01/06/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 24 - The Morning After
When Izuku awoke, he could hear the muffled sounds of talking. He dressed and wandered to the bar's kitchen. Kurogiri had declared that he was not going to take care of them except he kind of did. The misty man usually left out a stack of bowls and a packet of cereal for them. It was an easy breakfast, especially if you grabbed a piece of fruit from the bowl that was mysteriously, never empty.
When Izuku arrived in the kitchen he saw Yakuni happily chatting with Dabi and Mr Compress. Twice wasn't present, Whisper was probably still asleep and Himiko was still with Doctor Kyudai. He poured himself some cereal, and grabbed the milk as he sat down, blinking as he listened to the conversation.
He had to talk to Yakuni today about a lot of things but having the young man talk to the others was a good way to establish him and… Yakuni could back up many of the things Izuku had said to them.
Izuku blinked as he looked down at the cereal. Something was wrong with it.
Yakuni sniggered. "Up too late?" he teased.
Izuku realised what the issue was and actually poured some milk into the bowl. "Just a little bit," he said, before he yawned. When he'd woken up, he had the oddest feeling that he'd dreamed but he couldn't remember what his dreams were so had dismissed it. "Did you get them back to the lab okay?" he asked.
Yakuni nodded, and then took a sip of coffee. "What do you want me to do with them?"
The question kind of took him by surprise and Izuku was aware of the way Dabi and Mr Compress were watching him. They were interested in the answer. He was interested in the answer. He'd never…
He'd never really had the power of life and death of others. Well, not those who he felt nothing for. Tomura, Shuyona, and those who had attacked Ochaco were exceptions. There was strong emotion there.
There had been emotion yesterday when Himiko was attacked but that had faded. He'd taken Overhaul's quirk and he'd taken the rest of Overhaul's facilities and people. He'd won and with Yakuni here, he was sure they could heal Himiko, one way or another, so the emotion had faded. And that reminded him… He needed to find out what the Heroes had done with the vigilante who'd attacked Ochaco.
"You wanted to see if you could make one of them into a High End?" Izuku asked to buy himself some time to think.
Yakuni nodded. "I think Rappa could be one," he said with a shrug.
"The others?" Izuku prompted.
The young man thought about it for a moment. "Maybe Rikiya," he said slowly. "But the others would be just normal Nomus," he concluded.
"So you can make them yourself?" Dabi asked curiously.
Yakuni shook his head, taking another sip of coffee. "I can do some of it, but I need the Doctor's help on other bits."
Izuku gave him a sharp look. "Learn," he instructed. "And if the Doctor gives you another mission, check with me first," he added.
The other man gave him a grin. "I work for you," Yakuni confirmed.
"You do!"
"And I have a whole heap of quirks for you," he continued.
"You do?"
"Yeah but I don't know where they are."
"I believe Gigantomachia has them," Kurogiri interrupted.
He knew, from the Doctor, that his Father had sent Gigantomachia away so the quirks were safe. Yakuni also seemed relieved. "That's good," he murmured.
"So, what do you want me to do with them?" Yakuni asked again.
They had to do something with them and Izuku was coming to realise that he couldn't be the one with all the quirks. Physically he could but he couldn't do everything. He'd need to rest and he needed to be able to trust others to do at least part of the work for him. Changing everything relied on more than him. He could direct the change, but others would have to make it happen.
"What quirks do they have?" he asked.
"You took Overhaul's right?" Yakuni said.
He nodded.
"That one allows you to-" Yakuni shuddered.
"He used it on you?" Izuku asked softly.
He nodded. "It allows you to disassemble and reassemble things and people."
Izuku blinked. "Can you use it to heal someone?" He asked.
"Maybe," Yakuni admitted. "I'm not sure. I know you can put them back together not quite right but-" he shrugged. "Experiment?"
"Maybe," Izuku agreed. "I took two others then," he added.
"Mimicry and Chronostasis," Yakuni told him. "Mimicry lets you transfer your body and mind into solid objects and then control them as if they are your body. And Chronostasis slows people down, but you have to hit them with your hair," Yakuni explained.
Izuku nodded. It sounded interesting and mimicry might be a good way of escaping but Chronostasis was a quirk he could give to someone else. "I got an energy one off someone last night," he said.
"Rikiya's," Yakuni said.
"Will you be able to make him into a Nomu still?"
"Shouldn't be an issue," Yakuni said. "And it won't matter if it is," he added with a shrug.
"You'll just put another quirk into him?" Mr Compress asked.
"Yep!" Yakuni agreed before he frowned slightly. "Actually, you might be interested in Shin's quirk," he mused.
"Which one was that?"
"The one who wouldn't shut up. His quirk is Confession. Overhaul trusted the two who were with him the most but he liked to use Shin's quirk a lot. If Shin asked you a question, he could force you to tell the truth."
That was a useful quirk and while Izuku would like to have it… He could see the advantage of having someone else using it on his behalf. Except who?
That was a question for later.
"Make a copy?" Izuku suggested.
Yakuni grinned at him. "I have samples from them all, so I can make you copies of everyone's quirk."
He nodded and then Izuku realised he couldn't stall any longer. This was the type of decision he was going to have to make. This was the type of decision his father had made every day and the type of decision he would have to get used to making. He held their lives in his hand. His decision was life and death for them.
Izuku felt faintly sick with the knowledge.
"There's no chance any of them would follow me, is there?" He murmured the question, already knowing the answer.
"You could check with Shin's quirk," Yakuni replied but he sounded doubtful.
Izuku shook his head. "There's no need," he said more firmly. He couldn't show weakness here.
And there was another consideration, Izuku realised suddenly. He had said he wanted to rescue his father, and his father was in Tartarus. It was very unlikely that he'd be able to simply walk in there and get his father out, he was most likely going to have to assault the place. That was going to require manpower.
Most villains would not assault Tartarus, no matter how much he paid them. Nomu had no choice. If he wanted to get his father out, then he would need all the help he could get, even if it was the menial help of a lesser Nomu.
"Make them all into Nomu," Izuku said firmly.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Dabi and Mr Compress nod and he knew he'd made the right decision by them.
"I don't have a need for them, so just put them into storage, and there's a couple of things I want you to focus on first," Izuku continued.
Yakuni cocked his head slightly.
"Quirk copies," he explained.
"That I can do! What ones do you want?" Yakuni chirped.
"That shape changing quirk you made for Dad. I want another one. I want regeneration as well and this one," Izuku added, reaching into his quirk pocket to pull out the genetic sample he'd gotten from Hitoshi, before he held it out to Yakuni. He was going to practice with Overhaul's and Eri's quirks but if killing Tomura had shown him one thing, then it was best to have back up plans. He could potentially use Overhaul's quirk to heal his father, but he got the impression that the Yakuza's quirk was kind of complicated.
Eri's quirk also had potential, for his dad, for Himiko and for Ochaco!
But if what he recalled Yakuni telling him last night was true, then he'd have to figure out what type of energy it needed. Either way though, he would practice with it and…
Yesterday had been a surprisingly fruitful day… Except for Himiko.
"Oh," the young man said, taking the vial. "What's this one?" He asked.
"A friend's quirk," Izuku admitted. He looked to Mr Compress and Dabi. "Do you guys want an extra quirk?" he asked, half teasingly.
It was kind of funny to see their expressions. Atsuhiro looked shocked. Dabi actually looked like he was contemplating it. "Didn't you say having two quirks is dangerous?" the fire villain asked eventually.
"Most people can handle having two," Yakuni answered for him. "Some go insane but most can handle two. It's when they get to three or four that they break," he replied happily.
"Tempting," Dabi murmured.
"But?" Izuku prompted.
"I don't think so," Dabi concluded.
He chuckled. It was what he had expected but Izuku had another idea. "Actually," he said slowly, thinking about it. "As a bit of a fun exercise, why don't we think of something to deal with the Number Two Hero?" Izuku asked.
He saw the way Dabi's eyes widened and Atsuhiro's surprise. "Why not All Might?" he asked.
Izuku shook his head. "Because he won't be Number One for much longer. You saw his injuries, and his true form?" He asked unnecessarily. The whole world had. "That's tied to a time limit. He's going to have to retire soon," Izuku explained. "And once he does… Well, I still want to kill him," he admitted, "but I think it would be better to take care of it quietly. If we attack a 'powerless' man then-" He didn't have to tell them what the impression would be.
Atsuhiro nodded slowly as he worked through the implications. The brief explanation had given Dabi time to recover from his surprise. "So what do you mean by deal with Endeavor?" Dabi asked.
"I mean deal with," Izuku replied. "If you could have the perfect quirk, or combination of quirks to fight him and win, what would they be?"
That brought understanding to their faces. Dabi actually grinned. "A minor strength quirk, and an absolute fire and heat proofing quirk would do it," the fire quirked villain suggested.
"You might need something more," Atsuhiro said as he considered the problem.
"What do you mean?" Dabi demanded.
Izuku could see what the magician meant but let Atsuhiro explain. He assumed that's why Kurogiri and Yakuni were also keeping quiet. After telling him that Gigantomachia had the quirks Yakuni had collected for him, Kurogiri had sat at the table with a pot of tea and just listened.
"Those two quirks would be enough to overwhelm Endeavor," Atsuhiro agreed, "so long as the person was willing to use them, but Endeavor is seldom alone," he pointed out. "You'd need something to deal with the sidekicks, or maybe have some way of taking him by surprise."
Dabi nodded as he considered that.
"The first High End could probably do it," Yakuni murmured.
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"The first High End Nomu could defeat Endeavor," he repeated. "It doesn't have fire proofing but it's got flight, strength, regeneration and pocket, so it can store other Nomu."
Dabi chuckled. "And they deal with the sidekicks or create other diversions," he said.
Yakuni nodded.
"How good is regeneration?" Dabi asked.
"It's pretty good," Izuku replied.
"You've got it?" the fire-villain picked up on the implications.
He nodded but didn't offer a demonstration. "I got it after I got the scar," Izuku said, referring to the faint scar on his face.
Dabi nodded.
"Could we shove fire proofing into the first High End?" Izuku mused. "To make certain."
"I don't think Durama would let you," Yakuni said.
Izuku just gave him a look. It reminded Yakuni who was in charge.
"I'm not sure the High End could take it," the young man clarified.
That was a different matter. "Why not?" Izuku asked.
"From what I understand, the High Ends are on the very limit of what a human can take. And they are outliers. Most people can handle two quirks without going insane but say a quarter can handle three quirks, then a quarter of those can handle four and so on… By the time you get to six quirks, that's 0.4% of the population," Yakuni explained. "I don't know exactly what the ratios are, and what I've just said is generous. So… there aren't that many people who can become High End's and… with the ratios, you don't want to risk adding another quirk."
Izuku frowned as he thought about Yakuni's explanation. It made sense, except Gigantomachia had more quirks than that, and he wasn't a High End.
"Gigantomachia is a special case," Kurogiri said before he could ask.
Izuku nodded at that, and didn't ask for any further explanation. He didn't want to give away Gigantomachia's secrets.
"All right," Yakuni said, as he downed the last of his coffee and plonked the cup on to the table. "I'd better get to work on those quirks," he said, nodding to Izuku."And the Nomu," he added.
"After you clean up," Kurogiri interjected.
Yakuni looked at him.
"Your breakfast dishes," the misty man said blandly.
The young man nodded and picked them up and took them to the sink to wash up.
Izuku looked down at his now empty bowl of cereal and decided that he wanted a little bit more for breakfast. He looked over at the bowl of fruit and picked out an apple. The fruit rose up and floated over to him.
"Show off," Yakuni muttered.
Izuku yawned again. "Yeah," he agreed.
"Actually, why don't you practice on that?" Yakuni asked.
"Practice what?" Atsuhiro asked.
"Overhaul or Eri's quirk," he explained.
"Oh!" Izuku said. "Overhaul's to disassemble it and Eri's to fix it?"
Yakuni nodded. "It won't matter if you muck up."
"I will return after the experiment," Kurogiri said, quickly standing and taking his tea cup and the small pot with him.
Dabi snorted his laughter. "What's with him?"
For a moment Izuku didn't know what was wrong but then he remembered the one, and only time he'd used a quirk around food with Kurogiri present. Izuku didn't really remember it personally, he'd been five at the time but Kurogiri had shown him the pictures often enough. He'd lost control of Caeli Imperium while blowing out the birthday candles on his cake. It had meant the cake had sort of… exploded…. And it had gone everywhere. There had even been cake on the ceiling! "He doesn't like me experimenting with quirks on food," Izuku gave the explanation.
Implied in Kurogiri's statement was that he'd return, and the kitchen had best be set to rights if anything happened. Izuku looked at the apple. It was one apple… even if something went wrong, how much mess could it make?
"Give it a try," Yakuni encouraged. "Maybe try and slice the apple first?" he suggested.
Izuku nodded and concentrated on that. He could slice the apple with Caeli Imperium but he wanted to use The Yakuza's quirk. He pulled it up, remembering the feel of it from yesterday when he'd taken it. Overhaul's quirk was one of those which was relatively small but it felt kind of spiky to his mind. It almost felt like it didn't want to obey him. He grabbed it and focused on the apple.
For a moment nothing happened and then it seemed to shimmer, as if it was behind a heat haze. Then it fell into four neat quarters. Just as he'd envisaged.
Izuku grinned but then the apple disintegrated.
It wasn't like Tomura's quirk. It didn't go to dust but Izuku was left staring at a pile of pulp. A small puddle of liquid spread out from it.
"Err," he was eloquent in his description.
"Not what you intended?" Atsuhiro asked pointedly. The magician already knew the answer.
"This is why we practice," Yakuni said, waving one hand dismissively. "Try Eri's quirk to fix it," he advised.
Izuku nodded slowly, and let go of Overhaul's quirk as he pulled the girl's one to him. This one was… It didn't feel spiky or like anything much. It just felt like any of his quirks. He looked pointedly at the apple pulp, and willed it to return to being a whole apple.
As with Overhaul's quirk, there was a moment when it didn't appear to have worked. Then, it was almost like he'd created a little miniature tornado in the apple pulp. The fruit bits picked themselves up, and swirled around each other, the same with the liquid, and they formed into an apple. Izuku pulled back on the quirk but it continued.
As he watched the apple lost its luster and shrank back into nothing. A flower appeared but quickly disappeared and by the time the feeling of the quirk being active vanished, there was only a tiny amount of dust there.
"What?" Dabi demanded.
Yakuni sighed. "That's what happens when the quirk doesn't stop in time," he observed. "We are back to pollen," he added, brushing the dust off the table. Izuku noted it was slightly yellow.
"I stopped it," he said.
"Stopped what?" Atsuhiro asked.
"I stopped the quirk," Izuku explained. "It just didn't stop," he added.
"I think that was her problem as well," Yakuni said, before he fixed his eyes on Izuku. "Did you want to try again?" he asked.
"No," Izuku said slowly. "I'll try again after I get a feel for the quirk," he added.
"That makes a difference?" Dabi asked curiously.
"It can," Izuku said with a small nod. "I definitely stopped the quirk and it kept going, so either it just goes until it's out of energy or there's a minimum time for it, or-" He shrugged. "Or I don't know how to use it properly yet. I'll keep practicing through," Izuku reassured those who had been watching.
He was definitely going to practice Eri's quirk. If he could make it work the way it seemed to work then…
He could heal Ochaco. He could heal Himiko. He could heal his dad! More than heal his dad actually. He could return his father to the prime of his life…
That would be so much better than having his father take over Tomura's body.
Izuku gave them a smile.
He was still upset that Himiko had lost her quirk. He was upset that the Yakuza had raised their gun against him. He was upset with himself that he'd turned his back on them. He wouldn't repeat that mistake…
But… There was hope. And if his dad already had a copy of Himiko's quirk and Yakuni could make another copy then…
She'd be quirkless for a little bit but that was all.
And that was a victory.
-ted-
Izuku is focusing on the positives of his dad having a copy of Himiko's quirk but he has not forgotten what the negatives might mean.
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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