"For the last time Doctor, it wasn't sabotage." Izuku said as he held in a sigh. Ever since All Might beat Afo at Kamino, due to his exosuit breaking from the sheer strain of it all, The Doctor had been harassing him nonstop. Every few hours it was an accusation of sabotage or intentional short cuts on his creation.
He doesn't cut corners, and he didn't set off the scuttle program.
"Doctor, the sheer strain of All Might's power and Afo's rapid Quirk use pushed the armor far past its limits. Even the best technology can only do so much in the face of such great power." Izuku argued as the doctor just shouted at him. "HOW DO I KNOW YOU AREN'T LYING!!!!" The doctor yelled. "If I had activated the scuttle the armor would have melted, it broke from the inside out. All For One knew it, I assumed it, you refuse to believe it." Izuku snapped back. "So, you aren't such a great engineer huh?!" The doctor hissed.
Izuku paused for a moment before letting out a strained breath. "I don't make faulty equipment Doctor." he calmly stated with intensity. "So you say." The doctor said. Tired of his complaining Izuku pulled up a small browser on his screen. "Doctor, calm down and let me get back to my work or I will make you regret it." Izuku warned. "Fine, but I won't be interested in your next delivery." The doctor said. "Not that you could hold up your end, only All For One knew those locations." Izuku said.
He paused for a moment, waiting for his gamble to pay off. "He isn't the only one who knows where they are." The doctor said. "You're only two thirds All For One's age, you weren't even born by the time those labs disappeared." Izuku shot back. He hid a smirk as the doctor just tried to stammer out a response. "Goodbye doctor, don't call again unless you want to have a proper conversation." Izuku said before cutting off the call.
He sighed before leaning back and running his hands through his hair. "How much longer will it take before the lab can start moving?" he asked. "Two days." Shockwave replied. Izuku nodded before huffing. "Those two days can't come soon enough." he lamented before standing up. "Well, I'll have to leave soon. I have to prepare for Operation Safe Gaurd." Izuku said as he began to walk to the exit. "Continue work as usual, inform me when the lair has finished moving locations." he instructed.
"Understood/Understood" his two main A.I.s responded.
Cell had remained silent, his eyes almost glossy as he remained curled up under a desk. Izuku paused, looking down at the creation. "Cell, are you feeling well?" he asked. Cell didn't answer, his entire body stiff and unmoving. "What is his condition?" Izuku asked. "He has reached seventy five percent completion." Shockwave said. "He is undergoing a metamorphosis." Soundwave added in. "Great, at least he'll get a chance to relax." Izuku joked before he turned back to the exit.
"Take care." he said before walking out to the tunnel.
Bakugou looked down at his hands, doing nothing more than staring at them in silence. He clenched his fingers, gritting his teeth as he tried to spark his palms.
Nothing.
He had to hold back tears as he slammed his hands onto the bed. He was now useless, stripped of his chance to be a great hero. He had lost his Quirk, sure all those extras and the half and half bastard also lost theirs, but his was gone.
He was nothing more than a useless Deku.
Just like Deku.
That...
Slumping his arms down as he lowered his head, he didn't have the energy to be angry. Everything he had worked towards was just gone, taken away in less than a minute by some armored demon.
Every extra in the room with him was a victim of that Demon. He could see those extras talking with the rest of their classes. Emotions were being exchanged, teary eyed victims talking about leaving the hero course while their friends almost begged them to stay. He could see Shitty Hair holding onto Racoon Eyes while looking as though he was holding back tears. Crow Face and Shadow Kid were talking in hushed whispers.
It went on and on, all around him people were trying to help one another.
And he was all alone.
Kami, was this what Deku felt like?
Was he doomed to be a Deku for the rest of his life?
Izuku strode through U.A. with one of the staff at his side. He could see just how the school had been dealing with the fallout of the League's actions. Having to reveal the existence of All For One to the public, alongside the fear and panic that rose from it. All the slander and backlash that was hitting them due to the loss of students' Quirks.
It looked like hell and Izuku honestly felt sorry about adding his own mission onto Nedzu's already full plate.
As the door to Nedzu's office opened he could see the aforementioned principal hard at work on his computer. He wasn't sure what he was working on, but he had to make this request. "Hello Midoriya, is there something you need?" Nedzu asked, not looking up from his work.
"I have two things; First is your second A.I. delivery." Izuku said while placing a CPU onto Nedzu's desk. "After the robbery I had to start it from scratch, I was planning on coming here for other business but I managed to finish it earlier than expected." he said as Nedzu looked at the CPU. Cautiously the principal pulled out a small laptop from his desk and connected the CPU to it.
"Hello, I am Designation Theta. What can I do for you?" a naive voice asked. Nedzu looked over the laptop screen before he typed out a command. "Understood sir, I won't disappoint." Theta said before Nedzu shut the laptop. Nedzu faced him and took a deep breath.
"What is it you require young Midoriya?" he asked. "I fear that with the rise of villains my family will be unsafe. I had already talked with my mother about this but I feel that both she and Eri will need to stay with my father until things calm down." Izuku said calmly. "I see, why bring this to me?" Nedzu asked. "Eri and the rest of us are under U.A.'s witness protection. The only way we can legally move both my mother and Eri out of the country would require U.A.'s approval." Izuku answered. Nedzu nodded before sighing.
"Smart Midoriya, but what about you?" Nedzu asked. "I intend on staying here, in Japan. I just want my mother and younger sister away from here." Izuku said. "What brought this on anyway?" Nedzu asked. "The repeated attacks on U.A. alongside the League's own actions, not to mention All For One." Izuku listed out examples. "If one word of Eri's Quirk got out then every villain would be on a warpath to obtain it." Nedzu stated. "Exactly, I don't want that kind of stress on both her and my mother's back." Izuku said.
"Where do you intend to send them?" Nedzu asked. "I-Island, my dad lives there and he's already accepted Eri into the family." Izuku said. "Good choice, I can organize a private flight for your family by next week." Nedzu said. "Thank you Nedzu, I owe you far more than you can imagine." Izuku said while giving a slight bow. "I understand Midoriya, have a good day." Nedzu said before waving him out of the office.
Izuku stepped out, taking a second to look at his phone to see the Theta A.I. was settling in to his new home. Sure with the Delta A.I. he gave a small backdoor, but Theta was was just as intended, he doesn't need to open a door when he can just make new ones with what he already has.
After confirming it he strode away, his staff escort hardly giving him any attention as they walked down the hall.
Until he spotted something else.
A large gathering of students, many of whom he recognized from the Sports Festival. A quick glance inside revealed the students who had been kidnapped by the League, all without their Quirks. It was a rather depressing sight to behold, numerous potential heroes who looked ready to just give up.
Letting his curiosity get the better of him he approached the gather students. It had to be both first year hero course classes all cramming into the building. Some of them noticed his approached and shifted into a defensive formation. "Who are you?" a tall girl asked (Yaoyorzoru if he remembered correctly). "Midoriya Izuku," Izuku said without hesitation.
Some of the students shifted around, others flowed in recognition. "You're the one who made all those machines. Those rescue droids and the med bots?" One of them asked. "Yes, U.A. has made orders and I intend to deliver." Izuku said. "So, you built all those machines?" another student asked. "Yes-" he leaned closer to some of the first students "-Nedzu even used the tracking module in one of my droids to find the location of your abducted classmates." he commented while looking past the rest of them.
"So... it was thanks to you that they were found?" one of them asked. "No that goes to the genius that managed to take the module with them before they were kidnapped. All I did was note where it was when Nedzu asked about it." Izuku said. A loud huff could be heard as some of the students on guard shifted out of the way.
He could see Bakugou, bags unders his eyes and his skin a pale tone, marching towards him. "Hope you're happy Deku." Bakugou half snarled, much to the confusion of the others. "Its Midoriya, Bakugou, and I'm not." Izuku replied as his eyes glared at him.
"You two know each other?" a brown haired girl asked. "Yes, our mothers are friends." Izuku said as Bakugou grumbled. "What did he mean?" a blonde haired boy asked. Izuku took a quick breath, then sighed. "I'm quirkless. If some of you have been keeping up with news about you'd have known that. Bakugou is angry that he no longer has his Quirk." Izuku said as the students split into various expressions.
Some were in shock, others concern, some confusion. "How do you know-" "I've known Bakugou since we were both little kids, add in the truth about All For One and it wasn't hard to put the pieces together." Izuku said as he ignored the flinching from many of the students. "How... how do you live without a Quirk?" one of the bed bound students (Sero) asked. "I just live, I deal with the negativity and the stigma from people who will never understand me. I follow my passion and my job, You need a Quirk to live, much less be successful." Izuku said as he looked over all of them.
"But... without our Quirks... we're all useless." another student said. Izuku huffed, almost glaring at them. "Quirkless doesn't mean Useless. If you want to be a hero then you get up, train everyday, work to cover your short comings and don't stop working hard." Izuku said, almost shouting the first part. "I didn't get to where I am now by letting such notions hold me back, why should any of you? You've all put effort into your heroics training, why stop there? I'm not going to say that you shouldn't just leave the Hero course, I can't make that decision for you, but I can tell you that moping on it will achieve nothing." Izuku said as his glare brunt through the whole of the first year hero course.
"Make your choice, lie there and let social stigma hold you back, or get up and make yourself better." Izuku said before he turned to leave. His staff escort, who had been leaving against an adjacent wall the entire time, following after him. He could feel the hero course looking at him, their expressions mixed between confusion and shock.
As he got more distance he could hear them break out into a discussion. Their talk muffled as Izuku opened a door and walked into another hallway.
He felt good, it probably wasn't the best thing to say to them, but he said what his gut told him to say. What those students do afterwards wasn't up to him, only them. Whether this turns out good or bad, well Izuku's hoping it ends on a good note.
Still, he has a move to plan, and a lot of tears to exchange with his family. Maybe Eri won't hate him for this choice?
He could only hope.