Energy Conversion Panels...devices of mine installed on satellites that beamed down terawatts of free power from Space. I invented them when I was like seven, and completely forgot about after I gave my dad the go ahead to use them. These panels took all forms of energy, and made electricity. My plan was to use the tech in that to make the suit absorb the sun's radiation for me, and then the energy from my actions to charge the Nanotube batteries I would use to power the Med Bots. It was a genius plan that if it worked correctly would mean I would never need to plug my suit in like my parents.
"If this works on my suit, I can use the same tech in their suits. I will adjust it to not blast them with the sun's radiation though...they only need it to generate electricity for their shielding.", I said flying around my lap with a grin, "Thankful the outside coating is blue, and the stuff is like rubber. I will have to test to make sure it can convert all the heat and friction I generated when moving at high speeds into electricity. The cape and emblem will be the batteries, and I will have the belt house the Med Bots. I will ditch the red part on the tights...I don't need mom saying I am wearing my underwear on the other side. The Blue suit, red cape and boots, Superman emblem with yellow background, and the gold belt will suffice for now."
Admiring my handiwork, I put on the suit and started flexing my muscles. Smiling when it didn't rip or tear as I moved around, I took off to do my normal testing. Flying around for a good twenty minutes zooming around the world, nothing burned up thankfully. Stopping to check how much battery I had charged, I hadn't even reached an estimated one percent yet but I was already over a terawatt in charge.
"Son of a gun, I didn't think my generator worked that well.", I thought, "Why didn't I use this more in my last life?"
Recalling why, I remembered it was because I thought it was bland. The generator we are using currently to power the branch office just looked so much cooler to the younger me...I mean come on it looks like the Flash was zooming around the inside when you looked at it on camera. Remembering that I laughed thinking about how ridiculous I was to make a different generator just because the first didn't look cool enough.
"Well anyways the suit works material and power generation wise. Last thing to test is it's redirection of solar radiation to my body.", I said shooting into the outer atmosphere.
I didn't need oxygen to live if I remembered correctly. If my suit functioned correctly all I would need is Solar Radiation from a Yellow Sun, and I should be absolutely fine out here. Putting that theory to the test, I floated there in outer orbit allowing the suit to do it's thing. If this worked like Superman's special suit he used when healing, it should start rapidly start to power me up. Floating there for a good twenty minutes I didn't feel any different nor did I have any tingling sensations.
'How the hell do I know if this is working?', I thought, 'Maybe it just start to show in how powerful the Quirks are. I should test that theory by bathing in other colored Star Radiation...except for Red. I'd be a floating space corpse if I did that.'
Doing a quick fly by the moon to see if we really did reach the moon here, I flew back to home and went to bed. The next day I got ready for the girls to come over. After the fight at the stadium yesterday I was sure they were going to ask me all sorts of questions. Speaking of questions, I decided to ask my dad what this Lampshade business was about. Seeing as how he likely got it in college I assumed he did something stupid at a party. When I asked him about it at breakfast he almost choked on his coffee.
"Who...who told you about that?", he asked.
"Cena and Johnson were calling you that, but they said I had to ask you why you got that name.", I stated.
"Dear, are you going to tell him?", Martha asked as she started holding in a laugh.
"I...son I will tell you when your older.", he replied in hurry.
Wanting to really know what it was so I could see how bad it was, somehow my Telepath Quirk kicked in without me realizing it.
'I can't tell him that I ran around campus piss drunk with a lampshade on my head saying that the dean was an ugly old man.', Thomas thought.
Hearing his thoughts in my head I froze in shock. Usually I had to work at prying at what people were thinking, and could only skim what was on their mind at that moment. In this case I could see what he saw like it was me doing it. Realizing I would have to train harder to control it better I was thankful my hearing training was still holding up so I wasn't hearing everyone across the world at once. Finishing breakfast I excused myself and went to meditate.
Mental training was my only real option here to suppress this new ability. I couldn't carelessly pry into peoples minds, it was extremely rude. Not only that if I couldn't control, I might accidentally catch a glimpse of what my parents do at night...no kid wants to see that. Focusing while being relaxed, I slowly started leveling out my range of detection so I could practice blocking it out. It was around then that Nejire blasted through the door, and into my chest.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you get any autographs? Mina didn't get ahead of me, did she?", Nejire asked bombarding me with questions.
"I am fine Nejire.", I said with smile, "I am not injured, and I didn't get any autographs. As for Mina, I have no clue what you are talking about."
"Hmm.", she said looking into my eyes for a moment, "Alright, I believe you."
"You came over early.", I said looking at the time.
"Why wouldn't I!? My boy...best friend was in a dangerous situation!", she said catching herself.
'She is already calling me that...I don't remember accepting any requests to officially date. How about you hold that in till I am thirteen, then we can talk dating? I got a lot of stuff to design and build before then.', I thought.
Putting a that aside for now, I asked the others who were standing in the hallway giving her angry glares to come in. With cheeks puffed out like chipmunks they started telling her they all agreed to come in together. Waving them off she said they all came to the door together, she just ran in first. Before they started fighting, I interjected by asking Mina if she was feeling better.
"I am...I wanted to say, thank you again for saving me.", she said being uncharacteristically bashful.
"I am glad to hear it. Can I get all of your opinions on something?", I asked.
"Sure!!", they said excitedly.
Pulling out my suit I wanted their opinion on how it looked. My geek side thought the suit looked cool, but I wanted more opinions. Looking at me suit they were much more excited than I expected. Saying it looked really cool both Mina and Nejire pointed out the same thing.
"Your muscle will stand out a lot!", they said for different reasons.
Mina was looking at it from a wrestling fan view, and Nejire was looking at it from a young girls perspective. Being three years older than us, she already saw me as someone she wanted to date in the future. She was confident I was going to make waves, and she wanted to come along for the fun. It also helped that she thought I was cute being so short. I couldn't wait for her to see me when I hit my growth spurt. Superman versions usually fell between 6 foot and 6 foot 3 inches so I was excited to see where I would be.
"I think it makes you look strong!", Toga said.
"I am glad you think so."
"I have a question though, what's the symbol mean on the chest?", Toru asked.
"A symbol for Hope.", I said.
"Cool!", Mina said, "It looks wonderful!!"
Putting it away, I offered to play them in some video games. Play Smash Bros. for an hour or so before the predicted event happened. Asking me for help with her report, Mina surprised me by asking so early. Usually she waited to the very last second, and I would help her here or at school in the early morning. Nodding my head I promised to help after I threw her off the stage in the game. Sticking her tongue out at me she laughed, and refocused on the game.
Serving us a light meal of sandwiches for lunch, I thanked Alfred before he left the room. Switching gears after lunch we decided to go to the park, and play. Running into Bakugo and Deku there, Deku was following him around seemingly analyzing everything. If he didn't scream so much, would train in martial arts, and put his brain to use he could probably pull off being Wildcat. He really isn't cut out to be a Batman or Green Arrow...
"Look who showed up!", Bakugo said, "Heard you, and Pinky over there were involved in some fight last night in the US. Bet you think your some hot shot now, don't you?"
"Her name is Mina, and no I don't. Being arrogant is how you get people killed.", I said.
"Oh so you think your better than me!!", he shouted.
'Damn this kid, he hears only what he wants...', I thought.
Telling him I had no time to waste dealing with him, he went to use his Quirk point blank in my face. Grabbing his hand I started applying pressure. Hearing his bones creak he tried to pull away, but couldn't budge an inch.
"Let go!!", he shouted.
"Don't try using your explosive quirk in my face then.", I said releasing it, "If you do it again I will fly you home, and tell your mother."
"...fine!", he said storming off.
'Ugh...I don't want him in the League till he has an attitude adjustment. Maybe Cena can give him one...haha', I thought with a grin.
Putting that thought to the side, I asked Deku if he wanted to play with us. Accepting the offer he joined us for a game of tag then soccer. Taking the girls home afterwards I decided to ask Deku about his plans for the future. As I assumed he hadn't changed his mind about wanting to be a Hero. His mother told him he could be whatever he wanted to be if he put his mind to it. The problem was he had a very steep uphill climb being Quirkless. Having no idea if he had lost it to the doctor or simply just never had one, I only knew the only way out of this hole was training like hell.
"Deku, if you want to be a Hero you need to train. No amount of training will make you All Might, but with hard work I am sure you can become a Hero. You need to use your mind, and strengthen your body the way humans did before Quirks.", I said.
"I...I don't know.", he said.
"Deku, would All Might back down from training or take it head on?", I asked.
"He...he wouldn't back down!", Deku said.
"Exactly!!! If you want to be a Hero LIKE All Might embodies you need to hone yourself. There will be some Quirks that your body will be weak against, but having a plan of attack for any situation can swing things in you favor.", I said, "Many Villains rely solely on their Quirk, you can take advantage of that arrogance and bring them down...all you need to do is observe, watch, and listen. If you are smart, and I know you are, you can find your way out of almost all situations."
"You...you think so?", Deku asked.
"Deku, it takes more than a Quirk to make a Hero. Showing up and being their for others when things look bleak...that's being a Hero. Rising up when no one else will, that's being a Hero. Running head first into danger to save someone at the possible expense of your life, while crazy, is what a Hero does.", I said looking him dead in the eyes, "Deku, you have the heart of Hero. I know you have it in you to be there for those who can't protect themselves. I watched you on several occasions stand up to children to protect others even though you knew it hurt getting beat up by them. You have a heart that most Heroes don't have, that's something that you and All Might share. No matter the odds you both take it on head first to defend the weak. No amount of training, Quirks, or lectures can instill that in someone. It's something people either are or aren't born with."
Seeing the spark of hope in his eyes, he seemed to believe me. I was right though, many kids his age when they took the test to get into U.A turned and ran from Zero Pointer even though someone needed help. Deku leapt in to save Ochaco without thinking, he just did it. That's how a Hero should be in a situation like that, save those that need help.
"Alright, I will do it.", Deku said, "How should I do it though? I don't want to bother my mother to out me in martial arts."
"My suggestion is work on strength and endurance, then working on martial arts training. There are plenty of masters that use the internet to teach lessons. My advice is work from there, and also do research into the anatomy of the body mainly the nervous system.", I said, "You can take down giant people if you hit the right nerve bundles."
"Okay, I will try that!", he said, "And for the physical training?"
"Ride a bike, go for a run, going swimming, flip tires...there are lots of free things you can do.", I said.
"Right, I can do that much.", he said.
"Everything in moderation though, if you push to hard you will pass out.", I warned him.
"Got it!", he said.
Dropping him off at his home, he ran inside full of vigor. With renewed hope I knew he would at least start his strength training sooner that in the series. I was confident that he could wield One For All better this way. No matter what, I would ensure he got that fateful encounter with All Might. I knew he would still be looking for a replacement around then as even with his healed body he couldn't keep it up forever. Eventually he would need to retire because saving people everyday with no real time to unwind would be taxing on anyone, even me. Sure being Superman I could do it all day, but I wanted a family and to have kids. Being a Hero 24/7 just wasn't possible...especially if my parents gave me the company when they retire.
Zooming back home, I got my suit out and showed my parents. By this point they pretty much realized I was hell bent on being a Hero. While they respected my decision, they also were concerned for my safety. Knowing what my Quirks were vaguely didn't help them calm down. Seeing my suit both of them tried to hide their worried looks.
"Clark...you aren't intending to be a Hero just yet, are you?", mom asked.
"Only in emergency situations like with what happened last night.", I said, "I won't be flying around the city looking for crimes, I don't think the Commissioner would be happy if I did."
Looking relieved they asked specifically what I considered an emergency.
"If there was something like a Natural Disaster, of course I will prioritize my studies first though like you wanted.", I said.
"Good...", they sighed, "This suit, what does it do?"
"Well the cape is made of the Carbon Nanotubes, and the suit is a made of small, flexible Energy Conversion Panels. That will take most forms of energy, and make electricity which will be stored in the cap and emblem. My belt holds my Med Bots so I can help heal the injured.", I said.
"Tell me more about these Energy Conversion Panels.", dad said.
"It can take all forms of radiation, static electricity, and heat energies in to make electricity. It can do kinetic energy too, but it is limited really. Takes a lot of people walking on it to make it worth it.", I said, "Solar Radiation though is being absorbed and distributed around my body. I found out that the Sun makes me stronger the longer I bathe in it's glow."
"What do you mean!?", the gasped.
"Like my Quirks get stronger.", I said.
Looking at each other they became even more worried.
"Son, we moved here to give you the opportunity to be taught by some of the finest instructors when you came of age, and avoid the American Media. We have watched you grow, and know that you are a good boy...the public may not see you that way. You have done well hiding your potential, just realize once you step into the light the public will find out your secret.", Dad said.
"I know.", I said.
"Clark please take this seriously", mom said with a worried look, "We know all you want to do is help, but the media may not paint you that way. You recently had to stop going to martial arts because the other boys were afraid of you because they couldn't make you budge even though you were shorter. Last night you showed us that you are far stronger than we realized, and now you say your Quirk is growing stronger. I hope you can see why we are worried."
"Mother...Father...I am ready to bear that weight. Even if the world treats me like a monster I know that you two won't, and neither will my friends. If that's a sacrifice I make to save people, I will make it so people like Toga don't have to suffer in silence.", I said.
"Damn it son why did you have to inherit your grandfather's heart...", father said gripping his chair, "Your mother and I will always be proud of you, just please make sure you come back home each time. Last night we thought we lost you...we don't want to feel that way again son. You mean more to us than all the money and power we have, you are the one thing we can't ever replace in our lives. All the joy you bring us...damn it..."
"You are truly a gift from God
"I know Dad, I promise you won't have to worry about it. You will see that I am super strong.", I said with a grin.
The next morning I got up, packed my suit up, and went to school. I intended to carry, if possible, at all times in case duty called. I didn't intend to go looking for real fights quite yet, but one found me. Right around 10am the principle came on the loudspeaker and told the teachers to turn on the news. Assuming I was going to be the subject of some bragging for the school, I was shocked to see downtown LA looking like a warzone.
Two hours prior several groups of Heroes took up positions in LA outside the normal ones that patrolled the streets. Section 13 had received tips from several Information Brokers confirming the attack on the police station was happening today. Flying in specialist Heroes to handle Megaton and Bulldozers troublesome Quirks, the group also organized several agencies to be on standby to evacuate civilians. Planning for the worst the US Military was also on standby in case their employer showed up.
"I don't like this one bit.", Charles said lighting a cigar, "Feel like we are play the role of caged rats."
"Not much we can do.", Smith said, "We can't risk being caught out in the open. Our informants said they brought in several specialists too."
"You kids stop complaining.", Smoky said, "If this is too much excitement for you go home so mommy can change your diaper."
"You aren't the least bit worried?", Charles asked.
"Meh, ain't anything different than during the Cold War.", Gramps said, "Lots of shit storms during those years. Too many run ins with freakshows the Russians made."
"You'll be meeting another today, Megaton was at Chernobyl when it had a meltdown. Before then he could interact with people normally. Unfortunately for him his Quirk absorbed a large amount of radiation, and because radioactive himself.", Jetson said, "Man's been in that biohazard suit since then."
"Meh, seen worse.", Gramps said.
"Worse than this?", Smith asked.
"Meh you kids got no idea the shit we have seen.", Gramps said, "We watched one of our brothers in arms give his life to save us. Fucking bastard that did it was a Psychopath Esper that tore the flesh right of his body without batting an eye."
"Wow...", the Section 13 team said, "Where did this happen?"
"A few decades back...we were running the streets in New York stopping the mob and criminals from terrorizing families.", Smoky said, "Martha's father was one of our brothers, we grew up in a real rough neighborhood."
"Don't go talking about that shot, just get to the point.", Gramps said.
"We ran into a group smuggled in immigrants who wanted to bypass the check in station. Trying to get them to go back to the checkpoint, one of the men in the back decided to use the lot as cover to run.", Smoky said, "Fucker killed all of them using telekinesis to rip them apart. I remember seeing those families...all that blood."
"We chased the bastard down, and alerted the police. They were of no use, the moment they pulled up the perp crushed the cars like a soda can just by looking at them.", Gramps said, "We chased him for about three miles when the rest of our group showed up to run support. At that point the perp went ape shit...no offence Night Monkey, and started randomly sending shockwaves every which way. There was no time to get people out of there, he just started killing without a shred of hesitation. Martha's father dove in to get people out of there while we tried to take him out."
"We got careless when we thought his guard was down, and were about to be torn to bit but he took it head on to shield us.", Smoky said looking upset, "Poor guy, left Martha and her mother alone when she was only ten. It was that day we realized we were as hot shit as we thought."
"What happened to the Esper?", they asked.
"We bought enough time for Mr. Freedom to show up and catch him. He was locked in some dark place, and they threw away the key apparently.", Smoky said.
Looking at his men Charles made a gesture to Jetson. Shaking his head Charles rubbed his chin pondering the answer.
'We don't have any Esper people locked up.', he thought.
Around 4:30pm, the teams were in place and everyone kept radio chatter to a medium. With a few eyes in the sky, they started looking for any signs of trouble. As the minutes ticked by some Heroes were starting to question the validity of the information. At exactly 5pm, several semitrucks started plowing through traffic two miles from them. Receiving the report almost immediately the Chief has his men deploy spikes to stop the trucks from getting close.
Rolling them out, police started evacuating the civilians. Getting people clear of the action, the first truck hit the the spikes locking up the front wheel. Locking the steering column into a hard left turn the truck started skidding before toppling over, blocking the road completely. Getting into position they expected villains to come out, but nothing happened. Listening closely a few of the cops could faintly hear something making a noise every second.
"Fuck!!", they shouted, "It's a bomb!! Get everyone clear!!"
Starting to move, they only got ten feet away before the semitruck blew up sending debris everywhere and taking out several buildings in the surrounding area. Calling it in, the Chief clicked his tongue.
"God damn it, those fuckers are using suicide bombers to soften us up!", the Chief shouted grabbing his radio, "I need all available police officers downtown stat! Get all the civilians out of the downtown area immediately! We have several trucks armed to blow barreling towards the station right now, we won't be able to assist immediately!"
That's how it all started, using expendable villains they sent them into several key points with the trucks and detonated them ensuring they couldn't flee nor could reinforcements reach them quickly. The civilians caught in the middle started calling 911 as they fled trying to make themselves scarce. As the numbers of calls grew they started calling in police from neighboring cities for back up. Around the time villains started showing up, the news choppers arrived to film the fighting.
"Right Kevin, it would appear that there is a large assault going between the Villains and the Cops and Heroes. We received word that the city of Los Angeles is calling in support from neighboring cities, and has asked that all civilians in the downtown head to the convention center. If it is unsafe for you to vacate your home please stay out of sight, and don't engage the villains!", the reporter said.
Seeing the Cops and Heroes barely holding on at the moment, I knew I had to act. Grabbing my back I dashed out of the room before the girls could stop me. Changing into my suit in the bathroom, I stowed my backpack in my locker and shot off towards LA. Heightening my hearing as I got close my first objective was getting the civilians out of the area. Going building to building I assisted people getting out. Loading them into buses I carried the buses one by one to the convention center where first responders were already setting up shop. Seeing me brining the buses down, Emergency Lady flew into a hissy fit.
"Clark what are you doing here!?", she snapped, "You need to leave this to the professionals, this isn't a game!"
"Lecture me later, there are people that need help!", I retorted flying back into the fray.
Finding a group of evacuees pinned down by some low level villains, I landed in front of them and punched their lights out. Taking a street light I bent the metal around the snuggly so they wouldn't be running away or rejoining the fight. Escorting them to a group of police leading a group out, I left them to it and continued searching. Over the course of several trips I got most of the able bodied people I could find out of the area. There were still people trapped in debris, but things weren't going in the Heroes favor right now.
Flying to Cena and Jackson I asked them what the situation was. Seeing me there they asked why I had come to which I said that's what a Hero should do. Not wanting to argue it at this time, they said that if I could clear pathways for our side to move freely it would be greatly appreciated. Nodding my head I flew up into the sky to look at how they were broken up. Once I memorized which streets to clear I flew back down to move debris. Using my cold breath to extinguish the fires I came across, I started getting pathways open which they immediately started using.
Hearing the arrival of backup that they were expecting now, I got them a pathway clear in a hurry. Carrying ambulances to the convention center so they didn't get damaged the people inside thanked me repeatedly. With a simple nod of the head I repeated the process a few dozen times allow them enough time to get situated as the first bus of injured people arrived. Before I took off again, I could hear someone large approaching from the city at a great speed. Turning my head to look a burly man nearly seven foot tall was barreling towards us.
"Emergency Lady, is he friendly or hostile?", I asked.
Looking to the person I was pointing at her heart dropped. Grabbing her radio she radioed the police station.
"Chief we have a problem, Bulldozer showed up here!", she said trying not to alert the people.
"Shit, I can probably send Gramps over too-"
Grabbing the radio from her I cut him off.
"Keep him there, I can handle this guy!", I said, "Once I am done I will go to assist you."
"Damn...I don't like relying on a child for this.", he groaned, "Kid...I need you to defend that place with everything you got. If you need assistance let me know."
"Just tell me where to take him after I kick his butt.", I stated.
"Bring him to us, we can take it from there.", the Chief said.
"Got it sir!", I said returning the radio to her, "I will do my best to make sure debris doesn't come near the group."
Flying over to intercept him, he smiled like a crazed man as he started shouting.
"They letting children fight now!?", he laughed, "You ain't going to stop me kid!!"
"We will see about that!", I retorted.