Beta'd by Greed720 and HardwinPotter

All Might and All for One vanished into blurs as they zipped around the campus. Shockwaves from each blow buffeted trees and shattered windows. Crust threw up a dome to keep debris from flying at the assembled heroes as they watched the battle unfold.

Endeavor raised a hand and spun his flames into a Hellfire Fist, but Izuku put a hand up in front of him.

"Not yet. We're the reserves for if All Might falters, remember? We need to be fresh and ready for that moment."

Mirko stamped a foot and said, "Are we seriously just going to sit and watch while those two duke it out?"

"You wouldn't last five seconds out there, bun-bun," Crust said in a mirthless voice. "I'm not sure any of us would."

The other heroes watched silently as powers beyond anything they had ever imagined possible clashed outside the safety of their dome. A punch from All Might sent All for One careening through the center of the front entrance. With the gap bridging them demolished, the two curved towers crumpled inwards.

As the debris settled, a blast of air scattered one side of the pile. From the hollow in the debris, All for One walked out and dusted himself off. Despite the tremendous impact, All for One's attire remained immaculate as ever. The villain turned towards the news crew recording the battle from a helicopter and smiled.

"A valiant effort," All for One said to All Might, his voice augmented by a Quirk to reach the helicopter, "But I think it's time we move on to the main event. I wouldn't want the audience to get bored."

All Might look looked back at the helicopter. Only his years of experience and training kept him from grimacing. Izuku had told him his shrunken appearance would make the news in his future. Thinking back to the other times his Quirk burned within him, All Might tried to summon the power to change his fate.

He felt One for All stir within him, but no strain. A sense of patience washed over him. Within that Quirk resided the wills of those that came before them. He told himself to have faith in them and charged forward.

A blue and black vortex whirled across the campus, leaving upheaved dirt and concrete chunks in its wake. The shockwaves grew more and more ferocious with each blow, knocking over U.A.'s walls and clawing at the city that lay outside. Gusts of wind flailed around the campus like writhing snakes, yet the helicopter watching from afar remained untouched by the turbulence.

The blurs froze. All for One's fist planted itself in All Might's left side. All Might faltered, pain visible on his face. He threw a punch, and All for One leaned aside, letting it brush his mask. Another fist slammed into All Might's old wound. Blood dribbled down All Might's chin. Coughing, All Might pressed forward, throwing punch after punch. All for One smoothly deflected and ducked around each one. All Might sidestepped the third punch, but the fourth caught him in his injury once more. Blood spurted out of All Might's mouth, staining his costume. Steam curled from his hulking form as his muscles visibly shrank, millimeter by millimeter.

With a defiant shout, All Might punched one last time. All for One took it on the face without flinching. Stunned, All Might gaped as All for One threw another punch into his left side. Steam burst in a hissing cloud around All Might as he staggered back. His blood-stained costume hung limply around his shrunken form. Stumbling on a concrete block, All Might fell onto his back and struggled to rise.

All Might grabbed Toshinori by the collar of his costume and held him before the news helicopter. "This," he said, voice booming, "Is the real All Might. A husk of his former self, propped up by the image of the invincible hero spun for him by the Hero Commission and U.A. This is your Symbol of Peace. This is your hero system, your protection, your safety, all of it a lie. Today, all of you will know the truth of this world. The truth is, there are no heroes. There are no villains. There are only people."

All Might pulled feebly at All for One's sleeve as he struggled to break free. The villain tightened his grip. All Might clawed at his throat, gasping for air as like a fish yanked from the sea.

"All Might, like any other person on this planet, is just another man," All for One said. "I know how hard it is for you all to believe, after years of watching him do the impossible. That's why I'm going to show you, in a way you can't possibly deny, that he's a lie. I'll do the same to every person that calls themselves a hero until only people remain. So, people of the world, watch closely as I break this rotten system in half."

All Might turned blue as the grip around his neck grew even tighter. All for One cocked back a fist and called out every physical enhancement Quirk at his disposal, preparing a blow that would shake the foundations of the world itself.

A grapple snared All for One's arm and yanked him back, breaking his concentration. Mirko slammed a kick into his elbow, jarring his grip enough for Best Jeanist to pull All Might free with denim threads. A wall of flame sprung up around All for One. By the time the villain blew it away, All Might had vanished.

"I had waited seven years for that moment." All for One's voice dripped with venom. "I'll see each of you suffer for spoiling it."

Rather than stand and fight on open ground, the nine pros split up and ran for the artificial city on campus, while Izuku guarded their retreat. All for One aimed crippling blows at the heroes with shards of metal made by one of his Quirks, but each time Izuku moved in the way, the villain aborted the attempt. When All for One had decided to engage Izuku directly, the student grappled away after the heroes.

Perhaps All for One might have taken the reprieve as a chance to locate and finish off All Might, or summon reinforcements, but the lure of the precognitive Quirk right in front of him pulled him into the city. The moment he stepped in between two buildings, Yoroi Musha and Gang Orca both jumped him. A sonic pulse forced All for One to brace himself, while Yoroi Musha slashed at the collar housing his life support. The blade left a shallow cut, sparing his life support, yet exposing it to future attacks.

All for One punched at the elderly hero with inhuman speed, but a thin black coil, Edgeshot's folded body, yanked Yoroi Musha out of harm's way. To cover their retreat, Endeavor filled the street with fire, while Wash kept the worst of the flames off Gang Orca with a blast of water.

Steam hung like a veil over All for One. His vision, given to him by an infrared-sensing Quirk, saw his surroundings as a swirling cloud of static, yet he could pick out the shapes of Ryukyu and Crust lying in wait for him. He barreled forward, crashing through layer after layer of shields, only to find himself tangled in a denim web. The threads tore as he yanked his way free, but while he struggled, Ryukyu grew until she towered over him in her draconic form. She stomped him into the ground, while Crust layered more shields over him to keep him buried.

Rather than fight his way back up, into another ambush, All for One dug through the soil. He shifted the ground around him until he emerged in another alley. He came out to a deluge of water from Wash forcing him back down the hole. Completely submerged, All for One activated his air filtration Quirk. Intended to combat airborne Quirks, air filtration also served to filter oxygen out of the water.

Gang Orca dove down one side. Through the other, Ryukyu's draconic body swam gracefully towards him, her wings and body reshaped for an aquatic environment. His mobility hampered by the water, All for One bolstered his defenses as the two heroes slammed into him. A burst of electricity drove Gang Orca back, but the current danced across Ryukyu's scales to no effect.

All for One hardened his defenses while he cycled through his Quirks. Too few of them had utility underwater, while others would bring the rock overhead down on him. Attaching air filtration to his metal projectiles, All for One made air bubbles ahead of the metal stakes, flinging them without the water slowing them down. Gang Orca swam nimbly through the water, dodging every shot, but Ryukyu presented too large a target to miss. The sharpened iron stakes drew blood as they gouged out her scales.

With his next shot, All for One fired a stake with a thin wire attached to it and aimed for a gap in Ryukyu's scales. When it stuck in, he sent all the charge he could muster through it, bypassing Ryukyu's scales. The reptilian hero screamed and thrashed as electric current coursed through her muscles.

Gang Orca fired a sonic burst from behind, breaking All for One's concentration. Ryukyu wrenched the stake out and swam to the surface. Gang Orca also left. As All for One ran to follow, he felt the water's temperature rise drastically. Tiny bubbles rose from the stone beneath him, and the violent current made by the temperature gradient pushed him back.

All for One checked the other exit. Crust's barriers blocked the way. Even using air filtration around his fists, using as many Quirks as he could handle at once, he couldn't break through more than a couple of barriers at a time without sacrificing his vision or his breathing.

His vision went white as the heat crept up behind him. His mask kept his head protected, but his suit did nothing to stop the pins and needles sensation from the water around him gradually approaching his boiling point.

As everything around him was a white blur from the heat, All for One dismissed his thermal vision and punched his way even faster through the barriers. He climbed his way up, feeling more and more light-headed with every barrier he crashed through. Gasping for air, All for One checked his Quirk. It still functioned, yet he couldn't breathe.

Bubbles of water vapor danced around his arms and legs. When he felt the water boiling around him, he realized why he felt short of breath. Less oxygen would dissolve in hot water. Between the water heating up and his own exertions, he had used up every bit of oxygen in the water.

At this rate, he'd die not of some grand, climactic battle against the world's strongest heroes, but by drowning. His oxygen-starved mind felt betrayed by that. He had always given the people he killed swift and respectable deaths. Why couldn't they give him the same honor?

Abandoning his air filtration Quirk and even the regenerative Quirks keeping his body's decay at bay, All for One poured everything into breaking out of his prison. With one titanic smash, every barrier thrown in his way shattered.

As rubble and boiling water rained around him, All for One staggered back onto dry land. He took a deep breath, then another. Even with his life support helping, the air felt scorching hot in his throat. His dizziness grew worse, and he sank to one knee as he reapplied his air filtration Quirk in a desperate search for oxygen.

Still unable to breathe, All for One reactivated his sight and flinched as the sheer heat around him nearly blinded him. Yet, that one glimpse he had was enough to show him his current plight. Endeavor had made a fiery tornado, sucking every bit of oxygen out of the air around him, while Crust built a dome to seal him in. Through the shimmering flames, he couldn't tell where any of the heroes were.

Knowing he had seconds before he passed out, All for One threw every strength augmentation he had into his arm and charged forward. The resulting smash shattered Crust's barrier and decimated the city in front of him with a titanic shockwave. Buffeted by powerful winds, Endeavor's fiery tornado flew apart, and oxygen rushed back into the air.

All for One took one sweet, intoxicating breath before he had the wind knocked out of him. Mirko slammed kick after kick in his gut, making All for One gasp feebly. Still dizzy from lack of oxygen, he could barely block while he sorted out his Quirks. A quick healing boost kept his body from falling apart, and shock absorption deadened Mirko's blows.

The moment he activated shock absorption, Mirko backflipped, and Yoroi Musha rushed in from beneath her. His first slice deepened the gash in his life support, while the second grazed his abdomen. His healing Quirks closed the cut before he lost any blood, but the sudden pain made his breath hitch.

All for One shoved Yoroi Musha away with a blast of pressurized air, only for Mirko and Gang Orca to both pounce on him. With one hit after another barreling into him, his shock absorption quickly reached its limit, and once again, he found himself gasping for air.

"Enough of this," All for One rasped. "I won't make the mistake of underestimating you again."

The ancient villain smiled to himself as he called upon terrakinesis. Beneath the feet, he felt the ground thrum with energy. With a flick of his hand, half the street launched into the air, taking Mirko and Gang Orca with it. All for One forced the debris together around the heroes in mid-air. Webs of denim and Edgeshot's folded body snagged them both before they were ground to paste.

Out of the corner of his eye, All for One saw a brilliant spear of hellfire racing towards him. A flick of his hand threw up a wall of stone and shoved it at the Flame Hero. Water pounded him from the other side. A whole ring sprung up around him, giving All for One the reprieve he needed to breathe.

Leaning against a wall, All for One's chest heaved as he sucked in huge gulps of air. The pins and needles sensation stinging every stretch of skin on his body gradually faded, and his legs felt steady underneath him.

Before All for One felt satisfied with his break, a whole bandolier of grenades flew up and over his wall. Crust's hexagonal shields sealed him in with them. All for One flung up a wall of earth to cover the explosives, but the sheer force of their detonation blew shards of rock everywhere in his confined space. He stopped jagged points within inches of his chest.

In the safety of the sealed dome, All for One reflected on the fight. Individually, the heroes posed no threat to him, but through a precognitive Quirk whose scope he couldn't guess at, each move they made fell perfectly in sync with each other. The fewer heroes that Quirk had to work with, the fewer options it would have.

If he wanted that Quirk, he needed to put a decisive end to this fight.

All for One flung the rock outward in a massive explosion and scoured the streets for any sign of the heroes. They had all left, though his thermal vision picked up a bright spot in the distance from Endeavor's flames. Not bothering to get closer, All for One reached through the earth and crushed the glowing spark with a mountain of rock.

He brought the remains closer, to verify the hero's death. The moment he glimpsed inside the twisted hunk of rock, the explosives buried inside went off. Shrapnel tore at his mask, leaving nicks and cracks across its surface, but All for One shielded himself on instinct, protecting everything else.

Off in the distance, more heat shimmers caught his eye, all shaped and heated to mimic the forms of other heroes. Not bothering to check any of them, All for One crushed each of them as they popped up. He knew they would all be fakes and instead watched for a possible ambush. The air stirred, a subtle swirl of heat so subtle he almost missed it amidst the bright points distracting him. He threw up a guard, but Gang Orca crashed through it and slammed him into the air.

Disconnected from the earth, All for One switched out his Quirks and fired metal stakes at Gang Orca. A burst of water swept the projectiles aside and knocked him higher into the air.

All for One let gravity manipulation keep him afloat while he considered the situation. Wash must have covered the other heroes with water, hiding them from his thermal vision. He had experimented with sonar through the earth, but the fine control required over his earth manipulation proved impossible for the Quirk. Seeing electrical currents with electrokinesis in humans normally was like trying to spot a star while staring directly into the sun considering the sheer abundance of electronics, but in this faux city environment, not a single flicker of current interrupted his vision.

He activated the Quirk just in time to dodge Ryukyu barreling at him from a rooftop. Her massive form, however, had been the distraction. Yoroi Musha leaped leapt off her back and deepened the gash in his life support. Once he landed, All for One threw a lightning bolt at him, but his metal armor grounded the current.

All for One stopped some of his regenerative Quirks. At the rate this battle progressed, these heroes would wear him down without any casualties. Doubling down on physical enhancement Quirks, All for One shot towards Yoroi Musha. He lunged, looking to grab the hero, but Edgeshot yanked Yoroi Musha back, and the villain's hand only caught a few wisps of his shortened beard.

He readied a finger flick, looking to level everything in Edgeshot's general direction, but Deku popped up from the side of a building. Surprised at the child's sudden appearance, All for One aborted the move and backed off.

Catching sight of Endeavor charging a flashfire fist on an adjacent rooftop, All for One charged at him, but Deku kept pace with his grapples. Every time All for One targeted a hero, either Edgeshot or Best Jeanist pulled them out of harm's way, or Deku threw him in the path of lethal attacks.

"So that's why you tipped me off to your Quirk," All for One said to Deku when the other heroes withdrew. "I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you otherwise. It makes me wonder how you see this all playing out."

Izuku swung his hookblades. All for One let the blunt sides approach him, but at the last second, the edges sprang out, deepening the cut in his mask. The villain heard a slight hiss as his mask lost pressure. With a subtle tweak of his terrakinesis, he knitted the metal back together.

"Persistent, aren't you? No matter. Every Quirk has a weakness. If yours was truly perfect, you would have found and killed me after All Might nearly finished me off. Failing that, you could have found any number of ways to kill me. The right Quirk, in the right place, could kill me before I even knew it. And yet, here we are. Why wait so long?"

Deku struck again, and this time, All for One stepped out of reach. Mirko joined in with a roundhouse kick. When All for One tried crushing her through the roof, Deku lunged in the way, forcing the villain to check his blow.

"You can protect one hero at a time," All for One said as he activated more physical enhancement Quirks. "What will happen when I target one too far away for you to save?"

Into his radio, Deku shouted, "Gang Orca, fall back!"

All for One picked a nearby electrical signal and pounced. Gang Orca gave him a bewildered stare at how suddenly he appeared right in front of him. Before All for One could finish him off, a multitude of gray hexagonal barriers sprung in front of the blow. Every barrier shattered instantly, but the remaining force only knocked the Killer Whale Hero through a brick wall. He shook off chunks of masonry and sprinted towards safety, with more barriers springing up behind him. All for One watched his electrical signal fade away for long enough to convince himself that the hero had truly left the battlefield.

"If that's the case, I should target the more troublesome heroes while I can." Activating thermal vision, the villain picked out Endeavor's wisps of flame. As he had suspected, the phantom heat sources had died off since he had switched to detecting electrical signals. The moment he closed in, Ryukyu sprang up in front of him and tried to knock him aside. All for One braced himself against the blow and threw a solid uppercut into her draconic jaw. Before he could kill her, she shrank, and Best Jeanist pulled her to safety.

When Deku called for Ryukyu to withdraw, All for One turned his attention to Crust. Barrier after barrier fell, but before he could overwhelm him, Mirko and Yoroi Musha charged from both sides. With his speed enhanced even more, neither fighter came close to touching him, but layers of shields from Crust deflected his own blows just enough to keep him from hitting either hero.

The stalemate broke when Edgeshot leaped leapt into the fray. The Ninja Hero tangled an arm long enough for Mirko to land a solid kick into the side of his face. He felt the weakened metal buckle under the blow, but another touch from his Quirk kept it from falling apart.

"Mirko, fall back!"

Mirko shot a scowl back at Deku. "Fall back? We got him on the ropes! Let me at him a little longer."

All for One smirked. A close-quarters brawler like her posed no threat when he had crafted his entire set of Quirks for dealing with All Might, but killing her would leave one less distraction. Adding another strength enhancement Quirk, All for One dug his feet into the ground and used the leverage to throw his hardest punch yet.

At the last possible second, a blast of water knocked Mirko aside. All for One punched into the ground, rattling the debris and toppling nearby buildings with the impact.

Mirko leaped leapt to her feet, soaking wet and seething with fury. One look at the crater All for One made, however, cooled her temper.

"Fine," Mirko said without any heat. "But you better save some for me, you hear? I'm not done yet."

A quick search confirmed that Yoroi Musha had left as well. He went after Wash, but with Crust covering for him, he floated away in a soap bubble. Annoyed with the constant barriers, All for One crashed through them all and sent the Shield Hero scurrying.

The fight devolved into a game of cat and mouse, with Wash and Endeavor sniping him from afar while Edgeshot and Best Jeanist moved them to safety. All for One had expected Deku to run interference, but the student had instead watched from afar and gave everyone orders.

Not wishing to waste any more time on the pros, All for One switched away from strengthening Quirks to terrakinesis. The heroes evacuated each time he crushed a building, but once the city blocks around him had been leveled, he could corner them with giant walls of stone. When he had Endeavor and Wash trapped, fighting with their backs against a wall, Deku intervened long enough for them to fall back with the others.

Once the other heroes were clear, Deku sprinted away through the rubble, each step swift and sure over the uncertain terrain. All for One plowed after him until the rubble and ruins gave way to a broad, open part of campus between the classrooms. Knowing Deku's usual fighting style, which favored close corners plenty of grappling points, and many hiding spots a city afforded him, All for One felt wary about the choice of venue.

Behind him, All for One sensed the news helicopter, still watching their fight. Pitching "I'm curious, Deku, do you really see yourself winning this fight?" he asked. "Your Quirk is impressive, but without the strength to back it up, you have no chance of defeating me."

Without saying a word, Deku drew his swords and charged forward.


It's really late, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. First, 3k followers, woo! Thanks again for all the support. Hard to believe this story caught on so well, and I'm looking forward to hitting more milestones with you.

Second, a big huge shout-out to both my beta-readers, who heroically checked this all last-minute because I have zero time management skills.

Third, Stellaris, aka my current time-consuming fix. I had opened pandora's box clicking on that during my week-long vacation. Long story short, I ended up making curry at 9:30 in the evening because I got so caught up in my first glorious campaign that it took my parrot squawking at me, demanding to go to bed, for me to realize that I was supposed to start making dinner three hours ago. Whoops!

Timijaf: "Great chapter and wonder if hawks will join the battle (he could have been with the other top ten but it's 3 and I'm tired lol)"

Bardothren: well, Hawks did kind of sell out a U.A. student to the MLA. I could've maybe made that clearer somewhere. Oh well.

Scarease: "Pretty sure it's sparky .for he only likes send a electric signal to disrupt communication in Training area

Bardothren: if pressed, I'm going to say in this story that Hawks was the U.A. traitor. Not unimaginable for a Hero Commission stooge to get their hands on info from U.A. A stretch, yes, but I can't come up with anything better.

StillHere: "The bit with Mirko felt like very necessary filler. On the one hand, it adds nothing to the progression of the story, and only delays things at best. On the other, I would've been disappointed if the Berserker Bunny from Hell did raise some sort of violent fuss over the realization of Deku's quirk."

Bardothren: I'm very proud of that filler. Fun to write too.

Emerald Rose Nee Potter: "Holy shit this story is awesome! I love all the subtle little word choices and the hints in people's behaviour. This is well written and I love it. This is definitely my favourite clairvoyant!Izuku type story I've ever read. I'm looking forward to how it turns out."

Bardothren: Thanks for the high praise! Always happy to see someone enjoying my work.

Starsaber10: "But memes aside I love this fic and I can't wait to see what you will do with the story. I hope you have a good day"

Bardothren: Same to you!

Gibby: "Didn't think I would ever find a story as good as A Precise Note but I was wrong! As much as I would love to continue I feel like I'm getting too far into manga territory and as an anime watcher only I might already be too far gone, though I don't know what actually happens and what you came up with. Nonetheless, a master-GODDAMN-piece! I love story like this."

Bardothren: Ooh, A Precise Note! One of the more interesting stories I've come across. Personally, though, I'm more a fan of The Dark Below. Incidentally, I've definitely taken a few cues from the manga, but everything up to this point is rehashing the anime. Not much in the way of manga spoilers here (yet). And thanks for all the praise as well!

Alright, it's sleep time. Let me know what you think of the fight, and see you next time I'm physically able to pull myself away from conquering the galaxy.