Chapter 51: Preparing the Board for the Next Round

Notes:

All right, so while I'm aware way too few of you actually read these Author's Notes, I feel I have to address the issue.

There are not and will not be any additional bonds or any non-bond additions to Izuku's polycule.

I made the joke about a spare bond for Miruko last chapter because I knew a ton of my readers would make that connection. And, of course, I got a deluge of people asking me to add her, some of you jokingly, but a significant number of you seemed serious.

I have to admit that my misery was my own doing that time.

Still, even if I was willing to break the rules I already set up for this fic (I'm not) and I was willing to ignore the 11 year age gap (I'm not, at least not for this fic), I do keep getting this one question...

Shouldn't Izuku have a girl bonded directly to him?

The answer is no. Sure, this is my own homebrew Quirk, but I've established that eight is enough girlfriends.

And if you want an in-universe explanation, if Izuku had a bond connecting directly to him, that would be the only bond he'd have access to.

Here's an analogy I hope works...

Let's say you have a generator. This generator produces energy and has a single electrical outlet. This generator is Izuku with the Bonding Quirk. Imagine that there's a power outlet coming out of Izuku's mouth if that helps.

Let's say you have a bunch of electrical appliances. These are his love interests. They can plug into the generator and get power, but only one of them can do so at a time. You can't use multiple gadgets simultaneously.

But wait! Now, you have a power strip containing eight electrical outlets, each with the face of one of the eight vestiges of One for All! You can plug the power strip into the generator, and power up to eight appliances at once! Sucks if you want a ninth appliance, but what can you do?

So, let's say that this is your situation, and someone wants to charge their phone, and thinks, "Wait, there's nine outlets! The eight in the surge protector and the one in the generator!" So, they unplug the surge protector and plugs their phone in.

And yeah, they've got power to their phone, but to do so, they've just unplugged the refrigerator, the A/C, the microwave, the TV, the lamp, the smoke detector, Grandma's life support, and YOUR phone!

So, I hope this answers the narrative reason there's only eight bonds to your satisfaction. Now, please, PLEASE stop asking about this.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Cannot believe this, utterly irresponsible…" Momo muttered darkly as she paced the halls of the Ennead's shared dormitory floor. As she finished her circuit, she turned to Ochako, "I can see Izu-kun being too starstruck by Miruko to attempt to rein her in, but the fact that you didn't even protest her use of an attack that could have killed our boyfriend…"

Ochako flinched, "I started, but Miruko stopped me before I could say anything. Told me she fought plenty of opponents with armor and stamina quirks and that she could tell how much was too much. She made it abundantly clear that she knew Izu-kun could take what she was dishing out."

"And you were scared of her!" Nejire added.

Looking down at the ground, Ochako murmured, "And I was scared of her…"

Momo sighed, "I suppose that a Pro Hero with a record of combat like Miruko's would be able to judge this sort of thing. Having said that…" she turned her sharp gaze to Izuku, "I don't know why you would wish to subject yourself to more of that."

"Because I need the experience she can provide," Izuku said. "My training up until now was focused entirely on how to access more of my Quirk. I didn't put a comparable effort into making sure I could effectively fight. I've reached a point where simply adding more power isn't going to be necessary for most things, but fighting effectively using lower percentages would be extremely effective."

Momo nodded, "That's a fair assessment, but that still doesn't explain why you need to work with her specifically. There are plenty of other Heroes who could teach you combat. Why go with one who attacked you with lethal force?"

"There's a number of reasons. Primarily, I need someone who has the power to break through Quirks like Shock Absorption, alongside the experience to know how tough someone is and how much force can be used on such an opponent. With the kind of power I can throw around, I'll be the one called in for problems that can't be solved by most Heroes. Therefore, I need to know what it's like to fight opponents in a similar weight class and how to handle them. So, I'm going to need to learn from the upper echelons of Heroes. Someone who has the power to make hits like that, the skill to make hits like that count, and the control to minimize collateral damage. Only Endeavor has a comparable record on that front, and while his skill at training his sidekicks is well known, the fact that he focuses on fire Quirk users pigeonholes him and makes him less useful as a potential mentor. Granted, if it turns out that Miruko's experience doesn't translate into being able to teach effectively, I can find another Hero to work alongside," Izuku said, swiftly descending into muttering.

Momo looked at him, her concern fading as he continued, "Well, distant familial relationship aside, working alongside Endeavor would be a veritable minefield. And you have sound reasoning behind your decision. Very well, but please don't stick with her if you find yourself floundering."

Izuku's eyes widened, glistening lightly, "You… understood that?"

"Izu-kun, we've been classmates, friends, and paramours for months now," Momo said. "While it has been difficult, we have been working on deciphering your muttering, dear."

"She's just the best at it," Yui interjected, causing Momo to blush.

"Um… uh…" Izuku began, unsure of how to continue, until he dropped to one knee, "I, um, I d-don't actually have a promise ring yet, like Occhan gave to me, b-but…"

Momo's blush now took up her entire head as she started to stammer incoherently. Steam was likely to start escaping her ears.

Nejire's squeal alerted the entire building that something was up. It would take over an hour for the chaos to subside.

Izuku was waiting patiently, his nerves running a mile a minute. Miruko had said she would be at U.A.'s gate and that when she arrived, he'd better be ready. As such, he was standing in his Hero costume, Full Cowl going in Invisible Mode at fifteen percent. Enough to be useful, not enough to be destructive.

Search allowed him to track his mentor's movements, letting him see that she was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, until Miruko finally arrived at the exact time she'd indicated, landing in front of Izuku with an impact that shook the ground around them. She looked at him and smirked, "All right, kit. Follow me!" she said, hopping off.

Izuku took off flying after her. He crackled lightly with electricity as he poured One for All into Float, speeding up his flight speed to match the Rabbit Hero. Search and Danger Sense were going off to try and see if there were any villains that they needed to interrupt before reaching their destination. Luckily (or unluckily, if you asked Miruko), nothing within their range required their attention.

Miruko led him to a building that was surrounded by fencing that she jumped right over. Izuku was uncertain, but he followed, as they landed in front of the doors. "All right, brat. I'm renting this building for a song. It's slated to be demolished, so if we tear it to shit, no big whoop. I don't normally stick around in one place often, but when I do, this is how I operate. Or I drop in on another Hero to crash on their couch. Usually Lizardgirl, she's the least likely to throw me out."

Izuku nodded as they entered, "So, that's how you operate without an agency. I know you prefer to head to wherever there's trouble rather than staying in one place, since you prefer to go where the villains congregate the most. But how do you-"

Izuku's nascent muttering was interrupted by Miruko flicking him in the head, "And Scaley told me you were like this. As well as a bunch of other shit. So that fucker in Kamino was the actual goddamn boogeyman?"

"Boogeyman?" Izuku asked.

"The Quirk Thief," Miruko responded. "Tatsuma said he apparently killed All Might's mom."

"Oh, well… yes," Izuku said. "His name is All for One. And, err, Nana-san was more of an unofficial adoptive mother, but…"

Miruko raised an eyebrow, "Got it. So, next question, how the fuck do you still have a fucking Quirk?"

Izuku looked at her, eyes hard, "This doesn't leave this building."

Miruko nodded, "Trust me, brat, I've got secrets that'd turn your hair white."

"Certain quirks are powerful enough that when All for One tries stealing them, it initiates a kind of tug-of-war," Izuku explained. "Either it stops him cold, or, in my case, I yanked a few things out of his grasp."

Miruko barked out a laugh, "Well damn! That's some fucking luck, then! So, to beat this guy's Quirk, how powerful are we talking?"

"All Might and I are the only people alive who've been proven to resist him," Izuku said. "And our Quirks are both ridiculously powerful energy stockpiles."

"Fuck," Miruko said. "Makes your weird grab-bag powers make sense, I suppose. Speaking of which," Miruko punctuated that by kicking Izuku in the stomach.

Danger Sense allowed him enough time to prepare a block and charge Full Cowling to fifty percent, allowing him to keep from getting hurled back as easily. Miruko looked at him appraisingly, "You were more prepared for that than before."

Izuku pulled down his collar, revealing the roiling energy of Blackwhip's body armor coating his skin, "I neglected to use this in our last fight. I was kicking myself afterwards."

"So you prepared this time. Good," Miruko nodded approvingly. "Hell, I was half-expecting that you'd show up in a school uniform and your Hero costume in a case and I'd have to wait on you changing."

"I was… advised against that," Izuku said. All of the vestiges and his girlfriends were adamant that he be prepared at all times for whatever she might throw at him.

"All right, so let's set some ground rules," Miruko said. "You've got power, but you're shit at using it. Right now, we've gotta focus on making you a passable fighter. So, back in the Sports Festival, you only used that lightning-strength and the flying, and you pulled the tentacles outta your ass at the very last minute, right?" At Izuku's nod, Miruko continued, "So you focus on that first and add the extraneous shit once you get good with your base. Flying's too good to pass up, but it's not as useful indoors. So for now, let's begin!"

And with that, she threw another kick.

"So where the fuck are we supposed to go from here?" Dabi growled as they trudged through the middle of nowhere.

Tomura scowled, "Well, Touya, we suffered close to a party wipe, but Sensei used up our last continue. So, now we need to hole up in a safe zone, get our shit together, grind for resources, and figure out our next step."

Dabi grumbled at the use of his old name, "And why should I stay with you?"

"Like it or not, we are notorious, and not in a good way," Canopy stated. "I, for one, have no skills or contacts I can rely on. My master is dead, my compatriots are dead or imprisoned, and our bounties are such that most other criminal groups would rather turn us in than harbor us."

Dabi growled, "How the fuck are you so calm about this?!"

"Oh, make no mistake. My demeanor does not mean that I am unaffected. The fact that Tomura's Sensei killed Overhaul and took his Quirk enrages me," Canopy said serenely. "However, that man is imprisoned and paralyzed, so I consider that wrong avenged. Meanwhile, that child we kidnapped now holds my savior's Quirk and uses it for his own agenda, and he must be horrifically killed for that insult. In that goal, at least, we are still aligned."

Dabi scowled. Unfortunately, there really wasn't a good reason to abandon these two fuckers yet, and he'd burned all his other bridges. Ironic, that. "And why're we trudging along to Bumblefuck? Wasn't your Sensei the king of the underworld?"

"Goddamn Heroes took too many of the places we could hide," Tomura shook his head. "Only one place left to go that'll keep us from getting griefed by them."

Any further comment was interrupted by a buzz from Tomura's burner phone. Tomura looked at it, and his eyes widened. He answered, "Doctor?"

"Where are you?" came the voice of the doctor.

"Middle of nowhere. Why?" Tomura asked.

"Good," he replied, and the three young men began to spew rancid black goo. Within moments, they were delivered, gasping.

The rotund man looked at his master's ward with a smile that could have been mistaken for being kind and grandfatherly, "Ah, Tomura-kun. You've managed to move past your need for your family's hands. Your growth is commendable."

Once he recovered, Tomura said, "Why the fuck did you… wait, this isn't your usual place." He looked around. While there were still tanks containing Nomu, the location wasn't the hospital where the Doctor normally operated. "This is the safe house we were walking to. What the fuck?"

"Not the first time I had to abandon an identity overnight," the Doctor said, shaking his mustachioed head as he dropped the miniscule Nomu he was holding to the floor. "They were gunning for me, so I had to clean up shop and relocate. Cleaned up a little infestation, too…" he gestured to where a man was strapped to a gurney, gagged and looking helplessly.

"The fuck is this guy?" Dabi said.

"Creature Rejection Clan," the Doctor shrugged. "Had a cell of them in here, tried to bargain, but they complained about my creations 'perverting the ideal form of humanity.' Ah well, I need spare parts anyway…"

Tomura nodded, unphased by that, "So the fucking Heroes are onto you?"

The Doctor scowled, "Unfortunately, All Might's brat knew my description and figured out I was working in a hospital. 'Daruma Ujiko' couldn't last there, so I had to clean up the shop. Least I had enough time to clear out my current work…" he lovingly stroked one of the tubes holding a particularly vile-looking Nomu.

"So what is our next step? Find more allies?" Canopy asked.

The Doctor stroked his mustache, "No need. Thankfully, not having a civilian identity frees up my time to do my real work. And collect more raw material." He grinned, "No, there's no need to deal with more peons just yet. We have two trump cards in reserve, and my Nomu can fill in the gaps."

Tomura grunted. The centuries-old mad scientist was set in his ways, and he tended to solve all of his problems with horrifying Frankenstein-esque monsters.

Dabi just shook his head, "So what are we gonna do? Just sit around and wait for the right time to play our hands?"

The Doctor replied, "Well, we have one trump card in our possession already. The other… needs to be relocated. Rest up, kids, you're going to have to wake up a sleeping giant."

"Come on, brat, how hard is it to land a goddamn hit?!"

Izuku gritted his teeth as he got up from the floor. He was sparking at somewhere between twenty-five and thirty percent. Any further, and he would cause more destruction than a potential villain.

Miruko had helped immensely to correct his stances and pointed out mistakes… but now that they were sparring, she was trying a new tactic…

"Come on, I've seen street thugs with better sense than you! It's like you've never fought before," Miruko yelled as she dodged one of Izuku's attempts at a roundhouse kick.

… And apparently, that tactic was needling him verbally.

"Damn, she's like a female version of that Bakugou brat," Ryouji grumbled.

"Less self-aggrandizing, but the comparison's not in -accurate…" Hikage replied.

As Izuku went to punch her, Miruko grabbed his wrist, then twisted, "How the hell are your instincts so shit? Seriously, did you have any experience before heading to U.A.? Did you train for combat? Have you ever even been in a fight? How could you stay such a weakling?"

And then, finally, Izuku snapped.

"Of course I couldn't train for combat!" Izuku yelled, as he threw her into a wall. Blackwhip roiled beneath his skin, but he had enough experience to tame it, to keep it from spewing out and destroying everything. "No one would let me! Do you have any idea what it's like being Quirkless?!"

He rocketed towards the rabbit-woman, embedding his fist in drywall before he turned back to her, "If I ever tried to improve myself, they'd just beat me down further! If I ever tried to defend myself, I was at fault!"

He managed to dodge a kick and retaliate with one of his own, "No one was willing to teach me anything before All Might! Places like gyms and dojos cost money, and they can refuse service! If I wasn't a liability, they couldn't handle the idea of someone without a Quirk being anything but a helpless, weak, pathetic little Deku!

"You think I'm weak?!" Izuku's fist met flesh, but he scarcely acknowledged it. "You try living a life where everyone feels like they have to suffer your existence, and even having a dream is seen as a threat! See how much strength it takes you just to get out of bed!

"If I was a weakling, I'd have listened to that explosive asshole and taken a fucking swan dive off the roof YEARS ago!" Izuku finally yelled out.

With that, Izuku took a deep breath and realized what sort of situation he was in.

Miruko, for her part, had been thrown into the wall, several bruises on her body from his kicks and punches. Blackwhip hadn't attacked, but several tendrils were flailing behind him menacingly.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," Izuku whispered breathlessly. "I… I don't know what came over me… I mean, I've been talking about this with Hound Dog, but-"

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!" Miruko cried out cheerfully as she leapt to her feet. "I knew you had it in you, brat!"

"Wait, what's happening?" Izuku seemed confused.

"Up-bup-bup," Miruko interrupted. "I've got some things to say. First of all, while I was trying to get you to do this exact thing, I clearly touched on something that hurts you, and I'm sorry for that."

Izuku, shocked, could only nod in response.

"Second, while it ain't nearly the same, our experiences had a lot in common. No one thought I'd make it as a Hero either," as Izuku's jaw dropped, Miruko snorted. "What, did you think people heard me saying I wanted to be a Hero and didn't think I was touched in the head? I'm a bunny, nobody thought I'd ever be anything but a timid little thing that'd cower and run at the first sign of trouble. You think this attitude came from fucking nowhere?"

"No…" Izuku said. "I just never expected that to be its origin. I knew someone with a similar attitude and a… very different reason behind it."

The vestiges giggled at that.

"Well, yeah. I got pretty angry hearing the same goddamn thing over and over again. Ended up getting in a lot of fights, got in a lot of trouble, got into underground fighting rings, got expelled from my first middle school…"

Izuku boggled at that, and Miruko responded, "Not important. But yeah, the shitheads never believed in me, but no one stopped me either. Basically, I'm trying to say that we weren't in the exact same boat, but I can understand."

Izuku smiled slightly at that, at which point Miruko perked up, "And lastly, that fight? You just did exactly what you needed to do!" Her grin was downright manic. "You can't overthink shit in the middle of a fight! You're moving too fast and by the time you've figured shit out, the fight's already moved on and left you in the dust!"

Izuku balked, "But, wait, isn't just charging into a fight recklessly a bad idea? That's the easiest way to fall into a trap."

Miruko shook her head, "Look, kit, your brain uses different parts when you're learning a skill for the first time, and when you're using a skill you can do in your sleep. So when you're trying to work out your every move step by step, you're trying to do a job with the part of your brain that's a fucking moron. So, when you got pissed and ranted at me? You were so focused on the shit you were saying that you used the part of your brain that's actually good at fighting against me!"

Izuku beamed, and Miruko snorted, "Of course, that just means you got some good hits in, brat! You're not good enough to go pro just yet. But at least now you can fight at a state where you're not complete shit."

"Huh, that makes sense, I suppose if we start by trying to get into that sort of state, it would be the best means of practicing. Although, I'm not entirely sure how…" Izuku began to descend into a mutterstorm as Miruko took the opportunity to throw a kick at him.

Izuku dodged reflexively, "Huh, so I suppose this is a decent way of doing that. If I just…" he continued to mutter and strategize as he and Miruko settled into another spar.

Within his head, Banjou asked, "Wait, did they just find a way for him to weaponize his muttering?!"

"My god, he's become unstoppable!" Yoichi said. "Power! UNLIMITED POWER!"

From their penthouse in Deika City, the heads of the Meta Liberation Army were meeting, planning their next move.

"How many new recruits can we expect?" Re-Destro asked.

"The Hearts and Minds party has had a field day recruiting in this climate," Trumpet replied. "We've had about four thousand new members since the Kamino incident. From there, we managed to fully onboard around three hundred fifty into the MLA proper. We expect the numbers to grow as the unrest continues."

"And we're making certain that coverage of that unrest is favorable to our cause," Curious added, grinning.

"I've managed to uncover a few sympathetic forums online we can use to start recruiting," Skeptic added. "And a few gangs that could serve us well. Should we move forward with our plan for the League of Villains?"

Re-Destro scoffed, "The League of Villains is no threat to us. They were reduced to three individuals. They'll soon be arrested, or they'll be absorbed into another organization, in which case, we'll need to focus there. If they manage to become anything other than a flash in the pan, we'll take it from there. Otherwise, no need to bother."

The long-nosed man looked at a man in a parka, "How about our current recruits, Geten? Do you have anything of note?"

"Most of them have weak Meta abilities, but they've taken to the training with gusto. Many will probably be cannon fodder, but their loyalty is top-notch," The heavily-dressed man said, his breath visible despite the warm early-autumn weather. "Though one of the grunts managed to come up with something I think all of you should see…"

Re-Destro cocked his head, "Oh?"

"He was one of the ones we picked up from the aftermath of Aldera," Geten said, causing Re-Destro to smile. "So many of that little green-haired throwback's former classmates were easy recruits. One of them… well, he had the most interesting little theory, and he made a video about it. I approved, but I wanted expert opinions before I allowed him to post it."

Tears streamed down Re-Destro's face, "For a young, raw recruit to devote himself so readily… Of course, Geten! Play it!"

The other heads didn't look too thrilled, but Geten pulled up the file.

"The Finger of Truth?" Curious asked about the file name.

"A reference to his Meta Ability," Geten said. "He can lengthen his fingers. Unimpressive on its own, but being forced to suffer a null's existence, and worse, to find his future in jeopardy for showing it its place, makes him a loyal soldier. And who knows? Perhaps he can train it to be useful…"

The video was mostly the boy's altered voiceover of a static drawing of a hand with outstretched fingers, but as he talked about his various subjects, pictures of them appeared. "We've all had questions since All Might's retirement, and many of them have revolved around a U.A. student named Izuku Midoriya and the last villain that All Might fought. Why did All Might choose to train a Quirkless middle schooler? Was it true that All Might was also Quirkless until fifteen? Why did this villain risk so much to capture this one student? Why did All Might fight so hard against this villain? Why did he choose to retire afterwards?

"We've been given answers by the government, the media, and a literal rat, but the answers we have been given have all been inadequate and unbelievable. Because they were lies meant to hide an age-old conspiracy, a conspiracy so old that people think of it only as a rumor…

"The conspiracy of the Quirk Thieves…"

All of the assembled Meta Liberation Army marveled at this statement, but allowed the video to continue. What followed was a galloping lecture discussing the histories of Izuku Midoriya, who the video referred to as Deku (Re-Destro smiled at that clever wordplay) and All Might, showing inconsistencies in All Might's interviews and footage that was cut to fit the narrative the MLA grunt had provided them.

The narrative was simple, when it was all boiled down to it. All three of the major players in the Kamino battle, the Hero, villain, and student, were Quirk Thieves. The villain, an older thief who first discovered how to steal Quirks, gave the technique to All Might, granting the Hero power, fame, and fortune. In his tenure as a Hero, All Might set about destroying all of his benefactor's competition.

As he began to age, All Might taught this technique to Deku, hoping to secure his legacy. This infuriated his original sponsor, who began the war between U.A. and the League of Villains. This culminated in stealing the boy, hoping to take his Quirks. Either this failed, or the boy stole additional Quirks from his kidnapper.

And of course, the boy provided evidence, particularly the various powers Deku displayed in the Sports Festival and at Kamino, the villain's own mismatched abilities, and an analysis of the blurry footage of the United States of Smash.

The video concluded with, "It's time for us all to wake up. The Quirkless have forced us to suppress our natural abilities, and now they seek to steal them for themselves. We must spread the word and liberate our minds. There is more here that I will uncover. My fingers will continue to grasp for the truth."

As the video ended, Geten looked to his superiors, "Your thoughts, sirs and madam?"

"Amateurish, slapdash, and all in all, inexpertly done," Curious stated. "Which makes it perfect. The sincerity of the unprofessional video work will be perfect to mask any of our involvement."

"It's a perfect way to sell the narrative," Trumpet grinned. "And there's enough reference to our agenda to bring in new blood with just enough obfuscation that it's not an explicit endorsement of Meta Liberation. We'll have plenty of plausible deniability if we associate with it."

Re-Destro smiled, "Geten, your charge has performed wonderfully. This… they're definitely onto something there… Curious, Skeptic, is this ready to broadcast?"

Curious shook her head, "We'll need to do a few edits, just to decrease the rambling. As much as I hate that green-haired brat, he can't badmouth him at every turn. It distracts from the narrative and leaves him more open to being identified and doxxed."

"I have some phrases he should add to increase his search engine optimization," Skeptic said. "We can easily game the algorithm and get this trending. I can massage it, but it's better to make the system work for us."

"Wonderful," Re-Destro said. It made so much sense. The nulls found a way to steal Meta abilities! How else could they cow governments into repressing their liberation? How else could they keep the strongest Metas alive, the Heroes, toeing the party line? How else could someone discover a Meta ability so late, and rise from the lowest caste of them all to the highest?

He leaned back. He would almost miss being relieved of a source of so much terrible, powerful stress