WARNING: Spoilers for season 5 episode 10/manga chapter 211

(?)

As Izuku's eyes fluttered as he roused from his unconscious state, they immediately widened in shock upon seeing where he currently was. He was...well, he actually didn't know, to be quite honest.

For miles on end there was nothing but pitch black darkness on all sides. The ground was gray and rocky, kinda like how he always imagined the moon looked like, and a purple fog was whipping around the free and open space. He tried to move, but couldn't, not even a single inch. Looking down, he noticed his whole body, save for his eyes and ears, were completely covered in a green and black smoke-like substance.

'What's going on?' he thought to himself, unable to move besides spinning in circles to look around. 'Where...Where am I? Is this my own mind? Why am I here? How did I get here? Is this the work of a villain's quirk? Is everyone okay?'

"DAMMIT! HOW DID YOU UNLOCK IT ALREADY?!"

Izuku jumped, startled by the sudden and loud booming voice from behind him. He turned, eyes widening in shock and a little fear as he was approached by a red mist. A hand shot through the red smoke, batting it away to reveal a man, a very angry looking man. His thick body rippled with muscles, , with a square jaw, small dull blue eyes and a lack of eyebrows. He was also bald and had a very short beard.

His outfit consisted of dark leather clothes, stylish golden goggles, and a bandolier. The leather jacket had yellow shoulder pads and hung open, revealing his shirtless, muscular torso.

'Who the hell is this guy? Figment of my imagination? Dream demon of some sorts? Villain who entered my mind looking for answers about One For All?' Izuku thought in a moment of panic before realizing something. 'Wait. Unlock what already?'

"Look, I know you have a lot of questions, and you can't ask any of them since you're lacking a mouth right now, which is very, very freaky! So, I'm gonna give you a quick rundown before you wake up. Hell knows when we'll meet again!" the man shouted before pointing to himself. "My name? Daigoro Banjo! Who am I? Well, I'm the fifth user of One For All!"

Izuku felt his eyes widen in disbelief at the claim, and he would've laughed had his mouth not been covered. That—that was insane! There was no way this guy was the fifth user! With how much time has passed, he would, and should, be dead by now!

"I see the look of disbelief in your eyes, so let me put it in a way you'll understand. You see, vestiges of the eight previous users, myself included, are mixed into the 'core' of One For All! We are the memories and knowledge of our past selves, and have molded ourselves to take the shape of our human bodies. We have been living inside of this power all along! The core is small, but holds the power of every previous user. They are cultivated into this core, which is the source of our unbelievable strength. Even our quirks have been mixed in with One For All!" Banjo shouted.

That—no, that was impossible! How could that be? The memories, the quirks of the previous users were stored inside One For All? That couldn't be possible, shouldn't be possible... but that power from before in the USJ, when Izuku had k-killed Nomu, it wasn't like anything he had ever seen before, much less from All Might himself, who had given him One For All! Did the hero not know? Or had it been a secret this whole time?

"While you think about that, I'll answer some more questions you probably have! You're probably thinking, where are we? Well, we're inside your mind right now! You got pretty fucked up by that bird-looking dude, dudette, whatever! So much so that through your determination, want, and desire to stop and capture it and the others unlocked the perfect quirk for the job; my quirk! It's name? Black Whip!"

To demonstrate, Banjo held out his hand, and the same black energy that had erupted from Izuku's hand in the USJ exited out of the man's hand, albeit it was smaller and weaker compared to Izuku's, more controlled.

"Lucky for you, you get to meet yours truly first. Not to brag, my power's great! But you need to be careful. This quirk has evolved, and now has the power of One For All swirling within it! It's much stronger now than when it was mine. It's a cool quirk, probably the greatest one in One For All if I do say so myself, but I guess you'll be the judge of that when you unlock the others, whenever the hell that is.

'This is still hard to believe, but, granted, everything he's said and shown me...I guess I have to believe him,' Izuku thought to himself. 'So, besides Black Whip, there's another six potential quirks for me to unlock? Possibly less if any previous user was quirkless. Oh man, Kacchan is going to be so pissed. And, I guess when the time is right and I have a really strong emotion or desire, I'll unlock the others? Oh man, this is insane! So many quirkless people would kill to have a quirk, and here I am potentially getting nine! I kind of feel bad—' Izuku was brought out of his thoughts as Banjo suddenly shouted in pain.

"Gah, d-dammit, you're waking up, which means I gotta cut our meeting short." He flinched again. "Listen to me kid. It's okay to get mad; rage and anger can be a great source of strength, but you need control over your body and your emotions as well if you wanna truly master One For All. We'll meet again, don't worry, and you'll be meeting the others at some point, and we'll answer whatever questions you have as best as we can. Good luck kid, and try to refrain from using my quirk until you're good and ready!"

With that, a flash blinded Izuku.

(Real world: Musutafu hospital room)

As Izuku's eyes fluttered open, he couldn't help but flinch as he was attacked by the bright sunlight that was currently peaking through the blinds. He used his right hand to rub away the gunk from his eyes and cursed whoever had let the light in.

As his senses finally came back to him, the greenet couldn't help but freeze as he felt a weight on his stomach. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Jiro sleeping soundly on his stomach, a small smile on her face as she dreamt and nuzzled against him. Some strands of her hair were covering her face like a curtain.

'Now that's a sight I wouldn't mind waking up to every morning,' he thought, his hand twitching, 'but what's she doing here?' Against his better judgement, he reached out and brushed the hair out of her face.

Her eyes snapped open at the feeling of her hair being messed with before she met Izuku's gaze for a few seconds. She felt her face flush bright red as she jerked away and scooted her chair back a few inches.

"Uh, h-hi?"

"H-Hey, sorry about that. S-Still tired from getting healed, must've fallen asleep," she stuttered, cheeks cherry red. As she spoke, she twirled her earjack around her finger, more than likely as a reaction to being embarrassed. It was beyond cute.

"I-it's okay. Um, w-why are you here?"

"W-well, I got a concussion at the USJ and was forced to stay here for a day to make sure it didn't get any worse. I woke up here yesterday with Yaoyorozu waiting by my side, and she told me everything that happened. I was released sometime last night."

"Wait, you were released last night? Then why were you here…ya know…" Izuku trailed off, causing the two to blush again.

"W-well, the doctors said they wanted someone to stay with you, so that way the person could go tell them when you were finally awake. Bakugo and your pink-haired friend caused a bit of a scene last night, which gotthem and your other friends kicked out. And since you, ya know, kinda saved my life, I volunteered to stay," she explained. "I-I also figured that, with the two of us alone, it'd be the best time to thank you. Fuck knows Kaminari would tease me if he found out I waited all night for you to wake up."

"Oh! Uh, thanks? Can-can I ask why?"

"You're serious?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well you kinda, I don't know, saved my life? Don't you think that warrants a thank you?"

"N-no! I do! I just…wasn't expecting it?"

"What were you expecting? Me giving my 'hero' a kiss?" she asked bluntly, unable to stop the snarky reply from escaping her lips, but on the inside, she was full-blown panicking. 'What the fuck did I just say?'

"I mean...I wouldn't not want it, to be completely honest. I mean, who wouldn't want to get kissed by a cute girl?" he asked aloud. Perhaps it was the near-death experience or the pain medication causing him to be all loose lipped, or maybe he just wanted to tease the girl back after she had teased him; whatever the cause, he didn't know what on earth made him say such a thing. He did, however, enjoy her blushing.

"C-cute?" She asked, earjacks waving around erratically as her face turned a deeper shade of crimson. She grabbed onto them and started tapping the ends together.

'Yeah, definitely cute.' He made sure not to say that out loud and merely nodded as an answer. She screwed her eyes shut after that before letting out a sigh.

When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with determination, and she bent over and pecked Izuku's cheek, causing both teens' cheeks to catch fire. Izuku just stared dumbly at her with wide eyes as she pulled back.

"Thanks again," she said, her voice cracking, before bolting towards and out the door, leaving the successor to All Might confused and flustered beyond belief. He didn't think she was serious! Not that he was complaining! She seemed nice and cool and cute and smelled nice and—and—did he like her? Did she like him?

With a groan, he laid back down and waited for the doctor to come check him out, opting to think over these thoughts later. For now, he wanted to rest and think of excuses he could use regarding his newfound power.

(Secret Facility. Location: Unknown. Time: Unknown)

"Test subject 32-A appeared to have a multitude of quirks when it was alive. After running numerous tests, we have discovered that the subject had a shock absorption and super regeneration quirk, a deadly combination with its super speed and strength," a man in a lab coat said into a tape recorder as two other people, another man and a woman, jotted down notes while examining the carcass of the Nomu.

After the Nomu's corpse was taken into police custody, some agents from an organization had showed up and requested to take it. While the lead detective was reluctant, All Might had vouched for them and said they could be trusted. The agents promised to share any information they found with the detective.

"What kind of sicko would make such a thing?" the other man questioned.

"Our intel says a group known as the League of Villains is responsible for its creation. Apparently, it was created to kill All Might," a gruff, masculine voice said from the shadows, causing the three to jump and turn around before saluting.

"Director," the three greeted the new arrival as the sound of boots hitting metal got closer, sounding much like thunder during a deadly storm. Out of the shadows, a bald, African American male stepped into the light. The man wore black combat boots, black pants, and had a black trench coat, hiding his belt and the gun holster that was attached to its side.

"This motherfucker is a lot more intimidating up close; I can't imagine fighting the damn thing," he said. "And I heard a teen was strong enough to hold it back? Is that true?"

"It is, Director," the woman said before tapping away at her iPad. A holographic screen popped up from it, showing a video of a green-haired boy fighting the monster. "The teen's name is Izuku Midoriya, a first-year student at UA. He was able to hold the creature off and managed to kill it before All Might and other reinforcements arrived."

The Director nodded and continued watching the video, smirking to himself as he watched the teen fight. He seemed sloppy in some areas, yet excelled in others. He also seemed headstrong, but was a good enough fighter, especially with that shield of his. He was brave and willing to do whatever it took to protect people.

"Keep an eye on him, and tell me when he does something of significance. He might just be what I've been looking for."

"Yes sir!"

And such, the changes continue. I'm gonna miss the conversation Izuku had with Shiro "Diablo" Tatsuo, the dragon quirk user from my OG fic. A lot of people liked how I had him have like, control over what the inside/setting of Izuku's mind could be. But oh well.

Anyway, another change, Izuku talking with Banjo instead. I kept the Jiro kiss in cause I thought it was cute. I kept in the Director thing for very, very obvious reasons, lol

I don't really know what else to say. If you wanna support me and help me keep making fics, the ways to donate to me can be found in previous chapters, or via DM if you wanna ask me that way.

ALSO! I have a Discord server. I created it months ago initially for my 'The Owl House' fics, but wanna open it up to y'all since it's a multi-fandom server instead of just a TOH one. If you want in, just let me know :)

I think that's all for now. Join me next time in chapter 18!