Chapter 34: Are We Really Doing Perhaps the villains had finally gotten it through their thick skulls that Shoto didn't want anything to do with them, because their efforts in getting him on their side had finally ceased (for the time being).

Shoto didn't know how much time had passed. He found himself falling in and out of consciousness. Not because he was ill or poisoned or anything of the sort, but because Compress, the magician villain, get putting him back into his little marble prison, probably because that kept him quiet. It left him more than slightly disorientated but did little to stop him from thinking about Midoriya whenever he came to.

Shoto kept hoping that he'd see Midoriya every time he awoke. This'll be the time, he'd tell himself, only to be confronted with a disappointing looking sandwich and plastic bottle of water from his estranged brother. And no matter how much he wanted to fight and break free every time his restraints were eased so that he could eat (he could probably get out even when said restraints were tighter), he knew there was no point in going anywhere, and the villains knew that too.

No matter how strong Midoriya was, they all knew he couldn't take on the likes of Shoto's brother in a head-to-head fight alone, with no backup and no support items. Midoriya was there for Shoto when he had needed it most, despite the potential consequences of his actions. Shoto would do the same for him.

But when he awoke this time, Shoto knew something was different. No, Midoriya still wasn't in sight, but there definitely was a change. All the villains had gathered around again, which hadn't happened since he first arrived.

He gave Dabi a scowl for good measure as soon as they made eye contact. Dabi rolled his eyes and scoffed in response.

God, why did his whole family suck?

Well Fuyumi tried her best and Natsuo had kind of proven himself to Shoto, plus he'd been nice to Midoriya which was more than Shoto could say about his other brother.

"There's a press conference on tonight," Shigaraki leered, turning on the TV as he said so. "We thought you might want to join us in watching it."

Oh, great! A press conference about him – like he'd never seen something like that before.

But for some reason, as soon as he saw Mr Aizawa in a suit and tie, the seriousness of the situation dawned on Shoto.

He was used to being carted around by villains, to being with Dabi and forcing himself to look past his often-horrific actions. Reports and press conferences discussing Shoto's disappearance weren't exactly few and far between. But this wasn't just about Shoto this time – Midoriya was missing as well, and of course the media was far more interested in his Quirklessness and potential as a threat than his general wellbeing and whereabouts.

Shoto had come to at least tolerate Mr Aizawa over the past few months. At first, he was just another hero, trying to do the right thing. Then, he came to accept that he was their teacher; someone whose help was something that was actually useful; whose words were worth listening to from time to time. Of course, it was obvious that Midoriya had the upmost respect for the man. Was it strange that only now did Shoto finally comprehend why?

He felt a smile grow across his lips as their teacher snapped at reports asking incompetent questions. His admiration for that hero had just gone through the roof.

He wondered if the heroes knew that the League was watching this broadcast, as they explained everything they knew and everything they were doing to the general public. It was a massive disadvantage, but the press were like vultures; they needed to do something to appease them.

Shoto could only hope that they had a plan; that they'd do something soon.

For now, all he could do was sit and wait.

Crossing the UA walls was surreal.

They'd gotten here so many times, but this was the day they'd finally get over them. And as Tsu hopped over, helping Momo up behind her, she paused and looked back at the school. No words were uttered as the sixteen of them stood upon that wall and gazed at what they were leaving behind for just a moment more.

"Come on," Bakugo said gruffly and jumped off to the other side.

They didn't look back.

Bakugo led them to the nearest train station. They split up into smaller groups and lingered around the entrance for a while, whilst Yaoyorozu bought a lump of tickets, sixteen two-way, and an extra two one-way. Ochako had suggested that they just jumped the barriers and got on board without paying, but not only did Iida insist they do it this way (he also offered to pay but Momo refused) but it would be rather risky for sixteen teenagers to jump the barricades. Maybe one or two would have gone unnoticed, but all of them? Not a chance.

They stayed in their groups whilst on the train too. Huddling up together might have drawn more eyes than necessary. They already looked shady enough as it was, and if it weren't for the surgical masks handed out, and hoods drawn up for all those who had them, perhaps a lot would have been easily recognised. This was why the likes of Momo didn't have her hair in a ponytail, Kirishima wore no gel, and Aoyama was convinced to actually wear dull colours for likely the first time in his life. He had to borrow some of Tokoyami's since he had none of his own that were suitable.

Seeing Aoyama wearing a death-metal T-shirt really highlighted their desperation.

They arrived in Kamino a few hours later with next to no trouble.

Kaminari had been giving Jiro (who was still asleep in the hospital) a blow-by-blow account through his brick phone messages the entire time. The only incident had occurred whilst Kaminari was running up and down the train to different groups, asking for updates, resulting in him bumping into a poor passer-by and giving them a little more than a static shock. Fortunately, they laughed it off and Kaminari sheepishly returned to his seat.

Actually managing to make it to Kamino was unbelievable. Tsu was so sure, with her class' track record, that something would go terribly wrong by this point. She supposed that was for later.

"The signal leads us this way," Momo voiced after they'd all gathered outside.

"Then let's get going," Kirishima nodded, "Standing around like this isn't a good idea. We're a big group, and we're gonna draw attention to ourselves."

"Well… we could get some better disguises?" Momo asked almost hopefully.

"No," Bakugo replied instantly. "This is freaking fine, let's go."

Getting over her disappointment, Momo nodded and started to lead them away. The signal was far from the train station, almost on the other side of the city. Sero acknowledged that they could have taken another train to get closer, but that wasn't until they were already well on their way and taking the train here had been dangerous enough. Having the suspicious-looking group get on another train in a city which was likely highly monitored by heroes at the moment, considering they had a copy of Momo's tracking device receiver, was never going to be a good idea.

But as they started to walk through the more crowded parts of the city, when they could no longer skulk through the shadows of the back alleys, the train option sounded more and more appealing. They drew eyes – nothing much, just a few curious glances, but that was enough to freak Tsu out. It was the middle of the night, and the large gang of teenagers was very out of place.

That's when Sero had another, far better idea.

And why they took to the rooftops.

"This is amazing!" Mina cried as they leapt from building to building.

Mr Aizawa's parkour lessons had come in handy, and with the extra help of Uraraka and Sero, they could be sure that no one would fall off or hurt themselves. It was lucky that they'd learnt how to do this Quirkless. They drew no attention with flashes of light from Bakugo or Aoyama. For a moment, the severity of what they were doing faded.

Tsu grinned through her leaps and bounds beside Uraraka, who laughed gleefully.

So, this is what a real vigilante felt like.

"We're getting closer!" Momo proclaimed.

"We're coming, guys!" Ochako yelled at the sky.

We're almost there, Midori, Shoto.

Once they'd gotten a little closer, Momo ushered them all to take to a fire escape and hurry back down to ground level. They squeezed through a narrow gap between buildings, and huddled behind a grimy, concrete wall.

"This is the place," Momo announced, whispering as she indicated to the flashing red light on her tracker. Satisfied, she pocketed it and turned to the wall. "Just behind here; that's the building where the Nomu is."

"Are you sure they're there too?" asked Kaminari.

"Not for certain," she admitted. "But it's our only hope."

"Then let's take a closer look," Ochako nodded seriously. With the grappling bolt, she shot at the top of the wall. The bolt buried itself into the stone, and she used it to haul her weightless body upwards. Sero quickly followed up beside her with his tape, and the two carefully peered over.

"It looks abandoned," Sero told them.

"Look – the weeds at the front door," the ex-thief pointed so Sero could see. Ochako looked down at them all as she explained, "That must mean no one has used that door in a while. There must be a second entrance."

"Then should we move around to try and find it?" suggested Ojiro.

"Wait, there's a window…" Sero explained, squinting. "Ugh, it's too dark! Does anyone have some kind of support item with them that could help here?"

"Here," it was Shinso who spoke up, always the unexpected. From his pocket he pulled exactly what they needed – night vision goggles.

"Why do you have those?!" questioned Kaminari, mouth hanging open whilst Tokoyami's Dark Shadow passed the goggles to Sero.

Shinso shrugged, "I want to be an underground hero, ok? You guys said you were bringing support items to the summer camp so I asked Mr Aizawa if I could fill out some requests for stuff, only nothing was finished in time. I don't know if I even want to use this in my actual costume, but I thought I'd try it out. I have a voice changer mask too, but it's still not finished. Apparently, a couple of the support students apprehended it to make modifications."

"That would be Mei and Himiko," Ochako grinned down at him, "See anything, Sero?"

"Not yet…"

"Those two maniacs from the Sports Festival?" he frowned, turning to Tsu for an explanation.

"They're honorary class A."

He sighed, "Makes sense."

It was in this moment that Sero jolted back in surprise, almost falling back from the wall, if Uraraka hadn't managed to grab his sleeve and pull him to safety in time.

"What's going on?!" Kaminari called up.

"L-Look," Sero stammered, handing the goggles to Ochako. "Far left – you see that?!"

It took a moment for Ochako to figure out what he was talking about. She gasped and yanked Sero off the wall, floating to the ground with him slowly.

"Nomu!" she hissed. "Loads of them – all in tanks!"

"Maybe that's where they make them… ribbit," Tsu realised.

"Then what do we do?!" Mina whispered in a panic. "We can't take on that many Nomu! Maybe Shoto and Midoriya really aren't here?!"

"I say we go in anyway," Bakugo decided with gritted teeth. "Take out the Nomu whilst they –"

"– Look out!"

It was Iida's yell, but Tsu didn't have a chance to do anything about it before there was a dramatic crash.

The class yelled in fright, all ducking to the ground as the top of that wall was destroyed, and dust and rubble flew overhead.

They stayed there in silence for a moment more, huddled in a pile, but safe.

Tsu looked up to see Mt Lady looming over them, a superheroine who could change to a giantess-form at will. She brushed her hands against one another, gazing down at the pile of rubble that was once the building the class was scouting, clearly pleased with herself. She bent down and started to pick up Nomu like dolls, squeezing them in her fist.

Uraraka floated up to the top of the remains of the wall again. She gasped, "The heroes are here! Not just Mt Lady! There's Best Jeanist and hey – Tiger from the Wild, Wild Pussycats!"

"Then let's go," Iida insisted, already starting to back away whilst Ochako drifted back down to them. "The heroes are taking care of it."

"We still don't know where Shoto and Deku are though!"

"If the heroes know it's ok to destroy that building, then they know they aren't there! There's nothing we can do here – and if we're seen we'll cause more trouble than it's worth."

"I hate to admit it, but Iida's right," Kirishima muttered. "Let's at least get away from this scene; find some place better to plan our next move."

They could all at least agree to that.

However, they didn't get very far.

"Hello? Pizza delivery?"

The bar fell silent, and Shoto turned his head to the door.

The press conference had just finished, and Shoto had been doing his best to ignore Shigaraki's endless talk about fake heroes and meaningless smiles. The interruption was welcome, but…

Shigaraki gave Kurogiri a look, tilting his head towards the door.

Shoto sighed, that poor delivery guy was about to meet his untimely demise.

Kurogiri put down his carefully shined glass, about to teleport outside to see what the fuss was about, when the entire wall exploded, every glass, shattered to bits, as the grinning form of the number one hero burst through.

Shoto had never been so happy to see the guy, not even at the USJ.

"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki yelled, but he was already too late.

That was no delivery boy behind the door. A red dart pierced right through the wood, and in a blur, Kurogiri was slumped over the remains of the bar. Behind him, a hero Shoto recognised as Edge-Shot appeared, standing tall over the unconscious villain, "Who's next?" he leered.

Right behind All Might, a young hero called Kamui Woods swooped in, and from his hands, tendrils of bark spouted, the wood wrapping themselves around all the villains present in an instant.

Shoto saw the problem right away.

Wood – and Dabi.

He took this moment to let his ice cover his bindings. They shattered with little effort, and staggering to his feet, Shoto backed away from the scene, ready to fight anyone on either side if he had to.

"Not so fast," Edge-Shot proclaimed as soon as he saw Dabi's iconic blue flame flare up. He too, was knocked out cold before the wood could even be charred.

"Are you ok, young man?!" All Might asked, turning to Shoto with a gleaming smile.

He stared at him for a moment, still a little shocked, "Y-Yes," he replied. "But I-I don't know where Midoriya is! You have to help him."

All Might turned back to Shigaraki, whose hands were bound and held away from the wood. "Where is he?!"

"No, no, no!" Shigaraki breathed, almost hyperventilating.

"Tell us where he is!"

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!"

"Is he with All for One?! Tell me, now!"

"No! I hate you!"

And if Shoto thought this meant he was getting out of here unscathed; he was entirely wrong. Because all of a sudden, portals unlike Kurogiri's appeared out of nowhere, all around the bar. Shoto stumbled back as great, clawed hands reached out of those portals of grey sludge, Nomu appearing in every corner. They were utterly surrounded.

"What?! Nomu? I thought you had them under control!" said All Might, punching one in the face as he peered out of the hole he'd made in the wall. "Endeavor?!"

"I'm a little busy!" yelled a response.

Oh, great, this day gets even better – dear old Dad is here.

Perhaps he shouldn't have thought that, because to top it all off, in sloppy plumes of grey gunk, each of the villains were slowly consumed and disappeared from sight. And before Shoto could realise what was about to happen, he too felt a horrible, sickly feeling creep up his throat, and that sludge engulfed him too. He reached out blindly to All Might, hearing his fading shouts.

And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

"Good work."

Midoriya was more than a little pleased with himself – he hadn't lost this time! Granted, he hadn't won yet either – but a draw was a win in his books. He'd only been playing chess for… wait, how long had it been again?

"You are quite the natural at this, as I suspected," All for One smiled. At least, it sounded like he was smiling. He was wearing that black mask again, meaning he didn't have to be practically tied down to his chair with all those pipes and wires, keeping him alive. Maybe, the first time Midoriya had seen him, they were testing the mask's capabilities.

"Adapting to new skill sets in itself, is a skill few can easily acquire," the villain acknowledged, picking up his king piece and holding it between his thumb and forefinger, gazing at it thoughtfully. "Think of how quickly and eloquently the likes of you could adapt to a power of your own."

Midoriya fixed his gaze on the remaining piece on the board, his own king, standing alone in the very centre.

"I am offering you a Quirk, but I am sure you know this by now," he continued. "This is not an obligation to work with neither me nor the League. It is but a gift. Why refuse?"

Midoriya didn't answer because he didn't know what to say even to himself. Why should he refuse? Give up on his wildest hopes and dreams? Hasn't he done that enough already? Look at what All Might had done! That hero is supposed to be All for One's clear opposite – the holder of One for All. Who was supposedly born Quirkless! How…. How dare he tell Midoriya he couldn't be a hero without a power, when he himself, held his illegitimately?! But Midoriya had proved all who doubted him, including himself, wrong. Maybe he did deserve this power; maybe he should accept it…

"What is it?" Midoriya blurted out, the words escaping the confines of his mind before he had the chance to catch them.

He could feel the villain's smile, not just hear it, "That is up to you. Whatever you want – or if you can't choose, I can give you something that I think suits you best. Perhaps something to build on that brilliant mind of yours. Not just intelligence, no, no – something a little beyond that."

"It's just I…" Midoriya gulped down his nerves the best he could – "I don't know if… if it's err…" morally right? "If I… can…"

"Don't fall victim to the restrictions society tells you are there," the man almost laughed. "They have wronged you. Take what you have and what you can grasp. Use it to prove them wrong."

And he wanted to. He wanted to, so bad. Yet, still, a nagging, persistent feeling held him back.

But he could take it. Whatever it is – take that power – destroy this place, leave it to the heroes and disappear off their radar. Class A could become heroes without him, and he'd lie waiting for them to emerge; at which point, so would he – a vigilante unlike any other. The thought made his heart flutter with excitement, but maybe that was just at the prospect of being a hero with a real Quirk. How could he say no to this? How? Why?

W-Why was he not jumping at this opportunity?!

"As it seems, we are needed elsewhere."

Midoriya blinked, grounded back in reality for a moment. "W-What?"

The villain stood up. It was the first time Midoriya had seen him do so. In a panic, he scrambled to his feet too, knocking a few chess pieces off the edge of the table in the process.

After a moment's thought, All for One put his king back down on the chess board and picked up Midoriya's. He handed it over, and although confused, Midoriya took the polished piece and held it in his shaking hands, his thumb brushing over the smooth, black wood.

"Your future is in your hands," the villain said.

Midoriya gazed down at the king again.

"Now, I will take you to me in a moment. I do apologise in advance. My teleportation Quirk is not as… refined as Kurogiri's."

Midoriya gasped and stumbled backwards when grey sludge started to slop down All for One's form. His figure melted with it, leaving behind nothing but a puddle of slime, which trickled into nothingness not a moment later.

Midoriya was left alone.

He realised he was breathing rather quickly.

He inhaled deeply, and let out a shaky exhale, trying to calm himself. He clutched the chess piece so tightly that it left marks in his palm, where the skin was exposed from bandages with little remaining purpose.

He was… he was scared. He wasn't ashamed to admit it.

But he wasn't just scared of the villain, no, he was scared of this limbo he was trapped in. It was a place he'd seen people caught within that vortex of indecision time and time again, and he'd lent the rope to pull them out.

Shoto was probably the best example. He'd dived headfirst into that unknown because the darkness was more comforting than the known he left behind. And it had taken him right up into he met Midoriya, for Shoto to realise that he was drowning in it.

Little did Midoriya know, but he'd been facing the exact same problem, this entire time, he just hadn't realised it. Every time he'd thought he'd finally figured out where he was going, he'd only swam deeper; he was running out of air.

Shoto… where was Shoto? Was he still with Dabi?

Holding the chess piece with both hands, Midoriya stared at the empty chair on the other side of the table, where All for One had been sitting.

What… What should he do?

"His brother grew up Quirkless, you know."

Midoriya startled and almost leapt a foot into the air. He turned and found himself face to face with the doctor, who was standing on the other side of the room, holding that grotesque, miniature Nomu in his arms.

"H-His… y-you mean… One for All?" Midoriya stammered, catching his breath and processing the statement.

The doctor laughed, "He is a generous man! A great one! And you are lucky enough to have caught his eye. He was born at the time when Quirks first emerged; he knows the pain you grew up with! And he can liberate you from it."

It was in this moment that something caught in his throat. He choked on it, buckled over and stumbled forwards, his foot snagged on wires and he almost fell to the ground.

"Best of luck!" the doctor laughed as Midoriya struggled to breath.

He almost shed tears as the same grey sludge that had taken All for One, spilled out his mouth and stretched around his face; down his arms, torso and legs, until he could see and hear nothing; feel only the unpleasant slime as it spilled out his lungs.

The sensation vanished as quickly as it came. Left hovering a little above the ground, Midoriya was dropped and fell to his knees. He caught himself with his hands, dropping the chess piece. As his hearing returned and vision focused, Midoriya reached forwards, grasped the king from almost the stone and dirt he had found himself on, and pulled himself to his feet.

He locked eyes with Shoto, and then the world beyond.

"– safe and sound," said All for One, resting a hand on Midoriya's shoulder.

But as Midoriya scanned his surroundings, at the sea of rubble, broken buildings and limp heroes, Midoriya wondered if that was the truth.

It had happened in an instant.

One second, the heroes had everything under control; they were leaving.

The next…

The blast spanned out from a single point of origin, not far from behind the wall the Uraraka's class was huddled behind, trying to keep their dinner down. From there, it was like someone had taken an entire wedge of the city away; flattened it to the ground with ease.

It was a man, in a clean-cut suit and polished, black mask. He'd appeared from nowhere. Shoji had told them to wait when he heard the heroes notice the intruder. Not that it mattered, they all heard what came next.

And the power that radiated from him… it… it shook Uraraka to her very core; left her with the sicky image of death. She clearly wasn't the only one.

"I can see why you're the number four hero, Best Jeanist," said the stranger. Uraraka could hear him stroll over the rubble towards the fallen heroes. "You manipulated the fibres in everyone's clothes to pull them out of the way of the blast. Very impressive."

There was a moment of silence.

"But I have no use for your power. It is your practise; your skill, that makes it strong. On its own, it simply isn't worth my time."

No response came from the hero. Uraraka forced herself to peer over the wall, or, what little remained. The heroes that had been on the scene with the Nomu had been tossed to the sides. They were all clearly unresponsive, and by the looks of it, Best Jeanist had just fallen unconscious too. The villain in the suit stepped past him nonchalantly and sighed.

Uraraka ducked her head again, fearing she would be seen. All she could do was clench her eyes shut and pray that he left them be.

And then she heard coughing – multiple people, spluttering and gagging.

"That was vile," someone complained, a new voice.

More than just Uraraka's breath hitched at the sound of the distant complaints, as new people audibly stumbled over the rocks behind them. She glanced at her classmates. It was Dark Shadow who peered over the rocks again, although Tokoyami quickly yanked them back. The sentient Quirk whispered to him, and his eyes widened.

In clear panic, he turned back to the rest of them, eyes darting to the wall he was ducked by. He pointed at it and nodded.

Fearing the worst, Uraraka braved looking over at it again, and lo and behold, there was Shoto.

"Apologies for the unpleasant nature of this Quirk," the villain in the suit proclaimed, hovering above the ground before them. "But I see that Kurogiri is out of action."

Uraraka slowly scanned the ruins of this chunk of the city through the night vision goggles. She soon came to realise that all of the League of Villains was there, albeit some were unconscious, lying motionless on the floor. That included the guy made of mist – the warp villain from the USJ! And then… was that Dabi?

Shoto coughed and spluttered, struggling to stand upright and find his footing.

"I even brought your pawn with you, Shigaraki. Anything you need to achieve your goals. I am always here for you."

Was this like some super-secret boss man?! Uraraka thought that Shigaraki was the top of the League of Villains. Drat – why didn't Deku write about the villains in his notebooks?!

Wait… where's Deku?!

Shoto was clearly thinking of the same thing, because as soon as he'd finished gazing at his surroundings with as much shock and horror as the rest of them had, he turned to the big-boss-bad-guy and said, "Who are you – where's Midoriya?! W-Where…"

"So full of questions," he sighed. But before he could answer any of them, there was a whoosh! of air, and more than one stifled yell from her classmates.

"Ah, there you are," said the boss-man. "Come to kill me a second time, All Might?"

Two titans clashed with a distinct similarity to the battle at the USJ. Only Uraraka knew this opponent was far, far deadlier.

"I'll have you return my students, All for One!" their saviour yelled in response.

"Ah, but were they ever really yours?"

A second shockwave was sent out as they parted. As the wind and dust settled, Uraraka couldn't help her curiosity, as she peered back over the wall to see All Might herself.

"You've gotten weaker, All Might," said that big-bad guy, All for One, All Might had called him. "It's less than five kilometres from the bar to here, and you're rather late, I'm afraid."

"And you?" the hero hissed. "The last time we met you were on the brink of death! How are you here?!" he demanded.

"Questions, questions," the villain complained, almost sounding bored. "Come now, I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to."

Uraraka gasped and ducked just in time, as All Might sent forth a blow that would have wiped the floor with most opponents, perhaps even Nomu! But All for One must have stood there and taken it, sending a blast in return that tossed the number one hero, the best the world could offer – tumbling into the distance, sending a second wave of death and destruction along with him.

The class could only sit there, mouths open in their terror.

"All Might!" they heard Shoto cry.

"Don't you worry, it will take a lot more than that to defeat that man," said All for One. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes. My warp Quirk can only take people to and from those who I know well. I will need Kurogiri's power to take you all to safety."

He reached forwards, and from his hands, at such a speed that Uraraka almost fell over in her fright, shot black and red tendrils, which pierced into the chest of the mist villain.

"Forcible Quirk activation," muttered boss-man, as Kurogiri's purple mist engulfed his unconscious body, forming a swirling portal in the process.

"Go. It is not safe here, take young Todoroki with you."

"Where is Midoriya?!" Shoto yelled in response.

There was a moment of silence, in which Uraraka had no idea what exchanges of glances were made, or silent gestures spoken.

"Go," the villain repeated.

"But Sensei… what about you?" Shigaraki muttered, only just loud enough for Uraraka to hear.

"I will be alright, Tomura Shigaraki."

It was in this moment that, with a growing yell, they could hear All Might as he threw himself back into the fray, another gust of wind sending debris flying over their heads, as they hid safely behind that wall.

"Get the kid!" hissed another voice Uraraka didn't recognise.

And then the second fight began. Still ducked out of view, scared to look up and be spotted, Uraraka could only hear the distinct sound of Shoto summoning his ice, blocking attacks to likely pull him through that portal. Dabi was still unconscious, so at least he was safe in that respect. Surely Shoto could beat these guys without Dabi helping them?!

All the while, All for One and All Might battled it out. Shoto could do little with his ice and fire as the immense powers clashed and blew it away like dust.

"Young Todoroki!" All Might exclaimed, trying to dive for him and save him from numerous clones of the villains, but it was no use, All for One got in the way.

"We've got to do something!" Uraraka hissed to the others. "All Might can't beat that bad guy if Shoto's there and could be hurt! And he can't help him because that All for One guy is in the way! Shoto's outnumbered – we're gonna lose him again!"

"Now aren't you forgetting someone?!" called out the villain, pushing All Might away again. Uraraka dared to look over the wall again.

For a moment, that deathly silence returned, and Uraraka could barely breathe.

Shoto held off the villains around him with a circular barricade of ice. Frost covered him almost head to toe, and even at a distance, Uraraka could see his breath rising before him. The fighting had stopped, however, as they all turned to All for One, and he unceremoniously clicked his fingers.

A mass of grey sludge formed in the air beside him. It grew larger and larger, until it was the shape of a person. And then, with a wheezing gulp of air, the sludge dripped the ground and someone new fell with it, hacking and gagging at the vile ooze. No wonder the villains had been complaining.

And that someone, was Midoriya.

"There he is –" All for One proclaimed, his smile evident in his voice, as he clapped a hand on his shoulder whilst Deku stumbled to his feet.

He locked eyes with Shoto from across the battlefield, and then stared behind at the chaos and ruins, terror clear in his every tremor.

"– safe and sound."

Uraraka glanced between the groups that had formed – them behind the wall, Shoto surrounded by villains, the portal not far behind him, then All Might facing All for One, who had Deku captive.

Think, think, think! Like Midori – strategize and lead, or else pass that information onto Momo and Iida! They had to get their two friends out of there, only then could All Might use the full extent of his power to fight these guys!

But… how?

She turned back to her friends, and the thoughts of that wonderful notebook crossed her mind once more, each and every page, etched into her mind with doodles and drawings of little importance, but it was because of them that she remembered it so well. Every weakness – every strength.

And… not just from her classmates:

"Ok, do you all remember why I'm in UA?"

"Because you screwed boom-boom-man over."

"Because you know something bad about All Might."

Oh no.