A/N: Don't own MHA or Marvel, never will.
AnimeFan13579: Yep, not I have to figure out how he would react to some developments like those in this chapter. And yes, that could be troublesome. I was actually planning on having Izuku and Tokoyami talk a few times regarding their partners/other selves.
THEGHOSTOFSPARTA100: That it was.
TOM2011: Yes, he is. And I'll either do that or fall back to another excuse when the time comes.
NERO1002: Truthfully, I don't know how their relationship will turn out. I write most of this as it comes to me with little actual planning, so there'll probably be logical flaws and all that. And I'm not shipping him with Toga, don't worry.
SentinalSlice: Honestly, I completely forgot about that. HOWEVER, I do plan on having a similar ability appear later on.
Omnipotent X: Yeah, I think they had it coming
I'll admit beforehand that the pacing isn't exactly that great in this chapter. Still, I hope you like it!
"Bye Mom! I'll be out for a few hours!" Izuku shouted over his shoulder as he slipped on his shoes.
"Take care, sweetie!" his mom replied from the kitchen.
The mostly green-haired teen took the steps two at a time and turned to the direction of the nearest supermarket. Most of the trip was in silence, aside from the occasional greeting from strangers.
Just a block away from the store, Izuku quickly ducked into an alley and did his best to hide in a shadow.
"Hey, you. I need to talk to you."
Yet again, he felt the left side of his face morph as the being inside took partial control. The change was almost immediate now, as he had been speaking to his guest whenever he got a chance.
"Yes?"
"We're going into a store. I'm going to walk around and I want you to tell me what you think would be the best substitution for your diet. But you need to do it in a way that's inconspicuous. I don't think many people would take it well if I just walked in like this."
"Very well. As long as you get what I tell you to."
"I'll get it as long as it's in my price range." Izuku pulled his wallet from his pocket and checked the contents. After counting the bills, he concluded that he should have enough for whatever his other self wanted.
Unless they decided on something large and really high quality. That was out of the question.
Izuku's face reverted and the teen exited the alley and headed towards the store. Thankfully, there were only a few other customers, so he could likely slip under the radar if the red one started acting up.
Naturally, Izuku made a beeline right to the meat section. Occasionally his left arm would grab a package and bring it up to smell, then dropped it and moved on to the next one.
"That looks tasty," the thing thought with Izuku's mind. The teen stopped in his tracks and processed what just happened.
"You can communicate through thought?" he asked internally.
"We share a body. You should have expected it."
"But why did you always do that face change thing to communicate?"
"It gives me a sense of freedom. And it's fun."
"Fine, what were you looking at that you thought was tasty?" Izuku asked internally.
His head shot up and looked directly at one of the cashiers, who was admittedly a little plump.
"Yeah, absolutely not. No people under any circumstances. Keep looking."
The inner voice grumbled and sniffed the air. Like a shark catching the scent of blood, Izuku felt his entire body focus on one smell in particular. Like a madman, he rushed to follow the scent and wound up in the candy section.
The other being continued to pull his body down the aisle and stopped right in front of a large display of chocolates.
Izuku could feel himself drooling, and quickly wiped away the saliva with his sleeve.
"You mean to tell me that you'd prefer chocolate over raw meat?" Izuku asked as he grabbed a package that some kid must have roughly opened earlier. He took a sniff from the torn hole and immediately felt his other self instinctively try to devour the candy, wrappers and all.
"Not yet, not yet! Soon, I promise. Just not now!" the teen whisper shouted to himself. He grabbed two more packages of the same brand and hurried to a checkout that wasn't worked by the larger cashier.
Izuku knew his eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as he watched the girl scan the three packages and total up what he owed.
After somewhat frantically paying for the chocolate, Izuku ran out of the store and ducked into the alley, where his other side proceeded to take full control and greedily devoured four chocolates at once.
"Stop! Stop! You need to unwrap them first!" Izuku shouted internally. He too felt some of the satisfaction from downing the sweets and made a mental note to see if anything on the internet could explain why. But first he had to make sure this thing didn't end up damaging his insides first.
In just over a minute, two and a half of the freshly bought packages were gone, and the hold on Izuku wavered just enough for him to regain control of your body.
"Okay, you need to calm down. If someone saw that, they'd probably call the police and report a madman or druggie in an alley."
"No, you need to calm down!" the being retorted before taking enough control to make Izuku eat two more chocolates.
"Whatever. Are you filled now?" the teen questioned after swallowing the sweet lumps.
"Very much so, actually. More than I have since I first gained sentience in your body."
"But chocolate? That's what you want? After everything you said about being an apex predator and remaining on top of the food chain?"
"It is not the chocolate itself, but something within. Like how you can smell certain ingredients in dinner."
"I guess that makes sense," Izuku muttered to himself. At least that was one less thing to worry about at the moment.
"So yesterday on the way home, you did this thing where my… our fingers and shoes stuck to walls. Is there anything else we can do?"
"It depends on what you want. You have a basic understanding of our shapeshifting abilities, but are using them in a bland manner."
"Bland?"
Izuku quickly turned his right arm into a tendril and inspected it. All in all, he considered the shapeshifting power to be very un-bland. But rethought his approach.
Using the lessons he had been given by Kamui Woods, he focused on the appendage and gradually changed its shape. Within seconds, the shape had reformed into a big red and black streaked hand with large claws for fingers.
Looking back, he had done this once with Kamui, but quickly dismissed it over the easier to use tendrils.
"See. There is so much we can do. But we are limited by your mind."
The hand reverted into a more human hand.
"But what about you? Why can't you do this?"
"I have encountered many lifeforms, both on and off of this planet. Out of all of them, humans stand out for one reason; creativity. So many lifeforms in the universe are stronger, faster, and more durable than humans. But very, very few of them do much thinking outside of basic instincts. Unfortunately, that includes myself. I can come up with solutions to problems like climbing on walls, but even then, the only reason I was able to do so was because your 'creativity' started rubbing off on me."
"Wait, so you and I can change our shape so fluidly because I'm creative? That hardly sounds scientific," Izuku replied with a slight scoff.
"Try as you might to disprove my claims, you have to admit that a human's unique ability to think outside the box and problem solve combined with the abilities my kind grants is a powerful combination."
That statement was definitely something Izuku didn't see himself disagreeing with any time soon. Over the span of months, he had learned quite a fair amount about the things he could now do.
All he had to do now was experiment and see what more there was to it.
The salty air felt good, in a way. It had been days since he stood at the beach, and right now, he was feeling slightly nostalgic. The sand gave way beneath his feet as he approached a fair-sized pile of debris and rubble.
"I can do this, I can do this," he told himself. A grandfather clock, worn and tattered with age and exposure to the elements, laid in a heap on the pile.
Instead of utilizing a tendril like normal, Izuku focused on lengthening each finger, ironically similar to the bully from the day before. Shakily, the five digits each darkened to a red as they grew to more than double their original lengths.
"Hey kiddo. Been a while." The Arbor user strode up behind Izuku and watched his practice.
"You've been working really hard on that, haven't you?"
"Absolutely. But you're the main reason I have any control in the first place."
"Well, I bet you were planning on a typical workout, but the U.A. entrance exams are just a few months away, so I think you should get some combat experience."
Izuku, for the first time he could remember, was actually excited to fight. Most likely because he wasn't guaranteed to be Kamui's punching bag.
"He's going to attack. We must fight back," the voice inside Izuku's head aggressively stated.
"I know. Just let me take care of it, okay?"
"On the count of three, I will strike, and I want you to defend. Are you good with that?" the hero asked. Izuku gave an enthusiastic nod, and both took their fighting stances.
"One… two… three!" Not even giving Izuku a moment to react, Kamui altered the wood on his right arm to spread out in the shape of roots and wrapped the teen in a wooden prison.
With a little quick thinking, Izuku was able to sprout multiple tendrils from his back and wrapped them around so they could latch onto the binds holding him in place. It took more effort than expected, but eventually Izuku managed to pull the bindings apart.
Immediately, Kamui closed the distance and suddenly turned the fight into a close quarters battle. Try as he might, Izuku couldn't react to the pro's quick and accurate strikes. A few minutes later, the wooden hero yielded his assault and took a few steps back.
"You're strong, but slow. You couldn't keep up with me."
"Yeah, you really suck at fighting on your own."
"Shut up. Didn't ask for your opinion."
"So, how can I get faster?"
The pro hero turned towards the city and gestured for Izuku to follow. So he did, and eventually, the two stood side by side on top of a three-story building.
"Believe it or not, this is how I started. However, because your skin's not wood like mine, I'll follow close by and catch you if you fall. Just keep in mind, this is reaction training now, not combat training."
"Hold on, you expect me to jump from building to building?" Izuku asked.
"Yes, actually. We'll start slow, but speed up over time. So, jump from this roof to the next one over."
Izuku wanted to question his mentor, but decided not to. After all, Kamui was a great hero, and if this was his training, then maybe it would work with him as well.
So that's how Izuku found himself hopping over alleys just before dinner. He almost fell a few times, but Kamui caught him like he promised and gave him pointers to avoid falling again.
Day by day, Izuku grew more and more adept at rooftop running and using his shapeshifting abilities. While he rarely practiced new shapes, he more than made up for it by drilling complex exercises into his head. After countless hours of practice, he could extend the tendrils to lengths he never imagined at first, and pick up an entire car with just one tendril.
Once he finally finished middle school, his entire daily schedule shifted to training with Kamui, by himself, or eating chocolate. While the other being had yet to choose his own name, the two decided that "Ichor" would be a suitable hero name, as the two were quite literally bonded by blood.
"So kid, the U.A. entrance exam's next month. You think you're ready?" Kamui asked as he and his "protege" stared at the sea. Together, the two had cleared out every last bit of trash, returning the shore to its glorious glory.
"I think so. But there are still a few things I need to practice. I'm not as good as I could be when it comes to actual confrontation, for one thing. And I want to get some more exercise to further my body without the shapeshifting aid."
"Good luck. I need to get more time in patrolling, and I can't take you along with real business yet. I won't have time to help you train, but I want you to know that I'll be cheering you on."
Izuku knew his eyes were watering and found himself giving the pro hero a tight hug.
"Thank you. For everything you've done. I'll make you proud," the teen promised as the hero returned the gesture.
Once the two split, they offered each other a final good night and went their separate ways.
On the way home, Izuku made a quick detour to the highest roof he could find. The wind blew through his hair as he looked over the edge.
"I know what you are thinking. And I will catch us if something goes wrong." Izuku's leftmost half offered. He hadn't even noticed the transition on that side of his face.
"All I ask."
The teen stretched both of his arms out and prepared to fall. His blood pumped as fear and survival instincts screamed in his head.
Forcing himself to trust both him and his other, the teen fell and began his plummet to the ground. As he fell, both of his arms extended into red tendrils. The ends began to fray, then spread apart like outstretched fingers, splitting the limbs down to Izuku's elbows.
A lighter red version of his skin quickly filled in the gaps and formed a webbing. By the time Izuku was three stories off the ground, both arms had fully changed into wings that realigned themselves to send Izuku soaring back into the sky.
The green-haired teen let out an energetic whoop as he glided through the air. People, pets, stores, and more were of little concern as he simply enjoyed the new sensation.
"It is nice, isn't it? True, unchecked freedom."
"We should do this more often. It might help you keep calm and give me time to think," Izuku replied. He experimentally tilted his wings but was sent tumbling through the air in an uncontrolled spin.
He tried to align the wings in the opposite direction to counteract the mistake, but only served to make things worse.
His cheers had switched to panicked screams. He couldn't tell which way was up and which was down. The spinning made him nauseous and the wind screaming in his ears only further disoriented him.
No longer in control, his wings reshaped into arms. As he flailed, he could just barely make out the rapidly approaching ground. Doing what he could to protect his head, pain tore his body apart upon hitting the ground, then a second, more excruciating bout of pain came as he violently slammed into and through a wall.
His fall had left him in an alley. Alone, broken, and numb from shock. His eyes could barely register his destroyed limbs or the blood seeping through his shirt.
The ringing, or buzzing, he couldn't tell, in his ears further deafened him as his vision fogged up.
Then everything went black.
"Ugh, I hope that body is here somewhere. There has to be some good blood fresh for the taking!"
A teenage girl, almost old enough to be a young adult, skipped down the empty road. Her yellow, almost catlike eyes scanned each and every window in hopes of finding a corpse. She had seen a body fall from the sky like an out-of-control rocket and let her imagination run rampant.
An odd noise, like the sounds wet flesh makes in horror movies, echoed from a nearby alley. She ran as fast as she could, her school skirt dancing with her strides.
A sadistic smile graced her lips, revealing two sharp canines. Preparing for what she considered the best, she pulled a knife from under her sweater and rounded the corner.
Instead of a corpse, a very much alive boy stood there. Judging by the looks, he was a few years younger than her. His hair was a nice emerald green, save a thick stripe of crimson red.
"No fair! You were supposed to be all bloody! Oh well, I can still stab you!" the girl shouted, switching from frustrated to ecstatic in a heartbeat. She rushed the teen, who had yet to act as if they acknowledged her.
Just moments before the knife could pierce his skin, a blood red tentacle shot out from under his torn shirt and swung like a whip, quickly and easily slamming her into the wall.
For the first time, the boy turned to face her. Two eyes, like pools of blood, stared into her own. A black, viscous liquid seemed to seep from his skin and left circles with jagged points aimed around his eyes. A mouth full of razor-sharp teeth bared fangs that seemed to be getting longer and narrower frowned, giving a very annoyed look.
"I am not in the mood right now." the boy snarled.
The girl squealed, but out of excitement and… affection.
"Ohmygodyou'resocute! Please let me stab you! I need to see your blood! You do bleed, right? Can I stab you?"
"No, no, yes, and no." the teen replied. Another tentacle like the one pinning her against the wall slithered from beneath his shirt and grabbed onto a higher spot on the wall. While it pulled him up, the other one let go of the girl and assisted in climbing.
The girl, who hadn't gotten his name, blood, or number, watched in fascination as her newest crush disappeared into the night, like a demon creeping back into the flames of hell.
"Izuku! What happened? What took you so long? I was about to call the police!" Inko rushed the teen and gripped him in a hug that made All Might look frail.
"Don't worry. I got talking with Kamui and lost track of time."
"Are you okay? Your voice sounds… different. And now that I think about it, your eyes are so red."
"Sorry. I guess I trained a bit too much."
"I understand. You'd best hurry to bed. Good night, love you!" the mother suggested as her boy stumbled to his bedroom.
"Love you too."
Once alone, Izuku's other half looked at his reflection in the blank computer screen. It was difficult, trying to wrestle control of the body while mimicking Izuku's appearance and voice.
He had managed to keep the teeth and hair normal, but obviously failed to fully change the eyes and voice back, given his host's mother noticed the difference.
But Izuku was his host, and they needed to trust each other. Otherwise, they would be unable to work together and grow stronger. So once again, they put aside their own instincts and desires for the collective wellbeing.
But he had to admit, Inko was a very special person. He could see where Izuku got his empathy.
"Ugh," Izuku groaned as he rolled over in bed. He grabbed his sheets and pulled them over. The bed was warm and soft, and he was tired. The two were just meant to be together.
"Waiuhminnuh," the teen groggily mumbled. He was in bed? He was home?
He was alive?
"Yes, you are alive. You're welcome. Do you know how hard it is to control every single muscle in your body?"
"Oh, thanks. Sometimes I forget you can heal us. I take it you took more control than usual to get us home?"
"Yes, and might I say you owe me."
"Fine. I'll give you extra chocolate and free reign time today, but the usual rules apply."
The voice went silent, presumably in acceptance, and Izuku forced himself to get out of bed. After all, he wouldn't get any closer to being a hero if he did nothing all day.
"Morning, Mom," the teen greeted. His mother happily returned the greeting, clearly relieved that he was back to normal.
Or at least as normal as she knew about.
"So, what're you planning today? More training with Kamui?"
"Actually, he can't any more. He has to spend more time on patrols. I'll probably find someplace to work out."
"Well, just don't push yourself too hard. You gave me a scare last night."
"Sorry. I'll try to keep it under control."
A red tendril reached from his elbow and grabbed a bowl while Izuku reached for a spoon and a box of cereal. His mother watched in admiration as he easily performed multiple small tasks all at once with his appendages.
Half an hour later, Izuku was out the door with his notebook. The day was lukewarm, perfect in his opinion. As he walked down the street, he quickly scribbled ideas regarding his shapeshifting abilities and how far he and his second self could go when it came to transferring control of the body.
After a while, the city became a nature trail, which then became a dense forest rife with trees and boulders.
With nobody else around, Izuku was free to let loose and see just how much he could take when fighting with his tendrils and altered shapes. He had already discovered that he could harden any shape he made, but doing so cut down on the flexibility until he softened it again.
Loud cracks rang through the forest as Izuku punched a large rock with everything he had. He had used his ability to reform and then harden his fists to keep from hurting himself while his knuckles left cracks in the stone.
Satisfied that the hardened substance could take a lot of damage, he then morphed his hand into a long shape that soon became an oversized blade and sent a wide swing, effortlessly cutting through a handful of trees.
"It works great, but is dangerous. I can't really use this on living enemies, but maybe I could find another use for it."
The green-haired teen looked around, making sure nobody had appeared.
"I want to try something. Can you change my whole body like a suit?"
"I think so."
As expected, Izuku felt his entire being grow a little as the skin and flesh bled red with black markings. He stood just a few inches taller than before, but felt so, so much stronger.
There were other new features as well. First of all, he could somehow not just see behind himself, but all around himself. Then there was the sudden craving for chocolate.
"So this is our power?" he mused as he inspected himself. Naturally, there were some questionable choices on his other's behalf. His fingers more closely resembled claws made for slicing than actual fingers. And he already knew his teeth were longer and sharper than whenever the left half of his face changed.
"I'm going to make a few changes," Izuku declared. For some reason, he just knew that he would be able to alter the design. Perhaps it was the furthering of the bond between the two. Perhaps he had just dealt with his other so much he subconsciously knew.
Reason aside, Izuku shortened the claw tips and dulled them a little while making similar changes to his teeth.
In the end, the new design truly resembled a suit more than another being.
"This is pointless. How are we supposed to let others know to fear us when we look so… plain?" the other asked with the shared mouth.
"We do it with our skills. And if the going gets tough, we can always use your preferred form instead."
The red teenager then went over to the boulder he had been punching and grabbed it with his right hand. The fingers dug into the rock with startling ease and Izuku picked it up with barely any effort.
"See Izuku? This is what we are capable of. And probably more."
"I'll need to keep experimenting when I can. But for now, I think it's time to head home." Pushing against his new skin, his body shrunk into his human shape and, once he grabbed his notebook, the teen returned home.
"Do you have everything you need?" Inko asked as her boy zipped up his backpack.
"Yep, I have everything. Wish me luck," the teen replied.
"Wait! You forgot something!"
He turned around and saw his mother with her arms outstretched.
"Oh, of course." He gave her a quick hug and opened the door.
"Good luck!" she cheered, and watched as he walked down the stairs and off into the distance.
So much had changed. Izuku had gone from being her little, usually insecure boy to a much more confident person with an amazing power to boot. He trained so much she was impressed he woke up before the afternoon most days.
And now, he was heading to take the U.A. entrance exam.
It was funny how all of this was thanks to his lung disease. Maybe the universe wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be.
"You can stay here for now, but when it comes to the practical exam, I want to do that on my own. Only interfere if absolutely necessary. Please."
"With me helping you, you are guaranteed to get in. But if you really think you can do it without me, then be my guest."
The two bickered in Izuku's head all the way to the arch that was U.A.'s entrance gate. The feeling was so surreal, like he was still dreaming despite being fully awake.
"Here we go, our first step to becoming a true hero."
"You absolute idiot," the other voice groaned as his host tripped over a jutting piece of brick and began falling face first towards the ground.
A/N: Hope this met your expectations. Leave a review if you want. Have a good day!
Also, I'm taking a page out of Edinamabasi's book and made a discord server. If you want to join, the link is discord.gg (slash) YVjXeDG7