Hello, one and all to the next chapter of Legion!
This will probably be the last chapter for a bit, so please, enjoy!
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Mother of Quirks - Trust us, there's a process.
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Again, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, please leave a review, I'm hungry like Unicron for them.
WARNING - Very minor description of corpses and minor psychological horror. I honestly don't think it's that bad, but I'll * the start and end of it.
Legion: Kintsugi
"Fear is a disease; hope is its only cure."
"You understand? Don't you, Tenya?"
Tenya grunted as he fell back into a roll. It seemed that this…version of Izuku was more prone to violence than his counterpart.
"The need for duty! For justice!"
He was forced to backpedal away some more as the Darksaber cut through the air, its haunting melody chilling Tenya's spine.
"You understand don't you!?" the false Izuku roared. "After what Stain did to your brother? Did you not pursue?" he snarled.
Tenya was confused.
"What? You helped me not to fall into my hatred?" Tenya reminded him, although the copy seemed to not be paying attention.
"-Then why shouldn't I do the same!?"
'He's not listening to me…something's definitely very wrong here…'
"If you're going to stand in my way, then fight, Tenya! FIGHT!" Izuku roared as he leaped forward and swung.
Dodging once again, Tenya looked at his best friend before breathing out and began revving up his calves.
"It looks like I'll have to knock some sense into you like you did me, friend…" he said before dashing forward.
"Nothing makes sense… Nothing means anything… Nothing's worth living for…" the Izuku currently sitting curled up in a corner with dead fish eyes muttered, while Denki and Kyouka looked at him from a distance.
"H-hey, Izuku… You good, buddy?" Denki asked as he carefully approached his friend who kept on sulking in the corner.
"No… Nothing matters… Just… leave me here to die in peace…" the Izuku sniffled, the couple giving him practically pitying looks due to how sad of a state he was in.
"Let me join my brothers."
"HE BETRAYED US! THEY'LL ALL BETRAYED US! AND LEFT US IN THE DUST!" Izuku snarled at Setsuna while constantly swinging the darksaber at her, the reptilian woman dodging and running to make sure he didn't turn her into roasted skink, as he had already cut off one of her fingers when she'd reached out to him the first time she'd found him.
"For the last time! Who are you talking about!?" Setsuna asked as she ducked her head, the blade of black plasma zinging the edges of it while the next swing took her hand, making her yelp in surprise and pain, as the two stopped briefly so the greenette could look at the cut off stump, completely stupefied.
"That was my writing hand, you jerk!" she hissed out. Sure, it would regenerate longer down the line, but it still wasn't any less annoying having to wait nearly a day for it to regrow.
"BUT IT'LL COME BACK! NOTHING I'VE LOST WILL EVER COME BACK!"
"Oh great," she muttered as she did a one handed backflip before dodging more strikes.
"Midoriya, I get it, you're in pain and everything but that does not mean you get to cut my hand!" Setsuna said as she flipped over another strike and kicked him in the head.
He snarled at her.
"Did you just…snarl at me?" she asked in slight disbelief.
Izuku had the decency to blush and look sheepish.
"That's it. You're going down, pretty boy," she deadpanned as she split into several parts and began to spread out, before beginning to pummel him from a 360 degree radius while also reassembling herself from time to time to get more solid hits in.
"You may have lost a lot, but that doesn't mean you've lost everything! You still have friends and thousands of brothers who love and fight for you!" she shouted as she dodged another swing, before performing a roundhouse kick to the side of the fake Izuku's head, making him stumble, his helmet even somehow giving off a metallic 'clang'.
"I don't know how much longer I can hold on!" Itsuka shouted over the noise the core representing Legion was currently emitting, along with its gravitational force, ignoring the pain in her thigh caused by Kodai digging her nails into it.
"Just try and grab my hand! I'll pull you to safety!" Nana reassured as she extended her arm while also doing her best to hold onto the doorframe she was in.
Suddenly, the wreck of the ultra battle droid they had taken down earlier began to move thanks to the gravitational force, the destroyed machine sliding towards them with greater and greater force, until it hit the two girls, knocking them off of the door frame with Nana screaming out their names as they too were consumed by the light.
#Itsuka!? Itsuka!?#
Itsuka groaned as she woke up from her slumber before shakily getting up and standing properly.
"I…I can hear you, Nana."
#Thank goodness…we've been trying to contact the others, but only you have responded. I'm patching into your video feeds…got it!#
She found herself inside a dark city, wreathed in fire, yet not consumed by it.
"Nana…where am I?" Itsuka asked as she traversed through the silent city.
#I…I don't know…#
She looked at her hands glad to see that she was fully corporeal wherever she was.
Walking forward, she decided to cross the bridge that was appearing in front of her.
"It looks like…Mustufasu but…"
#Darker. Different.#
"Yes."
She then came up to a set of stairs that led to an open area, an arena of sorts.
"An… Arena? The hell's an arena doing here?" she asked herself as she looked around, before seeing something flying towards her, causing her to dodge out of the way before it hit her, the redhead seeing the decapitated body of a nomu sitting where she had been standing a few moments ago.
"Bloody hell…" she muttered as she saw that it hadn't been decapitated cleanly, but rather in a brutish manner where several cuts had been used.
Another one then came flying, Itsuka deciding to take cover for now so she wouldn't end up being flattened.
Peeking behind her cover, she gasped as she saw Shigaraki standing a few paces away.
#Relax Itsuka…I don't think that's him…something's off.# she heard Nana comment from her comm.
"SHIGARAKI!"
Itsuka ducked before peeking over and seeing Izuku on top of a ledge, although this Izuku appeared to be older and seemed…darker, malevolent even.
Black and crimson armor with spikes.
Eyes burning red with contempt with a more heavily scarred face, his voice was also entirely different. Gravely and menacing, a savage snarl adorning his face.
"Your armies have been defeated. All For One dead by my very hand!" Izuku declared with a wave of his hand.
"Bow before your new master."
"New master…?" Itsuka whispered in confusion.
"Never, Mand'alor!" Shigaraki spat. "I'll crush you with my bare hands!"
"So be it," Izuku replied before jumping off the ledge and landing with a crash. Igniting the Darksaber, he then charged at his foe, Shigaraki, doing the same.
The two roared and Izuku cut through Shigaraki, the latter fading into dust.
"What the heck?" Itsuka whispered as she leaned back against her cover. "That never happened!?"
#I have a theory…and it's not a good one,# she heard Nana say before Itsuka stumbled back as the rocks formed a new figure.
"Bakugo?"
"Deku! You've destroyed everything I've ever worked for! I'm going to kill you!" he roared, but this Bakugou looked different. More monstrous and animalistic than he would otherwise, if the constant snarling and drooling from his bared teeth were anything to go by.
Izuku merely laughed as he observed his opponent.
"Bakugo Katsuki. The last relic of a dead age. Have you come to stand against your Peace?"
'Peace? I thought he was going for the Symbol of Hope?'
#Itsuka…something's very wrong here. I don't like how he said that,# Nana whispered. #He didn't say Symbol of Peace…just…Peace…oh no…not him.#
"What!? What is it?"
Itsuka was cut off as Bakugo snarled and attacked, only for Izuku to burst forward and pierce his chest with the Darksaber.
"So weak…" he said as Bakugo faded to dust as well. "Nothing but a rabid animal. Always were. And rabid animals need to be put down before they spread their disease. It may be unsightly, but I will bear this sin on my own shoulders. I will restore this world to order," he said just as another Bakugo manifested, only to be cut down by Izuku who didn't even spare him a glance.
'What the hell? Izuku's nothing like this!?' Itsuka thought.
#I think I know what is happening. I think you're deep in Izuku's subconscious now, and might be facing one of the aspects of his personality,# she explained. #This is the part that Izuku suppresses, his dark urges, his hatred, his wrath, his fear that he will become a tyrant that enforces peace instead of upholding it. You need to leave now, Itsuka.#
As she tried to leave however, her cover disappeared, forming more figures that would be cut down by the evil Izuku, a dark, savage grin on his face.
"And thus we are left with one last obstacle. Although, I admit," Izuku said with a tinge of something akin to regret. "I did not expect you of all people to stand against me, Itsuka."
"Izuku…" she whispered, slightly backing away as the dark hero stalked forward.
"You have seen what I have done. What I have achieved," he declared, his armored steps slightly echoing in the arena they were in.
"I have brought Peace, Freedom, Justice, and Security to my new Empire." the dark Izuku sighed, before he raised the Darksaber.
"Your new empire?" she asked in horror as she took a few steps backwards.
"My Legions shall bring Peace to the world through subjugation. Securing, containing and protecting," Izuku continued, ignoring her. "A world where no child shall suffer! Where none shall remain the victim."
His eyes glowed as he glared into her own.
"A world without villains."
She backed away again.
"A world where I am Peace."
"Izuku…I don't know what's going on but you're sounding crazy. This isn't you!" she screamed out as she approached the edge to where the steps were.
"Don't tell me that you've lost your nerve! Battle Thorn," he spat out. "After all, I do recall you tearing Toga Himiko apart with your bare hands as she begged for mercy."
Itsuka looked to the side and gasped in horror, seeing a dark version of herself, in armor reminiscent of Izuku's own, stepping on Toga's head as the latter screamed before applying more force.
She turned away but could still hear the sound of bone being crushed, and blood spilling across the ground as the scream went silent.
The figures faded away from her sight, but the image still haunted her.
Hearing the now eerie humming of the Darksaber, she saw it right next to her neck.
"If you don't have what it takes to be the Enforcer, Judge, Jury and Executioner, I have no need for you," he said, his tone colder than the deepest depths of the arctic oceans.
"The punishment for your betrayal is your destruction!" he roared as he struck with the Darksaber.
She raised her hands to block, too paralyzed by fear to move.
It passed harmlessly through her.
She gasped but looked at herself in confusion.
"What?" the shocked question wasn't from her, but from the Izuku who looked at her dumbfounded, before swinging through her again.
"How is this possible!?" he raged as he swiped her multiple times, even stabbing her, only for it all to pass through.
Itsuka was rightly horrified at the attempts, looking at him with her mouth agape over the fact that he had tried to slice and dice her like a fish for sashimi.
#Itsuka! It's because you're not a creation of Izuku's mind, you're immune to his attacks!#
"That makes no sense!" she whispered into her comm.
#Well…there's that and this…figment of Izuku, isn't nearly as strong as he appears to be. If any of these thoughts actually pass through his head, they are heavily locked away.#
"You don't have Permeation," the dark Izuku began as he walked around Itsuka. "Your eyes track my movements, so you're not a hologram!" he said with an angry wave of his hand.
"And I do not believe in spirits," he finished after halting his movement.
"So tell me, Kendo," he said, disbelieving that this pretender was even her. "What are you?" he snarled, beginning to slowly circle around her, examining her from head to toe, which quite frankly creeped her out.
"Lord Mand'alor," the two heard and turned to see Ochako, Tenya, and Kendo approaching. Each in dark versions of their armor.
"MAND'ALOR!" they heard again, facing some villains that appeared out of the same mist as before.
#Uh oh…this isn't good.#
Izuku looked around in confusion, his gaze switching between the two Itsuka's before he roared in fury, opening fire on all the figures and wiping them away.
Itsuka gulped, noticing that the shots had gone through her without any effect.
"You are real. They were not!" Izuku declared with a swipe of his arm before taking a few steps forward. "A mental insertion of some sorts," he chuckled. "How unexpected."
#This isn't good…we've stirred Izuku's dark persona from his oblivion. He's becoming self-aware!#
"What do I do now?" Itsuka asked as the dark iteration of her friend lowered his gun.
"If this is my subconscious," Izuku said, staring at the desolate city before turning to face her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE MY HEAD!?" he roared, getting into her face.
Yui groaned slightly as she opened her eyes, slowly sitting up and looking around, seeing herself in her classroom, which confused her. She knew that she and her friends had entered Izuku's mind not that long ago, and then she had nearly been sucked into what apparently was supposed to represent his quirk until… she couldn't remember what had happened, but she knew it hurt, if her sore body was anything to go by.
'What happened?' she thought to herself, before hearing a commotion out in the hallway and walked outside to see what was going on, being met with a familiar scene.
Izuku spiking Tetsutetsu while Monoma was lying on the floor with his nose broken.
'This is definitely not real…' she said, knowing how this had happened several months ago before she decided to walk over to the crowd to hear what Izuku had to say this time, wondering if it was his memory post USJ. What she saw however disturbed her.
Instead of having a cold and angry expression, it was a joyful one full of happiness and cheer.
'Definitely not real…' she thought, however what she didn't expect was how Izuku looked over at her, directly into her eyes as he walked over, causing her to take a few steps backwards in return, until he drove her against the wall.
"Hello, Kodai-san! Nice to meet you today!"
She blinked in confusion, idly noticing the figures behind him seem to…glitch, for lack of a better word. Although she did not see what exactly it was that they glitched into before returning to normal form.
"Is something wrong, Kodai-san?" he asked her and tilted his head while leaning closer and closer to her, making her slightly uncomfortable due to how this currently felt like Fil backing her against a wall.
She replied with her usual humming to which he nodded and backed off slightly, still with that bright smile that somehow creeped her out despite him looking like a small sun.
"Something's wrong here…" she muttered while he turned around to look at her, more of the figures in the background glitching as he did so. "Midoriya-san, are you… alright?" she asked, her voice muttered, to which he replied.
"I'm feeling at the top of my game! Never felt better!" he laughed.
She warily noticed the corners of his skin glitching as well, much to her shock.
"Are… you… sure?" she asked hesitatingly as she felt a bit of sweat begin to form on her brow while he kept on flashing her that smile.
"Of course I am! Now, we should all get ready for the sports festival, no?"
She gulped slightly, hoping that as she followed him, she'd find answers.
"Of course." she hesitantly said, following after him.
Shoto sat next to the Izuku he'd found, the latter looking into a window with a stern expression.
This hospital was empty, except for one room.
Looking inside, he saw Eri, asleep and hooked up to various machines.
"I…I don't know what to do, Shoto…I don't know what she needs…more than that…I'm terrified of what I could become."
"What do you mean?"
Izuku remained silent before turning and motioning for Shoto to follow him.
"My father…was a cruel man."
The hallway they walked down seemed to stretch on forever, the walls shifting and changing color as they continued to their unknown destination.
"Before…my mother said that before he was a good man…and loved me with every fiber of his being."
"But after I received my diagnosis…he became distant, cruel, scathing. He never raised his hand against me…but I still remember his cruel words to both her and myself."
"He left my mother shortly after I was…declared quirkless, leaving her to fend for herself."
They found themselves in a living room, the atmosphere somber and tragic.
"No matter how much she begged, pleaded, for him to stay…he left." The Izuku said as they stopped in a room with several pillars of lights and doors, leading up to a long table with seats.
They saw a small Izuku peeking from behind a wall and looking sadly at a weeping Inko, bills and other papers on the table as she stressed over what she would need to do.
"I grew up without a father. I do not know what it means to be one."
"So tell me, Shoto," he asked as he turned to face him. "How can I be what she needs?" he asked, to which the heterochromic boy had no words.
"The only way you could have entered my mind is via a portal, but the question remains. What happened to me?" he demanded to know.
He stared into Itsuka's terrified eyes and blinked in confusion as memories began to return.
All Might and All For One, Camino decimated between them.
The Darksaber cutting through flesh.
A hand shattering his helmet and delivering unspeakable agony.
Friends surrounded him in concern as he fell unconscious under an attack on multiple fronts.
But more than that.
Every negative thought, erased. Every hateful feeling, repressed. Every undesirable action not acted upon.
Everything dark, reflected and created…him.
And the burning violet light.
His eyes widened in realization.
"All For One's attack…with a hidden virus I presume," he said as he began to think, pacing about in front of her. "An attack on multiple fronts, physical…and mental, and perhaps, if we are to…deliberate, one could even consider the metaphysical nature of quirks as well. Something that would warrant Izuku's friends to come into the Mindscape itself."
Itsuka was very nervous now. It was obvious that this…shade of Izuku had been cut off from recent events for a long time or had just been formed. For him to deduce what was happening in a few seconds was honestly a terrifying demonstration of Izuku's deductive skills.
"I presume…that you realize now who I am, as I have most recently…rediscovered for myself."
Itsuka gulped.
Definitely self-aware now.
"You're…his dark side, every bad thought, every act of revenge he wants to take…you're all of it."
"Indeed," he replied, much calmer now. Placing his hands behind his back and even giving a slight smirk, a sadistic gleam in his eye. "And more."
She didn't like it.
"I am everything he despises about himself. His hatred, his fury, his agony, all of it given form! And I have been there all this time, right by his side…until of course, I was locked away…isn't that right? Nana?" he asked with an amused glare.
"...Nana, what is he talking about?"
"Why, isn't it obvious? Every person has a dark side, even Izuku which is reflected in me, but when I began to grow in strength, Nana intercepted me, and locked me away into this prison," he declared.
"Nana…is this true?" Itsuka asked.
#It is, but not in the way you're thinking. I-#
"Ah, but it doesn't matter now, does it?" he asked. "Considering our current circumstances, it would be more prudent to focus on the task at hand."
"Wait, so you're going to help me?" Itsuka asked.
"Of course, after all. If Izuku perishes, so do I. And besides, at the end of the day, we both desire the same thing. The safety and wellbeing of the citizenry and our friends."
Itsuka gulped as she recalled the dark version of herself and what he was implying.
"I will never become her," she said defiantly.
'Izuku' merely chuckled.
"We shall see. Come, if we are to find the others, we must move quickly."
Itsuka blinked in confusion.
"How do you…?"
He slightly turned to face her from the corner of his vision.
"Is it not obvious?"
Itsuka gulped again as she heard his armored steps become more faint before she steadied herself and followed after him.
Tenya grunted as he dropped backwards, landing on his hands and kicking out with his feet, striking Izuku dead center in his chest and knocking him back into a brick wall.
Finally recognizing his surroundings as the alleys of Hosu, he had been forced to direct their fight to the open street. The alleys gave him too much of an advantage, and Tenya's armor was showing the price for it.
Truly Mand'alor was a force to be reckoned with, but this…version of him seemed to be tearing himself apart from a combination of grief and duty.
"Mand'alor! You once saved me from my own desires of vengeance! My brother fell to Stain, that is true!" he grimaced as he ducked from another swipe. "But you also gave me hope! Hope for a better future! Not only for my brother, but for myself!"
Izuku paused for a bit, panting in exertion, his eyes slightly unfocused.
Tenya continued.
"You made me promise not to go after Stain. To dedicate my time to learning how to be a hero and save people!"
Izuku began to breathe heavier, as if he was struggling with himself.
"You made me promise to come back home."
Izuku began to tremble, the Darksaber shaking in his grip.
"Then," he bit out. "What do I do?" he asked as he looked up to face Tenya, desperation in his eyes.
"How did you do it? Get through this pain?" he asked with a painful whisper. "I've lost over a thousand of my brothers. I lost Jango…I'm supposed to be a hero. I'm supposed to protect people."
He finally fell to his knees.
"But how can I do that? If I can't even protect my brothers?"
Setsuna grunted while dodging out of the way of the Izuku she was fighting, having at this point lost a good chunk of herself to the darksaber and was currently only consisting of one and a half arm, most of her torso and half of her legs along with missing a chunk of her face and one eye.
"If you keep slicing and dicing me like this, you will seriously end up killing me! Do you really want to be known as the hero who only uses lethal force against your opponents?!" she shouted at him, firing her remaining fist at him assisted by the small jets on her vambrace, adding force to it as the limb collided with his helmet, making it crack, revealing a bale yellow eye rather than the usual emerald green.
"I am doing what others can't do! Someone has to bear the sin and burden of staining their hands with blood to purge this world of villains, and I will bear it if I have to! Don't you get it?! The League are monsters! They desecrate the dead by turning them into Nomu with no regard for the destruction that will inevitably follow! And look at Camino! Thousands of dead! Tens of thousands of wounded and countless homeless!" he shouted, part of the cracked visor falling off of the helmet.
"Then there's the HPSC, the people who are against the Vod'e, yet expect us to protect them, how long until they betray us as well? I'm merely ensuring our survival!"
"Yeah, I bet that's the example you wanna set then, right?"
Izuku paused in confusion.
"Mr. Symbol of Hope. The man who saved All Might. Mand'alor of the Vod'e. Becoming nothing more than a killer. The new Stain. I wonder…how will your friends see you then? How will Eri?"
Izuku clenched his jaw, fury crossing his visage.
"Don't you dare-" he growled but was cut off by the lizardy girl.
"OH I DARE!" Setsuna screamed back. "I get it, okay! You're scared! You've been hurt before! You told us your life story, about how you've been betrayed by those close to you. But that's the past, Izuku! THIS IS NOW!"
The girl's words were enough for her fellow green-haired student to hesitate for a second, his eye looking onto the ground for a brief second.
She then took advantage of the situation and tackled him, the Darksaber skidding away and his broken helmet flying off while she made sure to straddle him in a way he wouldn't get up from.
"We are not like your father, or Bakugo, or the HPSC. We are your friends! If we weren't we wouldn't have gone after you in Camino! We wouldn't have embraced the unknown and entered the Mindscape to save you again!" she continued screaming, slapping him with each statement to try and get through that thick skull of his.
"But if you want more proof, Ba'jur bal beskar'gam, Ara'nov, aliit, Mando'a bal Mand'alor,
An vencuyan mhi." [Education and armor, self defense, our tribe, our language and our leader. All help us survive.] She cited one of the oaths the Vod'e made for outsiders wishing to join it, even though most of her pronunciations were somewhat butchered.
"...Did you just?"
"The others and I have been discussing it. We're serious about this Izuku. We want to be there for you and the Vod'e. They're our friends, our brothers, and more," she gently said.
"And you, as Mand'alor, need to be there to lead them. I swear to you, Mand'alor. That I, nor any of the others, will betray you. You all saved our lives…let us save yours."
Izuku could only stare up at her, tears gathering in his eyes that slowly turned back to their normal color before he let his head fall back.
Setsuna gasped as the body below her suddenly turned to dust, being swept away by the wind.
"Izuku?"
"Thank you, Setsuna," she heard from the side and turned to see Izuku, though he appeared much calmer and without any damage from their prior skirmish. Removing his helmet, he looked at her with gentle eyes and a small smile on his face.
"Uh…what just happened?" she asked, looking at him and down at herself, noticing she hadn't gotten her parts back, much to her dismay.
"Come, I will explain on the way, we need to reunite with the others." the calm Izuku said as he extended a hand out and helped her onto her feet, or rather her lack of them, before he put her onto his back and started to walk, despite knowing she was able to fly if she lost them.
"You know you owe me for the body parts, right?"
"That I do, Setsuna. That I do," he said as he kept on walking.
*"I… Don't like this…" Yui muttered as she and the Izuku kept on walking, the surroundings still glitching every now and then as she gulped when she saw one student glitch slightly once again.
'That smile is unnatural. It seems strained… Is this some sort of test?" she thought to herself. While she wasn't big on words, her thoughts ran almost just as fast as Izuku's muttering.
They continued on their trek, but…the halls stretched farther than she remembered. In fact, they seemed to be endless.
"What's… going on?" she muttered until she ran into a familiar clone; Fil.
"Oh no… Not falling for that…" she said as she knew she'd seen him collapse outside of the mindscape.
"What are you talking about, Kodai-san?" Izuku asked as he turned around, glitching again slightly.
"Midoriya-san… Something is wrong, this… isn't you," she muttered
Tilting his head, the Izuku looked confused before he approached her again.
"What are you talking about? The world is perfect and nothing is wrong with me nor it. Come, we should really get to class now," he said and reached out to her, only for her to gently grasp his hand and put it down.
"Midoriya, this is serious. Don't think I didn't notice the glitches here and there. Your smile. It's wrong," she said, more serious than she usually was, with the Izuku still smiling at her.
"I see… So you're one of those who can't accept this, are you?" he said, his expression not faltering while the world began to glitch more and more as clones and fake students started to surround the two.
"Midoriya, you need to wake up from this, you can't keep living in a dre-ACK!" before she could try and talk more to him, she felt her knees getting kicked from behind, forcing her onto the ground with the fake clones beginning to tie her up.
"We can't have negative thoughts like that spread here, Kodai-san! Why don't you just keep quiet like you usually do while we help you see the light?" the beaming Izuku said, however his eyes betrayed his smile, these ones beginning to look more and more like those of a dead fish.
Blank, unseeing.
But no less malicious.
His body began to glitch even more, before returning to its 'normal' form.*
Struggling against the fakes restraining her, Yui tried to open her mouth, only to have it taped shut by the imaginary Sero.
In her panic, she managed to break one of her arms free and slapped it to the ground, the entire space expanding and then collapsing immediately, the action limited by the power of her quirk.
Yui ripped the tape off and heaved.
There was a reason why she only used her quirks on objects and not large spaces.
She wondered if this is how Uraraka felt all the time.
The sudden expansion and collapse of the hallway had another affect however, and she shrieked as she saw the bodies around her glitching into corpses.
"Ah…you shouldn't have done that, Kodai-san."
She gasped and turned to face the false Izuku, his dead eyes glaring at her with disappointment, he was now glitching fully to where he appeared…exhausted, his cheek bones prominently sticking out, bags under his sunken eyes, the slightest hint of green glowing from what appeared to be pits of black.
His hair was…faded and matted, and he had clothes too large for him.
Blood trailed down his body from where his scars were, and he seemed to stare into her very soul.
And he looked…sad.
"Behold…our truth." he rasped out, wheezing with each breath, before the scenery around them began to crumble, before revealing one big graveyard.
Instead of individual graves however, there were one huge pile of bones, armor and gear in the middle where the fake Izuku was currently sitting on the top.
"Do you see now? What I tried to spare you from?" he said while slowly descending from the pile until he reached her.
"...what about you?"
Izuku blinked.
"What?"
Yui was honestly terrified, she didn't even know why she said that, but…
"You look so…sad…"
The gaunt version of Izuku widened his eyes in surprise, not at the comment, but at the sheer amount of…care in her voice.
"Look around you, Kodai…see the truth of Legion…as long as one of us lives, we will always be haunted by the ones lost," he said with a wave of his arm. "What else can I do? But grieve…and watch over those lost. You never seemed like one who really cared about anything, Ice Princess," he said, kneeling down to look straight into her eyes.
"...I care…" she whispered after a few moments of silence. "I…struggle…to communicate…but I care…I…try to show that I care."
She then raised her hand, and gently wiped away some of the blood pouring down his face, staring into his sunken eyes.
"You're still grieving…aren't you…not just those we just lost…but those from the beginning…Jango…"
Izuku closed his eyes with a shudder.
"You know you may go through the same as Itsuka in the future, don't you?" He said, showing a mental image of Itsuka cradling Thorn's body which soon morphed into her and Fil.
Yui shuddered as well and shakily nodded.
"I know."
"And still…you stand with us?" he asked.
"I will," she replied. "Because…my truth is that we will fight together. And… and knowing this might happen… I'll cherish my time with everyone even more," she said, raising her voice more than she usually would.
"That is my promise to you, Mand'alor. Our promise to you, that we will always remember. Both the good and the bad…Aay'han."
"My father…I don't have good memories involving him either…" Shoto said. "But…I recall something that you once told me."
Izuku looked at him with a raised brow.
"It happened when we visited the refugee center. You took us there to meet the children that you'd encountered."
At the center
"I was…unaccustomed to children, and I didn't wish to interact with them too much."
Shoto grimaced as he saw the children running around, Izuku playing with them as well as some of the others.
Every time he looked at them, he wondered what could have been. Moreso, he worried that if he interacted with them, that he could say or do something to hurt them.
"You came by however, and asked what was wrong…I explained my worries to you."
Izuku softly nodded at him, before wrapping his arm around him and gesturing towards the children.
"You told me that fear was understandable, and that you had the same fears yourself, but that it was important to do our best for the children, for they were the future."
Izuku then motioned for a little girl to come and approach them, funnily enough, it was a girl that had tried to approach Shoto multiple times but scurried off due to his isolated demeanor.
Her hands frosted up, and she shyly gave him a small lily flower made out of ice.
He blinked in shock, before kneeling and taking the flower into his own hands with a soft smile.
The girl smiled brightly at him before scurrying off.
"You told me then, Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la. [Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.]"
Present Time
"I've…been practicing that phrase diligently for quite some time now," Shoto admitted as he and Izuku turned to look at the memory.
The smaller Izuku shakily walked up to his mother, and simply hugged her, Inko holding on to her child for dear life.
"You brought me out of my narrow-mindedness…brought me hope for a new future, one where I could decide to be the hero I wanted to be," Shoto continued, as more memories began to pass by them. He noticed that the Izuku next to him began to softly cry.
"You are my friend, Izuku. Which is why I know that you can become the father you choose to be."
Shoto then wrapped his arm around Izuku and brought him into a hug.
"You have a family."
Izuku with his buir'e, eating breakfast after the sports festival.
"You have friends."
Izuku and his friends hanging out and having fun.
"You have your brothers."
Izuku having fun with the Vod'e, and fighting with them.
"And I promise you, we'll help you so that you can stay on the right track."
The room then shifted, reforming into Eri's room, where she was drawing.
She had a soft smile on her face, the one that Izuku imagined and hoped that he would eventually see.
"And together, we'll make sure that she can smile."
…
Shoto held him tighter as Izuku silently cried in relief.
"Are you alright?"
Mina groaned as she was helped up, her eyes blinking out the spots as she focused on the figure next to her.
"Izuku?"
"Of sorts," he replied, although he appeared…older?
"Woah…you look so cool!" She excitedly exclaimed, inspecting him from every angle. Even his armor seemed to be more…advanced, knightly even.
"Thank you, old friend."
Mina slightly gulped in worry, as she recalled what had just happened.
"Izuku…where are we? Where are the others? And why exactly are you so much…older?"
"Follow me, I will explain the situation at hand."
He started to walk forward, and she noticed that they were in…Mustufasu? But it was bright, peaceful…free.
"All For One's attack was threefold, he attacked Izuku physically, mentally, and for lack of a better word, spiritually."
"Oh no…"
"His first attack weakened him enough for a virus to slip into Izuku. I theorize that due to his longevity, that he has accumulated enough quirks that one was capable of attacking us in the Mindscape as well as attacking the subconscious."
'I'm so glad I took up Momo on those study lessons, I actually understood that.' Mina thought to herself, although judging by the amused expression on his face, Izuku seemed to know what she was thinking.
She harrumphed at him, but he merely chuckled.
"So…where are we then?" she asked, trying to maintain some of her image.
"Do you recall the representation of Izuku's subconscious?"
"Yeah, the cute little AI guy, he fizzled out when Izuku was starting to wake up," she replied only for Izuku to grimly shake his head.
"That is what he assumed…but in reality Izuku was not waking up. It was the sign of the secondary attack on Izuku's subconscious."
"So…what does that mean?"
"All For One aimed to kill Izuku by shattering his mind. We are currently in his subconscious, which was split into multiple aspects representing different parts of his personality and mental state."
"So…you're part of Izuku, part of who he is?"
"Indeed."
"Hmm," she hummed with a hand on her chin as she went on her 'detective mode', observing him from every angle again.
"Tall, older, mature, uses big words and nice speeches…you're the leader aren't you?"
Izuku softly smiled.
"Very astute observation, well done," he complimented.
"Hooray!" she cheered. "But uh, what do we do now?"
"Now, we must search for the others, if we do, we can recombine and save Izuku's mind, before uniting Legion and One For All to purge the last remnants of the virus from the Mindscape and his body."
"Awesome! Let's do it!" Mina cheered as they started to walk down a street through a tunnel.
"What is the point of becoming a hero even… no one seems to appreciate what my brothers do… they only ever give me any praise, despite my brothers pulling the majority of the weight… and even then, they always end up having to save me, when it is my responsibility as the eldest to protect them…"
Denki and Kyoka sat next to the Izuku, surrounding him and giving him comfort.
"I'm tired…of everything…"
They remained in silence for a few moments before Denki spoke up.
"Yeah, I can understand that…I'm…tired too…of everything that's…going on and, hm, my quirk, my family, my…fall."
Izuku turned to look at him, and Kyoka gently held his hand.
Denki swallowed thickly, unwanted emotions rising to the surface.
"I…I couldn't save you…" Izuku muttered.
"The same could be said of me…what happened to me isn't your responsibility…but…when I Fell into darkness, I wasn't really conscious for any of it…when Kyoka forced me back, everything just rushed back to my mind. I felt…sick, horrible, because of what I'd done." Denki continued, trying to work his way through the words.
"My mom's still in the hospital, recovering. The bacta's helping but she hasn't woken up yet… And even then, she'll have to retire…"
"I…" he trembled as he stuttered through his words. "I can't even…look my sister in the eye. She still doesn't know what happened, only that mom got hurt by a villain…how do I? How can I? Tell her that I was the villain…?" he said, thinking about how even now he was hurting his beloved little sister who couldn't understand why he didn't want to talk to or play with her like he used to.
"Even before U.A., I was the odd one out 'cause of my quirk, but now…I'm scared. That I'll make another mistake, lose myself again…and that I won't come back…that I'll be stuck again as…Deadvolt," he whispered the name with a shudder.
Feeling something gently wrap around his neck, he noticed one of Kyouka's earlobes had snuck their way towards him and Izuku, both of them being hugged by the appendages gently.
Kyoka grimaced, wanting to speak but knowing that she needed to move so that Denki could translate properly.
"I know sign language too," Izuku interjected, much to their surprise. "I'm a bit rusty…but I thought it'd be good to know…just…take it slow."
Kyoka blinked before giving a soft smile and nodding.
'I guess the same could be said for me. I…struggled in middle school because of my peers. I was unfortunate enough to be at a school where lots of girls preferred to talk about makeup and princesses along with fashion. None of it interested me, and I was often singled out due to preferring more boyish things such as rock music and video games,' she signed as she thought about her life until she moved to UA.
'It only got worse as we got older and entered our teenage years. As you can see I'm… not exactly the most shaped girl and some of my classmates even started to 'joke' about me actually being a boy rather than a girl," she continued.
Denki scoffed at that, making her slightly flush but she continued.
She tried to control her blush even more as he signed some compliments behind Izuku's head but continued her story.
'But yeah…I get it…I even stopped playing music for a while, kept feeling too down to even pick up anything…but my parents were always there to support me, and now I have you guys too.'
Izuku slowly nodded in appreciation, before thinking about something else.
"I…I'm grateful that you guys are here, don't get me wrong…but sometimes, it just feels like it's too much…"
"And that's understandable," Denki said. "Hound Dog told me that, sometimes, it's not a single moment that gets rid of all these feelings…in fact, most of the time it isn't. We could say anything and everything to help you now, doesn't mean that it won't come back."
'But when it does, we'll be there with you too.'
The two looked at each other over Izuku's head, and recalled what had been taught to them.
"Ba'jur bal beskar'gam,
Ara'nov, aliit,
Mando'a bal Mand'alor —
An vencuyan mhi." they said together, swearing their friendship and loyalty.
'We will stand by you to the end, Mand'alor.' Kyoka signed.
"As comrades, and friends."
Izuku took a deep breath.
He didn't smile, but he was content.
The dark shadows around them disappeared, and they found themselves on a hill facing a falling sun.
"Can you stay? And watch the sun fall with me?"
'Of course.'
"Always."
They sat with him as the sun fell under the horizon, and he turned to dust.
Yuga was…admittedly scared.
Ever since he'd fallen through, he'd found himself alone in some kind of desolate, foggy landscape.
No life, no vegetation, just the dead silence of nothing.
As eerie as it was, he would have preferred the silence to what came next.
The sound of a whistle being blown three times was followed by the bellowing of cannons being fired and the muffled roar of a thousand voices, each sounding the same.
Looking towards the sound in the thick mist, he felt his heart jump into his throat as something, no someone came charging out of it.
It was Thorn.
Behind him followed countless more clones, some of them with their markings, others being blank.
One thing they all had in common however, was that none of the colors were vibrant and instead a dull gray.
Fearing he would get crushed beneath the boots of the clones, Yuga turned heel and started to run, trying to get as far away from the horde as possible, before he tripped and saw them coming closer and closer, before closing his eyes and covering his face to prepare for the pain.
A pain that never came.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that the horde indeed had come upon him, but each of them passed through him like they were projections.
Looking around, he saw the seemingly endless wave, catching glimpses of the different clones here and there that had markings, before he heard another buzzing and looked into the air, finding his jaw dropping.
Up in the air flew a silhouette anyone from 1-A would have been familiar with.
"Jango…"
The clones opened fire at an unseen enemy, blue lighting up the battlefield.
Then came the red, the sound of mechanical marching, and the endless waves of droids approaching.
He could hear more whistling, though it was subtle, yet frightening as mere moments later shells impacted against the ground. Dirt, concrete, and debris exploding upwards, clones being blasted apart, turning to dust.
He counted himself fortunate that there were no bodies, and that instead they…disappeared.
Still though, the chaos of everything around him was getting to be too much, and he ran away from the fighting, explosions seemed to trail behind with each step, and he could feel himself beginning to be thrown around by them.
Fortunately, he could see a trench ahead, and sprinted towards it, a final artillery shell exploding and launching him into it. He crashed into the wall with a scream that was cut off as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Falling harshly to the ground, he gasped, desperately trying to catch his breath.
"So, you've finally arrived…" a tired voice said to him over the explosions and sounds of fighting in the background, the blonde quickly looking around to try and regain his bearings, as the shellshock had disoriented him.
"Izuku! Thank goodness I've found you! We've got to get out of here!"
"Let me ask you a question, Yuuga. Do you have any idea what the price of a mile is?" Izuku asked, looking at the wall of the trench like it was the most interesting thing in the world, having seemingly not heard him. It felt like talking to an NPC during a cutscene in a video game.
"The answer is that to the big wigs, it doesn't matter. As long as they get even an inch of ground, they will throw as many people that they consider expendable into the meat grinder," he said as he got up and started walking down the trench, Yuuga following him while keeping his head low. Something he noticed was that the path they were walking on was flooded several places with pieces of armor caked in mud sticking out of it here and there.
"M-mon ami… They may not care, but we certainly do! You don't have to bear the burden alone and you know that," he said, trying to ignore the phantom smell and sensation of mud and water in his boots that he passed through easily, while the Izuku's steps were slow, tired and struggling to even get through.
"What difference does it make? In the end, the HPSC won't ever care. Have you ever heard of the saying from the Soviet Dictator Josef Stalin? It goes a little something like this; 'one death is a tragedy, a million are a statistic'. That's how the HPSC sees us. If one of my brothers died, it would be a tragedy, but if countless died, they would only be seen as even more expendable than now."
"Izuku…"
"We're soldiers, Yuga. Nothing more, nothing less. Even ignoring the clones, we're just soldiers. The ones thrown at the villains and criminals to keep them at bay. If we succeed, hooray, we live to die another day. If we fail…everyone's against us. It's always the same. They find us amusing for a while, but I know the truth… The one thing people love more than heroes, is to see heroes fail, fall and die trying. In spite of everything we do for them, eventually they will end up hating us," he finished, with Yuuga getting closer and closer to him, until he could put a hand on his shoulder.
"Perhaps so, Izuku…but we did not become heroes for the glory of the people. We became heroes to save them despite it."
Izuku blinked but chuckled.
"You've changed…you're not the same mr. sparkles anymore…"
"War changes all of us, my friend," Yuga said as he sat next to Izuku.
"I'm tired Yuga…I just wanted to be a hero with my brothers…not get pulled into what looks to be like an upcoming war."
"I know…none of us did…but, we're here for you, mon ami. Until the end of the line."
Izuku nodded and after a few moments of relative quiet, he began to explain what was happening.
How Izuku's mind was shattered and needed to be pulled back together, and how the others were more than likely with his other pieces.
"Problem is, we don't know where everyone is, nor do we have a central meeting point…we're stuck."
Yuga grimaced as he considered everything…before realizing that this time, he could truly help.
"Maybe so, but not for long!" he yelled as he got up and climbed out of the trench.
"Yuga!? YUGA!"
Yuga ran through crowds of clones and droids as he crossed through what was supposed to be a No Man's Land, his heart roaring in his ears as he heard another noise echo over the smoke filled sky.
Sirens.
From behind him, the world began to erupt into fire and ash as bombs were dropped from above, droids and clones decimated alike, blasterfire barely managing to light up the sky through the smoke. LAATs became fireballs as ATTEs continued to send their rounds over his head.
But he needed to make it to the centerpoint of the battlefield.
He didn't know why, but he knew that it was necessary.
Making it there, he fell with a crash, desperately trying to catch his breath, reaching for cleaner air than what was surrounding him. Ash stained his armor, and he could still hear the screams.
But he pressed on.
His armor was special, the mirrors that were on it, could be used to gather energy and then united to become a focusing lens.
So he planted his feet, and charged his quirk, the blue energy swirling beneath his skin.
"Plus Ultra."
The energy surged from his naval, traveling up his chest and spiraling with the mirrors as they became united. Finally, the energy erupted into an awe-inspiring pillar that breached the darkened skies and illuminated the night.
As Izuku finally reached him, seeing the pillar, seeing how far his friend was willing to go for him, he smiled.
And the warzone faded, the droids and clones disappearing. The sounds of death and destruction going quiet.
Peace at last.
"Thank you…" Izuku whispered, giving him a small smile full of gratitude as he began to fade, what looked like an outer layer beginning to blow off into the wind like dust.
Behind the old layer, a new one emerged, this one in clean armor and looking just as hopeful and refreshed as he had during the start of the school year.
"Let us rejoin the others, my friend," he said, as he started to walk, Yuuga following him while the French boy noticed how the dead battlefield had turned into a lush and green landscape as they headed towards the sun.
"No need…it seems that we're all here," another voice called out, and they looked over to see the approaching groups.
"Guys! I'm so glad that you're here." Yuuga said with a smile and looked around to see all of his friends having approached.
"We saw your beacon old friend, we are glad to see you well," Leadership-Izuku said as he and Mina approached, the latter quickly going up to hug him, their cheeks squishing together in the process.
"It's good to see all of you safe!" Denki said as he and Kyoka ran up and hugged the group as well, all of them falling into a pile of armor and limbs, laughter ringing out.
The Melancholic-Izuku walked behind them with a calm expression on his face. Again, not quite a smile, but he was at peace.
"Okay, I'm so glad that whatever subconscious shenanigans are happening is helping me with my regeneration," they heard Setsuna call out from where and Izuku was carrying her.
She was still missing some parts of her body, but they were rapidly growing back, much faster than normal.
Loyalty-Izuku sheepishly apologized once more before setting her down and supporting her while her eye grew back.
"At this rate, I might only be missing my hand when we get back," she said as a chunk of her side grew out.
"Hopefully, it'll be fully restored by the time the rest of us arrive," Shoto said as he and Buir-Izuku walked forward. They were readily greeted by the rest of the group. who waved them over.
"I'm gonna say how I feel about Fil once this is over." Kodai blurted out, seemingly more talkative than usual, much to the surprise of just about everyone.
"Wow, since when were you not mute?" Setsuna asked jokingly, to which she received a karate chop on her head by Itsuka who looked at her disapprovingly for making such a joke.
She grimaced and apologized.
The…Dark-Izuku, for lack of a better title, chuckled, much to Itsuka's discomfort as she slowly inched away from him in a somewhat comical manner.
"I am glad you are all safe!" Tenya called out as he approached with Duty-Izuku, the latter looking as regal as a samurai of old.
And finally, they looked together to where a tired Ochako smiled at them in relief, a child Happy-Izuku in her arms.
Ochako walked through the storm, the cold wind biting deep into her skin, seeping into her bones.
But she refused to let her charge fall.
Not when she had a child she needed to protect. If she couldn't even save the subconscious of a single boy, how could she ever call herself a hero at any time or place?
'I should have taken a note out of Tsuyu's and Setsuna's book and added heaters to this darn thing…' she thought to herself as she shielded the child in her arms as well as she could, holding him close to her body to give off as much heat as possible.
"Don't worry, little one… I'm sure we'll find a more hospitable place soon," she whispered, trying to comfort him.
"You should just leave me behind…I'm holding you back." she heard the child say.
"Never!" she almost snarled. She was unsure of what had caused Izuku to become like this, but she knew that she could not abandon her friend.
'And perhaps more.'
"I'm going to get you out of here, Izuku. I'm going help you. I'm going to save you," she began as she trudged forward. "Then we're going to go home…we're going to be with our friends, and we're finally gonna go on that date you promised me! All the mochi mister!"
The child giggled.
She was glad, that meant that he was still alright.
"You're my first friend, you know?"
"I…I know…"
"After kacc-Bakugo betrayed me again, I…didn't want more friends, didn't want to open up like that again…"
'...again?'
"But you…Tenya…everyone…you're different…"
She continued to trudge forward, exhaustion seeping into her soul as she desperately tried to continue forward.
"Why are you different?"
She was breathing heavily, gasping deeply with every breath as slowly moved forward, nearly stumbling with each step.
"Why do you care?"
Ochako grunted as she collapsed, but still turned so that Izuku fell against her.
Trying to catch her breath against the harsh winds, she let tears fill her eyes as she mourned for Izuku's lost innocence.
"Because I do…because I'm your friend. Because you didn't deserve any of the pain you went through. You deserve to feel loved. To know you're loved, by your family and by your friends."
She hugged the small boy tightly, desperately trying to protect him even now from freezing.
"You deserve to be happy. You deserve love."
She held his head closely, whispering into his ear.
"We love you, Izuku. Never doubt that. You don't have to doubt that anymore."
She was panting now, curling up around him as she protected him from the winds that were…dying down?
She shakily looked up, seeing that the snow was melting, that the cold that was in her bones was slowly starting to go away, replaced by a warmth and joy that was filling her soul.
She looked down and saw the teary eyed boy looking at her with such joy that words escaped her.
"I believe you, Ochako," he tearily said before fading away. She gasped in horror but her attention was caught by her shadow suddenly extending and she turned to see a blue light piercing the skies, the clouds seemingly being pushed away by the light.
"Are you ready to go?"
She gasped again in surprise, seeing the small Izuku but this time with a blinding smile on his face.
"Izuku?"
"Yep! Are you ready to go?"
Ochako shakily nodded, still confused by everything that was happening but pushed herself up to her feet and grabbed the boy's hand who cheerily started to guide her toward where the light was.
"Thank you, Ochako."
As the last of the group arrived, the Izuku's nodded at each other and headed towards the middle of the group.
Leader-Izuku came first, with Duty taking his hand and the two becoming light before the latter disappeared, absorbed by the former.
Tenya saw him salute one last time and he barely managed to return it.
The next was Melancholy, who gave a weak smile to Leader, who instead of taking his hand, knelt down and hugged him as he started to glow, before absorbing him.
Denki and Kyoka smiled back at him as he finally gave a somber grin before fading away.
Aay'han approached next, Yui helping him move forward, clasping Leader's forearm as they stared at each other firmly.
Yui smiled as she saw the thin version of Izuku disappear, his eyes burning with passion.
Yuga and Soldier hugged each other tightly, the latter whispering a small 'thank you'.
Meeting with Leader, they both slammed their fists against their chests twice before taking each other by the shoulder.
Soldier was gone in the blink of an eye.
Loyalty then went over after having ruffled Setsuna's hair slightly, before he knelt in front of Leader, who gently brought his arm over each side of his head, like a king would with a knight.
The two shone bright and when they were able to see again, Loyalty was gone.
Joy cheerily waved goodbye to his friends, and asked for them to greet the others on his behalf to which they agreed.
He then gave a large hug to Ochako, kissed her cheek and then ran off to Leader who laughed and picked him up, light soon consumed them, and Leader was left behind once more.
Leader was still chuckling in mirth but as he settled down, he became more serious.
Turning to the last shard, he extended his hand.
"Will you join us, brother?"
Dark-Izuku stared at the ground in contempt before finally facing his counterpart.
"No."
All of the students gasped in shock, Itsuka being especially worried at what this could mean.
"I refuse to be locked away again. And if I do, you all know I'll only grow stronger from it if the main consciousness keeps on suppressing these emotions. Would you really want us to kill the Aruetii by accident?" he said, using the logic he saw fit as to not be locked away again.
"And if by chance, you grow strong enough to gain control?" Itsuka interjected as she stepped forward, fists clenched as she tried to ignore her own doubts and guilt.
Dark-Izuku grinned savagely at her, much to everyone's surprise, Itsuka actually flinched.
"I will instill Peace. My way. Opportunities should be taken advantage of, should they not?" he replied darkly, looming over her. "Just like you did when you saw Himiko Toga at Camino."
She grimaced, turning away from him.
"Besides…who would you be without me, Izuku?"
Leader grimaced…but relented.
"Very well."
"Izuku, you can't be serious!?" Itsuka cried out.
"Yeah, won't this be bad for Izuku's subconscious? We're supposed to bring everyone together, no?"
"We have reformed enough that the situation is not as dire…admittedly, this dark version of Izuku is a smaller portion of the friend you know," Leader explained.
"For now, at least," Dark said with a grin. "Besides, if I do take over for a brief instance and he regains control, the chances of me doing so again will be diminished immensely. Once he sees this side of him, he'll learn how to deal with it in a healthy way," he offered almost benignly.
"Or perhaps, I will take complete control, and ensure that true Peace is achieved," he continued sadistically.
"Peace through Tyranny?" Itsuka asked defiantly, to which he nodded.
"Every gamble comes with a price, my dear. And this gamble will see if his heroic will can overcome his need for vengeance," he said, putting his hand on her chin, to which she smacked it away.
"Don't. Make that face. I can hear Thorn rolling in his grave when you make that expression…"
"I am a part of Izuku, always have been. Always will be," he replied. "What does that speak of him?"
"You-"
"Enough," Leader said as he waved his hand and a portal opened. "It is time for you to return. Together, you must help unify the two quirks, only then will the last remnants of the virus be purged from Izuku's body and he will be healed."
The other students, still wary of Dark Izuku, quickly made their way to the portal, saying their goodbyes to the other part of Izuku's subconscious.
Itsuka was the last to enter.
"I look forward to our next encounter, Battle Thorn."
Itsuka clenched her fists before turning her head slightly to look at him from the corner of her eye.
"I will never become her. And I won't let Izuku become you either," she replied before walking through the portal.
The last thing she heard were his chuckles.
"We shall see."
"We could really use some more firepower over here!" A clone taking cover shouted, as he threw a thermal detonator over his cover and into a group of droids that got reduced to scrap metal in an instant.
"Well, we can't exactly bring a tank inside of a corridor now, can we?" another one said, before the hallway with droids were blasted by spiral energy, causing the two to look at who fired it, before they noticed a girl with long in a blue and green costume and yellow swirls circling around her arms and legs.
"Nejire Hado," one of them muttered.
"One of the Big Three of the Third Years,"
"Hey, hey! What are your names? Are you ok? Do you need something?"
"We're fine over here! Looks like we're almost rid of all of the-"
All around the Mindscape, everyone's attention was caught by the green pillar of pure energy that erupted from the fallen complex, white spiraling around it in a sort of harmonic dance.
"It's beautiful…" Nejire whispered, and for once, she had nothing else to say.
Appearing from the remnants of the destroyed building, where the green pillar of energy erupted was a being wreathed in said energy.
The being, although not fully conscious, was now fully enveloped in the energy that represented Legion and was steadily making his way forward towards the Core to unite with One For All.
It took various steps, before a part fizzled out, and Mina fell out of the unified being, collapsing to her knees before being supported by clones.
Lightning seemed to surge from the being, striking down droids that got close and those nearby could only stare in awe.
Another surge of energy, and Yui fell out, quickly supported by the clones who were now following the luminous being.
After some more time, Kyoka fell backwards.
Then it was Denki.
Then Yuga, followed by Setsuna and Itsuka, the five of them landing in a pile.
The being was walking slower, still reaching towards the Core, but stumbling along the way.
Momo and Reiko approached and supported the being, guiding it along its path, visibly appearing to be sapped of energy; they soon struggled to stand and were dragged away by clones.
As they approached the Core doors, Tenya finally fell out.
And as they approached the Core itself, Ochako was finally released from her duty.
The luminous being, now a clear male figure, made up of swirling green and white, looked back at the trail left behind, at the friends who had helped him to the end.
He was grateful.
"Thank you," he whispered, though it could still be heard throughout the entire Mindscape.
Looking at the Core of One For All, which was also emitting an emerald light, he slowly reached out his hand and touched the core.
For a moment, everything paused.
And he could see the full potential of One For All and Legion together.
The responsibility would be great, and the task to fully use the power nearly insurmountable.
But he wasn't alone.
Not anymore.
The world went white.
A pulse of energy erupted from the epicenter of the Core, traveling through the walls of the Mindscape unimpeded.
The Core room itself was completed, the violent energy sealed and protected, the room stabilizing as the two quirks reached unity.
The energy wave continued.
Walls were fixed, doors reconstructed, paths rebuilt.
Every single droid that it touched was reduced to atoms, not even becoming dust in the wind.
Every clone was reinvigorated, knowing that their brother had returned.
And every person who was inside the Mindscape felt the energy pass through them without harm. In fact, they were left feeling something almost indescribable.
Hope.
And unknown to all but a few, something else had awakened.
Although it quickly fell asleep again, those who knew the truth heard it.
"One For All heeds the call of the Last Wielder."
The world went white.
Everyone groaned as they shakily got up, looking around, they all found themselves near each other and actually back in the real world.
"Everyone alright?" someone called out.
Various groans of pain were the response.
Toshinori fluttered around the gymnasium, helping out whoever needed it the most.
They soon noticed that all the hero students, sans Bakugou, were lying spread out throughout the hall on mattresses, each of them in various states of having been battered or injured.
"Uuuuughhh… What happened? I remember a white flash and then, boom… Next thing I know just out here…" one of them grumbled.
More grumblings rise, teachers and students alike glad to be outside, but hopeful that everything worked.
"Did…we win?"
"Is he alright?"
"Are the clones?"
Toshinori kept moving, but a voice caught his attention.
"Toshinori?"
He froze, wondering if it was his mind playing tricks on him, before he slowly turned around like a rusty old machine, with the former symbol of peace gasping over who he saw.
Many students gasped along with him, since they recognized her, after all, she fought beside them.
Toshinori fell to his knees, much to the surprise of the students surrounding him as he stared at the figure in front of him.
"Master…Nana…"
"Toshinori…" she whispered as she floated toward him.
Her hands came to his face and she held him gently, the man silently weeping from a touch he'd not felt in decades.
"My beautiful son."
Whispers came out from the students, all of them mesmerized by the beautiful woman and who she just revealed herself as.
Bakugo was still nearby, and was shocked that All Might's mother was apparently one of the quirks that All For One shoved into Deku.
All of them were even more surprised to see All Might begin to cry.
"I failed you…Nana…I was too weak…"
Many students, Bakugo especially, felt their worlds crashing down. All Might of all people, admitting that he was too weak?
It was inconceivable.
"I couldn't help you…I-"
"Shhhh," she gently whispered as she held his face, tears beginning to trail down her own. "Look at how much you've grown! You did so much good, Toshinori. You saved so many people…and you reached your dream."
"But…I couldn't save you…" he whispered.
"Oh, my son. It was not your duty to do so…I gave my life so that you could have your future…and you did it. I'm so…so proud of you, Toshinori…you surpassed me in every way that mattered, ner ad."
"Nana," he choked. "...buir…"
"[I know your name as my child, Toshinori.]" she whispered in Mando'a before hugging him tightly.
He held her just as tightly, soaking in her warmth, basking in her smell, in her love.
He'd missed this.
It'd been so long…
"Toshinori…" she whispered and he looked up to see the reality of their situation.
Her glove was turning into green particles which were flowing back into Izuku's chest.
"I can't stay here in the living world for long…I'm just a vestige…but never forget my boy, I'll always be with you. We are connected through something much more powerful than flesh and blood."
One For All.
"Buir…I…I…" Toshinori began, struggling to say the words even as he knew that he may never get the chance again.
"I love you, Toshinori," she said instead and his eyes widened as he heard words he longed to hear for decades.
"...I love you too, buir…" he whispered back.
All present were silent. Knowing that they were technically intruding on a deeply personal moment, but unwilling to move for fear of breaking it.
Nana and Toshinori spend the next minute in silence, simply embracing each other as she disappeared fully, the rest of the green particles heading back inside of Izuku's body.
"Goodbye, Toshinori… May we meet again soon…" her voice called out in a whisper.
Even when she was gone, Toshinori couldn't help but bow his head and weep, and the crowd turned away, only a few remaining petrified of seeing their Symbol of Peace so…broken yet so relieved.
Toshinori gave himself a few moments to center himself before standing, wiping away the tears and turning to the boy on the bed, finally waking up.
Izuku woke up with a groan, his friends surrounding him.
"Hey guys…you won't believe it…but I had the craziest dream." he muttered, before looking at them, a question mark practically floating above him. "Did… Did I miss something?" he asked them, causing nearly everyone to face fault on the spot over how casual he was.
"You missed a lot, Izuku," Ochako said as she clutched his hand. "But don't worry…we'll catch you up to speed. We're just glad you're okay."
"I'm…so tired…"
"You just rest then, alright? We'll be right with you when you wake up again," Ochako said, and Izuku wearily nodded before returning to sleep.
She looked over to Recovery Girl who nodded and sighed in relief.
"He's fine…the infection is gone…we did it."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as well.
The Battle of the Mindscape was finally over.
And presto, this arc has finished! I hope you guys enjoyed this, it'll probably be the last chapter for a while honestly.
Please! Leave a review! I feed on them!
Omakes
Across the 9th-verse (Spiderverse AU but with OFA users instead of just Izuku's) Basic premise - A Bakugo with OFA who gets introduced into the 9-verse by an Ochako or Mina with OFA or somebody with a 2099 Izuku, etc. (Lots of Izukus) leading the 9th society he's an anomaly, as he's the only bakugo they've encountered who actually wields OFA. Bakugo tries to go against his canon event, which causes the chase scene, and then this happens
"What's wrong, 2099?" He hears from the communicator.
"We have another canon-defier."
"Really? What's so bad about this one?"
"He's actually managing to hold his own, I'm busy, so I'd like to ask a favor and have you hunt him down."
"...You're not telling me something."
"He's a Bakugo."
"...A Bakugo as the 9th wielder? I thought that was impossible," he heard the voice say in disbelief.
"Never impossible. Only improbable. Either way, you know what happens if he succeeds."
"...Rules of engagement?"
"Don't kill him. He's not a villain. He just doesn't understand."
"Fair enough, still though. A Bakugo who was actually chosen as the 9th...you do give me some fun gifts."
"What's that noise?" Katsuki asked as they paid attention to the sudden humming in the air.
"Ah...that's not good...that's really not good." Mina said as she began to look around and gather supplies, the others following suit.
"What!? What is it?" he asked.
"He sent Mand'alor...I didn't think he'd send Mand'alor!" she exclaimed with slight hysteria.
"Whose Mand'alor!?"
"Okay, quick breakdown, he can make clones, he has OFA, and he does not like Bakugo's." she quickly explained as they opened a window and headed to the rooftops.
"It can't be that bad, can it?"
"Let me put it this way, a few years ago, we had a Bakugo get corrupted and turn into a multiversal threat. 2099 sent Mand'alor after him with the orders to capture if possible and kill if necessary...he didn't bother trying to capture."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
Skip
Clones surrounded the group on a platform, arms at the ready. LAATs floated overhead with spotlights before a figure leapt out and landed.
"Ashido-1673, Kirishima-1413, Kaminari-201, Sero-1916...and if it isn't Bakugo-1610...I gotta admit...I didn't believe it when 2099 told me that there was a 9th user Bakugo," Mand'alor said as he approached the group, all but Katsuki gulping in slight terror.
"I'm going to say this only once as a fair warning...and, because I understand," he said, almost gently even. "Surrender, all of you. Let the canon event happen...or I'll be forced to use less...civil means of negotiation."
Lineskip
"And how would You know anything?"
"Oh? Seems like all Bakugous are asshats to some degree... Very well then... I lost my first brother and best friend only one week into the first semester, along with one thousand of my brothers, then only a few weeks after that, I lost forty more with one of them having a big impact on Kendou, then I died for a short moment and not even twenty four hours later my body reacted to having been infected by a virus by All For One. This is how my first few months of school were. Does that sum it up for you?"
"Dude... That's like... One of the darkest ones I've heard yet..."
"Eh. At least I'm not Cursed Blood."
Lineskip
"I've already had to kill one Bakugo, I'd rather not make a habit of killing more, but if needs must," he said solemnly. "Besides, the Darksaber is singing for blood."
So yeah, omake I had in mind…bit dark, but considering everything, not as bad as I thought it'd be.
Oh right, and as promised, for Rez - Wholesome Megatron (separate from the current Megatron AU, this one is Earthspark based, so no brutal deaths like in the other AU)
At a monument, surrounded by stone slabs filled with names, a large object decorated in flowers in the center.
"We were never a part of this war...what's this got to do with any of us?" Kota asked.
"Our fight was destroying both our peoples..." Megatron said as he grabbed the fallen flower from Mahoro's hand. Standing up he placed it on the monument.
He recalls the bloodshed...the lives lost...a war that originally was intended to free his people, only for him to go down the darkest of paths and lose his way.
How, even in the end, it might have been too late.
"I regret waiting so long to do the right thing."
He explained more, about why he had stopped the war...betrayed his own people, marking him a traitor. How if things had been done differently, they could have avoided so much pain and devastation.
How perhaps, they could have been united.
"The Decepticons and Heroes could have accomplished so much more if we had remembered that. Do not do what we did," he says to the children in front of him, the next generation of peacekeepers.
"Do better."