A few weeks ago.
"The core?" All Might lifted an eyebrow.
"The core," Izuku nodded.
"Wait, let me get this straight," All Might set down his tea on his office table, "you want to awaken the quirks of previous users by looking for the... core of One For All?"
Izuku rolled his hand into a fist, "If I can awaken the other quirks, I can become stronger, and less people will get hurt when the fight with All For One comes."
"But finding the core, is that even possible? Does that exist?"
"I'm sure it's there. The previous holders mentioned it once or twice, and... how do I explain this... There's this room. A realm, inside One For All, where all the previous holders gather their power. It's just a subconscious manifestation but..."
"Halt," All Might held up a hand and Izuku's mouth froze mid-word.
"Please slow down and calmly tell me the information without muttering, please."
"Oh, sorry," Izuku rubbed his neck in embarrassment and took a deep breath.
"The nature of One For All is stockpiling power," the boy reasoned, "and the conference room where the users gather proves that the quirk has some sort of center where all the power, all the quirks, and all the users' consciousnesses are merged."
"... So you think that every time we use One For All, the power comes from a concentrated core?"
Izuku nodded.
All Might gazed at his tea thoughtfully. "It makes sense, but how are you going to find the core? It's can't possibly be a physical location in your body."
"No, but I've used the other quirks before. I know how it feels. I'm gonna try forcibly awakening them," green lightning gathered around Izuku's body, "I just need to trace back and find the source of this power."
"Is it working so far?" All Might asked.
"I've tried meditating, practicing with my quirk, but... Not really."
The hero sighed.
"Don't search for the source of the quirk's power," All Might placed a bony hand on the boy's shoulder, then chuckled, "I have no idea what's going on in your crazy head, but what I do know is that you must search for the source of your own power. When you've found what drives you, you'll find the quirks and the core you're looking for."
•••
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT??!!!! Eraser, please explain!"
"You're destroying my ears, Mic," Aizawa muttered at the blond next to him, but he was equally as shocked at the sight.
The crowd had mixed reactions. Most gasped in surprise and awe. Many cheered in excitement at the new turn of events. Some shouts of fear could be heard.
In the little corner where class 1-A sat, the students stared at the scene, jaws open and eyes wide.
Bakugo stood up from his seat.
Uraraka's hands covered her mouth.
Todoroki sat up straighter.
In a corridor at ground level, All Might peered at his successor.
"Holy..." The hero breathed, "You did not prepare me for this, young Midoriya."
A hurricane of black whip-like tendrils lashed and flurried and exploded around the green-haired boy.
Midoriya blinked a few times and stumbled, "What the...HOLY FREAKING SHIT!!!" His eyes flew wide open in shock at the black tendrils around him.
Then the pain registered. Izuku crumpled to the ground as his veins burned and Blackwhip tore through his right hand.
Shinso quickly took a few steps back as the chaotic black mess slashed closer to him.
"What is this, hero course guy?!" Shinso activated his quirk again. He had a feeling that he would be seriously hurt if he didn't stop Midoriya, "You've been holding back?!"
Izuku forced his mouth open despite the pain. He needed Shinso's help to keep the quirk -- Blackwhip -- under control.
"I'm trying!"
His mind blanked, but not even an instant later, his mind cleared again and the pain pierced through him.
"Stop your quirk!" Shinso ordered, but he shuddered when he realized his brainwash quirk didn't register. The black whips didn't stop.
"It didn't work?!" Shinso gritted his teeth when he realized what happened. His quirk is broken by any strong external force. The black tendrils were so forceful that they must've broken apart his brainwash before it even fully settled in.
Izuku had realized the same thing. Shinso's quirk was still weak at this time, while Blackwhip was just as crazy. Izuku grimaced in pain, still kneeling on the ground, his body quaking.
"Midoriya looks like he's in pain. He's not voluntarily doing this." Midnight said as she caught a glimpse of the boy through the black storm, her voice concerned. She tugged slightly on her sleeve and prepared to use her quirk, "if this gets worse... someone is gonna get hurt." She watched as the tendrils struck deep crevices into the cement ground.
The audience was starting to get confused as to what was happening underneath the flurry of dark streaks.
Pain exploded from Izuku's arm. It was getting worse by the second.
He looked up from his arm and saw the blinding, flashing colors of the stadium behind the whirling black whips.
Then a few people caught his eye amidst the chaos.
All Might, gripping the corner of the wall, staring at him with determination.
Kacchan had stood up sometime. Izuku's friends and classmates gawked at him, with awe but also with concern.
"What the HELL are you doing DEKU?!!" Bakugo yelled. Despite the drowning noise of the audience, Izuku heard him clearly.
Yeah, what in the world am I doing... Izuku gritted his teeth, then closed his eyes and tried to breathe.
Memories washed upon him like a wave. Familiar feelings of One For All, familiar faces and voices.
He remembered the time when he swung from buildings with Blackwhip and Todoroki had commented that he looked like Spiderman, and Izuku burst out laughing.
He remembered when Sero and Tsuyu told him to control the tendrils as if controlling a muscle, or a body part.
He remembered all the times when he failed, but practiced again.
He remembered the first time Blackwhip manifested and gone berserk. He remembered Uraraka holding on to him, screaming, calm down, you got this, I believe in you.
Izuku took a few more deep breaths, then exhaled. The pain subsided.
He opened his eyes and slowly stood up again, and saw that Blackwhip had calmed down and only surrounded Izuku's right arm.
On the judge's podium, Midnight let out a breath of relief and her hand released her sleeve, falling back to her side.
Izuku looked back at All Might. The hero looked relieved and shot him a big thumbs-up.
Bakugo sat back down.
Izuku looked down at his feet and saw the border of the arena only a couple of inches away. He turned toward Shinso.
The general course student flinched as Izuku suddenly burst forward, green lightning flashing.
"So... so all that crazy, black stuff was just a joke? You --" Shinso's words were cut off as he felt himself being flung to the side like a spinning top.
Blackwhip released the boy, and Shinso rolled sideways.
Once the world stopped tumbling, Shinso pulled himself up, his head spinning.
"What the..." Shinso blinked as he realized he was flung all the way off the arena.
It all happened so quickly.
Midnight snapped her whip and declared the match to an end, "Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to the next round!"
The audience exploded into cheers and applause.
Izuku took a deep breath, and Blackwhip vanished.
"Shinso!" The green-haired boy called.
Shinso glared at him, still dusting off his sports shirt.
"Join the hero course," Izuku said simply with a warm smile.
Shinso's eyes widened, but then he scoffed, "Tried that at the entrance exam, didn't work."
"The school and the world now thinks otherwise," Izuku replied, "It's still your dream, I know you can be an awesome hero."
"Shut up and mind your own business, won't you?" Shinso turned away.
"Well--"
Izuku's mind blanked. Of course Shinso brainwashed him.
The purple-haired boy ambled to the corridor, a sense of defeat looming upon him.
"HEY HITOSHI!"
He looked up at the sound of his friends.
"Way to go, man!" "You made us Gen Ed kids proud!" "Oh my gawd, did you hear those pro heroes over there? They're so impressed by your quirk!"
The boy blinked a few times, then smiled and released Midoriya's brainwash.
Shinso turned back toward the winner, "I'll fight you again, and I'll shove you snotty entrance exam students off your thrones when I get in the hero course."
Izuku grinned, "As if I'll lose."
And of course, his mind blanked again.
•••
"That was crazy." All Might commented while they walked in the corridor to Recovery Girl's room to heal Izuku's arm, still sore from the earlier pain.
"Couldn't have phrased it better," Izuku sighed, "I don't know how I'm gonna explain to the school what happened."
"Got that covered," All Might grinned and punched Izuku on the shoulder, "you inconsiderate brat."
"OW! Wait, you got it covered?"
"Texted Aizawa. Aizawa announced to the entire stadium -- not too explicitly, of course -- how Blackwhip was just a stronger, more concentrated manifestation of your strength-enhancing quirk. The nation will listen to your homeroom teacher."
Izuku nodded and thanked All Might. He kept on forgetting that Aizawa was also in the announcer booth since Mic was always the only one screaming.
"It surprised me a lot," All Might continued, "when you described Blackwhip to me, I never imagined it to be like that."
"Well, now you've seen it," Izuku smiled softly, but then he suddenly felt something wrong and stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" All Might frowned, his skeleton face crinkling.
Izuku tried to breathe but felt his heart sink in the effort. He released a small thread of Blackwhip from his shivering hand.
"I-- Oh no," Izuku looked up at All Might and the hero tensed at the overwhelming dread from the boy's gaze.
"I made a huge mistake," the boy whispered.
All Might stared at him intently, then down at the Blackwhip quirk. Realization struck.
"He--" Izuku stammered, his voice broken and fragile like a brittle leaf.
"He knows."
•••
In the darkness, only the cold, dim light from the digital monitor lit the man's gnarly face.
He smiled.
"Welcome back... One For All."