I do not own My Hero Academia, I do not profit from this at all. Only Jona and material associated with him belong to me. I'm just writing it for fun and hopefully the enjoyment of my readers.
Chapter 3: Light of a new life.
UA infirmary, Two hours after the exam.
The ringing was gone, but the pain remained. He hated the fact that his bones were calcified nickel sometimes… it was a physiological weakness that everyone of his species shared, it could be overcome, but such defenses were only afforded to the militaries since use of a sonic weapon in a public space was as often as someone living through two monarchal reigns.
Jona could hear voices as he woke, which was good. He could still smell and taste his own blood, which was fine. But he couldn't open his eyes… which had him a little concerned though he didn't panic.
"You should have stopped Nezu, they could have ended up worse than what they are!" The speaker was female, elderly, probably Recovery girl by the angry inflections regarding participants' overall health.
"I could have, but that would have been counterproductive." that was undoubtedly Nezu by the well mannered yet disturbingly pleasant undertones. "I was sure, Mr. Falx would have made it through, and he did."
"You were sure?" Recovery girl continued to question, "Before or after Present Mic liquified his organs? I'm good at what I do Nezu, but something like that… that's beyond fatal!"
"But it ultimately wasn't fatal," Nezu countered, maintaining a calm tone.
"And are you willing to continue gambling on that?" Recovery Girl harshly rebutted. "People just don't survive damage on that scale, Nezu!"
"Under normal circumstances, you would be correct," Nezu nodded. "However, you have to keep in mind that we are not dealing with an ordinary human. We aren't dealing with a human at all. The weaknesses of bones made of calcified nickel aside, Mr. Falx inherently has a much sturdier constitution by nature than most superpowered pros do at their best. Testing his upper limits was always going to be a risky gamble because keeping to what would have been safe for a standard human was never an option."
'Now I want to break the little bastard's neck!' Jona thought as he started to lightly growl his frustration. Before he spoke he calmed himself, "Principal Nezu… that wasn't very nice."
The two stopped arguing for a moment and looked right at Jona who's eyes were now half open. The rodent was the first to respond, "Welcome back Mr. Falx, I trust my staff wasn't too rough with you."
The rather off handed comment finally snapped Recovery girl out of her disbelief, "NEZU!"
Jona chuckled, even though it hurt a bit, "Their training and experience shows. You should be proud of them… by the abyss I don't know them and I'm proud of them for nearly taking me out." The laughing stopped as the drake's expression became seriously concerned, "How are they?"
Nezu and Recovery Girl looked at each other before the latter answered, "Snipe got off fine, his arm will be in a sling for a few days… same with Present Mic being in a soft collar due to you nearly crushing his speaker around his neck."
Not helping but winch at the damage he caused, Jona listened as the nurse listed off the injuries the villain team had sustained.
"Cementos had some mild concussive injuries, his quirk altering his body like it did protected him from the worst of it. But Ectoplasm will be down for a while, that was quite an attack you hit his clone with… and given what the Ground beta's west wall looked like after it got struck, you probably would have killed him if that attack had hit him directly!"
He couldn't shrink himself any lower, Jona genuinely felt bad about hurting four of the school's teachers, four of the city's heroes.
"But it wasn't without purpose!" Nezu spoke up quickly to reassure Jona and keep him from sinking into a pit of regret. "You bested FOUR pro heroes, FOUR UA faculty members! You completed your evaluation not only under extreme circumstances, but under extreme stress!" The principal's smile was absolutely beaming, "Not only do I have the pleasure of welcoming you as UA's latest addition to the faculty, but also as welcoming Japan's newest hero! Congratulations Mr. Falx!"
The drake would have been lying if he said that he didn't feel even the smallest bit of pride swell up in his chest. "I'm Honored." he smiled and relaxed back.
"Now that is out of the way… how are you feeling?" Recovery girl asked, assessing her inhuman patient, "How bad is your pain?"
"The pain at the moment is just my receptors trying to balance back out… so superficial to say the least… leagues better than earlier though now since the nanite cluster that maintains my artificial heart have repaired the bulk of the critical injuries." Jona explained to her as he rested back, "Sonics are always the worst outside of radiation, since… well you know, since it turns me into a walking tuning fork. I should be fine in a day or so, while nothing I haven't gone through before. I'll take it easy for an extra day."
The elderly nurse smiled at his response. It was nice to see a hero that knew what his limits were, and that actually respected what would have actually been a doctor's opinion if she had given it. "Nice to know that you were taking this seriously, and with that done, you have a visitor, we'll leave the two of you be."
She turned and left with Nezu following behind her, he could hear the door open as two pairs of feet left and another came in, he had closed his eyes for a moment to dull back the pain in his head a little bit.
"Hey."
When he heard that familiar yet beautiful voice his eyes opened again. He smiled to see Ryuko's smiling face with her slitted golden eyes, clad in her hero costume. The two had been social over video calls and the network, but they had rarely seen each other in person, her hero work as well as Nezu keeping Jona on lockdown until after his exams largely prevented that "Hey yourself beautiful."
Ryuko took a seat on the stool next to him, the dragon heroine's presence making him feel a familiar warmth in his chest, and from the blush starting to appear on her face, she felt the same to a degree. "I heard you passed, congratulations." She placed her smaller hand into his larger claw and held it.
"They certainly made me work for it… not that I wouldn't have it any other way." His smile persisted as he gently rubbed the top of her knuckles with his thumb, "I'm so happy to be able to see you."
"Considering the only communication we've had since your accident was, video calls, messaging and the occasional restricted visit." she carefully tucked away a stray strand of hair, "It almost felt like I was corresponding with a convicted villain."
The drake chuckled, "Yea it sure felt like that at times. Nezu didn't want my existence getting out until I had a suitable cover story… what we came up with was almost too thorough."
"What do you mean?" Ryuko asked, cocking her head.
"He wanted to have marriage documentation foraged for you and I." He confessed, causing the slight blush on her face to suddenly darken and deepen. "I had to talk him out of it… I didn't want to drag you into this… without knowing how you felt about it."
To her credit, she maintained her composure despite her embarrassment, "We've only known each other for two months, Jona… It's a little too soon to even discuss that."
Throughout the entire time, Jona did not stop stroking her knuckles with his thumb, "Trust me Ryuko I know. But if we had some time… I mean getting caught on a few outings, and an engagement would make our union seem more realistic."
Ryuko nodded as she listened.
"Because if we signed the paperwork, having Nezu get it back dated… the media would eat you alive because of how suspicious that looks." the explanation continued as crimson met gold, "And I'm afraid that you'd grow to resent me because you got stuck in a situation… just for saving my hide. I would have died in that crater if it wasn't for you."
The Dragoon hero bit her lip, not quite sure what to do… she had an opportunity right there in front of her, but she was afraid to rush into it… they both were. "If I say yes… I want you to promise me something."
"Anything."
"If we do this, we take it slow." her eyes peered into his own, "Dating, getting to know each other… seeing how well we fit. If we figure out that we work well together we'll take it from there… if not, we can end it with no regrets."
"All I ever ask for from people… is a chance." Jona smiled as his grip on her hand got a little firmer.
"Well… I'm giving you one." She then, with a smile leaned in and gently kissed him on his reptilian lips to which he gently pushed back into. They were like that for a moment before she gently broke away, "We can start with you taking me out to dinner." it was a whisper, but a warm and sensual one.
—
A few days later.
Nezu was sitting in his office enjoying a cup of hot tea as he looked out to the city of Musutafu, when the phone on his desk rang. Moving over to his desk he set the cup down and gracefully clambered up into his chair he picked up.
"Principle Nezu here." He greeted with a smile, "Ah yes, you are calling with the results."
The smile slowly faded as the person on the other end fed him information, he slowly found himself having to reign in his own anger.
"And the reasoning for this decision?" he questioned his brow furrowing ever so slightly, "I see, and as you know as he is my employee it is my duty to inform him of the Commission's decision?"
The line clicked off suddenly as Nezu let out a sigh before placing the handset back on its cradle, "I thought so."
Aizawa chose that moment to enter the office, "Bad news?"
"The HPSC has formally denied our petition to have Mr. Falx registered and licensed as a Hero." Nezu relaxed back grabbing his tea cup taking a sip, "They say he's an insurance liability and a PR nightmare."
"Him destroying the barrier wall with that overcharged attack, and the use of explosives and heavy use of non-lethal force?" Aizawa arched his brow as he crossed his arms, only for the principal to nod, "That's irrational, but unfortunately not irrelevant. Falx's tactics, much like my own, are not usually to the public's tastes. Although he is a walking excessive force complaint waiting to happen."
"I should probably bring you in on what's going on… why we've been so adamant about Jona being here at U.A. having him teach here…" Nezu set the cup down once again, "Jona Falx, the man you judged and scored during the modified late term licensing exam, isn't human."
"Given that his quirk basically altered his physiology, it's safe to assume that…'' with a raised paw from the principle the Erasure hero stopped in his tracks.
"His 'quirk' has got nothing to do with it. Falx, is a bonafide alien, an offworlder. He crash landed in the most spectacular fashion a couple of months ago." he chuckled as he recalled the incident at the beach. "His biology, his bone structure, his abilities are all traits of his species. It's wonderful working with him."
"How many know?" was the next question that came from Aizawa.
"Miss Tatsuma, was the first one to encounter him. It was on a 'need to know' until recently. Even his 'quirk' registration is deliberately underwhelming." The chimera just sighed looking at the folder on his desk, one that was marked confidential. "Be that as it may, Mr. Falx may actually still be an exemplary teacher… if his service records were anything to go by."
"Records?" Shota questioned taking a seat across from Nezu.
"Yes, it so happens that he has two. With Mister Falx's assistance I was able to contact his present employer. A lovely female by the name of Katrina Margaux, Guild Mistress of the Independent Hunter's Guild, and get the both records translated into a language we can understand. The mothership he served on coincidentally is a carrier called the Endeavor." During the principal's explanation, Aizawa let out a snort at the 'coincidence'. "His second record… took a great deal more effort to obtain… and admittedly it was acquired from a source I wasn't expecting. Courtesy of his only legal daughter, I managed to get a hold of his service record from his home world's government. The Royal Drakon Sovereignty." He slid the folder over to Aizawa, now being looped in he was sharing enough information to placate the man.
"Full name, Jona Halrand-Falx, Halrand being the house he was technically raised in. Master Engineer, Served in two different branches of their military," Blinking to glaze his eyes so they didn't go dry, "Basically thrown around at the behest of the royal family. He's had an apprentice, who has become an exemplary officer in her own right so he can teach… So this is why you wanted to hire him… you're anticipating a storm so you decided to hire a captain to see the ship through it?"
"There is a bit more to it than that. It's a mutual exchange." Nezu picks up his cup and sips again, "One of his targets is here on earth, in Japan specifically and he can't pursue him legally, at least not yet. Not to mention he's trying to hide from his family, specifically his grandparents."
"Family issues?"
"Jona… for lack of a better term is a prince in exile. His grandparents are the reigning Monarchs."
No one was smiling, Aizawa's face was expressionless, "God damn it you're not kidding are you?"
"Sadly I'm not."
"What was his crime that warranted his exile?"
"Circumstances of his conception, Being an effective leader, Being effective in general… he was considered a threat to the sovereignty… they even managed to get his crews to turn their backs on him."
"Politicians… even as aliens they don't change." Aizawa growled out dropping the folder back on to Nezu's desk, "What are you going to tell Falx? He was rejected by the HPSC, right?"
"Nothing at the moment, he's spending a few days with Miss Tatsuma, something I'll say that he's firmly earned. We're already going to have one potentially angry dragon to deal with… we don't need two of them." Nezu reasoned not wanting an employee along with the woman said employee was in a relationship with, at their throats, "Especially since both of them could level the campus in different ways."
"Prudent."
The phone rang again. Nezu, honestly wasn't expecting another call, swiftly he answered. "Nezu here."
The chimera's expression loosened and was actually surprised, "How did…" he blinked
Aziawa's expression was one of blank concern as Nezu continued to speak.
"If you are sincere, we can arrange an incident, something for him to prove himself."
—
After checking out of the infirmary, Ryuko volunteered to host Jona at her apartment for a little while so he could get away from whatever "small sterile hole" or workshop that Nezu and Power Loader kept him in. Her apartment was more like a condo, spacious, modeled particularly to her needs.
He recalled at one point in one of their conversations, she mentioned that she was a product, fashion and magazine model. Which was more or less confirmed by the posters that were basically enlarged magazine covers. She explained that since she was a heavy hitter because of her quirk allowing her to transform into her dragon form, her abilities were rarely needed and most of her personal appearances were basically her part time job as a model.
Jona was stuck on the sidelines for now until he got the news about his licensing, but he wasn't idle. Ryuko brought her into her agency and introduced him to her sidekicks, which he noted to be all female with various different quirks, primarily reptilian quirks for the exception of one Nejire Hado. They regarded him warily at first, but started to swoon over him the moment Ryuko told them that they were dating.
To say that the sudden change in demeanor unsettled the drake, was an understatement. The girls started to ask questions, a lot of them, to the point Ryuko had to pull him aside which he was honestly thankful for. While he was not the most social person-Family politics being what they were-he would never deliberately try to be rude.
Later on he answered what questions he could, tinkering with his gear, at a makeshift workbench he managed to cobble together with things that were in the office and the small amount of fine tools he could carry. Basically was able to do maintenance on his equipment, not much else.
However his work did not go unnoticed, as Nejire stood watched over his shoulders as his large claws manipulated the tools with steady precision akin to that of a surgeon. Watching as he checked each device, each circuit, relay, and mechanical device in the equipment that he maintained.
"Whatcha doing there Mr. Falx?" she asked innocently.
Without taking his eyes off his work Jona responded, "Doing maintenance on my equipment." the tone was as measured as his hand movements, "Something you should be doing, correct Ms. Hado?" he asked.
The "Ummm." that came from Nejire prompted his hands to stop.
"You do maintain your own gear don't you?"
Feeling like a cute bug under a microscope the young student intern explained herself, "UA's support department normally handles that stuff." she explained, trying not to be embarrassed, "Why should students have to worry about their support items when it's the job of the support department to maintain and repair our…" She then realized what she was saying and clams up.
"I think I'm going to have to have a chat with Nezu." Jona sighs as he goes back to work finishing up and closing up his gear, putting it away. Once his tools were securely stowed, he got up, grabbed his jacket and made for the elevator "I think I'm going to go for a walk."
His escape attempt was thwarted by Ryuko, who was already at the elevator dressed in a red shirt, slacks with a dark jacket, sort of like one of her magazine covers oddly enough. "Going somewhere?" she was smiling, which in turn prompted him to smile a little bit.
"For a walk, Hado brought something up that chafes a little bit." He then goes on to explain what Nejire told him about her gear, and how that she honestly didn't know how to maintain it on her own. He informed her that he intended to talk to Nezu and do something about it, maintaining the gear that allows them to do their duty and could possibly save their lives, was paramount to long term success. That was one of many things they discussed on the walk.
"This is the most peace I've had in a long time… no real fighting, yet." The male drake chuckled as he walked next to the heroine holding her hand gently in his claw.
Ryuko nodded her agreement with a bit of a smile, "Having down time does help relax the mind and body, though some of us can't indulge in that too much, we still got to make a living." Although her smile got wider when she started to hear some of the locals talking about them, seeing them, they were starting to get the exposure that would validate their relationship, and start up a rumor mill at the same time. "The locals are talking about us."
"Let them talk." Jona said simply, "If anything, I'm just happy to be out and about with you. Being stuck in that hole that rat calls an 'apartment' was testing my sanity."
Little did she know, Jona in his paranoia had already had a couple of his micro drones up and monitoring the area around them, and it was all quiet until he noticed something, the streets started to clear then his feeds died, something that irritated him to no end.
"You should tell me sometime… about your family and how you ended up here." granted it was prodding, she already knew a fair bit about him, the fact that he was left handed in most things, he liked tomatoes, he was very handy, praised his student and those that followed him for a time, but he never spoke about his family not once. He avoided that topic like a plague.
And for good reason.
The male drake let out a sigh, "When the time is right…" he stopped as he glanced around, they were alone, but at the same time watched.
Ryuko was already alert, noticing it a few seconds before it hit Jona, she decided not to say anything yet in case her senses were off, "You don't talk about your combat skills too much, why is that?"
"Some of it I prefer not to talk about in public, let's say I'm as adaptable as my equipment. There are times where I have to forgo protection for evasion, so I've learned to adjust my combat style based on my current weight and level of protection." He smiled slightly, "When during my Guardian training, I was trained as a shield guardian and as you can assume that involves the use of a shield and heavy armor alongside various other weapons, which weighed me down I could still maneuver with haste but it limited how fast I could actually move."
Taking a breath the smile faltered slightly, "Thankfully before I even was forced into service, my adoptive father trained me in the ways of the duelist and my mother taught me how to use some of my… other abilities." His head slowly turned to her but his eye was looking behind them, seeing a man in a suit following them
"I know… he's been following us for a while."
"I can feel the malicious intent." he said simply, "We need to get back too…"
A pair of swift figures knocked him off balance, grabbed Ryuko and bolted away from him before he could react. Something that didn't set well with him, someone taking them by surprise so quickly.
"So this is the guy, the HPSC turned away. I can't say I'm impressed." A rather cavalier voice spoke up as he looked up, he ignored the quip as he saw a group of five individuals, a pair of masked individuals wearing modified outfits akin to what a ninja assassin would wear-at least from a modern media standpoint.
A dark pink fully heteromorphic cobra girl who for some reason, seemed out of place in this ragtag group as she was dressed in a middle school uniform.
A taller brawny man that looked to be made of solid rock, well more accurately a culmination of rocks, and of course a guy in a suit who was holding an auto-injector to Ryuko's neck, finger on the trigger. "Careful Ryukyu, one wrong move and my hand light slip." the rather jovial tone the man had about accidentally taking the woman's life seriously grated on Jona's nerves.
The drake knew he was in a spot, the woman he grew to care about had an injector with an unknown substance against her neck, five assailants out in the middle of broad daylight, suspiciously cleared streets, and his links to the hero and civilian networks, even his own drones have gone dark. This was a targeted attack, by someone that clearly knew how his gear worked.
'I'm going to have a chat with that damned rat when I get back.' he thought to himself as he already started to try and figure out a way to deal with the situation and get Ryuko out from the villain's grip and time was something he did not have.
"So you're just going to stay there while I got your girl by the throat huh? Some man you are." the man in the suit goaded, "Kill him and make it quick." at the command the two masked assassins vanished and lept at him from either side of him, swords ready to cut him down.
"So much for keeping a low profile and holding back." Jona uttered in his native tongue, as his red eyes glowed with righteous fury, as the swords began to cut into his clothes. The swords passed through leather and flesh. Prompting a rather uncharacteristic scream from the woman he sought to protect, but before anyone could say anything, the body sans the leather jacket turned to an ink black sand.
"When did he…" the villain didn't have a chance to finish the thought, as the sand exploded in a bright blinding flash catching everyone further disorienting the situation.
Taking advantage of their blindness Jona made his move, bypassing the others, he attacked the leader, hitting him with a bone jarring kick to the head freeing Ryuko from his grasp before they both appeared on the other side of the street. Once the normal flow of time resumed, Jona let out an extremely pained breath.
Taking a moment to blink after reality reaffirmed itself around her, Ryuko looked at her boyfriend who was now holding her in his arms or more accurately one arm and one significantly damaged limb courtesy of some pretty severe electrical burns. "Jona… your arm."
"Trust me it's as bad as it looks, it happens anytime I don't have any of my insulation gear." He put her on her feet, "Think you can cover my back? I can still move both of my arms, but I can't bolt like that again until my arm heals."
"You bastard!" the suited boss snarl as he clutched the side of his head, it was fairly evident that he was concussed from that kick.
The rock giant, and the two assassins ready themselves to fight, the Cobra girl disappeared from sight probably to hide as he couldn't sense her.
The drake inhaled deeply and exhaled to steady himself completely unaware that he was visibly expelling flecks of ice from his mouth. Reaching for either side of his belt, and pulled out what appeared to be a pair of handles.
The group laughed at the rather pathetic attempt to arm himself, as one of the two assassins lept to strike at him with their sword. However they didn't see Jona flip the handle in his left hand as he swung to which opened like a butterfly knife for a split second before snapping closed in his fingers as his swing reached its apex.
What was heard next was not the wet sound of slicing flesh, but that of steel snapping and clattering on the asphalt.
AN
I know its been a while since I updated this and I'm sorry for the rather abrupt cliff hanger, BUT this was sitting in my Files for a while, I just decided to finish it and get it up because I was actually kinda tired of being stuck there because of writer's block.
I've lost contact or more accurately been unable to reach the two that were supposed to be betaing my work, so that's been a really big downer on me.
I'm open to advice and assistance. Constructive criticism and commentary would be very welcome and appreciated at this point.