Hello earthlings! I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer.

Izuku had known fear before.

Even before that shitshow of a year had started, he'd known what it was like to be afraid. One time when he was six years old, a group of bullies from the village had cornered him on top of the mountain and had started screaming at him and pushing him. A mean older boy had shoved him too close to the edge of the mountain, and in that moment six-year-old Izuku was completely certain he was about to fall off and die. Kacchan had appeared a few seconds after that and scared the bullies away, but he never forgot that feeling.

And then there was that time his mother had tripped and fallen coming back up the mountain, badly twisting her ankle, when he was ten. He'd waited inside their house for hours, waiting for her to come back, but she never did. Convinced she'd been taken by demons, he'd run out into the darkness without a lamp, stumbling around in the dark woods screaming for her. When he found her, she could barely move and he'd had to practically carry her back up, sobbing the whole time.

Izuku had been afraid before. But he'd never known fear like he had near All for One. It felt like it was something alive, wrapping its hand around him as the man who was supposed to be his archenemy stepped closer to Kacchan.

The young sorcerer looked terrified too, trying to back away but not wanting to get too close to the villains as he stared at the tall man. "What the fuck are you?"

"Tomura."

"Yes, Master?"

"You've failed. The boy is useless to us."

"I'm sorry, Master."

"It's alright. We all make mistakes."

If Izuku had been listening to a conversation between two normal people, he would have said that All for One's voice almost sounded warm when he spoke to Shigaraki. Instead, though, even the reassurance sounded almost like a threat.

He had to get to Kacchan. He had to get him away, as far away as possible, get all of them away.

When he looked over at Todoroki, Izuku could see that the prince was thinking the same thing. They started moving at the same time, forcing their way through the fear holding them in place. They had to do something. They couldn't just stay there, frozen in fear. Someone had to do something.

Something was grabbing Izuku, holding onto the back of his shirt. He twisted around to see Iida, gripping onto both of them as hard as he could.

"I protect you," the taller boy hissed, holding the two other boys still. He looked terrified, as did all of them, but his eyes were fierce. They were full of warmth and a promise to do exactly what he said. To protect all of them.

And that look snapped Izuku's brain back to normal. Instantly his common sense, which had been buried under layers of pure, utter terror kicked back in. Of course they couldn't take All for One in a fight. While Izuku had the best chance of doing it and one day he would have to fight the villain, he wasn't ready. He hadn't learned everything he could from All Might and the previous Rulers. If he charged out to rescue Kacchan right then, he would die. They would all die. There had to be a better plan.

There was. The idea popped into his head almost immediately. It would work, if he timed it right. Everyone would be able to escape, even Kacchan. The problem was, Kacchan might not go along with it. His pride might not let him. There had to be a way around that.

Izuku was shocked out of his planning by the sound of an explosion.

A group of Heroes had just arrived at the scene. They seemed to hesitate as soon as they saw All for One, but they charged forward, weapons held high. Some of them started fighting the lesser villains. Best Jeanist, a Hero Izuku kind of recognized, flew high above them, balanced on a piece of string.

One small figure, bouncing around in the air, seemed familiar. Gran Torino. Somehow Gran Torino had ended up in the group, even though Izuku had thought he wasn't an active Hero anymore, but it was possible he was wrong. Obviously he was wrong.

Best Jeanist reached All for One first, sending a wave of fibers from his enchanted cloak at the villain. He easily dodged the attack, looking completely casual while he avoided all of the Heroes for a few seconds. Then he raised his hand.

For a few seconds, the aura of fear and darkness around him got stronger, so strong that it shut down Izuku's brain again, not letting him think of anything but the two kind of conflicting goals of getting to Kacchan and getting as far away as possible. It was so strong that he couldn't see anything besides the blackness. From somewhere that seemed far away, there was the sound of screaming, of crashing, of things breaking.

When it faded away, Izuku was able to make out the crumpled shapes of several Heroes, lying underneath the rubble. All of the buildings surrounding the small courtyard-area had been destroyed. The people in them… Izuku made a small noise, raising one hand to grab the top of his shirt. All of those people, innocent civilians, were dead or, worse, injured and trapped underneath. Just like that.

And the Heroes had all been knocked down. Some of them were trying to struggle back up, but most of them were still. There was red. A lot of red on the ground, on the Heroes, on the pieces of buildings that had been thrown everywhere.

It was the most powerful attack Izuku had ever seen. The kind of thing that was supposed to only exist in old myths and legends about gods. Izuku had no idea how, among all of the destruction, their cart had somehow survived.

Then he looked down and saw the way the Sword was glowing and the gentle warmth coming from it, and he figured it out. Somehow the Sword had protected him and his friends from the most devastating attack he'd ever seen.

He felt like he should thank it or something. Maybe that was the shock. But before he had a chance to, he felt the tug at his connection to it. All Might. It was the same feeling he'd gotten at the USJ, when the king was reaching for the Sword.

Before he had time to fully register what that meant, Izuku was reaching in his mind for the pathway connecting him to All Might and the Sword, but it wasn't there. Or it was there, but something was blocking it. All for One. Izuku pushed against the mental barrier as hard as he could, forcing himself to imagine the pathway. Imagine All Might. After a few seconds, he got the feeling something else was pulling from the other side.

Please, he thought, trying to get the previous Rulers' attention. It doesn't really belong to me yet. All Might can use it much better than I can. Please. He can be the one to kill All for One.

There was no answer. Not in words, like there had been the last time Izuku had sent the Sword through the pathway. But the Sword flashed blue and disappeared from Izuku's hands.

Well. That settled it.

He and his friends were essentially completely undefended.

That may not have been his smartest move.

Luckily, none of his friends noticed the Sword disappearing or Izuku's minor freak-out afterwards. Yaoyorozu and Kirishima had gotten out of All for One's paralysis, but it'd taken them longer than the others. The red-haired boy was watching Kacchan from over the side of the cart, moving his hand back and forth nervously, while the princess stood silently and completely still next to Iida, who was still holding onto the back of Izuku's shirt. Todoroki was crossing and uncrossing his arms, occasionally reaching for the knife at his belt.

As Izuku was starting to reevaluate whether his plan would work if they didn't have the Sword, Kirishima started gasping, stumbling slightly away from the cart and falling to his knees. "No," he whispered, shaking his head.

The aura of fear started getting stronger, spreading until it felt like Izuku was choking on it. He gagged, stumbling forward to look over the edge of the cart to see All for One looking towards them curiously, like he'd heard something. He started stalking closer, bringing the fear and the darkness and the pain with him, so close, Izuku was defenseless, he had to run, he had to get to Kacchan somehow, had to save him, had to do something, anything, there had to be something.

"Help me!" someone cried out. A woman's voice. Unfamiliar, coming from far away. "Someone help me."

And then it felt like something was blocking the fear, surrounding Izuku in a shield. A blue glow lit up the night sky, so bright that for those few seconds, it scared away the darkness. From within the blinding light, Izuku heard a familiar voice.

"Do not fear, citizens and Heroes of Kamino!"

It was the kind of voice that made one feel like anything was possible, like every problem in the entire world could be solved, but all Izuku could think was he's going to die.

"I am here!" All Might boomed, launching himself straight down at All for One.

The minor villains all scattered, running off into the corners of the courtyard. Which was entirely fair. Kacchan didn't move, staring at All Might with wide eyes. The king hit All for One head-on with the Sword, which should have killed him. Instead the man just laughed, stepping out of the way as All Might landed on the ground, backing away slightly and looking for an opening.

Something was wrong. Izuku knew how powerful the Sword was, knew how powerful even a glancing hit from it could be if it were in the hands of a true Ruler. All for One should have at least been somewhat affected by it.

"You're gotten weaker, All Might," All for One said. The fear around him started to come back as the light from the Sword dimmed for a few seconds. "Where have you been all this time? Haven't you noticed your kingdom falling apart?"

A new group of Heroes ran into the courtyard, but they all froze when they saw All Might. One of them- Tiger from the Pussycats- stepped forward, looking around at the Heroes on the ground, the villains, Kacchan, the long-lost true king of the kingdom. "King… All Might?"

"Fear not, Heroes!" All Might grinned, striking a pose with the Sword. "I have returned, ready to defeat the enemy once and for all!"

All for One laughed. "Really? You, a broken down weakling of a king who abandoned his own subjects? You're going to defeat me?"

"Yes. I did it once before, and I will do it again!"

"But why haven't you attacked? Standing around talking was never your style. Are you scared? Last time we fought, I killed the queen. Are you worried that it'll happen to you?"

All Might didn't answer. But Izuku connected the dots when he saw Kacchan again, still frozen behind All for One.

Of course. If All Might attacked the villain with Kacchan right behind him, the boy could get injured or one of the villains could grab him to use as leverage.

They had to get him out of there to make sure All Might could really fight and, hopefully, end the whole mess once and for all.

"Alright," the half elf-boy whispered, gesturing for his friends to gather in a circle around him. "Iida, Yaoyorozu, do either of you have a plan?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Right. Alright. So I have something… but it kind of depends on Kirishima."

As Yaoyorozu slipped away to lead the horses to the area where they would (hopefully) end up, Midoriya looked at the other three boys closely. "Are all of you sure you want to do this? I don't know if it'll work exactly the way I want it to, and it'll be really dangerous, and it's probably a stupid plan anyway, so-"

"Midoriya," Iida said, touching the other boy's shoulder. "It's a good plan. It will work. I will follow it."

"We also don't really have any other option," Todoroki pointed out, which was also probably true. All Might was still attacking All for One while the rest of the Heroes tried to get everyone out of the village and fight some of the lesser villains, but it wasn't going well. All of the Heroes were getting tired, and the All Might looked like he was losing strength. They had to get Bakugo out of there so the king could go all out, and if the really smart people couldn't think of anything else, Eijiro sure wasn't thinking of anything else.

He wasn't, deep down, sure the plan would work.

It depended a lot on him. More importantly, on Bakugo trusting him, but that was ridiculous. If he didn't trust Midoriya or Todoroki or anyone else with actual power, why would he trust Eijiro? Bakugo was one of the bravest people Eijiro had ever met and one of the most powerful and he was just so… cool. There was no way that he actually liked Eijiro, but Midoriya said that he did, and Midoriya knew him better than anyone else, so maybe Ejiro should believe it too.

But what if it didn't work? What if Eijiro failed?

He couldn't fail. That was all there was to it.

Todoroki looked at the other three one last time. Iida was grippinging the sword at his waist. Midoriya had closed his eyes, looking like he was concentrating hard on something, Eijiro didn't know what. And then the prince nodded and raised his right hand.

A ramp made of ice burst into being, spreading up and out across the sky. Even while it formed, Midoriya and Iida had already grabbed Eijiro and were sprinting up. They were going much faster than what was normal for a human. With Iida that made sense, since he had enchanted armor or… whatever, Eijiro didn't exactly know. Maybe he was just naturally really fast. Or maybe it was just Midoriya. He was moving way too fast, faster than Eijiro had ever seen a human move before. Maybe it was because he was a half-elf? No, elves usually couldn't move that fast.

It didn't matter. All that mattered was that they'd reached the top of the ramp and the two other boys jumped and they were in the air over the courtyard. Below him Eijiro could see All Might and All for One trading quick blows, All Might's much lighter-looking than the villain's. He could see the Heroes, frantically running around trying to get the ones who'd been hurt by All for One's first blast out of the way and search through the rubble of houses around the courtyard for regular people. He could see the villains, running around trying to get organized but for some reason it was not working for them. Shouldn't villains be better at following directions or actually… fighting?

And, most importantly, there was Bakugo. Standing a few feet behind All for One, too close to Shigaraki who hadn't really moved since the main villain arrived, looking up at the kids in the sky.

Eijiro remembered what Midoriya had said. How Bakugo wasn't going to accept help from anyone other than him because of his pride. Because he considered Eijiro to be an equal to him. That made no sense. How could Bakugo, one of the most powerful sorcerers ever, somehow think completely powerless Eijiro was as good as him?

But the red-haired boy still reached a hand down and yelled, "Come on!"

For what seemed like a long time but was probably less than five seconds, everything was still.

And then the ground beneath Bakugo erupted. Fire exploded from his hands, sending him flying up into the air, arcing through it towards Eijiro. The blond boy reached out one hand, and Eijiro grabbed it. His eyes were closed slightly, but they opened fully as he set off another explosion from his hand, sending them even further up into the sky. "What the hell took you so long?" he yelled, but he was grinning. Not very widely, which was fair since he'd been the captive of villains for two days, but he was still grinning, the way he always did whenever he won something.

Eijiro didn't answer. He just squeezed Bakugo's hand slightly as they began to fall from the ground, Midoriya calling back at Bakugo to not set off any more explosions.

And Bakugo squeezed back.

Toshinori wasn't entirely sure what had just happened.

He'd been fighting All for One, trying to lessen his attacks so that there was no chance of him missing and hurting Bakugo, when an ice ramp appeared in the sky. Three people- one of whom he was fairly sure was Midoriya- had jumped off it, one of them had yelled something at Bakugo, and then the boy had snapped out of whatever trance being so close to All for One had put him in and had used his fire sorcery to propel himself into the sky and the students disappeared.

"Master?" the white-haired villain (Shigaraki, Toshinori somewhat remembered from the USJ), said, sounding confused. "What should we… what should we do, Master? Should we go after him? I bet the elfling-"

"No. You've done enough, Tomura. Kurogiri?"

And then black mist crept through the courtyard, surrounding the area around Shigaraki's feet. The young man looked at All Might with hatred in his eyes. "Master, I wanted to-"

"Your chance will come."

And then he disappeared. When Toshinori listened for it, it sounded like all of the villains had disappeared. The courtyard was much quieter, except for the Heroes still running around. None of them came close to Toshinori. None of the villains had even tried to attack him either, even though at least Shigaraki had obviously wanted to. It was like they'd sensed the centuries leading up to the battle between All for One and the Sword.

The man before Toshinori had killed almost every other Heir before him, all in his quest to get the Ruling Sword. A quest that would not be fulfilled when it was Toshinori's turn to fight him.

But could he really win? The last time he'd fought All for One, he'd had Nana's help, and she'd been killed and he'd still ended up with the wound that should have killed him. He knew, deep down where he'd hidden the part of himself that was not a god-like king and powerful figure but a powerless human, that he likely would not get that lucky a second time.

He gripped the blade tighter. It bothered him to know how Midoriya had been near All for One but had still given Toshinori the blade without even trying to communicate that he was near the villain as well. For some reason it gave the man a bad feeling about his Heir. Obviously he trusted the young man, but it was entirely possible that he was too self-sacrificial.

If Nana had been there, she would have mocked him, telling him that all Rulers thought that their Heirs were too reckless and self-sacrificing. She'd lectured him about it too many times to count. Her and Gran Torino both.

He needed to focus on the fight. The old Hero was somewhere among the others who'd been injured in All for One's first attack, and he had a duty to protect all of them. The past didn't matter. What mattered was saving as many people as possible.

From somewhere in the rubble, the woman's voice he'd heard when he'd first arrived cried out again, but it didn't have words that time. He'd hoped one of the other Heroes would have been able to get her out, but apparently not. She was too near the main fight. It wouldn't be safe for anyone else to rescue her. So Toshinori would have to make sure she stayed safe while still frantically fighting All for One.

At least Midoriya and Bakugo were safe. And the young prince, who was presumably the one who'd created the wall of ice. Somehow Toshinori doubted that Enji would approve of anything the boy did. Enji didn't really approve of anything related to his children, or at least it didn't seem that way.

Toshinori hadn't wanted Uyay to fall apart. Maybe if he had stayed, things would be different in the kingdom. Maybe there would have been less demon attacks. Maybe people like Midoriya would not have had to grow up in fear of neighbors attacking them for no other reason than their blood. Maybe he could have helped more people. Maybe he could have even saved some of the villains from going down the wrong path, driven by pain and anger.

But it was too late to look back. Far too late. All that mattered was the fight in front of him.

He eyed the villain in front of him carefully. "You sent the other villains away."

"Oh, they're all essentially powerless. My apprentice has potential, yes, but he hasn't yet reached it. I'll use him when the time comes."

"Use him?"

"Yes. Use him. He is a weapon, and nothing else."

"He's a boy!"

"Much more of a weapon than a boy," All for One shook his head. "The little prince just doesn't understand his own power yet."

"The little prince?"

"Of course. What else would you call someone descended from royalty?"

Toshinori blinked. "Who?"

All for One moved, rushing at Toshinori with another wind attack that he was barely able to deflect with the Sword. The man laughed, like he was having fun. He reached out his hand and bursts of what looked like black lightning sprang from it, nearly hitting Toshinori. That attack was even stronger than the wind attacks. The Sword was barely able to deflect it. It wasn't like any other type of sorcery Toshinori had ever seen, except for when he fought All for One the last time.

None of the Wielders knew exactly where the man's power came from. It was different from any kind of magic any of them had ever seen. From his journals, it'd seemed like even the first king, his brother, hadn't known.

It was part of the reason Toshinori had run off to find him. Nana had already retired, making him the king. But he'd been bored, young, and arrogant. He'd wanted to be the most heroic of the Wielders, the one who solved the great mystery of All for One and where the Sword came from and how, exactly, they were connected. Nana had told him not to. Told him it was too dangerous. But he'd ignored her and Gran Torino and his other advisers, leaving for what he thought would be a year at most with Endeavor in charge of the kingdom. Back then, Endeavor had been different. Toshinori had been sure his kingdom would be in good hands.

And then he'd found All for One. And things had not gone the way he'd planned.

After that, he couldn't go back and face his kingdom. He was broken. Most of the strength he'd used to have had to be used to keep his wound from destroying him. Besides, Endeavor had already decided that he was the king, and in Toshinori's cowardly mind, it'd made sense to let him continue with that while he journeyed around the kingdoms, trying to find someone worthy of being his Heir. That was a more worthy goal, after all. Toshinori was not fit to be king, so didn't it make sense to find someone else who was?

That wasn't the truth. The truth was that King All Might was a weak, broken coward who'd abandoned his people when they'd needed him most. Because that was the kind of king he was and had always been.

He did not think he would survive that fight. All he could hope for was that Midoriya would find some way to pull the Sword away from All for One, back to where it'd be safe. With its Wielder. The person who was always meant to use it. The person who would make a far better king than Toshinori had.

No. he couldn't die there. He owed it to Midoriya. The young man deserved to have an adequate teacher who would finally finish teaching him how to communicate with the past Rulers and how to use the full strength of the Sword. He deserved a better teacher than Toshinori, but Toshinori was his only option, so he would stay alive. For the young man, he would survive. For the woman trapped under the rubble, for all the citizens of Kamino who were terrified and trapped, he would survive. For the injured Heroes around him and the ones still trying to save everyone they could, he would survive.

For Uyay, he would win.

Toshinori swung the Sword, nearly hitting All for One but the man leapt out of the way. Then the king was attacking, moving forward with his Sword in front of him and pointed at the villain, attacking and being deflected every time he saw the smallest hint of an opening. But some of the attacks were coming close. All for One didn't have time to summon his magic, Toshinori was moving so fast, using every last bit of power the Sword was willing to give him. And it gave him that reluctantly. The power wasn't unlimited, but he still pulled from the source of it, trying to make himself faster, stronger. If he could kill All for One there, then it didn't matter if he used up all of the Sword's magic. There would be no real reason for it.

Midoriya could be king, yes, but a normal king. He could rule peacefully without having to worry about the villain hunting him. Nana hadn't been able to use the full power of the Sword the first time because she'd shared it with Toshinori, but Midoriya wasn't trying to take power from its source right then. It was just Toshinori. He could survive. Even with his wound tearing him apart from the inside out, he could-

A bolt of dark power hit him in the side, directly above the old wound.

Toshinori doubled over, nearly falling sideways. The Sword slipped out of his hand and landed on the ground at his feet as the king sank to his knees. He couldn't feel anything except the pain, ripping at him, taking his power from him. All for One moved towards him, like nothing at all mattered.

"You fought much better than you did last time," the villain said, standing over him. "But you couldn't win. You know that, of course. No Ruler has ever truly beaten me. Why would you think you could do it?"

He didn't answer. What he did do was grab the Sword from the ground and drive it up, nearly into All for One's stomach. The villain moved back, but it was slightly slower. Like Toshinori had startled him.

The king slowly staggered back up to his feet, pulling on the Sword's strength with all of his might. He could barely move, but he had to keep going. For Midoriya. For Kamino. For Uyay.

"I will never give in to you," he growled, pointing the Sword at All for One. "I will keep fighting you for as long as I am alive. I owe it to my kingdom!"

"The kingdom you abandoned?"

Without meaning to, Toshinori glanced behind him at the women, still pinned beneath the debris of her house. She was still conscious, somehow. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. He didn't blame her. He'd abandoned all of them, the entire kingdom, and he couldn't do anything to save her. She could die there. And it'd be his fault.

"I did abandon my people, yes," he said, making sure his voice was loud enough that she could hear him. "And I… I never meant to do that. But I have returned, and I will spend the rest of my life fighting for them and trying to make up for my mistake."

"Hm. Interesting." All for One tilted his head to one side. "You are different from the last time I met you, Toshinori Yagi." And he moved, but Toshinori had been expecting the attack. He twisted out of the way, swinging the Sword as hard as he could, but it still missed. Barely, but it missed. It was closer than the other attacks had been.

"All you Wielders say the same thing," the villain said, almost casually, as dark lightning sprang from his hands, narrowly missing Toshinori. "You talk and talk about loyalty and your love for your kingdom and the people in it."

Toshinori had to end the fight as soon as he could. His body was starting to give up. He could feel himself shutting down. Maybe if he could just survive long enough to injure All for One permanently. That would be enough for him.

"But if you're willing to abandon your own family to make a point, then are you really a hero?" All for One had stopped his attack at some point. He backed up, not moving. Not trying to attack again. Hands down, like he wasn't even going to defend himself. It was a trap. If Toshinori rushed at him, he'd most likely be hit by the dark lightning or some even worse sorcery.

It sounded like All for One was trying to make a personal barb, but it wasn't hurting Toshinori. He'd abandoned his entire kingdom. Abandoning his family wasn't the worst thing he'd done.

"Like Shimura did."

Toshinori froze, grabbing the Sword with both hands. "Don't," he said slowly, pointing the weapon at All for One, "say her name."

"She never told you the truth, did she? About her son?"

Until that moment, Toshinori hadn't known Nana had had a son. No, All for One was lying. He had to be.

"Typically it's frowned upon for Rulers to have children. So she abandoned her son when she took the throne, placing him with some normal family. But that's in the past. What does that have to do with the present?"

All for One moved, and that time Toshinori wasn't quick enough to stop him. The villain hit him with a burst of the black lightning, sending him down again. Toshinori needed to move. Needed to attack the villain. But he couldn't, couldn't do anything besides look up helplessly as the villain opened his mouth.

"Her son died, but not before he had a son. A son who I found. I son who I molded into the perfect villain, my apprentice and eventually successor."

No.

"Tomura Shigaraki was once named Tenko Shimura. The grandson of your mentor. And now he is my heir." All for One sounded like he was smirking beneath his mask. "Isn't that poetic, how the past always comes back?"

Toshinori couldn't move. The boy with the power to turn people to dust… that boy was Nana's grandson. Nana's grandson, whose father she'd abandoned.

It made sense, in a twisted way. There were a few moments he could remember from his training, whispered conversations between Nana and Gran Torino when they thought he wasn't listening, Nana breaking down in tears when she saw a little boy abandoned by the side of the road. But Shigaraki being her grandson…

She would have been heartbroken. Toshinori was sure she'd loved her son and she would have loved his entire family. The fact that her grandson, the only survivor, had turned out to be a villain… that would have broken her.

Nana's grandson had tried to kill Midoriya. Had tried to kill all of the students. Had tried to kill so many people, and had probably succeeded with some of them. And Nana had abandoned her son in order to become the queen.

It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense.

All for One raised his hand, summoning black lightning into it. There was nothing Toshinori could do to fight him off or do anything to defend himself, keep himself alive. He couldn't move, frozen both with his injuries and his emotions.

Nana, he thought, trying to feel her the way he was supposed to be able to feel the past Wielders. It had never worked for him. There had always been something off about his connection with the Sword, something they'd never been able to figure out. Maybe it was because the Sword had known he wasn't meant to be king. Maybe it'd known how he would abandon his kingdom, everyone he'd sworn to protect.

He had no right to resent her for abandoning her family. He'd done so much worse. But it still hurt, somehow.

The worst part wasn't even that she'd left her son, but the fact that her grandson had been twisted by All for One into a villain. And Toshinori hadn't been able to save him. He hadn't been able to do one thing for the woman who'd given him everything.

Maybe he could send the Sword back to Midoriya before he died. Maybe the other Wielders would tell the boy what to do with it. Where to run. Where to hide.

I can't do this. I failed. Please, please forgive me.

He reached into the mental pathway connecting him to the boy, trying to imagine the Sword passing through it, but there was someone blocking it. Someone who, in his mind, seemed familiar. A presence inside his head that he recognized.

You did your best, Toshi, a voice like Nana's whispered. One last time.

One last time.

There were seven other voices in his head, seven other people giving him strength. Filling him with their strength. Somehow Toshinori understood that, one way or another, after that night he would never use the Sword again.

But that was alright. He had been a Wielder, and he hadn't done it very well. It was time to give Midoriya a chance with it. Time to let him take over.

Toshinori was happy with that.

He gripped the Sword and forced himself to his feet. All for One seemed surprised that he was able to stand. Toshinori was almost surprised too. If it hadn't been for the previous Wielders, it would have been impossible.

"You hurt our kingdom," he said, barely above a whisper. "You hurt our people. You hurt us. Now it is over."

It felt like all of the Wielders were inside Toshinori. He was all of them at once, and they were all him. They were one person, eight different lives combined into one.

And they lunged forward, forcing their way past All for One's defenses, deflecting the dark lighting without really looking, and drove the Sword into the villain.

For a few seconds, everything was frozen as the Wielders and the villain stared at each other. Then the villain fell backward, landing on his back and his eyes closed.

But first, he laughed. A low, harsh sound that seemed to come from everywhere at once. It only lasted a few seconds, but it still filled Toshinori with terror as the other Wielders slipped away.

Then it was silent. Not even the other Heroes gathered around what remained of the courtyard made noise.

This isn't over, Nana whispered in Toshinori's mind. He's not dead yet, and it won't be over until he's dead. You are not strong enough to kill him yet, only wound him. He will recover. But you've bought Uyay some time, Toshi. Well done.

He couldn't see her, but he got the feeling his mentor was smiling at him as the Sword disappeared from his hands and he was just a middle-aged powerless man, in pain and barely able to stand upright.

He staggered towards the woman who had been trapped under the rubble. Blood surrounded her, but she was still conscious miraculously, staring up at him with wide, frightened eyes. Toshinori knelt down next to her, pulling the rocks off of her. Heroes were running towards them, surrounding All for One and barking orders. They would be able to handle everything from there. They didn't need Toshinori anymore.

Midoriya was the one true Wielder.

Toshinori had complete faith in his Heir.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered to the woman as the last of his strength left him. "Because I am here."

I'm so sad I had to leave out the pointing moment but I couldn't find a way to make that work with no TVs :(. Anyway, leave a review with questions, constructive criticism, and/or words of encouragement! Later, potaters!