Voyaging into the Alien World of Heroes (MHA x Ben10 OC Draft)
Chapter 1: The Start of the Voyage
Nothing in life was fair. That's what the young Reito Anakuro learned at the age of four. The young boy sat there in the rain as that lesson rang throughout his head.
It wasn't fair. None of it was. It didn't make sense. How could this be allowed to happen? Reito couldn't process it. How could he? He had believed all his life before that such things didn't and couldn't happen, especially not to him.
But that was just naive idealism born from childish wishes and dreams. He knew better now, and the truth hurt.
Reito Anakuro was quirkless. His dream to be a hero died when the doctor shared the news with him and his parents that faithful day. Something about an extra joint in his pinky toe or some nonsense that hardly mattered to Reito. All that mattered to him was the fact that he would never have a quirk. He would never be able to have the power of his father's magic satchel, nor would he be able to control light like his mother. He would just stay…normal.
How he dreaded that word. 'Normal'. More like abnormal considering what the world had become. He lived in a world of superheroes and super powers. Eighty percent of the entire population of Earth had powers known as quirks. So how was it possible that he was part of the remaining twenty percent without powers?
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!
"Reito?"
A woman's voice called out to him, but he ignored it as he continued brooding under the large tree he had found after running into the woods. It wasn't until the brown haired, green-eyed woman finally found him that he looked up from the ground. His mother was soaked, just like he was, and worry and panic painted her face until she caught sight of him.
"Reito! Oh, thank goodness!" His mother cried out as she rushed over while pulling out her phone and tapping a button. "I found him. He's near that park we always visit. Come over as soon as you can, honey." With that, she put her phone away right as she crouched down to Reito and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay! What were you thinking, running out here while it's storming like this?! What if you catch a cold, or worse, got hurt or kidnapped?"
Reito didn't answer as he turned his wet face to look his mother in the eyes. That's when his mother saw just how red his eyes were. His face wasn't just wet because of the rain. Before his mother could ask what was wrong, Reito threw his question at her.
"Can I still become a hero, Mom?" He asked in a dead voice, his eyes staring out at nothing as he couldn't muster the strength to look his mother in the eyes. "Even without a quirk, can I be a hero?"
The question made his mother's breath hitch, both due to how unexpected it was and the weight of the question. Unfortunately, Reito was more clever than the average four year old. He could read body language better than most his age, and seeing how shocked his mother was and how pain began forming on her face at his question, he already knew the answer.
"I knew it…" Reito cried out softly as he buried his head back into his arms and legs, just barely holding back more of his tears at the news that his dreams were crushed.
His mother was left speechless at that. All she could do was avert her eyes in shame and sorrow as the sound of the rain falling to the ground drowned out any sobs Reito might have let out.
However, in that moment, something seemed to change within Reito's mother. Her eyes hardened as her face sharpened a bit with determination as she turned back to her son.
"Reito…listen to me." She began as she placed a hand onto Reito's shoulder, surprising the young boy as he looked back up at her. And then, she said something that he couldn't believe she was saying. "You can become a hero if that's really what you want."
Reito blinked a few times in confusion at such a statement. He didn't buy it. Be a hero without a power? It sounded like she was just trying to comfort him, and he didn't want pity.
"It's impossible to be a hero without a quirk." Reito argued as he narrowed his eyes into a glare. "Don't lie. It's impossible for people like me to be heroes."
"That's not true." His mother shook her head before giving him a small, hopeful smile. "There's only one thing a hero needs, and that's heart."
"Heart?" Reito muttered as he tilted his head, doubting the words the moment he heard them if the sneer on his face indicated anything.
"Yeah. That's the only thing a real hero needs." She nodded. "Even without a power, as long as a person can do the right thing and help those that need it, then that makes them a hero. Not all heroes have flashing or strong quirks, right?"
"I…I guess." Reito admitted. "B-But…I'm not them. They're strong. I'm…just me."
"Who says that's not enough? My Reito is a hard worker and incredibly kind hearted. And I know, without a doubt, that if you put your mind to it and work hard, you can do anything." His mother said as she hugged Reito once again. "No matter what happens, just remember this moment. No matter what anyone else says or thinks, I'll always believe in you. Against all odds, you can become a hero."
It took a second for it to click in Reito's head, but once it did, it was as if the floodgates had once again burst open as he began sobbing into his mother's embrace, but these were not tears of pain or injustice or sorrow. These were tears of hope and joy.
Nothing in life is ever fair. That was the lesson that Reito learned at the young age of four.
That was his first and only setback he would allow himself to have.
Even in the face of overwhelming doubt, scorn, and ridicule, he would reach it. His dreams. His hopes. His entire being and purpose. Even with the world set against him, he would obtain it.
He will prove his mother right. He will become a hero, and nothing on Earth could stop him..
Years later…
High above the sky, and even higher than the earth itself, somewhere within the Milkyway Galaxy in the depths of space, a battle was being waged. A small blue and green ship was flying through the ring of Saturn, desperately trying to break away from a large brown and orange ship that was attacking it.
After managing to dodge multiple red lasers the larger ship fired, the small space vessel suddenly was struck twice by two large blasts, nearly knocking it into the many rocks and debris that make up a nearby planet's rings.
"Agh!" The pilot of the blue ship, a strange teal-colored reptile-like creature with three pink eyes and two tentils coming off the sides of her head, grunted as the ship rocked violently with each blow that grazed them. Her pure pink eyes narrowed before she growled before she turned back to the otherside of the bridge. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Another feminine voice replied, albeit without much confidence.
Off in the back was a woman in a silvery-white suit reminisent of a spacesuit mixed with armor. She had long hair and emerald eyes, and though she sounded worse for wear, there was not a hint of fear in her voice.
"Is the package still safe?" The alien asked.
"Yes. It's still secure." The woman nodded as she stole a glance at the small basketball-sized pod being held in a container. "Xylene, we can't keep this up! I can only fix the damage so fast. I'm an engineer, not a miracle worker!"
"I thought you were a Plumber, Tennyson."
"Not the time, Xylene!"
"Just repair the damages as fast as you can!" The alien, Xylene, told her before another shake rocked the entire ship. It was so bad that the human woman nearly fell over, but a warm pink energy stop her fall and helped her back to her feet.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Xylene said as her pinked eyes stopped glowing, her gaze never leaving what was right in front of her as she continued to pilot the ship as fast and effieciently as she could. She growled before pulling a nearby lever on the console, venom spitting out her mouth as she hissed a curse. "Let's see how you like this you world-conquering parasite!"
The moment the lever was pulled, the small ship flew higher before firing twin green lasers at its enemy, causing multiple explosions on the side of the larger ship.
"Hull damage: 20%, but the systems's still operational." An orange and black android from within the larger ship spoke before looking at its leader.
The leader of the ship was a large creature with a face that was similar to squids found on earth. He wore black armor that had bits of red in it and shoulder pads that were completely spiked outwards. He narrowed his eyes at the droid in frustration before speaking.
"I have come too far to be denied." He growled as he watched his crew get to work. His name was Vilgax, conqueror of worlds. He was a known galactic tyrant and feared by nearly all living things. And right now, he only had one thing on his mind: to claim his sought after prize. "The Omnitrix shall be mine, and there is not a being in the galaxy that dares stand in my way."
"We're the only ones standing between that monster and the destruction of the entire galaxy, maybe even the universe…" The human woman, Tennyson, muttered as another attack rocked the ship.
Still, she did not panic. Instead, she focused on making sure the ship was still running, enough so that they could attempt to escape. If they could at least enter a space were other Plumbers could find them and give them aid, then they would at least have a fighting chance. With just the two of them, things were looking pretty hopeless.
But she wouldn't give up. She would fight until she couldn't anymore. That was her duty as a Plumber. So she continued to repair the ship's interior workings as much as she could.
A part of her found herself looking at the pod that was causing all of this. The small metalic pod with an alien design printed onto the metal. It wasn't anything special, but what it held within most certainly was.
If she opened it up and put it on, there was a chance she could save herself and Xylene. It wouldn't even be hard if she used it.
But she shook her head. No. That wouldn't work. Not with her. Not with someone like her. There were few people that device would work for, and she was not one of them.
The chase continued as the spaceships moved throughout the sector, manuvering through astroid fields and small planets and moons, destoying many of them in the process as the obstacles started taking stray hits from the ships. The giant ship continued firing lasers at the smaller blue ship, which continued to weave through the attacks as it tried to escape.
It wasn't enough, though. Eventually, an especially large blast hit the smaller ship, causing a massive opening to appear at its rear, destroying nearly any and all momentum it had before.
"Oh no…" Xylene's eyes widened as multiple alerts appeared on the console. "We've stopped moving!"
"Crap! The ship's destroyed now!" Tennyson shouted as she dropped everything she was doing and ran over to the pod they were keeping, not to open it up, but to ready it for something risky. "Xylene. We don't have a choice. We need to sendit off now, or else Vilgax will get his hands on it!"
"But we are not nearly close enough for the package to make it to Earth!" Xylene yelled back. "It won't make it. Vilgax with intercept it before it even reaches your solar system."
"Maybe, but I already planned for something like this happening." Tennyson forced a smile as she began rewiring the escape pod their prize was in. "I've already set the proper coordinates for it, and I'm going to overclock the accelerator now. That way, it'll get to Earth in moments. Squid face won't even have a chance to see it fly out of here."
"Will that really work? Won't the pod be destroyed if its forced to go that fast? And won't it cause damage when it lands?"
"We'll just have to trust that things will be alright." Tennyson stated as she finished up with her hotwiring. "Once we send it out, we'll distract Vilgax and send him on a wild goose chase. He'll never know the Omnitrix is on Earth."
"I still think sending it to Earth is a mistake. There are plenty others who would be better suited to wield such a powerful device." Xylene argued.
"Maybe, but there are also worse out there that could get their hands on this. At least on Earth, I know it'll be protected." Tennyon reasoned.
"...Are you sure about this?"
"You wanted me to have it before we learned that wasn't going to work, so that means I get to decide what happens with it now, right?" Tennyson smiled. "Trust me."
Xylene simply frowned at that, but she didn't argue as she returned to the console. If this was going to work, she would have to make sure Vilgax couldn't follow the pod once it was sent out.
It would be a last ditch effort, but Xylene supposed she was fine with that. She agrued to this suicide mission in the first place, so she might as well go 'all in' as Tennyson would say.
"Then I suppose I'll start with that 'distraction' then." Xylene found herself smiling wickedly as she tapped a perticular button.
And so, the most important fifteen seconds in the entire universe happened in the blink of an eye.
"Their propulsion systems have been destroyed." Another droid in the large orange ship stated.
"Prepare to board. I want the Omnitrix now." Vilgax ordered angrily.
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, as the button Xylene pushed had caused the ship to charge up all its remaining energy into a single counter attack. Within seconds, a large green laser blasted its way through bridge of Vilgax's ship, creating a large explosion right where Vilgax was, engulfing him entirely in fire. It was then Vilgax's ship finished charging its own weapon and fired it.
The passengers of the smaller ship saw the attack coming, and they both acted within that split second.
"Xylene!"
"Tennyson! Don't–!"
Too late.
The beam hit the smaller ship, destroying it completely with one massive explosion. However, the head of the ship was still intact. Because of that, the last desperate measure to prevent the greatest terror in the universe from getting his hands on his prize the two had planned work. Just as planned, a small pod was ejected out of the ship.
The pod, as it shot through space before suddenly it sped up ton an insane degree. Within moments, it flickered, and then disappeared, flying light speed towards its destination.
Right after the pod disappeared, a single, small, glowing pink silohette flew out of the ships remains, and flew off towards the nearest planet, fleeing away from the destruction. However, Vilgax's crew ignored that for the moment, too preoccupied trying to repair the damage done to their own ship, as well as their leader, who was little more than half the being he had been. Literally.
"What are you standing around for, you fools! Retrieve the Omnitrix!" Vilgax gasped with as much anger he could muster as a pile of flesh and tentacles splatter across the bridge.
Obidently, his drones got to work, sending out scouts to retrieve their lord's prize while also getting repair bots to put Vilgax in a healing tube. What good drones Vilgax had, truly.
However, after a few minutes of searching, the conqueror with only half of his body remaining was given terrible news.
"What do you mean it's not there?" The angry voice of nearly screamed when he heard the android's report. "This battle nearly costs me my life, and you say the Omnitrix is no longer onboard the transport!?"
The galactic conqueror, Vilgax, was not happy, to say the least. 70% of his entire body had been torn to shreds due to the battle for the Omnitrix. He was so badly damaged he had to be hooked up into a stasis pod to slowly recover, and now he learns that the ship they destroyed didn't even have the blasted thing on it!? Fury was an insult to the pure wraith he was feeling at that very moment.
"Sensors indicated that right before we scouted the ship's interior, a silhouette flew out and towards the nearest planet" The android explained.
"They abandoned ship, carrying my Omnitrix with them. Follow the scum! We will not let them escape." Vilgax ordered.
"The ship is too damaged to–"
"Then fix it! Do not let them get away!" Vilgax barked.
Thus the drones got to work to repair the ship and chase after the fleeing pilot. Little did they know that their prize had already escaped far beyond their reach, to a planet where no one would look, heading right towards a person no one would ever expect.
"I'm gonna be laaaaaaate!" A young foreign looking boy screamed as he dashed through the streets of Japan.
The young boy's bright blonde hair which waved through the wind as he ran seemed to glow as he dashed through the crowd. The boy's big silver eyes grew larger when he tripped and nearly fell over, though he caught himself before he fell, thankfully, and continued running without loosing much speed.
The boy's name was Reito Anakuro, and he was late the first day of a new school year.
The child pulled at his little school uniform that was forced on him with a huff as he continued running like his life depended on it.
"Crud, why did that villain have to attack? He and the heroes totally blocked the path to school…!" The young, ten-year old Reito whined, but he then shook his head as a fiery determination shined in his eyes. "No…! I can do this! I can make it!"
Pushing his body as much as he could, Reito began to pump his arms and legs as he sped up, letting out a howl as he let out all his energy for one last mad dash.
Somehow, that was just enough, as Reito saw the school gates come into view. He nearly leapt through the gates as he past by and didn't bother to stop, running past some poor teacher who was greeting the last few students approaching.
"H-Huh–Anakuro!" The teacher began to shout.
"Sorry, teach! Gonna run!" Reito shouted back as he rushed through the school doors. The act caused the teacher to sigh as he held a hand to his face.
"It's only the first week of school, and that kid's already becoming a problem child…" The teacher frowned.
Reito kept running through the school halls before finally reaching his classroom. He slammed the door open as he dashed into the room, shutting the door behind him just as forcibly. The boy stood there panting heavily as he leaned over and held himself up by his knees. When he finally looked up, he was greeted by the gazes of everybody else in the room, teacher and student alike.
"Reito Anakuro." The teacher gave a raised eyebrow and a almost teasing smile as she gestured for the boy to take his seat. "So glad to see that you've decided to join us here in class."
"S-Sorry…" Reito gasped. "Villain…attack. Block…path."
The teacher's star shaped eyes seemed to ease up as she gave a slight nod.
"Okay. we can discuss it later, but if that's true, you won't be punished. Now please, take your seat."
Reito gave a small nod as he fumbled his way over to his desk, a few students giggling at him as he eventually flopped down at his seat.
Thus class began, and Reito immediately tuned it all out. It was all the basic stuff he had heard before: science, math, Japanese, English, history–all that stuff. He could never push himself to really care about all that. Despite that, he had to sit there and listen to his teacher chat away about these subjects.
So, bored out of his mind and desperate for anything to distract himself, he opened up his empty notebook and got to work.
Right on the first empty page, Reito began to draw an outline of something. He drew them to be tall and wearing a big bulky coat and pants. The person had some kind of pack on his back that almost looked like a jetpack, and the person wore big boots. The person's face wasn't detailed, being the result of a childish drawing, but there was a domino mask sketched onto the face and a bright flashing smile held within the jar like helmet made around the head.
It was his future hero costume. He had come up with the idea days prior, and he only now put it to paper. It was a very pasic draft, being essentially just a space suit, but it look pretty good for a first draft.
Reito wanted to be a hero more than anything. He wanted to be like his favorite heroes: fighting bad guys, saving others, being praised for all the good done because of them. He wanted that life, and his brain thought about it constantly. Whether he was at school or at home, his brain was always on the topic of heroes.
Much to the chagrin of his teachers…
"Anakuro."
At the sudden call of his name, Reito jolted in his seat as his head shot up to the front of the room. At the front, Reito saw his teacher, tapping her fingers against her hip impatiently with narrowed eyes aimed right at the boy.
"Since you seem to be so engrossed with the lesson, why don't you come up and solve this next equation for us, Anakuro?" The teacher asked while gesturing him to come up to the board.
Some of the other kids started to snicker as Reito got up from his desk and moved to the black board. He picked up a piece of chalk and looked at his textbook to see the equation he had to solve. Once he found it, he began writing on the board, and immediately the snickering from his classmates stopped.
It took less than a few minutes for Reito to solve the problem and write out all his work on to the board. He didn't even struggle with it, nor did he pause to think about the answer. He simply wrote down the answer and showed a bit of his work. Once he was done, he looked at the teacher to see if he was right. He was met by a tired sigh from the teacher as she nodded.
"That's right." The teacher told him. "You may sit down now, but please, at least try to look like you're paying attention to the class once you sit down."
Reito nodded as he moved back to his desk, but the moment he sat back down, he got back to drawing his future hero costumes and brainstorming special moves he could have once he was a hero.
Reito was not dumb, unlike what many of his classmates might like to think. In fact, in previous school years, he was at the top of the class in all categories, something that was easy to remember when people looked at him and immediately thought 'quirkless'. While he didn't pay much attention to his classes as he used to, that didn't mean he wasn't smart or didn't study.
Reito only had one goal: to become a hero, something he knew would be incredibly difficult for a quirkless person to achieve. Thus, he worked harder than anyone else. He studied whenever he could, and if he wasn't studying, he was exercising and training. Reito probably would have smiled and boasted about the results of his studious and training lifestyle if he took a brief moment to see how far he had come since he first started this. But he didn't. He was too engrossed in his self improvement and future dreams to do that.
School continued on as usual, with Reito zoning out through the classes until prompted to answer a question, which he would do with practiced ease. Eventually, the day ended, and the bell rang, signalling the end of classes. Reito began to pack up his things in his bag as several students started to leave the room, however–
"Anakuro, can I speak with you in my office for a moment." The teacher asked.
Reito paused with his packing and looked up to where the teacher was standing. She had a look on her face that meant that this was less of a question and more of a demand. With a sigh, Reito nodded and picked up his bag before following the teacher to the staff room. The teacher sat down at her desk as she turned to the ten year old, a bit of concern flashing in her eyes when she met his.
"Anakuro…are you okay?" The teacher suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?" Reito asked. "I feel okay, if that's what you're asking."
"No, that's not what I'm asking." The teacher replied before letting out a sigh. "Anakuro. You're incredibly smart and hard working. You've been at the top of your class for years now, and you've been part of the advance learning classes for just as long. But you're still not being challenged. You don't pay attention to class anymore, and you don't have any friends, either."
"I don't have friends because I'm quirkless. No one wants to be friends with the quirkless kid." Reito grumbled.
The teacher frowned in response, but she couldn't exactly argue with him, since she knew it was true. Still–
"You're also not trying to make friends. I don't think you've ever tried after you turned five." The teacher frowned. "You don't talk to anyone at all. You hardly even spare your classmates a glance. You keep to yourself and ignore everyone and everything unless you're called up to answer a question. How do you know that everyone in the class doesn't want to be your friend if you never give them a chance. As far as you know, maybe there are a few other kids who want to get to know you."
"Why would I want that? That's just a distraction." Reito shrugs dismissively. "Why would I want to be friends with others who don't put in work for a goal? They just want to play around."
"They're kids, Anakuro. You're a kid." His teacher pointed out.
"So? I have a dream I have to work towards. I don't want to be distracted." Reito muttered before turning his head. "You don't understand. You're not quirkless. You probably never had to struggle just to be acknowledged or just to stand at the same starting line as everyone else."
His teacher's frown deepened, not having anything to counter that point with. Instead, she sighed ever so slightly before speaking again.
"Please, at least try once. I understand that you want to achieve your dreams and that you have to work hard to obtain them, but even adults can't keep working without a break. Even adults need friends. So, could you try to get a friend? Just one? I'm sure you getting a friend would help give a bit of relief to your parents. I'm sure they're also worried about you."
Reito seemed to pause at the mentioning of his parents. He averted his eyes as he thought for a moment. Then, with a small sigh, he gave a defeated nod.
"I'll think about it, and maybe I'll try." He eventually said in a low voice as he kept his eyes to the ground.
"Thank you." The teacher tried to show him a small, reassuring smile. "I know you probably don't trust me or even like me. I doubt your other teachers and previous classmates have given you much reason to. But I want you to know that I want to try to be a good teacher for you. I'm on your side."
"Yeah. Sure." Reito said dismissively. "Can I go now?"
"Yes. You are dismissed. Please come to me if you ever need anything."
"Sure."
With that, Reito took his leave of the staff room. The moment he left, he groaned as he started walking through the halls towards the exit.
"So annoying…" He grumbled. "Just leave me alone. I know what I'm doing."
After a bit of walking, Reito finally left the school building. Upon exiting the school grounds, the slotched, dreary posture Reito kept suddenly straightened and brightened up. As though a switch inside him had been flipped, Reito's face broke out into a wide smile with giggles leaving his lips as he suddenly darted away, dashing through the sidewalks of Tokyo.
Reito excitedly ran down the sidewalk, nearly wooping as he made his way towards wherever he was going. He had no clear destination in mind. Instead, he was just moving swiftly. His family had only moved to this part of Tokyo a few years ago, but while Reito really should be familiar with his surroundings, he couldn't help but feel like it was new time and time.
He liked to run, and he liked to explore, and in a big concrete jungle like Tokyo, he was allowed to do both…with limitations of course, but Reito made sure to avoid bothering anyone else.
"Maybe I can get to the playground and do some training! Or maybe I can hit the book story and check out the new hero books." Reito hummed to himself as he ran. "Dad's gonna be busy today, so he won't be back 'til later, so I can probably stay out a bit longer than usual. I wonder if tonight will be clear."
Reito smiled at the thought. He had a lot of freedom in his family. His mother traveled a lot for work, and his dad, while he stayed in the city to take care of Reito, he still had work responsibilities as well, being a business owner himself. For that reason, Reito usually spent a lot of time by himself until his Dad came home.
That's why Reito typically decided to hit the town and explore whenver something like this happened. Sure, his parents would probably be angry if they ever found out that he went out alone into the city, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them or him.
Reito traveled through the city, not being spared a glance by the people he passed by. Then, when he reached a certain street, he abruptly stopped when he heard something.
In the middle of the street in the middle of the day, there was someone singing.
Reito's eyes widened as he realized what this was.
"No way…! She's here?" He exclaimed as he dashed towards the source of the voice. "No way! I didn't know she performed out here!"
After a bit of running, Reito finally reached a small crowd of people, and looking up above the crowd, the child saw a star. A young girl probably a few years older than Reito himself was leaping around energetically while wearing an outfit that made her look like some kind of succubus. She had wild pink hair tied up into two puffs tied to both sides of her head, and her bright eyes shined through her make-up coated face as she held a microphone next to her mouth while she sang and leapt around.
Looks like Pop Step was out performing again.
Reito's eyes shined as he joined the crowd watching the self-proclaimed idol doing her thing. Pop Step showed up a few years ago. She appeared on the scene as a free-lance idol who uses her quirk, Leap, as her unique catch. People below on the streets she performed on were either annoyed by the jumping girl or wowed by the spectical she put on.
Even if her singing itself left much to be desired.
Yep. Pop Step's singing was actually pretty terrible, or at the very least the songs she wrote and sang were bad. Even the tone-deaf Reito Anakuro could see that. However, most people did not become Pop Step fans purely for her singing ability (sometihng was was hard to do anyway). No, what people admired about this girl was her perceverence. Her dedication. The effort she put into herself and her work. That's what Reito admired, anyway, and he'd like to think others admired those things about Pop too.
'Well, she's gotten a bit better at singing nowadays, too I guess.' Reito thought to himself as he watched the performance.
He had been a fan of Pop since she first appeared. She first appeared near the neighborhood that Reito used to live in before his family moved to the other side of town. He still remembered how confused he was when he first saw her perform. Why would someone do this when they had no talent for singing and was very clearly nervous about it? She hardly even moved during that performance. But while others like his Dad were put off by the performance, people like Reito were slowly drawn in.
How could they not when they were watching someone put in all their effort into doing something they wanted to do. How could Reito not like someone who seemed to put in just as much effort as he put in to reaching his dream.
Reito enjoyed the show for a while, but it could not last forever.
"Hey! It's the cops! The cops're on their way!" Some ordinary-looking guy shouted, causing the crowd to quiet as everyone turned to see a police cruiser driving over to where Pop was.
"Aww, I was just at the good part!" Pop sighed as a deep frown settled on her expression. "Sorry to bow out early, folks, but that's all for today." With that, she bounced off, posing beautifully as she fled. "See ya next time! Check Online for the time and place of my next show!"
With that, Pop Step was gone, and after the crowd had finished cheering her on as she fled, the crowd also dispersed, leaving Reito one of the few alone at the street as he stared in the direction that Pop went in.
A jumping quirk, huh? It probably makes the dream of being an idol Pop's trying to reach for easier to grasp. Must be nice…
"I didn't know she had a website now…" Reito muttered as turned around and began walking away. "Maybe I should check it out when I get home."
With a small sigh, Reito went on his way. He wasn't feeling much like exploring and running around as much as he had moments ago. His emotional high had come crashing down once the cops ended Pop's show, and now Reito was stuck thinking about what-ifs and quirks again.
He understood why the cops wouldn't want Pop setting up shop wherever she wants, and she is using her quirk illegally since she certainly doesn't have a permit, but need a permit to use your own quirk seems stupid to Reito, and he's quirkless. Not all people had the ability to get a permit, and requiring a person to have a permit just to use a part of their body seemed silly.
It was just an attempt to make everyone equal, when really, nobody was ever truly equal to each other.
Maybe Reito should be thankful for the quirk regulation laws. If they weren't in place, quirkless discrimination and hatred would probably be worse. Still, he couldn't stop a mild distaste for those laws from taking root in his mind.
Still, even as he thought about whether Pop should be allowed to use her quirk or not, he continued on his way home. It was just another day for the ten year old child, and just like every day prior, he found himself wishing that something would happen. Something new.
"No stars, still." Reito frowned as he continued looking through the telescope in his room. "I know living in the city means star gazing isn't nearly as good, but today's supposed to be a day when Venus can be seen clearly! C'mon!"
Upon returning to his home, Reito was greeted by an empty apartment, as expected. Having nothing else to do, Reito quickly finished all the homework he had, which hardly took any time, and tried to find something to distract himself with. A few hero news stories here and there, a bit of reading and playing games. Just things to distract himself with since after the talk wit hhis teacher and all the thinking about quirks he did, he wasn't really feeling up to train.
But once the sun started to set, Reito felt excitement again as he set up his telescope and tried to stargaze. It wasn't something he could do often, what with the city's light pollution, but sometimes he could catch sight of some fantastic sights.
Reito had been interesting in sci-fi and space stuff for a while now. He found astronomy fascinating, and it was his favorite subject in school. It most certainly did not influence who his favorite hero was. It's not like his admiration of No. Thirteen was solely because of the hero's space theming. Definitely not. Nor did it have anything to do with some of his family members like his grandfather being old astronauts. That clearly didn't play a part in Reito's biases either. He liked space because space was cool, and that didn't affect any of his tastes in other things. No siree.
He had spent the last hour or so trying to catch sight of something, anything, but so far, he hadn't seen a thing. Not even Venus, which he heard was supposed to be visible. With a sigh, Reito was ready to give up. His day seemed to be destined to be painfully average and boring today, and not a star in the sky was in sight to ease that boredom.
But just as he was about to put his telescope away, Reito paused as he saw something.
"A shooting star?" He muttered as he looked through his telescope.
Sure enough, there in the dark night sky was a streak of light, trailing towards the ground. It was…bigger than other shooting stars Reito had seen in his life. This one looked more like a comet, really.
A shooting star… Maybe… if he wished for a quirk, God would smile at him and grant his wish? Is that too selfish of him to hope for? Would that even change anything?
Perhaps God really did hear his wish, and he must not have liked it since the shooting star in the sky changed directions while still in midair immediately. Now it was heading right at him. Reito's eyes widened before he jumped under his desk in a panic with a scream.
The entire appartment building shook violently as a piercing shriek broke through the air. It was like an arrow whistling through the air with a violent sound as it passed by. After a few more seconds of rumbling and shrieking noises, there was a large explosion that shook the building once more before everything finally settled.
Reito shook nervously as he slowly crawled out from under his desk. Shakily, he stood back up beore looking at his window. There was stil a freshly made smoke trail in the air that led from where he saw the star leading to where it landed, which was passed the appartment complex it seemed. Car alarms had gone off because of the force the star–no, whatever it was that entered Earth's atmosphere caused, and people everywhere, in buldings and on the streets, were clammering at what just happened.
Things would surely turn out okay. If that was anything really bad, the heroes would take care of it. At best, it wasn't even an issue. Just a stray asteroid or something landing to the ground and burning up as a result. Reito really shouldn't investigate. A child getting involved would probably just make things worse.
Still, Reito had this burning feeling inside him now. A curiousity that kept pressing him to got out and see what that was. It was almost as though something was tugging him towards whatever that shooting star was, and Reito found that it was impossible to ignore that feeling.
Reito hurriedly shoved on his shoes before rushing out of the appartment. Quickly following the trail that was left behind with his eyes, Reito realized the falling whatever-it-was had landed fairly close by. If he hurried, then he might be able to get to the landing sight first.
Without a care, Reito dashed down the complex stairs, and once he hit ground level, he sprinted off, following the smoke trail that was slowly fading away in the dark night sky. Reito ran past distressed citizens who were still alarmed and panicking over what had just fallen from the sky, and Reito even saw some local heroes attempting to calm them down. Reito didn't pay any mind to all of that. He only focused on reaching where the star landed.
After lots of runnng, Reito stopped as he leaned over to pant. He wiped the sweat away from his face as he looked around. He was at the nearby beach now. The beach was a mess, having become a dumping site for garbage and trash that washed up along the shore a while ago. Now trash was sstacked several feet high due to all the trash that people had dumped there.
But now, there was a huge impact sight in the middle of it all. Piles of the trash had been knocked over from the impact, and there was a now huge cravas in the sand in the center of it all. Reito slowly walked towards it, his curiosity never waning even as he approached.
"Is… Is that a satellite or something?" Reito pondered to himself as he stared at the strange metal ball. Against his better judgment, Reito slid down the sand and got closer to the strange object, narrowing his silver eyes at it as he examined it.
That's when the container opened up. The lid parted away, and inside, he could see a strange white bulky watch with black details. It had white buttons on the side of it and an hourglass symbol on its screen dial faceplate. The moment it was in sight, the watch started glowing with a strange white light, but although it was strange and gave a dangerous air around it, Reito couldn't help but be enraptured by it even as nervous sweat began to drip down his face.
"A…watch? It can't just be a watch, right? Watches aren't put into metal containers and thrown to Earth from space."
And then, without even thinking, without even realizing he was doing it, Reito began to reach out to it with his right hand. It wasn't anything he consciously did. His hand just moved on its own, as if the watch was calling for him. Pulling him towards it.
Before he could catch himself and bring his hand back, the watch suddenly sprung to life and jumped onto his wrist, clamping down on it like it was alive. It was the strangest thing he had ever witnessed, and, for the briefest of moments, Reito gazed at the watch now on his wrist calmly, feeling as though this was right. That it belonged on his wrist.
But that was just for a brief moment, for immediately after that milisecond instant, Reito did what any person would do in that situation.
"Aah! Aah! Get it off me! Get it off!" Reito screamed as he frantically waved my right hand around, trying to shake the cursed watch off his wrist with frantic motions. "Get off! Get off!" He screamed and shouted, fueled by all his own panic as he began to pull at the stupid watch, trying as hard as he could to get it off.
But nothing worked. It was like it was stuck to his wrist, or even fused to it now. He even found a piece of metal from a nearby trash pile and tried to use it to pry the watch off, but that ended in failure as the piece of metal broke during the attempt.
"How in the-?!"
Panicking even more now, Reito began to do whatever he could think of to try to get it off, including pressing the white button that was on the watch's side. Pressing the button, the ring in the watch suddenly shot up, sticking out of the watch like a dial. It began to glow a brighter, stronger white color as it began beeping. The sudden motion caused Reito to jump back a bit, but he slowly moved his face closer to the strange watch as he examined it further.
"Okay…woah." He gasped as the hourglass symbol on the screen began changing into a diamond shape, and then, after it had finished, a silhouette of someone with a big torso and broad shoulders came into view. The silhouette had a mohawk and large arms that ended with claw-like hands, as well as what appeared to be bird like talons for feet.
"Um… oooookay?" Now Reito was confused. Doing his best to figure out what was happening, he turned the dial, which caused the silhouette to change from that guy to someone else with a pointed, leaf-like head and flat feet that didn't have toes.
"Why does this remind me of a game's character select screen?" The boy asked himself as he put a finger on my chin. "If pressing the button pops the dial out, and turning the dial changes the silhouette the watch shows, what does pressing the dial back down do?"
Wanting to indulge his curiosity, Reito slowly pressed a finger on the dial, gulped, and then pressed it back down.
Immediately, he was engulfed in a bright white light without warning. Within the bright light, within just a fraction of a second, plants and vines begin to sprout from the watch, engulfing Reito like it was devouring him whole. The flora growing out of the watch began to quickly climb up his arm and spread to the rest of his body in an instant. His chest, legs, and even his head were all engulfed in the plants and vines the watch created. It coated him, and then it merged into him, becoming him.
His vision went white for a split second, but then, he could see again, and the bright white light faded. He felt… different for some reason.
"Urg… What happened?" Reito asked as he rubbed his head.
That's when Reito noticed two things. First, his voice was different. It was deeper and more nasally than how it usually is. And secondly, his head felt different, like it had a different shape. It had more of a pointed shape now, with his hair(?) now being shorter and pointed upwards. In fact, his glasses weren't on his face anymore, yet his vision was still clear, and his hands actually felt different too for some reason.
"What's going on?" He growled as he looked at his hands.
That's when Reito's eyes widened as he looked at two completely different hands that weren't his own. Instead, what he saw were two plant-made hands that were a swampy dark green color. It wasn't just his hands either. When he looked down, his body was also plant-like and swampy green, and his feet were now more root like.
Along with that, it seemed like all of his clothes had disappeared strangely enough, having been replaced by a white and black body suit that seemed to be a part of Reito's new vine-made body, going down to his stumpy feet to his elbows. There were several holes in the 'uniform' that let spikey red thorns stick out from his shoulders, and there were a pair of fingerless, black gloves on his hands that had small holes on the palms. Palms that also had large circular pours of sorts on them.
Now panicked by what he was seeing, Reito immediately scrambled to the water and looked at his reflection, and the person known as Retio Anakuro didn't greet him back. Instead, a plant monster with a red, yellow, and black head mean of foliage and glowing white-silvery eyes looked back at him.
Reito reacted the way any sensible person would in this scenario.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" His shrieking, cracking voice cried out in pure terror. "What happened to me!? AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Reito Anakuro, who mere seconds ago had been 100% human, screamed as he took in his new, alien appearance.
He scrambled to his new, stub-like feet as he tried to pull the vines that were now his body off himself, only to realize that they were literally making up my arm. Of course, he didn't realize this until he had pulled at his arm as hard as he could, causing his arm to actually be torn off.
"..." Reito was silent for a bit before he realized that he was now holding his severed arm in his other hand. "AAAAHHHH! MY ARM!"
As he continued to scream bloody murder, he held his torn off arm and desperately tried to put it back in place, and before he could scream more, he stopped and watched something unbelievable happen. His detached arm suddenly sprouted a vine vein of some kind that slowly moved its way to the stump on his shoulder where it used to be.
The vein then went inside a hole in his shoulder, and pulled the rest of his arm back, and before he knew it, the vines wrapped around the tear and reconnected his arm. Reito slowly moved his reattached arm with shock all too clear on his face. It was like nothing had happened.
"Okay… What exactly is happening? What am I now? Did the watch do this to me?" He asked himself as he looked down at his chest, where he saw the watch's white glowing hourglass symbol stuck inside of his chest like it was a part of him. "And…" Reito took a few sniffs and nearly gagged at the smell. "What is that smell?" That's when a thought came into his head as he raised a hand to his face and sniffed it.
"Is that…ME?" He asked in a horrified tone. "I smell like someone threw a skunk in a rotting swamp and then lit the whole place on fire. Ah man… What am I gonna do? I've gotta find someone to help me but who? Dad's busy at work, and Mom's out of the country!" He panickly asked as he thought about it. But as he thought, he kept coming up blank. And that's when a thought hit him like a sack of bricks. "Dang it! Is this my punishment for no having any friends?!"
At the very least, Reito couldn't come up with a name that fit into the description of 'friend'. Just as he told his teacher, he was a loner, by choice and because of his label of 'quirkless'. He was always so busy training and improving himself that he never had time to hang out with people and make friends, and they never wanted to hang out with him since he was the weirdo without any powers. Thus, Reito found himself alone in this situation, having no one to rely on but himself.
"Okay…forget getting help. Not like I need any help from anyone." Reito grumbled. "I'll just figure this out myself."
With that, Reito tried to pull the watch's dial out of his chest.
"Come on…! Get…off me!" He shouted as he pulled and pulled to no prevail, holding back tears with the physical pain that came from pulling at the badge. It felt like he was trying to rip out his chest with each pull. It became too intense for Reito, who eventually gave up with the straightforward attempt. With that plan a bust, Reito move down on his list.
"Okay, what can I do now that I'm swampy-vine guy?" Reito asked himself as he moved around in his new body. "Seriously, just what did that watch do to me? Did it give me a quirk? Is that was this is? I've never seen a quirk like this, but I mean, I can regenerate now, so it's gotta be that, right? What else can I do with this new body?"
As he began snapping his fingers as he thought, a sudden spark jumped out at him from his snap, causing him to yelp in surprise. But nothing happened after that, but having seen the spark, Reito's mind began working.
"No way… I'm a walking plant man, there's no way I can create fire myself." Reito frowned. He needed a way to test it. But how? That's when he realized he was still in a trash-filled beach that no one visited anymore. And it wasn't like anyone would miss any trash should it go up in flames. "Okay then. Let's do this."
With that, Reito got into a ready stance as he faced a pile of trash. He felt a thrilling sense of excitement overtake him as he readied himself. He suddenly felt powerful. Strong. Was this what it was like to have a quirk.
After a few more seconds of mentally preparing himself, Reito moved his hand up like a gun. Suddenly on instinct alone, a stream of fire shot out of Reito's palm. The flames flew towards the trash, completely consuming it all once it hit. Reito took a step back as he quickly stopped. He looked down at his now smoking palm before a wide grin came onto his face.
"Oh ho ho ho ho! This is so hot!" He laughed as he opened and closed his palm. "I'm a fiery swamp monster now! Holy crap! I can't believe this is happening!" That's when an idea hit him as he created balls of fire in both of his hands as he held them in awe. "I'm not Reito Anakuro anymore. I'm…Swampfire!"
It was a good hero name, all things considered. It was memorable, to the point, and accurate. And truthfully, Reito much preferred it over his boring, normal name. It wasn't like 'Reito Anakuro' really matched his new look, either.
"Oh, this is so cool! Am I gonna be like this forever? Man, I can't wait to show off this new body to everyone! I'm definitely hero material now!" The newly christened Swampfire cheered like a child (as he was a child despite his new size) before rushing off the beach excitedly.
As Swampfire made it back into the city, he slowed down to a walk as he looked around in his new body with fresh new eyes. Everything seemed different now that he had superpowers. He felt more energized and excited, and that definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he was taller as Swampfire. It was as if he was a entirely new person in a whole new world.
Of course, there was one downside.
"Man, you reek!" One random citizen called out as he walked by.
"Take a shower, plant man!" Another one shouted.
"Sorry, sorry! It's a side effect of my quirk!" Swampfire yelled back as he moved through the crowd.
Yeah…his smell made it so that everyone within a few feet of him would glare at him like he had just killed their cat. With his smell, he wouldn't be surprised if he could actually kill something with how bad his stench was.
But just he got away from the crowds so they wouldn't have to put up with his swampy stench, that's when Swampfire heard a loud banging sound. It was the sound of something heavy hitting a surface roughly, like a hard slap or punch.
"What is that?" Swampfire hummed as he led the sound guide him. After walking down a dark alley, Swampfire finally found the source, and he found himself stunned into silence at what he was now watching.
There were five people there. Three of them looked like thugs. One was tall and skinny with wild spiky turquoise hair and had spikes sticking out of his hands and feet. The second was large, dark skinned man with a flamming head and blank looking eyes. The third thug had a lizard type mutation quirk, having reptile scales all over his body, a tail, and a lizard's mouth as his own.
The three thugs were attacking two people. One of them was Pop Step, tears in her eyes as the spiky guy held her against the wall. Swampfire might be young, but it didn't take a genius to understand whatever the guy was planning was bad, and Reito felt sickened at the sight.
The other victim was also familiar to Reito. It was Nice Guy. He hung out in this part of town and helped people with little things like picking up trash and guiding the lost to their destination. He actually was the one who helped Reito once when he had stayed out too late once and needed directions to get home. Nice guy was on the ground, a fresh cut on his cheek as well as several bruises and scratches. He looked like he got his ass kicked by the three thugs.
Things were looking terrible. Nice Guy was being picked up by spiky guy and Pop was still pinned to the wall by the other two. Unspeakable things were going to happen. Even if Swampfire didn't have a clear image of what was going to happen, he knew that he couldn't stand there and let it happen.
Without thinking, his body moved.
"Hey! Villains!" Swampfire shouted as he put all his strength in his legs and lunged at the two goons holding Pop.
"Huh–uagh!" The big guy with the little flame on his head to act as his hair turned to who had just called out to him, only to be met with a superman punch right to the face.
The big guy was sent tumbling back, letting go of Pop as he grasped his now bruised face.
"What the–?!" The lizard tried to shout, but Swampfire grabbed him by the tail before he could finish. Swampfire let out a powerful yell as he began to pull, dragging the lizard off of the free-lance idol as they spun around for a bit. "AAAAAAAAAH!"
Lizard man screamed as he was twirled around before Swampfire finally let him go, sending him flying right into a brick wall. The lizard hit the wall with a loud smack before sliding down into the pile of garbage below like some kind of cartoon character.
"You okay?" Swampfire asked, immediately turning to the victim right after knocking those guys away.
"Y-Yeah." Pop slowly nodded as she looked up in alarm, confusion, a bit of fear, and most relief at Swampfire. "W-Who-?"
"Hey! Who the hell are ya?!" Spiky screamed, forgetting all about Nice Guy as he turned to the plant man who attacked his allies.
"I'm the one who's gonna take you down!" Swampfire replied as he pointed at the villain. "Three against two? Hardly seems far, so I'm here to even the odds!"
"Oh yeah? We'll see how that goes when I tear you to shreds!" Spiky screamed as he ran to Swampfire, spikes sticking out of his knuckles, before slashing down on the plant man.
Swampfire instinctively raised his arms to block, but his vine-made body left little resistance to the thug's sharp spikes. The blade sliced through Swampfire's arm cleanly, until only a stump remained on his right hand, the cut off limb flopping uselessly to the floor.
"Ha! See? You ain't so tough now, are ya? Hahahaha!" Spiky gloated as he laughed. Swampfire could hear Pop gasp at what had just happen, and stealing a glance at Nice guy revealed his face had turned pale as he gave a sickening look to the dismembered hand.
For his own response, Swampfire just raised an eyebrow in an unamused fashion.
"Wow. That was rude." Swampfire frowned. "Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take to reattach that?"
"Hahahaha–Wait…what?" Spiky's jubilation immediately shifted to befuddled confusion, but that's when he noticed the small, thin vine coming out of Swampfire's stump.
The vine traveled down to the detatched arm before connecting with it. Then, it pulled the arm back up to the stump and attached it. In just a few seconds, any damage that might have been done had disappeared without a trace. Swampfire tested the arm a little before flashing the villain a smile.
"Yeah…That didn't take very long, did it?" Swampfire smiled. "So…what do you say? Eye for an eye? Arm for an arm? Don't worry, I always make sure to break even when paying back people."
"Wha–!?" Once again, Swampfire punched the man before he could finish just as he did with the thug's friends.
Spiky stumbled back before looking back at his assailant, only for his eyes to widen when he saw Swampfire holding two fireballs in his palms.
"Oh, by the way. I didn't introduce myself, did I? Call me Swampfire!" The plant man grinned widely before launching the fireballs towards the thugs.
The thug could only stare dumbly at the fire before they collided with his body, exploding with each impact. The thug was sent flying into another pile of trash, his clothes slightly burnt from the attack. Thankfully, that attack didn't kill the thug, evident by the groans he let out as he lied there unmovingly.
"So I can control the temperature of the flames. Perfect." Swampfire smiled as he stared at his palms. "That'll make things a lot easier in the future!"
"Uhh…"
Just as Swampfire was admiring his new form, Pop let out a questioning sound, causing the plant man to turn to her. His gaze caused Pop Step to flinch (which was justifiable considering this was a tall, strong plant man who didn't look human at all in front of her, even if he did save her), but she didn't let that stop her as she drew out her resolve.
"T-Thank you. For saving me. Err…well, us." Pop thanked him, rubbing one of her arms shyly as she did.
"Yeah. Seriously, you saved us. Thanks man." Nice Guy nodded as he flashed a smile to their savior. "Err…you said your name was Swampfire? Are you a new hero? I haven't heard of you before now."
"Hero?" Swampfire asked with wide eyes before starts seemed to form in them from sheer excitement. "Did I really look like a hero just now? Sweet! Man, did I luck out today! Things are looking up for me now!"
"Wait…are you saying you aren't licensed?" Nice Guy asked with wide eyes.
Swampfire opened his mouth to answer, but–
Beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeep…
Everybody's eyes were immediately drawn to the hourglass badge on Swampfire's chest, which had now begun to beep and blink with red flashes. After the fifth beep, bright red light engulfted the plant man, blinding Pop and Nice Guy. Once the light faded away, Pop and Nice Guy were able to see again, only Swampfire was gone. Much to their surprise, a ten year old child now stood in their heroes place.
Reito tilted his head at their jaw-dropped expressions before he looked down at himself, gasping when he saw his own body instead of the strange, alien-like one he had been in for the past few minutes.
"Hey, I'm me again!" Reito exclaimed in fascination before his eyes landed to the watch still on his arm. Instead of the white color, it now was red. "Does it have a time limit or something?" Reito then grasped the watched and pulled, but just like before on the beach, the watched refused to budge even an inch. "It still won't come off." Reito hummed.
Before he could make any more observations, Nice Guy pointed at him before letting out a shout.
"Wait, you mean you're just a little kid!? A little kid saved us?!" He screamed.
"Yeah, duh. Is there anyone else here who saved you." Reito pouted. "Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't do anything. Don't underestimate me! I'm gonna be the next top hero!"
"Hang on, why did you jump in like that then. You didn't have to. You shouldn't have gotten involved if you were just a kid." Pop frowned, but her tone wasn't so much a lecturing one than it was concerned.
"I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. I saw you both in trouble." Reito said simply. "I always admired Pop Step and her shows, and Nice Guy helps everyone here with things. What kind of person wouldn't try to help you guys when you're in trouble?"
That seemed to take both of the older two aback a bit. They stole a glance at each other before they found themselves smiling as they turned back to Reito.
"Well thank you, Really. Kid or not, you saved us." Pop said as she patted Reito on the top of his head, causing him to blush a bit before he swatted her hands away, causing the idol to laugh at the cute display.
"Yeah. Thank again." Nice Guy nodded before he put a hand to his chin. "But you might want to be careful with that quirk. If cops see you doing something like this, you'll get in trouble for improper public quirk use."
"Hmm? I don't have a quirk, though." Reito said.
"What are you talking about? You have that transforming quirk, don't you?"
"No. I think that was the watch." Reito said, gesturing to the alien device on his wrist.
"What you talking about? The watch turned you into the plant guy?" Pop asked.
"Well–"
"You…!"
The three turned to the pile of trash, where all three thugs began to slowly get back up, hurt, but way more pissed than they had been before.
"You mean to tell me…we got beat by some brat?!" Spiky screamed. "You're gonna pay for that, you little shit! We ain't gonna hold back just because you're a kid!"
"Are you seriously asking for another beating?" Reito asked before flashing them a smile. "Fine. Let's do this! I beat you once, I can do it again!"
With his confidence surging, Reito raised the watch up and pressed the side button to lift the dial. However, nothing happened. The device only let out a depleted hum. Reito's eyes shot down to the watch before he tapped the button again. Once again, another drained beeping hum came from the watch.
Ah… With a time limit comes a recharge period.
"Oh no…" Reito clenched his teeth at that realization, backing up a few steps as he realized that until the watched recharged, he was just his weak, quirkless self.
Pop Step seemed to notice the issue, and upon seeing the watch not working, nervousness flashed in her eyes.
"Hey, Nice Guy… You don't suppose you could help out here, can you?" She asked the only other person there who might be able to help in some way.
"Me? Isn't he gonna go all Swampfire on them again?" Nice Guy asked, clearly not putting the pieces together, causing Pop to sigh.
"Um…I think Swampfire is on break now…" Reito breathed out quickly as the thugs inched closer.
"Oh…ooooh…" Nice Guy's eyes widened before fear began to grow in his eyes. But then, somehow, that fear got squashed down as Nice Guy's eyes hardened just a little.
"Pop, take the kid and run. I'll buy you some time. I won't be much, probably, but you should be able to leap away together." Nice Guy whispered to the idol, causing both her and Reito's eyes to widen with horror.
"What?! I can't just abandon you here with them!" Pop whispered-yelled back. "If we leave you alone here, you'll die! Like, for real!"
"I don't need protecting!" Reito added, in a bit of a louder voice than the other two as his frustration took over though he managed to force himself to be quiet again after that outburst. "If you're gonna make me leave, you're coming with us!"
"Someone's gotta stay behind to distract them and put space between whoever flees, and only I can do that. Don't worry about me. My quirk will let me escape quickly once you're gone."
"But–"
"Pop." Nice Guy cut off Reito's complaints as he stared at the idol pleadingly. Pop then gulped, but nodded.
"Okay." She said as she wrapped her arms around Reito.
"No! I won't–!"
"Don't worry kid. I'm the guy who won't be beaten by some thugs like this: Mr. Nice Guy." The man said as he lowered himself into a crouched position, his hands and legs positioned on the ground like some kind of cockroach. "On my mark, jump away Pop."
"Got it. Don't die, Nice Guy." Pop told him, causing the man to let out a laugh.
"You finally called me by my name and not 'cockroach man'." He smiled from under his mask. "Okay, on three. One…"
"Are you guys planning something? You scheming some kind of escape or way to beat us again?" Spiky asked with a wide, evil grin.
"Two…"
"Go on, just try it! Not even All Might can save you now!"
"Thr–!"
CRASH!
Everything stopped when the loud crash broke the tension of the situation. Nice Guy and the thugs, stumbled, going from ready to lunge at each other to nearly tripping over themselves after their focus had been destroyed. Pop had tensed her legs for a big jump, but found that energy gone at the sudden noise. Even Reito, who had been struggling against the idols hold paused as everyone's gazed turned to where the sound came from.
"Hey…you punks…were you just talking about All Might just now?" A new voice asked as more noises came from a pile of trash behind everyone. "Well…he's not coming. But…I'm here!"
That's when everyone could clearly see some buff old man in a trench coat lying in the trash. He was a big guy and wore a ragged bandana around his face. At that moment, everyone there had the same thought:
'Who the heck is this guy?'
The man began to sit up as he pushed himself off the trash.
"Good thing this trash was here to break my fall. It's not a great landing pad, but it's better than nothing." He muttered.
"Wait…did he jump off the roof?" Reito questioned as he looked up to the roof of the building next to them. "There's…no way, right?"
"Hey! You asking for a beating now, too, old man?" Spiky asked threateningly.
"Nah, but I do have a question for you punks." The man said before he stuck out his tongue and pointed at it. "Have you lot been using drugs? Like this new one that's really bad news? Let me see your tongues"
"Huh? What're you talking about ma–AAAAAh!" Lizard face spoke before the man suddenly rushed at him, jabbed his hand into Lizard's mouth, and pulled out his tongue to look at it.
"Hmm…not this one." The man muttered before he let got of the tongue, letting it snap back into Lizard's mouth before the man clocked him. Hard.
Lizard when flying, hitting the ground once again out cold, but this time, his head was more than bruised. There were signs of bleeding now. Spiky and Big Guy gasped as they turned to the old man, who was readying his brass knuckle clad fists.
"Don't worry. I'll finish this quickly." The old man said before readying his fist in a terrifying pose. "The name's Knuckleduster, and it's my job to take out trash like you!"
The man, Knuckleduster, rushed towards the big man before driving his fist right into the guy's gut. The poor flaming man's mouth shot open as air left his lungs, giving Knuckleduster the chance to pull out the goon's tongue and examine it.
"No weird colors here either." He mused before letting go of the tongue and slamming a fist into the side of fire-head's face, knocking him out with a concussion too.
Reito watched from the sidelines with Pop and NG, and the thought that ran through his mind as he watched Knuckleduster was 'holy crap, this guy is so COOL!'. This guy was taking out the thugs like it was nothing! He must have been some great hero who had just arrived in town or something.
That's when Reito noticed Spiky sneaking up behind Knuckleduster, pure fury burning in his eyes as he grew as many spikes as he could on his hands.
"Hey, watch out! Behind you!" Reito shouted.
Knuckleduster spun around, but Spiky was already pouncing on his prey.
"Too late! Dodge this, old man!" Spiky screamed as he moved his hands to impale Knuckleduster.
But that never happened, because Nice Guy had moved so fast nobody could see him. He tackled Spiky, throwing him off course. Knuckleduster smiled as he raised his fist at the falling pair.
"Nice work, kids!" Knuckleduster smiled before he launched his fist right into Spiky's face.
Spiky was out for the count, unconcious before he even hit the ground. Nice Guy panted a bit as Knuckleduster went over and checked the thug's tongue just like the rest.
"Not him either. So much time and energy for a buncha deadenders." The old man sighed before turning to NG and Reito. "Hey, you two. You two wanna help me out?"
"H-Huh!? I-I swear, I don't do drugs, mister!" NG screamed, causing Knuckleduster to shake his head.
"S'not what I mean. You both have got promise. I see it in ya, and it just so happens that I need some assistants. So help me out on the job, and I'll make you both true-blue heroes."
"Really?" Reito asked, literal stars in his eyes and he nearly jumped at the old man's offer, only to be held back by Pop as NG shook his arms nervously.
"Ah. Um…Not interested. We'll just be…leaving now."
"Liar." The old man immediately replied as he stood up. "You respect All Might, and you make a hobby of doing good deeds. You expect me to believe you ain't interested in hero work? The kid's got the same passion and fire in his eyes that you've got! Neither of you hesitated to protect others!"
"Yeah, but with my goofy quirk, I just don't have the stuff to go pro." NG replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Feh, and why not? Strong quirks? The stuff to go pro? That's crap's got nothing to do with true justice!" Knuckleduster proclaimed. "In that moment, when it's clear what's gotta be done, do you take action or don'tcha!? All you need to be a hero is the right answer to that question!"
The first thought Reito had to that statement was 'This guy things I could be a hero! I knew I was making progress! I knew I could do it!', but the second almost paused that train of thought with 'Wait, what did he just say? Did he just imply he doesn't have a license?', but that thought was swiftly pushed aside by the admiration Reito was starting to feel to the hero in front of him.
Nice Guy was not having the same reaction, nor was Pop, both of them looking at the guy as though he was crazy.
"C'mon, kids. Starting today, I'm gonna teach you what it takes to do hero work," Knuckleduster smiled widely with a manic grin as he raised a fist up proudly. "And how good it feels to pound some villains!"
There was a brief beat of silence after that declaration. Then, at the same time, Nice Guy and Reito answered simultaneously.
"I absolutely refuse your offer./I absolutely accept!"
No one could tell at the time, but this was where it all began. This fated meeting for Reito, both in terms of the watch and these people around him—they would all kickstart everything, for better and for worse.
A/N: Here is the MHA x Ben10 OC story I've been working on. This is the 3rd draft, which is nice since this new draft is starting off really different from the others and other MHA x Ben10 stories I've seen, but also, I had like 4 other chapters that I just have to toss away now. It's fine. I'm fine, I promise. I'll just...keep those in case I do use them. Yeah...
Anyway, I really want to do a MHA crossover story, and I have tons of ideas for this one, but I'm still a little on the fence about MHA x Ben10. I have tons of plot points I want to use, but Ben10 has so much stuff. The numerous aliens in the Omnitrix alone presents a problem of 'how do I introduce all or most of the aliens?', 'do I use all the aliens or just a select few?' and 'how do I scale the aliens up or down so they don't just obliterate the MHA world?'. Alien X alone causes so much problems here that I'm tempted to never introduce him despite wanting to just so I don't have to deal with 'but OC could have used Alien X to do so and so'.
On the plus side, the Ben10 world has several characters and villains to pull from to use for numerous chapters and interactions. That's part of why I want to write this, and I have several OC characters to use aside from the Protagonist. I want to write class B to be more important and to see more of them so I want to the protag to join their class, I want to see more ties to plot threats that weren't explored, like quirklessness and mutant quirks, so I want to make an OC quirkless villain to join the league, and I want this to not just be MHA x Ben10. I would like to have other superhero characters make guest appearances, whether they be from old comic books/shows or from other cartoons I grew up watching. That's some of the stuff I want to do, but like I said, I'm still a little on the fence about doing this instead of some other crossover. We'll see when we get there, I suppose.