If you always choose the easy option, you will never know what you're truly capable of.
Turning to one side, Izuku retched and coughed, bringing up the remains of his lunch. Taking a deep breath, Izuku calmed himself as Yagi had taught him a hero must and returned to the No.1 Hero's side.
Laying his hands on Yagi's mass of scar tissue, which was weeping blood and a small amount of pus from multiple places, Izuku activated Overhaul, using it to scan his body.
Left lung, gone. Right lung, damaged. Spleen, gone. Left kidney, gone. Heart, weakened. Liver, half gone. Pancreas, damaged. Stomach, gone.
The laundry list of wounds and missing organs horrified Izuku, he could do nothing about them. Overhaul could heal people, but only recent wounds. These were scars, they had long since finished healing, at least as much as they were going to. If he wanted to repair old damage as extensive as these wounds, Izuku would need an actual, intricate understanding of human anatomy on a level akin to a fully trained doctor.
Needless to say, that was not covered in junior high biology class.
Steeling himself, Izuku turned his focus to Yagi's current injuries, he had reopened some of his scar tissue, some very recently, some weeks old. Activating Overhaul again and again, Izuku concentrated on each wound in turn, giving extra attention to the infected ones. Izuku repaired them, taking advantage of them being injured to restore the affected tissue to an unscarred state.
Finally, Izuku had healed all of Yagi's open wounds, sitting back on the sand and using Overhaul to clean his hands of blood, his chest heaving, feeling like he'd run a marathon.
That's the most intensively I've ever used Overhaul, I didn't know what my limit was before now, but I think I'm at it.
Grabbing his phone from his pocket, Izuku scrolled down and dialled a contact.
"Hello, Detective Tsukauchi speaking."
"Detective, it's me." Izuku blurted out, tears streaming down his face. "I'm with All Might at Dagobah, he's collapsed, he was bleeding—"
"I'm on my way, I'll call Mighty Hero Agency and get them to send the helicopter." Tsukauchi instructed, before this voice softened. "It's okay, Midoriya, I'll be there in ten minutes, the helicopter will probably beat me there."
Izuku nodded. "Thank you, Detective."
He stumbled down the alleyway, his hand shaking as he tried to retrieve a vial from his coat.
The thing he needed most.
Finally managing to grasp the vial, he pulled it from his pocket and jammed the needle into his arm, pressing the plunger down. The purple liquid flushed into his body. Within seconds he could feel the pain quieting, looking down at his hands, he saw the purple cracks receding.
His name was Nine, at least, that was the closest thing to a name he used. Growing up at the orphanage the designation he'd been given had been Kyuran.
Breathing a small sigh of relief, Nine continued to stagger onwards, turning a corner and finally arriving at his destination.
Opening the door, Nine practically fell into the warehouse, only his grip on the door handle keeping him standing.
"Nine!"
Just as he finally collapsed, two strong arms caught Nine, quickly pulling one of his arms around their neck.
"What gives, boss?" Chojuro Kon demanded, helping Nine stumble to a waiting chair. "We leave you alone for five minutes and you come back like this?"
Chojuro was a beast of a man, quite literally, his quirk granted him the attributes of numerous animals, and he was fiercely loyal to Nine.
"My quirk, my birth quirk, it spiralled out of control." Nine admitted. "And then I found it, the perfect quirk I need to stabilise me, so I can wield this power. I had to have it."
"What happened? Was it a hero that had that quirk?"
Nine glanced up at the speaker, her almost metallic red hair shining in the light. Kiruka Hasaki, better known in certain circles as Slice.
"No, a kid, fifteen maybe." Nine sighed. "I had him, I was using that quirk that he gave me, and then, it's hard to describe, but that quirk, it broke, completely failed me, and I had to leave."
"You lost to a child?"
Nine turned his face to the last member of his organisation. Hoyo Makihara, a young, grey-haired man, with nearly the entirety of his body wrapped in dark red bandages. He was also the one Nine liked the least.
And it wasn't even close.
"He may have been a child, but whatever force it was that protected him, it was older, much older." Nine argued. "It felt like his presence."
"My ears are burning."
The four criminals all turned their heads to see a tall man, dressed in a suit that probably cost more money than any of them had ever possessed, combined. And yet, the expensive suit was not the most eye-catching part of this man's person. A black steel helmet covered the entirety of his head, stretching down to include his upper jaw.
"Actually, I don't have ears anymore." The man continued. "But I did, you get the idea."
Nine pushed himself to his feet, swatting away Kon's arm as he tried to help him.
"Merchant, to what do we owe the visit?"
The Merchant chuckled, but it held no humour. "Considering I could feel the shockwave from that little incident you've just had all the way in Kamino?"
"I see." Nine stated. "The boy, he wasn't normal, he felt like—"
"Me." The Merchant interrupted. "I felt that too, now, show me what happened."
Nine approached the Merchant, refusing to flinch as the other man's hand moved to touch his temple, even if the circular pit of darkness in the centre of his palm sent a shiver down his spine. Pain lanced through Nine's head as he felt the Merchant use a quirk to enter his mind, flicking through it to find the memories he desired like it were a photo album.
"Here we are." The Merchant spoke. "Shall we?"
Without waiting for a response, the Merchant activated his quirk, and in an instant, Nine found himself back in that moment, only this time he was looking in from the outside. Everything was frozen in a moment, locked in place, just before Nine had used the paralysis quirk he'd stolen, Basilisk, to paralyse the boy.
"So this is the child." The Merchant noted, as he appeared at Nine's side. "Kind of scrawny, but he reminds me of someone, anyway."
The Merchant waved his hand and instantly the frozen memory began moving, reliving the incident from only a few hours earlier.
As it progressed, Nine could feel a distinct note of ridicule coming from the Merchant at how hasty he had been with the boy, but then again the Merchant wasn't the one whose quirk was trying to tear their body apart.
Seems like someone has already done that to the Merchant.
"You have no elegance, you do know that, right?" The Merchant commented.
"I prefer effectiveness over elegance." Nine replied, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.
The Merchant shot him a derisive look. "But you weren't even effective, were you?"
Nine chose not to respond.
"Right, now this is getting interesting." The Merchant noted as the memory of Nine tackled the boy. "Sloppy, but interesting."
Nine watched as his past self activated the theft quirk, starting to take the boy's quirk from him.
"His quirk, the boy's quirk." The Merchant paused. "What was it?"
"I don't know what he called it, but he used to heal some brat, and reshape the ground into spikes." Nine answered.
"Overhaul." The Merchant uttered. "I know that quirk, and I know that some green-haired kid shouldn't have it."
"So he has the same quirk as you, then?" Nine asked. "The same as the copy you gave me."
"As it would seem." The Merchant spoke through gritted teeth, his tone dangerous. "Somehow."
Nine watched as the energy between the boy and his past self turned silver, before he was blasted backwards.
"I've seen enough." The Merchant announced, waving his hand.
Instantly, Nine was back in the warehouse, standing across from the Merchant.
"You said that whatever it was that teenager did to you, it broke the copy of my quirk I gave you, or perhaps he took it." The Merchant stated, his tone dark and dangerous. "I'm going to take a look at it, it was an imperfect prototype, but it should not fail so easily."
The Merchant's eyes glowed red, Nine could feel him examining his quirks, like he was checking the rails at a clothes store.
Weather Manipulation. Basilisk. All For One.
"You're correct, whatever interaction took place between you and him, it denatured your copy of my quirk, some of the Plus Alpha Elements are even missing." The Merchant explained. "This boy doesn't take quirks like me, he destroys them."
Izuku sighed, staring at where Yagi lay on a hospital gurney, still unconscious.
"He's going to be okay, you know that, right?" Tsukauchi queried, from where he sat on Yagi's opposite side. "Especially thanks to you healing those wounds."
"I had no idea. How can he survive, let alone be the No.1 Hero with injuries like that?"
"Tenacity, sheer bullheadedness." Tsukauchi offered. "The sort of single-minded motivation that lands you in the hospital from overstraining yourself."
"It's my fault." Izuku admitted. "I rang him, told him about the attack, I'm the reason he overstrained himself coming to meet me at the beach."
"No, it's not." Tsukauchi stated firmly. "This has been coming for a lot longer than one day, it's been looming for months, years even."
Izuku hesitated. "It was him, it was All For One who injured him, when All Might killed him."
"I can't tell you the details, but yes, it was All For One." Tsukauchi confirmed. "I don't know how much Yagi told you before he collapsed, but All For One is a secret, other than us, I'm only aware of Principal Nedzu, Recovery Girl and Sir Nighteye being in the know."
"Right, All Might said he was my great-great-great-grandfather, All For One, I mean." Izuku spoke. "I descend from a villain. The villain."
"You're not alone in that, we've managed to trace over a hundred descendants of his just since December." Tsukauchi replied. "It seems like twins run in your family."
"I didn't know I had so much family." Izuku admitted. "I don't know why, but my grandfather had some kind of falling out with his siblings years ago."
"You don't need to stay here, you know?" Tsukauchi queried. "He's exhausted, he's just sleeping it off."
"I know." Izuku replied, making no movement to leave. "But I want to stay."
"He's chosen well." Tsukauchi muttered.
"Chosen?"
Tsukauchi waved his hand. "Oh, I meant just that he's chosen a mentee well."
"R-Right." Izuku uttered, feeling a little confused.
Just then the door to the private room swung open with a deafening bang, revealing a short, white-haired woman, leaning on a cane, her face austere.
"Recovery Girl?" Izuku breathed, jumping from his seat. "You're Recovery Girl!"
"I was the last time I checked." Recovery Girl commented, before moving to the bed and using her cane to tap Yagi on the face repeatedly. "Wake up, you great oaf!"
But the No.1 Hero gave no response, continuing to sleep.
Recovery Girl huffed. "Well, I can't very well heal the big idiot if he hasn't got the stamina to even wake up. But, I can at least have a look at what he's done to himself whilst I'm here."
Pulling the side of Yagi's gown open to reveal his scars, Recovery Girl frowned.
"I was told he'd reopened his wounds." Recovery Girl stated, turning around to lay her piercing gaze on Tsukauchi. "Has someone else already healed him?"
"That would be Midoriya here." Tsukauchi offered.
Izuku lowered his head nervously.
"You must be his mentee he's said so much about." Recovery Girl spoke, her eyes burning into Izuku. "Though he never said you had a healing quirk."
"It doesn't just heal, i-it's quite versatile." Izuku admitted. "I can reshape matter, which includes healing people, and I can convert matter into energy."
"I see why he's been hoarding you all to himself." Recovery Girl replied, an almost predatory glint in her eyes. "That's a mighty powerful combat quirk, but have you thought about becoming a rescue hero?"
Izuku raised his head and looked the elderly hero in the eye. "I have, I want to be a combat hero and a rescue hero, to save everyone I can."
"Damn, that sounds just like something he would say." Recovery Girl mused. "Well, you two run along now, this idiot needs his rest."
Izuku wanted to argue, but the withering look Recovery Girl was giving them put a stop to that, even Tsukauchi crumpled after a few seconds.
Standing, Izuku moved to Yagi's bedside and spoke quietly. "I'm sorry I shouted at you."
With that, Izuku turned and left, glancing backwards as Tsukauchi shut the door behind them.
6 May 2169
Katsuki paused at the door, studying the plaque on the wall at the side of it.
Buster Hero Agency
est. 2163
Pushing the door open Katsuki found himself in a moderately sized waiting area, not too dissimilar to a doctor's clinic, a mezzanine level above it.
Stood next to the reception desk was a stand with a cut-out of Airjet, a speech bubble issuing from his mouth.
Buster Hero Agency, home of the No. 117 Hero, AIRJET!
Katsuki rolled his eyes.
"Good afternoon, how can I help you?"
Looking to the reception desk, Katsuki saw a youngish man sat at it, a pair of goat's horns upon his head, his pupils rectangular.
"Here to see Airjet." Katsuki announced.
"And do you have an appointment?" The receptionist queried.
"He asked me to come."
The receptionist snorted. "Sure thing, kid. Run along now."
Katsuki clenched his fists, anger coursing through his veins.
"I said, he asked me to come."
"And I'm not buying it." The receptionist retorted.
"Listen, ya damn g-"
"It's okay, Yagiza."
Katsuki looked up at the mezzanine, where a blond-haired man, dressed in a red flight suit, was standing as he wiped his grease-covered hands off with a rag.
"Come on up." Airjet instructed, gesturing to the space next to him.
Katsuki grunted, giving the receptionist one last glare before stomping up the stairs.
"Walk with me." Airjet directed. "You remind me of myself at a similar age."
"Go fuck yourself."
Airjet chuckled. "And I was equally verbose back then."
Katsuki rolled his eyes, following Airjet as he rounded the corner and through a pair of swinging double doors.
Inside was a two-storey garage, on the bottom floor was a well-equipped support studio with a metal platform in the centre, and above was a wide gantry that ran the perimeter of the space. Numerous support technicians were milling around, developing new support gear and servicing the existing equipment of Airjet and his sidekicks.
"This is the Garage." Airjet explained, coming to a halt on the gantry and pointing to a set of silver armour over a red flight suit, identical to the one he was wearing, on a mannequin. "That's the Mark V-Platinum my team and I have been working on, should be ready for deployment soon, just needs a few more safety checks."
"You and your team?" Katsuki questioned. "You mean the support scrubs?"
Airjet cleared his throat. "Not liking that dismissive attitude. You do know I was a support technician, right?"
"You were a gearhead?"
"That I was, applied for UA, but I didn't cut the mustard for the heroics course." Airjet answered. "Just by a few points, my control with my quirk wasn't as great back then."
Airjet continued walking, this time he stopped at a display cabinet containing another mannequin, this one donned in a beige flight suit, with dented and scuffed armour over top, two almost comically large gauntlets on its forearms.
"My very first set of AirBusters, built them myself." Airjet explained. "Where was I, right, I was rash, headstrong and immature back then. I got offered a place at UA, in the support stream, and a place in the Shiketsu Heroics program."
"Why didn't you go to Shiketsu?" Katsuki questioned. "You got into their hero course."
"I nearly did go to Shiketsu, I felt scorned by UA, but I realised, going to Shiketsu was the easy option, giving up on my dream of being a UA hero." Airjet replied. "So I took the place in the UA Support course, I built those to help me focus my air blasts, and when the Sports Festival came round, I came sixth, got a few internship offers, by the start of my second year, I was allowed to transfer to heroics."
"So you transferred to heroics."
"Nope, I refused, graduated top of the UA Support Class of '61, worked as a sidekick for Idaten for a couple of years and then I opened this place." Airjet explained. "The point I'm trying to make is that growing up, I was told constantly that my quirk was powerful, the perfect hero's quirk, and I believed it."
Airjet stowed his oily rag in his tool belt.
"When UA rejected me from the heroics course I was affronted, I believed my spot was already secured. But the truth is, there will always be someone stronger than you, better than you, and if you want to be a real hero, you can never allow yourself to complacently accept that. You need to fight, to improve yourself, to be better. If you always choose the easy option, you will never know what you're truly capable of."
Katsuki raised an eyebrow, surprised at the fire the previously mild-mannered man was now exhibiting.
"So I'm going to train you, on how to be a hero and on how to use your quirk more efficiently." Airjet spoke, as he calmed himself. "But only after you learn how to service and develop support tech."
"You want me to become a gadget rat?" Katsuki spoke disbelievingly.
"Why not? I got ahold of your transcript. Word to the wise, your school shouldn't be handing that out to strangers that just call them. But the point is, you're smart, really smart." Airjet answered. "If you can build your own gear, know how it works, how to tinker with it to make it synergise with your quirk, I think you could be unstoppable."
"Unstoppable?" Katsuki murmured, before gritting his teeth.
"Sometimes in this life, Bakugo, there are things we just have to grin and bear, and sometimes those things turn out to be for the best." Airjet moved over the edge of the gantry, leaning on the railing. "So, what's it gonna be? Are you going to grin and bear it to get better, or assume you already have it in the bag?"
Sighing, Katsuki shrugged. "When do we start?"
"You already have." Airjet chuckled, holding out an ID card.
Katsuki took it, turning it over.
Katsuki Bakugo
Heroics/Support Intern
Katsuki smirked.
Beat this, Deku!
7 May 2169
Izuku closed the door behind him as he entered Yagi's private room, a nurse at the bedside taking the No.1 Hero's vitals.
"Has he woken up?" Izuku asked as he took his seat at Yagi's bedside.
"He did, only briefly, he was quite confused." The nurse answered as he jotted down his observations. "I doubt he'll remember any of it when he wakes up properly."
"It's been three days, why hasn't he woken up yet, properly, I mean?"
"Well, I think you were here when Dr. Chie used her quirk, Allsleep, on him, right?"
Izuku nodded.
"Well, she thought he'd wake after twenty-four hours or so, but I guess his exhaustion was worse than she thought." The nurse explained. "He'll wake up when he's fully rested, until then, we just need to wait and let Allsleep do its work."
"Thank you." Izuku replied, with a forced smile, as the nurse left the room.
I hoped you would be awake today, there's so much I want to say to you, ask you.
Izuku's gaze landed on a copy of the local newspaper, folded and placed at Yagi's bedside.
Detective Tsukauchi must have left it for Mr. Yagi in case he woke up.
Standing, Izuku walked over and picked up the newspaper, unfurling it.
I AM NOT HERE!
WHERE IS ALL MIGHT?
Izuku read through the article, filled with rampant speculation that All Might had been killed and the government was reviving him as a cyborg, torrid rumours that he'd been spotted getting married to Pixie-Bob of the Wild Wild Pussycats, and wild conjecture that All Might had decided to suddenly retire.
"Who would you be?"
Izuku started, dropping the newspaper and turning to see an exceptionally tall man, with green hair streaked with yellow.
"Sir Nighteye?"
"You have basic observation skills." Nighteye retorted, moving to Yagi's bedside, touching his arm and then pulling one eyelid open, looking into it. "But you haven't answered my question, who are you? And why are you in here, interfering with All-this man's belongings?"
"Sorry, I'm Izuku Midoriya." The green-haired boy introduced himself, painfully aware of how his hands seemed to have gained a mind of their own and were flapping around like flags in a storm. "I don't know if Yagi has mentioned me, he's training me."
Nighteye's face contorted. "We don't speak as much as we used to."
"Oh, right, since you opened your own hero agency?"
"Something like that." Nighteye replied coldly. "Well, I must be leaving if Toshinori already has a visitor."
"No, no, don't leave." Izuku blurted. "Were you there, when All For One injured All Might?"
Nighteye froze, his hand on the doorknob. "I told him not to go that day, that All For One was waiting for him. He refused to listen, and said it was his opportunity to take him down once and for all."
"You knew All For One was going to be there because of your quirk, right?" Izuku asked. "Is he going to be alright? Your quirk, is he going to get better?"
"He will recover from this, but his path remains unchanged." Nighteye answered, before opening the door and leaving.
Katsuki stood on the ground floor of the Garage, the support gear development studio that Airjet nicknamed The Pit.
Laid out on a workstation in front of Katsuki was what he now learnt was Airjet's current armour model, the Mark V-Silver, the separate pieces neatly arranged on the metal surface.
"So, the reason we're here today is to discuss you, your fighting style." Airjet spoke. "From what I saw against Darude, the sand villain that is, you launch yourself at the opponent with an explosion-powered leap, right?"
"Yeah, close the distance faster than they expect, throw them off balance." Katsuki replied casually.
"I thought that was what I was seeing, I used to have a very similar style before I developed this." Airjet mused, patting the chestplate on the workstation. "We have very similar quirks."
Airjet raised his hand and opened it to reveal a cluster of circular vents in his palm. Taking aim at a target on the far wall, Airjet flexed his hand, a blast of air firing from his palm, his aim true.
Katsuki shrugged. "There's a resemblance, it ain't bad, but it's no powerhouse like Explosion is."
"Perhaps." Airjet admitted. "Airstream was certainly weaker than your quirk at the same age, then again, that's the perks of being a binate."
"Damn right." Katsuki declared. "Once I'm a pro, Explosion'll leave your little gusts in the dust. Don't think you've got me beat just 'cause you're older!"
Airjet snorted. "Probably, but as you are now, you'll never reach your full potential."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
"You're not using your explosions to your full advantage." Airjet answered. "All Might gets a call that some massive kaiju villain is terrorising Nagoya and he's in Might Tower in Tokyo. That's approximately two hundred and sixty kilometres, how long does it take him to get there?"
"Dunno know, ten minutes?" Katsuki offered.
"Seventeen minutes, twenty-three seconds, that actually happened, in 2149." Airjet explained. "Do you know how long it would take me, using my jetpack?"
"The same? Longer?"
"A little over six minutes." Airjet stated. "As you are now, you'd take as long as public transport takes. If you want to surpass All Might, you'll need to get there faster than he would."
"So you're saying I should what? Have a jetpack like you?"
Airjet smiled. "Exactly, that's how you reach your full potential, a fully aerial hero. You could use your explosions to boost yourself while travelling, but also remain in the air whilst using your explosions to attack."
"So your team is going to build me one?" Katsuki questioned.
"Not a chance." Airjet spoke. "Like I said, you're going to learn to build support gear, and to start you're going to build your own jetpack."
8 May 2169
The first thing Toshinori was aware of was a lack of pain, the dull aching of his scars and missing organs was still there, but the sharp pain of his reopened wounds, inside and out, was gone.
"Mr. Yagi?"
Opening his eyes, Toshinori squinted to bring the world into focus, the sight of Midoriya stood over him, a worried expression on his face.
"Apologies, Young Midoriya, I must have nodded off for a bit." Toshinori forced out with a yawn. "What have I missed?"
Midoriya looked at him with confusion. "Four days?"
Toshinori started and bolted upright, just now noticing that he was dressed in a hospital gown, on a gurney, in a hospital.
"Four days?"
Midoriya nodded.
Not again, Shuzenji is going to kill me.
"Are you okay? Should I get a nurse?"
"No, no." Toshinori shook his head. "I feel fine, in fact, I feel better than I have in years."
"That's good to hear." Midoriya spoke.
"I'm guessing you saw it then, my wound?"
"I did." Midoriya admitted. "You collapsed and you were bleeding, so I opened your shirt—"
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Toshinori interrupted. "I'm sorry I put that burden on you, and I understand if you don't want to keep training with some old fraud."
"Old fraud?"
"I was lying, the No.1 Hero is a ruin of a man." Toshinori sighed.
"Why would I want to stop training with you?" Midoriya questioned, disbelief clear in his voice. "You continue to be a hero. Every day, you don't give up, regardless of your injuries. It only makes me admire you more, All Might."
Toshinori felt his eyes moistening. "I really appreciate your words, Izuku."
Midoriya smiled.
"Now, I need to apologise, I should have told you—"
"No, I understand why you didn't tell me." Midoriya stated. "I'm the one who should be apologising. I snapped at you, shouted at you, when you came to Dagobah Beach because you worried for me, even when you were already exhausted. So, I want to say that I'm deeply sorry, Yagi."
Toshinori sighed. "You really don't need to apologise, with the shock of what you just learnt, it was very understandable."
"Still—"
"But I will accept your apology, thank you." Toshinori spoke. "And I imagine you might have some questions about how I ended up like this, so ask away, anything you want to know."
Midoriya nodded. "I do, it was All For One who injured you, Detective Tsukauchi and Sir Nighteye said as much, but I was hoping you might tell me."
Mirai?
"Nighteye was here?" Toshinori choked out.
"Yesterday, looked into your eye and left, it was sort of weird." Midoriya admitted. "He mentioned you don't talk much anymore."
"That's one way of putting it. We haven't spoken since not long after I got injured. He tried telling me I had to retire, naturally, I refused." Toshinori explained. "Now, to answer your question, yes, it was All For One who gave me these injuries, four years ago."
"The doctors said that you collapsed because you've been overstraining yourself." Midoriya hesitated. "Is it getting worse?"
"It is." Toshinori answered, his voice solemn. "How did you guess?"
"I decided to look back at your appearances as All Might over the last few years." Izuku uttered. "And I noticed that the amount of time on average All Might appears is getting less as time goes on, you're down to about four hours now, aren't you?"
"That's not far off." Toshinori sighed.
"How much longer did the doctors give you?"
Toshinori stilled. "Seven years, that was four years ago. I know I'm living on borrowed time, and I am so sorry for burdening you with this."
"It's not a burden." Midoriya argued. "I'm honoured that you even trust me enough to tell me. I mean, you're All Might, the All Might!"
"Thank you." Toshinori chuckled. "It wasn't so bad at first, eighteen hours, the wounds have gotten worse, they keep reopening."
"Oh, I healed them."
"You healed them, with Overhaul?" Toshinori questioned, pulling the side of his gown open to reveal his injury.
Well, that explains why those wounds aren't hurting.
Amidst the mass of scars and knitted flesh, pale ribbons of unblemished skin were interwoven, in the exact location of the wounds that constantly reopened.
"You healed them, how?"
Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "I used Overhaul, it generally can't heal scars automatically, but since they'd reopened, they counted as recent wounds, my quirk fixed them right up."
That's the first time he's called Overhaul his quirk.
"If I wanted to heal an older wound or missing organ, I'd have to picture what I wanted to transform it into in my mind perfectly as I do it." Izuku explained. "It's okay for me to not get it right when I'm working with non-sentient matter, but if I wanted to do more than just heal recent injuries with Overhaul, I'd need a lot of training to do so."
Izuku hesitated.
"In fact, I've been talking to Recovery Girl, she's offered to give me that training."
Standing, Izuku placed a hand tentatively on Toshinori's shoulder.
"I'm going to learn how to do it, Mr. Yagi." Izuku declared. "I'm going to repair your injury."
Toshinori shook his head. "Young Midoriya, you really don't need to. The additional training that Recovery Girl will put you through will be a lot on top of your already full schedule."
"No." Izuku stated firmly. "I know it's not the easy option, but the option I know is the right one to take."
Damn, kid, you're putting us pros to shame.
"Nothing I can say will change your mind, will it?" Toshinori queried.
"Not a chance." Midoriya answered emphatically. "I don't care how difficult it's going to be, I'm going to go beyond my limits, I'm going to save you, All Might."
Toshinori smiled.
The purple smoke dissolved, revealing a dimly lit factory, the smell of machinery and antiseptic hanging in the air.
"We're here."
Nine looked over at the man who had brought him here, dressed in an elegant suit, a metal brace around his neck, purple smoke with yellow eyes where his head should be.
"And here is?" Nine questioned.
"Classified."
"And you are?"
"Kurogiri." The man answered. "Follow."
"Well, this is a riveting conversation." Nine muttered to himself as he accompanied the other man deeper into the facility.
Either side of the path they walked was lined with chambers, within them were people suspended in fluid, in a few were deformed monsters and mutilated corpses.
"Thank you for meeting with me." The Merchant spoke as he stepped out from between two of the chambers.
"Merchant." Nine greeted. "I didn't think I would hear from you again after I got that copied quirk destroyed."
The Merchant shook his head. "I made a deal with you, didn't I? You test out these experimental cloned quirks for me, and you get yourself the quirk you need to control the backlash from Weather Manipulation."
"Have you found him?" Nine queried. "The one who destroyed the quirk?"
"Not yet." The Merchant spoke as he set off deeper into the facility, beckoning them to follow. "But I have had a chance to review the memories of yours I accessed in greater detail."
"It seems the boy has multiple quirks, at least two, it was the interaction between these two that created a synergised quirk expression that was responsible for damaging the quirk to the point that it essentially collapsed in on itself."
"Could he do it again?" Nine asked.
"Possibly, it seems to have been subconscious, I doubt the boy knew what he was doing." The Merchant explained. "However, that quirk only collapsed into its plus alpha elements because it was a shoddy copy, a first attempt. No natural quirk could be destroyed by him. Ah, here we are."
Coming to a halt, Nine found himself in an area of the facility that had been arranged into a laboratory. In the centre was another chamber, which was open and empty, softly glowing purple.
"As I said, that copy of my quirk I gave you was a very flawed prototype, only capable of taking two quirks." The Merchant uttered. "Just a quick question, that paralysis quirk you stole, do you still have it?"
"I don't know." Nine answered. "I feel like I have it, but when I try to use it, nothing happens."
"Huh, interesting. I always assumed the quirks I stole were functions of my quirk, I guess they must persist without the base quirk, just not functionally." The Merchant shrugged. "Anyway, the reason I've asked you to come here is to receive a new copy of my quirk, a more stable copy, capable of taking four quirks at a time."
"Four quirks? That's quite the increase."
"It is, but there is a small issue." The Merchant replied. "Do you remember what I told you when I gave you the first copy?"
"I do, that everyone is only capable of containing a certain number of quirks before there are side effects, unpleasant side effects." Nine recited. "And I suppose I'm not capable of holding the extra quirks that this new copy would allow me to have."
"Exactly, the vast majority of people are only able to carry two quirks, some can manage three." The Merchant explained. "But you are beyond that, you are capable of holding four quirks, pretty much the peak of human quirk tolerances. A very rare, vanishingly small number of people can hold even more."
"And you?"
"I have no limit." The Merchant answered simply. "If you wish to receive this copy of my quirk, you will require enhancement."
"Enhancement?" Nine questioned. "What kind of enhancement?'
"This kind." The Merchant gestured to the chamber. "It will condition your body to be capable of receiving two additional quirks, six in total."
"So, Weather Manipulation, All For One and the four quirks it can take." Nine listed. "And what's the catch?"
"The process will take ten months, and every moment of it will be agony." The Merchant answered casually, as if discussing the news.
"But I'll be stronger then?" Nine walked towards the empty chamber, staring into it.
"Oh yes."
"When do we start?"
"Right now."
-Origins Arc-