Chapter 02: Watch your Step(and Mind the Friction)!
"The fuck are you doing, Deku?"
Hearing Kacchan's voice from behind him snapped Izuku out from his thoughts, shrieking as he kicked upwards at least three meters only to fall back down upon his back. Wincing in pain, he looked up into Kacchan's upside-down scowling visage. "H-Hey, Kacchan..."
"Looks like a fucking lightning bolt couldn't kill off your nerdiness." Kacchan scoffed before walking across the body. "Get your ass off the floor and keep your mouth shut for the rest of the day!"
With that, Kacchan disappeared into the school, prompting Izuku to sigh as he got up and followed after him, ignoring the whispers that followed his appearance. While doing so, he once more felt for the same energy and felt the familiar sensation of the world slowing down while his cells seemed to thrum with energy.
Raising a hand up, Izuku quietly marveled as the appendage started to vibrate and blur in place, wildly giving off an immense wave of heat. He couldn't just run fast, he could do anything fast.
...he had to write this down!
When he finally made it to class, Izuku made a straight beeline for his seat before fishing out a brand new journal.
Dubbing it 'Flash Analysis for the Future', Izuku immediately set to filling it up with the ideas literally flooding his head. Whatever that thunderstorm had been, it seemed to have awakened his latent potential for a Quirk with that lightning strike.
It was the only logical explanation, wasn't it? He wasn't giving off any lightning despite his immense speed. Instead, he gave off burning heat, similar to Dad with his {Fire Breath}.
Thermokinetically enhanced speed, then? That needed a shorter name. {Heat Speed}? {Hot Streak}?
Well, Dad would love to help him brainstorm later. Because this was it! The thing Izuku had been hoping- no, praying for! His Quirk had finally awakened and now he had the stuff to become a Hero!
No more need for the risky endeavor that was Project Psych! Not with {Hyper Burn} with him now!
...really needed to workshop the name, later.
"T-The possibilities of this Quirk are limitless! With this, I'm never too far away from anything or anywhere! N-No, wait, I'll probably check if I can run through the entire city. Oh! Wait, rescue! Even just being able to run at subsonic speeds will be immensely useful for disaster scenes, especially when you think of the traffic and logistics...! Add in enhanced reflexes and motor skill...! and being an emergency transporter is also a possibility for this Quirk...!"
"Hey..."
"But wait, I'll also need to train my stamina before I go to U.A... There's also the problem of my increased appetite... Most likely my Quirk takes my lipids or calories as fuel to function... Hopefully, that shouldn't be a problem! I'm pretty sure there are tons of diet plans online for people with Quirks that involve food and the like!"
"Hey...!"
"Since it's heat-related, it's definitely from Dad's side! I'll need to ask for him to check his family for any relatives with something similar-"
*crackle*
Izuku's hand snapped up against his will to catch a slim wrist reaching for his cheek, only to blink as the hand moved even faster to succeed in flicking his eye.
"Hey." A blonde girl who looked way too much like a female Kacchan, or a teenage Aunt Mitsuki, raised a curious brow at him. "You know you've been talking out loud, right?"
Izuku blinked, then turned to regard Kacchan on his far left, before turning back to regard the girl. "Wha...?"
"Yeah, you're not the first to note the similarities." The girl sighed before leaning onto her elbow. "Deku, right? Name's Hanabi Bakugami. Just transferred in last week."
"U-Um, I'm M-M-Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya." Izuku cursed internally at his stutter. "D-Deku's an insult..."
"...ah? I see. Sor'6ry. Literally nobody addressed your empty seat as anything else." Bakugami shrugged, which sadly made some sense to Izuku. "So you're a literal smartass, then?"
"U-Um, no?" Izuku awkwardly closed his journal. "I mean, I just... I like to make notes on Quirks... Because... I'm aiming to become a Hero..."
"Huh... Well, no crime in that." Bakugami replied after a short hum, causing Izuku's neck to nearly snap from how fast he turned to stare at her in disbelief. Around them, several of his classmates joined in staring, no longer pretending to be ignorant. "Heroes can't be idiots, after all."
"Oi, Bakugami." Suzuki whispered from before Bakugami's seat. "I'm not sure if you know this, but Deku's Quirkless. No way he's getting into the Hero Course."
Bakugami raised a brow. "What makes you say that? Is it banned or something?"
"...um, I'm not sure?" Suzuki bit her lip before shaking her head. "But there's never even been a Quirkless Hero! No way a place as prestigious as U.A. would let him."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Bakugami replied. "Do you have any say in U.A.'s selection process for their students?"
"It's just how it is!" Kuwabara hissed from his seat, his elongated neck turning about to look behind him. "Someone like Deku's got no business in U.A. at all! Among all those people, they'll chew a loser like him into gum."
"You mean worse than you guys are doing now?" Bakugami scoffed. "I had no idea that my new classmates were such assholes. Except you, Midoriya. You seem okay."
Izuku just kept staring at Bakugami as she calmly rebutted his classmates' derisions of him. Not a single person had ever defended him like this ever since he'd gotten his status as a Quirkless human.
To think that a stranger he'd only know for just about a minute would-
"Shut the fuck up, already!" Kacchan snapped, setting off sparks in his hands. "Quit working Deku's dick already, you fucking moron! Deku's got as much chance at going Pro with a turtle breaking the sound barrier!"
Bakugami's crimson eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned to glare at him, actual sparks seeming to arc from her glowing eyes. "What the fuck did you just say to me?"
"I said-"
*BAKRASH!*
Kacchan never finished his sentence.
Because Bakugami had somehow moved to slam his face into his desk. Hard. Now Kacchan laid facedown upon his broken desk, staying limp as Bakugami sauntered back to her seat. Then she regarded the stunned class with a faux perplexed look. "What?"
Everybody immediately turned away, all of them instantly whispering with each other at how Kacchan had just been dethroned by the newbie. This had got to be the most unbelievable free period ever.
As for Izuku, all he could do was just stare at Bakugami as she scratched her spiky blonde hair loose of the low ponytail it had been. How had she done that? Teleportation? No, Izuku had definitely seen her blur towards Kacchan.
Except that even with his new reflexes, that was still the most he'd been able to see her as...
She was faster than him. So. Much. Faster.
"Look, Midoriya." Bakugami suddenly spoke up. "I'm not sure exactly sure of how things go here. But people do impossible shit all the time. People knew it was impossible to fly solo across the oceans until Earhart did it. People knew that you couldn't communicate with faraway people beyond letters until Graham Bell invented the phone. People knew that it was impossible to get to the moon until Armstrong managed it. People knew it was impossible to move cars about abnormally until Keiichi Tsuchiya invented drifting. Almost every important thing accomplished by humanity were done so by Quirkless people, and you all seem to have forgotten that for some reason."
The class was deathly quiet now.
"Midoriya, 'impossible' is just a term for 'it hasn't happened yet'." Bakugami tied her hair back into it's ponytail, securing it better this time. "Grow into whatever you wanna become. Just like you've got no right to determine their livelihoods, not a single person in the class has the right to do the same to you- Shit, why are you crying?!"
Izuku couldn't help it, even as he tried to stifle his sniffles. Not once in his entire life had anybody defended him like this. Nobody cared for the Quirkless kid who wanted to play Heroes and Villains with others in the park. Nobody cared for the Quirkless kid who didn't have anything interesting about him.
The least painful thing anybody had ever done to him upon hearing his dream had been to laugh at it.
So this was... This was just a tad much...
Some hours later, Izuku panted heavily while his stomach growled after all the testing he had done. For the past while he'd been testing his limits with his speed, he'd managed to discover some new things.
Firstly, if he became too hungry while running, both his running speed and reflexes would start to drop in efficiency. This was a huge problem, because Izuku could rarely run far before his hunger caught up. By now, he'd already emptied the large bag of snacks he'd bought on the way to the abandoned racetrack at the outskirts of Musutafu, which along with the darkening sky was an indicator that he'd have to get home soon.
Secondly, while he'd tried as best as he could to create concentrated blasts of either lightning or heat while hyperaccelerating, only fire tended to come out, and in mostly uncontrollable bursts through his limbs. By now, the tracksuit he'd worn was looking more fit to be thrown away with no hope for repair.
Finally, whenever he tried to go past a certain speed, his body would immediately flag down instead, as if warning him that he couldn't handle breaking the sound barrier yet. ...well, it was literally his first day with this. He had plenty of time to fix that.
"Hello, Mom." Izuku answered his phone after it rang. "I'm heading home now. Sorry if I worried you."
"It's okay, Izuku." Mom replied. "Sorry, but I might not be coming home today. A client suddenly called with complicated modifications they wanted me for."
Izuku nodded in acceptance. While his mom was mostly a housewife, she was also a great seamstress, which she often used to bring in extra cash now and then with home calls from her frequent clients. "Okay, then. Is there any food in the fridge for me?"
"I made you your favorite before I left." Mom answered, which made Izuku beam. "Love you sweetie."
"Love you, too, Mom." Izuku hummed happily as he ended the call and started to head home to the great katsudon waiting for him. Only to be distracted by a rushing sound. "Huh?"
Turning around, Izuku gasped at the sight of a crimson trail of golden lightning rushing across the landscape before entering into a nearby abandoned train station.
The Flash... Izuku could scarcely believe the chance. Was he here on business? Or on some other matter?
If he could ask the vigilante some questions(and maybe get an autograph)...
Before he knew it, Izuku zipped right after him, considerably slower than normal at this point.
The Flash panted as he dodged the entire subway car that had been thrown at him by Grodd. A Grodd that had apparently chosen today of all days to attain a Quirk that gigantified him, as if being a telepathic genetically modified gorilla hadn't been enough already.
"Grodd, listen to me." Flash called out even as he got slammed into a stack of trailer crates. "I cannot let you open a portal to another dimension! Musutafu's not zoned for that!"
[It's not up to me!] Grodd telepathically replied, all twenty meters of him rumbling forward. [Why won't you quit?!]
"I guess I like Musutafu not being sucked into a black hole!" Flash sped off just as Grodd's massive fist landed, hating the strain of the motion dampeners still around as he rushed up the limb to land a punch that hopefully concussed the massive primate. "I mean, it's common sense, right? Telepaths are supposed to be smart guys, so you should know that, too!"
Thankfully, it looked like Grodd wasn't quite used to his Quirk yet, so they were both fighting handicapped today.
And judging by how he'd managed to build enough enough speed to kick Grodd through the very durable Super-Collider Chamber's wall and let the massive gorilla fall down into the ledges, Flash was winning!
Until he noticed the screaming kid that was falling, too. Where had he even come from?! A millisecond later, Flash pushed his limits into saving the kid, grabbing just as he zipped down the wall before rushing upwards until they reached an undamaged observation ledge overlooking the chamber.
The kid, a freckled teenage boy with curly green hair and very wide eyes, gaped at Flash like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Or was still having his life flash past his eyes. Either was viable. "Did you know that your shoes are smoking?"
The kid looked down to the shoes in question and numbly nodded, idly stamping the smoke out.
"Dunno why that happened. My own suit's built to resist friction and heat like a space shuttle, so I don't really have to worry about stuff like that..."
*BRRRMMM*
Flash stilled as the Speed Force hummed from within him. Buzzing and crackling, pressing outwards from him towards the kid. The kid himself stilled, staring at him in both familiarity and utter confusion.
RECOGNITION.
And Flash- No, Toshinori knew. "I thought I was the only one. You're like me..."
"That's..." The kid swallowed. "That can't be possible..."
"I am, or rather, we are the impossible, kid." Flash gently countered. "Got a lot going through your head, I'm sure. Lots of energy, lots of thoughts, everything's speeding up yet slowing down whenever tensed?"
"Y-Yeah..." The kid admitted. "I already used to be able to think fast... But since the lightning bolt..."
Flash nodded in understanding. He'd suffered about the same after his own incident, barely able to get his thoughts in order and keeping his body from clearing meters and miles with every casual footstep. "You're gonna be fine. I can help you. If you stick around, I can show you the ropes."
Finally, the kid smiled, albeit shakily. "Y-Yeah... That'd be great."
That was a good smile. He couldn't wait to introduce this kid to Dave and Melissa.
Unfortunately, the mood got ruined when the Super-Collider started to reactivate again above them, causing him to step back. "I just need to destroy this big machine real quick before the space-time continuum collapses. Don't move."
Flash hopped onto the railing and paused to see the kid still staring. "See you in a flash. Pun intendeeeeed!"
Flash kicked off, easily clearing the distance towards the nearest ledge before skipping across and through the railings until he reached one of the revolving turbines and grabbing onto it as it rose. Once it reached the apex, Flash kicked off and spun about until he landed against the wall, immediately kicking into high gear as much as the motion dampeners would allow him.
Finally right above the Super-Collider, it was simple to activate the magnetic pads Dave had recently added to the soles of his boots, elbows and his knees. Crawling upwards while upside was certainly a new thing Flash had to deal with, especially while searching for a panel without Dave's usually helpful advice chiming through his earpiece.
Of all days to have an appointment with a dentist... "Is it here? No, no, it's here."
Ripping the panel off, Flash came face-to-face with a motherboard-like part and brought out the goober that Dave had made for him. He tried to put the key into the port, only realize it was upside-down and immediately flip it over. "I always get this wrong-"
Flash stilled just as something white and blue slammed into him, knocking him away and punching him with very cold hands. "Cold!"
"Flash." Captain Cold greeted back in his usual winter-themed gear and freaking rocket boots?! When did he get an upgrade like this?!
Flash's thoughts derailed with another freezing punch smashing into his jaw. Right. Question later, fight now. "Cold, can't you see that I'm in the middle of something?!"
"Why do you think I'm here, then?" Captain Cold twisted about as Flash punched at his head, breathing heavily through his full-face mask as he judo flipped the vigilante all the way into one of the Super-Collider engines.
"Urgh. I am so hungry." Flipping back onto his feet just as Captain Cold landed before him, Flash grimaced as he dodged his Rogue's swift punches and kick while retaliating with his own. "What with the new duds by the way? No more of your Cold Gun?"
"I'm not stupid enough to fire that where every missed shot in this place will be deducted from my pay." Captain Cold dodged under his punch and kicked at his shin, nearly knocking him down before having to block when Flash punched forward as fast as he could, the kinetic shockwave nearly flinging the villain off even with his decreased speed. "Besides, with all of the motion dampeners set up around this place, I clearly need these Propulsor Boots to still keep up with you."
"Thanks. I try." Flash rubbed his wrist before charging forward, only to be suddenly knocked down flat and pinned by Grodd. "Okay, looks like I need to try harder."
"Flash, I didn't know you were that interested in my new toy." A familiar voice suddenly spoke up from the control room's speakers. "Cost me a fortune. But hey, even you can't just snatch and speed off away with it, right? You came all this way. Watch the test. It's a hell of a freakin' light show, you're gonna love this."
Flash struggled as the Super-Collider rumbled even louder than before all of the lights in the cylindrical walls clicked on. "No! No! Don't do this! Stop! You don't know what it can do! It'll kill us all!"
A tiny atmospheric meter in a box lowered down to be positioned right between the accelerators, with them firing particle beams at each other with immense force right with it dead center.
Immediately, the scientists were making observations of their own.
"Dimensional barrier breach confirmed!"
"I see multiple dimensions opening!"
"That was three... four... and five separate dimensions!"
Flash hitched his body shuddered from the sudden rage that he was quite sure belonged to somebody else.
AFFRONT!
Damn it, Speed Force.
"I-It's getting unstable! We should stop!"
Once again, a minor earthquake hit Musutafu, except this wasn't the same as before. Buildings of differing shapes actually vibrated and glitched in place before changing immensely in form while still possessing some likeness to their previous forms.
Twenty-five different traffic lights suddenly decorated a singular one, not a single one a replica of another.
The river that cut through the city churned as it changed color to a glowing purple, before switching to a honey-like amber in rainbow shades.
Struggling to get loose, Flash glanced upwards. "Grodd, what's a telepath like you's take on head trauma?"
Grodd looked up just in time to take the broken apart rubble to the face, knocking him off Flash.
"I tried to warn you, Kong." Prepping up, Flash skipped off the engine and started speeding for the thankfully still open panel, only for Grodd to recover too quickly and leap after him, smashing his massive hand into his entire left side.
Which had the unfortunate effect of flinging him right into the middle of the Super-Collider.
"No!" Flash barely heard through the massive amounts of pain flooding him as his body was repeatedly slammed from opposite sides with dimensional energy. "Get him out of there!"
Whomever was trying to pull Flash out, it was too late. Already, black spots were filling his vision until he couldn't see anything beyond the black.
Then he saw. Galaxies swirled. Stars died and were reborn. Black holes devoured with gravity as both utensil and meal. As he struggled to resist against the cosmic shroud, the Speed Force however thrashed and surged out.
Eldritch lightning burst out from the Flash's body, wildly striking about until five particularly strong tendrils smashed into nothingness.
And the nothingness broke and was reached through-
*BOOM!*
Musutafu, as one, glitched as five unknown figures blasted off into different locations, one of them spazzing away into an earlier time period.
Izuku coughed heavily as he moved through the now thoroughly wrecked chamber, shivering slightly as the sight of the massive gorilla's charred and limp body.
Then he looked a little bit further and finally noticed the Flash's own injured state, immediately rushing towards the man. "H-Hey! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just resting." The Flash whispered, clearly not fine with how weak his voice sounded.
"C-Can't you get up?" Izuku asked as he resisted the urge to poke the injured man. "W-We heal fast, don't we?"
"Yeah, yeah, we do... I always get back in the running..." The Flash coughed weakly, a little blood dribbling down his chin. "...the coughing's probably not a good sign. The Speed Force already didn't like the machine, and now it looks like it's gone and done something with my connection to it..."
"Speed Force?" Izuku questioned.
"Find him." There were sounds of people moving through the wreckage, slowly approaching Izuku and the injured Flash. "Now."
"Listen, we gotta team up here. We don't have that much time, kid..." The Flash pressed a USB drive into his palm and closed it, his tone turning urgent. "This override key is the only way to stop the collider. Wait for them to leave, run up there, use this key, push the glowy green button, and blow it up."
Izuku simply stared, totally lost. He didn't have the slightest clue about what had been happening earlier, but he'd felt the lightning within him writhing at it. And the Flash was this serious about it despite his condition... "Wh-Why isn't there a Hero on this?"
"Because Villains like her have the power of laws on her side." The Flash replied. "That where we Vigilantes come in. Well, not you, you can be whatever you want... But you'll need to hide your face. Villains aren't the only ones who'll invite bad things with a speedster's identity. And Amunet Black has everyone in her pocket. Hell, I'm 70% sure she'll somehow manage to keep this place from being investigated, even with that huge blast that just went off. If she turns on the machine again, the spacequakes will worsen until everything you know will disappear. Your family, your friends, everyone. Promise me you'll do this."
Izuku nervously gulped before slowly nodding, his fist tightening around the drive. "I... I promise."
ACCEPTANCE.
A final spark crossed between their held hands, and the Flash became a little more relieved before shoving him away. "Go. Run and hide. Then destroy the collider. I'll be coming to find you in no time.
Izuku dashed off, pausing behind some rubble to look back at the Flash, who still hadn't gotten up.
"It's gonna be okay..." The Flash waved him off, prompting Izuku to climb up and search for the mentioned glowing button until he could see it clearly through the smoke.
"Glider, we're done with tests." The female voice that had spoken up from the speakers had finally come close enough, prompting Izuku to hide and frightfully observe as a brown-haired woman in a business suit approached the downed Flash while being flanked by B-ranked Villain Captain Cold and A-ranked Villlain Golden Glider. "Get that thing ready to again. And soon."
With the scientist she'd spoken to running off, the woman in the suit turned to address the Flash. "I'd say it's nice to see you again, Flash, but's it's not."
"Hey, Amunet Black." The Flash whispered. "How's business?"
"Boomin'. Heh." Black punned before reaching down to yank off the Flash's mask, revealing a bruised face with tussled blond hair and strong blue eyes.
"Aw, that's a no-no." The Flash moaned. "This... This might open a black hole under Musutafu. It can't be worth the risk."
Black crouched down until her face was inches away from the Flash's. "It's not always about the money, Flash."
Beside her, Golden Glider approached with an outstretched hand that immediately morphed into a golden blade.
"Don't you wanna know what I saw in there?!" The Flash asked almost frantically, which worked because Black halted Golden Glider's advance. "I know what you're trying to do, but it won't work. He's gone. And the one you're trying to reach... won't be the same person."
Izuku couldn't see Black's expression from where he was, but he did see her fist clench. Then he wished he didn't see a loud spark of electricity crackle around it before she slammed it upon the Flash's chest, the crunch echoing around the area hauntingly.
Black sighed as she stood back up, rubbing a cloth over her bloodied hand. "Get rid of the body."
Izuku shook as tears dripped out of his eyes, whimpering a little. A sound all three Villains immediately noticed as they turned towards his direction. Izuku didn't wait to hear what any of them said next and ran.
Pushing his speed as much as he could, his panic made good fuel for his exhausted Quir- power as he managed increase his escaping speed by at least six times, but he really couldn't be satisfied with that because Captain Cold was chasing him!
Managing to vault over the fence, Izuku gave a quick glance behind him only to shriek as the Villain fished out a gun and froze the fence by shooting it, easily shattering the now frozen metal apart as he flew through.
Rushing into the subway, Izuku got almost hit by an incoming train before flattening himself against the side while Captain Cold did the same. Once the train passed, the wintery Villain immediately began to chase after him again, almost causing Izuku to nearly drop the drive out of sheer terror.
However, the moment he got free of the subway and into the place he'd entered from, the strange feeling of his limbs being weighed down finally disappeared and allowed Izuku to book it as quick as he could.
Finally launching out of the tunnel, Captain Cold hovered in the sky and watched the emerald trail blitz it's way into the city.
Even with all the reassurances his heavily confused Dad tried to give him, Izuku still found himself crying to sleep that night, the drive now secured in his drawer.
What else could he do after watching a Vigilan- No, a Hero die?
KingVessel: Yes, this is strongly inspired by Into the Spider-Verse. No, the inspiration's only staying within the first movie before dipping back into the MHA verse.