Avira
"This fucking sucks." Toya said as he walked the streets with Deidoro and Hekiji, where Samurai jumped the guys who were assigned the duty of retrieving Eri.
"Quit complaining about your job and just do it." Hekiji chides. He had Deidoro's arm across his shoulder, pretending he was just a guy helping his drunk friend walk.
"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying! How are we even supposed to find this elusive vigilante guy anyway? He's fast as shit, and..."
"H- *hic* Hey, hey, how about you quiet down!?" Deidoro says. "What are you *hic* y-yelling for?"
Toya rolled his eyes and lowered his volume. "As I was saying, Samurai is fast as shit and stealthy. How are we supposed to find him?"
"That's for us to figure out." Hekiji said calmly. "We..."
The walk and talk, unaware that Samurai was watching them from the shadows. As soon as they passed an alley, Samurai dashed away, pursuing them as quietly as a church mouse.
*
Izuku watched Samurai on the supercomputer from the safety of his home. In the background, Metal Sonic was playing Connect 4 with Eri. She was still a little unsettled by him, but she was beginning to warm up to him. Eri wins the game, and Metal Sonic begins organizing everything to start again.
'Hm... what to do...' Izuku pondered.
Those three guys were clearly with Overhaul, and they were clearly searching for Samurai. So what was his best move here?
He could tell Samurai to get captured on purpose so he could get the location of Overhaul's base, but that would risk exposing his true nature. Plus, he didn't know what their quirks were.
He could have Samurai beat their asses. Maybe it'd incite panic in the Shie Hassaikai. But was that a wise move? If he did that...
'You know what? Let's do this...'
"Computer, zoom in."
The computer zooms in. And based on what Izuku saw, the one furthest in the back of the group was Deidoro.
"Samurai, attach one of the trackers to the drunk one."
'Affirmative.' Samurai responds, taking out a small metal blowgun.
He shadowed the three of them until they stopped for food at a small Ramen bar after a few minutes. When they sat down to eat, Samurai aimed his blowgun carefully and shot a tiny, bug-like tracker into Deidoro's fur coat thing. No one reacted or noticed anything. Quickly as he came, Samurai left, moving as fast as the wind.
Izuku, like a villain, leaned back in his chair and pushed up his non-existent glasses, and smirked.
"And now we wait."
"Mister?"
Izuku squeaked. He was NOT startled when Eri appeared beside him. Not at all.
"Yeah, Eri?"
Eri shuffled her feet before nervously holding up the Connect 4 box. "Do... do you have any more games?"
"Ah. I don't really play games that often because... I lived alone for most of my life and spent most of that making robots and stuff." Izuku stood up.
"I'll go out and buy some-"
"Wait!" Eri shouts. "I change my mind! I... don't need any more. I'll be fine."
Izuku frowned. She either didn't want him to leave, she was afraid of being alone, or both. Either way, it was sad to see.
"I won't be gone for long. The Shie Hassaikai don't know what I look like. And even if they did, I'm capable of defending myself or escaping them." Izuku said before hugging her. "I WILL come back to you."
"You promise?" Eri asked with a wobbled voice.
"I promise."
*
Izuku felt sick after leaving Eri, but he trusted Metal Sonic with her safety.
'This is a weird feeling. Genuinely caring about another person...' He stood in front of a decently large store. 'Right. Go in, get games and necessities for Eri, get out. Nothing eventful will happen. Nothing.'
He walks in, not having any expectations for today's adventure.
When he went in, he thought about buying clothes for Eri. But since he felt a little weird about doing that, he decided not to. He'd just order them online later.
He focused primarily on toys and the like, picking up one of every one he saw and throwing them in his cart.
'I love being insanely rich.' He thought, a little smug as a few people stated at the massive assortment of games in his shopping cart.
He decided to top off his splurge spree with a plush. Something for Eri to keep on her person at all times. A metaphorical cherry atop his metaphorical cake.
Izuku looked for the perfect one. Since Eri had a horn, he, being the clever teenager he was, looking for a unicorn plush.
There were none.
"Dammit." Izuku swore, but continued his search. Like a certain indie game protagonist, he was determined to see this through.
He eventually gives up. He didn't want to keep Eri waiting for too long, so he decided to just grab one and go. He snatched a suspicious bipedal purple cat plush by the neck and threw it on the cart.
"Ow!"
Izuku flinched.
He looked around. No one else was in this aisle but him. Was he hearing things? He trusted his body to not be dumb, but still.
"Anyway..." He made his way to the nearest register, bought everything, and... 'Wait, how am I gonna take all of this home?!'
He sighed. 'Perseverance and hard work. That's how Izuku.'
Or he could order multiple rides and have each one carry everything to his house, which he did. It was a lengthy process, but he made it home. He and (mainly) Metal Sonic carried everything inside.
"Metal? Where's Eri?"
Metal points upward.
"In my room? Alright."
Izuku heads up and opens the door.
"Hey, Eri, I-"
A large bundle of bedsheets explode, and out comes a white-haired bullet in the form of Eri, who shot out and tackled Izuku into a wall.
Izuku clenched his teeth, hiding how hurt he was by her tackling and hugging him.
"I-I'm home..."
*
Izuku and Eri unpacked everything together. The latter kept very close to the former during the process.
Metal Sonic grabbed the weirdly creepy purple cat plush. He stares at it for a time before placing it on the couch behind Izuku and Eri. He was about to walk off, but when he heard a small sigh of relief, he instantly turned his head. Metal looks around, clearly confused.
"Hey, Mister?" Eri stepped in front of Izuku, showing him a pack of Uno cards. Izuku had bought every version, and Eri was holding the regular version. "Can we play this?"
"Sure."
After putting everything away in the closet next to the couch, Izuku played Uno with Eri.
The games were... quiet. Izuku and Eri enjoyed one another's company, but there was an uncomfortably lifeless, unhappy atmosphere due to the lack of talking and smiling.
Eri grew nervous. Was she annoying him? Was she wasting his time? She genuinely couldn't tell how he felt about this.
And then the TV suddenly turned on. It was the news, and two reporters spoke about Samurai, calling him "the most elusive vigilante Japan's seen to date." The reporter with a large horn didn't seem to like him at all despite stopping the Volcano Thieves, while the woman he was with gave him credit where credit was due.
The television suddenly coming to life startled Eri. But Izuku simply stood and calmly turned it off and went back to the game. A game or 2 later, the TV changes, but to some weird kids show, in which sad children were being taught how to smile by an adult character.
Now this was weird. Izuku's technology almost never malfunctions. The fact that it did after the shopping trip was a weird coincidence, that, and that weird 'Ow' he heard...
"Eri."
Izuku walked over and picked up the girl. As much as she liked being held by him, she was confused by the suddenness of it.
"Mister?"
"Metal, stay here." Izuku says, walking off for a few minutes.
He later returns with a handheld device, pointing it around the room. It beeps rapidly upon being pointed at the purple cat plush.
"This device detects non-perceivable human lifeforms. Aka invisible quirk users and the like." Izuku tossed the device on the couch. "If you're here, make yourself known."
Eri clung closer to Izuku, fearfully looking around the room. Nothing happens.
"Fine. Keep being quiet. I'll just-"
"WAIT!" The purple cat suddenly shouted, standing up and making Eri shriek and cower into Izuku's arms. Izuku glared at the creature, making it sweat, somehow. "I'm not-"
"Who are you?" Izuku interrupts harshly. "And why are you here?"
It held up his hands defensively. "I... don't know...?"
Izuku deadpanned. "You don't know? Don't know what?"
"I d-don't know... who I am. I don't have a name..."
"Seriously?"
"It's the truth, okay?!" They take a step forward. "Look-"
Metal Sonic stepped forward as well, eyeing the plush and making it step back.
"Okay, okay. Stay here. Got it." They state sadly. "Alright. I'm in this toy because of my quirk."
"You're IN the plush? You AREN'T the plush?" Izuku asked.
"I am inside, possessing the plush, yes." They said. "My quirk is one of those that immediately come it at birth. Except I wasn't born. Not normally, anyway."
Izuku pats Eri's head. "And what does that mean?"
"Well, I WAS born. Just without a physical body."
Izuku was instantly put off by that.
Quirks are bullshit.
You can be born with the ability to control wood, make yourself bigger, unleash destructive flames, astonishingly strength, or a cube for a head. Or, by some ungodly stroke of bad luck, be born without a quirk despite both of your parents having one.
What wasn't bullshit was the human body. Kind of. There were a lot of strange things the body did, but one thing it objectively can't do is produce a conscious being without any sort of physical body.
Some quirk users had unusual bodies, and some even had bodies that weren't made of flesh. And regardless of quirks being science-breaking, to the extent that Izuku is aware of, there was absolutely NO way that an organic lifeform can be birthed and just... exist without a tangible form of some kind.
It wasn't possible. So either he was being lied to, or this person didn't understand their quirk.
"Sure." Izuku relents for now. "What is your quirk?"
"I don't really have a name for it, but I'm able to possess anything that's non-organic, like pencils or technology or toys. The bigger something is, the harder it is to control. And if whatever I'm trying to possess is too big, I'll end up just being in it, able to perceive things while in possession, kind of like a freely moving security camera or something."
"Hm." Izuku nods. "And how old are you?"
"Seven. And FYI, I'm a boy."
"You're pretty smart and well-spoken for a seven year old."
"I've been basically everywhere in Japan."
"Then why were you just sitting on that shelf in a store, in a plushie of all things?"
"Because... well... I've kinda been in the market for... a family."
Izuku deadpanned.
"Don't give me that face! YOU try living as an inpercievable ghost, going from the place to place, trying to befriend people, only to get shut out because they think you're some kind of thief or pervert or villain or whatever! No one even bothered to hear me out, not even my parents! They screamed and called the police, saying all kinds of nasty things to me!"
The plush sits down, huffing in frustration.
"I was gonna settle for whoever picked me up. Even if they threw me in a closet somewhere, I'd just live with it. But if you're gonna throw me out, at least be courteous enough to put me back where you found me."
Izuku still didn't believe him, really, but his heartstrings were tugged to the point where he had to take him in.
"Avira."
"A... what?"
"That could be your name. As for what to call your quirk... something like 'Motherboard' could work. As for your body, I can make you one to stay in, but I'd need your input as to what it'd look like."
He received a stare.
"Don't give me that face." Izuku said with a smirk. "As long as you don't overstep with your quirk, I'm fine with keeping you here."
Avira squealed... somehow. And leaped into Izuku's arms. "Thank you thank you thank you, Mister!" As he joyously hugged him, Eri gave him a blank stare.
The emotion she was feeling couldn't quite be named or even read properly based on her expression. But to say what she was seeing bothered her would be an understatement.
*
"And... there!"
Down in the large lab basement, Izuku rolled his shoulder, smirking after putting the finishing touches on Avira's newest and permanent body. The fact that it was a robotic at all was obvious based on looking at it, what with the joints and all.
The instant it was finished and tuned up, Avira left his plush body and possessed it.
It, or rather he, had neat shoulder-length black hair and bright green eyes with silvery metal sclera that also functioned as flashlights. He was wearing a dark green shirt and black shorts. Avira had suspiciously requested that there be some green on him, and Izuku couldn't even begin to imagine why.
Also, his body didn't have a power source. It didn't need one because Avira WAS one. The potential of Avira's quirk frightened Izuku a bit. And in all honesty, he was glad he got to him first.
"It's perfect!" Avira said, grinning. He does a backflip and strikes a cool pose. "More than perfect, it's super duper perfect, Mister!" Properly this time, Avira embraced Izuku, hugging his leg. Izuku ruffled his hair.
Avira turned to Eri, who was sitting in Izuku's floaty chair. He cartwheels over to her, beaming as he offers her a hug as well.
"Hug?"
She glared at him and turned away.
Avira frowns. "But hugs are nice..."
Assuming this was just Eri being antisocial, Izuku said, "Not everyone is gonna like what you like, Avira. Everyone reacts differently to everything. Practice mindfulness."
Avira looked up at him. "Do you like hugs?"
Izuku is embarrassed that he had to actually think about that.
"W-Well... I... kind of never got one before?" That made Avira gasp, and Eri subtly glanced over her shoulder at him, surprised.
"What? Why?!" Avira asked.
"My life is... was... complicated. And while my parents weren't abusive, they definitely weren't good to me either."
"Anyway, we're getting off track! The point is, I don't like or hate hugs. But if you would like to hug me, I wouldn't be against it."
Avira frowns. Then, with a determined expression, he held up his arms.
"Up."
Izuku picked him up, and once again, Avira hugs him.
"I'll give you all the hugs you'll ever need, Mister!"
Eri looked at Izuku's face and turned away, displeased.
*
"You all got it too?" Mirai Sasaki, aka Nighteye, asked a group pro heroes.
"That's right." Eraserhead answered.
"Indeed." Ryukyu said.
"Yup! And completely out of nowhere, too!" Fatgum says.
After a chorus of 'yes' and other confirmations, Nighteye speaks again.
"This is quite concerning. Somehow, one person or a group managed to contact all of us at the same time with the same message, giving us information I've been searching for for a long time."
On his phone, as well as everyone else's, was a text message from an unknown number.
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Overhaul is here.
[Location]
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