"Thank you again for accompanying me on such short notice, Eraserhead."

Raindrops pelted against the windshield, a rattling sound like pebbles thrown against a tin can. With visibility so low in such adverse weather, Yagi had no choice but to prolong their drive back to U.A. campus. In the passenger's seat, Eraserhead sat with his arms crossed, watching the rainfall with drooping eyelids.

"The sooner we get back to Heights Alliance, the better." he drawled. "At this rate, knowing my students, it could very well be on fire right now."

A soft smile spread over Yagi's face. "We both know how much you care for those children."

"You sound like Mic."

Yagi's meeting with the city chief of police had been last minute, but with villain activity running rampant after his retirement, he was thankful that he was still being updated about recent issues amongst law enforcement and was regularly sought after for advice on such matters. The problem was that now that he was quirkless, it wasn't safe for him to travel long distances alone, especially with his reputation putting an even bigger target on his back. He greatly disliked this fact, but there wasn't much point in arguing against the truth. That, and his own personal safety was still currently important for young Midoriya's training.

Thankfully, Eraserhead had been available, leaving young Eri in the care of the third-year students and young Midoriya's class under Present Mic's watchful eye. He was less than thrilled to leave his students to their own devices in his old friend's care, but he'd come nonetheless, and Yagi was grateful.

"Eyes on the road." Eraserhead muttered dully, and Yagi startled as he barely slowed in time for a stoplight. He should know better to zone out while driving, especially in these conditions, but he supposed he was looking forward to an early bedtime that day. Yagi hummed, turning the radio to a news station as the stoplight changed. He considered starting a conversation, but he supposed that Eraserhead preferred the peace and quiet over mindless chatter.

To his surprise, though, it was Eraserhead who started the conversation. "Is your...'hero sense' still acting up?"

Yagi swallowed, a deep frown marring his features. "It is. I'm not sure what to make of it, though."

"Is it not that strong?"

"No, but it isn't weak, either." Yagi explained, tuning out the incessant beating of the rain against the car hood and the constant switching of too hot and too cold.

Eraserhead nodded. "Best to stay vigilant, then."

Yagi agreed. It could be reacting to Eraserhead himself, for all he knew.

And it's almost funny, how quickly things went south just as that thought crossed his mind.

The familiar roiling in his gut intensified so fast that it was only thanks to years of experience that he didn't throw up in his own lap. With sharpened, dilated eyes, Yagi noticed the incoming danger about the same time that Eraserhead did, his posture shooting straight up fast enough for his back to make a sickening cracking sound. Through the haze of rain, both men could make out the form of something large, shooting at them at speeds that no normal human would be able to perceive, let alone avoid.

Eraserhead reacted first, even if it was only to speak. "Car."

Thankfully, heroes tended not to be normal humans.

Yagi swerved out of the way as what looked like a jeep flew past them, tumbling out of the air and rolling down the road behind them like a toy a child had thrown across their room in frustration. Spinning out from the slick, waterlogged roads, Yagi had only a moment to watch as the vehicle came to a stop after its flight, resting on its side in the rain, and hope beyond hope that there were no occupants.

Swerving back into his own lane with an ear-piercing squeal, Yagi watched slack-jawed as a motorcycle was launched at them so violently that it was speared into the asphalt, standing on end like the hairs on the back of his own neck.

"I hate to be captain obvious," Aizawa said, tone as bored as ever, even with his white-knuckle grip on the grab handle. "But we're being attacked."

"Yes." Yagi had barely a moment to breathlessly comment before a bright orange light broke through the haze. The sound of something slamming into the front of the car with enough force to make it buck assaulted Yagi's ears, but it meant nothing in the face of his own racing heart.

"Get out!" Eraserhead ordered, his car door already flung open as Yagi moved to open his own. Braving the cold, pounding rain and the slick pavement, the veteran hero unbuckled his seatbelt with barely a flick of his finger and leaped, sliding and rolling through the shallow water flooding the streets as his car swerved aimlessly across the road.

And then, without warning, the already flaming front of his car exploded.

The force of the explosion wasn't enough to send him flying, but it sure had the power to blow out nearby windows. Not a soul could be seen in the pouring rain, but with his hero sense still raging in his gut, Yagi couldn't be so sure that no civilians were nearby to get caught up in whatever was happening.

Or his sense was reacting to Eraserhead.

It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it was possible, so on bony legs, Yagi forced himself to his feet. The blinding conditions did nothing for their situation, and Yagi was certainly in no condition to fight, but lying down and giving up was definitely not a viable option.

He was only upright for a few seconds before a black blur slammed into him, two bodies falling to the ground as something massive flew over their heads and crashed into something overhead. Yagi barely had a chance to orient himself and recognize Eraserhead's costume before he was being dragged to his feet and down the street. The rain was slowly starting to let up as streetlights illuminated the empty sidewalks. On each side of the road, Yagi could see the lights in intact windows flickering on at the commotion.

Running in front of him, Eraserhead was fiddling with his phone, his movements growing more urgent as time went on. Ducking around a corner, the underground hero growled. "Dammit, my phone was damaged during our escape, but I was hoping it would still work." He pocketed it with a tsk. "What about you?"

Yagi stared at him for a moment. "...I left mine in the car."

Something exploded somewhere behind them. Eraserhead's only response was a deadpan glare.

The younger hero sighed. "So, either we make it to U.A. by foot or hope that another hero notices the commotion."

"Or perhaps a civilian will inform the authorities?"

"Don't count on their help. You of all people should know better."

Shadows were moving in their peripheral. Yagi and Eraserhead were both immediately on edge, acutely aware of the alleyway currently to their backs. Even though the rain was easing up, the city was still blanketed in fog, meaning obstruction of sight would be directly affecting Eraserhead's quirk. That, and Yagi didn't exactly have one, so he was on his own.

That, and from the number of blurs quickly circling them, they were also outnumbered. More than likely, this was a deliberate attack against them, though the last-minute meeting that brought them into this situation would make it rather spontaneous.

The implications were troubling.

Footfall set them both on edge, Eraserhead quickly pulling his goggles on as the shadows took shape. Looking around, Yagi could count at least six people, though he had no idea how many might still be hiding out of sight.

"Focus on protecting yourself." Eraserhead ground out as the orange glow returned, the two men leaping away as a fireball shot towards them, exploding in a storm of flames. Yagi couldn't see where Eraserhead disappeared to from here, but from the rapid movements masked by the fog, he assumed that he was already engaged in combat.

Gathering his wits, he found himself at the mouth of the alleyway, where he was met with what was essentially a bear man. Yagi was on his feet and jumping back as the villain took a swing at him, letting out a fearsome roar that had Yagi's stomach dropping.

Behind him, he heard approaching footsteps, and he managed to sidestep as a woman with spikes running up her arms lunged at him. It was almost like a dance, eying each villains' movement with extra care. Every once in a while, another villain would join the tango, but then their quirk would disappear at exactly the wrong moment and a capture weapon would appear and yank them back into the fog.

It was a poor judgment call on Yagi's part that ended his luck, suddenly finding himself in the alleyway with his back against the wall. The bear villain grinned wildly, approaching with a sway in his step.

"I never thought I'd see the day." he laughed. "The greatest hero of all time, trembling in fear at my feet."

Well, Yagi wasn't exactly trembling, but this wasn't a good situation, either.

"You think you've bested me, villain?" he said, surprising even himself, because he supposed old habits die hard.

Somewhere deep in his soul, the embers of a forgotten power flickered.

With another roar, the bear villain charged him, teeth and claws bared and searching for blood. For Yagi, it was instinctual, and perhaps he should have known better than to rely on faulty old tricks, but lady luck, to this day, seemed to still choose his side.

"Texas..."

Even like this, he could still transform for a second's worth of time. However, if he was to focus that power into a single appendage, like his last battle with All For One...

For a single moment, a familiar power rushed through his right arm. He didn't look to check, but the split-second flash of panic on the villain's face was all he needed to know.

"...SMASH!"

A massive fist collided with the bear man's face. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the hulking man found himself being launched into the air. It was euphoric, feeling that familiar power course through him, even if for a moment. It was almost as if his old master was there with him, laughing at how ridiculous he must look and praising his indomitable spirit.

And in the next moment, time went on, his arm shrinking back as the bear man went hurtling out of the alleyway and into the fog, a huge crash announcing his likely defeat. Yagi just hoped that the resulting collateral damage wasn't too severe.

The moment was so world-stopping that he'd almost forgotten about the spiked woman, just now recovering from her fellow villain getting launched like a rocket across the street. Yagi had the sense to grab a nearby trashcan lid for protection as the woman crossed her arms over her chest, the spikes lining them suddenly shooting out as projectiles. Yagi charged her with his makeshift shield, slamming into her with all the might that his lanky, bony form could possibly muster.

He might not be as strong as he once was, but he still had size on his side, and that was apparently enough for him to force her onto the pavement, slamming her down with a crack that had her going still and him feeling slightly ill. Perhaps it wasn't the best time for it, but he found himself stopping to catch his breath, caught up in the throes of old memories and waning adrenaline.

He only now noticed the right sleeve of his shirt, completely shredded from his impromptu transformation. Checking himself over, it seemed that a few of her spikes managed to tear his clothes and scrape him up pretty good.

A commotion ahead of him caught his attention, and he looked up just in time to see Eraserhead launch one villain into another with his capture weapon and pull out a knife to defend against a third. From the looks of it, he was fending off about five on his own with only mild trouble, and though Yagi seemed to have miraculously managed to take out two on his own, they still didn't know just how many there were, or what they even wanted, for that matter. To kill them, perhaps, but even then, they didn't know the motive.

It was all very problematic.

The two heroes made eye contact, and in the next moment, they were taking the first opening they saw, charging out into the rain as it once again began to pour. A part of Yagi wondered if one of the villains had a weather-related quirk, but it might be a bit much considering that it'd been raining all day. Was the weather just not on their side that day? It was likely.

"Shit!"

The shout startled him, his hero sense screaming in his ears and sending his mind racing, and Yagi turned just in time to see one of Eraserhead's legs give out from under him. It hardly occurred to Yagi that he was still holding the trashcan lid until he was sliding in front of his fallen fellow hero, holding the lid out like a shield as two needles pinged off of it and harmlessly fell to the ground.

"Eraserhead?" Yagi asked cautiously, an edge of concern in his voice.

Eraserhead was sitting in the water pooling along the roads, carefully pulling out a needle from his lower thigh. "Got hit. Leg's going numb." he explained matter-of-factly. "Hopefully, it isn't a tranquilizer."

By now, seven villains in total were circling them. Heroic instincts in high gear, Yagi got to his feet, free arm and makeshift shield held out protectively. Something was pushed into his hand, and Yagi barely glanced to see that Eraserhead had given him his knife.

"Eraser-" Yagi started, but the underground hero was already twisted to guard Yagi's back, half kneeling, half crouched as he gripped his capture weapon and his hair floated around his head like a jet-black halo.

Two heroes, one current and one former, one temporarily disabled and the other permanently, back to back in a hopeless battle against seven villains with only two known quirks and unknown motives.

The former number one had faced worse odds.

"You're still gonna put up a struggle." one of them mused. "Impressive spirit."

The villains prepared to lunge. Yagi braced for the fight of his life.

"But spirit alone won't save you."

Everything that happened next happened so fast that the untrained eye would have missed it entirely.

The villains all lunged simultaneously, like slow motion as Yagi begged the dying embers of One For All to aid him one last time.

No one answered his call, so he resigned to his situation, brandishing his weapons like a sword and shield as orange light appeared in the hands of the villain directly in front of him, flames erupting in the space between his palms and creating a perfect sphere of fire. There was static in the air as metal creaked and groaned somewhere behind him, Eraserhead tensing up as something loomed threateningly behind them.

And then he felt Eraserhead startle.

WHOOSH!

BOOM!

The explosion hit first, something whizzing through the air and exploding with enough force to send whatever was hovering above them hurtling through the air and harmlessly out of the way, while many of the villains were thrown off balance by the force of it.

Time was at a crawl as Yagi saw black tendrils sailing past him, shooting through the air and enveloping the unfortunate souls who couldn't evade fast enough. Immense energy danced along the pavement as a viridian figure appeared faster than one could blink. The villain in front of him tried to defend himself, but the boy's powerful fist buried itself into his midsection, sending him careening into a parked car and onto the sidewalk, unmoving.

Yagi blinked in astonishment as young Midoriya's fearsome gaze locked onto the next target, another villain running out from out of Yagi's sight as the car began to rattle. It and a motorcycle suddenly shot towards the villain, who expertly dodged as both vehicles flew towards the downed heroes.

The car was instantly enveloped by black whip, yanked back and launched at the magnet-like villain. Yagi almost feared that young Midoriya hadn't noticed the motorbike about to crash into them, but then there was a flash of orange, a telltale bang! and swirling smoke, and Yagi instantly knew that they were safe.

"These two..." he heard Eraserhead mutter as Yagi smiled up at young Bakugou's silhouette, bathed in an orange glow and smokey shadow. He turned to face them, eyes alight with emotion.

"You good, All Might?" he asked, and the former number one was so overwhelmed by the new era standing before him that all he could do was smile.

"I'm good, too." Eraserhead spat. "Thanks for asking."

The explosive teen was about to retort when a figure blasted through the smoke, fire swirling around them as they shot forward like a rocket.

"Young Bakugou!"

He'd barely gotten the words out before young Bakugou was yanking the trashcan lid out of his hands and spinning on his heels, blocking the brunt of the fireball thrown at them and taking the familiar heat point-blank. The power behind it pushed him back an inch or two, but he otherwise didn't budge, reciprocating the attack by launching the lid like a frisbee, pinging the fiery villain right in the forehead and knocking him clean out from the impact.

Movement caught their eyes, but Bakugou was already firing consecutive small explosions into the smoke, sending villains running for their lives. Above them, another car flew overhead, young Midoriya dancing around the attack like it was second nature and sending a Delaware smash right back.

"Hey, Deku!" young Bakugou yelled. "My turn! Get your ass over here!"

Young Bakugou was gone before anyone ever replied, but a moment later, Midoriya was sprinting over, eyes blown wide and tears threatening to fall.

"Sensei! All Might!" he cried, hysterical. "Are you guys alright?! We were so worried!"

The boy continued to fret over them as explosions sounded around them. Eraserhead, sitting back comfortably and bluntly reprimanding the boy, had a feeling of ease in his shoulders that Yagi had never seen before.

And Yagi, well... Yagi hadn't felt this safe in a long time.

"Arguably, you could say I did better since I defeated four villains and you only defeated three!"

"Fuck you, asshole! I definitely got their leader! Quality over quantity, bitch!"

Red and blue flashed across the soaked streets, sirens having died out just minutes ago. Around them, emergency personnel darted between him, Eraserhead, and the two teenagers currently arguing about who was the better surface-level hero that night. Heroes dotted the area, some surveying the damage in case it was dangerous to any nearby civilians while others scouted for any other villains that might be hanging around or trying to escape.

A total of nine had already been arrested, all of which were known members of a dying villain syndicate that had lost power in the underground. While most villains were benefiting from the League of Villains' rise to power, this group was openly against them and wanted all of the influence that they had been gaining. Yagi could only guess that All For One didn't appreciate the resistance against his protege and had already moved to eradicate them. The group had been briefly mentioned during his meeting with the chief of police that day.

Either way, the authorities were assuming that the group had decided to target Yagi on a whim and assassinate him in a bid to gain the influence and reputation that they had lost and save themselves from disbanding altogether. Clearly, they should have planned their attack better, because coincidences didn't make a strategist. Yagi didn't mean to be rude, but it was somewhat obvious why they'd lost power.

"Um, uh, Mr. All Might, sir?" Yagi was pulled out of his thoughts by a young nurse approaching him. He barely noticed her excited quivering. "The other hero you were with would like to speak with you and those boys. He's, uh, already given a statement to the police."

Which meant that he was well. Yagi sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"I'd also recommend getting looked over by a paramedic, just in case. But first, real quick," With trembling hands, she pulled out a notebook. "May I have your autograph, please?"

Yagi laughed, warmth blooming in his chest. "Of course!"

He felt bad that her tangent of him being her favorite hero went mostly over his head, but he was sure she'd understand that he was a bit distracted at the moment, and perhaps out of practice when interacting with fans. Returning her notebook with a bow and a booming goodbye, he made his way to the ambulance, where paramedics were speaking to Eraserhead.

There were the expected superficial cuts and bruises, and Yagi knew he had his own fair share, but what drew his attention was the light gauze around his leg. The younger pro was seated in the back of the ambulance, nodding along with whatever the medic was saying. Said medic had wandered off by the time Yagi and Eraserhead were face-to-face.

"It was a light paralytic." Eraserhead waved off. "It should wear off in time for classes tomorrow."

Yagi nodded numbly. "I'm glad you're alright."

Eraserhead hummed. "It's good that you didn't get yourself killed, either."

Yagi was about to protest when the sound of familiar arguing approached. He couldn't help his smile as he saw Eraserhead's brow twitch. "Those boys really saved us tonight, didn't they?"

"I won't deny it," Eraserhead huffed. "But I still have questions."

The two teens, both just as bruised as the heroes they'd saved, were still at each other's throats, it seemed, young Midoriya stammering through some kind of explanation while young Bakugou shouted over him, looking about two seconds away from throttling the poor boy.

"A-A-And that's why I think I did better!"

"Hah!? That's some pretty far reaching, nerd, and you know it!"

Eraserhead pinched the bridge of his nose, his long-suffering sigh the only thing that could possibly pull the two heroes-in-training out of their tangents. "Midoriya. Bakugou."

"You're welcome." young Bakugou snapped.

"We're so glad you guys are alright!" young Midoriya exclaimed. "We felt something was wrong and we didn't know if-!"

"Just what were you two doing off-campus?"

They both shut their mouths very quickly.

The silence stretched on for an uncomfortable amount of time. Young Midoriya was fidgeting heavily, staring down at his shoes with a look in his eyes that almost seemed remorseful. Young Bakugou, meanwhile, just looked oddly resigned, an expression that seemed foreign on his face.

"You two do know," Eraserhead sighed. "That students aren't permitted to leave campus without permission for a reason, right?"

"We let our classmates know." Midoriya muttered, curling into himself as his lips wobbled.

Eraserhead facepalmed. "That's not-"

"What would you have had us do?" Bakugou cut in, eyes blazing with conviction. Yagi's lips twitched upward at the way young Midoriya scooted closer to his classmate.

Eraserhead stared at them for a long time, exhaustion radiating off of him in waves. If it wasn't for the way his gaze switched between the two boys, Yagi might have assumed that he was about to flop over and fall asleep.

Another hum, low in his chest, followed by his umpteenth sigh that resembled the wheeze of a dying man. "I would have forced you to stay," he admitted. "And neither of us might have been here afterward."

It had already stopped raining, but Yagi couldn't help but think, as the clouds broke for a moment, that the moon was like a spotlight on them, a reminder of a brighter future where Yagi could leave his home, his legacy, safely in the hands of the next generation. Even in these times of turmoil, he'd never felt more at ease.

"I'll be honest." said Eraserhead. "I am grateful for your help, and I can't help but think that punishing you after you saved my life would be unfair. Either that, or I'm getting too sentimental."

Slowly, he got down from the ambulance, testing the strength of his leg before standing, towering over his students. "I will let it go, just this once, but should this happen again, expect the consequences to be twice as severe."

He eyed young Midoriya in particular as he spoke. "One of these days, I'll be pushed to expulsion. You have potential. Do not test me."

Eyes full of hope and twinkling stars, Midoriya nodded fervently, a smile splitting his face in two. Next to him, young Bakugou looked just as ready to strangle him.

And despite the cool breeze and the rainwater soaking his clothes, Yagi felt warm.

Above them, the moon was once again hidden in a veil of clouds, but it did nothing to dim the world around them.