Wolfram lounged in the command chair like he owned the skyline outside the glass walls. His boots were crossed on the console, chair spinning lazily with each bored swivel. He held a cup of cheap vending-machine coffee—lukewarm, bitter, barely drinkable—and somehow seemed to enjoy it all the more for its mediocrity.
Behind him, David Shield and the bleeding Samuel sat in reinforced metal restraints, wrists trapped behind their backs, ankles fused by Wolfram's casual flicks of metal. A dozen armed mercenaries lined the walls, rifles levelled, fingers hovering over triggers, but Wolfram didn't spare them a single glance. They were furniture—expensive, but ultimately replaceable.
He clicked between camera feeds with idle amusement.
"Ooh, that's a sick quirk. What was it again?"
David offered him nothing—not a grunt, not a scoff, not even the satisfaction of rolling his eyes again.
Wolfram sighed in exaggerated disappointment.
"C'mon, Doctor. I shot your assistant—don't worry, he's not dead yet—ruined your little redemption arc for All Might, and am using your life's work to line my pockets. Is that really worth the silent treatment?"
He flicked to another camera.
Another.
Another—
Until he stopped on Izuku's group, scaling the giant maintenance structures like ants.
"Oh ho. There's my favourite underage action movie cast."
Then, almost lazily:
"Tell you what. If you don't talk… maybe I'll inform my guys someone's hiding on that floor."
David's eyes widened. Melissa.His breath caught as he spotted her among the class—frightened, determined, but blissfully unaware of who the true cause of the disaster was.
His gaze dropped."…Fine. I'll talk."
Wolfram snapped the screen back to the fight.
"Great! Let's chat about this."He tapped the screen showing Patch smashing through Todoroki's ice.
David glared.
"I know what it is. A failed prototype. One I-Island was pressured to 'acquire' so you could sell it. It's nothing more than a test."
Wolfram applauded sarcastically.
"As expected of the brilliant David Shield. Anyway, I asked for that thing specifically. Its name is… well, it doesn't have one. But I call him Patch."
He said it fondly—like naming a stray cat with a missing eye.
"Generic set: enhanced strength, speed, durability, regeneration. All off-the-shelf quirks. The core, though…"He twirled a finger."Unstable. Tears itself apart even when healing. A very early product. Not a masterpiece."
David stared at Patch on-screen, then at Wolfram.
"Why tell me this?"
Wolfram reclined again, watching like a man enjoying a theatre play.
"Simple. Patch was made using quirk data from I-Island.Your databases. Your tech.Congratulations—he's your baby too."
The words hit David like an iron fist to the chest.
Quirk data.His research.Patch's very existence tied back to him.
David swallowed, horrified as the truth unfurled.Samuel.The missing logs.The secret access points.The inexplicable hack.
Suddenly, everything aligned in a single, ugly truth.
"…How far are you into society?"David's voice trembled—not from fear, but the devastation of betrayal.
Wolfram groaned dramatically.
"God, I hate that question. Why do people always think I'll monologue the grand conspiracy?"He wagged a finger."I'm not some cheap cartoon villain. I don't answer that unless I'm sure you'll die afterwards."A playful smile."And right now? You're surprisingly useful. So no."
David forced himself to steady his breathing.
"Then tell me… the surprise on floor 132."His voice was gravelly."What did you put there?"
Wolfram pulled up a different feed.
Patch—surrounded by shattered steel beams—stood in the aftermath of a broken reinforced cage, blood-dripping claws flexing as it sniffed the air, hunting.
"It's Patch, obviously," Wolfram said cheerfully."He broke the cage about half an hour ago.A shame he didn't get to finish growing."
David froze.
Growing?
Wolfram kept talking eagerly, as though explaining his favourite video game mechanic.
"His quirks accelerate natural human repair and strengthening. Every injury?He adapts. Grows. Evolves."His grin sharpened."So the more he survives… the more powerful he becomes."
David's stomach dropped.
Patch wasn't stalled.
He was levelling up.
A hands-off monster forged from I-Island's stolen data and Wolfram's upgrades.
"Why… why are you doing all this?"David asked."Money can't—"
Wolfram cut him off with a snort.
"It's money and entertainment, Doctor."He gestured to the screen, where Bakugo, Kuro, Todoroki, and Iida all moved in unison."These kids are putting on the best show I've seen in ages."
He leaned forward, eyes glittering.
"And while my escape helicopter makes its way here—"He flicked a finger at the window."—I get to watch your perfect little hero society tear itself apart."
Wolfram smiled at David's devastated expression.
"Isn't that fun?"
The screen crackled.
Patch roared.
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[Auther: Ask me whatever you don't get, I'll answer it or simply say that's spoilers, anyways, I got work so...cya!"