Chapter 55 - My SI Stash #55 - One Foot In the Void by The Master Artificer (My Hero Academia)

-Another MHA SI fic~

*Amerikajin SI has a quirk that works like Limbo from the game Warframe.

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Sypnosis: ???

Rated: T

Words: 38K (smol ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ)

Posted on: forums.spacebattles.com/threads/one-foot-in-the-void-my-hero-academia-si.773116/threadmarks (The Master Artificer)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

So I finally got this off.

This is a thing I'd been working on for a while, trying to figure out how to make this idea work and finally was able to get this out to air. Honestly, Warframe has so many ideas to take and form Quirks from, but instead of something with straightforward combat power like Excalibur, Chroma, or Inaros, I figured I'd go with a Warframe that was more of a "support" unit, and Limbo's abilities surrounding the Rift Plane was a perfect idea to work with.

Oh, and if you think that this is the only Warframe-related thing to show up in this story...oh, I have plans...

***

Issue 1: Puberty? Again!?

Japan.

I didn't think I'd live to be able to finally say I went there, but I made it.

I had always wanted to go to Japan, you see. It was never because of any one thing I could point to, but it was always because fate seemed to blow a strange wind in my direction, and it always seemed to come from there. But, after managing to get a job working in a kitchen for a high-end restaurant at a local casino, I had spent much of my time saving for this and getting everything set up so I could take this trip and ultimately seek out what it was that was calling me this way.

I figured it'd come from some big life-changing event, like at the top of Tokyo Tower or something like that.

I wasn't expecting it from the moment I got off the goddamn plane.

It was right as I was passing through the gate to enter through customs, and in between steps, I just saw my world just...change. I thought it was just because I was giddy from excitement or maybe I was crashing from the sugar rush, because one of my ways of helping ward off airsickness was to eat a lot of Skittles. I don't like gum, sue me.

But anyway, I was mid-step and the whole just seemed to warp and bend, with black outlines everywhere like someone was messing around with the contrast of my eyesight. And then my foot came down, and all was well again.

Spooky.

Anyway, once I managed to be sure it had passed, I dug out my passport from my jacket and started making my way towards customs when I stopped.

It's not mine.

The picture is wrong. I have more hair than I used to, I don't have a beard or mustache. My birthday is wrong. The day and month are right (January 2nd, if you're curious), but the year? When the hell did I go back fourteen years? But if I went back in time like I'm doing the time warp again, there shouldn't be any flatscreens. Or at least...not as many? I don't know, I didn't visit a lot of international airports when I was fifteen!

"Next!"

I tried to compose myself, to be ready for the inevitable shit hurricane about to come down on my head as I stepped forward and handed over my passport to the customs agent.

"How long do you plan to stay in Japan, Wendells-san?"

Wendells!?

I had created a character with a last name Wendells. Ian Giles Wendells. I made him several years ago as a rival to a main character I had created for one of my fanfics that I'd had plans for but never got around to actually writing, like so many others before it. British, haughty, a bit of a troll at times, but mostly to hide his vulnerabilities since he was basically meant to be a kind of Alexander Hamilton-esque guy who came from nothing and became the best at what he did. But obviously, that is not my real name. As I slowly start going insane from the sheer what-the-f.u.c.k-ery that has just occurred in the last thirty minutes, I try to stay with what my original travel plans were.

"A year. Maybe more."

My Japanese was suddenly flawless. I was okay at it before, but now I'm basically bilingual. I still have a pretty noticeable accent, but at least it's American and not British. Small victories, I suppose. And then I caught myself: a year!? I was only going to spend two weeks bopping around the country!

The guard looks at me and back down at my passport, stamps it, and hands it over. "Welcome to Japan."

"Arigatou gozaimasu..." I barely got the words out before I was bounding down the hallway to grab the first phone I can find, now in full-on panic, only to remember I needed to convert my money first before I got that far. My head was spinning, and I wasn't quite sure how to calm myself because I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!

What was going on? If something happened to me, what did that mean for everything else in my life, like my family, or my friends, or anything else of my past? If this wasn't a time warp, what was it? How do I get back? And most important of all, why couldn't this happen to some poor sod in Brazil, for the love of Sneaky-!

I dashed instead into the nearest bathroom, stared at my(new)self and gave myself a good slug right in the center of my forehead, hoping whatever's decided to clog up my brain to make me start seeing all this shit has cleared out. Nothing changed. I'm still stuck in a glitch in the Matrix, or something like that. Okay, Ian – apparently, that's my name now – one thing at a time. There's still plenty of things that could be responsible for this. For now, I should load up on everything I needed to get before I actually stepped into the country proper.

I stepped out of the bathroom, headed to a money transfer unit to cash in everything in my wallet, and bought a burner phone, because my American smartphone isn't going to work on Japanese networks. I grabbed my things from baggage claim and made my way towards the exit. Originally, I was going to just call a taxi and head to my room in Tokyo to set up shop for my trek. Clearly, that was all out the window now, so that just begged the question: if I'm no longer here as myself taking a vacation, but as some minor who has no connection to anything of the old me...what am I doing here?

"Heeey! Wendells-san!"

Hearing my new name, I oriented myself towards who was calling me.

And there, at the bottom of the escalator, I saw three people, two of them waving at me and holding up a sign with my (new) name in katakana (「イアン ガイアズ ウェンデルス」). And one of them pretty much made my jaw hit the floor.

That's Katsuki Bakugou.

Yeah. Lord Explosion Murder himself, looking like his usual pissy self.

…

"Oh no."

The phrase, almost Baymax-like in tone, was all that left my mouth. I didn't even step off the escalator, just fell down, stock straight, right into the metal floor.

It all made sense now.

I'm now in My Hero Academia's Japan.

"You alright, kid?" I hear Bakugou's mom ask as she came over.

"...I've been ROB'd."

"Huh? Robbed?"

The drive back to town was rather quiet, mostly because I was still trying to process everything around being absolutely wowed by the sights of another country. But more so because I was hoping not to set off Bakugou and his mom. I knew from experience that his parents were at least okay. Dad was basically a typical dad (and reminded me of my own, half a universe away) and Mom, while she definitely was the source of Bakugou's bad temper, was at least amicable more ways than not, especially compared to Bakugou. Thing is, though, his mom was driving, so in the interest of trying to get me and Bakugou to interact, Bakugou's dad was playing a game of rapid-fire twenty questions with me, while Bakugou, in typical Bakugou fashion, was in his usual state of I-don't-give-a-f.u.c.k.

"So, Wendells-san, where are you from?"

"California."

"Oh! So you're from the land of the big stars!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Apparently that particular stereotype was still alive and well. "Yeah, but I'm not actually from the LA area. I'm from Indio."

"Indio?"

"You know where Coachella and Stagecoach are? That place."

"...well, that's still a big thing, right?"

"Sure, for all of a month out of the year," I grumbled. "Outside of that, ain't nothing there but sand, golf, and windmills. And 50-plus degree summers on the constant."

I wasn't sure if that was the accurate comparison between Fahrenheit and Celsius, but I guess it was enough for Bakugou's dad to get the point. Bakugou, of course, said nothing. Then his mom spoke up. "Katsuki, you going to talk to Wendells-san at all? He's going to be staying with us for the rest of the year!"

"Why should I?" asked Bakugou.

"Because it's polite!" Bakugou's mom snapped.

"What the f.u.c.k, Mom!"

"Language, Katsuki!"

"This happen a lot?" I asked Bakugou's dad, even though I already knew the answer.

"Less than you'd think," Bakugou's dad sighed.

And then Bakugou's mom asked a question. "Are you planning on attending UA like Katsuki?"

Suddenly, I could feel Bakugou's aura shift, and not in a good way. All at once, he was very interested, even if he didn't say a word. No, it was that he was staring at me with one red eye, and even I could tell he was daring me to say yes, just so he could rip my tongue out for even suggesting he could run with the likes of him.

Do I pat the tiger bearing his fangs on the head, or should I sock him in the face?

"It's on the list. There are a few other places I'm considering." Survey says: split the difference and make him sweat. Wait, his sweat is what makes him explosive, right? Okay, let's not do that. Or at least make him sweat figuratively.

Bakugou just scoffs and then goes back to staring out the window. As I do, I happen to see a large figure suddenly rise up amidst the cityscape. A woman. Mt. Lady. A woman with a superpower to becomeas tall as some city skyscr.a.p.ers.

This was going to take some getting used to.

Bakugou's house was in a Japanese suburb in Mustafu, not far from Tokyo proper, which made sense considering he was going to the same school as Midoriya prior to UA. I was given the tour and the spare bedroom, which was right next door to Bakugou's. I had suppress a mirthless laugh. Mornings were gonna be fun fun fun fun fun fun FUN trying to compete with this guy in the morning.

I started unpacking my stuff, which was a great time to take stock of what I had on me.

I had taken two bags with me, including my backpack, which was full of my usual roundup of electronic things. Chief among them was my laptop. It was still the same as when I had it replaced with my old one when I fried the power system. Canned air, gaming mouse and headphones. I set up on the nearby desk and turned it on. Surprisingly, my suite of games was still on there: League of Legends, MTG Arena, Rainbow Six: Siege, and Starcraft II. More importantly, a novel that I had been working on for the last few years was still there, too. If that didn't survive the trip, I probably would've had an aneurysm.

The rest of my stuff was clothes, enough to last maybe a week and half, and a couple of books on Japan I had to help refresh my memory on the culture. There was nothing about hero culture in them, though. That was going to come back to bite me in the ass sooner rather than later.

With a few more minutes until dinner was called, I decide to do something that was probably going to set the whole tone of how this was going to go. I pulled out my (Japanese) smartphone, and dialed one number: the one for home.

"We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service-"

I hung up, not even wanting to hear the rest as I flopped onto the bed.

On my own in a foreign country with a host brother that would not hesitate to make my life hell and only one and a half parents to keep him in check.

A normal person would've broken down and cried.

Me? I almost broke my new phone throwing it to the ground and screaming a low, gurgling scream into the pillow.

School started the next day, and I was going to Aldera Middle with Bakugou. And it looked like he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, and just gave me a glare when I tried to match his pace. So I just kind of let him go, as we had a few extra minutes before class actually began. I had to introduce myself to the teacher in the office before class began, kind of like Persona 3 and 5. Sadly, no Mama Kawakami equivalent to be found here, although he did look at least mildly impressed to meet an actual American transfer student. It also came with a comment on how "heroic" I looked, having remained 6'1 and some semblance of muscle mass.

Not sure what the teacher was on, I was a nerd through-and-through and pretty much had the body to show for it, as far I was concerned.

And then...along came the introductions.

I took the chalk and scribbled my name in both English and katakana on the board and turned to the class and presented myself from the front of the class.

"Hello, all. My name's Ian Giles Wendells. I'm from the United States, and I'll be staying here for the rest of the year. Please, take care of me."

Bakugou just glared his usual glare. I could see Midoriya, looking at me with something between curiosity and awe. It made me wonder if I was going to have my own entry in his "Notes For the Future" series, even if I hadn't shown a Quirk yet. Did I even have one? I'd hate to be another Quirkless guy who sticks out in a Quirky world like Midoriya. Or worse, I'd end up being the one who ends up taking One For All from him.

...knowing my luck, that's exactly how this was going to go.

And the question was asked.

"What do you want to do for a living, Wendells-san?"

Bakugou was suddenly all ears again, like he was in the car the day I arrived the last time the question popped up. I merely shrugged and replied, "Pro hero. Chef. Author. Pro gamer. Maybe all four. Haven't quite decided yet."

By God, the look on Bakugou's face. If he could make me explode by boring holes into my soul with his eyes… "Like hell you're going to be a pro hero. Only one person in this school is going to UA and be the Number One hero, and that's me. Not you, and not that Quirkless shit Deku."

Midoriya jumped, hearing his name mentioned.

"Iunno, now I might just become all four just to spite you," I said airily. "What'cha gonna do about it?"

Bakugou huffed, folding his arms. "Whatever. F.u.c.k.i.n.g nerd."

I was actually kind of surprised. I was thinking that he'd probably leap out of his chair to attack me. But instead, he just kind of waved me off like a dismissive food critic, wrecking some poor restaurateur's dreams with a gesture of "indifference." I figured he knew it would look bad if his host brother came back from school with a black eye that he gave him. Of course, that would change if I did decide to become a pro hero.

With what Quirk? That smarmy part of my brain said.

Feeling mildly defeated, I instead took my seat in the back, feeling the gaze of everyone on me. I looked towards Midoriya, and he promptly looked away, frantically scribbling into a notebook. I pulled out the textbook everyone had and started taking notes.

The rest of the day wasn't really noteworthy. Well, except for a handful of girls who were now swarming me, asking me questions about the States and what guys and heroes were like there. I hadn't paid attention to the American stuff in the series, although I knew they were a bit more lax with Quirks than they were here...which I could totally see, unfortunately. If Quirks were anything like guns, most people would be defending the right to use Quirks however they wanted with all the fire they would put towards defending the Second Amendment. It makes sense when you think about how the South tends to be.

But what was more important was that I decided to head into town to take in the rest of the area after school. Because that's where things really took off at MACH 2 for me.

I just happened to be walking down the street, looking around at what was around. I did notice there was an arcade in town, but I didn't want to go in, knowing I'd get sucked into the gameplay and probably end up getting back to school late. And then someone came out of a store nearby. It was hard not to recognize her, that black hair, the innocent black eyes.

What was Momo Yaoyorozu doing out in Mustafu? Didn't she live way further north, in Aichi? I guess since she was a lock for UA, she had moved here, or was in the process thereof. We passed each other briefly in the street, and we locked eyes for all of a second.

And then I just kept walking.

Well, that was rather anticlimactic-

"LOOK OUT!"

Someone shouted something from up high. I spun around on my heel.

There was a huge pane of glass falling from the sky. It was going to fall on Momo's head. Glass that size was heavy, heavy enough to…

It was going to kill her.

No.

No way!

Was this particular timeline I was in so cruel as to off Momo before she even showed up at UA!?

I started running, but even as I did, I could tell I was way off-tempo. Momo had frozen, and if she was going to create something that could save her, she'd never get it off in time, either. She was going to die, and I would be six feet from her splattered remains.

But I still kept running, hoping for a miracle.

I couldn't let this happen!

I had to do something!

And that's when I heard it.

Think of a line.

A line?

Think of a line that separates two sides. You and that girl exist on one side.

I was still running towards Momo, despite knowing I was still gonna be way too late to save her. But maybe...if this is really MHA, and I was brought here for a reason, then I had to have a Quirk. I had to!

Push her to the other side.

I can't reach her, though!

Push her to the other side.

I take a flying leap, stretching out my arms. And in that moment, I see something ripple out from my hands, invisible save only for a minor crackle of red energy.

The window fell and shattered.

And Momo was perfectly fine, despite being surrounded by a ton of shattered glass. For some reason, I was too, even though I was resting on some pretty big and nasty shards. What? And then, when I looked around, I noticed that the world around me was different again. The world was twisting and bending a little, like reality itself was distorting. All except for Momo; she looked like she was still her normal self.

"What the…?" Momo asked, looking around.

This was my Quirk, apparently.

And the thing is, I kind of knew what this looked like.

This was suspiciously a whole lot like what the Rift Plane looked like in Warframe.

Did that mean my Quirk functioned like Limbo's abilities?

...I'm gonna kill that Man in the Wall for this.