Disclaimer:
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi. Shin Megami Tensei was created by Atlus. This story uses plot elements and characters from them.
The Quirk War
By: RB3
Demonic Crisis Ch 7: Next Symbol of Peace
A short time after the mission at Otheon, Izuku had visited a convenience store after school. The store was well-stocked with a dozen aisles filled with snacks and sweets which could delight the taste buds. At the front were machines where buyers could get various drinks such as slush drinks, coffee, and tea. While Izuku browsed the fridge in the rear for milk, he heard the bell ring at the front door. When he looked there, he noticed that a group of students from UA High had entered to look for snacks. It was his friends from Class 1B at UA, which included Tetsu, Itsuka, Monoma, and Pony.
"Hey!" greeted Izuku with a smile as he closed the fridge and waved to them.
"Hey Midoriya!" replied Tetsu, returning a wave and reflecting a similar smile as he walked to the back.
"Come to pick up some candy or snacks?" asked Izuku as Tetsu reached his location.
"Yep! I ate up my entire supply of barbecue chips so I'm here to restock," replied Tetsu. Izuku chuckled.
"I'm looking for beef jerky," replied Itsuka.
"I'd like to get some chocolate-covered raisins and nuts," replied Monoma.
"I just want jujubes," replied Pony.
"Check over on the right," said Izuku, pointing at the stuff further behind in the aisle. "Now, I've gotta get my own snacks and some milk for my mom."
Izuku's UA friends quickly browsed the shelves to search for the snacks they wanted to purchase. Tetsu and Itsuka went to the same aisle together to look for chips and jerky. As they browsed the shelves, they suddenly vanished into thin air, without anyone noticing. A few minutes later, Izuku had selected a choice carton of milk from the refrigerator. When he looked over to where the snacks were, he could not see Tetsu and Itsuka for some odd reason.
Their strange disappearance puzzled him. "Did Tetsu and Kendo leave already? I don't see them in the store anywhere," Izuku asked Monoma and Pony, who were still choosing snacks.
"Hmm?" asked Monoma, who looked around, but couldn't find either Tetsu or Itsuka in the store, or outside. "I guess they're already gone. That was quite fast."
"Hmm..." remarked Izuku, surprised at how quickly they had made their purchases and left.
The three of them paid for their purchases at the front cashier, then went their separate ways from the store. "See ya later, Midoriya," said Pony.
"You too, Tsunotori. See ya tomorrow," replied Izuku.
"Boom!" came a muffled explosion from parts unknown.
The explosion was so quiet that Izuku almost missed it, but he swore he could have heard such a sound nearby. No one was reacting to the sound and he saw nothing that suggested an explosion had occurred when he looked around. Seeing no evidence, Izuku dismissed it and left without further investigation. As the weekend neared its end, he had returned to the convenience store. To his surprise, he bumped into Nirengeki Shoda and Setsuna Tokage there, both of whom were students of Class 1B.
"Hey guys! What's up?" asked Izuku when he saw them browsing shelves.
"Oh, hi Midoriya!" replied Shoda with a smile.
"Hey!" replied Setsuna, reflecting that same smile.
"Have you seen Tetsu and Kendo anywhere lately?" asked Shoda, who formed a frown of concern on his face.
"No. Are you looking for them? Did they not show up for school today?" asked Izuku.
"Nope. In fact, they never went home last Friday," replied Setsuna.
Izuku eyes widened in shock. "They didn't? What happened?" asked Izuku.
"That's what we'd like to know," replied Shoda. "Their parents are having the police search for them, but no leads have been found."
"The last time I saw them was here in this store. Where could they have gone? Did the security cameras show what happened to them?" asked Izuku.
"That's the thing, the cameras glitched out before they disappeared, so the police couldn't get any good leads. The clerk told them that he saw them here last Friday, but that's all he knew," replied Setsuna.
"Sorry guys, I don't know anything either. If I did, I'd tell you immediately," said Izuku.
"We have little time. We have to get our stuff and head home," said Shoda.
"Sure. Please be careful, especially with all these demon attacks lately," said Izuku.
"We will. See ya!" said Setsuna.
The two went over to the shelves and grabbed the items they wanted. Izuku moved by the milkshake dispensing machine at the front and filled a small cup with vanilla. After placing the lid and the straw, he looked over and his friends were nowhere to be seen, not even at the cashier paying for their purchases. That was when he felt something off about the store, something he could not quite put his finger on. It was a familiar sensation, a change in the environment, but one he could not immediately see.
A telepathic buzz filled Izuku's head. "Izuku, please respond," requested Abel telepathically.
"Hold on. Let me finish up what I'm doing," replied Izuku. He then purchased his items, then moved outside to the alley nearby. "I'm here. What's the matter?" asked Izuku .
"We've detected a Domain at your current location. Surely you must have felt something odd about the area?" asked Abel.
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah. I didn't know what it was at first, so I just dismissed it. My friends told me that over the weekend, some students from UA had disappeared around here," replied Izuku.
"The owner of the Domain must have abducted them from the store. I'm sending reinforcements over. Please wait for them before you rush in," said Abel.
After Izuku returned to the store, a trio of people entered to meet him. All three were wearing hats and medical face masks to conceal their faces, but Izuku recognized them as his teammates Melissa, Danjuro, and Manami. "Hello lad! We're here to help," said Danjuro.
"Let's talk outside in the back," said Manami.
The four Foundation demon hunters went out to the back of the store, where it kept its garbage dumpster. "We heard about the Domain from Abel. We must stop that demon before it abducts any more people," said Danjuro.
"Let's go in," said Manami. The others nodded, then ducked into the nearby alley, where they used their secret powers to shift dimensions into the Domain.
The Foundation's demon hunters were greeted by the sight of Mustafar City itself. Unlike the original, this version had a spectral cast to it which made it look ghostly. The sky itself was darkened by nightfall, but on closer inspection, they could see the tangled tendrils which formed the boundaries of the demon's Domain. It was here they would find the missing students of UA, trapped by the demon as prey.
The team transformed into their Atma Avatars. Altered Beast Werewolf sniffed the air and caught the scent of Tetsu and the others. "They're this way. Come!" he called, waving for the others to follow.
He led them down several streets and alleys to a structure, a beehive made of the same tangled tendrils that formed the boundaries of the Domain. A single hole in the structure allowed access to the interior. Inside, the walls were also made of the same beige tendrils as the outside. By feeding Magatsuhi throughout the structure, these tendrils cast a faint red light over the halls, which kept lit what would otherwise be pitch darkness. Following Altered Beast, the group entered a long hallway.
As they ran down that hall, tendrils came from the wall and began twisting around each other to form a new wall which separated Altered Beast from the others. Beast blasted that wall with Lunar Balls, but the obstacle proved too sturdy to punch through. On the other side, Metal Gear, Plant Zombie, and Queen blasted the wall with everything they could muster, but the wall was just too strong to destroy even with their combined might.
"Continue the mission. Our team will find another way to you," Metal Gear told Beast.
"Okay. We'll meet at the students. Good luck!" replied Altered Beast.
Metal Gear's group backtracked to the previous intersection and took a different path to reach Altered Beast and the students. At the same time, Altered Beast continued deeper into the Domain to follow the scent of his friends. He crossed three more intersections, taking turns where the scent was the strongest. He eventually found the entrance to a large room. Inside the room were Tetsu, Itsuka, Shoda, and Tokage, all pinned to the far wall by tendrils. All four of them were also fast asleep.
"Wake up!" cried Beast as he tried to rouse each of them from their sleep. "WAKE UP!" he screamed at them, but no matter how loudly he cried, they remained fast asleep and unresponsive. If they would not respond to his voice, the only solution was to destroy this Domain's demonic master to free them.
Suddenly, he sensed danger from behind! He dove away just in time to evade a sphere of violet, almighty energy. It struck the ground behind him and exploded. Altered Beast was fortunate that neither he, nor any of his friends, had been harmed by the blast. He looked to the attack's source and saw a woman whose body had patterns which resembled film strips. She had short black hair slicked back and a horseshoe-like emblem on her face above ruby-red lips. The closest thing to an eye for her was a single ruby at the emblem's centre which resembled a drop of blood.
"Maya," growled Beast, remembering this demon from his lessons at the Foundation.
"So you know me. At least this will make things easier," replied the demon.
"Let my friends go, or I'll tear you limb from limb!" demanded Beast.
"Eh, I happen to like where they are now. They seem to enjoy it too. Life is so difficult out there. There has to be an easier way, and luckily, I can provide it. Everyone can live in my dream world, forever and ever. I'll give them their every heart's desire, while they feed me their Magatsuhi in exchange," said Maya.
"That's ridiculous! None of that's real! They're only living a fantasy. Real achievement takes hard work and dedication," scolded Beast.
"That's just the fastest road to disappointment and failure. My way is easier. You'll see," said Maya.
Maya charged at Altered Beast, who dove left, narrowly evading her punch. Her fist struck the wall instead, but she quickly recovered and was upon Beast once again. He blocked the blow and got pushed back despite digging into the ground to halt his backward momentum. She followed him and punched him in the right side of the mouth. As he reeled back, she came in for another punch, but Altered Beast went low, evading the blow and raking her below the left ribs. As she stumbled back from being wounded, he connected a Lunar Kick which sent her hurtling forward.
She bounced along the ground before landing sprawled on the ground. She got back onto her knees, then Altered Beast hurled a Lunar Ball at her. She rolled away from the attack, letting it hit the ground behind her harmlessly. She hurled a powerful almighty orb which exploded behind Beast as he tried to leap away. Some of the almighty energy still made contact and disintegrated small patches of his fur and flesh, leaving him wincing in pain on the ground. He soon blacked out.
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Later on, Izuku felt something or someone tapping his face. "Ow..." groaned Izuku.
"Hey kid, wake up! I thought I lost you there!" said All Might, who was rapping his face to wake him. "Sorry about getting you caught up in my heroics. Normally, I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but this city's sewer system is pretty tough to navigate!"
Izuku found himself on the sidewalk after having regained consciousness. He noticed that he was in his junior high uniform, the black one for Alderaan Junior High. When he thought back to the date, it was the previous year, before he went to the Mustafar Mall and got caught up in the MLA bombing. It was like he had gone back in time, back to his days as a Quirkless junior high school student. His meeting with Abel and becoming Altered Beast seemed like a dream.
"Are you okay, kid? Say something! Don't leave me hanging!" said All Might.
"I'm sorry All Might. I have a lot on my mind," replied Izuku.
All Might smiled and gave Izuku a thumbs-up. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I don't want to be rude, but I gotta get this guy to the police so they can take care of him," said All Might, patting a plastic soda bottle filled with a green sludge with eyes, a villain with a mutation Quirk that made his body like slime. "Take care!"
As All Might leapt away to deliver the villain, he found that Izuku had clung onto his leg. "Wait All Might! I have to know something. Please answer me!" said Izuku.
"I love my fans but this is a bit much!" remarked All Might upon noticing him there.
"Please All Might! Please answer me!" begged Izuku as the the fierce winds deformed his face.
"Alright! We'll talk on that roof ahead," said All Might, finally relenting. He landed there and allowed Izuku some time to calm down and catch his breath. "What was it that you wanted know?" All Might asked.
"I... I want to know, is it possible to be a hero if I don't have a Quirk?" asked Izuku.
"Of course! I've teamed up with more than a few heroes who either don't have a Quirk, or don't have one suited for combat. They tend to do support work and rescues, but that doesn't make them any less of a hero," replied All Might. "That's a pretty strange question. Why did you want to ask?"
"I was born Quirkless. I don't have any powers, but I want to be a hero. Is it possible for me to become a hero, even though I don't have a Quirk?" asked Izuku.
"Of course! You can be a hero, but realistically, you'd have to go into support. You should focus on rescues and helping people in disasters instead of tackling villains. Honestly, you should never try to take a villain head-on unless you have a good Quirk for that," said All Might.
Izuku felt ambivalent about that. His heroic aspirations involved fighting villains like All Might did, but without a strong combat-oriented Quirk, it was just too dangerous. However, his dream was still salvageable. As All Might suggested, he should learn how to make rescues and leave riskier villain confrontations to the more combat-ready heroes. As Izuku pondered this, he saw All Might break out into a coughing fit, spewing blood from his mouth.
"Are you okay All Might?" asked Izuku, alarmed to see this from the Symbol of Peace.
In a puff of smoke, All Might became shrivelled and emaciated. Witnessing this sudden change left Izuku's mouth agape. "Shocked? This is what I look like normally," replied All Might, much more modestly than before.
"What happened? It's like you deflated!" remarked a shocked Izuku.
"You know how guys at the pool flex and puff up to look buff? That's me," admitted All Might. Even seeing this with his own eyes, Izuku still could not believe it. The towering, invincible hero he idolized had become gaunt and skeletal. "I know what you're thinking," said All Might, sitting down by the protective railing. "I'm supposed to be the guy who always smiles, who's never afraid, but truth is, there's a lot of fear behind that smile. It's all an act to keep me going when it gets rough. Please keep it a secret."
All Might lifted his shirt to expose a mangled scar on the left side of his stomach. It had steel plates implanted to maintain its shape. "Ah!" remarked Izuku, who grimaced in disgust at the sight of it.
"Pretty gross, right? I got this five years ago in a fight. My whole stomach is gone and my respiratory system is a mess. The surgery had worn me down and it can't be fixed. Now, I can only do heroics for three hours at a time. The rest of the time, I look like this," revealed All Might.
"Was it Toxic Chainsaw?" asked Izuku.
"You sure know your stuff kid, but no, it wasn't him. He couldn't bring me down. It was another guy," replied All Might.
Izuku had a feeling that foe was All For One, the only villain he knew of with enough power to match All Might. All Might got up and headed to the nearby roof access door. "I have to deliver this villain to the police. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
All Might went down the roof access stairs when he noticed an explosion outside from a window. He searched for the bottle with the sludge villain and found it was not there any more. That was when he realized that the bottle had fallen out of his pocket during his encounter with the kid. It likely happened when he made the jump and the kid clung on to ask him a question. The villain must have gotten free of the bottle by now and was now continuing his reign of terror.
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Later on, Izuku ran towards where he had seen the explosion from the roof. He joined the crowd which had gathered by the entrance of an alley which had been set on fire. The sludge villain was there and had taken a hostage. It was Katsuki Bakugo! It was no wonder the alley was on fire. Bakugo was using his Explosion Quirk to blast his way out of the villain's body, but caused massive collateral damage as he thrashed about futilely. One of the heroes, Death Arms, went in to punch the villain, but his fist got blunted by the villain's fluid body.
"Damn! If only I had more power! I'd have dispersed that villain!" cursed Death Arms.
"There's too much fire for me! All I can do is rescue people!" said Kamui Woods, who started carrying nearby civilians away from the fire while another pro hero dressed as a fire fighter was trying to put them out.
Even Mt. Lady tried to enter the alley, but it was too narrow and her attempt would only cause more harm by knocking parts down from the surrounding buildings. If she shrank herself to normal size, she would be no different than a normal person. Since the pro heroes were not able to aid Bakugo, Izuku took it upon himself to do that himself and ran in. "Wait! What are you doing? Don't be an idiot!" cried Kamui Woods.
Izuku got into range and tossed his backpack into the eyes of the sludge villain. With him distracted from being blinded, he attempted to dig Bakugo out of the sludge, but the villain kept a firm grip over the boy no matter how hard Izuku tried to dislodge him. That was when All Might ran into the alley and punched the villain with a Detroit Smash! The sheer power behind the blow created a whirlwind and caused a small bit of rain to fall over the area. The sludge villain had been scattered all over the alley, which freed Bakugo.
As the pro heroes and police took control of the area, Izuku got taken aside for a stern lecture from the heroes. "That was very reckless, kid! You could've gotten killed pulling a stunt like that!" scolded Kamui Woods.
Eventually, they released Izuku and he went home. As he passed through a back road surrounded by houses, the sun started to set. Suddenly, All Might burst into the back road. "I am here!" announced All Might.
Izuku was stunned. "All Might? How did you get away from all those reporters?" asked Izuku.
He simply chuckled. "I stand for justice, not sound bites!" he replied, only to revert back into his shrivelled form and cough out blood.
"Young man, I am here because I have more to say to you. You see, had you not rushed into that fight, I would've been just another helpless bystander at the alley," said All Might.
Izuku cast his gaze downward. "I just got in the way," said Izuku.
"No! When I saw this timid, Quirkless boy moving to save a life, I was inspired to act too. There are stories about how each hero became great, but one thing they all had in common was that their body moved before they could think. That's why I deem you worthy to inherit my mantle, and my power," said All Might.
Izuku was puzzled. "Wait, what?" asked Izuku.
"You heard me right. I want you to take my place as the next Symbol of Peace," replied All Might. "I wasn't born with my power. Somebody gave it me."
"They gave it to you?" asked Izuku, surprised to learn this about All Might's Quirk.
"Yes. It's a sacred torch passed down to me and now, it's your turn," replied All Might. "People guess that my Quirk is 'Super Strength,' or some form of 'Invulnerability,' but that is not the case. My real Quirk is 'One For All.' I can give you my powers, and that's just one facet of my many abilities."
"Many people tried to guess what your Quirk is, but they never get it right. It's one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Quirks are supposed to be unique to each person, but now there's a power that can be transferred to someone else? That changes everything I know about Quirks!" muttered Izuku.
"You're overthinking this! Stop!" scolded All Might. "Adjust your perception and accept this new truth."
"If you're willing to pass your power onto me, then I humbly accept," said Izuku, bowing to his soon-to-be mentor.
"No hesitation... That's good," remarked All Might.
From that point on, Izuku carried out a strict training regimen at Dagoba Beach. Although most of the beach was clean, one particular area was a mess. The locals had used it as a dumping ground for old furniture and appliances despite dumping being illegal. As his training, Izuku began to haul the garbage away to restore the beauty of the beach. Through the months of training and hauling this garbage, he built up strength and stamina until he developed a noticeably muscular physique for a boy his age.
When that job was done, All Might came to greet him. "I'm impressed, young Midoriya! The beach is clean and you've develop your body enough to contain my power. Eat this and take my power as your own," said All Might, who presented Izuku with a strand of his hair.
Izuku had consumed the hair, but did not feel anything noticeably different. "Ugggh! My stomach's in knots," said Izuku.
All Might chuckled. "Your body needs time to process the hair. That should take about three or four hours. We'll come back tomorrow to begin training," said All Might. When that time came, mentor and apprentice reunited. "To use my power, clench your butt cheeks and yell from the depths of your heart, 'SMASH,' then clamp down and push it all over your body evenly. Don't let too much get into one area, or it's gonna mess you up."
Izuku reached deep within himself and found the core of power hidden beyond the veil. It started to release energy as bright green arcs of electricity. It was getting too great, so Izuku spread out the release evenly across his body. In the physical world, his body became surrounded by green electricity. The initial release had caused some minor burns which stung, but by quickly putting on the brakes, he had prevented an excessive release which would have caused more severe injury.
"I'm doing it!" said Izuku feeling the power coursing throughout his body. He could feel some minor pressure on his body, but he could handle it due to how low he was keeping his output. "I'm only using 1%, but ow! I can feel the strain on my body!"
All Might chuckled. "If you went any higher, your limbs would shoot right off!" said All Might. "Try going on a leisurely jog with the power on. I'll follow behind."
As Izuku made a jog along the beach, he reached a flight of stairs within seconds, when before, it would take minutes. All Might continued the training by having Izuku lift garbage such as old refrigerators as weights. Before, he struggled to lift them, but now, he could easily get them all the way over his head. His overall strength had doubled at the very least. Izuku continued to lift weights before switching to punching a padded post. Before One For All, he could not even shake the thing. With it, every hit caused the post to shudder.
"Good work, young Midoriya. You have a good base for your entrance exam at UA," said All Might. "All that's left is to ace that test and get accepted."
"I will do you proud!" assured Izuku, standing at attention.
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The day of UA High's entrance exam came with dozens of hopefuls entering the hall to take the written test. An hour went by with everyone jotting down their answers before the proctors claimed their sheets. Afterwards, they were taken by bus to various mock cities for simulating real world situations. The cities were true to the real thing and could easily pass as one, except that they had no one living in them. This was where they would conduct a practical test of the candidates' abilities.
As the hopefuls waited by the gate, Izuku remembered what the proctor, Present Mic, told them about how the test would play out. The students were spread out among various sites to prevent students from the same school working together. In each site were several robots of varying sizes and point values with larger and stronger robots being worth more points. There was also one extremely large robot, but it was worth nothing for unknown reasons. Present Mic had recommended that this particular robot be avoided.
"Okay kids, the test is about to start in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go!" announced Present Mic.
The gate to the testing site swung open and all of the students rushed in. Using his newly acquired One For All Quirk, Izuku dashed into the area ahead of most of the pack and turned right at the first intersection in search of robots. He could not find any, so climbed up a fire escape to acquire a higher vantage point to search for them. He eventually found one moving along the road to the east and jumped down to the nearby alley on a beeline for it. Once close, he punched a large dent into the machine, crippling it and scoring three points.
Izuku continued his way east and found a robot worth one point according to the number painted on its side. He dashed over and punched the robot to scrap, scoring another point. He continued further eastward and found a two-point robot on the street. He ran over and punched it down, bringing his points up to six. After searching the east, he found no more live robots, only the remains of ones felled by other, faster students. Seeing nothing here, he backtracked via another street.
He found Tetsu ahead, having busted down a three point robot by punching it down with his metal-loaded fists. Another three point robot was moving towards his back, but he was not aware of it. "Watch out!" he called to him, rushing over and smashing the robot to prevent it from blindsiding him.
"Whoa!" Tetsu remarked, once he noticed the robot being smashed by Izuku.
"Are you okay? That robot nearly got you from behind!" asked Izuku.
"Yeah, thanks man!" replied Tetsu.
"Okay! Good luck!" said Izuku, before running elsewhere as this location was already being harvested by other students like Tetsu.
He found a lone two-point robot which he promptly smashed, putting his score up to eight. Izuku kept running around and destroying robots until he had obtained twenty points. As Izuku returned to the main street, some of the buildings started to collapse. The zero-point robot, the largest of them all, had emerged from the rubble. It rammed one of the nearby, still intact buildings and levelled it, creating a massive dust cloud which blew towards a mass of hopefuls. Seeing this monstrosity advance, they decided to run the opposite way.
Izuku was about to do so as well when the dust cleared. He noticed Ochako Uraraka on top of some robotic scrap, right in the robot's path. She was drained and looked pale and nauseous, unable to move. Izuku rushed to her side to check on her and carry her away if need be. The robot inched its way ever closer to them and time was running out. His rescue would take too long and both of them would be squashed.
Seeing no other option, he employed a burst of power to leap up high, then deliver the most powerful punch he could muster to the face. The metal head caved in from the sheer power behind the blow, its metal crunching and an internal fire igniting. Though he had delivered a mighty blow, Izuku had broken his legs to make his jump, then his right arm upon delivery of the punch. What went up eventually came down, and Izuku started to descend.
"I overdid it! Now I'm gonna die!" thought Izuku. As he fell, Uraraka mustered the stamina to slap him and trigger her Quirk, causing him to float momentarily, then descend slowly and softly.
Moments later, the buzzer sounded the end of the test. The students gathered around him and Uraraka, who had vomited from the vertigo resulting from the overuse of her Quirk. They were repulsed at Izuku's condition, lying mangled and immobile on the ground. The elderly nurse, Recovery Girl, came over to distribute candy to the students after a hard fought test. She found Izuku on the ground and gave him a kiss, which activated her Quirk to heal him. In just seconds, Izuku had received months of recovery time and could walk again, though he was very fatigued from the healing.
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When he returned home and awaited the results of his test, he was anxious. He had gotten twenty points from felling robots, which he doubted was enough to pass the practical against so many hopefuls. As far as the written test was concerned, he was confident that he could beat the cut off. Eventually, the fated day arrived. "Izuku, you got a letter! It's from UA!" cried Inko when she returned with the mail from the front desk of the apartment building.
Izuku received the letter and took it to his room to read. He tore open the letter and found a small disc-like object, a holographic projector with a prerecorded message. Izuku pressed the button on the underside and an image of All Might appeared. "Boo ya! I am here as a projection now!" announced All Might.
Izuku's eyes widened. "All Might? You're giving me my results?" asked Izuku.
"Greetings young Midoriya. I didn't come here just to beat villains. You're looking at UA's new faculty member!" announced All Might.
Izuku's jaw dropped. "Whoa! You're teaching at UA next year?" asked Izuku.
"Now, onto your results. You passed the written part, but your practical was where you really shined," said All Might's recording.
"Huh? How?" asked Izuku, puzzled to hear that from his idol.
"The practical wasn't just graded on beating villains. There were also rescue points. Judges rated you on how willing you were to help others in distress, even though you were competitors. For that, you earned 60 rescue points, the highest score out of all the candidates," said All Might.
The hologram displayed a listing of the top ten candidates from the practical entrance test. The top scorer was himself with 20 villain points and 60 rescue points for a total of 80. Just after him was Katsuki Bakugo with 77 points, all in the villain category, but nothing for rescues. Eijiro Kirishima took third with 39 villain points and 35 rescue points, a nearly even mix in both categories. Ochako Uraraka got fourth place with 28 villain points and 45 rescue points for a total of 73 points. Not only did Izuku pass, he was the top candidate for admission into UA.
"Wow! I can't believe it! I'm going to UA!" cheered Izuku, thrusting his arms into the air triumphantly.
"Wake up, Beast!" demanded a mechanical, but familiar female voice. "Wake up!"
"What?" asked Izuku. "Wake up? Wait a minute..."
Izuku remembered that the last thing he was doing was fighting the demon Maya. "Wake up! Maya has you under a spell! Wake up!" a different, but muffled female voice cried.
"Wait... Is that you Queen?" asked Izuku, remembering the voice as belonging to Manami Aiba, who had the Standing Persona "Kingdom of Hearts," and was a member of his team.
"Wake up! We need your assistance!" cried Metal Gear.
At that moment, the world around him became fuzzy and began fading. This world, one where he inherited All Might's Quirk, was nothing more than a dream, an illusion to placate him. With this realization, the illusion held no more sway over him and could only fade away like mist. After a brief moment of seeing only black, he regained consciousness and found himself pinned to a wall via some of the tendrils of a Domain. He was not human any longer, but was in the Werewolf form of Altered Beast.
He saw his friends before him, Metal Gear, Plant Zombie, and Queen, gathered together and facing down Maya. He quickly burst out of the tendrils and ran to their side to join them. "It took you long enough! I was worried you wouldn't wake up!" remarked Queen.
"Jolly good fortune, my boy!" remarked Plant Zombie.
"I'm with you. Let's go!" replied Altered Beast.
Maya began the fight by hurling an almighty orb at them. The group promptly scattered and evaded the disintegrating explosion. Queen manifested the Kingdom of Hearts, then aimed several hearts over her team. This spell lit all of them in auras of pink, thereby increasing her allies' power. Metal Gear fired bullets at Maya, who attempted to evade them, yet got nicked in the arm anyway. Plant Zombie sprayed a cloud of pollen at her, which she moved back, then aside to escape.
The pollen continued its slow, but inevitable spread and eventually filled a section of the room and blocked it off from her. Beast hurled Lunar Balls at her, but Maya kept leaping away to dodge them, then jump kicked Metal Gear to the ground. He switched to the Werebear and began spraying petrification breath. Maya got grazed by it on the leg while leaping to evade. Rock started to cure over her shin and spread outward. It eventually pinned her leg to the ground and forced her to take a moment to wrench it free.
Altered Beast became the Werewolf and tagged her with a Lunar Kick, knocking her into the pollen cloud at the back of the room. She accidentally inhaled and started to gag as the pollen clogged her nostrils and oesophagus. He returned to Werebear form, then directed petrification gas onto her, which started to form rock on the legs, spreading up to her torso, then finishing by petrifying her head. With her encased in rock, he rolled into a ball and sped towards her. The impact smashed her to pieces.
Without her to maintain the Domain, it soon collapsed and spit everyone out to the back of the store by the dumpsters. A store worker had gone out to dump trash and saw everyone there. "AH!" he cried as he dropped the trash and fled.
"Let's move the students to a safer place. How about the park?" asked Queen.
"Sure. Abel can have demons watch them as they awaken," replied Beast.
The Foundation demon hunters teleported with the students to the park, where they left them on benches to sleep peacefully under the watch of local Spade Merc demons. They returned to report the successful completion of the mission to Abel, with Izuku mentioning the dream Maya had put him under. Abel stroked his chin as he heard the story. "That's quite a dream you had, being the next Symbol of Peace," remarked Abel.
"Now that I think of it, how close was my dream to reality? Does All Might really have a transferable Quirk?" asked Izuku.
"It's possible. When I saw him at Kamino and the Mustafar Waterworks, I didn't see a Quirk on him. At I-Island, that wasn't the case. He did in fact have a Quirk," replied Abel.
This piqued Melissa's curiosity since she knew All Might for so long, but did not know the true nature of his Quirk. "What did it do?" asked Melissa.
"Well, from what I saw of it, it allowed him to accumulate energy, which was what sustained his musculature. I assume that sometime between I-Island and Kamino, he had given away the Quirk. He must have done so in case he fell against All For One," replied Abel.
"Surely it must have been a dream, right? It can't be real!" asked Izuku.
"The best illusions have a foundation in reality. Maya certainly knows this and constructed her illusion accordingly. Some of the things you learned in the dream might actually be true in reality," replied Abel.
Izuku stroked his chin. "I see. If you're correct, and All Might can really transfer his Quirk, who has it now?" asked Izuku.
At Mustafar Park, Tetsu was asleep on a park bench when suddenly, he sneezed. His uncontrollable fit forced him awake to see that he was not at home. From the trees, the lamps, and the presence of the daimyo statue, he concluded that he was at Mustafar Park. He saw the other students who had been kidnapped by Maya asleep on nearby benches. "Oh man! I hope I'm not coming down with something," he remarked as he crossed his arms over his shivering body to retain heat.
END OF CHAPTER