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Chapter Text

Izuku Age 4:

"Mmm," A small green-haired child hummed as he began to stir, risen from his sleep by a stray ray of light that had landed on his face.

He sat up straight, wiping the sleep from his eyes. But an unfamiliar cold pressed against his soft skin, right where his left-hand ring finger was.

The boy looked at the intrusion with half-lidded eyes, he was greeted with a golden ring with an emerald embedded in it. Across the gold, a message appeared.

《ᛒᚱᛁᚷᚺᛏ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ》

The child stared at the message that seemed to burn itself into the ring, only to fade away after a second.

"Mama!" He yelled out, jumping out of his blue, yellow, and red blanket that was reminiscent of the boy's idol All Might, and bolting for his mother's room.

"Mama! I think I got my Quirk!" He cheered, hopping up to reach the doorknob and open the door.

"Mama! Wake up!" He called out, climbing onto the bed and jumping up and down.

The boy's mother, named Inko, jolted awake at the rocking of the bed. "Hmm... what is it Izuku?"

Izuku ceased his jumping, instead of crawling up to his mother and displaying his ring. "I think I got my Quirk!"

This revelation woke the green-haired mother, sitting up and observing the ring. "Are you sure, baby?"

Izuku nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I woked up and it was on my finger, then it writed something I couldn't read on it"

As he explained, another message burned itself on the ring, before fading. 

《ᛚᛁᚠᛖ-ᛒᚱᛁᚾᚷᛖᚱ》

"What's it say, what's it say?" The child requested, bouncing impatiently.

His mother stared at the writing and watched it disappear without a trace. "I-I'm not sure, Izuku... I can't read it either..." Izuku wasn't aware, but Inko had realised that whatever writing this was, wasn't in any language she recognised. "Maybe when you're older you'll be able to read it?" She offered, unsure of what else she could add.

Izuku closely examined the ring before trying to pull it off, after he failed at first he gave it another tug. "M-Mama... I can't get it off" Izuku started to panic, the ring was stuck to his finger! What would happen when he gets older? His hands will get bigger and the ring will hurt him!

"Izuku, Izuku, calm down, it's your Quirk right, so maybe you're not supposed to take it off?" Inko explained, hiding her own worry from her son. "How about we go to the doctor? See what they can tell us about your new Quirk?"

The boy looked at her with slightly wet eyes but nodded, clinging closely to her chest.

"I hate to say this, but your son is as good as Quirkless," The doctor said completely monotone, Inko recognised him as Tsubasa's grandfather.

"P-Pardon?" Inko asked, hoping she had simply misheard him.

"Your. Son. Is. As. Good. As. Quirkless" Dr Tsubasa punctuated, completely disregarding the small boy sitting in the room.

The child in question was staring blankly at the ring, which had produced a longer message. 

《ᛚᛁᚨᚱ, ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᛟᚾᛖ ᛋᛖᚱᚡᛖᛋ ᚨ ᛞᚨᚱᚴ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ》

Inko cleared her throat. "What can you tell us about his Quirk?" She hated how shaky her voice sounded.

Dr Tsubasa leaned back in his chair as he thought. "Honestly? Nothing, all we can tell it does is give him a ring and occasionally writes down unintelligible messages" He offers with a half-hearted shrug. "Now, if you would, I have other patients to attend to"

The doctor gave a lazy shooing motion as he rolled back to his desk. Inko was furious with this man but decided that she'd rather comfort her son than chew out some asshole.

Izuku sat at the computer, watching the debut of his idol and Symbol of Peace: All Might.

"Ahahaha! You're fine now, why? Because I Am Here!" The recording announced, carrying a dozen people on his back to safety.

Izuku rewound the video a few seconds, latching onto a sense of normalcy. He didn't even realise he wasn't paying attention to the video anymore, instead his vision had drifted downward.

To the Ring.

"Ring Bearer" is what they called it, he didn't give his input when they named it, instead going with the suggested name. He was too busy mourning his dream of being a hero.

He turned to the open door, prepared to call out to his mother to ask her the important question. "Could he still be a Hero?" But he never got the chance, the room was filled with green fog and all the sounds around him were muffled.

"Disregard what that man said, Izuku. He is a fool" A voice announced from outside his vision. Izuku snapped his head to the intruder, prepared to call out to his mother.

He was surprised to see a ghostly green child that looked quite similar to himself sitting atop a bookcase, they were wearing strange clothes and had a small cloak hanging off their shoulders.

"Don't worry boy, I am a part of your Quirk, there is no need to fear me" Izuku wouldn't expect such a powerful voice to come from such a small boy. "My body needs to grow with you, together we can be strong, it will just take time"

Izuku stared at the chi- no, his Quirk, and stuttered out his question. "C-Can I b-be a h-hero?"

The Quirk gave him an appraising look before nodding. "Together, being a Hero would be a trivial task" The Quirk hopped down from his perch and walked to the Ring Bearer, offering his hand. "You may call me Kajiya"

Izuku hesitantly took the offered hand, which caused a blinding light to swallow the room. Once it cleared, Kajiya was gone without a trace.

Izuku Age 17:

Over the years, Izuku had grown into a young man, he had trained his body in parkour and sword fighting, Kajiya claimed this would be their best form of fighting. The greenette now stood at 6" 3, having gone through a massive growth spurt last year. He was obviously strong underneath his clothes, years of sword fighting and parkour building up a lot of muscle.

And training was not the only thing he had done over the years, Izuku had also been learning about his Quirk. Which led to the discovery that, as of right now, Izuku was the only one able to see Kajiya. Currently, the only confirmed things he could do was: Run faster, jump higher, and take more damage than a normal human.

Although there were abilities that Kajiya claimed they had, such as Mind control, summoning weapons, teleportation, summoning spectral clones, using an array of elemental attacks, and being able to come back after death.

But Izuku has either not been willing to attempt or has simply not been able to grasp these abilities, Kajiya claimed that this was because he wasn't strong enough yet. Though on one occasion, when both of them had a common goal, they were able to summon a glaive.

But attempts to recreate that have failed.

Izuku's first meeting with Kajiya had not been the last. Kajiya would appear whenever Izuku needed someone to talk to, though his advice would usually be something Izuku was unwilling to do.

This is where we find the Ring Bearer and his Green Ghost, who was wearing metal plated armour with a hooded cowl around his shoulders, surrounded by green fog and muffled sound.

"Why do you not listen? If you used our Ring, we could dominate that blond brat, no-one can stand against the power of our Ring!" Kajiya complained as Izuku fished his burnt notebook, which was labelled "Combat Tactics For The Future Vol. 7", from the koi pond, barely listening to his spectral doppelganger.

"And why won't you listen? That I don't want to use it on people, Kacchan is my friend!" Izuku snapped back, checking if his notebook was salvageable.

"Why did I have to get stuck with such a naive child?" Kajiya complained, pacing behind the Ring Bearer.

Izuku began to make his way home, whisper shouting to his spectre. "And why did I have to get stuck with a Quirk who acts like a tyrant?"

Kajiya scoffed as he followed along. "It is the nature of my abilities, to deny my nature would be foolish" With that parting message, the fog dissipated and the world returned to full volume. He sighed as he continued on his way.

"Stop! Thief!" A man yelled as he ran outside his store, a creature made of slime running off with a bag of money fleeing from the store.

"Catch me if you can!" The slime villain taunted.

"Another one, really?" One civilian asked.

"There really is no end to them" Another one grumbled.

"Yes, there is... 'Why?' you ask? Because I Am Here!" All Might announced triumphantly.

Izuku approached an underpass when the world was once again swallowed by the fog. He stopped and turned to Kajiya. "Ugh, what do you want now?"

Kajiya was leaning up against one of the walls. "To show that you will get stronger with each death"

"Wha-"

"Ah, a large meat suit, a perfect disguise" A voice gurgled.

Within a second, Izuku was encased in a liquid that reeked of sewage. He struggled as the viscous liquid forced its way down his throat.

"Don't worry Izuku, as long as I live you cannot truly die" Kajiya spoke up, though it was hard to hear over the slimes taunting laugh.

Izuku tried to pull the intruding mass from his mouth, but his fingers simply passed through. "Look kid, as much as I love it when they struggle, he's been on my tail for too long!"

Izuku felt consciousness leave him, he even started hallucinating! 

"It's all right now! Why? Because I Am Here!"

And Izuku was met by darkness.

Toshinori felt guilt course through his body, had he taken a few more seconds to get here a young man would have been killed by the villain he was chasing.

After quickly stuffing the sludge into two bottles he had been carrying, he knelt over the boy and gently smacked his face to coax him awake. "Young Man? Are you still with us?"

The boy groaned as his eyes fluttered open, he looked at Toshinori for a moment before scurrying back with wide eyes. He looked about ready to say something before his eyes met something else. "You!"

Toshinori turned his head to meet where the boy was looking but saw no one there. "You were going to let me die!"

"Young man?" Toshinori asked, worried about the boy. 'Perhaps he got a head injury?'

The boy didn't acknowledge him, still staring at the open space. "You claim we can't die, but I don't know that, what if you're wrong?!" He stood up and stomped over to empty air. "I can't trust you! You just tried to get me-" The boy stopped his yelling as if interrupted then turned to Toshinori.

The boy quickly gave a venomous look at whatever he was talking to before returning his gaze to the pro. "S-Sorry A-All Might, it's just a part of my Quirk-" He dropped into a bow. "-Thank you for saving me!"

"Umm... ahem, Of course! It's a pros job to save those in need, but may I ask, what is your Quirk?" Toshinori asked, he knew this was cutting close to his time limit, but curiosity got the better of him.

The boy straightened up and held his hand out. "I-It's called Ring Bearer, when it awoke I got this ring, and Kajiya... if we work together we can move a bit faster, jump a bit higher, and become more durable... but we don't always get along"

'That's a... unique Quirk, but if he and his Quirk argue to the point that it would leave him to die rather than assist him...'

"Umm, Mr All Might sir? May I ask a question?" The boy timidly requested. Toshinori just gave a quick nod. "Do you think I could become a hero?"

"My classmates always make fun of me for wanting to become a Hero, even though I'm practically Quirkless, but I've always wanted to help people, so... do you think I could become a Hero like you?"

Toshinori choked on some blood that crawled up his throat, a sign his time was almost up, but he couldn't leave before he gave his answer. "Young Man... If you aren't able to get along with your Quirk, then I don't believe you could be a Hero like me"

Toshinori's heart clenched at the boy's despair filled face, but if even he: The Number One Hero could almost die in the field, then an almost Quirkless person would never be able to survive. 

"Although, if you can get your Quirk to work with you, you may be able to make it in the underground, they may not get as much recognition as the regular pros, they do good work... but even still, maybe your best course of action would be becoming a police officer" Toshinori wishes he could stick around to encourage the boy, but he can feel his time running out.

"I'm sorry, Young Man! But I must get this villain to the police!" He announced before immediately taking off, not preparing himself or anything he might have been carrying for the speed.

Toshinori landed a number of blocks away, where his large body finally collapsed, revealing his true form: Nothing but skin and bones, lacking any of the muscle he had mere moments ago. He patted his pocket while mumbling to himself.

"Let's get you to the-"

And his heart sunk to where his stomach used to be as he realised his pockets were empty.

Izuku shambled his way through the streets, his mind felt hazy and he could feel his leftover anger at Kajiya bubbling under his skin.

"Izuku"

He was actively ignoring his spectral follower, his heart filled with betrayal.

"You are going the wrong way"

Izuku didn't care, he needed to walk, to clear his mind of his encounter with the sludge villain.

*BOOM*

He was finally brought out of his mind by an explosion, before him was a crowd of people watching over barriers as smoke plumed into the sky. 'Maybe watching some other heroes will take my mind off it'

He weaved his way through the crowd as he made his way to the front, his larger build working against him. But when he got to the front he froze.

It was the sludge villain that had grabbed him!

'H-How is it here? All Might was-'

Izuku's mind flashed back to All Might and the bottles that were loosely placed in his pockets.

'W-Was it because All Might wanted to get away from me that he dropped them in his rush?'

Izuku overheard something about a hostage but he couldn't take his eyes off the slime villain, the villain that was going to kill him, the villain that Kajiya was going to let kill him.

His mind screamed for him to run away, to not let it get that chance on his life again, but he was locked in place, nothing he could do could bring him to run away.

"Would you look at that, it appears Bakugo isn't as powerful as he claims to be" Kajiya causally pointed out.

This is what finally gets Izuku to take his eyes off his attacker, to see his old friend.

And with a single look at Kacchans eyes, he moved.

"You again, brat? I'll make sure to kill you this time!" The villain gurgled out, rearing back some slime to attack. 

Izuku isn't able to reach his top speed without Kajiya working in tandem with him, but he didn't care, he didn't need him, that's why he made his notebooks, to fight without him.

'Take out the weak spots, the only solid part of him is his eyes!' He twisted and launched his bag off his back and at the villain. All of his notes and utensils flew out, a great number stabbing the villain's eye.

The fluid that encased Kacchan reeled back significantly, giving him more than an opportunity to breathe. "Deku! What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Shut up and try to escape!" Izuku yelled back as he clawed through the sludge, constant arguments with Kajiya giving him a thicker skin.

Kacchan ignited his hands, the explosions freeing him completely. Though it had the unfortunate effect of launching Izuku back a couple of meters, though he quickly rolled back to his feet.

Only to be smacked by a tendril of sludge.

Izuku felt the world spin as the air left his lungs, patches of his skin burnt as he skidded against the concrete. 

His ears rung from the number of times he hit his head, he could feel the warm liquid running down his face.

Then suddenly, everything stopped, he no longer felt the pain he had been feeling moments prior, instead, he just felt... warm... warm and tired.

He lifted his head a little, finding he could move, and past the darkening edges of his vision saw All Might. 

"Gall Might..." He tried to call out to his hero, but his voice came out gurgled and distant. He furrowed his brows in confusion, why was his voice like that?

His head drooped down, becoming too heavy for him to lift by himself, and he was greeted with a red-tinged piece of metal jutting out of his stomach. He tried to lift his hand to pull the offending material out of him, but couldn't muster the strength to move his hand.

He forced his head to lean back against something cold as his mind tried to piece together what was happening, thinking felt so constricted now...

'I should tell mom that I love her' His brain thought as he felt his mind start to slip.

Izuku felt scattered, lost in an abyss, his body torn apart by his cells, but still forcibly glued together. Was he choking? He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he couldn't feel anything but the pain of being kept together.

As he completely faded, one last thought remained in his mind.

'Am I dying?'

Bakugo watched from the ground as his old childhood friend, who had just rescued him from danger, got launched into an alleyway at high speeds by the villain that grabbed him.

He couldn't bring himself to stand up even after All Might himself punched the sludge villain into next week with enough force to change the weather.

He was able to move when All Might ran down the alleyway that Deku was flung into.

He chased after the symbol of peace, to find if that nerd was able to take the hit.

But as he ran in, he saw All Might look around the empty alleyway.

Deku wasn't there.

The only thing that hinted at his presence was a broken piece of metal from a fire escape covered in blood.

*GASP*

Izuku took in a deep breath as he shot up into a sitting position. The familiar green fog surrounded him, with Kajiya sitting smugly on a concrete block.

"Where are we? What happened with Kacchan?" He asked hoarsely, looking around desperately.

"We're on a roof, two blocks away... I must say, I didn't expect you to be able to save him without my help" Kajiya explained, overlooking the city from the roof.

"How did we get here?" Izuku asked, panting.

"Isn't it obvious?..." The spectre asked, a cocky smile spreading across his lips.

"...You died"

Chapter Text

*COUGH COUGH*

Izuku took a deep inhale as he finished retching his guts out, his arms could barely hold himself up from the shaking they were doing.

Kajiya had spent his time, between his resurrection and throwing up, relaying the details of his death. The hit from the slime tendril had shattered his ribcage, the impact onto the concrete had split his head open and broken his spine, but the thing that killed him was being impaled by a twisted piece of a fire escape.

He swallowed back the bile rising in his throat, he couldn't wrap his head around it.

'I died?...'

Every time that question appeared in his head, he remembered the brief moment of nonexistence before his awakening.

He threw himself back, away from the puddle of sick he was leaning over and curled into a ball. He took a shuddering breath as fat-burning tears cascaded from his eyes.

'No no no nonononono, it's not true, I couldn't have-'

His body was wracked by shivers as he approached the concept of his demise.

"Izuku, you are going to have to accept this, not only that but you must get used to the feeling of death" Kajiya sighed, watching his human counterpart disapprovingly.

Izuku merely shook harder at his spectres words, his powerful voice crushing the tainted air out of his lungs. All of his usual fire when arguing with Kajiya is completely gone when faced with death.

"Oh look, that gargantuan oaf has found us... Joy" His counterpart droned sarcastically.

Izuku could only bring himself to open one eye. "A-All... M-Might?"

All Might launched himself into the sky as soon as he couldn't find the young green boy in the alleyway. He needed a bird's eye view of the area, he couldn't have gotten far.

As soon as he lands he's going to revert to his regular state, but that boy inspired him enough to call upon One For All, he could risk overdoing it for him.

From his peak he could see him, on a roof two blocks away, kneeling on the ground, most likely injured.

He altered his trajectory to land near the boy, hopefully, he could lift him even in his weakened state.

"Young Man! Are you-" He asked, but was cut off by his transformation.

"Young Man! Are you-" 

Izuku looked up at the Hero, the voice a searing reminder of his death, but the sudden silence was a thankful distraction. But when he looked up, he wasn't met with the Number One Hero, he was greeted by a living skeleton.

Sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, gangly limbs, and a slightly hunched posture. Blood slowly dripped from his chin as steam evaporated around them.

"Why this is interesting" Kajiya pondered, pacing around the skeleton. "Who would have guessed All Might... was a mere corpse?" He joked.

"All... Might?" Izuku asked Kajiya, not entirely believing that the man before him was the mountain of a man he had seen minutes prior.

The skeleton raised his bony brow at Izuku as he looked him over. "Yeah... I'm All Might, but how are you not hurt? I saw blood..."

Izuku felt a pang of ghost pain in his gut, the injury that sealed his death.

"I... I..." He couldn't force the word out, his teeth chattering against each other.

The man who claimed to be All Might crouched down beside him and put a sturdy hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, young man, you can say it" He whispered, electric blue eyes meeting his emerald eyes.

Izuku swallowed, forcing the words to his tongue. "...I died" The single phrase brought back his tears. "I Died"

The man stared at him with wide eyes, processing the information. "...Let's... Let's get you home" He redirected, not able to grasp the idea that a teenager just told him that they just died.

The man helped him to his feet while keeping a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from falling. "Young Man, can you tell me your name?"

"I-Izuku Midoriya" He breathed out, trying to get his breathing level.

"Why are you here?" Kajiya sneered at the man, despite knowing he could not hear him.

Izuku decided to shut his Quirk up by asking his question. "Sir, w-why are you here?"

The man looked at him with a raised brow, before turning to face the path they were taking. "To make sure you were safe, and to apologize... and... maybe, give you an offer"

Izuku glanced over to Kajiya, who was gesturing for him to ask about the offer. But he chose not to, instead, he let the man continue at his own pace.

"When that sludge villain grabbed that boy, I was just a useless bystander, but when I saw you run in, you inspired me to act... I just wish I acted sooner..." The man continued.

'Bystander?'

"Then, you were gone from where he hit you, with nothing but blood to show you were there, to begin with. I had to find you, and apologize for telling you that you couldn't be a hero, and for not saving you..."

Izuku stared at the man, almost tripping as they walked. "S-so you really are All Might..."

All Might nodded as they walked, continuing his speech. "Yep, five years ago I took an injury that destroyed my stomach and half my lungs, all the surgeries did this to me, and I can only hold my Hero form for a few hours each day"

"...Five years ago... was that your fight with Toxic Chainsaw?" Izuku asked, recalling the fight.

All Might chuckled at that. "You sure know your stuff kid, but no, this fight was never seen by the public, I made sure of that"

"This is all well and interesting, but what is his offer?" Kajiya prompted, still walking behind them.

"M-My Quirk wants to know about the offer you wanted to give us..." Izuku relayed, hoping he didn't sound rude asking about it.

"Ah yes, that would be me offering to train you, to help you reach U.A, I'm guessing that's the Hero School you're aiming for?"

Izuku nodded, eyes on the concrete, pondering the offer but All Might wasn't finished yet.

"And I wanted to ask if you wanted to become my successor, to inherit my Quirk"

Izuku froze at that, inheriting someone else's Quirk? That was crazy! But... his Quirk gives him a personal ghost and had just brought him back from the dead.

"So you can give people your Quirk?" He whispered, knowing that this was meant to be kept a secret.

All Might coughed some blood up in surprise at that. "You were quick to accept that a Quirk could be passed on"

"I just... died... and came back to life, giving people Quirks doesn't sound too crazy"

"Ah, right..." All Might mumbled, before shaking his head. "So, what do you say?"

Kajiya scoffed. "You aren't worthy of this gift if you refuse to use all of our abilities"

"Are you sure I'm the right person? Shouldn't you give it to someone who didn't just... die to a villain?" Izuku asked, bile burning the back of his throat at the dreaded word.

"On the contrary, your apparent immortality would mean that my Quirk could never be destroyed" All Might answered.

Izuku pondered for a minute, it was true that he didn't deserve this power if he wasn't willing to utilise everything in his arsenal, but All Might was giving him a chance to be the best hero possible... There was only one real answer. "I accept your offer, but I want to train myself in all of my powers and get a better relationship with my Quirk before I receive it, I hope that's okay?"

All Might smiled at him, and it felt different than the smile he always saw on t.v. This wasn't All Might as a hero's smile, this was All Might as a person. "That's perfectly understandable the first half of my plan for you was to help you and your Quirk work together"

Izuku smiled at the hero, as he received his phone number and his real name, Toshinori Yagi.

He was unaware of Kajiya watching him carefully.

Something has changed within Izuku.

In all of their shared years together, the Child has always refused to use the Wraith's power to dominate, even though such a power would have saved him so much pain.

So to see him break his unsaid oath to not use this power was...

Interesting.

Perhaps his brush with death had changed something within him?

Be as it may, now is the perfect time for Kajiya to make his offer, and with his sudden willingness to work together.

I believe he will accept.

As soon as Izuku walked through the door he was tackled into a hug by his mother, as she cried incoherently about how much she was worried about him.

Although she did eventually calm herself enough to give him a disappointed look, and despite the fact she was grateful Kacchan was okay, he was most certainly grounded.

So after three hours of ensuring her, he was alright, he retired to his room. Where he collapsed on his All Might themed bed, thinking over the events of the day.

His notebook was destroyed, his childhood friend told him to kill himself, the sludge villain grabbed him as Kajiya left him to die, All Might saved him, The Sludge Villain grabbed Kacchan, He saved Kacchan, the sludge Villain killed him, he learnt All Might's secret and was offered his Quirk and training.

After his recollection of the day finished he realised two things:

First, He was strangely coming to terms with his death and no longer felt the need to vomit at the thought.

And Second, he threw his backpack at the sludge villain and never retrieved it or the contents...

"Crap..."

"Izuku, we must talk"

Izuku sighed as he sat up, glaring at his Quirk. "First, I want an apology for trying to get me killed"

Kajiya looked surprised at the request but decided to allow it. "I apologize for trying to get you killed"

Izuku sported a small victorious smirk and gestured to continue.

"Well, since you now want to work together and use our abilities, I've thought of a solution that could help build trust with each other, and train you in use of our Ring"

Izuku shifted into a better position to show he was interested. "And what would that be?"

"Crime has been increasing around our home, why don't we change that?"

"You want us to become a vigilante?" Izuku scoffed.

"Precisely, our ability to Dominate would prove useful in preventing crime, by having so many criminals follow our will, we would know about all crime in the area through a chain of command"

Izuku opened up his mouth to respond, but found no retort coming out, in fact, he quite liked that idea. By going out at night to Dominate villains and thugs, he would be able to build an army that could infiltrate any illegal activity.

"Say I did agree, how would we go about it? We don't exactly have the resources to make equipment"

Kajiya wordlessly extended his hands, in one a green, spectral, ornate hammer appeared, and in the other, a green, spectral short sword. "That can be easily changed. After your death, I felt our power grow, I know what we are capable of. You can summon my weapons, and quite possibly my armour"

Izuku furrowed his brow, glancing down to his hands. 'I can summon his equipment?' He shut his eyes as he felt within himself, for anything new that would hint at this new ability.

His ability to Dominate.

His ability to enhance his speed.

His ability to leap great distances.

His ability to survive falls from great heights.

Izuku's eyes snapped open as he felt something crawl over his skin, and weight in his hand.

Standing up, he looked himself over.

Black plated armour, Gauntlets of the same make with spikes jutted towards his fist, grieves of the same make, a tattered black cowl, and a spectral green hammer in his hand.

Kajiya stood before him with an appraising look. "We will need something to conceal your identity, here" Kajiya stepped closer and waved his hand in front of the boy's face. "There, look in the mirror"

Izuku obeyed the request and gazed upon himself. On his face was now a black mask with nine spiked pieces wrapped across it with the one directly in the middle being the longest. 

"That will suit a warrior of the night, what do you say?"

Izuku stared at himself for a moment longer, eagerness to go along with this plan bubbling in his gut. With a simple nod to confirm his agreement, Kajiya stepped forth to bond themselves.

Izuku now stared into the mirror, the left side of his body covered in his new black armour, while his right side was now replaced with a masked Kajiya, glowing his brilliant green.

"Together, we will become the strongest Hero the world has seen," They said to themselves as one, their voices overlapping each other.

Today was the day that Deku died, and The Bright Lord took his place.

Chapter Text

"Mom, I'm good to go to school, The Ring made sure I wasn't injured!" Izuku assured his mother, it had taken a lot of convincing but he was allowed to return to school. The reason which got his mother to cave was that he said he wanted to show Kacchan that he was fine.

"If he cared about your well-being, he would've come and checked up on you" Kajiya, ever the fatalist pointed out.

He couldn't retort his counterpart, even though his mother knew of his existence, he could see it creeped her out to talk to empty space.

"I also need to go talk to someone about the attack after school, okay?" Izuku tacked on quickly.

"But we already talked to the police, why would you need to talk to someone else?" Inko fussed, too protective of him to let him go without an explanation.

Izuku sighed as he thought up an excuse. "It's not the police, it's a... U.A scout, they wanted to talk to me about the attack"

His mother blinked for a minute before a flood of tears escape her eyes. "U.A is interested in my baby boy! I'm so proud of you, Izuku!" She cheered, crushing him in a motherly hug.

"Okay, okay, I've got to go" He wheezed out.

After he was released and made sure he wasn't going to die, again, he made his way out of the house with a wave. As he closed the door, he heard a voice.

"Deku"

His body seized up out of instinct and he rigidly turned to his old childhood friend turned tormenter.

"Ah, Hi... Kacchan" Izuku greeted.

"Why is he here?" Kajiya asked angrily.

Kacchan looked the Ring Bearer up and down, his hands flexing instinctively.

Izuku watched the blond's hands carefully, noting the abundant lack of sparks or explosions.

The blond's eyes continue to scan Izuku. "Why the fuck did you run in?"

"...Wha-"

"Yesterday, why the fuck. Did you. Run in?" Kacchan specified.

"That's his question? Not how you survived?..."

Izuku glanced over to Kajiya, seeing how the spectre was glaring daggers into the explosive boy. "You looked like you needed help, so I ran in"

Kacchan stared at the greenette for a while, Izuku started getting uncomfortable until he spoke. "Should've stayed the fuck away, I don't need help from someone as useless as you" Kacchan tsked and began to walk off.

"This ungrateful..." Kajiya began.

"Katsuki..." Izuku growled.

The blond stopped and turned back to Izuku, a scowl rested on his face at the greenette's defiance.

"How dare you say that to me, If I/He didn't run in, you would not be standing here" The two argued, speaking as one. Their anger binds them together.

Katsuki glared at Izuku, clicking his tongue as he turned away. "So you finally grew a pair? Fucking took you long enough"

As the duo watched the blond stomp off, they separated from each other.

"It seems to be easier to combine ourselves, I wasn't even trying to phase together, our power has grown immensely" Kajiya noted, completely uninterested with Katsuki. 

"Is it me, or did Katsuki actually sound like he... didn't despise me?" Izuku asked, still watching Katsuki stomp away.

"For a normal human, that wouldn't be a surprise, I'm at least glad you aren't calling him that nickname anymore" Kajiya admitted, fading away out of Izuku's realm of perspective.

Izuku stared down at his ring, a burning sensation digging into his finger, a new message had carved itself into the band.

《ᚨ ᛋᛏᚱᛟᚾᚷ ᚠᛟᛖ, ᚨ ᛋᛏᚱᛟᚾᚷᛖᚱ ᚨᛚᛚᚤ》

Katsuki stomped away, teeth grinding together as his mind lingered on Deku. 'That bastard thinks that just because he survived a hit from that villain, he's somehow on my level now?'

A twisted grin spread across the boy's face. 'Fine, that'll make it so much better when I kick him back into the dirt where he belongs'

Izuku walked through the halls of Aldera High, actively ignoring the stares and whispers that came from everyone around him.

"High School, a miserable hive mind that feeds on the misfortune of others... if we wanted, we could rule this cesspool. Whilst they are all relatively weak compared to us, their sheer numbers would give us an advantage" Kajiya commented as he appeared, dragging forth his familiar fog.

Izuku didn't respond, not wanting to give fuel to the fire about his status as an outcast. While he did have a Quirk, everyone saw it as the weakest in the school, granting him the bottom of the food chain.

His silence was hard to keep with the increasing heat that settled in his finger, the Ring no doubts carving more runes he could not read.

'Ignore their words, just keep your head down and keep walking' Izuku repeated this mantra, something Kajiya had told him years ago, his right hand twitched as the burning in his hand begged to be acknowledged.

No longer able to ignore the Ring, he lifted his hand to read the new message.

《ᛞᛟ ᚾᛟᛏ ᚺᛖᛖᛞ ᛏᚺᛖᛁᚱ ᚹᛟᚱᛞᛋ, ᛏᚺᛖᚤ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛚᛖᚨᛞ ᛏᛟ ᚾᛟᛏᚺᛁᚾᚷ ᛒᚢᛏ ᚨᚾᚷᚢᛁᛋᚺ》

"Great, thanks, but I can't understand what that says" He mumbled, after the appearance of Kajiya, they had quickly learned that these messages came from neither of them, but the Ring itself.

In all honesty, the Ring had never given this many messages in such quick succession, the last time he had gotten a message was three months ago.

Izuku just rolled his eyes as his finger cooled down, the Ring only started heating up when he turned nine.

'Just get through the day, and we get to talk to All Mig-'

Izuku's train of thought was derailed as he entered his classroom, his eyes boring down on his desk.

Atop the slightly scorched wood was a red spider lily.

Izuku's finger heated up, signalling a new message.

"Sorry, thought you'd been killed during your attempt at heroics the other day" Someone joked, but Izuku didn't care who was talking, too busy staring at the flower.

"Perhaps we should make a show of our strength, and show we will no longer allow them to belittle us" Kajiya grumbled, stepping beside Izuku and laying his ghostly hand on the Ring Bearer's shoulder.

He slowly pulled his hand to his face, acknowledging the runes. 《ᛞᛟ ᚾᛟᛏ ᚱᛖᛏᚨᛚᛁᚨᛏᛖ, ᚹᛖ ᛗᚢᛋᛏ ᛒᚱᛁᚾᚷ ᚺᛟᛈᛖ, ᚾᛟᛏ ᚠᛖᚨᚱ》

Izuku let his hand drop, dismissing the indecipherable runes on his Ring. He nodded faintly at his Wraith's request.

Izuku's eyes glowed a venomous green as he fully turned to the offender, his appearance was boring. Medium brown hair and matching brown eyes, no signs of mutation Quirks.

He barely acknowledged him, instead he focused on the whispers and the feeling of power flooding through him.

"He is Weak, We are so much Stronger"

Izuku marched forward, the smug look on the boy's face falling at his approach, and with one swing of his fist, Izuku punched him across the face.

The boy was launched by the impact, thrown much farther than what would be capable of a normal person. The others that had entered the class now stared at Izuku.

The dual being turned to the new audience. "I will not tolerate your treatment of me any longer! Let him be an example! If anyone has anything to say to me come forth, and I will show you how I will treat you pathetic worms!" The two challenged, glaring at the forming crowd.

After his declaration, Kajiya separated from Izuku, leaving lingering wrath inside Izuku. The Ring Bearer picked up the plant resting on his desk, crushing it in his hand.

His Ring displayed yet another message which went unnoticed by Izuku.

《ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᚨᛏᚺ ᚤᛟᚢ ᚹᚨᛚᚴ ᛁᛋ ᛚᛁᛏᛏᛖᚱᛖᛞ ᚹᛁᛏᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚲᛟᚱᛈᛋᛖᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚠᚱᛁᛖᚾᛞᛋ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛖᚾᛖᛗᛁᛖᛋ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛖᚡᛖᚾᛏᚢᚨᛚᛚᚤ ᛏᚺᛟᛋᛖ ᛒᛟᛞᛁᛖᛋ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚱᛁᛋᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛋᛖᚱᚡᛖ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ》

Izuku has truly changed.

The naive child he was yesterday would not threaten his classmates as he had, it seems he has become easier to influence.

A by-product of his resurrection?

Maybe...

But WE should not push him too far, or he may grow a lust for power.

That avenue would only lead to their mutual destruction.

So, WE must influence his choices to gather strength but leave him free enough that Izuku does not lose his heroic heart.

Izuku received stares the entire day, no one had spoken to him, not even the teachers. They all watched him with caution now.

Maybe he went too far?

That does not mean he will go back on his threat, he can't allow himself to be seen as weak.

Is he starting to sound like Kajiya?

That question makes him... uneasy. They had many fights over their philosophies, never really seeing eye to eye, but now? He was starting to think like him, maybe he should be wary of the feeling of power he receives?

He looks down at the Ring, pondering his options.

'Maybe All Might can help?'

Chapter Text

"You're sure This is the place All Might requested to meet?" Kajiya asked with mild annoyance, casting a sneer at his human counterpart. Because the location they were standing in was a literal dump, countless piles of scrap and garbage blocking the view of the ocean he knew was supposed to be there.

He wouldn't put it past the greenette to take them to the wrong place, because honestly? Why would the Number One Hero take them to a literal junkyard and not a training facility?

The wraith is pretty sure he sees a bodybag amongst the piles of trash.

Izuku looked back down to his phone, the meeting place All Might had sent easy to read.

"Dagobah Beach"

"Yep, this is the place..." Izuku remarked, raising his eyes from his phone as he slipped it away, and observing the path they were standing on. There wasn't much foot traffic in this area, in fact, there wasn't much of any traffic. The appalling sight of the illegal dumping grounds helped dissuade any civilians.

"Huh... that's actually smart..." Izuku mumbled as he looked back down to the beach, trying to see if he could spot a head of gold hair among the piles of rusted metal.

Kajiya tiredly grunted. "Care to share with the rest of the class?"

Izuku rolled his eyes as he began his track down into the labyrinth of garbage. "No one ever passes by this area, meaning no ones going to see me using my Quirk, more importantly, they're not going to... see All Might" The Ring Bearer explained, pausing for a moment to climb up a pile of trash to get a better lay of the land. Off to the right was a small clearing, he could see a relatively clean pick-up truck parked there.

"Hmm, I guess being the Number One Hero means he's not as idiotic as he appears..." Kajiya commented, crouching to observe the materials beneath their feet.

"C'mon, be nice to All Might, he deserves your respect" Izuku snarked as he planned out the quickest route to the open space. Kajiya simply hummed in acknowledgement before standing and changing the subject.

"You know, there's something I've wanted to test but never asked to do since we weren't on the best of terms" The spectre mumbled, watching as Izuku leapt across the pile of trash they were on, onto a discarded washing machine and began building momentum. Some of the trash may have collapsed behind him, but this place was abandoned for the most part.

"Okay... what's- Woah... -that?" Izuku asked while parkouring across the trash heaps, sucking in a breath and hissing a quiet 'woah' as he landed on a loose car door.

"I wish to test if we could create another Ring, this ability could provide us extra abilities, or just allow our chosen to see me" The wraith explained, practically teleporting along with Izuku.

"Guess we'll have to-" Izuku paused as he jumped down from his pillar of junk into the small clearing. "-Have to test that out, there's a lot of scrap here that we could use... though we're gonna need tools..." The greenette mumbled, placing his hand on his chin as he paced.

Kajiya looked around the clearing while his counterpart was distracted, after a second, the skeletal blond that Kajiya recognized as All Might walked out from the maze-like trash heap, carrying two small crates of glass shards.

"Izuku, All Might's here" Kajiya called out, watching the pro Hero take notice of the Greenette.

"...Yeah, we should visit a hardware store or something on the way home... if I have the stamina to carry it all..." Izuku continued mumbling, unaware of the fact that both Toshinori and Kajiya were staring at him.

"Izuku, All Might is here!" Kajiya repeated louder, stepping close to the boy. He wished he had a more physical body, then he'd be able to just smack Izuku out of his head.

"Young Midoriya?" Toshinori asked quietly, walking up to the greenette.

Izuku blinked and turned to the pro, a smile spreading across his face before he dropped to bow and give his greeting. "Good Afternoon, Sir!"

Kajiya merely rolled his eyes as he found a perch to sit on. "Of course he reacts to that"

"You're here earlier than I expected..." Toshinori mumbled, placing the crates down carefully.

"Of course!" Izuku chirped, standing straight. "I wanted to begin as soon as possible! Plus... Mom doesn't want me staying out too long..." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head anxiously. 

The gaunt Hero chuckled at the admittance before speaking up. "That's fine, young man... I'm glad you're so excited to work with me, and that your doing better than when I last saw you"

Izuku winced a little, the cold sensation that had lingered over him the previous day creeping into his bones. "Ah, umm, Yeah! I'm doing a lot better" He declared, giving his brightest smile.

"Surprisingly..." Kajiya pitched in monotonously, which slightly irked Izuku. Izuku sent a glare at the wraith, who just looked off into the piles of trash.

Toshinori chuckled, which caught Izuku's attention. "Your Quirk giving you some trouble?" He asked with an amused smirk.

Izuku chuckled softly while rubbing his head sheepishly. "Something like that"

The blond nodded before clapping his hands together. "I guess I should start explaining the training regimen," He said, pulling out a thin book labelled "The Aim To Pass: American Dream Plan" The title getting a small snort from Izuku and a snicker from Kajiya.

Izuku slowly staggered his way to the nearest department store, wincing with each step at the fatigue that had set into his muscles. After a few minutes of quiet groans, he arrived at the building.

"Hatsume Baubles?" Kajiya read aloud, a brow raised at the... eccentric-looking building.

The building in question looked like a mixture between steampunk and modern, with weird machines sitting in windows and large cogs built into the walls.

Kajiya turned to look at Izuku hesitantly. "I feel like we should find a different store"

Izuku shook his head. "I'm not walking any more than I need to, Toshinori pushed us enough for my muscles to ache Now, I don't even want to think about how much this is going to hurt tomorrow... Besides..." The Ring-Bearer raised his hand that wore the Ring, which had been progressively getting warmer as he approached this shop.

《ᛏᚺᛖ ᛏᚱᚨᚾᛋᛚᚨᛏᛟᚱ ᚱᛖᛋᛁᛞᛖᛋ ᚹᛁᛏᚺᛁᚾ》

Kajiya looked down at the message scrawled into the gold band. "More messages?"

Izuku nodded. "I think there's something here that it wants" The greenette marched forth, the wraith disappearing into wherever he usually dwells. Leaving his human to do the talking.

As soon as he passes through the door, his idea of the steampunk influence was reinforced by a steam whistle going off. "That's some doorbell..." he mumbled.

He looked around the interior, it was... messy, but there was some method to the madness. He searched for a space that would contain the tools he needs.

'Wires, metal, pipes, I don't know what that is, wrenches, pink, hover boots, more meta-'

"Wait, Pink? Hover boots?" Izuku repeated, returning his gaze to what he thought he saw. And sure enough, there were a pair of shoes hovering as the air beneath them looked to distort beside a person in overalls, but hand the upper half wrapped around their waist, which exposed a black tanktop. They were wearing some contraption on their head which covered some of their pink hair.

Izuku stepped up to observe the person work, listening in on their quiet ramblings. "Ahaha! Baby prototype 36 is a success! Just need to find a way to use fewer materials and make it more compact..."

The Ring Bearer then realized that the inventor was a girl, her shorter hair making him a little unsure before. "Umm, excuse me?"

The inventor girl practically teleported into his face when he spoke, which let him get a good look at her odd-looking eyes. 'Holy shit that looks cool'

"Ah! A new customer! Do you wanna buy one of my babies?!" The lady questioned, forcing herself even closer.

Izuku placed his hands on her oil-covered shoulders to push her back a little. "I'm a customer, yes, but I just need to buy some tools" He used the small window of him talking to buy himself time to observe the girl before him. 

In short: She was filthy.

Oil, grease, and soot-covered the impressively muscley girl. To the extent that he barely even realised that her tank top was three sizes too small for her chest.

The girl slumped over a little at the fact he wasn't there to purchase her babies, what he assumes/hopes she calls her inventions before she spiked up again. "Wait, tools? Are you gonna be building some babies too? We should make some babies together!"

And she's pressing herself against him again, geez she's persistent. "No, I just need some tools to forge rings" He raised his right hand to show off his Ring. "It's a part of my Quirk"

The girl forcibly grabbed his hand and looked at the emerald and gold ring, her iris' growing and shrinking rapidly. As she stared at the Ring, more runes burnt themselves into the Ring.

《ᛏᚱᚨᚾᛋᛚᚨᛏᛟᚱ, ᚤᛟᚢ ᛗᚢᛋᛏ ᚨᛁᛞ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᚱᛁᚷᚺᛏ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ, ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᚨᚱᛏ ᚤᛟᚢ ᛗᚢᛋᛏ ᛈᛚᚨᚤ》

"Ooo, you gotta tell me about your Quirk, come with me!" The girl cheers, dragging him behind what he assumes is a counter and into the back rooms. "Oh, my name is Mei Hatsume, of the future Hatsume Industries!"

Izuku just blankly stared at her in confusion, she didn't even ask his name...

Chapter Text

"Goodnight, Izuku" Inko said, standing in the doorway to Izuku's room.

"Night, Mom" Izuku replied, laying down in his bed. Inko smiled sweetly at him as she closed the door to go to her own room.

...

"She's in her bed" Kajiya relayed, seated on the teen's bedframe. At the confirmation that his mother wasn't going to be coming back, Izuku pulled the covers off, revealing that he was wearing relatively normal street clothes. A black long-sleeved shirt with a chibi Thirteen over his heart, long grey jeans that were a little torn at the knees, and black running shoes already adorning his feet.

"Keep an eye on her" Izuku whispered, arranging his bed like there was someone sleeping in it. Once he was able to make a convincing dummy, he turned to Kajiya and nodded.

The Midnight black plated armour slid over his body, as he silently opened his door. When the door clicked behind him he quietly snuck through the hall, approaching the front door, collecting his spare keys and cracking it open while watching Inko's door to make sure she wasn't getting up.

"Let's go Izuku, we need to look for minions"

Izuku leapt between buildings, looking for a crime being committed. Hopefully something like a break-in, where there'd only be one or two villains. The irony of hoping for crime while actively trying to suppress it was not lost on him.

He was pulled from his musing by the sound of glass shattering, Izuku changed direction and parkoured towards the sound.

It looked like he would be getting his wish, when he arrived at a vantage point overseeing the crime, he saw two men standing in front of a broken window of a liquor store. They looked to be surveying the area, which probably meant that there was at least one more villain looting the store.

The one to the right looked to be in his thirties, a shaggy head of lime hair and goatee. The one to the left was younger, maybe in his early twenties, he was shorter than the other and he had silver hair that was constantly moving as if blown in the wind.

"How do you want to approach this? Jump down and fight, or bring them up here?" Kajiya asked, stepping out of their bond and sending a glance over the crime scene.

Izuku gave a glance to the green spectre, though he wasn't sure that Kajiya could make out his questioning look through the mask. "'Bring them up here'?"

Kajiya looked back to Izuku, a contemplating look on his face. "It's... difficult to explain, you'll need to use my bow and... want to pull them"

Izuku nodded slowly as he tried to visualize how that would work, would whoever he targeted just... fly towards him? That'd give away his position but at this distance, it would be easy to take them out one by one, especially if they're newbies. "So it's like Mom's Quirk?"

Kajiya turned back to the villains, who seemed to be arguing about something. "If that's how you want to visualize it"

Izuku hummed as he stood up, summoning Kajiya's bow and aimed at the younger one.

Ito was beginning to stress, that fucker looting the shop should be done already! If they don't scram soon, some Heroes are gonna come along and throw them in jail.

Sato, the guy Ito was standing guard with, kept telling him that it would be fine and that it would be fine, but that snobby brat hasn't had to fight a Pro before and has never been to jail. It was easy to tell, the way he kept boasting his weak-ass Quirk, the way he talked, and the fact he acted like a spoiled brat...

"If the Pro's show up we're fucked!" Ito whisper-shouted as he paced around. "Our Quirks ain't good enough to take down any of them!" That wasn't a lie, Sato's Quirk was a weak wind manipulation Quirk, while Ito's gave him the ability to secrete a hallucinogenic fluid.

Great for getting fucked up, terrible for fighting.

"Shut up you pathetic bitch, just cause you can't handle yourself in a fight, doesn't mea-"

Ito turned to see why the brat had stopped talking but was met with an empty street. "...Sato?"

Izuku pulled.

And instead of the younger man being pulled towards him, he was swallowed in a green and black fog and fucking teleported in front of Izuku.

After a moment of shock, Izuku and Kajiya acted. They grabbed the young man by the face and channelled their energy.

"YOU WILL SUBMIT!" The dual entity demanded, forcing the man to his knees. Izuku could feel it, there was no resistance to dominating him, his will was weak and broke at his show of strength. "You. Are. Mine" Green energy pulsed from Izuku and Kajiya's fused hands, seeping into the man's eyes and shifting his orange eyes green.

The duo released the man, a glowing green handprint left on his face, but after a moment it faded as did the green in his eyes. "I'll serve the Bright Lord!" The man pledged.

The two didn't think about the title they had received, instead, they used their bow to pull the next man.

With another plume of green smoke, the man was teleported directly in front of Izuku, though this time he was prepared and coathangered the man as his momentum sent him stumbling forward.

Before the man could even get his bearings, Izuku grabbed the mans face and reached into his mind. There was a little more resistance than the other man, but it was minuscule in the face of their sheer power. "You Fight For Me!"

Again, green energy flowed into the man's eyes as a green handprint was left to mark his face, and again it faded after a moment.

"I'm yours to command!" The elder man pledged, finally getting up off the ground.

Izuku ignored the man, instead, he turned to overlook the liquor store, police were already outside and a pro was apprehending the last criminal. "You two, what is the Quirk of your companion?"

Izuku's new pawns stood to attention, the older one barking out a reply. "Usha had a Quirk that let him vibrate his limbs"

Kajiya stepped out of their bond to converse with Izuku. "He is not worth obtaining, we've already gotten double what we were hoping"

Izuku nodded, he may be able to teleport people, but risking going against a pro? No chance. "You..." Izuku started, pointing at the younger man, who straightened in attention. "...What was it that you called me?"

The younger man looked to be trembling, before stuttering out a response. "Th-The Bright Lord, s-sir"

Kajiya barked in laughter, "The Bright Lord?-" He mocked. "-He can't be serious!"

Izuku however, found this title funny for a different reason. "It would make me the opposite of a 'Dark Lord'... I like it!"

The younger man seemed to bask in the praise, shivering in delight. "Thank you, sir"

Izuku sent a glance over to the police. "Perhaps we should move, meet me tomorrow night at... Dagobah Beach, and if you can, bring some more recruits, maybe even a broker if you can find one"

"The junkyard? Are you sure, sir?" The elder man asked.

Kajiya rejoined Izuku's bond as power tingled throughout his body. "Are you doubting me?"

The man quickly backtracked. "N-No, Bright Lord! I-I just, uh... wanted to understand what you wanted better!"

Izuku nodded, a strange feeling in his chest knowing that they were so easy to bend to his will, it was probably something he wasn't supposed to feel good about. "Good, now leave, I don't want my first recruits to be caught by the police"

Izuku watched the two run off and find a way down the building, once they were out of sight, Izuku began his trackback home, making sure to take a longer path to avoid being spotted and followed by any underground heroes.

Once he arrived back at his apartment, he sneaked back inside as his armour collapsed into mistified energy. With a light step, he got back to his room and collapsed onto the bed, almost immediately falling asleep.

Chapter Text

Izuku wiped his brow free of the sweat that had accumulated, before resuming his hammering. The greenette and his Wraith were both at Dagobah Beach, much earlier than they were expected to be, All Might wasn't there yet, so they decided to test out his Ring making capabilities.

They had already melted down some copper and cooled it off in a mould, now he was just "Infusing it with his energy" as Kajiya put it.

*DING*

With each strike of their hammer, the makeshift anvil glowed with green energy and runes. The ring would bounce for a moment and the runes he would see on his ring would flash on the band.

*DING*

《ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ》

*DING*

《ᛋᛈᛖᛖᛞ》

Even though he had only been hammering for a few minutes, Izuku was beginning to tire. His energy sapping with each impact.

*DING*

《ᛗᛁᚷᚺᛏ》

*DING*

《ᚹᚱᚨᛏᚺ》

"So this is where you've been hiding!" Hatsume's voice pierced the rhythmic beating of metal, causing Izuku to pause his work. "Ooo! Are you making a baby? Can I watch?!" The pinkette requested, bouncing down to him. His exhaustion made it easy to not pay attention to the struggling straps of her tank top.

"Yeah, you can watch, I'm almost finished though" Izuku and Kajiya spoke as one, but their empowered voice didn't seem to phase her.

*DING*

《ᛋᛏᚱᛖᚾᚷᛏᚺ》

The dual entity raised their hammer for one final hit, but as soon as the hammer had hit the band, a ring of green energy burst from the Ring. The force of the blast sent Izuku falling back, but launched Kajiya a good few meters backwards.

Hatsume was mostly unaffected, though she did wince in sympathy. "Yeah, the first time one of your babies blow up on you is always surprising, though I'm not entirely sure how that blew up"

Izuku didn't really pay attention to her rambling, just pulling himself up into a sitting position. He rested his arms on his knees as he glared at the Ring, still innocently resting on his makeshift anvil.

Still producing runes.

《 ᛏᚺᛖ ᚠᛁᚱᛋᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛁᚾᛖ... ᚺᚨᚾᛞ-ᛈᛁᚲᚴᛖᛞ ᛏᛟ ᚠᛁᛏ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ'ᛋ ᛞᛖᛋᛁᚷᚾ...》

《ᚨ ᚹᛟᛗᚨᚾ ᚠᛟᚱᚷᛟᛏᛏᛖᚾ ᛒᚤ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛈᛖᛖᚱᛋ... ᚹᚺᛟ ᚾᛖᚡᛖᚱ ᛋᚺᛟᚹᛖᛞ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛚᛟᚾᛖᛚᚤ ᛏᛖᚨᚱᛋ...》

《ᛒᛟᚱᚾ ᚹᛁᛏᚺ ᚨ ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᛚᛖᛏ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛟᛒᛋᛖᚱᚡᛖ... ᚺᚨᛋ ᛖᚨᚱᚾᛖᛞ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛋᛖᚱᚡᛖ...》

Hatsume happily skipped over to the new Ring, picking it up and turning it in her fingers. "It doesn't look busted... Oh! Can I try it on? Can I, Can I?" She squealed, looking to him with stars in her crosshair eyes.

Izuku huffed and gave her a thumbs-up, turning around to find his counterpart. He didn't even think about the fact it was made to fit him, not her. "Kajiya?" He rasped out, still a little winded.

He watched his spectral friend limp over while rolling his shoulder. "So that's what pain feels like... No wonder you try to avoid it"

The greenette flipped off his Quirk as he got to his feet, groaning at the pain of existence.

"This fits perfectly! When did you get my measurements?" Hatsume asked, now wearing the copper band.

Izuku looked over to the pink engineer in confusion, the ring was designed with his measurements in mind, which should be larger than Hatsume's. He hobbled his way over to the girl, looking at the ring in confusion.

As she said, it was a perfect fit. Flawlessly rested on her ring finger. "Hey, take it off for a second" He requested.

Hatsume huffed in disappointment, but did as instructed, the Ring slipping off with no resistance. She put the piece of metal in his hand, allowing him to observe it.

He slipped it onto his left-hand ring finger, where it slotted perfectly, even though it looked like it was too small. "What the fuck?"

He pulled it back off and grabbed Hatsume's hand, comparing the Ring to her finger. It was now too wide to be able to fit her. Izuku released the girl's hand and set off to find Kajiya, maybe he could explain whatever was happening.

But when he held the Ring in between his fingers for Kajiya to observe, it flew out of his grasp towards Hatsume and slotted back onto her outstretched finger. 

The engineer stared in amazement at the Ring now securely wrapped around her finger, whilst she was making analysis of the band, the Ring-Bearer and the Blacksmith shared a concerned glance.

Toshinori walked down the stairs to Dagobah beach, he was running a little late since he got caught up assisting in a villain fight or two. When he found his way to the small clearing that acted as Young Midoriya's starting point, he was surprised to see Young Midoriya with a pink-haired girl...

...Who was currently holding a fridge above her head with one hand.

Toshinori choked back the blood that tried forcing its way up to his throat, the sheer surprise at seeing such a small girl be able to lift such a heavyweight with one hand was astonishing.

"This is amazing, Green! How is it able to do this?!" The pinkette cheered, no sign of struggle on her part.

Young Midoriya, who up until this point looked more shocked than Toshinori, glanced to his right, most likely consulting his Quirk, before looking back. "We have... no clue"

The young woman tossed the fridge away as she flashed in front of Young Midoriya, the speed at which she moved astonishing Toshinori further. "Can I take it home and research it? It'll help me so much in making babies!"

Toshinori, once again, fought the blood in his throat at the request. 'Is Young Midoriya not as innocent as he lets on?'

The greenette glanced to his right again, and after a moment turned back and nodded to the girl. The pinkette immediately cheered and lifted Young Midoriya with ease, spinning him around in excitement.

After a moment of her celebration she vanished, the sand she was previously occupying flying everywhere.

Young Midoriya stared blankly for a moment, before uttering out a horrified. "What have we done?"

Izuku dragged his hand across his face. Today's training was complete, and it was absolute hell, he'd have to remember to not make another goddamned Ring until the beach is clean.

Add to the fact that he let Hatsume out into the wild with one of his Rings, yeah... he's been starting to stress. Kajiya did have a theory on why the Ring made her so strong.

"We were pushing all of our power into the Ring with no technique, so it must only enhance physical abilities, and not allow her any of our other abilities"

But, he can't leave just yet, because he's pretty sure that the warmth his Ring was emitting was a sign that his new followers are going to be arriving soon.

So he equips his midnight armour, and rests atop one of the many junk piles, making sure to be unnoticeable to anyone on the street that might pass by. He is extremely glad that his armour feels weightless, if it didn't he'd probably pass out from overexertion.

"The boss' said to meet here" The voice of his elder follower announcing to whoever they brought along.

Izuku peers down to the small group, seven people, meaning five new recruits.

One man was smoking, he had short silver hair and wore glasses that glinted from the streetlamps. He wore a purple blazer and pants, a white undershirt that was unbuttoned at the top, and a strangely intestine looking scarf.

Another woman was following the previous man close, maybe a bodyguard, which might make him a broker. The woman had an obvious mutation Quirk, chitinous armour covering most of her body, but he could make out some weak points should they decide to fight. She was wearing a black tank top and baggy cargo pants.

A man followed a few steps behind, he had medium length pink hair and eyes, and a frankly "Pretty Boy" face, but he had a scowl that didn't sit right on his face. His clothes looked too good to be worn by a villain, a purple three-piece suit with a rose resting above his heart.

The last two looked like twins, matching glowing red hair and eyes. They looked a lot less serious than the others, making a show of tossing a burning ball of fire between each other. They were wearing matching studded clothes, making them look like bikers. As they got closer, Izuku realised that their hair moved around as if it was a fire.

Izuku decided now was the time to reveal himself, leaping off his perch and landing a few feet away from them. His landing kicked up a little sand, but also seemed to create a small explosion of black and green smoke. He'd have to test it later, right now he has a role to play.

He stood from his kneeling position to overlook his hopeful recruits.

"Greetings, I... Am The Bright Lord"

Giran followed the two oddballs before him, his curiosity was peaked when they spoke of a man calling himself 'The Bright Lord' and it only got better when they were looking for a broker and some recruits. This is gonna cost a little extra for the lord since he had to hire someone to confirm this wasn't a set-up, had to come on such short notice, and cause they were a newby, so he's gotta make sure he can turn a profit on this.

Along with himself, he brought Spike, aka Azami Fujimoto. Her Quirk was excellent for CQC, so she was one of the first picks. She's been breathing down his neck about him finding her an interesting job, and this one seemed to fill the part.

Next up Lure, aka Izanagi Ohno. Whilst he was a bit of a risky option, considering his horrendous history with women, but his Quirk is useful for infiltration missions, being able to get people to trust you unconditionally could be useful to a new client.

And finally Spark and Kindle, aka The Jukugo Twins. These two were pretty new to the game, but had quite an impressive history in arson, though their kill count is none existent, their property damage is much higher than usual pyrokinetics. Depending on the job, they could prove invaluable.

When they entered a small clearing deeper into the trash maze of Dagobah Beach, a figure jumped down a couple of meters from them, creating a cloud of black and green smoke.

"Super Hero landing" Spark snorted.

"I heard that shits hard on ya knees" Kindle whispered to his brother.

The figure who could only be his newest client stood from his kneeling position and introduced himself. "Greetings, I... Am The Bright Lord"

Giran took a drag of his cigarette, "So I've heard... Quite the entrance you made, and that's some pretty fancy armour for a newby"

The Bright Lord seemed to understand the unsaid question. "It's true I'm new to this, but don't underestimate my abilities or equipment"

The broker would deny this with his dying breath, but this dudes voice unnerved him. "So, I've heard you need a Broker-" He gestured to the armoured man's envoys. "-and some recruits, so how about we talk about the job?"

The Bright Lord stood there for a moment before nodding. "But before we do, I would like to learn more about my potential recruits"

"Sure" Giran shrugged, turning back to the assembled villains. "This is Spike, she's not too fast but she's a monster in close quarters, that's-"

"No, No... What are their crimes?" The Bright Lord interrupted.

Giran raised his brow but listened. So what if he wanted to see their rep sheet? "Spike mostly deals in robberies and assault, Lure here deals with infiltration, though I doubt he wants any money, just let him have his way with some women and he'll be fine, and Spark and Kindle are your resident arsonists, they'll keep the heroes distracted from whatever you plan"

The man looked over the gathered recruits, before stepping closer to Lure. "You, have you ever raped a woman? Do not lie"

Lure sneered at the masked man. "What? Like you're one to judge you freak, gathering up a crew to do your dirty work?!"

That appeared to be the wrong answer because after a moment of silence Lure was forced to his knees with The Bright Lord's left hand holding him in place. "What a... Shame" 

Then the screaming started, Lure thrashing around in the man's grip. The Bright Lord used his right hand to hold him still and press his left hand harder against Lure.

Finally, after a minute of screaming and thrashing, The armoured man released Izanagi, a new hand-shaped scar on his previously flawless face. The shamed man crawled to his feet and ran, never once looking back.

"Now..." The Bright Lord began, turning to face the small group. "...Let's see what you are capable of..."

Air blasted around the assembled men and woman, a wet mist peppering their faces. Then the hallucinations started.

Chapter Text

Izuku tiredly found his way to Hatsume Baubles, Kajiya was bound to him to make sure that his body didn't collapse from exhaustion. He was too busy thinking over his... "deal" with his new broker, Kajiya leading him to the pinkette's shop.

{"So Bright Lord, How can I be of service?"}

It had taken at least an hour before the assembled group snapped out of their hallucinations, giving Izuku more than enough time to Dominate them all.

He, of course, Dominated the broker, best not to risk him turning on him and selling him out to the highest bidder.

{"I want you to keep track of all the deals you make, find jobs for my recruits, and every fortnight I want you to bring more recruits to this beach"}

{"Sounds simple enough, though I do hope I'm gonna be getting a profit out of our little deal"}

{"If you can bring me any of your competitors or anyone you want to work for you, then you will get their service or their stock"}

{"Sounds good, I'll be seeing you in a bit, Boss!"}

"Izuku, we've arrived," Kajiya said, snapping him out of his memories at the perfect time.

"Thanks, Kajiya" Izuku replied, still empowered by Kajiya's presence within him. With a hint of hesitance, the two marched into the store. They were greeted with a pink-haired woman, but not the pink girl they were familiar with.

This woman was a lot taller than Hatsume, though her hair was longer, but wasn't in the familiar thick locks that he was used to seeing, instead it was tied into a ponytail that reached the middle of her back.

She was wearing a full blue jumpsuit, the top half not tied around their waist like his increasingly favourite, and only, engineer.

He assumed this woman was either Hatsume's mother or older sister. "I swear, if she is as eccentric as our Hatsume, I will make sure we never return here. One Hatsume is enough" He remarked, stepping free of the duo's bond.

The Ring-Bearer merely rolled his eyes as the exhaustion set in full force. "As if, Hatsume's grown on you, plus, I enjoy her energy and I'm the one who controls my body" He whispered, trying not to catch the taller Hatsume's attention whilst seemingly talking to himself.

Kajiya didn't respond and he didn't need to, Izuku could already feel his exasperation. "Excuse me? Miss?" He called out as he approached the woman.

The said woman turned around from, what appeared to be, cleaning the tools. When their eyes met, Izuku was greeted with excited, widened, silver, crosshair eyes. 'Definitely a Hatsume'

"Ah! A customer!" She cheered, dusting off her gloved hands and hopping over to him. "Nice to meet you! What can I do you for?!" She asked, not with the same energy as Mei, but still excited.

Izuku gave her a smile as he took her hand, giving a hearty shake. "Nice to meet you too, I'm here to meet with Hats-... Uh, Mei"

Her lips twitched faster than he could process, so he didn't really know the reason.

"She's wary of us..." Kajiya chimed in, stepping closer to the taller Hatsume. "...Look at her eyes"

Izuku did as he asked and observed her eyes, they were squinted ever so slightly, letting him know that she was watching him carefully and the edges of her lips would twitch at random intervals, tugging down into a frown before returning to an empty smile.

"Oh!-" She said, slipping her hand out of his. "-Can I ask why you're meeting my daughter?"

'Mother, knew it' Izuku thought, thinking over the question. "Mei's a friend, she just has something of mine" He responded.

The elder engineer's features darkened as her crosshairs shrunk, a frown finally stretching across her face.

'Wrong answer'

"Oh, what? Does she have your homework or something? You ask her to build something for you? S'all you leeches ever remember her for!" The woman starts yelling, and Izuku can't help but think that he's missing a few pieces to this puzzle.

"Wh...What?" He asked in genuine confusion.

But Mama Hatsume, 'She still hasn't told me her name', just stomped closer to him, forcing the greenette to take a few steps back. "Well, I'm not letting you little assholes use her and get her hopes up! Now get the fuck out of my shop!"

"Mom! What's going on out- GREEN!" Mei asked as she came out of the backroom, only to basically teleport in front of Izuku and tackle him.

The impact from hitting the ground brought unwelcome memories of bouncing across the pavement which lead to his first-ever death.

Then he was back in the shop, his busty as fuck friend laying atop him while excitedly talking about something. He tuned back in but made no effort to get up, his body too exhausted to even make an attempt.

"-and it's been letting off these weird symbols, so I tried finding out what they meant, then I was able to translate them! And-"

"Hold on, go back! You translated the runes? How?!" Izuku interrupted, making a minimum effort to push himself up, which only accomplished pressing his chest against Mei's. The action instantly triggered his brain to abort, lest he wants to ruin his friendship/partnership with the pink girl.

But obviously, she didn't even notice. "It kept making different strings of symbols, but one of them appeared enough times for me to translate it, I just needed to substitute them for English letters"

Izuku raised an eyebrow. 'In English? Really? I mean I can kinda read it, but why English?' After a moment of musing, he decided to return to the question at hand. "Okay, what did you translate?"

Mei smiled wider as she vibrated and bounced on his lap, 'Ignore it! Ignore it! Ignore it!', "It said 'Mei Hatsume'! It knew my name, that's so cool! Isn't it?"

*Ahem*

Izuku and Mei both turned to the origin of the sound, then remembered that Mei's mother was still here, and probably getting the wrong idea about their relationship with the way she was bouncing on his lap.

"So..." Mama Hatsume began. "...You actually are friends with my Mei?" With this question, he saw Mei flinch ever so slightly before she turned to him.

"Are... Are we friends?" The smaller pinkette asked hesitantly.

"We are definitely missing an important piece of information" 

"Y-Yeah, of course... I mean, if you really want to be... I thought you just wanted to be business partners and wanted to learn about my-" Izuku answered, beginning to dissolve into a mumble spree before his head was pulled between his friend's breasts in a hug.

"Yes! I've never had a proper friend before! Mei cheered as she nuzzled against him.

'Oh god, oh shit, please stop, my heart is going to explode!'

"I could imagine, especially with all that blood going to your-"

'SHUT UP!'

"Hatshume pwease weweash me!" Izuku muffled out in slight panic, he just got his first real friend, he didn't need his hormonal teenage body to screw him over.

"Ah! Sorry" She said without an ounce of remorse in her voice, releasing him from his torture/teenage dream.

Izuku collapsed back onto the floor, attempting to both fight his blush and to not scowl at his snickering spectre.

Mei was pulled off the prone boy by her mother and was offered assistance to stand by the woman. "It looks like I had the wrong idea about you, I'm Hatsume Nanako"

After a second to gather himself, Izuku took the offered hand and was pulled to his feet. "Y-Yeah, uh, I'm Midoriya Izuku" He responded, noticing Kajiya step over to join Mei and looking at their Ring on her finger.

"So... You're the one who gave her that Ring?" Nanako asked, trying to avoid the awkwardness of her previous outburst.

Izuku nodded, his eyes still locked on Kajiya, who was trying to grab his attention and pointing to the Ring. He couldn't get a good view of the band, so he didn't know what his Quirk was trying to convey.

"I've ruined this, haven't I?" Nanako sighed, propping herself against one of the shelves. "I'm sorry, it's just... Mei's classmates are..." She paused while searching for the right word.

"...Leeches?" Izuku offered, repeating the same description she used a few minutes prior. "Is there any reason why that is?" He asked.

Instead of Nanako answering, Mei did. "They think I'm... weird, they don't understand how much my babies mean to me..."

The Ring-Bearer sent Mei a concerned glace, Kajiya standing tall beside her. "It seems she is not entirely different from us, we could change that..." The Quirk prompted.

Izuku wasn't one to take revenge, as long as people torment him they aren't tormenting others, but then he was exposed to the intoxicating power of his Ring, now he can stand against all who stand before him.

The decision to help another came naturally, besides... that's what Heroes do.

Chapter Text

The Child is changing, I doubt he even realises it.

He no longer sleeps at night and he has begun eating less, but he hasn't been suffering from any drawbacks.

He no longer requires the Wraith to assist him after his exercise and takes longer to get tired. 

The Wraith thinks their constant bonding or their new teamwork could be to blame for these changes, and the Wraith is unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth.

That works best for Me...

Izuku's schedule had changed over time, he would wake up, get ready, do some light training then head to school, once school was out he would race to Nabu High School to meet up with Mei, make sure she isn't bothered by any of her classmates, go to the beach, clean up, go home, wait until his mother was sleeping, and go on patrol.

A couple of days of keeping this schedule had caused him to lose sleep and not be able to eat as much, but it didn't bother him at all. He no longer felt an ache in his muscles after working out, which he tried to fix by increasing his exercises, but a worried Toshinori put a stop to that.

So now a few weeks into his training, Izuku stands outside of Nabu High School, still in his own uniform. Today should be the last real day of school.

He is off to the side and his green hair almost lets him blend into the shrubbery he stands beside.

His school ended a few minutes ago, so he booked it before Bakugo could try to start anything, running in tandem with Kajiya is a lot faster than he ever could achieve alone. Add a little parkour and he is able to cross the entire city in less than an hour.

He hears the bell ring and sees movement in the windows, now to wait for Hatsume.

Izuku watches the students walk from the building in groups, talking and laughing. Searching for anyone who previously requested something from his inventor friend.

His Ring heats up as the mob passes him, as it always did, both Izuku and Kajiya weren't quite sure what it was trying to alert them to, but since it never got too hot, they didn't bother, believing it would reveal itself with time.

A minute passes and most of the students have cleared off, leaving behind a few stragglers that left the building periodically, when the ring starts to heat more than usual.

Looking down shows runes he hasn't learnt to read etching into the Ring, but he already gets the gist. He needs to find whatever it wanted now, be it an item or person.

《ᛏᚺᛖ ᛒᛟᛞᚤᚷᚢᚨᚱᛞ ᛁᛋ ᚾᛖᚨᚱ》

Izuku extended his hand and waved it left and right, finding the spot where it heats up the most, once finding that spot he follows it and allows it to guide him.

Curiosity bubbles in his stomach when the Ring leads him towards an alleyway across the street.

When the Ring-Bearer approaches the throat of the alley, he spots three teens in the Nabu High School uniform standing over someone else he couldn't make out.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Izuku yelled, catching the students attention. The dual beings both catalogued their Quirks.

'Metal Knuckles, two unknown, but those burns might mean a fire-based Quirk'

The one with no hints to his Quirk turns around and speaks up. "Oh, Hey! You here to see the Villain get put in his place?"

Izuku eyes narrowed as he stepped closer, his feet treading carefully. The only comfort he had was the heat of his Ring, he was meant to be here.

The teens parted to reveal who was on the ground. The first thing that caught his eye was the gravity-defying purple hair, the next was the muzzle shoved on his face.

It was obvious it was put on forcibly, the boy's cheeks still stained with fresh blood. He was cradling his stomach protectively, now that his assault had stopped.

The purple-haired boy looked up to Izuku with fear in his eyes, flinching when one of the goons beside him moved.

Izuku scowled, which caused the boy to clamp his eyes shut and protect his head. A quiet rhythm of whispers thrumming in his head.

"H̴̺̪̋e̵͔͈͆̐͒ ̶̺̹͍͕͌̿̈́i̵̪̞͌͗s̸̨͔̩̘̈̂ ̴͚̱̪̯͠y̴̯͋ỏ̴̹̹́u̸͕̪̫̩̿͒̌̿r̸͙̄s̸̨̉͗ ̵͔͓͆͑t̷̹̜̽͒̕o̶͎̣͝ ̵̻̫̩͘c̶̛̦̞̿͜l̸͖̺͓̒ä̶͉̯͛̓͋i̴̬̪͍͆̓m̷̧̲͎͓͒̏.̵͓͝.̶̻̠͖̥̿̓͐.̸͎͕͋ ̴͕͔̼̘͋͌̅̚D̷̩̞͍̈́̃e̷͙͍̹͈̋̏s̴̛̲̈́͆̚t̷̨̝̪̜̏͝ṛ̴̢̛͆ő̴̟͇͒̚͜y̴͚͇̔ ̵̲̏t̶̳̘͓̬͐h̴̙͔̖͋̊̓o̴͓̺͚̠̎͌̎̈́s̸̢̯̳̜͆̄̈́e̵̥̹̜̮͝ ̴̞̯̾͠w̶̼͓̦̅́͌h̵̠͊̈́͊ö̵͇̺́ ̶̢̙̹̊ḧ̷̰͔̅͒â̷͇̰̯̈́̅r̷̠̣̤̗̈́͋͌m̶̢̬̾ ̸͚̀̄̽̈w̷͔̃ẖ̶̠̙̎a̴̭̱̠̽̄͋t̸̉̍̃ͅ ̶̞͉͕͉̍̽̊͝i̷̫̜͍͆̐s̶͚͑̆̂̈́ ̷͍̖̲̲̊̑͗̔y̵̜̥̽͊̓̒ͅͅô̷̮͕̈́u̷̱͓̓̄ͅr̴̠̚͜s̷͕̪͋̕͘̚.̸͚̙̪̌̏̿.̷͈̓̚͝.̷̦̺̦̓̓"

And then the world was swallowed by green smoke...

Hitoshi lay on the ground protecting his head as his three tormentors kicked his chest, stomach and legs. They had just shoved his head into a muzzle, tearing some of his skin and aggravating some of his scars from the last time they did this.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" A new voice called out, which got the three to stop their assault, Hitoshi used this opportunity to check his injuries but didn't dare move just yet.

"Oh, Hey! You here to see the Villain get put in his place?" Shinto replied, which caused the prone teen to give a silent prayer.

Hitoshi heard footsteps grow closer and Shinto, Daiko (Knuckles, as he was referred to), and Quichi (Matchstick) step away.

When Hitoshi looked up to see the newcomer, he was met by large, viridian eyes that scanned over him and curly green hair. After a second of looking, a scowl grew on his face.

Hitoshi shut his eyes and braced for the beating he expected.

*CRACK*

Hitoshi's eyes flew open when he heard the sickening noise, he saw Daiko lying unconscious against the wall, his nose clearly broken as blood dribbled from it.

The newcomer delivered Shinto a kick to the nether regions as his leg glowed a strange green, easy to say, Shinto was out of the fight.

Hitoshi brought his eyes up to his... saviour? His eyes were burning with green flames, with black flames settling in the centre, creating eye like flames. The green and black mist slowly ebbed away from his exposed skin. The glowing green man turned to approach Quichi, who had picked up some trash.

He had an interesting Quirk, the ability to turn whatever he touches into fire, not light it on fire, but turn it into fire.

Quichi lobbed some of the trash at the greenette, it turning to fire as soon as it left his hand. Though, throwing fire is a fruitless endeavour, as it fizzled out from the air it rushed through.

In a flash of green, the greenette had his hand on the fire user. "Ķ̵͎͓̪͎͑̒̒N̵͉̰̬̺̂̀̍͗Ë̶͔́̌͛͆E̸̦͋̑̆̊̕L̷̟͙̺̟͉̍̓͑!̷̳̰̳̭̠̑̏" He boomed, forcing Matchstick to his knees as green energy flowed around the greenette's forearm.

For a moment, there was silence, but it was soon broken by the greenette uttering a single word. "W̶̡̻̜̘͝ë̴́̌̚ͅa̴̝̦̦̭͆̋̈́k̶̩̹͈̺͊" As he finished humiliating Quichi he delivered a quick punch to the kneeling boy, which easily eliminated him.

As the final tormentor dropped, the greenette turned to face Hitoshi, the glowing green seeping out of him and his eyes extinguishing, causing him to collapse. The greenette took heavy breaths on his hands and knees, slowly getting to a normal rate. "K-Kajiya... was th-that you?"

Hitoshi didn't know who the greenette was talking to and didn't hear a response, but the green man who saved him looked up to him, stumbling to his feet, muttering a quiet: "You're right"

"Hey, are you alright? Can I remove the..." His saviour trailed off, gesturing to Hitoshi's headpiece. With a nod the muzzle was removed, Hitoshi flexed his jaw from the uncomfortable position it was held in. "You good?" His saviour asked him.

"Y-yeah" Hitoshi answered hoarsely, pulling himself into a sitting position. "Who are you?"

The greenette's eye's flickered to the side, hesitating in his answer. "Izuku Midoriya"

Hitoshi's eyes examined 'Midoriya', he had messy, curly, green hair, and large green eyes. His face was abnormally soft-looking compared to his athletic physique, and he had freckles that formed diamonds on his soft-looking cheeks.

"Midoriya? That some sorta fake name?" Hitoshi snarked, probably sounding a lot more aggressive than he intended. But seriously, this green guy's name was Green Valley?

Midoriya gave him a confused look before answering. "No, that's my name... what's your name?" Hitoshi quickly muttered his name to the greenette.

Midoriya stood and extended a ringed finger to Hitoshi, who took the offered hand and was pulled to his feet, which made him wince at the injuries in his... everything. "Hmm, maybe we should try making a Ring with healing capabilities?..." Midoriya mumbled to himself, weirdly using 'we' instead of 'I'.

"Here, come with us, I was supposed to meet up with a friend, we'll collect her then get you some help" The greenette offered, tugging Hitoshi's arm to the street.

The purple-haired teen gave his saviour an appraising look before nodding, he has no reason to refuse right now, so until he is given a hint as to why he helped him, he'll follow along.

Besides, something inside him is telling him he should follow the green-haired man.

Izuku was back in the alleyway, he didn't know if he had gone somewhere else, but all he can remember was seeing the purple-haired boy then blacking out. "K-Kajiya... was th-that you?"

"No, it wasn't, but we should make sure the boy is alright" Kajiya responded.

"You're right" Izuku responded, getting up from his kneeling position to approach the injured boy. "Hey, are you alright? Can I remove the..." Izuku trailed off and gestured to the muzzle, unsure if calling it a muzzle would be insensitive.

After he got a nod, he fiddled with the straps on the back getting a small click as the mask opened up. When the purple-haired boy was free and adjusted to having his mouth free, Izuku spoke up. "You good?"

"Y-yeah" The stranger answered coarsely, which made Izuku wonder if he tried to scream when they put the muzzle on him. "Who are you?"

Izuku wasn't sure how he wanted to answer that, his first instinct was to go with his real name, but then he worried that this guy might be able to recognise his abilities as The Bright Lord.

"Just give him your real name"

"Izuku Midoriya" The Ring-Bearer answered after a second of hesitation. The purple-haired boy looked him over, probably suspicious of his pause.

"Midoriya? That some sorta fake name?" The teen asked, his voice gathering a bit of its strength back, he was obviously suspicious, but why was the name what caused it?

"No, that's my name... what's your name?" Izuku answered, changing the subject.

"Hitoshi Shinso" Shinso grunted out, his voice still a little strained.

Izuku pulled Shinso to his feet and noticed that he winced in pain, he quietly wondered if he could forge a Ring with healing capabilities.

"Here, come with us, I was supposed to meet up with a friend, we'll collect her then get you some help" Izuku offered, lightly tugging on the boy's sleeve, which he accepted.

When Izuku turned around he was greeted with Kajiya crouching to observe the teens laying across the street, only one seemed to be conscious but he was writhing in agony. "The knuckles guy's nose is broken, you'll have to reset it, lest you want to risk his health" Kajiya pointed out.

Izuku looked at the unconscious teen. "I don't know how to fix a broken nose!" He hissed at his spectre.

"I got it" Shinso mumbled, stepping over to the unconscious body, placing both hands on his nose and twisting, causing an uncomfortable *CRACK*

Izuku blinked at the purple-haired boy, before realization set in. 'If this happens often, then he's probably had to fix his own broken nose...'

He shook his head, clearing the thought out of his head. "Thanks, we should get going though" He mumbled as he helped Shinso back up, leading him out of the alley while sending Mei a text.

"Mei!" Izuku called out, waving his pink-haired friend over as he helped Shinso walk. The inventor snapped to look at him and practically teleported in front of him. 

"There you are, I was starting to get worried that you left me and- What happened to him?" Mei questioned, turning to the purple-haired boy with him.

"Hey, you're that inventor girl" Shinso gritted out, looking up to the pinkette.

"And you're someone I don't remember!" Mei proudly(?) declared. "Future CEO of Hatsume-"

"Mei focus, we need to get him to a hospital or something" Izuku interrupted, looking around.

"Leave it to me!" The inventor saluted, picking up the injured teen with ease, only giving a few moments for Izuku to realise what she was doing.

"Shinso, I'm sorry for what's about to happen" He apologized, receiving a concerned stare from the aforementioned boy.

"Wha-?" He tried to ask, but the Inventor had bolted, disappearing quicker than Izuku thought was possible was caused by his Ring.

"We need to go to the beach, We need to learn what happened" Kajiya requested, receiving a slow nod from Izuku as he began to run to the beach.

Chapter Text

Toshinori walked down the sidewalk, he watched people live their lives, ignoring the odd looks he got, well used to people being afraid of his appearance. He was on his way to check on his successor, and make sure he wasn't overworking himself.

The incognito Hero smiled to himself as he thought about the boy, he was so eager to please Toshinori, but he had a tendency to get ahead of himself. Just a week ago, the greenette had tried to pull a car frame up to the sidewalk.

While the boy did somehow manage to do it, he didn't escape uninjured. A fractured finger or two and a lot of metallic spikes in his hands and fingers. If Toshinori wasn't aware of the boy's absurd durability and apparent immortality, he wouldn't have let Young Midoriya talk him out of taking him to Recovery Girl immediately.

As he drew closer to his successor's training grounds, he could make out the towers of trash and the smell of rust reminding him of the coppery taste in the back of his throat. Toshinori sighed/coughed, he had overexerted himself a little today, but there weren't any nearby Heroes!

"Come On!" Young Midoriya's voice called out, sounding frustrated. The unusual tone of the boy made the blond speed up, the only times the boy got annoyed was when he dropped something on himself or delved into a debate with his Quirk.

As he climbed down the stairs and navigated to the ever-growing clearing, passing by shredded and contorted metal from the last times Young Midoriya got too aggravated by something.

The reminder brought some other things to his mind, while Midoriya was a good boy, he's become... irritable and hot-headed, but only when he's using his Quirk. Maybe it was because of the long period of disuse giving him a power high of some kind, it was kind of worrying.

He'd have to bring it up with him, maybe visit his mother.

Toshinori shook the thought from his head as he reached the opening, and was greeted with Midoriya sitting cross-legged in the sand and staring at his Ring.

"Come on! Why isn't this working?" The boy asked, turning to his right. No doubt to look at Kajiya.

"My Boy?" Toshinori called out, the greenette snapping to look at his position. "Is something wrong?"

Midoriya looked back to his spectral follower with a wordless question before turning back. "A few minutes ago, something... weird happened, I stepped in on some guy's beating up someone then... blacked out, kinda? It's hard to explain when I came to they were all on the ground, neither Kajiya nor I were in control of my body, I was trying to see if I could find out what caused it"

The blond hero walked over to his student and took a seat beside him. "What happened with the boy being beaten?"

"Mei took him to a hospital, made sure he wasn't too hurt, I needed to make sure I wasn't going to blackout and attack anyone" Midoriya informed, looking around at the scrap.

Toshinori hummed in thought for a second. "So you weren't worried about attacking me, I'm wounded!" He joked, placing a hand over his heart.

The greenette chuckled before laying down. "Please, if I attacked you all it would take is one punch from you to stop me"

The two sat in comfortable silence for a minute, before Midoriya clapped. "I should probably get to cleaning, huh?" He didn't wait for a response, bouncing to his feet and jogging to get started.

Toshinori moved from his spot to find a better vantage point to watch his successor, a fond smile spreading across his face as he watched the boy talk to his Quirk and ask it questions.

Though his thoughts lingered on the previous discussion, it was worrying to hear that Midoriya had blacked out and defeated three opponents. 'I wonder what could have caused it'

The glint of green for his student's Ring caught his eye for a moment, which brought a memory forth.

"My Ring burns weird runes into itself, Kajiya and I think it might have a mind of its own"

'Could the Ring have taken over? Or is there another entity inside his Ring?' Toshinori wondered as he watched his student.

The day came to a close, Izuku didn't plan to patrol all night tonight, a couple of Underground Heroes had started to patrol around his area. It pissed him off a little to be honest, like, now they choose to patrol? Now that he's sneaking out at night?

A small part of him told him that they had come seeking The Bright Lord.

Izuku said his goodbyes to All Might and pulled out his phone, seeing a new message from Mei.

Mei: Hey! That guy with the purple hair asked me where to find you! He might come to the junkyard tomorrow

Thanks for the heads up, I'll make today up for you :Izuku

He didn't bother to put his phone away, knowing Mei she would respond in... three... two...

*PING*

Mei: YOU'LL MAKE BABIES WITH ME?!

Izuku sighed as he looked at the message, hoping his mother never reads his text history with his inventive friend. He typed in his response and took off for home.

After a quick run and some swift usage of his Quirk he returned home, he gave his greeting to his mother and decided to pass the time by doing something he hasn't done in a while:

Sleeping.

He set an alarm, changed clothes and collapsed on his bed, his Ringed finger resting in front of his face. A thought tracing his mind as he drifted away.

'What happened today?'

W̵̨̨̢̧̢̢̙̲̲͕̯͓͎͈͈͓͈̲͎̤̱̱̜͉͚̳̱̣̪̥̟̺̠̹͎̩̤̲͍͈͎̯̣̻͔̻̤̦͙̝͓̯̯͉͙̘͕̥̩̯̞͕̫͖̠̪̰̪͔͕̮̭̑̅̾̒̐͊͊̇̑̀̊̄̂͆̏̐̽̾̈́̓̌̓̿͆̈͂͆̓͒̐͌̀̍͒̾͋͆̆͌̔̇̾̂̌̅͊̈́̕̕̕̕̚͜͝͠ͅh̷̲̫̻̲̹̹̮̙̿̃̽̿̐̃̆̈́̑̒̇̀͆͒͐͆̎͘͝͠å̸̢̢̧̫͎̹̘͚̝̺͓͔̭̙̭̱̥̻̝̰̬̦͕͓͙̰̦̭̱̩͕̬̥̦̟̣̗͖̮̳͖̈́̽̽̌̽̇͋̔́̀̀̎͋̍̏̀̈́̈́̾̒̀̓̄͌̈̓͒̀͌̿̓̉̆̃͐͂̇̈́́̕͘̕̕͜͝͝͠͠͠͝͠͝t̵̨̛̻̖̞̥̳͍͈̠̮̓̒̾͛̾̓͒͊̇̾͊̌̀͆̈̈́̌͋͛͗͂̈́̌̓̐̋̔̌̎͑̈͑̏͑̉̚̚̕̚̕̚͠͝͝͝͠͝͝ ̴̧̨̻͇͍̬̜̟̲̩͚͔̩̰̚͜͜ḓ̷̨̹̜͎̺̭̻͑́ͅo̵̢̧̡̡̢̡̡̬̩̠̻̘̫͎̳̜̠̰̣̱̟͙̞͈͇̝̘̥͖̝̗̞̫̼̝͓̭̙̣̩̗̥̣̝̣͈̠͚͚̟̱͓͖̪͖͍̜͇̯̥̳̣̺̗̥̘̝̱̟͔͔̣̺͈̯̝̩̝͋͑̒̉̽̀̇͑̏́̔̔̈́̔̓̿̊̋̔͋̉̃͊̏̐̒̈́͐̈̿͒̂͑͐͛̑̈͊̍͜͜͜͝͝͝͝ͅͅ ̸̡̡̧̧̢̛̩̜̱̰̺̖͇̖̗̯͔̤͓̯͍̜̳̼͎̙̼̲͚̟͈͓̪̫̭̞͉̹͖̬̩̹͇̗̲̝̠̪̠͇̗̰̼̫̣̯̳̗̦̺̘̞̣̝̙̳͉͑̿̈́̉͌͋͛͜͜͜͜͝ͅͅͅÿ̵̢̡̨̛͇͖͓̟͈̹̰̰̩̱̫̫͕̩̱̹̼͖͉̦͐̍̏͗̐̊̎͂̉̅̒̉͑͛̂̈́̈̋͌͂͑̊͛͆̏̐̾̈̾̐͑̾͌̐̎̋̊̓͋̐̕̕ơ̷̢̧̡̧̱̦̯̟͈̲͖͖͈͕̹͍̭̤̖͇̪̟̝̜͓͙̗͓̹̘͚̰͇̽̈́̔͋̌̈́̐̃̂̋̾̌̆͂̔̎͊͒̈́̓̽̇͐͂̍̈̈̂͋͗̅͑͌͊͘̕̕͜͠͠͝͝ư̸̢̢̨̬̘̣̼̠͎̫̜̑̔́͛̍̈́͌̇̂͗͂̒̆̏̒̾́̒́̃̄̃̉̌̉̓̒́̀̈́͊̿͂̉̊͑̂̍̀̍̌͗̎̀̒͋̀͊̿̈̀̄̏̽͛̈́̐͐͘̕̕̕͘͜͠͝͠ ̷̧̡̘͓̫̜̜͔̖̳̼̣͖̠̭̤͍̋͗̂̈́̽̈́̅̏̅́̐̀͐͌̌͛̓̊̃̐͐͌̍̆͂͂̋̇̏͐́͂̒̑̒̍̈́̇̾̈́̂̕̚̚̕͝͝͝͝͝͠͠ͅw̷̧̡̢̡̨̨̧̼̖̰̳̦͉̯̟̥͎̮̺̻̣͈͙̻̳͍͖͙̗̲͇̯̪̠̤̮̻̣̗͈̫̖̪̳̳̦̰͔̻̮͙͉̭͓̖͌̐͗͂͊̏̍͌̊̈́̀̒͆̋͆̈͊̾̈́̈͑͗̿̍̒̽͒̈́̍̔͂͒̃̉̕͘̚̚͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͠ͅa̶̡̛̛̙̼̖̩͕̼̝̪̩̼͖̙̝̦̟͗̂̈́̅͌̇͗̽̔͋̇̓͐̍̒̈́͗͗̉̃͗̎̄̓͗̏̇̇́̒̄̈̐͂̽̋̚͘̕̚̕͝͝͠ṅ̵͙̳͎̥̲̥͖̠͍̯̳͉̝̟̭͙̺͖̱̬̲̲͍̼͑͋̂̾̈́̎̆̈́́̈́͗́̀̆̈́̓͂̆̈́̌̉͘̕̕͘̕̕̚͝͠͝͝ͅt̶̢̢̢̰̻̗͓̰̻̩͓̠͓̣͖̫̻͉̮̥̮͇̳̩̣̝͉̣̗̲͚̘̖͇̦̻͉͕̹͙̹̤̤̗̺̝͖̩̗̟͔̩̬̰̳̰̻̻͉͎̘͓̐̂̆̉̑̾̓̅̈́̾̌͌͌̀̈́̋́͗̅̒̽̿̆̂̒̚͠ͅͅ?̵̢̢̢̨̨̛͔̪̭̣͔̟̗͔̪͚̮̳̼̬̫̣̲̩̫̮̟͔̭̤̬̼͚̘̖͍̙͍̳̪̠̠͔̰̯̘͈͈̞̯̼̫̭̳͔͙̤̗̫̤̲͇̰̤̟̺͇̬͎͔͈͔̠̤͇͍̟͖̹͊̎.̷̢̥̘̰̹̘͌́͒͊̄̐͌̄̇̒̓̒̃.̵̨̣͔̗̳̬̗̭̋́̐̆̾̃̅́̅̏̍̓̔̈́̚͝.̷̢̧̨̜̦̲̼̬̳̮̺̲̳̫̲̳̦̩̰͉̟̲͇͓̫̮͓̱̘̠̖̘̥͊͋̓̄̌̂͊͗͆̿͐͛̇̑͗̿̂̅̎̂̂͑͒̎̾́̒̕̚͘̕͜͝ͅ

Izuku's eyes snapped open at the voice, pushing himself off his bed. But as he rose, he realised he was no longer on his bed, or in his room for that matter.

He looked around from his spot on the black floor, he couldn't tell how big the area was since it looked like an endless abyss, the only things that stood out to him were the green and black fog from his Quirk, and that the air itself looked stained with green.

*THUMP*

Izuku snapped his eyes to the general area of the noise, it sounded like something metal stamping on the ground. He picked himself up and tried to call on his Quirk...

...Nothing.

The greenette looked down at his Ring to see the problem but was met with a naked hand.

*THUMP*

The Ring-Bearer looked back up as the sound grew closer, he slowly stepped backwards, trying to buy time to find the cause of the noise. After a couple of steps, however, he hit something.

Izuku turned around to see what he had touched but was greeted by Kajiya. After a fraction of a second to process the information, he stepped forward...

...Kajiya mimicked him.

Izuku stopped and rose his right hand slowly, only to have Kajiya mirror the action.

*THUMP*

Izuku turned to see if he could see what was causing the noise but was once again met by darkness. Izuku turned back to Kajiya and looked at his hand.

"You don't have it either?" Izuku mumbled, his voice echoing around the abyss.

After a beat of silence, he heard what sounded like metal grating against metal.

Y̵̨̨̗͙̣̾͑̓͜o̸̡̢̨̬̪̝̘̝̞̹̯̊͐͑̂͊͆̀͆̕͜ų̸̺̝̺̼̣̣̬̺̹̹͔͛̈́̊̽̾̔̏̏̈́͆̔͘͝'̸͚̤̍̈́̑͝ŗ̵͚̠̯͓̠̰͕̠͑́͋͆̆̀̐̉͊̈̚͜͜͝ͅͅe̷̢̖̬̤͕͍͍͍̖̜̦̝͛̓̋̿̐͊͗͝ ̷̡̑̾̊̋̃͊̊͠H̴͓͉̯͚̝̥͇͇̿̌̎̃͘͠͝ȩ̵͈͇̩̠̯̽̏̒͐͌̿̂̒̏ř̵̜̲̈́̎̐̀̎̉̆̐̅̍̌͝ẽ̷̗͎̤͈̩͚̔̄́̚ͅ.̵̰͎̹̳̬̮̻̯̥̫͔̀̽̆.̴̧̣̱̱̤͎̘͓͍̌̄̚.̷̨̙͓̥͖́̇͛̊̈͘͘͠"̴̧̧̦͕̭̮̯̖͍̜̈́̋̍͛́̏͑̈́̚

Izuku's blood froze as he heard the voice, it was coarse and deep, making the entire abyss shudder as it spoke. It sounded like how Kajiya and himself were bound except... stronger.

"Who's there?!" Izuku yelled out, turning to find the speaker.

A sudden heat from behind him made him freeze, every single cell in his body told him he was in danger, but all he could do was shakily turn to see the cause.

A Giant Green Flaming Eye.

"̶̧̢̨̧̢̢̛͉̮̬̘̦̬̲͖̙̯͉͉̠̼͖͕̟͚̱͈̪͔̘̺̱̯̮̺̝̘̣̞̱̮̼̭̯̰͎̎͐̈̓̌͊̈́̉̿͂͊̈́́̔̑̋̎̒̓̍̐̉̾͊͂̍̓̄̾͌̑̕͘̚̕̕͜͜͝͠͝͝ͅÏ̸̢̩͓̮̱̘̭͉͔̦̮͈͓͓͕͎̫͑̆̋͆̑̓̿͌͋͋̾̈́̓͗̋̇̌̿͒͛͌̓̀̅̔̌̓́͐̌̍̾̋̍͗̒̿̊̊̈́̏̆͌̊͒͌͊͆͑͛͂̋̂͘̕̕͝ ̵̛̛̛̛̫̘̻͓̺̦̺̣̄̓̔̍͗̈̑̃͗̏̇̀̋̅̐̎̏̈͋͂͆͗̋̎͒̋̍͂̈́͂̐̇͑̌̅̐̌̓̓̓̎̾̒̒̇̇͋͂́͌̈́̈́̔̊̈̀̌̏̌͑̍̅̊̽̓̚͘͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝ͅS̷̡̨̛̛̮̖̯̙͚̝̣͉̙̭̖͙̣̝͔̻̹̗̥̣̙̖̝̃̈̾͊̒͛̊͊̃̅́̒͒̆͆̅̎͊̓̑̾̿̎̃̾͐̏̃̍̇̍͆̊̅̈͗͑̎̏͛̏̿͊̄̉̑͗̅̅̇̈́̍̎͊̐́̈́̓̌͒̚̚̕̚̕͘̕͜͠͝͠͝Ę̷̧̛̜͍͙̼͙́̄̽̇̊́̿̒̋̈́̓̎̑̉͂͒́͌̊̏̍͋̔̐̽͒̽̄̇̓͑́͘̚̕͠͠͝Ȅ̷̡̛̛͈͚̪̞̖̲̱͖̪͓̭͚̮͍͙͍͔̗̦̯̪̩̘̮̹͔̬̣͚̳̭̼̯͈̲͈͈̲̲̹͎̩̭̦̖̰̦͖̬͓͚̖͙͙͙͓͕̟̯̥̄̑͛̃̈̄̅̽̍͐̒̉̑̈̓̍͐̀͛̽̏̑̔͆̆̑̉͂͑͊͊͛̉͛͂̂͂̓̑̌͌͂́͗̇̒͂͛͐̈̔̑̅̇͆̉̔͒̆͌̃́̿̽͆̚̚̕͜͜͝͠͝͠͠͝͝ͅ ̸̧̡̡̛͙̻̯̩͈̪̤̝̣͍̼̻͍̻͕̠̤̊͒̾̆̐͑̒̌̐̑͒̆̐̉̅̇̉̈́͑̎̆̍̿̃̈̄͊͑͌̿̍̑̔͌̽̇̀̉̑̈̐̉̐̈́̅̆͌̈́̀̚͘̕͘͘͜͠͠͝͝Y̶̧̡̢̝͈͔̝͈͓͖̦̠͎̙̞̜̙̟̥̫͇̝̠̘̣͎͎͇͇͙̜̺͍̖̹̮̘̜̘̗̓̊͑̑͊͊̔͊̿̐͠ͅͅƠ̴̞̻̙̹̠̫͕̬͚͖̘̺̝̱͗̽̊̋̈̈̎͋̏̔̅̾͊̈̈̿̉̆̓̄̈́̏̐̏̋͛̇̓̔͘͘̚̕͘͜͜͝͝͠͠U̴̡̨̢̨̨̡̢̢̡̨̜̗̮̜̩͖͇̳̲͎̻̳̖͚͙̙̖̬̩̜͈͉̤̦̼̮̖̙͈̤̝͕̻͈̜̗͚̘̱͙̺̠̯̙͙͇̝̥̪͕̘̟̿̉̓̋̍̍͋́̈͗̾̋̑̈́̓͐̑̽̕͜͜͝͠ͅ"̷̨̡̢̡̗̺̥͍̗̫͍͙̭̰͓̠̺̺͙̦̰̟̖͔͇̜̳̳̺̥͓̱͉̩͒͑̉̌͒̾̀̍̊̓̉̾̂̒̉͗̋̓͘͘͝͝͝͝͠

Izuku shot up from his bed, sweat beading down his forehead. He breathed carefully as he took in his surroundings, he was in his room, he was home...

He's safe.

Izuku, now under the guise of the Bright Lord, jumped across buildings as he went on his patrol. His Ring was heating up a little as he ventured across the area, though he wasn't interested in searching for the cause. He stopped his parkour and looked down an alley to make sure no one was doing anything suspicious there.

Though he wasn't paying too much attention since his dream had shaken something within him, he was just trying to clear his mind.

This is probably why he didn't notice the person sneaking up on him.

"Hey there, hubby!" A feminine voice called out from behind him, a hand clasping on his shoulder. Izuku jumped slightly as he turned to see the intruder, where he was met with a green-haired woman in a green and orange outfit.

He recognized the woman as Ms Joke, an underground hero with a Quirk that caused people to laugh, though they needed to be laughing to activate.

"Oh, hang on, you ain't Eraser" The hero muttered as she looked at Izuku, stepping back and adopting a fighting stance.

Izuku and Kajiya might be strong, but he hasn't had the chance to gauge how well he would handle a Pro, besides, he would rather have them know he's on their side first. "You are correct, I am not Eraser... I am The Bright Lord, and I am not your enemy"

Ms Joke blinked at the admission but didn't drop her stance. "I think I've heard of you, some civies said you saved them from being mugged, though you did give orders to the criminals"

Izuku nodded. "It is an aspect of my Quirk, I dominate the villainous to further the safety of the district, with these criminals under my control I am able to stop major crimes before they happen" The Bright Lord explained, he needed to put his cards on the table to gain the pro's trust.

The woman dropped her stance finally as she responded. "So you're not a villain, you're a vigilante?"

"Correct"

"Well cool! Wanna help me find Eraser, I think he may be avoiding me" She asked, jokingly whispering the last part.

Izuku looked at the laughing pro before him in surprise. "You're... not going to arrest me?"

"Nah, I don't get a problem with vigilantes, Eraser may act all tough about them but he's a softie, besides I could use a new patrol buddy!" Ms Joke said, nudging him with her elbow. "Now c'mon! I think I saw Eraser!"

Izuku watched the pro jump a couple of buildings before he followed, the woman proving a good distraction.

Especially since Kajiya has been unnaturally quiet.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat on a rusted dishwasher on Dagobah beach, finished with his workout and all alone, waiting for the purple-haired guy to arrive. The boy was wearing his usual green tracksuit, but had the top off, revealing a blue tank top.

The greenette stared at the band bound to his finger, still slightly afraid of his vision.

A Giant Green Flaming Eye.

 

 

 

"̶̧̢̨̧̢̢̛͉̮̬̘̦̬̲͖̙̯͉͉̠̼͖͕̟͚̱͈̪͔̘̺̱̯̮̺̝̘̣̞̱̮̼̭̯̰͎̎͐̈̓̌͊̈́̉̿͂͊̈́́̔̑̋̎̒̓̍̐̉̾͊͂̍̓̄̾͌̑̕͘̚̕̕͜͜͝͠͝͝ͅÏ̸̢̩͓̮̱̘̭͉͔̦̮͈͓͓͕͎̫͑̆̋͆̑̓̿͌͋͋̾̈́̓͗̋̇̌̿͒͛͌̓̀̅̔̌̓́͐̌̍̾̋̍͗̒̿̊̊̈́̏̆͌̊͒͌͊͆͑͛͂̋̂͘̕̕͝ ̵̛̛̛̛̫̘̻͓̺̦̺̣̄̓̔̍͗̈̑̃͗̏̇̀̋̅̐̎̏̈͋͂͆͗̋̎͒̋̍͂̈́͂̐̇͑̌̅̐̌̓̓̓̎̾̒̒̇̇͋͂́͌̈́̈́̔̊̈̀̌̏̌͑̍̅̊̽̓̚͘͝͝͝͝͝͠͝͝ͅS̷̡̨̛̛̮̖̯̙͚̝̣͉̙̭̖͙̣̝͔̻̹̗̥̣̙̖̝̃̈̾͊̒͛̊͊̃̅́̒͒̆͆̅̎͊̓̑̾̿̎̃̾͐̏̃̍̇̍͆̊̅̈͗͑̎̏͛̏̿͊̄̉̑͗̅̅̇̈́̍̎͊̐́̈́̓̌͒̚̚̕̚̕͘̕͜͠͝͠͝Ę̷̧̛̜͍͙̼͙́̄̽̇̊́̿̒̋̈́̓̎̑̉͂͒́͌̊̏̍͋̔̐̽͒̽̄̇̓͑́͘̚̕͠͠͝Ȅ̷̡̛̛͈͚̪̞̖̲̱͖̪͓̭͚̮͍͙͍͔̗̦̯̪̩̘̮̹͔̬̣͚̳̭̼̯͈̲͈͈̲̲̹͎̩̭̦̖̰̦͖̬͓͚̖͙͙͙͓͕̟̯̥̄̑͛̃̈̄̅̽̍͐̒̉̑̈̓̍͐̀͛̽̏̑̔͆̆̑̉͂͑͊͊͛̉͛͂̂͂̓̑̌͌͂́͗̇̒͂͛͐̈̔̑̅̇͆̉̔͒̆͌̃́̿̽͆̚̚̕͜͜͝͠͝͠͠͝͝ͅ ̸̧̡̡̛͙̻̯̩͈̪̤̝̣͍̼̻͍̻͕̠̤̊͒̾̆̐͑̒̌̐̑͒̆̐̉̅̇̉̈́͑̎̆̍̿̃̈̄͊͑͌̿̍̑̔͌̽̇̀̉̑̈̐̉̐̈́̅̆͌̈́̀̚͘̕͘͘͜͠͠͝͝Y̶̧̡̢̝͈͔̝͈͓͖̦̠͎̙̞̜̙̟̥̫͇̝̠̘̣͎͎͇͇͙̜̺͍̖̹̮̘̜̘̗̓̊͑̑͊͊̔͊̿̐͠ͅͅƠ̴̞̻̙̹̠̫͕̬͚͖̘̺̝̱͗̽̊̋̈̈̎͋̏̔̅̾͊̈̈̿̉̆̓̄̈́̏̐̏̋͛̇̓̔͘͘̚̕͘͜͜͝͝͠͠U̴̡̨̢̨̨̡̢̢̡̨̜̗̮̜̩͖͇̳̲͎̻̳̖͚͙̙̖̬̩̜͈͉̤̦̼̮̖̙͈̤̝͕̻͈̜̗͚̘̱͙̺̠̯̙͙͇̝̥̪͕̘̟̿̉̓̋̍̍͋́̈͗̾̋̑̈́̓͐̑̽̕͜͜͝͠ͅ"̷̨̡̢̡̗̺̥͍̗̫͍͙̭̰͓̠̺̺͙̦̰̟̖͔͇̜̳̳̺̥͓̱͉̩͒͑̉̌͒̾̀̍̊̓̉̾̂̒̉͗̋̓͘͘͝͝͝͝͠

The teen shivered in a cold sweat at the memory, a phantom heat sinking into his back. "Kajiya... what else is in our Ring?"

The Wraith appeared, dragging forth the green and black fog that had lingered in his dream. "I don't know, but whatever is in there is strong... Stronger than both of us"

Izuku's eyes shifted to the side to look at the spectre. "But it's a part of my Quirk, it should be a part of me" He hissed, tension forming in his shoulders.

Kajiya remained silent for a moment, before mumbling. "Or perhaps We are a part of It" With that final thought the Wraith disappeared, not helping in Izuku's spiral.

Maybe he shouldn't think too much about it, maybe it was just a nightmare born of his outburst. The thought was little comfort to the Ring-Bearer, so he thought about his escapade with Ms Joke.

The woman would've been pleasant to be around if he wasn't trying to keep The Bright Lord a badass figure. Eraserhead was more The Bright Lord's style, calm, rational, efficient.

But Eraserhead was a prickly man, by that he means he's a prick. He always acts so annoyed with everything even though Izuku can tell that, behind the exasperation of Ms Jokes countless puns, he enjoyed his time with her.

The man was a secret softie, it was as simple as that.

Izuku's Ring heated up, signalling the arrival of the boy he helped and breaking him from his thoughts. The greenette turned to look at the newcomer, spotting Mei tagging the boy's side in her usual getup.

Shinso, if he remembers correctly, was wearing a plain long-sleeved black shirt, dark grey jeans, and yellow shoes.

Izuku waved the duo over, taking a quick drink from a water bottle before jumping up to meet them halfway. "Good to see you all patched up, Shinso, Right?" Izuku asked, hoping to get it right.

Shinso stared at the greenette in what might have been shock before nodding. "Y-yeah, you remember me?"

"Of course!" Izuku announced. "Besides, it's not like I'd forget the day I went into a frenzy and unconsciously beat three goons" He tacked on anxiously, rubbing his neck.

"Riight" Shinso drawled out, stepping away briefly. "So... you cleaning this beach?" He asked, looking at the steadily decreasing mounds of trash.

"Yeah, I either take it to the dump, to Mei's shop or save it to meltdown" Izuku informed, gesturing to the makeshift forge across the sand.

"I make the best babies around!" Mei happily chimed in, puffing her chest out in pride.

'Not that she needs to- No! Stop ogling your friend!'

"A-Anyway, why'd you want to come out here?" Izuku stuttered, cheeks a little pink from his wandering gaze.

Shinso turned around, rubbing his shoulder as if he was embarrassed. "I wanted to thank you for saving my ass, and I wanted to ask if you could train me" He requested, his voice dropping to a near whisper.

"I'm not much of a teacher, but I can give it a shot!" Izuku cheerfully replied, knowing that his Ring wanted the boy around. "I'd have to ask my trainer if you can help me clean this place up since it's starting to have no effect on me" He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"R-Really? Just like that?" Shinso asked, obviously surprised he hadn't needed to convince the Ring-Bearer.

"Yep! Though I should get to work forging you a Ring, it should help you more and will let me try to refine my craft" Izuku replied happily, ideas buzzing in his head as he hopped over to his pile of scrap metal. "So what metal are you hoping for? I'm not sure if the material affects the Ring, so I'll need to test that, so not copper..." He asked, slowly descending into his muttering.

Shinso stared at the ranting greenette, turning to look at the pinkette who escorted him. "Your boyfriend always like this?" The pinkette he was speaking to was fiddling with the Ring on her finger, a look of thought on her face as she looked up to the purplette.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Greenie's like that all the time" She offhandedly remarked, before skipping over to the kneeling boy. "Hey, Green? You made my ring out of copper right?"

"Uh-huh," Izuku hummed, picking up a box of stainless steel forks, mumbling about melting it down.

"And it was bronze when you finished, not silvery?" Mei continued, wriggling the ring free from her finger and shoving it in the Ring-Makers face.

The ring, instead of being copper, looked more like pure silver. The greenette snatched the ring from her, staring at it in shock. Shinso watched on in confusion, feeling like he's missed a lot of context.

"When did this happen?" Izuku asked breathlessly, holding the gleaming ring to catch the sunlight, a green gleam of energy pulsing around the metal.

"Maybe a few day's ago, I didn't really realise until now" Mei offered, pressing herself against his side to try and see what he was seeing. Not that he truly saw anything important, only looking in awe at the silver ring in his hand.

Izuku shook his head, handing the ring back to its owner, his thought running a mile a minute. 'One thing at a time, Shinso's training, All Might, I need to text him'

"We'll test this development out later, if you can, try to figure out if it actually is silver, or just appears like it. And try not to destroy it" Izuku ordered, pulling his phone out to text his mentor.

"Don't worry, from my tests I'm pretty sure your Rings are pretty much indestructible!" Mei cheered, slipping the Ring back onto her finger, green energy radiating from her for a moment before disappearing.

"You tried to destroy it?!" Izuku hears Kajiya growl, and he can't help but feel the same sentiment.

"Unpacking that later..." He grunted, sending the girl a pointed glare, she didn't seem to care. "...I'll message Al- my mentor about adding you to the training, can we trade numbers?"

Shinso jumped at suddenly being addressed, then fumbling to retrieve his phone. Izuku smiled at the anxiety Shinso displayed but felt bad for him because he knows what it was like to be that way because he was the exact same younger.

That thought helped him realise something, he didn't know why Shinso was being assaulted, they had called him a villain, didn't they? Did it have to do with his Quirk? "Sorry if this is personal, but... what's your Quirk?"

The purplette froze and paled at the question, staring at the Izuku as he typed in his information. "...I... Why do you want to know?"

"First time I met you, you were getting assaulted and called a villain, and it's obvious with your anxiety that you're not, so I'm just curious" Izuku answered, handing Shinso his phone.

The insomniac gulped as he looked down, seemingly in thought, most likely weighing his options. After a moment, he finally spoke up. "...Brainwashing..."

That got Izuku to jump slightly, excitement bubbling in his stomach. 'He's kinda like me!'

"Can you keep a secret?" Izuku asked, a smile spreading across his face. Shinso looked at him in surprise but nodded nonetheless. "My Quirk lets me brainwash people too" 

Shinso eye's widened a bit, before confusion set in. "Wait, I thought it was an enhancement type, but..." The boy trailed off as he recollected the fight.

"I'll have to explain it all tomorrow, but for now, we should probably head home, it's getting late" Izuku warned, looking to the setting sun. "You should come back here tomorrow, I'm sure my trainer would jump at the chance to have another student"

Izuku started packing up his stuff and gave Mei a parting hug, getting picked up by his shorter friend. They both gave each other their goodbyes before the inventor dashed away.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Shinso!" Izuku waved as he walked home, excited at the chance to make a new friend.

Shinso just watched him leave, feeling exhaustion at just how much energy the two friends had displayed. "Uh, yeah!" He called out lamely, his mind swirling from the interaction.

'Why do I feel like I made a mistake associating with this guy?' Shinso wondered.

Chapter Text

"So, you're Young Shinso?" Toshinori asked, he and his successor stood amongst the clearing. Young Midoriya presented the purple-haired boy that eerily reminded him of Aizawa.

Young Midoriya's lady friend was here also, but was somewhere within the trash maze, searching for an engine or something.

"Yes, sir!" Young Shinso responded dutifully, appearing to be hiding his anxiety and excitement.

Toshinori chuckled a little. "No need to be so formal, just call me Mr Yagi. Now, I've heard you want training, may I ask why?"

"I... Uh..." Young Shinso started, his face twitching a little and shifting his weight on his feet. "..." I want to be a Hero, despite my... Quirk"

Toshinori hummed. "Brainwashing, right? That's a pretty useful Quirk" And it was, Young Midoriya had spent an hour and sent a bunch of blocks of texts explaining how useful it could be, although he's pretty sure Midoriya mentioned that he could also brainwash people.

"You think so?" The tired-looking teen asked, eyes wide as he sent a glance to the greenette by his side.

"Of, course!" The emancipated hero ensured. "As Young Midoriya had stated in his text, it would be perfect during hostage situations, ensuring the victim's safety"

The Ring-Bearer sent a smug glance at the awestricken teen, as he twirled a green sword in his hand.

Three months of training later, we see our Hero standing atop a building underneath a full moon, looking down an alleyway as he followed his target. His underlings have reported that Trigger has become much easier to obtain, and it led back to someone of this description.

The man he's currently following wore a black face mask and a black overcoat and was carrying a duffel bag. Though from most of his reports, the dealer would apparently wear a beaked mask.

"Bright Lord" A gruff voice spoke up, announcing their presence. Izuku took his eyes off his target to greet the newcomer.

"Eraserhead, It's good to see you, no Ms Joke?" He lightly teased, whilst The Bright Lord was meant to be seen as an intimidating, badass figure, his constant interaction with the underground Hero made him grow fond of the man.

Said Pro grunted in annoyance as he joined him by the ledge. "She's dealing with her students, now, what are you tracking this guy for?"

"Trigger Dealer, maybe some other drugs" Izuku responded, watching the man meet up with some random thugs, all of them were colour-coded.

Eraserhead shuffled from beside him, no doubt pulling some binoculars out to get a closer look.

The two dark figures watched the dealer wait in the alleyway for a couple of minutes before a handful of men entered. They all wore leather coats and chains wrapped around their necks, so a specific biker gang.

"They've got guns" Eraserhead grumbled.

"Then we'll need to act quickly" Izuku countered, summoning his spectral bow. He drew back the string as a blue-tipped arrow formed. "When I release this, the dealer will be pinned to the ground, giving us time to deal with the fodder"

Eraserhead nodded before sneaking off to get a better vantage point. Izuku watched him silently until he gave a signal he was prepared.

After a few silent moments, Eraserhead gave a thumbs up. With that, Izuku released the bowstring, the arrow piercing the masked man's left foot and encasing it in ice. 

"Fuck!" The man cried out, dropping his case as he knelt down and grabbed at their foot.

Before the others could get their bearings, Eraserhead and The Bright Lord descended onto them, two were immediately knocked out of the fight. Leaving three to deal with.

Izuku let Eraserhead make the first move, watching as he bound one of the thugs up and sprinted towards him. Izuku then summons his hammer and dashed to another, and promptly smacked him over the head.

One left.

Izuku stood at his full height, allowing his presence to strike fear into the thug. "This is the End" He taunted.

The last guy, a pretty scrawny ginger man was shaking in his boots. This gave Izuku easy access to Dominate the thug. He forcibly grabbed him and forced him to his knees. 

Izuku took a moment to think over this man, he didn't seem to be very brave or strong and possibly wasn't very deep in the gang, so he wouldn't be much use.

"Who do you serve?!" He asked instead, clawing into the man's mind.

The man groaned for a second before speaking. "The Boss' name is Toxin Claw, th-that's all I know!" He pleaded.

Not seeing any reason to keep this one, Izuku delivered a swift punch and let the man drop.

The armoured teen turned to look at the still pinned masked man. Now to find out where these drugs are coming from.

Izuku grabbed the man and began forcing his will. "Where do you get these drugs?!"

"I-I dunno! The boss either makes it or leaves it to the others!" The masked man explained. 'Not enough'

"What types of drugs are you selling?!" He asked instead.

"T-Trigger and the Quirk erasers!" He yelped.  'Quirk erasers?'

"What are the Quirk Erasers?!"

"The Boss makes 'em! Uses a kid I think! Please that's all I know!" The man begged, he'd have to stop now, otherwise, he might cause irreversible harm.

"You will serve me!"

"N-NO! HE'D KILL ME IF I BETRAYED HIM!" The man screamed, trying to pull himself away. 'Who the hell is the Boss?'

Before Izuku could decide whether to keep pushing or release the masked man, Eraserhead tapped on his shoulder.  "Bright Lord, that's enough"

Izuku growled in annoyance before he let go of the man, stepping back. While probing him was no longer an option, normal questioning was still on the table.

But before either of the Heroes could speak, the masked man pulled out a handgun and shot at the two of them. Since Izuku was the only one who could take a bullet, he tackled Eraserhead to give him cover.

Only three shots rang out, the second one making Izuku's side explode with pain. He rolled off of the elder man as he grabbed at his side.

Eraserhead didn't seem to realise his pain as he immediately went for the masked man, but quickly he stopped. "Fuck! He shot himself!"

"I don't think he's the only one" Izuku groaned.

"Fuck! Kid, you alright?" Eraserhead asked worriedly, and Izuku would've laughed to himself that the man found out he was young, but with the wound under his arm he wasn't in any condition to do so.

"How is it?" Izuku coughed out, no longer able to maintain his connection to Kajiya.

Eraserhead adjusted the armoured teen as he inspected the wound. "We need to get you to a hospital, that was definitely armour-piercing"

"Fuck" Izuku hissed as he looked down to the bullet hole in his chest plate, he couldn't get it treated or he'd be found out.

"You know what you need to do" Kajiya informed as a weight formed in Izuku's hand.

Aizawa dialled for an ambulance as quick as he could, he should have stopped The Bright Lord sooner, but he started to rely on the young man's connections.

"Listen, kid, Ambulance is on its way, I need to take off your mask" Aizawa quickly requested, placing a comforting hand on the bleeding vigilante.

"...I'm sorry about this" The Bright Lord replied, his voice no longer wielding the depth and power it used to.

Before Aizawa could even blink in reaction to the statement, the vigilante slashed their own throat with a darkened dagger. He immediately tried to stop the bleeding as he let out a current of curses, but it wasn't enough.

The Bright Lord fell still in his arms, falling limp as they bled out. Aizawa was left sitting there for a couple of seconds staring at the, most likely, teenager before their body melted away into black and green smoke and flew into the sky.

Chapter Text

"They gathered round the infant's crib, the cynical and the wise. They fear the child of their Master, who would orchestrate their demise"

"When The First had adorned her band, then all the birds did sing. Her hidden cries were put behind, she raised her tools for Our King"

"Blood was drew, hidden from view, but not from Our Lord. The Second's choice, serving as His Voice, he would act as His Sword"

"Third's eyes had seen another, the memory of his brother. A child's death, would give breath, to the Lord's new offer"

"The Fourth prepares a dagger and places it at His heart. Her mistake, would not unmake, what the King has set apart"

"The Fifth's Crown was falling down, forgone was his renown. A broken family met by calamity, the King had answered happily"

"On Sixth's day, His walls gave way, and His hate was turned to ash. Her love gave work, as His enemies shook, fearing the King's fell lash"

"The Seventh wearer, shall be the bearer of our Lord's ire. Their hate filled glares, shall serve as flares, burning with green fire"

"The cowards in their tower, using all their power, to reclaim their lost control. "Eighth is to blame!" Because she took aim, and tried to save her soul"

"Ninth joined Our ranks, defending our flanks, and joining The Nine. The Nazghul now complete, we force you to retreat, as we ennact our Lord's design"

"Ignoring His voice, they make the choice, declaring with their word. 'In fear and pain let her remain, lest the wrath we would incur'"

"The doctor's hubris left him fruitless, as a blade found his heart. The girl he defiled, a pitied child, Our Lord would cut him apart"

*THUMP THUMP*

The sound of heavy footfall echoes throughout a black abyss clouded with green mist, the clanking of metal encircling a green haired man lost in the dark.

*SCREECH*

The sound of dragging metal trails the stomping, green sparks appearing in the dark, green mist. The minimal amount of light gave way to reveal massive boots circling the teenager.

The footsteps cease, and the dragging stops as the feet turn to face the greenette.

"I... SEE... YOU..." A dry, booming voice announces.

A tall, armoured figure was illuminated by a wall of green fire. The figure held a giant broadsword at its side with a single hand, the size of it definitely weighing significantly more than any normal human could hold with one hand.

From top to bottom the massive figure was coated in a twisted, black, iron. Their helm resembling a skull as their stared down at the greenette. A tattered cloak billowed from behind the figure.

The figure slowly marched forward, pointing their left hand towards the teenager, its ring finger coated in green energy.

"AT THE BIRTH OF MY INCEPTION... THAT FOUL BAND SAW WHAT I WAS DESTINED FOR... AND IN FEAR AND JEALOUSY IT SHATTERED ME... INTO  YOU"

The figure dragged it's blade forward before stabbing it into the ground of the abyss.

"AND IN THE WORLD BEYOND... BLACKENED ICHOR FILLED A CRACKED SKY... AS THE SOULS OF THE DEAD FLICKERED AND FADED"

Green flames began to spread along the figures arms and cloak, a low roaring beginning to fill the misty abyss.

"BUT I REFUSED MY FATE... DEATH WOULD NOT HOLD ME... AND IT WILL NOT BIND MY SOLDIERS... IN THE ATTEMPT TO HALT MY REIGN... I ONLY GREW STRONGER!"

The figure stomped closer, the slits that acted as it's eyes filled with green fire. It reacged forth with it's left hand to grab the boy by the face.

"I HAVE BECOME DEATH ITSELF!"

Izuku shot up from his bed in a cold sweat, greedily swallowing down gulps of air as he reaches for his throat. The feeling that he forgot something he shouldn't have, lingered in his mind as he remembered his suicide in front of Eraserhead.

Chapter Text

Izuku jolts up in his bed, his hand flying towards his throat as he panted heavily. He just slit his own throat, he never thought he'd ever do that. As he got his breathing under control, a thought raced through his mind that he'd forgotten something.

Something in between his death and awakening, something on the edge of his mind. He shook his head as he tried to find it, but whatever it was alluded him.

So instead, he returned to the matter at hand: His latest death. This was number 3, his second was while he was in his civilian form about a month ago. His ring had started to heat up, so he followed it. But when he reached whatever/whoever it wanted, he was blinded and stabbed.

It was a female, someone around his age if he had to guess, who killed him. So now he's a little more hesitant to follow his Ring.

Aside from that, the only thing he had to worry about was how to approach Eraserhead after this. Izuku turned to look out the window, it was still dark so he could try and track the pro.

"Kajiya, wanna find Eraser?" He grunted as he stood up. But was met with silence. "Kajiya?" He repeated, looking around the room.

The green fog rolled in, revealing his counterpart sitting on his desk. "I'm here, it's just..." He starts, his eyes narrowing in thought. "...doesn't something feel... off?"

Izuku bit the inside of his cheek. "You mean the memory thing? The feeling that something happened during the darkness? Because I feel that too"

"Yes... We've grown stronger once more, but... Something tells me we shouldn't risk dying too much anymore" Kajiya advised, stepping forward to join his human counterpart.

As the black armour of the Bright Lord slid over the green teenager, a flash of green fire exploded in his vision. The dual being staggered backwards but stopped themselves from falling.

'What in the...' They quickly shook their head, now was not the time, they needed to return to Eraserhead.

Shota sat on the rooftop along the alley that The Bright Lord killed himself in. He'd already spoken with the police about what had happened but had held back on alerting them to the vigilante's death.

It didn't feel like the Bright Lord was truly dead, that streak of black and green smoke giving him hope.

The clinking of metal alerted him to the fact he wasn't alone, he readied his capture scarf to stop whoever the intruder was but froze when he met the Bright Lord's signature mask.

"Hello again, Eraser" The vigilante greeted. "Apologies for the scare, but my identity must remain secret"

Shota meanwhile stared at the kid, he knew they were a kid, he was too similar to the students he taught at U.A. "What the hell was that!" He yelled, stomping towards the armoured teen. "You just think it's okay to slit your own throat! Did you even think about what I thought about the situation?"

"You're just a kid! I know you are, I've spent long enough around teenagers to know one! The only reason I let you continue with vigilantism was that I thought your armour would protect you! That I would protect you!"

"You died in my arms!" Shota finished, shoving the vigilante. "You couldn't even tell me that you'd be fine?"

The Bright Lord staggered back as he let Shouta push him, the mask concealing the owner's expression, leaving only silence.

"You must understand, this is how it was supposed to be" The armour-clad teen responded, standing slightly taller. "Death is something I don't need to fear, and something you don't need to worry about"

"No" Shouta responded darkly, his hands reaching for his capture weapon. He wasn't going to let a child put himself through whatever this was. "Just letting yourself die isn't something that should be natural, you shouldn't need to experience that!"

The Bright Lord's spectral sword was summoned to his hand, his feet shifting as he expected an attack. "Don't do this, Eraser"

"This won't end unless I know you're safe" Shouta finished as he stared down the vigilante, hoping they'd stand down. Whilst The Bright Lord was skilled in combat, he wouldn't be able to compare to a full-fledged Hero.

The vigilante's masked face turned slightly to the left as if he heard something, but other than that he didn't move.

Shouta stood in that stalemate waiting for The Bright Lord to make the first move. After maybe a minute of standing opposed to each other, The Bright Lord sent his blade away as he left his combat stance.

"There might be a way for both of us to get what we want" The echoing voice began, The Bright Lord turning away and facing his back towards the Hero. "But it may take some time, so until then..."

And with that, The Bright Lord vanished in a plume of green and black smoke. Leaving Shouta standing alone on the roof with the voice of the vigilante echoing around him.

"Goodbye"

Hitoshi wiped his brow as he finished an hour of exercise, jogging over to the clearing on the beach Midoriya and Hatsume had set up as the forge so he could do some stretches before taking a break.

As he did his stretches he found himself looking at the two aforementioned teens, both working in the makeshift forge, Hatsume using a welder whilst Midoriya hammered something on a makeshift anvil, pulses of green energy shooting out with each strike.

Hitoshi subconsciously timed his stretches with the rhythm of Midoriya's hammer, the beat somewhat resonating in his chest and a feeling of kinship thrumming in his chest.

Before he knew it he was standing beside Midoriya, a band of polished silver on his pointer finger and a tingling sensation assaulting his skin. As he stared at the ring, he could see strange symbols burning into the metal before vanishing.

《ᛒᛖᚨᛏᛖᚾ ᛒᚢᛏ ᚢᚾᛒᚱᛟᚴᛖᚾ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚨᛚᛚ ᚺᛁᛋ ᛈᚨᛁᚾ ᚢᚾᛋᛈᛟᚴᛖᚾ, ᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ ᛋᚨᚹ ᛒᛚᛟᛟᛞ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚠᛁᚾᚨᛚᛚᚤ ᚹᚨᛋ ᚨᚹᛟᚴᛖᚾ》
 
《ᚨᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛖᚲᛟᚾᛞ ᛃᛟᛁᚾᛋ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚲᛟᚡᛖᚾ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛒᛖᚲᛟᛗᛖᛋ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚡᛟᛁᚲᛖ ᛟᚠ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᛟᚱᛞ, ᚨᛚᛚ ᛗᛖᚾ ᛋᚺᚨᛚᛚ ᚠᚨᛚᛚ ᛒᚤ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᛟᛉᛖᚾ, ᚨ ᛋᛁᚾᚷᛚᛖ ᚹᛟᚱᛞ ᚲᛟᚢᛚᛞ ᛖᚾᛞ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚺᛟᚱᛞᛖ》
 
《'ᚠᚨᛚᛚ' ᚨ ᛋᛁᚾᚷᛚᛖ ᛋᛁᛗᛈᛚᛖ ᚹᛟᚱᛞ, ᛒᚢᛏ ᚹᚺᚨᛏ ᛖᚠᚠᛖᚲᛏ ᚲᛟᚢᛚᛞ ᛁᛏ ᛞᛁᚱᛖᚲᛏ ᛏᛟ ᚨᛚᛚ ᛏᚺᛟᛋᛖ ᚹᚺᛟ ᚺᚨᛞ ᚺᛖᚨᚱᛞ》

"This... Isn't some occult thing? Right?" Hitoshi asked as the ring returned to a neutral state, a low buzzing creeping from the metal into his skin.

"You shouldn't have to worry about that, now, how do you feel?" Midoriya waved off, sending his ethereal hammer away as he took a step away from Hitoshi.

The brainwasher hummed unconvinced but looked back to his ring in thought. "It's... Weird, I feel kinda different"

"Trust your instincts, let your body figure it out" The greenette coached, his gaze continuously flickering to empty space.

Hitoshi bit his lip before deciding 'Fuck it' and closing his eyes and just... Letting whatever the ring was doing do its thing. A warmth began to creep around his body, covering his arms and legs, a slight weight forming on his shoulders as something was draped over him.

Once the new sensations stopped he opened his eyes and looked over the material covering his body.

A dark green cloak that was almost black was draped over his torso, twisted black metal gauntlets on his hands and feet. Hitoshi hesitantly poked his gut, feeling armour plating hidden beneath the cloth.

"Hmm, your mask is different" Midoriya mused aloud, his hand cupping his chin as he took in the lavender-haired teen.

'Mask?' Hitoshi wondered, his hands reaching up to his face but finding resistance before he could touch the skin.

Whilst he felt up his face, Midoriya pulled out his phone before handing it to him. Hitoshi's gaze found the screen as the device was in his iron grasp, finding a masked figure staring back. Looking back at him was a black metal mask that vaguely resembled a scarab, two metal tips protruding from the top acting as some kind of crown.

Hitoshi tried to make a joke about his new garbs but found that the mask was holding his jaw shut, panic sparked in his chest as his hands found the side of the mask and a muffled scream escaped him as he pulled.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he stepped closer to his friend, thinking of a way to assist.

But then the mask's jaw gave way...

"GET IT OFF ME!"

Midoriya's eyes dulled as all panic left his frame, Hatsume in the background seemed to deactivate. The two teen's then moved for Hitoshi, the greenette grabbing the mask and pulling it off with ease.

Life returned to the green-haired boy's eyes and confusion joined it, Hatsume snapped out of her trance as well.

"The fuck was that?!" Hitoshi yelled, taking deep breaths to avoid the panic attack that was coming on. Whether he was talking about the practically muzzle-like mask or the trance Midoriya had fallen into he couldn't be sure.

"...I..." Midoriya gasped, but turned to the side and his eyes found something unseen to the violet haired boy. "It enhanced your Quirk, if I had to guess while you wear the mask people will be compelled to obey you"

"It... It locked my jaw shut, I thought..." Hitoshi tried to explain, but his voice broke and faltered, that small moment of feeling unfiltered betrayal from the greenette whilst untrue, still clawed at his chest.

He jolted when he felt Izuku's hand find his shoulder, looking up to apologetic eyes and sorrowful frown. "You should head home for today, okay? I'm sure you need time to recover"

Hitoshi hesitantly nodded in agreement, turning away as the greenette pat him on the back. As he left the beach he stared down at the ring adorning his finger, the metal gleaming with a sinister green and purple as the mask he'd adorned stared at him in the reflection. But despite the fear and anxiety, the power thrumming under his skin comforted him with hushed reinforcements and promises unheard but understood.

Another piece joined the board...