Author kicks down door. "Kids, I'm back, and I brought the milk!"
Okay, so, long time no see. To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect the overwhelming support of that first chapter, honestly blown away. The reason it took me so long (three months, yikes) to post the next chapter was simple: there wasn't one. I hadn't really sorted out a storyline for it, only that first chapter, simply because I had this crazy idea. I didn't want to simply insert a character into Class 1-A, copy all of the events in canon, stuff the new character into said events, then call it a day. I wanted to do something more than that, to have ripple effects, consequences of this new character, new friend groups and dynamics forming, that sort of stuff. Well, as you can see, you got a chapter, so I've got most of it sorted. I have a good idea of some overarching story beats and plotlines, as well as what characters are going to be in it, as well as how they will change events. Also, research for the series took a bit, so apologies for that. I'll do some chapter notes as well as address comments at the end of the chapter, so sit back, relax, and enjoy. That being said, I recommend that everyone reread chapter one. Not only am I proud of my work, but I also made some slight changes, since it was written before I had any plot ideas figured out.
- Jevm
Chapter Two
A Visitor from Above
Earth, Japan, 15 February 224X
At U.A. High School, the premier hero academy in western Japan, and arguably the best hero school in all of Japan, there was one particular teacher who had gained an infamous reputation. Almost every student feared him, and those who didn't had either never met the man, or were no longer students at U.A. This teacher was Shota Aizawa, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, one of the classes for the Hero Course of U.A., one of the four available courses at the high school.
If one were to imagine what this dreaded teacher looked like, images of a hulking, brutish teacher would likely spring to mind, or a teacher with a vicious smirk, joy filling their eyes at the sight of their students' failure.
In truth, this dreaded teacher was an insomniac-ridden man, heavy bags under his eyes, long, messy black hair, a week-old stubble on his face, and currently, snuggled away in his signature sleeping bag, resting in a corner.
'Damn it, why'd I have to get home so late last night,' Shota sighed, trying his best to ignore the noise within his classroom. He often tried to catch up on sleep that he missed from being an underground hero during his classes, but today his students seemed to be more rowdy than usual.
Since it was their Homeroom class, his students were using it as a study period, preparing themselves for their final exams that were coming up next month. Add in the fact that the U.A. Entrance Exam was going to be happening in ten days, and his noisy class was noisier than usual.
'Ah well, better do my job,' Shota huffed, getting up off the ground, his sleeping bag falling off him as he walked up to the podium.
"Alright, settle down," he yawned. Normally, that would be enough for his class to quiet down, but given the fact that he had involuntarily yawned partway through speaking, as well as the louder than usual chatter in the class, no one heard him.
'No, that's not entirely true,' Shota observed. Sitting at the back of the class, a position that Shota could entirely empathise with, was Tamaki Amajiki. Amajiki was a young man with pale skin, as well as being fairly tall for a first year. His ears were longer than most, their tips pointy and somewhat elf-like. He had messy, dark indigo hair which stuck out behind his head, and thin, tired-looking eyes, partially covered by his bangs. A quiet, soft spoken boy, Shota had immediately taken a liking to him, seeing much of his younger self in the boy. Hell, Amajiki even had a loud, boisterous blond for a best friend, one Mirio Togata from Class 1-B, just the same way Shota had Hizashi. Currently, Amajiki was staring at Shota with wide, frightened eyes. His gaze was focused on his teacher, but his hand was reached out to the side, tugging at the sleeve of his friend and fellow classmate, Neijirie Hado. A fair-skinned girl of above-average height, Shota was aware of the attraction many of his students had for the girl, as well as having the attraction of many students not in his class. She had royal blue eyes, at the centre of which were white pupils, a minor mutation that wasn't that uncommon these days. Her periwinkle-blue hair was incredibly long, growing all the way down to her knees. Strands of blue hair also framed the girl's face, doing little to hide the curious and excited expression she wore at all times. Of all of his students, she was the one who probably had the biggest swing in terms of her personality. When the year started, the bubbly girl was quite the opposite; quiet, withdrawn, and didn't interact with anyone. Then one day, she was as bubbly as you could imagine. Given the close relationship she had developed with Amajiki soon after, Shota felt that the quiet student was responsible in some way.
'A quiet kid with dark hair, who's best friends with a loud kid with blond hair and a bubbly friend with blue hair,' Shota thought, the memories of his own time as a student at U.A. flashing through his mind. 'No matter what, I swear that I won't allow what happened to us happen to you three.'
Deciding that he'd given his class enough time to notice him, Shota decided to get serious.
"Enough," he growled, his quirk flaring into action. An unsettled sensation flowed through his students, the feeling of their quirks being suppressed immediately catching their attention, their mouths shutting closed while they quickly turned to the front of the class, almost all of them with pale faces. Shota was irritated, and they all knew it. They also all knew what he could and would do when irritated.
"Normally, I'd expel one person for every second it took you all to quiet down. However, your final exams are coming up, and I know that you're all nervous; I was the same at your age. Additionally, you've all done well in terms of your quirk training, so I'm willing to let this slide, just this once. Don't expect it again."
"""""Thank you, Mr. Aizawa!""""" the class nervously chorused.
"Now, before Homeroom ends, there are a few things I want to say. First of all, the library closes at 9 PM, and this will go on until the end of your exams; make the most of that time. Additionally, a guest speaker will be in on Thursday to speak about the Seven Hour War. I recommend everyone attend it; there will be information there that will be on your History exams."
"Mr. Aizawa?!" Hado called out from the back of the class, her hand ramrod straight in the air. "Can you tell us what the History exam's about?!"
Shota gave her question a thought. If a student had asked him that at the beginning of the year, he'd expel them on the spot. But he knew Hado was simply asking so she could put in the work. Despite her seemingly bubbly, empty-headed personality, Neijirei Hada was diligent when it came to learning; she simply went about it in a different way.
"I can't tell you what's on the exams, Hado, but I can tell you what you should be studying: post-Seven Hour War history, pre-Seven War history, and post-quirk history. That's all I can say."
"Okay, thanks, Mr. Aizawa!" Hado grinned, turning to Amajiki, whispering something to her friend.
"Other than that, as you all know, U.A. will be having its Entrance Exams in just over a week. The Principal has told me to tell you all that those who want to watch your potential underclassmen in the Practical portion of the exam, go speak to Power Loader in the Support Studio, and he'll get you sorted to watch it remotely. Is that clear?"
"""""Yes, Mr. Aizawa!""""" the class chorused once more.
"Good," he nodded, turning to leave the class. "Now, English will start in a few minutes. I suggest you all-"
WREE! WREE! WREE!
Shota's words were interrupted by the wail of the school alarms.
"Security Level Two breach imminent," an automated message declared. "All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion."
"Level Two?!" someone shouted in panic. "That means that someone's broken onto the school grounds, right?!"
The student's words caused a panic to spread throughout the class, many students getting up from their desks.
"Quiet!" Shota yelled, cutting over the noise, his Erasure quirk flaring to life once more. His students immediately stilled, some of them frozen in place, halfway between sitting and standing.
"There hasn't been a breach YET," Shota clarified. "There isn't any need for panic. You all know the drill for an evacuation, so act like it."
"Rīdā," Shota said, turning to the class president, "I need you to take your classmates to the school's emergency shelters. There will be staff there who will tell you where to go. Understood?"
"Understood, Mr. Aizawa," the spectacled girl nodded, turning to her classmates. "Alright, everyone, single file. Evacuate from here in an orderly manner."
Shota watched with hidden approval as his students filed out of his class, heading down to the bunkers located underneath the school. Regardless of what it was that was attempting to break into the school, they would be safe.
After the final student had left the class, Shota took off into a sprint, heading in the opposite direction. Rather than heading towards the bunker, he was running up the stairs, towards the top of the building, where the staff rooms were.
"Aizawa!" a gruff voice called out from behind Shota. Glancing over his shoulder, Shota saw the muscular form of the Homeroom teacher for Class 1-B, Sekijiro Kan, known outside the classroom as the Blood Hero: Vlad King. A mountain of a man, Vlad King had short, grey hair that spiked upwards, away from his face. His body was muscular and scarred, the remains of old wounds showing on the left side of his cheek and neck. His hero costume consisted of a skin-tight red and black suit, with white over-the-knee boots and thick vambraces covering his legs and arms. Completing the look was a tube that connected the back of the Blood Hero's neck to his left vambrace, allowing the hero easy access to the blood that he controlled.
"Kan," Shota nodded, slowing down to allow his fellow teacher to catch up, resuming his pace as the two teachers/heroes ran up the stairs, side by side.
"You don't know if this is another of Nezu's pranks, do you?" the vampiric hero asked.
"No, not this time," Shota said. "If it was, he wouldn't have used an official alert. He'd do something like screaming over the intercoms, acting as if he were being ripped to shreds, and causing a panic."
"Y-You're joking," Kan stammered, looking at Shota with wide, aghast eyes.
"I'm dead serious, and speaking from experience," Shota sighed. "The Rat did that to us in my first year. The fact that it was a prank was only revealed after the teachers rushed to his office, only to find him rolling about on his desk, hysterical with laughter."
"We really do work for a sadistic boss," Kan shuddered.
The pair of them rounded a corner at the stairwell, sprinting down a corridor that was lined with teacher's offices. Shota ran ahead, holding open the door to the assigned meeting room for emergencies such as these, Kan giving a great full nod as he entered.
"Hey, Shota, wait up!" a loud voice called out down the corridor. Glancing over, Shota saw Hizashi Yamada, better known as the Voice Hero: Present Mic, sprinting over. Shota's best friend (a fact he'd never admit outloud) easily stood out in a crowd. From his long blond hair that he styled into a tuft above his head, to his hero costume consisting of a black leather jacket, pants, and boots, along with the directional speaker he wore around his neck, Hizashi's appearance could always be described as loud, fitting for someone with a sonic quirk.
"You're late," Shota said with a deadpan expression, one which Hizashi responded to with an apologetic grin.
"Sorry, sorry, one of my students was late, so I had to make sure he went the right way," Hizashi explained, entering the room behind Shota.
The room was a long, stretched out area, with an oval table placed in the middle, chairs scattered around, almost all of them seating various Pro Heroes, each of them fellow teachers at U.A. High School.
"What's the situation?" Shota bluntly asked, taking a seat at the table, Hizashi sitting next to him.
"Ah, Eraser Head, Present Mic, thank you for joining us," the Principal said. A well known figure amongst the hero community thanks to his unmatched intelligence, loose views on quirk laws, as well as his unique appearance. Nezu, better known by his hero name as Mr. Principal, was a small, stout creature who appeared to be a combination of several different animals. He had the head of a mouse with circular black eyes, a large scar over the right one, relatively rectangular-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose. His fur was white, and he had large dog-like paws with pink pads, and a thin cat-like tail. He wore a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and matching dress pants. On his feet were orange lace-up sneakers with incredibly thick soles, so large that they almost looked comedic, but anyone who knew anything about the creature knew to never make fun of him. Held in between his paws was a lit cigarette, a trail of smoke lazily drifting through the air. Shota knew that the Principal never smoked when around students, tried not to smoke when around staff, and only smoked when he felt stressed. Given the incredible intelligence that he had thanks to his High Specs quirk, granting him an intelligence that surpassed that of any Human or Vortigaunt, he was rarely out of control, and thus rarely stressed. The fact that he was smoking now was a dead giveaway of how serious the situation was.
"Right, now that everyone is here, we can begin," Principal Nezu declared, his beady black eyes sweeping over the assembled teachers.
"So what's the situation?" Hizashi asked, leaning forward with a serious expression. "It's not another Antlion migration, is it?"
"No, Present Mic, it isn't," Nezu said, lowering his snout. "If it were that simple, I'd simply ask you to drive them off with your Voice quirk, as per usual."
"It's not a Gargantua, is it?" asked the Shooting Hero: Snipe from across the table. "My bullets certainly can't pierce the hide of those brutes. Hell, I bet the only one here who'd have a good chance of taking one of those things down would be Power Loader's toys. Am I right?"
The Shooting Hero's face was entirely obscured, hidden behind a tan-coloured gas mask. An adherent to the hero days of old, when heroes had to keep a secret identity to protect them and their loved ones from villains, Snipe was famous throughout U.A. for his mysterious nature. No one knew what he looked like underneath his signature mask and cowboy hat, not even his real name. Despite his anonymous nature, everyone knew of his integrity. One had to be, after all, to be a Heroics teacher like Snipe was.
'Said integrity is probably why Nemuri was never made a Heroics teacher,' Shota thought to himself, glancing over at his highschool friend, Nemuri Kayama, better known as the R-Rated Hero: Midnight. Her dominatrix outfit that she wore over a white bodysuit was all people needed to see to understand why she wasn't allowed the position.
"If I swapped out the glitter missiles in the Venator-class bots with actual ordinates, we'd probably be fine," the Excavation Hero thought aloud. "Heck, I could probably rope my students into helping me make some."
He paused, quickly turning to Principal Nezu. "But it's not a Gargantua, is it? We'd have seen it coming out of the Wastelands and closing in on U.A. if it were."
"Power Loader is correct, our current problem isn't a Gargantua, nor any other species that arrived on Earth over two hundred years ago," Principal Nezu nodded, pressing a button on a remote he held in his paws, causing screens that lined the room to light up. The feed that they displayed showed the skies above U.A. While normally they would be cloudy, given the weather they often got in winter, a new addition had appeared. Swirling above the campus was a blue and orange portal, simply existing in midair.
"This appeared over U.A. High School approximately three minutes ago," the Principal explained. "Specifically, it appeared over Training Grounds Omega, our forested zone."
"I-It's not THEM, is it?" Thirteen stammered, the Space Hero's face clearly anxious, thanks to her helmet being raised. "I thought that The One Free Man defeated them centuries ago, banishing them from our universe and freeing us."
"While a terrifying idea, Thirteen, no, this isn't the dreaded enemy of Earth," Principal Nezu reassured the teachers. "This portal is different to the ones they used. In fact, it is different to any known portal used, be it Nihilanth, Race X, or Combine. Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing an unknown force."
The seriousness of the situation swept over everyone in the room. They were about to face an unknown enemy, without any knowledge of their number, strength, or reason for arriving.
"Here is my plan," Principal Nezu began. "I will lead a small group to ground zero. Accompanying me will be Eraser Head, Present Mic, Snipe, and Hound Dog. Snipe, you'll be there to deal with any long range attackers, as well as attacking from range yourself. Present Mic, you'll do the same, but prioritise those that may be sensitive to sound."
"You got it, boss!" Hizashi grinned, flashing a rocker symbol, while Snipe simply nodded.
"Hound Dog, you'll be our muscle. Hopefully we won't need it, but I haven't lived this long by being hopeful."
"Roger," Hound Dog growled, his furry arms crossed over his equally furry chest, a trait caused by his Dog mutation quirk.
"Finally, Eraser Head, your quirk's ability to suppress abnormal abilities, even if they aren't of Earth, is vital for our success. You shall remain in the back; our victory might very well rely on your safety."
"Understood, sir," Shota affirmed.
"The rest of you, stand by. We may call you in if the situation demands it. Power Loader, swap out your Villain Bot's munitions for live ones, just in case. And be ready to activate the Executors; I don't want to deploy them, knowing how much damage they'll do to the school, but the safety of the students is our top priority."
Calls of acknowledgement rang out amongst the gathered teachers. These were silenced by an alert going off from the screens.
"Oh, would you look at that," the Principal mused, glancing at the feeds. "It seems we may be in luck."
Glancing over, Shota saw a lone figure tumbling out of the swirling portal, flipping through the air before they leveled out. Not much could be seen from the distance, as the portal had opened up 6 km above the campus. However, despite the small details, Shota thought he could make out hair trailing behind the figure.
'Is that a human?' Shota wondered, already getting up out of his seat.
"Given the distance from the portal entrance to the ground, and factoring in the terminal velocity of a human, I'd say we have under two minutes to get to Ground Omega," Principal Nezu surmised, leaping off the table and rushing over to a wall, pressing some hidden buttons that caused a secret doorway to open. "This way, gentlemen. If we make haste, we should be able to arrive in time to catch our tumbling interloper."
Discovering that there were hidden high-speed travel lines within the building had been a surprise, but after working for Principal Nezu for years now, as well as being a student at U.A. in the past, Shota knew that the hyper-intelligent creature had good reason for it.
"Now, if they had kept themselves as un-aerodynamic as possible, we should be able-" Principal Nezu began as they emerged out of a hidden entrance into Training Grounds Omega, only to be cut off as a loud boom sounded out up ahead, along with a cloud of dust flying up into the air.
"-to make it before they hit the ground," the Principal finished, sighing from within Shota's capture scarf. "Oh well, let's see if our uninvited guest is still alive."
Hound Dog and Hizashi led the way, with Snipe, Shota and Principal Nezu following close behind. Making their way between the trees, the five heroes soon came across their target, the individual that had infiltrated their academy from the sky. And what Shota saw shocked him. Standing in the midst of the clearing, brushing dirt off her shoulders, was a girl. Not a woman, but a girl, a girl who couldn't have been older than his own students. She was thin with an athletic build, her hair black and hanging loose. She wore a white tank top that exposed her arms, her skin a light brown. But what stood out the most to Shota was her legs. She was bereft of any footwear, the child walking on the balls of her feet, because jutting out from the back of her knees were matt black struts. They were long enough to act as the girl's heel, forcing her to walk on the balls of her feet and her toes.
The girl seemed to say something to herself, looking up over the trees at the main U.A. building that stood behind the Pros. Because of the distance, Shota wasn't able to make out what she was saying, but given Hound Dog's ears flicking, he seemed to have heard her.
"She's planning to scout out the area before revealing herself," Hound Dog relayed with a quiet growl. "What are your orders, Principal?"
"We shall make our introductions," Principal Nezu decided. "Be ready for anything, but don't be overly threatening. I'd rather take her in without a struggle."
Shota and his fellow teachers gave their nods of acknowledgement, moving forward, with Hizashi and Hound Dog leading the front, with Snipe and Shota behind.
As they entered the clearing, the young intruder was heading in the opposite direction, unaware of the presence as she walked further into Testing Grounds Omega.
"Well, well, well, this is an unexpected surprise," Principal Nezu called out in English from within Shota's scarf.
The girl's reaction was instant, whirling around to face them, her hands bunched up into fists in front of her. Her blue eyes widened as she saw them, but it wasn't the widening of eyes from one who knew who they were looking at. No, these were the eyes of someone faced with the unknown, eyes that he had occasionally seen in the tribesmen who lived in the Outlands, removed from society. It was a look of fear, one that hurt Shota to see in someone so young.
"Well, young miss," Principal Nezu continued, popping out from within Shota's scarf, "we have a great many questions for you. I do ask that you come with us willingly, rather than resist or try to flee."
The girl didn't answer, her eyes flicking from one person to the next, her chest rising and falling rapidly in panic.
'Crap,' Shota thought, his eyes widening as he realised what was happening. 'Don't tell me she's going to-'
But his fears were proven right when the girl toppled to the side, thumping down onto the grass, breaking her fall.
"Ah crap, little listener, are you okay?" Hizashi cried out, rushing forward to the prone child. Shota couldn't blame him; his best friend had always had a soft spot for children.
"How is she, Present Mic?" the Principal asked as Shota and the other teachers rushed over.
"She's alive, but she's not responding," Hizashi answered, pressing a finger against her neck, checking for a pulse. "Her heart rate is elevated but steady. I think she'll be fine, but I'd rather Recovery Girl give the little listener a look over."
"Agreed," Principal Nezu said, climbing out of Shota's capture scarf and hopping down to the ground. "I also want her analysis of this cybernetic that she has."
"I'll give the old lady a call," Snipe informed, turning away from the others as he called in the high school's medical staff.
While Snipe contacted the others, Principal Nezu and Hizashi looked over the young girl, and Hound Dog kept an eye, ear, and nose out for any other intruders, Shota's gaze was caught by the logo and text that was written across the girl's tank top.
'Aperture Laboratories,' Shota read, his eyes narrowing. 'Now where have I heard that name before?'
-]l[-
While all at U.A. knew about Recovery Girl and her nurses office, few were fortunately aware of the more extensive facilities the Youthful Heroine had at her disposal. These were only used for those who required emergency care, or for those who needed to be monitored by more advanced technology.
After their mysterious visitor collapsed in front of them, Nezu was faced with the challenge of how to explain this to the students. It wouldn't do to make them feel panicked, and at this point he didn't want the Hero Public Safety Commission to be aware of the girl. Nezu was perfectly aware of his heavily biased opinion towards that organisation, but even from a purely objective standpoint, keeping the young girl's existence underwraps was the best option, at least until they knew more about who she was, and how she got here.
As a cover story, Nezu had announced that a pack of Houndeyes had managed to sneak onto campus from the Outlands, triggering the alarms. Of course this was a lie, but the students didn't need to know that. Nezu was also fully convinced in the loyalty of his staff, at least to the point where they wouldn't reveal the truth. He paid them too well for them to betray him, and he had too many resources at his disposal to deal with traitors if they did, and they all knew it. All of the staff knew about his blanket hatred towards humans, and none were willing to anger a creature that was intelligent enough to predict when they were going to betray him, even before they had come up with the idea themselves. Regardless, the school had Houndeye meat in reserve, so Lunch Rush was given the all clear to make some Houndeye meals available for the school menu.
And anyway, there are always exceptions to rules. Just the same as a villain might hate every person in their city, yet still value the lives of their dear family, so too did Nezu's hatred towards humans not extend to children. It was why he had started this institution, after all. What better way to change humanity, at least on a local level, than to mold the children who others would look up to, to take inspiration from.
"How is she?" Nezu asked, glancing over at the patient. She was laid down on a typical hospital bed, implants and monitors hooked up to the unconscious girl, the constant beep of her heart monitor showing her stable condition.
Silence was all that answered Nezu's question. Turning his head, Nezu looked at Recovery Girl who was staring at her computer screen, information and textboxes flashing up one by one.
"Ms. Shuzenji?" Nezu repeated, a trace of irritation entering his voice. "How is our patient?"
Recovery Girl didn't audibly answer, but Nezu took notice of her small fists tightening, glaring at some information that had recently popped up. Her teeth her clenched, that much Nezu could tell by her tightening cheek muscles, and the scent of adrenaline, cortisol, and other adrenal hormones revealed her worsening mood. But Nezu was certain that the nurse's anger wasn't directed at him, he had known her too long for that assumption. No, her anger was towards what she was seeing, and that, more than anything, fascinated Nezu. Just what could anger Recovery Girl so much?
"I'll kill them," came the nurse's reply, her voice low and quiet, but filled with hate. "I swear, if I find who did this to the poor darling, I'll kill them."
'Well,' Nezu thought, raising a solitary mental eyebrow, 'that's certainly a response.'
"Tell me, Recovery Girl," Nezu spoke aloud, finally causing the school nurse to turn her gaze towards the Principal, "what have you discovered that has made you have this reaction? Why, for a moment there, I thought you were going to relapse, go out on a killing spree, driving fear and terror into the hearts of the local gangs, 'killing them with love', as you used to say."
Rather than answering him, Recovery Girl spread out the information her devices had gathered on the screens nearby, enlarging them for both to see.
"To put it bluntly, Nezu, she's like you," Recovery Girl stated, causing Nezu's eyes to widen in shock. "She's an experiment of some kind. Not to the same degree you were, obviously, but she's been experimented on all the same."
She highlighted a readout, causing it to take up most of a screen, drawing Nezu's attention to it.
"Right here, you're able to see that her skin has undergone forced changes," Recovery Girl explained, though Nezu was able to quickly figure out what the chart was showing, such were the perks of supreme intelligence. "Whoever did this made her skin incredibly durable. Small firearms might split the skin, but they'll bounce right off, only leaving a nasty welt. They don't seem to have much resistance to a slashing blade, but instead her skin cells harden when precise pressure is applied. I had to use a scalpel just to get an I.V. drip into her; her skin broke the first two needles."
"Then, she seems to have bone strengtheners," Recovery Girl continued, bringing up a different chart, this one showing the girl's skeletal structure. "They're more durable across the board. Not uncommon these days, what with mutations from ancestral quirks enhancing the general populace, but certainly above average, almost to a quirk level."
"Her muscles are the same," she added, bringing up a microscopic image of the girl's muscles. "They are much denser than normal, even denser than some quirk users have."
"Then there's her brain activity." This time, a feed of the girl's neural activity appeared on the screen, the many flashing lines showing her cognitive functions, even as she slept. But what Nezu saw worried him.
"Her neurons…" he began, before trailing off.
"Exactly," Recovery Girl sadly nodded. "Somehow, whoever did all this to her tampered with her brain function. Her neurons are firing much faster than normal, and traveling faster too. It wouldn't necessarily result in an increased intelligence, but rather-"
"-an increase to her reaction speed and thought processing," Nezu finished. "Near useless in a civilian setting, but perfect in a high stress environment where each second, no, each millisecond, matters. High stress environments, like a battlefield."
"Precisely," Recovery Girl sadly nodded, rolling her chair over to the bedside of their patient. Taking the girl's hand in both of her own, Recovery Girl gave it a gentle squeeze, contemplating.
"They were trying to make a weapon," she finally said, her gaze still focused on the girl. "Whoever did this to her, they were trying to make a weapon out of her. Something with near-bulletproof skin, enhanced bone strength, enhanced muscle strength, enhanced reaction speed. They tried to make something that has no place in society, to solely exist on the battlefield, to fight in the wars of her makers, or the wars of her maker's employers."
Recovery Girl fell silent after that, her lips moving in silent prayers and promises to her patient.
"But that wasn't all, was it?" Nezu asked, glancing up at the screens. "You wouldn't have had such a visceral reaction if that was the extent of it."
"You're right as always, Principal Nezu," Recovery Girl nodded, more displays appearing on the screens. "There were three more additions made to the girl. The first were her knee implants."
"Ah yes, the devices that allowed her to survive such a fall?" Nezu inquired.
"The very same," Recovery Girl confirmed. "The technology is astounding, both in its complexity, yet paradoxically its simplicity. To start with, the entirety of both her knees are artificial. Whoever it was that implanted them managed to keep the blood vessels connected, preventing her legs below the knees from undergoing necrosis. The artificial heel that they implanted in her is also impressive. It allows for tremendous amounts of force to be channeled through and dispersed, preventing her from injuring her legs after falling from tremendous heights."
"That does sound impressive," Nezu admitted, "though I fail to see why this is a detriment, nor why you would find this implant repulsive."
"Aside from the fact that they've removed her knee joints, whoever did this decided to leave a calling card," Recovery Girl revealed, bringing up a closeup image of one of the girl's prosthetic knees. Written on both the artificial heel and the knee replacement itself, was written, 'Property of Aperture Laboratories'.
"They branded her, Nezu," Recovery Girl quietly said. "They put augmetics upon her, for all we know without her consent, and they branded it. I don't even know what this material is, nor if I can replace it. She'll live with their markings, their claims of ownership upon her, maybe for the rest of her life."
Absent-mindedly, Nezu reached behind his back, his paw brushing through the fur. Even though he couldn't see it, he knew the words that were inked onto his flesh. Even if he hadn't possessed a photographic memory, the words would never leave him.
'The property of the Hero Public Safety Commission's Research and Development Department'.
Even though his fur had grown over it, those words would forever remain etched into his body. Even if he could remove them, he wouldn't. They would remain a reminder of who he was, of where he had come from.
"She's like me," Nezu muttered.
"In more ways than one," Recovery Girl replied, alerting Nezu to the fact he had spoken aloud.
"What do you mean?" Nezu asked, keeping a firm grip on his emotions. "From what I can see with my naked eyes, she doesn't seem to be a chimera like me, a jumbled mishmash of various creatures."
"True, she isn't," Recovery Girl admitted, bringing up yet another file. "However, she is like you in the sense that I believe her quirk was forced upon her."
She gestured to the charts, a combination of x-rays, blood samples, and deep tissue scans, specifically of the girl's arms.
"I did an x-ray of the girl, to see if she had any other implants that we were unaware of underneath the surface. What I found was worrying. First of all, she has two joints in her pinky toes, which made me initially think she was quirkless."
"But you don't think that's the case?" Nezu asked. "While rare, there are instances of those with the double pinky joints possessing quirks."
"And ordinarily, we'd need to wait for the patient to wake up and tell us," Recovery Girl agreed. "But take a look at these scans of her arms."
A final scan was displayed on the screens, and after only a second of examining it, Nezu's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.
"Th-That can't be right!" he exclaimed. "Those readings would mean-"
"That the girl was artificially given a quirk through Dark Energy exposure, correct," Recovery Girl confirmed. "Cases like this haven't been seen since the aftermath of Liberty Day, all the way back at the dawn of quirks. But even then, to see such a powerful reading is extraordinary."
"Do you have a hypothesis on what her quirk could be?" Nezu asked, looking across all of the readings. "To have such a large exposure to Dark Energy is sure to produce interesting results."
"No, there is no way for me to tell while she is unconscious," Recovery Girl stated, shaking her head. "You'd need someone with a specialised quirk for that, such as one that allows you to copy quirks, or one that tells you what someone's quirk is."
She paused, giving Nezu a sly look out of the corner of her eye. "But you probably have your own hypothesis for what her quirk is, don't you?"
"Correct," Nezu nodded, deciding to not beat around the bush. "Given the force dampeners they implanted into the back of her knees, I'd say they had a very specific quirk in mind. My guess would be something that would require her to fall from a great height, or a quirk that would result in her falling from great heights. Perhaps a bounce quirk, making the ground beneath her like a springboard, with her implants designed to save her when she wishes to stop bouncing?"
"Perhaps," Recovery Girl mused, making a note on her computer.
"Whatever the case, all of our speculation is pointless while she remains unconscious," Nezu concluded, turning around and making his way to the exit. "I want round the clock monitoring of her. Should she wake up, I want someone down here as soon as possible, assuming they aren't down here already."
"I have students to take care of, Nezu!" Recovery Girl protested. "I can't stay down here all the time to look after her in case she wakes up! And what if she wakes when I'm asleep?"
"You shouldn't need to care for any students, Recovery Girl. Exams are coming up, so I'm sure that the Heroics teachers won't be having them do anything too strenuous. The most they'll likely get is scrapes and bruises, nothing worth your time."
"But-" Recovery Girl said, only to be stalled as Nezu raised a paw.
"But if you feel the need for the students to have some form of medical attention beyond a bandaid, I'll ask around for some Vortigaunts who specialise in their healing arts. To be honest, this might be a good trial run to see how the school does with more medical staff. I'm aware of your skill, Recovery Girl, but you're only one woman. A very skilled woman, of that I have no doubt, but one woman nonetheless."
Recovery Girl thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.
"Well, it's not as if I'll be stuck down here with nothing to do," she thought aloud. "I can easily get my work done down here. Alright, Nezu, I'll keep an eye on the girl's condition. But if there are any major injuries amongst the Hero Course students, I'll attend to them. I'm sure the Vortigaunts know what they're doing, but it would simply give me peace of mind to oversee it. It might allow me to give my own grades upon their work as well."
"I find your conditions to be agreeable," Nezu nodded. "However, only on the condition that should you need to leave, not only will you task someone to take up your post, but you also remain in contact with them. Unless one of the students requires life saving medical aid, I want you to prioritise attending to our guest when she awakens."
"Very well, Principal," Recovery Girl nodded. "I'll let you know immediately when she recovers."
"Excellent," Nezu grinned, walking through the door of the medical theater. "I look forward to your good news, Recovery Girl."
The door swung closed behind him, the only sounds in the corridor was the soft sound of Nezu's footfalls as he walked.
"The child really is like me, in some manner at least," Nezu thought aloud, a paw on his jaw, a human mannerism that he had picked up. "I certainly don't want the Safety Commission to get their bloody hands on the girl. We already have Hawks as their agent; I drew the line at one hero being their personal attack dog, I won't allow them to have a second, especially not someone so young."
But as Nezu walked, a feature that Recovery Girl had pointed out to him remained in the back of his mind, scratching away like an itch you couldn't reach.
"Aperture Laboratories," Nezu mused, slipping into one of the hidden doorways perfectly suited for his small size. "Why does that name ring a bell?"
Okay, I just want to say, wow. A lot of support for this series from what I've seen, so here we go, new series. Yes, that's right, both My Monster Academia as well as Portal Hero: Aperture will be published on a fortnightly basis. At the moment, I'll be publishing them side by side, but if y'all want me to space them out, so that way you get a chapter a week, I'm fine with that as well.
So, as I mentioned in the note at the beginning of the chapter, this chapter took a while to come out simply because I didn't have any plans for it. It was a simple, crazy idea that I cobbled together, specifically of Chell porteling through the city, and for some reason Cementos was there. Pretty sure it was also during the First Term Final Exams test. Anyway, I decided to make a chapter that introduced the idea. Well, for the past few weeks, I've been researching and brainstorming like crazy for how this story could come along. Many of the ideas are still forming, but I have some plot points sorted. I mean, only a few hours before writing this, I came up with a plot point as well as a scene that genuinely made me cry. I can't wait to write it, everyone's going to be crying happy tears for Chell.
I also have some OC characters planned, as well as changes for other characters. Relationships, both platonic and romantic, have been planned for two characters, Chell being one of them, as well as some semi-canon ships that exist in MHA.
Full warning, this series isn't going to be as expansive in plot changes as my other series, My Monster Academia. In that one, there are some MASSIVE changes that have occurred, a proper canon divergence. This one is still canon divergence, but to a lesser degree.
Anyway, that's all about that, on to reviews. Holy crap, there are a few for a first chapter. Twelve on Ao3, and six on Fanfiction, for a grand total of eighteen on the first chapter. For anyone who has read My Monster Academia, you'll know that instead of replying to each individual comment, I do them here in the author's notes. So, let's dive in.
JohnSilver, Confused87, Guest, LordOfTheMushrooms, ultima-owner, CriticaofRandomness, ZoyeZest, Starlight Skywolf, Atromitos1526, Abnormal445, kiszony531, TarheelSK, Ste4m3dReader, florffleef, Quanto, and TheGigaGamer75, thank you one and all for your reviews. The excitement you had for my work is really encouraging, it shows I'm writing what people want, which is half of being an author. So thank you all.
Now, for individual questions that were asked, I'll answer them here.
LordOfTheMushrooms, first of all, awesome name, your Lordliness. As for your question, as you saw in this chapter, Chell has what is considered a quirk. Quirk is simply Japan's terminology for a superpower/mutation of some kind. As for her body modifications, it'll be shown how much they've boosted Chell. She isn't going to be a Mary Sue, far from it, but teleporting isn't going to be her entire move set, I'll put it that way. As for Overhaul, nah, he wouldn't be chill.
ultima-owner, not really? Jet lag only occurs when your body clock is out of sync with your local timezone. For instance, a few months ago I travelled to Australia from New Zealand for a visit. That's a 3-hour time zone difference. When I arrived home, it was 12 PM, but it felt to me like it was 9 AM. As for you asking for more, I wasn't sure if that was a request for more chapters or more characters. The answer for both of those questions is yes! Chapters will be dropping regularly, so no need for the long wait, and there are going to be a bunch of lore changes, some of which were revealed this chapter.
CriticaofRandomness, I'm glad you liked the chapter, and to me, Chell was always a selective mute, compared to Gordon Freeman's genetic mute. One is by choice, the other isn't. And yeah, GLaDOS simply can't help herself with bad luck. As for seeing GLaDOS in the future, I'll simply torment you with the uncertainty, MWAHAHAHA!
Starlight Skywolf, no, Chell didn't drop in at the USJ (though that would be one hell of an entrance), she landed in Training Grounds Omega, the forested zone where Koda and Jiro fought Present Mic.
TarheelSK, yeah, while GLaDOS might claim to be entirely logical and devoid of emotion, it's complete bollocks. Finding out your nemesis has been giving you the cold shoulder all this time is going to annoy her to no end.
florffleef, trust me, the horror isn't in the fact that she has a quirk, more along the line of what was done to her to grant her one (or at least what they recognise as a quirk).
Quanto, I agree, when it comes to two-bit crooks, they're all going to be catching Chell's hands. Also the fact that Chell has an unstoppable drive, much more so than almost anyone else in the class, maybe only matched by Bakugo, means she's not stopping until you've lost. Either that, or she'll simply trap you in a perpetual fall. You mess with her concentration, and you'll be painting the floors. Maybe not very heroic, but the streets of Brazil don't care for heroics.
And finally GigaGamer57, your wish is my command, poof, new chapter. It simply took me a while to sort out lore details, both past and future.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to comment your thoughts, ideas, and predictions. I love reading them (so long as they're constructive), and if I like some ideas enough, I might implement them, who knows.
A tradition I started on My Monster Academia was revealing the title of the next chapter, to give you a hint of what will be happening. As such the title for next chapter is 'Revelations'. What will be revealed? Who knows! Well, obviously I do, because I'm the author, but you don't!
That's all from me, so see you all next time…
- Jevm
