CHAPTER 011(Horizon)

Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.

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CHAPTER START---

---4 Days After Meeting Nezu...

Sitting on the couch of his condo Law is wearing simple shorts and a t-shirt, all black. A glass of scotch in his hand as he scrolls through a list of hotels in Switzerland.

ROOM!

Taking a sip of the drink he enjoys the familiar taste of it, placing the glass down on the coffee table as he drops his phone.

TAKT!

It hovers in place while he refills his glass with scotch. Refilling his glass he leans back into the couch and grabs the phone out of the air.

ROOM!

"This place looks about right," he says, finding a reasonably priced hotel in Bern that suites his purposes, losing access to all his family money truly hurt, and now he only has the cash they stored at this safe house.

Just after making his reservation, the phone begins to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, I'm outside," Nezu's friendly voice answers back.

"On the sidewalk?" Law asks while opening a ROOM, reaching from his location all the way down to the other side of the street.

"Yes, I'm out front."

"Holding it?"

"Yes..." Nezu says a bit nervously, "I'm sitting in my car."

SCAN!

Law gets a full 3D map of the area, focusing on finding Nezu, sensing him in an armored SUV out front with his driver, a large metal briefcase in his arms as he sits in the back, phone raised to his ear.

"Shambles," Law tosses an ice cube to the couch opposite him, and just before it hits the couch it swapped with Nezu, briefcase, and phone in hands.

"Hngh," Nezu grunts as he falls from almost an inch above his new seat, looking up to frown at Law, "a little warning next time," he hangs up the phone and texts his driver.

"Sure thing," Law says. "Is everything ready?"

"I wouldn't have called if it wasn't," Nezu says. "Will you be able to operate here? If not I have a room reserved at a private facility."

"Here will be fine, the bedroom is ready," Law shrugs.

"I see..." Nezu silently looks around for a moment, taking in the simple apartment before noticing Law drinking alcohol. "You're fifteen, you shouldn't be drinking."

"It's been a rough week," Law shrugs. "Don't worry it doesn't actually do anything, want a drink?"

"Do you have tea?"

Law gestures to the kitchen, "feel free to do as you wish, I'd like to check out my gear," he nods toward the briefcase.

"Enjoy," Nezu says excitedly as he hops down from the couch and walks off toward the kitchen.

As Nezu walks away Law gets up and places the briefcase on the coffee table before returning to his own seat.

At the front of the metal case was a black smiley face with checkered teeth, large sold eyes, and a dot nose, six spokes protruding out of it with pieces of another broken concentric circle attached to them.

"You got the trademark for me?" Law asks.

"Of course," Nezu's voice calls out from the kitchen, his body hidden on the other side of the counter. "Horizon: Miracle Solutions Ltd. That smiley face is a strange logo but it's what you wanted."

"My dad's was hearts," Law says. "Mom's was gears, this is mine."

"Any all might inspiration?" Nezu asks cheekily from the kitchen.

"Mmm, yes and no, I figured people are only gonna see my back when I leave them in the dust, so it should at least be smiling," Law chuckles darkly and Nezu just shakes his head.

"You know you could have just said you wanted to heal people with a smile."

"I rather not lie," Law finally opens the case.

Staring back at him is a sleek visor, made of a super tough polymer, black with two blue eyes and white on both sides. Simple but mysterious and intimidating, exactly what he wanted.

Picking it up he gives it a once over, turning it at every angle and feeling it with his hands, smooth and cool. Looking underneath he sees blue circuits flowing within, entirely on the area at the back of the head.

"Anything I should know about this?" He asks while putting it on. The moment it's on he feels it tighten slightly, just enough to be perfectly comfortable, he also feels the base of the helmet extend all around. A hidden lip extends downward at the front and completely blocks his mouth, and he feels something like fabric reach down his chin.

"That feels weird," he says, his voice suddenly carrying a slight mechanical edge to it. "But...it doesn't feel like I'm wearing a helmet...doesn't really look like it either." He raises a hand to see if he could notice any visual change, but getting up to look into a nearby wall mirror, while the face of his helmet was still black with two simple blue eyes, from the inside the world was crystal clear. Perfectly crafted one-way vision.

Raising his head he looks under his chin, noticing the base of the helmet extend as if it tried to crawl down his neck, "huh...can't even feel it, and it doesn't bother my jaw at all when I talk."

"Obviously not," Nezu says before taking a sip of his tea, now sitting on the couch. "Power loader and I designed it personally, as well as your new sword, but that will remain at UA until you officially enroll, you can't take it off campus without a provisional license."

"I see," Law walks back over to the case and inspects the other items. Finding a set of dark black socks, long pants, gloves, and a long-sleeved shirt. Three of each. Looking inside them he sees that the outside is black but the inside is white, with the shirt having his logo in blue on the black side, and also in blue on the white side, as he requested. "Double sided huh."

"You asked for a white with the blue logo, but this was a more functional idea, plus the fabric comes in black so this was also faster, all three body gloves are the same, and they become active when fully connected, that includes the visor," Nezu says.

"Fully active?"

"Try it on..."

ROOM!

Law picks up each piece and gives it a quick SCAN, then shifts his gaze toward Nezu.

"I can't see your face to know what you're thinking," Nezu says, staring at the blank faceplate.

"I'll have to remember that, but trackers, really?"

Nezu shrugs, "it was a good idea at the time, and I figured you wouldn't have been able to find them."

Law just sighs and grabs each shirt, focusing on the trackers and then looking at his glass of scotch, focusing on the condensation at the base of the glass.

SHAMBLES!

Three small black objects, shaped like grains of rice, but one-third of the size, are swapped for drops of water.

"Incredible," Nezu mutters in awe. "How were you able to find and isolate them so easily?"

"I'll explain when the others get here, do I need to worry about a tracker built into the visor, or programmed into it?" Law asks.

"No, there wasn't any space for a tracker, and the only software is so you can use it as a wireless headset for your phone for better privacy, alongside the temperature control you requested."

"Good, I'll be taking your word for it, and thanks for not making the voice too mechanical."

"All I did was program the fabric, power loader did everything else, he's our resident support item genius after all," Nezu gloats, always happy to brag about his staff.

Law begins putting on the gloves and socks, flipping them inside out so the white side was showing. "Speaking of UA, shouldn't you be there since the school year just started...or is just about to start."

"It began yesterday, but I don't really have much to do this year since one of the first-year classes got expelled from the hero course."

"What, what do you mean a class got expelled?" Law asks, his slightly mechanical voice clearly surprised.

"We have a certain strict teacher that is very harsh with what he expects of heroes, he put them all into the general studies department directly afterward."

"Sounds like a dick," Law says.

"He means well, his ways are just a bit cold at times, but he will be your homeroom teacher next year. His quirk may be needed to help guide you," Nezu says.

"You mean to stop me from putting people in the ground?"

"That's one way to put it."

"What's his quirk, because it'll some serious magic to stop me," Law says as he finishes with the socks and gloves. Standing up he holds the pants and shirt, studying them for a moment.

"His quirk can temporarily erase other quirks," Nezu says.

"Shambles," Law's pants and shirt swap for the parts of the body-glove, now wearing the visor with his entire body covered in white fabric as the ROOM closes, retracting into himself.

"Shambles? That's what you call the warping?" Nezu asks curiously.

Law just turns toward him, allowing the blank visor to stare at Nezu for a moment.

"So Eraserhead huh," he looks at his body curiously, feeling the gaps between the separate pieces somehow being filled, as if the fabric itself was reaching out to the other parts and connecting. He walks over to the mirror and barely catches the tail end of the process, the turtleneck portion of his body glove reaching up to connect with his visor perfectly. "That's creepy..."

"Somewhat yes, but the smart fabric is needed to regulate temperature, which is a necessity for how long you plan to spend in that persona," Nezu explains. "And you looked into UA staff?"

"Always best practice to scope out a site before you enter."

"Fair enough."

"I can feel it cooling me down already," he notices a small thermostat appearing inside his visor before it disappears. "Body temperature gauge?"

"Precisely, as expected this equipment is purely for comfort so don't try to fight fire or ice user with this, it's meant to keep you cool on a warm day or warm on a cold day, nothing more. You'll still need a coat in the winter or ice-cream in the summer."

"It'll do, thanks. Now for the really important parts," he takes his seat back on the couch and pulls the case closer. Reaching into a small compartment to remove some documents.

Looking at the first set of documents, passport, birth certificate, ID, driver's license, medical license, all for his real identity of Law Matani.

"Wow," Law is genuinely surprised. "I expected just the basics honestly, medical license and even a driver's license?"

Nezu shrugs, "the doctors at central hospital put some of your more miraculous cases into a simulator after I gave them the relevant files. None of those people should have survived, they ever offered you a job. With that plus my own research, a medical license seemed earned."

"At fifteen, I know that since Quirks shook up the world there have been prodigies in a lot of things so exceptions are made, but...never figured you would have gone for it."

"Your medical skills are peerless, and you aren't using them for evil anymore so it's fine. The fact that your Quirk is a healing type made it very easy to get."

"Makes sense."

"The drivers' license was a bit more difficult honestly, getting you a license to drive any class of road vehicle in Japan, at fifteen, let's just say I had to get creative with the computers. But it still only took me a few minutes."

"I don't like public transport so thanks, especially since if things go as planned I should be able to afford some nice cars soon."

"Sooner than you think, you'll get all the information when you get there in person, but you'll certainly be able to get whatever toy you want."

"Mhm," Law continues reading the documents until something catches his eye, "Law Matani, Quirk: Heal?"

"Well, I couldn't put Hand Of God since that would reveal you to be Horizon as well," Nezu says. "I get that your Quirk allows you to warp and heal but that name is so pretentious, are you sure you don't want to change it?"

"My dad chose it for me, and it's very accurate, so it stays, besides I can do more than just warp and heal."

"Really?"

"You'll see eventually," Law says. He puts away his documents and takes a look at his second set, Horizon's. "You have the body glove and visor listed as Lifestyle Support Equipment, good, they can't legally have me remove or alter either then."

"Exactly, and even the picture is just that of your visor, be sure not to alter it."

"I know that much Nezu," Law continues looking through the documents, and he even has a driver's license for Horizon as well. "I don't think Horizon is gonna have any cars, he'll probably have a driver...unless I have a second house just for my cars as Horizon since I won't be able to bring them home...dual identity problems I guess..."

"Precisely why so many heroes just go public."

"Not worth it," he says sternly. "Put my current and future family in danger...I'd rather deal with the dual identity bullshit forever."

"True, the media won't report it much but villains tracking heroes to their homes isn't all that uncommon, not with people being so comfortable about showing their face."

"Exactly, I don't buy into the hero-centric media crap, I've been on the other side, I know how easy it is to track people down with just a face or Quirk name, never putting my family in that kind of danger just to save some strangers."

"I certainly can't argue against that, but most people don't take things as extreme as you do, although they usually aren't in such extreme circumstances."

"I want Horizon and Law Matani to be as different as possible," Law says. "One is the perfect pristine hero, and the other is a guy who looks like he belongs in a gang, tattoos and all. Nobody will ever connect them in person, just as you've made sure nobody can connect them digitally in Japan's system."

"True, but one thing... you don't have tattoos," Nezu points out.

"Not yet..."

"You'd go that far to separate your identities?" Nezu asks, not surprised but a bit concerned.

"No face tattoos, but yeah I don't see why not, when I retire or if I'm just off duty the last thing I want is people thinking I'm a hero and bothering me."

Nezu chuckles, "most people can't stop thinking about life as a hero, and you're more concerned about when you settle down and start a family," he nearly spills his drink as his chuckle devolves into a mad cackle.

Law just sighs and sits back, "don't think anything else really matters honestly."

Nezu catches his breath at this, "I can certainly respect your view on th---"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Nezu's phone goes off, drawing their attention toward it.

Nezu picks it up and looks at the message before turning to Law, "seems like your first patient is here... doctor Horizon..."

END CHAPTER---

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