Chapter 2: I-Island

Izuku

This is the most unreal thing ever, I thought. I was in a private jet, owned by THE David Shield himself, on my way to the greatest technological paradise ever created in the history of mankind. I-Island, said to have been the brainchild of every hero company in the world, created for the sole purpose of Quirk research. Over a thousand scientists and their families inhabit the island, each of them a leading member in their own respective field.

Across me sat All Might, looking as gallant and mighty as ever.

"How's the view, young Midoriya? Ever been on a plane before?"

"It's amazing, sir. It's my first time flying anywhere. How did you ever get an VIP invitation to I-Island, let alone two tickets?"

He gave a good natured chuckle. "Sometimes it pays to be the number one hero in the business. Besides, I haven't seen David myself in a long time, so it was about time for a visit anyways. I just thought a young man like you would appreciate a chance to go to I-Island. Take it as my way of expressing gratitude for what you did."

"Oh, it was nothing, sir. Anyone would've done what I did."

"Don't sell yourself short, my child. It takes a brave soul to be able to stand up to someone who's threatening your life."

"T-Thank you, sir."

"I must say, whoever trained you did an excellent job. They should be proud of what you've become. Which hero academy did you say you were attending?"

"S-sir?" I was confused. Did All Might think I was a student in a hero academy?

"I'm planning on attending UA in the fall."

All Might froze.

"How old did you say you were, young Midoriya?"

"Fourteen."

His mouth gaped wide open. He scanned me up and down quickly, as if in disbelief.

"I apologize, young man, I thought you were someone in your last year of hero academy from how you carried yourself before. You look like… well. Forgive my assumptions." All Might sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"It's alright, I often get mistaken for being older than I am. It's not often you find a six feet tall teenager in Japan. It's hard to find clothing that fits your size." I joked.

All Might nodded his head seriously in agreement. He made to say something, but stiffened. He coughed awkwardly into his hands, and said, "I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, young Midoriya, but I feel I must excuse myself for the restroom. Please, enjoy the rest of your flight. We should be arriving soon."

Having said that, All Might dashed off in a hurry. It might have been a trick of the light, but I could have sworn that he was steaming.

Huh, I guess even top heroes have to answer the call of nature. Really humbles you, now that I think about it.

"Attention passengers, we will begin our descent in about ten minutes. We will arrive at I-Island at two PM eastern time, and the temperature outside is 26 degrees Celsius. Thank you for flying with us, and we wish you an enjoyable stay."

Perfect.

Green

Island was like nothing I expected but also everything I expected. Walking past immigration, I was treated to the sight of a large open plaza. Large, green gardens littered the sides of the plaza, and down the middle was two, large red gates. Multiple paths branched off to the sides, leading further into the city. Anywhere as far as the eye could see was large, glass-paned skyscrapers. Signs and video advertisements littered the surface of these buildings, bringing life and color to the city. People walking down the streets were dressed in pristine lab coats, looking like the stereotypical scientists they were.

"Welcome to I-Island!" A brunette in a white lab coat walked towards me and All Might. Her hand was up in a wave, and she wore a polite smile on her face. Upon seeing the two of us, she paused in shock. Her face contorted in surprise and glee, and she shouted,

"M-Midoriya Izuku?"

Eh? Why was she calling my name? Her outburst garnered the attention of nearby scientists, who all began muttering amongst themselves excitedly, "Midoriya Izuku? That Midoriya?"

Someone in the crowd shouted, "It's really him!" which triggered everyone to rush over to me.

"Wh-what the heck is going on?" Everything was a confusing jumble. People wanted to shake my hands, to take pictures with me, ask for my autograph. One bold woman even propositioned me to be her boyfriend. I was nonplussed at the attention I was receiving. This sort of reception seemed like it should be reserved for someone like All Might, who was left, ignored, to the side. He seemed to be as bewildered as I was, his mouth hanging wide.

One young boy, who I had just given my autograph to, turned and saw All Might standing there awkwardly. He maneuvered himself out of the crowd and looked at the Number One Hero. Seeming to struggle internally for a little bit, the boy eventually pulled out his notebook and a pen, and offered them to All Might, "Here, you can sign them if you want." His eyes were full of pity and compassion.

All Might, with shaky hands, reached down and gave the boy his autograph. Having done a good deed for the day, the young boy patted All Might's knee in compassion, then ran off with his two prizes.

Eventually, the crowd became too much to handle, and so All Might and I made a mad dash out of there, stopping only when we could no longer hear the crown behind us.

"Young Midoriya, you continue to baffle my every expectation. I've got to say, ever since I became a top hero, I've never had that kind of thing happen before."

"That seemed like a disproportionate reception for someone like me." I agreed.

"Indeed," All Might affixed me with a curious stare, "who exactly are you, Izuku Midoriya?"

"Me? I'm a nobody." That didn't sound suspicious at ALL. Way to go, Izuku.

"Hmm." All Might didn't look convinced, but he let it go, thankfully. I didn't know what I would have said if he decided to press further.

I WAS a nobody. Wasn't I?

Boing. Boing. Boing.

The sound of a spring suddenly garnered our attention.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound, and witnessed a blonde woman riding a red pogo stick, bouncing towards our direction. Blonde tresses fell over a red cardigan top, and verdant eyes peeked over stylish round glasses.

"Uncle Might!" She called in exuberance.

Uncle Might? All Might had a nephew?

"Melissa!" All Might seemed equally as delighted to see her. She pounced off her pogo stick and leapt into his embrace, giggling like a child.

"Long time no see, Melissa! I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Hehe, I'm seventeen now, Uncle Might! Aren't I a little bit heavier?"

"Never, my dear! You're still the same darling child I used to carry in my arms!"

They laughed, and All Might set her down gently.

"Where's Dave, that old rascal?" All Might boomed.

"Papa's in his lab, waiting for you. He couldn't come get you himself, so he sent me instead. It looks like he was finishing the last stage of some research he began years ago. You're just in time to see it."

"I see. What was the research about?"

"Confidential. He wouldn't even tell me."

"That damned Dave, keeping things from his daughter like that. I'll be sure to give him a talking to for you."

"That's right! You tell him, Uncle!" Melissa pouted in faux anger.

They finally seemed to remember the presence of a third person, and turned their attention to me. All Might grinning apologetically. I had been following the exchange in fascination, and seeing that their reunion seemed to be mostly over, I held out my hand in greeting to the blonde," Hey there, I'm Midoriya Izuku. You can call me Izuku, if you like."

She grabbed my hands and shook it. Her hands were small and dainty, easily engulfed by my hands in comparison. "Melissa Shield, call me Melissa or Mel. It's nice to be able to put a face to the name, Izuku."

A face to the name?

"You've heard of me, then?"

"I think there's not a single soul on this island who hasn't."

All Might cut into the conversation at this point.

"My dear Melissa, I am curious about that. The people on this island seemed unusually receptive to young Midoriya here. I hadn't realized that word of his deeds had spread this far this quickly."

Melissa blinked in confusion.

"His deeds? You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" All Might and I echoed in confusion.

Melissa giggled.

"Figures you would bring the one person every scientist on the island wants to meet here entirely by accident, Uncle Might. Did you really not know Izuku here's moniker?"

"His moniker?"

"Quirk-less wonder," She smiled, and glanced at me from the corner of her eyes, "isn't that right?"

I gave a bashful smile to All Might.

Green

"Young Midoriya, allow me introduce you to my best friend, David Sh–"

"I know who he is!" I couldn't help but burst out. All Might and the Professor both seemed taken aback at my outburst. We were standing in one of the research towers located in central I-Island.

"Professor David Shield! A top scientist in Quirk research who received a Nobel Quirk Prize! All Might's partner in America! He's designed your costumes, all the way from Young Age to Golden Age! I never thought I'd be able to meet him in person!" It was hard to keep the fanboy out of my voice

The Professor, a gentle man in his early 40s, with a head full of brown hair and a brown goatee, simply laughed in good humor, "Well, it doesn't seem like I need to introduce myself. It's nice to meet you too, Izuku Midoriya."

All Might watched the exchange with his patron grin, but suddenly gave two short coughs. He covered his mouth with his hands, and muttered a quick, "Excuse me!" but the action was noticed by everyone in the room. David Shield looked concerned for a moment, but he quickly schooled his features.

"I haven't seen All Might in a long time. Why don't you guys let us catch up a little? Melissa, how about you show Midoriya here what you've been working on lately?"

The blonde, bubbly girl smiled, "I'd be honored to. Follow me, Izuku."

I gave a short bow to Professor Shield and All Might, then turned around to follow Melissa.

As the mechanical doors closed behind me, I heard the Professor say to his assistant, "Sam, you leave us too. Take a break."

Green

All Might

As soon as the door closed, I relaxed my tense body. Hacking coughs tore through my lungs as I immediately relapsed into my normal form.

Dave was immediately by my side, "Toshi, are you alright?"

I waved him off dismissively. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just approaching my limit for the day, is all."

He watched me worriedly, "Are you sure you'll be alright to attend the party tonight? I can tell them you couldn't make it, you don't have to push yourself–"

"It's fine, Dave. I promised you I would make a speech, didn't I? Besides, I just need to rest a little bit, and my muscle form will be good to go for tonight. I promise."

Dave seemed a little unconvinced, but he let it go with a sigh. "You're as headstrong as ever, Toshi."

I laughed. "Wouldn't be me if I wasn't."

He and I both smiled fondly, reminiscing on past memories.

"By the way, how did you come across the 'Quirk-less Wonder'?" Dave questioned.

I sighed, "Completely by accident. I was hoping you could tell me more, actually. I've been so confused since stepping on this island."

Dave gave a slight smile, "Yes, I saw what happened at the entrance at I-Island."

I turned to him, incredulously, " You saw that? How?"

He shrugged, " There's not much that goes on in I-Island I don't see."

He turned around and spoke to thin air, "Pull up the medical files on Subject XR093T, please."

"At once, sir." Came the mechanical reply.

The room dimmed, and a holographic display popped up in the middle of the room. Dave approached it and read off the file, "We first discovered his case about a decade ago. The boy suddenly passed out, freaked out his mother. She sent him to the hospital to get a check-up, which was how we discovered the existence of a second heart in his chest cavity."

I remained silent, and merely listened. A second heart was unusual, but there were stranger quirks out there.

Dave continued, "Over the next few weeks the doctors monitored him, only to discover something strange. The quirk metagene was inactive within the boy, meaning that his second heart was not a result of a quirk, but something else. Obviously, this raised questions about the nature of Quirks. We had always assumed that quirks were simply the next evolutionary step for humans, but Izuku is living proof that this isn't the case."

I nodded, following along.

"Needless to say, we kept a close eye on him over the next few years. This is what we found." Dave pulled out a holographic file, gesturing for me to come closer.

"A secondary heart, to pump more blood in his systems. A third lung, seen in this chart here. A second pituitary gland, to increase his growth rate to superhuman levels. His ribcage has fused together into a solid-mass of interlaced bone plates. His skeleto-musular strength is at twenty-times the norm compared to the average human. His blood was measured to carry more than three times the amount of oxygen in a normal human blood cell. Incredibly sensitive ears and eyes. We've tested him to be able to clearly see up to five kilometers in the dark. He has a second stomach that neutralizes poison. A second kidney, too. His nose and tongue have a similar fidelity to a canine's, allowing him to identify extremely subtle odors and track someone by smell alone. Small glands located in his mouth produce acid. We've also identified a second epidermis layer underneath his skin, which darkens upon UV stimuli. His sinews are naturally reinforced with an unknown organic metal that provide an addition source of defense for the body and give him further enhanced strength. To top it off, his natural recoverability is off the charts."

I was beginning to grow dizzy with the amount of information thrown at me.

Dave looked at me with a side eye, looking extremely serious, "In conclusion, superhuman durability, strength, senses, and regeneration. He is highly resistant to all forms of poison, as well as radiation. He has two hearts, to pump blood through his systems at a higher rate. The kicker? Still no sign of the Quirk metagene."

My mouth gaped open, "That's… impossible,"

Dave shook his head, "It's true. There are still plenty of other organs and functions we haven't been able to determine yet."

He looked at the holographic file floating in front of him.

"It's almost as if nature intended for him to become a weapon."

AN: There you go. Second chapter done. R&R.