A Spark of Ingenuity
Chapter 2
Things were looking great in life, much more than they had been since he was a small child. Even then he had to admit he didn't know what the world was like at the time, only seeing it through a television and mimicking whatever looked cool. After nearly losing his life, he had to build it all back up and he made it better.
He didn't just have his health back, he had money, influence, people actually listened to him. Sure, his quirk would never work again but at this rate who needed one when he was capable of all this?
Though it still depended on this project succeeding, and it would so long as the manual labor would stop fucking around with the micro array!
"OI!" Katsuki looked up from his tablet, pointing right at one of the hard hat idiots that was slamming the warp cables onto the scaffolding. "Quit abusing the equipment! You want to have this thing blow up and kill us all?! No? THEN TREAT MY ARC REACTOR RIGHT AND DON'T THROW THE PARTS AROUND DIPSHIT!"
The man scoffed, but nevertheless complied as he was more gentle. Katsuki fidgeted with the hardhat on his own head, a safety requirement that he would have ignored if people were halfway competent around him.
No way was he going to trust anyone else with the development of this. This was his design, his achievement, and it was because of the design that he had a change of life. If someone screwed it up he would hunt them down to the ends of the Earth.
The arc reactor, as far as Katsuki was concerned, was the cornerstone of his renewed hope in being someone important again.
"Katsuki!" A familiar voice called out to him, the boy looking over to see David conversing with his father and….who the hell was that blonde chick?
Grumbling as he shoved his hands into his pockets, Katsuki held the tablet under his arm as he marched over to the adults and company. "What?"
"How is progress?" David questioned as he took a look at the construction project. It wasn't just making the reactor, they were preparing to have the island's electrical grid set up to actually use it. Well, the theme park part of the island. While the arc reactor had great promise until they could prove it was safe and sustainable after a proper test period of operation the board wouldn't allow it to be hooked up to any critical part of the island.
"On schedule." Katsuki, despite his language towards the workers, actually believed they were capable of making his dream a reality in a timely manner. So long as they stopped manhandling the highly sensitive equipment.
"Wonderful." David beamed as he stared up towards the two story reactor. "I can't tell you how excited I am to see it operational."
"So this is the arc reactor?" The girl that Katsuki didn't recognize walked right up to one of the open panels, sticking her head inside to get a better look at the central components. "Did you have to design it so big?"
"Get your empty head out of there!" Charging right towards the blonde girl, he yanked on her shirt and pulled her out of his project. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"
"Sorry." She apologized, mostly sincere but didn't appreciate the attitude. "I'm Melissa Shield, you might have heard of me?"
"Nope and I don't care." Katsuki pulled out his tablet again, looking over to see what had been integrated so far. "And for the record, my original design was going to fit in a fifteen hundred square foot room but-"
"Oh!" Melissa's eyes widened as she twisted her head to the bottom of the reactor. "You needed a larger discharge bay to compensate for supplying to a standard electrical grid right? Otherwise you would blow out all the transformers."
"Don't interrupt me!" Katsuki exploded at her face, before returning to his work. "But yeah, so don't stick your head in there."
"Ok, yeah." She was keeping a larger distance from him, but she was still enamored by what he came up with and therefore wanted to know the kind of person who could design such a thing. "I know how it is with people prodding around one of your projects when you're trying to focus and-"
"So you should know I'm busy! Fuck off!" Finally he got her to fully back off, enough to be out of earshot so he could supervise the workers threading in the cables.
Melissa looked to David, hoping to have an answer as to the enigma that was the foul mouthed inventor. Ever since he had ranted to her about him Melissa had been incredibly eager to meet the inventor of the arc reactor. Instead, she was rather, perturbed by his reaction.
"Don't take it personally." Her father gave an amused chuckle. "He's very driven to the point that anything that might interrupt his process makes him infuriated."
Ah, so he was on the spectrum. That made a lot more sense.
"Still." Katsuki's own father piped up, checking over the work himself. "He needs to learn some manners. That harshness of his is going to scare away lots of good investors, customers, or even employees. Say, does that look right to you?"
The two inventors followed the man's finger, seeing it lead to the top near where one of the workers was beginning to close up the compartment.
"It looks fine." David said at first glance, but saw how with each rivet being placed a smaller part was shaking independently of the rest of the mechanism. "Wait, are those the couplings? They shouldn't be-HEY!"
At hearing the famous man's alert, all work ceased as David began climbing up the ladder with a more aggressive tone. "Open that panel up right now and secure those properly!"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO OVER THERE?!" Katsuki, who was on the other side, began running over to see what David was pointing out.
"Well." Melissa felt a little embarrassed whenever her father got like this. "Guess when you're passionate about something it's really frustrating to see others not treat it with respect."
Masaru nodded in some agreement. "We all have our moments, but Katsuki better learn to hold his tongue if he's going to be the one presenting it."
Spring was blooming brightly, it came a little later but it was better to have blossoming trees than heavy winds and showers. After months of going over the technology piece by piece to the mechanics who would have to assemble it and operate it, Katsuki was ready to present his creation to the world and kickstart his very lucrative income to supply him with the resources he needed.
Best birthday ever.
Now if only Deku would stop looking so jumpy in the front row of the honored guests with that stupid grin on his face.
"Now may I present the sole mind behind the design-" David, up at the podium of the stage with cameras on him gestured to the side where Katsuki awaited just behind the curtains. "-the head of Spark Industries, Katsuki Bakugo."
This was it, the press didn't know about his name, his age, or anything about him. They had only been fed bits and pieces to keep their hunger at bay, but now Katsuki would give them a feast.
Stepping out into the spotlights, hearing the rapid clicking of cameras amongst a thunderous applause, Katsuki wore a sleek black suit with a red tie that matched his eyes. He would have worn something way cooler but his mom and dad both told him that he shouldn't give them any other impression other than his genius at work.
He relented, for now, but he would have definitely preferred to wear an actual flaming suit out. This was the outfit of a businessman, not a hero.
Wait, when was the last time he thought about his plans on actually getting from being rich to being a hero? Before he could think further on it he had arrived at the podium. There was the stack of notecards his parents had forced him to write his speech down on, alongside their several alterations. They were a physical reminder of what he promised to say in case he ignored the teleprompters.
"My name is Katsuki Bakugo, and I'm here to change the world." At least that line stayed. Short, sweet, and to the point. "The world has been stagnant in large-scale innovation for years, only adapting to enhance the ever changing quirks that we have relied on in the past century. Today I am going to prove that there is more to the world than some flashy superpowers someone is born with, by presenting something even flashier, more super, and more powerful."
Turning around, the back curtains dropped to reveal the arc reactor, complete and standing tall in its glossy chrome and shining transparent casing reflecting the audience's faces back at them. "This, is the arc reactor. While it can easily generate enough power for the whole city for decades, today all I need to do is prove it works, and to show that the entire I-island amusement park will be running solely off of it, twenty four seven, until the end of summer."
"Is it nuclear?!" One person shouted out.
"Is there a chance of a meltdown?!"
"What type of hazard could the components-"
Katsuki wanted to scream at their faces, tell them to shove it and just watch. But, with a clenched fist he reminded himself that his future depended on this day. It doesn't matter if he's right if the world decided they saw an unstable teen about to detonate a bomb.
"If it was dangerous we wouldn't have it out in the open would we?" Katsuki spoke up, cutting through the barrage of questions. Then, recalling another piece of advice, he threw in a little humor. "If I made stuff that blew up I would have worked for the military. The only thing that's going to be blown is your minds because there are no radioactive elements or materials inside the arc reactor. No flammables that a gas plant would use, or any need for continuous materials like a coal plant. It's not powered by the Earth but it's more efficient than any wind turbine or a hydroelectric dam. All of our energy has consisted from finding ways to making a wheel spin to generate electricity."
Taking a short, stabilizing breath, Katsuki gripped the edges of the podium as he stared down the masses. "I threw out the wheel we've been reliant on for human history, because I didn't need it. By cycling a stream of protons through a loop of ionized air contained in a magnetic field a hundred times stronger than the Earth's we can start a chain of energized atoms through a simple plate of palladium. All we need, is a spark."
This was it, walking up from behind David Shield handed off a bright red button to Katsuki. He smiled, practically seeing the future in the reflection of the plastic. Giving a triumphant grin to everyone as he held it up in one hand. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the future."
With a click, a hum began to build up in the reactor, a soft glow rising from the bottom of the torus as a thin line of plasma manifested in a ring inside it. It brightened, the hum escalating into a powerful high pitched whistle as the light spread throughout the entire housing of the reaction. It began to rival the light of the sun, challenging its power as it awoke to its full potential.
Once it reached the apex of the reaction, the mechanical noises came to a soft vibration as the shielding took hold to protect their eyes, only leaving a soft flowing light running through the chamber in gentle arcs that resembled an aurora.
Izuku was the first to jump to his feet, clapping madly to entice the audience to follow in a chorus of powerful applause as the rides and playful themes of the park were brought to life in an instant. Katsuki had done it, walking off the stage with his head held high, he made his accomplishments a reality.
The first hand he shook, was his father's who had been seated at the back of the stage with the other presenters. "You made an amazing invention Katsuki."
The smile plastered on Katsuki's face suddenly felt vacant, because his father sounded unsure, insincere. He couldn't understand it, and before he could even think about it David was next and violently bounced his arm up and down.
"Congratulations!"
"T-thanks." Katsuki pulled his hand out of the violent enthusiasm, still reeling from the reaction of his father. Maybe he misheard his tone over the still thunderous clapping.
"Kid." Obadiah Stane quickly cut in, the businessman who was technically the first employee Katsuki had given how he was entrusted with actually doing the work for Katsuki to profit from the arc reactor. "You made a lot of people happy today, myself included. Let us adults handle the rest while you enjoy yourself."
"Yeah." Katsuki just agreed, sometimes appreciating the man's 'you do your part I do mine' attitude. There had only been occasions here and there where Katsuki hated how nosy he could be, finding anyway he could to be aware of everything even if he didn't manage it.
As Katsuki had enough of all the pleasantries, he felt, partially empty inside. He did it, he made his reactor but, he didn't really know what to do after. He was making changes to the world, ones that heroes couldn't make and Katsuki was good at it. Ever since the accident he was so sure that if he accomplished this he would be able to follow his destiny.
But, was that really being a hero beating up street thugs? He could find a way to do it better than anyone, that applied to a lot of things beyond being a hero.
For the first time in his life, Katsuki didn't know where his life was going. The worst part was, he knew that he could point it anywhere he wanted.
Getting backstage, Katsuki heard a soft beeping coming from his chest. Checking his computerized watch, he saw one of the batteries in his heart implant was getting low. Damn he burns through these things fast.
Taking out a silver case from his suit pocket, he walked over to one of the enclosed makeup rooms to see himself in the mirror highlighted by the bright lights. Loosening his tie, unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled it apart enough to see the device that was keeping him alive.
He had an hour for each battery, three total inside the device at a time. Pressing the panel that was flashing red, the battery popped out from its compartment. Placing the dead one in a separate pocket, he opened the case to find a set of six batteries inside ready for use. Plugging a new one in, he felt a short rush flood through his chest before it evened out.
Well, for now he would work on the next step in his previously thought out plans. Probably make some more stuff on the side to further cement his company as the new leader in innovation. A leader, he was supposed to be leading the world and he didn't know where to go with it.
Glaring at the boy he saw in the mirror, he asked him a question. "Who are you?"
A knock came at the door, Katsuki turning towards it with no care for who it was. "Go ahead, I was just about to leave anyways."
Instead of some other random stage handler or one of the other presenters, Melissa opened the door. "Katsuki? Are you alright?"
Her eyes paused, lingering on his chest as he closed up his shirt. Ugh, he forgot what it was like for others to stare at his life support. "Yeah yeah, just changing out a battery."
"I thought you fully charged them right before the presentation?"
"It's been an hour, do the math blondie." Fixing his tie, he began walking past her and making his way off the stage.
"Hey." Melissa followed after him, trying to start whatever conversation she was set on having. "Congrats on the reactor by the way."
"Uhuh."
"When are you going to make the next one?"
Next one? Glancing back to the girl, he gave a short scowl because he wasn't sure what her angle was.
"What?" She asked as now Melissa wasn't sure what he was thinking either. "Did you not like my notes?"
The notes, the ones she kept presenting to him about the reactor the moment she laid eyes on it. Random points of improvement, ways to reduce cost and improve efficiency, alongside downscaling the device. "They weren't bad, but I'm not buying them. I can make a better one if I want."
"Then what do you want?" She questioned, softly and earnestly.
"What do you want?!" Katsuki shot back with a bite of anger. "Why do you keep hanging around me?"
Not happy with his unwarranted tone, Melissa gave him a sour gaze. "Well I was trying to see how I could help you before I go and make something that will make your arc reactor look like a spark plug so you don't whine to me about holding out on you."
"Why are you trying to help me? Do you think I'm weak? That I'm stupid or-"
"NO!" Melissa screamed at him in complete frustration. "I just want to help however I can, and since I don't have a quirk I thought I could be like my dad and do anything to support anyone so they can do anything they want! I tried to help you because your technology is going to improve a lot of lives, but I guess you didn't think of that huh."
She was quirkless? He never asked, he never cared. Someone quirkless wanted to help him, and suddenly he realized why Melissa was quick to get on his nerves. She reminded her of Deku, and how Katsuki had treated him for years.
"Well don't act like I'm diseased!" Melissa snapped him out of his thoughts as she clenched her fingers into her palms. "Yeah, I'm quirkless, got a problem with it?! Too good to be around someone who-"
"Kacchan!" An excited, and practically vibrating Izuku raced over towards him. "That was amazing! Thank you so much for inviting me! When you said that you had made a new form of energy I had no idea it would be this-Oh, hello."
Now that Izuku's imminent storm of words was paused as he saw who Katsuki was with, he gave a short bow. "Sorry! I didn't realize you were talking with him. My name is Izuku Midoriya."
Melissa blinked, trying to process what she was seeing. Switching to Japanese for the boy, she readjusted her posture and cleared out the lingering anger that was building towards Katsuki. "I'm Melissa Shield, it's nice to meet you."
"Wait." Izuku's hand twitched, right at the verge of pulling out a notebook whenever he came across a hero. "As in, David Shield?"
"He's my dad."
"That's so cool! I knew Kacchan got to work with him but I didn't realize he was friends with his daughter!"
He was so polite, so happy, nothing at all like Katsuki so the connection between Izuku and Katsuki seemed impossible. Still, she asked. "Are you friends with him?"
"Yeah!" Izuku was proud to say it. "Ever since we were kids! We're planning on becoming heroes in the future! And since, well I don't have a quirk, we've been going over lots of different types of support equipment that could help us on our goal! I'm sure he's talked about it since your father is the leading scientist behind the support gear industry!"
Both of the teens were silent, Katsuki nor Melissa ever recalling a time they went over any of that. Izuku picked up on the awkward silence, shyly backing away as he fidgeted with his hair. "Or, I guess not. Still it's amazing to meet you, even if you might not do the same work as your father."
"No I do, sorry." Melissa was still adjusting to all the revelations she was learning about Izuku, and by extension her perception of Katsuki. She didn't think he would have any close friends given his attitude, and since most people didn't see quirkless people in a good light she assumed he would be the same. "It's just, I didn't realize Katsuki had a friend like you."
"Like, me?" Izuku worriedly questioned, unsure what exactly she was referring to but there was one topic he hoped it wasn't.
"Oh no!" Melissa quickly tried to shake his worries away. "Don't worry, I'm quirkless too! I didn't realize you two were also trying to become heroes."
Katsuki felt like he was being sidelined in a conversation he was pretty sure he should be involved in. Yet there were lots of things being mentioned that he wanted to know more about. "What happened to inventing things to help others?"
"Wow." Izuku looked between the two in awe, and a tinge of jealousy. "So, you both can make amazing things and you're going to be heroes."
"I want to but-" Melissa began, unsure if she could continue. She gave up her dream on being a hero. Yes, she still wanted it but it didn't seem feasible, especially if she was talented enough to make gear like her father to support other heroes in doing what she couldn't. Wishing to turn this day around to something better, she pushed her internal debate to the back of her mind. "-say, why don't we check out the rides? I bet if we go now we'll be first in line."
Izuku pretended not to notice the stiff air that had been developing, knowing personally how the topic of being a quirkless hero could bring up some bad memories. "Ok, yeah! What do you say Kacchan? I don't think we ever went to an amusement park for your birthday, and now we can do it on I-island!"
You know what, it had been a while since he did anything physically exhilarating. "Alright fine, but let me get changed. I don't want to be seen in this lame ass suit any longer."
"Oh!: Izuku suddenly perked up, almost forgetting something as he reached into his pocket. "Kachan, happy birthday!"
"It's your birthday?" Melissa asked as Katsuki eyed the piece of plastic, one of those holographic hero trading cards. "I didn't get you anything."
Rolling his eyes, Katsuki could care less that he got anything. "Well if you feel so bad about it then make it up to me next year."
Katsuki looked over it, noting that Izuku had even put it in a protective sleeve. They used to collect these things, uncaring for their monetary worth or their rarity, or even stats. All they cared about were cool looking heroes, and trying to get as many variations of All Might.
This wasn't an All Might card like he expected, it was that one guy Power Loader that Izuku kept bringing up as an example for them. Flipping it over, he saw there was something written on the card itself. The handwriting wasn't that good, and a couple spots looked like the pen was about to punch through the card.
It read, 'Heroes are made - Power Loader'.
"Is this legit?" Katsuki was answered with an energetic nod from Izuku.
"Yeah! I got it at hero con. We actually got to go this time!"
Getting an autograph at hero con meant buying up special tickets as soon as they were available, and waiting in a line the whole day and even then you weren't guaranteed the autograph. Izuku spent all of hero con, an event he had wanted to go to all his life, to get him a birthday present?
"Thanks." He tucked it into his shirt pocket, keeping it right next to his implant. "But how come you wasted your time on me?"
"It's because, I believe in you." Izuku admitted rather sheepishly, before steeling himself with certainty. "If any of us can be a hero no matter what, it's you."
Those words stuck to him for the rest of the day, for coming weeks and for another year. Bakugo still hadn't been able to clear the heavy fog lingering in his vision of the future. Yet, somewhere out there he could still hear those words beckoning him to continue approaching one step at a time.
That's how he operated his business, focusing on the next invention, the next upgrade, the next innovation that was slowly building up the future. With his father taking care of the paperwork, and Obadiah finding several avenues they could apply their efforts, the company skyrocketed. Katsuki had stopped renting out space from David on the island, he outright bought his own floors in the central tower.
He had his own labs, his own facilities, an abundance of resources to do whatever whenever. Katsuki was even outsourcing several smaller tasks to new employees, he had people who actually worked for him now. Well, technically his father since he wasn't of age but everyone knew who the real boss was.
Hell right now he was getting on his own private plane to go find a spot in Japan to build a new arc reactor for his home country. After the first one, he had made a variety of other things as the public was put at ease with his reactor's flawless test phase. There were satellites overhead with his company's name on them, communication networks, surveillance cameras, he even made his own cell phones and internet browser because he didn't want to use someone else's tech when he could make his own.
Once he walked into the jet, Katsuki took off his red tinted sunglasses as he sat across from his father. Katsuki tugged at the sleeves of his sky blue suit, black shirt, but no tie. He didn't like them, they just made the task of getting to his heart transplant a little harder.
Speaking of which, he was starting to get annoyed by having to switch the batteries every one to two hours even if it only took a couple seconds. He should work on that next.
"Obadiah isn't coming?" Katsuki questioned, leaning back as he flicked up his phone and double checked his schedule.
"He's meeting with some of I-island's investors this morning to help renegotiate some of the terms." Masaru just looked out the window. "We'll meet up with him in the morning."
"Hm." Katsuki hummed, wondering how his younger self would have reacted to seeing him wearing a suit and living the rich life without being a hero.
"Katsuki." His dad called out to him before the boy could get too involved in his work. "Are you happy with where your life is going?"
Immediately putting his phone down on the table, Katsuki gave the man his full confused attention. "What is this about?"
Leaning his hand out into the aisle, a small fridge immediately rolled out from its compartment in the back and went to his hand. He clicked an image from the menu, immediately his drink of choice rising in a tulip glass. "Before I met your mother, I thought I was happy, or at least content with my life. But, after spending more time with her I quickly realized my time, my morals were being pulled in several different directions. We both agreed that even with the money we could make, it wasn't worth the price. We wanted to give you a life where you didn't have any of that so you could make your own future without any set expectations."
Taking a short sip after spilling some of his experience, he locked eyes with his son to get the truth from him for pursuing a path he had abandoned for Katsuki's sake. "So, are you happy?"
Katsuki wasn't upset, he was praised, had money, and as far as he could tell anything he wanted he could make or buy. But, he hadn't reached his goals yet if they were still there. Once he made the arc reactor that got him to a place he could be healthy again, he had simply continued walking the expected direction that came with his genius.
Was he happy with where he was going? Hard to tell because he still didn't know where exactly that was. Before he could come up with an answer he heard another set of footsteps coming up the ramp.
Melissa was wearing her button up white shirt with a pullover v neck knit sweater. It would be business casual if she didn't wear it all the time.
"I'll let you think about it." His father got up from his spot, sitting across from the wide screen television in the back while putting on something for him to work on. Whatever it was.
Melissa took the empty seat across from Katsuki, already settling herself in before asking permission. "Mind if I tag along? It's been too long since I've been to Japan."
"Whatever." Katsuki let her as she took the seat next to his, forcing him to sit closer to the window instead of hogging the whole cushion. "If you're coming with you better pull your weight."
"Actually I had a couple things I wanted to run by you." Melissa tapped on the table between them, a screen materializing on it so she could access the designs she had saved onto their server. "You know how my father worked on All Might's support gear?"
"Yeah?"
The whine of the jets kicked up as the ramp automatically closed, the autopilot for the jet steering them towards the runway.
"Well, I decided to visit back on some of it and recreated a nanomesh material that could help absorb the backlash for several Newton forces." She showed him a strand of fibers supported by a thin layer of micro mechanics. Katsuki looked over it, already calculating in his head about how it would feasibly work or what it could apply to.
Katsuki wouldn't admit it directly but he was impressed. Melissa was the only one he let invade his personal space or workstations because she had proven to actually know what she was doing and often saw a way to make it better. Even if it frustrated him. "Did you just come here to show off how you managed to trash Newton's theories?"
"Hey." She leaned back with a haughty smile, because this was the highest praise anyone could get out of Katsuki. "You did it first with the conservation of energy."
The engines kicked up louder, the two briefly feeling their stomachs drop for a moment before the island was already a distant speck.
Katsuki looked over it for a while longer, briefly imagining how it would fit into hero suits to increase maximum output with no harm to the user. If it was placed in an enclosed casing, so long as the plating remained intact the internal components wouldn't face any damage. You could drop an egg from orbit in that and it would be fine.
"I'm buying it." Katsuki told her as he was already preparing the funds. "We still using your personal account or are we going back to your Dad's?"
"I decided to pursue freelancing for a little while longer." Melissa stated as he summoned the drink machine. "I, think I might not end up taking over my father's company."
Deciding he needed his own drink, Katsuki slapped his hand on the digital menu before a simple glass of sparkling cider popped up for him. "Why not?"
"He's not that old." Melissa shared one of the many reasons. "By the time he's ready to retire I would have the company for like fifteen years before needing to pass it onto someone else. He had it for all his life, and I don't think I want to be in his shadow for most of mine."
"Fair." Katsuki could understand that. Even if he had kids sometime later down the road he would hold onto Spark until the day he died. "So you starting up your own once you graduate?"
She gave a short laugh at the idea, guessing what would happen. "Promise not to buy me out?"
"No."
"Then I'll just keep making something to sell to you or my father every now and then to keep myself comfortable." Melissa propped her chin into her palm, staring out the window as the island she grew up in vanished over the horizon.
"So what?" Katsuki put his drink down as they talked further. "You going to be a rich bum? No real job?"
"Maybe I'll try to make my dream come true." Sighing wistfully, Melissa wasn't sure if she fully meant that. She had given up on it once, and if there came a time where she had to give up on it again she wasn't sure if she could handle it. "Or help others with the same thing more directly. I want to see the impact I have on the world firsthand."
Her dream? Katsuki tried to recall what the girl's dream was. They never really talked about anything personal, just work or inventions or just small talk. "You talking about being a quirkless hero?"
"Do you think it can happen?" She immediately asked, looking back to him. "Izuku believes you're going to help his dream come true."
Katsuki scoffed at the quirkless boy's obsession. "He's got to work for it. He's too obsessed with other heroes to actually think about how he's going to be one."
"I think he believes you're going to help him." Melissa further pushed the topic. "That while you're working on a way to be a hero that you'll come up with something that will work for both of you."
"I'm not gonna hold his hand." Wanting to do something more productive he tried to further access the digital table only for Melissa's hand to stop him.
"He has a good heart." She pressed, pleading for something that Katsuki had yet to understand. "People can have drive or talent, but to be a true hero you need the kind of heart he does."
"And?!" Katsuki's lack of figuring out what she was talking about irked him. "You think I don't?!"
"Heroes help others and so far all I can see you doing is helping yourself." She admitted painfully, immediately trying to fix her words. "Sure, your inventions will help a lot of people but you made them to solve your own issues. Do you even want to be a hero?"
"Of course I do!" Katsuki spoke it before he actually thought about his response. Did he? "I'll do whatever I damn please and my heart is-"
A sharp pain stabbed into his chest, Katsuki clutching his shirt immediately as he grunted in place.
"Katsuki?!" She nearly leapt out of her seat to help, but the automated jet stumbled in the air as the lights flickered. The quick pace of footsteps rushed up to them, Masaru checking on his son and ripping open his shirt.
"Just a brief fluctuation." The man spoke before looking towards the cockpit. "I'll see what's wrong."
Katsuki's haggard breath slowed as he adjusted to the pain, his eyes whirling around as the jet continued to stutter in the air. That should have been impossible, he worked on those engines himself, the autopilot was running off his own systems.
Katsuki looked outside, only seeing the rush of clouds as they were beginning to descend through a storm. A shadow passed by, Katsuki forcing himself to stand up to follow its direction towards the cockpit.
"Sit down!" Melissa ordered as the turbulence grew, clutching onto him and forcing him back into his seat. His body couldn't protest, so he threw his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone and try to remotely restart the plane.
Only the screen was spazzing out, static dancing along it until it went dead. What the hell was going on?!
Just as Melissa buckled herself in the whole jet jolted, taking a sudden nose dive towards the Earth as their bodies felt weightless. The screaming engines pierced through the air, the wind roaring past their windows, and Katsuki saw his father try to rush towards the two of them before they abruptly stopped.
It had been a while since he woke up like this, sore, aching, a splitting headache. Yet instead of a sterile environment the air was incredibly dusty. His lungs coughed out the particles as he stirred, trying to pull his mind together so he could know what was going on.
"Katsuki." A soft, panicked voice came to his side.
"Melissa?" He asked, going into another coughing fit.
"Don't move, I had to do a rush job."
"Rush, what?!" When he turned over towards her, something went taught, clenching against his heart. That woke him up, his eyes snapping open as the dim lights around a cobbled ceiling did nothing to let him get a good view of his surroundings. All he cared about as he reached down to his bare chest, was the wires tethering him. Following where they went, he saw a car battery sitting atop of a worn crate.
Where were they? He thought some abandoned warehouse at first but some of the walls didn't look right, the ceiling was jagged, and he was laying on an itchy cot covered in stains. Before he could ask Melissa what happened something loud clanged against a rust patched door.
Melissa stood up immediately, putting her hands behind her head. "Pretend to sleep."
"What?"
"Now!" She ordered in a harsh whisper, Katsuki staring as the door creaked open as two large mutant quirk men entered and a dozen more behind them waiting in a cave. They were in a cave?
One man, sort of fat with an ethnicity Katsuki couldn't place, began speaking some gibberish language. Then they made eye contact, and the man's glee became apparent as he started speaking directly to Katsuki.
Melissa stepped out of the way as one of the grunts came up, hoisting Katsuki to his feet as he was forced to listen to some language probably only spoken by a few thousand people. "What the fuck do you want with me?"
He was smacked upside the face, sent to crash against one of the crates as Katsuki fell into another coughing fit.
The cold ground was his only comfort before they yanked him back up again.
"Bakugo." The supposed leader spoke his name, before saying something to him again.
"Speak a proper language asshole." Kastuki ordered, getting a rather deep punch to his gut instead.
"Enough." A man spoke in english with a lingering german accent behind it. He stepped forward, wearing a large thick white coat covering a tactical vest over a thicker black turtle neck sweater. His slicked back bloody red hair was filled with grease, and it looked like there was some lingering snow along his shoulders. "You're alive only because of me. I pulled you two from that plane so I expect your gratitude."
The plane, he remembered now something went wrong with all their tech before it began to- his father was on board. With a sudden rage and urgency Katsuki fought against the men restraining him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAD ASSHOLE?!"
The obvious leader didn't answer home, only speaking some of that made up nonsense to his fat subordinate. As he left, the man in charge took a walk around their place in the cave looking over all the packaged equipment. "He wasn't important, everyone knew you were the mind behind the company. The daughter of David Shield being here was just icing on the cake."
THAT BASTARD! Katsuki was about to blow the man's head off before a stinging pain tugged in his chest, forcing his body to remember the damage it had suffered. He looked up to Melissa, who was now approached by the menacing man. He grabbed her jaw, twisting her face from side to side as he inspected her.
"If you want to prove the worth of your mind over your body I suggest you do what I say."
A sickening feeling twisted up Katsuki's gut as Melissa whimpered, wanting to pull away from him. They were dead, they were all dead Katsuki promised that.
"Though you-" He gestured to Katsuki as he left Melissa alone. "-have a debt to pay to earn your worth here."
His wet boots clicked against the rocky ground as he went around Katsuki, patting the battery that was hooked up to his heart. "This will only last so long, do good work for me and I'll make sure you have a fresh supply."
With a sneer, Katsuki spat towards him. "No."
The battery crunched in on itself, Katsuki's chest clenching as his body threatened to begin convulsing.
"NO!" Melissa screamed, running down towards Katsuki as he coiled in on himself in agony.
The leader took his hand off the broken battery, gesturing to one of his men to bring another one. After a second of them hooking it up to the wires Katsuki's spasming halted as he gasped for proper air.
"I only have so many lying around." He threatened with a smile. "I suggest you not waste anytime."
The blonde scowled up at him, still on her knees next to the slowly recovering teen. "What do you want?"
"Something that will put me at the top." The demand was vague but instant. He began marching towards the exit, all of his men following. "Weapons, specialized gear, I want the best you two have to offer. So I suggest you prove your worth to me soon and get to work before I return."
The steel gate shut with a clash, leaving the two teens in the chilling damp room. Katsuki was helped to sit upright as they were forced to acknowledge their circumstances. His dad was dead, he was kidnapped, and if he didn't make them what they wanted his heart would give out.
"FUCK!"
That night the two huddled in front of the makeshift furnace already placed there, using the wood of the crates as fuel to keep themselves from freezing to death. Katsuki stared into the flickering heat, trying to find the answer to his problems that his mind was supposed to come up with.
They had no idea where this place was, if help was ever coming, how long they had before their captor's patience ran out. Katsuki would be dead, he would rather die than give these chumps anything.
But, it wasn't just him here.
Glancing up towards Melissa, the girl was coiling the only blanket tightly around herself as she fought the biting chill. Taking a longer look at her, she was banged up too. A plane crash will do that to anyone, but while she would heal on her own if they didn't do what they wanted they would use her or sell her for some sick bastard's pleasure.
Searching himself, he tried to find his phone. Maybe he could fix it and modify it to patch into whatever communication they were using and hijack it to send out a distress signal. He didn't find it, instead he found a stiff card that had been bent and creased in multiple ways.
It was that hero card, the one he developed a habit of keeping in his shirt pocket.
'Heroes are made.'
"Damnit." Katsuki cursed as he put it back. Fat good a piece of colorful plastic could do for them now, but what else? All around them were crates filled with various tech, and unfortunately the folks that kidnapped them knew not to leave them with anything too dangerous or built for any communication.
Too bad for them, he would find a way.
He would make an answer, just like before.
Glancing down at the wires on his chest, he questioned how much time he had to work with. He didn't have the tools, the workforce, or the resources he had at I-island. This was going to take a lot of time, something he might not have.
"I managed to patch the base plate through a modified superconductor to reduce the power consumption." Melissa spoke up, Katsuki re-examining her work on his implant. A few years ago this was brand new cutting edge medical technology made by David Shield, and Melissa was able to modify it to use less power in a cave with scraps?
All while it was still in his chest?
"Damn, I owe you." He sighed, shivering a bit as the cold was starting to overwhelm him. She noticed immediately, getting up from her spot and sharing the one piece of cloth that could prevent frostbite. No point in fighting it, they were both cold and there was one blanket.
"What are we going to do?" Melissa asked as she hung her head. "I can't let you die."
"I ain't gonna die." He bit back. "Not to these assholes anyways. And you sure as hell aren't going to be made into a cut of fuckable meat."
"We can't give them what they want!" Melissa tried to argue, but she wasn't going to let Katsuki's implant run out of power.
"We give them what they think they want." He answered as his vision wrestled with the flames, peering inside as his fighting spirit rose from the grave. "Not anything that will last, just something to distract them from what we'll really do."
"And what's that?"
"Make something that will blow all of them out of this shitty hole." Then he sighed, as he knew he couldn't do this next part alone. He could come up with it, design it, but he needed help to fix the biggest issue he had.
Time.
Something he might not have enough of alone.
Feeling the flames burning brighter inside him than in the furnace Katsuki got up, and began to take a proper inventory of what they had to work with.
They could guess that a week had passed, or maybe two, but when you're working your ass off on something that needed your absolute attention time became a blur. The only way they were able to count it is when Katsuki needed to change to another battery, and so far he had gone through twelve. Perhaps they decided to give them a few more, given the cameras watching them work. Their captors thought they were being productive, which was true in a sense.
It was only when Katsuki turned a dial that they began to take notice, because all the lights began to lose their life as their power was drawn in to jumpstart something better. Taking off the welding goggles, Katsuki grinned madly as both he and Melissa stared at their latest project yet.
An arc reactor, one that could fit in the palm of his hand.
"Alright let's make this quick." Katsuki laid down on the cot, peeling his shirt off to expose the outdated tech in his chest. "Those bastards are probably on their way down now to see what the hell happened to the power."
Melissa nodded, carefully taking the device in her palm and kneeling down next to him. Slipping on some gloves and grabbing a pair of rubber pliers, she carefully adjusted the wires keeping Katsuki alive towards the edge of the housing. With one hand she kept them steady as she clicked the implant into the unlocked position.
"Ready?" She asked nervously.
"Just get it over wi-" Katsuki yelped as she yanked it out, unclipping the battery mechanism before plugging in the arc reactor inside the baseplate. Relief washed over him immediately, the pain vanishing as Melissa tenderly clicked the reactor into the housing unit.
He took a few cautious breaths as he felt alive, more so than ever before. Sitting up he recalled the first time he woke up with the implant. That tech that David Shield put in him to hack his quirk factor to increase his health did wonders. Now that it was powered by something that made nuclear obsolete, Katsuki felt strong again.
Melissa traced the rims of the reactor around his chest, seeing the power flowing smoothly as his body began to ease into it. "You know, there was a time I thought you were just an egocentric jerk who happened to have a good brain."
Feeling a vein on his forehead threaten to pop, Katsuki yanked the shirt from next to him and slipped it on, the light of the reactor bleeding through the cloth.
"But, then I saw another side of you." Melissa said as she got up, Katsuki still sitting as he listened to her to see if she would say anything worthwhile. "You might not be looking for people to help, but when there's someone in front of you that needs it you'll help them."
"Why are you saying this?" Katsuki standing up, cleaning off their workstation to get their next project ready. "You trying to guilt trip me for something?"
"I just, need to say what I need to so I don't have any regrets." Melissa answered softly as she watched him continue to push forward. "I might not get to say it again."
"Say what you want already then." Katsuki rolled his eyes at her whole dramatic demeanor. He wasn't prepared for her to grab his face, pointing his gaze right at her in a serious fashion, not even letting him blink as they stared at one another.
"You could have abandoned Izuku when you moved to I-island, you could have ignored your parents after they helped you start your business, but you supported all of them. You supported me even when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. No matter what anyone says, you are not heartless." She tapped the glowing source in the center of his chest. "This is proof of it. Don't let them say otherwise."
Katsuki stood there with baited breath, as he absorbed what she said. Melissa had just progressed her belief in him, in being a good person. There wasn't a doubt in her eyes that she saw something that he never thought he had himself.
He knew he could be the best, the strongest, the top of the world.
This was the first time anyone told him that he was good, and he found value in that above everything else.
"I did horrible things to Izuku." He blurted out, hanging his eyes in shame. "He was quirkless, and I just-"
"I know." Melissa pushed his chin back up so he couldn't hide anymore. "Izuku told me, and he forgave you, I forgive you. Because we see that you can be something so great, and you're getting there one step at a time."
The two quirkless people Katsuki had in his life continued to prove to be so much more than they were born with. More than he made of himself. "You stupid nerds."
The echoing boots hit their ears, Katsuki and Melissa pulling away as they fell into the routine of putting their hands behind their heads. The door slammed open, multiple men coming in with strong quirks, or even guns.
They had been arming themselves.
Expecting to have one of the subordinates enter, they were surprised to see that the boss himself had decided to pay them a visit.
The man brushed the fresh snow off his jacket, marching in as he looked over the work they had done. The teens had repurposed a lot of what he had left them, creating tools and other materials out of random supplies he couldn't sell. He came down in expectation that they might be attempting an escape given the power fluctuations, or made something for him.
Instead, he saw their efforts right under Bakugo's shirt. He came forward towards the boy, tugging down his collar to inspect it with his own eyes.
"So, you decided to treat yourself with my supplies." Putting his fingers around the edges, he pressed his skin against the metal that reached inside the boy's chest. "Stopping the clock that I gave you."
Katsuki had wisened up, learning to keep his mouth shut when he needed to. It only took several beatings of him and Melissa for the message to get across through that thick skull of his.
"Yet what have you to show for me?" The man asked, activating his quirk. Katsuki flinched, feeling the implant begin to shift around inside of his own flesh, clenching his heart as each beat only made the pain worse. "So far what you've made pales in comparison to what you've done here."
He looked over to Melissa, seeing her eyes quaking as she watched Katsuki's pain. The teens were easy to control so long as you threatened the other.
"Well? Were your lives really that cheap to you? Perhaps I should cash in now with what I have right here."
"AH!" Katsuki felt the entire unit in his chest pull forward, threatening to tear itself out.
"Stop!" Melissa begged, lowering her head as she couldn't dare to watch. "We have something you can take so leave him alone!"
"Hm?" He gave her a nod, allowing her to reach under their workstation and pull something from the underside of it. Something they kept hidden for themselves, so it must have great enough value for them to keep.
"A sonar imaging device." Melissa told him as she flicked it on, allowing the screen to show him a rather accurate image of what was around the device. "It can map out objects with a three inch accuracy for up to two thousand feet, anything within twenty feet can be traced within a quarter inch accuracy at the least."
He may not be able to sell it for a high price, but it would be effective at earning him a lot of money. Letting go of Katsuki, the boy fought to regain his balance as the man grabbed the device from Melissa.
Waving for the men to leave, they began to walk out, Melissa and Katsuki believing they just managed to escape their sentences.
"I want ten of these in two weeks." He demanded of them before he left through the door deeper inside the chasm. "Expect a shipment to give you some more parts to work with."
Once their footsteps were out of earshot, Katsuki stomped over to Melissa and hissed in rage. "That was our ticket to sneaking out!"
"I wasn't going to let him kill you!"
Katsuki knew he couldn't argue with her on this, so he settled for kicking his cot over. There on the ground was the card Izuku gifted him a year ago. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he took his shirt off earlier.
He picked it up, brushing the dust on it as he saw Power Loader's image standing with the shadow of his suit behind him. Folks hardly cared about his suit despite its abilities, only caring about a superhero to fawn over.
Turning it over, he read it again as he did thousands of times.
"Fine, we'll make something they can't take." Katsuki stated as he put the card back in his pocket, the bright fires of a mighty forge sparking in his eyes. "Something that's gonna blow their asses out of our way."
Weeks blurred into months, Katsuki and Melissa working as hard as they could, summoning as much strength as they could to never let the forge grow cold. They had to present gifts, offerings every now and then to keep their true intentions from being noticed.
Melissa typed away at her laptop, programming the latest sequence that would be needed as the motors beside her twitched. Near the heat of the fires, Katsuki hammered away at the plating, his health having risen to a new peak as his defining muscles were carving out their freedom, their future by hand.
Anything they made for their unknown captors, was just a prototype for what would go into their scattered parts.
"The impact is too great." Katsuki adjusted the settings on their latest 'thruster' on what would become a gauntlet. "Your arms would shatter, so we either turn it down or use a piston recoil system to compensate."
"That would increase the weight and demand too much output from the motors." Melissa informed him as her pace did not let up on wiring a piece of the frame.
"I'll be using it." Katsuki told her. "I'm stronger than you."
"You also have a quirk."
"A fried one." Katsuki scoffed as he was about to undo Melissa's system, until a wrench was thrown in her way. "OI! What the hell?!"
"You have a quirk!" Melissa shouted again in annoyance. "It wasn't just explosions, it made your body highly resistant to them! Take into account the rate of enhancement that implant is directly fueling your arms could probably fire off a tank round without breaking."
He grumbled, moving on from the future gauntlet and back to the actual thrusters. "Fine, you're right, happy?"
"Yes."
The day was finally here, they created something that would yield a terrifying force. Keeping their hands behind their head, they allowed their 'loyal customers' to inspect the package. Ammo, more specifically highly explosive rounds that were compatible with a standard 7.62 mm round. One man held up the gleaming bullet, seeing the way the tip glimmered under the flashlight.
"I suggest taking them outside to test them." Katsuki warned with a frown. "Unless you want to be stuck in this hole."
The grunt didn't say it, but the fact that they put the bullet back in the case with the others as they quickly filed out told the teens that they bought it. Yeah right, like they would make weapons for those assholes.
Once the door shut, they moved with purpose getting back to work.
Melissa grabbed the rivet gun as Katsuki lifted the tarp open towards a hastily welded scaffolding. He grabbed the jacket inside, the heavy gloves, wrapping himself in layers upon layers of thick leather bindings as Melissa began assembling the premade framework of the limbs.
Once Katsuki finished he hastily stepped under the tarp, letting him be concealed for the cameras as Melissa began screwing on the pieces around him. She worked with haste, Katsuki watched and tested every section that was assembled onto him.
"You're moving too slow." Katsuki spoke as Melissa was attaching the control box under the backplate.
"I'm moving as fast as I can." She replied in annoyance but understood the haste.
"You're too slow." Katsuki reiterated out of fact and not preference. "Plug me in and start the boot up sequence, then top me off."
Rushing over to the table, Melissa began clicking away at the computer, pieces of the motors suddenly snapping around Katsuki as power began to flow.
"Good." Katsuki could feel everything warm up, synchronizing as the dull metal suit began to thrum. "Now start with the chest plate, then the helmet, don't worry about the underarms unless they still haven't picked up on it."
"I don't want any part of you exposed." Melissa argued as she lowered the largest chunk of metal from the rails, pushing it against Kastuki as she began locking it on.
"I can live without an arm, I can't live without a head." Katsuki argued back, watching the slow crawling bar on the clunky laptop. "Where's your stuff?"
"Behind you." She answered, her eyes flickering down to the other gear they had worked on. It wasn't all lethal, but there was a gun amongst the contraptions for self defense.
She was an American after all.
A knocking came to the door, Melissa freezing at the sudden attention they were getting.
"Don't stop." Katsuki told her in a whisper. "Just play dumb."
"I'm not you." She tried joking as there became yelling in some language they never understood.
"What's he speaking?" Katsuki wondered aloud as Melissa began skipping screws, only focusing on the ones absolutely necessary to keep it secure.
"I think it's Burmese." Melissa answered quietly before yelling back in English. Most of them had some understanding of it, but less than a quarter of them could say anything in the language. "No thanks, we're not hungry!"
All Katsuki could hear was babbling, silently screaming at the progress bar to move faster.
They needed more time, just a little more.
"Hit page down." Katsuki demanded between his teeth.
"That'll eat up too much power." Melissa denied, securing one of his shoulder pieces.
"Then use mine as backup, now do it!" He ordered with more urgency, uncaring if he was heard.
Melissa reached over, tapping the key before a mechanism clicked on the door before it hummed angrily. A pained shouting was heard on the other side, before another voice yelled out in panic.
"No turning back now." Melissa ignored the burning smell as she kept working, cursing as she dropped one of the rivets.
"Leave it, do the next!" Katsuki hated being stuck in this, waiting in his tin can as Melissa was forced to do the rest of the work.
A flicker of a zap was heard near the door, someone else going limp on the other side. Right after they heard the click of several safeties.
"BEHIND ME!" Katsuki screamed, Melissa ducking back under the tarp as it fell over them.
Heavy machine guns ripped through the door, bullets whizzing through the place they were reluctant to call home and shredding everything they touched. Once they stopped, a thick plate fell over Katsuki's face, sealing him in the armor.
All he could hear was his own breathing brushing against the steel alloy in front of him as the lights went out. Something clicked in the back of his armor, the motors unlocking, and the soft pulse of his arc reactor flowing around him.
The slow creaking of the door was pushed open, flashlights and grunts moving in to sweep the darkened area. Katsuki took in one last breath, holding it as he flexed his palms inside the large deadly gauntlets.
A light was shone at the tarp, bleeding through and flashing against him. Pulling his arm back, Katsuki waited until the sheet was ripped off.
Then all hell broke loose.
His fist caved in the man's chest as he was sent flying across the room, bullets cracking out from his gun and striking one of his allies. With thundering steps, Katsuki stepped out in his suit,
The metal was cut from various machines, welded together with scraped together mechanics running underneath it. Yet despite the makeshift welded structure, it was an intimidating display that screamed 'invincible'.
One of the two men left screamed, raising his palm to unleash a series of sparking veins that whipped against the armor. Katsuki let them flick off his armor as he angrily charged at him, smashing his body against the stone.
The other began running for the door, firing blindly as he screamed for help. Katsuki grabbed one of the empty hydrogen tanks next to him, lobbing it at his head and silencing him with a resounding clunk.
"You ok?" Katsuki's deepened voice spoke through the speaker as his glowing chest piece lit up the girl.
"Yeah." She picked up her bag, grabbing the laptop before reaching up to yank one of the cameras out. After biting the wiring apart, she quickly spooled it together before plugging it into the computer. The program started immediately, Katsuki picking up the noise of the room through another microphone. "Testing testing, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear." Katsuki grabbed the tarp on the ground, throwing it towards her. "Stay hidden, stay safe. If anyone starts coming your way let me know."
"Ok." She grabbed it alongside a larger empty box, bringing it over towards her to hide behind. "I'm picking up the trail. Mapping it now."
The ammo they gave wasn't explosive, but just slightly radioactive. Enough for them to follow to wherever outside was.
Katsuki double checked the bodies in the hole, making sure none of them posed a threat and began making for the exit. He followed the cave up, Melissa's voice now solely coming through the headset in his helmet.
Once he came to a fork in the tunnel, he looked both ways. "Right or left?"
"Right."
He rose his arm towards the top of the left tunnel, before flexing his palms towards the ceiling. A grumbling rose through the gauntlet as the device on his palm erupted in a violent blast, caving in the ceiling.
Marching into the right cave, his footsteps drowned out any subtlety and announced his imminent arrival. He heard more shouting in a foreign tongue before he heard rounds plinking away over his armor. Katsuki kept walking, undeterred and unbothered.
They thought he might have just walked by them without caring, he didn't.
Once he got close enough he slammed the skull of the one on the right into the wall before chasing down the two ahead of him. They kept firing, holding their ground as they emptied their magazines towards him.
Katsuki responded by a wide swipe, flinging them further away with shattered ribs.
After further pushing his way ahead, through hasty barriers or lots of more assholes, Katsuki found himself at an impasse with several pathways. "Two on the right, one in the middle, one on the left, and one right by me that goes up."
"Hang on, look at each one more slowly."
Katsuki was about to do so before bullets began ringing off his head. Turning over towards the source, he saw a rather large amount of guys coming from the path up. "That's got to be it."
"I'm picking it up, yes."
Katsuki rotated in place, wanting to blast those suckers now but he didn't want to close their escape route. So he let them keep firing from a distance as he aimed his gauntlets at the other tunnels.
In a rocketing shockwave, he closed the tunnels with two well placed shots before turning his attention to the assailants.
Clicking his pinky finger, a barrel snapped over his wrist as he took aim. With no hesitation, Katsuki let it fire. At first, no one noticed anything. Then the metal of their guns began to spark, heating up, before their blood began to boil from the concentrated microwaves.
Satisfied now that they were taken care of, Katsuki began trekking up the slope in his heavy suit. As he was approaching the top he heard another steel door close, locking it in place as someone on his side was banging against it pleading to his allies.
Katsuki would silence that annoying racket right now.
Hammering his arm down onto his head, hearing a splitting crack from his bones, Katsuki focused on the steel before him. Holding out his arms, he let the growling power charge up before releasing twin explosions that threw the door forward, crushing those who hid behind it.
Something chilling brushed against his armor, a small whistling noise flowing past him as he tasted fresh air.
"I think that's the wind, we can-"
He heard bullets shoot out, not against him but over the speakers in his helmet. "Melissa?! What's going on?"
They continued to fire back and forth for a minute before stopping, a hollow silence filling his ears. "Melissa?!"
"Aaaauugh!" Her strained voice cried out, the girl's heavy breathing filling the microphone. "I got him, don't worry. Keep going and-"
"I'm coming back." He said, already turning around to come back the way he came.
"Don't waste your energy. You can only use that suit for-"
"I SAID I'M COMING BACK FOR YOU!" He began running, burning through the power he had just to get there faster. It was more efficient to walk, but the last thing he was going to do was walk back for her.
When he heard more gunshots in the distance, he quickened his pace, practically shoving the armor from within to move faster. As soon as the entrance came in sight, he stumbled as he tried to slow himself down before sliding through the entrance.
Then he saw her, laying in the corner of the room with red stains flowing down her shirt.
"Melissa!"
"L-look out." She weakly warned him, Katsuki snapping his eyes towards two men waiting for him with a missile already flying at him. He held up his arms, tanking the hit and letting the armor take most of the damage before the force transferred to his reinforced bones.
Once the smoking armor proved itself, Katsuki gave a deadly glare back at them. Holding out his other arm, he yanked the cord next to it before a rocket of his own surged out, flying between them before hitting the back wall.
Where a small propane tank sat.
It exploded out, shrapnel shredding through their backs and rupturing their organs.
Now that they were taken care of, Katsuki immediately crouched over Melissa, shoving his faceplate up so he could see her without the muddled filter of his lenses.
"Hey, hey look at me." He tried to correct her wavering vision, nudging her face towards his. "Come on, let's get you out of here. You're gonna be a hero right?"
"I-I don't-" She swallowed the blood in her mouth, clearing it so she could speak. "-I was never going to be a hero."
"Don't say that. It doesn't matter if you're quirkless you can do anything." Katsuki kept her looking at him as he held a hand down at her injuries, hoping that someone would answer his prayer and make it stop. "That's quitter talk, I don't work with those and you are not giving up on me."
"I, never gave up on you." She smiled with the little strength she had left. "You're a hero."
"Not until I save you." His vision became blurry, Katsuki's voice failing on him as he kept feeling warm fluids run over his hand. "A hero saves people. Right? Then I'm going to be one and save you."
"You….can't stay here." Melissa's eyes began to lose focus, her hand blindly reaching up to touch his cheek. "You need to go out there and save lives. Be a hero."
His other hand reached up, trying to keep her falling hand on his face as he watched the spark leave her eyes as she uttered. "Be a hero."
Her fingers slipped out of his grasp, her arm falling over her chest as her body was left staring aimlessly through him. Katsuki felt hollow, empty, his heart ripped away leaving nothing but a hole he could never fill.
Yet another emotion quickly filled in the gaps just as cold. Rage.
Knowing there was only one thing he could do, he pushed himself up, slamming the faceplate back down as he made his way back to the exit where the rest of them would be waiting.
He once believed a hero was just someone who beat the villains, so since he couldn't save Melissa he would do exactly that. He was going to kill all of them.
Once he arrived back at the farthest point he reached before, he followed that biting feeling. The rush of the air, the numbing against his fingers, and finally, the shining of a full moon bleeding through the trees of the icy taiga. Right as he reached the entrance he saw over a dozen guns pointed at him, the flashes of their muzzles as they opened fire.
They did nothing to harm him, merely shaking up his armor a little as he inspected the area. They had lots of supplies, tents, weapons, and there he saw it. A box labeled 'explosives'.
Taking aim with his microwave, he activated it right at the storage. They kept firing at first, nothing seemed to visibly happen until half of their base suddenly exploded into a raging fire.
Just as they were panicking from the detonation, Katsuki released his own hell on them. A flamethrower sparked on his left arm, spitting out his heated anger at anything that moved. Following after the fleeing grunts, Katsuki marched through the melting snow while mowing down every single one of the bastards.
Another blast went off, rocking Katsuki's armor as he fell down to his knees. He looked over, seeing another cache had gone off due to the spreading wildfire. His mind finally recognized the danger he was in, the boy looking over and seeing several other stacks bursting into splinters and flames.
Shit!
It was all about to go up, Katsuki had to get out of there now before he was caught up in it. Trying to gaze down under his arm, he opened up a smaller panel to reveal a red switch and a button. As soon as he flipped the one, the light went red.
"Come on you stupid thing warm up!"
He could hear the whirring of the components in his leg, another whining as they began to heat up with everything around him was starting to be rapidly consumed by the fire and an imminent blast.
Finally, the light turned green, Katsuki slamming his hand against it as a pressure shot out from under his feet. His arms were flung to his sides as his suit shot up into the air, just as a chorus of explosions rang out around him in a fiery cloud.
Racing out of the heat, Katsuki could only hear the wind swarming past his head as he kept going higher and higher, his body slowly pivoting away from the sky and towards the horizon. The adrenaline that he had been running off of slowly died down the further he got away, a blinking light inside his helmet pulsing slowly as he made sure his trajectory wasn't about to drop anytime soon.
"Come on." He uttered as he scanned the distance for anything remotely considered civilization. Nothing except snow and ice as far as he could tell.
Finally the light became solid, Katsuki smiling at the small victory before another one began flashing red. The fuel was running out, his rockets dying at an alarming rate as he quickly began plummeting back to the Earth.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit!
His armor was too heavy to turn mid air, his body forced to take a nosedive towards the ground until he hit it dead on, the white powder exploding around him into a misty cloud. A new headache arose, Katsuki turning over in his suit that sparked in several locations.
Reaching up, he pulled the faceplate off his helmet, getting some proper air to breathe even if it had begun to bite the inside of his lungs.
He was out, he made it. But it didn't feel like victory.
Reaching down to his leg, Katsuki yanked on the orange handle. The frame snapped apart, letting Katsuki push each section of the armor off of himself so he wouldn't be walking around in dead weight.
He sat up, looking around as he found himself in a wasteland of eternal winter, the morning sun peeking over the distance to turn the world from blue to orange. Already freezing, Katsuki knew he had limited time before he would turn to ice.
Clicking the frame back in on itself, Katsuki pieced his armor back together as he kept checking on the light that softly bled out from the eye sockets. Still solid, it connected. Someone better not be ignoring their phone right now otherwise he would be dead in a few hours.
Pulling out the straps that were folded under the shoulder blades, Katsuki began to drag the armor, carving a path behind him as he began trying to get as far away from where he was as fast as possible.
He was alone, independent, something he craved long ago but hated with every step. Katsuki kept moving forward, doing what he could at the moment just as always. The further the sun rose, the more he wished to look to the side, or behind him, and see someone who could have made it out with him.
She wasn't there, her body back in a cave that he dare not look back on.
So he kept his eyes ahead, continuing the single path that he had ever known.
Forward, push harder, keep going.
Be a hero.
The wind suddenly swirled around him, Katsuki shielding his eyes from the sudden blizzard interrupting the morning light as a chopping noise passed overhead. His face snapped up, seeing military helicopters in a low sweep gliding before turning back towards him.
His hands dropped the straps as he suddenly rushed forward, waving his arms to get their attention in a frenzy. "HEEEYYY!"
Part of him wanted to laugh, another part he wanted to strangle for wanting to cry. They found him, after months of being in that cave with death hanging around the corner it was all over. Fucking finally!
His legs collapsed as he felt a sense of relief, the stress, the anxiety from constantly being watched from those who wouldn't hesitate to pull the plug on his heart. The US soldiers ran out from the helicopter, pushing through the thick snow towards him as all Katsuki could do was keep his arm in the air as the sunlight brushed through his fingers.
He coiled them into a fist, claiming the victory he fought so hard for.
Katsuki wished he could have shared it.
Next chapter as promised. I hope to punch out two more very soon.
Something I need to reiterate because some folk misinterpreted what I said last time.
I AM ONLY USING IRON MAN CONTENT! No other marvel characters or powers will be featured. This is an Iron Man focused story, no other heroes except in MHA will be seen.
Now, some of you might be concerned with Melissa's death. I knew I had to have someone die under Bakugo so he would really envelop the heart of a hero. I contemplated Izuku, but I wanted to have him involved still because his character has a ton of potential for a dynamic between the two of them. I ended up choosing Melissa to be Bakugo's morality change because she was also quirkless, and could have been as smart as him so she proved that someone quirkless could be on even footing.
With her death, Bakugo will reanalyze his feelings about Izuku becoming a hero and what Bakugo himself should focus on to be better.
One thing I am undecided on is what character would serve the role of Pepper for Bakugo. Not necessarily a love interest but a close assistant who he listens to and values their opinion, even if he chooses to ignore it frequently.
Any ideas?
Let me know where you see this story going or what you would look forward to.
Thanks for reading. Any errors in spelling or inconsistency please point out.