All-For-One watched as Trace sat there, shaking All Might more vigorously. "ALL MIGHT, PLEASE, SAY SOMETHING". But he never got a response from All Might.
Trace sat there in silence for an easy minute before rising to his feet. His eyes were emotionless. He stared All-For-One down, anger rising inside him. Even though he was bloodied, even though every bone in his body was broken, even though he had basically no chance. He would defeat him. Trace got into a fighting stance and charged at All-For-One, as fast as he could. He began planting punch after punch on All-For-One, but he still didn't budge. He wasn't strong enough or fast enough.
"COME ON, FASTER, FASTER, FASTER", Trace kept yelling at himself in his head. Trace began moving faster and faster with each passing second.
All-For-One began laughing at the pathetic display in front of him. "Sure kid, keep telling yourself you can win, because it's not happening".
Trace ignored him. He kept punching, faster, faster, yet faster. He pushed his body well beyond its limit. He was punching as fast as his body would allow, then pushing past that. He had to keep it up. "Forget about your fatigue, Forget about Your pain, Forget about your limits, just throw those out a window". Trace kept pushing, pushing until he could get some form of movement. "After all, if I can't save the people around, then", Trace looked at All-For-One's mask before yelling, "HOW CAN I BE A HERO". Trace began punching even faster. Before the blink of an eye, Trace was moving hundreds of times faster than light. But All-For-One still didn't budge.
"You can move as fast as you want, you still can't hurt me with that level of strength", All-For-One began preparing another attack.
Trace screamed, "THAN I'LL JUST HAVE TO HIT HARDER, HARDER, HARDER". Trace kept pushing his body. Every attack sent a spike of pain through his body, but he no longer cared. He refused to be defeated here. He began hitting with more force, each attack stronger than the last. He kept pushing himself, putting everything he had into his attacks. "I REFUSE TO GIVE UP, I WILL SAVE MY FRIENDS".
Entire lightning bolts began to fly off of Trace's body, some of them blue, some yellow, some of them black, some of them green. But a single one was pink. That pink bolt circled back around into Trace, causing him to glow a faint pink.
Trace began punching thousands of times faster, and millions of times stronger. All-For-One began to slide backwards very slightly. Trace began pushing even furthur, throwing everything he had and adding more. If 100% didn't work, he would use 200%, 300%, 1000% 1000000%. He swung millions of times faster than light, and was hitting strong enough to destroy Japan if he wanted to.
All-For-One feeling his strength, began to become a slight bit concerned, but brushed it off. "Time to die kid". All-For-One raised his arm above his hand and brought it down. But a shadow hand caught his own, surprising All-For-One.
A second Shadow hand came out and struck All-For-One in his face, cracking his mask. Trace smiled, "Djinn, welcome back".
"I think it's time to end this Trace", Djinn smiled.
Trace and Djinn began attacking together, each attack hitting practically on top of each other. They were moving entire trillions faster than light, and hitting with the power of the world's most powerful nuke with each hit.
"THIS IS OVER", Trace formed a barrier below him and All-For-One, encasing them both in a box aside from the pole, leading high into the sky. Trace and Djinn reared back, combining their powers. They each took control of half of Trace's face. "LISTEN WELL VILLAIN, I AM SPLIT, THE HERO OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT, AND I WON'T LET YOU WIN", Trace and Djinn hit All-For-One, disentigrating his mask and putting him against the bottom of the barrier. A beam of light and dark, travelled up the pole, reaching the exit in the blink of an eye. The beam spread for millions of miles in every direction, it was said a bird of light and dark could be seen that day.
The beam ended. Trace dropped his barrier, allowing the world to see it. All-For-One was on the ground, out cold. He was motionless. Trace wasn't too far off though. He felt himself begin to wobble. He put a foot behind him to steady himself as he rose a hand. "We… did it… Djinn". Trace encased his left arm in shadows and raised it as well, showing the world he was still standing. Everyone stared at Trace in disbelief. Gran Torino, Endeavor, even All-Might, and he had just woken up a minute ago.
The helicopter caught every last bit of it. "THE SELF PROCLAIMED HERO, SPLIT, HAS DEFEATED ALL-FOR-ONE, HE HAS SAVED MILLIONS OF LIVES TODAY". Cheering could be heard worldwide.
All Might began approaching Trace who turned to face the heroes. All Might smiled, and put a thumbs up. "That was truly amazing Trace, I have never seen you output so much power, or ever move so fast".
"I don't think I have ever seen you with that much determination kid", Gran Torino came up beside All Might, smiling.
"You have proven that you will be a great hero time and time again kid, well done", Endeavor was smiling.
Trace stood there, a smirk on his face. "I just did what anyone would have done if they were in my place". Trace began to put a thumbs up, but stopped halfway. "Call an ambulance… please", Trace fell to the ground.
Gran Torino quickly called an ambulance, easily explaining their location.
All Might grabbed Trace and set him gently on the ground, holding his head up. He had lost a ton of blood. All Might began panicking, until Trace spoke again.
"Don't start crying yet, It's gonna take more than a Darth Vader rip-off to kill me",Trace smiled, inciting laughter from All Might, and Gran Torino. Endeavor still wasn't at the laughter point yet.
After a few minutes, an ambulance arrived and rushed Trace to the hospital.
He laid unconscious in that hospital bed for an entire week. But word about his accomplishment spread throughout the world. He was a celebrity. Of course, no merch was made since they would rather get his permission first but still, he was internationally famous. But there were also many who worried their butts off. The entirety of class 1-A would visit everyday, including the class 1-A teachers to check up on him. Trace was exempted from any and all assignments while he was in the hospital so he didn't have to worry about falling behind.
On the eighth day, Mina had walked in and sat next to Trace's bed, watching him closely, the rest of class 1-A stood but was in the room. Everyone was worried about him. I mean, he went up against the most powerful villain on earth, and won, but he has been unconscious for 7 days now.
Everyone sat there in silence, watching the slight movements of his chest as he breathed in and out. They were amazed at his strength, but were also scared that he overexerted himself. He was covered in multiple tubes, one sending blood to his body, one sending fluids into his body, and one sending nutrients into his body, as well as an oxygen mask.
Mina took Trace's right hand in her own hands, crying silently. She was so scared. He had been in the hospital before, but never for this long. She wanted to scold him for being so reckless, she wanted to hug him closely to her, she wanted to cry for almost losing him, but most of all, she just wanted him to wake up. "Trace", Mina's voice was shaky. "What you did was amazing, you saved millions of lives that night according to the news, you saved so many people, so please, wake up so they can recognize you".
Trace's hand began squeezing her hand, surprising the entire class and teachers. Trace finally opened his eyes. They were as brown as they could be, though he seemed kinda out of it still.. Trace looked around the room, seeing all of his classmates, well, all except for one. "Where is Bakugo?".
Bakugo stepped to the front of the crowd so Trace could see him. Bakugo had green flowers for Trace.
"Bakugo", Trace was smiling, which caused Bakugo to become bewildered. "You saved me. if you hadn't helped me regain my memory, I would have been a villain, so thank you".
Bakugo stayed neutral. "I don't need the compliment, you're the one in the hospital bed".
Trace chuckled, much to everyone's surprise. "It'll take more than a rip-off Darth Vader to kill me bud".
Everyone chuckled but no one full on laughed.
Trace sighed, "I know you're worried, but don't be, I'm awake aren't I?, I'm talking aren't I?".
Right on cue, the doctor walked in and asked everyone to exit the room for a second.
Everyone exited the room one at a time, with Mina being last. Once the door was shut, the doctor turned to Trace.
"How are you feeling, young man?".
Trace smiled once more, "I actually feel pretty good right now, but I am curious, How long was I out for".
The doctor looked at the ground before saying, "you were out for an entire week".
Trace looked at him wide-eyed. "An entire week, how much power did I output?".
The doctor laughed. "Every bone in your body was broken, and you barely had blood in your body, so that might contribute to the whole out for a weak thing".
Trace smiled, "apologies, but when can I get up again".
The doctor smiled, "I was actually coming to check up on you, but since your vital signs are normal now, we can clear you right now".
After a few basic questions, The doctor cleared Trace. After a couple minutes, Trace was free of the wiring. Trace and the doctor stepped out of the room, Trace to greet his friends, and The doctor to guide him to the exit.
Once Trace stepped out of the room, he was surrounded by his friends. Mina was hugging him closely, Kirishima was talking about how manly his fight with All-For-One was, and… well you get the point. He was the center of attention.
The doctor eventually convinced everyone to exit the hospital so he could get to other patients in need.
"Where did all that come from Trace, That was awesome", Mina was at his side, hugging her boyfriend.
"Trace smiled but replied, "I'm really not sure". Trace scratched the back of his head laughing.
Trace was bombarded with questions, such as how he got so powerful, how he was able to stand after taking the attack from All-For-One, and why he was ever there to begin with.
Trace answered to the best of his abilities, but he was unprepared for one question.
Bakugo looked him in the eyes. "So why didn't you follow me once you threw me up to Kirishima".
Trace was surprised but regained his composure quickly. "Trust me, I was right behind you, but he had caught me by my leg and pulled me to him, If I had seen that attack coming, we would have been in the air together, not just you".
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, beside the restaurant. They stopped in a place that makes subs. Everyone had put their orders, but Trace just couldn't decide. He was starving but there were so many delicious choices. He scanned the menu and found something that interested him.
The insanity sub. Filled to the brim with Bacon, lettuce, turkey, ham, chicken, and ghost pepper. Anyone who could finish it in under an hour gets a T-shirt that says, "SUB BOT".
Trace called a waiter over and asked about the insanity sub.
The waiter was surprised but explained how they made their subs. After a quick explanation, Trace asked to take the insanity sub challenge, surprising his class, the teachers, and even the bystanders in the restaurant. The waiter instructed Trace to follow him to the middle of the restaurant, to a table that was easily 20 ft in size.
After a few minutes, a couple waiters brought out the insanity sub, it was easily 20 feet wide, and 10 inches in height and thickness. Trace stared at the sub hungrily. The waitress set a timer for 1 hour.
"THREE", Trace prepared to dig in.
"TWO", no one was ready.
"ONE", for how quick, Trace finishes this.
"GO"!
Trace dug right in, biting straight through 3 or 4 ghost peppers. The heat didn't bother Trace, he was a spicy food person after all. Everyone was cheering him on as he took a second bite, a third bite, a fourth bite.
"WOOOH, GO TRACE", Mina was recording the incident as well as Kirishima, Jiro, Kaminari, Sero, Sato, and many bystanders.
Trace was moving at a fast pace, eating a third of the sandwich in just 3 minutes. Within 10 minutes, the entire sub was gone. Trace had a look of satisfaction as he downed his water.
Everyone began cheering at him, surprised at how quickly he finished that sub.
The manager came out. "What's your name kid".
Trace smiled before proudly saying, "My name is Trace Wilqs".
The manager smiled before handing him a large shirt. "Well Trace Wilqs, you are now in our sub all of fame, so congratulations".
"Thank you sir", Trace shook his hand, feeling pretty proud for once in his life.
After a few people complimented him, Trace and class 1-A left the restaurant. Most of his classmates were saying he had a dragon stomach, causing a few chuckles from Trace and a few other classmates. Trace wasn't used to being the center of attention, but he was happy his friends were happy.
They made it back to the school, where Trace was bombarded with questions. Trace tried to answer them all, but the sheer number of people began overwhelming him.
Mina, sensing his discomfort began pushing through the crowd, guiding Trace away from everyone.
Once they were alone, Trace began breathing again. "Thank you so much Mina, I'm still no good with crowds".
Mina hugged Trace closely. "Anything for my teddy bear". MIna was so relieved he was okay. Words couldn't describe how happy she was that he was standing next to her.
Trace quickly returned the hug. He missed her so much. He wanted to make sure she was safe. That was part of why he stood against One-For-All. He wanted to ensure that his friends were safe, so he stood against, he fought, and he beat All-For-One. He would protect his friends, even if it causes him to be injured. He would risk everything to save his friends. They were all he had.
But Trace knew what he needed to say. He held her chin in his hand and brought her to his gaze. "I wanted to say, that was stupid of me, jumping through with Bakugo, but before any questions arise, let me say, I couldn't stand failing him, that's why I followed him, just so you know the reason". Trace closed his eyes, expecting to get slapped for saying that or possibly she just walked away.
Trace recoiled at a hand touching his face, but it wasn't a slap. She was holding his cheek with her hand. Trace slowly opened his eyes to the warm and caring face of his girlfriend.
"I couldn't be mad at you for saving a life Trace, Bakugo might not have made it if it wasn't for you", Mina brought his face toward hers, resting their foreheads, against each other. "I'm more happy than anything, happy you're safe, happy my family is safe, happy everyone is safe, happy that I can keep sharing tender moments like this one with you, because I love you Tra-".
Trace cut her off, planting his lips against hers. Mina didn't flinch or jump back in surprise. She just enjoyed the kiss. They put all of their passion into this kiss, trying to show the other how much they care for one another. They wanted to protect each other with everything they could. They would be there for the other. Mina began rubbing his ears with a hand while Trace began rubbing her back with one hand. Bolts of pleasure ran through both of them. Eventually they broke the kiss.
"Thank you so much Mina, for being with me through all of this", Trace couldn't show how much gratitude and joy was in him right now.
Mina was in the exact same situation as Trace. "I was about to say the same thing baby".
They just held one another, enjoying the other's warmth.
Their tender moment was cut short by Midnight who cleared her throat to inform the kids of her presence.
Both Mina and Trace turned to face Midnight, a slight blush on Trace, but a look of confusion on Mina.
Midnight pointed down the hall behind her. "All Might wanted to speak to you".
Trace looked at Mina with confusion before turning back to Midnight. "Did he give a reason for wanting to see me?".
Midnight simply smiled before saying, "something about your fight last week".
Trace gave Mina a quick peck on the lips before saying, "I should probably go see him".
(5 minutes later)
Trace knocked at the teacher's lounge, waiting for a response.
The door slid open, revealing All Might standing there.
"Ah, Young Trace, how are you today?".
"Pretty good actually, oh yeah, you said you wanted to see me?".
All Might gestured into the Teacher's Lounge, "Yes, please, do take a seat".
Trace stepped in and took a seat on one of two couches. All Might sat across from him.
"I wanted to talk about your fight with All-For-One, for you see, All-For-One has the power to steal other people's quirks and give them to other people, but you were able to take back your quirks, how were you able to do this?".
Trace put his hand to his chin, thinking hard about it. "I truly don't know. I was fighting him, trying to will myself to damage him, but it wasn't working. I kept telling myself, if I lose here, then look at who I'm abandoning, and I couldn't do that to any of my friends, I couldn't do that to Mina, So I went far beyond my limits. I was using a thousand percent of my power, the whole time I kept telling myself to keep pushing, to keep fighting to the end. The next thing I know, lightning starts shooting out around me, but one of the bolts struck me, then I was going well beyond one thousand percent, I was using a million percent, I broke my limits and pushed myself so much that night".
All Might leaned forward. "I believe you have the power to regain your quirks if they're taken or lost, so villains couldn't remove you powers, which brings me to my reason I called you in here".
Smoke began to form around All Might, eventually, he was hidden in the smoke. After a few seconds, the smoke cleared, revealing All Might, but in his true form. He was tall, but skinny, and didn't seem to scream "Symbol of Peace".
Trace sat there staring at him, bewildered by what he just saw. "What the heck".
All Might lifted his shirt, revealing a pretty bad scar. "Last time I fought One-For-All, he destroyed the majority of my respiratory system, I'm only able to maintain my hero for one hour right now, so I thought I should pass my quirk on to someone else", All Might rose to his feet. "Trace Wilqs, are you willing to be the ninth holder of One-For-All".
Trace didn't hesitate at all. He took All Might's hand in his own. "Yes, I will use the power to protect others, I will make sure I use it to the best of my abilities".
All Might began to smile. "Okay, but I must warn you, to gain my quirk, you need to ingest my DNA", All Might reached up to his hair and pulled one from his head.
Trace watched all of this with confusion. Trace reluctantly took the strand of hair from All Might, and put it in his mouth. He swallowed it as quickly as possible as he was exactly thrilled about having hair in his mouth. "I don't think I have ever done anything remotely close to that".
All Might kept a serious face the whole time. "It will take a few hours for the power to come to you, for now, all we can do is wait, so prepare to move into your dorm".
Trace looked at All Might with a ton of confusion. "Dorms?".
All Might's eyes widened, realizing they forgot to ask Trace. "Apologies, we must have forgotten to tell you, we are having all the students move into dorms to furthur watch over our students and ensure their safety".
"When are we supposed to move into these dorms?".
"Tomorrow".
Trace smirked, "Then I should head home and get ready to move, thank you All Might".
Trace walked out of the room, and began heading home. After all, he needed to pack.
Mina was waiting outside at the gate for him. When she saw Trace, she lit up, bouncing up and down practically. Trace wrapped her in a hug she eagerly returned. They truly loved each other. They were shields to the other's swords.
Trace looked at her eyes. Those beautiful eyes. He could get lost in those golden eyes of hers. They leaned forward, meeting the other halfway, planting their lips onto the other's lips. They would sit there for 5 minutes, simply enjoying the other's embrace. They were making up for a week of time lost. They wanted to hold the other as long as they could. Trace began smiling.
"I love you so much MIna, don't ever forget it", Trace was running a hand up and down her back.
Mina was rubbing his ears with one hand. "I will love you for an eternity babe, so don't worry about me forgetting".
They came together for one final kiss before separating. They each began to walk to their homes, waving at the other as they walked.
Once Mina turned the corner, Trace turned to his house, a huge smile on his face. He just realized he would live in the same building as Mina.
"This should be fun".
