"So Midoriya, how do you think your training is coming along?" A man asked the teenager sitting across from him.

"Oh, my training? It's been fine, I suppose…" Midoriya poked at his ramen. He didn't want to mention to his mentor that he'd been deviating from the plan they had established to get some more training in than was recommended.

"Great! The Entrance Exam is only a few months away at this rate, your progress has been astounding!" The man cheered.

"Are you sure the plan is going to have me ready for the exams, All Might? It's only ten months worth of training for One- I mean my quirk. Others who'll be at the exam have had years to cultivate theirs." Midoriya asked, unsure of his own capabilities. All Might, the number one hero, chuckled lightly before taking a small bite of his own meal.

"Don't fret. You'll do fine. I'm sure you'll fit alongside the future generation of heroes at U.A. You possess the heart of a hero! When your training is done, you'll be well along your path for greatness!" All Might cheered for him. Midoriya looked around the small ramen shop they were in to distract himself from the high praise from the hero. It was quiet and almost empty with only a few employees behind the counter, which is why Midoriya assumed All Might was more comfortable talking about the training than usual if they were in public.

Midoriya thought for a second, thinking about his school and how everyone was talking about their desire to be heroes as well. A question formed in his head and he turned back to All Might. "Sorry to ask this but what do you think the people at UA would be like?" He asked.

All Might was quiet as he thought of the question. "Hmm, are you asking about the students or are you asking about the teachers?"

"Oh, I suppose the students." Midoriya quickly clarified.

"Well, it's usually a mixed bag. From the few I've met over the years while in the field, there are many who have brave and noble dreams of heroism, much like you, but there are usually an almost equal number of students who may want to be heroes for reasons beyond self sacrifice. I'd say, prepare for anything. Both in quirk and personality." He told him.

Midoriya nodded. His mind drifted to Bakugou. He'd definitely make it in. But if he made it in as well, then they'd have to interact with each other on a larger scale than what they ever had before. He had a mix of emotions from that thought. On one hand, he did admire Bakugou's strength and drive. On the other hand…

Bakugou wouldn't hesitate to send him six feet under.

"Heheh, yeah. Well, I think most will be serious about being heroes and be great people!" He nervously chuckled. All Might nodded to his assessment, proud of his student's growth from when they first met.

"Yes, I'm sure they'll be pretty serious about the road ahead of them!"

"Aww, who's a good puppy? Yes! You are! Yes, you are!"

"Kaminari, put them down and get back to work." An old man behind the counter said over his paper.

"Aww, Mr. Hiroshi! Just look at them! You really want to say no to these eyes?" Kaminari raised the puppy in his arms, who only happily yipped in response. Mr. Hiroshi lowered his paper and raised an eyebrow. He leaned over and glanced at the clock on the wall before scoffing, going back to his paper.

"There's 5 minutes left in your shift. 5 minutes left to work." Kaminari's demeanor changed and he groaned.

"Really? Five minutes? What else is there to do? I've fed the fish, cleaned out the snake containers, refilled the water bowls, restocked the food and swept. What even is left for me?" He complained. Mr. Hiroshi only dramatically flipped the page and gestured his head towards the glass door in front of the store in response.

"Fine, I'll guess I can clean the window." Kaminari groaned. "Maybe then Water Hose will leave you alone for a day or two." He quickly teased, putting the puppy back in its pen. Mr. Hiroshi just grumbled.

"It's our job to clean the windows. Don't those damn heroes have something else to do? Thought using quirks was illegal for that kind of crap…" Kaminari rolled his eyes as he grabbed some cleaning spray and a rag from the back room. He personally liked the hero duo. They were nice to him and they had occasionally helped out the store by cleaning the windows on the outside with their quirks, which was one less thing Kaminari had to do in a shift so that was always a plus.

Especially since he hated cleaning windows.

"Hey, at least one less thing to do on our chore list, huh?" He voiced his thoughts to Mr. Hiroshi. He scoffed before grumbling as he turned the page once more. "Still not liking heroes?" Kaminari asked as he began to wipe down the window on the door.

"My opinion on pros doesn't matter. End of story." Kaminari rolled his eyes again. He never understood why Mr. Hiroshi hated them so much. Maybe it was because he was an ancient fossil and came from a time when heroes and quirks were still uncommon. Or maybe he was just a grumpy old man.

There was a small part of him that worried what would happen if he actually did manage to become a hero.

The rest of the cleaning went by quietly, only the chatter of the animals and occasional turning page breaking the silence. Soon, the chime of the clock rang out just as Kaminari finished drying off the window.

"Well, I guess I'm done now. See ya next time." Kaminari folded the rag in his hands while walking back towards the counter.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mr. Hiroshi held up an envelope without looking away from his paper. Kaminari took a glance at it before getting excited.

"Ah man, I forgot! Payday!" He cheered. He reached over to grab it but Mr. Hiroshi just held it higher. "Hang everything up first, then you get your pay." He said. Kaminari grumbled to him and begrudgingly walked into the back room.

The back room of the pet shop was rather small but it was utilized effectively through several shelves and drawers. A shelf for various foods, another for maintaining the various containers with bedding and several drawers that housed the various products and cleaning supplies for restocking. The only things in the room that weren't connected to the store was a single table in the back and the door next to it.

The table's surface was covered in various papers and Kaminari's other belongings for the store. The drawers that came with the table held the aprons and more personalized cleaning supplies for the store, such as the rags and spray Kaminari just used.

And by all things great to Kaminari, that table was probably the thing he hated most about the job.

For reasons beyond his comprehension, Mr. Hiroshi refused to get rid of it despite its horrible condition. The table top had small indents from all the various heavy containers placed on it and the paint was chipped in various places, exposing aged wood that had turned dull from time. The entire table creaked from rust when you put any form of pressure on it or moved it and by far, the drawers were the worst. From the rust, they would frequently jam or not close all the way.

The door on the other hand, was the only thing he wasn't allowed to touch in the entire store. It remained closed at all times and even when Kaminari tried to sneak in, it was locked. He once asked Mr. Hiroshi about it and all he got was that it was apparently like that when he got the store and he had no idea, nor any intention of finding out, what was on the other side.

Kaminari quickly made his way to the desk and tugged on the drawers, luckily they didn't jam this time. He quickly folded the rag and placed the spray alongside it in one drawer, while he took off the apron and placed it in another.

He shut the drawers closed and flinched from the scraping sound of the metal drawers. He quickly grabbed his stuff and walked out of the back room. "Alright, all done. See you next time, Mr. Hiroshi." Kaminari walked up to the front desk, grabbed his envelope and waved Mr. Hiroshi good bye. He only nodded to Kaminari as he walked out of the store.

One of the best things about the end of the day was this moment. The breath of fresh air was invigorating, smelling somewhat clean air that wasn't carrying the smell of fur or some other bodily odor from the animals. The open space took pressure off his shoulders, giving him the chance to unwind.

The street was lined with shops that sprawled all the way down the road. There were pedestrians going on their way but rarely did Kaminari interact with them, which was a downside he supposed. He'd really like to interact with others beyond the animals and Mr. Hiroshi.

He wasn't really a talking person after all.

"Alright! No more work, so let's see what to do first. Go grab some food? Oh, actually, what about Danger Zone? I haven't been there in a few weeks. Wonder if they've got anything new." He spoke to himself as he walked down the road.

"Hey! Kaminari! Could you come over here?" Kaminari stopped, turning to a man waving him over.

"Oh, Mr. Shinoda! What's up?" Kaminari walked over to the man. Mr. Shinoda was a shop owner and was Kaminari's go-to for electronic help. He stood before the man as he seemed embarrassed about the entire situation.

"I know this isn't the right thing to ask you, but I was wondering if you could give me a hand real quick?" Kaminari thought for a moment. Mr. Shinoda always helped him whenever he had any trouble so it'd only be right if he returned the favor, right?

He nodded to his question and the man was relieved. He gestured for Kaminari to follow and the two entered the store, the store was lined with a magnitude of computer products for sale. The man brought Kaminari to the counter where a computer tower was sitting.

"So, this is something that was sent in from one of the hero agencies. They need it to be tested for external surges for whatever reason but I don't have anything that can test it out to the degree they want. So I was wondering if you could help?" He seemed embarrassed to ask but Kaminari smiled.

"No problem! Just how do you want this to work?" Kaminari held his hands out as a surge of lightning covered his hands. Mr. Shinoda gestured towards the entire thing before stepping away. "Just blast it! I think that should test it overall." Kaminari nodded before stepping close and slapping his hands on the side of the tower.

The sparks flew through the air with an electric hum, coating the tower in a yellow glow. After a few seconds, Kaminari took his hands off, stepped back and waited.

"Did it work?" He asked. Mr. Shinoda walked closer but the smell of smoke from the tower answered his question. Mr. Shinoda sighed in defeat. "Well, that was what I expected. Now I've gotta figure out how to fix this and maybe get better parts." He moved over to the tower and tried to examine its exterior.

"Sorry for that Mr. Shinoda. I probably put too much juice into it." Kaminari quickly apologized.

"Why are you sorry? You did what I asked. Plus, if I sent a product that wasn't up to the demands they want, who knows? Maybe someone could have gotten hurt because of my negligence and I could have been sued! If anything, I should thank you." Mr. Shinoda turned to Kaminari and smiled.

"Is there anything else you need?" Kaminari chimed. Mr. Shinoda thought about it for a second before shaking his head and shrugging. "No, I think I'm good for now. I'll ask you if I ever need help." He snapped his fingers at that moment as he seemed to remember something.

"I forgot to ask, but how's the old man? Has he croaked yet?" He joked. Kaminari just scratched the back of his head, not really wanting to answer that question.

"Ah, so he's still the same old grumpy man. Well, if you ever need something Kaminari, either one of you, my doors are open." Kaminari nodded and waved to him as he left. He really liked Mr. Shinoda. Maybe if Mr. Hiroshi doesn't approve of him becoming a hero, maybe he can go to Mr. Shinoda for a job.

Nah, he thought to himself. Mr. Shinoda was too nice, so he couldn't work for him. Random assistance works for Kaminari.

He kept traveling down the road. The distance between Danger Zone and his job wasn't far enough to warrant something beyond walking. It took a while but he did it. He stopped on the side of the street, staring at a large neon sign that overlooked an open front of the establishment.

There it was, Danger Zone. The greatest arcade known to man.

Kaminari stepped inside and the sounds of games rang in his ears. He walked around the arcade, walking the same route he had gone many times over and seeing the games he'd played before. Claw machines, ticket lottos, racing games, fighting games, Kaminari had played them all a thousand times over.

He moved towards the quieter part of the arcade, where most of the newer machines that didn't really have a group were placed until more came in. And as luck would have it, he saw a machine he had never seen before. Judging from the sounds and the person playing it, it was on.

"Score."

He moved closer and examined the machine. It was a large navy blue box with a wide screen facing a set of plastic drums that the person playing was hitting. Judging from that, Kaminari assumed it was a rhythm game. He stood behind the seated person, who was too engrossed with the game to notice him and watched the screen. He watched as they made their way through an muggy ocean shore, the beats of the drums destroying large birds or fish that slowly approached the center of the screen.

Kaminari remained silent as he observed the game. The beat got faster and the creatures in turn moved faster towards the center. What started as something that was a breeze for the player quickly became a struggle. Soon, the mistakes added up and an abrupt horn stopped the music. The game froze and the player took a second to process the end.

"Damn, well then." The person stood up. He looked like a teenager around Kaminari but was a few centimeters taller. He had jet black hair with sharp points at the end that reminded Kaminari of something but he couldn't recall what. The more interesting part to Kaminari was his elbows, as they were pronounced and had a divet inwards.

The boy turned around and finally noticed Kaminari for the first time. "Oh, what's up? You want to play?" He pointed back at the machine with his thumb but Kaminari was more distracted by his grin.

"Uh, yeah. I guess. I was just watching you play for a moment to figure out what was going on." Kaminari explained.

"Ah, no problem. It's pretty reasonable for a rhythm game. Have fun." He walked away from the seat to allow Kaminari to sit. Kaminari stared at the machine for a split second before he patted his pockets.

Of course, he forgot to go get some tokens when he came in.

"Yeah, just hold on a second." Kaminari mumbled to himself.

"Oh, you don't have any tokens? You can have a few of mine. I don't think I was going to stay here for very much longer anyway." The boy handed him a few tokens from his pocket and Kaminari stared at them in his palm.

"Uh, thanks." He chimed. He turned back to the machine and inserted them, the machine flared to life.

"Now, I've played this a couple times already. The drums are still sensitive so you don't need to really hit them hard to play so just keep that in mind." He told Kaminari. Kaminari nodded and turned his attention to the screen. The game started out slow but he got the hang of it as it sped up.

"Huh, you're doing pretty good." The boy commented from behind. Kaminari shrugged as he slowly let reflexes take over.

"Once you get the hang of fast paced games, it doesn't really bother you. Plus, I played a lot of Sumo Slammers: Drums of Tranquility." Kaminari mentioned.

"Wait, Sumo Slammers? I love those games. What's your favorite?" The boy asked.

"I liked the original one. It's a classic that didn't have a lot of gimmicks to carry gameplay like the others later on." Kaminari blurted out quickly.

"Oh, I like the third one more personally but I get it." Kaminari began to have his own reflexes start to get beat by the game as the visuals turned to a starry night in-game. Quickly, the game stopped as Kaminari came down from the adrenaline. He breathed heavily as he stood back up, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Oh, well, you did better than me in that. Good job." The other congratulated. Kaminari nodded as he put down the drumsticks and looked at the other person.

"Kaminari. Nice to meet you." Kaminari held out his hand. The boy looked down at his hand and looked unnerved. Kaminari glanced down and noted his sweaty hand. He quickly took his hand back and tried to laugh it off. "Never mind that then!" He nervously chuckled.

"Well, if we're giving names, Sero. Nice to meet you, Kaminari." Sero smiled. After that, there was an awkward moment of silence as the beeps of games broke the silence.

"So Sero, you got anything else for today? I just got off work so I'm going to be here if you just want to play more games. I know the Sumo Slammer arcade game here is two player." Kaminari offered him. Sero thought for a split second before laughing for a moment.

"Wait, you have a job? I doubt it. You don't really look like the working type." Sero asked.

"I do! I work at the pet shop down the road. They're open for the rest of the day if you want to go see some of the animals." He offered. Sero considered the idea for a few seconds before he smirked.

"Alright then. Two conditions. One, only if they have some cats and two, you get into something clean because you're starting to stink and I don't think it's from the pet store." Kaminari took a whiff of himself. He couldn't smell anything that was revolting but he never knew.

"Eh, that's fair. I'll just give you my number so we can easily get back together. I've got a while to go to my house." Kaminari pulled out his phone and a notification sat in the center of the screen.

"Warning, a criminal has escaped captivity…" Kaminari mumbled to himself as he read it. He looked at the general area that the warning was for and sighed in relief when it wasn't anywhere near them. He looked at Sero who was mashing his On button, he sighed before he showed his dead screen to Kaminari.

"Sorry, my phone's dead right now. Maybe later?" Sero proposed. Kaminari smiled briefly before holding out his hand.

"What?" Sero asked. Kaminari just gestured again to give his phone to him. Sero paused but slowly handed his phone over to Kaminari. Kaminari looked down at the phone to see what kind it was. It looked similar to his own so this should work. He moved his finger to the charging port and took a quick glance around.

Alright, no cops around or officials to get mad at him.

He focused his quirk into his finger, the electricity dancing to life at his fingertips. The electricity leaped into the phone and after a few moments, the screen turned on. The spark died at Kaminari's fingertips as he smugly handed back the phone to an impressed Sero.

"I should have guessed you had an electricity quirk given your hair." He joked. Kaminari smiled with a quick nod. "It's pretty great. I plan to go all the way with it!" He cheered. Sero lifted his own elbows, showing a small slit across them.

"My quirk's pretty cool too. I can create tape!" To prove his point, small strips of duct tape crawled from both openings. Kaminari stared at them blankly.

"I don't get it. So you just create tape?" The tapes retracted as Sero chuckled. "Of course, you don't get it but I can do a lot of cool things with them. Just you're going to have to wait and see!" He yelled aloud.

To Kaminari, he didn't know if he was just trying to save his own ego or if he was really that confident in the power of tape of all things.

"Alright then, so now the numbers." Kaminari held his phone out and the two quickly shared their numbers. Beyond that, they didn't say much to the other as they left after a short time in the arcade and went their own ways.

Kaminari quickly made his way towards the train station. He quickly boarded and the train went on its way. He didn't live far from the city, about 30 minutes away by train. On the way there, he stared out the windows and kept himself entertained with the rolling hills of the outer city.

A buzz from his pocket brought him out of his daydream. He looked at the screen of his phone and saw that there were two notifications. One, a message from Sero, and the other, an update from that escaped convict. He figured the pros had it under control so he ignored it.

"Hey, where are we going to meet up?" Sero texted. He thought for a second before typing.

"The shop in an hour? Avoid the windows if early. Boss doesn't like it." He hit send and waited. A few moments later, Sero sent a thumbs up. He slid his phone into his pocket and continued looking outside to the rolling horizon.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Kaminari yelled as he took off his shoes at the front door of his home.

"Denki! How was work?" His mom yelled out. Kaminari walked out of the opening hall and into the main room with his mom in the kitchen. The smell of dinner wafted in his nose, making his stomach growl.

"It was pretty good. I've just gotta change since I'm meeting up with someone in a bit." He yelled out as he made his way to the stairwell.

"With what clothes? You left your laundry in the washer." Kaminari stopped climbing the stairs. He left them in the washer?

"What? I thought you would have swapped it over!" He yelled down the stairs. He heard an agitated sigh from his mother as he rushed down the stairs to the basement door.

"You think I'm going to do your laundry? You're almost done with middle school, you can do it yourself now! Plus, I just got back from work so I would have been able to anyway." She explained. "If I were you, I'd tell whoever you're going to meet that you'll be late." She warned him as he closed the basement door.

Kaminari grumbled as he made his way down the gnarly stairs. At the bottom, he flipped the light switch on, illuminating the basement. Shelves and boxes made up most of the room besides the washers and other laundry equipment on the right side of the room.

He crept to the washer and opened it, hoping for the slight chance his mom was messing him. He groaned when he saw his clump of damp clothes. He grabbed a handful of it and quickly threw them into the dryer, slamming the lid shut. He just twisted the dial to the quickest time that seemed reasonable to him and the dryer began to hum and shake.

"Great, just great. What am I going to do in the meantime?" He looked around for an idea, looking at some of the old boxes in the room.

He moved towards the boxes, maybe he could just look through some of them for something interesting. He briefly scanned them to see whatever ones weren't taped close or were labeled. He grabbed the closest one off the shelf and opened it. All that was inside were small old pocket books. Kaminari closed the box and set it aside, probably not a good thing to snoop around in.

"What else…" He mumbled to himself as he dug deeper. He pulled out another box and looked into it. A sense of dread filled him as he stared at young children's toys that he vaguely remembered. He pulled out a small hero figurine of All Might. It was very obviously marketed towards a younger child audience and based on some earlier costume of his but Kaminari couldn't place what it was called.

"Ok, this is the only thing I'm fine with, everything else though." He moved some rubber ducks and figurines and then saw the truly most horrible thing in the box.

His old pre-school uniform.

"Oh god, I thought they got rid of that! Why did they keep it…" He embarrassingly groaned, putting most of the box back together, minus the All Might figure. He stared at it, there was just a feeling that he couldn't place. Something inside told him to keep it. Probably nostalgia. He looked back up at the shelves and scanned them.

He didn't see any other boxes that could be easily opened until he looked deep into the shelves. In the opening he created from pulling out the box full of his old toys, he saw another box, hidden beneath the others. He set the toy box down and pulled that one out carefully, surprised about its heavy weight.

It wasn't labeled and the tape used to keep it closed had worn away, so the box itself was pretty old. But the weight of the box peaked Kaminari's interest too much at that point.

He sat down and opened the box carefully. Inside, it was full of carnival prizes. Keychains, glasses, tickets and other memorabilia. However, the box was largely taken up by a dark metal box. Kaminari carefully took the box out and examined it. It looked to be a small safe and it was the source of most of the box's weight. He shook it to see if he could hear anything inside but nothing rattled.

He looked at the top where the door was and all that was on top was the handle and a small black pad. He twisted and pulled on the handle to attempt to see if it was unlocked but it didn't budge. He looked at the black pad and wondered if that was how one opened it. He tapped the pad and nothing happened. He thought for a second before an idea popped in his head.

He charged his hand with electricity and tapped the pad again, giving it a shock. To his surprise, nothing happened. The safe seemed all right, the pad didn't respond and the handle was still locked. Maybe it wasn't electrical? Kaminari took a look around for another way to open it before seeing a nearby broom, the one he had to use to sweep for chores.

Maybe the safe was just too strong for him to open so what if he tried with a lever? Science class had said something about it being easier. Maybe that'll work? He got up and reached for the broom. He then jammed the handle of the mop into the safe's handle and pushed.

Nothing.

He pushed down harder. Now, he was putting his foot on the safe to keep it in place as he pushed all his weight onto the broom.

"Come on, this thing has got to be old. How good can this safe be-" A sharp snap from the broom handle jarred Kaminari. The snap made Kaminari stumble off the safe and almost trip. He barely managed to catch himself but the shattered handle in his hand made him worry.

His mother's fury would be unmatched.

He scrambled to take the remaining bits of the handle and put the broken parts slightly together in the corner in an attempt to make it look like it wasn't broken, but it slumped against the wall. Kaminari gulped. Maybe he could replace it before his mom came downstairs and noticed.

But back to the safe, he was stumped as to how to open it. He didn't think it was something important, given where it was, but now Kaminari's interest had reached its peak. He looked at the pad again and placed his finger onto it. If it was one of those ID pads that they have in the movies, he might not be able to open it but it was the only thing he hadn't thought of at this point.

CLICK!

Ok…guess that was the answer.

Kaminari brought his hand up and went to the handle. He brought it down without any resistance and pulled it open. Steam escaped from the edges, surprising Kaminari even more. He closed his eyes and waited for the warm air to pass. He glanced down moments later, curious on what would be inside from such a secure safe.

He wasn't expecting a small device to be what was locked inside.

Kaminari looked at the interior of the safe. It looked high tech with a circuitry pattern adorning the walls. The back wall was closer than the actual wall of the safe and it held the small rectangular device.

Kaminari tilted his head in confusion. Why would such an advanced looking safe be holding that? Why would his parents have it? They were electricians but that didn't resemble anything they used to him. He slowly grabbed the device and pulled it. As he took it out, bands came out with it, making it now resemble a wristwatch. He quickly examined it in the dim light.

It was white in color and had the feeling of warm plastic. Light gray lines covered the side of the bands and crawled up the black faceplate of the watch, forming a silhouette of an hourglass. There were three green buttons on the side of the faceplate, which is how Kaminari assumed the watch was modified.

"This seems like a lot of work for a carnival prize. Although, it looks cool." He mumbled to himself. He stared at the watch for a moment and an idea popped into his head. "Well, Mom and Dad aren't using it so why can't I?" He said to himself.

He placed the watch on his left wrist and pressed the two bands together underneath. There was a magnetic snap as they connected. Kaminari looked the watch over now that it was on him. It was reasonable size and looked sleek for something that was probably older than him and out of date at this point.

"Now, let's see if those cheap batteries they put in are still working." He pressed all the buttons at once but nothing happened. 'Maybe it needs to be specific?' He wondered.

He began pressing them all. Random variations and different timings. And just as he was about to give up, he heard the start up of a computer. He was excited as the gray bars finally lit up. They started to rapidly flash before settling into a deep blue color.

A little weird given the color scheme of the buttons but whatever.

"Alright, I guess that's how you turn it on. Go me! Now, to find out how to get the dumb time set on this thing. Or just the ability to do anything with this."

He almost went back to using the buttons before the dyer chimed. He looked over and smiled in excitement. That was fast. He quickly closed the safe and put it back into the box to set everything back as quick as he could. He haphazardly threw the boxes back onto the shelves before quickly moving to the dryer.

He grabbed his laundry and briefly examined it. A little damp but he'd doubt that'd be an issue. He tossed on a long sleeve and some shorts before running up the stairs with a bundle of clothes in his hands. He walked out of the basement and ran up the stairs to his room, the sounds of the kitchen and his footsteps filling the empty void of noise.

He darted down the hall and ran into his room. Without a second thought, he threw down his clothes onto his messy bed and rushed back down the stairs towards the door. He hopped to try and get his shoes on quicker but it was more of an embarrassing act than anything else.

"That was fast. Where are you going? A friend? Wait, oh no. Please don't tell me you tried looping another poor soul into a date." Kaminari deadpanned towards his mom's comment before rolling his eyes.

"I made a new friend named Sero. I was going to meet him at work to show him around and some of the animals there." He explained.

"I see. Any shared interests I need to look into?"

"Mom! I just met him! Please don't do anything weird." Kaminari pleaded. His mom hummed in her own merry tune. "I'm assuming he's a fan of those Sumo games huh?" She asked.

"Mom! Please!" Kaminari embarrassingly stomped his foot down as he finally got the last shoe on. "Uh, sorry about that…I'll be back in maybe two hours." He stated slowly.

"Alright, Dinner will be ready around that time. Your dad should be back soon so don't expect anything funny business when you get back." His mom chimed aloud before Kaminari left the house. He took his phone out and quickly went to his messages with Sero as he ran down the street towards the station.

"Thing came up. Will be there in 30." He tapped away.

A moment's pause before a blurb came up.

"Ok."

Kaminari pocketed his phone and tried to push himself harder in his sprint. Sadly, he wasn't the physical powerhouse he was pushing himself to be so he eventually had to slow himself down to a jog in order to recover from the dead sprint he tried.

The train station was busy as people marched off the train in a hurried state. Work was starting to get out, he assumed, which likely meant he didn't have long before Mr. Hiroshi closed the shop for the night.

He went past the turn gate and boarded the train. Since most people appeared to be leaving for work, the seats were opening up easily. Kaminari took a seat on the opposite side of the train and waited for departure. It took a few moments but the doors closed and the train began its lurch towards the city.

"Ok, an easy train ride then a hangout tour of work. No big deal."

The trip back to the store was agonizing. Every minute that passed made Kaminari feel more and more guilty over leaving Sero waiting. His overthinking made him tap his foot on the floor of the train, increasing in speed as he thought more about it.

'Ok ok ok, maybe I just need to think about something else. Uh, let's see…' He looked around the train in desperate need of something weird. None of the passengers had interesting quirks to look at nor did they have anything else weird about them. He sighed. He lifted his arm and pulled the sleeve back. The watch was still blue but nothing appeared on the face plate.

'Maybe I can finally figure out how to put the time on this thing.' He began to press the buttons again. Maybe one will bring up a menu. He fiddled with the buttons but no matter what, nothing happened. He sighed. Maybe it was just a lost cause. He rolled up his sleeve as the train began to reach the outer edges of the city. He'd probably just take it off when he gets back home if it won't work.

'The watch is cool enough to keep, I guess.' Kaminari thought to himself as he stood.

Kaminari walked off the train and out of the station, seeing people glued to their phones. He heard the sounds of fighting from most of them so they were likely just watching some hero defeat a villain somewhere. He'd have to check it out when he got back home.

He walked his normal route towards the pet store. As he got closer, he saw Sero standing nearby the store, talking to Mr. Shinoda. Sero had his back to him so Mr. Shinoda was the first to see Kaminari get close.

"Hey, there you are! This young lad was looking for you." Mr. Shinoda gestured to Sero who turned around to see Kaminari walk up to him. Sero examined Kaminari before making an obvious sniffing sound.

"Yeah, you got new clothes I can tell. You smelled horrible before." He joked to Kaminari. Mr. Shinoda laughed to Kaminari's embarrassment.

"Well, that's Kaminari for you! Kid is a bit scatterbrained but he's good when it counts." Mr. Shinoda turned away from Kaminari towards Sero as he explained.

"So how did you two meet? Because talking about someone behind their back is usually rude." He chimed with annoyance.

"Ah, I met Mr. Shinoda when trying to find the pet store. He gave me directions and then we just talked while we waited for you. He gave me some pointers on building some electronics. Mainly computers." Sero explained.

"You want to know how to build computers?" Sero shrugged at Kaminari's question. "Who knows, if I don't make it into school for what I want, maybe I can get in with something else."

"I see then. It's a neat thing I suppose." Kaminari mumbled. Mr. Shinoda nodded.

"Learning new skills is a great thing. If you want Kaminari, I could give you some pointers and lessons another day, how does that sound?" He asked. Kaminari thought about it. It sounded interesting and maybe then he can get the transfer if Mr. Hiroshi hates his career plans.

"Sure, that sounds fun. Count me in." Mr. Shinoda smiled. "Why don't you stop by next week for those? So you're out of school and can spend as much time as you'd need to get the basics." He offered.

"Sounds good to me then. I'll see you then." Kaminari responded. Mr. Shinoda smiled before looking at the two of them.

"Well, it's best for me to head off. I've got to close the shop and look to fix the counter. A thing from earlier left a small scorch mark on my counter. Whoops!" Kaminari understood what he was mentioning and slowly nodded with small amounts of shame.

"Well, see you guys at some point!" Mr. Shinoda waved the two bye and turned around to leave. The two stood there for a few moments, watching him walk down the street.

"So, shall we go see the pet shop?" Kaminari offered as a way to change the conversation.

"Sure, lead the way." Sero responded. Kaminari nodded and led him to the door. The two entered the shop, the door chiming. Mr. Hiroshi looked up from a new newspaper and gave a look to Kaminari.

"Your shift ended almost 3 hours ago. Did you forget something?" He leaned towards Kaminari, who only gestured toward Sero. Mr. Hiroshi looked at Sero who just waved back.

"Hanta Sero, at your service sir." Sero bowed to him and he only scoffed in response. "Well, just don't steal anything." He stated. Kaminari nodded before turning towards Sero.

"You wanted to see the cats right?" He asked. Sero gave a thumbs up and Kaminari gestured to him to follow. He led him towards a series of containers on the wall. Inside were a number of cats, each in their own clear container. When they saw Kaminari approach, they all started to purr and meow to gain his attention. He opened one of the containers and began to pet one of the cats. Sero came over and leaned in to do the same.

"Good cats. What other animals do you have here? " Sero asked.

"Oh, we have dogs and fish. We got things that aren't really common." Kaminari explained. He was about to continue before the door opened.

Kaminari looked towards who had entered and was moderately surprised. They resembled a tall humanoid plant, with red and yellow petals that resembled hair and green grass covered their body akin to clothing. They looked confused as they examined the animals around the front of the store.

Kaminari walked towards them and lightly waved to them. "Hello, looking for something?" The person looked surprised at him, trying to process something. At that moment, Kaminari got a whiff of something that smelled foul. The sudden disgust seemed apparent enough towards the customer to slightly bow.

"Sorry about my smell, my quirk makes me constantly produce methane. While I can contain most of it, some of it leaks. Are you a worker here? I had a question about a pet." They asked. Kaminari looked at him over again. He did have that sickly green color that he would associate with the smell so that made sense to him.

"Uh, not right now. I'm off right now but I can help you if you need." He told him. He turned around to see what Sero and Mr. Hiroshi were doing quickly. Sero seemed distracted at seeing some of the fishes while Mr. Hiroshi for once was observing the entire situation. Maybe he just hated the smell or was disgusted at them not wearing any clothing.

"Oh, thank you. My daughter's birthday is coming so I wanted to get something for her." He asked. "Although, do you have anything that could survive in a swamp? I don't want to suffocate them with our odor." Kaminari blanked on that question. He tried to process what he was asking and what fit before Mr. Hiroshi sighed.

"We have some frogs and some reptiles. Any preference?" Mr. Hiroshi got up and walked around the counter towards the customer. The two walked off towards another section of the store as Kaminari walked back towards Sero, who was now watching them.

"Do you get customers often?" Sero asked.

"Not really but Mr. Hiroshi rarely helps out people finding a pet." Kaminari mentioned to him while keeping his eyes on the pair. Sero thought about the whole thing for a moment before turning back to Kaminari.

"He probably just wants to put more effort into this given how serious they appear about getting something specific." Sero reasoned with him. Kaminari turned back and thought about it for a second. Yeah, that made sense to him.

"Well, I don't want to get in the way so why don't we see the front? I saw a dog pen there." Sero suggested. That seemed like a good idea to Kaminari so he led him there. Because they were larger and needed more room, they had their own pen in the front of the store. As they moved closer, the puppies became more active.

The two leaned over towards the dogs and their excitement towards them was evident in their wagging tails and happy yips for attention. Kaminari put his hand in and the puppies flocked to him.

"They really like you, huh?" Sero chimed. Kaminari nodded, scratching behind their ears. They began to move their noses upwards, pushing his sleeve up and sniffing the watch Kaminari found.

"What's that?" Sero pointed towards the watch. Kaminari looked down at the watch and then turned to Sero.

"Oh, it's just some watch I found when I was getting-"

"YIP!"

The two stopped and looked at the single puppy looking up at the window. The two followed their gaze and looked at the window. Outside, people were frantically running down the street. Panic was etched in their faces, utter fear from whatever they were running from. Kaminari and Sero stood up, the conversation between Mr. Hiroshi and the customer dying down with their own curiosity in what was happening. Kaminari slowly edged his way to the door.

BOOM!

A rumble shook the shelves of the store. All the animals all started to panic from the explosion, causing utter audible chaos in the store. Fear had started to bubble up in Kaminari's stomach as he remembered that notification about the criminal. Kaminari turned to Sero, who had lost his smile and was as worried as he was.

"What the hell is going on?" Sero asked, terrified. The customer reached them in the front and was the one who stepped forward first, opening the door and stepping out. The store was almost instantly filled with the sounds of screams and the smell of smoke. The customer turned towards the direction that everyone was running from and everyone followed them out, looking in the same direction.

"Oh god…" Sero mumbled. Smoke plumed into the sky from down the road, cars were flipped over and fires raged. Down the road, they all saw it. There was something large, something almost monstrous was raising blocky arms and bringing them down. Each strike made the ground below them shake and rumble. Whatever it was, they could hear it laughing maniacally.

It enjoyed this chaos.

"Uh, maybe we should leave!" Sero panicked. Kaminari and the customer nodded, albeit Kaminari nodded in a much quicker fashion. The only one who stayed silent was Mr. Hiroshi, who kept his eyes forward.

"No. I have to stay." He mumbled. The three of them looked at him bewildered.

"WHAT? Do you not see that? I don't want to die! I don't want you to die! Let's just go and let the pros handle this! Please sir!" Kaminari pleaded. He tried to grab Mr. Hiroshi and pull him with them but the man's strength was beyond what Kaminari expected. He couldn't pull him away or even make him budge.

"And wait for what? That thing to see my store and destroy it? My work! I'm not going to leave them!" He yelled aloud.

"So what, some animals are better than your own life?!" Kaminari retorted.

"Yes! I won't turn my back on them!" Mr. Hiroshi turned around and yelled at Kaminari's face directly.

"Uh guys?" Sero weakly spoke up, slowly pointing towards the direction of destruction. They turned just to see whatever was causing the destruction to leap far up in the air. Their form appeared humanoid but it was too bulky to make sense. But that form was getting larger in the air…

"MOVE!" Mr. Hiroshi acted before Kaminari could process that the mass had leapt towards them. He turned to the three of them and pushed them back. Where they stood was obliterated almost instantly. The cracking of the pavement behind them boomed in Kaminari's ear before the dust kicked up and obstructed his vision, then he fell onto the hard pavement. The group slowly recovered as the shadowy figure stood and chuckled towards them. Kaminari watched as its bulky form slowly devolved into a slew of slithering ribbons retracting into the body of a tall and built adult.

"Well, some morons didn't get the memo. Perfect." The figure stepped out of the smoke. Kaminari couldn't tell if it was his fear or something greater but he could just feel the malice emanate from him. He had spikey blond hair, wild red eyes and a malicious grin. His frame was well built, wearing only a sleeveless red shirt and baggy cargo pants.

The villain looked at the four of them as they watched him. Mr. Hiroshi stood and got in front of them all, whether it was an attempt to defend them or sacrifice himself first was beyond Kaminari. The villain tilted his head, clearly amused at that.

"Ah, I see. You got that fire in ya. Great! I can't wait to see that blood splatter!" The villain threw his hands out and Kaminari watched as ribbons of red muscle exploded from his arms and legs. They wrapped around him like a suit, forming that bulky mass that they had seen earlier.

Mr. Hiroshi took a step back. He clearly didn't see that as a result of whatever he was going to do regarding the villain but whatever he was going to do in response didn't happen. Something whizzed past them and whatever it was, it took a chunk of the villains of the upper arm off. The villain looked down at his injured arm, bewildered, before that sadistic smile appeared.

"Oh, some heroes, huh?" He turned around and his arm quickly recovered by growing more ribbons to replace what was lost. The turn gave Kaminari a quick glance at who had come to their rescue. His heart fluttered when he saw Water Hose standing there. Their faces were etched in anger, water forming spheres in their hands.

"Muscular! You're going back to prison and you'll answer for the crimes you committed here!" One of the pair, Mr. Izumi yelled out. Muscular only laughed in response.

"Is it really that bad to kill a few people? Seriously, who's going to miss out on some lonely computer store worker or a few couples? If you want to stop me, try then." He offered the pros but Kaminari focused on the words he said to them.

Computer store owner? Could that Mr. Shinoda? But he directed Sero here only a few minutes ago! There's no way he could be gone. Sure he was further up the street but there was no way he didn't run, right?

Fear took its grasp over Kaminari's entire body. To think that some villain took out someone like Mr. Shinoda, his friend, turned his legs rigid and created a gaping hole in his stomach.

"Is that how you see it? Human life is something so fickle that it's just for your amusement?!" Mr. Izumi yelled once more. Muscular only continued his laughter.

"Of course, haven't I proved that? They died after I got to 'em." Kaminari felt sick from the conversation. The prospect of being a hero didn't seem so grand right now if this is going to be the situation he'd encounter. He wanted to flee but his fear stopped him.

"You're insane. We're going to make sure you'll never see the light of day again." The venom coming from Mrs. Izumi chilled Kaminari. He never knew they could be so vengeful. They were always happy whenever they went by the store. He remembered how ecstatic they were about their son and how they planned to come back with them to show them around the store.

"Alright then, let's play a game. Your goal is simple. Put your money where ya mouth is and stop me. But ya gotta stop me from killing you and them!" Kaminari didn't like that and neither did Mr. Hiroshi. The speed of most of the group was astonishing to Kaminari. Before him or even Sero could react, everyone else moved. Muscular moved to try and smash them all in an instant, Mr. Hiroshi managed to somehow get the two of them out of the way and Water Hose managed to leap into action, sending a torrent of water to grab Muscular.

"YOU TWO NEED TO GET OUT! RUN, GET THE CUSTOM-" Mr. Hiroshi stopped his scream as he looked around haphazardly. "Wait, where did they go?"

Kaminari and Sero looked around to spot their accomplice but the large man was gone. When he managed to get away, he had no idea. Kaminari couldn't even smell him anymore. Something grabbed Kaminari's arm and began to pull. Kaminari's brain panicked and thought the villain had grabbed him but it was Sero. He took Kaminari to hide behind a car that had managed to avoid the chaos and remain preserved as Mr. Hiroshi went somewhere else to hide.

They collapsed to the ground when they finally got their entire body behind the car. The two began to hyperventilate at the situation unfolding behind them. Each yell, each blow, every time the fighting made itself apparent made them flinch.

"Dude, what the hell? I wasn't expecting this!" Sero cried out. The two held their heads, bracing for each rumble that came from the fight raging behind them. "We haven't even graduated middle school yet." He complained.

"I'm going to die young without ever getting a date! There were so many things I wanted to do! Get world records in some games, eat at every restaurant! I wanted to apply to UA! Now, I'm going to die before that can happen!" Kaminari groaned in desperation. Sero looked over to him, slightly confused.

"You want to go to UA too? Heh, that's ironic." Sero seemed calmer but his form and face remained stressed and rigid. "Just look at us, huh? We want to go to the top school for heroes and here we are, hiding behind a car from a villain." He sarcastically joked as cackling rang out behind them, silencing them.

"Where are you brats!? I know ya haven't gotten far!" Muscular yelled at the top of his lungs behind them.

Kaminari and Sero looked at each other slowly, terrified. The sounds of the conflict had quieted down, leaving Kaminari to start overthinking.

'Did Water Hose fail? Were they dead? No, they couldn't have died right there. It was a two versus one fight! They had powerful quirks. There wasn't any way they could have died.' Kaminari told himself. Against his better judgment, curiosity wanted to know what happened.

He slowly raised his head over the edge of the car. The other side looked like a warzone. Instructure was cracked or just ripped out of the ground and bent. Everything was dripping in water with puddles forming in the cracks and indentations of the ground. There were darker puddles and stains dotted across the area but Kaminari would rather ignore those and their origins.

Musucalar stood in the middle of it, himself dripping with water and blood. Water Hose was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did you go? Come out and fight me, you cowards! Show me that strength you were boasting about!" Muscular yelled out. "You fled? Maybe then I was right! I'll just kill those brats to prove it!" Muscular began to turn around but Kaminari quickly ducked back down. Sero stared at him in bewilderment and confusion.

"What are you doing!? Trying to kill us? He's looking for us now!" Sero quickly hushed. Kaminari's mind was racing. Hopeful thinking began to slow his heart and calm his nerves. He looked at Sero with a happy but worried glee.

"I don't see their bodies! Water Hose must still be alive! And if they're alive, maybe Mr. Shinoda is too! They probably saved him earlier! We'll be fine, I bet they're just using the chance to ambush him and stop him in one fell swoop!" He gushed.

Beepbeepbeepbeeeep!

The two fell silent as a series of beeps resonated from them. Kaminari slowly raised his arm and pushed his sleeve back to the watch. The blue lines were rapidly flashing now as the beeping was speeding up. It was cultivated in the watch glowing a bright green on every part of it. Kaminari watched, and felt, the watch morph out of the sleek watch. It grew in width as the face plate grew to accommodate for the larger size of the watch. The material turned from a plastic to a coarse leather as two straps grew along the edges, creating some excess material on the top. The light died down and Kaminari was utterly bewildered.

The watch went from something he'd believe techy upstarts wore to something he'd see on motorcycle riders in those really old American movies he'd occasionally find and watch. The lines forming the hourglass changed from a blue to a light yellow color, contrasting the dark leather.

"What the actual heellll?" Sero slowly said. They didn't have time to process the event before the car was lifted up, a dark shadow looming over them.

"THERE YOU ARE! I was wondering where you brats were hiding! You should really keep your phones off if you don't want to reveal where you are." Muscular taunted them as he held the car well above his head. Kaminari and Sero were paralyzed in fear with him looming over them.

Water began dripping off Muscular onto Kaminari as he shifted his hold on the car. "Shame I guess. After you, I just have to find the old man. Now, killing him will be great!" Kaminari's brain went into overdrive as his instinct and more likely, his fight or flight, took over. He slowly raised his hand and opened his palm. He jabbed at the stomach of Muscular before he could bring down the car onto them.

'The water should make this hurt a lot more! Water Hose's quirks with mine should be enough to win!' He told himself, his mind in a frenzy. He waited and searched for that spark he felt deep down to pull forward.

But wait, why couldn't he find it?

He waited on his sparks to fly. He waited to feel the similar tingle from a current leaving his fingertips. All he felt was the disgusting wet muscle fibers writhe underneath his palm. Everyone else was puzzled as well.

"Eh? Are you trying to do something? Heh, pitiful. Guess I'll just put you out of your misery then. And oh, don't think about running from this. I want to move on from this and get to the old man." The muscle fibers around Kaminari's hand extended out and wrapped around his hand, securing it in place.

'Why isn't it working?' Kaminari thought. The world around him faded away as he focused on his hand under wraps. 'I've never had trouble activating my quirk, it was only control that I had problems with. Am I just that terrified? No, that's not it, is it? Wouldn't this be a perfect time to activate?' Everything was going dark. Maybe it was the car lowering onto their heads.

'Is this what death is like? Nothing works?' He begged to himself.

He could feel something happening. He felt something else collide with him, ripping the muscle fibers containing his hand. In the split second he regained his senses, the car collided with the pavement. Kaminari blinked, realizing he was standing safe in the arms of Mr. Hiroshi.

He looked bewildered at him but realized something was wrong. He was panting heavily from the exertion. He was more amazed at his speed and strength for an old man but perhaps that was a result of his quirk. Whatever it was, it seemed to be the thing keeping them from dying but it didn't look like Mr. Hiroshi could keep it up.

"Why did you run? Why did you reveal yourself! Why did you put your hand on him!?" Mr. Hiroshi yelled at them. Kaminari waved him off to defend himself.

"I- I tried to use my quirk and…" He looked down at his hand, trying to create a spark. "I just can't. I can't create anything." The idea of his quirk stopping started to feel almost as terrifying as death to him now.

"What's that?" Mr. Hiroshi asked, ignoring his plight. Kaminari followed his gaze and stared at the watch. He turned his wrist over to see the faceplate and an idea dawned on him.

His quirk stopped working the moment the watch changed. There wasn't any way that was why his quirk stopped, right?

He began to tug on the straps to release the watch but they didn't budge. He began to try to push the watch off his wrist but that didn't budge either. He tried to physically pry it off but all he felt was the sensation that the watch was pulling his skin.

"I can't get it off… I can't get it off!" He began to panic and frantically tug it off. "It won't budge!" Sero leaned over and tried to help but it didn't move either with both of them pulling on it.

"Kaminari, what the hell is this thing?!" Sero asked. Mr. Hiroshi stared more and pushed the two aside to try himself. "I think this watch is what's stopping my quirk from activating." Kaminari quickly explained. Mr. Hiroshi nodded as he tried to remove the strap. Kaminari felt his grasp on his arm. Besides the wrinkly and somewhat papery feeling of his hand, the strength he felt reminded him of his father or someone who was an athlete.

"Old man! There you are! I was wondering where you went! Good, I don't have to put much more effort into killing you!" Muscular turned to them but paused. Kaminari and Sero saw him and tried to move but Mr. Hiroshi had an iron grip on Kaminari. He seemed oblivious to Muscular, fully devoted towards Kaminari's leather manacle.

"Oh what, a damn watch is more important than me? Ignoring me is a biiig mistake." He smugly raised his fists above them once more. "Well, this is goodbye."

"Yeah, for you!"

Almost everyone was surprised as Mr. Izumi slid between them and Muscular. He was much worse for wear but his hand had a bubbling sphere of water. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Muscular tried to get out of the way but he acted first. He raised his hand abruptly, launching the sphere upwards with the motion twisting it into a spear.

The spear skyrocketed but with Muscular trying to dodge, all it did was graze the left side of his face. The azure blue of the water was quickly replaced with the crimson of blood as Muscular howled in pain. He stumbled back as Mr. Izumi rose.

"Now honey!" He yelled. Mrs. Izumi leapt above them, equally bruised from the fight and landed on Muscular's back. They watched as she raised her hands up and a sphere of water formed in her hands. Just as quickly as she created it, she thrust it downwards onto Muscular's head. Soon, the bubble turned crimson as Muscular moved to try and take her off his back.

But Mr. Izumi worked faster, shooting out lines of water that pierced the arms of Muscular. He rushed forward and began to create a large bubble around Muscular's chest, however the bubble quickly lost its clear and smooth appearance as raging currents began to ripple across it, with the same blood color taking over.

There was a moment's pause as Muscular stood there, unable to move as he slowly started to drown and had his torso constantly ripped from strong currents. Everyone waited for a reaction. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Water Hose slowly looked at them and the two smiled.

"I think we got him. You three can rest easy now." They told them. There was silence before Sero erupted in excitement.

"We're saved!" Sero cheered and Kaminari sighed in relief. It was over, they were alive. He looked to Mr. Hiroshi, who was still working on getting the watch off.

Kaminari was about to say something when Mr. Hiroshi pressed all the buttons in unison. Kaminari watched, marveled, as the faceplate slid back and a cylinder popped up from seemingly nowhere. It had the same circuitry as the safe and the hourglass carried over to the core, only this time filled in with yellow.

"Aha! There we go! I found the lock switch." Mr. Hiroshi cheered. Kaminari just looked at it puzzled. There was something inside that told him that may not be the actual release but he couldn't think of a reason beyond gut instinct.

"Sir, I don't know if that's the release. It doesn't feel right." Kaminari remarked.

"What else is it supposed to be then? Why don't we just try it?" He reasoned, letting Kaminari go. Kaminari nodded and looked down at the watch. Well, he had no other ideas to get it off beyond using knives. He walked down the road a little bit and sat down on the curb, with Sero and Mr. Hiroshi following suit.

"Well, here goes nothing I guess." He mumbled to himself. He looked over at Water Hose, who was still containing Muscular in the two bubbles. He exhaled briefly before looking back down.

Freedom and quirk, here we come.

He brought his other hand up, closed his eyes and pressed the dial down. A warm glow erupted from the core that he could feel even without seeing it but there was something that felt off about it. While he did lose the feeling of the watch on his hand, he didn't feel or hear it fall off.

It was only a brief flash but Kaminari felt different. The air felt colder on his skin and he couldn't really explain it but he just had the feeling of multiple arms. He felt like he was holding his wrist, his side and the pavement of the road all at the same time.

"Kaminari? You uh…You uh… Hmm, how do I say this? You uh, might want to get professional help on getting rid of that watch thing. Or not, who knows?" Sero mumbled. Kaminari slowly opened his eyes to look at the duo. Sero was both amazed and terrified while Mr. Hiroshi was contemplating something while staring at Kaminari.

Kaminari's eyes slowly drifted downwards and his breathing stopped. That feeling of multiple arms? It was because he DID have multiple arms. Except they weren't arms. They were tentacles. His legs and arms turned into translucent blue tentacles while a third pair of tentacles sat by his side. His entire torso was replaced by layers of blue skin. Along his body ran white jagged markings that were reminiscent of lighting. Kaminari slowly moved, at least what was, his hands up towards his head and felt his face.

All he felt was a metallic badge where his mouth would be. The only other thing he could feel on his head outside of his eyes were a series of frills that went down the middle of his head. No nose, no hair and no ears. As far as he could tell, there was nothing human left with him.

"What in the ever loving!? What did that watch do to me!?" Kaminari tried to stand as he shouted out in disbelief but his whole body wobbled. He moved his arms around in frightened curiosity, each one felt fluid and rubbery. Perhaps the worst part is that it didn't feel all that awkward to move them. It was as if he had been this way his entire life.

"Well, it appears to have turned you into some sort of sea creature. Judging from your movements and tentacles, I'd assume you turned into a humanoid octopus." Mr. Hiroshi concluded.

"O-Octopus!? Does that mean I'm going to suffocate? I don't wanna die like that. I'd want to die in a different way! Like reaching old age!" Kaminari complained. Mr. Hiroshi sighed in annoyance.

"Are you breathing now?"

"I mean, I guess?" Kaminari thought.

"Then you're amphibious likely. You'll be fine." Mr. Hiroshi reassured him. Sero turned towards him after his reasoning.

"You think it'll be reversed? Not to be mean, but this form is kinda eh looking." Sero lightly pointed at Kaminari. He rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks for those great words of encouragement and faith bud." Kaminari bluntly said. The two chuckled at his antics while Kaminari's eyes drifted towards Muscular again.

His heart stopped.

Muscular's hands had Water Hose's upper bodies in their grasp, making them seem small, akin to dolls. They struggled to free themselves as their bubbles slowly dripped away, leaving a maniacal, panting Muscular to gleefully smile at his accomplishment. His torso was able to recover quickly from the torrent bubble being dropped but the left side of his face was stained in red with a deep purple gash running up the left side of his face and over his eye.

"You know, that was a pretty good move. You almost got me. That was so damn painful but you damn pros, should have gone for a kill instead. If ya did, I wouldn't have had the ample time to figure out where exactly you were on me. So, you're just idealistic morons huh?" Muscular taunted as he brought the two of them close to him.

"P-Please don't…" Mr. Izumi choked out. Muscular brought him up close and leaned his ear towards him. "Hm, what was that? I didn't catch that. My ears are a little clogged with water right now, so why don't you speak up?"

In a twisted sense of humor, all Kaminari heard a sick crack as the two heroes locked up with expressions of immense pain etched into their faces, unable to speak from the pain. Muscular waited for them to say something despite knowing they couldn't and smiled.

"Hmm, maybe my grip is a little hard. Why don't I change it?" Muscular asked before grinning. His arms shot up and the two heroes were flung up. Kaminari watched in horror. He knew what was going to happen but he felt motionless to stop them. Muscular adjusted his hands and when the pros fell past them, he slammed them down.

Hard.

He raised his hands and admired his handy work. The heroes didn't move. They all watched in paralyzing fear as a puddle of blood seeped around the heroes, solidifying their deaths to the three of them.

Every hopeful thought Kaminari had was gone. The form of Muscular loomed over them. He stepped over their bodies, slowly making their way towards them.

"They put up a good fight but now it's your turn." He looked at them before becoming slightly confused. "Huh? Where'd the yellow haired brat go?" He stared at Kaminari before smiling again. "Ah, so this was your quirk. You just turn into some dumb fish?" He scoffed at him.

"I'm getting hungry after all this. Why don't we go for a spin?" Kaminari or Mr. Hiroshi barely reacted as Muscular surged forward and grabbed Kaminari off the ground. Muscular's grip began to crush Kaminari. He struggled to move as Muscular leaned in, grinning. Kaminari got a good view of his damaged face. His left eye was almost completely glossed over and bloodstained. If Kaminari had to guess, he couldn't see out of it.

The smell of blood and wet hair wafted into Kaminari's nose. He grunted, trying to free himself. Muscular chuckled at his struggles. "Hey hey hey, you don't have any bones to crush. I wonder if you'll just explode into a puddle of goo!" He cheered in excitement.

"Rather…not find…out." Kaminari slowly spoke out. Muscular opened his mouth to speak again but something entered his mouth. Muscular's eye widened as he instantly tried to spit it out but couldn't for whatever reason. He tried to turn his head towards his left but another item flew through the air and landed on his working eye.

Kaminari twisted himself over to see Sero standing there with a smirk and raised elbows. "Told you my quirk was cool." He remarked. Kaminari didn't know if he had a mouth but he was definitely smiling. He turned back to Muscular and thought for a second. How was he going to get out of this and escape?

He closed his eyes and focused. Maybe he could do some cool octopus stuff? He didn't know what they could do but maybe if he focused like his quirk, he could just feel some untapped potential.

He focused, ignoring the pain and the idea of Water Hose. He tried to feel his entire body and then there was a sensation that was just irreplaceable.

A spark.

He could feel it in his skin, the tingle of electricity. He could sense it in every fiber of his body now, the feeling of a current. He opened his eyes and stared at Muscular's soaked body and he knew what to do.

'I don't care if I go over my limit, I gotta fry him! At this point, using my quirk has gotta be legal right? For Water Hose, for Mr. Shinoda!' He focused on that spark and forced it to grow. The feeling intensified and soon it erupted. The yellow electricity he had grown to become so attached to was now blue and covering every inch of Muscular. His body locked up as he howled in pain.

Kaminari felt it too. The sensation of pain. He never felt it from his quirk or any other electricity for that matter, maybe a blessing from his own quirk. Maybe the water was altering the current but inside, Kaminari didn't care. Inside, he felt hot. Anger was taking over, increasing his output. The glow of electricity grew, far brighter than he ever produced before. He didn't care about his shortage that'll follow. He just wanted to put Muscular in his place.

His electricity continued until Muscular's grip on him lessened. Kaminari stopped his output and Muscular collapsed to the ground motionless, his ribbons of muscle slowly peeling and retracting. Kaminari crawled from his grasp, the last remaining sense of adrenaline pushing him forwards. The three waited for another twisted joke in Muscular's endurance.

Moments passed and Mr. Hiroshi walked forward. Kaminari held his breath as Mr. Hiroshi leaned down and examined Muscular's face. He moved around the face, checking the eyes, nose and throat. He looked over at Kaminari before standing.

"Good news, he's knocked out. Bad news, he isn't dead. Although, I'd rather you not have blood on your hands kid…" Mr. Hiroshi said. Sero looked back at Water Hose with sadness etched into his face.

"They died, protecting us…" Sero mumbled to himself. Mr. Hiroshi lowered his head in shame in guilt. Kaminari laid his head down, staring at the sky. His body felt sore but there was another thing he noticed.

He didn't feel dumb.

His body outputted anything beyond what he was capable before but he's still stable. He didn't short circuit. He began to chuckle as the realization dawned on him. The watch, while turning him into a monster, gave him a stronger quirk.

"So Kaminari, how are you feeling?" Mr. Hiroshi took a seat next to Kaminari as he laid there, sirens filling the air.

"Like I don't want to come to work for a while." Mr. Hiroshi silently nodded, looking off into the distance. "You know, the store didn't take much damage and you're fine. I would say that's a win but," He looked around before sighing and looking down. "I guess that would be a little vain for me to say."

"So how are we going to explain this?" Sero leaned over Kaminari, blocking out the sky from him. "I don't think we can explain to your parents that their son turned into a giant octopus and-"

"Jellyfish." Mr. Hiroshi corrected.

"Sorry, jellyfish. How are we going to tell the cops that you got a watch that turned you into a weird animal?" Sero asked. Kaminari tried to think for a moment but was interrupted by some beeping. The badge on his face began to flash red, surprising everyone with Sero backing off. Kaminari braced as the speed of the beep increased and cultivated into a red flash.

He kept his eyes closed but could feel something different. He could feel clothes on his body and hair sway on his forehead. He opened his eyes to Sero examining him up and down.

"Well, guess that solves it. It's only temporary it seems." Kaminari struggled to raise his arm and was greeted by a human hand. He looked at the watch to see if it was still there. He immediately noticed that the stripes of the faceplate had changed color to red. That probably meant something specific but he didn't know. He turned his hand over and focused, searching for that all too familiar spark.

Nothing happened.

"You know, on second thought, I don't know if I wanna mess with this thing for now. I'm tired." Kaminari groaned as he dramatically dropped his arm on the pavement.

"Yeah, I think I want this day to be over too…" Sero quietly agreed.


So this story may seem weird but there is a reason.

For all intents and purposes, this is a redo of my story, Shocking Heroism. And there is a few reasons for it.

As the days and weeks went by with working on the Sports Festival, my excitement with working on Shocking Herosim had faded. Add on a general lack of detailed direction and end goal, by the last chapter I had posted I had lost intrest in continuning. However, I still enjoyed the premise and wanted to continue so here we are.

I hope to bring more chapters with an Omnitrix weilding Kaminari. Hope you all do well.