18.09.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman, a mouse chewed through my internet cable and I'm back with your weekly dose of Evil Within!
Enjoy!:
Everything was fuzzy, blurry and generally out of focus. Izuku couldn't even really tell where he actually was. His eyes were open but he couldn't actually see anything concrete, only shapes and colors dancing right in front of him. He could move his head around, but the image never changed. He didn't stop Bakugo's bracer blast, right? Was this some afterlife stuff? Was he about to meet his maker or something?
"Haha, now that's funny. YOU of all people talking about meeting your maker. Ironic, very ironic." The daemon's voice sounded from behind him. "As much as it pains me to say this, your death is still far away and I intend to keep things that way, you're my only source of entertainment after all." There was undeniable amusement in the daemon's words, but Izuku was still on his guard.
"Are we in my mental plane again?" He questioned, trying to get his vision sorted.
"What's left of it anyways. I gotta say, you did a number on it!" The daemon bellowed and Izuku could sense it coming closer to him.
Suddenly a sharp stinging sensation exploded in the back of his head, exactly where the daemon had just whacked him with its open hand.
"What the hell was that for?!" Izuku exclaimed immediately, but his fury was calmed as quickly as it was ignited once he realized that he could see again.
"No need to thank me, really." The daemon said with a healthy dose of sass.
Izuku decided not to respond, but to take a look at his mental plane. There was something strange about it and he intended to find the source of this unfamiliar feeling. It didn't take that long for Izuku to home in and notice a defect not far away from him. He approached the stitched up tear, the hair on his arms standing up on attention in waves the closer he got to the rift. That's definitely something that wasn't there before, but also something that Izuku already saw once.
"Is this what I think it is?" Izuku asked, just to be sure.
There was no mistaking it. This was a rift that led directly to the Warp, the birthplace of the daemon if Izuku understood things correctly.
"Yup. Only this one's way bigger and scarier. For human standards of course." The daemon confirmed, admiring the tear alongside Izuku.
"Can't you close it like the last time?" Izuku questioned, hoping it could be resolved quickly.
"None can do." The daemon responded right away. "As I said, this one is big and scary in comparison to the previous one. And on top of that a lesser daemon was able to come through it, tainting that particular bit of your mental plane. As powerful as I am, corruption is not something you can easily fix. This one is here to stay." The daemon explained.
"How bad is it going to be?" Izuku asked, wanting at least a heads-up about what he might expect to change with this direct connection to the Warp permanently established.
"Well, your last visitor might decide to pay you a visit in the future since he knows your address already, and many others might come knocking on your door just due to their nature, but I should be able to keep the gate closed on my own. If I ever need your help I'll just call you here and have you do that flaming sword trick of yours again." The daemon stated, confusing Izuku in the process.
"My flaming sword trick?" Izuku questioned, his brow quirked with interest.
"Oh, so you don't remember." The daemon realized quickly. "Well, it's nothing you have to worry about." It assured him, but Izuku sensed that something important was being omitted here. Still, the daemon was acting quite friendly right now, so there was no need to antagonize it with pushy questions.
"And what about the corrupted bits of my mental plane? Will that cause issues as well?" Izuku thought that he might as well get the full picture.
"Not really, no." The daemon said. "I'm already corrupting you from within and so this external source is no match for me. And since it's not really connected to the Warp, it can't spread anyways."
"Great, finally some good news." Izuku groaned in annoyance. Having yet another rift to the Warp appear in his mind was not on his to-do list.
"Hey, it's not all bad news, alright? A stronger connection to the Warp means you can harness the energy that comes through and thanks to me standing watch there's no risk of you going mad like all the other beginner psykers. And this means that you can do all that magic stuff of yours better." The daemon explained, puffing its chest out in pride.
"What does my quirk have to do with the Warp?" Izuku asked and was surprised when the daemon began laughing like a maniac.
"Did you seriously think that this was a quirk all this time?!" The daemon exclaimed with glee, obviously enjoying the moment, a bit too much for Izuku's taste. "Have you never thought about how your abilities only awoke a couple of years after you appeared in that monastery in the middle of nowhere?!"
That was kind of strange at first, yes, but Izuku always thought that he was simply a late bloomer or perhaps didn't know how to make his quirk finally act up. Needless to say, learning that everything he knew about his powers was false was quite the shock.
"You're telling me that this power comes from the Warp?" Izuku questioned, staring at his hands as sadness filled his heart.
"Well, the energy you use to do your stuff comes from the Warp, the abilities however are all your own. And I gotta say that I've never seen someone utilize it as you do. Sure, imbuing things with chaotic energies happens all the time, but I don't recall anyone using the essence of chaos to heal injuries as opposed to inflicting them." The daemon explained, restoring some of Izuku's hope, though the shock remained.
"This is… a lot to take in all at once." Izuku said after a minute of thought.
It was of course true. Having that foundation of who you are taken from right under you was enough to collapse even the greatest of heroes. And yet, Izuku was determined not to let this affect him too much. He would obviously need to rethink and reevaluate a couple of things, but he was sure he'd be able to come out of this turmoil stronger than before.
"Thank you for telling me this." Izuku said to the daemon, catching it off-guard with the sudden gratitude.
"I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart, you know?" The daemon scoffed. "I just thought you might freak the fuck out and I gotta say I'm thoroughly disappointed by the lack of reaction."
"You don't have to have a noble motive for your actions to be considered noble." Izuku stated wisely though the daemon only scoffed harder in response.
"Whatever, I'm not gonna correct you in your delusions. Now go already, holding you here is getting tiring with all those people trying to shake you awake all the time." The daemon ordered.
Before Izuku could question what it was talking about however, the entire mental plane started falling apart suddenly and Izuku found himself in a black void before waking up in a bed. He sat up with a startle, quite understandably so, and immediately took a scope of his surroundings.
As he easily deduced, he was no longer in the Ground Gamma but rather in the infirmary. He was stripped of his armor and was wearing some casual comfy clothes. He noticed his case propped up in the corner of the room, most likely left there by whoever brought him here. There wasn't anyone in the room with him at the moment, but Izuku could somehow feel that he was about to have visitors. It wasn't a premonition or anything like that, rather he could actually feel the people approaching and even trace their movements through the single wall.
He could only make out the vague silhouettes of his soon-to-be visitors, but one stood out from the rest dramatically - the small, rodent-like outline of Principal Nezu. And with that alone Izuku already knew that he was in for a debate. And a long one at that it would seem.
Just as Izuku expected, the conversation was long and covered a fast slew of topics ranging from his heroic efforts to protect his teammate and fellow students all the way to Bakugo's unacceptable behavior. Nezu was not sugarcoating anything and his choice of words caught Izuku off guard a fair couple of times.
First things first - both Nezu and Recovery Girl praised Izuku for putting himself in the literal line of fire to protect Yaoyorozu and Sero (and the mock civilians of course, but they weren't really all that important after everything that's happened), most likely protecting them from heavy injuries that would probably require at least some surgery to stitch up and could be potentially crippling or fatal in the worst case scenario.
However, the high praises and inquiries about his current state were probably the most pleasant part of the conversation and soon enough Izuku had to open up about other things and accept facts about events that took place while he was recovering, starting with his sudden increase in abilities.
"It's not that I'm not happy that we managed to avoid any casualties, but could you explain how you managed to stop Bakugo's attack? From what I know you were not that proficient with your barriers - a fact that even your friends confirmed - so I'm curious what kind of breakthrough allowed you to go above and beyond in the time of need." Nezu framed his question quite well, the 'breakthrough' obviously hinting at possible drawing from the daemon's strength. Unfortunately, the truth was a bit more complex than that.
"Can I speak openly?" Izuku questioned first, pointing out that Recovery Girl didn't know about his daemonic tenant yet. Or so he thought.
"Yes you can. I allowed myself to clue certain members of the faculty about your second nature so to speak." Nezu revealed, his scheming nature coming out.
"Well, I already know what you might be hoping to hear, but the daemon wasn't involved in that exact moment." Izuku said right out of the gates.
"I see, that's definitely what I'd like to have happened, but I guess it cannot be helped. Something tells me however that there's more to this story, correct?" Nezu pried further.
"Yes. When I realized that I was the only one able to at least try and stop Bakugo's attack I decided to push myself as far as I could go. I managed to tap into the source of my powers… which turns out to be the realm of chaos itself - the Warp." Izuku explained, revealing everything that the daemon had told him not even an hour ago.
"That's… certainly interesting." Nezu responded, his interest most definitely piqued, though he tried not to show it too much. "Could you go into more detail?" The chimera asked.
"From what I learned, I was already unknowingly harnessing the chaotic energies from the Warp to utilize my skills, but mistakenly took it for my quirk." Silence enveloped the room for a few moments before Aizawa spoke up.
"So you're saying that you're basically quirkless?" The gaunt man asked in a matter of fact tone.
"If the daemon is to be trusted, then yes. However it also said that there were others capable of harnessing the power of the Warp, but none of them could do it in the same manner as I do. The daemon didn't say why I was special, just that I was." Izuku stated, prompting yet another information-digesting session.
"I see that you've truly made a breakthrough." Nezu finally said, breaking the silence. "Not the one I was hoping for, but a breakthrough nonetheless. Is there anything else that's happened as a result of you pushing past your limits?" The principal inquired curiously, though it was evident that he was pleased with the information he already received.
"Well, there's something that happened." Izuku started hesitantly.
"Do go on." Nezu asked, his thirst for knowledge showing.
"When I reached into the Warp to be able to protect Yaoyorozu and Sero, I created a tear inside my mind, one that's connected directly into the Warp. Thanks to that I was able to push my abilities to the fullest, but energy is not the only thing that can travel through that rift." Izuku began explaining, slowly preparing himself for the big reveal. "What came through the tear was… another daemon. Vastly different from the one that inhabits the Black Blade, but a daemon nonetheless."
Everyone was taken aback by the last piece of information, and quite understandably. The existence of a single daemon was groundbreaking enough already and to now learn about a second one? Izuku wasn't stopping there however. He said so much already, he might as well go all the way, right?
"Furthermore, even though it was able to go pretty much toe-to-toe with the daemon of the Black Blade, it was considered to be only a lesser daemon. This means that there are most likely even more powerful daemons inside the Warp, but I don't know much more than that." Izuku dropped the last bomb and waited for his visitors to digest the news.
It took them some time, as one might've expected, but eventually they seemed to come to terms with what Izuku just revealed. Either that or they simply couldn't comprehend it and opted to postpone the acknowledgement for a later date.
"Can these daemons freely invade your mind then?" Nezu inquired, just as Izuku expected he might.
"Not at the moment. The rift is present at all times, but it's sealed for the most part. The daemons might try to break through, but they shouldn't be able to unless they come in great numbers. This means that I should be able to better utilize my abilities with minimal risk." Izuku explained, hoping to alleviate everyone's worries.
He more or less succeeded, judging by the brief looks of relief that flashed across their faces, but they were of course still pretty shook by everything else that he said previously.
"You've dumped a lot of information on us, Young Midoriya." Nezu began and Izuku couldn't help but feel partially bashful for that. "If anything else regarding your abilities comes up, please don't hesitate and share your findings with me, I'd like to keep tabs on your development. Now, let us return the favor and get you up to speed on the aftermath of your exercise."
And with that Nezu began recalling the events that Izuku missed while being confined in the infirmary. There wasn't that much to unpack here seeing as Izuku was in here for mere hours, but everything that happened was very important.
Nezu started off by telling about everything that's happened from the moment Izuku's memories cut off. Learning about the giant, indestructible barrier that he managed to summon made him feel no small amount of pride, though he was painfully aware that most of his success had to be attributed to the energy that rushed in from the Warp. Still, it was nice to get a peak at what he should be able to do one day.
Izuku was very glad to hear that both Sero and Yaoyorozu came out of the incident mostly unscathed, walking away with some bruises and a cut or two that they managed to inflict on each other during their own confrontation. They were also the ones that got to Izuku first, right after everything went down. He was already unconscious by the time they reached him, but he appeared to be uninjured as well and so their worries were somewhat calmed.
This was the good side of everything. Now time for the Bakugo side of things.
Bakugo's behavior was of course inexcusable. He acted irrationally, went against his teacher's orders and put the lives of his fellow students in grave danger. This in and of itself warranted immediate expulsion from the school if not a thorough investigation and trial coupled with a trip to Tartarus. However, Nezu couldn't simply ship Bakugo off to prison just because he wanted to, as much as it pained him.
Even though he deserved the fiercest of punishments, Nezu's hands were tied by the monster that was bureaucracy. However, Bakugo wasn't going to escape justice. It had yet to be presented to the faculty, but Nezu would like to have Bakugo transferred from the hero course into general studies effective immediately, effectively barring him from participating in training exercises and ensuring that he won't be able to pull any more stunts or put fellow students in grave danger again.
When in the general studies, Bakugo's every word and action would be under painstakingly vigilant watch and even a single violation would result in his immediate expulsion from UA, complete with a note that would forever stain his records and prohibit him from ever attending another hero school in the future. Bakugo was brash, arrogant and prone to violence, but he was also pretty smart and wanted to become the next strongest hero at all costs. Threatening that dream of his should be enough of a deterrent to keep him in check.
Nezu was hopeful about Bakugo's future, but he had no delusions about being able to fix the kid. It was blatantly obvious that his issues are deeply rooted in his psyche and it'd take a lot of effort to correct even a single flaw, of which he has many. He still has a potential to become a good hero if he gets his personality sorted and potential was one of the most important things for a future potential hero to have, so Nezu was prepared to give the blonde one last chance. If he steps out of line even once however it's all over, so he better become a model student for all of their sakes.
Izuku was released from the infirmary after Recovery Girl gave him one last examination to determine whether or not he was fit to leave. Finding no traces of physical injuries however, Recovery Girl had no choice but to let him go back to the dorms.
As he walked the path back to the dormitory section of the grounds, Izuku couldn't help but think about how he was most likely going to have to repeat everything he just said. There was a smile on his face however, because if that's the biggest issue he'll have to face today, then he'll gladly take it.
Dang, what a switcheroo, right? Shocking revelations aside, I was tempted to absolutely kill Bakugo in this chapter, especially after discussing how stupidly his character is handled in the canon with my body over in the longest ever review thread over on Ao3, but decided against it. He did bad and was punished for it, but outright nuking his character probably wasn't the right choice all things considered. I might consider giving him some redemption or actually go through with the threats and kick him out of UA, but we'll see how that develops later. Also, I just realized, he won't appear in the summer training camp, I'm sure that won't cause any drastic changes in the timeline. Why do I hear boss music?
Probably because it's time for me to wish you-
Have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!