"That's unbelievable," Izuku mused as he gazed upon the genetic information extracted from All Might's DNA. During his time analysing Quirks and their associated factors he had stumbled across hundreds of quirks, each with their own unique sequences but he was usually able to see patterns in the cluttered madness. This one was a fire quirk, this one was a strength enhancer and that was a mutation quirk. By looking longer he was even able to work out the portion of the body it mainly affected or even divide the Quirk factors into their various functions. However the term 'usually' didn't apply when talking about the downright fantastic quirk that All Might had.
He was correct when he originally anticipated that All Might's Quirk had an element of stockpiling attached to it but it was the strangest stockpiling Quirk factor he had ever seen bearing little resemblance to every other genetic sequence he had examined. Furthermore and extremely worrying was that All Might's Quirk bared every resemblance to a merged quirk. This didn't refer to a child baring aspects of their parent's quirks but a person obtaining two Quirks somehow and them combining.
The only reason that he knew of these instances at all was that he had a few of them in his own organisation and he was directly responsible for their creation. The fact that All Might's quirk may have had the same origins was… worrying. He had already asked Brain to look up All Might's history but so far she was unable to get any solid details causing his interest to deepen. Taking his eyes off the collated data for a bit he decided to take a break and turn on the small television on the side of his office.
Even almost a week later they were still the hottest thing on television. There were countless heroes and other experts who broke down everything from the five minute clip. Unfortunately even with the ultra-slow-motion cameras on the scene that last blow between All Might and him too quick to be properly seen. A single frame of his arm morphing into a dragon, an instant of movement from All Might to block the emerging beam of white light; these few frames were all that they were focusing on and boy did they focus on them. Even Sudor's casual takedown of everybody else was overshadowed by that clip of a fraction of a second. Apparently if the beam hadn't been blocked by All Might then at least six blocks would have to be written off the street maps.
As a result Izuku had been made an S-Class criminal and Sudor had been recorded as an A-Class. The remaining trio of Knees, Muscles and Nose had been all recorded as B-Class. The Living Tree was firmly on the map and on the tongues of the public. Some were even calling him an evil rival to All Might but while Izuku had faith in his own potential the day that he could rival that guy was still a long way away.
An interview with All Might was next and Izuku tuned into it to try and see if the No.1 had any analysis on the brief exchange but it wasn't to be. There were a few deep probing questions regarding All Might's inability to stop him which was quite frankly a laughable position indicating the standard uninformed nature of anybody outside the hero/villain business. He had already defeated the other heroes before All Might got there, evacuated the rest of his gang, arranged his quirks to output the maximum power and then escaped using a warp Quirk. That exertion had barely left above the strength of a Quirkless human for a few hours as he tried to get his tree Quirk to produce more fruit Quirks.
It quite frankly made Izuku more than a bit irritated that people were judging All Might for failing after none of them could have pulled off the same performance. Even Sudor, the absolute monster, would have had to run when he brought out that much power although she would probably be back to kick his ass when she returned from the blast radius. Annoyed, Izuku carefully typed out his findings for the day before placing them on a flash drive and then whistling.
A second after he did so Tindalos in his miniature form appeared from under his desk leaping up onto his lap before reaching up and showering his face with doggy kisses. He reciprocated petting the dog on the head and back for a while before he handed him the flash drive and told him to take it to Brain. Job for the day done he decided to go out and train with his quirk, not for the purpose of creating new Quirks, but for trying to extract more from the fruit Quirks without them crumbling. He decided to take a bus to the local beach, a place that he hadn't gone to for quite a while, not since he first got his job at Alpex.
It looked just as disconcertingly dirty as always with heaps of trash and broken items. The detritus of a modern civilisation seemed to collate and conglomerate around this particular beach. He shrugged off his jacket placing it on a nearby oven before he reached for the most familiar quirk and the first quirk he had ever created. He stretched out his hand and summoned up that quirk for the first time ever trying to control it and drag a nearby fridge closer to him. The progress was clunky and slow but eventually he managed to drag it out of the beach and to a nearby dumping area.
Still he had barely gone five minutes when the fruit Quirk began to tremble and he redoubled his concentration even as his quirk cracked and tore trying to keep using the quirk even as he focused all of his attention on Attraction of Small Objects, except that name was really inappropriate in those circumstances. The Quirk had been massively modified by him by this point but the truth was that his mother just did never use it to its full potential. Izuku took a deep breath as he tried to hold the quirk together as the cracks grew worse only for the quirk to break as he lost concentration for an instant.
He sighed in irritation as he started creating another instance of his Quirk and pulled the next one digging into it. He ran through fifteen iterations, devouring the fruit Quirks as he worked out moving trash and junk through the sand but any improvements were negligible to the point of irrelevance. Gradually the beach became cleaner and cleaner while his reserves of Quirks dwindled into nothing with negligible improvement to show from it all.
Unfortunately while Izuku knew a great bit about Quirks his own one was so unique that he lacked the ability to reference similar samples and figure out how to improve. Shaking his head to get rid of negative thoughts he started creating a batch of new iterations of Attraction of Small Objects knowing that at least the arduous process of producing Quirks had become somewhat quicker over the years.
"Good job cleaning up the beach young man," a voice said and Izuku turned towards the new arrival before his eyes widened into saucers. Standing just a dozen feet away from him was the withered thin form that only Izuku would recognize as All Might. For a moment he felt panic regretting that he didn't bring his bat today before he mentally punched himself. All Might had no idea of his identity and if he did then he wouldn't be approaching him like that.
"It's really more of an out of the way place to train my Quirk," Izuku replied honestly. "I don't really normally like the beach. I can't really stand all this sand."
"It's admirable that you train young man but I should warn you not to use your Quirk so liberally in public," All Might said coughing into his hand for a moment displaying a brief flash of red. "If a hero or a police officer saw you they might have to fine you for illegal Quirk use."
"Do you see any officer or heroes here though," Izuku said with a grin that he concealed swiftly. "What hero would come to this place? Most of them would be too busy chasing down villains or dealing with their own nonsense. Unless you are a hero Mr…"
"Yagi," All Might said. "And I am afraid that I'm not a hero," the No.1 hero lied.
"Well neither am I so unless the seagulls decide to tell on me I will be fine," Izuku said. "Besides you and I are both aware that those laws are applied laxly to the more young students due to the inadequate public facilities used for training Quirks. If a hero was going to come here they would likely give me a warning at worst and a few encouraging words to keep working on my quirk."
All Might frowned at that answer before he nodded in agreement and walked up to Izuku looking at him resting up and recovering his Quirks.
"Have you thought about improving your body," he said inquisitively. "I only ask because you look like you are having trouble and a lot of people forget the fact that Quirks are often physical just as much as mental."
"I do improve my body," Izuku said before he demonstrated this by walking up to a nearby old-fashioned metallic cabinet wrapping his arms around it, picking it up and walking slowly but steadily to the pile outside the beach. When he was finished he hadn't even started sweating despite the heaviness of the piece of furniture. A villain who didn't train their body properly would never amount to anything other than fodder no matter how strong their Quirk was.
"That is rather impressive strength for your age young man," All Might said. "Are you thinking of becoming a hero."
"Call me Izuku," Izuku said. "And no I do not have a desire to become a hero." He paused for a moment before he decided to go ahead with it. "Quite frankly I will admit to not thinking much of the whole profession."
"That's fair enough," All Might said unexpectedly. "If everybody was to become a hero then who would there be for the heroes to save in the first place. That still doesn't explain why you are so eager to train your Quirk if you don't intend to use it."
"Why do people climb mountains, and run marathons," Izuku said shrugging even as he replaced his Quirks. "I assume it is because they can do it. Not everything in life has to be part of some grand design."
"I suppose that is true young Izuku," All Might said nodding along. "But don't you think it is a shame to have power and not use it."
"I am using it," Izuku said gesturing towards the broken and twisted scraps of metal before dragging them towards him. "Besides the reason why the Quirks can't be used is due to the stupid governments laws and if I really wanted to use them I could just immigrate to almost any other country when I hit eighteen."
"They laws have been gradually tightening up in many other countries," All Might said thoughtfully. "I suppose you could always go to America in the end. They have always been fairly liberal about Quirk usage."
"Let's not talk about last resort situations with such blasé," Izuku said half-joking. "Before that situation I would have tried for the government and rewrote the Quirk laws."
"Which ones," All Might said making small talk as Izuku started dragging a fridge with his Quirk, increasing the attraction and feeling out the limits of the Quirk with an unsatisfied look upon his face.
"The 'defence of self' laws," Izuku replied. "What are they if not a tyrannical and impractical piece of literature that was passed by a bunch of fearful morons in the government to prevent the masses from ever rising up in discontent?"
"That sounds a lot like the Meta Liberation spiel," All Might said frowning at Izuku. "You're sounding dangerously close to indicating you believe in their message and I must caution you that that isn't a very popular stance nowadays."
"What can I say but that I have always believed in freedom over peace," Izuku said frankly as he trained his quirk under the heat of the sunny skies.
"Is that why you don't like heroes?" All Might asked curiously as he sat down on the beach to watch him. "Due to their position as symbols of the government?"
"I don't like heroes because they contribute indirectly towards the idolisation of powerful Quirks and the contempt towards the Quirkless," Izuku said frankly. "Every kid with a powerful Quirk is a candidate to be the next All Might and every Quirkless kid is merely an accident of birth; someone who can be written off."
That was Izuku's true feelings. His Quirk had only appeared very late in life and so he had been labelled as Quirkless since he was very young and the world was not kind to a Quirkless boy. It was not a nice feeling; and even today he still held a soft spot towards any Quirkless that he met. In fact despite one notable exception everybody within his gang besides him had started out Quirkless.
"I see," All Might said and Izuku could easily hear a genuine hint of sadness in his tone. "That was…" he paused not saying anything more.
"I'm sure that was not your intent," Izuku replied flatly. "Nor is it your fault. People will draw conclusions and judgements no matter what you say or do. The only thing that you can do is to live your life in such a way that you are satisfied in your actions."
"What are you talking about?" All Might asked a look of growing confusion on his face.
"Do you know I was sort of rescued by All Might a few days ago," Izuku said as another one of his Quirks broke and he gave up on the task in frustration. "I was fighting off an attacking villain when he suddenly jumped out of the sewers and finished him off in one punch. " Izuku looked back, noting a slowly dawning look of comprehension on his face before it turned to horror. "He left in rather a hurry so I followed him after he left and saw a rather interesting sight."
"How did I not notice you," All Might said gritting his teeth in frustration.
"Obviously your Quirk isn't super hearing," Izuku said blithely. "I can actually move quite quickly if properly motivated." As he said that he raised his hand grabbing towards a large fridge, but instead of pulling it towards him he instead pulled himself towards it flying towards the heavy object and landing atop it before sitting down. "Don't worry I am not the kind of person to spread gossip. If I got the stuffing beaten out of me then I would also hate to have it broadcast."
"You…" All Might started before he suddenly bowed deeply surprising Izuku and causing him to fall off the fridge. He scrambled to his feet looking at the hero. "Thank you," All Might said. "I don't know how the public would have reacted knowing that the Symbol of Peace was getting weaker over time."
"Probably not well," Izuku admitted thinking of the possible fallout. "Although I have to say that I cannot really approve of a society that is so flimsy to rest on the shoulders of one man, no matter how broad they may be."
"That is quite a cynical take, young man," All Might said frowning for a while. "But what if a person just needs a small push; to make them believe that everything is okay? If I can save that one person then would it not encourage others to their own acts of heroism? If it is for the purpose of making a society where everybody can smile I will gladly be that symbol and I will gladly shoulder that weight." Every sentence the Pro Hero spoke was brimming with a sense of righteousness and justice and even Izuku felt his cynicism ease somewhat under the charisma of the No.1 hero. He still disagreed of course but he couldn't and indeed didn't want to try and sway All Might to his view.
"So which villain did that," Izuku asked to change the subject only to watch as a reluctant look overtook the Pro Hero's face.
"I would rather not say," he said after a while. "No offense but I really don't know you well enough to get you involved in this."
"Fine," Izuku said. "I don't really want to get involved in this whole cloak and dagger stuff anyway." He brushed the sand off his clothes as he resolved to ask Brain if any more information had come up. "I'm going to go home and think about how to fix the problems with my Quirk. Hope you get better soon All Might."
"Go Plus Ultra, young Izuku," All Might said raising his hand in a fist before he waved goodbye and the hero and villain parted.
xxx
"What did you just say Boss," Sudor said as she paused her workout; hanging by the back of her knees from a horizontal pole two metres off the ground and wearing a set of purple gym clothes. The two of them were inside a warehouse owned by the gang and used primarily for the purpose of training and Quirk testing. For one last time she reached up with her hands to grasp her knees before she pulled herself up fully before flipping off the pole and landing on the concrete floor. "Sorry Boss I thought I misheard you. You said you wanted to spar with me." Her strong accent and lax manner of speaking always made Sudor seem a bit slow to the casual observer but Izuku knew that the strongest member of his gang was anything but.
"I do," Izuku said clenching his fist and displaying a look of determination. "I just can't…"
"You're shaking," Sudor interrupted pointing at his knees which he noticed were vibrating slightly when he looked down.
"That's not…" he started only to see stars as the world spun and went black. A moment later he forcibly opened his eyes to find himself half embedded in the wall. He tried to pull himself out of the wall but all of his muscles screamed in agony and he relented only to feel his throat grabbed and in the next second he was yanked out of the brick wall and held aloft by one hand.
"Keep your eyes on the enemy, Boss," Sudor said as she dropped him to his knees and he winced at the pain of the concrete floor. "Now get up. You've still got a long way to go."
"I think I'm done Sudor," Izuku said only for his legs to tremble as he tried to get up. "Maybe I should take it easy for a bit and do a few push-ups. Maybe start jogging again. I don't think I can survive another punch like that."
"It was a kick Boss," Sudor said her voice alarmingly indignant for not being the one who wasn't nearly punted through the wall. "Come on, success is only ten percent inspiration but ninety percent perspiration. You haven't even built up a sweat yet."
"I think if I take another hit like that I'm going to die," Izuku said struggling to his feet.
"If you die then you just need to stand up again," Sudor said. "Cut it with this half-assed shit or I'll show you the true power of a daughter of an A-Class villain."
"Okay, okay," Izuku said taking one last deep breath in before the dozen Quirks he selected locked themselves into position and his primary Quirk started producing more as a reserve. He crouched down keeping his body low as he activated a few enhancer Quirks bringing his strength and speed up to superhuman levels as he did so. At the same time he activated a mild repulsion Quirk to deflect any moisture coming towards him and prevent him from instantly becoming an ice sculpture. Lastly he kept one nasty little trump card locked away for a surprise for his subordinate that would help him win.
While he was doing this he noted that Sudor had averted her eyes from his and donned a pair of sound cancelling headphones; sensible precautions against a wide variety of quirks, something that he definitely had. Her posture was relaxed but she was clearly standing in such a way that she could respond to that imminent attack. The tension rose as two of the strongest members of the Living Tree stood against each other prepared to attack. The silence stretched for a moment and Izuku shifted his weight forward activating his quirks simultaneously…
Suddenly Izuku heard his cell phone ring from its place on the table on the other side of the room and he raised his hand in the universal symbol of wait causing his icy opponent to instantly come to a stop as he walked towards the communication tool before picking it up. It brought him some amusement to watch Sudor jumping in place with eagerness while he was picking up the phone but he focused on the call as soon as he saw the name of the caller.
"Yes Brain," he said. "What do you have for me?" he said as he heard his right hand woman on the phone. "Yes I have no big plans lately. No I do not have any plans for the Yakuza yet. I'm putting it off for now. I still want you looking into them, but try not risk any trouble for the group."
"Tell Brain to approve my clothes budget," Sudor said in the background.
"Approve Sudor's clothes budget," Izuku repeated dutifully before he lowered the phone. "She said no," he said before he turned away from his pouting companion. "Anything else you wanted Brain. Yes. No I've never heard of them. Really," he said drawing the word out with plain interest. "Yes I'll take her." As he said this he looked towards Sudor who gave him thumbs up. "I'll be the judge of that. I'll bring Tindalos as well and I'll decide when I'm there. Alright, good job Brain." Izuku put the phone down before he slid it into his pocket.
"What's the news Boss," Sudor said as she picked up a towel nearby wiping the sweat off of her body.
"We're meeting with another group of Villains who want to see the man who foiled All Might," Izuku explained solemnly. "It seems my fame is already opening doors," he continued as a grin appeared on his face. "You remember how most of these meetings go down Sudor."
"I'll get my knuckledusters Boss," Sudor said.
"And dress into something more threatening," Izuku said agreeing with his subordinate as he picked up his jacket, previously discarded on a hook on the wall. "I'll take Tindalos with me but I'm going to have a few more people outside. Only you and I will actually be making contact."
"Know anything else about the location," Sudor said as she finished with the towel before drinking deeply from her water bottle.
"Apparently it's a bar," Izuku said as he came to the door of the warehouse. "It's run by some jerk called Shiragaki or something like that.