Izuku sat in the passengers seat of an old pickup truck with Eisen driving, while his wife Ryoku tended to Hansuke in the back.
Eisen drove carefully down the snowy slopes to the valley below.
"What did you want to know about Shoto so much?" Izuku asked.
"Firstly, how much do you remember after the accident? Before you got your memory back all of the sudden." Eisen asked.
Izuku sat up. "I remember waking up in a bed. You and Ryoku served me and taught me meditations. I helped you hunt and thrive here for months until Hansuke came back."
"Okay good. Now tell me what Shoto was like..." Eisen sighed.
The hero looked at him and frowned. "He was amazing. But quiet. Growing up with his father, he learned to be more closed off from everybody around him for the longest time. He wanted nothing more than to forget about his heritage to his father."
"What was his Quirk?" Eisen asked.
"He could shoot flames from his left side, and endless sheets of ice from his right."
"Rei..." Eisen smiled. "Good woman."
"Shoto's father was also abusive to her. She ended up in the hospital and stayed there for years." Izuku said sadly.
Eisen looked like none of this surprised him. "What you already know about me is true. Enji was my brother. But as soon as he grew to be a successful hero, our father cut me off from the family. I never got to meet Shoto... I never got to see anyone. But I knew Rei when Enji first spoke to her."
Izuku looked down. "I'm so sorry... Shoto would have loved your family."
"Don't be... I've run from problems before. But there's just some problems you can't outrun. You've got to face them one way or another." He said.
"One thing I want to know, though." Izuku declared. "Why didn't you try and repair my memory if you knew even just a little of who I was?"
Eisen sighed and drove on in silence for a moment. "...Enji was my only view of the life of heroes. And he was so successful and proud because of it. I imagined all heroes are like that. Cold. Selfish. Rude. Only doing it for the money, the glory."
Izuku sat up again and looked at him. "Eisen Todoroki, your nephew was nothing like that! I can attest... I know what you mean about Endeavor and a few of the older heroes, but things have changed! Most of the people who sacrificed and worked hard to become heroes did it because of the best reasons. None selfish. None cruel. We're all different, but heroes are meant to be inspirers."
Eisen smiled. "Has anyone ever told you how inspiring you are?"
Izuku looked at him.
"Fuji Musashi had a lot to live up to in the village. A legendary family tree with heirlooms passed down to him. A scrawny, angry boy with a so-so Quirk. But when he saw you and that young boy spring into a fight with very little preparation or planning, he felt a courage within himself he had not before and used his Quirk on the sword. Although I assume he practiced with that technique mixed with his Quirk before, he was never that brave. He never had to face a threat to our village."
Izuku smiled.
"You two inspired him. So I reckon I believe what you said." Eisen smiled back.
The truck rode down the mountain's roads and across a short valley to a dock in another village.
Eisen stepped out first with the group behind him as he approached the owner of the boat that often travelled to and from the mainland.
The man was impatient with Eisen and didn't seem to care about their predicament. He gestured to a small crowd in the village and told how each of them were also seeking voyage across to find their families in hopes that they are still alive.
Izuku stepped forward and entered the conversation calmly.
Despite his unshaven face and his torn up costume under a simple robe, the fisherman looked up at the young man and his mouth dropped open.
"D-Deku?" He asked. "The hero?"
Izuku looked around then to the man. "Yes?"
The fisherman began to cry and gripped Izuku's hand tightly. "Two years ago, Tokyo. You saved my daughter's life from an earthquake... I too would like to know how she is doing but I am stuck only giving one ferry at a time to a couple."
"What about these other boats?" Izuku pointed.
"Broken... One needs gas, but I have no gas." He explained. "The ferry will be here any minute and I will give you the next ride."
Izuku looked at the crowd then back to the man. "No. Give me the boat without gas. I'll find a way to make it start."
"Siphon the gas from my truck." Eisen ordered.
Izuku looked at the generous, Quirkless couple, and smiled. "I can't just take your gas. You need it to get back up the mountain."
"We'll find a way. And if not, it's only an hour away by foot." Ryoku said. She walked over and placed Hansuke's body in Izuku's arms.
In no time at all, and by the help of the fisherman's hose and equipment, they siphoned as much gas from the truck into the boat as they could.
Then the hero placed his student on the boat and stood proud before the village, the fisherman, and the Todorokis. "I am Deku. And I swear to it, that no matter what it takes, I will defeat this enemy and bring peace once again!"
The small crowd smiled, full of hope. The Symbol of Peace was back.
Izuku got down on the small motorboat and started the engine, blasting them off across the misty waters.
A few minutes later, as they sped along, Hansuke awoke, rolled over and sat up quickly. "Sensei?" He asked.
Izuku looked down at him and smiled. "We're on our way home, Warpi. Time to finish this."
Hansuke looked ahead at the front of the boat then back to his hero and nodded.
Deku was back.
"He's alive..." Promethys's eyes shot open. One of his Loyalists was hissing and speaking to him in its alien tongue.
"Don't let this word get out." He ordered as he turned away. Then he stopped, and swiftly turned back, slicing the monster in half.
"Deku is dead. There is no One For All. There is no hope." He hissed.
Nucleon gulped and listened from behind a crumbling building to his master standing in the cracked street with the pieces of dead Loyalist.
He ran ahead, deeper into the city, and grabbed a public telephone. Dialing up the number, he waited impatiently for it to answer.
"Hello!? Yes! It's me. I know... Round them all up. It's... It's time." He breathed.
