"You're alive?"
Hisashi Midoriya nodded, his eyes not leaving the road in front of them. "At least I was last time I checked."
"You're alive?" Izuku repeated, sitting in the passenger seat of his father's car as they drove south down National Route 5. "Really alive, not some kind of trick? A clone? All For One? A zombie?"
"Yes, again, yes, not that I'm aware of, not a clone, definitely not and absolutely when I haven't had my morning coffee."
"A clone never thinks they're a clone." Izuku argued. "Plus, an imposter would claim they weren't an imposter."
"I'm not an imposter, trust me." Hisashi assured. "I can prove it. The time you drank yourself sick on All Might Cherry Cola because the advert claimed every can contained a sliver of All Might's power? Or the time I took you and Katsuki to the aquarium, I bought both of you a plushie dolphin. Katsuki threatened to blow his toy up because it was too 'cutesy' for his image, but he never actually did."
"I remember those events very differently." Izuku replied.
"Oh, right, the memory block, I have to release that next time we stop." Hisashi realised. "How about your sixth birthday party? Everything was All Might themed, plates, cups, napkins, the cake, the tablecloths."
"The All Might impersonator you and mom hired?" Izuku queried.
"Oh we hired one, except the idiot turned up drunk on the day." Hisashi grumbled.
Izuku frowned. "I don't remember him being drunk."
"That's because he wasn't the one playing All Might in the end." Hisashi admitted. "We were going to tell you kids All Might was busy stopping a villain and couldn't come, but you'd been so excited about it for weeks so I decided to do it myself."
"You were the All Might?"
Hisashi nodded. "I hope his costume is made of better materials than that one was. I had a rash for weeks because of it."
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the heart attack All For One would likely have if he learnt his clone had dressed up as his most hated enemy.
A somewhat awkward silence fell over the car.
"I have so many questions, I don't know where to start." Izuku admitted.
"I do to, but they're mostly just if I'm on hardcore hallucinogenics right now." Tenko added from the back seat. "I have a cousin, an aunt and an uncle I never knew about, I'm free of Tomura and I now have three quirks."
"No, all of that's correct." Hisashi reassured.
"Where have you been?" Izuku questioned, dimly aware that it came out with a bit more force than he'd been expecting.
"Hiding mostly, Brazil, then Bolivia, then one of All For One's goons found me so I bailed to a different continent, went to Australia, in the outback, a remote quirktown." Hisashi answered. "And then I saw on the news that they were reporting your death so I booked the first flight back to Japan."
"I'm sorry if I scared you-"
"I knew you weren't dead." Hisashi explained. "One of my quirks-"
Tenko frowned. "Did you just say 'one of my quirks'?"
"-allows me to tag up to five people at once, I get their general condition and a vague sense of what direction they're in, I've got Izuku tagged so it's how I tracked you two down." Hisashi continued. "And yes, I said 'one of my quirks', I copied this one off a rather friendly man I met in India in, well, it must have been 2107, maybe 2108, I think."
"You copied his quirk?" Izuku asked, sitting up straighter in his seat. "Not took his quirk?"
"Took his quirk?" Hisashi repeated back. "Why would I have taken his quirk?"
"Because that's your quirk, the ability to give and take quirks." Izuku responded. "The same quirk as All For One, you know, the guy you are cloned from?"
"Cloned from?" Hisashi glanced over at his son. "I'm not All For One's clone. Izuku, I am his brother."
Izuku felt his mind crash and burn, trying to process what he'd just been told.
"What? How?" Izuku managed to stutter out. "All For One said that-"
"You expect that Kaishi told you the truth?" Hisashi questioned. "Kaishi is my twin brother, not a clone or a genetic template, my very annoying brother. Hell, he's probably confused about your origins as well. As far as he knows, I died nearly a hundred years ago."
"But Nana told me about how you worked with her and her predecessor, that you regretted being the Merchant of Quirks." Izuku argued.
"And all of that is true." Hisashi admitted. "Kaishi and I were both the Merchant of Quirks, in case the government managed to kill one of us, the other could continue."
"So you have All For One as well then?" Tenko chimed in.
"I do, but it's not the quirk I was born with, and it's also not the quirk Kaishi was born with either." Hisashi answered. "My parents, they had what is now called a quirk marriage. My father had the power to decay anything he could touch, my mother had the power to copy the powers of others."
"They wanted to produce a child that could do both." Izuku murmured.
"Pretty much, specifically, a child that copy and then decay the quirk of their target." Hisashi continued. "They wanted to rule over each of the quirk bloodlines, if one got out of line, they would be cast out of Olympus, back to the rest of the 'mortals'."
Tenko frowned. "Mortals, is that what they called the quirkless back then?"
Hisashi nodded. "It was, and those who had the gift, were called champions. My parents' plan fell apart when Kaishi and I were born, neither possessing the power they desired, my brother inherited Decay and I had-"
"Quirksmith." Izuku realised. "We have the same quirk."
"We do." Hisashi smiled. "It was called Quirksmith back then, for obvious reasons. As you know, Quirksmith can denature other quirks, I never found that out until decades later."
Hisashi chuckled.
"It's ironic, my parents sought to control the other twenty-nine bloodlines, and when Kaishi and I were deemed failures, they decided to have another child. Yoichi, whose quirk made those bloodlines obsolete. They made themselves obsolete."
"If Kaishi was born with Decay, then how did he get All For One?" Izuku queried.
"My parents, Kaishi, myself, after prolonged exposure to Yoichi's power, we all manifested secondary quirks." Hisashi broke off for a second as he concentrated on overtaking the car in front. "Kaishi got All For One, my father got a shark-body quirk and my mother got a quirk that let her ingest anything."
"And you?"
"I thought I hadn't got one at first, until I was twenty-one." Hisashi sighed. "Some guys on my university course caught wind of the fact I had a meta-ability and jumped me in an alley. I bled to death alone that night, and then the next morning I woke up naked on the shore of Lake Kawaguchiko, alive and well."
"Some kind of resurrection quirk?"
"That's not the best description." Hisashi glanced across at his son. "When we look at the ocean, we see that each wave has a beginning and an end. That's what it's like, my wave washes back to the ocean and then returns once again. I'm made of different water, not exactly the same as I was before."
Hisashi paused.
"Sometimes it feels like I truly die and some other man with the same face walks away."
Izuku bowed his head. "Is that why you left? Because you died? Changed?"
"No, I haven't died in the best part of thirty years." Hisashi answered. "Besides, no matter how many times I revive, I'll always love you, Izuku."
Tenko shuffled awkwardly in the back seat, feeling as if he was intruding on a very personal moment. "How many times have you died?"
"Six times now, everytime I come back at the same age I was the first time, twenty-one." Hisashi explained. "Everytime I revive, the time between my death and return gets longer. The last time I died I didn't come back for nine years, really confused those poor French tourists. The process is kind of weird."
"You always come back at Lake Kawaguchiko?"
Hisashi bobbed his head. "Everytime, exact same place, it's funny, I used to live in Oarashi, not far from the lake, used to go there with my brothers all the time when I was a kid."
Izuku looked up, about to reply, only to catch sight of a purple portal forming on the road ahead of them.
"Dad! Look out!"
Hisashi slammed on the brakes, managing to stop just short of the portal.
All For One strode out of the portal, followed by the woman Izuku had seen him talking to earlier, Utsuro Botai. After them was a hulking blonde man, one of his eyes missing, a vicious scar split by his cybernetic replacement.
Muscular. The villain that killed Water Hose.
And then came the final figure.
"That's not good." Izuku sighed.
Izuku's original body stepped through the portal, dressed in his Costume Beta.
Tenko leaned forwards between the front seats. "That's not you in there as well, is it?"
"No." Izuku answered. "I don't think it is."
"I was worried you'd say that."
Whoever was in Izuku's original body turned their head, revealing stained black hair and glowing red eyes.
Straightening his suit, All For One chuckled. "Hello, brother."
Twenty-four hours earlier…
Katsuki hesitated at the door, he'd been arguing for weeks to be allowed in for a visit. In the end he managed to convince Hound Dog it was necessary for his therapy.
Now he was actually here, Katsuki was terrified to cross the threshold.
Not that he would ever admit that.
Taking a deep breath, Katsuki opened the door with uncharacteristic carefulness and stepped inside. Lying on the hospital bed was Izuku. A section of his green hair had been shaved for surgery and was now clearly starting to grow back. The stump that was all that remained of his left arm was bandaged up. The missing finger on his right hand had managed to slowly grow back before his healing quirks had determined that it was no longer a recent injury.
"Deku."
He didn't stir.
Katsuki moved forwards, adjusting his UA uniform subconsciously, standing over Izuku's unconscious form. He knew what he needed to say, he'd already written it, with Hound Dog's help.
"The truth is I never hated you because you were quirkless, or that I thought you had All For One." Katsuki paused. "I hated you because you are better than me, you always were."
The breath caught in Katsuki's throat.
"Even back then, with no quirk, you were my hero." Katsuki continued. "Even when I demeaned you and put you down, you held out your hand to me when I fell."
Slowly, Katsuki stretched out his arm, his palm out towards Izuku.
"You look like you need saving." Katsuki smiled, for what felt like the first time in years. "That's what my hero name is, a promise, to reach out my hand to those who've fallen."
Katsuki wished Izuku would reach out and take his hand. He wished the nerd would call him that stupid, childish nickname, just one more time.
"That's what you taught me, Izuku Midoriya." Katsuki reached down, grasping Izuku's limp hand. "Now, wake up."
Fingers tightened around Katsuki's hand.
Izuku gasped as he sat bolt upright, turning his head to look Katsuki in the eyes.
"You're not a god, you're just a pale copy, the real All For One isn't here."
Izuku spoke with an echoed voice, like two voices speaking at once.
"This ends here, Overhaul!"
"What the fuck." Katsuki hissed, pulling his hand free and hitting the emergency call button.
"Eri is in the dungeons, I promised I'd save her."
Katsuki backed away, before dropping into a combat stance, blood dripping from where Izuku's grip had broken his skin.
"Quirksmith Hero: Hinode." Izuku paused, before smiling. "Are you ready to go? Because from now on, you write your own future."
The doors slammed open, allowing a doctor and three nurses to enter, all of them immediately moving to restrain the now thrashing Izuku.
"Thank you, Eri."
The lights began to flash, electricity crackling over Izuku's skin.
"I've decided I'll be the hero who saves everybody."
The heart rate monitor was sounding faster and faster, as Izuku continued to jerk wildly.
"That body doesn't belong to you."
Raising his head, Izuku took a deep breath and released a gout of fire at the ceiling.
One of the nurses swore, looking around. "Kid, get the fire extinguisher!"
Katsuki stood dumbly for a second before bursting into motion, grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall and spraying it on the burning ceiling.
Izuku's arm turned to diamond, flailing it wildly, knocking the doctor and one of the nurses back into the wall.
The door slammed open again, admitting four security guards, quickly adding their strength to the attempts to restrain Izuku.
"Eraserhead, we need Eraserhead." The doctor yelled, cradling her clearly now broken arm. "Watanabe, go get him!"
The nurse who'd also been slammed into the wall stumbled to his feet and nodded, running out into the corridor.
"It's okay Eri, I'll be here for you for as long as you want me."
Katsuki wasn't sure how long he stood there, watching Izuku thrash wildly, it could have been a few seconds, or hours. The doors slammed open, revealing Eraserhead, behind him stood All Might, muscles straining against his yellow suit, and Auntie Inko.
"Young Midoriya!" All Might cried out.
"Izuku! Please, no, no, no!" Auntie Inko rushed forwards, grasping at her son.
"Mom?"
Eyes shone red, Erasure activated and focused directly on Izuku.
Izuku stilled, a smile quirking on his lips. "Home, the long way round."
The green-haired teen collapsed back into his bed, the heart rate monitor emitting a single, continuous tone.
"He's gone into cardiac arrest!" The doctor called.
"Ms. Midoriya, please stand back."
"Please, Izuku, you can't die!"
"Someone get Recovery Girl!"
Katsuki sat against the wall of the corridor, a nurse bandaging his injured hand.
Footsteps pounded on linoleum, before skidding to a halt.
"What happened?" Yaoyorozu questioned desperately, Iida and Todoroki next to her, both looking equally impatient.
"The damn nerd woke up." Katsuki spoke, his voice hollow, standing and placing himself in the way of the door.
"That's good, isn't it." Todoroki spoke. "Is he awake? Can we see him?"
Katsuki refused to meet the eyes of any of them. "He had some kind of fit, a brain haemorrhage."
The three teens pushed past Katsuki, into the hospital room. In the bed laid Izuku, a tube once again breathing for him.
Katsuki shuffled into the room, unable to move his eyes away from the figure on the bed.
"No!" Iida barked, striding forwards and gripping Izuku's hand. "He was getting better, he was nearly healed."
There was no reaction.
"No." Yaoyorozu uttered, her voice breaking as she stifled tears.
Iida bowed his head, sobs silently wracking his body. "How?"
The door closed, All Might's massive hand dwarfing the doorknob.
"Recovery Girl and other medical staff were able to resuscitate Midoriya, but the damage to his brain was severe." Nedzu explained, hopping down from All Might's shoulder.
"But he could heal it, could he not?" Todoroki queried, head bowed, silent tears streaming down his face. "Like he did before?"
"Yes, but his quirks, they're vanishing." All Might spoke, his voice hollow. "Recovery Girl's tests have confirmed it, ten of them so far, we don't know how long before his regeneration quirks are gone, they could be next, or the very last."
All four teens looked at their teachers with surprise, even Katsuki hadn't known that.
"How? All For One couldn't have just swanned in here and taken them with no-one noticing!" Katsuki growled. "How is he losing quirks without that bastard taking them?"
"We don't know how." All Might answered. "We're keeping the life support on for the time being, hoping for a miracle, just in case One For All has one last trick up its sleeve."
"I hate lying to them like that." Toshinori spoke, relaxing into his natural form as soon as the elevator doors closed.
"I am very aware." Nedzu replied, pressing the button for his office. "This is the thirty-fourth time you have voiced your displeasure at this plan."
"They think Izuku is going to die." Toshinori argued. "They're just kids."
"And that is exactly why they cannot know." Nedzu answered. "It is our duty to safeguard them, if they knew that Midoriya's consciousness had transferred to the clone they would stop at nothing to rescue him."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it." Toshinori grumbled, triggering One For All as the elevator doors opened to reveal Nedzu's office.
"You want me to hack into the HPSC Communication Network and shut it down?"
Nedzu and All Might took their seats at the conference table, next to Aizawa and Yamada, both looking across at a confused Mei Hatsume.
"We do, Ms. Hatsume." Nedzu spoke. "And as I'm sure you can surmise, this is a matter of utmost secrecy, many lives rest upon the cutting of the villain's communication lines."
"And you're not sure how deep his fingers go, so take it all out." Hatsume surmised. "I take it that the HPSC isn't aware of this plan."
"No, the villain has half of those useless bureaucrats under his thumb." Aizawa muttered, just loud enough for the whole room to hear. "And the other half are too incompetent to notice or even care."
"Good, I'll do it, and I have just the thing." Hatsume smirked, opening her laptop and navigating through her files. "I've hacked into the HPSC before, like, six years ago, what I found was disgusting."
"You were the one who leaked that HPSC forced the UA Board of Directors to reject successful quirkless candidates." Yamada realised, leaning forward in his seat.
"Yep. But that was nothing compared to the other stuff I found."
The projector whirred into life, mirroring Hatsume's screen onto the wall.
"Shit."
All Might couldn't believe what he was seeing, evidence that the HPSC was illegally surveilling the nation's communications, with specific focus on those with mutant quirks.
"How long?" Aizawa questioned.
"As long as there's been a HPSC." Hatsume answered. "Even longer actually, back when it was known as the Department for the Regulation of Powered Beings."
"I have long since suspected this was the case, but I've never been able to gather any evidence." Nedzu spoke, looking at Hatsume with unveiled delight. "How?"
"They never expected a ten-year old on a school trip to sneak a backdoor into their system when no-one was looking."
"Ah, they always watch me like a hawk when I visit, never let me get too close to any technology." Nedzu smirked. "But a young child, they arrogantly assumed you wouldn't have the skill."
Aizawa frowned. "Why not release this with the other information you leaked?"
"I was going to." Hatsume answered. "But after I leaked the first batch they got closer than I'd like to admit to my IP address. I couldn't risk being banned from going to UA, how else was I going to make all my amazing babies?"
Nedzu hummed, before looking to his right. "All Might, how do you feel about the leak coming from within Might Tower?"
All Might went to speak, but hesitated.
"You're the only one of us with the clout and public adoration that makes you effectively untouchable to the HPSC." Yamada urged. "I can back you up on my radio show, the public love me too."
"Fine, the leak can come from within Might Tower, but only from my terminal, my login, the buck stops with me." All Might nodded resolutely.
Aizawa rolled his eyes.
"So, Hatsume is in charge of severing the HPSC lines of communication, I'll leak the dirt from All Might's office." Nedzu summarised, pausing for any interjections or comments.
None came.
"Excellent, the raid is due to commence at 0900 hours the day after next." Nedzu continued. "That means we need to start this prong of attack at around 0830 hours, to give time for a little chaos to build before we strike the target."
Assent came from around the table.
Nedzu smirked, rubbing his paws together.
It's time for the HPSC to pay for the pain they inflicted upon me, and my brethren.
The Next Morning…
Katsuki noticed the atmosphere in the common area as soon as he set foot in it.
Cautiously excited.
"What's getting the extras all happy?" Katsuki questioned, joining Todoroki at the breakfast bar, looking at the rest of his classmates in the common area.
Iida and Yaoyorozu chose that moment to exit the lift, making their way towards the common area, both still clearly reeling from what happened last night.
"Asui and Jiro believe they have found Mineta's location." Todoroki answered.
"So that's why it isn't as depressing as usual in here." Katsuki commented. "So, where do they think he is?"
"Yokohama. Tsu found an image of Mineta's mother hosting a benefit gala last month and was able to identify Mineta in the background." Uraraka explained as she joined the other two. "Jiro used the metadata in the image to find the coordinates where it was taken."
"The metadata, shouldn't whatever social platform stripped the EXIF data from the image when it was uploaded?" Katsuki frowned.
Jiro spoke up from the common area. "Any half-decent social media site, like Kokoro3 or Chirp, does that. On the other hand, Hanasu, the far-right 'total free-speech' platform she posted it on, does not."
"So let's just go rescue him, right?" Sero shrugged.
"Sero, you cannot propose that we leave UA and trespass upon a private residence." Iida barked, chopping his arm.
"I believe that is exactly what Sero is suggesting." Todoroki commented. "I'm in."
"Todoroki!" Iida chastised.
Todoroki shrugged. "It's what Midoriya would do. And it's what he would convince us all to do as well."
The room made noises of agreement, Katsuki could even see a few of them starting to get up.
"We aren't heroes, not yet, and if we do this then we never will be." Iida stated.
Murmurs of discontent echoed around the room.
"Is this where you want your hero journey to end?" Iida demanded, eyes blazing. "Because not one of you thought we should informing Mr. Aizawa, or one of the other teachers?"
"They're the ones who let Mineta's mother take him out of UA!" Kaminari shouted, jumping out of seat. "How the hell can we trust that they'll do anything now? They did nothing to rescue Midoriya, and look what happened to him!"
More than a few of Katsuki's classmates flinched, Deku's supposed death was still raw for them.
And now he was going to die again.
Explosions popped, Katsuki barely realised what he'd done before he surged forwards.
"Those fucks did everything they could to save Deku!" Katsuki yelled. "In fact, they're probably ten bloody steps ahead of us on this, so if we going charging in guns fucking akimbo we would just screw everything up!"
The wind left Kaminari's sails, the teen dropping back into his seat. "We can't just do nothing."
"We take this to Mr. Aizawa." Yaoyorozu stated. "Just like Iida said we should, as acting Class President I will take it. Tsu, Jiro, you can come with me-"
"I should come too." Iida stated, his voice resolute, but his expression betrayed indecisiveness.
"No." Yaoyorozu placed a hand on Iida's shoulder. "Today's the day your brother gets discharged from hospital, you should be there. I can handle this."
Iida hesitated, before nodding. "I will go see my brother, thank you, Yaoyorozu."
Katsuki didn't bother to stick around to see any more soppiness, slipping out of the dorms whilst no-one was looking and heading towards the main building.
Entering the Heroics Tower, Katsuki stopped in the doorway of the Hall of Remembrance, staring at the nerd's costume on display.
Katsuki clenched his fists, resisting the urge to charge in and explode the stupid mass of fabric.
You were supposed to wake up, Deku.
"Bakugo!"
Katsuki growled, less than pleased by the interruption.
"What?" The blond-haired teen snapped as he wheeled around to see Akatani jogging towards him.
The support student came to halt, holding out a small case. "Here."
Katsuki scrunched his face up. "What is it?"
"It's to say thank you, for testing those prototype repulsor upgrades." Akatani explained, before stifling a yawn, heavy bags under his eyes. "I think the first few designs would have shattered my wrists if I'd tried to use them."
"Thank Uraraka, she's the one who nagged me into it." Katsuki retorted, taking the case and opening it.
Inside were two silver metal bracelets, each modelled after the top of a grenade, just missing the lever.
"What are they?" Katsuki barked.
"Put them on, then do this." Akatani instructed, before forming a cross with his forearms and tapping his wrists together three times.
Katsuki shot the support student a disbelieving look, but did as he was told.
As soon as Katsuki's wrists touched a third time the bracelets expanded, forming massively slimmed down versions of his gauntlets, smooth green metal flush over the outside of his forearms, the levers running most of the way to his elbow. On the inside of each was a cylindrical tank to store his sweat, again covered by green metal.
"The tanks can store about ninety percent of what your old gauntlets could, but they are removable, so you can store them for later and swap them in when you want." Akatani detailed. "Also, if you twist the lever the gauntlet will release the gaseous nitroglycerin without igniting it."
Katsuki grunted in acknowledgment.
The gloves were largely the same, except with segmented green armour over the backs of his hands and down his fingers.
"Clench your fists and squeeze twice."
Again, Katsuki did as he was told, this time with less hesitation. The levers suddenly retracted and sharp, orange and black fins protruded from his gauntlets, three rows on the outside of his forearms, two on the back of his hands and one down each of his fingers.
"What you can't explode, you can rip to shreds." Akatani explained. "You can squeeze twice again to retract them, same for collapsing them back into the bracelets, tap your wrist together three times."
"They're not total garbage, Emo Hair." Katsuki admitted, retracting them back into bracelet form.
Akatani beamed with pride. "Hatsume had the idea for the razor fins, I'm already working on an upgrade that can redirect your explosions to boost your punching power."
Katsuki grunted in thanks, testing the weight of the bracelets on his wrists.
"I've put in a support notice to have them added to your hero costume, but those ones won't be collapsable." Akatani added. "Officially, these ones don't exist, but if we're going to stop All For One, we may not always have our costumes."
"Don't worry, I won't snitch." Katsuki grunted, before turning and walking away, round two corners and towards the service elevator.
Punching in the code he'd been given by All Might, the doors slid open.
Katsuki paused. "I know you're fuckin' following me, Half'n'Half."
Todoroki came to a halt at Katsuki's side. "I wasn't attempting to be subtle."
"Sure you weren't." Katsuki snorted, stepping into the lift and pressing the lowest button.
Todoroki didn't respond, maintaining his normal stoic expression as he joined Katsuki.
The doors closed, the lift starting its descent in basement levels that didn't officially exist.
"I didn't expect you to be in support of going to Aizawa."
"And I didn't expect you to go all…" Katsuki paused. "Deku."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Todoroki replied, his tone even.
Katsuki shot his classmate with a withering glare. "We're going to see the moron in hospital, he lost an arm, his quirks and the world thinks he's dead."
The lift came to a halt, the doors opening.
"Point noted." Todoroki spoke, stepping into the corridor and heading in the direction of Izuku's room.
"Fuck you." Katsuki snapped back, pushing past Todoroki and marching towards his destination.
Kicking the door open, Katsuki's shoulders dropped at the sight of Izuku, still in a coma, hooked up to machines and monitors.
"Were you expecting a miracle?" Todoroki asked, passing Katsuki and taking a seat at Izuku's side. "Those only exist in stories."
"You're a ray of fucking sunshine." Katsuki groused, closing the door and moving towards the seat opposite Todoroki.
A knock at the door.
"Are you going to get that?" Todoroki questioned.
Katsuki dropped into the chair, putting his feet up on the side of the bed.
"Nope."
Todoroki sighed, before standing and making his way to the door.
The person outside knocked again.
"That will not make me go any faster." Todoroki rolled his eyes at their impatience and opened the door.
Akatani stood in the doorway, his eyes staring directly ahead, completely unfocused.
"Shit, the nerd's brother followed us." Katsuki yelled angrily. "Eraserhead's gonna be pissed."
Todoroki frowned. "You are not Mikumo Akatani."
Akatani suddenly smirked. "You're half right, call me Ichigata."
With a flash of light, Akatani split in two, one remained standing, red eyes glowing, the other collapsed to the floor unconscious.
Ichigata stepped inside the room. "You led me exactly where I wanted you to. Hello again, Izuku."
"Don't you dare touch him!" Katsuki snarled, jumping to his feet, explosions already crackling around his palms.
Todoroki dropped into a fighting stance. "You were the one who took him, you were possessing Akatani all this time."
"Three miserable years, give or take a few short jaunts in a few other bodies, but that's over now, I will get a better body, one that will be all my own." Ichigata snarled. "And it all starts with taking this one."
Katsuki and Todoroki followed Ichigata's line of sight to where Izuku lay.
"You will not take Midoriya." Todoroki spoke, his tone frosty.
Ichigata stared at them for a few seconds, before bursting into mocking laughter. "You don't know, do you?"
"Fucking tell us before I blow you sky-high!"
"No need to get so riled up, Bakugo." Ichigata mocked. "That body is empty, Izuku is long gone, tricked into moving his consciousness into a cloned body, this body is just ripe for the picking."
With a roar, Katsuki ignited his palms and blasted towards Ichigata.
"Pathetic." Ichigata sneered, his eyes flashing a deeper red, his hair floating upwards.
Katsuki's quirk was erased, but he still had his momentum, aiming a kick at his opponent.
Ichigata didn't bother moving, allowing the blow to hit him and bounce off, Katsuki hitting the floor and rolling.
Todoroki stamped his foot, creating a wave of ice that utterly encased Ichigata, leaving no part of him visible.
Katsuki hissed as he put weight on his injured leg. "How the fuck does that prick have Eraser's quirk?"
"That name, Ichigata, he is a child of All For One." Todoroki stated.
The ice began to melt, revealing Ichigata, breathing great plumes of fire from his mouth.
"So you know of me." Ichigata mused. "Not too surprising, the Todorokis were one of the original families."
"Original families?" Todoroki questioned.
"You are ignorant of your own history?" Ichigata taunted. "Your family has had quirks since before the dawn of quirked era, no wonder you're all so strong."
Katsuki looked between Ichigata and Izuku. "Icyhot, keep him busy."
"Gladly."
Todoroki stamped his foot again, a giant fist of ice slamming into Ichigata and sending him crashing through the wall.
Katsuki moved over to the side of Izuku's bed, reared his hand back and slapped him across the face.
"Wake the fuck up, you stupid moron!" Katsuki growled, grabbing Izuku by his gown. "Wake up!"
Izuku's head lolled to one side, pressing against the bed rails.
"I said wake up, you useless fuck!"
There was still no response.
"Damnit!" Katsuki yelled. "What kind of hero are you if you just lie here sleeping when you're needed?!"
Katsuki went to slap Izuku again.
A hand lashed out, grabbing Katsuki's wrist before he could make contact.
Ichigata's eyes glowed red, cancelling Todoroki's quirk before the ice could fully form.
Raising a hand, Ichigata turned his fingers into sharpened metal talons.
"You are not needed." Ichigata stared. "And you're just getting in the way."
Ichigata charged at Todoroki, talons ready to slice him to ribbons.
An entire hospital bed sailed through the hole in the wall, hitting Ichigata and knocking him onto the floor, the bed on top of him.
Izuku Midoriya stepped through the broken wall, his eyes boring into Ichigata.
"You, you're the one who kidnapped me." Izuku stated. "You will regret that."
Ichigata heaved the bed off himself. "That's not possible, that body was empty, Izuku Midoriya is in a cloned body."
"I am the Izuku Midoriya, not a vestige, not a clone, the definite article, you might say."
Izuku raised his arm, falling into a fighting stance and clenching his fist. Red lines criss-crossed his body, before fading away and being replaced by green electricity crackling around him.
"One For All: Full Cowling!"
Botai Mansion Raid Arc