Hey everyone! I feel like I should start this off with a not-so-short announcement. I just want you all to know that if you don't like this story for personal reasons (ie. you don't like the choices I made deciding where the story is going), that I'm not forcing you to read this. If you decide that you don't like this story, it's really easy to exit out of it. That being said, I do enjoy constructive criticism. My suggestion to you, and this goes for any story on FanFiction, is this: if you don't like the way a story is going, write it yourself. I don't mean this in the mean way; I mean it quite literally. That's the whole darn point of this website. It's to explore ideas and worlds that were given to us by others. And let me tell you, I ain't here to write a masterpiece. So, if you don't like what I'm doing, you write what you want! I really can't be here writing what everyone wants, because you're all different people. Don't expect me to start over or do something completely different for no other reason than "I don't like it." By leaving non-constructive reviews on my story, it is a waste of both of our times. One: I don't want to be mean, but I don't really care if you don't like the story. I already know that this story isn't for everyone. Two: why leave a review like that when you can be writing something else? You could be writing your own fantastical stories instead of wasting time on one that you don't like. This website has the potential to be a thriving source of inspiration and imagination. Don't ruin it with your boring-ass reviews.

And really, most of you have had nothing but awesome ideas and thoughts in the reviews. I really enjoy reading them! This is just a heads up for any and every story that you ever read on this website. I'm confident in saying that a lot of authors probably feel the same way that I do. Just remember this: if you don't like it, exit out of the story, then write it yourself. Easy! This whole website would be better for it.

Aaaaaaaaaand after all that, let's get back to the story. This is the last chapter before the story finally splits from the timeline. I'm so excited to get the next chapter out!

Soon enough, it was back to the daily grind at UA. Although it was still taxing, Midoriya had to admit that it was refreshing to be out of the dank alleys, and back in a brightly lit classroom. His classmates were chatting about their internships. He had to admit, the hair that Bakugo was now sporting did earn a chuckle out of him. It was even better that Sero and Kirishima were bothering him about it. It was fun to see him interact with those in this class. No longer was he the guy on top, like he'd been his whole life. It was frustrating for him, but it also enabled him to grow.

Then, it was back to practical lessons. With this, he could start to really improve his Quirk. If he stayed at 5%, then he could still easily have one of the better Quirks of the bunch. Still, he would need to improve his skill.

That was proven when he slipped on a small pipe, then plummeted towards the ground. He ended up coming in last for that one, but at the very least, he was still making progress. That, and his classmates were certainly impressed with his new moves.

When he looked up again, he could see All Might in front of him. Everyone else had left, so it was just those two. "You surprised me. That was incredible. Find me after class, we need to talk," he told him with a subtle thumbs up. Even then, he sounded serious. "The time has come for me to tell you the whole truth. About me, and One for All."

And that was how Midoriya found himself in the lounge with All Might. He didn't get away from his classmates very easy, not after they saw the scars that littered his body in the changing room. He'd been good at changing subtly, but he was distracted after what All Might told him. Iida and Todoroki had stayed silent, which he was grateful for. He played it off by saying that it was a few accidents that he'd been in, which most of them accepted without question. Still, he could feel Bakugo's eyes on him. He wondered what he could have been thinking.

"You've been through a lot recently. I'm sorry I wasn't around to help you. Especially after…"

Midoriya didn't want him to even try to finish that. "No, it's not your fault. However…you mentioned One for All earlier…"

"I heard that the hero killer swallowed your blood in the attack. Do you remember what I said to you the day I gave you One for All?"

"Eat this," he said in the most All Might voice he could muster. Considering that he'd been practicing it for years, he had it down pretty good.

"No, not that! I said the key was in my DNA. That's why you had to swallow the hair," All Might continued. So, now he understood what he was getting at.

"So you're concerned I might think that I accidentally passed One for All on to Stain."

"Yes, exactly."

"Well, I figured that it wasn't the case when some drunk soldier took a bite out of my arm about a year ago."

All Might continued to explain how the Quirk worked. He said that the key to passing the Quirk on was in the DNA of the holder, but it could only be passed down if the holder willed it. Then, he explained the origin on One for All, and how it came to be from another Quirk. All Might explained All for One, a man who could steal Quirks from others. He was talking about when Quirks were first starting to show up; he talked about how society decayed and stalled.

What All Might was staying struck Midoriya as something familiar. He knew about the time period in which Quirks manifested, he'd been forced to learn about it in middle school. However, it reminded him so much of the Mojave. The fear, the uncertainty. The lack of progress. For God's sakes, slave trading had become normal, just as much as crucifixion. This world may have looked different, but at its core, it was the same as the wasteland.

Then All Might continued to explain All for One and his younger brother, and the forced merging of two Quirks.

Well, that was a lot to take in all at once. Midoriya never expected the Quirk to have so much backstory to it.

"But he's got to be dead, right?" he asked.

"He has a Quirk that can take other's powers. Somewhere along the line, he picked up a Quirk that could stop the aging process. The fact of the matter is, when it got down to my turn, I thought I had finally defeated him. But I was wrong. He's recently shown up again as the mastermind behind the league of villains. Now, someday you'll have to fight him. I'm sorry-"

"I can do it," Midoriya interrupted. "There's nothing more that I could have hoped for…a purpose. A reason to go out into those streets to fight for what's right. All Might, these past two years have been rough, I won't lie. I didn't ask for any of it. But I did my best, and I helped win a war against an even greater evil than you can imagine. So I will face this man with everything I have, because that evil doesn't deserve to be on these streets. As long as you have my back, then I can do anything."

There was a silence that hung over them. That look on All Might's face…he knew it well. All Might didn't expect to be there for very long. But, still, he smiled. "Thank you," he answered.

Midoriya knew that he was keeping that from him, but that wasn't his baggage to unpack. If he didn't want to talk about it, then so be it. All Might saw him out the door.

He sighed. At each and every moment, it seemed as though things just kept getting more and more complicated.


Next in Midoriya's life came the finals. Afterwards, there was a promised summer camp for those who passed. Although it didn't seem like it would be very productive, he was kind of excited for it.

The written portion of the exam wasn't anything for Midoriya to worry about. Even after being out of practice for a while, it was easy for him to slip back into his role as a student.

The practical, however…

He and Bakugo shared surprised looks. Midoriya's eyes scanned between him and All Might…who they were apparently fighting.

Maybe it would have been easier if Midoriya was the meek kid he was two years ago. Bakugo had a more dominant personality.

Now, he had little patience to deal with Bakugo.

Even as their exam began, Bakugo was already testing him. He silently trudged forward.

"Kacchan, we need to talk about this exam," he said as he walked closer. He didn't really want to work with Bakugo, but he had no choice. "We probably can't take on All Might. Our best option is to run away."

"Stop following me," Bakugo said, frustration evident in his tone.

Izuku ignored it. "Seriously, this isn't something that we can do"

"I'm not going to run away from this fight. It'll look better if we blast that smile off his face."

They're bickering continued until eventually Bakugo swung his arm at him. Caught off guard, the gauntlet collided with his chest.

"I don't want to hear another word. Just because you're getting stronger doesn't mean to get to tell me what to do."

"Grow the fuck up!" Midoriya shouted suddenly. "This isn't some game, this isn't a test of power, this is a mock up of a real life situation. And if you can't take it seriously, or even bother to listen to another, then you have no chance of ever becoming a hero!"

Now, that struck a chord within Bakugo. Izuku wouldn't be surprised if a blood vessel popped. "The hell did you just say to me?" Bakugo said before coming towards him.

"If you want to play at this, then I'll go to the gate myself. Then, since we didn't work together at all, like the teachers said this test was going to be about, we'll both fail. I swear to God I'll do it."

Bakugo grabbed him by the collar. He was so angry, he was shaking. "Do whatever you want. Just know, that if you want to spend your time ignoring or hurting me, then you're no better than a villain," Midoriya finished. He held eye contact with Bakugo.

There was pure anger in his eyes. Then, he dropped him. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a sudden gust of wind. Or, more like a hurricane. Concrete was torn up in its wake. Both Midoriya and Bakugo were thrown backwards.

Finally, All Might had shown up.

"Let's go, Bakugo," he tried to coerce the kid into following him, but it didn't seem to work.

All Might came forward, but Bakugo held his ground. What ensued was a small fight, which was over fairly quickly. Next, All Might was upon him. He jumped out of the way, but knocked right into Bakugo. The both of them fell, but it was a quick recovery.

But he had little time for a breather. There was suddenly a huge weight on his back. All Might had pinned him to the ground with some of the scrap metal laying around. For Bakugo, the hero delivered a punch straight to his gut. Bakugo flew backwards, which caused him to throw up.

Now that was a hard blow.

All Might had started talking, but Midoriya could barely hear. He only caught the tail end of what Bakugo said.

"If I need the help of a weakling like him, then I'd rather lose."

And that was not going to do. Being in the wasteland, a courier had to rely on the support of others. If not companions, he needed caravans and settlements to be on his side. There was no way to survive in a place like that without leaning on somebody. The audacity Bakugo had to feel that he should be able to survive on his own…it struck a chord within him. Without him realizing it, he'd activated his Quirk. He flew across the road, only to deliver a punch to Bakugo's face. God it felt good. "Don't you dare say that you asshole! We can win this!"

Afterwards, Bakugo rolled to the ground. Midoriya picked him up before heading back into an alley.

Obviously, Bakugo didn't like that. He punched him in a forced effort to get down.

"Honestly, I don't know a single way to win this match. But we can at least try using my power. You're a jackass for wanting to quit before even trying."

"I don't know what happened to you…how you got stronger, or why you're lying to everyone, or why you suddenly think that you can talk back, but it doesn't mean you can just start giving me orders."

"Lying…?"

"Those…those scars you have. And the haircut. Everything about you changed after that attack. I don't know why you're lying to everyone. I know damn well you never had those before."

"Is that what this is about? I promise I've never lied, but the truth is even harder to believe."

Bakugo growled. "Don't toy with me!"

Midoriya sighed. "Fine. But if you don't believe me, that's your problem. The place I was warped to was a different world, and I was there for two years. It wasn't nice. I got shot, I've been lobotomized, I've had bombs strapped around my neck, and many other things. But that's not what matters right now-"

"What the hell does any of that mean? You got shot? Why would anybody waste their time," Bakugo spat on the ground. There was a little bit of blood mixed in with the saliva.

"Because I was carrying a chip that could militarize the entirety of Las Vegas. It's really not a big deal. The guy who asked me to bring it is dead and the man who shot me is dead. Really, two years is a long time, and I don't have the time to tell you everything. Especially not here."

Bakugo growled. "Fine. Listen to me, because I'm not going to fucking repeat myself. All Might is fast, even if we tried to run he'd stop us. The only way to stop him is a full blown attack. So here's the plan…"

It wasn't a bad one.

As All Might ran by, Bakugo intervened. He flew out behind and fired some blasts at him. Then, while All Might was distracted, Midoriya came in from behind. He had one of Bakugo's gauntlets, which he fired at All Might at point blank. The kickback was bad, but he got over it. While All Might was down, even for that moment, the both of them took off.

But it wasn't quite enough. Just as they neared the gate, All Might was upon them once again. First order of business, he destroyed the gauntlets. Then, he punched Bakugo into a nearby building. Just as he came back, All Might grabbed Midoriya by the arm before using him a weapon. He swung him round before hitting Bakugo with his body.

He hadn't felt that much pain in a long time.

His body went limp. With his brain all jumbled, he could hardly differentiate between reality and his intrusive memories. All Might tossed him, but kept his foot on top of Bakugo.

Deep breaths, Midoriya told himself. His mind had drifted to his journey on Black Mountain. It was the first time he'd seen a nightkin, and it certainly wasn't his last. Because of their camouflage abilities, he wasn't able to see the first one sneak up on him. Before he could do anything, it had grabbed him and threw him to one of its companions. It had its super sledge in hand, ready to hit him like a baseball. And then he did, which caused his ribs to break in numerous spots. He had Arcade to thank again for that miraculous recovery.

Deep breaths, he told himself as he got up. Hopefully nobody would notice. What good was a hero with PTSD? He forced himself though it, no matter how hard.

Then, a huge explosion came from Bakugo. All Might was forced off of him.

Bakugo grabbed him by the collar again. "Get ready to fly. I don't like the idea of running, but with the crapfest we're in right now, this is the only way to pass the practical. Now die!" he shouted, just before throwing Midoriya towards the gate.

It was possible for him to make it if All Might was still in the air. But, he was wrong. As All Might collided against him, his back contorted. If it weren't metal, he wondered if it would have broken. Instead of the gate, he collided with a bus.

The memories kept flowing in with no way to stop. Deep breath deep breath deep breath deep breath.

He tried to focus on anything besides the thoughts going through his mind. He watched as Bakugo made a huge explosion, one that seemed to be just within his limit. "Deku go! Hurry up!"

Even then, he was still able to keep fighting. "Make yourself useful!"

He had to get beyond the memories.

Then, when All Might forced him to the ground, he was able to focus. He propelled himself forward, into All Might. He probably could have made it to the gate, but it wasn't the gate that got him to focus. He snatched Bakugo, then ran through the gate.

And just like that, they won.