Wish Upon a Star 4 (MHA Star and Stripe SI)

Megalovania

My project with Flect Turn had continued, even after I’d graduated from University. Others had been brought in, but scientific progress was a slow thing. We’d realized early on that trying to conduct the experiments in secret on the campus was a fool’s errand, so a lab had been set up in the city, near the sketchier side of town. 

After graduating, I’d turned the place into a clinic, having the double benefits of giving us plenty of desperate people we could run tests on, as well as actually helping them all for very cheap. Given Double Cool, I wasn’t too worried we’d cause any permanent harm to them, though it did hurt a little to see how many people were living in dire straits. 

Part of me was tempted to throw caution to the wind the next time I saw a malnourished kid walked in, but I calmed myself, knowing I wasn’t ready to step out into the world like that. Also with the fact that charging such wealthy elites head on wouldn’t help. Despite focusing on my studies, I still kept feelers out, both with creative uses of my power and just through the trust i had earned from the people on the street.

For the most part however, I was happy with what I was doing, and how much I was learning. While I hadn’t ‘cracked the code’ in regards to the physical enhancements Garaki had managed, my own set had vastly increased my strength, speed, and even my reflexes and general toughness. It wasn’t on the level of All Might, but I felt confident I was saying I was basically on the level of even top pros with strength boosting Quirks, aside from the number one. All of that on top of intense training everyday, and I feel practically invincible.

Such hubristic thoughts were probably better saved for dramatic, rainy days - or better yet, not had at all. Alas, it was a bright day like any other when I heard the doorbell chime in my little clinic. Glancing up, I saw an older man in a very fine suit. He looked out of place in a hole in the wall like the clinic I was operating out of, but he’d hardly have been the first wealthy fool interested in my services. Something was different about him, however.

There was a presence, an indescribable aura to the man that made it hard to even raise my head to stare him straight on. He had snowy white hair, a thin smile, and white eyes. He was the greatest threat I’d ever faced, and I could barely move a muscle as he approached the desk.

“Do you have an appointment?” I asked, my throat dry as I fought through the panic seizing a hold of me. Not him, not now! This is way too early to fight this bastard! How did he find out about me?

He gave me a curious look before shaking it off with a genial smile. “I’m afraid not, but I’m quite curious to hear about the work you’re doing here. I’ve heard great things about you and this clinic Miss Frost. My name is Yan Hito, and I’m a buisnessman with an interest in supporting clinics like this one.” It appeared we were both going by fake names, which was fine by me, given my outside context knowledge.

He extended a hand out to me to shake. Ahh, now I see. This must be something he does regularly, to keep an eye on people who won’t be missed by society that have impressive Quirks. He probably plans to offer me a bunch of money to work with him, giving him little in return at first, maybe just information. As clients start disappearing though, he’ll reveal his true colors, frame me as complicit and leverage law enforcement to make me complicit. That Quirk stealing bastard must have this down to an art form at this point.

I reached out to take his hand before pausing and drawing it back. He frowned. “Is something the matter? I know the holes on my hands might look unusual but they’re just a part of my Quirk-”

“Oh, it’s not that,” I lied easily. “It’s just that we have a strict sanitization process here. If you could please use the sanitizer by the entrance, I’d be happy to shake your hand and discuss business.”

“Of course,” he brightened up, turning to do just that. Stupid! Idiot! He doesn’t come in person to handle little deals like this - he’s a criminal heading if not a true blue worldwide conspiracy than at least multiple seperate cells of criminal organizations around the globe. He’s here because he wants me, and my power. I hadn’t been so foolish as to just shake his hand willy nilly - I still had a Rule active granting me immunity to other powers - but I would have been giving up the initiative by revealing it.

“Desk will explode when I stop touching it,” I whispered as quietly as I could, scooping up a bag off the ground by my feet. It was duffel bag containing all of the essentials. Then I turned my power on myself teleporting myself away. As the last syllable came out of my lips, I was whisked away to the top of a small mall down the block, giving me the perfect vantage point to watch as the building I’d been in was consumed by a massive explosion.

I felt a brief pang of sympathy for the two patients I’d been working with inside, but consoled myself with the fact that it would be better than ending up in his hands.

If he’s still alive, that is. The explosives I planted would be unlikely to kill me with my own enhanced physique, but they’d be massively painful to say the least. Theoretically, the Demon Lord doesn’t have an enhanced body yet - that’s what Shigaraki and his other pile of orphans are for. If I really caught him off guard…

I reinstated my immunity to other Quirks and used another Order, enhancing my senses. It was pandemonium down where my clinic had been. Much of the noise came from alarms and nearby pedestrians screaming at the spectacle of it all, but there were people from nearby buildings crying out in pain too, and I winced at that.

“Somebody help meeeee!”

“We need a hero!”

“Was this a villain attack?”

“Well that was quite rude.”

“What’s going on?!”

The second-to-last sentence came not from down below, but right behind me. I jumped, flipping away and narrowly avoiding a pair of tendrils- no, thorned vines, cutting through the air where I had been. 

As I landed on the rooftop three stories below, rolling to bleed off my momentum, I kept my eyes peeled upwards. The vines retreated, back across the rooftop as I heard the click clack of his fancy dress shoes, the man walking over, unbothered.

Before he got a good look at me, I dropped my enhanced senses for immunity to other powers and switching teleportation for something more offensive. Then he was there, looming over from the higher building to stare down at me. He had the air of a disappointed father to him, just slowly shaking his head. “Why would you go and do something like that?”

“Your reputation precedes you,” I shot back, deciding to use the banter as time to strategize. No heroes on the scene yet. This neighborhood isn’t known for speedy responses… but it isn’t known for giant explosions, and that was merely the opening volley.

“That’s a shame; you must have only heard the bad parts. I’m quite generous with my friends.”

I snorted. “From what I’ve heard, Zen Shigaraki, you aren’t the kind of man who has friends. Just disposable pawns.” That got him to stiffen up, just a little. Think I’ll still call him All for One if I touch him though. Pretty sure he sees himself as that name more than any other. 

Of course, my initial plans didn’t involve me touching him at all. Yes, I had an immunity Rule, but I knew that Rules could be overpowered, and I didn’t want to pit my strength against his head to head. Not when the cost could be so high. And fighting in close range against someone with a power like that is stupid for all but the greatest of fighters. Maybe Endeavour after decades as the number two and then number one hero managed to grapple him and keep his prying hands away, but I don’t have that experience.

I had practiced, making sure to train my body physically just in case, but I was under no illusions that it would be anywhere close to the experience he had. 

“You seem to be quite well informed about me, Miss Frost. I came here with a simple goal, to bring this surprisingly adept biokinesis Quirk onto my side - with or without you depending on how the initial meeting went - but I see I’ll have to investigate you a bit more personally. Blowing up your own office, escaping here, and knowing my true name… there seems to be far more to you than meets the eye.” I shivered at the gleam that flashed by his eyes at that. Sadistic bastard… excuse me, bastards. I amended my thoughts as I saw a bunch of more All for Ones stepping out of alleyway, walking into view from atop other buildings, and generally surrounding me.

A clone power? No, he would have abused the shit out of it in canon if he had something like that. Duplication powers are rare - to the point where I can’t even do it and I’ve never met someone who could… so maybe this isn’t cloning. An illusion? That wouldn’t affect me, but if it wasn’t affecting my mind but the light around me…

A quick glance at the clones showed a suspicious lack of shadows to most of them, but some of the ones above me I couldn’t see. My enhanced senses should have let me hear his heartbeat and breath, but much like his voice, those elements were projected among all the copies. 

“Would that make me Optimus Prime then?” I asked cheekily while opening my bag and quickly muttering the name of my gear and “Equip” to snap it on fast. A length of chain coiled itself around one forearm, and a net around the other, while a quiver snapped in place across my back (I just picked up the bow).

He slapped his knee (all clones copying the action), “Hah! Been a while since I heard that one. It’s a shame they stopped making Transformers.”

“Huh, you’d think the franchise would be decently easy to adapt into a post Quirk world, right?”

“Exactly!” The murderous aura dropped for a moment, and I could see how he had charmed so many villains into working with him. Of course, I also knew that was when he was the most dangerous, so I jumped into the air, rising high above the nearby buildings and well over the vines that lashed out towards the spot I’d been standing on.

They were already rising up to meet me as I spun through the air, searching for my target. Even with my enhanced senses dropped, I could see the one who actually had a shadow. Drawing my bow back, I nocked an arrow. “Arrow will ignore other Quirks.” Then I loosed it.

It was hardly the fanciest or strongest effect I could attatch to it as a Rule, but I really didn’t want him to deflect or somehow ignore this shot. Besides, it’s got power aplenty in just the shot.

Biology and chemistry weren’t the only things I had studied, just the majority of them. I still had the time and resources to craft some pretty advanced, albeit simplistic, gear. The bow and arrows were just that, but designed to withstand my full strength, which meant when I let the shot go, it created a sonic boom with how fast it moved.

More vines were already shooting out of his back before I even fully let the arrow go. Some were raised as a shield, but others were pushing him away. Unfortunately, that meant my shot failed to hit him, though the massive shockwave created by it knocked him back a tad. I might not be able to match monsters like him in terms of direct strength, but humans have been perfecting ways to leverage our meager might against greater animals and win for millenia. Using arrows to amplify the force I can deliver is just one trick in my arsenal.

Stuck in the air as I fell, I had no way to avoid the thorny vines as they hit me. My prior immunity was still up however, and it made the vines fail to do anything, tearing off and not even impeding me as I raced off of the ground. 

Turning as I ran, I readied my bow with another shot, but he zig-zagged around it, his speed picking up into a blur as he shot ahead, sparks and flames flickering off his body. Must be the result of two or more different speed Quirks that are compatible but not completely so. The end result was still impressive though, his speed and skill letting him dodge the powerful shots I sent his way, all while grabbing cars, streetlights, or even just ripping apart chunks of buildings with his vines to toss at me.

Dodging most, I rolled with or otherwise tanked the few blows that hit me, before trying to pepper him with another arrow, this time giving it the command to seek out the nearest non-me person, eyeing the side street we were on as thankfully deserted. It wasn’t to be however, as a telekinetic power snipped the bow string before I could even loose it at All for One. He’s got a Quirk for everything, doesn’t he?

The question might have been to myself, but even I wasn’t sure if it was rhetorical or not. It was hard to plan for someone who had such versatility to them, though I’d be damned if I didn’t try.

He was gaining on me easily with his speed Quirks now that he didn’t have to avoid my shots (and had dropped his illusionary clone Quirk, realizing it hadn’t worked at all on me), so I ducked under a grab, unspooling the chain around my left arm, whispering “Chain,” and then yelling the next part, “Fly to the sun!” As I tossed it at him, wrapping around his chest and plucking him into the sky.

Sadly, All for One didn’t go far, swiftly calling upon an acid Quirk to melt the chain around him, the broken pieces continuing off in the distance before I rescinded the Rule. The bastard still smirked, full of himself, as he uttered, “Starfall,” raising his index finger and pointing it down.

Following that motion, a giant ball of plasma filled the air, descending towards me. Rather than try and dodge it, I reached out to a nearby build, hoping it had been evacuated. Grabbing it, I felt my flesh sear and burn slightly from the plasma before his attack fizzled out. Gah! Nothing worse than a sunburn I suppose, but a healthy reminder that my immunity has limits, especially as broadly phrased as it is.

I quickly amended it, focusing on immunity from just All for One’s Quirks. My biggest advantage was to keep the Demon Lord from guessing how and what exactly I was doing, along with a level of versatility even he’d have trouble with. “Building, break.” The small bakery shattered into billions of infinitesimal pieces (and thankfully revealed the last person fleeing the store as it all fell to dust).

Said civilian was crying out about a ‘villain,’ but that was a problem for future me. This me had bad guys to kill. “Air, swirl.” The simple command carried a large just of wind, sweeping upmost of the broken down building dust into the air and towards All for One. My aerokinesis powers couldn’t actually reach him, the jerk hovering out of range from such a big sweep, but inertia carried the particles the rest of the way.

There’s ways to min/max my powers. Sure, controlling a spherical volume of air and I might only reach out seventy five meters at the maximum from me. But if I turn that into a single point, a small tube of air extended outwards… “Air, combust.” A spark triggered in the air nearby All for One, and where the swarming dust hadn’t harmed him, the ensuing dust explosion was a different story.

…Or so I had hoped. But as the smoke cleared, he stood mid-air there like a smug-ass DBZ character I’d just tried beam spam on, to no avail. Though he had to raise a translucent forcefield around himself.

“You certainly aren’t the good little girl you portrayed yourself as, now are you? Such destructive qualities… what would your patients think? I mean, beyond the ones you already killed?” He questioned, his soft voice mocking. I took more note on how his barrier flickered out at that rather than his words. The barrier must come with drawbacks. Maybe it can’t take targeted attacks well or he can’t move while it’s up, which is why he didn’t use it on my bow shots before.

“I think if it kills you, then that’s a small price to pay. I don’t like it, but beating a centuries old monster like you-” A sharp scream pierced the air, the woman somewhere nearby sobbing loudly, likely over the destruction our fight had already caused. His grin widened a fraction at my wince.

“And what about when you become the ‘centuries old monster’ you claim to hate?” I frowned and he waggled a finger. “I did some investigations of my own and you remind me of another scientist I know, oh so determined to figure out how Quirks work. He’s even duplicated his own longevity Quirk and given it to me. I’m sure, if you somehow defeated me, you’d be tempted in time to steal something just like that.”

“What?”

He drifted down a bit closer and I was on edge, giving myself a teleportation power with my free Rule. “Oh, you’ve hid it well. I’m not sure what Quirk it is that you stole to stop myself from scanning you and even more amazed that there’s someone out there who escaped my little familial purge, but there’s only one way you could know so much about me…”

“...Is if we’re family.” I finished my mind racing. That’s- It is the most logical explanation, I suppose. “Don’t guess we can let bygones be bygones then. I mean, what’s a few explosions between family?”

He chuckled. “I’m tempted! I’ve been wondering about raising a successor… but I don’t think you’ll do. A little too independent for what I’d like, even if I do see you treading in my footsteps down the line.”

“You mean able to fight back against your grand-theft me and not needing your shitty ass Quirk,” I fired back, teleport above him as I whipped the weighted net over him. “Net experiences ten times gravity,” I said, dropping the immunity Rule.

“What?!” He cried as the weighted net crushed down onto him, pressing him to the ground. With my teleportation power still active, I avoided the lashing vines he used as a counterattack and landed on the pavement at almost the same time as him. Then I dropped that Rule to state. “Ground will open up.”

From my feet, a crack in the earth raced out ahead of me, opening up into a fissure that All for One was pushed down into from my net. I rescinded the Rule with but a thought, causing the ground to seal itself back up… and crush him between tonnes of dirt.

I didn’t waste any time, hoping or assuming that would stop him, instead flipping up a sewer grate into my hand. “Grate is sharp,” I laid down my first Rule, material on the edge being shaved away until it was two dimensional, existing at only an atom’s width across the entire surface. I was careful not to touch the edge, gripping it with my thumb and fingers on either side. “Grate is tough. Grate unaffected by non-biological matter.”

As that last Order went through, I chucked the deadly disc, hurling it down into the earth where I last saw him before the dirt swallowed him whole. As I tossed it, the ground erupted, tossing chunks of concrete, metal, and dirt all over. I was grateful for my enhanced physique, as it meant that the debris which would have been lethal was merely immensely painful.

I couldn’t tell if that explosive force moved him out of the way, or my aim had been off slightly, but whatever the case, it meant the circular slicer merely cut clean through his right arm at the elbow, rather than his torso. His smirk faded slowly as he turned to look at his stump before letting out a howl of rage and pain.

He shot out of the pit towards me, several clawed limbs erupting from his body, each one glowing with a deadly violet energy as he swung them towards me. I barely had time to enact a repulsion field around myself, which pushed him away. He used said field against me, laser beams shooting out of his eyes to try and pin me against a building wall, but I went with the force, smashing through the apartment and racing out the other end.

All for One loomed over me as I broke out the other side, a gigantification Quirk of some kind covering him in scales and making him appear as monstrous as he truly was deep down. “Hahaha! I see! You don’t have All for One, but a Quirk that can stand on par with all that I’ve stolen all by itself! Give Double Cool to me! I must have it!”

Despite his deranged rantings, his tactical skills remained, his remaining hand reaching down to crush me against the pavement and overwhelm my repulsion field. Even the spittle he was spraying had a point, the large globes sizzling and dissolving the road with some kind of acid Quirk made all the more potent with his increased size.

Lacking a better plan or option, I increased my strength and batted his hand away with a nearby car. His skin flashed like diamonds for a moment, my attack doing nothing to his hardened skin, but it at least prevented him from stealing my Quirk. I tried to beat off the other limbs, but it proved to be too much, six of them pinning me in from every angle and overwhelming my repulsion field and strength.

Giving myself the ability to teleport meant being crushed and feeling my skin peeling off from the violet energies the clawed Quirk limbs had for an instant, but I survived, escaping. The reprieve was momentary as All for One raced after me, his speed enhancements still working with his size and letting him tear up the city as I blinked away from him repeatedly. 

I could have used an instant teleport rather than giving myself the power, but then having to say the words again would have been too much and he would have killed me. Even with this I still can’t keep up! Teleportation was one of my weakest movement forms in terms of distance covered, likely due to how versatile it was. Dodging past building helped, but All for One simply tore through them - a part of my plan, but one that left me grazed cut in numerous places, one strike nearly taking off my leg and still leaving a deep gash across my achilles.

“Air friction is increased.” I called out, causing All for One to errupt into flames as he tried to push his way towards me, his own speed Quirks playing very poorly with that change. He shrieked and started blasting me with more eyebeams, these ones orange in color and tracking onto me even as I teleported away.

One blast knocked the breath out of my lungs and I thought that was the end… until I saw All for One smacked to the side by an even larger being. With green skin, a simple robe like costume and crown, and a gigantification Quirk of her own, Lady Liberty was one of the most well known heroes of America. And she wasn’t alone.

With all the destruction we had caused, a dozen of other heroes had arrived on the scene, with more pouring in. I feared what All for One might do with their Quirks, but I knew that I had to leave, so when I saw Captain Celebrity sneering down at the villain, I called out in the most feminine voice I could.

“Oh please, I need a big strong hero to save me!” The blond haired man whirled around, flying towards me before he even got a good look at me. All for One bellowed in the distance, trying to get close, but was stymied by the efforts of multiple heroes fighting back.

“No need to fear ma’am, Captain Celebrity is here to- oh you’re some kinda gorilla girl,” he frowned as he actually saw how tall I was (only eight feet!), trying to pull the hand he had offered back.

I didn’t let him, grabbing on tight. “Captain Celebrity will fly away from the villain as fast as possible.” My rule took effect, causing him to burst into the air and far away. Then, just to be sure, I added, “Captain Celebrity can fly faster.”

The second rule caused even the hero himself strain from the g-forces as we whipped around the globe before I rescinded the Rules. He used his flight to reduce the inertia coming to a stop somewhere over a forest. Think I saw the ocean as we passed by so hopefully I’m safe now.

I muttered an immunity Rule on myself to stop All for One from being able to track me with any Quirks of that nature he might have while the hero ranted. “Ahh what did you do to me? God, everyone is going to think Captain Celebrity is a coward and during my big debut too.”

I scoffed. “You should give me thanks for saving your life,” I spat out, alongside some blood. “Ugh forget it. Literally: Captain Celebrity’s memories of me will be obliterated once he gets back to America,” I declared before letting go of him as he dropped me off on the ground.

“Ha! Fat chance of that. You’re one plain faced girl I’ll actually keep a note of,” the idiot declared before blasting back off. I smirked before wincing in pain at my wounds, slumping against a tree.

“Ha. Haha. Hahahaha! I actually did it! I survived against All for One in his prime.” It was amazing, and at the same time, terrifying. He’d place a target on my back from here on out, no matter where I went. I was in pain and couldn’t afford to heal myself yet until I was sure the triggered Instant Rule I’d used on Captain Celebrity was up, but I’d survived. Now, assuming that I haven’t derailed canon too thoroughly, all I have to do is wait for his clash with All Might, and see how that Quirk stealing jerk likes taking both of us on.

There was more to do, like pulling up the research I had stored on the cloud and beginning anew, maybe de-escalating Humarise and the like. Things I couldn’t do, like contact my family ever again (which hurt dearly, but I couldn’t put them at risk of All for One). For the moment, I just took a breath, appreciating the fact that I had survived against the Demon Lord of the underworld.

A/N: And to cap off the series, as per usual with most of these, a big, explosive battle! I did always feel it was a shame just how basic All for One’s powers were in canon, so I wanted to do a better job with that here, really showcasing what a villain who has lived this long can do with all the Quirks he’s gathered up, beyond just ‘big arm head empty smash’ lol.

I will say that I am not one of the people who believes that Prime All Might was sixty times stronger and faster than beginning canon All Might, admittedly (taking one, boastful quote as an iron clad fact is really suspect in the best of times, and there are other issues with this idea, like how the USJ Nomu’s Shock Absorption would have worked/was demonstrated to work, etc.). This means that All for One doesn’t need to be sixty times stronger to have nearly defeated All Might. I feel like he still put on a pretty good show of his strength here.

It was also a good way to demonstrate Cathleen’s powers and prowess. I hope I did New Order Double Cool justice with this one, as opposed to her somewhat uninspiring and confusing canon fight. Let me know what you thought of it and this series as a whole. While I have other MHA projects which are more fleshed out at the moment, I might add these ones as omakes to the other one, once I’ve got more chapters ready to go.