—Cole POV—
Arriving on the scene, the Commissioner had his men keep the reporters back given how grizzly the inside of the club looked. Surveying the damage, Togo looked at us and asked what happened. Explaining the incident we discovered earlier and the events that led us here, he asked where the perp was.
“He blew up.”, Mirko told him, “We managed to weaken him till he self-destructed. He’s all over the street outside now.”
“Hmm…another person on the list.”, Togo stated as he wrote it down in his notepad.
“I wouldn’t call that thing a person. It seemed to run on instinct and had no sense of pain. Mirko even accidentally snapped its neck but it just shrugged it off.”, I pointed out, “That thing wasn’t natural by any means, it didn’t even seem to have a nervous system because my electricity didn’t stun it.”
Jotting that down, Togo asked if we knew anything about the victim from earlier. Telling him about the one man we were able to ID, he looked up from his notepad seemingly remembering something. Asking one of his men to run the name through their database, the officer ran out to their vehicle to check.
“Anyways, the perp seemed to kill everyone that saw him or crossed paths with him. There is a trail of bodies from that scene to here.”, I advised pointing in the direction we came from, “Clearly that real estate agent and whomever the target was here shared some commonality. If you can find that, I think we can figure out who ordered the attack.”
“Agreed, we will focus on-”, Togo continued when the officer returned from his car.
“Sir we have reports that several more incidents like this happened across town. Several dozen people are dead, Endeavor managed to subdue him only to have the perp explode afterwards.”, the officer reported.
“Great…this is just what I needed.”, Togo grumbled, “Sorry to ask this of you, Kessler, do you think you can do some rounds to check for more perps like the one you found here? You can get around quicker than anyone else here in town.”
Nodding my head, I said my goodbyes to Mirko before zipping into an outlet. Popping up in several locations around town, I ended up patrolling almost all night. Running into several additional crime scenes, I managed to locate several survivors who were immediately taken to the hospital by me. Due to the speed at which I was bringing injured people in, the ER ended up backed up for a while as they scrambled to get everyone checked into rooms.
By the time it was all said and done, the Nomus killed just shy of two hundred people and seriously injured more than seventy more. Of those seventy about twenty of them were kids that were out way past curfew and had been nearby when the second Nomu was tearing people apart. At the request of the families, I stayed at the hospital till nearly 3 am as they were afraid another one would come looking for them.
—Next Day—
Waking up a little later than usual, I took a look at my phone to see several missed calls from my mother. Giving her a call, she answered on the first ring and demanded to know if I was alright. The killings were all over the news thanks to the violent way the perps went out and the number of deaths involved. Assuring her that I was fine, I said that other than those two there were no other killers on the loose at the moment.
“I am glad to hear that, you were all over the news dear. They were talking about how you helped save seventy lives last night, and stayed at the hospital to watch over them.”, she laughed with a hint of happiness, “By the way, who was the rabbit woman you were with? Is she someone special that you met over there?”
“She is a work colleague mom, no need to overthink it.”, I said realizing the reporters probably saw us together at the scene.
“Hehe, that’s how your father and I started out.”, mom giggled, “Go get her honey!”
“I am going to hang up now mom, talk to you later.”, I sighed rubbing my forehead.
Rolling out of bed, I headed downstairs to find Gran Torino and grandpa watching the news. Waving to him as I walked into the kitchen, he asked me how I was holding up. Replying that I was fine, he gave me a once over with a concerned expression. Asking him if something was wrong, he told me that usually, newbies would be a bit shaken up by the carnage I saw last night. Telling him that I wasn’t shaken up about it, I said it came with the job as villains were becoming increasingly more and more violent.
“Right, but still make sure you keep your mental health in good shape. This job can wear you down really quickly if you aren’t careful.”, he remarked, “I have seen a lot of promising young people like you get burned out by this job because they didn’t mind their own health.”
Thanking him for his concern, I told him I would keep that in mind. This wasn’t my first rodeo so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I had fought on countless battlefields and killed thousands of enemies so a few dead people weren’t going to shake me up. This world was really too soft, in my opinion, most of the people here wouldn’t have lasted more than a month in a few of my prior lives.
“Oh Cole, a delivery man came by a little bit ago. Did you order something big? It came in a wooden crate.”, grandpa said.
“Perfect, I have been waiting on the gear to arrive. It’s custom-made equipment I ordered from I-Island a while ago.”, I stated.
“What did you order?”, he asked.
“I will show you, where is the crate?”, I questioned.
Pointing to the entryway, I walked over and brought it into the living room. Popping the crate open, the three new pieces of gear were neatly packed inside. The first item was Kessler’s battery unit that he wore over his suit. It wasn’t ever really specified what its purpose was, but I took it to be extra power storage for him to use freely when power was unavailable. The second item was a mechanical mech armor that covered just my right arm. This unit was specially designed to increase the efficiency of my discharging, and could also be used to focus the electricity into a beam of hot plasma…though the scientists likely wouldn’t suspect that given the sheer amount of electricity needed to do so.
‘Haha, this is just what I have been waiting on.’, I thought picking up the Amp, ‘I know most Heroes don’t carry weapons, but there is no rule saying a Hero can’t carry one. Besides, it’s not like this is a gun or anything like that. To anyone else this is just a hunk of metal, but for me…haha, I am going to enjoy curb stomping some villains with this.’
Putting the first two pieces of equipment on, they felt like they had always been attached to me. The scientist on I-Island had really outdone themselves with the battery bank as it felt like a bottomless pit that could easily handle the input from lightning to supercharge it.
“Hot damn, that’s some cutting-edge tech you have there Cole.”, grandpa said, “What’s with that tuning fork-looking thing with the insulator on the end?”
“I call it the Amp, it lets me amplify my attack power for uses where someone has some electric resistance or grounding. It also works as a good beat stick.”, I chuckled with a smirk.
“I swear kids these days only think about increasing their power the easy way. Back in our day, the way to do it was hard work and sweat.”, Gran Torino stated.
“Uh huh, I am sure you walked uphill both ways in the snow to get to school too.”, I remarked having heard the saying far too many times.
Disposing of the crate and packing materials, I took the equipment upstairs to get suited up properly. Looking at myself in the mirror I looked exactly like Kessler, minus the wrinkly face, which was exactly what I wanted. Grabbing a bite to eat before heading out for the day, I told grandpa I would be back later.
—Several Days Later—
Since the initial incident with the two Nomus, everything had been dead silent which was frustrating. I had really been hoping to get a lead on All For One, but that was wishful thinking. Security cameras around the attacks strangely were turned off during the events so there it wasn’t like I could trace them back to their initial start point. Whoever was responsible for the black took out nearly half the cameras in the city which was a lot of ground to cover.
When the Commissioner found out that they didn’t have any footage, he apparently nearly straggled the Security Chief responsible for them. He was currently on administrative leave for the moment while they looked into him potentially aiding the perp. I had already gone through his computer with a fine toothcomb though and knew he was completely innocent…though he was having an affair with a subordinate.
“So I am still without any leads…”, I muttered walking out of UA with my work schedule.
With the parts in for the security system, the school was scheduled to start in a week. Applicants had to take a different test this year since I had destroyed all the Training Bots and Power Loader was still making new ones. For the most part, everyone ended up in the class they were supposed to, but Hitoshi managed to snag the last seat in 1-A. From what I heard, he saw the gap between himself and the others during the initial test which drove him to train hard during the week before the retest. He managed to show off his skills, securing his seat in 1-A though not everyone was happy with it.
“Welp it isn’t my problem, Bakugo and he can sort out their beef on their own time.”, I chuckled feeling my phone vibrating.
Pulling it out of my coat pocket, I saw Rumi’s number on the screen. Answering the call, I told her I was just walking out of UA with my work schedule.
“About freaking time, I was starting to think you were chickening out on me.”, she laughed, “So when are we sparring?”
“I have a week left before classes start, how about next Tuesday around 1 pm?”, I asked.
“That works, I will send you my address.”, she said, “Make sure you bring some tissues because you’ll need them.”
“Big talk from the freaking Easter Bunny.”, I playfully jabbed.
Hearing something snap on the other end of the call, she told me I was going to regret saying that. Ending the call there, I quickly changed her name to Easter Bunny just so I’d remember to call her that just to annoy her. Since it was lunchtime, I headed into the city center to look for a good place to grab a bite to eat.
Waving at the people that called out to me while I was walking down the road, I looked at the various places near campus to eat. Seeing one of the places Rumi recommended to me, I decided to eat there. Walking inside, the delicious smell of bacon cheeseburgers greeted me as I walked inside.
‘Oh heck yes!’, I thought as I took a seat at the counter.
Placing an order for a double bacon cheeseburger with a vanilla milkshake and fries, I took a better look around the room. Clearly whoever designed this room had taken inspiration from the mid-1950s American Diner scene. It was like jumping back in time for me as places like this were still pretty common where I lived in California when I was in college. Remembering those days, I really hoped the food lived up to the smell that I was clearly tasting in the air.
—Cole POV—
Arriving on the scene, the Commissioner had his men keep the reporters back given how grizzly the inside of the club looked. Surveying the damage, Togo looked at us and asked what happened. Explaining the incident we discovered earlier and the events that led us here, he asked where the perp was.
“He blew up.”, Mirko told him, “We managed to weaken him till he self-destructed. He’s all over the street outside now.”
“Hmm…another person on the list.”, Togo stated as he wrote it down in his notepad.
“I wouldn’t call that thing a person. It seemed to run on instinct and had no sense of pain. Mirko even accidentally snapped its neck but it just shrugged it off.”, I pointed out, “That thing wasn’t natural by any means, it didn’t even seem to have a nervous system because my electricity didn’t stun it.”
Jotting that down, Togo asked if we knew anything about the victim from earlier. Telling him about the one man we were able to ID, he looked up from his notepad seemingly remembering something. Asking one of his men to run the name through their database, the officer ran out to their vehicle to check.
“Anyways, the perp seemed to kill everyone that saw him or crossed paths with him. There is a trail of bodies from that scene to here.”, I advised pointing in the direction we came from, “Clearly that real estate agent and whomever the target was here shared some commonality. If you can find that, I think we can figure out who ordered the attack.”
“Agreed, we will focus on-”, Togo continued when the officer returned from his car.
“Sir we have reports that several more incidents like this happened across town. Several dozen people are dead, Endeavor managed to subdue him only to have the perp explode afterwards.”, the officer reported.
“Great…this is just what I needed.”, Togo grumbled, “Sorry to ask this of you, Kessler, do you think you can do some rounds to check for more perps like the one you found here? You can get around quicker than anyone else here in town.”
Nodding my head, I said my goodbyes to Mirko before zipping into an outlet. Popping up in several locations around town, I ended up patrolling almost all night. Running into several additional crime scenes, I managed to locate several survivors who were immediately taken to the hospital by me. Due to the speed at which I was bringing injured people in, the ER ended up backed up for a while as they scrambled to get everyone checked into rooms.
By the time it was all said and done, the Nomus killed just shy of two hundred people and seriously injured more than seventy more. Of those seventy about twenty of them were kids that were out way past curfew and had been nearby when the second Nomu was tearing people apart. At the request of the families, I stayed at the hospital till nearly 3 am as they were afraid another one would come looking for them.
—Next Day—
Waking up a little later than usual, I took a look at my phone to see several missed calls from my mother. Giving her a call, she answered on the first ring and demanded to know if I was alright. The killings were all over the news thanks to the violent way the perps went out and the number of deaths involved. Assuring her that I was fine, I said that other than those two there were no other killers on the loose at the moment.
“I am glad to hear that, you were all over the news dear. They were talking about how you helped save seventy lives last night, and stayed at the hospital to watch over them.”, she laughed with a hint of happiness, “By the way, who was the rabbit woman you were with? Is she someone special that you met over there?”
“She is a work colleague mom, no need to overthink it.”, I said realizing the reporters probably saw us together at the scene.
“Hehe, that’s how your father and I started out.”, mom giggled, “Go get her honey!”
“I am going to hang up now mom, talk to you later.”, I sighed rubbing my forehead.
Rolling out of bed, I headed downstairs to find Gran Torino and grandpa watching the news. Waving to him as I walked into the kitchen, he asked me how I was holding up. Replying that I was fine, he gave me a once over with a concerned expression. Asking him if something was wrong, he told me that usually, newbies would be a bit shaken up by the carnage I saw last night. Telling him that I wasn’t shaken up about it, I said it came with the job as villains were becoming increasingly more and more violent.
“Right, but still make sure you keep your mental health in good shape. This job can wear you down really quickly if you aren’t careful.”, he remarked, “I have seen a lot of promising young people like you get burned out by this job because they didn’t mind their own health.”
Thanking him for his concern, I told him I would keep that in mind. This wasn’t my first rodeo so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I had fought on countless battlefields and killed thousands of enemies so a few dead people weren’t going to shake me up. This world was really too soft, in my opinion, most of the people here wouldn’t have lasted more than a month in a few of my prior lives.
“Oh Cole, a delivery man came by a little bit ago. Did you order something big? It came in a wooden crate.”, grandpa said.
“Perfect, I have been waiting on the gear to arrive. It’s custom-made equipment I ordered from I-Island a while ago.”, I stated.
“What did you order?”, he asked.
“I will show you, where is the crate?”, I questioned.
Pointing to the entryway, I walked over and brought it into the living room. Popping the crate open, the three new pieces of gear were neatly packed inside. The first item was Kessler’s battery unit that he wore over his suit. It wasn’t ever really specified what its purpose was, but I took it to be extra power storage for him to use freely when power was unavailable. The second item was a mechanical mech armor that covered just my right arm. This unit was specially designed to increase the efficiency of my discharging, and could also be used to focus the electricity into a beam of hot plasma…though the scientists likely wouldn’t suspect that given the sheer amount of electricity needed to do so.
‘Haha, this is just what I have been waiting on.’, I thought picking up the Amp, ‘I know most Heroes don’t carry weapons, but there is no rule saying a Hero can’t carry one. Besides, it’s not like this is a gun or anything like that. To anyone else this is just a hunk of metal, but for me…haha, I am going to enjoy curb stomping some villains with this.’
Putting the first two pieces of equipment on, they felt like they had always been attached to me. The scientist on I-Island had really outdone themselves with the battery bank as it felt like a bottomless pit that could easily handle the input from lightning to supercharge it.
“Hot damn, that’s some cutting-edge tech you have there Cole.”, grandpa said, “What’s with that tuning fork-looking thing with the insulator on the end?”
“I call it the Amp, it lets me amplify my attack power for uses where someone has some electric resistance or grounding. It also works as a good beat stick.”, I chuckled with a smirk.
“I swear kids these days only think about increasing their power the easy way. Back in our day, the way to do it was hard work and sweat.”, Gran Torino stated.
“Uh huh, I am sure you walked uphill both ways in the snow to get to school too.”, I remarked having heard the saying far too many times.
Disposing of the crate and packing materials, I took the equipment upstairs to get suited up properly. Looking at myself in the mirror I looked exactly like Kessler, minus the wrinkly face, which was exactly what I wanted. Grabbing a bite to eat before heading out for the day, I told grandpa I would be back later.
—Several Days Later—
Since the initial incident with the two Nomus, everything had been dead silent which was frustrating. I had really been hoping to get a lead on All For One, but that was wishful thinking. Security cameras around the attacks strangely were turned off during the events so there it wasn’t like I could trace them back to their initial start point. Whoever was responsible for the black took out nearly half the cameras in the city which was a lot of ground to cover.
When the Commissioner found out that they didn’t have any footage, he apparently nearly straggled the Security Chief responsible for them. He was currently on administrative leave for the moment while they looked into him potentially aiding the perp. I had already gone through his computer with a fine toothcomb though and knew he was completely innocent…though he was having an affair with a subordinate.
“So I am still without any leads…”, I muttered walking out of UA with my work schedule.
With the parts in for the security system, the school was scheduled to start in a week. Applicants had to take a different test this year since I had destroyed all the Training Bots and Power Loader was still making new ones. For the most part, everyone ended up in the class they were supposed to, but Hitoshi managed to snag the last seat in 1-A. From what I heard, he saw the gap between himself and the others during the initial test which drove him to train hard during the week before the retest. He managed to show off his skills, securing his seat in 1-A though not everyone was happy with it.
“Welp it isn’t my problem, Bakugo and he can sort out their beef on their own time.”, I chuckled feeling my phone vibrating.
Pulling it out of my coat pocket, I saw Rumi’s number on the screen. Answering the call, I told her I was just walking out of UA with my work schedule.
“About freaking time, I was starting to think you were chickening out on me.”, she laughed, “So when are we sparring?”
“I have a week left before classes start, how about next Tuesday around 1 pm?”, I asked.
“That works, I will send you my address.”, she said, “Make sure you bring some tissues because you’ll need them.”
“Big talk from the freaking Easter Bunny.”, I playfully jabbed.
Hearing something snap on the other end of the call, she told me I was going to regret saying that. Ending the call there, I quickly changed her name to Easter Bunny just so I’d remember to call her that just to annoy her. Since it was lunchtime, I headed into the city center to look for a good place to grab a bite to eat.
Waving at the people that called out to me while I was walking down the road, I looked at the various places near campus to eat. Seeing one of the places Rumi recommended to me, I decided to eat there. Walking inside, the delicious smell of bacon cheeseburgers greeted me as I walked inside.
‘Oh heck yes!’, I thought as I took a seat at the counter.
Placing an order for a double bacon cheeseburger with a vanilla milkshake and fries, I took a better look around the room. Clearly whoever designed this room had taken inspiration from the mid-1950s American Diner scene. It was like jumping back in time for me as places like this were still pretty common where I lived in California when I was in college. Remembering those days, I really hoped the food lived up to the smell that I was clearly tasting in the air.
