Chapter Text
“~It’s the end of the world as we know it~”
Liu muttered a Chinese phrase that roughly translated to, “for fuck’s sake,” as he watched Terra spin and sing on the empty dance floor. The Olympus Celebration hadn’t even started and she was drunk.
“I wouldn’t be too hard on her,” Izuku said in response, approaching him. “She probably knows about her own war about to break out.”
Liu’s brow furrowed. “You say that as if-”
“The world is a fragile place.” Izuku’s face began to melt away, his skin peeling to reveal a titanium sheen. “But you can make it a stronger one, just take our help and we can-”
DING!
Liu was shaken out of the hallucination by the elevator, alerting him that he had reached the top floor. There was no one with him. Terra’s singing had been just as fake. Sweat was pooling on his brow. He couldn’t recall the last Gate that made him that nervous.
The doors opened as he questioned his own sanity, revealing a much more sober Terra, dancing by a lively bar. He was not early to the party as in his vision, but a few minutes late. His PR team referred to it as ‘fashionably late.’
Spanning a tiered-cylindrical structure, the party was practically housed inside of a tower that was inside of I-Island’s center and tallest industrial icon.
In years previously, his arrival demanded the complete attention of the first few part floors. At first, it appeared to be a repeat as the lucky guests of the celebration started to notice him. A small trickle of public affection would turn into a wave… except.
“There he is!” At the exact same time, an elevator opposite of Liu’s popped open. Izuku, his romantic partners, family members, two of the Todorokis, and a decent helping of Shadows emerged.
The aura of darkness, a fad in the public eye thanks to his Awakening, drew any crowd Lui would’ve received right away.
Unlike the rowdy and inappropriate press, the guests at the party - mostly heroes - knew to approach in a measured fashion. Izuku’s relaxed and kind smile made them feel like, even if they were at the back of the crowd, he’d reach them eventually.
What sent them further into hysterics was something very few National-Ranks did. He greeted them by name.
“Inner-Space!” He said, shaking Alice Harris’ hand. “Sorry to hear about your loss on the Hero Rankings. You’ll get back up there in no time. That Quirk of yours sure sounds like it would be fun to have in a raid. If it’s okay with you, I’d like one of my Shadows to accompany you one of these days and just observe.”
The proud woman beamed, not even the other Top Ten in America treated her so kindly, much less someone like Thomas, Star, or Reed.
“At least he’s not here,” Liu thought with relief, the aura of Infinite, Brandon Burnett, being entirely absent. “What a nuisance.”
Surrounded by beauty, power, and fame, he maintained a calm confidence as he made the rounds to greet everyone. Not a single person would suspect that he was managing an infiltration force in the United States at the same time.
Not too many people made note of Liu, but Izuku certainly did. He was on the lookout for one National-Rank in particular though, Star.
After their recent encounters, the revelations of Area 51 and the Primordial genetics very likely inside of America’s Number One, Izuku moved up his timetable. If Star was absent from the party, like she had been from the ending of the Summit, Izuku was going to give Phantom’s covert strike force the green light.
Iida in place with all the documents, resources, and contacts. Phantom had properly slipped Shadows into hundreds of personnel at the air base. And finally, Star’s sudden change in behavior had Izuku itching to pull the trigger.
Interpol, representatives of the United Nations, and many more were on the scene, whether discreetly or out in the open. It hadn’t been easy, especially for Iida. Even though all the agencies assembled their resources and manpower so they could be ready at a moment’s notice, no one was willing to commit. Only the clearance of the National-Rank convinced them that Izuku could protect them from the influence of the United State’s title of “strongest.” The only thing left was to see if Star was present, either at the party, or Area 51.
Thomas, who had promised to help spot Star, was also nowhere to be seen. Izuku wasn’t too nervous about that, he tended to run late or just forget. It wasn’t malice, just incompetence.
“Protections are the same as before,” Phantom reported, a force of 500 Rogue Warriors backing him up. “We can’t breach the lower levels without force.”
“Just hold. If Star’s there I’ll need to be the one to handle her.”
Not everyone was interested of course. Plenty of Heroes chose to avoid the National-Ranks whenever possible, partly because they were afraid of them.
Kei had no problem getting along with people her age, but that reminded Izuku just how young some of the Awakened Humans here were. Many were of lesser quality, but that didn’t mean they represented their country’s weakest. The fact of the matter was: humanity was still losing, and sending younger people into the Gates with each passing year.
Izuku’s Shadows were needing to cover more and more ground, and they were barely managing to support the existing Raids around the world. The influx of Rogue Warriors stemmed the tide, but there were 5,000 Gates a year in Japan alone. Japan was about 393 times smaller than the rest of the world put together. Since Gates didn’t discriminate based on an area’s fertility, or resources, that meant there were almost 2 million Gates a year across the surface of the planet that year alone.
Many of the Heroes that did approach him begged for more support, more resources, anything he could spare. Raia was right, he presented a solution, and people would do whatever to use it.
Izuku promised to dispatch whatever he could, including some mass produced weapons from the Tenebris, but really, the Particle Weavers were at the crux of his relief plans. Unless they were willing to risk a second apocalyptic event, they still needed a few weeks to finish the tests, and another few weeks to build the required infrastructure.
By the standards of humanitarian progress, it was extremely quick, but outside of major powers like the US, Japan, and Germany, every day felt like it could be the last.
“Look who’s popular!” Mina shouted, appearing with a drink in her hand. “You gotta be careful to save some of that attention for the rest of us when we’re pros!” She wore a black strapless dress that matched her sclera.
“We’re not gonna get anything!” Kaminari protested, already slightly tipsy.
“Don’t worry, we’ll remember you,” Rumi teased. “Even if no one else does!”
“That’s mean!” He slurred.
“Did Jiro not come after all?” Izuku gently asked Mina.
Her smile drooped. “We were on the elevator and she panicked. Toru went back to her room with her.”
“Oh jeez… Is she getting help?” Setsuna replied.
“Apparently, but she might just end up dropping out…” Kaminari said, sobering up a bit in the face of the discussion.
“Sooo… Where’s Iida?” Kamikiri asked, joining the conversation. “No one gave us a reason he was missing out on this, aside from ‘family issues.’”
“That’s kinda the truth…” Izuku answered. “We’ll clear everything up soon enough.”
“You’re all gorgeous!” Terra said with a slight list in her words as she ran over to greet the girls. Her ‘top’ was more of a bra or bikini, but paired with her long skirt, it gave her a distinct tropical or Hawaiian look. There were quite a few people staring at her tan skin.
“Lot friendlier when we’re not dealing with Gates, huh?” Rumi asked, her tight black dress attracting its own gazes.
“Yeah, imagine that!” She shouted in reply. Despite her volume and sarcasm, she was smiling. She was better at separating work from play than most.
“God, you’re lucky.” She said, getting an eyeful of Kaina’s Victorian-style dress. She even had a frilly hat to go along with it. Her taste for fashion kept the group from looking standard. As Izuku learned, it was either cutesy or extremely sophisticated. Of course, judging by Terra’s reaction, the modest dress did nothing to dull her beauty.
“I would take her to bed the second I got…” Terra stopped herself short, recognizing the effect of the alcohol. “Uhh… sorry… that happens when I drink.”
“I thought you were saying she was lucky to have Izuku,” Setsuna commented. “Was worried we’d have to make room for another.” She wore a loose dark-green dress that went over one shoulder, almost like a Roman toga.
“Hey! I have a fiance!” Terra explained. “He would mind if I snuck away with a guy, but even he would understand if it was the Lovely Lady Nagant!”
Izuku wasn’t sure if she was just drunk, or bisexual… and drunk. He didn’t recall it being reported by any news outlets, and when it came to National-Ranks, anything sexual involving them was considered breaking news.
“He’s not my type anyways!” Terra continued to ramble. The loud music hid most of her words from the rest of the party. “He’s not… masculine enough! See if Thomas Andre wasn’t such a piece of shit, he’d be my exact type. Midoriya has the right personality, wrong body. Andre has it the other way around.”
“Boy are my ears burning!” The lumbering giant stomped over, with at least twenty-six women on his arm or following close on his heels. They all had different complexions, hair, eyes, etc. The one trait they shared in common was their figure. Izuku was pretty sure they were supermodels… and didn’t eat much.
Despite his boisterous entrance, he surprised Izuku by clearing his throat. “Midoriya, I’d like you to meet my partners.” With respect that Izuku did not think he possessed, he listed off every single one without missing a beat. First, last, and even some middle names.
“Uhhh… I do apologize,” Yaoyorozu said, bowing to the women before addressing Andre, her flowing red dress helping to hide her stomach. “If these are all your partners, and you act like that around them… why do you go around acting like a predator?”
“Hey! I smacked a few asses and suddenly everyone’s-”
One of his partners interrupted. “He’s good at maintaining boundaries and communication once he’s in a relationship.” The other twenty-six sighed, sharing the speaker’s frustration with their love. “But he doesn’t understand boundaries outside of that. It’s our one universal gripe with him.” The others nodded along. Thomas, meanwhile, looked ready to crawl into a hole and die.
“His public persona is terrible, but in private, I promise he’s a real sweetheart!” Another added. Thomas could only muster a weak grin. He was embarrassed, but not annoyed with his harem. It showed restraint that no one else had from him seen before.
“Uh-huh…”
“This guy gets more complicated and confusing every conversation I have with him…”
Izuku brushed aside the thoughts and similarly introduced his partners.
“You’re all so lucky!” They gushed. “We’d love to be Awakened, our own self-contained Raiding Party! Only two of us are Awakened, and we’re unfortunately D-Ranks.”
The girls got along well, giving Izuku the chance to observe everyone else.
Inko and Kei were visiting with some of Class 1-A. Kei was trying to order a drink. Inko protested. Izuku knew she’d sneak some alcohol eventually, but both himself and Kei’s bodyguard, Beru, agreed to let her get away with it.
Fuyumi and Natsuo were just happy to explore the opulent tower and enjoy the food. They didn’t want to get roped into any conversations about their family ties.
Izuku found himself staring a bit too hard at the icy-blue dress and shoulder-high gloves Fuyumi was wearing.
“Dammit… I can’t end up like Thomas with twenty-seven or whatever!” Izuku tried to ignore his own thoughts, but it was a futile effort, one going on for months now. Her nurturing personality and calm maturity, even in the face of her family, had him falling hard. It helped that she had a sort of ‘girl next door’ vibe. The fact that she could be casually beautiful in a sweater just lounging around the house complimented her ability to dress up quite nicely. “It’s gotta be a genetic condition shared by National-Ranks… Raia said something about Souls being a part of it… Wait, would that mean me and Andre have similar Souls? Oh God please don’t let that be the case…”
He turned back to look at Thomas, who was giving him a sly smile. Whilst the girls were distracted, he said, “I know that look.”
“Shut up…”
“You don’t gossip about me, I don't gossip about you.”
Izuku scoffed. “I mean, I’m genuinely impressed that you can pull off some level of respect. I thought you’d know the names of the first three and fumble the others.”
“That’s mean…” He complained
“Coming from the guy who spends his Summit time insulting everyone,” Izuku bit back.
“Gotta be the top dog,” Thomas replied.
“Speaking of America’s top dog, anything on Star?”
“That’s also mean, but no. I haven’t seen her since the Gate. Lotta tension back in America though. That National-Rank scared ‘em good. They didn’t like seeing a Japanese man taking center stage.”
Izuku tilted his head. “Do you care?”
“About getting less attention? Yeah. Do I care that it was a Japanese guy taking it from me? No.” He smirked. “If I say something racist, I’m either trying to be funny, or make a point about something else, or I just say stupid shit without meaning to be racist. I don’t give a shit about that stuff.” He paused for a second, as if he thought better of saying something, but opened his mouth anyway.
“Grew up in a rough neighborhood, Chicago. I was a pipsqueak at one point. I only started to gain some height and muscle the summer before freshman year.”
“I can’t imagine you ever being small…”
Thomas chuckled. “I had to learn… it doesn’t matter where the help is coming from, or what it looks like. When you need it, help is help.” He had a sad look in his eyes.
“Man… go see a therapist or something,” Izuku bluntly told him.
“That’s what the girls tell me.”
“So why not do it?”
Thomas shook his head, but couldn’t dispel the look in his eyes. “Shit… I can’t believe I slipped up…” Izuku recognized the signs, he was trying to take deep breaths and squash whatever he was feeling. It was the same way Brandon talked about his father, his inability to cry after years of being told that ‘men don’t cry.’ They all just wanted to cover it up with a blanket and pretend like it wasn’t there.
“If you don’t see a therapist, I’m going to tell everyone that you’re really a soft cuddly bear who greatly respects women and their boundaries. He’s just a little special and doesn’t understand separating private and public sometimes.”
Thomas froze in place, he stood that way for a good 3 minutes, just staring at Izuku with conflicted eyes. And then…
“BWAHAHAHA!” He slung his arm around the boy’s shoulder and they walked off into the party. “It’s a deal, I’ll go see someone. You’ll be getting the bill!”
Izuku allowed himself to genuinely laugh in response. “I think I can cover it.”
“And now that you’ve helped me, by blackmailing me,” He said comically. “It’s my turn to help you.”
“Uh-oh…”
“No no! I swear, I can help! You’re worried about getting to the point I’m at. You’re worried that you’re pushing for more and more, and it’s like a drug. The more you take, the more resistant you are. You’re worried that you’re not gonna be a good partner.” He gestured at himself. “Coming from someone who is… not always the best partner, you’ll know when it’s time.” He swept his arm wide. “Look at how many babes are here. Just focus on their appearance for a moment, Terra’s too!”
It was hard to ignore his point. There were plenty of average looking attendees, but a majority of the party guests were drop-dead gorgeous.
“And what do you feel about them?”
“They’re… just random people… except Terra.”
“See? You focus on what connects to you on a deeper level. But I’m not trying to advise you to break up Terra’s engagement.”
“Don’t worry, I think me and her are incompatible in some ways that just won’t work, but we do admire each other…”
“And then?”
“Fuyumi Todoroki…”
“Oh shit,” Thomas replied, realizing just how entangled he was with the Todorokis. “Hot damn, I see what you mean,” He added, taking a quick peek at her. “Though she does seem a little… older I guess? Ya know the saying about an old soul?”
“Yeah I see it. She makes a lot of meals at home, does a lot of chores, sorta-”
“My friend,” Thomas interrupted, not to be annoying, but to actually be a friend . “That is called the Oedipus Complex.”
“Wha- No it’s not! She’s not my mother! Nor do I have any feelings like that towards my actual mother! Are you high?”
“I took a five milligram marijuana edible before I got here, yes, but just give me a second. I’m genuinely trying to explain this to you.” He took a breath to reassure himself. “You grew up without much parental representation, you were socially on the fringe of things, and you were weak. Whether or not you’d admit it, you desperately wanted help in that moment, someone to coddle you like a mother would.” He pointed to Fuyumi, “She is at just the right age to be a mature woman in your life. She’s not married, and no doubt she has regrets over the whole Power Marriage thing.”
Izuku squinted. “Power Marriage?”
“Well, our flaming criminal told me that his daughter was supposed to be apart of a power marriage. You know the deal, she’s sold off to a family so they breed a more powerful kid. She was never going to be Endeavor’s perfect creation. She was just to be given away for political clout or money or something. But she backed out, smart choice in my opinion, and then was kind of left with nothing. Think about it, her entire life instilled the belief that her purpose is to marry someone powerful. Here she is, single. You come in, the powerful someone, and you show her that her choice, in that moment, is hers. You defer responsibility to her. She’ll fall for someone who respects her decisions.”
“And this leads to the Oedipus complex, how exactly?”
“Well, you have a more dominating position amongst the girls you have now.” He held up his hands to prevent Izuku from interrupting. “I get they’re their own people. Partners… I get it. But I see you standing above them, not as a domineering figure, more so as their safety blanket. Let someone be your safety blanket, even if you have to call her ‘mommy’ to feel safe.”
“Did… did you slip me something? Cause I genuinely feel a little high talking like this with you.”
“I don’t drug people,” He said before getting back on topic. “Give her the chance to deal with some of that trauma she’s holding in, and in return, you foster a beautiful relationship. You’re not diluting your love, because you love each of them in their own way. They don’t take from each other. But uhm… definitely talk with your current harem before adding anyone else. I’m just saying go for it.”
“I’ll… need to sleep on that to ensure I’m not being manipulated or poisoned.”
Thomas shrugged. “Humanity’s taking some bold new steps right? That’s what you’re aiming for. It’d be a shame if you didn’t push the limits a little too.”
Silence elapsed before Thomas went, “Oh, that chastity belt thing, now that’s a powermove if I’ve seen one.”
“How… okay, we agree, none of this will be spoken of again?”
“Agreed,” Thomas quickly answered before explaining himself. “The keys, I noticed. The belts are Items but they hide their signature well. I made the connection during the summit. You grabbed a key to fiddle with and Yaoyorozu blushed.”
“Gotta be more careful… Wasn’t even my idea…”
“Well clearly those degenerates want you to take a more dominating role, so yeah, find your ‘mommy’ gf and live the best of both worlds. Get collars for the girls… they go nuts for collars.”
“You’re worse than Adam White…”
“Ya know why he’s like that? He wants Awakened Humans like you and your partners to have lots of strong babies. He’s the pervert, I’m just trying to be a bro.” Thomas noticed a blonde man approaching them, and wrapped up his time with Izuku. “I’m guessing you’ve got beef with this guy?”
Izuku took a deep breath. “Yeah…” He turned to face Bakugo.
“Cool! See ya!” He clapped Izuku on the shoulder and went to rejoin the party.
Bakugo’s stance and gaze were sharp, just like they always were. In the past, he would’ve gotten right in Izuku’s face. This time he maintained a respectful distance.
They maintained a tense standoff for a while, Bakugo’s eyes telling the whole story.
“Yeah,” Izuku repeated. “Some things don’t need to be said. I think I’ve come to understand why you were the way you were. It’s-”
“Sorry,” He blurted. “Some things don’t need to be said, but I’m sorry.”
Izuku felt a weight lift off his shoulders. A weight he didn’t even recognize. It’d been resting there for so long. He chuckled, his smile spreading as wide as it could. “Ya know, Kei’s not gonna accept that as easily as I am.”
“But… you do accept it?” Bakugo asked, almost like a child afraid of being scolded.
“That's all I ever wanted to hear,” Izuku replied, strolling closer just as a Shadow came by, holding two shots. “I hate the past, and I hate alcohol, but if you’re okay with it.” He handed him one of the shots. “I’d really like to just move forward.” He lifted his own shot glass. “You wanna be friends again?”
Bakugo’s arrogant smirk returned and he lifted the glass to his lips, joining Izuku as the burning liquid raced down their throats.
“Ahhhh…” Izuku shuddered as Bakugo savored the drink.
“Haha!” Bakugo laughed at Izuku’s reaction, but for the first time in a long while, it didn’t feel mean. He was laughing with him, not at him.
“So, is Yaoyorozu…?” Bakugo didn’t finish the question. “She was really angry at me, in that E-Rank. She gonna beat me up again?”
“I doubt it. That was just her trying to get you to this point.” Izuku paused. “I mean… I’m not sure how well you’ll get along, but no, there’s no debts left between you and my family. Minus Kei.”
Bakugo groaned. “So much work trying to be a good person.”
Izuku nodded. “Tell me about it. We can save it for another night. Don’t wanna push you too hard.”
“Hey! I’m not one to shy from a challenge!” He boasted.
“Oh yeah? You really wanna try apologizing to Kei tonight as well?”
Bakugo grimaced. “Hmm… yeah, another night it is.”
The two walked off with grins and smirks as they bantered back and forth. To Inko Midoriya, watching from afar, they were the spitting image of their youth.
“Anyone you like?” Izuku asked.
“Huh?”
“Ya know… a girl to mellow you out? Or a guy? I don’t judge.”
Bakugo gave him a side-eye. “I’m not gay.”
“That’s fine. So, anyone you like?”
Bakugo scoffed. “You changed too.”
“Well duh.” Izuku rolled his eyes. “Come on. You have no idea how reassuring it is to have someone in your corner like that. Or a few someones. Might take a bit of your edge off.”
“I like my edge.”
“Are you avoiding the question or just being you?”
“Both,” Bakugo answered.
“Let’s see… Mina’s probably more your speed, can keep up with your mouth. But! I think you’d be the opposites attract sort! Maybe Uraraka?”
Bakugo stared at him like his head had just rolled off. “How the hell did you land all those babes with logic like that?”
“Luck, multiple timelines, more luck, something to do with Souls, a little more luck, compatibility, being there for each other, and some confidence.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
Izuku nodded. “Lot more work is coming,” He said, thinking of the future. “So, seriously, no one?”
Bakugo shrugged. “Haven’t spent much time thinking about that. But the jerk told me to make friends…” He said, referring to Brandon. “I guess a girlfriend could be part of that.”
“Start simple, who are you physically attracted to? Who… annoys you the least?” Izuku asked, knowing the way Bakugo’s brain worked.
“Eh… Class 1-B, Kendo?”
“Not a bad pick. She could probably handle your mouth. Get to know her better, ask her out for a meal-”
“Did you get brain damage? When’s the last time I acted like a lovesick puppy asking someone out to lunch?”
Izuku raised his eyebrows. “Think of it like a challenge. You don’t have to beg for it. We both know you have the confidence for it.”
“Yeah, Katsuki Bakugo asks a girl out on a date, I’m sure that’ll look real normal. Kendo would turn that down in a heartbeat.”
Izuku couldn’t help the smirk from forming. “Sounds like you’re afraid more than anything e-”
“Okay fine I’ll do it.”
Izuku snorted in amusement.
*******
“Why don’t they stick around?!” Tokoyami yelled, slamming his glass of liquor on the bar.
Baruka and Arcka patted him on the shoulder as he bemoaned his upgraded Quirk. Out of the four Izuku upgraded with Soul Manipulation, Tokoyami and Iida had gotten the most use out of them.
After killing an enemy, he could bring them back for twelve hours as his own Shadows, but only for twelve hours. Then they vanished.
The new title of his Quirk, Disciple of the Shadow Monarch, turned out to be quite accurate of his new obsession.
Both Arcka and Baruka were Colonel Grade, meaning they could now speak, but neither knew how to address such a sullen young man.
“You say something!”
“No, you say something!”
“You were the village elder!” Arcka protested.
“And I ended up becoming quite a stain on their legacy!” Baruka replied.
“God, you two are terrible. Why did our Liege pair you?” Nine asked, appearing and sitting next to the despondent Tokoyami.
“Our combat skills complement each other quite nicely!”
“Yes, just because we bicker doesn’t mean we aren’t effective.”
Nine made an “ahem.” He didn’t actually have a throat to clear so it was just human habit. “Perhaps a talk with our Liege would still your heart?”
“You’re just pushing the job off onto our Monarch!” Baruka mentally shouted.
“He’s just as bad as we are!” Arcka added.
“Get Tank over here! We need a big fluffy thing to pet!”
Arcka scoffed. “Are you really surprised? Nine got tricked by Quaresha of all Monarchs. I doubt he remembers how to behave alongside his own kind.”
“I suppose that’s something we share in common,” Arcka mournfully said. “We’ve all been tricked by Higher Beings…”
“Do you ever wonder if we’re also being tricked by our Liege?”
“Of course,” Baruka responded. “But I’ve also seen him at night, talking with General Igris about what being a Shadow is like. He spent hours interrogating the logic of being a Shadow to make sure there were no holes in our story to him. Making sure we were truly serving out of choice, not force. Have you ever seen a Higher Being concerned for something that’s alive? Let alone something dead?”
Neither Nine nor Arcka needed to answer that question. Nor did Izuku hear it as he took Nine’s place.
“How were you so refined in life?” Izuku asked. “And yet so awkward in death?”
“I wasn’t afraid to risk it all for what I thought was right. Now I’m not so sure of anything anymore… aside from achieving my dream of world subjugation,” Nine answered. “If it is under the Shadow Empress’s advisory, I can accept it.”
Izuku nodded slowly and instead addressed Tokoyami. “Okay… that might be enough of that,” He said, taking his drink away as the boy cried.
“I mean… the Shadow Monarch !” The bird-headed boy despaired, not realizing he was despairing to Izuku himself. “Why didn’t I get that title!”
“He’s really not that upset.” A shadow from Tokoyami’s chest emerged, Dark Shadow. “Kaminari gave him quite the strong sample of liquid courage.”
“Basically, Kaminari got him drunk? And he’s a sad drunk?”
Dark Shadow shrugged in response.
“I’m just a disciple! What if I can’t live up to even that! His Shadows are eternal… mine are fleeting! He will blossom into a thorny maze of darkness and power, and I will be dust floating in the void.”
“You’re more than dust, my friend!” Izuku said, putting his arm around his shoulder. “Only Yaoyorozu has tasted the powers of the Shadows, and now you as well! So what if it’s just a taste? You really think I’d let my one and only disciple disappear? I need someone to carry on the Shadows when I’m not there.” He pushed a few more Souls into Tokoyami, who suddenly sobered up.
“What was…? Oh, Midoriya, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there. I also don’t remember sitting down…” He gently held his head, feeling a headache coming on.
“I’ve just upgraded your Quirk a little. Your kills still stick around for only 12 hours. However… I’ve given you the capacity to keep 10 of them. Permanently. You can have more Shadows than 10 if you kill more than that, of course, but only the special few you designate won’t slip away.”
He stared at Izuku in shock, still clutching his head. “I get my own Shadows?”
[Quirk: Disciple of the Shadow Monarch, has evolved into Shadow Regent.]
“Unfortunately, they don’t get a lot of the advantages my Shadows have. Regeneration is slower, and your Mana pool is smaller than mine, they can’t hide in anyone’s shadow aside from your own-” Izuku was silenced as Tokoyami gave him a sudden hug.
He pulled away just as quickly and turned back to face the bar as if nothing had happened. “Ahem… I appreciate that, my Liege!”
“Please… don’t start calling me that… Just stick with Midoriya, that’s my one condition for giving you this power.”
“Understood, my- Midoriya…”
Behind Tokoyami’s back, Dark Shadow gave a thumbs up.
“So… what do you do for fun?” Izuku asked, suddenly curious about his ‘Regent.’ It was a term that seemed to indicate something below a Lord but above a National-Rank. Something in-between that wasn’t necessarily a Ranking.
“I like to write… poetry.” The way he hesitated made Izuku assume it was a bit… satanical. Given that his title was the Shadow Monarch, he didn’t judge. “Documentaries on religious history. Anything on the middle ages.”
“I wonder if he watches that one American tv show… Lucifer? Was that what it was called?”
“Beru and my sister like to watch period dramas together. I sometimes end up sitting on the couch with them to watch. Half of the ones they like are in Korean though… I’m still learning the language, so I only understand some of it.”
“Why… visit… time.”
“I know I know,” Izuku said, responding to Sung Jin-Woo, who joined them at the bar and switched from Korean to Japanese. “All my visits have been business. No time for fun.”
“You’re gonna get burned out real fast that way,” Tokoyami said.
Jin-Woo nodded. “I agree.”
“Well now you both just sound like my… What should I call them? My lovers? That sounds awkward. They’re not my girlfriends, really. They’re more than that. Partners sound kinda unattached and I don’t like the word harem.”
“Just call them your wives,” Jin-Woo said as if it was obvious, which it kind of was. “Come on,” He said, seeing Izuku’s face. “You know you’ve already decided to love Rumi and Setsuna. You’re worried about calling them wives and then taking it back or it not becoming that serious. Don’t worry, you’re not that hopeless.”
“And it is that serious,” Tokoyami added. “The way you all talk about each other… I do apologize but it can be sickeningly sweet at times, Midoriya.”
“Cheers to that,” Jin-Woo smiled, accepting a drink from the bartender. “You and your wives make me and Cha look distant sometimes.”
“But things are fine between you and Cha Hae-In, right?”
“Oh, of course!” The Reaper answered. “Couldn't be better! I just needed a comparison for you and your lovebirds. She’s here somewhere, mingling with friends from Mexico.”
“Don’t let him change the subject!” Tokoyami warned. “He’s taking on too much at once, remember?”
“Right. You need an Agency,” Jin-Woo commented. “And a legion of underlings that aren’t the living dead. No offense to them, of course.”
“Need to graduate before I can run an Agency,” Izuku answered.
“But UA does have a fast track program for high-achievers,” Tokoyami pointed out. “You basically get a… learner’s pass. You have the cash to hire an entire administration.”
“You need your Professor to preside over it though, right? Some of Korea’s schools have a similar program.”
“Oh boy, Aizawa is gonna love that talk,” Izuku replied.
Jin-Woo smirked and threw back his drink. “Ahh… he’ll come around.”
Tokoyami gave him a confused glance. “You barely know the man!”
“True, but the UA Profs have harsh vetting processes. If Aizawa works there, it’s a given he’ll be hard pressed to ignore a student who wants to do so much extra work.”
Izuku pursed his lips and thought about it for a minute. “I’ll bring some sort of gift to convince him… How much money do you think it’ll take to get him to approve that Agency?” He asked Tokoyami.
After a short exchange, Izuku faced Jin-Woo. Lowering his voice, and using Gravity to bend sound around them he said, “I… should tell you something.”
“What’s that?”
“These powers… the Shadow Monarch thing. I-”
“Yeah yeah,” He said with a smirk, seeing where the conversation was heading. “Ashborn already talked to me.”
“What? You… actually spoke with him?”
The tall lanky man sighed. “Once, in a dream. Years ago, he asked me to be the Shadow Monarch.”
“For real…?” Izuku was dumbstruck. He’d never once heard Ashborn’s voice himself.
“He showed me a lot of things. A different timeline, a lot of different timelines.” His grin only widened. “He talked about NULL, about me, about you. No offense, but I was his first choice.”
Izuku laughed in disbelief. “No way. You turned him down?”
“I considered accepting. For a good two months. Ya know, humanity’s savior and all that, very attractive as you know.”
Izuku scoffed in amusement. “You could put it that way. Why’d you decline?”
Jin-Woo shook his head. “My mom, my sister, Cha. Ashborn told me that where I was going, I wouldn’t be able to bring them with me. They wouldn’t stand alongside me anymore. I didn’t really know what he meant, until recently.” He looked over at Izuku’s family, his wives. “I was going to stand alone. I couldn’t do it. So I told him that if he couldn’t find another host, he could come back. I didn’t want to be his first pick, but I knew that someone would have to save the world.” He toasted Izuku. “Sorry kid, I handed you an impossible weight.”
Izuku clinked his glass, a non-alcoholic fruity drink, against Jin-Woo’s. “Yeah, but I don’t stand alone. You can’t be the Shadow Monarch anymore, but I have a feeling we’ll still need you.” He made an offer, and Jin-Woo accepted the Souls into his body.
[Quirk: Till Death Do Us Part, has evolved into Reaper’s Vow.]
“It kept the original effect. You get stronger the closer you are to death. But it added something. It’s no System, but it should put you at a comfortable National-Rank level. It’s retroactive as well. Every kill makes you just a tiny bit stronger.” Izuku chuckled. “You’re not going to end up as the world, but you get to keep your family. This world kinda sucks, but I think things turned out as well as they could.”
Izuku stood to address another concern of his. He stuck out his hand before he went, and Jin-Woo shook it. Two men chosen by the God of Death. Two very kind men.
*******
A mile away, Toru silently, and invisibly, walked the halls of the Heroic Inn with a cup of ice. The place styled itself after a fantasy setting, as if it was for adventurers coming to rest after slaying a dragon.
She was missing out on the party, but Kaminari was too excited for her to let him stay behind with Jiro. She took the hit for her friend. After all, there was always next year… if Earth had a next year, of course.
She stopped just short of Jiro’s hotel room. A man in a black suit, wearing a cloak of shadows was standing in the hallway.
“Midoriya? Aren’t you at the…” She trailed off. “Right, you can teleport.”
He smiled gently and revealed the Shadows standing beside him. Their arms were piled high with food and drink. “Also, I needed a break. Social interactions… tire me out pretty quickly. Good excuse to bring you guys some stuff.”
“Jiro’s…”
Izuku nodded. “I know. I thought, I could have a minute with her?”
“You’re not going to push her to do anything, right?”
“Course not,” He answered.
Toru obliged and scanned her hotel room key. She said a few words inside before letting Izuku in.
Jiro was there, sitting on a plush couch watching tv. Despite its comfort, it looked to be made out of some sort of animal pelt. “Sorry Midoriya…” She whispered.
“I said that too many times.”
She turned to face him. The first time he’d seen her in-person in months. “Huh?” She brightened up slightly when all the gifts came pouring in.
“Kaminari chose this one,” He said, picking up a bottle. “Be careful though, he already got Tokoyami.”
She accepted it with a light smile. “What did you mean?”
“‘Sorry.’”
Jiro caught the meaning. “You were an E-Rank.”
“And I was struggling every day. But I did my best. Everyone expected me to say ‘sorry.’” He crouched next to the couch. “Maybe sometimes it was right to say it, but a lot of times, I said it to make others happy.”
“You think… I should discard my shame, and just move on?” Her tone was slightly accusatory.
“No, I think… someone needs to tell you. You have the right to quit.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “What?”
Izuku had to still his own thoughts, caught up in memories of the past. “No one ever told me that it was okay to just give up. They expected me to say ‘sorry,’ they told me I was worthless, and they groaned whenever they saw me coming. Only Bakugo, of all people,” He said with a smirk, realizing what the blonde had tried to do for him in his own sick way. “Bakugo was the only one to tell me to give up. Of course, he was being an ass, so I never took him seriously.”
“We’re… at war,” She weakly protested. “We need Heroes.”
“And when we’re not fighting, we’re gonna want to eat good food, read interesting books… and listen to passionate music,” He said, causing Jiro’s eyes to go wide.
“Kaminari has a big mouth…” She muttered under her breath.
Izuku nodded. “I noticed that too. Even when we are fighting, there’s got to be a good world to return to. Something to fight for.” He stood. “I’m not saying you should quit. It’s your job to decide. Who knows exactly why we’re chosen for Awakenings or Quirks? It could be random, it could be fate. But if a man gave you a rotten egg as a gift, and another man gave you luxury chocolates… you can throw away the rotten eggs and eat the chocolate.”
Jiro raised her eyebrows. “That is the strangest metaphor I’ve ever heard.”
He laughed. “Yeah… sometimes I ruin the moment with stuff like that.”
“No, I think it works. How…” She paused. “How do you do it? How do you conquer fear? Outside of the Gate I mean. I see that thing every time I close my eyes,” She said, referring to the Mosaic.
Izuku sighed. “Remember the Gate I told you about, where I first got my Re-Awakening?” He suppressed a shudder. “Whenever I close my eyes, I see that statue thing… smiling at me. I’m sorry… there are some things we all carry without having a say in the matter.”
*******
Hours later, and the dance floor was full. People drunkenly threw their limbs around. Izuku’s girls and Andre’s were having a blast with Terra. Only Yaoyorozu was sober out of all of them. Even then, she accepted a tipsy kiss from Rumi.
“I can see how this all leads to sex and drugs,” Izuku thought to himself, stunningly clean in comparison, but still caught in the throes of the party.
Sex and drugs were present, much like the rumors suggested. Izuku kept his friends and family away from the drugs, but he couldn’t keep some of his classmates from escaping to some corner of the party with a partner in tow.
Although things were nowhere near as dire at that moment, it reminded Izuku of a story he heard about Berlin in 1945. The city was such a mess, and the end of the world seemed so near, that inhibitions vanished. Modesty collapsed entirely, and people sought refuge in whatever vices they could find. Sex, drugs, alcohol.
No doubt the party reminded everyone just how close they were to annihilation at any given time. They were too young to not take advantage of that chaos. Otherwise, they might end up dying without having lived at all.
“How did you do it for so many millions of years?” Izuku thought to himself, thinking of Ashborn and Raia, holding to their ideals as the universe crumbled around them. He was nowhere near giving up, but he could imagine why Ashborn chose a successor, rather than fight on himself.
“Even with our Lady’s Spy Satellite, we cannot accurately locate Star. It would appear that she’s moving all across the country, but at the speed she’d have to be going at, we’d notice disturbances in the atmosphere.” Phantom reported on behalf of the Shadows.
“Then… let’s not wait any longer.”
When no one was looking, Izuku slunk into the shadows and vanished without a trace.
When he emerged in the open air of the Nevada, he wasn’t wearing a simple suit and tie. He was dressed in his Monarch armor. All around him, soldiers were on the ground, hands on their heads. The Shadows had them subdued before Izuku even finished teleporting.
It took a couple seconds of waiting, but soon Iida appeared next to Izuku, having run from the outskirts of the base. “We’ve got all the trucks and rescue supplies ready, but they were hesitant to enter the base until we had confirmation.”
Izuku nodded before exchanging a few words with him. The soldiers only heard, “...Run… big fight… war…” After the two boys nodded at each other, they went their separate ways.
Izuku strolled into the central building of the base, where a smart-looking soldier stood ready. “We were told to expect you, Sir.” His hands up, he nodded towards the ID Badge on his chest.
Izuku acquiesced with a wave of his hands and the soldier led him to the elevators. A short, yet awkward elevator ride later, and some biometric scans, the underground facility opened up to a barracks, and something beyond it.
Bordering the barracks was a heavily fortified office. Opening the door after even more biometrics, the soldier revealed President Andrew himself, and a massive suite for him to lounge in.
“I suppose I should be happy you accepted the inevitability and didn’t force your soldiers into an unwinnable fight just to delay things,” Izuku said as the President dismissed the soldier. “You gonna show me to all the people you took or I am gonna have to tear this place apart?”
“I’ll show you,” The President said. “Allow me to explain.” He stood from his desk and followed Izuku out to the barracks.
“In the early 1980s, Bell Labs was furthering its research of the Big Bang. During this, they detected a spontaneous burst of energy that destroyed most of their equipment. In fact, a great deal of Bell Labs and the surrounding areas reported electronic mishaps. The government responded that it was a burst from an extremely distant pulsar, which had degraded so thoroughly that there was no reason to worry.” Andrew adjusted his tie. “However, Bell Labs had recorded the position of their equipment before it was all destroyed. There was no known pulsar in that direction. Instead-”
“Europa,” Izuku responded.
Andrew nodded. “Many in the scientific community believed that it was a coincidence, and that the vastness of space allowed for an angular burst of energy that narrowly missed Europa and hit us. However… the opportunity was deemed too large to risk ignoring. So by 1998 NASA had constructed an unmanned probe designed to land on Europa, collect samples, and return home. The probe never landed, and we have no idea what happened to it in the end. But it did transmit a few images.” He handed a folder to Izuku.
In one, the ice sheets of the moon revealed a large black dot beneath the surface, the size of a mountain. “It took three weeks, but eventually, someone made the connection.” The next image traced veins over the original. “It was a pupil.”
The following files detailed several experts and their diminishing mental states.
“You call it the Yog-Sothoth Effect. We simply named it Space Madness.” The elevator dinged and opened up to a long sterile hallway made of Magical Metals. “Over the next decade, we recorded additional bursts of energy, and even spotted some of that blue light. As a result of Space Madness, most wanted to leave Europa alone, but the military recognized the potential. They lobbied for NASA to get a sample however possible.” He scanned his eyes, his fingerprints, and several ID cards to open several doors of varying security. “We never managed to actually encounter the creature through the frozen crust of the moon, the energy always destroyed our probes. But the ice provided some insulation, enough to land and scrape some frozen water from the surface. It contained biological material.”
The hallway opened up to a monitoring area of sorts, computers all over the place. A glass window overlooked a main experimental lab down below. It was decorated with glass tubes and strange liquids. Of course, the most disturbing part was the people, vacuum sealed in thick plastic. The only thing that kept Izuku from jumping into action right then and there was that they still had heartbeats, and the scientists were seemingly halting their work.
“The DNA recovered was estimated to be 500 times longer than human DNA and it was terribly incomplete. Subsequent missions improved our knowledge, but it required a vast amount of ‘material’ to fill the gap.”
It was then that Izuku realized what one of the liquids in the lab was. Humans blended down into a disturbing mixture of aliens and Homo Sapien.
“How… many?”
Andrew seemed to guess the question’s meaning. “Many presidents before me weren’t privy to these experiments, they weren’t considered trustworthy enough to keep the secret. And records are so redacted and classified that it would require several decades to unravel it all. It requires at least 5,000 human lives for just one attempted hybrid. We have no idea how many hybridization attempts have been made in the past 40 years, but they ramped up considerably when the Bastion was discovered and when the Gates appeared. That was our first and only success. Cathleen Bate.”
“You’ve killed… Oh God…” Even Izuku was stunned by the amount of Death that permeated the lab. Ashborn himself would’ve shuddered. “How many… have you killed in the past couple days?”
Andrew saw the guilt in his eyes. “The process takes weeks. Even if you had moved on Area 51 seconds after the Summit, it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Izuku’s sense of shame for being at the party while this went on wasn’t wiped away, but he also recognized that there was nothing more he could do. “All these people… Iida’s family?”
“In the US alone, 600,000 people go missing every year. Most just disconnect from their friends and family, they start new lives, new jobs. We didn’t want to hurt our own population too much though, so we took advantage of a portion of that statistic, and outsourced the rest to other nations. The Iida family was guaranteed a place in the United States should it ever become a bastion.”
“Are you going to tell me… that this was all for the greater good?”
“I couldn’t tell you.” Andrew shook his head. “So far, it’s wasted more human lives than it’s saved. But to reveal its truth to the world was almost impossible. I would’ve been killed before I could do anything. I needed a National-Rank to-”
“Bullshit… You had Reed, you had Andre, and you had your own alien supersoldier in Star. You could’ve revealed it whenever you wanted.”
“It wasn’t like anyone trusted Andre or Reed, and Star was the one who pushed it to keep going. Most privy to the experiments were the same way. When you become part of such horrors, you justify them. Just look at accounts from Unit 731 or the Nazis.”
Izuku could hardly speak. “You only ever produced one hybrid?”
“Three. One is Star, in the final days, we achieved one more. That subject is currently growing in a test tube. And the third you know as Maigo, whom we called Project Nemesis. The story behind her liberation is much too complicated to explain now, but we came to the agreement that she’d serve on a black ops team, keep her freedom, and keep our secrets. Creating powerful beings is a dangerous game as it turns out.” He gathered his courage. “We’ve halted production for now, but… your research into NULL and ABSOLUTE Particles. Your furthered understanding of the Soul. We could refine the techniques, and make it-”
Andrew saw his life flash before his eyes as the Apex Skill Ashborn instilled him with such intense fear. He was quite literally seconds from Death. If Izuku didn’t cancel the Skill, he’d drop dead. It sent the message loud and clear.
“Never.”
Andrew fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air, sweat pouring off his body. It was the answer he expected, but he had to ask. “Then… you’ll have to stop Star…”
“I figured.”
“She’s coming… Whatever she saw… in that National-Rank Gate… She’s got ‘it.’ The Yog-Sothoth Effect. But she didn’t completely lose… it… Her physiology protected her, just not 100%.”
“Izuku Midoriya’s heart stops.” Cathleen Bate had a hand on his shoulder, appearing behind him like she’d teleported.
Izuku would’ve laughed, but he was too horrified by the lab. Instead, he growled: “Did you really think that would work?”
His heart had stopped beating, but only for a moment. A Higher Being-human hybrid didn’t just rely on their organs. And Izuku could keep it beating manually with Gravity Magic.
“Izuku Midoriya’s brain-” She gasped to a stop as Izuku performed surgery. A simple surgery. He used Gravity Magic to slash her neck, cutting through her vocal chords. Izuku wasn’t sure if that was a necessity for her powers, or just a handy mental trigger, but he did it all the same.
He shoved her away with Gravity, back into the long security hallway. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her biometrics, read by his Magic, told Izuku that she hadn’t slept since the Gate incident.
She was wearing what could only be described as incalculable wealth. National-Rank and S-Rank armor, the highest quality in the world, procured only through Raiding other humanoid Chaotic species. Humanity had never produced anything to such a standard. There was even a Lord-Rank ring on her finger. The question of how it got there was fresh in Izuku’s mind.
If you managed to sell it all for pure cash, it would probably equal the total GDP of planet Earth itself. Her throat was instantly healed and her voice returned, but she didn’t make a move.
Izuku sighed, overcome with grief for his own species and their crimes. “I think I’ve got an idea of how your powers work. You can do literally anything. Teleport yourself, inflict debuffs, or even erase someone from existence. But you can only do it whilst touching your target, and only if you have enough Mana. Your energy kept fluctuating during the Summit and the Gate. Either you’re good at hiding it, or your Mana capacity is not constant.”
Her appearance was not a surprise, to Izuku, to Andrew, to the inhabitants of the base, or to the Shadows. Phantom had sensed her several miles out, closing the distance to apparently limit the energy she needed to spend on teleportation. They let her act first, so as to not start any unnecessary aggression.
“So how does it work? How many of these… ‘Orders’ can she impose at a time?” Izuku asked Andrew, when Star refused to answer.
Andrew almost remained silent, afraid of the crazed experiment, but recognized the danger. “As many Orders as her Soul can sustain. It’s not Mana that powers them.” Star glared at him.
“Ah,” Izuku acknowledged, using Soul Magic to peer inside of her. There were thousands of Souls bouncing beneath her flesh. “I’m surprised you maintained sanity even before getting Yog-Sothoth.” The source of her power was the oppression of the Souls bound to her with Primordial DNA.
How exactly it worked was unclear to Izuku, but it was clear that she was not in total control of them. She was forcibly harnessing the Souls’ vast stores of energy, and some slipped through her grasp to avoid the Orders she gave.
It was like a King playing games of cat and mouse with his subjects. If she caught them, they had to obey.
“I think you should stand down,” Izuku said, with no hope of such an outcome. “You’re just going to make this even more of a mess.”
“It’s already a mess!” She shouted, clutching at her head. “You don’t know the truth! About NULL and ABSOLUTE! We’re just-”
“Insects? Pawns?” Izuku suggested. “Whatever word you wanna use. Trust me, I know a lot more than you think I do.”
“No, we’re not real .”
Izuku shook his head. “And yet, you’re real enough to have that thought.”
“You’re just playing around with a universe that’s-”
Izuku groaned. “I know! Jeez, how many times do I have to say it, I know!”
She paused, seeing the recognition in his eyes. He really knew what she meant. “But then… you must be behind it. Yeah… at the center of all these universes, it’s you.”
“Well, aside from the one where Yaoyorozu takes center stage,” He duly noted. “I finally got that guy to show me the truth,” He said, secretly referring to Raia. “It was… quite the trip to see NULL and ABSOLUTE in their true forms. I bet anyone else would try to commit suicide on the spot.” He adjusted his stance to cover Andrew. “As you’re learning, there are some things we shouldn’t know. The multiverse is astronomically terrifying when you fully grasp what it means. You just need to let me inflict a debuff on you, the memory loss will cure you and a psychia-”
“You’re not insane, so you must be behind it…”
“Okay…” He turned around to face the President, recognizing the futility of reasoning with Star. “I might not be able to stop her without killing her.”
Andrew stomached a grimace. “I figured.” He and Star definitely hadn’t gone to college together like the stories suggested, but clearly he cared for the genetic hybrid. “Do what you need to.”
Star was flabbergasted at the way Andrew assumed her defeat was a foregone conclusion. “You think you can stop me?!”
Izuku scoffed. It was a sound Cathleen barely heard, the air was too thin to transmit the vibrations properly.
Without knowing what happened, she suddenly found herself near the edge of space. Izuku had grabbed her and launched her upwards before her brain could catch up.
“What are you?”
“Ya know, there’s a lot of titles for Monarchs. I’m the Shadow Monarch, but I’m also liking the sound of ‘Monarch of Mortality.’ Nice extra title don’t you think? Life and Death.”
[You have acquired title: Monarch of Mortality]
[Monarch of Mortality - The User has the ability to make 8 Individuals into Lesser Beings, granting immortality and an overall boost to Stats.]
“Cathleen Bate is-”
PWOOM!
Izuku twisted the gravity in front of Star, warping space. Letting go of it, the distortion snapped back to normal, smacking America’s Number One nearly a kilometer away.
“Cathleen Bate’s skin is immune to Magic,” She said, finishing her command. “Cathleen Bate has superhuman strength, speed, durability, reflexes…” She went on and on, enhancing every aspect she could think of. The Orders seemed to take effect, but she didn’t add anything about being immune to Physical Damage.
“So speaking is required… even when the sound doesn’t travel as far.” Izuku watched the Souls underneath her skin squirm, but Primordials stood above the Monarchs and Rulers themselves. They had killed the Absolute Being’s sister.
Star may have been a hybrid. She may have diluted the divine blood. And yet, by the measures of the universe, she was still a God.
“She has more than enough energy to enforce new Orders… so there’s probably a limit on how many damage methods she can negate. And she specified a part of her body…” Nothing in the universe was truly immortal, truly unkillable. Her powers very likely forced her to leave an opening.
“The air in a 100-foot radius around Izuku Midoriya undergoes spontaneous fusion!” The time spent in the National-Rank had not been a waste for her. The only thing that really hurt Izuku whilst inside was the Fusion Magic of the Phoenix. However…
“Being a jack-of-all-trades means you master nothing,” Izuku responded, bearing the immense heat around him.
Even the Phoenix’s energy hadn’t been able to take him down, and that was before One For All boosted his Vitality. Star could’ve obliterated most Heroes on the planet with that move, but it was nothing like the power contained within the United States of Annihilation.
“On the other hand,” He appeared next to Star. “I’ve gotten really good at Gravity Magic.” She went flying halfway across the United States with a shockwave that would be heard, quite literally, around the world. It was so powerful he had to use Gravity Magic to protect the area directly below them from being hammered with gale force winds.
Not only was Izuku’s physical strength enhanced by One For All. So too was his Intelligence Stat. Every point made his Gravity stronger.
It was at the point where teleportation via Shadow Magic was almost slower than moving with Gravity Magic. He reduced his mass to nearly nothing, he bent the space where wind would slow him, he isolated himself from everything else in the universe. And without anything slowing him down, his speed was only determined by how much Mana he was willing to pump through his Apex Magic. He held his breath, or forced air into his lungs, and he moved as if matter itself was an inconvenience.
Over Kansas, this was apparent, as he reached the state before Star did. He caught her by the neck and threw her into the Earth. Physical contact was what she wanted. She needed it to trigger her Orders. That’s why she nullified Magical and not Physical Damage, but Izuku wasn’t giving her the time to speak.
The crater Cathleen landed in was remarkably small. A bubble formed by Izuku. Just a few meters in diameter to prevent a cataclysmic impact that would liquify the ground with kinetic force.
“You weren’t with Andrew,” Izuku stated as he floated down next to her. She had to order her limbs back into place. “That’s several hours unaccounted for. You didn’t sleep, you didn’t eat, you didn’t drink. So… what were you doing during that time?” Raia’s warning about American chaos was fresh in his mind.
“America’s… under threat…” She stood opposite him, her senses pushed to the limit. They weren’t enough. “We’re too soft… The end of the world is here and we’re playing nice.”
“Hoarding power doesn’t seem too nice to me,” He replied. It wasn’t some high horse either. He’d been clearing Gates in every country he could get access to. Well, him and his Shadows. “What’s your idea of playing mean?”
“As the strongest, we demand every Hero here, or we’ll nuke their countries.”
Izuku almost laughed for a second time. It was just too absurd. “Let me guess… you ‘Ordered’ American military and political personnel to stage a coup?”
“It’s much easier to Order people around than to order reality. I didn’t even need to use my powers on some. They knew what was best.”
“That I don’t doubt,” He replied. “I’d say something like: ‘you know this is a terrible time to be threatening each other,’ but I feel like that sentence has applied to every war waged… and not a single person listens.”
“How are you any different from those warlords? Hitler thought he was uniting the world too.”
Izuku’s head tilted in disbelief. “Yeah… but I’m trying to do it through infrastructure and technology. You’re the one starting wars here.”
“Soldiers are already mobilizing,” Astra reported from Area 51. “Our Lady’s satellites confirmed air and naval movement as well. No doubt conflicts between civilians will break out soon enough.”
Izuku grumbled under his breath. American politics had always been divisive. All you needed to do was push a few buttons and get a few politicians hyping up the masses. Surprisingly, the conflict wouldn’t be Red States vs Blue States if the information he received was correct.
Cathleen had inflamed fears of America favoring its darling states, like California and Texas, whilst less fortunate states were left to dry. Ironically, or perhaps fittingly given it was America, Cathleen’s manufactured outrage was the same disdain she showed the rest of the world in favor of preserving America.
Whereas before it was the United States taking all the Heroes, it would become the rich states taking all the Heroes in the final days of humanity. She wasn’t just preparing for the rest of the world to fall, but for the rest of America to fall.
“I doubt this is all a matter of Yog-Sothoth. A lab experiment, raised to believe in American superiority,” He mused aloud. “You even wear the flag,” He said, gesturing to her red, white, blue, and gold Hero outfit. “A nationalist. An American. I’m trying to save humanity . You’re the one without any vision. So… get out of my way.”
“Izuku Midoriya’s brain stops working!” She shouted, just in time for Izuku to make contact. They were in Michigan by the time they caught up to each other again.
“Yeah… that might’ve worked a couple months ago,” He responded, much to Star’s annoyance.
“How?! How are you ignoring my Orders?!”
“Oh they still affect me,” He assured her. “But I’m not really just Izuku Midoriya anymore. Me and my team… we’re carrying a lot of hopes with us. You may be able to stop my neurons from firing for a fraction of a second, but you’re not gonna keep me down with it.”
Another blow, and they were over Maine. Every impact carried so much kinetic energy that it seared off Cathleen’s skin. It exposed her flesh to something she was uniquely susceptible to: Soul Magic.
Her Debuff Protection Order was seemingly still on. Izuku couldn’t weaken her with poison or erase her memory to free her of the madness she was experiencing, but he could start by separating the trapped Souls from her.
“It didn’t eliminate existing Orders… but maybe it’ll prevent future ones from taking hold,” Izuku theorized.
Then, like she was listening to his thoughts, Bate dispelled her previous Orders. She was no longer immune to Magic, or Superhuman. She replaced it with a new Order, just one.
“Cathleen Bate’s Items go up one Rank.”
“Woah! That’s more what I’d expect,” Izuku shouted as Star’s Mana and energy ballooned. “She didn’t lead with that. She was underestimating me, but is that why she didn’t use it?” Star’s overall power had risen, but she sacrificed other protections to do so. “Seems like she only has the capacity for one or two big Orders, but can use other smaller Orders alongside them. Is the limit being imposed by the Souls? Or is it the conditions of her Quirk… Is it even a Quirk at this point?”
Star launched herself at Izuku as he finished his thought. He brushed her punch to the side with ease and split the cloud laden skies like it was blown away by God himself.
“Ouch…” He silently cursed. Even though he pushed her aside like he was raking leaves, there was no avoiding the kinetic force it had on his arm. If his Vitality wasn’t so high and he didn’t heal so quickly, it would’ve left an enormous bruise.
“Ah, so that’s it,” He realized. Star, having felt a Soul be pushed from her body, knew that her Magic Immunity strategy would eventually falter. If she couldn’t keep up with Izuku physically, her death was assured.
She kicked out midair, as if to sweep his legs. Unfortunately for her, Izuku was far more adept at omni-directional movement. He turned sideways, and threw a haymaker. His angle turned it into an uppercut, throwing her further into the sky.
Appearing above her, he multiplied the force of his next strike by using her momentum from the previous one. He did it again… and again… and again. The sky looked like it was being cut to pieces with each harsh direction Star was punched in. It happened within the span of seconds, America’s strongest getting dismantled.
Her eyes could only just keep up with Izuku now. She was barely able to block blows or tilt her body to turn them into glances. It wasn’t enough. Not even close.
Soul after Soul was ejected from her body, but they didn’t disappear. They orbited Star’s body just out of reach, as if to taunt her.
F-54s and 52s flew under them, racing around the destructive forces of Awakened humans on their way to engage their own homeland. At the very least, Izuku trusted California and Texas to mount an impressive defense with whatever allies they could grab.
“As long as they don’t start bickering amongst themselves,” He thought.
Igris’s voice entered his head. “Liu Zhigang is leaving the party. Satellite imaging shows China is on the move.”
“Probably figured that now was the best time since I’m occupied with Star. The other nations?”
“Rioting is the main concern in stable countries like Germany, the UK, and France. People are worried that the fall of America will utterly ruin the world’s chances for survival. So they’re aiming to join the war on one side or another. As Raia predicted, less stable countries like those in East Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle-East are preparing for a conflict.”
Izuku grumbled in annoyance. It wasn’t exactly because America held the world together, nothing so silly. It was much like a… crowd of people. If everyone around you - especially the people you considered stable - start acting like animals, there’s a good chance you’d start acting differently too. As much as every country hated it, every country had influence on the other, small or large.
To some, this was a time to step up and take control, others wanted resources and manpower that neighboring lands provided during this tumultuous period, and some were just a little unhinged.
For instance, most countries with heavy religious influence on their government believed that the Villains were a sort of “Flood Event.” A sign from God that humanity needed to be culled.
In the United States, some South American and the Middle-Eastern countries, there was a sizable chunk of people who were manipulated into believing that, regardless of what the religion actually was. As was typical with war, there were plenty who justified it as “Holy.”
“What a disorderly bunch we are!” Izuku bemoaned, punching away Star. She wasn’t getting any good hits on him, but the recoil from her attacks was starting to get tiresome. He sighed, stopping across from Star.
“Did you really want this?”
Star glared back with bloodshot eyes. “We’re all dead anyways… This is our hell, we’re already burning. Maybe I just want some warmth.”
“Yeah…” He pulled the Blade of the Empress from his Inventory. “Adding fuel to the flames only makes you burn faster.”
“The sooner it happens… the sooner we’ll be free!”
“I don’t have a problem with suicide, but I do have a problem with taking others with you.”
Her glare relaxed and her eyes truly sparkled for the first time since Izuku met her. Her own Soul seemed to swell. “Vestige Manifestation, A-Type: Manifest Destiny!”
*******
“Well, this is more than I could have hoped for. Even though you disobeyed my instructions and went behind my back to do so… very impressive, Shigaraki.”
The man with white hair leaned back in his chair, the finest Bourbon in hand. “Thank you, Lord Antares.” On one monitor was static, where the voice came from. The other was news coverage of rising tensions, focusing on America. “I told you, it really wasn’t that difficult. A few bribes here, a couple of promises there, giving some militant groups power. It’s shockingly easy to stir up wars across the world when you put your mind to it. You may have correctly estimated humanity’s potential, but not mine.”
“I understand. I won’t make that mistake again. But I must insist that you keep our secret.”
“You mean being the only Monarch who knew the Synthetic Lord was alive? Why would I have reason to disobey that order?”
“Nothing immediately comes to mind. I merely found it important to stress. I will allow you your increased autonomy, as proven. You have earned that respect. All I ask is that you respect my wishes on this matter.”
Shigaraki downed the rest of the glass, happy to pour himself another. “That is the truly beautiful thing about this relationship. I genuinely don’t care what you Gods get up to. I have no reason to speak on their behalf. Meanwhile, you couldn’t muster the slightest concern for humans. Neither of us take offense, we stick to our lanes, and we get the job done.”
Antares, the Monarch of Destruction laughed. “I never thought I’d toast to human sentimentalities, but here we are.” The static screen briefly flickered to show a glass with iridescent liquid inside. “To the League of Villains… throwing humanity into its newest World War!”