Chapter 6: Not Anymore!

Power stones

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The next day he started to set up his room, making a place for his notebooks on an available shelf and his clothes in a dresser. Right now his room was really sparse, but he was ok with it for now.

He cleaned himself up and went downstairs, hopefully to meet All For One. He knew that he didn't need a quirk to reach his goal, but having one would probably make things a lot easier.

Sure, there was a part of him that wanted to remain quirkless to prove a point to the public, but if he wanted to be strong enough to control the underworld he couldn't ignore any opportunities that were offered.

"Good morning Midoriya, I hope that you slept well."

"I did, thank you."

After having a light breakfast a tv in the corner crackles with static. Izuku looks up at it, unsure of what that means.

"So, you're the one that crippled All Might's career. I may have taken a few of his organs, but you took his reputation. A far greater blow."

Izuku was really hoping he wasn't wrong when he mostly guessed that this mysterious man was the same person as the other mysterious man. "It's good to meet you, All For One."

Thankfully, he was right.

A light chuckle resonates from the screen, "It's been a long time since someone knew who I was and wasn't frightened."

"I have no quirk for you to take. Besides, we're on the same side, and you seem to be smart enough and polite enough to not kill you allies."

"I think you will definitely fit in here, Kurogiri, bring him to me."

Izuku wasn't sure he liked the sound of that, but decided he was too far in now to quit. With that, the now familiar black mist surrounded him and he found himself in what seemed to be a large room with little more in it than a wall of screens and a man with no face.

The man by all means looked weak, an older man who was disfigured and was attached to a life support system.

But there was no mistaking the power resonating off the man. Izuku felt like he was standing in front of some kind of mythical beast that could kill him with a mere thought.

The man spoke up, making Izuku wonder if he had a mouth under that mask or if it was a quirk or- wait, he really should think about this later.

"It's good to see you in person, Midoriya. To be honest, when I heard that someone released detailed information on how to defeat All Might, I was not expecting a child, much less a quirkless one. But that makes it all the more noticeable. You, a quirkless child, were brave enough to fight the most powerful hero, and you made sure to fight him on your terms."

All For One stepped closer and gently placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. What was it with villains and not believing in personal space?

"Now tell me, why did you join us?"

Izuku tried to say something that would sound good, like wanting to destroy all heroes for revenge, or something like that.

Izuku suddenly realized why the man was making physical contact. It must be a quirk of sorts, because he found himself saying very different words than he meant to.

"I want to save people."

"An interesting choice of profession for such a noble goal." Taking his hand off the boy's shoulder.

"This quirk really helps with making people honest, but it makes conversation bland. An unfortunate side effect seems to be that people are as concise as possible, which isn't what I want from you. I want you to answer that question again, but in your own words this time. Tell me the story, not just the facts."

Izuku wanted to make sure he got his point across. He knew one misstep would mean death, so he gathered up all the rage and pain and betrayal and loss and sorrow. He would make this man understand his fury, but also his kindness.

"It was one cash register. The villain that All Might was chasing all over the city. It was because he had taken a few hundred bucks. But instead of letting a man steal a couple hundred dollars, All Might decided to turn the streets into a war zone to stop him. I nearly died because of it. My best friend did die. I watched people's houses burn and the life drain from my friend's eyes while All Might watched. All because of one goddamn register."

"I hate that people think they can save one person by just punching someone else. That will never make crime go away. Criminals will always be a mark on society that can't be removed. But I don't want anyone else's friend to die because of collateral damage. So if I can't stop crime, then I want to influence it. I want power and control. I know I can't stop the violence, but I can make it better. Take the chaos out of it."

Izuku was barely holding his tears back at this point. "I know I'll have to do a lot of bad before I can do any good, but it's worth it if I can change the way things are now. No more children dying in the fucking street over something so petty."

The ancient villain seemed to contemplate his words.

"I appreciate your honesty. You seek power to control the underworld and to stop heroes from fighting recklessly. What should we do with the heroes that don't care for your ideals and continue to cause disasters over petty criminals?"

Izuku knew this was coming and had to harden his heart to it, but he couldn't keep the remorse and pain out of his voice. "They'll have to go. We can't let this chaos continue."

If it was possible to smile without a face, then this man was doing it.

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Power stones