13 Chapter 13 - Sunrise
{13} Evans Smith: Sunrise
"This…"
"How is it, Smith-sensei?" Izumi asked, her smile entirely too smug. "Will this do?"
Evans stared at the syringe in his hand, filled with a liquid that glowed a burning orange. It was an injection of Extremis, purified and enhanced by Izumi. She'd already made one for herself, and the improvements it made to her overall Stats couldn't be ignored.
But more than that, she was hoping that it'd help to unlock the full potential of his -Blood Code: Scathach-. She wasn't sure it could—her insight didn't seem to work when it came to their Systems it seemed—but she was hopeful. And so was he.
He was a little worried, he supposed. He had no idea how the strain of Extremis would react with his blood. With his Magic.
But she'd gone this far for him.
"Run away if I fall." He said, and then winked. "Who knows what'll happen. Maybe I'll just turn into a nuke or something."
"Please don't joke about that." She said, her smile turning dangerous.
He shrugged. "It's still a possibility."
And before he could think otherwise, he injected the strain of Extremis into his arm. A flash of pain ran up his spine, followed by a surge of heat that rushed through his veins. It wasn't painful. If anything, it felt rather pleasant. Almost as if an invisible blanket was wrapped around him.
[-Extremis Infusion- has be-!]
At least for a few seconds.
Then his body locked up. His muscles froze taut. His jaw was shut. He couldn't feel his heart beat. He couldn't breathe.
[An unexpected Synchrony has occurred!]
It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't his body that had frozen, but the entire world. Izumi was still, her smug smile frozen. The specks of dust lit by the peering sunlight remained unmoving. The world looked just a little less colorful.
[The Skill -Extremis Infusion- has been sacrificed]
The warmth he felt disappeared. His veins felt like they'd frozen over.
[The Skill -Blood Code: Scathach- has been sacrificed]
Panic surged in his heart. The stoked fire that'd lived in his chest for the grand total of a few weeks faded as if it'd never been there in the first place. Weakness struck him, and he was struck with dizzying vertigo.
But the panic faded after a moment.
Because it'd mentioned that his Skills had been 'sacrificed', not 'destroyed'. His Skill had been mixed into something. And the more he thought of it, the more it sense.
Extremis turned a person into a living napalm bomb, and the enhancements Izumi had done only made it stronger. It made the villain of the third Iron Man movie so hot that he could melt through metal.
On the other hand, his Blood Code had given him control over magical fire. They were steeped in the vestiges of blood, but they were flames nonetheless. The sparks burnt inside his chest, and they raged into an inferno when he let them manifest into reality.
If the two combined, what could be the result?
[-Blood Code: Helios- has been Achieved!]
And finally the strength he lost returned with a vengeance. Heat rushed through his veins and bones. It felt like his lungs had caught on fire. And yet he felt no pain, no panic. Only euphoria remained, overwhelming all other sensations.
[-Blood Code: Helios Lv 4 (31%)-]
[Increases User's Agility and Skill by 65%, Intelligence and Magic by 52%, Strength and Endurance by 47%. Increases all dealt Fire Damage by 40%. Reduces damage received from Fire-based attacks by 24.4% (+0.4). Gives User access to Specialized Gifts.]
The world unfroze, and he could finally breathe.
"Smith-sensei!?"
He glanced at Izumi, no longer frozen in time, and he showed her the panel he'd just read. Her eyes went wide as she scanned through his new Skill's description. "That's…amazing." She smiled tiredly. "You almost gave me a scare, Smith-sensei." He raised an eyebrow, confused. She continued to smile. "Your heart stopped beating."
"Huh."
"How lackluster." She said.
"As if you didn't do the same." He said back, smiling slightly. "Didn't you also inject Extremis without testing it? Who could've known if something happened?"
She shrugged.
"Anyway," He shook his head. "Again, thanks. I didn't think I'd get a fix to my problem this quickly." He patted her head and smiled. "You're the best." He couldn't quite see her expression, but he assumed she was smiling.
He went silent for a moment. Contemplating. Because from the moment Izumi arrived, he could see something in her gaze. A grim determination that drove her every action—accompanied by a forlorn smile, as if this might truly be the last time they would meet.
"You're really doing it, aren't you?" He said. His hand hadn't left her head. "Just a year. Maybe a little more. That's how long you've been my student." He huffed, amusement curling his lips. "Now you're a world-renowned engineer, a Villain to the Japanese government, and a Hero to the people."
She didn't speak, but he caught the glowing red on her cheeks. He laughed. "It's kinda insane, really. You did all that in just a year. Most Heroes wouldn't achieve what you did in a lifetime."
He closed his eyes. Really, this was all still strange to him. Just a year ago, he'd been no one special. Just a man waiting for his damaged clock to finally fail. He'd been drowning in his medication, stuck between the need to keep living and the desire to end it all.
He shook his head. His past was irrelevant now.
"Now you're going to save the world." He whispered. He pulled his hand back, and he smiled wide. "Izumi Midoriya—our time together has been short, but I'm proud to have been your Sensei."
"And I'm glad to have been your Student, Smith-sensei." She said, with a bright smile and tears glimmering in her eyes.
He chuckled. "Have you readied everything?" He asked. She nodded, just as her Iron Suit formed over her body, forming from nanobots hiding beneath her skin, glimmering silver and glowing with lines of blue.
He smiled. "I suppose there's only one thing to ask,"
He placed his fist over his chest, and flames rose around him. They spun, like snakes guarding him. "Izumi, will you give me the honor of helping you?"
She huffed. "How gaudy." But she then grinned. "Of course, sensei. It'd be an honor."
He winked. "Then let's go."
[2000 Mentor Exp has been spent. Beginning transfer to -My Hero Academia-...]
.........…...................
[A Special Event has occurred!]
[Izumi Midoriya has realized the [Truth] of her [Legacy]. The villainous All for One lies in wait, waiting to plunge the world into destruction and chaos. She is prepared to face the [End], and you have offered to aid her. Help Izumi, and make sure the world of My Hero Academia reaches its conclusion!]
[Completion Reward: Random Skill Card (Rare), Unrestricted Access to MHA]
.........…....................
On a seemingly normal day, at the break of noon, the heart of Tokyo exploded with fire and brimstone.
Civilians ran away, fear and panic clouding their hearts as they did all they could to run away from the horde of Villains and Nomus that now filled the streets. The Heroes attempted to fight back, but their numbers have shrunk significantly—many of their colleagues made useless via the Quirk-destroying Drug.
Some of the Top Heroes arrived. Hawks. Endeavour. Ryukyu. Mirko. Edgeshot. But even they could do little but hold back the encroaching horde. There were tens of thousands of Villains, rampaging out across an expanding circle. They were outnumbered by the thousands.
They could only hope that All Might would soon arrive.
Their wish would remain unfulfilled. This entire thing had been planned. All for One had made sure that All Might had spent what little time he had for the day. He wouldn't be able to aid the Heroes as the Villains rushed through Tokyo, and soon, Japan.
The 'Strongest' Hero could only grit his teeth as he watched it all from UA. The rest of the faculty readying themselves to join the Heroes, and meanwhile there he was, sitting in the safety of UA as he watched it all through the television.
Then, suddenly, the expanding horde of Villains and Nomus were halted. Several dozen explosions ran across Tokyo, destroying the evacuated streets and filling them with noxious gasses. Villains that dared to run through the cloud would suddenly find their Quirks missing. The Nomus that charged head-first suddenly collapsed, dead.
The explosions formed a circle of death, with only the streets where the Top Heroes had been fighting left untouched. But before they could continue, a giant wall of flames covered the only unharmed streets.
The Villains, still shocked, froze as they watched the wall of flames tower into the sky like a wide monolith. The Nomus, incapable of thought, charged into the fires.
They all burnt into cinders. Hundreds of Nomus died in seconds.
"Oi, that yours?" Mirko, the bunny-eared Hero asked.
"...no." Endeavour grit out, confused and panicked. Where had that wall of flames come from? What were those explosions he'd heard? What caused it? Who caused it?
Their questions were answered when a man suddenly walked past them. It was only their experience that stopped them from visibly recoiling.
It was a young man, with red hair and eyes, accentuated by the fires that burnt around him. He looked entirely out of place—dressed in nothing but a buttoned shirt and a pair of jeans. Only the strange black gauntlet-like contraption covering his arms made him seemingly fit for combat.
"She really is incredible." He said as he stared at the gauntlets he wore. He shook his head. "I'll think of a gift later."
He clapped his hands, and the wall of flames dispersed. The Villains turned to him and the flames around him, and suddenly they knew who it was that'd destroyed the Nomus their 'Boss' had entrusted to them. "Get that fucker!" One shouted, and the horde of Villains began charging towards him.
And with such a challenge presented before him, what else could he do but respond in kind?
So he dug his foot into the ground, snapping the asphalt as flames gathered around him. He took a breath, and his eyes glowed crimson. Veins of blistering red ran all across his skin, and a grin lit his lips.
Then, Evans Smith leapt forward.
