Dark Revival: Ch 8

Howdy guys, I'm so sorry for not updating recently. As you probably know, my bank account got hacked awhile back and I lost a lot of money. Recently I got a new job at a wholesale shop, where I work in the company's logistics. We sell massive pallets of stuff to different stores all around the state, and I'm one of the people who has to work out all the truck deliveries, manage the inventory, etc etc.

Unknowingly to me I joined at a horrible time, and Mother's Day turned into an actual Hell where I worked the two weeks leading up to it without weekends, sometimes pulling up to 12 hour shifts. There were so so so many fucking vases. If I ever have to see a fucking vase again, it'll be too soon. I hope whatever girl I wind up with hates flowers, because I will trash any vases.

Glass vase. Crystal vase. Colored vase. 4032 and C030 were big ones. I don't even know what those vases are, I just know the numbers from how many times I had to punch them in, and the times the ground crew asked me to come down and help them drag a never ending stream of boxes around with those accursed numbers on the side.

But all that's over (and I got some really nice overtime pay), so updates should get back to somewhat normal. Again, I'm so sorry, y'all deserve better, and I honestly don't blame anyone at all who canceled their membership.

-Rain of Sins-

-Dark Revival: Ch 8-

"Welcome back to SMASH News, where we're reporting a grim outlook for the nation.

Almost exactly a week ago, Japan was given a glimmer of hope, a sign of progress in these difficult times. A conservative coalition managed to break the stalemate that had paralyzed the senate for months, and began enacting sweeping reforms.

From massive increases in police budgets, to centralizing the HPSC and investigation agencies under a single umbrella that Hero agencies have to report to, and instituting mandatory curfews in the cities with the highest crime rates.

Not everyone might have agreed with the methods, or the heavy handed approach, but things were finally getting done. It looked like the nation was finally taking the steps to crushing the recent mass surge in Villainy, to getting Hero corruption under control, and returning Japan to the safety we've enjoyed for over 12 years.

It's almost breathtaking just how quickly everything can change.

Although it was only announced less than 48 hours ago, Kronos has made waves around the world. Many were worried what such a dangerous technology could do when put in the wrong hands, many were excited at the potential applications of this technology.

On average, nations with a heavy reliance on the Hero based system rather than centralized government policing, were much more against the technology than their peers. And no nation is more reliant on Heroes than Japan, which has spent decades entrenching itself as the cultural center of the Hero Industry across the globe.

This morning the conservative government passed a bill that would immediately outlaw the technology, and any research into artificially removing or giving quirks.

This has been met with a mix of massive backlash and fervent support, leading to even more protests and counter protests propping up in every major city.

Under the weight of it all, the coalition has fractured, and opposition parties gathered the support necessary to trigger an emergency election. Now while the ballots aren't fully counted yet, it's obvious that the newest vote will be even more polarized than the last. The moderate parties that have dominated politics for decades are in shambles, with radicals from every carover of the political compass making massive gains. None of which are willing to work with one another.

If the projections are correct, not only will the new senate fail to find a new coalition with the majority necessary to so much as even put a bill on the floor, it will be even more divided than it's ever been.

No matter your political leaning, everyone can agree that this was perhaps the worst time for this to happen. The stability of Japan suffered a major blow today, and with the senate once again completely paralyzed, the entire nation is all asking the same question.

What do we do now?"

-Rain of Sins-

In the darkness that was customary to the nothingness inside One for All, a fierce argument was raging. Normally the souls/vestiges/copies/whatever-they-really-were of the past Heroes forced themselves to be on good terms. They smiled and talked things out, even if they didn't agree, because they knew they would have to spend the rest of eternity with each other.

But right now, there was none of that.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" A white haired man shouted as he advanced on a towering behemoth that stood head and shoulders above him. "WE HAD A PERFECT CHANCE! ONE CHANCE! AND YOU THREW IT AWAY!"

This was Yoichi, brother of All for One and the original holder of One for All. His usual collected demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

"I will not attack someone who's trying to do the right thing, not unless there's no other choice."

"There wasn't any other choice, you fool! you've doomed us all!"

But while Yoichi was the base of the quirk, the floor that One for All rested on, All Might was easily its biggest pool of power. He held his ground unflinchingly.

It was only when he locked eyes with his mentor that his stony expression cracked and he looked away.

"Nana… I-"

"No, don't. It's…" Nana sighed and placed a hand on his arm. "I chose you for that big goofy heart of yours. I told you to follow it, and you rode it to the top of the world, It's what made you such a good Hero. I can't fault you for following it now." She smiled weakly. "Even if I disagree… I'm proud of you."

All Might placed his hand over hers, and looked like he might even start crying.

"Oh not you too." Yoichi threw his hands up in the air. "This is outrageous!"

"His heart is in the right place."

"It doesn't matter where his heart is!" Yoichi snapped. "I've seen it all before. He's going to start collecting more quirks, creating more quirks, giving himself more quirks, and that's going to change him. I've watched some of the best men and women become absolute monsters when my brother offered them just a handful. And Midoriya will have hundreds to choose from. He's another All for One in the making!"

"Yoichi, calm down dude." One of the Vestiges said from the side. "This isn't like you."

"This isn't like me? This isn't like me ?! We just failed at stopping the creation of another All for One, because HE sat on the largest part of our power, and did NOTHING!" He stopped and whirled around at a chuckling Kudo. "And you're not out of this either!"

"I was wondering if you noticed." The second user smirked and shrugged his shoulders in a 'oh well' manner.

"Of course I noticed!" Yoichi snapped. "You're even more to blame than he is! Actively working out of sync, pulling from wells that weren't yours, you had us all tripping over each other's legs! You've been here the longest with me! I chose you as my successor! How could you do this!?"

"I dedicated my entire life to trying to kill All for One. I started and led the resistance that all three of my direct successors served in. Before All for One got ahold of his most powerful quirks and united Japan, I was the only one out of all of us that even came close to beating him other than All Might. The war my resistance raged against him didn't just cripple his Empire for years to come, I personally made him bleed ."

Kudo scowled and shoved Yoichi away from him.

"And even after all of us, eight dead users, and generations of storing up energy, All for One STILL isn't dead! What I saw in Midoriya's memories was the greatest chance of killing that bastard we have left, especially with him back at full strength. And besides, about his whole thing with quirks, I don't think it's that bad of an idea."

"Kudo, you and I were alive during the worst of the quirk collapse! We had to live through it! He'll cause a second one!"

"Have you thought that maybe that's not such a bad thing, huh?" Kudo said to Yoichi's astonishment. "The world's changed, and not all for the better. I know you had a sucky relationship with your family, and didn't have any friends, but the rest of us actually had people we cared about. My little sister, my parents, none of them had quirks. If they were alive today, they would have been treated like garbage. Like defects ."

"Killing All for One by making a second All for One won't help anyone." En said calmly. The only indication he was mad at all was the blistering glare in his eyes.

"I believe in young Midoriya." All Might said, his voice naturally downing out all the others. "I know the heart of a Hero when I see one, and that's not something that can ever be tarnished, no matter how pessimistic he may have become."

Nana smiled weakly and stood tall next to him.

"I stand with Yagi."

"I can't believe this." Yoichi shook his head. "Blinded by idealism on one side, and blinded by a thirst for vengeance on another. None of you realize what you've done."

The argument started all over again but it didn't last long before the Vestiges all faded away like dust in the wind.

-Rain of Sins-

Izuku shivered as he clutched the towel tighter around himself.

He was locked away in his personal lab, huddled in his chair, swaddled in dozens of towels. His hair was still wet from the growth vat he'd been dumped into. His scientists had healed him of his injuries and extracted that accursed quirk from his system, but having parts of his DNA forcibly ripped out had been far from pleasant.

He shivered, and sunk deeper into his chair.

Had it always been so cold down here?

Even though most of his desk, the central control panel for the entire lab, had been fried by the lighting, it was still functional enough to show the results rolling in.

They had managed to copy the quirk while erasing it from his system, but the copy they made… It was… empty. No power, no juice, nothing. Just an empty shell.

"Worthless."

A low end nomu had taken a version of the copy without issue. And a human volunteer hadn't experienced any irregularities either, they hadn't seen anything or heard any voices.

Whatever those things he had seen were… they were gone, and the power had left with them.

What had that woman called herself? A vestige? A ghost?

…a soul?

She had said she was a piece of a past holder's soul, but surely that wasn't the case. She had to either be mistaken, or a hallucination. Because if quirks were somehow tied to souls , that meant all this time he had been-

NO! Stop that line of thinking! Quirks were sections of DNA, that was all! They weren't sentient! Souls didn't exist, and quirks had nothing to do with them!

But the mind was a truly wicked thing. It was not like a mouth or even a pen. You could never truly silence it. Closing his eyes only brought back memories of his talk with All for One.

"I started the Nomu program to fully test and document how people react to powerful quirks being injected into them, and see if there were any… echoes. That eventually morphed into seeing if I was in any danger from holding so many, then over time Ujiko gradually changed it into the soldier creation you currently know it as. Your Rapture project is completely diverged from every reason I started the Nomu program for."

Echoes. All for One, the only other person Izuku was aware of interacting with singularity level quirks had been investigating "Echoes". 

It might explain why some quirks seemed to be unexplainable, and have supernatural properties. If quirks were inherently unscientific-

No.

All this time he had been running on the assumption that the close match between a person's quirk and their personality was due to the flooding of hormones and basic instincts during key developmental years- but what if it was the other way around? What if the quirk wasn't changing the person? What if the person, their soul, actively influenced their quirk?

"NO!" Izuku shouted as he surged to his feet. "Quirks are tools , small bits of DNA." He said forcibly and slowly to himself. "Souls. Don't. Exist."

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Calm. He was calm.

Izuku slowly walked out of his office, stepping over dried blood stains, and headed to his room to get dressed, all the while trying his best to ignore the disturbing thoughts bouncing around the back of his mind.

-Rain of Sins-

All Might sat on a couch in UA's empty teacher lounge.

No. That wasn't right.

Yagi Toshinori sat on a couch in UA's empty teacher lounge. All Might was an invincible Hero who could hold all of Japan on his back with a smile. Yagi didn't feel like that man at all.

As far as he knew, the offer of One for All had never been rejected. Sometimes, he would stay awake wondering if he would be the unlucky first to have a potential successor refuse him, but he'd never imagined it would be done with so much raw anger.

Izuku Midoriya.

The boy had slipped away after the sludge Villain incident. When he failed the entrance exam Yagi had gone to protest to Nezu instead of trying to talk to Izuku, and after that he had just… disappeared.

Yagi had visited every Hero school, every training academy, but Izuku hadn't been at any of them. He'd been so sure he was just unlucky and that he would find the boy enrolled somewhere, but now 

When he'd spoken to Izuku on the roof, he'd had such a burning passion to become a Hero…

Had the world truly been so cruel to snuff it out?

"You knew! You fucking KNEW! You knew how much SHIT quirkless people are put through! The bullying, the pitying looks, the casual dismissals, the scoffs, how everyone looked at me like I was less than human!"

Yagi dropped his head into his hands.

Was quirkless discrimination really getting that bad? He'd been made fun of, and poked at as a kid, but it had gone away as he got older and everyone around him matured. But that had been a long time ago, and it had all disappeared after he met Nana. He was almost in his 60s, and had borne the burden of One for All since he was 19. 

So that meant he had grown up, God, two or three generations in the past? There had still been a decent sized population of quirkless back then.

Yagi let out a weary sigh.

Nana would be so disappointed in him.

The door to the room opened slowly.

"Nezu, please, I already apologized for missing your meeting."

"I'm not sure if mistaking me for the rat is supposed to be an insult or a compliment."

Yagi's head snapped up at the voice.

"Hey All Might." Star and Stripe smiled. "How's it going?"

Immediately Yagi jumped to his feet and grew into his Hero form with a burst of steam, bringing himself to her height.

"STAR!" He boomed with a wide grin, trying his best to act like he hadn't been avoiding her out of embarrassment after she saved him. "IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I-"

"Nope! None of that!" With two steps she pushed him back down on the couch. "You're still recovering, Heroing up is straining your body, so you're not allowed to do it for no reason!"

All Might tried to protest, but the firm scowl on her face caused the words to get stuck in his throat like glue.

After several seconds of severely losing the stare down he reverted back to his normal self in a weak poof of steam.

Star smiled, but it was a pained one, like she still couldn't believe that the frail skeleton in front of her was really All Might. Yagi for his part just fidgeted awkwardly, and couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye.

Star stepped back and took a seat in the chair across from Yagi, its wooden frame creaked at her size, before the wood settled, and then creaked again as the weight disappeared.

Yagi watched in confusion as she shrunk down to normal person size, shorter even than his deflated form.

"It's my quirk." She answered his unspoken question with a tinge of embarrassment. "I can set a limited number of Rules that the world around me has to follow, and I always have one of them set that I'm as close in physical strength as I can be to Al- er- as strong as I can be." She blushed slightly and scratched her cheek. "You turned off your quirk, it's only fair I turn off mine."

"You don't need to, but… thanks." He smiled weakly. "You're a good person, Star."

"Please, call me Cathlene. Now what's got you down?"

"Nothing, it's just-" Yagi sighed. "What would you do if you made a mistake, and completely screwed up? To the point that someone doesn't even want to see your face anymore?"

"What would I do? There's no 'would'. I've been in that situation before, and there's only one thing you can do. Move on." She smiled weakly and shrugged. "If they really want to cut ties, that's their choice. You need to apologize obviously, but that's all you really can do. You can't let it keep you down. People like you and I… Heroes, we have too many people counting on us to let anything keep us down."

Too many people counting on him, yeah that sounds about right. All of Japan was looking to him after what happened to Endeavor, and even though he was at his weakest point in his entire career, he needed to be stronger than ever.

…

Move on. He couldn't afford not to. For Japan's sake.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course!" Cathlene said, sitting up straighter. "I'll do anything."

"There's a boy, his name is Mirio Togata. My old sidekick and best friend had been personally training him to be the next symbol of peace for years, and when he passed away his final request was for me to continue his training. I have been trying my best, but my gift is fighting, not teaching. Would you be willing to lend a hand? He has so much potential and I'm worried it's wasted on a teacher like me."

Cathleen was practically beaming, overjoyed at the opportunity to not only help her idol, but to be asked to help with something so important.

"Leave it to me! I'll have him capable of fighting off S rank Villains in his sleep!"

-Rain of Sins-

Izuku snarled as he threw open the door to the hospital meeting room.

" You ." His eyes narrowed at the person who had so nicely demanded an immediate visit at the front desk.

"Yes, me." Dixie waved from his spot in a waiting chair. "Howdy, I hope we didn't get off on the wrong foot last time."

"Wrong foot? You ruined my life's greatest accomplishment!" The scientist sneered. "And now you've dragged me away from my research at my private lab, back to the hospital for another meeting. What do you want!?"

"I want Peace in our time." Dixie answered without a blink. "Peace means Security, Security means Prosperity. That was the reason I joined the HPSC, it's why I still work for it even after it was turned into the CSC and was eaten alive by bureaucrats, and it's why I'm here now. I want to keep Japan from squandering the greatest opportunity it's had in decades. This project of yours, Kronos, it's an amazing technology."

"You sure didn't seem to think so earlier."

"I was playing along, thinking that Kino had a plan up her sleeve." He frowned. "She didn't. So I made my own."

"Do you have some way to magically undo the law?"

"Can't say I do. Those old folks in office, they're set in their ways- all of 'em are. I can't force 'em to change, no one can. But I sure as Hell can light a fire under their ass." Dixie stood up and walked towards the window overlooking the street below. "The whole world's watchin' us, you know? Every type of nation across the entire globe is waiting to see how this plays out, because Japan's a global cultural and economic power, and whatever happens here will set a precedent. But Japanese law only stretches as far as Japanese soil, and there are some folk who are very keen on a different precedent being set up from this."

"You want to make this into an international issue?" Izuku asked, his eyes narrowing. What was this guy's angle here?

"Your work had been an international issue the moment you showed it off on TV."

Dixie laughed and pulled the blinds further to the left, revealing more of the street and a sleek helicopter parked outside, surrounded by a squad of four military guards that were holding back a crowd of onlookers.

"All I did was stick my neck out to bring the right folks to the same place. One of them was so eager to meet you, they even supplied a VIP ride."

Izuku had a whole list of questions he wanted to know, from 'whose helicopter is that', to 'where will it take me', but instead he settled on the most important one.

"What are you getting out of this?" He demanded. "What's your play?"

Dixie shrugged. "I told you. Peace, Security, and Prosperity for Japan. This technology was going to make it abroad eventually, I want it to happen in a controlled way that puts it into the hands of governments rather than Villains, and has the genius behind it not completely write off his home country out of spite."

"I never planned to abandon Japan. I'm going to change it for the better, that's always been my goal."

"Good! I'm glad to hear it." Dixie slapped Izuku on the shoulder as he walked out of the room. "Now go scare the shit out of the old retirees in office into doing something, while I go take care of some things."

Like keeping Kino from losing her shit and doing something stupid that would cause an international incident.

Izuku didn't even look at Dixie as he left, instead he just stared out the window at the chopper.

His eyes flashed, and the monotone dial of a phone call rang once, twice, thrice-

"Hello?"

"Kuin, I'm heading out. Look after the place while I'm gone. Our fortunes may have just turned around."

-Rain of Sins-

There was something almost magical about flying. It was almost like you were detached from reality, looking down on everything in a way that made it all seem so small and insignificant.

It also gave him a sweeping view of the entirety of Tokyo, from the ruined fringes of the city, to the mass protests clogging the streets in the city center.

It was a stark reminder of what he had done, and that it was far too late to back out now. Not that he was planning to, of course, but the mind was always a treacherous thing. 

It was a grounding moment that solidified his resolve. No matter what happened with All for One, or whether the echoes he'd seen had been real, there was no turning back.

That thought kept him grounded as they left Tokyo and Japan behind all together, and flew over the ocean towards a behemoth of steel and weaponry. It kept him grounded as he stepped off the aircraft to a flurry of camera flashes and hushed whispers. It kept him grounded as he was personally escorted through the winding halls of the warship like foreign royalty. And it kept him grounded even as he was ushered into a lavish meeting room.

"Opulent" was the first word that came to Izuku's mind.

The room exuded an air of prestige and power, mainly helped by the massive flag the covered the back wall- America's infamous stars and stripes standing proudly at the head of a rom that seemed impractical to have on a boat of any kind. The walls were adorned with portraits of past leaders and intricate tapestries depicting scenes of diplomacy and triumph. 

Bathed in the warm glow of chandeliers suspended from a high vaulted ceiling, sat a grand oak table, polished to a flawless sheen. Plush velvet chairs surround the table, each positioned with meticulous precision. At the table's head was a wry man in a fine suit and hair bleached to a near white from stress.

"Mister Midoriya, it's good to finally meet you. My name is Frank Roosevelt, President of the United States." The man spoke softly but with a firm authority. "Please, take a seat."

Izuku swallowed the words that had caught in his throat, and had to remind himself that he needed to breathe, as he slowly sat down in a chair that felt far too important for a quirkless borne nobody to ever sit in- no matter what he'd ever done to get here.

The room hummed with an aura of expectation, poised to bear witness to the unfolding of history.

"Before we start, I need to make sure of something." The President said in fluent Japanese. "This project of yours, Kronos, you do own all the rights to it, correct?"

"Yes sir." Izuku nodded stiffly. "I work for Jaku Hospital, but I hold the patent for Kronos personally."

"Good, my intelligence agency assured me of such, but I just wanted to double check. We'll get that patented in America under your name as well. That way there won't be any uncertainty, no matter what the Japanese government does."

"So this is about Kronos, then."

"Indeed. I'll be blunt and honest with you, Mister Midoriya. This technology of yours is incredibly dangerous, but in the right hands it could be groundbreaking! I want you in America." The President pointed a finger at Izuku in a way that reminded him of those old war posters he'd seen online. "I want clinics across the entire continent operating your procedure. I want the greatest minds in my nation helping to push what you made even further beyond its limits. I want America to be the beating heart of your scientific revolution, that will change the world."

Izuku gawked at him.

This was- how- he wasn't sure what exactly he'd been expecting, but it absolutely was not this enthusiasm.

Someone this influential wanted Kronos? I mean logically it made sense, Kronos had done what the entire world had thought to be impossible. But after the instantaneous shutdown and backlash he'd gotten from the Japanese Hero community, the government, and the Safety Commission…

"Now, granted with the delicacy of the technology, and the sheer scope of the damage that it could cause if it were to get out of hand, any operations done in America would have to be run by American companies with government oversight. But if you're willing to ignore the bureaucratic hurdles and work with us…" Frank smiled, feeling for once like the leader he had always wanted to be. "Together we could change the world, and make you a lot of money in the process."

'Make you and American investors a lot of money.' He added in his head. 'As well as giving the US a major leg up in the coming technological arms race this invention will start.'

The president pulled a stack of paperwork from the briefcase, sitting at the foot of his chair, and slid it across the table.

"I want to ask you to give the American government the ability to license Kronos' technology and patent to American companies, on your behalf. That way we can screen all the applicants and make sure only trustworthy companies are allowed to handle this. Naturally all money from the license purchases, as well as a percentage of all profits will be funneled into a secure bank account in America that only you will have access to."

Izuku grabbed the packet of paper off the table and frowned as he flipped through it.

He was getting ripped off in some way. He wasn't even vaguely good enough at politics to understand how , but it was obvious he was, there was no other reason for the deal to be so roundabout.

He flipped another page and his eyes went wide.

That was- fucking Hell, that was a lot of zeros.

"Oh, did I forget to mention the flat downpayment I'm willing to offer?" Frank asked with a wry grin. He might have been viciously mocked by the press for rising through the ranks by being a pencil pusher, but sometimes it came in handy to be the guy who knew how to draft a document.

Izuku gulped and slowly placed the paperwork down on the desk.

Did it really matter if he was getting ripped off? Even if he only got half of what he really should be getting, that was still 50% from the entire North American Continent.

Not to mention that opening number would be more than enough to fund everything he needed to do at the moment.

"Do you even have the legal authority to do this?" He asked, more to give himself time to think than for an answer. "I'm not familiar with American politics, but don't you have to get congressional approval for things like this?"

"You're right, I do. But these people… they're finicky . If I ask for their approval on this, it will take years of bickering for anything to happen. But if I meet with the important governors with key connections, and show them this physical packet with your signature on it, they'll be willing to pull strings to make sure this happens." Frank stopped to take a sip of his water. 'Especially when they see the opportunity to create an industry of this in their State, and get thinking how much money this could bring into their local economies.'

"How long would that take?"

"Sign that line, and I'll have it passed in a month. I'm so confident that I'd be willing to pay half the upfront payment out of my own pocket- with the agreement you pay me back once the official check is sent your way, of course."

Izuku nodded, his mouth suddenly feeling really dry.

He could refuse to sign, and try to argue for more, when the contract was convoluted enough that he didn't understand how to get more out of it.

Or.

He could sign, instantly get enough cash to finish his next few Rapture products, and spread Kronos to the USA- a massive heavyweight in international politics, and the largest economy in the world. He could get government backed approval to hook the world's richest continent on the concept that people weren't defined by the quirks they were born with.

…

Was there really even a choice?

Izuku Midoriya, the poor quirkless boy who had been bullied all his childhood, signed his name and shook hands with the President of the United States of America, one of the most powerful men in the world.

-Rain of Sins-

The meeting with the Korean ambassador was… different.

As Izuku stepped outside of the impenetrable walls of the juggernaut ship, he was greeted to a serene view of the afternoon sun brushing over the far off mount Fuji, and reflecting over the ocean water. The ambassador was leaning on the ship railing, watching it all with an unreadable expression.

As soon as Izukui got near the man, he immediately felt more relaxed, and instantly knew a quirk was at work. But before he could say anything the ambassador held up his hand, silencing him.

"Before we talk, I was asked to give this to you."

He pulled an envelope from his suit pocket and handed it to Izuku who eyed it wearily, still unhappy about being in an emotion quirk's area of effect.

Finding nothing dangerous about the letter, he opened it to find a neatly handwritten note inside.

Dear Izuku Midoriya, am apologetic about awful words. Japanese is new to me. The language you speak is different from the one I speak. I still hope you understand this letter. If you don't, I hope you will understand my good will. 

I saw you on TV a few days ago. I thought you were awesome. I wasn't plan on doing anything. Then I saw your government jail your work. I am also powerless. Almost my whole upper Korea is. I am remorseful that your country hates you in such a way. You are amazing. Me and my friends love you work. Korea loves you as well. Please do not give up. Have nice day. 

-Kim Ha-san.

"My name is Sun Geng Cho, and that letter is from my cousin." The ambassador answered when Izuku looked up from the paper. "He is quirkless and is quite a fan of yours. When he learned I was heading to Japan, he made me promise to deliver that letter to you."

"He's quirkless?" Izuku asked, as he flipped over the letter, checking if there was anything on the back.

"Yes, most of the North is."

"Is that so? I've heard Korea's quirkless rate is above average but not majorly so… Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't heard much about Korea beyond face value."

"I am not surprised, my nation sits in Japan's shadow. News from our country is unimportant to most. The North has a third of the South's population, which skews our national average."

"So you want to use Kronos to fix that." Izuku filled in, catching on quickly.

"Yes. I will be painfully honest with you, Midoriya-San. My nation is heavily scarred by the quirk collapse. In the early days of quirks, when Korea was still divided, the North did horrible things out of fear, because they saw them as a threat to their grip on power. When the quirk collapse came, the North saw an opportunity to attack, and the war which ensued came at a horrible cost that we are still recovering from to this day.

"Rebuilding was hard on everyone, but having Japan just across the water made it all the worse. It was no true fault of Japan, but who would want to stay in a nation of rubble, when there was such a shining beacon next door?

"Over the last century the wealthiest of the South and the families with strong quirk lines, have left for Japan. They come here to the island of the rising sun, with your thriving economy, and shining Hero industry. Some leave to make money, some leave to become Heroes, but they leave all the same.

"These two facts have left my Korea with some of the highest quirkless rates in the world in our North, and nothing but very very weak quirks in our South.

"We do not have the leverage of America. We do not have their money. We do not have their sway. We do not have their industry. No offer I can make will come close to whatever the President gave you, but please."

Sun bowed deeply to Izuku, surprising the scientist.

"Please help my Korea! Don't throw away such a wonderful invention just because your own people are scared. The Prime Minister has told me she is willing to give you complete autonomy, to do business as you see fit, if you are willing to help us. We are willing to cover your lodging, your food, local expenses, and the transportation of everything you deem necessary to set up a base in Korea."

The corgers of Izuku's mouth tugged up in a cruel expression.

Respect. No one had ever shown him respect before, not in his entire life. The closest anyone had ever gotten was Ujiko and Yuyara, but they looked at him with pride as his teachers. Not even as the Sovereign of Sin did people respect him, they only feared him.

He was being buttered up by politicians so that they could get their way, it was obvious that was what was happening, but he couldn't help it. It was addictive like a drug.

"So you're offering me a chance to set up shop in Korea, hm?" Izuku put on a show of mulling over the idea, just to drag out the moment a bit longer.

Even ignoring the opportunity to spread Kronos, and the funding he would receive from it, hopping across the sea would finally get him out from All for One's line of sight. The only real issue was that all his plans revolved around Japan… but was he ever truly "away from Japan" when he had such a powerful teleportation quirk at his disposal? He would have to do some adjusting to Adam, and some genetic modification, but stretching its range to cover the tip of Korea should be possible. But even if it wasn't, he could just create more Adams and make a chain of warp stations.

"Please, there's no need to keep bowing, let's go inside and discuss this further. Setting up a second lab would be quite extensive work, but if you're willing to give me land to work with I see no reason I couldn't set up an independent Kronos factory and get started in no time at all."

"You will? Thank you. I cannot express how much gratitude my people will have."

Izuku grinned with an evil gleam in his eye.

"No, thank you."

-Rain of Sins-

"Welcome back from the commercial break. Professor Greenhorn is with us today to discuss his latest study. As a retired Hero, his research into Villainy is seen as much more credible than most. Professor, can you give us a quick recap on your findings before we get into our discussion?"

"Of course Miss Lavender, I'd be happy to. It's widely understood that crime and poverty are inherently linked. Poverty pushes people to crime, and crime gradually drives an area into poverty. What I found is that the recent surge of Villain activity may not entirely be caused by the rapid rise in popularity of groups like Stain's Blood Guard or the League of Villains."

"Really?"

"Yes. The recent scandals involving top Heroes, the repeated attacks on UA, and the disappearance of Endeavor as soon as he passed All Might, all of these things shook the nation's confidence in the Hero sector. Merchandise, advertising, televised events- the Hero ecosystem was a pillar of the Japanese economy and a major driving force in our nation's consumer demand. With these dwindling by the day, factories have been shut down, small businesses have gone bankrupt, and people are having to find new ways to pay their rent and buy food."

"Like turning to crime?"

"Exactly. And widely publicized groups like the LoV and Guard and giving people easy routes into that rabbitho-" 

BOOOOOOM!

The TV was forcibly shut off as the wall it was on collapsed under a wave of blue fire.

"SHIT! Friendly fire!" Mustard shouted as he dived out of the way of the rubble.

"Just dodge!" Dabi shouted back. "I'm not even aiming at you, these fuckers just won't stay still!"

Mustard cursed as his rifle clicked empty, and pulled out the only guns he had any ammo for anymore after losing and using so much of the armory he'd stolen from Girian's storage house. It was just two twin 9mm pistols.

"How the mighty have fallen." He grumbled under his breath. Working with Dabi and the LoV had made him realize just how unwieldy his quirk really was. If he had any allies nearby, it was useless .

This whole "easy quick robbery" was not turning out very easy or quick. The bank was on fire, alarms were blaring, the police had a baracade up outside, and it was just not going well in general.

"We've got everything!" A woman with sand for hair and a generic black Villain mask said as she climbed over a melted vault door.

She was holding a single duffle bag that wasn't even entirely full. From the six empty ones on her back, it was clear they had been expecting a lot more.

"Where's the rest of the money!?" Dabi screamed at the poor rookie Villains.

"I told you that banks don't really have any money!" Mustard shouted over the fighting. "They keep it all tied up in stocks and stuff! They don't hold any of it physically anymore!"

"That doesn't make any sense ! If you put your money into a bank, and they just use it for themselves, how do they have enough to pay everybody if they want to withdraw!"

"They don't !"

"WHY!?"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE A GOVERNMENT BACKED SCAM!"

There was a flash of light, and a shark mutant went flying overhead.

"Supreme Commander Dabi, and Grand General Mustard, of the League of Villains, YOUR TIME IS UP!"

A man in shining armor walked out of the smoke as if he were a fairy tale knight, holding a sword that blazed like the sun.

"And why have you idiots been chasing us down!?" Dabi shouted. "We're both on the wrong side of the law!"

"Because you're a danger to Japan." Aoyama said as he leveled his blade at them.

"Because there is a distinguished difference between criminals and Villains." Gentle Criminal said as he dropped down on the other side of the LoV, cutting their escape off.

"Because chasing down the last bit of the League of Villains, after you attacked Endeavor, and Heroes haven't been able to get you, has been absolutely AMAZING for our views and ratings!" La Brava squealed from the side where she was filming, and gave a big thumbs up.

""THE GENTLE KNIGHTS ARE HERE!"" They all cheered like they were on a TV show. Actually, considering this was mostly for their videos, they kind of were.

"We'll split the money if you let us go." The Villain girl with sandy hair said.

"No we won't!" Mustard snapped. "We're broke! There's no money to split!"

While everyone was shouting, they were all oblivious to the cameras nearby, turning off for a moment before coming back to life and swiveling to zoom in on Dabi and Mustard.

Aoyama swung his sword and Dabi summoned his fire, but neither was faster than the wave of gray sand that appeared out of nowhere and engulfed the two last remaining members of the Vanguard Action Squad.

One moment they were in the burning bank, the next they were blasted with freezing air and dropped unceremoniously onto a metal floor.

"Ow. What the-?" Mustard whined as he stood up. "Where are we? How'd we get here?"

The sand bubbled back into existence, swirling above him, and another person fell out of it, screaming as she landed right on him.

Mustard grunted as he was knocked to the ground a second time, and when his head stopped spinning, his vision cleared to blond hair and a pair of golden cat-like eyes.

"Uhh. Hi?"

The girl's response was to flip them over, put him in a stranglehold, and shove a knife to his throat.

"Gllaak!"

Man. Why did he always have the worst luck with women?

"Let him go. Now." A blue light illuminated the two of them as Dabi walked over, his hands blazing. "You're that bitch from the coronation, the one from the Stain's crazy cult that killed Magne, and stopped us from going after Endeavor."

"I wish we were a cult for Stain-Senpai." Toga giggled as she pulled herself and Mustard to their feet, her knife still pressed against his throat.

She was wearing the same lightly armored outfit she and the mutant had been wearing before- the back combat suit with red outlines and a few thin protective plates over her vitals. But it was the long blood red scarf wrapped around her neck that easily gave away her loyalties.

"I'll make you wish you weren't born, if you don't let him go."

"Ooooh, feisty!"

"Gllluughhk."

"Enough."

A voice cut in with the abruptness of a blade to the back, causing everyone to whirl around.

Sitting on a raised chair, with the Queen Bee dutifully at his side, and a flock of Crows behind him in case things went wrong, was the Sovereign of Sin.

"There will be no fighting in my lab. The technology here is sensitive and fragile, anyone who risks damaging it will be… forcibly removed from the building."

He tilted his head, his eyes gleaming in the toxic green light cast by the growth tanks. Slowly he looked over each of the three in front of him.

This… This could work.

Funding secured to make the monthly stipend he had been getting through Ujiko (and by proxy All for One) look like a child's allowance. The next Rapture project well on its way to be completed. A perfectly convenient alibi to be "out of the country" when All for One's power base begins coming under attack.

Now all he needed was some pawns of his own on the board.

"Welcome to the Origin Lab." Izuku proclaimed with a wave of his hand. "The vault to the secret of life, the factory of your greatest nightmares, and the forge of a better world."

-Chapter End-

-Dark Revival: End-

…

-Omake-

President Frank watched Izuku leave the room with a pensive frown on his face.

Something felt off about Midoriya, almost like he was missing a piece of the puzzle.

"General, do you have an opinion?"

"Not only do I have an idea, but I have a plan!" A voice shouted from the ceiling. "HOORAH!"

A man dropped down onto the table, deploying a parachute that didn't do much, and threw off the leafy camouflage guerilla suit that had allowed him to blend seamlessly into the chandelier he'd been hanging on.

This was the only serving 5 star General of the United States Army.

He was older than quirks, a veteran of the war , and far too angry to die.

His name was W. R. Monger.

"As you know, conventional weapons seem to perform worse and worse every decade as the power of quirks increases with every generation, it is an arms race against nature that we are losing ! We need a Hail Mary pass! We need RAW power! WE NEED-" He grabbed Frank by the shoulder and leaned in close enough that the smacking of his lips was audible. " Monsters ."

"...What?"

"We can use nature's own weapons against it! We can turn our soldiers into true monsters on the battlefield! The potential military application of this is exceptional . With it we could give every marine the durability of a tank and the firepower to match! Our army would be invincible, and we could forcibly ensure an era of peace through sheer overwhelming deterrence. A Pax Americana , if you will."

"Well, I was thinking about this technology from more of a technological, scientific, and economic point of view. Surely the military can make something capable of standing up to quirks?"

"You got a better idea, Nerd ?"

"It's just, what if something goes wrong?"

"Mister President, with all due respect, we're Americans! We don't do 'wrong'! We're a country of winners! Whatever we choose to do will wind up becoming the right side of history eventually! We don't quit just because we're wrong, we just keep doing the wrong thing until it turns out right!"

Frank nodded to himself as he processed that.

Yeah, that logic was sound! It was a flawlessly convincing argument! And even if he did have any objections, they were completely blown away when the general started flexing aggressively and grunting to the tune of the national anthem.

God Bless America!

-END-

Dabi and Mustard were the only ones left of the LoV's major players after the mass attack, of COURSE they were going to try to take it over, to rise from the ashes! (And of course Mustard would give them dumb titles.)

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

A giant thanks to the generous people who help get these chapters out faster, and get early access to a chapter ahead of what's out for the public, as thanks and to suggest changes.

The members of the Shadow Government, who funnel taxpayer funds directly into my corrupt wallet! Long may they reign!

MidnightHydro! (The Mighty!), Eternal Guard (The Emboldened!), Helios (The Honored!), 0RB! (The 0pulant!), Rom Hack (The Robotic Housekeeper!), Indyk (The Insatiable Imperial!), Wolfwind01010 (The Wonderous!), Nuckles222 (The Nuclear Threat!) and NickPine (The Nefarious!)

The Champions! Leading the fight!

Nvsoulsborne, ShelDrake, Tom Tat, Gage Donaldson, The Brandonator, Thrawn, TheButterButter, Twin the Commissar, PrisonDIctator, Adante, and ShelDrake!

The Dollar Army! Marching with honor and glory!

Phil, Eledu, jordan arrow, Blue_port, WiseKitsune, Jac, Alex Estrugo, Jaydon Adams, Elenium935, Nyte, Max Buckner, Spam2Spam, Gavin, GrimDeathKnight, Indie, Aswin Suthan, EngineerLife24, drwinter169, CideredApples, Prince of Ruin, SILENGE, Lord_of_Pola, LukasH, Savage Scorpion, Anima, Summers Mori, Slowchoke, Jacob Roy, Seanfrks, Diavolo, Brayden, VeryNiceCoat, Kain7, and thegodfather!

And a special SPECIAL thanks to :

Eternal Guard NickPine, and MidnightHydro

Who have chosen to sub to the highest "Humanitarian" tier which I put up after my Bank got hacked and I lost a lot of money.

Thank you all so much, you are my Heroes.