CHAPTER 8: LIVE AND LEARN
Pixie-Bob had to admit, in just one day the Midoriyas had changed many dynamics within the compound, night had not been different.
Night usually was spend having a light dinner and discussing the regimen for the next days, from tasks that including the maintenance of their gear, to light training in group and checking for any emergencies that might be flagged to them.
This time it was different, most of their work had to be done before, like when they have the heroes in training because their attention can't be divided, sure they have Ragdoll and her Quirk, but they cannot always depend on it, being prepared was the overall motto for rescue teams and rescue heroes in general.
It had been Aizawa that had begun detailing the training regime, during dinner.
A delicious dinner mind you, it's not that they can't cook, the four combine can cook some good food that fills the belly and invigorates the soul after a hard day of training, but there's something special about home cooked dinner made by a loving housewife and mother.
A mother that was once Special Forces (even if she didn't ever deployed) if her files were correct and could mess someone so bad that death was a better alternative, true she was rusty, but Pixie-Bob would never dare mess with Inko Midoriya, especially if she has a knife in hand.
"So, we start with psychical, you are a noodle" Aizawa all but bluntly stated, Izuku for his part looked rather…embarrassed by that.
"But he punched someone as big as Tiger-kun!" Eri proclaimed, eating slowly and savoring the taste of homemade katsudon, a delicacy that she would come to love.
"That was the Light enhancing me Eri, Titans are supposed to be able to do what I did with ease, there's this tale about how Saint-14 a Titan, caved the head of the Kell of House of Devil, with a headbutt, and he was in perfect shape, well as well an Exo can be, but the point stands, getting…some muscles would help, and maybe extra stamina, no hero is out of shape" Izuku reasoned, "Also go for the pork, pork's life" he advised Eri, who instantly went for the piece of meat.
"He's right, on both accounts" Tiger said with a grin, "He has strength, but it never hurts to have more, the devil's on the details, there are training methods that can turn you into a mass of muscle, or they can train different muscles, making you leaner, its all about what you want, I personally would go for number two, speed over strength, make them believe you are a speedy guy that can't take a hit and only land weak ones, only to land one devastating one, I assure you, their faces of surprise never gets old seeing" Tiger stated with a grin, digging on the Katsudon, "Also go for the rice, good fiber"
"Don't forget the soup itself" Kota muttered, "And what's a Kell?"
"A gigantic four armed leader of an army of aliens, the tallest can be at least fifteen feet tall, the tallest know was Skolas the rabid, he carried a scorch cannon, a bazooka, he died in the Prison of Elders for defying the Queen of the Awoken and betraying her trust, his death was the soft prelude to what would be known as the Taken War against Oryx, the Taken King, god-king of the Hive" Izuku mentioned.
"You promised you would end the story tonight" Eri muttered, "I want to know what happened to the Worm Gods"
The Pussycats looked at Eri and Izuku oddly, "Eri likes stories" Inko supplied, while eating her own food.
"Worm God?" Mandalay muttered.
"She…finds…stories about eldritch beings…soothing" Inko muttered, "Look its already hard to find bed stories that don't have Quirks embedded into them and changed so much that there are five versions of them, I mean the Little mermaid has at least twenty-five versions, how that happened?"
"Back on topic" Aizawa stated loud enough to be heard, "The physical goes to you too Midoriya-san" he stated, "I'll be blunt, you're overweight, I seen you struggle with your breath sometimes, I don't know how you didn't collapse during your escape, but at the very least you need to lose some weight before the month's over" he said.
"…You know I can melt your face right?" Izuku muttered with a glare.
"Oh relax dear, I don't mind, he is right" Inko admitted, "I blame adrenaline for pulling out that escape, honestly Eri-chan's is in better shape than me"
"But you're pretty" Eri muttered, biting on the pork.
"Thank you dear, but I wouldn't mind returning to a more…non-restrictive form, I never struggled for air before, but that day I did, heck, that Nemesis that attacked us in our home, had I been in top shape I would have taken them down, or at the least wound them further, I am so rusty" Inko admitted.
"Good, also, Eri" so said girl looked up at Aizawa, and he resisted the urge to pat her head and place cat ears on her head, she was just that cute, "Tomorrow we test your Quirk, we have to understand what you can do" the girl seemed to shrink down, not liking the idea, or downright fearing her own Quirk, and now Aizawa had the feeling of wanting to punch Overhaul until his head was gone into a fine red mist, then toss the corpse into a trash compactor.
"Do not worry, there are six adults here, five of them with experience with volatile Quirks, I can shut down your Quirk if it gets out of control, and problem child here can do the same if I can't, you'll be fine" Aizawa assured, "Also, don't fear your Quirk, it's a part of you, like your stomach and your…pancreas, I'm not good at this"
"We noticed" Pixie and Inko stated at the same time.
"I don't like it, it hurts people, it hurts me" Eri muttered as she rubbed her forearms, were her scars were.
"Look Eri-chan, I know you don't want to deal with it, considering" Izuku admitted, knowing full damn well why she had her scars and why she was afraid of her own Quirk, "But if you don't deal with it now, it will become a problem" Izuku said, "It's okay…to be afraid…but you can't let it control you, rule you" Eri didn't seem convinced, so Izuku tried another approach.
"Did you know what was the first thing I thought when I discovered my Quirk?" Izuku wondered, "I'm Dragonborn" he said.
"What…has to do with…mine?" Eri wondered, so did the adults.
"Everything, because the first thing I thought after that was 'oh god I'm going to eat someone's soul' and 'I'm going to end up fighting a dragon' it was scary" Izuku confessed, "Everything the Dragonborn is and was, is mine now, all the good, and all the bad, and as added more powers, so grew the things that worried me, will I end up like the Dragonborn? Always on the lookout for the next adventure, unaware of the enemies I made? Will I break like Raiden and become psychotic, just for a power-boost? Will I end up like every Guardian? Consumed by the Darkness? Will I end up like Amara? Obsessed with the next fight on the horizon? Will I end up like Aya? Afraid of my own powers and unable to connect with people?" Izuku confessed, looking at Eri.
"It's okay to be afraid, just…don't let it control you, my life was always being afraid, even after my Quirk triggered, in the coliseum I was afraid, but I didn't let it control me, don't let the fear of your Quirk control you, it is yours, you are in control" Izuku said, reaching for Eri's hand and grasping it, "Also, we will be here, making sure you don't overextend yourself, we got a whole month to learn, so don't worry" he added with a small smile.
There Eri simply looked at Izuku, then sighed, focusing on her Katsudon, "Okay" she said as she chewed the pork and swallowed it with a small smile, "But make it safe-safe" she said, "Also I want to know about The Beast" she said, "Tonight" she added with a pout.
"Okay, we skip the Worm Gods tonight"
"Shouldn't be worried that her bedtime stories are about eldritch beings?" Pixie muttered/asked.
"Meh" was the apparent consensus, or at least Aizawa's apparently as long Eri was happy and mollified, he was okay with it, as long it didn't interrupt his sleep he would be okay.
"Tap twice if you weren't worried he dropped that heavy shell just to calm Eri" Mandalay mentally asked, getting two taps from her team and Aizawa, to be honest it was kinda worrying he had all these thoughts and yet he kept onward, it was more concerning now than ever, it was obvious he had his issues, they never expected them to be this deep.
After that the dinner went in peace, with the odd comment of Aizawa and Mandalay about the next day training regime and the schedule for the next six weeks.
Izuku would be lying if he said he wasn't excited, he get to train with Pro-heroes, how cool is that?
The next day…
Aizawa had seen many bizarre things in training, when a bunch of teens with volatile powers get huddle together in a closed environment, things tend to blow up, or melt, or float, or disappear into the ether, never to be seen, or all, at the same time.
Never has he seen a noodle of a kid actually do a hundred push-ups and then start doing squats, without stopping.
He has seen boys that are pretty much the definition of 'beefcake' muscles that bulge with each movement and can do exactly this, but all that had been thanks to training, hard training, sometimes Quirks that permitted them to function to a certain level, he has seen kids trying to pass their limit when it was obvious it would hurt them.
At first glance the kid, Izuku would be unable to do more than twenty push-ups, he simply wasn't that well-trained, it showed, he was lanky and there was some gut on his belly, it was telltales of someone that didn't do much exercise, but it was somewhat obvious his legs were a little more defined than expected of someone like him, maybe he ran more than the norm.
Yet here he was, doing squats like nothing, of course they did warm-up exercises, it would be highly irresponsible to try exercises without doing warmups, and despite the kid being able to heal himself he didn't want to abuse that, it could easily become a crutch that could cripple his ability to work efficiently, he would become dependent of it.
Then again he seemed that he had no choice, his Quirk seemed to be always on, assuring that the rest of his abilities would remain active, there didn't seem to be any way to turn them off, the projector back at the coliseum seemed to be the only thing able to stun them, and even then it seemed that the effects his Quirk and new powers had to his body were permanent, his voice remained as powerful as before, the tattoos didn't disappear, he assumed that he still was able to produce that unholy amount of specialized adrenaline but unable to tap into it and his connection to the Light was still there.
His Quirk was always on, and everything he would get would remain permanent, it was an oddity, most Quirks you could turn off, and in the event they could not be turned off, you could deny most of their aftereffects with specialized gear, his seemed to simply ignore all that, he seemed to have a superb control over the majority of his powers upon acquiring them, but they were…weak, at least in his admission, his Parasite Energy seemed to be too basic, but Aizawa had seen a showcase (a digital one) of the powers at their maximum expression, Izuku assumed as well as he did that training and constant use and experimentation would make them flourish to their full power, perhaps even evolve further, in his admittance, Izuku said that what he could do with the Light was something no other Guardian could, mix and match powers from other classes.
"Hax indeed, it sounds more like a super cheat than a Quirk" Aizawa thought as he saw Izuku do his squats with ease, finishing up the one hundred with the same ease.
"…This is odd" Izuku muttered, "I feel the burn, but it is not as pronounced, it might be the Light, or maybe Parasite Energy, Aya seemed to be able to get full benefits of anything she ate, maybe my cells are working with what I have now" Izuku muttered, bringing a hand to his chin, "This alone chances everything, I could easily speed up training while having a steady source of food for my cells, but that would mean trying to identify what benefits me the most"
"Let's try to keep that as a last resort, stick with normal training and be glad you can't feel the burn now" Aizawa said, then he smirked, "But I'm sure you will do feel it tomorrow" he added with some snark.
"And here I thought Midnight was the sadist" Izuku muttered, cupping his hands and letting a steady stream of Arc energy travel between fingertips.
"Oh she is, I just don't wear mine as a disguise"
"You say it like if it was something to be proud off" Izuku muttered as he clenched his fists and let his Arc energy die out, "I can tell when I'm using Arc energy or my Apobiois, or Necrosis, I think I can combine them both for something more devastating, but I should test it first" Izuku mentioned as he rolled his neck.
"Good enough for me" Tiger suddenly pipped in, "Just saw your mother doing some jogging with Pixie-Bob, she is determined I give her that, but she is out of shape" he added with a grimace, "She's going to feel this tomorrow"
"Well, at least the hot-springs will soothe her pains, I hope" Izuku muttered, he was not ready to see if using Healing on his mother or the Well of Dawn would help with sore muscles.
"You got healing options" Mandalay said from the sidelines, "Isn't that why you chose the Light and Parasite Energy? Healing Quirks are rare, even more those that heal without any backdraw to user and target" Mandalay said, knowing full well that the Well of Dawn was perhaps the most valuable asset Izuku had for anyone, she and her team had been exposed to it, so did Aizawa, the sheer power to heal pretty much any kind of physical wound and exhaustion was something any hero team would kill to have, and so would villains.
There she scoffed, she knew villains would try to get to Izuku once they discover he is a healer, but the small detail they would learn quickly, the sword he impales on the ground to cast the Well of Dawn can be used also as a weapon, a weapon she wished no one to be on the receiving end, fire that burns to the molecular level, she is sure that someone would have to invent a category for that kind of wounds made by that kind of fire.
"Enough talking" Aizawa stated, "We are wasting time as it is while pondering 'what ifs' Midoriya, fifty laps, Tiger will accompany you to outline the first lap, then you're on your own" Izuku nodded and looked at Tiger who simply cracker his neck and began jogging at a 'moderate' pace.
Moderate being running, one Izuku followed with ease.
"Fifty? Really?" Mandalay asked to her fellow hero.
"He made a hundred push-ups and squats, hardly broke a sweat and wasn't breathing hard, either the Light grants him enhanced resistance or his new power set has imbued his cells to ultra-manage energy consumption, either case works for us, we can speed up" Aizawa answered simply.
"You do know there is a tomorrow, and tomorrow he is going to feel this" Mandalay stated.
"If he wants to be a hero he must be willing to push himself harder than the norm, this is basic warm up exercise for the first years" Aizawa stated to an eyerolling Mandalay.
"I know that, you're just enjoying the fact someone seems able to follow your insane training regime and don't even complain"
Aizawa simply shrugged his shoulders, but he was in fact happy, he didn't show it (it might, somehow summon Mrs. Joke) but the fact remained, so far it all has been a strange set of events that landed one after another in a perfect shape, it made him worry, things like this tend to go crazy afterwards.
Two hours later…
"Your kid's a monster" Pixie-Bob muttered to Inko, handing her a plastic bottle filled with water.
"That's (gasp) not a (gasp) thing to say (gasp) when a mother's nearby" Inko gasped as she took the water and drank it in small sips, as she was taught to many years ago in basic, "Besides" she continued, taking small sips, "Aren't all heroes 'monsters' when it comes to physical?"
"Well, we are humans in the end, we have our limits, also there's the fact your son's fourteen" Pixie stated, "Most kids that are training to be heroes, can't do half the things he is doing, the teens we get here, we push them to the edge, but we are mindful that their bodies can take so much, so we always switch, one day physical, the next Quirks, and we repeat the process, Quirks are muscles as well, you can have two Quirk users with the same kind of power, but the one that uses it more will developed it further, that's what we do here for two weeks with the students of several schools" Pixie mentioned.
"So, not only UA?" Inko mentioned, seeing her son practicing what seemed to be grappling moves with Tiger and Eraserhead.
"Nope, the top three schools send us their hopefuls, it is tiresome, and we have to clear our schedule for at least two months, but it is worth it, we are preparing the next generation" she stated with a small smile.
"Yeah" Inko muttered, "Yet, I worry"
Pixie scoffed at that, "Worry? Try a landslide site with a town nearby and a natural gas line nearby and then talk to me about worry" she said, then sighed, "But I guess this is a different kind of worry, I'm no mother, so I don't know much about worrying about a son or a daughter, your family, you got the right to worry, but in the end you can't do much" Pixie said with a small frown.
"Your kid's strong, and not in the Quirk sense, I read the medical file send to us after the coliseum raid, your son somehow powered on against an onslaught of monsters, while having a broken leg on a cast and a strange cocktail of drugs that should had killed him, he had burn marks that should have been bullet holes, he took on a Terminator Doll and lived to tell the tale, if something your son has, is determination, this business is all about parts, Quirks play an important part in our job, but being smart and determined are important as well, your son's gonna make some waves when he debuts as a hero" Pixie-Bob said with a small smirk.
Inko simply shook her head at that, but honestly she knew that Pixie was right, her son was going to shake everything he came across, when the time's right.
"Okay, I think's that enough for you today, rest and go pick Eri-chan, I'm gonna set the barriers up, it's time we see what she can do"
Five minutes later…
Eri was nervous, she had reasons to of course, the last time she activated her…Quirk, someone stopped being around.
As in there were just clothes left behind.
She hated it, mostly because she assumed that it was one of the reasons she was…tortured.
Yet, she had to do it, mostly because they were right, somewhat, at one point she would have to learn how to use it, just to prevent unwanted accidents, so she could learn how to turn it on and off at her own volition, it was expected for people to at least know how to turn their powers on and off.
She at least wanted to learn how to turn it off so she doesn't cause accidents.
So here she was, outside, after a healthy breakfast, and a liberal amount of apples, she stood outside the house/compound, flanked by two rock walls that formed an alley that lead to the forest near the house/compound, behind her stood the man that had been training Izuku, his hair made him kinda intimidating, not in the way Overhaul was intimidating, she simply knew he could cancel Quirks, but there was something about him…
Shaking her head Eri focused on Izuku, he was standing close to the other man, looking at her with an encouraging smile.
"Okay Eri-chan" the red cat lady said with a smile, "Before we start anything, can you tell us what your Quirk does, or a loose approximation if you can" she asked with an encouraging smile, Eri simply took a deep breath, trying to put into words what she could do.
"I…poof people away"
There was silence in the area, the four cat people, Izuku and his mom and the man who seemed to have never seen a bed, even the kid she punched was looking at her in stunned silence.
"Uh…what?" Mandalay asked, of all the answers, that wasn't the one she was expecting.
"I" Eri began, "Light comes out of my horn" she continued, making movements with her hands, "It hits people and they…gone" she added with some apprehension.
Everyone looked at one another, "Huh" Mandalay muttered, "I…see" she mulled the information she just got over.
"…Okay Midoriya-kun, make a ward, just in case" Izuku nodded, crossing his arms, spreading his legs, then shooting them to the sides, Void Light forming on his body as he formed a dome of pure Void Light around him.
"Alright, everyone inside the bubble" Izuku said, Eri by her part eyed the seemingly fragile bubble, Izuku took notice of this and smiled.
"Don't worry Eri-chan, nothing short of a Nova Bomb or a Thunderstrike, the Ward of Dawn will hold, it can take rockets, a full magazine of six Thunderlords, and even a the full brunt of Chaos Reach, nothing short of All-Might, or orbital ordinance will bring it down" Izuku said, Eri kept looking at the bubble.
"Okay" Izuku said, entering the ward one more time, his siren arms formed, now taking a violet hue, then they shot to the sides, the bubble seemed to grow thicker, "I just added three extra wards, nothing short of an Oversoul will bring this down, which is pretty much a metaphysical nuke, we'll be safe Eri, don't worry" he said, this seemed to satisfy her at last, as she turned to the makeshift hall made for her.
"Will this really hold?" Ragdoll wondered.
"You're the one that sees weaknesses, look" Izuku answered, Ragdoll seemed to take it as a challenge and actually did as so, actually blinking after five seconds.
"Oh my, this is pretty solid, I think it can take a punch of All-Might head on and not buckle" she said, this seemed to alleviate the concerns of her teammates as she entered the Ward of Dawn, Tiger had to actually sit Indian style because of his sheer size.
Aizawa was the only one outside, but was close enough to dive in in case Eri's quirk went wild, "Okay kid, do your thing, aim at those trees, if you can try to stop your quirk after activation, but don't worry too much, if in five seconds you haven't, I will cancel your Quirk with mine" Eri nodded, but there was some hesitation, yet she nodded, she was ready.
She closed her eyes, and she felt it, the sensation on the tip of her horn-
Then she realizes that the feeling she always felt when she activated her Quirk was way more potent and focused than before-
ZWHOOMMM!!
"HOLY SHIT!!"
She barely hears the sudden curse because she just fired her Quirk like a laser!
She is so surprised by this that she takes several steps back, turning back in panic-
The laser died out, in shock she looked at Aizawa, his eyes were red, and were focused on her.
"That…was not expected" Aizawa said, deactivating his Quirk, Eri blinked as she felt her Quirk back into her control (if barely) and let out a sigh of relief.
"Problem child, you overclocked her Quirk!" Aizawa called out, seeing that Izuku was not in the bubble, for an instant he panicked, thinking he got hit by Eri's Quirk-
"Eri-chan, you okay?" only to realize he had left the bubble the moment her Quirk died out and was now kneeling at her side, looking at her worriedly.
"I'm okay" Eri replied, leaning for Izuku, who hugged her, she let out a content sigh at his touch, he was so warm.
"I read that your Quirks were enhanced, but I never imagined" Mandalay said, stepping out of the bubble with Inko in tow.
"Neither did I" Izuku confessed, "I saw what mom can do, she pulled every teeth of a Tyrant's mouth, I didn't put into mind that doing that to a BOW would be harder than in a normal human being, and if she could do that, then Eri's own would be stronger, way stronger" he stated with a frown.
"Well, now it explains why her horn so dense and strong, it has to so it can handle…firing a wave motion beam out of it" Pixie-Bob muttered as she stepped out of the Ward of Dawn, "What was that anyway? Did you used to do that before?" Pixie asked to Eri.
"N-no, it was like Izuku's thunders, spiky, everywhere" Eri confessed, rubbing her horn gently.
Izuku rubbed his chin in thought, "I didn't expect this…The Void…seems to have some compatibility with Quirks" Izuku mentioned, catching everyone's attention.
"Back in the hospital I slipped into the Nova Warp, and somehow…I…we started to hear voices, calling for someone named Yagi" Izuku mentioned, that made the Pussycats actually tense, but for different reasons.
"He can talk with the death?"
"I thought I had become a medium, but after thinking it over, it is not, The Void was interacting with a Quirk in the room or Hospital, The Void acted as a enhancer for whatever Quirk around, and we heard it, also most Voidwalkers and Void Light users have buffs relating the usage of The Void on themselves, Devour just to start, it makes sense that while I was…fighting in my mind, I slipped in the Void again, let it leak, Eri-chan and mom had their Quirks forcefully deactivated, and the Void leaked into them, enhancing the Quirks in such a state" Izuku mentioned, "The projector made us feel pain, Eri-chan complained about pain in her horn" so said girl nodded, "Mom kept rubbing her hands together before I destroyed the projector" Inko nodded at that, "And my connection to the Light was compromised, I couldn't use Blade Mode or Phasetrance, my shouts were crippled at that moment, and I felt pain"
"Could it be that in that moment your Light was doing some repairing to the damage done to their Quirks, then when the projector was destroyed, the Quirks activated, now more powerful than before" Mandalay stated, "It makes sense, scary sense, but it would explain how powerful they became, also it's the fact it might be a permanent enhancement" everyone looked at Mandalay at that admission.
"Eri's horn is larger than before, more than it should be in her age, comparing it to other kids of her age with horns"
"It's not the same" Aizawa stated.
"It is" Mandalay insisted, "Now it is larger, sharper, denser, from a glance I can see that horn being able to punch a hole in a tree trunk, and we read the medical of Principal Honda, his knee no longer functional, every bone was pierced there, the muscles and tendons tore apart, the kneecap has a hole I can slip two fingers in, no normal horn can do that, especially considering that Eri, at the time was starved, tired and it's also a four year old girl, that kind of wound would be more in line to that of a full grown bull charging at you and aiming its horns at your knees, not of a four year old malnourished girl" Mandalay stated firmly, "The evidence is there, we cannot like it, but we have to accept it, it's the truth"
"And no one likes the truth" Izuku added, looking at where Eri had fired her Quirk, and actually blinked, somewhat shocked of what he saw.
He advanced, leaving the group behind, reaching for the end of the alley of rocks Pixie-Bob had made, and stood there in shock.
Something Ragdoll noted as she approached him, "Hey kitten, what's wrong?"
"…We need to test Eri's Quirk further" Izuku said, pointing at a spot on the ground, Ragdoll looked at where he was pointing, and she blinked in shock.
When Pixie-Bob had made the alleyway of rocks, she had done so with the purpose of having the trees there to act as barriers and dummies, to measure the destructive force of Eri's Quirk, if it was destructive enough to warrant so.
It seemed as so, as a group of trees that had been there no longer existed, there was no trace whatsoever of their former presence, sans the holes in the ground that indicated they had been planted-
"Hold a minute" Ragdoll and Izuku muttered at the same time, then looked at one another, seemingly having the same idea.
"I'll get a chair"
"I'll look for fruits"
No one seemed to question why both seemed to actually enter the compound, then exit a minute later, Izuku with a plastic chair in hand, and Ragdoll with a pair of watermelons and a pumpkin of all things in her hands, and placed them with the chair, at the end of the alleyway of rocks.
"Okay Eri-chan, I need you to use your Quirk again and shut up Aizawa I'm talking" Izuku silenced the erasure hero before he could say anything.
"We got a theory" Ragdoll stated as she pushed her team in the Ward of Dawn, "We need to see if it holds, Eraserhead, make sure to stop her Quirk two seconds after activation, okay? Not before, but two seconds later" she stated, and odd serious tone that was her team rarely heard.
"Eri-chan, I need you to use your Quirk again, don't worry, I just need you to fire it up, and aim it at that chair and vegetables and fruits, okay?" Eri looked uncertain, "Don't worry, we'll be here, I just need to check something" Izuku said as he held her by the shoulders, "Do this and there will be some apple slices in your future⁓" Izuku sing-songed, masking Eri nod with more enthusiasm.
"Two seconds after activation" Izuku reminded Aizawa, who was about as done with life after what had happened so far, but he relented, many didn't knew it, but Ragdoll was very observant, not because of her Quirk, but it was needed, now add a kid that can dissect Quirks around her and no Quirk is a secret to them.
"We're ready, at your pace Eri-chan, and keep the beam upfront, don't move, just fire it!" Izuku called it in a normal tone of voice, which apparently was the equivalent of screaming his lungs out in a Death metal concert, as he made the area shake, Aizawa swore he would never meet Present Mic, he doesn't need those two having a shout-out.
Nodding, Eri actually steady herself, taking a deep breath she focused, and let loose once more.
Again the overwhelming energy beam, as wide as her torso, white and yellow in coloration, the beam immediately hit the chair with the fruits and vegetable, Aizawa could see the beam properly, and mentally counted to two, then he activated his Quirk and deactivated Eri's, the beam immediately died from the source, vanishing in a small shower of particles.
It wasn't long before Ragdoll and Izuku left the bubble, Izuku giving Eri a pad on her head before heading with Ragdoll to the chair, and there Aizawa actually blinked, slow realization coming to a head.
The chair remained, a simple plastic chair, white in color, everything about the chair was normal.
The fruits and vegetables were another matter, the two watermelons looked…underdeveloped, small, like if they were just growing up, so was the pumpkin, they looked juvenile, barely growing.
"I knew it" Izuku said with a smile, "This is why the Yakuza used Eri-chan, her Quirk rewinds" Izuku exclaimed, holding a watermelon that at one point was as big as his head, now it looked like the size of an apple, it wasn't mature.
Five minutes later…
"Biological rewind?" Ragdoll nodded at Mandalay's question.
"Yes, the trees that were in the line of fire were gone, they weren't vaporized, or cut down, the holes where they were planted was there, but there was no tree, the outline of their roots and base, but the ground was untouched, the ground was spotless" Ragdoll stated with a smile.
"Little kitten saw the same as I did, we needed to see if it affected inorganic material, like plastic" she said, looking at Izuku who was holding Eri by his lap, the girl munching on an apple.
"This is why the Yakuza…harvested her blood and skin, by chance or by Overhaul's own Quirk, her blood must have the same properties as her Quirk, a complete rewind to any biological material, but somehow instead of a complete biological rewind, he was able to aim it just at Quirks, maybe that's why it has so many chemicals, he needs to control it, and trigger it specifically to Quirks, he can't afford to kill people with his product, his outfit it's not ready for open warfare, to the notoriety, he knows he will end up losing a straight up fight against the heroes and the police" Izuku pointed out.
"Then that means, what? Her Quirk is suited for…oh shit" Pixie said with surprise, "She's the ultimate healer, she can negate most, if not all wounds" she added.
"We can't be certain of that" Aizawa stated, "Also keep in mind, her Quirk is now on a magnitude of power that far surpassed her original output, she said it before, it was before a lightning bolt like beam, now she has a Gundam cannon mounted on her forehead"
Everyone looked at Aizawa oddly, "What?" he asked, "…okay Hizashi made me binge the damn show once, happy?" the Pussycats shared a glance, oh they were going to use this for blackmail, dammed the consequences later, this was just pure gold.
"So" Kota wondered, "She can…bring the dead back?" Mandalay mentally gritted her teeth, it was an honest question, but considering the tone her nephew had used…it was sending horrible red flags on her mind right now.
"I…don't know" Izuku stated, "In theory it might be possible" he added, bringing a hand to his chin, "But we have to consider the moral position, like we are at that moment playing God, also it's the fact, maybe she can rewind wounds to a biological level, but can she actually restart a body biological functions? For all we know she could be restoring a cadaver to pristine condition, but that 'thing' that spark of life might be too much for her to fix if it isn't there" Izuku said honestly, "Also, there is the very fact of her overcharged Quirk, without control she could rewind the body, or any biological material to their original stage, like way before they were something" Izuku stated, looking at Kota, seeing how the kid seemed to deflate, before he seemed to hold some hope, but why?
"He's right" Inko said, "But right now our main focus would be teaching Eri-chan control, Aizawa-san said it better, now she has a cannon in her forehead, learning how to turn her Quirk on and off is important, the very first thing she must learn, after that she can learn how to reduce the output, it will take time, but I know she can do it" Inko said, giving Eri a reassuring smile.
On the sidelines Kota bawled his hands into fists and turned away from the scene, he didn't want to see this, or hear anything else.
He drowned the sounds of the voices as he walked to the compound, he ignored the voice of Ragdoll as he entered.
He hated heroes, he hated Quirks.
He hated the fact someone was talking sense into his fantasies of recovering his parents.
They weren't coming back.
Ashes don't come back.
Three days later, unknown location…
"Nothing?" Omega asked.
"Nothing sir, we searched everywhere, we have social media completely scoped, but so far nothing" a member of the Tactical Division, in charge of looking for targets in case they went hiding, they were good at their job, nicknamed 'bloodhounds' for their effectiveness, they usually find their targets within a day, the longest a target has hid from them as been a week, and by that time they had picked clues by the third day.
They haven't found clues about the whereabouts of the Midoriyas in that exact time.
It showed how serious the heroes AND the government had taken security this time around, usually their insiders would find a clue, so far not even a green hair has been found.
Keeping social media, any form of it intervened was a sure way to find out when someone would inevitable mess up, everyone mess ups in social media, they have been messing up for two hundred years, that wasn't stopping in any way.
Yet it hasn't yielded result, their contacts within many places of power hasn't yielded result either, the last thing they knew was that they had decided to keep the location to a selected group, a group they could not touch, and the information of the location as hard data was locked on the safest place for that, the Hero Public Safety Commission HQ, in a 'massive' complex underground that contained a supercomputer mainframe that was cut from the internet and contained the heroes most close guarded secrets, and was updated by a team of twelve people, by hand, no internet connection, at all, just updates of their works day-by-day, it was a team that not even the Troupe itself knew the identities off.
They didn't even knew the security countermeasures outside the room, or how the team that made the updates was selected, they only knew that in the case that the room is infiltrated, the mainframe is rigged with a potent, really potent acid that its hooked to the mainframes memory banks, basically it was a kill switch that was designed to melt the brains of the mainframe to poodle, no one would be able to get anything out of a caustic poodle hissing and trying to burn a hole to the ground.
That's how much they take security seriously, and it irked both The Troupe and villains.
"Keep me posted for updates"
"Will do sir"
With a grunt Omega left the room, his original default mood shifting to a slightly irritated one, after a while of walking the white, metallic corridors that made their base, he made it to where he was needed today, Research and Development, some of the guys there said they might have an idea of what those exotic energies the Midoriya boy exuded, might be.
Might also clue them how he escaped in the first place, as the room he and his family were in had a Quirk nullifier, his Quirk should be dead, and the projector had been placed high enough and protected enough that not even standing on someone's shoulders would allow for its removal.
They could not see the remains, as everything was shipped to I-Island, as per standard protocols when regarding them, all they had now was conjectures.
Once inside the room, he spotted the people he was looking for, three scientists that were working on something on a table, they had called him to discuss the current events.
They were dressed like the rest, to cover their identities, "Report" Omega commanded, immediately the three stood to attention, not startled, it showed their professionalism.
"Sir" one of them spoke, he identified him as O-4, "We found a way to track the boy" he said, looking at his superior.
"Indeed?" Omega wondered, "Then out with it!"
"It's not that simple" another scientists, O-34, stated with a frown under his mask, "You see sir, we were able to separate the exotic energies that the boy seems to exude whenever he…powers-up, in a sense finding him will be like finding a lit candle in the dark, however our current instruments can handle so much before they collapse" O-34 stated.
"We have the most advanced tech, and you're saying it can't keep up with what the boy uses?" Omega asked.
"Indeed" the third scientist, O-66, replied, "The sheer energy it exudes causes a collapse on measuring instruments, it was sheer luck that M98 very own instruments didn't cause a collapse on her main systems when she tried to do the measurements, but that's not all" he said, reaching for a table and handing it to Omega, who looked at the screen in it and frowned under his mask.
"What am I looking at?"
"The most basic formula for Quantum physics"
"And this relates how?" he would regret asking that.
"We believe that his…fire seems to be akin to the physical manifestation of Quantum forces to a degree we cannot begin to comprehend" one of the scientists stated, making Omega blink in shock.
"…Excuse me? Did I just hear that boy beat one of our Terminator Dolls by weaponizing PHYSICS?"
"In a nutshell yes, we don't know how he was able to even make them into fire, but it explain the extreme temperatures he emanated during combat, and why others and himself weren't affected the way M98 was, or the damage, we never designed their defenses against the fundamental forces that hold and govern the universe" another scientist stated.
"Wonderful" Omega crossed his arms, "I assume this discovery is what will allow us to track down Midoriya?"
"Yes, you see whenever he uses his…Quantum Fire, he leaves a distinct energy signature, the problem is that this fire is mixed with a huge amount of other exotic energies we are yet to identify, which make us believe that while he manipulates Quantum forces, other energies are involved into the usage of this, but Quantum physics are the main ingredient"
"Again, how this will help us track him" Omega asked, annoyed.
"Sir, we have two methods, however these methods will take time, lots of time" the third scientist said, "The first one would be a complete upgrade to out satellite network, including hardware update that would allow us to track the manifestation of these energies whenever they are triggered" the first scientist stated, "However, at of this moment we lack the material and personnel to carry such a task, as it would require us to send someone to space and temporally shut down out network for the works to be done, which we cannot do, at all" Omega knew this better than anyone else.
The satellite network they used was akin to their nervous system, bypassing the need of internet and creating their own server for communication that wasn't clogged with spams and useless junk, it was the means they kept communicated with their branches all across the world, without any means of being intercepted.
"I see, and the second?" Omega asked.
"A software update to the satellites, less invasive and using their onboard systems to track our target, however this will take time, three weeks at the very least, trying to create a program that can identify and catalog Quantum forces and exotic energies without suffering the computer equivalent of an epilepsy attack is hard, but we can do it, we just need time and a pair of extra hands for it to be finished at that time, or even less" the second scientist stated.
"You got them, make sure it is ready, the extra time will allow us to prepare the triples better" Omega said as he turned to leave, but was stopped by the third scientist, "What is it now?"
"Sir, its regarding the biological components of the beta" the third scientist explained, of the three scientists in the room, he was one of the many assigned for the upgrades on the beta doll, upgrades that would follow to the remaining dolls if they proved successful.
"What about them?" Omega asked.
"Sir, the remains of the main component have degraded fully, right now we have enough for a single upgrade on one of our main dolls after the beta finish its trial run, we have to be careful on its testing runs, otherwise we risk losing it and exposing our hand too soon" he stated, making Omega frown under his mask.
"They…degraded already?"
"Yes, the little one in fact, it degraded by a factor of fifty, by the time it was used on the beta it was already losing potency, that was two weeks ago, today the blood samples we cloned were unusable, so were the cloned skin tissue, cloning the cloned tissue yielded…subpar material and keeping the material on cold was…insufficient, whatever Overhaul did to the girl, made it so that any genetic material harvested of her would simply degrade faster than anything we have ever encountered" the scientist explained, making Omega sigh.
"Then why the beta hasn't show signs of degradation?"
"It's the boys material, his DNA its simply…a marvel, I cannot express how useful it is, yet I feel we haven't even grasped its potential, when we mixed her material with his, it stabilized it, allowing it usage, same with the biological armament we added to the beta, however we do have a problem, it resist cloning, to a degree I have found…startling, so much that trying to clone it is an exercise in futility, we have a small reservoir of blood, but we'll soon run out of it, we either find a way to clone this unclonable material or we resign the kill order and move to capture for future harvest" the scientist explained, making Omega seethe.
"We cannot, he must die, he resisted us, offended us, never we have backpedaled of our actions, we won't start today, the Founder itself gave the order, he wants him dead" Omega snapped, making the scientist take a deep breath.
"Very well, then I suggest we start developing new cloning methods, our usual ones do not stack up against this new biological material, if not, then his body will just provide a finite source of material, and that will be that"
"You worry about the technicalities of the procedure, I will worry about the capture, whatever the obstacles it may come to us, we will overcome, as we have before" Omega intoned as he left the lab behind.
The scientist in question simply sighed, "Okay people, we have the new hands, also spread the word to Biological Experiments, tell them to start figuring a way around Midoriya's unclonable cells, or start figuring a way to make the scarps work because that's what we will get once his body arrive"
Two days later, Wild, Wild Pussycats compound…
"Again!"
A crackle of electricity followed by what seemed a green miasma was shot from Izuku's hand, aimed at a straw dummy that took the hit dead on, other than the slight movement thanks to the hit, the dummy showed no signs of damage.
Had it been a living organism, it would had different results, but that wasn't what Aizawa was looking at.
With a small glance at his cellphone, the Erasure hero narrowed his eyes, "Shaved a second of the casting, still can't cast it in movement" he muttered.
Izuku's only answer was a growl of frustration, reaching for a glass of saline solution, drinking it slowly, feeling how his cells felt revitalized after drinking it and taking its contents.
"Still can't work a way around it?" Pixie-Bob asked form the side, slowly making some stretching motions to start the day of physical.
"Not unless I float using the Light, it's a workaround, and one Aizawa-sensei doesn't like" Izuku explained.
"First, I'm not your sensei, second you depend too much on your Light" Aizawa rebutted.
"First, you're teaching me, ergo, sensei, second, oh excuse me for depending on the paracasual force that I alone can tap on and makes most elemental Quirks look bad" Izuku stated.
"Down with the sass kitten, he can't take it, it's like throwing water at a witch" Pixie teased.
Izuku immediately began to pantomime being melted, all while Pixie-Bob actually cackled, "Oh I'm melting!" she cackled, Aizawa just took a deep breath, this was kinda his fault, letting two people who have a taste for pre-quirk era movies around each other, and one of them having a drive chockfull of movies that dated back to an era that believed superpowers would only come in movies, was a recipe for disaster, and many movie quotations that would go over his head.
"Enough" Aizawa intoned, Pixie still chuckled while Izuku stopped and looked at the dummy in front of him, "Three Pyrokinesis, in movement" Izuku sighed, but did as told, raising his left hand and instantly rushing at the dummy, his hand igniting as he let out a ball of fire the size of a soccer ball at the target, all while in movement
When he had begun using it five days ago, it was the size of a tennis ball and he could not do it while running, it showed how much he had progressed in five days, some Parasite powers he could use in constant movement, but others required him to stay still, Inferno, Plasma, Antibody and every single water based Parasite Energy power seemed to fall under this category.
Izuku theorized that since they required far more time to fire up and their sheer power output, it required them to stay put, but as he 'level' them up, their time to use would reduce, so in theory it would allow him to fire them in movement, as in-game it was basically impossible to use the PE without staying still, a mechanic to ensure tension when in combat, as the powers were to be a tactical choice over the guns one would use.
Aizawa couldn't still believe he was learning something out of a videogame, he always considered them to be a waste of time, then came problem child and decided to teach him what he had learned, which in turn had him…really reconsidering things, in some manners.
The fact he was considering actual weighted gloves with hidden metal plates in the fingers and knuckles to add to his striking power, carrying an actual canister of Pepper Spray was a telling thing of what problem child was telling him was getting to him.
Aizawa considered that those who depended on their Quirks tended to become unable to fight properly once their Quirks got disable, it was one of the reasons his combat style could be considered brutal and effective, he has yet to see a villain try to fight him with a dislocated arm, then came the kid, whose Quirk allowed him to tap into forces that outright negates his own, and he asked him the important question.
What happens next? When you can't stop someone with your Quirk? The answer, go for the soft bits, the eyes, the groin, the joints, the liver, the nose, even if he was facing a villain that's pretty much a Minotaur (has happened too many times) it still has human characteristics, therefore, human weaknesses, go for the eyes, blind him irritate them, go for the groin, a cluster of nerves, strike the liver if possible, if not use a liberal amount of electricity and blunt force trauma to the face and nose.
The kid honestly scared him, he had two ways to deal with Quirk users, he either disables or overwhelms their Quirks with his own, which is possible, the kid has a knack to find weaknesses on Quirks by a mere glance, but sometimes his ways to make it happen worries him.
For example Tiger, his Quirk give shim incredible mobility, problem child instantly thought of ten ways to disable him with what he had, which varied from a localized Thunderstrike that would cause Tiger to lose his focus, to set everything on fire, to wear him down by blinking in and out of reach, frustrate him, or use a low set of Stromtrance to act as the most unnecessary Taser ever.
Those were the kind options, his not so kind options went from breaking his bones to basically grabbing him and start slamming him towards anything remotely solid, he might be able to use his Quirk to flatten his body, joints and anything in his body to give him inhuman flexibility, but he is not immune to kinetic impacts, or Area-Of-Effect attacks like Inferno or a localized damage like with Apobiosis, or a mixture alongside Blade Mode.
Suffice to say that right now, Tiger is training to improve his reaction time and hit harder and clear the area he might be faster.
The less said about what problem child thought about how to deal with the Quirks of the rest of the team, or his, the better.
And the kid hasn't even dared to use his Shouts either, mostly because unlike the Light, he cannot seem to tone down their power, their default power either comes in 'set to maim' and to 'nuke to your soul' kind of power, and to make matters worse, he was working on a new shout, one that, in theory he should be able to use, as it was used in-game by the Dragonborn enemy, Alduin, a dammed dragon, but there were no words of power for that one, so basically he was looking for the appropriate words to use.
With a sigh Aizawa saw Izuku cast the third Pyrokinesis while on movement, the straw dummy was already damaged beyond repair, he was hitting it with a biological equivalent of a fireball.
"Good, you shaved half a second on it" Aizawa drawled, "The third fireball was smaller than the first two, what happened?"
"Used too much energy on the first two without wanting, need to measure them better" Izuku muttered, this time not going for the saline solution and instead letting his cells slowly build strength for the next time.
Aizawa simply grunted, looking at the dummy, then at Izuku, "Pixie-Bob, you're up" he said, the blue themed cat/maid heroine grinded, all while Izuku sighed, but there was a small smile on his lips.
"You need to make them more solid, that T-Rex you made broke in two punches" Izuku stated, slowly rolling his arms, getting ready.
"Well excuse me if I wanted to impress, also I didn't knew you could become a living missile" Pixie-Bon commented.
"You do know that it was made of rocks, right? I channeled Arc Light, electricity, rock is not electricity conductive" Izuku muttered, "Even if it is a fundamental force it still follows several laws as well, it's space magic with laws of physics" Izuku stated, "Besides, I'm not using a Super today" smashing his fists together he let forth his Phasetrance, the six ethereal arms forming behind him, he kinda enjoyed the look of surprise of Pixie-Bob when she saw the coloration of them.
Toxic green.
"Like it? Finally got it down last night, took concentration and a understanding of what is acid in general, training helped too" the six arms slammed knuckles together and assumed grappling stances, "So, ready?"
Pixie-Bob just blinked, then turned to Aizawa, "You still salty about that comforter are you?" her answer was just one of his patented creepy grins, "…You dick" she said as she slammed her hands to the ground and activated her quirk, immediacy three 'rock beasts' formed from the ground, resembling a bear, a wolf and a standard human.
If the bear was a mutant abomination with tusks on its back, the wolf was a miniature Cerberus with three heads and four extra legs just because and the human had steroids since it was a baby in its arms, each arm looking more like a three log and being at the very least, as thick as the torso, which was also thick.
Honestly the last one reminded Izuku of Left 4 Dead's Tank, but with a visible head.
"All the acid in the world not gonna help you kitten, made them extra solid" she said with a grin.
"You do know acid is like water, it will find a way into, besides, I'm not gonna punch it, I'm gonna break it!" and with that Izuku took the initiative and launched himself forward.
Aizawa looked away, focusing on the other things going around, he didn't need to see how this was going to end, he already knew, Pixie was good with her Quirk and creations, but honestly, there was little she could do when the kid was able to produce something that could break her creations apart.
Like really since when he can channel acid of a things on his Siren Arms?
He heard a crunch and rolled to a side, letting one of the heads of the Cerberus wolf roll away, a sizzling imprint of a fist on its side being the indication on how it lost its head.
Looking around he saw Inko practicing with Mandalay, actually using a knife of a things in what he assumed was her former CQC form, he had to admit, she was rusty, enough for a pro to figure it out, for anyone else she might be the devil coming at you at full cylinders ready to disembowel you.
Stepping to one side a rock arm went passing by, he gazed to a nearby chair and table where Ragdoll was seated alongside Eri and Kota, both children were…silent, looking at the books they had in front of them with something akin to horror or…oh no that was just kids just realizing they were being taught something and were bored out of their minds, he had seen that look so many times on students on UA AND on adults during meetings to not confuse one another.
Then again he can't blame them for having that look, for all her energy and cheerfulness, Ragdoll is one of the most drone teachers he had ever met, straight to the point and drowning you on theory and terminologies that has, at one point lulled him into sleep, much to his embarrassment, that had never happened before.
A crunch and a small growl of Pixie-Bob indicated that Izuku was done again with her creations, which seemed to irk her, "She really wasn't expecting him to pull acid limbs to fight her Quirk creations, this ought to teach her to branch out" he thought with some satisfaction as he turned around and saw the last remains of her creations simply sizzle with the acid Izuku's siren arms generated upon impact.
He idly noted he didn't used The Light too much, perhaps for movement, Aizawa will admit (under duress) double jumping in mid-air is a skill that he would love to have.
"You're rusty Pixie, last year you made these exact ones and 2-B had to fight them for five hours" Aizawa said with a creepy grin.
"Oh spare me the taunt Eraserhead, I wasn't dealing with a paracasual force that keeps on getting better" Pixie-Bob snapped with a smirk, "Then again that same class did the physical kitten here did before, how many were regretting their life choices by lap fifty-five?"
"Ten, and two vomited on a tree"
"…You two need to cease and desist, now" Izuku demanded/whispered, the fact Pixie and Aizawa felt their skin slightly ripple told them that Izuku wasn't comfortable with the fact he was able to complete exercises a second year of students of a hero academy could barely do, at the very least not without vomiting everything to the side and look half dead.
Both adults rolled their eyes, Aizawa rolling his shoulders, letting some tensions out, "Okay, down the sass child, power up the Arcstaff" Aizawa said as he unfurled his capture gear, "You need to learn control over the current, that thing can be your best friend in non-lethal combat" Aizawa stated, "Most heroes either use their Quirks or support gear to disable their opponents, our higher training and accessibility to high-tier gear give us an edge, what most fail to realize is that our greatest weapon is our brains" Aizawa said.
"So, I want you to use the Arcstaff to strike me" he said, reaching for his utility belt and pulling a small device, placing it on his belt, then extending two cords, and reaching under his heavy duty shirt, placed them under it, and hooking it to the device, "This device will measure the amount of watts the staff can yield, I'll emit a high pitch sound if you exceed the wattage per strike, you need to strike me without causing it to go off" Aizawa said, Izuku for his part looked rather…off put.
"Sensei…you want me to shock you?"
"Yes"
Izuku looked at Pixie-Bob in uncertainty, "Trust me, this ain't the first time this nutjob goes Plus Ultra for teaching, two years ago one of the kids here got the snot beat out by him because his Quirk allowed him to quickly transfer kinetic damage back, negating damage, as long he did it in a allotted time, Aizawa ended up with a broken arm and three cracked ribs" Pixie-Bob explained, "So getting tazed its not…out of the realm here" she added, "But I do share his concerns, we have seen what he can do with his Arc energy, are you sure you want to get hit by THAT much energy?"
"He has learned to tone it down" Aizawa stated, "Also this shirt was specially crafted by the Support team of Best Jeanist agency, say what you will about the guy, he can make insulated gear that actually does its job" Aizawa stated, "Also will help to test its overall insulation capabilities, your Arc energy its so far, the purest form of electricity ever found, whatever scarps of info we might glean from this, the better improvement on the gear" Aizawa wasn't hiding the fact he was pretty much using Izuku to test gear.
At least he was honest.
"Yeah, well, we have an hour, I still have an essay to finish" Izuku said, directing a look to Pixie-Bob who looked rather abashed by this.
"I said I was sorry"
"That was due two days ago, I'm lucky Mandalay-san spoke for me and got me an extension" Izuku snapped.
"If you didn't play that many games" Pixie defended herself.
"…It was done…and you ended up crushing the USB where I saved it, I was lucky I had a back-up on my hard-drive before I finished it otherwise I would have gone nuclear, that's a month work there" Izuku added.
"Still, why are you delivering essays and homeworks, you're supposed to be hiding" Pixie reminded.
"That was Principal Nedzu actually, he has contacts, also I can't enter any kind of hero academy without at least finishing Middle-school, so yeah, no excuse here" Izuku stated as he summoned his Arcstaff, the smell of ozone and crackle of electricity making it very apparent that even at its lowest, the Arcstaff could easily electrocute someone to next week.
Pixie simply rolled her eyes, Aizawa on the other hand appreciated that the kid had a work ethic, he understood that he had a lot to catch up, not only in the Quirk control department, but education wise, he understood that, and was actively fighting against that gap.
Considering he had seen the essay he wrote beforehand, he was pretty much going Plus ultra on that regard.
"Yes, one hour, you finish your essay then we move to…Castlevania" Aizawa hissed the name with contemp.
"No, after the essay there's lunch, then I have to check something on my hard drive, then we move to Castlevania" Izuku reminded, "Between lunch and my hard drive I have to check on some things, I really hope that sheet of metal you guys found and that chisel hold" Izuku muttered the last part, Aizawa simply rolled his eyes.
"Why you couldn't choose something more…logical?"
"My Quirk as a whole isn't logical"
"…Just fight already"
"I got good news, great news and bad news"
"…Just so you know, I killed people for less than bad news"
"Oh trust me sir I know, but this was expected, they are better said, news"
Overhaul was right now, deciding that blasting the guy in front of him was worth the cleaning effort to the walls and sofa, after careful deliberation, he decided not to, just so he could know what was going on now.
"Very well, the bad news first" Overhaul commanded.
"Okay" his subordinate said, and took a deep breath, "Several of our warehouses have been hit this past week, the heroes are ruthless, more than ever before, I would chalk it up to usual mop-up operations, but we are not the only ones getting hit" Overhaul subordinate stated, looking at his boss, then at Mimic, who was as usual, working on the books.
"It's that so?"
"Yes" the subordinate stated, "I got it from good word that other gangs and criminal families had their operations hit as well, coordinated assaults that are happening all over Japan, last night, the Hi-Res gang on Yokohama stopped existing, all their members got captured, the red devils of Tokyo are on the run, their boss was captured, and word is we aren't the only ones getting hit" he said, making Overhaul raise an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? Sounds like everyone in the underworld is getting hit" Overhaul reminded, only to see his subordinate shake his head.
"Two night ago I got word that two bases belonging to the Troupe in Musutafu got hit, at the same time, yesterday in the morning a small raid occurred against the Meta liberation Army, at least the most radical part of it, sir, this is no mop-up, what happened in the coliseum triggered the heroes and police something fierce, they are applying scorched earth policy, several villains in those gangs got captured and their gear got destroyed, this is a dammed witch hunt, not a raid" his subordinate stated with a frown.
Overhaul mulled over the first piece of news, he knew that at one point this would happen, not this soon, but it would happen, question was why now?
A part of him reminded him that the coliseum had seen many captures, it stood to reason some of them would sell their outfits for lighter punishments, and that would inevitably the flak would hit them, he did deal with many people, it stood to reason this was why, right now several of his warehouses got hit.
A look at Mimic and he convened everything he wanted to say, 'I want to know what those warehouse had' he needed to know what got compromised, if it was guns, no big deal, the main compound had guns to spare, so were the Quirk Killing Bullets, but the warehouses could had more than that, his Quirk Killing Bullets would be the main selling point he would have, but right now it wasn't the only one, he had many dealings, anything could be compromised.
"Okay then, the good news?" Overhaul asked.
"It relates to the bad news and the great news, so many gangs have been hit that we can move to their territory without conflict, with your permission I would like to set up a small lab and safe house in Yokohama, it would benefit us greatly, we could move more produce and store our gear without compromising our outfit, as long you permit it" Overhaul nodded, this was something good.
"That was related to the bad news, to the good and great news, we got a buyer for Trigger-5, he wants it all" Overhaul blinked.
"Someone want that shit?" Mimic wondered out loud, "That thing is not even the best Trigger we have, and someone wants it all?" he asked.
"Yes, all ten tons of it"
"…God we are rich" Mimic stated.
"Mimic we are already rich"
"I know but still boss…what price did you negotiated?" Mimic asked to the subordinate.
"Nothing sir, that's the thing, the buyer wants to negotiate with you, conference call, I would be overstepping my boundaries if I tried to set a deal without your blessing"
"Good boy" Overhaul praised, "But you gave your word that you would 'get the word' sort of speak"
"Yes sir" the subordinate said.
"Expect a raise for this, I assume you have the number?" the subordinate nodded, "Those are the good news, the great ones are?"
"Yeah…uh, the buyer…seems to know about…Eri"
Silence.
"…Beg your pardon?" Overhaul asked softly.
"Like I said, he seems to know, he alluded to me he might know of a way, or a person that might find Eri, he didn't say much, just relay the info to you, you can imagine how nervous that made me" the subordinate admitted.
"…How he knows? Eri's a ghost" Overhaul reminded