The white expanse of the Bond Space stretched around Jun as he looked through the multitude of orbs floating in front of him.
He passed over the ones he had already used, focusing on the remaining options.
Flashy. Flashy. Flashy.
His attention landed on a yellow orb.
Jun reached out and touched it.
Electrification. Kaminari.
"That's flashy."
He balanced the orb on one finger, watching electricity spark across its surface as he continued looking around.
Electricity. That could work.
Jun found Engine and brought it closer to Electrification.
A soft chime sounded between the two orbs.
"Okay. They're compatible."
He kept Electrification in one hand and Engine in the other.
"What else? What else? Physical enhancement."
Jun looked through the remaining orbs until he found Sugar Rush, a pale white crystalline orb.
He drew Sugar Rush toward the other two.
As they grew closer, the orbs pulled toward one another.
The chiming built as the three orbs came together, growing louder the closer they got.
Then, for a split second, it stopped.
The three orbs snapped together.
BANG!
Jun blinked.
He was lying on the floor beside his bed.
A loud ringing filled his ears as he stared upward, disoriented.
When did I get on the floor? What was that?
Jun pushed himself up and got back to his feet.
The ringing still filled his ears as he tried to focus.
"Okay."
He tried to feel out what the fusion had created.
Nothing.
"That's weird."
Jun sat back down on the bed and massaged his temples, trying to clear the lingering disorientation. "Okay. Let's go back in. See what went wrong."
He closed his eyes and focused inward.
The white Bond Space returned around him.
Jun immediately looked for the three orbs and found them scattered far away from one another.
He took a moment to gather Electrification, Engine, and Sugar Rush again, keeping each one separated from the others. "All right. Let's try this again."
Jun narrowed his eyes at the three orbs.
What went wrong? What went wrong?
He slowly pushed them toward one another.
The pull returned.
The chiming returned.
Then the three orbs snapped together.
BANG!
Jun closed both hands around the fusion and focused on staying inside the Bond Space.
The white space vanished anyway.
Jun opened his eyes and found himself sitting on his bed, disoriented as the ringing filled his ears again.
He breathed out and wiped beneath his nose.
His fingers came away red.
"Okay. That worked."
Jun closed his eyes and returned to the Bond Space.
This time, a single fused orb floated where the three had been.
He reached out and touched it.
The information within the orb flowed into him, the new Quirk's function and use settling naturally into place.
Engine's concept had been spread through his entire body using Sugar Rush's physical enhancement, focusing the boost on speed.
The enhancement could use his body as fuel, but Electrification gave it stored electricity to burn first, only turning to his body once that charge ran out.
Jun pulled himself out of the Bond Space.
He looked down at his hand and activated the new Quirk.
A faint flicker of electricity traveled across his palm, and he realized just how little charge he had built up.
So I need to build a charge first, similar to Kaminari.
"Interesting."
He took a breath and held out one hand.
#1, #2, and #3 manifested around him.
All three shook their heads.
#3 immediately pointed at Jun. "I want that one."
The last of the electricity faded from Jun's hand as he wiped at one eye. "This is a pretty dangerous Quirk if you run out of electricity."
"Well, the fuel is his body, right?" #1 said. "If he has Bio-Sculpting, he'll be able to replace some of the biological material the Quirk consumes."
"That doesn't erase the danger," #2 said. "Repairing the damage would take time. Time he might not have if he's trying to keep burning through the Quirk."
"That isn't important, trust me. First, we gotta name this."
The others rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, the name is pretty important if we're going the hero route," Jun said.
"Well, it's still an engine," #2 said. "It requires a fuel source, so I think we should keep the engine part of the name."
#1 thought for a moment. "It consumes part of the body as fuel. Maybe Metabolic Engine?"
#3 immediately said, "Yes. That one. That name works. Metabolic Engine."
He looked dreamily off into the distance.
#2 smacked him across the back of the head.
#3 rubbed the back of his head. "Hey! What the hell was that for?"
Jun ignored #3's complaint. "You two still need to finalize your appearances, your personas, and how you're actually going to establish those identities. We need that, especially if one of you is going to be a hero."
#3 side-eyed #2 for another moment before looking back at Jun. "I have a plan. Or, well, a few ideas."
"Jasper doesn't really need a legitimate public identity to do what we're trying to do," #2 said.
"Yeah, but I do," #3 replied. "Being a hero without documentation just makes me a vigilante. I'll need everything we already dealt with changing our Quirk registration, plus more. I need an actual identity that can exist publicly. Records, paperwork, everything a hero agency might check."
#3 dragged a hand down his face. "Crap. That is a lot."
Jun waved him off. "That's your problem. It was your plan."
[Over the Next Two Days... #3's POV]
While Prime was busy at U.A., #2 remained manifested as #3 continued working with Bio-Sculpting.
Most of Monday was spent recreating Jasper's new body. His taller frame, orange hair, and previous-life face all had to be restored before #3 could move on to the more complicated changes they had planned.
Once Jasper's body was restored, #3 turned his attention toward research.
Creating another pair of arms was considerably more complicated than simply growing two new limbs.
He spent hours looking through publicly available information on mutation Quirks that had naturally altered the human body, searching for medical diagrams, scans, or anything else that showed the skeletal structure of someone with additional arms.
Eventually, he found scans of a mutation-Quirk user with four arms, though the second pair connected farther around the back instead of beneath the natural shoulders like they wanted for Jasper. It wasn't something #3 could copy directly, but it gave him a useful look at how a human torso had adapted to support another pair of functional limbs.
Even examples of people with only a third arm were useful.
The more #3 researched, the clearer the problem became.
Jasper's existing shoulders weren't enough.
To make another pair of arms functional, #3 would need to alter more of the upper torso, restructuring parts of the rib cage and shoulder girdle to support a second set of shoulder joints beneath the natural ones.
By Tuesday, he had enough theoretical knowledge to start testing it.
The first attempts weren't perfect.
One configuration pressed painfully against Jasper's ribs whenever #2 moved the lower arms, forcing #3 to undo the change.
The torso itself needed to be slightly larger, with parts of the rib structure repositioned to make room for the new joints, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.
The good news was that most of each new arm could be built by following the structure of Jasper's existing upper limbs. The point where the new shoulders met the torso was the difficult part, forcing #3 to build, test, and rebuild the structure several times.
Throughout the process, #2 tested each new configuration, moving the additional limbs and giving #3 constant feedback whenever something felt wrong, painful, or restricted.
Bio-Sculpting's biological sight helped. Looking at Jasper's body let #3 see the different layers beneath the skin, from the bones and muscles down to the veins and nerves, giving him a much clearer picture of what needed to change without relying entirely on medical scans from people whose bodies had completely different proportions.
At Bio-Sculpting's current stage, #3 had to periodically drink more blood to refresh the biological template and continue modifying Jasper's body.
By Tuesday evening, however, the additional arms were finally functional.
Jasper stood in the center of the room with his upper pair folded across his chest while the lower arms snapped through a short series of shadowboxing punches.
[Tuesday Night... #2/Jasper's POV]
Jasper walked down the alley toward the den, the fingers of his lower hands twitching occasionally at his sides.
Having four hands still felt strange.
The bouncer looked up as Jasper's footsteps drew closer. "You're a big guy."
"Nice to see you too."
The bouncer stood. "Do we know each other?"
"You haven't seen me like this." Jasper extended one of his lower hands.
Might as well get used to using them.
The bouncer looked down at the offered hand before taking it. "So who the hell are you?"
"I'm Jasper."
The bouncer looked him up and down again before letting go of his hand. "You're Jasper?" His eyes lingered on the extra arms. "I'm guessing this is your Quirk?"
Jasper shrugged. "You gonna let me in?"
"You gonna pay like you did the first times?"
One of Jasper's other hands reached down to the bag hanging at his side. He unzipped it, pulled out a stack of cash, and held it toward the bouncer before zipping the bag closed again. "That enough or not enough?"
The bouncer flipped through the bundle. "I don't really care who you are, but as long as you keep paying every single time you change your shape, we'll be in very good business." He stepped out of the way as the door opened.
Jasper entered the den and made his way toward the chip exchange.
He placed the bag on the counter, leaning slightly over it because of his height. "You still taking bets?"
The woman behind the counter looked up at him. "Uh-huh. First timer?"
"No. Just showing my real self since we're all so friendly with each other now."
She looked him up and down. "Am I supposed to...?"
"Jasper. Get used to seeing the real me around here."
Jasper pressed the knuckles of one hand against the side of the bag and pushed it across the counter. "Go ahead and exchange all that for me, please, would you, darling?"
Once Jasper had his chips, he looked around the den.
More people were watching him than usual. The closest man quickly looked back down at his table when Jasper caught him staring.
Yeah. Being this size is gonna get me more attention.
He made his way farther inside before spotting someone he immediately recognized from behind.
Jin.
Jasper sat down beside him and leaned slightly to the side.
Jin looked over, then did a double take. "What the hell?" He looked Jasper up and down. "What the hell are you?"
"Oh, is that how you talk to friends, Jin?"
"If I was friends with a behemoth like you, I'd have a lot less to worry about in life."
His eyes moved back to Jasper's face, then up to his hair. "The only orange head I know is Jasper..." Jin stared at him. "Jasper?"
Jasper smirked. "In the flesh. So, how's the real me look, friend?"
"You should've opened with this! Hell yeah!"
They talked for a while longer as the game got going and cards began moving around the table.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jasper caught sight of a man at another table. His tie hung loose around his neck, a glass of alcohol in one hand as he stared desperately at the cards in front of him. His eyes were almost bloodshot.
Wait. Is that who I think it is?
Jasper looked at him again.
The same PSC manager Prime had caught losing here before.
Jasper smirked as he finished the hand and set his cards down. "I'm gonna be done for the night, Jin."
Jin looked over at him. "Dude, you've only been here for like half an hour. You're calling it early? That big body need more rest or something?"
Jasper shook his head. "I have a little business to handle in a moment. You go ahead."
He scooped up his winnings. Jasper had won a lot more tonight than he normally did, enough that the dealer watched him carefully as he got up from the table.
He carried his chips back to the exchange counter and set them down. "Deal me out."
The woman looked at the pile before looking back up at him. "You can't be Jasper. Jasper never wins this big. Especially in half an hour."
Jasper gave her a predatory smirk. "I'm done feeling you all out. So, you gonna cash me out or what?"
She hesitated at his smile before taking the chips. Pulling over the bag he had left with her earlier, she began filling it with cash. "You better be careful, Jasper. People who win big around here don't usually get seen more than a few times."
Jasper leaned down, resting one fist against the counter. "Aww, you worried about me? Just pack the bag."
Once Jasper had his bag, he slung it over one shoulder and gave the woman behind the counter a wink. "You'll be seeing me a few more times."
He walked out of the den and back into the alley.
Across the way, he spotted a small ramen shop.
Jasper walked over and took a seat, setting the bag beside him with one foot against it before ordering a large bowl.
He slowly ate the ramen while keeping his attention on the alley across the street.
By the time he was finishing his third large bowl, the PSC manager finally stumbled out. "God damn it..."
Jasper smirked. "And there's my catch."
One of his lower arms reached down and grabbed the bag. He pulled out a few bills and slammed them onto the table. "For the food and the attention."
Jasper stood, slung the bag back over his shoulder, and started after the stumbling man.
He slowly caught up to him.
Once he was beside him, Jasper draped one of his upper arms around the man's shoulders while a lower hand pressed against the middle of his back. "Oh, friend. You having a rough time?"
Jasper began guiding him toward a nearby alley.
The man tried to stop, looking up and finally registering just how large Jasper was.
He tried to pull away.
Then he realized Jasper had already walked him into the alley.
"What do you want?"
"I see you're pretty active with gambling, are you not?" Jasper said. "Looked like you were having trouble covering tonight's losses."
The man stared at him. "How... how did you know?"
"Shh, shh." Jasper kept him moving. "I'm willing to cover whatever you're short, but I need you to do a few things for me with your job."
The man gulped.
Jasper's smile widened. "Good. Then let's talk about getting someone into your system."
[Wednesday...]
When Jun left for U.A., Jasper still hadn't returned.
It was odd.
Jun kept #3 manifested at home in case Jasper came back while he was gone, then headed to school.
The morning passed like any other school day.
After lunch, Aizawa addressed the class. "Now, for today's Basic Hero Training, All Might, myself, and one other will supervise."
Sero called out, "What are we doing exactly?"
"Preparing you for disaster relief," Aizawa said. "From fires to floods. It's rescue training."
The class started talking about the upcoming training.
Jun took a deep breath, sitting up in his seat.
Okay, USJ. Let's see how ready I am for you.
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