Dad For One

Chapter 36 - Kurogiri

He'd been following a pretty straight path since escaping from the Jaku hospital, even an idiot could see he had a destination in mind yet All Might didn't know what that was yet. It didn't matter either, since he was going to stop him before he could ever reach the place. With one big jump, he flew over to where the teen was wreaking havoc, watching his step as he landed as a black spear-like vine nearly missed his leg.

Izuku's body was floating in the air, seemingly dangling there peacefully. If it wasn't for the black tendrils that ran rampant around him, as well as several layers of what one could only assume were other quirks to protect him and attack those who disturbed him, you'd almost say he was unconscious. Almost. It was clear his eyes were open, even if his pupils had gone white completely. There wasn't the usual green spark he always had when activating his quirk, just...emptiness...

He looked just like his father, All Might noted, like the All For One he faced with his master so many years ago. Back when he was simply a student, when he wasn't ready to face this monster. But now their roles have been reversed. Now All Might was the fully grown-up and established hero and Izuku was the student who couldn't fully control his quirk yet. It was the first time an opportunity like this presented itself. A chance to strike down AFO once and for all! He had to take it.

"Midoriya my boy! Why don't you come down here so we can have a nice long chat with our fists?!" All Might yelled up at him, earning his attention. The tendrils shifted, the quirks around him growing even more chaotic as Izuku's lifeless eyes fell on the number one hero. Beyond all the panic he was feeling, he wondered how he hadn't passed out already. Izuku didn't feel in control of his body anymore, felt like he was simply watching things unfold from the other side of the screen, unable to interact, to put a halt to things.

It'd been that way ever since he stole that protection hero's quirk. All For One had taken over completely once his body short circuited with panic and stress and was now executing his subconscious thoughts and desires. Maybe Izuku had passed out back then and this was all just a stress induced dream? It had to be. Otherwise the sight of All Might standing there, ready to fight him, to kill him- It would have driven him nuts, made him faint for sure.

Yet here he was, feeling numb. Like he was floating in the eye of the storm, raging chaos and panic all around him, so much so that it barely had any effects on him anymore. He wondered how it would feel to just...dip his hand in there. To touch all of the soaring emotions. Would his heart start racing? Would his breathing pick up? Probably. He should probably be feeling all those things right now, even without touching the stream.

So why was his body calm? Why was he feeling nothing at all? As if... As if his mind and body were separated from one another... Maybe that's why he couldn't move, why he didn't even flinch as All Might lunged at him, ready to strike, ready to end it all. Maybe that's why he didn't react when Aizawa sensei came into view, yelling things he couldn't hear, couldn't understand. And maybe that's why, when he was finally on top of All Might- ready to take One For All from him, ready to be complete again- he didn't feel sorry at all.

And maybe, probably, it was the reason that, when someone else tried to stop him, he attacked them instead. Izuku didn't know who it was before All For One latched onto them. He could barely make out the wispy black smoke of their body as it shifted before his eyes into something else, something softer, something blue. Then the realisation hit, of who he was attacking, of the consequences of his actions.

Everything came rushing back to him as Kurogiri dropped to the ground in front of him, the smoke drained from his body, leaving a boy behind that couldn't possibly be older than himself. But... But Kurogiri was a grown man... H-he was at home, taking care of everyone, he couldn't... He couldn't be here! He couldn't be this- this kid! He couldn't- Izuku couldn't have hurt him! He couldn't- He shouldn't- The shock of it all somehow brought him back down to earth, fused his mind and body back together.

For a moment everything was silent as everyone stared at the scene. Izuku could vaguely hear the sound of the helicopter in the distance, the voices of heroes that had come to stop him, but they were faint. Tears welled up in his eyes as everything came crashing down upon him. As his knees buckled, forcing him onto the ground, time seemed to slow down. He escaped the doctor, he killed those Nomu, he destroyed a city-

Izuku sucked in a shaky breath, his throat still hurting from the breathing machine he was attached to only hours ago, as he allowed everything to sink in. He didn't have much time to do so though, because a moment later he was pulled up by the scruff of his shirt and pushed on his back, the giant figure of the number one hero looming over him, ready to strike. But he hesitated. Izuku could see it in his eyes, although not very clearly through his tears. All Might was hesitating...

"Izuku!"

He blinked, his head falling to the side as he saw his dad run up to them. Or at least, try to. The rubble around them was a mess and hard to move through, let alone at high speeds. Izuku wanted to call out, to reach out for him, but his energy was quickly draining his body, his eyelids growing heavier by the second. So now was the time his body decided to pass out on him huh? After everything that happened, this was the moment it decided to break... The traitor...

He could hear other voices as his vision faded to black, could feel the pressure being lifted off his chest as he dozed off into unconsciousness. And then there was light. A bright white light that blinded his eyes before everything around him came into focus. Izuku blinked, finding himself in a big open space, figures and silhouettes in all different kinds of shapes, sizes and colours lined up in rows in front of him.

"It sure is something, isn't it?"

The voice didn't sound spoken, more like a direct communication into his mind, which made him turn his head to the side to find his father standing next to him. The man wasn't looking at him though, no, he kept his eyes trained on the wisps in front of them.
"Where are we?" Izuku asked, but deep down he already knew the answer. He'd never seen it like this before, but this feeling told him it couldn't possibly be anything else.

"We're within All For One" Hisashi answered, motioning forward towards the lined up people.
"These are the All, you are the One. All of them, all of their quirks, they are all at your disposal... I must admit, you made quite the extension to my collection"
The figures moved, or did they move? It was hard to tell when everything was suddenly turning, coming to a stop in front of a familiar face.

Well, it wasn't a familiar face, but it was a familiar quirk. Stain's quirk, to be exact. Except it wasn't Stain standing here. It was someone else, someone younger, more fragile looking.
"His family asked me to dispose of their son's quirk. They saw it as a curse. This was back in the era when quirks first became apparent" Hisashi explained.
"I later handed it down to someone else, someone who'd later become the Hero Killer. But you've brought the quirk back to us"

"I never meant to do that" Izuku whispered.
"I know, but that doesn't change what happened" his dad told him. That was a fact. Izuku couldn't possibly change the past, couldn't give this quirk back to Stain even if he wanted to.
"I took the quirks of all those Nomu, too" Izuku breathed, feeling the reassuring hand of his father on his shoulder.
"You did"

"And of the heroes that came to stop me"
"Those too" Hisashi hummed, waving his hand, making the room spin again until the silhouettes of those heroes were lined up in front of them. Izuku clenched his fists by his side, not wanting to look aside to the person last in line. It wasn't a person Izuku wanted to see here, nor would he be in the form he recognized, the image of the man Izuku saw as a second father.

"Kurogiri stepped in of his own volition" Hisashi told him, but Izuku could sense it wasn't meant to be comforting. It was just a simple truth.
"It's the first time he disobeyed one of my direct orders... So I guess he wasn't the perfect servant after all... Ah well, he was better than all the others we created, I'll give him that"
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, feeling a chill run up his spine.

"Kurogiri was one of the first Nomu the doctor and I created together" Hisashi explained.
"It's how the doctor was able to contact me, by using the connection he still had with Kurogiri. He was a test, really. To see if we could alter someone's body, their quirk, to see if we could make them obedient... But he moved on his own, after I told him to stop"
After he said that, his father looked at him for the first time in their conversation.

"He must've really cared about you, Izuku"

With that, his vision faded to black.