There are moments that everyone can remember where they were, the most common being where a notable celebrity or politician died in a tragic happenstance. The time, the place, who they were with, every detail burned into the collective consciousness that is the societal hivemind. These moments, these fixed points in time, are those upon which history is built, and the human mind understands that on an instinctive level.

And until the exact moment it happens, that day will seem to be like any other. At the epicenter where it happens, a class has gathered in the park for a day outside, to allow the dozen or so children a chance to enjoy the sunshine, completely unaware of the chaos to come. A peaceful day for the gathered pupils under the watchful gaze of their teachers. Wearing their school uniforms, the identical yellow hats worn for safety's sake more than necessity, the class has gathered into little groups, each playing some game among the members. All, that is, save one little boy.

Alone, sitting on a swingset apart from the others, Izuku Midoriya can only gaze at his classmates in despair. Each group had created games involving their unique quirks, their individual abilities closer to the superpowers from comic books and cinema of old, and this poor little boy had none of his own.

Oh he wished he had one, but despite his parents both having quirks, somehow this boy had been deprived of the opportunity. And due to this, the other children had denied him entry into their own games, be they playing hero or even a simple game of tag. How would a quirkless boy ever keep up against the powers his peers possessed?

As ever, his oldest friend, for he still thought of him as a friend, was the center of one group of children, showing off the small snaps as if from a firecracker emitting from his hands. "A heroic quirk," his teachers had always said in regard to the boy's quirk, giving Katsuki Bakugo special privilege ever since it had manifested. Yet, despite being friends since each were in diapers, something changed between them. Bakugo had developed his quirk. Midoriya did not. And their world was never the same

"No fair Bakugo! Why do you always get to play hero?" the fat boy with wings, Tsubasa, complained.

Exploding one fist into the other, the spiky haired blonde in question scoffed at the question. "Who else has a quirk as strong as mine? I'm gonna be number one! Better than All Might, the next Symbol of Peace, just you see!"

Tsubasa grunted as another boy piped up. "Wouldn't he have to die for you to become the Symbol of Peace?"

"All Might can't die! He's invincible!" Bakugo said with the confidence only a naive child can give. "He's so strong he can beat anyone by himself! And I'm going to be stronger!"

Sitting apart from the other students, when the world fell apart, the lonely, quirkless boy can only watch the world pass by.

Off in the distance, a pair of specks appear, zigging and zagging left and right even as they leap from the ground back into the air only to fall back into place. Izuku could not understand what he was seeing. He onlys that they were very far away and growing closer with every bounce.

When the two figures, now discernable to be people, vanish behind a building, the boy's attention finally drifts away from them. The sounds of his teachers instructing their students to start winding down tells him he needs to get off the swings. As he does, a slight breeze knocks his hat off, blowing it away from his classmates. In frustration, the little boy childishly wobbles in pursuit of the errant headgear.

After a few missed tries, he manages to catch the offending object, restoring it to its place of honor just as the building across the street explodes outwards in his direction.

From the glass, steel, and concrete dust emerges two figures, locked in combat, falling to the street below. Around them gusts of wind not found outside of a typhoon erupt, knocking over everything from trees to people from the sheer pressure of force from the two.

The boy finds himself knocked against a tree, clutching his hat to the top of his head out of pure instinct as his eyes take in the sight before him.

One man, wearing a suit, his white hair tossed about madly, pulls the other out of the crater they made. Izuku instantly recognizes his opponent. The Symbol of Peace himself, All Might, struggles against the enlarged left arm of the villain he is facing before managing to land his own fist against their jaw in a haymaker, freeing him.

Fists fly between the two, the mad duel of a dog fight rather than the skilled execution of a professional sparring match. Whatever composure the two may have had when the battle began, it had descended into a chaotic fury. This is the kind of fury found only when the stakes are at their peak. When lives are on the line and no margin for surrender is possible.

The white haired man stumbles from the blow, only to grab an abandoned nearby parked vehicle and use it as a gigantic metal boxing glove. It met All Might's fist, disintegrating and spewing metal, plastic, and glass everywhere.

Around the pair, people flee in terror as blow after blow is exchanged, causing shockwaves of destruction whenever they meet. And yet, Izuku sits there mesmerized by the sight. Even as the man standing against his hero keeps shifting, his body changing constantly as the battle continues. Extra limbs, blades, spitting out of acid, the man was throwing everything at All Might in an attempt to turn the tide of this conflict – No, to merely survive the oncoming storm

And then the tide turns in an instant, when the villain shifts into a column of smoke, jumping away. In frustration, All Might rushes forward, and uses his mighty fists to create a column of air and disrupt the man, preventing his escape. As the most begins to break up, it suddenly returns to solid and the man falls back to earth, red eyes sweeping for a new opportunity.

When those eyes lock on Izuku, the evil intent makes the child shudder.

Drawing up an arm, the man levels his fist at the boy, a grin of enjoyment crossing his features. The wind has made it impossible to hear the words even as Izuku saw his mouth move. Frozen in fear, the boy can only watch his own doom descend.

As the blast of air from the man erupts, the massive figure of the number one hero blocks Izuku's view. All Might then grunts in pain as he is thrown back, hitting the ground and rolling away past the child still frozen against the tree.

This was enough to free him from his terror. Sprinting over in the direction of his hero, the boy stumbles, and is caught by the strong hand of the white haired villain.

"Why child, I must thank you for this opportunity. Without you, I could never have stopped that oaf. Tell me, boy, what is your name?" the silken voice of the man asks the terrified Izuku as red eyes bore into him.

"M-my name? I-Izuku M-m-midoriya," he stammers.

Gripping the sides of his face, the man forces Izuku to stare into his own. "And what is your quirk, little one?"

Tears streaming down his face, Izuku admits his shame. "None."

The villain laughs, dropping Izuku. "How amusing, to throw his life away for someone so broken and useless as a quirkless child. Fitting, I suppose. Perhaps I should fix you then, as a reward."

"A-all Might will beat you!" Izuku says, pulling himself back to his feet.

"Oh, but I've already won," he says in return. "You can see for yourself, right over…"

Red eyes go wide as his voice trails off, staring at the spot where All Might fell. Izuku turns to look as well, finding an emptiness. The Symbol of Peace vanishes.

Blindsided by All Might's new attack, the villain is tackled, pulled away from Izuku at high speed, digging a trench leading into the park's center.

As the two battle, Izuku's own eyes wanders back to where they came. The hole punched through the building reveals a tunnel of destruction leading away into the distance. The realization of how close he is to the cause of such damage slowly sinks in, just as the battle noise crescendos once again.

Once more watching the fight, Izuku is stunned by the fury of the blows All Might is giving. No longer trying to subdue, the man who he adores pummels the villain, giving not even a single moment to recover. Ever deeper the trench is dug by pure strength of quirk enhanced muscle

Then Izuku looks down at the pool of blood and viscera before him. Green eyes follow it back, to the drop from All Mights own form and the hole drilled through him by the villain attack.

Then the villain gets his chance, landing a blow to All Might's knee, forcing him down. Then a blow across his head to stagger him back.

"This is how it ends, Toshinori, You, on your knees, just like your master," the villain sneered, wiping the blood from out of his eyes. "A fitting failure for you."

Then, inexplicably, the man bends down over All Might, a wicked smile pulled across his face. "You have failed her, you know. Oh, she thought she was so clever, giving her son up like that. Pity he didn't see it that way."

"You didn't," All Might gasps before coughing out blood.

The venom drips from the villains voice as he purrs out, "He changed his name back to Shimura once he was old enough. Married, family, even a little dog of their own."

Then the villain leans in, as if to whisper, but speaks loudly enough for Izuku to hear. "Turning his little boy into a bomb was so easy as well. Just the right quirk... And poof! The entire family turns to dust. Should begin any minute now. As for little Tenko, well, so easy to get lost in the orphanage system you know. I'll be sure to raise him into just the kind of man you would not approve of."

This statement seems to break something in the Symbol of Peace. The despair in his eyes causes the villain to stand up, laughing. "There, that is the look I wanted. That look of defeat I've so wanted."

Groaning from the pain, All Might pulls himself back to his feet. The villain only scoffs as he wobbles a moment before regaining balance.

"Try as you might, you will be stopped today. Because I am here. "

"I don't think so, All Might,"All for One promises, "Today is the day I will kill you."

Weakly, All Mights voice is interrupted with coughs, blood erupting from his mouth. "You may try… but I will stop you, All for One."

"And how many times have I heard that before?" the villain mocks.

In a move surprising both villain and child, All Might hooks his mighty left arm, and strikes the villains knee, forcing him to the ground. Then without a pause, All Might swings his right towards the villains head, the power flooding him like never before. Even as every exhale is joined with a torrent of blood, All Might gives his all to a final swing.

"UNITED… STATES… OF… SMASH!" the words echo as the torrent of power is unleashed, the full might of the number one hero unleashed for the last time.

The blow progresses past the skull of the villain, causing the ground beneath the pair to ripple and collapse. Izuku finds himself falling as the crater around the pair grows outward, nearly reaching the street itself. Fiber optic lines, sewer pipes, fire erupts from broken gas lines even as water spills out. And at the epicenter, two broken men lie, one dead, the other dying.

Pulling himself up, Izuku rushes forward, ignoring the danger around him as he pulls himself to his favorite hero, a wail of, "All Might!" filling the air.

Reaching his hero, the boy doesn't understand the devastation done to his body. The bloody coughs were the only sign that the Symbol of Peace was still alive.

Dark eyes, barely able to focus, open and gaze upon the boy. And the giant of a man smiles. "You're safe now."

Putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, All Might reaches down, and puts his finger into his own wound, pulling up a glob of blood. "Drink this, young man. Before it's too late."

As all good boys obey heroes, Izuku, still in shock and not thinking of what he was being asked to do, does just as he was told, nearly gagging at the metallic taste.

Pulling out his phone and pressing a button, All Might then says, "Tell… tell him what happened. He can explain," before finally surrendering to the inevitable, his hand falling to the ground.

Leaning over to pick up the phone, Izuku sees it is dialing still. As he starts to put it up to his ear, a hand grabs him from behind to pull him away, causing him to drop the phone.

Looking back, he sees his schoolteacher there, wild eyed panic in her face as she picks him up and carries him off, both of them in tears but for very different reasons.

"Thank goodness you're safe Midoriya," she says, rushing away from the carnage.

"No! He told me t-to…"

The woman hushes him. "Don't worry. It was to get the police here. I've already called, so you don't need to worry about it. They're on the way."

Hearing that, Izuku accepts it without question.

"Is All Might going to be alright?" the innocent question fell from his lips.

Unable to lie to him, his teacher can only sob, getting out, "No, nothing is going to be alright."

There, on the ground, forgotten by all, All Might's phone connects, and the voice of his sidekick, Sir Nighteye cries out to nobody. "Hello? Toshinori? Are you there? Are you hurt?"

A moment in time, seared into the collective memory of all, a society held up by a pillar now broken, this event became known by the point of impact. Like the heart of an earthquake, the waves from it would radiate outward to cover all of Japan with the result. In an instant, the world changed.

Authors Note:

While enjoying YaBoyGuzma's fantastic fanfic "Incident Zero" I began thinking about what if All Might had been the one to pass his legacy on to the 8-year-old Izuku instead of All for One. I suggested the idea on CannibalisticApple's discord server, YaBoyGuzma saw it, and encouraged me to write it. So, here it is. Never published anything for MHA before (I have for the Katawa Shoujo fandom, which you can find in their renai forums) so here's hoping I can do it justice.