I do not own Kamen Rider Build or My Hero Academia.

My Kamen Rider Academia

Chapter 1: A Quirkless can be a Hero!

Musutafu, Japan

"Halt, vigilante!"

"This sucks! My first day and it's me being chased by the cops!."

The city seemed entirely ordinary, perfectly suited for modern day Japan. It even had a nicer road with calm people walking and going about their business. Stores were giving sales and business was being done. All in all, it seemed like just another day in a bustling Japanese city situated somewhere near Tokyo.

Unless you dismissed the fact many of the people walking around had odd features. Horns, colored skin, extra limbs, animal limbs, things like that.

And the young man being chased by a police officer who seemed to have a pair of handcuffs growing from his arms.

…

Perhaps looking back earlier in time will answer some questions.

Earlier That Day…

"Now entering Musutafu Station. Please watch your step."

The train came to a stop before the doors opened, allowing the commuters to enter or exit in the course of their days. Among them was a young man in his high school years. He wore jeans and a red shirt with a denim jacket. He was of slightly above average height compared to the other people with dark red hair which was cut short, sorting long bangs which framed his face and a short ponytail which reached the base of his neck. His eyes were heterochromatic, one an almond brown while the other was bright blue.

His features almost matched the kinds of the Japanese folk around him, save for his cheekbones and the shape of his eyes. It hinted at a mixed ancestry, although with the kinds of people who were surrounding him, he literally did not stand out.

He stepped off the train, a pack hefted over his shoulder, eyes constantly wandering to the people around him. He had good reason, as he was spotting people with extra arms, wings, anima parts, some looking like they were slimes, although for the most part the people looked ordinary, the number of exotic folks walking around made him feel absolutely plain for one of the first times in his life.

"Well...I guess I did ask to be taken to a new world...wow." he commented to himself as he headed for the exit.

His name was Joseph Josuke, or JJ to his friends. If his name alone wasn't an indication, he was half-American, a father who came to Japan and fell in love with the place along with his mother and both decided to settle down. Joseph was the proof of the union.

Truthfully, Joseph wasn't a native to the world he was currently in. It was similar, save for the fact no one had the extra features he was seeing in the other people. Because of that, the exotic features of so many was causing him some serious culture shock even if the actual culture was not all that different from the one he came from.

Still, it begged the question of how Joseph got to a new world. Was he some genius who built a portal? Was he a hapless individual who just found himself summoned to this new world? Was he secretly an alien who traveled from one world to the next?

No, he was just a bit of a hero geek who decided to debunk an urban legend and found out it was real.

Joseph lived in Tokyo back in his world and had always been a hero nerd since he got into his dad's comic book collection at a young age. Superman, Batman, Spider-man, Wolverine, all of them were his childhood idols. Of course, he was also enamoured with Japan's national heroes the Kamen Riders. It led him to joining a club in his neighbourhood once he got into high school.

His home town also had a weird legend about it. Apparently, a group of young men with Kamen Rider toys went to a museum and somehow became the real thing. There was even news photage to prove it. The legend that sprung up after that was if someone with a heartfelt desire to change the world entered the museum and with Rider gear of their own, they would be sent to a world where their wish would come true.

Joseph didn't really believe it himself, being a more science and math type of person despite his love of comic heroes. Still, his club members dared him to do it when conversation turned to the legend and he got tired of them being too afraid to try it, fearing they would end up in a horror anime world.

So he and his fellow club members chipped in cash to buy a BuildDriver and some FullBottles from the Kamen Rider Build series. Joseph's dare was to enter the museum, visit every exhibit and state his most heartfelt wish out loud while wearing it. If he got through all the exhibits, texting pictures to prove he went to each one, or until closing time, then he could keep it. If he chickened out the club got it for their next convention.

The museum was doing a history of comics exhibit for some event to get people to visit, so Joseph didn't mind going. So he strapped the device to his waist and brazenly walked into the museum, getting a suffering sigh from an older desk attendant who likely saw similar people too many times, before he set off for the exhibit in question.

It was a very nice, although small, exhibit about how comics were developed, the censorship that came with it, but also some fun timelines of how some American and Japanese superheroes got their start and how they evolved over the years.

It was fun, but he had a bet to win. So he took a selfie of himself in the middle of the exhibit before he looked to the display of Superman and Kamen Rider Ichigo. Grinning, he made his wish.

"I wish to be a hero and save people like my idols."

To his surprise, he got an answer.

"Well, with such a spirit suited for the task, I know just the place."

Joseph turned around and saw a main with braids wearing a pink suit smiling at him. The man snapped his fingers, and Joseph found himself on the train with his gear and the unusual people around him.

Coming out of the train station, Joseph looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, aside from the folks who had the extra body features.

"Man, well, at least no one can give me crap for being half western," Joseph chuckled to himself. The Japenese were well-known for their sense of civility and manners, but there were always bad apples who didn't like foreigners or people who stood out everywhere in the world. With his hair and ancestry, Joseph attracted both.

Walking by an electronics shop, he stopped to see what was playing on the televisions. It turned out to be a news broadcast about events during the day.

"There was another villain attack today which cut off traffic this morning," the news lady spoke, showing clips of some giant. "Traffic was held back for a while as a purse thief used his size-related Quirk when cornered by local heroes. Swift action by Death Arms and Backdraft ensured no civilians were hurt while the new heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady managed to defeat and detain the villain."

Joseph stopped as he watched what looked like a television hero show of some kind where a man in a dark blue jumpsuit with wood armor and...wooden arms was fighting some giant man dressed like a thug before an equally giant and shapely woman came down out of nowhere and brought him down.

"Oh wow," Joseph blinked, stepping closer to the screens. "That's...really good effects. Didn't know Japan was working to emulate Marvel and DC." he watched replays of the fight as the wooden hero, Kamui Woods, was jumping all over the place, growing detaining tree roots. "Wow. Kind of like a wooden Spider-Man. Nice one. Get a good backstory and maybe he could really take off."

The scene changed to Mount Lady, who admittedly looked devastatingly hot, and how she was posing and amping up the sex appeal of her costume made herself appear more so, "Hm. Powers are cool, like Giganta, but she needs to lay off just sex appeal and focus on hero stuff or else she's going to be relegated to just a pretty face to be a minor character next to the big name heroes. Maybe if she's got a nice backstory or even just a good character arc it can make or break her."

Considering the oddities he saw around him, some would say Joseph should have taken the sight of live action superheroes a bit more seriously. He may have, if the heroes in the clips didn't seem like they were hamming it up for the crowds. Mount Lady was of course posing sexily for attention. Then while kamui Woods was fighting seriously, his dramatic declaration of the thug being 'all that is evil' and shouting the name of his interrupted attack, just made him seem like a ham as well. It made Joseph dismiss the clips as part of a show before he moved on.

"Kinda funny how it made it look like they were competing for attention," he chuckled to himself. He was sure he saw that smug grin on Mount Lady's face while Kamui Woods was slumped in depression in the background.

Continuing to walk, Joseph scratched his head as he wondered what he was going to do. He had some cash on him, maybe enough for a hotel room for one night. Unless he had a counterpart in this world whose life he could take over, he didn't think he'd have access to funds or other things like that. It was a drawback he was quickly learning to end up in a modern world instead of someplace high fantasy. Couldn't quite get odd jobs if he didn't have ID now could he?

He came to a busy intersection, watching people go about their day despite the uniqueness around them. He was getting used to it, but he had to admit it was really cool to see people who could fly, use psychic powers, and even run superspeed as he witnessed a jaywalker dart around cars. People yelling at him about using his 'Quirk' in public was a little odd, but whatever.

The lights changed and Joseph continued on, pondering his options. In the middle of the street, everything suddenly, and violently, came to a halt when something came crashing down in the middle of the intersection, causing screams of shock and cars to swerve out of the way from the sudden impact. Joseph, like many others, had to stop and gape at what had just happened. Was it a meteor? Some kind of falling object? Just what the heck happened?

The creature that came out was a humanoid, but it was covered in metallic armor which made it look more like a machine than a person. The bottom half was black, the top half being white with blue spikes rising from the shoulder and head. The armor itself looked a lot like metallic geometric plates, making it seem almost like one of those cubic art pieces except it was snarling and twitching like a caged animal that just broke free.

"What is that?"

"Some kind of new villain?"

"Someone call a Pro Hero!"

"Never seen that one before."

"Is that a costume or a Quirk? I can't tell."

The humanoid creature let off a snarl and then roared. Its spikes extended from its body, piercing the cars around it and tearing more gouges out of the road. Curiosity was replaced with terror as the civilians realized the creature was starting to attack them, forcing them to begin running away in a panic.

Joseph didn't move, jostled slightly by the panicking people as he continued to gape at the creature. Not in horror at what it was doing, not entirely. No, his shock was coming from how he was able to recognize the creature.

As a Kamen Rider fan, he had binged the Heisei Era series ever since he discovered it. He knew the kaijin the Riders fought. The creature in front of him was one he easily recognized as a Smash, the creatures from Kamen Rider Build. They were people who were injected or willingly bathed in Nebula Gas, a space-based compound, which transformed them into bio-mechanical monsters who unless having some kind of control, were rampaging monsters who destroyed everything they found. Thus why they were called Smash. If Joseph wasn't mistaken, he was looking at the Needle Smash.

As people continued to run, Joseph pinched his own cheek. Feeling the pain, but the vision remained the same, he trembled.

"Y-yup, that's a Smash." He backed away a few steps as the Needle Smash took interest in a car and began stabbing it repeatedly for being in its way. He backed into a guardrail, feeling something in his pack jab into his back. It served to remind him of his gear and another part of the legend of why Rider Gear was needed. "Guess it's time to start the experiment."

He dropped his pack and pulled out some of the items. The biggest of which was a black and red handheld device which seemed like it was a mechanical pump with clear gears on the right side and hollow slots for objects on the left. The far right side had a simple winch handle connected to the clear gears. This was the Build Driver his club dared him to enter the museum with, hopefully more than just a toy if the stories were right.

"Here goes," Joseph gulped.

He put on the Build Driver which instantly generated a belt to strap itself on him. After that, he took out a pair of small bottles; a red one which was modeled after a rabbit and a blue one which was modeled after a tank. He shook them in his hands. This caused physics and mathematical equations to appear in the air.

He inserted the bottles into the Build Driver's slots. As each entered, a symbol of the bottle's shape appeared before each one, making Joseph's eyes widen.

"Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!"

He turned the crank lever rapidly, pumping the essence from the FullBottle through his Build Driver. Long hollow tubes began to extend from the belt while a metal press base formed at his feet. People started to gape as the tubes filled with either red or blue fluid, coming to the far end of the base where the tubes began to coil around themselves. The fluid filled the tubes, turning them into solid armor, red in front and blue in back. The two sides were incomplete, each only having half the head, one arm, part of the torso, and half the leg. The were opposites though showing they were meant to fit together.

"Are You Ready?"

Was he ready? Only one way to find out. He clenched his fists before he held them to his sides, mimicking the pose the two sides of armor were making. He then made perhaps the most fateful call of his life.

"Henshin!"

With a hiss of steam, or perhaps a different gas, the two sides came together, covering Joseph in the completed suit. A thick black material covered what the armor didn't. Together, the torso armor seemed to be a mishmash of red and blue. The left leg sported red armor and a spring which wrapped around the shin. The right leg had tank tread designs on the foot. A tank cannon and rabbit rear decoration rose on the left side of his collarbone and the lenses of the helmet were round and large, but held impressions on a rabbit on the left side, and a tank on the right, the ear and barrel rising up to give the image of antennae. As the armor settled, a blast of white, almost glittering, steam came from the creases in the suit while the frame around Joseph disappeared.

"Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!"

As Joseph made his transformation, he certainly did not go unnoticed. People who were cowering, trying to hide from the Smash, or holding up their phones to try and record all of the action clearly saw what he had been doing and quickly began paying attention.

"What was that!?"

"So cool!"

"Is it some kind of mechanical Quirk?"

"Is it another Pro Hero debut?"

"Awesome!"

"What's his name?

"His belt said RabbiTank? Is that his name?"

"Hey, I see the motif! Why a rabbit and a tank though?"

"Ah, ah, ah, let a guy introduce himself," Joseph laughed, a mix of euphoria that a childhood dream was actually happening, and perhaps the Nebula Gas powering his suit raising his adrenaline levels. "This actually is my debut. Allow me to introduce myself." He moved into a pose much like Sento Kiryu from the show, announcing for all to hear.

"I am Build. Kamen Rider Build. And now the laws of victory are set!"

"A catchphrase!"

"Cool!"

"Save the day Kamen RIder!"

Joseph, now Build, grinned and ran into battle. He used the Rabbit Foot to spring himself over to the Smash and nailed it with a kick using his Tank Foot. The Smash grunted in pain, launched back by the impact before crashing against an abandoned car, landing in a heap.

It grunted, standing up without seeming to have too much injury before it snarled, extending the spikes from its arms and charging back into the fray.

"Drill Crusher!"

More tubes extended from the Build Driver, filling with red and blue Nebula gas next to Build before fusing together, creating what looked like a short sword shaped like a drill. The Kamen Rider was quick to grab it, letting the connecting tubes vanish before he swung wide, catching the Smash's needles in mid-strike.

"Oh no you don't!" Build snapped, kicking the Smash in the side before strike it twice across the chest with a shower of sparks. 'Man, who knew being babysat by Dad's army friends would pay off like this. All that CQC training really was worth it.'

The Needle Smash snarled then lunged again at Build, swinging wildly. As the basic Smash was more of a primal creature than a sentient person in their state, it's attacks were clumsy and uncoordinated, although certainly not lacking in power or endurance, able to smash cars, concrete, and other such things.

Build grunted, parrying the blows. He wasn't used to an opponent that was so strong, but fortunately his armor let him cover the gap between them in terms of raw power. Pushing the Needle Smash's arm aside, he thrust up into its abdomen, eliciting another blast of sparks as the kajin stumbled back in pain.

"Okay pal, just stand still so we can get that Nebula Gas out of you!" Build called, preparing to launch another strike on the Smash.

The Smash roared and swung its arms, causing the spikes to fly from its body towards Build. The Kamen Rider frowned, but swung his weapon to deflect the needles coming at him out of the air. Many fell, but some sparked off his armor causing short bursts of pain, but the thick alloys of the armor made sure they didn't penetrate.

The Smash hissed as it got to it's feet, looking around as if trying to find an exit. Nearby, a group of people were brazenly trying to record the fight on their smartphones. Hissing, the Smash swung an arm at them, throwing more needles their way.

"Oh no!" Build cried, activating his Rabbit Foot in a flash of red.

The bystanders screamed as the Smash's attack flew at them. For a moment, they feared they would be killed. In the next moment, a red and blue figure got between them and the attack. Build swung fast, but grunted as several of the needles impacted against him. He huffed, ignoring the pain as he glanced back to the onlookers, their eyes wide with shock.

"Run! Get out of here!" he shouted, gesturing for them to flee. They did not need more instruction as they began to run and get some distance from the fight.

He had forgotten about the onlookers, thinking the Smash would just focus on him. If it would go and attack the people around it in the middle of the fight then he could not drag this fight for much longer. It was time to finish this. He gripped the crank lever and turned it rapidly, pumping the Nebula Gas from his FullBottles through his Build Driver.

"Ready, Go!"

Build crossed his arms and merely stomped his Tank Foot on the grund, causing a small circle to sink into the ground with him on it. In front of the hole, a graph chart appeared in two halves, coming together to trap the Needle Smash at the bottom, causing to struggle to escape. The people gasped, loving the sight and snapping pictures of it.

The hole Build made then had a pillar of earth rise out, launching him straight to the top of the graph where he extended for a kick, blue and red Nebula energy circling his leg.

"Vortex Finish! Yeah!"

"HAAAA!" cried the Kamen Rider, following the angle of the graph before his kick collided with the Smash in a blast of energy. The kaijin let off a scream before exploding in a haze of green fire while Build flew by, landing in a crouch while the flames died down.

"WOW! Hissatus!"

"So cool!"

"Ha! You know you're beaten when you explode!"

Build huffed for breath before he stood up. The Needle Smash was still on the ground, groaning from being put down. Still, Build knew that unless the Nebula Gas was extracted, it would eventually just get back up and start rampaging all over again.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll take care of this too," Build spoke out, perhaps trying to reveal the Smash may not be the way it was on purpose. Pulling an empty FullBottle out from his side, he twisted the cap to open it before pointing it at the downed Smash.

Immediately the form of the kajin began to dissolve, as if turning into a gas, while the sparkling gas in question was drawn into the FullBottle. The small device began to swell as if filling up. When the last of the gas was removed, a spider web design covered the bottle before Build snapped it shut.

Left behind was a man who seemed to be an ordinary person. No tattoos, ratty clothes, or anything which would make him seem like he was someone who willingly turned into a monster.

"Hey, can someone call an ambulance for this guy?" Build asked. "He's been exposed to a hazardous material and will need medical attention!" Onlookers immediately began calling on their phones, if they hadn't already, reporting the incident and what happened.

"Gotta love the technological age," Build chuckled, dusting his hands off. "Well, my job's done here."

Sirens began to ring in the air. Wow, that was quick. Well, then it was time for him to bow out. No need to get entangled with the authorities just yet. No way he'd be able to explain the Nebula Gas and the Smash all being alien tech.

Coming to an alley as the police pulled in, Build removed his driver, causing his armor to vanish before he began walking away. He was still high on the adrenaline from all the fighting, plus he made his debut as a hero. How cool was that?

"The police would like the public's help in apprehending the dangerous vigilante known as Kamen Rider Build."

Joseph gaped at the news report going on a large screen perched on a building, the kinds used to show ads and announcements in big cities across japan. His gut sank like a rock and he saw his armored form with a big WANTED stamped across the bottom.

"Wha...what…?" Joseph continued to gape.

"At 11:25 today, an intersection between XXOO and XXYY was attacked by an as of yet unidentified villain who seemingly went on a nonsensical rampage," the newscaster continued, bringing up someone's phone video of the Needle Smash appearing. "Immediately, this vigilante appeared and swiftly apprehended the villain before disappearing."

The news footage continued, showing Joseph, his face partially hidden due to the angle, transforming into Build. As the newscaster continued describing the incident continued, so did the imagery of the fight, which was pretty well done.

"The Musutafu Police Department released the following statement regarding the incident. 'While we praise individuals for stepping up and doing the right thing, this is in no way acceptable behaviour as Pro Heroes and the Hero Public Safety Comittee are in place for just these sorts of emergencies. They are specially trained to handle such incidents and for public safety we cannot allow anyone with a combat capable quirk to run around and cause chaos for the sake of their own goals.'"

"Oh come on!" Joseph groaned. That was so much crap! He was there, he had equipment specifically capable of handling a Smash, and he was getting slammed for it. "...Wait, Pro Heroes? Hero Public Safety Commission? The heck?"

"While the police are asking for the public's help, the witnesses to the conflict are expressing positive feedback concerning the vigilante," the newscaster continued. "Many witness statements regarding him state he was easily mistaken as a Pro Hero and many were shocked he was a vigilante. Here are some witness statements."

A pair of high school girls giggled as they realized they were on TV, "He was so cool! He totally saved us just like a real Pro Hero!"

A salaryman was scratching the back of his head, "Gotta say, he really dealt with that guy. It was over real quick and clean. Sure he's not a Pro Hero? Maybe his paperwork got missed or something."

An older man chuckled, "Say he's not a pro? Bah, just let him take the test and let him get a license. He's already got what it takes if you ask me!"

"Heh," Joseph grinned, hearing the people who actually saw him fight praise his actions. Well, it seemed like he found more about what made this world different than his old one. Maybe he ought to try and figure out what some of those terms meant?

"Library time," Joseph nodded.

"OOOOOH! Look at that!"

The one who spoke was a teenage girl who, of all things, sported pink hair tied in dreadlocks which were pinned away from her face. She had an eager, if not maniacal, gleam in her eyes as she watched the fight between Build and the Smash on several monitors, each video a different angle from different social media sites.

Unlike many girls her age, she was dressed in a simple mechanic's jumpsuit, the top half tied around her waist while she sported a tank top underneath. Multiple tools lay strewn about the large room, along with numerous finished, or half-done, projects. All of it was set aside for the moment as she was paying strict attention to the screens.

Her name was Mei Hatsume, a mad genius of an inventor who was keyed up to attend the famous U.A. High School

"Hm, okay, I see!" the girl grinned eagerly. Her eyes were on the equations which hovered around the vigilante before the transformation. To most, the formulas would be just nonsensical, but to Hatsume who had worked with mathematics and machines, it was like looking at art murals. It was truly beautiful.

"The formulas are amazing! The precision! The power! The entire equation! How did he make them work in the armor?! I have to know!" She squealed in joy as she kept copying the equations. "Okay, this angle has a flow equation to maximize the fuel. This one's got the pistons and mechanical dynamics. Ah...darn, the angle cuts off the power distribution ratios!" She frantically pulled up more windows, trying to get the missing parts of the equation.

Mei had a gift for invention and she always liked to make sure that all the details, for her inventions at least, were covered as she worked. When it came to machines, she would work herself up into a frenzy, although there was no guarantee her inventions, affectionately called her babies, wouldn't blow up on activation. Of course, failure was part of the road to success, so no matter how many times she did fail Mei would keep right on going.

"Come on, I need a better view!" Mei whined, her yellow and cross-shaped pupils widening and narrowing as she viewed the screens. This was Mei's Quirk, an inborn ability she had beyond human norms. It was called Zoom, allowing Mei to zoom in or zoom out her vision like a telescopic lens. It was vital in the delicate works of her machines.

"Got ya!" Mei grinned, finding the angle she needed and continuing to scribble the equations. "Okay, the power distribution is set! So how's he manifesting the armor? Tubes, a Quirk? No, that's all tech! So beautiful!"

Mei was finding herself overcome with excitement and inspiration. There was so much she saw in the suit and how it empowered the user. Power armor was nothing new, Mei having built several such suits in the past. It was what was powering the suit which got her excited. The gas which flowed through the tubes and the white version which burst through the armor as it came online. That was something new, and Mei would know with the high resolution screens and her own Quirk seeing the details regular eyes didn't. Something was different about that gas and she wanted, needed to know!

"Okay, got it!" Mei grinned, marking the last of the equations she could see. "Got plenty, but there's so much more I didn't catch! I've got to know more!" she giggled before she rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a handheld device. "Okay emissions-detecting baby, let's find our mystery man!"

Mei cackled in excitement and charged out of the door of her room, running for the front door.

"I'm going out Mom!"

"Don't blow anything up!"

"I won't!"

Finding a library was easy, but getting the information straight was something of a challenge since it seemed like it came right out of a comic book. As it turned out, superheroes were a very real thing, along with numerous villains who did combat with them. It all began with a genetic twist which was known publicly as a Quirk.

It started when a baby born in China found himself glowing brightly. After that, more and more people were born with special abilities. They ranged from mundane, like changing skin tone, to causing localized earthquakes just by stomping their feet. It was a wild jump in human evolution, but the cause was never discovered. Some suspected it was a virus carried by mice, like a reverse of the Black Plague or something.

With the discovery of new powers, there was a big shift in society. Namely, people who had these powers decided they could do whatever they wanted, and the people who would use those powers to protect people. It brought the stories of superheroes to life and governments scrambled to bring together new laws and checks to try and keep the villains in check and potential heroes from getting themselves, others, or other villains killed. Likewise they would try to discourage people from joining either side and make it worse.

It led to the formation of the Pro Hero system, a system of government which trained, dispatched, and otherwise got Heroes up to snuff and even gave them a license to go into the world and protect people. They didn't just fight villains, but they aided the police, helped with natural disaster relief and even worked in public works to help people. Strangely, the government would sponsor the best heroes and they could get a sweet pay for their rankings and popularity.

Pro Heroes, it seemed, were ranked according to a national chart depending on their actions, public approval, contributions to society, and other factors. The higher in the ranks they were, the better pay and benefits they got. Of course, there were Hero Agencies, usually founded by previous or current heroes, who helped new heroes get into the ranks. Merchandising was through the roof as heroes were more popular than movie stars or models, and some heroes did both along with their hero duties!

Being a hero was a lucrative business if you could play the part as well as actually be a hero.

"I'm...not sure how I feel about that," Joseph admitted to himself. Sure, an organized structure for heroes and means of supporting them was a great thing. If heroes had support, then they could focus more on full time hero work instead of struggling to keep up with it like some heroes such as Spider-Man or Flash. Not everyone could have Batman or Iron Man's fortunes.

Still, it was a big mistake as well. With the rankings, and now heroes treating it as a full time job, heroes actually had to compete against one another for popularity and approval, or else their rankings would drop and so would their livelihood. It could easily make heroes turn on each other and fumble fighting crime if they were too busy squabbling over rights to bust villains or public appearances.

"So...explains those two in the news," Joseph thought back to the report of the heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. He thought the two were hamming it up, and they were to make themselves public and have people remember them. He also thought the pair were working together, but knowing this, and recalling how they looked at the end, did Mount Lady purposefully take the spotlight for herself and rob Kamui Woods of some well-earned credit when he had been doing the fighting and she jumped in for the critical strike?

Joseph yawned and put the books away, now feeling like he knew why the police were trying to crack down on him. He had been doing hero work without a license and that classified hi as a vigilante, something governments wanted to discourage.

Waving goodbye to a librarian who could mute people she was near, he stepped outside as he pondered his next course of action, "Man, how do I even get a hero license? Kamen Riders can't exactly be heroes if the public won't support them." Getting to the sidewalk, he sighed, "Well, no point worrying about it now. Not when I need a place to crash."

Sticking his hands in his pockets, Joseph decided to try and find a hotel. Maybe he could be a bit more concerned he had been partially spotted on television, but since it seemed no one got a good look at his face before he transformed, he felt reasonably safe. Still, he'd look into finding a hat or something to hide his hair.

"I FOUND YOU!"

"BWAH!" he cried out, spinning around. Pointing an excited finger at him was a girl in a mechanic jumpsuit and tank top with pink dreadlock hair. She was holding some kind of handheld device and was smiling triumphantly.

"Uh...what?" Joseph asked, hand over his heart.

"I said I found you! Tracked you here from the scene of your fight!" the girl bragged. She came in closer, eyeing him up and down. "I got a sample of that gas you gave off when you transformed. It hangs like a fog even if you can't see it. Stuck to you too and I managed to follow you here. This is awesome!"

"Um...what fight?" Joseph gulped.

"You know, the one with that needle villain!" the girl laughed. "I saw all the clips people posted to Facespace! Got you in all that technological glory! I just had to track you down so I could ask you all about it! Do you know how many awesome ideas I had just by watching you use it? I've just got to examine it myself! Please? Please?"

"Ah, hey," Joseph gulped, looking around. He paled when he saw a police officer looking at the scene. "C-come on now, you don't even know anything about me."

"Sure I do!" the girl grinned like a kid of christmas. "You're that vigilante Kamen Rider Build!"

Gasps came from the onlookers and the police officer quickly had enlarged handcuffs come out of his sleeves.

"Oh crap!"

Present Time

"This sucks! This sucks! This sucks!" Joseph cried as he was still being chased by the cop.

"I said stop, vigilante!" the officer shouted.

"It wasn't vigilantism! It was being a good samaritan!" Joseph pitifully tried shouting back.

"You use your Quirk to harm someone, it's a crime no matter the reason!"

"But I don't even have a Quirk!"

"Heh, tough luck Quirkless! Looks like we get your cash again!"

A bespectacled young man in a school uniform groaned on the ground. In front of him, a trio of delinquents who were taking his money from his wallet before tossing it onto him. The trio were clearly in possession of Quirks. One sported spider legs coming from his back, another had a pair of bat wings, and the third had a cobra head instead of a human one.

"Easiest mark yet," the cobra Quirk thug laughed as he and his buddies began to walk away. "Man, milking Quirkless wimps makes a bundle!"

"You said it boss!" agreed the spider Quirk thug.

"Hee, hee, hee!" laughed the third.

While Joseph's research into his new world did reveal the uniqueness of Quirks, it failed to educate him about the downside and the darker aspect of the society he now found himself in. Namely, the people who were regarded as Quirkless.

Quirkless people made up about 20% of the population and were considered second class in a sense. In the Quirk based society, one got more preferential treatment the more heroic in potential their Quirks could be. People with weaker Quirks, although not as flashy, could still find their niche even if it was not as glamorous.

Quirkless individuals did not even have that luxury. Although not outright scorned, many people considered them subjects of pity. In a world where almost everyone could do so many amazing things, they were pitied because they couldn't stand out at all. Although not intentional, many tended to overlook them, or pass them over since without a Quirk, they were considered weaker and unable to keep up with others who did have Quirks.

Worse, there were plenty of people who liked to abuse and take advantage of someone Quirkless all because they knew those individuals couldn't fight back. It made harming them very easy for the morally bankrupt, of which the trio were counted among them, having repeatedly attacked Quirkless people to rob them.

"You...you...thugs," the young man grunted, struggling to get up. "Stop...looking down...on me!"

"What are you going to do Quirkless? Cry at us? Ha!" the cobra thug laughed mockingly, barely passing a glance. "You're a freak man. Get a Quirk and maybe we'll give back you cash!"

"Too bad he can't!" laughed the spider thug.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Laughed the bat thug, his two friends joining him as they walked for the street.

A figure in red with a green visor eyed the scene critically before his gaze went to the Quirkless boy. As the thugs were getting further away, he leaped down from his perch, landing in a crouch next to the young man.

"Well, this won't do at all." He produced a rifle then loaded it with a bottle of Nebula Gas. He took aim, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Now, let the meek inherit the world." He fired a blast of the gas which enveloped the Quirkless victim.

The boy coughed and began to choke as the gas covered his frame, but soon a loud growl echoed as the shadow of his form began to bulk up and grow. The noises caused the three thugs to stop and turn around, seeing the red figure as well as their victim emerge from the strange smoke.

"WAAAAAUGH!?"

"I can't (pant) believe (pant) I got (pant) away," Joseph huffed. He was leaning against a building, struggling to catch his breath.

The chase had been harrowing for him, but he managed to get away from the police officer by ducking through some alleys and good luck with crossing streets. He needed a moment to catch his breath, but for the moment, he at least felt like he was safe.

"Can you tell me about your tech now?"

"GAH!" Joseph leaped away, hearing someone beside him. To his shock, it was the girl with the pink dreadlocks again. "Where the hell did you come from?!"

"Followed from above with my boots," she grinned, lifting her metal boots to show rocket thrusters in the soles. "But enough about my babies, I wanna talk about yours! Where'd you build that armor? What's it powered by? What's it made of? How'd you program it?"

"Woah! Hey, calm down!" Joseph cried as the girl got closer into his personal space with each question. "Why should I answer? You just outed me to the cops!"

The girl blinked, but them seemed thoughtful, "Oh yeah. Kind of missed that. Well, would it help if I said sorry?"

"Not if you say it half-assed like that!" Joseph snapped. "Who the heck are you anyway?!"

"Oh, right! Mei Hatsume! Nice to meet you!" the girl laughed with a salute. "So what's the story behind your gear, Build-kun? Can I take a look?"

What was he supposed to tell her? That his toys became real after he got taken to this world? No way! Besides, she was more likely to break something and with the Smash running around in the world here, he was going to need his Driver to bring them down.

"Sorry, but hell no!" Joseph shouted when he saw the mad gleam in her eyes. She might be a pretty face, but he would not cave.

"Oh come on! For science?" she asked with an, admittedly cute, pout.

Joseph was about to tell her what he thought about science when several screams caught his attention. People were fleeing from a group of buildings down the street before there was the sounds of rock breaking and cloud of dust was kicked up. Screams echoed from inside an alley before three people with animal parts flew out, crashing in battered heaps on the ground.

"Huh?" Mei blinked at the scene.

"Well that ain't good," Joseph grimaced.

Heavy footfalls came from the smoke before a blocky and round figure came stomping out. It was a round, almost fist-shaped creature which appeared to be part machine with orange and blue armor. It's arms were enchanes in the metal, making them appear to be giant clubs. Growths on its shoulders and it's head made it appear like they were knuckles to a fist while it's only facial features were a trio of black holes.

"Oh no," Joseph gaped. "Now the Strong Smash?"

"'Strong Smash'? Is that a villain?" Mei asked, still curious about things. She then gasped in delight, "Are you going to transform and fight him?"

"I-!"

"Hold it villain!"

Almost as if on cue, or some kind of dramatic timing, a blue and brown figure leaped down from above and landed in the street in a crouched fighting stance. His wooden armor and blue suit made it clear who he was as he stared down the Strong Smash.

"It's Kamui Woods!"

"What a relief!"

"He'll beat that villain!"

The Strong Smash was less than impressed as it just snarled at the Pro Hero, slamming its fists together in anger.

"I'll never understand why evildoers like you insist on going on these senseless rampages," Kamui Woods frowned behind his helmet. "In any case, duty demands I bring you down! Prepare to face justice!"

The Smash roared and charged for the hero. Kamui Woods stayed still for a moment until the kaijn was swinging at him, only to duck away at the last moment. He stuck out his arms, turning his limbs into expanding tree roots which lunged for the Smash. It gave a grunt as the roots wrapped it up. Sounds of heavy impacts came as the Smash struggled, but for the moment, it was contained.

"Bulky and slow. Just try to escape that!" Kamui Woods smirked.

"NYRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the Smash roared, and for a moment it seemed to try to break free. However, instead of moving, a grey and sickly-looking gas began to spray from the hollows of its body, filling the immediate area. Kamui Woods' eyes narrowed, but then a sharp pain travelled up his arms.

"Wh-what?!" he grimaced, feeling a painful numbness in what passed for his hands and fingertips.

Like soft rubber, the roots which bound the Strong Smash went soft and them flopped to the ground, releasing the Smash with a roar as it continued to spew the gray gas from its body. Taking a look at the Pro Hero, it began stomping down the street towards him.

"Okay, so you have a herbicide trick. I've faced that before!" the Pro Hero, although surprised, didn't seem intimidated. Quickly calling back his hands, they returned to roughly their original shape. His hands still felt numb, but he could still fight.

In rage, the Strong Smash swung at him again, but the Pro Hero nimbly darted out of the way. He swung for the Smash's face, wood meeting thick bio-organic metal with a loud clang. With his speed, he landed more strikes, all aimed at disabling the kaijin, although each of his attacks just met with more metal surfaces.

"Tough one *cough* are you?" the Pro Hero coughed as he jumped back. "Good. I've been *cough* meaning to get some exercise in!"

Joseph watched the fight and heard Kamui Woods coughing, "Oh no. He's breathing it in!"

"What? That gas?" asked Mei, using her Zoom Quirk to get a better view of the fight.

"Yes, the Nebula Gas. That stuff does major mutations to humans without Quirks. Who knows what it might do to someone who has one!" Joseph grimaced, forgetting his grievance with the pinkette for the moment.

"Nebula Gas…" Mei pondered, quickly writing down the name in a notebook. "What are its properties?"

"I…" Joseph grimaced, but found himself interrupted by a roar from the Strong Smash.

The Smash swung at Kamui Woods several more times, but the nimble hero still managed to avoid being struck. As the Smash started to stand still, it was still giving off more gas. The cloud soon began to cover them both, and soon Kamui Woods felt his body starting to slow down.

"Gh!" he grunted, missing a step and stumbling. His vision began to fog and his arms felt like they were going entirely numb. What was going on? Wasn't this smoke just a distract-….oh no! "P-Poison gas?!"

"NYRAH!" the Smash roared, swinging hard and smashing the increasingly paralyzed hero in the chest. The impact sent Kamui woods tumbling back where he crashed into a wall, he gagged in pain, feeling his entire body growing numb, like a vital function was shutting down on him. The fresh air brought some of his senses back, but the incoming Smash threatened to cloud them all over again.

"Crap…" he grunted, struggling to stand.

"Nyrah…" the Smash snorted, raising a fist as the gas closed in.

"Oh yoo hoo!"

*WHAM!*

A large purple-gloved hand came down, all but flattening the Smash. Above, the gigantic form of Mount Lady was smirking as she leaned over from a side street where she likely arrived from. She kept the Smash pinned down, although it struggled as if it didn't sense the pain of the strike at all.

"Well, seems like I got here right in the nick of time," Mount Lady smirked as she eyed Kamui Woods. "Are you alright there. Seems like this is a nasty customer."

"Nasty enough," Kamui Woods groaned. Despite being annoyed with her over the giant villain, he couldn't complain about her timing. At least this time her sense of dramatics actually saved him. "Careful...the gas…"

"Right, right," Mount Lady waved him off before she curled her fingers around the Smash and lifted him up to see what she was dealing with, "Now, what do we do with-!"

"NYRAHHHH!" the Smash bellowed, exhaling a stream of Nebula Gas which crashed directly into Mount Lady's face. The new Pro Hero suddenly gagged and erupted into a coughing fit as she dropped the Smash. Like Kamui Woods, her body started going numb and she lost control of her Quirk, shrinking her back down to her normal size. Next to her, the Strong Smash got up to its feet again, trembling in fury.

"Woah...does Nebula Gas do that?" Mei blinked.

"Dunno the advanced stuff," Joseph grimaced. "But it looks like the heroes can't handle that crap!" He reached into his bag and quickly pulled out his Driver and FullBottles.

"Woah, are you sure?" Mei gasped. "More heroes are probably on the way. They'll try to capture you if they see you!"

Joseph paused, but only for a moment as he shook his head, "This is something I gotta do. This is something only I can do. Licensed or not, let's begin the experiment!"

Joseph strapped on the Build Driver and Mei's eyes sparkled as they zoomed in on the device. She also watched as he shook his two FullBottles, summoning the equations again. She almost let off a girlish squeal of delight as she scribbled them all down. Joseph just ignored her as he inserted the FullBottles into his belt.

"Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!"

He turned the Crank Lever, generating the Snap Ride Builder under Mei's fascinated gaze. The tubes filled with colored Nebula Gas as the armor was formed from it, ready to use.

"Are You Ready?"

He was ready now and fully committed. This was his wish, after all.

"Henshin!"

"Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!"

"So cool!" Mei squealed, rabidly taking notes on everything she saw.

Build ran forward as he saw the Smash advance on Mount Lady. Quickly, he summoned out the Drill Crusher. Grabbing the drill portion, he removed it with a snap before flipping it over and reattaching it to another portion of the hilt. Adjusting his grip, he pointed it at the Smash before squeezing the hidden trigger, firing several blasts of energy into the Smash's back, causing it to bellow in pain before turning around.

"H-Huh?" Mount Lady blinked weakly.

"Who?" Kamui Woods huffed.

"Sorry for being late. My name is Build. Kamen Rider Build. Now the laws of victory are set!"

Mount Lady and Kamui Woods both blinked, knowing the name. Being part of, or leading, Hero Agencies, they were always alerted when criminals or vigilantes were wanted by the police. It surprised them that one would so brazenly come to a fight where Pro Heroes were present, but they weren't going to turn down the help.

The Smash just roared and charged right back at the Rider.

Build fired a few shots, sparking off the Smash's armor although it didn't stop the kaijin much. Getting closer, he ducked under the swing of its arm before using the Tank Foot treads to pull him behind it. As the Smash spun around, Build did the same before kicking it in the chest with his Rabbit Foot. A wave of red energy came from the impact point before the Smash was hurled backwards, for the moment, clearing the air around the Pro Heroes.

"Mei! Get them out of here!" Build shouted as he stood, running to keep the Smash away.

"Righti-O!" Mei nodded. She quickly ran to the two heroes before she pulled out what seemed to be mechanical panels which quickly expanded and had hover ports on the underside. "Express emergency stretchers, courtesy of Mei Hatsume!"

"*Cough!* are you, with him?" Kamui Woods coughed as Mei helped him onto a stretcher.

"Well, I was hunting him down to try and learn about his tech when this mess happened," Mei shrugged, not caring if she might get treated as a vigilante with Build, or perhaps not realizing it. "Now I get to see it in action live! Oh, I knew I should have brought my security drones!"

Meanwhile, Build was staring down the Smash, wondering how he might be able to bring it down fast and keep more Nebula Gas from spewing out, "OK, Strong Smash. Super strength, big fists, thick armor and slow. What weaknesses can I exploit?" He really wished he had additional FullBottles now. Unfortunately, he only carried his main Best wasn't like he thought the legend would actually work.

"Well, no time to doubt. Let's begin!" Build huffed. Firing more rounds at the Smash to keep it away for a moment, he quickly changed the Drill Crusher back to its sword mode and charged into the fray.

The Smash roared and swung at him, but Build ducked around the attacks before striking the Smash across the chest. It stumbled slightly, allowing the Rider to strike it with both legs, knocking it back, although it didn't seem to slow the Smash down in any way. He quickly realized that he needed to do something to wear the Smash's durability and endurance down so that a finisher could put it down once and for all.

'Wait, I've got a drill sword,' he thought to himself. With a mental grin, he adjusted his footing.

"Hup!" Build breathed, jumping at the Smash with his Rabbit Foot. The speed took the Smash by surprise again before the Drill Crusher impacted it's chest with a flash of sparks. He gripped the handle of the weapon and pulled the trigger mechanism, causing the drill to spin with a shower of sparks. The Smash roared in pain before another thrust, causing the portion of armor to crack and splinter before the Smash stumbled back a few steps. It seemed woozy and thicker clouds of Nebula Gas seemed to be leaking from the wound.

"Got my weak point!" Build nodded.

Quickly converting his weapon back to gun mode, he took out the Tank bottle and inserted it into his weapon.

"Ready Go! Vortex Break!"

He pressed the muzzle against the Strong Smash and fired at point blank range. Around his body, a blue image of a tank appeared, its barrel overlapping the barrel of the Drill Crusher. As the trigger was pulled, the tank fired and a blast of blue energy fired like a tank shell, launching the Smash far down the street before it let off a scream and exploding.

"Woo!" Mei cheered from her spot, cheering for the raw power of technology.

Build lowered his weapon as he lowered his gun. Huffing, he stepped forward and approached the downed Smash as the flames died down. Seeing the kaijin groan in pain, despite the cracks in its armor, it was otherwise undamaged. It was temporary until it recovered.

"Hold on a second. I'll get you out of that thing," Build sighed, pulling another empty FullBottle and aimed it at the Smash. Like the Needle Smash before, the kaijin's body dissolved, absorbing the Nebula Gas and revealing a high school student with glasses, unconscious from it all.

"Whew," the Rider sighed, lower his arm as the FullBottle changed to represent its use.

Build looked to the unconscious student and gingerly picked him up after dismissing his weapon. Walking over to where the Pro Heroes were set. Mei quickly saw his attention and opened up another quick stretcher which Build already set the student on.

"Why do you even have these?" asked Build.

"Always prepared to haul big components home," Mei grinned. "Is he okay? The villain?"

"He's more of a victim, unless he knew what Nebula Gas did," Build answered. He checked the teen's breathing and found it regular despite the bruises he was covered in. "More likely someone else did this to him."

"What?!" Mei gasped. "Why?"

"Villains. Who can say?" Build shrugged.

"Indeed, young vigilante!" a booming voice spoke up.

Build blinked and turned around, seeing a new figure had leaped down from above. He was an incredibly muscled man with swept back blonde hair and tufts rising up from the middle. He had an incredibly charming grin and his outfit was tight with colors of red, white, and blue, making him look like he was an American superhero. Oddly, he had shadows covering his eyes save for the warm blue glow of his irises.

Still, the feeling of power and all around majesty coming from him made Build feel like he was going to be okay. Sure, the man was a Pro Hero who would have him arrested for being a vigilante, but somehow he seemed like the kind of guy who'd be willing to hear him out.

"Woah! All-Might!" Mei cried.

"Who?" Build asked, making Mei gape at him as if he had grown a second head

"Hmm, that's a new reaction. I haven't heard someone ask that since my rookie days," All-Might chuckled as he approached. "I heard the calls for heroes and came immediately. It seems our new vigilante took care of the issue instead." He glanced to see the shocked Mount Lady and Kamui Woods. "Heroes, are you two well?"

"I-I'm okay," Kamui woods grunted, trying to sit up. "Just need some air."

"No, you need to get checked," Build insisted. "Inhaling Nebula Gas can have all sorts of nasty effects and we need a hospital to make sure nothing else is happening to you!"

"Truly?" All-Might frowned slightly. "Then let us make haste! Young vigilante, no, Kamen Rider Build, I am trusting you to aid in the transport of our fellow Heroes! Your knowledge may be able to aid them. If you truly believe in heroism despite your vigilante actions, please come with us to help those in need!"

'Is this what it would be like to talk to Superman?' Build thought to himself. Sure, it was wordier than what Superman would have said it, but the same message and feeling was there. "Ah...sure."

"Best day ever!" Mei cheered.

Ambulances came and began checking on the people. Mount Lady and Kamui Woods, despite their recovering senses, were transported through them. Although Mount Lady asked All-Might to carry her as cutely as she could. No doubt hoping to get a chance to cozy up with, who it turned out, was the #1 ranked hero in Japan and called the Symbol of Peace.

Police kept Build under guard as he was forced to shut down his armor and write up everything he knew about Nebula Gas, which admittedly wasn't much beyond its potential to mutate people into a Smash if too much of it was inhaled or even absorbed through the skin. Many gave him sour looks, but others seemed to at least be at least respectful of him after helping save two Pro Heroes.

After he wrote down his report, Joseph found himself sitting alone in a private room at the hospital. After what felt like a few hours, he was finally met by someone entering the office. They were a pair, one being a man in a detective style trench coat and hat while the other was...a 3 foot tall animal combination of dog, mouse, and bear in office style trousers, vest, and shirt. He also sported a scar over one eye while the rest of him was covered in white fur.

"Ah…" Joseph blinked.

"Surprised? It's alright," the animal man nodded as he took a seat next to the detective. "It's not often you meet an animal who has a Quirk. Just call me Nezu."

"Ah, nice...to meet you," Joseph nodded, clearly confused.

"And I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi," the other man introduced. "I think you can guess why we're both here."

"The vigilantism and the Smash," Joseph nodded with a sigh.

"We were hoping you could explain some things to us," Nezu nodded. "Now, vigilantism is a crime and a grave one with the punishments involved. Of course, it may be mitigated not only because you don't have a Quirk, thus negating part of the punishment, but also because you demonstrated exemplary actions during your two stunts. Saving people, two Pro Heroes, and defusing villain attacks with minimal damage."

"You have a lot going for you," Detective Tsukauchi nodded. "All of these could lower your sentence. What could really help you though is if you tell us about this 'Nebula Gas' you mentioned creating the two villains you referred to as 'Smash'."

Joseph looked to his hands, "That's...a difficult story. Namely...because I don't know how to tell it without sounding crazy."

"Trust me, I can sniff out a lie a mile away," Detective Tsukauchi smiled. "Just tell the story honestly and I will believe you."

"Before I begin, are the Pro Heroes and the former Smash okay?" Joseph asked.

"The gas that Smash creature gave off seemed to cause bad reactions to their Quirks, but as they got oxygen and began flushing the remaining gas from their bodies, they are recovering swiftly," Nezu nodded with a pleased smile. "The former Smash have no memories of how they got that way, which is part of why we are talking to you now."

"Right," Joseph nodded. "Well, as far as I know, Nebula Gas is a potent power source if used properly. It's what powers my suit. If left unpurified and allowed to enter the human body, it can cause an almost biomechanical mutation into a creature called a Smash."

"And where does this gas come from?" asked the detective.

"I don't know the source," Joseph shook his head. "But I do know it's made from otherworldly materials. Like, things found in meteors or could be harvested from Mars."

The two men looked to each other with slightly widened eyes. The detective only nodded which made Nezu's eyes widen further.

"Alright...then how did you come to this technology?" asked Nezu.

Joseph snickered, "To be honest, I was just buying a prop for a hero cosplay thing for a bet. Wear a hero prop, walk through a museum and say your deepest wish in each exhibit before I got to keep it. Instead, I found out the damn thing works and I can be a hero."

"And you mentioned you were Quirkless," the detective made a note. "So instead of handing it in, you decided to try and become a vigilante. Not a smart move kid if you don't know what effect this gear will have on you."

"Didn't occur to me at the time," Joseph shrugged. "Didn't feel a thing after the first time so I figured it was safe."

"Foolishness of youth," Nezu shook his head. "So then how did you end up learning about these Smash?"

"Manual in the box described them and the Nebula Gas," Joseph replied. That was true as there were descriptions of Nebula Gas and Smash on and in the box. "I thought it was just a fun story to go with the prop so I threw it away. It's probably been taken to the dump by now."

"Hmm," Detective Tsukauchi nodded with another note. "Another thing we noticed is that we can't seem to find you in the registry, although, if you really don't have a Quirk I guess it's not a surprise we might not."

"Stupid bias," Nezu shook his head with distaste.

"Right," Joseph nodded. "Hey, that reminds me, about that Mei girl. Listen, I just met her today and she literally hunted me down just to see my gear. She wasn't helping me be a vigilante or anything."

Nezu chuckled, "We figured that out quickly when we interviewed her. Besides, she didn't use her Quirk and instead just made sure people were taken out of harm's way. That's just being a good samaritan so she's in no trouble."

"Good," Joseph sighed. Annoying as the girl might have been she didn't do anything worth getting arrested next to him. "So what happens to me now?"

"Well, provided the details clear, it all depends on you," Nezu replied. "All-Might has vouched for your actions. Even Mount Lady and Kamui Woods both agreed that if you hadn't been branded by the media as a vigilante, none of them would have guessed that you weren't a Pro Hero."

Joseph tilted his head, "So, wait, are the usual vigilantes really that bad?"

"Well, most vigilantes often disregard the law and due process in favor of pursuing heroic duties," Detective Tsukauchi explained. "Often they end up being violent, breaking several laws of their own accord, and doing unlawful things which often get them in as much trouble as the villains they pursue."

"But you managed to sidestep much of the things vigilantes do as you don't have a Quirk and made sure you did minimal damage and actually helped people instead of just chased villains," Nezu nodded. "So with our word, you can manage to get off with some probation provided you play ball with us."

"Which is?" asked Joseph suspiciously.

"Simple. We would like to recruit you to U.A. High School. You're the right age to join our school and with your obvious talent, it would be a waste to see you be jailed for vigilantism," Nezu smiled. "And your knowledge about this Nebula Gas and the Smash could be helpful against further incidents."

"And...what's U.A.?" asked Joseph.

"Only the best high school for heroic courses in the country," Nezu replied, although he was surprised that Joseph apparently hadn't heard of it. "Tuition is government sponsored so that's no expense for you. Do you have a parent or guardian who can supply you for school supplies?"

"Ah...not in this country," Joseph grimaced, earning another nod from the detective.

"Well, we do have scholarships," Nezu nodded, rubbing his chin. "But you will have to take the entrance exam in that case. If you score a high enough percentile, we can budget you in for supplies provided you keep your grades up."

"Some heroes may be interested in sponsoring you too," Detective Tsukauchi offered with optimism, "You have been a hit on social media. Some Hero Agencies may want to invest in you if you sign on with them for internships or after you graduate. Once word gets out that you're invited to U.A. now."

"Um...sounds...nice I suppose," Joseph scratched the back of his neck. He'd never been offered a scholarship for anything before. Now he jumped into harm's way and kind of hammed it up and suddenly he was a potential new hot commodity for the hero community? Wow. "Then...well...I guess I can take the opportunity...um...provided I can keep my gear."

"Well, some wanted to have it taken away," Nezu admitted, "But considering nothing about it is illegal, or something we have yet to identify, we can arrange to have it all returned."

"Ah, thank you," Joseph sighed in relief.

"HEEEEEEY!"

"BWAH!" Joseph found himself tackle hugged from behind. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the familiar pink dreadlocks of Mei. "Mei? We're in a hospital!"

"I know! Super easy to find you!" Mei grinned back, not giving up her grip. "I'm not letting you get away again! Not without finally learning everything about your tech! I'm so inspired! I've just got to know everything about it!"

"Mei, come on. I've got to find a place to stay! I got recruited for U.A.!" Jospeh sighed. "If I don't I get arrested for vigilantism! I've got to hunker down and study all I can!"

"No way! You got recruited?" Mei gasped, spinning around to Joseph's front. She wasn't shocked and if anything, her smile got wider. "I'm applying for U.A. too! I know! You can stay with me! I'll help you study and get ready and in return you let me study your gear!"

Joseph deadpanned at her, "You can not be serious."

"I am!" Mei grinned. "Mom will be okay with it and dad won't even notice unless you get involved in his theory work! Both of them say I need to get out more anyway so it's cool! Let's get you all sorted out and starting tinkering!"

She produced a backpack from somewhere, which unfolded into a second pair of arms. Both grabbed Joseph and picked him up, leaving him to flail in the air. "Wait, wait, wait! I still have my stuff here!"

"We'll pick it up on the way out! Science awaits!" Mei cackled, produced a small handheld switch. She pressed it and a small rocket booster emerged from her pack before it roared to life, launching the two down the hall towards the stairs, "Yahooooooooo!"

"Noooooooooooooo!"

To Be Continued

A/N: Well, thanks to the enthusiasm I recieved for this story, I decided to make it into an actual story. I hope you guys continue to enjoy.