Hope you enjoyed the Eijiro chapters (he has become one of my absolute favorite characters from mha while writing this story). Lets check on Izuku and what our mentally absolutely stable hero/villain is doing now.

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Also remember to come back in three weeks when we see how deep everyone's favorite / most hateable angry Pomeranian had descended.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom


Chapter 75: More Quirks


Of all the hidden facilities and houses his father had, Izuku was easily most creeped out by whatever places the doctor used for his work, and by a wide margin at that. As Izuku stepped out of a warp gate in a dark hall, lit by the eerie glow of unpleasantly familiar tanks of liquid with Nomus in them, he started doubting if he'd find Stain here after all, or at least thought he wouldn't find him as a human. Part of him would not have minded that after what the man tried to do to Tenya and Hitoshi, but…

Izuku stopped to look at the variety of creatures created as mindless super soldiers, subject to his every whim the moment they were woken. He tried to forget they had been humans. Maybe, hopefully, not the good kind, just like the first three he faced, but humans nonetheless. He turned to face Kurogiri. Dad claimed he had been dying already before becoming a Nomu and at least this way he was alive, right?

"Is something wrong young Shigaraki?"

"No," Izuku pressed his lips together. "What do you think about this place?"

"The doctor is very productive. There are many more Nomus than mere months ago. His work has long been critical for master's goals and he is the only man who might restore master."

"How about you? Did you come from here?"

"No, this is a new facility to increase the Nomu production. The research happens elsewhere."

They walked for a few seconds in silence.

"I wonder where all the people for the Nomu came from."

"You should not burden yourself with such details, young Shigaraki. You already carry much weight with your search for justice and concern for those close to you."

"Not sure I can ignore it," Izuku muttered. "I don't even know… who the doctor uses."

"Then you should take action."

"What do you mean?"

"If you want to make sure the doctor uses people who you think deserve it more you… should bring him such people."

"You mean kidnapping people to make them Nomu."

"Yes. You are going to have the Hero Killer looking for them and something needs to happen to the heroes he exposes. Wouldn't it be a waste to simply kill them? Many of them will have valuable quirks that could be put to better use."

Izuku stared at the floor, deep in thought. The thought was disgusting, but he couldn't deny the logic behind it. If he would, could, be involved in killing dirty heroes, could he really pretend to be moral by not letting the doctor use them? At least he'd know where they came from.

Because all this, it…

"This way," the doctor called from Izuku's right side. He was standing next to two empty tanks and a hospital bed with Stain in a hospital gown chained on it. Two large Nomus stood behind the bed on guard. Looking at their darker purple skin, these were at least mid-tier Nomu, not the weaker ones that father had started Izuku's training with. A smaller Nomu, essentially just a brain with eyes, a mouth, and legs, hung around the doctor's feet

Prepared for the procedure Izuku had come only wearing a t-shirt, plain except for the word "shirt" on it, shorts, and shoes, but facing the duo, and even the Nomus, he felt exposed. Shirokuro wasn't here to make threats or face the worst this society had to offer with confidence. No, at least part of Izuku felt almost like a normal kid from the street who wandered somewhere he very much should not have gone to. Certainly, this wasn't his preferred way of spending a Thursday evening.

"You are late. Impressive considering how much time Kurogiri spends on you."

"Sorry," Izuku said. Part of his mother's upbringing shining through as the thoughtless apology was mostly genuine. "I had a chance to buy a new quirk after training."

"Unwise. While your body is adaptive, taking a quirk right before being implanted with an artificial one like this is dangerous, especially considering your low number of quirks to build tolerance."

"Maybe, but the person can't anymore guarantee she'd wake up in the morning. It was an old quirk and pretty weak overall, so it should be okay."

"And you chose to waste All For One's money on it," the doctor muttered.

"The strength of the quirk depends on how it is fielded," Stain said. "Even a quirk with many limitations is powerful in deserving hands."

"True," Izuku said and gave Stain a threatening stare, "but I'm not going to use this. I only got it to correct at least part of what you did."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you owe young Shigaraki more than your life and freedom and you will pay it back," Kurogiri said from behind Izuku.

"He is already going to make me little more than his slave. Don't expect anything beyond that."

"If you are finished with your argument, I would like to start," The doctor pulled closer a cart with several injections and picked up a key, looking at Stain. "If you try anything my Nomus will stop you, and when they are finished all you will be good for is to be one of them and a quirk for the boy to take, understand?"

"Yes, yes. But remember, only the quirk. I don't want you tampering with my body."

The doctor tinkered with the locks, muttering.

"That is a waste. You could be so much more useful than a half cripple. Couldn't even defeat a high school student with both your arms."

But it had not been just any student. Also, Eijiro hadn't gotten out of it as unscathed as he seemed physically. He'd been more stressed about being too weak or too slow, sometimes too strong, afraid of hurting people, even murderers. On top of all of that he had become more distant through the week, and Izuku wasn't even sure how a fight with Stain could have caused that.

"Midoriya," the doctor said, "strip down and wait next to the tank."

Izuku nodded and removed everything except his underwear. He simply dropped them on a small portal in front of him. He stood staring at the large tank of strange liquids.

"Is all this really necessary for implanting quirks?"

"Not if you were using your quirk. The rest of us need different solutions. I can implant the quirk on someone else and you can take it from them if you want, but you will acquire the 'volunteer'."

"No need," Izuku said.

"Thought so," the doctor scoffed as he came to attach Izuku on some leashes, sticky sensors, breathing mask, and of course infusion needles on his arms. He did the same to Stain with the Nomu looming over them. Both were then injected with, something, and raised into the tank. This was Izuku's least favorite part, but he was already feeling drowsy.

Izuku opened his eyes, seeing a fuzzy greenish glow everywhere as he felt sticky and warm all over. Leashes under his arms tensed and liquid dropped around him, leaving his skin sticky as he was pulled up from the tank. Unlike the last time his feet did not fail as he was lowered on the ground. Besides some disorientation and a vague headache, he was feeling fine. At least he had not signed up for another regeneration.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked in an analytical way, without any of the emotion one would expect to accompany those words.

"Fine," Izuku responded as he received a towel from Kurogiri and started wiping the worst off. He stopped and stood in silence for a moment, focusing on how he was actually feeling. There was a strange, not quite ache, maybe more like pressure or something poking him inside on the left side. He turned his head and the feeling changed. There was also something calm about it.

Izuku turned his head further until the feeling was right at the front of his forehead. He was looking at Stain still floating unconscious inside the tank. It was strange looking at the killer so calm and vulnerable-looking. Well, his potential danger was still obvious just by looking at the muscular man that, even unconscious, seemed to scowl and radiate intensity, but over the past few days Izuku had adapted in the new dynamic between them. He wasn't ready to use the word relationship, let alone anything more positive.

His gaze drifted to the killer's arm, his second arm, his thick purple-ish arm.

"Doctor?"

"I went through a lot of effort to give you a leash to let you use him. Did you really plan to go through all that to have a pawn that is already crippled?"

"He won't be happy about this."

"And? Even if the Nomu were not enough to stop him you can now do so with a thought."

Izuku stared at the killer for a moment longer.

"Was that the only thing you did besides what we agreed on?"

"Yes, unfortunately. There are some things I could well do with more time. I considered trying to adapt Nomu obedience in him without turning him into a Nomu, but significant mental degradation from that alone would be near inevitable. In all the Nomu I have ever made, I have only succeeded in maintaining an acceptable level of higher mental functions once before."

They both glanced at Kurogiri. He truly was special.

"Now listen up. He will wake up soon, and you need to understand the basics of using your connection before he can go anywhere.

Kurogiri delivered Izuku his clothes, or Shirokuro's clothes in this case, to dress up after a quick shower. He didn't put the helmet on. They then spent some time with Izuku trying to make sense of strange new sensations based on vague descriptions from the doctor.

"And if you want to punish him that requires you to concentrate on him intensely with anger, or hatred, or similar feelings. If you want to hurt him, you can, possibly even if you didn't intend to." The doctor shrugged.

"How intensely?" Izuku asked.

"Considering your recent history with him I don't think that will be a problem. I can give him the addresses of your heroic friends if you want to make it easier."

Izuku's fingers twitched.

"Don't even think about it," he said, bringing out Shirokuro even without the helmet.

"There it is," the doctor pointed at him. "Think that and focus on him."

"I don't like being manipulated," Izuku tried to threaten the man.

Though the more accurate statement would have been that he did not like being manipulated unless it was by certain people.

The doctor ignored his complaints.

"Try it," the old man said, gesturing at the killer. "Focus on him, think about him holding a sword on your dear Toshi or inside Tenya, chipping away at Ei."

Their names in the doctor's mouth made Izuku more terrified than angry.

Izuku tried focusing on Stain, remembering that moment he had first seen the man about to slaughter Tenya. Maybe it was a mistake to allow him to live. Izuku pressed his lips together. He could still go with a different choice. It would be the simplest and safest option. He could imagine pushing a glowing sword of flames and plasma through his heart so easily.

Stain twitched once, twice. He started moving like struggling against something invisible. His voice carried even through the tank as he shouted.

Izuku staggered back, broken off from his dark thoughts and gradually Stain's movements slowed down. With the press of a button the doctor lifted a now very much awake and pissed off killer from the tank, and a literal killer stare was focused on Izuku.

"Impressive, it even worked through anesthesia. Either my analysis underestimated the quirks' capacity or you really truly hate him. Try to resist the urge to torture him with the quirk. Even if you avoid killing him directly, he might break beyond usefulness if you go too far," the doctor said casually, like they were talking about the weather. Stain's feet touched the ground and he crouched, completely steady but tense, ready to pounce. The only motion not about being a killing machine ready for a fight was a quick brush of his hand to pull hair off his face.

He stopped.

Looked at the purple arm.

Stared at Izuku.

"What have you done?" He got up and took a step closer.

"I wouldn't recommend that," the doctor muttered. "You already felt what he can do to you now."

Stain stopped, but his stare did not change.

"I told you to not tamper with my body."

"I know," Izuku responded and looked at the doctor. "That was what I expected too."

"Broken tools are useless," the doctor said and pulled a cart with towels closer. "It will help you do what Midoriya needs."

Stain held his Nomu arm with his normal hand, squeezing it hard enough for his normal hand to shake. It looked painful, but the Nomu arm did not even visibly dent.

"I would not recommend doing anything stupid. If you try to remove it, you might find it more difficult that it seems, and I will not help you prevent bleeding to death if you succeed."

"You will pay for this," Stain turned away from Izuku towards the doctor.

"Nomu protect me," the doctor said and a large Nomu stepped between him and Stain. The killer stopped, but stood in a tense stance, ready to attack, still dripping the medical liquids. He did not have a weapon, probably, but Izuku had no doubt about his ability to punch the old man to death with his bare hands as the killer squeezed his them into fists.

One of which seemed to melt and stretch until the forearm formed one long sword. That kind of metamorphosis gave Izuku some bad flashbacks. Stain was so surprised he lost his battle stance and stared at his new arm rather than his target.

"You are welcome," the doctor said. "It is always sharp, never rusts and heals any damage. Just remember the rest of your body is no stronger than before. It can be broken just like before so…"

The Doctor paused.

"…don't go around challenging highschoolers."

Izuku could have sworn he heard the killer growl.

"Hey," Izuku barked. He must have focused on Stain too much as the man jolted. "You will stay away from him."

"The grandpa or the student?"

Izuku pressed his lips together for a second.

"Both. It won't make him rip your arm off again, and I will take a lot more if you threaten any of them."

The killer shook a bit almost indistinguishably for a moment, and turned back towards Izuku, not looking like he was seconds away from killing someone, minutes maybe, but that was still progress. As he relaxed, Izuku could feel it, if not describe how, and his new arm returned to 'normal'.

"So what now?"

"How about getting away from here, after you get dressed."

A portal appeared in the air next to Stain and a set of clothes descended from it, seeming to hang from the mist. His original costume was somewhere with the police so Izuku had to get replacements.

The base of the costume was black pants and a sleeveless shirt similar to his previous costume, but cleaner and more tight fitting, made of the same material as Shirokuro's clothes. The black boots were heavy duty with metal reinforcements but without the spikes in his last ones. There was also plenty of bandages and red and white fabric. Stain could use them however he pleased. Lastly there was a large white jacket, just a regular jacket, to help him be less conspicuous.

Izuku pointed at a nearby door.

"The shower is that way. Don't try to run. I will know."

Stain didn't take long. They stepped out of a warp gate on the roof of an apartment building some distance from Hosu. Stain now in his new costume, and Shirokuro with his helmet on. It was still technically dark, but the horizon was already red from the rising sun. At least Izuku hadn't been technically awake the whole night. Also it was Friday so Izuku would soon get a full night's sleep and then some.

He just had to finish dealing with his new grumpy killer, and he found that with a slight focus he could tell how Stain was feeling. He really would have loved to have the original quirk with Hitoshi if for no other reason than to make things easier for the brainwasher trying to be a therapist for someone as messed up as Izuku.

Then again getting into his head could not be healthy.

"So what now?" Stain asked.

"Now we will expose the real fakes. Instead of killing any hero who makes a living from being a hero, find the actual abusers, frauds, corrupt, and those who want to be paid as a hero or even police, but would rather protect themselves than other people. Start with Native and Endeavour if you can, but mix in others."

"And then?"

"Don't kill them," they locked eyes, as much as they could with Shirokuro's helmet. "Don't kill anyone unless I say so. Focus on finding evidence on what they are doing."

Stain scoffed and stepped to the edge.

"Is there anything you need to get started?" Shirokuro asked.

"I have what I need."

"Do you?" Kurogiri asked suddenly. "How do you feed yourself? If you work for money that is time you cannot serve young Shigaraki. If you don't, he might not like the alternative."

A suitcase appeared from a warp gate and landed on Kurogiri's mist-covered hand along with a motorcycle helmet, keys, and a new shiny katana. Shirokuro tilted his head, questioning the necessity of it all, but did not voice his thoughts. Stain stared at the Nomu for a long moment, then grabbed the items quickly with distain that screamed 'I'll take them but I didn't need or want them.'

"The bike is on the street at the corner of this building," Kurogiri specified.

Apparently the Nomu had thought of everything Shirokuro had not. He had barely gotten to the part where he let Stain go, held back only by a quirk. Now he could only watch the killer leave with what the Nomu had provided. Unlike before he knew what direction the killer was heading to even after losing sight of him.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Shirokuro asked Kurogiri.

"We will see that soon," a different voice responded. Shirokuro spun around to face his father.

"Congratulation on your first real follower, or at least servant, even if you needed doctor's help to keep him in line."

"I…" Shirokuro started, "couldn't simply let him go, especially with everything he knows."

"True, but there are many ways to ensure loyalty. I have taken regular people with no villainous past and turned them into loyal agents that have not dared to expose anything for years, decades even."

"Because you threatened them."

"Among other things," his father raised his hand between them. "The key to making people loyal is giving AND taking something people value, or promising to. That is why our quirk is the most powerful one there is. We are not where we are simply because it makes us, ourselves, stronger. You have already begun this by providing more power for those who showed loyalty to you as Izuku Midoriya."

"I didn't do it to… control them."

"Perhaps not intentionally, but I assure you, by giving them such gifts as quirks or training you have greatly increased their loyalty. I'd imagine Shinso especially feels he owes you greatly for making it possible for him to become a hero, and each of them already had useful quirks and skills. Remember what life was like when people believed you to be quirkless?"

"Yes," Shirokuro said, unhappy at having to remember those times after a long time avoiding it.

"Imagine a teen bullied for the past ten years, exposed to hypocrisy and the dark side of the current hero culture, but stomped to the ground if they even dream about something better," his father explained like, summarizing Izuku's childhood, "and then after getting beaten by classmates with so called 'heroic' quirks, someone like us offers a hand, a quirk and ability to make their dream a reality. Such a person would gladly work to help the one who made it all possible, especially as our enemies are those responsible for all that suffering. Other times, parents realize their child is quirkless and are prepared to do almost anything to spare them that fate. You'd be surprised how much loyalty you can gain at the cost of even a simple quirk."

"And you can safely maintain enough loyalty, just like that?"

"Sometimes such loyalty needs to be reinforced with other means. Depends on how grateful they are and what you expect from them. With patience you'd be surprised at how many people you can have ready for your call in even the most secure places."

"Like where?"

All for One swung his arm at the city around them in a theatrical fashion.

"Business, government, police, justice system, heroes… the UA hero school."

"Okay, you have people everywhere," Shirokuro paused, then presented a question he had held back for a long time. "Ever planning to introduce me to any?"

"Perhaps, when you need that knowledge. There is a trick for keeping secrets: Not telling them to anyone who doesn't need to know."

"And I don't need to know?"

"Not all of them, but if something were to happen where you can't reach me, Kurogiri has knowledge of several important contacts that can help you were things to not go to plan. He is… uniquely capable of keeping secrets."

That was comforting at least.

"Also, you are already familiar with one of my little spies, even if you have not yet realized it."

"I never thought anything less about your driver or the cleaner."

"I am not talking about anyone hired to work for you. Those two are regular people who simply think a concerned father wants regular updates on his son. There were other options, but I figured you would not need that security with your training, and there is risk that it could attract attention if they were unusual sorts."

"Then who?" Shirokuro interrupted. His father's mouth was hidden behind a breathing mask, but the movement of his cheek exposed the grin.

"That is for you to find out. Your mind used to be stronger than your punches, significantly so. Let's see if that is still the case. If you find my agent, you can keep him."

Him, that at least told Shirokuro something, unless father was misleading him.

"You can't just give people away."

"Can't I? You will understand once you possess true followers."

His father turned around and a warp gate opened in front of him.

"Congratulations on making this step forward. I was worried you'd settle on being little more than a capable enforcer with dreams, but with this and your little hero squad, it is clear you can become someone in charge. The greatest power is that which you have over others, and you will fail if your enemy is more powerful. Remember that when you think of ways to reach your goals."

He stepped into the warp gate and disappeared, leaving Shirokuro behind with Kurogiri. Shirokuro tried to hold his chin deep in thought, until his fingers got blocked by the helmet.

"Home, please," he said, and entered the warp gate, hand already on the helmet to get rid of it.

Some part of his mind had still kept track of Stain's movements, and Izuku blinked as their relative position was completely changed in a second. Well at least the quirks also worked from a great distance. Izuku pulled his helmet off and a smaller warp gate was already ready to receive it once he could see without his sight being blocked by it.

Sometimes it felt like Kurogiri was the one tied to him by a quirk, more than his forced obedience that was.

"What are you thinking, young Shigaraki?"

"About what father said. I'm trying to figure out who he could have spying on me. Actually, do you know who he was talking about?"

"Yes."

"Tell me who is it?"

Kurogiri remained quiet, then the mist around his head twisted like it was fighting itself.

"I…" the Nomu tried to speak, but the voice ended in a gurgle.

"You don't need to answer!" Izuku shouted. "Don't try to answer."

The effect was instant and Kurogiri returned to his normal, unflinching self.

"I apologize young Shigaraki. Your father does not wish you to be told that."

Izuku looked at the Nomu, never once doubting that Kurogiri would tell him if he could.

"It is not your fault. I should be apologizing for making that an order. I guess I have to figure it out myself. There aren't that many options. Dad wouldn't have said I know him if it was just someone I ran into once, and apparently it is a he."

His father would have been unlikely to expose that by accident, so it was true, unless he was misleading Izuku on purpose, but then the whole thing could be a lie, and what would he get from that, some kind of lesson maybe? With father, Izuku could never know.

There was one more thing.

"Most people I could claim to know, that Izuku Midoriya knows, are all from UA."

Kurogiri made no sound or motion.

"Well at least it isn't any of them."

He paused for a moment of dread, but refused to accept it and kept listing everyone else he had had any interactions with over the past year as he did his morning workout. He remained deep in thought even after leaving for school.

Nowadays the car picked him and Tenya up from a crossroad closer to Tenya's home, just in case paparazzi showed up at Izuku's house from the dark hole they must have spawned from. On foot Izuku had more options to sneak out.

Today was a good day and Izuku had a chance to leave through the front gate, passing the already mangled and cracked steel monolith / punching bag on his yard, and Eijiro hadn't even had that many opportunities to use it since it was installed. The smile when he did was just…

Izuku remembered his father's words about gifts.

No, it did not matter. He just wanted to help Eijiro become a better hero, and maybe see that smile. That much selfishness was okay, but that was all.

That was the first distraction he had from his search for his father's spy, and soon he was waving at Tenya, only partially pretending his happy smile. Then he remembered what he had just done and the smile was mostly fake. He didn't bring up Stain during the drive. Izuku Midoriya did not have any reason to bring him up and Tenya could only be hurt by the topic.

There was one other related topic, but Izuku waited for a better time to bring it up.

For now he was satisfied with reciprocating Tenya's comments about their homework, especially since Hitoshi noted their friend had done more of that since internships and Stain's escape. Not too long after, they picked up their 1.5 redheads. Izuku shifted his attention to Eijiro as he had been more distant the last few days.

"How was the night?" He asked to open conversation.

"Well, thanks," Eijiro responded with his usual energy, but there was a bit of hesitation.

"Already impatient for the weekend? I thought of some exercises to practice adjusting the force you use."

"That's great," Eijiro's eyes opened further in excitement, but then he turned his head away, "but that is actually something I wanted to talk about. I… got something to do this weekend, so I can't make it, at least not during the day, maybe some time in the evenings."

Just like evenings after school. Over the past week Eijiro had either skipped their evening exercises or left them early, and he was the last person in the world by wide margin that Izuku ever expected to do so. Izuku didn't dare to push too hard after all that had happened. He was finding it increasingly difficult to not grill Eijiro about it.

"It's not a very good time to skip on training, with the final exams coming."

"Oh, eh, umm, don't worry. I'm still training every moment I can. I really don't want to mess up the exams."

Izuku kept staring at him, trying to not look too intrusive or judgy. It wasn't like he was concerned about Eijiro succeeding at the exams, at least the practical portion, but…

"Are you studying alone?"

Eijiro scratched his head, still not facing Izuku. Was he this embarrassed at needing some extra work for a written exam?

"You know we can help with that. I think Tenya is already thinking up study materials."

"Uh, thanks, but… I kind of got some help already."

"Ah," Tenya interrupted. "You got a private tutor." He swung his hand flat, chopping the air in his traditional style. "That is the kind of dedication we would expect from you! Everyone should take example of your hard work in your studies as much as physical training."

Izuku leaned back, mostly satisfied with the situation, although something was still nagging in his mind, besides the constant presence of a serial killer at the edge of his consciousness. There was too much going on to focus on every question and mystery at the same time anyway.

He hadn't even bothered to look into all the loud booms that had shaken the campus after school several times the past week. The rumor was there were some demolition works done at one of the training grounds. Izuku couldn't comprehend why considering how easily and often superpowered training and training robots already wrecked the place. Maybe that had left some of the structures unsafe and principal Nezu decided to demolish them before Aizawa got any ideas of that being good training.

Perhaps Izuku should volunteer Eijiro for that work and spare his steel column a bit longer.