Beta'd by Greed720 and HardwinPotter

Himiko kicked her bar stool and hummed happily as she sucked on a vial of stolen blood, Muscular held a compress against his damaged synthetic eye as he nursed a beer, and Twice played chess against himself, losing spectacularly to the white pieces. His tongue was black as he drank the beer Kurogiri left for him.

"Wow, this game sucks. I'm having so much fun!"

"Will you shut up?" Muscular growled. "You're giving me a headache."

"Really?" Himiko asked. "I would've thought you got a headache already from getting kicked in the face."

Kurogiri had to warp Muscular away to keep him from punching her. Standning in between the two fighting villains, Kurogiri asked Twice, "Feel anything from that refined Trigger?"

"I feel absolutely amazing! Makes me want to vomit."

"There's beds in the back if you need to crash." Kurogiri warped a bucket next to him and went back behind the bar.

Spinner sharpened his unwieldy, many-bladed sword as he grumbled about how he hadn't been able to kill the false heroes, while Magne pushed a beer at him. "Don't get so worked up about it, these things happen," Magne said. "It didn't help that the one guy could erase my Quirk. Getting out of there was all we could do up against all those heroes. I'd hate to end up like Moonfish, though I can't say I'm sad to see him gone."

Spinner slammed his pint on the counter. "If we don't stand and fight against those heroes, who will? Shigaraki's the only one I've seen take them on, and I don't want to let him down."

Shigaraki scratched at the irritated skin on his neck as he watched the roiling cloud of black mist. "Will they hurry it up? I'm getting bored."

"There appears to be more resistance than we anticipated," Kurogiri said, "But it shouldn't be much longer.

"I should have gone along. They would all be dead with a single touch."

"Sensei told you to remain here for a reason. You need to learn how to delegate." Kurogiri took Spinner's glass, scowled at the crack left in the bottom, and set it in the trash. "You can't spearhead every mission, so you need subordinates you can trust to give orders as well as take them."

Shigaraki grumbled under his breath, but stopped short as the newest arrival came through. Compress sauntered into the bar and twirled a blue sphere between his fingers.

"A fine performance, if I do say so myself, though it is a shame that the bonus prize slipped away. Ah well."

"You have him?" Shigaraki asked.

Compress flourished a blue sphere. "One Bakugo Katsuki, in the palm of my hand. Do you have the other package I sent along?"

Shigaraki scowled and took a second blue sphere, this one containing Ragdoll, from his pocket. "I wanted Midoriya. I still haven't gotten back at him for U.A."

"Our interest in Midoriya is only to satisfy the wishes of a client," Kurogiri said. "Bakugo was the more important prize. With a powerhouse like him on our side, the Vanguard Action Squad will be complete, and turning him will be a huge blow to the credibility of the Hero Association."

Dabi came through, but as he stepped inside, a gray scarf reached out and snagged his arm, pulling him part of the way back through.

"Close it," Shigaraki growled.

"Not with his arm stuck in there," Kurogiri said. "I don't want his blood inside of me."

As Shigaraki stormed over to the portal, Dabi smirked and said, "Nice to see you care so much, boss."

"Shut up."

At Shigaraki's touch, the scarf fell apart strand by strand. The fibers recoiled away from the damage like a living animal, but within seconds, the scarf was severed.

In the instant before Kurogiri closed the portal, another person leapt through. Himiko threw a knife and Dabi lashed out with his fire, but the mystery assailant dodged boht attacks. Within the span of a few seconds, Shigaraki's sphere got swiped from his hand, Compress took a knee to the ribs and lost Bakugo, Kurogiri screamed and collapsed to the floor when a metal disc latched onto him, and the figure made their getaway through a kicked-down door.

Shigaraki stared at the open door, confused at first by what he had just seen, until the shock of Midoriya's sudden entrance wore off.

"What the hell are you all sitting around for?" Shigaraki asked. "Get him!"

As the League of Villains members rushed out, Shigaraki muttered to himself, "I should have killed him when I had the chance."

Shigaraki's shouts for his blood followed Izuku out as he sprinted through the dimly lit alleyways. A few grapples along the fire escapes carried him well away from the villain hideout, but the display on his visor showed he was nearly out of pressurized air.

In a secluded alley where he knew he'd have a few minutes, he squeezed the blue orb until it popped, spilling Katsuki out in front of him. Katsuki hit the ground on his back, scrambled to his feet, and looked at the brick walls in confusion.

"Deku," Bakugo growled, "Where are we and how did I get here?"

"We don't have much time. The League of Villains is close by, and I'm low on air. I won't be able to get away when they find us."

Sparks flew as Katsuki slapped his hands together. "Then we crush them."

"There's too many, and they have someone with a duplication Quirk. They have a never-ending supply of villains to throw at us."

"Take him out, then take the rest."

"I have a Quirk, Kacchan."

Katsuki flinched as if he had been struck. "Deku… what?"

"Had one this whole time."

"You… why are you saying this?"

"My Quirk shows me the future."

"You can see the…" both Katsuki and Izuku said at the same time. "What the, how are you… stop copying me!"

"I already know everything you're going to say," Izuku said, breaking the tandem speech. "I know that the villains are going to follow the blood stains here."

"Blood stains?" Katsuki's eyes roamed down to the drenched bandage at Izuku's side. "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

"I will be fine, once you get All Might here."

Katsuki was sweating and he was breathing heavily. He looked ready to break under the unending stream of world-shattering revelations. Flinging an explosion at the wall, Katsuki shouted, "Hell with that, I'm not leaving you!"

"I know you're going to." Izuku pressed the sphere containing Ragdoll and the device tracking Izuku into his hands. "Ragdoll needs medical attention, as soon as possible. There's no time for both of us to be fighting here. Give the tracker to All Might, and get her to the hospital as soon as possible."

Katsuki looked down at the primitive GPS display and the glowing green dot that marked Izuku's position. "This whole time, you could see the future?"

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, you need to get out of here before the League kills us both."

Katsuki gritted his teeth and muffled pops came from his clenched fists. "I know I've been a shitty friend. Hell, I haven't even been that much. I made your life hell for the last ten years, and for what? This whole time, you had a Quirk. Why didn't you say anything?" Tears welled up in Katsuki's eyes. "Why did you let me do all that to you?"

"You have to go. I promise I'll explain everything. Just be a good friend for once in your life and trust me, please."

Katsuki growled with frustration and threw another explosion. "Fine! I'll go. Just… don't die, okay?"

"I won't. Now go, there's no time."

Katsuki stuffed the tracking device in his pocket and sprinted off. The moment he cleared the alleyway, he launched himself into the air with blasts from his palms. With the minute Izuku had, he used the last of his air to string wires along the length of the alley, forming a dense web to swing from. He held one hooked blade in his left hand and had a whip of wire unfurled in his right.

As he waited, voices and footsteps grew closer. Magne said, "Those explosions came from around here. You still got that trail?"

"He's close," Himiko purred. "I can taste him already. Ooh, I wonder how he looks with all that blood dripping off of him. Can't wait to make some more!"

Spinner rounded the corner first and spotted him. "He's been waiting for us," he said, nodding at the wires. "Where's your friend?"

Izuku feigned a glance at a rooftop and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Spinner followed his gaze and tensed. "Watch for an ambush. The other one's waiting nearby."

"Don't worry, I'll get him." Magne hefted her magnet over her shoulder.

Gravity flipped itself as Izuku was pulled towards the villains. Izuku landed feet-first on a wire near ground level, crouching sideways as the wire bent under his weight. His whip snapped out, grabbing hold of the magnet and pulling Magne forward. As the force disappeared, Izuku slid his feet off and let the last of the magnetic Quirk pull him towards Magne.

His knee collided with her face. Her nose crumpled under the impact and spurted blood. As she tipped backwards, Izuku swept a foot behind her leg, tripping her completely, while the blunt side of his sword collided with her head. She hit the ground with a soft moan.

"Meanie!" Himiko shouted as she sliced at Izuku's back. "It's not nice to hit girls like that!"

Izuku parried the knife with his sword while he drew the other one. Himiko danced back as Izuku lashed out with both blades. Spinner lunged at him from behind. Izuku sidestepped, snagged his shirt with the blade's hook, and kicked him in the chest.

Spinner leveled his blade and stood in front of Himiko. "Take Magne and get the others," he said. "I'll keep him busy."

"Aww, but I want to play with him!"

"He already got one of us, and I don't think we can take him. Just hurry up."

"Fine, but you better save some blood for me!"

Himiko downed a vial of blood and turned into Muscular. She gently lifted Magne over one shoulder, gave a last look back at Spinner, and sprinted back the way she came.

Once Himiko was gone, Spinner lowered his sword. "I saw the Sports Festival," he said. "I didn't think much of you at first. You were good, but I didn't care. I thought you were an entitled brat, like all the rest. But when you said you were Quirkless, and when I saw those scars during that final round, I wanted you to win more than anything. And you did." Spinner chuckled. "I was actually crying for you when you did it, you crazy bastard. Haven't been that happy for a long time."

"Why are you with the League of Villains?" Izuku asked.

"Nowhere else for me to go. I've been a villain for a long time, kid. Growing up, everyone picked on me for, well, this," he said, gesturing at his scaly body. "It's not as bad these days, but back then, when full-body animal-based Quirks were less common, a lot of people treated you like an animal. I had lunches swapped out with crickets and ice packs shoved down my shirt."

"I wanted to be a hero more than anything," Spinner said. "Failed the exams, though. I sucked at school. Fell in with a bad crowd, and before I knew it, I had a criminal record. Not much else you can do at that point except become a villain."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. It's my fault anyways. There wasn't anyone like you when I was growing up. All the heroes were perfect and had powerful Quirks. Deep down, I guess I knew I couldn't be like them. I never really tried. It wasn't until the entrance exam that it hit me exactly how much I needed to put into it to achieve that dream. All these years, I thought it was impossible. I thought I was an idiot for even trying. Seeing you, however, made me wonder if I could have made it, if I had just worked hard enough at it. More importantly, I'm wondering how many kids like you and me were watching you and finally had someone tell them that they could do it too."

Spinner set his sword on the ground. "I still hate all the other heroes, and I still hate this system. I want Shigaraki-san to burn it all to the ground. But you? I can't kill you. Just go. I'll tell the others you went a different way."

"Thanks, but I'd never make it," Izuku said. He pulled back the bandage to show the bullet wound. "I can only buy Kacchan time to get away."

Spinner's eyes widened. "I… I can take you to a hospital. You'll be fine, I - shit, kid, I can't let you die."

"The others would catch us." Izuku gave Spinner a smile and said, "I thought everyone was going to die, but I saved them. I don't mind what's going to happen next."

"You can't die. You're the only real hero, Deku."

Izuku raised his swords. "It would look bad if your friends caught us standing around and talking."

Spinner gawked at him. "Are you trying to save me too?"

"I'll save as many people as I can."

Spinner wiped tears out of his eyes and said, "It would be an honor to cross swords with you."

"Don't hold back."

Izuku struck with his right hookblade. Spinner sidestepped and swung his own sword up, clearly pulling the blow. Izuku snagged the blade with a hook and drove his knee into Spinner's chest.

"You held back," Izuku said.

"Sorry," Spinner said as he rubbed his chest, "Won't make that mistake again."

Spinner lashed out this time, the many edges of his weapon aimed at Izuku's neck. Izuku ducked, blocked Spinner's punch with his forearm, and struck again. The rasp of steel edges sliding against each other, the clang of metal on metal, and grunts of pain and exertion hung in the air between them, drowning out the gentle wind and ambient noises from the sleeping city.

"What are the hooks for?" Spinner asked as their blades locked together in a contest of strength. "They don't seem that helpful against other blades."

Izuku pushed back. Spinner had more muscle, but Izuku had height and leverage on his side. With a final shove, he sent Spinner sprawling back. Hooking a blade onto a wire, Izuku pulled himself up and vanished from Spinner's view.

Spinner looked around the alley, never thinking to look up. As he stepped underneath Izuku's position, Izuku dropped down and swung the flat of his sword at the back of Spinner's head. Spinner whirled and blocked the blow at an awkward angle. He stumbled back and caught himself by pushing his tail against the ground.

"Neat trick," Spinner said as he ran forward. "You can pull yourself up with those?"

Mid-swing, Izuku snagged a wire and hauled himself over the sweep of Spinner's blade. A foot kicked out, hitting Spinner in the snout. Izuku pulled up and off the wire and brought both swords together for a powerful downward blow. Spinner barely deflected the dual-bladed attack and countered by whipping his tail at Izuku's face. Izuku let the blow fall, pushed through it, and elbowed Spinner in the side.

Spinner laughed as he clutched his side. "This is pretty fun. Makes me wonder how quickly you'd kick my ass if you weren't bleeding out."

Izuku lashed out faster than Spinner could react, catching him on the side of the head with the blunt side of a hookblade. As Spinner dropped to the ground, Izuku said, "Sorry about that."

As Spinner struggled back to his feet, a Nomu rushed into the alley. Izuku pulled himself up a wire and over the monster, allowing it to scoop up Spinner.

A gout of blue fire rushed towards Izuku. He bounded away, leaping from wire to wire as the flames followed him.

"Come quietly and I'll make this quick," Dabi said as blue flames flickered from his arms. "You really don't want to know how painful it can be getting burned alive."

Izuku sheathed a hookblade and drew the pistol. A bullet slammed into Dabi's chest. His features melted into mud as he crumpled to the ground.

"Oh my god, he shot Dabi," Twice said. "You bastard!"

"Great to know he's got a fucking gun," the real Dabi said dryly from behind the cover of a building. "Hard to believe U.A. let him have it."

"Actually, he took it off of that shrimpy kid, what's his name," Himiko said. "Bah, who cares, let me at him!"

"Just send some more clones at him." Dabi smirked and said, "He'll run out of bullets eventually."

"You got it! Don't tell me what to do!"

Spinner clones leapt from Twice's hands. They sprinted down the alley, leaping back and forth to throw off Izuku's aim. Three shots rang out, and three clones melted away.

"Make more Nomu," Dabi suggested. "The small fry will never make it."

"They'd vanish in one shot too. What a brilliant idea!" Instead of the Nomu, Twice made five copies of Himiko. As they ran into the oncoming bullets, Himiko grinned and said, "Hey, wait for me!"

"You idiot, he's not out of bullets yet!"

The five clones each took a bullet between the eyes. As the real Himiko approached him, Izuku parried her knife and pulled her behind him. The hook caught the leg of her pants and tripped her forward.

Dabi watched two more Spinners run into the alley and get gunned down while Izuku fended off Himiko. Dabi watched, making sure he was never in the line of fire, and suggested, "Make two copies of myself. I want to test something."

"You got it! I don't care!"

Three Dabis lined up and threw fire at Izuku. Two shots rang out. Two clones fell over. Both Izuku and Himiko had to leap away as blue fire engulfed the spot where they had stood.

"He can tell the clones apart," Dabi shouted over his shoulder.

"That's amazing! How rude!"

"And the kid's not shooting real people." Dabi lit his arms up and strode forward. "Guess I get to run a bit wild."

Himiko made herself scarce as Dabi flooded the alley with fire. Izuku leapt from wire to wire, climbing over the inferno as it nipped at his heels. When he reached his highest wires, Izuku pulled himself back with one wire and aimed with the other. He waited until the flames thinned out and launched himself towards Dabi. His foot connected with Dabi's shoulder, throwing the villain back into a tree.

Twice cowered as Izuku approached. He threw out two malformed Musculars. Both exploded as Izuku shot them.

"No, please. I don't know if I'm real!"

Izuku's sword stopped an inch short of Twice's forehead. The villain stared at the sword, eyes transfixed. Trembling violently, Twice sank to his knees and muttered unintelligibly to himself. Foam bubbled up around the corners of his mouth, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out.

"Using his trauma against him?" Dabi asked. "That's cold."

Flames whirled about Dabi, but they proved no deterrent to Izuku. The blunt edges caught Dabi in the ribs. As he fell back, he threw fire in Izuku's direction, and Izuku leapt to the side.

"You know, this is the part where most heroes would quip about how hot I'm making things. What are they teaching you kids these days?"

"Do you know Shoto-san?" Izuku asked.

Dabi's flames faltered. "How did-" He shook himself and said, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Doesn't matter."

In that split second of hesitation, Izuku lashed out with a whip, snagging Dabi by his face. He dragged Dabi forward and cold-cocked him with the hilt of his sword. When he toppled forward, Izuku helped him gently to the ground.

Muscular sauntered up to the alleyway. He wiped blood off his face from his shattered synthetic eye as he examined the fallen villains. "Wow, these chumps couldn't even take you on all together! Still, I should be thanking them. Now I get to kill you myself!"

Muscles grew until they broke through his skin. Bulked up to the size of a Nomu, Muscular ran forward, nearly trampling Twice. Izuku sprinted back into the alley and latched onto a wire with a hookblade. He swung vertically, letting Muscular pass under him.

As Muscular turned around, Izuku raised his other blade. He looped all the way around the wire and stabbed his sword at Muscular's head. Muscular only had time for a wide-eyed stare of fear before the hooked point plunged into his one remaining eye.

"That's for Kota," Izuku said as he pulled the blade free.

Muscular howled with rage and held a hand over the bleeding eye. "Deku, you bastard! I'm going to crush every last bone in your body!"

Muscular flailed blindly, crashing through the brick walls in his path. Izuku followed along, nimbly avoiding the falling debris and Muscular's arms, until an exposed stairwell gave him the height he needed to knock Muscular in the back of the head.

As the rubble settled, Ochako sauntered up to him. She looked down at the unconscious Muscular and the slowly growing pool of blood around his head. "Wow, that's a lot of blood! I should be mad, but I never liked him anyways. Want to be besties?"

Midoriya blandly regarded the impostor Ochako. Himiko looked down at herself and said, "Oh, right. Forgot I had this. Had this whole 'pretend to be your classmate' thing planned out, but it was a stupid idea anyways. Off we go!"

Ochako's features melted into gray sludge, exposing Himiko underneath. Izuku pointedly looked away.

"I'm really impressed. At first, I thought you were just a goody two-shoes since you didn't make anyone bleed. Muscular, though, taking his other eye was hilarious!"

"It had to be done," Izuku said.

"Yeah, sure it did." Himiko's voice dripped with sarcasm. "You could have just knocked him out like everyone else. Instead, you made him bleed, and you know why. You wanted to."

Izuku didn't bother to argue the point. What his Quirk showed him, had to happen. It didn't matter what he wanted. And besides, it wasn't like he wanted to make Muscular suffer for threatening a child, right? Even if, Izuku admitted to himself, he did deserve it.

"You mind if I take some of your blood? You smell really tasty."

Himiko had crept closer, syringe in hand, her footsteps inaudible despite the rubble littering the room. Despite her stealth, the second she lunged, Izuku whirled and snapped the syringe with a hook. The other blade slammed into her head.

Izuku stumbled out of the wreckage of the building. Half his wires lay on the ground, as the wall anchoring them had given away under Muscular's rampage. The smell of greasy smoke and crumbled mortar tickled Izuku's nose, prompting a sneeze. He leaned against a wall to catch his breath, readying himself for the final battle of the night.

Two Nomu blocked either end of the alleyway. Shigaraki walked up between them and said, "Well, isn't this just embarrassing? The entire Vanguard Action Squad can't take down a single Quirkless hero wannabe."

"You lost," Izuku said, swords drawn. "Nobody died. I made sure of that."

"Well, isn't this nostalgic? I remember you saying something similar at the USJ. This time, however, there's no All Might to save you. Nomu, get him."

Izuku leapt up a wire as two Nomu charged. With his last three bullets, he fired three times into an exposed brain, bringing down one of the monsters. The other grabbed for him, its oversized hand closing around the wire Izuku stood on. When it pulled, it toppled a building. Muscular had already weakened. Despite the masonry crashing down on it, the Nomu tracked Izuku's climb along his wires. With a single leap, it cleared the thirty-foot distance between them and lunged for him. Izuku twirled mid-air, sliced at the Nomu's neck with both swords, and rode the monster to the ground. The shock from the impact drove the points of both hookblades through the back of the Nomu's head, skewering its brain.

Finally spent, Izuku let his blades slip from his grasp and slumped to the ground. Shigaraki approached warily, letting one Nomu guard him.

"You're supposed to be cannon fodder," Shigaraki said as he kicked Izuku's leg. "Just a random NPC to help me level up. Instead, you completely wiped my entire party. I hate games with shitty balance."

At this point, Izuku was too exhausted to respond, much less fight. He had done everything he could to delay until All Might could arrive. Without him around, he knew that this time, his future would play out as he saw it. His mind wandered back to the faces of his classmates as he last saw them, huddled in Monoma's fortifications, chasing after Compress, helping the Pussycats, or tagging along with Aizawa. Every single one, accounted for and saved, all because of him.

"You came at the worst possible time too. Sensei's helping the Doctor with an experiment and most of the new Nomu aren't ready. Good thing I don't need them. I'm strong enough by myself, and now I get to prove it."

Shigaraki knelt, his hand reaching towards Izuku's chest. Izuku closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.

Wind rushed past his face, wind that he hadn't felt before. He opened his eyes and saw All Might towering in front of him, holding a Nomu back with both hands. Shigaraki shakily stood up from thirty feet away, where All Might's punch had knocked him into a pile of bricks. He wiped blood away from his lips and said, "Are you fucking kidding me? Another deus ex machina appearance from you?"

"That's quite enough, Shigaraki." All Might suplexed the Nomu, crushing its brain into the cement. "You're under arrest."

Shigaraki didn't seem to hear him. Lost in rage, Shigaraki dragged his hands along the nearest wall, decaying it into powdered brick. The last Nomu stood guard, waiting for orders from its master.

"Kill him!"

As the Nomu leapt forward, black mist swallowed it up. Kurogiri stepped through where it had once been. "We're not ready," he said.

"Screw you! He ruined everything again! I'll kill him!"

"We have to retreat, it's our only option." As Shigaraki struggled and even tried to decay him, Kurogiri added, "Think of it as… one of those unbeatable bosses you have to run away from."

"Those are the worst kind," Shigaraki growled. He took a deep breath and clenched his hands. "Fine. Let's go."

Once the villains were gone, All Might knelt next to Izuku, the portable tracker still in his hands. Exhausted from blood loss and nearly an hour of nonstop fighting, Izuku chuckled weakly and said, "Guess it worked after all."

At the hidden Nomu lab, Kurogiri knelt before All for One, awaiting his punishment for the night's failure. He flinched when a hand patted his shoulder.

"Relax, Kurogiri. Though I am disappointed, this will be a good learning experience for Tomura."

Kurogiri relaxed and hid a relieved smile. "Should I go after Ragdoll?"

"Leave it. It was more idle curiosity than anything else that made me interested in that Quirk." All for One grinned at the tanks of growing high-end Nomu and vials filled with refined Trigger. "I'll let All Might live in blissful ignorance for just a little while longer."

A/N: part of the reason why the last chapter had such rushed fight scenes is because this is where the real sakuga is. Didn't feel like dwelling on the forest fights when those were largely the same when this fight is entirely new.

To Bibliophile, an interesting theory, but I decided against making Izuku's Quirk sentient. Izuku certainly thinks of it that way, but the truth is a bit harder for him to swallow.

To Call Me Bas, I love it when someone picks up on subtle word choice.

To StillHere, thank you a ton for pointing that out. Embarrassingly enough, I made the edits to chapter forty, but when I went to upload the changes, instead of replacing the old Ch40 with the new Ch40, I, uh… replaced Ch41 with itself. Whoops! That whole week I've been operating off of half a brain cell. Now it's fixed for sure.

That's it for now. Slap some more reviews and favorites on this story, and we might hit 1k and 2k respectively! Wouldn't that be exciting? Anyways, see you all next week!