3 3. Double-Sided

Izuku was flying through the sky. He thought his first trip through the air would be more enjoyable, but he wasn't on a plane after all. Instead he was desperately holding onto the leg of his favorite hero, All Might.

"OH GOD, MOM WOULD NOT APPROVE!!!" His screams were virtually unheard but All Might wanted to get out of the situation as much as him. The two landed on the top of a building and Izuku was out of breath. All Might began to scold him about grabbing onto a hero for no reason, but Izuku was just worried about his heart rate. Luckily for him the medicine from the first syringe was still in effect. He felt a little strange and tired, but still was determined to ask All Might a question. Something he had wondered for years. But something else seemed to be preoccupying the Number 1 Hero. A strange mist was pouring from his skin. And then.

"POOF" The noise was as anticlimactic as the new figure now in All Might's place. It was a shriveled version of All Might. All Might began to explain his situation making Izuku promise to tell no one.

Izuku was speechless, but somehow it made sense. Everyone probably has something to hide. Izuku knew this from first hand experience. He had the biggest secret of all.

"A-All Might before you go… I have a question about heroes. No… I have a question about me. I have a forbidden quirk. It's too dangerous to use apparently, but I still can't push it out of my mind that there is somehow a chance… a chance to become a hero. So do you think it's possible for me to even hope to become a hero?"

All Might was as speechless as Izuku had been moments before. He sat down on the ground and stroked his chin deep in thought.

"Where have I seen this kid before?" He thought. "This is all so familiar…"

"You know kid, I—" Suddenly an explosion interrupted the hero. He got up immediately and turned around looking over the balcony on the roof. In the city there was a raging fire and multiple smaller explosions. He immediately looked down to his side. The bottle that held the sludge villain was gone. Izuku noticed this too and realized that it was his fault.

All Might said a quick apology and dashed down the stairs in his deflated form. He was out of time for the day, but he still felt responsible for the disaster. Izuku quickly followed him. His mind was racing. They arrived at the scene when everything was seemingly going to hell. From what Izuku could tell, the heroes, Backdraft (water quirk), Kamui Woods (arbor quirk), Death Arms (strength quirk), and Mt. Lady (gigantification quirk) were all present but unable to really do anything. The fires that had sprung were too dangerous for Kamui Woods because wood is so flammable. Mt. Lady was simply too large. Backdraft and Death Arms could have been effective but were too preoccupied with the nearby crowding civilians. Right now the monster seemed to be surrounded in the one-way street, but it was no less dangerous. Izuku moved closer to the front of the crowd. That's when he saw it. His stomach dropped. Kacchan was trapped in the mass of sludge. He was struggling but his quirk was the real cause of all the destruction.

"This is all my fault…" Izuku thought. "Why do I have to be so useless? Why did I have to be born this way? I am a failure. I cause everyone around me so much pain. Mom has faced so much agony because of me. Dad left because I wasn't good enough. He was smart to leave when he did. Look what my legacy is going to be. Responsible for the death of Katsuki Bakugou… I can see the news headline now. I am the most worthless piece of garbage on the planet. I am as good as being quirkless. He called me Deku for a reason, Kacchan was right… everyone was right. Especially—"

"You're wrong." Izuku's thoughts stopped cold. Did he hear someone say something? No wait. He looked around. No one was looking back at the nervous boy. Thinking about it there was no noise. There was another voice however. Another voice in his head. Who or what was that? He closed his eyes. As soon as he did that everything seemed to go mute. His senses were dulled until he found himself in his head. It was a dark expanse. He heard waves in the distance. However there was no water to be found. Only an inky darkness. Except… no. There was a mirror. With dark black-tinted glass. He found himself looking into it but there was no reflection. As hard as he looked there was no one there. It was almost as if part of him was missing. Then he heard it again. A whisper. It was a voice. It was not unlike his own. Yet somehow foreign, like an accent he had lost years ago. Izuku starred deeper into the mirror. He heard more whispering but it was hard to understand. He got closer and closer to the mirror. It's dark surface began to ripple against his hot breath. It was beckoning him. He extended his hand towards the mirror and touched its surface. A shock ran through his body as he didn't touch the dark glass but another fleshy hand touching his own. He looked up again and saw it. The shadowy figure in all his dreams. The majority of its body was covered in a black mist, but where they were touching, the mist had evaporated to show its pasty hand with a green undertone almost radiating under the skin. Izuku however was not afraid. Somehow this all seemed natural to him. He placed his second hand on the mirror. The shadowy figure did the same and at the same time became more visible as black mist left its body. Izuku began to notice its curly hair and sharp green eyes. It spoke to him.

"We are not quirkless, because why be weak when you can be strong? Why be a king when you can be a god? Why be one when we can be much more…" Izuku leaned forward into the mirror and the being was only inches away from his own face.

"Show me," Izuku's words ran through his mind. Loud thumping noises began to pound against his skull, in tune with his heart beat. The demon smiled. Izuku's reflection did the same. The mirror began to crack as the beats increased in speed and power. Then it shattered all together. The cage was broken. Deku had been set free.

An outsider would have seen the green haired boy's eyes were now open, but they would have also noticed something was different. Maybe it was that he was standing taller. Maybe it was because his scowl was set with a newfound hard determination. Maybe it was his clenched fists. Or maybe it was that the white in his eyes had become washed out in black and the irises shone with a terrifying brilliance.

Death Arms was carefully watching the battlefield. He was preoccupied with the civilians, at the same time attempting to keep the sludge villain at a standstill, but he knew this had to be stopped soon. The blond-haired kid only had so much time. They needed a hero with the right quirk to step in. They needed—wait a minute. There was someone walking from the crowd. No he wasn't walking anymore. He was sprinting quickly towards the villain. Except that's not all. With every step a fume of black mist shot out from his body, followed by a spark of green. They traveled from his body towards the surrounding areas, specifically targeting the... civilians and the pro-heroes?? Death Arms was about to scream for the kid to stop just as one spire of darkness dove into him and then out again. He felt strange like he was about to throw up and then the spark of green electricity hit. His oxygen was stolen right from his lips. He felt as though he had just run a short race and was out of breath. It was almost as if some of his energy just left him.

The electricity and darkness were all gathered back into Izuku's skin as he approached the sludge villain. The villain noticed him almost immediately and began to panic as the boy got faster and faster with each step.

"How the hell did he find me?!" The creature thought. "I need to end this as fast as possible!" He went to swing his arm down at the boy when something flew at his sludge face. "A book bag—" The bag exploded as soon as it struck his eyes and he felt himself blinded by large wood splinters. It was like all the wooden school supplies had suddenly erupted. Izuku was still fast approaching. The villain panicked even more so he swung his left arm, borrowing the explosive power from his captive. However Izuku was borrowing some power of his own. A wave of pain struck the villain. He realized he lost feeling throughout his entire arm. That's because it was gone. With a wave of Izuku's hand the ground erupted and a spout of high pressured water separated the villain's sludge arm from the rest of his body.

The Pro-Hero Backdraft looked to all the new chaos with confusion. That was similar to his power but almost on a power surge… however the boy wasn't done. He was dangerously close to the villain now. The villain was in a rage now. He had to kill him now. A new spout of water rose but the villain stepped back to avoid it and then crashed his large sludge hand down on the boy. The explosion sent plumes of dust all around. No one could see clearly what happened. All Might was viewing this all shocked. However nothing could prepare him for what he saw through the fading debris.

Grabbing onto the sludge villain's hand was an equally large figure. It radiated as black spires of darkness rushed around it. Its skin had become a pale greenish that radiated as if infected by nuclear waste. His green hair had turned nearly black and his eyes glowed as bright as the sun. Izuku had become around 3x his original size and was successfully holding the sludge villain back as the giant grew in power with each green bolt that traversed his body.

The villain was in flight mode now. He tried to escape but the fist of the giant held his arm tightly. On top of that, black sludge was beginning to spread along that arm from the fingertips of Izuku. The villain was immobilized. However Izuku wasn't finished with him. He brought his right arm back near his chin. It was a move Izuku had observed from many different fighters and Pro-Heroes. Green electricity began to bounce all over and collect in one area, diving into this fist as if it was a lightning rod.

"DETROIT SMASH!!" The thunderous sound of the punch was met with All Might leaping out from the crowd to intercept the impact. He tore Katsuki from the explosion as Izuku's fist evaporated the villain. The impact exploded with enough force to create whirlwinds around the block, clearing all the clouds in the sky. The Pro-Heroes and citizens had never seen anything like it, except in All Might himself.

When the debris subsided All Might had two boys in his arms. Bakugou was barely conscious, but Izuku was knocked out cold. His shirt was destroyed and somehow his stretched pants managed to stay on, but the gigantification hadn't done them any favors. Luckily he returned to normal after the release of all his power and the darkness had retreated back into his head. All Might, waited by him as the ambulance was finally able to get past the crowd of people. He now remembered where he had seen the boy. That power wasn't something just anyone had. Izuku was special and All Might realized fate must have brought them together for the second time. Laying Izuku down in the ambulance, the Number 1 Hero told him something.

"The answer to your question is yes. You, Izuku Midoriya, will become a hero. And I will be there to help guide you to that future."

[Hey it's the author! Sorry for the long break. I was finishing up my other FanFic Inseparable and will now be working on this a lot more. Hopefully there will be an update at least every week. Maybe more if I'm feeling ambitious. For now, I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you soon!]