As we were walking over to our respective homes for the night, All Might called out for me to wait for a moment so that we could talk, the chilled spring air doing nothing to hinder his breathing, making me think One For All also regulates body procedures like internal heat and digestion rate.⁹
"Listen, Reinhard, if we're going to be going on this mission you'll need a proper weapon, considering your sword probably won't draw. I swear I'm convinced its a gag tool that's never supposed to open. Anyways, head over to the support course tomorrow morning. I called in a favour with Power Loader for some under-the-table work if you get what I mean. He should be able to get what you want ready before next week."
Surprised as I am, I can't help but smile at All Might going so far. He's great when you put him in the right situation, but anything social? Absolute nightmare. I think I may just commission a better sword and a knife. Why a knife? Because it seems like a far more viable option for targeted ranged combat, less damaging than [Flame Alchemy] for sure. Though I'm not sure how retrieval would work. In fact, I'll spend the night working on it.
"Thanks, All Might. I'm surprised you suddenly deem me so capable to fight alongside you, but rest assured with me the battle will be far easier than before."
"Reason is exactly as you said. Whenever you're around, this get easier. It's like you're a natural born problem solver, besides I'm far weaker than I was when we first met so I wouldn't be surprised if a few months from now I'd be quirkless entirely."
"Well, I guess I'm to thank you. This whole week so far has been bombshell after bombshell, hell just finding out how much All For One controlled the country shocked me more than I expected. What I'm trying to say is thank you for being honest, and not trying to be cryptic. Nezu us trying to do the same, but with him everything seems like a cypher."
He chuckles, as if remembering a fond memory for a moment as his eyes go slightly glazed over, before once more looking at me, though strangely in a different light than before. I'm not sure what he thought of but his gaze seems far softer than before, vestiges of the thought 'just like he always was' in the back of his head. Who the fuck is 'he'?
"That he is, my boy, that he is. Now, come next week we'll have exactly 7 days to search every mountain in Japan, and organise an operation to take Gigantomachia down for good. We'll want this under wraps, and we certainly don't want civilians incase it gets dangerous or for anyone to see us eliminate Gigantomachia. This'll be my first lesson to you for the internship, how to plan. You got this week to account for every possibility you can, every extraneous variable in the operation and how to remove it, as well as the basic plan."
After the long winded speech, he gives me a single pat on the shoulder with an almost inaudible 'good luck, kid' under his breath and walks off, towards the staff housing. He is being far more morally gray than I anticipated, but I assume that is residual hatred for All For One. I immediately rush home to my room, having used [Swiftness] to reduce travel time and begin brainstorming weapon ideas.
I want multi-purpose, lethal, and most importantly cool looking. I am already more than capable of dealing with Gigantomachia with my fists, I simply want an actual sword to use consistently that won't be a one time like the swords Momo typically makes me.
I grin as an idea begins to take shape in my mind, using the [Divine Protection of Eidetic Memory] to create schematics for the weapons I plan to create, hoping this world has the right technology to produce the sword. Though, having read the manga almost up to the ending before my... transporting here, I am certain it will. Besides, even if it won't I can consistently use [Alchemy] to shift it. Yes, this will be perfect.
♧◇♡♤
The next morning I am eagerly waiting at the door to the support course wing, bright and early at half 5, being joined by Mei who had also been kicked out a few hours ago and simply sat outside waiting for the doors to open up for her again.
"Say, what're you here for anyway Reginald? I thought you already had a sword. Oh! Did you finally come to see me again, having found the joy in my babies? Do you want some for yourself? I could probably fix up quite a few babies for you."
"Ahem, its actually Reinhard, Mei, but nonetheless yes I am here for some new weaponry. Given that I am practically impossible to hit, I decided to expand my arsenal given that Reid never unsheathes."
"Reinhard, I know we barely know eachother but I would happily sleep with you if you gave me 30 minutes alone with that sword and acted as my lab partner indefinitely."
I splutter, having not expected such an answer while also not denying her immediately, after all she is extremely attractive and more than that is a gremlin, a chaos gremlin, one of my favourite types of people to be around.
"Well, I'm not sure why you'd want the sword but I'd happily spend more time with you. Don't know why you want me for a lab partner though, honestly. I barely know this stuff."
"Are you kidding me? You said it yourself, you're virtually impossible to hit, and taking damage does nothing for you anyway. Imagine all the babies I could test on you! And don't even get me started on that sword! It is completely regular, a normal sword and sheath with no technological modifications but it literally never draws and emits more energy than most power plants we have. If I could harness that energy, make it distributable I'd be a global icon! Imagine all the security companies I'd have chomping out the palm of my hand with that sealing tech!"
She begins to murmur and sigh more and more as she holds her waist, swaying from side to side as she imagines all the possibilities, the ideas for the future and the image of herself sat upon a stack of cash and inventions refuses to leave her mind. She's fucking swooning.
In the midst of Mei losing herself to fantasy and getting slightly horny I think given the blush on her face and the heaved breaths she is having, I decide that enough is enough and drain her mana, forcibly putting her to sleep. Humanity already has Gates in this world, mana as well, they simply lack the ability to push mana through these gates due to the interference Quirks have on the mana expulsion system. That, would also require further research, maybe Mei would help.
Anyways, she will regenerate the mana slowly and also naturally expel it through her pores in extremely small amounts, just the same as what she is capable of holding, a microscopic amount of it is all that this worlds humans can handle, but it is enough to be safely drained. Sadly, I can't see about raising someone's Gate capacity. Hell, even my own is busted, a side effect of being Reinhard.
Power Loader, who had just turned the corner and was prepared to take his keys out, resigning himself to having to deal with Mei was stunned into silence as he saw me knock Mei out by simply holding my hand in her direction. He saw in me a solution.
"Kjd, you're officially my favourite student. If you could possibly stay here until Mei leaves this school, I would die happy."
"As entertaining as the thought is, I am here for some weaponry manufacturing. In fact, I believe All Might told you enough. Under-the-table I believe is what he said, yes?"
"Yup. Have to say, you must be pulling some strings to get old Toshinori backing you, or maybe you're just stepping on the right toes. Either way, I'll fix you up real good, of that I can promise. Now, let's get to business."
He opens the door and brings me into his personal lab, a forge the likes of which would make the Greek Hephaestus proud. Not you, shitty God. Anyways, it is a marvel to behold, one that I will be putting to good use. I immediately put forward two folders in front of him, of the sword and knife.
"The dagger is simple. Curved ring on the handle for throwing and ease of use, straight blade for stabbing and slashing, serrated on the bottom, and most importantly a small ventilation system that allows me to store and build up thermal energy for detonation. A small detachable magnetic grip addition that will allow me to recall it to hand as well."
I had taken the idea from the Hunter's Knife from Destiny, but without the Light powers that make it function. Exactly the same visually, but this bad boy requires some intrinsic technology to get it working. With the magnet grip, since it would be detached from the knife upon throwing it I'm hoping i can use [Restoration] on it to restore the knife so to speak, considering a piece is lost and all.
"The sword is far more complicated. I wanted an all purpose weapon to use given that Reid will almost never need to be used anyway, so I decided I wanted a gun, sword and scythe all in one. I call it the Harbinger."
I won't even hesitate to admit that I spent hours last night redrawing schematics and adjusting tiny details in order to fully make Harbinger capable of being brought to this reality. The sword itself was stolen from RWBY, being the weapon of the drunk badass Qrow, and what made it the best option for me was that it was multipurpose to an extreme degree and didn't run on Dust, meaning I could integrate it here. Sadly, I'll never be able to use [Swordplay] with it given that it will always destroy the sword, but it still will be my main weapon for the foreseeable future.
Harbinger herself is a beautiful greatsword, with two gun barrels on either side of the blade that I can directly send small amounts of mana I absorb from the atmosphere into in order to form bullets, as well as being capable of shifting into a scythe or even a tonfa depending on the situation. The weapon itself represents diversity and having a solution to every problem.
Power Loader looks over the schematics, taking off the sticky note attached to the corner saying that the materials needed can all be granted via Momo's Quirk, and grins.
"Kid, if you weren't my favourite student before, you certainly are now. This'll be a challenge, no doubt, but I'd be more than happy to make your dreams come true."
♧◇♡♤
4 days pass by as I slowly but surely plan to deal with Gigantomachia, having to only deal with Mei's insistence that we become lab buddies because 'you gave me the best sleep I've ever had and that's surprising considering I didn't even want to sleep'; and now she's obsessed with me. Nejire thankfully had been helpful in planning, as she had bounced ideas back and forth with me, alongside Tamaki and Mirio.
The next meeting I had with Nezu and All Might was one that had Tsukauchi joining us, having requested to be involved as we all sat around a circular table, having discussed ideas back and forth. Nighteye was not here.
"So, my initial plan was to simply rush the man, after all he shouldn't be too fast and a continued bombardment of damage from myself and All Might would be more than enough to put him down, however, considering most mountains that he could hide in are areas with rockslide warnings and small settlements below them I'm afraid that will be unviable. Furthermore, I doubt All For One would leave one of his most powerful assets unprotected. Nezu, what kind of protection would I be expecting?"
"Hostages. Either that or simply several traps. The point would more than likely be to deal psychological damage, make the unfortunate victim believe that everything around them is a trap, then have them become overly cautious so as to exploit their paranoia. Though, there is also the off-chance that Gigantomachia has personal escort. Given the existence of Kurogiri, it may just be that way."
"Hm. Alright, I have a [Divine Protection] that focuses attention onto me, given that Gigantomachia is only capable of limited cognitive ability, it should catch him like moth to flame. When we find him I want immediate police authorised evacuation, it should only take a small unit but I don't want to chance it, so bring multiple vehicles, preferably large transport trucks. Minimum civilian count is 500, maximum is 1000, prepare for worst case scenario. We'll drag the fight away from the mountains, to negate as much environmental damage as possible and prepare several sedatives with us to weaken him. Preferably we could lure him into woodlands, using the terrain to manipulate his sense of smell and override it."
Tsukauchi, who had been watching shocked as the two pros and most experienced men in the world when it came to operations like this deferred to a child, decided to butt in.
"Thats a great plan and all, but you're simply expecting to find Gigantomachia this afternoon. Japan's got a lot more mountains than you give credit for, so realistically we'll be here a while. Internships start in 3 days, that's all you have to locate him."
"I'd sent a message to the local bird population to search for him. Now, in the event that hostages are used, they become immediate priority, though I doubt he would have Gigantomachia constantly with a hostage to avoid hero interference. Traps are meaningless, myself and All Might are unkillable, and additional support will only be damaging to his cause given that I can instantly see a person's Quirk upon looking at them and properly create a sufficient plan."
"Impressive, Reinhard. Certainly impressive for your first ever Villain Takedown. I shall run logistics for this operation, mainly to keep surveillance over the surrounding areas and also to ensure no other parties are able to interrupt us attaining our goal. I speak for all of us when I say it would be detrimental for the public to find out we are planning an assassination here and now."
"Image doesn't matter. As long as this world is rid of detestable people like this, then I will be happy. Only the worst deserve death, but I am more than happy to deal it out."
All Might had been simply smiling the whole time as he watched, unwilling to interrupt the professional atmosphere with his jovial nature, though immensely proud of me for some odd reason. Hell, he didn't even bat an eye at the comment about killing those who deserve it. I thought he would at least complain a bit, but it seems this All Might is far more pragmatic and willing to keep the peace stable than what I know of.
"One final thing. Reinhard, I want you to keep your [Concealment] ability active constantly to maximise chances of us being unnoticed."
"Sure, no problem for that. I don't have any stamina limit or time limit for my [Divine Protections], they're powers the World gave me to be used, so they are always available. Now, I believe the planning is done. I'll call you all when my Ravens give word of Gigantomachia being spotted. I only hope I get to see All Might being stealthy in this."
That certainly gets a chuckle out of those in the room, especially All Might himself, having not considered the possibility once in his life.
"Sorry, Reinhard, but I'm a fists first, sneak around later kinda guy. Thats all on you to deal with. You're both the scout and the cavalry here. I'm relying on you now."
♧◇♡♤
In the middle of a regular English class, of which I had frankly barely paid attention to, the door is busted in by Mei who waves an overemphasised wave before shouting that 'the babies are complete!' and beckoning me to the support department.
When I arrive, I see Power Loader hesitantly holding a fully completed Harbinger in his hands, admiring the weapon as if it were his first born son, with Mei mimicking the action. I can only assume this means they worked together.
I grab it from him and instantly feel it link to my [Gate of Babylon] and be imprinted with [Soul Imprint] allowing it to become a personalised weapon for myself much like Reid was to the original Reid Astrea.
With Reid sheathed comfortably on my left hip, I place the folded form of Harbinger on my the edge of my back, more-so on my hip and don't bother with an instruction manual. I had installed several mechanisms that would be controlled by my [Minor Technopathy] ability that I had wished for earlier in the day, but it also granted me an innate understanding of some technology upon making contact.
Next, he hands me the Hunter Knife, of which I should probably give a name because that is a mouthful, I place it into a small holster I had made for it on the left side of my front hip, allowing for quick access with my left hand.
The magnet had been altered to be strong enough that it would tear microscopic fragments of metal away from the knife upon throwing that I can use [Restoration] on from there to retrieve it, and is sewn into my glove. It is also now in my [Gate of Babylon] so realistically thats worthless at this point. I suppose I could've just got a weapon from the [Gate] itself if I was that desperate. Maybe I wanted something to myself.
"I'll be real with you, Reinhard, if you somehow manage to damage these blades then I'll be impressed. I tried everything I could and there wasn't even a scratch, only thing that worked was the magnet but even that was microfragments at a time. Alas, these are my Mona Lisa, so to speak, so I expect them to be treated as such."
"He's right, Reinhard! This is hands down the greatest weapon ever made, up there with the Nuclear Bomb and the Deletion Field that China had for a while." Questions for later.
"Thank you. Truly. I had been desperate for an actual weapon to use since Reid is unwilling to even separate from me for any longer than 10 seconds at this point. Stubborn sword."
"No problem, kid. Go be a hero with it, alright?"
You fucking bet your ass I am going to be a hero with this masterpiece of a sword. It far outshines the knife in every aspect. Speaking of, I think I'll call the knife Thorn. Gotta keep the Destiny theme, shame I didn't make it poisonous.
[Divine Protection of Toxic Bladeworks Has Been Acquired]
Fuck you, Hephaestus.
♧◇♡♤
In class, I am hounded by people asking for who I had chosen to go on the internship with, as well as people asking what the fuck Harbinger is. Thanks to Nezu and All Might's under-the-table dealing, I was fully licensed to wield it, guns included after I absolutely aced a ranged weapons test from Snipe.
"Well, I am going to be doing my internship with All Might. He said he could sympathise with being so lonely at the top, and wanted to take me under his wing temporarily."
Bakugou who had been listening intently flinches at being not only reminded of his failure to even scratch Reinhard's boots but also the fact that All Might, the strongest hero of all had admitted to Reinhard that they were alike, meaning he has his idols direct support.
Izuku though was shocked by such information, and I could tell he was because he immediately asked All Might about it, and when the news was confirmed the boy almost collapsed. He thought he was replaced as the successor, that he would need to hand over One For All. I truly am glad they explained that business to me because tiptoeing around that being a thing was certainly not for me.
Anyways, with a few words of encouragement and saying that 'Gran Torino trained him so it's only right that you experience the same', Izuku is back on track and apologising for the behaviour he displayed. As he is about to cry in relief about the situation, I notice a raven pecking the window of the building we're in.
I read its memories and smile, seeing that they found Gigantomachia in Oshika before calling Nezu and telling him that we have a location.
Now, this week is destined to be a turbulent one. I will have to deal with not only Gigantomachia but also the Hosu incident. It would be no issue, though. Hell, if I stay in Hosu I'm sure I could negate almost all of it.
In the meantime, I don't have much to do other than practice with Thorn and Harbinger. Even if I am the pinnacle of swordsmanship, I haven't reached the Divine realm that Reid did. I wish to become a stick swinger myself.
I will not fall short of that drunk, lecherous bastard.