Izuku could feel it in his bones.

This man was him. Well not exactly him, but close enough that the seams of reality that permeated the small hallway they were standing in were stressed, as if their being together was something the universe couldn't understand.

His body was yelling at him in confusion, giving the motherload of all mixed signals. He was hot, cold, afraid, confident, at ease, and stressed out of his mind. He leaned up against the wall and shivered involuntarily.

Mikumo looked just as stressed out, and Izuku knew that the man could feel the unease as well. They were like two halves of a whole that were broken and had been remade, and they didn't fit together anymore.

Izuku used the power of the Sword Logic and the Darkness; Mikumo was a stalwart defender empowered by the Light. Izuku was a stranger from another dimension, and Mikumo had been born and raised, killed, and then reborn in this reality.

This went on for a while, the sounds of the party going off in the background as the two dimensional doppelgangers stared at each other. After a few minutes though, Mikumo spoke.

"So. You're me? How old are you?"

Izuku knew that Zavala had briefed him a little bit about his situation, but if it didn't include his age, then Mikumo probably didn't know much about him. He hummed, then spoke. "Yes, I am your doppelganger. I am 14, and will be turning 15 in 3 months."

Mikumo nodded, and the two fell back into silence for a short while. It seemed that neither of them really knew what to say now that they had the privacy needed to for a top-secret talk.

Izuku hummed, allowing some green energy to weave around his fingers, like a gambler would a coin, as he waited for Mikumo to speak. Mikumo's eyes flicked to the energy instantly, and Izuku could feel the light from him flare up a bit.

Mikumo calmed down after a second, looking the boy in the eyes again. "You… you're an enigma to me, honestly. I don't know whether I want to shoot you, hug you, or send you as far away from me as possible."

Izuku nodded. "I understand. I feel the same unease you do, Lightborn. But I asked Zavala to bring you here to speak with me for a reason."

Mikumo nodded. "Sure, I'll just ignore it, what did you want me for?"

Izuku pulled out a small green stone from his pocket, and passed it to Mikumo. The Guardian gasped as he felt his connection to the light become tense. "What is this?"

Izuku made a pulling motion and the rock flew back into his hands. "Earlier today there would have been enough ambient darkness in that ritual stone to render you lightless upon contact. Now, after your victory, it barely suppresses it."

Izuku continued, pocketing the rock. "You lightborn may be distracted by the new strength of the Traveller, but I can feel the struggle of the Dark in this city."

Mikumo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Izuku hummed. "My magic has become more difficult to bring out since your victory in the Black Garden... The Last City has become a Lightzone once more, where the powers of the Dark are weakened, similar to how the Hellmouth affects Guardians."

Mikumo smiled widely. "Really? That's amazing! I knew that the traveller was starting to heal again after we defeated the Black Heart, but I didn't realise that it would affect it that much!"

Izuku's mouth curled up slightly. "Yes, you have won a great victory for those in the Light, Mikumo. And it is because of that victory that I stand before, asking for your help."

Mikumo took a moment to comprehend those words, before letting out an eloquent "Huh?!"

Izuku nodded to the man. "In 10 days, I will be leading an expedition into the Hellmouth to kill the Hive Prince. I know the ins and outs of the sprawling caverns better than anyone, even she who is shattered."

Izuku raised his cloth covered eyes to the man's face, and smiled at him.

"I wish for the Mighty Hydra's to accompany me on this expedition."

Cayde was getting antsy.

Izuku had been going through his portal at least once a day for the last 9 days, and each time he returned, Cayde could almost feel the growth in power that Izuku had experienced. Just how strong was this boy going to get?

But that's not what made him nervous this time . This time, he was nervous because Izuku brought something back with him other than increased strength. This time, Izuku had brought back a fucking Hive Larva.

"Uh Izuku, buddy, pal, sport. What are you planning on doing with that Worm? You're not gonna like, eat it and become immortal or something, right?"

Izuku chuckled as he played with the Worm, allowing it to fall off of one hand and land in the other, repeating this. "I do not plan on eating it, no. One larva would not be enough to gain immortality, anyway."

As Cayde gave him a look that definitely said 'that's not helping', Izuku continued. "I plan on using this worm to grow a weapon for me, like the Wizard's do for their troops. Something that will allow me to better use my magic."

Cayde nodded, stroking his robotic chin, and letting out a hum. "I see, I see… So like one of the cleavers that the Knights use? Or are you thinking of a more traditional Wizard's staff?"

Izuku shook his head. "No, neither of those. A cleaver, or a greatsword as they would be for me requires too much mastery of techniques to allow for effective combat, but a staff would leave me without much offense if I ever lost my connection to my magic."

Izuku 's eyes glowed, and he spoke a word that made Cayde flinch. A green light engulfed the worm, before Izuku placed his other hand around it. And then he squeezed.

His enhanced strength made it easy to do, so easy that the worm practically popped like a balloon, the green gunk that made up its inside spewing out of it, before suddenly it stopped in mid air, and floated slowly back to Izuku's hand.

Cayde took his hands off of his eyes now that they weren't in danger of getting Hive gunk on them, and saw Izuku mumbling as he moved his hand up and down the floating remains of the worm.

He watched in fascination as the pile of Hive gunk split into two sections, and started to compress into themselves, becoming solid under the strength of Izuku's magic. Eventually, Izuku's mumbling stopped.

A second later, there was a flash of green light from both of the items being formed, blinding Cayde for a moment. And then he saw them. The weapons that Izuku had forged from the worm.

Dual shortswords, with blades as deep and black as the night sky, and handles made from the bone-like substance that made up the Hive's exoskeleton. They were beautiful. And they were dangerous.

Izuku smiled as he grabbed both of the hilts, and brandished the swords. Cayde watched as Izuku moved through kata's and forms that he was sure no-one in the tower had shown him.

"Izuku… what did you just do?"

Izuku looked up from his movements to see Cayde staring at him, or more specifically, at his new blades. He smiled. "I forged a weapon from the Darkness inside the worm, Cayde-6. Dual Blades that will compliment my magics and allow me to fight in hand to hand combat more effectively."

Cayde nodded, finally tearing his eyes away from the swords. He gulped. Or the robot equivalent of gulping. "You should make scabbards for them as quickly as possible, Izuku. Just seeing the blades made my Light arc up like a pitbull seeing a mailman."

Izuku nodded. "I hypothesised that they might make Lightborn uncomfortable to be around due to the purity of their darkness, so I already have scabbards ready for them. Allow me to get them from my study."

Izuku then left the room, returning a few moments later with a pair of beautiful bone-like scabbards connected to a belt made out of… something. He inserted the blades into their scabbards and put the belt on over his outfit, testing how they fitted.

Cayde watched as he made minute adjustments to the belt and scabbards with his magic, until they sat perfectly around his waist, not even bouncing when he jumped or ran. Cayde was impressed, to be honest, as well as relieved that his Light had calmed down when the swords went into their scabbards.

Izuku pulled the swords in and out a few times quickly to test them, and smiled when he was done, taking the belt off and returning it to his study. He then came back out to Cayde and smiled savagely.

"Go get some sleep, Cayde-6. Tomorrow will be a very important day."

Cayde nodded. Standing up and leaving Izuku to rest. He knew what was coming. He knew what Izuku had planned. And you know what? He knew that he would be successful. He believed in the kid.

"You got it, kiddo. You get some sleep as well. After all-"

"-You've got a prince to dethrone."

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