Truth and 'Ambitions'

__________ POV Beru__________

I didn't realize building a cottage in the woods would be so fun. But I guess it was fun because it wasn't hard at all.

If I swipe my claws with a bit more strength than necessary I might end up making a deforestation company jealous.

It was easy to cut the wood, to split it into logs.

It was a bit annoying to make the logs a bit better to walk on barefoot(for a regular person anyway). But hey, nothing a few tools I warped in couldn't fix.

Still, Lady Nagant was a lot better this time. She didn't seem quite as depressed as the last time I saw her. I can't say that I mind, she's a pretty nice person to hang out with too.

Well, she doesn't seem to be all that talkative, but hey, she does try to add things to the conversation from time to time.

So, in the end, I managed to help her out too. Well, at least I hope so, I don't think the Chief of Police would betray our deal.

He gets his dirt on the Commission and Lady Nagant gets her reduced sentence and immunity from the Commission itself.

I need to find a way to put her mother in a witness program of some kind. I will have to speak with the Chief of Police about it again. But I need a few more forms to take if I want to visit him.

I'm kinda running out of transformation juice (other people's blood). Well, I guess I'll visit a villain den and refill it or something.

I do want to leave this life behind me, but I still have a lot of things to fix before being able to live peacefully.

The Commission itself is something I need to 'fix' I can't act like a barbarian and go killing everyone, that would be a bit moronic of me. But I can fabricate information, actively plan against them, and seek allies to take them down.

These are also things that seem to be working perfectly, so I see no reason to resort to violence as of now.

As for right now, well, I guess I'll have to visit Nezu and talk to him about my quirk and the way it works. I'll ask for two strands of his hair afterwards(one to clone his quirk in the lab, and the other to use myself).

Actually helping Yori get more quirks relies on the fact that he's already gotten All for One inside him. So his body should be capable of gaining more quirks.

It would be inadvisable at best, a crime at worst, to give quirks to regular people. I know very well what stretching one's limits looks like in that regard, and I don't want to create any Nomus by mistake.

So this will be the only instance where I will be helping anyone get more quirks.

__________ POV Narration__________

Beru teleported himself outside of Nezu's office door, this time, he could clearly see that the principal was awake and working. Sorting through some files.

He politely knocked on the door before entering. And Nezu raised his head to greet Beru with a smile. One filled with energy.

"Great to see you Beru! I was so glad not to hear about anything bad happening to that scientist..." Beru just stared at Nezu for a while before he started talking while approaching a chair to sit down.

"Oh, your lack of trust pains me greatly~! What am I to do if even one of my greatest friends doesn't believe in me~?" Beru's playful demeanour came as no surprise to Nezu, who just looked on as Beru sat down.

The two of them talked about random things for a bit. Beru explaining how he ended up building a cabin in the woods (he left Lady Nagant out of it tho). Nezu talking about spying on students interacting with each other. All harmless fun.

"So, what's wrong? Have you come to call another night out? Or did something bad happen?" Nezu did decide to get to the meat of the conversation.

The principal could tell that there was something on Beru's mind. So he decided to press for it eventually.

"Well~ I kinda want to ask you for something~ It's not something hard really~ And I also want to tell you more about my original quirk~" Beru's words immediately made Nezu gain a serious expression.

Gone was his relaxed smile, it wasn't the time for it, after all.

"I see... How come you're willing to part with this much information? It always seemed to be a taboo for you..." Nezu's words weren't wrong.

Beru always diverted any attention away when it came to his quirk. Not saying anything besides the fact that it made him stronger and more durable(besides the appearance change).

But he would never mention more about it. He never talked about why the doctors, after he reappeared from the forest, failed to even tell if he was human.

It was a strange thing to see, the ones doing the experiments said that his DNA was constantly changing as if it was evolving in real-time. It was simply impossible to get a good look at it before it changed again.

Nezu was well aware of those discoveries, but he never pressed the issue with Beru. The principal didn't want to make it seem like he was trying to pry into Beru's personal issues.

"First of all~ I don't only have one quirk~ This is by personal discovery, by the way,~ One of them turns me into what I am, a mutant quirk that turns me into an ant, but allows me to keep a somewhat human shape~" Nezu nodded his head at that.

Many had surmised that Beru was born with multiple quirks. And saying that he had one mutation quirk would be like saying that the sun is bright. Plainly stating the obvious.

" The other one is what I didn't quite talk about at all~ A quirk that allows me to permanently absorb the properties of anything I consume~ Gaining the toughness of metals, the venom of snakes, the poison of a mushroom. I can constantly transform my body to use the things that I've devouerd~"

Nezu looked at Beru in shock. That wasn't quite what he was expecting to hear from Beru. The quirk Beru explained to him was simply amazing... But there was something else in his mind... Did that extend to taking the abilities of humans? Quirks?

"And, when I consume the DNA of any person~ I can shift my DNA to match theirs, copying their Quirk Factor in the process~ A single strand of hair, or a single droplet of blood is all I need to permanently copy someone else's powers~" Beru's explanation only made Nezu more and more shocked.

"And~ Given training~ I can perfectly combine quirks ~ Well, not all quirks~ Only those that work togheter~ But you get my point~" Beru's even told Nezu of this detail. Something that he had kept from Yori.

Why? Well, Nezu was someone Beru knew that he could trust. If he was to come clean about his ability, then why hide this from him as well?

"That... That's a lot to take in..." Nezu finally responded to Beru. He still looked shocked at what he was hearing.

But he wasn't shocked at Beru's ability. Beru's quirk was unheard of and extremely powerful, it was a lot better than All for One in many aspects. But there were still other quirks similar in nature(that copy/take quirks).

Simply knowing of the existence of such a quirk would never have caused such a reaction out of Nezu. The principal was, after all, an extremely composed individual.

But there was something else that was shocking to him. The absolute lack of superiority that Beru seemed to feel over others.

A person with a quirk similar to his(All for One) would quickly believe themselves to be chosen by the universe, becoming self-entitled and doing their best to make a point to everybody that they were superior.

But he had seen none of that in Beru. Beru acted with maturity as if all of that overwhelming power was nothing but a tool to him. And, in a sense, it was the truth.

Beru didn't consider power to be something that should define one's character, that was one of the reasons he grew to loath All for One as deeply as he did.

All for One was the exact opposite of Beru, in both characters and ambitions.

Beru's ambition was simply to live a happy and fulfilling life alongside his loved ones. It was pure, and some would even call it a lot to wish for in his situation. Especially when he had a propensity for getting in trouble.

But All for One's ambitions were much 'grander'. He wanted control, supreme power, and he strived for it with every fibre of his being.

The man was so infatuated with his own powers that he had named himself the same he had named his quirk 'All for One'. To Beru, that was simply a pathetic existence.

What was someone even supposed to do with all that power anyway? What was the use of it in the end? A feeling of satisfaction at having achieved it was a guarantee, but what about afterwards?

It was a foolish endeavor. Simply a waste of time. All of that satisfaction would dwindle in time, and it would eventually turn to madness, as the person in question realises the actual lack of meaning that their existence had.

All for One was the very person that Beru loathed... But he was also just like Beru used to be. A person driven by desires, 'ambitious', always trying to get stronger for no particular reason besides being stronger.

And, it should be mentioned that Beru considered himself to be scum. So All for One reminding him of himself wasn't a good point.

Not like it was with Toga. She was the same as the current Beru in many aspects, she didn't wish for world domination, she just wanted to be accepted as she was.

The only thing that she had similar to his was her obsession. And he couldn't really bring himself to hate her for it. Even if he really tried to. An obsession wasn't something easily controllable. But it was something she could overcome.

All for One, however... All for One was a lost cause.

And, right now, As Nezu thought more and more about the way Beru carried himself, the happier he was that it was him, and not someone else to gain that ability.

"I am truly happy that you've shared this with me... What is your request by the way." Nezu finally said with a smile as he regained his bearings.

"Oh~ I kinda need your quirk for something~ I want to help that researcher look into something~" Beru's words made Nezu raise an eyebrow.

While the principal was happy to hear Beru be honest with him, it was still odd to have someone ask for your quirk.

"I only need two strands of hair really~" Beru said while rubbing the back of his head. It was quite obvious to him that Nezu wasn't quite on board with the request.

"What exactly do you want to look into with that researcher? I'm assuming you want to help him too since you've asked for my quirk." Nezu face was serious, but he had somewhat recovered.

Beru hadn't forcefully copied Nezu's quirk. So it was obvious that Beru cared about the principal. So, there was no actual reason for him to be mad at Beru.

"Say...~ Have you heard about 'quirk singularity'?~" Beru opened his mouth, as an entirely new conversation started.

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Heh, similar ending innit?

I feel this chapter is necessary for ppl to understand just how much AFO and Beru are polar opposite personality-wise.(if that wasn't already obvious from previous events)

It's kinda strange to write since I felt like I was describing most of the MC's on this site when describing AFO(at least I could draw similarities in some traits).

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