Chapter Seventy-Two
On the bright side, now that I had access to Yaoyorozu's Creation Quirk, it was fairly straightforward to use. Picture the structure, picture the composition, layer by layer, and voila! It was even more intuitive than I thought, as while I could specify down to the molecular level, I didn't have to.
On the less-than-bright side, I sucked at it. When given the ability to create anything, it was ridiculously easy to mess it up. For instance, wood was stupid complex, with its chaotic growth patterns and makeup, but I managed to make a pencil, with a wood outside and graphite core. It wasn't a very pretty pencil, the wood bulging oddly, like a Dali sculpture, but it did work.
Back on the bright side, I fell asleep pretty quickly afterwards.
Back on the other, it was because I straight up passed the fuck out.
Having talked with Mina, when I copied someone's Quirk, my version of it was the Quirk as it first manifested. Take her Acid for example. Nowadays it could melt through steel, and it was only getting stronger, but, back when she'd first manifested it, it wasn't even as acidic as pineapple juice. If her Quirk was now at level sixty, for example, what I got was the same power at level one.
I'd improved my Acid, but not that much, just a little past vinegar, though my resistance to it had increased by a lot more, from taking hits from my lover when we sparred, to the occasional accidental exposure when she'd been a bit... distracted.
Similarly, as I woke the next morning, ravenously hungry, I realized what the problem was. While Momo, with her level sixty Creation, could probably make a small tank, my use was much closer to what she'd originally thought her Quirk was, the direct transformation of fat molecules into new forms.
Quirks didn't have to follow anything so simple as conservation of matter, Nomu's High-Speed Regeneration able to create thirty-ish pounds of flesh, bone, and oily-black skin in ten seconds without slowing it down in the slightest. And then there was ridiculousness like Shoto's 'Half-Hot, Half-Cold' Quirk, which also created water, because there was literally no way that ice he made was just ambient humidity. And then were Quirks that just flat out created things, like Cementoss growing more cement from pre-existing structures, Sero's ability to generate enormous amounts of tape, or my girlfriend's acid.
They did however, follow their own internal rules, and, while I could cheese them a little, like Mind Defense allowing me to shirk being short-circuited, I couldn't flat out ignore them. My Regen probably helped me recover the triglycerides that using Creation started draining when my internal reserve hit zero, but I was implicitly allowing the Quirk to work, which meant any 'transformative' affects bypassed Body Defense completely. Or maybe it didn't count as a 'transformation', any more than spitting 'transformed' the amount of fluids in your body. I really had no idea how things worked on my end.
What all that meant was I could create a half a kilo of material, a little over a pound, before I started to feel fatigued and hungry as my new Quirk shifted from its internal reservoir to drawing from me directly. Which... was not a lot. However, what I did know was that I'd get a boost in training speed based on the difference in skill between me and the original user, and Momo was very skilled with her Quirk.
Also, training it was going to be stupid easy, I'd need to just chow down on junk food while mass producing items. Training it openly, though, was another matter, as it was even more distinctive than Mina's, the glow literally the same as Momo's Quirk. However, while Mina's power was only really useful when powered up to the point I could melt things, clumsy and limited as its movement was, Creation was useful right now.
I only had a few days between the I-Island Expo's end and when the Summer Camp started, less than a week, and that... that I was worried about. But, at the same time, there wasn't a lot I could do. So I met with the rest of Class 1-A, sans Bakugo who hadn't bothered to come to the expo, had breakfast, and helped Mei load our gear back onto the cargo plane that'd take us back to Japan. I wanted to use Creation on the flight, and even had halfway convinced myself that I might be able to, before I realized I was being an absolute idiot. While my Creation didn't make the odd sound Yaoyorozu's did, like a muffled bird's call passed through a synthesizer, I knew from sparring with the woman that the difference was merely because I was unable to create large enough, or complex enough structures to trigger it, but if I somehow managed it, I'd get everyone's attention.
Like a kid with a new toy, I thought, self-depreciatingly.
Mei was kind of quiet on the way back, which was odd, to say the least, however, when I'd asked if she was okay, she'd just nodded. It was only when we started our descent that she looked at me seriously. "Partner. Was that what being a Hero is like?"
"The Gala?" I asked, clarifying, and she nodded. "The first bit, yeah. See the problem, deal with the problem, move on. Even fighting the robots was, in its own way. But the sniper who tried to kill Momo, no. It's not like that. Or, it wasn't during my internship with Hawks." I went over my memories, of the show that I only recalled the generalities of. Of my own experiences. "That was... that was almost a planned ambush. No, it was."
Mei nodded. "You didn't set him up for me, did you?" she questioned without judgement, referring to how I'd destroyed the walkway he was on, allowing her to hit him with capture foam mid-fall.
"No, I missed the sniper," I replied easily. "Got the job done, but you catching him was better. Good shot, by the way."
She shrugged. "When you asked for the gauntlets, I started practicing. And the top?"
I grimaced. "No, that was ridiculous. Even by Hero standards. It was a top-tier, All Might level throwdown, and we were practically bystanders."
Looking at me, Mei stated simply, "You're going to be at more of those."
"I'd rather I wasn't," I offered, which wasn't really a no. I wanted to trust that Nezu would have things in hand, but... All for One wasn't an idiot, and we were off the Canon path that'd end with him in jail. Though, given the way All Might acted about the man, the fact that a guy whose Quirk seemed to be unlimited power gain getting sent to jail at all confused the hell out of me. Maybe I was in the wrong, my knowledge theoretical from reading fiction, but given that I was living in one of those pieces of fiction...
No, once you got to a certain level of power, like the Endbringers from Worm, let alone Scion, you either killed them, or were killed yourself. Maybe, with the capabilities of Support Items, there was some way to keep him suppressed, but the jump in deadliness I'd seen... maybe some super-secret black-boxed item, like the Quirk Enhancer the lead Villain had used, but, in reverse. However... it seemed too trite. Too easy. For a man who worked in plans within plans within plans, whose stock and trade was Xanatos Gambits, to be taken down and securely transported to super-prison without issue?
It didn't track.
Mei carefully studied me, her pupils zooming in slightly as she searched my face, before she nodded. "Okay, partner," she stated seriously. "We're gonna upgrade your gear. If that's the min spec... I got some ideas. How you feel 'bout power armor?" she smiled slyly.
I blinked, surprised. "I, um, what?" I asked,
Her small smirk grew into a mischievous grin. "You keep getting into trouble, that just means we need to keep innovating. They get stronger, that just means you need stronger Babies."
"Mei, unless I start throwing around nukes, I'm not going to be able to win in a fight like that," I argued. With enough time, and enough copied Quirks, I might be able to, but until I was able to start plundering the Star Wars universe for its tech and kick things into high gear here, the kind of power that we'd seen a few days ago, and the type of destruction that AfO could casually lay down, were both well outside of my ability to match.
Which was, ultimately, one of the other reasons I hadn't chosen to be Deku. Fear. The kid deserved to have his shot at being the Hero he always wanted to be, yes, but he also had an enormous target on his back, one that I did not want myself. If I had to, I'd fight, but I came to MHA to lie low for fuck's sake, and now Lucifer, Mr. Potato Head edition, was personally interested in me because I was a moron and stood out too much.
My partner, however, just rolled her eyes. "'Whether you think you can, or you can't, you're right.' That was Henry Ford, who did what dumb people at that time thought was impossible," she informed me. "And the Wright brothers said, 'If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance.' Yeah, there might not be anything strong enough, yet, but that just means we have to come up with it."
She hesitated, "You're still gonna work with me, right?"
For a moment, the ever energetic, ever confident girl looked impossibly vulnerable, and I replied without even thinking about it. "Of course I will, Partner. I just... worry."
Mei nodded, "Mina said you do that. What was your plan, on the roof?" she asked, and the change in topic threw me for a loop once more. "You said you were worried about the tower's stability," she added.
"Oh, um, I'd have Mineta use his Quirk to stick you, Momo, and Ochaco to me. Sero and Asui can both swing and have good lateral movement, so they'd be able to fall downwards, hook into a less damaged section, reach out, and change their vector enough to land safely," I explained. "Ochaco would lighten herself, you, and Yaoyorozu, while I'd shift my arms to wings and use my gloves to help maneuver under the increased load so we could land fairly safely as well. If the Villain was attacking, that'd be harder, and I'd probably push my gloves to melting, but I can probably regrow my hands, but I can't replace you. If we had less time, Momo could probably half-create a glider, and she'd disappear at night, while my glowing ass would be a bigger target. Mina can use her acid to wall-ride, not enough to go up, but enough to slow herself going down. Midoriya would have Melissa, and Ida... Well, hopefully Mina or Midoriya would help him. Given his legs are actually jets, he might be able to get enough thrust to land in the water, which would suck, but better that than concrete," I finished.
"So you had a plan to win," Mei informed me matter-of-factly.
"What, no, I had a plan to survive," I argued quietly, glad that the other inventors on the plane were either asleep or working on their own projects, earbuds in and deaf to our discussion.
Mei, however, just nodded. "Yeah. Win. Our project parameters were to reset the security system," she replied, counting off points on her fingers, "limit engagements with the Villains, and keep everyone on the team alive. You did all three, so you fulfilled the requirements of the contract you made!"
Contract? I thought, but the term fit. Viewing it not as 'heroing', but as a Support Item Contract, where the invention needed to hit certain parameters, but how it did so was up to the Technician. In that light, I did succeed, didn't I? My job wasn't to fight the head Villain, but even then, I'd managed to deal a normally lethal blow, and give All Might some time to recover, just as Mina and Todoroki had.
In that light... in that light, I'd succeeded wildly beyond my own expectations. Maybe it was unfair, to compare myself with canon Denki, but I'd gone from Extra to Supporting Character, even without any foreknowledge beyond 'shit will eventually go bad', which just seemed like common sense in a Shonen Battle World. And, with more Quirks, more captures to let me access more Tech, and with that, more Inventions...
All for One wasn't mine to fight, if things went anywhere close to Canon. Just as he wasn't Midoriya's to fight, despite the boy's increased abilities. No, that fight was All Might's. And, eventually, when things did get bad enough that Deku would face off against that monster, I might not be able to match them, but I would certainly be able to help, far more than Denki ever could. And, who knows, with time, effort, and a little luck, I might be able to do more than just help.
In that moment, a memory brushed against my mind, like a half-forgotten dream. A city under attack by a foe we could never defeat, our training completely inadequate. I was weak, or at least normal, like I was before I signed the contract and became Denki+, only... only I went straight from my life, normal, lonely, and full of failure, to the void... hadn't I?
Trying to hold onto the memory was like trying to grab sand, but I still clung to loose grains. We hadn't been ready, hadn't been close, but that bitch of a 'leader' threw us into the deep end anyways. So we'd been stranded, on a dying world, with nothing but the clothes on our back and our Stamps in hands, and told to 'succeed'. The bitch's plan wasn't a plan, it was a delusion, and the others had been lost. But... it'd been strangely freeing, knowing things couldn't get worse. Left with the option of a suicidal decapitation strike, or a desperate escape, I'd chosen the latter, though I could have just as easily chosen the former. I wanted to say it was because I was afraid, and I was, but it was also the plan more likely to succeed.
The others, they'd not taken my plan that well, but it was the only one anyone came up with that had a hope in hell of working. Crazy, they'd called me, telling me what I wanted to do was impossible, that it wasn't even what we were supposed to do, unable to say why. But, so what if I was crazy?
It had worked.
Unbidden, the Stamp appeared in my hand, its black surface seeming almost smooth from over-use, despite the fact that I knew, somehow, that soulbound as the damn things were, they were practically indestructible.
I'd offered all an impossible choice, just as I'd been offered, and I'd helped those that'd taken it, respecting the wishes of those that hadn't. The sheer enormity of it. .. I couldn't even remember what it was, but it'd weighed on me, like a mountain of guilt and responsibility, but I'd moved that damn mountain, as had most of the others. Not all had, some running, what we'd done breaking others, while the rest had slowed, but I hadn't. I couldn't stop, not if it meant... I didn't know what. Death? Something worse? The more I tried to remember, the more I forgot, but one last phrase stuck with me.
Echoing the words that I didn't remember saying, I looked at the instrument of enslavement, yet also of a twisted form of salvation, and I pronounced, "The difficult, we'll do right now. The impossible, will take a little while."
So AfO was paying attention to me? Okay, I could deal with that. Not well, probably, but his very interest in me came packaged with certain restraints. So things were more dangerous than I thought? Fine, I was more dangerous than this world thought. And getting moreso by the day. So I'd managed to knock things off the golden path of Canon? That was going to happen no matter what I did. To do otherwise, would to not be me, and that was something I'd never been able to do, even when I probably should've.
All hitting rock bottom meant was that the only way out was up.
"Okay," I said, with an odd sort of serenity, stowing the Stamp in a pocket, and turning to Mei. "Power Armor. Hmmm. We could utilize my Electrification Quirk to help supplement the systems, like we did for your octo-pack, but it can't be a traditional suit, since I use my Electrobody too much, and it's too damn useful to forgo."
My partner looked me over, and saw something she liked, smiling, not widely, but in a self-satisfied way that was 100% her. "Like we'd ever make something traditional, Sparky," she chided good naturedly. "We need to do some study on how exactly you transmute your clothing, and how much you can take with you, but, well, I've got some ideas," she observed, the same way that someone might casually mention that they were armed.
"What a coincidence," I smiled back, "I do too."
MHA
Getting home, my mother was making dinner, my father still at work. "Did you have a good time?" she asked.
"Yeah, bit of a rough first day, but it was a good experience. Mei and I have a lot of ideas for new inventions, and considering she had people trying to poach her from UA, I think it went well," I replied.
"And when am I going to meet this girl?" my mother questioned, teasing. "My son is so greedy, gathering so many women. Wouldn't want to make Mina jealous, would you?"
"Moooom," I whined, rolling my eyes. "It's not like that. We're just business partners. Besides, Mina might be helping us out, and she knows there's nothing she needs to be worried about."
My mother just laughed, chopping vegetables. "And what was the rough start? Did something happen at that gala you got that suit for?"
"Oh, um, it wasn't on the news?" I replied automatically, slipping out my phone, and looking it up. My search turned up nothing at all. "Oh, uh, well, never mind."
The chopping stopped. "Denki?" my mother questioned, turning to look at me.
"I mean, All Might was there, and no one was really hurt. No one that didn't have it coming," I amended. "It's no big deal."
My mother put the knife down, and turned to face me directly. "Denki Kaminari, what did you do?"
We stared at each other, the other woman waiting, and I finally broke. "Well, uh, terrorists tried to take I-Island hostage, and they managed to pin down All Might by taking control of the automated security system, so me, and, like, a third of my class were trapped in the main building because the girls were running late, and so we, um, snuck around, fought the Villains, more like ambushed for the most part, pushed our way through the automated security systems, and reset it. Then All Might did what All Might does, and took care of things."
Staring at me, my mother visibly processed this, asking, "He took care of things on his own?"
I winced. "I mean, mostly. Midoriya, the kid who won the Sports Festival, was there with him, but that was mostly 'cause he had some I-Island gear that let him, er, punch above his normal level."
I'd asked about the gauntlet, because holy shit that would've made everything so much simpler. Turns out, it was made with a lot of proprietary I-Island tech, and he wouldn't've been able to take it back to Japan, even if he hadn't shattered it. They were really possessive about such things, and Melissa would have gotten into a shitload of trouble if he tried. Her dad's position would normally have been able to make it okay, the device pretty hyperspecialized in what it did and who could make use of it, but, well, it was going to take all his pull and saved up favors to not end up in prison himself.
Thankfully, success often excuses most wrongs, and All Might was still All Might and had praised the girl for her quick-thinking in defense of the Island, which helped separate her from what her father had done, but not enough for the faceless bureaucrats that ran I-Island to give Deku another one, and especially not enough for us to get the schematics to just build one ourselves. Mei had a couple of ideas on how we might make something similar, but this was almost in the 'tools to make the tools to make the tools' level of tech difference. We'd gotten Melissa to talk shop, and the precision of her equipment, the tolerances of the secret materials, and the layers of tech her personal workshop allowed her to utilize were, quite frankly, ridiculous.
"And you didn't do anything?" my mother pressed.
I remembered the head Villain's leg evaporate under my shot. "I mean. . ."
"Denki."
"We all helped a little. Todoroki, um, that's Endeavor's kid, he did the most," I hedged. "Metal projectiles don't really work when the guy's Quirk is controlling metal. The rest of us kinda muddled our way through. And we were all better by the next morning." Seven twenty-six in the morning, to be specific.
My mother was quiet for a while, before she sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We'll... we'll talk about it over dinner. You're okay, honey?" she asked.
Walking over to her, I hugged my mom, and she hugged me back. "I am," I reassured her. "And so are Mina and the others." I waited until she let go before I did, and left just long enough to drop my bags in my room, coming back down to help her cook, which she appreciated.
Dad got home, saw us, smiled, but stopped when my mother shot him a look. Turning to me, he lifted a single eyebrow, prompting an explanation.
"Villains attacked I-Island on the first night of the Expo, we stopped them, All Might All Mighted, and I'm fine, but they apparently squashed the news," I summarized.
"He got hurt again," my mom added sourly. I glanced at her, wondering how she'd gotten that, as I hadn't said that specifically. "Mothers know, honey," she stated as explanation.
My father just nodded sagely. "They do, son. How bad was it?"
I considered that. "Not as bad as the USJ, a bit touch and go at the end. But my suit was armored, and-" I held my right hand out, jerking it forward to cover it in my gauntlet, "Mei and I came up with these. Didn't really need them, but they helped." Toggling the gauntlets closed, I went back to stirring the pot. "High end battles are fucking nuts though."
"Denki, language," my mom chided, and I winced.
"Was it that bad?" my father questioned, and I nodded. "Then that sounds pretty fucking nuts, son."
"Suguru," my mother tried to chastise, but my dad shook his head.
Looking directly at her, he quietly stated, "If it was an All Might sized problem, Hideko, swearing might be needed."
We didn't talk until after dinner, but then I gave them a, somewhat edited, debriefing. Dropping my own meta-knowledge-based suspicions and spinning them into well-deserved paranoia, it was honestly good practice for if, or more likely when, I had to give a report to the police that consisted more of 'I recognized this dude from a screenshot so I knew he was teh evilz'.
My mother... didn't take the fact that I'd been shot very well, and my revelation that I could heal confused both of them, but it was something that UA already knew, so keeping it secret was going to bite me in the ass, eventually. My strength was already known, so this was just another aspect of it, and overshadowed by the battle that quickly followed. I'd downplayed our combined attack as a 'glancing blow, that only stopped the Villain for half a minute', but in terms of the enormity of what happened, I didn't hold back.
Finishing up, silence reigned, before my mother declared, "You're not going to the summer camp."
"What?" I sputtered. "Why?"
"Because every time you go on a school trip, your life gets put in danger!" she almost yelled.
"No," I argued, "I have to go!"
"You can train with your father!" she declared. "Like you did before you started the semester. You came in third in that tournament, and it's not mandatory! Suguru, talk some sense into your son!" My father, however, stared at me, deep in thought. "Suguru!"
He didn't say a word, but lifted up a hand, forestalling any more comments. His eyes were distant, seeing me, but seeing something else as well. Nodding to himself, his gaze sharpened, and though he stayed relaxed, the man almost placid in the way he tended to be right before he tried to show me something difficult with his Quirk.
The silence stretched, before he didn't ask, but stated, almost negligently, but with an underlying intensity, "You're not going there to train."
I froze, not having really put much thought into why I needed to go. It was Canon; it was what happened in my limited foreknowledge, simple as that. However, my father saw something, nodding again, looking to his wife. "You're not going to be able stop him, dear."
"The hell I can't!" she snapped at him. "He doesn't need to go on another-"
"He's going to protect Mina," the older man asserted, and I blinked, just as my mother stopped, turning a questioning look my way.
Thinking about it... "Not just Mina. But, well, yeah. I mean, the training's nice, but, if I hadn't been there, they still would've tried to save the Island. But, they had a sniper mom, and Momo was almost... I talked to Midoriya, and when he took Melissa, to do the last bit, they just opened fire with carbines. Um, assault rifles," I corrected, at my mother's confusion over the term. "When he really gets going he can't dodge bullets but he's fast enough to turn the hits to glancing blows, and tough enough to shrug those off. Kid's kinda intense, really, but that's why he fought with All Might while the rest of us had to cobble together a way to help. But, he's... young."
My mom frowned, "You're the same age."
"No, I mean, yeah, physically," I haltingly explained. "But... he'd try kid gloves, when they're already off. Hell, he didn't do more than knock the villains that were shooting at him out," I said, shaking my head. "Which, yeah, sure, is what you do when you're pretty much the second coming of All Might, but, if he'd made a mistake, a single mistake, Melissa would've died. And the kid's good, but he's not that good. And luck only lasts so long."
My father nodded. "You think the camp's going to be attacked."
"Already talked to Nezu, there's gonna be a guard," I explained as my mother's eyes widened. "It should be fine, but..."
My dad finished for me. "But so should have the others."
I just shrugged.
The man regarded me. "Are you ready?" he questioned, and I wasn't really sure exactly what he meant. Ready to fight? Ready to kill? Ready to die? My mother opened her mouth, but a slight shake of his head had her hold back whatever she was going to say.
"I have no clue," I answered honestly. "But I'd never forgive myself if something happened to Mina, or Momo, or the others, while I played things safe."
"And you'd never forgive us," the man added.
My head snapped up. "What? No! No, you guys care. That's a good thing. I'd never blame you for that."
My father chuckled dryly, reaching forward to rest a hand on my shoulder. "Okay."
I looked at him in confusion, but my mother understood what he meant, letting out a soft, "But..."
My dad squeezed my shoulder for a moment, not letting up as he looked at mom. "We knew he was going to be a Hero, my love. It shouldn't surprise us now that he's being one."
She wasn't happy, eyes wet as she looked at me with a frown. "I... fine. But no matter what, come home. You hear me?" she sniffed, and added, "You and Mina haven't even given my any grandbabies to spoil!"
I blushed, as while the two of us had been intimate, I hadn't actually given much thought to the theoretical end goal of the act itself. "Mom, we're, that's, that's not gonna happen for a while!"
My mother gave a teary laugh, "Oh, you're so serious sometimes. It's good to know you're still my little man!" she declared, getting up and coming around the table to give me one of her too-tight hugs.
It was mortifying, but at the same time, with what I'd remembered of my first life... They weren't telling me I was wrong, not passing off any 'parental' duties with as little effort as possible, weren't talking down to me, heck, they weren't even going to try and stop me. They cared, and as my father stood and hugged us both, I let myself enjoy an unexpected aspect of me new, better life.
One I'd do anything to protect.
AN: Next Four Chapters are up on , as usual!