25/03/2023
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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 58 - Back to the Beginning
All Might looked at the boy. He'd done something to the students… and he had a horrible feeling he knew what that something was. But… the boy had barely touched them and All For One needed a few moments to take quirks… so hopefully he'd done something else. It almost seemed as if he was having fun and apart from Bakugou, he hadn't been too brutal.
For a moment, Toshinori wondered if things could be different but then the boy's hair colour shifted, from the fire blue it had been to a white All Might never wanted to see again. His eye colour changed after that, and the boy gave him a smile. He knew what the colours represented and knew the boy was old enough to know what they represented as well.
The boy was wary and Yagi could tell he was of the mindset that he couldn't win but he would go down swinging. He was sure he could win, now but… He had no idea what other support All For One might have left out there in the world for his sons. He'd have left something. The man was overly prepared that way. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to simply give up on the boy.
"You could be an amazing hero," he told Izuku sincerely.
"What? Like you?" the boy spat.
He recognised the trap. "No. Like you," All Might countered.
The boy shook his head. "No. Because I can't live with the hypocrisy shown." He sighed. "I was going to stay in school," he announced. "But… My friend gets expelled because she might have a connection to a villain and a student who deliberately travelled to a combat area, and then attacks someone on national television get's nothing?" He shook his head again and in the gesture was the demand for an explanation.
Except he didn't have one. The girl shouldn't have been expelled, not with the punishment given to Kaminari but how did he explain the vagaries of politics to the boy? He took a step forward. All For One's son tensed and seemed to be judging something. But he wasn't moving to attack yet. His gold eyes glared at him and Yagi watched as he jerked his head up. "You can't answer, can you?"
All Might sighed. "It was wrong," he admitted.
"And you wonder why I won't be a hero," he mocked as he relaxed slightly.
"I can't let you leave," Yagi told him.
"Yeah, this doesn't exactly thrill me either," Izuku growled. "I promised myself I'd never run from you again and yet… here we are." He shrugged but his eyes were wary.
"Again?" All Might wondered and then he remembered the Sport's Festival. It took on a whole new tone now.
"Ah, you remember," Izuku said as his expression changed. He looked almost proud. "I told you I'd wipe the floor with them. Maybe you should train them harder?" Izuku got the final question out before he pitched forward, retching black ooze.
"No!" All Might yelled but it was too late. The ooze was quicker than he remembered and Izuku vanished.
Yagi took a shuddering breath. The boy had radiated hate. He had projected it with everything he had and while he wasn't as strong as his father… Izuku might have his mother's height but he had his father's demeanour. He shouldn't have hesitated but he didn't want to be everything the boy said villains were. And now…
He had no idea what the future held.
-ted-
Izuku knew better than to complain about the mode of transportation but he did spend a few moments just breathing as he centred himself. He swallowed a couple of times, to get his mouth feeling the way things should again. The black stuff was odd. It tasted terrible but at the same time the taste vanished almost as soon as it came.
"I've got to get stronger," Izuku said, pushing himself over to sit on the floor.
"All Might?" the Doctor asked as Izuku looked around.
The room was full of glowing tanks but there was a sort of promenade of eight to ten large tanks. He could see various forms floating in them. Behind them were other tanks but it was obvious those were the most important here. Pipes were all over the floor and for a moment Izuku wondered how the Doctor moved through here. His wheelchair wouldn't handle the pipes on the floor. He spun to face the Doctor. He was sitting at a kind of master control station. There were numerous screens in front of him and a wide control board. The area around it was clear of pipes. He nodded to himself. The Doctor obviously didn't come into the piped area much.
"All Might," he confirmed, spitting the name.
"You will get there, Izuku," the Doctor assured him.
"Will you help me?" he demanded.
At that the Doctor smiled slightly. "Your father expected you to ask me," he murmured. "But maybe not this soon," he added.
"What do you mean?" Izuku demanded. He got up and jumped over the pipes to the cleared space near the Doctor.
"I have techniques to make you physically stronger independent of a quirk," Garaki told him, "but-" he pointed to Izuku's head.
"But?" he prompted.
"Until I'm sure your mind is mature, I can't use it."
Izuku frowned. "Why not?" he asked. If the Doctor said his mind wasn't mature, then … well it was the Doctor's job to know that. He could challenge but he'd probably be wrong.
"Because you'd end up with as much mind as a Nomu," Garaki told him bluntly.
The answer was surprising but Izuku nodded for another reason. His father had said that they could dispense with the 'gentle narratives of his youth'. He had been expected to make an adult decision and the Doctor was respecting that as well. He was young, but he was no longer a child.
"When does the mind mature?" he asked.
"About twenty five," came the immediate response. "The closer you are to maturity, the less chance of failure but there is always a chance," came the follow up emphasis.
"Eight to nine years," Izuku murmured to himself. "I'll have to compensate in other ways then."
Doctor Garaki nodded. "I believe your father has collected several quirks for you," he offered.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I got a few today," Izuku said, holding up one hand and letting a flame dance on his palm.
Garaki looked surprised for a moment before he smiled and nodded. "Your Father would be pleased."
"I hope so," Izuku said but now that he was safe and the adrenaline was fading from his system he could feel himself slipping towards exhaustion. "Tired," he said.
The Doctor nodded.
"Why am I tired?" He meant it as a rhetorical question but the Doctor answered.
"You have done more with your quirk in training,' Garaki pointed out. "But that was training. This was real," he continued. "So you are tired now. Using multiple quirks tires you and it was not that sunny."
Izuku nodded. Whether it made sense or not, it was what was happening. He felt exhausted but at the same time he felt… he felt good and energised. He could feel Dragon's Hoard was happy and that made him feel happy as well.
"Just go to sleep Izuku," the Doctor said. "I will wake you if Kurogiri calls," he added.
Sleep was good. Sleep was very good and Izuku laid himself on the floor before descending into that darkness with a smile. He was going to do more. He was going to do so much more but for now, as his first steps, he'd removed some failed heroes.
That was a start. Just a start.
He had so much more to do.
-ted-
Yagi stood beside Chiyo and looked at the row of beds in the infirmary. Six were filled with students, mostly from Class 1A but Class 1B was represented by the Yaoyorozu daughter. They were all unconscious and other than Bakugou's broken arm, Chiyo said they appeared fine. She'd set the arm, and splinted him up. The breaks were clean. Apparently Mitei… Izuku had known what he was doing when he done that.
Except… It had been more than the half hour he'd said it would take for them to wake up and Toshinori was beginning to get worried. And as he stood there, he was beginning to remember things. Things He had said, just the other night.
Things Mitei… Izuku had said to him.
He'd said it the other night. I had thought to give him a choice and I fear now-
Yagi had dismissed the words at the time. All For One was a master at causing pain. He was a master at twisting the truth but… what if he hadn't been then? What if he had been-
He should have pushed the thought from his mind but something Mi-Izuku had said kept tugging at him and he couldn't put the thought aside. I was going to stay in school.
Were they just two, carefully arranged phrases? Were they two unrelated phrases? Did they mean what he thought they meant? Or was Izuku only going to stay in school because that was part of his Father's plan? All For One never said what choice he was giving his son. It had been implied that it was about villainy but he couldn't be sure and… Yagi knew that if he asked All For One the man wouldn't tell him. Oh, he could take Tsukauchi along and know that All For One wasn't lying but the man was a master at deception. He'd leave out things, emphasise others until the truth was something no one could figure out.
He didn't want to believe, as Mirai did, that Izuku had been destined for villainy from birth, or from the moment his father took him. That was akin to believing that nothing could change. People could change. It was often hard but they could do it, if they wanted it enough. All For One saw no reason to change and his son… Toshinori sighed. No one was born a villain. Circumstances sometimes encouraged a villainous outcome but no one was born a villain.
He sighed again. He was too focused on the past and he knew what the Commission and Nighteye would say. It didn't matter if Izuku never intended to be a villain. He was. Or… if he'd done what All Might thought he had done, then he would be considered a villain.
And… That would lead to questions of why hadn't he stopped him.
For the first ones, the answer was easy. The children had been early. He hadn't been there. They should have expected Bakugou to go as soon as he knew of the challenge. The others… He hadn't been surprised to see Kirishima and Iida there. The Iida boy had been wanting to prove himself since his brother's injury and Kirishima would have gone to give Bakugou back up, which meant Kaminari would have gone as well. He had been surprised to see Yaoyorozu there and Todoroki.
He'd arrived just as Izuku had crashed into Todoroki, which meant he could have prevented whatever Izuku had done to Kirishima.
All Might shook his head. He'd long ago learned the futility of drowning himself in the thoughts of what if. Except sometimes… he couldn't help but wonder.
Yagi's thoughts were interrupted when Kaminari stirred. Chiyo heard the movement as well and went to the student. He groaned, and tried to sit up. "Just stay still," Chiyo advised him.
"My head hurts," he told them.
"That will pass," Recovery Girl assured him. "Do you have any other pain?"
Kaminari dragged in a breath. "Everything," he said. "What hit me?"
"What do you remember?" All Might asked gently.
The blond boy frowned, trying to remember. "I got a challenge note," he said but didn't sound completely certain. "Then I think-" he looked around and saw the others lying there. Kaminari's eyes widened. "What happened?" he demanded.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Chiyo said before Yagi could reply. She waved one hand imperiously at him, the signal that she would explain.
He understood. It was better for Kaminari to remember than to be told and with Kaminari having to remember it would give her a better understanding of his health. He understood but he didn't like it.
The blond shook his head slightly. "I think we all got challenge notes. Even Shoji," he said slowly. "Shoji thought it was stupid and went home, and Honenuki said he had a training session with his mentor to go to, but Bakugou raced off. The rest of us followed," Kaminari said, sweeping one hand towards the other beds.
"And then?" Chiyo prompted.
Kaminari frowned and took a few breaths before he answered. "That management student was there, and…" His frown deepened and he turned to the bed Bakugou was in. "How the?"
"That is what we are trying to determine," All Might said, continuing Chiyo's line of questioning.
The blond nodded and then looked down. "When we got there, the Management Student already had Bakugou down. Momo told us to cover her while she worked on something and Todoroki confronted him. But he just shrugged off Shouto's ice and-" Kaminari frowned and cocked his head slightly as he remembered. "He actually encouraged Todoroki to use his fire, said he wouldn't be burned. He even breathed fire onto his hand."
"That's his quirk," Chiyo said. "Fire Breath, though apparently he's also fire proof," she added the unnecessary explanation.
"He's fast and strong too," Kaminari said.
Nezu was reviewing the footage so they'd have an estimate soon enough of Izuku's abilities.
"What happened then?"
"Momo finished what she was working on and shot some sort of net at him," Kaminari said. "He must have done something, because it just hung in the air!" There was a hysterical edge to the question but before they could say anything in reply, Yaoyorozu moved and they watched as her eyes opened before her face screwed into a grimace.
"Pain, dearie?" Chiyo asked, bustling over.
"All over, Ma'am," Momo replied, taking deep, visible breaths.
Chiyo patted her free hand as Yaoyorozu raised one hand to her head. "It will fade," she indicated.
Yaoyozoru sighed heavily. "I hope so," she muttered before lowering her hand to her upper chest, making a cupping gesture. Then she frowned and tapped at her breastbone.
All Might watched. He wasn't exactly sure what she was doing but he had a sinking feeling anyway.
"Weren't you out of lipids?" Kaminari asked.
"I have enough for this," she muttered but still nothing happened.
That sinking feeling coalesced into certainty. Except Toshinori had no idea how to tell her what was wrong.
"You should rest," Chiyo said.
Yaoyozoru didn't hear her. All Might watched as her frown deepened.
"It's not going to work," he heard himself say.
That brought all eyes towards him and he became aware that while they were talking, Iida had woken up as well.
"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Your quirk," he said softly. "It's not going to work."
"I'm not that tired," she said.
Toshinori felt his head shake. "It's not that," he said sadly, heaving a deep breath. There was no easy way to say this. "The boy, Mitei has a quirk that allows him to take others."
There. He'd said it.
"To shut them down?" Iida asked.
"No."
"Like Monoma's then? Sorta, anyway. To borrow them?" Kaminari asked.
"No. To take them," Yagi repeated. There was no way to soften the blow.
Yaoyozoru was faster on the uptake than Kaminari and Iida. "He took my quirk? He took our quirks?" she asked with a surprising amount of calm. Yagi knew it wouldn't last. For now, she was calm because of the shock.
"I believe so," he told her, watching as Kaminari brought his hand up in front of his face and twitched his fingers. All Might wasn't sure what he was trying to do but the shift of his features into absolute disbelief told him enough. Kaminari had tried to use his quirk.
And couldn't.
"That's not possible," Iida said.
Toshinori said nothing. Iida's quirk didn't lend itself to be tested lying in bed. He may not feel that it was gone yet. The other two though, they could use their quirks here and it was obvious that they couldn't.
"Will it come back?" The question came from Todoroki. His eyes were still closed.
"Not unless he gives it back."
"What will make him do that?"
That was a very good question. Unfortunately, Yagi had no idea of the answer. He knew it was possible but he'd never heard of All For One giving back a quirk. At least, not without payment but the payment was never as simple as cash. All For One usually wanted loyalty, information and favours. He could see no reason why his son would want anything less… except…
I can't live with the hypocrisy shown.
Izuku would want the HPSC gone or at least… Maybe he'd settle for his friend's reinstatement except… Yagi had no idea how to do that. He could ask but would Izuku accept it? Would the HPSC? The public… And if they did do it, they could be rightly accused of acceding to a terrorist's demands. A unique terrorist but still…
When he didn't reply, Todoroki opened his eyes and All Might looked over at him. The boy was… it was hard to say what his expression said. Endeavor had not been happy his son had been so 'weak' as to have been kidnapped. What would he say now that his son had lost his supposedly perfect quirk? Except Todoroki hadn't lost his quirk. It had been taken.
All Might doubted that distinction would matter to his father. He sighed. "I don't know," he said aloud, for the benefit of them all. "I just don't know," he repeated.
He hadn't felt this way since…
Since Nana had been killed. And this time… Gran wasn't here to save him.
This time, he'd have to save himself, and the children…
From a child.
All For One was laughing at him.
-ted-
So the thing Garaki is talking about here is what he put Tomura through. Tomura didn't go gah gah from it in canon because he had AFO's mind providing maturity even though Tomura is only 20ish :D otherwise Tomura would have been gah gah from the procedure. At least, that's the theory I'm going with :D
The chapter name is a reference to a really good fic by Aliandris named 'Back to the Beginning' but this is also what All Might is thinking, in that with Izuku turning villain, he is back to the beginning of the villain hunt he had to do when going after AFO... and that hunt took most of his career. Now it appears the son will take the rest of his... somewhat limited career.
I was asked what quirks Izuku has now a few times. I think this is the list of what he has at the moment
Fire Breath
Fire Proofing
Nitrogen Control - Caeli Imperim
Scales - Hiryu Ren's quirk
Weight Control - Kilo
Poison Fang - claws and fangs with poison.
Night Vision/Cat Eye (Night Cat) (mostly night vision)
Hair Colour Change
Eye colour change
Regeneration
Shock Absorption
Strength Enhancement
Solar Force - gains energy from sunlight - does not stockpile energy
Another strength enhancement quirk
Chains
Pocket - same as Yakuni's pocket.
And now...
Half Hot, Half Cold
Explosion
Creation
Engine
Electrification
Hardening
My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!
-ted-
Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!