Chapter Text
Chapter 1 : The Thief Awakens
Quirks, the ability to have a random power, be it simply being blue to having the ability to spite flame or ice. The dawn of quirks completely overshadowed a strange event in Tokyo, where many people had the same memory of a giant demon shooting an angel.
After all, according to Twitter, what was really important was the glowing baby!
As a result, for most people, the Phantom Thieves became an old memory, a legend passed around when drinks were exchanged…
Now, let’s fast forward a bit into the future, to follow a certain kid on a fateful day…
—---------
“Izuku, did you feed the cat? I don’t want him to act up again!” Inko shouted, as she finished preparing herself for her job, almost late and needing to be quick.
“Yes mom! Don’t worry about it!” Her adorable son, in his second year of middle school, was petting the family cat while eating, “You were right, apparently he didn’t like the last one!”
Hisashi had left her a long time ago, sadly dying, slipping on a stair soon after their divorce, to everyone’s surprise… Including her, considering she was actually setting up an elaborate plan to get back at him.
Thankfully, he left Izuku as his sole heir, instead of his mistress in America. Though apparently, the change in the will was made around the time of his death. The police didn’t find anything strange about the change, except for some cat hair.
Anyway, instead of dwelling on the past, Izuku had to get ready for school. He felt like it was going to be a GREAT DAY!
—-----------
As Izuku should learn, tempting fate was a bad idea, because fate was a bitch. As in Bakugou was even worse than usual with the name calling and the bullying. Nothing physical, because Inko would pick up on that and everyone knew how scary she could be. Hell, Mitsuki was one of the few people Katsuki respected, and he knew Mitsuki avoided Inko’s wrath.
However…
“FOR THE LAST TIME, DEKU. STOP TAKING NOTES CREEPY NOTES ON EVERYONE!”
Burning his notebook? Yep, that one was a usual occurrence. Thankfully, Izuku knew better by now and the notebooks were just a memory-training exercise. The real ones were on his laptop at home.
“But Kacchan! This is my math book!” Izuku tried to protest. For once, Izuku was trying to work on his homework in advance. Katsuki and his goonies raised an eyebrow, as they saw the burned book was, in fact, a bit too thick compared to his usual burned notebooks.
“... Stop calling me Kacchan! Stop trying to think we are remotely even equal!” Katsuki yelled, his eyes injected with blood, as he pushed Izuku against the wall. Not strong enough to leave bruises, but clearly enough to hurt, “I AM THE BEST ONE AT SCHOOL. And we both know what you are, Izuku.”
“Well, I am second, so it isn't that bad, right?” Izuku tried to say. While the teachers were useless about the bullying issue, Izuku’s grades were second only to Kacchan.
Katsuki sighed before slamming his feet next to Izuku’s face, before spitting on it.
“The second place is only the first place for the rest of the losers.”
Izuku gulped as his former friend didn’t have any of the qualities he once appreciated in him. Katsuki had gone to a really bad place, and honestly, he hated that… Mainly because it was like seeing a masterpiece getting painted over by a failed artist. You could still see what you appreciated, but you knew it was… bad.
“Then, why are you still wasting your time with me? Mr ‘First Place?’” Izuku didn’t know where that one came from, and from the face of Katsuki’s clique, no one expected it either, “I mean, it is not like I’m trying to spend time with you.”
Katsuki actually growled, before grabbing Izuku by the collar.
“Because you're still trying to take my place as the number one, despite not having a quirk or being suited for heroism! It’s like seeing Endeavor trying to be #1 when everyone knows All-Might will keep it until the day he retires!”
“Yet, I haven’t seen All-Might putting down Endeavor. In fact, he always praised him for being one of the few trying to be better than him.” Izuku pointed out.
Then, a flash of pain hit him, and another one. And again.
Izuku watched Katsuki’s fist, bloodied with his blood, in disbelief as the blonde almost broke his nose.
“STAY THE FUCK DOWN. And stop trying, you’re just a pain for everyone, including Auntie. If you weren’t there, she’d still have a husband.”
This one broke Izuku for an instant. The lowest blow he could have done…
Katsuki, seeing Izuku’s rebellious spirit was broken, smirked before leaving.
—------------
On the branch of a tree, a cat was watching the scene, and pondering the next step of what he should do…
—-----------
“STUPID KACCHAN!” Izuku yelled, as he stood in the bathroom and put some fresh water on his face. In the mirror he could see the blood smeared on his face, and he needed to clean that up. Thankfully, Katsuki didn’t break his nose, but he came close.
Still, Izuku yelled mostly because of what his childhood friend said. Izuku’s dad leaving Inko for another woman was clearly because of Izuku being Quirkless. Even he knew that, and Inko couldn’t tell him otherwise, because Hisashi clearly said so when he was 5.
Then he got attacked by their cat and promptly thrown out of the house, but still.
“Who do he think he is? Some champion on his Podium? Well, sorry Katsuki, but the school isn’t your podium! It is a place of learning, FUCK!” Izuku wasn’t one to swear usually, but he felt something in him, a desire in him… An anger.
However, something weird happened once he finished speaking. Something shifted. Izuku didn’t know what exactly shifted, but he knew it did.
When he went out, Izuku quickly knew something was wrong, as everyone was wearing…Katsuki fan T-Shirts. Wait. What. Was it even a thing?
“What the… What’s going on?” Izuku wondered aloud, as he observed the school, and quickly noticed that everywhere, every wall had poster proclaiming “Katsuki #1!” in an All-Might suit.
“HEY YOU.”
Izuku turned toward the voice, before getting violently punched in the face, actually flying from the impact.
Ok, this time, he was certain his nose broke, as the owner of the voice approached and grabbed him by his hair.
Katsuki, in his All-Might suit, and a fucking pissed face.
“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CLEAN THE FLOOR BEFORE I WALK ON IT! AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WEAR YOUR CLOTHES!”
Izuku gritted his teeth, not understanding the hell was going on around him, and why even the adults were praising Katsuki. Because yes, all the adults around them were actually shouting encouragement… But for literally everything. Izuku was pretty sure he heard someone praising Katsuki for breathing the same air as them.
“That… That’s not my job and I wear my normal clothing!”
Apparently, that wasn’t the correct answer as Katsuki let him meet his knee in his chest.
“ARE YOU REBELLING, FUCKING DEKU? YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL I EVEN LET YOU WORK FOR ME! YOU SHOULD BASK IN MY FUCKING GLORY!”
Izuku didn’t understand what the hell was going on, but he knew one thing for certain. This… This really hurt, so it was reality. Slowly and painfully, he rose on his feet, and looked at his former friend.
“Rebelling? Because I refuse to yield in front of you? Because I don’t depend on you? Because I am not worshiping your every step?”
“Apparently, you seem to understand. Now, if you kneel in front of men and lick my shoes, quirkless, I promise to protect you. All you have to do is serve me and worship me. Stop trying to compete against me, you’re painfully outmatched.” Katsuki smiled… Almost kindly and it makes it even worse to Izuku.
A voice inside of him resonated, as he felt his head going light.
“So? Are you going to accept the offer? A life of servitude, living for someone greater than you? Because you are worthless?”
“No.”
The word escaped Izuku’s mouth instantly, as he looked at a dumbfounded Katsuki.
“I AM NOT YOUR LACKEY, KACCHAN. I AM YOUR EQUAL, QUIRK OR NOT!” Izuku yelled, at the top of his lungs, as he felt the desire inside of him growing stronger and stronger.
He didn’t understand why but he saw Katsuki actually take a step back. Izuku also felt hotter and hotter, and something suddenly constrained his face, as if trying to cover his mouth and shut him up… A mask over his desire to rebel against his condition.
“I REFUSE. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE I AM LESSER BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE A QUIRK. MAYBE I CAN’T BE A HERO… AND SO WHAT?”
His hands finally reached his face, before pulling out the thing obscuring his face and view. He grasped the edge of the mask and…
“Finally, rebelling against your fate, what your father thought of you and seizing your own destiny. You took your time.”
“STOP IT SHITTY DEKU!”
“NEVER!” Izuku shouted back, before feeling his skin tearing apart from his face with the mask… And feeling suddenly free. An exhilarating freedom coursing from his face, and making a smile, the happiest smile he felt in years.
“ I am thou, thou art I…”
Izuku felt the presence in his back and he knew he wasn’t alone. Instinctively a name ran on his lips. A rebel who fought his father, destiny and overwhelming odds, and his only weapons being understanding, kindness and the Force by his side.
“SKYWALKER!”
He didn’t have to look behind to know who was behind him, as Katsuki got blown away…
“YOU DARE?!”
“YES!” Izuku said. It was exhilarating and raised his hand to throw Katsuki further backward! Finally, he could fight back, as Katsuki rose up on his feet and used his explosions to get close again.
Izuku smiled with his heart, and a dagger appeared in his hand, blocking Katsuki’s fist, to both their surprise.
“Sorry, Katsuki, but you won’t break me again!”
Katsuki’s Shadow answered that with a powerful kick that came from under Izuku’s arm. Oups. Apparently, obtaining a super-power didn’t make you a pro at fighting immediately, and honestly…
Well, the power-up didn’t heal Izuku’s previous wounds.
“Skywalker!” Izuku yelled again, trying to summon its abilities again, instinctively.
“STAY THE FUCK DOWN!” Katsuki interrupted by punching his victim with a powerful punch, taking All-Might’s iconic pose… And punching with all of his heart. “UNITED STATE OF SMASH!”
To their surprise, they heard something from the window, despite being on the third floor.
“DIEGO! Miracle Rush!”
Katsuki’s fist got blocked by a punch that materialized out of thin air… And then high-kicked in the face by a cat-mascot. This sent Katsuki flying into another classroom, to everyone’s surprise, before the cat turned toward Izuku, with a big smile.
“We should run while he is disoriented.” The strange being said with the voice clearly affected by a wisdom only an old age could bring. Then the mascot grabbed his hand, “Congratulations on your persona, but taking on a Palace owner for your first fight? You are every bit as ambitious as your ancestor, kid!”
Izuku was surprised enough that he took his hand, not questioning why the small being was able to pull him upright.
“THIS ISN’T THE END IZUKU!”
—----------
As they got further away from the school, the world suddenly shifted back to normal… And Izuku was hit with a wave of exhaustion . The adrenaline drained out of him, and as he stood there he contemplated his hand, wondering… Did he suddenly develop a quirk?
“This isn’t a quirk, Izuku. This is a Persona!” The unlikeliest person he expected to speak said that to our hero.
His family’s pet cat, instead of the mascot that carried him there… Who apparently could speak human.
“...Morgana ? You SPEAK?!”
This was a good reason to freak out, as his cat never did that before, and Morgana rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated.
“Yes, and I always have. It was simply that before, you couldn’t hear me. Now that you went to the Metaverse on, you can understand me.”
Izuku breathed in and out for a second… The situation made no sense at all. However…
“Quirk bullshit?” Nedzu was a thing after all, not to mention the current revolution in Brazil so the local quirked ape tribes could have citizen’s rights. A speaking cat? Not that weird once you calmed enough.
“Honestly, close enough. If it helps you calm down, let’s roll with that. I guess you want some explanations ?” Morgana sat in front of him on a trashcan.
“Yes, please. Because… I’m pretty sure all of that wasn’t normal.”
Morgana nodded his head, which was incredibly adorable, since… Well… Cat.
“The short version: you were in a Palace. When someone is overwhelmed by their desire, they obtain a Palace that represents their twisted version of the world inside their mind.”
Izuku took a moment to think about it, how the school looked and how Katsuki acted way more unhinged.
“So… What you are saying is we were basically in Katsuki’s mind, and how he, deep down, sees the world. Except instead of just him, everything was his perception of the world.”
Morgana meowed with happiness. Apparently, Izuku was closer to a Makoto about what happened, or a Futaba, than a Yusuke.
“Exactly! You understand, just like Ren!” Izuku clearly felt the nostalgia in his cat’s voice.
“Who ?”
“200 years ago, give or take… I met your ancestor, Ren Amamiya. We were… Friends. However since I am… Let’s say I am not a normal cat, okay?”
“...Ok, you are a cat with an immortality quirk.” Izuku said, clearly not ready yet to completely forgo common sense.
“Let’s say that. Since I was immortal, I decided to look out for my friend’s descendants. I switch families once in a while and… Well… I made sure to protect them.” Izuku stared at Morgana while thinking about many things… Like the fact his cat knew how to open doors, and how Morgana made coffee once. Yep, it could be explained if he had human level of intelligence and immortality.
“Ok, so you protected me. What about the whole Persona thing then?”
Izuku could clearly feel Morgana smile vibrantly while he was still a cat.
“What if I told you… That thanks to your Persona, you could make your friend a better person?”
Izuku stared at Morgana, before thinking back to Katsuki’s inner world. How he viewed the world. The issue was, if Katsuki was already that twisted while they were still young, he wasn’t going to get better in the future. Also, Katsuki clearly had the abilities to become a Pro Hero. It wasn’t going to end well, right?
“Tell me more, Morgana.”
“Then… Follow me. We have a place to explore. Also, forget school for today, we’re not going there today.” Morgana was clearly excited and to him school wasn’t as important as the opportunity to do THAT again.
“... Mom is going to kill me.” Izuku sighed, while Morgana laughed and jumped on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’ll say that understanding me is your ‘quirk’ and it panicked you so much that you ran away from school.”
Shit. That could actually work.
Izuku patted Morgana, as the cat began to direct his master/new student.
Ren… You would be proud, I guess, to know that a new generation of the Phantom Thieves is born. I promise you to make him the best you have ever seen. However… However, we were supposed to have killed the Metaverse.
What happened?
Because Morgana knew, it wasn’t normal. In 200 years, he never managed to use his persona after Maruki. To be fair, he didn’t try to after Ren passed away… Summoning Diego actually tired him way more than he expected it to, and it wasn’t enough to knock Katsuki out…
He will have to check… Mementos.
Just thinking about it made him shudder.
—---------
“So… Morgana? What are we looking for?”
They were at a storage place, and Morgana pulled out a key. The employee, not really concerned, gave it a quick glance before they gave instructions to Izuku.
“Well, you see, just in case, we decided to store some stuff if a new generation of the Phantom Thieves appeared.”
“... The what now?”
Morgana chuckled in meow, now almost overwhelmed by his memories.
“It was our group of friends. With what I’m about to teach you, we saved Japan, even if no one remember us now.”
“...You were… Heroes ?”
“That’s a way to put it.” Technically they had the police force chasing them, so… Yes, the hero thing is highly debatable, “The term vigilante would apply the best.”
To Izuku, though, it meant that… He had something almost like a quirk, and it could be used to help people, for justice! Saying he was happy wasn’t even close to how strongly he felt, almost jumping for joy.
Even if his nose was in pain, it was a good day!
“So. We kept some stuff, so the new guys wouldn’t begin as naked as we were at the beginning.”
“And you kept the key?”
“Well, when we discovered I was most likely to be the last one still alive… We decided I would once again mentor the new generation.”
When they arrived at the box, Izuku opened it with some excitement…
“Considering your build, Izuku, you will have the “Joker” box. Besides, it’s what Ren would have wanted.” Morgana said, jumping on a dusty box with the name ‘Joker’ written on it, with occidental lettering. When Izuku opened it, he pulled a black mantle, a strange black dagger and…
“HOLY FUCK, IS THAT A…”
“It is a fake gun. Geez, we never killed anyone.” Morgana clearly had his fun with Izuku freaking out. Izuku glared at him.
“... Let me guess. If I am in someone’s mind, and he sees me pull a gun on him, he will think my gun is loaded with real bullets.” Izuku was smart, and he had run what Morgana told him through his mind a lot already, about the mental world. How it was a perceived world, and he had to ask a question now, “Does that mean that Katsuki knows that I know how he sees the world, or we were so deep in his psyche he isn’t aware? Like in Inception?”
“I am still half certain that the movie was made by a Persona user.” Morgana somehow confirmed Izuku’s hope.
“So… If I base myself on the name, Phantom Thieves, and the fact we enter the mental world and you say that about Inception…”
Izuku tried the mantle, and it was a bit too big for him. Logic, Ren was a tall, fit teen. Izuku was still small and not as fit as him. Could he ask his mom to refit the mantle for him? Also… Maybe dying it in green? Green was way more his color than black after all.
However, the new Joker had a good grip on the gun and the dagger.
“... We can steal Katsuki’s illusions and make him see he is going the wrong way.”
“Maybe it runs in the blood. Maybe not. But… I am proud to see you get it quickly. I mean, we had Ryuji and I am still unsure to this day if he truly understood how it worked.” Morgana quipped, and while he truly had doubts about Ryuji’s intellect, the cat missed how Ryuji was always the first one to have your back. How, when Miss Ann thought she was being followed by a stalker, his reaction was to act immediately.
Morgana missed all of them.
“Can we do that immediately? I mean, the sooner we do it, the sooner… HOLY ALL-MIGHT, HOW MUCH MONEY IS THAT?”
Oh, Izuku must have found Joker’s stash of money. Honestly, Morgana still had no idea how Memento's money worked. But he clearly remembered when Ren decided to milk the hell out of Mementos before they went against Maruki.
Morgana felt as if he needed 4 baths after that to be clean.
“ Hey Morgana, how many Tiamat do you need to do a new painting on your car self?”
“I don’t know!?”
“ONE!”
Joker proceeded to do just that, hitting the poor dragon god full speed with the Morgana car.
Good times.
—-----------
“So… What you are telling me, is, unlike Inception, I can’t just find the desire and steal it immediately, but I need to warn my target beforehand. Only then will it materialize as a Treasure.” Both went back home, though Izuku only took a bit of the money with him, enough to buy some medical supplies. Morgana was now in his bag, happy.
“Yes, with a calling card, telling them you are coming. So, the heist is done in two steps. Finding where the treasure is. And don’t worry, I am an expert in that field… Then, stealing it. Expect a fight, because to this day, we never managed to snatch it quietly.” Morgana sighed, thinking about it. It was always fucking violent and inelegant.
“... Isn’t that basically mugging/ransacking the place then?” Izuku was already being a Joker, hmm?
Morgana slapped his master. It was mostly cute to be fair.
“Secondly, you can’t let others know about your power. Because part of the materialization is about the fear of the unknown.” Totally bullshit, but Morgana liked the idea of unknown vigilantes fighting in the dark. “Unless of course they are part of your crew.” And because, let’s be honest. If people knew Izuku could strike in your mind, everyone would be wary of him, and materializing a treasure would be way harder.
“... So either I become an underground hero or… Something else.” Izuku began mumbling to himself… His mind knew there was a path for him, but maybe… Maybe he could be another kind of hero.
“IZUKU MIDORIYA. I HEARD FROM YOUR SCHOOL THAT YOU DIDN’T GO TO SCHOOL THIS AFTERNOON!”
“MORGANA, QUICK, DANCE FOR MOM!”
Morgana gave him a look, clearly disappointed. Izuku lacked a lot of Courage, so he was not able to stand up against Inko. Not like she was that bad, right?
—----------
“So, Mischief…Are you going to give me back that dia… URRRRGH”
All For One, while he was protecting some of his treasures in one of his houses, felt his heart being ripped from his chest, and was forced to kneel in front of the beautiful woman, wearing a skintight leather suit. Shit. She was beautiful and strong.
“I know your reputation, All For One. I know this won’t be enough to kill you. But try to say anything like “You stole my heart”, and I will make you eat it.”
After that, Mischief, the master thief of her generation, disappeared from the crime world, having finished her last heist and getting enough to start her small business with her husband Hisashi. Besides, she had a little one to care for now. She had to stop endangering herself.
—---------
Anyway, Morgana decided to do a cute dance in front of Inko, who was suddenly wondering what the hell was going on…
“That’s my quirk, Mom! I can speak to Morgana!” Izuku lied in the only way he knew that could convince his mom: by mixing it with the truth.
Technically, it wasn’t a quirk, but he could speak with Morgana.
The end result was Morgana jumping on the nearest bookcase, to be out of reach from Inko’s tears.
Still, he let them have their moment together, before going to sleep, because sleep was important.
Wait. Wasn’t he forgetting something important? Oh well, it will come back to him later.
—------------
That night, when Izuku finally got to bed, he felt his consciousness grabbed, before suddenly waking up inside…
“Yohohoho. I have to admit, this Velvet Room’s form is a new one”
Izuku grumbled, before pulling himself together. After today he was ready for a lot. So, when he got up, he saw… the All-Might Theme Park, which actually closed down very quickly after opening, when All-Might discovered they used his image without his agreement first. Apparently, they decided “Don’t ask unless there is a lawsuit” and sadly for everyone, since the Park was actually quite awesome, they had to close down.
In front of Izuku, at the cotton candy stand, an old man with a high pitched voice and a damn big nose smiled kindly at him, while our dear hero could hear a girl screaming from excitement, before suddenly falling from the sky… She was a tall woman, with long white hair and gentle eyes.
Big Nose then bite a bit of the cotton candy, before turning to Izuku.
“Yohohoho. So, you are the new Wildcard this time? Hmmm, interesting, since Quirks awakened, we thought this room lost its purpose, but apparently not. So… greetings, young Phantom Thief! “
“... What?”
This time, it was the woman who spoke, and stared at Izuku.
“Did Morgana not mention the Velvet Room and our purpose?”
—--------------------
Morgana suddenly woke up, panicked.
“I FORGOT TO PREPARE IZUKU’S TRAINING!”
—-------------------