Chapter 6: Thou shalt grant thee power
The next day, Izuku felt refreshed. He'd worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep, but once his head had hit the bed, he'd drifted to sleep in record time.
Kimiko had curled into his side overnight, providing a comforting source of warmth. When Izuku woke up, he was content to find her lying next to him. It was a gentle reminder that the events of yesterday actually happened and that he had a friend now. A friend!
The first and last friend he'd ever had was Kacchan. Wait, he should stop saying that. Bakugou. That bully didn't deserve to be called anything more than that, even though he would still call him Deku no doubt. It made him bitter just thinking about it.
A part of Izuku wanted to condemn Bakugou to the deepest depths of hell, and the irony was that he technically could now. But fate truly did have a skewed sense of humour, because instead, Izuku wanted to help him. That boy had so much raw talent and potential if only his anger issues didn't get in the way. Sure, he'd defeat villains with ease, but there was more to being a hero than that. Heroes were meant to protect and to serve, and a bully wasn't cut out for that.
But at the same time, that kind of potential on the side of villains would just spell disaster. No, that absolutely could not happen. Izuku would use his new status to prevent that from ever happening. Hopefully with the help of the staff at U.A. Bakugou would become an exemplary hero yet, even if Izuku didn't feel like forgiving him for his actions any time soon.
With his newfound resolve, Izuku finally got out of bed, Kimiko lazily stretching her body behind him with a stifled yawn. He'd accidentally left his curtains open the night before, so the morning sun was already greeting him when he stood up. Rummaging through his wardrobe, he wondered what he should wear, finally deciding on a basic t-shirt and jeans combination. He could always change later if he wanted to.
"We've got a busy day ahead of us, Kimiko!" he exclaimed as he brushed through his unruly hair. He always enjoyed the sensation.
"Yeah! I can't wait to see what quirk you come up with, honestly," she replied. "You literally have any power to choose from, but you need to think of something that won't be suspicious yet useful at the same time."
Izuku hummed in response. "Yeah, no kidding. There's also the fact that I'm officially quirkless, and while late bloomers are a thing, nobody would believe me if I suddenly sprouted wings on my back."
"And yet that technically happened," Kimiko laughed. "Well, there's always the villain-slash-trauma excuse that we could fall back on, so wings are definitely an option, but let's think of some other quirks first!"
"Yeah! Just what I was thinking."
He moved to sit back on the bed next to the fox, who promptly moved to sit on his lap.
"You sure you're not a cat?" he inquired once more.
"I'm not a cat!" she huffed, "Besides, have you ever met a snow fox? They can be quite cat-like, you know."
He started to scratch underneath her chin. "Alright, fair. So, what's the plan? I'm thinking we get some breakfast and then head somewhere outside but quiet."
"I like that idea. Thankfully you don't have school today, but you should also think about whether or not you want to go back there, you know."
Izuku turned to her in surprise. He hadn't even thought of that. School was his version of Hell on Earth which he'd been forced to attend. And now that'd had his awakening, in a sense, the idea of going back really didn't right with him.
"You are a genius; I hadn't even thought of that!"
Kimiko snickered. "Of course I am! Okay, how about we sign you up to some online school that basically just needs you to sit a final exam. You can just teach yourself anything you need to know anyway, and it's not like you were dumb to begin with."
"I can't believe I haven't done this sooner, actually. It would have saved me so much strife, wow." He scratched the back of his head. "Okay, so I suppose I just think about it, as usual, right?"
"Yep, you got it."
"Okay."
And just like that, enrollments changed and Izuku Midoriya was no longer a student at Aldera Middle School. Now all he had to do was take was an exam or two, which he wasn't going to worry about now.
"That felt even better than rescuing Bakugou yesterday."
Kimiko practically barked with laughter, and Izuku was quick to join in. Wiping away some stray tears at the ridiculousness of it all, he realised he would have to break the news to his mother sometime today. After all, she expected him to go to school as normal the next day.
"Okay, now for the hard part. Mum. Do I tell her now and get it over with? And do I tell her about the bullying? She's gonna want to know a reason."
"Hm. Get it out of the way, then we can focus on your quirk in peace. As for the bullying… I would mention it. She already suspects it anyway, you know."
Izuku winced at that, while Kimiko finished her answer. "Just don't mention Bakugou, since she's close with his mother. It would just spell disaster. She would lose her friend, she would blame herself for not seeing the signs, and Bakugou would be punished, which doesn't fit in your redemption master plan."
Izuku agreed, so they made their way to the kitchen to carry out their plan. Inko was in the living room doing some cleaning when she saw her son and his new companion walk in.
"Morning, honey! Did you sleep well?" she asked.
Izuku beamed at her. "I did, actually! Kimiko curled up next to me, so I slept really well."
Inko smiled. "I'm glad."
"Hey, can I talk to you?" he blurted out suddenly. "It's about school. Um… just, don't be mad? Please?"
Inko was confused. "School? Why would I be mad? Did you get into trouble?"
She knew Izuku frequently got into fights at school. His teachers told her as much, and the scrapes and bruises couldn't be hidden from her worried glances. She didn't think he was a troublemaker, but there was clearly something wrong. She just never knew how to approach it.
Izuku sat down on the couch. "No, don't worry. Will you sit with me?"
She did, and he took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll get straight to the point. I've dropped out of school and signed up for online classes."
Inko gasped. "Why did you do that? Don't you need my consent? Won't you get lonely at home?"
Izuku sighed. "No, I won't. I don't have a single friend at school, Mum, and I get bullied every single day. I'd much rather just take the exams and study with Kimiko to keep me company for the rest of the year. And I did it all digitally, it's fine."
Kimiko yapped in agreement and wagged her tail to show her approval of the plan. Inko, on the other hand, started crying.
"Oh my, I mean I had my suspicions, but why didn't you tell me, Izuku?"
"I didn't want to worry you, Mum," he answered, reaching an arm over her frame to give her half a hug, even though he felt like he should be the one being consoled. "It's been getting worse and worse. I should have changed schools or switched to online education years ago.
"And before you ask – no, the teachers didn't do a single thing. If anything, they encouraged it. And I think if I went to a different school, it wouldn't be much different. The bullying may be less… violent, but it would always follow me. I'm gonna be much happier like this, trust me."
Inko was fully sobbing now, and Izuku finally pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that for a minute, before Inko finally pulled away. She saw that Izuku had tears in his eyes too.
"I trust you, Izuku. I only want what's best for you. If you want this, then I'll support you."
Izuku smiled at her. "I know."
Kimiko decided to jump up onto Inko's lap this time, gently licking her face, which made Inko laugh.
"Aw, she really is a cutie."
Her son chuckled. "She's the best. And Mum," he said, "I think this is the start of something new for me. I'm not gonna give up anymore. I'm going to do what makes me happy."
It was a cryptic way of admitting the truth to her and probably went right over her head, but he felt happy admitting at least that much to her. He truly owed his mother so much.
"I can't wait, Izuku."
-x-
Izuku and Kimiko teleported to a remote island off the coast of Japan that was uninhabited. The pristine beach that they stood on led to the sea, where the sound of crashing waves added to the serene atmosphere. The mainland could be seen in the distance.
"I think this will do nicely," Kimiko stated.
"I think so too," Izuku agreed. He took off his shoes and placed them to the side, relishing the feeling of sand underneath his feet.
"Okay, so, quirk time. We both know what the requirements are, but we need to come up with the best possible quirk out there. It'll be hard to change it later without raising suspicion," Kimiko said, getting straight down to business.
"Yeah, no pressure," Izuku joked as he sat down on the beach. "Okay, let's see. I really like my invisibility and teleporting. The former wouldn't be necessary for most missions, especially rescue operations, but stealth is always an asset and no heroes that I know of can teleport. However, that alone wouldn't be enough. Even if I master my combat skills and have the best possible weapons, I wouldn't be particularly strong."
Kimiko hummed. "True. And you don't want to go underground, anyway. And you don't want to give yourself a simple emitter quirk like fire, which is powerful but too simple and prone to weaknesses, nor do you want a mutation."
Izuku agreed. "Yeah, I don't want to suddenly be a frog. Wings would be cool, and having fur, claws and improved senses, but… I don't know."
"You mentioned weapons just now," Kimiko pondered, "and you can technically just create any weapon out there. There are people with creation quirks out there, and the genius of the support industry is not to be laughed at, but you are the only one with the power to create literally anything you want. You could create weapons, tools and support items that aren't bound by the laws of physics, which could give you that superior edge you're looking for."
Izuku was quiet for a moment while he considered that for a moment. It made sense; it worked perfectly for the sludge villain. He then came up with an idea and created a small marble in the palm of his hand, which he promptly threw into the sea. In an instant, it started freezing over. It was just like having an ice quirk.
"Wow," he said in awe, before quickly cancelling the effect. "I think you're on to something, but I don't think we're quite there yet. After all, as much as they make people superhuman, quirks are still bound by the rules of nature. People with creation quirks can't just create anything, after all, no matter how creative their imagination might be. They can't just will things into existence, and they're limited in many other ways, too."
Kimiko thought about that for a moment before a lightbulb literally lit up on top of her head. She liked to add some flair to her statements, after all.
"But you can!"
"What?" Izuku asked, confusion etched on his face. "Obviously I can create anything, but they can't know that."
"No, I mean yes, but what if you had a quirk that could will things into existence, like you said?" she pondered out loud.
"How? That just screams suspiciously overpowered to me."
"Have you ever heard of mindscapes?" she asked, eyes practically sparking with inspiration.
"Huh? Mindscapes?" he asked, curious.
"Some people have mindscape quirks. They're different for everyone, of course, but in essence, they can enter their own mindscape at will. It's almost like a pocket dimension. It's a different plane of existence, and since it's technically in their minds, they can do and create anything they want in there. But the natural limitation of this kind of quirk is that anything that happens in their mindscape stays in their mindscape. Some people can physically enter their mindscape, while others have to be unconscious, which leaves their bodies vulnerable. But what if you had a really powerful mindscape quirk?" she explained.
"Wait, you mean with this quirk I could basically create things in my mindscape and bring them out into the real world as fully functioning items?"
"Pretty much, yeah! Ooh, and there's more," she squealed. "Say we give you the ability to bring other objects and even people into your mindscape – that way you would be able to rescue people and then release them somewhere safe, and you could trap villains in there too! Though that's just one possibility, of course. After all, you could just create a support item to get them all out anyway."
"Damn, that's… yeah, that could work, maybe," he muttered. "I mean, it still comes across as overpowered, but I suppose no matter what quirk I choose it will end up being overpowered, right? A mindscape quirk might just be the best way to explain it to some extent at least, as long as I add some reasonable limitations."
"Well, think about it this way," Kimiko offered, "It's not like your god status could ever be found out, so it's just a matter of making your powers look like one quirk and not two or even more. That would just raise alarm bells everywhere."
Izuku paled, "Yeah, no, thank you, I'd rather not be locked up in Tartarus. Even if I could escape, I would have to create an entirely new civilian personality, or rewind time and do this all over again. Neither of those options sounds appealing."
"Ha," the fox huffed, "no, definitely not."
"Okay then, let me just try to wrap my head around this idea and sum everything up, bearing in mind I might change some things," Izuku began. "If we go with this idea, my quirk is a mindscape quirk, which lets me physically enter a pocket dimension where everything bends to my will. I can use that quirk to transport myself and other people, effectively teleporting or holding onto them for while if need be. But most importantly, it allows me to create anything I want, and I can bring my creations into the real world, even if they don't abide by the rules of physics. Did I get everything?"
"Yep," Kimiko replied.
Izuku hummed. It could work. But there was something missing.
"I could create things that let me fly, punch really hard, run really fast, I could create a flamethrower… hell, even a gun would do," he huffed. "But it's still too broken. There needs to be some kind of limit."
He looked out at the sea. "I mean, if I could suddenly create any weapons or support items I wanted, there would chaos! Literally every person would be after me, begging to get their hands on my creations. They would constantly be jealous and would try to steal from me. I can't allow that. The economy is whacked enough as it is."
Kimiko laughed at his last sentence. "Sure is. Well, in that case, what if your creations have a limit? Maybe you can only conjure up a few at a time, and the longer they're in existence the bigger the strain on you. Think of it as a time limit. You have to constantly focus on maintaining them, and the moment you lose focus, they disappear. That should solve a large part of your overpowered problem, and nobody would be after you. Oh, and you can add a limit to how long you can keep someone or something in your mindscape, too."
"I think the only thing I would change is that I can't bring people into my mindscape. It doesn't seem necessary at the moment, anyway, but maybe I could add that with 'training' later," Izuku grinned at her. "You're a genius, Kimiko. I think everything else should work. What would I do without you?"
Kimiko grinned back. "It would have taken you much longer to figure this out, that's for sure!"
"True," he admitted, "I'm not even gonna pretend otherwise."
"So, do you want to actually create your mindscape now? We can use that to come up with your arsenal. It would make sense to keep creating the same weapons for missions, since it looks less suspicious, and you won't have to won't have to come up with things on the spot."
"Oh, yeah! After talking in hypotheticals for so long it's kinda weird to just do it now," he sheepishly admitted. "So, I know I've created things before, but is creating a pocket dimension any different?"
Kimiko shook her head. "Not really, although you might want to really visualise it first. You can always change and add things as you go, but it would be good to have a base to work with before we teleport there."
"Right, that makes sense," he agreed, "Now I just need to think about what I want. I've never seen how mindscapes look like, but I might as well go for something that's out of this world!"
"Yeah!" Kimiko cheered. "What do you think?"
He pondered her question for a moment. What did he want? What was his instinct telling him? He looked at the sea, and then the blue sky above.
"Something… in the sky? Ah!" He practically shouted, "A floating island! With lots of plants!"
Kimiko's eyes widened comically. "Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. You could make your own floating Olympus!"
"With lots of waterfalls!"
"Yeah!"
Izuku was jumping with excitement. "This is the best idea ever! I can't hide in my room all day anyway, so I basically get to create a new home, just for me!"
"We are killing all the birds with our stone today!" Kimiko squealed with laughter.
Izuku, in turn, just laughed at how she butchered that saying, but he just rolled with it.
"Okay, I gotta focus now, gimme a moment," he finally said, closing his eyes and doing his best to get his breathing under control.
He liked to think he was a creative person, so he tried his best to picture a palace floating in the sky, overflowing with tropical plants and adorned with waterworks. He thought up a few rooms but left the rest for now, since he was itching to finally get there.
Opening his eyes again, he smiled. "It's done."
Notes:
Tada! Finally, the gist of Izuku's quirk is revealed. What do you think?
I realise there's no end of possible quirks I could have gone with, but I came up with the concept for this particular one quite early on and I chose it because it fits certain criteria I set. It needed to be strong and versatile enough for him to win any fight but without raising any red flags, basically, while leaving room to grow. The mindscape itself technically isn't necessary for this, but I wanted to give Izuku a little realm just for him, so that's how it worked out. Even if that led to him just casually creating a pocket dimension on a random day. The finer details and exact scope, limits etc. will come up over the course of the story, especially once he goes to U.A.
Also, just wanted to point out how Izuku doesn't want to give up on Bakugou and all that, but trust me. Bakugou will redeem himself but only after he fully faces the consequences of his actions. That boy is truly a bully and has some serious anger issues, and that's not hero material. Not unless he changes, anyway.
And Kimiko saying she's not a cat all the time definitely earns a spot in the same club Morgana (from Persona 5) is in.
See you next week! We will be diving straight into Izuku's new mindscape dimension.
-Curious Cat
Chapter 7: Thou shalt enter Babylon
Not much was known about the lost Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Known above all as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, they were surely a sight worthy of the title. And thousands of years after they became lost to the sands of time, they were born anew.
A collection of large islands floated among the clouds, the ground nowhere in sight. One island stood out as it was considerably larger than the rest, although even the smallest island was nothing to sniff at. These islands were adorned with various structures, plants and water features, the latter of which ending in waterfalls falling off towards the nothingness below. The golden light of the sun made everything shimmer all the more amongst the soft clouds in the sky.
An open-air palace stood at the centre of the floating city, and to say it was grand would have been an understatement. Numerous white pillars adorned with tropical flowers added a Mediterranean feel to the place, a theme that stayed consistent throughout most of the buildings. The only exception to that rule was a smaller island near the edge, which featured traditional Japanese architecture and gardens. That place features rooms such as a tearoom and dojo, among others, as well as a sand garden.
A pair of medium-sized islands to the other side of the central island had more open areas, although the number of plants was certainly not lacking here either. The first one was dedicated to weaponry and general item creation and storage, whereas the second one featured training areas and general workout equipment.
Everything else that had been created so far was left to the central hub, such as a library and other more relaxing or entertaining features, as well as bedrooms, living quarters and so on.
Izuku and Kimiko arrived at their destination and were in awe. The atmosphere was peaceful, and they instantly felt at home there. There was a gentle breeze swaying through the central garden where they had landed, and the vibrant mix of flowers added colours to every corner.
They sat down on one of the hanging benches, which gently started swinging. Izuku then laid down with his head on a pillow, and Kimiko decided to lie down on his chest. She barely weighed anything, and her antlers had purposefully shrunk for the moment, so he didn't mind.
"Wow, Izuku," Kimiko started, "You really created a second paradise."
Izuku pondered that for a moment before answering. "Huh, I didn't even think about it that way. Is this what it was like for the first god? If I created animals and even humans here, wouldn't this just be a second version of our Earth?"
"Uh," Kimiko said tentatively, "I suppose it could be, if that's what you wanted. You could create as many parallel dimensions as you wanted and compare notes."
That made him chuckle dryly. "Yeah, no thanks. One planet is already enough to worry about."
"Hear, hear," she agreed. "Besides, this place is meant to be your mindscape; your quirk. So that's what it shall be."
"Yeah, I hear you. That's all I want from this place. Although I have to say, the idea of just permanently moving out of that tiny apartment and into this place is tempting. Could you imagine Mum's reaction?" he laughed.
"Imagine you just created a portal to this place in the door to your apartment so when she comes home one day, deep in thought, she just waltzes in with no idea where she is!"
"Ooh, you're evil. I love it."
"I know."
They laughed, before enjoying the afternoon sun once more. While Izuku would love to bring his mother here, it would have made things too complicated for the time being. He might bring people here in the future, he thought, once he knew them better and knew he could trust them, but it was more complicated than that.
This place was meant to be his quirk, like Kimiko was saying, so that's what it was. However, the self-imposed limitations were there for a reason, even if they weren't actually real. Just because Izuku had the power to bring people into this realm, didn't mean that the rest of the world should know that. No, if anything, that was a potential quirk upgrade for the future to consider, once his Quirk got "stronger".
But that was a worry for another day, a day where he was a hero student at U.A. In the meantime, he closed his eyes, fully enjoying the sun much like his animal friend. It made him think of himself as a cat, almost. The breeze blowing through the many leaves was calming… but there was something missing.
"It's too quiet."
Kimiko didn't even bother to look up at him, the sun's warmth keeping her completely entranced. "You want to create some animals, right?"
"I think so. Damn, I'm really playing God today, aren't I?"
This made her look up at him with a deadpan expression. "Because you are God, you dummy." She decided to leave her comfortable position on top of her friend and jumped onto a cushion next to the swinging sofa. "Alright, do what you gotta do, I want to nap."
Izuku shook his head at his definitely-not-a-cat friend. He sat up, stretching his four limbs with a sigh, before summoning his wings. He stayed in his human form, so his wings were a bit smaller to match his scrawnier frame, but they looked as majestic as ever – at least to him. He kept them white for the time being since he wanted to focus on everything else. Despite knowing how his mindscape looked like already, since he was the creator, he still wanted to get a better feel for his new abode.
Focusing on the feeling of new weight and muscles on his back, he positioned his wings and gently took off so as to not disturb the sleeping fox. Flying higher than the top of the central building and looking down, he could finally see with his own eyes just how big this place was. It was more than a simple house, that was for sure.
Circling around the various building and islands, he felt content. He'd made this. He had the power to create anything, and he was going to go far with it. He really couldn't wait to start working on his arsenal, but the fauna to accompany his flora came first.
He sat down at the top of the main palace. Looking down into the accompanying main garden, he could just about see a small bundle of white fur curled up in the sunshine. Taking note of the antlers on her head and the multicoloured markings, he stopped short.
What on Earth should he create?
He knew he wanted lots of animals that could fly, at least to start with, but should he go with animals that were currently alive in the real world? Extinct animals? Completely new ones? His head hurt just thinking about the possibilities.
On the one hand, coming up with completely new animals sounded really cool. It would really make this place his own, separate from the old god of yesteryear, and it was a great way to experiment with his powers and the limits of his creativity.
But on the other hand, was that what he really desired? The main reason he wanted to even bring animals into his mindscape was that it felt so empty without any complex life around. He had no idea how much time he was going to be spending in this place, but it was certainly going to be a decent amount, and he didn't want to be lonely or go insane. Kimiko was great company, but even she was just one person. Uh, fox.
It was interesting that he thought of Kimiko as less of an animal and more of a fellow person with complex thoughts and emotions. What did he want of the other animals in this place? Should they have the same level of intelligence as their real-life counterparts? That sounded alright, but he didn't want the trouble of dealing with a delicate and complex ecosystem and food chain. The plants he had created came from all corners of the world, too.
He decided to just create a couple of different species of birds, to begin with. He figured creating around fifty individual birds would do for now, which seemed like a lot, but once they spread out across the islands, he would have to create many more without a doubt.
His final choice was to stick to his somewhat tropical theme and bring forth some smaller tropical birds in many vibrant colours. Seed for them to eat would be good for the sake of realism, but they wouldn't actually have to eat, drink or take care of other bodily functions or desires. They were real, but not quite real at the same time. This was his mindscape after all, right? It didn't have to follow the rules of nature.
With that settled, he closed his eyes and focused on what he wanted. His ears picked up on the difference straight away, and he opened his eyes and jumped for joy at what he saw. It was exactly how he'd imagined it, naturally, and they were beautiful. The birds chirped a beautiful mix of songs and flapped their little wings around him, promptly taking flight to explore their new home.
-x-
Kimiko looked up from where she had been dozing off once she heard the product of Izuku's newest creations. She smiled. It was just like him to create such beautiful and gentle creatures first which were beloved by people worldwide. It comforted her knowing that her new god was such a gentle soul. Who better to inherit such a troubled legacy than a boy with forest-green hair and a heart of gold?
Her mind wandered to the angels of heaven as well as what the future had in store for them. Even though Kimiko had just been created recently, she knew all. Her purpose was to be a guide and companion to the new god and to act as his assistant, in a way. While Izuku could choose to know everything that ever happened and ever will, it would not be good for him. He was God, but he was human, and he should remain like that. At least for now.
As such, it was her job to advise him and to warn him. After all, he would be a better hero if he knew what was coming, right? But there was a problematic fine line. Tell him something too early and he would abuse his divine powers; tell him too late and he would react on impulse, seeing as he wouldn't be able to come up with a strategy.
So where was the line? Even her all-knowing status was a bit blurry in that regard. She cared for Izuku, but he had yet to realise the mess of moral dilemmas he was going to face over time. He would have to realise that he wouldn't be able to save everyone. Things happened for a reason, after all, as cliché as that sounded.
It pained her to think that his first trials as a newborn god were fast approaching. Something was coming, and he would have to decide. She trusted him but worried all the same. Would he make the right choice when the time comes? And, arguably more importantly, would he be able to deal with the aftermath?
She hoped so. Regardless of his choice, she would stay by his side until the end of time.
-x-
"Yo, Kimiko! How do you like the new residents?" Izuku shouted as he landed near her. His wings bristled behind him as he brushed some of his bangs out of his face, a satisfied smile etched on his face.
Kimiko beamed at him. "They're so cute, Zuzu! They're perfect! Are you going to create some more?"
A couple of yellow and green birds flew around them, a few deciding to take a bath in the fountain while the others landed on some tree branches, where they quickly found some berries.
"Thanks! I definitely will, but I think now that there's some actual life in this place I want to wait until I'm really inspired before creating more. There's so much diversity to choose from, or I could even create new animals, but I want to wait and see what feels right. You know?"
"Makes sense to me! I'm proud of you. This place is amazing and we haven't even started coming up with the part of your quirk that the rest of the world will actually see!" she exclaimed with a grin.
"Oh my gosh, let's go to the workshop! I have too many ideas in my head and the sooner we start the sooner we can come up with something that actually looks cool, too."
"Let's go, then!"
With that, Kimiko manifested her own wings to match Izuku's and they both ran towards the edge of the island. It took them a minute due to the size of the place, but when they finally reached it, they leapt off without an ounce of hesitation. They fell.
As their bodies plummeted, they did some tricks in the air, just because they could. It was a different feeling to flying through Musutafu at night; while sky diving is certainly an exhilarating sport in its own right, it's different when there is no ground to meet you.
Having had enough of that for the moment, they finally spread their wings, and with some powerful flaps they sped back up towards the islands, this time aiming for the workshop. It was hard to miss since it was the only building that had an industrial feel to it. Neon lights shone in magenta and blue in some areas, which stood in stark contrast to the rest of the buildings.
With a gust of wind, they landed in front of the large compound. They took a moment to have a look around since this was their first time setting foot on this particular island. While the workshop was certainly unique in terms of its design, it didn't feel too much out of place because it was situated on its own island, which was what Izuku had had in mind when creating multiple, separate islands instead of just one united place.
Izuku glanced around, feeling proud of his work once more. He hoped he would never lose sight of this feeling of awe anytime soon because being able to create an entire pocket dimension and having it look this nice was certainly worthy of his current emotions.
The front of the workshop was fairly bare. It looked a bit like a warehouse one might find near the docks of Musutafu, except it was adorned with flowers and other green plants just like the other buildings. It helped bring some life and colour to the place.
Speaking of colour, Izuku mused, this entrance is lacking some.
He pondered for a moment what he should create to make the front door pop a bit more, especially since this was such an important building, when he thought about the neon lights he had subconsciously added to the place. It was perfect. Why hadn't he thought about that before?
With a snap of his fingers for dramatic effect, a bright neon sign appeared, which took up the top part of the front wall. Pink lights flickered to life, and the word "Workshop" could be read from the whacky font.
"What do you think? It was lacking some colour," Izuku asked.
Kimiko hummed, before nodding. "I like it! It makes this place stand out even more. I'm honestly surprised you went with such a different vibe for this place compared to the rest, though."
"Yeah, me too," Izuku agreed, as he scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, "I've always thought this kind of style was really cool! And a workshop to me isn't something that's all white and clean. It's dingy and messy and hot and… yeah," he trailed off.
Kimiko laughed. "Like I said, I like it! It really works, and I can already imagine the kind of stuff you're gonna create. Oh, and besides, you can always change the design of this place if you want to, don't forget that."
"O-oh, right, obviously," Izuku awkwardly agreed. "One minute I'm fully aware of that kind of thing and then the next I completely forget."
"You're still human, mentally at least, and you're a teenager on top of that! Don't worry about it. If anything, it's good for you to think like that," Kimiko said with a gentle smile. "Now let's go in already!"
"Right!"
With that out of the way, they walked towards the doors which opened for them automatically. They were met with the interior of a building that had multiple floors and rooms, some of which dedicated to development, some to testing, and most of them to storage. It was clearly designed with a lot of inventions in mind, and there were areas dedicated to inventions of different sizes, too. Some were tiny, some were huge.
"Dang, Izu! You really went all out with this place!" Kimiko cheered as she ran inside. "You really like plants, huh?"
It was true; even inside the warehouse, there were a lot of plants. There weren't quite as many on the inside as the outside, seeing as they could potentially get in the way, but it wasn't like they needed taking care of or could die in other ways, such as being burned by a flamethrower. Which, by the way, was definitely something Izuku wanted to experiment with.
"What can I say? They make everything look and feel so much nicer."
Kimiko didn't argue with that and instead went further inside. She spotted a break room of sorts; it was a little area surrounded by large windows, which allowed warm light to come in and the view behind them to be seen from the inside. It almost felt like a piece of the main island, with its Mediterranean theme, had been placed there.
She hopped onto one of the seats and beckoned her friend to come over, which he did. "So, oh great inventor, what do you want to get started with?"
"I have no idea," was Izuku's uncharacteristic response. "I can literally create anything I want but I think I need to have a different approach. Like, I need to come up with specific solutions to specific problems, rather than just creating random things."
"I get that," Kimiko replied, "So, how about for now we come up with a few scenarios and we can go from there? There are plenty of scenarios that could be considered classics for heroes by now, right?"
Izuku hummed in agreement. "You mean like a burning building or a hostage situation?"
"Yeah! And then from there, we can think of transport for you as well. I know teleportation is handy, but it's not flashy, and you want to be a flashy hero, don't you?"
"Definitely, though my wings fit the bill quite well already."
"Right, but a vehicle would be cool too, right?! Then there are also certain situations to consider such as one-on-one fights or fights against multiple villains, or indoor versus outdoor battles. The way you approach them as to be different."
Izuku's head was flooded with possibilities. He wanted to work on all of them right away, but he knew he had plenty of time and just try to enjoy the process. It was just hard for him, considering he had to actively not use the full extent of his divine powers and instead approach the situation with his human brain.
He knew what he had to do, though. He was going to do this in the best way he knew.
"Time for a new notebook."
Notes:
How was that? I absolutely love what I came up with for Izuku's mindscape, if I do say myself. Like, there are plenty of chapters where I have no idea what I'm doing, but Babylon just felt right, y'know?
Also, since Izuku's quirk is basically limitless, my creativity is basically running on overdrive, lol.
Next chapter: our green-haired god messes around in the workshop! (He's totally gonna be an angel with a shotgun and guys when I realised that I couldn't stop playing that song seriously I couldn't stop laughing either-)
Catch you next week!
-Curious Cat
Chapter 8: Thou shalt fire thy weapons
Needless to say, every hero and support engineer working in the industry would have been jealous of Babylon's workshop and the current happenings inside if they could have seen it.
Izuku felt like a madman drunk on creative energy. He was addicted to the rush of endorphins as he created one new support item or weapon after another. His arsenal was his power to the world, and he was going to show everyone just how powerful he was going to be.
He and Kimiko had spent the better part of an hour writing down possible scenarios as well as possible items that would be a good match. These ranged from everyday situations, such as thieves at a bank, to more dramatic occurrences, such as a collapsing building, a group of villains wreaking havoc or even a natural disaster.
The aim of the game was to develop a presence similar to that of All Might, as much as it irked Izuku to even think about it. Villains should dread his arrival, yet innocent people should be relieved. He was going to be a guardian angel to as many people as he could, that much was certain.
In terms of his weapons, the pair quickly realised that they wanted situations to be resolved as quickly as possible, which was certainly within Izuku's power, but that approach lacked the flashy aspect that they wanted. After all, it helped with the presence aspect, but a more selfish reason was that it was more fun, too. Could anyone really blame a hero for wanting to show off their skills from time to time? Izuku figured that pretty much all heroes who weren't underground heroes enjoyed the limelight, so there was no harm in it.
As such, after a rather intense discussion, they settled on a wide range of approaches. After all, there was no need for Izuku to limit himself in any particular way since his quirk would explain the literally endless number of items he could create. He ended up creating some standard weapons which could be customised on the field, such as guns and knives with some added features, as well as a flamethrower that could change to water or even air. Who knew when you would need an air cannon?
By keeping the design the same, he could stick to a recognisable brand while making it easier to think in the heat of a mission. He wouldn't have to worry about the aesthetics of anything on the spot, which made things a bit simpler.
Before they continued with the more overpowered weapons, Izuku figured it would be a good idea to test some of his new creations. So, he was stood in front of one of the benches dedicated to item creation, where his primary gun, knife and flamethrower lay. He went with the gun first, willing the other two items to come with him to one of the main testing areas.
This room featured several ranged targets, which Izuku had modelled after the kind that police officers use for target practice. After all, if it worked for them, it would work for him, even if his gun was much more complex than that of any shooter he'd ever heard of. In addition to these, there was blocks of a cement-like nature, as well as three-dimensional dummies. It would do for some basic testing.
With Kimiko standing a ways behind him, Izuku settled his nerves. As excited as he was, he needed to focus. Lifting the plasma gun – which was its current state – he took aim at one of the dummies, trying to focus on the centre of the head.
He pulled the trigger, and there was a bang. The gun recoiled a bit more than he'd anticipated, but the end result most certainly did not disappoint. The entire top half of the dummy had all but exploded as the plasma bullet had detonated upon hitting the dummy, leaving nothing but some charred remains behind.
"Woo!" Kimiko cheered. "Bullseye!"
"Ha! That was incredible!" he concurred.
"Now try one that you can use on humans!"
Izuku followed her orders, willing the gun to change, staring at the gun in his hand as he did. It was a simple design, really, and was quite futuristic and sleek compared to the simple, blocky black guns that were usually used by people. His gun was white with a few gold accents, and the minimalistic design was accentuated by multiple neon stripes that glowed with vigour. When in "plasma mode" the gun had glowed magenta, and now that it was in "stun mode", it glowed yellow.
Stun mode was by far less destructive since this mode was designed to actually be used on humans. It was a good, non-lethal option that could quickly incapacitate villains, while still retaining some of that flashiness that he wanted.
He willed the dummy that he had just destroyed to repair itself, and while it still looked the same overall, there was now a green bar on its chest. Satisfied, Izuku took aim again and pulled the trigger, which sent a small rubber bullet straight to the dummy's head, much like the previous time. There was some kind of electricity embedded within the bullet, and upon contact with the dummy, the green bar went down to 0% almost instantly. If that had been a human, they would have been down for the count for a while.
Izuku grinned. "It's perfect! I could give Snipe a run for his money!"
"That hero who can control a bullet's trajectory? I bet your aim is even more accurate than his!" Kimiko snickered. Oh, the chaos that this child will bring! In a good way, of course.
Izuku decided to teleport the gun to the storage room. His first official creation was finally settled in its compartment, and he couldn't wait for the room to be absolutely filled with his creations.
Next up was the knife. Its silver blade resembled that of traditional Japanese craftsmanship, except it also had some minimalistic neon lighting to match the aesthetic he was going for. This time, it was a single strip running along the length of the entire knife that ended in a swirl. The blade could become longer at will, transforming into a sword of sorts. Another special feature was the fact that it could change temperature. He didn't know how useful that would be, but at the very least he could make some very quick toast if he wanted to.
He decided to torture the same dummy as before for this trial, promptly cutting off one of its arms like it was nothing. Izuku was a bit shocked at the imagery but did his best to shake himself free.
Finally, with the knife nestled next to its kin in the storage room, came the third and final weapon for the day. The flamethrower. It was large and needed to be held with two arms or with some shoulder support, but it wasn't too heavy. This weapon was certainly for show, especially with its design that matched the previous weapons but had even more lights, this time in red, and honestly, Izuku had no idea if he was ever going to use it, especially since the gun was much easier to handle and could do more or less the same things. But you could never be too prepared, Izuku mused, and besides. It was a fricking flamethrower. He was going to have some fun with this.
He turned to the block of concrete this time, having decided that the poor dummy deserved a break. Placing the flamethrower on his right shoulder and placing his hand near the trigger, he placed his index finger where it belonged and pulled. Out of the front came a massive flame that incinerated the entire block in seconds.
"Hell yeah!" he cheered.
Briefly wondering what life would have been like if he had inherited his dad's fire-breathing quirk, Izuku set the flamethrower down for a moment. The ashes on the ground disappeared and a roaring fire appeared instead. The neon lights changed from red to blue, and once the flamethrower was back in position in his hands, a strong stream of water gushed out, extinguishing the flames quickly.
"Well, at least we know you could become a firefighter if all else fails."
Izuku turned out with a raised eyebrow trying his best to muster an unimpressed look but ended up failing terribly as he started laughing. Willing his current weapon to storage, he walked back to where the fox was standing.
"Well, we've got some basics done! What should we do next?" he asked as he assumed a thinking pose, his fingers around his chin as it often was.
Kimiko hummed as she pondered his question for a moment. "How about something to incapacitate a large number of villains, and then something to rescue a large number of civilians? They could be two separate things or variations of the same item."
"That's a good idea," he agreed, "It's venturing into overpowered territory, but I say we go for it anyway. Chances are, the more people are present, the more dangerous the situation is. And I don't know about you, but I would want to resolve something like that as quickly as possible. I'm not risking lives just to keep up appearances."
"Yes, exactly what I was going for."
"Alright then. So… I could use teleportation, or I could use some sort of gravitational pull, maybe coupled with something that shocks villains unconscious? I can be rough with the bad guys, but I don't want to end up risking even a single bruise when it comes to rescuing civilians. I know they wouldn't exactly mind, but…" he trailed off.
"Hm, that is a bit of a conundrum," Kimiko said, "I think your idea for villains is great. You could have something create a kind of shockwave that knocks out anyone you identify as a villain, and then the same device creates a gravitational pull that brings them all to the device, making clean up easy.
"As for the civilians… I wouldn't say it would be morally wrong to use the gravitational pull on them, seeing as they would much rather have a few scrapes and bruises than face whatever they were dealing with beforehand, but maybe some kind of teleportation is best. There's the kind of teleporting we do, and then there are warp gates, too. Oh! Another option would be to produce some kind of protective bubble around them and then you can use the pulling feature. What do you think?"
Izuku stared at her for a moment, but in reality, deep in thought. What was the best option? What was the least traumatising? The most effective? The least suspicious?
"I think the most effective solution would be either teleporting or using the warp gate idea. It would mean two different gadgets, but that's hardly an issue. Actually, the more that I think about it, it would make sense to use teleportation for villains, too. After all, what if they're all in locked rooms or something like that? Gravity can't make them intangible."
"I mean," Kimiko started, "you could always add that feature, but I agree. So, that means you need to make a simple device that teleports certain people to a different location, most likely where the device is, but not necessarily. Then, the same device has an added stun feature, which sends out a shockwave that knocks out anyone you want."
"And that last part can be explained with my mindscape," Izuku added. "Since it's powered by my mind, the device can recognise targets based purely on my thoughts and emotions."
"Right! I think we got it," Kimiko cheered. "So, what's it gonna look like?"
Izuku wasn't sure. It could be as simple as a little device with two buttons, but that would hardly work with his new aesthetic that he had worked so hard on. No, this thing was going to be used a lot – maybe – so it needed to look good. It should be portable and, now that he thought about it some more – technically didn't even need buttons. It was powered by his mind, for heaven's sake!
Ha, haven't used a pun like that in a while.
It then dawned on him even more just how literal his thinking was, and how he needed to detach himself from it. It could literally look like anything! And so, with the circular design of warp gates in mind, he created a simple pendant that rested on his chest like a necklace. He picked it up between his fingers and added some grooves to it, just to make it look a bit fancier, and then willed it to never leave his chest unless he touched it or he willed it away entirely. He didn't want it bouncing around when he was running or fighting, even though using it would just end most fights instantly anyway.
"This thing is going to make me way too overpowered, isn't it? People are gonna hate me," he said with a sigh. He wasn't sure about this one.
"Aw, come on, only villains will hate you! Well, you might pick up some rivals along the way, but they don't matter. You're going to do some real good with this, you know," she said, trying her best to cheer him up. She didn't tell lies, after all.
"Yeah, I know," he replied, a small smile on his lips. "Alright, let's test this out, shall we?"
Looking back at the test area, he quickly got rid of everything and placed ten dummies on the left side of the room. He then thought about what he wanted to happen, which was for warp gates to appear underneath the dummies, with their corresponding gates appearing above the right side of the room, just high enough for the dummies to fit underneath but not too high, either.
His wish was his command, and he watched in awe as golden portals appeared and did what he wanted, before promptly disappearing once more. The dummies all collapsed on the floor, which made him wince before he got an idea.
He reset everything and made everything repeat itself, but this time he created invisible force fields underneath the portals on the right, thus lowering the dummies to the ground more slowly. If civilians were frail or injured, they wouldn't aggravate their injuries this way.
Izuku turned around and beamed. "I did it!"
"Yeah! I like the addition towards the end, that will surely be useful!"
"That what I was thinking! Villains can just collapse on the ground for all I care, but civilians need care. Oh, let me try the villain scenario now."
Kimiko left him to his devices. He shocked the villain dummies, their green bars going down to 0%, and they were then warped to the other side of the room, where they landed with a thud. Izuku grinned; he could get used to this. He definitely wanted to experience fighting, but there was a time and a place for that, and multiple villains or potential casualties was certainly not it.
"You know," he stated, "now that I've decided on this very minimalistic design, I could actually incorporate a ton of features into it. Hell, I could have it give me flight, telepathy, super strength, anything!"
"It really could!" Kimiko agreed. "Maybe that's something you want to limit, then? Or do you want to go with all the possibilities?"
"I honestly don't know. Maybe for now, I limit it, and then in the future, I can always change my mind? I could make my limitation that I can't alter my own body. So, that means that I can't suddenly grow a tail or something. Oh, but I want to use my wings... eh, never mind then, that was a stupid idea. If people grow suspicious, I'll figure something out. I don't want that to stop me from transforming!"
Kimiko snickered at that. "Oh my gosh, you would look adorable with cat ears and a tail!"
"Very funny," he deadpanned. He twirled the pendant in his fingers. "You know, I should probably start thinking about my hero identity at some point. You know, my hero name and such."
The fox cocked her head to the side in question. "Isn't it a bit early for that?"
"Well," Izuku tried to explain, "it will help me with my design process. Heroes have their own themes, basically, and their own specialisms, such as rescue. I have no idea what my specialism should be yet since my quirk is so versatile, but I can't help but focus on kids, you know?. I want kids everywhere to feel loved and safe. I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did, or worse."
Kimiko smiled a warm smile at him. "I'm sure you'll make children everywhere feel much safer than they would without you, Zuku."
Izuku blushed. "Thanks, Kimi."
"Before we come up with your new identity, how about we call it here for today? It's dinnertime soon, and you need a break. You'll also want to come up with a cover story for your mum."
Izuku's eyes widened at that. "What?! We've been here all day already? Shit, Mum's probably worried. I haven't texted her all day and I didn't even tell her I was going out."
"Alright, let's just go back home. Tell her you were buying some food for me and your phone died."
"Oh, that's a simple answer. You're good at this," he said.
"Naturally," she replied with a grin.
-x-
On a different plane of existence, five divine beings were gathered once more as they discussed recent events. It hadn't been long since they had chosen their new master, their new Lord, but they saw that he was already making strides in his development, just as they had anticipated. After all, they knew all.
It might have seemed strange for humans to consider such a meeting. After all, meetings were nothing more than a means to share information, so if everyone present already knew everything, what was there to discuss? Well, even divine beings had opinions, and meeting such as that one helped make sure that everyone was on the same page, as it were.
"I'm glad to see that Kimiko is proving to be a good companion to him," the first angel spoke as they laid down their cup of green tea. "And I must say, Midoriya chose a wonderful name for her."
"That he did," the third angel agreed.
"And his new quirk is most marvellous, too," the fifth angel added. "It is truly befitting for our new Lord to harness his new powers of creation in this way. The idea of creating a parallel plane to Earth is most ingenious."
"Indeed!" the first angel replied.
The fourth angel decided to speak up. "I do worry for him, though. His first trial is fast approaching, and his fragile mind will be most tormented."
The angels looked at each other in solemn agreement. The upcoming events would be happening too soon for their liking, but it had to be done. With Izuku's new status as God, which was above their own status, the future was not set in stone like it was for the mortals down below.
All the angels could see were different timelines, which all depended on the choices that their new Lord would make. Each choice led down a different path filled with different consequences, none of which being particularly pleasant. The angels knew which path he should choose, but they felt that Izuku would go against their recommendations.
All they could do was to hope that Kimiko would advise him well in their stead and that he would not crumble under the pressure. Either way, they knew they would be seeing him in heaven again sooner rather than later, so they would await his arrival with patience.
Notes:
The beginning of Izuku's arsenal is taking shape ~
Also, the angels know that there will be some difficult times ahead for him! He can defeat all the villains he wants, but things won't be that easy for him. Fun times ahead.
If you could create any weapons or support items out there, what would you create? I might incorporate some in the story if I like them! It doesn't have to be strictly offensive stuff - it could be something that creates flowers out of thin air haha. (which is something that may or may not happen in the story ~)
Next chapter: Midoriya bonding time with the mama bear! Izu doesn't want to hide his quirk any longer from her.
Thanks for reading!
-Curious Cat