Hey everyone, surprise I'm still alive. It's been a while since I last updated anything, sorry about that. Life's been hectic and draining but hopefully, I'll have the time to get back to working on my stories more consistently. This brings us to this update, I've had some time to think about different ideas and directions for my stories both from my writing courses in college and from my time reading in the few breaks I got this past year. I can honestly see myself either rewriting Voice of Power as it is now improving things but keeping most of the story the same or taking the story in a new direction and remaking it from the ground up with only a few similarities between the two. But before I did either I wanted to ask you all who have been patiently waiting for me to get my affairs in order and return to my keyboard. So I will give a small taste of both directions here and then open a poll shortly after this is published to let you all speak for yourselves.

Rewrite:

"Hey Sensei, when will I be able to go out on patrol with you?" Izuku Midorya, an almost painfully thin boy with a mop of untameable green hair crowning his head. Wiry muscle gave some texture to his thin arms. He more closely resembled a runner than the hulking hero he'd pictured himself as when he was four. Despite being the thinnest shirt on the rack his green shirt that had the word pants written on it in black letters hung loosely from his frame. He was seated at a small wooden desk in one corner of a half-lit room a larger steel desk with monitors situated on its left side sat on the darker side of the room with a large shadowy figure seated behind it. It was hard to make out any of his features aside from the nice three-piece suit he was wearing though the suit's jacket was lying folded across the edge of his desk.

"I dunno kid do you think you're ready for that kind of stress yet? It won't be like training you could get hurt." A gruff yet kind voice responded as the figure shifted when he spoke.

"I'm ready to give it a try, my sessions with Hound Dog have helped a lot and I can't hide behind a desk forever I still want to be able to help people." The young man smiled at the form of his mentor before his smile turned into contemplation. "Before I forget why do you only keep half of your office lit up?"

A deep rumbling that could have been mistaken as a growl but Izuku knew to be laughter followed his question. "I used to not have any lights in here before you started working with me." A small squeak of protest followed as the figure backed up in his chair and stood tall at 202 cm (6'7.5"). "When you have skin that drys out as easily as mine does let's see how many of those little pieces of demon glass you keep around you." Stepping out into the light the man's rubbery black skin was exposed to the warm light of Izuku's desk lamp. Kugo Sakamata otherwise known as the Killer Whale Hero: Gang Orca gave a somewhat villainous-looking toothy smile as he gently ran a hand through his protegee and pseudo-son's green hair. The younger "Hero" moved into the offered hand like a cat into head scratches while Kugo reminisced about the day they met.

He left the four sidekicks he had with him that day, behind to detain three of three of the four villains who had attempted to rob a bank early in the morning. The early morning mist that blew in from the sea made it a good day for him to fight crime. He just wished he'd been able to enjoy the humidity longer than he had before his alert went off. No point whining about it now all he could do was catch the runt that tried to run and then he could get back to letting his skin soak in that nice mosture. 'Speaking of the villain how is someone so short so fast.' The small villain who barely reached Kugo's knee ducked into an alley and Kugo smirked as he rounded the corner. "You really came into my home turf to cause trouble and didn't learn the street layout I'm honestly a little insulted." He had the villain cornered in a dead-end alley without even a fire escape for him to try to clamber up.

For the first time, Kugo got a good look at this villain, he was short somewhere around the 90 cm (3') mark, his hair was black and so greasy that it lay flat on his head, and his face was almost impossibly flat as if he'd spent a lifetime running into walls. The villain's beady eyes locked onto the hero and he put out both hands as if to ward off the imposing figure. "Stay back I'm warning you."

The sigh Kugo was holding back could almost be heard in his tone, "I'd prefer to do this as non-violently as possible so please come quietly and don't make this any worse than it already is." He took a large step forward significantly reducing the distance between the two. "Besides we already took down your friends and all you could do was run so trust me resisting now and getting knocked out by my quirk is not going to be a fun experience."

"You don't understand my quirk lets me pull feral monsters to me, and while I can't control them the damage they can cause won't be good for anyone nearby. So you just let me go and we both forget we saw each other, then no one gets hurt." The frantic tone the man had spoke more of manic desperation than a carefully thought-out ultimatum.

Kugo put his own hands out reading his quirk while trying to look as pacifying as a man with his appearance could. "Hey let's not be hasty now, if you surrender I can help you get into a work reform program this doesn't have to have a bad ending." He took a small step forward and a bright red light appeared between the two.

"I told you to stay back."

The light continued to get brighter blinding everyone in the alley, and when Kugo blinked the spots out of his vision there was someone new seated between him and the villain he'd been chasing. A small younger boy most likely in his early teens sat on his haunches, wearing nothing but tattered rags around him, a small creature that resembled a rabbit was caught in his mouth. If Kugo was honest the young teen looked completely feral. The boy glanced around frantically taking in his new surroundings, his messy green hair being thrown around as his head whipped back and forth. His eyes widened in fear when they landed on Kugo who tried to look as non-threatening as possible. The rabbit fell from the boy's mouth and his voice cut the silent air like a knife. "STOP!"

Just like that Kugo's whole body froze solid no longer obeying his commands to move and help the young teen. Without another moment to process what was happening Kugo saw a flash of green hair before he felt a pair of jaws clamp onto his ankle. "Gahh, Damn it, kid."

Like magic his ankle was released and a pair of piercing green eyes stared up at him. "You, you're not like them are you?"

Kugo chuckled at the memory, at the time he'd had no idea that green-headed kid would practically become his agency's mascot. "You know what we'll give it a shot. Come on Ankle Bitter get your suit let's go." Izuku's groan at the affectionate nickname never failed to put a smirk on his face. Kugo moved briskly through the agency as Izuku bounded along behind him.

"So can I drive this time?"

"No, never again."

Remake:

Izuku walked quickly up the sterile hallway, it was a path he'd walked countless times before. When he reached the metal door at the end of the hallway he knocked twice and patiently waited for a response. "Come in." Upon receiving permission Izuku opened the door with a slight hiss as the seal on the door broke to grant him entry. The interior of the room was filled with medical equipment and a single occupant sat in the middle connected to everything a line of computer monitors sat in front of him allowing him at least some form of entertainment from his stationary position. A single chessboard sat next to the man's chair that seemed to be waiting for the green-haired man's arrival. "Izuku how many times do I have to tell you, you're always welcome to visit you don't have to wait in the hall."

Izuku moved to take the folding chair he'd left in the room during his last visit and placed it next to the chess set across from the chairbound man. "About twenty-seven times so far Sensei but you also taught me proper etiquette and I want to show you that I won't forget what you taught me." Izuku then situated the board so the white granite pieces faced his teacher and the black marble pieces were by his chair, then he turned his teacher's chair so he too faced the board.

No matter how many times All for One tried to wave off the boy's help insisting he could turn himself with his quirks he'd yet to actually stop the boy from assisting him and had just taken to quietly enjoying his student's kind gestures. "You have a talent for flattery you know. You always say the right thing to make me feel like the greatest teacher you've had." The ancient villain smiled to himself he knew what the boy's response would be but he liked to hear it every time they had this song and dance.

"You are the best teacher I've had Sensei, not only have you believed in me, but you also guided me through problems but let me solve them myself. You never looked down on me for my quirklessness and through the answer at me like I couldn't do it myself. You trusted my plans to work and if they didn't you helped me to fix the issues but still trusted in me later. To top it all off you're one of the only people who's ever treated me like a person." The fire with which the boy spoke and the fact that before he sat down he moved All for One's water glass that he kept in case of a particularly bad coughing fit within his reach soothed the villain's soul, like balm applied to a sunburn. "There is no one I'd rather have be my teacher than you Sensei."

That did make All for One smile openly. "Well said young Izuku, and for the record there is no one I'd rather have as my student." That was true while not his first student both Izuku and All for One knew how much of a disappointment Shigaraki had turned out to be. In his over one hundred years of life, All for One could say there was very little he didn't plan on, his brother's betrayal, and finding Izuku were the biggest two events on that list. Though maybe that was wrong while he hadn't necessarily planned on finding Izuku that wasn't the most surprising thing about the boy. No, what shocked him was how enjoyable he found the boy's company, unlike the other useful tools he kept close to him Izuku never looked at him with fear as most of his minions did, nor fanaticism as Shigaraki or the Doctor did, nor the blind obedience of the Nomu. No, Izuku looked at him with admiration and kindness, a mixture that reminded him of his younger brother before the days of his rebellion against him. This time though the person to whom he'd grown attached was loyal to him and him alone and better yet the young boy wanted nothing more the to learn from his Sensei. 'Yes,' All for One thought, 'he's perfect.' "So tell me Izuku, have you had any difficulty maintaining your cover among the league?" He moved a pawn forward.

"Not so far but I think Kurogiri suspects but other than that no one has a clue." Then the younger boy moved his pawn to match his teacher.

"Very good, learning to hold secrets like this from those who are below you will help to keep you safe when you're the one calling the shots." All for One spoke while moving another pawn already creating a plan to move the boy into checkmate. "While we're on the subject have you had any trouble pushing Tomura in the direction we planned?"

"If you mean the USJ then not at all, he's more than willing to dive headfirst into the lion's den if it means even the slightest hint he could fight All Might. But if you meant removed from power in a way that won't cause a mess for the League then that's a trickier answer." Izuku then moved his king-side knight and forced his teacher to throw away the plan he'd just made.

'That's what makes games with Izuku so entertaining you never know just what he'll do.' "Oh, trickier in what way?" All for One freed his bishop to allow for his newer more aggressive strategy to play out.

"Well, it all depends on how willing you are to let me throw away the current "members" Tomura is collecting."

All for One smirked for two reasons one was that when Izuku referred to him as Sensei it was with kindness and respect the same way he spoke to the boy but when they both used Tomura's name it was spiteful and condescending. 'He's already learning to put himself above the rabble that will follow his lead, good.' The other reason was Izuku was taking time to think about his next move, unlike Tomura who would slam pieces forward as fast as possible. "If you're asking my permission to thin the herd be my guest Izuku, as far as I'm concerned the League is your's Tomura is just the face till you remove him and I am just your benifactor."

Izuku moved another pawn forward forcing All for One to move his bishop back a space. "I appreciate your faith in me Sensei but if I'm in charge of the League you will always be more than just its benefactor, you're its founder as well as my treasured mentor. But, my plan wasn't to thin the herd it was to gut the League almost entirely, so we'd be down to myself and Kurogiri, but if Tomura managed to stick around I'm fine using him as a pawn until I could dispose of him more... permanently."

"HAHA, there's the ruthless boy who got my attention all those months ago. Tell me Izuku do you have any other plans to improve the League beyond what we've currently discussed?"

"Of course Sensei, you taught me to always think ahead and get as many benefits as possible from every situation."

Their game was seemingly forgotten as All for One put his hand out to cut off his student's explanation. "Before we go further Izuku I want to ask do you remember what my quirk is?"

"Of course Sensei you can take quirks from people and if you want you can transfer them to others." Izuku looked confused as to why his teacher would ask something so simple.

"Did you ever wonder why I didn't give a quirk to you?"

"I always assumed it was a test of my loyalty at first but the more of my plans you listened to I figured it was because my lack of a quirk gave me a different perspective you valued and it made me happy that I could help you so I never asked for one."

Now All for One smile changed from his usual sinister smile to one of a teacher looking at their prized pupil. "You're half right Izuku, while it's true I value your unique perspective on situations I didn't give you a quirk mostly because I knew you'd want to earn it." Seeing the boy's confused look prompted the man to continue, "Did any of the people who bullied and belittled you do anything to deserve their gifts?"

"No of course not they were born with their power like everyone else."

"That's why you needed to earn your gift Izuku as a reminder to yourself that you aren't like them you worked for what you got and they will need to work harder to try and take from you again."

Now it was Izuku's turn to smile as tears tried to escape the corners of his eyes, from knowing just how much his Sensei cared about him to know him so well that even when giving him a gift he made sure it wouldn't guilt his conscience. But having guessed where this was going Izuku had a request to make, "Sensei I appreciate the thought, really I do but I was wondering if you could give me this gift after the USJ?"

Puzzled now the ancient man questioned his protogee. "I can but what would be the point you aren't supposed to be a part of the attack and the plan is already made."

While sheepishly touching his index fingers together, Izuku spoke, "Well that's just it, I wanted to take part in the raid because I had a plan to get us another spy in UA as well as sow discord amongst the next generation of heroes they are teaching there."

"I assume you would be the new spy for us," sensing the nod of his student he carried on, "and this discord would it have to do with revenge on the boy who tormented you?" Another nod. "HAHA, you have my approval Izuku, I will assist you with this however you need, and should you succeed or fail your gift will be waiting upon your return."

"Now that you mention it Sensei you have a quirk that lets you produce fire right?"

"Of course."

"And one that would let you fix the damage later?"

"So long as it's not too severe, why?"

"Well, I need an alibi to be with the League that won't come back to haunt me later."

"Izuku I will not harm my prized student." The thought put a pit in the ancient villain's stomach for a reason he could not grasp.

"Please Sensei, I promise not to hold it against you."

Feeling the boy's puppy dog eyes through his perception quirk All for one felt his resolve crumbling, "I won't hurt you Izuku but if you are this insistent describe what you want, and when you're under anesthesia I'll have the doctor's assistant give you a convincing mark." What he didn't tell the boy is what he'd do to the assistant after harming his student on his orders or not.

"I just need a burn scar in the shape of a handprint."

Having put the pieces together instantly All for One found himself smirking. "You sly boy."

"I did learn from the best Sensei."

I think that's enough for both I don't want to give too much away but while the powers will be pretty much the same the main difference between the two is where Izuku's quirk came from and whether he's a hero or a villain. Now I'm going to put a poll up on my page that will let you guys decide which version of Voice of Power's continuation you'd like to see. Though I might change the name I was never super sold on that name. I will be closing the poll around noon-ish 12/17/2023 which as I am writing this, is only an hour away but we'll see how it goes if need be I'll extend the deadline. One last thing before I go I want to give a thank you to everyone who either PMed me kind messages and asked when I would write again as well as those who left kind comments on my stories asking for more. I did see all of you and read your messages and I appreciated them they helped me get through a turbulent couple of years and they meant a lot.

Dante Out