AN:
I had this chapter written like 3 weeks ago, but my laptop battery died and I lost all but the first couple lines… So I've nearly doubled the length of the chapter to make up for it, sorry for the wait! You'll earn 10 internet points if you catch the Batman reference in this chapter. For those that don't understand, Izuku's quirk will be based loosely after the powers from the game series "Destiny" in the charge aspect at least… If you're not familiar with the games, I'm going to explain it a bit and I'm changing them enough so that they are not completely the same!
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HankFlamion18- Good to see you again, and yeah, it's a bit dark right now (probably for the next couple chapters as well), but it will lighten up over time! Sorry if the chapters seem a little short (believe it or not that last one was actually longer than the first), but I'm trying to keep them shorter so I can get them out slightly faster than my previous twelve hour writing sessions…
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Chapter 3:
"So, what do ya think kid?" Cayde questioned, his voice smugly laced with pride, as he grinned at the stunned look on the kids face.
"Wh-what is it?" Izuku gasped as he stared, mesmerized by the glowing orb.
"It's… it's a ball of light, kid…" Cayde sighed, his smile dropping but not fading completely "Your quirk is called 'Hard Light'! It lets you make orbs of solid energy of various sizes, but you can't create other shapes…"
"O-oh…" the young Midoriya whispered to himself, still unsure about his new gift.
"Yup!" the blue eyed man grinned "I'll show you how to 'charge' them another time, but for now let's start with the basics! Try to throw that thing!"
"Th-throw?" the green haired boy squeaked in confusion, his eyes never leaving his creation.
"Just, uh, kinda imagine pushing it through the air…" Cayde replied a little unsure how to explain how to use his old power.
"P-push it… through the air?" Izuku mumbled to himself before doing as he was told, pointing his palm towards the warehouse wall, the ball following his lead and gently flying forward. The glowing orb soared straight towards its target, albeit at a somewhat sluggish pace, before crashing into the wall sending a small cloud of dust into the air. Bouncing away from the impact, the orb began to dim and fade out of existence, leaving Izuku staring dumbly at the now open air.
"Way to go kid, first try!" Cayde shouted in joy and excitement, a beaming smile breaking out across his face.
"It… it actually worked?" the boy thought to himself, his face morphing into a smile like his teacher, only for the smile to drop as his world began to blur.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" the blue eye man asked, noticing the boy's shift in demeanor, a worried smile making its presence known.
"Wha-what's ha-happening?" Izuku thought in panic as he brought his hands up to his head, Cayde's words bombing through his ears as if they were explosions. The boy's green eyes blurred and struggled to focus, his body swayed as he struggled to remain standing, his thoughts ceased to form no longer able to even hear the words inside his head, his muscle felt like were quickly loosing the strength to support him, his stomach churned as though it were trying to flip inside out and with each beat of his heart a new wave of agony formed as his brain felt as though it were trying to break out his skull.
"Kid!" Cayde shouted as Izuku swayed before collapsing, the man biting his lip as he realized what was happening and his own mistake. Blue eyes shined down onto the now unconscious boy as the man knelt down cradled the boys head, vaguely noting a portal of mist dropping Kurogiri behind them.
"What happened?" the mist man demanded, his yellow eyes narrowing harshly at the worried man.
"He just discovered what happens if he over uses his quirk…" Cayde mumbled back, his eyes never leaving the boy as the child's face contorted in pain.
"I thought you said you just get headaches?" Kurogiri growled.
"That's it simply; just kick the symptoms up to eleven…" Cayde nervously chuckled, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"… just… will he be alright?" Kurogiri relented.
"Yeah, it basically just over taxes his brain… Not surprising, that ball was way bigger than the one I made when I first got that power… This is just a hard reset, after some sleep, he'll be alright." The blue eyed man sighed as he laid Izuku's head back down.
"Good, I'm sending you two back to your cell, start preparing what you'll be teaching him tomorrow." Kurogiri stated before enveloping the two in black mist.
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"Okay, class, I know we have been taking it easy in light of what has happened, but it's time to get back on topic." The stern voice of Bakugou's teacher broke through the boy's thoughts.
"Like any of this fucking matters…" the blond boy growled to himself, barely sparing his teacher a glance, before returning to his thoughts.
"Are you okay, Kacchan?" a young Izuku asked as he reached his hand down to his friend that had fallen into a river, a kind smile beaming down onto the soaked child.
"Why the hell am I thinking about that…?" Katsuki chastised himself as he shock his mind free of the memory, glance towards the teacher in an attempt to focus only to drift off again.
"Look you can read the last part of Izuku's name as 'Deku'!" the young version of Bakugou exclaimed while pointing to the name tag on a bucket.
"Whoa you can read that?" one of the other children exclaimed, standing a fair distance away from the quirkless child, all with looks of amazement.
"Of course!" Katsuki stated turn his back to the four kids and flipping his wrist over his shoulder, only to open his left eye open a crack and glance at the green haired boy. "'Deku', that must be what you call someone who can't do anything on their own, someone that's completely useless."
"Why do you have to be so mean, Kacchan?" the newly named Deku asked, Katsuki chuckling slightly at the hurt and betrayed look on the other boy's face.
"He is useless… Beneath me…" Kacchan growled as he glared down at his desk, gritting his teeth painfully.
"I'm going to be a hero one day, someone that protects people with a fearless smile! Like All Might!" The young Deku cheered, earning an eye roll from the kid Katsuki as they watched the news cover All Might's latest victory.
"Like someone as weak as you could protect anyone…" Katsuki mumbled to himself as he dug his nails into to wood of his desk, feeling the corner of his eyes beginning to tear up.
"Stop, I won't let you hurt him anymore!" Izuku shouted days prior, standing defensively in front of another crying child.
"How can you protect anyone if you can't even protect yourself…" the red eyed boy whispered to himself, struggling to keep his tears from leaving.
"Bakugou!" the teacher shouted, drawing to boy's attention "If you're not going to pay attention then maybe you should wait out in the hall…"
"… Whatever", Katsuki growled as he stood up and started for the door, not bothering to dry his eyes or comment on the worried looks from around the room.
"… Why did it have to be you…? Deku…" the blond thought to himself as he stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.
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"Hu-huh…?" Izuku groaned as his green eyes fluttered open, taking in the sight of his dark cell, the walls growing steadily more familiar.
"Finally awake, eh, kid?" Cayde's voice echoed into the green haired boy's room, "How many times do you plan on making me say that?"
"C-Cayde? Wh-what ha-happened?" Deku questioned his mind still foggy from the unknown amount of forced sleep.
"You discovered the drawback to your quirk; you can only make so many balls of light and the bigger they are, the less you can make." Came a laid back reply with a slight chuckle, "Don't worry, with training your limit will increase, that was actually more than I made my first time."
"M-my limit?" the boy whispered to himself, unaware that his voice still carried through the silent hallway.
"Well, of course! Nothing is perfect, not even something coming from someone as amazing as me!" Cayde exclaimed, only to continue after a couple seconds of silence "What's the matter? Angry, shadow, mist man got your tongue?"
"Wh-why do you d-do that?" Izuku squeaked back as if afraid to ask.
"Hmm? Do what, kid?" came the bemused, and amused, reply.
"Those j-jokes, why do you… kee-keep making them? Yo-you're always so laid back…" the boy finally asked the question that has been bothering him since meeting the strange back.
"… Well, I've never really liked feeling things like fear and anger, and I don't like other people feeling them either. I always liked laughing more, so whenever I started to feel scared or confused, I tell a joke, even if no one else laughs, you just gotta make yourself laugh sometimes…" Cayde replied, his tone leaking the signs of a soft smile on his face "My wife use to say it was her favorite part about me…"
"W-wife?" the green haired boy asked while letting his elder's words in.
"Sorry, kid, the deal was one secret at a time…" the older man said back, a sad smile dancing in his tone. Izuku merely closed his eyes, thinking of the explanation, of anything that has been bothering or confusing him.
"H-hey, C-Cayde?" the boy spoke up, not bothering to open his eyes.
"We gotta work on that stuttering problem" The man sighed with a chuckle "What's up kid?"
"Wh-when my home was… de-destroyed…All… All Might… he said that he'll 'make amends'… Wh-what do you think he meant by that…?" Izuku asked while biting his lip at the memory of his now lost home.
"… He meant that he's making you a promise, that when you need him the most he'll be there…" Cayde replied, he know what that meant, that All Might was the one that destroyed the boy's home, and he suspected that the boy knew this too, but for now he had to give the boy hope for the future.
"Th-then wh-why isn't he here…?" the boy questioned, his eyes threatening to shed tears.
"Give him time, he'll be here…" the man calmly replied "He's a hero and heroes always keep their promises!"
"Give him… time…?" Izuku mumbled t himself, allowing a grim silence to fall over the two prisoners.
"… Hey, Kid", the blue eyed man called out with his usual chuckle "Knock, knock!"
"… Wh-who's there?" the green haired boy asked after a few seconds of silence, it may have been his imagination, but he wasn't sure if he could hear Cayde's usual tone that indicated he was smiling.
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"Hello?" the skeletal form of All Might answered his phone as he walked down the street, an air of depression looming around him after his failed search.
"Toshinori?" Detective Tsukauchi said quickly on the other end, a small hint of panic in his voice "I just finished speaking with Waylon Jones, the man that attacked you…"
"And?" Yagi pressed, not liking the fear in his friend's voice.
"He didn't know anything about Izuku Midoriya, but he did give his reasons for attacking you…" Naomasa replied, forcibly calming himself down "He said that it was his only chance 'to be normal', apparently an unknown man approached him and claimed to have the ability to remove his Mutant Quirk. After being treated as a villain and feared his entire life, he felt this was his only chance to live a peaceful life, as the man promised to help him if he agreed to battle you and push you to your limits…"
"Remove…His quirk…?" All Might stuttered out, swallowing the lump in his throat, "You don't think it's… him…do you?"
"I don't know…" the detective replied letting a soft sigh escape "While what this unknown individual claimed to be able to do is similar, if not the same, as… him… Jones couldn't give more of a description than 'he wore a suit' and that 'he kept himself hidden in shadows'…"
"That sounds like All for One…" Toshinori mumbled to himself, bring a hand up to rub his chin in contemplation.
"Listen", Tsukauchi pressed, earn the attention of his friend "if it is him, then he obviously not in any shape to face you or he would have done so himself… You should just focus on getting better and conserving your powers…"
"You're… right…" All Might sighted, slumping his shoulders "Thanks for telling me Naomasa. Let me know if any of your officers find anything on Izuku. Bye…"
"I will. Bye, Toshinori…" Naomasa said before ending the call, leaving All Might alone with his thoughts.
"If he really was there… then… then was he the one that took Izuku…?" Toshinori Yagi said to himself, a layer of fear and worry seizing around his heart.
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"C'mon, kid, put a little more pep in your step!" Cayde chastised as Izuku rolled to the side of the rhino thug's sloppy punch, sending all ball of light at the massive man's face only for it to bounce off harmlessly, it's been weeks since the boy began to use his powers and he has improved greatly in how many orbs he can create "What's the point of winnin' if you don't do it with a little panache?"
"… He's gotten better…" Kurogiri sighed, shaking his head at the energetic man's words "However, he lacks proper form; he doesn't even know how to fight properly."
"Well, what do you expect?" the blue eyed man groaned with a grin, flinching slightly as the animalistic man picked Izuku up on handed and threw him across the room "Kid's probably never thrown a punch before, and even with you having him fighting your minions, he still has years of never using a quirk before to make up for, heck even with him improving by leaps and bounds, if he solely focuses on fighting he's going to fall behind everywhere else… He's a bright kid, but if he spends all his time on his quirk, he won't be better than your average angsty teenager…"
"Excellent point." A calm, distorted voice caught the two's attention, turning towards the well dressed man stepping out of the shadows behind them, wearing a black mask with multiple wires and pipes attached to it "You could have worded that more eloquently, but your point still stands… Kurogiri, provide some textbooks for the boy to read while he is not training. Place them in his room."
"As you wish" the mist man stated with a slight bow to his master.
"Ah, there's the old science fiction cosplayer!" Cayde cheered, turning to face the man with his arms opened as if to hug the mask wearing man "What brings ya here? Don't have anyone to kidnap today?"
"Now, now, is that anyway to talk to the man that saved your life?" the masked man replied with no small hint of arrogance.
"Is it really considered saving my life if I was the one trying to take it?" the brown haired man countered with his own cocky smirk, narrowing his eyes at the well dressed man.
"Perhaps not", the distorted voice said back, the man clasping his hands behind his back "but perhaps you should focus on the boy, he is the only reason I've kept you around and he appears to be at his limit."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Cayde snorted with an eye as he walked towards the combatants, the rhino man stepping on Izuku's chest as the boy desperately threw ball of light at him in a vague attempt to push him off "Alright, ya ugly unicorn, it's time for the kids break!"
"Kurogiri" the masked man said, not bothering to look at the mist man "ensure there are some hero manuals in the books you give the boy, if he is going to be of any use to us he's going to need to know what tactics the enemy will use so that he can properly counter them."
"As you wish" Kurogiri said once again, bowing toward the man as he turned and left the building.
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"Gah!" a man with pale blue grunted as he was punched in the stomach, forcing him away from the masked man "Why? Why after all these years, why can I still not land a single finger on you?!"
"I have had hundreds of years of combat experience, Tomura" the masked man replied as he prepared for his prized student to attack once again "my body may not be what it used to be, but even with getting mere hours of movement a day, thanks to this mask, I am still more than capable of holding my own on the battle field."
"But you have been training me for years now, so why can't I even touch you!?" Tomura yelled angrily, glaring harshly at his teacher.
"You will in time, your training may seem slow now, but you have improved greatly since we first began." The man calmly replied, not lowering his guard "You may not see it now, but I doubt there are many heroes that can stand a chance against you, even now. There is no greater teacher in the world, and… how should I put this… like in those games you love so much, it is harder 'level up' when you are at higher levels."
"Is that why you've taken another student?" the blue haired man growled, dropping to the ground and scratching the dried skin of his neck "Am I taking too long to improve? Am I boring you?!"
"What do you mean?" the man asked, already knowing what this about and kneeling down in front of his distressed student.
"Don't fuck with me! I know about your little pet project!" the younger man roared "Am I not good enough!? Did I bore you to the point that you needed to take someone new!?"
"Is that what you believe?" the masked man chuckled, choosing his words carefully "I did not simply take a new student because I was bored of you, I took the boy because I believe with some training he could be an invaluable asset to you."
"How so?" the student growled, his red eyes watching his teacher carefully.
"Because" The teacher said his tone indicating he was smirking "He's All Might's greatest failure, what's more crushing then it coming to haunt him?"
"Oh?" Tomura said curiously as a vicious smile broke across his face, the two standing back up and getting into fighting stances "So, when will I get to meet his 'greatest failure'?"
"You two will meet when he is ready to be of use to you and when you are ready to make use of him." The masked man stated as his student charged towards him.
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"Okay, kid, it's time you take the next step with your quirk!" Cayde cheered, smiling down at Izuku's confused look "Today, you're gonna learn how to 'charge' your light!"
"What d-do you mean? You ke-keep talking about charging my light, but you never explain what you mean…" the green haired boy squeaked, nervously looking at his feet.
"Well, that's what I'm about to do!" the blue eyed man declared, grinning like a mad man "Now, it took me a while to learn how to so this properly, so don't feel bad if ya can't do it on the first try!"
"R-right!" Deku announced with a small nod.
"Okay", the brown haired man proclaimed, holding up three fingers "there are three types of charges you can use: Arc, Solar and Void. For Arc, you imagine the light taking in the energy for storm clouds, envision the energy circle and combining with your light. Solar is pretty similar, except instead of lighting you focus on the heat and energy from the sun and stars! Void is the only one that's actually a bit different, for that imagine the power of the endless abyss of space, like a black hole consuming all before it!"
"…" Izuku chose to stay silent and listen to his teacher's words, desperately trying to absorb the information presented to him.
"Each 'charge' will change the color of your light: blue for Arc, orange is Solar and purple means void!" Cayde explained while smiling at the young boy, finally taking not of the boy's appearance, they have been training for weeks and the boys clothes were better described as 'rags' "Now, why don't you try giving it a shot? Start with Arc, I usually found that the easiest!"
"Oh, o-okay…" the boy said as he closed his green eyes, picture bolts of lightning shooting down and empowering his light.
"Look at that kid, you're a natural!" the man cheered as a light blue orb appeared in his students hand.
"W-wow…" Izuku mumbled as he opened his to see the ball of light, tiny sparks and bolt of power dancing around it.
"Now, why don't we test it out?" Cayde grinned, his eyes sparkling with pride.
"H-huh?" the ball of green stammered, looking for the orb to the man.
"Well, we gotta find out just how much power you put in that thing, so…" the blue eyed man said as he stepped back, holding his arms out to his sides "gimme your best shot!"
"…O-okay…" the boy relented, already knowing there was no arguing with his teacher, sending the ball forward, only to wince as Cayde let out a loud yelp when the orb quickly closed the distance and forced the man to spasm and twitch in a shock of electricity.
"… Okay… not bad… for your… first time…" the brown haired man stammered as his body to stopped twitching "but it could have been better, you're not powering it with a single bolt of lightning, but an entire storm! Focus god's entire wrath into that single ball!"
"R-right!" Izuku stated with determination, a shake smile as he made a new ball of light, more energy dancing around the orb.
"… Today is a fun day." Kurogiri murmured with a smirk as he heard Cayde yelp and begin to twitch again.