Part 5: The Ghost of Christmas Future

All Might's skinny legs kicked up an obscene amount of snow as he ran. He didn't have any sort of plan. His body was simply moving on its own, giving no time for his fever-addled brain to think.

It couldn't have been him here. It wasn't possible. Well, it was possible. But why? Why would he be here? Why would he take such a chance? Everyone in Japan was looking for him.

All Might stopped only once, at a street corner of a four-way intersection. His head whipped back and forth in wild desperation towards every direction. The only tracks in the snow were his own and they were only behind him. If he were capable of calming down he might have been able to notice that. But the second he believed he saw that black shadow go around another building, the one furthest away in his vision, he took off after it yet again.

"Shigaraki!" All Might called for him. His tone wasn't of anger or even fear.

He was begging.

["Of all the ghosts that had visited him this night, this was the one that Scrooge found he feared most of all. There was no familiarity like there had been with the ghost of the past. The warmth the ghost of the present had left had long since gone cold. This figure whose face Scrooge couldn't even see put in him such dread and yet uttered not a single word."]

"Was there ever a time when you couldn't save someone?" Midoriya asked him, the question clearly having been weighing on him all throughout Tsukauchi's questioning.

All Might's remaining lung felt like it was on fire. His old injuries made it difficult enough but with all the coughing added on top he wasn't getting enough air. His body just wasn't built for this anymore.

But he couldn't stop. He had to catch him. If he could just talk to him-!

"You're not seeing him like the criminal he is anymore." Gran Torino warned, knowing all too well what he was thinking.

Around another corner. Down another street. No matter how fast he ran the shape was always just out of reach, occupying his sight for the smallest of seconds before disappearing yet again.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" The rage boiled out of the young man, even while restrained and his League of Villain defeated. Between the fingers of the hand that acted as his mask, those burning red eyes stayed fixated on him alone, seeing everything they despised in the world. "I HATE YOU!"

"SHIGARAKI!"

Was the wind picking up or was it just from how fast he was running? The flying snow stung his eyes, blinding him further and further.

["There was no offer of an arm or sleeve to take hold of. Scrooge simply blinked and he had been transported away to where the ghost wanted him.

These were the same streets he walked along everyday; everything now broken down and in disrepair. But that didn't mean they were devoid of life. At the sides of the cracked roads and finding shelter underneath buildings close to collapse, the poor and destitute shivered away in the harsh cold; their cloudy, unseeing eyes having long since given up on the delusion that someone would come to save them.

It had been Scrooge's own children who had done this to these streets, he realized, and then was confused why he had thought such a thing. He had no children. He was not even married. And yet, it was he who had given rise to these heirs of his world. His two children: ignorance and want."]

Had it been an alley like one of these? Somewhere dark and tucked away? As he had leapt across the skies, how many times had he passed by wherever Nana's grandchild was suffering and wasting away without even noticing him? How many times did that child cry and scream and beg for a hero to come save him and All Might hadn't heard even a whisper?

["Another blink and the ghost had brought Scrooge to the Cratchit house, and a house was indeed what it was now, feeling like as much a home as his cold dwelling was. The family was there and yet not fully. And the reason for why sat in the very corner of that room.

An empty seat and a crutch beside it without an owner. Just as Scrooge had been told."]

His hand was stretched out, trying to grab at the shape from within the blizzard as it seemed to just get further and further away.

He could feel the pressure against his chest. It was just the wind but it felt so much like the yellow gloved hand that had pushed him away before. The whiteness of the whipping snow...it was like he was seeing Nana's cape fluttering at him again.

But the way the cold and ice stung, with how he couldn't keep his eyes fully open, sometimes...sometimes the flashes of black mixed in almost more resembled young Midoriya.. He was running ahead of him, much closer to catching Shigaraki than he was.

"Please...just wait..." All Might begged again, his voice barely more than a gasp for air, his legs feeling like glass as he pushed them to keep running. If Midoriya kept pulling away from him, then he'd soon be left facing Shigaraki all on his own.

Young Midoriya...he was so much like him. He would always run ahead like this. His body would move before he'd have a chance to think, always towards someone who might need his help, regardless of what it could cost him.

That boy...he could see him smile back at him, just like Nana had. "Pros are always risking their lives. That's the true test of a hero." he spoke, repeating his own words right back to him before leaping off, right towards Shigaraki's raised hand.

Inko's sobs... They echoed horribly in All Might's ears.

["The ghost showed him the only people still happy in a miserable world like this. The rich. The mighty. Those who thrived when they didn't have to care who they stepped on. And some who just...didn't see the point anymore. Why be good and care for others? Why, when there was no one in the world left who'd do the same for them?

The only ones who embraced this world were the ones who were already at the top. Those who weren't...they'd rather just see it all go away."]

The blizzard was overtaking everything. All Might couldn't make out the buildings around him. He wasn't even sure if there were buildings around him anymore. The whiteness, the winds that made him feel like he was running weightlessly through a void. Everything seemed like it was collapsing down around him, falling apart into ruin and decay.

Everything...save for that black shadow just at the edge of his vision. Always just out of sight. Always just out of reach.

And taking its revenge, just like it had promised him it would. The destruction of the world around All Might, that was its doing and it had done so gleefully, finally striking back at the world that had abused and ignored it. That HE had failed to protect it from.

If he had just been stronger, he could have fought alongside Nana. She could have lived. She could have seen her real son again!

If he could have just held on a little longer, Midoriya wouldn't have to carry his burdens so soon. He could have been a kid for a little longer.

If he had just seen Shigaraki...if he had just seen any of them...if he had just pushed himself further, if he'd just been more active, been on the lookout even more, if he had just been the hero he should have been...! None of this... None of this would have...!

And then, All Might's foot slid sharply to the side.

["Finally, the ghost brought Scrooge to a cemetery, and directed his attention to a single overgrown grave."]

He hit the ground hard. The snow muffled his impact a little but it also made certain that his trip would not be a quick one.

He rolled down the hill, his tumbling harsh and with many uneven bumps. Everything was a blur of white and black, like the world was turning itself off and on.

With one last crash, his decent finally ceased.

He laid face down in the snow. He was still conscious...probably. He couldn't really tell. His body wasn't moving but he wasn't entirely sure he was even attempting to tell it to.

He could hear the wind in his ear as it whipped gently over him, spreading more evenly the snow that began to accumulate along his lanky frame. It was as cold as the rest of the night had been. Well...he was half sure it was anyway. The numbness...was starting to...help him tune it out...

Sleeping... That sounded really nice right now.

["Scrooge wasn't an idiot. How much he wanted to avoid looking at the grave told well that he already understood who it was that lay six feet beneath him. He tried to convince the ghost of the same as well, saying that he understood already, that to keep pushing him like this was simply cruelty. But the ghost was moved not even a millimeter by Scrooge's pleas and continued to point at the grave and the engravings of the tombstone resting on it.

And here's a part of the story that always confused me and took me a long time before I got it. At least when it came to the version my dad always told me.

The name on the tombstone was Ebenezer Scrooge, just as Scrooge himself had feared, but that wasn't where the ghost was directing his attention.

No, it was the date on the tombstone he wanted Scrooge to focus on, its shadowy form slowly revealing one bit of the engraving at a time.

Scrooge was able to read that it said December 25th, and I never quite got why that was such a big deal. Yeah, dying on Christmas is definitely sad but what did it matter that it was that specific date? Wouldn't just the fact that Scrooge was dead at all be enough?

But then I realized, it wasn't the day that was so important, it was the year. The last part the ghost had yet to reveal as Scrooge pleaded for him again and again not to do so, swearing that he had learned his lesson.

This whole night had shown Scrooge where he had been, the world he had avoided for so long, and the fates going forward his actions were actively shaping. The things he had seen, he asked if these were events that will be or are they only what may be? Everything he had seen, could it be avoided if he decided now to change his ways?

But the year on that grave...

If it had written upon it the current year...

If that Christmas Day was this Christmas Day...

Then whatever Scrooge decided now was irrelevant.

He had waited too long and had missed his chance to change."]

"And now you won't be able to save anyone." All For One mocked him with a smile from behind the glass.

Nana's backside. Young Midoriya's. Shigaraki's.

All Might's hand twitched. The last of his strength still trying to reach them.

["Of course, this wouldn't be a very good Christmas story if it had such a downer ending.

Scrooge was awoken by the light that poured in from his bedroom window. He was back in his home and the heavy beating he could feel in his chest confirmed well to him that he was still alive."]

He wasn't sure how long he had laid there. Minutes? An hour? Just seconds? Regardless, there was a light piercing through his eyelids, slowly getting brighter and refusing to allow him to sleep any longer.

The numbness...it was starting to fade. With its absence meant his body was starting to finally feel the pain from his tumble, but likewise he was now feeling what was beating back the cold. The strange warmth in the air.

And with effort, he pushed himself to open his eyes.

["The spirits had worked their magic and done it all in a single night. Scrooge rushed to open his window and breathed in the fresh air with the happiest smile he'd ever found himself with.

Christmas morning had come to greet him."]

"All Might?" Endeavor stood over him, his baffled expression showing well that he was the last person he'd expected to see. "What are you doing out here?"

Author's notes: This part was actually influenced by the animated Jim Carrey Christmas Carol movie, where the ghost was Scrooge's own literal shadow. I thought that was great idea and when appliying it to this, Shigaraki had to be All Might's Ghost of Christmas Future. He is All Might's shadow. He is the unintentional concequences of All Might's actions and the effect he's had on the world. He is symbolic of one of all Might's greatest regrets; that he can't save everyone who needs him because, hard as he tries, as powerful as he may have been even in his prime, he's still just one man and can't be everywhere. Somebody else needed to step up and be Tenko's hero as a kid but nobody did, because they felt they could just leave everything to the actual Pro Heroes and most especially their perfect Symbol of Peace.