Chapter 11

"Thanks for meeting with me like this," Jack said. "I had some questions I wanted to ask you in private."

"That's alright," Snatch replied. "Can I ask why privacy is so important?"

The teen looked around the training room trying to decide how much to tell the Pro Hero. There were three big secrets Jack tried to keep – his energy form, his coming from the future, and, most importantly, the full extent of his power. His energy form was probably the least critical. The administration and medical personnel at UA knew about it, though he had no idea if his teachers did. That was what was in the data packet from UA he had brought to Kardog. If something happened to him, they needed to know about his true nature. This meant that he had already allowed for that secret becoming known to his mentor. And to accomplish his goal in choosing Snatch, Jack needed to let the Pro know. But it was hard. The golden teen knew his true form made him a freak, even among the quirked population.

"You know I have a secondary mutation that allows for me to change shape," Jack said. "There is more to it than that." The golden teen demonstrated by growing, shrinking, stretching, and slowly phasing his hand through a target manikin.

Snatch took an involuntary step back at the amazing display. "That's a lot more than a secondary mutation. That's a boat load of different quirks. How are you doing this?"

Jack pulled himself back into his normal shape and answered, "They're all manifestations of my non-standard body type, harnessed through this special costume. You can do everything I just did with your sand body, right?"

"Mostly," the older man conceded. "Are you saying you have a sand body in there?"

"Not sand. Energy," Jack said. "I have no physical structure at all, just energy. That's my secondary mutation. I can show you. I'll come out of this containment suit. Normally you wouldn't be able to see me, but I learned to emit visible light, if I want to interact with people in this form. I still can't talk or touch anything, but I can glow, for short periods at least."

The older man looked thoughtful for a moment, stroking his mustache. "Alright. Let's see this."

Jack nodded then locked his suit in an upright position and opened the faceplate. This disengaged the internal magnetic field that allowed his insubstantial essence to interact with the costume. He concentrated on glowing in the visible spectrum. He looked like a cloud of light pouring out of the suit and floating in front of the Sand Hero.

Then Jack tried something he had been playing with for some weeks when he was alone in Oba's lab. He could convert energy to matter, even complex matter if his had a good model to copy – like the chair on his first day of class. His being was pure energy. He started to convert it to matter, trying to recreate his physical body. Jack metamorphosed into a thick cloud of hydrogen and carbon particles, swirling in the air. But he could not coalesce into a whole. After a minute or two he gave up and returned to his energy form, pouring back into his suit.

"As you can see, I need my different containment suits to interact with the world," Jack said. Snatch was looking at him warily. "My adopted mother created both my golden social suit and this combat suit with that in mind. They also let me harness and project my energy and can contort in different ways."

"What was with the cloud of particles?" the hero asked. "I thought you said you were pure energy."

"I'm trying to reform my physical body. I should be able to do it, but all I get so far is random carbon particles." Jack started pacing then turned his blank faceplate to the older man. "That's why I came here. I'm hoping you might be able to help me figure out how to pull those particles together into a human body. You do it all the time with your sand particles."

"Yeah, I guess I do. The problem is I do it instinctively. I don't have to consciously convert silicon to carbon. And I don't keep a mental model of my anatomy in mind while reforming." He stroked his blond mustache with his right hand, his thumb tracing down one side of his mouth and his index finger the other. He held his left hand up and changed it to a blade made of sand. Then to a mace, then an axe. Then he changed it back to his hand. "I'll have to give this some thought. In the meanwhile, you've got target practice."

He gestured to three support-tech energy traps set on concrete pillars near the back of the large training room. The room was two stories tall and took up half of the fourth and fifth floors. It was reinforced and had mobile and modular equipment to set up different training scenarios. Jack and Mina, as she had asked him to call her, had spent most of the day in the room, going through scenarios with various Kardog heroes and sidekicks. Earlier Pinky had spent an hour alone with Snatch, now it was Jack's turn.

"Blip and Rover tell me you've got the accuracy part down pretty well and show decent tactical awareness," the Pro said. "That's great. Now it's time to work on speed while maintaining power. Those three targets will light up randomly. I want you to blast them as quickly and as hard as you can. The targets will register speed and energy output and display it on this screen. We'll do sets of nine to twelve targets. You won't know how many in each set so you can't let your guard down until the computer buzzes. I want to see those numbers climbing after each set. Are you ready?"

Jack set himself, one hand pointing at each of the outer targets and his face aiming at the middle trap. He grinned because while he knew these devices were developed by his family's company, he had never gotten to play with them before. "Ready."

The left target lit, and Jack released a powerful blast of energy. The right target lit, and he blasted that one, then the left again. After eleven blasts the system buzzed. Jack lowered his hands and turned to the screen to see his results.

"Average reaction time 1.7 seconds. Average energy output of .73 gigajoules." Snatch read then turned to the teen. "That's powerful, but slow. You need to get faster. I'd also like you to push for more power if you can. Those targets can take it. Try to get it up to one gigajoule. And down under one second. The speed is more important than the power in this case, but I think you can do both."

"How?" Jack asked.

"You'll need to talk to some other blasters to get the real tricks down. But I've worked with enough of you over the years to know two things. First, don't let your head get in the way. Go from your eyes to your hands, without bothering with the brain. Thinking takes time. You need to train to react. Of course, you also need to be sure of your target and what's behind it first, but that's another drill. The second way to get faster – practice, practice, practice. That's what we're gonna do for the next thirty minutes. Practice and don't think."

That is what Jack did. He shaved some time off his reactions and managed to level out at 1.2 gigajoules average. His face blasts were both faster and more powerful than those from his hands.

"Good. Good." Snatch turned Jack around and pointed him at a much larger energy sink target. "Now I want to see you really push yourself. It's important to know your limits. In your case you want to know how big is big. If you don't know, you might do a lot more damage than you mean to. So really give it your all."

"Yes, sir." Jack knew the bigger target could take up to 50 megajoules of power and feed it into the city grid. It was an early precursor of the device the Moon Men used to suck him dry and power the lunar settlements. He was a little surprised to see it in an agency that did not specialize in energy projector quirks. Oba's manipulative fingers could be seen working behind the scenes.

Concentrating, he built up a massive blast and started to release it through his faceplate. Internal alarms blared on his HUD for a fraction of a second before his suit lost containment and blew apart. The explosion knocked Snatch back. He splashed against the padded wall as a spray of sand, then reformed. In his intangible state, Jack watched the hero flow back to his feet and examine the ruined remains of Jack's combat suit.

"If you're here Empyreal, please glow for me. Pulse once if you're hurt or twice if you're alright." The Sand Hero's voice carried though the room.

Jack floated in front of the man and pulsed twice in the visible spectrum. Using the same matter conversion technique he had used earlier, he attempted to reform his body.

I do it instinctively … don't let your head get in the way, Snatch had said. So, Jack tried letting go and not overthinking it. After several seconds, he managed to form a hand. Giving the older man a quick thumbs up, Jack let the matter cloud revert to invisible energy and floated towards his room where his social suit was stored. Oba would need to send one of the spare combat suits so he could continue his training.

"According to Kardog's data …" Oba clarified. She and Jack had been discussing the containment failure and trying to determine the cause. "… you released 614 blasts in 28.6 minutes, averaging .93 gigajoules each, before you tried the big blast."

The older woman tugged at her hair with both hands, a gesture Jack knew denoted serious frustration. "We've never tested the suits under that kind of stress. Which was foolish on my part. I know most villain battles last fewer than twelve minutes, but somewhere around seven percent of them last longer than thirty minutes." She tapped into her system looking at numbers that meant nothing to Jack. After three minutes he made a noise to remind her he was there.

"I think we have a real problem with the basic design," She finally said. "We made trade offs in terms of containment strength to allow you the flexibility to use the shape changing capabilities. If you're going to be putting the kind of output stress on the system you did today, we're going to need to reinforce it, probably beyond even your social suits. That would remove almost all the metamorphic flexibility. The advantage is you could use more energy to increase flight speed as well as blast potential."

She looked at Jack through her screen. "I think you need to make that choice. But …"

"But I can't have my suits exploding in battle. And I'm primarily a blaster. Will a new design impede my matter transmutation ability?"

She manipulated her secondary screen some more. "No. In fact we might be able to put in some sub-systems to help make that ability more flexible. I can't be sure, but the initial numbers look good."

"The most important thing is to increase the containment capabilities," Jack finally concluded. "If I have to, I'll give up the metamorphic capabilities completely to ensure system integrity, as long as it doesn't inhibit my energy projection." Jack had always thought the size changing and stretching powers had been cool, but without them he could concentrate more on his strength – E=MC2.

"Alright," Oba said. "I'll get on the new design tonight. Your spare combat suit is on the way already and should get there by 2100. You'll need to sign for it."

"Thanks, Oba. For everything. I'm glad you pushed me into this. I'm really enjoying it." Jack felt like he would have blushed if he could have.

"You just be careful. I know you'll make a great hero, but I want you to … I suppose 'be careful' is inappropriate in this context. But I want you to be safe and happy."

"I'll see you Sunday," Jack replied.

"Right. Sunday."

That evening Jack made his way to the cafeteria. He found Red Rover seated at a table near a window looking out at the busy street. "Hi. Mind if I join you?"

The canine speedster looked up and stared for a second. "Sure, have a seat." After Jack was settled the sidekick continued, "Why are you in civies?"

Jack looked down at his UA gym uniform then smiled sheepishly at the older man. "There was a training accident that destroyed my costume. I figured this was better than my regular uniform."

"Hrmmm…" Red Rover growled lightly. "I suppose. It's just Dad keeps a pretty tight dress code for the Agency. You've got a good excuse, but some interns don't take it seriously."

"I've got a replacement on the way. I should have it this evening. Tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Good. You two are supposed to join us at the arena Friday. You've got to be in costume then." The canid took a bite then said. "You look like you've got a question. Spit it out."

"Ah … I was just curious why Kardog is so strict about costumes and code names. Is that normal at Hero agencies?"

Red Rover looked out into the street for several seconds, the returned his gaze to the golden teen. "Not really. But my dad had a reason when he started the agency, and it sort of stuck when the other heroes came in. Corporate culture, I'd guess you'd say."

"May I ask the reason? Or is it private?" Jack hesitated. This was one of those Japanese things he had never absorbed as a child, because of how and where he had grown up. Oba was Japanese, but she was more worried about his technical needs than delving into socio-cultural dynamics.

"I don't think it's a big deal, especially after so many years." The canine speedster's voice was gruffer than normal. "Do you know my dad's real name?"

"No," Jack admitted after some thought. He was tempted to do a quick net search on his HUD but decided against it.

"It's Iida Inui," the sidekick replied. "Mine is Iida Akage."

"Iida? As in the Iida hero dynasty?" Jack could not help glancing down at the distinctive exhaust pipes coming out of his tablemate's legs. Red Rover shifted so the teen could see them more clearly. The man's red armor was reminiscent of the recently injured Hero Ingenium.

"Yeah, my father was the eldest son of Iida Tensei. Not the current Ingenium, but his grandfather, the founder of the dynasty. Dad was kicked out of the family because at the time mutations were considered shameful. So instead of inheriting Team Idaten like he should have, he founded the Kardog Agency. He hasn't spoken to his brother or his family in ages. And except for legal matters, he never uses his birth name. That's how it became a thing to just use code names here."

"Wow! That means your cousin is in my class."

"Tenya? Yeah, I saw you fight each other in the Sports Festival. He kicked your ass."

"He did." Jack hesitated. "Do you ever talk with him?" From what he had heard Midoriya muttering in the halls, the golden teen suspected the Iida was not taking his brother's forced retirement well and wondered if Red Rover might be someone to talk to about that.

"I don't think Tenya even knows we exist. Or at least doesn't know our familial connection." The older hero sighed heavily. "Listen, I'm not my dad and these days re different. I'm not ashamed of my mutation. I also don't hold the younger generations responsible for the heinous actions of our grandfather. So, I wouldn't mind getting to know Tensei and Tenya. But as long as Dad is around that's not likely to happen. It would be nice but I'm not willing to upset Dad over it."

"Ok."

"But if you wanted to tell me about my cousin, I'd be happy to hear it."

Jack hesitated. "I just joined the class, so I haven't really interacted with him much outside the Festival. And you saw that."

"Saw him kick your ass."

Jack smiled. "You might talk with Ashido … Pinky that is. She's known him all year."

"I'll do that. Thanks. Now tell me about this training accident."

The next day Mina and Jack were paired together to against Rolling Thunder and Armistice. Rolling Thunder was large, muscular man with a black rubber-like costume that had deep treads like a tire on it. It played to his quirk, Rollagon, which allowed him to transform into a giant rubberish ball that could hold people and cargo inside and roll speedily over any surface, even water. He was the youngest of the four Heroes in the agency.

Armistice was the oldest of the six sidekicks. She was a young woman dressed in a World War One officer's uniform, including the sidearm. One oddity of her quirk was that she was greyscale, like an old photograph, as were any clothes she wore or objects she held. Jack could not find any other information on her quirk.

The training room was set up as a large, mostly empty space with a few walls, ramps, and piles of boxes for cover. The two Pros met the interns in the center of the space.

"We are going to be looking at team combat this morning," The older man said, his voice deep and rich. "We're going start with a team spar, you two against us two, to get a good idea of how you fight together. You can take a minute over there to make plans, but when the buzzer sounds, we start. Got it. Remember this is a spar. We don't want anyone getting hurt, or at least not too badly. Bruises heal and make for good learning but loosing limbs sucks."

"See you in ninety seconds." Armistice added cheerfully. Then the two jogged to the opposite side of the room.

"I think we need to take advantage of our mobility," Pinky said, taking charge. Jack was happy to let her. She had weeks of combat training and a real villain fight at the USJ. "I can try to melt his rubber, sticking him to one spot. You should stay in the air and concentrate on her. She's got a gun, so she may be a range specialist."

"Sounds good," Jack replied. "I'll try to keep an eye on you too. If he gets too close to you, I might be able to push him back."

"You know we're gonna lose," she said with big grin. "But let's have fun doing it."

Jack nodded. He had learned that the faceplate showed no emotion, so he had to use body language more in this suit.

Bzzzzz…

Jack launched himself as high as the ceiling would allow. Pinky skated towards one of the ramps. Rolling Thunder changed into his ball from and rolled towards the girl. Armistice sprinted into the middle of the space and released a pulse of black and white that swept across the room. Suddenly Jack was falling, and Pinky was grinding to a halt, her acid apparently gone. Even the Rubber Hero shifted back into his natural state. That did not stop him from continuing forwards and catching Jack before he hit the ground. The greyscale sidekick drew her pistol and shot an electric round at Pinky, stunning her.

"Now your quirks are gone, what are you gonna do?" the big man asked, holding Jack by the back of his neck, dangling several inches off the floor.

"You need to be prepared for anything. We're going to show you how to fight, even without your quirks." Armistice reached down to pull Pinkly to her feet, holding her steady until her shaking stopped. With a wicked smile she said, "Maybe you can surprise that misery of a teacher of yours with what you learn when you get back. He never expects people to keep fighting when nullified."

Pinky shared her grin.

Jack once again wondered why he had chosen this.