11/04/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 63 - This Wasn't In The Plan

"What have you done?"

Izuku frowned at Kurogiri's question. What had he done? Really, Kurogiri was asking him that? "What have I done?" Izuku challenged, as he turned. "What have you done allowing him to have that!?" He growled.

The warp gate just looked at him before he shook himself. "I don't have time for this," Kurogiri said, as he opened up a warp gate over Tomura's body, scoping it up. He turned himself into a gate.

"Wait!" Izuku said, diving into him.

When he emerged, he recognised the Doctor's lab.

The Doctor was staring at Tomura's body before he too seemed to take himself in hand. "Put it there," he instructed.

Izuku watched as Kurogiri obediently moved the body and the Doctor tried to revive him.

"What?"

He was ignored.

"Can you get the quirk out, at least?" Kurogiri asked in a harsh, almost desperate whisper.

Izuku began to feel as if he'd made a mistake.

"I'm trying," Garaki answered, still trying to revive Tomura but the teen's body was unresponsive.

"What are you doing?" Izuku yelled.

That turned the two of them to him.

"Izuku, Tomura had your Father's quirk," the Doctor told him.

Izuku just glared. "Yeah, I know that. Why the fuck did he have dad's quirk?" he growled his question.

He didn't like the way Kurogiri shared a look with the Doctor. There was something going on here. Kyudai jerked his head Kurogiri before he went back to trying to revive Tomura. The misty man sighed but appeared to understand what the Doctor wanted.

"The Doctor has been trying to heal your Father since he was injured," the misty man told him.

Izuku nodded at that. He knew that. He also knew that nothing appeared to have had much impact. That's why he was so happy with the device Mei had made. It gave his dad freedom from the machines that gave him higher quantities of oxygen.

"Because your Father couldn't be healed, he began looking at alternatives."

"Alternatives?" Izuku asked. What alternatives were there?

"Moving his mind to another body," Kurogiri told him simply.

Izuku's eyes widened and a sudden suspicion bloomed in his mind. It made him feel sick. "And Tomura was-" He couldn't finish.

Kurogiri understood what he was saying. "Tomura was to be the body your Father took over," he said.

In any other time, Izuku would have been sickened by the thought that his dad would take over another person but right at the moment he felt sick for another reasons. He had no idea how the transfer would work but it was obvious that All For One would have something to do with it. It might only be possible because of All For One… No wonder Tomura had said he was the important one.

"And I-?" Again, he couldn't finish. He pitched over on to all fours as he retched.

"That's why we at least have to get the quirk from Tomura," Kurogiri said.

Izuku spat and grimaced. He'd eaten rice and pickles a few hours back but his stomach was mostly empty so there wasn't anything to come up. Even so, the action made his nose fill with snot and he felt generally sick.

"I have it," he managed to say.

"What?" Kurogiri demanded.

"I have it," Izuku repeated as he rocked back to sit on the floor. He sniffed as tears formed in his eyes. "I took all the quirks Tomura had except for Decay," he said.

There was a moment of surprise before Izuku saw how the Doctor and Kurogiri relaxed.

Izuku took several deep breaths, not bothering to hold back the tears that streamed down his face. "But…" He sniffed, and hiccuped wetly. "Tomura is dead," he said unnecessarily.

The gravity of the situation hit him.

Tomura was dead.

Tomura was dead because he killed him.

Izuku felt sick again. This time it was the thought of death. He'd never killed anyone before. He'd never… He tried to keep his breathing steady… it wasn't just that he'd killed Tomura. He'd interfered with his Father's plan and now… How was his Father going to be healed?

The first thing he did was the wrong thing!

"Tomura is dead," Kyudai agreed. "Which means we'll have to come up with a different way," he added.

Izuku heard the uncertainty in his voice. He also knew that the Doctor would have been working on things for the last seven years. If he hadn't come up with another way in that time, then it was likely there was no other way.

Kurogiri seemed to gather himself. "We'll have to decide what to do," he said. "And… can I bring the others here?" he asked the Doctor.

"The others?"

"Tomura's crew," Kurogiri explained. "Sensei kept them safe so it would be a waste to have them captured now."

"Not here," Garaki said instantly but he seemed to know that there was no choice. "Take them to the northern facility," he decided. "There's mostly quirk copying going on there, and a few spare rooms," he explained.

"Why didn't you tell me about dad's plan?" Izuku demanded, swallowing back the feeling of failure that was consuming him. How could he have mucked up this badly, so quickly?

This time, Kurogiri jerked his head towards the Doctor, telling him to explain as he expanded before vanishing. Izuku looked to Kyudai.

"Your Father didn't want you to know," he gave the brief explanation. "The procedure to transfer his consciousness isn't one that can be tested."

"How is it meant to work?" Izuku asked. If he focused on that, he could avoid thinking of how he'd failed. He could avoid thinking how it felt like to kill someone. The anger he'd felt at Tomura had lasted to the point where he knew that Tomura had All For One because his dad gave it to him. Though… There was still some residual anger, but he knew Tomura was dead. He knew he'd done it. And… He wasn't happy, the way he thought he'd be. There had to be some way to think about it. He knew his dad had killed people and knew it didn't consume him so there had to be a way. For now though, he could focus on other things.

"The short version of the theory relies on the knowledge that when quirks are transferred between people, an imprint of their personality is transferred with it."

Izuku blinked. "So you mean, I have other people in my head?" he asked with a frown.

"I think Dragon's Hoard might do something to make sure you don't have issues," Garaki said.

"So dad had other people in his head?"

"Sometimes yes, he could hear them," Kyudai told him.

"Dad never told me."

"He would have, if you appeared to be having trouble," the Doctor reassured him. "You could still have them, but something in Dragon's Hoard keeps them quiet."

Izuku nodded slowly. He had never thought that a quirk could have an imprint of its old owner. "So how would dad have taken over Tomura?"

The Doctor turned back to his screens, checking the numbers there before he replied. "The first quirk transferred was All For One. That took the main imprint of your Father. In theory, then as Tomura took more quirks from your dad, more and more of your Father's memories would be transferred."

"I'm sorry," Izuku said softly.

"Hm?" The Doctor replied absently.

"I'm sorry," Izuku repeated.

Kyudai apparently heard him properly that time. "It's not me you should apologise to," he said.

Izuku swallowed and felt sick again. He'd killed Tomura which meant that his Father wouldn't be healed. How the hell did he apologise for that? "How?" he cried.

The Doctor didn't offer any answers and Izuku curled his legs up, unconsciously imitating the pose Tomura had taken. Tears tracked down his face. How did he apologise to his Father for taking his chance at healing? How could he? The Doctor had hinted there could be another way but if he'd been looking for the last seven years then that other way was… It wasn't impossible, merely improbable and difficult to find. It may not be possible because of circumstances… No, Izuku shook his head. If it was just circumstances, then his Father would have manufactured them. To heal…

It was an unspoken thing but to heal his Father would do almost anything. And…

"I have All For One now," Izuku said. "Could dad use my body?" he asked the Doctor.

Kyudai stopped tapping at the control panel when he asked and then he turned around. "He could," he replied. "In fact, in some ways it would be better," Garaki continued.

Izuku remained silent. He knew the Doctor's tone. There was more to be said on the matter.

"I argued he should," the Doctor told him, "but he refused."

He didn't know what to feel about that. He felt warm at the regard his Father gave him but he wasn't sure what it meant that his dad had chosen Tomura over him.

"And it's possible, since you've never had any problems with vestiges, that it isn't possible with you," Kyudai speculated.

"What do you mean?" He demanded.

The Doctor gave him a hard look. It was the one he used when he thought Izuku should have been able to work it out for himself. Eventually though he sighed and explained. "You have multiple quirks, but you say you've never heard anyone or spoken to anyone. Not even in dreams?"

"Not that I know of."

"Your Father sometimes could. Mostly when he slept," Garaki told him. "So I think it's likely that Dragon's Hoard does something to the quirk to make sure you can't hear the vestige… Or-" his look became thoughtful.

"Or?" Izuku prompted.

"Copies of a quirk might not carry a vestige," he muttered. "I wonder how I can check."

Izuku didn't really care about that… Now that he had a moment to think, if a quirk carried an imprint of the original owner, and Dragon's Hoard did something to remove that, did that mean he had destroyed the imprint of his Father? He felt sick. That was sort of like killing him! And… He heaved but brought himself under control.

"Does-" Izuku swallowed. "Does that mean I have killed the imprint of Dad on All For One?" He asked. The back of his throat felt slick, and he sniffed, swallowing the snot back down.

"No," came the immediate response. The swiftness made him feel slightly better. "The first quirk transfer is only the impression of your Father, not an actual piece. It was probably enough to know what the plan was but the quirk All For One was the vital transfer then."

Izuku nodded, not completely comforted but he grabbed on to what he could.

"Your Father didn't want to use you, and I'm sure Dragon's Hoard doesn't want All For One," Garaki said, "so I'll make you something to put All For One in."

"Okay," Izuku murmured, though he still felt sick. "Can I put some other quirks in it?" He asked.

The Doctor looked at him quizzically.

"I don't like some of the quirks I took," he explained, grimacing. "Actually, I think they'd be more useful in other people."

That was something Kyudai understood. "I'll come up with something," he promised. "For now though, you should go with Kurogiri," he announced.

"Why?" Izuku demanded.

Again he got the look that said he should already know and Izuku sighed. He did, kind of. His Father had rescued Tomura and these people and if he just let them be captured then that would be spitting on his Father's sacrifice. He would be their leader now…

If they accepted him.

They might not, Izuku realised. Himiko would but the others could just walk away. He had to… He had to go and talk to them and convince them that Tomura had deserved to die and that he was the better leader…

He wouldn't say he hadn't meant to kill Tomura. He knew what he'd been doing but he had been so angry to see All For One in the other boy. There was…

"Why didn't Dad tell me?" He growled the question.

Garaki had turned back to his screens. "I assumed your Father had," he replied.

Izuku could hear the lie. "No. Why didn't you tell me?" he snarled, letting the Doctor know that he didn't believe the original response.

There was no answer forthcoming for a few minutes. "I never told you before, because your Father didn't want you to know. Would you have accepted that he would deliberately take over another person to heal himself?" Kyudai asked but didn't want for him to answer. "Then I didn't tell you yesterday, because while I knew you were angry with Tomura, I didn't think you'd kill him!"

For one, tiny instant, Izuku felt vindicated. The Doctor was angry with Tomura as well, then he finished the sentence… "I-" He stopped himself. He wasn't going to say he didn't mean it. If that was the case he would have stopped when Tomura was choking. He had meant it but he'd also been angry.

Tomura had caused his Father to be beaten up and arrested by All Might. It was Tomura's hare-brained scheme to kidnap those two UA students. Even if he had gotten away cleanly, which he hadn't, UA would be desperately searching for them. One was Endeavor's son! The Number Two hero would have put considerable resources into finding his son! How could Tomura not have known that…

How could his Dad let Tomura do that?

Izuku sniffed.

His Dad might have let it happen for some reason but… Tomura wasn't worthy of All For One. "Tomura was a bad choice," he announced. "How long did Dad need to take him over?"

Kyudai frowned at him.

"How long?" Izuku pressed.

"At least a couple of months. It's not a precise science," he admitted.

"Tomura would have gotten himself killed in that time," Izuku decided, ignoring the irony that he had killed Tomura. "Or captured, or-" he shook his head. It didn't matter. He didn't think Tomura would have had that time. "And if Dad had to transfer quirks, then he had to be around," he added, pointing out holes in the plan.

"I believe your Father hoped that Tomura would get him out of Tartarus," the Doctor pointed out.

Izuku snorted. "I'll do that and-" he paused. He wanted to say he'd find another way for his Father to be healed but he knew better. If the Doctor had been looking for years, then there may not be a way. "He can take over someone else," he said as he decided on that course of action.

For a moment Kyudai looked amused, and then he gave Izuku a good look. He was still curled up with his knees under his chin but there must have been something about him that made the Doctor pause. "I'll be ready for the next candidate," he said. "For now, you should go meet your new crew," he instructed.

Izuku sighed but nodded. He still didn't feel good but he couldn't let his Father's sacrifice go to waste. He had to take over this group and then… Then he could start working on how to free his Dad from Tartarus. When he made his choice, he thought he'd be following the plan - though he knew it wouldn't be guided by his Father but now…

He'd have to make his own plan.

-ted-

Izuku's now really alone and having to make his own plans. The Doctor will help and so will Kurogiri but will the League? Are they really going to want to follow a 16 year old... even if he has a really good reputation as Dragon and some kick ass skills. It will take a bit more than that. But Izuku may be able to convince them he's worth following... especially if the heroes give him some help. ;)

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!