CH 1 pt 2 White /- The Broken Toy & Blue /- The Boy?

White /- The Broken Toy & Blue /- The Boy?

Josephina Carter Jones or Joey for short was born to a poor family in Center City USA. Her father was a miner and her mother worked in a diner. That was till Joey's father died in a mining accident saving the lives of over a dozen miners in the process. While this earned him the title of a hero, though not the type that wore a fancy costume. Unfortunately, this was not the end of her miss fortune. Joey's mother struggling with the death of her husband and raising two kids fell ill and died. Leaving Joey and her sister in the care of their grandmother who lived in Japan. Later she'd be discovered to be quirkless. Years later when money became tight Joey's sister dropped out of school and left home to become a musician. Although she had yet to hit it big, she was able to earn enough to support herself and send money back to her family. Not a lot but enough that if they were careful, they could live off of it if only just. Due to this Joey decided to get a part time job to help out. Though there weren't a lot of options for someone in junior high. So, he started running deliveries for a small diner. Then one day when the diner was short staffed the owner let Joey work in the kitchen and after proving herself there. She was hired to work in the diner proper. Only occasionally running deliveries, it wasn't perfect or easy but at least it helped her, and her grandmother get by. Though things were never that easy. Joey yawned loudly as she walked into her junior high school. She had been pulling extra shifts lately trying to save up to buy a Heybo an modular interactive robot. it was even advanced enough to do simple household tasks. Joey loved robots and this was the holy grail for a robot otaku like her. Now that being said even pulling multiple shifts, she still wouldn't be able to afford one anytime soon. Joey tried to stifle another yawn as she unlocked her locker. Only to be met with an avalanche of lady's underwear as a bunch of students laughed at her. Joey was used to this kind of bullying, but it never made it any easier. Joey was a train's gender boy that fact alone made him a bit of an outcast, but it didn't help with the fact that Joey was quirkless. In a society where the majority of the population had some form of superpower. To be born without any was considered by most to be worse than being born crippled. So needless to say, he was seen as a freak even before he came out about being trans. That didn't really make things any better or worse it just gave them more to tease him with.

"Hey, are you ok?" Joey's best friend Psy asked coming over to help him. Psy was a tall boy with a lot of scruffy brown hair and greenish blue eyes and a large brace on his left leg.

(Simon Kainan. Aliases: Psy. Quirk: Amplifier. Amplifier allowed him to increase the strength of anything he touched for a few minutes at a time. Notes Psy is now forced to walk with crutches and wear a knee brace due to a sports injury. However, due to Joey's constant reassurance he has not given up on his dream of becoming a hero and intends to become one despite his disability.)

Psy and Joey had been friends since before Psy's quirk came in. He was also one of the few people who didn't turn against Joey when he was diagnosed as quirkless. Likewise, Joey was one of Psy's greatest supporters when he hurt his knee. Something that meant a lot to Psy as a lot of his friends in athletic clubs drifted away. Psy had once been the school all star and hero hopeful. Now he was the school's cripple but thanks to Joey's support he was able to get through that rough spot. After seeing Joey's impressive work effort. While working part time going to school keeping up good grades and caring for his elderly grandmother on top of dealing withal the shit everyone's seemed to put him through. He'd even somehow managed to convince Psy not to give up on his dream despite his disability. However, in Psy's opinion if anyone could pull off this crazy dream they could. Psy helped Joey dump all the underwear into the trash before heading to class. Joey walked slowly so Psy could keep up on his crutches. Bumping into another of their friends Lina along the way. Lina was a small thin built girl with long blond hair and blue eyes.

(Lina Davis. Quirk: Cheer. Cheer applies a random buff aura onto anyone she cares greatly for. Notes: Cheer effects can be incredibly powerful. Lina herself cannot control what effect it gives or to whom it gives it to. As it only activates whenever she is feeling strong emotions. Due to this, it has the strange effect of flickering on whenever around Joey as she has a crush on him.)

"Hi, guys." Lina said cheerfully.

"Oh, hey Lina what's up."

"Not much I just wanted to let you know that Professor Denton wants to see you after class today." Lina said before running off.

While Psy just sighed. "I wonder what the mad professor wants this time."

"Who knows but likely he will ask us to help him test some crazy invention of his." Joey sighed as the two finally reached their class.

The rest of the school day passed like any other with Psy napping and Joey dodging bullies and helping Psy catch up. Finally, after classes ended for the day Psy and Joey went to see what their nutty computer/chemistry teacher wanted. Denton was quirkless like Joey and had held a soft spot for the boy. The three were collectively known as the oddballs of the school. Not that they particularly cared what the rest of the school thought of them.

"So, what's this thing supposed to be a Retro cable dish or something?" Psy asked inspecting a large satellite dish trailer that was currently hooked up to Professor Denton's mobile home.

Neither Psy nor Joey could figure out why Denton chose to live in a mobile home or why he chose to be a teacher. When apparently, he made enough money from his hobby of inventing things to rent a top of the line lab and build a random invention every couple of weeks and still live comfortably.

"No Psy this isn't for cable. Though now that I think about it. It wouldn't be too hard to modify it to pick up cable signals but it's actually a compact high power deep space transmitter/receiver. It's essentially a miniaturized version of what we use to communicate with the mars research colony. This should hopefully lessen the lag time from twelve minutes. All the way down to eight minutes. Ten in poor conditions." Denton said proudly.

"Ok, but what's the big deal? Four minutes that's not a big drop in time, right?" Psy asked simply.

"Ah but that's where you are wrong Psy. For you see most jumps in communication speed are normally made on a scale of seconds or less. Primarily by creating singular components that only slightly shorten communication time. This is a sizable leap not only in time, but it costs far less power to run and is far more compact. To the point that at this size it could even be placed on a spacecraft." Denton boasted clearly pleased with himself.

"Ok I got it and yeah that's kind of impressive but why are you showing it to us?" Psy asked as he inspected the dish.

"Well, you see UA recently announced that they are looking to expand the support department for next year's curriculum. As of this, they are in need of a new teacher. If I can prove my prototype works, I'm going to submit it as part of my application. If all goes well, you two won't be the only ones going to UA next year." Denton chuckled only to be interrupted when his laptop started beeping.

"Oh, it's time already." Denton said scrambling over to his laptop.

"Time? So, what do you got planned this time professor?" Psy asked with a sigh resigning to whatever crazy plan the professor had in store for them this time.

Well as part of my application I have to prove that my invention actually works. And it just so happens I have an online friend who's a researcher on the Mars outpost. He managed to convince his superiors to green light a test with their coms array to test my prototype, but we only have a small window to test it with. As my friend could only get them to let him use the array for thirty or so minutes." Denton said as he furiously typed away on his laptop as the dish powered up

"Hello, hello, our distant friends and neighbors. My name is Professor Matthew Denton representing earth. The third planet of the sol system. If you read, please respond. Denton said sending his recorded message.

"What the heck was that." Psy groaned with a facepalm.

"Simply put it's an old joke between me and my friend. We both dreamed of one day making first contact with an alien race. Though it's unlikely either of us ever will but it's been something we've had in common since we were kids." Denton said with a wide smile.

"And this guy is supposed to be our teacher." Psy sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Come on Psy, don't be so hard on the professor. Plus, you knew what you were signing onto when you decided to hang out with us." Joey said teasing his friends.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Denton started to retort when his laptop beeped.

"Ha ha ha Denton you giant nerd! You're coming in loud and clear buddy and better than expected. Coming in at seven point eight minutes according to the relay timer. Congratulations good buddy over and out." As Denton shot up with a cheer. "Haha yes!! It worked haha it worked!!!"

"Congratulation's professor I'm glad it worked out." Joey said as an alarm on his phone beeped.

"OH, crud I'm gonna be late for work got to go bye!" Joey said running off.

Unfortunately, this carefree life could not last forever. As a short time later deep in space Denton's signal was picked up by an unintentional party.

"Hello, hello, [static]r distance friends and neighbors my name is prof. M[static]w Denton representing of earth the eird planet of the sol sy[static] if you read, please re[static]ond."

"My apologies Lord Kogorr. This is the best we were able to clean up the transmission." An insect like creature said while Denton's message started to loop in the background.

"Were you able to triangulate its origin?" The creature known as Lord Kogorr asked lazily.

"We were unfortunately not able to get the precise location of the transmission. However, we do have the general location of this Sol system and the creature gave us the planetoids location in this system. So, it should not be that hard to find once we arrive at the general area Lord Kogorr."

"Good, good ready our forces to reply to this Denton's message." Lord Kogorr ordered.

Meanwhile back in Japan, Akko was finally being let out of the hospital. She had to take a psychiatric test as even though she had left out the parts about magic and even calling the cockatrice a quirked animal it was still a hard story to believe. After a few tests, they confirmed that she was at least sane as far as they could tell and as she could summon the shiny rod. Along with accidentally turning her nightstand into a pink mouse the size of a dog. After this, they reluctantly believed that the rest of her story was true.

"So let me get this straight this stone is charged with this Woodward person's quirk, and she gave it to you so you could not only go home but go back to that insane forest. So, she can teach you how to control your powers because your quirks are similar to each other. What I don't get is how a quirk that transforms things, and a teleportation quirk are in any way similar." Akko's mom said inspecting the way stone. Akko's mother Ryuko Kagari was a beautiful woman with red hair and eyes with a regal almost emotionless look to her

"That's because neither of those abilities is our actual main ability. Their side abilities, something we can do with our powers but it's not the main one." Akko tried to explain to her mother.

"Then what is your main ability?" Her mother asked already starting to sound weary with her daughter's antics.

"I'm not really sure but I think it's some kind of reality warping." Akko said as they approached a small park the band on her wrist morphed into the shiny rod.

"Ok let's see if I can get it too?" However, before she could finish the shiny rod started letting out a stream of large bubbles.

"That's not what I meant to do I was trying to get the staff to turn back into a bow." She shook it and the bubbles started glowing in different colors

"Oh come on!" Then suddenly instead of a stream of bubbles, it was a stream of fire

"Aaaaaaaah!" She screamed dropping the wand the stream stopped but the moment it hit the ground a tree started to grow lifting up the shiny rod.

"Ow come on!" Akko whined before she started to climb the tree. Her mom looked on in shock as Akko climbed the rapidly growing tree

"Oh, just come on!" Akko said stretching out her hand and to her surprise, the shiny rod shot into her hand but with enough force that it knocked her off the tree. Only for the shining rod seemingly to stop midair as she clung to it making her float a few feet off the ground before suddenly dropping her.

"Ouch, geese could you please just work with me hear." As she said that the staff turned into a musket.

"Ok, that's at least a projectile weapon but not the one I was trying for." She sighed as she got to her feet.

"A-A-Akko how?"

"Don't ask me I was trying to make a bow. Well, let's see what this form can do." She said pointing the musket up into the sky. She wasn't even sure what to expect but with a click instead of a bang a blue flair shot up into the air before exploding in a beautiful fireworks display.

"Wow so cool," Akko said aiming another shot.

The problem was she didn't know how to shoot. Assuming it would work the same as the bow not knowing the Claiomh Solais had been helping her then, and as she was trying to actually aim. It wasn't helping her this time. So, when she shot this time, she accidentally hit the tree causing the flair to bounce off toward her mom. Seeing this Akko's mind all but shut down to the point all that was left was instinct and action and that was where the Claiomh Solais shined its brightest. As its link to its wielder is at its strongest. Akko teleported in front of her mother with a puff of smoke as the gun morphed into a shield mounted on her left arm. She braced herself to take the hit but the blast from the explosion through her back into her mother who latched on to her as they fell to the ground panting.

"Ok I think, you should take that Woodward's person offered to teach you." Her mom said sounding terrified and exhausted.

"I kind of was the one who asked her to teach me. She's the one who excepted "Akko corrected.

"I think that's the most responsible thing you have ever done." Her mom sighed as pro heroes started to show up.

"Yeah ... Hey!"

Joey was exhausted he was originally going to try and pull another shift this afternoon, but he decided against it. If he didn't start getting some proper rest soon, he was going to drop. Even after working multiple shifts for weeks, he had only managed to save up a quarter of what he needed to buy a Heybo, and with his grandmother's yearly doctor's visit coming up. He'd have to dip into his Heybo fund to help pay for it and even if it didn't do any severe damage to the fund, it was clear it was still going to be a very long time till he would be able to afford a Heybo. He honestly wished he could just buy third party parts and build one himself but unfortunately, the CPU and operating system were proprietary tech so they couldn't be resold, and they weren't sold separately from the starter kit. Meaning the only way to get them legally at least was to buy a complete starter kit.

Joey was snapped out of his thoughts by some cheering from a nearby park assuming that it was a hero and villain fight. Joey rushed into the park to see what was going on. Instead, he found Lina's brother Will and some of his friends taking turns with a Heybo. If Joey had to take a guess the Heybo belonged to a short chubby kid named Nick. Nick was in the habit of showing off by buying fancy toys and expensive things to show off to his friends. Something that annoyed Joey slightly but whatever at the very least he could watch so long as he stayed back out of the way. Finding a good spot in the split of a tree he climbed up and sat down to watch.

He didn't get to see them do much before his buddy Psy skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Hey man what you up to up there?" Psy asked getting off his board. Psy couldn't ride a regular skateboard since his accident. However, if he locked his leg brace, he was able to support himself on a large two wheeled motorized skateboard.

"Hey, Psy Nick got a Heybo, and he's showing it off. I wanted to get a look at one in action IRL, but I doubt he'll let me try it. So, I figured it best to watch from a distance." Joey said gesturing to the group of teenagers.

"Ah, you must really want one of those things if you're willing to hang around just to watch one?" Psy said leaning against the tree.

"Yeah, it's really cool and if I can get one set up right it could even help grandma when I'm off at work or at school." As Joey said this nick picked the appropriate time to prove his point. As he tossed an empty can on the ground the Heybo kicked it into a trash can. While Psy let out a low whistle.

"OK, I got to admit that was kind of impressive but with that being said. Those things can't be cheap how the heck are you going to try and get one of them?" Psy asked looking up at Joey.

"I don't know if it wasn't for the operating system and CPU being proprietary I'd have one already. Unfortunately, you can only get one of those in the starter kit which is a whole unit." Joey said with a resigned sigh only to have his attention diverted when the boys started fighting over the toy's controller.

The Heybo receiving multiple commands at once started to go out of control following whichever command it could. However, when it shifted into a squatting position with two small wheels coming out of its legs Joey had a feeling this wouldn't end well. The small robot shot forward at full speed. Unfortunately, the boys dropped the controller the battery popping out due to nick not securing the battery compartment properly. Joey watched first with interest then worry as it zoomed across the park into the street and into the path of a car.

"Watch it, you damn kids!" The driver yelled as he drove off, but Joey didn't notice his focus locked on the Heybo.

The initial impact shattered the poor toy, severing one of its legs and rag dolling or shattering the other limbs. This however was gentle compared to what came next. As it crashed down onto the pavement, the left arm snapped clean off just above the elbow the right was broken into multiple pieces barely held together by a few wires. The head was in a similar state with two large cracks opening up in the head the left eye was knocked out and the right was cracked. Lastly, the back had burst open its internal components spilling out.

Nick walked over to inspect his toy sighing at its state.

"It's trashed." He said starting to pick up the pieces not doing a very good job of it before chucking it into the trash without a care.

"Hey, sorry man we didn't mean to break it." One of the boys said while Nick dusted his hands off before casually saying. "Don't worry about it I'll just have my dad buy me a new one."

Joey watched as the group walked off chatting eagerly. Once he was sure they were out of sight he walked over to the trash can to inspect the broken Heybo.

"Hey Joey, what are you doing?" Psy asked while Joey dug through the trash can If the CPU and memory were intact, he could finally start to build his own Heybo.

"They said it was trash right? So, I don't think they will mind if I take it." Joey said inspecting what was left of the Heybo. To his surprise most of the damage to the torso and head was cosmetic, and with a little luck, he might even be able to salvage one of the legs.

"Hey, I think I might actually be able to fix this." Joey said tossing the poor broken toy into his bag.

"What, you can't be serious? That things so busted up it doesn't even look like a Heybo anymore." Psy said as Joey gathered up the remaining pieces from the road.

Joey just gave him a bright smile and said. "That's ok it might look a little odd but that just makes him unique." Joey said as he zipped up his bag and headed home Psy following him on his board.

Joey had always had a talent for fixing things. A part of it was his family was poor and it was almost always cheaper to fix something than replace it, but another part was that he enjoyed the act of just fixing something. To have something that needed him, be it someone he knew, a stray animal, or in this case a broken toy, helping them just felt right to Joey. He would always brighten up with a bright smile when he worked on the toy, clearly enjoying losing himself in his projects. Psy being Joey's best friend would drop in from time to time sometimes bringing food just to make sure Joey would remember to eat. It took Joey close to a month, but he had all but finished fixing the Heybo. He just needed a battery and the recently named Heroman would be up and running. Heroman had gone through a lot of changes to the point he barely still resembled a Heybo. Joey had used white electrical tape to patch the worst of the cosmetic damage on the head shoulders and torso. Despite this, both the body and head were still scarred with large cracks. One of the most notable changes was that Joey had to swap the standard arms with the more powerful tool arms. These arms lacked any hands but had an attachment point to mount tools on. Joey didn't have any of the tools yet, but he could worry about that later. He just wanted to try Heroman out. Sadly, that would have to wait till tomorrow when he got his next paycheck. However unknown to Joey, his actions were just the first steps in something far greater.

As in high orbit, a spaceship jumped out of hyperspace to close to the planet. Bombarding it with otherworldly energy. Most of this energy was dispersed in the planet's atmosphere but caused unusual weather patterns as a side effect.

Meanwhile back in the forest Arcturus.

"You want me to deal with a demon!!!" Akko shouted in shock while Woodward looked up at the sky sensing a strange disturbance, unlike anything she had seen before. She was worried but Akko needed her attention right now.

"Calm down Akko I'm not asking you to fight the thing. It's safely sealed away I just want you to reinforce its seal." Woodward said soothingly.

"Ok but it's still a demon what if it tries to steal my soul or something?!" Akko asked still clearly worried while Woodward just internally sighed, she hated how modern media had monsterized demons.

"Akko it couldn't take your soul you're mixing up hellspawn demons and common demons. Hellspawn's are the closest thing to the modern depiction of demons their foul monsters and abomination that consume not only human souls but spirits like myself and common demons. To clarify spirits and common demons are two sides of the same coin. They are born, live, and die, in the same ways as each other. The only differences are spirits are beings of light and demons are beings of darkness." Woodward explained simply.

"But then why was that one sealed away?" Akko asked trying to straighten all this out in her head.

"Ah well there's always a few bad apples in every harvest, but I assure you there are good demons just as there are evil spirits. As for the demon in question, it's a grudge demon a demon born from the darkness in the heart of a samurai general. Grudge demons aren't dangerous unless they find a host body to take over. Even powerful ones like the one in question. So long as the seals are intact it's powerless and voiceless. Unless the seal is removed or destroyed it will be unable to interact with the physical world, and if by some disaster it does break free it can only possess someone with a great darkness in their heart. Meaning it quite literally cannot harm you without finding someone to possess first." Woodward reassured.

Little did either know the demon was not only free but already had a host.

The next day Akko was berrying a bulb into a flowerpot as she got ready to cast a spell on it.

"What are you doing messing with my gardening supplies? I thought you were going to be doing something with Woodward today?" Akko's mother asked in exasperation.

"I am, this is what Woodward asked me to do, just watch," Akko said before patting down the dirt. She then closed her eyes focusing on her magic. The shiny rod in wristband form lit up as she muttered the spell under her breath. Her mother watched in mild shock at the small light show as she watched a plant be grown in a matter of seconds. When Akko was done, she had a soccer ball sized flower bud. Akko leaned back wiping away a little sweat with a. "Few, why is it harder to grow a flower than it is to blow apart a bolder?"

Akko's mother went to say something but stopped when she realized the question wasn't for her, but for the flower. As it bloomed to reveal a miniature far younger looking Woodward.

"It's the level of complexity. You aren't lacking for power or energy, so of course, you would find tasks like blasting a boulder easier. Where this task required a great deal of control something you struggle with, though I must say you are improving nicely." Woodward said inspecting her new flower form.

"Auuuh Akko, did you just grow a child?!" Akko's mother groaned before groaning just loud enough to be heard. 'I'm too young to be a grandmother.'

"No need to worry miss Kagari despite my diminutive stature I'm not a child. I am Woodward I'm the one who has been helping your daughter with her training." Woodward said with a small bow.

"What but aren't you supposed to be a giant tree person?" Akko's mother asked trying to make sense of this.

"I am however I'm bound to the forest of Arcturus and cannot leave it. This flower however is a small piece of my forest therefore I can exert limited influence over it. Allowing me to take the form you see before you now." Woodward explained her almost motherly tone not matching her child like form.

"Ok but now this has me wondering why you had her do this? I mean I can understand if you want to get out of your forest for a bit but if this is for my daughter's training that's worrisome. I don't know how things work wherever your forest is but you aren't allowed to use quirks in public here with only a few exceptions." Akko's mother warned.

"Do not worry I am aware, and we will not be doing anything foolish." She assured with a kind smile.

Akko's mother sighed. "All right just try and stay out of trouble."

"Don't worry mom I'm really starting to get a hang of my powers and Woodward's a great teacher. We will be fine." Akko said cheerfully as she picked up Woodward.

"All right but if I hear you blew up something, or weird multicolored animals are running all over the place or something you will be grounded in a heartbeat, little lady." She said before giving Akko a hug.

"I'll try but I make no promises," Akko said cheekily before jumping into a lay line portal.

Meanwhile, in a Japanese antiquities shop, a man furiously shredded a foreclosed notice.

"No, NO, NO! This shops my life's work they can't just take it from ME!" The shop owner started to weep in rage.

"Don't worry we know what we need to do right? We just need to get enough money to save your dream. I can help you and we can even get a little payback in the process." The eerie voice said as the man had come to trust as his closest friend as he had fallen under the demon's spell. "Remove my seal ill add my powers to your own and we will take our revenge!"

Joey smiled as he peaked at Heroman in his bag he had just finished his shift and he was walking to the model shop to get a new battery for Heroman. He'd have to hurry as the sky looked like it was about to start storming any second. The battery was the last part he needed to get him up and running. Joey couldn't help but smile, soon he'd finally be able to see the fruits of his labor but before he could get halfway there, he was stopped by a car pulling up next to him. Worrying him for half a second before the window rolled down revealing Lina and her father.

"Hey, Joey." Lina said happily.

"Oh, hey Lina." Joey said surprised and a little afraid. He had only met Lina's father twice and it always felt like the man was disgusted by his very presence.

"Do you need a ride? It looks like it is getting really bad out there?" Lina asked but before he could answer he was interrupted by Lina's father.

"Ah, so you're the Joey Will warned me about, hmm though Lina seems rather fond of you, you seem to have a rather… bad reputation. As such, I'd appreciate it if you didn't associate with my daughter. Lest we need to take more drastic measures." He said coldly in a tone that left no room for argument.

"DADDY!!!" Lina screamed.

"No Lina you need to start showing some concern about your public appearance, you aren't a child anymore and you need to be more conscious about those you interact with." Her father berated Lina and she was about to argue back but Joey had just walked off.

"Joey. Weight Joey!" Lina shouted starting to get out of the car, but she didn't manage to get far.

"Crap, crap, crap, I thought you said it wasn't dangerous!" Akko whined as she chased after the glowing orb of the tracking spell Woodward was casting for her.

"It's not supposed to be it's supposed to be bound to an empty suit of armor. It must have somehow found a host." Woodward said as she struggled to maintain the spell. Trying to not worry Akko but being confined to a tiny body trapped in a pot held by a running girl while the most unnatural storm she had ever felt brewed overhead really wasn't helping, but that didn't matter right now they had to find the demon before it consumed its host soul and fully took over the host's body.

Joey spun around at the sound of something smashing into the hood of Lena's father's car. Only to see a man in traditional Japanese clothing punch his way through the car's front window pulling Lina's father through it.

"Well, well, well, it's been a while, sir." The shop owner said with a manic grin on his face. His eyes were bloodshot with the veins in his face bulging giving him a more monsters appearance.

"Weight, your, what happened to you!?!" Lina's father just barely managed to choke out as the shop owner held him up by the throat.

"Yes, I'm the measly antiquities shop owner you foreclosed on recently but that's ok. I'm strong now. strong enough I never have to worry about parasites like you again!" The shopkeeper said his manic smile growing more and more monstrous as his face twisted and his teeth grew longer and sharper.

"Dad?" Lina barely managed to whimper out catching the man's attention.

"Oh, this must be your daughter she's quite beautiful." The shopkeeper taunted only to grab Lina's father's arm when he tried to punch him his fist coated in golden energy. The shopkeeper just smirked tightening his grip tell a loud snap could be heard as he broke the other man's arm.

"Oh, so quick to violence and to even use your quirk you must really care for her. Good, bring 200,000,000 yen and the deed to my shop to your factory on the south end of town. Oh, and if you even so much as think of calling the cops or heroes. Well even if they can stop me from killing her, she will be far less pretty when I'm done with her." He said before tossing Lina's father aside into a wall knocking him out. Then without showing any sign of notice or worry he jumped flipping over Joey who had charged at him trying to use his bag as a weapon. Before Joey could spin around to face him the shopkeeper picked him up by his hoody.

"How cute you want to play hero but sorry kiddo the suns already set so playtimes over." He jeered before tossing Joey clear through a chain link fence. Joey's bag tore and spilled its contents all over the ground the shop owner just sneered before turning away and walking to the driver's side of the car as he reached for the driver's side door. Lina still startled and too scared to think straight hit the button to lock the car door only to have the man simply rip it open and climb in. To his small surprise, the car started without much effort despite how dinged up it was.

"Now, now little lady how about we go for a little drive." He said his face morphing into something truly demonic finally pushing the poor girl over her limits making her faint as the shopkeeper just chuckled and drove off.

A loud boom of thunder was the first thing Joey noticed as he started to regain consciousness. He looked up the storm was far worse as lightning arced across the sky but not a single bolt headed for the ground. He looked down only to spot Heroman's controller next to his left hand he grabbed it. Heroman was much further away but Joey's body refused to move. He could see his torn bag nearby its contents spilled everywhere. Heroman was laying on its back he tried to get up, but he just barely managed to get to his knees when he noticed the others were gone, even Lina's father had come to and left him.

"Am, am I really that useless? I couldn't do a single thing to help." Joey said tears running down his face while the storm above raged, becoming more and more violent as Joey broke down. Till the sky was a blazed from the constant flashes as more and more lightning arced across the sky. Joey couldn't take it anymore he screamed in frustration and the sky seemingly responded. As with a roar, lightning arced from across the horizon in all directions lighting up the entirety of the night till it was as bright as day. The lightning coalesced at a single point forming a bolt of lightning as big as a building arced not towards the ground or any lightning rod. Instead, its target was a small toy, as the bolt crashed down on Heroman vaporizing the remains of Joey's bag cracking the pavement and flinging Joey back.

Before he could hit the ground the controller in his hand lit up. He felt it vanish from his hand as the matter of the controller broke apart converting to energy. A smaller bolt of lightning shot off from the huge pillar striking the controller as it started to rematerialize as a white fingerless gauntlet encasing his left arm up to the elbow. On the back of his hand was the controller's screen. The gauntlet glowed brightly as he was set down onto his feet as a massive figure stood up in the bolt of lightning. The bolt had lasted for nearly a full minute before finally dying out. Absorbed into the massive white figure leaving behind only small arks of electricity leaking from its massive form. It was built like the number one hero but a little under a foot taller than the pro. There was a whirr then with a click like that of an industrial breaker being flipped two pure white eyes flashed to life. Then with a hum, a red ring that ran from the giant's chest to its shoulders down its arms to its waste lit up, casting a rather intimidating figure.

Joey took a step back in fear before the fear just seemed to vanish from him. Somehow, he just knew it wouldn't… No, it would never hurt him and with that realization, the figure before him stopped being so scary allowing him to finally get a good look at it. The giant was mostly white with blue covering any part of the giant that wasn't covered by the red ring or its white armor. The only exception was the white stars on its sides. However, its most striking characteristic was its eyes. Behind the bright white glow of its eyes were pale blue pupils not unlike Joey's own. It was the look in its eyes it was a questioning almost pleading look as if it was asking why it and the world existed. Which made sense as it was essentially a newborn.

Heroman stared down at the one? At their other half? There mistress? No, the small bit of memory that they had gotten from them told them that was wrong too? Though they were still not sure what to refer to them as their other half was female something they knew but didn't understand. Their other half didn't like it though it preferred to think of itself as mail they didn't understand why but if it was what he wanted they would do so he was their master? That was still wrong, but they couldn't think of why however before they could question it their mind was flooded with flashes of memories of a blond girl at varying ages always with a bright happy smile all but in the last in those it was filled with terror as the monsters man took. 'He, he was going to hurt her.' New sensations filled them anger worry fear it hated them it hated them it wanted them to stop they'd make them stop they'd..... It was all overshadowed by one burning desire their master's deepest desire.

The gauntlet beeped as a symbol appeared on the screen that looked like the giant's face. While the ring on the controller pulsed faintly like a heartbeat. As he finally noticed the sensation of another presence or mind so close that he felt like he could reach out to it, although he couldn't tell it reached out to him as well.

In a flash of memory the left side of their vision was black it was not right it was a missing black.

'It, it had lost an eye.' Joey realized as it stared up at the sky.

"Hey, Joey, what you doing?"

'Was that Psy's voice?'

"They said it was trash right? So, I don't think they will mind if I take it. His own voice said as he stepped into view with a gentle smile, as he picked them up careful not to make the damage worse.

"Hey, I think I might actually be able to fix this." The Joey in the memory said his smile only growing brighter.

"What you can't be serious? That things so busted up it doesn't even look like a Heybo anymore." Psy voice said as Joey just turned to him and smiled.

"That's ok it might look a little odd but that just makes him unique."

Joey blinked as the memory had passed, he looked up at the giant before him. He still wasn't sure how he knew but that was a memory one of the giant's but the only way that could be is if it was.

"Heroman?"

Joey was just barely able to stammer out of shock. The device on his arm pinged again and this time Joey hit the icon. Heroman slumped forward slightly as if some invisible force that had been keeping him from moving had been released. Heroman turned to look off in the distance before grabbing Joey and tossing him onto their back before darting off.

Moments before with Akko and Woodward. Woodward's spell fizzled as she gasped it took all her control not to lose her connection to the flower she was inhabiting. The sheer amount of power was insane she had never felt anything this intense before. Not even the claiomh solais at the height of its power could come close. It was a mix of so many powers and otherworldly energy. The might of a storm unlike anything she had ever seen she could also since some of the demon's power in the mix....and though it was faint she was sure she sensed a pure heart and noble will. However, the most shocking piece in the mix was the very power that had been used to forge the claiomh solais the will of the world was at work.

'If this new power wasn't already going to be a force of change in the world it would be now.' Was her only thought as she watched the solid pillar of lighting light up the sky from one end of the horizon to the other.

Joey held on to Heroman for dear life as Heroman charged forward at Joey's best guess over fifty miles per hour as they passed cars going in the same direction.

"Where are you going? " Joey shouted as the overpass they were on turned.

"Weight, weight, weight!" Joey shouted as Heroman jumped off the overpass before crashing to the ground and continuing to run. While Joey tried to recover from face planting into the back of Heroman's head, but it was then Joey noticed a passing landmark and it clicked. Heroman wasn't just running wildly they were taking the most direct route to the factory, and with that realization, Heroman seemed to speed up going from a sprint to a full charge. Thankfully there wasn't any traffic this time of night as anything that was in Heroman's way was steamrolled over or battened aside by the armored giant as they ran full steam toward the coming fight. Joey vaguely registered the maniacal laughter of the shopkeeper's monologue before Heroman plowed through the factory wall and tackled the shopkeeper sending him flying. The cement and brick wall had barely even registered to Heroman and while he had been trying to stop, he still hit with enough force to send a tank flying despite that, the shopkeeper picked himself up his nose bleeding and broken but more or less ok.

"What the hell?! You're that kid and who's this lug I don't recognize him so he can't be a hero?" But as he said that he noticed the controller on Joey's arm

"Ahh, so this is your quirk hu?" The shopkeeper said as small flame like wisps sprung to life around him.

However, Joey didn't notice this his attention was locked on Lina who was dangling from the ceiling. It looked almost like a crucifixion with her arms splayed out in a rough cross shape, but if that wasn't bad enough the way the chains that held her up were wrapped around her hinted at something inappropriate. All Joey could do was desperately look her over trying to find any wounds or signs that he had done anything else to her. Even if he couldn't find any his mind still spun his breath becoming sharper his chest tightened making it harder to breathe and just as he started to fill dizzy from the panic attack, he felt the presence of Heroman reaching out to him while the controller pinged. He looked back at Heroman he was staring down at him his gaze was intense and unrelenting and even without the mental link, he got the silent question clearly.

'WHAT. WILL. YOU. DO?'

The gauntlet beeped again as a fist icon appeared on its screen. Joey took a look back at Lina but this time with determination burning in his eyes as he felt his and Heroman's bond grow stronger." All right, partner let's do this!"

(Heroman opening them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UInVSerF6Y )

"HEROMAN ENGAGE !!!"

Joey slammed his hand down on the icon Heroman just smiled as he shot forward both pleased at Joey's decision and that he finally knew what to call his other half. 'Partner.'

"Well let's see what your maid of big boys." The shopkeeper Cackled sending burning wisps at Heroman. This like the wall went nearly unnoticed not even leaving a mark on their pristine white armor. If it wasn't for the shopkeeper's newly augmented superhuman agility he would have been flung across the room and through a wall but instead, he jumped out of the way. Before Heroman plowed through the said wall trying to turn around still not used to its new form or the strength it wielded.

"It seems I can't afford to hold back with this one." The shopkeeper said watching Heroman step back through the hole he had just punched through the wall. A suit of Japanese samurai armor levitated off a stand and onto the man, but to Joey's horror when the last piece of the helmet latched onto his head he transformed into a monster.

If Joey thought Heroman was big this guy was huge. Heroman did not even come up to the monster's chest. The monster looked like a giant rotund man with the kanji for grudge on his torso. The demon mask had become a face with sharp teeth and a large mustache. Who wielded a massive cleaver like blade. The flat of the blade was as wide as Heroman's torso and its length was nearly as long as the monster was tall.

The monster swung his blade at Heroman who didn't bother with blocking it. As when it hit his armored head the attack barely managed to scratch the white giant's armor and wasn't enough to do more than make Heroman lean his head to the side slightly. However, the force from, the monster's swing shattered the wall next to them. Heroman just glared dispassionately at his shocked opponent before a massive, armored fist the size of an oil drum slammed into the monster's face. The force of the punch several times that of the monster's swing was nearly enough to send the monster sixty feet into the air as lightning arced from Heroman's fist. Shocking Joey by the sheer strength but Heroman wasn't done with the monster just yet. Before it could lose its upward momentum Heroman crouched jumping up high enough to pile drive the monster into the ground.

It was at that moment Akko and Woodward stumbled out of a lay line portal on the factory roof just in time to see a white giant pile drive the demon into the ground with enough force to make a sizable crater.

"What the?!" Was all Akko was able to say before she nearly dropped Woodward from the force of the demon hitting the ground. She barely had time to hug the pot Woodward was into her chest before the white giant slammed its lightning clad fist into the demon. With enough force to double the size of the crater and nock Akko a few feet off the ground and onto her but. This had her preying the building they were on didn't collapse from the two's brawl.

Heroman jumped out of the crater landing next to Joey. Who had only just learned that the controller gauntlet could make forcefields as a glowing blue dome had appeared to protect him from the force of Heroman's last attack. Joey had only been able to look on in shock. He had only seen stuff like this in top tear hero fights and now he had this level of power. However, Joey wasn't given long to ponder that as the monster got to its feet bits of its armor falling off as it stumbled over to its sword picking it up.

"After four hundred years I have finally escaped and found a body I shan't lose it to thine ilk now burn whelps!!!" The demon shouted now in full control. As flames shot from the armor wrapping around its sword dozens of giant wisps like fireballs sprung to life around him. Before firing off towards his two opponents. Joey's shield bubble sprung to life half a second before it would have hit him. Heroman just shielded his face with an arm.

"HEROMAN!" Joey shouted in worry as fireball after fireball slammed into the white giant.

"We need to help them." Akko cried summoning the Claiomh Solais to her hand.

"Akko no!" Woodward said sternly stopping her.

"But the demons going to kill them!" As if to prove her point the demon raised its sword flames shooting from it forming a giant powerful sun like fireball.

"Akko this is a battle against two forces that are far beyond your current ability. That said I wouldn't worry too much I'm guessing the demon's senses have dulled from its century's imprisonment. If it, hadn't it would know not to challenge an elemental being of the white one's caliber." Woodward said not able to take her eyes off the fight. As her instincts battled with her reasoning. Her instinct as a spirit told her to either flee or bow in submission for, she was intruding into the territory of… She wasn't sure what, but it felt like a spirit made of an unworldly amount of lightning given form and more so very much more.

"What do you mean?" Akko said looking down at Woodward.

"Just watch you will see soon enough." As if on cue the demon swung his sword down launching a massive fireball at the two.

However, Heroman had finally had enough and charged right through the enemy's attack the fire washing over them with no effect. Heroman quickly cleared the distance between them and the demon before it had a chance to recover. Heroman slammed their massive fist into the demon's chest with their full strength this time no longer holding back. As they sent the demon flying with enough force that the air pressure from his punch sent objects flying along with it. The largest of which was a small truck.

Joey had nearly missed this massive display of power as Heroman started his charge the controller beeped showing a symbol of a hand with three circles emanating from it. Joey had hit the command only looking up in time to witness the massive punch. Before the demon could crash into a nearby factory building it slowed to a stop, massive chunks of metal floating in the air around it. Heroman left arm cocked back for another punch as their right glowed with lightning sparking from their hand.

"Magnokinesis." Joey said in shock.

Heroman clenched his fists metal drums tools pipes even the small truck that had been sent flying earlier all slammed into the massive form of the demon. As Heroman tried to crush the demon with their Magnokinesis. While this wasn't enough to destroy the demon it was enough to make him cry out in pain as the metal shell of its armored body was deformed to the point that even if it could free itself, it could no longer continue the fight. Though Heroman wasn't about to give him the chance. Heroman pulled their hand back and the massive ball of metal came flying at him like a baseball. Only instead of a bat, the ball of metal met Heroman's charged armored fist shattering the ball and the armor while freeing the shop owner though he probably have more than a few broken bones after all this.

Joey dropped to his knees letting out a sigh of relief as all strength seemed to leave him. The night had just been too much and all he wanted to do was lay down and rest, but it seemed the demon had something else in mind.

The helmet burst into flame rising up off the ground " I shall not fail here I shall not let these grudges fade! You shall all burn in the fire of my fury!" It said as it flung itself at a fuel tank in all honesty it was a small miracle the fires from earlier hadn't spread to anything dangerous yet.

From Joey's perspective what happened next happened in slow motion. Joey ran trying to reach Lina not noticing that the controller was freaking out. Woodward opened a lay line portal under her and Akko so they would fall through and Heroman grabbed the shopkeeper before turning to Lina right as the demon exploded into the fuel tank. Its final act was a desperate attempt to take his opponents down with it the fuel exploded starting a chain reaction of multiple explosions that turned the entire factory into a fireball.

Joey's shield had activated protecting him from the blast but had thrown him through a wall of a building across the street. Joey had only just picked himself up and ran back through the hole in the wall when Heroman stepped out of the flames with the shopkeeper slung on their shoulder and Lina cradled in their arm. Heroman walked over to Joey before setting both of them down. Before with a flash Heroman shrank back down into their toy form as the controller on Joey's arm changed back into a normal Heybo controller.

Two things stirred Joey from his shock the first was the rain the second was the sirens. Joey grabbed Heroman and ran. Even if he wasn't sure if Heroman was even a quirk or not, he knew the authorities wouldn't be too happy with him fighting villains without a license. Or with him destroying a factory so he ran, and he didn't stop till he got home and had locked the door behind him.

Joey leaned against the door catching his breath as he dripped water on the floor. He shivered finally catching his breath he was soaked through to his underwear. Even with his jacket offering some protection from the rain the massive down poor had drenched him and it didn't help that he lived on the opposite side of town from the factory, so it wasn't exactly a short run.

He finally picked himself up and peeled off his wet clothes while doing his best to dry off Heroman setting them down on a chair. He then hopped into a warm shower to shake off the chill of the rain and get the day's events straight in his head. He sighed as he stepped out of the shower it all felt so surreal. If it wasn't for the scrapes and soreness from all the day's events, he'd think it was a dream. Though he'd have to admit he felt a lot better after the shower. He then got dressed and crawled into bed glancing over at Heroman.

"Good night, buddy."

Before turning off the light his last thought before falling asleep was to thank God he didn't have to work tomorrow.