All spoilers for My Hero Academia and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
In just one evening the life of young Izumi Midoriya would change completely. She is about to give up her dream of becoming a hero after her idol, the Number 1 Hero All Might, told her to do so, only for a giant space station to appear in the sky alongside a rain of crystals which take the form of Blades when resonated with. Izumi manages to follow one that turns into the friendly Pyra, who swears to help her achieve her dream. On top of that All Might reappears and offers her to inherit his powerful quirk. Together they are going to show the world that Izumi can become a hero.
'And Thus...' (A MHA / XC2 Crossover) is a crossover fanfiction of My Hero Academia and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 written by tanukizzy and can be found here
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This story contains examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In part due to being confirmed autistic, Izumi struggles much more with her own self-confidence as well as with large crowds. In Chapter 6 she reaches her breaking point in the chaos following the security alert, requiring both Pyra and Ochako to calm her down from her panic attack and even then it leaves her unable to talk for the rest of the day.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Melissa Shields already appears in the first chapter due to being online friends with Izumi.
- Rumi Usagiyama/Mirko appears in Chapter 4, set on Izumi's first day at U.A. Academy.
- Adaptational Gender Identity:
- In canon, protagonist Izuku Midoriya is a cis male. In this story she is trans female called Izumi.
- Izumi overhears when her mom talked to Rumi and Nemuri that one of them is taking estrogen, meaning at least one of them is a trans female.
- Nia is revealed to be a trans female, who used her cell manipulation abilities to give herself a female body.
- Hitoshi Shinso is revealed to go by they/them pronouns.
- As of Chapter 12, this fic's version of Denki Kaminari identifies as genderfluid.
- Adaptational Modesty:
- Pyra's default outfit from the game has been relegated solely to combat gear, while she usually dresses much more conservatively. She even wears the boys' school uniform to show less skin.
- Momo Yaoyorozu replaced her revealing canon hero outfit with what is essentially a red-and-white version of Mòrag's military coat. In-universe it's explained that Momo managed to create with her quirk a special fabric that can work together with it, allowing her to use it without having to show skin. Brighid also replaced her dress with its very deep cleavage for a similar outfit in deep blue.
- Adaptational Sexuality:
- Inko Midoriya is likely to be straight in canon. In this story she is dating Rumi Usagiyama, making her likely to be bisexual.
- Not much later Nemuri Kayama joins them to form a gay polycule.
- Shion Uzuki only showed interest in males in canon. This version of her is openly in love with KOS-MOS.
- Inko Midoriya is likely to be straight in canon. In this story she is dating Rumi Usagiyama, making her likely to be bisexual.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the anime Izuku Midoriya and Melissa Shields didn't know each other until the events of the first movie. In this story Izumi and her are already online friends at the beginning and regularly chat with each other.
- In canon it's unlikely Inko Midoriya and Rumi Usagiyama even know each other. In this story they're dating.
- This extends to Nemuri Kayama, when she joins them to form a polycule.
- Crossover: Between My Hero Academia and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
- Death by Adaptation: Rex is revealed to have been killed properly by Jin late into their adventure.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Bakugou may ridicule and bully Izumi for even the smallest things, but not even once does he bring up her being trans to do so.
- For Want Of A Nail: We eventually learn that on the XC2 side, Jin managed to successfully kill Rex late into their adventure. Due to her powers and their closeness, Nia was chosen as the next wielder of the Aegis, leading the group on a revenge quest against Torna across the world. In the meantime, tensions between the countries only grew and ultimately resulted in an all-out war, which might have ended Alrest for good.
- Freudian Slip: In Chapter 5, when Izumi and Ochako try to come up with a codeword to use during the training exercise, Pyra absent-mindedly says Elysium out loud.
- Go Through Me: Izumi tries to protect Pyra that way when being confronted by Malos and Jin during the USJ incident despite being hurt from trying to use One For All against them. Then Jin goes through her.
- Heroic BSoD: Seeing Jin and Malos during the USJ Incident, as well as hearing the villains call themselves Torna, has Pyra (and Mythra) spiral into despair so much, she temporarily enters an unresponsive state. Thankfully Izumi manages to quickly get her out of it.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: During the USJ Incident Izumi ends up impaled by Jin's katana in pretty much the same way Rex had been in XC2.
- Mythology Gag: The name of the fanfic is in clear reference to the name of Xenoblade Chronicle 2's final story chapter "And Thus, Boy Met Girl".
- Named by the Adaptation: In canon, we never learn the name of Nia's former family. In this story, she goes by Nia Echell while attending UA, Echell being the surname of her former family here.
- Precision F-Strike: Pyra sends one towards Makos when they fight during the USJ Incident. Coming from the normally soft-spoken and mild-mannered girl, you know things are serious.
- Shout-Out: One of Pandoria's nicknames for Denki is Pikachu.
- Talking to Themself: Just like in canon, Pyra and Mythra are shown talking to each other inside their head.
- What If?: These aren't exactly the canon versions of the franchises crossing over, both have been changed to varying degrees:
- On the My Hero Academia side, we have the protagonist being a trans female and autistic.
- On the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 side, we learn eventually that Rex was killed properly by Jin late into the journey, causing a chain of events that's implied to have led to the end of Alrest and all Blades being transported to another world.
