Toshinori Yagi, once the Symbol of Peace and Number One Hero All Might, was charging through the building. He didn't care if his left flank screamed like it had been put into a meat grinder. He didn't care if he was sweating like he had just ran a marathon.
Because his heir was back.
He opened the door of the hospital room and stared.
The same green hair.
The same green eyes.
"Young Midoriya…" He said with a large smile. The young man smiled back. He winced as a sudden headache burst in his head, but after a few moments it calmed down. He sighed. His body really was getting weak if even running this much left him in that state. He sat down. "What happened?"
"A-All Might, it's incredible! You can't imagine! Teleport does a lot more than we thought!" The young man half-shouted in his excited tone. It was rare those days, but Izuku was Izuku after all.
All Might raised an eyebrow, curious to hear Midoriya's explanation on his two weeks disappearance. For fifteen days they had no news on him, and he hated to admit even he was giving up hope. The idea of suddenly finding him, exhausted but alive, in the middle of Musutafu, was quite confusing. "Please do tell, Young Midoriya." He said with a smile.
Midoriya froze a moment, like he was surprised, but then nodded and, after politely asking the nurse to leave the room and All Might to close the door, started to explain.
Toshinori's expression grew more concerned as the young man continued. The story was frankly insane.
"So, you spent the last fifteen days in two universes you had never been to before. One was a universe where you were the heir of All for One, and one where you are a Pro Hero called Fireblitz with no connections to it, is that correct?"
"I know how it sounds!" The kid exclaimed, and looking in his eyes, Toshinori noticed how afraid he was. He clearly knew that he would think he was going insane, that was probably one of the reason why he hadn't told anyone else.
Toshinori frowned. Izuku had been walking to the hospital with a broken leg and three broken fingers when they had found him. Along with him where two men and a young woman in good conditions, that had explained he had been injured and required help. That was the summary Tsukauchi had given him of the hospital call.
"Izuku," He asked, using the name of the young man. "Who else was with you?"
"Oh, those are Todoroki, Ojiro and Itsumi." He casually explained. "I-I mean, they are people from the other universes. Shoto and Ojiro come from the All for Deku world, and Itsumi is from the other one."
All Might pondered what he was saying. For a moment, he considered asking Tsukauchi if perhaps he could come and ask a few questions to Midoriya, but then remembered that it wouldn't help in this case. His Quirk could tell apart truths and lies, but a delusion was perceived as truth by the power. And it was unlikely Midoriya would consciously lie about this.
'I will need to talk with Nezu. For now, however, I need to make sure he is healthy.' All Might stood up and walked up to him, hugging the young man. Midoriya stiffened for a moment, and All Might chuckled before the young man returned his hug. "I will see if you can be dismissed from here for now. Your mother and friends want to see you."
Izuku nodded. "Thank you All Might." He replied with a large smile. "C-could you close the door for a bit? I need some sleep. It was exhausting."
"Sure." The ex-Symbol of Peace replied, slowly walking outside. "Have a good rest, Young Midoriya."
The door closed behind him. The moment he did, he unceremoniously sat back down. 'He is confused from the exhaustion.' He told himself, 'Too exhausted to properly process whatever happened.' Young Midoriya had improved dramatically in his control over One for All. If he had been wounded like that, he must have faced someone, or something, too strong to hold back.
A sudden sound from the room, like something heavy falling on the floor, caught him off guard. Without thinking, he walked back in, finding Izuku in his bad, looking very apologetically to the small cabinet next to the bed, that had fallen on the floor. "I-I'm so sorry. I wanted some water but I must have hit it at a weird angle, because it fell to the floor."
"Maybe one of the legs was shorter." All Might answered, relieved, "Do not worry, Young Midoriya, I will take care of that." He said, walking off. Indeed, there was something odd going on with Izuku.
With a cast around his arm and one around three fingers of his left hand, Izuku followed All Might outside the hospital. The doctors had agreed to let him go since, aside from some exhaustion and the broken bones, Izuku was healthy, and All Might assured them Recovery Girl would take care of the rest.
-x-
The Symbol of Peace sighed in relief. The young man seemed fine, and he hoped he would soon be in full control. A call with Nezu had made him agree that for today the young man would stay at his home after all, with his mother, before going back to UA. What he had said had intrigued the Principal of UA, even though he didn't seem to quite believe Midoriya. He had argued that it was deserving of a deeper investigation if Izuku still talked about it by the next day.
The ride back home was calm. All Might tried to talk a bit with the young man, but Izuku didn't seem very responsive. At one point he had the impression he was mumbling to himself, but he stopped before All Might could bring it up. 'I really hope this doesn't last long.'
"Hey, All Might?" Izuku asked suddenly, almost making him jump.
"What is it, Young Midoriya?"
"Do we have any idea of where the League of Villain is?"
All Might blinked, and made to respond, when a sudden headache hit him. It lasted less then a moment, but he had to grit his teeth. 'I need to stop avoiding those checkups with Chiyo, my body isn't that of the Symbol of Peace anymore.'
"Are you ok All Might?" Izuku asked, putting a hand gently on his shoulder.
"I'm fine, Young Midoriya, thank you. But no, you should know we are still searching for them." He answered. A half-truth. In reality, thanks to Hawks, they had a decent idea of where the League was hiding, but they still needed to figure out where the Doctor was hiding. Until then, they were not going to move. "Why the sudden question?"
"Oh, I was just thinking that I have seen what the world where All for One wins looks like."
"Really?" He asked, curious. Even if it was imagination born of some kind of trauma, it could give some insight on Izuku's current mental state. "And what is it like?"
"Terrible for the Heroes." The kid replied, looking outside the window. "Normal people were scared too, of All for Deku at least. It's so…" Izuku stopped suddenly, mumbling something. "Sorry, All Might. I'm getting agitated."
He nodded. Izuku had gone through a lot, that was clear. Whatever had happened had left some deep impact on him. The Symbol of Peace had to wonder if perhaps Izuku was telling the truth. It was a small portion of his mind, one that hoped this was all true and the kid, aside from being exhausted, was fine. But it seemed so impossible…
-x-
Inko Midoriya embraced her son tightly and didn't let him go for the entire evening. Toshinori Yagi kindly accepted her invitation to dinner, clearly desiring to spend with his protégé as much time as possible. After a long evening and a weird dinner where Izuku didn't know what to say or not say, the ex-Symbol of Peace prepared to leave.
As he stood at the door, Izuku wished him good night. Toshinori turned and smiled.
"Young Midoriya, it's good to have you back."
"Thank you, All Might. It's… Good to be back as well." He replied, an uncertain smile on his face. He could see the Hero had noticed.
"Well, I wish you good night. Tomorrow you can tell Aizawa and the Principal about what you have seen, so we can decide what to do with it." He turned around, but Izuku stopped him a moment.
"All Might, can I ask you something?" He asked. The thin man turned around, nodding slowly. "After what I have seen in those worlds… After All for Deku… Can I be a Hero?"
Toshinori smiled. "Of course, Young Midoriya. You will always be the best candidate to be a Hero." He said, then wished him good night and left.
After a few minutes, his mother basically forced Izuku into bed. She tucked tightly Izuku in his bed, and spent a long time crying next to him. Izuku understood. His mother had missed her son, and he had been gone for a long time. He wished her good night after a while, and she did the same, adding that the next day Eraserhead was going to pick him up and take him to UA to finally remove the cast.
Izuku stared at the ceiling for a while. He looked slowly around the room. Hero merchandise, and particularly All Might's, was everywhere. He slowly stood up, sitting down on the bed and yawning. "Well, let's get to work." He told himself, cracking both casts with a flick of his power.
All for Deku let the bones resettle, using his Regeneration, and let the Quirk he used to make himself look younger age him up a bit, back to his early twenties. It was a simple one, but it had tricked a lot of people in the past, even Heroes. Apparently, even All Might. 'He didn't even notice the scars…' He thought. He had seen Izuku's hands, when checking the memory of that woman, and had been worried someone would notice that he couldn't reproduce them perfectly with his Skin Shifting Quirk, but luckily their attention had been so focused on his return they had ignored the discrepancy. 'I could have always blamed it on a random Quirk, but I need to be precise.'
Turning to the mirror on the wardrobe, he stared at his reflection. 'You will always be the best candidate to be a Hero.' The voice of All Might said.
He had to hold himself from laughing. "Should have said so years ago, All Might."
He never regretted his choices. If he did, All for One would have never considered him a worthy successor. All for Deku truly believed he was on the right path. He had gotten rid of the Heroes, gotten rid of One for All, and soon his victory was going to be permanent, once the last few of his enemies stopped moving. And yet, here was a new problem. A problem that had brought back old musings he had left behind a long time ago. He had always asked himself what would have happened if that day he had done something else, and now...
'Focus.' His master's voice told him, the memory of past lessons coming back. 'You are going to be the next All for One. You and I have the same wish: a better world for us, and a world without Heroes.'
He sighed, before standing up. With a movement of his finger, Twice's Quirk activated, and a copy of himself with the casts on entered the bed, going back to sleep, so his mother would not notice his absence. Izuku walked away, opening the room's window. With a simple shift, he let the bat wings, the Quirk that once belonged to Tsubasa and after him to a lot of Noumu, appear, and jumped out of the window, taking flight like a gruesome monster before landing softly in the nearby park. So late at night, deep in the woods and surrounded by nothing but darkness, he let go.
'Imposter. Imposter. Imposter. Imposter…'
'Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure…'
'Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die…'
'You could have been the greatest Hero, instead of the worst of Villains.'
His body cracked. There was no other way to describe it. He had used all his strength, all his willpower to keep One for All from firing off, to keep the Vestiges from outing him with their power. It had worn him out. He had stolen some painkillers for the headache that had plagued him, and that had already made it harder to concentrate, but he knew what would come once he let go. All the power they had been building up unleashed at once.
He didn't have a single healthy bone in his body, and several organs had been ruptured. Not the heart or the brain of course, if the Vestiges could kill him, they would have done so years ago, but before Regeneration kicked in, he felt what death was like. The blood and bile rushing up his mouth, the pain of a broken spine, the blindness of ruptured blood vessels in the eye.
He coughed, then stood back up. It was all gone. Regeneration had removed any sign of the assault of the Vestiges, and he was back as All for Deku. He was back in control.
'You are the ones that should die already.' He thought, but the Vestiges were silent. They were laughing at him, deep in his mind, sneering at the Quirkless kid that had put every Hero in the world to shame.
'And what a puny accomplishment that was, Deku.' A voice mumbled in his head.
"Shut up." Izuku groaned, and the Vestiges went back to their hiding hole. They would come back. They always did.
"You know, you make me glad I didn't try to steal One for All." A feminine voice said. He turned around, staring at Itsumi Midoriya, followed closely by Shoto Todoroki and Mashirao Ojiro from his universe.
"You can undo that. There is no one like you in this world."
Itsumi chuckled, and then she vanished in a puff of smoke. In her place stood a man in his forties with dark pink skin, a tone accentuated by the pink hair of a lighter color. Two large antennae, big enough they looked like horns, poked from his short hair, and the dark sclera of his eyes made them look quite intimidating in the dark of night. "Ah, that's better. I told you we didn't need to go through the trouble of disguising me." His voice was now also back to his usual, masculine tone, a deep voice that didn't seem quite right to Izuku on a face that had still a lot of similarities to the Hero named Mina Ashido.
"How would you know? The fact Mina Ashido exists isn't enough to make sure Mitsuhei Ashido doesnt. He might be her father or her older brother. I poked All Might's mind back during the day though, and among the stuff I found out was that you don't exist. Only Mina."
The man yawned, sitting down. Izuku couldn't help but wonder what the other All for One user was thinking. He shook his head and turned to the others. "Muscular and Spinner are both villains in this universe. Keep up the disguise."
They both mumbled, but Todoroki – who was really Muscular – simply leaned against a tree, while Ojiro, Spinner, sat down on the grass.
"So, penny for your thoughts, Izuku." Mitsuhei Ashido, known as Alien King and wielder of All for One in his own universe, asked, while taking a bottle of water out of a bag and throwing it at Izuku, "What do we have here?"
"This is most likely the universe of the Izuku that hinted me on the existence of multiple worlds." He replied calmly, taking a deep sip of the water. It was particularly refreshing, after having experienced the end of his life once more. "As we thought, his disappearance was him using Teleport." They had done their research once the four of them had landed in this world. An article from the day before mentioned the disappearance of Izuku Midoriya, student in Class 1-A of UA High School, supposed to have happened at least two weeks prior. Of course, the obvious next move had been to find out who he had been.
"That mind reading Quirk is pretty useful." Mitsuhei commented, "Want to trade?"
"I'll give you a copy once we go back. No reason to trade what I can just gift you. Not much of a use if people expect it, however. The headache it causes is a clear sign." He smiled, "But if you still want it, I'll give it to you."
"You are a wise kid."
All for Deku's smile faded, hearing the man call him a kid. "I'm twenty-eight." Izuku corrected him, annoyed, "I just like what I looked in my early twenties more."
"Some people would call it vanity."
"Some people should shut their mouth." The All for One user replied. His early twenties were before a certain scar, but he wasn't about to tell him that. Instead, he changed the argument of the conversation. "Do you have any regrets on coming with us? Your men are probably wondering why their leader escaped Tartarus and fought the users of One for All only to then vanish."
"Unlike you, I was never the main thinker of my organization, so the Doctor and Giran will handle it like they did so far. My predecessor chose me as a fighter capable to lay waste to armies while still having a decent brain, that's what led him to me. However, I did a decent chunk of my work. I will treat this as a learning experience. After all, Teleport might fall in my own lap sooner or later."
"Not much of a use without One for All."
"Hard pass on that one, if it fucks me up half as much as it does to you. Also, not everyone gets the stupid version of One for All. Seriously, 'The user has to willingly want to keep it'? That's a One for All that wants to be stolen."
"It's a lot harder than you think when they are expecting it. I had to go through a lot of trouble to make sure Mirio had his guard down." Izuku replied calmly.
"Yeah well, I have to deal with a One for All that splits itself."
"Which means wrestling the Vestiges for control should be easier."
"It isn't." Mitsuhei replied, "They might be separated, but they are all sort of connected, like an invisible web. They know when one of them is in danger or dies, so you can never rest easy."
"Just kill them then. They are all weaker individually."
"My master did, multiple times. There is always at least one piece that survives, like a damn cockroach hiding behind the fridge. It gives you some rest, but eventually an All Might pops up and kills you. I won't repeat the mistake." His tone had changed, growing into a cold fury, "Speaking of which, shouldn't you kill All Might?"
"All Might is dead." Izuku countered, knowing full well the question was coming, "All that's left is Toshinori Yagi, a husk of the man that once was the Symbol of Peace. If the All for One user from this universe wants to kill him, he can do it, but I have no interest in him. I only care about the Hero."
"Mind if I do? The bastard in my world died of an injury, I never got to avenge my own master."
"I would at least advise to ask Tomura, the heir of this world." He replied, "He seems to be quite the interesting type."
"You found him?"
"All Might tried to hide it, but a quick scan of his thoughts when I asked about the League told me that he knows where the League is. Gunga Mountain Villa, apparently."
"Same hiding place as me all those years ago, uh? I take there is a spy in their ranks. Is it Majestic?"
"It's Hawks."
"Eh, close enough. They both fly at least."
All for Deku ignored his comment. He had already understood that Alien King, while smart in his own way and an incredible fighter, hadn't taken after his master when it came to seriousness and politeness. Izuku wondered if all other All for One heirs were going to be like this. "He is currently trying to figure out which Hospital is hiding Tomura and the Doctor, but he has already passed enough information to the Heroes to make the attack happen. Probably a month, maybe two if it's harder to figure out."
"The doctor is smart, I doubt she…"
"He."
"Really, her too? Anyway, I doubt he would get found out easily. I say we assume the two months."
Izuku frowned further. He couldn't help but wonder if Alien King's predecessor was running out of option when he chose his successor. Overly optimistic was an issue when you were running a criminal organization. "It's not really important. Muscular."
The man with Todoroki's face turned to him, "Yes boss?"
"You and Mitsuhei are going to Gunga."
His underling was about to reply when the other man beat him to it. "Woah, woah, who are you to give me orders?" Mitsuhei asked, "I owe you a favor, so I'm willing to help you, but I have the seniority here when it comes to All for One. I should be calling the shots, especially if we are talking about seeking out someone that will definitely want to fight."
"Pardon me, I was under the impression that the only reason you are even here is because of me." All for Deku replied calmly, "Of course, if you like this world, I can just leave you."
Alien King stared at him for a long moment. When Izuku didn't lower his sight, something he knew would have instantly ended the argument in Mitsuhei's favor, the pink man laughed. "Eh, you are definitely proud enough to be an All for One wielder. I could wipe the floor with you, but I don't really mind listening to your plans. However, I want to know what's your long-term goal. You left your own universe out of curiosity? You don't strike me as the type."
Izuku stared back. He could have lied, but this was the only man he could tell the truth to. He looked at Spinner and Muscular. "You two go take a walk. Come back in five minutes." He said, and activated a Hearing Quirk. When he was sure they were far enough, he turned to Mitsuhei. "Do you fear One for All?"
"I do." The man replied without hesitation. When Izuku raised an eyebrow, surprised he had admitted it so easily, the man laughed. "Come on, you think I wouldn't? Or that I wouldn't admit it? My master was a great man, and he died to it. I would have to be suicidal to not fear for my own life when I face One for All. He always said that I should look at the wielders as cockroaches, but… They feel more like a pride of lions. You can kill them all, but they can kill you as easily. One of them did do him."
"I agree." Izuku clenched his fist, the bone snapping before repairing, in a sudden attack from the Vestiges. He raised the still bloody fist. "One for All has been tormenting me for years, but I kept going because I had won. Because I had captured my true enemy and was watching the rest of the ants wither and die. It was the great achievement me and my master had aspired to. And then… Then it turns out all of it is for nothing. That there are more One for All out there, One for All I can't steal as easily, coming for me. For us." He said, staring at Alien King's black eyes. "I will not stand for this."
"And what do you want to do about it?" The man asked with expectation. Izuku could tell he was interested. Most All for One users were going to be.
"In your universe, we found out about Guide and Teleport. When I looked into Katsumi's memory, I found out everything I need to know. So long as a universe has One for All, we can't sleep well. So, I'm going to exterminate them. I'll rid the Multiverse of this blight world by world if necessary, and once that is done, I will finally get to see the Vestiges die too."
"Alone?"
"Of course not." Izuku extended a hand. "It's convenient for you as well. Why not join me?"
The man laughed again, this time louder, a deep laughter that would have made any lesser man whimper. "I really like you. You are the same kind of person my master was. A man with a great vision." He took Izuku's hand and shook it. "I was in for a vacation, but what the hell. Let's get rid of One for All forever, as partners."
"Excellent. You are going to Gunga then?"
"Sure. It will be an interesting experience to see it once more. As for you?"
"I'm going to hunt down Guide." He replied, "Once I have Guide too, we return to my home, and then we can see on perfecting the process to send people to do this."
"What if Guide isn't in this universe?"
"We jump once more." He replied simply. There wasn't anything else to do after all. All for Deku had gone all in with this plan, and he knew it. He wasn't going to stop now.
The Vestiges insulted him once more. He ignored them. It was nothing more than a desperate cry for help. An help he was going to ensure never surfaced again.
-x-
Izuku Midoriya, the Hero-in-Training called Deku, stumbled awkwardly on the sidewalk where he had just appeared. Turning around, he noticed the others take deep breaths and leaning on the nearby walls. It had been distressing, but not as heavy on them as the first time. Still, Izuku felt drained. It was like he had just swam through a sea of freezing water, and then run a marathon. He leaned on a nearby pole, and finally looked around, huffing and panting to regain breath.
He looked up at the tall buildings that formed a modern city skyline, giants of glass and cement. Good start. Then he stared at the enormous skyscraper in front of them, and couldn't help but smile as he saw the enormous white star that, in the night, shone brightly on them.
He turned to a random bystander, a young Caucasian man in his twenties that had clearly seen them appear and had decided to find out what was going on. "Excuse me sir?"
He stared at him in confusion, and Izuku patted his head. Of course, he needed English. Excuse sir? He asked.
Yes?
Is this city of Los Angeles?
The man frowned, probably wondering if it was the right choice to answer the Asian kid that didn't know what city he was in. After a moment, he finally replied with a quick, Yes. This is Los Angeles.
"Yes!" Izuku shouted, turning to the others, "We did it, guys!"
"Yay…" Todoroki commented with a short breath. Itsumi and Ojiro didn't even say that much, just raising their fists tiredly.
He turned around, stopping the other as he tried to leave. Sir, Excuse to me. Do you know Isaac Midoriya?
Star Might? Of course, I know him. The Number One Hero of the State and Number Three in the country. Who doesn't? Are you ok kid?
Y-Yes, I'm most sorry. Thanks to you for your help. He replied, and the man left quickly.
Izuku's heart raced. They had done it. They were in Los Angeles. The right country, the right place. The right Izuku.
"Any reason why you didn't use Tongues for that conversation?" Ojiro asked.
Izuku groaned. "I forgot…"
"I had guessed." He pointed at the building, "Can we go? I really want a bed."
Izuku nodded, and the four started to walk forward. For once, nothing crazy happened as they crossed the road. Nothing crazy happened as they entered the hall of the building.
The entrance hall of the Star Tower, at that time of night, was not particularly full. A few sidekicks having the night shift at the base. Three employees behind a large desk, probably manning less important calls. One of them, Izuku noticed even from there, was actually playing a PC game. The fact no one was scolding him probably meant they weren't worried about missing calls, and true to that the moment the door slid closed the man closed the game.
The furniture in the room was elegant but minimalistic. A few tables and couches to let people seat comfortably, decorative plants like he had seen in many other offices, and a few pictures on the walls, mostly of Los Angeles, though one was a painting of a large star. Finally, and oddly, above the two stairs for the upper floors and the elevator were three dream catchers.
He was about to point them out when, the very moment the sidekicks and a good number of employees looked at them, every single one of them moved in to surround them, Quirks ready to fight.
"Oh, come on…" Ojiro grumbled. Todoroki's whispered comment was far worse.
"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Itsumi asked, staring at them.
"Who are you?" One of them, a Hispanic man in his thirties with fire on his fists, asked, in fluent Japanese.
"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya. This is Itsumi Midoriya, and those are Shoto Todoroki and Mashirao Ojiro." Izuku replied, and noticed a few of their eyes grow wide, "We are looking for Isaac Midoriya. We need his help to go back home."
"Where do you come from?" The man asked, eyes locked on Izuku's.
Izuku looked back at the others, then nodded. "We are from another… world." He finally said. If they didn't know about the Multiverse, this was the wrong answer. If some of them knew and some didn't, a lot of confused questions were about to rain on them. Izuku really wished he could use Tongues right now to understand the whispers he could barely hear from the sidekicks, but doing so might have been taken as an act of hostility.
"Who sent you here?"
"Atura Mei."
"Why?"
"We are… Wanderers, I believe is the term, lost in the Multiverse. We need help to return home."
The Hispanic Hero didn't stop gazing at him, and Izuku was starting to feel like he was looking through his soul. Another sidekick
"So?" Todoroki finally asked, "Can we see Isaac or not?"
The man with flaming fists raised a hand, and everyone stood down at once, relaxing a bit. Clearly, the one that had spoken was Isaac's right hand man, or someone close to the role. "Follow me."
Izuku gulped but started to walk. Itsumi leaned closer. "Think this means we passed?"
"Or it means we are being captured."
"I hate the Multiverse so much." Todoroki commented.
Izuku had a lot of questions. Why did they have such a reaction at the four entering? 'Something is not right.'
(xx)
Got you? `:rolleyes:
Ah All for Deku, my paranoia-driven villain, did you have to jump through the Multiverse? Well I guess in a way he did. After all, he models after All for One, and the man always wanted to be a comic book villain. Not to mention, he is really scared of a One for All all-out attack.
Mitsuhei is a bit of an oddball as far as All for One holders go. I tend to think they need to be serious type, but his All for One wanted, so to speak, an intelligent nuke. After all, imagine what happens if Mina's Acid Quirk is used for evil. Nothing nice, I can tell you. Of course, don't expect Mitsuhei to be kind or stupid. That's a mistake too many people have made.
And against all odds, Izuku made it to Los Angeles. Weird.