#happy birthday everyone who still cares about project metis

[kiribakus]

man remember project metis

here is literally everything i have written for the third chapter of Project Metis since i probs won’t get to it for a while

****Chapter Three: they told us we could be whatever wewanted, and we chose puppies***

FILE: TODOROKI SHOUTO

MILITARY RANK:Special Officer

DIVISION: HybridStrike Corps, Musutafu Base, PPDC

ACCESS: Omega Level

AGE: 5

HEIGHT: 176cm

ALTER EGO: “Shouto”

PACK AFFILIATION:Apollo Pack

PACK RANK: Point

STRAIN: Alpha

POINT OF ORIGIN:Endeavor Project

DESCRIPTION:Category Five; dragon-like; long, serpentine body; six eyes, heterochromia;spines and vents down back, spines trailing down to make a heavily spiked tail,note crown of horns and white shoulder spikes; red sheen over black scales

QUIRK: half-cold,half-hot; can expel magma from mouth and propel ice from shoulder spikes; canchange temperature of hide at will

FILE: MIDORIYA IZUKU

MILITARY RANK:Special Officer

DIVISION: HybridStrike Corps, Musutafu Base, PPDC

ACCESS: Omega Level

AGE: 25

HEIGHT: 166cm

ALTER EGO: “Deku”

PACK AFFILIATION:Apollo Pack

PACK RANK: Flank

STRAIN: Alpha

POINT OF ORIGIN:Lycaon Project

DESCRIPTION:Category Three; lion-like; smaller but strong feline build; thick, curlingmane; green sheen over black scales and mane; beaked face, thick hide, dullspikes, massive claws on heavy paws

QUIRK: “one forall”; incredible physical strength

MARCH 17, 2035  8:32 HOURS

LOCATION: LOCCENTMission Control, Musutafu Base, Japan

Urarakahides a yawn behind her clipboard and doesn’t notice the person sneaking upbehind her.

“That’s agood look on you,” Aizawa says, coming to a stop beside her.

Urarakasqueaks and blushes, peeking out from behind her clipboard and glaring atAizawa. “Sensei!” she exclaims. “You shouldn’t sneak up on a lady like that!”

The cornerof Aizawa’s mouth twitches. “How are they?”

Urarakalowers the clipboard and turns to the holographic screens displaying a herd ofthousand-ton monsters running, swatting at each other, leaping, and all inall…playing around. On screen, Mina bites Kirishima’s tail and he yelps.Uraraka smiles. Then, straightening her back, she delivers her report.

“Artemispack seems to be in top-tier condition,” she says. “The test run a couple daysago showed no sign of shifting pack structure—Bakugou is still clearly thepoint of the pack. Ojiro and Shouji aren’t showing signs of discontent as rearguards, and Tokoyami is as usual, submissive to Bakugou. Any worries we hadabout Kirishima vying for Bakugou’s position are null. All our results suggestthat his insubordinate acts help Bakugou blow off steam. He’s acting as theregulator for the pack.”

“Good,”Aizawa says. “I’m still worried he’s a powder keg on the brink of exploding,but…”

But weneed him. Urarakanods. She gets it. “Apollo pack is due for a test run soon, but I don’t haveany worries about shifting pack structure. As a rule, they tend to be steadierthan Artemis pack anyway. That kaiju takedown illustrates just how functionalthey are as a pack. My only concern would be that they rely on Todoroki alittle much, but all his psych analyses come back with negligible worries. He’sa machine when it comes to leading; I’ll never understand how you managed topry him from Todoroki-sensei’s hands.”

“It cameat a high cost,” Aizawa says. “Sometimes I wonder if I have yet to realize allI gave up for him.” He frowns.

“I believeIida briefed you on the results of Alpha Strain’s routine check?” Uraraka says.

Aizawanods. “Yes, and I did look over the test run results briefly when they came out.What I really need to know from you is how the officers themselves are doing.”

Urarakarolls her eyes. “Well, Artemis pack is doing as well as their kaijucounterparts. They’re not…close…like Apollo pack is, but they have anunderstanding. They work together when they’re needed and their ties arestrong. I think Ojiro feels inferior,” she says, frowning. “Tokoyami and Shoujibalance and rely on each other. Kirishima and Bakugou balance and rely on eachother. But Ojiro has no one. I want to look into that.”

“AndApollo pack?”

“Like afamily,” Uraraka says proudly. “Midoriya and Tsuyu might as well be siblings.Mina gets along with everyone, and Kouda is protected and looked after by hispack. Todoroki is respected and loved.” Her smile fades a little. “Midoriyatold me he’s been having those nightmares again. He had one so bad it woke uphis packmates, the morning before the double event.”

“Is it aproblem?” Aizawa asks.

“As aresearcher, it’s not my place to say,” Uraraka says. “It’s Todoroki’sresponsibility to get Midoriya in to a psychiatrist if he thinks the nightmaresare affecting Midoriya adversely. I trust his judgment. He’s logical andclear-headed, and if he thought Midoriya was dragging his pack down, he’d doanything to fix it. But Midoriya performed well during the battle, so it can’tbe affecting him that much. As a researcher, I think it’s okay to let it go.”

“But as afriend…” Aizawa trails off.

Urarakasighs. “As a friend, I don’t like to see him suffer. I worry Todoroki is beingtoo cold, but I’m not in their heads. I don’t feel what they feel. I don’t knowif Midoriya can handle it, even if he thinks he can.”

“Thankyou, Uraraka,” Aizawa says. “For now, I’ll advise the Marshal to withdrawApollo pack from any encounters with return kaiju until we can get Midoriyaanalyzed properly. No special treatment aside from that; if he thinks he canhandle it, I’ll let him try. But I’m not throwing one of my best officers intoa situation where a trauma-induced moment of hesitation could kill him if I canhelp it.”

“Is itbecause he’s a good officer, or because he’s Alpha Strain?” Uraraka asksquietly. Not quietly enough, though, because Aizawa gives her a sharp look.

“If youwant to talk favoritism and human rights with me—”

“No, no,I’m sorry,” Uraraka says. “It just slipped out. I understand even if I don’tlike it.”

“Good,”Aizawa says. “We don’t look it, but we’re skating on thin ice here. The lastthing I need is one of my closest to start doubting our cause.”

“I don’tdoubt us,” Uraraka says. “But they are my friends, too.”

“Then youknow better than any of us why we can’t have anyone too nosy poking their headinto what we do,” Aizawa says.

Urarakanods.

Aizawajerks his head towards the door. “I’m going to check in at R&D. Make sureour officers don’t kill each other, won’t you.” He turns away sharply.

Urarakasighs and collapses into a chair, rubbing her temples. Ah, she had ruined hergood mood. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?

She looksup at the kaiju moving millions of gallons of water like it was nothing as theypounce on each other and roll and snarl, jaws parted in what might as well besmiles. Aizawa-sensei was right that they were soldiers who lived to fight, butthey were also human underneath the mass of scales and claws and teeth and fur.They were human and they needed to be treated as such. Aizawa-sensei couldn’tseparate their human and kaiju selves, couldn’t help but see the whole picture;it was only logical, but also terribly heartless.

She wishesIida were here. Iida always knew how to phrase his concerns logically. He wasalways on the same wavelength as Aizawa-sensei, but Iida had a heart. Hecared for their friends as much as she did. He knew that Aizawa-sensei’s waysweren’t fair and he would find a way to word it so that Aizawa-sensei wouldagree. Uraraka thinks about calling him, just to hear his steady voice and havehim talk her down but no, she had taken this shift to allow him to sleep in foronce. She wouldn’t wake him up even if the sound of his voice, heavy withsleep, brought peace to her mind.

Besides,she loved this part of her job. She loved the kaiju. That’s why she was here andwhy she put up with the ethical dilemmas of their work. And to think UrarakaOchako, a woman fresh out of graduate school, could befriend the groundbreakinghybrids and work alongside the legendary Aizawa-sensei to keep them all safe—

Shefrowns, and then swears softly. Speaking of safe…

She poundsthe com. “LOCCENT to HYCOM, what the hell are you guys doing? They’re going tokill each other! Get on it, officers!”

MARCH 17, 2035  8:15 HOURS

LOCATION: MusutafuTraining Bay, Musutafu Base, Japan

Enrichmentdays, Midoriya thinks, are awesome.

Urarakahad told him why enrichment was an important part of keeping their kaijuhealthy and their mental health stable, but Midoriya couldn’t really fathom allthat science-y mumbo jumbo. All he knew is that his hundred-foot long lungswere heaving and he hadn’t felt this alive in days.

Ojiro’sear frills lift and then lower, a taunt. He’s poised and ready to leap, rear inthe air and spayed out in front of him, a reptilian dog ready to play. Midoriyatenses his own haunches and leaps out and to the side, ready to pounce onOjiro’s unprotected flank. Ojiro tears away from him, long blue tongue hangingout of his mouth as he pants. Midoriya chases him, hind legs bunching as hepicks up speed.

They teararound the group of kaiju in an outer circle, so fast Midoriya can feel thewind whistle past his ears. Ojiro makes for the relative safety of Shouji’stentacles. He’s right—Midoriya won’t run under Shouji’s body because he doesn’thave a death wish. Shouji eyes him with what Midoriya guesses is amusement.Tokoyami, draped across the slope of his back like a black, feathery ridge,ruffles his wings in irritation at the disturbance. Midoriya huffs. He bats atone of Shouji’s tentacles and gets another two slithering out after him.

Yelping,Midoriya jumps away. Shouji makes a sound that is definitely amusement.Tokoyami, decidedly woken from his dozing atop Shouji’s back sits up and glaresat Midoriya for a moment before beginning to clean Shouji’s scales with hisbeak and claws. Shouji makes an appreciative noise and lowers himself into thewater. Ojiro, realizing his protection is about to crush him, scurries out andright into Midoriya’s waiting paws.

Midoriyabody slams him, knocking them into a wrestling match in the water, jaws partedand snarling, the flats of their paws batting at each other. They’re careful toavoid each other’s spines. Ojiro gets to his feet and starts to run again, butMidoriya grabs onto his hind leg and drags him down, pushing him onto his backand holding him down with a heavy paw. Ojiro huffs.

You win.

Thehivemind is alive with emotions and thoughts and impressions from all thehybrids but Midoriya can pick out Ojiro’s voice easily, warm and amused, just alittle disappointed. This is why Midoriya was a flank and he was rear guard,though. It was only a natural result.

Midoriyalets Ojiro get to his feet and bumps shoulders with him affectionately,brushing their hides together from shoulder blade to hip. Midoriya feels aspike of pain and hears Ojiro exhale sharply and he pulls back, alarmed.

Shoulderouchpulled, Ojiro projects and Midoriya canfeel the faint throbbing as if it were his own pain. He sniffs at the sore spoton Ojiro’s shoulder, projecting his own worryconcernwasitme?

Ojiroshakes his head; he had landed funny on his leg when running from under Shouji.Midoriya laps at the sore spot anyway, as if he could take the pain away justfrom cleaning it. Ojiro pushes at Midoriya with his nose, appreciating thesentiment. He pads off to see Bakugou probably, who will look at his injury,snort, and say well, what do you want me to do about it?

Morelikely he’ll point out that it’ll heal when they shift back so Ojiro shouldjust deal with it, but Midoriya doesn’t want to give Bakugou that much credit. Ever.Hey, when one of your own kind nearly shreds you for trying to play fight withhim, it sticks with you.

Hispartner gone, Midoriya turns back to find a new bloodmate to brawl with. Minahas taken to leaping up in the air and swatting at Tokoyami on Shouji’s back,who screeches at her and claws back. Shouji doesn’t seem too perturbed byTokoyami’s distress. Their section of the hivemind is an almost sibling-likesquabble, easily dismissed as not real fighting.

Ojiro andBakugou are together. Kirishima is dodging Tsuyu’s attempts to smack him withher tongue, and underestimating her speed if that yip is anything to go by. Todoroki,predictably, isn’t engaging in the fun and instead sits off to the side, stillmanaging to look elegant with the long column of his neck extended and the sunglinting off the sharpness of his facial features. Kouda sits beside him, theonly kaiju bigger than Todoroki, head on his paws and eyes closed, taking inthe sunlight on his rock-like hide.

Midoriyaapproaches Todoroki, bobbing his head. It’s a causal invitation to play. Koudalooks up, senses Midoriya’s intention, and moves off towards Shouji with apassing good luck offered to Midoriya. Todoroki blinks slowly.

He regardsMidoriya with passing interest, showing no intention of getting up from wherehe’s comfortably splayed in one hundred feet of water.

Midoriyatries again. Runchasejumpcatch? He suggests. Bitepawgrowlplay?

Idon’t, Todorokireplies. You go.

Midoriyawhines. Not pack without you.

Artemisis here, Todorokipoints out. Bother them.

ButMidoriya doesn’t want to bother them. He wants to see Todoroki get up and dosomething, enjoy himself for once. Todoroki’s always so stone-faced andbusiness-minded; he never got a break. This is their break. Theirscheduled time off to play like the puppies at heart they all were.

Midoriyanot-so-delicately swipes a paw through the water and splashes Todoroki in theface.

Todoroki,to his credit, doesn’t react as angrily as he could have. His shoulders tense,but other than that he doesn’t move, dripping with water. His scales glitterand then he’s covered in steam, burning away the salt water. He exhales loudlyonce, expelling salt from his nostrils. He’s not amused.

Midoriya,however, is. He runs in a circle around Todoroki, continuing to splash him whileTodoroki burns away all the water. He paws at and chews on Todoroki’s tailuntil Todoroki shifts and growls at him. He actually gets Todoroki to whip hishead around and shift towards him. Midoriya leaps back, but Todoroki doesn’tfollow. He’s almost got him, though. Midoriya pads back towards him andheadbutts his shoulder affectionately, rubbing against him like a cat.

Todorokigrowls again and Midoriya does it again. He can feel the tension in Todoroki’sbody and his mind, irritated by Midoriya’s pushiness. As always, his mind isimpenetrable, but Midoriya can tell it’s a swirling mess right now. He probablyshouldn’t taunt Todoroki too much—he was much stronger than Midoriya,and bigger, too.

Midoriyaflicks his tail across Todoroki’s nose almost flirtatiously and Todoroki snaps.He gets to his feet faster than Midoriya expected and swipes at him. Midoriya’sfast enough to get away with only a few scales off his hide, but Todoroki canreach far.

The chasedoesn’t last long. Midoriya knows to run hard when he’s irritated Todoroki thismuch, but Todoroki has speed, length, and power and Midoriya’s only purpose inagitating him was to get him up and running anyway. Todoroki swipes Midoriya’slegs out from under him and Midoriya goes down, rolling onto his back.

Todorokiis on him in a second, hovering above Midoriya and prodding at him with one pawwhile Midoriya flattens his ears and growls, his muzzle crinkled into a snarl.Todoroki prods at his cheek and Midoriya hisses, swatting at his paw. Todorokijabs at him again and again, Midoriya on defense but still belly-up,vulnerable.

ThenTodoroki lets out a low, rumbling growl and parts his jaws, making a clickingnoise. His paws are on either side of Midoriya’s shoulders and he dominates thehivemind, pushing against Midoriya’s consciousness and subduing him.

Midoriya’sgrowl peters out and his muzzle flattens. He makes a small, chuffing noise andlowers his paws, allowing Todoroki to nose along his neck, nipping at the softskin he finds there. He’s completely limp under Todoroki’s ministrations andwhen Todoroki nips at his chin, Midoriya dares to lick his chin. Todorokigrowls softly, pleased. He parts his jaws and wraps them around Midoriya’smouth. Midoriya goes still and allows Todoroki to shake him a little and pressa paw over his heart, claws kneading Midoriya’s vulnerable underbelly.

This iscomplete submission.

Todorokireleases him a moment later and steps off him, eyeing Midoriya one last time.The hivemind is grudging fondness from Todoroki and a sense of satisfactionfrom his kaiju specifically at Midoriya’s submission. The rest of Apollo packare pings against Midoriya’s mind, vying for Todoroki’s attention next.Todoroki steps away from Midoriya, but not before the tip of his tail brushesagainst Midoriya’s nose.

Midoriya’sheart sings with so much pleasure, he knows it reaches the rest of hisbloodmates through the hivemind. Mina snorts, but she’s Todoroki’s next target,rolling on her back easily and grabbing at his face to lap at his chin,playfully submitting to her point.

Kirishima,inspired by Midoriya’s display, bumps Bakugou. Unlike Todoroki, though, Bakugoudoesn’t tolerate any kind of playfulness. Her turns on Kirishima in an instant,snarling. Kirishima barks back, pawing at Bakugou, playing with fire. Bakugoucharges him and Kirishima hops back swatting at his face. Bakugou knocks himoff balance immediately. Kirishima falls onto his belly and Bakugou climbs overhim, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck.

The fightgoes from Kirishima’s body immediately and he lets Bakugou give him a few roughshakes, snapping his head back and forth. Midoriya winces in sympathy. It lookslike it hurts, but when Bakugou releases Kirishima, there are no teeth marks inhis neck. Kirishima sinks bonelessly into the water, turning over curling hispaws over his chest, whining.

Bakugouignores him. Kirishima whines louder. Kidding, kidding! The hivemindsays.

Kirishimaplaces a paw against Bakugou’s muzzle and Bakugou’s lips pull away from hisgums with the force of his growl. Don’t touch me.

Aw, Bakugou…Kirishima plays cute harder, thistime wagging his tail.

Bakugousnorts. I hate you, he says.

Kirishimadoesn’t say ‘I adore you’ in so many words, but his love for Bakugou isn’texactly subtle across the hivemind. Even Midoriya can feel the force of it.This time, when Kirishima presses a paw to Bakugou’s muzzle, Bakugou knocks itaside so he can lean down and nip at Kirishima’s chin. Kirishima’s tail goeswild.

Bakugousteps off him and Midoriya huffs at Kirishima. Gross, he says.

Kirishimamight as well grin at him, tongue lolling out of his mouth. He flips onto hisstomach and growls gently at Midoriya. Midoriya growls back, tensing to leap onhim.

Bakugouthrows himself between them, jaws parted as wide as he can spread them, and roars.

Bakugou isnot Midoriya’s point. But he is a dominant member of a pack and Midoriya, alower rank than him, cowers back, tail tucking between his legs and earsfolding back. He shrinks into a ball, unable to run as his muscles lock.

Bakugoudoesn’t have a chance to make a move. Todoroki is at Midoriya’s side and infront of him with an ear-splitting roar of his own.

The twopoints square off, roaring at each other and posturing. The rest of their packsslink away save for Midoriya and Kirishima, frozen with fear and confusion thatinnocent playing had instigated a point-versus-point battle.

Bakugou’sjaw frills extend and shake, brilliant red-orange sunbursts against the purewhite of his scales. He’s intimidatingly large and fierce, but Todoroki is notshaken. He flares his own spines and ear frills, and the vents running down hisback hiss and spit steam. Their heads starts low but slowly rise in tandem witheach other until Todoroki’s height beats Bakugou’s.

Bakugoustrikes first. He swipes at Todoroki’s neck, but it isn’t with the flat of hispaw as he had swatted at Kirishima—this was with claws extended, hoping to tearTodoroki’s throat open. Todoroki bats him away, but then Bakugou is throwing himselfat Todoroki, standing on his hind legs to use both paws to punch at Todoroki’sface. Todoroki mirrors him and they fight like tigers, dueling with their frontpaws and then dropping to all fours so they can try to ram each other withtheir bodies before standing back up again.

Todorokishould be faster than Bakugou, but Bakugou is angrier. He manages to sink hisclaws in the flesh of Todoroki’s hind leg and hold on as Todoroki snarls andtries to throw him off. Bakugou locks his entire body onto that haunch andtears at Todoroki’s leg with his back legs, trying to cripple him, but Todorokidoesn’t let him. The steam that spews from his vents grows hotter, as do hisscales, and in one burst, he forces super-boiled steam into Bakugou’s rightthree eyes and burns the skin off the pads of the paws hooked onto him.

Bakugouhowls in pain and lets him go. When they stand face-to-face again, Bakugou isblind in three eyes and his scales are ashen and flaking off where Todorokiburned him. Todoroki is limping, his back left leg shredded. They circle eachother and Midoriya feels for the first time, the seriousness of this fight.

SPECIALOFFICERS BAKUGOU AND TODOROKI STAND DOWN, IMMEDIATELY, Yaoyorozu shouts over thehivemind, using HYCOM’s controls to amplify the volume of her voice so that itdrowns out the rest of the thoughts and voices of the hivemind. Bakugou,Todoroki, and the rest of the hybrids wince at the loudness. Kouda tries tocover his ears with his paws.

All ofyou are to return to base for a debrief at once, Yaoyorozu commands. You arenot to engage each other on the way to base or I will personally see youturned off from the Hybrid Strike Corps.

Before hecan help himself, Bakugou thinks, Sure you will. There are so manyplaces for a kaiju hybrid to go.

Itwould be my absolute pleasure to turn you off and watch the Jaeger teams tearyou apart,Yaoyorozu says heatedly.

Letthem try, Bakugousays, bearing his teeth.

Bakugou, Mina speaks up before anyone elsecan. That’s enough.

Like Iwanna hear that from you,Bakugou says, but the fight is gone from his mind and his limbs. He andTodoroki limp back to their exit bays, tension still humming across thehivemind. Their packs follow, subdued. The mood of contentment and relaxationfizzles out like steam in open air.

MARCH 17, 2035  9:07 HOURS

LOCATION:Shatterdome, Musutafu Base, Japan