"My baby boy!" His mother squeezed, crushing him in a titanic hug
"Mom. Crushing. Me." He croaked, his mother pulling back slightly, "Thank you."
"I still can't believe it… my baby boy's getting his first date!"
"It's not a date." Izuku felt a frown trace his features
"You asked a girl out to get something to eat. That's enough for me."
"Moooooooooooom…"
"How pretty is she?" She waved her hand, "Considering how much of a cutie you are, I'm sure she's drop dead gorgeous. Especially since you've gotten in shape."
He leveled a glare at her.
"Nope. You can't put a damper on my mood."
Izuku let out a sigh, pinching his nose. He might as well make due with what he can…
"Can you at least cool it a bit when she's here?" He pleaded, "I don't want her getting the wrong impression…"
"That is true…" His mother seemed to muse, "Fine. I'll keep quiet, but you're going to owe me, mister."
"I'm going to owe you… for not scaring her off…" Izuku sighed out, "You know what? Okay. Fine… just… please don't ruin this for me?"
"I would never! After all… Grandchildren!"
"I. Am. Fourteen." Izuku replied with a deadpan, "Unless you want me to drop being a hero to knock a girl up…"
"Heavens no. Forget what I said. Become a hero, then you can give me grandbabies."
Izuku let out a sigh. That was probably the best he could do…
"Well, I'm going to head to my room. See you."
"See you too, honey." She smiled
Izuku let out a sigh, releasing the tension in his shoulders. That had gone far better than he was expecting. He'd honestly expected his mother to faint, given her previously quirkless status.
As he closed his door, he shifted his thoughts. His arms still felt like lead, perhaps it was the day finally catching up with him, or perhaps it was the strain of his Quirk's true power. Either way, he'd test tomorrow. In the meantime, though, he could at least speculate as to the methods in which his quirk worked. Which, at least from his understanding, either slowed time or completely stopped it.
From what he could tell, time was motionless within that state… but there were a few indicators that time was not completely frozen. First, there was an initial blueshift of colors, something that only occurred when moving towards an object at a significant portion of the speed of light. Second, he could still move, breathe and see, which would be impossible within absolutely frozen time. But, there would be a way he might be able to test.
It might be possible to figure out precisely how much he sped up by measuring the Blueshifting. Once he could calculate that… he might have an idea what kind of strain he was putting his body under… and… possibly if there was a way to lessen it.
Effectively stopping time was wonderful… but what if he had minutes of slowed time? He'd imagine that it wouldn't be as comparatively efficient than his true ability… Usually, when quirks activated, they operated within their sweet spot, or the most efficient area for the task.
For example, If one had a fire breather quirk, it's first expression wouldn't be hot enough to burn the user, but it would manifest in a noticeable way. He had to assume The World functioned on a similar basis.
That meant, The World's Time Stop could potentially move faster, or even slower, if he needed the endurance. But… the question still remained… was it the quirk itself straining him, or was it the fact that he was moving at relativistic speeds.
Izuku plopped down onto his bed, closing his eyes.
He could figure that out tomorrow. For now, he needed to rest. He had a dat- outing with Ochako tomorrow.
_
"So… why'd you ask me out to eat?" Ochako scratched her cheek
Izuku, as she'd come to know him, was a rather timid teen. He was quick to stutter and overthink, constantly second guessed what he said and almost seemed to be afraid of hurting her feelings. It was… surprisingly sensitive in face of how she'd first met him…
"I… er… I'm not sure." His eyes widened as her's narrowed, "T-that's not how I mean it! I-I swear! It was a spur of the moment thing… I just wanted to ask you…"
Her head tilted to the side, her pursed lips widening into a smile.
"Well, why didn't you say you just wanted to get to know me?" She gave a giggle, smiling warmly, "I don't bite…"
Izuku felt something stop in his throat at the way she said that.
"You okay? I said I don't bite. You don't have to worry too hard about offending me."
"S-sure… Sorry about that. I kinda froze."
"You know… I've been meaning to ask… Why the mood shift?"
"Mood Shift?"
Her painted nails scratched at the restaurant table gently, an idle tick from what he could gather, her other hand supporting her chin as she leaned forward.
"Yeah… you were a lot different in front of that robot. You weren't as nervous. Is it me?"
"I… I guess…" He admitted, shamefully, "This is the first time I've been out with a girl… date or otherwise."
She blinked. Date? Oh… She could see why he was so nervous.
"That's okay. We don't have to consider it a date. How about two friends meeting up?"
Izuku seemed to perk up at that.
'Ah… so he's the 'eager to impress' type. That explains the nervousness here but not under a hundred ton robot.' She mentally mused
"So, what made you want to become a hero?" He asked
She gave guilt humm as she looked down.
"Honestly, I'm in it for the money…" She frowned out
She looked everywhere but his eyes. Most people thought it was selfish but he'd save her… so the least she could do is be honest.
"There's nothing wrong in that." He said, "So long as you don't get greedy."
"I'm planning on using the money to help my parents. They own a construction company."
"That's amazing!" Izuku gave a smile, leaning forward, "You're doing it to help people… even if it isn't physically."
Ochako pulled back, surprise evident on her face.
"You really think that?"
"Of course. I want to be a hero to save as many people I can, with a smile just like All Might's. I want to be the best in the world, not just Japan!"
She blinked.
Heroes periodically operated in other countries, but she'd never heard of an international one. All Might was probably the closest hero she could think of, spending a lot of his early days being sent to the United States while they got their own hero system figured out. It was partially how he'd risen in the ranks within Japan, his unique American mode of speaking was really friendly and overly hospitable… which of course made him an incredibly popular hero.
"Can't think of any international heroes other than All Might… maybe. You really think you're up to the task?" She asked, her head lowering a bit as she raised an eyebrow
"Nope."
She practically spit out her drink. He didn't even believe in himself…
"I don't think I can as I am now." Izuku's hands rung… "But I will."
And there was that fire…
His expression hardened, eyebrows going from tilting in worry to a fierce determination as a distant gaze took him. She smiled. So this was the man who saved her…
"How about we hang out again? Maybe visit the arcade at the mall."
Like a firework, the shift lasted but the briefest moments. Back was the shy, careful, and sensitive Izuku.
"O-oh. R-really?" He barely stuttered out, "Even though I'm a bit of a n-nervous wreck…"
A warm smile spread across her face, her cheeks flushing a bit rosier in response to her own smile.
"Of course! I think you're pretty cute."
_
"I can't believe it…" Izuku murmured, holding his pounding chest
"What… was this feeling?" He spoke up, muttering as he leaned against a street lamp
'Cool it… you're just crushing REALLY hard. Just because she called you cute doesn't mean she likes you…'
His breaths were shaky, but he held himself together.
"Now… you gotta get home then you can gush…" He told himself
After her… compliment, the outing had kinda died there. He wasn't exactly incredibly social with how he was trying to process what he'd heard. It was one thing for your mother to call you cute… but a girl your age? That was on a whole other level.
"God, I'm over reacting."
He sat down, leaning against the street light.
He let out a sigh.
"I'm such a loser."
Freaking out that much just because a girl said he was cute. A life flashed before his eyes when she did… marriage… kids… growing old… jeeze. So that's what it was like to like someone… even for the briefest moments. Was it something normal? He wasn't sure… but as he looked up into the night sky, he felt things would work out well for him.
He had a good quirk, a girl seemed to think he was cute, and he was likely to pass the UA entrance exams. It all seemed so… unreal. For once in his life… since he was diagnosed as Quirkless he couldn't really say he wasn't happy. He'd always had highs and lows… but he'd never imagined things would ever turn out this right.
He felt a smile sneak onto his lips, surprising him as his head drooped.
It was getting pretty late… maybe he should rest. His eyes closed as his head went limp.
"Yeah…" His lips barely moved, "Sleep…"
"Time…"
Izuku's eyes snapped open, dark void surrounding him. His breath hitched, the sheer cold of the absolute nothingness… was unlike anything he'd felt before. It started from you bones and seemed to seep outward, almost in an unnatural manner. Izuku looked down… or what he thought was down, his form cloaked in a dark mist.
"Ah… who might you be?" The void warmed, turning a brilliant gold, the English accent smooth and docile, "You're… unique."
"Unique?" Izuku asked, looking around the soft, golden glow
"Yes… you are an underdog… the powerless."
"I have The World." Izuku stated, tension rising in his voice
The voice boomed with smooth, silky laughter. It wasn't mocking, but genuinely from amusement, from what he could tell.
"Do not be so arrogant to think that you might be able to deny the whims of fate, for it is eternally oppressive, deciding your actions far before you're born."
"What do you want from me?"
"Want?" It chuckled again, "What makes you assume you have anything to offer me?"
"I will put this simply for you, Midoriya Izuku. We are bound by fate… the gravitational pull that guides us all along our destined path. I am a manifestation of that."
"Fine… then what do you believe my fate to be?"
"To attain your Heaven."
"Heaven?" Izuku frowned, "What the hell are you t-"
The voice sighed.
"You will come to see soon enough. For now, continue with your goal. Our next meeting will be far more eventful."
In a flash, the brilliant gold died out, leaving him with the oppressive void. As as time went on, even that faded away.
Tokyo's skyline stood before him, contrasted to the dark evening sky.
He looked around, seeing himself to be in a park of sorts that overlooked the area. He'd moved during that dream…
Just what the hell was going on?
_
Sorry for the delay... things didn't go too well.
I'm single now... and er... I guess I don't have to worry about buying that ring (Feelsbadman)...
I wanted to post earlier but... honestly? I've been feeling pretty shit and the site has been giving ppl a bunch of issues so I didn't want to be another story to cause you issue. Given that, chapters might take a little longer for me to post.
On top of that, she spread some rumors that er... yeah... they basically pushed me away from some pretty good friends I'd known for a while... and to think... I was going to propose early next year...
Yeah.
Well... onto the relevant stuff to the story and to answer a few questions I've gotten from people.
1.) As this chapter establishes... there's a reason Izuku has DIO's stand and I don't intend to just hand people stands.
2.) I will not be introducing stands and quirks at the same time. The stand arrows are a vehicle of sorts for a virus, one that forces your body to awaken it's latent potential. I'd say in this canon, they'll be two manifestations of the same problem. Sort of like an adaptation. By acquiring one, you give the other away. Both Stands and Quirks seem to be a form of evolution.
3.) Given the above, I think it's fairly obvious Izuku won't be acquiring OFA.
4.) I do not plan to include any stand users from Jojo canon, but I do intend to add one or two stand users... but given the requirements to acquire a stand... it will be very rare.
5.) Izuku's ability to use the world will differ to DIO's. The user's psyche has a large impact on the effectiveness of a stand. DIO believed himself above all, a literal god amongst men. The world itself bent to his will. Combine that with his early 18th century understanding of science, It's likely he doesn't understand how physics-defying his ability is.
Izuku is different... very different.
Jotaro, in Stardust Crusaders, was actually physically stronger than DIO just as Johnathan was... yet his Time Stop only once surpassed his first use of it... only when he didn't care about the consequences just as he did originally.
I think the frequency of Time Stop is directly proportional to Stamina, but it's length? I think that's just how confident you are in your will to defy physics.
Jotaro getting revenge for Joseph? Him saving his daughter? Both are cases where he wouldn't give a damn about time, space or physics.
It would also explain DIO's ability to stop time lengthening as he performed it, despite his physical strength or stamina not improving, which is the exact thing Jotaro cites as his limit on usage.
TL;DR: Mindset matters more for the length of the timestop, Stamina decides the cooldown.
6.) Izuku's personality will never mirror DIO. They are two polar opposite characters who will affect each other, sort of like Venom and Eddy.
I'll be happy to answer anything else if you post a review with your question. I read them all and respond to the ones who ask questions.
Thanks for reading, folks. This means a lot to me, especially right now.