09/05/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 71 - Gaps in Education

"So what is your quirk, Whisper?" Izuku asked.

He was playing a sort of game with the crew that had been gathered for Tomura. Twenty questions. He got to ask a question and then they got to ask a question. While, except for Dabi and Himiko, they hadn't agreed to follow him, they were staying at the warehouse for the moment. They were aware that the heat would not die down that fast and having somewhere secure was a good thing. At least, most of them had agreed to give him a chance. They wanted to assess his abilities.

The logical part of him said that was fair but another part was annoyed. Even so, he remembered what his Father said about his age. It was almost amusing to see that in action.

The only member who wouldn't follow him was Muscular. He'd disappeared to allow Mr Compress to explain the situation to the man but he'd been so angry that Izuku had quickly had to step in and subdue him again. Now they were having their question session.

It was a way to pass the time.

"Silence," she replied softly.

Izuku didn't have to ask how it worked. That was implied in the question. They had worked out some rules for the questions. People could refuse to answer but then got asked another question but if it was about your quirk then you couldn't just give the name, you had to give a short overview of it.

"I can silence myself and my actions, and if I touch others, I can silence them," Whisper explained. "But only for a little bit of time. I haven't actually measured," she said before anyone could claim she was being deliberately vague. "I can also make a silence field that everyone and anything in it is silenced, unless touching each other."

Izuku noted that down. They'd have to find out what her limit was in the future. While they hadn't agreed to work with him, he had begun to think of how their skills could be used. He nodded to let her know she could ask her question.

"What was the first quirk you took?"

He could tell from the reaction of the others that they were interested in the answer. Izuku gave Whisper a smile to indicate it was a good question. "Technically the first quirk I took was from my Father, and was a quirk he said I could take for practice but that's not what you are asking, is it?"

She shook her head.

"The first one I took was from a lady named Saisho Kijo," Izuku told them. "She knew I was going take her quirk," he explained. "It is named Solar Force, and allows me to convert some sunlight into energy."

"Useful," Twice murmured. "Useless," he added.

"I can't stockpile energy," Izuku continued. "I mean if I stand in the setting sun then I will be energised into the evening but that's just normal. I can't stockpile a heap of energy to use later."

Mr Compress nodded. Izuku could tell that he was thinking about how the skill could be used. "Next question?" Izuku prompted.

"What do you think of Stain?" Butterfly asked.

"Didn't you ask this earlier?" Izuku asked. She had asked that question the other day. "The answer hasn't changed. I like his mantra and I agree. Heroes should be heroes but personally, I don't agree that All Might is the only hero."

"Another question?" she asked. He couldn't tell if she was blushing from asking again but the way her wings hung showed a sort of contrition.

"Okay," Izuku agreed.

"What quirks do you have?"

He'd been expecting that question for a while. "A list?"

"Please?"

"Just the names, which should give you a hint as to what they do," Izuku said and closed his eyes. "Fire Breath, Fire Proofing, Caeli Imperum, Scales, Kilo, Poison Fang, Cat Eye, Hair Colour Change, Eye Colour Change, Regeneration, Shock Absorption, Strength Enhancement, Solar Force, Strength Improvement, Chain, Pocket, Electrification, Half Cold Half Hot, Creation, Explosion, Hardening and Engine." He opened his eyes and gave the shocked group a smile. "Oh, and Dragon's Hoard," Izuku added the last quirk. Those were the quirks he considered his. He also had All For One and a few others from Tomura but would be giving them away shortly.

"How has no one noticed you taking that many?"

"A lot of them are copies," Izuku replied absently.

"You can't copy quirks!" Mr Compress objected.

"You can," Izuku told him. "What do you think is happening over there?" he added, gesturing towards the tubes that were at the end of the warehouse.

He thought they'd looked at them but the group got up and walked over to the tubes.

"Shit!" The exclamation came from Twice. "There's kids in there!"

Instinctively Izuku knew he had to convince them that copying quirks was okay, or there was a chance they'd turn him in themselves. They hadn't really worked with Tomura long enough to have been exposed to the Doctor.

"Genetic material," he corrected. "While I can take someone's quirk, if I can get a sample of genetic material, then the Doctor can duplicate their quirk by growing a large enough genetic sample." Izuku knew that wasn't the case but it served as explanation enough.

"Not kids? Those are kids!" Twice asked.

"Not children. I want to change society, not make it worse," Izuku reminded them. Most people automatically thought genetic experimentation was bad so now wasn't the time to attempt to justify it.

"So that's where you've gotten your quirks?" Dabi asked.

"Most of them," Izuku nodded. "The one from Saicho was because she wanted me to take it." He hadn't thought about her in a while and wondered if she was still alive. "She was old and dying, and wanted some part of herself to live on."

He got an odd look from the villains. They probably didn't expect such a gentle answer but eventually they nodded. Before anyone could ask anything more Kurogiri appeared. "The Doctor is ready," he announced.

"The Doctor?" Himiko asked.

"My dad worked with various scientists," Izuku shrugged. "I'm happy to continue talking after?" he told the group.

Mr Compress nodded and Dabi waved one hand to indicate it didn't matter. Izuku turned to Kurogiri who obligingly turned into a gate and he walked through.

Going from one warehouse to another was an easy transition and Izuku looked around. "Doctor," he greeted.

"Izuku," the Doctor replied. "I've made something for you to put All For One in," he said, gesturing towards a squat tank.

Izuku swallowed. "Can that survive outside the tank?" he asked.

The Doctor nodded. "The quirk containers are robust," he assured him.

Izuku returned the nod and then flicked All For One towards the tank. He felt relieved when it was gone. Dragon's Hoard didn't feel any different so it was all his emotion. "Can you make another one for the other quirks?"

"I can but-"

"I don't want some of them but I think it would be useful to have other people have them. I just don't know who," Izuku said with a smile.

Garaki seemed to understand that. "I'll make a temporary holder," he agreed.

"Thank you," Izuku said before he gave the Doctor a measured look.

The man watched him before he sighed gently. "You want something?" Kyudai prompted.

Izuku nodded. "Tell me how you create the Nomus," he instructed. "The truth."

It was Garaki's turn to take his measure. "Very well," he said finally. "There are a variety of Nomus and the method of creation differs with the types. The basic type only has about three quirks but is mindless. Most of them are mindless," the Doctor admitted.

"Mindless?" Izuku asked.

"They have to be ordered to do anything," Garaki told him. "As the classes of Nomu go higher, they have more quirks, and more ability to make decisions but most need guidance."

Izuku nodded at that. It seemed a bit counter intuitive. He'd been told that if you had more than one quirk you went insane, so it should have been odd that the more quirks the Nomu had the more independent they were. The Doctor must have found some way to do that.

"The highest class are known as High End," Kyudai explained. "They are capable of independent thought but they will obey. All Nomu will obey you."

The cock of Izuku's head told the Doctor more information was required. "You are your Father's son. The Nomu will recognise you and obey."

There wasn't much more that could be said on that. "They don't seem that useful," Izuku mused. "If someone has to tell them what to do all the time."

"You took all the quirks from Tomura except for his, right?" Garaki asked for confirmation.

Izuku hadn't really gone over the quirks he'd taken from Tomura. He had been focused on All For One but he nodded to confirm that.

"One of them is named Radio Waves. It allows you to disrupt communication but also to order the Nomu."

"Oh," Izuku said. When the Doctor said the name of the quirk, Izuku felt it within him. It was like it jumped at its name. He could almost feel the Nomu around him now.

"You can order them from a long distance," the Doctor told him.

"How are they made?"

"The High Ends are made with individuals who have an exceedingly strong will," Kyudai told him. "That will is usually obsessed with something and I simply make sure I keep it that way."

"Those are the High Ends," Izuku interrupted. "How are the others made? There's more of them, right?"

"There are more," the Doctor confirmed and Izuku got the feeling that the man was trying to avoid explaining. They remained in silence and Izuku realised that the Doctor was hoping he'd ask something else so that he could avoid giving an answer. That let him remain silent even as it stretched between them.

"You aren't going to like it," Kyudai said eventually.

"Probably not, but tell me anyway," Izuku instructed. If he didn't like it enough then maybe he could use it to distract himself from other thoughts he wasn't liking.

"I usually use corpses," Garaki announced. "If I use live subjects, they tend to die during the process anyway."

"So you reanimate them and add quirks?" Izuku asked with a frown. There was a kind of logic there. While he had seen volunteers when he was younger, it would be noticed when they went missing. If you used corpses as the base then… if the body was to be disposed of via cremation then so long as the family got some ash back they wouldn't go looking for anything more. It was macabre but logical and…

If the Doctor was reanimating corpses to make Nomu then he was kind of bringing them back to life because while the Nomu might need orders to function, they were still breathing creatures. So… if they were breathing, then… Was there something he could use here? Izuku could feel his mind reaching for a solution to his current problem. It clarified for him.

"That's the simplified explanation."

Izuku thought about his idea a little more but couldn't say if it was good or bad. He simply didn't know enough about Nomu production. "So, if you can reanimate a corpse, why can't dad still take over Tomura?"

It kind of comforted Izuku that the Doctor thought about it. "I can reanimate it easily enough but I'd have to check if there were any other consequences… and… Your dad would have to take his quirk back to re-do the impression," Garaki said slowly before he fell silent as he thought. "No," Kyudai said finally. "It wouldn't work."

The small sense of hope Izuku had been feeling vanished. "Why not?"

"It's the same reason your Father can't use a clone. There is no mind to take the quirks from your Father. While your Father has to give All For One as the initial quirk, the body then has to take the others. It is the act of taking them which would transfer the memories and the rest of your Father's mind."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Izuku demanded.

"The only way to use a corpse or a clone would be if the initial impression of your Father in All For One was strong enough to be independent. And while I have no doubt that the impression is strong, it's the unconscious functions that maintain life that the mind is needed for."

"But a clone breathes, so the part of the mind needed for that is there," Izuku objected. He wasn't sure of that, but it made sense to him.

"It's one factor, Izuku. I truly believe the mind is needed to take the quirks," the Doctor told him. "It doesn't matter though, does it, since your Father is in Tartarus."

"I can get him out," Izuku said.

"How?"

"I don't know yet," he had to admit.

"I can keep Tomura's corpse."

It was kind of creepy to hear that but at the same time, Izuku still felt as if that might be a solution, and right now he was eager for any solution. "Is there any way you can test it?"

"Maybe. I have some copies of All For One which could b-"

"You have copies?" Izuku demanded.

"Not good ones."

"What do you mean?"

"I do not have a clean copy of your Father's genetics and All For One does not like to be copied. But I have some bad copies."

"Bad copies?"

"They can only hold three or four quirks," the Doctor waved away the question.

Izuku nodded. Three or four quirks could be useful. It could be very useful given what he'd heard from the villains this morning. There was one thing he had noticed, they were short of pure muscle. Whisper and Mr Mr Compress would be great for operations requiring subtlety and skill. Himiko fit into that category as well. Dabi was a bit of a brawler but he was skilled and Twice was a force multiplier but none of them were strong. That wasn't always going to be a problem. There were ways of countering that but…

"I may have a use for them," he mused. "Actually, how many quirks can a person have before they go insane?" Izuku asked.

"Depends on the person," the Doctor replied immediately. "Most people can have two but it will shorten their life span. Some can hold three but after that it gets uncertain."

Izuku nodded at the information. They were short of muscle but each of the villain's quirks had a weakness. If he could get the right quirk, they could counter that and… if he could give them a copy of All For One, even a bad copy, then that wouldn't impact on their life span. "I'll have to think about this," Izuku indicated.

"I might-" The Doctor paused.

"Might?" Izuku prompted.

"Your Father allowed me to use one of the better copies of All For One in an experiment," the Doctor told him. "The man had a strong quirk but it was destructive to his body."

"So give him a copy of Regeneration with the All For One copy," Izuku immediately proposed.

"No, Izuku. He had to prove his loyalty. He was given All For One, with the indication that a cure would come but only if he proved himself," Kyudai explained.

Izuku frowned. It seemed cruel to have the means to help someone and not give it to the man but he could also see the Doctor's point. If the cure relied on All For One, then it was best to be sure the man was loyal and wouldn't do anything stupid. "Was he loyal?"

"Undetermined as yet," Garaki replied.

"Oh." He wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I will help you Izuku, much like I helped your Father but for now, I think you need to get used to what I am doing. And you need to think about how to use the Nomu in your plans. I can tell you the skills of each of them and can make something specific if needed," the Doctor told him. "But I don't think you are ready for all the specifics of my work."

For a brief moment, Izuku wanted to agree but he shook his head savagely. As tempting as it was, he couldn't afford to be ignorant. "No, tell me," he ordered. "I may not want to know," Izuku admitted, "but I have to know."

The Doctor gave him a look before nodding. "Very well but not today. I need to make you another holder, and you have people you need to speak to."

He sighed. "True, though until I can think of a plan I have nothing but time."

"You shouldn't take too much time," Kyudai advised. "If you can't think of an overall plan then go on a smaller mission to gain their loyalty."

Izuku nodded at that. It was a good idea. "I'll be back later then," he indicated. For now, he had to think of a mission. It would be unlikely that he'd think of the entire plan on his own or from nothing. It would come slowly… He knew what he wanted, he just had no idea how to get it and that…

He'd have to work on that. And… He pushed away the feeling. He'd have to work out how to deal with his failure because that would only hold him back.

His Dad had taught him how to deal with many situations with lots of different people. Izuku knew he could make business deals. He could argue with anyone. He could deal with hatred, and love and indifference but… He had no idea how to deal with failure.

He'd never learned how.

-ted-

Since this fic is predominantly from the villain POV, scenes like the villains playing 20 questions will continue as they sort of did things and then went to ground again to prepare for the next thing. Izuku is still thinking of a mission for them and he doesn't want to make a mission that means he then needs them for more missions if they don't follow him. Thinking of a one off mission is kind of hard because he's not going to do anything as crude as rob a bank.

But don't worry. A mission will appear.

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!