Super Science

Ch 19: Old Wounds Bite Hard

One day at the Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility, the front entry phone rang for the first time in its entire opening time. It only rang once before quickly being picked up.

"Hello, and thank you for calling. This is the front desk of Neo Icon Phoenix Research Facility. This is Megan speaking. How may I assist you today?" she asked while flipping her hair out of the way for her ear. Some talking was heard from the other end, and Megan replied, "Uh-huh." After a bit more talk, Megan said, "One moment, sir, I'll transfer you."

She pressed a few buttons, told her other half what was happening, and answered.

"Hello, and thank you for calling; this is Millicent, the head secretary. How may I assist you.", She answers as the voice speaks, and she replies, "Uh-huh?", A bit more talk, and Millicent says, "One moment, sir, I'll see if he's in his office."

She put the person on hold and punched into Egon's office phone. After a few rings, the receiver was picked up.

"Yes, Millicent?", Egon answers.

She informed him, "Sir, there's a man on the other line looking for you. He goes by the name of Nezu and claims to be the principal of UA."

Struck with confusion and concern, he quickly decides and tells her, "Punch him through."

Hanging up on him, she punches back Nezu on the other end and says, "Hello, sir?", Nezu replies, and she tells him, "Yes, he's in the office and able to speak. I'll put you right through.", Nezu says a few things and Millicent says, "Have a nice day sir."

Millicent transfers him to Egon. His phone rings, and he picks it up while answering, "Hello?"

"Professor Egon Crystallo?", Nezu's voice says on the other end.

Egon could tell he was the real deal from the many interviews he'd heard his voice over on TV. He breathed and answered, "Speaking."

"This is Nezu, principal of UA. I hope I'm not intruding on anything.", He introduced him with an apologetic tone.

Waving off the phone, he replies, "No, no, not at all. What can I do for you?"

There is a bit of silence, and Nezu finally tells him with some hesitation in his tone, "You see, I've heard quite a bit about you and your facilities."

Egon raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward and asked, "Really? Man, we haven't even brought out the big stuff yet or gone public, and we already have a whisper of a reputation? I hope it's good."

Nezu nods silently on the other end, and he answers, "Yes, yes, all good things. The thing is, I'm in a bit of a pickle."

"Go on.", Egon prompted him, feeling his caution rise again.

Nezu clears his throat and explains, "Here at UA, we have something called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short. And I'm sure you remember that awful typhoon that swept by here recently."

Egon blows out the air between his lips and complains, "How could I not? That storm knocked down every tree we had just planted!"

"I'm sorry to hear about your trees, but the USJ got the worst of it and requires massive repairs.", Nezu continues.

More than confused by this point, Egon gets straight to the end and states, "I'm not sure I understand where you're getting at."

"In short, we use that place to teach our students rescue work. Unfortunately, we can't now. But I recently heard about your facility and had an idea.", He told him as Egon raised an eyebrow in suspicion and intrigue. "Would you be so kind as to allow our first years to practice in your facility?", Nezu asked with as much sincerity as he could muster over the phone.

This shocked the man, and with a flabbergasted tone, he told him, "Though I love nothing more than helping the youth, I also must tell you we aren't half as big or prepared for handling the education of rescue work."

"I completely understand that which is why I have something else in mind—a treasure hunt, if you will.", Nezu explained, making Egon more curious as he continued, "The students go around and collect clues on villain activities, find out what's what, and reach the goal—like detective work."

Egon becomes intrigued with the idea and says, "That sounds far more realistic for us."

"And I also hoped to turn it into a field trip for our students. Teach them about the wider world of Science and everything that goes into their daily lives. I'm more than capable of realizing that heroes so romanticize our youth that they have no respect or idea about what goes on behind the scenes with the creation of suits and gear and such.", Nezu explained and asked him.

Egon thought it over momentarily before agreeing, "That sounds like a great idea. Oh, but I'll need a list of students attending to make proper arrangements."

"Of course. Please give me a moment and…. there! It should've gone through.", Nezu says as the sound of typing can be heard.

Egon sees an email that was sent over, and he wonders how Nezu got it, let alone the number for his facility. He'll have to find out later, as he replies, "I see it. Now let's see…" he looks over the long list containing 40 students.

There were 20 in total from two classes. As he looked over the list, a name stood out. After shaking his head and scrolling back up, he exclaimed, "Oh!"

"Is something wrong?", Nezu asked.

"Huh?", Egon said in a stupor, realizing he and Nezu were still talking. He then replied in a shaken tone, "Oh, nothing is wrong, I just….could I call you back later? I have to check up with my second in command."

Nezu is quiet but eventually says, "Of course. Take all the time you need. If I don't hear from you by the end of the week, I'll assume it's a no."

Egon repressed the urge to sigh in relief and said before hanging up, "Thank you, Principal Nezu. Have a nice day.", he slammed the phone down, huffed a sigh, leaned back with his hand in his face, and quickly stood up. He left his office, and after getting into the hallway, he said to himself in stress, "Boy, oh boy! Izuku is going to freak out when he hears this."

It only took him a few minutes to get to Izuku's office, though he wished it was a long walk since he had no idea how to go about breaching this subject. He felt more stressed than when he asked the most popular girl in school to dance and got rejected. He made it to the door, breathed deeply, pushed back his hair, and allowed the automatic to open as he knocked on the meta while poking his head in.

"Izuku? Are you busy?", He asked while looking around.

He saw Izuku sitting at his desk with the computer up, the video camera on, and the mic already plugged in. He turned around and quickly replied, "No, professor, I'm not. I was about to give my addendum on what's been going on with the laboratory, Gammoth, all the new Splinters and discoveries, and even a little Torch Wick here. But that can wait."

"There's…something I have to tell you.", he told the boy while walking, rubbing the back of his head.

"What is it?", Izuku inquired, feeling curious and a bit worried.

Egon breathed deeply with stress while pulling his fingers under his chin and told him, "Okay, you know what. I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I'll just tell you straight up.", this made Izuku more nervous as the man explained, "So the principal of UA called just earlier asking to use the lab for some kind of hero exercise or something, I don't know. He also sent me a list of students' names to see how many would attend. And we'll…this name stood out most of all."

Egon opened his phone to the email that was sent to him and reluctantly handed it over to Izuku. Izuku was more than confused as he took the device and looked over the list of names he didn't recognize except Uraraka. That is until his eyes fell upon the name that Egon dreaded to show him. He had to double back to make sure, and when he did, he freaked out.

"Kacchan!?", Izuku screamed in shock.

"Yeah.", Egon admitted uncomfortably while rubbing his head.

Izuku's head dropped, his face overcast, his shoulder shook, and his hands trembled as tears threatened to spill out. But even so, he managed to say, "I should've known. He's always been amazing at everything….always."

"I didn't tell him yes or anything like that yet. I just told him to wait.", Egon quickly assured him while waving his hands rapidly. He then took a breath, kneeled to his level, placed a hand on his shoulder, and offered, "Izuku, if you are uncomfortable with this, I can call him right now and tell him it's off. He won't mind."

Izuku wipes away the tears and replies with a quiver in his tone, "No, no…it's okay…really. It'll be fine so long as we don't see each other. I'll just stay in my office the whole day. That won't be hard."

Egon relented but told him, "If you say so. But just to be safe, I'll have a guard at your door and monitor him. If anything happens, I'll stop him!"

"Thank you. I appreciate it…really.", Izuku replied while looking away.

Egon then wrapped him in a hug and squeezed him tightly. He told him, "Of course. Anything for my favorite person in the whole world.", Izuku hugged him back, and Egon told him before leaving, "I hope this goes well."

Egon then got up, walked back through the door, and left to make his return call to the principal. He left Izuku behind in his office to turn back to the computer setup and give his addendum. Breathing deeply, he centered himself before turning on the record button and starting his report.