He looked around, finding himself back in the cabins. He had woken up at 5:00am again, he didn't need to look at the clock to tell. That dream. He picked up his phone, opened his messages. The group chat was filled with so much positive. He smiled, seeing how kind and caring the others were. He began getting up. He would be training with everything he's got. A fire was reignited in him. He would help everyone, he would be a beacon of hope.

(13 hours later)

The sky began to darken. They were to go into the forest at night, in pairs. Class 1-b was supposed to scare them, while class 1-a tried to walk the entire trail and see how long they could stay out there for. Trace and Iida were next. They began walking into the forest.

Trace turned to Iida "So do you think class 1-b will actually try to scare us or will they just berate us", Trace said casually.

Iida quickly replied, "unless it's Monoma, they will be trying to scare us so be ready for anything".

They had walked for a few minutes but there was no sign of the others. No one was attempting to scare them. "Where is everyone", Trace was more confused than anything.

Iida put a hand to his chin, "strange, they should have at least attempted to do something by now, what is going on".

Trace looked up to the sky. Smoke. Heaps of smoke. Trace became worried. "Iida, villains have found us, get to the cabins and inform the others, I'll be right behind you".

Iida was surprised, but did as Trace instructed. Iida began running down the trail, but Trace began running east of that. He didn't like lying to Iida, but Kota was in danger, he was sure of it. He ran as fast as possible. There was no telling how long he had. Trace made it to the mountain, running up it as fast as possible. He couldn't allow it, he wouldn't allow it. He made it up to see a figure looming over Kota. he towered over Trace and Kota. Trace moved with blinding speed, tackling Kota out of the way of the attack.

"Trace?!". Kota stared at him, tears in his face.

"I got this Kota, he can't defeat me", Trace readied into a battle stance, eyeing his opponent down.

The hooded figure began laughing maliciously. "You honestly think you stand a hint of a chance against me child". The figure removed his hood, revealing a man whose muscles were outside of his body practically. "You'll be dead before you ever see me coming, i'm gonna kill you, then continue searching for a kid named Bakugo".

Trace smirked, "so that's why you're here Muscular".

Muscular disappeared, but Trace was ready. He called Djinn to defend his side, preparing a counter attack. Muscular connected with Djinn, who was easily holding him back. Muscular began pushing harder but it was for naught. Trace swung an uppercut directly into Musculars face, knocking him a few feet upwards. He quickly followed up, jumping into the air and throwing him into the ground. "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME MUSCLE BOY", Trace began diving fist first at the crater, planning to end this now. A hand reached out and grabbed his arm. Trace called Djinn to continue the attack but it never occured. Muscular crushed Trace's arm in his hand, dropping him to the ground.

"Not bad kid", Muscular was on his feet, staring down at the kid, "I'll give you the honor of fighting me at full power". Trace quickly rose to his feet, getting into his stance. His arm was surely broken, but he had to ignore that for now. Muscular disappeared. Trace began raising his hands but never got them high enough. Muscular, nailed him square in the face, creating a ten foot crater beneath Trace. Trace launched off the ground, pouring a ton of energy into one attack. He swung with everything he had in him. "I WON'T LOSE TO A PSYCHO LIKE YOU".

Muscular began laughing. "If that's all you got, then I'm just gonna end this". Muscular raised his other hand and prepared to swing in a downwards motion.

Trace held firm, holding his ground against one fist. "I WON'T FAIL THEM, I MUST WIN TO PROTECT THEM".

Muscular began laughing. "You're a murderer, no one wants to help your sorry ass, so just give it up kid, no one is rooting for you". Muscular brought his left hand down, sending it straight into Trace's head.

But Trace didn't budge. Blood began falling from where he was struck. "Game Over". Trace flung Muscular high into the air. In one fluid motion, Trace leaped into the air, rearing his foot back. "MY NAME IS TRACE WILQS AND I WILL SAVE EVERYONE", Trace brought the foot down on Muscular's back, sending him flying into the ground. The shockwave threw Kota into the air. He began falling from the cliff. Trace moved at lightning speed, grabbing his wrist with the shadow hand. He pulled Kota up and wrapped him in a hug. "I will protect you".

Kota began crying into his shoulder, holding onto him as if letting go would kill him.

Trace wanted to comfort the kid, but he needed to find everyone. "Kota, hop onto my back and hold on as tightly as possible, we're heading for the cabins".

Kota nodded before climbing onto Traces back.

Once Trace was sure Kota wouldn't let go, he ran off the side of the cliff, jumping into the forest. He began running as fast as possible, searching for anyone he could on the way to the cabin. He was using his quirk to move quickly, which is why he was surprised, when he began slowing way down. He began looking around, searching for the source. Luckily it didn't take very long, as aizawa came out from behind a tree. Trace allowed himself to breathe finally. "Aizawa, get Kota to the cabins", Trace had Kota go to Aizawa.

Aizawa looked to Trace, "if you find Mandalay, have her tell the others to use their quirks to defend themselves, there are villains here, so we need to protect them".

Trace nodded and sprinted into the forest before Aizawa could say anything else, Trace was bent on finding anyone he could.

After a few minutes he found quite the scene. Pixie-bob was on the ground bleeding, Tiger was combating some magnet dude, and Mandalay was sparring against a gecko with a very strange sword. Trace ran out and kicked the blade, shattering it into pieces.

"MANDALAY, I NEED YOU TO SEND TWO MESSAGES TO THE STUDENTS, FIRST, AIZAWA GAVE US PERMISSION TO USE OUR QUIRKS TO DEFEND OURSELVES, AND SECOND, THEY ARE AFTER A KID NAMED BAKUGO".

Mandalya nodded quickly, relaying his message to everyone.

Trace ran back into the woods, searching for signs of anyone. After a few minutes, he found shoji. One of his 6 arms was bleeding profusely. Trace quickly took the injury on his broken arm before asking, "What happened to you Shoji".

Almost on cue, a shadow creature tore down the trees they were hiding behind. Shoji began running as fast as he could. Trace followed Shoji. They eventually got behind a tree. The creature was near but it didn't see them.

"That's Tokoyami, at night, his shadow practically controls him because of its power". Shoji waited for a response, but never got one. Shoji turned to see Trace laying motionless on the ground, apart from shallow breaths. Shoji scooped him up and carried him on his back. He was about to start running when Trace spoke up.

"I.. have an idea… we need… to lead this thing… to Bakugo… his explosions produce... ".

"Light", Shoji started creating multiple arms, and guiding the beast as he ran, holding Trace to his back. They ran through the night, like a bunny escaping a wolf. The beast gained with every passing second. It would be on top of them in about 5 minutes.

Trace did his best to keep an eye out, bit he was looking through a red tint in one eye. He was doing his best, but the adrenaline wore off. He blacked out. He lay in a pool of darkness. Nothing around him. He wanted to scream. But he couldn't. He has to get free. He's willed his way through mind control for crying out loud. Why couldn't he wake up from this? He began walking. He didn't know where to, but he knew he had to go somewhere. He would walk until Tokoyami's beast was tamed. By the time he woke up. Shoji was standing with Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Bakugo. "What happened?".

Shoji set Trace down, hearing him speak. "You had fallen unconscious so I carried you".

Trace rose to his feet slowly. He was a tiny bit dizzy, but he could adjust for that. "The villains are after Bakugo, so we need to escort him to the cabins to ensure the villains don't get what they want".

Bakugo started laughing profusely. "Yeah right, no villain can capture me period, I don't need an escort to make it to the cabins".

Despite this, the others surrounded Bakugo, watching for any signs of danger. They moved like a well oiled machine, minus Bakugo screaming about how he doesn't need assistance.Trace and Shoji picked up a noise. Almost like cutting. Trace and Shoji began running to the source of the noise, Shoji keeping a close hold of Bakugo. They were running for a minute, searching for the noise. They eventually came across Ochako and Tsuyu, combating some girl who seems very fascinated with blood. When she saw them, she ran as fast as she possibly could, but she didn't seem afraid at all. Trace turned to Ochako who had blood running down her leg, and Tsuyu who had a cut tongue. Without hesitation, he healed them, taking those wounds as scratches.

"What is going on here", Ochako seemed nervous.

Trace couldn't afford to sugarcoat things. "Villain attack, they're after Bakugo so we're protecting him".

Ochako stared at him with confusion. "Sooo, where's Bakugo".

This caused Trace to go wide-eyed. He turned to Shoji who had an equal look of horror as he didn't have Bakugo on his back. Trace turned to the others but found Tokoyami was missing as well. Laughter in the trees caught their attention pretty quick. Everyone looked up to see a dapper man in a mask.

"Apologies, where are my manners". The man stood straight on the branch. "I am Mr. Compress, and I am taking these two with me". Mr. Compress held two marbles in his hands. He began jumping away.

Trace thinking quickly pursued Compress, moving faster than the eye could see. Within seconds he had caught up to him. He launched straight at Compress, he had a target. He extended his hands to the sides of him and wrapped Compress before leaning toward the ground. They both plummeted to the ground. Compress quickly grabbed the marbles and put 10 feet between him and Compress.

Compress got to his feet and wiped his suit clean of dirt. "Very impressive, collecting my duds, but you haven't got your friends". The marbles disappeared, leaving a few leaves and dirt in Trace's hands.

Trace froze. He couldn't believe he was so easily duped. He got into a battle stance, ready to retake his friends, but a burst of blue flame, forced him to dodge instead of plan. He rolled out of the way and turned back to Compress. He began charging at him, preparing to kick, but a pain in his shoulder, froze him solid. He fell to the ground, blood falling quickly from his shoulder. He looked up to see the woman from earlier. She seemed fascinated with blood. But he couldn't think about it. He needed to get up. He didn't have a plan, but he could make one. He began rising to his feet.

"I would stay down kid, stop hurting yourself or Dabi will have to slap you down again", Dabi smiled, sarcasm in his voice.

Trace ignored him. He needed a plan. He began thinking, the most dangerous obstacle was Dabi so he had to defeat him first. He was about to charge when he saw ice fly by his head. It had connected with Compress, who spit out two marbles. Shoji managed to grab one, but Todoroki was beaten to Bakugo by Dabi who continued to taunt him. A purple portal opened up. Dabi began stepping through, Bakugo in hand. Trace rose to his feet quickly, he couldn't stand by. He poured all of his power into his arms and legs, charging at Dabi.

Dabi looked up, surprised at Trace's speed. The attack connected, sending Dabi flying through the portal. However he smirked as he flew through. Bakugo got pulled through, and Trace flew through thanks to his momentum. All he saw was darkness. He began looking frantically for Bakugo but to no avail. Then, just like that, they were in a bar. Dabi and Trace had hit the wall, both out cold. The villains stared at the two with surprise and amusement. But they all knew what they had to do. They began detaining Bakugo, ensuring he couldn't do anything to harm them.

Shigaraki smiled. "What an interesting turn of events".

Trace was panicking in his head. He was out cold in the villain's base. He was trying to wake himself up, but to no avail. He was in a limbo almost. He couldn't think of anything. He was gonna die if he didn't awaken. Trace froze. He could feel many presences nearby. "DJINN", Trace didn't know what to do, but maybe Djinn could think of something.

Djinn appeared in front of him. "One thing", Djinn held up two fingers. "I can wake you up, but you need to be careful, since you're around a ton of villains", Djinn continued speaking, but it was fuzzy. Djinn began to disappear.

Trace gasped for air. He was awake. He held his head in his right hand. He began looking around the room. A bar, with multiple individuals inside. From what he heard, Dabi, Compress, Twice, Toga, Spinner, Magne, Kurogiri, and Shigaraki. A look of confusion found its way to Trace' face. "Who are you guys?". Trace showed no fear, only confusion.

The villains all looked at him shocked.

Except Dabi who began to smirk. "So you don't remember any of us?".

Trace shook his head left and right for a second. "You seem familiar, but I don't remember, what happened to me?". Trace froze for a minute. "Wait… who am I even". Trace looked at his left hand while standing up. "What is my name".

Dabi stepped up to Trace, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Your name is Jack Cross, but your nickname is Shade, which one do you want us to call you by?".

Trace looked up at the man with gratitude. "Shade for now".

Dabi nodded his head. "Okay, here's what's happening, we are a hero squad, I am Dabi, this is Toga, Spinner, Kurogiri, Magne, Twice, Compress, and the leader of the group, Shigaraki".

Trace looked around at everyone. After glancing at everyone, he smiled. "Nice to meet you all".

Dabi dropped his smile. "So this is the team, but I wanted to ask, do you remember how you got here?".

Trace shook his head back and forth. "Not a clue sir".

Dabi put a hand on Trace's shoulder again. "You were a dangerous criminal that has killed many people, so we captured you".

Trace went wide-eyed, staring down at his hands. "I was a murderer?".

Dabi gave a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, but we captured you because we wanted to make an offer to you, the officers agreed to let you join us, if you show signs of improvement, then you're a free man, so what do you say", Dabi extended a hand to Trace, "Do you want to change for the better".

Trace smiled before taking Dabi's hand in his own. "I'm down to change, if it means I can be better".

Everyone began smiling, excited about the new member.

"Mmmm mmmm mmm".

Trace turned to see a blonde boy, chained down to a chair, A box covering his hands. He seems familiar to Trace but he can't quite place it.

"That there is someone named Bakugo, he is being given the same offer as you", Dabi patted Trace on the back.

Trace turned and walked over to Mr. Compress. "Apologies sir, but I feel like we know each other".

Mr. Compress simply raised his hand in the air. "Well, I used to do stage magic before becoming a vi- Hero".

Trace didn't catch the slip of the tongue. "So you do magic?".

Compress pulled a dice out of nowhere, surprising Trace. "Yep, it was my forte before I became a hero".

Trace smiled before putting a hat on his head, "Like this?".press felt his head to find his hat gone. He took the hat back before saying, "Impressive kid, Magic might be a route for you"

An explosion caused everyone to turn to the kid named Bakugo. He was free from his restraints, staring at all the people in the room. "I will never join you villains", Bakugo turned to Trace, "Trace, snap out of it, you're experiencing amnesia, snap out of it".

Trace stared at Bakugo surprised. "Why is he helping me, were we partners?". Trace felt a hand moving toward him. He jumped away from the hand to see Shigaraki holding his hand out, a crazed look on his face.

Dabi, thinking quickly, held his hands out as if to stop everyone. "Enough, everyone calm down", Dabi turned to Trace, "sorry about my friend, he's a bit of a worry wart". Dabi extended a hand to Trace. "Do you still trust me, Shade".

Trace immediately took Dabi's hand in his own. "I trust you Dabi, just not your friend".

A knock at the door froze everyone. "Pizza delivery".

All of a sudden, the wall caved in, sending rubble flying into the back of Trace's head. He hit the ground with a loud thud, yet no blood was coming from him. Trace slowly got to his feet, holding his head. He looked around. Most of the people were on the ground, Bakugo was covering his face to avoid rubble, and All Might was standing in the room. Trace grabbed the sides of his head. He wanted to remember. He began bashing his head against the wall, trying to recollect his memories. But it wasn't working. All it did was hurt him more. Out of desperation, Trace turned to Bakugo.

"BAKUGO, IF I'M EXPERIENCING AMNESIA, THAN HELP ME SNAP OUT OF IT, HIT ME, DO SOMETHING TO MAKE ME REMEMBER".

Bakugo put his hand to Trace's head and began blasting him in the face.

Trace closed his eyes and began focusing on blurry images in his head. He could see it, but they weren't clear yet. "MORE POWER BAKUGO". Trace could feel the intensity rise. It hurt, but he needed to find those memories. He focused with all of his will and concentration. He was determined to find them. Then… almost all at once, they came flooding back. His past, his friends, people he disliked, his interest, everything. Trace smiled, before flying into the wall.

He slowly got to his feet, ensuring his legs weren't broken. Of course, his arm was shattered from fighting muscular, but he could push through that easily. He looked around, seeing Bakugo and All Might staring at him.

All Might was about to say something, but a cloud of darkness surrounded them. They were being teleported. Trace closed his eyes, and waited. Once he felt his back on the ground, he opened his eyes, to see a completely new area. It was as if someone just stepped on a factory. Trace got to his feet to see a tall dark figure in a suit and a mask that resembled Darth Vader's slightly. Trace readied himself in a fighting stance.

The figure turned to Trace, before slowly approaching him. Trace began stepping away.

The figure held out a hand. "Do not be afraid kid, I heard you were the criminal who wanted to become a hero, Dabi is an excellent teacher and- ", He never got to finish.

"Drop the act dude, we both know I had amnesia, that's the only reason they acted like heroes, but I got my memory back, so stay away", Trace readied into a fighting stance.

The figure began laughing. "Kid, I am The villain, All-For-One, what chance do you think you stand?, and besides, you're not just fighting me". The other villains began rising to their feet.

Trace jumped away from All-For-One, turning his attention to the villains. Him and Bakugo vs 8 villains, he had no doubt All Might could deal with All-For-One, so he needed to focus on his current opponents.

Dabi raised his hand, releasing a blue flame from it. Trace quickly jumped above the flame, preparing for a meteor kick. He launched straight down, his foot, connecting with Dabi's face.

Dabi hit the ground, out cold.

Trace ducked under a blade, grabbing the blade users arm and throwing her over his shoulder before turning to face Mr. Compress. Compress charged at him with crazy speed but Trace was easily faster. He side stepped Compress, before kicking him square in the stomach, sending him flying from him. An explosion caused Trace to turn.

A giant ice ramp appeared, before many figures started sliding up it. He instantly recognized them all. Iida, Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu wearing rocket boots. They flew high into the air, Kirishima held out a hand.

"COME ON, LET'S GO".

Trace smiled before turning to Bakugo. "BAKUGO, TIME TO GO".

Bakugo began flying up to Kirishima, grabbing onto his hand. "I didn't need help". Bakugo turned to grab Trace but was hit with a look of Horror.

(Trace)

Bakugo went flying toward Kirishima. Trace was about to jump up, but some tentacle thing grabbed his leg and began pulling him toward All-For-One. He was raised up by his foot, hanging upside down in front of All-For-One.

"You're not going anywhere kid". Red sparks began flying from Trace's body.

Trace began screaming in pain. It was like part of him was being pulled out of him. Trace reared back his hand and attacked the tentacle, cutting it apart from him. He hit the ground with a thud. Trace reared back and tried to pour power into his body. But nothing was happening. His power wasn't activating.Trace began to panic. He tried to throw up a barrier, but he couldn't form one. He began panicking inside.

"What's wrong boy, can't handle losing your quirks", All-For-One was laughing.

Trace tried to heal his broken arm, but nothing was happening, no displacement at all. After a few seconds, a realization hit Trace. He screamed aloud, "DJINN, ARE YOU THERE".

No response.

"DJINN, THIS ISN'T FUNNY, SAY SOMETHING", Trace had tears in his eyes.

"So Djinn is the name of this shadow beast", All-For-One held his hand and encased it in shadows.

Trace looked on with horror and fear. He was quirkless. He stared at his own hands, his knees on the ground.

"Now that I have your quirks, You're useless, so I'm just gonna get rid of you, so long pawn". All-For-One reared back his arm, making it grow many times it's normal size as well as encasing it in shadows.

Trace thought he would die here. But he wouldn't give up. What kind of hero would give up. Trace rose to his feet, pulling back his fist. They both launched an attack simultaneously. Trace connected with his chest, but he didn't budge.

All-For-One smirked, "You don't stand a chance". All-For-One brought his fist down on the kid, sending him into the ground, creating a crater that easily went 100 feet in every direction.

Trace laid there, every bone broken, barely any blood in his body, pain in every movement he made. But Trace stood. He rose to his feet and reared back again. He struck All-For-One in the chest again, but with no movement at all. Trace reared back and punched again, and again, and again. He kept swinging, trying his absolute hardest to defeat the villain.

All-Might laid there, staring wide-eyed at the sight. All-For-One, began rearing back, planning to kill the kid. All Might moved with lightning speed, pushing the kid out of the way while taking the full brunt of All-For-One's attack.

Trace watched in Horror as All Might hit the ground motionless. Trace ran to him, and began shaking him. "All Might?" Trace's voice was quiet but painful.