Chapter 2: Ride On Time
January 28th, 2236
Den Liner, Dining Car, 1:24 PM
"Would you like some sludge today, sir?"
Izuku tilted his head in confusion and said, "I'm sorry, but what?"
"You know, edible sludge? I don't judge. It comes in assorted flavors. I bet you would like broccoli flavor."
Izuku nervously shook his head and declined the generous offer.
"Are you sure? I can make it no problem. It's my Quirk, after all."
Izuku suppressed the urgent need to ask all the questions he immediately thought out, regarding her Quirk, and simply asked for some coffee instead.
The woman talking to Izuku, Naomi, pouted and walked away to get Eri and Izuku their drinks.
The two of them were sitting in their own dining car. Like the outside of the train, the cabin was purely white with windows for each dining table. The area was lined with a few fixed rectangular tables and a single white circular table with its own special leather chair in a corner. There were people that passed by the car, but they paid no attention to Izuku. At the opposite end of the room, there was a small bar tucked in the corner where Naomi was working.
Naomi was the steward of the train. She was dressed in a mix between a maid outfit and a flight attendant. She had on long black leather sleeves and pants with red gloves and boots. There were multiple wrist watches on all of her arms and legs, each one a distinct color and model. She had long black hair that was combed and tied up in a bun. Her most distinctive feature was the strands of pink hair that went down from her hair to her chin.
(Her Quirk apparently was called Sludge, which Izuku filed away for later. He wanted to make sure he was safe before getting caught in another sludge related incident.)
Outside of the train, there were no signs of any civilization anywhere. All that could be seen were deserted plains and plateaus. The rocky orange colors of the ground contrasted greatly with the rainbow-colored sky. Izuku had seen photos before of the aurora borealis, but that was nothing compared to the moving waves of colors here.
Behind the counter, Naomi used a corded phone and announced into the intercom through the receiver, "Hello, and thank you all for riding Den Liner today. I'm your spunky stewardess for the trip, Naomi. If you need anything, I'm your girl! Just say 'Naomi-Chan'!"
With that done, the coffee had finished brewing. She took two mugs on a tray and delivered them to Eri and Izuku.
Izuku thanked her and took a sip. The coffee helped to ease his nerves a bit.
Naomi bowed her head and was about to head back to the counter when a voice from inside of Izuku spoke, " Hey! You forgot to take my order! "
The same light from earlier appeared from Izuku's chest and materialized into the demon on another table. However, he was different from before.
Instead of sand, his texture looked more like leather with the spikes on his shoulders becoming metal. He was entirely red and he wasn't divided as he was, now looking like a fully combined being.
The demon held a finger up and asked Naomi for one coffee. She cheerfully accepted and went to brew the drink.
As he got down, Eri leaned forward and explained to Izuku, "Ok, so, let's start with your first question. This," she paused as she gestured to the rest of the train. "Is called Den Liner. It's a train that travels inside of time. Outside of the train, through those windows, is time itself. With me so far?"
Eri saw the blank look on Izuku's face as if his brain was short circuiting from processing that fact, but instead of freaking out, he took another sip of coffee and nodded.
"Ok. Please continue."
"Got it. So, that thing…" she paused, gesturing to the demon with his feet on the table. "Is called an Imagin. We don't know a lot about them, but here's what we do know. Imagin are creatures that have traveled through time from your future to the year 2236. Do you understand?"
Izuku nodded slowly, not ready yet to find the words to ask the hundreds of questions he had.
"So, what Imagin do…," Eri continued. "They go and find a person and bond with them, using an image from that person's memory to create a body for itself."
"And…" Izuku started, facing towards the demon. "That's what you did to me? What image did you use?"
The demon scoffed and loudly proclaimed, "Ain't it obvious? I'm All Might!"
Izuku silently stared at the demon, thinking of how he should respond, before he shook his head and sheepishly said, "Sorry, but no. No, you're not."
"Of course I am!" the demon exclaimed. "I got his horns…"
An image flashed in Izuku's mind of the number 1 hero's hair 'ears'.
"…his eyes…"
Another image of All Might's eyes that were obscured by shadow.
"…and apparently, his smile," said the demon with his fanged mouth frozen in place.
Izuku took in a deep breath and explained in depth, "Well, I can see how you'd think that. But, those seem superficial at best. Even though there are a few similarities like your catchphrase earlier and your strength, there's not that much correlation. Honestly, if anything, you look more like Momotaro. I remember reading about him recently for an assignment and did think highly of him when I was a kid. Although, if All Might really was what you were going for, I'd have multiple questions like did you base your abilities off of All Might or if there's any other correlation. Also, if the image you saw was found from you sifting through my memories or was the image chosen based off emotional connection or-"
"Enough!" the Imagin cried. "Forget I said anything! And Momotaro, what kind of lame name is that?"
Izuku shrunk down in his seat. It's been a while since anyone was bothered by his muttering, but it still hurt whenever someone did.
Eri gave Izuku a soft smile and leaned in. "Ignore that meanie. Is it ok if I continue?"
Izuku nodded.
"Ok, so…" she paused, taking a sip of her coffee. "The Imagin takes on a form created from an image in someone's mind. But, it doesn't become solid automatically. They can only become full once they complete a contract with the user and once that happens-"
"Oh, yeah! That's right!" the Imagin said, standing up from his table and jumping into the seat next to Izuku. "Come on, kid! Tell me what's your wish!"
"I-" Izuku started to say.
"No, don't!" warned Eri. "As long as you don't tell him your wish, the contract can't be started and he can't do anything to you."
The Imagin turned towards Eri and said, "Look, why don't you stay out this, you nosy b-"
Whatever insult the Imagin was about to say was interrupted by a straightforward punch from Eri. The Imagin winced in pain and nursed his face as he went back to his table.
Izuku continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Eri, I'm following what you're saying so far, that the Imagin become those sand creatures until they finish this contract but then, why does…," Izuku trailed off as he looked at the Imagin and wondered what to call him. Until he decided on "…Momotaros here not look like that?"
Ignoring the newly dubbed Momotaros's complaints ("Still such a lame name!"), Eri looked out the window. "Not sure entirely," she said thoughtfully. "But, this place has different rules than on Earth…"
Izuku looked out the window too and for a while, the train car was silent with only the background mechanical noise of the Den Liner moving across the tracks.
Finally, Izuku asked the question that he was wondering about the most.
"You said before I was a singular point," Izuku began. "What did you mean by that? Is that something like a Quirk?"
"No," Eri immediately replied. "It's different from that. What a singular point means is it's someone who is resistant to changes in the timeline. Meaning that, if something changes history, you'd still have the memories of the previous timeline unlike anyone else who'd be affected. I know from experience… I'm one of them too."
Izuku filed that away for later and continued his discussion. "So, only a singular point can become Den-O? That's what I turned into, right? How does that work?"
"Yes, you're correct," Eri confirmed. "Singular points are somehow resistant to an Imagin's control so someone who is one is perfect to fight the Imagin. As for the belt, I don't know exactly everything the belt is supposed to do, but… you're Quirkless, right?"
Izuku, wondering how she knew, hesitantly nodded.
"Well, the belt generates armor based off a user's Quirk. That form you used at first, it's called Plat Form, is the base of the transformation. It's the default form for if someone doesn't have a Quirk. Your bond with Momotaros creates the closest thing to a Quirk the system can find so it created a fighting form for him too. Though, it seems like for that Sword Form to be used, Momotaros needs to be in control."
Izuku had more questions, about what these Imagin want, about how the Den-O system works, about how Eri came to be here, but he still had to address his most important concern.
"Even with all of that said," Izuku sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I understand why you need to have a singular point as Den-O, but are you absolutely sure you need me? I mean, I'm not a hero…"
Momotaros chuckled and said, "Of course you're not. For my host, you seem pretty weak."
Eri pointed towards Momotaros and threatened, "Don't you make me come over there!" She turned back to Izuku and reassured, "I don't know a lot about heroes. I know someone who's cursed like me can't be a hero. But, I saw you today. You chose to stop Momotaros from going too far with those jerks. You wanted to help them even though they wouldn't have helped you. That sounds like a hero to me."
Izuku wanted to respond to that comment "I know someone who's cursed like me can't be a hero". But, he didn't know how. He certainly had those thoughts about himself multiple times. It wasn't easy to grow up Quirkless.
In the end, he whispered to her, "For what it is worth, you seem like you would make a great hero."
Eri's eyes widened at that comment and then gave him a strained smile.
Before Izuku could continue prodding, Izuku suddenly remembered…
"Oh, wait! That Tetsuo guy! He was possessed by an Imagin too, right?"
"Yeah, he must've made a contract and during the fight, those sonic attacks and bat wings were from the Imagin. Though, I don't know what he could've wished for."
"From his friends, he was really upset about losing this keychain he had-"
"Oh! You mean this?"
Eri pulled out the green keychain Izuku spotted before from her pocket and placed it on the table.
"I found this on the ground earlier. It looked important, but I completely forgot I had it."
Izuku picked up the keychain and inspected it closely.
"It's safe to return this to him?"
"Yeah," Eri nodded. "Momotaros's attack seemed to destroy the Imagin inside of him. So, the contract might be broken now. But, are you sure you want to see that guy again? What if those other jerks are there?"
"It doesn't matter," Izuku reaffirmed. "Whatever this is, it was important enough for him to be worried enough to attack people."
"An Imagin twists the contract holder's mind, manipulate them to do whatever it takes to get a contract complete, but I get your point. Is there somewhere we should drop you off?"
"Yeah, there is."
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Milk Dipper Café, 3:42 PM
Izuku and Eri entered the Milk Dipper through the front entrance. Izuku turned and closed the door, hiding the view of the currently stationed Den Liner in the landscape of time. The pass was safely secure in his pocket. According to Eri, the pass would be able to take him back to Den Liner anytime. All he had to do was concentrate on Den Liner whenever he opened a door or an entrance.
"Oh, Izuku, you're back!" shouted his mom from behind the kitchen counter. "Your lunch is cold now. Did you eat already?"
Before Izuku could reassure that he was ok, Eri spoke for him, "Don't worry, Midoriya-san. Your son's ok."
"Well, thank you. But, who are you, young lady?"
"I'm sorry. My name is Eri. It's nice to meet you," Eri said as she bowed in front of Izuku's mom. "I ran into Izuku today, who returned something I was looking for. Then, we both got caught in something else. It's my fault your son was late to return. I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, Eri, it's ok-" Izuku tried to excuse. But his mother beat him to it.
"Eri, was it?" She waited for Eri to nod, before she continued. "I'm sure whatever happened wasn't your fault. My son can find himself in some unlucky situations, you know."
"Yeah," Eri confirmed. "I could tell."
Everyone, Izuku included, gave a few chuckles about that. Then, Izuku apologized to his mom about them needing to go out again to return the keychain. His mom relented, knowing that Izuku was going to help no matter what. She at least insisted that Izuku get a change of clothes and drink a smoothie to help him recover a tiny bit.
20 minutes later, Izuku and Eri were out the door, with Eri agreeing to his mom to come over and eat a meal with them sometime.
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Downtown Musutafu, 4:17 PM
Izuku and Eri found the thugs from before at the top of a group of stairs near the streets. They were planning on just staying out of sight and waiting for them to lead them to Tetsuo, but thanks to Midoriya luck, a dog peed on Izuku and the girly shriek from his mouth alerted the gang to the two teens' presence.
Rather than be aggressive as before, all of them started to apologize to Izuku and promised not to tell the cops or any pro heroes about Izuku using his "Quirk" on them. (Izuku was secretly grateful that this incident wouldn't hurt his chances of getting to UA.) After Izuku apologized to them for his actions and was relieved to hear that all of them (including Tetsuo) were ok, he showed them the keychain.
They gave Izuku and Eri the location of where they had seen Tetsuo last so the two of them could return the keychain. However, they also gave the teens a heads-up. Apparently, he ran away from the ambulance and officers that Izuku had called for and was still frantically looking for the keychain. He even had tried to attack two civilians who had similar keychains before Kamui Woods stepped in.
A few blocks away from where they had spoken to the crew, Eri wondered aloud to Izuku, "What could be so important about this keychain that it would be worth attacking other people?"
"I'm not sure. Tetsuo didn't seem like the guy to-"
"DEKU!"
Izuku turned from Eri and looked at the person in front of them blocking their path on the street.
To Eri, it was a complete stranger. A teenager the same age as them with blond 'explodey' hair wearing an all black junior high uniform. His face looked like it was stuck in a permanent scowl. He had his hands out as if he was ready to choke the two of them out.
To Izuku, that was Kacchan. Katsuki Bakugou.
Before today, he was probably the only one Izuku could call a friend.
The two of them had grown up together. When Izuku was confirmed Quirkless as a kid, Kacchan always made fun of him for it. Even though every taunt hurt Izuku to his core, he knew Kacchan didn't really mean to hurt him that much. Izuku knew with his 'Explosion' Quirk and his determination, Kacchan could become one of the greatest heroes of their generation.
Izuku hadn't seen him since he transferred to online learning seven months ago. After the sludge villain incident and after a particular comment from Kacchan that went over the line for him. He only heard about him on occasion whenever Kacchan's mom would hang out with his mom.
Eri saw the immediate change in Izuku, his shoulders immediately hunched over, the fiddling with his hands, his eyes darting between the boy and the ground, and the nervousness in his voice as he stammered out, "oh! H-h-hi Ka-k-Kacchan!"
Eri knew this fear too well. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't a friend of Izuku.
"Shut up with that crap!" Bakugou yelled. "What, you bother to show your face to me after months, running away from me like the loser you are!"
"Ka-Kacchan…" Izuku muttered. "I didn't run away from you or school. You know my mom needed more help with the cafe."
"Keep telling yourself that," Bakugou growled. "The fact is no matter what you do, it doesn't matter. You're still going to be the same pathetic weakling you always ar-"
"Leave him alone, you bully!" Eri interjected.
Kacchan finally looked in Eri's direction and scoffed. "Bully? That's what your little lovebird told ya?"
He focused all of his attention towards Eri and stood only a few inches away from her. He pocketed one of his hands, but the other, he let a few small explosions crackle out.
"Get your facts straight, you extra. You're looking at the future number one hero, the one that will surpass All Might himself!"
Eri's eyes widened at the tiny explosions in Bakugou's hands but stood her ground. With a fierce look in her eyes, she told him, "Certainly not in my future."
Eri was prepared to deliver a swift kick to Bakugou's scrotum and make a run for it, but someone else beat her to the punch. Before Izuku could react, from the Den Liner, Momotaros made the jump into Izuku's body and took control.
Meet M-Izuku! When Momotaros joins Izuku, everything about Izuku's abilities is multiplied! His strength, his speed, even his sense of sight and smell!
In only a few seconds. M-Izuku rushed towards Bakugou. He grabbed him by his jacket and threw him into a metal fence nearby, instantly knocking him out.
Izuku took one look at Kacchan's unconscious body and focused, regaining control from Momotaros.
"Kacchan!" Izuku cried out, gently running towards him.
As Eri and Izuku propped him nearby a telephone pole, he could still hear Momotaros's voice in his mind as if he were thinking the words himself.
" Would've kicked him in the crotch, but I like to save those for special occasions ."
" Please don't do that again ," Izuku thought back. "That's not what a hero should do. "
" Izuku, I'm not interested in being a hero. Sounds like a terrible thing to be. "
" It's really not ," Izuku decided that now is not the right time to go into depth about the appeals of becoming a hero and asked something else. " How did you even take control of me? I thought you were still on Den Liner. "
" We're connected, Izuku. If you don't like it, hurry up and tell me your wish! "
"Izuku," Eri said, snapping Izuku back to reality. "There's Tetsuo."
Izuku looked where Eri was looking and vaguely saw a figure sitting on top of a flat rooftop in the distance.
"I'll make sure this Kacchan is ok. You go ahead and I'll catch up."
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Random Rooftop, 4:26 PM
Izuku climbed up the final steps of the fire escape.
There, Tetsuo could be seen against the city's skyline, leaning on a metal railing. Tetsuo looked even worse than he was before. There were no signs of any injuries, but he looked exhausted. His skin looked ghastly pale and his clothes were completely disheveled.
Izuku waved for his attention and pulled out the keychain from his pocket.
Tetsuo was still unresponsive as Izuku walked over slowly. In a soft voice, Izuku said to Tetsuo, "Hello. I don't know why this is important to you, but I'm sorry you were so worried about it. Please don't attack anyone else about it."
Izuku knelt down to Tetsuo's side and went to place the keychain in his hand.
Momotaros's voice suddenly popped inside of Izuku's mind, " Hold on! "
But, it was too late. The keychain was already in Tetsuo's hands.
Sand suddenly started pouring from Tetsuo's body. Izuku stepped back and readied a defensive pose. For a brief second, the Imagin looked how Momotaros first looked like to Izuku, made out of sand and split into two halves. Then, they joined together and formed into one being.
It was humanoid like Momotaros, but it was black and blue. It had orange eyes and long-pointed ears. There were bat-like wings draping his arms and he had a cape that resembled a vampire's.
Instead of attacking Izuku, the Bat Imagin turned to Tetsuo, who was clutching the keychain to his chest.
"Your keychain has now been found. Contract complete."
The bat moved his arms as if opening a cabinet. To Izuku's shock, Tetsuo's entire body opened from the center out. There was a swirling green and black portal in the divide. The Bat Imagin stepped through the entrance and disappearing in an instant. Tetsuo's body folded back together.
"Oh no!" Izuku turned and saw Eri coming from the fire escape. She walked over to Tetsuo's body and pulled out a blank black ticket
Eri hovered the ticket over Tetsuo's head. Numbers and drawings flashed onto the card. Izuku looked as the ticket suddenly had an image of the Bat Imagin. Over the top of the image, in digital format, read the date "12. 24. 2233."
"December 24 th , 2233," Eri read aloud. She shoved the ticket in front of Tetsuo's face. "Do you remember what happened this day?"
Tetsuo looked at the date thoughtfully and recounted his story.
On that day, Tetsuo was messing around with his friends and didn't have his phone turned on. When he finally checked it, there were multiple missed phone calls from the hospital. Tetsuo's mom had been sick for a while, but he had no idea how severe it was. By the time he got to the hospital, his mom had already passed. The nurse gave him his mother's final Christmas present: a Christmas tree keychain.
Upon finishing, Tetsuo began crying for his mother. Izuku reached out to confirm him when a explosion ringed out in the distance. Izuku and Eri turned towards the sound and saw chaos everywhere. Smoke rose from the streets. Entire skyscrapers, that were only fine a moment ago, had enough structural damage that they were all collapsing. Bridge supports suddenly disappeared, causing cars to crumble underneath the concrete.
From behind, a voice called out to the teens. Izuku and Eri turned and saw the wooden mask and costume of Kamui Woods.
"You all need to evacuate the area now. There's a massive villain attac-"
The pro hero vanished in a flash of purple light.
Izuku's eyes widened and he couldn't hold back his large gasp. He stumbled back and looked back at Tetsuo's tears.
Eri grabbed Izuku's shoulder and leaned forward.
"This is what the Imagin do. Once they complete a contract with someone, they travel through time. To a specific memory of someone's past. In the past, they can cause damage that can immediately impact the present. And with that, the future."
Izuku took out the pass from his pocket and looked at it.
"I don't understand all of this yet, but I know people are in trouble now… How can I help?"
Eri smiled and handed Izuku the ticket and told him to put the ticket into the pass as well as how to pilot Den Liner.
"You can then use Den Liner to travel to the date on that ticket and destroy the Imagin. Once you do, all of this damage caused by the Imagin in the past will disappear here as if it never happened."
Izuku nodded and focused on summoning the belt. The buckle appeared in his hands in a flash of light. He draped it over his waist and locked it in. He moved the pass over the buckle, like before.
"Henshin!"
The Plat Form armor appeared over Izuku's body. Den Liner appeared in front of Izuku, the train stopping with the very first door to the train right in front of him. Izuku climbed through the train and found the cockpit, a small room with red lighting. In the center was a sleek blue and white motorcycle.
Izuku placed the pass in a little compartment above the motorcycle's dashboard and revved up the engine. A screen in front of the cycle lit up, showing the train's front view with the ticket's date in the corner.
"December 24 th , 2233," Izuku read aloud. "Here I come!"
The train vanished into the sands of time as it moved to its destination.
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December 24 th , 2233
Downtown Musutafu, 9:15 PM
Den Liner appeared through the colorful portal to a dark winter sky. Christmas lights were strewn about, illuminating the cityscape.
Izuku leaned forward and tried to search for the Imagin through the Den Liner's cockpit's screen. He couldn't find a bat creature flying through the night, but he spotted what was causing the damage. A large white tanker running through traffic, knocking cars off the road. Blasts of sonic screeches came through the truck's windshields, destroying any buildings and launching anyone nearby, civilians, officers, pro heroes back.
Momotaros's voice rang in the back of Izuku's mind, "Izuku, I'm bettin' you don't know how to drive a motorcycle. Let me take over! "
" Technically, I'm driving a train. "
" Peach, patch. Same difference! "
" I know I'm not an expert at this, but I know how to stop him. From what I've seen, his sonic blasts aren't strong enough to knock out something as big as Den Liner. "
Izuku swerved the motorcycle to the right, running the train parallel to the road and to the tanker. Izuku could see the Bat Imagin in the driver's seat and a younger Tetsuo knocked out beside him. The masked rider moved the train closer to the tanker. Both car and train touched, their friction creating sparks on their respective sides.
The Bat Imagin jerked from the sudden impact and turned to sent a sonic screech at the bullet train, but it didn't stop the train's momentum nor the tanker from slowing down.
Izuku kept the pressure on the tanker. As it was nearing to a halt, Izuku looked through the Den Liner's systems and saw a little girl on the ground, directly in their path.
Both Momotaros and Izuku cried out in sync, "Watch out!"
Izuku pressed a switch and the motorcycle disconnected from the train. It launched forward towards the girl. This was Izuku's first time actually riding a motorcycle so the motorcycle wobbled a little now that it was free from the confines of the train. But, he kept it steady long enough to stop the motorcycle and run forward to pick the girl up and move her out of the way of the vehicles as they slowly came to a halt a few feet away from crashing into another building.
As Izuku looked the girl over and checked her for any injuries, a man watched the masked rider from nearby. He wore a long tan trench coat with various tan caps on his head that hid his face from anyone who would take notice of him. The stranger pulled out a silver Seiko pocket watch and marked the time. He walked away from the scene, confident in what Den-O was capable of.
The girl's parents came rushing forward, tears pouring out as they embraced her so tightly. The mother picked the girl up in her arms as the girl excitedly told her parents, "That hero saved me!"
The parents quickly gave their thanks to Izuku before heading to safety.
Izuku couldn't believe it. It was a good thing no one could see his face because his cheeks turned so red and tears were already starting to well up. That girl thought he was a hero! This was a such huge thing for him! He never thought something like this would happen so soon. Oh my god, he felt like he was floating on air!
Actually, he was.
Because, while he was internally freaking out, the Bat Imagin burst open the door of the tanker and grabbed the hero from his shoulders up with his feet, carrying him out into the night sky.
Izuku struggled to get out, but the Bat Imagin's grip was too strong. All Izuku could do was move his arms and hands.
Momotaros's voice was already ringing in his head. "What are ya' waiting for?! Call me in! I'm the star! "
Izuku was hesitant. He had only known the Imagin for a few hours and in that span of time, the demon showed he was willing to hurt other people for no reason. He even hurt Kacchan without a second thought. Any sane person wouldn't trust him to save the day. But, at the same time, Momotaros definitely wasn't as evil as this Bat Imagin. Honestly, he seemed more like Kacchan, loud and boastful, but genuinely had the fighting skills to back up his words.
And, if someone like Kacchan was willing to be a hero, then...
" Are you sure you want to fight? I thought you didn't want to be a hero. "
Momotaros tsk'd at that comment.
" I'm not a hero, dumbass! " Momotaros sighed, then continued. " Fact is, until you tell me your wish, I gotta make sure you don't die. You can count on me for a fight. "
That was all he needed to hear.
Izuku pressed the red button and swiped the pass over the buckle.
"SWORD FORM!"
The light from the belt was bright enough to blind the Bat Imagin as they both go crashing to the ground to an empty road. By the time the Bat Imagin was able to see again, Momotaros was already in control of Den-O, red armor already placed on.
Den-O gave himself a thumbs up and stroke a pose.
"I... have arrived!"
To Izuku, Momotaros spoke, " Good. You left the best kind of fighting to me." To the Imagin, Den-O said, "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
The Bat Imagin prepared to take off again, but Den-O was already on top of him with a flurry of slashes on his wings. The Bat Imagin fell back on the asphalt, his wings already in tatters.
"Now, let's finish what we started," Den-O said as he pulled out the pass and hovered it over the belt.
"FULL CHARGE!" the belt announced.
"My ultimate move! Ultimate! Part 2!"
The demon braced the sword, held the sword straight up. The blade spiraled away from the sword's hilt, only connected through a bolt of red electricity.
He slashed diagonally with the hilt, with the blade following through the same motion. The blade hit the asphalt, creating a massive gash in the road. Sparks erupted from the Imagin's chest. He threw a second slash in the opposite direction. Even more sparks flew.
With his arm raised to the sky, the hero delivered the final strike as he slammed the sword's hilt straight to the ground. The blade's momentum increased for those final seconds and when it connected with the Bat's Imagin, it formed a huge energy gash, glowing white in the middle and going all of the way from his head to his torso.
A massive fireball exploded from the spot and flames completely engulfed the villain from view.
" Now, he has to be done, right? " Izuku internally questioned.
You'd think that, wouldn't you?
Well, sand started to fly from the ground and into the air. Rather than reforming into the Bat Imagin, it formed into something else entirely. Its white body was segmented like a wasp, the bottom half now having a stinger, two arms as wings, one having the bat-styled wings and other having the typical bird-styled wings. The head was now a bronze-colored bird's skull.
"Well, ain't ya the stubborn one," Den-O commented.
Stingers started shooting from the Imagin's body. Den-O moved backwards to dodge. He snapped his fingers and did a backflip through the air, landing directly on the DenBird (the motorcycle) already speeding towards him.
Den-O hit the throttle and they zoomed away. The Imagin was close in pursuit.
" How do we fight that?! " Izuku thought.
" Easy! " Momotaros responded. " We go big for big!"
And, right on cue, the Den Liner came on the scene, opening the cockpit and allowing Den-O to redock in.
Now safely in the cockpit, Den-O moved the train up, train tracks covering its path. Den Liner circled the Imagin as it flapped its wings. The Imagin screeched as it realized it was trapped with no escape.
" We got it cornered. What do we do now? " Izuku asked.
" What every cool person does ," Momotaros replied. " Press every button until something happens! "
Before Izuku could protest, Den-O clicked all of the buttons on the DenBird's console. The first train cars immediately open, revealing compartments for weapons. Lasers, rockets, bombs, even a bird-styled missile all shoot out towards the Imagin.
With each successive hit, the beast roared in agony. Little by little, pieces of the Imagin disintegrated, fading away into nothing but dust.
The battle was over. The Imagin was gone. Izuku internally sighed in relief. Momotaros grinned underneath the helmet and chuckled, "That's how I get things done."
He took off the belt and the armor faded away, leaving Izuku alone in the cockpit with his thoughts. He watched each piece of damage caused by the Imagin suddenly be fixed in a flash of purple light. Every building, every car, every person be restored. Izuku's eyes sparkled with delight, but then he noticed the tanker was still present where he left it. Tetsuo was still unconscious inside of the car.
Suddenly, Eri's voice rang in his head, " Izuku, are you ok? "
" Eri? Where are you? "
" I'm kind of using Momotaros's head as a walkie talkie. Honestly wasn't sure this would work. "
Izuku could now hear Momotaros grumbling in the background.
" We need to head back to 2236. We can't risk anything else changing history. "
Izuku looked at Tetsuo and turned Den Liner into his direction.
" Izuku, what are you doing? We can't risk it! "
" It's just something I have to do. It'll be ok ," Izuku affirmed.
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January 28th, 2236
Den Liner, 6:45 PM
Izuku was watching the landscape of time fly by as he thought about the last hour.
Before he left 2233, Izuku took Tetsuo on the Den Liner and gave him a ride to the hospital where his mom was. With Izuku's help, Tetsuo was able to able to be with his mom in her final moments and properly say goodbye to her. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of things. It's not like Izuku could somehow miraculously save her. But, still, the small change to history, Izuku knew, meant the world to Tetsuo.
Eri sat down, opposite to Izuku, and gave him a warm smile. She was super opposed to Izuku's decision initially, but once she saw Tetsuo holding his mother's hand, she understood completely.
Momotaros plopped down next to Izuku and placed his arm over Izuku's shoulder.
"So, Izuku..." Momotaros said. "Have you finally decided on your wish?"
"I have, actually."
Eri gasped as the blood drained from her face. "Izuku, wait a moment!"
"My wish..." Izuku grinned at Momotaros. "I decided to think about it for a bit."
Eri sighed relief as Momotaros threw his head back, cursing and muttering under his breath.
"You heard him," Eri teased. "You have to honor it, you know."
"That's not how that works!"
From behind the counter, Naomi yelled to the table, "Hey, everyone! Your drinks are ready!"
Momotaros's tone changed completely as he matter-of-factly said, "Oh, really?" Then, his tone changed just as quickly, pointing a finger to Izuku and yelling "This isn't over!" while getting up to grab their drinks.
Izuku laughed softly while he watched Momotaros take too hot of a sip of his coffee and complain to Naomi. As he did, he thought about his real wish. One he would never tell Momotaros.
In all honesty, Izuku's wish is a simple one to figure out. Izuku wanted to be a hero.
This wasn't at all how he pictured he could be one. But, for once, he didn't think about how he was at a disadvantage being Quirkless. Instead, he thought about all of the ways he could help others. Just as he helped in big ways against the Imagin, the small way he helped Tetsuo at the end gave Izuku such a warm feeling in his heart.
Izuku knew that this was all still a mystery to him. Where had the Imagin come from? What could he do to make Den-O stronger? How did Eri fit into all of this?
But, no matter what he had to learn, Izuku looked forward to finally starting his journey to be a hero.
Chapter 3: Villain Midoriya?
February 2nd, 2236
Downtown Musutafu, 2:00 PM
Izuku unlocked his phone and checked the time. 2 PM. Perfect. He still had another hour of training before he had to head home and work at the Milk Dipper.
It had only been a few days since becoming Den-O and accepting his new reality. Once he got home, he immediately began working on a new training regimen. Before, since he's Quirkless and didn't already a have a set skill he could train, he struggled to think about how he could train to be a hero. Eventually, he decided to train on skills that would utilize his size and stature. His training regimen consisted of learning martial arts and parkour while building up strength and endurance.
The gyms and dojos nearby Izuku's home couldn't fit into his work schedule for the Milk Dipper. (That, and there were one or two locations that were known to be biased against Quirkless people). So, he had to compensate for that. A lot of his martial arts training came from both trial and error and watching online tutorials.
Strength and parkour skills were being built up from Nevarro Park. Nevarro Park used to be a place where kids could play, teenagers could listen to their music, and even the elderly could feed the local strays. However, there was a villain attack a few years back that completely trashed it. And, due to distributions of heroes between districts, there weren't anyone available in the area who either had a good Quirk to clean it up or just didn't want to bother with it. With junked appliances and trash everywhere, the park quickly became abandoned.
So, Izuku took it upon himself to start hauling the trash himself, organizing trips to the dump to properly get rid of them. He worked on parkour by working with some of the larger appliances as platform training and then worked on strength when carrying them out of the way. It was agony, especially in those first few months, but results were now starting to show for both Izuku and the park.
(Izuku originally was planning to do this for Dagobah Beach, an area that was nearby his old apartment that was also piled on by trash. But another junior high student wanted to use the area for strength training too and Izuku could not find it in himself to say no.)
He also continued working on his hero analysis journals while analyzing hero fights. He did not want to admit it, but he knew that his analytical mind about heroes, their quirks, and their fighting strategies was the one thing that he could actively work on. Other kids their age would just watch hero fights and be enthralled by the fighting. Izuku was always mesmerized too whenever he saw a fight (he always loved seeing people's Quirks and creating questions for them), but he knew how important it was for a hero's mind to react quickly in high stress situations. He still believed his analysis wasn't that good, but it still was fun for him to continue.
Now that he had an idea of what he could work on as Den-O, he knew had to incorporate weapons training in his regimen too. Even though Izuku decided Momotaros would be the one active in combat scenarios, having more experience with sword fighting could potentially improve his muscle memory and help Den-O in the long run. Momotaros gave him increased senses and skills for hand to hand combat, but he still preferred fighting with a sword so Izuku figured it was better to accommodate him.
(Izuku also did a few Internet searches about how to drive a motorcycle and a train. He knew that he would never be able to get a license for them until he was older, but he still knew they were important to learn.)
Right now, Izuku was on the prowl downtown, getting everything he needed to practice kendo. He knew he needed one of the practice bamboo swords and some protective gear. He also could use a hitting dummy as well, though that might take him overbudget. Would Eri be willing to help? No, it would not be good to use one of his few friends as fighting practice. Would learning a smaller weapon first like a knife or another two-handed weapon like a staff be better before learning about a sword? No, that would not be wise because-
As Izuku was deep in his headspace, he crossed an alley. His bad luck struck again as a stray trashcan flew out from the alley into the street where it collided into the side of the teenager's head. There was nothing he could do as his body went limp and his consciousness went to sleep.
From the Den Liner, Momotaros sensed the boy's mind become blank and if he wasn't already, he would've worn a wide grin. He stood up from his table and rubbed his hands together as he plotted, "Here's my chance!"
Momotaros jumped from the train of time into the unconscious teenager's body.
His hair stood up and turned red as M-Izuku got up and dusted off his clothes, hating that he was forced to wear something so lame, a green hoodie and jeans. Out of curiosity, the being investigated the alley to see what the commotion was about.
It was some loser in a loose blue suit with a brown paper bag over his head. He tumbled backward into a set of trash cans. Five jackasses in the same black suit and had on the same sunglasses were creeping toward him.
"Look, I'll get your money, no problem!" the loser with the bag complied. But then, his tone and demeanor completely changed as he pointed a finger straight at them. "Get a job! Work hard for your own money!"
M-Izuku pulled the hood over his head.
One of the extras tore off their sunglasses and threw them to the ground. "I had enough of this bullshit!" He threw his arm back for a punch right for the paper bag, but he couldn't move it any forward.
M-Izuku gripped the arm and squeezed as he twisted the man's arm behind his back.
"AAAGGHGHHH!"
The man fell to the ground, his left arm clearly broken. The other four dumbasses pause for a second before rushing forward at the hooded fighter.
They didn't last long.
Only a minute later, all of them were knocked into the walls, their unconscious bodies stuck in the now dented walls of the alley.
M-Izuku sighed, "Man, that was a good time."
He turned back and looked at the bag man still sitting in the alley. Momotaros couldn't tell what the man's expression was, but he could tell he made a cool impression.
"Hey, bag-man," M-Izuku said. "Don't get push around like that. Get stronger."
M-Izuku turned to walk out of the alley, but the bag-man spoke.
"Oh, sempai! You're so strong! How lame! You could've done better!"
Izuku turned and gave a disgusted look back at the bag-man. The bag-man was now scrambling to pick up loose money and wallets from the unconscious men. Once the bag-man noticed the hooded stranger staring at him, he got up with the money in his hands and offered, "Are you hungry? Treat's on me! You can't have it!"
M-Izuku groaned. Momotaros wouldn't have bothered to pay two seconds to the weakling if there wasn't a fun fight for him to get into. Whoever the bag-man was, his speech was pissing Momotaros off.
" Just pick one thing, damnit! " Momotaros thought.
Deciding to not beat him up for it (It would not have been fun to beat up someone so pathetic), M-Izuku waved him off and declined.
"You can keep the cash," M-Izuku said. "I'm just looking for somewhere to change into something a lot... better. And then I'll find another fight."
M-Izuku couldn't tell if the bag man was smiling, but the bag man enthusiastically said, "I know the perfect place around here. A man of your style will love it! You don't have any so you definitely need it!"
M-Izuku tsk'd at that comment and nodded at him to lead the way.
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Yamagoshi Clothing Store, 2:37 PM
M-Izuku walked out of the clothing store, straightening his new clothes. He was now dressed in a black dress shirt with white stripes underneath a blood red leather jacket with biker pants.
He ditched Izuku's old clothes in a dumpster nearby and put on the recently purchased mask in his hands to complete the outfit. A cheap All Might mask to be exact. Normally, he would not choose to wear something like this, but he wasn't comfortable being seen in public with someone who casually wore a paper bag over his head. (How did he even see out of that?)
"That jacket really suits someone with your strength!" The bag-man praised, but then hunched over and pointed to the dumpster. "Will look great with those other clothes!"
M-Izuku ignored it and headed in another direction, wanting to look around town and find another fight (one without 'heroes' getting in his way). To his annoyance, the bag-man followed closely behind.
"Oi, oi. Why you are following me around like a damn stalker? We're done, you know."
M-Izuku couldn't tell the bag-man's expression right then, but he strangely felt the bag-man's hesitation as the man looked up at the clouds and offered, "You said you wanted another fight, right? Plenty of people to fight! We can work together! We'll be a terrible team..."
M-Izuku looked over to the bag-man as other extras went about their day, completely unaware of the conversation that was happening now.
"Now, you're talking!" M-Izuku excitedly said. "When and where?"
"Tonight at midnight 02! Here! Everywhere!"
They had just stopped in front of a large industrial plaza with a pearl white fountain in the center. There was an underground entrance to a subway station nearby opposite of the giant business building overlooking the city.
"Alright, I'll show up. Count on it!"
The bag-man nodded and M-Izuku thought he was about to confirm his plans, but then suddenly, he made a sharp turn and made a beeline for the opposite street.
" What was that about? " Momotaros wondered. He was about to chase him down when he heard a single thought in his head turn into a voice that got louder and louder with each word.
" Wha...? Momo-Momotaros...? What are you doing here...? Where am I? "
Izuku had finally regained consciousness.
" Izuku, you're awake now? " Momotaros asked internally.
Izuku questioned, " Was there a fight or something?"
" You could say that... " the Imagin trailed off.
" Ca-can I have my body back now, please? "
Momotaros relented and Izuku felt his body become his own, hair sparking down. Only when he was sure Momotaros's voice was gone, did he take in his new clothes and register the mask on his face. Before he could take it off, a male voice called from behind...
"Hey, you! We need to talk to you!"
Izuku turned and saw two policemen coming over.
"What is your relationship with that gentleman that just left?"
Izuku nervously looked around and said, "Huh? Who? I-I w-wasn't hanging out with anyone."
One of the policemen furrowed his brow and started to now question the masked teenager. "Really? Sir, that man is a wanted suspect for multiple robberies. Are you sure you don't know anything?"
Izuku could suddenly hear his own heartbeat and noticed his hands and feet fidgeting. Aloud, he calmly said, "Oh-oh-oh. Re-re-really? Be-bec-because I don't know anything about that." To Momotaros, he calmly thought, " Momotaros! Were you hanging out with a villain? What did you do?! "
" I didn't do anything! " was the loud internal rebuttal in Izuku's mind.
Eri's voice rang in his head. " Izuku, if you can hear me, try to get to a door! Den Liner will pick you up! "
The policemen were glaring at Izuku with suspicion. "Sir, it would be better if you answer some more questions at the station."
As soon as one of the policemen took a step forward, Izuku bolted to the subway station.
"Get back here! Stop right there!" they commanded.
Izuku climbed down the stairs and into the underground tunnel, his head darted through the crowded area and tried to scope out a door he could use.
" Maintenace? No, that's probably locked. Bathroom is too far awa- !"
Izuku's internal monologue was interrupted by the sound of shoes climbing down the steps.
" No more time to think! "
He ran for the door, narrowly avoiding a mother holding her baby on his path. Izuku grabbed the pass in his pocket and left for Den Liner, leaving behind two very confused police officers staring at a small empty toilet.
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Den Liner, Dining Car, 2:51 PM
Izuku held his head as he slammed it against the table in the Den Liner's dining car.
"Oh m-m-my g-g-god! I ca-ca-can't be-believe I just ran away from the co-cops! I d-d-don't know what h-ha-happened! I just pa-pa-panicked!"
Meanwhile, Eri threw back a hard punch at Momotaros's face. He reeled back from the impact and lost his footing, slipping into one of the dining seats.
"You always go straight for the punch!" Momotaros complained, rubbing the side of his head.
"Of course, I do!" Eri rebutted. "Just what were you thinking? Getting into fights, hanging out with criminals, getting Izuku chased by the cops..." She grabbed the collar of Izuku's jacket and held it closer to Momotaros. "Did you steal these clothes, too?"
"Of course not! I'm not pathetic like that," Momotaros scoffed. "I bought them!"
That statement snapped Izuku out of his spiraling as he quickly pulled out his wallet and looked inside. It was completely empty. The boy pouted as his eyes started to water, "But that was the last of my money!"
"So what," Momotaros commented. "I can't go around looking lame like that!"
Before Izuku could think of a good comeback, Naomi came in, practically hopping with a tray of drinks in her hands. She announced, "Orders up!" and put in front of Izuku, Eri, and Momotaros three teacups filled with red and blue mud mixed together.
" Oh, so that's what her Quirk looks like ," Izuku acknowledged.
Eri looked at her drink with disgust and then back to Naomi. She said, "Naomi, we didn't order these."
"I know," Naomi enthusiastically replied. "They're on the house from Owner!"
As Naomi skipped back to her counter, Izuku noticed the figure in the corner, holding up a newspaper. They were wearing a velvet ascot tucked into a white dress shirt, a brown waistcoat with white stripes and matching dress pants. The boy wasn't sure what the most curious aspect of him was. The fact that the newspaper wasn't just Japanese, but a mixture of languages from all of the world. Or the fact that the figure was a humanoid snail.
It was the size of a child and had the head and shell of a snail, but curiously had humanoid hands and presumably humanoid feet underneath his dress shoes.
Eri sensed Izuku's unspoken question and told him, "That's the owner for Den Liner. He has a name, but everyone here just calls him Owner."
Izuku stared at the Owner with wonder while Naomi arrived to Owner's table and placed a dish of fried rice that caused Izuku's mouth to water a bit. The dish was surrounded by four sausages cut up as if they were flowers. The fried rice was in a neat round mound with a flag in the center that had a cartoon image of Den Liner.
While Naomi put on a bib around the snail, Owner's gaze turned to Izuku and he smiled.
"My specialty meal," Owner explained. "I love eating this and letting the flag fall be the last thing. It's my personal battle."
Owner's eyes turned back to the dish and he started to cut through the mound as if he were a surgeon operating. Naomi returned to her station as Izuku summoned up the courage and walked up to him.
Izuku hesitated. "Umm..."
"Go on, speak," Owner said.
"So, if you're the Den Liner's owner, I have a lot of questions I want to ask. About Den Liner, the Imagin, and Den-O..."
"Like what?" Owner questioned before taking a spoonful of fried rice.
As if the floodgates were open, Izuku pulled out a notebook from thin air entitled "Climax Training No.1". "How does Den Liner travel through time? Are you all from the future or from various points in history? What's your Quirk, by the way? Who created the Imagin? Where did they come from?"
Owner took in the onslaught of questions and light-hearted laughter filled the train car.
"I see...," Owner said. "Unfortunately, there isn't anyone who can answer all your questions right now. You're doing all of this without understanding it... Look outside."
Izuku looked through one of the windows. Dust flew through the empty desert of time. There was a large canyon to the side of Den Liner's tracks. It encompassed the landscape, making it impossible to see anything else beyond it.
"This train was able to traverse inside all of time itself," Owner explained. "The past and the future were all destinations we could go to... Until recently. That large canyon appeared, and Den Liner was derailed from entering the future."
Owner paused as he took in another spoonful of rice.
"When it was being investigated, the beings known as Imagin came from across the canyon and entered the year 2236."
Eri then spoke from her table. "In my time, your future, one day, it all disappeared. Everything. It was all just gone... I then found myself in that canyon and climbed out of there. Soon after, I got picked up by Den Liner. I made my own contract with Owner so I could help out with the Imagin in any way I can."
Izuku nodded slowly as he understood more about Eri. Eri was only saved from whatever happened to the future because she was a singular point. She lost everything from her old life and found herself somewhere completely new. She lost her friends, her family...
It couldn't have been easy. Izuku wished that he could do more about it...
The train started to rock to the side. All of the passengers held onto their seats, but tragedy struck when the mini Den Liner flag fell from its mound of fried rice onto the porcelain plate.
Owner gasped loudly and brought his hands to his face.
"I almost set a new record," Owner sadly remarked. He grabbed a nearby cane and sat up from his seat. "See you again."
Owner left the dining car, leaving Izuku to wonder how a man like that got to own a time train.
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Izuku's Bedroom, 9:34 PM
Now, dressed in his pajamas, Izuku placed his new clothes and tossed them into an empty takeout bag. He'll probably take them to a donation center later as there was no way he would ever those clothes again.
Izuku hadn't explained to his mom about his "Quirk" yet so when he came home straight from Den Liner, he told his mom his new clothes were just a way of trying something new. To his surprise, his mom was supportive about his new clothes. Too supportive. Izuku loved his mom, but her trying out new "slang" to compliment his jacket just made him cringe.
He plopped down on his bed, threw his empty wallet on the desk next to him, and sighed.
Several months ago, after switching to online learning, Izuku had sold off his entire collection of All Might merchandise. And his collection was huge. Toys, figurines, statues, collectibles, hoodies, posters, comforters. (Even a limited-edition boxer set, which Izuku would swear to you he never wore before).
Part of it was because he wanted the extra money to help his family. The other part came from wanting to move on from any sign of the number 1 hero. From that moment when he...
But now, with Momotaros's purchases, his funds were completely dry. Izuku would have to figure something out. Tomorrow. Because today had been a long day.
Only a few minutes later and Izuku was fast asleep. And that was what Momotaros had been waiting for.
Momotaros took control and grinned at the bag of his clothes in the corner.
" Man, Izuku gets tired so easily... Works for me! "
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February 3rd, 2236
Downtown Alley, 12:02 AM
M-Izuku found the bag-man crouched near a construction gate. He was watching a group of suited thugs, similar to the ones from earlier, with each one carrying a metal briefcase.
The bag-man spotted M-Izuku and waved him over.
"Sempai! Thank goodness you're here! For a second, we thought you weren't gonna show up."
"You hard of hearing?" M-Izuku said. "I said I would show up, didn't I?"
The bag-man nodded and then turned his attention to the group of thugs. "Alright, so here's the plan. Those guys have super strong Quirks so while you're fighting them, we'll go in and grab the cash."
"Got it," M-Izuku confirmed. "By the way, can you split some of that with me? I got problems of my own that some cash could help out with."
"No problem at all! Here, take this in case we get split up."
The bag-man pulled out a piece of paper and without looking, M-Izuku shoved it into his back pocket.
"Now, stand back!" the bag extra commanded. "Our Quirk needs a little room."
" This is gonna be fun! " Momotaros thought. " Looks like sticking with Izuku was a good idea after all. "
M-Izuku watched as brown sludge (not the good kind that he usually drank on the Den Liner) dripped from the bag-man's fingers. Each droplet landed on the ground then started to cluster together and build up until they were feet and then legs and a torso and arms and a head.
M-Izuku now stood with three identical bag-extras.
" Huh, so, that's it ," Momotaros thought. " Gotta admit, that'd be a pretty good one to have. But, it's probably the reason why this wackadoodle kept correcting himself. Except just now... and he kept saying "our"... Wait, what's that smell? "
The three bag-men charged straight into the building after the gang and it was only now that M-Izuku noticed the few grains of sand falling from one of their pairs of pants.
Before M-Izuku could follow, a fist finds itself thrown on M-Izuku's face.
"Oh, wait! This is Izuku's body! I'm sorry!"
It was the nosy bitch. "Oh, you're the worst!"
"Are we talking about you or me," Eri rebutted. "I knew you'd do something bad with Izuku, but I didn't expect you to be a thief!"
"I'm not a thief! I'm just the muscle!"
Eri grabbed him by his shirt and held him to the gate. "It's the same thing!"
"Well, why not?!" M-Izuku argued. "I can't stay on that little train forever! The stress will build up! Besides, I did good! I found an Imagin!"
That made Eri release her grip. "What? Where?"
Izuku pointed back in the bag-men's direction. "In that building. I can go all out against an Imagin, right?"
Eri sighed in defeat. "Fine... but that mask stays on. And..."
She pulled out from her jacket a pair of pink winter gloves. "You put these on too. So you don't leave stuff like fingerprints around."
"I am not putting on those du-"
"Put it on!"
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Office Building, 12:05 AM
Stepping into the building's lobby, M-Izuku realized he missed one heck of a party.
Bodies in all matching suits were laid across the tiled floor, plants, and knocked through tables. If there was more blood (and more flickering lights), it would have been straight from a horror movie.
M-Izuku sniffed the air. No more was needed. The trail might as well have been marked by flashing lights.
He made a move for the stairs then...
DING!
The elevator opened and the three bag-men sprinted towards the entrance with their hands holding identical metal briefcases. One of the bag-men skidded to a halt, the one M-Izuku could tell was the original as it was the only one with sand falling, and addressed M-Izuku.
"Hey, sempai! Turns out, these posers weren't as strong as we thought. Come on!"
M-Izuku followed them out through the entrance and into the city night, but the escape might not have been easily as they thought.
Only after a block away, three black cars suddenly pulled up in the middle of the road. With no introduction, a whole squad of assholes in suits came to attack the four thieves. The squad of thieves move to defend the money.
M-Izuku activated his powers and dashed through the crowd and jumped over one of the now-empty cars. He picked it up and threw it toward the extras. Most of them dodged out of the way with some of them using their Quirks to divert the car's path. (One of them even sent pillows with their feet. Quirks are weird, man.)
CRASH! BOOM!
Scraping metal hurt the concrete road.
Before they could respond in kind, M-Izuku charged. Knuckles connected with their guts while legs propelled kick after kick.
" If these guys are smart at all, they'd run ," Momotaros thought, his eyebrows raised.
They weren't smart.
"Get him!" one yelled.
M-Izuku grabbed the guy around his arm and lifted him straight off the ground and threw the punk over his shoulder.
"Aaaahhh!"
He landed on the ground behind M-Izuku. More extras rushed at the masked teen, attempting to come at him from all sides. A knife glittered and M-Izuku jumped in the air and slammed the knife to the ground with his feet. He threw a backhanded blow to the knife wielder's chest and he flew back.
" Man, I'm cool ," Momotaros thought as he turned around and looked at the bag-men. One of them turned invisible and attacked one of the extras from behind. Another shot a fireball through his mouth, tearing open the bag and revealing the wide grin underneath.
" Gotta be the Imagin's power, " he commented. "Now, that all of the extras are taken care of, I can- "
" Hey, what are you doing? " Izuku's voice ringed in his head, loud and clear.
Momotaros involuntarily jerked in surprise. " Izuku, you're awake now? "
" You took control of me in my sleep again? " Izuku questioned in an aggressive tone Momotaros had never heard him use before.
" Look, I'm in a bit of trouble now. We can do this later. "
" This is my body. I'll handle whatever's going on. Get out ," Izuku demanded. With that, Momotaros spirited away back to Den Liner.
Izuku was now fully awake and took in the situation fully. He had only noticed the unconscious bodies on the ground only a few seconds ago. But, now he noticed the bag-men giving each other high fives and the slight sand trail, showing Izuku that one of them had an Imagin.
" I don't know what's going on, but I need to talk to whoever that is and figure out what contract they made ," Izuku thought. He took a step forward when a figure made their presence known.
What made it worse was that Izuku recognized them.
They were a Pro Hero.
" I'm so dead... "