ATTENTION: ENDING OF PREVIOUS CHAPTER HAS BEEN CHANGED. EXISTING READERS PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING.


Izuku planted his foot, halting his charge while the Noumu continued. As a result, its punch went wide and Izuku took the opening with his own swing. It felt like he hit rubber as the Noumu's skin rippled around his fist.

It took him a split second to realise the creature was unaffected before he hopped away from another punch. A hand shot forward, grabbing for his face. He ducked it, feeling its fingers brush through his hair.

Again, Izuku swung for the opening, shaking the creature's body.

Still nothing?!

He was dangerously close to the Noumu, his vision filled with its chest. So far, Izuku's size had been giving him an advantage, letting him duck punches and forcing the Noumu to attack at a lower angle. Now, however, he couldn't see the beast's limbs.

Something slammed into his side.

His vision fuzzed as the air was pushed from his lungs. Something snapped inside him and his teeth clacked together to bite down the pain.

A massive fist struck his stomach and Izuku couldn't stop the acid from rising up and out his mouth. When he hit the floor, the taste of blood filled his mouth.

Come on, kid. Just a little more. He's almost here.

He was being filled with a strength he knew he didn't have. His mind wanted more than his body could handle. Yet he still stood on shaking legs, his vision wobbling from side to side. The same eyes from earlier were staring down at him from atop the Noumu's shoulders.

Something about them filled his body with strange sensations. A weight was put on his shoulders; his blood boiled; his very being was torn apart and put together only to be torn again. The current stopped and started, sparking and flaring, reaching for something that glowed in his chest. It reached out, a single arm extending from a spiraling galaxy.

And they touched.

Izuku barely noticed the explosions in the distance as everything he was finally felt right.

The sparks around his body faded and, for one second, the world was in laser focus.

There we go, kid.

He shot for the Noumu and swung.

The normal eye would have missed it in a blink. The aftermath, however, was felt throughout the whole USJ.

The wind bowed to his strike, folding and whipping, pushing away any who were too close. Villains went flying, the ground shook, and the beast was pushed back, its feet carving trenches into the ground, smoke rising from its side.

Izuku's arm was extended, his right sleeve and glove gone as if they evaporated. His skin was red, odd bumps lining his forearm.

He let out a breath and collapsed, just as a loud bang came from the entrance.


Two minutes earlier:

What the hell is he doing?!

Was Katsuki's first thought after the shock faded. Deku had just charged the massive freak like a damn idiot! Even he wouldn't mess with that thing after the speed it showed.

Deku had always been equal to him in smarts, so why was he charging in like an idiot?!

Katsuki sent pulses down his arms, trying for even the slightest pop.

Come on!

He rubbed his hand furiously against his pant leg, trying to dry his hands just a little bit.

Come the fuck on!

He sent more pulses, harder than the others, his arms tensing. Again and again he tried as Deku dodged the freak's attacks.

"Bakugo, what are yo - "

"Shut up!" he interrupted the frog girl.

Another pulse and he felt something pulse in his hand. He smirked and pushed again. Another pop.

There we go!

Soon his hands were sending off miniature explosions. Each pulse got easier and he felt his sweat beginning to build. Deku was knocked back just as Katsuki shot forward with a quick burst from his hands.

He wouldn't be like that idiot though. No, he'd go for what really mattered: that purple bastard. The hands guy would probably try to stop him, but Katsuki was confident his quirk could hold him off. All he needed was one shot at the bit of silver he saw before he was teleported.

If he got that, those fuckers would have nowhere to go when the heroes showed up.

As he guessed, the hands guy took notice first. "Ah, what's this? A little - "

"Die!" Katsuki threw an explosion at him, blasting the guy back. It changed his course, but he went with the momentum, using his other hand to launch him higher before he continued. From his position he could see the purple bastard's metal plate.

His instincts flared at the feeling of killing intent to his left. He threw an explosion, forcing the hands guy to retreat. Only when he looked back at the mist villain did Katsuki notice he threw himself off course.

"Shit!"

He landed and was set upon by the hands villain. The guy was fast, but Katsuki's quirk blew any advantage of close quarters away. At least he thought it did.

The guy moved without any rhythm. It took Katsuki all he had to keep the guy away.

"I like that look in your eyes," he said as he weaved around another explosion. "It looks like you really wanna kill me! It's great!"

"Shut up!" Katsuki made a small explosion in front of the guy's face and used it to launch himself upwards. His other hand reached out for an explosion when a hand shot through the black smoke, grabbing his grenade gauntlet.

Katsuki's eyes widened as it started to crumble. He sent a large pulse down his arm and blew the guy to hell, sending Katsuki flying. He was about to correct himself in the air when he was buffeted by the wind which sent him crashing to the floor.

He quickly recovered and looked around. He doubted the hands guy would be done just yet. Instead of the villain, though, he saw Deku standing still with his arm out. There was a beat of silence and he went limp, falling to his side.

Something rushed through Katsuki and was quickly stomped out by rage.

That fucking idiot!

"Just who is that kid?"

The voice came from behind him and Katsuki twirled, lashing out with a wide blast.

"You're all so interesting! Much more than what my master said you'd be!"

Katsuki snarled and readied another blast before a loud bang drew their attention to the entrance.

There was a cloud of dust there, but something inside Katsuki knew who was hidden within it.

Step by thunderous step his figure cut through the dust, his shadow forming the imposing presence of the number one hero.

"It's fine now."

Katsuki had never heard his voice so tense, or booming.

"Because I am here!"


All Might snarled as he rushed to the USJ, rage and guilt swirling inside. Rage at the bastards who dared attack his pupils, and guilt for not being with them from the start. He could only hope they handled themselves well, waiting for him to arrive.

He burst through the doors like they were paper, steam leaking from his arms.

He would make them feel the fear they put into his students. He would make them cower before justice. Because, for the third time in his life, he was pissed off.

He took note of Ashido's crying face, of Thirteen's torn costume, of the looks of relief on the student's faces.

"It's fine now."

From the top of the stairs he could get a good look at the villains below. He grabbed his tie and ripped it off.

"Because I am here!"

Whatever words he wanted to say next caught in his throat as he laid eyes upon the plaza. And the green haired boy lying in a pool of blood in the centre of it.

There was no shock. No fear. No worry. Just pure, unadulterated rage.

He moved and took out the closest ten villains before they even knew what was coming. Then he battered away the rest who were standing over Aizawa's body.

"S-sorry…" the man mumbled, his eyes hazy.

There was a roar, and the beast stood over his son, ready for a final blow.

He yelled himself, and blocked the punch. He leaned close to the villain. "You don't get to touch him. Not my son."

He threw a straight at its face with his other arm, the thing not even flinching as its head turned.

You want more then? Good.

He cranked his internal dial up and punched again. It stumbled back a few steps, but was otherwise unaffected.

A sick laugh came from behind the beast. There, a mist-like villain was hovering near a blue haired villain, a young Bakugo a safe distance away. "You're finally here! I hope you don't mind what we did to the place. After all, we only came here for you.

"You see, that Noumu you're fighting there was made just to kill you!"

Made?

"It has a shock absorption quirk that can take you at one hundred percent, with a strength that can match yours!"

All Might almost laughed. The kid may have been in charge, but All Might could tell he was inexperienced. He would make this quick.

"Take me on at one hundred percent you say?" He planted his feet. "That just means I won't have to hold anything back!"

His hips rotated with his shoulders as he threw his punch. "TEXAS SMASH!"

The Noumu caught his punch, but he kept smiling. "Your fast. That's good. It means I can spend longer beating you!"

To be honest, he hadn't felt so powerful in years. He knew it wasn't because of the slowly dying rage, but something deeper. One For All finally felt like it was his again.

What followed was a flurry of punches that blurred to the common eye. Surprisingly, the Noumu matched him punch for punch, and he could feel his wound twinging with each hit. Still, he pushed on, electrified by the feeling of One For All at full power since the last time five years ago.

"You might have been made to beat me at one hundred percent!"

He grabbed the Noumu's shoulders and pushed it backwards, carving jagged lines into the ground.

"But that just means I'll have to go beyond that!"

They traded another flurry of punches and blew each other back on the final blow. The thing was struggling to stand, and All Might could feel his internal damage catching up to him. Looking within himself, he found that chain of stars that linked them all together.

"Tell me, villain, have you ever heard this phrase?"

Their power coursed through him as he engaged the Noumu again. This time, it could barely keep up, taking more hits than it could throw.

A jab sent its head reeling and All Might cocked back his right fist. "It means to go beyond!"

He sent it flying, burying it into the Noumu's stomach.

"PLUS ULTRAAAAAAAAAAA!"

It bent around his fist, resisting as much as it could before it snapped back, launching like a rubber band into the roof, bursting through the metal and into the sky, blasting a hole into a cloud as it went.

Steam rose from his body as he lowered his fist. Despite the roaring protest from his muscles, he stood as tall as he could, and faced the villains. "Is that all?"

The blue haired villain started scratching his neck. "No. No, no, no, no. No! It wasn't supposed to be like this! He said it would work! He said you would die!" Blood trickled from his scratches.

"Shigaraki-sama, it is not a complete loss. His students have still suffered. And he can still watch as we kill another."

His gaze was drawn to Bakugo, who raised his arms. Shigaraki smirked and stuck his hand in the mist, a portal opening behind Bakugo's head.

All Might tried to move, but he was locked in place, steam pouring out of his decaying body.

A wall of ice shot forward at the villains, forcing Shigaraki to withdraw his hand. "Tch. Another one? Why can't - "

A gunshot whipped through the air and blasted through his calf. Shigaraki was peppered with two more bullets to his shoulders before he was encased by the mist villain. His last manic shouts came from the miasma.

"It isn't over, All Might! I'll kill you and your little brats! They'll crumble to dust beneath my hands!"

The villain then went into himself and vanished, an annoyed Bakugo landing where they were. "Damnit!"

Todoroki looked on from the side until Cementos came and moved them along, setting up a wall just in time for Yagi Toshinori to return in all his skeletal glory.

"Young Midoriya," he said. "Is he okay?"

It was hard to read a face like Cementos'. The silence spoke for itself. "He's alive, but… he's pretty banged up. He's already been taken to the ambulance and is off to the nearest hospital. Same with Thirteen-kun and Aizawa-san."

"And the others?"

"A few scrapes here and there, but otherwise fine."

Thank god for small mercies.


There were a lot of things Toshinori hated about hospitals. The first thing in his younger days were the heart monitors, their apathetic beeps the tenuous line between life and death. Years later it was the white everything, offset by sickly greens and pale blues. After that it was the glances. Nurses and doctors were sympathetic, other patients looked at each other with the same grimacing faces. The most recent one was the smell of sanitised decay that hung to every object.

Now, however, he hated another thing about hospitals: the fact his son was in one.

He looked a lot smaller under the white sheets. A lot paler too.

Toshinori was at the foot of his bed, Recovery Girl standing at the side by the heart monitor taking notes. Izuku's right arm was in a cast, the bones in his forearm shattered and expertly put back together by Recovery Girl's quirk. The stitches on his head were resown, and a large scar ran down his left arm.

It reminded Toshinori of his younger days. He hated it.

Recovery Girl hummed, drawing his attention. "What is it?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just a theory."

That was apparently that as they descended into silence again, the beeping of the monitor taking over the room.

Suddenly, muffled voices came from outside, hurried footsteps coming for the door. It burst open, a dash of green heading for the bed.

"Miss, you can't!"

"Izuku!" The woman went straight to the boy, hands hovering over his body as if they didn't know where to touch. They finally settled on his cheeks as she stared into his closed eyes. "Izuku…"

A nurse stepped up to pull her away, but Recovery Girl intervened. "It's fine, Kaori-chan. You can go."

The nurse looked unsure, but relented, stepping out the room with a bow. Toshinori looked at the woman. She was bigger than he remembered, and somehow shorter, but her emerald hair and eyes were still the same. Her son looked just like her.

"Inko…" The name escaped his lips before he noticed.

She froze, teary face turning to him. After a few seconds, there was a flash of recognition. "Toshi?"

Just looking at her brought flashes of memories. A joyous laugh, an overwhelming warmth in his heart, the smell of lavender, whispers of sweet nothings. A summer when his heart was taken.

Recovery Girl's shuffling drew their attention. "I'll be outside if you need me." With a lingering hand on Inko's arm she left the room, the closing door trapping them in a time long forgotten.

There was silence. Inko grasped her son's hand. "Is it… really you?" Her voice was choked. He could only nod, the words stuck in his throat. "What happened to you?"

His mouth opened and closed several times before he could tell her. It was the short story about how he got injured, and atrophied into his current state. After that her eyes were switching between his side and her son.

He couldn't stop his question. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She turned her attention to Izuku at that, running her fingers through his wild hair. Something she used to do for him. "I tried. I really did try. I found out the day you were leaving, but I couldn't get through to your phone. Your agency didn't tell me anything either. I even missed you at the airport." She went that far for him? "I even tried to send letters, to contact anyone who knew you. In the end, there was nothing."

His chest was tight. "I'm… I'm sorry, Inko…"

"I hated you, for a while." He flinched. "I got fired, I had to move to a tiny apartment, the morning sickness floored me. Luckily I moved in next to an old lady who owned a tea shop. She gave me a job, helped me with the pregnancy, and made sure I was okay when it was hard to walk. Throughout it all, I kept dreaming that you were by my side, only to wake up alone."

When did he get so close to her?

"Then he was born; my little Izuku. My baby boy." Her affection was unmistakable. "Nothing else mattered but him after that. I got a better job, we moved into a new place, and Izuku was happy and healthy. Then we saw your debut."

She chuckled, still looking at her son.

"You should have seen the look on his face. He was your biggest fan. Posters, action figures, a cute little onesie. Little Mighty Boy was always saving me from the villains. Even from so far away, you were still his hero."

He wanted to reach out to her, but kept his arms pinned to his sides. "Inko. If I… if I knew, I would have stayed. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. Honestly. Like I said, I've moved on from the past. The world needed you more than we did."

"No. I could have done both." He clenched his fists. "Instead I gave in to fear. I thought it was best to keep you safe, to cut you from my life completely. If I knew you were pregnant…"

Something hit his forehead and he flinched. "You need to stop lingering on the 'ifs', Toshi. The past is the past. All we can do is make a better future today."

It seemed motherhood only added to her strong spirit. They spent a minute in silence, staring at Izuku. "He's… he's strong. I'm proud of him."

Inko smiled. "Me too. I'm happy he's following his dream. I just wish he wouldn't get so hurt."

Her voice cracked at the end. "Maybe you should get some coffee?" It wouldn't be healthy for her to keep worrying.

"No, I want to be here when he wakes up."

"Inko." He placed a hesitant hand on top of hers. She looked into his eyes. "Please? I'll be here the whole time."

"But…"

"You look like you need to take a breather. It's not like you'll be gone for long, the machine's just down the hall."

She looked between him and Izuku, a frown on her brow. "O-okay…" It took her some effort to separate from her son. Toshinori noticed his hand and loosened his grip, letting her step away. "I'll be back soon…" With one last squeeze of Izuku's hand, she left the room, the door closing with a soft click.


"-oon."

Welcome back, kid.

Who are you?

Technically, I'm you.

That doesn't answer my question…

Don't worry, kid, you'll find out soon enough. For now, you need to wake up. Remember what happened before you passed out?

He woke with a start, gasping as he took in the white ceiling. The pain he felt before was now muted, a strange tingling in his limbs. He tried angling his neck, but his muscles didn't respond. Not even a twitch.

His breaths came short and quick as he tried to move his locked body.

"-iya."

Why couldn't he move?

"-doriya?"

Why couldn't he move?!

"Izuku!" Large hands pressed onto his shoulders. The roar of the Noumu echoed through his mind. "Izuku, you need to calm down!"

A shock of yellow filled his blurred vision. He focused on it, willing his eyes to stop moving. Slowly, the world came back into focus, and he was staring into the worried face of All Might.

"There we go. Deep breaths."

"All Might…"

"Don't speak. Just save your breath."

"All Might…" He remembered something. A bang, falling to the floor, All Might holding back the Noumu. And something else…

"What… did you mean… by son?"


A/N: Thank you for reading!

Kept you waiting, huh? Quick summary of why it took so long: A few days after last chapter I went to London for a couple of days; lost my rhythm; applied for some jobs; bad news; got a nice pm, went back to try and write a new chapter; couldn't figure out how for a week and a half; changed ending of last chapter and here we are.

I want to thank everyone for their patience and I apologise for taking so long. The next chapter will be up in a couple of days. Thank you for your comments, and I look forward to more criticism.

I really appreciate your comment, MM995, as things like this can draw attention to things I might miss and can improve the work overall. The main thing with Izuku being dunked on is the fact that, compared to the other characters we've followed, he has had no fighting experience whatsoever. Even when he was bullied, all he did was take the hits. Increasing his combat ability will come in the next couple of chapters, and serves as character interaction. I mean, I have put him in bad situations too, but they serve the purpose of highlighting his weaknesses to himself. I completely understand where you're coming from and if you spot anything else please let me know :). The tournament arc will be a lot different in comparison to his fights so far.

Thank you again for reading, and I'll be back soon™.