After his well-deserved sleep, Jack woke up with a start when he saw the black eyes of his summon just half a meter from his face, silently watching him as he slept. His immediate response was to scream and try to punch it. Unfortunately, his little four-year-old hands didn't have enough strength to even budge it; instead, he only managed to hurt his own hands in the process. Moments later, his mother came bursting into the room, fearing for her child's safety, only to find a strange scene: her four-year-old son berating his own quirk while clutching his hand. She couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
(*pov Jack)
After that rather embarrassing display in front of my mother, I left my room to start my morning routine. As I looked in the mirror after showering, I noticed something unusual—my left eye had changed shape and color. The green eye I had due to my heterochromia had now turned into a mix of cyan, green, and blue, shifting slightly every time I blinked. I entertained myself for a bit, marveling at how it resembled some strange crystal, reflecting light in different ways. Another change I noticed was in my pupil, which had morphed into a bizarre star shape.
I realized that I could see much better and more clearly from this eye than from my right one. As I pondered this, I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for my right eye—it seemed so much inferior, the same old blue eye I had since I was a kid. But hey, at least my head didn't turn into a cactus or something, so that's a plus.
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After I finally tore myself away from admiring my handsome face in the mirror (it was hard), I headed to the kitchen for the plate of fresh breakfast my mom had left for me before her shift. As I ate, I pondered whether my puppet needed any kind of sustenance to keep going, but it seemed to run fine without any sort of fuel. As I was thinking about this, the puppet suddenly appeared beside me, as if awaiting orders. I felt a strange sensation deep inside me, a sort of intuition that it wanted to receive some instructions—it was in standby mode.
Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to test the nuances of my quirk, and maybe figure out a way to avoid getting jump-scared by this guy every morning, I decided to leave a note for Mom. If she looked for me, it would explain that I'd gone outside to try a few things. My first idea was to find Izuku at the same park where we met yesterday. I could use his help with ideas and also rectify my mistake by not asking him for a way to contact him.
But my plan quickly paused when I walked past Takoba Municipal Beach Park, or just Takoba Beach for short. It had turned into a dump sometime before I was born, something about ocean currents and mismanagement by the city. What was once a nice beach and popular dating spot had become an illegal dump site. As I stood there, a thought crossed my mind: why not use this place as a sort of hideout and testing ground? No one would notice if a few tons of trash got destroyed, and it was perfect for avoiding trouble over illegal public quirk usage.
Satisfied with that idea, I continued toward my original destination, the public park in Musutafu. When I arrived, I immediately spotted my green-haired friend sitting alone under an old oak tree, scribbling away in some notebooks. As I approached, he flinched at first, probably thinking I was Boom Boy or one of his lackeys. But when he looked up and saw my face, he instantly brightened and exclaimed, "Jack-kun, it's you! How are you feeling? Was there any problem at the hospital? Did you find out what your quirk does? Doyouwantto hangoutwithmetodayorplaysomegamesortalkaboutquirks?!..."
By the end, Izuku had devolved into a muttering spree, just like yesterday. He started speaking so quickly that I didn't catch a single word. I managed to snap him out of it by shaking him gently for a few seconds. Once he calmed down, I explained my plan to head to Takoba Beach to test my quirk. At first, he looked concerned about the idea of illegal quirk usage, and I could see the gears turning in his head as he considered the risks.
But after I assured him that the beach was far enough away from other people that no one would be in danger, and that we'd be careful, he started to come around. I could see the excitement building in his eyes. The prospect of analyzing and experimenting with a new quirk was too much for him to resist. His worry faded, replaced by the usual spark of curiosity, and soon enough, he was practically buzzing with enthusiasm.
"Alright, Jack-kun! This is going to be amazing! We can test so many things—strength, durability, maybe even figure out how to summon more of them or different types! Oh, and I brought a few notebooks just in case we need to write down any data."
I smiled at his eagerness. Izuku was practically vibrating with excitement. We were all set to put my quirk through its paces, and having Izuku there would ensure that nothing got overlooked. Plus, I was relieved to have someone as detail-oriented as him on my side.
With our plan set, we left the park together, heading toward Takoba Beach, ready to uncover the full potential of my quirk.
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We quickly rushed to the beach and set up a perimeter, which took forever, even with the help of the puppet. As I thought about it, I felt bad about just calling him "the puppet," and Izuku agreed. We decided to let him choose a name, so we gave him a rusty iron rebar to write in the sand. He only wrote the word "Name" with an arrow pointing at me. It was clear that he wanted me to name him.
I thought for a while, and only one name resonated deep inside me. One of the silhouettes from my earlier visions came to mind, clearer this time, though still foggy. I looked at my first puppet, who I now saw as my right-hand man in all my future adventures, and I resolved to give him a fitting name. I spoke in a clear tone, "Your name will be Wilhelm, my personal enforcer!"
Then something happened that none of us expected. Wilhelm began to change shape, growing taller and more muscular. His skin color shifted from the previous grayish-white to a healthier tone. He started looking more and more like the silhouette in my mind, minus the cybernetic modifications and scars. His facial hair grew into mutton chops rather than the almost full beard I'd envisioned. Overall, he seemed much younger and healthier. The most shocking part was that he no longer just looked human—he now had the ability to speak.
"Well, what are your orders, boss?" Wilhelm asked, his voice gruff but clear.
We were both so shocked that we didn't respond right away. This seemed to annoy Wilhelm, as he soon started shouting, "Well, what should I do? I do not like burning daylight!"
I quickly explained what we were trying to accomplish at the beach. Wilhelm looked annoyed but didn't seem to mind following my orders, so we got to work and cleared a large enough area to conduct some experiments.
First, I wanted to test if I could summon more puppets. I tried, but almost like last time, I nearly passed out each time I attempted it. We quickly realized that the glowing arch I saw during summoning was like a gateway for my quirk to bring puppets through. Wilhelm commented that my left eye had turned a deep purple color and that my pupil had started rotating like a key. After summoning three puppets, I figured out that I needed a lot of stamina and water to create their bodies and bring them forth.
We discovered that, for now, there seemed to be two types of puppets. One was more utility-focused, dressed in full engineer outfits with welding helmets and metal exoskeletons. These were physically weaker but equipped for tasks that required precision. The other type was more combat-focused, with more armor covering their bodies, superior reflexes, and a more fit and strong physique. For instance, the new combat puppet managed to dodge falling debris from a nearby trash pile, while the engineers could only defend themselves and ended up buried in the pile. We had to dig them out, which revealed an interesting aspect of my power: while Wilhelm had evolved into something more human, these new puppets didn't seem to feel pain. Even after being dug out, they weren't bothered by their scratches and bruises.
As I suspected, these puppets didn't require any kind of nutrients. When we returned from lunch, they were still working tirelessly, showing no signs of slowing down. Wilhelm, on the other hand, seemed to need food and was now capable of feeling pain, just like any normal human. He demonstrated these traits quite vividly when he wouldn't stop complaining about how hungry he was while Izuku and I were ordering lunch. We eventually treated him to some ramen, though he regretted it after accidentally putting too much wasabi in his bowl.
Overall, I decided not to name the three new puppets, instead giving them identification codes: CE:0002, UE:0001, and UE:0002. The main reason was that my mom and I couldn't afford to feed four new people, especially with Wilhelm already stretching our finances. Even if the new puppets weren't as impressive as Wilhelm, they were still in better shape than most adults I saw on the streets.
With that realization, I felt both excitement and a sense of responsibility growing inside me. This quirk of mine was more powerful than I had initially thought, and it was only the beginning.