Sports Festival (1)

"You've got to be joking," I said as I looked in disbelief at Aizawa. "A Sports Festival?"

"I don't joke, we have a hero for that," Aizawa said as he wiggled into his sleeping bag. "Plus, she's annoying."

"But, a festival of all things, after an attack?" I asked, completely confused. "And here I thought the wasteland was weird."

"I don't know what went on there, and I don't care to know," Aizawa told me as he got comfortable.

"The festival is important to the world," 13 started to explain to me. "It shows the world what the next generation of heroes is like."

"Does it include students from other schools?" I asked.

"No, why should it? We are the premiere hero school in the country." All Might said.

"I need a drink..." I mumbled as I pulled out a bottle of scotch and a shot glass.

"But didn't you just drink a bottle of bourbon at lunch?" 13 asked.

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I wasn't going to even point out how stupid it was not to include other schools. If they wanted to be heroes, then cooperation is vital. Not just with the cops and paramedics, but with other heroes. Then again, they have a popularity ranking board. I swear, this world is backwards and I came from a place where one wrong move will get you killed. So you know it's something when I say that.

But I digress.

The Sports Festival was going to happen whether or not I liked it. All I think about the damned thing is that it's a massive waste of time and resources.

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-x-x-x-

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"A Sports Festival?!"

"I keep forgetting this is a school!"

"Hold on, that sounds like something that the villains would try to infiltrate, right?"

"Trust me," I spoke up, making the class silent. "I outright think this is a massive waste of time and resources. But, we're going to go along with it."

"But what about security?" Mina asked, bringing up a good point.

"All our ducks are in order," Aizawa stated. "We have doubled the security and this is the best way for you to get scouted by pros for your internships. The top heroes from around the world are gonna watch."

"Not only the heroes," I told them. "Any smart villain would do so as well. Any villain worth their reputation would do the same. Analyzing your strengths and weaknesses. Plotting your downfall." I could tell what I said got under their skins and I could see a few seeing what I did.

"Quit it," Aizawa told me as he saw a few of the students of class 1-A starting to think. "Anyway, this is a chance you'll get only once a year... For a total of three chances. If you aim to be a hero, this is an event you can't overlook!" He encouraged them. "You've got two weeks to prepare. That is all."

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-x-x-x-

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"Let me get this straight, you want me to act as an obstacle during the Sports Festival?" I asked the chimera as it stood in front of me.

"Why of course! With you as an added difficulty, I'm sure that the Festival will be one to remember for generations!" The chimera cackled.

"So, what do you want me to do?" I sighed and accepted, knowing I would have been conned again if I didn't.

"Tell me, have you ever heard of paint projectiles?" He asked.

"I'm familiar with them," I spoke, having an inkling of where this was going.

"Then tell me, are you in possession of something that spins at a high velocity and fires out a plethora of ammunition? And if you are, do you have multiple?"

"I have a few, but none that shoot paint." I smiled, I could see where he was going with this line of questioning.

"Then please see Power Loader so that he could modify one of them." He smirked and then walked away.

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I couldn't help but chuckle at the request I was given. With a pep in my step, I made my way to the Support Department just in time to see the door get forced open and students started running out in panic. As I wondered why my question was answered in the form of an explosion.

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"So that's why they were running," I murmured. "Cowards."

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Anyway, undeterred by the explosion, I entered inside. Inside I found who I was looking for scolding a girl with pink dreadlocks who looked sheepish. Looking around the room, I was somewhat surprised at the numerous worktables all with different states of work progress. I was quickly reminded of Gunn Runners with the number of projects in the room. I waited for Power Loader to finish chewing out the girl that I was suspected to be behind the explosion as I wandered around the room.

Project after project, each one in a different state brought me back to the wasteland. I couldn't help but remember the good old days. Soon, I was knocked out of my memories by a cough. Turning around I was greeted by a demure man wearing an excavator bucket-like helmet. Seeing Power Loader, I was reminded of why I came here.

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"What do you want?" He asked, clearly agitated from earlier.

"Nezu sent me," I simply said.

"I figured that, now why?" He asked in slight anger. "I have too much to do now as it is with the Sports Festival."

"That's why I'm here, the chimera wants me to be an obstacle." I chuckled darkly.

"So what?" Power Loader asked. "You need something of me?"

"How good are your modification skills?" I asked.

"Depends. What do you need modified?" He asked, his interest piqued.

"Got somewhere private?" I asked since the students were returning.

"My office," He said and had me follow him towards a lone door not too far away.

"So what is it?" he asked once we were alone.

"This," I said as I pulled out a [Minigun]. "I need it to fire paintballs."

"Simple and easy enough," He said as he looked over the weapon.

"But this thing has been beaten to hell and back. It might just be faster to build a completely new one."

"She may not look like it," I said, "but she'll spit lead and tear through whoever or whatever you target. I can guarantee it."

"Still though, I wouldn't chance it." Power Loader spoke with grief. "I can tell how much she's seen and been through. I hate to break her if I failed." He shook his head. "I can tell you treat her like a craftsman treats his tools, with care."

"I treat all my weapons the same," I spoke truthfully. "They're my pride and joy. They are what kept me safe all these years, so I return the kindness they showed me."

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Time flew by as Power Loader and I began to make a [Paintball Minigun] from scratch. Since he wouldn't change it, that left building one from the ground up. We talked here and there about what should go where and how fast it should spin. Little did I know that the men who got away during USJ were targeting me personally now with some old friends from my past.

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{Fifteenth Days Later}

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I sighed as I walked through the halls of UA. Tomorrow morning was the Sports Festival and I couldn't sleep. My sixth sense for trouble was going haywire and kept me alert and awake. Seeing as I was unable to sleep, I just started to wander the halls still in my sleepwear, A pair of patched jeans and a ratty shirt. A holster hung off a belt that I had loosely hung off of my waist which held a [.357 Magnum]. My boots echoed throughout the empty halls as I wandered.

My mind was in a whirlwind of possibilities about what could happen tomorrow. From a suicide attack to villains dropping another Nomu during the events. The more I thought, the more possibilities, some worse than others, kept popping up. I didn't even notice when my feet brought me to the roof of UA.

Looking out at the city that UA stood next to, I couldn't help but take notice of how it never seemed to sleep. The memories of New Vagas flashed a bit before my eyes, causing me to sigh. People still walked the streets even at this time of night, just like that hellhole. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the back alleys, crime was happening just like there as well. Sex, drugs, and murder.

Just like the old days.

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"It's a lovely view, isn't it?" The voice of Midnight or Nemuri Kayama sounded behind me.

"It is," I spoke back, halting my instincts to draw on her. "And it isn't."

"Oh, do tell?" She asked as she walked up to my side.

"No matter how bright something is, there will always be a shadow you don't see."

"Are you saying that being a hero doesn't mean anything?" She asked.

"Yes and no," I answered her. "I'm sure that there are heroes out there risking their lives to make sure that they save someone or something. But, as I said, there will always be a shadow that they can't see. I can guarantee that if you walked the back alleys out there, you'll find prostitutes, drug deals, and people mugging one another. Probably could find a Hero doing criminal acts too if you looked hard enough."

"Quite the outlook you have there." She purred, a slight giggle escaping her lips. "But I suppose it's true. Heroes can't be everywhere all the time to stop every crime. And there are those that put personal gain and wealth above saving the day of some bystander." She admitted with a sigh. "But there are those who will do what it takes to be a hero without a license. Be it bringing down a corrupt hero, or just helping the elderly."

"I've read through the Hero laws and the Quirk Restriction Act," I told her. "The laws are loose to those who know them well enough and a noose to others. Vigalanties, Villains, Heroes, Anti-Heroes. It makes no difference. Evil is evil. Lesser, Middling, Greater. The degree is arbitrary and the definition is blurred. If I had to choose one, I rather not choose at all. But If I did, I chose to control it all. Both the good and evil." I said as I reached out to grasp the city in my hand.

"That's quite the philosophy you have there." She giggled. "Care to share where you got it from?"

"Close to fifty years of doing that very thing." I sighed and told her the truth before walking away.

"You don't look a day over twenty!" Kayama called out to me.

"Must be a blessing then." I waved goodbye as I walked down the steps.

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Though I didn't get very far when Aizawa emerged from the shadows like some ninja. Though it would have been better if he wore dark blue instead of back. My night vision made him stand out enough for me not to be spooked by him.

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"I'm guessing you overheard our conversation?" I asked him as he fell into step with me.

"I did," Aizawa spoke and then got to the point. "How old are you?" "I'm in my twenty-year-old body, but I have my wisdom and memories of when I was in my eighties," I told him."So what you want to make of it is up to you and the chimera."

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He stopped and I continued to walk back to my dorm, my body and mind still wide awake. I quietly sighed after I made it back to my room. Knowing that sleep was nowhere anytime soon, I sat at my desk and pulled a [10mm Pistol] out, and started field-striping the handgun. Emptying the gun, pulling the magazine, separating the slide and base, and then pulling the barrel and slide apart. Cleaning it all, then oiling the sliding parts, and then slowly putting them back together and reassembling the [10mm Pistol]