Dark Revival: Ch 6

-Rain of Sins-

-Dark Revival: Ch 6-

Ujiko hummed to himself as he went over the results for the latest Rapture batch another time.

"The rate that these things are dying in the pods just isn't sustainable." He sighed. "Forget making a final product, none are even surviving the second stage."

The second stage… His brows furrowed as an idea occurred to him. That was the most physically invasive part of the entire process. He obviously understood why Izuku had placed it so early in the process, but it would be a lot easier to do it at the end. A more physically developed specimen would have much higher odds of surviving.

"Hey! You!" He called out from his chair, at a passing scientist. "What batch are you on?"

"E, sir. Most of D has already failed."

"Oh for the love of-" Ujiko massaged the bridge of his nose. That made the decision for him, then. "The funding we had set aside for E was the backup of the backup! If that fails there will be no more projects! Cancel the second stage, just jump straight to the third."

"I-" The scientist hesitated. "Sir, we're under specific orders not to do that."

"I know, trust me, I get it, I was the one who suggested it to Izuku!" Ujiko waved him off. "Having a creature with this much power is too dangerous. Wiping its brain, and taking away any free will is necessary if we don't want it to eventually turn on us. But if we want any chance of this succeeding, we need to put that step at the end, when the thing will actually survive."

"But Mister Midoriya…"

"I'll handle Izuku, trust me, he'll understand! Now go! Quick! Before your colleagues kill the last batch we have!" Ujiko shooed him off before he could object. "Scram! Get!"

He just hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

-Rain of Sins-

""ALL MIGHT!?"" Bakugo and Izuku shouted in tandem.

"HAHA! YES! I AM HERE!" All Might smiled brightly in his patented way that made his teeth almost seem to sparkle. "YOUNG MIDORIYA, I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU To, uhm…" All Might trailed off as he noticed Bakugo, but quickly forced himself to bounce back. "YOUNG BAKUGO! WHAT A SURPRISE TO SEE YOU HERE!"

The blond looked back at Izuku nervously. All Might suddenly appearing was a lot more concerning since he found out Izuku's real identity.

"Talking to you again has been an enlightening experience, Bakugo, but I'm afraid our time has been cut short." Izuku motioned to the door. "Please see yourself out, and if you could do me the favor of telling my secretary of my visitor, that would be much appreciated. It appears I'm going to be occupied for a while."

The ex Hero student looked at Izuku, then looked at All Might, then looked back to Izuku.

"Yeah, I can do that for you." Bakugo said slowly. "I'll see you later, Izuku."

He made his way to the edge of the room, very aware of how intently Izuku was staring at the Hero, and closed the door.

"Young Midoriya." All Might boomed. "I have found you at last."

"So you have."

Izuku placed his hands on the desk, fingers laced together, and did his absolute best to appear calm and professional. Meanwhile his spine's computer was pinging the main network, collecting his exact GPS coordinates, for if he needed to warp away.

Shit! Did he mess up somehow!? He had been positive he hadn't left anything that was traceable back to his real identity! And he'd been so thorough with his OSPEC, even using Ujiko's resources to scrape anything even vaguely condemning from the internet.

I mean, there was the hair color, but thousands of people in Japan had green hair! It wasn't exactly uncommon anymore!

If All Might was here to bring him in, there wasn't much he could honestly do, but he wouldn't be going quietly.

"I've been looking for you since that day I saved you from the sludge Villain under the bridge." All Might said, catching Izuku off guard.

"I'm surprised you even remember that." Izuku's brows furrowed as the gears in his mind whirled. Forget being a Villain, he hadn't even been employed by Ujiko at that point. Had he said something in his anger back on the roof, that All Might had somehow connected to his speech as Prometheus?

"Of course!" All Might raised a fist into the air. "I COULD NEVER FORGET SOMETHING SO INSPIRING!"

…

Izuku blinked.

"Eh?"

"IT'S STILL SO VIVID IN MY MIND!" All Might shook his hand, clearly caught up in a memory. "HOW YOU BOLDLY RUSHED IN TO SAVE YOUR FRIEND, WHEN NO ONE ELSE WOULD! YOU DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE! SUCH A HEROIC SCENE!"

"YOUNG MIDORIYA, YOU HAVE THE HEART OF A HERO!"

Izuku wisely chose not to comment on that.

"And I can think of no one better to be my successor." All Might's voice softened, and his smile sombered into something more genuine as he held out his massive hand. "Izuku Midoriya, will you take up my duty, to be the Hero you said you so desperately wanted to be, and become the defender Japan needs?"

"I'm… afraid I don't know what to say." Izuku tried to force a smile, but nothing could hide just how confused he was. "Is this a recruitment ad of some sort? Is Japan that low on Heroes?"

Because if All Might was genuinely having to ask him for help, there were some serious issues happening somewhere along the line.

"Or is this about Kronos?" He asked as the idea occurred to him. "Someone, presumably Nezu, wants in, and is using you to get their foot in the door."

"Not at all! I'm here on my own behalf, and was looking for you long before you demonstrated just how much of a gift your intelligence is."

So it wasn't about getting the world changing tech on UA's side, instead his hard work- the last thing he'd ever truly done quirkless, was being ignored.

He wasn't sure if he should be more or less offended.

"All of the greatest Heroes I have ever seen all have one thing in common. When they saw someone in danger, they all moved without thinking, because their hearts moved their body for them. YOU have that heart! YOU are worthy of being a Hero!"

"But I'm quirkless." Izuku pointed out, because legally he still was. "Or are you about to say that I can become a Hero now that I made Kronos."

"That would be one way of doing it. I can't say it wouldn't work, but I'm here to offer a far grander opportunity. No one knows the truth about my quirk, some think it's Super Strength or a Boost of some kind, but-"

"I'm almost positive it's some sort of energy based quirk." Izuku cut in without thinking. "From what I have seen the quirk is either actually quite inefficient, or you can't physically handle all of it. The excess energy is released, via thermal energy, as steam whenever you're fighting. If the quirk was any more powerful, it would be shooting off sparks of plasma instead- most likely in the form of lighting."

"VERY GOOD!" Far from being offended, All Might's grin widened. "My Quirk is called One For All! It is an energy stockpiling quirk that has been collecting power for decades! Every second it becomes just the tiniest bit stronger!"

"Fascinating." Izuku mused. Already various possibilities of making his own knock-off version were piecing together in the back of his head. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"Because One For All is the quirk of true Heroes! And just like the mantle of Hero, it is something that is passed down through the generations like a sacred torch! One person cultivates power, then passes it to the next person, and then the next! Each successor growing stronger than the last!"

"Wait-" Izuku's eyes widened. A natural quirk able to be passed down? And not even hereditarily!? "You can't possibly mean-"

"That's right! I'm offering my power to you!"

This- this couldn't be happening. Someone must have spiked his coffee or something. What was he even supposed to say!?

Crap, what would Ujiko do? Speak, just random shit, it doesn't matter. Buy yourself time to think.

"So that's why it wouldn't have mattered if I developed Kronos?

"Indeed. And with a quirk you can finally become a Hero!"

Izuku frowned. "You said the exact same thing back on the roof, that you need a quirk to be a Hero."

"Er, well, yes." All Might's smile wavered briefly. "That's because it's true."

"But it's not." Izuku pressed. "A quirk is just a tool, it doesn't define what you are."

"Young man, I have spent decades of my life as Japan's greatest Hero, trust me when I say that I know the hard truth of reality. You cannot be a Hero without a quirk." All Might said sadly.

"I'm not talking about being the top Hero, I'm not delusional. I'm not even talking about being in the top hundred! Hell, I had never thought I could be a financially successful Hero, I was willing to work a side job for my actual income. I would have been a small town Hero, who could help with small problems!" Izuku leaned forward, countless old memories that had never been put to rest properly boiling to the forefront. "I could have been something to someone ! You have to at least acknowledge that!"

All Might just shook his head, and Izuku seethed.

He was calm ! He was collected ! He was a man of logic and reasoning ! He put hard facts over emotion!

This wasn't important! Just swallow it down and nod!

The logical thing to do would be to take the offered quirk, and use it for his own ends. To take it, see if he can duplicate it, and maybe even make a whole rapture project out of it.

"Young Midoriya, I know it may seem harsh, but I know exactly where you're coming from." All Might chuckled. "After all-"

"I used to be quirkless too, you know!"

Something inside Izuku Midoriya cracked .

"Get. Out." He whispered.

"Hm?"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY OFFICE BEFORE I SKIN YOU ALIVE, YOU SELF AGGRANDIZING, HYPOCRYTICAL, IMBECILE!" Izuku slammed his hands on his desk as he pushed himself to his feet, knocking over his chair, and spilling paperwork to the fool. "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! YOU KNEW ALL THAT FIRST HAND AND YOU STILL DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE FUCKING COURTICY TO BE NICE ABOUT IT!"

Izuku advanced on the Hero, regardless of how completely and utterly out classed he was.

"YOU KNEW MY DREAMS WERE ALL I HAD, AND YOU CRUSHED THEM UNDER YOUR FUCKING BOOT!"

All Might stumbled back, completely caught off guard.

"What? No, I promise, I didn't mean-"

But before All Might could finish the door to the room was suddenly kicked in.

Men and women in black suits rushed into the room, weapons drawn but not aimed. At the forefront was a short woman with big mouse ears, and a burly man with a sharp beard.

"Good evening gentlemen, I'm specialist Parlour Maid, of the newly established CSC, and this-" She gestured to the gruff man beside her. "Is specialist Hound."

"What are you doing in my office?" Izuku demanded.

"We're here for you, actually." Hound grinned. "Don't worry, you're not under arrest or anything." He cracked his knuckles. "But you're coming with us."

-Rain of Sins-

It was a close tie between Bakugo and Kuin in who looked like they were about to bite the hand off first. Honestly it was only the fact that said hand had a gun in it that it wasn't gone already.

The two had their backs up against the wall, having been told to stand there by the Safety Commission personnel. They weren't quite "at gunpoint", but the agents definitely had their guns out.

So they were completely helpless to do anything but watch as Izuku was ushered down the hall, surrounded on all sides by CSC members.

"I've been waiting for you lot to show up. But I know my rights." He said, sounding more annoyed than concerned, as he was walked away. "I haven't broken a single law. Every experiment I've done is clean, and Kronos is entirely legal."

"THAT BOY HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!" All Might bellowed.

"Tell that to the jury, not us."

"Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit!" Kuin muttered frantically to herself. This wasn't according to plan! What would Izuku want her to do? She bit her lip in concentration, and several bees on the ceiling began crawling.

Bakugo, meanwhile, was reeling from what he'd overhead.

A stockpile quirk that could be passed down?

All Might… he used to be quirkless!?

-Rain of Sins-

When the double doors to the designated meeting room were opened, it was a very pissed Izuku that walked in.

In the room was a single large black table, at the table were two people. One was an old lady in a finely pressed suit, and the other was a man in a cowboy hat.

"Izuku Midoriya." The woman greeted him. "My name is Meli Kinoshita, the President of the Central Safety Commission. And this is William Dixie, the Chief of Security of the Central Safety Commission."

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet you two, but it isn't."

"It rarely is." She smirked ever so slightly. "I assume you know why you're here?"

"Of course I do, it's about Kronos. I knew some people would hate it, and I suspected I'd get a strongly worded letter from you at some point, but I didn't think it would get me an audience with the heads of the Safety Commission."

"Then it shouldn't be that much of a surprise when we tell you, your work's illegal, son." Dixie said, leaning back in his chair.

"According to what law? Please, tell me! I'm dying to hear it. I have an eidetic memory, and went through and combed everything relating to the subject, myself!" Izuku scowled. "My research is perfectly legal, and I'd be more than happy to point out every legal flaw in the argument you give me!"

"You're right, it isn't against the law." Kino said, and held up both her hands, one to silence him, and the other to look at her watch.

One second passed.

Two.

Three.

The clock struck 5:30.

"And now you're wrong, and it is." She smiled at him. "The announcement was a bad move, I understand why you did it, but it was too much too fast. The current governing coalition in the Senate is very conservative, and they very much didn't like you rocking the boat."

"You caused a bunch of people to panic, and the big wigs called an emergency session a couple hours ago. They're scheduled to be wrapping up just about now." Dixie elaborated. "I ain't a prophet, but you don't need to be one to guess which way they voted."

Izuku's mouth opened and closed uselessly, gawking like a fish. "You can't do this! It's not right! It's not FAIR!"

" We didn't do anything." Kino placed her hands on the table. "And you're right, it's not fair."

"Life's not fair, kid. But that's why we're lettin' you go this time." Dixie said. "You can't break a law that didn't exist, so technically you're clean. We called you in, gave you a scary talkin to that'll satisfy the old coots in the Senate, and are tellin you very clearly about the new line." He tilted his hat back slightly and narrowed his eyes. " Don't cross it."

Izuku fumed, wanting to shout and rage incoherently, but he bit his lip so hard it bled and held himself back.

Without a single word he turned away and left.

The doors slammed shut, shaking the whole room.

"You could've been nicer, you know?" Dixie chuckled. "But I suppose it don't matter much. Now that we've done what we're obligated to, so we don't get in trouble, I'll get someone to contact him by the end of the day. Hell, I might even do it myself."

"You will do no such thing." Kino said coldly.

"Excuse me?" Dixie asked, completely taken aback.

"You will not contact Midoriya. We're shutting his research down."

"You've gotta be shitting me. This is the discovery of the God damn century ! We need to bring him in, and have him work for us. If we get our hands on this tech, we can put our best agents on the level of Heroes, while simultaneously keeping it locked down and controlled. Then, we slowly kill the public's panic with gradual exposure therapy, over several decades. Then, with the voter base not objecting, we can move to-"

"We are shutting down this research!" Kino cut him off. "Japan is too unstable right now, this is the last thing we need. The country's already ripping itself apart, this could spark a small-scale civil war."

"This is the opportunity of uh' lifetime!" Dixie shouted and slammed a fist on the table. "If we don't take advantage of this, then someone else will!"

"THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER, DIXIE!"

The chief of security looked like he might blow a gasket with how red his face was getting, but he clenched his hands and reeled himself back in.

"Mark my words- write 'em down good and proper! You're makin' a giant fucking mistake right now, and when it blows up in your face, you ain't gonna have anyone to blame but yourself." 

And with that he stomped out of the room.

-Rain of Sins-

"Those idiots don't have any idea who they're dealing with! They don't even know I'm the Sovereign of Sin, and they still find a reason to come after me!" Izuku shouted as he paced around his office in the Origin Lab. 

His best and only avenue of getting more funding for Rapture, gone, just like that. What was he supposed to do now!? He had repaired All for One back to the peak of his power, to buy himself more time, and all he had to show for it was a dead prototype!

"These fucking assholes! THESE! FUCKING! ASS! HOLES! I'LL SHOW THEM! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!"

A soft knocking on the wall drew his attention and his ire.

"WHAT!?"

"H-Hey boss." Kuin waved at him nervously, and hated herself. Interrupt him now and he might kill her. Don't interrupt him now, and he might kill her later for thinking she might be trying to hide this from him. "I-I have something you m-might want." 

"And what could that possibly be?" He snapped.

"B-Blood." Kuin whimpered as she held up a small glass container with no more than a drop of blood in it. "I had one of my bees d-drink from All Might."

Immediately the Sovereign of Sins was looming over her, his hand outstretched.

"Give it to me."

Kuin let out a whine of terror and submissiveness as his shadow fell over her.

"H-H-Here! It's y-yours!"

She had barely started to hold it out before it was snatched from her hands, and Izuku was walking away.

"Leave."

"Yes sir!" She saluted and took off down the hallway, the mechanical door closing behind her.

And so Izuku was handed the greatest power in the world with absolutely zero strings attached, and its former owner completely unaware.

Now he could study it, replicate it, and use it for his own purposes. This power had beaten All for One, and it had years of even more power built up since then.

It was exactly what Izuku needed.

But Izuku Midoriya's greatest flaw was that despite dedicating his life to science, and trying so hard to understand the world through a lens of logic and reasoning, his heart could be so emotional.

And he was very emotional at the moment.

This was the quirk of All Might, the man he had dreamed of being his entire life. And now he had that chance.

"I'll show them all."

Izuku popped the lid off the petri dish and licked the blood from the glass.

A moment passed.

Suddenly his eyes lit up as power, unlike anything he'd felt before, flooded his veins. He felt like he was walking on clouds! He felt like he could move mountains! He felt like he could take on the world!

He felt… pain.

And then he screamed as green arcs of energy erupted from his body, each one blasting chunks from his flesh and ripping him apart. Red lightning surged in response, his regeneration quirk immediately healing any damage.

The two colors danced a tug of war that was made of nothing but agonizing pain.

-Chapter End-

Uh oh. The "Quirk of true Heroes" doesn't like somebody.

Gee, I wonder why?

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

As always! Join the Discord! 

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*Sips Hot Chocolate*

A giant thanks to the generous people who help get these chapters out faster, and help me write all this!

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!), thegodfather (The Great!), 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, Hamza Abdallah, Indie, Aswin Suthan, SonicDJM, EngineerLife24, drwinter169, CideredApples, Prince of Ruin, SILENGE, Lord_of_Pola, LukasH, Savage Scorpion, Anima, Summers Mori, Slowchoke, Jacob Roy, Seanfrks, Diavolo, and Brayden!

And a special SPECIAL thanks to :

Eternal Guard and NickPine.

Who have both chosen to help extra after my Bank got hacked and I lost a lot of money.

Thank you both so much, you are my Heroes.