So . . . I guess this is the part where I apologize profusely to all the people who have read to this point and then silently cursed me for dropping off of the face of the earth.

I'm sorry. It's been a year and I've finally gathered the determination and time to start this up again. It's been an interesting year with a lot of changes in my life that have required more attention than I knew how to manage. To give you the short of it: I've gone from being a university student that worked as a sample guy at Costco, to still being a university student while starting my own business. It's kind of ironic, all things considered. Thankfully the canon of My Hero Academia is still developing and there isn't much regarding the business course at UA High that could throw a wrench in my current description of it.

That being said: Thank You. Thank you for taking time to read this next installment. Thank you for waiting for me.

All heart filling emotions aside, I do legally have to give the disclaimer that I don't own My Hero Academia or any of it's associated trademarks or characters. There, I did it. On with the show.


"-I am here!" Mirio beamed with his comically masculine features. Truth be told, he looked every bit the hero that was here to save the day; every feature perfectly placed to inspire hope. It was this same upbeat countenance that clashed so heavily with the dreariness of their situation. Ojiro nodded, relaxing only slightly as he tried to keep a level head; internally he was jumping for joy. Momo deflated as she heaved a huge sigh of relief and, after awkwardly realizing that the office lady was still on the line, sheepishly ended her call. Kyoka just stood there, almost glaring at the newly arrived savior, waiting to see if she was hallucinating.

"Are the heroes here as well?" Ojiro asked simply to confirm his suspicions that true rescue had arrived.

"All Might and I were a bit faster than the group, but the rest of the heroes are on their way!" Mirio gave a thumbs up. He took a moment to survey the sparse surroundings of the building and saw Izuku's broken form laid safely in a corner. He took steps towards the green haired youth.

"He's still alive," Momo quickly asserted as she followed Mirio's gaze.

"He looks like he's taken a real beating," Mirio paused, concern flashing across his features as he took note of the cuts and bruises as well as the irate purple swelling of Izuku's arms. He felt saddened inside that he couldn't save the poor boy, if only he could have mastered One for All and gotten there faster. He knelt down next to the unconscious teen and said "Hey, it's going to be OK now. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to get here sooner."

"He needs a doctor. He hurt himself saving us, and if what I've read is true that purple swelling means he's starting to lose circulation to his arms." Momo added, hoping that Mirio could do something to help.

"Hmm . . . Recovery Girl is on her way, we need her to see him ASAP. Do we have any way to move him closer to the entrance?" Mirio asked, looking each person in the eye. Momo fidgeted slightly before submitting her solution.

"There's not much to use around here, but there are some trees nearby; if we can get some straight sticks, I think I have enough energy left to make a stretcher." She volunteered.

"Right ho then. Off I go to get some tree limbs!" Mirio declared as he phased through the floor. Momo, stunned at his sudden exit, blinked a few times before getting to work on extruding the cloth liner to make a stretcher.

"We still need to get Tokoyami-kun." Kyoka submitted straightly.

"His quirk is fully out of control by now. Maybe it's better if we wait for heroes to come and subdue him." Ojiro responed thoughtfully, using tactical reasoning. Kyoka frowned at that response. It made perfect sense, but it also grated on her conscious to just leave the boy out there especially after he had done so much to keep them safe.

"Listen, we're going to be the heroes doing this in a few years; if we aren't going to try doing it now, what does that say about us doing it then?" Kyoka said bluntly, inside she was hoping that she sounded brave enough to convince them. She just felt so helpless, not having been able to save much of anything during this whole disaster; she felt guilty that Momo, Izuku, and now Tokoyami had put their lives on the line while the best she could do was blast a couple of villains out of the way.

Ojiro lifted his hands in a placating motion, saying "Alright then, I'm all for saving Tokoyami as well. What did you have in mind?"

Jiro stopped and bit her pointer finger's knuckle in thought. Perhaps there was some way they could lure the Dark Shadow out of the urban disaster zone . . . but it would be impossible to outrun him with Izuku in a stretcher. Maybe they could just beat him into submission and carry him along too; his physique didn't seem too heavy, but considering the fact that Tokoyami had just fought professional villains and won she wasn't liking the odds of beating him to a pulp before receiving the same treatment. Maybe all those villains he fought tired him out? But does darkness ever really get tired? She removed her knuckle from her teeth and began fidgeting her hands up and down in motions not unlike beating a drum set. She was beginning to realize that Tokoyami wasn't a good match up for her quirk. She grit her teeth. There had to be a way to do this.

"I think that I could probably make a couple more flash bangs," Momo volunteered wearily, now holding the patchwork for an improvised stretcher. Jiro hadn't even noticed her joining the brainstorming session, and cursed internally at the thought of putting more strain on the poor girl. But . . . a flash bang would definitely work wonders on calming Dark Shadow down. After some consideration, Jiro nodded and turned to Ojiro.

"I'll lure him out, then you stun him. Deal?" Jiro proposed. Ojiro nodded as Momo passed him a pair of flash grenades; she looked noticeably thinner and unnaturally pale, as though a stiff breeze would push her over. She had overused her quirk and now her body demanded payment.

Ojiro and Jiro stepped out into the overcast replica of a city. The rain had stopped for the moment, but the wind was still gusty and strong. Their young eyes peered around the alleyways and sidewalks, looking for their out of control ally. Their search was rewarded when they discovered a trail of incapacitated villains, all of them breathing though some more battered than others. Following the trail, they came to a stop in a fenced off alleyway. Curled up in the corner, enshrouded by a birdlike coat of blackness twice the size of a grown man, was Tokoyami. Jiro signaled for Ojiro to hide before entering the dead end. The dark boy's hawk like features scrunched into worried frown as the darkness began to move him like a shadowy hulk towards its next victims.

"Jiro, you need to get out of here! It's not safe for me to be around you!" The umbral mass crouched like a sprinter, a maniacal grin warping it's face above Tokoyami's own. Jiro, seeing what was about to happen turned and ran for the mouth of the alley. Dark shadow launched itself quickly after her, cackling darkly as Tokoyami struggled against it.

"Now would be a good time to jump in and finish it!" Jiro screamed as she rounded the corner.

Dark Shadow dragged a great claw against the building wall to help it hinge and turn after her. It reached for the acoustic girl, grabbing her by the scruff of her Rock and Roll T-shirt and lifting her off the ground as though she was a tiny kitten. She flinched and covered her eyes in what the darkness could only assume was fear. She was really just covering her eyes before the blinding flash of light exploded out from beneath the monster's feet. Ojiro stood at attention, one last stun grenade in hand, poised to be thrown.

Dark Shadow deflated at the eruption of light, his grip on Tokoyami loosening as its great hulking figure leaned out. It screeched in frustration and pain, turning to face Ojiro just in time to catch the next flash to its face. With a final wail Dark Shadow receded into Tokoyami's own, pacified. Tokoyami was lying in in its wake, panting and grunting as he forced himself to his feet. He gave the two rescuers an even stare.

"You should have waited for the staff to come and subdue me. That was far too dangerous," He stated, level headed as always. Beneath his tempered visage his heart swelled with gratitude that his classmates came to save him. He hated losing control of Dark Shadow; it had been terrifying as a child, but even now as a young adult the though of losing himself and hurting those close to him chilled him to the bone.

"Thank Jiro-san, she made a convincing argument to come get you," Ojiro politely replied. He had prided himself on thinking reasonably, but today he had seen the merit of committing one's passion to saving another. He was in silent awe that Jiro had taken the initiative to do what was needed.

After a small trek back to their hiding place, the group was reunited once more. Momo had lost a bit of her pale complexion and Izuku had been moved to the now completed stretcher. Mirio volunteered to carry one end of Izuku's weight, and Ojiro quickly took the other.

For a moment, the end of the awful nightmare was in sight.


That is, until they arrived at the main hub of the USJ.

They were greeted with a battlefield. Numerous bodied lay strewn about, almost entirely mounds of lesser villains that had been subdued in one way or another except for the broken form of Eraser Head, laying face down in a small splatter of his own blood. At the center of the destruction was All Might fighting with a grotesque dark skinned monster with an avian beak, its brain seemingly exposed. All might himself was lightly battered, but still standing, the creature Nomu, however, seemed unhurt.

"Texas SMASH!" All Might bellowed as he dodged under a wide swipe from Nomu and counterattacked.

On either side of the fighting were two groups. On one side was the creepy ring leader, with at least a dozen dismembered hands gripping his body, along with the cloud of darkness that had used his quirk to warp the students to their respective ambushes. Mineta and Denki were on the opposing side, dragging a faint Tsuyu who was clutching her arm. Tsuyu's eyes were clenched closed in pain; her arm had a massive gray wound on it that appeared to be cracked and crumbling like loose concrete. Denki's face was glossed over as he deftly helped drag her towards the doorway: a clear indicator that he had overcharged himself and temporarily fried his brain cells.

Izuku's caravan ducked behind a mound of unconscious vagabonds. The battle ahead stood between them and safety. They HAD to get Izuku to safety somehow. Mirio was about to open his mouth to propose a solution when a grunt of surprise from All Might got their attention. Peering over the pile of bodies, they understood the crisis. All Might had gone for a suplex against the monster Nomu only to have the ground beneath his head open up in a cloud of dark mist. Nomu had countered quickly, and the All American hero was now being held precariously in place halfway through the portal; the circular gate now began to constrict, becoming equivocal to a falling guillotine.

"To lay such a trap! What Villainy!" All Might cursed as the portal became increasingly tighter in clearance. If he didn't think fast he was going to lose a lot of weight!

"I don't usually like the thought of people's bits being lost inside of me, but for you I think it will be an honor." Kurogiri said comfortingly. All Might grit his teeth as his body strained against Nomu's. The portal's edge inched closer and closer to his waist, it was mere millimeters away from breaking skin when a blast of cool air washed across the plaza. Nomu now stood still, unable to move against the ice encasing his body. All Might broke out of Nomu's grip and began squirming his way through the portal. Kurogiri began to close his portal, but just as he was about to bisect the Symbol of Peace himself the blast of an explosion shattered his concentration. When the dark misty villain moved to stand he was immediately kicked back down by the ashen haired Bakugo; the explosive teen's hands crackled and popped threateningly as he held Kurogiri down.

"Don't try any funny business, Darth Fucker," Katsuki threatened, his eyes spelling death to Kurogiri's own. The explosive blonde had seen just about enough of today. First the villains show up to wreck HIS training, now they tried to kill HIS idol? Not today, bitches!

Tomura took a step back. His escape route had just been routed, and now he was desperate.

"Nomu, get back our gate!" Tomura screamed and Nomu was surprisingly quick to get the message. He launched his hulking form at Katsuki, barreling the boy off of the dark gate user. The monstrosity raised his fists to crush the stunned teen, and hurled them down, only for them to meet resistance at the crossed fists of All Might once more. Nomu screeched in it's disembodied voice as it began to swing and strike his arms haphazardly against the bulwark that was All Might. The tables had turned only to be flipped once more.

"How long do you think you can protect that kid for? Huh! All Mi-" Tomura was cut off

"Ocean Freighter SMASH!"

Almost in an instant, Mirio had appeared right at Tomura's instep, his chiseled body uncoiling like a spring as he uppercut Tomura with almost the same force as the ship he had called out. The wiry man flew as though shot by a cannon, straight for the ceiling of the USJ. It looked as though he was going to become a splat on the giant rafters until a black cloud whisked him away from his gruesome demise. Kurogiri now stood around 100 meters, looking as menacingly he could with his leader draped over his shoulder. Tomura clenched his jaw, screaming like a 5 year old having a root canal drilled at the dentist.

"Sorry I'm late once again!" Mirio apologized to the group, still giving a cartoonish smile.

"AAAAaaGH! YOU LiTtLe . . . AAAAAAAH! YOU BROKE MY JAW-AAAAAH!" Kurogiri had now let the pouting Tomura down on to the ground, the man child laying there and smacking his legs into the ground in pain. "Kuh- Agh! KILL HIM, NOMU! KILL THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!"

Nomu screeched and raised his fists once again, preparing to break All Might's guard, only for the almighty Symbol of Peace to punch back while the monster's guard was open. All Might placed another punch at its solar plexus.

"Kuh, if my one hundred percent can't damage you, I guess I'll have to give you A THOUSAND PERCENT!" All Might declared as his fists became a blur. Soon enough, each punch was impossible to distinguish from each other! Then tiny sonic booms began to concuss as the air was rent with the force of his fists!

"PLUUUUUUSS ULTRAAAAAAAAAAAA!" And with a final uppercut, the indomitable Nomu was sent flying through the great domed roof of the USJ. All Might panted heavily, wiping blood from his lips as his signature smile met Tomura's pouting frown. The blue haired psychopath clutched his jaw, barely remembering to keep a single finger off his face, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes as he ranted.

"They said he was weakening! Lies! He cheated! ALL LIES! DOES THIS LOOK WEAK TO YOU, KUROGIRI?" Tomura screamed through clenched teeth. Kurogiri biologically couldn't look sheepish, but his writhing fog did deflate slightly to his credit.

"He looks like he's tiring, maybe we can finish him off?" Kurogiri proposed.

"I can't fight like THIS! We're DONE! We're LEAVING!" Tomura shrieked in pain. Kurogiri took a moment, shrugged, and then opened a portal for the two to escape.

"You're not going anywhere!" Bakugo charged after them, letting loose a brutal explosion at the receding mist of their escape. Katsuki cussed, per usual.

Seconds later the rest of the pro heroes arrived.


Izuku woke up in bandages. He looked around to see the familiar nurse's office of U.A. High, the same place he was treated back . . . back when he failed his hero course exam. Here he was again, a quirkless loser who had been nothing but a burden. Wait! What happened at the USJ? Did his classmates make it out alright? He tried to sit up only to find that his arms had been plaster cast in front of him. They ached. He ached. His whole body ached. He laid back in exasperation. Didn't Recovery Girl heal him the last time he ended up here? Did that mean that he had broken his arms so irreparably that she couldn't heal him?

Izuku didn't know how long he lay there, stewing in his own thoughts and theories. For all knew, he could have been one of the lucky ones that survived that villain attack. That thought scared him the most; that he may have lived when actual heroes to be had died. He could't put a value or a price to the fear he felt at those thoughts.

"You sure mumble fast, Midoriya," the frank voice of Asui Tsuyu broke the clouds of his pondering. Izuku could barely make out her form through the curtain that separated their medical beds. She laid on her side, her right arm in a soft cast and draped across the bed. She pulled the curtain back.

"S-sorry! I didn't think that there would be other people in here!" It was difficult to move his arms, but he bowed his head slightly in apology.

"It's OK. They were wondering if you were going to wake up. I was starting to get bored being all alone in here." She replied with her usual composure.

"W-what happened?"

"Well, they said that you shattered pretty much every bone up to your elbows,"

"No, I didn't mean that! What happened at the USJ?"

"Well, I don't know everyone's story, but it's pretty clear we all got teleported to different simulations. I ended up with Mineta and Kaminari at the flood zone. It was kind of funny actually. I don't think the villains took our quirks into account because we just kind of kicked Kaminari into the water and after he zapped all the water bound villains we ran for the center plaza. They beat up Eraser Head really badly, I think he's in the faculty hospital a floor above us. Anyway, we almost got caught by the lead villain guy and he almost dissolved my arm. That's why I'm here anyway." She held up her cast. Izuku winced.

"A-are you going to be ok?"

" . . . That's really something coming from the guy with jello for bones right now." Tsuyu gave him an even stare, her features not betraying how incredulous she was at his question. She hefted her cast. "I'll be all right, Recovery Girl says it will probably need surgery if it doesn't heal back in the next few days. 'Kind of hard to regrow something that isn't there' and all that. Anyway, let's see . . . they dragged me back after that, so I don't know a whole lot about the rest of the story. Apparently All Might and this third year named Mirio showed up and kicked some villain butt. They almost lost though. The school is gonna do a press conference or something to give details tonight."

Izuku bit his lips in thought. Villain attacks were virtually non existent at U.A. and it was chilling to think that the attack was almost successful. If the public was going to be informed then there would be backlash against the school and its staff. Izuku hated himself for thinking it, but he smelled a profit brewing, and his gut was telling him to go get a piece.

"You sure you don't want to know what the doctors said about your arms?" Tsuyu asked, eyeing his casts and almost flinching. Izuku was broke from his thoughts once again.

"Oh. No, I think I'll wait for Recovery Girl to give me a diagnosis. I don't want to think about it more than I have to, you know?" Izuku smiled weakly, trying to keep a positive outlook. He dared not think about what sort of medical issues or handicaps his arms may pose down the road. At least, not yet.

The two passed the time with idle chatter for at least another hour before recovery girl finally stepped into her office. She had just been upstairs patching and bandaging Professor Aizawa; the man had taken a healing kiss, but was still very much out of commission and would be for some time. She took her time up there, dreading coming down to talk to the green haired boy. She gave him a small hello and then walked over to Tsuyu. After checking a few vitals and peeling back her cast she tutted affirmatively.

"It looks like disintegration didn't make it to the bone. I don't think you'll need surgery. You are a very lucky young lady. Get plenty of rest, eat well, drink lots of fluids and then come see me in a couple of days. You may go." Tsuyu smiled slightly at her release, but gave a straight faced good bye to Izuku as she left the office.

Recovery Girl wearily pulled a seat up to Izuku's cot and began busying her fingers changing different minor bandages.

"You, on the other hand, are lucky to be alive right now," She finally spoke. She didn't know the details of how the boy was injured, but the students the boy had saved felt that it had something to do with that support item that he had discharged. She had passed the electronic hammer and the boy's shoes on to Power Loader to confirm the theory. There was a pause for a small while until Izuku finally broke the silence.

"Um, how bad is it?"

" . . . Your arms were bleeding internally when they brought me to you, you almost lost circulation; which could have either killed you, or ruined the tissues in your arms. I'll spare you the details but your bones up to just before your elbows were in very small pieces, not to mention some crack ribs, a partial concussion, and a near overdose on pain medication." Izuku flinched with every diagnosis "I've done what I can with my quirk, but your body needs to replenish itself before I can heal you any more. I'd say that I need to keep you in those casts for at least a week or two until I can heal you the rest of the way."

Izuku wasn't sure he was hearing her correctly. He had just turned his bones to dust, and she said he would be back to normal in a week or two?

"Wait, won't there be any permanent damage? Those injuries sound pretty serious." He asked, incredulous and wide eyed.

"Your body is still young and full of life, young Izuku. My quirk works well with that. But don't think that you can just go out and break every bone in your body, deary. If you come to me for help too often, your cells will start to fatigue and more permanent damage will stick around." She offered him a loli pop, but he couldn't take it with his arms the way they were. She unwrapped it and popped it into his still open mouth.

"Oh, and I almost forgot, your mother is here; she was here earlier, but she wanted to speak with 'management' while you were still sleeping. Not that I blame her, if my kids were hurt at a school function I would probably put someone in the hospital and then nurse them back to health." Recovery girl chuckled at her own joke as Izuku blanched. He knew that his Mom would punch out All Might if it meant keeping him safe, but that still didn't make him feel great about her coming to school to possibly do just that. Knowing her, she probably had called a week off from work to nurse him back to health.

After Recovery Girl finished changing his bandages, Izuku asked if she could get him his phone. She obliged him and then retreated to a desk near the door of the medical wing. After some awkward maneuvering, the green haired businessman discovered that he could use his nose to navigate his touch screen. He had several missed calls from his mother, and Kakusa. Then there were texts from a bunch of his 1-A classmates including Katsuki (who called him a little shit, and threatened to kill him if he did anything stupid like that again), as well as from Hatsume Mei (who had simply repeated 'sorry' with a crying emoji), and oddly enough he had a text message from his classmate Dick (who said 'sucks to be you, hope you get well soon.')

He was in the process of scrunching his face in confusion while reading the last text when the doors to the infirmary were opened forcefully. Izuku jumped, expecting to see his irate mother charging to his side, but was surprised to be met with the excavator styled mask of Power Loader. The Excavation Hero hefted the familiar Doomsday Hammer with one hand and all but shoved it in young Midoriya's face.

"You recognize this?" the pro hero's gruff tenor resonated out of his mask.

Izuku gulped, and nodded. Judging by the support course professor's hunched shoulders and wrathful visage, Izuku knew he was in trouble.

"THIS," he somehow managed to only lightly jab Izuku's forehead with the dangerous contraption, "IS." He prodded the poor boy again "ILLEGAL. TO USE. WITHOUT. A LICENSE! Heck, even with a license I wouldn't have trusted a device like this right out of the gate without testing it!"

At this point Recovery Girl had recovered from the shock of the dirty hero charging through her office.

"That's no way to speak to a patient, Majima!" She shuffled over. Power Loader didn't even stop to acknowledge her as he continued to grill Izuku.

"Hatsume made this didn't she, Midoriya?" he continued.

Izuku shrank in the man's gaze, but nodded meekly.

"Figures," Power Loader drew back, still angry but quieting slightly, putting his hands on his hips and still ignoring Recovery Girl as she practically screamed for his attention. "I'm going to ban her from the development studio if she's going to try and build gadgets this dangerous."

"N-no! Sir, it was my fault for using the Doomsday Hammer without proper supervision. She just wanted me to test it in a safe environment; if she had known about the villains, she would have never-" Izuku sprung up to defend his partner, only to be cut off.

"Don't try to defend her. She's going to get someone seriously injured if she doesn't learn from this." Power Loader fired off, adding "You're lucky to even have arms after today. No. No. She'll be lucky to use the facilities by the end of the school term."

"All term? Sir, I don't think she could survive . . . " Izuku mumbled, racking his brain to find a reason to keep his project partner out of trouble. Wait.

"Wait! We have a project together, Sir. She will need to be able to help me finish-"

"I can put you with another group," Power Loader hand waved.

"But sir! The deadline is in a few days; I don't think I could contribute enough for credit with anyone else. A-and we've almost already finished the project, Mei and I. A-and-"

" . . . " Power Loader studied Izuku's face as the poor boy practically started begging on behalf of the pink haired support specialist. He was pretty sure Midoriya could have gotten on his knees in dogeza, he would have.

The tip of a cane sharply dug into his ribs!

"WHAT PART OF VISITING HOURS ARE OVER DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND, YOU METALHEAD?" Recovery Girl twisted her cane violently as he put up his hands in defeat, and then began shoo-ing the excavation hero out of the infirmary.

"I'll think about it!" Power Loader called to Izuku as the door was forced shut. Izuku was again left in peace and quiet as he waited for his mom. Again, using his nose he navigated himself back to the texting app on his phone. It took some time, but he finally managed to get a text sent to Kakusa: "Short sell - all UA faculty, expect 5-10%."

He felt like dirt as he nudged the send button.


I honestly don't know how I feel about the resolution of this arc for Izuku. I don't know if I made it climactic enough for your tastes. He is, for all intents and purposes, quirkless, so without extreme training and tools he would be hard pressed to hold up against pretty much any villain. So I guess it was realistic in that he was lucky to survive in the first place. I'm debating whether I should include him in the sports festival, just because I don't want this story to be a rebrand of the canon, but I also intend for Izuku to become a hero in some way or another. Let's be honest, who would want to be just an ordinary business major when you can be Batman?

Also, the doomsday hammer is kind of a fun little idea that I had, based off of some of Nikolai Tesla's doomsday device theories, but I don't know if it will make a debut for a while; mostly because I, were I Power Loader, wouldn't let a student without an iron constitution within 20 feet of Hatsume Mei's gadgetry, let alone use one. Izuku will probably work with her in the future anyway, because mad science is cool.

As always let me know if you catch any typos or have any comments or concerns. I am still very much a review whore; honestly, who doesn't like feedback on their work?