Casualties of War (Part 1)

Kirishima stared down the two versions of All For One as the others retreated. He had no delusions about his chances, especially with his injuries. There was only one way this fight could ever end and he was completely ready for it. “You know, you could have been a useful pawn in my army. With that quirk of yours.”

“I’m not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted.”

“Flattered would be right,” All For One said, “Even if right now you have a limit to how much you can harden with your quirk, I could have helped you easily surpass that limit. The Nomus that I and the doctor were creating were some of the next steps on the path of human evolution. Ones that, with time, could have become perfect beings. I intended to use Shigaraki for that purpose.”

Kirishima put on a mocking grin, even with the immense pain and blood loss he was experiencing. “It sounds to me like you’re sore over the fact that Mr. Aurdel ruined your long term plans. The first thing he did when he showed up was put down Shigaraki, then he destroyed all your Nomu and put down the doctor responsible for making them.”

“It’s true that I am somewhat disappointed with his actions, as my plans have been set back a number of decades. However that fact is of little consequence in the long term. I will live forever, and because of that I will have more time than I could possibly ever need to accomplish my goals. I cannot say the same for you and your friends.”

Monoma backed up to Kirishima. “Get ready, I need to blink.” As soon as they were ready to move, Monoma blinked. In that time All For One’s second body managed to get off a single burst of lasers fired from his fingertips. They missed

“Your attempts at keeping me here are indeed very noble and admirable, but I’m afraid that I’m the long term it will accomplish very little. As soon as the timer runs out on his copy of Erasure I will very easily be able to kill the both of you. After that I will attack UA and utterly destroy it, taking all of your small friends and your families with it. No amount of planning or preparation will ever be able to prevent that.”

“I don’t know whether or not we’ll be able to beat you when you attack our school. Maybe you’re right and we’ll get completely wiped out. But, there is one thing that I do know. And it’s that the one person who can beat you for sure is out of the country, so if we’re going to win then we need to hold you back for as long as possible. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Spartan? I’d say he’s helped me more than he’s held me back. As soon as he appeared I knew that he would collapse the system Heroes that was in place, but I had no idea that he would take every government in the world with him too. Not to mention the sheer level of destruction done. After all, how is it that you think I was able to escape from Tartarus?” He shrugged, “Of course he has all killed a number of my assets, from the doctor I used to make the Nomu to assets I had across the world. But those are replaceable with time.”

“You shouldn’t act like you’ve already won, you haven’t even come close.”

“Oh believe me, I’m aware that I still have yet to kill you and the rest of the people that Spartan has had influence. I just like to think ahead.”

“Then come and get me!”

“No, I think I’ll let them take you instead.” All For One gestured over towards a pile of rubble, a crowd of Villains and other criminals still in their prisoner uniforms cresting it. He turned, “To all of you men freed from the shackles of the system, head me now! To whoever brings me the heads of those two boys, I will grant you more wealth and power than you have ever known!” The crowd, hearing this offer, cheered. Then they charged towards them.

“Monoma, get somewhere out of their reach and keep an eye on All For One. I’ll deal with these fodder Villains.”

“Got it,” Monoma didn’t move for a moment, a solemn look on his face. “Kirishima, don’t get yourself killed. Class 1-B still needs to prove its superiority over 1-A..”

“We’ll both make it out of here.” Monoma then moved, scaling up the side of a partially collapsed building while keeping his eyes perfectly locked on All For One. Kirishima then hardened, “Come on, I’ll stop all of you here!”

“Get them!” One of the Villains shouted. Kirishima was able to recognize a few of them, a number being Villains from the attack at the USJ that happened what felt like years ago. They fired bullets, scales, needles and nails as they closed in, every last projectile bouncing off his rock solid armor. He reeled back his right arm and swung it into the crowd as the first Villain arrived, catching them in the gut and knocking the wind out of them. Kirishima then whipped his arm to the side and slammed his elbow into the face of another Villain, shattering their jaw. Another one grabbed him and put a hand on his head, trying to shock him with a surge of electricity. But it didn’t work.

“I am Red Riot, the sturdy and chivalrous Hero who will never back down!” He drove his elbow back into the Villain with the electric quirk, then upon being let go he grabbed the man with one arm and tossed him towards another group of Villains that were trying to surround him.

One of them elongated their arms, grabbing him from behind. “Shut your trap! You’re just-!”

“No matter what, I will fight!” With his right arm restrained, he used the sharp edge of the bone from his left arm to slash at the Villain’s stretched out arms. The pain was enough to force him to let go, allowing Kirishima the chance to grab one wrist and snap it. He then charged over to the Villain, driving his left arm into the man’s gut before turning and smacking another with his right fist.

“I’ll slit your throat!” Another group of Villains charged towards him, one armed with weapons in the forms of baseball balls, knives and nightsticks. One of them with a knife attacked from behind, putting both arms around his head before trying to drag a knife across his neck. The knife shattered upon contact, and Kirishima gave a reverse headbutt that knocked the man down. The other Villains all swarmed him at the same time, knocking him off of his feet before beginning to collectively beat on him while on the ground.

As they did he heard Monoma call out, “Kirishima!” Knowing what was about to happen, Kirishima quickly managed to stand back up despite the beating and put as many of the Villains between himself and All For One. As soon as Monoma blinked the lasers fired again, piercing through the group of Villains. Only one of the lasers managed to make it all the way through, going a little bit into Kirishima’s abdomen.

He turned, “Thanks Monoma!”

“I had to do it, I’ve only got twenty seconds left with Erasure!” Only twenty seconds left… Kirishima looked around, he’d managed to knock out many of the Villains and had All For One unintentionally take out the remainder. That left only one Villain to take down. He charged towards All For One. “Kirishima!”

Both bodies raised their hands, pointing them towards him in anticipation of the moment Erasure ended. “Ejiro Kirishima, I’ll afford you the kind of fate befitting someone who looks to succeed Crimson Riot!”

“I WILL NEVER BACK DOWN!” Kirishima raised his fist.

Shoto had been in the middle of fighting a number of members of Humarise when the ground suddenly began to shake. Then moments later the Earth tore open, massive sections of land breaking apart. Some sunk downward, splashing into newly forming rifts filled with magma. Others rose up, pushing out of the Earth before toppling over and collapsing. An awful rumbling and crashing sound filled the air as sections of the city crumbled. He used his ice, creating supports for a number of nearby buildings in order to keep a path out of the area open. But it was useless. So many of the buildings that had barely managed to survive the war were now falling apart, and cars long abandoned along the sides of the road were sent tumbling down slopes and into massive holes that showed up every few dozen or so feet. “Heaven Piercing Ice Wall!” He created one massive wall of ice to hold up three nearby apartment buildings, ones that were about to fall on top of him and the Villains who’d been just trying to kill him minutes ago. “Get out of here!” Frost formed on his body as he used more and more ice, the wall slowly cracking under so much pressure. At first the Villains were confused about why he was letting them leave, but then they took their chance and ran out of his sight. There was only one answer to why he let them go, and it was a simple one: he wanted to end the cycle of violence.

It was the same cycle that had perpetuated in his life and suffering, the same one that afflicted the rest of his family and everyone else around him. It had driven his father to negligence and abuse, burned Toya and turned him into a monster, put his mother into a psychiatric ward and split his family. It had permanently scarred his face. As soon as everyone else was clear of the falling apartment buildings Shoto allowed the ice to break, shattering under the combined weight. He didn’t move out of its path though, he didn’t even try. There was a part of him that wanted it all to end, that maybe it would be better for him to take himself out of the situation so he could escape it all. His vision went dark as he was buried in rubble, staying that way for a time. But he was still alive. The rest of him knew he had to live. There were still things he needed to finish.

“Rise and shine, little brother.” He opened his eyes as a voice began to speak, feeling heat around him as someone began to pull the rubble off of him. Soon enough the light was able to reach his eyes and he could see who it was that was pulling him out.”

“Toya.”

“That’s right Shoto, it’s me.” As soon as he could stand again, Dabi- …Toya took a few steps back. Then he raised his hands, “The day that I’ve been waiting for, for such a long time, has finally come. It’s just a shame that I wasn’t able to be the one who did it all.” His hands lowered, “Everything that father ever valued is gone, everything that he ever achieved wiped away and turned to dust in the wind. All of it, gone. Now it’s just him and us.”

“You could have left me to die underneath the rubble, or you could have just incinerated me while I couldn’t even respond. Why did you pull me out?”

“Why did I pull you out? The answer is simple, if I let you die like that then it would have been a hollow victory for me.” Toya laughed, “Dear old dad never considered anyone else his possible successors except for you and me. I could have surpassed him, but then you came along and took that future away from me.”

“So you want to fight and kill me, just so you can prove to yourself that you were right? That you should have kept being trained instead of me?”

“No, I know that I’m right. I just want to make sure that you don’t live under any delusions. The same with him. After failing as a Hero the only thing he’ll have left to do is watch all the time he spent training you go to waste.”

He tightened his fist, “…He’s not sulking.”

“What?” Toya’s expression changed.

“If you think that our father, of all the people in the world, would just sit and sulk, then I find it hard to believe that we’re from the same family.”

“Of course he would sulk, everything-“

“Has been taken away, yes. And rightfully so because of the way that he treated us. But that didn’t mean he just curled up and died.” He looked him in the eyes, “Ever since the truth came out, he’s been trying to become someone we could actually be proud of.”

“You’ve got to be joking!” Toya laughed, “He can’t change, he’s too much of a stubborn bastard.”

“You don’t want to believe he can change. Because if he can change, then it means you could’ve changed for the better too. You’ll be wholly responsible for every action you’ve taken. That’s why you’re standing in front of me right now.”

Toya grit his teeth, “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, little brother.”

“Ultimately it doesn’t matter what either of us believe will happen. The fact is that something will happen, I’ll be there to see what happens. I’ll be watching him.”

He ignited the blue flames on his hands, “I’ll see you burn, then that pathetic old man and everyone else who thinks they can get in my way.”

Shoto shut his eyes, “Then you’re not Toya. Toya died that day to the flames on the peak, all you are is a phantom who happened to share his name. You’re Dabi.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Little brother.” With a wicked smile on his face, their fight began. Dabi let loose a wall of blue fire, surrounding both of them in the street. Shoto used both sides simultaneously, his left to thaw himself and his right to throw up a wall of ice and disperse the flames.

“Bummock Frozen Prison!” After taking a moment to build up one large attack, he used his right side to try and imprison Dabi. Layers of ice quickly began encasing Dabi, starting at his feet.

“Don’t think you can beat me like you can with one of your little classmates!” Dabi raised his hands and intensified his heat, leaving white hot fire at his fingertips that he brought down and almost instantly slashed and melted through the ice. Hell Spider, one of their fathers moves. “What do you think about that one, Shoto? I think I’ve got it down to a tee.”

He intensified his power to both sides, building up more power. “Heaven Piercing Ice Wall!” With more power he was able to make it much larger and much colder, his potential increasing further and further as his body started reaching equilibrium.

“Don’t even think you can beat me with ice, it’s my natural element! Courtesy of mom.” Shoto watched as Dabi used the same move, cutting through the ice and further intensifying the heat of his flames. By now he could see that some patches of skin were beginning to boil and bubble away, with the skin grafts specifically burning up as he kept upping the heat.

Ice began spreading out from beneath his feet, creeping across the road. “And you shouldn’t think that you can beat me with dad’s flames.”

The comment further angered Dabi, “They’re not his, they’re my own!” Waves of blue fire ripped across their arena, but he was able to counter it with his own. Using his left side he would burn out the oxygen, making it so that by the time the fire reached him there was no fuel for it to continue. He was almost ready.

“Flashfire Fist: Hell Spider!” He intensified his left side and brought white hot fire to his fingertips. Then, he swung his hand.

“Ha, you missed!” Dabi laughed as Shoto plainly swung away from him. But what he thought was a miss was purposefully some move. The streaks of fire sliced through a building on the opposite side of the street, severing the supports that held it up. “Wait, what the hell?” The building then collapsed onto the road, completely boxing them in. Now the two were stuck together, in their own little corner of hell. And now, he was at equilibrium.

“Flashfire Fist: Phosphor!” Shoto blew backwards into the middle of the street, the effects of his blue flame quickly becoming more pronounced as the two took a moment to stare each other down. By now the flesh was falling off the bones on Dabi’s bones, and the visible features of his face were beginning to distort and slide off. Even so, he could see his determination. Shoto had his own determination. “Flowing Ifingr!” Massive walls of pure white fire rose from the ground, surpassing the heat that even his father could accomplish. They towered up into the sky several stories tall, sitting tens of meters thick.

“I WON’T BE DENIED WHAT I DESERVE!” Dabi reached his maximum output, blasting the area with his flames. By this point almost all the skin and hair was burned away from his body, and only flesh and bone remained.

“GREAT GLACIAL AEGIR!” Shoto reached his maximum output, creating ice at a temperature so low he never thought it previously accomplishable and flooding the space around them with it as quickly as possible. And with the extreme cold meeting extreme heat, the violent change in pressure was absolutely immense. It felt strong enough to wipe out a city block, partially blinding him and launching him back hundreds of feet. He slowed his fall with his ice as he neared the ground, stopping himself just short of slamming headfirst into a pile of rubble. When he finally came to a stop he fell to his knees, then collapsed onto the ground. Exhausted and unable to see. But he knew the fight was over. “Goodbye, Dabi.”

“Uraraka, over there!” Asui pointed.

“Got it!” She ran over, floating the nearby rubble. Working as part of the collective effort to stop Humarise’s plans in Japan, Uraraka and Asui had deployed with a number of police officers into the city to find the bombs and arrest any Humarise members that got in their way. In fact they’d been in the middle of a battle with a bunch of Villains working for Humarise when the earthquakes hit, collapsing many of the few remaining nearby buildings. A number of their allies had been caught underneath the ensuing rubble, and they were working quickly to pull them out. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

“You’re a real lifesaver…” Uraraka carefully lifted the rubble off of the officer, then picked him up and helped him stand. She released the rubble once it was clear.

“All this damage… We need to regroup with everyone else back at UA to figure out what’s going on. Are you able to walk on your own?”

“Yeah, I should be able to walk. Don’t want to rely too much on you girls.” The officer began limping forward, moving with the rest of the group. Uraraka was able to follow him when she heard another voice call out.

“Hey, wait! Don’t forget about me!” She turned her head back, did they really miss one?!

“S-sorry! I’ll get you out of there in just a moment!” Uraraka quickly ran back over, in disbelief that she’s been so absent minded that she had almost left one of the people helping them behind. She used her quirk, raising the rubble. “I’m glad that you called out, it would have been awful if we left you behind.”

Uraraka was easily able to move the rubble, pushing it to the side and then offering her hand. “I’m glad that you came to see me too, Ochako.”

“Huh?!” She was caught completely offguard, given no time to react as the person she thought was a police officer jumped up with a knife in hand. As soon as the cap fell off she realized who it was. Toga.

“Uraraka!” Asui called out as Toga stabbed her with the knife, plunging it into her stomach. With her tongue she then grabbed Uraraka, pulling her to safety before Toga could stab her again.

“Froppy, watch out!” The police officer from before shoved Asui out of the way as a second Villain jumped out brandishing a sword.

“I’ll kill all of you fake Heroes!” The officer was then immediately cut down by the Villain. Asui released Uraraka.

“It really has been such a long time, you don’t know how happy I am!” Uraraka stood back up, clutching her wound.

“Toga…” She grit her teeth as she watched the disguise she had on melted off, revealing her true appearance. “We’ll put you and the rest of the League of Villains back in prison, no matter what!”

“I know you really don’t mean that Ochako, because I love you! Just like you and I love Deku!” Toga licked her knife and swallowed some of the blood from its edge. Uraraka prepared herself as she then charged forward, immediately being able to push away the next attempts to stab her and then float Toga into the air.

“Now stay- Huh?!” Uraraka quickly moved out of the way as the syringes at Toga’s side fired towards the ground, pulling herself towards the ground.

“Nothing can get between my love!” As soon as she touched the ground she launched towards Uraraka, swinging her knife the moment she came close. Uraraka meanwhile took advantage of the momentum she gained, releasing her quirk and sending Toga flying onto the ground.

She picked up the syringe that had been lodged into the ground, snapping it and stomping on it to keep it from being used. “Can’t you see that what you’re doing is wrong?”

“I’m just being myself and following my heart, what’s so wrong about that? Isn’t that what you’re doing?” Toga now looked half like Uraraka after having ingested the blood, they stared each other down.

“There’s a big difference between what our hearts are telling us to do!” Uraraka fired the wrist mounted grapple line and Toga charged forward. But she hasn’t been her target.

“What the-?!” The Villain Asui was fighting was caught off guard as the grapple wrapped around the sword, allowing her to yank it out of his hands and. The wide side of the sword then crashed against the back of Toga’s head, knocking her to the ground.

Toga looked up, blood dripping down her head. “You want to play rough? I love playing rough!” Rapidly she grabbed hold of the grapple and used her knife to slash through the cable, causing it to whip back and lash Uraraka. She then charged forward again with her knife, looking like she was about to try and stab her again.

But when she came close Uraraka realized that she had completely misread her moves. All sixteen of the syringes fired at the same time in her direction, and there wasn’t nearly enough time to move out of their way. Around half of them found their mark and Toga dove to the side, twisting the lines and dragging Uraraka onto the ground. “Stop this!”

“I don’t want to!” She then jumped on top of Uraraka with her knife, and she was barely able to get her right arm up in time to avoid being stabbed. Instead she slashed across her arm and cut through her costume, the pain shooting through her.

“I said stop!” Uraraka brought up a knee and slammed into Toga’s chin, making enough space to kick her away. She then grabbed the lines from the syringes and yanked hard with her left, pulling Toga in and giving her the opportunity to use her right fist to punch her across the face.

“I won’t!” Toga managed to get balance and tried to attack again, but this time Uraraka could handle her moves. As Toga tried to stab her she was able to grab her knife hand, then slammed it with her other hand and forced her to release the knife. As it clattered to the road she then twisted the lines against her legs and forced her to trip.

“Then I’ll make you stop!” The still attached syringes shattered into bits of glass and metal, the needles breaking off inside her skin. Uraraka then picked Toga up and slammed head first against a pile of rubble. She then turned her back over and began pummeling her, throwing punch after punch and even knocking out a few teeth. Uraraka then leaned over to the side, picking up a hefty chunk of concrete that had chunks of rebar protruding out.

“Can you really do it? I’m just like you!” She turned her head, and instead of half of Toga’s and her own… it was just hers. For a moment she was stunned. The thought that she was about to beat herself with a rock couldn’t process in her head correctly. Toga took advantage of this, using the moment of confusion to produce a second knife and stab Uraraka deep in her side. “Gotcha!” She stumbled back and dropped the chunk of concrete, Toga then jumping up and tackling Uraraka to the ground with a stab to the shoulder.

“Uraraka!” Asui shouted upon seeing the situation suddenly turn, but couldn’t help due to not being in any position to help.”

“Don’t ignore me, you traitor mutant!” The Villain she was fighting had managed to pick back up his sword, lunging at Asui who was already covered in slashes from previous attacks. Toga forced Uraraka to the ground, using one arm to hold her arms behind her back and the other to make her watch. “You could have been helping us mutants against the people who are holding us down, instead you’re willingly helping them!”

“I can’t be held for the actions of other people! Ribbit!” Asui lashed her tongue out at the Villain’s right hand, knocking the sword out of it before coming in with a flying kick to knock them down

He balled up his fist, “Tolerance of their actions is more than enough to count as collaboration!” The Villain then went in to try and punch her, but found no success as she ducked and weaved between the blows. Moving in such a way eventually allowed her to get into a position that gave her the chance to counterattack, jumping up and striking them across the face with her fist.

She then followed it up with another blow, eventually having them on the ground and held underneath her boot. “I’m not going to let myself be talked down by-“

“Spinner, I’m afraid you’re taking too long with this one.”

“TSU!” Uraraka let out a scream of horror as Asui was hit by a barrage of attacks from behind, lasers punching through her body. She collapsed onto the ground without even a whimper.

“These UA kids were trained by that Spartan guy. It’s one thing to go up against a bunch of self-trained nobodies, it’s another to do the same against kids who’ve been trained by an insane killer.” Spinner stood up, kicking Asui’s body aside with his foot.

“It’s of little importance. Is the other girl still alive?”

“Yep! Ochako is still up and kicking!” Toga nuzzled her head against her own, Uraraka was too horrified to even move.

“Good, I need her quirk.” Dark tendrils stretched out from All For One’s hands, piercing up her back before crawling up towards her head. She felt what she could only describe as the life being drained from her body. Then when the tendrils retreated she went completely limp, unable to move. “Tie her up and take her with us, once we’re done you can do what you wish with her.”

“Okay!~” Toga caressed her as she lay on the ground, and all Uraraka could do was let out a few tears.

Casualties of War (Part 2)

“Kaminari, I’m sorry that I have to ask you to put yourself at such great risk.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Kaminari said, giving a thumbs up as he climbed into the hastily jury-rigged seat attached to the back of the suit of armor All Might was in. “I’ve been out of the fight for a while, so I want to do everything I can to make sure that I’m not falling behind everyone else.” Despite being told about everything that had happened while he was comatose, Kaminari was still able to put a smile on his face. All Might tried to return the favor.

With the earthquakes that had ravaged the country, countless prisons had broken wide open. Including Tartarus. Even before Aizawa had returned to inform him, he knew that All For One would gather an army and then try to attack UA. If not to eliminate the only remaining powerbase in the country, then for the purpose of killing All Might himself. He looked towards Hatsume, “Are you positive that this will work?”

Hatsume sat with rings around her eyes, tools in one hand and an energy drink in the other. She was performing the final touches and repairs to the armor. “Of course it will! Out of all of my babies, this is the one that I’ve spent the most time on and am proudest of. If you’re not confident in my work alone, then take solace in the fact that I had help from the big guy making it. He even did the test run!”

He breathed a small sigh of relief, “I’ll take you for your word then. Alright, once you’re finished making your adjustments I want you to leave here as quickly as possible. It’s for the best that you don’t get caught up in the battle about to take place here.”

She put her things down, retrieving a camera. “Are you kidding? This is the perfect opportunity for me to get footage of my baby in action against a Villain. Getting after action reports is one thing, but seeing it raw is another!”

“Now isn’t the time to be indulging in your work!” All Might said, “Anyone that’s still on the campus will be in serious danger due to the upcoming battle. You really do need to leave!”

“Hey, despite what you may think about the other courses, our stake in this fight is as large as the Hero course. We’re a part of UA too! And if my babies are going to be involved, then I want to be involved too.” She was full of vigor, something that many people had lost within these last few weeks.

“Leave her be, we have more important matters to attend to.”

“Aizawa!” He turned.

“I’ve tried to get the message out to all of our students, but between previous damage to communications and the newly caused destruction I’m not sure it got through.”

“We can only hope that-“

“The problem is I think that even if the message does go through, they’ll ignore it. They’re just too stubborn.”

“They need to!” All Might affirmed, “The only reason we’ve stayed here to fight is because we need to at least give a chance of survival to everyone else.”

“Hey, don’t say things like that! I’m right here you know!” Kaminari said, “Don’t act like we’re going to all die. After all, you’re going to be the one protecting us with this sweet suit of armor.” All Might grit his teeth at the comment. If he’d done his job properly either time in the past, All For One wouldn’t still be around to haunt them.

“Yes… We’ll make it through. But Aizawa, where did you send Eri? All For One may very well try to seize her and use her quirk to restore his original body to its pinnacle form. And if that’s occurs-“

“I sent her away with the other refugees, she’s being guarded by the students and staff I left with them all.”

“And her quirk won’t have any outbursts during all of this?”

“The training we’ve given her is more than enough to keep it under control. Though, I don’t know if she’ll be able to remember all that training if they come under attack.”

“I suppose we can only-“ His voice stopped as he noticed that the wind suddenly shifted. “He’s here.”

“Spread out!”

As Hatsume and Aizawa quickly went to hide, Kaminari powered up the suit. Once it was on, All Might slid on the helmet and rushed forward into a large clearing. Even as a heavy fog rolled in and covered the area he knew exactly where he was. He was in the middle of the campus, the ruins of the main building, dorms and the training ground all surrounding him in the distance. They only existed as shadows and silhouettes now. “Show yourself, All For One.”

The weather continued intensifying, an immense and heavy rain suddenly setting in with the sound of distant thunder. Even through the fog he could see tornadoes begin to form and touch down, tearing up the ground far away. “All Might. I would like to say that it’s been a long time since we last spoke, but it really hasn’t.”

He couldn’t see him through the dense fog, but he could almost sense him by his presence alone. “You weren’t satisfied with the death and destruction that you’ve already caused?

“That I’ve caused?” He could already begin to imagine the look on his All For One’s face, the wide grin. All Might looked around for either of the two bodies. “I told you that he would bring down everything, didn’t I? And that’s exactly what happened, even with a little bit of extra damage that I didn’t expect. Frankly I couldn’t have expected a better outcome for my plans.”

“Liar! He did everything he could to stop the plans you set in motion. Even ones that took place overseas, like that man in China who was trying to manufacture Dave’s quirk amplification device.”

“I can’t believe how much I missed…” Kaminari muttered.

“Oh, did he really? I can’t say that I ever expected too much success from that endeavor, I just wanted a few of them for personal use. That’s why I sent the info to that man.” As the fog suddenly died down All Might moved, jumping out of the line of fire as a number of lasers fired through the area.

“There!” Tracing them back to their firing point he was able to see the second point start to duck into cover. He jumped, firing the air cannons mounted on the armor in its direction.

“I must say though, All Might. You seem to have fallen on hard times. Even the last time we fought you seemed to have your pride and image. But now…” All For One laughed, “Wearing a suit of armor like that, it’s like you’re nervously trying to emulate him. I don’t think I could even come up with a crueler fate than decaying and withering away like you have.”

“One For All no longer dwells within me, but even so I carry on its duties and responsibilities. I must fight. And to do that I will use absolutely any means I can!” He fired up the thrusters and chased after the second body, slamming through the cover. Once the dust cleared he found that in the matter of seconds it had taken him to move it was already gone.

“Yes, and I find it very annoying that you never gave up your rather childish delusion to change things. But there is nothing that I can do except give in and battle you.”

“Then stop hiding, All For One!”

“As you wish.” More lasers, this time grazing past his helmet. But they were close. All Might quickly burst his way through the cover and found the second body, using his momentum to throw it into the center.

“Aizawa!”

“I’ve got it!” Aizawa peered out of cover and caught the second body in his line of sight with Erasure. “Restrain him and-!”

“Do you really think that I would give up my chances for victory so lightly?”

“Mr. Aizawa!” Kaminari shouted as Aizawa was hit by a combined barrage of lasers and the impact of an Air Cannon.

“It’s a shame that I had to do that, since his quirk is an incredibly useful one. But once I’ve finished you off I’ll have all the time in the world to wait for the next of its kind.” All Might rushed over to Aizawa’s side, examining his injuries. His body had been shot through in a number of places and blood was pouring out, even one of his eyes had been crushed from the pressure of the cannon blast. “But now that he’s no longer a threat, I can fight without reserve.”

“You’re not the only one!” All Might launched off the ground, heading straight for All For One.

“I’m not so sure I believe that, coming from you.” All For One raised his hand, and large chunks of rubble began floating into the air.

All Might burst forward, reeling back his fist as the mechanics of the suit went into overdrive. “Smash!” He blew straight through the largest chunk of debris, shattering it into a hundred different pieces and scattering throughout the air. Lasers fired at him from almost every angle down below.

All For One laughed, “This ‘power’ you have now is only a cheap imitation of what you used to be, it’s proof that you never should have possessed One For All.” The broken chunks of debris then redirected, coming back in at high speeds. All Might tried to use the thrusters to move out of the way, but they were just coming in too fast. “I suppose in a way you’re just like that armor. A shell.”

“You’re no better than I am!” All For One fired the Air Cannon quirk again, this time directly at All Might. As he pushed the thrusters further he just barely managed to get out of its way, finally coming face to face with All For One. “I’ll have you give back everything that you’ve taken!”

The two grappled with each other, fist to fist. “Are you going to try and kill me, All Might? There won’t be any man from the future to help you this time.” The two pushed back and forth against one another, bursts of air rushing out due to the sheer level of compression occurring between their hands. “Strength Enhancer, times eight!” As All For One activated some of his stockpiled quirks, All Might quickly found himself on the backfoot with the machinery in the armor beginning to falter. “What’s wrong All Might? I thought you were going to fight me. You don’t seem to be-“

“Stun Gun!” Kaminari suddenly threw out a few of his pointers, magnetically attaching to All For One’s mask. He then took his hand off the armor and used his shooter to fire off his electricity, shocking All For One and forcing him to release his grip. All Might took the opportunity to deal one blow to the mask before hastily moving back.

“Annoying pest, you should be more than satisfied with your role as a glorified battery.” As All Might landed back on the ground he suddenly found himself being swarmed by what appeared to be blue serpent dragons, originating from copies of that second body and attacking from every side.

“If I’m a glorified battery then you’re a walking corpse!l”

“Yes, you could call me that. But living like this was not my choice, it was his.” The dragon heads attacked him, bashing against the side of his armor while others tried to bite down on his arms and legs. “You know, if I had known that I would go through this much trouble to kill you then I would have just have had that boy act as a suicide bomber. I have more than enough quirks capable of doing such a thing.”

“I won’t allow you to speak of young Aoyama in such a way, he has become a great Hero like the rest of his class and won’t be used anymore!” All Might crashes through one of the dragon heads, shattering it into a glistening mist of blue scales. But then the mist reformed, turning into two separate dragon heads. It was a hydra.

But suddenly they disappeared, then two more and another two. He looked around, the bodies that the hydras were coming from were suddenly turning into mud. “All Might, don’t worry about the clones! Focus on the main body!” Tsukauchi had returned with a number of his officers, armed to the teeth with the weapons that Spartan had long ago stashed inside of his room in the dorm building and gunning down the much less resistant to damage clones of the second body.

“Thank you, Tsukauchi!” All Might leapt up again towards All For One.

“More flies, I’ll swat-“

“No more!” All Might struck hard, using all of his strength to strike the large industrial mask and damage it. You crush, kill, steal and take advantage of people! You scoff at those who are just trying to go on and live their lives!” He struck again, pounding the mask with blow after blow. “That is something… I absolutely cannot forgive!” With one last punch the industrial mask shattered into a number of pieces, All For One falling to the ground and kicking up a small cloud of dust. He took a deep breath, hydraulic fluid and oil leaking out the arms of the armor.

“Please, spare me your grandstanding.” All For One blasted the dust away, then fired at All Might with the combination of a more powerful Air Cannon and some quirk that fired incredibly hard spear-like projectiles. All Might was thrown out of the air and came crashing down on the ground, impacting against a large file of rubble.

“My legs!” Kaminari cried out through clenched teeth as he unintentionally took the brunt of the impact, his legs being crushed between the rubble and the armor. All Might tried to stand up but they were wedged into the ground, only able to slightly move his arms.

“Let me tell you the truth about this world, All Might. The truth that you’re too small to see.” All For One floated over, “The only true way to determine what is right and wrong in the world is through strength, because in the harsh reality we occupy only the strong survive. That is what the purpose of the first Heroes and Villains was, to decide who was fit to rule and who was fit to serve. But with time they lost touch with reality, deciding that the best way to hold onto their power was through laws and bureaucratic systems. Their ‘strength’ came from suppression of the truly strong, crushing them from birth and never allowing them to grow and achieve what they are truly capable of. Time made them complacent, and with time no one truly ‘strong’ existed. I seek to rectify that.”

“You’re just trying to justify your evil actions and lust for power!” All Might shouted, “You don’t care about equality, you don’t care about right or wrong either! The only thing you care about is how you can gain more power and use it to control the world!”

“Because unlike you, I am strong. And someone who is strong should control and shape the world.” Pieces of rubble around the area began to lift into the air, All For One having raised his hand. “Of course, I am not totally without mercy. I know that your weak heart could not handle such a world, so I will take you out of this one so you might never see it.” There was a sadistic smile on his face, “So long, All Mi-!” A blue laser fired from off in the distance, striking All For One. “Hrm?!”

“Before… Moi may have been a coward. But so long as I live I will never back down again, just as a Hero should!”

“Take him down!” A small army of Heroes and students charged onto the campus, opening fire with a barrage of their quirks against All For One.

Aizawa let out a series of heavy and burdened breaths, watching through one eye as the quirks of so many people opened fire and struck All For One. The large Villain was forced to quickly retreat to reassess his plan, having just been on the verge of killing All Might moments before. A painful smile stretched across his face. “Shota!” Someone was calling his name… “Shota, where the hell are you?!” He saw Mic and Midnight running around, shouting as they looked for him. Eventually they saw him. “Jesus, there he is!”

“I thought I told you two to protect the refugees…” His voice was as dry as ever as they ran over.

“Like hell we were just going to stay, as soon as we were relieved by backup we came running over.” Mic looked him over, seeing how badly injured he was. “Jeez, we need to get you out of here and to a doctor. We-“

“I’ll live,” he coughed out, “You two need to focus on supporting the students. Make sure they come out of this alive.”

“What about you?” Mic shouted, “I’m not about to let what happened to Shirakumo-!”

“I already told you that I’ll live, that should be enough to reaffirm you. Now go, standing around over here while everyone else does the hard work is going to make you look embarrassing.”

Mic stood back up and turned around, balling up a fist. “I’ll make that guy pay for what he did to us!”

Midnight looked Aizawa in the eyes. No matter how stoic he could have acted, she knew the truth. He was done. The impact had severed his spine and left him unable to feel the lower half of his body, on top of that he was missing an eye and was suffering from internal bleeding. Just staying awake was strenuous as it was, let alone being able to make it out of here. “Just make sure you’re watch us, alright?”

He nodded, “I’ll watch you.” Midnight stood up, about to turn around and walk over to the others before stopping like she’d forgotten to do something. She then crouched back down, leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then Mic and her ran off to join the others. “Yeah, I’ll watch you…” Aizawa sat there, keeping his one eye open.

All Might managed to pry himself out of the rubble, using his arms to chip away at the edges to get enough clearance. “We might have a chance to actually win this…”

“Kaminari, you’re seriously injured. You should-“

“Not yet!” He slammed his hand on the side of the armor, “Everyone else is here now, and they’re going to be taking serious risks trying to fight that guy. Taking the same risks as them is the least I can do when I spent most of the war napping.”

All Might bit his lip, he really didn’t want any of them to be in harm's way but the situation was out of his hands now. “Let’s go.” He flew over toward the crowd of people.

“We need to come up with a-” Jiro cut herself off, a look of horror on her face. “Oh my god, Kaminari. Your…”

“It’s no big deal. Look, we need to beat All For One so we need a plan.”

“W-Well,” Yaoyorozu began stammering out, “We don’t know anything about All For One’s quirks or capabilities, the only one that does is All Might.” The only one…

“During our first fight years ago, I seriously injured All For One. He lost his eyes, ears and nose. That means that if he can listen to us and figure out where we are, it’s not by traditional means. He most likely possesses quirks that act like sonar or radar, sending out sound or signals and waiting for responses or just passively waiting to pick up on them.”

Present Mic walked over, “If sound is how he’s doing it, then I’ll give him a performance so loud he’ll have new earholes by the time we’re finished.”

“I can help with that too!” Jiro said, raising her hand.

“Jiro, your heart is still recovering from what happened in the mountains. If-”

“We all need to do our parts, this is how I do mine.”

All Might could only begrudgingly accept, “Very well, Present Mic and Jiro will act as support to try and hinder All For One. However our primary concern should be dealing damage. All For One likely has a number of regeneration quirks, meaning that any damage we inflict will likely be completely undone.”

“You mean like a Nomu? How are we supposed to fight that?!” Ashido shouted.

“There are only two ways to counter it: cauterizing wounds to prevent regeneration or destroying the head.”

“No one here has a fire quirk to do that.”

Aoyama raised his hand, “Moi should be able to perform such a task, as moi’s laser is more than hot enough to cauterize a wound.”

“You’ll be putting yourself in a great deal of danger.”

“It is the least that moi can do to atone for all that has happened.”

“What about the rest of us?” All Might looked around at all those who were gathered. There was himself, Kaminari, Jiro, Ashido, Yaoyorozu, Ida, Sero, Mineta, Tokoyami, Honenukk, Ibara, Amajiki, Nejire, Present Mic, Midnight, Mt. Lady, Lady Nagant, Gentle and La Brava.

“Okay. First, the main plan. Nagant will provide harassing fire to hinder All For One’s ability to think. Sero, Ibara and Amajiki, it will be up to you to physically restrain All For One. Nejire and Tokoyami, you will carry Jiro and Present Mic respectively and keep him from being able to ‘see.’ Ida, Gentle and La Brava will help physically secure the perimeter and ensure that any arriving Villains won’t be able to intervene in our fight. I will go with Kaminari to try and take All For One’s head first. But if that doesn’t work, then I’ll try to do as much damage as possible and assist Aoyama in lining up his shots.”

“Is there a backup plan?”

“If the first plans fails, the backup is as follows: Honenuki and Mineta will try to turn the ground into a pitfall and I will try to force him in. Midnight and Yaoyorozu will then fill the area with enough anesthetics to knock him out. If that doesn’t work, then it will be up to us to hold All For One down as Ashido runs in to melt his head.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Mineta asked.

“Then our only option would be to retreat and hope that backup arrives soon.”

“That doesn’t sound like a promising backup plan!”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Ida said, “We have limited time and resources, there is no other option except to follow through with the best available immediate plan. We all need to play our part.” Everything that Ida said was right, but… He couldn’t help but feel that this may have been the wrong call, putting them in the direct line of fire this way. But now that they knew the plan they wouldn’t be convinced of anything else.

“We won’t have much time to try and do this, so hit him with everything you’ve got!”

“Right!” The group then spread out as each went to do their respective duties.

All For One soon came back, his hand raised to block incoming gunfire from Nagant. “All Might, have you really become so much of a coward that you would hide behind the lives of so many others?”

“You misunderstand our actions!” All Might charged All For One, charging against him and throwing a series of blows. All For One struck back with an enlarged right arm, using the same combination of quirks that he’d last used in Kamino. The suit of armor flexed and audibly creaked under the immense pressure. “I will be your opponent, but I will not win against you alone!”

“Heart Surround: Forte Fugue!”

“DJ Beat: Flooded AIrwaves!” All Might’s helmet automatically silenced itself the moment Jiro and Present Mic began blasting All For One, the air beginning to visibly distort due to the sheer volume that was being output.

All For One curled up, grabbing his head as the quirks he used to find his way around were overloaded. Through sight alone he could see that All For One was in serious agony. He signaled to the others by hand, “Now!” Sero, Ibara and Amajiki all sprung forward, using their quirks in weaving and interlocking layers to keep a tighter grip on All For One. Kaminari spiked his output of electricity and supercharged the suit as he All Might went in and grabbed All For One by the head. Then, he began to squeeze both hands together. “Go back to whence you came!”

“You won’t kill me like this!” All For One became angry at the attempt, managing to squeeze one of his arms out of the weave containing him. He then blasted All Might point blank with the more powerful Air Cannon, blowing straight through his helmet and shattering the visor into a number of pieces.

“All Might!” Kaminari shouted, a shard of the visor having gone into All Might’s left eye.

“See the fruits of your peace!” All For One raised his free arm to try and cut himself loose.

“I won’t allow that hand to take any more lives!” Fighting through the pain, All Might flew over and grabbed the free arm. And, as much as it pained himself to do something so violent, he had no other choice. Bracing himself against the weave he violently began to pull All For One’s arm, the VIllain letting out a pained cry as the bones in his forearms broke, followed by flesh beginning to tear. Then, the arm was pulled clean off. “Now!” All Might tossed the limb away and signaled the next move as the flesh and bone began to regrow. Aoyama fired his lasers, searing the stump and cauterizing the wounds. All For One had lost his left arm.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” All For One let out a ferocious shout, “MY REFUSAL TO TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY HAS COST ME ENOUGH, AND IT WILL NOT TAKE ANY MORE!” Then, as if All For One had been holding back this entire time, he began to viciously break free of the restraints.

The space around All For One began to violently vibrate, and All Might motioned for everyone to get away. “Everyone, get out of her!”

But it was no use. “My future will become reality!” A massive shockwave equal to the force of all their attacks then rippled out, likely having been absorbed from before. Sero and Ibara were ragdolled across the campus by the attack, losing their grip on All For One completely. Only Amajiki still managed to hold on, but he was fighting for his life.

Amajiki used the various limbs he created to try and deflect the next oncoming attacks, hacking his way through and deflecting chunks of rubble as they flew his way at immense speed. But then, it became totally impossible. All For One raised an entire half of one of the former dorm buildings, chucking it at the young boy. “No!” All Might dove in to try and get him clear at the moment, but he was too late.

“Amajiki!”

“My victory will come at any cost!” Nejire dove in to blast All For One, only to be met by an elongated hand that grabbed her by the head, took her quirk and then violently tossed her aside. All Might pushed the suit past its limits, almost burning out the thrusters as he just barely managed to catch Nejire and Jiro at the last moment. Nejire was completely unconscious and Jiro wasn’t breathing, likely having pushed herself so hard that she’d resurfaced the heart arrhythmia from before.

“Jiro!” Kaminari climbed out of the back of the suit, going to her side and repeatedly using his quirk to restart her heart. All Might then turned back and charged towards All For One. Without Kaminari, the suit would only have enough power for a few minutes!

All For One let out a maniacal laugh, “Know this, the reason they’re being punished is because of you!” Tokoyami and Present Mic were struck out of the air, violently being tossed to the ground. All Might tried to attack him, but to All For One he barely registered as a threat. In a single swipe much of the plating on the suit of armor was shredded, alarms ringing in his ear as system after system began to fail. The hydraulic fluid and oil drained out, the motors stopped and the thrusters burst. All Might was thrown back onto the ground, helplessly forced to watch as All For One put on the quirk amplification device. “Yes, because of you alone!” Using Nejire’s quirk he blasted Aoyama, not giving the boy even a moment to react as he was blasted into the ground.

“STOP THIS!” All Might shouted at the top of his lungs, in complete futility. Yaoyorozu and Midnight both ran in, deploying as much anesthetic as they could. But it was completely pointless. One blast from his Air Cannon blew all of it away, and the two were sent flying. “STOP!” Ida just barely managed to catch them, running to take them to safety. Gentle and Mt. Lady quickly improvised a move, with Gentle elasticizing the ground and allowing Mt. Lady to bounce high up into the air before diving feet first onto All For One. A huge dust cloud kicked up, and a mini tremor rocked the campus. But moments later he saw Mt. Lady picked up and thrown aside, slammed into the ground and further distorting the already destroyed landscape.

The ground underneath then seemed to become totally weightless, slowly starting to float up. It only now became evident that All For One had stolen Uraraka’s quirk, and had been using it this entire time. “This is the difference between us, and this is why the successors of my younger brother will never succeed! The truth is that I have power while you have absolutely nothing.” He raised his hand towards All Might, likely aiming to finish him off. “Now, I will show you what that power is-!” Then he stopped, lowering his hand. A huge shadow had begun to cover the area of the campus, and loud engines could now be heard. “…They’ve returned.”

All Might looked towards the sky, witnessing the massive metal beast of a ship that now hung over their heads. A group of dots then jumped off of the side, flying straight towards them.

Filled with rage.

“ALL FOR ONE!”