My Hero Academia - True Measure

by TheWriteFiction

Since he was little, Izuku Midoriya has always dreamed of becoming the world's greatest hero- something that almost every other kid with a quirk and ambition is also aspiring towards. However, after a chance meeting in a park, young Midoriya meets someone who wants to do the exact opposite; an encounter that flips his whole world upsidedown. [IzukuHarem] AU

1. Prologue

Recently I had a vision, and my vision culminated in this- inspiration through media and story.

This is my first attempt at a Hero Academia fanfiction so... I want to see where this goes.

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My Hero Academia

True Measure

Prologue

(Flash Forward)

(Years into the future)

Chaos and terror had been brought to the city of Musutafu, Japan, unlike any seen before in its long and turbulent history since its founding. The reason why was as obvious as a blazing fireball in the middle of an icy wasteland.

The entire landmass that the metropolis was resting on, from its furthest peak to its closest landmark, had literally been raised from its foundations and was poised floating above the prefecture it'd previously been resting on, leaving a chasm forty miles wide and five miles deep resting in the heart of the country. Like a scene from the craziest sci-fi/action movie ever conceived, the entire city slowly lifted up into the stratosphere, breaking through the clouds while small chunks of earth around the edge of the levitating metropolitan plot broke away and cascaded into the large fissure below.

Needless to say, the situation was complete and utter madness. It was like the entire community was being abducted by aliens.

However, at the heart of the sweeping town, in the central square of the floating megacity where the ruins of the tallest skyscraper stood- ablaze, ruined, and displaced from its original position- were the people involved in this physics defying calamity.

Standing at the base of the leaning tower, which overlooked the whole metropolis and the square below, were a group of three individuals. The first one was a boy with ash blond, wild spiky hair, wild red eyes and was of average, young adult height. He was currently dressed in a black and orange uniform, with multiple belts crossing his chest and torso, as well as grenade-looking devices on his back, waist and arms. The second was a young girl with long brown hair, wearing a skin-tight black and pink suit that hugged at her curvaceous figure, with very astronaut like elements decorating it, and the remains of a damaged space helmet sitting over her dome.

Both individuals' clothes were in complete tatters and ruin. The blonde's suit was missing the entire right half, showing off his arm and chiselled frame, as well as an insane number of gashes and bruises, whereas the girl's suit had cuts and tears all over it, with the entire midsection and right thigh pieces gone. She also had blood trickling down from the top of her head, while her male compatriot was dripping from the mouth.

The third individual of their group however looked worse for wear. The entire top part of his suit gone, leaving him standing in black and green spandex pants, boots and gloves, all of which hugged at his muscular, athletic form, which was covered in all sorts of bruises, burns and scrapes.

Looking as though they'd been beaten to within an inch of their lives was the one thing all three young adults shared in common, and all of them were bent over and panting in exhaustion. They also had their eyes transfixed to the top of the burning skyscraper in front of them, where the cause of their miserable states was standing at the topmost peak of the structure.

This took the form of a curvaceous, dark-skinned young woman around twenty years old- the same age as the trio- with long, spiky blonde hair that grew all the way down her smooth back, giving her the appearance of a kogal. She wore a black bikini and thong topped by spiked shoulder pauldrons, which were buckled at the front by a skull shaped trinket, a long black cape with green on the underside, and a gold headband with a ruby embedded in the front, transforming the headpiece into a crown. Furthermore, she also had two large horns protruding from her head- similar in form to Pony Tsunotori, curving upwards and giving her the appearance of the devil.

She certainly looked the part, as if her menacing grin and wide, crimson red eyes didn't do that already.

While the trio on the ground continued to glare up at the dark-figure with the sexy, buxom figure and the skimpy, Evil Sorceress costume, the blonde haired woman in question simply scoffed in disappointment. "You're still holding back against me, Izu-chan. Why?" she asked, drawing a snarl from Bakugo while the villain gestured towards the ruined city around them. "Is it because you don't want to destroy what's left of Musutafu? Because you don't want to risk sending this manmade meteor crashing back down into the planet and wiping out two thirds of the population of the Earth?" Her eyes then snapped back to them in realization. "Or is it because the rest of your companions are lying unconscious or grievously injured across the surrounding suburbs?"

Gritting his teeth in anger, the twenty or so year old Izuku Midoriya, along with Katsuki and Ochaco, glanced over their shoulders. When they did, they clearly saw the resulting fallout of the multiple, monumental battles that'd unfolded in their respective absences, in the form of multiple members of their graduating class, their teachers, and a couple other pro heroes lying in broken wrecks within eyeshot of the square.

Those who were closest included Minora Mineta, who was impaled by two stakes in his hands to a building wall five stories above the ground on the other side of the city center and bleeding from multiple cuts down the concrete, Kyoka Jiro, her uniform torn to shreds and her equipment lying in busted pieces around her as she lay curled up in the middle of a large impact crater, Denki Kaminari, who was currently trapped underneath a collapsed tree, and Tsuyu Asui and Fumigake Tokoyami, both of whom were lying side by side next to one another with various bruises and battle scars in the open.

And these were only the ones that they could see. The others were all scattered across the entire city, and not in states that would be considered fit, healthy, or well.

Adding them all together, including the ones that they could not see but were still out there regardless, had Midoriya, Bakugo and Uraraka turn to glare up at the woman responsible for this whole mess. The instant their eyes landed on her, the blonde with the curved horns growing out of her skull shook her head pityingly.

"It's such a shame… they tried so hard and yet… I still defeated them all with ease." Her gaze immediately shifted back down to the three heroes as a dark shadow crossed over her eyes. "Frankly, I think you should've chosen your friends more wisely."

Having heard enough of her derogatory B.S, an infuriated Uraraka stomped forward and screamed up at the sorceress. "THEY WERE YOUR FRIENDS TOO, GIREN!" Her shout causing the female villain to recoil slightly, the young woman with the messy brown hair and burns around her stomach grabbed her arm and tensed, causing her suit to tighten against her skin and the debris at her feet to levitate. "You went to U.A together with them… trained with them… studied with them… and fought alongside them against the worst villains this world had to throw at us! AND FOR WHAT? To completely destroy them and leave them lying unconscious and bleeding, with their faces in the mud?!" It was then, after seething with rage for several moments longer, Ochaco continued. "Why… just why did you do all of this?!" She then took a deep breath and barked out in dismay. "What was the point?!"

At first an uncomfortable silence emanated across their part of the battlefield, punctuated by a gust of wind that carried dust over the ruined square and the impossibly tilted skyscraper. Though the trio's anger and outrage over the situation was clear, as they were all furious at the female villain and raring to take her down, the blonde woman merely sighed and flicked her head back, at the same time turning to smile down at her opponents.

Noticing her eyes falling upon her, the battered Izuku blinked in surprise. "Giren-chan?"

"You know what's funny about this world?" the sorceress asked, causing the three down below to perk up when she began to speak. "All of the people on this planet, blessed with remarkable gifts, quirks, and the potential to accomplish great things, rely on the courage and audacity of madmen to protect their cities and keep them safe." She then tilted her head at the trio and frowned. "They make the mistaken assumption that someone like All-Might will always jump in to save them at the last second. No matter what happens or how dire the situation may become, they believe with all their hearts that someone- no matter which hero it is- will swoop in and rescue them from evil."

Remaining quiet for a few seconds as their former comrade spoke to them, Izuku and the others then balked a little when they saw Giren's expression suddenly turn foul.

Eyes filling with contempt, the woman elaborated in a lower voice. "It's not their problem if a villain or a monster appears. It's not as if their lives will change in any way. They just sit back, watch, and ogle the events that unfold in front of them like it was some act… like some comedic performance… and the heroes narcissistically go along with it; smiling, posing, and declaring everything is going to be alright. But while all this is going on and the people are mindlessly drinking it in, the events and evil deeds that go unnoticed… the ones that really matter… affect all the other people that we can't see… like Eri-chan and Tomura Shigaraki-kun. You've seen this for yourself firsthand, Izu-kun. We all have." When she saw the expressions on the trio below change to ones of cold seriousness and thought, Giren looked to her right and across the horizon, where she could see the cityscape mingling amongst the clouds of the lower stratosphere. "While the rest of the world goes on turning, these poor people are left wallowing in the blood and anguish left behind in the aftermath… because nobody was there to help them. That's the cold, harsh reality of the world we live in. Heroic deeds beget evil, which in turn inflicts harm upon those who do not deserve it."

"Yeah? And what's your fucking point?" Bakugo asked, shooting his characteristic, intense glare up at the cocky woman staring off into the sunset. "Are you going to give us a reason, or are you just going to keep flapping your gums until the sun rises?" It pissed him off something fierce that she wasn't giving them the due attention and reverence that they deserved.

It was almost like they weren't even there… that they were just ants she could squash at a moment's notice.

Giren however was undeterred by Bakugo's impatience, and simply smiled back down at him pleasantly. "Allow me to answer that question with another question," the woman concluded, looking over the heroes with that same dark look in her eyes. "What are you three going to do against this monster… against this villain?" A gust of wind fanning her cape, the female thrust her arm out and held it up in a taunting pose. "If there truly is a reason for heroes to exist, then why don't you come up here and show me!"

The moment she finished this statement, the sorceress's eyes darted downwards when she suddenly felt her legs and feet get sealed to the tower when a mass of ice unexpectedly ran up the dark side of the building and trapped her to the surface in the blink of an eye. When the entire structure became encased in a prison of solid ice, with a mountain of jagged pillars forming around the area to ensnare her, the villain was initially confused as to what was going on, until she heard the yell of a familiar young male echo out behind her.

"With pleasure!"

Giren's head snapped up in alarm when the roof behind her position exploded, and the form of a red headed figure with hardened skin and an athletic body covered in a battle-damaged, armoured hero costume reminiscent of a Roman gladiator, came leaping out at the woman. His fingers all straightened out into a knife-hand, he lunged at his quarry with a stabbing motion, ready to impale her with the full weight of his blow. At the same time he appeared, another figure came charging up the frozen side of the tower, ice propelling his body via a crystalized platform while he rushed the sorceress with his left arm ablaze with orange flames and his left leg the same.

From Giren's and the trio's point of view, the two heroes Eijiro and Shoto, both of whom were also wounded from the battle, dove at the woman in slow motion, determined to hit her from two sides simultaneously and end this fight once and for all. However, just when they were nearly upon the trapped female and ready to cut her down, a wide, amused grin spread across Giren's lips, before the witch uttered in a low and sultry voice.

"Perfect Trace: Telekinesis Quirk."

All of a sudden, the attacking Shoto and Eijiro froze in mid-air, their bodies going unexpectedly rigid when they were hit by an invisible force that stopped them just a couple of feet from their target. Muscles twitching under the grip of the unseen binds, the pair desperately attempted to force their way out, but to no avail.

"W-What the hell?" the red haired Red Riot spoke.

"I… I can't move," the red and white-haired Shoto choked, the flames on his arm dissipating onto the wind while the ice blades he had formed on his other turned to steam. It was then his eyes snapped back towards their foe. "It's her quirk… when did she-?"

Unable to move as they remained suspended in front of their enemy, all the pair could do was watch and listen as Giren crossed her arms over her chest and leered.

"I'm surprised to see the two of you still moving. I thought I'd beaten you guys over an hour ago," the female villain remarked, steam starting to float off of her body as the ice at her feet boiled and melted away from a sudden, rising temperature. "Shoto-kun… Eijiro-kun… you two are a really stubborn pair. It was a good and noble effort…" Several seconds later, after the ice at her feet was reverted back to water, the manically grinning woman threw her arms out and gave a loud yell of effort as a deafening shockwave blasted off of her body and smashed headlong into the two frozen heroes. "BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

A loud thunderclap then rang out when Giren unleashed a wave of invisible energy in all directions. The blast of wind that ripped off of her frame not only sent the two young men she had frozen in place flying, but also decimated the rooftop she was standing on. The metal and glass making up the ruined structure was practically torn apart and sent hurtling into the wind like confetti, while the two teenagers caught up at the head of the blast were thrown into buildings on opposite sides of the square.

The pair, though stunned by her repulsive attack, managed to cushion their landings with their respective quirks. While Eijiro hardened his body as best as he could, Todoroki was able to cover himself with ice, as both of them were sent smashing through multiple windows and walls.

When they saw their friends get sent flying like a couple of ragdolls, an alarmed Izuku shouted. "SHOTO! EIJIRO!" Shit. Were they okay?

Bringing his hands up and conjuring up a storm of sparks, Bakugo began charging up an attack as he observed the woman positioned high above them land on the edge of the massive hole she'd ripped into her tower platform. "Fuck this bullshit! I'm incinerating this bitch, right now!" However, just as he was bringing his hands back to perform his technique, Giren beat him to the punch.

Seeing Bakugo preparing an attack, the blonde woman took a deep breath and reared her head back. "Perfect Trace: Anquish Absorber Quirk!" She then let out a bloodcurdling cry of rage, which belted out of her throat in the form of a ghostly roar, echoing with the voices of over a thousand people at once. "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Her ear piercing scream reverberated across the entire city, rattling the buildings and sending gusts of wind rippling outwards in endless, potent waves.

The instant Izuku, Bakugo and Ochaco were hit by the woman's sound attack, the trio froze up before bending forward and clutching random parts of their body in agony, as they were suddenly overcome by the sensations of cold, spirit-crushing grief and pain. With Ochaco clutching her chest and Izuku grabbing the side of his head, the trio felt a cold chill grip their bodies as their heads were filled by the images of random people from the past experiencing violent deaths and torment at the hands of unknown figures.

"Argh! What the hell is this?!" Bakugo shouted, clenching his eyes shut as the sound waves continued to rattle them.

"All the pain and loss… suffered by countless people across the planet… who have been unjustly wronged…" Izuku growled back, tears brimming in his eyes as he could practically feel the people's traumatic emotions surging through him. The gut-wrenching reality of what he was witnessing play out in front of him over and over like a strobe hitting a reel of film was almost indescribable. "So much… pain…"

While she continued screeching at the top of her lungs, Giren snapped her arms in front of her body, forming an 'X' shape with her limbs, and set her eyes on her targets. "Perfect Trace: All For One: Combination." During which time, the pair of horns she had on top of her head lit up a bright orange, and two large opal-like gems emerged from her forearms, which also started to glow and pulse with fiery energy. Once the aura in her appendages had stabilized, the woman stopped screaming and took on a serious look, as she focused all her efforts on her arms.

When their bodies stopped trembling, the three heroes on the ground looked up in confusion, with Ochaco giving a blink of surprise.

"She stopped screa-?"

"Solar Cannon."

A deafening howl, like a hurricane, filled the entire square when a massive white blast erupted from the villain's crossed arms like a geyser and engulfed the air, expanding at light speed as it rocketed towards the three heroes below. Izuku, Bakugo and Ochaco could only recoil in horror as the wall of blinding white energy thundered towards them at an unheard of speed, before seemingly swallowing them up and ripping through the city behind them a split second later. An entire line of apartment blocks and office buildings were practically incinerated when the comet of a blast tore across the floating landmass and over the edge, where it then streaked over the horizon.

Cutting off the feed of energy to the attack, Giren watched the light fade and lowered her arms. When she saw the plume of smoke and dust in front of her fade away on the wind, she immediately noticed that her attack had burnt a trench over a hundred meters wide from her position all the way to the very outskirts of the metropolis.

From this observation to alone, it was easy to say that anyone that had been caught up in the middle of that attack would've surely been turned to ash.

"Emotionally Targeted Sound Waves combined with a Solar Energy Wave, fired through means of a Body Enhancement, Cosmic and Energy Compression Quirk. It's a nice little combo I was saving just for you guys." However, just when it seemed like she'd won, after giving a quick survey of the area, Giren smirked as he gaze trailed up the length of her proudly formed fissure. "Quick reflexes, Tenya-kun. You managed to save everyone lying in the path of that blast in less than a second." She then tilted her head to the side in an intrigued manner. "And here I thought you would've been incapacitated like all the rest."

Standing on the edge of the massive trench, several hundred yards away from where the attack had started, an exhausted and battle-scarred Tenya Iida, his armour all in ruins, carefully set the unconscious bodies of Tsuyu, Fumikage, and Kyoka on the ground, along with a still conscious Hanta, who'd also unwittingly been lying in the path of the blast.

"D-Damn. Thanks, Ingenium," the raven haired boy with the gash across his cheek and chest coughed out, his own body covered in burns from the fight he'd had with the woman an hour prior. "That was… a close one."

Having obviously sprinted across the city at blinding speeds, picking up the bodies of his friends along the way to get them out of their enemy's crosshairs, the muscular young man in glasses hissed as he shakily collapsed to his knee. Glancing down his battered suit to his calf, he saw that the exhausts on his leg had been burnt black, obviously from just barely dodging the blast that Giren had fired from her elevated position. From the way it sputtered when he flexed his leg, the man knew that he was not going to be running circles around their foe anytime soon.

"Shit… she got me," Tenya murmured, shaking his head furiously while Hanta sat up from where he'd been set down. Tsuyu and Fumikage meanwhile also slowly twitched back to life, their eyes flickering open as consciousness slowly returned to them. "This is completely unacceptable… getting damaged like this-" Now his engines had been knocked out.

"Man, take it easy…" Hanta said, watching as the bird-faced Fumikage also sat up in a daze. "We're all getting our asses kicked out here." It was then, after surveying the war torn city around him and whistling at the enormous smoking crater sitting nearby, the raven haired young man's gaze then snapped back towards the square in alarm. "Wait… what about Midoriya and the others?"

Sitting in what was formerly the square, but was now part of the much more impressive fissure, a single, perfectly circular black rock- smoking and charred from the blast that'd engulfed it- could be seen jutting out of the trench. In contrast to everything else in the immediate vicinity, this unremarkable stone seemed like the only thing that'd survived the landscape reducing attack. That was until the inanimate object suddenly crumbled apart, revealing Izuku, Bakugo and Ochaco kneeling warily underneath it, along with a still miraculously conscious Momo Yaoyorozu, Camie and Mei Hatsume.

Adorned in a skin tight white body suit with various, high-tech and sleek armour plates covering it, giving her the appearance of wearing a plug suit, the pink haired inventor and engineer lifted up her smudged goggles and grinned over her shoulder at Izuku. "Woo. That could've ended badly. Good thing my babies and I got us here just in time." She said this while patting her jet boots, which hissed to let off some excess heat.

Seeing the shield his former classmate and fellow hero Yaoyorozu had erected to protect them crumble away, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and looked across at their enchanting saviour. "Thanks, Momo-chan… Mei-chan. We owe you one."

Carrying multiple bruises and cuts herself, the beautiful yet out-of-breath female hero sucked in air and looked back at Midoriya with a smile. "Don't mention it… really." She then turned her attention back to the top of the building the blast had originated from, where she quickly spotted the culprit standing in the same spot, untouched and unperturbed. "I used solar reflectors on top of a 100mm steel dome to deflect that blast, and it barely managed to hold up. I doubt that's going to work a second time…"

Standing up when the barrier overhead fully collapsed on them, a noticeably pissed-off Bakugo grunted and slammed his right fist into his left palm, causing a miniature flash and an explosion to go off. "You won't have to do it a second time. I'll lay her out before she gets another chance to let off another shot."

Narrowing her eyes on the sorceress responsible for destroying most of the city, a similarly battle-worn Camie huffed in an aggravated manner and tugged at the collar of her figure-hugging jumpsuit. "Considering the kind of person we're fighting right now… I doubt that's going to be an easy task."

Grinning menacingly as sparks shot off of his hands and forearms, Bakugo cocked back his right and stepped past Momo and Camie. "We'll see about that!" Moving into the open and sensing his friends move back for their own safety, the wild-haired boy gave a loud roar and thrust his hand forward, aiming it at the tilted skyscraper. "Ultra AP Shot!" A sonic boom then rang out when he unleashed a beam shaped explosion, which broke the sound barrier as it streaked towards the skyscraper.

When the blast struck the remains of the tower, it lit up like several crates of C4 charges going off all at once, filling the sky with a blinding flash and a fiery mushroom cloud, which belched into the atmosphere. As a result, the top ten floors beneath Giren were disintegrated, while the rest of the building was smashed into rubble from the fireball that engulfed it. As smoke and debris pelted the surrounding area, battering the district and leaving the skyscraper as nothing but a useless, twisted hunk of metal and cement, the group's immediate thought was that they finally got her.

Whistling after seeing the scale of the explosion, a smiling Mei nodded in an impressed manner. "Good shot."

The wide grin that spread across Bakugo's face said the same thing. "HA! How did you like that, COW?!"

"Meh… it was okay."

The voice speaking up directly behind the group immediately had everybody's eyes widen and expressions transform into looks of terror, as a hole composed entirely of black smoke opened up in the air and deposited Giren on the ground just two feet from both Izuku and Ochaco.

Face manic and reflecting nothing but murderous intent and a blood-thirsty smile, the completely unscathed female villain leered at the group as all their heads snapped around to face her all at once. "Surprise." The moment she uttered this word, an alarmed Izuku and Ochaco spun around and threw a kick and a backhanded punch towards her respectively, only to watch her body sink into the floor and vanish in an instant.

As a result of his punch missing, Midoriya's face twisted into one of shock. "This is…" Before he could even finish, his gaze once again spun around to see Giren leap out of the ground foot first, kicking Momo in the chin and sending her flying several yards away. By the time Midoriya's body spun around entirely, their opponent had leapt completely out of the ground and cartwheeled over Camie, using her shoulders as a springboard, while the hero formerly from another school attempted to nail her with a blow. "Mirio Togata's Quirk… Permeation!"

While still hovering over Camie, the world moving around her in super slow motion, Giren threw a grin across at Bakugo, who she could see was now attempting to lock on and counter her. "You know… I could never understand what everyone was gabbing on about you becoming a great hero someday. You're an absolutely shit hero, Baku-chan… especially with that trashy personality of yours. After all…" Completing her flip over her human post and, using the momentum from her manoeuvre, Giren picked the stunned Camie up, spun her around, and slammed her straight into Bakugo, knocking both heroes flying across the ground at speed. "Bullies never make good heroes!"

As Bakugo and Camie crashed across the floor, bouncing like ragdolls from the force of Giren's throw and having the air knocked out of their lungs, Mei leapt forward and, thrusting her left fist forward, took aim with the scope that popped up from her gauntlet.

"ROCKET PUNCH!" A gunshot then echoed out as the mechanical fist on the end of her arm was launched at Giren from eight yards away, a cable attached to it and extending at high speed. At that range, it was impossible for her to miss.

But, Giren, hearing the attack approaching, simply smiled and produced a small circular portal directly behind her. The moment Mei's rocket punch shot through it, a second portal opened in front of the inventor, and launched the woman's metal fist right back at her. Caught off guard, the woman was hit clean in the stomach, a loud 'oof' leaving her as she was knocked tumbling out of the fissure they were fighting in.

Jumping forward the moment she saw Mei attempt her attack, Ochaco made her own move.

With a yell of effort, the brown haired girl slammed her hand into the floor and whipped it forward, using her quirk to hurl a pile of rubble towards Giren, who still had her back turned to them. When the villain turned around to face her and Midoriya, she was hit square in the chest by one of the massive stones and sent hurtling into the sky with the cluster. As she flew, Ochaco pressed forward with her assault.

"Second Moon!" The female heroine then proceeded to whip her arms about in front of her, telekinetically sending more and more rubble lying around them into the air and up toward the suspended Giren's position. In a matter of seconds, large chunks of debris from the city began mashing into the orb floating up into the clouds, trapping the sorceress between hundreds of tons of rock and metal, which continued to build and build as the seconds went by.

Soon, a couple of the buildings beneath the growing cluster were ripped from their foundations, sparks and explosions going off as a profusely sweating Ochaco, crying out in agony, forcefully sent them flying towards the sphere of rubbish hanging in the air. When the office and apartment blocks slammed together moments later, snapping, twisting, and moulding into a single mass of metal, the orb of debris had grown so much it was almost like there was a small moon hovering above the city itself.

From the way the metal and cement were being compressed into each other, it was also highly likely that the villain Uraraka had trapped in the centre of its mass was being crushed into paste.

Blood starting to trickle out of her nose as the vessels in her body started bursting one after the other from the strain, a panting Ochaco gasped for air as she struggled to keep her hands up and her structure from breaking apart. "I could make it bigger… but in my condition… I won't be able to hold it up without passing out. This is our one chance!" She then spun and shouted at the observing Midoriya. "IZUKU! NOW!"

"RIGHT!" Crouching down as bolts of blue lightning ran down his toned form, causing his muscles to throb and tense all at once, Izuku then sprang off of the ground in a blur of motion. Breaking the sound barrier on take-off and punching a forty-foot wide crater into the floor, the green haired boy soared into the sky like a missile, flying straight towards the ball of debris now coming into orbit in atmosphere of the planet.

Gritting his teeth as he closed in on the celestial object of metal, concrete and earth in the blink of an eye, the boy cocked back his right fist and took aim. "DETROIT…"Closing the distance as his body built up more momentum and power, at the same time bulking up from the full cowl of One For All, Izuku gritted his teeth and threw his attack in the form of a wide, three-quarter uppercut. "SMAAAAAAASH!"His fist struck the floating planetoid in the base and, from there, shit got crazy…

The entire assembly of rubble and debris was literally blown to smithereens, with the side of the orb Izuku had struck disintegrating from the shockwave produced by his knuckles. As the remains and larger chunks of the sphere were sent flying further skywards in the direction of the young man's monstrous blow, one of the boulder chunks in the very centre of the anomaly detonated, and was then followed by a black figure flying out of the flames and straight towards the still ascending Izuku.

With his full attention locked on the exploding meteor, Midoriya frowned when he saw Giren, covered in dirt and dust, fly right at him and stop mid-air, her arms and legs thrust outward and halting her momentum.

The instant she saw the villain reappear, a physically drained Ochaco looked on in disbelief, as did an observing Mei, Bakugo and Camie. "No way! Sh-She doesn't have a scratch on her!"

Drifting through the sky amidst a floating field of rubble and granite, both Izuku and Giren glared at one another with their respective, serious expressions in play: irises and pupils dilated, with a dark shadow hanging ominously over their gazes. Those heroes who were conscious and watching from the ground could only hold their breaths, as they all waited with anticipation for one of them to do something… anything.

After staring intently at one another, floating in space and patiently holding their positions for a response, Giren then broke the ice with a large, villainous, bloodthirsty grin, which was only matched by a heroic smile given by the young adult Izuku.

"FINALLY! The number one hero and defender of justice has finally come out to face me! ME! One-on-one! Mano A Mano!" Giren shouted, her voice echoing across the heavens as she faced off against her arch-rival and nemesis.

In return, Izuku responded to her glee with a proud, brave statement of his own, dripping with the inspiration from his most respected mentor. "Your evil deeds have gone on long enough, villain! As this planet's protector and new Symbol of Peace, I will stop your rampage and put an end to this madness with my own two hands!"

Giren's intentions and delight were further accentuated by the evil, villainous, and rather cliché laugh she gave moments later, her cape billowing behind her and rocks flying past her face in a dramatic juxtapose. "Kya-ha-ha-ha! Do you think you have what it takes to defeat me? The most evil, most beautiful, most powerful, and the most feared villain of all time?!" She then whipped her hand forward and pointed right at Izuku's handsome face, which was only hanging just a few feet in front of her and an inch away from her digit. "Do you really have the power and the guts to take me on?!"

"YOU BET I DO!" Midoriya cried out, bringing a hand forward and tightening it into a fist in a very All-Might manner, the knuckles of which came close to brushing the girl's chin. He then took that same fist and slammed it into his chest in a guts-pose, despite the fact that both of them were floating hundreds of feet above the Musutafu metropolis, which itself was hanging two kilometres above the earth's surface. "Clench those teeth, Miss, and prepare yourself! Because you are about to get a taste of the full, unbridled power of true justice!"

At this, the woman's grin widened into one of hysterical anticipation. "BRING IT ON, HERO!"

Watching and listening from down below as the pair's voices echoed across the battlefield, a thoroughly overwhelmed Ochaco, Bakugo, Mei and Camie could only stare in utter confusion, as they had no idea what the heck was going on. Even the intellectual genius Momo, who was busy massaging her jaw from the previous sneak-attack, couldn't understand what was transpiring.

After what seemed like a sure-fire-killer move had failed to bring down the sorceress that they were still battling, every single one of them then expected Midoriya to unload all of his power on her the instant she came within range. From the amount of damage she had brought to their home and the harm she'd caused to everyone around them, they'd expected their friend and compatriot to release all of his pent-up rage upon his opponent in the name of peace and uncompromising righteousness.

But then, out of nowhere, the two warriors started smiling at each other like old-friends and spouting cheesy lines and speeches only fit for a comic book. It was like the pair were acting out some sort of play from when they were in elementary school, where one of them was the knight and the other one was the smart, smack-talking dragon.

It was then, after scratching his head over the sight for a moment, a look of realization suddenly crossed Katsuki's face, before the boy closed his eyes and smirked in disbelief. "Deku, that braindead moron…" His comment had Camie look across at him in confusion. "He's having fun."

"Izuku-kun," Ochaco whispered, clutching the side of her arm as she gazed up at the two individuals high above for a moment, before a soft smile pulled across her lips.

Even Mei, who'd activated her quirk to get a better look at what was going on overhead, couldn't help but sigh and shake her head.

When a pair of devil wings suddenly sprouted from Giren's back in an effort to keep her airborne, the third round of the duo's epic clash began.

Cranking back his right foot, Midoriya started off their brawl with a well-timed, aerial roundhouse kick, which collided head-on with the villain's knee, which she threw in an effort to intercept the blow. A loud thunderclap filled the sky as the debris field around them was blasted away and turned to dust, while the clouds floating around them also dispersed from the outward traveling force of the blow. From there, both Midoriya and Giren began duking it out at high-altitude, the sky filling with the sounds of a raging thunderstorm of shockwaves and sonic booms as the pair traded blow after mountain-splitting blow in a flurry of movements.

Those who were observing from down below, including Tenya, Tsuyu and Ochaco, all lost balance and fell over when the tremors from above rained down and rattled the floating island they were standing on. The very same quakes also caused a couple of the nearby buildings to collapse.

Using skill and technique only familiar to them, the pair continued to fire off punches and kicks with surprising grace and precision. Continuing to defy physics by remaining airborne and unleashing hell upon one another, the two fighters locked in combat then started to gradually descend, all the while circling one another and launching numerous combinations of attacks and counters.

"As of right now, I have surpassed both All For One, his successor, and Vectra in skill, power and ambition… and forced all other criminals around the world into surrendering!" Giren shouted above the shockwaves as their fists continued to collide with one another with murderous precision. After parrying one of Midoriya's chops, the female villain countered by spinning on the spot and, producing an abnormally long, devil-like tail from behind, whipped it out at his head in an attempt to 'decapitate' him. However, sharp as ever, Midoriya managed to duck and counter with a spinning back kick. "That means, even with your overwhelming strength and desire to protect everything that is good in this world, you can't possibly hope to defeat me!"

"Oh yeah?" Izuku roared, his kick slamming into the girl's forearm before he ducked in with a backward spinning blow towards her neck where her guard was down. "Then why don't you take that awesome power of yours and use it against me!" His eyes narrowed as bolts of lightning and steam shot off of the arm he was swinging at her neck, which rapidly built-up momentum just centimetres from impact. "ALABAMA CHOP!"

However, just when it seemed like his attack would land and cut through Giren's neck like butter, the female villain surprised her opponent by suddenly catching his wrist and redirecting his blow, nullifying the force of the attack completely. The moment she did, she then hooked her other hand around and struck two fingers into the joint, bending his arm with a 'snap' before following-through with her elbow on the same arm from the outside, driving it into the muscle and causing a second 'crack' to ring out. As a result Midoriya let out a shout of pain, before retaliating by breaking out of her hold and throwing another spin-kick at the woman.

Ducking his retaliatory strike, Giren suddenly flapped her newly grown devil wings and placed herself above the hero. Extending her right hand, she then focused all of her energy into her limb, instantaneously causing the muscles to expand, twist and vibrate at high speed. The sight of black lightning starting to emanate off of it a millisecond later caused the stunned Izuku's eyes to widen.

"Here's another demonstration. Locomotive Corkscrew plus Muscle Enhancement x4, Electrical Discharge x3 and Air Compression x4!" Giren leered before yelling at the top of her lungs, "Pefect Trace: Atmospheric Combustion!" What followed was an ear splitting shockwave rippling off of her palm as she fired a compressed bubble of air at point-blank range into Midoriya's chest, which hit him like a bullet train and sent him plummeting in a blur towards the ground.

Izuku ended up slamming back first in the middle of the downtown area, smashing a two-hundred meter wide crater into the floor, while Giren's attack generated an explosive shockwave that annihilated the buildings standing all around the area. If Izuku's impact wasn't enough to cause damage to his surroundings, those buildings that didn't turn into rubble from the blast of wind collapsed into the sinkhole that the hero punched into the ground with his body.

While all the young heroes watching the battle from afar gaped at the sheer destructive force brought down by the two warring fighters, the flying Giren laughed obnoxiously and brought her hands above her head. "WHAT'S WRONG, HERO! DON'T TELL ME THAT THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" Palms facing each other, a high-pressure wind started to spin around her, whipping, twisting, swirling, and gathering in the centre of her hands. As dust and debris ripped around her through the literal cyclone that formed around her body, the woman concentrated all of that effort to her fingers, where a glowing blue ball of pulsating energy started to form. "No. Wait. You're still holding out on me! That's it! YOU'RE STILL NOT COMING AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE! RIGHT, IZU-CHAN?! Well then… if that's the case… LET ME GIVE YOU SOME PROPER MOTIVATION!"

The sphere of unstable energy crackled and sparked as it grew rapidly in size, slowly beginning to fill the sky with a second sun. With the weather reacting extremely to the anomaly now taking shape over the floating town, through the whirlwind, dust and debris, an observing Tenya's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the attack the woman was preparing next.

"She's… accelerating and gathering the wind around her all into one spot… and transforming it into plasma," the man spoke, unable to hide his astonishment as he watched bolts of lightning shoot down from the energy sphere to strike a building, which was split in half and sent crashing to the ground. This sight only served to have Iida and the others around him tremble in fear, as the hum from the now stadium-sized ball of energy began to echo across the metropolis. "If she was to drop that, right here and now…"

She would wipe the entire city off of the map. There wouldn't be anything left but ash.

"Wind Quirk, plus Acceleration x5 and Vector Manipulation x4! Though the calculations are incredibly complicated… it still gives me enough power to do this!" Giren shouted, a laugh leaving her lips as she cocked back her hands and prepared to hurl the throbbing sphere of plasma down at the crater below. "STOP THIS NEXT ATTACK IF YOU CAN! Perfect Tra-"

She didn't even get the chance to finish loading up. Just as she was about to drop the ball, the crater beneath her exploded and a blast of wind equivalent to the force of a hurricane shot upwards, hitting Giren head on. The act of which caused her manipulation of the wind vectors around her to shift, messing up her calculations and dispelling the sphere of plasma she'd formed. Covering her face as she was nearly sent flying by the invisible attack, the woman then looked down and immediately spotted a figure standing in the heart of the fissure.

"He dispelled my plasma ball by forcefully altering the wind vectors and changing my formula?" Giren thought, a smile quickly tugging across her lips. "Clever boy."

Standing on both feet with his right fist extended, a slightly banged up Izuku grinned before dropping his arm and taking a new stance. "NOT ON MY WATCH!" Crouching down, his left arm dangling uselessly at his side, the young hero buried his right hand into the floor and, with a mighty roar and a spark of electricity, heaved the ground upwards. "TEXAS TABLE TOSS!"

"Wait… what did you just-?" Giren asked, not sure what his next move was until a wall of black suddenly appeared in front of her. This caused the flying woman to look up in alarm. "WHOA! WHAT THE FUCK?!" In an instant, the sorceress found herself stuck inside a cloud of rubble, earth, and the remains of multiple buildings (some of which were still intact), as Izuku, using all of his strength, had literally ripped up and thrown an entire block of city up at her from the ground.

From a distance, the amount of debris in the nebula looked like an entire wall had been thrown.

The act of doing so brought a great deal of astonishment to the female villain, who now found herself floating inside what could only be described as a tightly packed asteroid field. "The neighbourhood we're fighting over… he flipped it up at me? What a show off." Clenching her fists as she looked around the tumbling cloud of rubble, the powerful warrior brought her hands up and took a defensive stance. "Does he think he can attack me from the blind spots of this scattered junk? It won't work!" Generating a set of exhaust pipes on her left arm and bulking it up through a quick muscle augmentation, she then thrust it out and unleased a blast of wind. "This is nothing more than house dust to me!"

While her swipe effectively cleared the way of much of the debris, when Giren retracted her arm and looked around, her expression then became one of confusion.

"Hang on… something's weird here," she thought, looking to her right and then back down towards her feet. "It feels like the gravity has been reduced to zero… like I'm floating inside a vacuum. Hell, I can't even see the ground." Her eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder. "That freak. How high did he throw me?!"

Before she could fully comprehend the magnitude of the situation, as she continued to drift aimlessly through the debris field, Giren was unable to react in time when, from behind one of the massive boulders hovering over her, Izuku's hidden form rolled into view. Right arm drawn back over his left shoulder, the man gave a mischievous smirk before dropping down from the floating boulder and smashing his elbow into the back of the woman's head, hitting the sorceress with the sound of a cannon going off and drawing a scream of pain from the villain.

"KANSAS ELBOW!"

The shockwave that followed from the blow disintegrated several chunks of rubble floating around them, while the villain was sent smashing into the top half of a weightless apartment building. When her body blasted through the ten floors of the tower, she ended up smashing the structure to pieces, before her form came shooting out the other side. Landing against another flying boulder, Giren then started hopscotching through the debris field at high speed.

She kept this up for a few seconds, until she changed course and shot straight back at Midoriya, who also sprang off of a boulder and flew right at the woman to meet her half way at the same speed.

Bleeding from the cuts over her body and mouth, the maniacally grinning Giren cried out. "You beautiful bastard! I knew you loved to play dirty!"

"Come and get some!" Izuku roared back, drawing his right arm and powering up, bolts of lightning shooting off of his full cowl mode as he took aim at his opponent. "Try and block this! Detroit Shotgun Combo!" His fist then literally transformed into a blur, as what seemed like a hundred punches flew straight at Giren in a wall of knuckles. The number of blows he threw in that second was so fast that it looked like all his attacks came in at once, making it seem like he was going to lay his opponent out.

Giren however met Izuku's barrage with her own, unleashing a hail of palm and finger strikes that clashed with the hero's fist blow for blow. Multiple thunderclaps rang out as the pair traded attacks at blinding speed, with the force of each swing parting the cloud of debris surrounding them and shattering the boulders orbiting their position.

Gritting her teeth when she felt the strain from taking the man's blows reverberate through her arms, the blonde sorceress decided to break off early and sprang back, dodging his last punch by a hair. "He's gotten a lot tougher! I have to get away! Faster than him!" Her wings sinking back into her body, the woman began springing off of boulders one after the other, putting distance between her and Midoriya as fast as she could. "Higher than him!" She then started gaining altitude by hiking up the airborne debris, her body traveling in the form of a blur while Izuku stayed close behind in hot pursuit.

Watching Izuku gaining on her, an alarmed Giren gritted her teeth and drew back her right fist, sending energy into her hand and gathering power for a counterattack. "Izu-kun is getting stronger and stronger as this fight drags on. I have to match him! Watch his movements and look for an open-"

CRASH!

"-ing!" Giren was effectively cut off when the top half of her body ended up smashing into something solid, burying her up to her waist in rock. Stunned from the sudden impact, the twitching woman remained where she was embedded while her brain slowly worked out what the hell had happened. "The ground is in the sky?" As the flying boulders and rocks started crashing down around her, shaking the ground of the floating city they were fighting over, the female villain then blinked into realization. "No. That's not it. My senses have been confused."

When Izuku chucked the entire suburb up at her and sent them all hurtling through the sky, he ended up sending them all into a spin- like putting dice inside a cup with an insect and shaking it so that they were bouncing about all over the place… only on a much larger scale. By the time they were done, the bug trapped in the middle of the storm could no longer tell up from down, leaving it completely discombobulated.

That's exactly what had happened to her, and as Giren lay there with her legs sticking out of the hole she was embedded in, the woman felt Izuku touch down nearby with a loud thud, at the same time the field of debris rained back down on the battle-damaged city.

Gritting her teeth when her sense of equilibrium finally returned to her, the now upsidedown woman bent her legs back, slammed them into the floor, and yanked herself out of the ground. Popping out like a carrot, the grungy and slightly dazed Giren picked herself up and, with a manic grin forming once again, glared across at Midoriya.

Clutching his wounded left arm, which was still hanging limply at his side, the hero and inheritor of One For All frowned as he slowly turned his attention to his lifeless limb. After studying it for a moment and making sense of the damages, Izuku then hammered the edge of his knuckles three times into the elbow joint, probing it for a few seconds before gripping the forearm ligaments and twisting them back and forth with an audible 'crack' of bone and muscle. Running his fingers tentatively down the forearm, he then gripped his wrist and yanked it downwards with a similarly loud 'snap'.

And like that, his previously disabled arm was fixed, putting a smile back on his face.

Stretching his limb out and flexing the fingers, Midoriya then formed them into a fist and channelled the energy of his quirk back into it. "I see your Shandong Praying Mantis Fist is as good as ever, Giren-chan," Izuku remarked, sliding his feet out and taking a new stance as the cloud of dust surrounding them slowly settled. "I still remember all the styles and techniques that you taught me back then."

"And I still remember all the history and literacy lessons you gave me, Izu-kun," Giren responded, brushing the gunk off of her cheek before unbuckling the cape around her neck. Upon letting it fall away, leaving her in only her skimpy black lingerie uniform, the woman smirked while bolts of black lightning began running up and down her toned body. "This is it, isn't it? We finally did it…"

"We sure did," Midoriya began, chains of gold electricity dancing over his muscles as his power level started to rise again. "Just like we promised."

"And now… we're going to end it," Giren continued, flexing her arms and grinning excitedly. "Yes. This is the only way it can end! One final showdown in a city on the brink of destruction, between the greatest hero on Earth, Deku, and the greatest villain in history, Giren, The Human Monster!" Fingers cracking as she flexed them, the woman's leer only seemed to widen even more as she focused all of her excitement and murderous intent on the young man in front of her, whom she could picture as the same little boy she met all those years ago. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right. No more tricks. No more quirk copying. No Shoot Style, All Style, Claw Style, Rush Style, Dance Style, or any other style. I don't want to see how All Might fights… " Swinging her arms around, Giren then dropped into a wide stance with her arms and fingers primed in the Praying Mantis style. "I want to see how Izuku Midoriya fights!"

His eyes firing up as his excitement returned, Izuku slammed his right foot into the ground, clenched his fists, and shouted. "You want it, YOU GOT IT!" His body then let off a shockwave that bore another crater into the ground as an aura of gold lightning sparked off of him, accompanied by a wave of steam. As his energy levels climbed, the storm surrounding him intensified, tearing trenches into the ground and sending debris flying into the air. His muscles throbbing as he cranked up his quirk to maximum, the young man shouted across at his opponent, whom he could see was bracing herself under the gusts of wind he was hitting her with. "I am not holding back anymore! I'm going all out!" Another shockwave was accompanied by a blast of golden fire gushing off of Midoriya's body, which knocked over the building ruins surrounding him and melted the ground, reducing it to a hot, orange sludge that was sent rolling away by his aura. "Let's see if you can take it!"

"Yes! YEEEEEEEEES!" Giren shouted, feeling the young man's energy levels skyrocket as black smoke started emanating from her shoulders. "This is what I've wanted! This is what I've been waiting for! YOU AND I WILL GO OUT TOGETHER!" the woman shrieked, her eyes and smile hyper as her own blue aura exploded from her body and shredded the ground behind her for hundreds of yards in all directions. Just like Izuku's aura, her power smashed through a couple of buildings, toppling them to the ground and reducing them to clouds of dust. "IN A BALL OF MOLTEN ROCK AND DEATH!"

Taking a sprinter's stance, the bravely smiling Izuku took aim at her opponent and, after grinding his feet into the ground, let off another discharge of energy that toppled another building and caused the floor to crumble into dust. "Ready whenever you are!"

Leaning on her back foot, the fighting ready woman laughed, before suddenly charging forward with terrifying force that the sound barrier shattered the ground and parted the clouds above them. The moment she lifted off, Izuku did as well, launching himself at full speed towards the woman advancing on him like some kind of monster from a nightmare. Each footfall they made along the floor punched a ten meter fissure hole into the ground, causing the floor to start collapsing around them and turn to dust.

During their respective charges, as the pair slowly closed the distance on one another, Izuku saw the world slow down around him and found his mind racing years into the past. He remembered back to his time in U.A, his periods spent training and fighting alongside his friends, his years spent in junior and middle school, and his days spent playing hero when he was a child. Growing up in his neighbourhood, watching broadcasts of All Might's heroics on the television and computer, and then re-enacting those fantasies in his free time, both by himself and with the other kids from school…

They were all memories that were still fresh in his mind, ones that he treasured, loathed, yet helped shape him into the hero he was today.

"It almost seems like yesterday… when we were just kids playing heroes and villains together in the park…"

Though for the longest time he remembered always being alone back then, and was beaten up by Bakugo and his mates regularly, there were a few people from his youth he could give all his respect and gratitude towards for helping him get to where he was.

"When I was four years old, I learned early on that not all people are created equal… that some people had more power than others. Growing up, lacking any sort of strength or special abilities… had been a handicap of mine for a big part of my life."

"…"

"But I never let that hold me back. In fact, I used my situation as a key to push me forward. Since I found out I wouldn't be the same like the others, I never thought I would ever be able to make it as anything…"

"However… there was one person that I did meet, back on that day at the playground, who showed me that with the right attitude, even someone without any special qualities could become someone great."

Both hero and villain closing the final paces of distance between one another, leaving a cloud of dust hanging in their wakes, the pair then slammed their feet into the floor and threw themselves forward without resistance or hesitation.

"IZU-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" the female sorceress bellowed as she shot her hand forward in a two-finger thrust, which she aimed right for the fighter's forehead.

"GIREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!" Midoriya bellowed back, his cocked back, right arm sparking with electricity, before the man swung it forward in a twisting, corkscrew right straight, breaking the sound barrier as he aimed it right for his target's face.

A flash of lightning seemingly struck the point of impact between the two fighters, which was then followed by a blinding white blast that engulfed them and lit up the entire region. The whole neighbourhood was swallowed by an explosion so strong that it literally split the floating city in two.

Those heroes who were watching from the sidelines were knocked off their feet, while the battle-hungry and smiling Izuku and Giren were consumed by the fire generated by their colliding blows, and vanished inside the calamity.

"Even though my brain told me I could never amount to anything, thanks to the people who guided me, the friends who supported me, and the courage I gained from my struggles, I kept pushing forward. Through thick and thin, and through trials and hardships, childhood games and fantasies transformed into reality."

"This is the story… of how I became the world's greatest hero!"

TO BE CONTINUED…