[X] He calls on his Stand, preparing himself to get everyone's attention.
-Izuku Midoriya remains Class Vice President.
Johansen nudges Izuku later when they and some of their classmates are walking together to their classroom, valiantly trying to wipe off all the rice and fish juice from his uniform with a handful of paper napkins. "Thanks for stepping in; I do not know when I would have stopped punching people if you had not gotten their attention."
"You were way cool, Deku!" Agrees Uraraka, whose exuberance flusters the green-haired boy.
"R-really, it was nothing." He clumsily deflects. "Iida was about to do the same."
The boy in question smiles, but he quickly schools his expression and adjusts his glasses. "It was hardly nothing, Midoriya-san. You got the crowd's attention and informed them that there was no danger, restoring order. Just because I was about to do the same does not diminish your accomplishment."
Yaoyorozu-san, who still has questions for Johansen and followed along for that reason, agrees with his… friends? Uraraka and Iida, certainly. Johansen is a maybe, but Yaoyorozu were more like an acquaintance. Izuku ponders the subject alongside the praise he gets for getting the cafeteria under control.
He will probably have to spend a lot more time with Johansen, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami if he wants to learn more about his new power. And Izuku will welcome it. He already has a new notebook titled dedicated to analyzing Stands and everything Johansen shares with the new Stand Users, and studying them might not only bring him closer to mastering One for All, but also to find a way to-
Izuku stops walking and takes a deep breath, quickly reassuring his classmates when they too stop to ask him what is wrong. In his mind, however, he thinks to the conversation he had with All Might after Izuku manifested 「Take On Me」. He had offered to help his hero with his injuries, but All Might wouldn't have it. Criminal, regenerator, or dying volunteer, All Might rejected all suggestions to burden someone else with his injuries no matter how much Izuku begged him.
It was for the best, he thinks to himself, even if it certainly doesn't feel like it. All Might said so after all.
Johansen sighs in defeated disgust when they reach Class 1-A's classroom, his uniform still bearing stains and the odd crumb from the mess in the cafeteria. It smells of salmon, a fact that someone inside comments on when they enter the room. The comment makes the foreign catboy clench his teeth, but all he does is to throw the napkins in the trashcan and find his seat.
And so begins the second half of the school day.
***
Aizawa begins their last period by asking if there is anything the elected students have to say. Izuku and Yaoyorozu look at each other across the classroom before they both shake their heads. The Class President and her Vice President are quite happy with their roles, thank you very much.
He clenches his fist and smiles. Yes, being Class Vice President doesn't seem so hard at all.
**********
The weekend passes, and then it is time for Class 1-A's first field trip. Class President Momo Yaoyorozu is quick to have everyone paired up and walking into the bus in an orderly manner, with their teacher Aizawa sternly supervising the costumed teenagers.
One in particular finds themselves sitting beside one Johan Johansen.
EDIT: Velvet-Steel represents Johan's inner conflict, so I'm reworking things so that Johan suffers from doubled Despair gain while the values are that close. On the flipside, one value greatly exeeding the other means that Johan is becoming more certain, which is one value becoming too high ends the quest.
Speaking of, I am reworking how Velvel-Steel points are tallied. Unless I increase how many points a + gives, then there will never be a risk of the players getting the Velvet or Steel Ending. Barring some lopsided choices, I guess. As such, -X is applied to both values at the beginning of each new Arc, with 'X' being equal to the lowest value.
Would of voted Izuku, but seeing how Bakugou reacts to Johan seems... interesting.
Though regarding Take On Me, what stops Izuku from shunting damage over multiple objects? Mean we know the more major the damage the more the target has to be similar, but frantically running past a bunch of trees to slowly heal himself... does seem sufficiently anime.
I can certainly understand Toshinori not wanting his injuries to be transferred to anyone against their will (even a criminal), or even not wanting to add to a dying person's burden (kind of meh on this...if the volunteer wants to do something like help save a hero with the time they have left, why not, but I can understand it being a gray area). But if there's someone who can regenerate that kind of damage no sweat and volunteers for it, there really isn't a reason for Toshinori not to.
Hell, he should. Not only so he can live a full life once he actually retires, but so he can get more out of the embers of One for All that he has left and save more people.
Don't really see why All-Might can't share it with a regenerator. Like, maybe put the in a temporary coma, and transfer it to them. By the time they wake up, they will have already recovered.
Hopefully, Deku can at least transfer the damage from snapping his fingers, and gain better control over his quirk. Any chance of All-Might introducing Deku to Gran Torino sooner, if only due to having to deal with 2 sets of powers?
I can certainly understand Toshinori not wanting his injuries to be transferred to anyone against their will (even a criminal), or even not wanting to add to a dying person's burden (kind of meh on this...if the volunteer wants to do something like help save a hero with the time they have left, why not, but I can understand it being a gray area). But if there's someone who can regenerate that kind of damage no sweat and volunteers for it, there really isn't a reason for Toshinori not to.
Hell, he should. Not only so he can live a full life once he actually retires, but so he can get more out of the embers of One for All that he has left and save more people.
They initially think he's just another criminal. So using it on him would be a no for the first reason I gave. Even after they realize that Nomu was previously a normal thug but is currently somewhere between a vegetable and an attack dog it still seems cruel.
But if there are regenerators that could recover from the same injury and are willing to volunteer, then I can't think of a good reason for Toshinori to not make use of 'Take on Me'.
Unless there isn't a 'good' reason. This could be some kind of (survivor's) guilt issue keeping him from accepting. That sort of thing is rarely rational.
Katsuki isn't sure why he took steps to end up sitting beside the lone foreigner in his class. Perhaps it is because his investigation has gone nowhere since the beginning of his first year at UA and the catboy is a potential lead, or maybe it is to get a better look at the guy he voted for.
His lead has his helmet in his lap as he looks over at Deku and some of the extras, occasionally providing a comment whenever the conversation touches on Deku's second new power.
Or maybe that is bullshit too, he realizes. Maybe Deku has had this 'Stand' magic bullshit since forever and kept that hidden from him as well. 'Borrowed Quirk' his ass.
"Tch…"
He clicks his tongue and rubs the bridge of his nose, looking out the window to hide his expression when the rainbow biker beside his glances his way at the noise. No, it couldn't be. Deku was just as surprised as the rest of the extras when the catboy revealed that knight, and unlike that super strong Quirk the living sketch that floated around Deku didn't break his bones when it was used.
Katsuki's eyes narrow. That thing's power would have made all the times Deku tried to fight him utter nightmares. Both the catboy and the teacher said it wasn't much stronger than Deku without his Quirk, but it is fast as hell and no physical object can touch it without it letting them. And that power…
If that thing touched him, anything Katsuki did to Deku would just happen to him instead.
But so what? All he had to do was to stay out of range and end things quickly. Maybe he could get some metal balls from the Support Department to get some single-target range attacks or something. As long as he stayed twenty meters away, he would be golden.
He looks over at the cat and frowns. Now it was just a matter of Deku's Quirk, and since he has a lead right here…
"Hey, KitKat."
KitKat's cat ears twitch on top of his head before he turns to Katsuki with a raised eyebrow and a puzzled expression. "Er, are you talking to me?"
Katsuki ignores the question. "You met Deku before UA, right? Did he have that Quirk back then?"
KitKat blinks in confusion. "Deku? Who is- wait. Uraraka said that yesterday…" He leans forward towards Katsuki. "Are you talking about Midoriya-san?"
"Yes!" Snaps the explosive boy before he keeps going, heedless of the people who are. "I mean him! Did he have a Quirk or not?!" KitKat got really weird when the teacher erased Deku's Quirk, acting surprised about something. And since only people with Quirks or Stands can see Stands, and with KitKat having met Deku before, that means-!
KitKat looks at him strangely before he leans back into his seat. "I have no idea."
Katsuki's eye twitches. "What."
The catboy gives him an irritated look. "I said that I do not know. We met while I was out on a walk, and he was doing his morning workout. We had a short conversation, and then I left. I never saw him use a Quirk."
He is about to turn back to Deku and the extras when Katsuki grabs him by the front of that stupid two-sided cloak he wears and pulls him close. "Listen here, KitKat, I am sick of you and Deku's bull-!"
"Bakugou's personality is pretty terrible." Croaks an unfamiliar voice, startling Katsuki out of shaking KitKat. He turns his head to the right to see Deku talking to the frog girl, who is pointing straight at him as she continues.
"I can't see him getting too popular."
Katsuki ignores the spectral claws reaching for his face, all but throwing KitKat back into his seat as he stands up. If Frogface wants to challenge him then that is her deathwish! "The fuck did you just say?!" He demands, slamming his hands on the railing in front of him. "I'll kick your ass in all the rankings, just you wait!"
Frogface stares at him with that weird expression she was before she raises a finger to point at him again.
"See?"
"You bitch! I'll kick your ass!"
***
Deku identifies the weirdo who meets them at the UA facility as the Space Hero 'Number Thirteen'.
That spacesuit hides everything about their gender, expression or appearance, so Katsuki and the extras have to satisfy themselves with their limited body language and androgynous voice. Katsuki is only halfway listening, though he instantly focuses on the way Deku clenches his fists when Thirteen tells them that All Might has been delayed and might not show up today.
Lame.
Space Teacher goes on about this being Search & Rescue training at their facility, the Unforeseen Simulations Joint, about how the Quirks of the hero students are for helping people in need and all that junk. Round Face, the girl that hangs with Deku (and to Katsuki's secret consternation, uses his nickname for him) is a fan, but even as he listens attentively Katsuki doesn't see the appeal.
KitKat and Aizawa suddenly stiffen, to Katsuki's confusion before he sees the black fog down in the central plaza that is vomiting out the sort of lowlife you see in cheap TV-shows.
"Is this part of the exercise?" Ask one of the extras, the electric one.
"No." KitKat quietly snaps, striking a pose and manifesting his black and white knight. "Trouble."
"Everyone stand back! These are real villains!" Orders Aizawa in the loudest voice Katsuki remembers the man using. Quick, economical hand movements bring a pair of odd goggles to his eyes. They must help with his Quirk somehow.
A booming voice resounds from the plaza. No, from the cloud. "Eraserhead and Thirteen… How odd. The schedule we acquired said that All Might would be here."
The weirdo beside him, a sickly asshole covered in hands, scratches at his neck while babbling something about killing them. Loudly in fact. How they can even hear him up here is a question for when Katsuki is done mopping the floor with these losers.
"Why aren't the alarms triggering." Asks Pineapple Hair, the girl who got elected Class President. Her girl of light is already out, its head moving back and forth as it takes in the villains below. "They should have activated by now."
"They must be jamming them somehow." Says Aizawa as he unfurls his capture scarf. "Thirteen, start evacuating the students," He orders over his shoulder. "Try calling the school as well. Kaminari, you too. With your Quirk you might be able to get through."
Round Face tries to stop the teacher at the foot of the stairs. "But Sensei, you cannot hope to take them all!"
Glasses is not far behind. "Even if you erase all their Quirks you will be heavily outnumbered and-"
Aizawa hushes them with a wave of the hand. "You cannot be a hero and only be a one trick pony. Don't worry about me." And with that he leaps down to kick loser ass.
Thirteen wastes no time in rounding up the extras and herding them towards the entrance, only for the black cloud from the plaza to suddenly appear between them and it. The villain yammers on about not letting them leave, giving Katsuki plenty of time to formulate a plan.
…
Now to get KitKat to agree to help.
[] KitKat hurries back to Thirteen's side, posing as he manifests that knight of his. Perfect.
++++Velvet.
[] KitKat is whispering something to Pineapple Hair, who nods. Okay? +++Velvet. ++++Steel.
[] Wait a second. Where did KitKat go? Fuck!
+++++Steel.
[X] KitKat hurries back to Thirteen's side, posing as he manifests that knight of his. Perfect.
Barring additional modifiers, this would make it so we only need 30 more points to close the gap. I am a little worried about when we'll be able to lower the Despair score.
[X] KitKat hurries back to Thirteen's side, posing as he manifests that knight of his. Perfect.
Katsuki carefully moves himself closer to KitKat, who is maintaining his pose even as Thirteen waddles forward to face the mist villain. KitKat's helmet shifts when the explosive boy approaches, signaling that the catboy is aware of him.
"When I give the signal, shadow-port behind him and go to town." Whispers Katsuki with a sneer directed at the mist fucker.
KitKat doesn't answer at first, his expression unreadable behind that opaque visor, but then the black and white knight gives him a thumbs-up. Good.
The villain's voice booms again, though Katsuki only catches the tail end of it. "-our information was inaccurate. Space Hero Number Thirteen, where is All Might?"
Thirteen's answer is to raise a hand with the index finger pointed straight at the villain. The tip opens up to suck in everything in front of them, especially the villain's mist. Not that is shuts the asshole up.
"Ah, the smell of inexperience." The villain's mist surges around the Pro Hero, and then the roaring of Thirteen's Quirk sounds from behind them. To Katsuki's hidden horror, the back of the Hero's spacesuit begins to rapidly disintegrate-
「Take On Me!」
The sketch ghost zooms past Katsuki, passing unharmed through the effect of Thirteen's Quirk before it latches onto their arm. With clear effort, it forces their arm up into the air. The destructive gravitic forces are cut off, making the mist villain's portal fog back off.
Leaving Katsuki with the perfect opportunity.
He leans forward, staying low to the ground as he runs behind the retreating fog to hide his movements while the villain is focused on Thirteen. And when he gets close enough he uses his Quirk to propel himself right into the villain's face!
"DIE!"
The explosion consumes the villain, banishing the mist to reveal a… metal neck guard? Whatever it was, it is quickly covered up as the villain reforms.
"NO!"
Only for the fucker's face to evaporate as KitKat's Stand punches through it from behind. The attack is followed by an avalanche of equally mighty blows that that transform the thick fog into a fine mist.
The sound of tearing metal is heard, just for an instant, when one of those punches grazes the neck guard. Johansen pauses momentarily, and then he vanishes in the face of the villain's fog exploding outwards.
A thud behind Katsuki makes him throw a quick look over his shoulder. KitKat is on the ground in Thirteen's shadow, panting hard.
"Had to use Holy Diver to-" He coughs as he gets his feet back under him. "-to force myself into his shadow as fast as I could. No time to do it properly. Ugh."
Katsuki turns back to the villain, who has fully reformed himself while groaning in pained annoyance.
"So it is true." He booms. "Stand energy stings you even when you are incorporeal. Nothing more than an itch though." The mist villain turns his yellow eyes onto Katsuki. "But how aggressive you both are. Are you really heroes-in-training?"
The fucker chuckles to himself like he isn't facing the two greatest threats to himself up here. "But our intel did say there would be Stand Users here, though only one with experience." Those yellow eyes turn back to KitKat. "So we acquired some…hired help."
KitKat tilts his head while his Stand shows teeth at the mist villain. "Hired-ah!" Katsuki cannot help but clench his fists as KitKat suddenly gasps clutches at his heart.
"KitKat!" He roars before whirling on the mist villain. "What the fuck did you do?"
The shithead starts laughing again. "Nothing at all. This is some Stand User nonsense, I believe."
KitKat doesn't seem to hear them. Instead he turns to face the stairs down to the central plaza.
"Hva faen?" He whispers.
**********
Down in the plaza a young man in a military-style trench coat lays a hand over his heart with quiet gasp of surprise.
"Was?"
"Can't you at least speak English if we can't use Japanese?" Growls the villain covered in hands at him. Said villain is unblinkingly watching Eraserhead, some local riffraff-cleaner, clean up the, well, riffraff.
"My apologies." Answers the young man in English before he adjusts the brim of his military-style cap. "I just though I sensed something."
**********
"KitKat, if you don't snap out of it right now I'll-" That is as far as Katsuki gets before he makes the mistake of taking his eyes off the villain. Black fog washes over him instantly, and with no warping power of his own he is instantly taken away.
When the mist clears he is inside a ruined building along with that way too cheerful redhead.
They are both surrounded by gutter trash villains out for blood.
Katsuki grins to himself. Time to run wild!
**********
Teamwork sends the mist villain floating up into the air under the effect of Uraraka's Quirk, giving Iida the opening he needs to escape the facility and get help. Thirteen keeps the remaining students on a short leash, but the teacher fails to reign in Johansen as the foreigner walks to the top of the stairs.
Hand over his heart, he scans the zones of the Unforeseen Simulations Joint.
That nagging feeling-
[] Is still down in the central plaza, where the villains first emerged from the warp mist.
[] Has moved to the-
--[] Ruins Zone.
--[] Landslide Zone.
--[] Mountain Zone.
--[] Conflagration Zone.
--[] Flood Zone.
--[] Downpour Zone.
