AN: As this seems to have been missed, the version of the 'Waifu Catalog' that the Main Character has access to was frozen when he first came to MHA, for a number of reasons. It can be found under the first index'd post, through the link labelled 'Waifu Catalog Rules'. Also, please peruse the index'd posts before commenting, as there's a good chance any missing information that would pertain to your question/critique/suggestion/etc. might be contained within. Now, here's the next installment, because Chapter 75 pretty much wrote itself.
Chapter Seventy-One
The Villain was defeated, the day was saved, and I was tired as shit.
Somehow it was almost dawn, I-Island more northern than I expected it to be, probably somewhere in the Bearing Sea, the megaship's environmental controls enough to make it seem like the waters around it were practically tropical, without the overbearing presence of the sun one got close to the equator.
"You okay, Sparky?" Mina questioned, the others having retreated back to Momo, Mei, and the rest of us by the entrance to go downstairs. "You didn't overdraw?"
I shook my head, the lie one I'd already practiced. "I'm about three sparks away from it. Practiced keeping a little in reserve, so I didn't go all goofy in the middle of a fight."
She shot me a questioning look, and when the others turned to talk amongst themselves, I mouthed 'Later' to her, getting a nod and a smile. The others were exultant, but my hands shook as I ran them through my hair. This was supposed to be a Shonen Battle Anime, yeah, but the power level was supposed to be street-level bullshit, not the Servant level what-the-fuckery that I was just a party to, my contributions paltry, at best. Idly, I grabbed my phone, and opened the Company app to recheck my world tier.
Yep. Still Tier 4. Supposedly on the same level as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Breath of the Wild, and standard Mass Effect before everything went to hell. Which, yes, could have things go badly, but that shit we just saw was right out of the Fate's Grail Wars. Fuck, I hit that last attack of the villain's with something that should one-shot a tank, and it did jack all.
Then again, one of my earlier shots took out the Villain's leg, so I was essentially playing rocket tag, which meant things weren't as dire as they could be. Then again, we were essentially playing rocket tag, which meant you were quick, or you were dead, and I wasn't that fast. And All Might hadn't just taken the hit, he and Midoriya had punched clean through it.
How the hell was I supposed to compete?
My decision to decide to be Denki was biting me in the ass now, and it was doing so hard. I'd been short on points, the Company screwing me by undervaluing the world I was going into, but that was no excuse. I'd had no idea when I was going to get dropped in, and my options was to replace someone, go in as my normal Quirkless self, or to be a 'normie' for the setting, which, in this world, meant my Quirk would be something mundane like 'can make things I touch glow', with zero control over what that would be.
And, short of being a Dragon or getting one of those 'not-green-lantern' rings, with the vague mental effects that came with them, both of which were vastly beyond my budget, the Catalog was lacking in direct power gain, all the Talents built for growth, the user's 'waifus' clearly meant to cover for that initial period of weakness.
If I'd started back in episode one, maybe the several months of growth would've let me get in with my weakened copied powers, physical strength, and what talents in whatever pseudo-useless Quirk I'd cultivated, but I'd just been so lacking in intel.
Just like I was now.
Ochaco yelled out for Izuku, who was standing on top of a pile of rubble, and was shirtless, because of course he was.
If All Might could punch a steel block so hard it turned into cubes, why couldn't Midoriya punch so hard his shirt exploded.
Stop your bitching, deal with the now, I thought, as Mina shot me a worried look, and I shook my head. "Are All Might and Mr. Shield okay?" I yelled, the green-haired boy nodding in response, and I let out long sigh, looking around. Despite the mountain of wreckage around us, the building still felt stable, so we should be good, but just in case it gave way, I kept myself ready to implement my plan for us all to make it down safely.
In the meantime, I turned what was next over in my head. Originally, we'd be going to the summer training camp, which would be attacked by villains, Bakugo would get nabbed, Midoriya and company would work to try and save him, which would leave All Might and All for One to throw down, levelling several dozen city blocks.
Honestly, it was this kind of fight, only moreso, but that was a brawl between Muscle-Jesus and Quirk-Satan, not All Might and rando villain #7.
Okay, this shit's more common than you think, I processed. Hell, Midoriya and Bakugo's fight against All Might was insane this time around, even if they lost.
So there was the canon path, only, we were down one student, I'd shot off Shigaraki's hand, Stain hadn't been captured, and Bakugo wasn't the one getting a recruitment pitch from AfO, I was. And I'd gotten it early.
And, against someone like Shigaraki, well, I'd beat him like I was his pimp and bitch owed me money, his Quirk doing jack-all to me, but that had clearly given me a false sense of my capabilities. It'd just been my bad luck that this guy's attacks were purely physical, something I couldn't really do that much against.
Which is how All Might could become Number One, I thought wryly. Esoteric defenses and odd immunities don't mean shit to Sir Isaac Newton.
So now, I was deep in, not uncharted waters, but territory that should be familiar, but wasn't.
Assuming nothing else happened while we were at I-Island.
... Murphy, that wasn't a suggestion.
The sound of pounding feet came from the stairwell, and we all turned, half a dozen heroes running out, in costume, then stopping as they spotted us, their guards still up. There was a moment of awkward silence, before I broke it, stating, "Um, bad guy's been beaten. All Might did it. Do the elevator's work? We weren't sure how badly things were torn up down below."
A woman in a Chinese dress with peacock-like shoulders looked us over, then nodded, dropping her guard and standing up straight. "We took the elevator, it was fine," she informed me. "Is anyone hurt?"
"Mr. Shield was, he's back that way with All Might, and the Villain, at least the one that survived, is... somewhere," I replied. "Should we go down, or..."
The Heroine nodded, "Vanguard, take the others and search the roof. Icarus, come with me, we'll take these kids downstairs."
A white-haired man wearing a teal exo-suit nodded, and started to move in All Might's direction, while a blond man in red and white robes motioned for us to follow him. Soon enough we were all back in the elevator, heading down, the woman glancing at me, then frowning.
I met her look with a quizzical one of my own, but she wasn't looking at my face, but my shirt. Glancing down, I realized I still had the flattened sniper round on me, still stuck to my suit, the heat of its deformation having spot-welded it to the ballistic-grade fabric. "Oh, yeah. I got shot, but I'm fine. It was, like, fifteen minutes ago, and I'm mostly healed."
My statement brought gasps and worried looks from my classmates, most of whom hadn't noticed, the peacock woman questioning with obvious concern, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm supernaturally tough, and I regenerate," I shrugged, "in addition to my electrical Quirk."
The other Pro laughed, "Someone's lucky." Looking to him, he shrugged. "I'd like to have a bit of that."
"Who are you all, anyways?" Peacock asked, a hint of disapproval in her voice.
Mina grinned, throwing up a V handsign, "We're students at UA High! All Might's our teacher!"
Icarus just shook his head. "Of course you are."
The elevator reached the ground floor, and we were quickly moved to the I-Island police station, giving our statements, and getting a quick medical check. Their sensors were good enough that we were processed in half an hour, their doctor able to tell me when I'd finish healing, to the minute, based just on the rate of regeneration they were detecting.
It was five a.m. by the time we made it to back to the hotels, the Expo itself was pushed back a half a day, and I took the pill the medic had given me when I'd mentioned I was going to have to present my inventions in four hours. The schedule had been reworked by the time we'd gotten back to our rooms, and my and Mei's exhibition was this afternoon instead.
Apparently almost dying while saving the island got us preferential treatment. Who would have guessed?
I laid in my bed, trying to go to sleep, but I was still too keyed up, the drug doing nothing.
... Right, I'm an idiot, I thought, feeling it trying to work, but my Body Defense was doing its job and keeping me able to fight. I had practice from my repeated visits to Recovery Girl, so all I needed to do was reach out and-
MHA
"All right, Heroes, Support Technicians, and anyone with oodles of money, check out this next Baby!" Mei announced with a smile, and I hefted the 'octo-pack', strapping it onto her.
"You might've seen this in the UA Sports Festival," I told the crowd that had gathered around our display, lifting her hair to make sure the uplink was secure at the back of her neck. "That was the prototype, and I'm sure you all saw how well that worked."
My partner extended the arms of the device, smoothly lifting herself up on the extended limbs, and dropping into a bow before launching herself into the air, spinning, and catching herself on the steel structure above us. "Ta da!" she cheered.
"It's got two modes, a low-powered 'patrol' setting," I bragged, "with moderate movement options. Using that, the battery is good for several hours, and the batteries are modular so in the time you'd spend taking a break, getting a drink, and stretching, it can be replaced and you're good to go!" Mei used the device to climb all over the exposed frame, cackling like the madwoman she kind of was.
"It's also got a higher-end 'combat' setting," I continued, the device clicking over into high-gear, Mei now leaping back and forth, "Which is when some of its other features become usable." Mei threw herself from one side of our display area to another, shooting out a pair of grappling hooks with two tentacles, extending the fans from the other two. "The fans aren't enough to sustain flight on their own, but they can extend jumps, and work well if you have any sort of gliding ability. Paired with the motors in the grappling hooks, though, you can get some real distance!"
Mei did just that, launching herself upwards, high into the sky, turning and shooting the grappling hooks back at the steel girders, hitting one, and missing with the other. Seeing it go wide, I toggled on OfA, and leapt upwards on legs of lightning, shifting a hand as well to catch the errant grapnel and hold it steady as I continued, standing on the steel structure. "It can pull itself in with one, but for tight maneuvering, two is better, and there's a lot of people here today," I smiled down at the crowd.
Hooking the grappling hook into the structure, I jumped down to the as Mei pulled herself back to us, looping up and over to come flying towards me on our stage. We'd talked about this, so I continued to talk, as Mei landed hard, the tentacles taking the weight like they were designed to, and I dodged as she 'attacked' me, the grapplers at the end of each metal tendril trying to grab hold of me. "At this level, you've only got about ten minutes at a full charge, but I think we all know just how long that can be. Even better," I added, as Mei pulled out her capture gun, "the interface is such that your hands remain free!"
I leapt away from a reaching metal tentacle, and my partner shot me in the chest, the capture foam expanding and trapping me. She scooped me up with another before I could bind to the ground, and lifted me up, like a prize fish, the crowd oohing and awing. "And, unlike some methods of control, there are safeties built in so that, should the tech be attacked directly-" I unleashed a couple thousand volts, which caused the device to lock up, holding fast instead of dropping me.
The safeties in the harness sprang loose so Mei was able to bail without a scratch, hitting the ground in a roll and popping up onto her feet, a grin on her face and her gun pointed at my head, "Whoever you capture stays caught!" she announced, to the crowd's applause.
We'd already displayed the capture foam, so my partner tossed the 'mist-grenade' we'd developed at me, dispersing the foam quickly, and she explained some of the more technical aspects of what we created while I toggled off the locks on the item, the octo-pack pulling its arms back into itself like it was supposed to. I glanced over to Mina, who was waiting in the wings, waving her over as I stored the backpack.
Looking out, it was easy to distinguish between heroes, technicians, and everybody else, as the last group just looked lost by my partners near stream-of-consciousness explanation, the first group was paying attention only to the combat details, while our fellow inventors were obviously intrigued.
Walking up to my partner, I covertly tapped her on the back, telling her to wrap it up, as she could go on for hours, while the crowd's attention started to slip over to my girlfriend, tricked out in the armor we'd made for her.
"Inventing something interesting, that pushes the limits of what is possible, is one thing, but I'm sure many of you know that tailoring an invention to a specific need, or a specific Quirk, is something entirely different!" I asserted, several in the audience nodding. "This is one of our classmates from UA, who I'm sure some of you recognize from the Sports Festival. Be a dear and introduce yourself," I smiled to my girlfriend, who, loving the show, grinned back, jumping forward to do just that, along with giving them a basic rundown of her Quirk.
"And it's that 'control her acid when connected to it' part that we had to work around," I announced as she finished. "A basic collect and spray method, like a water pistol, would be easy enough, but as a Hero versatility can be just as important as power or range."
"That's why we invented these Babies!" Mei declared, moving over to Mina, and taking hold of the pink-skinned girl, maneuvering her this way and that to show off the Flow-Gloves, which condensed her acid utilizing the Venturi effect to speed it up and give it the impetuous to shoot much further then Mina could on her own, while avoiding cavitation or any other issues that would break the stream, and thus her control. My girlfriend was a good sport, showing it off, snaring balls that were hurled up into the air and directing them about with her acid. "And that's only the tip of this iceberg!" my partner disclosed with manic glee, moving on to explain the power armor's mechanisms, and controls.
"And while, yes, this might seem a bit niche as to who can use it," I added when Mei finished up, "for anyone with a controlled enough hydrokinetic ability, in a variety of liquid mediums, this is a force-multiplier that could give the user the abilities of a lower-end Power-type Quirk, and we only have to look at the top of the rankings to see how much that kind of ability can matter!"
We continued on like that, giving the same explanation to over thirty different groups, as I used my own Quirk to top off the batteries on our devices between showings. Finally, just as afternoon turned to evening proper, we got the bigwigs, who attended the show where we could go all out. Some parts were the same, but we also had corralled Midoriya and Ochaco to show up as well, showing off the additions we'd made to their costumes, and ending with the backpack 'Not-a-MIRV', to Mei's delight.
"And let's end with a bang!" she declared, the two of us having given an overview of the design and the payload, our explanations bouncing back and forth between the two of us. "Hit it, Sparky!"
Activating the eight drones, they rose into the air, and then went everywhere across our display area, in a chaotic mess, and Mei spun about, using the visual controls to designate targets. The in-built computer system in the Support Item tracked each designated target independently while the radar mapping system built a model of the area around us, determining flight plans. A moment later my partner fired, the thirty mini-missiles flying up before splitting off, three or four each per target as they spun off and around, tracking the drones.
The attacks found their targets, a series of bangs going off one after another, one missile going wide as one drone dodged, only to twist and hit a different drone that was shepherded its way, entirely by accident, the computer not that advanced, but it certainly looked like we meant for that to happen. It was over in just under a dozen seconds, which was good as the thrusters only had enough fuel for fifteen seconds of sustained flight, each and every drone hit hard enough to break it, their shells cracked, but only that hard, all of them still in one piece, and the rest of our gear untouched.
While it was a subtle thing, it was one that many watching obviously noted. We didn't receive the same kind of entertained cheers and applause as our previous performances had garnered, though a good deal of our audience did clap. However, as Mei and I stood together, both of us grinned at the nods of approval we received from what were obviously the Support experts who lived here.
After our demonstration, we fielded questions as we put everything away, though for a lot of the technical and theoretical stuff I deferred to Mei, who was able to answer them, though her disdain for what was impossible, or as she put it, 'what I haven't figured out yet', got more amused laughs than disdainful looks, though there were a few of the latter, which she promptly ignored. There were a lot of people that wanted to talk to us, so I told Mina to go and hang out with Momo, Ochaco and Midoriya having met up with Asui and leaving at the end of the show.
"So Mr. Kaminari. You're both Hero and Technician?" a Russian man asked, and I nodded. "How do you find the time?"
I laughed. "Well, first of all, Ms. Hatsume is by far the more skilled of the two of us when it comes to Support Items," I told him, gesturing to my partner, who was discussing the intricacies of the Van der Waals generator we'd put in Ochaco's grappling hooks with a man in well-cared for, though heavily stained, overalls. "But I'd say a combination of natural talent, and not really having much of a life outside of school. Heck, even though we're on summer vacation I'm booked solid," I shrugged.
"Ah, that is why you have not yet contacted our mutual friend," he nodded in understanding.
"Our what?" I asked, confused.
"Ah, forgive me. My card," the Russian man chuckled, handing me what must've been the twentieth business card I'd gotten in as many minutes. Remembering Ms. Midnight's classes, I made sure to nod, half-bowing, taking it with both hands to give it due respect, as I would him, and then taking a moment to read it, as was proper.
Only, he hadn't given me a single card, he'd given me two.
Sliding the second one out from behind the first, I read the top, and froze, having seen received this very card before.
From Kurogiri.
"Ah, yes, our mutual friend. A, shall we say, singular individual," I replied, voice a little tight.
The Russian just laughed. "Ha, yes, yes. Quick on your feet, just as he described. It's not good to leave a friend waiting, young man. True of All, but especially for One such as him."
Unable to help myself, I commented, "Were you aware of what happened last night?" The man was either a peerless actor, or he really didn't know, given his expression as he shook his head no. Honestly, either one was possible, given who he worked for. "It was a group of Villains, seeking to steal a piece of restricted tech from I-Island's vaults. The leader bragged to All Might about receiving help from our... mutual friend. The Villains tried to kill me."
The Russian, who I noted had not given me his name, his card bearing a female name, nodded gravely. "Sometimes, a friend of a friend is not a friend. Especially if you had not been introduced. All the more reason to make contact, tovarisch," he replied easily.
"His men tried to shoot me and mine," I repeated, staring at this Villain in plain sight, trying to maintain a civilized façade, but even I could tell my anger was shining through, a single spark dancing between my fingers.
However, this agent of the enemy just laughed, clapping me on the shoulder, not flinching as I reflexively shocked him, just a little. "Ah, yes, you are one of us, aren't you? All the more reason to make the call. I look forward to working with you, young man. This was a good demonstration, as was last night's. I look forward to your next one!"
Without another word, the man turned and left, and I realized he was the last of those that'd wanted to talk to me. I looked at both business cards, before putting them both into the holder I'd brought for that purpose.
Stiffly walking over to our gear, I quickly checked it, making sure nothing was changed, damaged, or added, but everything was the same. "Hey, Sparky. You okay partner?" Mei asked, having come up behind me.
I didn't want to lie to her, but... this was bigger than she could handle. I grimaced, thinking of what would happen if she tried. Turning around, I shook my head. "Just someone who wanted commitments I wasn't ready to make," I told her, which was the truth.
Mei rolled her eyes, "I know. They're all 'Come work for us!', and 'We want to purchase the rights to what you make!', and 'We can give you a better workshop'! Like any workshop without you would ever be better!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands in a 'duh' motion. "And some of them were so boring, all 'You're obviously the better inventor!' I mean, yeah, I'm obviously better than they are, but what does that have to do with working for them?"
Wait, were they trying to poach her? I thought, holding up a hand. "I think they meant you're a better inventor than I am."
"Oh," she replied, "Well, yeah, you don't spend nearly enough time in the Design Studio with me makin' Babies. But how..." Mei trailed off, still confused.
"How does that relate to you working for them?" I suggested, and she nodded. "Did anyone mention 'riding coattails'?"
"Yeah, but they were dumb. I'm not even wearing a coat!" she scoffed.
Is... is this what it's like talking to me? I wondered, parsing the saying so that my partner could understand it. "It's an idiom. They mean I was profiting off of you without adding anything in return." Mei gestured to the inventions we'd created together. "They don't believe I helped. Yes, we both said I did. They think we're wrong. Or lying. Or I've tricked you somehow."
"So... they're dumb," my partner stated with finality.
"I, no, yes?" I hedged. "They're probably smart, but, you know how some people believe that if they couldn't do a thing, it couldn't be done?"
"Yeah, dumb people," she nodded.
"But they can be good at what they do," I tried to explain, "they just... don't handle the unknown well. Which, given that we're all inventors, is..."
"Dumb?" Mei proposed.
"Dumb," I agreed, with a sigh.
My partner laughed. "Sparky, you spend waaay too much time trying to be 'nice' and stuff. Time you could be spending with me! Now, let's go look at the other exhibitions!"
There were twin, loud growls, coming from our stomachs.
"Did you skip meals again?" I questioned my partner, without heat.
She just shrugged. "I had to make sure my Babies were ready!"
"Eh, same," I agreed. "How 'bout we grab dinner with Mina and Momo, then look at some more displays. Sound like a plan?"
Mei grinned, nodding, "See, this is why I need you!" Darting around me, she jumped up on the cart full of our inventions. "Now let's get going, partner. Momma's hungry!"
MHA
The next few days blurred by in a rush of invention, exhibitions, and ideas.
So many ideas.
Mina and Momo were good sports about it, Mei and I grabbing a free workshop to cobble together a device that let us take three-dimensional notes on the third day, to better compile and track our ideas and plans. It was a little clunky, though some spot-created components from Momo really helped, and we had over three dozen rough schematics compiled by the time the week was up, Science Talent at a near constant hum.
Honestly, the only reason we hadn't made some of the easier ones was that I had read the waiver we'd signed, and anything we built using I-island tech they had the ability to 'claim'. Even our blueprinting device, though it was clunky and inefficient enough that it barely merited a glance before the engineer in charge of the shop told us it was fine.
I might have made it a little uglier than was really needed.
Class 1-A had a number of get togethers as well, a couple of which I skipped, while some, like the cookout, I dragged Mei to, after practically dumping her in the shower, the girl having started to forgo person hygiene to have more time to make designs. I stopped letting her keep the '3D-Schematicer' in her room, which helped, and I was more than happy to sketch out what she came up with the next morning using it, Mina amusedly tossing small bites of muffin her way, which she ate while barely stopping. Both my friends were good sports about the entire thing, both Momo and Mina having fun using their Quirks freely.
Now it was the last night, and I stretched out on my bed, happy with how things had gone, though, at the back of my mind, the offer from All-for-One still sat. I felt... antsy, in a way I hadn't for a while, mentally going over something at the edge of my senses like a sore tooth. Over and over, I turned it about, my mind drifting to some of our ideas, of the components I'd need to make them.
One needed to be made of a plasticine polymer that we'd heard about that day, one that had been invented over fifty years ago, and so now was open for public use, but had been largely forgotten. Picturing it in my head, something seemed to... catch in my mind, and I focused on it, thinking of exactly what it would be made of.
In the dark room, my hand started to glow, not with the yellow of any of my powers, but with a white light, teal and crimson shimmering around it as I lifted it up, regarding it from my lying position.
Following the instinct, I continued to imagine the component, its shape, what it was made of, and the glow intensified, the blur-green of the polymer starting to emerge from the glowing skin, like it was coming through a portal from another world. I almost lost focus, but kept going, more and more, slowly layering its shape, like how the three-dimensional printers in the Design Studio functioned. It was only having worked with them that made this as doable as it was.
Finally, I was done, the component dropping from my hand and smacking me in the face, causing me to sputter, blinking, as I rolled over. Sitting up, I looked at the component, the shape more than a little off, but otherwise looking just like I'd envisioned it.
I stared at it for a while, before what I'd just done finally processed, and I let out a low whistle.
"Damn, it finally happened. My next Quirk. Creation, acquired."
Music
All right Heroes - Shougaibutsu Kyousou
My hand started to glow – MHA - Misuteriasu
AN: Next Four Chapters are up on , as usual!