A/N: We are back with Chapter 41! And it was nearly a close-run thing whether you would get this chapter within the usual fortnightly upload schedule. I moved into a different team at work for six months of training, and honestly it has been chaotic to get used to; some of you know I work in law, and it's a completely different type of law. Madness, but… in the end, my schedule prevailed!
I was very glad to see the reaction to several of the rest of Class 1A last chapter, because the last thing I wanted was for them to be window-dressing on the adventures of Izuku and his friends. They're great characters and interesting to write, and you know I love character development! But I think we've waited long enough to come back to Izuku, don't you?
There's an offer still on the table, and Izuku finally knows the truth about his Quirk. It's time to decide his destiny.
Time to understand what it means to hold All For One…
(***)
"Young man… you could become a Hero. Or... you could be so much more."
All Izuku could do was stare at the hand of the Doctor, as it stretched out towards him. All he could do was listen to the way the old man's voice wobbled, pride and hope and something far more emotional bubbling in each syllable as he spoke. For a moment, the bright lights and crashing noises of the USJ faded to obscurity around him, as if they were irrelevant, as if the universe had decided that they were too much a distraction from the task at hand. For the briefest of seconds, even his friend's faces became a blur, the look of confusion on Setsuna's face and the horror on Tenko and Himiko's faces.
That didn't stop how he felt, in that moment. In fact, it only added to it. How the hairs on the back of his neck rose up, how a lump formed at the back of his throat as he took a deep breath in. Izuku could have sworn that he could practically feel the blood rushing through his veins, feel the throb of his own heartbeat ringing in his ears. Such was the gravity of what had been said, the enormity of what the Doctor was offering him. The past, the future, all collided into one… with the truth.
"All For One… its legacy awaits you."
You've always known, Izuku. This… is your true power.
Izuku could never lie and say that he had never wanted to learn. Wonder was perhaps the wrong word to describe it, for he would never forget what he had seen that day, and wonder was not the word he wanted to use to describe the man who had laid down his own life to put an end to the Symbol of Peace. But Izuku had lived with such knowledge, knowledge nobody except his mother and Tenko and later on Setsuna had been privy to, knowledge of what had happened in the dust and the aftermath. For weeks after, Izuku had woken up in cold sweats, the phantom feeling of the villain's blood trickling down his throat enough to make him cough and gag even long after the ferrous taste had left him. The face of the villain drawing his last breath as he promised Izuku his power… he had been such a scared little boy that to be haunted by such a sight was inevitable.
Then his Quirk had developed, or at least, what he assumed had been his Quirk. Air Force… Izuku hadn't known anything but joy when he finally developed, the realisation that he may be something more than how others had defined him. That illusion had been shattered years later by the Yakuza, by Toya Setsuno and the Quirk Izuku now commanded as if he had used it his whole life. The image in his head had resurfaced again, knowing full well where his power had come from all those years ago and it had been enough to drive Izuku into trying to find answers, combing for any trace of an answer wherever he could look. The Quirk that had the power to do drastic things to another person, that could give him untold and unlimited power… even if he wasn't about to let it get in the way of his future, Izuku had wanted to know more.
No matter where he trawled, however, there was so little of note. The information released about Incident Zero by the Hero Commission after their investigation had been sparse, and Izuku had grown up with conspiracy theorists claiming that the Commission had something to hide over this, as if All Might's existence outside their fold would have ever been considered a negative by the Hero Commission. The fact there was so little was of no reassurance to anyone, not least of all Izuku; nobody knew the name of the villain, or his affiliation, or where he had come from. All Izuku had found were whispers on the wind, rumours that sounded almost like children's stories, of a man from the beginning of Quirks who held a hundred Quirks in the palms of his hands….
Izuku hadn't dared pry further into that ghost story, in case it drew any attention to him, and with UA on the horizon, there had been other things to worry about. Until today, anyway.
Now, the man who had shattered his dreams all those years ago and diagnosed his Quirklessness had shattered his reality once again. Now, standing in the rubble of the Ruins Zone of the USJ, his secret was out to Himiko, but it was also out to himself. The one thing he had never known, the question that had nagged at him inside, the thread that he had never wanted to pull… had been unravelled before his eyes. And he had a name now, a name for the blessing and curse he had been given all those years ago…
Say it again, Izuku.
"All For One…" The words rolled off his tongue like they came from a foreign language. "... Why do you call it a legacy?"
"What more appropriate word could there be to describe it?" The phantom identified as Kurogiri had the most terrible yellow eyes, the sort of things Izuku would have imagined lurking in the darkest pits of nightmares, and they almost appeared to scrunch in amusement as he answered. "A Quirk that holds power over all other Quirks, a power which can remove a Quirk at its source and wield even the most complex like it was its birthright to do so … it is commanding. The alpha of all Quirks."
"An apex predator would perhaps be a better explanation." The Doctor's hand remained outstretched, unwavering. "At the risk of grossly over-simplifying thousands of years of research into the natural order, an apex predator exists to sit atop the pyramid, the unquestioned king. Without it, the whole system spirals out of control, populations running unchecked with inferior creatures at the top, all vying for their own domination. And we live in a world where the more time passes, the more Quirks strengthen, until future generations live with powers that run rampant and consume us all."
"The Quirk Singularity…" Kurogiri uttered, and the words sent a chill up Izuku's spine; they sounded so familiar, and so ominous. "Something to be avoided at all costs."
"I rather hoped that I would be proven wrong when I wrote it. That the balance would shift, and that the theory would not keep such longevity. The Master… he brought the balance that we needed, through the use of All For One." The Doctor sniffed, approvingly. "All For One… commands Quirks. And you command it. You can stop the rot."
"By using fear as a weapon?" Izuku didn't realise he had opened his mouth until he said it. "By forcing people to be afraid that I may take their Quirk? In what world is that okay?! That's theft-"
"The original sin. A genetic echo, an act which has never gone away and will never go away." Garaki's goggles were trained so sharply on Izuku that he almost felt pierced by the old man's gaze. "Tell me, Izuku. Is all theft bad?"
"H-Huh?" Izuku stuttered briefly, as the question caught him off-guard for how blunt it was. "What do you-"
"It's a simple enough question, isn't it?" Kurogiri's voice hadn't lost the slightly amused tone it had carried the whole way since his arrival into the USJ. "Is all theft bad?"
"Please, you two idiots can't seriously be doing this. This is exactly the sort of philosophical bullshit I'd expect from the boss before the cutscene ends, the same self-justification." Tenko's bitter reply jolted Izuku from his confusion. "You're talking about encouraging Izuku to go out and take people's Quirks from them. Robbing them of something that makes them who they are-"
"You said to me earlier that a vestige of someone's Quirk can remain," Setsuna added, backing up her partner. "That's like saying you take part of someone's soul with you. Kinda doesn't compare to some starving kid taking food to survive. And you want Izuku to walk outta here with you and start doing that shit for a past-time?"
"Necessity is the mother of all invention." The Doctor barked a laugh out, and Izuku was briefly distracted by how his moustache twitched as he did so. "Look around you, children. This world… is crumbling to pieces as it is. You would have Izuku hold back on his true calling, to command and to take, when it is so fundamentally broken around you?"
"The world was broken before Incident Zero, old man," Himiko said, glaring daggers right through the Doctor. "I've lived for nowhere near as long as you have, and I know that. You even called your boss the Symbol of Evil when you talked about him, and you want Izuku to become that? How does that make anything right?"
"It makes things right by placing the power exactly where it deserves to be, rather than in the hands of lesser beings unfit to rule." The Doctor's cane tapped twice, and it was all Izuku could do to not jump as the Nomu moved too; completely impassive until then, it stamped its own huge foot twice in response. "All For One and All Might were… the pinnacles. Those who we call villains, those who pretend to be Heroes, they submitted. To both, in equal measure. Without either of them around…"
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." There was something syrupy about how Kurogiri said that, finishing the Doctor's sentence. "The Hero Commission grabbed onto the cape of All Might and rode in his wake for years, and now they grab for even a tenth of the influence he had, clutching desperately for control and letting more sands slip through their grasp. And that's just the Heroes."
"We live in a society where I can hire a teenager even younger than you to turn up to fight a bunch of upperclassmen, and he brings his own gun." Doctor Garaki's emphasis on the last part made Izuku shiver, the brief flash of the muzzle of Mustard's pistol appearing in his mind again. "The drug gangs and the brokers can walk around unchallenged. The Yakuza can come crawling out of their sewers, expand their operations, and nobody bats an eyelid even as they hire Heroes to legitimise their false claims to power."
"They tracked you down when they suspected that you were the one who took Toya Setsuno's Quirk," Kurogiri added, the black fog on top of his head flaring. "They have grown so confident that they feel they could kidnap a group of school students in broad daylight. If we had not been following you, and dealt with those you left behind, they would still be onto you, Izuku."
"Before, they knew their place. All For One could keep them where they belonged, because he knew how they ticked, what made them submit so that they wouldn't delude themselves into thinking they deserved more. Now…" The Doctor shrugged. "And they're just the ones you know about. There are threats out there in dark corners, fanatics and tyrants who would never have been brave enough to rise up while All For One was alive. They scheme in backrooms, waiting for their chance to seize what was never theirs."
"And what does society cling to, in its desperation? A murderer, directing his irrational bloodlust at those the mob deem unfit for service?" Kurogiri's arm, all smoke and no substance, formed the shape of a blade for just a second. "Stain is a symptom of a world that needs a guiding hand, now more than ever."
"You think he only goes after Heroes? Man, you only read half his character profile, huh?" Tenko's sardonic tone was biting. "It's not just corrupt Heroes-"
"It's villains, too," Himiko added, fervently, and Izuku was surprised to see how fiercely her yellow eyes shone with pride as she said that. "Going after the Yakuza and the gangs… doing what needs to be done!"
"Oh ho? Extolling the virtues of the Hero Killer? You two, first year students at the most prestigious Hero school the world has ever seen." Garaki fixed a dark look onto Himiko. "Look how far we have fallen that we accept this. The Singularity beckons, and there is only one way to stop it… to restore power to where it truly belongs."
"The world needs the return of All For One, Izuku Midoriya," Kurogiri continued, his tone so deferential. "To rule… it is your destiny."
Izuku swallowed as the Nomu turned to stare at him, and even though the eyes of the beast were so vacant it almost seemed as if Nomu was waiting expectantly for his answer.
You know what he says is true.
He did. As much as he hated the dark thought that crossed his mind, there was no escaping the inescapable. The world had become an entirely different place after Incident Zero. The Heroes were frightened and scared, overreacting as they tried to bring things back to how they were; part of Izuku knew that without All Might, they were fighting against the current. Their struggles had allowed people to surface who were making the world a worse place, and ordinary people were turning their backs on the likes of the Heroes and UA. Izuku saw new graffiti on the outside wall of UA nearly every day, from people angry at the system failing them… but the worst part is that the way the world was going was that Izuku could understand why they felt that way.
Now, he was faced by two people who knew exactly the power he held. What they had done by breaking into UA was awful, and as the Nomu shifted where it stood, it was clear that their actions were beyond any level of villainy Izuku had ever encountered. And yet here they were, talking about him as if the solution was so simple. All he had to do was give up on what he had spent years dreaming of, and become something he had never imagined himself becoming… embracing a destiny he never expected.
Destiny… there was something in that made Izuku pause and think. He was reminded of his Entrance Exam at UA, standing across from Sir Nighteye as the former sidekick to the Symbol of Peace disarmed him with one question. Izuku hadn't been expecting to answer that question, of all things, but the Hero had asked him whether he really thought the future could be changed. With everything that was going wrong in the world… Izuku's answer hadn't changed. Someone had to try to make it better for everyone.
… And wasn't that what he was already trying to do?
You're lying to yourself, Izuku.
Izuku shook his head, in an attempt to banish the treacherous thought from his head, and hoped that his voice would hold steady, wouldn't wobble as he spoke. "I… I know you're right."
"Izuku?" Himiko had faltered slightly as he said that, staring at him in shock. "What do you-"
"There's… so much wrong with the world right now." Izuku closed his eyes, and cut Himiko off, focusing on what he felt. "We… we saw that before. With the Yakuza, and with that villain attack at the train station, and that's just the ones we know about. It's… someone has to do something."
"... And yet?" The Doctor's voice was level, giving nothing away. "You hold back, Izuku, even now."
"... Because it's not right, what you're saying." Izuku opened his eyes, and held the man's implacable gaze. "Just because it's getting worse, it doesn't have to be that way. All For One… I know there's so much more buried within this Quirk, because even as I grew up, I was finding out that I could do more things with powers I didn't know I had. I… can use all of that, here, to help people, to save them, to protect them! Maybe this power could be used for good, rather than to try to claim my own power and turn me into a villain just like him-"
Deep down, you know this isn't true. You know how broken it all is.
Izuku took a breath, mustering the courage he could dredge from the bottom of his heart. "Whatever your old master did when he had this Quirk… he isn't me, and I'm not him-"
"We'll see about that, dear foolish boy." The Doctor's brusque tone cut him off. "You hadn't even told all of your dear friends here, in your inner circle, had you? How many at UA beyond those who are here know what you are capable of?"
"..." Izuku didn't answer. How could he?
"I knew it. These are all the people who know, besides your mother who so kindly allowed you to take her Quirk to blend in better. You cower from the truth, so forgive me when I mention your real calling, Izuku." The Doctor shook his head. "It is far more realistic than the pipe dream you have created for yourself, hiding your Quirk's true potential and yet claiming you could use it for good when you finally reveal it to the world."
"Do you really think they would accept you on this path?" Kurogiri asked, and there was an edge now to his voice, something concerning. "Imagine their surprise when an aspiring Hero reveals to the world that he holds the power of the greatest villain Japan has ever seen. What will they do to you then, Izuku?"
The Doctor's laugh was callous. "Have you seen how cruel this world has become? The world won't care about your intentions if you have been less than honest with them, because all they will see is the lie. They won't let you prove yourself in the way you think you can. But take your place, embrace the role, and All For One will show you a different way! The rule of your hand, taking what you need from those who would dare try to force themselves upon the world… you could even use it to give what you can, if you look at it that way. Nobody would question you then, Izuku."
"If you really want to look at it as if you're saving people, then consider this," Kurogiri mused. "Not becoming what you were meant to be… it dooms people every day that you hold back."
"I-"
You know they're right, Izuku. You know what people will say when the truth is out.
Izuku had opened his mouth to say something, but once again his mind derailed his argument, and to his great shame Izuku couldn't quite find it in himself to overcome that awful thought. He had kept his head down deliberately, because of all the worries that he had held about how his powers would be received, and now he was paying the price. No matter how big his desire to do the right thing was, the desire that had driven him to this stage, the cold fact remained that he had lied about his Quirk in order to be able to get there. Whenever that secret came out now, he was going to lose people, no matter how good his intentions.
"You know, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the decision you had to face, Izuku. I know what this world can be like to those less fortunate." The Doctor tilted his head to the side slightly. "Being Quirkless before… it wasn't easy on you, was it?"
Izuku really hadn't been expecting that question. "W-What do you mean-"
"My boy, I remember you all those years ago. I never forget a face, not when their Quirk interests me, and not when they are Quirkless. Rarer than the old days, of course, but still common enough to be intriguing when I meet them nonetheless." The Nomu chose that moment, alarmingly, to lick its lips besides the Doctor as he spoke. "I have lived a rather long and eventful life, Izuku, under many names. You know that Tsubasa is one of those. And as much as my grandson was an appalling creature, full of spite and cowardice, I remember that he spoke of you. Little did I know at the time that you would come to be of such significance, but I had half an ear open when he talked of the Quirkless one in his class, because of how rare it was to come across one… I suppose some of it must have sunk in."
"Some of what?" Izuku didn't like where this was going at all.
"The stories. The bullies… you followed around that little group even as they tore you down for how you were born. Katsuki Bakugo, wasn't it? The boy with that remarkable Explosion Quirk I assessed all those years ago?" As Izuku stiffened at the use of Bakugo's name, the Doctor chuckled. "So full of fire and arrogance, so obnoxious even at such a young age. Imagine my surprise when I found out that he wasn't part of the intake at UA, and how unsurprised I was when I found out that he was with Endeavor now. Rushing in blindly, breaking the rules, and rising to the top regardless. Really now, Izuku? In what world is that fair, after all he did?"
"You d-don't know what you mean when you say that." Izuku hated people talking about it, because of all the bad memories it dredged up, but he had been put completely on the defensive. "Why would you bring that up-"
"Because it's within your power to right wrongs like this, and yet you would do nothing but become part of the same tired system." The Doctor's answer made him pause. "All Might always used to say that he stood for justice, not soundbites. How infuriating. The everyday injustices of people like Bakugo being celebrated, when in reality they are walking demonstrations of all that is wrong with the world? All Might never did anything to deal with people like that. You, Izuku, could. You could do something to fix it."
All For One… it gives as much as it takes. You could give, Izuku.
"And so we come back to All For One," Kurogiri said, smug. "The one thing in the world that could actually fix the problems we face. And we offer everything we have to help show you the way."
"All those people who suffer because of their Quirklessness, while you carry the power to give them a Quirk and build them up? You could start a revolution, even just with those people looking up to you." Garaki tapped his cane again, and it disturbed Izuku how Nomu stomped in response. "The power to break the villains and put them in their place… the power to neuter those like Bakugo who are a symbol of how broken this world is… the power to give and redress balances, to those worthy of your charity."
The old man's hand, still outstretched after all this time, moved even closer to Izuku. "Tell me, Izuku, my young master! Do you want justice for the world? Then accept All For One as your own, and make it so!"
… You're wavering, Izuku.
He didn't know what had come over him to think that. He… he couldn't. Izuku knew that he couldn't accept using his power in that way. They were asking him to decide people's fate, to cast judgment on who was deserving, to beat the villains at their own games rather than stopping them in their tracks. Everything they said about the use of All For One sounded like all of the reasons why he was so hesitant to use his own Quirk, as it was intended.
… He just didn't know why part of him had latched onto the idea of helping those who had suffered by taking down those who had wronged them, and wouldn't let go.
"Izuku." He was shaken by Himiko's voice beside him, and when he turned to see her it was alarming that her face was so pale. Normally whatever emotion she was experiencing, her cheeks would flush a little, but the fact that she was nearly white as she spoke… he could tell she was scared. "You… are you okay?"
"I…" There was only one thing that Izuku knew right there, in that moment, as internally he struggled to let go of things which would have sounded so horrible a day before. "... I don't know."
"Izu…" Her eyes trembled as they met his. "Do you know what makes someone a Hero?"
"Doctor…" Kurogiri cut across her, sounding a little cautious. "Should we be allowing the children their say-"
"They're his inner circle, Kurogiri. They have a right to have input into this. And besides…" The Doctor leaned backwards against the bulk of Nomu for support, watching impassively. "This is the first test for the young master."
"I…" Izuku had filtered them out, eyes only for Himiko. "I don't-"
"It's what's in here, isn't it?" Himiko reached out to poke him in the chest, and the briefest bit of colour came to her face. "You have the biggest heart of anyone I've met, Izu. You're the whole reason I'm here, trying to be a Hero, because you were the first person to build me up and tell me I could do it if I wanted to."
"Himiko… I never thought anything else about you-"
"I know. And that's why you really can be a true Hero. These guys talk about making a real difference to the world... " Himiko's eyes glistened slightly, and Izuku was startled to see a tear. "The more I grew by your side, the more I realised you're the first person who might actually be able to do that. The right way… not their way."
She's naive-
"She's right." Setsuna calling out to him made him turn his head in the opposite direction. "Look, I suck at the emotional shit, so I'm not gonna do it. And I don't have to tell you that Auntie Inko will kick your ass if you give up on everything you ever dreamed about for these two idiots, because-"
"I know she would." Even despite their situation, Izuku couldn't help but laugh a little, shakily. "Thanks, Set-"
"For real though, everyone here rallied behind you, idiot. You're the one they look up to. You want what he's offering you?" Setsuna jerked a thumb at the Doctor. "You want to prove all the people who messed with you when you were a kid wrong? To achieve your dreams, kick the ass out of the world and bring about the right change? You can already do that, without him. Whatever he says about a legacy… it isn't your legacy, Zuzu."
"Foolish, the pair of you... " The Doctor shook his head in bemusement. "You don't know anything of the power of All For One."
"You don't think we do?"
Izuku had not expected that response. "T-Tenko?"
His best friend's response was to reach out, and hold out his own ungloved hand, one pinky pointing to the floor. "Use your Quirk on me."
"W-What?!" Izuku hadn't been expecting that. "You want me t-to take-"
"No! Idiot! I know these sorta cutscenes usually give you some shitty response choices, but not that!" Tenko's red eyes bore right through him. "You know the one I mean. Remember all those years ago? When you saw… what happened to me?"
"Doctor, I really think-"
"It has to be his choice, Kurogiri. He might hang himself with it, but we give him the rope all the same."
"Tenko…" Izuku hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"You think I'd say if I wasn't?" Tenko's fingers wiggled slightly. "I don't know how you did it before… but make it work, okay?"
Izuku paused, looking for signs of what his friend was planning and seeing nothing in his face. This was Tenko, though, his best friend since all those years ago. Izuku knew that whatever his friend was planning, he had to trust him, and so he reached out, picturing the way that the black and red energy produced by All For One crackled across his palm and trying not to celebrate as it sparked up. Now, all he had to do was focus his Quirk, and dig deep into the one he had used by accident all that time ago, the invasive memory Quirk he hadn't used since…
Understand.
There was a noise like twigs snapping, and a feeling like ice-cold water pouring down his back, and Izuku's vision faded to black for a second, before the memories came flooding to the front of his vision...
Agony.
It was all he could feel. Not physical, by any stretch of the imagination, because nothing was broken, but he could feel his stomach like a yawning pit, feel emotions dragging down his heart like the weight of an anchor into the depths below. There was dust and grime all over his tattered clothes, and it was hard not to dwell on how that had come to be. Impossible, even, given the feeling of dried blood on his skin which stained his hands and caked the underside of his fingernails.
The last traces of his family.
It had been a day since it happened. The eyes of the town, the country, the world, were all elsewhere. Somewhere across town, All Might had taken his last breath, beaten by a villain who fell shortly after, and the devastation it had caused… people were mourning their fallen idol, and their families too, caught in the crossfire. He was just another piece of driftwood lost in that sea of anguish, someone else who had lost everything. Only his loss had been at his own hands, and only now were the faces of his family not frightening him at every turn, appearing in every window he walked past.
Mother… Father... Hana. All gone. He was all that was left. The forgotten one.
Nobody looked down to him, as he crouched there, a shivering wreck among the hustle and bustle. Nobody had paid any attention to his sobbing, or stopped in their tracks as they went right past him bawling his eyes out. He was a boy, alone, no family with him, and yet they left him be. Abandoned, nowhere to go home, and lost without a trace in a frightening new world. He was almost running out of tears.
"Hey…"
Somehow above the hubbub of the street around them, the boy's voice cut through everything, the voice of a child with nothing but empathy and a desire to help.
"Who are you?" The vision of the world had been in dull sepia, but the newcomer was not, standing out amongst everything. Green hair, green eyes, and the faintest trace of dampness to his cheeks, as if he had been crying too. This boy was a complete NPC, younger than everyone else around them, and yet he was the only one who had noticed, the only one who seemed to care. A stranger, in strange times.
He took in the boy's face, scared at finally being under someone's scrutiny, all too aware that the boy might take one look at the blood or the raw bruises around his neck and run a mile. None of that came to pass; the genuine concern in the boy's vibrant green eyes was enough to get him to drop his guard, wiping his face to clear the tears a little. This kid was only a couple of years younger than him, and no matter how much everything inside him hurt… something about his face made him want to clear the tears away.
"Tenko…" He hated how his voice cracked and crumbled in the middle of his own name, as if the emotional weight crushing him meant he was struggling to even speak. He swallowed, and surged on, determined not to break eye contact with the boy who had come to his aid when nobody else had. "My name is Tenko…"
The boy in front of him could see everything. He could see the marks on his pale skin, the grime that caked him, the blood on his hands that had dried into concerning mottling; he must have smelled and looked awful. And yet, despite all of that, the boy's response was to smile, and Tenko… was blinded. Even despite the clear signs that the other boy had been crying himself, he actually believed his smile, so pure and so genuine. If life had been one of the shows he loved watching, bright light would have shone behind the boy like a halo.
The boy stretched out a hand, and smiled at him. "I'm Izuku."
People had always said that All Might could save people with just a smile. He was starting to see how that was possible, with the way Izuku smiled at him. This boy, a complete stranger, could be a hero to him, and he wanted to take his hand…
For a moment he held back, the image of cracking skin and the crumbling corpse of those who brought him into this world bubbling up from under the surface of his emotions, but one look in the boy's eyes was enough to defeat that. To make him want to overcome. And so, with a little hesitancy as he made sure to hold out his pinky finger and prevent it from sealing his new friend's fate, he reached out and took the hand that was offered to him. "Nice to meet you…."
That was it, he realised. The warmth he felt as Izuku shook his hand, the warmth travelling up his arm and into his chest from the contact by the first person who had wanted to make sure he was okay. The feeling of weight lifting in his chest, as Izuku let go and moved to his side, shuffling around to crouch down and sit on the floor beside him. Izuku wanted to be there for him and listen, to help him, to pick him up and not leave him behind. It wasn't just the look of someone playing the hero, who thought it was what they should do… his new friend wanted to help him.
This boy… was a friend. And right now, it was all Tenko could do to not cry tears of happiness instead at finding a friend.
His new friend Izuku sat beside him, and right there in that moment, there was nothing more important to Tenko than having someone there to listen. "So… why are you crying?"
A jolt of energy roused Izuku, and the world around him seemed to slam back into existence, Tenko bouncing away from him slightly as the sparks of Izuku's Quirk died within his palms. For a moment, Izuku was stunned, the ringing feeling in his skull secondary to what he had just seen and felt from the use of Flashback. "Tenko… that-"
"The first time we ever met. Yeah." Tenko grinned a little, despite their situation. "I guess the NPC you use the Quirk on gets to influence what the Quirk lets you see, huh?"
"You…" Izuku felt something stir inside him, as he stared at Tenko and finally realised what he was getting at. "We've come a long way since then, haven't we?"
"Yeah, you've got that right." Tenko pounded his fist against his chest. "That day was the worst day of my life, and the rest of the world just treated me like trash. Nobody cared about what happened to me- I was just some needless side quest that wasn't important to them. But not to you… of all the people in the world, you came along and added me to your party. And now here I am, acting like I belong in the halls at UA, all because of you."
"You… you don't think you'd have made it without me? Without you I'd never have had the confidence to make it here-"
"Yeah, we trained together, I get it, listen. This is about you right now, Izuku." Tenko stared right at him, and what struck Izuku was that he almost missed the way Tenko's eyes blinked twice; there was so much emotion in his voice when he spoke next that it cracked. "If it wasn't for me liking your cousin, which would make it kinda weird… I'd call you my little brother. And if there's one thing I know about my little brother, more than anyone else, it's that he would never give up on trying to make the world a better place, and doing the right thing."
"Ten…"
"Who gives a shit about some legacy? I don't care if everything he says is true, and you've hit all the unlock requirements for the dark-alignment route." Tenko turned away from Izuku, and glared defiantly at the Doctor and Kurogiri. "You've been a Hero since day one, Izuku. And don't you dare forget that."
This is a mistake, Izuku. You are doomed to fail, this way.
Izuku heard his darkest thoughts, the nagging feeling in the corner of his mind that things would go wrong, and refused to listen. He was still in danger this way, and he would be for some time. He didn't know what the consequences of rejecting Doctor Garaki's offer would be, both here and now and for his future, and he still didn't know what reactions he would get the more people he told in future. All he knew, under the floodlights of the USJ, no matter what revelations had been thrown his way about the nature of his Quirk…
… was that he couldn't let his friends down. Not when they'd put so much of their faith into him.
"I…" Izuku took several steps backwards away from the Doctor, his friends following his move. "... can't."
"Hmm?" The Doctor moved his hand back to cup his ear, looking strangely benign; for a moment, it was easy to forget that standing before Izuku was a villain who had organised an entire raid on a school. "I didn't quite catch that, Izuku?"
"I can't." Izuku steeled his voice, and willed some energy into his palms; even if the use of Flashback had been painful at the time, it gave him some comfort to feel energy crackling in his palms. Whether or not it was All For One itself, Air Force, or something else entirely, Izuku just needed the adrenaline to stand tall in the face of the villain. "I can't and I won't! Whatever you think about how futile it may be to do things this way, however your old master used to use this power… I'm not him! I will save people, and I will make things better for everyone, the right way!"
"That's my boy." Setsuna laughed out loud, but there was an unmistakable look of pride on her face. "Never in doubt, cuz."
"We're right with you, Izu," Himiko added, the colour returning to her face out of relief. "All the way!"
"We shouldn't have let them say their piece, Doctor." Kurogiri sounded disappointed, more than angry. "Of course the boy would listen to them."
"A necessity that he heard from them, I'm afraid. A shame, but still within my calculations. Not every test succeeds on the first attempt." The Doctor laughed to himself, briefly. "You really buy it? Everything they've been selling. You'll never be truly free, Izuku, and the more you hide, the more you'll fall when the truth eventually comes out."
"Maybe. But All Might always used to say that actions speak louder than words sometimes." Izuku felt a spark of energy on his fingertips, and smiled for the first time in a while. "Whatever it takes."
"That's seriously your response? Greatness is thrust upon you in a one in a million chance, and you shun it in blind hope that you will be accepted? How pathetic." The Doctor's tone hadn't changed at all from how he had been earlier, still affable and polite, but it didn't match the venom in his words. "And these are the ones you choose over your destiny? A walking Nomu in the making, an orphan girl who sings the praises of Stain, and the last surviving member of the Shimura family? It's rather tragic, when you look at it that way."
"I kinda feel I don't live up to much," Tenko said to Izuku, some sarcasm creeping into his voice, "when he describes us all that way."
"Rest assured, you interest me too, Shimura." The Doctor's voice changed, and Izuku was taken aback by how cruel he sounded for a second. "Let me give you a history lesson nobody else could. The day the Master came to Musutafu? The day he fought All Might? He was coming for your family."
"... What." Tenko had been stood in a fighting stance, but that revelation clearly stunned him as his arms slumped slightly. "How… why would he-"
"A small mercy, perhaps, that you killed them rather than he did. You would have given them a swifter death." The Doctor's tone returned to its usual cheery tone. "Still, that story is a distraction. One for another time, perhaps."
"... Okay, I wanna kill this guy." Tenko's fingers curled and uncurled, and the look of fury he shot at the villains was enough to alarm even Izuku. "Anyone else?"
"You're in luck. We're sticking around, actually. Why else do you think we brought Nomu along?" The Doctor patted the arm of the hulking creature. "Did you think we'd ask once and politely part ways? We have a duty to ensure that All For One prevails, and is in the right hands. Consider Nomu… our insurance policy."
"Even if you aren't willing to come to us now," Kurogiri added, as Nomu took one lurching step forwards, "we will return, and you will learn, in time. Either you will reach your full power… or you will be destroyed, an unworthy heir to All For One."
"You surprise me, Doc," Setsuna replied drily. "You could literally warp out of here right now and announce Izuku's Quirk to the world, but you want us to scrap with your pet. Even when we beat Nomu, you could-"
"When? Oh, even if you surprise me, I won't be telling anyone the truth about Izuku. Why would I?" The Doctor slid his goggles up onto his forehead, and the twinkle in his eyes was quite disturbing to see. "I want him to acknowledge who he is, and make the legacy his own. As much fun as it would be to publicly declare you the Master's successor, you would resent me forever after, Izuku. No, this is our little secret, and in the meantime…"
Boost.
"You get to see how impressive my Nomu can be. I hope you like him." There was a tear in the corner of the Doctor's eye. "There's plenty more where he came from."
Boost.
"GREEEEGH!"
"Nomu… charge."
"AIR FORCE… SMASH!"
Izuku had been charging his attack even as the Doctor finished speaking, concentrating less on speaking and more on building up the reserves of power in his arms. Air Force was the most powerful Quirk at his disposal, and the second the old man mentioned Nomu becoming involved, Izuku knew he had to prepare for the attack at any moment. The result was the most powerful blast he had shot from a single arm, concentrated into his right palm and shot out like a sonic boom at the creature. The frail old Doctor was thrown to the floor unceremoniously, Kurogiri taking a tumble backwards before righting himself, and even Izuku's friends had to brace themselves against the force of the blast…
Which glanced off the Nomu as if it were a mild breeze.
"Huh?" Izuku began trying to charge up another blast in his arms again, temporarily stunned as the creature shrugged off the blast and kept running. "What… that blast did nothing!"
"Oh, you'll have to do better than that, Izuku!" The Doctor pulled himself off of the floor and forced his goggles down over his eyes, laughing to himself. "I wasn't joking when I said he could probably have handled himself against All Might, you know. Air Cannon was always the Master's favourite… so Shock Absorption may come as a nasty surprise."
A deliberate counter…
"Shock Absorption…" Izuku felt the power welling up inside his left arm now. "Then I'll just wear him down! SMASH-"
"Kurogiri!"
If Izuku had been hoping to see the impact of the second blast on Nomu, he didn't get a chance. As he swung his left arm forward like he was volleying a ball back at the Nomu, Kurogiri's black smoke billowed and sprung into action. While Nomu's path remained unobstructed, Kurogiri's foggy portals emerged on either side of him, the shock wave of Air Force passing through the portal. A split second later, Izuku got to realise where it had gone when he and his friends were smacked in the back by the force of his own Smash, turned into a devastating counter-attack by Kurogiri that laid them all onto the floor…
Into the path of the oncoming brute.
"Izuku!"
"RUUUUR!"
Time slowed for the most agonising of seconds around Izuku, as the creature leaped into the air on its powerful legs and raised both fists above its head; for a brief and hideous moment, Izuku was reminded of the first time All Might ever used a Carolina Smash on a villain from how Nomu was holding its arms. There was nowhere for Izuku to run and get out of the way of its attack, not at the speed Nomu had launched itself at him, and all he could do was dig deep into his Quirk, and hope that the technique first used against Setsuna and Tokoyami would come to his aid.
Impact-
"Hyaah!" Somehow, despite having been knocked to the floor with the rest of them, Himiko's superior agility had got her off the floor in time to be able to leap into the path of Nomu and intercept. Even though she wasn't wearing her costume, Himiko had somehow managed to stow some blades underneath her gym uniform, and Izuku couldn't have been more relieved that his rebellious girlfriend had broken the rules, a knife stabbing into Nomu's left shoulder to the hilt. "No! You leave..."
"MREEGH!"
As Nomu made a noise somewhere between pain and confusion, Himiko clung onto the knife and crashed into the monster's chest, wrapping her legs as best as she could around the thick torso and making Nomu stagger backwards. It was only then that Izuku saw her draw back her other arm, saw the glint of steel in that hand too, and realised what she was planning as she stabbed down… aiming for the head, and Nomu's exposed brain which seemed to glisten with some sickly fluid. "My Izuku alone!"
Too slow.
To Izuku's horror, the right arm of the beast rose up, and Nomu caught Himiko's arm by the wrist, stopping dead the downwards stab. What was even worse was the crack that happened next, Himiko's wrist breaking under the force of the grab and the knife clattering to the floor; Izuku didn't know how she hadn't screamed out loud, and the shade of white she had gone was awful. "Let her go!"
"Whoever trained you into the best fighter in the group... " Kurogiri laughed malevolently, as Nomu's eyes fixed themselves onto Himiko. "Didn't do enough. Nomu? Deal with her."
Crack.
It was all Izuku could do not to scream as Nomu's head blurred, jolting forward to headbutt Himiko right between the eyes; there was nothing he could have done at the speed it moved to protect her, and as she slumped unconscious from the force of the impact, Izuku's priority as he rose was to leap in the direction that Nomu threw her unconscious form, catching her before she hit the ground and did any more damage. "Himiko!"
"Himi!" Setsuna and Tenko caught up to him a second after, Setsuna cradling her head to check she was alright. "She's… she's still breathing-"
"Frankly, I'm impressed," the Doctor called out, pulling himself to his feet with Kurogiri's aid and taunting them from behind Nomu, who appeared to be struggling to remove the knife from its shoulder. "Her durability is impressive, given the strength enhancers Nomu currently holds within him. Lesser trained friends of yours could have died, Izuku."
"We can't take that chance with her." Tenko had crouched down, lowering his voice so the Doctor couldn't hear. "We need to get her out of here, now. In case she's injured worse than we think-"
"I don't think he's gonna let us out of here just like that, Ten." Setsuna glared over at the Doctor, who appeared to be reaching for his cane and picking it up. "You missed the part where his friend warps us back to where we were standing. Or the part where the Doc really wants to make sure he gets his hands on Izuku-"
"He does." Izuku surprised himself by how blunt he was when he said that, and clearly from how Setsuna reacted, he had surprised her too. "But he doesn't want you two. One of you should go and get her out of here. We can… buy enough time as a distraction to create an escape route."
"I'm glad you didn't just try to say we should both go," Tenko muttered, "or I would have to slap some sense into you."
"No, I… I don't think I can face that thing alone. But we have to make sure she gets out of here, so…"
"I'll do it." Setsuna's lack of hesitation made him whip his head to her. "Let's face it, Lizard Tail Splitter isn't gonna do much against something like Nomu. Worst I can do is shoot a load of fingers into his brain, and that's probably just gonna piss him off."
"You…" For a moment, Tenko looked torn at the thought of his girlfriend becoming a target by trying to flee with Himiko, before the sense of what she had just said made him nod his head begrudgingly. "I wanna argue, but you have a point."
"You actually admitted it? Wow, these really are desperate times." Setsuna lifted Himiko up into her arms like she was carrying a bride, and nodded to Izuku. "Cover me well, okay? I can only run so fast while I carry her."
"I… I don't think you should run." Izuku looked away from her, up towards the roof of the USJ, and his attention was drawn to a shattered lighting rig that had been caught by the blast, nearly completely destroyed. Inspiration dawned, at just the same time as his Quirk began to spark up in his arms again, readying Air Force once more. "I'll buy you an opening, okay?"
Madness to even think this will work-
"..." Setsuna read his face, followed his gaze, and laughed under her breath at the absurdity of it. "You're crazy, cuz. Can tell we're related. Fine. I've never tried while carrying someone else, but no time like the present right?"
"Huh." Tenko scratched his chin with one finger, before readying himself in a fighting stance. "You two really did come up with a combo move after all. Fine. Let's do this. And let's hope your DPS combos well enough with mine in the end, hey Zu?"
"Right…" Izuku turned back towards the Doctor, and somehow found it in himself to shout at the old man, even as the pressure built in his arms and something felt like it wanted to burst in his nose. "You say you want me to follow in your master's footsteps, and yet you're attacking my friends! Did you think that would really convince me to change my mind?"
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to, Izuku! She was interrupting your trial, I couldn't have her…" The Doctor trailed off at the sight of Setsuna holding onto Himiko, bending her knees as if preparing to sprint; in the brief silence as he processed this, the only noise was the sound of squelching flesh, as Nomu tore the knife from its shoulder and flung it away. "What the-"
"Setsuna…" Izuku raised his arms, one pointed squarely at Kurogiri and the other towards the roof. "NOW!"
As Izuku let loose, chaos unfolded. The Doctor had managed to see the attack coming, and position himself behind the Nomu as a Quirk-proof shield in an attempt to avoid the worst of the blast sent at him and Kurogiri from Izuku's left arm; a stray burst of wind managed to escape between Nomu's planted legs, however, and with a squawk the old man ragdolled to the floor. Kurogiri had taken the brunt of the attack, sent skidding across the ground, and that was just the first part of Izuku's plan.
As Setsuna's body split into a number of pieces, her torso and arms remaining intact to latch onto Himiko, she launched herself airborne in the wake of Izuku's second attack. For a brief second, Izuku had worried that he would time it incorrectly and that they wouldn't be in sync, or that his aim wouldn't hold true, but to his immense relief he hadn't wavered, and he had timed it to perfection. The air blast struck true against the already damaged lighting rig, and with the damage it had already sustained from his earlier blast, Izuku's second attack punched right through, ripping through the roof of the USJ above the Ruins Zone and creating a hole to the outside world…
And in the wake of his attack, Setsuna followed, levitating all of her pieces towards the outside world with Himiko tucked safely into her arms. "WOOHOO! Combo perfection, baby!"
"You're kidding…" Tenko had seen Setsuna levitate parts of herself on numerous occasions before, not least because he was the usual target of her pranks. He'd seen Setsuna take her own head off, or even float her whole upper body into the air, but all of her pieces were now airborne, and shooting straight towards the gap. "She flies now?"
"She flies now," Izuku confirmed, struggling to contain the giddy relief at seeing her master a move that could send her and Himiko to safety. "Go, Setsuna!"
"Escape?!" Somehow, this seemed to be the first thing that had rattled the Doctor, the old man panting as he clung onto his cane to haul himself back onto his feet. "Kurogiri! Do something!"
"A bold move…" Kurogiri hauled himself onto his smokey hands and legs, wisps of black beginning to curl around the cuffs of his shirt and around the top of his head. "But it's impolite to leave in the middle of our test."
"Kurogiri… pull them down!"
"With pleasure!" The spectre's head billowed and like a corrupted form of St Elmo's Fire, the black smog began to form in the gap, Setsuna gasping out loud as Kurogiri began to form a portal in her path to block their only exit. "I'll bring you back down to earth to face your fate!"
Izuku's eyes widened at the sight, Setsuna rushing headlong towards the hole Izuku had created and not changing course, in the hope that she could outrun Kurogiri and get out before his portal closed off their only chance at getting Himiko clear. Their speed in being able to create an opening to exploit looked like it would all be for nothing, if Kurogiri succeeded, and that would put Himiko back into danger again, hampering how much he and Tenko could let loose against Nomu while their injured friend remained at risk. Even if Air Force couldn't charge enough in time to do something to help, there had to be something he could do to help Setsuna, to stop Kurogiri from creating his portal in time. Even if his main Quirk was in need of a recharge, his other Quirks...
No. Realisation hit Izuku like an oncoming train, as Setsuna yelled out above him in a panic and as a smoke cloud gathered next to Kurogiri, the intended end of his portal to trap. His main Quirk… wasn't Air Force.
No… Izuku. You don't know what you're doing-
Izuku's eyes flicked down to his hands, to the sparks of red and black, and then to Kurogiri across the ground. He had only ever done it once before on purpose, and the ethics of whether or not he should screamed at him; there was no way this compared to his mother's gift. But in the split second as Kurogiri's head flared upwards, the smoke he had created looking like it was about to explode like a firework… Izuku knew. Right now his friends were in danger, against a villain who could counter their every move to flee, a villain who had threatened their whole class and could summon more reinforcements in the blink of an eye…
Izuku couldn't afford to hesitate any more.
"You leave them ALONE!"
As Izuku's hand stretched out towards Kurogiri, the black sparks changed for a split second, and what appeared to be black tendrils shot out of the end of his fingertips, lancing through the air towards the villain like lightning to a rod. It happened so fast that Kurogiri couldn't move, his yellow eyes briefly widening in shock as the tendrils came towards him, before they made contact with the smoke around his neck-
Noise. So much white noise. Like static in Izuku's head, drowning out everything around him for the split second of contact. The sheer pain it caused him seemed to drill right through his skull, making him grit his teeth in order to not break off the connection immediately. It had never been like this, not with his mother or on the times it triggered accidentally, and for a moment Izuku thought something had gone horribly wrong, several strands seeming to slip through his grasp as he visualised Kurogiri's portal. Was there… more to Kurogiri, somehow?
And then… then he felt the tug of some invisible line, a phantom pull amidst the smoke. Just like he had when he had done this before.
Izuku pulled.
Several things happened in that moment. Something hit Izuku's gut like a sucker punch, launching him backwards to collapse on the floor in a heap, and Kurogiri let out a groan before falling face-first onto the floor. The portal which had begun to flare like a firework above fizzled and died, a singular cloud of purple smoke dissipating around one of Setsuna's outlying pieces; as the small piece of Setsuna which had been formed courtesy of Lizard Tail Splitter flopped to the ground beside Kurogiri and the Doctor, Setsuna let out a yell and flew on forward.
She and Himiko had made it… they were safe. Kurogiri couldn't warp them.
Izuku… what have you done?
"Kurogiri, what happened?" The Doctor appeared to have completely missed Izuku's attack somehow, reaching to the floor; to Izuku's horror, he had picked up the piece of Setsuna left behind by her Quirk, and pocketed it within his white coat. "You're letting his friends get away-"
"Kyudai… I c-can't." The man of shadows stuttered as he spoke, for the first time since his arrival, and there was something strained in his voice now, as if he was being crushed underneath some enormous weight. "The boy… he…"
"You…" The Doctor appeared to stop dead in his tracks. "... Oh, no. He… Izuku, you didn't."
"You took his Quirk... " Tenko's mouth hung open for just a second. "Then how is he still like that? Still, you know… smokey?"
"I don't know." Izuku finally felt enough air come back into his lungs to speak after the impact temporarily floored him, and he called to the Doctor. "I didn't want to do this-"
"Do what? My boy, you don't have a clue what you've done, do you?" The Doctor sounded furious now, his kindly facade a distant memory. "After all that went into him… this is how you treat one of the master's most faithful companions?"
"How much…" Izuku finally connected the dots of what he felt, before he felt the pull of the thread. "You… you gave him more than one Quirk too?"
"Our e-escape route is compromised." Kurogiri sounded in pain, and he staggered as he tried to stand upright, ignoring Izuku's question. "They will summon the school here. I f-failed you. I'm so sorry-"
"Relax, old friend. We still have Johnny. You haven't failed anyone." It was bizarre how soothing the Doctor sounded as he spoke to Kurogiri, even as his moustache trembled with barely concealed anger. "I will do whatever I can to fix this."
"I… thank you." Kurogiri appeared to give up, remaining on his knees at the Doctor's side. "I am grateful, as e-ever."
"I know. But first… I will make him pay for what he's done to you." The Doctor's cane banged twice against the floor, echoing out around the Ruins Zone as it bounced off nearby buildings. "Izuku Midoriya. I came here to test you, to prepare you for greatness, and this is how you repay me?"
"You wanted to hurt my friends…" Izuku was surprised how much his composure held up, as he pulled himself upright alongside Tenko. "I didn't have a choice!"
"Such childish rebellion… if you are not prepared to accept what it means to hold All For One, then I will take it back, until someone more appropriate can wield it." The Doctor stepped backwards, away from Nomu. "I gave you a choice, Izuku. Remember that, before the end."
"Before the end, huh?" As Izuku drew willpower from depths he didn't know he possessed to begin charging up Air Force again, Tenko's words caught his attention, and the sight of his blue-haired friend at his side gave Izuku an adrenaline rush he so desperately needed. "Boss fight time. Ready to go down swinging, Izu?"
Izuku looked across at their monstrous opponent, an unstoppable force of muscle and unknown Quirks ready to pounce, and then back to his best friend, with nothing but a determined nod. "Together. Let's do this."
"Nomu… leave enough of the boy that I may salvage the legacy. Beyond that…" Doctor Garaki raised his cane, and pointed it straight at Izuku. "Kill them both."
The Nomu shrieked, and its heaven-piercing wail practically bounced off every wall.
(***)
I couldn't just do a fight like this justice in one chapter. Nor could I do Izuku making the hardest choice justice if I tried to combine it in one chapter with the highest-stakes fight of his life. As much as I'm sure some of you will curse the cut-off here, I hope it's understandable at least why I've done this.
How Izuku reacts has been a huge consideration of mine the whole way through planning this, and there is supposed to be some element of irrationality to it because let's face it, he's a kid who has been thrust a load of new information about the reality of his Quirk, and the fact he is now the de facto heir to Japan's greatest ever villain. It wouldn't have felt right for me at this stage to have Izuku drop everything, including his friends… and there will be consequences for that. Trust me. The next two chapters… well, no spoilers from me. All I'll say for now is hopefully Izuku feels in character and the decision makes some semblance of sense, and there's so much more to come.
Anyway, I have a monumental head-cold while editing this, so honestly I apologise if I have missed any errors throughout this. I just wanted to make sure that I got it out to you on time. We're rapidly approaching 2k followers on FF, and nearly 900 reviews, with over 700 kudos on AO3; I cannot be more grateful for what you give me. Thank you.
Please leave a review, because they are what I live for as a part-time author (just don't flame me, I beg of you. If you have nothing constructive to say with your criticism, it costs nothing to move along). But yes, reviews, favourites and followers would all be very much appreciated, and feel free to check out my other works as well.
Ya boy, out.
