MHA Paragon

Fortunately for Kenji, it turned out that getting Alpha Weapon was standard procedure for every Pro Hero. According to Uraraka, with the new influx of Dread Beast materials, Alpha Weapons were being mass-produced at a furious rate. As she explained, Kenji couldn't help but remember their talk about the Council trying to outfit an entire army. 

But Kenji managed to push those thoughts aside as the elevator opened, letting them out onto a floor that Toga had dubbed the Smithy. Stepping onto the grated floor, Kenji was thankful he couldn't feel any more as he was confident he would have been sweating within a few minutes. 

The Smithy was, in fact, a massive factory that seemed both high-tech and industrial. In some places, Kenji saw entire tons of liquid metal being cast into molds, while in others, he watched as bleached bones, some larger than Kenji's body, were carried by a conveyor belt into a massive machine equipped with mallets that smashed the bones into fine dust. The dust was then dumped into a vat filled with some solution that was repeatedly shocked with arcs of lightning from an array of four Tesla coils. 

The liquid was then extruded out of the body in a gel-like state, but even from a distance, Kenji could make out the countless purple flecks shining within the otherwise clear gel, 'Alpha particles.' 

Kenji felt his hunger stir, which made his prisoners awaken from their slumber and strain against their bonds. With little difficulty, Kenji managed to suppress their hunger and his as he was still full after devouring the Thornback Behemoth. 

Instead, Kenji focused on the giant wall of reinforced glass behind which all the machines were barricaded. Clearly, they were off-limits to anyone without the proper clearance, but the wall served as more than just a barrier. Built into the wall were a series of equally armored kiosks, each occupied by a long line of heroes waiting to be serviced.

"Hmm," Kenji grumbled, staring at the long line, not looking forward to waiting the few hours standing in it. 

"Don't worry, that's for general commissions, all services free of charge, but it takes forever, and you can't decide who ends up making or working on your Weapon," Toga explained as she grabbed Kenji's arm and pulled him over to the side towards another kiosk sat in front of a service elevator which in comparison didn't have any line in front of it and mainly seemed an afterthought compared to everything else in the Smithy, "Luck for you I can set you up with my Private Smith, cost an arm and a leg but it worth it by far." 

Kenji let himself be dragged along by Toga, with Uraraka trailing close behind. 

"Hi, Lucy, is Mei in today?" Toga asked the lady behind the desk, who smiled, "Hello, Monarch. Yes, Ms. Hatsume is in today. What's the reason for your visit?" 

Kenji's ear perked up.

Toga grinned before pointing at Kenji, "My boyfriend needs an alpha weapon, and he only deserves the best." 

Lucy blinked, "B-boyfriend." 

Toga nodded enthusiastically before grabbing Kenji's arm and hugging it to her chest, "Yep, we've been apart for some time, but we started dating before the rifts appeared."

"I-I see," Lucy stammered out a reply as she glanced at Kenji dubiously, which he didn't blame her for. With the cloak hiding all his features, Kenji looked more like a phantom than an actual human, "W-well, then, that should be a problem; I'll just check in with Ms. Hatsume to see if she's free." 

One brief call later, Uraraka, Kenji, and Toga were on their way up. 

Toga skipped out of the elevator as the doors opened, and she called out in a sing-song voice, "Oh Mei, where are you?" 

"Stop singing in my workshop," A familiar voice shouted back, and Kenji watched from behind what looked like a giant lathe Mai stepped into view, her face covered in soot and grease, "You better not be here to tell me that you broke your Regalia." 

"That only happened once against a Paragon," Toga replied as she stopped in front of Mei before wrapping the inventor up in a hug, "What's wrong? You seemed stressed?" 

Mei tensed for a minute before relaxing as she accepted Toga's embrace, "Nothing, I just haven't made any progress on one of my projects. But that's not important now. What can I help you with?" 

Toga stepped back before pointing at Kenji, "He needs an alpha weapon." 

Mei glanced at Kenji, and he felt the space between them ripple as Mei's pupils shrunk into pinpoints. A second later, Kenji felt something probe against his body, trying to break through and see into him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said. 

Mei blinked as her eyes returned to normal, and a frown crossed her face, "You're able to stop my vision?" 

"I guess so, and consider yourself lucky. It's likely that if you'd managed to look inside my body, you would have gone insane." Kenji explained. 

"Oh yeah, why's that," Mei challenged as she cocked her hip out to the side defiantly. 

"Because my body is a pocket dimension between the physical plane and the abyss where I currently house three eldritch monsters," Kenji replied matter of factly but was unable to hide the shit-eating grin in his voice. 

Mei stared at Kenji for a second longer before shrugging as all the hostility vanished from her posture. "Seems like a good enough reason for me; also, have we met before? Your voice sounds familiar, but I don't remember talking to an emo ghost before." 

"We met once back when I had a body, but I wasn't able to stop you from peeking back then," Kenji replied jokingly. 

A light bulb went off behind Mei's eyes as she snapped, "I remember now, genetic lottery!" 

Toga and Uaraka blinked, "Genetic lottery?" 

Mei nodded with a broad grin, "Your boy came to me. What was it half a year ago to get an Alpha Weapon Registered? Then he disappeared off the face of the Earth. What the hell happened to you?" 

"Had my physical body torn into nothingness, then whatever was left got trapped in another dimension until I figured out how to get back," Kenji explained nonchalantly. 

Mei let out an impressed whistle, "Well, I'm glad you made it back, though it sucks you don't have the equipment anymore. I was hoping to get a few rides in myself." 

Kenji's brain short-circuited for a second as Mei so blatantly admitted to wanting to sleep with him, but Toga hacking brought him back to reality, "Mei, did you take a peek at my boyfriend's package?" 

"Boyfriend?" Mei asked, glancing between Toga and Kenji before shrugging, "Well, no sense in denying it, you two were dating then?" 

Toga nodded before a sly grin spread across her face, "Yep, and just so you know, Kenji still has a physical body, and I don't mind sharing." 

Mei's eyebrows rose, and a gleam appeared in her eyes, "Is that so?" 

Kenji glanced at Toga, "Are you pimping me out?" 

Toga leaned up and kissed Kenji on the cheek, "Only because I love you...and because I think it is really hot when you fuck them into oblivion." 

"Let's pause the talk about bumping uglies before I get too hot and bothered to work on whatever you wanted to see me about," Mei interrupted, and Kenji let out a thankful sigh, "Yes, let's."