MHA: I Am Homelander

The abandoned warehouse loomed like a forgotten monument, its corrugated metal siding pitted with rust and its windows long since shattered, leaving only jagged shards that caught the light like broken teeth.

The interior was dim, sunlight slanting in through high gaps in the roof, casting long bars of gold and shadow across the concrete floor. Dust hung in the air like fog, disturbed only by the soft footsteps of the three teens who entered, their voices echoing faintly between the cracked walls and skeletal scaffolding.

"This place could really use some signs of life," Momo said, eyeing the graffiti-streaked walls and peeling paint.

She turned to them with a raised brow, brushing a gloved hand across a rusted pipe that flaked red dust into the air. "Honestly, I feel like we're in the middle of a post-apocalyptic movie."

Kazuo snorted, stretching out one leg and cracking his neck. "You get used to it. Think of it as... vintage hero training charm. Grit builds grit."

"Charm isn't the word I'd use," Loid muttered with a dry grin, his hands in his pockets.

As they walked deeper into the vast, echoing space, their footsteps echoed with a soft crunch against broken glass and scattered debris.

The warehouse smelled faintly of old oil, scorched metal, and something forgotten.

Despite the emptiness, there was a certain kind of energy to the place. It was their unofficial sanctuary—rough, battered, but theirs.

They even had a few tattered couches they pulled in from the city to prove it.

Kazuo began rolling his shoulders, shaking out his arms, swiping off his shoes. His feet bounced lightly against the concrete, each step sharper than the last.

His hair began to subtly float upward with static energy, strands flickering like threads of silver fire.

The faint hum of potential energy seemed to thrum through the air around him.

"Alright," he said, drawing to a stop and turning to face them. "So, you wanted to see how this works, right?"

Momo nodded, her gaze keen and analytical. She already had a notepad in hand, scribbling notes from observation alone.

"You store kinetic energy through movement, correct? And you release it through your legs?"

"Exactly," Kazuo replied. "I basically charge up by staying in motion. That's why I'm always bouncing on my toes in a fight. If I keep moving, I keep building energy."

Loid chimed in, arms crossed. "His hair floats the more he has. It's actually a pretty convenient tell."

"Do you have a limit to how much you can store?" Momo asked, tapping her pen.

Kazuo paused. "Not that I've found. I've gone pretty far before feeling anything close to a cap. If there is a limit, I haven't hit it yet. It just... keeps building."

Momo frowned in thought, tapping her chin. "Fascinating... That could have an exponential growth curve depending on the duration and frequency of movement. If we can figure out a precise ratio of storage versus expenditure, we could model—"

"Woah," Kazuo laughed. "You're starting to sound like...Well, I don't know what you sounded like, I didn't understand a word you said."

Momo blushed faintly. "Sorry, I get carried away."

While Kazuo began hopping side to side, gathering more kinetic energy for a demonstration, Loid stepped toward one of the steel pillars, rubbing his hand across its cold, rusted surface.

He pinched the steel pillar, then literally began to tear off a piece of it.

With a grinding shriek, a chunk of the steel peeled off, like cardboard under pressure.

"Super Strength," Loid said, flatly.

He held the twisted shard in his palm, then turned it against himself, pressing it to his forearm and pushing. The shard bent without even denting his skin.

"Super Durability."

With his free hand, he focused his gaze on the bent shard.

ZMMM!

A beam of concentrated heat seared from his eyes, welding it cleanly back to the pillar like a makeshift forge.

"Heat vision."

He dusted his hands off.

"Then there's my heightened senses and X-Ray vision too."

He was able to list off his abilities and was familiar with each one.

"But that's just it. I understand what I can do, but I can't find the ceiling. I've got no metric for my limits. Homelander's feats in my dreams—those were insane. But unless there's a spare nuke lying around, how am I supposed to test if I'm really that strong?"

He glanced back at the others. "It's all just potential until proven. Maybe I should focus on things I somewhat understand on getting around. Like how to unlock my Flight."

Now that was something he was intrigued by.

Momo tilted her head, intrigued by the dilemma. Kazuo, however, was still bouncing in place.

"So what now?" Loid asked, half to himself.

"We spar," Momo said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Kazuo and Loid immediately turned to each other with matching grins, their eyes lighting up like kids offered candy.

"Say less," Kazuo said.

Without another word, the two of them faced each other, not even needing the other's confirmation, standing a few meters apart as Momo took center between them.

She raised one hand. "Begin."

Kazuo burst forward with a sharp VUANK, wind rippling behind him as he launched himself at Loid.

His leg snapped out in a high-speed kick, but Loid sidestepped effortlessly, the grin never leaving his face.

Kazuo recovered quickly, zipping to the side with another VUANK and coming in low, his foot kicking upward, breaking Loid's guard as the latter's arms flung upward.

'Oh? He's pretty powerful.' Loid thought, amused, assuming Kazuo no had a clean blow open, bringing back his arms to guad.

However, Kazuo grinned as he swiped his foot across the ground, sweeping at Loid's lead foot.

Loid stumbled slightly but remained upright, the immense strength in his legs allowing him to stay up despite the awkward position he was in, impressed.

"Not bad."

Kazuo smirked, about to launch the follow-up strike, when Momo's voice rang out. "Stop."

Both boys froze.

"Kazuo, you're burning too much energy per step," she said, stepping forward.

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Your hair. It dropped during the approach. That first burst? You used a majority of your entire reserve just to close the distance. I'll show you. Do that same thing and try to close the distance between those two pillars."

Kazuo obeyed. Hopping toward the first pillar to build his energy.

Upon reaching it, he bent his feet, he launched forward with a VUANK. However, despite his speed, he didn't close the full distance.

"Now again," she instructed. "Same distance, but this time use the energy gradually. Step by step. Think flow, not blast."

Kazuo nodded and tried again, this time spreading the energy out across his movement. It was hard for him to process it considering this wasn't how he used his Quirk, however, he soon got the grip of it.

VUANK

VAUNK

VUANK

He flowed across the floor like water, each step pulsing with controlled force.

Loid raised his eyebrow.

"Did you see it?" Momo asked, seeing his expression.

"Yeah, his hair didn't drop as much as before."

"Exactly," Momo said. "He didn't use as much Energy in that sequence as he did the first time. Additionally, with each stride, he was able to benefit from the natural lunge from his feet as well."

"More efficient, more precise. You're not just blowing all your energy on one move. You'll last longer in a fight, move more flexibly since you can change direction with each step, and stack energy over time instead of constantly draining it, allowing you to later use more and more in your movements, making you grow faster and stronger the longer you fight."

Kazuo blinked. "That's... actually really smart. Thanks."

Momo turned to Loid. "And you—your flaw is combat technique. You've got power and speed, sure. But your hand-to-hand fundamentals?"

Loid smirked. "That much is negligible."

"Negligible?"

He bent his knees, turning to Kazuo. No words. Just movement.

Kazuo barely blinked before Loid was in front of him, fist raised an inch from his face.

"Boom. You're dead."

Kazuo recoiled and threw a kick, but Loid vanished and tapped his back.

"Boom. Dead again."

Kazuo growled, spinning for a counter, but Loid was gone, several feet back, eyes glowing faintly.

"Boom, boom, boom. Three more deaths."

Momo gawked. Her mind flicked back to the villain Loid had taken down, the story suddenly sounding far more believable.

He waved a hand. "See, negligible, don't you think?"

She crossed her arms, clearing her throat. "As a hero, you'll need more than power. You should diversify. A good close-quarters arsenal could save your life one day, considering your Quirk would compliment it perfectly."

She smiled, "After all, power is good, but you talk like you're the strongest human in the world."

Loid paused, his expression unreadable.

"Human?" he echoed. Then, with a slow smile, "No. Of course not."

Darkness wrapped around the orphanage, still and heavy like a blanket.

In the narrow dorm room, Loid lay on his bottom bunk, staring at the ceiling. The quiet hum of night was broken only by the steady snoring of Kazuo above.

But Loid's mind refused to rest.

He stared blankly upward, eyes tracing cracks in the plaster as thoughts churned like a storm.

He had strength. Speed. Heat vision. X-Ray sight. His body was impervious. But no test, no benchmark, gave him clarity on just how far he could go.

He clenched his jaw.

Homelander. In those dreams—those simulations—he'd seen what was possible. But was that truly him?

Homelander's powers were a result of Compound V. A man-made miracle. A serum of gods.

But Loid? He doubted there was any point in his life where he'd been subjected to anything like that.

There were no experiments, no secret labs, no injections—or at least, none he remembered.

So what was he?

Just a Quirk? Some advanced mutation that mimicked the dream-specter of a fictional tyrant? Or was he... something else?

A natural-born supe.

Like Ryan, Homelander's child.

It would explain why he'd awakened his abilities far later than what should have been normal with a Quirk. 

But even that answer, hell, each theory he proposed raised more questions than it solved.

He sat up, eyes flicking toward the window. The city lights bled softly through the curtains.

He didn't want to think anymore.

This world he was in wasn't the same as that of Homelander's, so he couldn't use the same logic here. He needed to know.

Sliding quietly from the bunk, he threw a glance upward. Kazuo was still snoring, a pillow wrapped around his head like a cocoon.

Good.

Loid crept to the window, fingers curling around the wooden frame. It creaked faintly as he slid it open, the cool breath of night kissing his face.

He climbed out, crouching low on the ledge, the concrete wall rough beneath his fingers. For a moment, he stayed there—perched like a gargoyle, the wind ruffling his hair.

Then, he leapt.

He shot through the air like an arrow, the wind howled past his ears, yet his heart beat steady, focused as he allowed the wind do as it pleased upon closing his eyes.

Then, the city opened before him like a canvas of light and silence.

Rooftops stretched into the distance, towers blinking red and gold. The sky was deep indigo, dusted with stars.

And Loid loomed in the sky, opening his eyes, arms spread wide.

Up there, in the heavens, he could breathe. Up there, looking down onto everything...well, it felt fitting to him to say the least.

'The furthest I've been pushed while I've had these abilities was my battle against Siesmurge, despite even that much feeling like child's play.'

He was asking himself the wrong questions, pondering "What" could test his limits. A Nuke. An Atomic Bomb.

No, that wasn't right.

Rather, in this world where villains loomed around every corner, he should have been asking "Who" could help him test his limits...Like Siesmurge.

A faint smile touched his lips as he whispered to the stars:

"Lets try to replicate that, shall we?"

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Sorry for no upload yesterday. You guys get another in a few hours because of that. 

And as a Shameless Author, I'm obliged to ask anyway...

Powerstones?