At the end of classes, Allen went to visit Mei, whose workshop was located in the Support Course.
The pink-haired girl had attracted a lot of attention during the Sports Festival—not only for being the only student from the Support Course to reach the tournament stage, but also because of her abilities and creativity with her inventions.
Walking beside him were Itsuka and Ochako, who had wanted to come out of curiosity.
"Do you really need her help?" Ochako asked with some concern. While Mei was talented, she was also eccentric. Ochako was worried that she might end up using Allen the same way she had used Iida—as a guinea pig.
Itsuka shrugged. "You worry too much. Do you really think anyone at U.A. would dare mess with Allen?~"
Ochako smiled ironically. However, she seemed to remember something and looked at Allen.
"No first-year would mess with Allen, but what about the upper grades?"
Itsuka fell into thought, and Allen himself also considered the topic.
Felicia – Mm, I almost forgot that even though it's a hero school, and oddly starts at seventeen, it's still basically a high school, right?
Rukia – Yes, there are second- and third-year students, according to Nemuri-san.
Maria Hill – Wait, why didn't we see any of them during the Sports Festival?
Natasha – Supposedly their performances were scheduled after the first year.
Allen responded to Chat's doubts.
"According to Nezu, thanks to my intervention the first-year event was completed, but the rest was canceled."
Amanda – Hey, haha, isn't that unfair?
Diana – Mmm, it's not surprising. It was already incredible that the Sports Festival wasn't interrupted earlier. But let's be objective— a group of supervillains attacked, including several of the most wanted villains.
Unohana – One was the leader of a terrorist organization, another led a criminal organization, another was an international villain, and beyond them, All For One appeared. All of that would be enough to turn the country upside down.
Allen agreed and turned toward the two girls who were looking at him curiously.
"I heard there are students called the Big Three of U.A. I suppose that for them I'm just a talented rookie," Allen said with a smile.
Itsuka sighed while Ochako scratched her cheek. Both girls knew Allen was only pretending to be humble. But to be honest, no matter how incredible the Big Three were, neither of them believed they could surpass Allen.
....
Allen looked at the reinforced door in front of him. Behind it was a workshop—one where Mei Hatsume created all kinds of inventions.
*Crack*
Unexpectedly, the door began to swell from the pressure. Allen pushed both girls to the sides just before the door exploded.
Smoke filled the hallway, and Allen was suddenly tackled by a girl who crashed into his chest. Allen grabbed her by the waist so she wouldn't fall to the floor, which caused her not-so-small breasts to press against his chest.
When the smoke cleared, a pair of amber eyes was staring at him.
Her current outfit consisted of work overalls with a tool belt, her classic protective goggles—which not many people knew were actually support equipment for her Zoom Quirk—and a sleeveless blouse that made her look strangely charming despite being dirty from the explosion.
Mei smiled enthusiastically as she grabbed his hand and pressed her body even closer, removing her goggles to reveal eyes that now sparkled like stars.
"Oh Allen, you came!"
Allen smiled faintly.
"What a peculiar welcome. I'm not complaining."
Mei blinked before looking down and realizing that in her enthusiasm she had pressed closer than she probably should have. However, instead of getting embarrassed, she simply smiled.
"Consider it part of the service if you choose me as your first option whenever you want equipment of any kind~"
Itsuka and Ochako opened their mouths, then became annoyed by how shameless Mei was being. However, before they could complain, a wrench suddenly came flying from inside the workshop—heading straight for Mei's head.
Seeing this, Allen stopped the wrench midair.
"Mei-san, how dare you try to steal my VIP?"
"That voice..." Allen's eyes widened slightly.
From inside the workshop, wearing work clothes, Melissa Shield appeared—the same Melissa Allen had saved on the space station, the same Melissa who was All Might's goddaughter and the daughter of the famous David Shield.
"Melissa?"
Melissa smiled at Allen and walked closer. Not subtly at all, she pushed Mei aside, who complained as she was moved.
The blonde girl with blue eyes smiled at the confused Allen. What was she doing here? Of course, he knew she and her father had come for the Sports Festival—but that had been days ago, and he was sure Melissa had better things to do than hang around Japan.
"Hehe."
Melissa pulled out an ID card as if she had already prepared it.
"Did you transfer to U.A.?" Allen asked doubtfully.
If Mei were a genius, Melissa was basically a Tony Stark. Despite being the same age as them, she had already graduated and obtained who knew how many degrees. There was no need for her to go back to school.
....
Lucy – Mmm, it's so obvious it's boring...
Yoruichi – She isn't even trying to hide it, haha.
McDragon – Once again... damn it.
Tony – Well, at least this time it's someone nice. I wouldn't mind giving her a few lessons. You know, you need more smart girls in your harem, hahaha.
Gwen – What does that mean?
MJ – Are you implying we're stupid?!
Emma Frost – Don't forget that I know where you live, and I wouldn't mind buying Stark Industries just to replace the director.
Tony – Wow, wait, I'm sorry! That's dangerous!
....
Allen smiled before patting Melissa on the head while two girls watched him with cold eyes. He knew he would have to explain later about why the famous Melissa Shield knew him.
Once inside the workshop, Mei gave them a tour and showed them what she was working on, as well as the small project she had with Melissa—which turned out to be a small clean-energy reactor.
Allen had no idea how UA High School had so much confidence to allow its students to work on highly dangerous projects like these.
"So, what did you have in mind?" Mei asked with a smile.
"Honestly, I'd like something that helps me restrain the villains I defeat."
Mei and Melissa exchanged glances.
Ochako tilted her head. "Something like handcuffs?"
"Why would you want that?"
Heroes defeat villains, but the ones who handle arrests are always the police. However, what differentiates heroes in this world is that they remain at the scene until the police and the media arrive—the latter being the real target for heroes.
In front of them, they receive the credit, give an interview, pose for photos, and with that, they ensure relevance and maintain their popularity.
It wasn't something dishonorable. After all, there were thousands of superheroes, and more appeared every year. If heroes didn't constantly appear on screens, it was easy for them to be forgotten—which directly affected their salary.
"I rely a lot on my mood when dealing with the press."
Allen was capable of attracting cameras shamelessly, but he knew that most of the time he wouldn't wait at the scene until everyone arrived—he would simply leave, either out of laziness or boredom.
"Sure, beating them unconscious sounds good, but leaving them on the ground begging for mercy has its charm."
Ochako, Melissa, and Itsuka smiled awkwardly, while Mei nodded in understanding and slapped her chest—which bounced slightly.
"Alright! Leave it to me!"
Allen smiled and left the two girls to work.
....
Since there was no need for him to stay any longer, Allen left school with Ochako and Itsuka and took them out for a bite to eat.
"I was thinking of something simple like Battle Fist..." Itsuka said while resting her head on the table.
"That sounds good and it suits you!~" Ochako smiled.
"Is there something wrong with that name?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow while eating a French fry.
Itsuka puffed her cheek in a pout.
"It's just that after hearing the kind of name someone chose, now I feel like I'm being too modest."
"Is that my fault?" Allen chuckled.
Seeing Allen's smile, Itsuka felt annoyed and pinched his leg. The real reason she was in this state was that she felt she needed a hero name worthy of Allen.
Itsuka had dreamed of fighting crime alongside Allen as a pair of superheroes. She knew it was unlikely that she would ever reach his level, but she didn't give up easily, and "Battle Fist" didn't seem like a suitable name for the partner of the strongest hero.
"So..." Allen smiled mischievously as he grabbed the hand that was pinching him and pulled his chair closer to her. "What about Battle Queen? Sounds more fitting, my queen?"
Itsuka blushed like a tomato. Allen had seen right through her.
Ochako also blushed when she saw this. She already knew the kind of man Allen was, and that if she wasn't careful she could become prey at any moment. That made her feel both nervous and strangely expectant.
Ochako shook her head, pushing those thoughts out of her mind. She wasn't like that. She only wanted to be a good friend to Allen.
"Ochako!"
"...!"
Ochako opened her eyes wide when she saw Allen moving toward her as if he were going to hug her. She closed her eyes as she was embraced, but it wasn't for the reason she expected—behind her, a truck had appeared and was about to crash through the window.
Allen extended his hand as a template turned into fragments of light and entered his body.
[Template: Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama
Origin: Mob Psycho
QG 2: (Good) 5 min]
The truck stopped as it was wrapped in powerful telekinesis. The unconscious driver was also unharmed.
"What's happening?!" Itsuka exclaimed as she stood up.
"An accident?!" Ochako trembled. She had come very close to dying. Even if she was prepared for something like that, she couldn't help being scared.
"Well, it looks like we have a guest..." Allen said, looking upward with a mocking gaze.
Standing in the sky was a red-haired man with an aggressive expression. It was Wolfram, the same villain who had attacked during the Sports Festival.
One would think that after Allen survived All For One's attacks twice, villains would think twice before attacking him—but apparently, this guy wasn't like that.
"Allen Walker, I've come to kill you!" he declared loudly. "I know you're a strong brat, but we're in the middle of the city. You wouldn't want to fight here, right?!~"
In his eyes, All For One—despite being his boss—had made a serious mistake. That mistake was confronting Allen in isolated places. The greatest weakness of heroes was people, so attacking Allen in the middle of a crowd would make him very vulnerable and also prevent him from using his full power.
"Haha, go ahe—"
Wolfram's eyes widened in disbelief. Allen appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by the face.
"I see, it's a good plan..." Allen said as he slammed him toward a building.
Before Wolfram could react, his body crashed through a building.
"Ah!"
The villain couldn't believe Allen wasn't worried about hurting civilians.
Several people inside the building screamed in fear. However, when shards of glass and debris were about to hit them, they were repelled by a force field.
Allen appeared once again beside Wolfram and grabbed him by the collar and threw Wolfram toward a building under construction.
He crashed against steel beams and concrete walls, falling all the way to the lowest level.
"Ugh..." Wolfram, despite having a super-strength Quirk given to him by All For One called Muscle Augmentation, felt his body aching. "Brat!"
Filled with rage, the masked villain activated his power, and hundreds of tons of steel began to tremble.
"You're an idiot! Did you forget what my power is?!"
Certainly, throwing Wolfram into an empty building under construction prevented him from hurting innocent people—but at the same time, it gave him all the material he needed to fight.
[Villain: Wolfram
Quirks: Metal Manipulation, Muscle Augmentation.]
Allen narrowed his eyes as he watched the structure of the building being manipulated by the villain.
Steel beams twisted and changed shape, turning into spears that shot toward Allen.
Wolfram laughed. With the amplification of his power, he felt as if he were on the same level as All Might and had nothing to fear.
"Brat, you'll regret underestimating me..."
Allen, who had remained silent, was suddenly enveloped in energy. At the same time, all of Wolfram's attacks stopped, leaving the villain in shock.
"You..."
"You know," Allen said, sharpening his gaze, "I wouldn't mind playing with you under other circumstances. I don't care if it's you or All For One attacking me. But let me warn you—if you hurt someone close to me... There won't be anyone left to protect you from me!"
Irritation: 20%
The metal beams were shattered by telekinetic power. Before he could react, Wolfram was crushed against the ground with enough pressure to pulverize steel.
"Ahhhh!"
He began sinking into the ground as his bones broke.
'That's impossible!' Wolfram couldn't believe it. A brat had cornered him so easily. No—he wasn't a brat. He was a monster.
"What happened? Aren't you going to fight?" Allen mocked.
Wolfram screamed, increasing his muscles more and more in an attempt to resist. However, he only managed to lift his body slightly before the pressure on him doubled.
Wolfram spat blood as he felt his organs about to burst. Even so, Allen showed no mercy. This was a message to All For One. If he wanted to play hero and villain, Allen would play along—but if he pushed him too far, Allen would become his worst nightmare.
"Watch out, Allen!" Itsuka shouted from the ground.
"...?" Allen turned to the right, where two twin dragons made of energy attacked him. Allen created a shield to protect himself.
"This is... from the fake All For One," Allen recalled that Kaina had told him about Nine, and this was one of his Quirks.
In that moment while Allen was distracted, a portal opened next to Wolfram, and he was rescued by a black tentacle.
Allen deactivated his shield and looked at the spot where Wolfram had been.
"Heroes indeed have a disadvantage in places with civilians, but villains also have their own problems... like incompetent subordinates..."
He didn't believe Wolfram had been sent by All For One. No—he was smarter than that, and now that he knew how strong Allen was, he wouldn't attack using only violence or brute force.
Allen returned to the restaurant with the girls and walked them home. He knew he couldn't be careless, so with a magic-type template he had already taken precautions—in case any of his acquaintances were attacked, he would know immediately.
...
Once back at Kaina's apartment, Allen went to take a shower. While he was already in the shower, he heard the door open. He thought it was Kaina, but it surprised him because she wasn't like Nemuri, who would jump into the shower with him without any shame.
Suddenly, a woman's arms wrapped around him from behind.
"What are you doing?" Allen asked with a smile.
"Just stopping by to say hello❤️~"
====
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