A/N: Hello! I just found out from browsing the Recently Updateds that it's IzuOcha week. Huh. Well, definitely look out for next chapter, because it'll be sweet, and totally in tune with IzuOcha lovers! I might just write some one-shots too...

Anyways, this chapter got away from me for a bit, but I loved writing it. Enjoy the tidbits and clues, and read on!


The crumbling and overgrown buildings that stood as monuments of a bygone age cast soft and broken shadows in the early morning light. Cold colours turned warm as the minutes passed, and a cold breeze ruffled the foliage that grew in the cracks on the streets. The occasional chittering of mice and the rustling of deer and other animals of a similar disposition would mar the otherwise untouched painting of time.

The sound of boots crunching broke the scene. A mop of green hair looked at the landscape, wondering why it was so quiet. Ever since he had woken up, he'd had the constant companionship of his Ghost, and yet, now he couldn't even sense her within his mind.

What's happening?

A shadow broke over the horizon, a pointed edge making its way across the buildings in front of him. A large pyramid-like ship loomed into view, taking nearly blocking out the sun, and the shadow enveloped him. The pressure suddenly burst in strength around him, and Izuku grit his teeth as he put his arms out to shield his face and a strong gust of wind pushed him back.

The crunch of rubble alerted him to another presence. Craning his neck to his left, he nearly lost his composure.

Standing next to him… was him. The wind ruffled his doppleganger's clothes and hair, but he otherwise seemed unfazed. His twin then looked over at him with a smirk that held a million different emotions.

"Hey… Izuku," his twin said. "Let's get this out of the way." With a grin, he snapped, and the pressure disappeared, leaving Izuku stumbling from the position he had been in. The Pyramid Ships above broke formation as they crumbled, leaving the sun to shine bright. With the wind still howling, his other self folded his arms. "How're you holding up, me?"

"Y-you, h-how, y-you're me-?"

Izuku was startled as his other self started chuckling. "I know you have a lot of questions, but take it easy, alright?"

"You know, maybe it was better if I appeared first," another voice said, "Because I AM HERE!" Materializing into view, an impossibly buff man appeared next to his other self, grinning a blindingly bright smile.

"No, no, he wouldn't have understood," Other Izuku said. With a grin, Other Izuku cocked his head. "After all, he's me… without the memories."

"Both of you are impossible," groaned another voice, distinctly female. She materialized next to the buff man, a caped woman with gloves and a smile to match the man standing next to her. "At least try to help him understand while we have time."

Izuku, staring slack-jawed, couldn't decide on who we wanted to point at and blinked. "Wh-who are you?"

Looking at each other, they grinned and spoke in unison. "We are the previous holders of One For All."

The buff man laughed. "Holders of the quirk you currently possess!"

"Some of them, at least," the woman said, smirking. With a bow and some flourish, she introduced herself. "I'm Nana Shimura."

The buff man puffed up and beamed. "Toshinori Yagi, otherwise known as ALL MIGHT! HAHAHA- Gah!" He was cut off as Nana elbowed him in the side and he pouted.

Other Izuku finally smiled softly, and bowed with a hand on his chest. "And of course, I am you. The you before… well…" He motioned to Izuku as he stood now. "Before we died." Motioning to himself, he continued. "And since even I'm having trouble keeping up with the proper nouns, you can just call me 'Nine.'"

Izuku nodded, his eyes misty. "You're… you're really me? I'm you?"

Nine laughed gently. "Yes, yes you are." His smile fell slightly, and sadness tinged his features. "And it's been a long time since the world has had the privilege of experiencing the light of One For All."

Izuku held up a hand. After a moment, the three ghosts began to laugh. "You don't have to raise your hand, kid." Nana grinned. "We're in your mind after all."

Nodding and rubbing the back of his head bashfully ("Do I really look like that when I'm embarrassed?" Nine asked, doing the same action), Izuku asked the two glaring questions he had.

"How are you here? And what's One For All?"

"We are vestiges of the consciousnesses that once held your quirk," All Might said. "One For All is a quirk that had been passed on for generations, ending in your… death-" He looked at Nine, "-and returning with your resurrection." He looked at Izuku.

"It's a lot to take in, Izuku," Nine said ("Gosh, it's weird to say my name to myself," he quickly muttered), "But you have to know… now that the Light has evolved, it needs a champion." Nine motioned to himself and the two other ghosts. "We've been watching over the worlds while I-you were gone. Us and the six other consciousnesses you'll meet at some point. We've had some success in enlisting Heroes, Dark Heroes, and Guardians since the Collapse to maintain the peace, but there are still many who are without hope."

Nine clenched his fist and the wind started to howl a little louder. "You need to decide now, Izuku, whether you are up to the task!"

All Might punched the air. "You must rise above the Darkness!"

"And most importantly…" Nana folded her arms, radiating a blinding tooth-filled smile. "You need to smile!"

"Because not every situation will be perfect!" Nine said, his own smile wide and determined.

"And every minute is another moment to bring some light into the world!"

The pressure had returned, this time from the three ghosts, as shadows began to envelop the landscape.

"W-wait!" Izuku cried, trying to reach out to them. "Please! I-I need you! I need your help!"

"We're always with you, Izuku!" Nana yelled, her form shimmering.

All Might made a fist and held it out. "Just remember where your strength comes from!"

"And I'm you, so I know you're scared," Izuku shouted, "But remember who you fight for!"

Nana pointed to her heart. "Why you choose to help!"

"And to go beyond…" All Might began.

"PLUS ULTRA…!" They finished together, before they disappeared and the shadows grew.

"Nine! All Might! Nana!" Izuku yelled. "Please! I need you! All of you! I need-"

"Soon, it'll be just you and me. My Infinity Girl…"

Izuku widened his eyes, his own voice ringing through his head. He watched a scene unfold before him, seeing himself hugging the woman he knew to be Ochaco.

"Forever?"

He tried to cry out, to tell her they were all in danger, to do anything to warn her, but he couldn't. He couldn't change the past.

"Forever."

~~TLLM~~

"OCHACO!" Izuku cried, jolting awake, his hands grabbing at the air. His body was shaking, his breathing heavy, yet he felt a blistering warmth that tore at his insides. A feeling he knew, but couldn't understand. "…Was that real…?" He stared at his surroundings, his breath evening out. "One For All…"

"One for what-now?"

"Gah!" Izuku shot forward, crashing into the rotting desk and shattering it into splinters at the shock of being surprised by Nami. Now in a mess of his own making, he eyed his Ghost with annoyance, as if to say 'Really?'

"Hey, I was just wondering what you were muttering about. Even when I'm in your head, I can barely hear you!"

Sitting up and rubbing his head, Izuku sighed. "Are you always awake to scare me, or do you actually sleep?"

Nami hummed. "Well… seeing as how I'm more machine than I am a living, breathing creature, I don't really have a need for those kinds of things." Her shell twisted in thought. "I can hibernate, but there's no point to it. I kinda just kept watch all night." Nami then gave a playful glare, her eye lighting up. "All I'd have to do is give you a little shock to wake you up."

"…Okay." Izuku stood up, brushing off the bits of wood that clung to him. "And to answer your question, it's 'One For All.' My quirk, apparently."

Nami nodded sagely before blinking. "Wait, your quirk? You know what it is?!" She zoomed up to his face. "How!? Did you remember? Risen usually don't remember these kinds of things. This is so cool! I have such an awesome Guardian!" She then began zooming around the place, chirping madly. Izuku, meanwhile, was waving his arms trying to calm her down.

"Nami! I'm not done! Nami-" A sigh. "You know what, I give up."

"W-wait, what else were you going to say?" Nami quickly said, zipping to a stop in front of him. "Tell me everything! I'm your personal confidante!"

Izuku took a step back from his Ghost, who was basically shoving her eyeball into his face. "C-calm down, I'll tell you! Sheesh…" He chuckled nervously. With some time to collect his thoughts, he retold his dream to Nami, who nodded quietly, her eye looking up in thought.

"Wow, I've never heard of that before," Nami said. "I can't believe you can actually meet your past self. You're probably the luckiest Guardian alive right now; all the things you can relive and relearn." She turned to him. "You probably shouldn't tell anyone else about this."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "Yeah… I mean, I can tell you have a hard enough time believing it as-is."

"This 'Nana Shimura' person sounds cool, though," Nami said. "It would have been great to meet her in person!"

Izuku's mind stuttered to a stop at the thought of his witty Ghost and Nana coming together to pester him. A chill ran down his spine. Note to self: If One For All can manifest it's vestiges, don't bring out Nana.

"And honestly, Ochaco back then sounds way cuter than the Ochaco I've heard about."

Izuku blinked. "How would you know that?"

"I have a pretty good imagination!"

"Okaaaay," Izuku trailed. "But, all things considered, I have everything I need to begin." He then smiled softly as a thought crossed his mind. "And when I find Ochaco…" He clenched his fist and looked at it. "I'll tell her that I remember."

"That's great, Izuku!" Nami trilled. "I can already see it now: The fireworks, the gallantry, the candles and the-"

He grabbed his Ghost by the face and her muffled screams of surprise did nothing to hide the flaming red blush on his face. He proceeded to leap out of the office window and throw Nami up as he landed, where she soon scolded him for doing something so uncouth as to hold her and possibly mar her beautiful shell ("I was gifted this shell by a very special Ghost, you know!").

After some apologizing and more banter, Izuku and Nami embarked, the bubbly Ghost tittering on about her own little adventures, he was struck by a question she had been harboring since their first encounter with the Fallen.

"So, why don't you like weapons?"

Izuku Midoriya, graceful as an elephant, stumbled. Recovering quickly with a tinge of red to his face, he shook his head. "I don't know. I don't like them."

"You had no problem punching those three Dregs and that one Captain to death."

Opening his mouth to argue, he slowly shut it as he processed Nami's words. I did, didn't I? Did I really mean to? Well, yes, of course I did, I was protecting a family. But did I really have to go all out? That Captain had a shield, maybe he didn't die, and those 'Dregs' turned into some form of energy, so maybe they didn't really die-

"I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that they are one-hundred percent completely super dead. As in, they don't exist anymore. They've divided by zero. They're dead deady-dead-"

"Okay, I get it!" Izuku cried, tensing his hands and arms before sighing. "It was out of reflex. I… like you said, I just woke up again. I just barely re-established my name, and I barely even know what my quirk is anymore!" He cast a forlorn look at Nami. "They were living, breathing creatures and I killed them. And I think I'm suppressing the thought so I don't feel so bad…"

"Their race has killed thousands of humans, you know," Nami said. "The Eliksni, or Fallen, were once visited by the Traveler too. And since then, they've fallen, hence their name." She chirped. "If anything, you should be happy avenging the many human lives lost-"

"It doesn't give me the right," Izuku argued. "Just because some of them did that, doesn't mean all of them agreed to it. Soldiers in a war have to follow orders, right? How can I be a-a Guardian, if I don't protect the right to live?" He waved his hands and pointed at Nami and himself. "And you said the Traveler visited them too. The same Light we have graced them too. Aren't they just as entitled to life as us?"

Hovering beside him, Nami stewed in thought. "You've got some points there, Izuku, I'll give you that." She pointedly gave him a side-look. "But don't expect them to share the same sentiment with you."

With a shake of his green curls, Izuku said "I wouldn't dream of it. But… I-I have these thoughts, these feelings, and it's not like I can just turn them off." He stopped his strides and looked at his gloved hands. "Every second, I know I'm alive, but it feels like I'm just borrowing someone else's skin. I'm me… but not." Looking up at his Ghost, Izuku frowned. "Do you know how agonizing it is to know you have morals, ideals, and a past life to go with it, but you can't remember any of it? Especially after meeting myself and myself telling me that I'm just like him… without the memories!" With a superpowered kick, he watched a rock fly off into the distance, and he sighed.

"...I can't say that I do," Nami started, "But what I can do is support you. If figuring out everything about your past is what you want, then I'll go along with you. But for now…" She brought up a map of the prefecture they were in and a green beacon appeared.

"We are here." Another beacon, yellow, this time, shone a distance that seemed far away. "The Tokyo Cosmodrome is here." One more beacon, yellow as well, showed up just a few kilometres away. "This apparently used to be a school of some sort, and in one of their mock cities they have a spaceport that could be used in emergencies or for field trips."

Nami whirled her eye to look at him. "So we have two choices. Hike the many days it'll take to reach the Tokyo Cosmodrome and make it to the Last City in a nice space cruiser, or get to this school and maybe find a beat up ship that'll function well enough until we get to the Last City and make it there in record time."

Izuku didn't need to think about which choice he would take, but he thought about it all the same. A school, huh? I wonder if it has any relation to me, seeing as how I woke up so close to it. If I was able to garner the attention of some Heroes, surely I'd have been a person of note, possibly someone they had been watching for a while-

"Hey!"

Waving his arms in surprise, Izuku righted himself. "Gah! What was that for?!"

Nami deadpanned, her shell sagging. "You mean you don't notice?

Now Izuku was really confused. "Notice what?"

He could almost see his Ghost face-palming. "You mumble. A lot." She buzzed. "I could fill an encyclopedia with the amount you've mumbled in the past two days I've known you!"

Izuku huffed, red colouring his cheeks. "I'm not that bad…"

"No." Nami shook her eye. "You're worse!"

A pause. Izuku stared Nami in the eye, and she stared back. Izuku grabbed her again and ignored her muffled screams as the map dissipated and she struggled in his hand. "PHEY! LEMF MEE GFOH!"

"I'll let go when you stop being so mean!"

"LIFKE YFER MWUN TUM TAMLK!"

He sighed. Holding her up in his hand, he unclenched and watched Nami shake off non-existent dust and glare at him. "We're heading to that school you mentioned." He pointed his hand out. "Please lead the way."

Nami harrumphed and turned away. "Not until you say 'I'm sorry'! This is the second time you've done this!"

Izuku slouched, his head hanging. "Are we really going to do this?"

After considering it, Nami blinked. "Nah, I'm just being petulant." She chirped, hovering forward. "Onward ho!"

Izuku stumbled at the complete one-eighty. "W-wha?"

Nami laughed. "Hey, if anything, I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I actually think your mumbling is hilarious, so keep doing it! It gives me something to laugh at."

Deadpanning at that, Izuku grumbled. "Sure, laugh at the amnesiac."

"You know you love me!"

"I've grabbed you twice and you keep trying to goad me on. This isn't love!"

"You know, in other places in the world-"

"Oh, don't start!"

"I'm just saying! My shell is quite the art piece after all! I wasn't lying when I said-"

"You and your shell can go back into my head where I can't see you."

"You know what they say about having a voice in your head."

"I'm crazy enough just trying to keep up with you."

"Ah, tough love. I'll crack you one of these days."

"The only cracking that's going to happen is when I break that shell and punt you into the sun."

"Aw, don't say that! You're too kind to do that!"

"You're right. I'll just freeze you and use you as an ice cube."

Nami blew a raspberry. "You're no fun."

Izuku flailed his arms for a bit, opening and closing his mouth before sighing. "I'm just… I'm missing so many things, Nami." He looked up at her. "It's like I got a puzzle, but only half of it, and I don't even have the box to look at the picture." He waved his arm forward again. "I'm trying to smile… but it's hard when I don't know why I'm smiling."

Nami hummed as they kept walking. "Don't think about it. Just do it!"

"Easy for you to say," Izuku muttered.

It was Nami's turn to sigh. "It's not like I can express a smile with no mouth, Izuku. I have to find other ways." He watched as her shell shifted and twirled. "I wasn't always so bubbly, but whenever I saw a Guardian or Ghost feeling down, I couldn't just float there and do nothing! And just hovering on over and speaking in a monotone voice doesn't help things either." She bobbed from side to side as she moved alongside Izuku. "That's why I try to be super expressive in every motion I make." She laughed. "It really helps when I feel down to just laugh!"

Feeling a sense of deja vu, Izuku asked, "And what about when you're afraid?"

Her shell stopped spinning and she clicked her voice. "I get more chipper!" Nami turned to him. "Sometimes, your inside feelings will reflect your outside persona!" She nodded sharply. "So smile! Your smiles are cute and inspiring!"

A deep red tinged his cheeks. "Stop that."

"Aww, Izuku can't take a compliment-"

"Please, Nami, let's just go."

Giggling to herself, Nami set a waypoint and they set off. For the most part, it was quiet, traversing through the empty streets. It was hard to imagine that hundreds of people bustled through the very same buildings and roads they walked along, but the decaying metal frames of ancient cars and crumbling concrete testified that time can change many things. He even got up close to a tree that had sprouted in the middle of the road, breaking it apart with it's thick trunk. If he had to guess, it was at least two-hundred years old.

There were a few times where Nami indicated that there were hostiles nearby, but Izuku did his best to steer clear of those areas and try to be sneaky. He would take back alleyways and different routes just to avoid them. Nami pestered him for it, saying it would be advantageous to have something long-ranged to subdue them, like a rifle, but all he did was shake his head.

Soon, the sun began to set, and he found himself hungry, tired, and looking at a decrepit building in the distance, one that glinted in the dying sunlight with glass that had somehow persisted over generations. Impressed, Izuku commented on it.

"Well, think about it," Nami said. "A hero school that housed dangerous individuals twenty-four-seven. They would need to reinforce everything!" She then nodded. "And they definitely had the means, seeing as how they had their own mini-spaceport!"

Humming in thought, Izuku rested his chin in his hands. "True. But still, that's impressive. It's been how many centuries, and it's still standing in good condition? That's crazy." He looked at his attire again, the clothes he had been wearing when he had first risen, hiding behind his makeshift armour. "I wonder if I attended school here?"

Hovering forward a bit, Nami turned around to look at him, gesturing her shell in the school's direction. "Only one way to find out! We have to break in and find some access codes anyways. The mag-locks at the dock won't be broken that easily." She laughed and dematerialized. "Forward, my faithful steed!"

"Easy there," Izuku muttered, grimacing as his stomach grumbled. "I haven't eaten anything since I woke up." At that, Nami rematerialized and began shaking frantically.

"Ack! I forgot!" She zoomed around, scanning the rubble around them. "I've never really asked any other Ghosts what they did to help other Guardians with this, so this is a first. Uh, uh- I need to find some Glimmer! I can transmute you some food..."

Izuku watched as his Ghost fretted over him, all the while scanning nearby objects she could break down. Looking down at himself, he thought of something. He turned to his Ghost, who had just finished dematerializing something that had once been a fridge.

"I-I think I've got it-" She began, but Izuku cut her off.

"Hey!"

Nami shuddered to a stop in front of Izuku, her voice hitching slightly, which brought up several questions that Izuku pushed back for later. "Why don't you just heal me?" Izuku asked instead.

To her credit, Nami just blinked. "H-huh?"

He motioned to his stomach. "Y'know," he explained, "If you can heal scratches and injuries on the go, why don't you heal my hunger?"

She blinked again before her shell hung limply on her. "Wow. I didn't think of that."

"I mean, it's only a hypothesis," Izuku said, rubbing the back of his head, "It stands to reason, see? You could restore my nutrients or something with Light, or whatever it is you use to heal me."

Nodding faster, her shell spun in excitement. "That just might work. Let's try it!" After thinking for a second, she nodded. "Okay, let's see if this works. This might tingle." He felt more than saw the Light wash over his body, but slowly, his hunger vanished, and he felt some of his fatigue dissipate. As the Light faded, he flexed his hands and limbered up a bit.

"Hey! I'm feeling pretty good now!" Izuku said, smiling. "I'm still tired, but I'm not hungry or thirsty!" Smacking his lips, he frowned slightly. "It'd still be nice to taste something, but as long as I survive, right?"

Giggling, Nami told him to hold out his hands, and she shone light over it for a second before an apple materialized into existence. Izuku blinked. "Whoa. I thought you were kidding." Taking a bite of it, he grimaced slightly. "I'm sure it has everything I need," he said, munching, "But the taste is anything but what I remembered apples to taste like."

"Whoops, hehe…" Nami looked away bashfully. "I need to practice more."

Devouring the rest of the apple, he tossed the core. "No worries, Nami. You've done more than enough!" Izuku smiled kindly. "Let's make it to that school before dark hits. I want to find a safe space to rest!"

Nami clucked. "If you want to make it by dark, we'll need to be faster." She turned to the sun and eyed it. "By my guess, we have about another hour before the sun crosses the other side of the horizon."

Izuku hummed, looking around. "Where are we going to find a working vehicle?"

"Why don't you use your quirk?"

Freezing, Izuku's mind rebooted before he promptly face-palmed. "Idiot," he muttered, "I could've made it hours ago. Idiot!"

Laughing, Nami disappeared and felt her presence appear in his mind. "Get going then, lightning boy! We had some fun times, so don't sweat it!"

Grimacing again, he took a stance his body seemed to be familiar with, and green lightning began crackling over his body. "Please don't call me that again."

"Whatever you say- woah!"

He shot off the ground, the sound of cracking pavement heralding his jump. He glanced back, the wind rushing past him, and winced at the small crater he left behind. Damn, he thought.

"Damn!" Nami shouted. "You got some legs, Izuku!"

"I didn't mean to put that much power in my jump!" Izuku cried, his arc reaching its peak before he started falling again. He eyed the roof his fall was bringing him to and, with the touch of his toes, he rolled into a run. He leapt off again, with notably less strength and more trajectory, about twenty percent of what he felt his max power output was. "There we go!"

"You don't have to worry about broken property, you know. The people who would have cared died a long time ago."

Izuku shook his head. "It's more about stealth!" He landed and ran to the edge of the roof, launching off again. By his guess, was only three more jumps away from the school, but he could shorten that if he used maybe five percent more in his jumps. Upping his usage to twenty-five percent, he curled his body slightly, ready to spring forward as soon as he landed with the roll of his feet. Touching another rooftop, he curled in, felt the momentum swing him forward, and sprung. Perfect, Izuku thought with a grin. At this speed, I should be fast enough to be nothing but a blur.

Two jumps later, he bounded to a stop in front of the large gateway into a school that had managed to stand despite what time could throw at it. Proudly hanging on it's last nails about the gate were the letters "U.A." The gate itself was mostly rusted over and some patches maintained a dull shine. There was a large dent in it, almost shearing through the gate, and the many gouges present in the metal told of countless people that had tried to seek refuge within its walls.

Izuku leapt over it and the two extra metres of concrete.

Brushing his hair back, he felt an oddly warm sense of peace seeing the buildings of this hero school. A closer look at them showed that many windows had shattered. The flora that had, at one time, been well-kept, now grew into the school itself, crowding the path and obscuring a closer look into the building.

"UA High School," Nami stated. "One of the most prestigious hero schools in Sol before the Collapse. Here housed many hopefuls and students of all calibers, and is said to hold a copy of nearly half the databases in Old Japan." She turned to Izuku and hummed. "Many Guardians have come here searching for answers. Many were disappointed." She turned back to the building. "It's Golden Age security still holds up to many attempts at cracking it. Cryptarchs have a blast trying to decode files Guardians bring back, but no one has accomplished it."

Izuku smirked and held out a fist. "Let's be the first. I have a feeling…"

"...I just think it'd have been a bad omen if you tripped, you know…?"

The memory faded, and Izuku shook his head. "We can do this."

Activating his black whips, Izuku grit his teeth as he consciously controlled them, ripping out the foliage in front of him and breaking through. He was a little confused as to how they were so easy to control in the heat of the moment, but hard to tame in a calmer setting. Maybe it has something to do with intent and want. If I really want it to happen, it'll happen. If it's half-hearted, it won't. Izuku walked forward, stepping over shards of glass and broken concrete, peering into the darker confines of the building.

I really want my memories.

With a nearly inaudible click, a light shone from Nami's eye, illuminating the dark. Letting his eyes adjust, he smiled. "Thanks. Didn't know you could do that!"

"What kind of Ghost would I be if I couldn't see in the dark?"

Izuku grinned. "Point." Looking at the three hallways before him, he hummed. "Now, which way to go-"

"I've set a marker," Nami said.

Blinking, Izuku looked at Nami. "What?"

Nami giggled. "Like I said. Guardians have been here before. Though I don't have the schematics, there are concentrated traces of Light in certain parts of the school. Plus," Nami shone her eye-light at the corner of the wall ahead of them, "There's a map."

Izuku shrugged. "It would've been more fun to explore, but I…" He stopped, a faint echo shaking through his conscience.

"...1-A, Class 1-A, where is it…?"

He turned around, swearing that he could have heard the voice just behind him. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounded like…" A memory.

Izuku shook his head. "Nothing. Let's keep going." Nami nodded, though she made sure to give him a look that asked for more later. Nami led the way, taking lefts and rights, and six flights of stairs before they ended up behind a pristine-looking door that read 'PRINCIPAL.' Nami humphed with an audible smirk before disappearing into the door. The next instant, a soft click sounded, and the door swung open.

Dust caked almost everything, the sole exceptions being where the door swung open, and a path leading to the desk in the center of the room. Taking the same strides that other Guardians had taken, he looked thoughtfully at the console before him. A cup of tea with its dregs still within lay to the side of the glossy, dusty surface in the middle of the desk. A book lay open, looking like it had been rifled through at some point, held words he couldn't quite make out. Though time had been kind, even the pages of these ancient books had begun to rot and decompose, leaving fragile sheets of illegible ink.

"Many Ghosts have rebooted the information systems here," Nami stated, inspecting the desk as a whole. "If I can just…" She disappeared in a puff, and within seconds, the screen on the monitor and on the desk illuminated, bootup sequences running. "Ta-da!" she said, rematerializing. "Hacker-Ghost!"

"Good job, Nami," Izuku complimented. Nami soaked in the praise, and began to babble as Izuku looked the screens over. Their bootup sequence finished, and soon, all that was left was a simple question on the screen, one he realized, was the reason why so many must have failed at cracking it's secrets.

'What is your quirk?'

Coming up against the screen, Nami blinked. "Huh. I guess that answers why Guardians from around the world couldn't really get anything from this."

Nodding, Izuku said, "Because if you didn't have the right quirk, the security would lock you out and shut down all attempts to access anything else." Izuku wondered at that, what kind of quirk would be unique enough to-

"...Am I a bear? A mouse? A rat? I am the Principal of UA High School, Nezu…!"

The phantom voice faded in and out, and Izuku gulped. Were these memories he had? He wanted to know so desperately. He could feel his past slipping like water between his fingers, and it seemed like this UA hero school was the key. If only he could…

Izuku placed his hand on the screen of the table. Suddenly, he felt his quirk buzz with energy as something scanned his being, and he ripped his hand from the desk in shock. Stumbling backwards into the office chair, he watched as the question turned green and three words replaced the question: One For All.

Suddenly, the screens flickered, replaced by a jittery recording of a white-furred creature sitting calmly in the same chair he now sat.

"Hello, Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku gaped.

"I won't go through the motions I usually attend to when introducing myself, for I am running out of time-" An explosion rocked in the distance, and the sound of distant glass shattering could be heard.

"And things are quite dire right now." He clapped his little paws and smiled even wider, contrasting against the apparent doom happening behind him. "You are most likely already dead as I record this! But not to worry, for there is something I would like to tell you.

"You truly are the world's brightest hope right now. The Traveler is battling the Darkness, as we have taken to calling it, and having an intimate connection to the Light with my quirk-" Nezu sipped the last of his tea and nodded as people screamed and a shadow passed over the school, "I have seen something of the future.

"You will return, Izuku Midoriya, even brighter than before, and from the ashes, you will rise. It is absolutely remarkable how the Light works within all of us! As I'm sure your vestiges have already told you, as well as yourself, I'm sure; you, as the holder of One For All, are tasked with the protection of all things living, of all things good. There will be times where Darkness will seem to win, where all hope is lost, but you are that hope. You must stand above. It is imperative that you do."

"I have left access to these databases to you, and to you alone." Nezu clapped his paws together and laughed. "Do make sure not to compromise anything found within!"

Another tremor shook the recording and Nezu smiled. "Now, I have some things to attend to, people to try and save, so go and do the same, will you?" With one last smile, the recording abruptly came to an end. In the waning sunlight and the soft glow of the two screens, Izuku sat in a stupor of thought.

"Well, would you look at that," Nami finally said, breaking the silence. "Almost everything has been decoded, and it's…" Nami blinked, scanning the console more closely. "It's tuning into your Light…? That's crazy!" Nami tittered as she absorbed the information, a convenient progress bar appearing on the screens themselves. "It seems like whoever created these systems knew how to harness light in limited ways, and fashioned it to the Light in an individual." Nami turned to Izuku. "This 'Nezu' guy was a genius!"

"And he knew me," Izuku mumbled. "He knew my quirk, and he somehow knew I would come back. What could he have seen? Was it my personality back then? Was it my potential? The so-called 'Light' within me? Or maybe he knew something, something he wasn't telling others-"

"Izuku." At the call of his name, Izuku stumbled out of his mumbling, looking up at Nami. She blinked. "Mumble later. Right now, we need to go."

Frowning, Izuku looked his Ghost in the eye. "Why?"

Nami's shell whirled and she turned, floating to the window. "I've picked up Fallen signatures a thousand metres out." She hovered back over and looked at the console one last time before shining it with light, and the system shut down. "I've got codes for a small jumpship in Mock City Beta. It probably won't be in good condition but-"

Izuku shot to his feet, his own quirk ringing with the warning of danger. "Get us there! If you're right about this, and I don't think my quirk can lie, then we've got to go." He bolted out of the room and jumped down the center of the stairs, sparks igniting across his body as he landed with a little spring. "How far is it?"

Nami dropped beside him and dissolved, situating into his conscience. "It's one-and-a-half klicks west!" She paused as he began running down halls, looking for the light that the night gave. "The Fallen signatures have gotten closer!"

Izuku grimaced. That couldn't be good. "Say no more!" he cried, upping his percentage and running on some walls to keep his momentum before seeing an open hallway and bursting through the foliage. "Which way is west?!"

"Straight ahead, but-"

If I up how much I use to 50%, I should be able to make it in two bounds. He crouched and sprung, grinning wildly. Perfect-!

"Izuku, WAIT! FALLEN READINGS JUST SPIKED, THERE'S A SKIFF-!"

A blast rang through the air, the sound of glass breaking around him, and before he knew it, he was falling off course, his mind catching up to the hole in his side. The pain soon caught up with his shock and his mind exploded. "GAAAAARGH!" Izuku screamed, crashing through solid concrete and rebar before landing in a crumpled heap on the third floor of an office building. Blood spurted out of his mouth and his body spasmed, his vision fading in and out. It burned to breathe, and iron stained his taste, twisting to his side to get up, he screamed in agony before his bones cracked into place and he felt the passive healing of the Light fill his senses.

"W-what was th-that?" Izuku choked, retching blood and stomach acid. He clutched his side, and stood shakily, growling as his legs realigned and fused back together. "God DAMMIT!" He cried, stumbling forward as his vision swam back into view. He put his weight on a standing pillar and heaved.

"I said I could heal you, not that it would be painless-"

"You could've w-warned me a little earlier!" Izuku said through gritted teeth. "Now answer my question!"

"A Fallen Skiff! I thought it was just more scavengers, but it seems like they knew their little scouting party perished, and they must've tracked you since!" Nami materialized his helmet and her icon appeared in the top left. "They hit you with an ionized scorch cannon." He pushed off the pillar and towards the gaping hole that had been his entrance. "I need more time to heal your side, it's missing too much!"

"No." Izuku panted, staring at his blood-stained glove and frowning before looking at the ship that had shot him. It flew closer to the ground and dropped a crew of Fallen, one of them looking larger than the rest. Another captain.

"Readings for another skiff! It's got a Walker!"

Izuku's frown deepened. "A what?"

His question was answered when another ship materialized into existence before dropping off a building-size four-legged monstrosity. The skiff detached, and it fell with a tremor that Izuku felt in his bones. He had never seen anything of the sort before, and he suspected the same was true on either side of his two lives.

The look on Izuku's face rivaled two wide dinner plates. "What. The. Hell."

Nami laughed nervously. "It's a lot weaker than it looks?"

It's turret turned in their general direction and fired, and the building began to crumble. Izuku deadpanned. "Weaker than it looks my ass!" He charged his body with One For All and jumped off the edge before the building fell on him. He tumbled to a stop, and he huffed, pulling himself up to a knee.

After a moment, he punched the ground, a small crater forming as he grit his teeth."How am I supposed to stop that thing!?"

Nami breathed heavily. "Uh, you beat it up? Throw grenades, shoot rockets at it-"

"I'm not using weapons!"

"You'll have to if you want to have a standing chance!"

Izuku was torn. He didn't want to hurt anyone, anything more than he needed to. But he also couldn't let this-this giant tank thing run around, destroying buildings and possibly reaching a settlement. Damn! He thought, his mind fuzzy with blood loss. I need to end this quick! He got up to both legs and swayed. "I'll show you, Nami!" He supported himself on his knee with one hand and clenched his other. "I'LL SHOW THEM I CAN BE A GUARDIAN WITHOUT KILLING!"

"You're crazy!"

Izuku spat some blood and wiped his face, a frenzied grin stretching across it. Lightning crackled around him, ozone filling the air. "No." He took one step.

"...Remember who you fight for!"

Another step. "I can't stop."

"Why you choose to help!"

"I can save others." His limp disappeared with his stride.

"Go beyond…"

"I can win!" Steps became leaps.

"PLUS ULTRA!"

"I'M A HERO!"

He screamed in exertion as he flew through the air, straight towards the walker. It's turret quickly pointed towards him, but he yelled with effort as it shot off a shell, and he twisted in the air to avoid it. Landing hard, he pushed off the newly-made crater and straight towards the captain he had seen. They started shooting at him, but black tendrils popped out of him, blocking the bolts like a shield before he thrust his arm out and grabbed all of their weapons, tossing them into the air.

He charged his arms with ten percent and clapped in front of him, the shockwave sending the dregs sprawling. The vandals fought through the wind and the pressure, rushing at him with freshly-unsheathed daggers.

Izuku grinned. Bringing his focus up, he used his quirk on his mind, bringing it's perception to the same speed as his body. The vandals slowed, moving like molasses. Izuku jogged up to them in those precious half-seconds and pulled the blades from their hands before kicking the both of them in opposite directions.

Time resumed, and he watched in fascination as the vandals flew. A sharp pain shot through his brain, pointed at behind him at his left. Rolling forward, he cried out as a shell burst into the ground, smashing concrete and dirt into the air.

Damn! Izuku thought, wincing at his side. His visor had cracked, and his radar flickered ominously. They're coordinated. They brought heavy artillery, and there's probably more on the way. As if to prove a point, screeches of clicking and gnashing echoed through the streets before more Fallen turned around a corner. Izuku just stared, his eyes sparking as he thought in microseconds.

I need space. I need an advantage! With monumental effort, he found himself beginning to float off the ground, and he grinned. "Huh. I can fly."

"You sure as hell can, kid!"

"And I've got Nana in my head. Great." Izuku sighed, wondering why one of the most useful quirks he inherited was from someone he dreaded knowing. An electric bolt shocked him from his musings, and brought him back to the immense pain and the situation he was in.

"Get it together!" Nami cried. "I'm in here too, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, mumbling later, fighting now!" Izuku yelled. Using his Float, he maneuvered himself, realizing that the suspension helped ease his pain somewhat, and he brought his hands together, charging them to fifty percent in an instant. At this height and from this distance, it should be nothing but a heavy gust-

KRACK!

His own clap sent him flying, and felt his sides and cuts open wide again with the force of his turbulence. He heard many screeches of pain this time, and many of surprise. The groaning of metal accompanied the Fallen's yells, and as Izuku righted himself he watched as the tank shook from it's stunned state and pointed its barrel up.

Boom!

Izuku yelped as a crackling bolt of fire and lightning shot past him, slashing him with its tail of pressure. He looked down at the metal monstrosity, and narrowed his eyes, clutching his side and tearing his shattered helmet from his head, his hair matted with blood.

He needed to end this quickly. There were too many now. They would surely overwhelm him if he overused his Float, and he could already feel all the wounds he had taken in the past several minutes battering his abused stamina. "I can't keep this up," Izuku whispered, coughing up blood as he dodged the many bolts of electricity and some balls of hot fire that now shot up at him.

"No, you can't," Nami said grimly. "We need to retreat. You have to-"

"I can do this," Izuku growled, silencing Nami. He cried as bolts began to hit him, and he curled in, trying to muster his quirk and remaining strength. "I just… need… more!"

Then, something clicked in his head.

What-

He could feel something growing within him, a ball of light that encompassed his quirk and filled his very being. It was raging to be released, to be used, and he realised he had been channeling its energy to passively heal him, instead of using it. It felt the same as Nami, the same as the rush he had in his dream. He grasped at it with his remaining mental strength.

His body burst with lightning.

Izuku screamed, feeling his very senses overcome with overwhelming energy. He tried to reign it in, to pull it back, but it wanted to be used. It was different from One For All, because he could tell with every second that the Light was waning, but it strained to jump out of him, to lash at the Darkness. So Izuku did one of the best things he knew how to do.

He threw a punch.

Izuku shot down with the force of a bullet, speeding straight at the metal giant with six legs. It tried to shoot at him, but the shell was lost before it could ever hit him. Izuku could feel his body tearing itself apart and putting itself back together, and it all culminated in one final-

SMASH!

The Fallen walker crumpled, and from the enormous gouge flew hundreds of arcs of electricity. It's front caved in and immediately burst into flames as the rest of the spider-like machine followed it. The lightning that used the spider as a focal point passed through each of the Fallen close enough to act as a current, and they all spasmed, collapsing in heaps on the ground.

In the middle of it all, Izuku Midoriya twitched and cried as his mangled body lay within the burning hot furnace of the walker's engine. That was stupid, Izuku thought dumbly, using the last of his energy to climb out of the walker's shell and fall to the ground.

"N-Nami," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "How c-close are we t-to the jumpsh-ship?"

"A kilometre out, Izuku, but-"

"N-no." Izuku grit his teeth but pulled through as he somehow managed to reach an arm out to push himself up. "I n-need t-to-" He collapsed and whimpered. "I need to m-make it."

Nami materialized beside him, her glowing yellow eye boring a hole into him. "You're in no shape to move, Izuku Midoriya, so stand down while I heal you-!"

He meagrely began to float himself forward, inch by inch, before he was rising into the air, ascending and accelerating at a soft pace. Izuku's face, scrunched in concentration and dark, bloody tears running down his cheeks told all the story needed. "T-tell m-me when we're c-close!" Izuku said, and they sailed in the air in silence, Nami buzzing by him with righteous fury and worry.

In what seemed an eternity, he felt the oddest sensation as his body dissolved and re-appeared in a sitting form, inside a ratchety old ship that had seen better days. It's windows that were meant to handle hypersonic speeds were cracked, and he could barely make out his reflection; A poor image of a man with tattered clothing and too many wounds to survive. His breathing was erratic, and his sluggish mind jolted when he felt the ship rock from it's restraints.

"I've barely managed to get it working!" Nami cried. "There's no NLS Drive, but we can make a run to the Last City."

As his vision blurred in and out, he vaguely felt the ship rising from it's rusty confines, bursting through the flimsy sheet-metal roof, and painfully brought up a hand to try and block out the light.

Izuku's last thought was wondering where the ring on his now-gloveless hand had come from.


A lone figure stared, their long white hair trailing gracefully along their well-armoured body. Their cloak swished as they brought up an elegant-looking rifle to their shoulder. Ruby eyes watched the ship rise from it's centuries-long slumber and shoot towards a distant point in the horizon.

They promptly turned and vanished with a crackle of ozone.


A/N: Oooooh who might this figure be? I guess we'll find out in the future! But yeah, 8k for a chapter just boggles my mind. I never thought I could write chapters so big, but I proved myself wrong. Wow! I have so many ideas too that it's just killing me!

Before you question why Izuku is so opposed to weapons, well, I believe his pacifism and need to save others (regardless of species) is such a strong part of his core, that it needs to be satisfied to some degree. Some Fallen definitely died in this fight sequence, and he'll eventually pick up a gun... just not intil the right time.

You'll see!

In any case, I really want to know what you guys thought, so Review, and spread the word!

Until next time!

~DrFunk