Chapter 58: The Fallout

Izuku was helping other heroes stop Nomus from spreading through the area. A couple of them were also capable of flight. The one with dragon wings bit a chunk of the kid's back, only for it to grow back moments later. Sudden blast from a distance caught green head and everyone off guard. Peculiarly, all the remaining creatures completely stopped moving afterwards.

"This is not good."

He flew as fast as he could. By the time he reached the epicenter of the large crater, his mentor was already dead. Crying boy bit a chunk of his skin while ignoring all the pain. He was hoping to share his newfound regeneration with Yagi. Nothing. Even Izuku wasn't able save his favorite hero. His last hope was Bites the Dust, but there were too many issues: he had no way to force sleeping right now, he was too stressed to fall asleep naturally and he couldn't magically know who the closest quirkless person is. Since civilians were all evacuated, the chances of anyone appropriate being close by were slim to none. Midoriya burst into tears.

"*Sob* I'm sorry, All Might! I failed you! I failed everyone! *Sob* It's my fault you are dead now!"

Several Pro heroes, paramedics and a familiar reporter with a camera crew approached the kid and the corpses.

"Hi, Tiger." She hugged the boy in an attempt to calm him down.

"Chit… I mean, Kizuki-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Nezu called me and asked me to come here in case you need to be portrayed in a positive light. In exchange, I'll get a few exclusives with his help." The woman winked.

The medics took All Might's body away.

"All of you, step aside!" Enji Todoroki commanded. "I'm tasked with disposing of the villain's body."

"Wait!" Green head shouted. "Is anyone here quirkless?"

Silence. Fate must have abandoned Yagi Toshinori completely.

"Let's go, Tiger." Sensation wiped his tears off. "Hm, your body sure is something."

Izuku just noticed that his sport uniform from the camp was completely torn to pieces from all the transformations and attacks. He was almost naked and his toned muscles were up for display.

"Can't… Can't we just forget about this embarrassing moment?" He hid himself with wings arms.

"Out of the question, Tiger. Several news choppers and a lot of citizens have seen you. Damage control is your, no... OUR best of course of action. Tell me what happened."

Izuku told her about training with WWP, running to save Izumi, being tricked by the villain who killed AM and saving civilians instead of retreating to safety.

"We need a killer title for this. How about "Future Number One Hero emerges from the ashes of the Past One"? Not too tacky? Tiger, can you turn into a phoenix for dramatic effect?" The lilac hair noticed police officers coming from afar. "Don't worry, Izuku. Me and your rodent friend, we'll keep you out of the prison." She patted him of the head before going to interview other people on site.

"Izuku Midoriya, you are under arrest for illegal quirk usage, vigilantism and murder." Cop announced. "Could you please turn your arms back to human? It's hard to put handcuffs on wings."

"Yes, sir." Green head sheepishly answered. "Do you have spare clothing?"

The news of All Might's death against a villain spread like wildfire. Despite the lack of official announcement of the villain's quirk and/or name, the TV footage made it easy to surmise. The fact that Number One Hero has died against the legendary Quirk Collector somewhat softened the blow from his demise. What's more, his final speech put Endeavor, Hawks and Founder in the spotlight as people All Might (presumably) trusted the most. He wouldn't just mention the first people who came to mind, right?

All Might was rich. It would be strange if he wasn't. All the commercials and merchandize deals over the decades were stacking up. Even though most money went to charities, the Hero still had enough cash to last dozens of generations. AM even had his own agency, although it was run by a skeleton crew since he mostly worked alone. Hero knew he would die sooner or later, and someone would have to inherit what would remain after his death. His public will declared splitting his net worth among four individuals: Izuku Midoriya (who also gets the agency), Mirai Sasaki, Melissa Shield and the UA principal. Gran Torino has insisted on being too old and too used to peace and quiet to be included. A lot of folks speculated on potential family connections among the four and the hero, while Nezu used this news* as extra ammo in his "war" over Izuku.

"Well, I'll be damned." Rikiya Yotsubashi bit his nails from the stress. "The quirk stealing boogeyman was alive all this time. Good thing All Might killed him. I suspect All For One would be too selfish to work towards Meta Liberation."

"Let's hope AFO doesn't come back again. AM won't get another chance now that he's in a better world." Koku Hanabata nervously tapped the table.

"I believe in Hellflame. It's one of the best Meta abilities related to fire. If anyone can completely destroy a corpse, it's Endeavor." Tomoyasu Chikazoku calmly argued.

"Right. Now, All Might specifically mentioned young Midoriya in his speech and left him a portion of his wealth. Not to mention, the kid was one of AFO's major targets for kidnapping. It's quite obvious that Izuku Midoriya is set up to be a big name, perhaps bigger than All Might himself. It's only a matter of time before he is released due to public pressure. We need him on our side. Hopefully, Curious will be able to change his mind on our ideas. If not, well, we can fall back on her Landmine." Re Destro looked at the woman's picture with pride.

"Since All Might is dead, we can expect a certain level of societal unrest." Trumpet calmed down a bit. "I think other heroes and HPSC will get the situation under control soon, but we can use the initial chaos to our advantage. The hearts and mind party will promise to reduce crime rates back to normal levels. Once we gain votes and seats, everyone will then associate the eventual return to status quo as our success!"

"I've dig up information on the forest attackers. Muscular, Moonfish and Dabi are simply insane or sociopathic, so I doubt they'll be of much use." Skeptic drank some water. "Mustard appears to be an extreme case of Chūnibyō. He's got potential, but he lacks the quirk discrimination angle we need. Same issue with Magne and Compress. It would good to have those three with us, but they aren't necessary. Now, Twice, Toga and Spinner are our keys."

"Toga?" Does she not have an alias?" Normally quiet Geten spoke up.

"No, but we are working on that. Anyway, Chitose will prioritize those three individuals in her interviews. If we can present their stories the right way, we will reach to the hearts of people, potentially freeing them and using them as symbols of everything that is wrong with society today."

"Excellent! Curious was able to arrange interviews with UA staff and villains captured in the forest. She'll either convert them our side or convert them into bombs, whichever suits her judgement better. In the meantime, Detnerat will continue developing support equipment for the needs of PLF."

Shizuka Jun, the president of Hero Public Safety Comission, has had a difficult week. If there is one thing officials like her hate the most, it's challenging the status quo. The death of Number One Hero, the reveal of All For One's existence and the development of a certain green haired boy put her in a lot of stress. Legally, the commissions could claim that Izuku Midroriya is villain and lock him up, but he had too many influential friends to sway the public opinion. UA staff, the late hero's bequest, a dozen other heroes and Shoowaysha publishing all swayed public opinion towards him. When the rat arrived to request the release of his student, she begrudgingly agreed with two conditions: he gets a provisional license as soon as possible and the commission sends one of their agents into UA to watch after him.

Shigaraki wanted to decay the whole building! The cheater didn't lose his cheats! What's more, Sensei has died to that bastard All Might! AAHHH! No, it's fine. He will avenge Sensei one way or another. He still had Kurogiri's fast travel and Dr. Garaki's brains. Together they will kill that brat!

Nezu's worst fears weren't realized. Apparently, the quirk thief didn't tell any of his subordinates about the "friends" or secret abilities of the green haired child. Otherwise, the elusive duo of Shigaraki and Kurogiri would have probably revealed the truth to the public. Eraserhead was able to find the copied quirk notebooks during the warehouse raid and destroy them before anyone else could see them. Shota's first order of business after the operation was to question his employer.

"Why didn't you tell me about those individuals in his head?"

"I was afraid you'd expel him on the spot. You tend to do that often. Besides, your sleep would have certainly been worse if you knew that before getting to know Midoriya better. So, you should thank me for considering your mental health." He poured himself some tea.

"*Sigh* I'm definitely adding him to the problem children list."

Izuku spent the last few days in his cell, patiently waiting for help. At first he experimented with his new ability, but it freaked the guards out so he stopped. He did color his hair after Sensation though. Lilac head couldn't fall asleep on his own (perhaps a side effect of the transformation) and it made him a bit nervous. Kars (the new guest) was surprisingly quiet, so other 3 were keeping him company. His cell opened and he was met by his mother and "father". Inko hugged the boy as hard as she could, while Izuku looked at the principal with a guilty expression.

"Sorry, sir. I've put myself behind bars again."

"You're not the only who needs to apologize. I've focused on the forest raid so much that I've completely overlooked your mother's safety. I'm sorry, Mrs Midoriya." Rat bowed down.

"N-no. It's… It's fine, really. I just want to take Izuku home."

"Of course, but first we must go to my office and discuss some things."

Author's notes: TIL "this news" is right and "these news" is wrong.

I will nerf the Ultimate Life Form so that stands aren't obsolete. Initially I didn't want too add him, but I thought that a scene where Izuku is blasted by UV but turns the situation around with a maniacal laughter would be cool to have.

Please leave comments and kudos.

Shizuka Jun's name contains kanji for words:

安Safety しずか 【安】

順 Order じゅん 【順】