I've done it. There's no going back at this point. I'd given my Quirk to Dabi, even if 'I' technically was in charge that didn't mean we were identical. The problem with my vestige controlling Dabi's body is that he isn't completely me. Whilst I will definitely be dominating Dabi's mind, that isn't to say that his will was gone. Even without a vestige of his own, with me having cleansed 'Cremation' a long time ago, that wasn't to say Touya had no will at all. His memories are still present in that vessel and will continue to be present.
But, that didn't have to be a bad thing. What I wanted when I gave Dabi my Quirk wasn't a second me, what I wanted was someone who could completely destroy and discredit Endeavour. Whilst I could reveal everything that he's done to the world, I doubt that would be enough to completely destroy his image. I have nothing to do with the man and right now the public still view me negatively for the most part, I could easily just be lying despite the evidence that I have against him, they'd feel much more compelled to believe someone if this was something personal. If Endeavour is going to fall then it can't be by my hands, it has to be Dabi.
Dabi- that's what I'm going to call him, 'other me' is less to the point- knows all of this and yet he's fine with me using him for my own goals. He will cooperate with me as long as I keep up my end of the deal by letting him take down Endeavour. After that... well I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Either way my preparation for the war to come are nearly complete. Soon Japan will be brought to her knees, All Might and everything that he stands for will soon fall on it's head. I've planned this all out and I've set up contingencies in case something goes wrong.
The people of this society are fools to think that what they have is stable, the pillars that hold them up are hollow and littered with cracks. It's expected of people though, humans like having a sense of security and order. Even if what they feel isn't truly based on anything they're fine with pretending that it is. Because they'd rather live a beautiful lie than face the ugly truth which is that society is deeply flawed, people will say things like 'That's just how it is, we have to accept it' or 'Some humans will always hate others, there's nothing we can do'. Well I call them out on that, humans are capable of change. It's just that most people aren't willing to take that extra step to understand others. Society should encourage people to take that extra step, instead they allow others to remain close-minded.
Well this society will see change, whether they like it or not, because I acknowledge just how flawed this world is. I can't make it perfect, but maybe, just maybe, I can make it a little less flawed. That is the reason that I fight, and that is the reason I keep gaining power. For too long good men and women have suffered because the world has ignored their struggle. But, that will all be done soon-
Because now it's our turn to strike back, both against those who ignored our suffering and against those who caused it.
All Might felt a deep sense of exhaustion and sadness as he fixed up his tie in the mirror of a taxi. The death of his old friend and Sidekick was hitting him hard, he didn't even have the mental strength to keep up his muscle form during the recent days.
Never did he ever imagine that Mirai would die from a simple gas leak, the police said that his body was burned into nothing but ash that was lost under the wreckage of his house. There wasn't even anything to bury.
"This your stop?" The taxi driver asked boredly as they stopped in front of the Hero's funeral.
All Might simply nodded and paid the taxi driver as he stepped outside and by the front of a church where his old friend was being remembered.
He walked to the front of the building and entered through the door where he'd pay his final goodbye to his brother in all but blood.
Walking through he recognised a few faces. His two sidekicks, who were both dressed out of their Hero uniforms, and Mirio Togata. The boy looked even worst that Toshinori himself did, and that was saying something when you consider how he looks since he lost his stomach. The boys usually immaculate blonde hair was shaggy and raggedy, like he didn't care enough to style it anymore. His eternal smile was gone and replaced with a tired and solemn expression that screamed regret and guilt. Then there was his eyes, usually comical and bright, they were now bloodshot and dry. As though he'd been crying for weeks. He was dressed in a black suit just like All Might was.
He was really taking Mirai's death hard wasn't he?
It had been over two months since Mirai's passing, yet the wound was still fresh. As bad as it is for Toshinori it must be worst for Mirio, his last talk with Nighteye was a terrible fight that they never made up for. There was no going into the past and making up with his boss now. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. He can't imagine the regret which he must be feeling right now.
He was almost afraid to approach the boy at this point, All Might wouldn't deny that he was the reason that the two of them fought in the first place, he was the one who wanted to pass on his Quirk, and as a result they fought.
All Might shook his head. No point in lamenting the past. Mirai wouldn't want that.
He walked up to a picture of his old friend. Despite having quite an unusual sense of humour Mirai hardly ever smiled himself. It was one of his quirks that he Toshinori just learned to get used to as time went on. It was sad that he died such a pointless death. He was such a good Hero.
It just goes to show how fragile human life really is, he can't afford to be like that. As the Symbol of Peace he can't afford to be like that. He has to face facts though, his days are numbered. He needs to find a suitable successor. He could push for Mirio to take his power, but the boy had made his opinion on the matter all too clear. Pushing would only result in an argument, something which Nighteye wouldn't want between them. He's going to be a teacher at U.A in less than two months, hopefully he'll be able to find someone there.
He moved so that he was by the blonde boy's side and decided to break the ice between them." Young Togata, how are you holding up?" He was genuinely concerned about the boy, he didn't exactly look like himself.
Mirio, despite his tired demeanour, did reply honestly." Terrible. I never got to apologise to Sir. He was my Hero, the one who helped me get my Quirk to this point. I'll never get to show him that all his teaching wasn't a waste. It's too late now though, he's gone."
Toshinori wasn't sure what to say to that. Mirio was right in what he said, Mirai was indeed dead, he'd never get to make up for the fight they had. Looking back he could see that they were both partly in the wrong, he was wrong for trying to force his Quirk on Mirio, and Mirio was wrong for questioning his beliefs when it came to fighting All For One. Mirai was smarter than him, he would have figured out where they went wrong, he doesn't doubt that if given one more day then he and his apprentice would have made up.
It didn't change the fact that he didn't get that day though. They'd never make up for what happened. That was the truth.
All Might wasn't sure what to say to comfort the boy. So in the end he just tried to make some conversation. He should start by apologising." I'm sorry for attempting to make you my successor. It was wrong of me to try and force that responsibility on someone. I apologise young Mirio."
Mirio responded with a half-hearted smile." It's fine All-er I mean, what's your real name?"
All Might felt himself grow slightly irritated at the reminder that he wasn't just the number one Hero, All Might, but he pushed it down and didn't let it show." Toshinori Yagi." He answered swiftly.
Mirio continued." It's fine Toshinori, I'm sure that guy is a sore spot for you and I'm sorry if you were offended. I don't want to receive that thing, but I have a few ideas as to who you could as-"
The blonde boy was cut off as a blue haired girl in a black dress came up from behind him and asked in a very quiet yet boisterous voice." Hey Togata, how are you holding up? Who are you talking with? How do you know him?" She fired off questions in a curious manner.
Toshinori was thrown off by the strange... energy that this strange girl seemed to bring. She wasn't being overly enthusiastic, as that would be incredibly inappropriate for a funeral, but Mirio also seemed to brighten up just a little bit when she appeared next to him. She was certainly an energetic one.
Mirio answered her quickly, being used to his friends rapid questions and curious nature." I'm doing a little better Hado. I'm talking with Toshinori over here, and I know him because he was close with Sir."
At his answer the girl, Hado apparently, turned her gaze towards Toshinori with an almost child-like curiosity. All Might was surprised by the amount of positivity that this young lady was emitting, he was almost reminded of himself in a strange way. Well a younger and healthier him at least.
Hado realised that she didn't introduce herself so she immediately followed up with a casual greeting." Oh by the way my name is Nejire Hado, a second year at U.A in the Hero Course, well technically third but we haven't gone back to school yet. How did you know Sir Nighteye? Oh, and why do you look like that? Is it your Quirk? Do you have medical issue-"
Mirio cleared his throat and gently reminded Hado." I think he needs a moment to answer your questions Hado."
Nejire pouted at the reminder, she had more questions. But in the end she held herself back and gave him some room to breathe.
All Might was... intrigued by this girl in all honesty. She seemed to radiate positivity and managed to make it to U.A's third year, the fact that she's with young Togata meant that she must be strong. All good traits for a growing Hero to have. Maybe she-
He answered her questions carefully." I knew Sir Nighteye because we were old friends, and I don't look like this because of a Quirk I just have an old injury. At any rate you seem to be friends with young Togata over here. I hope that you seek to be a great Hero just like he does."
Nejire heard his words and nodded at them as she began to talk Toshinori's head off." Of course I do, I've been training my butt off to try and get better at using 'Surge', which is my Quirk that lets me turn my stamina into this-" She held up her hand to demonstrate her Quirk which seemed to make a golden form of energy which quickly dissipated."- and I've been training under Ryukyu to get experience at fighting villains."
Toshinori mentally added this girl to his list of possible successors. Optimistic, energetic, caring and a powerful Quirk. They were all good traits for a 'One For All' holder to have. He was still searching for all his viable options, but that didn't mean that this girl wasn't someone he should keep an eye on.
He smiled at the budding Hero's and said to them both with genuine belief." That's a good dream to have, I'm sure that you'll both go far in your careers."
He really meant those words as well. If these two represent what the next generation has to offer then he has no doubts that whoever he finds as a successor will be a good Symbol to replace him. And with young Heroes like this around to aid whoever he choses how can evil ever possibly triumph over good? Whatever worries he had felt unwarranted in that moment, because with others like this around whatever All For One throws his way will be for nought. Justice always prevails in the end.
All Might was right in his thoughts, justice does always come out victorious... but who's to say that justice was on their side?
The exhaustion from all of the work I've done in the coming weeks was taking it's toll. As a result I let out the briefest, the most miniscule, the tiniest little yawn as a sign of the extreme sleep deprivation that I was experiencing. The action actually took my by surprise. I actually possess a very useful Quirk called 'Insomnia', essentially I can run at full power with a very small amount of sleep. The Quirk is so efficient at it's job that the fact I could even express any signs of exhaustion from a lack of sleep was surprising to me. Though maybe I shouldn't be surprised now that I thought about it, I had barely slept in about two weeks. A normal person would have just dropped dead from exhaustion at this point. Good thing that I'm literally built different than your average joe.
I'll get some sleep tonight, after I've gotten some information from Giran.
I walked into a strip club and payed no attention to any of the loose women who were practically naked on stage- I've always hated these places, there's too many degenerate losers hanging around. the women suck here too. If I wanted to see a naked girl then I'd get a girlfriend, I prefer girls with a bit more modesty- and I could only cringe when I passed by a woman with a third tit here. God she must attract some weirdos with a Quirk like that.
I did my best not to glance or stare at any of them. Or just look at them in general as I passed into the VIP area where Giran said he'd be hanging out.
I entered through a mess of beads that people called a door and went into one of the private doors, only to immediately grimace at the sight of a naked girl giving Giran a lap dance. She had a mutation that gave her blue skin and purple curly hair, Jesus do people here just have fetishes for girls with Quirks that change their appearances or something?! I swear like half the girls in this place have mutant Quirks!
She was luckily facing his way so I didn't see anything other than her back, but that was still a bit too much skin for me.
I cleared my throat to get their attention. However, that didn't seem to work. The music was blaring pretty loud and Giran couldn't see past his little hooker so I guess that makes sense.
I had enough of his little show so I decided to speak up." Giran."
At the calling of my broker's name he turned he finally noticed that I was here and he looked behind the girl who was currently clawing all over him. The blue girl also seemed to notice that I was here and she moved to cover her modesty. I don't see the point though, she hardly has any to begin with.
The woman got off Giran's lap and gathered some scattered clothes- if they could even be called that with how little they covered- off the ground to make sure that she wasn't completely naked in the presence of two men.
Giran seemed annoyed that I interrupted him, but he also told the stripper to leave so I could only assume that meant he was prioritising doing his job over having a pretty lady shoving her chest in his face. he might be a bit of a scumbag, but he was a professional scumbag who knew when to get his hormones under control.
He greeted me as he pulled out his signature cigarette, which I could only assume was to help him cope with the fact I essentially just cock-blocked him, and took a puff of smoke into his mouth. After exhaling he finally spoke up." You couldn't have waited just a couple minutes? Maybe got a lady of your own to relieve some stress?" He joked around a little, but I could tell he was a bit annoyed at what I did to ruin his fun.
I rolled my eyes and simply retorted." I prefer a woman with a shred of modesty. I'm not just gonna chase after some pretty dam that'll flash her tits to any man who throws a few thousand Yen at her." I simply didn't see the point of doing this sort of shit just for fun. I was still a virgin, technically, and that's fine. I simply wanted to wait for the right girl. if I don't find them then that's fine as well. I'm too busy to maintain a proper relationship.
Giran shrugged at that and changed the subject." So you were asking about information on a group called 'Humarise' right?"
I nodded at his words. If my information on the movies is all canon, which was proven to be true due to the existence of I-Island and Nine, the Humarise will become a problem for me in the future. Their ideology is against my own, they believe Quirks to be a curse that will wipe humanity out when humans hit Quirk Singularity. They believe that once Quirks evolve enough and hit a certain point these abilities will be so powerful that they're beyond human control. They based all of this on the doctors theory that he published seventy years ago.
The thing about Singularity though is... the amount of power you'd actually need in your body to hit that point is something that no human could realistically produce asides from in special cases. I literally have hundreds of Quirks in my body and I haven't hit that point yet. Of course that could just be due to my body being an anomaly, but even the Singularity isn't something that you can't solve. For example in the manga Shigaraki proved that you could conquer Singularity if the circumstances are right. The Quirk Singularity theory isn't baseless, but that doesn't mean it's entirely right either.
Humarise need to be stopped, Flect Turn is a delusional madman that wants to kill billions and leave only Quirkless people alive. But, even if he did wipe out the entire Quirked population that wouldn't be enough. Because, even if someone lacks a Quirk factor they don't lack Quirk genes, two Quirkless people could have a child with a Quirk as long as someone in their family had a Quirk before them. He isn't basing his words off of hard facts.
All of this is why I asked Giran to try and look into them. Their influence in Japan is significantly less than in Europe, but it never hurts to check. Once I take over this country I'll need to start clearing out all these fanatic groups, kind of like I've been doing to the CRC. Chimera has been having some fun with that one.
Giran then began to explain what he found." Well I mostly found nothing... except this." He grabbed a case from behind his back and from within it pulled out... a photograph?
Giran hands it to me as he explains." I asked around and, as it turns out, around Tokyo a woman and a few other weird guys in robes were recruiting folks for some big cause about 'purity' and all. I didn't manage to get the name of that group, but I did manage to snag a picture of them once I tracked them down."
I was actually impressed by his work, but at this point I really shouldn't be surprised by Giran. He was a sly man, that's for sure.
I turned my attention to the woman he was talking about and immediately recognised that mint hair and cloak. Beros, the archer woman. I don't remember much about about her from the movie, but I remember that she had some strange Quirk that gives her the ability to summon a bow and shoot high powered arrows. Not much of a threat to me, but she could be trouble for my troops.
I turned my attention back onto the silver haired broker and asked him." Where were they recruiting these people?" I was genuinely curious as to who would join this place. In the movies it must have taken decades to build up Humarise to what it was, a force that could give an army of several nations most powerful people struggles. Flect Turn was a patient guy if nothing else, I'll give him that.
I'm also curious as to who I couldn't recruit whilst I was scouting. I made special care to pick out the youngest Quirkless people around, the newer the generation the more likely they are to feel the hardships of Quirkless life, so that when I gave them a Quirk they'd be loyal to me. But alas, a few must have slipped through my finger.
Giran answered as he took another puff of his cigarette." They were doing their stuff in Tokyo, why do you ask?"
I thought about it for a moment, but just decided to answer vaguely." No reason. Thank you for doing business with me Giran." I reached into my 'Storage' Quirk and threw him a few stacks of million Yen bills. I'm rich enough to be generous so there's no harm in paying a hardworking man handsomely.
He thanked me with a big grin on his face and I walked away from that club feeling satisfied enough. Humarise are a problem I'll need to solve later, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, until then I'll just focus on the problem in front of me.
Namely the problem when it comes to these self-righteous frauds. But, I have confidence that I will win, afterall how can I lose when I'm all of this. We have a game to win, don't we Izuku?
If you enjoyed reading this story and want to read more then just head to my P atreon at The Magician 565 to read 10 Chapters in advance.
So yeah, I figured that I'd throw in the air an idea of a possible successor to OFA, now that Izuku is kinda radicalised. I've already got a few ideas on who to pick, but you vote on it if you join my P atreon. Thank you for reading my work, and have a great day.
