All Might has just arrived.
He isn't smiling.
He's furious.
If I were the average anime consumer right now, I'd say this is an excellent opening for the final battle.
But I'm not the average consumer. I'm the fucking protagonist.
My body hurts like hell, my fingers are still numb, and the blood on my face is sticky and annoying.
So unlike the average person, I'm not happy about his timely arrival; I'm damn furious.
With him and his fucking overly heroic sense of duty, with myself for not being useful enough, and with whatever bastard thought it would be fun to put me in this universe, and as the protagonist of all things.
"—Yeah... You're here now, you heroic trash—" I had forgotten about that idiot Shigaraki. I need to stop getting so lost in thought in these situations.
"—I thought the idiot would never arrive—" The sarcastic tone in Gran Torino's voice is tense. He's angry, probably angrier than I am, and that's saying a lot.
When I looked towards where All Might was before, I was surprised to see he was gone.
I felt a slight breeze in the air, and when I turned to the front, I saw all the villains defeated.
All of them... in just one second.
All Might was standing in front, looking at the Nomu and arguing with Shigaraki about his ideals and desire to cause harm.
But I'm not interested in that; I heard it in the anime.
What I am interested in is the power behind this man.
It only took him one second to accomplish this feat. Endeavor would take at least seven seconds, but All Might only needed one.
My power is technically superior to his.
If he's capable of achieving this, then I'm capable of achieving more, much more.
I was complacent. I set a goal to reach 10% before the start of UA, and I failed.
I tried to reach 8% before my first practice, and I failed.
And now I had to force 12% on my body, and I'm suffering for it.
This can't go on. I'm clearly superior to what the real Izuku should be at this moment, but that doesn't make me invincible.
Once this is over, things will change.
A particularly strong gust of wind snaps me out of my thoughts.
All Might is exchanging blows with the Nomu.
Even with my enhanced senses, I can't see the direction of his punches.
They are so powerful it's terrifying.
"He has shock nullification, Toshinori!" Gran Torino is beside me; he also knows he's not much use in this battle.
After all, what can two humans do in a battle of gods?
Easy, nothing.
But that doesn't mean I'm not going to contribute my part to end this shit.
"He has regeneration, All Might! I hit his brain, and it instantly regenerated where I struck! That's his weak point!" Maybe this way, his time limit won't be reduced as much.
"I see! Thanks, young man!" He increased the intensity of his punches, but he still can't reach the Nomu's brain; the latter is preventing him.
One moment... Something was happening right now.
Of course! Kurogiri would use his portals to obstruct All Might!
But Bakugo, along with Todoroki, would appear!
Bakugo is knocked out, and Todoroki was facing the Nomu upstairs, so I have no idea about his condition.
But I have Gran Torino by my side. With him, we can neutralize Kurogiri and, while we're at it, Shigaraki.
"Master, shouldn't we neutralize the villains now that they're distracted by All Might and the Nomu?" If Gran Torino refuses, then it will be impossible to change things for the better.
"Don't be hasty, brat. Look what happened to you for acting that way."
"I know, but this time we can..."
"No, kid. Right now, we can only watch what happens and... MOVE!"
The alarm in Gran Torino's voice put me on alert instantly.
With all the speed I could muster, I turned my gaze back to the front.
And I'm surprised to see that bastard Tomura coming out of a portal to touch my face and turn me to ash.
Didn't this happen to Tsuyu in the canon? What a load of crap.
Activating One For All isn't enough; I won't be able to move in time unless...
A bullet was fired and hit Shigaraki in the hand he was trying to kill me with.
The rest of the pros! I had forgotten! Thanks to my intervention, Iida was able to flee much earlier than in the canon! Things have accelerated!
Finally, something goes in my favor! Fuck you, world, and your obsession with ruining me!
Two more bullets are fired at Shigaraki, one in his remaining healthy arm and the other in his left knee.
Both bullets hit their target.
And that's all I needed. I activated One For All again throughout my body. I'm in no condition to concentrate enough to use a fixed percentage; I'm probably between 8% and 12%.
I punch his face with all the anger I can muster and then repeat the process, grabbing his hair so his face doesn't move away from my repeated punches.
I don't know how out of place my expression is right now, but if Gran Torino's worried look is anything to go by, then the look on my face would make Bakugo proud.
A portal begins to open at Shigaraki's feet and another over my hands.
Kurogiri wants to get him away from me.
Then I'll return him, but with his face as caved-in as All For One's.
(I think 20% is still within my limits.) And that's exactly what I did. I charged 20% of One For All into my right arm and gave his face my best punch.
I've just discovered that I hate being drenched in blood.
I loosen my grip on Shigaraki and jump back.
The last thing I see of him is his completely unrecognizable face.
My right arm is purple from the swelling, but it's not broken.
I'll take that as a victory.
I feel unconsciousness taking over, but I still take the time to smile.
I didn't win... and I don't know how this will end once I wake up... if I wake up. But this is no time for regrets.
.
.
.
The smell of a hospital is disgusting.
This is the second time I've woken up in a hospital since I transmigrated into this body.
It's a curse, I swear, it is.
I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is...
"YOUNG MIDORIYA!" Why does he have to be so loud? Toshinori is going from bad to worse.
"Will you lower your voice? The brat looks like he's just come off drugs, and you're shouting." Thank you, Gran Torino. Your extreme honesty and dry sarcasm are always welcome.
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, young man." He's sorry? And I haven't even started yelling at him yet.
"How is everyone?" If the others are hurt, it'll be my fault. I knew all about this, and still, I didn't know how to prepare things properly.
"Five are still unconscious, due to the Nomu, and your old bully Bakugo suffered a skull fracture." In the canon, none of them ended up unconscious, but in the canon, they didn't face the Nomu. Damn it.
"Young Midoriya, change that expression. You all did what you could." Change my expression? Who gave him the right to have an opinion on this?
"Why didn't All Might show up?"
"Young man, you may not remember, but I appeared when..."
"It seems I wasn't specific. Why didn't All Might show up when he was supposed to?"
"...There were crimes to stop." Just like in the canon, you bastard.
"I warned you. Gran Torino warned you, and yet, knowing your limitations and what could happen, you decided to take the risk, and look how everything ended up."
"But young man, a hero is always there, for everyone."
"Well, you know what?! You weren't there for us! Not for Master Aizawa! Not for anyone!" I know it's not all his fault, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I knew he wouldn't arrive. I blame myself more than anyone else... But still, he didn't show up when he was supposed to.
My words caused the room to fall into complete silence.
Toshinori looked regretful. Gran Torino looked tired; he clearly doesn't want to be involved in this shit anymore.
And me? I'm furious. With myself for being overconfident, with All Might for his stupid heroic valor, and with All For One and all the shit he represents, although that's more the One For All in my body and the wills it brings with it.
"We all share part of the blame here. You, for being reckless, brat. Me, for not protecting you all as I should have, and Toshinori, for not being the mentor he needs to be. I suppose this will be a learning experience for us." Gran Torino is right, but that doesn't appease my anger, not completely.
"...That beast was made to kill you, All Might. Who is capable of creating something like that?" I need them to reveal the truth about the origin of One For All and All For One.
"I don't know." Liar. Even now, you continue to lie, Toshinori. "But as soon as we know something, we'll inform you, Young Midoriya. Now, get some rest. We'll let them know you're awake and ask for you to be discharged."
And so the room became empty again.
I lost... but one battle doesn't define the entire course of the war.
I will use this anger I feel and channel it to destroy them.
.
.
.
I was heading home when I passed by Dagobah Beach.
It was getting late, and the sun was setting.
I decided to go in and walk along it for a bit.
Izuku cleaned it before I arrived in this world, so why not take a walk to see his work up close?
I must say, he did an incredible job.
Although someone has already thrown some trash.
It's a soda can.
Why are people so dirty?
I can count three trash cans I remember passing on my way here.
What would it have cost him to throw the can in one of them?
Without another thought, I headed towards the can to pick it up and throw it where it should be thrown.
But as I bent down and stretched out my hand...
A black whip shot out of my finger and pierced the can.
"What the hell?" I said in an astonished whisper. After all, this shouldn't happen until I obtain a higher percentage of One For All, right?
Daigoro's Blackwhip is one of the most versatile Quirks that One For All offers.
And I just activated it, much earlier than expected.
But how?
I did basic exercise routines put together by All Might himself. The only thing I did out of the ordinary was...
Meditate.
I meditated and refined my control over One For All as if it were Chakra.
It seems I not only managed to refine my control, but I also deepened my connection with One For All even further.
Or maybe it's due to the fact that my soul and Izuku's are now one, and therefore, it has twice the age of this body.
Perhaps that fusion caused the assimilation and integration process of One For All to be greatly accelerated.
This is... This is perfect!
"Hahaha, I can't believe it. So worried about things, and in the end, I find this." I haven't smiled like this since the day I put Bakugo in his place.
And if I remember correctly, what guides Blackwhip is anger.
And I've had a really bad day.
I lost the battle, that's a fact. But the war? The war has just tilted in my favor.
All For One and his lackeys won't know what hit them.
Not now that I truly know the danger they represent.
And definitely not now that I have this at my disposal.
...
Author's Note:
Hey.
The U.S.J. arc is over.
And with it begins an interlude until the Sports Festival.
I hope I did a good job with the MC and everything that happened to him at the U.S.J. because I really had my doubts while working on it.
The theme of soul fusion and the connection with OFA was something I wrote remembering a Reincarnated as Kakashi fic I read on Fanfiction. It's an excellent fic and currently has 500,000 words.
In that fic, the transmigrant, upon awakening as Kakashi, would eventually gain greater spiritual power through the fusion of souls and so on. I basically took that idea and adapted it to this fic.
And Blackwhip is the first Quirk the protagonist will awaken. The next one he awakens will be linked to his way of seeing things.
By the way, I saw the third MHA movie, and I'll just say one thing:
If AFO had stolen the Quirk from the main villain of the movie, he would have been fucking unstoppable. The Quirk is super OP. He literally would have killed All Might in Kamino with that Quirk without breaking a sweat.
I won't say more. The movie was decent. Not good, not bad, just decent (Although seeing Deku swing around Venom-style was pretty awesome).
See you.