LoamyCoffee: Well, I think this was rather productive. I have to agree with Genki, some of the group's quirks don't seem to fit the Ninja motif, but it proves two things. People love Edgeshot and... NINJAS!
Still, I enjoyed how things went for him in this chapter and I'm learning new things~
I'll admit to being rather eager to seeing how things are going with Satou and Sero's respective internships.
Looking forward to next time, but for now... I have 2 episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen to watch.
Re: Thanks for the review. I'm glad to see that Genki won't have to "carry" this story, since once-again it's about GENKI'S story and the "main players" will be secondary, but I'm eager to put Genki's new friends through the ringer!
skinnydude911: I really enjoyed how you expanded on the color coded ninjas we've only seen once in the anime. And I can't help but notice something with two of the ninja's... did you secretly put a Naruto reference into Ninja orange and Violet in having them be like Naruto and Hinata?
I also enjoyed the moment of weakness Genki had of checking out his classmates online in what they're doing and the temptation to save an image of Tsu-chan on his phone.
Keep up the good work buddy.
Re: Negi was a passive Naruto reference, since negi onions are another ramen topping, but the color and Quirk were meant to hint at Naruto. As for Kana, not a reference to Hinata, but to the female lead of an oldie but a goodie; Itoshi no Kana, aka "My Lovely Ghost KANA". I was tempted to make it a Violet reference from The Incredibles, but Kana's personality runs closer to her namesake.
P.S.
I'm surprised no-one questioned or commented-on how Kana was able to catch up to the convenience store thief last-chapter.
She hitched a ride on Genki's back, btw.
Oh, and there was a Static Shock reference at the end there for those of you that missed it.
*MHA*
Elsewhile apart from Gokiburi Genki, with the Gold Striker: Stunvolt…
"Whoaaa! Akihabara! Man, this internship's gonna rock!" Kaminari whooped as he got off the train, the high rises and anime paraphernalia iconic to the district all around him, the energy and thrum of the city like a beat you couldn't get tired of. "Alright… The Azure Striker has his office out of the Ares Idol Agency, so it should beee…" he paused drawing the pamphlet out of his pocket. " . . . There!"
Running into the crowd, suitcase at his side, the electric blond followed the course of the map for several minutes until he caught sight of his destination, a massive high rise of glass and steel protruding high into the city skyline. And it might've just been his imagination, but he could swear he heard idol music on the wind.
Shrugging the notion off, he doubled his speed toward his final destination, turning the corner and almost running face-first into a gathering crowd.
"WHOA!" Kaminari yelped, his sneakers squeaking on the sidewalk as he just-barely avoided colliding with a buff Mutant the size of All Might.
"Hey! Watch where you're running!" the hulking figure squeaked angrily, her pigtails whipping angrily around her.
"G-Gomen!" Kaminari apologized. "Hey um, I kinda need to get in that building, so-"
"Good luck with that," the giant Mutant whimpered. "Ever since Gunvolt-sama came out, he's been swarmed constantly."
"The Azure Striker? He's here!?"
"Yeah," the pigtail Mutant said grabbing Kaminari by the scruff of his neck and hoisting him above the crowdline. "See, there he is," she indicated to a lone figure standing strong against the sea of chaos.
The Azure Striker: Gunvolt, wielder of the Emitter-Type Quirk [Azure Striker], was a young man not yet in his 20s with a lean, but well-muscled build. His blond "Cloud-style" hair was the same color as his own, if not a little bit shinier, a long braided ponytail spilling down his back and ending in a white wing-themed clip above a small tuft of hair. His skin was fair, and his electric blue eyes really popped with his choice of attire.
Overall his attire had a futuristic theme to it. His skin-tight pants in alternating shades of blue had black bands around the thighs and gapped at the waist, the LED lights at the sides of his navel and on his black knee-length boots colored an electric bluish-green. His upper body was clad in a white-trimmed long coat in matching shades of blue, his elbow-length gauntlets colored black with similar LED lighting, and underneath that a skintight black catsuit shirt. His navel was left exposed, something the fangirls were gushing over, but Kaminari's eye was drawn to his sidearm; a black futuristic-looking rectangular pistol equipped with a dot sight, chromed electric diodes on the back and under-barrel. In other words, his custom Support Item from Yuuei's own Development Studio, the Dart Leader, a facilitator of his ultra-fine electric control.
Something Kaminari was quite envious of since unless he was touching his target, he wound up electrocuting everything around him indiscriminately.
"GV! HEY! GV!" Kaminari shouted flailing his arms above his head, his words lost among the tumult.
"You'll never get his attention that way," the pigtail giant chided as he was set down. "I've got a muscle Quirk and even I can't get in there."
"Well then that shouldn't be a problem for me because I don't have a muscle Quirk," Kaminari said with a grin, sparks dancing off his fingers. "Scuse me! Sorry! Coming through!" he apologized as he bulled his way into the crowd, a minor electric shock from his fingertips parting the crowd like a cattle prod.
"Ow!"
"Hey!"
"Yowch!" the crowd yelped as the Yuuei student made his way to the front, the Ares Agency personnel were just-now beginning to push the crowd away from the entrance, much to Gunvolt's relief.
"GV! HEY! GV!" Kaminari shouted as he made his way through the front of the crowd, arms flailing around the security guard trying to pen him backward. "I'M HERE TO INTERN WITH YOU! I'VE GOT A LETTER AND EVERYTHING!" he shouted waving his envelope out in front of him.
The blue-eyed Hero taking notice of him, made a waving motion with his hand, the guard letting Kaminari through much to the consternation of the crowd.
"Denki Kaminari, right? The boss' kid said you would be here," Gunvolt hummed in a serious tone, his expression that of a straight-laced Hero with a strong sense of morality and justice that would not be compromised.
'So cooool!' Kaminari awed before composing himself. "Hai! Denki Kaminari, reporting for duty, sir!" he said snapping off a clumsy salute, his suitcase dangling from his wrist.
"Hm. Well, get changed, then. We'll make our way out the back," Gunvolt said ushering the teen in, the gathered crowd moaning behind him.
*MHA*
Elsewhile apart from Gokiburi Genki, with the Ridley Hero: Alien Queen…
"Am I… uh… Am I at the right place?" Mina asked worriedly, standing at the end of where the hand-drawn map she'd gotten from a police booth had led her.
The building in front of her looked like a run-down warehouse just barely on the bad side of town. The windows had bars on them, there were bullet holes exposed and patched, and… was that blood she smelled.
"Hello…?" she asked peeking her head in the door. "Is this the Kamadouma Agency?"
The sight that greeted her was like that of a gang hideout; surly-looking teens, men, and women with all manner of weapons and Quirks looking up from what they were doing amidst well-worn furniture, the alien-like girl feeling dozens of razor-sharp eyes staring at her incredulously for the intrusion.
" . . . Sorry! Wrong place!" she said backing out.
"HOLD IT!" a powerful voice boomed, the pinkette freezing in place, the throng of violent-looking toughs parting like the Red Sea, revealing the owner of said voice at the far end of the room sitting on a crate beneath a large plaque with the word Justice in Traditional Chinese (正義) painted upon it.
The apparent boss of the hideout, he was a broad-shouldered ordinary-looking man in his mid-30s or early-40s. He had a stern looking face like one carved from rock, and furrowed brows set above fierce-looking eyes, his straight hair trimmed to shoulder-height, his bangs trimmed below his brow-line. His attire, possibly his lounging attire, was an all-black long-tailed gakuran with brass buttons. His hands rested upon the pommel of a straight-endged blade, the handle wrapped in white bandages.
All in all, only further reinforcing the "gang hideout" vibe she'd initially gotten.
"I recognize you. From the Sports Festival," the man said lowly.
"Oh good, so you know who I am-"
"YOU TRIED TO STRIP MY OTOUTO NAKED! GET HER!"
"Hey, what the hell!?" Mina yelped as she was dogpiled from all sides, the alien-like girl flailing as her introduction letter was wrenched from her hands, the one that had taken it presenting it on bent knee to the man standing at the end of the room.
"So… You dare present yourself before me after the atrocity you committed…" the man said in a low growl after reading the envelope's contents, raising himself up from his seat and walking over to her, leaving his blade behind. "Very well then. You shall be made to pay for your crimes… with your own body!"
"EHHH!" Mina yelped, only to find herself suddenly freed of the oppressive dogpile. Her head whirling around, she saw the gang of toughs pressed back-first against the nearby walls, barring any avenue of escape, leaving her alone against the figure looming over her.
And one of them'd stolen her briefcase!
"Kick me."
"Huh?" Mina asked looking back toward her instigator.
"I SAID KICK ME!" he roared. "Even a student Hero should be capable of that much!"
"Oh I'll kick you alright!" Mina growled, running at the imposing man in a dead sprint. The athletic girl leaping into a flying kick, she struck out at the man's abdomen with all her might, her strike impacting with a loud *THWACK!* as the man made no move to block.
The next moment pain shot up the girl's leg and she fell to the ground, clutching at her throbbing knee as the imposing man stood above her completely unfazed.
"I am Kamadouma Hibiki, the Kicking Hero: Kamadouma, and if you want to intern here, you're either very brave, or very foolish," the now-named Hibiki announced.
'Technically I only wanted Gen-kun to get me an 'in' with a good agency-'
"I AM NOT IMPRESSED!" the man bellowed over her thoughts, arms crossed. "Genki-kun must've been holding back if someone as weak as you gave him so much trouble."
"I am not weak!" the pinkette raged.
"Then prove it! This shall be your initiation!" Hibiki proclaimed.
The next moment, countless melee weapons were thrown toward her, wooden boards, lead pipes, baseball bats, and golf clubs with or without nails clattering round her.
'That is some terrifying litter…' Mina thought perusing her options. Not only was this Hibiki guy several times her size and weight in pure muscle, but a Pro Hero of many years from the correspondence.
If she was going to have any chance against him, she'd have to fight dirty, even if it did mean looking like a Sukeban while doing it.
"If you will not come to me, then I will come to you! Weakling!" Hibiki said as he strode forward.
"Fine! You asked for it!" Mina growled, settling on a lead pipe and swinging it with all her might.
*WHAP!*
"Eh…?" Mina asked confusedly as the man caught it bare-handed, his muscles not even straining against her effort.
The next moment his shin found her stomach, faster than the eye could see and folding her nearly in half as she was launched skyward, her back impacting the ceiling painfully.
"GAK!"
"A blow with true justice… carved into the mind and body… Hissatsu:…" he intoned as Mina's weight peeled her from the ceiling and she fell. "RIDER KICK!" he roared as he delivered another blow, a devastating straight kick, into Mina's stomach and sending her sailing across the room and into the arms of one of the toughs.
The alien girl dropped, she staggered forward before falling on hands and knees, wheezing and spitting out blood as she shakily looked up at the Pro Hero.
And she thought Aizawa was a taskmaster…
"Hmph," Hibiki huffed, turning his back on her and relenting as he resumed his original seat, looking down at her beaten and bloodied form. "It looks like Yuuei has made your generation soft. Well, don't you worry about that. By the time I'm through with you…" he said looking down at her with a contemptuous smirk, "you might actually give Genki-kun a challenge."
'Maybe I should've taken what the school gave me… and been happy with that…' Mina thought as she climbed to her feet, her silver suitcase slid across the floor toward her.
"Get dressed. Today you'll watch. Tomorrow, I'll kick the weakness out of you," he said shedding his coat revealing iron-hard muscles under a black tank top before he wrenched the crate he was sitting on open, donning green-colored brown-speckled armor pieces one by one.
"Uh… Where's the changing room?" Mina asked hopefully.
"Justice doesn't discriminate by gender!" Hibiki bellowed lazily gesturing to the room around him, Mina looking sidelong to see the scattered "toughs" stripping out of their clothes and drawing their own costumes from lockers she hadn't noticed before, heedless of the gender of those immediately adjacent. "To lose oneself in the fight against evil is a disgrace toward justice!"
"Dude, if this is a co-ed building, you could just come out and say it."
Is what Mina wanted to say, but after getting drop-kicked all over the place like a ragdoll and spitting up blood, she wisely held her tongue.
*MHA*
Elsewhile apart from Gokiburi Genki, with the Taping Hero: Cellophane…
"Uhhh…" Sero hummed as he looked down at the map in his hand, then back up to where aforementioned map had taken him.
The address was for an ordinary-looking low-end apartment complex at the edge of Kabukicho, Tokyo; it was five apartments across, two apartments high, the second floor connected to the ground by a metal stairway speckled with rust, all of which sat atop an unappealing dirt lot. There wasn't anything down either side of the road aside from housing, empty lots, and more road.
In summary, the exact opposite of what he thought a Hero's Agency would be like.
Then again… if this were for an underground Hero like Eraserhead, who he'd never even heard of until Midoriya pointed it out to him, the unassumingness of the place would actually make sense.
"Let's see… Second floor, apartment number five…" Sero hummed as he ascended the steps before making his way across. The weathered 205 looking like it was one stray breeze from falling off, the black-haired teen banged his knuckles on the door only for it to creak open. "Uhh… Hello…? Fuji Alice…?" he asked aloud as he read the label, looking either way before stepping inside. "I'm here with an introduction letter. For the Internship."
Making his way inside and closing the door behind him, for a moment he thought maybe the owner had completely flaked on locking the door on the way out, but the shuffling of paper against paper suddenly sounding from the silence caused him to jolt, and he whirled around.
Sitting in the tiny dining room with a light novel in her hands was a young-looking woman who didn't appear much older than he himself. She had fair skin, short dark-pink hair, and grey eyes. Her attire, for whatever reason, consisted of a blue school uniform, a red ribbon tie, and black pantyhose.
"Hey uh… I let myself in. Hope you don't mind," Sero hummed nervously, undoing the handcuff on his wrist before taking a seat across from her.
The only thing that stopped him from stepping forward and tapping the young-looking woman on the shoulder to get her attention altogether, was a cryptic text he'd received from Genki on the train ride over.
If you want to survive your internship, this is very important.
Do NOT interrupt her if you catch her in the middle of a light novel.
Seriously.
Don't do it.
DO
NOT!
I don't know how much clearer I can make that.
Just let her do her own thing and she'll take notice of you when she's done.
Bye~
'If one aunt is strong-enough to bust marble bare-handed, I don't even want to know what another could do to me…' Sero thought with a shudder as he observed the young-looking woman, her grey eyes deeply focused on the novel in her hands. 'I hope the others are having a more-exciting time…'
*MHA*
Elsewhile apart from Gokiburi Genki, with the Sweets Hero: Sugar Man…
"Is this really a Hero Agency…?" Rikido asked as he stared up at gleaming SILVERMAN GYM in the heart of Tokyo, an enormous building hewn of gleaming white concrete and polished glass. There were two eponymous "silver men", larger-than-life effigies that wouldn't look too out of place beside the Symbol of Peace. The first above the sign was posing in a Front Lat Spread and looking out into the distance. On the roof of the building and towering high into the heavens, polished muscles gleaming in the sun, stood erect in an enormous Cobra pose, looking off into the distance as well. Such care and detail had been put into them, he wouldn't have been surprised if they were actually people possessing [Gigantification] Quirks on top of a subset of [Metallization].
The map that was taped to the back of his recommendation letter led him to this very place, down to the address and the name, but he couldn't help but feel that maybe Genki was pulling his leg at his expense.
Still, he'd asked for the assist, he might as well see it through to his conclusion. It wasn't like he was Bakugou or anything, no way Genki would screw him over. Right?
Upon entering the lobby of the Silverman Gym, a pretty receptionist with cat ears immediately beckoned him over.
'Well… Guess I am at the right place,' Rikido thought as he stepped forward. "Um, excuse me-"
"Rikido Sato-kun, right?"
"Uh, yes, I'm… here for my Internship…?"
"Very good. Kabutomushi-sama is waiting for you on the top floor. Here's your membership pass. It'll let you use the elevator to get to all floors," she said handing him a laminated ID on a lanyard, the picture on it the same as his Student ID.
"So wait… Does Kabutomushi own this place, or…?"
"Oh no, Kabutomushi-sama simply rents floor space in partnership with Silverman Gym," the receptionist replied. "We have the best of the best in muscle-building technology available to us, so for a Hero Agency focused around Strength-Class Quirks, it saves money to partner up in this way. Even All Might came here in his early days after returning to Japan from the US."
"Wait, really?!" Rikido gawped incredulously.
"Yes, really," the cat-eared woman replied pointing over Rikido's shoulder.
Rikido turning and following the line made, he beheld a large photograph taken before the Silverman Gym. All Might in his Silver Age costume was standing on the right side in a Front Double Bicep pose. On the Number 1 Hero's left was a ridiculously-ripped bodybuilder, almost comically so, who looked like the head of a charming Japanese man had been photoshopped onto a macho gorilla body lathered in baby oil, the second man doing a Side Chest pose. And all he was clad in was a black speedo that left little to the imagination.
Su much for Japanese stereotypes...
"Wait, so even All Might can go all-out here?!"
"Why of course! We're one of the few non-governmental organizations sanctioned to possess Hydraulic Press and Sled-Drop weights capable of pressing the world's strongest. And it's not just All Might. Endeavor, Ryukyu, Mirko, Gang Orca, and other top Heroes make use of our facilities, since even for Pro Heroes, having a home gym to the same specs can be monumentally expensive," the woman replied.
"Damn… I'll have to come here more often then."
"Love that energy! But, a word of advice before you begin your internship…" she said gesturing to the elevators off to the side behind her. "Try not to die~"
"Right!" Rikido said stepping into the elevator. " . . . Wait what-"
The elevator closed behind him a moment later, whisking him to the upper floors before he could ask what she meant by that. With no other choice than to continue going, Rikido adjusted his grip on his briefcase as the elevator music played.
The elevator doors opening a few moments later, almost-immediately he was assailed by the sound of pumping iron and the smell of sweat, the sensations gaining intensity as he passed under the Kabutomushi Agency plaque of the hall in front of him.
Stepping into a much-larger room, the sound of pumping iron and the smell of sweat hit him like a wall, the sensations almost overwhelming him as he beheld dozens of men and women, student and veteran Hero alike, training their muscles on various sets of exercise equipment. Some of them were sturdily-built like Endeavor, while others possessed an "idealized" superhero V-shape build like All Might. Even those on the small and/or lean sides were as-muscular as him when his [Sugar Rush] was activated.
Also, it seemed like tank tops and/or sports bras were the predominant fashion choice around there…
"Hey! Fish Lips! What're you doing in my gym?!"
Rikido turning away from the walls of sweat, testosterone, and estrogen surrounding him beheld a short girl clad in black boots and green military skirt and jacket with brass buttons and miscellaneous officer paraphernalia on it; not official-looking, more like what you'd expect for cosplay. Her hair was light-brown, shoulder-length, and wavy, a pair of pink ribbons worn in the sides, her eyes a dark violet color, and for some reason she was carrying a shinai.
" . . . Kabutomushi?" he asked confusedly.
"Ah, Rikido Sato-kun. So you're the one Genki-chan asked me to intern," the woman hummed resting the length of her shinai on her palm. "Tell me, are those muscles just for the gun show, or do they have any substance to them?" she questioned. "Go on and get changed. Once you do, we'll begin introductions," she said waving him off toward what was obviously the changing rooms.
Rikido for his part was quick about it since every minute counted. After making sure everything was secure and he had his sugar packets, Rikido returned to where Kabutomushi was waiting for him, and a part of him wondered just why she was wearing military cosplay.
"First thing's first; welcome to the Kabutomushi Agency, a place where all of us are here to get along. Do you understand why?" she questioned sweetly.
"Um… Uh… Because it's that kind of an institution…?" he asked in turn.
"Boo~" the woman cooed cutely with a pucker of her lips.
*WHAM!*
The next moment he was struck across the face with her shinai, the muscular teen sent skidding backwards across the floor for a couple meters before coming to a stop.
"What the hell…?!" he growled as he got up into a brawler's stance.
"The answer is simple," the woman replied as she confidently closed the space between them, slapping her shinai onto her palm. The hulking teen bulking up with his Quirk with a quick bout of sugar intake, he dug his heels into the floor and struck her in the face with all his might, a loud *WHAM* sounding through the room. "It's because everyone here, is way too weak," she said with a smile on her face as she struck him again, completely unperturbed by his mighty blow. "All your lives have equally zero value," she said loud-enough for everyone to hear as she advanced on him again, the Yuuei student finding himself flanked by numerous students around his own age, each bulking up or in an already-bulked-up state, standing in a united front against the Pro Hero. "If you want to live, you have to become stronger. Trash like you is somebody else's property from the moment you're born. You neither own your body, nor your life," she said raining down blows upon them.
Kabutomushi didn't even come up to Rikido's chin, but that didn't mean a damn thing because even if she looked like a high schooler, her blows were the real deal, students twice or even triple his size getting battered around like ragdolls, the older Heroes moving in to catch them like clockwork as she systematically tore them apart, focusing especially on Sato.
Though the smack-down felt like it went on forever, in actuality it only took a couple of seconds for her to beat down more than a dozen strength-boosting or body-augmenting Quirks. Even his own five-fold strength didn't help him, all it did was give the sadistic woman more to smack around.
"With that… today's lesson is over," the woman chirped happily as Rikido spat out blood onto the floor. "Good night, kiddies," she said walking off with her hands behind her back, the shinai in her hands beaten and bent revealing a hidden piece of rebar within, which she casually discarded on the way out.
"This… This has to be some kind of illegal…" Rikido groaned, limbs trembling as he tried to get his feet under him.
"Don't be such a pussy, Fish Lips," a girl beside him spat, snorting out blood and phlegm as she brushed herself off. "She might be a brutal taskmaster, but she gets results. Sure, we might not be smothered with fans like All Might, or swimming in money like Endeavor, but we're still damn-good at our jobs, and proud of it."
"Doesn't beating the shit out of us defeat the entire purpose?" Rikido asked, trying to get someone on his side.
"You say that, but do you know how many Heroes-in-Training wind up in the morgue each year, beaten to death with a crowbar because they were too weak to do the one job they went to school for?" another HIT with a red-armored skullcap asked aloud. "I'd rather be a little bit beat-up but alive instead of having a closed-casket funeral at the end."
"You call this 'a little'?!" Rikido gasped, hissing as his gloves came back bloody from his split cheek.
"Hey, you're free to turn around and walk right out that door, no-one's stopping you," a young man with plate mail for skin stated jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Of course, since all your Quirk is good for is being a strength-multiplier and your technique is complete shit, you'll only be downgrading from here, even if you do manage to find another agency before the week is out."
"Besides, weren't you the one who went to Gokiburi-kun, asking for help with Internships?" another student asked. "You wouldn't be here otherwise. Kabutomushi-sama doesn't let just anyone in."
"You guys are all fucking insane…" Rikido groaned, a hand towel tossed his way a moment later.
"Clean yourself up. You're bleeding," a dark-skinned foreigner replied in English before walking off.
Though all the students around him walking off were covered in bruises, all of them held their heads high. Sure, their Quirks weren't as flashy as Bakugou or Todoroki's, but he couldn't help but think that if any of them were to challenge the heavy-hitters of his class, they'd put up a better fight than he could've.
And that… lit a fire under him.
*MHA*
AN:
Arachnid is a favorite manga of mine from recent years, so I'm pretty happy to be able to work in more insect-themed Heroes into the mix, even if none of them have been shown in-costume just yet. Not all of them have actual names in the context of their universe, so I had to get a little creative when putting them here, but I hope I did a good-enough job of setting the tone for when we see them next back at Yuuei, and what their "Post-Internship Transformations" will be like.
Hope you'll Review on this and other works.
GO BEYOND!
EXCELSIOR!