Iron Maiden

by Galloway12

AU where Mei Hatsume strives to be a hero but is rejected from entering the Hero course due to her weaker Quirk. She nearly gives up her dream, until one day she meets an old hero who shows her that heroes aren't just made, but they can be built as well. And that man is none other than Tony Stark AKA, The Iron Man (Mei is very OOC.)

6. Version I

Tony had his suits that he dubbed 'Model Armor' or 'Mark'. My suits will be called, 'Version'. I was thinking of calling them babies, but I decided against it because it just did not feel right. Today, we built Version I. My very first suit. I worked for weeks to show that I am deserving to be Tony's successor, and yesterday, he finally deemed me worthy of that honor. We built it yesterday, and now today, we are going to design it and put it to the test.

School went by as normal, and training at the dojo was more lively due to my blood pumping with adrenaline. Heck I was going so fast with my blows, and being as precise as I possible could make them, that sensei thought I was still traumatized from criminals attacking me. Afterwards, I made my way to the abandoned Stark Building where I entered the elevator to enter the testing lab once again.

The door opened to show the room remained the same, empty. But in the middle where the platform stood was a plain chromium suit, but it was no ordinary suit because this is my baby. Well technically not mine fully, Tony and I produced this new baby together…oh god that did not sound right. Uh…Tony and I designed it together; that's much better.

"Pinky." Tony announces his presence through the intercoms, "Version I has been built, now decide on the color scheme you want, modifications you want to apply to it, and start designing this beauty to your heart's extent. Afterwards, we will have it tested."

I take my time walking towards my baby. This is what I have been waiting for, for a long time now. She may not be complete yet, but once we finalize everything, I will be taking out her for a date in the skies. "Say….Tony!" I yell out to him, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is." Tony replies back.

"Can you gather data on the hero course students? I need to know what abilities will work best in the Sports Festival." I say as I am looking through a color wheel for a motif. Surely having daddy would be great right now given his professional job is being an artist, but I am certain that showing him that I need his opinion for the color pattern of my Version I would probably get me grounded for life.

Without a response, Tony starts to collect information on every student in the hero courses whilst I continue to look for the right colors. After a few brief moments of silence, Tony speaks up, "Alright. I looked them over, and I believe we can shorten the list of people to worry over." Oh thank god I don't have to study up on 40 different Quirks.

I drop my backpack onto the ground and pull out a notebook from it that contains all of my ideas I drawn down for weapons. I flip to an empty page and title it, 'Opposing Quirks' to know what to look out for, "Alright, who should we be worried about?" I ask Tony.

"In total, you need to know how to counter for exactly 12 different Quirks. 8 from Class 1-A and 4 from Class 1-B." Tony claims before speaking again, "From Class 1-A, I'll give their names and their Quirks. Ready to write them down?" I nod my head. "Okay. Momo Yaoyorozu, Creation. She can create any object from her body through the fat cells in her body." Sounds like my kind of lab partner. I like her already; I have to find her and meet her and convince her to be my lab partner.

"Your new pal Kirishima, Hardening. You saw what he could do, and from it seems he is a tank so repulsor blasts won't affect him." That is tricky. If I can't blast him away or stun him, what will I do? This requires more planning.

"Tenya Iida, Engine. He has engine boosters on his calves which make him move at super-speeds." That'll probably be a challenge, but depending on his speed, my Wire Arrow surely could keep pace with him or even outmanoeuvre him.

"This one is the oddball because she doesn't have a Quirk, but from her history, she is a challenger. Tsuyu Asui, Frog mutation. Though having the powers of a frog does not seem that difficult to get by, she has shown to be calm and collective in stressful situations, and appears to nearly have her mutation mastered. She also possesses a tongue that can reach up to 20 meters. This is one girl you can not overlook." Frogger huh? Just hit her with a stun shot, and she is out, but getting her in my sights will be the tricky part.

"Ochaco Uraraka, Zero-Gravity. Believe it or not, this one is the underdog of Class 1-A. If she touches you with all five of her fingers, you become weightless. That is a huge problem considering that 1% of power when using the repulsor soles will make you fly as if you were using 20% power. So keep your distance." Zero-Gravity? Oh, she would also make a great partner in the lab, her Quirk could move around so many of those heavy objects with ease.

"Now, here are the big three. Izuku Midoriya…Strength Enhancement." Tony took a noticeable pause, what was that about? "Like I'm sure you know, his strength is almost equal to that of All Might's Detroit Smash, so one hit from him will be enough to overpower you. Not because the suit will be destroyed, oh no, but because the amount of wind force that is pushing you away will definitely cause a ring-out."

"'Ring-out'?" I asked with confusion, "Why a ring-out?"

"Oh right, I know all of the tests that the are happening at the Sports Festival due to private emails and such. Don't expect me to tell you them though; I still want you to be challenged to see how good you are with improvisation." Tony explains.

Damn it. "Whatever then." I say, "Let's continue."

"Katsuki Bakugo, Explosion. He is able to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the palm of his hands and create explosions. The more he packs, the bigger the boom. Not only that, but he seems to know the art of war pretty fairly, but probably not as much as the next guy on the list." Interesting on many levels, but I will need to be focused against him.

"And lastly, the most powerful in Class 1-A, Shouto Todoroki, Half-Cold Half-Hot. The left part of his body is able to emit fire while the right side forms ice. He is able to use them for short, medium, and long ranged attacks; and because he is the literal fusion between Iceman and Human Torch, Todoroki is most likely capable of causing as much damage as Midoriya." Oh. That will be 'fun' to go up against.

"That rounds up Class 1-A's biggest threats, have ideas on how to counter them?"

"Well," I begin to think for a minute as I look through all of the Quirks. Each of them have a strength that can defeat me, but huge weaknesses as well. "Most of them can be defeated if I were to stay at a distance or even have stun shots to take them out. For Kirishima though I may just have to push him out of the ring or constrict him so he doesn't move. But regarding Todoroki, I will need to sacrifice one slot for a weapon against him because he could easily defeat me if I were to face him." I tap my chin to concentrate on what I could develop to use against them before I come up with many different types of weapons. Another thought comes into my head, "Before I finalize what I want for my suit, tell me about the 4 from Class 1-B."

"Alright then." Tony takes a minute before speaking once more, "Setsuna Tokage, Lizard Tail Splitter. She can split her body into many different parts, but the number varies depending on the shape and size of those parts." So basically something like a blob? The same weapons I am thinking about using against Todoroki could prove to be effective against this one too.

"Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu….what a creative and loving name for a child." Tony remarks with some snark, "His Quirk is a copy of Kirishima's, except he is made out of steel than rock." The same situation applies then, no need to change plans.

"Ibara Shiozaki, vines. Her hair is basically vines that can grow, attack, and be used to grab. No doubt that will be a huge problem to deal with." Sheesh, same thing with Tokage and Todoroki. I think I know the exact weapon that is definitely needed.

"Itsuka Kendo, Big Fist. She can increase the size of her hands to giant sized fist. Though it makes her slow when at full size, I wouldn't doubt she knows that and has found a way around that weakness. Her punches are not as strong as Midoriya's but Kendo is still not someone to take lightly." Okay, stunning weapons are definitely needed. Speaking of big fists from Kendo, she kinda reminds of Mr. Fantastic, Kamala Khan, and a retro game I found at the junkyard that I managed to get working: BattleToads.

Taking the rest of the notes down, I review them before coming up with my final thoughts. "Alright, I know what I want." I say with confidence as I walk up to the suit, "I'll need a reactor that can change the temperature of the armor's outer surface so it can instantly freeze objects in place when I make contact with it, and in a few seconds, heats up so ice melts instantaneously. I will also like to add one my babies into my arsenal, the capture gun, but make into a cannon so I could entrap bigger foes. I also want to add in tasers. One for each of my wrists and add homing tasers into my chest armor. That's four slots taken. I would like to have a replica of your 'Hyper-Velocity Impact' modification, so I am able to think quicker, act faster, and have a protective electric shield. Lastly, the iconic Unibeam." I am so proud of myself, and so hyped to see that my requests went in as I see the armor rising into the air before many arms start to take it apart and apply the mods I wanted into it.

"This should take some time, any idea on those colors yet?" Tony questions me.

I smile and look up at my armor, "I do. Where it was red, use magenta; where it was gold, use navy blue."

I can hear Tony sounding pleased, "Not a bad combination of colors. Alright, let's wait then. Just watch the show unfold." I sit down and watch the suit starting to be built. There are many sparks, many replacements, and the contrasting of the six conversions I asked for. As I am watching this though, I can't help but sing to myself softly.

"Yeah, you could be the greatest

You can be the best

You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You could beat the world

You could beat the war

You could talk to God, go banging on his door"

I unconsciously get up and sing louder,

"You can throw your hands up

You can beat the clock

You can move a mountain

You can break rocks

You can be a master"

I start to sing more louder, loud enough for Tony to hear as I am not noticing my actions,

"Don't wait for luck

Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself"

Now I yell out loudly as I am feeling many different emotions running through my veins from torment I felt my whole life, the hopelessness from when I was rejected, and now my will to overcome all the odds.

"Standing in the hall of fame

And the world's gonna know your name

'Cause you burn with the brightest flame

And the world's gonna know your name

And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame!"

I start to dance along with the lyrics subconsciously with more pride and raw emotion flowing through me than ever before,

"You could go the distance

You could run the mile

You could walk straight through hell with a smile

You could be the hero

You could get the gold

Breaking all the records that thought, never could be broke

Do it for your people

Do it for your pride

How you ever gonna know if you never even try?"

I recall my many dreams and fantasies of being a hero. How I envisioned myself being a top pro hero in the world, of how I was going to save millions of people,

"Do it for your country

Do it for you name

'Cause there's gonna be a day

When your, standing in the hall of fame

And the world's gonna know your name

'Cause you burn with the brightest flame

And the world's gonna know your name

And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

Be a champion, be a champion, be a champion, be a champion

On the walls of the hall of fame"

I begin to add jumps and skips to my dancing, not losing my balance for a second,

"Be students, be teachers

Be politicians, be preachers

Be believers, be leaders

Be astronauts, Be champions

Be truth seekers

Be students, be teachers

Be politicians, be preachers

Be believers, be leaders

Be astronauts, be champions"

I dance my way back to the where the platform stood and stopped moving and looked up with the brightest smile and the most energetic feeling I have ever felt in a long time,

"Standing in the hall of fame

And the world's gonna know your name

'Cause you burn with the brightest flame

And the world's gonna know your name

And you'll be on the walls of the hall of fame

You could be the greatest, you can be the best

(You can be a champion)You can be the King Kong banging on your chest

You could beat the world (you can be a champion)

You could beat the war (you can be a champion)

You could talk to God, go banging on his door (you can be a champion)

You can throw your hands up (you can be a champion)

You can beat the clock (you can be a champion)

You can move a mountain (you can be a champion)

You can break rocks (you can be a champion)

You can be a master (you can be a champion)

Don't wait for luck (you can be a champion)

Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself (you can be a champion)

Standing in the hall of fame (you can be a champion)

You can be a champion!"

I finish just in time as the armor started to come down. Slowly, but surely, the reveal of my greatest baby has finally shown herself to me. When the armor finally lowers itself to ground level, I take a sharp breath as my suit was in my sights. Version I. It is the same as Bleeding Edge, just like I wanted, but where the red color once was was now replaced by a smooth, polished, metallic, beautiful shade of magenta with the gold being a cool navy blue. In the middle was an Arc Reactor that was the color of cyan. The suit then let out a strong 'hiss' as the back of it opened up, indicating that it is ready to be deployed.

"You sang about destiny." Tony finally says, "What are you, a Disney Princess?"

I sign heavily and looked down with my body slumped over. My greatest moment just turned into another comical moment for my amazing mentor. "Just had to ruin the moment, huh?" I straighten myself out as Tony snickers.

"Hey, you were the one singing and dancing around like Cinderella, you think I pass up an opportunity like that?" Tony chortled.

I get behind the suit, "You are a real jackass!" I say loudly before calming myself and looking inside the opened suit. "But….thank you." I look up towards the ceiling and smile warmly.

Even though I can not see him, I feel as though Tony is smiling back at me, "You're welcome kid, now get in and let's put this new suit through the wringer." Without hesitation, I enter Version I.

Version I clamps itself shut as she then powers on. The HUD lights up as it presents me with data, a clear display of the area in front of me, the remaining battery power in the suit, a hitbox that shows how much damage the armor has sustained, and a small box in the top left that reads 'Tony'.

"Hatsume," Tony begins, "While you were being Cinderella, I was devising a series of trials that will help you prepare for the other children you'll be facing off against. You will be battling against some robots that resemble heroes and villains from my time as some replicate and share, similar fighting styles and Quirks. I made them considerably weaker, so you have a chance at success and not defeated so easily. However, two of those children have Quirks that don't core relate to any of the heroes or villains of the past such as Uraraka's Zero-Gravity and Momo's Creation; also, Bakugo and Midoriya do relate to two people who work well with explosives and punches that can shatter buildings, but one self-destructs rather than causing explosives from his hands and the other is known as the Hulk. No need to explain that one. So we will work on strategies for the four of them. Understood?"

"Roger." I simply say as I am currently going over my arsenal of weapons, where they are, and how much I can use them. "Who am I facing against first?"

"Kirishima, new friend of yours, but he shares a similar style of fighting and Quirk of an old friend of mine. In honor of my past comrade, I will say his famous catchphrase: 'It's clobberin' time.'" Tony chuckles lightly as a beam of electricity hits the ground and standing where the lighting struck was an orange-rock looking man with blue tight shorts on with the number '4' acting as a belt buckle. As the lighting hits the ground, the ground suddenly lights up as black lines appear several yards away from where Thing is standing. I look around to see that black lines create a massive square as if they represent a ring. "To win the tournament, you must find a way to incapacitate your rival whether that is by knocking them out or rendering them unable to move, or win by ring-out. The choice is yours, but you have to figure out how to achieve victory." Tony explains as Thing begins to move, "Start!"

I immediately fly near Thing as I shoot cyan repulsor blasts at him, but nothing happens as Thing rampages through my blast and nearly grabs me the ankle. I fly out of his reach before flying down as fast as I can, and I deliver a powerful right hook across Thing's face. Thing is slightly stunned, but strikes back with a powerful punch of his own that knocks me back far from him. I am able to regain control of myself before I am cross over the ring-out line. Thinking logically for a second, I study Thing for a moment. "He's big and bulky, and there is no way that I will be able to stun him or fight him fist to fist. So knocking him out or getting a ring-out victory is out of the picture, which leaves the best option to win is to making him immovable." I say to myself before Thing begins to charge at me. I charge at him as well, and before we make contact, I swerve to the side as Thing rushes past me. I quickly spin around, unveil the capture cannon from my shoulder, and fire a large capture rope at Thing. It wraps itself around him, and as he tries to get it off, it only constricts him more before he is unable to move his arms at all.

"I win." I simply say with a smirk on my face before lightning zaps Thing away as the rope falls harmlessly to the floor. "How does the lightning do that?"

"Well, when the lightning zaps the robots, their bodies become molecular, and the molecules are transferred from area to area through the electricity. It works on organic life; I tested it on many types of living organisms before myself when I still had a body." Tony clarifies as I am left stunned and excited. "Don't lose focus. You still have other robots to face off against." As Tony finishes talking, another bolt strikes the ground as a new foe appeared. He wore a green suit with a silver lighting bolt on his chest and silver gauntlets. His hair was also silver. "Quicksilver. Not the fastest hero ever, but he ranks up there. He was the first one to come to mind when thinking of pure speedsters. Now, I decreased his speed dramatically, but he is still very fast. Start."

Tony was not lying because the second Tony said 'start', Quicksilver was already on me and delivering a fury of punches on my suit and that was enough to start pushing me back. I planted my feet into the ground and swung at Quicksilver, only to hit air. I then felt more strikes coming from my back, then both of my sides, then in my face and chest, and then it was just strikes everywhere. I could hear my suit beeping and showing red as it was taking too much damage. I blasted off into the sky to regroup myself as I looked down to see Quicksilver was just standing there with a smirk on his face. "Smug prick." I say as I rush him once more but he dodges me and attempts to hit me back, but since I have a Hyper-Velocity Impact upgrade, I am able to quickly grab his wrist and pull him into my body where I have my temperature reactor lower itself to freezing levels. Quicksilver struggles in my grasp, but is soon frozen solid as ice surrounds his entire body.

"Easy enough." I say before I see the ice vibrating. Reacting on instinct and desperation, I pick up the ice block and quickly toss it out of bounds. "Or maybe not." I say as Quicksilver is zapped away.

"Quicksilver is fast and is able to vibrate his body quickly enough to phase through solid objects. I highly doubt Iida will be able to phase, but you never know what a person is capable of until you face them." Tony mentions as multiple beams strike the ground. This time, it could be a villain or a hero from your perspective. A man with brown hair appears as he is wearing black boots, pants, and a black trench coat. Under the coat was a green shirt that had six yellow large dots on it that had lines connecting them all. "Though Setsuna Tokage may not share the same Quirk as Multiple Man, I do not know if Tokage can indeed pull off such a feat to create duplicates of herself like Multiple Man. She may be able to, but I have no knowledge of that, so better safe than sorry." Tony details to me as I laugh a little. "Start."

"This is going to be easy. You already know why." I say cockily as I boost myself into the air, and land smack down in the middle of the ring. The Multiple Men quickly surround me in every direction. Before the dupes attack me, I crouch on my knees, extend my arms out, and fire a yellow laser from my wrists as I spin around in a circle. All of the Multiple Men fall to the ground as I unclip my heavily modified laser-taser from my wrists. I came up with this idea when I recalled Tony using laser weapons, and seeing how he used it when he was cutting through multiple objects. Instead of making them lethal, I had the ions be specifically designed to send electricity through my opponent to stun them. Lightning hits all of the Multiple Men as I chuckle to myself, "Wow, these are kinda easy." I say as I look at my arms, "With this suit, I could win instantly."

"Oh really?" Tony asks with annoyance in his voice, "If that is the case, then this next one should be a piece of cake. By the way, I made him this photocopy on purpose."

Lightning hits the ground once more as I turn to look at my new opponent, but I instantly freeze up in my suit. Standing there was a villain, but it was one of the most dangerous I ever read about. His body was this blood red slime that had tendrils popping out of his body, his face had a smile that was going to give me nightmares and two large white eyes without pupils.

"Mmmm….." It began to hum lightly with a disorated voice. I can not move a muscle as my feet remain trapped on the ground as I could only stare in horror as I knew who this was. Carnage. It had looked at me for a second before it began to chuckle hauntingly as I back up slowly. "I can smell your fear…I can smell your blood, your flesh." Carnage speaks to me as he takes one step towards me. "But you'll smell much more better after I am done eating your carcass!" Carnage yells at me as it launches tendrils at me. I barely get out of the way as Carnage then runs towards me and tackles me into the ground under him. "DIE!" It says to me as he lifts up an arm and creates an axe out of it.

In a fearful and desperate attempt to escape, I active my boosters and fly out from under him. Though I do not get far as he fires more tendrils at me and grabs me by the leg. "Going somewhere?!" Carnage taunts me as he pulls me back towards him, and he slams me onto the ground and plunges his tendrils into my Version I. I start to panic as I begin to feel the tendrils enter the suit and surrounding themselves around my body. Thinking quickly, I remember that symbonites were weak to hot temperatures. I amplify my suits thermometer as the suit reaches up to 1,000 degrees fahrenheit in seconds as Carnage quickly reels his tendrils back to himself.

"How annoying." Carnage simply says before he starts to create more tendrils, "You're really annoying! Just die already!" He yells out as I duck under most the incoming tendrils, and shoot him in the chest with one a blast, but he recovers quickly and rushes me before kicking me away towards the black lines. I am barely able to stop myself before I cross the line, but react quickly as Carnage rushes me once more. At this moment, I switch on my protective shield as I grab Carnage by the face.

"Put all power through my left hand and discharge it, now!" I say as the shield quickly evaporates away; it then cooks Carnage as the robot screams in agony as it is burning from the intense heat of the electricity before he slumps over. I throw him out of the ring before landing on my butt, taking off the mask, and panting heavily in fear.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" Tony says with a smug attitude as I fire a repulsor blast in a random direction.

"Why the hell did you put that thing against me?! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" I yell out as keep yelling, "I literally felt the tendrils seep into my suit and onto my body! I thought you said they were not lethal!" I yell out more as that hideous smile of his was scarred into my mind.

"But you prevailed, didn't you?" Tony talks back, "Sure I said all of those stipulations, but I wanted to see how'd you react against a real evil. You almost met death yesterday, but you were not scared of those three wannabe villains. How would you react when you are scared? Well, we saw that. You froze, but were not immobile either. You barely found a way to win, but remember, that these are just watered down versions of the real deal. I chose Carnage because that guy is one of the few villains who knows how to give true intimidation. Many villains are capable of making heroes pause and feel fear, but to feel real, utter terror and a sense of lingering death along with that sensation of fight or flight attitude, or true desperation, only a select few can give off that vibe. Could I have chosen someone else? Sure, but he had tendrils, and those can mimic the vine Quirk of Ibara Shiozaki. I combined two lessons into one. Hate me for it, but I know how to make you learn." Lightning struck Carnage, and his body disappeared.

God I hate him so much, I won't be able to sleep for awhile. I hate his idea, but I learned the hard way too. I was being egotistical, and Tony did not hesitate to break that ego; there would be no other reason to have Carnage in the mix. I shake my head and try to clear my thoughts of Carnage as I put the helmet back on and stand up, ready to fight once again.

"This next villain I modified a bit for this fight. Originally, he had four abilities, but seeing as Todoroki only has two, I edited his DNA and powers so he may only use Ice and Fire."

Another bolt hit the ground. Standing there was a creature wearing a purple skin tight suit with the center being cover in black in a 'V' shape with black gloves and boots. His skin was green with his eyes also being green, and he had no hair, but he did have a furrowed chin and large pointed ears.

"An age old enemy of the Fantastic Four, and of the Avengers. The Super-Skrull. Well…sorta." Tony says as I stare at the alien creature in utter confusion.

"Huh. So that is how it looks like. It really does like a like goblin than the pictures on website shows for it. To think this race caused itself to go extinct is a travesty, though…" I somberly say. Tony explained in his articles that after a final failed attempt at invading Earth, the Skrull empire imploded and overthrew its own government and a civil war broke out. Accordingly, there are no survivors from that war, but that does not mean there could be a few stranded roaming around somewhere. Though they may have been evil, I believe that the race could have been redeemed if they had a more peaceful ruler. I don't think any race deserves to die off.

"Don't mourn them. They had it coming." Tony coldly states.

I say nothing and get into a fighting stance, "I'm ready."

"Fight."

The Super-Skrull launches himself forward with a spinning fire attack as I dodge out of the way, but the alien thinks quickly before stopping himself and planting its foot on the ground as ice begins to form at a rapid pace. I fly up into the air to avoid it as Skrull then puts his arm out and spits fire from the palm of his hand. I turn up my temperature to freezing levels to avoid getting burned as I fire a blast at Skrull. It hits in the chest as he takes a step back, but does does not go down. Skrull quickly runs in a different direction as I chase him with my homing taser ready to be launched. Skrull stops in place putting his arm out and creating an ice slide with his hand as he rides the ice with one hand while shooting fire with the other at me. I quickly evade the fires and fire my blasts at him as we engage in a mid-air battle. I fire several homing tasers at Skrull, but he jumps into the air, puts his ice hand forward, and freezes my tasers as they harmlessly fall to the ground.

I take advantage of the situation, fly towards Skrull and uppercut him in the jaw before I grab him by the head and fly straight towards the ground where I plant his head into the floor. Skrull turns his body into flames as I jump back to avoid his flames. Skrull gets back up and stares at me.

"All who oppose the Skrull empire shall be executed! You are no exception!" He roars at me in a voice that sounds as if he has two different vocal cords. Skrull fires a massive amount of fire his legs as he instantly takes off into the air as I tail him from behind and try to blast him. Skrull turns around and throws fireballs at me. They fly past by me as I wait for my auto target system to get me a clear shot. It locks on, and I fire a blast at Skrull. The blast hits him on the back as the flames from the soles of feet stop flaming and he falls towards the ground as I land a few feet away from him. Skrull was about to get up, but I fire multiple blasts at him to keep him down as my the rest of my homing tasers get locked onto him. Once I see they are ready, I fire them while pausing my repulsor blasts on him as all of tasers land around his body as he now as stiff as a twig.

"Damn...he was quick and knew what to do. I can only imagine what the real Super-Skrull was like." I say to myself as the Skrull disappears from the bolt that hit him.

"Super-Skrull, the you faced being Kl'rt, is a very dangerous opponent. He is able to take on the Fantastic Four by himself, so whenever we know we're going to be facing him, there is a lot of preparing that is taken to fight him." Tony details me, "That was the last one. Let's talk about the others."

I take off my helmet and walk float back towards the platform. I land Version I on the platform where she is then taken above me for repairs and reloading. I get out the same notebook and flip to another empty page I title: 'Strategies.'

Tony takes a few moments before he speaks, "Momo can use creation to create anything from her fatty cells, but I would suppose there as to be a limit to how much she can before she tires herself out."

"There is that, but how long does it take to create those items? If it takes her awhile to create items, then I could use that to my advantage. Also, and this one depends on her mental game, if I keep her on the run, she will not be able to focus on creating what she wants to counter me and that will leave her wide open for a quick finisher." I preach my own ideas whilst writing them down.

"Those are good ideas, organize those ideas into separate plans. If one of those schemes doesn't work, try the next one." I write numbers next to the ideas to note what should be plan a and beyond. "With Uraraka, it's the issue of not getting touched. Now we do not know who fast she is, but I won't think it will be a problem considering your homing tasers will catch her." Though it is kinda harsh and arrogant to pass off the underdog of the Class 1-A, Version I clearly holds a guaranteed win against her though.

"Despite that advantage, I won't take her lightly. Who knows, she might surprise me if I don't take her seriously." I imagine Uraraka won't be holding back either considering this tournament will help shape her future.

"Okay, moving on then. From video I have seen from Bakugo, he is a prodigy when it comes to battle. He's skilled, clever, tactful, adaptive, and an all around fierceful combatant. He knows how to use his Quirk for various attacks, and to move around the area faster, even to where he could fly it seems. His biggest downfall; however, is that he is way too cocky for his own good. If you can expose that ego and use it against him, you will be able to win."

Bakugo. He sounds like he could be a great hero with all of that talent. Heh, I am kinda excited to meet him to see what kind of person he is even though that ego could be knocked down a few pegs. "I think's good enough for me." I speak up and put my notebook away.

"What about Midoriya?" I can sense Tony's confusion in his voice.

"I want to study and prepare a plan for him. I want to show you that I help myself, and I think doing at least one of the strategies by myself will be a good way to show that." Of course I want to prove more than that. I wanted to plan against everyone, but maybe I will a later time.

"Alright then Pinky, suit yourself." Tony lowers the suit for me as Version I was quickly repaired and reloaded, "When it was getting repaired, I had nanites take over the suit. Now Hatsume, this is a big responsibility for you, so listen up." I look up with a hopeful smile as I believe I know what he is going to say, "This is your suit. I made it for you, so you could have it at all times, not so I could keep it. You do what you will with it, but I expect you to keep it out of anyone's hands, I don't care who it is, no one else will ever get in that suit. I also expect you to keep me a secret still and not tell anyone that I am alive still. And finally, remember why you have that suit every time you use it. Do not forget why you have it or what drove you to be my successor. Never forget who you are when the populace chants your name." Tony is dead serious about this because his voice also sounds just as serious as when I almost died in the Mark II.

I nod my head rapidly and pump my fist into the air. "Yes Tony!" I get into the suit before the nanites begin to climb up towards my goggles and fuse into them. I look around to take in the lab once more, but I lose my smile quickly and let out a forlorn sign.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy you have your own 'Model Armor' or 'Version I' in your case?" Tony asks with concern.

"I am happy, I am really am it's just…" I look down and left out a stifled laugh, "This is going to sound stupid, but I kinda just want to hug you now…" I say with a sad voice, but have a small smile. "But it's okay though, I am just happy to have you in my life. It must be fun being immortal in the internet."

"It sounded more cheesy than stupid, but…" I hear Tony let out a huge sign of his own, one that sounds depressed too, "You would think being in the internet is fun, but it really isn't, far from it." I look up in utter confusion as Tony continues, "I long for the day that I can touch something with my hands or feel a breeze across my face instead of phasing through everything because I am nothing more but a mere code in a system. As much as I want to touch something again, I know it won't come true. I miss being able to build with my own two hands, I miss my family and my friends, I miss having a body in general, I miss being a hero… I miss being me…" Tony's voice had cracked a bit before his voice trailed off.

I was left speechless, stunned, and…really sad after hearing that. I never really thought about how Tony felt being in the internet. Tony must be miserable being in the internet; not being able to feel anything or do what you love, outliving your loved ones, and just….just not being human anymore. Honestly, I was thinking about how cool it would be to live on forever and know everything in the world, but I never stopped to think about how lonely and self-destructive it could be. To be nothing but a number floating around in empty space, having all the knowledge and power you could ever want, but not being able to feel anything at all? I would sacrifice my brain if it meant I could hug my parents…

Tony made a noise that sounded as, though, as if he clapped his hands together, and his voice was clear of any emotion, "But it was my choice to make. I only have myself to blame, so don't worry about how I feel. I did this to find my champion, and it seems you made yourself to be that one. Fate had nothing to do this opportunity. You earned your spot kid. Congratulations."

I smile and bow, "Thank you Tony, I won't let you down."

"It's not me who you shouldn't let down, it's the people you are going to save that you shouldn't let down." Tony said, sharing some of his wisdom. I will always remember that.

I head towards the elevator where the door opens, and I enter it. "Tony."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to win the Sports Festival." I say with a voice full of confidence and my fist held up in front of me.

Tony chuckles a bit, "I know you will because no one is going in with more drive than you."

I giggle a little as the elevator closes and sends me back up. Once I reach the top, I leave the building and hop onto a train. Not a second later, I feel my phone vibrating as I reach for it and see I have a text message from both Mina and Midoriya.

Mina: Hey Hatsume, we just wanna check up on you.

Midoriya: Yeah, we want to know if you are doing okay.

I smile gently and start to text them back.

Me: Never better, in fact, I am doing fantastic!

Mina: Wow, you are tough.

Midoriya: Glad to hear you are doing great!

Me: Yeah! Say, you guys want to hang out tomorrow? It's Saturday and I don't have anything happening for me.

Mina: Sure! I'm free tomorrow!

Midoriya: I uh...I don't know…

Mina: Come on Midoriya! It will be fun!

Me: Please? I wanna tell you more about my babies!

Mina: Your babies?! Girl you got knocked up already?!

Me: What?

Midoriya: She didn't mean babies like that Mina! She refers to her inventions as her 'babies!'

Mina: Oooooooh. She never told me that. lol

Me: I still don't know what you mean, but whatever.

Midoriya: Okay okay I'll come. Where and when then?

Me: 10am at the downtown mall! They have amazing chocolate sundaes there, and since it'll be Sunday, they'll have a special one!

Mina: Sounds like a plan! I'll be there!

Midoriya: So will I.

Me: Yaaaaaaay! I need to do something real quick. I'll text you both later. Chow!

Mina: Did you seriously say chow? Who says that anymore?

Midoriya: It's actually spelled 'Chao', and I use it from time to time.

Mina: Dorks. Anyways bye!

Midoriya: H-h-hey! That's mean...I think...um….bye!

---

A/N: So, I want to clarify a few things.

One: Next chapter will be a filler, a fun little filler to establish the three's relationship.

Two: Hatsume knows Midoriya is strong; however, no one told her about the repercussions Midoriya suffers whenever he uses One for All. So to her, he's an unstoppable force, and figuring out a plan to defeat him would be a great way to prove to Tony and herself that she is capable of doing things without Tony in her mind.

Three: Also, I feel as though that I need restate that Hatsume faced MUCH weaker versions of the heroes and villains she went up against. Hatsume is nowhere near that powerful to take on those titans. So please, do not think I am making her OP; those were just feeble test dummies and nothing more.

Four: The next Arc will be the Sports Festival, and that should come out after I finish writing up a chapter for my other story. Hope y'all are having a good day, see ya next time.