Chapter 13: Alters
"Young Midoriya," Allmight asked again. "How? You said you were quirkless!"
Izuku started to panic.
Allmight! He's early! He wasn't supposed to be here! He saw! How was he supposed to explain this?!
"Brat, give me control," William demanded.
Izuku calmed at his tone and immediately handed over control. William was an expert in situations like these. William could handle this.
Allmight stared at the young man. He felt disappointed in him. He never thought he'd lie to him like this. He watched him as he seemed to panic at his presence, and then, once again his demeanor changed. This time, the change made him wary.
"Allmight," the 'teen' said. "You're early."
"I am," the pro agreed. "Now, are you going to explain?"
William closed his eyes, and breathed out. To both his and Allmight's surprise, he changed forms again...,but not in the way William meant to.
William looked at down and his breath hitched. Scars littered his arms. He clenched his fists as he resisted the urge to check his torso. He knew what he'd find there...
"Young Midoriya," Allmight asked weakly. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah," William said, his voice rough.
"What happened," Allmight asked, and William could tell that he was more concerned than mad now.
William gave a weak, broken chuckle as he looked down at his arms.
"It's a long story," he said roughly.
Allmight looked at the boy in concern. He was slightly taller and more lean. His hair was longer and straight. Instead of the green it was before, there were purple streaks through raven black hair. His eyes were a pale ice blue instead of the pale green of before. He looked older...if only slightly. And the scars. Goodness, the scars. They were awful and they covered his arms. What happened to this young man?!
"I have time," the pro said, his voice rough with his concern.
He felt like he was about to cry.
William looked at the pro and sighed. He could explain away the animatronic form, but this?! This was something else.
"Izuku," he asked through their connection.
"William," the teen asked, terrified.
"It's your choice," he said.
"Wait," Springtrap snapped. "Are we really thinking about telling him?!"
"Well, we could always go the alter route," William said. "But, it might not explain everything."
"Tell him," Izuku said.
"What," Spring snapped.
"Not everything," Izuku said quickly. "But, we need to tell him something!"
William forced down a maniacal smile. He thought he understood where Izuku was going with this. So...how was he going to pull it off?
"Alright, Allmight," he said. "But, not here."
"Why," Allmight asked warily.
"You have your secret," he said with a look. "I have mine."
Allmight winced at the reminder, but he understood.
"Is this dangerous," he asked in remembrance.
William gave him an amused smirk and answered, "Only to me."
Allmight's eyebrows scrunched up as he frowned in concern.
"Come on," the teen said. "We can go to my place. Mom's at work."
"Does she know," Allmight asked worriedly.
"Partly," William admitted.
Allmight let himself relax some. Hopefully he could still trust his chosen successor.
It didn't take long to get to his apartment. William could feel all their anxious worry building in him. He tried to block it out so he could focus. He couldn't mess this up. Izuku had to become a hero!
"Tea," William asked as he moved to the kitchen and took out a teapot.
"Please," Allmight agreed, and William could see he also wanted to stall.
William nodded and went about making the pro tea and fixed coffee for himself. Allmight gave him a curious look and William smirked in reply.
"I'm addicted," William admitted. "You don't want to know how many cups I drink a day."
Allmight snorted and said, "You remind me of Aizawa."
"You're not the first to say that," William said with a snort of his own.
Allmight raised an eyebrow and William said he'd explain later. At that moment, the teapot rang with steam, and the anxious energy charged the air once again. William sighed and fixed Allmight's tea and grabbed his black coffee.
They sat down quietly for a moment, just staring at one another.
William sat down his coffee and said, "I know you have questions. How about we start there?"
Allmight nodded in acceptance.
"You said you were quirkless," he said.
"I was," William said, and Allmight tensed.
"Then how," he asked.
"I can't be completely sure," William started, and Allmight narrowed his eyes in confusion. "We think-"
"We," Allmight asked and William cursed.
Allmight raised an eyebrow in surprise. He's never heard the young man cuss before. Then, he narrowed his eyes again. Why didn't he want to say 'we'?
"Explain," Allmight demanded.
"Okay, William said with a sigh. "I guess it's a good thing I was planning to tell you anyway..."
"Then why were you surprised," Allmight asked in suspicious confusion.
"It's because if you were anyone else, that would have been a bad slip to make," William explained. "I didn't realize I said 'we' until you pointed it out."
Allmight nodded in understanding.
"Now, try to stay calm," William warned the pro.
"Why," the pro asked, immediately on edge.
William gave him a look and Allmight sighed with a nod.
"First off, I'm not Izuku," he said.
"What," Allmight jumped up in anger. "Where is Young Midoriya?! What have you done to him?!"
"Calm. Down," William demanded and the pro glared at him. "I haven't hurt the brat, and I don't plan to either."
"Then, where is he," Allmight demanded.
"I'm going to explain," William said as he crossed his legs and tilted his head back. "Just sit down."
Allmight reluctantly did as he was asked.
"Now, the brat is perfectly fine," William said. "I'd never hurt him."
Allmight gave him a searching look, and then nodded in relief.
"My name is William," William said. "I'm apart of Izuku."
"What," the blonde pro asked confused. "How?! Are you a quirk?!"
"Maybe," William said dismissively with a shrug. "We're not sure how the merge is gonna turn out yet."
"Merge," Allmight squeaked out in concern.
"Yeah," the purple haired man said with a nod, leaning back in the chair. "You see, the brat and I share a soul."
Allmight felt faint. He was so confused.
"How is that possible," he asked.
"Well, we told the brat's mother that I'm one of his split personalities..."
"There's more of you," Allmight asked.
"Yeah, Springtrap is my split personality," William said. "But, I'm his reincarnation...or we believe so. We don't actually have all the memories..."
And, here is where the plan started. They needed Allmight not to think to highly of the reincarnation 'theory'. At least, not yet...
"Good one, Will," Spring said. "That'll make him doubt it."
"So, your not sure," Allmight.
"Hey, don't judge," William said with a reproachful look. "It's not like it's happened to us before! We do know that I'm part of Izuku. Both of us are."
"Now that I think about it, you do sound familiar," Allmight said thoughtfully.
"I should," William said with an offended huff as he tossed his hair back. "We've met before. You just thought I was the brat."
"Was that the mood swings," the pro asked as his eyes widened in understanding.
William smirked and nodded.
"Yep," he confirmed as he popped the p. "The only one you haven't met is Spring because he came recently."
"How," Allmight, worried for the young man. "Alter don't just develop for no reason, right?"
"We were attacked by some kids at school," William explained. "The brat was doing well until one boy used his quirk on him and we went through a mental springlock failure."
"Springlock failure," the pro asked, and he saw Young Mid- William wince again.
"Yeah," the 'teen' said with a sad sigh. "That's how I died."
"What," Allmight asked, voice breaking.
"I built animatronics—robots," William said, and Allmight nodded in understanding. "I designed a suit that could be worn and turn into a free roaming animatronic. The-the springlocks are what made it possible. They're tiny metal pieces that you turned to hold back the metal endoskeleton that allowed the animatronic to move... However, they could come lose under varying conditions and were extremely dangerous. One day, I wore it, and they failed. It was brutal..."
Allmight winced in sympathy. He couldn't even imagine... Not that he wanted to.
"So, how do you have a quirk," Allmight asked to change the subject.
"We think it's because we nearly died," William said with a shrug. "Or, maybe, the mental strain from being springlocked again tricked our mind into think we were dying and we developed it from memory? Who really knows? We only knew it was possible because Eraserhead saw our eyes change while we were practically unconscious."
"You met Aizawa," Allmight asked surprised.
"The brat did," William said with a nod. "He was with Detective Naomasa at the hospital."
"You meet Naomasa too," Allmight asked.
"Once again, the brat did," William said with a snort.
"Sorry," the pro said with an embarrassed chuckle. "I'm so used to you saying you're Young Mid-Izuku... Do you both go by that family name?
"No," William said with a small, hidden, smile. "Only the brat. Spring doesn't have a family name, or a defined age. My family name is Afton, and I'm thirty-three. And, you're taking all this way better than our mother did."
Allmight's eyes widened.
"No wonder you sound older," he muttered, and then he winced. "Did she take it badly?"
"At the moment," William said with an emotionless tone that broke the pro's heart. "Spring and I are parasites."
"I'm so sorry, Young...I mean, William," Allmight said. "Is it okay if I call you that?"
"Yeah, I'm American," William said. "It would be weird if you didn't. And, don't worry about any honorifics for Spring either. You can call him either Springtrap or Spring like me and the brat."
"Why do you keep calling Young Izuku that," Allmight asked.
William shrugged and said, "I just do. He doesn't mind."
And, then, to Allmight's utter fascination, Izuku took control. It was amazing seeing his green hair bleed from the black, his eyes darken slightly to his pale green, and his freckles dot his once blemish free cheeks.
"I think it's because he's a Tsundere," he said. "Uh...hi, Allmight. I'm sorry for...not telling you before. You see, we were afraid no one believe us."
Allmight gave the teen an understanding smile and said, "I understand, Young Izuku. I'm just glad you trust me enough to tell me about it."
Izuku held back a wince. He hated that he couldn't tell Allmight everything yet. Maybe later...
Allmight took a closer look at Izuku, and gaped in surprise. Izuku had changed slightly. He still looked mostly the same, but there were a few small changes. His hair was longer and more manageable—though it was still curly. There were also purple streaks running through it. He also had faint scars on his arms. Allmight's heart ached when he recognized what they were... The springlocks.
"Allmight," Izuku asked worriedly.
"You're arms," Allmight whispered brokenly.
Izuku looked down at his arms and paled.
"Will," Izuku whimpered, and Allmight's heart broke at the sound.
Once again, there was a change. This time, however, he didn't recognize the person in front of him at all. He looked like a warped twin of William. Though, his skin was a sickly pear, his hair was a dark olive with blood red streaks, and he had bunny features.
"Are you Springtrap," Allmight asked.
"No duh, Sherlock," the man growled, and Allmight was taken aback by the unexpected hostility.
"Will Young Izuku be okay," the pro asked.
This time, Allmight could see faint warmth in the cold humanoid's eyes.
"Yeah," Spring said. "He was just surprised. Will's with him though."
"That's good, at least," Allmight said, relieved.
Springtrap smirked.
Allmight fidgeted as the silence stretched. Springtrap seemed unapproachable, and he was completely different than the other two. To be honest, the man seemed like a villain.
"So...are you going to talk, or are we done here," the bunny man growled in annoyance.
"How is Izuku taking all this," the pro asked.
"I just told you," Springtrap snapped in annoyance.
"I'm sorry," the pro apologized placatingly. "I meant with the split personalities and his mother. How's he doing with school? Does his...I'm sorry, I can't think of a better word at the moment, situation affect it? How can I help?"
Springtrap sat back in shock. No wonder Will and the twerp like the pro hero. He's too genuine not to... Not that he'd ever admit he could get used to the man.
"The twerp's fine," Spring said with a snort. "He took to having us around well. Will and him get on like a house on fire. He's doing well in school. Will actually has to give him harder lessons in private or he'll get bored. He's a genius...just like Will. As far as for affecting his life? Well, we have some control on when we switch. But, an ex-friend is suspicious and the brat's mother hasn't accepted us yet... And, to be honest, I'm still new to this situation, so you'd have to ask Will or the twerp about doing anything..."
"I see," Allmight said. "Those are all my questions at the moment. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"You and the twerp's mother are the only people who know about us," Springtrap said. "We don't want anyone else to know yet."
Allmight nodded. He could keep this a secret.
"Okay," the pro said. "But, let Young Izuku and William know they might need to let the principle and at least their homeroom teacher know about you when he gets into UA."
"Will do," Spring said and then he smirked. "When, no if?"
"I trust in all of your abilities," Allmight said as he got up to leave. "Tell William and Young Izuku thank you for all of your hospitality and I hope you all have a great day. Call me if any of you need anything, okay?"
Springtrap's heart warmed slightly as he nodded. He was too speechless to do anything else.
"Goodbye, Springtrap," Allmight said. "I'll see you three tomorrow."
"Spring," Springtrap said, unconsciously.
"I'm sorry," Allmight asked as he turned to look at the humanoid bunny.
"It's Spring," the bunny said with a gentle growl.
Allmight smiled as he watched the man look away from him and said, "Okay. Have a good day, Spring."
"Bye," Spring growled as the pro walked out of the apartment.
