A notice to my recent and long-time Readers: I finally got around to creating a Discord account.
At first it was just for some one-on-one chats with some friends and acquaintances, but I decided to experiment with a Server of my own to open up for story-related discussions for my Teen Titans, RWBY, Young Justice, Legend of Korra, and My Hero Academia fanfics. REVIEWS on this site of course are still encouraged, but the Discord account is simply to offer a wider ground for discussion amongst my readerbase.
If you wanna Friend me on Discord, here's my profile name.
NewMystery356#9039
I'm curious to see if I'll have any takers, so until then, onto the Fanmail section.
*MHA*
zombiesleuth: Are the needle marks the antidote? I read the previous chapters a while ago so my memory is spotty.
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOG: Editor for The Hunter Amongst Villains OPM/BNHA Crossover FanFic? Congratulations! What are the needles in Genki's biceps for?
Re: The thing with the needle marks will be answered next-chapter. Right now, I need to properly set up the reveal; it's the end of the school day and Genki doesn't want to hold everyone up.
LoamyCoffee: Ah, canon with some fun bits! I do hope we can see that story someday.
That is slightly surprising of them, but I understand the use of a small test for pervs and the loser gets a jack to the eye.
Hmm, I'm not going to be an idiot and assume like Bakugou is likely doing. You never know, medical reasons. Could be blood test, medicine for his berserk state, something to flush out the poison if it's still in him.
Cool, have fun being an editor.
Re: When it comes to what Bakugou does, well, this is early-series Bakugou, and we're talking about the same guy who told Izuku to take a swan dive off the school roof with a completely straight face.
7hanatos: What did he see?!
Re: You're about to find out~
skinnydude911: t was fun seeing the results of the other races in class and who could've won.
Oh God I can so hear Mina comment about her healthy thighs and doing that to Genki as the last race and All Might return. I laughed at the nicknames from Mortal Kombat as well along with Todoroki's "you mean me?" at being called Sub Zero.
That is a very excellent point Genki made about the peep hole between the girls and boys changing rooms. The Girls side was blatantly out in the open and not even hidden as the one on tbe guy's side was hidden. The previous year girls could've been peeping on the guy's for a while until it was brought to their attention. Also how has the faculty or any employee of the school caught wind of the peep hole and not either report it or repair it and talk to the girls of all years about it?
Re: Yeah, that felt like a missed opportunity, honestly.
Yeah, those were funny references to make~
As for the peephole, yeah, it wasn't a very well thought out one if everyone on the opposite side could see the damn thing; it was far from subtle… Honestly, the only way that scene could've gone the way it did in the Canon is if Kyoka-chan was WAITING for someone to put their eye up to that hole, just so she could get a pot shot in.
*MHA*
Katsuki's grin as he caught sight of the needle marks on Genki's arm were outright murderous, mixed with a manic glee like he'd just been told the punchline to a really good joke. Suffice it to say, the explosive teen was quick to leave, a man on a mission and vengeance on his mind.
Genki for his part only sighed tiredly, casually dressing himself before running off after him. This surge of activity in turn drew most of 1-A after them, Bakugou and Genki's tagalongs arriving at the now-open door to 1-A in time to hear Aizawa say frankly-
"Accusing one of your peers of taking Trigger is a serious accusation. Do you have any evidence to support this?"
"Look at these needle marks!" Bakugou demanded as he grabbed Genki's arm and pulled up the sleeve. "LOOK AT THEMMM!"
" . . . Genki, if you don't mind-"
"Ahhhhh," Genki returned frankly as he stuck out his tongue. Aizawa in turn leaned forward and gave the oral muscle a once-over.
"He's clean."
"But the needle-!"
"Bakugou…!" Aizawa growled, cowing the explosive teen with a red-eyed glare, his hair standing on end and Capture Scarf fluttering. "Do you really think we would've admitted him into the Hero Course without an in-depth medical screening? Or do you think you're smarter than everyone else here?"
"Tch…!" Bakugou clicked his tongue angrily as his teacher looked down his nose at him.
"There's a million drugs out there those needle marks could've come from; prescription, non-prescription, foreign, domestic, experimental," Aizawa tacked off lazily. "I can personally guarantee that Trigger, is not one of them," he said frankly before levelling a look at him. "He won, you lost. Grow up. And get. Over it!" he ordered in turn. "If you're going to accuse your peers of taking steroidal substances, at least have the decency to bring actual evidence to the table instead of your own wounded ego."
"Rrrgh…!"
"Now, if you're quite done throwing a temper tantrum like a child, you're getting in the way of my nap time," Aizawa said drawing his iconic yellow sleeping bag up his body before settling into a corner, slurping on a juice pack before nodding off.
" . . . This isn't over, you damn bug!" Bakugou growled rounding on Genki.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure it is~" Genki replied with a grin that mirrored Bakugou's own only minutes ago. "After all, what do you think would happen if I told my growing fanbase that one of my jealous classmates at Yuuei had the gall to accuse me of taking neo-steroids? Why, your internship possibilities might completely evaporate if this leaked to social media~"
Which was completely true, since Aizawa had told them all explicitly, in absolutely zero uncertain terms, that Hero Agencies could withdraw their internship offers at any time.
A truth that Bakugou had to reluctantly accept, backing down.
"GRRRRR…!" Bakugou growled, murderous fury in his eyes and angry sparks dancing off his palms before he slammed the door fully open, shooting a murderous glare at his eavesdropping peers over his shoulder before stomping off like a petulant child.
" . . . I know you're back there. I can feel you breathing."
"Um, don't you mean 'hear' us breathing?" Kyoka asked.
"That too," Genki said rubbing the back of his neck, turning to face them as they entered into the room. "So… Who wants to know?"
No-one wanted to say anything, but more than a few raised their hands.
"Well… It's the end of the day and I have a thing; that and I don't want to hold you up. So how about I tell you tomorrow during lunch?"
"Sure, that works," Mina nodded, returning to her desk to grab her bag, the others doing the same.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Aizawa grumbled from his sleeping bag, a spark of recognition flittering across sleep-deprived eyes.
"Look, I just wanna nip this in the bud and get back to my 'nap time'."
" . . . Carry on," Aizawa said rolling over onto his left side.
*MHA*
"When this lesson is over, come to my office, I have something I need to talk to you about; the story of me, and [One for All]."
-were the words All Might exchanged with Izuku Midoriya in secret from his peers that day in class.
Now, Izuku as such a fan of the No.1 Hero would take any interaction he could get with a child's boundless enthusiasm, but All Might's tone and the severity of the topic made him greatly reticent. He knew he inherited the "torch" from his predecessor, just as he himself had, but he hadn't gotten the full story.
That would change quite soon…
Though the sign above the door said Councilor's Office, likely a "cover" All Might was using when he needed to relax his "muscle form" without arousing any suspicion, the fact remained that Izuku felt an enormous pressure weighing down on him. Though he'd been told in no uncertain terms that he would become the next Symbol of Peace, after what happened at the USJ, and again in Hosu, it'd only recently dawned on him that achieving that dream of becoming the No.1 Hero, would be more daunting than initially predicted. Little by little, the romanticized ideals of Heroism his head had been filled with growing up were being chipped away by the world around him, revealing something far more real than any news story or cartoon might inspire.
"I-I'm coming in!" Izuku said stepping into the room. Two couches with a coffee table between them bearing tea and snacks dominated the center of the room, an ordinary-looking desk toward the far wall and bookshelves at the sides. All Might in his pinstripe suit sat to the left side, while on the other-
"Yo."
"G-G-G-G-G-Genki-san! A-A-A-A-A-Are you here to see the school councilor t-t-t-too…?!" Izuku stammered hastily.
" . . . Hey All Might, what's with him?" Genki asked the skeletal man causing Izuku to go completely white in the face.
'AaaaAHHHHhhhH…!'
"Midoriya, I should probably explain…" All Might sighed.
*PAST*
Toshinori Yagi, known to the world as All Might, Symbol of Peace and the No.1 Hero in Japan, heaved a sigh of relief as he let his 'Muscle Mode' relax after announcing the second Disaster Rescue exercise's start.
With his power waning and only usable for a few hours each day following the League of Villain's raid on the USJ, All Might had to begin making concession with his Quirk he'd been reluctant to before, "doing without" for every second he could to stretch it out as much as possible. One such concession was carpooling with someone in-the-know who could browbeat him into staying on-task and not using up his 'time' on every little thing like he had on the League of Villain's debut. Another was organizing activities in such a way that he'd be able to remain out of sight for as long as possible, in the event an emergency requiring his direct intervention came up after school hours. If the Yuuei faculty weren't in-the-know, he'd have burned away all of his time before lunch. It was only thanks to the fact that people 'see what they want to see', that he was able to walk the halls in his 'Small Might' form without drawing any undue attention to himself. Nezu's cover for him, that of a School Councilor and a "former Hero" who'd been worn away "to skin and bones", was simply ingenious but also hit a little too close to home.
The dog/mouse/bear chimera had a sick sense of humor at times…
Playing the role of 'damsel', All Might eyed the drone feeds so he could observe everyone's progress. Katsuki Bakugou had energy that was for sure, but he hadn't actually improved all that much compared to the Sports Festival on a fundamental level; then again, spinning his wheels the whole week with Best Jeanist probably hadn't helped any. Mezo Shoji, not having to perform against an entire school year, was showing off his mobility pretty well despite what his build would have you think. Toru Hagakure and Kyoka Jiro were giving it their best effort too, though the No.1 Hero couldn't really "look at" the prior without feeling slightly (read: massively) uncomfortable.
Last but not least was Gokiburi Genki. Compared to his peers he started out with a slow burn, but that burn quickly turned fast as he shot off at high speeds, turning himself into the stone of a sling with a grappling hook, and then shooting off into Training Ground Gamma as nothing more than an oily blur.
His speed was so-great in fact, that he happened upon something he was never meant to see!
'OH! MY! GOOOOOD!' All Might cried to himself in English as Genki vaulted the nearby rail, lens-covered eyes fixated directly upon him in all of his non-glory.
"A-All Might?! Is that you!?" Genki cried flipping up his visor and rubbing his eyes. "What happened to you?! You look like a sun-dried tomato!" he said eyeing the way All Might's plus-sized outfit baggily hung over his emaciated frame.
"G-G-G-G-Genki-kun! I-I-I-I can explain!" All Might cried spitting blood like a lawn sprinkler.
"Y-You can tell me later! Right now, we've got incoming!" Genki said pointing to the other side of the container, the sound of repeated explosions echoing toward them from the bowels of Training Ground Gamma. "Remember! 'I. Didn't. See. Anything.' Just act natural, and we can get through this."
All Might could only nod dourly, "flexing" his muscles and returning to his "true form" while Genki slapped his visor down over his face to hide his expression.
*PRESENT*
"And that's how Genki caught wise…" All Might finished explaining to Midoriya, the boy's face frozen in a rictus of unadulterated shock and terror.
"Midoriya... Midoriya…! Hey! MIDORIYA!" Genki called out before slapping the boy across the face. "For the love of god, compose yourself! If your face freezes that way, your Hero career is pretty much over. I mean sure you can still save people, but think of the merchandising!"
"R-R-R… Right…" Izuku stammered. "So um… How much did you tell him?"
"I gave him the cliff notes version and swore him to secrecy before you arrived," All Might said scratching his cheek.
"It isn't like anyone would believe me anyway, Sun-Dried Tomato-sensei."
"Please don't call me that…"
"Hai, Skeletor-dono~"
" . . . 'Sun-Dried Tomato-sensei' it is…" Toshinori conceded.
"By the way, Midoriya."
"O-Oh, please, call me Izuku. We're carrying the same secret, so we can be a little less formal with one another," the greenette said wavering his hands.
"Right, Izuku," Genki nodded. "The next time you have to pass [One for All] down…"
"Hm?"
"Just use backwash. Don't make people eat hair; that just sounds gross," Genki deadpanned.
"Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAAAA?! Wait… Wou… Would that even work?" Izuku asked speculatively, his shocked and mortified expression slowly morphing to deep contemplation before he went into his phone. " . . . Holy crap it does!" he cried at the answer that greeted him.
"Well, considering hair is nothing but dead cells, I'd think living cells would be just as good if not better," Genki nodded, leaving All Might to his own musings.
' . . . Why didn't I think of that?' All Might questioned. 'Come to think of it… Why didn't Sensei think of that?!'
" . . . "
'OH! MY! GOOOOOD!'
"Right… Well… At least I don't have to worry about 'that' anymore…" Izuku hummed to himself while All Might had a crisis of his own, the man looking absolutely mortified behind his skeletal features. Having to eat hair was mortifying no matter how much you were a fanboy of the guy. Not to mention, backwash would "go down" much easier. "So, um, All Might-sensei, you needed to speak to me?"
"Yes. I did. Gokiburi, the door."
*FWSH!-Click*
'Whoa!' Izuku gawped as Genki zipped to the door and back in less than an eye blink. Clearly he'd been training hard during his internships. "So, um… What's this about the story of [One for All]…?"
"Midoriya. I heard you got your blood locked by the Hero Killer," All Might said frankly, one finger resting on his now-pointed chin, the other on his extended tongue.
"Oh, right, it was a Quirk that could immobilize people whose blood he'd ingested," Izuku said after the initial shock. "But, what about it?"
"Do you remember what I told you when I granted you this power?"
"Now eat this!" Izuku said contorting his face into a facsimile of All Might's iconic smile, deepening his voice to add further to the impression.
"No, uh… Not that…" All Might said when Genki shot him a flat-eyed judgmental stare. "I must've told you something along the lines of 'it doesn't matter how, as long as you take in my DNA.'"
"Wait…! Then does that mean…? No way…! [One for All] goes to the Hero Killer…?!" Izuku cried shooting up from his chair.
"No, no. I just thought that, you being you, you might be worried, so… I guess you forgot…" All Might said adjusting his tie, which hung rather loosely on his now-emaciated frame. "[One for All] won't transfer to a new recipient unless its user wishes it, so it can't be forcibly stolen. However… it can be forcibly passed on, like Obligation Chocolate," he said explaining it as best as he could.
"Ob-Obligation chocolate?" Izuku blinked, finding himself woefully unprepared to exchange dialogue on that particular subject, but doing his best to hide it.
"On White Day, men are expected to give chocolates to the women in their life, while those they don't care about as much receive smaller chocolates out of social obligation," Genki began, seeing right through him. "On Valentine's Day it's the reverse, where women give men chocolates."
"O-Oh! Did you get Obligation Chocolates?" Izuku asked.
Him being Quirkless, apparently exempted others of that societal obligation as well.
"Not from my schoolmates, no."
Having the Heteromorphic Quirk he had, Genki had rarely received any Obligation Chocolate during his formative years from his classmates. However, the girls in his parents' agency would usually flood him with chocolates of varying size and complexity to repay those which he gave them. Since his family's livelihood was accredited to the work those young women put in, instead of the cheapest Obligation Chocolate he could find for the least amount of Yen, the "least" he could do was purchase actual bars of the stuff they could actually find satisfaction in; even if their lifestyle did necessitate they ration it out.
" . . . It's a special Quirk, you know. And the same goes for its origin," All Might said once Izuku and Genki's tangent came to an end. "[One for All] is derived from a separate Quirk which has existed since the beginning; [All for One], which robs others of their Quirks and renders them the user's own, and can then grant them unto others."
At this a chill ran up Izuku and Genki's spines. For Izuku, though he grew up Quirkless, it didn't make him any-less-attached to the Quirk he had now. For Genki, his relatives had told him horror stories growing up about a Villain known as the "Quirk Hunter" who collected anything from the most-powerful to the most-obscure Quirks he could find. Genki himself had thought it an urban legend used to keep bratty children with wild and unpredictable Quirks in line, something that was getting more and more difficult as Quirks increased in power and complexity; but All Might's dialogue had dashed those hopes which he had thought he'd long-since grown past.
"[All for One]… So it's exactly what it sounds like, then," Izuku said glancing sidelong at Genki, if only to see whether or not the dark horse of the Sports Festival had been shaken as-badly as he.
A pregnant pause filled the room, Izuku and Genki glancing at one another and then to All Might, before the No.1 Hero began speaking again.
"It started during the dawn of Paranormality. Back when society hadn't yet adapted to the shift of what it meant to be 'normal'…"
*MHA*
What followed sounded like a history lesson, minus the typical embellishments teachers would use to stop the audience's pulse from dropping too low. The usual line about how 'some guy' once said 'had Paranormality not occurred, humankind would've been enjoying interstellar travel by now' was quoted by Izuku, but the tone radically shifted once All Might delved into the topic that schools didn't cover. That which was usually reserved for conspiracy theorist chatrooms in the dark and secretive corners of the internet.
How during that time of societal upheaval, a dark figure from the criminal underworld stole and then bartered Quirks for favor and influence.
How he took control of Japan in the blink of an eye and became its shadow ruler, leaving those of weak will he forced his stolen Quirks upon as little more than mindless dolls bound to his will.
How the villain's younger brother, possessing a strong sense of justice but who was frail and thought to be Quirkless, received the Quirk [Stockpile] either from kindness or to bend him to the man's will as well.
How that Quirk in turn fused with the formerly-unknown [Baton Pass] Quirk, thus beginning the cycle of strengthening the body and [One for All] before passing it down to the next generation.
The pursuit of a seemingly-impossible dream to uproot the world's greatest evil. The repetition of a cycle as-unending as rise and fall of the sun. A task of epic proportions spanning nearly two centuries before it had finally been completed by All Might's own hand.
Or so he had thought…
All for One, thought to finally be slain by All Might's own hands, had in truth begun to move once again; the brains behind the League of Villains, with Tomura Shigaraki as the convenient smokescreen and scapegoat.
How that power, passed down to the next generation, would once more have to confront that great evil in what he prayed to be the final showdown.
"Naruhata…"
"Huh?" Izuku blinked turning toward Genki's muttered word, flinching back from the teen trembling at his side.
At first the [One for All] inheritor had akinned it to All Might's own reaction to the mention of Gran Torino. However, Genki's reaction was far more pronounced.
One hand slapped to the back of his neck, the other wrapping across his midsection, body trembling and teeth chattering. The winner of the Sports Festival looked like he was one loud noise or sudden movement away from having a full-on panic attack.
"Gokiburi Genki. I'm sorry," All Might said profusely, bowing toward Genki with his head hung low. Lower than Izuku had ever seen the Symbol of Peace bow. "Because of me… Because I couldn't end that ancient evil for good, you've had to endure so much suffering… I'm sorry."
"It's… It's fine…!" Genki squeaked as he bit into his knuckle, arresting the trembling of his body as a rivulet of blood slithered down the back of his hand. "I… I'd hoped that those 'Manufactured Villains' were different from what happened at the USJ… That the 'Villain Factory' had been shut down for good… But I guess the resemblance was too strong for that to be the case, huh, sensei?"
"W-Wait! You mean there have been Noumu before the USJ?!" Izuku gawped with wide eyes.
"Unfortunately, that appears to be the case…" All Might said raising his head. "Many of the original case files had been destroyed by who we now know is an 'Artificial Human' mined from the same vein… but there are too many similarities to what happened back then to be ignored."
"Genki…" Izuku said as he reached out a helping hand, only for Genki to throw himself on the table and stress-eat the fear away, the offering nearly vanishing before the Heteromorph had finally calmed his nerves.
"I… I'm fine now… Just… processing," he said clenching his jaw, stopping the chattering of his teeth. "I'm fine… I'm fine," he said letting out a tired sigh.
"Wait… does this have to do with… the needle marks on your arm…?" Izuku said trying to put the pieces together.
"Not directly, no. Only indirectly," Genki said with a shake of his head, laying back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling. "I'll give anyone who wants to listen the cliff notes version tomorrow, but I'll leave it up to you to put the pieces together between what happened to me, and All for One."
"Ah, I see…" Izuku hummed nervously, picking at the cookies and tea that remained in the pregnant pause to follow, before raising his gaze to All Might's. " . . . All Might-sensei."
"Yes, Midoriya?"
"Would it…" he paused, rolling the words he wanted to say on his tongue before bulling on- "Would it be better if Genki had the power instead of me?"
"M-Midoriya!?" the No.1 squawked while the Heteromorph blinked.
"It's just…" he paused, trying to find his words. "Genki won the Sports Festival. He can use the Quirk he already has in so many interesting ways. He caught so many Villains, and helped so many people during his first Internship. And you've even come to trust him with your secret. Compared to him, to all the progress he's made, I'm just-"
"Yeaaaah, no, I'm gonna have to give that a haaaard pass, Izuku."
"Eh… HEEEEH!?" the greenette squawked incredulously at his classmate, who looked at him frankly from behind his crossed index fingers.
"I mean, this sound an awwwful lot like a 'Chosen One' plotline, and, quite frankly, I'm just not interested. I have my own ambition, and carrying the fate of the free world on my shoulders…" Genki said shrugging his shoulders, palms upturned as he shook his head. "I mean, if you bite the big one then sure, I'll take the power if there's no-one else to fight the Demon Lord and all that. But really, just because you're training to be a Hero doesn't mean you can't be a just a little bit selfish every once in a while. All Might chose you over everyone else in the world for a reason, so don't be eager to toss this hot potato because you 'think' someone else is a better 'Chosen One' candidate."
"Weh… WEEEEEEEH…!"
"Ack! Midoriya! Kill the waterworks! You're getting eye-gunk in the tea!"
"Ha… Haha… AH HA HA HA HA!" All Might bellowed bombastically returning to 'Muscle Mode', enthused to see his newest student bounce back the way he had. "That is a very 'you' answer, isn't it, Genki-kun! I believe you'll make a very splendid Hero in the future! Although…"
*Poof*
"I'm not sure how I feel about you treating this struggle like a Light Novel… Seriously, you're calling All for One the 'Demon Lord'…"
"I mean, that's basically what he is, right?" Genki shrugged. "The 'Big Bad' the 'Chosen One' has to slay at the end of his journey with the 'Legendary Sword' and all that."
"That metaphor makes me uncomfortable…" Izuku whimpered.
"Oh, and make sure you don't lose the body this time. We don't want the root of all evil slinking away to pester the next 'Chosen One', do we?"
"I really wish you wouldn't trivialize this…" All Might muttered.
He'd probably never stop kicking himself for "losing the body".
"Midoriya," Genki said firmly, getting the greenette's attention. "I'm the successor to a heroic legacy too, so I can understand a little about what you carry on your shoulders. And despite what I said about [One for All], I won't just leave you out to dry either," he said extending his hand. "If you want someone to practice your Quirk with, I'll be there. If you need someone to help you fight the 'Root of all Evil', I'll be there too. So don't get the idea stuck in your head that you have to fight the 'Demon Lord' and his 'Elite Four' all by yourself; because you don't. I'm a Hero in Training too, and I've seen how the others act around you. You might not see it in the mirror, but you have a charisma that draws trustworthy people toward you. All for One might have the strongest Quirk in the world, but at the end of the day he's just one man."
'Barring any body-duplicating horseshit,' the Heteromorph added to himself and wisely withheld.
"While the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice," Genki quoted. "Change takes a long time, but it does happen. And the fact that this guy is relying on his mindless 'flesh golems', well… I'm fairly certain that 'next time', will be the 'last time'. So!" he said getting up. "Hold your head high, plant your hands on your hips, and proclaim to the world, 'I am here!' Because the people in this world who can smile, are always the strongest!"
At this, All Might blinked, a bony grin pulling at his face as he realized, even if by some ill turn of fate his and Izuku's heroic spirit were to fall, there would always, always be those carrying on Nana's heroic spirit.
Now if only he knew where Genki had heard that line from. One of his parents, perhaps? A Hero relative? Nana had been an influential Hero before her fall and taken on Interns apart from him…
Izuku, for his part, digested his peer's words before leaping from his chair and doing just that. Though he looked a bit shaky, when his hands met his hips, the muscle he concealed beneath his uniform started to show.
Although the rumpled look of his tie kinda ruined it…
'Note to Self: Teach him how to tie a tie,'All Might thought to himself.
"All Might… Genki… As long as you and the others are with me, I can do anything, I can feel it! I know it's true!" he said brimming with confidence.
" . . . Thank you," All Might replied, though Genki could immediately tell, the No.1 Hero, the Symbol of Peace, was carrying something incredibly heavy upon his own shoulders. Something just as heavy, if not heavier, than what he'd just laid upon their own.
*MHA*
"Hey, before I go, I have to ask," Genki said shouldering his bag after they'd shot the breeze and polished off the snacks. "When will Izuku get to use the Quirks of the previous Chosen Ones?"
"Huh?" All Might blinked.
"You know, the 'Muscle Quirk' you have, and the [Float] Quirk your predecessor had."
Not like it was too hard finding out who All Might's mentor was before he went to America.
"A… Ano…" Izuku muttered. "All Might wasn't born with a Quirk."
"Really?" Genki blinked.
"Yes, and also, [One for All] doesn't store the Quirks of the previous 'Chosen Ones'," Toshinori added. ' . . . It doesn't, right…?' he thought to himself. "Also, could you please not call us 'Chosen Ones'? It feels like you're trivializing the whole thing."
"But I'm really not," Genki hummed. "If there was more than one person able to fight All for One on equal terms in the whole world, it wouldn't be that-special what you're doing."
"Well, plenty have tried…" All Might thought, remembering all the people whose Quirks had been stolen and been able to live to tell the tale, only for no-one to believe them save a select few…
"Okay, so [One for All] doesn't store the Quirks of the previous wielders… That's all the more reason to amp up your Cooperativeness stat in the Ultra Archive for when the big day comes," Genki nodded.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"I mean… All for One could come at you with dozens or even hundreds of Quirks, right? That means you'll need to bring just-as-many to the table, or at least as-many trusted allies as you can since the Quirks of the previous 'Chosen Ones' are a dry well," Genki replied. "You don't just bring six Fighting-Types to challenge the Elite Four with nothing but Fighting-Type moves; you bring a diverse roster covering multiple elemental types so you have a little of something for every contingency. Attack, defense, support, miscellaneous. If this All for One guy's really been around for this long, then he's had centuries to practice using countless Quirks, maybe even combining them like that thing from the USJ, or the things that attacked the Tokyo Sky Egg. Faced with that kind of power, the only way you really can win is with an army, or a really good team."
At this All Might blinked widely.
'Have… Have I truly overlooked something so obvious…?' he questioned himself, jaw dropping in existential horror.
"Type Advantages… Yes, I suppose that's one way to look at it…" Izuku mused, realizing it probably would be smarter not to fight All for One by himself; not when All Might even at his best couldn't get the job done. 'Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it,' were the words that came to Izuku's mind as he mulled the idea over. "While I'm not sure if it's a perfect 1:1 comparison between Pokémon and real life, there is something to be said about the diversity of moves and strategies one could implement-"
"Oh god, I think I triggered him…" Genki hummed as Midoriya started muttering to himself like a broken record, his speech bubble starting to fill the room. "Sensei! Run! Save yourself!"
"But-"
"The worst he can do is talk my ear off! Now run!" he repeated shoving the deflated No.1 Hero out.
*Whump*
"But… that's my office…" Toshinori said as Genki braced himself against the inside of the door so Midoriya wouldn't 'break containment'.
*MHA*
AN:
I think we can all agree, that Izuku going off to fight the Demon Lord and his Elite Four all by his lonesome, is really fucking stupid…
GO BEYOND!
PLUS ULTRA!