Fanfic / Rise of the Phoenix

A dormant quirk is as good as not having a quirk at all, Midoriya Izuku is quick to learn.

Subjected to ten years of pain and torment, Izuku is pushed beyond the point of no return, and decides to end it all.

But when his body hits the ground, everything changes. Death triggers his quirk, and he rises from the ashes in a blaze of burning glory.

The fate of Japan is forever altered.

Rise Of The Phoenix is a My Hero Academia fanfic by TheUnseenKaito99 that can be read on Archive of Our Own here. Unfortunately, this story is now a dead fic since the author has left the Archive, abandoning all of their works in the process.

Not to be confused with The Rise of Phoenixes.

Note: All events occurring up to this fic's version of the Sports Festival are unspoiled.

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Tropes in this fic include:

• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa is introduced earlier here when he makes his first appearance in the aftermath of the USJ incident in canon.
  • Hatsume Mei makes an unseen cameo appearance just before the USJ incident here when she is formally introduced during the Sports Festival in-canon.
  • Shirakumo Oboro is formally introduced in Chapter 255 of the manga during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc. Here, his corpse is freed from Kurogiri's body after Izuku cremates the warp-quirk villain at the climax of the USJ incident.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Izuku has only expressed interest in girls in canon, and Tokoyami Fumikage's sexuality has never been specified. Here, the author has planned for Izuku and Fumikage to become a couple further down the road.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In canon, Izuku inherits All Might’s quirk, One For All, which is a stockpile of raw power and an assimilation of quirks from its previous wielders. Here, Izuku awakens a dormant quirk which transforms him into a humanoid phoenix with many abilities, such as producing and controlling fire so hot it can cremate metal in seconds, flight, and healing powers.
• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • Bakugou Masaru is a pacifist by nature in canon, acting as a peacemaker between his more explosive wife and son. Here, after hearing all of the horrible things Katsuki has done to Izuku, Masaru grows a spine and takes control of the reins. For the first time, he raises his voice against Katsuki and accepts Izuku's deal without hearing any input from his son or wife.
  • Even after inheriting One for All, Izuku remained essentially a push-over until much later in the series, evident when he does nothing as Iida Tenya humiliates him in front of the other candidates during the Yuuei entrance exam. Here, while Tenya does still call Izuku out during the briefing, Izuku immediately turns on Tenya and delivers such a scalding verbal smackdown that it leaves everyone else speechless.
• Arrested for Heroism: The Musutafu police arrest Izuku following his cremation of the Slime Villain on the belief that he is a villain or vigilante.
• Ascended Extra: Fumikage is a supporting character in canon, here he is a major character who will be romantically paired with Izuku further down the line.
• Bait-and-Switch: The author invokes this trope in Chapter 20, where during the Cavalry Battle, Team Izuku baits Team Shouto with a headband that the latter assumes is the one worth ten million points. However, it is quickly revealed that the headband in question was only worth five points.
• Berserk Button:
  • Call Dark Shadow a demon, and she will attack you, as Shiozaki Ibara finds out when she battles Fumikage during the Sports Festival.
  • Diss his class and friends, and Izuku will not hesitate to cause bodily harm. Monoma Neito learns this the hard way on two occasions, first in the aftermath of the USJ incident and after the students return from their internships post-Sports Festival.
  • Never be the reason why Izuku and Fumikage are separated from one another, because Dark Shadow will hunt you down and eviscerate you. Nezu learns this the hard way when Dark Shadow defies her fear of light to pummel him into the ground for separating Izuku and Fumikage during the end-of-term practical assessment.
• Birds of a Feather: The very first friend Izuku makes in Yuuei is Fumikage, a student with the head of a bird, while he himself is a humanoid phoenix. A second instance comes from Nezu, who strongly suspects that once Izuku participates in the Sports Festival, Takami Keigo - a.k.a the number three hero, Hawks - will be sending the phoenix an internship offer, regardless of how well he performs. This is later confirmed in Chapter 19.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The author invokes this trope in Chapter 17 when Katsuki returns to the story. See Put on a Bus below.
• Breather Episode: Chapter 16 is this. Izuku and Fumikage make a day trip to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea to keep their minds off the traumatic events of the USJ incident.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: All Might shows up at the USJ in all his glory...only to discover that the invading villains have already been dealt with. Izuku is far from impressed, the stress and adrenaline exploding in one long, expletive-riddled Cluster F-Bomb.
• Character Overlap: Two characters from Haikyuu!!, Hinata Shouyou and Ushijima Wakatoshi, are sidekicks to Hawks in this story. Shouyou has a quirk that gives him the wings of a crow, while Wakatoshi has eagle wings as his quirk. Come Chapter 32, a third character, Kiyoko Shimizu, is introduced as the Aviary's chief outfit designer.
• Chirping Crickets: The author lampshades this trope when Izuku unexpectedly hugs Shinsou Hitoshi, despite the latter's taunting, during their one-on-one battle in the final round of the Sports Festival by stating that someone with a cricket quirk must have been in the audience. This happens several more times when Izuku reveals to Hitoshi (and by extension, the entire country) how his quirk manifested and his previously quirkless state, and when he gave Endeavour a Groin Attack.
• Costume Evolution: Izuku's hero outfit gets an upgrade during his internship with Hawks. The long, flowing skirt is switched to a golden suit of armour reminiscent of Phoenix Ikki's God Cloth from Saint Seiya.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: As a humanoid phoenix, Izuku is able to extract Katsuki from the Slime Villain, and subsequently cremate said villain to ashes with his fire.
• Death by Adaptation: Several instances.
  • The Slime Villain gets cremated by Izuku.
  • The villains in the Shipwreck Zone during the USJ incident are killed by Izuku. Two were cremated, while 46 others were boiled alive as a result of the extreme heat from Izuku's flames.
  • The Noumu, Shigaraki Tomura, and Kurogiri are all cremated alive by Izuku.
  • Native is killed by a Noumu-fied Stain during the Hosu incident.
  • Stain, at the end of the Hosu incident. However, whether it was at the hands of All For One or Izuku currently remains unclear.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Izuku's response to his classmates' costumes being overly sexualised is to have the perpetrators dangled off the roof of Yuuei by their legs. His classmates are allowed to cut the ropes keeping them from falling. A quickly deployed airbag is the only thing that stops them from dying.
• Dodge the Bullet: In the metaphorical sense. Nezu discusses the events of the USJ attack with Tsukauchi, Izuku, and Fumikage in Chapter 14. When the topic shifts to Izuku's killing of Shigaraki and Kurogiri, Nezu remarks that while it was unfortunate that they won't be able to learn important information about the villains, he personally feels that they might have dodged a serious bullet with Izuku's actions. Given the aftermath of the Paranormal Liberation War arc in the manga, Nezu is within his rights to make such a statement.
• Downer Beginning: The first chapter covers Izuku’s tough life as an effectively-Quirkless individual, and ends with his completed suicide attempt after All Might destroys his dreams of becoming a hero.
• Fair-Weather Foe: After Izuku's quirk activates following his completed suicide attempt, the students of Aldera Middle School - the very ones who used to bully and abuse Izuku for being effectively quirkless - all attempt to suck up to him in an attempt to curry favour. Izuku ignores all of this until someone actually solicits sexual favours in exchange for his good graces. Izuku loses his cool and threatens to use his quirk on the students. They wisely keep their distance from then on.
• Filler: Chapter 8 is effectively this. After their first day of school at Yuuei comes to an end, Izuku and Fumikage head out to a café the latter goes to regularly to hang out. Chapter 15 is another example, where Izuku invites Fumikage to stay over at his place in the aftermath of the USJ incident.
• Flat "What":
  • This is Izuku's exact reaction when Shouto asks him if he is the love child between the latter's parents and Hawks.
  • Happens again with Recovery Girl when she learns that Izuku did something unimaginable to Endeavour. See Point of Divergence below for context.
  • This happens to Izuku a second time when Todoroki Natsuo asks him to marry him.
• Groin Attack: Izuku knees Endeavour in the crotch after the latter tries to physically assault him in Chapter 23. Let's just say that should the hospital not be able to repair the damage, Endeavour will not be able to have children anymore.
• Humiliation Conga: Katsuki's fall from grace is a swift one. Not only does he get probation for his actions against Izuku, when the rest of Aldera learns of what happened, he becomes a social pariah overnight. The roles are reversed, and Katsuki subsequently becomes a victim of merciless bullying, verbal insults, and pranks. It gets so bad that Izuku informs his mother of what is going on, who then reports the incidents to Tsukauchi. The detective comes down hard on Aldera, and the school is quickly shut down.
• Immoral Journalist: Following the events of Chapter 11, the press converges onto Yuuei to demand answers, harassing the students who were just trying to get to class and being a public nuisance.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Izuku still gets bullied throughout his childhood, because he is effectively quirkless due to a dormant quirk factor.
  • Izuku still gets suicide-baited by Katsuki.
  • Both Izuku and Katsuki still get attacked by the Slime Villain.
  • All Might's rejection of Izuku's dreams is somewhat different from canon events, but it still has the same effect.
  • Izuku still cleans Dagobah beach as part of his training for the Yuuei entrance exam.
  • Izuku still rescues Ochako and decimates the zero-pointer at the climax of the practical assessment like in-canon.
  • Aizawa puts 1-A through the quirk assessment test.
  • All Might conducts the Foundational Heroics lesson with battle trials.
  • The press still comes down to Yuuei to demand answers, the difference from canon being that their target is not All Might, rather the events of Chapter 11.
  • The press trespass into the campus, triggering the intruder alarm and sending the students in the cafeteria into a panic.
  • The villains, led by Shigaraki, still invade the USJ.
  • Just like in canon, Izuku is warped away by Kurogiri towards the Shipwreck Zone alongside Tsuyu.
  • Aizawa is still attacked by Shigaraki and the Noumu like in canon.
  • After the Sports Festival is announced, a crowd of students congregate outside 1-A's classroom to scope out the competition.
  • Shouto issues his declaration of war on Izuku during the Sports Festival, just as he did in canon.
  • Izuku finishes first in the Obstacle race. However, because he can fly, he finishes the course so quickly that he has time to put on a dance performance for the spectators.
    • This also means that his headband for the Cavalry Battle is also worth ten million points.
  • Shouto's backstory is revealed after the Cavalry Battle.
  • Izuku is still first up against Hitoshi during the one-on-one battles.
  • Hanta and Denki both get curb-stomped by their opponents.
  • Izuku fights Shouto just like in-canon, and uses his famous 'It's your power' line to get his opponent to use his fire.
  • Tensei gets attacked by Stain, though the sequence of events is drastically different from canon. Also, Izuku heals him and Tenya once Stain is dealt with.
  • 1-A has their end-of-term practical assessment, in line with canon events.
    • Eijirou fails his practical assessment, just like his canon counterpart.
• Ironic Echo: Katsuki's suicide-baiting comes back to haunt him when someone scrawls a similar message on his desk with a permanent marker. To add insult to injury, a vase of red spider lilies are added too. The flower's association with death, rebirth and its common use as a tribute to the dead only emphasizes how far the tables have turned on the explosive bully.
• Mic Drop: Izuku invokes this trope at the end of his fiery speech during the opening ceremony of the Sports Festival.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Izuku was never actually quirkless but his quirk factor was dormant, which is effectively the same thing in this quirk-biased society.
  • Instead of inheriting One for All from All Might, Izuku transforms into a humanoid phoenix following his suicide attempt.
  • Katsuki's horrid treatment and abuse of Izuku are never properly addressed in canon. Here, Izuku spills the beans to his mother and Detective Tsukauchi, the latter immediately pressing charges against the explosive teen. Izuku intervenes, deciding that probation and a restraining order against his former childhood friend are sufficient.
    • Because of his actions and the deal decided by Izuku and Tsukauchi, Katsuki is also barred from the Yuuei heroics course until otherwise decided by Principal Nezu. According to the story tags, Katsuki ends up in the general education department.
  • Aldera Middle School gets shut down, with all of the staff and several students getting arrested.
  • Izuku cleans Dagobah beach in eight months, not ten like in canon.
  • Izuku doesn't trip on his way into Yuuei for the entrance exam, which prevents Uraraka Ochako from using her quirk to stop him from falling.
  • Izuku performs much better in the practical assessment than in canon, scoring seventy villain points and forty rescue points for a total of one hundred ten points, putting him at the top of the scoreboard.
  • Principal Nezu is aware of the corruption and criminal goings-on by the Hero Public Safety Commission (HSPC) and is hoping to recruit Izuku to help him expose the organisation for their wrongdoings and free Hawks from their hold. In the canon universe, none of this is revealed until much later in the manga.
  • Izuku arrives at Yuuei for his first day of school much earlier than in canon.
  • Aoyama is female here, as are Ojiro and Satou in an attempt by the author to fix the gender imbalance in Class 1-A. Kouda Kouji is non-binary, according to the tags.
  • Because Katsuki is not in Class 1-A, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu from canon 1-B takes his place instead.
  • Izuku performs far better in the quirk assessment test, placing second behind Yaoyorozu Momo instead of last in canon.
  • Aizawa Shouta may have pretended to expel the worst-performing student in the test to get his students to go beyond their best in canon, but here, he was far from joking. He immediately expels Mineta Minoru for coming in last and for displaying perverted behaviour towards the female students.
  • Izuku's hero costume is far different than in canon because he is a humanoid phoenix and no longer idolises All Might.
  • As Katsuki and Minoru are not in 1-A come the battle trials, several of the pairings have changed. Tetsutetsu gets paired with Ochako, Kirishima Eijirou is paired with Tenya, Izuku is paired with Hagakure Tooru, and Ojiro Mashira is paired with Sero Hanta. Yaoyorozu Momo is the outlier in that she participates in her round by herself, as the sole villain faced off against Satou Riko and Kouda Kouji.
  • Izuku faces off against Shouji Mezou and Todoroki Shouto during the exercise, instead of Katsuki and Tenya in-canon.
  • When the press show up at Yuuei's gates, canon Izuku quickly backs away out of fright. Here, Izuku gives his account to the press as he had planned with Nezu the day before. When the reporters begin to overstep their boundaries, he uses his fire to push them all back.
  • Izuku and Yaoyorozu Momo are elected as 1-A's class representatives. Here, Momo is the representative, and Izuku is her deputy, instead of the other way around in canon.
  • When the press trespasses into the campus and triggers the intruder alarm, sending the students in the cafeteria into a panic, Izuku, not Tenya, is the one to quell the stampede.
  • Several instances during the USJ incident:
    • The villains in the Shipwreck Zone are dealt with by the combined effort of Izuku, Tsuyu, and Minoru in canon. Here, without Minoru present and Izuku being a humanoid phoenix, the villains are all killed off by Izuku's flames.
    • It takes All Might's strength and beyond to see off the Noumu in canon. Here, Izuku one-shots the Noumu by cremating the monster with his flames.
    • Shigaraki and Kurogiri flee when the rest of the Yuuei staff show up as reinforcements and following their Noumu's defeat in canon. Here, just like with the Noumu, the two villains are cremated alive by Izuku's flames.
  • Aizawa is grievously injured during the USJ incident at the hands of Shigaraki and the Noumu. Even with Recovery Girl's efforts, it takes a while for him to recover, with scars remaining. Here, while Aizawa is still nearly beaten to death at the hands of the villains, Izuku uses his healing abilities to keep his teacher away from death's door.
  • For putting his students in danger during the USJ incident, Nezu has All Might fired from his teaching position at Yuuei. No such occurrence takes place in canon.
  • Shinsou Hitoshi never gets to issue his declaration of war against 1-A; his plan is completely upended by Izuku giving Monoma Neito from 1-B a "Reason You Suck" Speech for his arrogant behaviour.
  • On Izuku's request, 1-A and 1-B are introduced as a united department in the opening ceremony of the Sports Festival, primarily to show that there is no distinction between the two classes. This is a stark contrast to canon events, where 1-A is given special attention during their introduction by Present Mic while the rest of the classes are effectively overlooked.
  • Because he placed first in the entrance exam, Izuku, not Katsuki, is the one to open the Sports Festival with a speech.
  • Ochako is not part of Izuku's team during the Cavalry Battle.
  • Izuku does not get mind-controlled by Hitoshi like in canon.
    • At the end of their one-on-one battle, Hitoshi is transferred to class 1-A by the machinations of Izuku and a spectating Nezu. See Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! below. In-canon, Hitoshi will transfer into the heroics department come his second year in Yuuei.
  • Mei wins her battle against Tenya by having him catapulted out of bounds with one of her inventions when she would have forfeited her match in canon. Mei would go on to beat Eijirou, before losing to Izuku. She would subsequently beat Ochako to clinch the second runner-up position.
  • Fumikage was pitted against Mina, instead of Momo in-canon. Instead, Momo was up against Katsuki, instead of Fumikage.
    • On that note, Momo's performance differs somewhat from canon. While she would have been knocked out-of-bounds by Fumikage before she could properly showcase her capabilities, Momo is shown here strategising on how to deal with Katsuki and later using motor oil in a bid to stop her opponent from using his quirk. However, she never expected Katsuki to suffer a panic attack from memories of the Slime Villain incident, causing him to ignite the oil and result in a direct play-out of Man on Fire. Momo is able to extinguish the flames but is treated to the horrible sight of Katsuki with third-degree burns all over his body. Momo is so traumatised that she withdraws from the festival and is sent to Hound Dog by Aizawa.
  • Izuku's interaction with Endeavour prior to his match with Shouto deviates from canon. See Groin Attack below.
  • Izuku wins his match against Shouto, progressing to the next bracket.
  • Ibara goes against Fumikage instead of Tenya. However, she still loses.
  • Eijirou and Tetsutetsu never end up fighting against each other during the festival. Tetsutetsu is eliminated by Ochako and Eijirou is beaten by Mei here.
  • It becomes clear in Chapter 25 that Tenya was much more affected by his loss to Mei than previously stated. Thankfully, his older brother Tensei, a.k.a the pro-hero Ingenium, arrives from Hosu to comfort his younger brother. However, this begs the question. If Tensei made it to Musutafu unharmed, what happened to Stain?
    • Shouto later reveals in Chapter 28 that Stain's attacks have mysteriously stopped for weeks already, prompting speculation that the Hero Killer has gone missing. Later in Chapter 29, we see a conversation between All For One and presumably Dr. Garaki Kyudai about a new test subject for their Noumu programme. In the comments section, the author confirms that the subject is Stain himself!
  • The final match of the Sports Festival goes like this: Fumikage realises that he is in a disadvantaged position against Izuku, and tries to forfeit the match. Izuku, however, insists that Fumikage deserves a chance to win. They go back and forth, eventually deciding on a rock-paper-scissors game to decide the winner. Fumikage beats Izuku and is declared the winner.
  • Principal Nezu hands out the medals to Izuku, Fumikage, and Mei during the awards ceremony, not All Might.
  • Because of events taking place and the author's own research and creativity, several 1-A students have different hero names than in canon. For example, Tenya goes with Trackstar instead of Ingenium, Momo decides on Genesis instead of Creati, Mashira goes with Tail Spin unlike her canon male incarnation's choice of Tailman, Shouto chooses Frost-Flare instead of his given name, and Izuku decides on Amaterasu as a pairing with Fumikage's Tsukuyomi instead of Deku.
  • Izuku decides to intern with Hawks alongside Fumikage, instead of with Gran Torino.
  • Izuku persuades Momo against interning with Uwabami, offering to help her decide on a place of internship that won't result in a waste of time and exploitation.
  • Shouto decides to intern with Aizawa instead of with Endeavour.
  • Tenya interns with Tensei instead of Manual.
  • The Hosu Incident plays out somewhat differently:
    • Instead of three noumus, a total of eleven of them are unleashed by All For One.
    • Hawks gives Tensei a feather to maintain a line of connection between them while they search for Stain. In the ensuing chaos caused by the Noumu attack, the feather reacts, prompting Hawks, Izuku, and Fumikage to rush to Tensei's coordinates. They arrive to find a Noumu-fied Stain about to kill Tensei and Tenya, with another unknown victim in the background (later revealed to be Native). Izuku ends up fighting Stain head-on and returning him back to his human form with his flames, just as he did with Oboro at the end of the USJ incident.
  • Inko receives news that Katsuki has disappeared just as Izuku returns home after the Hosu incident. What this means for the plotline, only time will tell.
  • The students don't learn that they are supposed to fight the teachers as part of their practical end-of-term assessment until the day itself. Here, Aizawa told Hitoshi this in confidence but he decides to tell Izuku and Fumikage as a thank-you for standing up for him against Neito's quirkist hate speech.
  • The practical assessment pairings have been changed from canon. Most notably, Izuku is paired with Momo, Fumikage with Denki, and Hitoshi with Mina.
    • Additionally, because of the different pairings, Denki, Mina and Riko pass the practical assessment, when they would have failed in-canon.
• Potty Failure: The aftermath of the five perverts who were dangled off the roof of Yuuei by their ankles is this. When the airbag breaks their fall after Izuku's classmates cut their ropes, the intense shock loosens their bowels and bladders.
• Put on a Bus: Following his father's acceptance of Izuku's deal of probation and a restraining order in lieu of a spell in juvenile hall, Katsuki effectively disappears from the story. However, come Chapter 17, The Bus Came Back with Katsuki appearing in the crowd of students congregating outside of 1-A's classroom after the Sports Festival is announced.
  • This trope technically gets invoked after Katsuki is immolated during the Sports Festival and is not seen again thereafter. However, it gets invoked for real when Katsuki withdraws from Yuuei and inexplicably disappears, with the very real possibility of him going rogue.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Several instances thus far:
  • Tsukauchi tears All Might a new one for pushing Izuku over the precipice. The detective subsequently severs their friendship following the end of his tirade.
  • Nezu gives All Might a second one after the events of the USJ incident, with the principal firing the man from his teaching position at Yuuei for failing to protect the students under his care.
  • Izuku gives Neito one for trivialising 1-A's trauma from the USJ incident in Chapter 17.
• Running Gag: Every time Izuku visits the Yuuei support labs, Hatsume always causes an explosion. Her crazed laughter is also sure to follow, especially when Power Loader loses his mind.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Izuku uses his relationship with Nezu to have Hitoshi immediately transferred into 1-A despite not placing high enough in the Sports Festival.
• Ship Tease: Izuku and Fumikage, with Dark Shadow acting as matchmaker. Also, Shouyou and Wakatoshi, with Izuku, ironically, as the matchmaker.
• Shout-Out:
  • After Fumikage suffers a nightmare in Chapter 15, Izuku soothes him with a lullaby. The song he sings? All Is Found from the Disney movie 'Frozen 2'.
  • Izuku's melodious voice comes into play a second time during his internship with Hawks. When the number three hero suffers a sudden panic attack stemming from his traumatic upbringing under the HPSC, Izuku calms him down with a soothing rendition of Tangled's Healing Incantation song.
• Sir Swearsalot: Katsuki, so honestly no surprise there.
• Superpower Disability: Phoenixes are can never truly die, always reborn after each life. But because Izuku is not a pure phoenix, it is unknown if he truly has immortality, and he doesn't want to test his luck.
• Willfully Weak: Izuku intentionally limits his fire using specially-made quirk suppressant cuffs in order to protect his opponents from being accidentally cremated during the Sports Festival.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Izuku gives Hitoshi a speech along this line during their one-on-one battle, though the author suddenly pulls a Mood Whiplash by having Izuku Bitch Slap Hitoshi for mind-controlling Mashira without her consent during the Cavalry Battle.

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