A Spark of Ingenuity
Chapter 3
In Japan, there was a boy who had a dream all his life. Becoming a hero, the trouble was that in a world of superpowers he was one of the unlucky few who didn't have one. It made life so much harder, from the discrimination, the bullying, and even those closest to him had doubts about his ability.
His best friend though, showed him that nothing was impossible. That friend pointed out his flaws, and told him ways to get better, to grow stronger and think faster. In different origins they found themselves weak and powerless in the beginning, but that friend persevered and overcame the circumstances with world changing innovations.
If anyone could show him the way to becoming a hero, it was him.
He had died seven months ago in a plane crash.
Izuku Midoriya stared across the ocean, watching the setting sun brighten the heights of the waves. Sometimes the quirkless teen questioned if he was doing it right, if he was becoming the kind of hero Kacchan believed he could be. He would never know, but he listened in case an answer from beyond what he could envision would answer his question.
"A PHONE CALL IS HERE!" The eccentric voice of the number one hero rand out from his pocket, Izuku pulling the device out to see who might have been-
"K-Kacchan?!"
That was his caller ID! No one had ever attempted to pull any kind of prank like this on him, and Kacchan had kept their friendship on a very need to know basis to let Izuku avoid the media's attention to not become a sob story.
Not knowing what would come of it, Izuku answered. "H-hello?"
"I lived." Kacchan's tired voice came from the otherside, a thousand questions racing through his mind.
"W-what?! How? Is that really you or just some-"
"OF COURSE IT'S ME NERD! I'm coming back to the island now but my mom said I should call before you see it on the news. I'm calling Aunty Inko next. Let me know if you want me to fly you over or something."
There were so many questions that Izuku had no idea what to say. But, as streams of water began pouring down his eyes, only one thing came to mind. "I missed you."
"Yeah sure. If you wanna spend time together come and get it. It'll be nice to have someone around who's not gonna bore me."
"Of course!" He happily agreed, ready to run home and pack a bag immediately. "Oh, and can I bring some of the stuff I've been working on? I, really wanted to show you and-"
"Sure, just let me know if I need to send anything bigger than the usual. Good to know you haven't been slacking, because maybe I'll let you be a part of my hero project. See you later I have more calls to make."
"Right, of course, see you soon! I can't wait to-" Izuku heard the phone click, pulling the Spark Industries phone gifted to him reflect the widest smile he ever had. Kacchan was back, and he was starting a 'hero' project.
Turning back towards the beach he was on, littered with old junk, he grabbed the ropes tied to a larger sheet carrying salvaged material and began dragging it back home with a quickened pace. "Come on! I can't wait to show you to Kacchan!"
A high pitched chirping came from a large mechanical device akin to a simple robotic arm on a base that wheeled itself around, holding a large net filled with other scrapped components.
He couldn't wait to get back home.
Those same thoughts were echoed by Katsuki as he stood up to his feet, the back door to the military cargo plane opening up with a couple soldiers in fancy uniforms there to escort him. Oh he had been put through a lot of questioning when they first found him, not in a bad way but it was annoying being debriefed by those guys. It took two whole days and the whole time he felt like another prisoner.
Now, dressed in a new charcoal gray suit and sporting the same red tinted shades he hung onto from the crash, Katsuki walked down the ramp to where his mother waited. Once he stepped foot onto the asphalt she stopped waiting.
"Oh my baby boy!" She clutched her arms around him, Katsuki letting her have this at least. "I never stopped believing you were alive."
"I wish I wasn't the only one." Katsuki gave a hug back, only briefly to let her know he actually missed her and cared for her. That was it though, he had enough of the mushy stuff over the phone.
Behind her was a car waiting for them, and not just that, David Shield was there too looking a tad bit happy himself with a lingering pain behind it. Katsuki felt the same thing for the same reason.
"Glad to see you again." David held out a hand, Katsuki clasping it tightly.
"Sure." He muttered before giving a stink eye to the folks with cameras barely being kept at bay by the security drones. "It would be better to be somewhere with some privacy."
"Yes." David agreed, noticing Katsuki pull out a battered hero trading card in a protective sleeve that tried its best. On the back of it, was a memory card. "What's that?"
"Something Melissa snuck on me." Katsuki motioned to the car, letting the adults follow him in.
The car drove through the residential area, one that Katsuki never been to much even if he had a house in it. He practically slept in the tower most of the time or sometimes in his office, this time though it felt more appropriate to watch it somewhere that didn't mix with work.
As soon as they got to the Bakugo home, much more advanced than the last one, Katsuki walked over to the large living room before placing the card onto the surface of the small table next to the couch. It lit up, scanning and downloading the contents of the small memory stick before a holographic screen materialized with a few video files and some other random documents.
David looked at one of the thumbnail images, seeing his daughter in the center of it, sitting in a dirty cave looking malnourished. "I, I don't know if I can do this."
"Then don't." Katsuki said, having gone over all the videos and content himself already. "Let the lawyers watch her will."
"I, just didn't think." Unable to look at it any longer David turned away. The last time he saw his daughter she was happy, healthy, with a charming attitude and a lovely smile. Now it had already been altered, seeing the hell his own daughter had to suffer through for so long.
Katsuki swiped his hand, letting the image retract. "Computer, send Shield here a text document of what she said. Alongside a copy of the files."
"Confirmed." The house spoke, accomplishing the task as it spoke.
"Katsuki." His mother reached over, grasping the sleeve of his suit. "Since we're talking about it, there are some things you should know."
The door to Obadiah Stane's office was abruptly kicked open by a fuming Katsuki. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN MY CHAIR?!"
The man's jaw hung open, half expecting a similar reaction but it was another thing for a kid long presumed dead to suddenly break into his workspace. "I'll call you back."
The video call that was projected on the window collapsed, the man turning back to seeing Katsuki on a warpath right towards him with David and Mitsuki trying to hold him back.
"Woah woah, take it easy." Stane tried to appease the boy, hands open and away from his body. "With you and your father gone for so long, someone had to keep the company running and-"
"I'M ALIVE!" Katsuki slammed his palm onto the ugly wooden desk that had replaced his own. "And I want my company back now!"
"Katsuki!" David was struggling to pull him away. "We thought you and your father died, and Obadiah was the only one capable of keeping your business afloat."
"Oh yeah?!" He turned over to his mother. "How come it didn't go to you?!"
"Katsuki-"
"It's ok." Obadiah stepped away from the desk, willing to give the boy back his space. "Katsuki, I'm so sorry about what happened. Your mother was so torn up about it and it hurt her to be here without her son or her husband. She was very adamant that you would find a way to come back, so I agreed to hold onto the company until you returned."
"Well I'm back." Katsuki yanked himself out of the arms, straightening his suit. "So get your shit out of my office and put everything back the way you found it."
"Ok." Obadiah agreed, holding his hands up in mock defeat. "But, there's something you should remember. You're technically not of legal age for the company."
Fuck, that's right. His dad let him make whatever decisions and do anything with the finances that Katsuki felt like it was his company the whole time. Yet, it was under his dad's name.
"Let me guess." Katsuki crossed his arms. "It's under your name right now."
"It's all in the paperwork." Obadiah pulled out a folder from the desk, an actual physical folder with paper. "Your mother signed it and so did I, that at any point should you return the company will be transferred to you. If you aren't of age yet, then I'll hold the controlling interest until you are."
The experienced man held it towards Katsuki, allowing the boy to swipe it from his grasp and quickly look over the contents. No obvious loopholes could be seen, and there were even several referenced legal work that had his father's name signed on. Katsuki didn't hate Obadiah Stane, but damn it don't mess with his stuff.
"Fine. But you better not have touched my lab."
Obadiah didn't answer immediately, smacking his lips before letting out a short laugh over the circumstance. "I promise I'll make sure everything is put back to how I found it."
Damn it, this was going to take longer than he thought.
"Alright." Mitsuki began directing the boy back towards the door. "Let the man do his job, it's what he's good at."
"For now let's go take care of something else." David began leading them out. "There's….some of Melissa's projects she left behind that I think she would want you to see."
Katsuki had no idea how much work there was to do for someone who was thought to be dead by the world. From talking to a bunch of lawyers to prove he was him, that all his stuff was rightfully his, making sure that no one would find out about the details of his capture and escape.
Oh, right, and making sure that he wouldn't go to jail for murdering a bunch of people with a superweapon. Though from what they said between the justifiable circumstances and the attack happening in a lawless region in the middle of buttfuck nowhere there was no court that would even try to pull him in.
Still, it sucked knowing that all his stuff was either stored somewhere, sold, or in someone else's hands. At least Obadiah was willing to compensate out of his own pocket, at the promise he would give him something new for him to make double the money back.
Not a problem, he already had five pending patents that would cover it and more.
But while that was satisfying the company side, he had some personal matters to take care of. When he found out that the labs he owned in the main tower were practically emptied or repurposed (at least for his own company's use) he had a fit, then David offered something that was too much.
Melissa's personal lab.
Katsuki tried to buy it from him, more than it would probably sell for, yet he denied it all saying that he wanted it in someone's hands who Melissa would approve. Walking into one of the top floors with its own launchpad, he walked from one end of the massive expanse, passing by a few unfinished projects with experimental tools he never got to use, he looked out the windows to see how far he had risen.
Thanks Melissa, but he was about to go even higher.
Tossing his duffel bag to the side of the room next to a workstation, he walked up to the one other thing he brought with him. There was a thick, heavily secured transport case that held the last thing Melissa helped him make.
"Open up." He ordered, several layers of locks coming undone before the front let out a hiss and rose to reveal the armor. It was hard to keep it out of the hands of America's military, but between not being one of their citizens, his connections to David Shield, and being famous himself, he managed to keep it as quiet as possible to be moved into his new lab.
"Attention." His handy computer assistant spoke up. "Izuku Midoriya is approaching the lab."
"Let him in." Right on time. Katsuki stood with his hands on his hips. He kept his eyes on the armor and-ah shit he didn't bother to clean it. Hope those bloodstains won't scare him off.
The large metal double doors to the entrance slid open, Izuku with his own bag and a rather dum looking prosthetic wheeled in behind him making their way in. "Wooooaaaah."
Izuku was staring at everything, distracted by every flashing light or cool toy like a kid. "Kacchan, is this your new lab?"
"I haven't fixed it up yet to my standards." He spoke up, waiting for him to hurry it up. "But it's a good start."
"You have your own particle accelerator?!"
Huh, guess Izuku had been studying up on that topic after all. Nerd.
"I don't have all day get your ass over here!" He barked, making Izuku run over in a light jog to stand beside him.
"Is this it?" Izuku looked over the patch welding spot, the clunky motors, the stiff frame. It was impressive but it looked like Katsuki made it from the beach he was getting his own supplies. "Your hero suit?"
"No." Katsuki denied it, like this would have ever been an acceptable thing to wear out into the field. It served its purpose but it was outdated before it left the blueprints. "It's what I had to make do with to kick some asses and escape."
Half of Izuku was impressed, astounded that Katsuki could make something like this in such a remote part of the world. The other half, suddenly felt less excited knowing that this wasn't something made in good circumstances. This, was made from captivity. Katsuki didn't mention much about the details, and the world knew even less only that he was held against his will until he broke out.
Then, Izuku felt a little jealous because he couldn't make something like this even with all the money in the world.
"I'm sorry for what you went through." He looked over to his friend, who had yet to even touch the suit. "What do you plan on doing with it?"
"Nothing." Katsuki pointed towards a far wall. "I'll have it over there, right where I can see it."
"Like a reference? A memorial? Or some form of inspiration and a reminder?" The several guesses went unanswered as Katsuki turned away from it, seeing the dopey robot trying to navigate its way over to them still.
"What the fuck is that?"
Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he realized that Katsuki wouldn't be as impressed as he hoped for his best invention yet. "He's, well he's been a friend helping me out with chores, carrying things, helping me build some other stuff and-"
"It can do all that?" Katsuki pondered, staring at it a little longer as he saw it analyzing what was around itself before making a choice on what to do. "Does it also have speech recognition?"
"Yes, but that's the end of it. He doesn't even have his own speech drive and-"
"So it's a retarded robot." Katsuki walked over to it, the arm swiveling over to eye him. Then it glanced down towards his chest, Katsuki knowing very well what it was investigating.
"Don't call him that!" Izuku ran over to defend the makeshift companion. "I know he's not as smart as some of the stuff you make but-"
"He's stupid."
"...A little."
"He got a name?"
Izuku would not admit he named it Mighty Arm. Yet in his silence Katsuki gave his creation a name.
"Dummy it is."
He dismissed it, going over towards the holotable in the center of the various desks and stations to click it on. Immediately a three dimensional projection of the suit he just showed Izuku was on display on it. "Listen up nerd cause I'm only going to offer this once. You want to be a hero, and I plan on being one. And this, is how I plan on doing it."
Swiping his hand across, another suit of armor with less detail but more refined design appeared. Izuku saw it, he could see the potential and practically envision it appearing on television saving lives and battling villains.
But, this was Katsuki's work. Not his own.
"I really do think you're amazing." The boy marveled at his inventions. "And, I'm so happy that you want to help me become one but I can't take credit for your work."
"I'm not letting you mooch off me if that's what you're worried about." Katsuki's words made Izuku raise his head a little more. "You're going to have to make your own, find out what kind of hero you want to be. I won't tell you what that is or how to get there but I will make sure you can make it happen. Got it?"
With a nod of his own, Izuku smiled in appreciation towards his best friend. It wasn't just his help Katsuki offered, it was confidence in Izuku's ability.
Kacchan belived he could be a hero, and with the full designs of the armored suit made from parts he could partly comprehend Izuku could finally see how he could become a hero.
Then he noticed a glaring empty spot in the design.
"Um, Kacchan? Where's the battery?" Izuku followed the several cables throughout the suit and they all seemed to converge towards the chest.
To answer it without words, Katsuki pulled open the top part of his white dress shirt, the glow of a technology Izuku had gotten to see first hand.
The boy was in awe, seeing the gently flowing arcs circulating the micro mechanics. "You, made an arc reactor, that small, in a cave?"
"With a box of scraps yeah, wasn't easy." Katsuki gestured to a corner of the lab. "You can use that spot over there. You can't stay here forever so just come up with some basic groundwork and let the computers here render and test it in a digital environment. I'm opening up a branch facility in Japan soon so wait until you get home to start trying to build anything."
Katsuki was done talking, turning away and stuffing his hands in his pockets, he went over to begin scratching down the improvement he had in his mind when he first thought of the suit.
Izuku glanced back to the scorched armor, staring at it again as he tried to imagine how Katsuki could have made such groundbreaking technology with the bare minimum.
Especially to take a powerful energy source such as the arc reactor and fit it inside his own chest. To be able to do all of this without a quirk to aid him?
He was impossible.
A few days passed, Katsuki being able to focus on his lab and Izuku tossing ideas together to see what could work. They would have stayed in the lab the whole time but Mitsuki was incredibly firm on having them eat and sleep in proper beds and not on the floor.
They never talked about the cave, they didn't talk about what was missed or what Katsuki would need to do further to settle everything from being presumed dead, they all just enjoyed the old routine and pretended it was never interrupted.
Izuku had to get back to school soon though, his close relation to the Bakugo's was still kept between them and especially not the media. Katsuki wanted to take Izuku home himself in his new jet but his mother was very reluctant for him to leave so soon even if it was just for a short round trip.
So, in the last hour before Izuku had to return home Katsuki looked over Izuku's design with him.
"Solid sodium batteries?" Katsuki had Izuku's design in the center of the room in full three dimensional display. "You're not gonna get too much out of those."
"I can't make an arc reactor." Izuku admitted with little shame. "This will still let me operate at two hours on full burn."
"You only got that much because the only thing eating the power is the base pulley frame and your operating system." Katsuki should have expected this, but after working with Melissa directly for so long the standards were incredibly high.
Izuku wasn't a natural inventor, but he knew how to make the most out of existing tech. He must have used all sorts of public forums and patents to learn what he could. The world did have robots that could do a lot, and there were heroes already who occasionally had some kind of enhanced suit.
Simply put, Izuku's suit was a culmination of what the world's current level of public accessible technology was.
"I really did want to put a flight system in." Izuku pulled up a few rough drafts of his ideas next to it. "But like you mentioned, I don't have the power to make a five hundred pound suit fly."
He also didn't have the power needed to use anything close to ion based thrusters or condensers. So along the suit were several points of ballistics. Most of them non lethal, tear gas, capture weapons, stunners and noise makers.
At least he had a couple heavy guns in case someone with a higher durability showed up.
Honestly Katsuki had forgotten that it was generally frowned upon for heroes to choose the lethal option. He would need to adjust the base output levels of his own weapons systems.
"If there's something you should work on it's mobility." Katsuki noted aloud, already his words being added to the design for Izuku to reflect back on. "There's a couple different alloys that you could substitute for most of the armor to compensate but overall I think this would kick most villain's asses."
Izuku felt like he was about to leap up and shout in glee-
"That's if they kept still. A purse snatcher could escape you."
-then his excitement deflated, easing into a satisfied grin. Yeah, of course his first draft wouldn't do. He would need to work on it more if he stood a chance at UA's highly competitive entrance exam.
"Keep it up and I might make you a sidekick." Katsuki gave a friendly smile, one that caught Izuku off guard.
It made him feel bad knowing he would turn down Katsuki's sidekick offer, even if it was with good intentions.
"Alert: Your scheduled flight departs in fifteen minutes."
Oh crap! Running around to grabbing his tools and supplies, Izuku shoved them into his bag and ran towards the door, his other metal companion having already been loaded onto the plane.
"Oi nerd!" Katsuki yelled out before he stepped out, the teen holding up a rather worn out hero card from his pocket that-wait was that the same one?
"Thanks again for the present. Let me know if you ever need anything, including a girlfriend."
Izuku's voice let out a short crack as his face burned. Did Katsuki seriously just offer to buy him a girlfriend?! Shaking his head, he knew that couldn't be it. Katsuki wasn't that kind of person, he was probably teasing.
Hopefully.
The moment the doors hissed shut Katsuki was alone. No one else in the lab but himself, just a boy and his toys. He used to crave it, wanting to be left be as he was able to focus on his work. But, ever since he arrived to I-island he wasn't truly alone. Someone would come and check on him, point out flaws and push him to do better sometimes just to prove them wrong.
Then seven months came that he worked right alongside someone that could keep up with him.
She was gone now, no one else could fill that void.
Except the girl herself.
Plucking the memory stick from the back of his card again, he placed it into one of the nearby computers. Melissa didn't expect to make it out of that cave, she hoped but the odds were against her once they realized they would only be able to make one suit.
So, she made sure to prepare him when the worst happened.
Clicking the play button on one of the video's, Melissa's face began moving on the screen, the crackling of the fire highlighting her features in the dark.
"This is video log five, subject: Lasting Impressions. To: Katsuki Bakugo." After noting the title of the video, she looked into the camera like someone was looking back.
She knew he would be watching this.
"Hey, I'm sure you've heard this on the others but just in case this is a failsafe in case I don't make it out of here. I don't plan on dying but, work is slower than we'd like and it's tough as is to try and sneak anything by our 'loving audience'."
The illusion of her being alive settled him, hearing her, seeing her speak to him like he was there. He could even feel that biting chill along his toes.
"This is going to sound, awful in some way but I hope you don't see it that way. Katsuki, when you began uploading your digital assistant into just about everything that could hold it I was disturbed. But, it proved to do it's job incredibly well and even I quickly adapted to the extra help looking over my shoulder."
She then quickly glanced over her own shoulder, smirking a bit before grabbing the camera and pointing it toward's Katsuki's sleeping body on the single cot as she whispered.
"We've done that a lot for each other lately, and I guess it must have been divine inspiration because I ended up preparing something so that I could continue to be apart of your work when I'm not around."
Pulling it away, she set it back down and adjusted it on its stand, the lenses slow to get back into focus as she picked at the loose threads on her sleeves.
"I made a digital impression of my conscious about three weeks before the crash, nothing close to a neural mapping system but I think it did a pretty good job at capturing my good side. It won't be able to conjure new ideas or be particularly creative, but it will offer the support you need. Face it, even if I die you can't get rid of me."
He chuckled a little like that, Melissa looking fearful for a moment.
"Unless you decide to delete it, then every trace of me will be gone forever."
The dread was palpable. The first time Katsuki watched this he really did consider deleting it because nothing could match up to Melissa. Whatever this was would just be a footprint of her, but it would still be lasting evidence that she was here.
After a quick moment of collecting herself again, Melissa gave one last fond look towards the camera. "It was my dream to be a hero once, if I can't do that I would have loved to be a part of yours. This is my chance to do that, so please accept it. Accept the part of me, that believes in you."
It ended, her frozen face resting on his screen as he felt the illusion break. Leaning back he closed his eyes, deeply sighing before opening them once again.
"Computer." He announced, hearing a soft beep in response. "Upload file 'L I S' through the central logic circuits and allow full admin privileges."
"Confirmed." The monotone robotic voice responded. "File found, uploading now."
Spinning slowly in his chair, he kicked against the desk before drifting over towards the holo table again. He archived Izuku's design, pulling his own in progress frame work materialize on it.
"The upload was a success." A female voice spoke, significantly smoother and bearing striking similarities to the girl still on the screen. "Version one point zero of 'Logical Interfacing System' is now running."
"Alright Liz." Katsuki was well aware that an s didn't sound like a z, but it sounded stupid to pronounce it the other way. "I want your eyes and ears open towards project 'search and destroy' and notify me of any updates."
"You're going to spy on international militaries to see if they actually use the data you provided to track down your kidnappers?" Damn, that's very close to what he'd expect Melissa to say.
"No, you're gonna spy on them." He corrected, as he began separating the hologram into its different components. "I'm going to make a plan B in case those useless politicians decide to not follow up with their promise."
"Is it really a plan B then?"
"I'll give them a chance." Katsuki uttered as he plucked the inner parts of the gauntlet, holding the transparent image over his own hand. "Just focus on the search, and I'll be ready to destroy."
Katsuki knows for a fact that whoever those bastards were didn't stay in one place. Between where he was found and the several languages the men spoke they likely did work all around the globe. His satellites have already been calibrated to pick up on the particular readings his own cave tech would give off. That's if they weren't thrown out from being useless in a few months. He hated making shoddy work but no way did he want those guys to get anything good out of him.
Plus, he didn't come across that white coated ass in his escape. He might have been outside but Katsuki didn't do a thorough job at getting all of them before needing to flee.
Either way, sooner or later he was going to get what was coming to him. And he better pray the US or the UN found him first.
Mitsuki knew she had married a good man, a great one without a doubt. It was only when he was gone did she realize he was the best. In her studies and career in fashion he immediately began working with several companies to design all sorts of clothing. Not just fashionable stuff, but things to be used for emergency responders, those with struggling quirks, he just barely kept himself under the radar to avoid the attention grabbing hero industry.
One thing she never realized is how much he devoted his time for her. Now, her house they moved into a few years back was practically empty. She decided to put her time towards making Katsuki's life easier, making sure that he could do what he wanted and keeping as many vultures off his back.
Oh she knew he was tough, the fact that he could jump right back into his work after months of who knows what hell he experienced proved it. He was her son, she just wished he spent a little more time with her.
Whenever he slept at the lab, which was too often for her liking, she would spend days without seeing him. Every now and then when she woke up in the morning, checking in his bedroom to see it bare of life, she would worry that she only dreamed he came back to her alive.
So, to absolve this feeling she would more routinely visit his lab, to see him alive and working away at whatever he came up with.
Approaching the double heavy doors, she didn't need to do anything as they automatically unlocked for her before sliding open.
Katsuki had definitely been busy, several skeletal structures of various machines lay on just about every surface. He was over one of the thick tables, his arm lodged into some kind of mesh sheet wrapping around his limb with many wires, joints, and a larger component placed right in his palm.
He clicked it closed, snapping his mechanical arm out of the bay before testing the mobility and flexibility. It wasn't armor, but he was wearing it like so.
"What's up?" Katsuki asked as he walked over to another table, grabbing a harness from it and slipping it over his tank top.
"Coming to check up on you." Mitsuki walked through, realizing that almost every new piece of tech around her resembled a piece of a body in one way or another.
"That's what phones are for." Katsuki tightened the straps before grabbing the black plastic over the front of his harness and pulling it off. Immediately it revealed a window into the bright glow of his arc reactor.
Mitsuki had never seen it before. She only knew about it because soon after his arrival back home he had not touched a single battery for his heart. He used to keep them tucked around everywhere but now he didn't need them.
"You don't like to pick up." Making sure not to touch any of his things on her approach, she eyed him plug in some tubes and wires from the arm piece into the harness.
"Not if it's important." Katsuki double checked the arm one last time before flicking a switch on the harness, the palm flaring to life. He moved it around again, Mitsuki hearing a soft whirring of the joints as they moved to match its user. "Give me some targets."
"Please keep in mind this is your first test and no one present is wearing any safety equipment."
That, that voice. It was Melissa's clear as day. Mitsuki suddenly grew very concerned over her son's mental health if he went and made a virtual version of her.
She was so disrupted by the idea of her son pretending the girl was still alive she completely overlooked what Katsuki had just said, or the sudden targets popping up from the ground from one end of the empty stretch of the lab to the other.
Once a short whine built up in his palm, she returned to focus on what he was doing.
A violent blast shot out from his arm, decimating the closest target to him. He didn't stop there, or even pause, he immediately moved right to the next one and fired again, and again, and again, hitting everyone until skimming the side of the far one up against the back wall.
Just as she was about to question what he was doing, he held the dangerous palm towards his face and looked right into it!
"Put that hand down right now!" Mitsuki commanded, Katsuki giving her a confused stare.
"You never said that when I could use my quirk." He stated simply, as if that would excuse him putting a weapon against his forehead! "But fine, it needs more calibrating anyways."
"This was the first test, perhaps the error was more human."
"YOU SAYING I MISSED?!" Katsuki screamed into the air before powering down the harness, ripping his arm out of the invention and placing it back where it was. "Doesn't matter, I need to rework the capacitors. The damn thing doesn't charge fast enough."
"You could use your other arm to fire while one is charging."
"I'm not a hack that settles for cheap tricks to circumvent a design flaw." Katsuki took the harness off, going back to his computer to try conjuring a better design.
What the hell was going on with her son?
"Katsuki." Mitsuki stepped over to stand behind his screen, seeing the way his eyes fanatically kept flicking over the data. "You need to get out of the lab."
That snapped him out of his frenzy, the boy shooting his head up towards her. "What for? I got work to do."
"You need to remember what it's like to talk to real people." Mitsuki went over, manhandling her son to stand up and dragged him out. "The Meeting of the Minds event is coming up and you don't even have someone to go with you."
"I don't need anyone because I don't need to go!" Katsuki could have pulled free, the boy fighting with logic instead.
"Oh yes you do!" Mitsuki wouldn't take any more of this self isolating mindset. "If Melissa isn't here to drag your ass there then I will!"
"No way! At least let me invite the nerd!"
"No! He's got school and his break doesn't overlap with the party. And stop calling him nerd when you're the one making robots and AI's!"
"It's not a real AI it's a informational processor based on-"
"That's what a nerd would say!"
The doors to the lab shut behind them, Katsuki stopping his fight as he finally began walking willingly beside her. He grabbed the loose hanging top of the mechanic jumpsuit tied around his waist, undoing it and quickly zipping it up to hide the arc reactor from anyone. "So where are we going?"
"To go get you a few new suits." Mitsuki answered as they entered the elevator. "You don't fit in any of your old ones. We need to get you sized and fitted for an updated wardrobe."
Well he would agree there. Ever since he got the arc reactor to power his implant his body had been playing catch up on puberty. Now he was fit, bulkier and well defined especially after the hard labor he was forced to do to survive.
"Now that you've got some meat on your bones you could probably ask Whitney to go with you."
"I'm not going with anyone, let alone Stane's daughter." Katsuki bit back a curse towards the bitch. "Still don't see the point in me going to a glorified jerk off fest."
"Are you going to make everyone do the work of keeping your company's image alive?" She genuinely asked, a little ticked off at her son. "You know the only reason it wasn't bought out was because Obadiah worked hard to keep it growing big enough to where no one could estimate a price before it exceeded it."
He just rolled his eyes before speaking with thick sarcasm. "Yeah sure, I'll make sure to suck his dick the next time I see him."
The elevator dinged, the doors opening to reveal the business man himself. "Mitsuki and Katsuki Bakugo, I don't get to see you two as often as I'd like."
Katsuki kept his mouth firmly shut as he entered, pushing the button for his floor.
"What a coincidence." Mitsuki devishly turned towards her son. "We were just talking about you."
"Good things I hope?" Obadiah glanced down to Katsuki, and he bit his tongue as he fully regretted his words.
"Just about the Meeting of the Minds." Mitsuki had spared him for now. "I was hoping you would help me explain why Katsuki should go."
"Well it is rather important, lots of investors and potential partners are going to be there." Obadiah pulled out his phone, scrolling through the list of noted persons and their affiliated companies that he was planning on reaching out to at the event. "This is going to be a critical moment for us. Even though you coming back gave people the idea that we can produce the best technology, they don't know if you're able to do that anymore."
"What?!" The teen would not tolerate being treated like a kicked puppy. "They think I'm too traumatized or something?"
"Yes." He simplified into one word before continuing. "You're the face of the company, and people won't believe you're actually back and keeping Spark Industries ahead of the game until they see that face in person."
Damn Obadiah Stane and his simple logic.
"Fine, I'll go." Katsuki finally agreed. "Even if it's just to prove them wrong."
"Just be gentle with them." Obadiah teased but the warning was still there. This was first impressions all over again, and if Katsuki wanted it to be good he would have to keep a lid on his temper.
"In fact, there is one particular group I'd like you to get on their good side." Obadiah scrolled back up to near the top of the list, showing Katsuki the name.
Yaoyorozu Corporations.
Then Stane added one more fact. "I hear they have a daughter your age. It should make them more receptive to you, so long as you get along with her."
"Don't plan on me buttering her up." Folding his arms, Katsuki was trying to accept the fact that this probably wouldn't be a one time thing. He'd have to do this his whole life so he better learn how to do it well and fast.
But then his mother decided to trip him up again.
"You sure you want him talking with another girl his age?" Mitsuki warned Stane. "I was thinking he could take your daughter Whitney out for this. Our kids don't hang out enough."
Both of the boys silently agreed neither of them liked that idea.
A few weeks later, while Katsuki had been catching up on a little thing called socializing (aka letting his mom drag him around to places) he had spent whatever spare time he had finalizing his prototype.
Now he just needed to run a few more trials.
Standing in the exposed exoskeleton, Katsuki's heavy metal stomps clunked against the ground of the wider emptied part of his new lab. He had dubbed it 'the blast zone' to test or park his more durable creations. Nothing sensitive or exposed belonged there unless it was actively being handled.
"Ok." Katsuki wore a safety helmet with a clear visor that stretched over his face, tilting it down to see all the components of his suit wrapped around him. There was emphasis on the arms, larger ports and vents along his forearms that barely peeked over the top of his hand just letting his fingers out. "Begin visual walk around."
"Running simulations." Liz spoke as his visor projected an array of data as a smaller map of his suit was in the corner of his vision. Each part began lighting up green, one by one until it flashed. "No faults detected, you are free to quote 'start blowing shit up.'"
"Damn right I am."
"Just don't include yourself."
Katsuki grinned madly as he rose up his arms, feeling the controls and switching through the different settings. He saw the physical parts of the gauntlets respond, twitching, adjusting their positioning, retracting and expanding. "Pull!"
A clay pigeon launched ahead of him, his hud spotting it immediately as he rose his arm towards it. In a short blast that required no perceivable charge time he turned it to powder.
"Two more!"
The discs launched again, Katsuki blasting them at the same time with his two hands.
"Rapid fire!"
Almost a dozen targets flew out, Katsuki using one gauntlet as two smaller ports along the top began hammering away micro bursts. Through the process the barrels had continually adjusted based on the targeting data.
"Send in the bird!"
A raw chicken had flung over his head, Katsuki's wrist twisting as a vent on the top flashed a dangerous orange light, roasting the bird to a golden crisp.
"I don't recommend eating food off the floor."
"I ain't a bottom feeder." Katsuki was incredibly satisfied with the performance so far, the gauntlets at least. He spent the next hour running through various systems, some simple as a strength test, lifting a piece of industrial equipment with one arm, others testing the sensors and seeing how well they worked to pick up the smallest of details even with heavy interference.
There was even a point where he texted the smaller details like if he could write something eligible on a piece of paper without breaking the pencil.
"Next." Katsuki positioned himself upright, hands towards the ground and making sure nothing was around him. "Mobility."
His feet kicked to life, a bright light burning out with flowing steam as he suddenly found himself a foot over the ground. He adjusted himself, his palms briefly flaring here and there to give an extra thrust to point him in the right direction.
"Increase it!" His boots roared a little louder as his head nearly skimmed the ceiling, Katsuki's balance kept him from wobbling too much as he maneuvered around the room.
"Pull!"
"Perhaps you shouldn't try shooting when you're just barely-"
"Do it!"
Liz complied, maliciously as the clay pigeon was sent right towards him. Katsuki reeled back, sending a quick blast with one palm that completely threw him back. His boots continued shooting him across the room, until he used his other hand to brake and flip himself forward to land on one knee with his hands behind him.
He was too pleased with his performance and his flawless work over the past month or so to care that the target was purposely sent to try and throw him off. "Fuck yeah! Let's put the rest on and take it for a real test!"
"This facility is not equipped to handle any higher output from the suit."
Katsuki marched over to the table, where several plating and final pieces of the armor lay. Grabbing each one with one hand, he fastened it with the appropriate tool. "I'm not trashing the lab, we're going out."
"Keep in mind you are expected to attend the Meeting of the Minds tonight."
"Won't be out that long." Katsuki could put it off until tomorrow, but no way could he wait any longer. Christmas came early and he made himself the best present ever. "Open up the launch pad and don't let anyone in."
"Understood, I will watch over the lab, your suit, your home, and everything else you've assigned to me."
He didn't remember Melissa having this much sass but perhaps that was because she could mostly do whatever she wanted whenever. Liz was tasked on being the primary interface for a vast majority of his work.
Taking off the basic test helmet, Katsuki snapped the jaw piece to the higher neckline before clicking the back of the helmet into place. Grasping the mask, he secured it against his helmet before the audible snap of the locking mechanism latched onto it. Through his thin pointed eye lenses, he saw the world through the reinforced glass.
Feeling the warmth inside his chest spread through the suit, the display came to life, expanding his vision, and analyzing everything around him. Glancing down at his gunmetal armor lined with small rivet marks, he noted that the look he was going for as a walking tank came out perfectly.
"Sensors online, exosuit prototype 1 has completed its armor calibrations. Opening the launchpad."
A heavy door at the side of the lab opened up, a pathway connecting to a helipad lighting up in the slowly dimming sky of the sunset. Katsuki began walking over, inspecting the accuracy of his visual read as it highlighted key points to his lab alongside the systems and power it ran off of. "I am good."
"Shall I keep your 'test drive' away from prying eyes?"
"Yeah, don't want anyone spoiling the surprise." He stepped into the center, looking over the shimmering chrome city and seeing the street lights switch on.
"Filtering all island security and radar. Now sweeping any mobile cameras and standing by with focusing scramblers."
Good, even if someone got a photo with their phone it would be as accurate as a photo of Big Foot.
Straightening himself once again into his start up position, Katsuki found himself looking down at the rather, far distance there was from him to the ground.
"Having any doubts about the exosuit?"
"Nope." Katsuki walked over to the edge, teetering at the point of no return. "I made it after all."
Leaning forward, he fell. The weight of his suit throwing him towards the ground and soon reaching peek terminal velocity. He rolled over, pointing his chest down, waiting until the very last second. Right as he was about to match the highest point of a nearby building his thrusters snapped to life, rocketing him through the street before rushing into the sky.
"Woooooooooaaaaaaaahahahaha!" Katsuki slowly spun as he continued to ascend, a huge spike of adrenaline rushing through his brain over the experience. The armor didn't just hold up well, it thrived. Looking back at his suit he saw the wind cutting over the edges into thin streams before dissipating a few feet behind him.
He seriously considered just flying for the rest of the day and skipping the whole kissing ass event.
Stabilizing his flight to stop rolling, letting his altitude become fixed, he soared around the perimeter of the island as his cameras zoomed in on the various cars that were making their way towards the main tower. His camera kept switching through the optics, never shaking as he managed to get a perfectly clear image of Obadiah Stane greeting someone with a smile. Whitney standing next to him.
Ugh, now he really didn't want to go.
Deciding to take his mind off it, Katsuki turned himself away and began flying at a greater pace. "Liz, are we at cruising speed?"
"Yes."
"Well let's floor it and see how fast we can really go." His daring ego pushed. "What's the record?"
"The record is thirty five thousand four hundred and twenty three miles an hour for a manned aircraft."
"Let's break it!" With a mad glee Katsuki felt the thrust increase to a mighty crack as he quickly pushed through the sonic barrier. The suit continued to whine, the sea blurring into a single plane of blue as he tried to outrace the turn of the Earth where the sun was hiding.
"We have reached maximum thrust."
"Lock the arms and max out all propulsion systems!" Katsuki yelled, barely able to make out the sound of his own voice from the air screaming around his helmet.
Liz complied, Katsuki's arms going stiff before his palms fired off a continuous stream of bright energy to match the boots. Their purpose during flight might have just been stabilizers they also had the capacity for massive blasts so he intended to use those.
The speed continued to rise, the clouds in the horizon coming into view and blotting out the sun as his point of reference. His visor began to flash, the image of his armor in the corner increasing to show the areas around the outer sides of his boots and the edges of his gauntlets glaring red.
"There is a dangerous heat build up along the armor."
No, not yet. He needed to catch the sun, he could do it. "Keep going!"
His legs felt warm, his palms starting to heat up at an alarming rate as he continued to reach further, go faster, burn brighter.
Then his left boot let out a pop, smoke coming from the side as it died. "Shit pull up!"
He was sent spinning without one of his main points of flight, his arms still locked as he was flying out of control. Using the internal controls he cut the power to his palms before unlocking the arms. With just one boot and his built up speed carrying him towards the sea Katsuki wrestled with the air.
He fell, the boy screaming out as the ocean's surface was approaching too fast to act as nothing but an imminent brick wall. Thinking as fast as he could he shut down all thruster systems before opening the flaps in hopes he could slow down enough. "Activate fire suppression system!"
A numbing cold flooded the suit as white foam began leaking out from under the armor's plating, Katsuki's eyes unable to tear themselves away from the water's surface that he was about to collide with.
Then the armor flashed green, the temperatures of the limbs returning to operating standards. He slammed his hands forward, sparking a quick burst to pivot his feet towards the ocean to let his boots jet out a stream of power.
Katsuki skimmed across the water before racing back up into the sky, undefeated in his battle against death's grasp. "YEEEAAAAAHAHAHAAAA!"
Having had his fun dancing with the afterlife, Katsuki swerved back around to the island as night fell over his part of the world. The island came back into sight, sparkling over the dark abyss that outshone the stars. Feeling himself at ease after the short adventure, Katsuki eased his flight path towards the launch pad, gently hovering down until he was half a foot away from the ground before cutting the thrusters.
Walking back in, he grabbed the industrial drill and began taking off the armor, the rush of the flight subsided. Yeah, that got it out of his system, he was calm enough to handle some rich assholes.
If anyone asked, no, he wasn't one of them.
Note: only Iron Man content will be used for this story, no other heroes or villains outside of Iron Man or MHA will be used.
This chapter was a break from some of the more heavy stuff. It was just spent for Katsuki and others to more or less come to terms with what happened and try to move on. Whether they will be able to fully do that or not I won't directly say.
Some of you might be thinking that because I'm clearly introducing Momo next chapter that she is going to be the Pepper. Let me be clear, I haven't decided on who can best serve as a Pepper figure in Katsuki's life yet. I just knew at some point or another Katsuki would have a run in with her due to her parent's wealth and influence.
Another thing I'm trying to decide is the rosters for the classes, they won't be the same that's for sure but I don't know how far to change it up. This is because at some point Katsuki is going to try and get into UA, and given his very high position in society there's no way he's not going to be in the recommendation group. That means if I try putting him in 1-A, that would mean either Momo or Shoto didn't make it and that doesn't feel right compared to the other two for 1-B.
So, either he goes to 1-B and I have to pick someone from there to be a Pepper or I shuffle up who is in what class. Let me know what characters you guys would prefer to be in what class.
BTW, I've already decided where Izuku will end up so don't bother thinking about it.
Let me know where you see this story going or what you would look forward to.
Thanks for reading. Any errors in spelling or inconsistency please point out.