan shook his head, ["No, I just get lucky, and I'm in the right place at the right time."]
Chuck made a 'hmph' noise and said, ["Then we're hoping you can do the same thing on this case, too."]
["Okay, I'll go over everything and let you know if something jumps out at me."] said Jonathan.
["COME ON YOU FILTHY LOW LIVES! MY GRANDMOTHER CAN RUN BETTER THAN YOU!"] shouted Instructor Henderson. Rumi panted as she ran across the finish line. ["Good time Usagiyama, maybe one day you'll manage to outrun your god-awful attitude."]
She wiped the sweat off her forehead as she gulped the air, her legs were shaking, and they felt like someone had lit them on fire. At first, Rumi had assumed Ranger and Claire had exaggerated how painful the physical training for American Heroes was.
Boy, she was dead wrong.
The problem wasn't what they were doing; Rumi could run five miles in her sleep. The problem was that they ran five miles a day, did four hours of workout, did four hours of defensive training, and had to keep up with their studies.
The hand-to-hand stuff wasn't that hard; she's all but mastered Capoeira, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and her personal favorite Muay Thai. Although Rumi had to admit, Lucha libre came in a close second. She'd even use a few Lucha libre moves to inspire her own special moves, not that she ever really used them.
["Thank you, sir."] Rumi put her hands on her hips and hobbled over to the water station to get a drink. As she gulped down the water, one of her classmates crossed the finish line. She couldn't remember his name. Brad? Chad? Nade? Fad? It had ad in it somewhere. She just referred to him as dick numero uno.
The first day the guy tried to get into her pants, she politely declined by telling him to, quote-unquote, "piss off." But apparently, that wasn't a big enough hint for him to realize she wasn't into him. So he's been trying almost every day with some cheesy pick-up line or an occasional crude statement.
Dick came over and got himself a cup of water and gasped for air when he finished, ["Damn that run."]
She didn't agree with him verbally, but she shared the sentiment. She spotted him admiring her figure out of the corner of her eye. His eyes lingered on her bust, and she turned away in disgust and threw her cup in the trash.
She walked over to a tree and started to stretch her aching muscles. If she didn't, they'd tense up, and she wouldn't have been able to move for a few days. A few more of her classmates crossed the finish line, and she heard Dick and one of the other guys quietly talking with each other as they stretched.
She recognized dicks voice, ["Yeah, man, I'm telling you, Rumi has the best ass here. You should see it bounce as she runs. It's fucking amazing; it's the only thing that keeps me going on that run."]
His friend responded, ["Okay, yeah, she may have the best butt, but you know she can probably hear you, right? And she can definitely kick your ass. Maybe you shouldn't talk about this kind of stuff, like, at all?"]
["Fuck off, dude, I know you want some of that action. I see the way you look at her."] replied Dick.
She'd also noticed Dicks friend wistfully staring at her from time to time, but he never approached her or really ever talked about her, at least within her earshot. So while he was friends with Dick, she didn't hate him, nor would she avoid him. Rumi just wasn't going to go out of her way to talk with him.
["Sure, all the guys and maybe a couple girls wouldn't mind a little romp in the sheets with Rumi, but none of us talk about it. We keep it to ourselves, man, so keep your fantasies to yourself."] Sound advice, but Dick wasn't about to listen to him.
A woman with light green skin and shoulder-length green hair approached, ["Yeah, that's some good advice Nathanael, maybe, just maybe, you'd consider not being such an inconsiderate ass, Brad?"] Jacky was one of the few people who actively tried to counter Dicks weird obsession with Rumi. Not that she needed her help, but it was appreciated non the less.
Rumi finished stretching as Jacky walked over, well, half limped. ["How you holding up, Rumi?"]
["It feels like my thighs are being stabbed by thousands of tiny people,"] said Rumi.
Jacky bent over to touch her toes, ["Girl, I feel ya. These daily runs are murder on my back. I don't know how you can do this."]
Rumi couldn't help but marvel at the glorious sight in front of her. Something about it was just perfect. She couldn't tell if it was the glimpse of Jacky's cleavage, or the way her shorts made her rear look a peach. She wouldn't mind digging into that peach; it was probably so juicy an-
Rumi shook herself from her thoughts, nope, don't think about that, nope, nope, nope! She was here to train her body and her mind.
And boy, the training has done wonders for Jacky's figure. Her already curvy hips had somehow become even more pleasant to look at.
'AHHHHGGGGHHH, Focus, Rumi!' She's here to get her Hero Certification, not go window shopping!
["Yeah, I get that, although my back isn't near as bad as my legs are,"] said Rumi. Trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
["Don't know why, cause your legs look strong as hell."] asked Jacky as she leaned back and popped her back; a sigh of relief escaped her.
Rumi answered, ["Probably cause I never skip leg day. Gotta keep these babies in peak condition."] Even during their off hours it wouldn't be unusual to find Rumi in the gym working out.
Jacky leaned against a tree and yawned, ["you have fun with that."]
["Oh, I will,"] replied Rumi as she put her hands on her hips.
At that moment, Instructor Henderson blew his whistle and shouted, ["ALL RIGHT, YOU LAYABOUTS REPORT TO YOUR CLASS WHEN YOUR DONE RELEARNING HOW TO BREATHE! YOU HAVE THIRTY MINUTES!"]
["Shit, I don't think I'm gonna make it,"] said Jacky.
Rumi, thinking quickly, kneeled down and said, ["Hop on, I'll give you a lift."]
["No, you don't have to do that,"] said Jacky hurriedly, ["just go."]
["I promise we'll get there quickly, hop on already!"] said Rumi stubbornly.
Jacky took a moment, hesitated, then said, ['Fine."] She got onto Rumi's back and made a yelp when Rumi took off. Jacky tightened her grip on Rumi, so she didn't go flying off, ["aahhhhHHHHHHHH RUMI! SLOW DOWN!"]
Rumi did not slow down; she, in fact, sped up. She didn't hear Jacky's panicked request; she only heard the thunder of her feet on the ground and the rush of wind. It only took a couple of minutes to reach the main building. Rumi stopped in front of the door, her heaving breathing only rivaled by the thunder of her heartbeat.
Jacky clung onto Rumi like her life depended on it, her grip was like iron, and she was also breathing hard. Once Jacky had found her voice, she said, ["Y-you can put me down now."]
Rumi suddenly realized she was still holding Jacky and let her drop to the ground, ["Like I promised."] The two went inside, made their way to their classroom, and sat down.
["Let's see, today's what again?"] wondered Rumi.
["I think it's more ethics,"] replied Jacky with a grunt. Nobody liked the ethics class, save for Mark. He was an odd duck, not in a bad way, though; he was just odd sometimes. Mark typically kept to himself; if anyone tried talking with him, he'd respond and carry on a conversation, but he'd never start one. He seemed smart, he wasn't strong, but he could hold his own in a fight, and he was a deadeye on the range.
Just then, as if he knew they were talking about him, Mark stumbled into the room, ["Yo! What up, Mark!"] Jacky smiled and waved at him as he walked through the door.
Mark raised his hand in greeting, ["Not much."] Mark sat down near the front of the class and waited silently.
Jacky tried to carry on the conversation by asking, ["Doing anything fun this weekend?"]
Mark turned in his seat to look at them, ["Not really. Probably just catch up on sleep. You?"]
["Sweet dude, I don't have much planned. Probably just gonna chill with a few friends."] replied Jacky.
["Cool. What are you guy's gonna do?"] asked Mark.
Jacky leaned back in her chair and said, ["Probably see a movie, maybe watch some TV, go wander Wal-Mart and see what ridiculous shit we find. That kind of stuff."]
The door opened before Mark could reply, and their Instructor walked in; Mark spun back around in his seat. Their Instructor, an elderly woman, checked her watch and made a 'humpf' noise as the rest of the class burst through the door out of breath.
"Quirks have been referred to and been used in different ways during the brief time that quirks have existed." Izuku listened to Midnight as she wrote History of Quirks on the board. "The most common use of quirks these days is in Hero work."
Midnight drew a line from one end of the board to the other; on one end, she wrote down "First quirk appears," then on the other side, she wrote "Today." Izuku mimicked her by drawing a line on his notebook. "Who can guess what ways quirks have been used?"
Iida's hand shot up first; when Midnight pointed to him, Iida said, "Construction."
"Correct, but can you expand on that?" asked Midnight as she wrote down Construction on the bottom of the board.
Iida was silent for a moment, then said, "Strength quirks could be used to lift heavy objects, quirks could be used to mix materials, quirks could be used to put materials together, and quirks could even be used to create entire structures."
Midnight nodded, "Good. Does anyone else have an idea?"
Ashido raised her hand, "Quirks could be used in hospitals to like heal people and find out what's wrong."
"Excellent, Mrs. Ashido," Midnight wrote down medical next to Construction; Izuku did the same. "Anyone else? There's at least three major uses of quirks left."
Sero raised his hand "agriculture? Like quirks could make plants grow healthier and faster."
"Good, two left!" said Midnight.
Yaoyorozu raised her hand and said, "Scientific breakthroughs."
"Excellent, many recent scientific achievements have been accomplished mainly through quirks." Midnight then scanned the room and asked, "Does anyone know the last one?"
Bakugo raised his hand, and when Midnight called on him, he said, "War."
Izuku had a hard time believing that quirks would be used during war; he'd always been told that quirks had brought peace to humanity. But when Midnight nodded, Izuku couldn't believe just how awful some people were.
"Quirks have unfortunately been used during wartime. In fact, for most of history involving them, quirks have exclusively been used for war." Midnight used a different colored marker to scribble over almost half of the line.
"How deplorable. Using gifts like these for senseless acts." Izuku wholeheartedly agreed with Iiida's comment. Using quirks to kill other people sounded like something a villain would do.
Midnight nodded, "Yes, Iida, war is a senseless act of violence that sadly has and most likely will continue to shape our society."
Izuku raised his hand and asked, "Why would someone want to use their quirk during war?"
Before Midnight could respond, Bakugo growled, "Because quirks can be powerful weapons."
"Yes, they can," agreed Midnight, "And it's our responsibility to use our quirks responsibly. They are tools for us to protect the weak. We only use them as weapons if absolutely necessary."
"I always admired her uncompromising morality." Izuku almost jumped out of his skin when All Might suddenly appeared in front of him, "But it doesn't matter if you kill for your country or to keep someone safe. When you kill, you take away someone's capacity to be better."
As much as Izuku wanted to understand what All Might said, he couldn't help but think that maybe Midnight had a point that, as heroes, they have a responsibility to keep people safe. But he also agreed with All Might that killing is always the wrong answer. Izuku hoped that killing a villain would never be the only choice he had.
MIdnight continued, "Many countries used people with quirks as weapons for decades. But in the UN Convention of 2127, the use of destructive quirks during times of war were banned. But even still, to this day, militaries around the world still have soldiers who specialize in using quirks." Izuku still couldn't believe that countries would willingly use quirks to kill each other. The amount of destruction one person with a quirk can accomplish was enormous. The amount of destruction an army of quirk users? Izuku shuttered at the thought.
The bell rang, and everyone quickly got up, rushing for the door. None of them wanted to hear any more about how quirks were used for warfare. Midnight shouted after them as they left, "Don't forget to get your essay turned in by Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone!"
Izuku caught up to Iida and Uraraka, "What are you going to write your essays over?" asked Izuku. The assignment was simple; they needed to come up with ways their quirks could be considered dangerous. Izuku wasn't looking forward to writing his essay.
Iida was the first to answer, "Probably about how if I run into anyone at top speed, it may severely injure them."
"You two have it easy; I can't really think of something about my quirk," complained Uraraka.
Izuku thought for a moment, then said, "You could write about how you can drop heavy objects on people?"
"Or send them into orbit," added Iida.
"I…never actually thought of that before. Either of those," said Uraraka.
Iida nodded, "Probably a good thing. Only villains ever think of ways that their quirk can be used to harm others."
Uraraka crossed her arms, "Well, does that make you two villains then? Because I think this assignment is more about making sure we don't accidentally hurt someone."
"Oh, I see," replied Iida as he fiddled with his backpack straps, "I guess I didn't consider that. This place continues to amaze me on how great heroes we're going to become." Izuku and Uraraka laughed, "What?" asked Iida defensively.
"Nothing Iida," said Izuku past his laughter, "Your whole love of school is just a little funny."
"And you don't love school? You should take more pride in your education, Midoriya!" Iida made a chopping motion at Izuku as he spoke.
"No, no, I love going here, learning how to be a hero from some of the greatest heroes in Japan. But I'm not in love with school," replied Izuku.
"I'm not in love with school! I simply love school!" countered Iida.
Uraraka jumped into the conversation, "I don't see how people can love school. Most of it is busy work or memorizing facts. But that's just me."
Iida seemed somewhat insulted, "I can't think of a better pastime than learning. It lets us connect with the wider world in ways we can't even begin to comprehend. We expand our horizons through the experiences of our teachers. We form meaningful connections with our peers that can last lifetimes. And it is our duty as the youth of the world to learn from the mistakes and the successes of those who came before!"
Izuku and Uraraka tuned out of Iida's speech halfway through, neither of them wanted to say it, but they both thought that Iida had an unhealthy obsession with school in general. "Surely you two can see that we are growing as people and have the chance to contribute to society in ways we can't even begin to imagine!"
By now, Izuku had pulled out his phone and was googling if there were any rehab centers nearby. "There's one four blocks away that apparently has nice staff."
Uraraka shook her head, "no, they don't allow visitation on the weekends."
"Weekend visits are non-negotiable," said Izuku as he scrolled down the list. Iida didn't notice what they were doing; he was far too busy praising the very concept of education itself.
["Okay, I found something!"] Jonathan strode into the room and sent the reports on his tablet to the holo-board. Pike, Chuck, and Nebula rushed over.
Pike frowned as he examined the board and said, ["Okay, Ranger, explain."]
Jonathan pointed to a note on the autopsy reports, ["Their oxygen blood level was either zero or dangerously low."]
["Yeah, that typically happens when someone dies,"] said Chuck.
["That's what killed them. There were no other injuries, nothing abnormal. The only thing they have in common is they all had low blood oxygen levels. So obviously, they suffocated."] It was a horrible way to die. Jonathan hoped he'd never go out like that.
Pike put his hands on his hips, ["Great, we have how they died, now we just need to figure out who killed them."]
["I got that covered too,"] said Jonathan, ["we're looking for someone who has a power that allows them to manipulate oxygen levels in some way."] Jonathan displayed the Power Registry of Texas. ["First, I looked up who has the ability to manipulate oxygen."] He typed in the search parameters. There were seven hits.
["One of these seven is most likely our killer?"] asked Nebula.
["Almost there, now we need to filter out any matches that live outside of North Texas."] When he entered the new parameters into the system, it cut down the list to four. ["Now, we go through the list and interview the ones whose power can potentially be lethal."]
Jonathan selected the first name,
Andrew Jacobs
Age: 34
Sex: Male
Occupation: Coach
Power/Quirk: Oxygen boost: user can increase the amount of Oxygen that can be dissolved into his blood.
["Not Jacobs then."] grunted Chuck. Jonathan moved to the next name,
Julia Fenton
Age: 78
Sex: Female
Occupation: Manager at McDonalds
Power/Quirk: Oxidiser: user can oxidize any material she touches.
["Not her, who's the next one?"] asked Pike,
Roger Smith
Age:19
Sex: Male
Occupation: None
Power/Quirk: Helium: user breathes helium instead of Oxygen and can expel Hydrogen from lungs.
["He's a potential candidate, but who's the last one?"] asked Nebula.
Jason Butler
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Occupation: Lifeguard
Power/Quirk: Oxygenator; user can increase or decrease the amount of Oxygen in the area around him.
Pike nodded, ["Okay, he's our prime suspect. Good work, Ranger; we'll get a warrant and pay Jason a visit tomorrow. Good job, everyone; go home and get some rest. We'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
Jonathan was surprised when he walked outside to find that it was dark. He checked his phone, and it was only four. He looked up and saw a dark, roiling mass of clouds ["Rain? When the hell did this roll in?"]
["Bout half an hour ago, There was an alert posted earlier, did you not get it?"] to his right, Nebula was leaning against the wall.
["Oh, guess I didn't notice, ahh well, not like a thunderstorm is gonna hurt me."] replied Jonathan.
Nebula shrugged, ["Guess not, but it's probably safer to wait out the storm to leave. I know this great Mexican place down the street. Their salsa's to die for."]
["Sorry, I really need to get back, maybe next time,"] Jonathan was in a bit of a hurry. Claire was visiting for the weekend, and he wanted to get back home in time to make sure his apartment was cleaned up.
Nebula smiled a little and said, ["Sure, I'll hold you to that. Have a safe drive!"]
["You too!"] replied Jonathan as he jogged to his car.
As soon as he started it, thunder boomed overhead and big fat heavy drops cracked against his windshield as he pulled out of the parking lot. The drive slowed to a crawl as he got onto the highway, then even after he got through the traffic, it was slow going because of the Rain.
He growled in annoyance when he saw the time and decided he better call Claire. Jonathan set the car to auto and then pulled out his phone and dialed her number. It rang twice until she picked up, ["Hey babe, what's up."]
["Not much, just driving through a thunderstorm."] replied Jonathan.
Claire replied ["Sounds fun, how long till you get home?"]
Jonathan thought for a moment before responding, ["Let's see. I'm about two hours out, three at the most."]
["Well then, guess I'll be seeing you then. Oh, hey, I got a weird Email today, something about some heroes conference, did you get one?"] Jonathan frowned at her question.
["Nope, don't think I did. What did it say?"] asked Jonathan.
["It was from some guy called Nathen Clark. Something about keeping world peace or some shit."] this piqued his curiosity, a conference about world peace?
["Did it say who else was invited?"] asked Jonathan.
["Nope, just that it's in New York on August 1st,"] replied Claire, ["I'm thinking of going."]
["Not gonna lie, it sounds like it's gonna be hella boring,"] commented Jonathan. If he had to sit in an auditorium listening to someone talk about how to achieve world peace for who knows how long, he'd go crazy.
Claire hummed then said, ["Probably, but they said there was a good job opportunity."]
["How good?"] asked Jonathan.
["Something like a hundred fifty thousand a year,"] said Claire.
If the car wasn't driving itself, Jonathan probably would have crashed, ["did, did you say a hundred fifty thousand a year?"]
["Oh? Is someone jealous they don't have the opportunity?"] asked Claire in a teasing tone.
["Ummm, yeah! Combined, we barely make a hundred and thirty thousand a year."] replied Jonathan. He put the phone on speaker and went to his Email app. ["I'm checking to see if I have an email from Señor Clark."]
Since yesterday, he'd gotten a couple of emails, and the fourth one on the list was from "Nathan Clark." He quickly opened it and read through the contents.
["Okay, I actually did get one, must be sending these invites out to everyone,"] said Jonathan. As he read the contents of the email, he became more and more confused, ["Any idea what the 'Protectorates' is?"]
["Not a clue, when I googled it, nothing came up,"] said Claire.
["Must be some new training program then."] suggested Jonathan.
["Maybe, but why would there be a job offer for a hundred fifty thousand a year then?"] asked Claire.
She made a good point, ["Maybe for trainers? They could be looking for some experienced heroes to retrain us."] It made sense, at least to him, ["You think Travis might know something about this?"]
["Possibly, I'll give him a call, see what he knows."] replied Claire.
Jonathan nodded and said, ["Cool. Oh, hey, looks like the Rain's letting up some."]
Claire snickered and said, ["Good, now you can clean up your place before I get there."]
["Hey, I keep my place….mostly clean,"] replied Jonathan.
["Oh, sure you do, hun; just make sure you put fresh sheets on the bed this time."] replied Claire.
["Sure, I'll make sure it's washed and dried for later,"] replied Jonathan cheekily.
["Just put on a fresh sheet."] said Claire.
Jonathan grinned, ["I only have two sets, Claire bear, and we're probably gonna make a mess with the one that's clean right now."]
Claire was silent for a moment before saying, ["And here I was thinking you weren't assertive. But were having dinner first, you got it?"]
["Of course, dinner always comes before dessert,"] replied Jonathan.
["That all depends on if you behave yourself,"] hummed Claire. ["I'll see you when I get there."]
Jonathan responded ["Alright, I'll see you then."]
Rumi rolled her shoulders then vaulted over the ring's ropes; she raised her gloved fists as the robot hummed to life. The robot, a basic bipedal automaton, was designed to train boxers; they had several modes, child, amateur, novice, professional, and expert. Out of these modes, it had two settings, training and match. The training setting caused the robot to call out its attacks, remind its opponent of mistakes, and it would pull its punches. But if the match setting was activated, it turned into a stone-cold badass.
She preferred the match mode, mostly because she couldn't stand the digital voice constantly calling out its moves. ["Expert please,"] said Rumi to the technician monitoring the robot.
["Your funeral,"] muttered the technician as he punched in the settings.
Rumi grinned; she hoped this robot could keep up. Otherwise, she'd get bored. ["Are you sure about this Usagiyama?"]
She gave a wink to the trainer, ["Don't worry about me, I'll try not to turn your robot to scrap."]
The trainer shook her head, ["Fine, don't come crying when it floors your ass."]
Rumi raised her mitts, and the robot did the same; she thought back to when she was in middle school, back when she was participating in other matches. Rumi reached out a mitt, and the robot did the same; they bumped fists, and the match was on.
As soon as her mitt touched the robot's, it suddenly lashed out and caught her flatfooted; she felt her nose pop, and her head was thrown back. She heard the robot take a step forward, then the whine of motors as the robot struck again, this time in her stomach.
Rumi managed to take a step back and shook her head, her vision was blurry, and her nose stung, ["Fuck, expert mode doesn't fuck around."] She pounded her mitts together, ["Fucken A!"]
She rushed the robot and just barely avoided the robot's counter punch. She delivered a heavy hit to the robot's side, causing it to stumble slightly, she heard the whine of motors again, and she sidestepped a fist. She kicked the robot in the back, and it stumbled forward but caught itself and turned to face her.
["Come on, you soulless bitch! Let's fucking go!"] She rushed the robot, her leg swinging up towards its head. But the robot blocked the kick and punched her in the chest; it felt like she'd just got hit by a semi-truck.
The robot took the advantage and grabbed Rumi's leg, then threw her over its shoulder. She slammed onto the mat. She gasped as she got up on her hands and knees, 'Jesus fucking Christ, this thing shows no mercy.' Again, she thought back to her less than legal boxing career; not even those guys, who usually fought to the death, were anywhere near as ruthless as this robot was.
She spat a glob of blood and spit onto the mat, wiped her mouth, then got to her feet. ["You done yet, Usagiyama?"] asked the trainer.
Rumi grinned and turned around to the robot, ["Oh, I'm just starten to have some fun. Come on, tin can, is that all you got?]
The robot took two quick steps and threw a punch at her side; she blocked and hit the robot's stomach area, another strike to her side, block, hit to the robot's side. She was getting in a rhythm now.
Block, strike, block, strike. Ever so slowly, she was pushing the robot back towards the center of the ring. But then the damn thing changed styles; its knee shot up and into Rumi's stomach, too fast for her to avoid or block. She felt her feet leave the mat, and pain bloomed from her stomach. Damn thing broke a rib.
She slammed down on the mat again; she clutched her side and violently coughed. God damn this fucking robot! She struggled to her feet, and spat onto the matt again. ["Okay, tin can, I'll admit it, you're good."]
Rumi was beginning to think that she couldn't beat this thing; whoever could beat this monster was a badass of badasses. ["You're never gonna beat it. There's only one person who's managed it, and even they only barely managed to."]
She wondered who the hell could have beaten this. Only two people came to mind, All Might and Ranger. All Might would have instantly destroyed the robot, but Ranger, if he was lucky and on his top form, could have pulled it off.
Rumi squared her shoulders, looked the robot in its cold, uncaring eyes, and growled, ["Come on, you hunk of junk, you wanna rumble? Let's fucking rumble!"]
She charged the robot, and the next thing she knew, she was squinting at a white ceiling tile with a pounding headache.
"What in the goddamn?"
And that's a wrap!
Good morning, Good evening, and or good night dudes and dudettes! It's been a hot minute since I posted anything and I've been working on this story for about a year now so there should be a fairly steady update schedule for at least a couple months, hopefully. This way ya'll don't have to wait a couple weeks, or more, to read a chapter.
I know that I tend to get a little upsety spaghetti when a story I've gotten invested in doesn't update for several months, if not a year. I've got big plans for this story, and while I'd love to just go into depth about "I'm gonna have this happen, then this happen, and this character is gonna go through this arc, and 'insert plot twist here/life changing event'" but I really shouldn't.
But anyways, how is everyone? Are y'all doing okay? I know that most of you probably will skip over this section, but those of you who take the time to read this, your epic, and I hope you have an epic day, or, well, at least have something positive happen.
This story is also loosely based off of other fanfictions that I have read. Any persons or events that mirror reality or another story are completely coincidental. I promise that I've put in effort to make this story original. If anyone wants to see any specific quirks or have any ideas about quirks, they would like to see in the story, let me know and I'll see about adding them. If anyone would like to beta read this story just shoot me a message, I'm always happy to receive constructive criticism.
As always, stay safe, be kind, and quick question,
What does a baby computer call his father?
Data!
