A/N: I had this idea around the time I published my other MHA fic.

Published: 4/18/2018

Warnings: Graphic description of Violence. Hm. I haven't had to use that warning in a while.

Chapter 1

Inheritor

"If you do this, if you fight him, if you face him… You will die. Please, Toshinori. Please, don't. He's the end. He's your end."

Nighteye had warned him.

Nighteye had known it would be futile, but he had tried anyways. Futile, because there was no way Toshinori would back down. No way that he would turn away from this. He could not. He refused. It just wasn't in his nature to run.

He was a hero, and heroes do not run.

"Killing you will be the cream on the crop." All for One states, cheerful as he marches forth. All around them lays the remain of a forest, burned by All for One's flames. The elements themselves twisted around the other, his eyes twisting with vile mirth.

Toshinori grunted, rising to full height.

Never had he felt so battered. So weakened. Half his costume had been blasted off, he was bleeding from too many places to count, and he was pretty sure he had a concussion.

All for One was not much better. Despite the bravado the other displayed, he was just as bartered, just as beaten. Toshinori had ripped out his arms. Twice. He'd regenerated, because of course the sociopath could regenerate, but doing so had taken a toll on the other.

"The final nail in the coffin. The final strike against Nana. I will erase even her memory from this world. Erase her, as I erase you. This is the end, Symbol of Peace. Your death will be the beginning of a new era, one that shall be built upon your battered corpse."

All for One, like many villains, enjoyed monologuing like if was no ones business. Why villains liked to do so was beyond Toshinori, but it was useful. It let him catch his breath while they wasted theirs gloating.

"Don't you get it!" the hands on his shoulders are frantic now, shaking him. Wild, scared, terrified. "He will end you! If you face him… There will be no winners. You can't win. You can't survive. It's the end."

Toshinori stood to full height. All for One's handsome face twisted into a sadistic smirk as he took another step. The earth began to shake, rattling around them.

"I will finally end this accursed power of yours. One for All… My greatest mistake. My greatest grievance. I had no idea such a thing could be born. I was a fool, but no longer. I-"

Toshinori doesn't let him finish. Instead, he lifts his fist and swings.

"Get the hell out of my way, Deku!"

"Ah, Kacchan!"

Izuku Midoriya had always dreamed of being a hero. Even now, his dream continued to persist, even though the world had eloquently told him that no, he could not be a hero.

Well, Izuku was too stubborn for that. He refused. He wanted to be a hero, so he would be a hero. It was his dream.

The how, though, he was still questioning.

Okay. So he didn't have a Quirk. He could deal with that. Kacchan didn't seem to think so, though. Kacchan thought Izuku was an idiot. Worse than that, he thought Izuku was useless. Useless and broken. That's why he called him 'Deku'. It meant, someone who can't do anything right. Useless.

As far as Kacchan was concerned, that's what Izuku was. Anyone without a Quirk was useless, because not having a Quirk meant Izuku was weak. Anyone who was weak was not worth Katsuki's time.

Or, so he claimed.

That didn't stop him from hanging around Izuku, or letting Izuku trail behind him. Why Izuku still wanted that was beyond him. Kacchan was… He was so mean.

Izuku didn't get it.

Did his Quirk make him mean? He'd never been so mean before, picking on the other kids and even on Izuku himself. Kacchan went from the one who punished bullies to being the bully, and it was such a dichotomy from his former attitude that it left Izuku feeling dizzy whenever he thought about it for too long.

Like right now.

Katsuki cracked his knuckles together, fire dancing on fingertips.

"I said move, you useless fucking nerd!"

"No, I won't!"

Kacchan snarls. Fingers curling up into a fist, with his two minions trailing behind him, he snarls.

All for One is a monster of ungodly proportions. How he can take so many Quirks within himself and not have his body deteriorate is a wonder, although Toshinori supposes that that particular statement isn't entirely true.

All for One has sacrificed something for this power. He's sacrificed himself. His mind, his soul. All that power, coursing in him, yet no sanity. How can one like him have anything even mildly resembling sanity, really?

All for One is a beast that snapped long ago under the combined weight of his own powers.

Toshinori shatters through another earth wall. Brute force. That is all Toshinori has. Pure brute force. Power inherited across generations. A power he inherited from Nana, and that she inherited from her predecessor.

Power, born for the sole purpose of doing this.

Born to undo this monster.

All for One howls.

"Why won't you die!"

Then, he raises his hand into the air, and a small black sphere blasts out. If ascends to the sky, where, in seconds, it begins to pull.

Toshinori has seen a similar Quirk before, although this one is not as destructive as Thirteen's. Wood, bark, stones, dust, any poor creature that hadn't already run from the clash of two titans, Toshinori himself…

Everything was being hauled in, pulled in.

Of course, All for One would have such a technique hidden up his sleeve.

"If I face him, can I end this?"

Nighteye freezes, backing away.

"Wha- what?" he stutters out the word.

"If I fight him, will this come to an end? You're certain I will die, but tell me, old friend… What of All for One? What shall become of him? Will this cycle end?"

Toshinori swings, but not with his arms. No. That is to be expected. That is predictable. That, he has done a thousand times.

Instead, he's let force built into his legs.

Toshinori kicks out, and the world breaks around him.

"I…"

"Tell me. If I don't face him, what will happen?"

"You'll live!"

"And the price?"

Silence is all that answers him.

"And that is why I cannot run."

Kacchan has never held back. Not against Izuku. Not against anyone. Izuku knows that his mom has trained him to be merciless, and that's exactly what Kacchan is.

Izuku tries to fight back. He really does. But, he isn't strong enough. Against Kacchan, he isn't strong enough.

Kacchan doesn't even bother using his Quirk. That's probably the most insulting thing about it. Kacchan is beating him with his bare hands, no powers, no anything, and Izuku is still loosing.

"Pathetic." Katsuki snarls.

Izuku is slammed down to the ground. The other ten year old wraps a hand around his throat. A dangerous hand that can leave burns and bruises and leave him whimpering in agony.

Red eyes glare down at him. The face above him sneers in disgust.

"You can't even take me when I'm not using my Quirk, and you want to be a hero? What kind of sick fucking joke is that, Deku?" the words pour out like poison, and Izuku sniffles.

He sniffles, because it's true.

It's true, but Izuku doesn't care.

The world can turn him away, but Izuku refuses. He will be a hero. He will. That's a promise.

"I think… Yes. That would be perfect. This face is perfect for this."

The words slip from All for One's mouth. Even before the last syllable is uttered, his form shifts. Melts before him into that of another and Toshinori can't help but freeze. His body refuses to obey, because this cannot be real.

It can't.

And, it isn't.

There's an arm inside him.

Familiar eyes glare up at him.

It was twisted. It was cruel. It was underhanded. It was something Toshinori should have expected out of a monster, but he hadn't. He hadn't, and he'd paid the price.

Her face stared up at him. Nana's face, gazing at him almost lovingly, the same way she had when she was here and she was living and she was breathing. Smiled at him as blood soaked fingers trailed along Toshinori's cheek, beaming at him as if he'd just done something particularly impressive and she was proud. So, so proud.

Blood.

Blood, everywhere.

There's ice crawling up across his chest, his arm is… Missing… And All Nana is right before him. Her form shifts. It melts away, until all that is left is All for One. His lips twisted into a snarl, his fist hurried deep in Toshinori's chest.

It's a wonder he's still alive, really.

All for One laughs. He laughs, staring right at him. Laughs, because Toshinori knows that this is it.

He isn't going to be walking out of this one alive.

This is it.

The end.

His end, just like Nighteye predicted. The path to this moment wasn't written in stone. It could have been today. It could had been tomorrow. It could have been a decade from now.

Regardless, Toshinori would die at the hands of All for One, either here in the moment of years later from the wounds.

"Do me a favor, All Might. Say hello to my little brother for me?" All for One asks, and he's laughing.

Toshinori grits his teeth.

"Tell him yourself!"

Then, with all his force, with all the energy left in him, pushing through past his limits and past the limits of his Quirk, Toshinori slams his head against the others.

The explosion can be seen for miles as Toshinori Yagi gives one last breath.

Izuku's eyes snap open as something… Unfamiliar courses through him. Energy, blossoming in his chest, through his veins, into his bones.

Kacchan is laughing.

Izuku is bleeding from a wound on his head. Head wounds are always the worst. They bleed the most. He's gonna have to explain to his mom, which is always a pain.

Izuku sits up, sniffing.

Kacchan sneers at him.

"What's wrong nerd? Want more? I'll be happy to oblige." Kacchan's words promise more pain. Izuku knows he'll deliver, too.

He doesn't care.

Instead, Izuku stands. On shaky feet, he stands, and he roars.

He lifts his arm and, instinctively, he swings.

Only this time, there's a difference. A crucial difference. One that makes every other moment superfluous. One that changes everything.

Because Izuku Midoriya was always meant to inherit One for All, and All Might's passing, even if Izuku himself wasn't aware of it, wasn't going to stop a little thing like fate.

As he swings, his eyes glow.

Glow with power he doesn't understand as green lightning dances on his skin.

Kaachan freezes.

Izuku roars and let's his fist loose.

Instinct drives the other, too. Katsuki moves, explosion propelling him out of the way as pure kinetic force tears through the park, ripping the ground to shreds as Izuku screams.

Katsuki lands a few feet away, looking at the destruction in awe.

"De- Deku… You. You little shit, you had a Quirk this entire time, you lying deceptive little-" Katsuki's awe quickly melts into rage and the perceived deception and he spins to give Izuku a piece of his mind.

Except Izuku is whimpering and crying and knelt over, clutching at an arm that is twisted and bent and red and broken. Heavy tears fall down his face as he looks up.

"Ka… Kaachan."

Then, Izuku falls, face first into the sand, body finally giving out.