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Izuku and Mei stood over their workbench as they stared down another blueprint. Both of them sported looks of despair and boredom. After several seconds, Izuku placed his hand on the blueprint, “This drawing will become three-dimensional.” In an instant, the drawing of a pair of space boots jumped off the blueprint and materialized in real life.
“How many babies does that make?” Mei asked, her voice devoid of all emotion.
“Forty-three,” Izuku replied in a similar tone. He then gave a long, hard sigh. “This used to be fun.”
“Whatever happened to the joy of creation?” Mei asked.
“It left the moment I made Newer Order.”
In a sudden fit of rage, Mei grabbed the space boots and chucked them across the room, where they just clattered across the floor, “They didn’t even explode! This new Quirk of yours takes the fun out of everything!”
Izuku began to yank his hair out of anger, “I know! This Quirk was supposed to make things more fun, not more boring!”
“We need to get rid of it!”
“We’ll give it to someone else!”
“But who? No one else can handle the strain of that many Quirks!”
“We have Newer Order. We can make it so they can!”
“Okay, then who do we give it to?”
Izuku paused and hummed to himself, “How about Tsu?”
“That’s a great idea!” Mei cheered, “She’s already got One for All. There’s no one more worthy than her!”
———————————————
“You are unworthy of One for All.”
As Tsuyu sat across from Sir Nighteye in the teacher’s lounge, she couldn’t help but be rightfully angry at the man who demanded to meet with her just to tell her that. But regardless, she managed to hide the anger in her voice, “How do you know? You don’t even know me, ribbit.”
Sir Nighteye scoffed, “I don’t need to know you to be certain that Mirio is the only acceptable choice of successor. He will be the next symbol of peace. So if you value the future of hero society, you’ll give One for All to Mirio.”
Tsuyu, for her part, did not look impressed, “So then why isn’t Mirio having this conversation with us, ribbit.”
“He doesn’t know about One for All yet.”
“So then how do you know he even wants it?”
“Are you serious?” Nighteye glared, “You’d be a fool to not immediately accept a power as great as All Might’s!”
“Then I guess I’m a fool, because I almost didn’t.”
“Well then that just shows you’re the inferior-”
Nighteye got cut off as Izuku and Mei burst into the teacher’s lounge, “Hey Tsu, do you want to be a reality warper?!” Izuku yelled before getting a good look at the room. “Oh, hi Nighteye.”
Nigheye blinked in surprise for a moment before turning to Izuku, “Aren’t you the boy who interfered with the Yakuza case?”
“Nooooo,” Mei chimed in. “He was the boy who saved an abused child from torture at the hands of the Yakuza.”
Izuku nodded in agreement, “Yeah. Anyways.” He turned to Tsuyu, “Do you want Newer Order? Mei and I got bored of it.”
“Ribbit, I don’t see why not. I already have One for All. What’s one more overpowered Quirk?” Tsuyu responded.
“Now hold on,” Nighteye interjected. “You told them of all people about One for All?”
Tsuyu’s eyes squinted, “Yes. I told them, and Ochako, and Habuko, and my family. Is there a problem with that?”
Nighteye crossed his arms, “Yet another reason you’re unworthy of One for All. In fact, I’m sure you’re unworthy of Newer Order too.”
Izuku raised an eyebrow, “Oh? And do you have a better candidate in mind?”
“Why yes, yes I do. Mirio Togata would be a better fit for either of those Quirks.”
“Then why don’t we prove it with a little friendly competition?”
“Perfect! Then, you’ll all see that Mirio is the superior successor and will have no choice but to forfeit One for All to him.”
“Sure, just keep believing that,” Tsuyu muttered to herself.
Izuku clapped his hands together, “Well since we’re in agreement, let’s get star-”
Izuku got cut off as a nearby wall was suddenly knocked down. Everyone turned to see a figure standing among the rubble, “OH YEAH!”
Mei gasped, “The Kool-Aid Man?”
“No! It’s number one American Pro Hero: Star & Stripe!” Izuku pointed out.
“That’s right!” Star said as she flexed her muscles. “I heard you were giving away a more powerful version of my Quirk, so I came down to join this little competition of yours!”
“I don’t see why not.” Izuku smiled, “Now let’s get started for real!”
———————————————
As the three contestants and Nighteye stood in the Support Lab waiting for Izuku to get set up, Mirio turned to Tsuyu to start a conversation, “A little nerve-wracking, huh?”
Tsuyu shrugged, “A bit. But I know Izuku and Mei, so I think I know what to expect.”
“Ha, not me! I’ve only heard stories about Power Loader’s gremlins. Is it true that they went back in time and caused the Dawn of Quirks?”
“It’s hard to tell with them, ribbit. Especially since they can warp reality now.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me of something.” Mirio turned to Star, “How exactly is Midoriya’s Quirk stronger than yours?”
Star let out a boisterous laugh at nothing in particular, “That’s easy. My Quirk has drawbacks on how many orders I can keep active at once. His, on the other hand, doesn’t. Not to mention he can warp reality way more than I can.”
“What do you mean?” Mirio asked.
“She means this!” Izuku chimed in as he planted his hands on the floor of the Support Lab, “The Support Lab is now the set of a game show!”.
In an instant, the wall began to change size and color, a huge TV screen appeared right behind them, and neon lights began filling the entire room. In front of the group, a large number of seats and a bunch of TV filming equipment materialized out of thin air, which was filled by UA students and teachers, who seemingly just teleported in.
Izuku, who was now sporting a sparkly green suit, began speaking to the crowd, “Welcome, everyone! Are you ready for another game of…”
“WHO WANTS TO BE A REALITY WARPER!” The crowd cheered as if this was a show they’d seen a million times before.
“That’s right! I’m your host, Izuku Midoriya! And let’s not forget about our co-host/technician, Mei Hatsume!” Izuku gestured to Mei, who was wearing an identical outfit to Izuku’s, except it was pink.
“You know how this goes,” Mei announced. “We’ve got three contestants and four challenges! The first contestant to win two challenges wins the grand prize, Newer Order!”
“Let’s not waste any time. Let’s spin the wheel!” Izuku gestured to the screen, where a digital wheel was spun. Except there was one thing off about it.
“Izuku, there’s only one option on that wheel, ribbit,” Tsuyu pointed out.
“Oh. Then I guess we’re doing the obstacle course!”
———————————————
The three contestants stood at the beginning of a large foam obstacle course. Complete with slides, climbable walls, moving platforms, and paintball cannons.
“Alright, first one to make it to the end is the winner!” Izuku announced, “But to make it more interesting, no Quirks are allowed!”
Instantly, Star lost a good chunk of her muscle mass, and Tsuyu’s skin went from green to white as her posture straightened and her eyes shrunk. They both visibly slumped at these changes.
Mirio frowned and snapped his fingers, “Darn. I was hoping to cheese the entire thing.”
“Me too,” Star agreed.
“Contestants, get ready.” Izuku said as Tsuyu and Mirio crouched into runners’ starts, while Star just stood there, “Three, two, one, go!”
Tsuyu and Mirio immediately took off and began climbing the first wall. Meanwhile, Star just took out her phone and dialed a number, “Arron? It’s me. I need you to bring the jet around.”
A few seconds later, a military fighter jet rolled up to the starting line, and Star jumped on top. The jet took off, and Star flew over the entire obstacle course in five seconds before jumping off the plane and landing right at the finish line.
“Star wins!” Izuku announced.
Tsuyu and Mirio both groaned, “No fair,” Tsuyu complained.
“Hey, I didn’t use a Quirk,” Star shrugged with a cheeky grin.
———————————————
“Time for round two!” Mei announced, “For this one, I’ll be shooting rubber balls at you with this baby I made!” She put her hand on a cannon with over a dozen barrels pointing out of it, “If you get hit, you’re out. Last one standing wins. NOW GO!”
As soon as Mei said go, Star stated, out loud, “I cannot be hit by rubber.” Any rubber balls flying towards her veered off to hit the other two contestants.
For his strategy, Mirio just stood still as he focused on Permeation, letting all balls that flew towards his body phase right through.
Tusyu, being the only one who couldn’t cheese this challenge, charged up Fluorescence and began jumping, ducking, and weaving around the balls. She managed to keep this up for about five minutes before she slipped up and had a ball hit her shoulder.
As Tsuyu walked off the firing zone, Star turned her head to Mirio and let out a fierce smile, “So, how you holding up out there, golden boy?”
“Not bad,” Mirio replied with a lazy stretch as more balls passed through him. “I can keep this up all day.”
Star let out a chuckle, “Well that’s a shame for you because I can literally keep this up forever. As long as I got my Quirk active, it’s physically impossible for me to get hit.”
As soon as Star finished that sentence, she was hit in the gut by a metal cannonball. She fell over on the ground, clutching her stomach in pain.
Mirio turned to Mei, who just shrugged, “What? I got bored. Either way, you win.”
———————————————
“Alright, it’s time for round three!” Izuku said, “And this round requires a special guest. So everyone give a warm welcome to my sister, Eri!”
A girl with white hair, red eyes, and a yellow horn sticking from her head excitedly trotted onto the stage, “Hi, Izuku.”
Izuku patted Eri on the head as he explained the challenge, “Today’s Eri’s birthday, which means you’ll all have to make her a birthday cake. She’ll judge each of them on a scale of one to ten, highest score wins!”
Eri pulled on Izuku’s suit to get his attention, “But I thought we celebrated my birthday with Mei yesterday.” To prove her point, she pulled out her birthday presents from yesterday, a hand-made apple plush and a pink glitter gun.
Izuku kneeled to Eri’s level as he ruffled her hair, “I know, sweetie. But you’ve missed so many birthdays and you’ve been so good at facing your fear of birds that you deserve another celebration.” The crowd made a loud ‘awwwww’ sound at that.
“Anyways,” Izuku stood up and faced the contestants. “It’s baking time!”
———————————————
When the hour-long timer ran out, the contestants lined up to present their dishes to Eri. Star went first, giving Eri a slice of standard vanilla cake. But before Eri could try it, Star poked the cake and stated, “This cake tastes like rainbows.”
Eri took a bite of the cake, then immediately spat it back out, “Rainbows taste like doo doo. Two outta ten.”
Star looked disappointed, but that feeling soon dissipated as she pat Eri on the head, “Awwwww, I can’t stay mad at you.”
Mirio was up next. He handed Eri a plate of chocolate cake, except the cake looked more black than brown. Eri took a bite and spit it out yet again, “This is too burny, four outta ten.”
Mirio gave a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head, “Sorry, Eri. Baking’s never been my specialty.”
From his seat, Nigheye grumbled to himself, “This game is rigged, All Might never had to bake anything.”
Tsuyu was up last. She unveiled a crisp apple pie to Eri, and the young girl’s eyes immediately lit up in excitement. She took a bite, then another, then another, “This is the best thing ever! Ten bajillion outta ten!”
“How the heck did you know she likes apples so much?” Star asked.
Tusyu shrugged, “I saw her holding the apple plush earlier. Also, she goes on playdates with my younger siblings.”
———————————————
“Alright, you’re all tied up. This last challenge will determine the winner.”
“Which is…” Star asked impatiently.
“Baby making!” Mei cheered out.
“She means invention making,” Izuku was quick to correct.
Mirio immediately stopped taking his shirt off, “Oh, that makes more sense.”
“You have an hour to make something from that pile of materials over there,” Mei instructed. “I’ll be the judge. ThreeTwoOneGo!”
When Mei started the challenge, the contestants began fumbling with the materials, none of them really knew what to make, or how to make it. Eventually, Mirio spoke up, “Can I phone a friend?”
“Eh, why not? You can each phone a friend,” Izuku shrugged.
Mirio took out his phone and dialed a number, “Hey Tamaki! I need help with… huh? What? Oh, sorry. Bye!” Mirio hung up and turned to Izuku, “He gets shy on the phone.”
It was about this time when Star’s own call picked up, “Hey Mike, it’s Cathy. You build our fighter jets, right? Think you can walk me through how to make one? What? No… huh? What do you mean you just order them off eBay?!”
Mei’s snickering at the failure of communication was interrupted as her phone began ringing, “Hello? Oh hi Tsu! Yeah, sure, I can walk you through how to make a pair of Jet Boots step-by-step!”
———————————————
When the hour was up, Mei carefully eyed the contestants’ creations, much like how a gemologist would inspect jewels, “Let’s see here, we’ve got a model fighter jet from Star, a smoldering pile of ashes from Mirio, and a functioning set of Jet Boots from Tsu. Yup, Tsu wins.”
“We have a winner!” Izuku yelled as Tusyu excitedly jumped up and down while confetti fell from the ceiling.
“Aw darn, I lost,” Star lamented. “Oh well, maybe I’ll have better luck on Jeopardy. See ‘ya!” She jumped out the nearest window and landed on a fighter jet, which took off into the sky.”
“Good game, Tsu,” Mirio said as he stuck out his hand.
“Good game, ribbit,” Tsuyu returned the handshake. “Sorry you didn’t win.”
“Eh, it’s probably for the best. I’m already doing pretty well with my own Quirk. Getting a new one would just give me more things to worry about.”
“What?!” Nigheye shot up from his seat, “What do you mean you don’t want another Quirk?”
“Is something wrong, Sir?” Mirio asked in concern.
“Yes! This game was rigged! The hosts were biased! You should’ve won the Quirk! You deserve the Quirk! That’s what I made you for!”
Nighteye’s rant was cut short as a hand grasped his shoulder, “Mirai.”
Nigheye turned to see Toshinori squeezing his shoulder, a quiet rage bubbling beneath his skin, “All - All Might!”
“Mirai, have you been grooming this boy as a vessel to inherit a specific Quirk?”
“I, um, well, I.”
Toshinori began dragging Nighteye out of the Support Lab, “I’m calling Human Resources.”
When the two adults left, there was an awkward silence between the hosts, the contestants, and the studio audience. Mirio let out a fake cough to break that silence, “Sorry about that. I’m just gonna… go and get things sorted out. Both physically and emotionally.” He silently walked off the game show set and out of the Lab.
“Okay. Let’s, uhhhhh, let’s get back on track,” Izuku said, slipping back into gameshow host mode. “Tsuyu Asui! Are you ready to claim your prize?”
“I sure am, ribbit,” Tsuyu cheerfully replied.
“Okay then. HERE WE GO!” Izuku placed a hand on her shoulder as he spoke, “Newer Order will be transferred to Tsuyu Asui, and it can’t be stolen. Just to make sure I don’t get tempted.”
“Congratulations! You have the powers of a god! Now do something cool!” Mei demanded.
Tsuyu obliged and placed a hand on her head, “My hair is now blue, ribbit.” Nothing happened, so Tsuyu tried again, “Ribbit, my hair will turn blue.” Still nothing, “Ribbit, my hair will shift hue until the color resembles that of the ocean, ribbit. Why isn’t it working?”
Izuku mumbled to himself for a moment before figuring it out, “I think the Quirk doesn’t mesh well with your speech impediment. So while you technically have the Quirk, you can’t actually… use… it.”
“And you can’t use Newer Order to fix it. Because you made it so you can’t take Newer Order, ribbit.”
“…Yeah.”
———————————————
Deep in the core of One for All, the Vestiges stared at the form of the newest Quirk in confusion.
“Why does it look like a blob of putty?” Nana asked.
“It feels like a blob of putty, too!” Banjo said as he squeezed the newest vestige.
Yoichi hummed, “I think it’s because Newer Order was made by meshing a bunch of Quirks together, so it doesn’t look the same as us. Thankfully, that also means it isn’t conscious.”
“Enough chat. You guys wanna play with some putty?” Banjo asked.
“Eh, why not?” Yoichi shrugged.