All for One stared at the red peg on the wall map absentmindedly, his mind elsewhere as he processed the latest news from his assistant. He twiddled the handset in his hands for a couple of seconds, before setting it back down on the receiver, a wide smirk on his face.
"Not only did our first version fail the mission, it couldn't stand up to All Might's power," the doctor said, anger seeping into his voice as he took notes while he stared through a microscope. "What a waste of time. That ball of sludge... utterly useless."
"No, Doctor," All for One said sternly. "Not useless. Just the wrong tool. We used a wrench when we should have used a pry bar. But for all of his failings, he did give us a wonderful opportunity." All for One's smirk grew into a manic smile as the idea spun in his head.
The doctor looked up from his microscope, glancing at All for One as he stood up from his chair, dragging the life-support equipment with him over to the map. He pulled the pin out of the board and stared at it for a second, before setting it into a small box next to the board. He looked up at another pin, this one blue, across the map to the opposite side of Japan.
"One piece falls, but I have another piece that will rise to this challenge wonderfully. He just needs some… reinforcement. A firm push in the right direction," All for One stated as he reached out for the pin. He plucked it from the board and carefully stuck it into the same place the red pin had been located. He regarded it for another second and then turned away from the board.
"Hmmm…" he hummed deeply. "Yes. That settles it. I think it's time to accelerate Young Tomura's training," All for One said, rubbing his chin as he walked back to his chair. Sitting back down and flipping a tube over his shoulder, he reached for the phone on the table beside him. He dialed a number quickly.
"Kurogiri," he said as the line connected after a single ring.
"Yes, Sensei." The deep voice on the other end of the line was polite and firm, much like its owner.
"Send for Tomura. We are accelerating the schedule," All for One ordered, "That is all."
"Understood. I'll alert you when he is settled," Kurogiri responded, hanging up with a soft click.
All for One placed the phone back down, his smile still in place. He 'looked' to his left, regarding the doctor behind him, still immersed in his work.
"Tell me, Doctor. What do you get when an unstoppable force and an immovable object meet?"
The doctor looked up from the microscope at All for One, a confused look on his face, saying nothing.
All for One continued, "They either pass through each other. Or they annihilate each other."
His grin grew wider as he turned back and focused on the blue pin.
The next morning, Izuku woke with a start, his breathing deep and ragged, his sheets sticking to him from the sweat. He sat up, glancing at the alarm clock that showed it was a little after two in the morning. He ran his hands over his face, trying to wipe away the image of the green sludge that was covering Katsuki's face, as he steadied his breath. The fear in his friend's eyes was burned into his memory. Izuku sighed heavily as his heart rate settled.
He had been told to expect something like this by Toshinori, but his nightmare got progressively worse as the night drifted on. Izuku swung his legs out of bed, and peeled off the damp clothes, tossing them into his closet hamper. He flipped a lamp on as he stood up and walked over to his dresser, and picked out a fresh t-shirt and boxers, his eyes unfocused as he tried to fight the memory of the nightmare. First Katsuki, and then Ochako. The sludge was relentless. He had been powerless.
He snapped out of his stupor when there was a light knock at the door. "Izuku?" came Toshinori's voice softly.
"One sec," Izuku said, quickly throwing on the fresh clothes before walking over to and opening the door. Toshinori looked concerned, giving Izuku a once over.
"I heard you groaning and tossing. A nightmare?" his father asked.
Izuku sighed and nodded, pulling open the door all the way and walking away to sit on his bed. Toshinori followed and sat down in Izuku's desk chair, facing his son as he looked at his knees, hands folded together.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Toshinori asked in a low voice.
Izuku didn't say anything for a bit, his hands unfolded and grabbed onto the bed, squeezing the material tightly. He took another deep breath, "It was the sludge villain. I know you beat him, but I can't get Kacchans's look of fear to go away. I've never seen him scared before," Izuku said, keeping his eyes resolutely on his knees.
Toshinori nodded, "I figured it was something like that. Before now, you had only seen me hurt. Now you have seen your friends get into the mix of things, too. But this is nothing to be embarrassed or shy about, Izuku." Toshinori said, holding a hand out towards his son.
Izuku looked up, glancing at the warm smile his father had
"All heroes will have this trial to face. Sleepless nights, nightmares, even full-on panic attacks. If you don't have some sort of reaction to destruction and fear, then I don't think you're truly sane," Toshinori continued, glancing down at his left hand, a slight twitch running through his thumb and index finger. "When I was in the hospital, there were... several sleepless nights."
He looked back up at Izuku, "There are still some nowadays too. I'm not saying that it's a normal thing or trying to dismiss your pain," he said, raising a hand. "What I'm trying to say is that you aren't alone and that you can always talk to me. Something everyone needs is someone else they can rely on, especially heroes. Because at the end of the day, even heroes need saving sometimes."
Izuku looked back down and swallowed, thinking over his nightmare. "It starts with Kacchan. The sludge takes him and I try to fight back, but nothing happens. I can't move or fight or even scream. But then Ochako is taken next. And not being able to help her hurts even more," Izuku said, gripping the sheets as the tight feeling in his chest started to build again.
Toshinori placed his large hand on Izuku's shaking shoulder as he fought to contain his emotions, "I know that feeling, Izuku. More than I would like to admit. The feeling of being powerless, of failing. Every time I fail to save someone. You feel like no matter what you did, it wasn't enough," Toshinori said softly.
Izuku nodded as he wrestled for control over his breathing, his father continuing, "But you need to remember, son. To overcome these fears, you must realize that you can't save everyone, and that as long as you try your absolute hardest, it's never your fault."
Izuku felt the dam break and lost control, the tears flowing freely now as his grief and fear took over. Toshinori reached forward and embraced him, wrapping his arms around him tightly, "Just let it out, son." he said, patting Izuku's back, "Keeping it bottled up will only make things worse."
He let Izuku release everything, wishing he could take away his son's pain. He only pulled back as he felt Izuku shift away from him, his son wiping his red eyes, grabbing a tissue from the box Toshinori handed him.
"Thanks, Dad." Izuku said shakily, huffing slightly as his breathing normalized, "I didn't realize how much it was bothering me."
Toshinori smiled warmly and nodded, "It's funny how that works sometimes. Your mind and will are strong, but your emotions and psyche are a different beast entirely. Now, let's get some tea and talk for a little bit then get you back to bed. I want you as well rested as possible for today," he said as he stood up, and walked out to the kitchen
Izuku wiped his eyes and nose again, before smiling softly and following his father.
Several hours and a well-earned rest later, Toshinori and Izuku walked to the beach in silence, Izuku stretching his back and arms while Toshinori sipped from a coffee mug as they walked. The cool morning air reinvigorated the both of them as they felt the last dregs of sleep leave them once they reached the overlook of the beach, the piles of trash and broken appliances greeting them with a foul stench.
"Now, Izuku, before we begin..." Toshinori started, pausing as a black sedan pulled into the parking lot, parking in a spot close by. Izuku smiled as he watched Mirai Sasaki exit the car.
Toshinori waved, "Mirai, my old friend! Thank you for coming," he called out.
Mirai adjusted his glasses and shook Toshinori's outstretched hand with a smile. "Toshi, good to see you. My apologies for the delay," he said, bowing slightly before turning to face Izuku. "Good to see you, Small Might," Mirai said with a small smile, "This should be a very interesting day, Izuku. Are you ready?"
Izuku rolled his eyes at the nickname, and smirked, "Good to see you, too, Uncle. And yes," he answered.
Mirai's smile faltered a bit, "Then I don't need to impress the importance of this upon you. Your father is leaving you with some big shoes to fill," he said with a smirk.
Izuku grinned, and lifted his leg to look at his large red shoe, "I think I've got that covered, Uncle."
Mirai chuckled, "Good. Now then," he turned to Toshinori as he fixed a stray strand of hair.
Toshinori nodded and looked at Izuku, a prideful smile on his face. "Izuku, you have proven yourself to have an honorable and noble heart, the heart of a hero. You are worthy of being my successor. However, before you gain my power, we need to ensure that you are capable of fine control over your own power."
Izuku cocked his head with a questioning look, "You mean how I unleashed the power when I punched?" He held out his hand, staring at it intensely.
Toshinori nodded, "Yes, my boy. You have great power, but you are barely able to contain it when it is released. I watched as you threw your punches yesterday. It was crude but effective. So, what I want is for you to spend some time focusing. Instead of containing the power and simply letting it out, you need to learn how to control the flow and direction. You need to learn to consciously direct the energy out of your body, instead of building it up and letting it explode out," Toshinori said, gesturing to Izuku's arms and core.
Toshinori took a deep breath, and steam exploded out from around him, his giant form stretching out his t-shirt and pants. He looked down at Izuku and struck one of his signature poses. "My quirk is a massive crystallization of stored power, and in your current state, while you can barely control your own power, you are just containing it until it is released. That won't work with mine. It would overwhelm you," All Might said, "and who knows what would happen then." A concerned look briefly appeared on his face before morphing back into his wide smile.
He turned to the trash covered beach and gestured for Izuku to follow. All Might stopped at a large metal dumpster that had been turned over and unceremoniously righted it. He slapped the side heartily and grinned back at Izuku.
"Here's the plan, Young Izuku. The toaster yesterday was small potatoes compared to the amount of trash you are going to melt down today." He pointed to the massive pile of trash; appliances, scrap, even small vehicles were scattered throughout.
"I want that whole pile slagged and put into this dumpster. You need to figure out how to command your power best in order to meet your goal!" All Might held his fist up and nodded to Izuku, who smiled and returned the fist bump before facing the trash heap.
Izuku studied the pile and settled on his course of action, just pushing heat into the metal. He walked up to the pile, and focused on the car at the bottom of the pile, steadying his breath and stirring the power inside of him, pulling it up into his arms.
Behind him, watching on, All Might deflated, and Toshinori leaned over a bit towards Mirai, "Now, watch this," he said quietly. Mirai glanced at his old friend, before turning back to watch Izuku. Mirai had initially been skeptical of Izuku's sudden power arrival when Toshinori had called him the previous night, but he was intrigued. Izuku had shown great strength and his character was never in question.
He turned back to look at Izuku, his gaze widening as bright green rings of light appeared around Izuku's biceps, motes of light rapidly coiling down his arms that pooled around his open palms. Izuku stepped forward and placed his hands on the exposed metal frame. It took a second, and at first, Mirai wasn't sure about what would happen, but seeing the metal change from a dull grey, through red and orange, to bright white in a couple of seconds was something to behold.
Izuku continued to ramp up the intensity, pushing more power into his palms, the motes of light rushing down his arm as he slowly brought the metal in the car to its melting point, the frame warping from the weight of the trash on top. The heat spread upwards as Izuku pushed more power out, a steady stream of rising air whipping up around him as the heated air rushed up.
Izuku felt his own temperature rise, power channeling through him meeting resistance throughout his body, as sweat rolled off of his arms. But he wasn't even close to being done. He pushed through, continuing as the car and appliances sagged in front of him, their metals combining into a large pool of steaming and smoking aluminum, steel, and copper.
Only after the entire stack had been rendered down did Izuku pull back, releasing his control, the rings of light vanishing. He steadied his breath and wiped his brow with his sleeve before looking back at Toshinori and Mirai, Toshinori gave Izuku a thumbs up, Mirai simply stared with a surprised look on his face.
"Well done, Izuku. You controlled the output well, though I can see it took a lot out of you to melt something that large." Toshinori walked over and handed Izuku a rag to dry himself with.
"Next, you need to focus on accuracy and precision," Toshinori said, gesturing to his left fist. "My punches are directed so that they are accurate applications of force, hitting exactly where I want them to hit. If I missed when firing off one of my smashes, I could very easily hurt or kill an innocent bystander."
Izuku immediately thought of the punch in the alley against the sludge villain, and a chill ran down his spine. His father had unleashed a full-powered punch right next to him, and all he felt was a slight breeze. If that had hit him… he shuddered at the idea. He turned his focus back to the task at hand and studied his fist, pulling up on a tiny bit of power, a small ring of light steadily moving down his arm and settling around his fist.
"Punches are easy to do but wide and uncontrolled. I need something smaller and faster, with more precision," he muttered to himself, running through ideas. Out of the corner of his eye, movement caught his attention.
Mirai flicked away a bug that was crawling on his suit sleeve with a single finger. The proverbial light-bulb went off in Izuku's head. He glanced down at his fist and opened his fingers, keeping his focus on the ring so it slowly slid down his palm, stopping it around his middle finger.
Izuku smiled at the success of his first attempt and turned to face the wall of trash, throwing his arm up and taking aim. He released his finger and the control at the same time. The ring of light burst out from his fingertip, exploding outward. A cone of light and heat burst out, impacting the wall, impacting it heavily, forcing heated air up and over the wall, knocking some trash off.
"Yes!" Toshinori called out. Izuku caught his wide smile, seeing his father's excitement at his rapid improvement. "Just like that! Keep focusing on that, Izuku."
Izuku smiled broadly and nodded, turning back to the trash heap. He focused again, pulling more power into his finger and letting it loose at the wall, launching more trash into the air. He switched it up on the third go-around, using different fingers, and then finally focused his punch into a tight cone, blasting right through the wall of trash as a cone of heat and light, scattered sand and debris around Izuku and the adults observing him.
He panted through the exertion, finally letting his arms fall as he felt his power dwindling. He laid down on the cool sand, catching his breath. He smiled through the pain he felt in his arms the effort had left him, success was worth every ounce of pain.
A shadow crossed his face, and he looked up to see his father smiling down on him.
"That was good, Izuku. Now, let's go again. Plus Ultra," he finished, holding out a hand for Izuku to grab.
Izuku smiled, "Plus Ultra."
Over the next couple of hours, until the sun was right above them beating down with all of its might, Izuku had spent the time pushing his control to its limit, building more and more powerful attacks, and even improvising a concussive 'shield'.
"Stopping attacks with a repulsive blast," Izuku muttered, shaking his head as he watched the fifth concrete block rocket away from him, launched by his 'Repulsor Smash'. All Might throwing the bricks at Izuku was a great way to test, even if it scared Izuku a bit to see his father's hulking form throw ten-kilogram concrete bricks like they were baseballs.
"Catch, son!" All Might called out, and Izuku's eyes snapped to the incoming projectile, launched at high speed from across the beach. He prepped his arm with power, and released it in a wide arc as the block hurtled toward him, the cone of compressed air bursting out and slamming into the projectile. The energy transfer sent it careening away uselessly further down the beach.
Izuku watched carefully as it sailed away, only noticing its trajectory a split second later; it was headed right for Mirai, who was turned away, talking on the phone.
Izuku's mind raced. There was no way he could stop it in time, let alone get over there to move Mirai. He needed an even more precise attack to destroy it.
"Now that's an idea," he muttered, pulling up his hand, and focusing hard, channeling as much power into his open palm as he could and compressing it, before pushing it out all at once.
A column of light burst out from his palm with a rushing sound, the air jumping away from the beam as it impacted the brick, shattering it on impact, turning the brick into tiny chunks of rock and dust. It rained down on Mirai, who had been startled by the close explosion. He dusted himself off, looking at Izuku with an exasperated grimace, glancing down at his once pristine suit, now covered in dust.
Izuku smiled and waved apologetically, rubbing the back of his head before turning back to All Might, who was laughing loudly, having watched the scene with bemusement.
"Good work, my boy!" All Might said, walking over to Izuku, grinning broadly.
"That was too close, Dad." Izuku said, grimacing apologetically.
"It would have been fine. I was watching. But you did exactly what you needed to! Uh, what was that anyway?" All Might asked, glancing down at Izuku's hand.
Izuku smiled and raised his hand, holding his palm up, letting a ring of light encircle it before settling just above his skin, growing tighter and tighter, a high pitched whining sound coming from it.
"I decreased the size of the ring, but increased the power, making it turn in on itself, focusing the power into a single point, almost like a laser pointer," Izuku explained, turning toward a pile of tires, before firing the power at them, blasting a hole right through two of them. "It's almost like Kacchan's 'AP Shot', the penetrating move he uses. Accurate over long distances and controllable."
All Might's smile broadened as Izuku explained, and he clapped him on the shoulder. "Well my boy, I think it's finally time. You have proven that you are quite capable of controlling your own power. Now, let's add mine into the mix and see what happens next!" All Might announced proudly.
'All of that work and some quick thinking, and he already has a new technique that's entirely his. How cool is that?' All Might thought to himself as they walked back to the entrance to the beach where Mirai was waiting, finally clean of all of the dust.
"It's time, Young Izuku," All Might said, smiling with paternal pride as he stood opposite Izuku. "You have proven to me that you have a heroic heart, risking your own safety to protect others."
Mirai, standing next to All Might, spoke up next, "Izuku, in just the short time of watching you, and speaking with Toshinori, you have proven that you can control your power and use it effectively. You have surpassed my wildest expectations, even going so far as to create your own technique." Mirai's gaze changed from stern and observant to kind and paternal, before turning to All Might, "All Might, you chose a good successor. He will be the best of all of us."
Izuku watched them both, eyes shining with pride and admiration as they praised him. Tears of joy began to form in the corner of his eyes.
All Might nodded and plucked a hair from his head.
"Are you ready to accept my gift? Are you ready to become my true successor?"
There was no hesitation from Izuku. He couldn't wait to see what he could do with All Might's power.
"Yes, I am ready!" he said exuberantly.
"Good. Now… Eat this!" All Might called out, holding out the golden hair for Izuku to take.
Izuku didn't register what his father had just asked of him. He stared at the hair, confused.
"You have to eat some of my DNA. That's how it's passed down, son," All Might said, a weak smile on his face.
Izuku blinked and looked up at All Might and saw that he was fully serious.
"Well, I suppose that makes sense," he said, taking the hair, "I thought it was going to be one of those 'power transfer' things like in cartoons or the movies."
"This isn't make-believe, Izuku," Mirai said.
"For all you know," Izuku said, glancing at the hair and knocking it back quickly, swallowing it as fast as he could. He grimaced from the odd feeling, taking a gulp of water from the bottle Mirai handed him.
He passed the bottle back to Mirai and shrugged, "I mean, this could all be a simulation or a universe someone thought up," Izuku said, before turning to look at All Might.
"And now we wait. It'll take some time for your body to process the DNA. Let's keep working on your control training to see how your body eases into the new power." All Might ordered, jumping back down to the trash, with Izuku hot on his heels, eager to see what was going to happen.
Deep inside of Izuku's cells, his mitochondrial DNA began processing new information, delivered to them by the carrier molecules that feed each cell. New segments began replicating rapidly, and the protein DNA readers began adding the code to the massive chain of spiraling RNA molecules they were in charge of, slotting the new code right next to a similar code.
The DNA was then handled by CRISPR protein molecules further down the chain, activating the code by zipping the RNA molecules together, forming a tight atomic bond, and passing it further down the incredibly small and complex assembly line, onto the final stage of DNA replication. The next version of the CRISPR protein within Izuku's cells began copying the new DNA molecules and passing them to even more proteins that would edit it into the cells nucleus, where it would be copied into the main chromosome.
The new code sat in its new home, its journey finally complete. But it still had work to do. It recognized the power sitting next to it and sent out the first instruction.
There was a small spark, a handful of electrons that passed between the new code and the similar code that had been there since the cell's creation. The old code was very unique, however. A closer examination of it would determine that not only were the molecules more tightly packed together, there were also some things that shouldn't have been there. Dark areas of power contained in the matrix of atoms, pulsing against the control the atoms exerted over them. The first spark was a request for fuel, and the old code had plenty to spare. It pulsed in response, forcing the dark matter in its core to begin spawning electrons. The spark was returned to the new code, much bigger than before. It was tiny in comparison to the size of the cell it was in, but a second push from the new code, and the old code gave up more and more electrons freely. The spark grew with each pulse of power.
The process repeated endlessly across each one of the cells in Izuku's body as he trained with All Might, his body stressing and pushing his quirk to the limit, going beyond anything he had ever done before. His quirk listened to its new partner, and began feeding it the energy it needed, latching onto the new quirk and flooding it with all it could soak up. But when it finally hit its limit, it did the only other thing it could do: pull in as much power as it could.
It began with a soft buzzing feeling in Izuku's chest like his heart was beating too fast, or he was nervous. He dropped the oven he had been carrying and rubbed his chest, concern etched on his face. He felt his arms get cold suddenly. He pulled them up and stared, turning them over in front of him. A chill ran through him, like the worst brain freeze he'd ever had, making him grimace in pain.
All Might looked back at his son at the sound of the appliance falling heavily into the sand, calling out as he turned, "Now, now, Young Izuku, you can keep- Izuku, what's wrong?" All Might asked, his smile vanishing as he saw the confused and pained look on Izuku's face.
Izuku looked up at his father and hero, "I'm… not sure. I'm cold-d," Izuku said, starting to stammer as he felt his breath catch in his chest. He wobbled from the sudden exhaustion that washed over him, and fell to one knee, leaning over as he tried to make his lungs expand, struggling to breathe.
All Might quickly stepped over and kneeled next to Izuku, "What's happening, Izuku?!"
Izuku shook his head as he felt the cold penetrate everything in and around him, soaking into his clothes, through his abdomen, down his thighs, and into his feet. His vision started to darken, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw ice start to form around his feet as the cold rolled off of him, freezing the sand beneath him.
All Might stood quickly and looked over at the entrance to the beach, but didn't see Nighteye anywhere. "Damn it, Mirai. Bad time for a phone call,"he muttered, scanning for his friend. He needed to get Izuku help and fast.
"D-dad!" Izuku managed to squeeze out. All Might looked down quickly at his son, fear flooding him as he saw the pain in his son's face looking up at him, ice hanging off of his hair and frost forming on his face.
"H-hit…" Izuku forced out again, a pleading look on his face. He could barely mouth his next word.
"Me."
All Might felt a chill run through him. Izuku's face sent fear racing through him. The ice spread from Izuku's body in the sand in a rapidly creeping circle. He backed away for a couple of steps, and he glanced back at Izuku's face, the pain and fear in his eyes reminding him of far too many scared faces he had seen throughout the years.
'Now isn't the time!'his internal voice screamed at him. He could feel the cold washing over him now, while the intense pull of Izuku's body soaking up the heat around him was starting to move the air as the pressure dropped, wind starting to whip around him. He clenched his fist. Fear was doused, as courage rose up and took its rightful place.
"It's fine now, Izuku. I'm here." All Might said calmly, forcing himself to be steady for Izuku. He took a step forward, pushing through the wall of cold ahead of him, the light around Izuku looking dimmer as Izuku's body pulled on every source of energy it could. With each step closer, the cold burned through All Might's clothes into his bones, the chill running through him like lightning. He reached Izuku's nearly frozen form and pulled back his large fist. He steadied himself, the cold freezing his boots to the ground and reaching up his feet. He aimed for his son's hunched over back, his largest surface area.
"DETROIT SMASH!" All Might called out, swinging his fist down in one of his signature moves, creating a shockwave and blast of compressed air. It collided with Izuku's back and laid him out flat, his legs and arms splaying out as his body was forced into the ground with thousands of newtons of force.
The shockwave exploded out, launching a couple of pieces of trash away from them, but the majority of the force had been delivered to All Might's target. He felt the cold abate as Izuku's body normalized, the ice around him slowly thawing in the midday sun. All Might deflated, and Toshinori sat down on the cold, hard sand next to his son and checked his pulse. Relief flooded him as he saw Izuku was unconscious, but breathing, his chest rising and falling slowly, small bits of sand kicking up around his nose as he breathed out.
"I'm sorry, my boy. I didn't know this would happen," Toshinori said softly, watching Izuku carefully.