Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“ Really? ” Izuku says, staring up at his mentor. 

“Of course, my boy!” All Might answers. He’s waving two tickets in the air; the sun bounces off the glittering water of Dagobah Beach, illuminating the words emblazoned on them in gold— VIP seating to the annual hero ranking announcements. “You’re always so excited about heroes, so I thought you might enjoy this year’s ranking announcement event. I got a ticket for your mother, too. Although… I am at least halfway sure, young Midoriya, that the title of number one will no longer be mine.” All Might says.

“What?” Izuku asks. It makes sense, unfortunately, after a moment of thought. The whole reason he’s been training to be able to receive One for All is because All Might is weakening— the greatest hero is losing his power year by year, and he chose Izuku as the one who will receive it.

It’s been a few months of training, and Izuku still barely believes the prize that awaits him.

“My daily time with One for All, and thus the time I’m able to keep up heroics, has greatly decreased in these past years. Meanwhile, Endeavor’s heroic efforts have practically doubled.” All Might says.

“They have, haven’t they?” Izuku asks. He’d been saved in a villain attack by Endeavor almost three years previously— it seemed that since then, Endeavor’s number of solved incidents had grown exponentially. “It’s so weird, thinking that Endeavor lives in Musutafu too.” The Flame Hero was Izuku’s second favorite after All Might, primarily because he saved Izuku’s life. He remembered the incident vividly and would never forget it. “Do you think he’ll ever run into the Hyper Vigilante? They’re active in most of the same areas, but have never once crossed each other. It’s a bit strange.”

“I encountered the Hyper Vigilante once.” All Might says.

“You did?!” Izuku asks. The Hyper Vigilante was a local legend; he had appeared at about the same time Endeavor had begun doing far more. Running around in a dark green costume that was vaguely reminiscent of All Might’s in style, the Hyper Vigilante was named after his high-speed chatter, movement, and seemingly boundless energy. Easily able to identify weaknesses of anyone he fought, he was skilled at hand-to-hand combat as well as verbal quips, and always slipped through the hands of anyone trying to catch him, vanishing mysteriously. Endeavor had pursued him many times in vain; the two had never once met face-to-face.

“He is young, I think. Even shorter than you.” All Might says. He shakes his head. “It pains me to think that a boy like you is doing such things… what happened to him, that he turned out that way?”

The Hyper Vigilante killed villains. Anyone he determined caused harm to the world simply by living in it would die to his knife— and he had judged both petty criminals and truly dangerous villains worthy of the final punishment. 

“The worst part, I think, is that he was happy to see me. He was overjoyed that he had managed to capture the attention of his favorite hero. First Stain, now the Hyper Vigilante… when I became the Symbol of Peace, I did not expect to receive admiration from murderers.” 

“I don’t know what to think about him.” Izuku admits. He gathers his legs closer to himself, dragging lines in the sand with his feet as he wraps his arms around his knees, looking away in shame from his hero. “Since… he kills villains!! But he also saves lives. He helps people. And he’s quirkless .” 

After an encounter with the hero Eraserhead, what everyone had suspected had been proven— the Hyper Vigilante, simultaneously the scourge and blessing of Musutafu, had no quirk to his name. All his accomplishments, all heroes escaped from, all souls saved, all villains killed— all without a power.

“I’m going to take your power, All Might, because how can I not? Because I want to be a hero. But if someone like the Hyper Vigilante can do all he does… I wonder if I could, too. If I could be a hero without a quirk.”

It’s impossible, right? Because the Hyper Vigilante isn’t a hero. But he’s something .

“Do you remember the day you first asked me that question?” All Might asks.

Izuku nods.

“I must admit that when I was looking at you, I was not thinking of you. You reminded me of a different boy who once asked a very similar question.”

“I did? What did he ask?” 

“He, too, was quirkless and wanted to be a hero.” All Might looks over the sand of the beach that so far had been cleared; there was much that was clean again, but a good deal of the beach was still covered in trash. “He tried to save a friend of his from a villain, just like you had. And… I say he tried, because he did not succeed. A hero came in time, thankfully, and saved both of them, but not before the boy had had time to get himself injured while he failed miserably in his attempt at heroics.”

“Oh.” Izuku says, after a moment. It made sense, really… All Might just didn’t want him to get hurt. “Were you the hero that saved him and his friend?”

“No. I was that boy, Midoriya.”

Izuku sits up straight in surprise.

“Before I received One for All, I didn’t have a quirk, and I had dreams just like you— but for all I tried, I couldn’t make anything of them. So when you asked me your question, young Midoriya, I saw myself in you; and I didn’t want to leave you to a future of trying for something both dangerous and impossible.”

“You— you were quirkless too?” Izuku asks.

“I was.” All Might confirms. “And I want to give you the same chance that was given to me. I think that you will be a wonderful hero.”

Izuku’s grateful. Really, he is; and of course he wants All Might’s quirk. Because who wouldn’t want All Might’s quirk? How could he not take this brilliance that’s being offered to him, the potential to be the strongest hero in the country? But at the same time—

“Is it really impossible? No one’s managed to catch the Hyper Vigilante yet.”

“No. I suppose not.” All Might says. Because it’s an undeniable fact that the Hyper Vigilante has managed many heroic things— he appears, solves an incident in his particularly murderous way, and then vanishes just as quickly as he arrives. Reports from those who had met him said that he seemed almost inhuman, in his pursuit; and that whether he was saving lives or killing, he always did so with a smile.

***

“I’m going with Dad to the hero ranking announcements.” Shouto says, grimacing. “He says I have to.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” Fuyumi says. 

“He’s going to be the new number one. It’ll be horrible.”

It was inevitable, really, at this point. Somehow, Endeavor’s been able to both train Shouto to the bone and nearly double his time spent on the job, which naturally led to his popularity rising drastically. Endeavor is about to get everything he’s ever wanted, and Shouto couldn’t hate the world more. He doesn’t doubt that things around the house will get significantly worse as soon as Endeavor’s got his prize. Is “worse” even possible? For the past three years, Shouto’s training has become more focused, more brutal, more… everything. On odd days, Enji was even more intense than usual, which was saying something.

“He’ll probably ease up on your training because of it… well, I hope so. He’s been worried about you recently.” Fuyumi says.

“ Worried? ” Shouto asks.

“Because you’re tired so often! I’m worried too, honestly. Are you getting enough rest on your off days?”

“I’m only tired because of him. Because of training.” Fuyumi either blocked out or completely ignored what happened to him on the daily, and as much as she tried to take care of him, she pretended the problem didn’t exist. He hated it. “Wait, what do you mean, off days? Weekends?” Shouto only was free from training on Saturday and Sunday.

Fuyumi gives him an odd look. “Dad only trains you every other day.”

“I wish. ” Shouto huffs. This is news to Fuyumi, who appears surprised.

“Really? I could have sworn he’s been toning it down— I’ll talk to him about it.”

“You can try.” Shouto says. Toning it down? That’s the last phrase he would ever assign to his father. Shouto’s tired of being pushed to his very limits; he’s tired of years of pain, and still Endeavor will be getting the last thing he has ever deserved. 

He created Shouto to beat All Might, trains him relentlessly, and still he will reach his goal on his own. What kind of cruel irony is Shouto’s life?

The door to the house opens.

“Speak of the devil.” Fuyumi sighs.

“Why?” Shouto asks, confused.

“It’s an expression— what you say when you talk about someone, and then they show up..” Fuyumi says.

“Then shouldn’t the expression be don’t speak of the devil—“

“Hi, Dad!” Fuyumi says, and Shouto quiets as their father enters the room.

“Fuyumi. Shouto.” Endeavor greets the both of them. 

“What’s it like?” Shouto asks.

“What’s what like?” Endeavor asks.

“Getting everything you’ve ever wanted.” They both know what’s happening tonight. 

“I haven’t received it yet. But it is proof of my effort; and it will be your legacy to maintain.” 

“All the time you’ve spent training me is useless. Seeing as you’re apparently able to reach number one on your own.”

“It’s not useless, Shouto.” Endeavor sighs. “The stronger I am, the stronger you will be. I won’t be around forever— I need you to be everything that I am unable to reach.” 

Figures. Endeavor will just use this as an excuse to work Shouto even harder. He knew there was no getting out… at least he’ll be going to UA in a few months. A reprieve was on the horizon— Shouto just had to endure until it came.

***

Endeavor is this year’s number one hero.

All Might, up on stage in his buff form, accepts his fall from grace with good humor; Endeavor seems extremely proud of himself, but Izuku thinks he sees a brief moment of confusion in the hero’s gaze, when the announcer begins to list some of his myriad successes. Once the presentation is over, and Endeavor goes backstage, Izuku can’t help but sneak away himself. He doubts he’ll be able to actually meet Endeavor— especially considering said hero’s disregard for his fans, although it’s generally known that Endeavor has been being less abrasive overall, really—  but he met All Might, didn’t he? There was no longer any such thing as impossible, so it was worth a try. Although… technically, Izuku has met Endeavor once before. When he had saved Izuku’s life. 

At twelve years old, Izuku had found himself the hostage of a villain with the quirk of duplicating himself; the clone he had created was incredibly erratic and violent, likely due to the fact that the villain had taken Trigger before his attack. Izuku didn’t remember the whole thing very well, even though certain parts stood out in his mind clearly— but Endeavor had fought the villain in a crumbling building, saving Izuku’s life, and both the villain and his clone had died in the ensuing collapse, caused by his own bombs.

“Oh, be careful!” someone says. Izuku looks up, suddenly realizing he’s been wandering from the main passages of the area, and into the back of the building, where a few benches are placed in front of a curving window. Jeez, he’d gone far from the seating stands, he really hadn’t been paying attention.

“Sorry!” Izuku says, stepping around the computer set-up that he’d almost ran into. He looks curiously at the two people arguing over it— a man in a purple jacket with graying hair, and a short woman with two huge red ponytails. He wonders for a moment what they’re doing with this set-up, so far away from the main stage, but waves goodbye and continues searching for the entrance to the backstage. It’s right nearby, only twenty meters away; a door leading to where he might meet Endeavor.

“You’re not allowed in there.” a voice says, after he tries the door and finds it locked. Of course it was too good to be true, Izuku thinks, turning to face who had spoken; a boy about his age with red-white hair and an immediately apparent facial scar, sitting on one of the benches. He looks bored.

“What are you doing out here?” Izuku asks.

“Waiting.” the boy says. “What about you?”

“Hoping I could find Endeavor. I was really wishing that I could meet him.” Izuku says. He tugs on the doorknob to backstage again, but it doesn’t budge.

“You’re a fan of Endeavor?” the boy asks, speaking as though he’s just seen something particularly disgusting; his facial expression, though, does not change one bit.

“Yeah. He saved my life once.” Izuku says. The boy still seems unimpressed. “You don’t like him?”

“He’s my father.” the boy says, as an answer, and— well, okay then.

“I’m Midoriya.” Izuku says, introducing himself, since he doesn’t really know what else to say. “My favorite hero is All Might.”

“I’m Todoroki.” the boy answers. “All Might, not Endeavor?”

“All Might saved my life too.” Izuku admits. “I wish he wasn’t losing the title of number one.” It wasn’t fair that One for All was running out, that All Might had to pass it on.

“Me neither.” Todoroki says. “Dad doesn’t deserve it.”

Izuku can’t help but wonder what it’s like to have a top pro-hero for a father, but Todoroki doesn’t seem overly willing to offer information. Nor particularly friendly.

“Oh my God… ” a voice says, and Izuku and Todoroki both look over to the people hanging around the computer set-up; the short woman has a look of awe on her face as she stares at her screen. “Gentle, look, look!” She points enthusiastically at a blinking notification.

“That’s amazing!” the man— Gentle— cries. “Er, La Brava, my dear… what does it mean?”  

“It means there’s an android somewhere within a mile from here.” La Brava says, whispering dramatically in a way that allows both Izuku and Todoroki to hear her.

“Where?!” Gentle asks. She shrugs.

“They’ve got the most impossible to detect, much less hack, computer brains— makes sense since they’re sentient, really, but means that I can’t do anything more than know there’s one nearby. Probably somewhere in the crowd out there.”

“I wonder if the Hyper Vigilante’s an android.” Izuku muses, out loud. It was one of the theories; the Hyper Vigilante was known for being incredibly strong and fast, after all, and while androids were a forbidden technology and kept themselves hidden nowadays, most people were aware of their existence. A few decades after quirks had started appearing, some engineers had made an impossible breakthrough: a type of artificial intelligence that was demonstrably sentient, made through the use of an unprecedented kind of computer connected to a part-robotic, part-biological (lab-grown) body, able to grow both mentally and physically through learning and the passage of time, almost indistinguishable from a normal human unless you cut them open and found the metal skeleton. They were marvels of creation, and to many it seemed impossible that a robot could be sentient; but some years ago it had seemed impossible that humans could spontaneously manifest magical powers, after all. And on that note— the mark of true soul that every single android created with that specific program bore, the mark that proved beyond all doubt that they were as sentient as any human being— after approximately four years of existence, these androids manifested quirks . This event, completely unanticipated by the androids’ creators as well as by themselves, changed the world’s perception of them for good. Since then, the creation of androids was only legally granted to androids themselves, for any sentient being has a right to perpetuate its own species; however, the possibility for abuse of the technology had led most androids to live lives in seclusion and hiding, and they rarely if ever expanded their numbers.

“It’s possible.” Todoroki says. “I saw him once, he was creeping around our house.”

“The Hyper Vigilante was at your house? ” Izuku asks, sitting up straight to stare. It wasn’t the mark of a vigilante to attempt a home invasion, especially not to the house of someone like Endeavor. “ Why? ” But then again, the Hyper Vigilante was more of a villain than a vigilante; it seemed that over the years he’d been in operation, he’d gotten more and more solid in his power, his scale of justice and morality ever tipping to the wrong side. But it was all speculation, really.  

“Sometimes I wonder if he knew.” Todoroki says, and doesn’t follow up. Knew what? “But he ran away when I saw him, and I never saw him again.”

“I wonder if I’ll ever see him.” Izuku muses, and it’s at this moment that the door he’d been previously trying to get past swings open with a bang, and a short person in a dark green costume rushes out of it. The costume is featureless, colored uniformly with a green that’s almost black, and two fabric horns flap from the top of the hood. The whole thing reminds Izuku uncomfortably of his secret designs for a hero costume, but blank, and missing every mark of nuance and personality that was on his own. Perhaps the oddest thing, though, is that the person is wearing a pair of shoes that are an impressively striking red.

“Speak of the devil, I guess.“ Todoroki says quietly, and then, from across the hall:

“HYPER VIGILANTE!” La Brava yells.

“WE’VE CAUGHT YOU!” Gentle shouts. The Hyper Vigilante, understandably, runs.

“He was backstage… with all the heroes…” Izuku realizes, and jolts in surprise as Gentle and La Brava fold up their computer set-up in an instant to run after the vigilante, followed by Todoroki, who’s also setting off.

“Todoroki, what are you doing?”

“He hasn’t got a quirk,” Todoroki says, and doesn’t this sentence strike Izuku through the heart, “so let’s get him.”

Izuku doesn’t have the heart to tell Todoroki that he doesn’t have a quirk either, but he has the heart to follow him; because this confirmation is everything, and now Izuku needs to talk to the Hyper Vigilante, because he needs to know . To know how he manages it while quirkless, Izuku thinks, as his feet hit the floor in a run; to know why he started as a vigilante and fell into becoming a villain. To know why he didn’t become a hero. 

The Hyper Vigilante makes a sharp turn to the left, and leaps out a window in a shower of shattering glass— astonishingly, Gentle leaps after him, standing on a circular pedestal of thin air somehow as La Brava holds up a camera. Todoroki, who apparently has no sense of self-preservation whatsoever, jumps after Gentle and lands on the air pedestal; it stretches like a trampoline and launches him in the air after the soaring Hyper Vigilante, and Todoroki tackles him around the middle.

“Great job!” Gentle calls, and the air around Todoroki and the Vigilante stretches— it snaps back from their momentum, sending the two back into the building and colliding with the wall.

“Todoroki!” Izuku shouts, running over and pulling the Vigilante off his new friend— but he pulls the hood right off the Vigilante’s face without meaning to, and freezes, hit with a strike of shock like a thunderbolt.

“A most interesting development.” Gentle says, and his words barely reach Izuku’s ears; for he is staring at his own face, and time seems to have gone still. The Hyper Vigilante is identical to him.

“Well,” the Vigilante says, “this wasn’t supposed to happen.” Even his voice is the same.

Before Izuku can do anything at all, however, the Vigilante is slipping out the window once more, with Gentle and La Brava in pursuit— and Izuku stays where he’s standing, and Todoroki stays where he’s lying, and they both stare at each other for a very long moment, wearing equal looks of utter incomprehension. 

Izuku had wondered if he could be like the Vigilante, not if the Vigilante could be like him .

Chapter Text

“What?” Enji asks.

He replays the video.

“This is… this is pretty bad, boss.” Burnin says, her elbows on the table; the two of them are sitting backstage of the stadium, and he’s realizing that he has really, really, really, messed up. There aren’t enough ways to describe how badly he’s done— and for three full years, too. How had he never realized? How had his children never realized?

When Enji had been accepting his new title on stage, he’d also been accepting a trophy in the back. Or at least, someone who looked like him had been; someone who had his quirk, his appearance, his voice, who acted incredibly similar to how he would have. Someone who, once all eyes were off them, had transformed in a single moment, body shrinking and streamlining into the recognizable form of the Hyper Vigilante.

“Apparently he’d gotten away from all the area’s usual cameras before shapeshifting— seems to be pretty old hat at this— but a villain duo was chasing him down, and they posted a YouTube video featuring their own surveillance catching the Hyper Vigilante’s transformation. We got the video taken down, and thank God the villains get barely any views, or else this’d have been all over the news by morning.” Burnin says. “The video also caught—“

“I know.” Enji says, watching Shouto tackle the Vigilante in thin air, and the boy running after him revealed to be identical to the Vigilante after removing his hood. Well, the Vigilante looked a few years younger, really.

“Who’s that boy?” he asks.

“All Might got him a ticket.” Burnin says, causing Enji to almost drop his coffee. “Apparently, he’s All Might’s personal student, or something… looks like the old man’s finally getting himself a successor. And you know what else is interesting, is that the boy’s quirkless. Like the Vigilante was supposed to be. I wonder why they’re identical.”

“Hm.” Enji says, and as tempting as it is to pursue that information, as much as the confirmation that All Might has found a successor to challenge Shouto boils his blood— “I have to go talk to my family.” 

“You do.” Burnin says. She gives him a sympathetic look, and for once, he lets it pass. How’s a man supposed to react when he learns he’s been having his identity stolen for three whole years? That someone else has been training Shouto, talking with Fuyumi, running his patrol and agency? That the only reason he’s Number One is because someone else has been doing half the job for him. 

In retrospect, it’s remarkably easy to document what his impersonator had done, and what he hadn’t. But of course he’d never noticed something wrong before in the case files— they’d all been filed by the identity thief, and properly, too! And when it came to his family, well, it wasn’t hard to remember Fuyumi so often continuing conversations he’d never started, or Shouto asking why they were training something he’d already mastered for the second time. All the oddest notes he hadn’t thought about before were adding up to an undeniable conclusion.

Why had no one noticed?  

Enji goes home, and opens the door to the sound of his children yelling at each other; neither of them seem to have noticed he’s come home, all too embroiled in what they’re saying. 

“You don’t know! ” Shouto yells. “And if you do, then you ignore it, and that’s even worse!”

“I’m sorry—“

“We were never allowed to see each other when we were younger, Fuyumi. I was stuck with him for years; I’m still stuck with him, still stuck training for something entirely useless. What was it for , Fuyumi? Now that Dad’s got his prize?”

Fuyumi doesn’t answer, and Enji realizes what they’re arguing about, and maybe for the first time ever, he thinks on things. Because he hasn’t , as Shouto so puts it, got his prize. Not correctly, not in a way that he could ever count as a win; he’s beaten All Might, but it’s worth nothing. The Hyper Vigilante has done half his work for him; he doesn’t deserve the award he’s received. Was it ever worth more, a voice in his head asks, and he ignores it. Was it ever worth anything?

He’s about to go break up the fight when he hears another voice speak: and isn’t this a surprise, because what’s Natsuo doing here?

“Yell at him .” Natsuo says. “Not at each other. That’s what he wants. ”

“Natsuo—“ Shouto starts.

“I get it. Really, I do. You’re mad because you’ve been suffering, and Fuyumi hasn’t been helping much, yeah? So be mad at me, instead. I wasn’t even here. ”

“That means you get a reason.” Shouto says, but he sounds like he’s hesitating. “I’m sorry, Fuyumi, I just… if you’re going to leave me on my own, why don’t you just leave, too? Instead of staying, and helping, but covering and making excuses for everything that’s been happening to me? I want it to stop. I want him to stop. And— if all of this was so I’d get number one, and now he’s got number one, do you really think he’ll ever stop?”

“You’re right.” Fuyumi says. 

“We’re all failures, Shouto.” Natsuo says. “Fuyumi failed you, I failed Touya—“

“I failed Mom.” Shouto says, and both his siblings hasten to reassure him otherwise.

“You can’t say that, Shouto, you were a child—“

“He still is, really.” Natsuo points out.

“And you! You were nine when Touya died, it is not your fault— would you blame me for that time Touya almost killed Shouto?” Fuyumi asks.

“It annoys me that I don’t remember that happening.” Shouto says, and Enji decides it’s about time to involve himself in the conversation, because that event is something he can’t let Shouto find the truth out about, ever . So he walks into the room, and says the very first thing that appears in his brain, because he has to get Shouto’s mind onto a different subject immediately—

“Stop blaming each other for things that are my fault.” he says, before he can realize that he’s said it, and then he has an entire twenty years worth of crisis condensed into a second while he takes note of the fact, like some kind of observer, that it all is his fault, all in an effort to reach number one, and now that he has, it was for absolutely nothing.

He thinks about Touya, and about how he died, trying to prove himself strong enough; and Enji wouldn’t look at him, because he was too consumed with reaching his goal. Now that he’s reached it, he sees it wasn’t worth what he’s lost on the way. He thinks about Fuyumi, who tries and tries and tries , who does everything that Rei can’t do anymore because Enji destroyed her, too. He thinks about Natsuo, who Enji never really paid attention to, and barely even noticed leaving. And he thinks about Shouto, once his perfect creation, but no longer. Not for years and years has Shouto belonged to Enji, and yet he has pushed his son to the limits all the same. It was always going to come back to bite him, that terrible decision, and then more decisions upon decisions every day; and even now, while Shouto still remained ignorant of the worst truth, he knew enough. He knew enough to refuse his fire, refuse his training, refuse to be what Enji has been trying to make him into— despite what Enji had made him into.

Shouto knew so much, he’d known all along, but still he knew very little; he’d never realized he’d been training with a man who wasn’t his father. But that’s what Enji’s here to tell him about, so, seeing as everyone’s stopped talking, he does.

“What?” Fuyumi asks.

“What?” Shouto asks.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Natsuo asks, so Enji shows all of them the footage from the stadium, and watches as Natsuo’s eyes grow wide with shock.

“Oh, frick. ” he says.

“That’s— that’s horrible!” Fuyumi says, glancing back and forth in fear as though she expects the Hyper Vigilante to leap out of a closet. 

“It’s kind of interesting,” Shouto says, with no visible expression on his face, “that I never thought there was anything odd, about odd days being awful. After all, even days are awful too.” And he looks at Fuyumi, and Fuyumi looks at Natsuo, and all three of them seem to experience simultaneous momentous decisions, but it’s over as soon as it begins.

“I’m sorry.” Fuyumi says, looking directly at Enji.

“Fuyumi—“ Shouto starts, eyebrows furrowing slightly in a minuscule grimace of anger, but Natsuo grabs his shoulder.

“Wait.” Natsuo says, because Natsuo and Enji can see what Shouto can’t, because both of them have known Fuyumi far longer than he; and what they can see is that she is about to explode. 

“I’m sorry,” Fuyumi says, “that I kept covering for you, apologizing for you, thinking you were getting better . Maybe you were. Maybe you are. But this Hyper Vigilante has been hurting Shouto for three years — you can’t even do your job, can’t even keep a villain out of your own home— and then I think, if he’s hurting Shouto, then what are you doing?”

Isn’t it funny how things can be both much earlier, and far too late?

“Because you’ve been doing the exact same thing! ”

***

Natsuo kicks his way out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him. He’s grinning, a ferociously angry smile, because Fuyumi has finally said something and their father can’t think of any answer. Why was Natsuo leaving? Because Fuyumi and Shouto needed to talk things out, first of all, and second of all, there was a reason Natsuo was in the area: some absolute bastard had set up an actual statue of Enji in the center of a roundabout, as a thanks for all his service to the prefecture of Musutafu, or whatever. And Natsuo knows enough about how heroes work to know that Enji would have had to approve the statue’s construction. He also knows enough to determine that unlike the Endeavor Hero Agency, this particular construction of his father’s vanity is of no help to anyone whatsoever. Therefore, it’s going down. 

Natsuo looks up at the statue, and thinks about the Hyper Vigilante. No wonder everyone had thought him quirkless, if his quirk was some kind of shapeshifting. Shapeshifting with the ability to copy quirk, memory, and personality, too; wasn’t that terrifying? And what did the Vigilante have to gain, from being Enji’s double? Nobody really understood the Hyper Vigilante normally— he’d started out average, well-meaning, doing good and saving people with a smile. But over time, he’d changed. Where did impersonating Endeavor come into it?

Hollow bronze is easy enough to blowtorch through, but Natsuo’s just finished cutting all the way around the first leg of the stylized idol of his father when he realizes there’s no safe place for the statue to topple, should he cut another. It’ll land across the road no matter which way it falls, and it’s not like Natsuo is strong enough to physically lift the thing. It’s the middle of the night, and he refuses to cause a car accident by leaving a great metal statue in the road. That would be unconscionable. 

“Having trouble?” a voice suddenly asks, from behind him, and Natsuo jumps almost a foot in the air, spinning around and holding up his blowtorch as a guard. The thing is heavy, which means he can hit someone with it, and there’s always the usual Todoroki method of sending enemies running: nasty burns. Not that Natsuo can burn anyone without a blowtorch, but it’s the principle of the thing.

“You’re jumpy.” the person says, and this person is probably a villain, Natsuo thinks from the corner of his mind that isn’t screaming in fear, because he’s wearing a severed hand on his face. He’s also wearing a black hoodie with black cargo pants and bright red shoes; Natsuo immediately takes note of these clothes and identifies his acquaintance.

“You’re the Hyper Vigilante!” he yells.

“I am not. ” the person says, crossing his arms with a very annoyed huff. “I am Shigaraki Tomura.”

“Uh huh.” Natsuo says, because he’s now realized that Shigaraki is quite a sight taller than the Hyper Vigilante, who was shorter than Fuyumi. “And what are you doing all the way out here at midnight?”

“Kurogiri got a little bit drunk.” Shigaraki says, as though this is any kind of explanation. “I’m lucky I didn’t end up in the Pacific Ocean. What are you doing out here?”

“Toppling Endeavor’s statue.” Natsuo says, before he can think better of saying so. “Problem is, I just realized that if I do that, it’ll land in the road.” 

“So?” Shigaraki asks.

“Someone could crash into it!”

“So?”

“So, people could get hurt, and that’s a problem!”

“Right.” Shigaraki drawls. He walks past Natsuo, reaches up to the statue, and touches it with a flat hand. Natsuo watches, entranced, as the statue falls apart into gray dust, disintegrating, leaving only the leg that he had cut behind.

“Whoa, that’s amazing! ” Natsuo says. The atrocity of a creation was gone, ash on the wind. It was perfect.

“You’re next.” Shigaraki says, conversationally, and lunges towards him.

Natsuo hits Shigaraki over the head with the blowtorch’s gas canister, and he collapses.

“I should probably get out of here.” Natsuo says, to no one in particular, staring at the villain’s fallen form. It’s at this point that a purple misty disc appears in the ground underneath Shigaraki, dropping him through; what’s more alarming is that Natsuo, blowtorch in hand, finds himself falling too.  

“Stay back!” Natsuo yells, aiming the blowtorch at a tall man made out of mist. Would fire even work on him— oh, God, did he just get kidnapped by villains? He thinks he did, looking around what now appears to be an empty bar.

“Who are you?” the man asks, glancing from him to Shigaraki, who is picking himself up off the floor. 

“He was destroying some stupid statue of Endeavor, I tried to kill him, and he hit me. ” Shigaraki complains, glaring at Natsuo as though he’d committed some grevious wrong. Both the villains are looking towards Natsuo rather murderously, so he swings the fire end of the blowtorch to point at a rack of alcohol bottles. 

“You wouldn’t.” Shigaraki says. 

“I would.” Natsuo says. “Wanna see this place go up in flames?” 

“You’re bluffing. You’ll burn too.” the mist villain says. Natsuo answers this by tilting the blowtorch slightly and igniting it against his own hand.

“I’m fireproof.” he says. “So you better let me leave.”

“The moment you get far enough away from the alcohol, there’s nothing preventing us from chasing you down.” Shigaraki says.

“I’ll throw the torch at them—“

“I’ll catch it.” mist man says. Right. Portals.

“What’s your plan now, then?” Shigaraki asks. Natsuo hesitates.

“Tomura.” mist man suddenly says.

“What, Kurogiri?” Shigaraki snaps.

“Weren’t you building a League?” Kurogiri asks.

“Yeah? What does this have to do with— wait, are you suggesting—“

“How many people that you’ve wanted to kill have managed to remain within reach of you for this long, without dying? Very few. And you said he was destroying a statue of Endeavor… that doesn’t exactly indicate he’s a fan of heroes.”

“What are you going on about?” Natsuo asks, because he’s not sure if he likes what he’s hearing.

“You know, that’s not a half-bad idea. Hey! Toga, Dabi, get down here!” Shigaraki yells, and there’s some noises from the upper level of the building before two people run down the stairs. Natsuo tries not to look nervous— he’s way outnumbered now. One of the newcomers is a young girl, about Shouto’s age; she’s even wearing a school uniform, but she’s also holding a knife. 

“Ooooh, who’s this? Can I drink your blood, new guy?” she asks.

“Ah.” the second person says. He’s covered in purple scars— huge swaths of dead skin that are stapled to the parts that still live— and has spiky black hair and sharp blue eyes. He’s staring at Natsuo with an expression that looks like someone had just hit him over the head and he hadn’t yet figured out he was supposed to fall unconscious from the impact. He also seems slightly familiar, but from where, Natsuo has no idea.

“We need more people in this League, and I’m wondering if my random encounter with this guy wasn’t that of an NPC but of a party member. He threatened to blow this place up.” Shigaraki says. “I like people who don’t shy at killing everyone in the vicinity.”

“Wait, he’s going to join us? Really? Please! I want more friends!” the girl says.

“Ah.” the scarred guy says, again. “No, I think we should kill him.”

“Hey!” Natsuo shouts. “Whatever for?”

“He hates Endeavor, just like you, Dabi. I think you’ll get along.” Shigaraki says.

“The League has only room for one Endeavor hater, and that’s me.” Dabi says.

“I also hate Endeavor. I hate all heroes.” Shigaraki says.

“I hate him too! He’s not cute!” the girl (Toga, presumably) says.

“Okay, but my hatred is personal.” Dabi huffs.

“What did he even do to you, and why won’t you tell us?” Shigaraki asks.

“My hatred is personal too.” Natsuo says, and even though it’s less hatred and more indifference , he’d rather they think he was a potential villain than not so that he can get out of here.

“See? We can’t have two people who hate him personally. It won’t work. Shigaraki, kill him.” Dabi says.

“No.” Shigaraki says, grinning. “ I’m the boss here. I don’t take orders from you.” He walks up to Natsuo and waves a hand at the dingy area of the bar. “Welcome to the League of Villains. You’re on probation.”

“I’m in college.” Natsuo says, because he can’t really think at the moment and that’s the only decent excuse his brain can come up with.

“Oh, good, we need someone with a high intelligence stat.” Shigaraki mumbles. “Kurogiri dropped out of high school, Dabi and Toga both have only gone to middle, and Sensei mostly taught me villain things rather than college things.”

“Don’t tell him that!” Dabi yelps.

“He’s not wrong.” Toga says.

“ Dropped out is debatable.” Kurogiri mutters.

“Don’t worry about your schedule, Kurogiri’s portals make excellent transportation, and I allow my followers time to pursue their life goals so that they can advance their stats on their own time.”

“Uh.” Natsuo says, because now he doesn’t think he’s going to be getting out of this. “What’s the overall goal of this League of Villains?”

“To prove to Sensei how awesome I am, really. We need to win a boss fight— you know, like killing All Might. I hate All Might.”

“Or killing Endeavor.” Dabi says. 

“True. Seeing as he’s the number one now.” Shigaraki acquiesces.

“I’m not really a big fan of killing people.” Natsuo says, and Shigaraki frowns. 

“You were worried about the statue landing in the road. But you do seem to like vandalism.”

“I just don’t like heroes who pretend they’re amazing when they’re actually horrible.” Natsuo sighs.

“Like Mr Stain!” Toga cheers.

“Do you like Stain? ” Shigaraki asks.

“No.” Natsuo says. “He kills people.” Never mind that the root of the problem wasn’t with the heroes who abused the system, but with the system itself, although that was a whole other discussion.

“Shigaraki. Please kill him.” Dabi complains.

“No.” 

“Do you even know who he is?”

There’s a telling silence.

“ You don’t know who he is, either!” Shigaraki snaps.

“Yes, I do.” Dabi says, grinning, and looking Natsuo directly in the eyes. “His name’s Todoroki Natsuo, and he’s Endeavor’s son.” 

“Oooh.” Toga says.

“Interesting.” Kurogiri says.

“I like people who hate their fathers.” Shigaraki says. 

“If you won’t do it, I’ll kill him myself!” Dabi growls, walking up to Natsuo with murderous intent in his eyes and fire in his hands. 

“He’s fireproof.” Shigaraki says.

“Oh yeah.” Dabi mumbles, stopping short. “You are, aren’t you… Toga, can I borrow that knife?” 

“Sure!” Toga says, brightly, holding the knife out. Dabi reaches over to grab it, and Natsuo whacks him over the head with the blowtorch gas tank.

“I like you already.” Shigaraki says, grinning as Dabi stumbles backwards, groaning in pain while Toga laughs at him.

“Thanks.” Natsuo says, regretting his life choices.

Chapter Text

“Now what?” Shouto asks. He’s sitting with Fuyumi in her car, watching as she goes through a million thoughts a minute and discards all of them.

“I don’t know.” Fuyumi says, because she doesn’t know , because she didn’t think further than getting Shouto to her car and driving off because she couldn’t stay in the house with Enji for a moment longer, but now it’s the morning after last night’s disaster. “We’re not— if we’re leaving, we’ll still have to go back and get all our stuff later.” She remembers the look she’d seen in Enji’s eyes, and doesn’t think he’d try to stop them; he hadn’t done a thing when she’d turned her back and walked Shouto out the door. He seemed to be lost in thought and shock, really. Fuyumi hoped he came out of his mental mire with more perception than otherwise.

“We’re leaving?” Shouto asks. He doesn’t sound hopeful, or sad, or anything at all, really; he sounds like he’s genuinely asking the question.

“Maybe.” Fuyumi says, because she’s been saving the money she gets from her job as a teacher and there’s a half-decent chance she could get a half-decent apartment with it. “ Maybe .” she says, because Enji might let them leave for a week but he’d eventually come to get them because there’s no way he’ll let Shouto go.

“ You could leave.” Shouto says, and he’s not wrong.

“I don’t want to leave you.” Fuyumi says, because Rei has left and Touya has left and Natsuo has left and she can’t leave Shouto alone.

“You could.” Shouto says, again. She can’t comprehend what he’s trying to say, she has trouble reading his face, but his unscarred eye flickers, and it seems for a moment that he’s going to cry.

“You’ll be going to UA in a few months, right?” Fuyumi asks.

“Yes.” Shouto answers, whatever emotion that had passed over his face now entirely vanished.

“Do you want to?” she asks, and he opens his mouth and closes it again. She thinks it’s probably the first time anyone’s ever asked him that question.

“I met a boy at the hero ranking announcements. His name is Midoriya.” Shouto says. Fuyumi can’t tell if this is the beginning of an answer or a change in subject. “We agreed to meet later, because he wanted to go over all his previous observations of the Hyper Vigilante with the new information he’d discovered, and I told him I’d like to help.” He pauses. “I have new information to bring him, now, anyway.”

“You want to help him… what, unmask the Vigilante?” Fuyumi asks. Shouto nods, face still unreadable.

“Before tonight, I thought that the Vigilante wanted to help us, because I saw him once, in our backyard. I thought he was going to— beat up Dad.”

“Oh.” Fuyumi says, helplessly.

“Instead, he— well, you know.” Shouto says, and you know isn’t enough to describe three years of doubled torment resulting in Enji’s victory over the hero rankings. “I want to ask him why.”

“Do you have Midoriya’s number?” Fuyumi asks.

“Yes.” Shouto says. 

“If he wants to meet you today, I’ll drive you there, so why don’t you text him?” she offers, because Shouto needs something to do, and making a friend is as good a thing as any. She doesn’t think he has any friends.

“Midoriya wants to ask him why, too— because when we ran into the Vigilante at the stadium, I pulled off his hood, and he had Midoriya’s face.”

“Shapeshifting quirk?” Fuyumi asks.

“Midoriya doesn’t think so.” Shouto says. He doesn’t elaborate. “Oh, he answered. He said that meeting today is fine.”

“That’s great.” Fuyumi says, her voice tired, but she means it.

“What are you going to do while I’m at his house?” Shouto asks, and she shrugs. 

“I’ll find something.”

She always does.

***

Izuku feels ready to explode. What had he been thinking, telling Todoroki about all his observations of the Hyper Vigilante? What had Todoroki been thinking, saying he’d like to help, and why had Izuku run his mouth and asked the other boy to come over? They didn’t even know each other— they’d just met— but there was a certain form of cameradie fostered by chasing after a vigilante together that could not easily be denied or replicated.

“You have a friend coming over! That’s wonderful!” Inko had said, and the two of them had engaged in the process of cleaning up the house— because while it wasn’t messy, exactly, it certainly needed some things done, and Izuku hadn’t had a friend over in ages. Not since Katsuki, really. The place is a few inches away from spotless by the time a car pulls into the lot beside the apartment building and Todoroki steps out of it, waving to a woman who is too young to be his mother. A sister, maybe? Izuku doesn’t think on it more once Todoroki is in his house.

“I have a lot to show you.” he says, before he can stop himself. Todoroki doesn’t say anything, so Izuku takes him by the hand and leads the other boy to his room, which he abruptly realizes is rather embarrassingly full of All Might paraphernalia. Todoroki doesn’t comment on it, but frowns slightly when his eyes pass over the shelf featuring merch for other heroes; his eyes linger on the 5-inch tall figure of Endeavor. It must be odd to see your dad like that, Izuku supposes, so he pulls a notebook off a shelf of them and attracts Todoroki’s attention. 

“I’ve been trying to figure out the Hyper Vigilante for a while.” he admits. The idea of someone who managed to do all that he did without use of a quirk was incredible, and Izuku had never quite managed to let up. “And— believe it or not, I think I know what he is. The, uh, revelation last night connected a few dots.” Izuku opens his notebook and points out a paragraph written next to a particular date. “That’s the day that Endeavor saved my life— the same day that the Hyper Vigilante first appeared, too. I used to think it was a coincidence, but not anymore.”

“Likely not, seeing as the Hyper Vigilante has been impersonating my father.” Todoroki says, and Izuku blinks. 

“He’s been what? We’ll unpack that later. Anyway— there was this villain, he had me hostage, he was going to blow up a building; and he had a quirk of cloning, and was on Trigger, and ended up dying in the building collapse when all was done. Today, I recognized the connection between now and then, since the Vigilante looks just like me, and went searching in the quirk registry to find exactly what the villain’s quirk was.”

“And what was it?” Todoroki asks.

“Hyper Clone. He could create a clone of one person at a time, and that clone’s goal would simply be to carry out whatever the greatest overall desires of the person cloned, as they were at the time. But the most important thing about the clones his quirk creates is that they were always ‘hyper’— that is, their personality, abilities and desires enhanced to extremes and exaggerations. When the villain died, I assume his quirk became enhanced by the adrenaline as well as the Trigger, if it somehow managed to clone Endeavor as well as myself back then, in the same clone together too. I don’t understand how that can be possible, but if you’re sure… ” Izuku says, pausing, and Todoroki nods solemnly before showing Izuku solid proof; a video showing what appeared to be Endeavor transforming into the Hyper Vigilante. “What’s even stranger is why the clones are still around after the villain died— that doesn’t make sense. ” Izuku continues. How was the quirk still active? How were there two clones in one? There was another layer to this, there had to be, but Izuku had no way of seeing it.

“Well.” Todoroki says. “This explains… odd days, I guess.” He rests his chin in his hand, looking contemplative.

“Odd days?” Izuku asks.

“Some days, the training would… well, there’d been days like that even before the Hyper Vigilante, all the time. In the last three years, there’s just been… more training, some days worse than others.” Shouto says. “No wonder I never saw a difference.”

“Endeavor acts extreme, a lot, then?” Izuku asks. Todoroki shrugs.

“I’m not sure how something can be extreme if it’s all the time— I haven’t been not focused towards my purpose since I was four.”

Izuku begins to feel as though he’s about to stumble over something he hasn’t been looking for. “Your purpose?” he asks, and Todoroki nods.

“To become the next Number One Hero. To beat All Might because Dad can’t— and even now he can’t, he hasn’t , because the Hyper Vigilante has been doing half his job for him.” The edges of Todoroki’s mouth twitch slightly at this admission, a brief sense of amusement at the idea that Endeavor will never achieve his goal. “It’s what I was created for. Have you ever heard of quirk marriages, Midoriya?” 

Todoroki tells Izuku a story about a scar on his eye, caused by his mother’s pain; her mind lost, she’d thought him the family’s tormentor. He was still scared to visit her for fear of the fear he’d cause her, still loath to use his fire because of the side it came from. There’s also a story about a scar on his chest, a sprawling starburst from a brother with blue fire in his hand and anger in his heart.

“He almost killed me, Fuyumi says. She remembers it. Natsuo says he remembers maybe a flash, and I don’t remember it at all, which makes sense since I was two at the time. Touya was angry that he’d been thrown aside for me— there are procedures that can be done to tell a child’s quirk before they manifest it, and it had been determined I was going to have the perfect one— so he decided to kill me, to have his place as the favored child again. Just like my Mom, he’d lost his way because of Endeavor, and I do not blame either of them for what they have done. But Fuyumi says Touya’s fire went into my chest, and it was some kind of miracle I did not die that very second. Instead, Mom and Dad took me to the hospital, and all Fuyumi knows is that the three of us were gone for two days, and I returned none the worse for wear but for this scar.”

“That’s…” Izuku starts, but he doesn’t have any words, because what can he even say?

“Natsuo says that maybe I was held by a god of luck that day. I suppose he’d know; luck has always held him.”

“Right.” Izuku says. An awkward silence stretches out, or at least it’s awkward only for him, because Todoroki seems to have no concept of the effect of his trauma dumping and instead has casually flipped to the next page in Izuku’s notebook.

“You know the Nightgun?” he asks.

“No!” Izuku yelps.

“It looks like she gave you her number.” Todoroki points out.

“It’s— we barely know each other—“ Izuku stammers, feeling embarrassment overcome him. The Nightgun was the most famous vigilante of Aichi, the neighboring prefecture to Musutafu; Izuku had encountered her once, having been looking for good vantage points to watch hero fights on rooftops and had run into her vacating a sniping point. The Nightgun was named for her quirk, which allowed her to manifest a gun from her arm, and endless sorts of bullets to shoot from it. Dressed all in black, she wore a featureless mask that hid her face but not her distinctive hair (pink, striped with purple, and gathered into an impressive ponytail), and many people wondered if she was the disavowed hero Lady Nagant. However, Nagant had been executed for her crimes almost ten years previously, and the Nightgun had only been active for only the past two years— some people accused the commission of covering up Nagant’s true fate (there had been quite the controversy over her supposed crimes, after all), and others accused the Nightgun of being a copycat, or even of being Nagant’s daughter. Izuku was pretty sure she wasn’t Nagant, but he couldn’t tell for certain.

“She was trying to take down a team of villains that had been doing pretty well at defeating any heroes who went after them so far, so I kind of, um, gave her my analysis on the previous fights and the villains’ quirks. She and I were then able to identify where they’d strike next— by the time we got there, the fight was in full swing, but she used her special custom bullets to directly counteract all their quirks from a distance, from what I’d told her, each bullet specifically designed for each enemy. She didn’t kill them! She doesn’t kill people, she says, she wants to be a hero!” Izuku explains.

“You're friends?”

“I’m not friends with a vigilante! Probably. Maybe. She’ll text me like once a week for info on something, and I help out, we don’t really talk— “

“She’s hunting the Hyper Vigilante.” Todoroki says, continuing to read the information noted down in Izuku’s book. 

“Yeah! She’s the one who got me the information on that villain with the cloning quirk— but anyway, I know what the Hyper Vigilante is, now, so I told her about it. And now we know how to stop it— kill it.” Izuku says, taking a deep breath. “The clones aren’t sentient, aren’t human, are only following orders built in from the quirk that made them; probably the reason they’ve gone so rogue is because they were never meant to last this long— and the quirk could never clone more than one person at a time, either.”

“But—“ Todoroki starts, about to reiterate the Endeavor trouble. 

“That’s the thing, it is just one clone. Something must have gone wrong, somehow, what with the Trigger and the villain dying and everything, which leaves two clones in one body, as it were. The Hyper Vigilante only appears from the hours of 10pm to 10am— presumably leaving it to be Endeavor the rest of the time, during normal heroing and, uh, training hours.” Izuku explains. “Back at the stadium, when it transformed, according to your video the time was exactly 10pm.”

“What’s the plan now, then?” Todoroki asks.

“Well.” Izuku says, shuffling his feet. “I’ve been thinking while we’ve been talking, and here’s the thing: we know where the Hyper Vigilante’s going to be. It’ll be in your house, being Endeavor, and as soon as I pass this information to the Nightgun, she’ll be able to go get it. The only problem is… how are we supposed to tell the difference between it and the real Endeavor?”

“Wait until ten in the evening, and catch him transforming.” Todoroki says.

“Problem is, there’ll be two Endeavors, and we— well, the Nightgun— she can’t follow them both.”

“Fifty-fifty chance.” Todoroki shrugs. “If we get it wrong the first time, we repeat the experiment. Should take a week at maximum to catch him.” 

“We’re really doing this, huh.” Izuku realizes, smiling nervously.

“You’ve been wanting to catch him for a while. I can think of no better way to annoy my Dad than to remove the reason he’s number one.” Todoroki says. “It doesn’t even count as vigilantism, because the Hyper Vigilante isn’t a villain or a vigilante. He’s a quirk. Legally, we’re completely in the clear.”

“I’ll get to be a hero.” Izuku sats. He’ll get to do something heroic, to defeat the prefecture’s scourge, and all before he’s even gotten All Might’s quirk— and that, he thinks, will be what he’s wanted. It will be proof that he could have been a quirkless hero. 

Actually, speaking of All Might —

“The Hyper Vigilante might be pretty hard for the Nightgun to fight.” Izuku realizes, thinking about how all her previous encounters with him had ended in stalemates; she’d said he always ran away. “But I know someone else who can help.”

***

“Huh.” Fuyumi says, standing on the path opposite the roundabout. The only thing that remains of the statue of Endeavor that had once stood there is half of a single bronze leg, sliced on the top with rough edges that suggest a hot flame. Good for whoever had destroyed the thing, honestly. Fuyumi hadn’t been a particularly big fan of its construction.

“My parents will be so mad…” a voice says, and Fuyumi glances over to see a girl about Shouto’s age staring at the incredibly empty space with undisguised joy. 

“Your parents?” Fuyumi asks.

“They paid for that.” the girl says, laughing slightly. “It’s hardly the worst thing they’ve ever paid for, but I’m happy to see anything they support wasted, because I doubt it was for any good reason.” 

“An idol of Endeavor is definitely not a good reason.” Fuyumi agrees. “I wonder who destroyed it— but it’s vanished so completely, what if they stole it? But if so, how’d they take it without slicing the other leg from where it was sealed to the pedestal?”

“It smells faintly like a gas fire here.” the girl says. “It’s hard to tell because of the emissions of passing cars, but I think that the remaining leg was cut with an industrial-strength blowtorch.”

Fuyumi then connects the dots of Natsuo being evasive as to why he was in town, plus the blowtorch in his backpack he’d borrowed from his college’s science building.

“Oh.” she says, and can’t stop herself from smiling. He could have been caught, what was Natsuo thinking? And how on earth had he gotten the statue away from the roundabout?

“You know who did it?” the girl asks, and Fuyumi realizes she hasn’t attempted to mask her satisfaction whatsoever.

“Uh.” she manages.

“I’d like to congratulate them. Whoever can vanish such a big statue and leave only a single leg as a trace— that must have been deliberate— well, I’d like to meet them. Maybe I could convince them to help out in further destruction of my parents’ assets.” 

“He’d certainly approve of your attitude.” Fuyumi sighs. Anyone who held resentment towards their parents, provided it was a good reason, definitely had a page in Natsuo’s book.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I’ve been so rude! I just realized, I forgot to introduce myself— I’m Yaoyorozu Momo.” the girl suddenly says, gasping at her own faux-pas. Fuyumi returns the introduction, (Yaoyorozu? Like, as in the Yaoyorozus who own Yaoyorozu Pharmaceuticals? Holy frick ) and Yaoyorozu’s eyes widen before dashing from the statueless space and back to Fuyumi again. 

“Yes, that Todoroki.” Fuyumi sighs. “And you—?”

“Yes, that Yaoyorozu.” Yaoyorozu responds, with a shy smile, and bows in greeting. Fuyumi bows back, and nods her head towards what’s left of the statue. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s the work of my brother.”

“Your… oh, my.” Yaoyorozu says.

“I can understand having something against your parents.” Fuyumi says, and thinks back to last night. Was that the first time she’s ever stood up to Enji? Probably. It had felt like a release, but a sad one; there was something permanent, she thinks, in how she had let go. At the same time, though, it was something that had been a long time coming “Although— if it was Natsuo, how’d he get rid of the statue?” 

“Does he know anyone who owns a flatbed truck?” Yaoyorozu asks, and Fuyumi doubts it, but hey, you met all types in college.

“A-ha!” a voice says, and both girls turn around to see two people approaching them. The one walking at a faster pace is a man in a purple suit, and he’s followed by a woman with red hair and a camera, which she appears to be recording with. The man spins his cane dramatically and points it directly at Yaoyorozu. “Lady Nagant! We’ve found you!”

“What?” Fuyumi asks, because Lady Nagant was dead, and if she wasn’t, she’d be over twice Yaoyorozu’s age.

“Stand back, innocent citizen, and prepare to witness a duel for the ages! I, the magnificent Gentle Criminal, have arrived to defeat the resurrected Lady Nagant— with, of course, my wonderful La Brava recording.” the man announces.

“ What? ” Yaoyorozu says, and although she looks extremely shocked, she doesn’t seem fearful so much as baffled— and she’s tensing in a way that Fuyumi can tell means she’s expecting a fight.

“Do not attempt to deny it— we asked the Oracle of the Boardwalk, and she gave us a prophecy that contains nothing but the truth:

Daughters of misfortune meet by the Flame Hero’s leg 

The Nightgun and one who has yet to find her way.

Join forces or die, for the ultimate enemy waits

Find the Hyper Vigilante and his secret base.

Now, will you surrender, or must we do battle?” Gentle asks.

“The Oracle of the Boardwalk— you mean that lady who charges twenty thousand yen for a use of her cryptic quirk?” Fuyumi asks, but the question doesn’t really bode answering; the poem Gentle Criminal had recited was reminiscent of the four-line stanzas that the Oracle’s quirk would produce. In nonsensical rhyming, her quirk would predict important events or give advice concerning something to happen in the next week. However, it would only work once a year on each person it was used on, including the Oracle herself; but despite how cryptic the poems were, they always ended up to be correct. “That doesn’t say Nagant, though, that says the Nightgun—“ Fuyumi cuts off and stares at Yaoyorozu in dawning comprehension as the girl begins to look exponentially more nervous by the second.

“Ah, but everyone knows the Nightgun is Nagant.” Gentle says. Fuyumi gives him a flat look, and his posture seems to deflate. “I know she doesn’t look anything like Nagant, but we assumed that was due to the reincarnation.”

“The reincarnation.” Fuyumi repeats, in the kind of voice she’d use for the second graders she teaches. Gentle and La Brava look at each other with the realization that they may have made one too many assumptions.

“Regardless. You, young lady, are doubtless the Nightgun, whether you are Nagant or not. As such: let us duel.” Gentle continues.

“Excuse me?” Fuyumi asks, stepping in front of Yaoyorozu. “You’re a grown man. What kind of glory do you think you’ll get out of fighting a teenager?”

“Cut that.” Gentle hisses to La Brava.

“You two are villains, aren’t you.” Fuyumi sighs. She wonders why no hero has shown up yet; presumably because no one is around, because no one wants to be blamed for the destruction of the Endeavor statue. Cars drive past by way of the roundabout, entirely uncaring.

“The most sophisticated villains around.” Gentle Criminal says, proudly.

“You tell her!” La Brava cheers. Fuyumi puts a hand on her face. 

“Right. And it’s oh so sophisticated to attack a random girl because you think she’s the Nightgun. Don’t the Oracle’s prophecies have a week to go through?” she asks. Gentle seems to not have considered this.

“I have a better idea.” Yaoyorozu suddenly says. “Join forces or die. That sounds like something we should take notice of, don’t you think?”

“Well…” Gentle mutters.

“…yes?” La Brava finishes.

“ Find the Hyper Vigilante and his secret base. Now, I don’t know about that last one, but recently, a friend told me exactly how I can find the Hyper Vigilante. So how about you call off this attack, and we can fight the Hyper Vigilante together, later?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“La Brava?” Gentle asks.

“Hadn’t we wanted to find the Hyper Vigilante even before you got the prophecy from the Oracle?” La Brava asks.

“True, true. Very well, Miss Nightgun. I will accept your aid against this common opponent, for the prophecy does tell of an ultimate enemy.” Gentle decides.

“We’ll catch up here at nine tonight.” Yaoyorozu says. “I already have a plan in motion.”

“To be expected of such a brilliant adversary. We shall meet again!”

“Yes,” Yaoyorozu mutters, “obviously.” Gentle Criminal and La Brava make their exits, leaving Yaoyorozu and Fuyumi standing by the road.

“The Nightgun?” Fuyumi asks.

“Everyone thinking I’m Nagant has been pretty good for hiding my identity. At least until now.” Yaoyorozu says. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?” 

“That depends on how good of an explanation you give me.” Fuyumi says. There had better be a very good reason for someone Shouto’s age to be endangering herself through vigilantism.

Chapter Text

A portal appears in Natsuo’s apartment the morning after his unfortunate encounter, and Shigaraki Tomura walks out of it.

“What.” Natsuo says, because he’s only just had breakfast.

“Nice place.” Shigaraki says. “I looked up your school schedule—“

“How did you find my school schedule? How did you find out where I live? ”

“Borrowed Sensei’s finding-people-computer. Anyway, ‘cause of that, I know it’s your day off, so: through the portal. We’ve got some planning to do.” Shigaraki says. Natsuo gets the impression this isn’t an invitation he’s allowed to refuse.

“I can’t believe you stalked me online.” he complains, following Shigaraki back through the portal to the bar in Kamino; the first thing that happens when he enters the area is that he’s forced to duck a flying knife, which bounces off the wall behind him.

“Come on! ” Dabi yells.

“Are you still trying to kill me?” Natsuo asks.

“His efforts are funny, so I’ve decided to let him keep trying.” Shigaraki says.

“Wow.” Natsuo mutters, but he supposes he can’t expect much generosity from a guy who wears a severed hand on his face. He glances around the dingy bar; Dabi’s standing in a corner and glowering at him, Toga’s sitting on the sofa and playing one of the older Legend of Zelda games, and Kurogiri is cleaning blood off the bar counter.

“Uh,” Natsuo asks, not sure if he wants to know the answer, “what happened?”

“Toga stabbed me. ” Dabi snaps. 

“Just a little bit!” Toga chirps, not looking away from the television, and Natsuo notices that Dabi’s arm is bleeding. He blinks at it.

“Did you not bandage the cut? Or disinfect it? Or anything? ” he asks, before he can stop himself. Growing up with Touya and Fuyumi lends itself to a lot of trouble, so he was automatically ready to deal with any that showed up.

“It’ll heal soon enough, but I suppose if it makes you happy—“ Dabi says, clapping his hand over the cut and cauterizing it shut with a grimace.

“You’re insane.” Natsuo says. Dabi squints at him.

“You didn’t realize that when I threw a knife at your head?” he asks. Natsuo sighs.

“This place is a mess.”

“Yeah, compared to your dinky little apartment.” Shigaraki snaps. 

“No wonder you’re having no luck as a villain, if you live like this. Kurogiri, want to help me fix this place up?” Natsuo says.

“What are you doing? ” Shigaraki asks.

“Oh, are we gonna make the bar all pretty? Can I help, I wanna help too!” Toga says, jumping up from the sofa with a huge grin.

“Finally.” Kurogiri says. “Someone proactive.”

“Are you kidding me? ” Dabi hisses. Shigaraki throws his hands up in the air, and grabs Toga’s discarded controller. 

“Have fun.” he says. “Maybe you’ll find a useful artifact, or lore. Who knows what’s in all the rubbish in this building.”

Natsuo, Toga and Kurogiri spend the next hour cleaning up the bar, starting with the video game/socialization area before heading to the storage backrooms/kitchen. Kurogiri teleports in a collection of cleaning supplies of which Natsuo doesn’t want to ask the source of, and Shigaraki even joins them by the time they go upstairs to the bedrooms, helping by decaying trash and junk.

“I’ll clean my own room!” he yells.

“I don’t believe it.” Kurogiri says, softly, after Shigaraki slams the door. “He’s actually going to clean. You’ve goaded him into it.”

“I haven’t been doing any goading.” Natsuo says.

“You’ve been being more useful than he is, and he takes that as a challenge.” Kurogiri says.

“He’s an idiot.” Dabi says, and attempts to hit Natsuo over the head with a hammer he’s found somewhere, but trips over the carpet and sends the hammer spinning across the second-floor hall, until it lodges with a heavy thunk in the back wall. “Ow.” Dabi says, flat on his face, and the back wall falls outwards off, revealing itself to be paneling over a hidden door. 

“What’s that?” Natsuo asks. 

“I am not sure.” Kurogiri says, carefully. He opens the door to reveal a closet neatly stacked with dusty cardboard boxes. The topmost one has been split open from a heavy wooden board, stuck through with nasty-looking nails, that appears to have fallen from the closet’s ceiling.

“Oh… I think… Tomura! Come here!” Kurogiri calls out, and the door to Shigaraki’s room slams open, revealing the blue-haired man and his oft-worn expression of annoyance.

“ What? ” he snaps, and then, upon noticing the closet; “are those—?”

“Most likely.” Kurogiri says, taking a paper from the split box. It’s been halved by the wooden beam, but what’s written on it is still legible, and the paper’s purpose is clear to even Natsuo’s untrained eye.

“ Android schematics?” he yelps. The giant block letters reading CRAFTING SENTIENCE plus the cross-section of a computer brain chip attached to a metal spinal cord make it really obvious, is the thing. “That’s illegal!”

All four villains give him a look, one that very clearly indicates they’re asking him if he’s serious. The best answer he can come up with is a shrug.

“Must be Sensei’s old stuff, from when this place used to be one of his android labs. I think it burnt down like six years ago? And then he had it fixed up, and Kurogiri and I moved in.” Shigaraki says, walking towards the boxes with a careful step and an undisguised interest.

“Who’s Sensei?” Natsuo asks, watching Shigaraki flip through binders with a four-fingered grip.

“I have to find it— I have to know—“ he’s muttering, so Natsuo looks at Kurogiri questioningly.

“Sensei, our master, is the true leader of this League of Villains. He is… highly interested in how androids are made, and how they develop.”

“And what’s Shigaraki looking for?” Natsuo asks, before noticing movement in the corner of his eye; he drops to his knees, and the heavy wooden beam from the closet slams into the wall above him, breaking in half and showering him with splinters.

“OW!” Dabi yells, because the half of the beam he hadn’t been holding had hit the wall with an angle sharp enough to bounce back at him, colliding with his forehead. “Agh, fricking ashes… ”

“You might suffer less misfortune if you stopped trying to kill me.” Natsuo points out.

“Not an option.” Dabi huffs. “You’re Endeavor’s son; I can’t stand that, see, so you’ve got to die, because I want to ruin his life. It’s nothing personal— nothing against you, at least.”

“What, like we’d be best friends if it wasn’t for your murder-Endeavor-mission?” Natsuo asks, brushing bits of wood off himself. Dabi laughs.

“You have no idea. ” he says, grinning at some joke that Natsuo isn’t privy to; the blood dripping down his face makes him seem almost demonic.

“I would recommend cleaning that up.” Natsuo says, nodding towards the deep cut in Dabi’s forehead.

“You would, wouldn’t you? You care too much.” Dabi says, pressing a hand on the wall. “Always did, really, but it won’t save you from my hand. Not from the amount of despair your death will bring your father.”

“You think he’ll care?” Natsuo asks, but realizes that he doesn’t know the answer. Enji had only gotten more horrible after Touya’s death, but there’d been a terrible grief in that anger, too.

There’s a quiet thump; Natsuo and Dabi look over to Shigaraki, who has slid down with his back on the wall, landing heavily, a paper in his fingers.

“He must have thought this stuff had burned up… there’s no way he left it here otherwise… unless it’s some kind of test, and he expected me to… he’s always playing mind games…”

“What’s wrong, Shigaraki?” Toga asks.

“I doubt this is anything but real, considering also contained here are notes on my accidental creation. I am sorry, Tomura.” Kurogiri says. “Sensei always said you were to be his successor-- I should have realized he was lying. I should have accepted the signs,”

“You— what?” Shigaraki asks.

“I had my suspicions.” Kurogiri says, bowing his head in shame. “I dismissed them as only fears, because I did not want to believe; I did not want to face the truth.”

Natsuo’s not sure if he’s supposed to be listening to this. 

“Kurogiri. Dabi. Toga. Natsuo. The League of Villains has a new direction.” Shigaraki announces.

“Did it have a direction before now?” Dabi asks, shoving open the bathroom door to go wash his face.

“Not really.” Toga answers.

“Sensei— I’m lucky his plans got set back by that fire years ago— but he’s going to turn me into an android.” Shigaraki says.

“Wait, what?” Natsuo asks. It was possible to use a natural human body (living or recently dead) instead of growing one in a lab to make an android, but whoever had owned the body previously would be killed, completely overwritten by the new soul that the android brain created; the body’s quirk, however, would stay the same. It was theoretically possible to turn someone into an android without killing them, by somehow transferring their soul into the new brain-computer, but no one had managed that possibility successfully— and it wasn’t like a lot of people were pursuing the option, considering the secrecy of android tech and the attached risks. “Won’t that kill you?”

“That’s… that’s what he’s planning, it looks like— the only reason I haven’t been made into one yet is because he hasn’t figured out android transferral, and I need a human body to sync with the All for One quirk— which he’s going to transfer into me so he can use it to take over my body . So that he can be young again, and nearly immortal to boot.” Shigaraki says, the paper shivering in his hand and his face twisted into a snarl of rage. “I’m going to kill him. ”

“He wants to what!? ” Natsuo yelps. That was awful, why were villains so— villainous?

“It’s all he’s ever wanted me for! I thought I was going to be his successor, I thought that he cared about me! He saved me, but he’s worse than any hero, I don’t… wait, Kurogiri, he made you!” Shigaraki yells, jumping up and glaring at the mist man. “You work for him, you’ve been spying on me for him— “

“Do you think,” Kurogiri says, calmly, but with a tremor of hurt in his voice, “that I would ever choose him over you, if I had the choice?” 

“No.” Shigaraki says, after a moment. “You wouldn’t. Not if you did. But you don’t, do you?”

Kurogiri dips his head in a silent response.

“I’ll kill him.” Shigaraki growls. “I’LL KILL HIM!” He pushes himself off the ground, and then, looking at the boxes of papers and mechanical parts, decays them all to ashes. Natsuo watches as innumerable years worth of research and villainous plots are erased from existence, and can’t say he’s sorry to see it go. 

“The All for One quirk… it says here I’ve got to have the proper amount of hatred, of conviction, to be able to hold it… so Sensei’s leaving me to build up a team and get angrier and angrier while fighting All Might for him, while he hangs out with those Meta Liberation people.” Shigaraki spits. “I knew those guys were bastards.”

***

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard of the Meta Liberation Army.” Yaoyorozu asks. She and Fuyumi are sitting together at a park a few blocks away from the roundabout. 

“I haven’t.” Fuyumi answers. She’s made an unfortunate connection between Yaoyorozu not liking her parents and her becoming a vigilante, and she doesn’t much like the possible answers.

“It’s a villain organization, aimed towards restructuring the world into a hierarchy where the strongest rule. They’re all about quirk superiority, and the strength of machines over normal humans. A few of the higher-ranking members are androids, and they’re trying to figure out how to transform someone into an android while still keeping their mind. They’ve got plenty of volunteers, but nothing’s worked yet; their subjects either come out as an entirely new person, or don’t come out at all. They’ve been building an army, and half their money comes from Detnerat (not that I have any way of proving so) and the other half comes from, well, my parents.” Yaoyorozu looks at the ground. “The MLA is going to start a war in a year, so you can see why I don’t exactly agree with them.”

“A war?” Fuyumi asks, carefully. Life in the Todoroki family— well, it hasn’t been easy , but having villainous parents was a whole other ballpark, an insanity that Fuyumi doesn’t even want to try to touch on. But she must, because now that she’s heard, she can’t leave Yaoyorozu alone.

“It’s been planned and built up for years now.” Yaoyorozu says, looking angry and sad at the same time. “I try to do what I can to ruin their operations, cut down their flow of money, prevent them gathering and indoctrinating new recruits. But I’m one person , and I’m not yet a hero. I’ve handed off information to the heroes before, but it never gets anywhere, or it’s obsolete before it can be acted on. The MLA has multiple heroes working for them, and they get more and more inured against my sabotage every day… soon enough, I’ll be caught. It’s all I can do to be more careful than efficient, as much as I hate it, because it’s already saved my life quite a few times.”

“You’re doing more than anyone else is.” Fuyumi says, remembering what she’d told Natsuo when he was doing his best to help Touya. “And that’s what you can do, even if it’s not enough.” It wasn’t enough; Natsuo was, Yaoyorozu is , too young. 

“The MLA’s leader— he’s some ancient supervillain, he has strings everywhere ; I’m never able to get enough info to the heroes for anything solid against the MLA to work, and they’ve always got defenses and escape routes and— I’ve tried to get help, but never managed enough. I just can’t do it, can I?” Yaoyorozu asks.

Fuyumi doesn’t tell her she can, but she doesn’t tell her can’t , either.

“This is your first time telling anyone about this, right?” she asks. Yaoyorozu is as alone as Shouto had been, stuck fighting towards an impossible goal, all for the sins of her parents.

“Yes.” Yaoyorozu answers.

“You can’t do it alone. ” Fuyumi corrects her, because she couldn’t save Touya, and Natsuo couldn’t save Touya, but if they had had anyone else from outside the family to help— “There’s no person in the world who can take down an entire villain army single-handedly, except for maybe All Might. What you’ve done so far has got to be far more than most other people could do.”

“Real heroes could do more.”

“But are real heroes doing more?” Fuyumi asks, and wasn’t that the question, because out of all the lives Enji had saved, he hadn’t managed to save that of his own son. Sometimes, the real heroes weren’t heroes at all, and normal people had to hold up what they let fall. People like Fuyumi. Like Yaoyorozu.

“Do you know of the Hyper Vigilante?” Yaoyorozu asks, all of a sudden.

“I do, yes.” Fuyumi says, carefully.

“He’s been… sabotaging my efforts at sabotage. He’s so weird, he acts like he knows everything— I can’t outfight him, because he can tell what I’m going to do before I do it, and I can’t outmaneuver him, because he’s always waiting for me. He started out pretty heroic, you know. Back in the first year of his vigilantism. But something changed, he decided the best way to get rid of villains was to kill them— and now he thinks the MLA will do more good than harm. He directly supports him. And I know the problem, now— a friend of mine sent me what he found out today. The Hyper Vigilante is a quirk.”

“A quirk?” Fuyumi asks, and Yaoroyozu explains about a villain who died with his power impossibly active, and how that power still lived and killed in the name of the name it had stolen, slowly corrupting as it grew ever further from its original purpose (to be a quirkless hero!) and was now a scourge to what it had once wanted to protect— as well as a barrier on Yaoyorozu’s already wobbly path.

“Except I’ve learned recently that the quirk actually went wrong— well, more wrong than it already is— that it’s taking the identity of two people.” Yaoyorozu says, and she refuses to meet Fuyumi’s eyes, but Fuyumi already knows this story.

“Endeavor.” she says. 

“That’s how I know where the Vigilante’s will be— he’s going to be Endeavor, so we just have to follow him around and see if he switches form at the appointed time.”

“I can help with that.” Fuyumi says, realizing; if there’s anyone who can follow Endeavor without accruing suspicion, it’s her. 

“You could!” Yaoyorozu says, also realizing the debatable advantage of Fuyumi’s unique position in relation to Endeavor. “So that’s you, me, my friend, and Gentle Criminal and La Brava if they show; we’ll get him. Fighting the MLA will definitely be easier without him hanging around.”

“I’m glad I can do something to help.” Fuyumi says. She’s never been able to do everything, but she’s always been able to do something, and sometimes, something is enough.

***

“[I am sorry about this, child.]” the mist man says.

“[No, you’re not.]” Rody Soul says, because he just got kidnapped through a portal and is currently trapped in a clear glass box the size of an elevator. He’s been trying to break it with no success, and is all too aware of how Pino shivers, hidden, in his vest pocket, showing the fear he refuses to wear on his face. He’ll get out, he’ll get out, he has to get back to Roro and Lala—

“[You’ve done well, Kurogiri.]” a voice says, and it’s such a powerful voice that it’s all Rody can do to stand still and stare at the voice’s owner. A tall man wearing a black helmet with the face of an eyeless demon steps into Rody’s field of vision, and he understands, through some primal feeling as the man walks ever closer, that this is his doom.

“[Who are you? What do you want?]” Rody asks, because he’s just a random kid from Otheon who has maybe been a bit wobbly towards following the law, but it’s all for his siblings, and he can’t think of anything he could have done to attract the attention of a supervillain.

“[You’re in Japan.]” the villain says, and Rody feels the chill of terror settle with a crawl around his shoulders. Japan? How is he ever going to get home? “[You’ve met Kurogiri, I believe, Rody Soul?]”

“[What about him?]” Rody asks, voice shaking. The fact that the villain knows his name should have been an obvious conclusion, but to hear it is a further strike towards his fate.

“[He is the most successful Nomu I have created to date— powerful, intelligent, and able to make his own decisions, yet still entirely obedient to me. It even pains him that he must betray his charge, you know? He has emotions, and no ability to act on them.]”

“[A Nomu?]” Rody asks. “[What’s that?]”

“[It depends, really. All of them are different— and Kurogiri is one of the most different of all. I’ve finally figured out what makes him the way he is, and with you, I’ll be able to replicate it. I could do with a second one of his kind.]”

“[What— what? ]” Rody gapes.

“[Warp Gate, whom you know as Kurogiri, is a sentient quirk. Like all sentient quirks, he is connected to the soul which inhabits the body he belongs to, and is shackled to all the modifications of said body. I created Warp Gate by a fortuitous accident, and as it stands, sentient quirks are incredibly rare, and even harder to control— so count yourself lucky that I’ve found a wonderfully malleable one in you.]”

Chapter Text

“We’re going to destroy the MLA. Turn everything that Sensei's been working for into DUST!” Shigaraki roars.

“Good luck.” Dabi says, and burns through a rope attached to the wall and looped through the rafters that’s holding a set of large metal discs in the air. Dabi had stolen them off an unused set of weights found in one of the bar’s bedrooms, and had set up the very simple trap he was currently setting off in an effort to off his brother. Unfortunately, he miscalculates the trajectory of the swinging discs, which zip right past Natsuo’s head before reaching the peak of their left-arc and sliding into a right-arc, which Dabi notices far too late that he’s standing in the path of.

“I’m willing to help with fighting other villains, I think.” Natsuo says, looking over in vague concern at Dabi, who is lying winded on the floor and is definitely going to have a massive bruise on his chest. He didn’t break any bones, at least, so that’s something.

“That’s Natsuo 4, Dabi 0.” Toga says, scrawling their names and some tally marks in chalk on the wall.

“Are you seriously scorekeeping? ” Dabi asks.

“Yeah!” Toga says, brightly. “You’re at minus four points.” 

“I noticed.” Dabi sighs, sitting up and grimacing at the pain lancing through him. “Your good fortune will end eventually, Natsuo— you’ve got to be lucky every time I attack you, and I’ve only got to be lucky once.” Even as he says this, though, Dabi feels like he’s doomed himself— Natsuo has always been lucky.

Dabi has never hated Natsuo, honestly. They had always been great friends, and even now, he doesn’t harbor any real resentment towards the other. But the reason that Dabi had to kill Natsuo was very simple: when thinking of the despair Dabi could visit upon his father by killing Natsuo, well, that would be brilliant. Two sons dead; what will Endeavor even do, when he finds he’s let the son he never noticed die? Dabi despises his father because he was looked at when he was young, and then never again, but Natsuo has never had anything to lose, Enji eternally absent from his life. Dabi savors the imaginary strike of regret that will hit his father’s heart at Natsuo’s loss; what a glory, to make that dream a reality! To see the suffering in Endeavor’s eyes— and later, when Dabi can claim credit for the kill, it will be a wonderful mark of his fall, of his father’s failure. Natsuo’s blood will be on Endeavor’s hands. Shouto, of course, was the ultimate target; the only sibling Dabi truly hated, the one he needed to kill and defeat and destroy. Shouto, so perfect… his quirk would be worth nothing when he was a scorch mark on the floor. Dabi couldn’t wait to spill Shouto’s blood where Endeavor could see it, couldn’t wait to prove to the world how he was the one who was everything. To show his father just what all those years had resulted in; that that little two-toned weapon of a child was nothing more than the tool he had been created to be. The hate in Dabi’s blood kept him alive through unimaginable adversity— kept him alive so that one day he might end Shouto’s life.

Dabi’s brother joining the League was both an annoyance and an opportunity; before Natsuo had arrived this morning, Dabi had been thinking the problem over on a walk outside when he’d noticed something; someone selling use of their prophecy quirk, and at the end of the day, Dabi really had nothing to lose. Unfortunately, the prophecy Dabi had received was completely unhelpful— especially because he was sure it was talking about Natsuo somehow, what with mentioning luck , and yet it had no good advice towards killing him. 

The goal you seek has long been met;
The fourth is the fifth for the fourth is dead.
As for the third: enemy, or friend?
Luck follows love; find yours before the end. 

“How are we finding this MLA, anyway? If they’ve been building an entire army for years and no heroes have found them yet, I don’t like our chances.” Natsuo says.

“They’ve been working on overdrive recently, to keep the Nightgun off— Sensei’s annoyed by her, which is huge praise for a vigilante. So we’ve got a chance of catching him, and them, by surprise; and I know exactly how to get to them, too. Heard of the Hyper Vigilante?”

“I have, yes.” Natsuo says, and it’s been a long time since Dabi’s seen his brother, but he hears how heavy the words are on Natsuo’s tongue. There’s something there that he’s not saying— but what?

“He’s in the MLA. We find and grab him, learn what he knows, we’ve got them— and I know exactly where he’s going to be.” Shigaraki explains.

“You do?” Toga asks. “Really? We have to catch him, he’s so cute! I want to see what his blood looks like…”

“Presumably, it looks like blood.” Dabi says, because he’s logical like that.

“You know what I mean, Dabi— I love him, I want to kill him, he’s mine!”

“Toga likes the Hyper Vigilante. She’s been stalking him, and she found out he always leaves a particular place within thirty minutes of ten pm— she never sees where he comes from, but we’ll take what we can get.”

“And after we catch him, I’ll keep him!” Toga cheers.

Dabi pushes himself out of his chair; Natsuo wasn’t getting any deader. Time to get to work. 

“I’m confused. You want to hurt the Hyper Vigilante because… you think he’s cute?” Natsuo asks; Dabi walks surreptitiously to the bar counter.

“Yeah! I hurt the people I love— I want to slice them all up— I want to see their blood . Do you think that’s creepy, Natsuo? Do you think I’m a monster? All I’m doing is sharing my affections.” Toga says, and Dabi grins; maybe she’ll take care of Natsuo for him. It doesn’t matter who kills him as long as there’s enough left for Endeavor to grieve over.

“D’you know,” Natsuo says, “the last place I expected to be reminded of my brother was somewhere like here, but here you are, and I find myself thinking of him.” What? What? Toga reminded Natsuo of Shouto? The kid had grown up to be a handful, then… too bad there was only one fate in store for him, Dabi muses, winking at Kurogiri’s suspicious gaze as he crouches to fumble through bottles deep underneath the counter. Where was it, where was it?

“Your brother?” Toga asks.

“His name was Touya.” Natsuo says, and Dabi jerks in surprise and bonks his head on the underside of the counter. “I tried my best to help him, but he always… he kept hurting himself, thinking that was the way to receive love. Shouto got all the attention, and all the pain, and Touya wanted that, too. But all he ended up doing was destroying himself, because Endeavor had destroyed him until he couldn’t see what he was doing anymore. So, I guess I’m just wondering… who hurt you , Toga, enough that you see pain as love?”

Huh , Dabi thinks, hand closing around a tiny bottle at the back of the shelf. I never thought about it that way. He had more in common than he had thought with Toga, maybe; all he had ever wanted was to be Shouto, to kill him, to take his place, to destroy him, to love him. Even now, it was all tangled up inextricably in his mind; where did one emotion end, and another begin? Dabi hops to his feet, fingers tightly pressing into the label of an asphyxiating poison he’d seen Kurogiri confiscate from a villain who had gotten a bit rowdy and threatening during the bar’s open hours. No one drunk could be trusted around this kind of thing— a few drops in someone’s drink, and it’d be mere minutes before their throat closed up and they died from their own body’s reaction. There were antidotes, of course, but none here— none that would be able to be here in time to stop Natsuo’s death once it started. Dabi kicks open the refrigerator, grabs a bottle of Coke— the dark soda would helpfully disguise the dark liquid of the poison— and serves five glasses, taking special note of the faded label on one of the cups and upending the entire vial of poison into it. The poison only took a few drops to get working, but Dabi wasn’t taking any chances. He hands an untainted glass to Kurogiri, who has been watching the entire process silently. 

“Don’t say anything.” Dabi hisses at him. Kurogiri nods, so Dabi stacks the rest all up on a tray before skipping out to the main room.

“Give me that.” Shigaraki says, accepting his own drink, and Dabi can’t stop himself from grinning like an idiot when he hands a cup to Natsuo.

“My parents wouldn’t let me have any blood. They wouldn’t let me be anyone except myself, and even then only their perfect, sanitized, version.” Toga hisses.

“I go to medical college.” Natsuo says. “I want to help people whose quirks hurt them— people like Touya, because his fire burned him, so Dad wouldn’t let him use it. Dad wouldn’t let Touya even try to become a hero, which eventually led to his death. And I thought, Touya can’t be the only one. I thought, if I hadn’t managed to save him, I could try to save others, and maybe prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again.”

“Even for someone like me?” Toga asks. Natsuo drinks his entire cup of Coke in a single breath, to Dabi’s great joy, and then meets Toga’s eyes. “Even for a killer, a vampire, a girl born cursed? I want to see the blood of those I love, I want to see them broken and in pain. That’s my normal, Natsuo. That’s the way I want to live. That’s what’s wonderful for me.”

“I think you need serious help.” Natsuo says. “And it doesn’t look like there’s anyone else around to give it a try, so would you mind if I did?”

“I’ve never had a big brother.” Toga says, after a moment. Shigaraki scoffs, and Dabi hides his face in his soda cup to avoid snarling in outrage. Wasn’t he good enough for Toga? Natsuo was a little brother through and through , he’d be no help. 

“You’re still young, Toga. There’s still time to change the road you’re on.” Natsuo says, and Dabi sips his Coke angrily, because where was this Natsuo when he’d been younger? Where was this support when Touya had been dying inside?

He did his best, a voice in Dabi’s head says. You just couldn’t listen to him.   

Dabi would really appreciate it if Natsuo obliged him by dropping dead right now.

“I don’t want to change. But it’s nice that you think I can.” Toga says; it appears she and Natsuo have reached a sort of accord, unfortunately, judging by the way she remains sitting next to him. “It’s nice that you think I’m worth trying for. Most people don’t. You’re not going to be able to miraculously save me, though… I don’t think that there’s anyone out there who can.” Dabi squints at her through the faded label on his empty glass.

Wait.

Wait.

Dabi glances at Natsuo’s cup, and its untarnished label, and then back at the half-vanished label on his own before looking at Kurogiri in a panic.

“I didn’t say anything.” Kurogiri says— no, he’d just let Dabi mix up the cups and fatally poison himself.

***

Shouto follows Midoriya to a beach. Half of it is covered in trash, but the clean half stretches off into the distance, melding with a boardwalk.

“You meet your mentor here?” Shouto asks.

“I’m training for UA’s exam by cleaning the beach!” Midoriya explains, excitedly. “Yagi-Sensei is amazing, and if there’s anyone who can help with the current situation, it’s him.”

“Your training seems to be going well.” Shouto says, shielding his eyes from the sun as he scans the sparking water and lengths of sand. Something catches his gaze; not too far away, there’s what looks to be a group of people setting up booths, the road after them filling with even more.

“That’s the market.” Midoriya says. “Every two weeks, they set up; it’s really great, people sell things like clothes and art and jewelry. There are often food trucks, too.”

“We could look around while we’re waiting for your mentor.” Shouto offers, because there’s a very longing expression on Midoriya’s face.

“I didn’t bring any money…”

“I’ve got some.” Shouto says, because when Fuyumi had taken him out of the house, he’d had the presence of mind to bring some with him. Just in case they weren’t going back. Were they going back?

“I couldn’t—“

“Don’t worry about it.” Shouto says, because although he’s had a life full of troubles, money has never been one of them. The two walk along the boardwalk, up to the market area, but before they can properly enter it, the tent at the edge of the line collapses.

“Are you okay?” Midoriya says, running over to help fold the metal poles back up; red fabric is draped all over a desk and whoever was sitting at it.

“Yeah, yeah… stupid thing.” a voice comes from underneath, and a hand waves the fabric around. Shouto and Midoriya help the woman set her tent back up; a sign with the words Fortune-telling hangs from the top of it.

“Fortune-telling?” Midoriya asks.

“I’m the Oracle of the Boardwalk.” the woman says, looking proud, hands on her hips. “Twenty thousand yen for a use of my quirk— it’ll give you a silly little poem, always a four-line stanza, that indicates some important things that’ll happen in the next week. Sometimes there’s advice, too— but it only works once a year on each person.”

“I’ll pay for both of us.” Shouto says, because he’s interested. The Oracle immediately grabs his hand, and glowing words begin to write themselves into the air between the two.

Soul’s soul anchors the soul like others

Cremation’s bane and a cloud covered.  

You’ve lost your brain just like your brother

Ice and fire, if neither are to mean nothing.

Midoriya immediately scribbles the prophecy down in his notebook, already muttering. 

“And one for you.” the Oracle says, taking his hand.

Two dead boys fight in an airless room

Chekhov’s gun waits behind the moon.

Doubles will die and reveal known truths

The Eighth’s got six and the Ninth is you.

Shouto hands over the required payment, then sits next to Midoriya on the curb, watching as the other boy puzzles over the cryptic poems they’ve been given.

“Lost my brain just like my brother… does that mean Natsuo and I will both make stupid decisions?” Shouto asks. One line is obviously referring to his quirk, but how? And what was the nonsense about souls?

“Who is the Eighth? And how would dead boys fight… do you think ‘the doubles’ is referring to the Hyper Clone? But there isn’t more than one, is there? I really hope not…” Midoriya asks. Shouto has no answers for him.

Upon seeing Midoriya’s mentor arrive, Shouto has doubts. The man— one Yagi Toshinori— is tall and skinny, with an old, sunken face; he looks as though a strong breeze would knock him over.

“He’s been having me clean the beach, alongside a whole workout plan— Yagi-Sensei, this is Todoroki! We need your help!” Midoriya says. The three of them are sitting on a cleared area of the beach, and the hot sand is warm under Shouto’s fingers.

“Todoroki?” Yagi asks, and Shouto’s grasp tightens, uselessly, on the sand; for he can tell what question is about to be asked. “You’re Endeavor’s son.” Shouto has led a very private life, but he’s gone along with his father to hero events more than a few times; anyone in the circles of the higher-ranked heroes would know of his existence.

“Yes.” Shouto answers. He waits.

“I know what the Hyper Vigilante is!” Midoriya announces, before the inevitable onslaught of questions can start; he tells his mentor the entire situation.

“Is there any real proof?” Yagi asks. “As much as I admire your initiative and your desire to help others, you shouldn’t fight the Vigilante.” 

“But— just the fact that he exists is putting people in danger!” Midoriya says. “And isn’t the point of being a hero to interfere when no one else will?” This seems to be a point of contention between Midoriya and his mentor, who look at each other for a long moment before Yagi ducks his head. 

“You are not yet ready.” he says. 

“Why? Because I don’t yet have a—“ Midoriya starts, cutting himself off by clapping his hands over his mouth, and glancing nervously at Shouto, who really could not care less.

“No. Because although you’ve been working on training for a while, and are stronger than you are before, you have zero combat experience. You are not missing anything, young Midoriya, that would prevent you from becoming a hero— nothing except a complete lack of knowledge concerning fights. I don’t want to lose you, and I’m sure there are many who feel the same; do not recklessly endanger yourself. You’ll have plenty of chances to do so once you’re in actual hero school, but there’s a reason hero school exists. Let those who have graduated solve this trouble.” Yagi says.

“Are you a hero?” Shouto asks.

“Er.” Yagi says.

“He’s an underground hero! So he keeps his real identity separate from his hero identity!” Midoriya says.

Well, that would explain why Shouto didn’t recognize the man. “Anyway… okay, Yagi-Sensei. I’ll leave the heroes to deal with this.” Shouto wonders if he should tell Yagi that Midoriya has already set the Nightgun on the job.

Chapter Text

“What are you doing?” Fuyumi asks.

“What are you doing?” Shouto retorts. “You’re the one who wanted to come home.” 

“I wouldn’t have brought you back if you hadn’t wanted to!” Fuyumi protests.

“I know.” Shouto says. A beat passes. “Why are you stalking Dad?”

“Why are you stalking Dad?” Fuyumi asks. The two siblings had run into each other while creeping around the side of the house— for some reason, even though it was close to ten at night, Enji had decided to go for a drive. Fuyumi was going to follow him and see if he was the Hyper Vigilante, and if so, text Yaoyorozu.

“Were you really going to drive after him? He’ll notice.” Shouto says, watching as Enji’s car pulls out of the driveway.

“Well—“ Fuyumi starts, realizing how bad of an idea doing so would be, “do you have a better idea?”

Shouto’s thought is to follow Enji by sliding on his quirk, and melting the ice behind him as he travels to hide evidence. 

“We can travel together.” Shouto says.

“Shouto, we shouldn’t use our quirks. That’s illegal.” Fuyumi points out.

“There are a lot of things Dad does that he shouldn’t do, either.” Shouto says darkly. “Besides. We’re both trying to catch the Hyper Vigilante. So why don’t we work together on it?”

“How did you know I—“ Fuyumi starts, and sighs, because there’s really only one reason either of them would be following their father in the middle of the night. “Fine.” Fuyumi finds herself standing in front of Shouto as the two of them skate down the road, the sound of ice hitting pavement and the hiss of it melting filling her ears as she keeps her eyes on the yellow lights of the car ahead. It’s only a short drive until Enji parks the car behind a warehouse that’s on top of a forest-surrounded hill, but the person who comes out of the car isn’t Enji at all.

“ I knew it! ” Shouto says; because they’re looking at a young boy with green hair, pulling the hood of a black vigilante costume over his head before kicking the car door shut. “Got you.”

“Is that Natsuo? ” Fuyumi asks, because some feet away, Natsuo and a few other people are leaving the treeline.

“Hyper Vigilante!” one of them yells; it’s a man in a black hoodie, wearing what looks like an actual hand on his face. “You won’t get away from us this time!”

“Let me cut you!” another person shouts, running forwards and swinging a knife— the Hyper Vigilante flips around, avoiding all of her strikes as he spins like he’s breakdancing, one foot just barely missing hitting her in the head but catching one of her hairbuns, undoing it. The girl falls back, trying to push her hair out of her face so that she can see. “Oh, you’re tricky, aren’t you? But don’t worry! I’ll make you mine!”

“I’m not here to play games.” another voice says, and walking around Natsuo is a man with purple scars covering his skin. “Surrender and come with us, Vigilante, or we won’t give you the choice.”

“I would advise surrendering.” Natsuo says, and what is he doing with this kind of crowd?

The Hyper Vigilante suddenly dodges something that hits the earth beside his feet, smoking. Looking up, Fuyumi sees her; Yaoyorozu, in her Nightgun costume, up in one of the trees. Her hair is colored purple, to help with the illusion many believe that she is Nagant, and her left arm has a gun built around it.

“What is the freaking Nightgun doing here?” the man with a hand on his face yells.

“I’m here for the Hyper Vigilante.” Yaoyorozu says.

“Shove off! He’s ours!” the scarred person yells.

“Shigaraki, Dabi, maybe don’t threaten the person with the gun.” Natsuo says.

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do.” Dabi hisses.

“Kurogiri, bring the Nightgun down here so I can kill her.” Shigaraki says, talking into some kind of communicator before growling at the device. “Are you kidding me?”

“What’s wrong?” the girl asks, putting her hair up into a loose ponytail. The Hyper Vigilante makes a move towards leaving, but Yaoyorozu shoots a bullet that expands into some kind of quickly hardening goopy liquid, made to stick the Vigilante in place.

“There’s some kind of emergency he needs to help Sensei with… he can’t be here with us.” Shigaraki says, looking put-out. “Not so high-and-mighty anymore, are you now?” he asks, stalking up to the Hyper Vigilante, who’s still struggling in Yaoyorozu’s trap. The girl lunges towards him with her knife, but he jerks out of the way, his clothing cutting.

“Aw, no blood. Stop dodging!” the girl snaps.

“Leave him be for now, Toga. You can cut him all you want once we take him back to base.” Shigaraki says, looking down at the Vigilante and grinning. The Vigilante has given up trying to escape, but his posture is not one of defeat.

“Do you know the quirk supremacy theory?” he asks, suddenly. That was what the MLA followed, wasn’t it? And what would identify more with a doctrine of quirk freedom than a quirk itself?

“What about it?” Shigaraki asks.

“It’s the idea that everyone should be allowed to use their quirks as they desire. Those with stronger quirks and stronger bodies, naturally, would soon find themselves on top of society. Isn’t that better for everyone? Better than mindless killing, or railing against the heroes that work so hard to keep this world safe? Wouldn’t things be so much better if everyone could do their part to keep justice, if everyone could be a hero? ” the Vigilante asks.

“You speak words of wisdom, my enemy.” a voice says; Fuyumi looks over to see Gentle Criminal and La Brava approaching, the latter holding up a camera. “Is that not what everyone wants? The ability to fight to the top through one’s own skill and merit as opposed to having to deal with the many trials and tribulations of this cruel world?”

“You agree, then? That the current structure of society must be overthrown, and a new one to benefit all put in its place?” the Vigilante asks. “One that supports the powers we all have, and what we choose to do with them?”

“Now, that’s somewhat drastic. The MLA has the right idea, but they’re going about their plans in an entirely awful way-- starting a war? Horrible idea.” Gentle says.

“A little odd that you support quirk supremacy when you’re quirkless.” Shouto says, interrupting, and walking forwards so that everyone can see him; Fuyumi follows. “But you’re not quirkless, are you? Midoriya is, and so you pretend to be.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be fricking kidding me.” Dabi snarls, glowering at Shouto and Fuyumi with extraordinary, and entirely inexplicable, amounts of hatred. 

“Dabi, what are you going on about?” Shigaraki asks.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life, so I don’t see what call you have to be glaring at us like that.” Fuyumi says. Dabi makes a strange choking noise. 

“What are you two doing here? ” Natsuo asks.

“Stalking Dad.” Shouto says.

“Endeavor’s here?” Dabi asks.

“No.” Fuyumi says.

“You didn’t tell your new friends about the whole Endeavor thing, Natsuo?” Shouto asks, nodding at the Hyper Vigilante, who’s still trying ineffectually to escape.

“ What Endeavor thing?” Dabi asks, eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

“Who are these people, anyway?” Fuyumi asks. 

“My friends. I think.” Natsuo says.

“Who are you people?” Toga asks.

“They’re my siblings.” Natsuo says. 

“This will make a boring video.” Gentle complains. La Brava shushes him.

“Oh, you’re Endeavor’s kids too—  that’s why Dabi hates you, then.” Shigaraki confirms.

“Why do you recognize all of us on sight?” Natsuo asks.

“First of all, know your enemy. Second of all, why don’t you recognize me on sight?” Dabi asks.

“What?” Natsuo asks.

“Never mind.” Dabi sighs. It’s at this point that the Vigilante breaks out of the trap, expertly dodging Yaoyorozu’s attempts to restrain him again; he is, however, stopped in his tracks by the air in front of him suddenly becoming stretchy, and this moment of pause allows Toga to tackle him, driving her knife into his shoulder blade.

“Don’t kill him!” Shigaraki shouts; the Vigilante tilts backwards from the addition of Toga’s extra weight, falling on top of her as the two collapse in the grass.

“All of you are going to die .” the Vigilante spits, tugging the knife out of his shoulder and slashing it at Toga, cutting her forearms; blood splatters as she escapes him.

“Why is everyone just standing around, do something!” Fuyumi says; Yaoyorozu has stopped shooting, probably because of the closeness between her target and everyone else.

“You don’t know what you’re messing with.” the Hyper Vigilante sneers, reorienting himself as the group surrounds him.

“You’re outnumbered, and quirkless .” Shigaraki points out.

“That’s what you think.” the Vigilante retorts. 

“Quirkless is debatable, really.” Shouto mutters.

“So is outnumbered.” the Vigilante laughs. “Did you really think that I’d be stalling for time if I didn’t have a plan to go with it? Do you really think I’d let myself get followed by all my enemies at once if I didn’t have a plan to take them down in one fell swoop? You underestimated me. Just like everyone else.” 

A few seconds pass in frozen silence.

“I think he’s bluffing.” Dabi says, and his fist ignites with blue fire as he steps forwards. “Time to burn that snarky mouth right off.”

“Get back!” Natsuo suddenly yells, and a lot of things happen at once as everyone scrambles backwards out of the path of an inexplicable flaming meteor, soaring in a wide arc, to land directly, distractingly, and damagingly, right beside the gathered group.

“ Dad? ” Shouto asks.

“ENDEAVOR!!!” Dabi roars.

***

A Little While Earlier

Rody Soul looks up in surprise at a crashing noise; in an instant too fast to comprehend, half of the room has suddenly exploded in a burst of flame. The reverberation of the impact has shattered the glass of his cage, something he’s grateful for as he scrambles to his feet, ducking under flying rubble while Pino swoops in frantic circles around his head; the cause of the explosion is apparently the hero Endeavor, who is rather evasively fighting All for One. Rody stares at this battle for a few seconds, and then makes the very intelligent decision to get as far away from the current area as possible; unfortunately, such an action becomes difficult when All Might himself smashes into the middle of the fight. Japan’s top two heroes… who was this All for One? The heroes and their enemy start shouting fast-paced Japanese at each other that Rody has no hope of comprehending; he stumbles as he tries to walk, everything an incredible pain from whatever All for One had injected him with earlier— something to make sure his body was strong enough to hold additional quirks? He hadn’t really been paying attention.

He probably should have been, mostly because as the battle smashed its way through the Nomu laboratory, All for One attempted to steal Endeavor’s quirk; this was unsuccessful, mostly because “Endeavor” was in fact the Hyper Vigilante, who due to being a quirk, did not, strictly speaking, possess one. Unfortunately for literally everyone, AFO’s attempt could not even grasp “Endeavor’s” nonexistent quirk factor, and instead the energy of his attempt interacted with some of the dubious Nomu-crafting fluids spilled all over the battleground, resulting in a reaction that catalyzed with the solution inside Rody’s veins and the only other viable quirk within range: One for All. Of course, said quirk cannot be taken unwillingly from its holder, and therefore the inherent quirk factor(s) stayed firmly in All Might’s DNA; the stockpiled strength of OFA, however, is an entirely different story, and was subsequently transferred to poor Rody, who thankfully does not explode. This happening was in part possible thanks to the uniqueness of Pino, whose existence meant that Rody’s soul was outside of his body, meaning that he did not count as another person to the nebulous senses of OFA and more as a helpfully available energy container.

All of this happened in an instant, and resulted in multiple things occurring in quick succession; the first, that AFO grabs “Endeavor” while trying to take his quirk and slams him into All Might, creating a massive cloud of fiery dust and Nomu sludge. 

The second, that All Might instantly deflated into his smaller form because of the loss of any source of buff-ness, and was hence immediately accosted by the activation of all the other powers within OFA, being, all of the vestige quirks simultaneously.

The third, that AFO, witnessing All Might get thrown against a broken tube of experimental quirk mixture and subsequently manifest multiple quirks, made the reasonable (but entirely erroneous) assumption that all the quirk energy and complicated substances flying around had resulted in All Might being started along the path of Nomu transformation. 

The fourth, that with smoke and flames still obscuring both normal and heat vision, when “Endeavor” grabbed a rudely awakened Nomu from its broken tube and sped off through the air with it, AFO made his second reasonable but entirely erroneous assumption of the day— that Endeavor was escaping with his Nomuified combat partner. AFO, of course, could hardly let such a convenient incapacitation of his greatest enemy go, and chased after the flaming Hyper Vigilante (who had anticipated such an outcome while planning for Nomu theft, and thus arranged to cross paths with the real Endeavor along his escape route, transferring AFO’s ire to said unsuspecting target.)

Rody, of course, knows nothing of this, and collapses from the strain of receiving almost 200 years worth of stockpile strength as All Might manages to deactivate all the vestige quirks, staggering to his feet.

“[This is… not my problem, actually.]” Kurogiri says, unblinking yellow eyes gazing at the two of them. After a second, he departs through a portal without further explanation.

“[What just happened? ]” Rody asks. All Might says something in Japanese, and then helps Rody to his feet.

“[I’m not entirely sure, my boy— are you all right?]”

“[Vaguely.]” Rody says.

“[No one will know who I am while I look like this, so we’ve got to leave before other heroes show up on the scene… I think I know someone who might be able to parse out what has happened with our quirks, actually.]” All Might says. “[Unless you have a better idea?]”

“[I was in Otheon a few hours ago, so… no].” Rody says, kicking at a stray piece of wood. “[Let’s go to your friend.]” If he could trust anyone in Japan, it would be All Might. “[And then I’d like to get back to Otheon. Preferably as quickly as possible.]” 

“[I’ll see what I can do.]” All Might says, and for the extremely tired Rody, that’s more than good enough.

All Might’s friend turns out to be a teenager named Midoriya, with green hair, bright eyes, and a tenuous grasp on the English language. He and All Might converse in rapid Japanese that holds the tones of concern and confusion for a few minutes, and some scribbling in a notebook occurs before All Might once again turns to Rody. 

“[So?]” Rody asks. “[What happened?]” He’s horrified to find out that he’s somehow absorbed half of All Might’s quirk, which was passed down through multiple holders in order to become the powerhouse it is today; the quirk-stealing villain All for One, who All Might had thought was dead until Endeavor smashed up the Nomu lab, is probably the most dangerous person in the world, and the quirk One for All is possibly the only thing capable of defeating him. And now it’s split in half, and apparently there is more to it than All Might ever knew, since he’s manifested the quirks of the past holders— unfortunately, without the stockpiled strength, All Might can’t be All Might, as it were, which is kind of a problem. An even greater problem is that if Rody activates the strength stockpile that he now holds, there’s at least a 50% chance he’ll explode and die. Because nothing in this world can be simple, apparently. 

“[Young Midoriya, however, says that AFO trying to take Endeavor’s quirk— and for some reason failing— is what caused this. So all that has to be done is get AFO to try and take your quirk while I am in the vicinity; the stealing will not take, because no part of OFA can be stolen, but it will “loosen” the stockpile within you so that it will find its way back to me.]” All Might says, and as much as Rody would love to give back All Might’s quirk— he does not want to explode— the idea of being close to AFO again is terrifying. 

He had to get back to Roro and Lala, without an explosive quirk inside him, as soon as possible— but how long would it take, to try and get All for One to do what they wanted? 

“[Do you have a phone I could borrow?]” Rody asks. Midoriya hands him a cellphone, and Rody immediately calls one of the few trustworthy neighbors he knows to watch out for the two, he’ll pay them for it, promise— hopefully, this debacle will end in the next day or so, but he has to make sure his siblings will be okay in the meantime. 

“[How are we even supposed to find All for One?]” All Might wonders.

“[Er… he’s chasing Endeavor through Musutafu.]” Midoriya says; his English isn’t as good as All Might’s, but he’s understandable.

“[That would do it.]” Rody says.

Out of all the things that Rody thought he’d be doing this week, sitting in the back of an armoured car driven by Japan’s number one hero while they pursued a 200-year old quirk thief villain was not one of them. The trio make their way to the edges of a city called Musutafu, and Rody can see a gathering of people on a hill beside a warehouse, near a treeline.

“[Why are we here?]” Rody asks.

“[Calculations of Endeavor’s trajectory as he flies away from All for One show that they’re going to end up here.]” All Might says. Midoriya says something in Japanese, suddenly looking very worried.

“[What did he say?]” Rody asks. The group of people on the hill continue to fight and argue, completely unaware of the nearby car.

“[That AFO must be powerful if even Endeavor is running away… provided it’s actually Endeavor at all, that is.]” All Might translates, and Rody frowns. Why wouldn’t it be Endeavor?

“[Here he comes.]” Midoriya says, and Rody looks up to see a flaming comet being pushed through the night sky by an almost invisible force of shadow that cannot be anything other than All for One. The two crash into the ground next to the people on the hill.

Unfortunately for everyone, more things proceed to happen.

Chapter Text

“Why are more people showing up??” Shigaraki yells, staring at the crater; his eyes widen in surprise, though, when the smoke and fire clears, revealing none other than Enji— and a tall man in a creepy-looking helmet. “ Sensei? ”

“ What did you call him?” the Hyper Vigilante asks, looking stricken.

“Sensei. Cause he’s my Sensei.” Shigaraki says, and Shouto gets a terrible feeling.

“Oh, this was not in the plan.” the Vigilante mumbles.

“The plan to destroy all your enemies for you, correct?” the man in the helmet asks, stepping back from Enji, who looks like he’s gone through the wringer; there is something terrifying here. It’s in the command of the man’s voice, in the fear on Enji’s face, in the way the helmet man stands in the crater as though it was his royal hall. “I’ve caught wind of your manipulation attempts, Hyper Vigilante; inspired and audacious they are, to attempt to lead me around. I’m even more curious as to your capabilities— to transform into a top hero, and replicate his quirk without a quirk yourself? To steal one of my Nomu, and send your location once you had all your pursuers gathered, so that I would arrive and do them in? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like you.” the villain says; he sounds amused, and Shouto is frozen, stock-still with a terror he can’t place. “Wouldn’t it be funny if the same day that I defeated my greatest enemy, another one rose up? How very poetic… but before we get into this, Hyper Vigilante, I’d like to know— where did you put All Might?” The villain holds a hand in the air, and flexes his fingers. “You can tell me now, or you can tell me later, when you’re bleeding out in a Nomu tank. Your choice.” He glances around at the gathered group. “As for everyone else here… Tomura, why don’t you and your little League get some practice in, and kill them all? Don’t worry about Endeavor— you can leave our country’s perpetual second to me. Oh, but you’re number one now, aren’t you, Endeavor? All Might isn’t really… in condition to be a hero anymore, after what I did to him not a short while ago.” the villain finishes, laughing, and Shouto can find no words to describe the horror lancing through him. This villain had— hurt All Might? Enough to end his hero career? 

“Shouto— Fuyumi, Natsuo! Get out of here, he’s dangerous!” Enji says, noticing them.

“There’s nowhere they can go that they will be able to escape me. Nowhere anyone will.” the villain says, and Dabi suddenly breaks out of the crowd and steps forwards.

“Endeavor’s mine, actually.” he says, grinning. “Just as soon as his children are killed in front of him, at least.”

“And that’s been going just how well for you so far?” Toga asks.

“Shut up!” Dabi hisses. 

“Score’s still four-zero.” Toga says.

“Five-zero, actually.” a voice says, and Shouto looks up to see a person made out of purple mist phasing into existence. 

“Kurogiri! Finally!” Shigaraki says.

“Shut up .” Dabi repeats, and grabs Natsuo by the collar; Shouto makes an aborted forwards movement as his brother is thrown into the crater between Enji and the villain.

“Natsuo!” Fuyumi cries. 

“Let’s see how your luck handles this. ” Dabi spits.

“If you haven’t realized just how doomed you are, Hyper Vigilante, a demonstration might be the thing to help with that.” the villain says, turning his palm to face Natsuo, who lies in the dirt where he’d fallen, staring up with terrified eyes; Enji is frozen still, too, staring in horror at his son.

Shouto moves. He’s not the only one; the line of ice he sends forwards is twinned by Fuyumi, and a great black armoured car suddenly roars over the hill, heading directly towards the villain, who immediately flies up into the air. Shouto realizes, belatedly, that the currents of ice will very quickly collide with the car— nope, the villain has bounced off suddenly stretchy air above him, and been thrown against the ground at the same speed he flew from it, and—

CRUNCH.

Well, Shouto thinks, looking at the sandwich of frost and fender, that ought to do it.

“Got him!” Gentle Criminal cheers, high-fiving La Brava.

“What the frick. No, seriously— what the frick. ” Dabi complains, gesturing emphatically at the entirely unharmed Natsuo, and a gunshot rings out with a boom as a bullet suddenly buries itself in the villain’s shoulder, which to Shouto seems a bit like overkill. Then the villain moves. Okay, not overkill. The next thing that the villain does, though, is get teleported out by the misty Kurogiri guy— along with Shigaraki, Toga, and Dabi— so maybe a good amount of damage had been done after all.

“[Did he disappear?]” a voice asks, strangely, in English; poking his head out one car window is a European-looking boy, and looking out of the other window is none other than Midoriya’s Yagi-Sensei.

“[Seems like it.]” Yagi says.

“You got him, though!” another voice says, and Midoriya himself is looking out a third window, because why wouldn’t he be, at this point?

“Seeing as the original plan doesn’t appear to be in the cards anymore…” the Vigilante suddenly starts, and Shouto jerks in surprise; he’d practically forgotten the other was there. “…I think the MLA might appreciate having those who injured their leader in captivity.” Before anyone can do anything, the Vigilante has dashed forwards and swung into the window of the armoured car; he tries to wrestle the wheel away from Yagi, but then the entire car interior explodes full of glowing green-black tentacles, the wheels spin at quickly shifting speeds, purple smoke billows from the windows, and the whole thing, with everyone inside, starts floating away.

“What.” Shouto says, because there’s really no proper response to this turn of events.

“This’ll be an INCREDIBLE video!” La Brava cheers.

“Where do you think they’re going?” the Nightgun asks, climbing down from her tree and looking up at the car as it grows smaller and smaller, disappearing into the night sky.

Enji, it appeared, had passed out, likely from the stresses of his previous combat with the villain followed by almost seeing Natsuo get crushed to death. 

“Now what?” Natsuo asks; he’s still sitting in the dirt, looking shaken, but also relieved. It seemed like his luck had held out after all. 

“ Now, there are many mysteries to be uncovered.” Gentle Criminal says, dramatically. “Let us meet here tomorrow, after we have all had some well-deserved rest; there is much to think over and recover from.”

*** 

Izuku hadn’t thought events proceeding from the hero ranking announcements would have resulted in him kicking his own evil clone in the head in a car that was spinning at incredible speeds through the air, but that’s what was happening now, and Izuku was doing his best to make the most of the situation.

“Yagi-Sensei! Can’t you shut any of the quirks off?” Izuku yells; Blackwhip is filling near every spare space and spilling out the windows while Smokescreen hides all movement, and the car shifts gears and speeds as it flies. Or, rather, it’s being lifted through the air by Yagi, as he’s pressing against the ceilings or sides of the car by Gearshift, which he absolutely cannot control.

“I assure you, my boy, I am trying!” Yagi says, and the car does a barrel roll as the Vigilante finds himself unequipped to drive a car that’s being controlled by the wild emissions of quirks more so than anything else.

“[Why are there two of you?]” a very stressed Rody asks; Izuku takes a few moments to remember the English word for ‘clone,’ and offers it as a response. Rody, holding tightly onto his seat, does not look reassured.

“[ Evil clone.]” Izuku continues.

“[I hate my life.]” Rody mutters, the little pink bird on his shoulder squeaking in terror; Yagi and the Vigilante are still struggling for control of the vehicle when a button on the dashboard is kicked, and green gas suddenly starts coming out of air vents.

“Oh no.” Yagi says.

“What do you mean, oh no? ” Izuku shrieks.

“That was the, er, sleep gas. For knocking out unwanted passengers. Ideally used while wearing a gas mask.” Everyone processes this for a moment as the car continues to hurtle through the sky, hundreds of meters up in the air. 

“Oh no .” the Hyper Vigilante says, frantically trying to get out the window, and Rody’s pink bird passes out; after a few seconds, so do the rest of them.

Izuku wakes up very uncomfortably in a blessedly unmoving car that appears to have crashed directly into a vast forest.

“Why are we not dead?” he asks.

“The Hercules Car is made to go through villain fights unscathed, a little hard landing won’t hurt anyone.” Yagi says, trying to sit upright.

“[Where’s the evil clone?]” Rody asks. Izuku looks around, and realizes the Vigilante is nowhere to be seen.

“[He doesn’t sleep, does he? The sleep gas wouldn’t have worked on him… so, what, he bailed out the window and left us to die?]” Izuku asks. It seemed like the most probable option.

“[He doesn’t sleep? ]” Rody asks.

“[The Hyper Vigilante is a creation of a quirk, not a real person.]” Yagi explains.

“[Oh.]” Rody says, frowning. “[That’s weird. ]” The trio clambers out of the incredibly misplaced car, which is not in much of a position to be driven, mostly because of all the trees.

“Look!” Izuku shouts, pointing. “There’s like— a giant house, over there!” 

“[Where even are we?]” Rody moans; the answer, according to Google maps, appears to be in the depths of a huge forest adjacent to Jaku City.

“The house is probably our best bet.” Yagi decides.

Let it be known that Izuku is not enthused with malicious coincidences.

“[What did he say?]” Rody asks. “[It’s not anything good, is it?]” No, Izuku thinks, it definitely is not , because according to the man in the winter coat currently threatening them with massive amounts of ice, they’ve just wandered onto Meta Liberation Army territory and must either explain their presence or die for the glory of Destro and All for One. Faster than he ever has before, Izuku analyzes the situation; while he doesn’t know what a Meta Liberation Army is, he knows what an All for One is, and decides that they’ve stumbled across some sort of secret villain fortress run by their ultimate enemy. The appellation of army implies lots of villains, which usually wouldn’t be much of a problem for Yagi, but thanks to recent events, now is not usually. He has six quirks he can barely control, not to mention that Rody has stockpiled power that might explode him, and Izuku, of course, is quirkless.

Wait.

Izuku remembers, almost as if in a dream, one of the points of information Yagi had given him about All for One: that he could take and give quirks, and was quite probably the only person in the world able to do so— at least, with the exception of the holder of One for All.

“We’re here to join up.” Izuku says, fake-brightly, and while everyone is staring at him like he just spontaneously exploded, he gestures to Yagi. “This is Yagi, he’s one of All for One’s favorite agents; go on, show the Meta Liberation guy all the cool quirks All for One gave you!”

“My name is Geten.” Meta Liberation guy mutters, and Izuku can’t see much of his face underneath the hood, but he looks suitably impressed when Yagi manifests energy tentacles, purple smoke, and starts floating.

“You better come see the higher-ups, they’ll decide if you’re what you say you are. Not like it’s possible to get quirks from anyone but All for One, though.” Geten says, waving the three towards the building. 

“[What did you tell him?]” Rody hisses. They were stuck here at least for now, for better or for worse; at least they weren’t dead. Izuku wasn’t sure if that was much of a consolation.

***

“HEY!” Dabi yells. “I was going to kill Endeavor’s kids, what—“

“I have a standing order to teleport Sensei and all his allies back to a hideout if he ever becomes significantly injured.” Kurogiri says, smoothly. Dabi glares at him; he hadn’t appreciated being teased for accidentally poisoning himself, and this was an even worse situation. Debatably. (Dabi wasn’t entirely sure how he’d survived beyond sheer force of will, but being asphyxiated wasn’t something he’d like to repeat.)  

“Wait— what?” Shigaraki asks.

“It appears that being driven into by an armoured car was not a pleasant experience for Sensei.” Kurogiri says, notes of amusement in his voice. “Garaki will be healing him up right about now… thankfully, I wasn’t able to report that Natsuo had joined your League before Endeavor interrupted, so Sensei has no idea of the connection he has with us.”

“There’s no connection. ” Dabi snaps, but he’s ignored entirely.

“Sensei said that he put All Might out of commission.” Shigaraki says, after a moment.

“I’m afraid to say I cannot tell one way or another whether that’s correct.” Kurogiri says.

“Oh.” Shigaraki says; he sounds like he doesn’t know what to think.

“When Sensei awakens, since he’ll be wanting revenge against all who were able to injure him, I foresee the League being sent on kidnapping and murder missions in short order.” Kurogiri says, and Shigaraki snaps his fingers. 

“We can use this to our advantage— everyone else there was hunting the Hyper Vigilante, so the more of them we get, the closer we’ll get to him!” he says.

“Your Sensei is scary. ” Toga says, after a moment. She’s wrapping her arms up in bandages that Natsuo had found for Dabi previously.

“How quickly will he be able to recover from what happened?” Dabi asks, flopping down onto a sofa.

“Quickly. Regeneration quirks, and all.” Shigaraki says.

As a matter of fact, it’s not even an hour before the bar’s television screen crackles to life.

“Sensei!” Shigaraki says.

“I have a mission for you. Your followers, too.” All for One says. “Quite the initiative, to go collect some minions of your own— I approve.” 

“Hello, Mr. Sensei!” Toga calls, waving at the screen.

“ Mr. Sensei? ” Dabi asks her incredulously.

“Hello, Toga Himiko.” All for One says. “On the run since you stabbed your classmate Saito, blood-based transformation quirk that was suppressed for most of your life, avid follower of Stain.”

“What— how’d you know that about me?” Toga asks.

“I know everything.” All for One says, and Dabi feels the weight of the villain’s gaze on him. He didn’t know who Dabi was— did he?

“Takeuchi Tetsuya. Killed your entire family, received impressive scars while engaging Endeavor in a firefight, has been taking increasingly immoral jobs in the criminal underworld for approximately the past four years; goes by the pseudonym of Dabi currently, has an incredible vendetta against the Flame Hero. Did I miss anything?” 

“Not really.” Dabi says, grinning, because it would be far more suspicious to be seen trying to hide his smile. He knew making himself a fake identity, even one that he never used, would pay off; going around without a discoverable backstory as the mysterious Dabi was sure to attract attention, so he’d gathered a little something for any secret-seekers to find so that the name of Todoroki Touya remained unknown until he revealed it himself. “You’re a real big shot, then?” Obviously not enough of a big shot to even remember dragging Dabi off Sekoto Peak and patching him up through a three-year coma, apparently; Dabi had awakened from his sleep to find himself in a body bag, his finally stabilized vitals somehow haven been mixed up with flatlined ones. He’d burned the creepy freaking laboratory up to make a surreptitious escape— what a surprise, to find that Shigaraki’s bar was the very same location! It was an interesting coincidence, Dabi thought, that fate had looped him right back to the villain who had saved his life.

It wasn’t luck , though. That was hardly Dabi’s providence.

“I have a job for you, League of Villains.” All for One says. 

“A job?” Shigaraki asks.

“All Might is out of commission; I’ll hunt him down and finish him off in my own time, as well as the so very interesting Hyper Vigilante. He’s intelligent, powerful, and talented— but he’s reached too far, and he’ll soon find his hand cut off. I’ll keep him, I think. As for those who managed to injure me… well, that kind of thing really cannot stand. Tomura, Himiko, Tetsuya, Kurogiri— here is the list of those who must either be killed incredibly painfully, or be captured and brought back to suffer a fate worse than death: 

1- the entire Todoroki family. I know you’ll have your fun with this, Tetsuya.

2- Gentle Criminal and La Brava, a woefully small-time villain duo who post their hijinks on YouTube.

3- Lady Nagant. What? Yes, she’s alive, she’s the Nightgun; I kidnapped her and placed her in cryosleep years ago when she was to be put in Tartarus, and the HSPC covered it up by saying they’d executed her, but I lost track of where I’d stored her after my battle with All Might. I can only assume that two years ago, she was somehow released.

4- whoever was driving that car. Believe me, I will find their identity very, very soon.”

Chapter Text

“Natsuo still won’t text me back.” Fuyumi complains, slamming the car door shut; it’s the next morning, and she’s driven herself and Shouto back to the hill beside the old warehouse.

“I’m worried about Midoriya.” Shouto said. He’d received a rather frantic message indicating that Midoriya and Yagi were unharmed, if in a bit of a situation— also, the Hyper Vigilante had vanished again. “And All Might.” The villain the night before had indicated that he’d put All Might out of commission, and now today, All Might hadn’t appeared; Enji had released a statement concerning the unknown villain who had chased him across Musutafu, but the statement hadn’t really clarified much. Enji had, also, promised Shouto that he’d defeat both the Hyper Vigilante and the unknown villain, but Shouto knew better than to put stock in his father’s promises.

“Why was Natsuo with those people? Especially that Dabi — he wanted to kill us!” Fuyumi says. 

“You know Natsuo better than I do.” Shouto points out; he’s confused, too. Shigaraki had called the mysterious villain Sensei — Toga had been extremely stab-happy— and then there was Dabi, of course, who had confidently declared his murderous intentions. It seemed like Natsuo was getting himself into trouble, and Shouto hoped this wasn’t going to turn out badly.

“Miss Todoroki! Oh, but you appear to be missing a brother.” Gentle Criminal calls, bouncing up the hill with his diminutive companion, who is wearing a backpack. Walking just behind the two is a girl about Shouto’s age in an expensive-looking leather jacket, with her hair in a huge ponytail.

“I don’t know why Natsuo didn’t show up.” Fuyumi says.

“Who are you?” Shouto asks.

“I’m Yaoyorozu— pleased to make your acquaintance.” the girl says, bowing. Shouto bows back; at least someone here knows how to be polite. 

“She’s the Nightgun.” La Brava says.

“ Really? ” Shouto asks. Yaoyorozu nods, and he feels impressed. “Everyone thinks you’re Lady Nagant.”

“I’m wearing my vigilante costume under my jacket, just in case.” Yaoyorozu says. “There’s been a lot of crazy events recently, so I want to be ready.”

“Let’s go inside, shall we? It wouldn’t do for someone else to stumble across us while we make our plans.” Gentle offers, gesturing towards the warehouse.

“Aren’t you two villains?” Shouto asks, once they’re all sitting down on boxes. Gentle and La Brava have brought a portable stove and tea set for some reason, and are serving everyone.

“Gold Tips Imperial are imperative for coming up with plans of action.” La Brava says, by way of explanation.

“Oh, I love that kind of tea!” Yaoyorozu says.

“This has caffeine in it, doesn’t it?” Fuyumi asks.

“I think we need caffeine, at this point.” Shouto says, sipping his own tea. It is good.

“We may be villains, Todoroki, but we are sophisticated ones— and we simply cannot let the Hyper Vigilante continue on his way. We’ve been pursuing him for longer than we received the Oracle’s poem, you know; he and those Meta Liberation Army people are such annoyances. The quirk supremacy theory is something that simply must not be allowed to reign; while the way this society functions is already travesty, I truly fear for what it might become should the strongest be able to simply take their way. It’s not as though they don’t do that enough already… La Brava and I are quite strong, but the anarchy and chaos such a situation would cause would truly be tragic, and those caught in the middle would suffer terribly.” Gentle explains, and Yaoyorozu leans forwards to stare at him.

“You know about the MLA?” she asks.

“Of course! Their lead hacker— Skeptic, or something— got so angry when I broke through his silly little guards and swiped some info— to give him some credit, doing so was slightly difficult.” La Brava says, sounding quite proud of herself. Yaoyorozu blinks.

“Do you know where they’re based? I’ve been trying to hurt their plans for years, and if we can call the heroes to their main hideout…”

“In a giant villa, in the forest beside Jaku City.” La Brava says. 

“All this time.” Yaoyorozu sighs. La Brava opens up a laptop.

“The Hyper Vigilante is a quirk.” Shouto says. If they’re going to be allying with these people, best that all relevant info is shared. “Three years ago, there was a villain with a cloning quirk; he died after somehow creating a clone that is simultaneously Endeavor and my friend Midoriya, and now three years later, the Hyper Vigilante is… causing problems for everyone.” What would be its plans now that it could no longer impersonate Shouto’s father? How would it try to fulfill the dual goals of its originals— to become a hero?

“The MLA are going to start a war. They have an entire army and realms of funding; things will start going bad in a year or less if they keep continuing this way.” Yaoyorozu says. “They have the Yaoyorozus and Detnerat supporting them— we have to stop the war before it can begin.” La Brava and Gentle Criminal look at each other.

“We aren’t really in the habit of fighting other villains… but a war? That would be terrible for publicity, absolutely terrible .” Gentle says.

“Think of all the views we’d get if you defeated an entire army, Gentle!” La Brava says. “I can just imagine it now… the whole world would know your name, and you’d look so incredibly handsome saving society!”

“I would , wouldn’t I.” Gentle muses.

La Brava’s computer, which has finally finished loading up, beeps twice; each note sounds different.

“What does that mean?” Fuyumi asks.

“Two things.” La Brava says, eyes sparkling. “Firstly, there's an android somewhere within a mile! Which is very cool, but probably nothing we need to worry about. Secondly, that I was running a program looking for any signs of the Hyper Vigilante… and you would not believe what I found.” She types some things into her computer, grinning. “Detnerat technology, protected with the particular code that Skeptic invented , stacked up with some tech from Endeavor agency, used as a makeshift death trap lock on the door to a massive underground safe— from what I can tell, the safe used to have its own electronic death trap lock, something really creative and hard to get through, too, but that was incinerated.”

“How are you able to get so many details?” Shouto asks, and La Brava points at the floor.

“Proximity. It’s right below us.” 

Shouto helps Gentle push a crate across the warehouse floor, revealing a trapdoor.

“It has to be the Vigilante— who else has access to both MLA and Endeavor Agency tech?” La Brava says.

“You deactivated the death trap, right?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“Of course!” La Brava reassures her. The five of them soon are making their way down a ladder— once they’ve all finished their tea, that is. No point letting something good go to waste. At the base of the surprisingly long ladder is a small circular room, and a vault door with a weird tech thing that Shouto cannot understand attached to it; La Brava presses some more buttons, and the vault door swings open, revealing a large rectangular room with blueish-gray walls. A desk with a computer on it sits next to a file cabinet, and filling the rest of the room are gigantic tubes of blue liquid, one containing a monstrous-looking corpse and the others empty, all in orderly rows— and at the very end of the room is something shaped like a giant half-sphere, covered entirely in a white cloth. 

La Brava runs immediately to the computer, Gentle following her, but Shouto is staring at the creature in the tube closest to the entrance; unlike all the other tubes, which are dusty and dark, this one has been cleaned off, and the liquid shines with a pale light. 

“What is it?” Shouto asks.

“It’s undead. Made with stolen bodies and multiple quirks— this place is a storage space for the villain All for One, who I think is the one that attacked Endeavor last night. He hasn’t been here in years, though; I think the Hyper Vigilante has more or less appropriated it.”  La Brava says, summarizing what info she’s found on the computer. Shouto, while he’s still trying to fit this mind-boggling information inside his brain, suddenly sees Yaoyorozu standing before the sheet-covered half-sphere. She pulls the covering off, revealing a strange pod-looking thing.

“Is that a cryofreeze chamber?” Fuyumi asks.

“Looks like it.” Gentle says, walking over. The group watches as lights inside the pod flick on, revealing a frost-covered window hiding the still form of a woman, wearing what looks like a hero costume, who rests as though asleep, eyes closed. Shouto squints; the woman seems strangely familiar.

“That’s Lady Nagant.” Yaoyorozu says. Oh.

“Guess she’s not dead, then.” Shouto says, unnecessarily.

“Wait, what are you doing? ” Fuyumi asks, for Gentle has reached out and flicked the button to wake Nagant up; the cover is already sliding off the pod, and cold mist flows into the room.

“Shhh! I’m videotaping!” La Brava says.

“Dear viewers— it appears we’ve come across none other than the long-thought-dead hero Lady Nagant! Supposedly executed ten years ago for killing another hero… I think the Hero Public Safety Commission has been caught in yet another lie—“

“What?” Nagant asks, opening her eyes and interrupting Gentle Criminal.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, my dear.” he says.

“Oh my God. ” Fuyumi says. Shouto is inclined to agree with her. Nagant sits up, pushing her hair out of her face, and looks around in sleepy confusion at all of them.

“Last I remember, they were sending me to Tartarus, but then a villain showed up, and—“

“—put you in here!” La Brava says.

“Where you’ve been for the past ten years. Most people think you’re dead.” Gentle says.

“Unless they think you’re Yaoyorozu.” La Brava says.

“ Unless they think you’re Yaoyorozu.” Gentle agrees.

“ …what? ” Nagant asks.

***

“Natsuo,” Dabi determines, “is being watched over by a god of luck.” It’s the only possible conclusion, really, he thinks, staggering backwards as the white haze of pain begins to blind his brain. It should not be this hard to get Natsuo killed, and yet. Dabi grabs the mantel of the bar’s main room, holding himself upright; the death-trap he’d set up for his brother had snapped while he was hiding it, and launched a sharpened metal pole directly through his side. Blood is dripping to the floor all around his feet, and he grimaces, sitting down. Okay. He can survive this; he refuses to die until he’s killed Endeavor, after all, not even if legions of demons rise from the Pit to claim his soul. Not that they don’t already have it claimed, hah. Dabi knows where he’s going when he dies— what’s important is that he’s not dying anytime soon. Now, how to safely remove the pole impaling him? 

Due to the fact that Dabi lacks any medical knowledge whatsoever, he looks up the solution to his current predicament on his cellphone.

“Oh, frick. ” He’s spitting up blood, that’s a bad sign, right? He feels like he can’t breathe, and isn’t sure if he’s getting any air in at all. “Check if any vital organs were hit.” Dabi reads, deciding to ignore the inconvenience of being unable to breathe for now. Right… anatomy chart… compared to where the pole is stabbing him, looks like it went straight through a lung. Ouch. No wonder he can’t breathe. He shakes his head, trying to concentrate through how much this utter stupidity hurts, and reads that a collapsed lung leads to death in minutes. Well, he can’t have that, so he just decides he won’t die, which seems to be working as a survival strategy so far. Next, he supposes he should pull the pole out and cauterize the holes so he doesn’t lose more blood. 

“AAAGH— oh mY GOD—“

Hurts a lot, but he gets it out and burns the wounds closed; he’s feeling better already. Dabi pushes himself to his feet and chokes up some more blood. Kurogiri’s gonna hate cleaning this, he thinks vaguely, and then wanders up the stairs to rest until morning. Attempts at killing Natsuo can wait until he sleeps this off. 

The following morning, he feels a lot better, but breathing still feels like it’s giving him trouble. The previous poisoning probably wasn’t much help with that either, Dabi thinks, leaning on the railing as he makes his way downstairs to find Shigaraki talking with Natsuo.

“—Sensei lost a lot of memory after his fight with All Might, so I figure… oh, Dabi, finally!” Shigaraki says.

“You woke up late . ” Toga comments.

“I’m lucky I woke up at all.” Dabi laughs.

“So it was your blood that was left so inconsiderately all over the floor?” Kurogiri asks. 

“I didn’t start bleeding out on purpose! ” Dabi snaps.

“How did you accidentally stab yourself with a foot-long metal pole?” Natsuo asks.

“Probably with the crossbow on the mantel.” Shigaraki says, gesturing. Natsuo sighs.

“That was meant for me, wasn’t it?”

“Got it in one.” Dabi says, giving his brother a peace sign. 

“Are you all right?” Natsuo asks, next. Dabi stares at him. “Look, you lost a lot of blood, okay? I’m worried!”

“You shouldn’t be. I’m trying to kill you, in case you haven’t noticed.” Dabi points out.

“I’ve noticed.” Natsuo says, deadpan.

“We all have.” Kurogiri says.

“The score is now six-zero.” Toga announces. 

“Shigaraki, can’t you just kill him already? Your Sensei did say to get rid of all the Todorokis.” Dabi says.

“I’m not going to kill my friend. Or his family. Well, maybe I’ll kill Endeavor.” Shigaraki says.

“Hey, I’m going to kill Endeavor!” Dabi protests.

“With a crossbow?” Natsuo asks, looking amused. Dabi growls at him.  

“ Okay. The plan to destroy the MLA is still on, but I’m not sure what to do about the Hyper Vigilante. He tried to manipulate Sensei. That’s insane . He also stole a Nomu for some reason? It was a cloning quirk Nomu— the original version, too, which is really annoying— this possibly means that we’ll have to deal with more Hyper Vigilantes in the future, if he gets the Nomu to clone himself. I hate respawning enemies.” Shigaraki says. “Of course, the biggest problem is figuring out how to kill Sensei, preferably before he kills me .”

“Maybe we could get whoever hit him with a car to do that again.” Toga offers.

“Do you know what the only thing that’s stopping me from just walking up to Sensei and decaying his face off is?” Shigaraki off. “Kurogiri . ”

“Unfortunately.” Kurogiri says.

“You said something about that before, didn’t you?” Natsuo asks.

“I am a Nomu. Sensei created me to serve him and take care of Tomura, and as much as I despise it, the former command always takes precedence over the latter. Tomura is taking a terrible risk by letting me listen to these plans at all; I will be forced to tell them all to Sensei if he asks a question I cannot get around, and I cannot attack nor actively act against him on my own initiative. If Tomura tries to kill Sensei, I will have to do everything in my power to prevent him from doing so. In Sensei’s own words: the hour your control breaks is the hour of your death .” 

“Oh.” Natsuo says.

“That’s terrible!” Toga says. “I’m so sorry, Kurogiri… you aren’t free , and that’s the most important thing in the world.”

“That fricking sucks. ” Dabi says. He can’t even imagine living like that.

“Is that our priority, then, while we’re acting like we’re hunting down Sensei’s kill list?” Natsuo asks. “Finding a way to save Kurogiri?” 

“Yes. The other main priority is not letting Sensei transfer the AFO quirk to me, because as awesome as such an upgrade would be, it also would mean he can possess me. And… acting like? ” Shigaraki asks. “The only ones on the list we won’t be killing are your family—“

“I’ll be killing them.” Dabi says.

“—I don’t care about the rest. Don’t care about your family either, but you’re my ally, so you need to get what you want, too.” 

“Hey, I’m your ally, too! What about what I want?” Dabi asks. Shigaraki considers this.

“You can kill Endeavor.” he decides.

“Seriously?” Natsuo asks. 

“Nobody likes Endeavor.” Toga says.

“Fuyumi does!” 

“You should care more about yourself, Natsuo. Buy some video games! Have some fun! Destroy some buildings! Commit some murder!” Shigaraki says, morbidly encouragingly.

“Oooh, I can show you how to stab people!!” Toga offers, bouncing on the sofa.

“I can show you how to die.” Dabi offers. “Extra painfully.”

“Murder is a very useful skill.” Kurogiri says. “It’s something you’ll probably have to learn if you’re to stick with this group, I think.”

“What is wrong with all of you? Why are you like this? Why are you murderers? ” Natsuo asks. 

“Oh my God, Natsuo, you can’t just ask someone why they’re a murderer.” Toga says. Everyone stares at her.

“Was that a Mean Girls reference?” Kurogiri asks.

“You know Mean Girls?” Toga asks, lighting up. Natsuo slaps his hand into his face.  

“I’m going to destroy the world.” Shigaraki says. “It’s all worthless, it doesn’t deserve to survive; if Sensei doesn’t kill All Might, I will, because he’s done the worst thing of all— make people think they have hope, have some reason to live on this doomed planet. He pretends everything is all right while everything is dying , while the world rots underneath the sparkly facade of heroes. I’m going to get rid of it all, Natsuo, kill everyone, except for that and those my friends care about— and that way, we can start again, and the world will be forced to become a better place once the little which is left rebuilds itself from its own ashes.”

“Oh.” Natsuo says, looking stunned. “That’s… wouldn’t it be better to fix what’s already here?” 

“No.” Shigaraki says. Natsuo doesn’t seem to know how to respond to this.

“You’ve already heard my story.” Toga says.

“And mine.” Kurogiri says.

“Not yours.” Natsuo says, looking at Dabi, who grins.

“You want to know my story? Why I’m like I am?” Dabi asks.

“Sensei said something about you fighting Endeavor? And killing your family?” Shigaraki asks. I wish, Dabi thinks.

“You’ll find out my story in time. Trust me.” he says.

“Trust you?” Natsuo asks. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“No.” Dabi says, and there is almost a tragedy in his words. “You don’t.” It was only a matter of time; sooner or later, Natsuo’s luck would run out. Sooner or later, Dabi would be owed some luck, too— oh, who is he kidding? Touya was lucky, once; but Touya is dead, and Dabi is all that remains. 

Chapter Text

“[I called Mom yesterday and told her I was staying over with Todoroki for the night— I hope he won’t mind.]” Izuku says. “[She’ll be worried, though, if I don’t go back home soon today.]”

“[I’m worried.]” Rody says, which is entirely fair; the three of them are currently being led to meet the leaders of a villain army, which is not a good situation in any circumstance.

“[I will make sure we all get through this, I promise. That was some remarkably quick thinking on your part, young Midoriya.]” Yagi says. 

“Stop speaking in English!” Geten complains. “I don’t know what you’re saying, and that’s suspicious.” With his hood off, Geten is revealed to be surprisingly young, with long white hair; he reminds Izuku a bit of Todoroki.

“Who are these three, Geten? New recruits?” a voice says. Izuku looks over to see a woman with blue skin and purple hair approaching; she examines them curiously. “An old man and two teenagers— oh, are you from Otheon? That’s interesting.” she says, getting into Rody’s personal space; he leans back from her, holding his hands up in front of himself, and his pink bird— Pino, Izuku thinks— hides in his jacket pocket.

“Old guy claims to work directly under All for One, and he’s got the quirks to prove it— how many?” Geten asks.

“Six. I have not trained enough to use them all perfectly just yet, unfortunately.” Yagi says. Because he got them all yesterday.

“Six?” the woman asks. “That is truly marvelous! Who are you, to get such a gift from All for One? What did you do? I must hear the whole story!”

“You’ll hear it when he tells our leaders, Curious.” Geten says. An appropriate name for her, Izuku thinks.

“I insist on a personal interview later, though!” Curious says, leaving Geten to look up with starry eyes into Yagi’s sunken face.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Yagi says. The three of them are led into some kind of giant main hail, with a ceiling that stretches upwards past multiple flights of stairs to far above. Multiple paintings ring the walls, and a group of people are sitting around a round table.

One of the MLA leaders turns out to be the freaking owner of Detnerat, because an entire villain army isn’t enough without infinite support items. 

“I am Re-Destro. This is Trumpet,“ here Re-Destro gestures to a stylish man in a fancy suit, “Skeptic,“ a tall, willowy man with unnecessarily long hair, “Yaoyorozu Syouma and Kanami,” a man covered in scattered golden scales and spines; an austere woman with voluminous black hair put up in a ponytail— wait were those the owners of Yaoyorozu Pharmaceuticals— ”and you’ve already met Geten and Curious, I see.” 

“Now, you introduce yourself.” Mr. Yaoyorozu orders.

“My name is Yagi Toshinori— if you are wondering why All for One has not mentioned me previously, it is because I have been fulfilling missions mostly in silence and secrecy; only recently have my efforts paid off, and in return I received the gifts I now hold.” Yagi says, and Izuku feels impressed; it makes sense, though, that Yagi is good at hiding his identity. He’s managed so for years, after all.

“Skeptic?” Re-Destro prompts, and the long-haired man immediately begins typing away on his computer, and shows the results to AFO.

“He seems to have just appeared twenty years ago; there’s no records of him that I can find before then, and all current information seems to indicate he lives a rather unobtrusive and inconsequential life— with the exception of the huge periods each day in which he regularly drops entirely off the map, to be found nowhere. However, since four years ago— exactly the time when All for One fought All Might and was injured— Yagi has a period of complete disappearance, before returning; from then until now, his periods and length of mysterious disappearance are entirely changed from their schedule before.” Skeptic summarizes.

“What I do for All for One is not exactly available on the internet; I trust the continual periods of disappearance are enough evidence for you.” Yagi says, spreading his hands, and Izuku feels like laughing.

“Your story is accepted. What about these— teenagers?” Re-Destro asks.

“These are my, er, successors— still in training. Young Rody does not speak Japanese, I’m afraid, and—“

“I’m the Hyper Vigilante.” Izuku says. Literally everyone stares at him, and he wonders if he’s made a mistake; he has no idea of the level of cooperation the Vigilante has with the MLA, after all. Skeptic starts typing again, and then hisses a breath through his teeth.

“He’s not lying; I searched this building’s camera records to check if there’s ever a moment where underneath the Hyper Vigilante’s mask can be seen, and it’s definitely him.” 

“Why didn’t you say that before?” Geten asks.

“Because I can do what I want.” Izuku says, crossing his arms, and entirely aware he is making a huge gamble.

“We’ve been waiting for you to officially join us for ages! Your work is appreciated by all of us, truly— especially what you’ve done to keep off that ghastly Nightgun.” Mrs. Yaoyorozu says. The best thing to do with a cult-like thing like this is appeal to their ideology, Izuku thinks vaguely, except he has no idea what the MLA wants, which is a bit inconvenient.

“I do what I can for those who truly know the way the world works.” he says. That ought to do it, right?

“Very glad to have you on board, Hyper Vigilante, you and your companions— I think there’s a lot of information we need to catch you up on.” Re-Destro says. They were in— now, they just had to get out.

***

“What?” Momo asks. “You were— an assassin? For the Commission?”

“There’s a reason they were going to put me in Tartarus for life.” Nagant says. Gentle Criminal has given her some tea to warm up with, which she seems to be grateful for even as she tells the story of a truth that shatters Momo’s world beneath her feet, La Brava eagerly recording. “Hawks is their newest one, I’m sure; he’s the number three hero, now, you said? I remember him as a boy; the Commission trained him from childhood. Cute kid, really. It’s too bad he’s ended up like me.” 

“We have to do something about this.” Momo says. She’s always wanted to be a hero— but what’s the point, if the people who run the system are little better than villains, getting rid of everyone who doesn’t fall into line?

“The Commission had always been angry that they couldn’t control All Might and Endeavor, because those two tend to do whatever they want and do it extraordinarily well; are they still numbers one and two, ten years later?” Nagant asks.

“It’s complicated.” Fuyumi says. “Recently, Endeavor was made number one, but it’s not through his own efforts— for the past three years, he’s been being impersonated by a clone.” 

“Excuse me?” Nagant asks.

“The Hyper Vigilante— he switches between being a clone of Endeavor and that of my friend, and he’s helping an army of villains get ready to destroy all of society, so we’re trying to, well, get rid of him. He’s created by a volatile quirk, so he isn’t an actual person.” Momo explains.

“Maybe we should just let the villains destroy society. It kind of sucks.” Nagant says.

“You can’t say that!” Gentle says.

“It does suck.” La Brava points out. 

“Agreed.” Shouto says.

“Guys.” Fuyumi complains.

“No society destruction will be occurring.” Momo says, and pauses. “Except for whatever society they have at the HSPC.” 

“I guess I can live with that.” Nagant says. “Oh… they’ll be surprised to see me again, I’m sure.”

“Not particularly, probably, since everyone thinks you’re the Nightgun vigilante.” Shouto says.

“That’s me. I’ve… kind of been impersonating you. At first it was by accident, but then I leaned into it to protect my identity, since I thought you were dead.” Momo admits.

“I’ve killed vigilantes.” Nagant says. Momo takes a step back from her. “Always liked them, though. The Commission must be worried that you are me, but probably not convinced, because you haven’t done much against them— have you ever encountered the hero Hawks, Yaoyorozu? You are young, to be in such a dangerous profession as vigilantism— but this is our world, isn’t it? One where heroes are not heroes, and if they are, they aren’t enough.”

“I’ve met Hawks twice. Once, as myself; my parents brought me to one of those hero charity galas, and he was there. He’s very charismatic— but there’s another side to him. He came after me when I was being the Nightgun, too— aiming to capture, and saying things I did not understand, because he thought I was you. I… tried my best to keep my answers vague, and convince him of that fact; I don’t know if it worked, or not. Either way, he was a hard opponent, and I only barely managed to escape.” Momo says. She remembers that night— Hawks was the fastest person she’d ever fought, and thank heaven for her quirk, which allowed her to be spontaneous and unexpected constantly, where he had to make do with the same attacks. She had set his wings on fire with a heat ray, and then escaped with a smoke grenade; he had been relentless, dangerous, and he had asked questions pertaining to a life that did not belong to her.

“I helped train him, did you know that?” Nagant asks, and then she sighs. “Perhaps I am lucky to awaken in the presence of those who are willing and ready to release my story to the world— perhaps, we do not have to make the change ourselves, but ignite the rest of the world to do what I could not. And if worst comes to worst— I’ll just shoot the President again.” 

“Oh, this is incredible.” La Brava suddenly says, pulling a USB key out of the computer in the corner. “There’s a hacking program on here that’s super ingenious, I’m keeping it, I can’t wait to take it apart and use it to make mine better— also!! There’s a lot of blackmail material, and information on terrible experiments, and even more things I haven’t the time to sort through— all compiled by a villain named All for One.”

“Chances that that’s the mystery villain we fought last night?” Gentle asks.

“High, with our luck.” Fuyumi says. The Todoroki siblings did not often have luck, but every now and then, brief instances of wonderful coincidences occurred. They’d only begun after Touya’s death, which led Fuyumi to wonder if his spirit was watching over them.

“You fought All for One?” Nagant asks, her voice full of horror.

“Probably.” Shouto says. 

“How did you survive?” 

“Someone hit him with a car.” Momo says. It sounds ridiculous even to her own ears.

“That’s impossible.” Nagant says, flatly. Gentle Criminal responds to this by showing her a cellphone with the video of said event; Momo watches as the ex-hero’s eyes grow wide in shock.

“Is that the Hercules?” she asks, finally.

“The what?” Shouto asks. 

“The car. It’s identical to a prototype design David Shield was planning to invent for All Might— no one believed he could fit everything into it that he wanted to, and if it’s complete ten years later, I can only assume he made it exactly how he was envisioning it, and with more added besides. I’ve had gear made by Shield before… he doesn’t sell something if it’s not exactly how he wanted it to be, or better.” Nagant says. 

“You’re saying that’s All Might’s car?” Fuyumi asks.

“Without a doubt.” Nagant says. Everyone stares at the car on the paused screen. “Also, that is definitely All for One. God.”

“Didn’t All for One say he put All Might out of commission?” Momo asks, remembering, but Shouto suddenly frowns, and skips the video forwards, revealing three people looking out of the car. 

“My friend’s mentor, Yagi, was driving the car— he says he’s an underground hero. That’s my friend, Midoriya— he's Yaoyorozu’s friend, too— I don’t know who the other boy is.” he says.

“That’s All Might’s car.” Nagant repeats. “An underground hero— who is he? And— wait, what’s happening?” Nagant watches as the Hyper Vigilante clambers into the car, which then erupts into a bundle of quirks before sailing off into the sky.

“I was going to question that part, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to.” Momo says. She’s still baffled.

“That Yagi— he has multiple quirks. And— oh, I do not like this at all.” Nagant says.

“Don’t like what?” Fuyumi asks. 

“Those quirks, I recognize them, they’re… Nagant closes the video and starts looking up names on the cellphone. “Lariat, a pro hero; see, the Blackwhip was his quirk? AFO killed him. The haze of purple smoke… En, another pro hero— he and Lariat were friends, actually— he was killed by AFO, too. Finally, the way the car just floats off— Shimura Nana, pro hero, killed by AFO, friends with En. Her quirk was, well, Float.” The online articles about the years-gone heroes do not mention their causes of death, listing all as from a mystery villain, but the information on their quirks is clearly stated. “The Commission has always been worried about All for One— if they had ever found out where he was hiding, I assure you, I would have been sent to kill him posthaste.” 

“I don’t like this either.” Shouto says. Momo, rather nervously, agrees. “Why does— Midoriya’s hero mentor— have the quirks of long-dead heroes? How is it even possible to have multiple quirks?”

“Oh, that’s easy. All for One can take and give quirks to people.” Nagant says. 

“I sense some kind of grand conspiracy, my dear.” Gentle says.

“Perhaps Yagi used to work for All for One, and so received the quirks of murdered heroes as rewards! But then— he saw the errors of his ways, and began to train your friend to be a hero, and hit his former master with a car!” La Brava says.

“We have to find this Yagi person. I have a lot of questions I need to ask him.” Nagant determines. 

“Do let us finish compiling and collecting evidence and sources for your tell-all video on the HPSC first, though! This will be a blow to those villains greater than any of our efforts could produce on our own… ah, no wonder the world does not reward those who simply want to do their part, and make life better for all— no wonder it does not reward those who are different, but heroes at heart all the same! But we will shake the earth, La Brava; we shall shatter the illusion! Long has it been since I desired to walk on the right side of the law, to climb the hero rankings and receive fame for my name alone— but your words have inspired something in me, Lady Nagant! Something that has long been hidden… it is unfair, a tragedy, a travesty what happened to you, what happened to all those who found themselves at the end of your gun! It is a horror to imagine what acts Hawks might even now be carrying out… to imagine what goes on in the depths of that great grey building, the Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters! I propose we take them down, La Brava, reveal Nagant’s words to the world according to her wishes, and see what we can do to save the hundreds that suffer under this system— to prevent others from turning out like her, like you, like me!” Gentle announces.

“Oh, Gentle…” La Brava says, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. “You are so passionate, so magnificent, so driven! I never thought… do you really think we can fix what broke us? It will be our love, it will be Nagant’s hope, it will be the despair that brings hope— ” it will be the truth that rocks the world, and together, you and I, we will truly be something wonderful after all. I always believed in you, Gentle— I always knew you would find a way to bring our lives to the heights, and now here we are, ready to carry the entire country with us!”

“While you two are being sentimental, do realize that All for One will most assuredly want revenge on everyone who participated in injuring him. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those purple portals that pulled him away opened right now and he walked out of it to explode us all.” Nagant says. Way to ruin a moment, Momo thinks.

“I’m sure we’re safe for at least a short while longer.” she says; naturally, it’s exactly this time that a purple mist portal begins to spin into existence in the center of the room. 

“And that’s why we don’t speak of the devil.” Shouto says. 

Chapter Text

“Who are we going after first?” Toga asks.

“There’s a perfectly good target right here!” Dabi says, gesturing at Natsuo, but Shigaraki shakes his head.

“The villain duo— Gentle Criminal and La Brava. They should be easy enough to find, with their videos.” he says, rolling a chair up to a computer desk. “Let me just run Sensei’s finding-people-program… huh.” 

“Huh?” Natsuo asks.

“La Brava is a hacker. That’s cheating!” Shigaraki spits, slamming his computer shut. 

“And you can’t cheat better?” Natsuo asks, amused. 

“Maybe I can. ” Shigaraki suddenly says. “Sensei has a lot of hidden storage vaults and laboratories all over the country— one of them has, like, some kind of ultra hacking program in it, right, Kurogiri?”

“The location of that particular storage vault is currently unknown to Sensei— it’s one of the many memories he lost in the aftermath of his fight with All Might, and he never told its location to me.” Kurogiri says. Shigaraki narrows his eyes.

“But you know where it is, don’t you?” he asks.

“Of course.” Kurogiri says, opening a portal. Natsuo looks at the misty disc with trepidation, and wishes he’d been able to meet up with Fuyumi and Shouto at the hill, but no, teleportation kidnapping. He watches as Toga leaps through first, quickly followed by Dabi and Shigaraki, and decides that staying alone in the bar hideout is probably a terrible idea; so possibly against better judgment, he climbs through the wavering purple— and almost immediately gets shot at.

“Stop shooting, that’s my brother! ” he hears Fuyumi yell, and quickly taking stock of his surroundings, finds that he’s in a rectangular metal room full of gigantic tubes; looking around said tubes are Fuyumi, Shouto, Gentle Criminal, La Brava, the Nightgun, and— another Nightgun? Well, this proved she was Nagant, Natsuo thinks, looking at the two women; one is wearing the Nightgun’s usual outfit, with a featureless mask, a tight grey battlesuit with strangely shaped zippered pockets, and a mantlet on one arm to balance out the gun that made up the other. The second woman is wearing what Natsuo vaguely remembers as Nagant’s hero costume; a dress with a wide belt, tall boots, and a visor. Both women have identical hair— a voluminous purple-pink tied up in a high ponytail. Nagant too has her arm transformed into a gun, although hers is a significantly different style. Two Nagant… that meant more cloning, didn’t it. Wasn’t an Endeavor clone already more than enough? 

“Would you look at that… so many targets, all together!” Shigaraki says, and lunges forwards, but his legs get caught in a sticky grenade launched from the Nightgun’s weapon; he doesn’t manage to disintegrate it before he lands on his face. Nagant tugs out a strand of her hair, and shoves it into the handle of her gun; she fires a shot, but Dabi creates a sheet of flame that crosses the vault room like a shield, instantly incinerating the attack. Natsuo notices that the League is between everyone else and the door out of the room, which is… a problem.

“Can everyone stop trying to kill each other? Please?” he asks.

“No.” Shigaraki says.

“No.” Dabi says.

“No.” Toga says.

“Our plan here is to destroy the MLA—“ Natsuo starts, but he’s interrupted.

“You’re going after them too?” the Nightgun asks.

“We are.” Kurogiri says.

“ Kurogiri! ” Shigaraki complains. 

“I mean, you seem to have given over your previous goal of killing All Might entirely—“

“I have not! I still hate him, he’s still everything terrible about society, I’m going to destroy him!”

“Sensei is under the impression he’s disabled All Might significantly, and you haven’t even asked me anything about that.” Kurogiri says.

“It needs to be a proper boss fight!” Shigaraki whines.

“Natsuo, who are these people?” Shouto yells, over the roar of Dabi’s fire. 

“They’re villains.” Natsuo says.

“Little Todoroki Shouto, is that you?” Dabi calls. “Come on out, and let’s have some fun— your life is mine to take!”

“Ignore him, he’s kind of insane.” Natsuo says. “Dabi, stay away from my siblings.”

“If any of you get any closer, I will shoot you.” Nagant says.

“No need— I can just incinerate you all from where I’m standing.” Dabi says, generating a massive fireball and hurling it across the room at Shouto; Gentle Criminal, however, steps out from behind a tube and punches the fireball. Before Natsuo can really process this decision, the fireball stretches as though it’s made of rubber, and shoots back towards Dabi, who ducks; the fire continues to pinball around the rectangular room, bouncing off glass tubes with pinging sounds.

“What.” Dabi complains.

“Do you think the time will run out when the fire is on our side of the room, or yours?” Gentle asks. The fireball speeds past him, ruffling his extravagant collar. 

“I wanna stab someone!” Toga whines.

“Stab Dabi, then.” Natsuo says.

“Hey!” Dabi protests. “Stab Natsuo!” The fireball continues to bounce through the room at increasing speeds, producing constant background noise, and Natsuo suddenly finds that Toga is advancing on him with a blade in her hands; before she can take more than a few steps, though, the ping-ponging fireball slams directly into her, knocking her off her feet.

“Don’t worry, Natsuo, I’ll just stab you a little!” Toga says, leaping up and dashing towards him again; she’s barely on her feet when the fireball throws her to the ground once more.

“I suggest not stabbing me.” Natsuo says. Everyone watches as Toga gets decked by the bouncy fireball for the third time in a row.

“This is ridiculous .” Dabi complains. “Give me the knife, Toga.” The fireball not only clocks Dabi upside the head the moment he points the knife in Natsuo’s direction, but also explodes in his face, the time limit on Gentle’s quirk having just then ceased; he staggers backwards, coughing and spitting out smoke.

“New rule: no stabbing Natsuo. It’s for your own safety as much as his.” Shigaraki says.

“Thank you.” Natsuo says. Dabi, with a disgusted huff, crosses his arms and leans against the wall, still trying to recover.

“I hate you all.” he says. 

“You work for All for One, correct?” Nagant suddenly asks.

“Technically yes? But I’m also planning to kill him.” Shigaraki says.

“You can’t just tell people that!” Kurogiri says. “If he finds out we’re working against him—“

“Kurogiri, you’re a security risk bigger than the download file of Baldur’s Gate 3 , you don’t get to talk.”

“What does that even mean? ” the Nightgun asks.

“Do you know who Yagi Toshinori is? He was the person who hit All for One with the Hercules yesterday, and very clearly has multiple quirks— and only AFO can give quirks to people.” Nagant says.

“What?” Shigaraki asks. 

“The Hercules?” Natsuo asks.

“The armoured car. David Shield built it specifically for All Might.” Nagant says.

“What were these multiple quirks?” Kurogiri asks, and Nagant lists purple smoke, green-black tentacles, and flying; Natsuo remembers all these vaguely, but in truth he hadn’t been sure if he wasn’t hallucinating, what with all the insanity of the night before.

“Ah.” Kurogiri says. He does not elaborate.

“I think I can find where the Hercules car went, actually, if it’s as unique as you say.” La Brava says. 

“There’ll have to be a truce first.” Shouto points out.

“ Never. ” Dabi spits.

“Truce.” Shigaraki says, to Dabi’s horror. “I need to find out who hit Sensei with a car, so that I can ask them to do it again. Last time was glorious. ” 

Everyone except Dabi cautiously gathers in the center of the room, and Natsuo watches as the Nightgun and Nagant both deactivate their arm-guns; Nagant’s turns to something like liquid before folding back inside her elbow, and the Nightgun’s glows with pink light before being reabsorbed in pieces into her skin. Why were their quirks so different? The clone’s version of Enji’s quirk wasn’t any different, was it? La Brava opens her computer; Natsuo stops thinking about arm-guns, and shifts over to stand with Fuyumi and Shouto.

“What are you doing with villains? ” Fuyumi hisses.

“What are you doing with villains?” Natsuo asks.

“He’s got us there.” Shouto points out. Dabi gives them the middle finger.

“First, I just have to find the car’s unique technological signature… where’d you see the prototype last time, Nagant?” La Brava asks.

“Commission files… there’s no way I’ll still be able to get into those, though.” Nagant says.

“Do you have an old passcode? I might be able to engineer that to break the firewall.” La Brava says, and when Nagant gives her one, some typing and scrolling green letters occur before revealing a page full of folders. “Got to do this quickly before they notice the breach—“ La Brava drags a few random document folders into her USB as well as the one of ‘copied support item prototypes (vehicle)’ and then clicks out of the page just as green letters start scrolling on black again. She takes a deep breath, and then pulls up the stolen folder, clicking through until the most recent Hercules version.

“How did the HPSC even get that? It’s Shield-patented, right?” the Nightgun asks, leaning over La Brava’s shoulder.

“He had to show it to them to make sure it’d be legal in Japan, because of the potential for sheer destructive capability. There are slots for over twenty different weapons.” Nagant says.

“Slots?” Shigaraki asks.

“For customization of the vehicle. They’ll fit anything from a flamethrower to ballistics to grapple launchers to a gigantic articulated robot tail.” Nagant explains.

“That last one was… specific.” Toga comments.

“It came up, for some reason.” Nagant sighs.

“Found it!” La Brava says, zooming in on maps. “The Hercules car is… in the middle of the forest beside Jaku City?” 

“Isn’t that where you said the MLA was based?” Fuyumi asks.

“You know where the MLA are based?” Shigaraki asks.

“Their fortress is only a short walk from where the car is.” Gentle Criminal says, pointing at the map.

“The Hyper Vigilante had jumped in the car when it flew off, and he works with the MLA— did he take Yagi and those two other boys hostage?” the Nightgun asks.

“Other boys?” Toga asks. 

“There were two other kids in the car with Yagi.” Natsuo remembers, and then he frowns. “One of them looked just like the Hyper Vigilante, actually.”

“The Vigilante is a clone of my friend Midoriya.” Shouto explains.

“I can teleport us all to the car right now, if you’d like.” Kurogiri says.

“Yes! Then we can turn everyone in the MLA to dust! ” Shigaraki growls, clenching his hand into a fist. “I’m going to kill Sensei’s army, make him regret that he ever thought he could control me— and then, when I’m the most powerful villain in the world, I’ll destroy All Might and everything he stands for.”

“One thing at a time, maybe?” Natsuo asks. 

“Side quests before the main quest.” Shigaraki acquiesces. 

The entire pack of them troop through a portal into a forest, where a black car lies on its side in a pile of branches; it looks like it fell out of the sky.

“There’s a mansion right over there.” Nagant says, pointing through the trees.

“Are you just— going to attack it? You don’t even know who you’ll be fighting.” Fuyumi says. Shigaraki frowns.

“They have an army. An entire army. ” the Nightgun says. “Hundreds of fighters, ready to kill and die for the cause; the backing of Detnerat and Yaoyorozu Pharmaceuticals, as many support items and as much money as they want. I’ve been trying to put chinks in their armour, nicks in their blades, for two years; I like to think I’ve managed something, but it’s nowhere near enough. And I can’t just call heroes here… even if a team was sent, the MLA would slaughter them. The heroes would need to bring an army of their own, and… there’s nothing I can do for that.” 

“We can just walk up and start torching and dusting the place.” Dabi says, but he sounds unsure.

“How many of you here can fight?” Shigaraki asks. Natsuo and Fuyumi are the only ones who deny said ability.

“Shouto, you can’t!” Fuyumi says.

“I’ve been trained my entire life. I can go up against some villains.” Shouto says.

“Natsuo can fight, can’t he?” Toga asks.

“I’ve thrown a punch once or twice, but that’s it.” Natsuo says. Toga giggles.

“No, silly, you don’t have to attack them! Just wait for them to go at you—”

“I don’t like this strategy.” Natsuo says.

“I do.” Dabi says.

“—and then they’ll all kill each other by accident!!” Toga says.

“There’s no way it’ll work like that, Toga, you can’t weaponize it.” Shigaraki says. 

“Why not?” Toga asks.

“What are you even talking about? ” Nagant asks.

“Try to shoot Natsuo.” Shigaraki says, by way of explanation.

“Do not try to shoot me. Please.” 

“We need someone on the inside.” the Nightgun says, interrupting the debate, for which Natsuo is thankful. Just because he’s a little bit lucky doesn’t mean he can be used as some kind of— siege weapon???

“I believe La Brava and I could volunteer for that tactic.” Gentle says, looking to his companion for confirmation. “We are villains, after all… and unlike your team, have no direct link to All for One.”

“Yeah, except for being on his hit list.” Shigaraki says. Gentle seems to have not considered this.

“We can go undercover!” La Brava says, excitedly. “We just need disguises… oh, but this’ll be so fun!”

“What kind of disguises?” the Nightgun asks; La Brava lists some paraphernalia, and the Nightgun proceeds to pull those exact things out of her oddly large pockets. Everyone stops talking.

“Did you just… have those?” Shouto asks.

“It’s not like I created them out of thin air.” the Nightgun says. 

“Well, no, but that’s weird .” Dabi says.

“ You’re weird.” the Nightgun retorts.

***

As soon as Gentle Criminal and La Brava have bounced out of earshot, Shigaraki turns to the rest of the eclectic group.

“We’re following them.” he says. “Those two can… test the defenses. We can judge what we’re going up against by how many pieces they return in— if at all.”

“That’s kind of inconsiderate.” Momo says, although she’s not really expecting Shigaraki to listen.

“Kurogiri— teleport us all to the villa’s roof!” Shigaraki orders, and one puff of purple mist later they’re all trying to catch their balance on tiles.

“At least ask first!” Shouto complains.

“Now what?” Toga asks.

“One level down.” Shigaraki says, and they all get taken through a portal again.

“Why didn’t we go to the top level the first time?” Natsuo asks.

“Because I wasn’t thinking things through. Now— time to find the Hyper Vigilante!” Shigaraki announces. Momo looks around to where they’ve landed; they appear to be inside someone’s personal bedroom, which makes her feel a little uncomfortable. Intruding on someone else’s private space— even if they were a villain— wasn’t right. Momo follows the rest of the group out of the room and down a hallway, which leads towards a balcony; Shigaraki pulls up short.

“Down there.” he says, stopping everyone before they walk onto the exposed space. Some levels below, there appears to be some kind of conference going on. “That’s Sensei.” The villain with the strange mask who had attacked the previous night— All for One, Momo supposes— is talking with Re-Destro, Momo’s parents, and some others; the rest of the MLA leadership, probably. Momo leans her face on her chin, adjusts her mask, and looks down at them; she misses the way that things used to be.

Momo had been twelve, the day her father just… changed. He and her mother had been gone for a few days, which wasn’t unusual, because of business trips and all. Upon returning, there had been a new kind of tension between the two of them, and Syouma hadn’t come to catch up with Momo the way he always did after business trips— that was the first sign. Following this, he and Kanami had redecorated the entire house for some reason— mainly, getting rid of a lot of things that Momo remembered helping her father choose. It was time for a new style, he had said, he didn’t like the way things looked anymore. Syouma barely spared any time for Momo after this— Kanami had always been distant, more concerned with money and business ventures than her daughter, but Momo and Syouma had had something special. He’d supported her wanting to become a hero, and helped her learn the academics necessary to manage her quirk; he truly praised her successes, and was the reason Momo saw value in helping others. What had Kanami convinced him with, to get him to be almost constantly helping her project, what was this thing they were so focused on? That they had left Momo for?

It had taken Momo a year to fully understand, but eventually, she’d learned the truth: her mother was a villain, and Syouma had found out about her secret achievements and joined her, his personality somehow changing almost overnight as he immersed himself into this new world. The two of them were helping run a cult with plans of countrywide anarchy, plans that Momo had realized were very close to fruition. She needed to do something, couldn’t just stand by, but she feared what would happen should she speak plainly; so she made a mask and an arm-gun, and went looking for answers. What she found was a weapons shipment— and it had only taken a few carefully aimed bullets to stop the shipment’s travel and get the heroes to come running. Thus, the Nightgun was created, and once started, Momo couldn’t make herself stop; she was being a hero, she was hindering villainous plans, she was helping the world where her parents seemed intent on ruining it. Soon enough, the MLA weren’t the only evil she was going after— and then there was crossing the Hyper Vigilante, deciding to impersonate Nagant, making friends with Midoriya; these things are what turned her mission into a legend.

Now here she was, in the very heart of the danger, surrounded by enemies, and friends, and people in-between.

“There’s Yagi, and the Hyper Vigilante, and the other boy who was in the car.” Shigaraki says.

“That’s Midoriya.” Shouto says. “It’s after ten in the morning, so he can’t actually be the Hyper Vigilante, he’s just saying he is.” Thank God Momo had figured out that quirk— or, at least, most of it. She was still stumped as to how there could be two clones in one, never mind the clones still existing after the villain had died.

“What does the time have to do with it?” Toga asks.

“Right, you don’t know— the Hyper Vigilante isn’t just a clone of Midoriya, he’s also a clone of Endeavor. For half the day.” Shouto explains.

“What?” Dabi asks.

“There have been two Endeavors for the past three years.” Momo clarifies.

“You said something about that before, didn’t you?” Nagant asks.

“ What? ” Dabi asks.

“What are Midoriya and Yagi even trying?” Natsuo asks. Dabi’s face is doing something extremely complicated.

“Probably some convoluted plan. Ehhh… all of that is stupid, let’s just get rid of the big bosses while we can. There are too many people here to just attack them directly, though…” Shigaraki says, looking down at the MLA leadership consideringly. “Kurogiri, you could probably drop something heavy on them from a portal— wait, what are you doing?” 

“Sensei is calling me. I have to leave.“ Kurogiri says, stepping back and vanishing through a portal. Everyone stares at the space he disappeared from.

“Well, that’s inconvenient.” Nagant sighs.

“We’re in luck. He didn’t go far.” Momo says, pointing downwards; a misty portal has appeared on the floor below, revealing Kurogiri and All for One himself.

“I wouldn’t really consider that luck. ” Shigaraki says.

Chapter Text

“Can you run that by me again?” Burnin asks. “I don’t think I really… got it.”

“I don’t understand it particularly well either.” Enji admits. “All I know is that I lost a fight, and there’s a villain out there claiming he defeated All Might— whom, need I remind you, no one has seen on patrol yet today.” The previous night, Endeavor had found himself assailed by a villain of surpassing power— one so strong, in fact, that Enji had been forced to battle on the defensive and draw the villain out of the main city so as to avoid collateral damage; but had he been leading the villain, or had the villain been directing him? Evidence pointed towards the latter. Completely exhausted from the fight, Enji remembers only vaguely the villain’s speech, and the faces of all the people who had been there on that hill, watching; but Natsuo was one of them, and a man covered in scars had thrown Natsuo before that villain to die. Enji had frozen— he was already beaten, his son was in danger, what could he do that would not doom them both? What could he do to prevent the death of yet another child— hundreds of options had spun through his mind, but fear for Natsuo stopped him from acting on any of them. He was supposed to be a hero, and he couldn’t even save his son. Shouto and Fuyumi had been forced to act, moving when their father didn’t. There had also been a car. All Might’s car. Perhaps All Might was not as defeated as the villain had assumed. Either way, though— once Natsuo had been saved through the sheer luck that always seemed to follow him, Enji remembers the world had gone dark for a brief moment, and he’d awoken with his children waiting for him; when he’d asked what had happened, they didn’t have anything to share. He did not blame them, not when he’d failed to save Natsuo; not when if it hadn’t been for timely intervention, Enji would have lost a third son.

“I remember that the air turned bouncy, that’s how Shouto was able to hit the villain at all— and that villain duo that was at the ranking announcement events, one of them has that quirk. Who are they, again?” Enji asks.

“Gentle Criminal and La Brava. You think they have answers?” Burnin asks.

“If they don’t, my children do, but they haven’t been inclined to tell me anything. Which… no wonder they have no trust in me, after the Hyper Vigilante. I have to fix this— I have to catch him. The villain I fought last night named the Vigilante his enemy, too.” Enji refused to let last night’s mystery remain unsolved; he’d find everyone involved and get answers out of them, and make sure these forces could never threaten his family again. He was Endeavor— there wasn’t anything that could stand in his way.

And, maybe, if he managed this, he’d be at least a little bit more worthy of being a parent again. All these years, all that he’d sacrificed, all that he’d done— what was it worth, when he couldn’t reach number one without the help of an imposter? An imposter who had been tormenting his family for years— and the worst part was that no matter what the Vigilante did, no one had thought anything was wrong, because what Enji already did was more than bad enough. Because the Vigilante had done no more than copy him.

“Hyper Vigilante spotted.” Burnin says, suddenly; Enji looks to see her showing him a news channel on her cellphone, of which the main story is Endeavor having successfully executed a rescue of people out of a burning building. Which of course is impossible, because Enji is right here.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get him!”

***

“Now what are we supposed to do?” Iguchi Shuichi asks. Predictably, there’s no answer.

“I can’t believe your apartment burned down.” Shinsou Hitoshi complains, because out of all the terrible things to happen, this was one of the worst.

“We’re alive, at least. Thanks to Endeavor.” Shoji Mezou says. Out of the three boys, he was the most optimistic; he and Shuichi had met each other three years previously, and having been in the same situation of running away from home because of the treatment they’d faced due to their mutant quirks, the two had bonded, and currently Shuichi was Mezou’s legal guardian. Hitoshi was a more recent addition to the group— having made friends with the two at a video game convention, he often went over to their apartment to hang out, since they were some of the few who wouldn’t bother him over his quirk. He and Mezou were going to become heroes: the UA entrance exam was in a few months and Hitoshi was getting ready as best he could. If there was anyone who could become a hero that was worth looking up to, Shuichi said, it would be them. Shuichi… didn’t have a high opinion of most heroes. He did like Eraserhead and All Might, though, which is what mattered.

“All we have left is the few things we were able to save.” Mezou says, holding onto a duffel bag. “Most of our money was in the bank, so there’s that, but where are we supposed to stay until the apartment is made livable again?” 

“There’s this… Meta Liberation Organization, or something, that keeps reaching out to me, since I align with their values or whatever.” Shuichi says. “They have free housing for people who join… I’m not sure if they’d be willing to take a teenager, though.” 

“We can give it a try.” Mezou decides.

“Worst comes to worst, my mom will probably be okay with you staying at my house for a while.” Hitoshi says.

“Really?” Mezou asks.

“Yes, really. You’ve met her, remember? Our house has that spare room downstairs for when my cousin visits, but he hasn’t come over in ages. There’s enough space there for both of you.” Hitoshi says.

“One day you’ll have to tell us about this mysterious cousin.” Shuichi says, picking himself up off the pavement and looking at Endeavor, who’s talking to newscasters. “It’s still weird to me that he entertains publicity now.”

“Um.” Mezou says.

“What’s the matter?” Shuichi asks. Mezou points up into the sky; visible approaching are two motes of light, green and orange. Burnin and Endeavor. Wait.

“Why are there two of them?” Hitoshi asks. The other Endeavor was getting closer rather quickly.

“I think we’re about to find out.” Shuichi says, as Endeavor v2 lands on the road, Burnin beside him; the newscasters scramble backwards in terrified confusion as he stalks towards his double.

“Found you.” he says— and the first Endeavor launches himself directly at the second with a flaming fist attack.

“Move, move, move!” Mezou says, and the boys all scramble to get out of the blast radius as the Endeavors, plus Burnin, take to the sky. 

“What is happening?” Shuichi yells.

“There are two Endeavors.” Hitoshi points out, watching the identical heroes battle each other.

“Yes.” Shuichi says. “I noticed.”

“They’re pretty evenly matched, although the new arrival has Burnin helping him.” Mezou says, after a moment. 

“She can’t get that close, though; she’s probably not fire-resistant enough.” Hitoshi says, noting how Burnin seems to be staying to the edges of the fight while throwing projectiles. “I guess Endeavor’s fire can get hotter than hers.“

“Hers is green, though.” Shuichi says.

“That just means it has borax in it. I think.” Mezou says.

“What does borax have to do with—“ 

“Oh, look, one of them's slowing down.” Hitoshi comments, cutting Shuichi off.

“They’re both giving their all, trying to out-fire each other; the heat must be incredible, and we know Endeavor needs to cool down sometimes.” Mezou says. The boys watch as the second Endeavor falters, tiring, and the first takes the chance to break off from the fight and flee, which is monumentally un-Endeavor-like.

“Huh.” Shuichi says. The Endeavor that remains lands to cool down, and Burnin explains to the newscasters something about— a shapeshifting vigilante?

“Endeavor is the last person we need there to be an evil version of— who can even beat him, if the real one can’t?” Hitoshi asks.

“All Might?” Mezou offers.

“Probably.” Shuichi agrees.

“Wasn’t there something about Endeavor getting chased across the city by villains yesterday?” Hitoshi suddenly remembers.

“And where is All Might, anyway?” Mezou asks.

“We’ll find out the conclusion to whatever all this is in a few days, probably.” Shuichi sighs. “Come on, let’s take the train to Deika City, that’s where I was supposed to go if I wanted to join.”

“What exactly is the Meta Liberation Organization, again?” Hitoshi asks.

“Something about freedom for quirks, and a world where everyone can be accepted. Sounds a bit idealistic to me, but maybe idealism is what we need in this world.” Shuichi says.

“A little bit of hope goes a long way.” Mezou says.

“Yeah, if you’re lucky.” Hitoshi sighs.  

***

Enji is a good hero. Unfortunately, despite the Vigilante’s help in getting him to number one— a position he did not deserve for multiple reasons— the Vigilante did not seem to be a particularly good hero whatsoever.

“You set that apartment complex on fire to save people from it.” Enji growls, wrestling with his double while the two of them tumble through the sky, wreathed in flames. Burnin, thankfully, is swooping around as damage control and making sure their combat is kept away from other buildings. 

“How is my number of incidents solved supposed to rival yours, if I don’t create some? We both patrol the same routes— you’ll take all the business.” the Vigilante says. Enji can’t tell if he’s teasing or serious.

“What do you want with me, Hyper Vigilante?” he asks.

“With you? Don’t consider yourself special.., you’re just fortunate to be the one I find myself imitating. It doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter how— but I’m going to be the strongest hero. And now I’m number one.”

“Not you!” Enji roars. He continues attempting to beat the Vigilante into submission, but to his distress finds that they’re equally matched— and with all the fire flowing around, his quirk overheating was getting tiring, an ailment that isn’t seeming to affect his opponent. “And not me, either. It’s both of us, so it’s neither of us— and it will never be either of us.” He would never become the number one hero in a way that mattered. Not after all he’s done.

Enji is a good hero— but he is not a good man. For all the lives he’s saved, there are five lives he’s completely destroyed, too; his wife, his children. One of those lives is forever extinguished, and it’s because he set Touya alight and left him to burn. He hadn’t taken responsibility for how severely he’d hurt his son, which had sentenced him to death as effectively as the flames that finally took him. 

“I cannot take back what I’ve done; I cannot take back what you’ve done. But what I can do is put you behind bars for good.” Enji says.

“You can try.” the Vigilante says. And try Enji does, but it turns out that try is all he can do— the fire burning around them heats Enji’s quirk to near his limit, his muscles straining from the effort, and the Vigilante takes him faltering as a chance to flee. Hating himself, Enji lands to cool down, the pavement cracking and smoking at his steps; were they not equal in power? Why had the Vigilante not been as tired as he? Enji vaguely hears Burnin explaining an abbreviated version of the imposter situation to the newscasters, because with two Endeavors in the same place, there was really no hiding it any longer. How long would it take him to take the Hyper Vigilante down?

Perhaps there was a solution, he thinks, remembering a concern he’d pushed out of his mind on the night of the ranking announcements. An important concern. The usual form that the Hyper Vigilante took, his face was revealed as being identical to that of another boy— a boy whom, apparently, All Might had bought tickets to the ranking announcements for. That was certainly something worth looking into. After all the bother with the newscasters and the apartment building is dealt with, Enji turns to his sidekick.

“We’re going to find the boy that was at the ranking event, and find what cause the Vigilante has for impersonating him.”

From what can be found of him online, Midoriya is an altogether unremarkable boy, if a bit focused on heroes. He is also quirkless; this, plus the general lack of notoriety, indicate he is likely not the Hyper Vigilante himself, and instead another victim of impersonation. But while there are many things to be gotten from impersonating the number two— now number one— hero, the rewards possible from doing the same to a quirkless teenager are miniscule. However, some of what the Vigilante had said seemed to indicate that he didn’t have a choice as to who he was impersonating, which was very interesting indeed. And… once the adrenaline of the fight fades from Enji’s mind, he realizes that he’s met this boy before— three years ago, when he saved him from a villain who exploded a building down on his own head. A villain with a quirk that let him clone himself. 

That was an incident report worth looking at again, Enji thinks. Three years ago— that was when the Hyper Vigilante had first appeared, wasn’t it?

As Enji and Burnin make their way to Midoriya’s house, he thinks about the fact that the boy lives in the same town as him. Most likely not a coincidence.

“Oh!” Mrs. Midoriya says, upon opening the door; understandably, she’s shocked at two pro heroes coming for a house call. And then: “I didn’t think you’d bring them home, this is quite surprising, I thought it would be that young lady— are Izuku and Shouto with you?”

“What?” Enji asks, trying to make sense of her words— how had Shouto come into this? 

“Izuku— my son— he brought Shouto over for a bit yesterday, and they went out together, and later Izuku called me to say Shouto had let him stay over at his house… I really hope he wasn’t too much trouble, he must have been so excited to meet you, Endeavor—“

“Wait, wait. The boss’s kid was here yesterday?” Burnin interrupts.

“You didn’t know?” Mrs. Midoriya asks.

“No. And Shouto did not bring your son to my house, either.” Enji says. This did not sound good.

“If— if Izuku wasn’t at your house, then where was he? With Shouto, maybe? Wait, why are you here? Did something happen to them, oh God—“

“Calm down, please.” Burnin says, but Mrs. Midoriya looks like she’s going to start crying. Enji doesn’t have the time to deal with this. 

“Burnin, I’ll leave you to find out what’s going on here.” he orders.

“What— boss!” Burnin complains, but Enji has already taken to the sky. He has an old incident report to look up.

The villain that Enji had saved Midoriya from, had had the ominously named quirk of Hyper Clone. The Hyper Vigilante had long been thought quirkless—was it possible that he wasn’t a person at all, but the product of a quirk that wore the faces of those it had been last used on? This new information would be a worthy lead, and explain much, if it wasn’t so impossible. Any quirk-created semi-sentient entities would always disappear after the holder of the quirk was killed— and how was the Vigilante a clone of both Midoriya and Enji? While he’s pondering this, Burnin sends him two messages: the first, explaining how Mrs. Midoriya has no idea where Midoriya or Shouto are, but will be calling her son to try and figure that out; and the second, a report of Endeavor fighting a villain in Deika city. Enji charges his sidekick with finding the missing boys as fast as possible, and then flies off again— the Hyper Vigilante, be he clone or imposter, would not escape a second time. However… he and the Vigilante were equally matched in combat ability. If Enji was to win his next fight, he’d need some help.

Chapter Text

“I’ve been looking for you, Hyper Vigilante.” All for One says, after stepping through the suddenly appearing portal. Izuku makes an undignified squeaking sound, and wonders how on earth he’s going to get out of this.

“I notified you as soon as the Vigilante showed up, like you said.” Skeptic says, looking proud. “All for One, sir, we had no idea the Hyper Vigilante was working with one of your favorite agents— but this is wonderful!”

“One of my…” All for One says, trailing off as his terrifying helmet turns to face Yagi. This was bad. 

“Sensei.” the man made of purple mist interrupts. 

“What, Kurogiri.” AFO snaps, sounding nettled.

“There’s a possibility you could have, ah, forgotten, but I assure you that this man is an integral factor to many of your plans.” Kurogiri says, the light of his yellow eyes flickering with an indecipherable emotion.

“Is that so?” AFO asks. “He does seem familiar.”

“He has six quirks because of you.” Kurogiri says.

“I gave you six?” AFO asks, sounding shocked. He turns back to Kurogiri. “I gave him six?”

“He is very, very important— one might even say essential— to what you have set up to bring about society’s fall. To defeat All Might.” Kurogiri says, and Izuku suddenly understands; Kurogiri knows who Yagi is, and he’s gaslighting All for One about it, by using clever turns of phrase to lie while telling the truth. Who was this Kurogiri person? Who was he to AFO? What did he want from them? 

“Regardless— Hyper Vigilante. You and I are going to have a discussion.” AFO says, looking down ominously at Izuku. “Or would you rather I call you Midoriya Izuku?”

“How’d you know my name?” Izuku manages to say. God, there’s no way he can do anything to All for One, if even All Might at full power couldn’t beat him.

“I know everything.” AFO says. Izuku avoids looking at Kurogiri. “Well… I don’t know where you put that Nomu of mine you stole, but it would be in your best interest to tell me.” What was a Nomu? Why had the Hyper Vigilante stolen one? “Never mind where you went with All Might.” Another question that Izuku cannot answer, although for different reasons. “And I’m quite interested as to your motivations for taking Rody… I went to more than a bit of trouble trying to find him in the first place, you know.” That’s right, Izuku remembers, Rody had gotten kidnapped by AFO— but he hadn’t told them why. “But most intriguingly: how did you transform into Endeavor? For you are quirkless!” 

That’s… probably something AFO can see, Izuku thinks. Since he can steal quirks. 

“I do have a quirk. It's only available to me at certain times.” he says. Which is true, kind of? The certain time will start as soon as he’s actually given One for All. Which counts as his quirk. Probably. “You’ve, uh, probably noticed that the Hyper Vigilante doesn’t ever deviate from his schedule.” 

“A quirk that vanishes when it’s not active? How very interesting… you know, the only reason I’m taking the time to talk to you is because you’ve apparently decided to show yourself for once, and that wasn’t an opportunity I was going to pass up. But seeing that you’re a child… well. You’re quite intelligent, and have audacity the likes of which I’ve rarely seen, but I think… considering how you’re allying yourself with us anyway, some instruction might be in order.”

“What?” Izuku asks, and suddenly All for One’s hand is on his shoulder.

“Instruction I can provide; Izuku, you’ll make a fine addition to Tomura’s band of miscreants— he calls it the League of Villains, I believe.” Oh. Izuku isn’t sure if this is better or worse than getting incinerated. What was he supposed to do about this? And what about Yagi, and Rody? “Kurogiri— make us a portal back to base.” The mist villain of mysterious motivations creates a portal disc on command, and All for One gestures Izuku towards it with a movement that seems to make very clear what will happen if Izuku refuses. But… going to a second location, that was the worst possible thing to happen— and he’ll be alone. He looks back at Yagi, who asks seconds away from launching himself at All for One, even despite the quirk situation, and Izuku realizes; Yagi will doom himself to try and save him. 

“See you later.” Izuku says. He doesn’t have a choice— there’s so much he could find out like this, despite the danger! He can manage this, he can do it, he can be a quirkless hero. Izuku tries to get across with his eyes that he’s pleading for Yagi, for All Might, to let him do this; he’s terrified, there’s no way he’ll be able to do anything to AFO, but this is his chance. He can prove to everyone else, prove to himself, what he can do. Yagi’s eyes flicker to something over Izuku’s shoulder, at the far end of the room; and then, he nods. Izuku, filled with an awful apprehension but also a brilliant hope, steps through the portal. Well. He tries to. He can’t, unfortunately, because the portal has inexplicably become… bouncy? Izuku stumbles backwards, rubbing his face, and narrows his eyes at the solid disc the mist has somehow turned into. 

That’s all the warning they get before the door to the room bangs open, revealing someone Izuku vaguely recognizes— Gentle Criminal, a small-time villain. 

“You.” All for One says, turning to face him; his voice chills Izuku to his very core.

“Me.” Gentle says.

“You!” La Brava says, sidling into the room behind him and holding up a camera.

“You’re dead.” All for One says, holding up an arm, and Izuku does something very stupid; he grips the inexplicably solidified portal, braces his stance, and swings the portal through the air, slamming an edge of the gigantic disc directly into the back of AFO’s head. 

“Oh, you should not have done that.” Kanami says; the MLA people all seem to take a step backwards as one as AFO is jolted forwards from the force of the blow. His unreadable helmet turns to face Izuku. Before he can do anything, spikes shoot out from the villain’s hand— and are unceremoniously blocked with a loud collision of metal as the Hercules car crashes into the floor between Izuku and his attacker.

***

“Kurogiri, you idiot.” Shigaraki hisses, but he sounds like he’s enjoying what he’s seeing; the warp villain had portaled the Hercules car to the ceiling, right above where it would fall just to block All for One’s strike.

“I think Kurogiri knows what he’s doing.” Natsuo says, slightly worried as to how they’re going to all get out of here. He watches as Nagant suddenly walks up to the railing, arm folding out into a gun. 

“I think All for One could benefit from a hole through the head.” she says, taking aim. Natsuo isn’t sure what to do about this; Fuyumi shifts nervously beside him, but no one is making any move to stop Nagant. Once her gun has finished setting, she tugs some of her hair out, stuffs it in the gun’s barrel, and pulls the trigger. 

“Why couldn’t it have been that easy?” Dabi complains; the bullet has bounced off a suddenly-appearing golden energy shield, and now AFO is looking up at the balcony— more specifically, at Nagant, who is ducking and rolling from a return spike shot at top speeds through the air. It slams into the ceiling as she slides around the corner of the hall where they’re all gathered, hidden from view; and that, to Natsuo, is a sign to get out of here. 

“Everyone RUN!” Toga yells, and she’s already getting to her feet and taking off.

“I think we should listen to her— I’m not even going to try against that All for One guy.” Dabi says.

“We can’t just leave Kurogiri!” Shigaraki protests. “You’re right, though, we don’t stand a chance against Sensei, and he won’t kill Kurogiri as long as Kurogiri is useful. I hate this.”

“I think leaving is a great idea.” Shouto says, finally using his common sense for once.

“Come on, you two!” Fuyumi says, gesturing to Nagant and the Nightgun.

“Let’s get downstairs and join the fight properly. We’re too easy to hit up here.” the Nightgun says; Nagant seems to agree, and the two women follow. Not what Fuyumi had been intending, but it’d do.

There is a surprising lack of building-shaking battling as the motley group makes its way downstairs, and upon reaching the bottom floor, Natsuo sees why; the fight had ended almost the same moment that it had begun. Gentle Criminal is sunken into the floor, which has the texture of something like melted rubber— seems like AFO had a quirk that can melt things, which diminishes the effects of bounciness somewhat. La Brava is trying in vain to tug Gentle out, and AFO is monologuing at them; the boy named Midoriya is standing very still, and the blue-skinned woman’s hand is on his shoulder. Perhaps she’s threatening him with her quirk? The man covered in golden spines is holding the European boy, who is also frozen, undoubtedly because of the sparklingly sharp spine held to his throat. Yagi is not captured by anyone, but the other MLA leaders seem to have partly surrounded him in case he makes a move.

“Ah, the lovely Lady Nagant—“ All for One starts, turning to them; Nagant shoots at him again, once more entirely ineffectively. “Now, that’s not how you greet the man who saved you from a lifelong sojourn in Tartarus.” 

“You say that as though what you were planning to do to me would be any better.” Nagant spits.

“All of this is your fault, isn’t it?” the Nightgun says, walking up beside her double. “This whole… Meta Liberation Army, everything they’ve been doing.”

“I can’t take all the credit. But for the last… twenty years or so? Yes, that has all been my initiative and my doing.” AFO confirms. The Nightgun raises her gun-arm— when had she transformed it?— and points it at the villain leader.

“Then you’re the one at fault.”

“It’s very convenient for the two of you to come to me… why are there two of you, I wonder, but I’ll surely be able to figure that out during the autopsy.” AFO says, and a long blade of metal appears in his hand, growing to multiple meters long before he throws it, sending it spinning through the air and at an incredible speed. Time almost seems to slow down for Natsuo as the blade hurtles towards the group; Nagant and the Nightgun each dive to one side to escape the blade’s path, which leaves Natsuo as the follow-up target. Was this how he was going to die? Sliced in half by a ridiculously large piece of metal because he got teleport kidnapped into joining a villain league? The edge of the blade is heading directly towards his face; he closes his eyes.

After a few seconds during which he does not experience being sliced in half, he opens his eyes again only to see that the blade has been stopped inches away from his face— because the back end of it has gotten stuck in the rubbery goop that a patch of the floor is made out of, and as Natsuo watches, the sharp metal cuts through the goop before clattering to the ground. Gentle recovers far quicker than Natsuo from the terror of almost being bisected, and leaps to his feet, the blade having freed him from the floor. 

“Oh, come on!” Dabi complains, before fixing Natsuo with an annoyed glare. “Why are you so lucky?”

Natsuo… doesn’t really know how to respond to this. He’s never thought of himself as particularly fortunate, although his family often had; but how could anyone be lucky, if they were a Todoroki? All Natsuo had ever wanted was to get out, to live his own life, to leave the world of heroes behind. Touya had died because of it, Natsuo had barely ever known Shouto because of it, Fuyumi had given up so much because of it, and Rei had lost herself; there was nothing good to be gained from the hero system being a contest. Natsuo was surely not the only person who had found their life ruined by a hero’s relentless drive for victory. All he’s ever done is try to leave the past behind for the future— but maybe, seeing as Fuyumi and Shouto have gotten thrown back into his life, he should try and bring them out of the mire that was the Todoroki family with him. Right now, though, they should probably all focus on getting out of here. Natsuo looks around; All for One is the greatest threat, but all the other MLA villains are gathered here as well, and the only escape route he can identify besides Kurogiri’s portals is the Hercules car. That… wasn’t a bad idea, actually, Natsuo thinks, directing Fuyumi’s attention to the vehicle. If there’s anything that can escape from all these villains unscathed, it’s All Might’s car. Of course, the only problem is getting to it in the first place before AFO blows them all up, or something.

These are not the kinds of problems that Natsuo is supposed to be trying to deal with. He should be doing his homework right about now. 

The first person to make a move is Shouto; he pushes himself in front of Natsuo, something almost like fury on his face— oh, he’s angry that I almost died, it hadn't crossed my mind that he would be— and ice crashes through the great room in a truly massive glacier. Natsuo finds himself taking a step back from the sudden projection that has buried all their enemies (and some allies, too), breathing in the cold air; since when could Shouto make this much ice? 

“Go, go, go!” Shigaraki orders, decaying some of the ice and scrambling away with Dabi; Natsuo jolts out of his stupor to realize that the ice is shaking with cracks lancing through it, and they’ve only all got seconds before All for One breaks out and why is the ice moving like that. Natsuo, who is staying firmly behind Shouto (seeing as his little brother is apparently the only person around here who knows what they’re doing) notices Fuyumi getting into All Might’s car with the Nagants, Gentle, and La Brava. She looks up at him, but there’s no way he and Shouto will fit in with the rest of them.

“Get out of here!” Natsuo shouts. If even the villains and heroes were trying to escape the scene, Fuyumi had better leave. “I’ll be fine, I’ve got—“ the League on his side, probably, maybe, “—just go!” As Fuyumi drives the car through the wall— Natsuo will think twice about ever letting her drive him anywhere again— the ice shifts and splits, freeing the room from its frozen prison; the villain in the winter coat can control ice, apparently. Just great. The weight of it all, though, is breaking the floor, and Natsuo catches sight of Toga and the European boy making their exit not into a hallway, but through the shattered ground to a lower level. He hopes that that goes well for them, he thinks, running after Shigaraki and (unfortunately) Dabi. It’s a few moments before he realizes Shouto isn’t following, and another moment before he realizes why.

“Kurogiri, bring the Vigilante and my agent to the place in Deika.” All for One says, looking with some annoyance at the car crashing off into the distance down the forested hill. “Meta Liberation Army: I charge you with finding, and capturing, those who have gotten into that car. Do not fail me.” Midoriya and Yagi are suddenly enveloped in purple portals, and Natsuo watches, horrified, as Shouto moves in a spray of ice, launching himself towards his friends—they collide, and both go through the portal, which closes.

There’s nothing Natsuo can do here. He runs.

Chapter Text

Of course they just had to suffer the worst possible outcome of the situation, Izuku thinks; he, Yagi and Todoroki are in the center of a darkened room that very quickly becomes apparent as some sort of cell. Maybe attacking the biggest bad guy ever without any sort of plan might not have been the best idea.

“Let’s get out of here before AFO shows up.” Todoroki says, thrusting out his arm, and BOOM suddenly there’s an ice spike tearing their cell door in two. Well. That’s convenient.

“Your quirk is so cool!” Izuku can’t help but exclaim.

“Yes.” Todoroki says. “It’s ice.” Izuku can’t tell if he’s making a joke or not. 

“Are you two all right?” Yagi asks. He has a hard time climbing around the ice spike, but manages it.

“Who are you?” Todoroki asks. “Was Kurogiri telling the truth?”

“Not exactly.” Yagi says, exchanging a glance with Izuku. How were they supposed to explain this? 

“He was implying that Yagi worked for AFO, but he doesn’t— he’s pretty much AFO’s greatest enemy.” Izuku finally says. Todoroki accepts this information without any outwardly apparent reaction.

“You have six quirks.” he says.

“All obtained entirely inadvertently, and I… don’t really know what to do with them.” Yagi says. “We’re, uh, trying to get this course of events reversed.”

They appear to be in some kind of laboratory area, which is concerning for multiple reasons; a low purple glow illuminates the metal walls and floors.

“This has gotten a lot bigger than just chasing the Hyper Vigilante.” Izuku says.

“It’s gotten far too dangerous for the both of you.” Yagi says.

“We can manage it, Yagi-Sensei!” Izuku protests. “I’m going to be a hero— so is Todoroki!”

“It’s not that you can’t manage it, it’s that you shouldn’t yet—“ Yagi says, but he’s interrupted.

“I don’t know.” Todoroki says.

“You don’t know what?” Izuku asks. Todoroki looks away from him for a second, but then back, seeming determined. 

“I don’t know if I want to be a hero.” he says. “I’ve always been going to be one, but Fuyumi asked me recently if I really did want to go to UA at all, and… well, there’s no point thinking about it, is there? I’ll be a hero regardless. All I can do is make sure that I’m the right kind.” Izuku remembers, suddenly, Todoroki’s explanation of his past and his scars; it had mostly flown from his brain because of all the recent happenings, but his friend really had had a terrible time, hadn’t he?  

“You can become whatever you want to. Even if that’s not a hero.” Izuku says.

“I can’t.” Todoroki says. “Not with my quirk. I was born to become the hero that will surpass All Might, and even if I didn’t want to prove the power of my ice, even if I could escape, there’d still only ever be one path for me, still only ever be one choice I can take.” Todoroki holds out his hand and looks at it; frost is still flowing from his fingers. “It’s not that there aren’t other choices. There are. But none of them will ever be mine.”

Where Izuku had been born quirkless, preventing him from becoming a hero-- at least, according to most-- Todoroki had received a quirk with inconceivable power, which had set him irreversibly onto the heroic path. But they were both as doomed as each other-- and by that same token, both just as capable of breaking free of the roles that had been set for them.

“I’m quirkless, Todoroki.” he says. Todoroki’s eyebrows raise slightly, but he doesn’t say anything. “My entire life, everyone has told me I can’t be a hero. That because I don’t have a power, I’m not enough. But I tell myself that I am, and I will, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says. What anyone takes, and what anyone gives.” Izuku would accept One for All, and he would be honored to be its ninth wielder, to face the danger of AFO as the rest had, and stand between destruction and the world— but he is, will have been, quirkless for a very long time. That will never change, regardless of how his quirk status does. “And you— you have a quirk, an incredible quirk, but you don’t have to do anything with it that you don’t want to. No matter what anyone says, what anyone takes, what anyone gives. It’s your power, it will always be an integral part of you, and only you get to choose what you’re going to do with it.”

“I— Todoroki says, staring with wide eyes. “I inherited my mother’s ice, it’s not— what if we left?” He appears to be having some sort of crisis. “I don’t— why do you want to be a hero, Midoriya?”

He is answered not by Izuku, but by a voice crackling over an intercom.

“My darling creations… it seems that the Master's sent us some toys to play with!” the creepy voice says.

“Oh no.” Izuku says. Blackwhip starts curling out of Yagi’s hands, responding to the sense of danger; a door at the far end of the hall creaks open, revealing multiple tall, shadowed forms that start loping slowly towards the three.

“Run!” Todoroki yells, and so they do; the creatures, monstrous things with exposed brains and dead skin, pick up speed as well in their pursuit while the creepy voice laughs at them. Todoroki blocks up the passageway with ice, but the sound of a gigantic revving drill breaks the ice to pieces.

“How are we even supposed to get out of here?” Izuku asks, skidding to a stop at a crossroads of halls; Yagi suddenly grabs him and tugs him out of the way of a line of spines one of the monsters shoots out of his back. 

“Watch out!” Todoroki yells, for a creature has leaped through the air, and is reaching straight towards Yagi; he dodges, and punches the creature in the side— there’s a strange clicking sound, and the creature’s momentum suddenly accelerates to a speed so fast that it slams with horrific crunching noises into the metal wall.

“I guess that would be Gearshift.” Yagi mutters. They all start running again.

“Gearshift?” Todoroki asks, blocking up the hallway with ice again; it won’t hold the monsters off for long.

“That’s what it’s telling me it is— it’s almost like the past holders are talking to me, which I thought was impossible—“ 

“Wait, what?” Izuku asks, grabbing a huge metal circular thing— the cover to some kind of tube, maybe?— that’s leaning up against the wall and throwing it like a frisbee at a creature, which is promptly decapitated. “Oh my God…” He’d known he was getting stronger from the beach training, but that much stronger?

“Oh, wow.” Todoroki says. “Can you do that again?” Helpfully, there is a stack of the metal things; Izuku takes up a good stance, and throws another one with all his power— it buries itself into the side of another monster, practically slicing it in half and sending it stumbling. A few months ago, he never would have dreamed he could do something like this, but quirk or no, it seemed that he was well on the heroic path already. 

“Yagi-Sensei! Can you hit some of these with that Gearshift quirk so they go even faster?” Izuku asks. No point in not taking advantage of a good thing. “Todoroki, keep hindering them with ice, but don’t block up the hallway— that’ll tax your quirk less and make it easier for me to hit them.” The monsters are practically going down like ninepins. Frost spreads across the ground and walls, cooling the air; Izuku looks at his friend, and sees that the frost is all up his arm, too. 

“I’m all right!” Todoroki says. He doesn’t look it, and even worse, Izuku has run out of metal things. One of the monsters launches itself in a massive leap over the ice, landing with a thud next to the three; Todoroki throws some ice at it, but its hand-drill revs and breaks right through. This one is significantly bigger than the others, Izuku notes, shifting into a combat stance. Yagi lashes out at the creature with Blackwhip, but it’s just as effective as the ice; Izuku screams as it tugs on the wrapping ropes of energy, pulling Yagi towards itself. Izuku’s mentor collides with the strange humanoid creature, and is instantly firmly in its non-drill grasp. Todoroki falters for a moment, but sends a thin, carefully aimed blade of ice speeding forwards— and alongside it is Izuku, who will fight barehanded if he must to save his mentor’s life.

As it turns out, their help is not needed. The monster opens its mouth, and a cloud of grey dust flies out, spinning and swirling and slowly taking a solid form. Izuku, Todoroki and Yagi all watch in increasing incredulity as the created figure starts filling in with color as it is built; what it is becomes undeniably clear.

“What in the… is that All Might?” the voice from the speakers asks; and to Izuku’s confusion, it very much is. Arrayed in full hero costume, in his buff form, and wearing his signature smile, All Might himself has taken form before them.

“Oh my.” Yagi says, managing to push himself out of the suddenly non-antagonistic monster’s grip. Did he just get… cloned?… there were already enough clones around, Izuku thinks angrily. Wait, was this where the Hyper Vigilante had come from? A weird quirked monster in a villain lab? 

“I AM HERE… TO RESCUE YOU!!” the suddenly appearing All Might shouts, before immediately punching all the remaining monsters into tiny little bits. Except for the one that had created him.

“The Nomu cloned All Might…? That shouldn’t even be possible!” the creepy voice over the intercom complains, and All Might laughs.

“VILLAIN, I AM HERE TO DEFEAT YOU!” he shouts, and then runs through the wall and keeps going.

“Cloned All Might?” Todoroki asks, looking up at the creature in question, which immediately scuttles off, disappearing into the laboratory’s darkness.

“Let’s get out of here while the villain and his monsters are, uh, distracted.” Yagi says.

“The Nomu… do you think it’s what made the Hyper Vigilante?” Izuku asks. “If we destroy it, it’ll stop the quirk! Wait, but how does it even have the quirk, if the villain died— can All for One steal quirks from dead people?”

“He can.” Yagi confirms. All of them look towards the direction where the Nomu had run off to. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea to go chasing a monster down into the depths of a villain’s laboratory, though.”

“We get the monster, we get the Hyper Vigilante.” Todoroki points out.

“I think we can do this.” Izuku insists. “Besides, we’ve got you here with us, haven't we?”

“Very well.” Yagi says, after a moment. “It is my job to keep you boys safe— but none of us can truly be safe while the Hyper Vigilante is still out there… and if the All Might clone is a part of him as well, it is imperative that he be stopped, because I do not wish to be faced with the damages that a villainous version of such a hero might inflict on this world.”

***

“[Oh my God. Oh my God.]” Rody complains, walking back and forth; he had followed the girl with yellow eyes down to the lower level of the building so as to escape the fight, but now they’re all alone. And lost. And Rody might still explode. “[Uhh… what should we do now?]” 

The girl says something; unfortunately, Rody has no idea what.

“[Let’s just— I’m Rody.]” he says, pointing to himself before pointing at her. “[Rody Soul. And you’re— who are you?]”

“Toga Himiko!” the girl says, pointing to herself and grinning. “Hi, Rody! Oh, your bird is so cute!” Rody watches as her eyes follow Pino, who’s flying around cautiously. He holds out his hand for her to land on, then shows her to Toga; Pino chirps a greeting, and Toga’s eyes light up. “Such a pretty pink bird… He’s not sure if he likes the way that she’s looking at what is literally his soul. “Aw, her feathers look just like your hair!” Rody smiles nervously when Toga pats his hair. He doesn’t know what she’s saying, but he thinks it’s a compliment. Probably.

“[Thank you?]” he says. 

“If you work for the MLA, you know, I’ll have to kill you.” Toga says, continuing to run her hands through his hair. He’s not entirely sure what to do about this, being inexperienced in the ways of girls, especially ones who don’t speak English. Pino, however, solves the problem for him; she flaps over and lands on Toga’s head. Toga takes her hands away, reaching up to the bird and giggling. Right… how was he supposed to get the explosive quirk out of himself, again? Have All for One try to steal a quirk with him nearby? He thinks it was something like that.

Suddenly, Toga is tugging on his jacket arm; he looks up, and notices the sound of footsteps and voices getting closer. He follows Toga as she pulls him down the hallway, away from the approachers, who are probably villains. 

“[Do you have a plan?]” Rody asks. She doesn’t answer him, for obvious reasons, but keeps pulling him along, making motions that indicate quiet. It’s not enough, unfortunately; before long, the two of them are surrounded by a very menacing group of figures. They say some things, and Toga snaps back, sliding a knife out of a holster and waving it at them, hissing. 

“[Listen to her. Please.]” Rody says. All the villains ignore him, and one especially scary one starts moving closer menacingly; Toga slashes at his arm, he shouts, and all the other villains surge forwards like a very sharp and dangerous tide. Toga is fast, but there’s no way she can fight them all; Rody, unsure what he’s even trying, leaps up and kicks the closest villain to Toga full in the face before grabbing her arm and running. He’s glad she can keep up, as they duck and dodge and swerve through metal hallways, but the area is cramped and they don’t know the building, and they’re outnumbered. Toga stabs someone else, which makes Rody flinch— he wasn’t the biggest fan of resorting to violence, even though all these villains seemed to firmly have violence on their minds— but she gets the knife pulled from her hand, and Rody realizes they’re cornered. 

“[Leave us alone!]” Rody yells, only just barely ripping out of a villain’s grasp; Toga is being lifted into the air by another, and is biting his arm ferociously, but her teeth can’t get through his scales. She needs help, and Rody is the only person around who can give it, so he runs up and punches the villain as hard as he possibly can.

Good news, the villain lets go of Toga. Better news, this is because he goes flying in a massive airwave that explodes through the crowd of attackers and rips open the wall. Bad news, Rody’s arm is now broken. He screams, gasping in pain; Toga grabs his uninjured hand, and starts pulling him towards the hole in the wall before the villains can even try to recover-- a way out! Gritting his teeth, and trying and failing not to cry, he stumbles after Toga, who keeps glancing back at him with something almost like stars in her eyes.

“That was incredible!” she crows. “You got them all… and you’re beat up and broken and bloody now too!” She seems to be congratulating him, likely saying something about how the villains had all gone flying, but all Rody can think is ow ow OW. At least they’ve escaped certain death? Probably? 

“[Oh, thank God— Toga, over here!]” Rody says, skidding to a stop when they pass by the open door to some kind of storage room, where visible within between variously shaped containers is a first aid kit. The two go in, and lock the door behind them; finally, they aren’t in immediate danger, and can relax. For a given value of relax, at least. 

Chapter Text

“I didn’t actually know that would work.” Fuyumi says, and the car picks up speed as she drives it down the forest path.

“You didn’t know that the car would go through the wall?” Momo asks, feeling somewhat squished in the backseat with Gentle Criminal and La Brava.

“I mean, most cars can’t, but since this is apparently All Might’s— whoa!” Fuyumi says, suddenly swerving the vehicle to the side when another armoured car appears on the road next to her.
“The MLA has support item cars too!” La Brava says. “And they’re chasing us!”

“How did they get a whole fleet of cars all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, I wonder?” Gentle asks.
“No idea, but they’ll soon regret it.” Nagant says, folding her arm-gun out the passenger seat window.
“We accidentally stole All Might’s car…” Fuyumi mumbles. “I think things have gotten very out of hand.”

“There’s a giant ice monster!” La Brava shouts. The villain in the winter coat is standing atop a chunk of ice that steps with four massive spikes for feet; it is slow and lumbering, but its strides cover much ground.
“Of course there is.” Gentle Criminal says, sounding as though he’s seriously implying this was a likely course of events. Maybe she should have expected this to happen, Momo thinks. It’s not like she’s ever been to the MLA base of operations before, and a giant ice monster isn’t all that outlandish, really.

“I’m shooting out their tires, but what we really need is a smokescreen so we can lose them.” Nagant says, and Momo can’t help but marvel at the ex-hero’s sheer skill— hitting the tires of cars while in a moving car? In a forest? The crunching sounds of suddenly tire-less cars finding the end of their momentum reach Momo’s ears, and she realizes she’s worried; she doesn’t want anyone, even villains, to die. Hopefully their support item cars have good safety systems.

“On it!” Momo says, reaching into the flap on her jacket; it appears to be a pocket, but really gives her access to her own bare skin, so that she can create things without any watchers realizing her quirk. “Here you go.” La Brava’s eyes sparkle at the sudden bounty of smoke grenades, and immediately begins to throw them strategically out the window, which results in further car crunching noises along with the sounds of creaking trees. The ice monster, above it all, continues after them unhindered.

“You don’t happen to have real grenades, by any chance?” Gentle Criminal asks. Momo does not actually know how to make those, although she’s sure she could figure it out based on what she already knows with some thought. However…

“I don’t think those would help, with the way that villain’s quirk can shift and reconstitute the ice. We need to evaporate it all.” Momo decides. The villain was using the ice that Shouto had created, but considering his level of control, it was likely he could just freeze water back into ice again. Creating ice from air moisture, however, had a good possibility of being outside his skills. “Does the roof of this car open?”

The roof of the car does, in fact, open, and soon enough Gentle is helping Momo lift a flamethrower out of it.

“Are you going to explain how that fit in your pocket?” La Brava asks.

“No.” Momo says.

“What.” Nagant says, noticing them out of the corner of her eye; the ice monster is towering over the swerving car, and Momo and Gentle Criminal manage to direct the flamethrower before turning it on with an air-rippling roar of heat. Water splashes to the ground in great arcs. “No, you’re going to drop the ice on us! Or set the forest on fire! Or both— where did you even get that from—“ Nagant is interrupted by Fuyumi taking an especially sharp turn, which causes the flamethrower to tumble from its precarious balance, bounce into a tree, and explode. Luckily, the fiery backlash is somewhat limited by all the melting ice everywhere, and Momo and Gentle are saved by simultaneously toppling back inside the car when the ice-controlling villain, knocked from his perch, lands on top of them. Gentle pulls the roof closed, and Momo manages to create some handcuffs— she’s been using her quirk for more than a bit, she’ll need to eat soon— for their unexpected captive. The back seat of the car has suddenly become a lot more crowded.

“Hey! Let me go!” the villain complains.

“We can’t just kidnap someone!” Fuyumi protests.

“Why not?” La Brava asks.

“It’s illegal!” Fuyumi points out.

“You’re talking to a villain duo, a vigilante, and an assassin.” Nagant points out. The ice villain stares at her.

“You’re actually Nagant… wait, which one of you is the Nightgun?” he asks, looking between Nagant and Momo, since they have the same hair and body type even if they look quite different otherwise.

“Even if he’s a villain, this isn’t right.” Fuyumi says. Momo is inclined to agree, but she doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with asking the villain a few questions before they drop him at a police station.

“Get off me!” the villain shouts, tugging on his handcuffed hands; the metal chain between them breaks, and as the car lurches to the side the villain lands against Momo. He’s awfully heavy for his small size. 

“Are you a bodybuilder, or something?” Gentle asks, trying to wrestle the villain so he can’t attack them; trying and failing, because the villain is strong.

“I am Geten! And I’ll capture all of you for the glory of the MLA!” he shouts. La Brava squeezes around the fight and presses some buttons on the car’s console, and metal bars like you’d find on a rollercoaster suddenly slide out of the seat and trap Geten in place. This car was extremely convenient, Momo thinks, watching as Geten’s fingers press dents into the metal bars but can’t bend them. It seemed there was a limit to his unnatural strength. 

“What are All for One’s weaknesses?” Nagant asks.

“He doesn’t have any. He’s our leader.” Geten says, but then seems to consider something. “He’s not an android, I suppose that’s a weakness, humans are lame. He’ll fix that soon enough for sure, though.”

“Wait— are you an android?” La Brava asks. Geten is suspiciously silent. “That’s awesome! What’s it like?”

“Might as well an ant ask what it’s like to be a lion.” Geten sniffs.

“I thought the MLA liked quirk supremacy.” Momo says.

“We believe that how you are created, quirk or body, determines who you can be.” Geten says. 

“I hate that.” Fuyumi says, from the front seat. She has her eyes fixed on the forest path she’s driving down, but seems to be paying attention to the conversation.

“Hate what?” Nagant asks.

“Quirks, sometimes. If it wasn’t for strong quirk versus weak quirk, maybe…” Fuyumi sighs. “I’ve never been a very good sister, but if things weren’t like they were, I think I could have been a better one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Geten asks. 

“Nothing, just— you look like my brother, it’s weird.”

“Lots of people look like lots of people. Where are we going?” Geten asks.

“Where are we going?” La Brava asks.

“Hadn’t really thought that through.” Fuyumi admits.

“I think we should go that way.” Gentle Criminal says, pointing. Everyone turns to see what he’s pointing at.

“What the…” Nagant says.

“What is that?” Momo asks. Walking through the forest at a fast pace, with great crunching steps, is a truly gigantic man with a strangely formed body, wearing some kind of a radio around his neck. He seems to be traveling in a very particular direction.

“Let’s find out.” Fuyumi says, turning the car wheel.

“Oh no.” Geten says. “Why is he awake? No, no, no!”

***

“Come on, you two!” Shigaraki snaps.

“I’m not entirely sure I want to cross that.” Natsuo says. He, Shigaraki and Dabi are standing in some kind of attic area; wooden rafters stretch creakily over a very far down floor.

“We need to get to the computer room so I can decay all of it, and not get found along the way. Sensei knows we’re here, but we can probably get a lot of destruction in before he bothers to come see what’s going on. And this is a good shortcut.”

“Aren’t you worried about falling?” Natsuo asks. He’s sure the rafters can hold the three of them, but isn’t confident in his balancing skills. “Especially since you can only touch them with four fingers?” Natsuo really didn’t want the rafter to disintegrate underneath him. 

“I hate to say it, but he’s got a point. Those don’t look strong enough to hold me.” Dabi says, which is a worry that doesn’t make sense to Natsuo, especially considering that Dabi is smaller than him. 

“You’re both wusses.” Shigaraki huffs. “I wish Kurogiri was here, he’d be able to just teleport us across… look, I’m crossing these with or without you, so if you want to stay and get got by Sensei, be my guest.” 

“Fine.” Natsuo says, and very carefully, starts crawling after Shigaraki on the wooden bar. “Why do you even want me here?” Dabi climbs on after him, and the bar creaks ominously.

“Because I’ve decided you’re mine.” Shigaraki says, and then he makes a face. “Ew, I sound like Sensei. I grew up with him, so that’s probably unavoidable… I hate him, I want him out of my life, I want him dead!”

“I want you to die.” Dabi says, leaning over to try and push Natsuo off the rafter, but wobbling precariously and thinking better of such an attempt.  

“I don’t care if Dabi tries to kills you.” Shigaraki continues. “Mostly because watching him keep failing is hilarious.”

“I thought you said no one was allowed to stab me.” Natsuo says. He is not looking down. He is not. 

“Dabi seems to survive everything that happens to him, so it doesn’t really matter what he does to himself.” Shigaraki explains. 

“Don’t you care if I die?” Dabi asks. 

“Maybe.” Shigaraki says. “But I don’t think either of you are going to die— at least not by each other’s hand. By mine, now, that’s a possibility.” 

“Hey!” Natsuo complains.

“Hey!” Dabi complains. They both glare at each other, and Dabi tries to push Natsuo off again. He fails, but the wood underneath Dabi suddenly cracks.

Natsuo doesn’t think he’s ever moved as quickly as he does just then, scrambling across the bar to the other side; Dabi moves faster, too, but his weight presses against the old wood enough that it shatters beneath him, and he falls. Instead of meeting the ground with a splatter, though, he catches himself with a jet of fire, flying across to safety.

“I forgot I could do that.” Dabi says.

“You forgot?” Shigaraki asks.

“I don’t like flying with my quirk! It makes it hurt even more than usual!” Dabi says, grimacing.

“Your quirk hurts you?” Natsuo asks, immediately thinking of Touya. Was it common for fire quirks to be incompatible with their user’s bodies?

“No.” Dabi says, his expression closing off and becoming wooden in a way that almost reminds Natsuo of Shouto.

“You just said it did.” Shigaraki says.

“I was lying.” Dabi says, eyes flickering between Shigaraki and Natsuo nervously.

“Seems more likely you’re lying now, because you don’t want to admit weakness.” Shigaraki says, getting into Dabi’s face. Dabi turns away from him, and Natsuo looks at the scarred villain consideringly. Was it possible his fire burnt him? Blue fire would be even hotter than Touya’s had been. 

“You could try spreading out the surface area used when you create fire, so that there’s less intensity in one spot. Or instead of using great arcs, you could shoot little bits, like ribbons or bullets.” Natsuo offers, thinking of some of the many possible solutions for Touya that ran through his head even though they were all too late. “Another idea, though I’m not sure how you’d get this, would be some kind of tight suit with cooling—“

“Shut up.” Dabi says, glaring at him. “I hate you. I hate you so much. I’ve heard this all before, and I’m tired of your voice in my head, tired of you trying to help, you never could and you especially won’t now— I’ll kill you!” Dabi rushes at Natsuo, trying to push him off the edge of the attic-area, almost literally growling with rage. 

“I haven’t done anything to you, what is your problem?” Natsuo yelps, dodging.

“You haven’t… you don’t know anything, Natsuo, you have no idea what you’ve done to me, what you’re doing even now. By the time this whole MLA thing is over, Natsuo, you’ll be dead at my feet. I swear it.” Dabi spits, before turning on his heel. “Go destroy computers, or whatever. I’ve got some things I need to set up.” With that, he stalks away.

“Do you think maybe you’ve met him before?” Shigaraki asks, after a moment. “It sounds like whatever problem he’s got with you is personal.”

“Not a chance.” Natsuo sighs. “Besides, we know why he hates me, it’s because of Endeavor.” But what did Endeavor do to Dabi? What inspired such rage? Natsuo isn’t sure if he wants those questions answered.

“Hm.” Shigaraki says, still sounding unconvinced.

“There’s got to be a way I can help him.” Natsuo says, for which Shigaraki gives him a very odd look.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Why do you want to help any of us?” Shigaraki asks, throwing his hands up in the air. “You want to help Toga, Dabi, me, Kurogiri— there’s no point! We’re all long past the point where we could have been saved! And you’re not even a hero!”

“Maybe it’s because I’m not a hero.” Natsuo says, but he shakes his head. “A long time ago, there was someone I wasn’t able to help. So now I just… do what I can, I guess.” Fuyumi had encouraged him to leave the house and make his own life, and he had; Natsuo made an effort to build a way in the world that wasn’t connected to his past, but it just kept coming back to him. What mattered, he supposed, was probably that he’d mostly let it all go. Yes, he missed his siblings; yes, he couldn’t forgive his father. What was important was that he didn’t let it all hold him back or define him.

“So you’re sentimental.” Shigaraki says.

“You might think I’m too kind, but that’s just because you haven’t met my siblings. They’re better than I’ll ever be.”

“Would’ve thought Endeavor’s kids’d be fiery jerks just like him.” Shigaraki says, after a moment.

“The only fiery jerk around here is Dabi.” Natsuo laughs. “Trust me, none of us want to be anything like our father. He sucks.”

“You and I can have that in common, then. Awful fathers.” Shigaraki says.

“Unfortunately.” Natsuo sighs. 

“You’ll find the computers five rooms down the closest hallway, to the left.” a voice says, and Natsuo spins around in surprise to see Kurogiri.

“Finally, you’re back!” Shigaraki says.

“Not for long. There’s a situation.” Kurogiri says.

“A situation?” Natsuo asks. 

“Automatic emergency measures were called to Sensei’s Deika City base.” Kurogiri says.

“Automatic emergency measures… do you mean Gigantomachia?” Shigaraki asks. “I thought he was only supposed to get summoned if All Might found the place!”

“Yes.” Kurogiri says. 

“How did he find— I’m going to kill him!”

“I teleported him there.” Kurogiri replies. “And no, you’re not.”

“Of course I am— wait, you what?“

“On another note, you should keep better track of your League members. Here’s Toga.” Kurogiri says, opening a portal; Toga spills out from it along with the European boy Natsuo had seen earlier. The two teenagers both seem very surprised at their sudden teleportation. “And a hangers-on, I suppose. I believe Dabi is currently stealing a railgun, and I’d rather not interrupt him.”

“Kurogiri, you can’t just—”

“I have never told you this.” Kurogiri says, interrupting. “But there is a way for me to break from All for One’s control.”

“Really?” Shigaraki asks. “Why haven’t you used it already?”

“The grace period given is temporary, and once I have taken the chance, I will never be able to take it again. So far, I’ve avoided mentioning this because you are… rather impulsive, and might have an idea using it that later proves disastrous. Never mind that you used to listen to Sensei over me, more often than not. But now we are in the thick of things, and considering the path we are following, there is no turning back. So— know that should our battle for freedom and revenge meet its climax, no matter what stands in our way, you will be able to depend on me.”

“I better be able to—“

“Goodbye.”

“KUROGIRI!” Shigaraki yells, swiping his hand through the disappearing mist of a portal. “He’s so annoying sometimes. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but he always has his own agenda and he thinks he’s hilarious. He does this kind of secret plot thing all the time— I usually think it’s hilarious too once I learn what he’s been doing, but don’t tell him that. I hope he figures out a way to make sure that Sensei can’t possess me soon. What are you doing?”

“Helping.” Natsuo says, causing Shigaraki to groan and throw his arms up into the air; the European boy has a broken arm that is very ineffectively set, and Natsuo feels somewhat obliged to take care of it. “Can I fix that for you? The way you’ve got it, it’ll hurt more than help.”

“[Toga, do you know these people?]” the boy asks, in English; Toga doesn’t answer him.

“Where’s Dabi?” she asks.

“[Can I help you with that?]” Natsuo asks, in not particularly good English, but Toga and Shigaraki look at him like he’s grown a second head.

“[Oh God please.]” the boy sighs, grateful. “[You’re not with All for One, are you?]”

“[Not one bit.]” Natsuo says, glad he knows some basic first aid. “[What did you do? Your arm looks awful.]”

“[There’s an explosive quirk stuck inside me. It’s not mine, I need All for One to try and take it so it gets out of me, or something. Oh— I’m Rody. And thank you.]” the boy says.

“What are you two talking about?” Shigaraki asks, suspicious.

“His quirk exploded his arm.” Natsuo says. He’s not going to mention the AFO part for now, just in case Shigaraki decides to murder Rody for it.

“That’s Rody and I love him.” Toga says, matter-of-factly. Natsuo blinks; Rody obviously hasn’t the faintest clue what she’s saying, and it seems like the reverse applies as well. There is also, he notices, a small pink bird poking its head out of Rody’s jacket pocket. 

“[Well, hello.]” Natsuo says. The bird waves at him. 

“[That’s Pino.]” Rody says. Natsuo glances between him and the bird; the two have the same hairstyle. How was that even—

“[The bird is your quirk, then?]” Natsuo guesses. “[How does exploding fit in— wait, did AFO give you the exploding quirk? You said it wasn’t yours.]” Rody looks scared for a split second before hiding it, but the bird dives back inside his jacket pocket.

“[It’s complicated. But I want the exploding quirk gone.]” Rody says. Natsuo decides he isn’t going to pry, at least for now.

“[Do you want to help us destroy some computers? As part of a plan to deal with AFO?]” Natsuo asks. He has no illusions as to what Shigaraki’s preferred manner of dealing with things is.  

“[Sure. Not like I have anything better to do than try and get him to steal my quirk.]” Rody sighs. “[Hopefully this is all over and I can get back to Otheon soon. My younger siblings are there, and they need me.]” Otheon. Wow. Why was Rody here? He’d been in that car with Midoriya and the mysterious Yagi, hadn’t he, come to think of it.

“[Do you know anything about Yagi?]” Natsuo asks. 

“[Yagi?]” Rody asks. He seems to genuinely not know the name. 

“[The tall skinny man with multiple quirks, who was driving All Might’s car.]” Natsuo explains. Rody stares at him for a long moment.

“[Do you mean— All Might?]” he finally asks, sounding very confused.

“[Um.]” Natsuo says, also very confused. “[What?]”

Chapter Text

“That’s inconvenient.” Hitoshi says, lamely. He, Mezou and Shuichi had all gotten off the train in Deika City, and upon walking towards the address Shuichi had been given for the Meta Liberation Army— apparently they were affiliated with Detnerat, which was interesting— a gigantic villain had crashed his way through the city and blocked their route. 

“This day sucks.” Shuichi growls. Now what were they supposed to do? 

“Look, Endeavor’s here.” Mezou says, pointing out the flame hero, who’s flying around the giant villain’s head and rather ineffectively attacking him. “And so is… the other Endeavor.” One of his six hands points to two people getting out of a car; one is easily recognizable as Endeavor v2, who flies off to fight the villain, but the second…

“Who’s the other guy?” Shuichi asks.

“That’s my cousin.” Hitoshi says, watching Aizawa Shouta use his capture scarf to get on top of a building and watch the fight he’d be useless in. Presumably Endeavor had gotten him to help fight the imposter, but with the giant villain tromping through the city, they’d need all the help they could get. Rescue teams were already appearing to help the beleaguered areas.

“Your cousin is a hero?” Shuichi asks.

“Yeah. He’s cool.” Hitoshi says. He didn’t know Aizawa all that well, but Aizawa supported Hitoshi’s plans to become a hero, which made him pretty much the only adult besides Hitoshi’s mother to do so. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Mezou asks.

“I just… I always feel like he’s so much better than me, and I didn’t want you thinking that too. You’re my best friends. He is awesome, but… I don’t like being compared to him, is all.” Not that anyone ever compared Hitoshi to Aizawa outside his own mind. He was jealous, all right? His cousin had an amazing quirk, and he was an amazing hero, and Hitoshi was just… Hitoshi. He had a lot to prove— again, mostly to himself. If there was one flaw Hitoshi definitely had, it was pride.

“We should probably get out of here.” Shuichi says. Effects of the battle were spilling somewhat in the boys’ direction. “Quickly.” 

“I’m not liking our options.” Mezou says. Chaos was ramping up to exceptional levels, and trying to get away during it didn’t seem an easy task.

“Do you think there’s somewhere safe nearby we could hide out… oh God, we’re dead.” Hitoshi says, because All Might has punched the gigantic villain enough that he starts trying to run away, heading towards them. Wait… All Might?

“All Might… finally!” Shuichi says. The former number one hero was one of the few heroes whom Shuichi respected— perhaps even idolized. Hitoshi looks up as the villain gets closer, and severely hopes that Shuichi has a good reason to idolize All Might, because things were not looking good. Thankfully, the villain pulls to a stop before he steps on the three— but strangely enough, he stops before All Might catches up with him, looking directly down at the three in a way that almost seems deliberate.

“What are you waiting for, run!” Mezou yells, breaking the spell, and as the heroes start clobbering the villain again, the three boys take off, looking for somewhere to hide out. 

“Over there!” Shuichi says, pointing to the entrance to a subway in front of a hospital.

“Are you sure we should go underground right now—“

“It’ll be sturdy like a bomb shelter or whatever, right?” Shuichi says, already changing direction. Mezou and Hitoshi look at each other— Shuichi had never really been the sharpest, even though he was their friend.

“Get back here!” Hitoshi shouts, but Shuichi doesn’t even hear him— if he did, he would have listened. Probably. He was easy to boss around; Mezou didn’t realize just how much, Hitoshi was sure. Despite being the oldest one of the three, and having taken Mezou in after they’d connected over their similar pasts, sometimes it seemed like Mezou was the one who had taken Shuichi in, since he was the most rational and generally took point for decisions— not without asking everyone’s opinion first, of course. Hitoshi, admittedly, sometimes didn’t pause to do that. “Do we have to follow him?”

“Unfortunately.” Mezou says. Great. They’re all going to die.

The first thing— well, perhaps not the first, because there are a few moments spent trying to find where exactly Shuichi had gotten off to, and staring nervously up at the shaking ceiling in the tunnels of the creepily empty subway station, but it was certainly very quick— thing that happens when Hitoshi and Mezou run after their friend, is that a wall opens up, revealing the entrance to something very un-subway-like. 

“Why is there a vault door in the subway?” Hitoshi asks.

“Why did the wall open for us?” Mezou asks. “This seems like some kind of trap.”

“Told you guys. Bomb shelter.” Shuichi says, because he apparently can’t read the room.

“Seriously, that’s weird, it’s like the computer thingy on the secret wall detected us and decided to open for some reason… oh, look, now the vault is opening too.” Hitoshi says, because the great metal door had swung open silently the moment he took a step towards it.

“This is definitely a trap.” Mezou says. Shuichi proceeds to immediately walk through the vault door. 

“How are you still alive?” Hitoshi asks.

“Right now, or in general?” Shuichi asks, standing in the hallway. 

“Either!” Hitoshi complains, throwing his hands up in the air. The ceiling shakes some more.

“Never leaving my house was probably part of it.” Shuichi says. Hitoshi makes a noise of complaint, and tugs on one of Mezou’s many arms. 

“Come on. If the vault hasn’t killed him, we’re probably fine, and I really don’t want to get crushed.” he says; Mezou follows, if somewhat hesitantly. The moment all three of them are inside the vault’s hallway, the metal door slams shut.

“This is your fault.” Hitoshi accuses, into the darkness.

“Oops.” Shuichi says.

“I told you.” Mezou sighs.

*** 

Dabi is stealing a railgun. It’s basically a giant crossbow, how hard can that be to use? Except that it apparently needs electricity to power it… the backup cell will work just fine, he decides, Natsuo will only need one hit to be done for. He’s not entirely sure why the MLA owns a railgun— what are they planning to fight that requires that?— but it’s the kind of thing that ensures Natsuo will be extremely dead. He starts pushing it through the hallway, running around and checking where he is compared to the building’s main hall; eventually, he finds a somewhat small, unused room adjacent to one of the main hall’s passageways, which are used by most everyone to get around in the villa. He pushes the railgun inside, then gets to work on taking out the wall— on the other side of said wall, in the main room, there’s one of the many paintings (Dabi is setting the gun up behind the one that features a wolf howling at the moon) that adorn the area, so that’ll make a good cover. The wall is surprisingly easy to just tear apart with his hands to make an area from which he can remotely control the railgun— Natsuo would have to go through the passageway eventually, at which point Dabi could fiddle with the remote and hit him with a high-speed metal pole.

It wasn’t fair, Dabi thinks, feeling the wall crumble under his fingers. Natsuo wanted to help— wanted to be a part of getting Shigaraki away from All for One— wanted to stop Dabi’s quirk from hurting him. Listened to Toga’s laments, still cared about the family he’d left behind, and worst of all, he refused to die. Refused to let Dabi remove his influence from the world, an influence that was destroying Dabi piece by piece by making him remember Touya. He wasn’t Touya— he would never be Touya again— but there was more to who he had been than anger and sadness. There was more than the future he hadn’t gotten, than the past he’d forever lost. There was a boy who had loved his family, loved them so much that it destroyed him. Dabi shakes his head, shakes his hands, brushing the last bits of drywall from the hole. If Natsuo really loves him, why hasn’t he recognized Dabi for who he is? (No. Dabi isn’t Touya anymore.) It was really too bad, Dabi thinks, that Natsuo won’t get to witness the great reveal, won’t get to see the look on Endeavor’s face as his life is torn down in pieces before him, ripped to shreds like the dust in Dabi’s hands— because he’ll be dead.

And he better be— if Natsuo hasn’t died before Dabi’s taken back his old name, Dabi will have failed, because all these years of waiting for the right time to take revenge will be worth nothing if Dabi can’t even kill the one sibling that’s worth less than himself. What chance has he to kill the father when he can’t even put a scratch on the son? And the ultimate goal, Shouto, the perfect weapon, Touya’s replacement, he was still out there. Natsuo was Dabi’s proving— he was the barrier that would prove Dabi’s power, his determination, his… well, for lack of a better term, righteousness. The Todorokis had all wronged him. They’d receive their dues. 

After practicing with directing the railgun using the remote, Dabi skips off to find the group Shigaraki was calling a League. There was really no reason to try and sneak through the villa, when that was inconvenient and suspicious; really, there were so many villains here that none of them were looking at anyone twice. It doesn’t take long to find the League, since they’re where no one else is, and therefore are standing out quite a bit. 

“You guys suck at being discreet.” Dabi informs them.

“Have you seen Kurogiri?” Shigaraki asks.

“Nope.” Dabi says. “Did he go to sell us out to your Sensei?”

“No! He would never!” Shigaraki insists, but he hesitates. “Unless Sensei asks him directly. Then he’ll be forced to.”

“Oh my God.” Dabi complains. “Why is he even helping us with this, then? He’s a danger to all of us just by being let in on this plan. You should have left him in the dark.”

“I couldn’t.” Shigaraki insists. “He’s Kurogiri. He’s an idiot and he’s an annoyance, but he’s probably the only person in this world that I don’t hate.”

“Oh, boo, you love him, so you put all of us at risk.” Dabi snips. “Love is worse than useless.” He doesn’t look at Natsuo when he says this, however much he wants to.

“I didn’t say that!” Shigaraki says. “You’re projecting, you weirdo.”

“Since when do you use words like projecting—“ Dabi asks.

“Natsuo. You should kill Dabi.”

“What?” Natsuo asks, dumbfounded. Shigaraki gestures towards the equally shocked Dabi. 

“I’m bored and he’s being a nuisance. You need to get over your morals. Toga probably wants some blood. Kill him. It’ll be a win-win for everyone.”

“Not for me.” Dabi sighs, glaring at his younger brother. No matter what Shigaraki says, Natsuo is too much of a wuss to kill anyone. Dabi knows him well enough to know that. Maybe Shigaraki will kill Natsuo when he refuses? 

“You’re right, I do want blood.” Toga says. “Not Dabi’s, though, I bet he’d taste icky. It’s time to show you my quirk, Rody!”

“Don’t change the subject!” Shigaraki calls, but Toga has already reached to take Rody’s (uninjured) hand; he lets her take it, looking bemused and having zero idea what anyone is saying. Dabi watches with some fascination as Toga suddenly bites Rody’s wrist, and he shrieks. At least he’s got the sense not to pull away, Dabi thinks, since doing that would not have a good result. He vaguely notices that the argument with Shigaraki has paused, and everyone is just watching Toga in silence. After ten long seconds, she lets go of Rody’s wrist, and turns to face him with a big smile.

“Ow.” Rody says; some sentiments are multilingual. Toga finds this particular sentiment disappointing.

“Is that it?” she asks, offended; Rody mostly just looks confused, but then he frowns and turns to look at Shigaraki, of all people. 

“Kurogiri.” he says.

“What?” Shigaraki asks.

“What?” Toga asks. “I just drank your blood, why are you—“

“What about Kurogiri?” Shigaraki asks. Rody says something, and Natsuo translates.

“He’s asking why we’re working with Kurogiri if we’re working against AFO. Since AFO created Kurogiri, and wants to turn Rody into another Kurogiri.” Natsuo says, before switching languages and turning back to the boy. “[Wait, Rody, what?]”

“Sensei wanted to replace Kurogiri.” Shigaraki says, looking appalled.

“Why is this important?” Dabi asks.

“I bit you! Isn’t that important? Why aren’t you doing anything?” Toga says, shoving herself in between Natsuo and Rody, cutting off their indecipherable conversation. Toga glares at Rody, who shrugs.

“He says it was a little weird, but he’s got bigger things to worry about.” Natsuo tells Toga; she grimaces, and grabs Rody by the jacket collar, getting right up in his face. To Dabi’s surprise, Rody looks incredibly unconcerned by this course of events. Dabi shudders; if Toga put that freaky grin right up to his face, she’d get a handful of fire for it. The pink bird seems to share Dabi’s reservations, hissing from its perch in Rody’s hair and waving its wings defensively. Pretty emotive for a bird, especially compared to Rody’s nonchalance.

“You wanna see something really weird?” Toga asks before activating her quirk and becoming identical to Rody, who does not react one bit. The bird, however, jumps back, falls off Rody’s head, and only just barely manages to catch itself, staring transfixed in terror at Toga. Rody leans towards her, and Dabi can hardly believe what he’s watching when Toga leans away, obviously off her beat by this inexplicable course of events. She lets go of his jacket, stepping back from his unperturbed presence.

“I drank your blood and I turned into you.” she says. Rody looks at her consideringly, and flashes a smile before reaching in his pocket and holding up a hand-mirror; it reflects the two of them together.

“We look great!” Toga says.

“Yeah.” Rody says. The bird appears to have calmed down, still watching Toga cautiously, but landing on her shoulder. 

“Hi, little birdie…” she says. “You’re not afraid of me? You don’t hate me?” Rody puts the mirror back in his pocket, adjusts his jacket, and says something that sounds very much like a complaint.

“He wants to get back to Otheon.” Natsuo explains.

“Bigger things to worry about…” Toga says; she slides a knife from a sheath, and balances it on the tip of her fingers. “How big? How big, that you look at what I can do and barely spare a thought for it— that you pass me by as though I’m normal? What’s waiting for you in Otheon, Rody Soul, that you care about more than you care about me?” Toga asks. Rody doesn’t answer.

“I’m not killing Dabi, Shigaraki.” Natsuo says.

“You’ve already killed me, Natsuo.” Dabi says, looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye. You’re at fault as much as everyone else is for Touya dying. “But don’t worry— I’ll get my revenge sooner or later.” 

“I’m not sure what I did to you beyond just existing. Is me being Endeavor’s son really enough to warrant my murder?” Natsuo asks. Not just because you are; because I am, too.

“None of your business.” Dabi spits.

“If you tell me what Endeavor did to you, I can probably get some reparations made for it.”

“Nothing could ever—“

“And if it’s the kind of thing that can’t be made up for…well, I know what to do about those too.” Natsuo says.

“Is that so?” Dabi asks. “There’s nothing that could have been done to you, that compares to what he did to me.”

“Endeavor is the reason my brother Touya is dead.” Natsuo says, and Dabi can’t help himself; he throws his head back, and he laughs. 

“Not sure why I expected any other reaction.” Natsuo sighs.

“So your father killed your brother. Why haven’t you killed him in return?” Dabi asks, once he’s over the hilarity of it all.

“I’m just not that kind of person.” Natsuo says. “I’m not going to swear eternal vengeance, or whatever it is that you’re doing. I just… left. I don’t owe my father anything— not my time, not my energy, not my hatred. I have nothing that’s worth spending time on him, and barring some unavoidable event, I’m never going to talk to him again.” 

“If you kill him, you won’t need to worry about unavoidable events.” Dabi points out. He’s not surprised that Natsuo’s too much of a coward to even consider doing what needs to be done; although his philosophy had some merit to it, admittedly.

“If I kill him, he’ll never leave my life.” Natsuo says, which… he must mean it metaphorically. That kind of makes sense, Dabi thinks; luckily, he knows that he won’t feel an inch of guilt once Enji is done with. He hasn’t felt anything over any of his previous murders, after all. 

“Your loss.” Dabi says. What will he feel once he’s killed Natsuo?

“All right, conversation’s over, let’s go!” Shigaraki says.

When they’re walking through the hallway, no matter how many times Dabi presses the button of his remote, the railgun hidden behind the werewolf painting absolutely refuses to go off. 

Chapter Text

“Which way did it go?” Shouto asks, looking down the forking hallway.

“No way of knowing.” Midoriya says, glancing back at Yagi, whom Shouto is still suspicious of. And… Izuku was quirkless? He had the opposite problem than Shouto, had a life predetermined for him due to how he was born? But he’d said he had a quirk to All for One… right? Shouto did not like all the half-lies and half-truths that were floating around. How was he supposed to know what was real? Who to trust? 

“Tell me what’s going on.” he insists. “Who are you?”

“He’s All Might.” Kurogiri says. Shouto jumps back in shock at the portal villain’s sudden arrival, and then processes what he’d heard. 

“He’s what?” Shouto asks, staring at Yagi. 

“There was an… incident, and I lost half of my quirk.” Yagi says. He’s not denying it.

“I’m so sorry for not telling you!!” Midoriya says, looking panicked. “You’re my friend, I’m sorry if you felt you couldn’t trust me, but I couldn’t betray All Might’s secret, if any villains got to him while he was stuck like this and it was my fault I could never—“

“It’s okay.” Shouto says, stunned. He can’t fault  Midoriya for not telling him something like this… as long as Midoriya explains everything. “Do you have a quirk or not?”

“I don’t.” Midoriya says, before glancing back at Yagi, who nods encouragingly. “But Yagi-Sensei is going to give me his.”

“…what.” Shouto says. All Might can give away his quirk. As though Shouto’s life wasn’t insane enough already. “Sure.”

“Who are you?” Yagi— All Might, that’s how the Nomu had cloned him, he was right here— asks, turning to the mysterious Kurogiri. 

“I’m not entirely sure.” Kurogiri says, which is incredibly unhelpful. “I am… I was created by AFO, and am forced to follow his orders. I want to escape, but I need to make sure that Shigaraki Tomura does. That’s all that matters.”

“Shigaraki Tomura?” Yagi asks, and Kurogiri’s misty face does something complicated.

“That is what Sensei renamed him, and the name he answers to, but when he was younger he went by a different name— one, I think, that you might know. Shimura Tenko.” 

“Oh.” Yagi says, and suddenly he seems very old. 

“He is the only thing— he is everything to me. I must protect him; I’ll get him away from All for One if it’s the last thing I do. It is, unfortunately, very likely to be so. This body used to belong to someone else before I controlled it— before Sensei created me in order to control it. I know that the amount I care for Tomura has been programmed into me— that I have known nothing else beyond this life, so of course I am attached to it— that it is Sensei’s fault I cannot let go, that it is all I have to hold onto, but I will hold on all the same.” Kurogiri’s mist shudders. “All Might. I am telling you this because you are the only person who stands a chance against Sensei; because you are the only person who can prove to Tomura that he does not need to follow Sensei’s orders to kill you. I know that I will not survive the battle that is to come, and I know that my mist hides a different man. My existence has always been doomed to be brief. I want it to be worth something. I want Tomura to be free.” 

“I will do what I can to save him. I swear.” Yagi says.

“I’ll help, too!” Midoriya says.

“I will as well.” Shouto says, and he wonders what kind of hero he is, to be promising to save a villain. Perhaps that is the kind of hero he should be— one who is not anything like how Enji has told him a hero should be. Maybe he won’t even be a hero at all.

“The Nomu you were searching for went that way.” Kurogiri says, pointing down one of the hallways. “And… thank you.” With that, he disappears. 

Here Shouto had been worried about his life being controlled, and meanwhile Kurogiri, and Shigaraki, had it infinitely worse than he. Enji was a horrible person, but he wasn’t a villain… wasn’t like this All for One. Shouto follows the other two down the hallway, and soon enough, they hear footsteps ahead.

“Come and fight us, monster!” Midoriya yells.

“We will end your threat!” Yagi yells. He sounds only slightly less ridiculous than his clone. 

“I’m not a monster!” a voice calls back, from the shadows.

“I think they mean the creepy guy that ran by us earlier.” another voice says.

“Do you know who that was?” a third voice says. Some more distance is covered, and the darkness parts to reveal a man with a lizard quirk, a boy with six arms, and a boy with purple hair. 

“It was a Nomu.” Shouto says.

“That is completely unhelpful.” the boy with purple hair says crossly. “What are you doing down here? Hiding from the giant villain as well?”

“Giant villain?” Midoriya asks.

“Above ground. Endeavor and All Might are fighting it. And Endeavor’s clone.” the boy explains.

“Of course there’s a giant villain.” Shouto complains. Why did things just keep happening?

“How did you get in here?” Yagi asks. “This is the secret fortress of a very dangerous villain. We were teleported into it, as the villain wanted to capture us— how did you, if you were simply seeking shelter from a villain attack, just walk in?”

“Ask him.” the boy with six arms says, pointing at the lizard man. 

“I don’t know why it just opened! The secret door just randomly opened, I swear— we were just trying to get to the Meta Liberation group!” 

“You were what?” Shouto says, staring at the lizard man. 

“They’re going to change the world! And I, Spinner, intend to be a part of it!” the man announces.

“Spinner?” the boy with purple hair asks.

“It’s his vigilante name.” six-arms complains.

“You’re a vigilante?” Yagi asks.

“No.” Spinner says, very obviously lying.

“You’re a vigilante?” the boy with purple hair asks.

“No.” Spinner says, just as unconvincingly as last time.

“This is getting us nowhere.” Shouto interrupts.

For everyone’s sanity, a brief introduction and explanation of some of the situation occurs. 

“So there’s a monster that has somehow cloned Endeavor and All Might.” Shinsou summarizes.

“We need to stop it.” Midoriya says. 

“Don’t you think we should get out of the villain fortress? I really don’t want to be in a villain fortress.” Shoji says.

“This is our chance to do what the heroes cannot, and save them from their own blindness.” Spinner says. He’s holding a katana sword; Shouto isn’t quite sure where he got it from.

“Are you going to stab the monster with that?” Shoji asks. “What exactly is this so-called monster, anyway? Why is it a monster and not a person?”

“I… didn’t think of that.” Spinner says, lowering his blade before turning to glare at Shouto. “Explain. Who are you hunting down? Someone with a cloning quirk and heavy mutations?”

“Nomus aren’t people, they…” Midoriya starts, faltering, but he’s obviously having trouble explaining the Nomus’ inhumanity.

“A villain makes Nomus out of dead bodies and stolen quirks.” Shouto says, remembering what La Brava had discovered. “All for One. This underground place is his— I don’t think he’s realized yet that one of his Nomus has made these clones, though…”

“That’s it!” Midoriya says, out of nowhere. “The reason there are two clones in one, that it made a third one, even though the villain with the relevant quirk is dead— AFO must have gotten him, or his quirk, and made a Nomu… which must have really mixed up the way the quirk worked… and that’s got to be why the clones are so weird, too, they don’t even have a human brain behind them… wait. Is Kurogiri a Nomu?”

“I didn’t think of that. Either of those.” Shouto says. The way Kurogiri had been talking, it was certainly possible— but what made Kurogiri different from the other Nomus? What made him human?

“What are you talking about?” Shinsou asks.

“It doesn’t matter.” Midoriya says. “Just… there are malicious versions of the top two heroes out there, quirk-created clones doing who-knows-what with  twisted perspectives.” Nothing of the same ilk as the Hyper Vigilante could be trusted; nothing that willingly carried on with tormenting Shouto in the same way his real father did. “We need to destroy them. Kill them.”

“Do these clones have the same quirks as the real heroes?” Shoji asks.

“I think so.” Midoriya answers.

“Then how are you going to kill them?” Shinsou asks. Midoriya appears to have not really considered this.

“We can’t let something like this ruin All Might’s reputation. He’s the one true hero, and the world needs to know that.” Spinner hisses.

“We can, actually.” Shinsou points out. “I’d like to do something about it, of course, but that’s really not feasible.” 

“Anything can be done with a proper plan.” Midoriya insists. “All Might Kill Plan, Endeavor Kill Plan…”

“Do you just have an All Might Kill Plan?” Shinsou asks, scandalized. “Like— just in case you, I don’t know, need to kill the Number One Hero???”

“Of course not!” Midoriya says, sounding horrified at the very thought.

“So… you’re going to make one up right now?” Shinsou asks. Midoriya makes a squeaking sound. “That’s almost worse.”

“And an Endeavor Kill Plan, too.” Shouto says. He kind of wants to see that when it’s done, actually. 

“Should I make a non-lethal version of the Endeavor Kill Plan for you?” Midoriya asks him.

“Yes.”

“A Non-Lethal Kill Plan?” Shinsou says. “That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“It does a little.” Spinner says. He grins at Midoriya. “I like you. You’re interesting.”

“I wonder what All Might would think if he knew about this.” Shoji says.

“I think he’d appreciate the enthusiasm and where it was directed, despite the subject matter.” Yagi says. “I have a feeling he’d want his evil clone to get destroyed.”

“Exactly.” Spinner says.

“You’re… probably right.” Shoji decides.

“Non-Lethal Kill Plan.” Shinsou mutters again. “If you say you have a Hawks Kill Plan, I’m throwing something at you.”

“No, I don’t have one—“ 

“Thankfully.”

“…do you think that I should?” Midoriya asks.

“NO!” Shinsou yells. “My God. I’m glad that you don’t have an evil clone.”

“Oh, he does.” Shouto says, blithely. 

“No.” Shinsou complains.

“Yes.” Shouto says. “It’s been kind of a nuisance.” 

It’s at this point that a loud rumbling sounds, and the ceiling begins to cave in. Shouto creates a thick shield of ice to protect the group, but he’s not as fast as Yagi, who reaches out with the Blackwhip quirk to gather everyone close together and temporarily halt the ceiling’s fall. No wonder, since he’s ALL MIGHT, Shouto thinks, and then cold covers all of them as stone comes crashing and thundering down. A few moments later, Shouto melts the dome to reveal the sun, and a gigantic villain breaking the earth apart as he swipes at flying heroes in a rage. Clone All Might, Endeavor, clone Endeavor— how was Shouto supposed to tell which one was his father, and which one was the Hyper Vigilante? He’d never been able to tell before. Whose fault was that, Shouto mentally grumbles— Enji was so awful that no one had been able to tell the difference between him and his evil clone for three entire years.

“When did Hawks get here?” Shinsou asks, and Shouto suddenly notices the number three hero also swooping around, trying to assist the other two with their takedowns of the gigantic villain. The fighters can’t see the group, most likely, since they’re all hidden by surrounding rubble. 

“Probably sometime while we were underground.” Spinner says.

“I think he was asking rhetorically.” Shoji says.

“What kind of a vigilante name is Spinner, anyway?” Shinsou asks.

“Is that rhetorical?” Spinner asks back.

“No!”

“Let’s help them.” Midoriya says, looking around at the fight-caused devastation.

“I think I know which one is the real Endeavor.” Yagi suddenly says.

“What?” Shouto asks.  

“Look— the All Might, and the other Endeavor, they’re fighting in sync. They must be from the same quirk source— and they’re trying to get the real Endeavor killed.” Yagi says, and it takes Shouto a few moments to see it, but now that he’s looking he can tell Yagi is right— the clones are attempting to put his father in the villain’s attack path, presumably so as to take his place. The truth of the clone being known had become inconvenient, had it?

“We have to save him.” Shouto says, before he realizes what he’s staying, and freezes at the words that leave his mouth. He doesn’t want Enji to die. Shouldn’t he? No, he hasn’t had it all that bad, really, considering, but Shouto can’t deny there were times that he wanted his father dead dead DEAD but to be faced with the fact that Enji might actually be killed… he doesn’t know. He doesn’t think so. But what he does know is that Enji doesn’t stand a chance, fighting this massive villain and his evil clone and All Might’s evil clone all at once. 

Endeavor has never been able to beat All Might, after all. The only reason Enji’s still fighting at the moment is because the clones aren’t trying to kill him directly— but if they were— even with Hawks there, it’d be over.

“We can’t do anything.” Shinsou says. “This is a battle involving the most powerful people in the country. Unless any of you are stronger than All Might, I suggest we get out of here.” Shouto finds that he and Midoriya are looking at each other. 

“Sorry, Yagi-Sensei.” Midoriya says, grimacing determinedly. “I’ve got something I want to ask the Hyper Vigilante. I refuse to let him go.”

“Stronger than All Might…” Shouto says; he knows he’s not ready yet, knows he’s not trained enough, knows he won’t touch his fire—but this is what he was created for, wasn’t it? 

“You’re going to get yourselves killed.” Yagi says. “Stay back. I’ll be the one to do something about this.”

“You don’t know how to use the vestige quirks yet!” Midoriya protests.

“No. But I think they know how to use themselves.” Yagi says, and before Shouto can ask what that means, Yagi has already floated into the sky.

“Vestige quirks?” Shoji asks.

“Long story.” Midoriya says. 

“This way!” Shinsou says, pointing towards one of the few not destroyed roads; strangely, a car is barreling down it, directly towards the battle. Wait. Shouto knows that car. The group watches as the Hercules skids to a stop at the end of the road, and a group of people look out of it. What— why was Fuyumi driving that? Yaoyorozu, Nagant, Gentle Criminal, La Brava— was that the ice villain from the MLA— what were they doing?

“Lady Nagant has a clone too?” Spinner asks, staring at the people in the car.

“This is getting ridiculous.” Shoji says. Shouto very much agrees. 

“Isn’t Nagant dead?” Shinsou asks.

“I’ve been telling you, the HSPC was covering up her escape.” Spinner says.

“She’s been the Nightgun for the past two years, Hitoshi.” Shoji says.

“The Nightgun is Nagant? I could have sworn she wasn’t…” Midoriya says. 

“She’s not.” Shouto says. Everyone looks at him like he’s an idiot. Well, their loss, he’s right.

“Look!” Midoriya yells; Yagi has reached the battle, and Shouto watches as lengths and lengths of Blackwhip’s glowing tentacles erupt from his arm, weaving themselves into a huge fist that solidly meets the giant villain’s face. “Even though he doesn’t have all of One for All, he’s still amazing.” Doesn’t have… what? Did One for All have anything to do with All for One? Since when did All Might have quirks like Blackwhip or Gearshift, anyway? Why wasn’t he just punching the villain like his clone? Why didn’t he look like his clone— look like All Might?

“There is still so much you need to explain.” Shouto says.

“Shouto!” he hears Fuyumi shouts, and he turns to face her. “Can you make us a bunch of ice?”

“Who’s that?” Shinsou asks, and Shouto has no idea what Fuyumi is planning, but she usually has smart ideas, so even though he’s been using his quirk a lot this morning he creates a huge block of ice that practically fills the area between him and his sister. 

“Thanks!” Fuyumi says. “Now, Geten, let’s get him!”

The block of ice forms itself into a massive hand, picks up the Hercules car, and throws it at incredible speed directly into the gigantic villain’s face.

“What…” Shoji says; the car bounces backwards, having successfully knocked the villain off his stride, and Shouto catches a brief glimpse of some things getting dropped into the villain’s mouth from out of the car before it continues to bounce away. Only a few moments pass after that before the villain collapses, leaving only the heroes and their clones as active battle participants.   

“Why are there two of you? Who are you?” Hawks asks, gesturing with a feather at the doubled Endeavors and Yagi in turn. To Shouto’s horror, All Might gestures at Yagi and one of the Endeavors accusingly.

“THEY ARE VILLAINS! SURELY YOU HAVE SEEN THE RECENT TROUBLE OF THE ENDEAVOR IMPERSONATOR, HAWKS?” he says.

“This is messed up.” Midoriya mutters, and Yagi launches himself through the air with a burst of glowing red energy in order to just barely escape All Might’s attack, and throws up a barrier of smoke to dodge Hawks’ feathers. 

“Oh, good, All Might will take care of things.” Spinner says, but the real All Might is very much not able to take care of things right now.

“I think you and Endeavor should have this problem well in hand— I’ll go after those vigilantes.” Hawks says, and he’s off like a shot after the bouncing car. Ohhh no.

“Endeavor and All Might versus Endeavor and All Might… if this wasn’t a serious situation, it would be the most amazing thing I’d see in my entire life.” Midoriya says, sounding awed. 

“You know, I gotta agree.” Spinner says.

“No, you don’t.” Shinsou says. 

“Why do you insist on being unimpressed with everything?” Shoji asks. Shinsou opens his mouth, and closes it again when he can’t find anything good to respond with. 

“I think we should go help him.” Midoriya says. Enji is yelling at both Yagi and All Might, unsure who the former is, and trying to convince the latter that he is himself. Unfortunately, he hasn’t any idea he’s facing two clones and not one.

“Yes.” Shouto says. In order to save his father, he’ll have to… kill his father’s clone. This was going to be weird.

Chapter Text

A Little While Earlier

“You know what that is?” Nagant asks, glancing between Geten and the monstrous villain marching across the horizon.

“It’s Gigantomachia.” Geten says.

“And who is he?” Fuyumi asks. The name sounds accurate, she thinks. Even though she’s driving, Fuyumi can’t help but keep glancing at their kidnapped villain in the mirror; there was something incredibly familiar about Geten, which really didn’t make any sense. He was an android, he couldn’t be related to the Todorokis. Right? 

“He’s All for One’s bodyguard. Almost a Nomu without really being one— there are enough quirks shoved inside of him that it broke his brain, but he isn’t undead. He still obeys any order AFO gives him as though he was one of those walking corpses, though. The fact that he’s woken up, and heading in a particular direction… well, that means something’s gone wrong, if he’s been called to fix it.”

“How wrong?” Gentle Criminal asks.

“All Might found the secret hideout kind of wrong.” Geten explains. “Well, I doubt it’s that specifically, since that would never happen, but it’s certainly a disaster on the same scale.” 

“If something’s going wrong for AFO, that’s good for us.” Nagant says.

“What do you know about the Yaoyorozus? Why did they join the MLA?” Yaoyorozu asks; that’s right, Geten’s been working with her parents on evil villain plans and she wants to know what they’ve been doing, how to stop them. 

“Nothing I’m going to tell you, Nightgun.” Geten says. 

“Are you sure I’m the Nightgun?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“You’re literally wearing her outfit—“ Geten starts, but then he trails off, glancing briefly at Nagant. “Who are you? You might be the Nightgun, but we always thought Nagant was if she hadn’t died, and she hasn’t died, but… she’s not you.”

“Answer my question and I’ll answer yours.” Yaoyorozu says primly. 

“Fine. Kanami was one of the main founders of this generation’s version of the MLA, I think, she’s been with us since before I was created. Syouma is more of an accident, although I don’t see why she expected to be able to turn the original one into an android. Probably since her quirk can change the composition of materials… she changed his body directly into an android one instead of replacing parts, and the new guy that woke up had no problem joining our group. Unlike the original— I think he found out something he shouldn’t have, disapproved, and paid for it.” Geten explains. 

“He’s dead?” Yaoyorozu asks. Geten doesn’t seem to have noticed how quiet the car has gotten while he was speaking. 

“I remember when Kanami was complaining about him sticking his nose into places he didn’t belong, and next thing I know she’s run an experiment and we’ve got a new member. I don’t think she actually assumed she’d be able to turn him into an android— even All for One hasn’t figured out how to do that yet— but tests are tests, and it got the old Syouma out of the way. The new one doesn’t resent his origin much, which I find strange, I know I would— I wasn’t made out of anyone’s body, I’m entirely artificially created which means that I’m better—“

“She killed him?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“Yes, I just said that.” Geten points out, annoyed. 

“That… it explains it, but I… all this time?” Yaoyorozu asks, and she looks devastated. Fuyumi herself can barely wrap her mind around what she’s hearing— Yaoyorozu's mother killed her father while making someone new out of his body. That was horrifying. Fuyumi knew the pain of losing someone loved, but for them to be replaced, for you to have no idea why they grew distant, to lose them a second time without knowing of the first one… what could she even say? 

“—of course, not that any of you know this, but the base DNA for a lab-grown body has to come from somewhere and traits as well as quirk similarities often carry over from the donor into the android, but it’s more like a memory of humanity than any sort of real connection—“

“Shut up.” Nagant snaps at Geten.

“This is a development I never would have expected… I’m so sorry, young lady.” Gentle Criminal says.

“We have to avenge him!” La Brava cries. 

“Okay, what am I missing here?” Geten asks.

“You wanted to know who I am?” Yaoyorozu asks. “I’m Yaoyorozu Momo. I became a vigilante, became the Nightgun, because I wanted to prevent my parents’ villainy. I had always wondered what had happened, to make Dad change like that, but he didn’t change, did he? He died. And Mom killed him.” 

“Oh.” Geten says. “Well, that sucks.” Yaoyorozu glares at him, and he shrinks into his seat. 

“I have to bring her to justice. The new Syouma, too.” Yaoyorozu says. She’s crying. “I have to— I had no idea, it’s been years, why didn’t I realize? It hasn’t been him… I knew something was wrong, he changed so much, but I never thought… I’ve been mourning who he used to be, but he was already dead.”  

Fuyumi continues to drive after Gigantomachia. 

“So.. how should we go after fighting this villain?” Gentle asks.

“Shhh!” La Brava hisses.

“No, it’s all right.” Yaoyorozu says. She doesn’t look like she’s all right. “We have to… keep focusing. Get this all over with. Deal with one thing at a time. And— right now, this is what we’re dealing with.” She sighs.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.” Fuyumi says. “But we can handle it. Probably.”

“Such confidence.” Nagant says, sarcastically.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do anything.” Yaoyorozu snaps, and Fuyumi— well, she gets that. Living with oneself is a hard thing to do.

“I understand.” she says. “Let’s handle it together, then.”

“No matter where you look, it seems this world is insistent on bringing children into battle.” Nagant sighs.

“She’s older than me.” Geten says. “Chronologically.”

“What?” Fuyumi asks.

“There’s no way.” Nagant says.

“When the MLA made me, they made me as an adult— trying to create the perfect warrior, and all. I am perfect, so I think it worked out.” Geten says. “I’ve only been around for… about twelve years.”

“That’s weird.” Gentle Criminal says.

“It’s not common practice anymore, but the first androids weren’t made as children.” La Brava points out. “Those androids that are made with other people’s bodies also keep the age they take over, even though they’ve only just been created.”

“It’s not weird.” Geten huffs. “I’m not human. I’m going to be dissimilar to all of you in fundamental ways. You ask me what it’s like to be an android, but it’s not anything you could ever understand.”

“What, you’re built different?” Fuyumi asks. 

“Evidently.” Geten responds. He doesn’t seem to get the joke. 

“Are you going to help us fight Gigantomachia?” Yaoyorozu asks. Geten makes a face. 

“Why would I do that?” he asks. “Wait, maybe…”

“What?” Nagant asks; Geten’s eyes have widened, as though he’s realized something.

“All for One has always said that Gigantomachia was a test for his true successor— that when Shigaraki was ready, he’d be able to defeat him and prove his strength. More than a few people have wondered if they could prove themselves to AFO by giving fighting that monster of a man a try— those that have actually tried it, well, they’ve all died. And… there’s no way I’m going to be able to dissuade any of you from this, is there? So I might as well make it benefit me. Besides, once you’ve all worn yourself out from fighting Gigantomachia, I can capture you like I was supposed to, and take down whatever threat he was summoned to fight as well. Three successes at once… AFO will have to understand my power.”

“You really just told us your plan?” Nagant asks. 

“Don’t let him know that!” La Brava says.

“The monologuing habits of villains will always reveal their evil plots, and thus let us destroy them!” Gentle announces dramatically. “It’s quite stupid.”

“Weren’t you monologuing when we first met you?” Yaoyorozu asks. Gentle pauses, thinks about this, and then frowns before looking pointedly out the window. La Brava pats his shoulder sympathetically.

***

“Any plans for getting up there?” Izuku asks, watching the combatting quartet of heroes and clones, who are a ways up from the ground. 

“Maybe they’ll come down here?” Todoroki asks.

“And why would you expect them to do that?” Shinsou asks. “They seem to be doing pretty well. Maybe. I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on.”

“HEY!” Todoroki yells. “GET DOWN HERE!”

“Really?” Spinner asks him.

“It was at least worth a try.” Shoji points out. 

“What are you doing here.” a voice says; Izuku stares for several long seconds before he recognizes Eraserhead, of all people, as the man who had practically appeared beside them.

“That is a very long story.” Shinsou says.

“Go home.” Eraserhead orders.

“Our apartment burnt down.” Spinner says. Eraserhead sighs, then turns to Izuku.

“You’re the kid Burnin was talking about.”

“What?” Izuku asks, confused.

“The one who disappeared with Endeavor’s son. Who I also see is here. Hello, Endeavor’s son.” Todoroki frowns at this address. “Burnin sent out an alert on the hero communication line for the two of you.”

“She did what?” Todoroki asks.

“It wasn’t an urgent alert.” Eraserhead says, as though that makes Izuku feel any better. His Mom must be so worried— 

“Endeavor has an evil clone. Or just a clone. We don’t know if he’s evil.” Spinner says, pointing to the battle.

“They’re fighting, so he’s probably evil.” Shoji says.

“I knew that already, why else would I be here?” Eraserhead asks. “No, don’t answer that. Endeavor called me to help him fight the Hyper Vigilante by erasing his quirk. Except—”

“Except what?” Todoroki asks. 

“All Might is attacking the Endeavor who came and got me, not the one who was already here.” Eraserhead shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. All of you need to get out of here.”

There is a loud booming noise as All Might punches Endeavor into the ground, creating a massive kick-up of dust. 

“Come on!” Todoroki says, grabbing Izuku by the shoulder and whisking him away in a trail of ice.

“Hey!” Shinsou yells, having accidentally gotten dragged onto the ice trail with them as they barrel towards the battleground. “Todoroki!” 

“Hold on tight.” Todoroki says.

“Are you kidding me?” Shinsou asks. The three of them pull to a stop with a spray of cold, and Todoroki throws up a barrier in between his father and All Might. Not too far away, Yagi fights the other Endeavor in the sky.

“Shouto?” Endeavor asks. Todoroki is breathing heavily, ice all up his arm. He’s used his quirk a lot already today.

“Leave him alone. Hyper Vigilante.” Todoroki says, glaring at All Might. 

“I UNDERSTAND HOW THIS LOOKS, YOUNG TODOROKI! BUT DO NOT FEAR! YOUR FATHER FIGHTS A VILLAIN NOT FAR AWAY— THIS IS THAT DREADFUL IMPOSTER, THE EVIL CLONE!” All Might announces.

“Not taking your word for it.” Izuku says. There’s no visible difference between this All Might and the one he knows— besides, of course, everything. “If you’re All Might, who’s that?” He points to Yagi.

“Some creepy guy with multiple quirks?” Shinsou asks.

“Not helping!” Izuku hisses.

“Shouto! Take your friends and get out of here!” Endeavor says, getting to his feet. 

“Sorry, Dad. I’m not really in the habit of listening to you.” Todoroki says, determined and spiteful. “Looks like I’ll be beating All Might a few years early.” Without exchanging further words, he launches a building-sized iceberg directly into the All Might clone.

Naturally, that’s just when things get even worse. With a hissing explosion of steam, the iceberg breaks apart into a watery mist; the other Endeavor has arrived to defend his fellow clone.

“Oh no.” Izuku says. Blackwhip loops around the Endeavor clone, but Yagi doesn’t have the super strength available that he’d need to pull him back.

“Get off me!” the clone shouts, trying to free himself, but thankfully Blackwhip is not flammable. 

“You just attacked All Might. Why would you attack All Might? Wait, is it the clone? How do you know?” Shinsou asks. Izuku has a million thoughts running through his head— how has Yagi figured out how to use all the vestige quirks, and in such quick succession with each other, too? They know how to use themselves… was it possible that because the quirks were from past holders, OFA had retained some fragment of the past holders more than their abilities? What could that mean? Wait, hadn’t Yagi said earlier that maybe the past holders were talking to him—

Speaking of One for All, how was the clone able to use it, anyway? Yagi hadn’t given permission. He hadn’t given permission for Rody to take the strength stockpile either, but that wasn’t the quirk itself, was it? So was a copy of that all the clone had of the quirk— and no vestiges? Or was the clone somehow tapping into the singular One for All that existed, without duplicating? Most importantly— if the vestiges of the past holders were present enough to help Yagi use their quirks, were they present enough to get into the clone’s version of One for All, whatever it was, and drag it away? 

Izuku eyes the clone consideringly; it’s standing there, looking like everything he has ever wanted to be, smiling that brilliantly hopeful smile, and holding the quirk that’s meant for him. It wasn’t fair; Izuku is finally able to achieve something great, and now everything has gone wrong. Yagi doesn’t even have all of One for All to give, thanks to AFO. Had Izuku really thought that things would get better? He’d been promised an impossible gift, he’d put the work in, and yet— no. Nothing could take Izuku’s future away from him. Nothing could make him give up. He was going to be a hero, whether he had One for All or no quirk at all. He was going to be a hero— even if he had to fight the one who created that very dream. And things were looking to be moving in that direction. 

“I’ve got a question, Hyper Vigilante.” Izuku says. He vaguely notices the Todorokis getting into a fight with their nuisance of a clone nearby.

“I won’t let you take what it means to be All Might. You’re a pale copy. You could never truly be what I am.” Yagi says.

“Do you really think that everyone sees you for who you are?” All Might asks, and the fact that he’s speaking in a normal, low, voice instead of the boisterous heroic one is chilling. He sounds exactly like Yagi. “Do you really think that when the world looks at you, they see anything more than the figurehead you’ve made yourself to be? You aren’t a person, All Might, you’re a hero.” He laughs. “I was happy to coexist. There could have been two of you, two of Izuku, two of Endeavor. But you just had to try and ruin things— I’ll be the strongest hero, and I won’t let anything stand in my path.” He sounds like All Might, but he doesn’t sound like All Might— not saying things the way he is. In fact… he sounds a bit like Endeavor. “There’s nothing you can do to take my position away from me. Nothing that will make me give up. Whether I’ve got this quirk, or Endeavor’s, or none at all— even if I have to fight those I was created from.”

Oh.

“Stop!” Izuku shouts. The clones, the clone, they were all connected because they were made from the same messed up quirk, they all had the same mind, didn’t they? The original quirk, it made the clones a ‘hyper’ version of the person they copied, and now it was running three clones at once… they were all… oh, this was not good. An unholy All Might-Endeavor fusion mixed with himself… this was some kind of horrible nightmare. The best hero, and the worst hero, and a boy whose career hasn’t even really started. 

Izuku had wanted to ask the Hyper Vigilante why he wasn’t a hero— but that wasn’t the question, was it? The Hyper Vigilante, even while he was being a vigilante, he had been a hero too— he had been Endeavor. Practically, he’d already achieved the goal that Izuku so desired. Except… Endeavor had his own goal, to become the number one hero, or for Shouto to do so in his place. So with both of those together… added to All Might’s goal, which was to, what? Be the Symbol of Peace. Be a reason for the world to have hope. But the clone couldn’t be that reason if there already was a reason who wouldn’t be oblivious to his existence, who wouldn’t step aside.

“Nothing you’re doing is heroic, even though that’s the end goal. Don’t you realize the ends don’t justify the means?” Izuku asks, but as soon as the words leave his mouth he understands. The clones weren’t people, they couldn’t realize, Izuku had read the description of the quirk that created them; they were hyper in pursuit of goals borrowed from those they were cloned of. “You’ll never be what you want to be. You’ll never be us.” Izuku yells; he picks up a rock from the ground, and throws it into All Might’s face. “You’ll never be a hero.” Unsurprisingly, the rock just bounces off, but Izuku thinks the gesture was worth it.

He’s suddenly very cognizant of just how mortal, just how breakable, just how human he is in comparison to this never-sleeping specter of his idol, who is pretty much invincible. The true All Might wasn’t— he’d been holding up the country so long he was breaking down from it, had to pass on the power that was weakening inside him, and looked nothing like the face he presented. But he cared, he did his best, he made the world a better place— and not for anything could Izuku let Yagi’s efforts just be taken by a copy who had no meaning behind his efforts, who had no true desires, who hadn’t paid any price. And… Yagi doesn’t want Izuku to fight, he’s here, ready to take on the whole battle himself. Trying to keep Izuku and Todoroki out of the way, because neither of them really have the experience to know what to do— or the power. Todoroki can only use half his quirk and is quickly running out on that, and Izuku has no power yet to speak of. Yagi’s concerns make sense.

But Izuku has never really had sense, and he knows that Yagi won’t be able to fight a fully-powered version of himself alone.

“The title of Symbol of Peace doesn’t belong to you. And neither does One for All.”

Chapter Text

Dabi tries to push Natsuo into the ripped-open, electricity-sparking computer box, but miscalculates the amount of force needed and instead of Natsuo, accidentally shoves his own hand directly into it.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH—“

“Shut up, Dabi.” Shigaraki says, disintegrating another box. “We’ll get more things destroyed if you don’t attract everyone to our location.”

“This ups the score to seven-zero.” Toga says. 

“Ow, ow, ow—“ Dabi continues to whine, shaking his arm and picking himself up off the floor. “Oh, cool, electricity burns!” 

“That’s not cool.” Natsuo says, looking at the jagged marks visible on the parts of Dabi’s hand that aren’t already burnt to a char. The convulsions he’d been going through had looked horribly painful.

“Hey, look.” Dabi says, directing his attention to a little sign. “It says… don’t touch! It will kill you, and it’ll hurt the whole time you’re dying.” He grins. “Well, I can attest to the hurting part.”

“Can I go back to dealing with the teenagers?” Natsuo asks, glancing over at Toga and Rody, who are sitting together.

“No, you have to make sure Dabi doesn’t set anything on fire.” Shigaraki says.

“I can make sure of that myself.” Dabi says. The computer room had security measures against fire, in that if it detected any it would seal the doors and suck all the air out of the room.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Shigaraki says. “This is going to ruin their entire operation… all the info, passwords to online accounts, android research results… Sensei will be livid.” A file holder falls to dust underneath his fingertips. “Do you think we’ll survive his anger when he finds out?” 

“I will.” Dabi says. “I seem to be surviving everything so far. I think it’s my specialty.” 

“I’m going to die, aren’t I.” Natsuo says. It wasn’t like he could defend himself against someone like All for One, and it wasn’t like any of this group would fall over themselves to protect him. Unless All Might came back, they were well and doomed. Natsuo didn’t really know if he believed Rody or not that Yagi was All Might, but Rody was absolutely certain, and that if anything was an ace in the hole. It would explain why Yagi had had the guts to hit AFO with a car, too. All Might’s car. Natsuo hopes All Might won’t be too annoyed when he finds out Fuyumi went off with it— oh, he really hopes Fuyumi is all right. No MLA member had come back parading her capture, though, so there was that. Then there was Shouto… he’d leapt through a portal to who knows where, but then again, he’d gone with maybe-possibly-All-Might, which was pretty much an absolute guarantee of safety. 

“Really?” Shigaraki asks. “That’s disappointing.”

“No, it’s not.” Dabi says, but Natsuo looks at Shigaraki consideringly. 

“You don’t want me to die?” he asks.

“If I wanted you to die, I would have killed you.” Shigaraki points out. 

“Dabi wants me to die, and he hasn’t killed me.” Natsuo retorts.

“I don’t want you to die.” Dabi says.

“What?” Natsuo asks.

“What?” Shigaraki asks.

“What?” Dabi asks. They both stare at him. “No, seriously. I don’t.”

“You haven’t really given me that impression.” Natsuo ventures. 

“I want to kill you.” Dabi explains, as though this clarifies anything.

“What am I missing here?” Natsuo asks.

“Don’t you get it? You care about us. You care about me, for some reason. Maybe you’re just as insane as I am, but whatever it is, you… I don’t want you gone. I don’t want you out of my life. It’s everything to have you in it again— but I need to kill you more than I need to breathe. I need your blood on my hands so that I can blame your father for it. I need to take your life away, so that I can take his, or else what was all this for? What kind of villain, what kind of monster, what kind of vengeance can’t… if I can’t kill you, am I even Dabi? Does it even matter? You’re not even the one I’m really gunning for.”

“Whatever it is you’ve got against Endeavor, you’re not forced to take it out on me.” Natsuo says.

“You have no idea the things I’ve been forced to do.” Dabi grumbles. Natsuo reaches over and takes his hands; Dabi blinks confusedly at this unexpected action. Natsuo wonders where the sudden sense of deja vu has come from; he gets the inexplicable feeling, pertinent but impossible, that he’s done this before. The staples feel unfamiliar to his fingertips, but Dabi’s hands slide into his as though they’re used to being there.

“Can I show you something?” Natsuo asks. Dabi nods, still looking shocked. While Shigaraki looks on in mild interest, Natsuo pulls Dabi over to Toga and Rody. Dabi follows without protesting, and it almost seems like gears are clicking inside his mind, as though he’s trying to process something that’s struck him dumb. 

If Natsuo had known that holding Dabi’s hands was all that it took to make him shut up, he would have done so far earlier. 

Toga is pointing to her fangs. “Toga quirk.” she says, then she covers her face with one hand and holds out the other menacingly, imitating Shigaraki. Rody seems to get this, glancing from her to Shigaraki, who frowns at this mockery. 

“Shigaraki quirk.” she says, making a poof noise and wiggling her fingers to imitate falling dust. She points back to her face, then waves her hand over her eyes, referencing her previous transformation. “Himiko quirk. Got that?” Rody looks like he understands. “Tell me what you think about it. Tell me!” 

“Rody quirk.” he says, and holds out Pino. She frowns.

“What about the—“ she makes a punching motion.

“[That’s not mine.] Quirk.” He makes an X with his fingers. “Rody quirk.” Pointing to Pino again.

“That’s not what I was asking…” Toga pouts, but she looks curiously at the bird anyway. “That’s your quirk? How?”

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Dabi complains. Natsuo shushes him. Rody makes a few exaggerated expressions, and Pino reproduces then exactly; Toga’s brows furrow as Rody follows this up by blanking his face completely while Pino continues to make expressions, and she gasps. 

“You— the bird— you were afraid of me!” Toga points a knife at Rody’s neck and hisses, and for a moment Natsuo’s worried he’s going to have to intervene, but Rody moves fast, and soon enough he’s standing behind Toga, who jumps in surprise at his sudden escape. He reaches over her shoulder and gently tugs the knife from her fingers. “Hey!” He presses the tip of it into his finger, and a drop of blood appears on the blade, the handle of which he passes back to Toga, who takes it, confused. 

“[Show me—] Toga quirk. [I know you’re defensive about your quirk, but it’s way more useful than mine, come on—]” Rody says, and Toga pokes her tongue out and tastes the blood before his image envelops her.

“Now I’m just as pretty as you… don’t you find that creepy?” Toga points the knife at him again, moving it through the air to trace him with it, smiling hungrily. “I want to take you apart, I want to devour everything that makes you who you are.” 

“[Best to not acknowledge whatever that was.]” Rody mutters, looking bored, but Pino’s eyes follow the knife cautiously. Toga notices, her gaze flickering between the two.

“Your quirk lets you hide who you really are… that’s something I’m far too used to.” she says.

“[Your quirk lets you hide who you really are. Wish I had something neat like that, mine just gives everything away.]” Rody says. He gestures to Toga, and then shrugs. “[How should I put this…] Otheon. [I need to get back to my family, Himiko. The explosive quirk vanished, which I’m more than grateful for, because it means that I can finally go home. It’s not much of a home, but Roro and Lala are there, and they’re… the only home I have left, honestly.]”

“Otheon.” Toga repeats. “What’s in Otheon, Rody Soul? Oh… I recognize that look in your eyes. Someone you love is in Otheon, aren’t they?”

“His siblings.” Natsuo interrupts, calling out to Toga, and her eyes widen.

“Your… you’ve got a family, then, one that cares for you, and you care about them in return. You care about them more than you care about me.”

“[You look jealous.]” Rody laughs. “[Let me tell you something.]” He takes her knife again, hands her Pino, and then holds the knife up. “Himiko quirk.” Gesturing towards himself with the knife. “Rody quirk.” Using the other hand to point between Toga and Pino before grinning, and repeating his actions. “Himiko quirk.” Gesturing with the knife again. “Rody quirk.”

“What are you saying?” Toga asks.

“[I don’t think it’s possible, but then again who knows, with all the quirk ridiculousness that was going on earlier. Just… heaven knows I love Pino, but if I think about how much I could do with a quirk like yours, maybe I could finally pull my family out of the disaster our life is— and you seem kind of insecure about having it, plus you’re pretty big on expressing your emotions. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile like that in my life. It’s a nice one. Anyway… kinda literally, kinda metaphorically, but I’d be up for switching quirks with you.]” Rody waves his hands, gesturing at the relevant implements. “Rody quirk, Himiko quirk, Himiko quirk, Rody quirk. [If you like.]”

“You want my quirk? You want to be me? And— you want me to be you?” Toga asks, practically shrieking once she gets her head around what Rody’s trying to say. Well, close enough.

“[I won’t deny that it’s weird— won’t deny that you’re weird— but looking at you looking like me, I don’t know. I just want my siblings to be safe, and if this little Japan sojourn has taught me anything, it’s that I need to expect the weird, because you never know what’ll come out of nowhere. But I can roll with the punches, and if you’d like, I can roll with you. I haven’t had a friend in… ages. I’m thinking it’s probably about the same for you.]” 

“I have no idea what you just said.” Toga says, still sounding delighted. “You’re like me, aren’t you? All you do is for love! But you’ve got to hide, don’t you? No one sees you for who you are? I know it, that’s why you can use your quirk to hide yourself, it’s because you have to. Do you think your family would like me?”

“[As long as you keep that knife away from them, I think Roro and Lala would like you. You’re like, a vampire. That’s endlessly cool, you know?]” Rody says. Natsuo marvels at how the two manage to communicate without really communicating at all.

“It’s probably a cultural thing.” Toga muses. “People hate blood quirks, always have, but you don’t seem to… maybe they’d wouldn’t look at me the way they do here, in Otheon.” She takes a breath, and smiles, and it’s something hopeful. “Maybe I should come to Otheon, and everyone would look at me the way you do.”

“[There isn’t a chance you’d like to come back to Europe with me, is there? Hah. What’d’you know, maybe quirk ridiculousness has something going for it after all.]” Rody laughs.

“Okay, I’m bored.” Dabi says, turning back to Natsuo with a glare. “What is the point?”

“They don’t understand each other, but they understand each other. A few days ago, Toga was telling me she had no hope. I hold your hand, and it makes your brain reboot. Shigaraki— I bet that there’s something you care about out there, too. You guys… you’re not as lost as you think you are. You’re not doomed, you’re not broken, there’s more than one path ahead.” Natsuo says.

“You genuinely believe that?” Shigaraki asks. “Why?”

“If someone had been able to be there for Touya in the way that he needed, he might still be alive. I’m training in quirk medical so that I can be the one there for others. I refuse to believe that fates can’t be changed— that the right person at the right time can save anyone. Rody is here for Toga; who will be there for the two of you?” Natsuo asks.

“Idealistic.” Shigaraki mocks, red eyes glaring from behind the hand over his face, but there’s something in his voice that makes Natsuo think maybe he’s considering. 

“Any chance for me to be saved passed by a long time ago.” Dabi snaps.

“Are you sure?” Natsuo asks. Dabi hisses at him, presses his palm into his forehead, and lets out an extremely loud sound of annoyance.

“No.” Dabi complains. “I hate you.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” Natsuo laughs.

“DIE!”

“Thought you didn’t want me to—“

“AAUGH! Stop making me feel things!”

“He’s just saying nonsense, ignore him.” Shigaraki says.

“He is, but he’s also— never mind.” Dabi says; he shoves his hands in his pockets, frowns, and pulls out a strange remote.

“What’s that?” Shigaraki asks. Dabi crunches the remote in his hand, and throws its shattered remains on the ground.

“I’m done. I’m done. Natsuo, I’m giving up on trying to kill you. You’re too much trouble, and you’re not important.”

“Thanks?” Natsuo says, confused.

“Endeavor, and Shouto. They’re my targets. Not you, not Fuyumi, not Rei— in the grand scheme of things, you three don’t matter. What’ll hurt Endeavor most, what will destroy him, it’s killing Shouto. That’s my goal.”

“I’m not going to let you hurt Shouto.” Natsuo says.

“Would that I had killed him the first time I tried.” Dabi says.

“You’ve tried to kill Shouto before?” Natsuo asks. Something about Dabi admitting this feels important.

“It didn’t work, so it’s whatever.”

“It’s really not whatever—“

“There you are.” a voice says, and both Natsuo and Dabi immediately quiet, because strolling into the room as though he hasn’t a care in the world is none other than All for One.

“Sensei.” Shigaraki says. It’s extremely obvious what they’re doing here, and Natsuo remembers being thrown in the dirt in front of this villain, feeling all too helpless and mortal. He remembers a metal blade flying directly towards his face, and how he could do nothing but wait. At the end of the day, Natsuo couldn’t really defend himself, and luck was nebulous, immaterial, tending to evaporate when you needed it most.

“Tomura.” All for One says. His eyeless helmet glances at all of them. “Tetsuya. Natsuo. Himiko. Rody.” Who was Tetsuya— oh, that must be Dabi. Natsuo breaks out of his fear very slightly to squint at the scarred man; Dabi didn’t really look like a Tetsuya. Something like that, maybe, probably still starting with a T—”

“Hi, Mr. Sensei.” Toga says. 

“Want something?” Dabi asks. Something is trying to get Natsuo’s attention, in the corners of his mind. What is it?

“You’ve been working against me.” All for One says. It’s not a question.

“Yeah, cause you suck!” Shigaraki says. “Vine-boom sound!” 

“Something surely must have brought this rebellion on.”

“Yeah, I don’t know.” Shigaraki says. “It’s not like you want to make me into an android and steal my body, or anything.”

“Ah.” All for One says. “I discovered something useful recently, you know; I don’t have to figure out how to transform myself into an android— that kind of thing is impossible, anyway— it doesn’t matter who is in your body when I take it over, as long as all the right things are. I think you’ve gathered more than enough hate within yourself to be able to hold my quirk properly, don’t you?” 

“This is why I like Kurogiri better than you.” Shigaraki says.

“Kurogiri… he’s been odd recently, I wonder if he’s deteriorating. Luckily, you collected his replacement for me. Hello, Rody.” All for One says.

“Don’t touch him!” Toga yells. All for One just laughs. 

“And Natsuo. You’ve escaped me twice now, not even due to any effort on your part. Quite lucky… unfortunately, your luck has run out.”

Dabi suddenly starts laughing.

“Finding something amusing?” All for One asks.

“Go on, try to kill Natsuo. I’m sure it’ll work just fine.” Dabi says, and he doesn’t sound like he has before; he sounds like he’s teasing, like he doesn’t think All for One will be able to kill Natsuo. Which. What? 

“Interesting.” All for One says, and then a jagged red-black spike pokes out of his palm, lengthening. Natsuo stares at it in concern. “You really believe in luck?”

“I do.” Dabi says, nodding towards Natsuo. “And this guy’s got buckets of it.” He’s not wrong, really.

“We shall see.” All for One says, and the spike moves. 

Certain death is cut off by a purple portal, and Kurogiri billows into the room, mist everywhere.

“Kurogiri!” Shigaraki says.

“Kurogiri.” All for One says. “Capture Shigaraki and Rody. Kill everyone else.” The longest second in the history of the universe passes.

“Kurogiri?” Shigaraki asks; his voice is full of hope.

“No matter how much we may fight our fates, it is inevitable that our lives shall reach their end.” Kurogiri says, his voice carrying a soft kind of pain.  

Then he punches All for One in the face.

Chapter Text

“If you cool me down while I fight, I’ll be able to defeat him.” Enji says, standing between Shouto and his clone. “Last time, I lost because I overheated.” 

“Got it.” Shouto says. He hates that he has to save his father’s life (why must he be the one doing the supporting?) but what’s the alternative? Having a copy that was even worse take Enji’s place, and continue to ruin Shouto’s life? At least Enji had the capability for change, not that he’d really ever demonstrated it. At least he was human. At least he hadn’t done to Shouto what had been done to Kurogiri. The bar was on the ground, and Todoroki Enji still insisted on crawling. 

Well, the reason Shouto had wanted to go after the Hyper Vigilante in the first place still held; he wanted to know what it would feel like, to kill his father. Looking around Enji’s shoulders at Endeavor now, Shouto can’t see any difference between the two sets of flaming, furious eyes. Shouldn’t there be a discrepancy? Shouldn’t something tell him which one was the man he’d grown up with, and which one was a copy? Although… the fact that he can’t tell, that’s not his fault, is it. It’s the fault of the one who is no different in actions than a soulless clone.

The fight starts, and Shouto does his best to keep track between the identical warriors; he’s grateful for all the heat, since he certainly would have frozen himself solid by now if it wasn’t for the ambient counter to his quirk’s weakness. It’s your power, it will always be an integral part of you, and only you get to choose what you’re going to do with it. Izuku’s words still ring in his head; can he really deny half of himself forever? The thought of using his fire still feels like a loss, still feels like becoming his Dad, but maybe that’s wrong. Shouto wasn’t… he wasn’t a creation, he refuses to be defined by what Enji wants to build him into. Did that go both ways? Was he trying to break away by imprisoning himself? 

“I’ll make sure you never get near my family again!” Enji yells, and Shouto almost chokes. It’s not like you haven’t been doing exactly what he has.

“You’re going to try and protect them from me? They’re mine! Everything you’ve built, everything you’ve broken, they belong to me.” Endeavor answers back.

“They’re not yours.” Enji snaps. “They’re not mine, either.” Oh, what, since when. Shouto highly doubts his father has recently experienced a drastic worldview change. 

“Even Shouto?” Endeavor asks, and Shouto jolts to hear his name being spoken. But of course; he’s always been at the foreground of his father’s obsession. “I mean, you paid for him and everything—“

“Be QUIET!” Enji screams.

“Are you ever going to tell him? Or do you just not trust a creation you didn’t make yourself? Tell me… what’s the difference between our boy, and I?” 

Shouto… hadn’t thought about it that way. The clone has been doing all of Enji’s work for him, getting him to number one, but why doesn’t he count in the same way that Shouto surpassing All Might would? Why is everything that Shouto has been through worth something in Enji’s mind, but a solution that harms no one any more than Enji has already must be destroyed immediately? Shouto shakes his head, and tries to focus on the fight and not the words, but that’s pretty much impossible. 

“NO!” Enji yells, and Shouto suddenly realizes that he hasn’t been paying enough attention— that the few seconds he was distracted were enough for Endeavor to rush directly at him. This is… something he’s seen far too many times before, his father’s expression twisted in anger as he reaches forwards with a hand full of fire. You are not enough. You are supposed to be perfect. You can’t play with your siblings. You’re acting like your mother!

“Leave me ALONE!” Shouto cries, meeting Endeavor’s fist with a massive block of ice; it appears around his swinging arm at almost the same second that it explodes into shards from the force behind the punch. He feels cool air, colder shards, fly past his face followed by the hot backdraft of fire; the first punch’s impact has been neutralized, but Endeavor is already striking out with another one at a speed that’s almost too much for Shouto to comprehend. His hair blows into his face, blocking his vision, and Endeavor’s fist follows with a loud crack.

Shouto feels himself lose his balance as his head snaps backwards, and he falls to the ground; his face is burning with pain, and he’s incredibly disoriented. The hair in his eyes doesn’t manage to entirely block out the battle of the flame heroes, but what he can see kind of all blurs together in Shouto’s mind as he tries to recover. He can just… stand up… probably. He pushes himself to his knees, then up again until he’s standing. At least his nose isn’t broken. At least his face isn’t broken. That was… some serious luck, probably. Enji and Endeavor are grappling. Which one is which? Oh. The clone is the one with broken fingers. Wait, what? Shouto must have a pretty hard head. Hardheaded… that was a word for stubborn, he was too stubborn to use his fire. His fire. Why wasn’t he using it, again? It wasn’t Enji’s. He wasn’t Enji’s. He was his own person, and the only one who could decide his future. Not his father… not either of his father… there really should not be two Endeavors in the world. Shouto should just… take one out. Hasn’t he always wanted to do that somewhat, anyway? Since Touya? 

Shouto hasn’t thought about Touya in a while. Was now really the time? Probably not. Touya couldn’t let go, though, he died because he burned, because of Dad. Why was the evil clone more evil than the real one? When the real one had gotten his son killed? Gotten him to kill himself just in the hope that his father would care for him at all? Shouto remembers, a little bit, why Touya had gone up to the hill. He was saying something about… the fire Endeavor had lit inside of him, it would never go out. Does Shouto want the same thing as his departed brother— fire, no fire, he just wants Enji to see, doesn’t he? See what he can become with only ice. Look at me. Once again. But it shouldn’t be about Enji. Even now, this whole freaking thing with the clone, it’s about him again, while Shouto and Fuyumi have been the ones suffering. Shouto won’t let it be about him. 

“Overheating… if it works on Dad, it should work on you.” Shouto says. He’s had beyond enough. This is his life, it’s his quirk, and he gets to determine exactly what it’s all about, what he’s going to do with it— and who is going to be in it with him. 

What if we left?

If he and Fuyumi moved out, Shouto decides, that would really be rather nice. He holds his arm out in front of him, aiming for Endeavor, for the clone that had broken itself trying to break him— and he sends out a ray of fire, glowing and burning and heating and it’s been too many years but the release is beautiful. He’s free. Why had it taken so long to throw off the chains his father had placed on him? The fire is yellow, orange, red, white, so very incredibly bright, and Endeavor screams as it sears into him. The sound of him dying isn’t as fulfilling as Shouto had thought it might have been; but then again, what’s more fulfilling than knowing where he stands? Than knowing where he’s going? He still isn’t sure if he wants to be a hero yet, or not— but he knows that he will leave, and for now, that is enough. He is enough. 

Enji takes advantage of the clone dying to punch it in the face with all the force he can muster, just like how the clone had punched Shouto earlier. The clone’s head jerks backwards with a snap from the hit; Shouto watches as cracks spiderweb all through Endeavor, as though he is pottery, before he dissolves into gray dust. Anticlimactic, Shouto thinks, and then he collapses. His head still hurts, and he’s tired. 

“Shouto?” Enji asks. “Are you okay?” Shouto vaguely sees his father looking concerned out of the corner of his eye, and sits back up again.

“Yes.” Shouto says. 

“If he hit you as hard as I hit him, you could have died.” Enji says. He genuinely looks worried; but is he worried for his son, or for his weapon?

“I didn’t.” Shouto says.

“I’m proud of you, though. You used your fire! You’ve accepted who you’re meant to be!” Enji says, but his words mean nothing, for Shouto is surely thinking of something very different than he is.

Shouto isn’t thinking about Enji at all. 

“I did.” Shouto says. He won’t deny his quirk. He won’t deny himself. “Fuyumi and I are going to move out.” We’ll get Mom out of the hospital, too, he thinks before freezing; he hasn’t seen Rei in years. Will she hate him, will she be afraid of him? Oh… he really wants to see her again.

“You—“ Enji starts, as though he’s going to argue, and then he looks very sad. “I understand.” No, you don’t. “Shouto… there’s something I have to tell you. It’s important.”

“What?” Shouto asks, waiting. Enji takes a breath, hesitates, and hesitates again. “Are you going to tell me, or not?”

“I have to— but I can’t— you need to know—“ Enji cuts off, looking unsure. “You’re—“ He stops again.

“Well?” Shouto asks, annoyed. 

“I’m sorry.” Enji says. Whatever he was going to say remains unsaid.

“I can’t believe you killed your own evil clone and you’re still deciding to be a coward.” Shouto sighs.

Enji doesn’t answer him, and that’s all the answer that Shouto needs.

*** 

Izuku watches as Yagi fights his own clone, the both of them surrounded by multicolored lights; Yagi knows how One for All works far too well to be immediately taken down by it, but All Might is far stronger than him, even counting all the quirks. Blackwhip to fight, Smokescreen to distract, Danger Sense to dodge, Fa Jin for power, Gearshift for unpredictability, Float for flight; a strange glow blinks at the edges of Izuku’s vision around the fight. Wait. How does Izuku know all this? Yagi hasn’t even told him about all of the quirks, yet, and even still somehow Izuku can identify their names and usage.

“You look like you’re going to do something. Please don’t do something.” Shinsou says; Izuku had mostly forgotten he was here.

“I’m going to do something.” Izuku says. But what? How can he interfere, help Yagi win this fight? His mentor was using all the quirks skillfully, but they wouldn’t be enough, not against all the stockpiled strength of One for All— wait, again. How did the clone get the strength? Rody had the strength. From copying Yagi as he was currently, how did the clone receive it? The only possibility was that the parts of the quirk were connected somehow, despite their separation— the stockpiled strength still belonged to Yagi, despite Rody holding it. One for All was a singular quirk, it couldn’t be copied or taken, but it could be taken apart— was that why the clone had access to the strength, and only the strength without the vestiges? Because it was separated from Yagi already? So… theoretically… the clone would lose access to One for All if—

Oh, now there was an idea.

“I really hope that I don’t explode.” Izuku says.

“You— what are you doing? Stop!” Shinsou yells, and Izuku runs to where All Might and Yagi are, leaping around as they try to punch each other out. As he gets closer, the flashes of light that Izuku had halfway thought he was imagining become clearer— they seem almost to be the shadows of humanoid forms, different sizes and transparencies but all with glowing eyes. He’s not supposed to see this yet. What was One for All? Why was he connected to it before it had been given? How did it get transferred, anyway, wasn’t it through sharing DNA— no, wait, not only that, but also through the strength of will. The one reason that AFO hadn’t already taken it— none of the holders had ever wanted to give it to him. No matter how much DNA was shared, the quirk wouldn’t pass on if it weren’t for the holder’s will, and Yagi had been meaning to give Izuku to OFA for some time. He’d been meaning it enough that Izuku had told All for One the quirk was his, and there wasn’t enough of a lie there for the villain to question it. And wasn’t that worth something? Maybe it wasn’t worth the vestiges, maybe it wasn’t worth the core of OFA itself, but maybe it was worth the stockpiled strength that had already shown itself capable of being passed around.

“You aren’t All Might, you aren’t a hero, you aren’t Yagi-Sensei— One for All doesn’t belong to you!” Izuku screams, and his voice is lost to the wind; but the glimmers of vestiges glitter. There are nine of them; Izuku realizes, as he glances at them all, that even though he can’t quite make out their faces, one of them is very, very recognizable, although it’s so faded as to be barely visible, its light almost nothing underneath the sun. The light is green, and it’s looking at him; it is him. He belongs to OFA already. Was that the way that it went? “One for All is mine!” Izuku yells, and he can feel the proud moment that Yagi agrees, because it’s that moment that the strength finds its way to him. Just by Yagi wanting to pass the quirk on, has the quirk been given.

Or, at least, part of it; because even though it’s his, it hasn’t been fully given yet, so a not unreasonable portion of the stockpile that rests within the clone and Rody Soul goes back to the one it was taken from, and Izuku watches with wide eyes as with a burst of smoke, Yagi takes on the image he had been missing, and becomes All Might again.

The clone is summarily punched into a pile of dust.

“Young Midoriya, you…” Yagi says, looking shocked but smiling, “…saved One for All. You saved me.” The fight had been getting close to an ending by the time Izuku had intervened, and not a good ending, either. And now there’s something new arcing around Izuku’s soul, looping through his bones. He won’t touch it yet; the fear of exploding is still very real. But it’s there, and it fits so perfectly that it seems it always has been, even though the reverse is wonderfully, tragically, true. 

“What just happened?” Shinsou asks. “You— you’re All Might?” Izuku watches as Yagi deflates again, and Shinsou stares so hard it looks like his eyes are going to fall out of his head.

“We won.” Izuku says.

“I think you won.” Yagi says. “What you did is what allowed me to end him. I think you will be a wonderful hero, my boy; I know that there’s no one better out there than you who could hold One for All, and it looks like One for All knows that, too.”

I have a quirk now, Izuku realizes. It’s only part of one, not even including the factor, but it’s more than he’s ever had before. It makes him feel… complete. Mostly. There’s still something missing. Is it that he isn’t missing something? He wouldn’t have won this fight, he knows, if he hadn’t been connected to One for All, and this is both the most beautiful and the most disappointing thing in the world.

“Are you all okay?” Todoroki asks, and Izuku looks over to see his friend walking up to them. It looks like he’s defeated his enemy as well; Endeavor, the real one, is standing around too, looking dejected about something.

“Hitoshi!” a voice shouts; Spinner, Shoji and Eraserhead are also approaching, and they’re dragging something behind them that’s wrapped in Eraserhead’s capture scarf. It takes Izuku a few moments to realize what.

“You caught the Nomu!” Izuku says, delightedly; the drill-handed clone quirk creature is firmly trapped, not exactly alive but not exactly dead either, trying vaguely to break free.

“Endeavor. What is this?” Eraserhead asks. Endeavor kind of just stares at him. 

“He won’t let me stab it.” Spinner complains.

“Should I be concerned by how excited you are about stabbing things?” Shinsou asks.

“No.” Spinner answers. 

“It’s undead. You can stab it.” Yagi says. Eraserhead squints at him. 

“Who are you?” he asks.

“He’s All Might.” Shinsou says. 

“Are you serious?” Eraserhead asks. 

“I could be hallucinating.” Shinsou says. He looks as though he might be finding that option preferable.

“All Might was just here. But you can’t be him, so where did he go?” Shoji asks.

“There.” Todoroki says, pointing at Yagi. Izuku sighs. This secret was not keeping well. 

“I’m gonna stab it.” Spinner says, and then he does. Izuku realizes, as the Nomu goes limp, that the evil clone threat is now entirely over with. 

Almost as if on cue, Kurogiri appears.

“Oh.” he says, staring at Eraserhead for some reason.

“Do you… want something?” Eraserhead asks.

“Yes.” Kurogiri says, snapping out of whatever trance he’d been in. “I want you to fight All for One.” 

“Who?” Eraserhead asks. Kurogiri responds by dropping everyone through a portal. 

Chapter Text

“Oh my God, that’s Hawks.” Fuyumi says, glancing in the rearview mirror before the car bounces in another wild direction. Momo can’t believe she let Gentle use his quirk on it.

“And he’s trying to arrest us, in case you haven’t noticed!” Nagant says, shooting her gun-arm out the passenger window. How she can aim through this disaster of a travel method, Momo has no idea.

“He’s blocking all your shots… he can catch bullets with his feathers? Seriously?” La Brava asks.

“Too bad we can’t just toss a bunch of heavy-duty tranquilizers in his mouth. Lucky for us you had those, Yaoyorozu.” Gentle says, and Momo grips onto one of the bars imprisoning Geten to avoid crashing into him. She still isn’t over what she’d learned— not in the least— but maybe if she focuses on other things while the MLA is still a problem, she won’t cry. They have to save the country. She doesn’t have time to cry. 

“You can make ice, right? Not as much as your brother, but enough I can use?” Geten asks.

“If I let you fight Hawks, you’ll kill him.” Fuyumi says.

“You say that like I won’t.” Nagant says.

“Like you— you’ll kill him?” Fuyumi asks.

“I thought you grew up with him.” Momo says. Nagant shrugs, still shooting.

“If I have to kill him, it’ll be a pity. But if it’s what needs to be done, I won’t hesitate.” 

“He’s catching up!” La Brava shouts. The car’s route has stabilized and is driving normally now, something Fuyumi is probably grateful for. How is she keeping her head through all of this, Momo wonders. 

“Stop shooting at me, Kaina!” Hawks shouts.

“Who’s Kaina?” Gentle asks.

“Me.” Nagant says. “Unfortunately. You wanna talk names, huh? Then shove off, Keigo!” Hawks somehow manages to trip in mid-air at this, but he recovers, and is soon on the car’s roof. What. Well, he isn’t the number three hero for nothing. 

“You’re really clever. When I tried to capture you last time— you made me think you weren’t you, but someone else pretending to be. So the HSPC didn’t go after you, and the rest of the country is still inspired by your legend.” Hawks says.

“What?” Nagant asks. “Oh. No, that wasn’t me.”

“What?” Hawks asks, and Momo shoves the car’s roof open, slamming it into him. “Hey!” he yelps, trying not to fall off the moving vehicle, and falters, staring at Momo, who has her mask back on and is holding up a weirdly constructed water gun.

“It’s full of gasoline.” she informs him. “I heard you’re flammable.” 

“Oh my God.” Hawks says. “Someone cloned you, too?” 

“Get in the car.” La Brava says.

“He won’t fit.” Geten says.

“Yes, he will.” Gentle insists. Hawks eyes the interior of the car suspiciously.

“You were just threatening to incinerate me, and you want me in there with you?” he asks.

“I really don’t think he’ll fit.” Fuyumi says.

“Sure he will.” Nagant says, pressing some buttons, and a second backseat row folds out of nowhere.

“Okay, how?” Momo asks.

“How do you have infinite objects in your pockets?” Gentle retorts. 

“It’s the same principle, probably.” La Brava says.

“No, I don’t think that it is.” Momo says. Hawks blinks incredulously down at them all. 

“You do realize that I’m here to arrest you all, right?” Hawks asks. He ducks as the car drives underneath a bridge.

“I don’t really feel like killing you, but I think we could use your help.” Nagant says. “Want to fight All for One?”

“No, not particularly.” Hawks says; he slides into the car, and everyone shuffles around until he fits. “But if he’s around, I’m supposed to drop everything and get what information I can so that there will be any hope of stopping him. Which means… truce.”

Gentle Criminal pulls the roof closed, and Momo becomes very aware that her previous threat is now entirely useless, since incinerating Hawks in such a close space would incinerate all of them. He’s acting like he doesn’t have a care, holding out his hand to shake with Nagant, but his feathers are pressing against Momo’s shoulder and she’s all too aware of how quickly they could sharpen. By letting Hawks in the car, they’ve given him the advantage, and it’s only the threat of AFO keeping them unarrested at the moment.

“What’s the issue?” Hawks asks. La Brava takes Momo’s water gun, and sprays Hawks in the face with it.

“How did you know it had water and not gasoline?” Momo asks, while Hawks sputters indignantly.

“I didn’t.” La Brava says. She looks disappointed with this fact. 

“What kind of seatbelt is that?” Hawks asks, noticing how Geten is restrained to his seat. 

“It’s so that he doesn’t kill us.” Fuyumi says. Hawks frowns at hearing her.

“Fuyumi?”

“Hi.”

“You know Hawks?” Momo asks.

“We’ve met a few times, because of my father.” Fuyumi explains. 

“Should I ask what you’re doing with these people?” Hawks wonders.

“Most likely not.” Fuyumi sighs.

“Tell us about the illegal things you do for the Commission.” Gentle Criminal says. La Brava has brought out a camera from somewhere.

“Is it really illegal if it’s from them? They’re the government.” La Brava says.

“It’s the principle of the thing.” Gentle Criminal huffs.

“You mean like how the car is similar to the Nightgun’s pockets?” Geten asks.

“Probably.” 

“I don’t have pockets.” Momo says. Everyone stares at her— well, not Hawks, who mostly looks like he’s still trying to process the conversation as a whole.

“About All for One?” Hawks asks, trying to get them back on track.

“We’re going to go kill him.” Nagant says.

“I’m not.” Geten says.

“Because you’re lame.” La Brava says.

“You’re lame.” Geten retorts. La Brava sprays him with the water gun.

“Can we leave Geten at a police station on the way there? I’m still not very comfortable with the whole kidnapping thing.” Fuyumi says.

“You’re right, we don’t need him anymore, we got the information we needed. I’ll just shoot him.” Nagant says, and then she does. Fuyumi screeches in panic and nearly crashes the car.

“HEY!” Geten screams. “That hurts!”

“Why aren’t you dead?” Nagant asks.

“Because I’m an android, you jerk. Now my coat is ruined!” There’s blood spreading all over the light blue fabric. 

“You can’t just shoot people.” Gentle says.

“Yes, I can.” Nagant says. La Brava sprays her with the water gun. “Stop doing that!” 

“Please don’t shoot anyone. Except All for One.” Hawks says.

“Too late.” Nagant says. 

“My God!” Fuyumi complains. “I wonder how Natsuo’s doing. Hopefully he’s in a better situation than this.”

“What’s up with him?” Hawks asks.

“All for One tried to kill Natsuo, so Shouto threw an iceberg at him. Then we left.” Fuyumi says. Hawks looks stricken.

“I hate to tell you this, but if you left them with AFO, Natsuo and Shouto are definitely dead.” Hawks says. 

“Shouto is right back there at the fight with Dad. He probably took Natsuo somewhere safe.” Fuyumi says.

“What… oh, the ice that threw the car— did you seriously throw the car at Gigantomachia’s face while you were in it?” Hawks asks.

“Of course.” Gentle Criminal says. Hawks seems to notice him and La Brava for the first time.

“Aren’t you those villains who have a YouTube channel?” he asks.

“Awesome, you’ve heard of us!” La Brava cheers.

“The number three hero considers us a threat!” Gentle announces.

“No? I don’t.” Hawks says. 

“You will.” La Brava says, spraying water in his face again. Hawks remains resolutely unimpressed. 

*** 

Every attack that AFO throws at them, Kurogiri intercepts with a portal directed directly back at him. It’s one of the funniest things that Dabi has seen in his life. Unfortunately, even all of Kurogiri and Shigaraki’s efforts are nowhere near enough to even touch All for One.

“So you have found a way to betray me. I’ll have to program Rody more conservatively than I did you.” AFO says.

“DIE!” Shigaraki screams, and their fight has attracted the attention of the rest of the MLA. Ohhhh no. Kurogiri glances around, and he seems to realize that this is a fight they cannot win.

“Sensei, if I could, I’d make sure you could never go near Tomura again!” Kurogiri says, and portals begin to surround the entire group. “Unfortunately, that’s not within my power— but you’ll have to deal with what is.” Loud thunks suddenly start clattering through the building, at various different lengths from the area. Dabi briefly wonders what Kurogiri has portaled in until some of the MLA members start yelling about bombs.

“With that, I will take my leave.” Kurogiri says, and mist covers Dabi’s eyes until all is gone. 

Dabi regains his balance to find that he’s standing on the dusty floor of the underground bunker in the warehouse on the hill. He looks around; Natsuo, Shigaraki, Rody and Toga have all been teleported here as well.

“Where’s Kurogiri?” Shigaraki asks. Their savior has not arrived; a singular Nomu floats in a tank in the corner of Dabi’s vision, and empty tanks line the walls all the way to a vacated cryopod and a crumpled sheet.

“I’m guessing that was the grace period to disobey Sensei he talked about before.” Toga says.

“If he hadn’t turned whatever that was on, he would have let Sensei kill me. Possess me. Destroy all of you, too.” Shigaraki says. A portal appears, and Kurogiri steps out of it, looking self-satisfied.

“My apologies for not arriving here immediately, I had to go pick up All Might and his friends and send them over for Sensei to try and handle.” he says. “I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a very long time.”

“Bring us back there, then, if you sent over a bunch of heroes! I can take advantage of their presence to kill Sensei!” Shigaraki says, but Kurogiri shakes his head.

“Now that I have— if only for an hour— freed myself, there are things I can tell you that I was not permitted to before. Tomura… the All for One quirk is already, at least partly, within you. Sensei can possess you at any time.”

“What?” Shigaraki yelps. “But he hasn’t done anything to me that could possibly transfer it—“

“He has wanted to transfer it to you. He has been dreaming of controlling your body, of finally being an immortal android, of becoming young and strong again with your sacrifice. Tomura… his will is powerful, and vestiges respond to thoughts, and they grow and stir inside your mind where you cannot see them— but where he can take hold of them, and pull. If you get near him, he can steal your soul from your body, leaving it alive and available, but killing you. He has been planning this transfer for a very long time… defeating him without letting him activate this trap is something you must figure out.” Kurogiri sighs.

“He can’t transfer yet, though! Because I’m not an android, and he doesn’t know how to turn himself into one and keep his mind.” Shigaraki says.

“No.” Kurogiri says. “He does not know how to do such a thing. But I do.” 

“What?” Dabi says. Such a revelation is, quite possibly, the last thing he expected to hear out of this increasingly concerning conversation.

“You mean it’s not impossible?” Natsuo asks. He sounds rightfully awed.

“Sensei figured it out years ago, though he does not realize, as he thought the test subject was killed. In truth, the subject survived the transformation into an android through the experimental method that had been used. We replaced his bones, replaced his brain, but he woke up holding the same mind and soul that he had before.” Kurogiri explains. “I know exactly where that test subject is now, in fact; and Sensei will know too, the moment I die, and more besides.”

“What?” Shigaraki asks.

“He has planned for everything, Tomura. The instant I am dead, everything I know will be transferred to him. Any secrets you have given me, anything I myself have managed to keep from him, all my thoughts and my memories. I could not tell you about this before. I am sorry. We are not safe; we never were. Do you understand? We have lost this fight before we have begun, in every way possible. But I trust you to win it anyway.”

“No, no, Kurogiri— you’ll be fighting him with me, won’t you? You just have to make sure that you aren’t killed, don’t you?” Shigaraki asks. 

“The hour your control breaks is the hour of your death.” Kurogiri repeats, speaking old words of an old order, and with a sudden strike of horror, Dabi understands. “Sensei did not know it, but with that command he gave me a loophole. The moment that I chose to save your life— the moment I chose to escape from Sensei’s control— I am going to die, Shigaraki Tomura, and I have less than an hour left.” 

“You can’t! You can’t have sacrificed yourself, you idiot!” Shigaraki protests.

“If the universe could be changed through words, I would be a very different person. Literally.” Kurogiri says, slight amusement in his voice. “I’m sorry, Tomura. But this is goodbye. Is it a gift or a curse, do you think, that we will have some time together before I go?” 

The period of time that follows is a strange one; Dabi watches as Kurogiri and Shigaraki talk to each other, sharing things they previously either couldn’t or wouldn’t say. How much time have they spent together before now, with these barriers between them? Kurogiri has saved all their lives, but in doing so he’s doomed himself, and so doomed them all. Every plan, every whispering, every dark secret… it will be laid bare to their greatest enemy, and yet, they speak of deep things and forgotten times. Desperate measures and possible plots— how to win a fight that’s already lost? Everything they say now, everything they have already said, will be passed on; but Dabi cannot find it within himself to fault them, for he understands. He remembers a time when he told Natsuo everything that went through his mind; they would stay up late at night, and come up with increasingly silly ideas of revenge on their father. Not a single one had ever been followed through with, but it had been fun to imagine. They would talk about their quirks, and their futures, and their family— how many tears had soaked their shared room’s floor? They had played together, too, video games or kicking soccer balls or excitedly discussing manga. There had been times of joy, few and far between, and looking at Kurogiri and Shigaraki, Dabi thinks it was probably much the same for them. He looks at them, and remembers what it was like to have siblings.

And now Shigaraki is going to lose his elder brother, just like Natsuo did. Is there no way to save Kurogiri? Is there no way to prevent the death he brought on himself? Dabi has always considered the concept of self-sacrifice idiotic, but without Kurogiri on their side, they would never have escaped alive. Well… Dabi himself probably would have. As things stood, he considered himself more or less immortal. Why couldn’t Kurogiri just decide not to die? That has worked for Dabi so far. He didn’t really care about Kurogiri that much— he appreciated that Kurogiri had saved them, liked his usefulness of a quirk, but didn’t think about him much otherwise. He didn’t care about anyone but himself. Right? He had decided not to kill Natsuo because trying was too much of a nuisance, not due to anything the other had said. (Not because there was something about Natsuo that made Dabi feel like he could be Touya again.) He was still Dabi, still a fiery force of fury, just more precisely directed now. Shouto and Endeavor. Come heaven or high water, they would die.

But did Kurogiri have to? Why did Dabi find himself caring if Kurogiri died or not— no, he doesn’t care, he’s just wondering because Kurogiri is useful— why is Kurogiri going to leave Shigaraki all alone? His younger brother, the one who looks up to him, who would destroy the world for him. They were not related through blood, but they’d both undergone torment at the hands of the same man, both taken apart and rebuilt into weapons for a villain’s mission. Was that it, then? Dabi looked at Kurogiri, and saw himself?

So much for all of Natsuo’s hope, really. At the end of the day, they could not be saved. At the end of the day, hope was freaking useless, and none of them could do anything to intervene when one of their own was fated to die. 

“What’s happening to you?” Shigaraki asks; he has taken his hand back from Kurogiri, and his palm is stained with purple. Kurogiri’s yellow eyes are flickering, his mist is faltering, sliding off of him and pooling on the floor. He looks like a melting candle, and it’s the saddest and stupidest thing Dabi has seen all day.

“I think this is the end.” Kurogiri says. Skin is becoming visible underneath his vanishing mist; the metal neck-brace clatters to the floor. 

“I’ll kill Sensei, I’ll destroy him, I’d kill this entire world if I could— isn’t there anything that’ll stop you from leaving me?” Shigaraki asks, and Dabi realizes with a jolt that he’s crying. Shigaraki takes the hand off his face and wipes his eyes; the purple goop is getting all over him.

“Just know that as long as he has been planning against us, I have been planning against him. We have been. There is… more possibility than you believe. There is more hope than there seems.”

“There’s nothing if you’re dead!” Shigaraki screams.

“You are not alone. I would not leave you to this disaster without leaving you an answer.” Kurogiri says.

“I’m alone if I don’t have you!” Shigaraki cries. “No one else should be alive if you’re dead. It wouldn’t be fair. The mission to kill All Might was Sensei’s prerogative— Kurogiri, if you leave me, I’ll kill everything. I’ll destroy the world. I always said I’d do what I could for my friends, remember? And you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” 

“Shigaraki Tomura. The battle is lost, but the war is not yet over. I will repeat what I have told you before; no matter what stands in our way, you can depend on me.”

“Even if you’re dead?” Shigaraki asks.

“Even if I’m dead.” Kurogiri confirms. Shigaraki sniffles.

“I… trust you.” he finally says. “You’ve always had your own agenda, haven’t you? And you think you’re hilarious. I think you’re hilarious too, you idiot… I’m going to miss you.” Kurogiri smiles at this; there’s an actual human face visible where mist once was.

“I am glad to have met you. To have been able to be there for you.” Kurogiri says.

“I wish I could save you.” Shigaraki says, the admittance leaving him in a whisper.

“Tomura… saving me is something you have always done.” Kurogiri says, and the mist ceases to cover his eyes, which are a sky-brilliant blue. They close.

“KUROGIRI!”

The dark purple of what remains of Kurogiri is splattered all over Shigaraki’s hands, over the surprisingly human body that he has left behind; fluffy blue hair, a massive scar across his forehead, closed eyes. In the dim light of the vault, the purple almost looks blood-red, and where really is the difference?

Chapter Text

Shouto smells wood burning. Where did they get sent?

“Really? Kurogiri’s final act of rebellion is a few bombs and teleporting in a group of random people? How pathetic.” a voice says, and Shouto looks up to see none other than All for One himself standing in front of them. What.

“You.” Enji says, pushing his way through the group and stalking forwards.

“This is convenient, actually. I don’t even have to hunt you down to kill you.” AFO says, and a jet of fire from Enji only just manages to block the ensuing wave of energy. When the burst clears, AFO has only just dodged a punch from Yagi, who’s in full All Might form— thank frick he can use his quirk properly again. 

“Oh my God, he is All Might.” Spinner says, and then there are villains everywhere, and everything really just devolves into chaos. Shouto finds himself creating an ice wall to defend Midoriya, Shinsou and Shoji, none of whom are trained for combat.

“We have to do something!” Midoriya tells him.

“Yeah. Defend ourselves.” Shinsou says, but then he turns around and starts shouting insults. Is he trying to incense the villains on purpose? Now he’s… oh, mind control quirk. 

“Shinsou!” a voice shouts, and Eraserhead slides over the ice barrier. “Don’t antagonize them!”

“Shouldn’t you be helping Endeavor and All Might?” Shinsou asks.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I am incapable of flying.” Eraserhead hisses. “Now. I’m going to do my best to protect the four of you, and we are going to get out of here.”

“We can’t leave Shuichi!” Shoji says. Who was that?

“Shuichi is busy stabbing people.” Eraserhead says.

“He’s doing what?” Shinsou asks.

“I’m not surprised, honestly.” Shoji says. Shinsou whirls around and stares at him; Shoji uses all six arms to give a very impressive shrug.

“The Nightgun will be happy.” Midoriya says. “She’s been trying to cause serious trouble to the Meta Liberation Army for a while.”

“These are the Meta Liberation people?” Shoji asks.

“Huh.” Shinsou says. “Guess it was too good to be true.” A few loud crashing noises erupt as Enji is thrown through multiple floors of the building; Shouto looks over to see that he and Yagi are not having the greatest time against AFO, although the vestige quirks are seeming to make for an unexpected advantage. Shouto frowns; he still hasn’t gotten clarification as to what, exactly, the “vestige quirks” are. At least Yagi is managing to take out a lot of the villain army during the battle. 

“We can’t just leave!” Midoriya says.

“Yes, we can.” Eraserhead says.

Unfortunately, their attempt to escape is interrupted by first becoming surrounded (see: villain army) and then by All for One almost vaporizing them. Shouto freezes; if the bolt of searing energy had been a few more inches to the left…

“Don’t think you’re going anywhere.” he says, floating menacingly over their group.

“Why not?” Shinsou asks.

“Because—“ AFO starts, and then he almost falls out of the sky. “You.”

“Ow!” Shinsou yelps, holding his head. “You broke out! That’s not fair!”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t get myself a way to counter my son’s quirk?” AFO asks. The whole world kind of stops for a moment. 

“No freaking way.” Shinsou says. “Dad?”

“Unfortunately.” All for One says.

“What— I’m supposed to say that! You’ve been gone all this time because you’re a villain?” Shinsou yells.

“No wonder I couldn’t find your identity.” Eraserhead says. “If you’re my little cousin’s jerk of a deadbeat dad, that means I finally get to make you pay.”

“Do you even know who I am?” All for One asks, casually sidestepping a firebolt from Enji and a punch from Yagi in the same move. 

“Just said that I did, didn’t I?” Eraserhead asks, grinning something ferocious.

“Aizawa…” Shinsou says, looking at him with wide eyes, and Shouto doesn’t understand. Eraserhead will get himself killed, trying to fight the villain that can take on two heroes at once; but he’s going to do it anyway, maybe to avenge the past, or maybe to protect Shinsou’s future. Because they’re family.

Hasn’t Shouto done this very same thing, not too long ago? Hadn’t he given AFO an iceberg to deal with, because he had attacked Natsuo? So… why hasn’t anyone looked at what Endeavor’s done, and try to give some dues to him? Shouto didn’t want his father to die— but he wanted him to have to make up for what he did to Rei, to Touya, to Fuyumi, to Natsuo, to Shouto. But was there anyone out there who would stand up to the number one hero? 

“Very noble of you, Eraserhead. However, I haven’t the time nor the inclination to deal with petty grudges when more interesting battles await me.” AFO says before lashing out at Enji with a whiplike rope of spines. “Take care of them.” he orders, and Shouto only has time to notice the three overpowered combatants break through the roof as their battle resumes in earnest before it suddenly becomes apparent that they have a more immediate problem.

“Uh oh.” Izuku says, staring at all the surrounding villains— and at the increasingly imposing leader of the group, whose face begins to be covered in a strange pattern as he dramatically grows in size. 

“You’re dead.” he says.

“Get them, Re-Destro!” a villain with fancy hair cheers from behind, and as Shouto blocks the first strike with a barrier of ice, he really wishes that he hadn’t used his quirk so much today.

***

The MLA villa seems to have partly exploded.

“That’s new.” Fuyumi says, looking up at the smoke pouring out of various windows. A few holes are visible in the walls, and one corner of the roof has caved in.

“Did they get bombed?” La Brava asks.

“It’s probably your fault somehow.” Geten accuses, crossing his arms. Fuyumi had wanted to get him out of the way, but after Nagant had shot him there wasn’t really a non-suspicious option for getting him arrested. It was a pity that Nagant seemed to somewhat lack morals. Probably the HPSC’s fault, since they forced her into being an assassin, and all. God, the whole thing was messed up.

“We’re here already? I haven’t finished.” Hawks says. The group had taken a short detour on the way back to the villa in order to buy lunch, which with Hawks’ input was chosen to be fried chicken. “Why were there explosions?” 

“No idea.” Nagant says. “Let’s go find out.”

“The reckoning is upon them!” Gentle Criminal announces.

“I’ll reckon them, all right.” Yaoyorozu mumbles. Her face is still hidden by her mask, but she sounds furious. Fuyumi doesn’t blame her. 

“Are you going to let me out?” Geten asks.

“Should we let him out?” Hawks asks.

“I could shoot him again.” Nagant offers. This idea is vetoed. 

“What will you do if we let you out?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“Attack you. Obviously.” Geten says.

“I suggest we leave him in the car.” La Brava says.

“Sure, I’ll watch him.” Fuyumi says. Everyone looks at her. “What? This thing is practically invincible, I’m not going to get out of it to join a villain fight.”

“Excellent plan. You can aid us in our battle with vehicular assault.” Gentle says.

“I’m not going to hit people with the car—“

“You hit Gigantomachia.” Nagant points out.

“That was a spur-of-the-moment idea and a unique situation.”

“Well, if you have any other ideas, please do make use of them, because our current situation is rather unique indeed.” Gentle says.

“What you’re saying is that you want me to hit people with the car.” 

“Exactly!” La Brava says. Fuyumi sighs. 

“I think we probably shouldn’t just roll up and start blasting.” Yaoyorozu says. “It would be smarter to enter surreptitiously, like we did last time, and make our way to the organization’s leaders. Take them down, and it will significantly impact the rest— also, we won’t have to fight our way through all the rank-and-file first.” 

“They’re probably pretty busy with whatever’s already going on in there, so we have that surprise advantage, too.” La Brava points out before unfolding her computer. “If I can get into their mainframe, I can mess with them even more— not available? Did their computers get blown up too?” 

“The MLA leaders will probably be somewhat difficult to fight.” Gentle muses. 

“They can’t be that difficult.” Yaoyorozu says. “We’ve already got one of them.”

“What?” Nagant asks.

“I was hoping that you didn’t know.” Geten mutters.

“Seriously? You?” Fuyumi asks.

“I’m the most powerful person in this car.” Geten proclaims.

“Are you sure?” Hawks asks. Geten considers this, and does not appear to arrive at a satisfactory answer.

“Besides, the other leaders are… a hacker La Brava can already outdo, a reporter, some other random, and the Nightgun’s parents. I think Re-Destro will be the only threat worth worrying about.” Gentle Criminal says.

“It’s finally time for the confrontation, isn’t it?” Yaoyorozu asks, with a little laugh. “It’s been so long since I started this, and I always knew I’d eventually have to fight them… I thought I was ready for this day, but Syouma. I don’t know who he is anymore. He’ll have the same quirk, but… it’s someone else, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

“What will you do afterwards?” Fuyumi asks.

“I think it’s a little early to be thinking about that.” Nagant says.

“No, no… that never really crossed my mind. I wasn’t sure there would be an after. I don’t think I’m going to die, not like that, I just… does the aftermath matter when getting there is what counts?” Yaoyorozu asks.

“Yes.” Fuyumi says, because she is thinking about a house without a mother, and without much of a father, either. She is thinking of how she was younger than Yaoyorozu when she had to take over her parents’ roles, and… Yaoyorozu doesn’t have any siblings, but being the one in charge when you are young feels so very sad. “Say we win this, and you bring Kanami and Syouma to jail. You’ll be alone. What will you do?” Fuyumi is not a fighter, but she can do her best to make sure that at least one child is not left on her own. 

“I have more than enough money, I’ll be fine.” Yaoyorozu says, waving Fuyumi off. “Probably I’ll be able to get emancipated…”

If Shouto and I move out, maybe we could— no, she can’t offer that, not without asking Shouto first. But Fuyumi really doesn’t like the idea of leaving this brave young girl without anyone, after she loses her parents for the second time. 

“Do you think I can just drive back in through the same place I drove out of?” Fuyumi asks. They should solve the problems that are ahead of them before spending too much time focusing on the later ones.

“I think they’ll notice that.” Nagant says; before Fuyumi can respond, the ceiling of the villa explodes in a burst of fire, revealing All Might, Endeavor and All for One, battling intensely. “Uhh… never mind.”

“I’m going to help them!” Hawks says, flying out of the car roof; Fuyumi drives forwards, towards the hole in the wall she left during her previous exit. Yaoyorozu creates a gun from her arm in preparation, and Nagant leaps out of the car.

“I’ll go set up and see if I can give All for One some bullets in his brain.” she says, running off before climbing up the outside of the building. Okay. Why not.

“Good luck!” La Brava says, before taking out a computer and starting to tap furiously. 

“I’m going to see what I can do with what little computer infrastructure they have left.” she says. Fuyumi drives through the wall-hole, back into the villa, and watches through the car front window as Gentle Criminal and Yaoyorozu exit the car as well, but head in a different direction than Nagant to run up the stairs, heading to who knows where— and the stairs immediately collapse underneath them, sending them all to the ground.

“Look who it is! None other than the Nightgun herself… we’ve been wanting to get our hands on you for a while.” Two villains have walked forwards from the shadows, and it’s not hard to tell who they are.

“Yaoyorozu Kanami and Syouma.” Gentle says. “Your reckoning has arrived! And it will wreck you!”

He could stand to work on his catchphrases, Fuyumi thinks, and then wonders— is there anything they could do to help? 

***

“He’s gone.” Shigaraki says; Natsuo doesn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry you lost him. You loved him, didn’t you?” Toga asks, and Shigaraki places Kurogiri’s body on the ground, wiping his eyes again.

“Love is stupid.” Shigaraki hisses. “Look at how pathetic it’s made me!”

“It’s not stupid. You cared about him, and he cared about you; it’s only natural to feel grief at his passing.” Natsuo says. Shigaraki gives him a disgusted look.

“Oh yeah? I’m— the next demon lord, or whatever. The greatest villain in the country. The man who’s gonna destroy the world. Nothing about me is natural.”

“You were someone else before you became who you are now, weren’t you?” Natsuo asks. 

“Don’t remind me.” Shigaraki spits. “What’s this, trying to appeal to my better nature? I don’t have a better nature. I’m evil. I shouldn’t be affected by this, he was useful and helpful but at the end of the day he’s just another minion, right? An IDIOT minion!” he screams, drawing his leg back and kicking the severed hand that had previously covered his face across the floor. “What kind of loser goes and dies, huh? Especially when their leader needs them? I need him!”

“Family is… hard.” Dabi says, which makes everyone stare at him. “Yes, I have a family! I didn’t just spawn into existence, okay?”

“Sure seems like it.” Toga says. Dabi makes a face at her.

“You look up to them, and they look up to you, too; and then you disappoint them, and they disappoint you, and you realize that neither you nor they ever deserved to be inflicted with each other. Remembering the good times cuts like a knife, and remembering the bad times keeps you alive. They’re all you ever think about but you never want to see them again. You don’t talk to them in years, but when they reappear, they slide right into your heart as though they never left. You want to be them, you want to destroy them, you want to hide from them forever but you also want them to know you for who you really are. They matter more than anything else in the entire world, and you want to see them dead.” he says, barely seeming to even notice what he’s saying, spilling emotions like blood. 

“No, I think that that’s just you.” Natsuo says.

“You’re messed up, Dabi.” Shigaraki says. “Hey, get off! What’s it doing!” His following words are due to the fact that Pino has flown over to try and comfort him; Rody looks nervous, standing a few feet away with one arm outstretched.

“Trying to make you feel better?” Natsuo says. The bird looks disappointed by having her hug rebuffed, and squeaks when Shigaraki snatches her out of the air. “Leave me alone!” he yells. “Why did Kurogiri teleport us back here, anyway?”

“Maybe because of the Nomu?” Toga asks. Shigaraki looks up at it, and then he gasps. 

“That’s the original cloning Nomu! The one the Hyper Vigilante stole… maybe I can clone Kurogiri!” he says, rushing over to the tank and pressing some buttons. The liquid inside starts to drain out.

“I don’t think…” Natsuo starts.

“I’m getting him back, shut up!” Shigaraki growls, and steps back as the tank opens and the Nomu falls out. Natsuo watches warily as it opens its eyes and pushes itself to its feet, looking around at all of them.

“Hey. You. Nomu.” Shigaraki says, trying to get the creature’s attention. The Nomu turns to face him, blinking slowly. This was extremely creepy, Natsuo thinks, and then the Nomu smiles, mouth stretching impossibly wide to show needle-like teeth. 

“Oh-oh.” Toga says. 

“Clone him.” Shigaraki orders, pointing at Kurogiri’s body. The Nomu doesn’t move, and continues to grin unsettlingly. “You’re supposed to follow my orders! No, wait… only if Sensei tells you to. And if he didn’t tell that to you…”

“Is it going to attack us?” Dabi asks.

“Not if it hasn’t been ordered to. Which I don’t think it has.” Shigaraki says.

“Is it just going to sit there and stare at us?” Natsuo asks.

“I think so.” Shigaraki says. A few seconds pass and then he sits on the floor; Natsuo notices with some incredule that he’s still holding Pino. Perhaps the bird was helping. “For a moment, I thought that maybe… I hate having feelings!”

“You and I both.” Dabi laughs.

“Hating things doesn’t help.” Natsuo says. Both villains look at him.

“Hate is what keeps me alive.” Dabi says.

“Hate is the reason for my existence. Although… that’s Sensei’s fault, isn’t it, so he can possess me with the AFO quirk? I hate him— AUGH! Do you see the problem?” Shigaraki asks.

“Kind of.” Natsuo says. They both continue to stare at him. “I lost my brother some years ago, because of Endeavor. I’ll never not miss Touya. He was my best friend, and I will never stop missing him. I wasn’t there for him when it counted, and that’s why I do all I can for others— why I won’t ever forgive my father. But I don’t hate him. I get angry, absolutely, and I refuse to speak to him, but holding something like hate for as long as I’ve lived? Letting that direct my life? That kind of thing destroys you. That’s what turns people into people like him. I’m not saying you can’t be mad at Sensei, or want to kill him, or whatever— but there’s more to your life than who you’ve lost, how you’ve failed. There’s always what you can do next. Don’t make your life about your enemies— make it about yourself.”

“Kurogiri said there was hope. He said there was a plan.” Shigaraki says, and he grimaces. “I’m going to kill Sensei for him— for me. That’s what’s next. All Kurogiri ever wanted was for us to be free, and… he’s free, now. I just have to follow through.”

“Good for you.” Dabi drawls, clapping his hands. “Great speech, Natsu. All feel-good and rubbish. Shigaraki can do what he wants— I’m still gonna kill Endeavor and little Shouto, mind.”

“Oh, what is your problem?” Natsuo asks.

“You don’t get to tell me who I can and cannot hate, especially when the targets in question are the hero of domestic violence and the perfectly weaponized creation—“

“Don’t call Shouto that—“

“Brat thinks he can replace me, I’ll call him what I like—“

“I keep saying, you can’t blame him for that, Touya—“

“If only he’d died the day I nearly burnt his heart out—“

“I remember you crying after that, you didn’t really want to hurt him—“

“Too freaking bad cause I wanna kill him now—“

“Were you calling him Touya?” Toga asks. 

“Uh.” Dabi says, looking like a deer in headlights.

“Uh.” Natsuo says, going over the previous conversation in his mind. “Yes?”

“Extremely loud incorrect buzzer.” Dabi says.

“YOU’RE TOUYA?!” Natsuo screams. Oh God, oh God, it made perfect sense, there had been so many hints all this time and Natsuo hadn’t even realized until they’d fallen into an old argument and his brain had remembered before his memories—

“Fine, you caught me.” Dabi sighs, and Natsuo crashes across the room and tackles him in a hug. “Hey! Stop hitting me!” 

“That’s for trying to kill me so many times!” Natsuo says, smacking Dabi in the shoulder. “You— you— bastard! I missed you! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“To avoid this kind of thing happening, mostly.” 

“We all thought you were dead, why didn’t you come back— no, I know why.” Natsuo sighs. “I left that house as soon as I could. I understand. But why didn’t you at least come see us? You could have moved into my apartment, you didn’t have to go off and be a villain!”

“Because I want to murder you all, remember?” Dabi sighs.

“Don’t worry, we can work around that.”

“Yeah, when I kill you.”

“Sure you will.” Natsuo says, and he’s holding his brother again, and you know what, maybe there is some truth to the idea that he’s lucky. “Sure you will.” He feels very vindicated when Dabi hugs him back.

Chapter Text

Eraserhead focuses his quirk on Re-Destro, but he might quickly be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of enemies, who are only barely being held back by Todoroki repeatedly creating barriers of ice; his right side is aflame, burning through his clothes, and the heat is likely all that’s keeping him from passing out. He does not look like he’s holding up. Can Izuku do anything? He can feel One for All waiting inside of him, ready to be used, but he worries about touching it. About exploding. 

“Oh my God, you actually punched one of them.” Shinsou says, looking over Shoji’s shoulder as he stands near the edge of the barrier, lashing out with arms of unnatural length to knock back the few who get around the ice. 

“Someone has to.” Shoji says.

“I can’t hold this much longer!” Eraserhead says; it’s only his quirk that’s keeping Re-Destro from just crushing them all. Maybe if Izuku doesn’t activate the quirk in his whole body, but just his arm, only his arm will explode? But if his arm explodes, he could bleed out and die, and then he wouldn’t be able to help anyone! Maybe if he did only one finger… he could live with one exploded finger, Izuku decides, aiming and bracing himself.

“What are you doing?” Todoroki asks, and Eraserhead blinks; Re-Destro strikes forwards with surprising speed, smashing through the barrier, but his advance is met by a burst of air that, well, explodes down the hallway in a shockwave and sends the group of attackers flying.

“Again? Are you kidding me?” Izuku hears one villain whine. Oh, one of his fingers is broken. That’s… better than he expected, actually. At least it’s not exploded.

“What was that?” Shinsou asks.

“His quirk. Well, All Might’s quirk.” Todoroki says.

“What?”

“It’s supposed to be a secret…” Izuku says, peering cautiously around the broken ice chunks only to see Re-Destro charging back towards them. “Oh no.” The charge, thankfully, is interrupted when his quirk is erased, which reduces him in size but still keeps the momentum, causing him to be flung over the group’s heads and directly into the opposing wall. Re-Destro sways slightly as he tries to get up, but Todoroki blasts him with fire; his quirk blocks any serious burns, but the heat causes him to pass out.

“That was easy.” Eraserhead says. “Wait, is that the owner of Detnerat?”

“Any of the rest of you want to try your luck?” Shouto hisses, turning to glare at the rest of the villains, who mostly all seem rather cowed at the defeat of their leader.

“Don’t give up because of one setback! We can destroy them and prove our strength!” the villain with fancy hair shouts, standing up on a bit of rubble so everyone can see him. “And you! You’re all doomed!” Izuku can feel a strange fear spreading through him at the villain’s words, and at the same time the crowd seems to gather themselves— there must be some kind of quirk at fault! With this deduced, Izuku picks up a chunk of ice from the floor, and launches it at the villain with all his strength; the ice hits right on target, bouncing off the villain’s head. 

“Nice throw.” Shinsou says, watching as the villain collapses. This is more or less it for the rest of the group, who all start to scatter. 

“Now what?” Shoji asks.

“I call some other heroes here.” Eraserhead says, taking out his cellphone and making haste to do so.

“We could probably do something about… that.” Todoroki says, pointing up to the battle in the sky, which is in a vaguely stalemate situation.

“I think the top two heroes—“ Eraserhead blinks. “Top three, when did Hawks show up?? Anyway. I think they have it handled.”  

A large amount of spinning blades suddenly fly out of All for One’s shoulders, aimed like missiles and slashing at his attackers, knocking them all away from him; he floats downwards as the heroes struggle to get away from their personal knife tornados.

“It’s very flattering, knowing that the top three are all shelling out for me, but you must realize I haven’t been trying my best. Like you seem to be doing. Pity.” AFO rolls his shoulders, and holds up a hand. “We might be tied at checkers, but I think it’s about time I show you how to play chess.” With a strange glorping sound, black liquid appears in the air before All for One, condensing and materializing the panicked form of Shigaraki, whom AFO immediately grabs by the throat.

“What the— HEY!” Shigaraki yells, twisting around and trying to disintegrate him.

“Kurogiri cannot save you again.” AFO says. “I became aware the moment he died… everything the two of you have shared between you, it now belongs to me. To think that he managed to keep the secret of android transferral from me for so long… he played his game well, but at the end of the day I always hold all the cards.”

“That’s what you think!” Shigaraki yells. “He said he had a plan, and I’m gonna use that plan to knock your stupid face off! Oh, wait. All Might did that to you already.” 

“You don’t even know what this alleged plan is.” AFO sneers, and Shigaraki grins at him. 

“Sure I do. It’s doing the one thing you’d never expect.”

“And what’s that?”

“For one, trusting my friends.”

“Are you serious?” AFO asks.

“Of course not.” Shigaraki laughs. “That’d be corny and stupid. Who needs trust when you’ve got certainty?”

“Pretty words will amount to nothing.” AFO says, and Shigaraki starts struggling and yelping. “Tomura, there was never any other end.”

“Get out of my head! GET OUT! I HATE YOU!” Shigaraki screams, but then all of a sudden he freezes, seeming to rethink what he’s saying, and something changes in his eyes.

“Nah. Frick that.” he says. “I’m not losing anything I care about ever again— I’m not losing myself, not losing my life, not losing anything on this earth to YOU!” 

AFO falters, frowning. “What— what is this? Why are there two souls here—“

Rody’s small pink bird flies out of Shigaraki’s hand, and with a burst of green energy, launches itself directly into AFO’s face. Oh, Izuku thinks, and even though he doesn’t understand how the bird ended up with Shigaraki of all people, there’s one thing that he does get. When I took One for All back from the clone and Rody, it did as it always does, and left some embers connected to the soul.

***

“Where did he go?” Dabi asks, staring at the space Shigaraki had suddenly and loudly disappeared from, rudely ruining the reunion with Natsuo. Dabi didn’t know what to think about his brother learning his identity— or about Natsuo’s first reaction being to hug him. Or about hugging Natsuo back. Which did NOT happen.

“What if Mr. Sensei took him?” Toga asks.

“Oh God, he did, didn’t he.” Natsuo says, and then he looks up when Rody starts talking. “He did, Pino is with him, he got teleported back to the villa somehow—“ 

A loud hacking cough suddenly starts up behind them, and Dabi whirls around, staring; Kurogiri is sitting up, spitting bits of purple goop out of his mouth.

“Kurogiri!” Toga says, but he shakes his head, looking up at them. 

“No— I’m not— not Kurogiri.” he says.

“Who are you, then?” Dabi asks. The man who had been Kurogiri gives them a weak smile.

“I’m Shirakumo. Kurogiri was… the Warp Gate quirk, forced to be in full command of the body when we got turned into a Nomu, but I kind of got brought back to life when Kurogiri was created? Since sentient quirks are always reflections of the user’s soul. So my soul had to be there, for him to be there. And, uh… he was forbidden by Sensei to mention me ever, but we’ve been together as long as he’s been alive, even though I was stuck. He guessed I might still live after he died, and we’re separate enough that AFO never had access to my mind, so there’s no way that he knows about me. I’ve… never been able to speak to Tomura, but he’s as important to me as he was to Kurogiri. Sensei had me killed to make Kurogiri. You can trust me. I promise.”

“So you’re the plan Kurogiri was going on about.” Dabi concludes. “Been plotting with him in your headspace all this time?”

“Why didn’t he tell Shigaraki about you? During the hour that he could, I mean.” Natsuo asks.

“There was always the chance he guessed wrong, and if he’d said anything, then Sensei would know about me after Kurogiri died. And— I’m not Kurogiri. I’m not the one Tomura cares about. I’ve always been here, watching everything, talking to Kurogiri, but… Tomura doesn’t know me.” Shirakumo says. “Explaining me to him would take time, let AFO know the plan? and run the risk that Tomura would misunderstand and think Kurogiri was coming back.”

“Sure. Whatever.” Dabi says. “What’s your great plan, then?”

“I’m going to fly us back to fight All for One.” Shirakumo says.

“Fly?” Natsuo asks.

“My old quirk, before it was turned into Kurogiri. It’s…“ Shirakumo waves his hand, and frowns when purple mist just like Kurogiri’s starts flowing out of his skin. “…not this. This doesn’t make any sense, I can’t have Kurogiri’s quirk, he is a quirk— we figured that when he died I would get mine back—“

“Can you teleport us there, then?” Dabi asks.

“I don’t see why not.” Shirakumo says, and the mist grows in volume before spiraling into a disk. A loud clattering sound suddenly starts up, and before anyone can react, the cloning-quirk Nomu dashes across the room and through the portal, claws clacking on the floor.

“Why did it— doesn’t matter. Everyone, let’s go!” Shirakumo says, and Dabi’s about to follow the Nomu through the portal when one glowing yellow eye, and then another, blink open within the portal’s depths.

“This is unexpected.” Kurogiri says.

“Oh my God.” Natsuo says.

“You survived!” Shirakumo says. “Wait— how? And why aren’t you me?”

“I think that I was never you, Shirakumo. We know that you died, and as a side effect of creating me from your quirk, Sensei restored you to life; but instead of leaving us as… well, as we are now… he made us into a Nomu.” Kurogiri says.

“Yes?” Shirakumo asks.

“A Nomu is an undead being powered by quirks— Sensei never understood that I, the quirk, was not the Nomu itself. We never understood that either, did we? For the Nomu, which was under both my command and Sensei’s, died from breaking out from his— leaving the two of us. You have your body again… and impossibly, in a way I never could have conceived, I too am free.” Kurogiri says.

“All that’s left is freeing Tomura.” Shirakumo says.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Natsuo asks, and he runs through the portal, followed by all the others. Dabi shrugs, and follows too; it seemed that everyone was coming back from the dead, today. Maybe there was something to be said for hope after all.

Then Dabi exits the portal, stumbles into a hallway and sees Shouto standing there; all rational thoughts immediately depart his brain.

“SHOUTOOOOOO!” he screams, launching himself across the room with a burst of fire; flying with his quirk hurts, but nothing feels better than the moment he grabs the front of Shouto’s shirt and slams him through a wall. The two of them continue rolling from the momentum as Dabi keeps trying to rip his brother’s face off, and Shouto ices him over; they eventually collide through an open pair of doors and crash into a broken computer box, which topples over on both of them. 

*** 

A purple misty portal opens up in the hallway; the first thing through it is a Nomu, which clatters up to Izuku at an incredible speed and runs directly into him. He hears someone screaming in the background as he tries to escape from the clawed grasp, but suddenly there are two pairs of hands holding him down.

“Long time no see.” his own voice whispers in his ear, and Izuku looks backwards to see the Hyper Vigilante. Instead of being an unnaturally strong version of him at twelve years old, however, it now looks exactly as he does at this very moment. “An upgrade, nice!”

“You’re dead!” Izuku accuses. “Endeavor killed you!”

“Endeavor killed his own clone, not yours. Two in one, remember? So all I had to do to come back to life was get my vessel’s hands on you again. It’s a pity I lost out on Endeavor and All Might— power beyond belief, that— but you’ve got plenty of power too, don’t you?” 

“Spinner killed the Nomu—“ Izuku protests, but the Nomu he’s looking at now is very different from the one Spinner had stabbed. He jolts in surprise as Eraserhead’s capture scarf loops around the Nomu’s middle; the creature twists around to face its attackers, which Izuku realizes consist of Eraserhead, Shoji and Shinsou. What happened to Todoroki?

“He killed a Nomu with a copy of my quirk. I was created by this one, the first one— made from the same villain who once threatened you. And now I’m threatening you again. Funny how that works.”

“Get off!” Izuku says; now that there isn’t an entire Nomu on top of him, he’s able to get some traction against his evil self. They’re equally matched— except the clone cannot tire out. “What do you want?”

“I want your life, and it was a good three years before you decided you weren’t willing to share.” 

“You kill people!” Izuku snaps. “Before I knew who you were, I envied you! You were a quirkless vigilante, you made a difference, the world looked up to you. I looked up to you. But I don’t understand why with all the good you did, that you did bad, too!”

“Of course you envied me. I’m you, except just a bit better. Stronger, faster, smarter. I’m who you could be if you were just a little… more. If you were hyper.” the clone says, grinning at him; Izuku barely gets his hands up in time to block a punch to the face. “Of course, there was some Endeavor there too— the means make the ends, don’t they? What’s a better way to stop a villain than take them off the board completely?”

“Your Endeavor is dead.” Izuku says, but he’s thinking, and he remembers what Todoroki told him, about the quirk marriage and the training and the ruthless directive to become the number one hero. No wonder a version of him turned into the Hyper Vigilante, with that also inside his mind. “If that’s true, why didn’t you being me affect you being Endeavor?”

“It did.” the Hyper Vigilante says. “Why do you think Endeavor was able to surpass All Might on the leaderboard? It wasn’t just incidents solved— Endeavor has long since managed more of those than our favorite number one. What he’s always lacked compared to All Might is kindness, both to those he saves and those he fights, and I made up that difference. Why do you think his family never noticed? They were too busy being grateful that he’d been getting better, that he was starting to care, to be considerate. Shouto realized, of course, that some days were worse than others; but he assumed, later, that those days were due to the so-called evil clone. Don’t you get it? Any instances of Endeavor not being as bad as he could have been were thanks to me— thanks to you.”

“You’re awful.” Izuku says. “I can’t believe you just— moved into Todoroki’s life, and continued hurting him. Let his father keep hurting him. I don’t care what you pretend; you’re no hero! I wanted to ask you why you weren’t one, back before everything happened. Why you could do so much even though you were quirkless, and you still refused to be everything! But I understand now.” 

“Do you?” the Hyper Vigilante asks, pushing against the ground; Izuku feels a breeze in his hair, and realizes his head is over the edge of a balcony. The downward drop is… rather imposing. If he falls, death is a very real possibility. 

“I understand exactly what you are. You’re nothing, you’re a broken creation from a broken creature who’s trying to take over other people’s lives because you’ve got nothing going for yourself. And—“ Izuku realizes with a sudden rush of adrenaline what he’s saying. “—compared to you, whether I’ve got All Might’s quirk or not, I’m the one with everything.” 

“Doesn’t matter what you say, you can’t do anything to me. You’re quirkless, Midoriya Izuku, you’re useless, and even though I take your form it doesn’t mean I share that weakness.” the Vigilante hisses, pushing him further over the balcony’s edge.

“You don’t know.” Izuku realizes, the thought thudding into him like a drum. “You don’t have it, do you?” Despite the fact that the clone has recopied him at a very recent period of existence, it cannot copy One for All. 

“Have what?” the Vigilante asks.

“Of course you wouldn’t have it. I don’t really have it myself— but I have what matters.” What has always mattered.

It was about being quirkless, but it wasn’t just about being quirkless; all it has ever been is a worry that Izuku would not be enough. Because here’s the thing about One for All— it’s not just about the giving, but about the taking. It is on all counts a voluntary interaction; and Izuku is now looking back on three years of quirklessness, looking back even farther than that, and he understands that he’s always been worthy of being a hero. He lights up with green lightning, feels it spinning through his soul, and it feels like a life he’s never known before; he reaches up to grasp his clone by the throat. A spin, a push, and it goes over edgewise, meeting the ground far below in a shattering cloud of gray dust. 

Izuku had spent years wishing he could be like the Hyper Vigilante; who would have thought that it had equally spent that time wishing it could be like him?

Chapter Text

Momo is about to take her mask off and announce herself in a suitably dramatic fashion when Kanami sees All Might’s car, and narrows her eyes.

“You. What did you do to Geten?” she asks. The windows of the car are shaded; they won’t be able to see he’s trapped in there, never mind who’s driving.

“The last anyone saw of him was that he was chasing after that car, and then there was an explosion and he didn’t return.” Syouma says.

“I killed him.” Gentle Criminal says. “Wasn’t easy, due to the whole android thing, but they’re not entirely immortal if you know what you’re doing. Which I do. Always.” Momo avoids glancing at him in shock. What was he thinking? She didn’t doubt Geten could hear them and was yelling in anger right now on the other side of the car windows.

“WHAT?” Kanami shrieks. “He is perfect, the best soldier we’ve created, perfectly loyal to the cause; he might as well have been my son.” 

“I thought you two had a daughter.” Momo says, feeling a terrible shudder. They’re reasonably well known due to their wealth and ownings, anyone could look them up and find that out.

“She’s not an issue right now.” Kanami says.

“Or ever, really.” Syouma says.

“True.” Kanami acquiesces. “But you are going to pay if you destroyed Geten— such high-quality genetic material, the latest android technology—“

“I told you getting him upgraded regularly would be a waste. He doesn’t even like the procedure.”

“Oh hush, you get upgraded as much as you want to.” Kanami snips, before turning back to the increasingly horrified Momo. “Now, time to get rid of you.”

Momo is rather justifiably amused by the surprised noise her mother makes when she runs directly into one of Gentle’s air trampolines and is thrown unceremoniously backwards. Momo has to dodge, though, when Syouma sends a set of spikes flying; they pierce the air trampoline, which is mostly only good against blunt impact. 

“Don’t let her touch you.” Momo tells Gentle. Syouma’s quirk, which he’d inherited from his predecessor, was simple in function and form: generating sharp spines from his skin. Kanami’s, however… she could change the material of anything she touched into a different material, provided she knew the chemical composition of both. Their quirks, combined, had granted Momo her own, which she was now going to level against them; fittingly, she levels her arm that carries a gun. For a moment, she feels sadness; has her mother ever loved her? Why did her father have to die? What was so important about the Meta Liberation Army that they both had to leave her behind? Where did Geten come into it? Momo creates some tranquilizer bullets, and fires, but the very air warps at Kanami’s fingertips, and a thin sheet of metal coalesces into existence and blocks Momo’s shots.

“Two can play at this game.” she says, smiling softly, and Momo doesn’t remember the last time she’d seen Kanami smile in her direction. 

“Be quiet!” Momo shouts, shooting again but only for the same result.

“Tranquilizers? Really? We’d heard that the famed Nightgun never took a life, but didn’t quite believe it.” Syouma says. What was his position on the issue, what kind of person was he to just slide into the original Syouma’s life? To follow Kanami into villainy without hesitation? Did he consider himself married to Kanami? He obviously didn’t consider himself Momo’s father. Androids… they could grow, and heal, and even manifest quirks, but they’d never be able to have children, not the way that humans did. What was Geten to him? 

“You’ve killed before, then.” Momo says. It isn’t a question.

“We’re villains, dear. Obviously.” Kanami says.

“Yes, and we’ll kill you.” Syouma says, launching more spikes; they all bounce off of Momo and Gentle in a bouncy clattering, thanks to Gentle’s quirk. 

“You killed Syouma.” Momo says. She hates that her father and his replacement both have the same name; she wonders, for a moment, if this will make things confusing, but Kanami seems to know what she’s talking about.

“I suppose you figured that out when you realized the new model is an android, hmm? It’s a pity, but all I did was try out a theory. No great loss, though, the current Syouma is quite the improvement over the old one.” 

Momo takes off her mask, and it feels like time has slowed to a crawl.

“You killed my father.” she says, and she will not cry. Now is not the time. “Why? What was he to you— what am I to you? What ever, what even was the point?”

“Momo. You’re the Nightgun?” Kanami asks.

“I told you that it wasn’t Nagant!” Syouma says. Kanami glares at him. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a hero. To help others. And when I found out what the two of you were doing, I couldn’t just let it lie— I had to fight against my own parents to stop the injustice I found happening in front of me. I had to become a hero years before I could go to UA, had to put in effort to protect the world from you. It isn’t supposed to… things shouldn’t be like this. Why are they like this? WHY?” 

“I had hoped we could introduce you to this life someday.” Kanami says. “I now see that’s not an option.”

“What?” Momo asks.

“I would have raised you in it, as I did Geten, but that wasn’t an option with the first Syouma. I wish I had been able to… we could have had the Nightgun’s expertise on our side, instead of against us! I wish you could have been part of this side of my life. Unfortunately, you grew into your own woman without my guidance, and when I realized you wanted to be a hero, I understood there was no dissuading you. Yaoyorozu women have always been tenacious. Instead, I decided I’d let you continue on your path, because it was a path that could be used— to have a hero of the level I knew you could reach in my confidence? What an advantage! And when the use of the knowledge you had told me, the things I had gotten you to do, were all revealed, you could look back and see who you really had been working for. That the weak desire to save others, combined with your strength and my guidance, would have brought you to the Meta Liberation’s side without you even knowing. And once you did know, you’d realize the power you held, and you’d decide to stay. I have never been able to dissuade you, but I’ve always been able to steer you. I care about you, Momo, but now that you’ve seen so many of our goals without my direction… I doubt this situation is saveable.” Kanami says. This is so much more than Momo ever thought she’d hear, and she thinks it’s breaking her heart.

“What’s Geten, then? A child who could do what I couldn’t?” Momo asks, and she thinks about how Geten hadn’t gotten to grow up. Twelve years, and all of them as an adult. What kind of person would create someone into that kind of life? That wasn’t right. 

“Geten was never a child.” Syouma says. “He was created to show the MLA the kind of future they can look up to, once we figure out android transference. He’s one of the MLA’s strongest, and Kanami has been very good at directing him into being exactly what she wanted.” Momo notices, vaguely, that Syouma does not seem to feel the same possessiveness over Geten that Kanami appears to. Wait. Momo had lost the original Syouma three years ago— that meant this new one, created by Kanami, had existed for a terribly short length of time. Momo can’t imagine how strange it must feel, to wake into existence into a world you know nothing of and be able to comprehend all of it… perhaps a reason Syouma was like this was because Kanami had “directed” him, too. He had never had a chance to know anything else. And Geten— if Momo hadn’t had her Syouma, would she have ended up like him?

“Geten is a mark of glorious advancement. He’s the pinnacle of human achievement, by not being human at all. His quirk is ideal, too; I can thank Garaki for that one. I’m going to use Geten like I wish I could have used you— he does everything I want, and by the time he understands that, he will understand nothing else.” Kanami says, and then seems to decide something. “I think… yes, you are beautiful, and your quirk is a blessing. Since there is no longer any option to make you mine, the next Momo will have to do.”

“You want to…” To replace me with an android, someone you can manipulate, because I’ve become inconvenient. Just like Syouma.

“I believe this conversation is over. Time to say your goodbyes.” Kanami says.

“I never got to!” Momo screams. “You took my father from me, and I didn’t even know until recently, and now you’re going to try and take me, too? Trying to direct everything into some kind of perfect order for a  nebulous goal? You’ve destroyed our family only to surround yourself with strangers.” 

“They aren’t strangers, they’re mine!” Kanami yells, and Momo dodges her hands; one touch will kill, what kind of world is it where there is no safety in her mother’s arms, and her father is not her father anymore?

Maybe Fuyumi had a point. Maybe, now that Momo is truly forced to face it, there is something terrifying about being alone. 

“You WISH!” Geten shouts, and a perfect sphere of ice slams into Kanami at high speeds, staggering her; Momo quickly creates a special set of restraints, tugging it out of her shoulder and imprisoning her mother with it.

“What— hey!” Kanami says, finding herself unable to transmute it.

“It’s made out of a material I knew for certain you didn’t know.” Momo says. She’d spent a lot of time working on the perfect mixture, in preparation for the ultimate confrontation. Glancing up, she notices that Syouma has collapsed; she looks at Gentle, who shrugs, and then back at the Hercules car. Geten is halfway out of the roof, holding a destroyed water gun. She had made water. He could have used it to break out any time, Momo realizes. And instead…

“I knew she was using me, but— not to that extent.” Geten says, making a face. “I hate her, she’s always spoken of androids like we’re the greatest thing ever, but also like we’re just her tools.”

“I got Syouma!” La Brava says, looking out a side window. “Fuyumi remembered how All for One’s hacking program can get into androids, which is insane. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him! He’ll be fine in a few hours.”

Fuyumi looks out the other window. “Yaoyorozu? You all right?”

“You have avenged the injustice inflicted upon you!” Gentle announces, leaning down to start helping put the Yaoyorozus in the car's backseat. “Miss Nightgun, you have been a glory to fight alongside.” 

Maybe she wasn’t alone after all.

“One more enemy is still waiting for us.” Momo says, and she realizes she’s truly smiling for the first time in quite a while; she is crying, too, but she might as well. Her mother had tried to build a family of strangers, so Momo had built a family of friends; they were her heroes, because she had been theirs. “If Nagant hasn’t shot him already, that is. All for One… the reckoning is coming for you next.” Kanami would never understand, but true power didn’t come from making others follow you. It came when people followed you without you even trying.

*** 

Rody has absolutely no idea what’s going on. 

He’d been getting along pretty well with Himiko, watching as the others argued and destroyed computers, and then BOOM, All for One shows up and they all skedaddle to get out of there. Next thing that happens, Shigaraki and Kurogiri have a very long discussion that ends in the latter melting, and Shigaraki crying over him, and oh, he had died, hadn’t he? Then Natsuo and Dabi start shouting at each other, and then they hug. Hadn’t Dabi been trying to kill Natsuo? And just when it seemed things wouldn’t get weirder, Shigaraki gets teleport kidnapped with Pino, who is somehow suddenly able to activate the exploding quirk, which had disappeared from Rody, and she hits AFO in the face— and then Kurogiri inexplicably wakes back up from being dead, and against his better inclination, Rody follows Himiko through the ensuing portal. 

Now Pino was knocking AFO around with the exploding quirk while he tried to simultaneously fight Japan’s top three heroes and do something to Shigaraki. Rody isn’t sure what, but it certainly wasn’t anything good. A loud screaming suddenly erupts, and Rody turns in surprise to see Dabi leap across the room in a burst of fire and tackle some kid with red-white hair; both of them speed directly through a wall.

“Shouto!” Natsuo cries, looking distressed.

“There are a lot of people here…” Himiko says, sounding worried; she’s looking at the Nomu that was in the tank and ran through the portal, which is battling with a man whose hair is floating, a boy with six arms, and one with purple hair. Kurogiri, who appears to be existing as both a human and a sentient quirk somehow, is teleporting himself up into the sky to help fight All for One; a lot of yelling ensues when he gets to Shigaraki. Natsuo runs to follow after Dabi, but Rody and Himiko are interrupted when a woman with blue hair saunters into the area. Rody remembers her from earlier; she’d mentioned Otheon. She says something, looking over the two of them, and Himiko reacts with anger.

“[Hello, Mr. Otheon! You don’t understand Japanese, do you?]” the woman asks, and Rody jumps upon realizing he’s being addressed. 

“[What did you say to Himiko?]” he asks, still wondering why Natsuo was chasing after Dabi. Probably because the latter had randomly attacked someone, but what even was his and Natsuo’s deal? And why had Dabi gone ballistic? 

“[Himiko… do you speak English, Toga Himiko?]” the woman asks, but Himiko doesn’t respond, and the woman giggles. “[You call her by her given name, but have the two of you even talked? Do you know what she is?]”

“[Are you a villain?]” Rody asks, suddenly suspicious.

“[I’m a reporter, sweetheart. You can call me Curious. Catch!]” she says, throwing him a pen; with one arm broken, though, Rody doesn’t risk it. The pen clatters on the floor, and then randomly explodes. Rody holds his head, grimacing from the burst being so close to his face. “[I think this will make a brilliant story.]”

“[I think that I’d rather not get exploded again.]” Rody says; anyone who throws explosive pens at teenagers is definitely a villain, so he runs at Curious and kicks at her head. She weaves out of the way, grabbing the sole of his shoe, and he twists backwards before she can flip him, making sure he’s balanced, which is kind of tricky with the broken arm. Curious smiles at him, and then his shoe explodes. 

“[Ow, ow, OW!]” he yelps, hopping around; Himiko glances at him in concern, then snarls something at Curious, who says something teasingly back that makes Himiko lash out and try to stab her. Curious dodges the knife easily, running her fingers along Himiko’s arm as it passes by her, and a second later the sweater explodes. 

“[Leave her alone!]” Rody snaps. Himiko was one of the most interesting people he’d met in a long time, and importantly, she actually talked to him— after Rody’s father had left for Humarise, getting any friends besides his siblings had become entirely impossible. Himiko didn’t know about that, though… God, they didn’t even speak each other’s language. They’d never stay friends, who was he kidding?

“Look at that, Toga, Prince Charming is trying to save you! What do you think he’ll do when he finds out his princess is a monster?” Curious says, and the way Himiko ferociously attempts to stab her after this makes Rody really worry as to what the villain said. 

“[Get to the point.]” he demands.

“[Oh, so forward! Very well, I’ll tell you— your dear girlfriend is the prime suspect for a string of murders. She’s a serial killer!]” Curious exclaims.

“[What?]” Rody asks. No. No.

“[She used to be a perfectly normal high school girl until one day she inexplicably snapped and stabbed a classmate to death— because she wanted to drink his blood. What does that mean for you, hmm?]” Curious asks, and Rody turns to stare at Himiko, who starts yelling at Curious.

“What did you TELL HIM?”

“Only the truth, of course! If you really love him, Toga, why haven’t you killed him? If he really loves you, do you think he will keep loving you regardless?” 

“It’s not about killing!” Himiko shrieks, and Rody really wants to know what’s going on. “I didn’t mean to kill Saito, I loved him, I just wanted to be him! And now I love Rody, so I want to be him, too— and he wants to be me!”

“Are you quite sure about that?” Curious asks.

“No.” Himiko says. “Let’s find out.” Rody watches, confused, as Curious steps back and Himiko turns towards him; she gestures with the knife, and she looks furious. What is he supposed to do here? What should he do? 

Probably best to sort out what he knows, since with the language barrier he’ll never get a proper clarification. The most important fact here is that All for One controlled Kurogiri to kidnap Rody, which is why he isn’t in Otheon with Roro and Lala and safely away from all of this disaster. Himiko is on the same side as Kurogiri, who is currently fighting alongside Shigaraki and an unexpectedly explodey-powered Pino. (Hopefully Pino won’t explode.) And this Curious lady, if she’s against Kurogiri, she might be with All for One. Never mind that she’s obviously a villain; if trying to blow Rody up wasn’t enough of a clue, she had been there for the previous AFO fight that had ended in a massive iceberg, and Kurogiri’s group had been destroying all this place’s computers. So she was definitely an enemy; there was no reason for him to take her at her word. But… he can’t deny the way Himiko is looking at him now, a pure anger— no, not quite, Rody realizes. She looks angry, and she probably is, but she’s also crying.

Rody snatches the knife out of her hand. “[You want my blood?]” Drinking blood, that was something most people couldn’t do, it had to be a quirk thing; and he thinks about how excited Himiko was that he’d offered to switch quirks with her. He didn’t know her past, he didn’t know what was the truth and what was a lie, but he knows how much she waves the knife. He knows that more than anything, he wants to go home— and if there’s anything he can do right here, he could do right by someone who looked at Pino and wanted her— he could help Himiko get home, too. “[You can bloody well have it.]” Rody presses the tip of the knife into his finger again, and winces from the pain. Whatever was actually going on, he’d figure it out later; all that really mattered was that All for One was dealt with so Kurogiri could send Rody home.

He hands the knife back to Himiko, a trail of blood sliding across the side of the blade; her eyes shine as she licks it, and they’re still shining when he transforms into him. 

“What a beautiful resolution! Maybe it is true love, Toga Himiko!” Curious says. “But does he see you for who you truly are?”

“He better.” Himiko says, her face stretching into a wide grin. “I think I’m only just now seeing that myself.”

“Acceptance is such a wonderful thing.” Curious says, and she suddenly reaches out with both hands towards them; before Rody can react, something flies into her face. Pino? No, Pino is over fighting AFO, he can feel her, so what is he looking at—

Oh, Rody realizes. It’s his quirk; it’s Himiko copying his quirk as she copies his appearance. Since when could she do that? Vaguely, in the background, Rody notes both Curious and the portal-running Nomu being taken down suddenly by the man with floating hair; in the foreground of life, all he can do is stare as the bird, the quirk that is not his but it is his, and it’s looking directly at him. Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised, but the moment he takes Himiko’s soul in his hands, he sees everything. He’s always been able to know exactly what Pino is thinking. Why should whatever this was be any different?

“[You don’t have a home.]” Rody says; maybe they don’t need to share languages to speak. “[You’ve done… some pretty terrible things. But you don’t have a home, you’ve never had a home, and all you’ve ever wanted is to be loved.]” He realizes, as he’s thinking, that all he’s seeing are things that Himiko wants to share, and even so she is sharing everything with him. They’d better get to dealing with AFO so that he can hand his soul to her in return. “[They drew horrible things on what should have been my home, too.]” he says. “[We’ve both had lives of trying to survive… of not being able to be normal. I think, though— I think that you can be normal with me.]”

She takes his hand, and he knows she understands, and maybe something good has come out of this disaster after all. 

Chapter Text

A burst of ice explodes out of Shouto’s shoulder, tearing the computer box to bits; both he and Dabi flinch at the resulting web of electricity.

“Not again!” Dabi screeches, and Shouto can barely concentrate through the ensuing pain; he manages, though, to stagger to his feet and stumble over to the pair of heavy metal doors they’d rolled through, but finds in despair that the doors are firmly barred shut. A strange beeping starts up in the background, and Shouto watches in horror as Dabi jerks himself to his feet disjointedly, sparks still flickering across his staples. 

“You tried to get Natsuo killed.” Shouto remembers. His entire body is aching. He’s been in too many fights today.

“Natsu’s fine. Unfortunately. He’s been a real bastard about letting me kill him, so I eventually gave up.” Dabi says, entirely ineffectively attempting to wave off Shouto’s concerns.

“So you’re trying to kill me now?” Shouto asks. Dabi gives him fingerguns.

“You first, then the old man. Oh, right, I forgot to mention!” Dabi holds out his hands to either side of him, and grins widely as fire rages across his skin. “I’m Touya!”

“…what?” Shouto asks; his brain is refusing to comprehend what he’s heard.

“It’s your big brother, Shouto, back from the underworld and ready to shove you down there! I failed once, but I won’t fail twice— how much pain do you think you’ll feel when you die?”  

“You can’t…” It’s impossible. Touya is dead. They found his jawbone… but no more than that. And… the blue fire, and the blue eyes… “You CAN’T be Touya!”

“Unluckily— hah!— for you, I can do whatever I want to.” Dabi, his name is-isn’t-must-be-can’t-be TOUYA, says, actually dancing as he makes his way over to Shouto, carefully placing his feet and clapping his hands. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, little brother.”

“Why?” Shouto asks, confused; why is he acting like he believes this, he can’t believe it because it can’t be true because— “Why do you want to kill me?”

“I never gave Natsuo the proper answer to that question, did I? No matter. I can tell you. Shouto, Shouto, Shouto… you’re perfect, you know that? The ideal creation, the ultimate weapon, Endeavor’s puppet. My replacement. The only reason you were born is because I wasn’t enough for our father, and he let me destroy myself without a second thought the moment you were there to take the reins. You are everything to him, so I’m going to kill you in order to show him the true meaning of pain. To show him what it feels like to lose all he’s ever wanted.” Touya says. “Go on, Shouto. I want to hear you defend him.”

“I’m not… going to defend Dad.” Shouto says. “I’m going to leave him, too. I don’t care about him anymore.” As the words leave his mouth, he realizes with no small amount of surprise that they’re true. “It sounds like you still care about him a lot, though. If you’re killing me for him. Would’ve thought fratricide would at least be personal.” He’s angry, he’s tired, and he feels a sadness he can’t name. No doubt Touya feels much the same. Can’t all the fighting just stop? Can’t everything move on, and the family not have to keep breaking further every day? Why was Touya so intent on ending it all in such a final way?

“Of course I care. He has to know what he’s done; has to understand down to his very bones the kind of monster that he’s made out of me. I’m the failed creation, Shouto, as grotesque as I am beautiful, and Todoroki Enji needs to know exactly how far I’ve fallen— because it’s all his fault. Every moment of it.” 

“Even after everything he’s done to you, you’ve decided to care about him, and not about us? About Fuyumi, Natsuo, Mom… me? That doesn’t make any sense.” Shouto says, but then he thinks, and it was only recently that he decided Enji didn’t matter, wasn’t it? And for Touya, who must have spent years holding onto this hate… how hard will it be for him to realize he should take his own path? “What you do isn’t connected to him. You aren’t his, and neither am I.”

“Now you’re just being silly.” Touya laughs; he looks deranged, fire creeping up his face. “These flames belong to him— when I burn you down with them, when I burned myself down with them, it’s all because of the fire Enji lit inside of me. Don’t you get it? We’re both his, and we won’t escape till he, or we, are dead.”

With that said, Touya launches himself towards Shouto again, his expression only fire and fury, reaching hands heralds of death; Shouto screams when an indescribable heat chars his skin and begins to sear through his chest.

No air comes in when he tries to take a breath. 

***

Natsuo won’t be happy, Dabi thinks, and then he feels like slapping himself. Natsuo didn’t matter— nothing mattered, except for killing Shouto, except for Dabi finally proving all his hate was worth something. That he was worth something, even as a useless failed creation. When Endeavor saw what he’d done… that he was the better one… it would be the most beautiful thing in the world. And then Dabi would kill him, and he would finally reach the end of his painful story. He doesn’t want it to end. He doesn’t want to die. No, he’s never cared about dying, he was always just going to survive until he won for the final time, and he could finally leave this torment of an existence. Maybe he’s done surviving, and wants to try living instead. Maybe Natsuo had a point when it came to living your own life.

“SHUT UP!” Dabi roars at his own mind, continuing to tear at his brother, who’s screaming in pain as they wrestle on the burning carpet. Shouto isn’t saying anything. “SHUT UP!” Dabi feels his fingers dig into skin as though it were drywall, feels hot blood heat up and bubble across his staples as flames flicker over his knuckles; Shouto is dying, but Dabi doesn’t feel any victory. Maybe he will when Shouto is dead. This will never be a victory. Dabi’s flames are burning himself; he feels his own flesh becoming dust even as Shouto crumbles before him. It’s a sensation he’s far too used to, and pain slices at the corner of his eyes as he laughs, and laughs, and laughs, because he cannot cry. He’s survived so much up to this point; he cannot die. Can he? His body is burning away. There was a scar on Shouto’s chest, one that Dabi put there a long time ago. It’s gone now, torn up as Dabi punches through ice, trying to tear out Shouto’s heart. Dabi had cried back then, cried at the thought of actually having hurt Shouto, of being anything like Endeavor. But he is like Endeavor, he’ll always be the failure that needed replacement, nothing more and so, so much less. 

Dabi slams his fist into Shouto’s chest, and a strange clanging sounds out, vibrating all through the bones of his arm. If Dabi could breathe right now, he’d be gasping from exertion, but he’s been getting weaker and weaker the longer he fights; all he hopes is that he’s able to take Shouto down with him before he goes. Is that what he hopes? What if he dies here, and Shouto survives? Then Natsuo will be happy. No, he won’t be. He cares about you, too. Why? What had Dabi done, but try to kill him, again and again and again— WHY? 

Because he couldn’t help Touya, he dedicated his life to helping others. What luck, that saving others turned right back around to saving you!

Dabi thinks that he hates luck, actually. 

“I’m not dying! Not now!” Shouto screams, reaching up and grabbing Dabi’s face with a flaming hand; Dabi screams too, because he can feel his flesh melting away through every line of his brother’s burning fingers, but his own hand is charring through Shouto’s chest, ripping through flaking skin with every punch as he tears apart a years-old scar. The pain that Dabi feels is unbearable, but he’s sure Shouto feels the same, and that annoying beeping that’s been going on in the background of their battle will not shut up. Dabi swings at Shouto again, blue fire everywhere that hisses against the steam of ice, but the both of them are running out of quirk power and energy. Who will outlast the other? Will either survive when all is over and through? Dabi didn’t think so, but he’d survived impossible things many times before, and Endeavor still needed killing once Shouto was done for.

“Just give up! You’re doomed, little brother!” Dabi says.

“Not any more than you— all the air’s gone out!” Shouto yells.

“What?” Dabi asks. As if on cue, the fire he’s been producing relentlessly suddenly vanishes. Right… we’re in the data storage room, I started a fire… the security measures will have activated and sealed the room before sucking all oxygen from it.

“I already can’t breathe.” Shouto says. No more fire is flickering from him, either.

“I stopped breathing a few minutes ago.” Dabi admits, shaking his arm. Still no fire. The lack of oxygen must be preventing its creation.

“…what?” Shouto asks.

“That beeping has been going for a while.” Dabi says, taking a facsimile of a breath that brings no air into his body. “Looks like you’re just as hard to kill as I am.”

“Why aren’t we dead—“ Shouto starts, suddenly cutting off and staring in shock at Dabi’s hand. Confused, Dabi lifts up his own fist and blinks as he realizes that all his flesh is gone; all that’s left are bones, dripping with sparks. Except… the longer Dabi looks, the more wrong it looks, and it’s a few moments before the fact that he’s staring at metal hammers itself into his brain. Metal bones, a delicate and yet practically indestructible construction, woven to be self-supportive even in the absence of holding a body. Dabi stares in increasing horror as he flexes his fingers; his burning flesh still hurts, of course, but there’s nothing painful about the exposition of what appears to be the real thing keeping him alive.

“Oh.” Dabi says. “I’m an android.” 

He was the test subject Kurogiri had been talking about, wasn’t he? He’d gotten picked up by AFO into an android lab, woke up almost dead but woke up anyway, and with his memories and personality transferred into his new computer brain. He had a computer chip for a brain now… what the frick, that was weird to think about. This was why he’d survived all the near-fatal things that kept happening to him, then? Because he was an android, and his human body was only an exterior to his real one, and even the wounds he bore now would start regenerating as soon as they stopped burning. Seems like my hatred wasn’t what had been keeping me alive after all, Dabi thinks. Strangely, this thought feels like an extraordinary relief.

“How?” Shouto asks. “If it was after we thought you died, you wouldn’t remember—“

“I’m good at not dying.” Dabi says, leaning back and sitting down. He’s exhausted. “Impossibly good. That All for One guy… grabbed me off Sekoto Peak, fixed me up into this, and didn’t even realize I survived it, even though android transferral was his goal.” He laughs. “Looks like I’m someone’s perfect creation.” 

“Touya…” Shouto says, and Dabi remembers he’s supposed to be killing him. Better get on that, he thinks, turning to face his brother before immediately stopping short.

“You—“ He can’t be seeing what he’s seeing, it’s impossible. “Shouto—“ Dabi points shakily, his entire being rattled by this revelation; “Look—“ this didn’t make any sense.

“What?” Shouto asks, and then he looks down, and Dabi can pinpoint the exact moment that his brother’s worldview shatters; for visible within the cavity of flesh that Dabi has torn out of his chest, a metal ribcage is very clearly visible, glinting with blood. “I’m an android too?”

“Should’ve guessed. You’re not breathing, are you?” Dabi asks. Shouto looks horrified. “How is this even possible? I was there when you were born.” That was a day Dabi would never forget.

“If I wasn’t created as an android, I was made into one later. But—“ Shouto pauses, reaching one hand slightly up towards the hole over his heart. “It’s when you tried to kill me, isn’t it? How could a baby survive a firebolt through the chest— I didn’t survive that, did I? No, I don’t remember that ever happening, I… that wasn’t me who died.”

“That…” Makes perfect sense, actually. “You’re not the first Shouto— I killed him, and Dad took his body and made a new Shouto, I guess? Holy frick, I killed him!”

All these years, Dabi had wanted to show Enji what he’d become by killing Shouto, and that had already happened— and it hadn’t proven anything. All these years he’s been hating Shouto for being a replacement, but in reality, Shouto is a replacement for himself. 

“He was the one born to make up for my failures, since my very existence wasn’t enough… and when I won, when I killed him and proved my superiority… Enji didn’t care. He never bloody cared about either of us; he just rebuilt the old Shouto into you.” Dabi says. All of Dabi’s convictions have been pointless. He had long since killed Shouto in front of Endeavor, and it had meant absolutely nothing.

“Dad was going to tell me.” Shouto says. “After the clone, because the clone said some weird things— which make sense now— but… then he didn’t tell me. Too afraid to.” 

“Yeah, well, Dad’s a coward.” Dabi says. He watches as Shouto pushes himself up to a sitting position against the wall.

“He is.” Shouto says. “So are you.”

“Excuse me?” Dabi asks.

“Dad refused to take responsibility for what he’d done to the old Shouto’s body. You’re refusing to take responsibility for the bad things you’ve done or plan to do, and intend to just stick them all on Dad instead. That’s why you can’t move on.”

“He created me. He made me into what I am.” Dabi snaps. 

“Did he?” Shouto asks; he reaches out, and takes Dabi’s metal fingers in his hand.

“Maybe not literally, but metaphorically, yeah.” Dabi grumbles. He doesn’t tug his hand away, and vaguely wonders why. First Natsuo, and then Shouto; why did they both insist on reminding him of who he was, and holding his hand? 

“You can make yourself into whatever you want to be, and you’re so much more than what Dad said about you. I don’t know you well, but I’d like to.” Shouto says, looking up at him. 

“You’re just as lucky as Natsuo, huh.” Dabi mumbles. If only things had been like this years ago… could it always have been this easy? Could he have looked to his siblings instead of his parents, and seen that the love he’s always wanted was right in front of him? To think that what he’d sought had been patiently waiting for him. “I don’t know you well, either. I was never wanting to kill any of you for who you were. It was always for Endeavor.” 

“You made the decision to try and kill me and Natsuo. Enji didn’t do that for you.” Shouto says, and Dabi hates the fact that this is true.

“Maybe.” he acquiesces. Body and mind, neither of them belonged to Enji; they never really have. 

“You don’t need to think about him anymore, Touya. He might have made you what you are, but he can’t choose what you do. I mean… look at me. Built into his weapon, both metaphorically and literally, but I’ve chosen another path. You can, too. You can come home.” Shouto says, and Dabi feels their hands slide into a tighter grip, flesh on metal, and there’s metal in Shouto’s too. They’ve both suffered so many of the same things, haven't they? He doesn’t have to be Dabi anymore, does he? It’s an incredible thing, to have a family that sees him for who he truly is, that looks at him, and that wants him anyway.

“Okay, Shouto.” Touya says. “I’ll come home.”

Chapter Text

“The car can fly?” Fuyumi asks, feeling frantic once the vehicle begins levitating. “Why didn’t we know this before?”

“Well, it’s not our car.” La Brava points out.

“Because it’s All Might’s. And we stole it. I kind of forgot about that.” Fuyumi admits. 

“You stole All Might’s car?” Geten asks, sounding enthused; he’s probably happy that Yaoyorozu’s parents have taken his place as the captured in the back seats.

“Unfortunately.” Fuyumi says, tilting the car upwards to drive up through the balcony area. “Everyone ready to fight All for One? Oh, who am I kidding, I’m the one who’s not ready.” 

“Isn’t that your brother?” Gentle asks, pointing; Fuyumi looks past a few destroyed walls to see Natsuo trying his utmost to get a pair of metal doors open.

“Natsuo!” she shouts, and he looks up.

“Thank God, you’re all right— Shouto’s in here, and all the air will be drained out!” he says.

“Move out of the way.” Fuyumi says. Natsuo scoots to the side, and Fuyumi revs the car and drives it forwards; the metal doors crumple easily at the car’s fender, and with some more backing up and ramming she crashes right through. Inside the room, Shouto and that Dabi guy both seem to be recovering from the loss of air, taking deep breaths.

“Shouto!” Fuyumi shouts, and when he looks up she sees that there’s a huge wound in his chest.

“Shouto!” Natsuo yells, running around the car. “Touya, get away from him!”

Touya?

“It’s okay, we made up!” Shouto says.

“You’ve got a hole in your chest—“

“Don’t worry, he’s an android.” the so-called Touya says, waving a hand that’s burnt off at the wrist except for metal bones. “I am too, it turns out.”

“You knew he was Touya?” Shouto asks Natsuo.

“He’s Touya?” Fuyumi shrieks. Yaoyorozu leans over and pushes open the car door.

“Get in. We’re going to fight All for One.” she says.

“Will we really all fit in there?” Shouto asks.

“Don’t question it.” Geten sighs.

“You hurt him.” Natsuo says, but they all get in the car anyway, and Fuyumi takes a moment to look into Touya’s scarred face, and she can’t deny who she’s seeing now that she knows he’s there. 

“I’ll get better.” Shouto says.

“Also, since when are you an android?”

“Since Touya killed the first Shouto.”

“That… makes sense, actually.” Natsuo says, frowning.

“It means I’m not really your brother, though.” Shouto says.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Natsuo says. “Of course you’re my brother. You too, Touya— wait, when did you become an android?”

“When I died, obviously.”

“Then how do you remember us?” Natsuo asks.

“I’m pretty good at living through the impossible. First successful android transfer, right here.” Touya says, putting a fist on his chest and looking proud of himself.

“Someone made you into an android after you died. That’s why we never found your body.” Fuyumi realizes, speaking up.

“Hi, Fuyumi.” Touya says. He looks like he’s waiting for something. Fuyumi has a lot of questions; where have you been all this time, who turned you into an android, why were you trying to kill us, why is Shouto’s chest ripped open while your fingers are stained with blood? (The answer to that last question is obvious, really.) Now, though, is probably not the time to ask, and the most overwhelming thing she feels looking at him is a brilliant relief. He’s alive. Something that broke long ago inside her feels patched up again; the Todoroki family has retrieved its missing piece. For the first time in a long time, Fuyumi feels complete.

“Hi, Touya.” Fuyumi says. She hadn't recognized him when she’d first seen him, and now she wonders how she ever couldn’t have. He looks different, incredibly different, but the way he carries himself and the look in his eyes is still so very much the same. “How have you been?” 

“I’ve almost died quite a few times across the past two days.” Touya says. He sounds like he’s bragging.

“Because you kept making mistakes while trying to kill me.” Natsuo says.

“Skill issue.” Touya says.

“Yeah, yours.”

“That’s… nice.” Fuyumi says, meaning the exact opposite. It seemed like there were still going to be some things to work out. “Are you going to try and kill us still?”

“Of course not!” Touya says, sounding mockingly scandalized. Fuyumi narrows her eyes at him. “I’m still going to kill Enji, though.”

“Touya…” Fuyumi chides. “I’ll always love our father. But I won’t forgive him, either, not after what he’s done— even if he’s stopped hurting us now, it’s far too late.”

“So can I kill him?” Touya asks.

“If you try to, I won’t be able to stop you, but I think that there’s already been too much pain.”

“That’s as good as I’ll get, I guess. Why are there people locked to the backseat?” Touya asks.

“They’re her parents.” La Brava says, gesturing to Yaoyorozu.

“Oh, makes sense! Good for you.” Touya tells Yaoyorozu. Entirely genuinely. Fuyumi probably shouldn’t be surprised. 

She continues to fly the car upwards, and eventually they reach the scene of the battle— All Might, Enji and Hawks are all greatly struggling against AFO. The only reason she can tell that he hasn’t killed them all yet is because of Shigaraki and— is that Kurogiri? Or someone else? Or both? She can’t quite tell.

“I want AFO to get hit with the car again.” La Brava says. 

“I’m not hitting someone with the car.” Fuyumi says.

“Move over, then, I’ll do it.” Touya says. 

“Do you even know how to drive?” Natsuo asks. “I remember you always used to get carsick—“

“Nope, but who cares?”

“I care!” Fuyumi says. 

“Ohhh no. He’s noticed us.” Shouto says.

“Open the roof!” Yaoyorozu shouts, as Fuyumi pulls on the wheel to dodge the bolt of blue crackling light that’s suddenly flaring towards them; Natsuo presses the required button, but accidentally pushes it a bit too long, and the roof and sides of the car fold down, transforming it into a convertible. Everyone tries very hard not to fall out, especially because at least half of the car’s riders haven’t bothered to wear seatbelts.

“Touya!” Fuyumi yells.

“If you’re gonna be on my back about seatbelts now—“

“He can fly with his quirk, it’s fine.” Natsuo says.

“He can do that?” Shouto asks. “Maybe I can do it too…”

“Shouto—“ Fuyumi starts, but he’s already divested himself of his seatbelt and taken very lopsidedly to the sky. 

“It’s working!”

“And what if it didn’t work?” Fuyumi yells, then ducks under another bolt of blue light that only just misses searing the heads off everyone in the car.

“Get him to shoot another one.” Yaoyorozu says.

“Will do.” Touya says, before Fuyumi can stop him; he stands up and punches his own bolt of blue fire into the air. “Hey, All for One! Know who I am?”

“I do now.” All for One says, and suddenly he’s floating extremely close to all of them. “The successful android transfer, whom Kurogiri hid the survival of. Todoroki Touya.”

“WHAT?” Enji screams, not too far away. Everyone ignores him. All for One suddenly moves an inch to the side, and before Fuyumi can wonder why, a bullet whistles through the space where he’d been previously. 

“Nagant!” La Brava says; the woman in question is standing on the villa’s roof.

“Thanks for distracting him.” Yaoyorozu says, and she’s holding a very odd-looking gun. “EAT THIS!”

All for One finds himself incapable of eating and, more importantly, much less capable of blocking whatever travesty of nature Yaoyorozu shoots at him. It’s so bright that it hurts Fuyumi’s eyes, and it slices directly through AFO’s energy shield to slam into his helmet with a flash.

“What was that?” Natsuo asks. All for One drops out of the sky, falling past all the stairway levels of the villa’s main hall area; everyone flying around zooms down after him, and the few paintings that remain hanging up all blur together in Fuyumi’s mind. Other people start to appear as well, running up from various corridors to join the now grounded fight. Shouto’s friend Midoriya, three others his age, Toga, and a man who looks like he might be a hero. Nagant stays on the roof, presumably for the sniping advantages, and shoots at All for One again. 

“A little something I figured out while I was trying to come up with things that my Mom wouldn’t know the composition of. This option was too fatal to use on her— but not fatal enough for AFO, apparently.” Yaoyorozu says. Multiple projectiles continue to rain down on All for One, whose helmet has shattered; to Fuyumi’s disgust, he doesn’t have much of a face. Unfortunately, nothing really seems to be able to get past his myriad quirks except for whatever Yaoyorozu is shooting, which AFO just dodges.

“So many fighters, all here for me. I’m honored, really, but don’t think that working together will save you— in fact, it will doom you.” AFO says, and Touya yelps when a glowing energy chain appears out of nowhere, looping around him and dragging him out of the car to slam into the ground.

“Touya!” Fuyumi shouts; he’s right beside AFO, struggling to get up. Blue fire flares, but he can’t burn through his restraints.

“I remember you, you know. I was very disappointed when I thought that you died. It had seemed that your self-inflicted injuries were too much for your body… if you weren’t who you are, I wouldn’t have let you stay in that coma. The chance to turn two of Endeavor’s sons into androids was far too tempting for me to bear.”

“What?” Touya asks, and Fuyumi feels her breath catch. “It was you?”

“That’s right. You killed your little brother, and Endeavor brought his body to my best scientist to restore. He didn’t know Garaki was mine, of course, and I could hardly turn such an opportunity down.”

“Get away from me!” Touya snaps, and Fuyumi wrenches the steering wheel. She thinks that she will hit AFO with the car, actually. She speeds up as fast as she can, but AFO holds up a hand, and the car shudders to a stop in midair before crashing to the ground.

“You’re beaten, All for One. Admit it.” All Might says, leaping down; AFO immediately levitates Touya in front of him, causing All Might to hesitate. How is he supposed to hit his enemy with a hostage right there? A loud whistling sound shrieks past Fuyumi, and she sees a cloud of sharpened feathers and Hawks himself, swinging one as a sword— he’s heading straight for AFO, and doesn’t seem to care about the presence of Touya.

“DON’T!” Enji shouts, grabbing Hawks by the collar and cutting off his rush; jerked briefly backwards, the hesitation allows AFO to reduce all of Hawks’ free-flying feathers to ashes.

“Why did you—“ Hawks starts, and Touya is laughing, but it sounds like sadness. There’s a small pink bird trying to smash itself into AFO’s face; inexplicably, its wingbeats cause shockwaves. 

“You little pest.” AFO snarls, backhanding it; up on one of the balconies, a boy screams.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Toga shrieks, leaping through the air with a knife— she’s knocked away just as summarily as the bird.

“All of you are nothing.” All for One taunts, grabbing the back of Shigaraki’s hand as it reaches out through a portal; a crunching sound is heard.

“TOMURA!” two voices scream as one; yellow eyes in a dark cloud, and the man attached to it. “Leave him alone, Sensei!”

“I’m fine.” Shigaraki spits, picking himself up off the ground; he’s a distance away from AFO, but well within a long attack’s range. Yaoyorozu lays down cover fire of flashing lights, but she yelps when her gun suddenly explodes.

“How dare you.” Gentle hisses, leaping out of the car and actually rushing AFO— he bounces on thin air, going back and forth and back and forth with increasing speed. Various projectiles are launched, but they all just bounce off him or miss entirely; the moment Gentle reaches AFO, though, he’s slammed into the dirt.

“GENTLE!” La Brava screams, and suddenly she starts glowing pink; Gentle glows simultaneously, and Fuyumi watches as more air trampolines than she can count suddenly are pressing down on AFO. She hears the bang of a gun from far away, and Nagant’s curving bullets fly towards their enemy; Touya’s position is shifted to be AFO’s shield, and Fuyumi cries out as all the bullets thud straight into him. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not dying that easily!” Touya says, but Shouto has taken off, Midoriya falling into step with him.

“I’ll save you!” Shouto says, and a glacier soars into existence only to be shattered; the ice pieces reform themselves into a clawed fist at Geten’s direction, which swipes madly at AFO before it is evaporated. Shouto and Midoriya’s approaches are both staggered when their path is blocked by a sudden spray of spikes that tear out of the ground; Midoriya counters this by somehow shooting a shockwave of green energy that actually knocks AFO down. 

“ENOUGH!” AFO roars, getting to his feet; he waves a hand, and the world goes white. 

***

The immaterial chains are biting at Touya’s skin, the bullets shot into him are an incredible pain, and his head is ringing; whatever kind of frick-off explosion AFO had used had pretty much wiped the battlefield. Touya looks around; everyone he can see is either passed out or trying very hard not to be, and the floor of what used to be the villa’s main hall is nothing more than a crater. Enji has fallen over in an especially stupid position, but Touya feels too tired to find it funny. 

“Thought you wanted Shigaraki.” he gasps out, when AFO spins him around in the air so that they’re facing each other.

“I do. But he’s not an android— he’s not immortal yet, but you nearly are. Do you know why you survived the transformation, Touya?” 

“My awesomeness.” Touya says, trying to wriggle out of the chains by finding a weak spot, but he has no such luck. 

“It was through the use of something very specific; a sentient quirk. I don’t usually take those, as their vestiges are terrible annoyances, but I’d had one then, and it was a kind that would never be useful to me. So I gave you the quirk, and it burrowed into your soul, holding it fast even through the replacement of brain and bones; it was the inclusion of such an anchor that allowed you to live through the impossible.” 

“No, I still think that it was my awesomeness.” Touya says. 

“You still have the quirk.” AFO says, and Touya snaps his head up. That wasn’t possible. That wasn’t. He’d have noticed. Wouldn’t he? “The quirk is sentient, but it cannot communicate; if you’ve noticed its effects, you’ve probably brushed them off as coincidences. It grants extraordinary fortune to one of the people whom the holder loves— the quirk itself chooses who to grant luck to at a time, and can somewhat influence the resultant effects.”

Huh. Okay. That explained some things. 

Suddenly Touya feels very, very strange, and then he notices AFO’s hand is on his head.

“With such a quirk and a working android system, I can transfer both simultaneously into Tomura and then, as he already carries part of the AFO quirk, take him over myself.” Shigaraki’s unconscious body levitates across the battlefield, and soon is floating beside Touya. AFO places his other hand on Shigaraki’s head. 

“Wake up!” Touya says. Maybe Shigaraki can decay AFO and this’ll all be over with. “Wake up!” 

“Don’t bother trying.” AFO says. 

“Wait, where are you getting a working android system from?” Touya asks. There was no way AFO could just pull something like that out of his pocket.

“Where do you think?” AFO asks, and Touya understands the instant he starts screaming; his bones are burning, his head is hurting, and there’s a horrible pain shrieking through his blood. Oh, God. AFO is pulling the android system out of him.

Touya has only just found his family again. He doesn’t want to lose them. He doesn’t want to lose himself.

“It won’t work.” he says. “It can’t work!”

“It will, unless you receive a bout of incredible fortune. So tell me, Todoroki Touya—” AFO starts, and Touya grimaces, twisting in the villain’s grip. Plasma is burning through his skin like acid, and the nerve endings of his metal skeleton are sparking; how much more will it take for him to die? “—do you feel lucky?”

He hadn’t thought that he’d go out this way. What an irony; he’d lived through all he’d been through up to this point with the singular goal of killing his family, but now he was dying because he wanted them to live— because he wanted to live alongside them.

To think that Touya had killed the original Shouto, long before he’d ever truly wanted to; but the current Shouto, the only Shouto that mattered, had held out his hand, and he’d asked Touya to come home. His flesh had been burning from his bones, his blood was on Touya’s fingers, and yet still he’d asked— and Touya had said he would, because how could he not? Now that he had realized what was waiting for him?

Murder attempt after murder attempt, and each one failing; what had started out as convenience through proximity had resulted in a contest to which there was no winning, and before long Touya had found that he’d somehow fallen into becoming Natsuo’s best friend again. How long since he’d had someone caring for him, someone looking at him, even before Natsuo really saw him at all? For Natsuo to die, for any of his siblings to die, would kill Touya far more than it ever would kill Endeavor, he had realized; because he has his family standing beside him again.

Fuyumi had let go of her father because of three years of dual pain, and now she was stealing cars and working with vigilantes, trying in her own way to better the world. She’d found agency outside of the family; found that there was no reason to fix what had always been broken, and that instead it was better to build again with the pieces that remained whole. She’d accepted his return easily, gracefully, and Touya had slid into place beside her as though he’d never left. He never wanted to leave again.

For so long, Touya had been living to kill— now, he is living to live, and he does not want to die. And, hey, isn’t surviving impossible situations something he’s pretty good at, all things considered?

Do you feel lucky?

“Yes.” Touya says. “I do.” 

Chapter Text

Someone is laughing. 

Shouto blinks awake, pushes himself to his feet, and stares at Touya, who’s bent double and laughing hysterically over… All for One?

“Is AFO dead?” Midoriya asks, getting up beside him. 

“There’s a giant metal pole stabbed directly through his head.” Shouto points out. 

“I think that’s from one of the MLA’s railguns.” Geten says, walking over. Shouto looks up at the few walls that remain; all the balconies are empty, and most of the paintings have fallen except for one depicting a werewolf howling at the moon. Where could the bolt have come from?

“Guess we were just lucky.” Midoriya says, and Touya laughs even harder.

“Is everyone okay?” Fuyumi asks. The various scattered fighters are all gathering themselves, and walking over to make certain that AFO has died. 

“His fingers are broken.” Shouto says, pointing to Izuku, who looks sheepish.

“Anyone have something I can use to help?” Fuyumi asks.

“I’ll make some bandages.” Yaoyorozu says, and some things fall out of her arms in flashes of pink light.

“Oh, you have a creation quirk!” La Brava says.

“I knew it!” Gentle announces.

“No, you didn’t.” Fuyumi says, patching Izuku up. “Your turn, Shouto.”

“I’m not hurt.” Shouto says.

“You have a— oh.” Fuyumi says, staring at him. “It got better?”

“Androids regenerate pretty quickly, thanks to electrical impulses stimulating specially grown genetic material.” Geten says.

“I’m going to pretend I know what that means.” Fuyumi sighs. “Touya, is your hand regrown too, then? Touya?”

“Hi, Fuyumi.” Touya says, finally stopping his wild laughter. He kicks AFO once, and then shakes some blood off his foot before hauling Shigaraki to his feet.

“Hey!” Shigaraki yelps.

“You better not be dead.” Touya says. 

“I’m obviously not— Kurogiri, what are you doing!” Shigaraki yells, because the man with blue hair and his personal mist cloud have run over and nearly completely engulfed Shigaraki with a hug. 

“Hugging you.” they say simultaneously.

“Why do you keep talking like that?” Shigaraki asks.

“We shared the same brain for years.” the man points out.

“If I had known that both Shirakumo and I would have survived, I would have told you. I swear.” Kurogiri says. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, stop being sentimental.” Shigaraki grumbles. “Just don’t do that again.”

“If Garaki made both of you…” Geten says.

“What?” Shouto asks.

“He made me too. Does that mean we’re related?”

“According to android laws, maybe, but then again we were all created illegally in the first place, so—“ 

“Wait, Geten, you said you were twelve— Shouto, uh, the first Shouto, Touya attacked him thirteen years ago. And… genetic material has to come from somewhere.” Fuyumi realizes.

“Huh.” Geten says.

“That’s weird.” Shouto says.

“To you, maybe, since you were raised thinking you were human— but androids are very different from humans. And very superior.” Geten says. Yaoyorozu pokes him. 

“That’s MLA thinking. Do better.” she says. He sticks out his tongue at her.

“I’ll try.” he says.

“Now what?” Gentle Criminal asks. He and La Brava are hugging; not too far away, Toga and a European boy are both staring at the weird pink bird together, which seems to have recovered.

“Now, I publish this!” La Brava says, shoving her cellphone in his face. “I have info recorded from Kanami, All for One, Geten, and Nagant— it’s a collection of information that will send society reeling and show the world that the Hero Commission should be destroyed.”

“Oh, La Brava… we’re going to be famous.” Gentle says.

“Don’t publish that!” Hawks shouts.

“Please publish that.” Nagant says.

“Don’t worry, I redacted all names, identifying information, faces, and exact quirk details of those here that were shown, so none of you will be connected to it— except Nagant, since she asked to be. Gentle Criminal and I are sophisticated villains, after all.” La Brava says, and then she holds up a finger as though to press a button; Hawks sends a feather speeding towards her phone, but it bounces off as the suddenly rubbery phone wobbles from the impact.

“Nice try.” La Brava says, proceeding to press the button. Hawks makes an indescribable noise of despair.

“Cheer up, we defeated All for One!” Gentle says. Hawks does not appear particularly cheered. 

“You’ll get over it.” Nagant tells him. 

“Told you that you should be scared of us.” La Brava says smugly.

“Touya?” Enji asks. 

“Oh, it’s you. I forgot you were here.” Touya says. He presses the tip of his foot into the ground.

”You’re alive.” Enji says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. I failed you. I swear I’ll never fail you again.”

Touya makes a huffing sound, looking derisive, but doesn’t answer. 

“Explain.” Shouto demands, and Enji glances downwards, but the dirt will not save him from his sins. “Why am I an android?” 

“When you died—“ 

“It wasn’t me.” Shouto says. Enji looks up at him. 

“You’re right. When the first Shouto died, I didn’t want to believe it, and neither did Rei. We were already out the door by the time I noticed he was gone… it was probably instant for him. I was holding him, and one of my sons had killed the other, and Rei was crying and dragging me to the car… she still thought he was alive, she hadn’t given up, and I didn’t want to give up on him either. The perfect quirk; it would never be replicated, that’s what I thought. I’m sorry that I ever thought of him, of you, that way.” he says.

“Get to the point.” Touya says.

“I remembered that my agency had investigated Dr. Ujiko’s hospitals on suspicion of villainous activity— we hadn’t found anything, but there was evidence pointing towards malicious use of android technology. Not enough for a case against him, though. It was my only lead, so I drove Rei and your body—“

“His body.” Shouto interrupts. 

“It became yours.” Enji says. Shouto can’t argue this. “I drove them to Ujiko’s hospital in Jaku. I remember your mother held him the whole way, and somehow she didn’t realize he wasn’t breathing. That was probably the start of… you know. I took the first Shouto to Ujiko, I told him of the evidence we had found, and begged him to recreate my son. I offered money, favors— everything. For you.”

“For my quirk.” Shouto says.

“Yes.” Enji says, ashamed. “There wasn’t much more on my mind than the fact that I’d lost the ideal successor. Ujiko did agree to create you from the first Shouto’s body, obviously, and two days later I brought you home. After the first night of waiting, I remember, Rei started to wonder. She asked if she could see you; she’d had a dream that you were dead. So I told her the truth. She… didn’t take it well.”

“I don’t expect she did.” Natsuo says, joining the conversation. “You just had another Shouto built like he was nothing. The first one fit your perfect weapon specifications so you used his dead body to make a replacement. No offense, Shouto. But you, Dad— you’re terrible, but what’s even more terrible is that it turns out I was right not to give you a chance. I didn’t want to be right. I never did.”

“Here I thought the evil clone disaster would be the worst of what you’ve done.” Fuyumi says. She’d decided to leave after learning about that, decided not to forgive him after learning that— and now she learned about this. “Dad… don’t go near Shouto ever again. Unless he wants you to, I suppose.”

“No.” Shouto says. “I don’t.” Not for a few years, at the very least. Looks like he and Kurogiri have more in common than he’d thought. “Goodbye.”

“Now… my turn.” Touya says, striding forwards. He rubs his hands together, setting them aflame, and grins. Is he going to kill Enji? Shouto doesn’t really think he wants that to happen— more so for Touya’s good than Enji’s. “Hey, Dad.” Touya makes finger guns, points them at Enji’s head, and sings a cartoonish bang sound while shooting out dual stripes of fire; they burn noticeable furrows through Enji’s hair. “Hah!” Touya proceeds to blow the smoke off the tips of his fingers, spin his hands like they’re actually revolvers, and shove them in his pockets as though using a gun belt. “Okay, that’s all. See you never!” Touya spins around, and skips over to join the rest of his family.

“You’re not killing him?” Natsuo asks.

“Now, why would I do that? All Might’s right there, I don’t want to go to jail! Not if I can move in with you guys instead.” Touya says. Privately, Shouto thinks that the last sentence is the entire reason.

“I’d set you three and Mom up in my apartment, but I think it’s too small.” Natsuo says. Speaking of places to live…

“Do you have anyone to stay with?” Fuyumi asks, turning to Yaoyorozu.

“My house is big.” Yaoyorozu says, which isn’t really an answer.

“Who are you?” Touya asks.

“I’m Yaoyorozu Momo. And… my parents aren’t in the picture anymore, and I was thinking about what you said earlier, Fuyumi… if your family needs somewhere to stay, there’s no reason I have to be alone. Besides, after what La Brava sent out, society will be in a tizzy, and I intend to do something about it so that things are different this time. So that nothing like this ever happens again.” she says. 

“I’d love to help you with that.” Fuyumi says. 

“Don’t have anything better to do. Besides school. Oh my God, school—“ Natsuo yelps, startled by the memory of homework deadlines. 

“As long as I get to set things on fire.” Touya says.

“Whether I go to UA or not, I still intend to be a hero.” Shouto says. His future is no longer determined, he realizes, and there are a million questions he has no answer for. Well, no matter. He’ll figure them out. 

“Can I stay over too?” Geten asks. Everyone looks at him. “Kanami and Syouma were frick-awful, but they’re all I had, so I don’t really have anyone or anywhere now. Plus, I’m technically all of yours’ brother! Since— same parental figures, same genetic material.”

“Who are you?” Touya asks. 

“We can talk things out.” Yaoyorozu says.

“Um… just a moment.” Fuyumi says, noticing something in her pocket. “Excuse me, All Might? I have your car keys.” 

***

“I wasn’t able to do much.” Izuku says. All that determination, and he hadn’t managed anything more than briefly knocking AFO off his feet.

“You managed more than I did.” Yagi says, which Izuku must admit is true. He still feels disappointed, though. The most powerful villain in the country gets taken out by a random railgun? Better than him not getting taken out at all, Izuku supposes.

“I don’t like Endeavor anymore.” he informs his mentor, who laughs.

“I don’t think many people will, after this. Young Midoriya… these past few days have held an incredible amount of events, and you’ve done so well through all of them. Destroying one’s evil clone is not a common achievement. You should be proud.” Yagi says.

“Maybe.” Izuku says. “You know, the only reason he was able to be a quirkless vigilante was because he was hyper— fundamentally, he had a general enhancement quirk.”

“I hope you’re not feeling disheartened. Think of all that you have done in the past few days, young Midoriya, while quirkless.” Yagi says. “You fought Nomus, you deceived villains, you discovered the truth of the Hyper Vigilante, you saved One for All; not to mention I’m rather certain it’s only because of you that the Nightgun and the Todorokis even got involved, never mind all the others they brought with them.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Izuku admits.

“You are a quirkless hero.” Yagi says, and Izuku wants to cry. “I should have seen this the day you saved young Bakugou from the slime villain… in a world where you never learned of One for All, my boy, I don’t doubt you’d still have power like mine.” Now Izuku really does start crying.

“I knew that already—“ Izuku says, because he had, but there’s something about hearing a truth you’ve told yourself repeated by the person whom you most admire. “Thank you, Yagi-Sensei.”

“Of course, you can’t be a quirkless hero anymore— unless you’ve changed your mind about One for All.”

“No! Never!” Izuku says. “Some part of me will always be quirkless, though, I think. The same holds for you.”

“You’re right.” Yagi says, after a moment. “Thank you.” Izuku doesn’t quite know how to respond to this. “Oh, speaking of One for All— if you haven’t exploded now, I doubt you will later.”

“What?” Izuku asks.

“No point in leaving a thing halfway, is there?” Yagi asks, and Izuku gasps.

“You’re going to give it to me now?”

“If you want it.”

“I do!” Izuku says, and he hears whispering in his ears, feels the power floating inside his soul. One for All wants to be complete.

“Very well.” Yagi says, and then he holds out— one of his hairs? “Eat this!”

“I’m glad to see that you survived.” Yagi says, Izuku following him, and still getting over eating hair.

“It was an unexpected development.” Kurogiri says; he no longer has a humanoid body, but floats through the air as a misty cloud with eyes. “This result is one I never would have forseen. I will say to you what I have said to everyone who participated in this battle; thank you. And thank you as well.” He glances from Yagi to Izuku.

“Just my— just our— duty as heroes.” Yagi says.

“Why are both you and Shirakumo sappy?” Shigaraki complains. Izuku looks over to see Shirakumo talking to Eraserhead, Shinsou and Shoji.

“A side effect of raising you, most likely.”

“Blargh.” Shigaraki says. “Oh, All Might. What do you want? I’m not planning to kill you anymore, that was Sensei’s plot, so you can shove off. Probably not going to destroy the world, either… I’ll see how not hating things goes.” Izuku wonders if he should question this highly concerning statement.

“Shimura Tenko?” Yagi asks. 

“Who?” Shigaraki asks.

“It was your name before Sensei took you in.” Kurogiri says.

“It’s not my name now, so don’t call me that.”

“Very well.” Yagi says. “Er— Kurogiri told me some things, and I believe you are the grandson of my mentor—“

“I said you can shove off.” Shigaraki grumbles. “When did you tell All Might about me, Kurogiri? When you were busy playing metaphorical 5D chess with Sensei?”

“What is… 5D chess?” Kurogiri asks.

“Five-dimensional chess. It’s a video game.”

“How can you play chess in five dimensions?”

“You’re asking me?” Shigaraki asks. “After all that rubbish you pulled? Fine, I’ll explain…” 

“I think we should leave them to it.” Izuku says. 

He has found peace, however unconventional, a voice says. 

“What.” Izuku says.

“You’re right.” Yagi says. “I hope that things work out for them.”

As do I, Toshi. As do I. 

“What.” Izuku says, more aggressively this time.

It seems you can hear us now, Ninth. I am Shimura Nana— Toshinori’s mentor, and the seventh holder of One for All.

“Oh.” Izuku says, faintly. “There’s a ghost in the quirk. Uh… nice to meet you?” 

You as well. 

Izuku is nearly knocked over as Toga and Rody weave past him, running over to Kurogiri. Shigaraki looks annoyed when his conversation is interrupted as they both start talking to Kurogiri, who listens for a minute and then opens a portal which they both immediately dash through. 

“I wonder what that was about.” Yagi says. Izuku shrugs. The two of them continue walking together until they reach the Hercules car.

“Time to bring you back to your mother.” Yagi says.

“Oh my God, I’m going to be so grounded!” Izuku yelps, finding his cellphone and scrolling past Todoroki and the Nightgun’s numbers to find Inko’s so he can call her; he’ll take the time to catch up with his friends later. 

“Er… why are there people tied up in my car?” Yagi asks.

“There aren’t anymore.” Spinner says, carrying the two people who were, in fact, tied up in the car. “Oi, Burnin, the Yaoyorozus are over here!”

“Burnin? When did you arrive?” Yagi asks.

“Eraserhead called in an emergency detachment, yeah? When we showed up, what d’you know but we ran into a whole army of villains. They weren’t up for fighting much, though, so we decked them. Lizard samurai helped out— you did an epic job, Spinner. Can a sidekick have a sidekick, I wonder?” Burnin asks.

“I’m not going to be your sidekick, Borax Hair.” Spinner says. 

“What did you just call me?”

“Do you even know what borax is?”

“Do you?”

“Yes!” 

Izuku and Yagi watch as the two walk off talking, and then they get into the Hercules; Yagi returns to his small form in a burst of smoke, and begins to drive the car out of the shattered villa.

“It’s hard to believe that everything is all over.” Izuku says.

“Over?” Yagi asks. “You’re going to UA in a few months, correct?” 

“Yes?”

“I think, young Midoriya, that everything is only just beginning.” Yagi says, and Izuku can’t help but laugh at his mentor’s words. To think that he’s become a hero even before crossing beyond UA’s doors… that in some way he’s always been one. He’s made friends, saved lives, and been a part of events that would no doubt go down in history; he’s discovered power both within and without, and found the answer to the question he’s had his whole life. 

THE END