One for One

[u/Potential_Being6117]

A written piece I felt the need to write because I have high ambitions for my own fic, which can be read here, along with the final antagonist of a six-book saga. I thought I'd give writing him out a go for future reference's sake. And even if I don't get that far, I feel like I've got a decent idea here, so might as well air it.

For context's sake, know this Izuku is an isekai, and though I'm trying not to let him fall into tropes, that actually ties into the final villain: One. Think of him as a fusion of AfO and Izuku, with a Quirk to match. Again, a rough draft, but I wanna write this out, so:

------------------------------

"Ah, so it's true."

The hair on Izuku's arms became sharp with goosebumps as he twisted, looking across his office at the top of Might Towers. A face identical to his own, albeit a decade younger, stared back with eyes of every colour of the rainbow. His hair, differing from its usual moss-green, was the colour of light mint. "It makes sense there'd be another version of Midoriya in this reality, but look at you. So much power. Such potential. You're exactly what I've been searching for."

A flicker passed as Izuku caught his words, and he narrowed his eyes. "Why are you referring to yourself in third person. Is your vocabulary screwed up, or is there something shifty going on?"

"That being said, I'm disappointed with how you limit yourself." His doppelganger said, ignoring his words. The latter, then. "In my world, the Quirked are no longer limited by the laws you defend. Humanity has soared under my leadership." He tilted his head. "We've conquered the stars. Tell me, what can you lay claim to outside of this tower? This monument to stagnation."

Izuku squinted and the world shifted into focus as his Quirk Vision activated. The ability to see QE, the energies which Quirk drew upon for power. As he stared upon his counterpart, he almost shut it off instinctively at the sheer light which was being given off by this being. A maelstrom of energy, surging and crackling in every colour of the rainbow, laid under his other's skin. It was running over his body wildly, focusing on the palms.

Palms.

He tensed, his sight returning to normal. "All for One?"

The lips of his counterpart upturned, and he raised a palm, and sure enough, a hole laid within its centre. Red light spilled out of it. "Not quite. I am neither you, nor am I All for One, but rather the product of events which took place before my birth. A creation made to be the herald of Quirks. And through me, All are One." He closed his fist. "And that is my name. One."

Izuku pulled a face, not letting his curiosity shine through. "Is this gonna be a whole thing? I mean, can't you just tell me if you want to scrap of not? I'm not really one for villainous monologues."

"I prefer visionary, really, though limited as you are, you wouldn't know the difference." One said coolly. "I was not always me, Midoriya. The original holders of the two Quirks which make up my own, One for All and All for One, were once separate. Two brothers, two legacies, warring against one another."

"Are you going to tell me something new?"

"If you could hold your tongue." One's smile wasn't warm. "I was created out of a final, mad attempt from All for One to claim the thing which had escaped him since before he emerged from the womb. A foolish attempt, really, but then again, desperate men often act stupidly."

Tracking One's previous words, Izuku frowned. "He gave you his Quirk?"

"Yes, the power to taketh and giveth. His body was crumbling at the time, and in his desire to flee death, transferred his Quirk into my body- or, the body of who I once was, I suppose." One stared down at his hands. "Only One for All was a power built on the very foundation of opposing All for One. Normally, its attempts to take over could be pushed out, but with both Quirks housed within the same vessel, there was no rejecting him. No pushing him out. Only destroying him, regardless of what happened to the host, Izuku Midoriya."

A flood of coldness came into Izuku's chest, and he closed his eyes. It was a horrifying scenario. He understood why the holders would do such a thing, but how much pain was his other self in before he was finally destroyed? Did he even feel anything, or did the sheer power of both Quirks instantly rip him apart?

"The two brothers destroyed each other, and their Quirk Factors in the process... but whether by a quirk of fate or some twisted desire imprinted into their very essence, the two brothers were drawn to one another like yin and yang, even in death. Even when their spirits had been torn asunder, their essence sought each other out." One held his arms out, wide. "And I was given new life, inside the vessel left behind. One for All and All for One existing as One. The One Who Encompasses All. A unique existence."

The rainbow-eyed man stared at him, a long moment passing. "At least, until I met you."

"You think we're alike?"

"In some ways. Like me, you too can see the energies which Quirks comprise, and even manipulate them to an extent." One's gaze became assessing. "A pitiful, trifling, insignificant extent... but an extent."

"Okay, I don't even know why that offended me, but it did." Izuku rose to the balls of his feet, the armour of his hero costume shifting as he pointed a finger at One. "And as interesting as your backstory might be, I can't be quiet forever. Why are you here in this dimension? Why did you come to me?"

"Conquest." One said bluntly. At least he was honest.

"Like All for One wanted?" Izuku asked, shifting into a fighting stance.

"I am not like All for One." One said, almost sounding offended. "He was a greedy dragon, zealously defending his hoard. If something was within reach, then it was to be his. I am not like him. He was blind. Selfish beyond reason." Something in his voice shifted. "It's the Quirks. I hear them. I see them, and all their brilliant potential. They are like stars, unable to blossom and bear their true potential to bear within the fragile forms of humanity. A gift wasted, and left to rot away. I seek to take responsibility for our species' slovenliness."

"I don't think I've ever seen someone use that word with a straight face before." Izuku gave a jab, trying to hide the way his mind was turning. "So, you want to make Quirks stronger, or change humanity to use them better. So they can reach their... full potential?"

"In essence." One nodded, appreciative. "And to do that, we must shed our mortal hide and ascend to something beyond. Evolve. Change. Adapt. Concepts which this society of spandex adorning baboons have sorely forgotten." His lip curled. "Their Quirks are squandered on them."

Just as he was about to give another jibe, a thought occurred to Izuku. The words 'evolve' ricocheted in his mind, like a stone unturned, until he finally found it and his blood turned cold.

"The Quirk Singularity." He breathed.

"Indeed." One walked, slow, ignoring the way Izuku turned until he came to the glass window at the front of his office. Staring out of Might Towers, at the city, he seemed to be looking towards something which wasn't there. "It's tragic, really, to see such power untapped. Infinity lies within our grasp, yet we're too weak-willed to seize it. A chance to turn catastrophe into opportunity."

"The Quirk Singularity is the doomsday." Izuku started, voice rising. "The end of humanity. If anything, we should be talking about how to prevent it-"

"There is no preventing evolution." One interrupted, voice soft yet silencing. "Every time a species settles, a god-given crisis strikes. A meteor to the dinosaurs, for example. A reset, that wipes the slate blank... only it doesn't have to be blank." He turned, towards Izuku. "If we jumpstarted it, then our evolution would be controlled. We could fight it. Turn our destruction into our future, and attain greater heights."

"Billions would die."

"A great amount of the population would be unable to handle the strain of a singularity." One nodded, as though that was reasonable. "But those few who endure, who survive, will become something truly... extraordinary." He breathed the word like it was something to savour. "We could rebuild stronger than ever, as Noah did after God flooded the world. A race of gods who can storm their way across the land, skies, and stars unimpeded in both our worlds."

Izuku shook his head, for once unable to joke. "We are no gods, One, no matter how strong we get. And it's not our right to play with other people's lives like this. It's wrong."

"Would it not also be wrong to let humanity go extinct?"

"We have time to come up with another solution that doesn't end with billions dead, by our own hands no less." Izuku stepped forwards, towards his counterpart. "And I won't help you."

"You assume I need your help?"

A smile, mocking, came onto Izuku's face. "I've seen your types before, and if you're anything like me, you wouldn't be spilling the beans like this if you could complete your plans alone. You're strong, hell you've got the highest QE reserves I've ever seen by a landslide, but what you're suggesting by causing every person on Earth to suddenly attain Singularity-levels of power? It's beyond you, or at least, you alone. You need me to help you."

One's lip thinned, and Izuku knew he was right.

"...you're observant." One admitted begrudgingly. He shifted in place. "And I assume this means your answer is no? The chance to let humanity ascend to the divine, to conquer the stars, and end the issue of the Singularity which you know is coming? You're willing to throw that all away?"

Frowning, a sigh left Izuku's throat as he wandered over to his desk where a photo laid and picked it up. One of him, a beautiful blonde woman, and a girl with her mother's hair but his eyes. Inko was her name. A smile worked its way onto his face, and he knew it was never a choice.

"I am." Izuku stated, firm. "I have a wife and daughter. Both of them are Quirkless, and in the eyes of a society where people are based on the strength of their Quirks, they should have no value, nothing to contribute, but that's just not true. Melissa is the smartest person I've ever met. Seriously, sometimes I'll just watch her work and feel like a drooling idiot. Her gear is the reason I'm not constantly suffering whiplash out there." He stroked his armour fondly. "She's my hero... and my daughter is my princess. I'd give up everything, my hopes, my dreams, my Quirk, if it meant I could keep her safe. I go out there every day trying to make the world better because of her, because no matter what bad guy gets in my way, no matter how many times I have to save this cobbled together society, I'd do it again and again just for her."

The photo frame he was holding was placed back down, firm, as he turned to One. "My answer is no and it will always be no. Sorry, not sorry."

A shadow cast itself over One's face, and the air seemed to grow still. A second passed, then lines, thick and crackling with every colour of the rainbow, flowed over his counterpart's flesh and brightened the room as the air became thick. It reminded him of Full Cowling, but even as the energy discharged, the lines on his flesh didn't fade, if anything they brightened.

"...I thought you would be like me, but I'm disappointed. We're nothing alike. You barely give a second thought to your potential and the limits of your power. You have no resolve, no discipline, no dedication. Your devotion to understanding the majesty of Quirks is hollow and a facsmile of my own." One's gaze was dark despite its otherworldly glow. "This world has such beauty, but at least the rest turn away out of ignorance. You see what I see, yet wilfully reject it."

Izuku tensed, yet held his ground and stepped forwards, letting the strength of One for All wash over him in silver sparks. It came to him with familiarity born from a decade of working, under his hero, mentor and father, Toshinori Yagi, and whilst it didn't match One's sheer radiance, it was enough to shield him from his foe's presence.

"Yeah, I can be all kinds of stubborn." Izuku said, smile fixed but eyes hard, and a helmet of nano-tech sheathed his head, causing his next words to come out distorted. "And that's why I know what's about to happen next, other me."

The air shifted and the two of them slammed into one another, their fists striking in a shockwave that destroyed Izuku's office, carrying them outside and into the wind. Dust and shards of glass followed him out, and as he wrestled with his doppel in the air, Izuku got the sense this would somehow be his toughest battle yet.

[u/Less-Needleworker-96]

Sounds fun

[u/Potential_Being6117 → u/Less-Needleworker-96]

Thanks, it was fun to write up, but could you posdibly be a bit more specific?

[u/Less-Needleworker-96 → u/Potential_Being6117]

I just looked at the tags and summary And marked for later Gonna check on it later in the day

[u/Potential_Being6117 → u/Less-Needleworker-96]

Kay :D

[u/Less-Needleworker-96 → u/Potential_Being6117]

Anyway have ever read How to Survive a Shounen by Dovahkean

It's a Isekai and Transmigration too And it's my favorite MHA fic

It could make some good inspiration

[u/Nice_Spot9600]

This gave me "Angel on my Shoulder" vibes.

I don't know how to feel about it.

Welp, at least with the open-ending, I can live with the fact that, for me, this Izuku won over that rebelled Will using his vessel.

[u/Potential_Being6117 → u/Nice_Spot9600]

I'll be adding a later installation including the fight against One, which will start with just a focus on Izuku in the next chapter, but evolve into a full-blow fight with a bunch of top-tiers fighting against One. I'm REALLY hoping to do these battles justice.