Chapter 5: War

Three months. A whole year had passed since the assault on Deika City, and the heroes were finally ready to finish the battle. Through intensive surveillance, Team Flashburn had discovered an all-out war between those who supported heroes and those who resented them. Japan had turned into a wasteland, cities leveled through near-constant fighting. Flames torched the skies, and the country sat in a perpetual hellish state, sky red from the soot and smoke filling the air. From what Delta Vee and Moki-chan described, it had turned into Hell.

Crossing the sea of Japan in a stolen fishing boat, the heroes were itching to get back on land. Fighting storms and rogue pirates, they were beginning to wear out, and they hadn't even begun the real fight yet. In the students' room below decks, many of them were lazing around, when Mei suddenly awoke with a jolt, nearly falling out of her hammock.

"Hatsume? Are you alright?" Midoriya stuck his head out of his hammock in concern, seeing Mei slightly shaken.

"I just remembered something." She hopped down to the floor and dashed up to the room Team Flashburn was using, Midoriya in tow. Mei burst into the room, no regard for the privacy of the heroes, who were changing at the moment. Delta quickly wrapped her cape around herself, and Moki's wings folded in front of her, moving in front of Drakan as Beorn rapidly transformed into a gorilla, Cyclomachina seemingly not caring about the sudden invasion of privacy. "Do any of you know where Toschi kept his stuff?" Mei blurted out, breathless.

They all looked at each other, then back at Mei. "He kept everything at his workshop, but I don't know if it's still standing," Moki said. "Last time Delta and I scouted out the cites, we didn't see many buildings not damaged or abandoned. Why?"

"Because I just remembered seeing something back when he worked with David Shield. He had built one of the same Quirk Amplifier devices as Professor Shield, but he hid it away somewhere after the attack."

The room was silent. Midoriya's jaw hung to the floor. "He built one of those too?"

"If we had that," Delta said, "we could finish this war in mere minutes. We need to get that as soon as possible."

"I'll go." Midoriya stepped forward. "I'll take Hatsume to the lab and get the Quirk Amplifier."

"Alright." Cyclomachina stood up, pulling the last pieces of armor on. "When we land, take Hatsume to the workshop as soon as possible while we take Eri somewhere safe, then meet up with us."

"Where will you be?"

"In the center of the fighting." He projected a map onto a table and pointed at a city on the coast. "Tokyo."

Two hours later, Deku and Mei were standing in front of a caved-in door, the small workshop's windows busted in. Stepping into the building, a faint haze of dust hung in the air. Deku pushed a fallen roof beam out of the way so Mei could enter, but as he dropped it, it made a hollow crunching sound. The two teens froze as the sound of cracking cement filled the dusty air, then looked down just as the floor gave way beneath them. As they fell, Deku grabbed Mei and stuck his hand out, just barely managing to grab onto a crack in the wall, grunting as the jagged concrete bit into his fingers. Bits of dust and gravel rained down on them, and Mei flipped a small device over their heads. A rod extended from on top and spread out, a metal umbrella protecting them. A few moments passed, then the debris shower tapered off. Coincidentally, at that moment the umbrella began smoking and sparking, and Mei quickly threw it back up to the surface just before a loud bang shook a few more rocks down onto them.

Jumping down into the newly-revealed cavern, Midoriya took a quick survey of his surroundings. There was an elevator just behind them, and to the other side was a room illuminated with a long row of lights. Making their way into what appeared to be a prototype storage facility, Midoriya saw lots of familiar gadgets that Toschi had patented and sold, from Quirk-repressing restraints and self-repairing tools to futuristic weapons and shields. And at the end of the long rows of inventions, isolated from the rest in a clear box, sat what looked like a small metal headband.

"That's it." Mei rushed over, staring inside the box with awe. Below it, on the pedestal, was a handprint scanner, and she noticed a retinal scanner beside it. "Should I try it?"

"I'm sure he would have put you in it, Hatsume. I bet you can get it." On hearing Midoriya's words, she placed her hand in the scanner, then immediately jerked it back as an alarm blared at her.

"What the hell!?" She looked at the small screen above the scanners, reading the message. "'Unidentified access requested. If correct identification is not supplied within sixty seconds, the Quirk Amplifier will be destroyed'!"

"What!? Why wouldn't you be allowed to take it?"

Mei tried again, but was met with another alarm. "'Time reduced to thirty seconds'!? What the hell, Toschi!? Who's the correct person!?"

"Twenty seconds remaining!" Midoriya was beginning to panic as Mei angrily pounded on the box. Think, Izuku, think! Who would he have trusted with the Quirk Amplifier? Was it one of his old classmates? Would he have entrusted it to Chiraka? Who-

"Midoriya!" Mei was pointing at a message etched into one corner of the box.

This is to help you unlock your full potential, Symbol. Use it wisely.

"It's meant for me…" Midoriya's head was spinning. "He meant for me to use the Quirk Amplifier…"

"Five seconds!"

Midoriya snapped out of his stupor, quickly slamming his hand onto the scanner and looking into the camera. The alarms stopped blaring, and the box suddenly filled with a bright glow. The glass shattered, turning to a fine powder as the Quirk Amplifier floated into the air. A thin red beam flew from the device, then it shot forward, wrapping around his forehead as he stumbled back. He opened his eyes, and saw a familiar black mist surrounding him. The last time I saw this was-

"Welcome back, Deku." He whirled around, and was greeted by the sight of a gorgeous, black-haired woman smiling at him.

"Nana Shimura… what am I doing back here?"

"That device on your forehead," she responded, tapping the Quirk Amplifier. "It's time for you to unlock your full potential."

"You've got more power than any human in history, kid." The bald-headed hero that gave him Blackwhip stepped out from behind Nana. "Name's Lariat. Glad to see you using my Quirk more."

"It's time for you to learn to use the rest of the Quirks available to you, Deku. Starting with mine." Nana took his hand and gently pulled him up. To his surprise, he levitated above the ground, Nana following just behind him. "Float. With this, you can hover in the air. Combine it with your Air Force moves, and you can fly just as easily as Soro-Gran Torino. Don't worry about using it. Right now, that device is analyzing all the Quirks inside your body. Once it's done, you will know how to use all of your Quirks at full strength without destroying your body." She tapped on the Full Arsenal, a motherly smile on her face. "You won't need this for much longer."

This is where I diverge from the canon. I'm writing this before the rest of the Quirks are revealed, so the rest of the Quirks hidden inside One For All are speculative. Additionally, there are major manga spoilers ahead (chapters 253-256; go read them now if you haven't already), so be warned. In any case, good luck Deku!

"I guess I'm next." A black-haired man with a tall-collared suit stepped forwards from the darkness. "I'm Nightowl. I wasn't as popular as All Might was, but I was still more than enough to take on All For One. My Quirk was called 'Infrared Ray.' It was stolen from me when I was defeated by All For One, but I guess enough of it stuck around in One For All that you can use it."

"Wait, that's how he sensed his surroundings, right? Even though he was blind?"

"Spot on, Deku. With Infrared Ray, you can sense everything within a short range of you, and you can even use it like heat-vision goggles. If you're good enough, you can even sense peoples' emotions and predict their actions with near one-hundred percent accuracy."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Nana said. "You'll come out of this fully able to use all of your quirks at full strength."

"I'll be next," a voice growled. A light-haired man with a black and red line running down the left side of his face emerged from behind Nightowl. "I'm Blackmist. I'm the one who that All For One bastard stole his warp Quirk from."

"Blackmist? I thought that was another name for Kurogiri!"

"Kid, I'm the ORIGINAL Blackmist. Fuckin' All For One stole my goddamn Quirk and gave it to that fuckin' Nomu thing-"

"Kurogiri's a Nomu!?"

"Yeah. He used to be a student at U.A, but he was killed and All For One stole his body to make into Kurogiri. Anyway, you have that same power he does. You can teleport yourself anywhere you want, open portals anywhere, to anywhere, whenever you want, and you can turn your body into a cloud. I will warn you, though. You saw how Kurogiri could be defeated easily, once his guard was down. Use Warp Gate wisely, kid. Don't make our sacrifices worthless."

Midoriya blankly nodded, the massive influx of information threatening to overload his already overstimulated brain. Feeling a pair of hands clamp down on his shoulders, he jumped, craning his neck behind him. The two shadowy figures from before were leering down at him, no clearer than the previous times he had seen them.

"I was once called Lionheart," a raspy voice uttered from the one to his left.

"And I, Vanderwall," the other one said, voice so low it was almost a whisper.

"Apart from All For One's brother, these are the oldest users of One For All," Nana explained. "Lionheart was second, and Vanderwall was third."

"My Quirk was called 'Tesla Coil', Deku." Vanderwall held up his hand, and Midoriya was shocked to see familiar green bolts of electricity course across his form. "You have already begun to awaken it, but now you will be able to truly use its full potential."

"As for me," Lionheart said, "my Quirk was simply known to me as 'X'." He crossed his shadowy arms, and Midoriya saw crackling red lines cross his body, two forming an X shape on his face. "Like Tesla Coil, X has always been present for you, but you have never used it. With X, you will be able to significantly increase your strength far beyond what you already possess from the rest of One For All."

"Now, Deku, will you help us?" Midoriya was confused at Vanderwall's request, and Lionheart spoke up.

"Time has not been easy for us, young one. After waiting so long, there's only so much of our souls that can remain."

"What do you mean?" Nana turned behind her and beckoned another figure forward, a flaming orange person with two iconic locks of hair hanging over his face. Midoriya's jaw dropped for the umpteenth time. "All Might!?"

"There is a reason that All Might, Lionheart, and Vanderwall are distorted and foggy," Nana said. "They gave up One For All before they died."

"What? What do you mean? Of course they did, how would the next-"

"You misunderstand Nana, little one." Vanderwall's form kneeled down next to him. "We all retired. After finding and training a successor, we gave up our fight. Just as All Might lives on, his strength expired, so did we."

"The only way to be this visible, kid," Lariat interrupted, "is to die fighting."

"All of us that you can see clearly are this whole because of our regrets." Nightowl stepped closer. "We felt shame that our time with our successors came to an end so abruptly, and we wanted to help the next holder as much as we could."

"I-I don't get it… You died too early? What do you mean? Surely you must have known you were going to die, right?" Deku was on the verge of freaking out more than he already was, when Nana kneeled down before him.

"What he means, Izuku," Nana said, placing a tender hand on his head, "is that All For One came for us before our successor was ready. Lionheart and Vanderwall were already retired by the time he came for them, and All Might isn't dead yet. And as long as you can defeat the last traces of All For One, there won't be a need for our souls to remain here any longer. Please…" Midoriya felt his heart sink as Nana smiled at him with tears in her eyes. "Help us be free. There's some people that have been waiting for me for years."

"Toughen up, kid." Vanderwall placed his hand on Midoriya's head as well, green bolts beginning to arc from the teen's limbs. "You have our strength."

Lionheart touched Deku's forehead, and, as glowing red lines crossed his face and body, spoke. "And our courage."

"And our hope," Nightowl said, touching Deku's arm as the teen suddenly felt a wave of emotions crash into his heart, feeling the hearts of the former heroes encouraging themselves as much as him.

"And our will," Blackmist grunted, slapping a hand on Deku's shoulder as a fog began to emerge from his eyes.

Lariat grabbed Deku's other shoulder, Blackwhip beginning to wriggle at Deku's fingertips. "And our hope."

All Might's ethereal form said nothing, but placed a firm palm against Deku's chest, a fiery rush of power flowing through his body.

From behind Nana, an eighth person emerged. He had light-colored hair and was very skinny, but Deku saw nothing but kindness in his eyes. He knelt down next to Nana and held out his hand. "And you have us. Always."

Deku suddenly came to, gasping. Mei was kneeling over him, frantic. "Midoriya, what the fuck was that?"

"…Nothing, I'm fine, Hatsume. How long was I out?"

"Only about a minute, but…" She trailed off, crestfallen as she looked to her left. Following her gaze, Deku's eyes widened as he saw the Quirk Amplifier lying on the ground, smashed to pieces. "After it latched onto you and you fell, it got smashed. We failed…"

"No, we didn't." Mei scooted back as Deku pushed himself to his feet, pulling his hood over his head and fastening his mouthguard. "Toschi gave me that to help me use my Quirk to its fullest extent, and it did just that." Holding out his hand, his eyes began to glow green, and there was a burst of light as a warp gate opened up in front of the two. Mei's jaw dropped, and Deku stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Come on, we've got a war to win."

Stepping out into the ruins of what once was Tokyo, Deku looked around guiltily at the shocked heroes staring at him. "Young Midoriya," All Might began, stepping forward. "I have informed our friends of the secret of One For All."

"What!? I thought you said-"

"It was necessary, Midoriya. The Quirk Amplifier did exactly what it was supposed to, just as I instructed Young Hatsume."

"You asked Toschi to make you that!?" Mei was caught in a mix of joy and anger. "I get that he was incredible, but I'm just as good and all you asked me to make were some ankle weights!"

"He had already uncovered the secret of One For All long before I approached him. Regardless…" All Might dropped to one knee, Deku frantically scrabbling, trying to get him up. "Young Mi- no, DEKU, will you lead us to victory?" Looking around in shock, he saw the other heroes beginning to kneel as well.

"Stop, STOP! Please! You don't need to do that!"

"I ain't, Deku." It was the first time he had ever heard Bakugo call him that without attaching a curse to the name. "Go and tell us how to beat the shit out of the bad guys."

"Speaking of which, kid," Endeavor said, pointing over Deku's shoulder. "Hurry up." On the horizon, spanning nearly his entire view, were people. Thousands, millions of people. Every last one of them was yelling and cursing at the heroes. "Those are the guys that support Shigaraki. And speak of the devil…" The aforementioned villain, along with the rest of the League, was leading the stride, black cloak flapping in the wind. His dirty grey hair seemed to float as it whipped around his head, and even from this distance Midoriya could see the murder in those glowing red eyes.

Shigaraki held out his hand, and the masses stopped moving, the skinny villain alone stepping forward. He lifted one foot up and, with a maniacal grin, slammed it into the ground. Deep rivulets shot across the wasteland like lightning bolts, the ground quaking and shuddering as it was turned to dust. Jiro slammed her speakers into the ground, and a deep rumble filled the air. The ground under them was thrown into the air by the vibrations, the decay crossing the ground beneath the heroes. As the chunk of rock came down, the heroes leapt into the fray, charging the mob. Deku's eyes glowed green, and for the first time, truly activated One For All, in all its power and glory. Red lines crossed his face and limbs as green electricity scorched the ground beneath him as he ran.

"Deku! Throw me into the middle!" He thrust out his arm, catching Kirishima in Blackwhip as his body turned completely solid. Deku spun, launching him like a slingshot directly at the villains. Kirishima struck Gigantomachia in the head, making the massive villain falter for a moment, blood beginning to drip down his nose. He raised his fist in fury, then swung it down at Kirishima as he dove back. The massive fist stopped, caught by an equally large hand as Drakan slammed his other fist into Machia's stomach, knocking the villain back a few feet while Beorn, transformed as a gorilla, vaulted over the magma hero, changing into a colossal, 40-foot long crocodile in the air as his jaws clamped down onto Gigantomachia's shoulder. Ryukyu dropped out of the sky, claws slamming into Machia's chest as the three attempted to overpower the titan.

While the goliath fought the three powerhouses, Shigaraki had retreated behind the front lines as the rest of the mob entered the battle. As Mineta and Sero immobilized hordes of enemies, Tetsutetsu leapt into the middle of the crowd and raised his fist. Spying the metal hand, Kaminari unleashed a massive burst of electricity, the metal teen conducting the current through the throng of enemies, knocking out hundreds. Fat Gum and Muscular were engaged in a fist fight, their blows clearing a wide berth around the two. Cyclomachina was taking potshots from the air, riding Delta's back as Moki swooped low, her talons slicing through villains. Through the chaos, Deku and Mirio managed to bump into each other.

"You okay, Lemillion?" Deku ducked under a burst of flame, Blackwhip flinging the villain across the battlefield.

"Never been better! I feel like I could fight a million people!"

"Well, it's about to get worse!" Deku leapt into the air as Lemillion phased through the wave of spikes shooting through the ground. In the air, Deku's eyes caught a sickeningly familiar gold and red mask.

"DEKU! LEMILLION!" Overhaul's yell carried across the frontline. Muscular caught a punch Fat Gum threw, eyes wild. He threw the hero back and turned his head so fast Fat Gum heard a crack.

"YOU!" He charged Deku, grinning maniacally as Overhaul leapt at the teens. Lemillion phased through another set of spikes when he saw Muscular approaching rapidly.

"Deku! You take that guy! I can handle Chisaki!"

"Right!" Deku shot Blackwhip at the massive villain, tendrils wrapping around his wrist as Deku flew towards him, leg outstretched. Muscular grinned, and Deku's foot slammed into Muscular's fist, the shockwave cracking the ground beneath them. Deku's blood froze as he saw Muscular, trembling, but still standing. From a kick with the full strength of One For All and X combined, Muscular was laughing.

"Holy shit, kid! That hurt like hell! You've gotten stronger, huh? Well so have I!" Muscle fibers exploded out of his body, coiling around his limbs as they began to grow. Around him, villains ran away and heroes gulped as the now 50-foot-tall Muscular laughed, his fist hurtling towards Deku faster than anyone could see. Closing his eyes, Deku activated Infrared Ray and saw the fist as it careened towards him, concentrating his power into his right arm and bracing it with Blackwhip. The two fists, each carrying the energy of a nuclear bomb, collided, instantly pulverizing everything around them as the shockwaves threw them back, Muscular's arm destroyed. Grinning as his muscles quickly regrew, his face contorted into rage as Deku slammed his heel into his chest, tearing through muscles and striking his real body. He roared as he felt his ribcage crush, wheezing as he felt the jagged bone shards dig into his lungs with every breath.

"Overhaul! Do it now!" he yelled. The yakuza snarled and leapt over to him, ducking another strike from Lemillion as his finger grazed Muscular's arm. The rest of the Eight Precepts, fighting nearby, leapt towards their leader, touching him as their bodies exploded. Particles and bits of flesh orbited Overhaul as he roared, body growing and changing as he absorbed all nine villains. Deku and Lemillion backed up, wary, as Overhaul's ultimate form shrieked, a grotesque, writhing creature resembling a gargoyle-esque eight-armed monster with a beak and jagged teeth, nearly a hundred feet long. Around them, the battle came slamming to a halt, heroes and villains alike staggered at the sight of the demonic monster that could once have been considered human. A jagged-clawed hand swung at the two heroes, faster than anything of its size should be able to move.

The claw slammed into the ground, cracks rocketing through the pavement. The creature grinned, then roared in fury as Deku threw the hand off of him, Lemillion shooting up from below the ground to deliver a powerful uppercut. Overhaul- if the monster before them could even be called that- swatted at the hero, its claws passing harmlessly through him as Lemillion's fist connected, Deku's heel swinging up to join the punch. Overhaul was launched into the air, a deafening screech reminiscent of a million vultures forcing its way out of its throat. Hundreds of writhing black tendrils wrapped around the beast, and Deku's arms crackled as he sent a full charge of electricity through Blackwhip.

The coils of energy wrapped around Overhaul conducted and amplified the electricity, sending millions of volts through the monster's body. It screeched and thrashed as smoke poured from its body, and Deku flung his arms down, sending Overhaul crashing to the ground. There was a sickening crunch as it hit the ground, body collapsing in on itself, and Overhaul did not rise again.

"Is he…" Lemillion began, but was cut off by Deku.

"After all he's done, I hope so." The rage in the young hero's eyes was beginning to fade, being replaced with a sense of emptiness. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

He was cut off by a massive earthquake that shook the battlefield to its knees, the sound of tearing rock filling the air as the ground split beneath them. Near Deku and Lemillion, Drakan's face blanched. "Oh god, he's back! I thought he was done for!"

"Who!?"

Deku's answer came in the form of a laugh, a deep, cracking sound that turned his spine to ice. Standing atop a mound of rubble, magma flowing from beneath his feet, a purple-haired man clad in black armor sneered down at the heroes, cloudy, white eyes peeled back nearly as far as his lips, betraying his unstable, demented mind. One hand glowing, he thrust it forward and the ground cracked, splitting beneath the heroes' feet as they jumped back, hundreds of careless villains screaming as they disappeared into the abyss.

"HAHAHA! I owe that Shigaraki guy so much! This feels so good!" The villain flung an arm down, and a cascade of small meteors came streaking down, filling the air with heat and dust. "Ten years! Ten years I've waited for my revenge! You took my sight, I'll take your life! Finally, I shall kill-"

"Cataclysm, I thought we already went over this, you deludded fool." A Spanish accent cut off the psychotic villain as a white-suited man smacked him on the back of the head. "I killed Kinetica, and you know it."

"DON'T RUIN MY VISION, CARBONADO! If it weren't for you being so damn good at what you do, I would have crushed you like a puny insect long ago!" The enraged Cataclysm sent a wave of magma at the heroes, scattering them. "Go out and fight like a man if you're gonna talk that kind of shit!" The Spaniard sighed, rubbing his temples as a black dust swirled around his body, glowing. As he descended the rubble pile the light faded, revealing a suit of carbon fiber armor. Spotting Deku, his eyes sparkled as a plan rushed into his head, and an evil grin came over his face.

"Cataclysm, guess who I found? It's Kinetica!" At the mention of the hero's name, Cataclysm froze, face contorting in a frenzied ecstasy.

"I'LL KILL HIM! BACK OFF!" Carbonado floated into the air, his suit carrying him away as Deku was surrounded in a wall of fire. Pulling two pistols from his armor, Cataclysm leapt into the ring, a savage sneer splitting his face in two. "Kineticaaaa… is that you? I can smell your fear… Come out and play, won't you?"

Unnerved at the villain's psychotic behavior, Deku took a wary step back, powering up One For All. In an instant, two shots rang out, and Deku narrowly ducked, two bloody trails running up his chest. Leaping into the air, he flung Blackwhip at Cataclysm, ensnaring the villain in its clutches and launching him into the air. Deku let out a sigh and turned, then screamed as a bullet buried itself in his arm, Cataclysm's face engulfed in rapture. The air swirled around him, picking up hero and villain alike as the vortex barreled down on Deku. Infuriated, Deku fired an Air Force shot at the tornado, breaking it up and sending its prisoners scattering across the battlefield. Cataclysm wiped a hand along his nose and licked it. Tasting blood, he went into a frenzy, launching disaster after disaster at Deku, the teen deflecting every attack. Finally, refusing to give up, Cataclysm raised both hands into the air, an orange glow filling the battlefield.

"I will kill you if it's the last thing I do!" In the sky, hundreds of miles above them, a speck appeared. It grew larger and larger, until the asteroid blocked out the sky, hurtling towards Earth faster than anything Deku had seen. As the meteor continued to grow, the air around them heating up, Cataclysm laughed, a chilling sound.

"Yes! Yes! Finally! I'll kill you all! Every last one of you! HAHAHA!" But as the villain was about to throw his hands down and end the world, a peculiar voice rang across the battlefield.

"Oi, ya bastard dickchugger! Quit makin' me job so damn tedious!" Standing between Deku and Cataclysm was a cloaked figure, scythe clasped in a skeleton hand.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" Cataclysm stomped a foot down, a rush of magma engulfing the figure. Deku gasped, but as the magma subsided he found words impossible to come by. A skeleton, unfazed by the lava bath he had just taken, was staring down Cataclysm with glowing red eyes.

"Well, ain't ya just a right litt'l cunt, ya fuckin' knobjockey? I oughtta cut yer willy off and hang ye with it!"

"If you're here to stop me," Cataclysm growled, "You're too weak! You can't stop me!" With a roar, his hands came down, and the air around the battlefield seemed to freeze as the asteroid rocketed towards the Earth, moments away from crushing them all-

"Oh, I'm no' 'ere ta beat ye." The skeleton stuck a bony thumb over his shoulder, a grin crossing his face. "'E is."

The ground exploded, a bright blue streak blasting from below the surface and aiming right for the meteor. It struck the asteroid, and time seemed to stop as glowing red cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. There was a massive rush of hot air and a flash of light, and then a wall of sound hit the heroes as the asteroid shattered, exploding into billions of fragments that came raining down on the battlefield like dust. The blue light turned around, aiming right at Cataclysm and, as the villain let out a strangled, infuriated yell, struck him, an explosion rocking the ground.

Deku stared in shock as a drop of blood fell from the sky, landing on his forehead and dripping down his face, his eyes glued to the figure in the crater. It was about as tall as Beorn, but was pitch black and had a body like All Might. Blue flames crisscrossed its body, similar to his own X, but the two blue eyes brimming with determination captivated him. The throng of heroes and villains, caught in a ceasefire from the shock of the meteor nearly annihilating them all, watched as Deku took a step forward, then another, bringing himself to the being.

"I-is that you? Is it really you?" The being let out a sigh, eyes brimming with emotion as Deku placed a hand on the being's shoulder. "Chiraka?"

A smile that class 1-A had seen many months ago worked its way onto his face as their friend looked around at his surroundings. "It's good to be alive again, Deku."

Chiraka makes his return! I knew he wasn't dead, he kept pestering me to put him back in the story. Now, it's time to explore just how he came back, and how he got his new look! Scottish Death makes a cameo, and will once again deal with a dead hero in the next chapter. Pretending like I can write Scottish English is painful and unconvincing, so I'm going to put a disclaimer that his dialogue sucks.