Sinister Machinations
Kamala walked into the cozy restaurant where her date was supposed to be taking place. She was completely nervous about this whole experience. How could she not be? Carol had set up this whole blind date after Kamala had complained about wanting a boyfriend. That’s what she gets for being jealous of her friends’ love lives. Now Kamala had to meet some boy that she didn’t know and hope that this whole endeavor wasn’t a disaster. Worst of all, Kamala couldn’t just bail. Carol had gone through all the trouble of setting this up and Kamala couldn’t bear the thought of insulting her mentor like that. She just hoped this wasn’t one of those situations where a friend was trying to set you up with a family member of theirs who would otherwise have no shot at a date with a pretty girl.
Kamala checked her makeup and her outfit. Nakia did her makeup and Zoe styled her outfit and hair. For her makeup, it was nothing excessive. Just some eyeliner, some blush, and a little lip gloss. Nakia thought that Kamala didn’t need much. Zoe, on the other hand, completely overhauled Kamala’s usual look. In Zoe’s words, Kamala dressed like too much of a Tomboy. If she wanted to get a boyfriend then she had to do a little ‘advertising.’ Thankfully, for Kamala’s sense of modesty and personal style, Zoe hadn’t gone too far. Her outfit for the night still repped her love of heroes, Captain Marvel in particular, by wearing a black t-shirt with the original Ms. Marvel symbol on the chest. Her bottoms were denim shorts accompanied by red leggings and grey Converse Sneakers. On her left wrist was her usual bracelet. Around her neck was a red scarf with tassels and tying the whole outfit together was a black leather jacket. The whole ensemble made Kamala look like the kind of girl boys could approach but were hesitant to ask out.
Kamala finished checking herself out, took a deep breath, and walked up to the host podium. “Alright, now or never,” Kamala said to herself as she walked up the podium. “Excuse me? Reservation for two? I believe it is under the name Danvers?”
The host, a young woman with brunette hair in a ponytail, looked at the log book for guests and perused the names. “Ah, yes, Danvers. Your table is waiting for you. You’re the first to arrive. If you’ll follow me.”
Kamala followed and was seated at the table without delay. The host left a menu and allowed Kamala to peruse it in peace.
For about five minutes, Kamala looked at the menu in peace but all of that was interrupted when she heard several people whispering and giggling at the commotion coming from the entrance. Kamala looked up to see what was going on and silently prayed that she wouldn’t have to go hero while she was trying to have a date…even if her date hadn’t shown up yet.
She was both shocked and not shocked to see who was at the door.
“Oh my god, is that Warbird?” asked one person.
“What’s he doing here?” asked another.
“He’s not in his costume. Do you think he’s here for dinner?”
“What if he’s here for dinner? He certainly looks the part!”
Kamala had heard of Warbird. She was pretty sure that he was a Captain Marvel fan just like her. He even had similar powers and fought alongside her more than once. If Kamala was being honest, she was kind of jealous. Sure, Carol was her mentor but it seemed like every time that Carol and Kamala teamed up or trained together, Warbird had already done the same a dozen times more. It was kind of disappointing.
“Oh my god, he’s coming over here!”
“He’s looking for someone!”
“Who do you think is his date?”
While Kamala tried to ignore the admirers who were throwing a fit over Warbird, a familiar voice caught her attention. “I’m sorry, are you Kamala Khan?” Kamala Khan looked up to see what was going on only to be greeted by the sight of Warbird in a leather jacket, denim skinny jeans, and a green v-neck trying to get her attention.
“Um, yes?” she wasn’t sure why Warbird was talking to her. “How can I help you?” she asked.
She watched the boy chuckle nervously. A part of her wanted to chuckle at seeing the leading young hero of her generation get nervous. “Um, well, I think Carol set us up on a blind date for the night. You are Kamala Khan right?”
Kamala heard glass shattering in the back of her mind. She immediately went into panic mode. ‘Carol, what the hell were you thinking?! I can’t be out on a date with someone so high profile! He doesn’t even have a secret identity! If this gets out to the news then people are going to figure out that I’m Ms. Marvel! My parents might figure out that I’m Ms. Marvel!’
Lost in her own panic, Kamala didn’t realize that Warbird had already sat down. He also placed a small circular object with a blue light on the table between them. “There. That should give us some privacy.”
Kamala quickly recovered from her shock to realize what her date had said. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, um well a friend of mine whipped up this device to give me some privacy when I go out in public. It filters out whatever we say. No one can hear or record what we’re saying. It also blurs out our faces in pictures and recordings as well as blocks our location information. That’s not too creepy is it?” Warbird asked nervously. “I can shut it off if that’s overstepping.”
Kamala visibly relaxed after getting the device’s explanation. “No, that takes a load off of my shoulders…I take it that you know who I am?” Warbird nodded with an awkward smile. “Then I hope you can understand me not wanting my identity out there.”
“I understand.”
Kamala relaxed even more. She had been afraid that Warbird was one of those yahoos that advocated for heroes to reveal their identities so that they could be held accountable. Kamala didn’t like those guys. It was thinking like that that caused the Civil War. She was pretty young when it happened but she could still remember the heroes that she looked up to fighting in the streets.
“So Warbird–”
Izuku held up a hand and stopped Kamala before she could get going on her question. “I’d prefer if you’d call me Izuku. Izuku Midoriya.”
“Okay, Izuku then. Tell me about yourself.”
Izuku nervously scratched his head. Kamala thought it was cute. Especially with the way those blushing cheeks lit up his freckles. “Well, outside the stuff I do as a crime fighter, there’s not much to tell. I guess I’ll start with the basics. I’m a bit of a hero nerd…”
“Oh? Who are your favorites?” asked Kamala.
Izuku was surprised to be interrupted but not unpleasantly so. He smiled and raised his hands to start counting. “Well first and foremost, it’s a tie between Cap and Spidey. They’re both great heroes but for different reasons.”
Kamala mirrored his opinion. “Yeah, Cap is pretty old school but the old school stuff is classic for a reason. And who doesn’t like Spider-Man?”
“A lot of people actually,” Izuku mentioned.
“Well, those people are idiots. I really don’t get why that Jamieson guy rags on him so much.”
“I heard that it has something to do with his wife?” said Izuku.
Kamala gave a scandalized gasp. “You don’t think Spider-Man stole his wife do you?”
Izuku snorted. “I doubt it. According to my mom, Spider-Man has no game.”
Kamala made a perplexed look. “Wait, your mom dated Spider-Man?” she asked.
Izuku smiled nervously. “They didn’t date so much as have one date that went pretty bad. My mom was pretty disappointed too. Apparently, she’d been looking forward to seeing where things went with the Spider.”
Kamala was just becoming even more confused. “Wait, your mom knew that she was dating Spider-Man? Who’s your mom?”
“What do you mean? You already know her.”
“No, I don’t. I’m pretty sure I’d know if I’d met your mom before.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve trained and gone on patrol with Carol tons of times.”
It became quiet between Kamala and Izuku for several seconds before Kamala came back with a loudly asked question. “CAPTAIN MARVEL IS YOUR MOM!?”
The device that was giving Izuku and Kamala their privacy struggled to keep Kama’s voice contained. Noticing the straining device, Kamala sat back down after her outburst and talked in a lower register. “Captain Marvel is your mom?”
“Yeah? I thought it was kind of obvious. I rep her new symbol after all.”
Kamala shook her head in exasperation. “I rep her old symbol and new colors but no one assumes we’re related by blood! Why would I assume you are? Also, you look nothing like her. There’s nothing obvious about her connection to you!”
“Well, to be fair to you I am adopted.”
“Seriously?” Izuku nodded. “Wow, you would think that she would tell people about that. But how do you have the same powers if you’re not related?”
Izuku chuckled nervously. “That’s a sensitive subject…”
Kamala put her hands up. “Oh! Say no more! A traumatic origin story, I take it?”
“Yeah, like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Alright, let’s change subjects. What else do you do outside of crime fighting?”
“Well, I’m currently trying to get my…”
____________________________________________________________________________
Across the street from the restaurant in an apartment suite facing the exact booth where Izuku and Kamala were having their blind date, Carol was listening in on them with military-grade surveillance equipment.
She was also not alone.
“Carol did you seriously call me out here just so we could spy on your son during his date with your sidekick?” asked Jessica Drew, A.K.A, the Spider-Woman. When Carol told her that she needed her help with something, the woman was expecting more along the lines of stopping a hostage situation or dealing with rogue terrorists. Not having to play second fiddle to Carol’s overbearing tendencies as a mother hen.
“Well, Rhodey was busy with his own stuff, Jones is out for her date night with Luke, and it’s not like I’m going to go to Tony with this kind of stuff.”
Jessica scoffed. “I wasn’t even your first choice? You even put the other Jessica before me? You wound me, Carol,” Jessica over-dramatically feinted on the couch that was provided with the apartment.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
Seeing that Carol was more invested in the date that she set up for the kids, Jessica decided to bite the bullet. “So why are you so invested in this date?” she asked.
“I really want it to go well.”
“Any particular reason why?” asked Jessica.
Carol sighed and looked away from the date. Their food had just arrived so it was likely that things would slow down for a bit. “Izuku is getting to that age where he’s starting to notice girls–”
“I think he’s been at that age for a while now.” Carol just stared at her friend's interruption. “Okay, I’ll be quiet.”
“Thank you. Now as I was saying, Izuku is getting to that age where he’s starting to notice girls and girls are starting to notice him.”
“What the problem with that?”
“That’s not a problem in and of itself. The problem is the kinds of girls that are trying to chat him up or get his attention.”
Jessica could read the writing on the wall. “Let me guess, is he attracting the hussies and gold diggers?”
Carol was exasperated. “YES! AND THOSE ARE THE ONLY GIRLS THAT HE ATTRACTS! HE NEVER TALKS ABOUT SOME NICE GIRL THAT HE MET OR I NEVER SEE HIM GETTING CHATTED UP BY A NICE GIRL WHENEVER WE’RE FINISHING UP A PATROL. IT’S ALWAYS THE SKANKS!”
Jessica nodded along. “And I take it that your solution to this was to set up Izuku with your sidekick? What was her name again?”
“Ms. Marvel. My old name. She’d prefer to not have her name out there like that so I’m respecting her wishes.”
“Right, right.” Jessica nodded along.
Meanwhile, Carol turned back to monitoring the date. “SHIT! THEY’RE ON THE MOVE!”
“So, the date is over then?” asked Jessica.
“OF COURSE NOT! THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS! I HAVE TO SEE THIS THROUGH TO THE END!”
Carol leaped into the sky from the window of the makeshift safe house she was using and began to follow her son and her sidekick from the skies. Jessica reluctantly followed. If only to make sure that her friend didn’t cross any boundaries.
For Izuku and Kamala, this would be the night the night where their relationship began. For Carol, it would be the night she would have to worry just a little bit less about her son.
____________________________________________________________________________
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
Izuku woke up from the pleasant dream that he was having to the sound of knuckles rapping against the wood of his door. He checked the clock. It was six in the morning. There was still some time before anyone would get up. He could only imagine who was at the door at this hour.
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
“Alright, I’m coming!” Izuku finally got out of bed and went for the door. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but he certainly wasn’t expecting the homeroom teacher for the dorm he was staying in.
“Mr. Aizawa,” Izuku said unsurely. “How can I help you?” Upon seeing him in the dorm yesterday, Izuku remembered the man looking particularly non-plussed. He could only imagine what this was going to be about.
“Calm down there, kid. I’m just here with a proposition. That alright?” asked Aizawa.
“Uh, yeah. Go ahead.” Izuku got settled at the doorway and prepared to hear the man out.
“Alright, so I’m sure that you know that the teachers have been made aware of your situation, correct?” Izuku nodded his head and Aizawa continued. “Well, as an educator, it doesn’t sit right with me to see someone your age not doing something productive with your time.” Aizawa held up his hands to fend off a rebuttal that wasn’t coming. “I understand that you have already attended college, have three degrees, and a genius-level intellect. So here is my compromise. I would like for you to be the teaching assistant for the hero course. I understand that you have some sort of arrangement with Power Loader and Recovery Girl, so you can just consider this an extension of that. What do you say?”
“Okay, so I’m just going to get this out of the way. I say yes. Now I want to know why it felt like you were expecting me to say ‘no’ this entire time?”
“So you picked up on that?” asked Aizawa. Izuku nodded. “Well to put it simply, you spent a lot of time in America. Even if it's one from another world certain values are going to hold true. I figured that since you’d been an American for so long you would have a propensity for questioning authority and ‘defending your independence’ or the like. Was I wrong?”
“While I have developed a taste for being more individualistic than my countrymen, I still understand the need for rules and the importance of the needs of the many. If you just came and asked me if I was willing to be a teaching assistant, I’d have said yes.”
“Hm. well, okay then.” Aizawa handed Izuku a schedule for the classes that he would be assisting in. “Hero classes convene in the afternoon. We’ll mostly be having you stick with the first years for now. Until the time Heroics rolls around, you’ll be assisting Power Loader and Recovery Girl where they see fit. Classes convene at 8:30. Don’t be late.”
“Yes, sir.” Izuku saluted and Aizawa walked off. Seeing as how he was already awake, Izuku decided to start getting ready for the day.
____________________________________________________________________________
FLASHBACK
SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER
EARTH-616
KRAKOA
GREEN LAGOON TIKI BAR
“hick–How dare they exclude me!” Gwenpool knocked back another drink as Blob laid out another one for her. “If it weren’t for me, Midoriya wouldn’t have even known what to do when he got there!” she grabbed the next drink and downed it. “I at least deserve to be on the rescue team to his dimension!”
Blob and Anole looked at Gwenpool and shrugged. At this point, they knew better than to question Gwenpool’s brand of crazy. At least whatever she was talking about this time was normal. Plenty of X-men have gone through interdimensional bullshit. They tuned her out and kept tending to the other customers.
While Gwenpool rested her head on the bar’s counter, she began to cry. “Stupid Izuku and his stupid return-trip-isekai-dimension-hopping-mission! I could’ve helped! I could have told you guys about the MLA! Humarise! Nine! Dark-Might! Where the League is hiding! Garaki! But no~. It’s all “You’re too dangerous, Gwenpool” or “You’re liable to mess up the mission, Gwenpool!” she slammed her hand on the counter and Anole dropped off another drink. “And Spider-Gwen had the nerve to say I have her face!” Gwen knocked back another drink. “Bitch, you have my face! Do you know how many nerds draw inappropriate fan art of me?”
As Gwenpool kept drinking and bellyaching, a tall figure clad in blue sat down next to her Gwenpool. “Macallan. Single malt.”
Gwenpool looked over to who sat next to her. If the white skin wasn’t a give away then the red eyes and red gem in his forehead did. “Sinister? What are you doing at a bar?”
“Am I not allowed to unwind, Ms. Poole?” Blob sat down an expensive-looking bottle and glass in front of Sinister before walking away. Sinister took the bottle and poured his first shot.
“I guess you are, but I just figured that you would do something like listen to classical music or watch Apocalypse slay people in The Crucible.” Gwenpool didn’t care for the Crucible. The depowered mutants that were sent there had to earn the right to die to get their powers back. Gwenpool found it unsettling.
“While both of those things sound enjoyable, sometimes I just need a drink. Now enough about me.” Sinister turned to Gwenpool. “What’s this I hear about you getting kicked off a team?”
If Gwenpool wasn’t hammered right now then she probably would have realized that she shouldn’t be talking to Sinister about what’s happening with the Champions. Sadly, she was drunk, three sheets to the wind.
“Izuku managed to finally find his way back home to his dimension after we finished constructing a dimensional travel watch based on the one that Spider-Gwen has.”
“He’s from another dimension? I did not know that.” Sinister had a subtle grin. “I take it this world has mutants too?” Sinister already knew that Warbird was from another dimension. His monitoring of various government databases had informed him of that a while ago. If the boy had not somehow developed powers similar to Captain Danvers then he would have tried to study the boy himself. That natural green hair denoted some form of genetic divergence in his dimension. Sinister could only imagine the possible mutations that exist in the boy’s world. Thus, he was now pumping Gwenpool for information.
“Yeah, he is. He was going back there to get closure with his parents. The problem is he got into this fight with a major player over on their side and ended up destroying the watch. That led to us going to Tony Stark and he allowed us to use his Dimension machine to get to him. Those bastards had the gall to exclude me from the mission even though I met Tony's criteria. Now I’m here while everyone else is pulling off the rescue mission.” she let her head slump onto the counter where she continued to bellyache.
Sinister, meanwhile, found this situation perfect for him. “So you feel that you should be there on the mission.” Gwenpool nodded with her head still on the counter. “Then why don’t you force your way into the mission? Infiltrate Stark’s tower and use the same tech to get in. Haven’t you attended the Wolverine’s classes on stealth and infiltration? Simply employ them to get to the machine yourself and use it.”
Sinister sipped his Macallan and waited to see if his words took effect. “You know what? You’re right! Nothing’s stopping me from going there and helping Izuku! Once I’m there they’ll practically be begging to have my help with the mission! They’ve got to be running around with like chickens with their heads cut off!”
Gwenpool stood up and paid her tab and was about to walk off. Sinister stopped her. “But how will you get passed all of Stark’s firewalls? His tech is on the edge of the bleeding edge. If only you knew someone with the proper technical know-how to bypass such things.”
Gwenpool perked up. “Wait! Sinister! You know that kind of stuff? You’ve got to have some dohickey that can bypass Tony’s security!”
Sinister smirked evilly but hid it with a sip of his Macallan. “As a matter of fact, I do.” he reached into…somewhere…and pulled out a small silver cube. “Press the top of this in front of any technological device and it will give you full access to its functions. It should be enough to get you into Stark’s facility.”
Gwenpool went running toward the nearest Krakoan Gateway. She had a Quirked Japan to save. “Thanks, Sinister!”
Once Gwenpool was out of sight, Sinister pulled out a monitoring device. “Think nothing of it, Gwendolyn. It was my pleasure.”
One of the workers of Blob’s Bar watched all of this go down. She had really big eyes and everyone called her Sights. She looked to her boss and asked “Should we say something to someone? He’s smirking maniacally over there.”
Blob answered without turning to her. “The way I see it, we don’t get paid enough to mess with Sinister. Whatever happens, is Gwenpool’s and that other dimension’s problem.”
Sights frowned. “Wait, but you’re self-employed. You pay yourself.”
“Exactly.”
____________________________________________________________________________
PRESENT DAY
EARTH-2014
JAPAN
DEIKA CITY
DETNERAT HEADQUARTERS(RUINS)
This ‘Gweenpool’ and her ‘Iron Shogun’ had proven to be a far more formidable foe than anyone had anticipated. Trumpet and Skeptic had been taken down first. It was only to be expected. Skeptic was not meant for physical confrontations. His quirk worked better from a safe distance. His threatening to hack her suit also didn’t help. Once that threat left his mouth, the young woman practically blitzed him. Trumpet was useless as well. No one in the room considered him a ‘worthy leader’ in this instance as that privilege belonged to Re-Destro. This meant that Trumpet could effectively do nothing. They both paid the price.
The real players in this fight were Re-Destro, Curious, and Geten. Not wasting a second, Geten had opted to change the battlefield by tearing out all the moisture in the surrounding area and solidifying it around him to give himself weapons to use against Gwenpool and to give him a field advantage. This had the little hiccup of completely destroying the top floor of the Deika City Headquarters but Re-Destro would look the other way. He always did when it came to a powerful Meta-Ability.
The fight truly commenced after that. Geten and Curiios fired on Gwenpool with their respective abilities, but it did little to stop the iron juggernaut before them. Gwenpool and her monstrous suit beat them down and then dared to take selfies with the both of them while they were unconscious.
It was at this time that Re-Destro stepped up. He was still clad in his suit but immediately did away with it. He knew that this fight was going to be protracted. The strength of his enemy’s equipment made that obvious. Re-Destro threw off his jacket and activated Stress. His muscle mass and size rapidly expanded until he had become a behemoth much larger than the Iron ‘Shogun.’
Re-Destro got into a boxing stance, fully intent on duking it out with his enemy. Instead, he was met with a mini flash and the sound of a camera click. Gwenpool had taken a picture. Re-Destro was incredulous. That started the fight in earnest. Re-Destro charged and Gwenpool fired rockets at him. The CEO tanked the attack as his quirk absorbed the ‘stress’ from the attack, making him stronger. He still took damage but he was able to keep moving. This seemed to catch Gwenpool off guard and allowed her suit’s leg to be grabbed by Re-Destro. He slammed her like a ragdoll into the ground repeatedly. Thankfully, the integrity of the suit held up.
SLASH
Gwenpool’s swords slashed into the meat of Rikiya’s wrists, forcing him to let go of her. “Fucking Bitch!”
“Sorry sweety, I’m THE BITCH! Get ready to eat Uni-Beam!”
“Uni-what?”
BLAST
A bright white light enveloped Re-Destro’s vision. He could see nothing but white. All he could feel was pain. Then he felt nothing. Then he saw blackness.
____________________________________________________________________________
The Uni-Beam wound down and Gwenpool put away her swords. “Okay, suit, check everyone’s vitals. I’m sure that I didn’t kill anyone, but I just want to be sure.”
“Request accepted, User.”
“Request complete. No fatalities found.”
“And my karma is still clear!” Gwenpool exclaimed. “Alright, so I took care of the MLA and I sent out that distress signal to every law enforcement agency beyond Deika City so people should be here soon enough to start apprehending people. What else should I do?”
“Querry accepted.”
“Wait, that wasn’t–”
The suit began listing several actions that GP could take to ensure the arrest of her current foes. Many of them involved more collateral damage.
“On second thought, this is fine.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Izuku was off to the Support Studio first thing in the morning. He headed out before the other students had come down. He was thankful. Even after being a hero for a few years, he was still bashful when it came to getting praise for his actions.
“Alright, where is the Support Studio?” he asked himself while walking down a hall.
“Midoriya!” Izuku heard the voice of Power Loader call out to him. He looked further ahead to see the helmeted man peering out of a metal reinforced door that looked like it was built to act as a blast door. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up! Get in here, I got something to show you.”
Izuku headed down the hallway and into the Studio. As soon as Izuku was in the room, Power Loader went right into inventor mode and dragged Izuku over to his personal work area. “I’ve been hard at work since you gave me that mock-up for the method of constructing the material of your suit and I think I have a proof of concept that I’m willing to test out.”
Power Loader ushered Izuku over to a 3D printer display case that housed several gloves that looked like it just finished printing. “Getting a look at your outfit helped bridge some gaps that your mock-up didn’t provide. It’s the only reason I came this far for this particular prototype. If what you say about these ‘Unstable Molecules’ is to be believed then we are looking at nothing short of a revolution in Support/Costume production.”
“I’m impressed that you managed to create so many prototypes so soon. What did you have in mind for testing?” asked Izuku.
“Well, first of all, I wanted you to be the first test. If my attempt at this material works well enough with your powers then it is an obvious move in the right direction. After that, I was going to call for some students who have tricky quirks that cause problems with their clothing and costumes.”
“Alright then, let's get started.” Power Loader reached into the case and pulled out one of the gloves. It was a little bulkier in the material but not excessively so. Izuku rolled up his uniform shirt and slid on the glove. The size seemed to be one size fits all so Izuku had no trouble with the fit. “Alright, let’s light it up.” Izuku ignited his arm with photonic light. All of the power was concentrated on his forearm where the glove was covering. He let the level of power settle at ‘cruising speed’ before he kicked things up a notch. The glow became brighter and more intense. The glow swept across the material and didn’t seem to wear down. Izuku was about to take things up another notch but Power Loader stopped him.
“While I’d love to see if my hard work could stand up to your power, I’d rather you not damage my studio.”
Izuku became bashful as he remembered where he was. “Oh, sorry about that. Sometimes I can get a little too caught up in my powers.”
“Hey, that’s typical for kids your age. Just don’t break my stuff. Most of this is custom hardware that would be a bitch to replace.” Power Loader slapped him on the back and turned to his arm. “So what do you think of the prototype?”
“It seems solid enough, but I noticed a bit of lag when the material tried to acclimate to my powers.” Izuku showed the glove to Power Loader. “See this? There are some burns from my powers interacting with the material before they could adapt. Unstable Molecule suits usually adapt instantaneously.”
“Hm, that’s unfortunate though it's still good for a first try. I’ll have to put off the testing phase with those students for now. In the meantime, let’s focus on other projects.”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?” asked Izuku.
“I’d like to get a look at the remains of that watch of yours. The ability to travel dimensions sounds like a massive breakthrough in technology. I don’t expect to be able to fix the thing, but I would like to see if I can understand it.”
Izuku looked at his wrist where he was still wearing his broken watch. He had no reason to still wear it, but he kept it on his person as a reminder that his friends were coming for him. He gently took it off and passed it to Power Loader.
“Alright, let’s open this baby up and–”
BANG
“I have returned to the Design Studio, Mr. Maijima and there’s nothing that you can do to stop me!”
“Goddammit, Mei! Stop banging the doors open!” complained Power Loader. She seemed like the trouble-making type of person if Power Loader wasn’t too enthused to see her. He was sure that Power Loader had the situation in hand so Izuku turned his attention to the schematics that Power Loader was using to see if he could find any design flaws in it.
“YOU!”
Izuku was at least half sure that that exclamation was directed at himself. He looked up and saw a manic pink-haired girl marching toward him with a maniacal grin. “YOU’RE THE GUY THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT! YOU HEALED ALL-MIGHT!” she held out her hand as a greeting. “MEI HATSUME, FUTURE SUPPORT ENGINEER AND CEO OF HATSUME INDUSTRIES AND I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR SUPPORT TECHNICIAN!”
Izuku just stared at her. Looked her up and down. He then returned his gaze to her face where she was still grinning like a mad woman. “I’m sorry, but I don’t need a support technician. I don’t even really need support items except in special circumstances. My suit is all that I need. Sorry.”
Mei stared at Izuku like he just said that God was dead and he killed him. Never had she heard such blasphemous words from a hero student. It actually made the girl’s eye twitch. “How can you say such things? All heroes need support gear! It’s what could make or break a mission for them. To say that you don’t need support gear is to say that you’re willing to gamble with your own life!”
“Yes,” Izuku said nervously. “I understand the importance of support tech, but my powers kind of cover everything that support tech could be used for. It’s unnecessary for me except in the most esoteric of cases. During those times, I already have two people that I can go to fulfill my needs if not just do it myself.”
By this point, more students began to file in. They took notice of Izuku and recognized him from the news. They also saw that Mei was confronting him over something or other.
“Ha! A pro hero building support items? You’d be splitting your focus. How effective could your gear be?”
Power Loader took umbrage with that statement, “Mei, I’m a support technician and a hero.”
Mei turned to her teacher. “Well, yeah but you focus way more on the support side of things. You spend more time inventing than you do heroing which is why your support gear is still so good.”
“Mei–”
“How about this then.” Izuku interrupted Power Loader with a challenge to Mei. “We build support gear and let the rest of the class determine who built the better piece of gear. If you win, you can be my support technician while I’m here. If I win, you apologize for everything that you said about my skills and drop this whole subject. Deal?”
Mei grinned a manic grin. “You’re on Warbird. I hope you like advertising the Hatsume Brand.”
“Believe me, that won’t be happening anytime soon.”
____________________________________________________________________________
All-Might was undergoing training with Gran and Mirai in another part of the UA Campus. All-Might stood before an obstacle course. The only thing that was unique about it was the fact that it was suspended in the air.
“Alright, Toshi. We’ll be testing out this new quirk of yours,” said Gran. “Are you ready?” Mirai and Gran Torino were at ground level in an observation room with monitoring equipment, ready to watch All-Might attempt the course.
“Yes!” All-Might said with chutzpah.
“Alright, Mirai, you heard the man. Start the clock!”
Mirai typed on his computer before sounding off. “Beginning testing phase for the Vestigial One For All quirk, Float in 3…2…1. GO!”
FWOOSH
All-Might shot off from his starting line with a bang. The wind kicked up and buildings shook.
“He’s coming up on the first obstacle,” said Mirai. “The Serpentine Rings.”
As All-Might flew, he came upon an obstruction of rings arranged in a serpentine manner. Not deterred, All-Might sped up and began threading the needle through each of the rings.
“He’s doing well,” said Mirai. “He’s not touching a single one of the rings’ edges.”
Gran harumphed. “He’s going too slow. It’s like he’s not listening to anything that I’ve been saying. Nana could fly a thousand times better than that. Even before One For All.”
Mirai grimaced but kept focused on All-Might’s progress. “He’s coming up on the next obstacle. The Hundred Hands of Harm.”
Before All-Might was a suspended corridor that he would have to navigate without being struck by the hands that could pop out from any direction. The goal was not to survive but to not get hit at all. If All-Might failed this then he would not hear the end of it from Gran.
“Let’s go!” All-Might rocketed off at the highest speed that he could manage without losing track of his surroundings.
FWOOSH
He dodged the first hand.
FWOOSH
He dodged the second hand.
FWOOSH
He dodged the third hand.
Fwish!
He cut that a little close.
FSH!
Another hand came up and it nearly took All-Might out of the sky.
SMACK
A hand came down and smacked All-Might on the head. It didn’t knock him out of the sky, he was too strong for that. But it did signal the end of the exercise.
“Dammit! I was sure that I was close this time!”
“NOT ON YOUR LIFE!” Gran Torino came rushing in on his air jets and slammed his feet into his apprentice's back.
“OOF!”
“You call that close! You were a damn embarrassment!” Gran grabbed Toshi by the scruff of his uniform and dragged him to the ground. Toshi was now wearing the original costume that David had made for him. The one with the cape. His Golden Age uniform was caput and he needed a replacement on short notice. Thankfully, his Young Age uniform still fit quite well and since All-Might could now fly that meant the cape was more appropriate.
Once they were both on the ground, Gran laid into his protege. “What the hell was wrong with you up there? You were either going too slow or too fast! That is not how I taught you! You shouldn’t be struggling like this. You already have pseudo-flight thanks to that calf trick. This should be simple for you.”
“I know, Gran but it’s hard switching up after so long. With the calf trick and my super strength in general, all that I had to do was control my body. I understand my body. I understand the parts that move through it and in it. But unassisted flight is a new thing for me. It’s going to take some time.”
“If I may make a suggestion?” asked Mirai as he walked up to the group. “It may be a little unorthodox considering that this is a new phenomenon for you but have you considered consulting with Ms Shimura? You have said that you can communicate with the past holders. Why not seek their wisdom?”
Gran scratched his head. “It is as worth a try as anything else. Nana’s method of flying was very different from mine. If there’s a chance that you can talk to her then go for it. Otherwise, we might have to get outside help for this.”
Toshi nodded and headed for a bench in the observation room where he could sit down. He rested his hands on his knees and let his mind wander. ‘Nana? If you’re there, I could use some pointers…’
Nothing happened for a few seconds. Toshi was about to consider it a bust before he felt a tapping on his shoulder. Toshi turned to see who it was and nearly jumped when he saw Nana. “Hey, Toshi! I hear that you need some pointers?” His master may not have been back. Not truly. But at least Toshi could still interact with her like this.
An hour ticks by and Toshi has garnered a better understanding of his master’s quirk. When he attempted the course this time, he passed it with flying colors.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” exclaimed Gran. “Speed and precision. Just like Nana used to have. Maybe now I won’t have to kick your ass up and down this obstacle course until you get it right.”
Toshinori shudders at the thought.
“Indeed, Mrs. Shimura was quite the teacher if the results are any indication. You should be capable of being a much more effective Symbol of Peace from now on.”
Toshi was about to offer his own opinion when his phone rang. He picked it up from off the bench. “It’s Tsukauchi,” Toshi said.
“Well go on!” said Gran. “Answer the damn thing!”
“Right!” Toshi answered his phone and put it on speaker.
“Toshi? Is that you?” everyone heard the voice of their favorite police detective.
“It’s me, Tsukauchi. You’re on speaker. What seems to be the problem?”
“You’re not gonna believe this but, someone just attacked the Detnerat Headquarters in Deika City.”
All-Might gasped. “That’s horrible!”
“It gets worse. Several Hero Agencies and police precincts arrived here before I did and found a whole host of unsettling discoveries.” Tsukauchi paused for a bit. “You’re not gonna believe this but Detnerat and other companies affiliated with it such as Fell Good Inc, Shoowaysha Publishing, and The Hearts and Minds political party. They’ve got loads of stockpiled weapons here. Bunkers, illegal weapons-grade support items, there are servers hidden throughout the entirety of Deika city with loads of information on heads of state, political opponents, the top 100 heroes, UA, Shiketsu, Isamu, and even Seiai. Preliminary probing has found plans for taking over Japan. Toshi this is huge.”
“What do you need me to do?” All-Might asked. He was back in hero mode. No more time for training. It was time to put Nana’s latest teachings into practice.
“We have to round up an entire city full of potential suspects and support is still rolling in. The Top Ten are preoccupied elsewhere so I was hoping that you could come over and make sure that no one escapes as well as help with making sure that we discover everything.”
“You got it.” before he hung up, All-Might had a thought. “And I’ll make sure to bring some backup.”
“Thanks, Toshi. I knew that I could count on you.”
“See you soon.”
CLICK
All-Might pocketed his phone. “I need to head to the main campus. I’d like to have Warbird’s aid in this.”
“Is that wise?” asked Mirai. “He’s still a minor and a student.”
“I have the right to deputize him for missions as part of my privileges as a top-ranked hero. With our speed, we can cover a lot of ground in very little to no time at all.”
Gran whistled. “Well look at that. I never thought I’d see the day when you would be abusing your position out of favoritism. At least we know the kid is capable. I’ll come with you.”
“As will I.” Mirai adjusted his glasses so the light reflected off of them just so.
“Then let us go.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Back within the confines of the Support Studio, Mei was cursing up a storm as she looked at the contraption before her. It was a small circular device with blue light radiating from the center. “What the hell is that?”
“That is a makeshift Arc Reactor. It produces three gigajoules per second and is an example of clean energy at its near finest,” explained Izuku. “It could power this entire school for ten years, at least.”
“Near finest?” asked Power Loader who was examining the small device with his instruments. “These are the best energy readings that I’ve seen since Japan started trying to improve the energy grid and diminish its carbon footprint. You’re telling me this isn’t the best version of whatever this is?”
“No, since you guys only had palladium on hand and since I don’t know how to create Synthetic Vibranium, I had to create this makeshift version. The real thing is ten times better,” Izuku explained further.
“And this is powered by the palladium that you requested?”
“Yes, actually—!”
“What a minute!” screamed Mei.
“What's up, Ms. Hatsume?” Izuku asked her.
“We were supposed to build support tech! Not…not whatever that is!” Mei gestured to the improved versions of her hover boots behind her.
“I did build support tech. Support tech for the general populace. Imagine it. Entire cities could be powered by clean energy at less than half the cost of oil, coal, and even electricity. Cheaper power costs mean more money for the average citizen. Citizens with more spending power means more money for the city and eventually the country. It would be a thing of beauty.”
Mei looked like she was about to short-circuit. In the span of an hour, this new guy had beaten her. She was about to demand a rematch with new parameters when the door to the Support Studio swung open.
“Warbird! Deika City has been attacked the police are calling for my aid! Would you be willing to come with me as backup?” All-Might stepped into the studio and asked for Izuku’s help with a mission.
“You got it, All-Might! I just need to swing by my dorm and grab my uniform!”
“Certainly young Midoriya! Meet me at the front entrance in five.”
“You got it!” Izuku turned to Power Loader and made a request. “Can you tell Ms. Recovery Girl that I won’t be able to see her? Possibly for the rest of the day?
“Don’t worry kid,” Power Loader assured. “The old lady is completely understanding. Duty calls.”
“Thanks!” and just like that, Izuku was gone. Flying through the halls like a missile.
That left Hatsume extremely angry and humiliated. “FUCK!”
____________________________________________________________________________
Kamala stepped into Stark Tower. She had been busy for the past few days but with school finally over and done with Kamala now had a freed-up schedule. She could now come to check out what was going on with Izuku back in his original world.
“Hey! Mr. Stark? I’m here to use the Dimension Viewer thingamajig!” Kamala got no response. That was unusual. At least Friday would usually respond when Kamala or anyone called out to Tony.
“Mr. Stark? Friday? Anyone here?” Kamala eventually reached the main area where the Dimension Machine was kept. This was where she found Tony going batshit while typing away at his computer.
“What do you mean she turned off the location function? That’s not supposed to be a feature that you can turn off!”
“I’m sorry, sir but I can’t figure out how she did it. I think we should consider the possibility that she had outside help.” Kamala had to give it to Mr. Stark. He was a hell of a programmer. She could hear the panic in Friday’s voice.
While Kamala looked on, Friday finally took notice of her presence. “Sir! You have a visitor!”
“Tell them to go away! I’m too busy right now!”
“They’re already behind you, sir.”
When Mr. Stark turned around, Kamala could finally see that the inventor was not okay. His eyes had bags and black rings around them. That wasn’t even mentioning how bloodshot his eyes were.
“Mr. Stark, is everything okay? Because you don’t look okay.” Kamala hesitantly approached.
“Oh, Kamala! It’s just you. That’s a load off my mind…”
“Who were you expecting?”
“The X-M—Nevermind.”
Kamala’s mind filled the blanks. “Were you expecting the X-Men? Is there some sort of mission going down? All hands on deck? That sort of thing?”
Kamala watched Mr. Stark sag. “No, kid.” Kamala could see that Mr. Stark didn’t want to talk to her about this so she decided to give him an out. “If you don’t want me to know about then I understand. Just know that I’m willing to help.”
Mr. Stark seemed to be rolling some thought over in his head, but Friday brought it up. “Sir, I think it best we inform her. It may end up involving Izuku.”
“What’s wrong with Izuku?” asked Kamala.
“Nothing is wrong with Izuku. Not yet anyway…”
“Sir…”
“Fine, fine. You see, kid. Last night, without me even knowing, your friend Gwenpool snuck into my workshop and used the Dimensional Travel Machine to head over to your boyfriend’s home dimension. She also stole one of my Iron Man suits. The Iron Shogun to be precise. Now she’s doing who knows what over there and I can’t locate her because that girl has somehow turned off the location functions on the Travel Suit. To make matters worse, Krakoa came knocking and they threatened me to return her or else.”
Kamala could not believe what she was hearing. She knew the X-Men. She was a fan of the X-Men. One of her best friends was the leader of the X-Men, time-displaced as he might’ve been at the time.
“That can’t be true! Why would the X-Men do that? They’re heroes!”
“Kid, it’s not so cut and dry. Do you know about Krakoa? The whole point of that movement was for mutant-kind to highlight how they weren’t going to be kicked around anymore. Their first choice in any altercation is going to be violence.”
Kamala wanted to argue back about how he was wrong about how he probably got tricked. But this was Tony Stark. One of the smartest men in the world. It would take a lot to trick him. So now, Kamala had to prioritize. Defend the X-Men or help Izuku.
“So how can this affect Izuku?” Kamala asked.
“At the moment? Having Gwenpool running around with one of my suits in a dimension that can’t handle sowing undue chaos where she goes. I know she probably has good intentions but the girl has a tendency to cause havoc. If things escalate with the X-Men any further and they decide to take matters into their own hands then we could see that dimension experiencing an invasion of mutants with the express purpose of finding one person. That’s gonna get ugly real quick.”
“And with Izuku’s dislike of Rogue then that could definitely get ugly.” it was no small secret that Izuku had a highly negative opinion of Rogue. She had tried to kill his mom. Sometimes, Izuku even distrusted the X-Men. Mainly the old guard. He couldn’t understand how they could let someone like Rogue into their team. If Rogue was sent to the other side then a fight between her and Izuku was inevitable given the circumstances. That had to be prevented. “You need to send me over!”
“What? Kid, this isn’t the time for jokes!” exclaimed Mr. Stark.
“I’m not joking,” said Kamala. “If the objective is finding Gwenpool then you’re going to need someone who can predict how she’s going to act.”
“She has a point, sir,” Friday provided. “We don’t have any way of tracking her down from this side. We need to go over there ourselves.”
“And with Carol and the rest already preoccupied, asking them to do it would only make the process take longer. Okay, I see your point.” Mr. Stark turned to Kamala. “Alright, Kid. Follow Friday and get suited up. We’re going on a rescue mission.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Carol was slowly going to her wit’s end. Every lead that they had on Izuku’s life before he came here had been a bust. His schooling was a bust because he’d only attended elementary school and most likely wouldn’t have records of his whereabouts now. His family’s landlord didn’t know where he was. The only recourse that they had left were friends and relatives. Sadly, neither of Izuku’s parents had living relatives. That only left friends and friends aren’t kept in government databases.
Thankfully, Viv could piece together Inko Midoriya’s, Izuku’s mother’s friend. A woman by the name of Mitsuki Bakugou. Apparently, Mitsuki and Inko were models together. Go figure.
They were standing in front of a large, single-family home that looked like it had many rooms and a well-kept garden. The design of the place seemed a little odd. To Carol, it looked like some post-modern crap.
“Okay, I found the address,” said Viv. “this is the Bakugou residence.” there was a beat of silence from resident Champions. “Didn’t Gwenpool say that Izuku’s former bully was named Bakugou?” Viv queried.
“It can’t be the same guy, can it?” asked Gwen.
“Even if it is, it’s been like what? Ten years? The guy has to have grown up.” Cho explained. “They were kids when that stuff happened”
“What’s this about my son having a bully?” asked Carol with an edge in her voice.
“What’s a bully?” asked Eri while she was eating an apple.
“It’s a person that's mean to one person in particular.”
“Oh.” Eri took another bite of her apple
Carol leveled a look at the present Champions. So they explained what Gwenpool told them about Katsuki Bakugou. Carol wasted no time thinking about why Gwenpool of all people knew about this. That girl was a headache and a half. “What are the chances that it is the same guy?”
“Sadly, it appears that the chances of him being the same guy are decently high. The child of this couple is named Katsuki Bakugou and the photos I’ve found match the description that GP gave.”
Carol sighed but trudged on anyway. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not the one that we're here to see. We need to speak with his parents and find out if they know where Izuku might be.”
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
Carol knocked on the door and waited for a response. The Champions gathered behind her and waited as well. The lock was unlatched and the door opened. Standing in front of everyone was an angry-looking spiky-haired blond. He was wearing what looked like a cheap knock-off of the Punisher skull on his shirt and cargo pants. His eyes washed over everyone and then fixed them with a glare. “What the hell do you extras want?”
If this was the same Bakugou that the kids mentioned then Carol knew that she wasn’t going to like him.
“We need to speak with your parents. Are they home?” Carol asked.
“Get lost, gaijin!” the little brat tried to slam the door on Carol’s face, but Carol wasn’t having it. She’d been in this dimension for a few days and was at her wit's end. She just wanted her son back. Was that too much to ask for? She had stopped the door with her foot before handing off Eri to Cho. “Now you’re going to listen to me you little shit. I have been looking for my son in this country for the better part of a week. Your parents are reported to be friends of his late parents and I’ve come to them to ask questions. You can either let me in so I can ask my questions or I can hang you from that light post by the scruff of your shirt. What’s it gonna be!?”
Carol expected the kid to acquiesce but instead, he just got a violent look in his eye. “You fuckers are here for shitty Deku!” then he smirked. “Good luck finding him because you're not getting anything from me!”
SLAM
He slammed the door in her face. Carol was genuinely considering razing the home to the ground. She had already started to glow fiercely enough, but Viv put a hand on her shoulder. “Let me take it from here. They have a home security system with an intercom.”
Carol toned down her anger and let Viv take over. Viv closed her eyes and reopened them to show that they were glowing. “Okay, from the top…”
Inside The Bakugou Residence
“Who was at the door, brat?” asked Mitsuki as she was washing the dishes.
“Just solicitors,” Katsuki said with a smirk.
Masaru spotted that. “If it was just solicitors then why are you smirking?” he asked while lowering his paper.
“Am I not allowed to be happy?” asked Katsuki.
“You certainly are allowed your happiness, but as I’ve learned that you take joy in keeping others below you I’ve begun to wonder about that smile. So you can either tell your mother and me what happened at the door or we can look at the security footage.”
Katsuki started to sweat. He had forgotten about the front door camera.
BZZT
“Hello? My name is Viv Vision. I’m a friend of Izuku Midoriya’s. We’ve been spending the last few days trying to locate him and bring him home, but we’ve run into dead ends. If you know where he is would you please be willing to come to the door and tell us? It will make our job a whole lot easier.”
“Masaru and Mitsuki looked at Katsuki. “Solicitors, huh?”
“Whatever! None of this would be happening if shitty Deku just stayed gone.”
“Go to your room, Katsuki,” Mitsuki ordered.
“Why should I?” Katsuki talked back.
Masaru stood up from his seat, made his way over to his son, and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him up the stairs to his room. “That wasn’t a request. Your mother gave you an order and you will follow it.”
Mitsuki thought to herself ‘Where did we go wrong?’
____________________________________________________________________________
Sinister was within his lab going over the coordinates that he managed to procure from the device that he had given to Gwendolyn. Now he had the road map to a new world of mutations to experiment with. “And all it took was playing on the insecurities of a moronic teenager. Now to plan the trip. I will need a few clone bodies for my work and I will need to break out that old dimension machine of mine. I can’t reach these greener pastures without it.”
The Quirked World was in for a rude awakening. The very foundations of their world were about to be rocked.
To Be Continued