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Honestly, Rody hadn't been supposed to be anywhere near the center of action. But he had volunteered to bring Izuku some equipment he needed, and so he had ended up right in the middle of the danger.
And, as their rotten luck would have it, Rody was just about to leave when a dart got through their cover, hitting him right in the arm.
Rody's reaction time was fast — almost as fast as a professional hero's, even — but with these darts, that didn't matter. Even as he discarded the vial, they could already tell that he would be impacted.
Izuku worried terribly. Most of the darts contained the quirk-erasure serum. So far, it's been temporary, but what if this time, it was permanent? Losing Pino would be such a hard hit for Rody, and Izuku would miss her terribly as well...
But Pino was still there. She was clucking nervously as she floated circles around Rody, clearly just as worried about him as Izuku was.
Was the serum... past its best-use-by date? Did they make a mistake while synthesizing it? Or was it something else, entirely? Something... even worse than a quirk-erasure serum?
Pino slowed down a bit, before her wings locked in fully. Rody just barely managed to catch her into his cupped hands. Izuku came closer too, hands already rummaging through his pockets in search of something — anything — that could help her. But his hero kit did not include a first aid kit for birds (an oversight he would be fixing as soon as possible) and, in the end, all they could do was watch.
Watch, as Pino convulsed, foaming lightly at the beak, her feathers ruffling-
And then bulging out. Into very impressive, even if anatomically unlikely, muscles. Her wings resembled All Might in his prime, now, her tummy had a visible six pack, and even her tiny legs had some impressive calves, despite the fact that there were literally no muscles existing there.
Izuku exchanged a baffled look with Rody, who didn't seem to have any more idea as to what was happening.
"I think that's... trigger?" Izuku said, uncertain. The effects certainly resembled what he would expect to happen under trigger, but... Pino didn't seem aggressive at all. She happily checked out her new form, pushing her beak through the feathers in order to make them lay more neatly. She seemed exactly the same as always... Just way buffier.
"I... Don't know what to think about this." Rody slowly said. Izuku agreed with that sentiment.
Pino suddenly snapped to attention, her gaze focused on the direction where the dart came from. She snapped her wings, throwing herself into the air with a small shockwave following. Neither Izuku nor Rody could even think about stopping her.
She disappeared quickly and, only moments later, there was a very loud yowl coming from some distance. About where the potential shooter would have been located, if Izuku were to guess.
When Pino returned to them, moments later, there were traces of blood on her talons and beak, and a very satisfied glint in her eyes. Izuku did have something to help with that, wiping her down with a wet tissue.
"I suppose they deserved that," Rody said, sounding completely unsympathetic to the person who had just been on the wrong end of Pino's newly acquired muscles.
Izuku did not disagree.
It wasn't long before Pino deflated — in a move eerily similar to when All Might moved from buff to skeleton form — and was exactly as much of a regular bird as before.
"Let's never think about this, please."
"Agreed."