AN: Thanks for the interest everyone! I hope you enjoy your stay.
arispuffer - yep! Melissa has her reasons, but who knows how this story will unfold.
Mugen-Muse - There's plenty of folks who could, but I've had a particular hyperfocus on making this work for about six months, hence several one-shots that are more or less thematically linked.
Melissa sat on the roof, watching the sun as it descended below the horizon. On her lap, her phone was playing a yap!Tube compilation of All Might fights. Meanwhile, she idly fiddled with the surprisingly heavy wristband that was gifted to her.
But her mind may as well be a thousand miles away, the words of her earlier conversation looping in her head.
'Become the hero we always wanted to be. The one I couldn't be.'
Left alone with her thoughts, her mind became a tempest of emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
Fear…
Confusion…
Uncertainty…
What happened in the future? What terrible event befell her that would lead her to travel back in time? To give her a quirk!
And not just any quirk… All Might's quirk.
Quite possibly the strongest quirk on the planet, if what her older self said was true.
As she brushed her fingers over the cool material of the wristband, she felt other emotions forming a lighthouse, a beacon guiding her through the storm of her thoughts.
Feelings of excitement and hope.
'I'll do it, Risa! I'll be the hero I- the hero we always dreamed of!'
Melissa didn't know how long she had been sitting there until her reverie was broken by the sound of the rooftop door slamming open and her dad's panicked voice.
"Melissa!? Where are you?"
"Dad?" Coming to her senses, she grabbed her phone and stood up, only to see David Shield running toward her.
"Melissa!" David Shield practically crashed into her, pulling her into a hug. Despite the swiftness of his movement, she had time to see her dad's face. She had never seen him look so utterly terrified before. "All Might called- Are you ok?"
"Yes," Melissa vigorously bobbed her head. "I- there's a lot we need to talk about, but I'm ok."
"What about- All Might said you might explode!"
Melissa paled as she jerked away from her father. "Explode?!"
"He-" David took a deep breath. "This may sound insane, but did someone give you a quirk?"
"Yes," Melissa said softly. "I met someone- I met me. She gave me a quirk. Uncle Might's quirk."
She felt a twisting in her stomach as her dad visibly paled. "All Might said-"
"Dad," Melissa said firmly. "It's ok, I promise!"
"How can you say that?" He asked desperately.
Melissa gave him a reassuring smile. "Because I trust myself," She forced herself to laugh. "I don't think a future version of myself would give me something that would make me explode. That means she wouldn't be able to exist, after all!" Her face quickly shifted to a somber expression as she looked at the blue watch-like device that was now laying on the ground. "But… she did tell me that I can't use my new quirk unless my life depended on it."
"Oh, Mel-" She felt her dad release her from his grasp as he fell to his knees. "I can't lose you. Not after-"
"You won't lose me, dad," Melissa said. This time it was her turn to initiate the hug. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I-" Her dad swallowed the lump in his throat. "We need to get you back down to the lab."
"Why?"
David stood up and dusted off his pants. "I've spent forty years monitoring All Might. If I run a scan on you, I can compare the results and make sure that everything's ok."
"That sounds good," Melissa agreed. If she was being honest with herself, after hearing that she had the potential to explode because of this quirk she received, a little assurance would be nice. Kneeling, Melissa picked up her phone and the blue bracelet she was given.
"What's that?" David asked.
"This?" Melissa held up the bracelet. "This is the other thing Ri- the other me left behind," Melissa admitted. "It's supposed to protect me - in case I needed to use the quirk."
"How does it work?"
"I haven't actually tried it on yet," Melissa explained. Pocketing her phone, she strapped the bracelet to her wrist for the first time and pushed the button to activate it. As they watched, blue strips of material sprang out of the device and wrapped themselves around her arm, as if it was designed to fit her perfectly. The material felt stiff, but as she tried to flex her fingers and make a fist, she found the material had a slight give to it, allowing her more flexibility than she had expected.
"Impressive," David stepped forward and gently reached out to Melissa's arm. She allowed him to take it and pull it closer to himself as he traced his fingers along the material. "This must be some sort of composite material, we'll have to analyze this later and determine how it works."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out!" For the first time since she had arrived on the roof, Melissa had a genuine smile on her face.
"You mean we'll figure it out."
Melissa carefully laid herself down on the bed of the machine, before raising her arm to flash her dad a thumbs up.
"Now try and stay perfectly still while the machine scans you," She heard her dad's voice over a small speaker.
"Got it!"
Melissa took a deep breath, feeling the nervous energy return as she heard the machine whirring to life. She couldn't help but imagine All Might laying on the table, undergoing the same scan several times a year for almost forty years. As she did so, she felt a weight settle on her chest.
She knew the things All Might had done over the years. He visited I-Island at least twice a year and often regaled Melissa with tales of his latest exploits. Or, if things have been calm, he would tell his old 'war stories,' as he called them, of villains long past, before he had become the symbol of peace.
Was she expected to become some sort of symbol? With this power, she couldn't just stay on I-Island! Where would she go? Will she return home to America or will she go to Japan? Or-
"Melissa?" She found her thoughts once again interrupted by her dad. "Is everything alright? Your heart rate just spiked."
"Y-yeah!" Melissa said quickly. "I'm just thinking about this quirk!"
"I understand. I promise if something's wrong I'll find it!"
Melissa forced herself to relax as the machine started up again, passing over her body several times before finally powering down.
"The scan is done, you can get up now."
Quickly standing up, Melissa walked over to see her dad looking closely at a monitor, with concern on his face. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes," David sighed as he tapped some buttons, and the large monitor on the wall suddenly lit up, showing two graphs side by side. One with a flat line at the bottom of the graph, and another with a line that was high for the majority of the graph, before it began to gradually decline. "On the right are All Might's readings. As you can see, his quirk factor has remained consistently high until recently."
"What happened to cause that?" Melissa asked curiously.
Melissa couldn't help but notice the slight flinch her dad made at the question. Rather than face her, he looked up at the monitor. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't."
"Dad-"
"The graph on the left is yours. If this is to be believed, you don't possess any quirk factor at all."
"I was told it would take some time for the quirk to transfer. Maybe it hasn't happened yet?" Melissa asked hopefully.
"Hmm. Maybe," David rested his chin in his hand. "Well, there's two people who can give us answers, and we know how to get in touch with one of them."
David stood up and moved to the meeting room in his lab, Melissa following behind him. She sat on a stool, spinning around as her dad pulled out his phone and began dialing a number.
"David?" The voice of All Might was heard on the phone. "Have you found Melissa? How is she?"
"I'm here Uncle Might!" Melissa quickly called out, spinning around to face the table. "And I'm ok!"
"Is it true? Do you have One For All now?"
"One For All? Is that the name of your quirk?"
"She didn't tell you the name?"
Melissa shook her head. "No! Ri - the older me just told me I was getting your quirk!"
"And you accepted it?" All Might asked incredulously. "Just like that?"
"Of course I did!" Melissa said.
"Why would you do such a thing? Such a thing shouldn't be possible!"
Melissa couldn't help but feel hurt at All Might's response. "I- She was me! Of course I was going to trust her! Whatever happened in the future, it was important to me! And I wouldn't hurt myself!"
"When I received One For All, Nana told me that it was based on my body mass. That I needed to have enough muscle to contain it, let alone use it. Which is why I had to train before she would give it to me. You're so much smaller than I was back then!"
"All Might," David intervened. "It's possible that she was wrong." He turned toward Melissa. "What were you told?"
"That if I tried to use One For All, I'd shatter my limbs," Melissa recited. "Do you think that's what your mentor meant?"
"I hope so," Over the phone, they heard All Might sigh. "I was never in that situation, so I don't really understand how it'll work for you."
"We'll figure it out," David assured his friend. "For Mel's sake."
"So you got your quirk from your mentor?" Melissa asked. "Does that mean you were quirkless too?"
"Yes. It does," All Might admitted. "Nearly forty years ago, I received One For All from my mentor, Nana Shimura. Before-"
"The Hashima Island Incident." David filled in the blank.
"What happened?" Melissa asked.
"There, my mentor fought an ancient evil. She knew she wasn't strong enough, so she forced me to flee, while she held her ground. The last thing I saw was her smile before she was engulfed in a white light."
"You-" David looked horrified at his phone, before turning to Melissa. "No."
"No?"
"I will not allow my daughter to be caught up in this! I refuse!" David said, slamming his fist on the table. "If someone is that strong I-" From her position, Melissa could see the tears building in her father's eyes. "I won't let her throw her life away."
"David! Your daughter won't have to worry!"
"How can you say that?" David demanded.
"Because I finished the job. Three years ago. I stopped that ancient evil. Once and for all."
David's head snapped to focus on the phone. "Your injuries?"
"Yes, that's where they came from," All Might admitted. "It cost me, but I did it. I broke the cycle. For Nana. And now… for Melissa."
"How can you be sure there won't be any other threats out there?"
"Dad-" Melissa cut him off. "-I can't say I'm not scared. But," She curled her hand into a fist. "Do you remember when I was little? How I wanted to be a hero? The- I've been given something special. Hope for a better future." She steeled herself. "I'm not going to run away from it, just because I could get hurt!"
"Mel-" David looked at his daughter.
"Melissa…" She could hear All Might on the phone. "This conversation is better done in person. I'm going to charter a flight. I should be there in the morning."
"Thank you All Might," David said, looking at his daughter. "If anything happens to Mel, I'll call you."
"I'll see you two soon!" With a cheery goodbye, All Might hung up, leaving father and daughter alone in silence.
"I'm sorry dad. I know you're worried, but I've made up my mind. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. For her."
"You mean the other Melissa?" David watched as his daughter nodded in response, and he sighed. "I guess I don't have any choice, do I? If I don't stop you, that means at some point in the future you'll travel back in time and try again, doesn't it?"
Melissa paused and thought about it, before giving her dad a sheepish smile. "I guess that's true, huh."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it. Being a hero is dangerous! Especially if you could get hurt by simply using your quirk."
"Fortunately for me, I happen to know the best support specialist in the industry!" Melissa giggled. "And I'm not half bad myself if my grades are anything to go by!"
"I guess you're right," David gave a resigned sigh before his eyes were drawn to the bracelet sitting on Melissa's arm. "Wait a minute! You said that is supposed to protect you, right?"
"Oh," Melissa lifted her arm and activated the full gauntlet again. "Yes. Supposedly this will break instead of my arm if I tried to use my quirk."
"That's it!" David said. "We- here, let's head back to analysis, I want to test something."
"What's that?" Melissa asked, now curious.
"If it is supposed to absorb the feedback from something as powerful as one of All Might's attacks, how strong is that material? If I'm right, it will do more than just help you regulate your quirk. This could- between your new quirk giving you All Might's durability and this material, you could be nearly invulnerable to conventional attacks!"
Melissa couldn't help but grin at her dad's enthusiasm. "As long as it looks as cool as All Might's costumes! I don't want to go around looking like some bulky robot."
David laughed in relief. He had been so worried about All Might's decline the past few years, he had spent countless hours thinking up hundreds of ideas in an attempt to help the hero. However, in the end none of them would have worked for All Might.
For Melissa, however…
Perhaps they couldn't stop All Might's decline, but they could protect his daughter as she tried to become a hero.
"How about we make it our next father-daughter project? That way if you don't like how you look you can't blame me."
"Deal!"
Hours later, Melissa was at home with her father. The two were enjoying Chinese take-out, an indulgence given the events earlier in the day.
As Melissa was about to take a bite, she felt a warmth blossoming in the core of her very being. With a gasp, she jumped up. Her chopsticks, long forgotten, clattered on the table and scattered food, but neither seemed to notice.
"Mel, is something wrong?"
"I-I think it's happening!" Melissa gasped, trying to examine herself. The warmth started in her chest and began to spread out, infusing her torso and limbs before she felt it creeping upward, enveloping her face.
"You're ok, right? Nothing hurts? Nothing's wrong?"
Melissa looked at her dad and nodded. "I feel- warm. But not in a bad way! Like- like something is wrapping me in a blanket? Filling up a part of me I didn't even know I was missing."
"You tell me if anything hurts, ok?"
"Of course!" Melissa assures him. "Trust me, I'm the last person who wants to get hurt from this!"
She wasn't sure if she was getting used to the sensation, or if it was simply fading, but after a few moments, the warmth left her, leaving a residual flame in the center of her soul. With absolute certainty, she knew that it was there, waiting for her to call upon it again.
And she did want to call upon it. To feel that warmth again, to feel the same strength her Uncle Might uses so easily.
But the drawbacks… she shuddered. There will be time enough ahead, once her body can handle it.
"I want to get you back to the lab, but let's finish dinner first," David said softly, as he was looking down at his plate. Melissa could tell he wanted to leave right away, but he was forcing himself to act calm, for her sake.
Deciding to play along, Melissa nodded her head in agreement. "Sure, let's- EEEK!"
Melissa practically jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, spinning around and coming face to face with a lanky skeleton of a man with drooping yellow hair. She stepped back in fear. "Dad, who's this!?"
"Who's who?" David asked in concern as he was standing up.
"Melissa! Don't you recognize me?" The skeleton asked in concern.
"N-no!" Melissa shook her head. "Dad, don't you see him? He's standing right there!" She pointed frantically.
"Honey, I don't see anyone there," David said, concern growing in his voice.
"Oh, I think I understand," The skeleton said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess I haven't shown you what I really look like yet."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Melissa, I am Toshinori Yagi," The skeleton straightened to his full height. "Or as you know me, I am your Uncle Might."
"Uncle Might? But he doesn't look like this! And we just talked to him a few hours ago! There's no way he could be here yet."
"Melissa, what's going on?" David asked again.
"That's right, David won't be able to see me. I am a vestige," He put his hand on his chin as he thought about what to say. "The best way to describe it is I am an echo, a ghost of the real Toshinori, who now resides within One For All. As the eleventh holder, I can speak to you, but nobody else can see or hear me."
Melissa turned to look at her dad. "I see someone! He claims to be Uncle Might but I've never seen him looking like this! It's something to do with One For All."
"What does he look like?"
"He's tall and dangerously thin, almost like a skeleton! With a triangular face and deep, sunken eyes with piercing blue Irises, and-"
"That's enough," David said with some relief. "That is what your Uncle Might really looks like now."
"He does?" Melissa spun around to face her dad.
"Yes. Remember we talked about his injuries on the phone? He has been pushing himself, and that's the result. He can still hold his muscular form for a few hours a day, but in private, that's what he looks like."
Melissa's eyes went wide as she looked at Toshinori again. "So you're Uncle Might? But how are you within One For All?"
"That's because I'm not the same All Might as the one you know, but rather the one from the alternate timeline, who possessed the One For All you now possess."
"So you know all sorts of future stuff?"
"Indeed I do!" Toshinori said proudly. "And I'm not talking about any of it!"
"What?!" Melissa exclaimed. "Why not?"
Toshinori sobered up. "Do you know what the Butterfly Effect is?"
"Of course! It's the idea that a butterfly flapping its wings could cause a tornado several weeks later."
"Precisely! Now imagine if I told you how to stop the villains that will appear in Japan in the future!"
Melissa thought about it, and her eyes went wide. "If we stop them early, then new ones will appear. Ones we don't know anything about!"
"Exactly! So when the time comes I will help, but until then," Toshinori crossed his arms.
"But what about that little girl, Erin? And giving me One For All? Isn't that going to dramatically change things?"
Toshinori seemed to deflate at that, sighing heavily. "It does indeed. Which is why I can't tell you anything. We have already made two dramatic changes to the timeline, and have started a chain of events that could very well cause a third. We already don't know the effects that will have."
"But if you already did that, why not go all the way?"
"If a machine has a few problems, is the answer to break it further?"
"No! Of course not!" Realization dawned across Melissa's face. "I'm not going to win this, am I?"
"I've had a lot of time thinking about it," The vestige of Toshinori chuckled. "And many debates with your predecessor."
Melissa looked defeated. "I thought you were supposed to help me."
"There are many ways to help that don't involve the future," Melissa felt Toshinori's hand on her shoulder again. "In many ways, I failed when I trained my successor. Neither of us knew about how One For All would undergo an awakening when I passed it to him. As a result of my failures, he suffered lifelong injuries." Melissa gasped and pulled away, and Toshinori raised his hands defensively. "I promise I won't let that happen to you! When the time comes and your body can begin handling One For All's power, I will teach you to use it without breaking yourself."
Melissa saw the fiery determination in his eyes and felt herself relaxing. If what he said was true, between this version of her Uncle Might and her dad...
Maybe she didn't have to be scared of One For All's power after all.
The next morning, Melissa was walking with her dad to meet Uncle Might, the real Uncle Might, at the airport. Normally she would have her pogo stick at the ready when she went to meet him, ready to launch herself at him, but it didn't feel right today.
Not with the serious nature of the visit.
As they approached the airport they saw All Might standing there, as if nothing was wrong. Melissa immediately thought back to the skeletal form of Toshinori from the evening before, and she couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Was All Might really pushing himself that hard?
Was that really what it meant to be a hero?
Shaking her head, she cleared away those dark thoughts as she waved at Japan's top hero.
"David! Melissa! It's good to see you!" Toshinori boomed, his signature smile hiding the turmoil the three were feeling. He opened his arms in a welcoming gesture as he looked at Melissa, and she felt a smile creeping on her face as she ran toward him and leaped into his arms as he gave her a crushing hug.
"I'm glad you came so quickly," Melissa admitted. "Yesterday was a lot."
"I can only imagine," Toshinori said as he set the girl down. "I was thrown into a panic when I heard what was about to happen."
"Well, I'm still here!"
"Let's return to my lab," David said. "We can talk there."
"Lead the way!"
An awkward silence hung in the air as the three entered David's lab and sat down.
"You can drop your muscle form, Toshi," David said softly, causing Toshinori to cough.
"Bu- I don't know what you're talking about."
"Melissa knows."
Toshinori looked at Melissa in surprise, and she gave him a sheepish look as she pointed to her head. "You actually told me."
"I don't understand."
"One For All," Melissa explained. "The copy I have came with a guest."
All Might disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Melissa couldn't help but gasp when she saw the true form of Toshinori. He didn't look as bad as his vestige self, but given a few more years… "You- I didn't want to believe it. How?"
"It is hard, believe me," Toshinori said with a deep sigh. "But it needs to be done."
"Why?" David asked. "Why does it have to be done? Why do you have to suffer for Japan? You- you can pass on your quirk! Why do you have to be the one to do it? Why- will Mel have to suffer the same fate?"
"Dad…"
"You know I won't let that happen, David," Toshinori said quietly. "I'm doing what I'm doing so the children of Japan - children like Melissa - don't have to grow up with fear or worry."
"And what about when you can't anymore? What happens then?" Both looked at Melissa, and she felt herself shrink in her seat. "Something bad happened in our future. Something bad enough that my daughter traveled through time to try and prevent it."
Toshinori sighed. "I know. I've known for some time. I need to look for a successor. Someone to take my place as the Symbol of Peace in Japan, when I can't carry on anymore."
"If you've known, why haven't you done anything about it?" David demanded. "You- if your quirk can be passed on, why haven't you begun training someone? Were you seriously going to just keep going until you couldn't anymore? Where would Japan be then? I-I trusted you! I've spent the last three years of my life trying to come up with a way to help offset your injury, only to find out that you could have been training someone to take your place instead?"
Toshinori had a faraway look on his face, as he was faced with these unanswered questions. He knew the answers, and it scared him. The truth was while he thought it was a good idea in the aftermath of his battle with All For One, it had only gotten harder as time went on.
"Uncle Might," Melissa stood up as she spoke. "I- I want to be a hero! I really do! But I- I don't think I can push myself as much as you are. Because - how can I help others if I can't help myself?"
"Melissa-"
"I know facing villains is going to be scary, and I know I'm going to get hurt. But this is different!" She pointed a finger accusingly at Toshinori before she turned to her dad. "Is this why you're so scared of me becoming a hero?"
David looked at Toshinori and then looked back to his daughter before nodding. "I- it would kill me to see something like that happen to you."
As Toshinori stared at the father and daughter locked in debate, he reviewed the events of the past day. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he felt alone and isolated, with no plan of succession and no successor. Now, not only did he have a lead for a successor, but the two people he saw as the closest thing to family have been let in on the secret, and one of them even possessed a copy of One For All.
"Perhaps the two of you are right. Maybe-" Toshinori finally spoke. "-it is time for All Might to take a step back, and begin training the next generation."
He couldn't help but wonder if this is what the woman from the future was trying to accomplish.
AN: The plan is to release part 3 of the prologue early next week, and end the week with "Chapter 1." From then on, I'll be looking to release a new chapter roughly once a week.