31/08/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 47 - Old and New
Izuku looked down at Ochaco. She was still lying in the bed, unmoving and nothing had really changed with her prognosis. The Doctor had read her chart and had dismissed her condition as a brain haemorrhage brought upon by head trauma. The diagnosis had made him see red and he wanted the vigilante's neck between hands all the more. But the vigilante was being held in a high security prison - not Tartarus - while he awaited charges. Those charges would stick because All Might had insisted they be laid.
That wasn't justice!
Justice would have been if All Might said nothing and they were still laid but Izuku knew, just as well as the Number One Hero knew, that without his interference, the more serious charges would never have been laid.
He sighed and hooked the old chart he'd sto-borrowed a while back over the back of her bed, next to the new one. Garaki had written a few treatments on it, suggestions and Izuku was tempted to add his own notation but knew if he did that, then the view of Ochaco as a villain lover would only be cemented.
In the minds of many it was already a done thing and him healing her was going to be reinforcing that impression for some but he wasn't going to let her just lie here.
He moved to the chair next to the bed and sat in it, before taking her gloved hand. When he hadn't shown any immediate interest, the sidekicks watching the hospital had been reassigned and so now all he had to worry about was the doctors and nurses on the night shift. He'd had Kurogiri drop him here, just after one of the nightly checks, so had a little while before they were interrupted.
He would have liked Mei and Hitoshi to be here but he knew better than to risk it. He had to trust that they were still with him. Izuku shook his head. Trust. It was absurdly easy to give at times and laughably easy to betray. But… he had known both Hitoshi and Mei for a long time and he had to have faith that they would, in the end, stand with him.
For Ochaco, as much as he wanted to give her a choice, he wasn't just going to let her lie here. With a sigh, he pulled up the copy of regeneration he was carrying. It should work. If it didn't, because the damage was already 'healed' then he'd have to come back and try rewind once he fully understood that, though he was getting close to that. Twelve hours of 'charge' seemed to give about 50 days worth of rewind and he had figured out that he didn't have to use it all at once. From what Yakuni had told him, the girl had rewound her father completely when she first activated her quirk. Four years of charge on the quirk, would have given her about 400 years of rewinding! No wonder there had been nothing left. She wouldn't have understood that intent was necessary with her quirk and wouldn't have known how to hold back.
He did but he was nervous about trying it on a person.
Regeneration, in this case, would hopefully do the trick. For Himiko… he could either rewind her or get a copy of her quirk. For his Father.
He had to practice on a person first.
Izuku looked down at Ochaco. She looked peaceful, as if she was just asleep but he knew better. "I'm just going to borrow, Zero Gravity," he told her, "so that Regeneration doesn't hurt you."
With Dragon's Hoard he reached out and was surprised when Zero Gravity seemed to leap into his hand. It was almost like it wanted to be there. Then he gently shifted the copy of Regeneration into Ochaco and watched as the red quirk spread out over her body. Zero Gravity was one of those quirks that was concentrated. Regeneration, because it impacted the entire body was dispersed.
And Regeneration had the added advantage of being a passive quirk. So long as Ochaco had touched something with five fingers, Zero Gravity activated, which was why her hands gloved. They were odd gloves and left two fingers bare. They were the type of gloves Tomura very occasionally wore when he didn't want to destroy something. For Ochaco it meant she didn't make the hospital equipment, the bed and blankets float, though of course right now, she had Regeneration.
He didn't know how long it would take to work. Hopefully not too long. If he left Ochaco with Regeneration, they'd know he'd been here. If he left her with Zero Gravity, it was far more likely that it would be believed that she'd woken up naturally, no matter what her chart said.
Izuku was watching the machines that were monitoring her. The steady beep, beep, beep from one indicated it was monitoring her heart rhythm but there were other machines displaying little graphs and he had no idea what they were for. He could only see one or two sticky patches because of the coverings but he figured there were more.
None of them had changed when he gave her Regeneration and Izuku honestly wasn't sure what he would be looking for. And as distressing as it was, he had no idea if Regeneration was working but he could leave it with her. If she didn't wake up, then no one would really know and if she did… they'd just have to deal with it.
He'd give her back Zero Gravity as soon as he could.
But for now, he could wait. An hour or two at least.
Ochaco was his friend so spending time with her was… It would be far more pleasant if she was awake, but he wasn't one of those people who just abandoned others when they were no longer amusing. She was his friend. He would spend time with her. And maybe, that would be enough to let her pull through.
He could hope… And he could use this time to think of all the things he still wanted to do to that vigilante… and would do if he ever got his hands on him.
It wasn't the best way to spend the time, but it was a nice way.
-ted-
Yakuni looked up at the tank the Doctor was working on. Given the size of the tank, it was obvious that this one was going to be special. The body floating in the tank was young, well muscled and had a halo of gray hair. "What are you making him into?" he asked curiously.
He didn't get a lot of opportunities to speak with Durama these days and while Yakuni was flattered by Dragon's faith in him, he knew that the Doctor was far more experienced than he was.
"I'm reanimating him," Ujiko replied absently, pressing a few buttons.
"Just reanimating him?" Yakuni repeated the words incredulously.
"It's not that hard. He'll be fixated on the point of death but in this case, that's not a problem," the older man told him.
Okay, Yakuni pushed aside his initial impression. It wasn't quite what he thought it was. It wasn't bringing someone back from the dead… though it kind of was, but from the Durama's explanation they weren't all there. He took a deep breath. "You know Dragon told me to copy the League's quirks," he said.
"I know. You are better at copying," the Doctor admitted.
"Yeah but how do I copy Kurogiri's?" Yakuni asked. He had an idea but he had learned that sometimes acting as if he didn't know worked better with the Doctor.
"You can't," Durama replied immediately. "Kurogiri is manufactured."
"What do you mean? I know he's a Nomu but his quirk should be able to be copied, shouldn't it?"
Ujiko shook his head. "Kurogiri is manufactured," he repeated. "His quirk is actually an amalgamation of several."
That was news to Yakuni. "Yeah but it's useful," he huffed.
The Doctor nodded. A transportation quirk like Kurogiri's was a force multiplier. The heroes would be targeting the misty man. "Izuku knows to keep him safe," he murmured.
"So you can't copy him?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Can't be done," he confirmed.
Yakuni was silent for a few moments, watching as the Doctor pressed a couple of buttons. Even with Kurogiri being manufactured, he couldn't see why it wasn't possible. "What if you went the slow route on copying? I get that Kurogiri is manufactured," Yakuni said slowly, as he thought about the problem, "but his genetics are stable, so if you went slow…"
"How do you mean?" Durama asked.
"There's no reason you couldn't clone him," Yakuni pointed out, which should then actually copy the quirk too but maybe part of Kurogiri's quirk was tied up in his appearance. A mutant emitter quirk.
"The clones are brain dead," the Doctor reminded him but didn't immediately shut down the idea.
"No, they aren't," Yakuni shook his head. "They just aren't brain developed," he made the distinction.
"You've thought about it?" Durama asked.
"A bit," Yakuni admitted. "What you are telling me is that warp gate is a mutant emitter type quirk."
"Something like that," the Doctor confirmed.
"So, you need his body to use his quirk, which means a straight clone, speed grown won't work, because Dragon could take the quirk but couldn't use it. So if you just cloned Kurogiri, it should work, right?"
"Except for the fact the clones aren't brain developed," the Doctor reminded him but didn't deny the statement.
"Yeah, I know. When we speed grow the clones, their synaptic connections don't have time to form and then we offer them no stimulation in the tube. We only need the quirk copy clones to have unconscious functions to keep their bodies alive until the quirk is ready," Yakuni told Ujiko things he already knew. "But they do have the capacity for higher brain functions. We just don't allow it, or encourage it. So what if we slowed the growth down and gave them stimulation?" He asked.
The Doctor thought about it but didn't reply.
"And then Nomuification for loyalty," Yakuni added as he recalled that a clone would have no reason to be loyal.
"Nomufication fails on immature minds," Durama said firmly. "I found that out."
"How immature?" Yakuni asked. He didn't know that but it did explain why the Doctor used adults for his projects.
"Teenager fails," Ujiko told him.
He thought about that for a while and actually focused on what Nomufication did to the mind. It impressed loyalty to Dragon and his Father and it made them capable of using multiple quirks. It was an interesting process but it did alter the brain and if it failed on a teenager's mind, then that would be because it was still developing. What if you tried it on a completely undeveloped mind?
"What if you did the Nomuification even younger?" Yakuni mused. "If you did it on a baby, or even in tube, on the foetus," he suggested. Loyalty would be impressed into the synapses, and the mind wasn't formed. The clone's mind would then form over the Nomu commands… "Unless the Nomu process destroys the ability to form synaptic connections?" he asked. That was the only thing which would stop it working, at least, theoretically.
The Doctor thought about that for a few minutes. "That might work," he allowed. "But it would be slow," he reminded Yakuni.
He nodded his agreement with the statement. It would be slow since you'd have to make sure that the clone got mental stimulation to develop their brain but… if it worked, then at the very base of the clone would be loyalty to Dragon and his Father. And… for a copy of Kurogiri's quirk… it would be time well spent.
He'd try it. If it worked then the reward would speak… or rather warp for itself, if it didn't, then at least he'd tried and no doubt, he'd learn a lot in the process. Yakuni nodded to himself. It was a win win.
"Has Izuku used the Regeneration quirk I gave you?" The Doctor asked.
"I think so," Yakuni said.
"Pity," he murmured.
"You need it for this?" Yakuni asked, gesturing towards the tank.
"I think so. It's reanimation with extra quirks and there's a possibility that if this works, Dragon's father will want this body," he explained.
"Want the body?" Yakuni frowned.
"To transfer his mind to it," Ujiko explained.
With that statement, Yakuni knew that Dragon hadn't told the Doctor about Eri. Or even about Overhaul except in vague terms. He'd definitely never mentioned what their quirks could do for Dragon's dad. But Dragon had said he wanted to talk to the Doctor so… It made sense. If the Doctor hadn't given Dragon the regeneration quirk when he wanted it, then… there was no reason to tell him about other things.
"He can do that?" Yakuni asked, surprised.
"If this guy hadn't died, then I'd say definitely, but with his death I'm not sure. Theoretically it shouldn't matter, and having Sensei's mind take over the body should allow the mind to move on."
Yakuni just stared up at the tank. "Interesting," he said. "I can get you a regeneration quirk," he added. "There's more growing now," he reminded the Doctor. There were always regeneration quirks growing. They were useful in the Nomu.
"That would be good. If Sensei does go for this body then, he will need regeneration," the Doctor said.
"Doesn't he have regeneration already?" That seemed like a big oversight if he didn't.
"He does," Durama said. "But it is keeping his body alive. The amount of damage All Might inflicted can't be healed. Regeneration is constantly trying which keeps his body in its current state. Without regeneration then the damage reverts," he explained.
Yakuni thought about that for a few moments before he shuddered. "Would a quirkless body be better to transfer into then?" he asked suddenly. "You've told me that the quirkless aren't actually quirkless but act as stablisers… wouldn't something like that help?" He didn't have anyone in mind, and he certainly wasn't volunteering but, the thought made some sense to him.
It appeared to be a new consideration for the Doctor. He frowned, and as Yakuni watched the older man turned away from the tube. "It is an interesting thought," he allowed, still thinking. "Maybe," he murmured. "There are very few in this world who are truly quirkless."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, truly quirkless," the Doctor repeated. "As you said, most of those who are considered quirkless actually act as stablisers but there are a few bloodlines that are truly quirkless. You have to measure quirk factor to tell since there's no subtlety with the diagnosis of quirkless."
Yakuni nodded as he chewed on one lip. That made sense. When you were quirkless that's all anyone saw, and while Durama's quirkless theory was gaining some traction, most of the world wasn't interested in it. He wondered if he knew anyone who was truly quirkless? The community wouldn't know and didn't care. "What happens if you put a quirk in someone truly quirkless?" he mused.
"They have no quirk factor," the Doctor reminded him, as if it should have been obvious.
"So it doesn't work?" Yakuni asked.
"Not as you'd expect," he allowed. "But it does depend on the quirk. A simple one is fine, the more complicated, then the more complications," he explained.
Of course the Doctor had tested that, and for a moment, Yakuni knew he should hate the man for experimenting on the quirkless. But… he wouldn't experiment on those from the Community but others weren't as restrained. And it wasn't like the Doctor would have deliberately targeted them.
He forced himself to nod. "I must be a stabliser," he murmured.
"Yes. Pocket has taken well to you," Ujiko agreed.
He was a little bit proud of that and watched for a little more before he sighed. "I was wondering if I should publish papers like you," Yakuni asked. He'd been thinking about it for a while. The world knew him as quirkless but maybe he could establish some academic reputation. It was one field where quirks… well, there were intelligence quirks and people did use them but generally the field didn't care if you had a quirk or not. It was all based on your published work. Academics were no longer confined to universities. Lots of companies had them too but they didn't publish as much since the company tended to own the fruits of their labour.
"What would you publish?" Durama asked curiously. The question didn't dismiss the possibility but made it clear that what he knew, and the areas that he had experimented in weren't socially acceptable.
"Maybe something about the possibility of decreasing scar tissue during healing from the use of the nutrient fluid," Yakuni mused.
Ujiko nodded. "I think I have something on that," he muttered. "You could edit, add information and publish jointly?" he offered.
"You mean it?" He asked, breathless. It was only something he'd been toying with and it was something that he wasn't sure he should do since it might bring unwanted attention.
"That stuff isn't controversial, though our usage is," he allowed.
Yakuni chuckled. That was true and it was sort of why he'd picked that topic. The nutrient solution could do a lot of good, even without mentioning other things. "I'd like that," he told the older man.
"I'll send you the paper," Ujiko nodded. "What name do you want on it?"
At that, he grinned. "I'll use my own," Yakuni announced. "Let them wonder how someone with a middle school education got to work with someone of your stature," he explained.
The Doctor smiled and shook his head slightly before turning back to the tank. There was a ping on Yakuni's phone which told him an email had come in. "You sent it already?" he asked.
There was a nod from the older man.
"Thank you," Yakuni said.
He'd learned a lot today. And everything he learned made him more able to help out Dragon, so that made today a good day. Plus if he could clone Kurogiri then… The man was loyal but as the Doctor had said, he was a target, and… The heroes would take him out, just like they had Saitsu…
Saitsu who had been a police captain… who would probably know something about Tartarus.
He had to tell Dragon!
-ted-
Time to have Yakuni step up his game :D And some quiet time for Izuku just to reinforce exactly why he's doing what he's doing.
Discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.
-ted-
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