Sento Kiryu: Last time on "Building a Hero!", the genius scientist Sento Kiryu met the Number One Hero All Might and his secret apprentice Izuku Midoriya after saving another Smash victim. Together the three investigate where Midoriya was found after his kidnapping when they were attacked by another Smash. After using a new Best Match, the team of unlikely allies found themselves confronted by the spanner man of the organization behind the Smash incidents, Meta Bolt!
Izuku Midoriya: What are you doing, Mr. Kiryu?
SK: The chapter recap, gotta remind people about what happened in case they didn't read the previous one.
IM: I feel like that's a bit of a stretch, considering that they could've just finished reading the previous one...
All Might: HAHAHAHA! Don't sweat the details, my boy! A recap is always an excellent addition to a story in case viewers and readers have missed a chapter! Not to mention bring some much needed levity!
SK: See, All Might gets it. Plus, it gives us a way to entertain our audience!
AM: The dastardly detestable devious devil of a scientist Meta Bolt proved to be a much tougher foe than the courageously cunning Kamen Rider Build, no doubt in part to having experience in fighting while Mr. Kiryu had only been the Kamen Rider for a few months at best!
SK: Well, that's true, but you didn't need to say it like that...
AM: And despite my own best intentions, I was unable to provide much help myself, due to the nature of Mr. Kiryu's Build Driver being the only thing capable of extracting the Smash essence, as well as needing to evacuate young Midoriya and the second Smash victim!
IM: Speaking of which, can you make more Build Drivers for All Might and I? We could probably help you more if you did that. I mean, of course when I have my license and all.
SK: Well, that depends on your Hazard Levels.
IM: What's a Hazard Level?
SK: We'll find out, on this chapter of "Building a Hero!"
All Might and Izuku followed Sento down an alleyway to a small unassuming closed cafe. It was barely noticeable, with only a small sign with the name "cafe nascita" standing outside its door revealing its presence. The only way anyone would know about it is if they purposefully knew where it was.
"I didn't think there'd be a cafe down here," Izuku said, as Sento opened the door. "Doesn't seem like it'd get a lot of traffic here..."
"Eh, that's why the Owner's got a second job at a different cafe. This place is more of a, well, private party cafe?" Sento said, scratching his head. "Then again, we don't even get parties here... probably for the best."
As All Might closed the door behind them, Sento went behind the counter, and opened the minifridge behind it. "Hey Owner, I got a couple guests over."
"What!?" a voice said, coming out of the minifridge. All Might and Izuku peered over the counter, and saw that the minifridge had a secret passage in it, leading to a stairwell. "Why are you telling me this through the entrance, it's supposed to be secret!"
"Well, they kinda know that I'm Build, too."
"What!? Why did you tell them!?"
"They're important leads to what happened with me, come on, you gotta meet them."
"Fine, but if I don't like them, I swear, we're gonna have to do a disappearing act and move to a new place. And just when I was getting comfortable here, too..."
Izuku and All Might watched as a man emerged from the secret passage. He was just a bit taller than Sento, though his hat might've been giving him an inch or two over him. Tiny glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, and over his clothes he wore a green apron. For some reason, he looked familiar to Izuku, like he's seen him before. "Seriously Sento, this could really be bad news for- Toshinori!?"
"Souichi!?" All Might said, caught off guard. "You're the Kamen Rider's beneficiary!?"
Izuku and Sento stared at the two, confused. All Might's personal life was a super secret, and he kept it that way in a lot of interviews (in no part to avoid having potential villains coming after his loved ones). Also, it seemed that despite the Owner's own cheerfulness in seeing an old friend, All Might seemed... far more apprehensive and serious.
"Mr. Kiryu's boss knows All Might personally!?" Izuku thought, as he tried to process the information.
"You two know each other?" Sento said, quirking an eyebrow as he vocalized Izuku's thoughts. "How?"
"Me and Toshinori go way back! We were best buds since our high school days in U.A.! Well, at least before I dropped out when I realized heroism wasn't what I wanted to do. So how's being the Number One Hero, Toshi? Seems like it's kinda straining you bit, since you're all skinny right now. Let me fix you up something-"
"I need to talk to you. In private, Souichi," All Might said, firmly. "Is there anywhere we can do that?"
"Oh, uh, there's the kitchen's supply closet. But I think Misora would want to say hi to you, first."
"Lil Misora is here?" All Might said, his face softening.
"Yea, hold on. Misora!" Souichi called into the minifridge's secret entrance. "There's an old friend who wants to see you!"
"Ugh, coming..." a tired voice replied, small footsteps following it. A short girl just a little taller than Izuku came out of the minifridge, with short hair and a palm tree-like ponytail on top of her head. She was dressed in pajamas and had a golden bracelet on her right wrist. "Who'd the heck would I know- Uncle Toshi!"
"HAHAHA, why, Lil Misora! You've grown!" All Might said, having instantaneously changed into his muscle form before Misora had finished climbing up the stairs, much to the shock of the other three. "You've become a fine young lady, if I can say so myself!"
The girl practically launched herself onto All Might, giving him the biggest hug she could muster. "It's been forever, Uncle Toshi! What're you doing here? Dad said that you've been too busy to visit since you're All Might and all!"
"Hahaha, well, truth be told, I'm here because your friend Mr. Kiryu told me his big secret," All Might said, causing Misora's smile to turn upside down.
"What!? Sento you idiot!" Misora said, letting go of All Might and slapping Sento upright in the head. "What were you thinking!? Even if it's Uncle Toshi, that was a stupid move!"
"I know, I know, it was risky, but I thought I could trust him!" Sento said, raising his hands. "After all, his apprentice Izuku got kidnapped by the organization behind the Smash incidents and my amnesia!"
"What? Really?" Misora said, finally paying attention to Izuku, who froze up. "Uncle Toshi's got an apprentice?"
"Well, what can I say?" All Might said, with a mighty laugh. "I'm feeling the years on me! And there's never a wrong time to start working on the next generation of heroes!"
"H-h-hi!" Izuku said, standing straight and shooting out a hand to shake with. "I-I'm Izuku Midoriya! Pleased to meet you!"
"... Misora Isurugi," Misora said, as she shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, too," she added, with a small smile.
"Wait... 'Isurugi'? Like, as in the astronaut?" Izuku said, his eyes widening. He shot a look at Souichi, now realizing where he recognized him from. "You're the astronaut that caused the Skywall Incident!"
"What!?" Sento said, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.
"Oh wow, how did you figure that out?" Souichi said, raising an eyebrow. "Sento never figured that out on his own."
"I... I watched the video of the celebration ceremony a lot as a kid," Izuku said, looking to the ground. "It was one of the things I'd watch a lot, besides All Might's debut..."
"Well, I was keeping that a secret from Sento until he was ready to learn it, but I guess that's out in the open now," Souichi said, causing Izuku to freeze up. "Let's get to that private conversation now, Toshi."
"Hahaha! Agreed, Souichi!" All Might said, though the laugh seemed a little more forced than usual. With that, the two old friends disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the three younger people in the front. Izuku looked towards Sento, who had crossed his arms and tapped his left foot angrily, frowning. Misora sighed, and shook her head.
"Thanks for that, Midoriya," she said, a little sarcastically.
"When was he gonna tell me?" Sento said, crossed. "I thought he trusted me."
"Why did your father do that?" Izuku asked, looking at Misora. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the person who'd cause a disaster like that..."
"He isn't," Misora said, firmly. "I don't know much myself about what happened, 'cuz when it happened, I got into a coma, and when I came out of it, I had this bracelet on," she said, pointing to her wrist. "If you wanna know more, just ask him instead."
"Don't worry, we will," Sento said, sighing. "Honestly, I don't think he's a bad person. He's probably done a lot of things, but I doubt he's evil. I mean, he provided me with the Build Driver and the Fullbottles to save people with."
"Yea, dad's a lot of things, but he isn't evil," Misora said, confidently. "I'm sure he and Uncle Toshi are just catching up with each other, since they haven't seen each other in years."
"Is what you said just now true, Souichi?" All Might said, his face lowered. He had turned back into his skinny form, having released it the moment they were out of view from Misora and the others. He couldn't let her see him like this. He was the invincible Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, and most importantly of all, Uncle Toshi. He couldn't disappoint her, not like this.
"Yea, it is," Souichi said, scratching the back of his head. "But please don't tell Sento or that Izuku kid. At least not yet. You already saw how they reacted to me being the astronaut, I don't need them to freak out more. I already have a lot of regrets, just like you know. Still, that's some pretty heavy stuff you've been going through, too. Are you really losing your Quirk?"
"... Yes," All Might said, half-truthfully. "Doctors said it's probably some sort of birth defect that they didn't detect when I was younger and not overdoing things as much yet. The more I work and get older, the less effective my Quirk is. I'm at the point where I can only really do three hours of real work a day. Still, I'm surprised that you recognized me in this form, since we haven't seen each other in years, Souichi."
"What can I say? You're one of my best friends, Toshi, I bet I can recognize you a mile away while you're in a dress singing opera," Souichi said, giving All Might a light punch. The two chuckled. "I missed this, you know, just talking. Seriously, you might be the Number One Hero, but it wouldn't hurt to check up once in a while."
"Yea, I'm sorry about that," All Might said. "Can't be too careful with keeping everything a secret, since there are villains out there that would do anything to hurt me and the people I love."
"I hear you on that, Toshi," Souichi said, sighing. "Hope that Sento isn't too upset about what's happened."
"Seriously, you want a Build Driver, too?" Sento said, looking at Izuku from his work bench. He and Misora figured that since Izuku knew who he was now, that they'd let them in to the Build Shop. It was a small basement-like area, with a "living room" where the stairway was, which had a small kitchen area, a couch and TV, and a small hallway that led to some bedrooms that Sento and Misora use (Souichi slept in the "master room" above the cafe. And then there was the workshop where Sento made his gear, with some strange big metal box that was sitting against the back wall. Misora had walked into it with the two bottles that Sento had gotten from the Smashes earlier, muttering something about having to get paid by Sento soon.
"N-not for me! For All Might! I-I mean, you saw how he reacted earlier when that Smash attacked," Izuku said, sadly. "He was so frustrated that he couldn't save that girl while you fought... I figured that, well, he could do so much more if he could become Build, too!"
"That's some sweet sentiment you have, Izuku, but not realistic. For one, I really don't have too much resources and materials to make more stuff. It's tough getting that, especially with the small salary I'm making at the Institute and whatever the Owner's doing. Second, you have to have a Hazard Level, and considering that All Might hasn't mentioned being experimented on, I don't think he's got one."
"A Hazard Level?"
"It's a measure of a person's resistance to whatever gas those guys have been using," Sento said, getting up to draw on a glass board that was hanging from one of the rafters in the workshop. "I don't really know the specifics of how they work outside of that yet, though. But you need a certain level to be able to use them. Otherwise you'd get shocked if you're not at the right threshold. Or it just doesn't work at all, which is much more preferable than the shocking."
"Oh... Wait, so does that mean I have a Hazard Level?" Izuku said, pointing to himself. "They sprayed gas on me, too, so does that mean I can become a Build?"
"Well, you can become a Kamen Rider, yes. Not Build. I'd like us to have different names, mind you. But you do bring up a good point about having a Hazard Level," Sento said, as he pulled out a Fullbottle that had a Japanese rhinoceros beetle imprinted on it, and tossed it to Izuku. "Here, take this, it's the Beetle Fullbottle."
"W-what? Why? Don't you need it?" Izuku said, as he felt each groove and ridge of the Fullbottle.
"Eh, not right now. I already tried pairing Beetle with the other Fullbottles I have, and none of them are its Best Match. Plus, you can still use them without the Build Driver. Observe," Sento replied, taking out his Rabbit Fullbottle. He gave it a shake, and twisted its cap. In the blink of an eye, he moved out of his chair and right next to Izuku, startling him. "By simply shaking the Fullbottles, you activate the abilities that they grant. At least, to a degree. The Build Driver and the other tech are what really allows you to utilize them to their fullest potential, but if you just need a boost, you can just shake it. Go ahead, try it."
Izuku stared at the Fullbottle, and kept examining it. As he moved to shake it, the strange metal box made a loud echoing ding suddenly, startling him. Sento, on the other hand, grinned manically, as a cowlick sprung up from his head. "Finally!"
He rushed to the metal box, and opened a microwave-like door on it, revealing two Fullbottles. One was brown and had the shape of a gorilla as its image (no doubt from the Strong Smash victim), while the other one was dark gray and had the shape of a simplistic robot as its image (definitely from the Claw Smash victim). "Ooooh, Gorilla and Robot? I feel a Best Match coming up with this! Thanks, Misora!"
Sento walked off, and inserted the new Fullbottles into the Build Driver. "Gorilla! Robot!"
"What? They're not? Aaaaaw!" Sento said, bemoaning the disappointing result. Misora, on the other hand, opened the metal box's door, and walked off to the couch, muttering, "Tired... Sleepy... Want my money, Sento...", and then instantly passed out. Izuku just watched the entire thing, baffled.
"So does Misora have a Quirk that lets her purify the Smash essences?" Izuku asked, as he kept shifting his stare from her, to Sento, and to the metal box.
"Huh? Oh, no it doesn't. Her Quirk's Idol Smile, it enhances her cute factor and gives her a great singing voice. Not to much to say about its weaknesses, really, besides it not working on everyone."
Misora Isurugi! Quirk, Idol Smile! It's... exactly as Sento says.
"R-really? Then how does she do it?"
"It's... complicated. From what I gathered and tested so far, it seems like the source of her purification powers come from the bracelet. It's hard to really pinpoint how it works, but I have at least figured out how to make it less of a strain with the Purification Chamber. When we started, she'd pass out for days, now it's just a couple hours. Hoping to eventually make it so that it doesn't wear her out at all."
"But enough about that, let's see you try that Fullbottle out!" Sento said, as they returned their attention to the Beetle Fullbottle. Izuku looked at the Fullbottle hesitantly, but as he started to give it a good shake, his phone started ringing.
"Oh, um, hello mom?" Izuku said, picking up the phone and instantly answering it. "Sorry, but training is taking a little more time than I thought. What? Oh, don't worry, I'll be home soon! You can go ahead and start cooking now, I'll be there in about 30 minutes!"
"Sorry Sento, I gotta go," Izuku said, handing the Fullbottle over. "I'll come back here after I'm finishing doing All Might's training to start training here?"
"That sounds like a plan. Give me your phone, I'll give you my number," Sento said, taking Izuku's phone and dialing his number. "That way you can message me when you need to."
Izuku nodded, and walked up the stairs, coming across All Might and Souichi, who had finished talking in the kitchen.
"Oh, sorry All Might, but I have to go, we went over our training time, and my mom got worried," Izuku explained.
"That's fine. A lot happened today, so we can take it easy for the moment," All Might said, waving it off. "I just expect to see you first thing tomorrow morning, so we can make up for lost time."
"That's fine with me!" Izuku said, beaming as they walked out, with Souichi waving them off. Whatever happened between All Might and Souichi, it seemed like they managed to talk it out.
The next day at school, Izuku felt like he could pass out. All Might wasn't kidding when they said that they'd compensate for missing out on training. He had to work over time to get in what he missed. Still, he knew he had to stay awake, since he needed to keep his grades up and all.
"Look, there's Bakugo," someone muttered, as Bakugo entered the classroom. People froze as they watched him walk to his desk, and sat down quietly. As people started to mutter, a couple wise guys looked at each other, and smiled smugly.
"Hey, Bakugo! Think fast!" one of them said, throwing a rubber ball. To their horror, Bakugo caught the ball, and it exploded in his hand. "O-o-oh, n-nice catch, Bakugo! I-I-I knew you could-"
"That's right, you two-bits! I got my Quirk back!" he said, his scowl turning into a twisted grin. "And it's better than ever! I feel like my explosions are five times as strong as they were before!"
"T-that's great, Bakugo!"
"Yea, I knew you could get over it!"
"Y-you're the best!"
"Shove it, you extras! Don't think I'd forgive you little shits for what you've done yesterday! I'm not a little fucking pushover!" he said, getting up from his desk. He threw the ball as hard as he could without his Quirk, watching it slam itself right into the ball thrower's face, knocking him right out of the chair. "It's not just my Quirk that's stronger! I feel like I could take on twenty, no, FIFTY villains with just a pinky!"
"S-sorry about that, Bakugo!" the ball thrower said, holding his now very bruised cheek. "I promise, it won't happen again!"
"It better not!" he said, kicking the ball thrower's desk. "Because I'm never losing my Quirk aGAAAAAIN!"
To everyone's shock (especially Bakugo's), when he kicked the desk, it exploded, much like how he could make explosions with his hands. But with his foot. The explosion launched the desk right through the classroom's hallway windows, shattering them. Bakugo himself was launched the other way, having been thrown completely off-balanced thanks to standing on one leg while he had kicked. He landed against the desks behind him, his right shoe was gone, having followed the desk after he had kicked it.
"What the hell!?"
"When can Bakugo make explosions with his feet!?"
"He wasn't kidding when he said that his Quirk's gotten stronger!"
"Dang, if I had known getting turned into a monster like that would boost my Quirk's power, I would've done it twelve times now!"
Izuku just stared at what had just unfolded. He grabbed his phone out of his bag, and sent a message to Sento as fast as he could.
all_might_jr: Mr. Kiryu?
the_genius_scientist: Oh hey Midoriya. Should've figured it was you by the name.
all_might_jr: Yea, I... plan on changing it. But enough about it. What happens to your Quirk when it returns?
the_genius_scientist: It comes back like, five times stronger, and it mutates just a bit. Why?
all_might_jr: My classmate just kicked a desk and it exploded from his feet. He couldn't do that before.
the_genius_scientist: Oh right, explodey boy. I should've figured. Well, if he wanted to be a hero, he shouldn't worry. It's a permanent power-up.
all_might_jr: Really?
the_genius_scientist: Yep.
the_genius_scientist: Oh, I never mentioned that, did I?
Izuku sweated. So after temporary Quirk loss was a permanent Quirk power-up? That was insane. Is that why he became stronger than he was before? Izuku grinned slightly, glad that All Might's suggestion about it being temporary wasn't true.
"What's going on!?" a teacher said, staring through the broken window at the chattering class. "Who did this!?"
"It was Bakugo!" the ball thrower said, pointing at him.
"Yea, after you provoked him, idiot!" his friend said, selling him out.
"Way to go getting yourself into a fight with the guy who can make things explode!"
"It's all your fault!"
"Quiet! I don't care who's fault it is," the teacher said, rubbing his temples. "I want the two of you to stand outside, while I get the principal to talk about how to discipline the both of you!"
Bakugo grumbled and did as he was told reluctantly, while the ball thrower started tearing up, realizing that his parents were no doubt going to be furious. Izuku just sat there, dumbfounded about it all. He really hoped that that was all the excitement he was going to get today.
The entire day after that was, surprisingly, uneventful after that. And so were the next eight months, in fact. Outside of six minor Smash attacks that occurred in secluded areas (which gave Sento the Pyramid, Remote Control, Dog, TV, Smartphone, and Giraffe Fullbottles), Izuku's time was spent more on training and working with Sento on learning how to use the Fullbottles and what they can do, which he's been listing in a new personal "Secret Rider Files" journal that he kept at the Build Shop so that no one would notice him writing in it in public. It was Sunday, and they've been testing the effects of the Fullbottles while untransformed so that Izuku could record them himself.
"Alright, Midoriya, let's try using the Smartphone Fullbottle," Sento said, as he typed behind his computer. Izuku nodded, giving the bottle a little shake and twisting its cap open. When he did, he saw a small holographic-like screen being projected out of the cap, which resembled a smartphone screen. He pressed what appeared to be the "call button", and dialed in Sento's phone number. Sento's phone ringed, and he picked it up. "Hello?"
"Oh, so the Smartphone Fullbottle can function as a phone! Makes sense, though it really just makes me wonder why use it instead of a regular one..." Izuku muttered, as he closed the cap and went to his Secret Rider Files journal to write in it, getting to the page about Fullbottles effects.
"They can't all be combat-oriented, you know," Sento said, shrugging. "Plus, if you lose or break your phone, this could be pretty useful, since Fullbottles can't be broken."
"True," Izuku said, as he added an addendum to the Smartphone Fullbottle's effects. "Still, I don't think any of them could beat the Beetle Fullbottle and its drill punches. It definitely compliments my super strength Quirk!"
All Might smiled as he watched Izuku and Sento experiment with the Fullbottles. Misora had gone to sleep in her bedroom (allowing All Might to be in his skinny form, since he didn't want to disappoint her with how he looked now), and Souichi had gone off to his second job. While the investigation in the organization behind the Smash incidents hadn't gone anywhere recently, they were at least making progress with Izuku's training. When he was told that the super strength and speed that the experimentation done on Izuku was permanent, he was relieved and worried at the same time, since that meant that the other people that were experimented on were must be suffering from a sudden burst in their power, too. But at the same time, it allowed Izuku to breeze through the training regiment he had planned, to the point where he received One for All a couple weeks ago, much sooner than anticipated. Granted, Izuku's first usage left his right arm broken (Recovery Girl wasn't too pleased about having to come to the beach after work hours), so they had to still train to refine Izuku's control.
"Indeed, these Fullbottles are quite useful. But I doubt that you'd be allowed to use them in the practical for U.A., or at all in general," All Might said, chuckling a bit. "Can't say they'd be too welcomed to a 'violent vigilante's' technology."
"Hey, Build is not a violent vigilante!" Sento said, feigning hurt. "He's a hero of justice! Just one without a license, that's all."
Izuku chuckled as he read over his notes. While it was true that initially All Might wasn't too fond of the idea of working with Build, due to his "technically illegal activities", they did end up seeing eye to eye eventually, All Might even admitting that the government probably wouldn't be able to properly give Sento a hero license in spite of how helpful his technology was. Still, that didn't mean that Build could ever be seen working with All Might in public, so the two work are forced to work as far apart as they could.
"Still, I could probably work this stuff into my own gear when I'm out of U.A. and college. Discreetly, of course," Izuku added, looking at his notes. "Maybe I could become an pro hero Kamen Rider."
"Speaking of which, you want to check your Hazard Level? It's been a while since we've checked," Sento said, bringing his phone out. He scrolled through the apps, and pressed on the one marked "HL Indicator". He pointed it at Izuku, and whistled. "Wow, 2.26, you've risen quite a bit. If this keeps up, you probably can use a Build Driver!"
"Really?" Izuku said. "I mean, that would be great, but I need to be a pro hero first in order to justify it."
"Don't worry about it. As much as the law is necessary to follow and protect, sometimes heroes do need to stick their noses where they shouldn't in order to help people," All Might said, reassuring Izuku. "Besides, some vigilantes I've seen end up becoming pro heroes themselves! Though it's definitely not a reliable road to take on the path of heroism."
"Don't worry about it, you'll need a Hazard Level of 3 at least to be able to use it. With the rate you're raising, it won't be too soon," Sento said, returning his attention to his computer. Izuku looked at the clock, and realized that it was getting late. "Oh, I should get home soon," he said, as he returned the Smartphone Fullbottle to Sento. "I gotta rest before starting up training again."
"Indeed, we have to refine your technique, young Midoriya," All Might said. The two of them waved goodbye as they walked up the stairs, leaving Sento to work alone again.
"Let's see... should I start finish working on the Gatling Fullbottle's gun?" he said to himself, as he glanced over to the unfinished weapon on the work bench behind him. "Still need to find that Best Match, though..."
The next day, Sento was hard at work over reconducting experiments the Institute had done in the past. While initially just an intern, he's been quickly moving up in positions thanks to his intelligence, and noticing some elements that previous experiments hadn't taken in account for, and decided to redo them to see how the results have changed. So far, a great deal of them had been drastically different.
"Mr. Kiryu."
"Hm?"
Sento turned around, and saw the bespectacled Nariaki Utsumi, the aide to Gentoku Himuro, the current head of the Institute and Prime Minister Taizan Himuro's son, approaching him. "What can I do for you, Utsumi?"
"In regards to your work in reexamining past experiments and your input on current ones, Mr. Himuro has decided that the best course of action for you is to be moved into the Pandora Box Observation and Testing Team," Utsumi explained curtly, pushing his glasses up his face. "Of course, we expect you to be able to-"
"I get to work with the Pandora Box!?" Sento said, grinning widely as a cowlick sprung up from his hair. "I'll go over there right now!"
Utsumi scoffed, having gotten used to Sento's rather... strong enthusiasm for science. He watched as the man rushed out of the room, leaving him and his fellow scientists behind.
"Finally, he's gone."
"I couldn't stand him being so smug."
"He wouldn't even be here without his super intelligence Quirk."
"Yea, I bet he'd be nothing without it."
"The Institute's research on the Pandora Box has been relatively... fruitful. While we haven't cracked the code of how it created the Skywall, and we've yet to figure out its purpose, and what it's made of, we've at least figured out that it's capable of generating a great deal of energy," Gentoku Himuro said, stroking his well-trimmed goatee.
"Hm, I see," Sawa Takigawa, the reporter, said, writing down in her notes. "So how much longer do you think that will take? And will we be able to reverse the Skywall and reunite the countries in the process?"
"Who knows... we've been at this for ten years, and it's only recently we've figured out its energy generating capabilities," Gentoku answered, as they walked over to the observation deck to where the Pandora Box was being stored. It was encased in a large metal box with only a few small windows that allowed people to peer through. Guards were in place to keep the Box safe, while a team of scientists walked around, writing down notes and typing into laptops.
Suddenly, to Sawa's surprise, a man wearing a large brown overcoat rushed into the room, looking into the chamber containing the Pandora Box, chattering excitedly to the scientists who looked a bit too exasperated at seeing him enter. Even the guards seemed to be a little annoyed with him. "Oh, seems like my aide Utsumi finally told our newest scientist that he was being moved to the Pandora Box team."
"Your newest scientist? I didn't think someone like that would be put on such an important team like that," Sawa said, watching as the excited man sit himself down next to a plain-looking fellow and a man with a bird-head and glasses.
"He's unlike anyone we've ever seen," Gentoku said. "At least, not since Katsuragi. Either way, he's shown a remarkable intelligence, which I thought we were wasting unlike my fellow board members, so I had him moved to the team in spite of his relatively recent employment."
"I see... Well, Mr. Himuro, I think we're almost done here," Sawa said, before she took out a few pictures, which were of the Kamen Rider and a few Smashes. "I just need to ask you your opinion on the Kamen Rider, and his activities towards defeating what people are calling "Smashes" online. It seems like technology like his would be something that the Institute would be interested in."
"Hm... that information is confidential at the moment, unfortunately," Gentoku said, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "But I think we could talk it over, say, a long night interview after dinner and at a hotel?"
The two walked for a bit, before Sawa managed to process what he just said and suggested.
"What!?"
"Ugh, I can't believe the gall of that guy!" Sawa said, complaining to her boss on the phone as she walked home. It was evening, and she was alone in a park. "Just because he's super important doesn't mean he can just do that! Hm? Is the offer still on the table!? Seriously!? No, of course not! What, just because I haven't had a good story in months doesn't mean I can't have integrity!"
As she hung up on her phone, something tapped on her shoulder. She turned around, and came face to face with a strange white-colored being, with white-to-blue gradient spines coming off its torso and arms. Its head was airplane-like, with two blue eyes glowing out of it.
"Smash!" she cried out, trying to take a picture of it with her phone. The Smash smacked it away quickly. "Hey, I still had minutes on that!"
The Smash slapped her aside, knocking her to the ground. She tried to get back up, but the Smash was approaching her, drawing out a long needle-like claw from its index finger. She closed her eyes, and hoped that someone would come help her.
"Hold up a second!"
She opened her eyes. A red-and-blue armored man had appeared almost out of nowhere, and grabbed the Smash's hand. He pulled the monster away, leading it as far away from Sawa as he could. Sawa followed them discreetly, hiding behind a tree in order to make sure she wasn't seen. The armored man was attacking it with a flurry of punches and kicks before summoning a drill-gun-sword contraption and striking the Smash with it. The man pulled out the red bottle in his belt and inserted it into his weapon, which announced, "Ready, go! Vortex Break!"
The man struck the Smash multiple times, as red energy swirled around the weapon's blade. With the final strike, the Smash exploded, knocking it against a tree. As it struggled to get back up, the man pulled out a clear bottle, and pointed it at the Smash. She watched as light particles flowed out of the Smash and into the bottle. When it was over, all that was left of the Smash was an unconscious man. The armored man looked around, finally giving Sawa a good look at his helmet's mismatched eyes.
"Kamen Rider..." she said, in awe.
"So you saved another person last night?" Izuku asked, as he and Sento watched the Purification Chamber, waiting for Misora to finish purifying the latest Fullbottle.
"Yep, this guy was a real pushover, though, unlike the other Smashes I've fought against," Sento said, a bit smugly. "Didn't even need a Vortex Finish to beat him, just a Vortex Break with the good ol' Drill Crusher."
"Still, it's frustrating! We still haven't found Meta Bolt or the other members of the organization, and they're still managing to make Smashes," Izuku said, frowning. "It's just not fair, all we do is just react!"
"It isn't," All Might said, as he flipped through the news on the TV. "That's why we heroes must be vigilant and on constant watch, even when we're off hours."
"-Breaking news, the convicted murderer Ryuga Banjo has escaped prison and is on the run, the warden confirms," a newscaster said. All Might paused, and the three of them watched the channel, as it showed them the images of a brown-haired man with braids on the right side of his head, and showing footage of him having beaten up a small troop of Guardians. "Local police advise to stay in your homes or jobs while officers, Guardians, and pro heroes search the area to capture the convict. He was last seen-"
"So he's escaped, huh..." All Might said, frowning as the newscaster revealed as much information as they possibly could. "Well, that doesn't matter. The proper authorities will take care of him. You should go home, young Midoriya. There's no doubt that your mother would be concerned if she saw this news herself."
"Alright All Might," Izuku said, getting up, but before they could go, the Purification Chamber dinged, signaling the Fullbottle's completion. Sento excitedly got up, and rushed to the Purification Chamber, and opened the microwave door.
"Oh, so it's a hedgehog?" Sento said to himself, inspecting the white Fullbottle's hedgehog image. "That's probably a good indicator of what its powers are like... Go on ahead home, Midoriya, I got things covered here."
As All Might and Izuku drove off in All Might's car, they passed by an unusual scene. A small group of Guardians that were leading three teens away somewhere. One of them was a black-haired teen with sharp teeth, another was a horned girl with hoof-like feet, and the third was also a horned girl, but was pink with regular feet (from her hair to her skin). Something in All Might's gut made him remember the Claw Smash incident, and his worries were confirmed when the boy tried to fight the Guardians, but was subdued by them instead.
"Wait right here, Midoriya..." All Might said, as he stopped the car. He got out, and discreetly followed the Guardians. Izuku, meanwhile, sat patiently, looking through his phone when he saw something running past the car. He looked up, and froze for a bit. It was the escaped convict, Ryuga Banjo. Izuku didn't know what to do; on the one hand, he needed to follow All Might's orders, and Ryuga Banjo was a murderer. On the other hand, Ryuga Banjo was a murderer, and who knows how many people he'll hurt if no one stopped him.
"Curse my hero complex..." Izuku muttered to himself, getting out of the car and following the convict as quickly but silently as he could. He sent a message to Sento, hoping that, while he wasn't a pro hero and therefore not really "eligible" to apprehend him, that he'd be at the very least willing to keep Ryuga Banjo at bay enough that actual pro heroes and officers can come and do so.
As All Might hid behind a pillar, he was infuriated at who he saw was at the center of this. There, leaning against a tree, was Meta Bolt, the scoundrel. There was no doubt that these Guardians were hijacked by him and his organization, and that he had found three new potential Smash victims. He stayed silent, and listened as Meta Bolt began to speak.
"Tch, took you long enough," Meta Bolt said, as the Guardians held the three captured teens. "You Guardians should've gotten them a lot sooner than this, since this is an emergency. Can't believe that not only did another subject slip through our grasp, but he broke the main Nebula Chamber, too. And just when I finished modifying it too..."
"The 'Nebula Chamber'? Sounds like one of the ways they turn people into Smashes," All Might thought, his fist clenching.
"Who the heck are you!?" the pink girl asked, as she struggled against the Guardian's grasp. "Let us go!"
"Yea!" the boy cried out, as his skin appeared to harden, but the Guardian holding him tightened its grasp, making him wince. "You're no man if you're just getting a bunch of Guardians to do your dirty work!"
"You're just a big bully!" the horned girl said, inserting some English into her sentence. "A hero's gonna come and beat the crap out of you!"
"Hmph, you all talk a big game," Meta Bolt said, almost as if he were bored, as he traced the edge of his weapon's blade with his finger. "Then again, I know you three are U.A. hopefuls, so I guess you'd have to have some grit."
"W-what!?"
"How did you that!? Wait, you were thinking of going to U.A., Ashido?"
"Holy shit!"
"Doesn't really matter how I know," Meta Bolt muttered, shrugging. "Not like you're gonna really remember much about what's gonna happen."
"NOT SO FAST, VILLAINOUS SCUM!" All Might said, instantly changing into his muscle form and leaping into the air, landing a few of the Guardians that were standing at the back. "FOR I AM HERE!"
"All Might!?"
"No way!"
"This day keeps getting crazier and crazier!"
"Figures we'd meet again, All Might," Meta Bolt said, popping his neck. "Though it doesn't seem like you've got any backup with you today to save anyone."
"I don't need backup to handle villains like you!" All Might said, his signature smile replaced with a grimmer frown. "How dare you use the youth of today as your experimental fodder!"
Meta Bolt simply chuckled, before firing his weapon at All Might. All Might avoided all of the bullets, reappearing right next to Meta Bolt before swinging a powerful punch towards Meta Bolt's gut. He moved out of the way, though the burst of wind that resulted from All Might's punch still knocked him off his feet.
"Hm, even without a Hazard Level, you're leagues above a Smash, All Might!" Meta Bolt said, getting up as fast as he could while spinning his weapon's valve. "Devil Steam!" "But let's see you take this!"
Meta Bolt pulled the trigger three times, firing three gas bullets that flew towards All Might. All Might prepared himself to dodge the attack, but to his horror, the gas bullets suddenly changed course. He looked, and saw the gas strike all three of the teens straight in the chests.
"Ugh, crap!" the boy said, as he tried to waft the gas away from them. "Don't breathe this stuff in-!"
"Nonononono-" the pink girl said, panicking as the gas surrounded her. The horned girl meanwhile tried to hold her breath and lean away, to no avail.
All Might watched as the cloud enveloped the three teens to his horror, before turning to Meta Bolt, while flames of rage burned in his eyes.
"Wow, if looks could kill, you'd have won this fight, All Might," Meta Bolt said, chuckling as he pulled his weapon apart to form his gun and blade. "Did you really think we wouldn't have measures for things like this? There's no way that I'd win a straight fight, so why not make it a little more, unfair?"
"You bastard!" All Might said, grinding his teeth, struggling to keep cool. "How dare you bring children into this!"
"Hmph, should you really be focusing on me, instead of them?" Meta Bolt replied, pointing to the three teens. All Might looked back, and his furious frown turned into a horrified one as the teens' transformations were complete.
Where the pink girl stood was now a Smash with yellow metal-like flesh, with hexagonal holes on her chest a like a beehive, and her hands had stinger-like fingertips. Her back had sharp wing-like protrusions that stuck out, and she had a bulbous bee-like butt with a large stinger. Her head had become smooth, with only two telescope-like eyes and two needle-like horns. The boy's transformed skin resembled polished stone, with triangular points coming out of his knuckles, elbows, and shoulders. Gem-like "stones" formed his pecs and abs, and his head had become a series of spikes clustered together, with two small yellow dots forming his eyes. The horned girl kept her horns, only now they branched into smaller and smaller horns like a deer, her face smooth and devoid of any markings besides two nostril-like holes and crack-like eyes. Her finger times covered in black hoof-like markings, as hard metal-like plating ran up and down her body.
The three Smashes growled as they started to attack the Guardians around them, breaking them into pieces as All Might watched in horror. "You three," Meta Bolt commanded, as the three Smashes stopped rampaging and turned to face him, suddenly obedient. "Go find Ryuga Banjo and secure him until I can find you again."
"What? Ryuga Banjo?" All Might said, confused, before refocusing his attention. "Whatever you want with Ryuga Banjo, I won't let you use these teens for your nefarious purposes!"
"Fine, but I think you'll want to stop them first before going after me," Meta Bolt said, holding his gun. "Well, what's it going to be, All Might? Me, or those Smashes?"
All Might shifted his glance between Meta Bolt and the Smashes, who had began running and leaping away in the distance. He growled, and ran off after the Smashes, knowing that while he'd be letting Meta Bolt go, the teens were the immediate victims and dangers that needed to be handled.
"Just as expected," Meta Bolt said, as he swung his gun, forming a gas cloud that covered him. When it dispersed, he had disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
"Dammit, where do I go now!?" Ryuga asked himself, looking around the empty industrial area, making sure he wasn't seen. Ryuga wasn't the smartest guy around, nor an especially lucky man; everything he had achieved in life he powered through. He became Breaker Box the Electrical Boxing Hero's sidekick through sheer grit, even with his lackluster grades and lackluster Quirk, became an esteemed pro boxer in his own right, and wanted to eventually start his own hero business. Life unfortunately has a funny way of throwing a lot of bad luck just as quickly. Breaker Box got caught fixing matches, but to avoid losing his license, Ryuga somehow ended up being the fall guy, which resulted in losing both his hero and boxing licenses instead. So he was forced to go job-hunting, especially if he wanted to get his girlfriend Kasumi her medicines. When she said that someone came to her telling her that he had a job for him, he jumped at the chance, though he admittedly didn't know a thing about science. And that's when he found the guy, Takumi Katsuragi, dead on the ground, and he was arrested immediately at the scene of the crime.
Now he got to add getting sleep powdered at the facility he was held at and waking up to being experimented on to that long list of bad luck. He didn't even know what the hell they were doing, just that he was in a weird glass box thing with green water, handcuffed, and had a weird mask on while they pumped white gas into the box. He did get a sudden burst of strength he didn't know he had, though, and broke the lid off while fighting off a bunch of the guys in white and the hijacked Guardians they had, and ran as far as he could, hiding everywhere he could find to avoid being caught. He just kept running and running, never looking back, at least until this very moment. He knew he couldn't keep it up forever, though, and that he'll end up getting caught eventually.
As he struggled to think about what he could do, he heard something fall over nearby. He got himself into a boxing position, ready to swing his fists at whoever was there. "Show yourself!" he said, scanning the area for anyone he could find. "If you're one of those guys in white that messed with me, you're not taking me back without a fight!"
There was silence for a few seconds, though Ryuga could've sworn he heard muttering. Then, from behind a wall of pipes, poked out a green-haired teen. "H-hi, um, Mr. Banjo?"
"A kid?" Ryuga said, raising his eyebrow. The teen didn't seem to be much older than Kasumi's youngest brother, but he could just be one of those guys who's Quirks made them super youthful for the rest of their lives, so he didn't lower his guard at all. "Well, whoever you are, you're not taking me to the police, or those guys in white! I didn't rig fights or kill that guy!"
"I... was just passing by," the teen said, his grin nervous. "B-but you mentioned guys in white? D-do you know where they are?"
"Those jerks? No," Ryuga said, still on guard. "And I refuse to let them take me back there!"
"O-oh, um... well, I'm sorta like you, then! You see, I-"
The teen was interrupted by an engine revving, and a motorcyclist rushed past him and towards Ryuga. He barely had time to jump out of the way as the motorcyclist came to a stop.
"Thank goodness you sent me that GPS location as soon as you could, Midoriya," the motorcyclist said, taking his helmet off. "I'll take care of him until an actual pro hero comes."
"W-wait, Mr. Kiryu, you can't-" the teen said, panicking as he tried to figure out how to explain things.
"Don't worry, I won't be using my Quirk," the motorcyclist said, taking his helmet off. He pulled out a strange red bottle and shaking it. He twisted the cap open, and in an instant, he disappeared, only to reappear right next to Ryuga, who he tried to kick, but Ryuga blocked the kick and jumped back.
"Oh, you want to fight!?" Ryuga said, cracking his knuckles. "Well buddy, you picked the wrong former pro hero boxer sidekick amateur science assistant to fight with!"
"You... don't really need to list out everything that you are like that," the motorcyclist said, before getting punched in the side from Ryuga's right hook. "Ooow! Hey, that hurts!"
Ryuga didn't listen, as he focused on solely throwing punches like he used to. The motorcyclist kept moving backwards, not having the time to use his speed Quirk as he had to dodge each punch.
"Fine, if we're using brute strength, then this would be a better fit!" he said, pulling out another strange bottle, though this one was green. He gave it a shake, twisted its cap open, and when Ryuga threw a punch, a small green shell thing appeared on his arm, blocking the punch. As Ryuga shook his hand to wave off the pain, the motorcyclist shook another bottle, this one brown, and twisted its cap open. He punched Ryuga square on the chest, sending him backwards.
"Urgh, what?" Ryuga said, clutching his chest. "How can you use multiple Quirks like that!? Unless... they experimented on you too?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" the motorcyclist said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me... you were being experimented on!? Did you see a bat man, cobra man, or spanner man!?"
"The hell-? No, it was just a bunch of guys in white I saw. But maybe there was someone else there? I did see some weird tacky chair nearby..."
"Midoriya, did you hear-?"
"Yea, he's got to be!"
"What are you talking about?" Ryuga said, finally letting his guard down, when three strange creatures came out of nowhere. One looked like a bee, the second looked like a bunch of stalactites (Stalagmites? Which was it...), and the third looked like some weird sort of deer.
"Smashes!" the two strangers said in unison.
"What the hell are those!?" Ryuga said, pointing to them in surprise.
"You don't know what a Smash is?" the motorcyclist asked.
"I've been in jail for several months with no news! What the hell has been going on out here!?" Ryuga said, when the bee-like Smash flew over and grabbed him, lifting him into the air. "Shiiiiiiit!" he cried, as he got higher and higher. But before he could truly become airborne, someone came leaping to the rescue, grabbing the Smash and pulling it down to the ground. With Ryuga.
"Have no fear, for I am here!"
"Oh man, it's All Might!" Ryuga muttered, realizing how much trouble he's in now. All Might didn't seem to register him though, for some reason, as he turned to the motorcyclist. "I know you've said that I can't help purify these poor Smash victims, but I'm sure I can keep them contain here while you do it!"
"Of course, All Might!" the motorcyclist said, as he looked to the Smashes. "But man, three Smashes at the same time? Misora's not gonna like having to purify so many Fullbottles at once," the motorcyclist muttered, pulling out a strange belt. He slapped it onto his waist, and smiled. "But that means three new Fullbottles! So it's all good! Midoriya, find somewhere safe to hide for the moment!"
The teen nodded, and went back to the wall he was behind earlier. The motorcyclist pulled out the red bottle from earlier, and a blue one as well. He started shaking the bottles, as weird floating numbers and letters started to appear, which all seemed to be making odd equations that Ryuga did not understand (science was his worst subject in school). He then inserted the bottles into the belt, which, to his surprise, made an announcement.
"Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!"
Suddenly, weird plastic model runners came out of the motorcyclist's belt, which formed weird red armor in the front and blue armor in the back. When he finished, the belt asked him a question, "Are you ready?"
"Transform!"
The runners slammed onto him, combining the armor, as the belt played a jingle, and announced, "The Moonsault of Steel! RabbitTank! Yeahhh!"
"What!?" Ryuga said, not having expected his day to go quite like this. Experimentation, weird monster things, and now a man changing into armor by being slammed in between two halves. "What the hell are you!?"
"Called me Kamen Rider Build," the armored motorcyclist said. "And right now, I've got the winning formula," he added, as he traced his tank-like eye visor thing with the back of his finger, and did a quick hand flick, before summoning a strange weapon from his belt. He pulled the blade, and reinserted it into the handle, turning it into a gun-like contraption. He inserted a white bottle into it, and it announced, "Ready, go! Vortex Break!" Build pointed it at the bee Smash that was starting to get up, and froze It kept trying stab Build with its pointy fingers, though he dodged each one.
"Hm, calling you the Bee Smash would be boring, too straightforward. Same with Wasp Smash," he said, moving back as it swung its hands at him. "And I already used 'Needle Smash' for the last one... I know! Stinger Smash! Still related to bees and wasps, and different enough from needles! Perfect!"
As he said this, the other Smashes, the spiky one and the deer one, ran towards him, throwing their own punches at him. He dodged them, letting them punch the Stinger Smash instead. "Hm... I guess I'll call you the Rock Smash 'cuz of your rockier appearance," he added, looking at the spiky Smash, before turning to the deer one. "... And I'll call you the Antler Smash!"
The three Smashes regained whatever composure they had, and went after him. He summoned his weird weapon again, and struck the Antler Smash right on the head with it. The Rock Smash swung to the side and threw a punch, which Build blocked, but that left him opened to the Stinger Smash thrusting its stinger fingers towards him, which caused a small explosion that knocked him backwards.
"Ow! Geez, this is a little more of a challenge than the last few Smash attacks," Build said, dusting off the attack, watching as the Stinger Smash decided to pull out of this fight to capture Ryuga, and the Antler Smash decided to face off against All Might, who dodged each attack it made. He pulled out the bottles in his belt, and got out another red bottle with a bird on it and a gray one with a robot on it. "Let's see how you handle a burning metal heart!"
"What?" Ryuga said, confused as he dodged each grab the Stinger Smash made for him.
"It means, let's bust out a new combination!" Build said, inserting the bottles into his belt.
"Phoenix! Robot! Best Match!"
"Yes! I knew I was onto something with the Best Match being an avian Fullbottle paired with a gray one! Let's go!" Build said, cranking his belt's handle. New equations appears around him, smacking into the Smashes distracting them, as a red runner formed in front of Build, and a gray runner formed behind him, with a third small runner with a red feather-like cape forming behind the gray runner.
"Are you ready!?"
"Build up!" Build said, as the runners slammed together onto him again, forming his new armor. The red parts of his armor were now a different shade than before, with a flame-like right shoulder armor and a flame-like blade on his right forearm, and his helmet's left eye was now shaped like a fiery bird. The blue, on the other hand, was now replaced with a dark gray, and instead of a left hand, he had a giant mechanical pinching claw, while his left shoulder armor had a odd tiny piston-like contraption on it, and his right eye resembled a folded-up robotic arm. His chest armor had a large flame-like decoration on the upper left side, while an exposed engine-like pattern laid underneath it. On his back was the red feather-like cape.
"The Immortal Weapon! PhoenixRobo! Yeahhh!"
"Now I've really got the winning formula!" Build said, repeating the same hand gesture from earlier. The Rock Smash charged at him, and swung its right fist towards Build, who caught it with his robotic hand. He began to twist the Rock Smash's arm the other way, causing it to growl in pain, before creating a small fireball in his fist and punching the Rock Smash in the face, sending it backwards. When it saw its companion falling to the ground, the Antler Smash returned its attention to Build, lowering its head and pointing its antlers towards him and charged. Build calmly stared at it, and leaped into the air, suddenly flying as the Antler Smash rammed into a nearby wall of pipes, getting its antlers stuck between the spaces.
The Stinger Smash turned to look up at the flying Build, shaking off the melting ice that was stuck on its wings, and flew up to challenge Build. Ryuga took a deep breath and sighed, finally having the opportunity to rest, as the Rock Smash was in too much pain to really do anything, and the Antler Smash was still trying to pull itself free. All Might did the same, seemingly tired from having leaped from where he was to here.
The Stinger Smash pointed its bulbous bee butt at Build, and started launching energy stingers at him. He created a wall of fire that absorbed the stingers, and pushed it towards the Smash, igniting it. As the fire dissipated as it crash-landed onto the ground, Build landed, and started to crank his belt's handle again.
"And now for the finish!" Build announced, as the belt announced alongside him. "Ready, go! Vortex Finish!"
A large energy projection of his robot hand formed around it, and he launched it at the Stinger Smash, watching it fly around and grabbing the Rock Smash, which recovered from its pain, and the Antler Smash, which had finally freed itself from the pipe wall. The three Smashes struggled to get out of the energy robotic hand, but to no avail, as Build created a powerful fireball in his right hand, and threw it at them, turning into a phoenix before it collided with them, causing them to explode. They fell to the ground, struggling to get up, but they were too weakened to do anything. Build pulled out three clear bottles, and pointed them at the fallen Smash, light particles flowing into them, before three teens were all that were left of the Smashes.
"Ooooh, my aching head," the former Rock Smash, a boy, said, rubbing his head. "What happened?"
"I feel like I just woke from the hardest dance party of my life," the former Stinger Smash, a pink girl with horns and black sclera, said, holding her aching legs and arms.
"I wanna just go home and pass out," the former Antler Smash, a girl with still large horns and hoof-like feet, said, sprawling out on her back and closing her eyes. "I should've listened to my friends back home about how crazy Touto was."
"That was so easy!" Build said, so cheerfully that you could just imagine the smile he had underneath the helmet. "PhoenixRobo is leagues above RabbitTank or LionCleaner! I think I'll make this my defAAAAAAAAULT!"
As Build finished his sentence, his Robot half started to short-circuit, as All Might, Midoriya, and Ryuga watched as his limbs and head started to spark. Even the three former Smashes looked on the spectacle.
"Hot, hot, hot! Gotta Build up quick!" he cried, pulling the bottles out of his belt and quickly inserting the bottles from earlier into his belt, cranking as fast as he could to engage the form change as fast as he could. Once he was back to his red and blue form, he sighed. "So the drawback of that Best Match is that Phoenix, while boosted by Robot, causes Robot to overheat and short-circuit. Not a form to use for long periods of time. Man, can't believe that Best Matches would have drawbacks, either..."
"So, now that that's settled," All Might said, turning to face Ryuga, who instantly got into a fighting stance. "You're going back to the proper authorities and serving your sentence, Ryuga Banjo."
"Like hell I am! I already told everyone, I never rigged any fights! And I certainly didn't kill that Katsuragi guy!" Ryuga said, still insistent on his innocent. He was a lot of things, but murderer was not one of them. Ever.
"Don't lie to me! If you had gone to prison, that means that you failed my friend Tsukauchi's lie detector Qu-"
"Who the hell's Tsukauchi!? There wasn't anyone with that name when I was interrogated!"
"What?" All Might said, raising an eyebrow. "But I was told-"
"Whatever you were told, it didn't happen! I didn't go through some lie detector Quirk test! I didn't even have the chance to say how I was innocent! I was just thrown in jail!" Ryuga said, as tears started to stream in his eyes, his fists dropping to his side. "I-I'm a lot of things. An idiot, a fool, too trusting, too emotional, a musclehead, anything like that. But I'm not a murderer. I never killed anyone!"
"Not to mention he's our best lead now," Build said, looking at All Might. All Might looked at him, before looking at the teen who confirmed it. "He said he escaped being experimented on by the same guys in white."
"And unlike other people, he did completely conscious, enough that he could make it all the way here," Build said, turning to him. "So, can you lead us to them, so we can stop them?"
"Are you kidding!? I don't remember where I was!" Ryuga snapped. "I ran as fast as I could without looking back! Like I'd want get caught again!"
Just then, a car screeched to a stop nearby, followed by police officers and Guardians. The car door opened, and the current head of the Institute (Gentoku Himuro, if Ryuga remembered correctly) got out, followed by his aide. He looked at everyone, and stopped onto Ryuga.
"Congratulations on capturing the convict, All Might," Gentoku said, stroking his beard. "And the Kamen Rider, as well. We'll take care of things from here, no worries. How dare you bring children into this, you felons."
"No..." Ryuga said, softly. "I can't go back. I didn't kill anyone. I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Sounds like what a criminal would say," Gentoku said, dismissively. "Come now, don't make this harder."
Build started to rub the back of his head, trying to think of what he could do when his eyes rested on his motorcycle. He made a whistling gesture to it (in spite of wearing a helmet), and it came towards them, pushing everyone out of the way. "Come on, get on!" he said, motioning Ryuga to get onto the bike. Without a second thought, Ryuga hopped on, and the two started to drive away.
"Don't worry, I'll catch them!" All Might said, laughing. Though Midoriya could see through the laugh, knowing what he was truly planning. "Young man, please take care of your peers while I go after them!"
All Might started to run after the two, who had gotten a good headstart. Police officers and Guardians started firing after Build and Ryuga, with a Guardian squadron already moving out, but Gentoku yelled at them, "What the hell are you doing!? Stop shooting at All Might, he's the Symbol of Touto! I will not have you all injure him while he's attempting to capture villains! Utusmi! Send the order to the Guardians to stop!"
"Already on it, sir, but the ones that are already pursuing them will take a while to stop," Utsumi said, as he tapped on his tablet. "Hopefully All Might will just break them, since they're replaceable."
"Hope you know what you're doing, Mr. Kiryu, All Might," Midoriya thought, as he ushered the three drowsy Smash victims away, staying low so that no one would notice them leaving.
"I have no idea what I'm doing," Build said, as he drove away from the crowd of officers and Guardians. "What am I thinking!? Build's super unpopular, I just tanked any possible good will down the drain by helping you out!"
"Geez, thanks for that, rabbit head," Ryuga said, rolling his eyes. "Just keep your eyes on the road so we don't die! All Might's gonna-"
"Be here!"
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Calm down, he's on our side," Build muttered, when Guardians started to catch up towards them and fired at them. Build swerved the motorcycle out of the way, while All Might jumped into the air, landing on a few.
"I certainly hope they don't mind me breaking a few of these, since they did technically attack me!" All Might said, when the Guardians changed direction.
"Immediate threat detected; commencing arrest," a few of them said in a robotic voice, moving away from Build and Ryuga.
"Uh oh," Build said, looking back.
"Curses! I'll get you hooligans some day!" All Might said, with a flair of drama as he started to fight the Guardians.
"You liar! He was totally gonna capture us!"
"Seriously? He's just acting to cover up that he's on our side. Guardians have cameras, you know," Build said, as Ryuga watched the group of Guardians getting tossed around and broken apart by All Might, who quickly and subtly threw up a thumbs up sign at them. "Can't have the Number One Hero fraternizing with vigilantes in public after all. Especially a vigilante who's helping an escaped murder convict."
"I didn't kill anyone!"
"I know, I know. I can tell by your eyes. And besides, a real idiot wouldn't acknowledge their lack of knowledge, either," Build said, taking off his belt and changing back to his regular identity. "Plus, you're my and Midoriya's best bet to finding out who this organization is, and why they keep doing this."
Ryuga looked away for a bit. He got why they'd want his help, and he wanted to, but honestly, he wanted, no, needed to be clear his name of everything first. He doesn't want to keep living like this, as a criminal, when he was innocent. Then he can go back to his life with Kasumi, back to his life of boxing, back to helping people, without any of this heavy weight on him. "Fine, but like I said, I don't remember where I got out of and how to get back there."
"It's alright, we'll just jog your memory," Build said, smiling. "Well, I think first off, we need to properly introduce each other. My name's Sento Kiryu."
"... Ryuga Banjo."
"Well, Banjo, I think I should tell you that right now, your fly's down," Build said, his smile turning into a smirk. Ryuga looked down, and indeed, his pant's zipper was down.
"Wha!? For how long!?" Ryuga said, reaching down to zip it back up.
"Since the beginning of our scuffle."
"You little-!"
"Heyheyhey, stop that! I'm driving!"
Meta Bolt sat at the edge on top of the Skywall, watching as Sento and Ryuga drove down the empty road. "Hm, a wannabe hero and a murder convict. Can't say that's a combination I'd see."
"Bolt," a voice said, coming from behind him. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Oh, Rogue, fancy seeing you here," Bolt said, not bothering to turn around. "It's pretty rare that you of all people are up and out."
"I told you to take care of capturing Ryuga Banjo."
"And I did."
"By creating three Smashes? I told you that you're not to rely on using the Steam Rifle for Smashification!"
"Pipe down, it was an emergency. I thought you hated losing test subjects like Banjo and Midoriya. Admittedly, Stalk was the one who let Midoriya go, so it's not like I know the reason."
"And I'd like it to keep it to myself, too," a third voice said, joining them. "Yo, Bolt, Rogue."
"Tch," Rogue said, the scowl behind his helmet palpable. "Why is it that you two keep messing around with my orders? We need subjects like them to-"
"Yea, yea, 'prepare for war', we know," Bolt said, getting up. "Thing is, you're not the only one in charge of Faust. This was a collaboration between all of us, along with the backing of some powerful sponsors. So quit thinking we're just your followers, and let us handle things the way we think we should."
"Eh, you guys are too serious," Stalk said, as he stretched his arms and shoulders. "We have all the time we need to prepare, and what's two or three 'escaped' experiments? Besides, they can still be useful freed. All we need really is to find that missing data."
"Indeed," Rogue said, crossing his arms. "And knowing him, he hid it somewhere secured and with only one clue about how to access it."
"Don't worry, we'll find it soon enough. The Kamen Rider will probably be the key," Bolt said, getting up and past Rogue, patting him on the shoulder. "Trust me, when the war breaks out, Faust will come out on top."
As Bolt and Stalk left Rogue to ruminate on what has been happening, Rogue stood there, deep in thought. While his concerns about Bolt and Stalk never faded as the two constantly pushed and pulled orders he gave them, he did recognize that they were brilliant in many regards, and that the progresses his cohorts made were undeniable and valuable to their overall goal.
Any reservations he had, it had to be pushed aside. After all, they had a war to prepare for, and he'll be damned if Hokuto and Seito had the advantage over Touto.
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- Yes that's right, I'm gonna do my own Build-esque introductions for chapters now. All notes I have will now be relegated to the end notes instead so that I can make use of the beginning notes for the chapter. I tried using the chapter summary, but I was running out of characters too quickly on that.
- I gave a hint to it in the last chapter, but I'm officially enlarging the secret lair a bit more. In place of the single bed, there's now a hallway with more rooms for all of the characters to sleep in. And I'm giving it the name "Build Shop" 'cuz it's catchier that way.
- Time for MORE RUSHING. You guys think I wouldn't introduce Sawa, Gentoku, Utsumi, and Ryuga any time soon? Well, they're here now. Sorry if it seems like I'm skipping a lot of time on this, but again, I want to get to the more interesting parts, and I don't want to be too slow with this.
- I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like All Might and Izuku have done anything truly substantial so far. I tried fixing that by having the fight scene with Meta Bolt, but I understand if it's a little too short for people's liking. And if it had Meta Bolt at the advantage, gotta keep the villains reasonably threatening, especially since Meta Bolt and Faust are a little more present than the League of Villains. I do have big plans for Izuku, and I didn't mention him liking the Beetle Fullbottle and the conversation about Sento making more Build Drivers for nothing now. Plus with his Hazard Level giving him a much needed boost to handle One for All, he's gonna get stronger a little faster than he did in the canon.
- Why is All Might a lot more willing to work with a vigilante than he might be in canon? Well, I figured that with the Skywall Incident, that he became a lot more aware of his limitations and how others can save people in different ways. Plus, I'd think he'd be willing to trust Sento a lot more after seeing how he reacts to Meta Bolt's callous behavior about science and people. So while he can't let himself be seen in public working with the Kamen Rider, I'm sure he's more than willing to let him operate without issue. Not to mention that I already established that he was already slightly wary of his position as the "Number One Hero" and "Symbol of Peace" thanks to the Skywall Incident in the first chapter, so I think he'd be a little more loose with his opinions.
- One of the reasons why I gave PhoenixRobo, a form that, by all means, was the strongest of the regular Best Matches, a weakness like that is precisely because that it was the strongest of them, and the way I set the story up with Bakugo's Smash essence giving Build the Phoenix Fullbottle and Mei's Smash essence (as if it's not obvious who she was, or who any of the Smash victims that are currently "unnamed", really) giving Build the Robot Fullbottle meant giving him full access to PhoenixRobo waaaay earlier than when it appeared in series. So I had to give a suitable weakness to PhoenixRobo, and what better way to do that than making the Robot half literally overheat due to the Phoenix half? I think it makes sense to me. Expect some more unique weaknesses added to Best Matches when or if they appear, especially if they're ones that were never utilized in show.
- Sorry if the ending isn't the same as the canon first episode of Kamen Rider Build for you Build fans, since that was a legitimately cool ending. I personally think that with the interference of Quirks and heroism as a legitimate occupation that it would end pretty differently in comparison. Not to mention that the events leading up to it were already different, and Build outright BEGINS as a "fugitive" due to being labeled as a vigilante.
- If you think Ryuga fought a lot better against Sento in their first "fight" than in canon, you'd be right. I figured that with giving Ryuga the background of going through a hero course and becoming at least a sidekick while also being a boxer, that he'd have a much better fighting style and more experience in villain fights than he did in canon. Consequently, his hero background's definitely gonna affect his character arc a bit, but it's still gonna be similar enough.
- EDIT (3/24/2020): I changed the timeskip to be 8 months instead of 5. I was having a hard time figuring out how to pad out the other half before the entrance exams, until I got tired of it and decided to increase the number of months instead, and added one more Fullbottle to compensate (I don't want too many Fullbottles to be made, I got plans for a number of them). Consequentially, I'm going to be going through other chapters to make sure there wouldn't be any contradictions, as well as adding Giraffe to the first Build Files.