Chapter 20: Operation: Floaty Boat
Izuku Floated up into the air, ascending after his team had thrown him. He saw that Todoroki was glaring at him intensely, but he continued to Float upward, a large smile on his face. The audience gasped and followed him with their eyes, shocked at the sudden turn. Izuku spun around as he continued to move upward, giving the audience a good show for the sake of it. He might as well be as entertaining as possible.
He looked around the field, now being able to see everything without moving around. Izuku was about fifteen meters up, so he could just spin around and look around. He saw Teams Todoroki, Asui, Monoma and Bakugo looking up at him, trying to figure out how to get to him. Team Shinso, consisting of Shinso himself, Hagakure, Kendo's Vice Representative, Nirengeki Shoda, and a boy he didn't know, but appeared to have spinning hands. Luckily, they were doing their own thing, but Izuku knew that Bakugo could reach him, as well as Asui if she wanted to risk falling back onto the ground. Izuku didn't think that Tsu would try to go for a leaping attack, mainly because he didn't think Shoji had the speed to get to the other side of him before she landed. Tsu could combine the use of her tongue with one of Shoji's tentacles, and pull herself back toward him that way, but he still thought it was impractical for Team Asui to continue to pursue him. The same went for Team Monoma, with their leader not being able to copy a powerful enough version of Explosion for sustained flight. That left Teams Todoroki and Bakugo, his original threats.
"GET BACK DOWN HERE AND FACE US LIKE A MAN, DEKU!" Bakugo yelled.
"Make me!" Izuku yelled back, knowing that Bakugo would do just that.
Bakugo launched himself off his team with an explosion, sending himself into the air similarly to Izuku's Operation: Floaty Boat. He kept blasting himself upward, flying toward Izuku with a wild grin on his face. That grin reminded Izuku of the days when Bakugo would beat him down without mercy, but he could tell it was different. That smile was malicious, and it was a sign that pain was to come. This smile was more like Bakugo was enjoying the battle, the rush of fighting. Izuku would admit that he was enjoying it, too, but it was more to do with the fact that he was finally getting to participate in UA's Sports Festival, and not out of an actual enjoyment of battle, like Bakugo had.
Izuku knew what to do. As Bakugo climbed through the air, his explosions sending shockwaves throughout the field, Izuku readied himself to summon Blackwhip. Bakugo neared Izuku, his explosions starting to rock Izuku's balance, and Izuku let small Blackwhips escape his hands, letting them swirl around as he began to spin with them. This stage of Operation: Floaty Boat required Blackwhip, making use of his new technique, Dark Slingshot.
Stage One was simple, just being the basic plan of hovering above the battlefield and waiting for time to run out. Stage Two: Dark Slingshot, was what Izuku was planning to do. Stage Three: Dark Shielding, was encasing himself in a bubble of Blackwhip strands, all interconnected and interweaving. He didn't think he'd need Stage Three, but nothing was impossible; that's what he'd learned in inheriting One for All.
"Hey, Bakugo! Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?" Izuku joked, hoping it would calm his churning stomach.
"SAVE IT, DEKU! DON'T STEAL MY MOVE!" Bakugo yelled, finally reaching Izuku's level.
As soon as the two leveled out and Bakugo's hover stabilized, Izuku released Float and dropped. He fell through the air for a moment, Bakugo looking at him like he was crazy. To be fair, this plan was kind of crazy, but it would be effective if it worked. He fell for a moment more, until he was about five metres off the ground, and then fired Blackwhip toward Bakugo, latching onto his shoulder and leg.
"Operation: Float Boat, Stage Two: …" Izuku started, his momentum halting as the Blackwhips connecting him to Bakugo strained.
Bakugo was pulled downward by Izuku's weight, making him lose his balance and his hover to become more unstable. Blackwhip stretched slightly under the strain of the two boys pulling it in two different directions, Bakugo up and Izuku down. This was perfect. Izuku yanked on the Blackwhips once again, pulling Bakugo down and himself up.
"… Dark Slingshot!" Izuku yelled, beginning to reel Blackwhip in as fast as he could.
The combination of Izuku's pulling and Blackwhip reeling back toward him created a massive force pulling the two boys together. As the two neared each other, Izuku grinned as wide as All Might, making sure to follow his philosophy of always smiling through challenges. Bakugo scowled, knowing that this was the move that got him during the Quirk evaluations on the first day of school. He growled at the reminder of his past anger, and attempted to blow Blackwhip off of his shoulder and leg, but it was too late.
Izuku shot out past Bakugo, the overwhelming speed being something that Bakugo had no defence against. Bakugo spun around, losing control of his own body and his balance being upset. Izuku flew upward, understanding why All Might chose to leap around the city when he could simply run everywhere. It was such a rush to fly, with the wind hitting your face and the feeling of speed and motion, and he was climbing even higher still.
As he came to stall at the peak of his flight, Izuku activated Float, sticking in place. He looked around, being about one hundred and fifty meters in the air, as well as at the level of the highest seats in the stands. He could see everything, and it was beautiful. It was like he was something other than human, something more powerful, and he was looking down on humanity to observe their ways. It was strange thinking like that, but that was what it felt like. Like he was powerful. Izuku waved to a few people up on his level, who were clapping and laughing at him. He laughed along, knowing that he was in a situation that not many had been in before, escaping the event while still participating.
"IZUKU MIDORIYA HAS ELEVATED HIMSELF TO THE TOP OF THE STADIUM! IS THAT ALLOWED?" Present Mic screamed.
"He probably took Midnight's ruling to heart, using the technicalities to his advantage," Aizawa said.
Izuku looked around, and realized that this was the highest he had ever been unassisted. There had been times, like in the USJ and when he had first met All Might when he had grabbed onto the man's leg as he had leapt away, where he reached comparable or greater heights, but he had either been distracted or he had closed his eyes. He hadn't fully comprehended those heights, but he was left alone with the realization that he could slip up, and nobody would be able to save him because he did this to himself. He could lose control of Float like he had with his Super Strength and fall to the ground. He was lucky that the audience was full of Pro Heroes, but any other time than this and it would've been trouble.
Still, though, the height was dizzying. He felt his breakfast come up his throat, but pushed it down. Feeling his fingers tingle, Izuku knew that he was getting sick due to a dormant fear of heights that had never been given the chance to present itself before now, and that bothered him. What other irrational fears did he have that he didn't know he had because he had never encountered the thing that he was afraid of? Pushing those thoughts away, Izuku focused on his breathing, trying not to throw up.
"It looks like the little dude's getting a little green, don't you think?" Present Mic asked.
"Don't you dare make another color joke like that ever again," Aizawa groaned.
Izuku's vision blurred, and he knew that he couldn't stay up as high as he was for much longer. He slowly began to lessen Float's affect, something he had learned he could do through practice. He had learned he could choose how intensely Float took effect, ranging from completely stopping him, akin to landing on an invisible platform, to simply slowing his falls. He dialled back Float, letting himself descend through the air slowly.
As he felt a strange presence in his mind, Izuku snapped out of his grogginess due to the sickness that had overcome him. It was similar to the feeling of the vestiges speaking to him, but different, like something else had forced its way into his mind. He looked around, feeling like something odd was watching him. As Izuku looked over at the booth he knew All Might to be in, he saw him.
All for One.
A cold, piercing fear struck Izuku the moment he saw the mangled, almost dead face of All Might's greatest enemy standing behind him, watching Izuku with a big smile. 'Watching' wouldn't be the right word, because the monster had no eyes. His face above the mouth was pure scar tissue, but Izuku could feel eyes on him, like AFO could see him despite his injuries. He knew it was AFO, having seen him in his dreams from time to time.
This seemed so real, though. Izuku knew that he wasn't really there, because All Might would be doing something about it if he heard the clapping of his sworn nemesis behind him. Izuku also knew that he was real for him, in the same way the vestiges were. He stared at the man, not comprehending what was happening.
Izuku didn't know how AFO could be in his vestige realm like this. It was such a striking image, a well dressed, yet disgustingly scarred man. Izuku had to keep himself from turning away, because he wasn't sure that AFO would stay there if he did. He kept his eyes on the Villain, and the man said something that he couldn't hear.
"What?" Izuku mumbled, unaware he was doing so out loud.
"I said … you're next, Izuku Midoriya," AFO's demonic screeching called out, sounding like it was coming from inside his own head.
He saw All Might visibly tense in his seat, his eyes going wide and his satisfied smile turning into a frightened expression. He had obviously heard the voice of the demon lord, All for One, himself, and was staring at Izuku with baited breath to see what happened next. Izuku felt his grasp on consciousness slip away, and he knew he was going to fall.
The world was black. It was all black, and Izuku knew that this was the vestiges' realm. He looked around, before settling back on himself and realized that he had his entire arm as a physical thing now, as opposed to his right hand and the top of his head. If he could only get his mouth to appear one of these times, he could learn more about his Quirks before he had to go back to the real world.
Izuku willed One for All to do something, anything, but regretted that wish when the form of All for One appeared before him, smiling evilly. Izuku went to take a step back, but he couldn't, for he still had no legs in this realm. He would've uttered a curse, but he felt like being in the presence of the demon lord of Japan was a curse in and of itself.
"Izuku Midoriya. You are the nexus point of the Quirks inside my little brother's power. You have immense potential, but you are no match for my powers. You will die, Izuku, and it will be painful," All for One said, his twisted vocals making Izuku want to throw up.
Izuku couldn't respond, but he didn't want to. He knew it wasn't a challenge by AFO, but a declaration that he knew would come true. Izuku shook his head, wanting to get the image of him out of his brain, hoping his form would exit the vestige realm.
All for One started laughing, but it was a broken, cracked laugh that didn't sound like a sound a person could make without having done unspeakable evils. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but throwing in a chainsaw scratching against a car's hood for some extra fun.
Suddenly, a bright light caught the attention of them both. Izuku and All for One looked to the side to see One for All, the vestiges and past users all lined up in a row, even the users that had been misty and unclear being physical and present. All except for All Might; something was different about him that kept him misty.
"Get out of here, brother," Yoichi said, scowling intensely.
"Oh, I don't think I will," All for One chuckled.
"Rei. We won't let you terrorize this boy," one of the formerly misty predecessors, either the second or the third, said. He had blasters of some kind on his arms, which would presumably support an empowerment Quirk from a distance, so maybe the third, with their power being Fa Jin?
"I'm not terrorizing anybody. I'm liberating him," All for One said, grinning like a madman.
"That's enough, All for One. You're going to leave, and never come back," Nana said.
"Am I now? Well, I hate to burst your bubble … oh, wait. I would love to burst your bubble!" All for One said.
As soon as he was done talking, All for One put his hands together facing toward the ground, dark lightning pulsing through him. The vestiges reacted to this in varying ways, from Lariat's falsely confident chuckle to Yoichi and Shinomori, the fourth's wary steps back. All the vestiges were on guard, though, and Izuku couldn't help but stay where he was and watch.
All for One's pulse of dark lightning spread to the ground, beginning to crawl around it and consume whatever it touched, spreading throughout the vestige realm. The vestiges all crowded around Izuku, shielding him from All for One's energies. Izuku looked around, seeing the realm he had come to know as safe being penetrated by pure evil.
The vestiges all conjured some sort of energy, and Izuku realized it was One for All. This had all happened so fast that Izuku almost hadn't noticed that all of the vestiges were glowing a different color, the colors that One for All usually showed him in dreams. They all fired off rainbow colored lightning that combated All for One's, beating back his corruption.
"ALL FOR ONE, LEAVE THIS REALM!" all the vestiges yelled.
Izuku was blinded by the clash of lightning, and everything was overtaken by the white light.
Izuku awoke in his body, still Floating in the real world. The shock of reappearing, though, made him release Float, dropping down in an instant. He fell through the air, trying to process what he had seen in the vestige realm. All for One had invaded, and all the vestiges were trying to combat him. That must have been why his basic One for All powers had stopped working; his Quirk itself was under attack.
He fell, spinning around from … something. Izuku didn't know when he had started spinning, only that he couldn't stop. Falling and spinning uncontrollably, Izuku tried to Float, but found himself unable to. Trying Blackwhip yielded the same result; total Quirk inhibition. Izuku started to panic, knowing that there wasn't any way out of falling now.
Judging from his altitude, about one hundred and fifty or so meters up, he guessed that he had about six seconds of falling time. Izuku forced his body to turn in the air toward the ground, stopping his spinning but highlighting another issue; the ground. He was going to crash into the ground at, given the amount of time he'd have to speed up, about fifty meters per second. That would be bad.
After another second or two, Izuku heard the people in the stands gasp, realizing that he wasn't slowing down. He felt the wind fly into his face, through his hair and past his arms and legs, but this time it was a chilling, morbid kind of freedom from which he knew death would proceed. He was supposed to announce that he was the next Symbol during this Festival, but instead he was going to die. It was almost funny, if it wasn't terrifying.
Izuku realized that his hearing had been dulled by the blood rushing in his ears, as he was yanked out of his thoughts by Bakugo, who had been flying toward him almost the whole time. He had a hard time gaining altitude, since gravity still worked on him, but he had reached Izuku as he had begun to accept the fact that he was done for.
Bakugo grabbed Izuku by the collar of his shirt, making Izuku yelp in surprise. He looked up to see the, while not openly showing his concern, clearly worried Bakugo while he readjusted his position to get better use of explosions while the two descended. He flew around the ring, firing more powerful, though less frequent explosions to keep them afloat because of the increased weight needing to be carried.
"What the fuck are you doing, Deku?" Bakugo asked, keeping his eye forward.
"I … don't know what's wrong with me!" Izuku gasped.
Bakugo's eyes narrowed, before swooping over Team Midoriya, who had broken themselves out of the half-melted ice around them, and dropped Izuku onto his team, who exclaimed in joy at his return. The different members held onto his legs firmly, not wanting to repeat Operation: Floaty Boat if all that was the result.
"Midoriya!" all three team members yelled, overjoyed at his safety.
"Hey," Izuku groaned, still feeling the aftereffects of All for One's pain-inducing presence.
"Are you okay? What happened to you up there?" Iida asked.
"I don't know. I blacked out, I think. What did it look like?" Izuku asked.
"There was this black and red lightning going around you. It would've been cool if you weren't obviously in pain," Hatsume explained.
"Really? It was black and red specifically? It's very important about what colors the lightning was specifically," Izuku asked in one breath, frantically looking at Hatsume.
"Yeah, why?" Hatsume asked, freaked out by Izuku's behavior.
"No reason," Izuku said, his voice small.
Those were the colors of the lightning that was coming off All for One in the vestige realm. If the confrontation he had witnessed in the vestige realm wasn't worrying enough, him emitting the same lightning as All for One certainly was. He'd have to talk to All Might about it later, since that was the only person he could talk about this with. He pushed it to the back of his mind, focusing on the rest of the battle.
Izuku felt weak, like he could pass out any minute. He knew that he'd have to hold out for the rest of the Cavalry Battle, so swallowed his pain and put his game face on, looking toward the teams that had crowded around. Teams Todoroki, Bakugo, Asui, Shinso and Monoma, as well as a few others headed up by people he didn't recognize, were crowded around, looking at him with worried expressions.
"Midoriya, are you alright?" Yaoyorozu called out.
"We can stop the match if you'd like," Midnight yelled from the stage.
"I'm fine! I can keep going! Come at us!" Izuku yelled, closing his fist and getting ready for an onslaught of his classmates.
"Uh … two minutes left, I guess," Present Mic said, clearly put off by Izuku's incident. Izuku realized he had been unconscious for some time, nearly five minutes by the sound of it.
"I think we should stop the match," Aizawa grumbled.
"Midoriya said he's fine, and that he wants to continue, so GO!" Midnight said, urging the match to go on.
Team Todoroki immediately got into a battle ready position, with one of Kendo's enlarged hands serving as the replacement for her other, which was out in front of her, ready to defend. Team Bakugo was also ready to fight, but was distracted by both Teams Shinso and Monoma. Team Asui had gone off and tried to fight some other teams, most likely some less powerful players than Todoroki and Bakugo.
Izuku locked eyes with Todoroki, who looked at him with a mix of shock and disbelief. He knew that he should probably rest, but that would mean exiting the event and therefore the Festival. Izuku wasn't going to do that, as he still had to announce himself as the next Symbol, so he had to stay strong, no matter how much it hurt.
"You're crazy, Midoriya," Todoroki said, his team slowly approaching Izuku's.
"Maybe. That's what separates the good from the great, though, isn't it? The willingness to get a little crazy?" Izuku asked, gasping after because that wasn't how he thought.
He had been having those moments all day; thinking something out of the ordinary for him, and then catching himself immediately after. It was unnerving to say the least, and Izuku wasn't sure if it was something worth bringing up to anyone. He had once caught himself actually thinking about the way he could use his Super Strength to crush Bakugo's hands to render him effectively Quirkless, and had been disturbed by it.
Todoroki seemed to notice the change in Izuku's behavior, as he leaned back, making a face that was somewhere between disgust and surprise. Izuku knew that other people had noticed it, like Iida for example, but he wasn't willing to confront that part of himself just yet. He didn't even know what it was.
"Midoriya, what's going on with you?" Kendo asked.
"I … don't know. I … let's just keep going with the Cavalry Battle," Izuku said, shaking his head to rid himself of his other thoughts.
Team Todoroki hesitantly got into a battle ready position once again, though they were visibly more tense about going up against Midoriya, who was becoming a wildcard. Izuku focused on the battle, and quickly started coming up with ways that they could defeat Todoroki's team. They didn't need to take Todoroki's headband, they just needed to keep theirs, so he focused his plans around evasion instead of combat.
"One minute left!" Present Mic announced with enthusiasm for the match having returned.
Now aware that Team Todoroki would be making a move on him soon because of their new time limit, Izuku could think of at least one way for each of his team's members' Quirks and skills could be used in conjunction with each other to keep Todoroki away.
"Iida. If Koda summons a swarm of birds to distract Todoroki's team while Hatsume constructs a flashbang to temporarily blind Todoroki and any others that try to approach us, can you get us out of here fast in that small time frame?" Izuku asked in a hushed tone, signalling the others to start on the tasks he had assigned them.
As a team of birds started to assault Team Todoroki, making them all bat them away, Hatsume got to work on the flashbang, working with the little amount of stuff she had in her backpack of gadgets. Iida thought about the question, until looking back at Izuku with a smirk on his face.
"How fast?" Iida asked.
"To get to the exact opposite side of the field in the amount of time that Todoroki would take to recover from the strongest flashbang Hatsume can make in about thirty seconds, you'd need to move at roughly twenty five meters per second. Can you do that?" Izuku asked, well aware of his Quirk evaluation results being under that, being able to cross fifty meters in a hair over three seconds, which equaled about sixteen and a half meters per second. Izuku was also aware that Iida had improved, but now was the time to see just how much.
"I'll certainly try," Iida said, lowering himself.
"Hatsume, how are you coming along with that flashbang?" Izuku asked, only to have a complete one shoved into his hand abruptly.
"Already done," Hatsume said, grinning wildly.
"This is why I love UA," Izuku said, smiling brightly.
"Are we ready?" Iida asked.
"Yes. Todoroki's fast, so we'll need to get going immediately after the flashbang goes off. Ready?" Izuku asked.
"Yes," Iida breathed.
"Thirty seconds left!" Present Mic cheered.
As soon as he heard Present Mic's announcement, he threw the flashbang, arcing it over the gap between the two of their teams and getting it to land in Todoroki's lap, who was still busy with the birds. He knew Todoroki wouldn't want to use his ice to hurt the birds, but that he also would refuse to use his fire in any way, so he was stuck with having to get rid of them with his hands.
Todoroki picked up the flashbang, recognized what it was, but it was too late. The projectile went off, emitting a loud bang, accompanied by a brighter flash than Izuku expected. All of Team Midoriya had closed their eyes and blocked their ears, but they were still affected by the grenade. It paid to have Mei Hatsume in your corner.
"Now, Iida!" Izuku said, seeing that three out of four of the members of Team Todoroki were incapacitated by the flashbang.
Iida then took off, showing off a burst of unprecedented speed. The world blurred past Izuku, everything he could see becoming one big smudge on his retina as Iida's speed overwhelmed his brain. He could tell the others were experiencing this too, because he could hear Hatsume giggling about the trippy visuals, which Izuku had to agree with.
In an instant, Team Midoriya had dashed across the entire playing field, a feat that surprised even Iida himself, by the strained chuckle at the showcase of speed. Izuku and Iida locked eyes, smiling wide despite Izuku still feeling weak. He had barely held on, and his head had rocked due to the sudden jumps in speed.
Iida's smile quickly turned into a frown, though, as he looked at something over Izuku's shoulder. Izuku looked back and saw that his headband, the one everyone was after, had slipped off, probably when his head had rocked back. Really wishing for Blackwhip right now, Izuku pointed toward the headband.
"Go, now!" Izuku called to Iida, who instantly obeyed the order.
The team sped along the ground, racing toward the headband with frantic energy. Team Todoroki had recovered and, noticing the headband still falling through the air, had begun to race toward it. The two teams tried to outpace each other, though for one it should have been much easier through the Quirk of Iida. His Engines had stalled following his explosive burst of speed, so they had to run normally.
Izuku snatched the headband out of the air, just as the two teams met. He and Todoroki stared each other down, the latter holding his right hand out, it beginning to be covered in ice and spreading cold mist around him as he prepared to engulf Team Midoriya in ice. Izuku, in that moment, made an instinctual decision to bluff, which wasn't something he'd normally do, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Holding both of his hands out, Izuku once again confirmed to himself that One for All had shut itself off to him. Todoroki didn't know that, though, and recoiled in anticipation for an All Might tier attack, a wave of fire exploding from his left arm. Izuku gasped, as it was the first time he had seen Todoroki use the actual fire part of his Quirk. Sure, he had seen Todoroki melt the ice he made, but he had never seen the boy summon flames from his body. It was different, and it was amazing to see.
Todoroki quickly regained his senses, and shut off his fire in an instant, regarding his left arm with disgust and a betrayed look. Izuku used this chance to whisper to his team to back away.
"Ten seconds left!" Present Mic yelled.
Team Todoroki didn't pursue. They stood, awaiting orders from their leader, who was consumed by looking at his left hand with the same look he had when talking about his father. Utter and unashamed disgust. It was like the arm had personally offended him, something like slapping his mother. Todoroki's eyes filled with pure rage, and he shook his hand, almost as if to make sure he had full control of it again.
Behind Izuku, he heard explosions. He turned around to see that Bakugo had once again left his team in favor of chasing after Team Midoriya in the air. Izuku panicked, knowing that Bakugo could reach him in the eight seconds that were probably left, and that he couldn't stop him with a Quirk if he did. Izuku looked back at Hatsume, who he had talked about this possibility with.
"I need the PBG!" Izuku said, and was tossed a net-shooter of Hatsume's design.
The PBG was the 'Plan-B Gun', which they had reserved for the possibility that he was going up against someone in a head to head without the use of his powers. Izuku switched the safety off and aimed it at Bakugo, who promptly dodged out of the way. He had anticipated this, however, and wasn't really planning to fire. Just to get him to think he had dodged.
Izuku fired the PBG at Bakugo, who had stalled in the air after his most recent explosion. He was caught in the net the gun had fired, and began to fall to the ground. He was caught by his teammates, but if it was in another situation, he would've been disqualified. Izuku smiled, knowing that he was safe from Bakugo. He looked back at Todoroki, who was still engrossed in his self-loathing.
"TIME'S UP!" Present mic screamed, almost blowing out the glass of the window of the booth the commentators were in.
Everyone froze, letting out a breath of relief that the event was over. Izuku crawled down onto the ground, where he and his team celebrated keeping the ten million points for the whole time. Teams Todoroki and Bakugo were celebrating coming in third and second respectively, but their celebration was cut short by Bakugo stomping the ground in a fit of rage.
Bakugo ran toward Izuku, hatred in his eyes. He growled, pushing Izuku to the ground with a powerful shove. Izuku hit the ground and looked up, looking into the eyes of his tormentor. This wasn't Bakugo, this was someone else, someone that he thought was gone. Bakugo seemed to realize this as well, as he immediately took a step back, looking at Izuku with the same look Todoroki had been looking at himself with; disgust.
Izuku knew that Bakugo had been working through his issues containing his anger, and he didn't expect the transition to the old Bakugo and the new, healthier Bakugo to be a perfect, smooth curve, but he was still scared, and Bakugo was still able to see that he was behaving in a way that was unacceptable, even to his now opened eyes.
"I … I'm …" Bakugo stuttered.
"I know. You didn't mean any harm," Izuku said, climbing off the ground with the help of Koda.
Bakugo hesitated for a moment, before turning away and leaving. Izuku watched him walk away, the blond's hunched over posture and his hands in his pockets the classic 'Bakugo stance' as he had started calling it in middle school.
"That brings the second event of the Sports Festival to an end. Now, we'll take an hour-long break so that we can all eat and for the participants to prepare for the final event," Midnight said, before dismissing everyone to their own whims.
Chapter 21: Everybody Talks
Izuku walked into the tunnel leading from the field inside the stadium to the halls within. He had won both of the events of the Sports Festival so far, but he had come to a problem that he couldn't fix on his own. During the second event, the Cavalry Battle, Izuku had seen a vision of All for One, the fated enemy of One for All, and then had been drawn into the vestige realm to witness the beginnings of a battle between the past wielders of One for All and All for One. He hadn't seen much other than that, but Izuku hadn't been able to use One for All since, likely because of what had happened in the vestige realm. He was on his way to talk to All Might about it, and he walked into the interior halls in a hurry.
He walked around a corner and crashed into All Might in his true form, sending them both to the ground. Izuku was about to get up and apologize before he recognized the skinny form of his mentor. Instead, Izuku simply got up and offered his hand to All Might, apologizing as he helped his predecessor up off the ground.
"Young Midoriya! I was just coming to find you," All Might said.
"I was just coming to find you," Izuku said, chuckling at the coincidence.
"About what happened during the Cavalry Battle?" All Might asked.
"Yeah. You heard it too, right?" Izuku asked.
"Heard what?" All Might asked.
"All for One," Izuku said.
"You … saw him? I was talking about the dark lightning," All Might corrected.
"Yeah, that too. I think we should talk in private," Izuku said, feeling his knees weaken slightly, nearly falling because of it.
All Might caught Izuku by the arm, and he let himself hunch over, not having the power to stand. He felt like he was going to pass out at any second, and let himself be propped up on All Might's thin but powerful body.
"Young Midoriya! Are you alright? What's happening?" All Might asked, frantically looking over Izuku for wounds.
"I'm fine. I think this has to do with what happened in the Cavalry Battle. I'll explain when I can sit down," Izuku said, trying to walk on his jelly legs.
"Alright," All Might said.
All Might supported Izuku as they began walking toward Recovery Girl's office. Izuku wasn't sure where they were going, as he was getting a bit fuzzy in the head, but he was just going where All Might guided him; he trusted All Might enough to know that he wouldn't take him anywhere he didn't want to be.
Todoroki stood behind the corner that Izuku had walked behind, silently listening. He had been hoping to talk to Izuku, explain to him the importance of him using his fire in the Cavalry Battle, but it looked like he wasn't going to get to tell Izuku why it was so important to beat him. He narrowed his eyes at something the two had talked about, though, having an inkling of something important.
"All for One …" Todoroki wondered aloud.
In Recovery Girl's office, Izuku laid himself down on a bed and sighed, finally able to relax now that he wasn't standing. He melted into the bed, really feeling like a nap right about now. He had to stay awake, though; he had to explain to All Might what had happened.
"So, tell me what happened. Spare no detail," All Might said.
"Well, I was going forward with Operation: Floaty Boat when it happened," Izuku started, getting a chuckle from All Might at the name of his plan. "Then, when I had gotten up to the highest I thought I should probably go, I felt this … presence in my mind. It was like when the vestiges would talk to me, but it was also different," Izuku said.
"Alright. What was different?" All Might asked, already knowing the answer from Izuku's questions earlier.
"This presence was evil, and I could feel it calling to me. I looked over to where you were sitting, and I saw All for One standing right behind you. I thought it was a hallucination or something, maybe a result of going so high so quickly, but I could've sworn it was real. He talked to me," Izuku said, remembering the monster's grating voice.
"He talked?" All Might asked, almost jumping out of his chair.
"Yeah. He said … that I'm next," Izuku recalled.
All Might paled. He leaned back in his seat and kept whispering something. When Izuku listened closer, it was a series of 'no's and 'holy shit's. Izuku clearly knew how big a threat All for One is, and he was terrifying in person, but Izuku hadn't considered until now that All Might had personal stakes in this. Izuku did too, but they were kind of removed until now. All Might had faced this evil before, and it had ruined him.
"All Might?" Izuku called.
"'You're next' is what he said to me … right after he killed Nana Shimura," All Might said, gripping his old wound like it had reopened.
"No way. Does that mean … he's gonna come after me with the same intensity as he did with you?" Izuku asked.
"Likely. I no longer hold One for All, which means that he'll target you now, knowing that you wield the power he longs for," All Might explained.
"Why does he want OFA so badly? I'm sure that he could steal every other Quirk in Japan," Izuku asked.
"It's simple human nature. He wants what he can't have. He can't take One for All, because it can only be given willingly by the user. He tries to force those who hold it into giving it to him, but if they resist, he kills them. They've always managed to pass it on before this battle, but I hadn't. That's what was so climactic about our battle. There was a chance that One for All could've ended there," All Might said.
"Oh," Izuku sighed.
"Continue," All Might said.
"Next, he kind of … dragged me into the vestige world. He told me that I was the 'nexus point' of Quirks within One for All, and that he'd kill me for his little brother's powers," Izuku explained, shuddering at the threat of a painful death.
"Just as we thought," All Might groaned.
"Then, the vestiges showed up. All of them, even the ones that had been kinda misty and not completely present before. You were even there, though you were still kinda … half there and half not. I don't know," Izuku said.
"Hmm," All Might hummed, promising himself to look into it later.
"They confronted All for One, calling him … Rei Shigaraki," Izuku said.
The air in the room was tense. Those three had learned the true name of All for One. All Might was definitely going to look up Rei Shigaraki after his talk with Izuku. All Might wondered if Tomura Shigaraki was his biological descendant, or if he had simply adopted the name. He went with the latter, since he doubted that the monster that was All for One would ever lower himself as to procreate. He doubted he could after the beatdown six years ago.
"All for One started doing this … thing. He was spreading something around the vestige realm. His essence, maybe, since the vestiges shielded me from it, spreading theirs right back. I think they're still … fighting inside One for All, and that's why I'm weak. One for All doesn't have enough energy to fight All for One, so they're taking some of mine," Izuku finished.
"That's a reasonable guess. I hate to say that I really don't know much about how this new, awakened version of One for All works. You're now the authority on this, Young Midoriya, because I've never experienced anything like anything you're going through," All Might said.
"Yeah. I gathered that a long time ago," Izuku said, the slightest bit of disappointment in his voice.
"Young Midoriya, you have to understand that it isn't my fault. This is uncharted territory for everyone involved," All Might said, panicked,
"Oh, I know. I just … wish I had someone with experience training a large group of Quirks together with brutal efficiency," Izuku said, knowing who he was talking about.
"You don't mean …" All Might trailed off.
"I want to tell Aizawa about One for All," Izuku said.
"You have to know that's against our rules. The more people know about One for All, the more you'll be in danger," All Might argued.
"I know it's against your rules," Izuku muttered, not looking at All Might.
"Excuse me?" All Might asked.
Izuku couldn't believe he was doing this. He was going against All Might. This was new for him, and probably even newer to All Might. He had been the Symbol of Peace for thirty years, so Izuku understood that he might've been used to things going his way. Izuku was also used to things not going his way, and he was getting kind of sick of it.
"I said, I know that it's against your rules," Izuku spoke up, now looking right at All Might.
"What does that mean?" All Might asked.
"It means that I want to make the decision for once. Everything you've told me about keeping One for All a secret up until now has been in the interest of the greater good. That's good, that's nice, but if it hinders my development, then it can't be in the interest of the greater good! It's actively holding me back from reaching my full potential, which is in the interest of the greater good!" Izuku said.
"I think you need to calm down," All Might said, a serious expression on his face.
"No. I've been too lenient with you," Izuku said, which sounded ridiculous to even him.
"Lenient? With me? You're tired, Young Midoriya. Get some rest," All Might said, beginning to stand up.
"I'm perfectly lucid, All Might. I think that, because of my admiration for you, I've been viewing you through rose tinted glasses. I think I need to take them off. I'm telling Aizawa, and you can't stop me. I need to be trained by someone who understands my powers, and I'm not getting that from you. This isn't anything against you, I'm simply doing what needs to be done in order to become the Symbol of Hope that you talked about," Izuku said, feeling stronger.
All Might's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Symbol. He had hoped Izuku could announce himself at this Festival as the future Symbol of Hope, but it didn't look like that was going to be happening. All Might stood, not meeting his successor's eyes. He knew that Izuku was waiting on a response, but he simply took a deep breath and left.
Izuku watched All Might leave, obviously heartbroken. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but he kind of needed to, to get it through to All Might that he needed external help, and that he wasn't meeting expectations. It was harsh, Izuku knew it, but he was willing to get a little harsh to get what he needed. He looked over to Recovery Girl, who was silently doing paperwork. He almost forgot she was in there with them, as one of the few people at UA that knew about One for All.
"I did the right thing, right?" Izuku asked.
"Yes, though you could've let him down a little gentler," Recovery Girl said, not looking up from her paperwork.
"I thought so. Oh, crap! I didn't tell him about OFA going dormant!" Izuku hissed.
"Dormant?" Recovery Girl asked, turning around to face Izuku.
"Yeah. I think that One for All is taking so much of its energy trying to combat All for One that I can't use any of my Quirks," Izuku revealed.
"Oh, dear. I guess that meant that you can't compete in the Festival anymore," Recovery Girl said.
"Yeah, I was worried about that. I'd be taken down by anyone with a Quirk, even with my training," Izuku said, chuckling pathetically.
"I don't think that's true. You could beat a fair portion of those competitors. I'm talking about the more high-level enemies, like the Todoroki child, or Bakugo," Recovery Girl said, shaking her head at the shows of power Todoroki and Bakugo had performed so far.
"Yeah. I'm barely competing with my Quirks. I've noticed something recently, and I think it's an important facet to One for All," Izuku said.
"What's that?" Recovery Girl asked.
"All of my Quirks so far are utility powers. The only real combat power I have is One for All's basic Super Strength. By all means, these Quirks aren't special, only being powerful when used in conjunction with One for All. The people who wielded this power weren't 'the chosen few', they were just … people nearby who happened to be suitable vessels. Only All Might was chosen for his innate heroism, and then … me after him. In terms of the chain of inheritance of One for All, I'm the ninth, but in terms of the chain of inheritance of Symbolism, I'm the second. That means I have to make it count, so I'll fight in the final event of the Festival. I know I'll probably lose, but I have to try. That's what a Symbol of Hope would do," Izuku said, thinking things out as he was speaking.
Recovery Girl let Izuku go, knowing that she couldn't stop him even if he was effectively Quirkless.
Izuku made his way down to the cafeteria, wanting to get some lunch before he fought in the final event. He walked through the halls, noticing for the first time how truly massive the stadium UA built just for an event that was held annually was. It was bigger than UA's main building, and that was used by over a thousand people every day. He supposed it all came down to funding. The Sports Festival was far more popular than even the Olympic Games these days, so Izuku thought it was understandable that UA would get more funding for it.
"Midoriya!" Iida cheered from the table he was sitting at with some of Class-1A, namely Shinso, Tsu and an extra guest in the form of Hatsume.
"Hey," Izuku waved.
"Where have you been? You look dead," Shinso asked.
"I just took a little nap in the infirmary. For your information, Shinso, I feel dead as well," Izuku replied, putting on the snarkiest voice he could for Shinso. He had discovered the boy loved conversations made of pure sarcasm, where both people knew it was sarcastic, but nobody knew where the sarcasm ended and where the sincerity began. It got him to laugh the hardest he had seen anybody laugh.
"You did look quite tired after the Cavalry Battle. Are you feeling alright now?" Tsu asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was hoping to get some lunch, but it looks like I missed my window. That line is insanely long," Izuku said, sitting down in the empty space next to Hatsume, who was tinkering with what looked like another net-gun.
"So, how does it feel to be number one?" Hatsume asked.
"It feels weird. I'm not used to winning, I guess," Izuku laughed.
"Why's that? I'm sure that with your Quirk people would be almost subservient to you. The ability to fly, shoot out grapples and superhuman strength? That's a pretty diverse Quirk right there," Hatsume said absently.
"Uh, well, I actually didn't always have my Quirk," Izuku said, getting everyone at the table to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Iida asked.
"I'm …" Izuku debated talking about One for All, but decided that, even though they were great friends and extraordinary Heroes in training, they weren't the right people to know. " … what they call a 'late bloomer'. My Quirk didn't manifest when I was four, hidden away so that I didn't explode my arm off trying to use my powers," Izuku said.
"Explode? Why?" Hatsume asked, suddenly very interested.
"You haven't seen the kind of power he's capable of. It shreds any part of him he uses it with. If a four year old did that, they'd die," Shinso explained, now understanding.
"Yeah. That's my story. The Quirkless kid that became a Hero," Izuku chuckled to himself.
"Sounds like something out of a manga or something," Shinso said, getting a laugh from everyone at the table.
"How do you all feel about going up against each other in the final event?" Tsu asked.
Izuku remembered that Tsu had held onto one headband, hers, for the entire Cavalry Battle. That meant that she hadn't earned enough points to keep going in the Festival. He was tempted to give some kind of condolence, but thought that that might be more like rubbing salt into the wound for Tsu, who prided herself on her blunt truthfulness.
"I feel pretty confident in saying that I'm gonna lose my first match," Shinso said, picking at his food.
"Why is that?" Iida asked.
"Well, look at how many people from our class make up the final sixteen. All of them know how my Quirk works. I'm screwed," Shinso complained.
"Why don't you just insult their friends? Get them to talk to you that way," Hastume suggested, not looking up from her invention.
"Huh. Yeah," Shinso said, a small smirk spreading across his face.
"While I do think that you should do whatever you can to get them to respond to you, I don't think you should get too personal with the insults. Take Bakugo for example. He's had some issues with being called a Villain because of his past attitude, and I exploited that in the battle trials in our first Foundational Heroics class. That, though, cost Ochako a month of her life. Don't overdo it," Izuku warned.
"You would say that, Shigaraki Smasher," Shinso shot back.
"That's unfair," Izuku grumbled.
"Is it wrong, though?" Shinso chuckled.
"It is kind of ironic that you're telling Shinso to not overdo things when you've broken your arm and both your legs since starting school, and we're only about a month into our first semester," Tsu said.
"Why does this feel like an intervention?" Izuku asked, smiling wide.
"Uh, hello Mr. Midoriya, we're here to talk to you about your addiction to breaking your goddam bones," Shinso said, deepening his voice to sound like some kind of official.
The table erupted into laughter at that, even Hatsume, who had looked up from her net-gun for the first time in the conversation. Tsu smiled, which Izuku was glad to see, as he now knew that she could. He'd make an effort to make it happen more often, now. The laughter stopped when a shadow came over Izuku, and he looked back to see Todoroki standing behind him, glaring at him intensely.
"Midoriya. Do you have a moment to talk?" Todoroki asked.
"Uh, sure. I'll be back in a second," Izuku said, waving goodbye to his friends.
"In the Cavalry Battle, you got me to use my fire," Todoroki asked.
Todoroki had walked away with a word, and Izuku had followed. They had walked through multiple hallways, and Izuku was pretty sure that they had turned so many times that they had been going in circles around the same four corners. They had come to a stop at the lip of a tunnel leading to outside the stadium.
"I noticed. It's about time you got serious," Izuku said.
"I am serious. You made me break my oath. That's a feat in and of itself, but so far, you've won at every chance. I trust that you know my father, Endeavour, has been second place to All Might for most of his career," Todoroki said.
"Yeah. He soared up the charts when he was younger, but he stalled soon after, never getting to be the top ranked Hero because of All Might," Izuku said.
"I'm the son of Endeavour. You're All Might's protege in some way. That meant that if I beat you, I'd show my father that I can do what he couldn't. I could surpass him, all without using his cursed power," Todoroki said.
"Cursed power?" Izuku asked.
"Tell me, Midoriya. Have you heard of Quirk Marriages?" Todoroki asked back.
"N-No," Izuku answered, nervous of the meaning.
"They were popular among older generations of Quirk users. They involved breeding with certain people to produce the most powerful Quirked children possible. My parents were one of these marriages, my father paying my mother's family for possession of her. His reasoning was that if he could make a Quirk that had his fire power, combined with my mother's potential for ice powers, that would counteract the negative effects of both Quirks, heatstroke and frostbite respectively," Todoroki explained.
"Okay. Where are you going with this?" Izuku said, not liking that he knew the answer, but was too afraid to say it.
"My father commenced his plan with Toya, the first. Once his Quirk manifested, and it wasn't to his liking, he moved on. My sister, Fuyumi. Once she was confirmed as a disappointment in his eyes, he moved onto Natsuo. He was a failure as well. Then, he got to me. Apparently, I was perfect," Todoroki said, scowling.
Izuku now understood the true meaning of his split hair and eyes. The right produced cold, so his hair was white and his eye was grey, presumably all traits he inherited from his mother. The left produced flames, with the hair colored red and the eye being blue on that side, traits derived from his father. That explained everything but one thing; his scar.
Todoroki had a large burn scar on the left side of his face, which Izuku had guessed came from a training accident. After all, as Todoroki had just told him, he wasn't immune to the effects of his fire, just resistant. That meant that he could still be burnt, but maybe only by pushing himself to his limits. He didn't pry, but was still curious.
"So … you're the perfect Hero? Why are you telling me all this?" Izuku asked.
"Because, there's more to it than that. My father started my training immediately, putting me through the kind of stuff you'd expect third year students at UA to go through when I was only five years old. My mother tried to stop it, but he put her in her place soon enough," Todoroki continued.
"He … hurt her?" Izuku asked, feeling a sick feeling rising in his core.
"Yes. Because of it, she stopped trying to help me after a while. She left me to bear the pain alone. The training increased in difficulty. I was getting overworked. One day, I went to her, trying to get some help because I had scraped my elbow during training and my father was ignoring it, telling me to 'get back up', and that it was 'only a scratch'. That's how I got this," Todoroki explained, ending with showing Izuku a large patch of scar tissue beginning at his elbow and extending down his forearm.
"What happened next?" Izuku asked.
"My mother spotted me, and called my left side unsightly, describing it as looking just like him. That was before she poured scalding water on my face. That's how I got this scar. That's the day I made an oath to myself, to never use his cursed power, and become a Hero using only my mother's Quirk," Todoroki concluded, putting a hand over his burn scar.
"I made you break that oath. That's why you're so worked up?" Izuku asked.
"Yes. I don't know what it is about you, Midoriya, but you have a way of getting people to act differently than they normally would. That's annoying," Todoroki said.
"That's called 'inspiration'. All the best Heroes can do it," Izuku said, seeing Todoroki's face change from annoyance to surprise.
"Look, Todoroki. I'm not gonna say that I know what it feels like. I don't. I do know what it feels like to want to prove yourself, though. I'm trying to do it, too. Watch out, Todoroki. I'm coming for you," Izuku said.
Todoroki's eyes narrowed, but he walked away. Izuku let himself relax, having kept his posture straight from nerves the whole time. He watched Todoroki leave, noting that his hands were shaking. He considered reaching out to him to help, but let him go. They were enemies now, and he needed to think like it. The time for help wasn't today. Today was the time to fight.