MHA: High voltage

In the facilty training room

Minerva sped onto the entrance of the building with Chimwemwe on her back.

He was now twelve years old and had gotten taller, muscles from all the training had begun to show, the spots on his face were a little visible now like his cheetah aunt but the pattern was different. He was wearing a red shirt, black pants, sandals, and an orange beanie.

The only thing that's different about Minerva now was that her hair was now silky instead of her usual dreads. She was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck, jeans and and sneakers.

"I like fast travel and all, but you don't always have to be dropping me off." Chimwemwe said with his changing voice as he hopped off her back.

"Pft with what money Chicky cause I'm not going to be the one giving it to you. And besides this is to make sure auntie protects you from other bad guys who would try to take you away." She patted his head. Truth be told, the thought scared her a little. After that former mercenary almost killed a year ago mixed with the things Joseph told her he got into didn't settle her nerves.

She knew she was being a little paranoid, but she couldn't help but be.

'So, this is how mom and dad felt.' She thought to herself as she found herself relating to her mother and deceased father.

"Okay I get it." Chimwemwe rolled his eyes. He understood the reason his aunt dropped him off to further places.

"That's right." She patted his head. "By the way, what's this special memo they sent you."

"I don't know but it must be another trip to some place to advertise us or something."

"We'll since it's the month of calamity I guess this would be a good time for those types of stunts." Minerva hummed. "But if they are planning some sort of trip or event it's best you should still attend Chicky whether it's a hero thing or not. You already missed that grand debut so it's best not to push your luck too much with them."

"Yeah, guess you're right." Chimwemwe nodded his head as he didn't want the family to have a worse name. "Well, I'll see you soon aunt."

"Have a nice day, Nephew." She gave a quick kiss on the cheek.

"So gross." He mumbled and tried to hide the smile on his face, making Minerva smile and she dashed off in a burst of wind.

Chimwemwe's Pov

After saying goodbye to my aunt, I entered the building and went to the elevator. The meeting was supposed to be around 3:30pm meaning that I had at least 4 and half hours of training for today.

After reaching the bottom floor I went to the changing room and put on my uniform. After that I began to head over to the gym area to work on my body first before I started practising with my quirk. Ever since I almost got killed by that crazy buffalo man, I asked Aunt Minerva how helped me with the combat stuff and Matilda who gave me workout tips to at least kick up my training.  

I went to the workout room and, but the door opened revealing Vincent coming out of the room with his shirt off sweaty and phone in hand. He was currently (I think), had gotten taller, had gained muscles as shown by his six pack and his wooden arms looked bigger and more sturdy though I'm sure he can change their size but whatever, his brunch horns also grew a bit longer and looked more sturdy.

"Oh, it's just you." He said with a bit of an attitude while looking down at me.

"Nice to see you too." I rolled my eyes. "Why are you taking your shirt off making a thirst trap video in there?" I asked.

"I have been training obviously since 8 in the morning. And it's called hard work Chimwemwe something you don…" 

"Lost interest." I brushed him off and passed him and entered the room.

"Little asshole." He cursed at me and left.

I opened my phone and looked at Matilda's work out plan for two hours.

Warm-Up (15 minutes)

Dynamic Stretching (5 minutes)

Arm Circles (1 minute)

Leg Swings (1 minute per leg)

Torso Twists (1 minute)

High Knees (2 minutes)

Light Jogging (10 minutes)

Treadmill or track at a moderate pace to get the heart rate up and muscles warm.

Running (20 minutes)

Interval Training (20 minutes)

Sprint for 1 minute

Walk or jog for 2 minutes

Repeat 5 times

Weight Training (45 minutes)

Upper Body (20 minutes)

Push-Ups (3 sets of 12 reps)

Dumbbell Bench Press (3 sets of 10 reps)

Bent Over Rows (3 sets of 10 reps)

Shoulder Press (3 sets of 12 reps)

Lower Body (20 minutes)

Squats (3 sets of 15 reps)

Deadlifts (3 sets of 10 reps)

Lunges (3 sets of 12 reps per leg)

Calf Raises (3 sets of 20 reps)

Core (5 minutes)

Plank (3 sets of 1 minute)

Russian Twists (3 sets of 20 twists)

Leg Raises (3 sets of 15 reps)

Acrobatic Training (20 minutes)

Basic Gymnastics Moves (20 minutes)

Forward Rolls (3 sets of 5 reps)

Handstands (Practise against a wall for balance)

Cartwheels (3 sets of 5 reps)

Backward Rolls (3 sets of 5 reps)

Cool-Down (20 minutes)

Static Stretching (10 minutes)

Hamstring Stretch (2 minutes)

Quad Stretch (2 minutes)

Shoulder Stretch (2 minutes)

Triceps Stretch (2 minutes)

Lower Back Stretch (2 minutes)

Foam Rolling (10 minutes)

Back

Legs

Arms

I set a timer to help me keep track, but she told me after some time in the future I should stop counting, as focusing on number limits can really limit a person.

After two hours I completed my work out and was just drinking some water to cool off but I then got a message on my phone and saw Lusungu sent me a message saying that he finally finished his robot and I should meet him in the tinkering room to see it.

I went to the room and saw multiple machine parts scattered all around the place and I found Lusungu there standing on a desk polishing the head of a human-looking robot. It was about 6 feet tall white with smooth matte surfaces, slier scents highlighting. Its head was oval-shaped with a smooth, featureless black faceplate.

Lusungu, now nine, almost ten was starting to change. For instance, he was growing a little too tall and he was developing strong muscles fast. It must have been a byproduct of his quirk but then again, I've seen some unnaturally tall people in this world.

"Yo big man." I called out to make him out of his skin and fall over causing me to chuckle. I guess I was no different than my aunt and grandma.

"Chimzey, that wasn't funny!" He whined as he got back up.

"I didn't sneak up on you. You should really pay more attention to your surroundings, big man." I shook my head amusingly.

"It's not my fault you have quiet footsteps." I heard him mumble.

"So, this is the robot you wanted to show me huh." I looked at it up and down the robot.

"Am yeah Chimwemwe this is X-beta."

"So, what does it do?"

"Well, I initially designed X-beta to be a training buddy for the pillars and I gave it combat programming to help us with our hand to hand and exercise programming to help us with our general physical training for now."

Oh, right they still haven't found an actual trainer yet or a proper permanent one at least. I mean somebody must be teaching Vincet, Danielle and Lusungu the basics in fighting.

"Wait what do you mean' for now'?"

"Yeah X-beta has a lot of room for improvement and so far, this is just a prototype or beta with a remote in hand." He ran over to my side. "Chimwemwe Cacar prepare to be amazed." He said with an excited grin on his face and pressed the bottom.

Its featureless faceplate displayed orange eyes showing that it was activated.

"So, besides this thing, what else are you making here. I mean you have all the spare time now."

Lusungu is now a special case as he graduated primary school some months ago. From what I understood from the whole story, the facility showed how smart and talented he was and thought he was wasting his time in primary school and somehow pulled the strings to get him to write the final exams early and thus letting him graduate early.

Of course, Suiw and I took exams as well recently during our final term in standard six but there was now early graduation for us as we had to go through seven and eight. Fortunately, our school has an accelerated exam which lets you skip standard eight which is just a prep for secondary school. Though one must get 70 percent to pass and enter form one in secondary (first year high school).

"Well, there are some things I started working on and have ideas of but aren't really that many resources around for me to do much." He whined.

"Why don't you enter the I-lsand junior competition?" I asked him.

"Do you think I could win though I mean there might be other kids out there who have made and are making more interesting stuff than a robot." He looked down.

"Well, I don't know about the winning part but from what I know when it comes to these sorts of things it's all about presentation."

"What does it mean?"

"Well, you could shoot a video demonstrating and explaining all the things your invention can do. Mix that in with a staller editing I'm pretty sure you'll catch their attention and besides weren't working on more stuff." I leaned on X-Beta then used my quirk to scan it. I got a blueprint of its structure in my head, from its inner and outer build, its volt and amp reading, electric pathways and weak points. It saw it had most of its major sensors in its head.

"Yeah, I have thought, are sure the video thing would work?"

"Just gave you my input" I shrugged and stopped leaning on the robot.

"But before that come on let's get this spar started!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room and the robot followed behind us.

We got to the sparring room, and I saw Suiw and Daniella sparring. Both were wearing their workout clothes and boxing gloves.

Daniella was now fifteen and had grown taller, she gained a more athletic swimmer body for obvious reasons, her curves were more developed and hair in a ponytail had some minor spectrum colour at the tip.

Suiw how was twelve now had grown a little taller almost my height her long smooth her was cut a little short reaching her lower neck and she was slowly 'ahem' growing.

I watched the two girls exchange blows and so that Suiw was keeping her distance and using quick hit and retreat techniques while Daniella was trying to keep the fight close so that she could use her size advantage.

Though the fight was in Suiw's favour as she was landing more hits on the older girl and avoiding and countering more of her attacks.

Suiw then grabbed Daniella's arm and judo flipped her to the floor and put her on an arm lock. Dainelle was powering her way out of it showing her strength advantage and I saw Suiw's eyes widen in surprise and increase her grip making Daniella go back to the ground.

"Oh, hey guys." Suiw noticed and greeted us as she continued her arm lock.

"Hey/Sup Suiw." Lusungu and I greeted her.

"Okay I give." Daniella tapped out frantically.

"Yes!" Suiw cheered as she got out of the hold and helped Daniella up.

"The lady at the gym really taught you all that." Daniella rotated her previously locked arm. "Hey guys." She greeted us.

"Yo/Hey!"

"You guys do remember this room was for spars which involved our quirks right. If you wanted to practise your MMA the workout room literally has a ring in there." I pointed it out.

"We just wanted a bit more space for our fight. Plus we were going to start using our quirks after this brief fight."

"Wow, is this the thing you've been working on in Lusungu?" Suiw asked as she came over and made a diamond stick and cautiously poked the Beta.

"Yep, I was just about to have Chimwemwe spar with it so I can truly test it out, but we'll wait after you're completely done."

"I really don't mind waiting. Besides, I wanted a little break anyway." Daniella spoke.

"Yeah, I really want to see this thing in action, but Chicky can't he just beat it because of his magnetic powers?" Suiw said excitedly.

"It's straight hands no quirk."

"Wait, how would that work isn't it made of metal so doesn't that seem a bit unfair for him." Daniella commented.

"Don't worry, the main feature of my uncle's quirk allows him to harden his body and I sparred with him, so this isn't really new to me." I reassured her and the X-BETA went over to the centre.

"Test begins." Lusungu pressed the button and his robot got in a boxing stance.

"Well ok..." I didn't finish my sentence as I dodged a heavy punch aimed at my face. 'Oh nice.' I thought amused.

It then quickly got back and followed with quick jabs which I dodged and intercepted. I countered the final one and targeted a weak spot to its abdomen making some steps back. It recovered fast though as it went straight for a left jab which I ducked to dodged but it was a faint and it quickly kicked me hard on the chest knocking some wind out of me and sending me flying back a bit.

I quickly regained my bearings and flipped landing, but the X-BETA came at me quickly and it went for a quick flurry of punches which I barely dodged and blocked but it broke my guard with a strong kick and it went for a strong punch but duck and performed sweeper it's leg making stumble so I followed up by copying aunt and agogo making claw gesture hitting it chin making face upwards.

I jumped and performed a spin kick hitting its shoulder blades a little close to its neck which was another weak point and sending the robot to the ground bending it.

As it got all discombobulated, I moved quickly, jumped, delivered a kneed to the side of its head targeting a major component screwing it up. I dodged the attack then kicked its weak spot again hard, causing my foot to slightly dig in its abdomen and it was sent flying, making it crash into the wall.

"Wait, stop Chimwemwe, you win!" Lusungu yelled frantically as he pressed the button on his remote, but the robot was not responding. "Why isn't it working!?"

It struggled to get up again as it grabbed its abdomen. I smiled teasingly and made a sly come here gesture with my index finger.

 It ran at me and began to try to hit but its attacks weren't coordinated so predicting and dodging them was much easier. So, I stomped on its leg hard, making it kneel and screwing up its leg and it tried to punch me but I grabbed its arm and I smirked viciously.

"I don't like that look on his face." I heard Daniella speak.

I quickly chopped its arm, striking the weak point and cutting off, causing Lusungu to let out a scream of comedic horror and the girls to gasp a little. I wasn't done with it yet, but I kicked causing to it lay flat on its back twitching then I raised my leg high and brought it down about to crush to its chest but its eyes were gone and it displayed some white flags making me stop.

"Wait Chimzey you win alright!" Lusungu ran over and lifted me up.

"The Fuck. Mind letting me down, Lus." I looked down at him.

"Yes, you win, just please stop destroying it." He begged.

"Fine. But seriously put me down before I zap you." I warned him lightly and he put me down.

"Y-You didn't have to go that hard on him!" He ran to his robot's side and frantically began to inspect it.

"Sorry, I got too excited." I stretched a little to ease my muscles.

"So, you're the one who introduced Suiw to that gym right. Is that Matilda lady really teaching you all that?" Daniella asked a little.

"Yeah, but my aunt was the one who really taught me how to throw hands."

"Oh, cool but why?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Self-defence, paranoia and family tradition." I answered simply but then I and the rest got a message on our phone telling us it was time for the meeting.

Upstairs in the lounge room

I laid my head on the table in the lounge room as I waited for the meeting to start. Daniell, Suiw and Lusungu sat on the couch, while Vincent sat on the other couch.

"So, what do you guys think this meeting is about?" Daniella asked.

"Well, if they send it today of all days, that means it has something to do with the Tremor disaster memorial tomorrow." I answered.

"Oh, probably organise a trip to an area to get us to help around the people who were affected by the great tremor disaster."

"I thought a good amount of land was rebuild already?" Suiw inputted.

"Well just because some buildings were rebuilt doesn't mean everything was smooth sailing. A good amount of people lost their homes and hundreds of people died leaving many children orphaned. Just building some structures won't fix all that." Vincent sighed a little frustrated.

"I've watched some programs on TV. Heroes and charity go round distributing foods to major victims of the disasters." Lusungu spoke.

The door then opened a lady around her late thirties. She wore a standard fem businesswoman suit, short black hair, grey eyes, red lipstick, and diamond shaped earrings. 

"Hello pillars." She greeted us.

"Hey Mrs. Dutch." The others greeted her, and I got a little confused.

"So, you must be the infamous Chimwemwe Cacar. I'm Karina Dutch and you can call me the manager for the Pillars. It's very nice to finally meet you." She smiled and stretched out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." I shook her hand.

"Now I won't waste your time so I'll be as brief as I can. So, as you all are probably aware, Monday will be the day of the great Tremor disaster and we've organised a special trip to the city so that you can attend a special collaborative charity event."

"Guess we were spot on." Lusungu hummed.

"Now to inform you a lot of heroes attend these sorts of events, but Shadow Shaman and his agency will be there alongside you all."

"Since there will be a lot of cameras around and a lot of reports will be asking you a lot of questions, we've prepared something which will help you answer them." She gave each of us some small pamphlets. "Guide to help you prepare in answering the questions."

"Next try to be on your best behaviour while you're at it and not stir up unnecessary trouble as it will be bad for your image and try to keep unnecessary comments especially around the cameras.

"Finally remember this is a charity event to boost your public perception so there will be a time for you all to display your quirks for show so be prepared okay."

"Really we're supposed to be training to be heroes, not celebrates." Vincent grumbled as he looked at the pamphlet.

"I understand Vincent but part of being a hero is winning the trust and support of the people. They need to see that you're not just compassionate and approachable." Mrs. Dutch explained.

"It makes sense people need to know that we're not just nothing but flashy quirks but reliable as well." Daniella nodded.

"Yes, though you were purifying the Limbe River and Vincent helped in the regrowing process of forests. Suiw mixed in with the video of Suiw saving people in the. All this helped gathered a good foundation for you guys so don't worry much"

"What  if we get attacked, what should we do?" I asked.

"Chimwemwe got a point Copperbelt is a pretty rough town and if we're going to be distributing stuff there food specially than things are going get pretty messy." Vincent spoke.

"Don't worry like I said there will be heroes there, so you'll be safe." She reassured us but Vincent and I gave each other unsure looks.

"Do we have to wear special outfits for this?" Suiw asked.

"No, just some basic clothes will be given to you five."

"Aw." Suiw cutely pouted a bit and Danielle patted head.

"Alright then that's all I'll meet you all here tomorrow." She waved and left the room.

Later

I was walking outside the room with Suiw looking at my pamphlet.

"So, Chicky, do you really think villains will attack a charity event, especially with a shaman's agency around?" She asked me.

"Hey last trip I was with you guys I ended up getting attacked by some guys and Kuyaka was around that time."

"What really!? But wait, didn't you wonder off during that trip, so you have no one to blame but yourself for that one Mister. She smiled teasingly at me and poked my cheek.

"You got jokes huh." I gave her a deadpanned look and she chuckled.

We got outside and sat on the steps while waiting for our rides to get here. I kept myself occupied by playing a game while Suiw seemed to be in deep thought about something.

"Hey Chicky, can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"Chimwemwe." She glared at me a bit.

"Right, sorry , go ahead."

"Well, you once told me you were going to skip standard eight right. Are you still set on that?"

"Well yeah why do you ask?"

"My dad the other day and he told me it would be best if I skip grade eight and enter secondary school saying that it would be the best move for me." Suiw began explaining.

"But?"

"I don't want to leave my friends behind, especially Praise and Jenny. I mean I know I could just still meet up after school but being in class, break, and lunch without them will feel strange. I don't want to skip a grade, but I don't want to disappoint my dad." She looked down really conflicted with tears in her eyes.

"I really can't give you proper advice about this but when you do skip standard eight, I promise to be there with you till we both get properly settled in okay." I said softly as I put my hand on her head.

"Really" She mumbled, so I smiled softly, and I saw a blush on her face.

"Yeah, I'll be there to make sure that you want get bullied by the older kids, not get caught up in any gangs or start doing drugs or anything so stop crying you little baby." I flicked her nose making her 'eep' a bit in surprise.

"Way to ruin the moment you jerk!" She yelled at me but had a smile on her face as she tried to playfully hit me, and I chuckled as I held her hands back.

A car then came by, and her mom came out of it. I was a little surprised since it was usually her driver who usually dropped her off and picked her up. Mrs. Sosala then came out of the car  dressed in purple dress.

"Hello Chimwemwe, it's been a while, how are you doing?" She greeted me.

"Hey Mrs. Sosala, I'm doing fine." I greeted her.

 On queue a wind got a little stronger around us and Aunt Minerva sped into the entrance looking dead tired.

"Jeez auntie long day?" I asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. I hate Mr. Muthali and his obsession with doing business in Japan." She said tiredly and she turned to the Sosalas. "Hello Sosalas" She waved at them.

"Hey Ms. Cacar." Suiw greeted her back.

"Hello Minerva." Mrs. Sosala greeted her. "Haven't gotten a new car yet I see."

"No, you know how terrible those types of services are in this country." She growled a bit.

"Anyway, I want to tell you something about the fashion show."

"Oh no." Auntie mumbled. "My contract said…"

"No none of that. Remember it was sponsored by Anansesem right?" Mrs. Sosala asked, and auntie nodded.

"Well apparently it was a success. He wanted to host an after party and all the models are required to join and those with children are allowed to bring them so you can bring Chimwemwe if you want to."

"Fine but why did they say we can bring our kids?"

"I really don't know."

'Well, that's not a little suspicious at all.' I thought to myself.

"Oh, a party" Suiw flinched.

"Suiw are you okay." Mrs. Sosala asked her.

"Yeah, mama I'm fine." She said with an obvious fake smile.

"Oh okay. Well, see you soon." She waved goodbye and the Sosalas left.

"I can't believe I have to go through more of this." Aunt mumbled and turned to me. "Well hop on and let's go."

I listened, thus hoping on her back, and she sped off home.