[A/N: Ignore the grape shit in the picture above.]
Izuku finds himself waking up on the very familiar looking rooftop carve within his mindscape. The same rooftop where he saw the mysterious figures. The same rooftop where he awakened Tendrils. The very same rooftop where he met and bound souls with Alex and gained the Blacklight virus and converted it into a quirk.
This rooftop brought different emotions into him but the most notable was the feeling that Alex gave him... Hope. For him to be pulled away from the darkness and be given the light to continue his journey was something that Izuku will always be grateful for Alex and James, the latter for giving him the ability of Tendrils and Pack Leader at his disposal.
As he rose up to his feet, he wondered why he was in his mindscape. But his curiosity was halted when he heard shouting near his location.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! IF I WERE ALIVE RIGHT NOW, I WOULD'VE KILLED YOU AGAIN!!"
"Oh, James. You know damn well that I let you win in our last fight."
Looking over at the direction of the shouts, Izuku saw Alex and James standing near the edge of the building. The former has his arms crossed, leaning on the railing of the roof while the latter was in front of the former with his fist clenched in front of his face, visibly shaking as a tick mark can be seen on his shaved head.
Izuku could see Alex having an amused expression while James wore a glare towards the prototype. Though, he was confused how Alex could be here. If his memories weren't playing with, Alex already passed to the afterlife after transferring Blacklight into him. Also, how can James be here as well? "Umm...." he said, earning the attention of the two, who looked over at his direction.
"Ah, Izuku! Fancy seeing you here!" Alex smiled and approached Izuku, 'accidentally' bumping James' shoulder, earning a growl. "We've been expecting you!" he said as he approached the green-haired boy and gave his hair a ruffle.
"Really?" he asked and got a nod from the former Blacklight wielder.
"Yes, it has something to do with your recent discovery," Alex said. "Specifically, the Web of Intrigue, the interconnecting viruses that you saw last time." he paused before smirking, causing a confused look to appear on Izuku's face.
"More on that later, let me introduce to you my dear friend, James Heller." he said and pointed to the other person on the rooftop.
Said man growled and gave Alex a glare. "I am not your goddamn friend, you fucking bastard!" James yelled before looking over at Izuku. "And I met the kid before, it was after that time he consumed that motherfucking abomination that looked way too similar to you, Mercer."
Alex wasn't even fazed from the insult as Heller continued. "But to make it formal, My name is Sergeant James Heller and I destroyed Alex Mercer." he said and crossed his arms.
"Barely destroyed." Alex added, earning another tick mark on the man's forehead, but didn't say anything.
Izuku gave the man a slight bow. "Nice to meet you sir, I am Izuku Midoriya... ummm... the reincarnation of Alex Mercer..." he said, whispering the last sentence. Though the two adults heard it and snorted in amusement.
Heller looked at Izuku with scrutiny, causing the boy to shift awkwardly on his feet, before turning to Alex. "I still don't believe that this kid is your goddamn reincarnation. He's way too polite to be you." he said in a blunt tone. Izuku fell down comically as Alex just huffed in amusement.
"At least he doesn't yell profanities like he owns the place. I'm pretty sure that Bakugo kid is your reincarnation." Alex said teasingly.
The other man scoffs. "No way in hell that that suicidebaiter is my reincarnation..." he sneered.
"I mean, he's getting better at least.." Izuku was cut off when James glared at him.
"Don't defend him."
"Right, sorry," he said looking away. Not really comfortable with the subject. "Anyway, what's the Web of Intrigue again?" he said changing the topic.
As soon as Izuku finished that question, a same holographic screen containing millions if not billions of interconnected viruses appeared in front of them. The amount was overwhelming, even for Alex.
"Ugh, I could never get used to seeing that many memory fragments in my mind." Alex moaned as he unconsciously rubbed the side of his head.
"For once, I agree with you." Heller wincingly said, also rubbing the side of his head.
"Anyway, this Izuku is the Web of Intrigue. A mental representation of the collection of all of the memory fragments of every person that you and I consumed." Alex said. "This allows us to look into the entire life-memories of a person in just 10 to 11 seconds, something that you unconsciously do without needing to check into it. However, yours is different."
"How so?" Izuku asked.
Alex smiled and looked back on the hologram. "James and mine only allows us to look into the person's memory. You on the other hand take it more into a whole new different level. Not only allowing you to look into another person's life, but also allowing you to permanently copy another person's quirk. Quite an interesting feat, if you ask me." he said, making Izuku nod.
"Additionally," Heller spoke up and touched the hologram. Pinching a random cell, he took it out of the hologram and tossed it towards a shocked Izuku, who clumsily caught it. "As you can see, yours can be taken from the web and be either inspected or be crushed if you want the memory to be erased from the face of the Earth, all the while keeping the person's quirk, if they ever have one. Just think about the specific memory or the person you consumed and visualize it being crushed and poof, it will be gone forever."
Izuku nodded dumbly at the former US Marine before looking down at the cell. He inspected the memory, and when he saw what the memory contained, he immediately crushed it. This action earned surprised and curious glances from the two adults.
"Was it that bad?" Alex asked.
"You have no idea." Izuku said in an annoyed tone, shaking his hand in a disgusted way. With that reaction, I think we all know what that memory contained.
Alex just gave James a look, the latter shrugging as he crossed his arms. "That sums all of it. Do you have any questions?" The Prototype asked Izuku, who looked back at the hologram as it slowly dissipated and back to the two.
"There's two actually." he said, earning a nod from the two. "Okay, first question..." he paused and pointed at James. "How are you here?"
Said man just blinked. "That's a good question." he said before thinking for a bit before looking back at the young hero. "I think it has something to do with the bastard beside me. Since I am pretty sure I didn't get reincarnated into you as well. Though, that could also be a possibility." he said pointing his finger towards Alex.
"Ah, yes. That's right. I believe that when our souls merged, a fragment of James' soul containing some of the abilities of the Blacklight virus, such as Tendrils, Pack Leader, and some other miscellaneous skills, had also been inserted within your soul." Alex said, and paused for a second before continuing. "There's also that time where I secretly consumed some of his blood to look into his memories. Maybe that was the reason."
This earned a reaction from Heller. "WHAT THE FUCK!? WHY THE FUCK WILL YOU LOOK INTO MY MEMORIES!?"
Alex merely shrugged. "I dunno. I was bored."
"WHY I OUGHTA—" his yells were interrupted by Izuku.
"ANYWAY! Onto my next question." Izuku said, stopping a fight from starting inside his own mindscape. "My other question... Who were those figures I saw before you two stopped me from approaching them?"
Alex and James were silent at that question. Izuku could see the uncertainty in their faces and grew anxious. "It's okay if you two don't want to answer it..." he trailed off, only to be interrupted by Alex.
"They are the previous user's of One For All." he said, opting Izuku's eyes to widen. "We don't know how they got here but we stopped you from approaching them because it would've been too dangerous, even for you to equip All Might's quirk."
"Wha—? How so?" Izuku asked, confused about all of this.
"Blacklight and One For All are two of the most powerful quirks in your world. Combining the two will essentially turn you into a god. But both have drawbacks that will cause a lot of damage in your well-being. Making your already highly destructive quirk, even more destructive." he said, as a serious expression can be seen on the man's face. "We stopped you for that very reason. If you ever got a chance to get your hand on One For All, chances of your whole body exploding from the inside out is really likely." This caused chills to spread throughout Izuku's spine. Just the mere thought of his body exploding with that drawback almost made Izuku vomit.
"That's why One For All and Blacklight should never be combined in one body." Alex said, causing Izuku to have a thoughtful look on his face. Izuku's mind was still filled with images of him exploding from the inside out and it was very unsettling. It was Alex's hand that pushed off those thoughts and he smiled at him. "That being said, you don't need One For All to become the hero that you always wanted to be, you already have Blacklight."
"And every other quirk he copied." Heller added.
"And every other quirk you copied." Alex repeated.
Izuku chuckled a bit and nodded. "I understand." he said as he felt a faint pulling sensation from his head.
He panicked a bit, but Alex only laughed at this. "Looks like you're waking up. Good luck out there, Izuku. Congrats on ranking 35th."
"Same here." Heller said as he saluted the boy.
The current Blacklight wielder nodded and thanked them. It took him five seconds to fully fade away, leaving the two in his mindscape. Making sure that Izuku was fully gone, James looked over at Alex.
"Why did you lie about Blacklight and One For All?" he asked the hooded man, who just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know what you mean.."
"Don't give me that crap, Mercer. You and I know damn well that that kid wouldn't have any problem wielding both Blacklight and One For All." he narrowed his eyes on the original prototype. "So why the hell did you lie to him about that?!"
Alex looked up into the red sky with uncharacteristic melancholy on his face. "So that history won't repeat itself," he whispered. "I did so many despicable things in the world when I was alive and I barely felt remorse in all of my actions, thinking it was the right thing to do. The moment you came and put an end to my chaotic reign was the moment where I felt the most human throughout my life as the Blacklight virus. To be feared and to be hated for something that I thought would change the world for the better was something that I wouldn't want Izuku to feel."
James stared at the man before him and couldn't help but sigh. He was still mad at him for all of the chaos and destruction he did and all the innocent lives he had killed. He was sure that the man was heartless and had no emotion at all. But looking at the man in front of him right now, made him think otherwise.
"If you say so..." Looking at the red sky within Izuku's mind, he was willing to trust the man in his judgement. "Anyway... WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LOOKED INTO MY MEMORIES, MERCER?!"
Alex shrugged, not looking back at him. "I dunno. I was bored."
"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION, YOU FUCK!!"
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Izuku looked up to the front door of the 1A Heights Alliance or Class 1A's Dorm Room. It had been two weeks since they all had moved into the Dorms. He moved in the Dorms, alongside his mom and Eri, the latter two staying in the UA Staff, sleeping quarters as a way to keep Eri safe from any other members of the Eight Bullets looking for her while Inko helped out on taking care of Eri, who had now been officially named Eri Midoriya, adopted daughter of Izuku Midoriya.
As soon as Izuku woke up from his meeting with Alex and James, he found himself being whacked by Recovery Girl with her cane. The school nurse scolded him for being way too reckless and not even holding back in fighting his classmates in an Exam.
The only thing saving him from getting hurt is his Shock Absorption evolving into Nullification. Talk about a clutch moment.
He defended himself, by saying it was Nezu's idea. The nurse halted her cane assault on the boy and gave Nezu a glare, which had caused a bead of sweat to form on the fur of the chimera. The chimera then gave him praises for his performance and how he made his classmates think under pressure. Though he was thankful for the praises, he couldn't help but feel guilty and mad at himself for almost fatally harming them due to him not holding back.
If it weren't for Midnight squeezing him between her bountiful chests, he wouldn't've snapped out of his self-loathing. That caused a wave of laughter from the U.A. staff and a grumble from Aizawa. After Recovery Girl checked for more damages, he was given permission to leave to get some rest.
Izuku sighed and suppressed a yawn from escaping his mouth, still feeling the after effects of the tranquilizer darts that were shot at him. Shaking the drowsiness off his system, though failing miserably, he took a few steps towards the front door. Despite Midnight's attempt of calming him down, he couldn't help but still feel bad for almost losing control of his actions during the exams.
He had almost killed some of his classmates due to some of his attacks. And the worst thing about it was enjoying all of it. Just the thought of himself enjoying the fight or hurting his classmates made him sick. That's why he was so frustrated as he tossed the car with one hand.
Sighing, Izuku placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it before pushing it open. Uncertainty and anxiety crept their way in his mind as he entered the dorm. Walking in and looking around the dorm, he felt his anxiety slowly lowered as he observed his classmates.
Despite their bandages around their bodies due to what had happened in the Final Exams, he could see their eyes filled with excitement and happiness as they conversed with each other about their plans in the camp. Some of them saw him and approached him asking questions if he was alright, prompting him to wave them off.
He congratulated his classmates for passing and apologized for hurting them too badly, to which they told him it was fine.
Smiling, Izuku excused himself to go to his room and maybe even take a nap due to the after effects of the tranq darts. They nodded at him and asked if he wanted to join them in their trip to the mall tomorrow morning. He agreed and went to his room. As he reached his room, Izuku plopped down his bed and dropped unconscious.
Tomorrow is going to be another busy day. Good thing it was a rest day. Just shopping with his classmates. What could possibly go wrong?
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KIYASHI WARD SHOPPING MALL
In the midst of the bustling chatter of people shopping or exploring the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, Izuku found himself running for his life as a group of fangirls chased after him as soon as he and his classmates entered the shopping mall.
Damned fangirls and damned Kaminari for sharing their location in Herogram! Even tagging him in his Herogram update! He mentally noted that he would break Kaminari's fingers when he gets out of this situation.
Separated from his group, Izuku, desperate to escape the sea of growing fangirls, he entered the men's restroom and closed it shut. Leaning on the restroom door, he could hear the fangirls murmuring outside and realized that they weren't going to leave the entrance/exit of the restroom.
He was stuck in a really sticky situation right now. And none of his classmates will be able to help, considering that the fangirls might go after them, if they interfere with the chase.
'So much for a rest day.' Izuku thought to himself, sighing as he could still hear the chattering and squeals from the girls outside and began brainstorming ideas to leave the place unsuspected.
He can't go out using a window as an escape route, since the fangirls would most likely surround the area to prevent him from escaping. He could always use his hero status to drive them away, but that would cause a lot of attention. Last thing he wants is attention and stress from all of these fangirls.
'If only I can use my quirk...' he thought to himself and froze. It took him three seconds before he facepalmed. He can always use his quirk if it was an emergency and this is DEFINITELY an emergency.
Channeling Blacklight all over his body, he used Disguise...
Outside the men's restroom, as all of the fangirls waited, the door opened. All of the fangirl's turned to the door and were ready to lunge at the person who exited the room only to deadpan when they saw Shota Aizawa exit the door. They immediately ignored him and went back to waiting as the underground hero exited the door with ease.
Unbeknownst to the fangirls, Aizawa was grinning like a madman as he walked away from the rabid group. Making sure to keep a great distance from the fangirls, he took a left turn to walk under the escalator and walked to the other side, emerging as Izuku as Blacklight retracted back into him.
The shit-eating grin still appeared on the green-haired boy's face as he successfully escaped the rabid fangirls all the while, informing the security that there was a large group of girls loitering outside the men's bathroom.
'Mission Success. Respect +' he thought as he texted his classmates. 'Now to break Kaminari's fingers!' he thought as he maniacally cackled in his mind, almost sounding like Nezu, as a certain blonde haired boy began shivering in fear.
His mental insanity was interrupted when he accidentally bumped into someone. As they collided, both fell to the ground. Izuku immediately apologized as he began picking up the scattered bags of marshmallows on the tiled floor. As he picked up all of the fallen items before placing them in a paper bag, he looked at the person he bumped into and had to suppress a blush from forming on his face as his eyes met hers.
Dark-green eyes met cerulean as he was met face-to-face with a girl with shoulder-length, bob-shaped black hair side-swept to her right with a shorter strand hanging above her eyes. The expression on the girl's face was neutral but he could see flashes of emotion in her piercing cerulean eyes.
Slowly standing up, Izuku stepped forward and stretched his arm towards the girl. "Are you okay? Can you stand?" he asked with concern. Not wanting to ruin her cute outfit consisting of a white turtleneck sweater and a chestnut plaid skirt only a few centimeters above her knees, over black stockings and pink doll shoes.
The girl only stared at the outstretched hand and nodded before taking the hand and letting Izuku pull her up. Izuku handed her the paper bag and apologized one more time. The girl only nodded at him before walking away from him, earning a concerned look from Izuku, who guiltily watched the girl disappear in the sea of people in the shopping mall.
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As the girl walked away from the young hero, she was met with the very familiar Itsuka Kendo and the rest of the girls from Class 1B, who were all chatting about how excited they were for the camp. Itsuka noticed the girl's sudden change of demeanor, even though there was barely even a change.
Curiosity getting the best of her, Itsuka placed her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Hey Yui, you okay? You seem kinda flustered..." she asked the girl, now introduced as Yui.
Yui opened her mouth to speak but closed it immediately as she nodded timidly, her cheeks and ears began to heat up causing all of the girls to look at each other in shock and confusion.
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Walking around, Izuku can be seen carrying shopping bags filled with camping supplies, training weights, snack and candies for Eri(who unfortunately couldn't come to the camp), and some marshmallows and chocolates, as a request from Ochako and Mina as they want to make smores there.
After escaping the fangirls and his encounter with that beautiful girl, he had met up with his classmates. They then split into pairs and there were only odd numbers of students, since some of them are either busy, don't want to come or are too lazy, meaning one of them can go with a pair or go alone.
Being alone for the majority of the beginning of their shopping trip, Izuku volunteered to be the solo shopper, much to the dismay of the girls. He left the group, not without warning Kaminari to stop tagging him in his Herogram updates if he wants to still have ten fingers by the end of the school year.
Now that Izuku got everything on his list, he made his way to the central area and sat down on the bench surrounding a palm tree as he watched the crowd of people walk by. Occasionally waving at kids who recognized him.
He was minding his own business, when another person sat next to him. "You're the kid from the Sports Festival, right? I'm a big fan!" the person next to him said. He was about to greet the man, when he felt four fingers grabbed onto his neck. "It's been a while since we last saw each other, Izuku Midoriya." the man said.
That voice, he could never forget that voice. The voice that laughed at their suffering back in USJ. The voice that ordered the Nomu to beat the crap out of his teachers. The voice that was responsible for the injuries that not only he but everyone who were in USJ when the attack happened.
Only one person met that criteria. And it was someone Izuku was far too eager to meet again, to teach the man a lesson to not mess with UA.
"Tomura Shigaraki." he said with venom in his tone.
This earned a sinister chuckle that escaped the man's lips as the grip on Izuku's neck tightened but didn't faze him.
"Make one move and all of my fingers will touch your neck. When that happens, you'll start crumbling to dust. From your skin to your throat, to you—" he was cut off when Izuku interrupted him.
"Do it then. I dare you." Six words. It only took six words to make Shigaraki fumble. He looked at the brat with narrowed eyes, only to see that the young hero was staring right back at him with red piercing eyes.
Ignoring the odd sense of deja vu in his chest, Shigaraki changed the topic. "Answer this, Midoriya. The USJ, the Nomus, all brushed to the side. The Hero Killer does the same thing. But everything he does, overshadows me. We do the same thing, but what makes us different?"
The question caused a bit of confusion on Izuku's part. He would've been sure that Stain worked for the League of Villains, because of the Nomus back in Hosu City. Turns out he was wrong.
Izuku slowly opened his mouth while not breaking eye contact. Shigaraki waited for his response, ignoring the itchy feeling in the man's neck.
"I plead the fifth." Izuku said, without hesitation.
Shigaraki blinked once, twice, thrice. That's when the words registered into the man's mind. His teeth grinded with each other as veins bulge out of his forehead.
"Hmm.. Big words for a pile of dust. You do know I could kill you right here, right now? Right?" he said in a growl to the boy as a way to intimidate him but the boy's gaze never faltered as he continued to stare at him.
"I beat All Might's personal record in the Entrance Exam. I defeated your little pet back in the USJ and forced you to escape. I won the whole Sports Festival. I trained under Mirko for my internship and was able to capture Stain on my own in my first internship, then became the youngest hero in Japan the day after. Defeated high ranking villains and gave my entire class a run for their money while my quirk is being suppressed in half." he said without breaking eye contact.
"I did all of that in just my freshman year as a Hero Course student. So what makes you think I'm afraid of a man-child like you?"
"Then perish!" Unable to hold his own temper. Shigaraki lowered his last finger on the boy's throat. Izuku's throat began crumbling as the young hero let out a choked scream. Arms flailing as pain erupted from his throat as his consciousness began to fade.
Well, at least that's what Shigaraki expected.
All of his fingers were down but nothing happened. No choked screaming, no throats disintegrating, no arm flailing. Just a green-haired boy glaring. It had confused Shigaraki.
His confusion was cut off when he felt a tense feeling coming from the person he is holding right now. Looking over at the boy, his eyes widened to see that the sclera of his eyes were now pitch black with his crimson eye glaring daggers at him. His chest felt like it was exploding due to his heartbeat banging like drums. 'Is this the feeling of... fear?'
"Tomura Shigaraki.... I'll give you exactly five seconds to let go of me and calmly leave this place before I cut your arm off." Izuku said.
"One." Tomura didn't make a move, thinking he was bluffing.
"Two." Izuku said as his quirk began enveloping his arm, earning Shigaraki's attention.
"Three." his quirk tightened on his arm and began to take the shape of his Blade.
"Four..." Izuku said and slowly raised his arm near the man-child's hand.
"Fi—" Izuku didn't get to finish counting when Shigaraki pushed his neck away, forcing Izuku to stumble back.
Izuku looked back at the villain and was about to charge him, when a very familiar black mist appeared out of nowhere and began covering the Decay user. He watched with narrowed eyes as Shigaraki gritted his teeth.
"Mark my words, Izuku Midoriya... I will kill you and I will do it slowly and painfully!" he said as he was completely covered by the black mist and just like that, he was nowhere to be seen.
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Chapter end! Thoughts?
Alex and James being besties?! Lmao. No OFA Izuku confirmed! I know Class 1B girls are already in the harem but, IzuYui shippers let's go, kinda?
Next is Forest Training Camp Arc! Meaning? The Wild Wild Pussycats and Kota are coming soon!
Next chapter, Chapter 30. Summer Camp Experience. And soon, Chapter 31. Red Cap with Yellow Horns & Chapter 32. Camp Chaos!
That's all! Byeeeee!!!