19/06/2021

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The Emperor's Dragon
Nestling 53

Little Dragon, do you want me to get your homework?

Izuku looked at the text from Ochaco. At least she hadn't asked when he would be back at school because he didn't know. Kurogiri had said that he wouldn't be allowed back until his dad woke up but the misty man admitted that he didn't know when that would be. And Kurogiri had warned him not to let people know where they were. He already knew that. He was nine now but he remembered the raid.

With his dad out of commission he did not want to go through that again!

Yes, please, Izuku replied. Except I don't know when I'll be able to collect it. He added the statement. It was true. He didn't know when he would be able to get it.

I can bring it over, Ochaco replied almost immediately.

Izuku frowned at that. She didn't know where he lived. While they were great friends, Ochaco hadn't come over to his current house and with the kitchen floor the way it was… yeah, that couldn't happen. Sure they could say it was a quirk accident but then he'd probably have to give more of an explanation.

Plus Kurogiri had told him it would be dangerous to go out, that there might be people looking for him.

Maybe he shouldn't have accepted her offer to collect his homework. Izuku looked up from his phone towards the bed his dad was now lying in. It was a hospital bed, and the top was raised. He couldn't really see his dad well though because covering it was a large plastic bubble. Doctor Garaki had explained that it was a way of making sure his dad got enough air to breath, though there was still a tube going into his throat. Izuku didn't like that bit. The sensors stuck all over his dad, and those on his head, he could understand. They were needed to monitor his condition but the tube into his throat… that was just a reminder that nothing was right.

I don't think you can, Izuku replied to his friend. Dad's having to stay in a sterile environment. At least, that's what the Doctor said should be happening.

Izuku, you said your dad was injured, but how injured was he? The response was immediate.

He looked at the message. He could imagine the way Ochaco would look. She'd been concerned, her eyes wide and worried. He was really badly injured. Izuku wrote back. We got in healers but he's not fully recovered yet. It's going to take a long time.

Will you be out of school the entire time?

That was a good question. Izuku didn't know. No one has said anything yet. He replied honestly.

There was a pause before Ochaco replied. I'm so sorry Izuku.

He wasn't entirely sure what she was sorry for but he knew she meant well. It's not your fault. He told her.

It wasn't her fault. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't Kurogiri, or Tomura's, or Gigantomachi's fault. It was All Might's.

It was…

It was that regeneration quirks fault that his dad hadn't healed correctly!

It was an odd thought. He'd never really thought about it before. His Dad relied on Quirks all the time. A lot of his Dad's employees relied on them as well. Kurogiri definitely did. But… Doctor Garaki didn't. Izuku wasn't even sure what the Doctor's quirk was.

Izuku looked down at his phone, but he wasn't really seeing the screen. He'd always been taught that you could rely on quirks but could you? Heroes relied on their quirks. That's why they were Heroes but if he took that logic then it was a quirk that had gotten them into this situation.

If you couldn't rely on quirks… what could you rely on?

Izuku frowned. He wasn't sure.

"Izuku," Kurogiri called him.

"Yes," Izuku replied.

"It's time for a check," the misty man told him.

Izuku nodded, and put his phone away before he rose. He didn't know why he had to stay in this room. The room they'd given him to sleep in was close enough… he could have done this check from there and then he wouldn't have had to see his Dad. He quashed the feeling of guilt that accompanied that thought. At least Gigantomachia was happy to have him here. The large man smiled but didn't move from his father's side. Izuku moved forward.

His dad was lying on the bed. His hands were on the sheet beside him. It made him look almost peaceful but then Izuku saw the tube in his throat, the sensors on his body, the needles going into his arms and neck and the plastic that covered the bed. Then there were the sounds which told him that his dad just wasn't lying there. The pish-hiss of the respirator. The beep, beep of the heart monitor. The whir of something he didn't know and the low level hum of the other instruments.

Izuku didn't like being here.

But he felt guilty for that feeling. He should want to see his dad but at the same time he didn't. Not like this.

He moved forward so that he was standing beside the bed and raised one hand to touch the flexible plastic cover. He didn't really need to do any of that but Garaki and Kurogiri seemed pleased when he did. Then he reached out to sense his dad's quirks.

They were still tightly packed around the centre. Izuku knew they weren't his father. He knew they were just quirks, but like Kurogiri and Garaki, he knew that because they were there, his father was there.

Izuku reached out. He just wanted to feel them, to see if he could feel his dad. He didn't mean to touch them but when his senses got close, one rose slightly. He brushed against it, not taking it, just touching it. Izuku flinched back.

He wasn't fast enough.

One of his father's hands, which had been resting on the sheet, shot out. The plastic covering, keeping the clean air in, ripped and Izuku felt his dad's hand on his face.

Then he felt quirks being forced into him. It hurt! It wasn't like the other times his dad had given him a quirk. This hurt. Izuku screamed. He vaguely thought Kurogiri and Garaki were yelling but he couldn't hear them.

Instinctively he pushed back. Caeli Imperium activated and pushed him away. It pushed the hospital bed his father was lying on into Gigantomachia. As soon as his Dad's hand was off him, Izuku stumbled back before falling. He could feel the new quirks running riot in him. It hurt.

Garaki didn't pay attention to him. The Doctor ran forward to deal with his dad. He didn't get that close though. Instead, the Doctor went to a control point and activated drugs. Sedatives flushed into Hisashi Midoriya's system and the man went still. He hadn't fallen. Gigantomachia had kept the bed stable.

"What happened?" Kurogiri demanded.

The misty man didn't get an answer. Izuku just moaned. He could feel the quirks his dad had forced into him. They squirmed. It almost felt like they were pushing against his skin. He tried to grab them, to bring them under control but they simply slipped away.

The Doctor came over to Izuku and placed one hand on his forehead. "He's burning up," came the diagnosis. "Put him in the chair," came the follow up instruction.

Kurogiri obeyed, lifting Izuku and putting him in the chair that had been set up for the Doctor to watch Hisashi's vital signs. Izuku squirmed in the chair. His limbs jerked and the misty man was hard pressed to keep him there, though he too could now feel the burning of Izuku's skin. He was covered in sweat. The Doctor pulled a syringe from his jacket pocket and a vial of some clear liquid from a different pocket. "Sedative," he explained, carefully measuring out a dose.

The misty man nodded, and held out Izuku's arm. The Doctor came over, and carefully pushed the needle into the offered flesh. "This one doesn't matter if it's intravenous or intramuscular," Garaki answered a question that wasn't asked. All that mattered at the moment was that the drug got into Izuku's system.

Quickly, Izuku stilled and Kurogiri could release his grip.

"What happened?" he demanded again.

The Doctor glared at him, before he once again felt Izuku's forehead. "I don't know," he said finally.

"You have a suspicion," the misty man returned with a growl.

"I have a suspicion," Doctor Kyudai confirmed.

The misty man gave the Doctor his own glare. It said without words that the explanation better be forthcoming.

"You know my experiments?" Garaki asked, rather than explaining.

"Of course."

"Before they lose their minds, there's usually a fever from having too many quirks," the Doctor reported in a monotone.

Kurogiri felt his eyes widen. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Except Izuku can handle multiple quirks," Kyudai continued. "But, I suspect Hisashi has dumped a lot into him as a sort of instinctive defence, and it will take time for Izuku to assimilate them all."

"You believe he will be fine?" Kurogiri asked carefully, aware of the way Gigantomachia was listening in, Despite his bulk it was often easy to forget he was there. Except right now there was a glint in his eyes that said the answer better be acceptable.

"Yes." To the Doctor's credit, his voice didn't waver in the slightest. "Since he's never gotten so many before, it has caused a shock to his system. He'll sleep it off."

"You are sure about that?" The misty man didn't want to ask but he realised he had to.

"As sure as I can be without running tests," the Doctor replied testily. He was running very short on sleep. "This is what happened in the past," he explained. "When we were first testing how many quirks a body could handle, this is usually what happened. The body runs a fever and then they don't wake up. Izuku will run a small fever, and then he will assimilate the quirks and wake up." The extra explanation was added before Kurogiri could object. "It's a shock to him now because he's never had so many at once and I'm sure Sensei wasn't gentle."

The misty man didn't sigh. "You'd better be right," he instead muttered. The 'for all our sakes' was not needed.

The Doctor already knew that. If Hisashi died, Gigantomachia would kill them. If Izuku died, Hisashi would kill them.

Unless everything went right, someone would kill them.

It was not an ideal situation but they had to deal with the hand they had.

-ted-

All For One could not remember a time when he did not wake instantly. Given that he had been involved in a centuries long war against the status quo, lying leisurely, half asleep, would not have been conducive to his lifespan. Even injured, even drugged, this didn't change.

Hisashi did not move when he became conscious. Instead, he stretched his senses to determine his situation. The first thing he noticed was pain, but he pushed that aside. Then there was the sound of a ventilator. He could feel something on his throat, so knew it was hooked up to him and there was a beeping coming from a heart monitor. He recognised the particular lethargy brought about by having drugs in his system and correlated that he was being treated. He couldn't smell anything but there was the taste of antiseptic.

With the drugs, he knew better than to attempt to use a quirk. There were also quirk monitors, so until he knew where he was, he would hold off on that but he could feel them still, so he wasn't being subjected to quirk suppression. That meant he was with subordinates or whoever had him didn't think there was a need. And there was someone here. He could hear them breathing to his left. The sound was even and relaxed. It was slow, so either they were fit or a large person. They hadn't reacted to his return to consciousness, so for the moment, satisfied that he wasn't in immediate danger, Hisashi turned his attention to his body. Being connected to a ventilator explained the scratchy feeling in his throat. It also explained the hiss of air he could hear and feel on his chin. The rest of his body felt surprisingly pain free. Either the drugs were suppressing everything or…

He cast his mind back over what had happened. Hisashi wasn't surprised when he couldn't exactly remember. Drugs would have that effect but he persisted in probing his memory.

A procession of days at work filled his mind. So, something had happened there. The impression of blue, yellow and red came through his thoughts for no reason.

All For One knew what that meant, even as he strained for a more exact memory. One For All. That blond buffoon. The thought triggered the memory. The moron had confronted him at work and there had been the inevitable fight.

He should have been able to swat the holder of his Brother's quirk aside. He had last time but given what he could hear, the fight must have been more equal than he believed it would be. Hisashi resisted the urge to sigh. He couldn't feel any restraints, but there was no guarantee he was with his subordinates. It was best that whoever was in the corner breathing did not yet know he was awake.

He went back to trying to remember the fight. The current holder of One For All, All Might had come through the door to his office, fists already raised to fight. He'd reacted instantly. Surprise was something to be pushed aside until the threat was dealt with. Destruction was to be expected.

Then… The images were muddled. He remembered a fist. He remembered the smell of blood. The feel of resistance from Air Cannon. He knew he'd hit the hero. He knew he'd drilled through the hero. There had been no sigh, despite the blood fountaining over his costume and from his side. He'd continued forward.

And then…

All For One's self control was not so weak that he winced at the memory but internally he was disappointed.

And then the so-called Number One Hero had punched him. Blood had been streaming from his side, there were intestines coming through the wound but the blond man had attacked, and all Hisashi could remember was the fist coming towards him with all the power stored in the quirk he had given to his brother directed at him.

After that, his memory went black.

He'd been injured. That conclusion was obvious. He was still injured given that he could feel a ventilator and hear a heart monitor.

But where was he? Drugs interfered with his quirk control but he needed to know. Carefully, Hisashi reached for his core… And noticed that there were quirks missing. He suppressed a growl at that and reached for the quirk that wouldn't abandon him. All For One. His quirk flared under his touch and he could feel quirks around him.

The person breathing had more than one quirk…

Hisashi released his hold on his quirk. He recognised those quirks. Gigantomachia. Which meant wherever he was, it was with his servants. It was safe to show he was awake.

All For One focused on his face. The skin felt hot and stretched. He tried to open his eyes but something was wrong. He could feel the muscles working but the skin just pulled tight.

The movement, slight though it was, caught Gigantomachia's attention. "Garaki," the huge man called.

Hisashi lifted one hand as he heard the Doctor move closer. The movement was harder than it should be.

"Sensei," the Doctor said. "Don't move," the man said. "You are on a ventilator," he added the unnecessary explanation.

All For One managed to growl. He needed more information.

"You were injured by All Might," the Doctor continued. At least the man knew that he would want an explanation. "You have mostly healed, but there is extensive scarring."

"Dam-" he ran out of air. "Damage?" Hisashi managed to force out the single work as a question. The memory of an empowered fist coming at him flashed through his mind again.

"Head injury," the Doctor told him matter of factly. The man sighed. "Extensive brain damage. Your skull was destroyed. Your brain was destroyed. The frontal and parietal lobes were gone."

It took a few moments for All For One to think that through. Biology wasn't his strong point but the follow up question should have been obvious. If the damage was that bad, why was he waking up? He might not have expected to lose that fight but All For One hadn't lived so long because he lied to himself. Even when injured. And he knew, healing quirks could only do so much.

The type of healing quirks that could do more… they were with the government, and while he had the contacts to get access to them, they were his contacts, not the Doctor's.

"We got a regeneration quirk," Garaki explained, "but it wasn't perfect."

It may not have been perfect but if the damage was as bad as the Doctor explained, then it had done its job.

He flexed his fingers, forming fists. He was disassociating. Hisashi could hear that Garaki was thankful for that. Maybe it was the drugs. There would be rage, there would be grief. There would be every emotion. Later. It did not serve now.

"Izu-ku?" He got the question out. If they had gotten a regeneration quirk, then it had to be through his son.

"Sleeping," Garaki told him quickly.

Too quickly. Hisashi was immediately on guard again but before he could force any further words out, he felt his consciousness slip back into darkness.

-ted-

Izuku can handle having multiple quirks but he's stressed, and DFO wasn't exactly gentle when he shoved them into his son, so Izuku is just going to sleep off the shock of that. But before that, he made a very important realisation! And hopefully I will remember to put the ramifications of that fully in the fic in the future :D

And AFO is awake! Drugged to the now non-existent eyeballs but awake! One happy reunion coming soon and then fall out... more fall out :D And catching up with what some of the other characters are doing.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!