Mei: "Easy for you to say..." She inspected the artificial heart and was thinking to herself. Maybe she can do more than just create stupid gadgets. But the gadgets are still her babies. She was questioning herself. Can she go further beyond this? Or will she just keep making gadgets until she hits it?
She puts the artificial heart in her pocket.
Mei: "Guess I'll do it then." She walked away from the development studio.
11:55 pm
Ezekiel woke up without the alarm clock and was getting ready as usual. He put on his helmet and went outside of his dorm to go to school.
Ezekiel saw other students talking and enjoying the night sky. Ezekiel continues to walk away.
Bing!* Mei entered a store at that time. She grabs a shopping cart and continues to get some stuff for her inventions.
Mei was grabbing anything she saw that was useful.
Ezekiel entered his class and it wasn't, Aizawa.
Midnight: "Good morning dear." Ezekiel looked at her and he sat down.
Mei finished her shopping spree and was walking away from the store. She looked to her right the other side of the sidewalk and saw two people talking and eating in a diner. Mei continued to walk.
Midnight was excited to teach her son. But before she could begin teaching him, she spoke to him.
Midnight: "Ezekiel... Now that you're in Class A 1. You must understand something here. We need that quirk of yours to fight villains and bring peace. But because you're in rehab. Most of the teachers won't show mercy to you or your rehab friends. They already experienced it but it's your turn to do this... You don't want to use your quirk... But after the fight with Endeavor's son... We all agree with you... To... Mhm... I hope you can understand this... So... Are you ready for today's lesson?"
Ezekiel nodded, but he wasn't happy about this. He was disappointed in his mother.
Mei finally reached the development studio. She put the stuff on the desk and began to draw a blueprint for a new artificial heart. She looked at the blueprint once more and broke it. She then drew it again with a different look and she broke it. Mei was already tired, frustrated, and irritated she continued to draw more blueprints until she finally got the right one.
Mei: "Bingo... Now all I need is to make it..." She sat down took a deep breath and grabbed her wrench.
Meanwhile in a training ground.
Snipe: "Alright kid. First thing first. I need you to have a high-speed reaction time alright? I'm going to shoot only three shots and I want you to dodge them. Ready?"
Ezekiel nods.
Mei heard gunshots in the distance, but she continued to make the artificial heart.
Boom!* The heart exploded right in front of her.
Mei: "..."
Snipe was looking at Ezekiel with a sharp eye.
Snipe: "Alright... You move fast... Maybe I need to take things up in notch..." He reloads his gun again.
Ezekiel was looking at his mom who was in the distance and looked back at Snipe.
Mei was creating another artificial heart, but this time with patience. She grabs a small box of metal and cuts it like a heart-shaped one. She opened it and began to put some wires inside of it. She created a hole underneath the box letting multiple wires hang around. She puts it on the desk and grabs some lenses she had for her gadgets. She slowly put the lens in the heart-shaped hole she did and left it there for a while.
Mei: "I need something or someone to light this..."
Meanwhile in the training ground
Midnight: "Alright, Ezekiel. Next up is the durability test. A hero must be fast so they can dodge the enemies' attacks but do keep in mind. Not everyone can dodge an attack. This time... Use your quirk, please. You haven't spoken to me since we got here... Are you alright?"
Ezekiel: "I'm Perfectly fine Mom."
Midnight: "Well... Then... Let's begin..."
Mei was looking at the other student's suits and remembered, Ezekiel's armor, she quickly took it out of where it was hiding and saw that the armor had power.
Mei: "Sorry, Ezekiel..."
Ezekiel was unfazed by Snipe's attacks.
Snipe was getting worried about this.
Snipe: "You know... Your training is over... You can go no-"
Ezekiel left without a thought.
Midnight walked closer to Snipe.
Midnight: "What's wrong? Why did you stop? Did he do something wrong?"
Snipe: "His skin felt like rubber... I... It felt weird. Okay? Tomorrow bring, Aizawa or anyone..." Snipe also walked away, but he turned around to see midnight again and spoke.
Snipe: "Power loader is coming tomorrow you know that right?"
Midnight: "Yeah I know. He was sick. I don't see a problem -"
Snipe: "The kids told him that someone is stealing their parts. Every night. Your son is going straight to the development studio now. Might as well give him that parenting talk before Power Loader gets his hands on him." He leaves the training ground.
Mei was charging the artificial heart with Ezekiel's armor.
Mei: "It would be extremely funny if he opens that door and sees this-"
Ezekiel opens the door and sees his armor out.
Mei: "Oh."
Ezekiel removed his helmet and spoke.
Ezekiel: "Something wrong with it?" He walks closer to the armor and Mei says:
Mei: "I'm charging an artificial heart for Alfred. It's inside the helmet." Ezekiel was shocked that she was making a heart for, Alfred. He quickly opened the helmet and he saw it.
Ezekiel: "Better than mine heh. Looks good... I'm going to deplete the energy of the armor. Give me a few."
Ezekiel pressed a button on the armor's left leg and it began to deplete the energy of the armor letting it all go towards the heart. The heart was fully charged and was ready for, Alfred. Ezekiel took the heart and gave it to Mei.
Ezekiel: "Here you go..." She grabs it.
Mei: "Probably the hardest thing I have ever done... And... I owe you one... I'll make you an armor as well-"
Ezekiel hugged her. Mei had no idea what to do in this situation, but she embraced the hug.
Ezekiel let go and spoke:
Ezekiel: "Thank you... I'm... I'm grateful for this... Please give it to Alfred or Aisha tomorrow... Yeah her... She knows how to put it... And for the armor? It's fine. We can bring it back from the dead. It's a machine. Not a human being."
Mei nodded and she sat down on her chair thinking to herself.
Mei: "I uh... Wanted to ask you something... About yesterday. Your match. When you talk to me... You had a very nice smell like perfume in your skin. But.. it was in your skin like inside right?"
Ezekiel sat down and said:
Ezekiel: "Yeah... It's my aroma. The reason I have it, it's because of my mom. She puts people to sleep, but for me, it's quite different I can put people to sleep, but I need to charge it to do excessive damage. Like I did to Shoto. But if I mix it with my father's quirk. It's a cartoon logic thing. You smell the scent by a mile."
Mei was writing this on a piece of paper.
Mei: "Then I'll make you a gadget that you can use your mom's quirk. Oh and... I made a device yesterday that lets me check who's your parents. I know who's your mom. I just don't get it... *Ezekiel raised an eyebrow*
Ezekiel: "What do you mean?"
Mei was scratching her head. Midnight was behind the door listening to them.
Mei: "Why would a hero like Midnight let her son be a villain?"
Ezekiel closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Ezekiel grabbed Mei's goggles and held them tight. Mei realized this was very personal to him and she spoke.
Mei: "That was on me I'm so sorry-"
Ezekiel: "Father told me that when she gave birth to me. She was arguing with him every day until she finally got a mission in Japan. She was in America to help some American heroes and she stumbled on my father. Yeah, they did a one-night stand. She stayed for a couple of years in America and... Yeah. She gave birth to me..."
Mei put her chair next to him and got closer to him.
Mei: "Then what?"
Ezekiel: "Guess she didn't want a child at that time. Once I grew older and older. My father was getting old. Abusive. Alcoholic. He started to blame me for the cause of my mom's departure. He hated me. So much... *Mei looked at Ezekiel's hand and she saw that he was shaking. She quickly holds his hands tight with her* hatred towards me... I stumbled upon watching cartoons. The cartoons that he used to make."
Midnight was hearing everything and the guilt was getting to her. She wanted to cry and wanted to apologize to him for everything, but she didn't have the guts...
Ezekiel: "My father had a quirk that he could bring or send people into his cartoon world. I remember that day that he grabbed me by... The throat threw me inside those cartoon worlds that he created. I was stuck there for a while losing hope. Asking my father why? What have I done to you? He ignored me. Then I was walking in this world of cartoons lost. Scared. Hungry."
Mei: "Ezekiel..."
Ezekiel: "I saw something in the distance... It was an orange small glowing rock. I walked closer to the rock... When I was going to grab it... The rock flew right inside of me. I saw... The very infinite universe... It was... I saw... I..."
Mei stopped him and Said:
Mei: "It's fine... There's no need to talk about this... You're in the present and the future. Right now. You're working your way up to be a hero. To make your mom proud."
Ezekiel: "I wish. But now that she wants to be my mom. She forgot that day... She forgot that she needed it to stop being a woman and she needed it to act like a mother. Although I don't hate her. Nor my father. I never stopped loving them. Even though they hated me at a different time. I have mom now. Maybe she's the least you would all think she would have a child... I still think she can be a mom."
Midnight was speechless and she didn't have the guts to walk over to him or even open the door. She walked away with tears in her eyes.
Mei: "But why did you turn into a villain?"
Ezekiel looked at her and said:
Ezekiel: "Mentally I'm not here. I take pill after pill. To ease my mind. I never used to take pills and I was a wild animal with my quirk in New York. Doing everything to my liking until I realized that my body could keep up... Except for my mind. I blacked out. But I could hear the screams... * Mei realized what this conversation was going on. But she didn't say a word.*
Ezekiel: "All I heard was... Monster... Please don't... Leave me alone... Then the screams and silence after... I woke up and I saw everything in ruins. If a giant earthquake hit New York. Every building was on the ground and so did the bodies of millions... I saw heroes and villains dead on the floor and I started to panic I had no idea what was going on. Until a dying hero looked at me and said... Monster."
Mei had her eyes wide open. This new revelation struck, Mei like a bomb.
Mei: "Oh my God... But it wasn't your fault... It was the quirk... Ezekiel... *Ezekiel looks away* Ezekiel look at me... *She gently moves his head so it can see her* It was your quirk... You had no control over it and-"
Ezekiel: "Mei... This is my second chance in life... But as much that I want to escape it... I still regret it... I must move on correct... But... *He gently touched, Mei's face* But no matter where I go. No matter what I do. I can put a smile on my face. They always say the same thing... Monster. Even here..."
Mei: "Ezekiel... Nobody is here to judge you..."
Ezekiel: "They already doing it. But... Thank you, Mei. For just being you... Not this fake character you always put. You can change your smile, your lips, your ears. To make everyone think you're fine... But Mei... You can't change your eyes."
Mei was trying to not break in front of him, but he was the second person who saw her eyes well.
Mei: "What do you mean? "
Ezekiel: "Well... I don't know how I can explain it, but... You hate something... You can smile and create your babies. But... It's the way... You look. Your eyes. They don't lie... Something is bothering you."
Mei: "Ezekiel... Uhm... I know... That... *Sigh* I'm in this school to be a hero or something like that... But... *She was squeezing his hand trying not to cry* What does my quirk contribute to this department? Zoom? Zooming what?"
Ezekiel held her tight and said:
Ezekiel: "Mei. Your power doesn't come from your eyes. It's your mind... Maybe you don't get it... But... Your quirk will be useful one day."
Mei was getting closer to Ezekiel.
Mei: "Eze-"
Someone opened the door and saw the two students close to each other. It was power loader a pro hero and a faculty member at UA High School. He manages the support course development studio.
Power loader: "Morning." Mei quickly let go of Ezekiel and she looked at the clock and it was 7 in the morning.
Mei: "Oh Uhm... I can-"
Power loader stopped, and spoke:
Power loader: "You must be, Midnight's kid."
Ezekiel nodded.
Power loader: "Do yourself a favor and get out of my studio. I've been hearing a lot of my students complain about someone stealing their parts. I would've guessed it was one of the rehabs. *Looks at Mei* But you?"
Mei: "What? Now hold on-"
Power loader cut her again.
Power loader: "No. Every invention or gadget you have made it's always a failure. They get destroyed or just simply won't work. It's either heavy or just downright stupid. Hell, what are you going to do with that quirk of yours if you don't pass here?"
Ezekiel got up and spoke:
Ezekiel: "It was my fault that I stole the other student's parts. Just don't... Talk to her like that. Mei-" Mei got up and left the studio.
Ezekiel: "Mei... *Looks at power loader* Great teacher you are man." Ezekiel put on his helmet and began to leave the studio as well.
Power loader: "Great..."
Mei went straight to her dorm and started to cry. She grabbed a wrench and threw it on the other side of the room, she grabbed, Ezekiel's toolbox and slammed it into the ground. She was panicking and in distress. She was so tired of her inventions exploding and now that her quirk was useless in the hero department she was losing her mind. Until she heard a knock on her door. She stumbled while walking towards the door.
Power loader: "Mei... I'm sorry... Look can we talk?
Mei slowly opened the door.
Mei: "What..."
Power loader took a deep breath.
Power loader: "Those things I said... I didn't mean it... I know that your inventions explode... But... You don't stop until you finish it... I see the potential... Mei... I am sorry... I saw you with that rehab and I thought something else... The kid... He's a nice kid... But Mei... I'm also following a rule here. I can't let him get near you or anyone. I know you two are friends... But I'm also following a rule.."
Mei cleaned her eyes.
Mei: "He just wants to invent... Like me... I get it... He took some parts... But at least you could've told him to make your own... I'm trying... I am... I know I failed and failed and failed... But I'm trying... I am..."
Power loader hugged her.
Power loader: "I know you are... You have so much potential... I can see it... But... You're also putting yourself down because of your quirk. Mei. Being a hero doesn't need a quirk. It needs a mind. Your mind. I know you can make something so amazing... So... Invincible... But please. Don't put yourself over because you're not good enough because of your quirk. Your power and talent come up there.."
He stopped hugging her and said:
Power loader: "I guess I won't see you today right? Doing the night shift is a painful experience I tell you that hehehe.. I'll see you tomorrow... Rest well.." He walks away.
Mei hadn't closed her door yet, but she was tired. Before she could completely close it. Momo appeared and was concerned.
Momo: "Mei? Are you alright -"
She gives her the heart.
Mei: "Give this to Alfred..." Without a thought, she closed the door right in front of her.
Momo had the artificial heart in her hand and walked away without questioning it.