MHA: Dragon's Pride

"I told you, we need to get out of here and call the heroes to deal with whoever just let loose with their fire quirk!"

"Bullshit! You just want me gone so that you can prevent me from making babies! You and your fire friend can get lost! This place belongs to me!"

I round yet another trash hill and can finally hear the two people who have been shouting at each other the whole time clearly. Though I have to admit, I can see both sides of their arguments. Yes, if I showed up to grab someone to eat then it wouldn't matter if they tried to flee, but it would still be the smart thing to do at least.

But if this is the other voice's territory, then obviously they aren't going to be giving it up without a fight. Stupid when I'm the one intruding, but understandable all the same. Praiseworthy as well. Maybe I'll see about getting them something to help defend their belongings when they're out and about?

I finally enter a decently sized clearing, the trash piled around transforming it into something similar to an arena. And standing across from each other on the sands of conflict, is someone I never expected to see again.

"Mr. Sludge!" I shout as I jump forward and wrap the still shirtless person I met way back before my Awakening in a hug, ignoring the way they squish and seep around my arms. Then again, I'm not one to mention a lack of clothing considering I burned all of mine to a crisp earlier. Again. "You're out of prison!"

"Huh?" They make a confused sound and I look up to see them staring blankly for a moment before their eyes widen and give me a wide smile. "Kid! It's good to see you! How you been?"

I giggle as they put a hand on my head, the thin glove they're wearing keeping my hair clean. "I've been good! Found out I'm awesome, get to live in a volcano, and am faster than some newbie hero!"

They blink before chuckling themselves. "Glahg-ahg-ahg! Sounds like it's been an excitable few years. And look at that! You even-"

"Instead of saying I got a quirk, could you say I became a dragon?" I interrupt before he can finish. I don't want my instincts to demand I punch him in the face for saying that.

Their sludge tilts to the side before they shrug. "Sure thing, kid. And hey! Turning into a dragon is badass!"

I give them a wide smile as I step away. I knew there was a reason I liked them when we first met. "You've got that right! Not to mention-"

"Uh, hey! If the two of you are going to be busy talking, mind going somewhere else so I can get back to making babies?"

I'm interrupted by the second voice that was shouting. I turn to face them, resolutely ignoring the fact that I completely forgot they were here, and see a girl around my age with pink hair styled into thick dreadlocks. She's wearing a sleeveless grease stained brown tank top, a thick pair of black pants, and her eyes are covered by a set of thick goggles that hide her eyes from view.

She's also holding a lemon in one gloved hand and is sticking it with a syringe filled with yellow liquid with the other.

I tilt my head as I look at her. "You're making babies? I thought the stork delivers them?"

Mr. Sludge lets out a snort that he quickly covers with one hand before looking away. Me and the girl ignore him, her tilting her head curiously at my question. "Why would I trust some random bird to bring me babies? I don't want random babies anyways, I've got to make them myself!"

I nod. "Makes sense. But I still don't know why you'd want to make them in a dump."

Her eyes gleam as she rushes forwards. "It's because I can get all the materials I need to make them here! Not only is it free, but the sheer…variety…" Seeming to feel something wrong, she looks down and sees that she accidentally pushed the back of the syringe and injected the liquid into the lemon. "Uh oh."

She drops the syringe and lemon at the same time, so I catch the lemon before it can hit the ground while raising an eyebrow at her. In response, she books it to the closest pathway out of the clearing while shouting over her shoulder without looking back "Fire in the hole!"

I blink and look towards Mr. Sludge only to see him having run away as well. "Drop the lemon and run kid!"

I tilt my head and look down at the lemon curiously. It doesn't look like the injection has done anything to it. "She did say fire in the hole…" Shrugging, I let my head and upper body transform before tossing the lemon down my muzzle and swallowing it whole.

I let the changes fade away after a moment of not feeling anything and look around. From the pathways, the other two are peeking in and staring at me with open mouthed horror. "What?"

The girl points at me. "You chose to eat it, so it's not murder! And since I warned you, it's not manslaughter either!"

Before I can ask what she's talking about (or why she seems well-versed in what constitutes murder and manslaughter charges) I feel something bubbling inside my stomach. My face screws up as I frown and I put a hand on my stomach. Even in the brief moment it takes me to do even that it seems to get worse, and a grumbling sound fills the area while I groan and lean forward.

"Wha-" And then…

`~`

Nothing happens.

Absolutely nothing happens, and anyone who says otherwise is a dirty fucking liar. A dirty fucking liar that will suddenly develop a one hundred percent lethal disease known as 'being shredded into the smallest pieces I can manage then burned to ash in different places across Japan then scattered to the fucking wind'!

In front of me are Mr. Sludge and the girl, who are sitting on their knees with their hands clutched on top of them, their backs ramrod straight and their eyes looking straight up while sweat trails down their faces. 

I glare at them with fire leaking out of my muzzle, my eyes flashing. I jab a finger at the two. "If either of you ever say anything, they'll never find your bodies, or the bodies of your families."

Mr. Sludge tentatively raises a hand. "I don't have a family."

My glare focuses on him. "What's your favorite show? Or hero?"

He swallows. "Um, probably Lunch Rush's cooking show? And…" He coughs, looking away. "Midnight."

"Then nobody will ever find your, Lunch Rush's, or Midnight's bodies!"

I clap my hands, making sure it's strong enough that it produces a bit of wind that brushes past them, before closing my eyes and smiling sharply at them with a tilt of my head. "Understood?"

""Yes Ma'am!"" The two shout in perfect synchronization.

I glare for a few more seconds before letting out a huff and lowering my hands. "Good. Don't forget it."

"I won't!" The girl shouts while Mr. Sludge rapidly nods what passes for their head. "Question though! Why aren't you dead?"

I bare my teeth at her in a threatening grin. "Why, exactly, would I be dead?"

She swallows as she frantically waves her hands in front of herself. "No reason! Never mind! Forget I said anything! Actually, I forgot what I was saying! What were we talking about!?"

I maintain my stare for a moment longer before letting it drop. "Who are you, anyway? Mr. Sludge and I know each other already-"

"I'm actually non-binary, so could you drop the 'Mr' and just call me Viran?"

I blink and wonder for a moment what that means before shrugging it off and nodding. "Of course, sorry Viran."

They shrug. "It's fine. You didn't know."

I turn back to the girl and raise an eyebrow, causing her to scramble to her feet and introduce herself after raising her goggles to her forehead, revealing yellow eyes with a dark crosshair pattern over her pupils. "Hatsume Mei! Future CEO and top inventor of Hatsume Industries, patent pending!" A wide smile stretches her face at the end of her claim, like she has no doubt that she'll reach her goal. I can appreciate that. Still…

"Aren't you a little young to have a patent pending?"

Her smile doesn't waver. "Yes, yes I am."

I snort out a laugh as I extend a hand. "Izumi. Gotta say, it's definitely interesting to meet you if nothing else."

She cackles as she takes my hand. "That's the best kind of meeting!" Abruptly dropping her laughter, she peers at me, the crosshairs on her eyes expanding and contracting. "Speaking of, can I test my babies on you? You're sturdy enough that a few stray or intentional explosions won't bother you!"

I grin at the compliment, though I'm confused about how she's going to be testing her kids against me, given that they'll need at least a few years to grow. "I don't mind, but isn't that going to take a while? Kids don't grow that fast."

"Kids?" She blinks at me and tilts her head. "Why're you talking about kids? I'm talking about my babies!"

"...I feel like we're talking about different things."

From off to the side, Viran speaks up. "She calls the things she invents her babies. Like-" They cut themselves off abruptly. No idea what they were about to talk about. Nope, no idea at all. And if they don't want to die, neither do they.

"And this jerk keeps getting in the way of me making them!" Hatsume glares at Viran. "I was here first, but they keep trying to get rid of all my materials!"

They throw their hands up. "I'm just trying to do my job! The city is paying me to take care of the trash! I didn't sign up for some crazy kid to throw exploding lemons at me!"

They suddenly tense, slowly turning towards me. When they do, they see me smiling. "Wow, so Hatsume can make lemons explode? That's some interesting and new information that has absolutely nothing to do with today, right?"

Both of them nod rapidly while sweat drips from Hatsume and sludge from Viran.

I nod in satisfaction before realizing what Viran said. "You're a trash cleaner now? Congratulations!"

They smile at me and rub the back of their head. "Thanks. It feels good to finally start making people's lives better instead of worse."

Now I turn to the inventor. "Why don't you just let them take care of the stuff that you can't or won't use? That way you'll get more space, and they can keep doing their job."

She huffs and crosses her arms. "Because baby making takes time! I don't want them throwing a fit because they can't do much, and having them interrupt me while I'm working to ask if it's ok to get rid of something every few minutes will be annoying!"

"Hmm. Fair." I hum as I think, tapping my chin before eventually shrugging. "I can always call the DAB and see about you getting official permission to scavenge here." I turn and gesture to Viran. "Then you won't get in trouble for not cleaning it up either."

They look at each other before shrugging. "I don't really care as long as I can keep making babies."

"I'd rather keep working, but…" Viran hums, which kind of sounds more like something is bubbling. "You're planning to go into the support industry?"

She smiles brightly, less manic than her earlier one. Slightly. "That's right! When I'm old enough, I'm going to be going to UA's support department! It's considered more impressive than other schools since All Might went there, so I'll have an easier time starting my company after I graduate."

Viran sighs before nodding. "It's fine with me then." They nod at her. "Just make sure you stick with your dream, don't give up on it!"

I feel like I should be feeling targeted, but honestly I'm just so much better than heroes, so I don't really care.

Hatsume snorts. "Of course not! No matter how many times something blows up in your face, it just means that you've learned something new and can improve!"

The three of us share a moment there, among the trash. I smile at how this encounter has gone, and for a moment, I let the thought of ending up friends with the girl play through my mind.

"Um, why's there a line of melted trash going down the beach?"

Hearing the words of the feathered hero from above, I flush and grab the first thing at hand and chuck it at the man. Apparently, the thing I throw is actually Hatsume. He squawks as he dodges the flying child before both he and the inventor shout in panic and he shoots out his feathers to catch her before she starts to plummet.

Well, maybe not friends. But it will be nice to talk to people again.