MHA - The Rise of Psion - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rei stood in the middle of a massive warehouse on the U.A. campus with his tutor for the day, Aizawa. Rei didn't know it, yet, but Aizawa was going to be his main tutor for a long time due to Aizawa expelling his entire class just the week before. The man had the free time so Nezu decided to make him dedicate that free time to teaching Rei.

Rei was just excited to be doing something new. Ever since he got out of the hospital a month ago he'd experienced many new things. The thing that made him the happiest was food! Oh, the different flavors and textures! He could eat all day and never get tired of the different tastes! He'd long forgotten just how good a bowl of sugary cereal could be. He was a little embarrassed now about how much he'd cried the first time Nemuri had let him eat a bowl. She didn't make fun of him though. Who would when the only thing he'd eaten had been nutrient paste for ten years?

Tartarus was NOT known for its high quality cuisine.

“Alright Rei, pay attention. Today we're going to lowered the suppression effect of your dampener a little bit. We'll see how that goes before moving on further. Any questions?”

Rei's excitement faded a little and was replaced by trepidation at the knowledge that his Quirk would once more be active, even if it was extremely restricted. A large part of him wanted to tall Aizawa to not do it, that it was too dangerous. The other part, the part Nezu and Nemuri had bee nurturing was trying to calm him down and get him to focus.

He pushed his fear to the side and nodded at Aizawa, “Yes.”

Aizawa held up a device that looked similar to a smart phone and began pressing buttons on its screen. First was a twenty digit alpha numeric password. Second was a fingerprint scan. Third, and final, was a facial scan. All of that, just to unlock the device. David had made one hundred percent sure that no one would be hacking into the device and using Rei as a weapon of mass destruction by completely disabling the dampener.

Once logged into the device, it was just a matter of a few seconds before Aizawa announced, “I'm going to lower the suppression effect by just one percent. The moment I do, I want you to tell me exactly what you feel. If it's too much say so immediately. Understood?”

This was not the first time they'd gone over safety procedures, but that didn't matter. Rei nodded, “I'm ready.”

Aizawa prepared to use his own Quirk at a moments notice as he lowered the suppression field down a single solitary percent. He watched, ready, as Rei's eyes widened in shock. He didn't see any signs of pain on the boys face so he didn't disable his Quirk, yet.

Rei looked up at Aizawa with wide eyes as he exclaimed, “I can feel you!”

“Feel me?”

Rei nodded, “Yes. I think...” His brows furrowed, “I think its your emotions.”

“You don't hear my thoughts?”

Rei shook his head, “No. It's.. fuzzy. I think they're their, but I can't hear them. But I can feel your... wariness and readiness. You're... worried” Rei smiled a little, “That makes me feel better because I was worried too. But, you're the only person I feel.”

Aizawa nodded, “Then the next logical step is to check your range. Star walking toward the other side of the building until you can no longer feel my presence.”

Rei did as asked and walked until he was almost on the other side of the building, nearly three hundred feet away. Aizawa checked the range finder on the device in his hand and whistled. It read '272 Feet'. Rough math put Rei's full telepathic range at a little over five miles. His orginal range as a five year old had been roughly a mile. Without any training or practice at all, his range had grown five times further. How large would it get with training?

It looked like their precaution of making a new building that was over a thousand feet from the next nearest one was paying off. U.A. owned an extensive amount of land and they were located in a previously unused section as far from students as possible without encroaching onto civilian territory at Rei's previously known maximum range. Which, now, looked to be around twenty percent of his new maximum. They would need to be extra careful about how much power they allowed him.

“Alright, come on back.” Aizawa called.

Once Rei rejoined Aizawa, the man hit a button on the wall. Immediately, a seam formed in the center of the floor as it split open. A giant platform covered in cubes of various sizes rose into view. Once the nose of the hydraulic lift settled down, Aizawa gestured to the variety of cubes, “Each cube over their weighs a different amount. I want you to pick up the smallest with your telekinesis. After you lift it, set it down, and move onto the next biggest one. Keep doing that until you find a cube you can't lift.”

This test was to find out, roughly, what the limit of Rei's telekinesis was. After they had a baseline, they could work on control and finesse. Rei would need a lot of practice as, unlike telepathy, telekinesis was an active power. The only training they would be doing for his telepathy was control exercises to teach Rei how to not read everyone's minds.

Rei focused on the smallest cube and frowned. He honestly had no idea how to use his telekinesis. They all knew he had it due to the damage he'd done to everyone he'd killed. He didn't want to dwell on that, but it was the only time he'd ever used the ability before.

Thankfully, Nezu had provided examples from other telekinetic heroes and how they used their powers. Two of those examples were even currently active heroes. The first was Rock Lock whose Quirk Lock Down was a restricted for of Telekinesis that let him lock objects in place. The second was Pixie-Bob a current hero that had the Quirk Earth Flow, which allowed her to manipulate the earth around her. Technically, it was Geokinesis, but that was just a limited lesser branch of Telekinesis. After all, Telekinesis was the manipulation of everything.

He was pulled out of his thoughts on other heroes by Aizawa's gruff voice, “Move on to the next cube.”

Rei blinked and, to his surprise, saw that the smallest cube was floating off of the ground by a few feet. He'd barely even thought of moving it and it had moved, almost on its own. He willed the cube to drop, and it did. Was it that simple?

Yes, but also no. The first few cubes took hardly a thought to make move. It wasn't until he lifted a cube weighing two-hundred and fifty pounds that he felt any sort of feedback. It wasn't hard to lift, at all, but it was the first where he could 'feel' that he was lifting it. It was hard to describe. It was like... no one really pays attention to or feels the weight of a pencil when they lift it up, they just do it. But lifting a full gallon of milk? They would feel that, even if it wasn't really all that much harder than lifting the pencil.

It wasn't until Rei got to the cube weighing four hundred and fifty pounds that he began to struggle. He managed to get that block into the air, but when he moved onto the five hundred pound one he managed to lift it, but it was a real strain and he ended up losing his grip on it and dropping it.

Aizawa did some rough calculations and grunted, “So your maximum lift weight is roughly twenty-five tons.”

Aizawa would never verbally admit it, but he was impressed. At just one percent of his total power, Rei would already have the basics of making a decent hero. Let alone if he could access and properly control all one hundred percent of his power, safely.

Rei turned to Aizawa and smiled. With the amount of weight he could lift it meant he could capture villains just by picking them up! Just the though of picking up a villain like it was a naughty kitten made him giggle. Oh! If he got mad at Aizawa maybe he could pick him up! That induced further giggles, much to the annoyance of said man.

Aizawa looked at the boy who was suddenly giggling out of nowhere, “What's so funny kid?”

It took Rei a moment to calm down so he could explain his thought on villains. He was wise enough not to mention his thought on Aizawa himself. For his part, Aizawa just raised an eyebrow and pondered something, “If you can lift others, can you lift yourself?”

Rei froze and looked up at Aizawa with wide eyes. He'd never even considered that! What kid didn't dream of flying through the air?! He'd never stopped having those dreams. Though, unlike most kids, he dreamed of flying out of Tartarus. Could he fly? There was no reason he couldn't!

He focused on the feeling he got from his Quirk when lifting the heavier blocks and wrapped it around himself gently. Slowly, gently, he picked himself up. Both Rei and Aizawa watched as Rei lifted himself off of the ground. Rei let out a whoop of joy while moving himself slowly around, “I can fly!”

“We can work on your flight skills later, they're not what we're here for, now land so we can continue your testing.”

Rei pouted at Aizawa's command, but did as he was told. Aizawa, meanwhile, was going to leave it up to Nezu to find someone to teach Rei how to fly properly and the rules that flying heroes had to observe. His job was merely to test the kid for the day and that's all he was going to do. Now, time to test the kids multitasking ability.

-----Line Break-----

Aizawa unceremoniously dropped onto the couch within Nezu's office. The principal, unperturbed by his subordinates actions, addressed the man, “So, what do you think?”

Aizawa snorted, “As if you didn't watch the whole thing.”

Nezu smirked a little, “Perhaps, but that's irrelevant to what I asked.”

Aizawa grunted and closed his eyes, “The kid's a monster. Even as restricted as I had him he would already make an excellent hero.” He opened his eyes and glared at Nezu, “But only after extensive training.”

Nezu nodded his head in agreement. Rei was definitely a powerhouse. They'd agreed to keep him limited to just one percent of his total power for the entire series of tests and the kid had still exceeded his wildest expectations. An estimated range of over five miles for his telepathy and over twenty-five tons for his telekinesis? That was crazy for someone who had zero training or practice with their Quirk.

While public Quirk usage without a licensee was illegal, that didn't stop people from using them. On top of which, there were plenty of special facilities anyone could go to where Quirk usage was allowed within training rooms. It was a necessity to allow children to learn how to control their Quirks, especially the violent or destructive Quirks. No one wanted children with super powers to not know how to use them properly, or, more importantly, how to not use them. That was just a recipe for disaster.

“You left him active, as planned?”

Aizawa nodded, “I did. It seems that the limitation he's under limits him to empathy rather than telepathy. I instructed him in the mental and mediation techniques that might help him control it. The empathy also appears to be far less intrusive on his mind than telepathy would. It should allow him to build up some resistance to it all so it doesn't become overwhelming as he gains more power and we allow him more access to the power he already has.”

Nezu nodded in agreement, “So, everything is going according to plan thus far. Good. Still, best not to let our guards down and suffer the consequences.”

“Agreed.”

-----Line Break-----

Rei hummed happily as he floated around the tiny apartment he'd been given. Flight was the best! Granted he couldn't go very fast or very high within the small space, but it was still awesome! Even better, he had permission to do it! He had special permission to use his Quirk in designated areas. His apartment was one such area. Even better, he had actual instructions to use his Telekinesis for as much as he could!

Maybe Aizawa wasn't so terrible. Though the man did say it was only allowed because he needed to get a LOT more practice with his Quirk. Unlike every other kid he would be joining in classes next year, he hadn't been using his Quirk daily for years and years. So, he was told to use his powers for everything he possibly could to get as used to it as possible as fast as possible.

Part of his new training was what he was doing right then. He looked down at the puzzle he was trying to solve while only using his telekinesis to move the pieces into place. Aizawa had explained that Rei needed not just power, but finesse and control in order to become a good hero. The puzzle was all about those two things.

It was also a lot of fun!

He was interrupted by his door bell ringing. Still floating, he guided himself to the door where he looked through the peephole, because he could reach it! Seeing Nemuri on the other side he quickly, though gently, undid the chain and unlocked the door before opening it, all without using his hands.

When the door swung open, Nemuri arched and eyebrow at the side of the floating teenager, “Looks like someone learned a new trick.”

Rei giggled and did a lazy backflip, he could do all kinds of cool stuff while flying! His bright gaze focused on Nemuri, “Mr. Aizawa thought of it when he was teaching me!”

Nemuri chuckled, “I'm a little jealous, I've always been jealous of people whose Quirks let them fly.”

Rei blinked and found he could feel the small bit of jealousy she mentioned. He could also feel other things, like amusement and even a little pride coming from her. Unfortunately, that opened the flood gates and he could feel everyone within the apartment building and a little ways outside. It wasn't overwhelming but it was a lot. He'd unconsciously ignored it while he'd focused on assembling his puzzle but now it was in the forefront of his thoughts.

He frowned and shook his head prompting Nemuri to ask, “Rei? Are you okay?”

Rei sighed and nodded, “It doesn't hurt. I'd stopped feeling other peoples emotions while working on my puzzle.”

Nemuri frowned and he could feel her concern, “Perhaps you should go back to the puzzle for a little while?”

He shook his head, “No, I need to get used to it.”

Nemuri thought for a moment before shrugging, “Alright, then you can help me make dinner.”

Rei brightened immediately at the mention of food. Eating new things had been one of the greatest joys of being released from Tartarus and Nemuri's cooking was super delicious, in his opinion. She was also teaching him the basics of how to cook so he would be able to take care of himself, eventually.

Nemuri smiled at his enthusiasm and walked toward the kitchen with him following behind her like a self-guided balloon. She began pulling out the pans and utensils she would need, “Aizawa told me he wants you to use your telekinesis as much as possible. So! That means you're going to help me out with cooking. Let's starts with some eggs. Fetch me the carton from the fridge please.”

More than happy to help out, Rei did as asked. Soon the pair were working in tandem to cook a simple homemade meal. It turned out that telekinesis was a heck of a cheat when it came to cooking. He could do things in a way that no other chef possibly could. Things like breading chicken for frying without making a complete mess of his hands!

In the middle of cutting some carrots, Nemuri paused and lifted the knife she was using to look at the edge, “I can't believe they got you such cheap knives. They don't hold an edge very long at all.”

Rei paused in his work to look over at Nemuri curiously, “How sharp should a knife be?”

Nemuri shrugged her shoulders, “It depends on the kind of cutting edge the knife is meant to have. Though, in general, a kitchen knife should be sharpened at fifteen degrees until it's razor sharp. Though I have heard that some pros use knifes sharpened to an edge as thin, or thinner, than a human hair. We'll have to get you a good set of sharpening stones so you can learn to maintain the edges of your knives.” She looked at him seriously, “Remember this, a dull knife is far more likely to cause an accident and hurt you than a sharp knife.”

Rei paused in his work an considered what she'd said. An edge as thin as or thinner than a human hair? His gaze moved to Nemuri's long dark purple hair and had a thought. Without a word he turned around and hovered out to his living room where they spent most of their time together. He checked the couch first and felt pleased when he found one of her long hairs after hardly looking.

He snagged the hair with his telekinesis and made his way back into the kitchen. He compared the length of hair he had with the length of the knife Nemuri was using. The hair was way longer, so he broke it into two pieces and held onto the smaller one. Nemuri looked over at Rei curiously, “What are you doing?”

Rei grinned and snagged one of the uncut carrots, “I had an idea.”

He floated the carrot in front of himself then focused on the length of hair. He wrapped the hair in his telekinesis and held it tight while reinforcing it so it would remain stiff and straight. Once the hair was reinforced to be stiffer than solid steel, he slowly swung it at the top of the carrot. There was zero resistance as the hair sliced through the vegetable with ease.

Nemuri blinked in surprise while slowly picking up the sliced off carrot top, “Huh.” She looked at the smooth cut and frowned a bit, “Well, that's great for cooking, but you should never use that on a living person. It's far too dangerous and can only be used to cause harm.”

Rei paused just as he was about to slice the carrot again and nodded seriously, “I understand.”

Nemuri smirked while putting the carrot top down, “Still, keep this up and we'll make an amazing chef out of you in no time! You won't even need any tools! Imagine being able to prepare and cook an entire meal without it ever being touched by human hands. This is going to be so much fun!”

Rei agreed and the two got back to preparing the ingredients and then cooking their dinner together. Nemuri instructed Rei on different parts so he could help out, but still did the majority of the cooking herself.

As they moved to the dining table to partake of their meal, Rei was still floating, his feet not having touched solid ground in hours now. As he settled into his seat, Nemuri had a sudden idea and smirked playfully, a little of her true personality showing, “You know, I think I know just the person to introduce you to to help you understand more about flying.”

Rei looked up curiously, “Really? I like flying.”

Nemuri's wicked smile grew, “Yup. I'll see if they're interested, tomorrow.”

Rei bounded happily in his seat at the idea of meeting someone new. Nemuri's wicked smile transitioned into a soft one at the sight. In some ways Rei could be incredibly mature, in others he was like a little child. She blamed it on how he'd grown up. Her plan to introduce him to a new potential friend was something Nezu would definitely approve of. Rei needed to be socialized with people his age, badly. The poor kid had no idea how to interact with or act around his peers. Hopefully, a new friend would help him with that issue.

-----Line Break-----

Rei sat on the floor of an empty classroom with his eyes scrunched closed as he concentrated on trying to keep focused on building an imaginary wall to block out the feelings he was getting from the students in the nearby cafeteria. Today, Aizawa had decided to work on building up Rei's resistance to other peoples thoughts and feelings for a short time. He chose lunch time so as many people as possible would be within Rei's limited range.

He also had his thumb hovering over the button that would instantly disable Rei's Quirk and was ready to use his own Quirk on top of that. Should Rei show any signs of pain or possibly lashing out, he would activate both without a moments hesitation and shut Rei's Quirk down as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Fortunately, with Rei's limited range and the sheer size of the cafeteria, he wasn't reading the whole school at once. It did seem to stress Rei out a little bit, but he hadn't shown any real signs of being overwhelmed or in any sort of pain. Maybe a little discomfort, but it was hard to tell from the outside. Either way, Rei seemed to be handling it well and that was a good sign for the future. This would become a part of their daily training from then on to help him acclimate to having so many minds nearby. It was especially needed if Rei was to ever move beyond using just one percent of his Quirk.

After all, at just five percent of his Quirk he would be able to at least sense, if not read, every mind within a thirteen hundred foot radius and lift over two tons with his telekinesis. Aizawa's goal was to get Rei to the point where he could perfectly control himself with twenty percent of his Quirk active at all times before the next school year. In other words, about a mile of range on his Telepathy and five tons of weight on his Telekinesis.

Then, over the next three years, he would work with Rei to unlock the remainder of his Quirk using th enext three years of schooling. He hoped that Rei's work now to build mental defenses would allow for him to continuously be prepared to handle more and more of his power.

Aizawa would never, ever, admit it out loud, but he was looking forward to seeing what Rei would become capable of when their training was finished. Unlike every student he'd had the 'pleasure' of teaching thus far, Rei had no preconceived notions. Rei was a blank slate and it allowed him to teach Rei properly from the beginning. If he could do this for every student, he would be a much happier man.

If every student was like Rei, he'd have far fewer nightmares about them dying pointlessly. He took a deep breath and moved his mind back to the present to focus on Rei. He would make sure Rei was fully prepared to be a true hero over the next four years. This he swore to himself.

-----Line Break-----

AN

And there we go, a little over 4k words, but released a lot sooner than my last few chapters have been eh? Anyway, a little more work on bringing Rei out and getting him to improve and become more human as well as introducing more of the MHA cast.

By the way, if anyone familiar with MHA can't guess who his flight instructor is, shame on you. I didn't make it super obvious, but it SHOULD BE super obvious! As for Aizawa at the end, while I don't think he would show it, I do think he would secretly be happy to have someone like Rei to train. A kid with a strong AND versatile Quirk with no preconceived notions ripe for proper training? Sounds like Aizawa's version of nirvana in teaching.

As for Rei's power. His full range at 100% (WITHOUT training thus far) is 5.15 miles and 25 tons. With training to push his limits he could go much further and lift much more weight. Keep in mind I'm basing his powers on a NON-phoenix Jean Grey. Even without the power of the Phoenix, Jean is an Omega level mutant. Some of the things Jean has done without the Phoenix include molecular manipulation and holding up entire buildings. As a comparison, a 5 story building could easily weight ten of thousands of tons to hundreds of thousands of tons, depending on square footage and material composition. Even at the lower end, Rei's max power is just a small percent of what Jean can accomplish after years of training with the X-Men.

Anyway, let me know what you think!