Chapter 2: Secrets That They Hid
Instead of becoming the flaming monster again, upon pressing the button on the watch, she instead turned into a crystalline humanoid, about the same height as All Might. She felt the instincts of the creature and its powers enter her mind, and she pushed herself forwards with a pillar of crystal. Her hands turned into sharp blades as she cut through the robot's legs, loosening its grip on All Might. Without hesitation, he jumped onto the mechanical beast's head, and smashed it with a huge burst of power, caving in the mechanical titan's head from.
However, that seemed not to have finished it off, as it once again raised its arm to crush the hero. Izumi quickly reacted, raising a pillar of crystal from the ground, which severed the arm, so that All Might could finally finish it off by smashing its main processor. She shook the adrenaline from her system, running to her master's rescue. She found his shrivelled form, steaming over the robot's broken 'brain'.
"Sensei! You! You're hurt! Please, let me help you!" She stammered.
He shook his head and managed to drag himself up to his feet. "Young Midoriya! That was incredibly reckless, but thank you. That thing was tough as nails." He caught his breath, before realising that his student had yet another form. "This one's different…"
Izumi looked herself over. "Yeah… I didn't pay attention to the watch when I pressed the button. I know we don't really know anything about it, but it was the best idea I had. Still… I wonder how many transformations this thing has."
All Might hummed, looking at the wreckage of the robot. "What do you think these are? Quirks?" He wondered, warily. 'Hopefully, it doesn't involve… him .'
"I don't think so, sensei… I know it sounds crazy… but both this watch and that robot… they fell from space." Izumi's tone, though unsure, was deadly serious.
Toshinori widened his eyes. "You don't mean…"
"Aliens… what else could they be?" Izumi argued. All Might stayed silent for a minute, looking at the sky.
"Young Midoriya… This changes everything. Life beyond the stars…" he paused. "For now, though… we need to get you home. You've had a hell of a day." They were both silent during their ride home. "Now, be sure to follow the diet and exercise plan I laid out for you. Any money you make from recycling will go towards training gear, but don't be afraid to use the extra, okay?" Izumi nodded as he bid her goodbye. "We'll figure out this watch… thing… tomorrow, okay?" He promised.
As she entered her home, she was greeted by her mother's cooking. "Izumi! You're late! What kept you so long." Inko worried. "Come here, I made katsudon to celebrate!" Izumi immediately perked up at that.
"Thanks mom! God, I'm exhausted. Yagi-sensei is a taskmaster." She covered her yawn with her left hand, inadvertently drawing her mother's attention to the watch. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
'No… it can't be! It's here… with her?!' Inko stifled a cough, nearly doing a spit take. "I-Izumi, dear… Where did you get that watch? It's… odd." She probed, and by her daughter's panicked reaction, she knew enough about it to want it kept secret.
Izumi's panicked mind worked overtime on a lie. She didn't like lying to her mother, but… how could she tell her about all that had happened. "There was a flea market on the way to the beach… I thought it looked cool."
Inko obviously knew it was a lie, but still, she felt conflicted. She had wanted to induct her daughter after she got into UA… but now, with the Omnitrix on her arm… she needed to think. "Okay, sweetie, it is rather nice… the colour matches your hair and eyes." She stated absentmindedly, though in reality her mind was reeling.
The watch and the secrets led to an awkward dinner, where Izumi just ate quickly, completely famished, and told her mother about the new diet plan, for which she made plans. As soon as they were done, however, Izumi went straight to her bedroom, rushing away. Inko stared at her retreating daughter. 'I have to call Nezu.' She dialled his number, looking around carefully.
"Nezu-san, there's an emergency." She immediately said, not waiting for his introduction.
The chimaera was startled slightly, not expecting such a call from his newest magister. "Midoriya-kun, I was expecting a report on your daughter's first day of training. What happened? Is she hurt?"
"The… The Omnimatrix… Izumi has it." She said, her face pale at the implication.
Nezu felt his grip on his tea weaken ever so slightly. "That is an emergency…" His eyes then began to sparkle. "Give her no indication that you know, for now. That's an order. When she is out of Aldera, however, our plans must shift." Inko didn't like the sound of that. "If your daughter has the Omnitrix… I must insist on handling her education moving forwards." Inko wanted to protest, but she knew that her daughter needed to be ready and able to use it… she was in danger as soon as she put on that watch.
"Fine. I just hope… wait, who was tasked with keeping it safe?" Inko asked, fearing the answer.
"Midoriya-kun… I'm sorry… It was Agent Xylene." Inko felt her stomach drop from hearing the name. "We're organising a search party. We will find her… hopefully alive." Nezu tried to reassure the woman, who already felt tears flooding her eyes. "Please, Midoriya… be strong. Be there for your daughter. Now, do you know where the Omnitrix landed? We should remove whatever evidence there is while there is still time."
Inko held back her emotions, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Since we haven't heard any news, it must have been somewhere secluded… empty…" Her mind sorted through the possibilities, until she landed on the only true location "Dagobah." She said with finality.
"Thank you, Midoriya-kun. I'll keep you updated. Stay safe." With that, the line cut off and Inko fell to the ground, sobbing quietly.
The next morning, when All Might and Izumi arrived at the beach, they were immediately suspicious. Someone had removed the massive robot and any signs of the fight from yesterday, including the crystals left behind by Izumi. All Might wanted to call Tsukauchi or Nezu, but they both felt that revealing the existence of alien life might not be worth the risk. However, they were certainly on guard from then on.
Starting from that day, Izumi began alternating her training between pure muscle building and using her alien forms discreetly, under All Might's supervision. She discovered that the watch let her transform between ten different creatures, each with different powers, though there was some overlap.
The other students of Aldera, especially Bakugou, had mocked her for having such a ridiculous watch, but she was always careful that nobody tried to steal it. She really didn't want to explain why her watch could let off energy bursts. However, seeing as she was basically a pariah, the interest in her watch soon died down, and they went back to their usual routine of bullying.
She kept an open eye and ear to anything she could give Nezu and the detective, any further ammunition so that they could bring this hellhole down faster. 'Good riddance to bad rubbish.' After the sludge villain incident, some people, especially Bakugou, seemed to give her some space, though not by much. Still better than being attacked and harassed almost daily.
As the week went by, she discovered the basic features of the watch, and how to detransform at will. It turned out to be incredibly simple, by merely tapping the symbol twice, she returned to her human form. She also discovered a way to slightly cheat on her training using this. By transforming just after her workout and detransforming quickly, her body returned to a 'normal state', which kept her muscle gain while eliminating the strain. She smiled devilishly upon learning this, and with All Might's permission, she began to use this often, though he insisted on her taking actual brakes.
That left them with extra time to explore her alien abilities, most of which made Izumi incredibly excited, and some of which slightly frightened All Might. The first form she had transformed into, which she named Pele, could produce flames hot enough to melt steel with enough exertion. She could be put out with enough water or wind, but in less than a minute, she was already relit, though still weakened. She felt a bit proud that, with that form, she could practically hard-counter the Number 2 Hero.
Next was Shard, the crystal-like alien. Incredibly tough, even able to withstand several hits from All Might. The crystals she produced outside her body were weaker than diamonds, but whatever she was made out of was significantly tougher. The blades she could make with her arms could seemingly cut through metal like it was butter.
The third transformation they discovered was Werebeast, a seemingly blind furry monster that could see through its sense of smell mixed with echolocation and was surprisingly strong and agile. Next was a slime-like alien that could fuse with any technology and improve it significantly, which she named Upgrade.
Next was Scientia, her smartest and smallest form, resembling a humanoid frog. Her intellect in this form, combined with her natural memory, made her rather menacing despite her stature. Then came Frostbite, a moth-like alien that could fly, turn invisible and intangible and breathed out incredibly cold air, capable of flash freezing pretty much everything. Tetra was a red skinned alien that had four muscular arms. All Might was kinda scared to see what she could do with One for All at that point, seeing as that Alien was close to half his current level of strength already. At least in the same ballpark.
Her absolute favourites, however, were the last three. Kinesis was staggeringly fast, in both practical speed and thought processing and reflexes. Ceres was a rock-like giant with incredible control over gravity, and then there was Midax. Taller than All Might, also nearing half his current strength, and with the ability to turn her arms into tentacles. It also gave her incredible combat instincts and confidence, which she sorely needed.
Over that week, Izumi had grown rather attached to her transformations, already dreaming of the heroics she could do as them. Toshinori felt proud… and uneasy. With just that watch, he could see her becoming the Number 1 Hero after he retired. With One for All… she'd be absolutely unstoppable. However, she did have a time limit for transformations, about ten minutes at a time, though it could grow longer as she used it. But what really frightened him was the robot, and what it could mean. He knew that device was powerful, and potentially world-shattering if it fell into the wrong hands… and from that attack, he knew there was something, or rather someone after it.
The weekend arrived once more, and Izumi was excited by the news that, starting next week, she would no longer be a student of Aldera. She hugged her mother when she delivered the news, yet when she asked where she would be studying, her mood suddenly shifted.
"My baby… I didn't want to tell you this before you were at UA, but… I'm not quite a government worker." Izumi widened her eyes. Was her mother really about to tell her the full truth? "I belong to an organisation known as the Plumbers."
"Plumbers? Seriously?" Izumi raised an eyebrow. The name sounded ridiculous.
"Yes, seriously." Inko replied, her tone sharp. Izumi promptly shut up. "You might not believe this… but we're an interstellar organisation that oversees alien activity." One could hear a pin drop after that sentence. After not hearing a response from her daughter, Inko continued. "Nezu, Kurose and myself are some of the agents stationed here on Earth… and last week, the most powerful device in the universe landed here."
Izumi widened her eyes as her mother looked directly at her left wrist. "The… The watch?" Izumi said in disbelief. 'It's an amazing device, for sure… but the most powerful one in the universe?!'
Inko snapped from her thoughts. "Yes, the watch. The Omnimatrix, or Omnitrix, was created by the smartest being in the known universe. It contains the genetic information of over a million species within it, and gives the user the ability to transform into any of them. It was a tool created for diplomacy… but many saw it as a tool for war." The information hit Izumi like a truck.
"And now I have it…" Izumi muttered, completely disbelieving of the situation.
"Yes, and judging from the droid we recovered last Saturday-" Inko was interrupted by a screech.
"That was you?!" Izumi gasped loudly.
Inko sighed. "Yes, dear. That was us. Anyway, judging from that… there's already someone after it. The Tyrant, Vilgax." The name sent shivers down Izumi's spine. "A Chimaera Sui Generis who set out on a warpath, conquering any world that piqued his interest. He destroyed Petropia and killed off the Osmosians… perhaps I'm not giving you context, but be sure that with the Omnitrix in his hands, he would be nigh unstoppable." She said.
Izumi baulked. That villain… he was after the Omnitrix, which was attached to her. She felt her adrenaline skyrocket. "I… is he strong?" She managed to ask.
"His species is already incredibly physically strong. With his cybernetic enhancements… I've only fought him once, and barely escaped with my life. He's as strong as All Might. Damn that vile squid." The insult gave Izumi pause. Could it be?
"Mom… Is a Chimaera Sui Generis a tall, squid-like person, with arms that can turn to tentacles?" She asked warily. Midax was one of her favourite forms, after all. To know it was the species of one of the worst villain in the cosmos…
Inko paled slightly.. "You… you can turn into them, then." Upon seeing the terrified expression on her daughter's face, she immediately hugged her. "Izumi, listen to me very carefully. Vilgax is but one of his people. Being of his species does not make one a villain. It's just like with quirks. There are no villainous quirks, only villainous people." Izumi calmed down with the reassurance. "I'll have you know, Myaxx, the assistant of Azmuth, creator of the Omnitrix, is also a Chimaera Sui Generis." Izumi smiled slightly.
"Thanks for telling me all this, mom… but why now? Why keep this a secret for so long?" She questioned, looking at her mother through a different lens.
Inko sighed. "I didn't mean to hide it from you… I just… You were going to be brought in after getting into UA." She admitted. "I didn't want you to worry about that on top of becoming a hero just yet. Every year, Nezu scouts promising students into the plumbers, from any course, though usually from heroics and support engineering. I've been training you for becoming a plumber, rather than a hero… sorry for lying to you, sweetie."
Izumi grimaced. The lies hurt, the secrets hurt… but ultimately, she couldn't bring herself to hate her mother. "I… what happens now? With the Omnitrix, with me? All Might already knows about the transformations? Do we keep the whole truth from him?" She held back some tears as she wondered what would come next.
Inko sighed and held her daughter tightly. "Now… we meet with Nezu. He wanted me to bring you to him today… All Might too. I guess the time for secrets has run out." She smiled, although her eyes betrayed some sadness. "Nezu will teach you from now on… both on general academics and on the Omnitrix. I know this is sudden…"
Izumi froze for a second, before her mouth curled up in a wide smile. "I get to be taught by NEZU?! Why didn't you lead with that?!" Izumi practically vibrated in her seat. Inko shot her a concerned smile.
They arrived at UA at sundown. Thirteen, wearing their full suit, came to meet them at the door. Toshinori was confused at the sudden invite, and even more so when both Inko and Thirteen seemed to share knowledge about the mysterious watch bound to Izumi. 'I guess every Saturday is going to be like this, now.'
He wanted to ask what this was all about, but Inko simply smiled at him, as if predicting his question. "Don't worry, Yagi-san. We're gonna explain everything. Just… brace yourself."
'Well, that certainly doesn't fill me with insane amounts of dread.' He internally deadpanned. His expression betrayed his caution, yet seeing his protegè unusually excited made him less worried than he arguably should have been. "Lead the way, then…"
They arrived at Nezu's office rather quickly, where he was already waiting for them. Inside, beside him, stood a fish-like humanoid with what looked to be body armour and a helmet filled with water. "Ah, you made it at last. All Might-kun, Midoriya-chan, this is Magister Patelliday." He introduced the man, who bowed slightly. "He is an alien."
All Might coughed up blood at the jarring end to the introduction. "Oh, apologies, I was under the impression that everyone here was 'in the know', so to speak." Patelliday said, looking apologetic towards Toshinori.
"Ah, sorry, it's just… I wasn't expecting to meet another alien…" Toshinori took a moment to breathe. "Nice to meet you? I am… pretty confused, not gonna lie."
"Well, then, allow me to explain. I expect Izumi has been filled in by Magister Midoriya?" At their confirmation, surprising Toshinori, Nezu continued. "Very well. Yagi Toshinori, what you are about to hear is a closely guarded secret." All Might nodded solemnly. "As you may have guessed from the device on your student's wrist, there is life outside of earth. Quite a lot of it, in fact. I, as well as the others in this room, are part of an organisation devoted to interstellar peace, a mix of heroes and police, if you will. UA, aside from being a premier school for heroics, hosts Earth's Plumber headquarters and training facility. Nowadays, it's rather easy to pass off aliens as mutation quirks, you know? Now, onto the main topic of our discussion."
He pointed to the watch and smiled. "That right there is the Omnitrix, the most powerful device in the known universe." All Might spat blood once again, looking at the watch with widened eyes. "Indeed. As you might have guessed, there are many who covet its power. It was created to be a tool for peace, letting the user experience living in another's shoes, so to speak. However, many seek to use it as a weapon for war." Toshinori grimaced, remembering the robot.
"Midoriya-chan, as the bearer of the Omnitrix, you will face many adversities. We have reason to believe the Omnitrix was intended for your mother, and locked onto your DNA sample as a mistake." Izumi looked downcast at that. Was she really not worthy of it? "However, I believe this small error to be most fortuitous!" She looked up, seeing her mother also smiling at her. "You are yet untrained, but I see potential, as does your mother. It will be dangerous, but I believe you can overcome any adversity, with both the Omnitrix and your quirk."
Toshinori shuddered as he looked at Patelliday. 'Does he know?'
"Yes, though you are yet to unlock its power, due to your body currently being too weak to hold the energy within you, it's just a matter of time." Nezu subtly winked at the two of them, making them release a breath they had been holding. "Now, I must ask… Do you accept this charge? Will you bear the weight of the Omnitrix?"
Izumi smiled, her eyes shining with determination. "I do, sir."
"Very well, then, welcome to the Plumbers, Cadet Midoriya." Nezu grinned devilishly, much to everyone's dismay.
As expected, the next months were hell for Izumi. Between her training with All Might, her studies with Nezu, and her specialised plumber training with Thirteen and her mother, she was constantly fighting against exhaustion. They gave her time to rest and relax, of course, but only just. She had also met Xylene, who had brought the Omnitrix to earth in the first place. After crashing into the sea near Hokkaido, they had recovered her, still in one piece. However, she was comatose. Izumi saw how her Mother reacted, as well as the way she interacted with Thirteen. There was something more to that story, but Izumi couldn't quite place it.
During the summer, she was finally brought in to meet a few of the other Cadets. Kevin Levin, an exchange student from America in the first year of the Support department. He was, in fact, half Osmosian, a species that was rather rare in the universe nowadays, after Vilgax razed their planet for fear of their potential. Then there were the Heroics students, three of them, in fact. Lucy Mann, a first year, was a Lenopan, sludge like Aliens with shapeshifting abilities, she was also, somehow, cousins with Izumi, through a weird mix of marriages, though she knew that his mother was adopted. The other two, the only ones that were fully human, were Hado Nejire, whose quirk let her shoot out spiral energy from her body, based on her vitality, and Amajiki Tamaki, who could manifest the attributes of anything he ate within a specific time limit. Both were in their second year already. The former was a bundle of manic energy, while the latter, though competent, suffered from severe anxiety. Izumi quickly became their mascot, as the youngest one there.
She was also surprised by the fact that both Ryukyu and Fatgum were Plumber Agents, which really threw her for a loop. She hadn't met that many people, with her hectic schedule, but the ones she had met had her questioning everything she knew before.
During the first five or six months of her training, she was nearly constantly harassed by the same kinds of droids as the one who had been sent after her. She managed to deal with them, though many times relying on help from the Plumbers.
On one such occasion, while they were training at one of the fake cities scheduled for demolition inside the UA campus, to test out some of her more destructive transformations and abilities, a huge version of the regular robots appeared. Izumi, already transformed into Shard, attempted to slice off its appendages. However, much to her surprise, it emitted a sonic attack that managed, for the first time, to actually damage her Petrosapien form, and considerably so.
While she reverted back to human form and waited for her recharge, unfortunately unable to do much against the robot, the other cadets did their best at harassing the metal enemy. Kevin took the initiative, absorbing the metal on the robot's leg to coat himself with, but avoiding taking any energy. According to him, taking in too much energy had a negative effect on his mental state.
Amajiki, despite his nervousness, was swinging around the nearby buildings and attempting to subdue the monster with giant octopus tentacles, and tearing into its carapace with bird claws. Lucy was, similar to Izumi, rebuffed by an electric attack from the Destroyer, which left her out of commission.
"Lucy!" Izumi screamed, leaping into action, despite her watch still being on recharge mode. The time had become progressively shorter as she used it, but it still took a bit of time. Still, she could take her unconscious friend out of harm's way. She took Lucy away from the fight, and hearing the trademark beep from the Omnitrix, she decided to leap back into the fray.
When she did, she saw Nejire doing her best to keep the robot at bay, though it was clear she was having to exhaust herself considerably to do so. Her flight was wavering, and a backhanded strike from the robot was enough to send her to the ground. Izumi, in desperation, selected the only alien that might be able to reach her in time. She was too far to reach her with Kinesis, even with her immense speed. With a flash, she was transformed into a large mechanical being, looking like a steampunk clock. "Clockwork!" She said, with a slight accent.
Immediately, time around her stopped. To anyone else, it seemed she had simply moved impossibly fast, but in truth everything around her was just slowed to a crawl. Izumi managed to reach Nejire, moving her carefully so as to not destroy her body from the momentum. That's why she had selected this form over others, since she was too fast and too close to the ground for the others to have any chance of catching her without damage. As time resumed, Nejire looked at clockwork's bronze body, glistening in the Sun, the way she held her gently, despite her hard metal skin. "You saved me… Thank you, Izu-chan." Nejire was out like a light, having thoroughly exhausted her stamina fighting the robot.
Izumi placed her gently away from the chaos and, once again, leapt into the fight. Clockwork was one of her slower forms, naturally, but her frankly absurd control over time made her an absolute powerhouse, even in terms of speed. The only thing she couldn't do in this form was rewind organic matter, but she could, theoretically at least, throw a punch at the speed of light. Which is what she now attempted to find out.
She ran, slowly, though to the world outside her influence, it looked like a flash of light, and punched the robot's leg, speeding up time to watch as it practically disintegrated. A heavy punch, with that much speed behind it, shattered the incredibly tough metal. 'Hell yeah, physics, baby!' Izumi cheered internally as the robot fell backwards, allowing Izumi to repeat the process on its face.
Izumi collapsed after timing out. Despite all of Clockwork's immense power, manipulating time in such a way drained her considerably. She was helped back up by a recovered Lucy, while Kevin and Tamaki took care of carrying Nejire. While they were being dragged back to rest, Nejire took a glance at Izumi, smiling softly. The attack happened in late June, two months after she started training.
However, after those early months… there was nothing. Not a trace or indication of the robots or their master. That was, perhaps, even more unsettling.
Indeed, way above the stratosphere, a partly destroyed ship orbited just above the pacific ocean. However, they had, in their efforts to secure the Omnitrix, exhausted their supply of probes and destroyers. Now, all they could do was wait and watch, either until their leader was back to full health, or until the bounty hunters finally arrived.
On Izumi's birthday, she was surprised by a rare break in her training and a celebration, organised by Nezu and her mother. Her new friends from the Plumber Cadet corps were also there, and as usual she was well received. It was strange for her to think that in the years that followed her diagnosis, her birthdays were times of dread, where she would be beaten twice as harshly at school. Now however, with all the joy and affection she was being showered with, she felt overwhelmed.
Both she and her mother began living at UA shortly after, though in truth it was at the Plumbers' headquarters. Her training redoubled, as she spent more and more time training specific aliens in a variety of scenarios. By the time they reached late August, aside from the species she had scanned since joining the plumbers, including Riptide, her Piscciss Volann transformation, Mudshifter, her Lenopan transformation, and Amalgam, her Osmosian transformation, she also managed to unlock twenty new aliens, so they were promptly added to her training schedule.
It was gruelling, but by New Year's day, she had finally finished cleaning Dagobah beach. Toshinori, Inko, Anan and Nejire all made their way to the beach after getting a sudden text from Izumi. Upon arriving there, far from the dumping ground they had come to expect, Dagobah was now absolutely pristine, save for a large truck, which Izumi had dragged all the way to the stairway from its spot nearly two kilometres away. There was not a single speck of rubbish anymore.
"Oh… My… GOODNESS!" All Might puffed up as he exclaimed, much to the amusement of the rest. The cadets had knowledge of Izumi being trained by All Might, but not of One for All. Still, Nejire herself was looking at something beside the pristine beach. Her eyes were trailed directly on Izumi, unable to stop herself from looking. Respectfully, of course.
"Young Izumi! You even cleaned outside of the area that I told you to! And ahead of schedule, on top of your other training! Holy… stinking… SUPER CRAP!" He bellowed with the widest smile she had ever seen him make. "You truly have gone Plus Ultra… I have only one more thing to say…" Inko, noticing that they were about to do the transfer, quickly guided Nejire away, both to keep the secret, and to give them space to have a moment.
Toshinori's eyes brimmed slightly with tears, as did Izumi's. "When we met, you were an ordinary girl. Despite your training, you were still rather on the weak side. Still, you had drive, and you had potential. These past months have been eventful, and gruelling, but you have given it your all, and gone beyond all our expectations. You are ready, young Izumi, ready to be a Hero." Tears were streaming down her face as she tried, and failed, to hold it together.
"All Might… thank you so much!" She sobbed, hugging her mentor tightly, which he returned.
"I am so proud of you, young Midoriya. You'll be a great hero, a Symbol for a new age..." The honesty of his words nearly crushed Izumi, the sheer pride in his booming voice. But despite the uncertainty of whether she would live up to the faith placed in her, she was elated. They separated, and All Might seemed to prepare to do the transfer. She saw him raise a careful hand to his hair and pluck a strand off. "Now… EAT THIS!"
Izumi froze. The tears stopped, her overwhelming emotion instantly replaced by pure shock. "Yagi-sensei, what the FUCK?!" She looked at the extended hand and the hair pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
"Young Izumi, the transfer of One for All requires transferring DNA… this is the least gross way. Trust me." he shook, leading her to wonder how he had been transferred One for All, and dreading ever learning the answer.
"Fine… just… ugh." She took the hair with some disgust and closed her eyes as she consumed it with one gulp, hacking after it finally went down her throat. "That was disgusting! Couldn't we just have done something like a blood transfusion?"
He looked at her sympathetically. "Well, we thought it wouldn't be a good idea, due to the exotic matter lodged into my blood."
She furrowed her brows. "Is there really no way to heal you… I don't feel I'm ready to take on your role."
He smiled at her, rubbing her shoulder. "Young Izumi, you are still young. Your duty now is to train, not take up any kind of mantle. I want you to become your own kind of hero… and I have no doubt that you will be… the Hero of Heroes." She was once again overwhelmed by emotion.
"So… how long does the transfer take?" Izumi asked, still not feeling anything.
All Might hummed. "Well, the hair has to be digested and incorporated into your DNA. So, about three hours, give or take." Then they heard a beeping, and the Omnitrix suddenly went on the fritz, glowing a deep indigo. "Young Izumi, what's it doing?"
Izumi looked baffled. "I… have no idea. It's never done that before." Right then, as they looked at it, puzzled, it did another thing it had never done. It spoke… with Izumi's voice.
"Foreign DNA detected. Non-hostile. Attempting integration into the host's base DNA. Allow?" It said, mechanically. Izumi and All Might looked at the watch, baffled.
"Uh, yes?" Izumi said tentatively, looking between her shrugging mentor and the watch.
"Recognized. DNA assimilation commenced. Completion in T-2 hours. Foreign DNA identified. ONE FOR ALL. Beginning integration into unlocked DNA samples. Completion in T-4 hours." Once again, the two were taken aback, both by the reaction of the watch, and by the fact that it had somehow recognized it as One for All.
"I need to lie down… I don't think I can go to the shrines like I promised." Toshinori shrank down and slumped, overwhelmed.
"Same." Izumi looked despondent.
They slowly walked back towards the street, away from the beach. There, the others were awaiting them. "So, what did you talk about? How did you clean this so fast? Ooh, with the uniform you wear everyday, you can barely tell… you're pretty shredded, Zumi!" Nejire, as usual, assaulted her with questions immediately, immediately bringing some levity to the situation.
"He just… wanted to congratulate me… but when we were talking… I think my quirk came in. I finally got strong enough to handle it." She was smiling from ear to ear, the weirdness with the Omnitrix completely forgotten. Izumi blushed slightly at the last comment, but decided not to respond.
"Oooh! That's amazing, Zumi!" Nejire was feeling rather weird, she didn't know when it happened, but seeing Izumi on the beach, her muscles exposed, sweating… it did something to her. "Uuh… wanna fire it off back at HQ?" She was definitely not looking… definitely not.
Izumi somehow didn't notice, much to her mother's amusement. "Oh, well, it seems that when it kicked in… the Omnitrix decided to incorporate it into the other samples… It should be good to go in about two hours."
Nejire took it in stride. "Oh, great, then we can go to the shrine right now and do it after!" Izumi was about to protest, but she was powerless against Nejire's intense enthusiasm. "Come on! Come on! We can get some yukatas with Lucy-chan!"
Izumi sighed, relenting. "Sure, Hado-senpai. Just… don't cling so much…" She blushed as she noticed how close they were. Nejire, however, much to her chagrin, seemed to take that as a challenge, dragging her while clinging even closer.
"I told you to call me Nejire-chan, Zumi! It's my Hero name, after all." Izumi sighed, unable to deal with her antics, with all that had happened. She just stopped resisting at that point.
"Fine, Nejire-chan. Just… let's not spend two hours just choosing yukatas?" Izumi pleaded.
"No promises." Nejire's grin filled her with mounting dread.
Surprisingly, Nejire's enthusiasm managed to convince, or in some cases coerce, some others of their group to join in their outing. Izumi insisted on changing by herself. Though she was much less self conscious of her body, she had yet to reveal to her peers that she was trans. The adults all knew and supported her, with frequent words of affirmation. That one of the commanders of the plumbers was nonbinary certainly helped.
As she put on the yukata, she took a moment to look at the mirror. She had grown quite a bit since getting the Omnitrix, strange at her age. She was larger in general, easily reaching 1,85 centimetres in height, a far cry from her previous 1,66. Her training with All Might left her with dense and noticeable muscles, which she usually covered up with loose clothing. She also blushed as she realised she had grown considerably in… other areas. That jolted her out of her thoughts, and she finished dressing herself.
Tamaki and Kevin had been dragged along, as well as another boy from the hero course, Togata Mirio. He had no idea about the plumbers, but he was nice enough that the others got along with him. Apparently, Nezu, in the interest of giving his cadets an alibi, had created a 'special elective' to cover up their extraterrestrial extracurriculars.
Lucy once again regaled them with the story of Class 1-A, who had been expelled in its entirety, only to be mostly re-enrolled a week later. It was a rather well known fact that Eraserhead was expulsion happy, but Lucy insisted that behind his persona of a strict taskmaster, he truly seemed to care. Of course, that didn't stop him from frequently threatening her with expulsion, since she was that year's designated Problem Child.
The upperclassmen collectively wondered how many seconds it would take for Izumi to get that brand on her.
Inko and Anan had worn matching yukatas, green with indigo highlights. It was practically an open secret that the two were dating, but apparently, Izumi hadn't noticed… despite the many, many times Kurose had stayed over at Inko's quarters. In fact, they had for the past few months been exclusively living together. So in the interest of seeing just how long the charade went, nobody said anything. However, it seemed matching yukatas had been just the thing that made Izumi's impressive, but dense mind start putting the pieces together.
Izumi eyed them, the identical dress, the closeness between them, the way her mother smiled, and as a wave of recontextualised memories flooded her mind, she screamed with cringe and agony at her own obliviousness. "Oh my God, I'm such an idiot." She wailed, now unable to unsee the absolute buffoon she had been at not at all suspecting them of dating, even when they made no effort to hide it.
Lucy moved behind her, rubbing her back as if to comfort her. "Yes, yes you are." She snickered. "We had a bet going about whether you would finally figure it out before or after the entrance exam." Izumi sighed, feeling defeated.
"Baby, I thought I had told you when me and Anan began living together." Inko furrowed her brows slightly. "We just thought you were too awkward to say anything." Anan nodded, smiling nervously.
Izumi hung her head. "Well, guess Thirteen's my new mom, now." She commented absentmindedly, before noticing the shocked expression in both her moms' faces. "What? Oh, sorry… I don't know a good gender neutral term other than parent... and I don't want to force it or anything..."
Anan let out an 'eep'. "Well, Izumi-chan… you can call me mom, if you want. I use they/she, anyway, so I have no real issue with feminine terms of endearment." Inko held her hand tightly. They didn't really advertise their relationship too much at the start. There was quite an age gap, as well as a difference in rank within the organisation. And then there was Xylene… She was still in a coma, but the couple knew she would need to be addressed, especially when she woke up.
They made their offerings in the shrine, got their fortunes, which were mostly average, and soon returned to finally test out Izumi's quirk. Instead of using the training grounds in the HQ, they instead used one of UA's gyms, mostly so they could have Eraserhead, Aizawa Shota, and Recovery Girl, Shuzenji Chiyo, nearby, in case things went awry.
She had had little contact with the two. Eraserhead knew her as Nezu's personal student, which made him immediately wary. She could swear she had once heard him praying that she wouldn't be sent to 1-A. However, knowing Nezu, there was little chance of that happening. Recovery Girl knew she was All Might's successor, as she had been a personal friend of his predecessor and had treated his injury five years ago. Izumi smiled at her, while she held a somewhat stern, but caring expression.
"Okay, All Might-sensei." She said, careful not to say his name in front of Aizawa. "How do I do this? I can kinda feel this… energy inside me… but how do I draw it out?"
Toshinori hummed for a moment. "Well, I kinda just took to it naturally… Try this: just clench your buttcheeks and yell 'SMASH' from the bottom of your heart." He said that just loudly enough to be heard by the rest, who all simultaneously choked on air.
"You absolute buffoon! That's a surefire way to have her end up in an accident!" Chiyo yelled, walking over to Toshinori to assault his shins with her cane with surprising force. He pleaded for her to stop, which she did not, for several minutes. After that lecture was over, Nezu came over, slightly glaring at All Might.
"My girl, though I admittedly don't know much about your quirk…" He whispered in her ear. "It might be similar to your Vaxasaurian transformation's ability to bulk up. Just… give it a try." Izumi nodded, thinking of the feeling she had when she had trained that particular ability of Tyrana.
She closed her eyes, focusing on feeling her body. She felt the energy, the potential, like a tempest just below the surface, and focused on drawing it out. That opened a floodgate, and immediately she felt overwhelming pain and pressure all over her body, causing her to let out an agonised screech. As suddenly as it had begun, it cut out, and she opened her eyes, seeing Eraserhead with his quirk active and Recovery Girl rushing to help her, along with All Might.
"Dammit, girl, you need to be more careful!" Recovery girl chided as she planted a kiss on her arm, healing her at the cost of her own stamina. Then, as it had at the beach, the Omnitrix spoke for the second time.
"Excess power detected. Severe potential damage to User. Recommended output: 6%. Maximum safe output: 7%." That startled everyone, especially Recovery Girl and Eraserhead.
"What was that?" Aizawa shouted, walking up to the girl, examining her and the watch.
Izumi paled for a moment, before gathering her bearings once again. "This is… a support item that Nezu commissioned for me… It helps regulate an aspect of my quirk."
He raised an eyebrow. "And… what exactly is your quirk?" He pressed on, suspiciously.
Luckily, Nezu had prepared her for that inevitable question. She had a story for the plumbers already, that her quirk required a strong enough body to even manifest. However, for those that were entirely out of the loop, they had to craft a different story.
"It's called Unstable Genetics, sir. My DNA is constantly trying to mutate, and I can't really control it. This support item allows me to cycle through certain specific mutated states and keeps my DNA intact in the process. However, this also produces a lot of energy. As I trained with it, I became able to harness that energy to power myself up. But apparently it's too much for me, still." She lied through her teeth, hoping it stuck.
"Indeed, Aizawa-kun. That is part of the reason that I took her under my wing." Nezu said cheerily, winking at her. "Now, Midoriya-chan, I see that you went overboard with that first activation. How about, as a goal for now, we focus on drawing out the least amount you can, and try to hold it stable?"
All Might looked at the scene and felt inadequate. He had been the one to transfer One for All to her, but now, when it came to teaching his successor to actually use it, he felt less than useless. 'Nezu wanted me to teach here this coming term… but as I am now… I need to try harder.'
It took a few more attempts, but Izumi finally managed to regulate the output of her power somewhat. Holding four percent, distributed along her entire body, as she did with Tyrana's gigantification. She then did the only thing she could think of, what she had wanted to try ever since she was a baby. She punched.
"Smash!"
Though it was noticeably weaker than All Might, it was still more than enough to cause a shockwave of displaced air. She kept One for All active, marvelling as her now unharmed body was wreathed in green lightning. She was then enveloped in a hug by her mother, Toshinori and even Nezu.
"My baby! That was amazing!"
"Great job, Young Izumi!"
"Already showing quite a bit of control. Well done, kit." Nezu said, fondly, as tears began to pool in Izumi's eyes. "Now, however, you must train that ability to its limit. Your transformations should be able to get you through the entrance exam… but I'm sure you don't just want to get in, do you?" He grinned devilishly.
Izumi smiled, a fiery determination shining in her eyes. "No, sir. I'm gonna go Plus Ultra." Aizawa, hearing that, along with the knowledge that that punch was just 6%, began to dread the coming entrance exams.
—
In another part of the city, two girls were struggling to study. One, with pink skin, horns and black sclera, was just about to give up, throwing her arms up with frustration as she got to the halfway point in the mock written exam for UA. "Ah! Kiri, I hate this! I'm never going to pass this damn exam!" She grumbled in misery.
"Come on, Mina, we can do this!" The other, though struggling, forced herself to keep going. "We'll get in together, right?" She tried to encourage her best friend. "You can do it!" 'You're already miles ahead of me, though.' She mused internally.
Months ago, while they were still early on in the school year, they had seen two girls being accosted by a large, aggressive man. Without even thinking, Ashido Mina had run forward and managed to intimidate the man into walking away. Who knows what he would have done otherwise. Meanwhile, Kirishima Eiko had just frozen up entirely. She had a quirk that would be perfect for protecting others, but in her moment of truth, while her friend confronted a terrifying villain, she had just… stood there. It was her greatest shame.
Later on, she saw a Crimson Riot interview, where he said that, even though he had dealt with many villains before, he was always afraid, but it was the ability to push through that fear to protect others that made him a hero, that was what it meant to live a manly life, without regrets. That interview had shaken her worldview. She was afraid, but she could strive to overcome that fear. But she still had quite a way to go, and it amazed her how Mina managed to do it so instinctively!
—
Hagakure Tooru had, from the moment of her birth, been quite literally invisible. That was her lot in life. It took all her efforts just to be noticed. She was a naturally cheerful and upbeat girl, but whenever it came to her quirk, she felt a mixture of hope and resentment. She resented being invisible, without control over it, fated to always be in the background. Yet, she hoped that with that double edged sword of a power, she would be able to become a hero.
She knew that she would struggle to be noticed, and would likely fail to be popular, but that didn't stop her from trying. She would be a stealth specialist. After all, who could be better at stealth than someone who was already invisible. So she trained, and trained, and trained. Martial arts, grappling, stealth training, all with the goal of turning that blasted quirk that had made her invisible into a proper tool. She had resolved herself. She couldn't stand out in the limelight, so she would go underground. 'Then, at least, it won't matter that I'm invisible.'
—
"Thank you for this drawing, Satsuki-chan, it's very cute, ribbit." Asui Tsuyu ruffled her younger sister's hair, looking at her sister's drawing of her as a hero. It was crude and childish, but seeing how much her sister looked up to her touched her deeply. She had wanted to be a rescue hero for as long as she could remember, even coming up with a hero name at eleven, so it meant a lot to her that her sister already saw her as one.
"Of course, wibbit! Tsu-nee's gonna be an awesome hero, wibbit!" Satsuki excitedly jumped up and down with a seal plush in her arms. Tsuyu could almost feel her froggy heart melt at that.
Tsuyu knew that it would be an uphill climb. Her quirk, while decent, wasn't all that special, and it made her just different enough from regular people that it made her stand out, especially with regards to her facial expressions.
She had to be absolutely blunt just to get her point across without people just taking her words and twisting it to forge their own meanings. Plus, being a mutant always had its fair share of complications. She had suffered quite a lot of bullying because of her appearance. The worst were the fake love letters and such, always leaving her with high hopes that were inevitably crushed. She had steeled her heart to it all, but it hurt. Hopefully, UA would be a breath of fresh air.
—
"Shouto! You will never beat All Might if you stay this weak! Stop this ridiculous rebellion and embrace my fire!" Endeavour shouted at his son, who lay, beaten and bruised on the mat of his gym. The only thing keeping Todoroki Shouto conscious after that beating disguised as training was pure spite towards his sperm donor.
Unbeknownst to them, his older sister, Fuyumi stood behind the door of the gym, clutching her heart. She was barely allowed to interact with her baby brother, and it hurt to see him like that. 'I just… I just want us to be a normal family again.' She heard her father make his way to the door and scurried away.
"I'm going to get some water, then we will go again!" Todoroki Enji bellowed, and all Shouto could do then was despair. His body hurt all over, and he knew that if he showed the slightest bit of weakness, he would be in for an even harsher beating. But that was to be expected, for him. He was a weapon, after all. His father's masterpiece.
Shouto thought of his mother, the face he hadn't seen since the day she had scarred him amidst a mental breakdown. However, despite that, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. After all, she was a victim. They all were. Victims of Endeavour's obsessive ambition. 'Mom loved me… One day, I want to be just like her.'
—
Yaoyorozu Momo had a perfect life, so it would seem. All she could ever desire was at the palm of her hands. Yet, she wanted more, to do something for others. She had been blessed with a powerful quirk, and had trained to wield it effectively. She knew that many things had been handed to her on a golden platter, and oftentimes it didn't feel like any of her achievements were her own. She had gotten a recommendation for UA the very day she had expressed her desire to do so. It felt like her parents were just humouring her, and they certainly still expected her to perform the duties of a Yaoyorozu heiress.
Thus, she found herself in the thoroughly uncomfortable position of entertaining her parents' guests. They knew she hated it, and they let her get away with abstaining from such events whenever possible, as it brought them no joy seeing their precious jewel hounded by greedy men vying for her attention. However, after she had turned eighteen and made her debut to high society, it was inevitable.
"Yaoyorozu-sama, you look radiant today, may I have a dance?" A young upstart approached her suddenly.
"Yaoyorozu-sama, a moment of your time, please. You look amazing. I am the heir to Sea3PO Informatics, I believe we could form quite a partnership!" Another came to try and woo her into furthering his own future business.
"Hehe, Momo-chan, so cute. How about we get out of here?" She didn't even deign to respond to that one.
In that dinner party, she was once again forced to acknowledge something she always knew would come with her position. She was inevitably an object, a chip to be traded, to further the goals of the Yaoyorozu conglomerate. Though her parents loved her deeply, and certainly rejected all those pesky, incessant marriage offers those ruffians sent her way, she knew they would eventually accept one that was decent enough that she wouldn't be absolutely miserable, as it had been exactly that arrangement that had brought them together.
She found herself thinking of the romance novels that lined her bookshelves, right between the chemistry and engineering textbooks. She rather identified with some main heroines. A highborn lady, stifled by her position and petulant, arrogant suitors, only to be swept away by a handsome, kind stranger, and brought to experience the joys of life. 'If only…'
—
Shinso Hitoshi tried to enjoy every day of the opportunity he'd been given. People still avoided him at his new school, but at least he didn't have to wear a muzzle anymore. He had been cursed with a villainous quirk. With a single answer, he could take control of somebody's mind. Despite that, the boy wanted nothing more than to be a hero. Still, because of the circumstances of his birth, people treated him like he was a ticking time bomb, just a step away from a villain.
The day he had met his idol had been the best day of his life. In a matter of hours, his whole life had turned around. The foster system had had him switching from home to home. The ones that weren't abusive and cruel towards him and his quirk were at best neglectful. But now, living with his all time favourite hero, Eraserhead, and his husband, Yamada Hizashi, the hero Present Mic, he could finally say he was happy.
Not only had they repeatedly told him that there was no such thing as a villainous quirk, they had helped him every step of the way towards being a hero. They had taught him the folly of overreliance on his quirk, and pushed him to train his body. Also, and perhaps best of all, they had so many cats!
'I'll make you two proud, and I'll show everyone that I can become a hero, even with a villainous quirk!'
—
Iida Tenya admired nobody more than his older brother, Tensei. The Turbo Hero: Ingenium was everything the young man aspired to be. Reliable, inspiring and a natural leader, Tenya resolved to do his best to follow his example, as the second son of the Iida family. A legacy of heroes dating back to his great grandfather, and he would be the next.
He had had access to many training facilities, due to his background, and always strove to make full use of them, to be in the best condition he could be. After all, he wanted to be like his brother, and Tensei was nothing if not dedicated.
Tenya studied the UA guidebook, absorbing all of its rules so that he may follow them to the letter, though he had to admit he was very excited for the exam, and perhaps a little bit on edge. It was his moment of truth. If he wanted to live up to the legacy of his family, he needed to get in.
—
Hatsume Mei beamed at her newest creation. She looked at it with the love and pride one might have for a child. Her baby. The pair of hover soles she managed to put together from the scrap that had suddenly begun piling in at the recycling plant.
"This is it. This baby will be the start of Hatsume Industries. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Let's go!" She put on the boots and activated them. These were, in fact, the sixth prototype of this particular technology. Hovering, despite not being a true innovation by her, was still mostly used in big platforms or other such devices. She had managed to create a personal source of levitation. And it only took six catastrophic explosions. She grinned madly. It was time for a stress test.
KABOOM!
"Well, time for prototype baby number eight! This time for sure!"
—
Uraraka Ochako loved nothing more than to stare at the night's sky. Out in Mie, away from most big cities, she could even see the outline of the milky way, and it still staggered her after eighteen years. She felt drawn by the stars and planets that peppered the milky way. She had decided that her first paycheck as a hero would be spent solely on her parents. But the second would most definitely go towards buying a telescope.
Her parents had finished counting up the money to send her to Musutafu, and despite her protests over the amount they insisted on it. It would lead to a tight first semester for them… but hopefully, if she got in, the room and board provided by UA could offset the costs.
Ochako held her hand to her chest, looking at the stars of Mie for the last time in a while. 'I leave tomorrow… please, please, I need to get in. For them, for me.' She prayed silently to no god in particular.
She had trained her quirk to its current limit. Though it still made her queasy, she was determined to see it through. She didn't know what the exam would be, but she was damned if she wouldn't do her absolute best. She remembered the phrase that her father always told her, to cheer her up: 'Do, or do not. There is no try.' She would do it.
—
The past ten months had been hell for Bakugou Katsuki. The only good thing had been that that damn eyesore, Deku, had finally dropped off the face of the earth. His shitty hag of a mother had tried to get into contact with Auntie Inko, to no avail. Katsuki could admit he felt a little worried over his auntie, but certainly not for Deku. If that quirkless bitch keeled over and died, all the better.
After two months of no response from Inko, Bakugou Mitsuki attempted to visit her personally, in the apartment she had lived in for ages. She also made sure to drag Katsuki along. What they found was an empty apartment, and the landlady confirmed that they had left the same day that shitty nerd Deku disappeared.
Katsuki had begun feeling his stress piling up. Despite wishing every day since he was six that that creepy nerd went away and stopped looking down on him, the fact that she actually did, and that they now found no sign of her, was pissing him off.
The worst part was school. He had always hated Aldera, with all the brownnosing, the shitty teachers, the worthless extras, but it was his starting point, his origin story: The star student of a third rate school, destined to become the number one hero, just like All Might. Then, suddenly, just after they found Auntie Inko's empty apartment, it had all gone to shit.
Nearly all the staff at Aldera had been found out to be working with fucking villains, and were all locked up. After that, he had been visited by some rat, a detective and All Might. He didn't really care what the other two had to say. The way his Idol scowled at him, however, it hurt him deeply. They told him his records had been tampered with, and that they uncovered hundreds of incidents of 'assault with use of a quirk'. What the hell even was that? Why did they care? It was just shitty Deku, anyways.
As soon as he let his confusion be known, the air around the room shifted. He felt the overwhelming urge to run and hide, especially from the rat. He was then told something he had never even fathomed. He was only allowed to attend UA on probation? What the hell? He was the best, they should be thankful that he would attend their school! And he was only allowed his probation because somebody vouched for him. That made him even angrier.
Still, he refused to give them the satisfaction of watching him blow up. They left soon after, after the detective asked him some stupid questions about his teachers. The hell only continued in the following months. A new staff came by, and they were even worse than the villains. They couldn't use their quirks at school anymore, and one teacher had even dared to call his quirk mediocre! When he had tried to prove his strength right then and there, the shitty bastard made it so his quirk wouldn't work. He had a quirk that made all flammable and explosive material inert in a field around him. 'Fucking bastard!'
Still, he had made it through. He had aced all the mock examinations, he had tried his best to school his temper, but totally blew off his hag mother when she tried to send him to a shrink. Now, it would all be behind him. He would get into UA, they would recognize his genius and talent, and he would become the best hero in history, and kill every shitty villain he ever faced.
But then, on the way to the gates of UA, on the day of the entrance exam, he saw a familiar head of green hair. But no… it couldn't be! He strode forward and tried to grab her, to get some satisfaction, but as he reached out to her shoulder, she twisted around and grabbed him, looking at him with anger and defiance. There was no denying it. She was taller, and she looked larger, but it was Deku.
'What the hell is she doing here?!'