*Percy JacksonxRumi(Mirko)*
Summary: At 19 years old, Percy Jackson had thought that the greatest challenges before him were graduating college and saving up for marrying the girl of his dreams. Now, he's 200 years in the future, homeless, and a wanted fugitive. Wait…did that girl have bunny ears? What the hades is even going on here?
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13600516/1/The-Last-Argonaut
Word count:226k
Chapter:34
Chapter 1: Percy's Walk-Off Grand Slam
"I AM HERE! ARRIVING AT A PUNCTUAL TIME!"
Aizawa suppressed a groan, and rubbed tiredly at his temples as he fought what he felt was the start of a headache. He already hadn't been having a good day, and this sudden staff meeting, along with All Might being All Might, was doing nothing to help the situation.
"Excellent, excellent." Came the surprisingly deep voice of the rodent like creature at the end of the table, "Please, close the door behind you All Might, and take your seat." There was a burst of wind and the enormous man was in his chair faster than Aizawa could blink. The rodent in the suit, the hyper intelligent creature named Nezu, pressed a series of commands into a keyboard on the large U-Shaped meeting table. The lights in the room dimmed, and a large projector whirred to life.
An image was projected on a blank wall on the other side of the room, in clear sight of the gathered teachers. Pressing another button on the keyboard, A video began to play. On the screen was an empty market street, about a block from campus. The timestamp in the corner of the camera placed the date as several days ago, at around one in the morning. The video began playing and a woman came into frame, the advanced camera was able to pick up the soft tapping of her heels on the cobblestone streets.
There was a flash of movement and a crash, as the window from a nearby sporting goods store exploded, sending debris scattering across the street. Baseball equipment clattered against the road, as bats, gloves, and a stray helmet landed noisily.
A large metallic looking being landed in the middle of the street. The woman froze for a moment, before she turned on her heel and began running as fast as she could in the other direction. The moment of hesitation cost her though, as the metallic being took the opportunity afforded, to rapidly close the distance and appear on the other side of the fleeing woman. It shot out a large hand, gleaming from the moonlight and streetlights, and made to grab her. However, before it could, there was a flash of movement, and suddenly there was a third body in the street, standing directly in between the fleeing woman and the large robotic figure, one hand raised, and holding the oncoming metallic hand hostage.
The newcomer was tall, standing at nearly two-hundred centimeters and decidedly male in appearance. The image shifted suddenly, and there was a new camera angle, facing the new figure. He had jet-black hair, long and unkempt, as though it hadn't been groomed in quite some time. His cheeks were sunken and hallow, and his figure, though large, gave the appearance of malnourishment. As though he had once had a large and healthy physique, that had decayed from a lack of proper sustenance. He had the splotchy, and unkempt growth of facial hair, not uncommon with young men on the cusp of adulthood. His clothes were ratty and ill-fitting, the once well-kept orange shirt hanging off of him, and his jeans were torn, not fashionably, but as though they had been ripped and slashed apart by a large blade. The most striking feature however, were the eyes. His eyes betrayed a sense of power, and self-confidence that Aizawa had only seen in seasoned heroes. And the sea-green orbs appeared almost luminescent in the darkened street. If Aizawa had to guess, he would place the young man at roughly eighteen or maybe nineteen years old.
The young man spoke, his voice on the raspier side, and scratchy, as though it had been some time since it had seen use, but held the type playful lilt of a young man talking to his friends, "You know," the stranger spoke, "If you wanted a date, there are better ways of going about it."
The machine emitted a garbled sound, as though it were trying to growl, and lashed out with its other arm, to strike. Calm as can be however, the young man batted the appendage away, with as much effort as it would take to wave away an annoying fly. With the free hand, the stranger closed his fingers together and swiped down at the being's legs. As though summoned by mystical forces, a large knife-like construct of water appeared, and hacked through the legs of the machine, slicing through both in one clean stroke. The legs fell uselessly from the body, but the machine was held easily aloft by the young man, who still kept a firm grasp on the arm he had stopped.
"Dude," the young man laughed, "Are you an android? Oh that is awesome! That's some serious DBZ shit right there. Finally," the boy laughed again, "I was beginning to think that the future was really, really lame. I mean seriously, I've been here for months now and you're the first real futurey thingie I've seen so far." The machine began to squawk and chirp noisily as it struggled against the firm grip. It reeled back once more to try and strike and free itself, but again, the stranger caught the arm. Holding both arms firmly, the youngster the spread them out slowly, so that both his and the machines arms were spread out completely. He raised one foot off the ground, and placed it firmly against the chassis of the machine. With a slight huff of exertion, the young man pushed, and the arms of the machine were ripped clear from its body as the now limbless torso flew down the street, landing in a clattering heap.
"I mean sure, you're an evil murder bot, but honestly, at this point, beggars can't be choosers."
The young man carelessly tossed the former appendages onto the road, and began striding forward, and the camera angle shifted again. This time, it was a sideways shot of the street, and Aizawa watched as the young man paused for a moment to inspect the baseball equipment on the road. A giddy expression crossed the wannabe hero's hallow face, and for a moment, Aizawa thought he was about to watch as this kid made off with his own heist. But he turned his attention back to the machine, and continued his lazy walk. Reaching it, he picked the dismembered chassis, and gently placed it upright. He then waved his hand again, and more water materialized where the legs of the machine once were. The young man closed his outstretched hand into a fist, and the water suddenly froze, effectively gluing the machine to the street.
It was an impressive amount of control of one's quirk if Aizawa was being honest. He might have even respected it, if the person in question was obviously acting well outside the influence of the law. The stranger, turned around again, and lazily made his way back towards some of the downed baseball equipment. Reaching down, he picked a large metallic bat off of the ground, and took a few practice swings with it.
The would-be hero turned back and began walking towards the machine again. This time however, he was speaking. When he spoke though, it was clearly in English, and he was seemingly doing a…interesting interpretation of a radio announcer,
"Alright, folks, this is it," he said, his English perfect, with an odd hint of an accent. Having never been there before, Aizawa couldn't exactly place the accent, other than it was very obviously American. Had one of their heroes taken a trip to Japan recently? He cut off the line of thought and focused back on what was being said,
"The pinstripes are down eight to five, tonight, here in Yankee Stadium. The bases are loaded, with two away in the bottom of the ninth as Right Fielder, Percy Jackson steps back into the batter's box." The young man, Aizawa now assumed his name was Percy, given the way he had been oddly announced himself, approached the stuck machine, and squared himself up as though he really were in a batter's box. "The count is full, and the pennant is on the line, will the Red Sox give the hometown boy something to swing at. The pitch is away," He swung back, "It's a hanging curve over the heart of the plate!" Percy dropped his shoulders, and fully extended his arms as he swung powerfully with the bat, and made contact with the head of the machine, and as though it were launched from a canon, the head tore from the shoulders with a screeching of metal. The sheer force of the strike seemed to kick dust up from around the deserted street, as the head was blasted into the stratosphere.
"Oh and he got all of that one, it could be…it's heading….It's GONE!" the young man shouted, gleefully, tossing the bat away enthusiastically, "A walk-off Grand Slam, and Percy Jackson brings the title back to New York."
Percy then turned back around, and began walking back towards the woman, who still standing in the middle of the street. She was shaking slightly, and looked almost as though she were about to collapse. Approaching her, Percy placed a calming hand on her shoulder, and lowered himself down, until he was basically on his knees, and looking up at the face of the shaking woman.
"Are you alright ma'am?" he asked, this time speaking in Japanese, and Aizawa was impressed by the gentleness in his voice. Say what you would, but he couldn't deny that this kid knew how to deal with people, "That was pretty crazy, you're not hurt are you?" Percy asked,
The woman just shook her head, and Aizawa could see the glistening of tears on her face, as she suddenly launched herself forward, burying her face into the large teenager. Percy seemed shocked for a moment, before a look of understanding crossed his features, and he wrapped his arms around the woman's slender frame, and gently stroked her back as she cried into his neck. "It's alright," he could hear the young man murmur, "It's all ok." He held her for a few more moments, before she seemed to be able to compose herself enough, and detach from the larger frame.
She couldn't seem to speak, instead choosing to wrap her arms around herself, "Do you have a phone, you really ought to notify the police,"
The woman shakily nodded her head, as she began to dig around in her purse, "P-please," She all but whimpered, "C-can you please s-stay with me, u-until they arrive," Percy looked for a second like he was about to agree, but then he suddenly whipped his head up, and seemed to see something that startled him.
"Unfortunately not," he said, then he pointed a finger, "But I'm sure that she would be more than happy to keep you company until they get here," then, his body seemed to shift, and he was no longer there, a faint mist occupying the spot he had been in mere moments previously. No sooner had his body disappeared, than a figure slammed into where he had been. She was short, maybe only one-hundred and sixty centimeters tall, but she was lean, and powerfully built. Wearing a skintight battle-ready leotard, with a utility-belt. Two large rabbit ears adorned the top of her head, and she wore enhanced looking attachments on her feet in the shape of rabbit's feet. Mirko, one of the most popular up and coming heroines in the country landed gracefully.
"Damn," muttered the dark-skinned heroine in frustration, "Bastard got away again." She then immediately turned her attention back to the shaking lady, who seemed even more startled than she had been.
The video ended, and the lights in the room came back on.
There was light chuckling coming from the other side of the room, and Aizawa looked to see a woman might have been more at home in a dominatrix dungeon than a school was having a hard time containing her laughter.
"So that's the kid that's been giving Usagiyama fits," Midnight, chuckled, "Say what you will, can't deny that he puts on a show."
"He's a vigilante," came the synthesized voice from the corner. Snipe, a man dressed like a Cowboy from the ancient American West, complete with gas mask, spoke up, his arms crossed as he leaned back in his chair. "This kid has been popping up all over town for three months now. Every time someone gets close to him, Poof," he mimed an explosion with one hand, "He just up and disappears like that. Don't talk about him like he's something worth respecting Midnight," he added coldly, turning what Aizawa had to assume was a withering glare in the woman's direction, "Regardless of the goodwill of his intentions he is still working outside the law. He's little better than a villain in my book."
"As riveting as the ongoing philosophical debate on the merits of vigilantism are," said the smooth baritone of the large cement-like being Cementoss, "I can't help but wonder why we were called on such short notice for this meeting. Is this not a matter for the pro-agencies and the government to contend with?"
"I agree," grumbled Present-Mic, a spikey-haired blonde punk-rocker, "This has nothing to do with us? Why are we wasting our time on this? The Entrance Exams are in three weeks, and we still haven't finished fixing the Exam sites."
"Well if you would get your third-years to stop wreckin 'em faster than we can fix 'em they would have been ready weeks ago!" growled Power Loader, the dinosaur like helmet fixed atop the shirtless man's head bobbing slightly as he spoke.
"Am I the only one concerned by his "future" comment?" Aizawa drawled out, deciding make his voice heard before they got too off base.
"Thank you!" Said Principal Nezu, clapping happy from his seat, "I was hoping that someone else would catch that. Yes! Truly a most curious comment,"
"Oh, come on," said Vlad King in slight exasperation, the tubes on his back shaking slightly as he raised his hands in the air, "You're not about to suggest this kid is an actual time-traveler. There has never been a recorded quirk with that kind of power."
"But that's the key isn't it?" Questioned the sinister visage of Ectoplasm, his unsettling grin ever present, showing off his wide array of sharp teeth.
"Indeed," Said Thirteen's synthesized voice, "There has never been a RECORDED, quirk capable of such a feat. Recorded being the operative word."
"It would certainly explain his ability to disappear like he has," said Midnight thoughtfully,
"I don't think he has the ability to time-travel," Aizawa muttered softly, replaying the scene again in his mind, and cross-referencing it with the other videos that had been popping up over the lasts several months. "His power-set seems to be primarily centered around water."
There was a sudden puff, as the room was briefly encased in smoke. Where the gargantuan form of All Might had once been sat, he had been replaced by a skeletal man with hallow eyes. HIs arms were crossed over his small chest, and his head was steeped in deep thought, a look of confusion and concern over his sunken features.
"You are concerned about something, Toshinori?" asked Nezu casually,
The man started, as he was brought out of his deep concentration.
"Sorry," he apologized hastily, "I was just thinking…." he trailed off but Aizawa picked up his line of thought,
"Whether or not he has some sort of time-travel quirk, he clearly has a larger skillset than should be possible. Almost as though he has multiple quirks." The man said tiredly, scratching at his cheek.
"So what?" Present-Mic cried out in annoyance, "So this kid has multiple quirks? What's the big deal, it's not exactly uncommon."
"It's not the idea that he has more than one quirk that is concerning," Toshinori said slowly, "But rather the strength of those quirks. How many water elemental type quirks do you know that can wield water, and its other forms of matter the way this kid seems to be able to. Then there's his strength. That type of power doesn't come with training alone, so a body enhancement quirk, one that also allows him to move more quickly and agile than many I've ever come across. That head was found two kilometers away from the site in question. Not quite as powerful as what I can do, but not something we can so easily ignore."
"I believe the cause for Toshinori's concern has to do with the rumors of this supposed League of Villains, we have been hearing about," Said Nezu
Toshinori nodded vigorously, "While I recognize that his actions have thus far, only been in the name of good, I cannot shake the sense of worry I have that he might be…connected in some way." He trailed off in thought once more, his thoughts overtaking him. Only Nezu seemed to understand what he was thinking however, because the diminutive creature just hummed to himself as he watched the small man.
"I still wish to voice the question of why this is our problem?" Asked Cementoss once more, a little more forcefully, "I understand that having a powerful, rogue, running loose in the wild is a concern, but it should not be ours to deal with."
"I apologize," said Nezu, turning his attention away from the Symbol of Peace to look at the large man, "Allow me to elaborate why I called this meeting." He pressed a series of buttons on the desk once more, and this time, a digital layout of the city was projected in the middle of the room. The image zoomed in to show the general vicinity of the school. Nezu pressed another command in and a series of red dots began to appear on the map. There must have been nearly thirty in all, and all of the dots were within only a few kilometers of the school.
"These dots represent known sightings and reports of our young friend," Nezu explained happily, "As you can see, he has spent a considerable amount of time in and around our prestigious academy. The reason I called this meeting, I feel, should be rather obvious."
"He's trying to get our attention," Said Ectoplasm,
"Precisely!" Clapped Nezu happily, "Exactly my thinking. I believe has been trying to get our attention."
"Why?" Questioned Midnight, eyebrow raised in confusion, "Why us specifically?"
"And why," chimed in Snipe, "Is he always running away if he's trying to get our attention,"
"Principal Nezu," Asked Aizawa calmly, "Has anyone from the school had direct contact with him?"
"Nope," the principal smiled, "The only contact he has had with pro-heroes, has come from heroes with their own individual agencies, and none that have been affiliated with the school."
"Well it certainly seems like he's gotten his wish, we're talking about him after all," said Power Loader,
"Only question is, where do we go from here?" asked Thirteen, intertwining the gloves of her suit together on the desk.
"I'm so glad you asked!" Nezu said happily, "I propose that we bring him in, and see just what he's so anxious to talk to us about,"
That certainly got everyone at the table's attention.
"Sir…" Snipe said slowly and uncertainly, "I am not sure that I am comfortable bringing a potentially highly dangerous, foreign," he stressed the word foreign, "Entity into the school."
"I agree," Vlad King Concurred, "We know this kid is powerful, All Might even said himself that he's got multiple, powerful quirks, and we know that he's got a high degree of control over them. I think that brining him into the school places a very real, and very unnecessary risk upon the students."
"For all we know, his little nice guy routine that he's been hamming up could have been for this exact reason. He could have been just bidding his time, waiting for this exact opportunity to present itself," Snipe continued, "I have to voice my disagreement with such a potentially dangerous idea."
"He has been skilled enough to evade some of the top heroes in the country," Midnight murmured softly to herself, "That is a rather distressing prospect to have in such a closed in proximity to the students. Especially when we don't really know the full extent of his skillset."
"All of you have been making very valid points," Said Nezu, who, Aizawa realized for the first time, had not actually been looking at them since this new discussion had begun. Instead he had been looking at something on a small tablet in his lap. "However, I'm afraid that it is inevitably a moot point."
"Why is that?" Aizawa asked hesitantly, even though he had a sinking feeling that he already knew.
Nezu simply looked up from his tablet, his eyes gleaming dangerously, "It would appear our young friend has grown tired of waiting for an invitation." Pressing a new command into the terminal, a live video feed of the front gate began to play. Standing there, leaning against the security point, just far enough away so as not to trip the security system, was the subject of their discussion. He looked even rattier and dirtier in the daylight than he had in the video from earlier. And there, with the light now shining down, Aizawa could make out the tell-tale splotches of dried blood and viscera, staining the sun-bleached orange t-shirt he was wearing.
"Well then," Said Nezu, a positively predatory gleam in his eye, "What do you all say we go down and pay our guest a little visit?"
BREAK
As rough as the kid had looked on the monitors, it was worse seeing it in person. When he got close enough to get a proper look at the boy, Aizawa could see the bags under his eyes, not unlike his own. His skin was pockmarked, and bruised, his nose crooked slightly, and his hair greasy, long and tangled into knots. It finally settled an internal debate that Aizawa had been having since he had first seen the video feeds of the vigilante.
The kid was definitely homeless.
The faculty members cautiously approached the outer gate, with the exception of All Might. He still had a public persona, as much as it disgusted Aizawa, he needed to maintain, so the Symbol of Peace was waiting inside, ready to jump in if the situation got out of hand. But Aizawa didn't think it would come to that. He read people, understood them instinctually, it was a skill he had developed over a painful and harsh career. It was what made him a good teacher, he was able to ascertain whether or not someone was a threat, had potential, or was a waste of time. This kid was neither a threat to their safety, nor a waste of their time, he was certain of that.
"Hey there!" the kid waved cheerfully, from the other side of the gate. Aizawa sighed, ok maybe he was going to be an annoying pain in the ass after all, he hated the overly cheerful ones.
Nobody responded at first, the group still approaching slowly. Ectoplasm and Snipe splintered off, flanking to two separate sides, as Cementoss and Power Loader halted their advance a few meters back. All three were better from a distance, and were set up to provide assistance and support should things turn into a firefight.
Seeing that nobody was responding immediately, although Nezu was humming happily as he meandered forward, the kid spoke again, "Uh, ok rude." he said, crossing his arms a little petulantly, "Whatever, I'm looking for the principal or headmaster or whatever the hades he's called, here," Aizawa raised a curious brow at the odd curse. He had met a few colorful characters over the years but nobody who had used an ancient god's name in vain.
"That would be me," Nezu said cheerfully, striding forward past the security line before anyone could stop him and approached the young man.
Percy just blinked curiously as he gazed down at the small creature, as though he was trying to come to terms with the fact that it had just spoken. He shook himself off from the surprise and crouched down on one knee and extended a hand out, eyes closed and a bright smile on his face.
"Hi there, my name's Percy Jackson, pleasure to meet ya!"
"Oho!" laughed Nezu, as he gripped Percy's large hand in his own in a firm handshake that once more, seemed to surprise the kid. "I am Nezu, principal of the fine educational institute behind me. The pleasure is mine mister Jackson. I have to say, you have fortuitous timing, my staff and I were just discussing how we wanted to deal with you." The principal was still smiling as he released Percy's hand, and clasped his own behind his back.
The phrasing of the comment seemed to throw the kid off balance, as he awkwardly scratched behind his ear, "Deal with me?" he asked nervously,
"Yes," Nezu replied happily, rocking back and forth on his heels slightly as he spoke. The cheerful smile ever present, "Deal with you. You are, after all, a rather dangerous vigilante who has been making it a habit to operate in my own backyard. A potential threat to not only my staff, but more importantly, to my students. We were discussing the best way to corner and trap you, and arrest you, before you did anything else to put our students at risk."
The young man panicked, his eyes growing wide as a blush rose up on his neck. Waving his hands, he said, "No, no! You got it all wrong." He groaned, and covered his face with his hands, saying something in a language he couldn't understand. "Crap, I'm no good at this, I swear, I'm not here to hurt anyone!" he insisted, sighing, he fell back onto his rear in the dirt, a defeated expression on his face. "I promise you, I'm not here to cause any more trouble, I just really, really, needed to talk to someone and I figured your school would be my best bet."
"Oh?" Nezu asked curiously, "And why would you think that,"
"Um," Percy laughed a little nervously, as he scanned the assembled group of heroes behind the principal, "I'm more than happy to explain everything, but does one of your friends over there, have the uh, oh crap what are they called again, not superpower but um, ugh,"
"Quirk?" Nezu supplied helpfully,
The boy nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! That's it, does one of your friends there have a quirk that can tell you that I'm telling the truth? It's just that, um, I don't think you're going to believe me if I don't have some way to prove that I'm being honest."
Nezu looked even more intrigued by the strange request but hummed in thought, "Well, unfortunately, no one on my staff has that sort of ability,"
The hopeful look on the boy's face fell, "But," Nezu said, and Percy's eyes jumped back to him, "You're in luck. I happen to know someone who has just that sort of ability. Why don't we recess inside as we I call him?"
"Yes! Please," Percy said, nodding his head enthusiastically, "Thank you sir! Thank you so much!" he then looked at his hands for a second, before bringing his wrists together and extending them out towards the diminutive creature, "Uh, would you be more comfortable handcuffing me or something? I know you probably don't really trust me and-" The boy was cut off as there was a sudden blur of movement.
Aizawa watched in fascination as the boy's eyes tracked the incoming movement, and his body tensed in preparation for an attack. The eraser hero was momentarily impressed by not only his situational awareness, but also by his ability to maintain his own discipline not to react to the movement. It spoke about the man's own quickness and strength, and Aizawa couldn't help but be intrigued. Then all of that was shattered when he saw the fuzzy, dark purple handcuffs hanging from the boy's outstretched hands. There was another flash of movement, and Midnight had returned to her previous spot, a teasing smile on her face.
Percy looked at the woman, then at the cuffs, and then back at the woman, "You clean these things, right?"