A.N. — The second of the three characters who share October 1 as their birthday gets to keep the date because she's proven to have enduring popularity beyond her appearance in the first movie. Fics where she gets One For All or attend UA happen tend to catch my attention. Happy birthday, Melissa Shield!

274. Melissa Shield

Genetics gave Melissa an extra toe joint and poor vision. She grew to think her glasses were cute, but it took longer to reconcile her quirklessness.

She never faced discrimination on I-Island, but even the floating fortress couldn't shelter her from the statistics. Her father did wonders for her outlook by telling her support engineers were the heroes' heroes, but Melissa doubted that mentality extended to the outside world. People like her were ostracized at best, hate crime victims at worst. But with her ingenious inventions, Melissa would prove the numbers (and doubters) wrong, becoming a hero her own way.