Work Text:
When Fat Gum decided to change careers from being a police officer to a hero, he never imagined that a majority of his fan base would be women and children. He wasn’t unhappy about that, just surprised. He didn’t even realize he would even have fans until a group of high school girls asked him for a photo in the middle of the street.
He remembered asking his former co-workers and friends to help him figure out things like his name and his costume. They had asked him what kind of image he wanted to put forth. Did he want to be more like All Might? Someone who could make the public feel safe just with a smile. Or did he want to be more like Endeavor? Someone who struck fear into the hearts of villains just with a scowl.
Fat Gum wanted both. That was his whole reason for becoming a hero. He wanted to be seen as a strong pillar of hope that wouldn’t break down no matter how many villains came at him. When he said that, he was told that he might be popular among men. Apparently, that was important because one’s fan base is often the deciding factor on the sponsorships they land, the merchandise they sell, and other stuff. They were important for heroes to make a living, after all.
That was how Fat Gum ended up launching things like dolls, keychains, and he even became the face of a toy company that sold animal plushies. Fat was called into a studio to shoot a short advert promoting the newest line of chubby, squishy, bear-themed dolls. Their boxes came with chibi images of Fat on the back explaining all the phrases they said when you hugged them.
“Is this… really my image?” Fat Gum wondered to himself.
He was sitting in the green room, holding a chubby panda plush. Whenever he squeezed it in his palms, a different phrase chimed out of it in this adorable voice. It was still early in his career and it wasn’t like his brand would always be associated with dolls that told strangers, “I love you.” But he couldn’t help feeling self-conscious when a villain saw him and laughed because there was a billboard displaying Fat sinking in a sea of cotton nearby. Who cares what one villain thought? Fat knew who he was.
Fat continued to have a staring contest with the inanimate object in his hands for another minute before getting fed up. He pitched the doll across the room with a frustrated shout and then hid his face with his hands. “What is wrong with me? I shouldn’t be letting one dumb villain get to me. He robs banks! Who’s he to judge?”
“Um… Is this a bad time?”
“Huh?”
The voice was barely audible and incredibly soft. For a moment, Fat thought that the panda had come to life and wanted to exact revenge. But it was far too gentle to bear any anger. Fat glanced up, not noticing anyone in the room with him. Then he turned his gaze over to the door and nearly glazed over the white masked, whited-haired figure peeking in.
“Gunhead?” Fat blinked. “What are you doing here?”
Gunhead crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him, and trotted over to Fat’s side. There wasn’t any room on the couch for another person but Gunhead was fine with standing. “I’d just finished doing a photoshoot next door for a magazine and I heard that you were doing a commercial here so I thought I’d come cheer you on! Plus, I’m a big fan of the toys this company sells!”
Fat Gum wouldn’t call himself and Gunhead friends exactly. They only met a few times while on the field, chasing down villains, which wasn’t exactly an optimal time for making conversation. Fat couldn’t recall if they’d even been in the same room before that day.
“I appreciate that,” said Fat. “But I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
Gunhead shook his head, cartoonish flowers blooming around his head. “It’s fine! Heroes should support one another!”
Fat wasn’t sure whether to be unnerved or in awe. This guy was nothing like how he presented himself in public. Anyone who knew Gunhead had seen him on the cover of martial arts magazines or on late-night TV’s “Top 10 Villain Takedowns.” His image was meant to be brutal, tough, and untouchable. Yet there he was in the green room asking if he could take some of the complimentary candy bars from a gift basket a studio executive sent to Fat.
“Are you… really the Battle Hero: Gunhead?” Fat Gum asked before he could stop himself.
“Last I checked,” Gunhead giggled. He cutely tilted his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just, you’re not how I pictured you to be. It’s not a bad thing! Just… surprising.”
Gunhead didn’t seem offended. Rather, he seemed positively delighted that Fat said anything at all. Even while wearing a mask that hid his expression, his emotions were surprisingly easy to read. “You know, my original hero name wasn’t Battle Hero: Gunhead. Not even my hardcore fans know about it. If there were rumors about my original hero name, they’d dismiss them because they think it sounds like a joke.”
Fat frowned. That sounded inadvertently cruel. “If I may ask, what was your original name?”
“In high school, the name I chose was… Banzai Hero: Battle Boy!”
“Boy?! Not Man, but Boy?!”
“So you see why people don’t believe it,” Gunhead chuckled. He noticed the stuffed panda that had been thrown against the wall. He gleefully picked it up, twirled around once, and then plopped down onto the armchair perpendicular to Fat on the sofa. “It suits my personality. But my teachers were right when they said it wouldn’t suit my image.”
So Gunhead was in a similar boat. His public image and his personality didn’t quite fit together. It was like trying to mash two puzzle pieces from different pictures together. But even though Gunhead wasn’t even a year older than Fat, he had much more experience as a pro hero. That meant he already came to terms with it. At least, that’s what Fat was thinking.
“Are you okay with that?” asked Fat. “With your image not matching your personality, I mean.”
A big red question mark appeared over Gunhead’s head. “Okay with it?”
“I mean, doesn’t it bother you when you do something and someone says you shouldn’t do it because it isn’t who you are?”
Gunhead was even more confused than before. “But if I enjoy doing something or want to do something that isn’t hurting anyone, why should I let someone stop me just because they perceive me differently? I mean, yeah, it bothers me but, in the end, it’s my own opinion that’s the most relevant to my decisions. I know who I am. They don’t.”
He said it like it was common sense. In a way, it was. Fat Gum knew this inherently but he needed to hear it from someone else. He needed someone to tell him that he wasn’t wrong for wanting to both. To put a villain in their place while making kids smile with stuffed animals that have cutesy phrases. Even so, to be immune to other people’s judgment couldn’t happen overnight.
“Don’t you wish you could be seen for who you really are sometimes though?” Fat asked.
“All the time,” said Gunhead without hesitation. “If I was more approachable, then I could run a Gunhead martial arts class the way I want and teach lots of people how to defend themselves!” He emphasized his words by flourishing his arms wide, as if to show how many people he wanted to take under his tutelage. “But most people are too scared to ask to sit in on my class because I come off as intimidating.”
“I see,” Fat sighed. “So even you have—”
“But you know, that changes over time.”
“Huh?”
“The more interviews you do, the more people see you in action, the more you put yourself out there…” He spoke wistfully, almost as if he was reminishing on an old but peaceful memory. “The more you do all those things, the more people will get it. The more people will see you. In my case, they saw me for who I am beyond the tabloids and gossip blogs. They saw someone kind. Someone who wanted to help. More people will see you for you, Fat Gum. Even if they don’t see it now. They’ll see you.”
Fat Gum didn’t know what to say. He just knew that tears were beginning to roll down his face no matter how much he tried to hold them back. “Damn it. You’re not that much older than me. But the difference in our experience really shows, huh.”
“Well, you’ll get there too,” Gunhead chuckled, returning his bubbly self. “Anyway, it’s about time for you to shoot that commercial right?” He stood up, holding the doll out for Fat. “Do your best out there! I’ll be cheering you on!”
“Yeah! Thanks… Gunhead!”
“Hehe, of course!”
Immediately after saying that, the director came in to tell Fat that they were ready for him on set. He had a renewed confidence as Gunhead gave him a double thumbs-up and he headed to the soundstage to do his job. He was ready to put on a silly bear costume, jump into a ballpit, or something like that. But when he made it to the set, he found himself stepping onto fake grass and seeing a table decorated with butter cookies and tea cups and white lace.
There were a lot of kids seated around the table who gasped when they saw Fat. They clambered around him, hugging his pudgy body while asking him an avalanche of questions. Their little hands tickled and he couldn’t help laughing uproariously. Some adults rushed in from the sidelines, trying to tell them to stop. So Fat assumed they were the parents.
“It’s okay,” laughed Fat Gum. His mind briefly trailed back to that villain that teased him for his image. He found that it didn’t sting so bad when he was seeing the smiles of these kids. They were all holding a doll that the company no doubt gave them and they were so happy to have Fat Gum’s face on the tags. “Have some candy!” Fat Gum stuffed his hands into his pockets, handing out tootsie rolles, gumdrops, lollipops, and a lot more for the kids. He always carried snacks on him in case he was peckish on patrol but he liked sharing them with his fans too.
“Yay!”
“I have plenty for everyone! Take some!”
After shooting the Alice in Wonderland themed commercial in which Fat played the Mad Hatter, the kids got the boxes of their complimentary plushies signed by the hero himself. Their parents thanked him for looking after the children and the workers thanked him for all the hard work. He returned their gratitude with a deep bow and some more candy.
When Fat left the studio lot, he saw that Gunhead was waiting for him. He wanted to congratulate Fat on finishing the shoot so fast. He also wanted to talk some more with his new friend. Although he preferred it if their conversation topics were lighter than they were in the green room.
“Hey, you’ve had interns before, right?” Fat asked.
“Yeah,” Gunhead nodded. “Why do you ask?”
“I saw this kid at UA’s sports festival last year who reminded me a bit of me,” explained Fat. “He’s lacking in a lot of self-confidence but he’s got a good Quirk that I think I can help him nurture. Do you think… I’d make a good mentor for someone?”
“Fat, it wouldn’t surprise me if the first intern you took ended up becoming a top five hero! You'd be a great mentor!”
"Heh, thanks, Gunhead."