"So… what is it that you wanted me to see?" All Might, in his true form, asked his friend Naomasa Tsukauchi.
Some time ago, detective Tsukauchi called All Might on the phone, asking if he could come with him. The reason? Because they believed to have found something of quiet interest to the Symbol of Peace. He had made sure that the other officers at the station were informed that someone that worked under All MIght's hero agency was coming to be informed of the situation. Not many if any had an issue whatsoever. Mainly due to the fact that, outside of the guy working came from All Might agency (who was actually All Might himself) and because there was a chance that they could have some Intel of use. Seeing how the hero was the number one of Japan, one would think that those under him would be informed of not so known information as well.
"You said that there was something that you found about the Nomu, right?" asked Toshinori.
"Yeah and.. I know that I said it wasn't urgent…. But it sure is important." the detective said, as he guided the secret hero to his office at the station.
There, he could see a bunch of papers on top of his desk. There was a smell of coffee. Both freshly made as well as coffee already drunk. Naomasa probably pulled a couple of All Nights (as he likes to call them) again. But outside of that, there was a folder on the desk of his friend that seemingly took cereal stage. As if that specific folder had something that was believed to be important. But before he could question the folder, Naomasa turned his computer screen on and showed it to All Might.
"Remember this fellow?" he asked, showing All Might the sight of Nomu, the monster that was meant to kill him, chained as if he were a rabid dog, despite him not moving one inch.
Al Might frowned and glared at the screen. That monster hurt his co-workers, hurt his students and was quite close to ending his life. He sure as heck wouldn't forget about him.
"Has he done anything yet?" asked Toshinori, but Naomasa shook in denial.
"He has remained docile since coming here. Honestly, it's quite unnerving that it hasn't done anything yet." Naomasa said, as he took the folder. "Normally, we wouldn't be asking you to come here. So in any other circumstances, this would just be a leak of intel that you would have found out."
"It's that serious, huh?" Toshinori asked, as Naomasa nodded. "What is it then?"
"We haven't been able to make him talk. I don't think it's him just keeping his mouth shut, at this point, I think he's just unable to make a sentence. He sure lives up to his name. We may be able to see it, but he may as well be brainless." Naomasa said.
"So, what else have you done?"
"We decided to have some D.N.A analysis, see if it could tell us something. But it sure is taking longer than we expected."
"Mm? How so?" asked All Might, as Naomasa finally gave him the folder that was on his desk.
"I'm no science major, but even I can tell when something is just a big mess." he said as All Might opened the folder.
What he saw may as well be jiberish to him, for he was no expert in the fields of biology or whatnot. From what little he could remember from his tutoring sessions with Peter, he could somewhat decipher that whatever he was looking for, may be some sort of… genetic map? Was that even the correct term? Regardless, it looked like a mess and maybe for once, it didn't have to do with his lack of knowledge in the respective field. And if Naomasa went out of his way to get him to the station, then maybe there was more than meets the eye.
"What exactly is this?"
"Let me put it this way. The people on our end are losing their heads even trying to understand what this even is. I even recieved call that they're asking for specialist to try and decipher this, and because of that, I also went to the trouble of seeing if I could do something about it… which is why… I called my sister…" he said, with not that much enthusiasm, yet surprising Toshinori.
"Wait, you called Makoto?! This sure is important for you to actually go out of your way to reach her and ask for her help." said All Might as Naomasa sighed.
"I know… I had to endure being teased for two hours before she could even hear me out… TWO. HOURS." Naomasa said, trying to get a hold of himself. "In any case, she has contacts with S.H.I.E.L.D and other folks thanks to her line of work. So I tried to see if I could be given the green light to see if we could request their help."
"And I take it that they didn't? Knowing how the Hero Committee works and how much of a mess international laws are." said All Might, with a bit of annoyance at the red tape that they would have to maneuver to do their work.
"Surprisingly enough, they actually gave me the thumbs up…" he said, surprising All Might. "Well, that's not entirely true…" he quickly said, making Toshi's expression return to one that said 'of course they didn't'. "They allowed me to give just one bit of what was happening to see if that could give us any extra lead. A bit unorthodox, but it gave us something."
"Well, that's a new for them." Toshi noted. "What did they say?"
"For starters… that this Nomu guy's genes may as well be the equivalent of those notes made out of magazines that appear on those crime and mystery shows."
"And what does that even supposed to mean?"
"... Does the name Nathaniel Essex mean anything to you?" Naomasa asked, making Toshinori's heart miss a beat.
Several actually
"Mr. Sinister?!" he shouted as Naomasa nodded.
"I see that you know of him." the officer asked as the hero nodded with a growl.
"That man… if you could even call him a man… he's nothing short of a mad scientist. A deranged lunatic that treats everyone as a mere experiment for him to play with!" Toshi said, while trying to regain his cool, for he almost activated One for All out of pure reflex. "He mostly bothers Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men, but I've had my fair share of run-ins with him. He has tried to clone me a couple of times. Even tried to steal my D.N.A to add it to one of his experiments. Thank goodness I stopped him before he could… wait… does that mean that Mr. Sinister is in conjunction with the League of Villains?!"
"That's the interesting… and scary part." Naomasa said. "While my sister says that they detected Mr. Sinister's handwork in the sample that was sent, he wasn't the only one."
"There are more?!" the hero asked, with Naomasa nodding in affirmation.
"There's a bunch that's still unknown, maybe those parts are more original work, but they were able to tell that small bits of what was done to Nomu, could be comparable to work similar to other villain scientists. From the likes of the Wizard, Armin Zola, the Red Ghost." Naomasa continued, making All Might remember something.
"Young Parker… she mentioned that the villains revealed that they made this Nomu… genetic manipulation, of course."
"And from what we've seen, they're very good to be able to understand these many experts in the field… foreigner villains, large numbers, their intel gathering ability… whoever the League of Villains are, they have someone backing them up."
"And whoever that person is… perhaps the League of Villains may be more problematic than we first thought…" All Might said
And in the meantime, somewhere in a shady area of the city, there was a bar. A bar that was somewhat hidden from everyone's sight. And in that bar, certain individuals lingered. They were recovering from their injuries, from their loss and humiliation. And right now, one of those certain individuals was currently livid.
"RAAAGH!" Joey shouted, throwing a mug of beer at one of the walls of the bar, making Kurogiri sigh.
"I would appreciate it if you could keep property damage to a bare minimum. Must I remind you that you still owe me a pool table?" the mist-like villain said, while the New Yorker growled.
"Why do we have to keep these two…? I can hardly get enough sleep thanks to them throwing a tantrum every five minutes…" said Shigaraki, while looking at Joey specifically. "And you're always the one that makes the most noise…"
"Sip it, you runt! You're the last person that I want to hear that crap!" she shouted back.
"What is it that has you so agitated?" asked Kurogiri.
"You really want to know?! Fine! I came here because Giran promised me Spider-Man's runts! And what happened then? You screwed things up! If you had just done your job like you should have, then at least one of those two would already be dead! And what's worse? It's been DAYS since then! And the only thing we've done so far is just a bunch of nothing!"
"We've sustained injuries that we're still recovering from. Or should I remind you that you had your nose broken?" Supercharger said, pointing out the nose guard that she was still wearing, fact that she found irritating and that made her growl some more. "Be lucky that they made it so that your nose heals quicker than it should. Normally it takes between three to six weeks to heal."
"Tsk, like I cared about that." she replied to the other only American criminal in the bar. "How come you aren't as restless? What happened to all that 'cleansing the world of the superpower diseases' crap?"
"Believe me, I too would love to go and enforce my message upon this wretched society! But as we are now, we may not be able to do much. Acting in haste will do us no good." said Supercharger while the T.V changed to a commercial break.
And the ad that just so happened to air, was one involving U.A. What's more, it involved the U.A Sports Festival. Why on Earth would a new's network go out of their way to talk about some school event, especially on national television, was beyond the understanding of the two westerns. They found it quite odd, so of course they would ask about it.
"What the hell is that crap about?" asked Joey.
"Don't you know about the Sports Festival..? What, have you been living under a rock before we found you?" Shigaraki mocked, earning the glare from the New Yorker.
"The very first job that I did was scaring people by dropping them from 100 feet in the air before catching them. Keep trying to be funny and you'll know first-hand what happens when I don't catch." she threatened as Supercharger kept on the question.
"I assume this has to do with the popularity of the school?" he asked Kurogiri, who nodded.
"U.A is the top hero school in all of the continent. And due to how our society works, both pros and the general public are drawn to seeing firsthand the potential and talent of the upcoming generations of heroes. And generally speaking, there's no greater talent and potential than the one found in U.A. By now, the Sports Festival has taken over the Olympics in terms of popularity in the country." the mist-like villain said, annoying Supercharger and getting the attention of Joey.
"Yet another reason to make an example out of this infected society." the electric villain said, while Joey looked at the T.V.
"... How would we do it?"
"Huh?" the trio of men asked.
"That dump. That stupid event. How are we going to trash that place?" she asked as Shigaraki rolled his eyes behind the hand that was covering his face.
"Are you really that stupid?" he asked as Kurogiri answered Joey's question.
"We won't be attacking the Sports Festival."
Joey didn't answer directly, although they could easily tell that she was livid at the answer. The aura that she was expelling was more than proof of that. After a few seconds, she turned and started to head for the door of the bar. And while Shigaraki couldn't care less about that (and while Supercharger did show intrigue in what she was about to do), it was Kurogiri the one that stopped her. Appearing in front of her and blocking the door.
"... Kurogiri… out of the respect that I actually have to you. Get the hell out of my way, or I'm going to owe you more than a pool table and a mug once I'm done."
"And where are you going?" he asked.
"I'll go find Giran and then I'm going to shove those stupid glasses of his down his throat. After that, I'm going to that stupid school and I'm going to kill that annoying little girl." she said while trying to restrain her anger. "Staying here has been nothing but a complete waste. So if you're too scared to do a damn thing about what you promised me when I decided to help your stupid mery band of evil, then I'm doing what I should have done ages ago and get out of this dump."
"Yes, finally! At least I get to get rid of one of you two extra players." Shigaraki said while Joey growled.
However, before she could do anything, both Kurogiri and Supercharger decided to intervene.
"And then what?" the other American asked.
"Stay out of this, Duracel-man."
"Listen to reason. As much as I would like to accompany you, it would be foolish and would get us nowhere." Supercharger said and before Joey could say something, Kurogiri continued.
"He's right, think about it. We attacked with dozens of us, a genetically engineered monster meant to kill All Might and the element of surprise. Yet we failed. We underestimated them and paid the price." he said, seemingly cooling the New Yorker just enough to stop spuming steam out of her nostrils. "What's more, despite our loss, they will overestimate us this time around. I'm sure that they'll triple the defenses of the school and the Sports Festival at bare minimum. Even if we were at our best, even if we gave it our all, we wouldn't be able to do anything of substance against their defenses. You wouldn't even reach the girl and all would be for naught."
She wanted to refute his claims and go out there. But she couldn't, he was right… Dammit he was right. She wanted to do nothing more than to end Spider-Man's runts right there and then. To make him suffer for his betrayal towards her from a long time ago when he destroyed her life. But she knew that she may as well never make it past the entrance if she did try it. Especially in her current condition. Truth is, the other spider did more than just break her nose. Her fists hit harder than ten of her sister's and said sister did a number on her that she was still recovering… though she would never admit it outloud.
"... Where is Giran?"
"At the moment he's attending a couple of possible allies of ours to join efforts. From what I know, at least one of them he met at the bar he found you two. Why?"
"Because I'm still going to shove those stupid glasses, alongsie that dumb necklace of him down his throat for pissing me off." she said as Kurogiri sighed.
"Considering that he is our informant, among many other activities vital to us, it would be preferable if you didn't cause him too much harm."
"Tsk, the only thing he won't be able to do would be talk for a while. If anything, I'll be doing the world a favor." she said, while walking back to take a seat and asking for another drink.
"Why did you stop her? We were so close to getting rid of that annoying foreigner." asked Shigaraki to Kurogiri while he was preparing Joey's drink.
"Our numbers are little and our power is still growing. As master would say, better to keep all your assets within reach than to waste them and let them rot." he replied, before going to hand Joey her drink.
"Not like we would lose that much if she left."
Back with Joey, she was now back on her seat. Drinking the beer that Kurogiri had given her. She drank as she watched the ad of the U.A Sports Festival. And she growled while looking at it, remembering that in that school. In that very event, the daughter of the man she hated the most would be attending. Just close within reach, but far enough that she couldn't quite make it. Like Tantalos, out of reach of the fruit in front of him and unable to drink from the lake he resided while in Tartarus. And as she thought of that, she looked at her drink.
"You're just a bully." she heard the girl's voice in her head. "And a petty one at that."
What does she know? She had it all. She was some stupid little girl that never had to go through hardship. All because her precious father, the same that took the last of her childhood away. The one that destroyed her life by putting her behind bars.
"Enjoy whatever time you have left, little girl. Because I'll be enjoying strangling it out of you with my bare hands." she thought as she drank her beer.
"Pleeeeease!"
"No."
"Pretty pleeeeease!"
"No!"
"Pretty, pretty, pretty pleeeeeeeease!"
"For the love of- can any of you help me out?!"
Annie and friends were on their way to class. Surprisingly, they all arrived fairly early to school. Well, Annie and Valerie always arrived early… safe for monday of that week, but besides that, they were used to always being first. The same goes for Robbie, who because of the fact that he always arrived at school with a teacher, he was for the most part always one of the first of his class. But the others sometimes didn't arrive as early. There could be a day where Hitoshi would be able to arrive at the same time as Annie and Valerie, but not always. Kamala did arrive early once, but since then sometimes she barely managed to get in time. And Hatsume… well, she was sometimes odd. As a matter of fact, there were times that they thought she slept on school grounds. It wasn't that often that they saw her leaving the school. Even then, sometimes it looked like they were escorting her out of U.A.
Anyhow, the important takeaway was that at the moment, the group was all together. Walking through the halls of their school and starting to head to their respective classrooms. However in the middle of it all, Hatsume Mei, the ever excited support course student did what she sometimes does and started to beg Annie to work with her. She was no doubt the smartest student in all of the hero course and one of the smartest people in the whole school, period. So it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Hatsume would take interest in her, especially after learning of her personal projects. Which the pink-haired girl found so incredible that she has been asking if she could join in on their development.
Sometimes she did that while during lunch. Asking or trying to ask in the beginning, middle or end of their meal. The day that the four westerns learned of the Sports Festival, did Mei tooked her chance to try and convince Annie if she could help her in her development of her 'baby'.
After which, Annie was just on the verge of actually buying that jar that she's been having on her mind to collect money every time Hatsume described any invention as such.
And today… was no exception. And while Annie was pleading for help from her friends. Her friends…
"So now you can just get the two to the other side by dividing the answer by it and that's how you get 'X'." Hitoshi told Kamala, who had asked for help with some problems in her math homework that she didn't quite understood that well.
"Oh, I get it now." she told the purple-haired kid, after he explained the process to how to solve the first half of the problem. "And now I can substitute the answer with the 'X' of the other equation and then I can get 'Y' too, right?"
"Well, I think you can use the same equation, just changing 'X', but sure. Why not?" he replied as Kamala nodded.
"Man, you're actually very good at this."
"Guess that spending that much time with Annie paid off in some way, didn't it?" Hitoshi joked.
"Nah! If having a genious friend was the requirement to understand this, then I should be building rockets by now." she replied, for her childhood friend Bruno was also quite the smart fella.
All while Robbie groaned in defeat. "Why did you have to help her out?" he asked Hitoshi.
"Because he's a good friend. Unlike you, mister 'do your own homework for once'!" Kamala answered Robbie while frowning at him
"First off, I didn't say that. And secondly, you could have had no problem answering those questions if you had just paid attention to class instead of thinking whatever random scenario that you have going on in your head. Which was what I actually told you." he said, before catching a glimpse of something happening out of the corner of his eye. "Excuse me, I have to do something." he said before he started to walk away.
"Huh?! Hey, wait! Get back here!" Kamala said, about to try and give chase to Robbie.
"There are still four more equations you need to do. And at least two that you need to double check." he said, making Kamala's eyes go to her homework.
"Wait, two?! Which?! How?! Huh?!" she exclaimed before making a run for her classroom. "Sorryhavetofinishthisbye!" she said, leaving the two class A girls, the general course boy and the support course girl behind.
"I promise I'll behave!" Hatsume yelled.
"No! What part of personal don't you-!" Annie was trying to say, before turning to Mei's face and seeing the pink-haired girl giving her quite the gut-retching puppy eyes. "Oh, come on!" she thought as Valerie asked her something.
"M-Maybe you could make an exception today?" she said, being followed by Hitoshi.
"You've been at it for months by now. Scratch that, you've been at it since before you came to Japan. Maybe you could let her help?" he said as Annie started to think.
She wanted to say no. Heck, she's been saying no, non stop. But dammit, why does she get to have a conscience and a sense of doing the right thing? For all she and her parents complain about their sense of doing good, they should have let Felicia Hardy babysit them more often when they were younger. Maybe that bad influence side of things would have been good after all.
Mei was obviously using a strategy to guilt-trip her into saying yes… and seeing how Annie just sighed in defeat, her strategy worked.
"Alright, look. I won't let you help me with my stuff." she said, seemingly disappointing Mei until she spoke again. "But…" she said, gaining her attention once more. "Maybe… maybe I can help you build something else?" she said.
"You mean it?!" asked the support course girl, receiving a nod from the class A girl. And just when it looked like her excitement would have made her go boom (literally)...
"No explosives and/or acid. And definitely no death lasers." Annie quickly said, doing her best to put on some ground rules.
"... I can live with that!" she said without losing her enthusiasm. "Oooh, just imagine all the sorts of babies that we'll make between the two of us!"
"And no calling them 'babies' either!"
"Too late! I have to inform Power Loader about this!" she said before she too also started to rush to her class. "See you during lunchtime! And then after school!" she said as she ran to her classroom.
All the while, making Annie sigh once more.
"Why do I have a feeling I'll be regretting this?" Annie asked.
"Maybe it could be fun? Who knows?"
"I-I'm sure that H-Hatsume will be well-behaved today."
"That's a 'yes' on the regretting part, alright." she said before they resumed their walk to their respective classrooms.
Once there, things went on as normal. Annie and Valerie being the first of their class as usual. They remained there, until more and more of their classmates started to arrive. However, something different occurred with Annie. Normally, she would have been working on her personal project (cracking her father's web-fluid formula and the plans for a pair of web-shooters of her making), but now, she was just staring at her father's old web-shooter and her closed notebook. All with a thoughtful look on her face.
"I mean, it's been a little over a year. Maybe I should…. no, what am I thinking?" she thought, shaking her head in denial to herself. "My dad didn't get any help when he came up with this. Shouldn't I at least try to do it myself? Like, wouldn't asking for help with this basically be cheating? Ugh, stupid Parker pride."
And as she kept on questioning herself, Sero Hanta, one of her classmates and secret admirer of her father, looked at her. Also questioning himself at the moment.
"Come on, man. Pull it together! She's just another classmate, you've talked with everyone here already. What's stopping you from talking to her…? Well, outside of her being the toughest girl in class… as well as being the smartest person here… and her being the kid of your all-time favorite hero…? But besides that, she's just a normal girl, right?" said Hanta, because even if he was attempting to be on good terms with the young Parker, he was a little intimidated with the idea just as much.
However before he could finally come up with talking to her, Tokoyami beat him to it. For he walked towards the young redhead, who was busy contemplating her notebook while thinking about her own doubts.
"Parker…" Fumikage said, snapping her to reality.
"Huh?" she said, looking up and seeing the boy with the bird-like head. "Oh, hi Fumikage, what is it?" she asked, actually a bit shocked that he would talk to her. "He's normally a bit more on the quiet end of the business." she thought as he showed her a book.
"I found this on the entrance of the classroom. I believed that it would belong to you, seeing as it's written in english and from left to right. Or would I be mistaken?" he asked, as Annie looked at the book and her eyes widened.
"What the…?" she said, going over her bag and finding that there was a small whole in it. Not big enough that most of her stuff would have gotten out, but definitely big enough that a small book would fall out if positioned near it. Which was the case with Annie's book. "Son of a… since when was that there?! Ugh, I'll have to fix this at home." she complained.
"So I believe that it is yours?"
"Yes! Thank you, I owe you one." she said, thanking the boy and graciously accepting the book that belonged to her. "I'm still barely half-way done with it and seeing how it was a gift, it would really suck if I lost it." she said, placing the book on her table and thinking that she should probably web her bag.
Sure, the webbing would only last one hour long and maybe she should save her reserves until she could crack the code for the formula, but it would at least be enough until she got back home. Even if she doesn't have as much sewing experience as her dad or mom, she could still patch her bag no problem… well, maybe her fingers would end up looking like swiss cheese by the end, but it would hold.
"You know, while not an expert in English by a large margin, I could still understand the name of the author of your book. Edgar Allan Poe?"
"Oh yeah, it's him alright. Definitely reads like something he wrote."
"I am quite interested in his work from what I heard. A tortured soul that explores the depths of maddness that resigns within the hearts of men." he said, the last with a bit of a… dramatic flair?
"Eh… Y-Yeah, sure I guess." Annie said, in response. "This is actually his only complete novel; 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'. Actually, I'm already at the part where Peters, Pym and Augustus… you know what? Maybe I should try and keep quiet about that. Wouldn't want to spoil the book if you haven't read it. Hehe." she said, realizing that there was a chance that there was the chance that her classmate hadn't even heard of the book.
"I must admit, Parker, I never expected for you to-" Tokoyami was saying, but suddenly something came out of his body that made Annie's body stiffened.
"Hiya!" an entity that emerged from Tokoyami said.
It looked like some sort of ethereal being that had a certain resemblance to Tokoyami. The only two exceptions outside of the whole ethereal thing, was for starters that it was as if it were made out of darkness. As if someone drew a silhouette of the Japanese boy with the head of a bird and filled it with darkness almost entirely. The only exception to that being a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Lastly, outside of the fact that it was connected to Tokoyami's body, it's attitude was probably the opposite to the boy as far as she was seeing. It was at least a bit more outgoing.
"Hi! I'm Dark Shadow! Fumikage thinks you're smarter than you look!" the now known to be Dark Shadow said, much to the embarrassment of Tokoyami.
"Dark Shadow, cease your actions immediately!" Tokoyami quickly said.
"But you said that it was a surprise that she was that smart despite not looking the part. You also said that-"
"Please, forgive Dark Shadow's words. He's normally not like this." Tokoyami said, bowing ever so slightly towards Annie. However, he heard no initial reaction from the New Yorker. "Parker?" he asked.
For Annie was still stiff as a stick. It was a bit hard to notice, but for a moment the color of her skin had drained and there was a slight miniscule shaking in her body that was near impossible to detect. As for her expression…
"H-Huh?" she said quickly, regaining her posture as fast as she could. "Oh, Y-Yeah. No worries, I've been hearing that a lot lately. Pleasure to meet you, Dark Shadow." Annie said, trying to not be rude, but also hoping that no one noticed the slight shaking in her, which she was still trying to control.
Thankfully for her, aid came in the least-likely way possible to her. That being the class rep, Tenya Ida barged next to the two of them (or three counting Dark Shadow) and started to go on about rules or something. Typical Ida stuff.
"Tokoyami! Please refrain from the usage of your quirk outside of school activities! We, as future pro-heroes and students of the prestigious hero course of U.A must set an example by following the rules!" he practically yelled, while moving his arm in a weird way that was similar to what a robot in old cartoons would move.
Tokoyami decided to comply. Nodding at his request and giving a farewell to the young Parker. Dark Shadow did as well, with a more joyful and happy tone in comparison before returning to Tokoyami's body. He later returned to his own seat as Ida kept on giving instructions to the class.
"Everyone! Homeroom is just about to start! Please be on your seats and please uphold a proper conduct up to the standards of our school!" he said, while glancing a bit at a certain redhead from the other side of the globe and a certain ash-blonde, who was glaring at the class rep for insinuating that he would be unable to do such an act.
"I-Ida…" Valerie shyly said, making Ida turn to her. "I-I don't want to be r-rude… b-but technically you're the only one s-still standing and not in y-your seat." she pointed out, making Ida feel as if cold water had been splashed on his face.
"H-How did I let such detail go past me?!" he asked himself in shock as Valerie tried to comfort him.
"T-T-That was only an o-observation! I-I didn't mean to make you feel bad! I'm sorry!" she frantically said.
But while that was happening, Annie kept on trying to calm herself. Her shaking had already died out mostly completely. Only residing on her left arm, which she was looking at and with her other hand, grabbed a hold of it in hopes of making it stop. After breathing a couple of times, it had finally died out. Making Annie sigh in relief.
"Come on, Parker, you're supposed to be over this. You've seen Dark Shadow before during the battle trials last week, why are you getting shook over it now?" she asked herself. "Stop being a baby. Fumikage and Dark Shadow are a whole different thing all-together and it's been ages. Calm down and don't make a fuss about it."
Finally, just a couple of seconds after that. She heard the door slide open. Of course, there was their homeroom teacher, mister Aizawa, otherwise known as the underground hero; EraserHead. And of course, he still like he was the din's house after a frat party of drunken students decided to play a prank on his house with toilet paper.
"Well, at least you decided to be less noisy today. That means we're at least making some vague progress here." said the teacher, as he started to walk towards his desk as the class welcomed him.
"Aizawa-sensei, you seem to look better today, ribbit." Tsu said to the teacher, making Annie question if she needed an eyesight exam.
"How is that better? He looks like the only thing inside of him is going to be weighted against a feather soon enough." she said, making the other students besides Momo (and to an extent Valerie, although that was most likely due to their friendship rather than anything else) to look at her weirdly. "Oh come on! That wasn't even that obscure of a comparison!" she said before turning to her teacher. "Seriously, couldn't the school get a sub while you take at least the day off?"
"That would only hinder your progress as students. I'm not about to trust my class to a mostlikely incompetent substitute who would be inadequate and unable to properly do the job right."
"Just saying, I'm surprised they haven't done something like tie you to a bed or something, teach."
"They can try."
"Well, ain't that-" Annie murmured, but suddenly stopped when she noticed that in her teacher's leg… There were a pair of cuffs. One end obviously cuffed to Aizawa's leg, while the other had what looked like a small piece of broken wood still being dragged by him. "Oh my god they actually did."
"Alright class, I have an announcement to make." Aizawa told his class, returning order to it and making him the center of attention. "We'll be having a special training class at the U.S.J on Monday. Normally we would have this on either of the days where you would get heroics class, but we're making an exception."
"I-Is there a reason for it, sir? asked Valerie.
"Nothing too noteworthy. The school just had some schedule changes for next week. The preparations for the Sports Festival, as well as other matters that are being attended made principal Nezu change a couple of things to accommodate the schedule and make our times more efficient. Don't get used to it, once the Sports Festival is over, things will go back to the way they were used to."
"What about the classes that we would have had on Monday at that time? Will we be having them on Tuesday or will we be having a free period?" asked Mineta.
"As far as I'm aware, they will be scheduled for Tuesday, but they will be shortened. Still that doesn't mean that you get to leave early. Use the time left for those days to better yourselves. Whether that be preparing for the Sports Festival, or trying to recover in another class. Just because your main goal is to become pro-heroes, doesn't mean you're allowed to slack off in your other classes."
"I can actually get behind that." Annie said.
"And even though this is only week two of classes, I can already see that there are a couple of you that would get quite the benefit from that." said Aizawa, glancing at the seats of Kaminari, Mina and even Aoyama, whom all flinched at the fact that his comment was directed towards them. Surprisingly, Mineta was not a victim to Aizawa's gaze, which they found most curious. So they looked at the small pervert teen and…
Why was he having such a high-and-mighty smug on his face?!
"In any case, that's just about it." Aizawa said. "I shouldn't be reminding you all this, but the Sports Festival is approaching fast. So either you up your game, or you'll be the laughingstock of the event. Go Plus Ultra, or don't go at all. Understood?" he asked, receiving a silence that worked as a way to affirm that Aizawa asked. "Good."
Somewhere in an elementary school, there were multiple kids all playing as any kid would. However this time they were more excited than normal. Why would that be? Could it be that the day would be special in some manner? Well, yes that would be the answer. And how would the day be special? Well, because…
"Higher! Higher!" one of the kids screamed as he and some more were being held up by a big black blob-like entity in a playful manner.
"I don't think the boss would like it If I did. Or what do you think, S-G?" the entity asked Mayday, who was wearing civilian clothes.
"Seeing how I've been having seven panic attacks as of right now? I think that is high enough, Enigma." Mayday told the other Idaten member now known as Enigma.
Who would have thought that a hero agency would be asked to visit an elementary school and play with the children? Definitely not something Mayday would think, but seeing how the first time she met some of the Eastern Avengers Academy students taking pictures in a mall, maybe it's not that unheard of..? Yeah, no. This is still kind of off. But she doesn't mind. People have always said that she was pretty good with kids and as a tutor. She probably takes after her father in that regard. He might actually be one of the best teachers around. A lot of his science students did love his class back when he was teaching at Midtown High (or at least that's what he always told them) and Julian did tell her that he was by far the best teacher of the Jean Gray school.
"So… how is this supposed to be superhero work? Like, I don't mind, it's fun and all… but I would expect that one of the top ten of Japan. Someone claimed to be comparable to some of the best New York has to offer in terms of heroes, would have something else in mind to see how I do as a hero. Playing with children is not exactly what I had in mind." said Mayday.
"We pro-heros are more than just powerful individuals that fend off villains and evil-doers. We also operate as symbols and beacons to the people that we protect. We give them hope and offer them a sense of security. Being a hero is more than just fighting and it's a shame that people overlook that aspect of our jobs and just focus on the superficial aspects." answered Gang Orca.
"Oh no, I get that, trust me I do, again I don't mind this. But seeing how things work here, I thought that you would consider this a waste of time or something."
"Which shows just how much you still lack." he answered, making Mayday frown a bit.
"Whatever you say. I have another question."
"Which is?"
"Why do you wear a box over your head?" she asked.
For indeed… Orca had a box that he found nearby covering his whole face. One with holes that would make it a bit easier to see. On top of that, there were drawings that the kids did in it, as if to try and make a hero mask for him with it or something.
"I scared children with my face. Having many crying children wouldn't be something I would like to deal with at the moment."
"Ditto. I kinda didn't think of that. It's not like you're that scary-looking."
"What if you were their age?"
"Pfft, nah. My family is made out of sturdier stuff. One of my dad's friends once tried to convince him to get us in a school he was running and my dad declined because of the amount of times that school gets attacked or explodes. He replied that it would build character for us and I don't remember who it was that said it, but they replied that we already had character to spare."
"That only makes me more uneasy… also try and refrain from mentioning that out loud. Especially in front of the children."
"As if… you know what, forget it. There are times that I do slip up and say things that I shouldn't." she said, in a manner that Orca found odd. However, he could not question her in that regard seeing how Mayday turned to see something, or someone. "Gotta go. I think I might actually feel useful since the start of the day." she said as she walked by.
What, or better said, who Mayday saw, turned out to be a young woman, not that much older than her, even if the arachnid wonder was actually taller than her. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a white shirt with a pink blouse on top of it. She had shoulder hair that was mostly white with a few red accents and she had turquoise eyes that were behind a pair of glasses. She was Fuyumi Todoroki, the teacher in charge of the children which the New Yorker learned when they all met (and because she also read the I.D she had with her hanging around her). She came out of the main building and looked like she was carrying a couple of things with her. Some boxes and other stuff that if Mayday's enhanced smell was anything to go by, were probably some treats for the kids… either that or her perfume.
If it is her perfume, she might ask her where did she buy it, because it smelled nice.
"Here, let me help you." Mayday said, taking a couple of the boxes with her.
"Thank you, they're not that heavy, but I appreciate the help." the teacher replied.
"Always happy to help. I mean, that's what heroes do, right?" Mayday told the teacher. "So, where should we get these boxes?"
"Over there, next to the benches." Fuyumi replied, as Mayday followed her command.
Once there, the two started to place the boxes down and started to unpack. Upon doing so, did Mayday notice that there were a couple of sweets in the boxes. So maybe it wasn't her perfume… or maybe it could ahve, because those sweets aren't smelling as nice as what she smelled a bit ago. There were also another couple of other, non-edible, stuff there as well. Nothing too expensive, just a couple of small toys like yo-yos and… other toys that Mayday wasn't familiar with. It was probably a Japan thing.
Once they were done, they could hear the children still having fun alongside their pro-hero guests. Even Orca seemed ok with playing with some of them. Though Mayday's heart still stopped every so often when she saw Enigma and the kids she was playing with. Some wanted her to take them a bit higher and she was still somewhat unsure of whether or not to do so. And of course, a teacher like Fuyumi would also pale whenever she saw that sight as well. Though credit where credit's due, she was taking that better than most people she knew… then again, Mayday didn't come from a society that has superheroes being a literal paying job that also gets treated as the hottest celebrities in the country… directly that is.
"I really hope that Shiki doesn't get addicted to that. He's already hyperactive as it is." Fuyumi voiced her concern.
"Ooh, hyperactive kid? I get you. And especially if they have powers, things can be…"
"Stressful?"
"Yeah, that. I still remember my parents cleaning the ceiling because of my sis and her unlimited amount of energy back when she was their age."
"Well… your family sure sounds interesting like that." said Fuyumi, her tone a bit lower than before. "Could I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Why do they call you S-G? It's a bit of an odd nickname, don't you think?"
Yeah, it would be odd if one didn't know what S-G stands for. And why would they call her that instead of anything else? Well, outside of the fact that Enigma liked that nickname, Orca insisted on her not using either her hero costume, hero name or for this one occasion, even her actual last name. Quite the odd request to be sure, but he explained to her the day prior about certain things that are native to their own culture. Something, something vigilantism being frowned upon, something, something Spider-Man not being liked in Japan that much… Ok, it was all kind of vague for her. She kinda turned her brain off for a bit because of the fact that she was still annoyed at having another caretaker and the fact that he was explaining that while stopping a robbery in progress…
Actually she didn't even help, she was told by Orca to "look after the civilians" while he and Tensei did the deed. Sure, because clearly a top of the line next-gen heroine like herself was so needed in making sure the two elderly couple didn't accidentally tripped while they stopped a total of thee dumb criminals. Actually, they just stopped two, the other one knocked herself by running into a wall for some reason.
In any case, due to her being related to the Friendly Neighborhood and how kids as young as the ones in the school were still learning to distinguish between right and wrong, he wanted to make sure they didn't learn something that might be found wrong to their society. Better for them to first grow a bit more or something. Again, brain turned off. And because of the Orca had that someone would put two and two together if they were to learn about her last name (even if not that likely) he also suggested not to use it.
"Oh you know, office stuff."
"So are you like… an assistant or something?"
"No more of a… intern? I mean I don't get them their coffees or anything like that but… I guess that's as close as I can think at the moment?"
"Oh, it's just that by how you and Gang Orca were talking, it gave me the impression that you were some sort of pro too." said Fuyumi as Mayday scratched the back of her head.
"Yeeeeah… I guess I could fit in that category? It's a long story. You know, hero buis and all."
"Yeah… I kind of have some experience dealing with pros and all…"
"Mm?" Mayday said with curiosity. Then, something came to her, Fuyumi's name was very… "Oh, for the love of- I'm such a klutz!"
"Uh?"
"Sorry if this is a bit too forward… but you wouldn't happen to have a younger brother going to U.A?" she asked and Fuyumi found the question a bit odd to say the least.
"Um… why would you know that?"
"Oh no, it's nothing creepy… ok me saying that does make it sound a little creepy, doesn't it?" Mayday said, noticing that she was probably not helping with just asking random personal questions to people she just met. "I've been at U.A twice and met him… I think. You see, my little sis is going there and she actually talks about some of her classmates and one of them just so happens to be this… Shoto? Is that his name?"
"That's… yeah that's his name. Huh… you have a sister at U.A? I take it then that she wants to be like her older sister?"
"She wants to be a lot of things. She has a big brain and what's worse, an infinite amount of energy and a head-first attitude with things. I mean, seriously, I know we're meant to be stubborn, but god, does she crank it to eleven at times." she said, complaining about the antics Annie sometimes pulled when she was younger and making Fuyumi chuckle. "Siblings, am I right? Sometimes you love them, sometimes you're wondering how is it that they share blood with you."
"And when you're the older one, you have to make sure they don't accidentally get hurt."
"Oh don't even get me started on that. The amount of times I had to make sure that little gremlin didn't accidentally open her skull… Though, one advantage is that when no one's around, you get to be the boss and they can't do anything about it."
"Oh, I don't do too much of that."
"It's fun, you should try it."
"It's not like Shoto causes too much trouble, if any actually." Fuyumi confessed to Mayday, who sighed at what she said.
"We can't all be that lucky, can we?"
"Oh, not really. I mean Shoto is very well-behaved… Natsuo on the other hand…" the Todoroki eldest daughter said with a small tick in her left eye. "I swear he forgets why phones were even invented. Ever since he started college he started to pay less attention to his phone if we call him, but if the one calling just so happens to be a cute girl? Oh, then he's all ears."
"Good thing I won't have to deal with that in a loooong time with my baby brother. And since my sis doesn't want to deal with that then I'm good to go for the time being."
"We can't all be that lucky, can we?" Fuyumi joked and thus, making Mayday smile.
"No… I guess we can't."
"So… you won't help me out, but you'll go out of your way to help a kid from management?" Kamala asked, a little angry at Robbie. "I see how it is. Well, good for you then!"
"I just helped him get those books to his class, it's not my fault that they had Kin do the literal heavy liftin. Seriously, who makes a scrawny 60 pound or so kid carry so many five hundred-plus page books all the way from the first floor?"
"Oh, so you're now on a first name basis?" Kamala retarded.
"We're not from Japan, we're always on a first base with everyone. And how the hell do you know that's his first name? You can't even remember which of your names you should give first when introducing yourself."
"Wow… first you change me from some kid you don't even know and then you remind the whole world about that? Might as well take a jab at my height, why don't you… also, Setsuna told me." Kamala said.
"Thanks a lot." said Robbie to his classmate who was whistling while looking another way. "But now that you mention it… isn't it weird that you can stretch, change sizes and you're somehow so short?"
"There, he said it! You meanie! Kendo, do something!" Kamala asked the class rep, who was awkwardly chuckling at the interaction before her.
"Now Khan, I'm sure that Reyes had his reasons to help out this Fukuda guy. Plus, we're part of U.A's hero course. Helping others should be what we do, right?" Kendo said, trying to calm the inhuman down.
"And he decided to invite him to lunch next week with us, 'cause?" Kamala asked.
"... Yeah, I have nothing. At this point it feels like you're adopting kids from every course." the big sister of class B told the enforcer of class B.
"This is just my way of trying to be an ok guy."
"And this is why our superiority to class A should be obvious! Why, our vice-rep goes out of his way to make everyone feel welcome, while some of their so-called best do nothing but anthagon-AGH!" Monoma tried to say, only to be knocked by one of Robbie's fists.
"Kendo and I have a bunch of crap to do during lunch period and I would prefer it if you didn't give me a headache." Robbie said, rubbing his knuckles while the rest of the class just looked at him with blank expressions. "Now does anyone else have another thing to add or can we finally go get something to eat before meeting with principal Nezu?" he asked and after a bit, Kamakiri decided to speak.
"Yeah, what the hell is a pound supposed to be?! Use actual measurement units, not that meaningless crap!"
After that… colorful talk, everyone went to have lunch, safe for the representatives of class 1-B who, like those of class 1-A had to spend their time upholding their duties. Meaning that both Shinso and Valerie had to try and get Kamala to stop being so grumpy about Robbie not helping her do her homework… that day. Annie would probably have helped too… if not for the fact that she had to deal with Hatsume's enthusiasm about her agreeing to work on some inventions together. She had to constantly dial her excitement back to at least a manageable nine for fear of her life.
And considering how she had to fight a brain-chicken monster, an electric battery man and some crazy marble lady a week prior, that was saying a lot.
Of course soon enough, lunch was over and later on, the final bell rang. Valerie had already called to see if Jarvis could come pick her up and she prayed to any divine and cosmic deity to was, be and forever will, that he could pick her up in something that doesn't scream out 'I have billions to spare'. This time, Kamala and Hitoshi decided to walk to the station together. Seeing how Annie would be preoccupied with other affairs to accompany them.
Speaking of her, she decided to leave the class as soon as possible once the final bell rang. Some of the other students found it odd, but it's not like she had time to give explanations. Well, she probably did, but decided that it would be better to look for Mei before she accidentally melts another table. On her way there, she was too preoccupied with her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the presence of a couple of students. Looking up, she saw students that were of different courses that she was used to dealing with. How could she tell?
Simple.
They all had a different amount of pebbles in their shoulders compared to hers, Mei or Hitoshi. So if they weren't from either the hero, general or support course. So they were then part of the management looked to be her age, meaning that they weren't upper classmates. There were three in total. One of them was slightly taller than Annie herself, if only a handful of centimeters shorter that is. She had puffy pale-pink hair that looked like a pillow's stuffing, had yellow eyes and had a round-shape head. The other was a guy that was almost as big as Sato, only not as muscular. He didn't look that much different from a regular giant-like person safe for his lower jaw being somewhat bog and his arms also being somewhat larger than one would expect. The last one looked more average compared to the others. Alburne hair that was a couple of shades away of her own red hair, black eyes and the only thing that was stand-outish of him were the small markings on his face. They reminded Annie of the markings that kid from that Japanese show had on his face. The one with the electric pet and the nice hat that Silk sometimes watches (according to her dad). Or the one from that other show about a kid with some monster trapped inside of him? She only vaguely heard about it back in home before coming to Japan but for some reason she always missed out of even the name (despite being popular). Or that new one that she was actually watching about a scientist guy that was turned to stone and…
"Wow, Japan sure likes their characters with stuff on their faces, don't they?"
"Hi there." the one with the markings said.
"Uh… hi? Can… can I help you?" she asked.
"Well, we were hoping that maybe we could be the ones helping you." the girl of the group said.
"Eh?"
"Allow us to present ourselves." the big guy said, signaling to the other two. "This is Takemura Yoshiko, here we have Nishimura Sato and I'm Yanagi Tadane. We're from the management course."
"Oh… yeah I can see that. So, is there something else? Like, what was that about helping out?"
"Do you know what the management course does?" asked Takemura.
"Um… learn how to make someone's taxes?"
"I see this one has that kind of humor." muttered the girl before being nudged by the others to keep quiet about that.
"Well, not exactly. I mean, sure, we can do that, but it's not the only thing we do." said Yanagi. "We focus on multiple levels of the pro-hero business. From funding, managing hero agencies, publicity, you name it."
"Oh that sounds… neat I guess." Annie said. "So, is this going somewhere? Because I'm actually in a bit of a hurry."
"Well, usually we're told that it would be best to offer our service until at least after the Sports Festival and especially after at least halfway through our first semester here, but we were wondering if you would like to hear our proposition?"
"Huh? Sorry, what? Why?"
"Since you're kind of getting some level of recognition out of most of our grade. And especially out of all of class 1-A." said Nishimura, making Annie worry a bit since she feared it had to do with her father and all.
"R-Really? H-How so?"
"Well, we could name a couple of reasons. For example, there's a rumor that says that you like to pick fights with teachers." said Takemura, making Annie feel as if an anvil fell on her head.
"There's also the whole blowing up the cafeteria."
Make that two anvils.
"Or how you're some food-junkie that likes to spend a lot of money at the cafeteira."
Four anvils and a safe.
"How the heck does the last one make sense?! It was the one time and I didn't even buy that!" Annie thought.
"But no doubt the two biggest reasons have to do with everything that went down at the U.S.J." said Yanagi, making Annie come down to reality. "It is said that out of everyone from class 1-A, one of the students was more involved in the fight against the villains. To the point that said student defeated some very powerful villains on her own."
"And since you were the only one that was heard to come to school with obvious injuries from that day on Monday, it's safe to assume that said student was most likely you." said the management girl.
"And the other reason is that you're about one of the only hero course students that is often seen hanging out with students from other courses outside of classes. Usually, most of the hero course students take to themselves and rarely hang out with other courses as often as you do. Heck, we even heard that one of the guys you hang out with from 1-B approached a student from our course."
"Oh yeah. Robbie helped out that Kin guy if what Kamala complained is anything to go by." Annie said.
"Well, just because he beated us to the punch, doesn't mean we cant' follow soon." said the guy with the markings.
"Look, I'm not sure I'm following, but I really need to get going, so-"
"Wait, come on, just hear us out!" the big guy said with a bit of a nervous tone. "Come on, think of all the help you could be getting this early on!"
"Yeah, we could already be talking about potential marketing, a brand, you name it! Heck, considering that the Sports Festival is soon approaching, you could have some merch if we make the effort." said the guy with the markings.
"Look, I seriously don't understand that much and… Oh no, what time is it?! Dammit, please tell me she hasn't melted a table yet!" Annie said, hurrying for her phone in case of an emergency.
It was clear that they weren't going to get past Annie's intentions of leaving like that and seeing a potential heads up in their course and in both their careers as management students and even a future pro-hero they started to be a little desperate. And that desperation led one of them to say something. Something that she believed could increase her chances of her listening… but would do the opposite.
"We could also talk about investments! Think of all the money you could be having secure for yourself if we talk this early on!" said Yoshiko Takemura, gaining the attention of Annie, who was looking at the screen of her old phone.
"... Money?" she asked.
"Bullseye." thought Yoshiko, thinking that she made some progress (especially after seeing the phone the hero course student had in hands). "Yeah, after all pro-heroes need to make some money too! I mean, it's still a job after all."
"O-Oh yeah!" said Nishimura, thinking about following Yoshiko's lead. "If you play your cards well, you could one day be one of the wealthiest pros around! You could have a big agency of your own if you want!"
"And hey, no need to feel bad about wanting to make some more cash than first thought. One of my cousins goes to this school in Fukushima and most of the students there went there with big money signs in their eyes."
"There are people who…" Annie was trying to say.
"Yeah, so hey, don't be shy. Look how about we give you our numbers and we can-" Yanagi was saying when he and the other two were suddenly caught off-guard by Annie's expression.
It was a frown. But it didn't express disgust. It didn't express anger or even confusion. No, the message that her small frown expressed was very simple. It expressed disapproval.
"Being a hero for money… that doesn't sit well for me." she said.
Before they could ask anything, the four all heard someone running out of breath and getting closer. When they turned around, they saw Hatsume running towards the group at high speeds and stopping just at Annie's side.
"Wow, what's gotten into you?" asked Annie.
"Anna-May! Good thing you're still here!" she said with joy before turning to the others and frowning. "What are you looking at, you vultures? Get away! She's already taken!"
"Hey, don't say that! You're sending the wrong idea!" Annie chaskaded the pink-haired girl to no avail.
"No time! Come on! Power Loader wouldn't let me prepare if you weren't there! Now, let's go, we have babies to make!"
"What did I say abou- whoa, hey wait a minute! I can walk on my own!" Annie was saying, being dragged by Hatsume and being surprised at how strong that girl was.
By then they had already left the three management students behind, who were all at different levels of confusion. All three of them… and one student from a different course to them that heard it all.
It was already the Monday before the week the Sports Festival would take place. All of class 1-A was in front of the building where not long ago, did they have to fight for their lives. Most were already in their hero costumes safe for Midoriya, who still had his being repaired, with only his white gloves, mouthpiece and his P.E uniform. Before them was their homeroom teacher, still looking like a mummy and about to tell them one thing.
What was it that he was about to say?
Well… isn't it obvious.
"Alright class, we're about to begin your exercise!"
My Hero Academia: Legacy Bits - Breakfast!
"I'm hungry!" Annie yelled out from the kitchen, being shushed by her older sister.
"Mom is still asleep after yesterday's day at work. Let her rest some more, would you?" Mayday said.
"I know that and I don't want to wake mom yet. I was saying that to you." the younger Parker replied, making the older one frown.
"And why would you tell me?"
"You're the big sis here."
"You also have hands. Stop acting like a baby and grab a granola bar if you want to eat something." Mayday said. "Look, how about we both made breakfast today. Mom earned her rest and we should reward her hard work with a well-made breakfast."
"Ok, I can get behind that… So, what do we do?" Annie asked as Mayday started to think.
"Mm… well, only one thing comes to mind. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked her younger sister, who after a couple of seconds, understood and nodded.
"Oh yeah, let's do it!"
"Then it's settled! Today we, the Parker sisters, will be making…"
"WHEAT CAKES/PANCAKES…! Pancakes/wheat cakes?"
Sometime later, MJ started to head to the kitchen, with Banjy in her arms.
"Alright little guy, are you hungry? Who's the hungry boy? You are! Yes you are!" she said, playing with her son, who laughed with joy. "That's my little prince! Ok then, let's see what we can…" she was saying, arriving at the kitchen and seeing…
"Like heck we're doing that!" Mayday shouted, with a frying pan in one hand and a piece of butter in the other, pointing at Annie who had a spatula and the flour.
"If you're not doing it then get out of the way and let me do the work!" Annie yelled at her sister.
"Oh no way I'm doing that! If I let you do it on your own you'll do what you always do and have a handful of them overcooked or undercooked!"
"I haven't done that in three years, you liar!"
"Whatever! Look, if you're going to act like this, then give me the flour so that I can make us some wheat cakes!"
"Ugh! Why does it have to be wheat cakes?! Look, I don't dislike them, but let's be real! Pancakes are far better and you know it!"
"How are we even related?!"
"You know I speak the truth!"
"You speak blasphemy, that's what you do!"
And while the two sisters kept on arguing with one another, MJ just looked at the sight with a plain expression and then groaned before turning to her youngest child.
"On second thought, I have some coupons for that restaurant near that park. Let's go there instead." MJ told Beny.
And so, mother and son went to the restaurant, they ate, they had fun and then they spent some time outside as well before returning home.
When they did, the two sisters were still arguing, so MJ decided to spend some more time outside.
So, after a while, I'm back and with another chapter. This one was pretty slow, I know, but I promise the next one will have a bit more flair to it. Maybe I could have finished this one earlier, but I was busy helping out with house stuff and going from one place to another.
Ok, I'm going to see a couple of your reviews since last I left some author's notes this long here (F.Y.I, I had a bunch of mummy jokes on my head for well over a year, so it was nice to have used one already).
Primero el comentario en español preguntando sobre el nivel de los héroes de MHA en Marvel: Bueno, estoy seguro que podría variar. Sí existen héroes que en teoría deberían estar a la par con varios de Marvel (al igual que existen varios que parecen en práctica en cuanto al mundo de Marvel, parecen algo parecido a un 0 a la izquierda). En teoría varios deberían estar a un nivel regular a lo mucho. Con los más poderosos de MAH estando alrededor del nivel medio o pesado bajo de Marvel. Y eso ignorando cosas como el guión tratando de nivelar las cosas para que no parezcan tan diminutas.
Pero lo que más los afecta sin dudas es la experiencia e inteligencia. posiblemente entre otras cosas, estas son las que más los afecta. Solo como ejemplo, alguien como el Capitán América, Wolverine o incluso los White Tigers chance y no parecerían tan impresionantes como Ryuk o Kamui Woods. Pero en cuanto a las cosas con las que ellos lidian, los héroes de MHA serían extras tratando de no estorbar. Digo, incluso tomando en cuenta que en el universo Marvel solo han pasado alrededor de 10 años desde que los 4 Fantasticos se formaron (que es medio tonto, pero es lo que tenemos al momento), en esos 10 años ellos lidian con mas cosas impresionantes que MHA en toda su existencia. Literal Kamala Khan en los cómics, una joven fangirl que aún está en la prepa (y que encaja más a la comparación con Midoriya que Peter jamás lo ha hecho), ha lidiado con una crisis multiversal, compañías malignas, un clon pájaro malvado de uno de los padres fundadores de los Estados Unidos, aliens, dioses, viajes en el tiempo, robots, conquistadores temporales, guerras civiles, leyes en contra de los héroes, experiencias interdimensionales, etc… Digo, incluso Peter Parker en sus inicios ya estaba lidiando con inventores locos, magos, mutantes, aliens, incluso venció a un robot suyo que Kang el Conquistador creó para vencer a los Vengadores y eso incluyendo que en uno de sus primeros conflictos con el Duende Verde, este tuvo que agarrarse a puño limpio con Hulk.
Pero aquí trataré de hacer lo que todo escritor debe hacer en cuanto a historias como esta. Y eso es respetar ambos lados como sea posible. Algo así como lo hacen los crossovers actuales de las Tortugas Ninja, Power Ranger y en especial los crossover estilo Avengers/JLA.
Ok now then, to the other reviews that everyone else will understand.
We have the regulars here, Aztec, CRUDEN, ImnotaWeeb64101, ajonlac.5, good to see you again. One thing that I think I forgot to do before is answer Cyber-RK18's question about Valerie. To those that don't know about her, she's a fairly recent Marvel character. She debuted in a story called Avengers: No Surrender. The funny part is, that she wasn't a character that I struggled to think before adding her to the story, since her appearances revolve around her wanting to be an Avenger and since I was re-reading No Surrender for the who-knows how many times while thinking of this story (even when it was only Annie) I decided, "Why not?" and added her. The one I actually struggled on whether adding or not the most was Kamala actually. Not because I didn't like oher or because she didn't fit. Quite the opposite. I'm sure that most comic readers could agree that in a world without Annie or Mayday, Kamala is the one closest to being like Spider-Man. Like, she's like the Peter Parker of her generation the same way Peter was the Steve Rogers of his time. Plus, this setting just screams for Kamala to be here as an actual lead and not some background character like most tend to treat her to fit the MHA "similarities". And because of that, I decided to try and think of someone else (even going as far as thinking of making an OC to fit her role at one point and also because I didn't want to separate the trinity that is Kamala, Miles and Sam), but at the end I also said… "Screw it, if no one else wants to make a story of her despite being so obvious I will", so there's that.
Besides, going back to Valerie, I'm sure that those that do know of her may ask why her, considering that she was a bit too old in the comic to be a student here and to which I say… If the other writers can de-age characters to fit roles that don't even fit them logically speaking, then I can do the same (and I'm including actual writers from the media in there). Plus, I like Voyager and that's enough for me.
Petor, well we already are talking with one another, so there's that. And ShadowNinja77, good to see a new face. Glad that you seem to like the story and glad that it seems like people think I have a good handle on what's going on. Hope this chapter is to your liking as well, even if it's rather slow compared to the others.
Going back to Petor's comment, he talks about an OC of his and I said how we were talking about it privately. As many of you probably remember (or if don't then here's the reminder), I said that there would be a moments in which I would listen to stories and/or OC's to make the world feel a bit more alive and would make their appearances in Legacies of the World and the other side stories (with opportunity of them appearing in the main story if given the chance). That proposal is still on the table. Again, it can be whatever you want, from maybe your input on how certain events could have gone like (for example maybe you have an idea of Mirko teaming up with the New Warriors or something), your own characters in either Japan or other parts of the world, heck, you could even make a villain or two if you feel like it. I'm already talking with a couple of people about that, like for example, Petor here. I even decided to lead by example by making my own in chapter 4 of Legacies of the World, the Inhuman Drake (which should tell you, you don't need to force yourself to them being just quirks if you don't feel like it). Maybe that could give you an idea of what to do. There are a couple of rules to follow:
1.- The story must be appropriate. So try and not do something too M rating if possible. It would be odd that in one chapter, you're reading a story that maybe seems around the T rating only to find the next chapter being the extreme of something else. If it happens, we could talk and see what we could tone down to make it more T rating or below.
2.- No hateful, bashing or antagonistic stories. Those just are the closest to a straight denied on my part, so yeah.
3.- I use the comics as a basis for the Marvel side, so try and use them as well. It's not that I dislike other medium, but the medium that I chose to use as a basis is already settled, so try and not use something from a cartoon or the MCU, for example. There could be exceptions to this rule, but that's for later.
4.- While obviously hard to do, it would be appreciated if the stories fit the canon of mine. Again, hard to do, I know, but in case something doesn't add up to the canon of the world that I have, I will tell you and we can see if we can make it work. If you don't want to change it, that's fine, I would still publish it and give you credit. The only thing that could change is that I would add a note that also says how this is something of an Elseworld or What if…? type of story. However, this also means that you could then probably add other elements from other mediums if your story falls in this category. And even then, there could be a chance that we could make it so that your character makes a cameo or mention in the main continuity. For example, one of the people that PM me had an idea of a character that, although falling into the elseworld category, could no problem make it to the main continuity of the story.
Again, anything else, we can talk in private. As for when I would start to write them, maybe just a handful of chapters down the line. Not that long, just some. Maybe when I'm done with the early Marvel age in the Marvels of the world. Which include Spider-Man, the founding Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Dr Strange and Daredevil. So, maybe three to four chapters more and then I will start to write the ones that I already have waiting for and with more liberty.
That would be all for today I think. If I remember something, then I will just update it and add it. Also, the story will have something different just as the Sport Festival begins, which would be in a couple of chapters. So stay tuned for that one. One last thing, I would like to say that this last part of the message is my farewell to people like George Perez and other creators that have sadly passed away recently and beforehand. Their presence will be missed and their work will be appreciated more as time goes on. I hope maybe one day I could be like them in that regard and for that, I will keep on doing what I do.
And with that, I take my leave. See you, take care and don't forget to wash your hands. Bye!