OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV: Agreed. It's a foolish endeavor for Izuku to fight All For One and his strongest underlings by his lonesome. Genki using Pokemon and Star Wars as an example to reference to All For One's abilities and the Chosen One vs the Demon Lord trope is spot on.
Re: You know, I didn't immediately think of Star Wars when I said "Chosen One" all those times, it was more of a generic "Chosen One" from the fantasy genre; but yeah, with how much Star Wars is referenced in MHA, maybe I did so subconsciously…?
LoamyCoffee: Good god, early Bakugou is a little bitch. He really wants Genki out of the way and an excuse for his loss.
Nice comment by All Might and now Genki is in on the secret. Love All Might's Joseph Joestar freakout.
If it had to be someone, I'm glad it was Genki.
Genki has a valid idea for transfer, WHICH has never been done or thought of apparently.
But considering Horikoshi's habits. Yeah.
Intense talk and Genki is connected to the Naruhata incidents. Midoriya is liable to make me go on a rant, but I won't.
I wouldn't say trivialize, but at the base, that is what the battle with OFA and AFO is. Hero and the Demon Lord.
AFO has admitted to this.
Pokemon references for the win.
Re: Yeah, Bakugou didn't really start to "grow" until he "caused" the end to All Might's career. That Genki humiliated him on national/global TV, is more reason for that.
Oh, and I actually got the Backwash idea from Steven Universe. And maybe "the Backwash Incident" from… somewhere that dangled that thread. Like the "Spaghetti Incident" in Calvin & Hobbes. And I think I read a comic somewhere where Nana told Toshinori to eat her hair~
Harleking31: I mean the One For all users do that (fighting the Demon Lord and his Four heavenly generals with a single overlevelled pokemon) because if they bring extra help it's quite possible they'll lose their quirk when they fight against the last boss, becoming a liability mid-battle and strengthening the Root of All Evil
Re: The fact that Izuku couldn't beat Tomura using [All for One] even with dozens of Heroes around him, is just proof that he doesn't stand a chance of doing it alone. I mean, why do you think the idea of a "Hero Party" fighting the "Final Boss" as a team is so-prevalent in RPGs?
*MHA*
Following the eye-opening reveal of the "shadow war" happening behind the scenes courtesy of All Might, Gokiburi Genki had a great deal to think about. After what happened at Naruhata, as soon as he was coherent-enough to hold a conversation with, his parents had told him what they were able to. A great deal of it went over his ten-year-old self's head, but at the very least he understood what had happened, and what would have to happen from then-on. All Might's little history lesson simply filled in what he hadn't known before.
Uraraka was easy-enough to distract after she'd caught on to the fact that something was bugging him (pun not intended); all he'd had to do was waggle some pricey food in front of her, and the little cinnamon roll was sufficiently appeased. She had tried to ask him what the needle marks on his arm that Katsuki had pointed out were from, and he told her it was from his medicine. He didn't say what kind of medicine or what it was for, but with the promise that it'd all get explained at school the next day, she relented.
That being said, what he was going to have to divulge to his peers, peers he'd be spending the next three years with, would not be the most-difficult thing he'd have to do the next day…
*MHA*
"Geez, Urara-chan…! You almost made me late!" Genki cried as he ran up the hill to Yuuei, a haggard-looking Ochako with bed-head hanging off his back like a koala, her clothes and school supplies made weightless by her Quirk.
"Gomen…" the cinnamon roll apologized, still half-asleep from the filling dinner from last night.
"You're lucky you're cute," he sighed as he passed through the Yuuei Barrier, a familiar face rushing up to greet them. "Ah, ohayo, Kyoka-senpai-"
The girl's [Earphone Jack]s swiping up to meet him, with his [Air Pressure Sensing] the Heteromorph had more than enough forewarning to duck his head out of the way of the unprovoked attack.
"What is it!? What's wrong?! Are we under attack!?" the brunette cried frantically as she rolled off his back and got into a fighting stance, her eyes darting every which way.
"Hey, what the hell?!" Genki cried as he batted aside another assault with the back of his hand.
"Don't you 'what the hell' me, you damn pervert!" the punk rocker girl shouted, a furious blush on her face.
"I'm the pervert!? At least I don't use my Quirk to wire-tap the boys' locker room! If anyone, you're the pervert! You damn pervert!" he cried crossing his arms in front of his chest protectively,
If Kyoka's unprovoked attack hadn't garnered the attention from passerby before, it was definitely had now.
"H-Hey, hold on a second! That is not what it sounds like!" Kyoka cried, her face red for a different reason as passerby began to whisper. "You mean you really don't know?" she whispered.
"Know what?!" Genki demanded. "I was walking up the sidewalk minding my own business when you try and bitch-slap me out of nowhere! And don't think that because you're a girl I'll hesitate to drop-kick you in Heroics 101! I drop-kick my enemies regardless of race, religion, or gender!"
" . . . You really don't know then…" Kyoka returned, looking ashamed. "You uh… You might wanna follow me then."
"Why? So you can eavesdrop on me undressing again?"
"OH JUST COME ON!" she said grabbing his wrist and hauling him up toward the front of the school.
Suffice it to say, nothing in Gokiburi Genki's short life, could've ever prepared him for…
"LADIES! COME ONE, COME ALL! FIGHT THE DECLINING BIRTH RATE! JOIN A HAREM, TODAY!" a familiar pinkette cried out bombastically.
"What the fuuuuuuuck…?!" Genki cried as he beheld a long cue of female Yuuei students leading up to what looked like a job fair stand being run by aforementioned pinkette; flanking the stand on either side were very bombastic posters making use of All Might's image, which I'll get to in a moment.
"You'll understand why I assumed you were behind this…" Kyoka answered bashfully as she tapped her fingers together, Genki storming up to the front of the line with a megawatt blush on his face before he confronted the source of his rising blood pressure.
"Hatsume-"
"Call me 'Mei-chan'~"
"-what! The hell! Is the meaning! Of this?!" the Heteromorph demanded jabbing a finger at the very Uncle Sam-like depiction of All Might in poster form pointing to the viewer above the words Fight the Declining Birth Rate.
"Oh, as long as I'm not monetizing this, I'm not violating any copyright-"
"NOT WHAT I MEAN!" Genki shrieked. "Why the hell are you pimping me out to complete strangers!?"
"We aren't all complete strangers~"
"MINA! Get out of that line this instant!"
"But if I leave now, I won't get my dakimakura!"
"Your WHAT?!"
"One Gokiburi Genki-Brand dakimakura for every sign-on!" Hatsume said without an ounce of shame as she held up a pair of body pillows, both made with heavily unsanctioned use of Genki's likeness in vaguely provocative poses; one clad in Yuuei's school uniform sans the button-up shirt with 'bedroom eyes', the other in Yuuei's gym uniform with exposed midriff and a more submissive expression.
"Um, Hatsume… I don't think this is legal…" Uraraka said nervously as she fought down the awkward 'poor girl' impulse that compelled her to get free stuff whenever the opportunity arose.
"Actually, thanks to the Japanese Bloodline Proliferation Act, polygamous relationships are perfectly legal! As long as certain fiscal and marrital obligations are met~"
"I did not sigh up for this!" Genki cried.
"I thought you'd be happy for the free publicity…" Hatsume hummed in a confused tone. "After all~ Any publicity is good publicity~ And don't you wanna fight the declining birthrate of your home country?"
"Do not! Bring politics! Into this!" Genki demanded slamming his hands down on the countertop.
"Um… What's she going on about, exactly?" Uraraka asked confusedly.
"In the back-when times," Kaminari said striking a pose beside the nearby marble bust, "as Meta Ability-related fatalities continued to rise, various countries that had experienced declining birth rates prior to the advent of Paranormality created legislation in a frantic attempt to preserve their national identities."
"And it wasn't only for that reason," Hanta said striking a mirrored pose. "While rare, lucky men did become caught up between two or more women who had the hots for them, so to appease a growing populace of horny women with superpowers to throw around-"
"Can it, you damn perverts!" Kyoka cried with a red face as she stuck her [Earphone Jack]s into one ear apiece, causing the two to wail in pitched agony.
"Hatsume! What's the meaning of this?!" a grumpy voice demanded.
'Oh thank kami. Finally, the voice of reason!' Genki sighed to himself as the haggard form of his Homeroom teacher stormed up to Mei's stand.
"Hatsume, I shouldn't need to remind you that solicitation on school grounds is against the rules…"
'THAT'S YOUR TAKEAWAY?!' everyone plus Genki thought.
"Wrong, Dry Eye! I have a permit!" Mei replied manically.
"Really? From whom?"
To this, Mei began to unashamedly dig around inside her shirt, the reactions of those around ranging from shocked to affronted to intrigued. After a couple moments, Mei withdrew a slightly-damp piece of paper, which she handed to Aizawa as though she hadn't pulled it out of her cleavage.
To Aizawa's credit, the man retained his composure as he held it up by the driest part he could find, giving the sweaty piece of stationary a once-over.
"God damn it, Midnight…!" he groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Carry on."
" . . . WHAT?!" Genki shrieked like a deaf person as Aizawa waved the whole thing off.
"If you have a problem with this, take it up with your Art teacher…" Aizawa grumbled as he walked off. "It is too early for this shit…" he muttered to himself.
And thus, as the voice of reason departed, Gokiburi Genki was left metaphorically alone, a manic pinkette at his side and Kyoka poking at his cheek as he stood with a mortified expression.
"Oh, but don't worry, I'm not actually pimping," Hatsume said showing a complete inability to read the room. "The sign-ups are for Omiai. Your brand's gotten very valuable as of late, so I'm sure you'd appreciate-"
"STOP PIMPING OUT MY NEIGHBORRRR!" Uraraka cried taking hold of the kiosk with her Quirk before chucking it into the wild blue yonder, leaving behind only Hatsume Mei, the sign-up sheet in her hand, and a pile of unclaimed dakimakura.
"I'll uh…" Kyoka said jostling Genki by the shoulder, only for him to remain insensate. "I'll walk you to homeroom."
*MHA*
"God, I feel so mortifieeeeeed…" Genki cried as he shielded his head with his arms, face pressed into his desk as he tried to disappear.
"What's his problem?" Kirishima blinked.
"Ugh, all kinds of bullshit…" Kyoka groaned. "Hey man, I'm… sorry for calling you a pervert out of nowhere…"
"Kill meeeeee…"
"Hey now, don't you worry! I'm sure this'll all blow over before you know it!" Uraraka said trying to cheer him up.
"I'd be more inclined to believe you if that wasn't nearby…!" Genki said leering at Mina as she hugged a Gym Uniform Edition Gokiburi Genki-Brand dakimakura.
" . . . What?" she asked feeling everyone's eyes on her. "This is a good-quality body pillow, right here. Just look at how pliable that stuffing is!" she said giving it a squeeze around Genki's midsection.
"Mina Ashido! Release that dakimakura at once!" Iida demanded as he marched up to her. "Can't you see you're distressing your classmate? Not only is it inappropriate to have such a thing on school grounds, but this unlicensed paraphernalia is a flagrant violation of his Copyright!"
'That's what you took from this…?' those nearby blinked.
"My rep's going to be in the toilet after this…" Genki groaned, trying to make himself disappear.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Uraraka said trying to comfort him. "I'm sure if we talk to Midnight-sensei, we can get this whole thing straightened out."
"Yeah, I'm sure that Supporter chick conned her. Or something…" Kyoka nodded.
" . . . Thanks guys…"
"Hey guys! Look what I got out front! They were just giving these away!" Hagakure squealed coming into the room.
" . . . Kill… meee…" Genki groaned as the invisible girl held up a School Uniform Edition Gokiburi Genki-Brand dakimakura.
" . . . There aren't any more of those stashed away in here, are there?" Kyoka asked tiredly, raising her [Earphone Jack]s threateningly.
In response, the other girls shook their heads frantically.
*MHA*
Aizawa arriving for Homeroom, the scruffy-looking man refused to meet Genki's eye, whereas the stink-eye he sent toward the dakimakura-holders caused them to pale. The man, refusing to bring up what happened out front any more than necessary, went about with his announcements.
The announcements for the day consisted of the forewarning about how 1-A would be going to a "Summer Break Forest Lodge", with the ultimatum that if anyone fell short of their end-of-term test, they'd be stuck in a "remedial hell", which in a school like Yuuei could mean just about anything.
Genki of course wasn't able to give his full attention to it, given the mortification that transpired before; Aizawa, having a profound ability to read the room, despite being the least-sociable among his peers at Yuuei, chose to give the young man a little slack, since what he'd just experienced was one of the more niche sides of the modern superhero world.
Genki for his part was able to recover somewhat after Homeroom, shaking off the horrors that'd transpired on the front steps so he wouldn't fall behind the others. Although, while those that had gotten to class before Hatsume set up shop in front of the school weren't privy to the source of Genki's distress, as the day went on, the out-of-the-know members of 1-A, taking note of the "Gokiburi Genki-Brand dakimakura" started to draw their own conclusions, if the inquiries they made as the day went on was any indicator.
When it came time for Modern Hero Art History, Nemuri Kayama was… less than helpful.
"Nothin' wrong with a little workplace polyamory~" she purred, licking her lips salaciously.
"You mean you knew Hatsume was going to do that?!" Genki repeated, eyes darting from hers.
"There's nothing wrong with flaunting your body for an adoring public~" the R-Rated Hero breathed heavily, her hands caressing down her body and causing the boys nearby to slouch in their seats. "Fact of the matter is, there will always be those who objectify you once you become a pro. Thus, the most-important thing you can learn to do is lay back and take it~" she purred suggestively.
"God, you're such a bad influence…" Genki groaned, realizing Midnight would be zero help.
No, wait, since she had signed off on the whole shitshow, she was actually "less-than-zero" help.
"Genki-kun, if this is really that important to you, I'll rescind the permission I gave to Hatsume, lay this whole thing to rest for good," she said placing a consoling hand on his shoulder, adopting a legitimately serious expression as she did so.
"What does it matter? My own classmates bought into it, and half the school probably knows what a 'sellout' I am…" Genki said as his antennae drooped.
" . . . I'm sorry. If I knew this was going to affect you so adversely, I'd have exercised far more discretion."
"So wait, Genki isn't getting a harem?" Sero asked, almost sounding disappointed.
"Oh no, he definitely can get himself a harem~" Midnight replied brightly causing the boys to sputter.
"What…?! HOW…!?" Kaminari inquired boldly, everyone's attention piqued.
"Well, the preservation of the Japanese people is a legitimate concern the government of our country faces whenever the census comes in. And it wasn't just me who gave Hatsume-chan permission to set up a sign-up for Omiai; the principal too chooses to support combating the declining birthrate, even if Nezu only sees love in humans as 'a chemical reaction that compels them to breed'," she said imitating the principal's tone. "Not that there's anything wrong with immigration, but when it comes to things like 'national identity', you'd be amazed what gets passed into law."
"And just what the hell could compel Hatsume to do this?" Genki groaned tiredly, since between the kiosk and the dakimakura, that was definitely premeditated.
"Well, maybe the girl's sweet on you but found out you were into someone else~"
"Kero?!" Tsuyu squeaked as Midnight waggled her eyebrows at her.
"Or at least, that's the main reason a girl would try to get someone else to form a harem," she explained with the same tone she reserved for Art History.
"So wait, you're saying if I become awesome-enough, I can get a harem of my own?!" Kaminari asked unashamedly, the girls gawping at him for saying such a thing out loud.
"Well, it does help if you come from a rich family, but earning power can get around that pitfall too," Midnight replied with a flirtatious wink, Genki banging his head on the nearby wall. "Just remember that if you're going to form a harem, that you do so for the right reasons. Happiness and sexual gratification are only around 30% of the equation. The other 70% is a blend of submission and compromise. If you're only in it for the carnal pleasure of it, a harem situation can quickly implode on itself, and trust me, you don't want to be at ground zero when that happens."
"And just how would you know all this?" Momo asked with a scandalized expression, and a closeted fascination.
"Well, I used to have a little harem of my own back in the day~" she winked.
"REALLY didn't need to hear that…!" Genki moaned while a few of the boys dripped blood down their faces.
"Of course, there was nothing overtly carnal about it," Midnight waved off dismissively. "Though I wouldn't deny that all that young… energy, was something I enjoyed cultivating~"
"Hey, Midnight-sensei!" Hagakure said waving her shirt sleeve upward. "What's that poking out from behind your podium? Looks familiar."
Have you ever heard a cockroach scream?
"EEEEEEEEEE!"
Because that's what it sounded like…
"Nopenopenopenopenopenopenope!" Genki cried as he bolted for the nearest window.
*CRASH!*
"Hoh~? Did I maybe press him… too hard~" Midnight shuddered as a fresh breeze came in through the open door.
*MHA*
With that horror show sufficiently talked-to-death, Genki had one final thing to take care of before lunch.
And no, he did not acknowledge his small "freak out" in the interim.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention please," Genki said getting everyone's attention right before lunch. "If you're curious about 'that'," he said making air quotes, "please follow me to the conference room at lunch time. There will be catering in place for those that participate, but I must say right now, if you aren't confident in your ability to keep a secret, secret, then please… do not follow me," he concluded flatly.
"Don't worry! Your secret's safe with me!" Ochako nodded firmly.
"Same! I won't betray your confidence!" Izuku nodded firmly, the rest of the class following suit to various degrees.
"Fft. Whatever. Don't wait up," Bakugou huffed.
"B-But Kacchan, don't you want to hear the rest?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah, man, aren't you curious?" Kirishima questioned.
"I only wanted to know if he was juicing or not. I couldn't give a rat's ass about anything else," Bakugou grumbled as he ignored everyone else
And he was poignantly ignoring the fact that the day before, he flat-out accused the guy of "juicing".
"Well, his loss, because I am not telling this story again," Genki sighed, the lunch bell ringing a moment later. *SIIIIIIIGH* " . . . It's show time…"
*MHA*
It went without saying that after the major upset he'd shown during the Sports Festival, that the majority of 1-A followed Genki upstairs at a brisk jog, curious as to what the "Origin" of 1-A's most-recent addition was, and how it related to the mysterious trio of needle marks on his arm. The only exceptions were of course, Katsuki Bakugou who only cared about himself, Koji Koda for some reason, and Yuga Aoyama who acted strangely reticent but quickly waved it off with an excuse akin to how subterfuge made food taste "très mauvais".
The majority of 1-A arriving at the conference room, were greeted by an inverted U-shaped table backed by a pull-down projection screen, its paired projector mounted on the ceiling, while off to the side on a table were a large stack of bento, a cooler filled with drinks, and a small stack of papers.
"What're these for?" Sato asked holding up one of the sheets.
"They appear to be your standard non-disclosure agreement," Momo nodded appreciatively. "Well, trade secrets are an important aspect of the Hero career path. This secret of yours must be truly important, as is the resolve you have to share this secret with us," she hummed, treating the current proceedings as a learning experience as she made a pen with her [Creation] and signed it after a quick perusal.
"Lunches are complimentary, and the spares are first-come-first-serve once everybody has one," Genki said making his way to the front of the room.
"Aren't you going to grab one?" Ochako asked.
"I had a buttered roll earlier," Genki waved off as he took his seat at the head and flipped up a tablet and stylus, the lights dimming as the projector booted up.
"WHOA! These are some fancy lunches!" Sero gawped eyeing the fresh seafood in his, Uraraka drooling at what met her after the lid came free.
"Man, you really are rich!" Mina gasped while Momo remained completely nonplussed.
Genki twirling the stylus in his hand for a couple minutes as he centered himself, his peers getting over how obviously-expensive the catering was, Genki dimmed the lights even further, the projector's light enough for everyone to eat by.
Cue My Hero Academia OST - Analysis
"I guess I should start by saying that that power… the one I displayed at the end of the Sports Festival against Todoroki… I wasn't born with that ability," he said somberly, the idle chatter dying away as an invisible tension filled the room. "That transformation was actually given to me by someone… something else…" he continued, Izuku's eyes going wide with shock. "Tell me, does anyone remember the Instant Villain incidents that took place in Naruhata around five years ago?"
"Ah, I do," Iida spoke up. "My older brother took part in numerous Villain foilings and a number of high-profile rescues, including but not limited to the infamous 'Monster Cat-Bus Incident'," he said with pride in his voice.
"Wait a minute, that was real?!" -was the general consensus of those mid-bite.
"Well, the thing about the Villain Factory was… I was one of its victims," Genki continued.
"Villain Factory?" Mina blinked.
" . . . Any of you ever hear of Trigger?" the Heteromorph asked.
"I've heard of it, some kinda… Quirk-boosting neo-steroid. Gives regular people Hero-grade Quirks," Kyoka answered as she fiddled with her earlobes.
In a world where Heroes trampled over one another to become the Number One, stories about "shortcuts" that would let you take hold of greatness were always in the background. As such, more than a few of 1-A had heard their peers in middle school bring it up.
"That's what Trigger is, but there's more nuance to it than that; more history. Only reason I've been told, is because I was a victim and my parents pulled strings because they needed to know. And while I don't think it bears repeating, I'll do so again; nothing I say, leaves this room, meaning you don't get to tell any of the absentees," he said tapping his stylus on the tablet in front of him. "The Villain Factory wasn't just about hocking neo-steroids to thugs and lower-level criminals; it was part of a meticulously-calculated plot to produce living weapons. The sort that could be sold to warlords around the world abroad, or just used for general villainy domestically."
His deft hands scribbling with the stylus, on the left side of the screen he drew the letter A, a syringe, and underneath it, a buff-looking featureless chibi.
"The first strain of Trigger distributed through Naruhata, 'Trigger A' for the sake of this discusssion, was just meant to get people's attention. It was a product that really worked unlike all the 'snake oil' products from before, and was handed out for free because if there's one thing that's addictive in this superhuman society we all live in, it's power," he said gesturing to the chibi he'd drawn. "Imagine every Hero wannabe from your middle school who thinks having a Quirks is 'enough' to get into a Hero Academy. Now imagine they've got the firepower to back it up. That was the selling point of Trigger. A shortcut for 'instant power' that eroded one's sense of reason; and that erosion of reason wasn't all on the drug either. Simply having the power was enough to make people act on it."
The next chibi he drew under the letter B had bigger bulging muscles, a livid expression on its face, throbbing veins, and a number of "tick marks" for an air of menace.
"Then we've got 'Trigger B'. Same base compound as the first, but loaded with 'Uppers' to make people go hog wild. Anyone exposed would fight harder, fight for longer, and push their Quirks farther," he continued. "With the uppers, not only would people's Quirks go berserk, but normally-sensible people who'd never used their Quirks a day in their professional lives would suddenly attack everything around them indiscriminately. When the Heroes responded to these 'Instant Villains', they hit them fast, and they hit them hard, all without realizing until later that they were just ordinary civilians who got roofied. And that's what happened to me," he said opening a minimized window, news clippings of completely ordinary people whose Quirks had gone berserk popping up on-screen.
"Wait, but then that means…" Mina said counting down with her fingers. "You were only ten at the time!"
"Yes. And because I was a kid at the time, I massively overdosed on the stuff," he said causing everyone to gasp in shock.
"What… What happened?" Tsuyu croaked.
"What else? I went on a rampage," Genki chuckled self-deprecatingly. "My mother and I were in Naruhata to have a nice lunch with my dad, since he'd just become the new No.2 a week or so before and he'd been called in to help fight the rash of Instant Villains that'd been popping up. Right before we could meet him however…"
The next thing he scribbled onto the projector was what looked like a hornet with a tiny medical syringe on its abdomen in place of its stinger.
"The Villain Factory unleashed these things on us; little angry hornets equipped with Trigger that started stinging people at random, and en masse. I'd already witnessed half a dozen ordinary people turn into crazed lunatics, so when I saw one going after my mom… My body moved on its own, and the next thing I know, I'm a passenger inside my own body."
"What… What happened after that?" Ochako asked worriedly.
"Well, mind you, what happens next is second-hand since my own memories were muddled by the Trigger," he confessed awkwardly. "Basically, when the Heroes came in to respond, my dad found my mom in a panic, and me missing. According to her, she'd been so-shocked by my transformation that she could barely think straight, and when she pointed my dad in my general direction… he basically got the wrong idea," he said somberly. "Long story short, my father beat the 'Cockroach Villain' within an inch of his life thinking the guy'd killed me… only to realize too-late that the 'Cockroach Villain' was me."
Once again, shocked gasps rose up from the room.
"After that… After that, he just wasn't the same anymore."
"B-But that was from a communication error!" Izuku gawped.
"Yes. Just like in Romeo & Juliet," Momo hummed thoughtfully.
"Didn't matter if it was a communication error," Genki said shaking his head. "After the Trigger wore off and he had my beaten-to-near-death body pinned under his knee, he realized he was no different than one other so-called 'Hero' who violently abused his family."
At Genki's knowing tone, Todoroki's shoulders stiffened, the darkness and everyone's intensified focus on Genki doing a great job of hiding his reaction.
"Okay… So you OD'd on Trigger…" Mina hummed. "But then what's with the stuff?" she asked pointing to his arm.
"This," he said waggling his arm, "is from a Quirk suppressant imaginatively named 'Suppress'. I had to begin taking it after my incident."
"But… Trigger is a one-time thing, isn't it?" Iida questioned. "After it wears off, the recipient is no longer symptomatic and their Quirk resumes normal functionality."
"That was the case for adults; not for small children who OD'd on the stuff," Genki said shaking his head. "The 'Uppers' wore off, true, but because I was a Heteromorph at the earliest stages of puberty, on-top-of how that stuff soaked into my spinal fluid from where the needle poked near the gap between my vertebrae," he said tapping the nape of his neck, "there were… side-effects."
"What kind of side-effects?" Kirishima winced.
"That transformation… it became a part of my Quirk because, according to the egg-heads who investigated what happened to me, my body started to synthesize a Trigger-like derivative chemical as an adaptive mechanism. Because of that, after I recovered from having every bone in my body broken, I had to start taking Suppress every few days so I wouldn't 'relapse'. Again," he muttered to himself.
"So then the Suppress stops you from 'Hulking Out' whenever you're pissed off?" Rikido asked, drawing comparisons between Genki's transformation and his own since both impacted the user's sense of reason.
"More like it makes it more-difficult to 'Hulk Out'," he said making air quotes. "I can still transform, I just have to be super mad or super stressed; pain can do it too, but only if I let it happen. As long as I'm on Suppress, I can get regular-angry safely and not worry about ripping someone in half. That being said however…" he paused. "Suppress doesn't actually work on Heteromorphs, though it does inhibit Transformation-type Quirks as well as Emitter. Of course, the stuff isn't a 'cure-all' since its effectiveness varies from person to person, which is why customized restraints and cells tailored to individual Quirks are still needed for places like Tartarus. Anyway!" he said shaking his head. "Since my dad was still the No.2 Hero at the time, what he accidentally did to me was swept under the rug, and I was transferred over to Yuuei so Recovery Girl could un-pulverize my mangled skeleton. If she hadn't, I'd have probably spent the rest of my natural life in a full-body cast."
At that little tidbit, most everyone winced.
"And even though I was in a drug-induced stupor the entire time and eating through a straw, if I hadn't been holed up in Yuuei for my recovery, there was a good chance I'd have been kidnapped by the Villain Factory for the next step of their nefarious plot; the creation of the 'Next-Level' Villains," he said ominously.
"Next-Level…?" Mina blinked.
"The long and short of it was, Instant Villains who showed exceptional 'promise' were abducted by the Villain Factory, and were modified via bio-engineering into giant, powerful, monstrous beings with radically strengthened Quirks that could handle higher doses of Trigger than ever before without any of the debilitating side-effects. Of course, the subsequent experimentation resulted in permanent mutations, and hideous physical deformities alongside the manifestation of multiple Quirks in a single body."
The next set of images he pulled up were some "Before & After" shots. One of them was of an unassuming-looking boy that'd been warped into a giant eel with stubby limbs, and then later into a muscle-bound eel monster. Another was a mugshot of a thuggish-looking brute, who'd been turned into a literal giant praying mantis man. Another was a man with a visor and bat wings who later became a full-on man-bat nearly doubled in size, a couple of guys that looked like anthropomorphized locomotives.
"J-Just like that thing from the USJ!" Kirishima shuddered, his eyes fixing on the giant eel-like Villain.
"N-No way, those two can't be related, can they…?" Sero blinked as he eyed the others.
"They actually are," Genki stated. "After what happened at the USJ, people started to realize that what happened in Naruhata, and later at the Tokyo Sky Egg, was just the bad guys perfecting the 'manufacturing process' for what we now call 'Noumu'. Drugging random people with neo-steroids and going all 'Dr. Frankensteion' on them wasn't enough; they also had to refine the chemical balance between neo-steroids and uppers, what body-types were most-receptive to the drug, which Quirks would be strengthened how-much, etc. etc."
"But wait, why do you know this?" Kyoka asked. "That seems a bit much for a little kid to be told."
"I wasn't. My parents were told after people started going missing before re-emerging as hideously deformed mutants, and then my parents told me so I'd understand why I had to keep my head down," he answered.
"Sooo… you're still hopped up on Trigger, even now…?" Rikido asked.
"Not in any form that'd trigger a false positive on a drug screening. The stuff swirling around in my system… It basically pushed the 'upper limit' of what my Quirk could do; or at least that's what the leading experts believe, since my sub-Quirks are definitely stronger than my mother's, whose traits manifested more-prominently in my Quirk Factor than my father's. Based on the form I take when I 'Hulk Out', and it's obvious that my father's Quirk Factor which was originally recessive, was turned into a dominant trait.
"Yeah, that's right, you look almost nothing like your father, um, no offense," Kaminari hummed.
"None taken."
"But… wait…" Iida paused as he adopted a thoughtful expression. "If your incident took place five years ago… Is it in any way related to your father's sudden retirement from the Hero world at the very height of his career?"
At this, everyone grew more curious, though only Izuku still remembered The Devil Bug Hero: Cockroach King, in any significant detail.
"It didn't happen right away… but yes… What happened to me eventually led to my father's retirement," Genki sighed tiredly.
"Sweetie, if you don't want to tell us, you don't have to," Mina urged pleadingly.
"Yeah, man, you've already blown our minds enough for one day," Sero added.
"Yeah, all that 'Villain Factory' stuff sounds like something from a scary sci-fi movie," Hagakure shuddered.
Cue My Hero Academia OST - Hero's Shadow
" . . . No. I still have more to say. More I need to prepare you for so you don't repeat past mistakes," Genki said with a shake of his head, the somber air weighing down o n everyone in a completely different way than before. "After my accident, my father dove headlong into the criminal underworld of Naruhata and every prefecture between there and China where some of the ingredients originated. If it was related to the Villain Factory, he hunted it down like a wild dog. My mother… according to her, his methods became more and more violent, up until the point he didn't even recognize himself anymore. Roughly a month after my accident, he realized he needed to stop before he did something he couldn't take back, and the rest… is history."
"This sounds highly confidential. Why would you be told as such?" Iida asked curiously. "As I recall, you would only be around ten when all this transpired."
"Trust me, when a man stops talking to his son and won't even look him in the eye, that shit gets noticed," Genki deadpanned. "It took me a long time to stop blaming myself for his downfall. Even ran away for a little while," he admitted with a self-deprecating chuckle as he wiped tears from his eyes, "but eventually, I came up with an idea to mend my father's broken spirit; long-shot as it was."
"How do you intend to save him?" Tokoyami questioned furtively.
" . . . I'm going to climb the mountaintop, reach the same spot he did at the height of his career and show him, prove, to him, that you can still wear the silver crown and not lose yourself to the power that comes with it," Genki answered, Todoroki wondering just how much he knew about his own upbringing. "If I can do that, he'll have to listen to me when I tell he can finally forgive himself. And it has to be me because…! Because the world just stopped caring about him when he retired from the Hero world…"
At this, a stunned silence filling the room, Genki's sincerity and the confession for his motivations pressing down on them like a wet blanket.
"No.2, huh…" Todoroki hummed, the first to speak up. "I'll admit, you're the first Hero Student I've ever met who said they don't want to become 'Number One'."
"Dude…" Kirishima said as he processed everything. "That's some heavy shit."
"Yeah, that's like… your own superhero origin story," Mina gaped with wide eyes, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and even one of silver can turn men into monsters," Tokoyami said stoically.
"Yeah, suffice it to say, the sheer authority granted to the top heroes is nothing to brush off. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then having the authority of a top Hero can allow for even the most atrocious of justified crimes. Some of us know this fact more than others," he said causing Todoroki to shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Though honestly, aiming for the Top Ten alone would be a long shot. The higher you get in the rankings, the more-difficult it is to climb higher. Instead of the usual geometric curve you find in the 1000s and 100s, the moment you move into the double-digits, the difficulty curve becomes logarithmic instead."
" . . . Okay I'm still trying to process how Genki almost got turned into a Noumu… What exactly was the takeaway in all this?" Kaminari questioned aloud, voicing the concerns of those that were still confused.
"The takeaway is you shouldn't make use of the 'liberties' you're given when you become a top-ranking pro," Todoroki stated frankly, getting everyone's attention. "The higher your rank, the greater the scandals you can have swept under the rug if you make some sort of mistake. What Genki's trying to tell us, is we shouldn't 'lose ourselves' during the course of our heroic aspirations. But more than that, we shouldn't let a thirst for revenge threaten to destroy us."
At this, it was Iida's turn to shift uncomfortably in his seat.
"For me, the takeaway was that the lines separating 'justice' from 'revenge' are almost nonexistent," Tokoyami hummed. "It would be all too easy to fall into that darkness, without ever realizing it."
"Is this one of those 'revelry in the dark' things?" Hagakure asked with what was assumed to be a tilt of her head.
END OST
"So yeah… That's me," Genki said as he un-dimmed the lights. "That's the 'Origin Story' of Gokiburi Genki. And in case it bears repeating, everything I've said in this room, stays in this room, which means you don't get to say anything to Bakugou, Koda, or Aoyama. Am I understood?"
"But what if one of us blabs?" Rikido questioned.
"Then I sue your ass for defamation, as well as violating your NDA," Genki said waving a sheaf of papers.
"Wait, you were serious about that?!" Mina gawped. "But I signed that thing without actually reading it!"
"That is a very bad policy to have…" Genki said frankly, Momo nodding her head in agreement.
"So um… those 'Next-Level Villains'…" Izuku spoke up with a raised hand. "What… What happened to them? The ones that didn't attack the Sky Egg, I mean."
"After they resurfaced?" Genki blinked. "Oh, well, once the Villain Factory got the combat data they needed, they just 'tossed them back' like fish. And seeing as how their condition was more or less permanent, from what I heard, a bunch of them pooled together the Housing Subsidies they were granted and opened up a Cat Café in Naruhata."
"Wait, seriously? That sounds awesome!" Hagakure cheered.
"Still, this is a rather disturbing revelation…" Tokoyami hummed, relieved that the lighting was no longer dimmed. "If the Villain Factory has been refining their living weapon research for five years at the behest of the League of Villains who attacked us earlier this year… Just how-powerful will the Noumu be we are fated to fight in the future?"
Because if there was one thing the 'Sacking of Hosu' proved, it was that what happened at the USJ, was definitely not a one-off.
"It's impossible to say really," Genki said shaking his head. "With the sheer diversity of Quirks out in the general population, and the League of Villains or-whoever can have these Noumu custom-made for whatever needs doing; whoever needs killing," he answered with a serious expression that pinned most-everyone in place. "I remember that the 'Bombers' who attacked the Sky Egg and almost killed everyone inside, allegedly had the Quirks [Flight], [Super Regeneration], [Electromagnetic Waves], [Multiplication], and [Self-Detonation]. Add in the fact that they were manufactured for use in literal suicide bombings, and it's likely any Noumu we face in the future will be completely without fear or self-preservation instinct. And if they can be made to be autonomous…"
"Christ, it's like a bad horror movie…" Kyoka shuddered.
"How do you think I feel?" Ojiro asked. "Guys like me are always the first to be killed by the slobbering monster, and to know they can build these things…" he shuddered.
"I guess it was too much to hope that thing from the USJ and what happened at Hosu would be isolated incidents," Tsuyu croaked worriedly.
"No… wait…" Genki paused wagging a finger at the wrist. "They might actually already have Noumu with higher thought process…"
" . . . SAY WHAT?!" everyone gawped incredulously, some paling in horror.
"Mind you, this could just be another tall tale my 'Uncle Fist' told me over beers that I wasn't allowed to actually drink," he clarified reassuringly; the significant look he briefly cast at Izuku however, showed it was 'anything but', and that what came next was a cleverly-disguised warning. "Basically he went up against a crazy person with [Overclock], [Self-Detonation], [Electromagnetic Waves], [Regeneration], and [Bombify]. The only reason he survived his first encounter with this guy was because he prepped the battlefield specificallly to turn [Overclock] against him."
"Hold on… Do you mean the same Quirk as the High-Speed Hero: O'Clock?" Iida inquired.
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Behind my father, he was Tensei's idol growing up," Iida hummed. "He was one of the fastest Heroes in all of Japan before-"
"Before what?" Uraraka asked when her friend suddenly stopped, growing reticent.
" . . . Nevermind," Iida said shaking his head. "It's probably nothing."
Izuku on the other hand, had gears churning like mad in his head.
Before being told about [All for One], Izuku would've assumed that Genki's "Uncle Fist" had simply studied the [Overclock] Quirk front-back-and-sideways before creating an effective countermeasure like he did in a hobbyistic sense. Now that he did know about [All for One] however, combined with his own knowledge about how O'Clock suddenly retired "under mysterious circumstances" and what Genki had just said, and he couldn't help but speculate that O'Clock had retired because his Quirk had been stolen, [Overclock] was thusly given to this alleged "Proto-Noumu", and then O'Clock knowing his own Quirk inside-and-out had been able to actually combat it when it re-emerged, it being his own former Quirk.
With all the pieces laid out in front of him like this, it was the only conclusion that made any amount of sense anymore.
"Hey, come on man, you're joking, right?" Rikidou asked nervously. "I mean, you said your uncle told you this story over beers or something, so-"
"Well, he did operate out of Naruhata when the Villain Factory was still going strong, so it could be true," Genki said with a shrug, as though he didn't know about a Quirk-stealing Supervillain hiding in the background.
"You have to tell someone!"
"Hm?" Genki blinked as Mina slammed her palms on the table.
"If there are actually thinking Noumu out there, you need to tell somebody!" she insisted heatedly, the others nodding in agreement.
"Oh, I already told Nezu all this," he answered, causing everyone to stop short and blink. "How else would I have convinced him to let me use this surveillance-resistant room for our little pow-wow?"
"Wait, really?" she blinked looking around. "But it looks so ordinary."
"Well, what would a room resistant to external and internal surveillance look like?" he asked rhetorically.
"Ummmm…" she hummed, no real answer forthcoming.
"So wait, the NDAs were just for show?" Hagakure questioned with a tilt of her head.
"Oh no, those were still real," Genki waved off. "As for the other thing, after what happened at the USJ, Nezu and the police have been investigating this like crazy. After all, biological weapons like the Noumu could spark another Cold War!" he said laying that revelation in everyone's laps. "When I heard about what happened in Hosu, I asked around my family why we weren't better-prepared, and as it turns out, all the original case files for Naruhata and the Villain Factory, and the Underground Masquerade before that, were all destroyed. More specifically, they were blown up with something like [Self-Detonation] or [Bombify]."
"Geez, how many exploding Quirks are there?" Sero asked.
"That's a question without any satisfactory answer," Tokoyami hummed.
"So someone did so intentionally, then," Todoroki stated. "They were covering their tracks."
"Seems that way. I assume the police had to re-construct their knowledgebase from first and second-hand accounts, which of course is worse than starting from scratch," he shrugged. "Fact of the matter is, bio-engineering is getting better every year, so it's only a matter of time until these Noumu become a global problem instead of just a domestic one. Reason I'm sharing all this with you is because I'd rather we not get caught with our pants down the next time the League of Villains decides to let their Frankensteinian toys 'off the leash'."
"Well, vulgarities aside, I believe we have received more than we bargained for this day," Momo hummed as she set her chopsticks to the side and delicately dabbed at her face with a napkin, ever the picture of a young woman of high society. "However, I think we can all agree that we've come out of this meeting wiser and stronger for it. Thank you, Goki-I mean, Genki-san, for sharing your wisdom with all of us."
"You're welcome."
"Still thought… Why tell us… anything?" Rikido questioned. "I mean, Aizawa himself said you weren't juicing, so why explain yourself to us like this?"
"Yeah, we wouldn't pull a Bakugou and tell people you were taking steroids!" Kaminari nodded.
"You can say that now, but what about after we graduate?" Iida questioned. "It's a cutthroat industry, and it isn't an uncommon practice to undermine the efforts of your fellow Heroes to get ahead. It's entirely possible that Genki opened up to us about this so we'd know how-pivotal it is to be honest and upfront with one another, lest we turn on one another like common thieves!"
"Well, that and tell us the Boogeyman is real…" Kyoka muttered.
"Still, when it comes to origin stories, I feel like yours would be hard to 'top', as it were," Shoji hummed.
"Genki-san!" Midoriya spoke up. "I think… I think it isn't fair that you limit your aspirations like this!"
'Not this again…' Todoroki groaned, palming his face.
"Midoriya… Did you miss the part where I said it'd be almost impossible to reach No.2, let alone No.1?" Genki blinked, causing Izuku to blush. "Look, fact of the matter is, there's no way that all of us can be No.1, and even if we dominate the Top 10, that'll still leave half of us out in the wind. Take it from a guy who grew up surrounded by Heroes; rank is fleeting, what matters is taking pride in the work that you do, the people you save, the lives you change. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be the No.1 Hero if that's your honest ambition, but you shouldn't act like if you fall short that all your effort was meaningless."
"Yes, I could not have worded it any better myself," Iida nodded bombastically. "I have to say, though, you have quite the flair for public speaking, and storytelling. I think we could all learn from your conduct."
"It's… mostly thanks to my Mutant traits that I'm so-composed. I have more 'bandwidth' than the average person, you know," Genki said scratching the back of his head, but feeling satisfied at what he'd accomplished today.
"So… What now?" Ochako asked.
"I believe 'now', we should take what we have learned, keep it secret, but still use it to better ourselves," Iida said adjusting his glasses. "As students of Yuuei's prestigious Hero Course, we must all aspire to be worthy of the faith that Gokiburi Genki has placed in us!"
"Yeah… I guess this was a pretty big truth bomb to have hanging over our heads for three years," Ochako hummed as she picked at the final grains of rice in her bento. "But don't worry! We've got your back!"
"Yeah, man! You really helped me out at Internships, so it's only fair I return the favor!" Kaminari grinned.
"If Bakugou tries another smear campaign, I shall throw mud in his eyes!" Momo nodded fervently.
"Thank you. All of you. You really know how to make a guy feel welcome," Genki nodded as affirmative words filled the sound-proofed room.
"Question!" Hagakure called out. "If you did so-well in the Sports Festival, why didn't you get into the Hero Course the first time around?"
At this Genki could only sigh, running his hand down his face.
*MHA*
Thusly, Genki unveiled his "Origin" with time to spare, and sufficiently armed his class with the knowledge that'd help them survive the times to come. With that lingering issue sufficiently resolved, all that was left for Genki to worry about in the immediate future was the end-of-term exam at the end of June.
. . .
HA!
As if~!
*MHA*
AN:
So there you have it; part of the reason why Genki Gokiburi ("Gokiburi, Genki" in Japan) is so strong.
The idea for his "Origin" by and large came to me when I was re-reading the Vigilantes spinoff in paperback, Volume 3 "Extra: Hero Conference", and that it could tie so-well into his deeper motivation was a lot of fun to write out. While initially the strength of Genki's "Sub-Quirks" would've been attributed to good old-fashioned hard work from years of Quirk Reinforcement, rewriting it so that the after-effects of Ideo Trigger were part of it just helped me blend past and present together in a way that helped the Villain Factory feel more cohesive with the main story's continuity. And let's be honest, if they ever make a My Hero Academia: Vigilantes spin-off, I'm going to watch the hell out of that.
As for the other thing, which admittedly went more in-depth than I initially planned for…
The Declining (Japanese) Birthrate is a very real thing, and in a world of Heroes versus Villains where entire city blocks could be wiped out by the wrong Quirk, it makes for a very convenient plot device to facilitate the Harem sub-plot. I mean it's one thing to have the Death Rate exceed the Birth Rate, fewer people getting married, and "Celibacy Syndrome" causing people just to not have sex in general, etc. etc. But throw in Villains and that's a whole other kettle of fish.
Villain Attacks didn't just cause radical reforms in what counted as "up to code" in building construction. When you have Villains whose Quirks turn them into literal suicide bombers, death is something that can happen anywhere, at any time, and given high-end Villains like All for One can wipe out entire city blocks in every direction in one go, or where Quirks like Tomura's are an "Insta-Kill" if you get hit, and that makes it even more believable that issues surrounding the Declining Birth Rate in Japan would continue to endure, even into the estimated "200 years" separating the beginning of "Paranormality" to the first episode of My Hero Academia. This would also explain the large number of foreigners immigrating to Japan, from Yuuga Aoyama who is clearly French (-descended), to Toshinori Yagi who clearly has American ancestry since most Japanese men are not tall and/or blond, and especially Pony Tsunotori who is much more heavily American and in fact is from America.
Not that I'm going to lean on the Harem sub-plot, but I feel like it's a very real consequence of the post-Paranormal world for governments afraid of losing their "national identity" to open up polyamory in such a way; provided the "Harem King/Queen" can actually pay for it. That and it was way more fun to introduce the idea in-story in a way other than the girls having a sit-down and agreeing to the Polygamy out of thin air; I can totally imagine Midnight signing off on this, while Nezu's interest is largely academic.
And don't even try to pretend the Rule 34 doesn't exist in the world of My Hero Academia. Heroes can and will be objectified, either aesthetically or sexually.
All that being said, a great deal of thought went into refining Genki's backstory and family history while blending it with the lore of Vigilantes and the overall lore of My Hero Academia, as well as moving the polyamory angle forward through legit worldbuilding (like has been done in a few other MHA stories I've read that went the Harem route), so I hope all-this is interesting-enough to garner some form of response. It DEFINITELY went on longer than intended.
SO! Give me your thoughts in the Review Column, and I'll get back to you soon. Until next time…
GO BEYOND!
EXCELSIOR!