Chapter Text
"How foolish!" All for One roared out in the vestige world, causing cracks and the area surrounding the Izuku and Shigaraki to fall apart while taking shape as a gigantic version of himself with the latter hovering over All for One’s face. "Did you think I would allow this to happen to my vessel? Tomura, you foolish boy, to this day, you've never made a single decision on your own!"
With a bite, Tomura Shigaraki’s body disappeared into All for One's mouth as Izuku stumbled backwards, the ground coming undone underneath the green-haired vestige. The child-like form Izuku had taken continued to fall while glaring at the giant form of All for One that had appeared out of nowhere mere moments after he finally managed to get through to Tomura Shigaraki. “ALL FOR ONE?!”
"Thanks to your success in weakening Tomura’s will, Izuku Midoriya, I've managed to regain control once more! This is far from how I wanted to do this, but I suppose I have no choice thanks to the sins you’ve committed against me," All for One snarled as the scattered remains of the surrounding vestige world began to transform and merge into his image. “It was a clever move to use One for All as a mental weapon. But in doing so, you have destroyed both it and my precious Yoichi!”
"Foolish Shimura Tenko," All for One mocked, happily discarding the original name he had given him and forcing him to see more memories of how he manipulated him, "No more than just a fragile ego, trying to cling onto your so-called life! I gave you a purpose, and you tried to bite me!?"
"As I said before. None of your decisions have truly been yours. I merely made you think you did, otherwise you would have never attained such hatred and willpower," All for One explained while memories flashed of his encounters with the 5th user of One for All, En Tayutai, the Pro-Hero known as Smoke-Eater, and the sixth user Daigoro Banjo, the Pro-Hero known as Lariat. “It was during my time facing those two that I learned that in order to secure One for All I needed to surpass the emotions and willpower of both User and Quirk… So, when my search for a soul that could help me do just that while I was being hounded by All Might turned sour, I decided that if I couldn’t find someone that met those requirements… I would MAKE one!”
Shigaraki struggled in the darkness as he tried to understand what was happening, being forced to see memories belonging to his former mentor. He could only watch in silence horror, slowly crumbling into pieces as he saw through All for One’s eyes as he conversed with his asshole of a father and mentally manipulating him, before it switched the villain stealing Shigaraki’s supposedly original quirk factor when he was only a baby and waited until the right moment to inject the quirk he murdered his family with. And it wasn’t even the complete version of it! Just a butchered copy that Doctor Garaki had created from that pathetic yakuza, Overhaul! All of these horrible things that happened to him…
The pain his father inflicted on him.
The tragedy that led to the death of the three most precious to him.
…His mother… Hana… Mon…
All the crap he had gone through since then. Forming the League of Villains, meeting Stain, becoming leader of the Paranormal Liberation Front.
His loses… his victories… His sacrifices.
Shigaraki could feel his mind shattering with each thought…
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‘It’s too bad I wasn’t able to kill you…’ Shigaraki’s eyes widened as a familiar female voice echoed through his mind as he felt more of himself break apart in All for One’s vestige, the panels of memories surrounding him coming to a stop on his battle against America’s Number One Hero, Star and Stripe, and the moments after he had taken her quirk from her. ‘But be sure to remember this. A heroic spirit will always rise up against evil… So, as long as people stand up to save each other... someone will inherit that will of heroism. And make no mistake... they will strike you down.’
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…
……No, not yet.
‘My hatred… my… convictions… There is still something… my hatred… needs to destroy! Even if I must use someone else to do it!’ Shigaraki thought to himself as he willed what small amount of control he had left with his remaining hand and mentally reached out as if to grasp something. A small wisp of red formed over the palm of his hand, pulling specks energy towards it. ‘…… because I was so focused… on stopping Midoriya’s forcing One for All into … that I didn’t notice it before. But that also means that they didn’t either!’
"Everything that has happened. Your tragedies, your trials, tribulations, rejection or acceptance, all came from me! You were just a puppet that danced to my whim!" All for One’s voice echoed from all around him, driving even more despair into Shigaraki’s heart and mind with his boasts, not noticing what his soon-to-be destroyed vessel’s vestige was secretly doing. "A mere chess piece, a pawn meant to be sacrificed! That decree that your heart would never waiver is as worthless as a dead ant on the street!"
In mere seconds, a tiny golden sphere the size of a golf ball appeared under Shigaraki’s curled fingers, ‘While the other vestiges dealt mental blows, you separated from the rest… and somehow did the impossible… Manipulated or not, you’ve always made me sick, but at least you’re consistent!’ Feeling more of All for One’s presence erase even more of his, Shigaraki reached up his hand to his throat and began to scratch it like he always did, breathing harder as even more cracks broke his vestige’s body. He could see them. All the people he fought, heavily injured, and even killed, because of his ‘choices’.
“Hehehe,” A dark chuckle escaped from the large grin that formed on the giant vestige of All for One’s face, feeling malicious satisfaction in hearing Tenko scream as his body was breaking a part even faster while the cracks started to glow in a red and black light. “I’ll make sure to erase your soul from this body! NOW VANISH!”
With that last shout from his former master, Shigaraki felt what remained of his consciousness finally snap and the lights coming out of his body exploded outward, leaving nothing behind as both what remained of the former Decay user and the mental world created from his vestige were turned into ash and fragmentation that slowly faded away the further it moved from All for One’s large body. One of the larger fragments traveled downward in the same direction that Deku had been sent flying, breaking down even further to reveal a golden ball that continued its trajectory and made it pass the divide that separated the two vestige worlds just as All for One severed the connection. Only one remaining thought of Shigaraki silently echoed as the final remains of his world transformed into All for One’s.
‘… You… better… win this… Hero…’
(Meanwhile in the Void)
“Damn it! How could this have happened.” Izuku gritted his teeth as his child-like body fell through the unknown void surrounding him, the green-haired boy’s body returning to his teenage form while glaring up at the large monstrous mass that was All for One’s vestige, ‘I was so close to reaching him! After everyone sacrificed themselves to get me through his mental defenses!’
To be honest, he had known from the moment that Kudo, the Second User of One for All, had told him the plan to send each of them at Shigaraki as mental bullets, that it was a reckless and very stupid plan. Not only was there the chance it wouldn’t work, but it would also return him to being Quirkless again. Sure, the large ember left inside him would stay in him for a while after losing it just like it had done when All Might had passed the quirk onto him, but the odds that the embers left behind would hold a candle against Shigaraki and the All for One quirk when he had difficulty fighting at FULL power with six other quirks to help him was a stretch. The best that Izuku could hope for if the plan was unsuccessful is that the strain of One for All would be too much for Shigaraki and break his body apart, just like having a body hold multiple quirk had done in the past.
Like he said, it was stupid and reckless. All because of what he saw back then in that one, single moment when his soul connected to Shigaraki’s… of the child he had once been, crying out for someone to help. That scared child who had been abused by his father and lost his loved ones to a horrible quirk manifestation, falling into All for One’s grasps when no one would bother to even look at boy.
Was it messed up that he wanted to save the part of Tenko Shimura that might still be inside Tomura Shigaraki? That he knew that even if he did succeed, none of the crimes that Shigaraki and All for One had done could never be forgiven and Izuku would probably be forced to kill Shigaraki in the end?
… Yes.
As his best-friend-turned-bully-turned-rival-turned-friend, Katsuki Bakugo, would say, ‘It was fucked up.’
It was also something that his current best friend had agreed with as well, even as she went through a similar situation with her own personal Villain, Himiko Toga.
The result was this war pushing him and everyone else to their limits and left both physical and mental wounds on many that would never heal. But as much as he tried to close his heart to it… Izuku wanted to be a hero and use One for All to save people, not to use it exclusively as a weapon for murder. It was a quirk that the former Number One Hero had given him just to be able to stand in the ring with everyone else, one that he had struggled for one year to be able to even use and another to reach a level beyond what many Pro-Heroes were capable of.
And he just threw it away without any back-up plan… LIKE AN FUCKING IDIOT!
He succeeded in reaching Shigaraki, broke through the mental shields and confronted the trauma that etched itself onto Tenko’s psyche with his old house and father being the source of it all, and with Nana’s help, stood face to face with Tenko… only for the vestige to destroy his arms in the processes. The two conversed, and even though it seemed like both enemies had finally managed to understand each other, they both knew that their fight had to conclude one way or another. Something that Deku knew he would have to go Plus Ultra to come out on top and hoped that forcing One for All to transfer to Shigaraki would deal some significant damage as well….
… and then All for One had to show up like some final boss trope you see in video games or comic book, continuing with the usual cliché of apparently being responsible for all of Shigaraki’s misery. Because of course the narcissist with a god-complex couldn’t handle NOT being the center of attention. His actions destroy everything in the process and ejecting Izuku out of the connected vestige world.
‘If All for One is really back in control, then this situation has gone from bad to worse.’ Izuku thought to himself in frustration, his eyes lids scrunched closed while doing his best in trying to readjust his positioning in the void with little success. ‘Unlike Shigaraki, All for One has a lot more experience with handling quirks of different varieties! How can I stand up to that without One for All… No… It’s not over yet! I can’t give up now!”
“Heh, very nice! I can see you’ve got that heroic spirit down pat! As expected of our master’s true successor!”
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…
“Huh?” Izuku’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a new voice echoing through his mind, just in time to see a shining, golden ball fly towards him before entering his chest.
“Looks like I got to you just in time!”
He barely had time to register what was happening before his body started to glow the same color as the sphere and the void was canceled out in a bright flash of light. The next thing the green haired teen realized, he was no longer falling, but instead he was laying on top of something that felt warm, grainy and strangely familiar. “Sand?”
“Not a bad spot! I could just stare out into the distance for hours! Just look at that sunrise!”
Blinking at one again hearing the new voice, this time much clearer and coming from right next to him, Izuku lifted his head up to see a large figure standing several feet ahead of him with their back facing him, allowing only to see their long flowing blonde hair with eight distinct tufts swept backward that sort of reminded him of All Might’s muscular form… wait… EIGHT TUFTS?! That looked like All Might’s?!
“Star and Stripe!”
“That’s right! I AM HERE… inside your head! That sounds like something All Might would say, right?” The woman turned to face him while letting out a laugh, once again, reminding him of All Might. She donned her Hero costume that just screamed American flag, only she didn’t have the domino mask that he had seen her wear whenever he saw her in the news. “Though, you can just call me Cathleen, or Cassie! All my bros called me Cassie!”
If it wasn’t for the bizarre situation, Izuku would’ve gushed about being face to face with the Number One hero of America, the strongest woman in the world, the one who’s quirk seemed to make the laws of reality bend over and lick her boots! But just how was the woman here? All her companions that traveled with her to Japan had confirmed that she died in the battle against Shigaraki, sacrificing herself and her quirk to deal a major blow to the All for One quirk from the inside. The data had suggested that her quirk hadn’t survived the battle since Shigaraki wasn’t able to use it… Wait, did that mean he was dead too?! Did being sent down the void destroy his vestige too? And his arms were still gone, too! Oh, God, there were so many things he wanted to do! Graduate from UA, adopting Eri and watching her grow up, pursuing a relationship and get marri-
“Whoa there, don’t go jumping to the conclusion that your dead already. Geez, Master did say that you had a motor-mouth when you overthink things, but seriously, hahaha, damn!” The woman laughed as she lifted Izuku by scooping him up by his armpits and helping him to his feet. “I don’t really understand everything that’s going on right now, but we’re still in the… inner world? Or the vestige world, I think it was called. Don’t really know myself, the last thing I remember was trying to tear apart Tomura Shigaraki and All for One from the inside after my real body gave me her final order.”
Oh.
“You’re the vestige created by her quirk… But how are you here… wait, this place…” Izuku looked around in surprise as he instantly recognized where the two were standing, after all, he had come to this spot for ten months to turn it from a trash heap into the beautiful beach spot it once was. “This is Takoba Beach. Why are we here? This looks nothing like the vestige world I saw when I came here before.”
“It’s certainly better than the last place I saw. That place was just a wasteland inside a crimson void with all the stolen Quirks making up the very ground All for One and Shigaraki were standing on.” Cathleen huffed at the memory while crossing her arms, memories of the rampage she had dealt to the villain somewhat fresh in her mind. “Bastard thought that the others were pieces that made up his world and didn’t see them more than object he could collect.”
“The inner worlds of One for All was a large void with a big piece resembling the vault that the First User said was the origin of the quirk… and Shigaraki’s was that destroyed city surrounding his childhood home… If that’s how the inner world works, than that means that this beach… is my true inner world without One for All’s influence.” The green-haired student deduced as he and Cathleen’s vestige looked around, taking in how detailed the world was down to the breeze and the sound of waves hitting the sand.
“It certainly is a beautiful place, but unfortunately we’ve got more pressing matters to deal with. We’re lucky that time here moves a lot faster than in the real world, but you’re about to head back there soon. The only reason you ended up here was because I managed to catch up to you in time… I’ll be blunt, New Order shouldn’t even exist anymore after the damage back then, and honestly, I don’t think the present me is going to remain for much longer. But thanks to your actions with forcing One for All into Shigaraki, a chance opened for us.”
“Huh? What chance?”
Cathleen motioned for Izuku to follow her to the gazebo at the end of the pier nearby, where the two walked to in silence before coming to a stop at the railings facing out to the vast ocean in front of them, “… Did you know that All Might had saved my life when I was a child, back when he had come to America as an exchange student?”
“Really?” Izuku blinked in surprise at that piece of information.
He knew that All Might had already started to make a name for himself back then and even learned English just so he could read up on all the missions and interviews he did while over there. But he had no idea that one of those people he saved involved the future Number One Heroine.
“That’s right. My family and I were on our way to Santa Monica Pier, just a normal outing for us. But a robber and his partner were on the run and started attacking our car,” Cathleen moved forward so that she was leaning on the railing, staring down at her clenching fists. “At the time, only one thought repeated over and over in my head, ‘If I can just save my little sister! I don’t care if I die!’… and then, he appeared. With a reassuring grin on his face and those two golden tuffs of hair, I knew we were saved.”
“Saving people with a smile, to not only save their bodies, but also their hearts.” Izuku commented as he thought back his ultimate reason for wanting to be a hero, and the lessons he learned from both All Might and the Seventh User, Nana Shimura.
“Exactly, and it was because of that, that I saw that Symbol of Peace as my master. Not as a physical one, but for the ideal that I wanted to follow when I became a Pro-Hero myself. I even copied his hairstyle and color, with my own eight tuff added into the mix, just to show my devotion.” Cathleen let out a sigh as a sad smile formed on her face, “But in the end, while I become the Number One Hero in America and the Strongest Heroine, I never truly was able to catch up to him.”
“But your admiration for All Might and your sense of duty are like shackles. It creates discord in your mind!”
“… I can understand that… For so long… I didn’t really understand what Gran Torino said to me about how my looking up to All Might and wanting to be like him was messing up my progress. But after everything I’ve seen and experienced, I started to get it… I’m not like All Might… I’ll never be All Might… and honestly… I don’t want to be All Might either.” Izuku raised his head up to look that the sunrise shining in the distance, not noticing the Heroine next to him look at him with a surprised expression. “He is an amazing Hero, and a goofy person at times, but I can’t hold up society on my own the way he did… So many people, including me, didn’t want to imagine what it would be like when he retired, or worse, died. How could the world survive without the Symbol of Peace? But the truth is… it needs more than a single pillar to hold it up. The world needs multiple pillars to shoulder the weight, so that everyone can help one another and create a better future together.”
Cathleen stared down silently at Izuku before a chuckle escaped her lips, before slamming the palm of her hand into Izuku’s bare back. “Ha! I guess my fellow disciple surpassed both me and our Master. You’re really a romantic at heart, aren’t ya?”
“Um, well, I-”
“That’s good! You’re gonna need it for the battle ahead!” Lifting herself up straight, Cathleen turned to face Izuku before holding out her palm, to which a golden-yellow flame formed over her hand. “Recognize this?”
Studying the flame for a few seconds as he turned to face the heroine, Izuku’s eyes widen in shock as he felt a familiar pulse come from the flames. “Is that All Might’s-”
“His Vestige from One for All, or rather, what’s left of the piece he sent after me. It was thanks to this that I was able to temporarily reform myself. From what I could gather from the brief images I got from it, his vestige found me when you were firing those Mental Bullets over and instead focused on restoring me instead of helping with Shigaraki’s mental defense. Still the same hero he ever was, sacrificing himself to save the both of us and give you the tools needed to win, New Order combined with a little portion of stockpiled power left behind by One for All.” The muscular woman smiled down at the remains of the man who saved her once more, before shaking those thoughts away. She still has one last task to complete. “But the truth is, New Order is no longer the same quirk that I held. After being reduced to nothing and reconstructed by these embers, it is a completely new, stronger version that has no user now. Think of it like that old philosophy, Theseus’ Paradox, you know about it?”
“That’s the Greek one about the ship, right? It was mentioned in that pre-quirk heroes franchise from America. I watched all the movies and read the comic books.”
Cathleen nodded her head; silently glad she wouldn’t have to go too far into the subject and grinned at that last part. "Such a fanboy, but you are now officially my favorite little bro. Anyway, think about how that ship was dismantled and replaced by new pieces because of the rot, while the bad pieces were restored and reassembled into a separate ship without the rot. But while both ships look the exact same down to the smallest details, neither can be considered the original ship. Think of New Order as the restored second ship, while I am what remains of the first, and Tomura Shigaraki only sent the former with a piece of me attached.”
“Shigaraki?” Izuku frowned as he thought back to just a few moments ago, when All for One destroyed the Decay User and took over. ‘Did he pass on a Quirk while the connection was still there?’
“Can’t say that I can tell you what exactly was going through his mind at the time, but I do have a guess. Chances are, he sensed New Order being restored and gave it to you for one reason. To make sure that All for One is defeated and achieve a complete victory.” Cathleen’s body began to illuminate in a golden glow, wisps coming out of her form and slowly entering the flame in her hand. “But like I said, this New Order is different from what I had thanks to the enhancement of One for All’s residual energy. Don’t know if that means that the limitations I had will be there or if it has a completely new set of rules to it.”
“Star and Stripe! What’s happening to your- Ouch!” Izuku could finish his question as Cathleen raised her free hand and flicked the smaller boy’s forehead.
A grin formed on her face as she watched Izuku rub his forehead from the pain, “I told you before, my bros call me Cassie. It wouldn’t do for my little brother not to do the same. Don’t worry about me, though. This was gonna happen once New Order fully passed onto you because it’s your Quirk now. I’ll leave a rule in your mind to help you understand how the Quirk works, but there won’t be any vestiges this time. You are the new and only wielder of New Order from now on.”
“New Order… belongs to me now…… I won’t let you down.” Tears began to well up in his eyes at her words, making her smile brightly at him.
“I know you won’t… although, I do have two final pieces to say if you’re willing to hear me out.”
(Back in the Real World)
The surrounding forest trees were flying through the air from an explosion coming from the epicenter where All for One and One for All met, and fingers created from Shigaraki’s body broke apart as it crashed to the ground. From it, two humanoid forms could be seen with one standing while the other was on the ground.
“My intermediate goal is foiled {AAAAaaaaahhhhh!}.”
The standing figure took a step forward through the dust to reveal Tomura Shigaraki looking forward, his body damaged and no longer looking like himself, especially since a new persona was in control. All for One glanced down at his mouth with a hollow laugh escaping his lips, “Oh, so there’s a lingering note still there? AAAAaaaaahhhhh!} Be silent!”
Emerging out of his face, a mask began to form over his mouth, very similar to the hands that Shigaraki used to wear, and once it had finished forming the second voice cracking behind All for One’s ceased to be heard. ‘It looks like the spiritual damage taken has been reflected onto the physical flesh. But not only that, I can’t feel the rage and hatred that fueled this body, nor the Decay Quirk… To think, after all these years, the vessel I spent such time on is ruined and all traces of my brother are gone now.’
“All… For… One… We aren’t… finished…”
“You aren’t dead yet, boy?” All for One remarked as he stared down at the former user of One for All in silent fury. It was a new experience, one almost similar to what he felt for the Second User after he took Yoichi away. “I’ll be moving onto my final goal now, as hollow as it is now… The world will be mine.”
Izuku struggled to get back up, ready to continue the fight despite the pain he felt, “I won’t… let y-”
Any attempt at standing came to an abrupt halt as the green-haired hero slipped back to the floor, revealing that he had lost both of his arms in a bloody mess just as he did in the subconscious realm. The realization of his destroyed arms signaled even more pain that caused Izuku to thrash around in agony.
“I see that neither of us emerged from that encounter unscathed…”
‘Not yet! I’m not done yet!’ Izuku thought to himself as he struggled to ignore the pain he was feeling and focus on the task at hand, even as he thought back to the doctor’s warnings about losing his arms permanently and what that truly meant. ‘… I knew that there would be consequences and mentally prepared for it! But still… I can feel it inside me… New Order!”
“A narrative trope that I believe fits me most at this moment is how loss engenders strength. But the same can’t be said for you,” All for One stated while raising a hand towards Izuku and began concentrating a combination of Quirks to enhance his Air Cannon, to not leave a single trace of the one who took everything from him. “A pitiful child with nothing to lose in the first place… I doubt you have any last words worth listening to.”
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…
…
… If he only knew…
Izuku lifted his head up from the ground to glare at All for One, “The Earth…”
All for One’s eyes narrowed slightly at Deku’s strange words, before dismissing it as he finished charging the Air Cannon in his left hands. “I suppose it doesn’t matter what your last words are. They as useless and have as much worth as you do. Nothing.”
Deku’s green eyes flashed as he watched All for One release the devastating shockwave of air pressure at him, “[New Order: All the earth within five meters of this spot will rise from the ground… and form a perfectly compressed wall two meters thick!]”
“WHAT?!” The shock was evident of All for One’s face as the dirt and grass all around Deku seemed to follow his exact command and his view of the former One for All user was cut off by a large barrier mere seconds before his attack could make contact, the very earth itself somehow withstanding the air blast except for several large cracks. The realization that his attempt to kill Deku failing was coupled by the fury he already had as he watched the hero emerge from behind the barrier, “How is that possible… those words… your actions… How did you do that?”
Izuku looked at the wall he created for a few more seconds before turning to face All for One with a melancholy expression, one that was slowly replaced with an infuriating smile that reminded him of that oaf All Might and Nana Shimura, two previous wielders of the quirk he once coveted.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“ANSWER ME!”
“… Over a year ago… when I first received One for All… All Might told me there was a difference between receiving something because you are lucky and something you are given because you are recognized. For a long time, despite his words, I had thought that I had been the former… I was a Quirkless nobody that was given this amazing quirk that so happened to belong to my idol and the Number One hero. How much luckier can you get than that?” Izuku’s memories of that fateful morning were still as clear as the day he had been forced to eat All Might’s hair received his Quirk after ten months of grueling training, “But I did everything I could to make that power my own, to prove to myself that I was the latter… And just when I thought I would go back to being Quirkless, it happens once again.”
“What?”
“… Leftover Embers of One for All… [New Order: The energy from the embers shall take physical form outside my body and harden to become my new arms!]” Izuku let out a painful shout as he could feel the residual power left behind by One for All follow his commands and focus on the bloody stumps that had been his biceps, green electricity and flames erupting from them before binding together until they resembled two working arms similar in shape to his original limbs. Taking a deep breath, Deku held out one of his glowing arms in a tight fist, his harden gaze focused on All for One’s masked face. “Just like before, I was recognized by another and was given the power to finish this fight once and for all!”
“That should be impossible… That quirk destroyed itself after that blasted woman ordered it to attack me from within. I watched it break apart with my own eye. But that sequence of activation requirements has too many similarities to just be a coincidence… So how? How did you manage to steal New Order from me when it was reduced to nothing?!”
“I didn’t steal it. It was given to me.” Deku replied while shifting his stance into a more combat based one, “Just because you have a powerful quirk doesn’t mean you’re the one always in control, or did you forget that Shigaraki also had use of All for One as well.”
Several veins throbbed on the villain’s temple upon hearing that, ‘That brat Tenko. Somehow he managed out one last form of rebellion again me before I destroyed him! I don’t know how he reconstructed a quirk when I am incapable of such a feat… but no matter, I’ve already dealt with New Order before. Its restrictions are known to me, and he’s already used one of the two rules to make those arms of his. So, he only has the limit of one rule left.’
“Here I come, All for One!” Izuku yelled as he charged forward, reaching up to tap his shoulder with a glowing hand, “Izuku Midoriya… [New Order: Izuku Midoriya’s physical abilities… will be enhanced to a similar level to how his body was fifteen minutes prior!]”
“Such foolishness! You may have gained Star and Stripe’s quirk, but obviously, you don’t realize the limitations! The only reason you were so powerful earlier was because of all the extra quirks merged withing One for All thanks to the previous users,” Lifting up his arms, large bolts of black lightning shot out at incredible speeds towards the approaching green haired hero, “Even that blasted woman could not reach the levels that All Might was capable of, since it went beyond what she could balance out. You wasted your orders!”
“Lightning!” Reaching up with both hands in an almost unseeable speed, Deku intercepted the bolts with a tight grip, [New Order: Lightning will cover Izuku Midoriya’s body without harming him!]” True to his orders, the black lightning shifted around and encircled his entire form from his head to the remains of his iron soles without hurting the hero in the slightest. But that wasn’t the end of it as Deku, much to All for One’s shock, seemed to vanish from sight before reappearing upside-down above him with one leg already descending, “FLORIDA SMASH!” The next thing All for One knew, a powerful blow slammed into the top of his head, followed by the shock of his own lightning striking down and causing his body to seize up from the electricity hitting every inch of his muscles. But Deku wasn’t done as he spun his body around with the back of his elbow slamming into the side of the villain’s face, “WYOMING SMASH!”
“Gah!” All for One gritted his teeth behind the hand mask as he felt the force of the blow temporarily made his vision twist, before snapping his gaze at Deku’s face with glowing eyes, “Eye Laser plus Heavy Payload plus Scatter plus Lock-On!” Blue beams of light fired out of the villain’s eyes before spreading out in a burst of multiple slightly streams, causing Deku to backtrack back as fast as possible to avoid being hit, only for the attack to follow him no matter how he adjusted his movements or sharp be turned. “I wouldn’t bother trying to avoid them, Lock-On is a very handy quirk that I had managed to get my hands on from a young girl several years, those beams will continue to follow you until they hit. Hilariously, she wanted to be a Pro Heroine just like her favorite one, not knowing that disposable trash had such blood on her hand!”
Izuku’s eyes narrowed in rage as the mention of Lady Nagant, the sight of her charred cracked from when All for One detonated that exploding quirk inside her body still fresh in his mind.
“How do you like the lasers, by the way? The Quirk came from a family member of the one I took Navel Laser from, though they weren’t as willing. It was much more efficient and easier to use than Naval Laser, so I discarded that useless variant onto that classmate of yours. It gave me three pawns to manipulate and helped me to discard some trash from my inventory.”
Aoyama’s teary eyes face as he was restrained alongside his family was another memory to flash through the green haired teen’s mind. But that rage Deku felt was put on hold as he increased his speed to avoid the beams trying to perform a pincer attack, only for them to curve just before they hit one another. It was just like the fifth user, Daigoro Banjo, had told him. Izuku was allowed to get angry at something, but he needed to control it and properly direct that anger into something more productive in battle.
‘First things first, though!’ Spinning himself around, Deku clenched his energy-based hands while taking a deep breath. “I’ve only seen her use this in a recording when she teamed up with Godzillo against Queen Geedoria, but still… Air! [New Order: The air hardens into my form, but a hundred times bigger!] …… Fist Bump to the Earth!”
(Meanwhile, in America)
“There’s no doubt about it… That boy somehow managed to acquire Cathleen’s quirk.”
A man with an elongated head, bushy whiskers, and large eyes watched through a large monitor that was broadcasting the final battle that was taking place in Japan, where they had already seen so much already taken place. He had lost count how many times it felt light his heart had come to a stop from watching All Might’s battle against what he had understood to be a de-aging All for One with a battle armor he had commissioned himself, and how the former Number One Hero almost violently torn apart before he had been saved by two of his students. And now, he was watching this green haired boy, who had been revealed to be All Might’s successor and inheritor of the man’s quirk, struggle and put his body way passed its limit to fight against Tomura Shigaraki. For a moment, it had seemed that something had happened between the two in a large clump of what appeared to be mutated fingers before they broke apart to reveal the damage the two had received from that interaction. The teenager had lost both his arms in a bloody mess and seemed to have lost the power he had wielded earlier while his opponent was still standing.
… Only for the very earth to come to Izuku Midoriya’s defense and reality seemed to bend to the boy’s commands. Granted, there was no audio for him or anyone else in the world to hear what either were saying, but Timothy Agpar hadn’t become an American military commander without learning some tricks, which included reading lips. He could easily pick up Midoriya’s words. The actions, the wording, the way reality itself seemed to bend to his whims, all of it he had seen more times than he could recall through his work with the deceased Star and Stripe.. and yet…
“The number of orders he’s made has well gone over Cassie’s limit.” Agpar didn’t have time to ponder this for long as his office door burst open and a man in a suit, one of his communications between him and the President, came rushing in. “What is it?”
“Sir! The President just issued an order! He wants us to send all available Heroes to Japan right away!”
It took a few seconds for the commander to process these new orders, before a large smirk formed on his face. “Very well. Set up all communication to the agencies! I want our Top Ten to prepare for the long-distance travel while our Rescue Heroes and every Hero with a Healing Quirk are getting ready as well. Japan is going to need a lot of help with the aftermath and recovery!”
“Yes, sir! Right away!”
With those orders given the man soon rushed out of the room as quickly as he entered, leaving Agpar by himself as he took a quick look back at the monitor in time to see Midoriya unleash a rush of punches at the incoming attacks, his unseeable giant avatar of air mimicking his movements and landing powerful punches that made contact with the beams of light and detonated each one long before it hit the teenager. At a first glance, the boy didn’t seem have anything worthwhile about him, especially compared to the likes of All Might or Star and Stripe… but that just made him shine brighter upon seeing him in action.
“Inspiring others by pushing forward against the odds, giving hope to those that believe the situation to be hopeless. Do your best, young man.”
Perhaps the world was looking at the birth of a new Symbol.
(All Around the World)
“Whoa! Did you see what that kid did!?”
“I thought he was done for after pushing himself so hard! He lost his freaking arms and kept trying to fight!”
“Come on, Deku!” Katsuma Shimano cheered next to his sister, Mahoro, as they stared at the tv broadcast with their father standing behind them.
“Look at him go! It’s like he has a completely new Quirk now! How many abilities does that hero have?”
“But he’s not using those black whips or flying anymore? Do you think that villain stole them? He’s got that power, right?”
“I think that kid took a power away at the same time! Those moves of his kinda look like Star and Stripe! They said that she died fighting that villain, so maybe he had taken her Quirk, and this boy took it back!”
“No way! Is that even possible?!”
“Damn it, just watching him go is infuriating. We are Pro-Heroes too! We’ve got to send our support over to Japan!”
“Whatever he’s doing… Keep it up, hero!”
“You can do it, man.” Rody Soul and his two siblings watched from their house in Otheon, watching the hero continue to fight off this overpowered foe.
“Take him down!”
On the technological floating I-Island, Melissa Shield had her hands clasped together as she watched Izuku clap his hands together and created a shockwave that sent his opponent flying, “Do your best, Izuku!”
(Underground Bunker in Japan)
“Izuku…” Inko Midoriya watched with tears falling down her cheeks as she watched her son reach out a glowing hand towards in incoming giant projectile All for One had fired at him, clenching his hand as if he was grabbing something causing the attack to stop. Her son didn’t stop there as he reared his arms back and acted like he was throwing something to which the object was sent flying back towards the villain. “Please, do your best and come back to me alive…”
It had nearly broken her when she had seen what had become of her son throughout the fight, breaking his own body using the Quirk that had been given to him by All Might and using the six others inside of it to take on this villain that so many others, including the current Number One Hero, Endeavor, could not defeat. Then she had seen her baby boy turn himself into a monstrous marionette using Black Whip to move his arms and legs to fight off the dozens of Quirks coming at him. The sight of his collapsed body without his arms was too much for the green-haired woman and she had nearly fainted at the exact moment that Shigaraki/All for One, whatever he called himself, poised to finish Izuku off. And then a miracle happened, and a wall of earth intercepted the attack. At first, she had thought that other heroes had come to join the fight, only for it to be revealed that it was all Izuku’s doing… her baby began to used abilities that she had never seen before and this time it wasn’t hurting him in the slightest, it even gave him a new pair of arms to fight with. She didn’t care about where this new power came from, if it would bring her boy home then that was all that mattered.
“Holy shit! For a moment, it almost looked like he was using a supped-up version of your Quirk, Inko.” Mitsuki Bakugou commented while wrapping a comforting arm around her best friend as they watched the shorter woman’s son continue to fight. The taller woman had been somewhat quiet after seeing her own son, Katsuki, work with Izuku to save All Might’s life before he took down the other All for One by himself, but Inko knew it was just because the woman was feeling relief that her brat was alive.
Mitsuki’s husband, Masaru, was standing a few feet from the two with a concerned look on his face as he watched the broadcast as well. He and his wife had known the boy since he was an infant, growing up alongside their son and had seen Izuku as their pseudo nephew… so seeing him in action now was incredible, but… “He’s really pushing himself now, Izuku hasn’t had a moment to catch his breath.”
“You’ve got a quick trip to the frontlines possible, right? Then let me go too! I want to help!”
“I want to fight too! I may not be famous or well-known, but I’m a Hero as well!”
“Here! We’ve got some water and bandages!”
The three were pulled from their thoughts as they saw some of the people in the crowd start to get rowdy off to the side, where they could also see a bunch of people standing in front of Shouta Aizawa, the Pro-Hero Eraserhead and the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, who was standing on one leg in front of a black, swirling portal. Multiple clones of his fellow teacher, Ectoplasm, were taking offered medical supplies and water bottles from the civilians that wanted to help. What caught their attention the most was the familiar white-haired child standing next to Aizawa with her hand cupped together and holding something out to him.
“E-Eri!” Inko called out in worry as she left Mitsuki’s arms and ran over to the little girl, who turned her head to see the slightly overweight woman rush over.
“Grandma!” Eri didn’t have a chance to say more as the woman wrapped her in a warm, but firm embrace.
Inko pulled back to look down at the girl that her son had kept taking care of ever since he rescued her from a Yakuza family that had been doing horrible experiments to use her quirk to erase quirks completely. After that, she became a ward of U.A. High with the teachers and several students watching over her, Izuku included. She didn’t know when it happened exactly, but apparently little Eri had been reading a book with one of the other students and started calling Izuku her Papa, which in turn made her a grandmother. Inko barely remembered the water damage done to the building when she had been introduced to Eri during a video chat with Izuku and she called her Grandma Inko… because, apparently, they had to call Mitsuki to head over to the apartment to check up on her after she passed out dehydration. After that, she made a point to head to school to help watch over Eri and give her lessons whenever the chance came up.
Not that any of the Pro-Heroes could say no to the woman, especially after seen how All Might himself was nervous around her, though her heard the principal only broke out in a loud, forty-five-minute laugh that he had playing through the intercom. A lot of people had scared looks on their faces when she tried asking about it.
But that was something for another time, instead, Inko’s attention instantly locked onto her forehead where Eri’s horn, where her Quirk’s power was stockpiling, was broken and slightly bloody. The green haired woman looked down at Eri’s hands where a large piece of her horn rested. “E-Eri! You’re horn! What on earth did you do, sweetie?!”
“I had some help with breaking this off… but I want to help Papa!” Heavy tears started to build up in Eri’s eyes as she looked up at her grandmother, “He and everyone have done so much for me, making me smile every day! That’s why I… want to sing for them after this bad day is over! To make them smile too!”
“Do you think… I can be a hero, too?”
“I’m sorry, Izuku… I wish things were different.”
…
…
‘… For so long… that one night has constantly repeated in my head so many times… About how much I failed him. All but crushing my son’s dream because I didn’t want him to get hurt or worse… Not having the strength,’ Inko hadn’t been blind to how their relationship became strained after that, nor on how her son’s life had become so difficult because his previous status as Quirkless. She had told Izuku that she would support him and even made that homemade costume from his notes, but she still… “Mr. Aizawa… Do whatever you can to help my son.”
“Of course.” The eyepatch wearing man nodded his head as he took the offered broken horn from Eri’s outstretched hands.
But as he grabbed the horn, Inko placed a hand on top of his. “And there is something else I want you to do for me as well…”
(Back with Izuku and All for One)
“I must admit. I am surprised how well you are handling that new Quirk, especially with such a burden.” All for One mockingly said as he stared at the painting Izuku, who had fallen to his knees after giving out yet another order to erase the air between them to extinguish the torrent of flames that All for One had unleashed. While he could not see it, All for One could sense the large avatar that Izuku had created had returned to normal air along with the vacuum pocket and electricity surrounding him.
Izuku said nothing in return as he slowly lifted a leg, so he was only resting on one knee. ‘I didn’t realize the mental strength Cassie used when doing her hero work. She didn’t just give orders based on her power meter, she also had to strengthen her mind since she was inserting her will into whatever she used her Quirk on, and this new enhanced version has a much bigger strain. I was able to hold out because it was like using the Quirks of the previous users at the same time, but I don’t have the time to get used to it!’
“However, I can see it now. The new limits of your capabilities. Most of your New Order remains the same, though the only changes are that your number of orders has increased to five and the meter of its limitations is slightly higher. But even with that, you still aren’t close to the level that Cathleen Bate had reached with her decades of experience with it… and then there is the misdirection you pulled with those ‘arms’ of yours.”
The ‘Demon Lord’s’ eyes narrowed in satisfaction as he noticed Izuku’s body briefly flinch at the comment.
“It was ingenious to use the embers left by One for All to create workable arms for you to fight with, but they are still just limbs of energy and not your actual body. You’ve been pretending to activate New Order when your ‘hands’ have touched them, but in truth, you’ve been using your entire body. Not many realize that being able to touch something isn’t limited to just your hands, and since most only ever saw Star and Stripe use her hands to activate her Quirk, it made sense for people to assume it was a hand-contact requirement. Your head, torso, legs, feet, even your very skin. Each part of your body is in contact with the thing that you are setting a rule on. You were taking such a risk, weren’t you.”
‘… Damn, he figured that out as well.’ Izuku thought back to his actions in controlling the lightning that All for One had tried to hit him with earlier. If it hadn’t been for his enhanced reactions and timing, the electricity would’ve reached his heart and caused major damage seconds after it started to spread across his body.
“You have done well, but we both know that this battle has reached its conclusion.” All for One stated as he raised his arm up, each of his fingers activating a different quirk of different types including Fire Twisters, his Rivet Stab, his finger bone emerging from the skin with a Bone Cannon, bladed Fingernail Launchers, and a large mouth coming out of the final finger. “Now that I know that you only have five rules to use, and are already using two of them, all I must do is give you more challenges than you can handle. I won’t bother in trying to take New Order since you would just repeat what that woman did and sabotage the Quirk once again, so I will just destroy the both of you and continue with my plans.”
“I won’t let you win! [New Order-]”
Several white bindings encircled All for One’s arm and pulled it back, catching both him and Izuku by surprise as they turned to see a figure in the air behind the villain with the white strips coming out of their elbow. The figure turned out to be Izuku’s classmate, Hanta Sero aka Cellophane, who was grinning even with the injuries present on his body and secured his Quirk, Tape, around All for One to prevent him from attacking. “Don’t worry, Midoriya! We’re here to help!”
‘So weak and trivial! I was so focused on Midoriya that I didn’t pick up the lesser warnings.’ Ripping off the tape wrapped around his superior strength, All for One barely had time to turn his head as two others came from the side and attacked him. The next thing he knew, a large bulky tail and a strong fist slammed into his torso.
“TORNADO TAIL DANCE!!”
“SUGAR KNUCKLE!!”
Watching his classmates knock All for One flying back with their combined strike, Izuku was almost at a loss for words. “You’re all safe. Sero, Ojiro, Sato… But how did you get here?”
“Sorry to keep you waiting Midoriya.” Izuku snapped his head back to see Aizawa hopping out of a swirling portal, one of many that formed throughout the battlefield as Pro-Heros that had been fighting in the various locations they had set up were coming through one by one. “It took a few minutes, but we managed to resolve every other battle besides this one.”
Kirishima, also known as Red Riot, let out a chuckle as he noticed more of his classmates come out of the portals near Midoriya. “Funny bumpin’ into all of you guys here.”
“Right back at you.” Mezo Shoji, Tencacole, let out a grunt as his maskless face fully exited the warp gate.
Anima, another classmate by the name of Koji Koda, stood next to Shouji with a glare on his face, “Communication from the police went around asking if there was anyone who could still fight!”
“As long as I’m still conscious, I’ll do whatever it takes!” Tsuyu Asui, the hero called Froppy, nodded in agreement as she landed nearby.
“We heard that Aizawa-sensei managed to win over Kurogiri…” Mina Ashido, otherwise known as the acid using hero Pinky stumbled a little but kept her form standing tall.
Chargebolt, Denki Kaminari, looked like he was close to going over his Quirk’s limit but was holding up two thumbs-up. “When we saw our pal busting his butt to keep on fighting…”
“How could we possibly not take action and help?” Momo Yaoyorozu, the hero dubbed Creati, finished as she came to a stop next to Kaminari.
“… Everyone…” Izuku muttered to himself as he saw more of his classmates, friends that were injured and had barely received proper treatment, continue to arrive via Warp Gate along with other Hero Students and Pro-Heroes.
“So, you’ve all come to have your Quirks stolen, have you?” All for One raised his hand at the slowly growing number of heroes forming, showing off the hole in his hand that his Quirk’s true abilities resided. ‘I doubt this was the work of that copycat student from UA’s Class 1-B, based on the data his time limit should’ve run out… which means, Kurogiri has…’
“Sensei! What are you?!
“Don’t move around so much.” Aizawa ordered as he knelt to Izuku’s level, staring down at the glowing arms with narrow eyes, “Good improvision, even though I don’t know how you did it. How long has it been since you lost your original arms?”
“I don’t know how long it was while we were in that subconscious space, but it’s been about five or six minutes since I returned…” Izuku answered while keeping his focus locked on All for One, his mind racing in thought know that he had the chance to think. ‘He was right about my level of experience not being on Cassie’s level, but there is another reason I wasn’t using some of the rules she implemented in the past. I saw her memory of her fight against Shigaraki when she tried to use a rule on him. It didn’t work because she had focused on Tomura Shigaraki and didn’t know about the two of them slowly merging consciousnesses, which meant that her perception and theirs were not matched up for it to work.’
When Izuku had arrived at the battlefield and started fighting Shigaraki/All for One, the latter had boasted about how the two were now perfectly fused together, only for that to fail because Shigaraki overthrew his former mentor and completely swallowed him up. There had been nothing left of All for One and even if there had been, the small bit that remained should’ve been destroyed when Izuku had smashed Tenko’s spirit. That didn’t seem to be the case as All for One somehow managed to return, but something did not seem right about whatever method he used. Which had brought about Izuku’s biggest inquiry and issue with using New Order on All for One up to this point.
Was this person before them still All for One?
Izuku was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt something poke against his shoulder, causing him to turn to see Aizawa pressing a familiar looking horn against his body. His eyes widened as he recognized the broken horn and turned to his homeroom teacher, who let out a breath, “It might be a long shot since not a lot of energy has stockpiled into it, but she wanted to help you. So, you can’t die, until you’ve heard your daughter’s singing.” Looking down at his body, the green-haired teen saw the glow from Eri’s Rewind Quirk coating his body and slowly reversing the damage dealt to his body. He quickly dismissed the rule creating his pseudo arms as he felt his limbs slowly start to reform. “… I’ve also got a message for you… from your mother.”
Blinking a few times at that, Izuku could already feel tears building up in his eyes already from the thought of Eri potentially harming herself to help him and was wondering what his mother had to say.
“She told me to tell you this, ‘You can be a Hero. In fact, I know you’ll be one that will surpass even All Might. Just make sure that you promise to work hard and come home to us alive.’”
The tears started falling down Izuku’s face at those words.
It had taken thirteen years, but his mother’s words made him just as happy as when All Might said something similar the day they met two years ago. Both his mother and daughter were supporting him and wanted him to make it back alive, and everyone else had come to help finish this fight as well.
…… He had to respond to those feelings in kind.
Taking a deep breath, Midoriya looked down at the slow process of time being reversed on his arms. “All right… If there isn’t enough stockpiled into the horn, I’ll just give it more. Rewind Quirk, One for All embers… [New Order – Conjoined: A small portion of the ember will supply Rewind with enough power to restore Izuku Midoriya’s body to how it was twenty minutes ago!]”
Aizawa watched in shock as the green energy from earlier mixed in with the golden aura of Eri’s Quirk, actually speeding up the process and returning Izuku back to how he was before the fighting began. “Did you just say… New Order?! But that’s impossible! None of the Quirks in One for All should have anything like that… and that green aura…”
“… I don’t have One for All anymore, I gave it up.” Izuku revealed as he made it back to his feet, already feeling most of the damage he had gotten from the earlier fight being erased. “Not just it, all of the other Quirks are gone too… But in it’s place, I got something else to help me fight… The embers that took root inside me like they did All Might, and the New Order Quirk that I traded in its place.”
“That’s unbelievable… You have both inside of you?!” Aizawa couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Even with the actual first Quirk gone and the remaining energy only temporary, at this moment his student had the power of two Number One Heroes dwelling within him.
Feeling his arms being fully restored and the wound on his face close up, clenched his hands into fists. “All for One isn’t done with me yet… I’ve still got those embers, and I will finish this…”
Seeing the resolve in Izuku’s eyes, Aizawa knew there was no stopping his student, and handed over a large shirt with All Might’s face on it. “Midoriya… Take this, it’s from the refugees. They handed over a lot of medicine and bandages too, but it looks like you don’t need it.”
“It’s the Series Five, One-Size Shirt from the Men’s Non-No Brand!” Izuku was blown away at the rare merchandise he was given before sliding the t-shirt over his head. Turning his attention back to the villain standing across from the large group of Heroes surrounding him, Izuku began making his way to the front of the crowd.
(Brief Flashback)
“Final pieces? What are they?” Izuku asked as he looked up at the taller woman while slightly tilting his head to the side.
“The first one is about your Hero name, from what I heard in reports, you went with the name Deku, right?” Cathleen asked while crossing her arms, a small frown on her face. “From what I know that word translates to useless, good-for-nothing or a wooden doll. So, I wanted to ask why you decided on that name specifically.”
“Well, that’s because I wanted to change the meaning of that name. It was something bullies used to call me all the time because I was Quirkless and weak, and honestly, I hated it for so long…” Izuku explained before the face of one of his best friend’s, Ochako Uraraka, smiling face flashed through his mind. “But a close friend of mine showed me that it could be represented in a different way, like saying ‘I can do it!’”
“Is that so… Hmmm, I suppose I can understand the meaning behind it. But if you want my suggestion, I think you should change it a little bit.” Holding up her hand to stop the teen from interrupting her, the former Number One Heroine continued, “I’m not saying that you can’t hold onto the meaning. However, if you want to be known as the Hero that broadcasts that meaning, go with the actual word instead. From what I can put together, Deku was the name you wanted when you were starting to solidify what kind of hero you wanted to be and followed after All Might. But with this new name, you can actually be your own hero and really match up to that name’s meaning. Bringing hope for a better future!”
(Flashback Finished)
“ALL FOR ONE!” Izuku’s voice echoed throughout the battlefield as his enemy and allies turned their attention towards the teen, who was positioning himself just inches ahead of the crowd with an arm raised high. “You said that I was somebody worthless with nothing to lose, but that is far from the truth! I AM THE ONE FOR ALL HERO, DEKIRU! This story of yours after two hundred long years will finally come to an end, and do you know why?”
Clenching his raised hand into a fist, Izuku brought it down to point it at the angered villain with all of the other Pro-Heroes positioned behind him.
“BECAUSE WE… ARE… HERE!”