Chapter 30: Chapter 30 darkness rises and light to meet it
The immediate aftermath of the attack on UA's summer camp was absolute chaos. Ambulances and rescue crews swarmed the site along with what I believe to be a whole department's worth of police officers. Out of the 40 students present, 24
were uninjured, 11 were physically hurt and 1 went missing. That one was key. Never before had the world seen such a momentous failure, not since All Might's Era of Peace began. And the fact that the one who failed to stop this threat was me... well, it did not bode well for the confidence of the public.
Thank god that Izuku is unconscious. I don't know if would have had the time to deal with him right now. The death of Muscular was another topic of contention. The police at the crime scene were horrified in the brutal way he was killed and I admit, I too felt a bit sick. I sometimes forget that a Rasengan is one of the most powerful close-range jutsu ever. Few people in this world can sustain a hit by a fully powered Rasengan, even a base one. I would not put it past this event to traumatize Izuku into not using the Rasengan again. I'll ask Nezu if he can put me in contact with a psychologist. Izuku, heck all the kids will need therapy after this.
"Madara" came a voice behind me
"Tsukauchi" I greeted in return as I turned to face him
"You look like shit" he said as he gave me a cup of steaming coffee which I took gratefully.
I snorted "That's the pot calling the kettle black, you know"
He cracked a grin at the joke, though he wasn't wrong. While the 'battles' I had in the forest weren't draining or anything, the use of Shadow Clones took quite the toll on my chakra and stamina and that's before I take into account the mental exhaustion of having 24 hours worth of memories shoved into your skull in one go. All in all, rooked ready to keel over which I suspect is the reason why the press at the scene hasn't swarmed me yet. Whatever, I'll deal with the judgment of the masses after I saved Katsuki and ripped out All For One's hearth and fed it to him.
"Madara, are you ok?" asked Tsukauchi in a worried tone
"Yes, why?" I responded curiously
"The look on your face was scaring the other officers" he said bluntly
Looking around, I noticed that it had indeed scared them. I huffed and drunk some coffee
"The media will have a field day with this" I muttered
He winced and patted my back. A vain attempt to comfort me, but an appreciated one nonetheless
"Nezu is waiting for you at the hospital. I'll make sure to keep you up to date with everything that we find here"
I nodded in thanks and left to find a car with someone to drive me to the hospital. I'm in no state to travel by foot or flight and ironically enough, even though I have a full-blown pro-hero license, somehow I am still forbidden from gaining a driver's license before I'm 18.
The hospital looked like an ant's nets that'd been kicked over. Nurses were scrambling to house and take care of all the kids, most of which were knocked unconscious. I stayed close to Tsukauchi, not wanting to bother the staff there, even if I desperately wanted to go and check up on Izuku. I know that he wasn't hurt or anything, but the mental strain that this entire situation placed on him can't be good. As much I don't want to sound like a hypocrite, he's too young to have the blood of someone else on his hands.
God, how am I going to explain this to All Might and mom? What am I even going to tell them, sorry I made your kid and heir a murderer?
In hindsight, I should have realized that Izuku wouldn't know how to regulate the power of a Rasengan to make it nonlethal. Furthermore, I shouldn't have shrugged off a full-powered Rasengan during our spars without a single wound. I probably shouldn't have taught him such dangerous techniques while he's so very young.
Yeah, there's a lot of things I shouldn't have done, but the past is the past. Now I have to deal with the consequences of my poor judgment.
A traumatized brother, numerous injured and one missing student.
"Madara"
I snapped out of my thoughts. Apparently, I had robotically followed Tsukauchi to the room where we were supposed to meet Nezu. Also, the principal was already there, seemingly waiting for US.
"Thank you, Tsukauchi. We'll let you know if there's anything we might need" said Nezu
"Understood. Still, Madara, we need your report on what happened"
"Do you have any paper around here?" I asked
Nezu pushed forward a few sheets of paper having seemingly predicted I would ask this. I let out a huff at this. Of course the rat would predict this.
Placing my hand on the paper I focused my chakra and burned the letters of the report in the paper. I handed the sheets of paper to a bewildered Tsukauchi who took them while giving me a look of pure envy.
I snorted. Any goodwill I had with the police department was most certainly gone now, given that I just disclosed that I was blessed with the divine power to slay the demon know as paperwork.
"Madara, please sit" said Nezu as he gestured to a sofa
Right. Back to business.
allowed myself to collapse on the sofa and Nezu climbed up in the chair opposite to me. We waited in silence for a bit, to allow the both of us to gather our thoughts.
"I told you so. I fucking told you that this might happen Nezu" I began, though my words lacked any real heat
The time was too far gone for us to be shifting blame around
"So you did. Even so, I never expected this. We have used this method for years and never have we had a breach in security. This year we even changed the location and only a few knew of the trip" said Nezu
"So you're thinking that you have a mole in your school?" l asked
He nodded. It wasn't a stretch to think that. After all, in this age of technology trackers can be exceptionally small.
"You are the only one I can trust not to be compromised Madara. Even so, I can't prove to you that I haven't been compromised myself" said
Nezu
I groaned as I closed my eyes and let my chakra wash over me. Even running with only dregs of my full power, my chakra was still potent enough to bring me back to a state of alertness.
"You can't discount the possibility of a tracker quirk. This is All For One that we're dealing with.
No one knows the full extent of his powers" I reminded Nezu
"I considered that, but the search teams have yet to find Ragdoll and all that was recovered was a bloody headgear piece"
I clenched my fist. Ragdoll, wielder of the Quirk Search, or should I say former wielder. I highly doubt that All For One would leave such a useful quirk to exist outside of his possession.
"What about the other teachers. How is All Might dealing with this?" I asked hoping to move away from such topics as that megalomaniac.
"I haven't told him yet. If he found out, he would most definitely waste valuable quirk time coming here" said Nezu
"A logical decision Nezu, but he will find out sooner rather than later and..." Itrailed off as I heard a commotion coming from the hallway.
I moved to investigate, with Nezu close behind me.
When I arrived I was greeted with the sight of my hysterical mother being held back by security. As soon as she saw me, she began calling my name. I signaled the guards to let her go and she ran to me, sobbing and clinging to me all the while babbling about Izuku. Honestly, the scene she was causing was quite embarrassing.
"Mom, please get a grip. You're embarrassing me" I said quietly
That seemed to have done the trick as she began to calm down.
"I can't do this anymore, Madara. This is the third time that Izuku's been in danger like this. My heart can't handle it. Please convince your brother to drop out of UA" she said
A shocked silence fell over the crowd. I too, felt shocked as well as Nezu who was still hiding in the background.
"Not here" I growled, snapping out of my shock
I lead my mother to the room that I previously occupied with Nezu. I sat her down and took a seat next to her. Nezu was still hanging back and observing our interaction.
"Now, what's this all about? You never had anything against Izuku going into heroics before" I asked
She sniffed
"I thought that I was just a faze, that once he saw that quirkless people couldn't be heroes, he would come to his senses, but then All Might happened and he was so happy that I couldn't take that away from him. I thought that he would be safe. That he would have a nice school life, live the life of a hero for a couple of years then settle down with a nice girl and have a family. He shouldn't have been forced to fight for his life before he was even 16" she cried harder at that.
"I agree. Miss. Midoriya, I am principal Nezu.
Please allow me to give you my deepest apologies for what happened. But know that we will be implementing a dorm system from now on to better protect our students" said Nezu as he approached
"How can you know that! How can you assure me that nothing bad will ever happen to my Izuku during his school career! I've already seen UA be attacked two times, how many times will this happen?" mom was shouting.
"Ok, that's enough!" I said, flashing my chakra and Sharingan
This seemed to have somewhat quelled her.
"Whether Izuku decides to leave UA or not that's entirely his decision. You will not force him to do either" I said staring her down.
She attempted to sputter back something, but under my Sharingan gaze she found herself speechless.
"If word gets out that a student's parent wants their child to leave UA that's fine. For most that would be expected, but that does not apply to those children in the hero track and even more so if the child in question happens to me my brother the Symbol of Hope. I will not have society's faith in heroes destabilized at such a critical time. Not to satisfy your selfish desires" I said
Mom turned red in anger as she rose as well, attempting to match my height and failing.
"I am his mother! I have every right to do this for his safety!" she yelled.
Without saying anything | pulsed chakra to a storage seal inked into my forearm and in a puff of smoke, a stack of papers appeared. I threw them on the coffee table next to Us.
"What is that?" she asked startled.
"That is all the documentation I need to remove your rights as Izuku's parent through my authority as a pro-hero" I said.
As she stared down in horror at the stack of papers I couldn't help but feel a stab of pain in my eyes. It was minute, but I felt it nonetheless.
Though it was nothing like the hot iron that was shoved through my heart as she looked back at me with a face full of betrayal. I bent down to pick up the stack of paper and reseal it.
"I'm doing this for Izuku's own good. You know as well as I do that being a hero is his entire reason for living. Denying him that would as good as killing him. Now, Izuku is unconscious and in a fragile state. Your presence here is distracting and disruptive. I will have Tsukauchi escort you home where you will stay, guarded until Katsuki is recovered"
There was darkness as Izuku woke up.
'Where am I?'
As he looked around, all he could see was a seemingly endless black void. Above him, he found a giant star that looked to be exuding plumes of blue energy that then merged with an intricate network of pathways stretching across the dark sky. In the distance, he could see another star this time emanating green light that seemed to be linked with the blue star and constantly feeding the blue star its green energy. The green star was also several orders of magnitude more massive.
'What is this place?' asked Izuku
"So you are the ninth" came a voice from behind
Izuku whirled around and tried to speak but found himself unable to say anything. Looking down, he saw that most of his body was covered in black smoke, making him seem almost indistinguishable from the rest of the void that he found himself in.
Looking up, he saw the strange man that had spoken before. He was thin, with shaggy white hair and a sickly appearance.
"You are so young" the man began "and so very powerful. Even without us, your potential is limitless and even with all this power, you still choose the righteous path" the man paused and looked to his left
Izuku followed his gaze and saw another seven people lined up beside them. Some were more visible than others, but it was clear enough what this was.
"This power of ours was cultivated throughout the generations for a singular purpose" said the man as he pointed to the other people, who now each held in their hands a small star of light, each brighter than the other who preceded it.
'The vestiges of One For All. So that must be the first user' thought Izuku.
" want to show you something, Ninth"
Izuku turned back to the man before him. The man gave a small smile as the world around them faded and another scene appeared.
It showed another man, dressed in fine clothes and with the same white hair as the First User standing in front of a ragged-looking First.
'All For One' was all that Izuku could think
Izuku looked on as he listened to the conversation between brothers and felt ever so grateful that he had Madara as his sibling. Suddenly the scene shifted again to display a scene of chaos as quirked people attacked the nonquirked and into that chaos, All For One appeared like an avenging angel, a twisted mockery of a savior that recruited more and more followers as he walked through the destroyed streets of the once great city that now lay in ruins.
The scene shifted again and Izuku watched as One For All was born. Suddenly the image disappeared and the First was before him once again.
"I wanted to show you more, but even with your fast progress, you're only at 20 percent" said First
"Be careful, for we have already passed the singularity. You are the one who will complete One For All"
'Complete One For All, what does he mean?'
The First stretched out his hand
"Remember this, you are never alone"
Their hands touched, One For All activated and Izuku woke up
In another part of japan the Emperor of Evil, All For One rose from his slumber.
'Something is happening to my little brother, I can sense it'
"My lord, we have found their hideout" came the voice of the doctor.
A grin stretched across All For One's face
"Excellent, and just in time too. If I'm not mistaken Tomura has already procured himself the piece he desired. It won't be long until Rikudou and All Might come to us"
"Still, my lord, wouldn't it be better to ensure better security against such a thing. Surely the Bakugou child could still prove useful even if he doesn't agree to join us" said the doctor
"Oh, you don't have to worry, my good doctor. This is a valuable lesson for Tomura and if everything goes to plan, we might even be rid of a most annoying pest in that Rikudou brat. I wonder if seeing his brother's corpse would shake the faith of Izuku Midoriya enough for me to take One For All from him"
"That is certainly possible, but are you sure that he will come to you? Won't All Might prevent him from coming?" asked the doctor
"Well, wouldn't that be the height of hypocrisy?
After all, All Might himself came to witness his master's death, so he shouldn't deny his successor this honor. Ah, that brings back such pleasant memories. It would be the perfect irony to kill All Might and Rikudou in front of Izuku Midoriya.
Maybe even kill his mother. Yes, that would surely do it. My good Doctor, please remind me to tag Inko Midoriya after this little excursion"
"Of course, my lord"
"Good. Kurogiri" called out All For One
The mist man appeared and knelt before the Emperor of Evil
"My lord, I am ready for your commands" said
Kurogiri
"Open a gate to the compound of the Shie
Hassaikai" ordered All For One
Without moving from his kneeling position Kurogiri opened a warp gate through which All For One stepped through followed closely by the doctor and Kurogiri. In the courtyard of the compound they were met with a slew of men. Once they caught sight of All For One, they all collectively gulped and made no move to attack. All For One griMed behind his mask. It brought him such joy that his very presence could inspire such fear.
The door of the house opened and an elderly man stepped out. Once he saw All For One, he bowed.
"Lord All For One, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit"
"Oh, nothing much. One of your men happens to have a quirk that I require"
The elderly man tensed up alongside the black mask-wearing young man that was bowing next to him.
"The Shie Hassaikai has kept in your good graces for quite some time, lord. Perhaps we could help you achieve your goals through other means" said the young man with the mask who was also
bowing.
"Hm, I wonder what you could do to restore my body to full power, but do go on, you have caught my interest" said All For One
The elderly man glared at the younger but held his tongue in front of the Emperor of Evil.
The young man invited All For One to follow him to the room where the little girl was held. As they walked, Kai explained the power of Eri to All For One, Once they arrived in front of the door to her room they stopped
"You make a most interesting proposition. I will make a note of it in the future. Now see to it that I am not disturbed. Kurogiri remain here and guard the door"
"Yes, my lord"
All For One and the Doctor entered the girl's room.
As soon as she saw them enter, Eri was overcome with fear and tried to get away, only for All For One to catch her with telekinesis and bring her to him.
"Such a fascinating quirk this is. The power to rewind all biological organisms to their previous state. It's a shame that you can't use this quirk on yourself. I may come for you in the future, but now my dear stay still and let the good doctor take some samples" said All For One
The doctor approached and jammed a needle in the little girl's flesh and veins making her cry out in pain.
"All done. Now my lord, let us prepare your return to glory" said the doctor
All For One dropped the girl who scrambled to get as far away as she could from the monster in human form.
All For One took a seat and the Doctor carefully detached his mask and life support tubes from his face, revealing to Eri the broken face that he gained after his fateful final bout with All Might. Eri whimpered at the sight of him.
"Now, now don't be scared, you're here to help me, don't you want to help me?" said All For One with a dark chuckle
Eri trembled as she shook her head.
"No? Well, that's too bad. You don't really have a choice in the matter. Forcible Quirk Activation!"
Black and red tendrils leaped from All For One's fingers and into Eri as her horn began to glow yellow. She screamed in pain as she was forced to activate her quirk against her own will, the yellow light covering All For One as well. The man grunted as his face shifted and his body changed as he was returned to his younger days. After a few minutes, the yellow light died and Eri dropped to the floor with a high fever and unconscious.
The doctor peeked up from behind the desk he had hidden.
"My lord?" he asked
He heard a chuckle that slowly descended into mad laughter of pure joy. The doctor couldn't believe his eyes. There, in front of him stood the Emperor of Evil as he was before his battle with All Might when he was at the peak of his power.
Suddenly, red lightning swirled around his form as he lifted his head and opened his eyes for the first time in six years, revealing toxic gold and red eyes to the world. The lightning increased in intensity and exploded outwards, making the door to the room blow off its hinges.
All For One stalked outside. Kurogiri knelt before his master while the others only looked on in horrified awe at the being before them.
The ripples of his power were felt far and wide, and three people, in particular, sensed the reawakening of All For One.
My eyes snapped open as I felt a terrible wave of power wash over me. Spreading out my senses, I could feel the energy used to create it.
"All For One" I growled
Opening the window to the driver compartment of the limousine that I was in I relayed my new orders to the driver
"Make for UA with all due haste"
"At once sir"
I closed the window back up and I shut my eyes.
It's been a day since the entire debacle with the training camp and while most students were allowed to go home, zuku was still kept under surveillance after One For All's mysterious self-activation. In theory, he should already be at UA to meet with me and if what I sense is right, then we might have a bigger problem on our hands than I previously anticipated.
The car was quickly ushered in past the crowd of reporters and I made for one of the higher lounge areas where Izuku was probably waiting for me.
I was proven correct as Izuku was indeed waiting for me. I took a seat on the couch opposite to him.
We sat in silence for a bit, until I sighed
"It's not a good idea to bottle up your feelings
Izuku"
He snorted "Like you have any right to talk about feelings. Do you realize what you put our mother through? When I came home this morning she was still crying and begging me not to leave her. I mean really, first dad and now you? You know that she doesn't have the heart for what we do" said Izuku glaring at me
I did not rise to the challenge.
"She would have pulled you out of UA if I didn't do that and don't change the subject Izuku. As much as you don't like it, we need to talk about what happened with Muscular" | said locking my gaze with his
Izuku tried to hold it, but eventually gave up and curled into himself. I sighed.
"I'm not blaming you for killing him" I said.
Izuku flinched and looked up at me seemingly searching if I was truly honest.
"That night was rough on all of us and to be frank, it is my fault for not teaching you how to regulate the Rasengan's power properly. No one is going to blame you for going all out against someone such as him. Now, tell me what happened with One For All while you were unconscious" I said
Izuk paused for a moment, seemingly to digest what I said. This wouldn't be the end of it and he will undoubtedly have nightmares for weeks to come, but he was at least thinking about it logically.
" found myself in a giant black void and the First User spoke to me. He showed me his memories before gaining One For All. He also said that I was the one who will complete One For All, though I have no idea what that means"
At that moment, All Might decided to make his appearance. He looked ragged like he hadn't had a good night's sleep and I don't blame him. This last attack by the league has all of us on edge. We talked a bit about what happened with Izuku's vision and All Might promised to dig up any information he could find on the previous wielders.
"Before we move onto the last matter of our agenda, I have to ask. Has either of your senses something amiss earlier today?" I asked
"Now that you mention it, I did feel a bit uneasy a couple of hours ago" mused All Might
"I felt something wash over me for a second some time ago, but l'm not sure what it was" confirmed
My eyes narrowed.
"Only one other being that I know of is capable of unleashing such power. All For One"
All Might inflated and Izuku stiffened. Their unease was now palpable.
"This is bad" said All Might gravely
"Indeed. All Might, I do not expect this situation to end without a confrontation between us. And I fear to what lengths All For One would go to see us demoralized and killed" I said
All Might nodded
"So, what are we going to do then?" asked Izuku
"We aren't going to do anything. All Might and I will face him" I said
"What! You can't just sideline me!" yelled Izuku outraged
"I can and I will. While I don't blame you for your actions against Muscular, the mere fact that it has ended the way it did shows that you are far too reckless in battle. Against a foe like All For One that could very well be your end and I will not sacrifice you just to fulfill your desire for revenge against his pupet" I said, cutting off any argument that could arise.
Izuku clenched his fists. All Might stayed silent.
"If we do this, young Izuku, you must prepare yourself for the chance that we might not return" said All Might softly
I stayed silent as I saw a multitude of expressions fly across Izuku's face in a fraction of a second. He retook his seat and brooded. I said nothing because I knew that he understood what I meant to say. While he was reckless, Izuku wasn't stupid.
He knew that if he died, the legacy that his eight predecessors worked so hard to construct would end with him.
"I'll talk to Nezu to let you stay at UA. You should be able to monitor our progress from here" I said
"I'm putting on MJOLNIR" said Izuku
I could tell that was not a request. I'll allow it nonetheless. If the unthinkable happened and he needed to defend himself, it would be far better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
"Izuku. Take whatever weapons you think you might need from the vault. While I am against you fighting, All For One has shown himself to be in possession of a warp quirk. Those can be nasty if paired up with the correct quirk" I said
Izuku nodded and left to get dressed.
All Might stayed silent during our whole exchange.
"If we don't make it..." he began
"Don't go down that train of thought Toshinori.
You won't fall. Not this time" I said with conviction
He looked softly at me and deflated. He rose from his seat and placed his hands on my shoulders then brought me into a hug.
"You are the greatest heir a man could ask for.
Take care of your brother and know that even if we have known each other for little more than a year, you and young Izuku are the closest things to sons that I ever had"
I wrapped my arms around his bony shoulders and hugged him tightly
"You are the closest thing I had to a father in this life. I know that Izuku feels the same. I just hope that we can live up to your expectations"
"Ha! My boy, you have already surpassed them, both of you. I couldn't be more proud" said Toshinori with a beaming smile
It was at that moment that a thought entered my mind
"You're saying goodbye, aren't you?" I asked in a low mutter
"Maybe, I don't know. This battle shall be my last Madara. Whether I die or not is still undecided" said Toshinori as he let go of me
With a final wave, he left to find Izuku and give him the same speech he gave me.
I pulsed chakra through the seal on my other forearm and a bottle of scotch and a glass puffed into existence.
One final drink and then I prepare.
At the end of tomorrow, nothing will be the same.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone