Three Orchids

Chapter 4: Yaoyorozu

"This will work," Bakugo stated looking at the gym setup.

He unzipped his over-sized backpack and pulled out a smaller version of his gauntlet. He handed it to Momo.

"Hatsume made this. It's similar to mine but it would use whatever standard fuel you prefer to make. It won't work as precise, but it's smaller and also a more simple design," He rifled through his backpack and pulled out several papers clipped together. "These are Hatsume's blueprints. I wasn't sure if that would be enough for you to replicate it with your quirk or if you needed to take it apart and see how it works. I had her make it as simple as possible so it would use up less of your reserves."

Momo took the gauntlet and blueprints from Bakugo. The gauntlet was surprising light. She recognized the metal and thought of a better choice of material for lightness and also keeping it cooler with use, but Hatsume or maybe Bakugo probably had their reasons for using this particular metal. She looked through the blueprints. "These prints are pretty detailed and the schematic is simple enough; I don't think I'll need any additional information." Bakugo nodded. He grabbed his gym clothes from his backpack and headed to the boy's locker room.

Momo changed in the girl's locker room. She luckily remembered to bring her specially made exercise bra. The middle section between the cups was very durable and could be stretched very far. Only the very largest items she could make would break the fabric. The gauntlet would not be an issue. She pulled on her gym top, leaving it open.

She walked out into the gym and found Bakugo in an open section with a building-shaped cement edifice about 50 feet high at the end.

Bakugo had his gauntlet on. Momo joined him not sure what to expect. He turned to her looking her in the eyes, "So earlier this week you were using jet packs you created for mobility?" He asked.

Momo nodded and replied, "I wanted to improve my usefulness in rescue situations in large cities. Getting around on the ground isn't too difficult, lots of things I can create, but if I need to get to the top of a building or up to an overpass, I'm pretty limited to what I can make quickly. So I was trying out some options."

Bakugo nodded, "I think the gauntlet would give you more control and more boost than a jet pack. Probably easier to make?" Bakugo asked.

Momo nodded. "Probably. Let me see if I can create one." Momo looked down at her chest. Colorful sparks and bright lights appeared on her skin and then the top of the gauntlet appeared under her collarbone. She grabbed it and concentrated, trying to be sure she was thinking of all the mechanism and pieces inside. Bakugo out of habit, like most the Class A students, turned away from Momo while she created. Too many times Momo had lost clothing creating with her quirk and it could make for an awkward situation. But the undergarment held strong. She really wished she had thought of creating it much sooner than the end of her second year. She held the freshly created gauntlet in her hand. Without realizing it, she had made the colors of the outside of the gauntlet match Bakugo's usual gauntlet instead of just the natural metal one he had brought for her to see and copy. "Oh sorry." Momo apologized, "Didn't really mean to paint it, just used to seeing your gauntlet I guess." Bakugo looked at the gauntlet and shrugged.

"Okay, you'll need fuel," Bakugo stated. He took Momo's gauntlet and twisted the top rim and it came off. This caused the gauntlet to be opened up in two separate pieces revealing its inner workings. "Any idea what you'd want to make?"

"Hmmm, well you create a fluid similar to nitroglycerin? That's made by nitrating glycerol, if I had the chemical break down I could make it. I don't have my encyclopedia...."

"You can use my reserve. Hold on..." Bakugo went diving into his backpack and surfaced with 2 objects that looked like hand grenades. He opened these up and poured an oily-looking, yellow substance into the reservoir of Momo's gauntlet. Momo started to get nervous. She was worried she would blow them both up. She trusted Bakugo would be able to teach her how to use this new equipment adequately. She just hoped he would start small, not have the "go big or go home" mentality he often times had.

"Okay, you're ready," he handed the gauntlet back to Momo. "Let's start at step one, just igniting the gauntlet." Momo exhaled a deep breath. This was going to be fine. Baby steps to start. After over an hour, with Bakugo modeling the steps to Momo with his own, she was able to ignite the gauntlet, to let out a small blast, and then to propel herself off the ground about 10 feet. She was still having issues with the landing, but she wasn't too badly bruised. She stood up and brushed herself off after her most recent attempt. She looked over at the 50 foot cement building.

"You wanna try it huh?" Bakugo asked, a slight smile on his face. Momo nodded. "Just remember, don't pull back on the lever too much. A little goes a long way. Try not to over correct with your body. The more force you use the less forgiving over-correcting is." Momo stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, and took a deep breath. She made a few large strides, leapt, maneuvered the blaster downward, and pulled the lever back. The force jerked her harder than the attempts before but she used the strength of her arms and her core to hold the gauntlet in the right direction. The top of the building was coming fast towards her. She worried she would come up short and hurtle into the cement. "Mid-air blast, Momo!" She heard Bakugo's voice behind her. She pulled the lever, but nothing came out of the blaster port. Had she used up all the fuel? They had refilled it recently, that seemed unlikely. She looked up and saw she was about to slam herself into the cement wall of the building 5 feet short of the top. She suddenly felt herself jerked up by her right upper arm and swept away from the building. She was flying thru the air at immense speed. She felt rushes of air whip past her body. It was absolutely thrilling. She looked over at Bakugo beside her. His face was tense with concentration; he was looking below them and also letting out several mid -air blasts from his gauntlet. The blasts were in different directions and different burst lengths. Momo looked down and then started to feel some trepidation. Bakugo pulled her closer towards him and she dropped her gauntlet and reflexively lurched her arms around his neck and positioned herself behind him. She thought this would give him better maneuverability. She saw what his target was. Several floor mats had been laid out on the far end of the gym and they were quickly approaching it. "Shit..." Bakugo spat under his breath. He was trying to slow them down but also keep them airborne. Landing at this speed on the cement would probably have them both in Recovery Girl's office the rest of the day, if they were outside landing on grass it wouldn't have been an issue. They would crash land but it looked like now they would make it to the mats. Momo let go of Bakugo right before impact and tried to relax and let her body roll as much as possible. They had actually had training on how to survive falls and how to maneuver to lessen bodily harm. She hit the mat with immense force, but was able to roll and didn't believe she hurt herself too badly. She was laying on her back and seeing stars. "Momo?" She looked over and saw Bakugo laying a few feet away on his stomach, his arms propped below him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. What about you?"

"Yeah."

"You guys are crazy!" they both looked up and saw Kirishima standing above them. Aizawa-sensei was running towards them several feet away. "What the heck were you guys doing?!?" Kirishima bellowed offering his hand to Momo.