Izuku knew that there were strong fighters in this tournament, but that hadn't prepared him to watch All Might win so easily over Yaoyorozu and pass to the following round. It was, perhaps, expected, but the Toshinori Yagi fighting in this Tournament was clearly among the most skilled fighters in it.
And when it came to power instead, Nine, the following fighter that dominated his match with an armor-wearing Melissa Shield, was definitely it. The fact those two were going to face each other in Top 32 was almost a relief, because it meant only one would end up facing him if he got that far.
Most of the Tournament had gone as expected after Usagi's match. With the last twelve fighters taking their turn in the ring, and the last six coming out victorious for the Top 32, Deku sighed in relief. The end of the day meant he could go rest. The next day he had an important match.
"No hard feelings whoever wins, right?" Usagi asked with a grin as they met at the exit of the Arena.
"S-Sure." Izuku replied.
"Great. I don't have to feel bad when I beat you." She said.
"I won't lose." Deku replied, trying to sound confident, and Usagi chuckled but didn't answer. Izuku sighed, before turning to Izumi, Huanli and… Ok, Revenant was gone, at this point he just expected that. Probably meeting up with Zombie, those two seemed to be quite close. It was probably the similar mindset.
"I have to fight Tenya." Izumi replied, "I wonder if it will be harder than the first time."
"And I'm fighting this guy called Yo Shindo." Huanli said, "He produces vibrations to make the ground tremble like a earthquake or make his own punches more powerful. Will be an interesting match, but I'm definitely winning."
"Whatever the case, starting next round, some of you will definitely be out." Epsi replied, "I mean, Captain Kamino and Revenant are fighting in the A Block, Fuyumi and Zombie are up against each other in the C Block, and then me and Usagi will face each other in the D Block." She frowned, "I would suggest taking the night to rest and tomorrow to train, but I'm sure you already agree."
"Absolutely." Izuku replied, and the others nodded, looking up at the Arena. Nine more days left in this Tournament, and then he was going to go back to his training. He couldn't deny he had already gained a lot from it. He was getting better, his control over One for All was developing further and he was sure he was breaking into the Forty Percent slowly but steadily. His control of Blackwhip was at its best, and he was getting a grip of Danger Sense.
Plus, the nanomachines were proving useful, especially when it came to the Full Gauntlets he could now make. Maybe, once he reached home, he could try to contact Melissa and see if she had any idea about how to make a better version of them. He was sure she hadn't been idle in the past few months.
He sighed. Right, back home… How were his friends doing? How was mom? All Might?
As much as he felt like it had been a good idea to stop and train, the fact they were in danger and he couldn't go home was still sitting wrong with him.
'I should be there, helping them…' He grimaced. 'But would I be able to face All for Deku, Shigaraki and Alien King alone?'
The answer was no. And while he still couldn't help but blame himself for All for Deku reaching his home, the truth was the man already had One for All and Teleport. He could have found out about the Multiverse earlier – at any point, really – and then… then Izuku would have been in a far worse situation.
He looked at his scarred hand, now with the opening for the nanomachines in the center, and sighed. 'I got a chance to find help and train. I promise I will do that, and then I will save everyone.'
-x-
The following day begun in a way Izuku didn't expect.
Because it begun with him sitting on a chair, staring at the previous wielders of One for All, each on their own seat.
Izuku blinked, realizing he wasn't awake yet, but rather sitting in his dream world. He looked around, and then at himself. He was becoming much more solid, that was undeniable. He had both legs, much of his upper body, the top half of his head, his left hand and his right arm. Still, he was missing his mouth, nose, and everything under his chest, exchanged for black fog.
"Hi." Nana Shimura said, a patient smile on her face, "We need to talk."
"Yeah, Nineth, we have a lot to talk about." Daigoro Banjo nodded, looking around.
Shinomori, the Fourth, nodded, "We hope that, with your control over One for All strengthening, the connection is stable enough for us to share more than a short conversation."
He looked at the others. En was perched on his seat, the First looking at him with a soothing smile. One of the other two, the person Izuku recognized as the Third, was also sitting down, only glancing uneasily at the end of the room, where the Second stood, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, pointedly away from his seat.
"First of all, Nineth, we are sorry." Yoichi Shigaraki, All for One's brother and the original wielder of One for All, replied.
Izuku raised an eyebrow in confusion, and Yoichi clearly noticed, glancing at Nana in turn.
"I'm sorry Izuku, because I held back on giving you my Quirk when I should have." She replied, remember when you were falling in the… What did they call it?"
"The Skyverse." En replied, "When you were falling down."
"Yes, that. You should have activated Float there. And if I didn't stop it, it would have." Izuku's eyes went wide, and she quickly shook her hands, "I-I don't mean that I don't want you to get my Quirk, Izuku! I assure you, I think Toshi made the right choice picking you. You are definitely a good kid. But…"
"But she is afraid her Quirk will have some weird side effect." Yoichi replied, "En and the Second share that same worry, to an extent."
"Is not that I think it will be anything crazy like Third's." En clarified, "but I'm worried about what the smoke might have become. Thick enough to suffocate people? Or maybe harmful to those that breath it?"
The Second shrugged, "No idea what will even happen to mine. I'm fairly sure it will become something really dangerous, though."
"I guess I'm just paranoid." Nana replied, "Float is probably safer than either of those, but I'm worried of how hard it will be to control. How fast will you fly? How much strength will you need to turn to avoid collisions?"
"As you can see, Nineth, this is the issue. Nana proposed to invite you here to discuss the issue with you. We wanted to hear your opinion on the matter." He sighed, "Unfortunately, Izzzuku, who we planned to have here as the interpreter, left, and we can't know when he will return. So, we will have to charade."
"I'm offering you Float here and now, if you feel like you trust yourself with it." Nana flat out said, "I already feel guilty for holding back once, but I want you to choose for yourself. One of the Quirks inside One for All put you in danger. I didn't want to be another."
En nodded, "I share Nana's sentiment. You can take Smokescreen, if you want it – though I will wait a bit before passing it on, so you can first get used to Float. No need to overburden you if there is no need. But I want to make sure you want it. And before you say – or try to say – that we have already seen Float and Smokescreen, and what they look like across the Multiverse, remember that the fact they are similar Quirks doesn't guarantee they are the same."
"And I'm holding back on mine." The Second finished, Izuku's eyes going wide. The scarred man chuckled, "Relax, I'm going to pass it on if you deserve it. I just don't trust what One for All might have done to it. I want to try and figure that out. It's a risky Quirk in general, but powering it up might have had bad consequences."
Izuku nodded. He understood their reasoning, even if a small part of him felt… sad, for lack of a better word, that the Vestiges wouldn't trust him to manage their Quirk. He squashed that down. 'It's not what they are saying. They are saying they were worried for me, not about me.'
"So, there you have it Izuku. Before, we were considering talking to you about your morals and ours, but…"
"But there is no time." The Third replied, "It was one thing to test you as you went through UA, it's another to put you in danger by either waiting for the last minute to give you our Quirks when you might be in danger at any moment. You need time to get used to them."
Everyone nodded, and Nana sighed, "This is messed up, Izuku. We hoped All for One was dead. Then I hoped my grandson could be stopped by someone else. But since now he will probably have allies none of us could beat on our own, I'm not going to burden you more." She sighed, "I will trust that you will make the right choice. Kill him or save him, I will believe the call is yours to make."
Izuku's eyes went wide. But it made sense that was something else burdening Nana Shimura. Tomura Shigaraki, as easy as it was to forget, was her grandson.
Izuku took a long moment to look at each of the vestiges, and then looked directly at Nana Shimura and nodded, before doing the same to En, the Second and Yoichi.
They smiled.
"Very well, Izuku." Nana replied.
"I hope we can talk soon." Yoichi added, and Izuku woke up, gasping. Looking outside, it was early in the morning. He looked down.
He was floating above the bed.
-x-
As the sun of the morning shined in the sky, Dekary groaned, stepping out of the portal. The Dekiru and Canary fusion slumped on the grass, unable to decide what to do next. "I've been doing this for ten days." The fusion commented, "And I'm not any closer to opening the right portal."
"It's not your fault though." Itsumi pointed out, cleaning off her sweat with a towel she had brought from home, sitting down next to him. She had been training with her weapon clearly, and judging by her smile, she was making at least some progress. "It's just that Canary's Quirk is hard to control, isn't it?"
"Yes but… You would think this would be easier, at least. My Quirk should be a better version of Canary's, but it just fails to do the one thing I need it to do." The fusion sighed again, "I'm not any closer to finding a way home."
"You'll do it." Itsumi promised, putting a hand on his shoulder. It was a weird thing to do, since while normally she was taller than Dekiru, she was shorter than Canary and definitely shorter than Dekary. It felt like she was both trying to counsel someone younger and someone many years older.
"I hope so. Dekiru misses his home, and his Quirk might be the key to get home a lot more people. Everyone that doesn't have One for All, basically." Dekary sighed, "It's a big responsibility, you know? If I can get this done, I can do so much good. Reunite so many families and friends just by fusing with them to get them home. Heck, I can even help find others. Fusing with Jiro would allow her to find her missing crewmates, and fusing with Uraraka could help her reach home and find out what happened to them."
"I get it." She nodded, "I… I'm not strong enough right now. Not enough to face Alien King and hope to even dent him, let alone defeat his full strength. But I want to change that. Because I inherited a piece of One for All. With my mom out of commission and Togata… dead… I have to prove I deserved it. That it wasn't just a crutch."
"That's why you have been asking around to learn anything?" Dekary asked.
"Of course. I need to get stronger, but I already control One for All. The Support Gear Katsuki made for me is great, but it can't bridge the gap alone. I tried magic, but… It's a lot of studying and I don't have the time. Ojiro is dedicating almost all of his free time to it, but he has already mastered his basic fighting style. I can't spend so much time learning magic when I have to also learn to use properly my new Support Gear, so all I got out of it was a single spell."
"That's why you asked Itsuka to learn Zhandou Quan?"
"Yeah… I guess she is right though, I can't learn her martial art this fast. As she put it, I might maybe learn in a week to control my Qi in its most basic form, but I don't even have a week and I couldn't really use it. It's just not worth it right now."
"Considering we are going to fight in two or three days, I have to agree with her."
"I know! I know she is right, is just… I have all this stuff dangling in front of me, all those options to become a better fighter, and they are always just out of reach, or require me to choose between getting better at what I can already do or leaving that aside to learn a completely separate skill!" She huffed, "I can't even fuse with Dekiru to get stronger, because we don't know what that would do to One for All. I'm… I'm useless when it comes to this fight."
Dekary sighed, passing a hand over his face and through his long green hair. Were those tears she spotted in the corner of his eyes?
"Sorry." He said, as if to confirm it, "I'm the fusion of an emotional teen and an adult that used to be a very emotional teen." He grimaced, and then he faded into light, before splitting into two forms. Dekiru was standing up, while Canary was still sitting on the grass.
The teen coughed awkwardly in his fist. "Uhm… I'll go… See Spider-Man. We want to see what a Fusion looks like." He replied, wandering off.
"Please don't turn in a giant spider that plans to devour us all!" Canary called back, chuckling as Dekiru froze for a moment before shaking his head and walking off.
Itsumi watched him go, then sighed, picking up her weapon, the 'walking stick'. "Well, I suppose I should go too. I think the Green Scar said something about trying to teach me 'Rabbit Martial Arts'. They won't change much, since I'm already a close quarters fighter, but…"
"Give me a moment." Canary replied, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We should talk."
Itsumi raised an eyebrow. "How long have you had your Quirk?" He asked.
Itsumi blinked, but she didn't hesitate, "Twelve years." She replied. A bit more, in truth, but twelve years was – uh, almost to the day, actually – the amount of time that had passed since she got One for All, Guide, and a way to control a Quirk that otherwise would have killed her.
"Well, what a nice coincidence." He replied, "Me too."
"I… What?"
He smiled. "I spent fifteen years of my life thinking I was Quirkless." He explained, "Well, eleven, four were just waiting for a Quirk that never came, but… you get what I mean."
"How? I thought your Quirk was your natural one. The alternative would be-"
"I didn't get it from All for One." He reassured her, "I just never found out."
"How?! Your Quirk is making songs come real! How did you never find out until you were fifteen?!"
Canary snorted. "Well, it's a weird story. I told you that my Quirks has very specific requirements. It has to be a song I like, and I have to visualize an effect. If I can't, all that does is make people feel whatever emotion that song transmits to me."
"So you just never noticed?"
"I didn't sing too often." He admitted, "And for a lot of reasons. Shyness, worry, selective mutism…"
"Selective mutism?"
"It's when you are incapable of talking to people because of stress, anxiety, fear, or other psychological causes…"
"No, I know that. Is just… I guess I never expected that. You sound like a ball of confidence."
Canary chuckled. Then he started to just laugh. "Oh, well, that's not really by my own merit! That's Yamada's and everyone from the CPS."
"The what?" She asked, and Izuku froze. It was a weird reaction from the person that was essentially her father.
"It's not important."
"It sounds important."
"It isn't."
She grinned, "Come ooooon…" He sighed, and muttered something that ended in 'squad', looking away as he did. "I can't hear you."
"The Canary Protection Squad…" He finally said, barely audible.
And Itsumi lost it. "I'm sorry!" She managed to say after a few moments, "That's so wholesome and so weird at the same time, I couldn't help it!"
"To be fair, it became the Canary's Aria…" He muttered, making it clear if Itsumi needed it that using the other name had been something he planned, but still pretending to be distraught, "I made a fool of myself in front of a teenager while trying to cheer her up, if Raven and Owl ever hear of this I'm finished." Almost in response to that, Siren landed on his head and chirped, Canary moving his hand up to scratch her head, "At least it's a secret between me and you, right Siren?"
Siren didn't say anything, and Canary frowned.
"Right?"
The bird still refused to answer, which Itsumi normally would have supposed was because it was a bird, but Siren looked awfully intelligent in the way she looked at her.
Canary finally sighed. "Only my luck would let me buy one canary and find the sassiest one." He commented, to which said canary finally chirped in indignation. "Yes, you are sassy. Don't try to deny it."
The bird chirped again, and made itself more comfortable in his hair.
Itsumi laughed quietly. "Either way, I guess you weren't just trying to make me laugh with that story, right?"
"It was part of the idea. If our comedy duo didn't work, I could have always dragged you to talk with Spidey, he is the funny one." He said, "But no, what I wanted to say is that I get what you are feeling. That idea of not being enough, of being useless… I did go through that, you know? And I don't think I'm the only one. Ask the Green Scar or Spider-Man how old they were when they got their powers."
"It's a bit different, though."
"Is it?" He raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Well, I won't get stronger than this, not any time soon-"
"Wrong." He shook his head, "You are getting stronger, even if you don't realize it. I see your training, and I can tell you are getting better. And you are already skilled."
"But it's not enough! I won't beat Alien King just by 'getting better'!"
"Then don't."
"Uh?"
Canary shrugged, "You aren't alone, Itsumi. We are with you. The Green Scar, Dekiru, Spider-Man… Even Itsuka has said she is planning to help you guys next. As am I. And if that means taking out Alien King for you, I will do it."
"But… But I should be the one to do it! That's what One for All is for!"
"Is it?" He raised an eyebrow, "I thought you had One for All because you need it to use your Quirk properly. Isn't that what you told us?"
"Well, I- Yes, that's why- But that isn't what I mean!" She finally shouted, "I know I got One for All for that reason, but I should step up to my role as a wielder."
"You can." He replied, "But you don't have to carry the whole burden. Isn't that the whole point of your One for All? I understand how you feel, Itsumi. I told you, I suffered from anxiety and selective mutism. Do you think just because my Quirk turned out to require singing I suddenly grew a confidence that defeated it all? Of course not. We would be having this conversation in signs if I was by myself. My friends and my teachers helped me. Without them..." He said, and quickly made a movement with his hands. Itsumi raised an eyebrow. "That means 'you get it'."
"I…" She bit her lip. "I think I get it. You needed your friends, I need you guys, and there is no shame in that, right?"
"Yup." He nodded, "You can become stronger, Itsumi, but you can't do miracles. No one can ask you more than your best. And if your best isn't enough, your friends and allies will be there to help you." He touched the left side of his face at the cheek, "The thing about good friends is that when you are in your darkest hour, they are there to support you. To remind you that you aren't alone." He smiled, turning to her, "I hope we can do the same. I'm going to help you, Itsumi. If you feel like you aren't enough, remember that you aren't alone. That we all will support you."
Itsumi slowly nodded, considering his words, looking up at the sky. It was cloudy, and she shivered a bit as a gust of cold wind rushed over them. She really hoped it didn't start to rain…
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"A bit. Guess we will get some rain…"
He smiled. "Nope. You have a friend here to help you. Want to learn sign? I will teach you. Want to train? I will fight you. Feel cold? I can solve that."
He closed his eyes, the words slipping to his lips. The second song he had sung. The one that told him he had a Quirk for sure.
~Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves~
"I used to think maybe you loved me; now baby I'm sure…"
He opened his eyes slightly, noticing Itsumi frown. His daughter, he supposed, even if in his own world she was an impossibility. She was as old as he had been when… things went south. He remembered those days, the fear, the danger, and how incredible it felt to finally win.
He would made her see that same future, he decided then and there. Maybe it was because of his mom, of how much she did to raise him well despite everything, or maybe it was having to take care of Eri as an older brother, but Itsuka and the Aria both liked to joke he was always protective of children.
He didn't find it in himself to argue. He really cared for what would happen to them.
"Now I'm walking on sunshine! Woah!"
The clouds moved as the sun seemed to force them apart, the light of it heating up the air around Izuku, and he watched Itsumi's eyes going wide as she looked up. He smiled, feeling Siren settle better on his head to warm herself more, and kept singing, one of his favorite songs clearing the sky. Of course, it wasn't like he could change the weather forever. Once the song finished, the clouds would come back, to cover the sky once again.
But looking at Itsumi's wonderment as, looking up at the sky, she didn't feel either to cold or the anxiety that had gripped her before, he could only see another teen, one that he had seen for so long in the mirror, that wanted someone to help him and didn't know who to ask. That couldn't even ask.
"And damn I feel good!"
Yes. That teen, right now, really felt good.
-x-
"You think this will work?" Arkin asked.
"I can't know, my lord." The wizard replied, "But there is a good chance. They say the Quirk reacts to its copies, and I believe that might be an indication that we can force a connection. And in that case, we can increase the amount of people we drag in."
Arkin's grin grew wide, and Izmird did his best to pretend he was happy for the man, even as he watched a grumbling Clockwork and a furious Paladin put their hands on both shoulders of Kai, just as Arkin walked forward.
In truth, Izmird had come up with this theory long ago. The idea was solid, but he had planned to not mention it until after he was done with his plan. Alas, he only had two days, including the present one, to grow his following, since apparently the power to travel the Multiverse still eluded him. According to Hawks' memories, his time limit before the attack of the man's allies took place was two or three days, and while he could always cut his losses early, he had an interest in staying to the end.
Either way, starting earlier wasn't a bad idea.
Arkin finished casting his spell, even as the two Izukus and the young child started to gasp in pain. Interestingly, he noticed, both the green haired individuals seemed unable to remove their hands from Kai's shoulder. He also noticed Kai wasn't writhing in agony on the ground. A good thing, he supposed, even if again not what he had been aiming for.
A portal opened, and then what the two Izukus called 'Full Cowling' came to life, their bodies covered in green lightning, their skin lightly shining of a light of the same color.
Two more portals opened, and Arkin grinned wildly. Behind him, Izmird did the same.
'Two or three days, and then the hunters will walk into what they think is the lion's den.' He smiled, 'Unfortunately, it's a dragon's den.'
He would take them all. Hunters and servants, they would all become his pawns. And after that, it wouldn't matter if he could summon someone with the power he needed. There was bound to be someone in the enemy's group with such ability, and he could use them for his own goals.
Arkin giggled madly as three individuals stepped through the portals and winced as the Crest embedded itself in their hands. One of them started to swear, one looked around in utter disbelief, and one seemed ready to jump Arkin, only for the power of the Crest to stop him.
"You have offered me a great service, Izmird." Arkin said.
"Too kind of you, my lord." The dragon replied. 'You can only imagine the kind of service you have given me. Maybe I won't even kill you, after all.'
That was when he noticed Paladin's look, as he leaned toward Clockwork, even as Arkin explained the situation to his new followers.
'How interesting. Is he playing a game of his own?'
-x-
Captain Kamino took a deep breath, as he entered the Arena. The day had flown by, he considered as he made his way to his changing room.
The day had flown by, and it was his time. The Top 32 was held, like the previous round, in two days, eight fights on Saturday, and eight fights on Sunday. His fight was the second of Saturday, today.
The fight against Revenant. He took another deep breath, looking around as he entered the changing room. He was alone, he noticed. Neither Fuyumi nor Argali had shown up, and he was fine with that. Not only did they have their own matches to think about – Argali's was the fourth that day, after all – but he wanted some time to think.
His brain considered his strategies. He had put a lot of thought into this, because he acknowledged Revenant was one of the strongest opponents he would face. For that reason, Cap had to consider his moves. He had studied his previous fights, putting his brain to the test by analyzing any pattern Revenant might have had, and if and when they broke it.
From what he knew, Revenant had great pain tolerance – or at least was great a faking great pain tolerance – and was skilled with firearms and blades alike. A unique set of skills for a man from the twenty-first century. Cap felt a trail of swear run down his brow, but controlled himself.
He had come up with a plan for this. It wasn't the most refined one, but it definitely served its job. Now, the question was how off he had been on guessing Revenant's intentions.
-x-
Revenant watched the television, studying the ongoing match. Honenuki was putting up a good fight against Ruin, the Shigaraki with bad luck-inducing power, but was clearly stuck on the defensive. The first match of the Top 32 was hard fought, but ultimately, Juzo was finished when Tomura managed to fake an attack and then touch a wall of one of the houses in his half of the field. Honenuki had turned around to try and stop the power from activating, and had promptly been hit in the head by a falling wall. He had survived, of course, but then Tomura touched his arm, and the bad luck mounted up. With the wall taken out, it was the house that collapsed next, falling on top of Honenuki and for once truly pinning him down. It didn't really matter, since he was unconscious, but it was worth noting.
Revenant nodded. Ruin would be a difficult opponent, but he had three days to prepare for him and the others. Right now, he had to take down his next opponent.
Captain Kamino would fall, he promised himself.
Another step toward finding Sugoh.
-x-
My name is Izuku Midoriya. I know, original, not many in this story.
What can I say? That's my name.
I was born in Musutafu, Japan, and you know that part of the story I believe. Quirkless child, Sludge Villain, One for All, UA, USJ, Kamino, Provisional License, Overhaul…
And that's where things went weird. To face Overhaul, I tied Eri to myself, and with her power, I finally got to use 100% without worrying about breaking my bones. Thanks to her, I won. But her power didn't stop.
I don't know how others got out of it. Maybe professor Aizawa was there to save them, maybe they managed to break free. I did neither, and that's how I woke in Renden. A fantasy world with nothing in common with my home.
And that started a fully different series of adventures, as I try to find a way to go home or at least return One for All to that world.
I'm Izuku Midoriya, and my I'm a Paladin.
I'm a Hero of two worlds, and I hope to save both.
Paladin grimaced, holding his head as he slumped on the chair. He was still feeling his hears ringing and head hurting from what Arkin had done hours earlier, but he had still managed to do what he wanted to.
'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Nana asked in his mind, the Vestige always feeling like a motherly voice in his mind.
'What else can we do?' Izuku asked back. The knight looked at the door as it opened, letting in the figure of the gunman. The outlaw sat down on the opposite side of the table. The room was one of the many that Arkin hadn't bothered cleaning. It had probably been some sort of planning hall, with a circular table with twenty or so seats. Paladin could imagine the rulers of the city look at each other as they discussed what to do to fight a demon army in that very room.
And he could see them fail to come to an answer. He hoped his case would be different.
The idea had come the day before, after his talk with Clockwork. He had realized that knowing the others, knowing them as more than Arkin's pawns, was the right plan. He wanted to go home. He wanted to defeat Arkin. But alone, he couldn't do it.
But he wasn't alone. Everyone here, with the possible exception of Izmird, wanted to take down the man almost as much, or even more.
Of course, inviting everyone was too much. Sagawa was basically exiled to the city, Tora Himikomori was recovering and prowling the forest on the second layer, Mustard guarding her for safety. Anubis, the version of Hound Dog that dressed like an ancient Egyptian, was on duty guarding the main entrance of the spire, the Prowler was in the Garden, the Bell Witch guarding the elevator, the samurai Moonfish the door to Arkin's room… Many of them were busy.
But many were free, and those were the ones he had invited. One by one, over the course of the day, or in the case of the new one later, when he had ran into them while Gun gave them the tour.
Of course, Izuku hadn't proposed a rebellion, or anything similar. That was sure to make the Crest on his hand hurt far more than it did before. He wouldn't be surprised if the mere mention of a rebellion against Arkin was enough to kill him, actually.
Instead, he had proposed a meeting to work better together. Which was honest, both in sentiment and reality: he wanted to work better with those that would show up. It was beneficial to Arkin, because they could work better together, and beneficial to them.
If it also meant he could start finding out what the others could do and try to form a plan, that was entirely coincidental.
As he watched the other people trickle in, one by one, he couldn't help but notice how many version of himself there were. The new arrivals included two teens and an adult. One of the teens carried around some sort of metallic surfboard, and wore a mostly black suit. The other was dressed in dark clothes, similar to Piper's own in some way. The adult, in contrast, wore what seemed a space suit, with a black choker around his neck as the only feature that made him different from the others.
The three new ones, Horizon, Kitsune and Martian. And then Superior, Gun, Piper and Clockwork.
He looked amused around the table, occupied by nine heads with green hair studying each other, probably as unprepared to such a situation as he was.
What did you call a group made entirely of Izuku Midoriya?
-x-
The Announcer rubbed his hands. This was a true event match. He knew what was coming, and he couldn't wait.
As soon as the Arena was finished, half of it covered in the metallic wall of Captain Kamino's request and the other half the Hunting Grounds requested by Revenant, he took a deep breath and then smiled widely.
"And now, a match you all have been waiting for! A super soldier born of a serum fights a super soldier born of a simulation! A super soldier that should be long dead fights a super soldier that died hundreds of times! It's a clash of white and green as the shield faces the sword and gun."
He turned to one side of the Arena. "The first marvel of his own world, the wielder of a Vibranium shield! Born sickly in an unforgiving world, he became much, much greater than anyone ever expected him to! The hailed revolutionary the spearheaded the age of Quirks and then vanished, only to reappear decades later, in an unfamiliar world he himself had helped create. The Shield of the Meta-Humans, Captain Kamino!"
Captain Kamino entered the field, helmet covering his head even as he kept his shield on the ready, around his right arm.
Izuku waited a moment, and smiling turned to the other side.
"Technology and Quirks mixed together to create this terrifying warrior! Born of the madness of a scientist, molded by death day after day for a year, he defeated the most fearsome opponents the Simulation had to offer. The teen that entered the machine came out a grizzled, bloodied soldier. And yet, he still chose to be a Hero. He still chose to fight for what's right… though some might wonder if he really fights to avenge what was done to him. The Simulation Survivor, Revenant!"
The Announcer felt a shiver of thrill go down his back as he watched the two opponents gaze at each other as Revenant entered the field, sword sliding out of the scabbard.
He waited a moment, until he was given the ok as the bets closed.
"Begin!" He shouted.
The two super-soldiers charged.
(XX)
I'm sorry, that's a mean cliffhanger, I know. In my defense, this chapter has a ton of stuff, setting up a lot of the stuff for upcoming chapters.
First of all, we have new people in, BUT, I'm not introducing them yet officially. While I'm sure some readers recognize Horizon and some recognize Kitsune, their formal introduction will come next chapter, where we go through a meeting of the Izukus I have been preparing for a long time.
Meanwhile, this chapter includes:
Canary from Canary by cloud_nine_and_three_quarters
Dekiru from Dekiru the Fusion Hero by | OmegaInfinity |
Usagi from The Green Scar Worldbuilding Thread by Quantum01 and The Green Scar by Pro-man
Captain Kamino from Kamino's Ward by tunafishprincess
Revenant from Locked in Digital by Rogue Druid
And mentions others, of course.
So, as expected, with the clock ticking forward, we get to look more into the Fantasyverse. With the big fight two days away, both sides are preparing for the showdown of the century. And as Canary proves he is just as much the heart of the party as he was the heart of his fic, Izmird proves that he is the real brain of the operation Arkin is 'running'.
Yup, multiple summonings achieved. The dragon did it. And it seems Paladin has his own ideas on how to handle this. One has to wonder exactly what he has in mind.
Meanwhile, in the Arenaverse, we have the big moment I've been waiting for. I've been teasing for a while how Float was apparently not coming out no matter what, and here you have it folks, this is why: Nana was worried. And I mean, who wouldn't be? She has seen the Multiverse, I think it's expected she would question giving Izuku her powered-up Quirk, as would En and as would the Second (totally not because I'm waiting for Horikoshi to reveal that Quirk, ahah). Of course Izuku, being Izuku, didn't take long to make a choice.
Aaaand well, you know what's up next. See you next week as the two super-soldiers fight it out, to find out if the winner will be the man of the serum or the man of the simulation.
Sugoh would kill to be here, I suppose.
And yes, I promise, first the fight, then the meeting. Chonky chapter ahead.