Chapter Forty-Five
Momo had to repress a smile as she arrived at the Armor Warrior hero agency complex. As befitting the number eight hero in Japan, his agency was a large plot of land in the Konan Ward of Yokohama, and built to resemble an enormous dojo, in the traditional style. She passed through security without an issue, and was shown to a waiting room, where she sat in seiza.
Her to-be-mentor was known for his traditional values, a respected veteran of the time when the tumult of the 'chaotic century' had ravaged Japan, only truly ending when All Might had arrived and ushered in the current age of peace. While All Might was number one, Armor Warrior had not left the top ten since it was created, forty-four years ago.
In terms of Prestige, outside of the Symbol of Peace himself, there wasn't a better Hero to intern with.
More than that, he had a wealth of experience to pull from, and, as Denki would say, the man's Quirk 'worked' in a way somewhat like hers, at least in the expression, if not the mechanism. The phenotype, as opposed to genotype. Herotype versus quirk-o-type? Alone now, she did smile, thinking that to be just the sort of joke Mina would make.
Those two. . . she didn't really know what to make of them. They were dear friends, and she was grateful they were mindful of her presence the times the three of them spent together, so as not to make things. . . awkward. She knew they were together, they made no attempts to hide it from her, and Mina, when it was just the two of them, was open to a degree that was as. . . embarrassing as it was informative. But, sometimes she got the sense there was the possibility for something. . . more.
She was not unaware of such arrangements elsewhere, her family did business globally, and in many places a couple having a mistress wasn't uncommon. Even here in Japan, it happened, though it often wasn't as blatant as it were in, say, some parts of Europe.
Though, from the way both her friends acted, she wasn't sure exactly who would be the mistress, and with whom.
Focus, Momo, she thought, taking a deep breath, as she heard footsteps approach, the door sliding open to reveal an older, thin man, close cropped hair greying at the temples. She recognized the man as Ice Sword, one of Armor Warrior's sidekicks, though given the two had fought together for decades, such a designation seemed inadequate.
"Factoria?" the man asked, and she nodded, once, trying to be definitive and professional when all she felt was eager. "Good, come with me." She rose, picking up her case and following the man, who walked with slow, measured steps that moved him surprisingly quickly. "Today will be an assessment of your abilities. One will be assigned to you, and you will follow their direction as you would Armor Warrior's. Do you have any questions?"
"Should I change into my costume?" she asked, lifting her suitcase for emphasis.
Ice Sword continued walking, responding, "No. A uniform will provided for you. Furthermore, you are not to use your Quirk until you are told."
Yaoyorozu blinked as that was an. . . unusual requirement, one she did not understand, but she trusted that her mentor had his reasons. Ice Warrior led her outside, a woman with deep purple hair pulled up into a spikey ponytail jogging over to them. "You the fresh meat?" she asked, smiling predatorily.
" Orochi," the older man warned reproachfully, the woman smiling unrepentantly. "She is to report to the master at three."
"I'll have her there and mostly in one piece!" Orochi promised, getting a huff from the other man, who turned and walked away. After he'd re-entered the building, the woman turned to look at Momo. "So, what'd you do to get here, kid?"
"I am not sure what it is, exactly," Yaoyorozu replied. "However, I made it to the semifinals of the UA sports festival. Midoriya, the winner, was not offered an invitation, so it must be something more than that, though."
"Mini-Might? Yeah, Big Boss wouldn't want 'em," the older woman nodded, turning and starting to walk away. "Come on, new meat, let's see how well you can take a pounding, but let's get you a gi first."
What followed was a rigorous series of physical examinations. She ran obstacle courses, had to balance herself in a variety of positions, but mostly she had to spar. A lot. Starting with other teenagers, if a bit older than herself, she easily defeated her opponents, the instructor stopping between each spar to give the others an explanation of how she had won, which let her catch her breath, and learn that they were high school graduates, training to pass the police exam.
The second group she sparred against were those that were already cadets, and she still performed well, winning, but by much narrower margins, and, as she had to resist the urge to use her Quirk, she understood Mr. Ice Sword's restrictions. Police were not allowed to use their Quirks in the apprehension of criminals and villains, only heroes were. As such, to use her own would both present her with an unfair advantage, and defeat the point of the lesson, as police were concerned with dealing with those criminals who did not use their Quirks, or did not have Quirks that would make a difference in a fight.
After the second set, she found herself stretching, muscles sore, and very thankful for both of her friend's efforts. Without them she would have still won her first set, the training she had been given by personal tutors before joining UA sufficient, but there was a difference between self-defense and actual combat. While she had only, truthfully, seen true combat during the incident at the USJ, both Mina and Denki did not hold back during their spars, following no rule or move sets, only whatever worked. Furthermore, training with Denki, with his enhanced strength, though he did not truly use it against her, had given her experience fighting much stronger opponents, a skillset she was putting into use now, fighting full grown men and women.
That said, she did find her opponents a bit weaker and slower than she was used to, Mina stronger than most of them, though her friend was not quite as skilled, her dance-fighting style effective because of its uniqueness, and its compatibility with her Quirk, not her pure skill with it.
"You wanna call it quits, New Meat?" Orochi asked with a smile, which only broadened as Momo shook her head.
"I wouldn't say no to some water, but I am prepared for what else you have for me," she replied confidently, causing the older woman to laugh, waving Yaoyorozu onward.
The next class was, as she thought, actual police officers, and where she suffered her first loss. She could dodge, and try to flip her opponents, striking where she could, but her training had focused greatly on combat combined with her Quirk, and her staff. After the second loss, the instructor had looked to Momo's minder, who nodded.
"If you wish to use your Quirk, young lady, you may," the muscular middle-aged man running the class informed her, and she nodded, her opponent, a fit woman with ram horns, claiming a padded riot shield, and a padded baton, from the racks off to the side.
Ready, this time Momo charged the woman who'd thrown and pinned her easily, creating a handful of frictionless oil and throwing it at the woman's feet. She started to step back, but a capture-foam coated weight on a line, which struck the woman's shield, gave Yaoyorozu the leverage she needed to turn and pull the other woman off balance when she was mid-step.
Without a way to ground herself, the policewoman's superior strength meant practically nothing as Momo pulled, the internal strap of the shield not allowing her opponent to just drop it, forcing her forward. The horned woman tried to step around the frictionless oil, but with a twist from Momo the woman fell to the side, a jet of capture foam covering the woman's feet and binding her.
"Good," instructor said, as Momo applied the counteragent, pointing to three more. "Again, without using those three uses of your Quirk."
This was harder, but doable, and she created a full armored costume for herself from under the gi, including powered rollerblades, which let her maneuver between the three officers, using created nets to temporarily restrain two while she used a foam-covered staff to take down the third, cuffing him, before repeating the process.
She was tired afterwards, and knew that, without her armor, she would've been heavily bruised, but she smiled broadly with the third person down. Some of the younger officers looked surprised, while a couple of the older officers were nodding. One man, maybe in his mid-twenties, just looked angry.
"And that is why, when a criminal starts using their Quirk, you retreat and call for a hero," the instructor announced, looking at the upset officer, and Yaoyorozu realized she was being used as a lesson. It wasn't that she minded, and paid close attention, to better broaden her understanding of an aspect of heroing that hadn't been covered in her education thus far, that being the police side of things.
"That's because we're not allowed to use our Quirks," the man complained. "If we could, then we'd win easily."
A few of the younger officers seemed to support him, even if they did not say anything. From the challenging look the man sent Momo, it was obvious he was trying to bait her into asking to fight, but she had studied history, unlike this man, apparently. "If I am to be certain of what you are saying, you are stating you wish for everyone to use their untrained Quirks against me?"
"What? Are you scared a 'hero' like you would lose?" he sneered, and, if she were someone like Bakugo, then she'd fall for it quite easily. However, she both had nothing to prove, having been personally recruited by one of the top ten heroes in the country, but had also done her best to study the police/hero divide, and why it existed, when she first truly wished to become a hero.
However, from the carefully considering look her minder was giving her, this was obviously some sort of test. As such, she would do her best to exceed expectations.
"In that case, should I start making explosives?" she asked, forming an empty fragmentation grenade, and tossing it, pin assembly a solid piece, to him. His eyes widened, and he batted it away, right into some of the other students, before a twenty-foot-long snake struck out, retracting itself back into Orochi's palm.
The woman held the pin, frowned, pulled a little on it, and, finding it solid, laughed.
"Or perhaps you should retrieve a firearm, and we can shoot at each other?" Yaoyorozu asked, with as much honest curiosity as she could manage, creating a brightly colored squirt-gun in her palm and pulling the plastic trigger. "I don't have a license to use a firearm, but that is equivalent to what you are suggesting."
The man's face flushed red with anger, and his hand started to glow green, only for the instructor's voice to snap out, "Takeshi! You were sent to training for illegal Quirk use on suspects. Your sergeant will be hearing of this. Leave, and return tomorrow."
From the glare he sent the girl, he obviously wanted to say something more, but the officer bit his tongue and stormed away. After he did so, a sinking realization struck Momo that, maybe, she'd gone a bit too far. "Oh, no. I've made an enemy, haven't I," she muttered to herself. She'd tried to explain it, but she'd spent far too long with Denki, the boy's. . . extremely direct nature having rubbed off a little
She hadn't said it quietly enough as she thought, though. Orochi, who had been walking over, chuckled and reassured her, "You were already on that guy's shit list for bein' a Hero. Liberationists like that idiot want all the benefits, without going through any of the shit that people like us do."
"And I wouldn't worry about him too much," the instructor said, looking around. "I have a feeling that you earned more than a little good will with that." A number of the officers nodded, giving her comforting smiles, which did make her feel better about the situation.
One of the older policemen spoke up. "The grenade. . . it wasn't real, was it?"
"What? No!" Yaoyorozu gasped, horrified. "What if he'd accidentally dislodged the pin?"
"Not much of a chance of that," Orochi offered, trying to pull the pin, unable to move it in the slightest. "Ya did good, kid," the woman told her charge. "Now come on, let's go grab some lunch, wash up, and go talk to Big Boss."
Fed and washed, leaving her created armor in a basket provided, she was led into the office of Armor Warrior, meeting the veteran hero for the first time. His office was resplendent, full of finely crafted art, several pieces in the ukiyo-e style prominent. The man, who even out of his armor projected strength, was not tall but solidly built in a way similar to an elderly All Might, if not quite that muscular, looking to be hewn from stone. Clad in a dark suit, he still wore the faceplate that would normally be seen from underneath his helmet, his eyes sharp as he regarded her.
"Miss Yaoyorozu. It is a pleasure to meet you," Armor Warrior greeted, nodding his head in the slow manner that indicated a formal greeting to one of lesser status.
"The pleasure is mine. Thank you for honoring me with this opportunity," she greeted in return, bowing at the waist, reflecting his much higher position. He gestured to the chair in front of his desk, she sat, waiting for the hero to speak.
"Why do you think I offered you a place here?" the man asked, after a long moment, and again Yaoyorozu got the sense of another test passed, only to be confronted with yet another.
"I believe it has to do with my Quirk," she answered slowly, "But only in part. Was it. . ." she trailed off, wanting to say teamwork, but if that were the case, then Denki, Mina, Uraraka, and Midoriya would've been offered internships as well. The one thing that set her apart was, "My strategy?"
"What separates humans from animals?" the man asked in turn, not giving her any indication of she was correct.
"Our intelligence," she answered easily, then worried. Was that too easy?
The Hero nodded, "Close. It is our use of tools. Other animals are faster. Tougher. Stronger. It is by using tools that humanity has prospered. The other students who made it to the Semifinals used their natural talents. You only used yours to create tools denied to you. Do you know my Quirk?"
Momo had kept the frown from her face, as Denki had used both tools and his Quirk, as had Mina, but she was here to learn, not to argue with more experienced professionals. She nodded, having researched the man sitting before her extensively after she had selected him as her top choice. "It's Activation. You can activate technological devices and control them, but only within four inches of your skin."
Armor Warrior leaned back, regarding her, beard twitching in a way that likely indicated a slight smile. "Preparation is key," he remarked, and she flushed at the praise. "In today's society, one with such a basic Quirk would be dissuaded from pursuing a career as a Hero. Natural abilities are lifted above others, the strongest gorilla in the troop. That is not what heroism is about, those with strong abilities physically dominating weaker opponents. It is about the skilled. The cunning. The intelligent," he stated, nodding in her direction.
"Your use of tools interested me," the veteran hero informed her. "With the proper equipment you could be the one who accepts my mantle when I retire in a few years." At that surprising statement, he reached up, taking off his faceplate, and showing her the inside, covered with circuitry, the seemingly open eye-holes actually screens, with information scrolling across it. The man replaced the visor, looking at her consideringly.
"You are not controlled by your base emotions, like a wild beast. Despite your position, you do not appear to be entitled. You do not rely on your Quirk. I do believe I have much to teach you. Are you willing to learn?" Armor Warrior asked, beard moving in a small smile.
Almost vibrating with anticipation, Momo nodded. "I am, sir!"
Waving a hand, a holographic display appeared over the desk, dozens of different devices displayed. "Then let us begin."
Mina stepped off her train, full of trepidation. Around others, she found it easy to be happy, but left to her own thoughts, she got a bit moody, which wasn't fun. With Denki there, they could talk, and joke, and be together, not in that way (they were in public!) of course, but she didn't have to think about what was coming next. Now she'd had half an hour to worry, to think of all the ways things could go wrong, and that's what was filling her head.
"Focus Mina!" she told herself, slapping her own cheeks. "This is gonna be fine!" She just needed to find her Mentor, Bentonita, make a good impression, and do whatever it is that she was supposed to do.
Oh god, what was she supposed to do!?
Be a hero, yeah, but, like, patrol? Was she going to fight villains? She wasn't ready to fight villains! I mean, she had, but that was super scary!
"Ripley?" a voice called, and it took Mina a moment to remember that that was her, before she turned around.
"Yes?" she asked, spotting Bentonita waving to her, a smile on the woman's face, and Mina felt herself smiling in return. "Oh, hey!" she greeted, jogging up to the blonde heroine. Not electric blonde, like Sparky, but more of a platinum blonde. More than that Mina noticed the woman had some the best looking skin she'd ever seen, flawless and practically glowing. The woman's off-white costume was nicely cut, and, though it didn't look it, hid some serious armor, reinforced boots and gloves that looked soft, but Mina was pretty sure would hurt like nuts if you were hit by them.
"Oh you look even better in person!" the pro hero greeted in turn. "That's a great shade of pink, how do you do it?" she asked.
"My Quirk," Mina shrugged, finding herself smiling a little more. "I'm mostly immune to my own acid, but not quite, so I can use it to exfoliate. The more I use, the more immune I get."
Bentonita grinned. "Training and self-care! I love it! My office is nearby. Lets get you changed, so we can do my two favorite things, talk cosmetics and kick butt!"
"Heck yeah!" Mina grinned back, her worries evaporating like they never existed. "Let's do this thing!"
Mirko tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the kid to arrive. Why had she done this again? Right, because she hadn't had a good fight in over a month, and watching that stupid tournament while she waited for the cops to show was the most interesting thing she'd seen all week. And that meant now she was stuck in this rented office, when she could be finding someone's ass to kick, waiting for the twerp to arrive.
Any minute now.
Aaaaaaaaaany minute.
Were the hell was he?
The door to her 'office' opened, and the green-haired kid, Midori or something, walked in, bold as brass. At least he got that going for him.
"What the hell took you so long?" she demanded, and the kid flinched back. Nevermind, not that.
"I-I-I, but the form said I needed to be here by nine!" the kid whined. "Is my watch wrong? No, it's-"
"And?" she asked, wondering what that had to do with anything.
The kid looked at her, then his watch, then her again. "It's eight forty-five."
. . . shit. Kid had a point. "Why you so nervous?" she asked instead. "We haven't done anything yet."
"Oh, sorry!" the kid apologized. "It's just, you're Mirko! You haven't been around that long, but you've been in tons of fights! You're super strong, and your Luna Ring is really cool, and you normally don't team up, so I was really surprised when you offered but I-"
"Yeah, I am pretty awesome," she laughed, glad the motormouth could at least recognize talent when he saw it. "But my being great isn't the reason you're here."
Midori blinked, before nodding. "Ah, yes, I'm here to learn." He quickly bowed low, "Thank you so much for taking me on. I'll do my best not to disappoint you. Are we going to patrol? Is there something we need to do? If there was, then I could see why you were worried. But you didn't need to wait for me if people were in trouble? Are there people in trouble? Should I-"
"Ugh, enough, kid. We're not gonna patrol, we're gonna fight!" Mirko announced, grinning in anticipation.
"We. . . we are?" the boy asked, looking around. "Um. . . who are we gonna fight?"
She looked at him like he was being dumb. Because he was. "I, oh, oh!" he said, realization dawning. "But, but I couldn't fight you, you're a lot better than I am!"
Mirko snorted. At least the kid was smart. "I'm not expecting ya to win, kid, I'm expecting ya to try."
Broccoli-hair held his hands up, waving them back and forth. "But, but, are you sure? I mean, maybe we should go to a gymnasium first? And maybe you could give me some pointers. And, I, I don't want to hurt you by accident, and -ohno!" he yelped as Mirko launched a kick at him, the kid leaping backwards.
"You did not just suggest that," she growled, stalking forward. As if he could hurt her!
"I'm sorry!" the kid apologized, dodging again as she sent another kick his way. Not really trying to hit him, just getting his attention. "Why are we fighting?"
"Because I'm trying to see the kid who levelled a stadium, but all I'm seeing is a scared little mouse," she taunted, kicking again. "So stop dodging."
The kid dodged again, because of course he did, but on the next kick he got an arm up, a single arc of green lightning sparking and blocked her.
He was still sent flying a few feet away, because while she wasn't really hitting hard, she wasn't gonna insult the kid by pulling her kicks that much. For a moment, the sense of fear she was getting from the kid disappeared, as he worked his arm, staring at her legs, in the fun way. The way that said, 'I know what those can do, and I'm figuring out how to try anyways."
"That's it!" she grinned, launching herself forward in a flying spinning kick, which the kid barely ducked under to reply with an uppercut of his own.
It didn't hit, because she was her, but the fact that he still tried showed some serious carrots, and she twisted out of the way, landing behind him and lightly tapping him, sending him sprawling forward.
He recovered into a roll, getting to his feet, hands up and ready, the same look in his eye that she'd seen during his fight with Sparks and Endeavor's Brat. " There it is," she grinned, as the look faded, the kid just seeming confused, though under that he was still on guard.
"Um, are we fighting? Or are we not?" the kid asked, unsure, but ready to rumble at a moment's notice. "I'm-I'm not sure what's going on."
"Making sure you were worth it," Mirko shrugged. "You are. Now, grab your gear and put it on. Ya got two minutes 'fore I come in after you."
"I. . . what?" her intern asked dumbly.
Work in progress, Rumi, she reminded herself. "One minute fifty-five, Midori," she replied.
"My, my names Midori ya," the kid argued, even as he rushed over to the metal suitcase he'd come in with.
She snorted. "Actually hit me and I'll remember it. One forty-eight, Midori. Bathroom's that door," she told the green-haired boy, who rushed away, eyes wide with panic.
She waited, foot tapping, as she counted down the seconds, trying not to laugh as Midori's cry of "WHY IS IT DIFFERENT!?" could be heard through the door.
"One minute ten seconds," she called back, grinning broadly as she waited. Time clicked by, and she felt her anticipation rising as she counted down. "Three." she crouched, getting ready, gauging how much force she'd need to break through the door, but not the kid if he was right behind it. "Two." Muscles tensed, breaking down the door would be the easy part. Was he waiting for her? It'd be smart, if a bit disappointing. "One!" she announced, leaping forward, only for the kid to slam the door open, rushing out, eyes wide as he spotted her, foot leading.
Crossing his arms, green electricity sparking, he caught her kick, feet planted firmly, throwing her backwards. He charged her, blurring forward, and he was fast, but what he wasn't was agile, going in a straight line.
She leapt up, hitting the ceiling, and launching back to the ground with a kick that scythed down for his shoulder, the kid at the last minute jumping to the side, dodging by inches. The wooden flooring splintered under her heel, as Midori, out of control, slammed into the clock, shattering it.
"Not bad," she smiled, turning to face him, even as he look behind himself horrified.
"I'm so sorry; I broke your clock!" he stammered, waving big white gloves.
She just laughed. "Not my clock. Wasn't planning on gettin' my security deposit back anyway. Now, let's dance!"
Going in for another hit, Midori darted backwards a dozen feet, but waited until she jumped again before darting forward, telegraphing his punch, but with her mid-air, he could. However, she wasn't Mirko for nothing, and wrenched a foot over in a kick that met his punch directly, both of them blasted backwards as the shockwave rattled the windows.
The kid hit the far wall, back first, and stumbled to his feet, while she landed graceful on the other side of the office, hitting the wall feet first and lightly dropping down, working the foot he'd punched.
She felt that.
It didn't hurt, and she was still gonna call him Midori until he got better, but she'd felt that.
This was a great idea! she thought, grinning, as she launched herself at her intern once again.
AN: As always, the next three chapters are up on .