All Might needs to find and save his students, and he will not be stopped in his quest. Himiko wakes up in a strange place. And the battle of Kamino Ward begins!
Well, here we are. Been building towards this particular arc and the consequences of it for a LONG time. It may not resonate with all my readers, but I hope you guys can enjoy it and what the implications are!
Toshinori was incensed. Not only were twenty of his students kidnapped, but the other twenty students were in terrible shape, badly wounded by the fight against the Nomu. His fellow teachers were also hurt, as well as the Pussycats, and the media was on some sort of crusade against UA! As if anyone could prepare for a literal army of bioengineered monstrosities to show up at a training camp! And yet the HPSC just had to spew some grade A bullshit about how UA was failing its students and they should be the ones to take over, and the media was lapping it all up.
If anything, this entire thing was his fault, and he couldn't help the constant guilt that felt like it was choking him. If he had only stopped All For One six years ago, none of this would have happened. This was entirely his responsibility, and to try and fault UA, or the teachers, or even the bloody students like some of these bastards were doing was making him increasingly more agitated. Every second they wasted on fielding their inane questions as a second not put towards finding his kids!
"Toshinori," Aizawa's gruff voice called, drawing his attention away from the window he'd been staring out of. He spun about and sighed at the sight of Aizawa standing there, leaning on a single crutch with his head bandaged.
"Aizawa, you should be resting-" Toshinori began, but was cut off by the other hero's gaze. Something in it…bothered him. A sense of looming dread came over Toshinori, his eyes narrowing as he stared back at his colleague.
"...we know where Midoriya is. But…it might be…a problem," Aizawa began. Toshinori strode over to the man, his body puffing up into its muscled form as he loomed over the other hero. He didn't intend to be intimidating, but he needed answers and he needed them now, a pressure in the back of his skull demanding he find them as soon as possible. Aizawa took a deep breath, looking up at the taller hero. "We have reports of a green wave of energy that just went across downtown Kamino Ward. Very much like the reports of the incident from Midoriya's childhood."
Toshinori's eyes went wide at the words, his mind racing as he tried to contemplate what that would mean. Between the boy's training, One For All's power boost to it, the difference in age…it could be an unmitigated disaster. He needed to get there and fast, because the only reason this would happen is some sort of awful plot by that bastard All For One. He refused to waste time, immediately rushing to the nearest window and fumbling with the locks to open them.
"Toshinori-" Aizawa began, but the blonde cut him off.
"I have to go, Aizawa. Whatever happened…I need to go. This is part of All For One's plot, I'm certain. I will stop him this time, no matter what."
"I wasn't trying to stop you, but there's more you need to know. The city has a storm brewing over it, one that wasn't in the forecast, which means Nine and his group are also involved. And last reports we got said there are Nomu on the loose. The local heroes are being overwhelmed. It's all hands on deck, but you can't be distracted. If All For One is there…I don't believe anyone else can face him," Aizawa said in a low voice.
Toshinori clenched his jaw for a moment, hating the sense in what Aizawa said. He needed to get to the children, but he also couldn't let All For One run rampant either…He shook his head. Whatever choice he made, he had to get there first. He spun back around to look at Aizawa. "I understand. Anything else?"
Aizawa shook his head in negation. "That's all we know so far. I'd go with you but…I'd probably just be in the way as I am," he murmured, glancing down at his cast-covered leg.
"You protected the children, Aizawa. You already did your duty. Now it is my turn. I'll end this, I swear it," All Might said in a low, dangerous voice, spinning about and channeling One For All into himself. With a single, mighty leap, he shot through the window and into the air, rocketing through the nighttime skies as he headed to Kamino as quickly as he could. 'Hang on, young heroes, help is coming!'
Himiko flailed, her mind fuzzy and confused. Last she remembered, she was…being hit by one of Izuku's energy waves? She thought…she died? Was…was this death? Floating in a black sea, no sign of life or…wait.
Her confusion escalated as she felt something wrap about her waist, glancing down to see a black tendril of energy wrapped in green snaking around her abdomen. She had a brief moment to recognize it as Blackwhip, before she found herself yanked out of the water with a gasp, lifted into the air, blinking rapidly to clear her vision as she was forcibly drawn upward. A massive, placid ocean of water beneath her…a stone tower rising behind her…a night sky above with some stars and stuff. She had no time to examine it, finding herself now dangling by Blackwhip off the edge of the tower she saw, a tall, broad-shouldered, bald man cackling at her.
"Hey guys, look! I caught a catfish!...get it? Cause she's got that cat mutation thing?" the man said over his shoulder, making the confused Himiko glance beyond him to see…her class!
"Ochako!" Himiko screeched, reaching out frantically as if she could swim through the air to reach the brunette, who was currently holding her head with one hand as a tall, muscular woman with a white cape was gently patting her on the shoulder. The woman glanced back at Himiko's scream, turning baleful eyes on the bald man.
"Daigoro, let her down already, they are terrified enough as is," she commanded the bald man, now identified as Daigoro (and that name sounded so familiar to Himiko). With a roll of his eyes, he gestured with one hand, Blackwhip gently setting Himiko down upon the tower. Idly she noticed it was coming from the man's hand, but she didn't care about that compared to getting to Ochako. She scrambled across the stone floor for a moment, nearly losing her grip as she launched herself at the brunette, Ochako glancing up just in time to brace herself and catch the blonde, the only thing keeping her from falling over being the muscular woman holding her shoulder.
Himiko wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, the panic in her chest receding at the familiar scent of vanilla that was uniquely Ochako, her fears about the loss of her beloved fading just slightly as she held her and knew this was no hallucination, this was her Ochako, her beloved. She squeezed tightly, feeling the corded muscles in Ochako's arms squeezing back, relaxing into the hug as she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.
"Himi? Himi, it's okay. I'm okay," Ochako murmured, trying to reassure her girlfriend. Himiko could feel Ochako's concern for her, her love and compassion, washing over her like warm water, making her feel safe.
"She's right, kid. You're safe here…for now, I guess," the tall woman muttered, her voice sounding a bit confused.
Himiko lifted her head up enough to glance about, seeing all of her class scattered about in small groups, hugging and holding one another much like she was doing. A second later, her eyes went wide as she saw a pink bullet come heading towards her and Ochako, tackling the two a moment later as Mina collided with them, her voice muffled but the worry audible and nearly visibly surrounding her.
A moment later, Toru leapt atop the fallen girls, Himiko now laying flat on her back with two other women sprawled overtop of her and Ochako. As she lay there, getting more and more confused, she saw Momo's face over her own as the taller teen leaned over the four collapsed girls. Himiko sighed. "Um…anyone know what's going on?"
"Once you've all sufficiently calmed down, I will explain," a soft voice said, its tone echoing across the tower. There was a weight, a gravitas to the voice that made Himiko lift her head up to follow the sound to its source, seeing a slender, white-haired man with green eyes sitting forward on a throne, smiling indulgently in Himiko's direction. She noticed the other strangers…a tall man with a crack on his face, a man who looked weirdly like Katsuki, a man with blue hair pulled back in a ponytail, a man with a high collar hiding the bottom of his jaw, and…a giant flaming figure that looked oddly familiar? Wait…her eyes widened as she realized where she was.
Tenya quickly stepped forward, chopping his arm as he spoke loudly. "My fellow classmates, I believe we should take seats and pay attention, perhaps this man here can explain to us our current predicament!"
"Yoichi…you're First, aren't you?" Himiko asked, ignoring Tenya's comment. At her words, everyone turned to stare at her for a brief moment, then back to the man seated on the throne, who was now chuckling dryly.
"Very astute, Himiko. Yes. You have somehow found your way into Izuku's vestige world," Yoichi said with a soft smile.
"Wait, are we dead?!" Denki asked, his jaw dropped as he caught onto where they were.
Nana chuckled, reaching over and ruffling the blonde's hair. "No, no. The only dead ones here are us."
"...that's probably more morbid than you realized, Seventh," Third replied with a drawl, arching an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. "I mean, it's not untrue."
"If we're not dead, than what the hell fucking happened?" Katsuki demanded, stomping forward to staredown Yoichi.
"It's…complicated," Yoichi began, wincing slightly.
"Well uncomplicate it!" Katsuki roared, clenching his fists. He spun about, waving one hand in the general direction of the lake, which Himiko now noticed had stopped being placid and had begun to move, waves slowly building and building as the water began to roil and bubble.
Yoichi sighed, clasping his hands before him. "We have little time to explain, so I'll make this quick. My brother forced Izuku to overcharge, which sent a wave of energy across the area you were in."
Gasps of worry, fear, and shock sounded from the gathered students, making Himiko realize she may have been the only one to actually see what happened. She jolted as Yoichi met her gaze, the white-haired man slightly nodding to her as if he heard her thought and was letting her know she was correct. After a moment for people to take in what he had said, he continued.
"However, it did not have the effect my brother desired. Izuku…well, in truth, thanks to all of you, finally accepted his power and his responsibility, and took control of it. The overcharge did not damage living beings. Only structures and the dead. Which meant all of you were freed, every nearby Nomu was incinerated, and somehow, your minds were all brought in here. As far as we can tell, it's due to the link he formed with you before. Shortly, you will be removed from here and be back in your bodies, freed. Izuku is still recovering from the overcharge, which is why he isn't here with us yet."
"...Does…does he know we're okay?" Ochako asked, her voice filled with worry as the pieces were clicking in her mind.
En chuckled, pointing up. "Why don't you check yourself?"
Himiko followed his gesture up, finding her eyes drawn to the bubbling yellow star just beside the glowing green orb in the center. She knew, somewhere deep within, that that star was her, was the part of her Izuku had connected to, bonded to, the part of her that lived on within him. Her eyes flit about, seeing the other celestial bodies, and as she gazed over each one, she could feel them…hope, fear, joy, worry, anxiety, etc, a million emotions at once that were both foreign and comforting in their familiarity.
Finally, she let her eyes flit over to the glowing green orb, noticing it was sending massive tendrils of energy down into the lake below, the lake swirling about the tendrils with purpose. As she stared at it, the light blinding but not painful, she could feel him…determination, concern, pain, pride, anger, but all buried beneath a wave of love, affection, and sheer will, a focused charge that she just knew was Izuku at his most heroic, his desire to protect and save at the forefront. She could almost picture the determined smile on his face, the way his eyes would be alight with green, and couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips at the thought.
"The link goes both ways, after all," Yoichi added after a moment, his smile wider than before.
"And cause of that, y'all about to have some fun once you wake up," Daigoro said with a grin.
"And what exactly does that mean?" Momo asked, narrowing her eyes at the bald man.
"Ninth finally accepted his power. So One For All and his Quirk are fusing fully now. It hadn't been completed before. So now One For All has grown even stronger. Too strong for a single person to use safely," Second added, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the back wall.
"Which means it will no longer be held by a single person…if you so choose to accept," Hikage said, a wave of his hand indicating the gathered students.
"...the fuck?" Katsuki managed to whisper, as those there started to catch onto what the vestiges were saying.
"If you accept it, and you are under no obligation to do so, you will gain a share of the Stockpiled power. This will interact with your Quirk in ways we cannot foresee, but should be of benefit regardless. You will also gain access to my Quirk, as it has become an integral part of the link," Hikage replied, gesturing up to the full night sky above.
"We'll also let you borrow ours. But only a couple of you per each, we can only help so many control it," Daigoro said, Blackwhip twining up out of his hand and flitting about.
"...you've got to be kidding me," Ochako mumbled, her eyes wide.
"I'm afraid not, Ochako," Yoichi said softly, making the brunette jump at being directly addressed. "Again, none of you are required to do so. We can simply limit how much Izuku uses, so it's not a danger to him to have too much in the stockpile. But it can be shared, and truth be told, I wish it had that ability back when I initially had it. I named this power One For All, not only to be the opposite to my brother, but to also be for all. And yet it still has always remained the province of one person at a time. I would rather it was there for as many as possible, not just to stop my brother, but to be the hero that Yagi made us all believe we should be…and that all of you already are."
"Just so you know, we've been watching through Izuku's eyes, and to us, you're all already heroes. You don't need this power to be the best heroes you can be, because you already are," Nana said, gently patting Ochako and Denki on the head as they were the two closest to her reach.
"Just think of it like an enhancement, if you want. Support equipment or something," Daigoro added.
"...just…make sure we're on the same page here…you're saying we can get part of All Might's Quirk?" Hanta replied, staring in shock at Yoichi.
Yoichi nodded solemnly. "Yes. My power, passed down onto my heroes, who passed it along a chain of wielders who all did their level best to save the world from the darkness of my brother. If you want, you can call upon it as well. We won't look down on you for saying no of course, this is merely an offer, freely given."
"Can…can we undo it later?" Mina asked, her voice quiet.
"If you break the link with Izuku, yes. It is through that the power would channel. Theoretically, you could break the link to remove the power, and forge a new one without the access if necessary," Hikage said.
"Theoretically?" Tenya asked, eyes narrowed.
Nana shrugged. "This is as new to us as it is to you. We're just guessing here. This has never happened before."
There was a moment of silence as the varied students considered what this would mean, what this sort of responsibility would be for them. Each and every one had to think and consider what it would mean, how it would change things, and how it would affect them going forward in their lives.
Himiko met Ochako's eyes, shimmering amber staring into chocolate brown, and something passed between the two of them silently, an understanding…one which was shared across the area by each and every member of the Class, linked as they were by the bonds from the skies above.
Himiko turned to Yoichi, and feeling the confidence given to her by her beloved, her friends, and her new family, gave their answer.
"Fuck off!" Izuku roared, slamming his fist into a Nomu that had been chasing a young woman, sending it flying as he winced, realizing he'd once again accidently kicked Full Cowling up too high and nearly fractured something. He was so very confused…he'd been up to forty percent before the training camp without issue, able to stretch that to fifty if he was careful, but now if he went over twenty it felt so much more powerful and hurt him again! Even the thirty percent he used there sent the Nomu flying far, much further than he intended.
He shook his head. Now was not the time to focus on that, now was the time to get people out! He could sense the presence of his friends and loved ones nearby, and luckily Danger Sense was not pinging for them, so for now, he was focusing on rescue efforts. Hundreds of citizens were fleeing from the Nomu that had been unleashed, and while every ounce of him demanded he check on the class, since he didn't sense danger around them right now, he had to grit his teeth and do what he could to save the innocent civilians caught up in this ancient war.
Unfortunately, he wasn't doing a great job because he couldn't be everywhere at once! How did All For One have so many Nomu?! It boggled Izuku's mind, how he'd kept this many locked away. Not to mention the pouring rain made it that much more difficult for him to see what was going on, especially with the interspersed bolts of lightning and cracks of thunder that would temporarily blind and deafen him.
He was flying about as fast as he could, periodically using Gear Shift to get brief boosts in his mobility (and already feeling the extreme strain of applying it even in small doses), but he couldn't stop. His arms were hurting something awful, his one arm he was pretty sure was broken wrapped in his energy fields to keep it straight as possible as he relied heavily on kicks and his free hand to get strikes in, as well as a lot of Blackwhip to fling the Nomu away from the fleeing civilians.
Most of them seemed as scared of him as they were of the monsters, which he supposed made sense…he didn't look great, all tattered and torn clothes, his hair matted by sweat and rain, and surrounded by crackling black-green energy tendrils, but at least he didn't have his brain exposed!
Maybe Izuku was getting a little bit frantic, unsure how much longer he could do this. He felt the walls closing in, every time he pulled another person to safety it was just a bit closer, a bit more dangerous, a bit more down to the wire. He was slowing down, feeling his breaths coming shorter, more abrupt, feeling more and more strained every second.
He saw it as he felt it, another Nomu, another civilian, a young man dive tackling another man out of the way and the Nomu's wide, opened jaw stretching out on a twisty, twining neck, about to snap closed on the one man's head and throat, and even with Gear Shift Izuku knew he couldn't reach in time. Wordlessly he cried out, one hand thrown forward with a desperate launch of Blackwhip, hoping to reach in time…
When the Nomu was blindsided by a pink rocket, its entire body quaking from the force as it went flying past Izuku, slamming into the broken remnants of a building and through it. Izuku blinked, jaw dropped, as his gaze turned to see…"Ochako?" he whispered, eyes wide, seeing the sight of his girlfriend standing there, surrounded by…shimmering pink lights, glittering like stars in the night sky, and what looked like a half dozen tendrils of Blackwhip extended from her back holding.
She turned to him, smile growing wider as she saw his face. "Izuku!" she shouted, bolting towards him far faster than he expected, ramming into him with a hug that knocked him clean over and sent pain through his broken arm, yet he couldn't find it in himself to care. He let out one agonized sob, wrapping his good arm around her as she tightened her grip on him, feeling a familiar thrum of power from both his body and hers, a strange synchronization that made him falter as he tried to figure out what was happening.
"Ochako…w-what's going on?" he managed to stutter, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he reveled in the feeling of her warm body against his frigid, wet one.
She lifted her head up and pecked him on the cheeks, eyes glowing bright pink as she grinned. "It's a really long story."
"Short version is you somehow fucking gave us One For All too, ya fucking nerd," Katsuki's voice said, landing next to Izuku with a dramatic slam into the ground, orange lightning rippling about his body.
"I did what?" Izuku gaped, quickly blinking to clear water from his eyes as he turned back and forth between the two around him.
"Yup! Yoichi said that since your Quirk has fused with it, it's too strong now for one person, so…they said we can use some of it too!" Himiko replied, appearing next to the other two, her body aglow with shimmering strands of golden energy that twirled and twined about her.
Izuku stared at his other girlfriend and then his brother, before laying back on the cold, wet ground and staring up into the storming sky. He gave a start as he saw Tsuyu flying across the sky above, her body wreathed in a rotating pattern of blue waves, before she slammed down into the ground nearby, his ears easily able to pick up on the scream of a Nomu and the cracking of the earth, followed by a self-satisfied 'ribbit'.
Izuku worked his jaw for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. "...I have no idea how to react to any of this."
"How about you get up, we kick these Nomu's asses, and we deal with it later?" Ochako asked, already standing up and holding one hand down for him to grasp, her eyes alight with energy and a subtle pink glow.
Izuku stared up at his girlfriend, his gaze shifting to his other girlfriend and his brother, all with similar shit-eating grins plastered on their faces. With a rueful chuckle, he took her hand, the sparking energy of his Full Cowling warmly twining about their hands, her pink glowing starbursts flitting about his skin and making him feel a sensation uniquely Ochako.
As he managed to stand upright, he could now see it around him…flashing of yellow, pink, green, blue, purple, every color of the rainbow and more as his classmates, his friends, his loved ones were destroying the Nomu with a single-minded prejudice. Denki flashed by, his body wreathed in yellow lightning, winking at the trio as he vanished from sight as soon as he appeared. Izuku blinked as he saw the telltale glow of Fa Jin around Denki's arm, before the electric-blonde thrust his arm forward, sending a bolt of lightning through a trio of Nomu, all three shivering in place as their bodies were rocked by the bolt, falling over a moment later, bodies steaming in the falling rain.
He could see a cloud of Smokescreen visible across the way, where he heard the giggles of Mina, and the sizzling of the Nomu as he realized she somehow fused her Acid into the Smokescreen which…might be the most terrifying thing he'd seen her do so far? On one hand, he mused, that was an effective tactic against these dead foes where none of them had to hold back…on the other hand, that was…weirdly hot and he did not want to think about the fact he found that attractive.
"Are you ready, mademoiselle!?" Yuga's voice came from behind Izuku, the four gathered together turning about to see him, his body alight with a shimmering sparkling light, staring up into the sky where…Toru was visible, being held up by a flying Rikido, rainbows scattering off her body as she glimmered in the rain.
Toru grinned down at him, making a thumbs up gesture. "Go for it!"
"What in the world are they doing?" Ochako asked, confused, as it hit Izuku a moment later, his eyes going wide.
"...oh. That," he murmured, Ochako opening her mouth to ask but stopped when a truly massive beam of light erupted from Yuga's body, the entire battlefield suddenly visible in a stark light, blinding everything around them. The light slammed into Toru, the rainbow glimmers on her turning into a torrent of prismatic afterimages, a feral grin stretched wide on her face as she curled in on herself for a brief moment…before dozens of rainbow bolts of light came rocketing away from her, piercing through and in some cases entirely disintegrating multiple Nomu, the beasts barely able to react in time before being annihilated fully.
"...I wanna ask what the fuck was that, but everything tonight has been a what the fuck moment so I'm not gonna bother," Katsuki muttered, shaking his head. After a moment, he lifted his gaze up to meet Izuku's. "Alright 'Zu. Let's fuck these Nomu up, save the day, and go home already."
Izuku started to nod, but his head suddenly snapped to the left, eyes wide, as a massive burst of Danger Sense triggered…but not there? He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the feel, idly noticing the others around him seemed affected too but weren't as used to it and couldn't quite differentiate where it was coming from. He stared in the distance, desperate to figure it out, when it clicked. "All For One," he breathed out, voice quiet, a massive explosion in the distance making all the fights nearby halt for a brief moment.
"What?" Himiko asked, one hand gently placed on Izuku's shoulder as she looked at him in concern.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground a few meters away, making everyone jump, as Izuku's head spun about the opposite direction. "Nine," he growled, able to see the energy signature even from this distance.
"Izu, what's going on?" Ochako asked insistently, shaking him slightly.
Izuku swallowed, taking a deep breath. "Toshi…Toshi's fighting All For One over there, but…but Nine is over there! And, I can sense Nine's other lackey's nearby too. It's not just the Nomu. But Toshi, he's…he's hurt, hurting badly. All For One isn't alone, there are a bunch of Nomu will him and Toshi can't fight them, protect the people, and fight that bastard at the same time! But we can't let Nine free either!" Izuku lifted his unhurt arm up and grabbed at his hair, tugging at it as he snarled under his breath, unsure what to do.
"Izuku," Katsuki said, his voice commanding enough to make Izuku look up at his brother, an unusually solemn look in his glimmering red eyes, the sparks of orange lightning flitting off him. "...you go help All Might. I'll go after Nine. I won't let him get away, not again."
"We'll go after Nina, Katsuki," Ochako replied, her voice steady as she stepped forward. He turned to look at her, giving her a nod after a moment.
"I'll get a couple others to help me, we'll go after Nine's stupid friends," Himiko said, one hand resting on her hip as she smirked. "The others can handle these silly Nomu, they got nothing on us anymore. Koji's already moved to rescue efforts anyways, cause we got them well in hand." Himiko's smirk faded as she reached up and gripped Izuku's shoulder, squeezing it tightly. She lifted up onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips to Izuku's cheek and nuzzling him for a brief moment. "We'll handle this. Go help Toshi."
Izuku stared at them for a moment, his mind racing as he thought about all the ways this could go wrong…but he shoved those thoughts back. He had faith in the ones he loved. He trusted them. If they said they'd take care of it…they would. Part of him desperately wanted to be the one to bring Nine down, to take his vengeance...but saving the people he loved was far more important to him than revenge. He nodded, leaning down to give a kiss to the top of Himiko's head, a following one to Ochako's cheek, and held out his hand to his brother, Katsuki taking it in a firm grip and shaking it once. He closed his eyes, focusing his energy, centering his mind, and with a burst of electric green energy, vanished into the night sky, heading unerringly to the battle between All Might and All For One.
Katsuki turned to Ochako. "You ready, Ochako?"
"Born ready, Katsuki. Let's bring that fucker down," she said, slamming her fist into her palm. Katsuki replied with a feral grin, nodding at her.
Himiko leaned forward to wrap her arms around Katsuki, squeezing him tightly for a moment, before turning back to Ochako and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "You two be careful, okay? I'm gonna get Eijiro, Momo, Tenya, and Shoto to come help me with the other three."
"Probably overkill, but better to be safe than sorry," Ochako muttered. She gave Himiko a quick hug, squeezing her girlfriend tightly. "We'll come back to you guys, we promise."
"Ain't nothing gonna fucking stop us. This bastard won't know what hit him," Katsuki said.
With a single shared nod, Katsuki and Ochako both blurred with energy, Ochako tapping herself to trigger her Quirk as Katsuki ignited his sweat to trigger his own, the duo rocketing off into the distance towards where Izuku had identified Nine. Himiko took a deep, bracing breath, before turning away to begin rounding up her friends to help finish this.