BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS HAS CAPTURED ME, I MUST NOW CHEW OFF MY OWN LEG TO ESCAPE. HMM. NEEDS BBQ SAUCE.

Quick aside, I'm all caught up with the manga, and All For One is even scarier than I thought, and he was scary enough when I first saw him! Also, recent events in the manga made me sad. If you're up to date, you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, let's go save Midoriya.

My Alien Academia

Chapter 32

Symbols

Sero didn't know how long he'd been standing still. He hadn't even known he'd stopped breathing until Iida grabbed his shoulder—though whether it was because he was concerned for Sero, or he was having trouble supporting himself, he didn't know. Even while taking a deep breath, Sero didn't take his eyes off the television.

The news had been covering the Heroes' raid on the Villains with all the gravitas it deserved; multi-Hero teams were rare, especially when they contained big names like Best Jeanist, Gang Orca and Endeavor all at once. In fact, Sero couldn't remember any time in his life when so many of the top ten were all on the same mission, and they were all trying to save Midoriya.

If his friend's life wasn't at risk, Sero knew Midoriya would have been geeking out over it all.

At first, Sero had been confident that the whole thing would be over in minutes; most Hero-related operations didn't take long to resolve, not counting the cleanup afterwards. His opinion had changed when the building the Heroes had entered suddenly and violently exploded. He dimly heard some of his friends and classmates scream or burst into shocked tears. In his own shock, he had completely forgotten his anger towards Asui, and barely reacted when she grabbed his hand.

On the news, the reporter was just as stunned as her audience. "It… it's impossible to tell if the explosion we just witnessed was an accident or the result of a Quirk, but I can see several Heroes on the ground. Most of them aren't moving, but—wait! I see Endeavor getting up! Hopefully, he can resolve this before it gets any worse, though with the collateral damage, there are sure to be civilians hurt, and—what's that?"

Like everyone else, Sero's gaze was instinctively drawn to movement on the screen. His eyes went wide as he recognized the bloodstained figure.

"Izuku!"

…

"It seems that our deal must continue at a later date. Until then, please assist the Master and his successor."

"… Very well. I expect the next stage of my payment when I'm done."

"Of course."

…

Midoriya fell out of the mercury-like portal and onto his broken arm. He bit back a scream of agony as the League of Villains arrived around him. When his pain-blurred vision cleared, he saw that he was kneeling in a pile of rubble, barely illuminated by small fires and the stars above. His pain returned with full force when Shigaraki kicked him in his shattered ribs.

"I don't know what Sensei sees in you," he snarled. "You're just a dying kid that can't do anything with his watch destroyed."

I'm dying? Midoriya weakly raised his head and noticed all the blood. I think… he's right. If I pass out now, I don't think I'll wake up again.

"Now, Tomura, I know I taught you better than that." Fear cut through Midoriya's pain as All For One floated down from the sky; he no longer sat in a wheelchair, and his head was covered by a black skull-shaped helmet. "Hate your enemies if you want, but always respect them, even when they're beaten."

"Boy!" Endeavor, covered in his own blood, staggered forward with a fireball in each hand. "Run!"

"Still standing? How droll." All For One didn't even look at Endeavor as he pointed one palm at him; there was a massive blast of concussive force that sent the Hero hurtling into a pile of debris. "Now, Midoriya, I believe you and I still have a conversation to finish."

If I'm going to die, at least I'll die bravely.

Midoriya felt at peace with himself as he glared at All For One. "I'm not… telling you… anything!"

All For One sighed. "Such a shame." He paused, as if listening to something. "Tomura, it seems that we have run out of time. Kill the boy if you wish."

"With pleasure." Shigaraki looked around at his conscious followers. "Magne, Toga, Twice—make it hurt."

Midoriya felt something in his shoulder crack as Magne brought her oversized magnet down on him. Then there was a series of sharp pains as Twice cut him across the leg with his razor-sharp measuring tape, and Toga stabbed him in the collarbone.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone as cute as you are now," Toga squealed as she stood over him with a bloody knife. "Do you think I could make you even cuter before you die?"

Even if Midoriya had had the strength to answer, he wouldn't have had the chance. A red-and-blue blur crashed into the ground with enough force to make a deep crater. A fist punched out, creating a blast of air that sent the Villains flying back. Shigaraki tried to rise, but his leg was burned by a pair of neuroshock beams, and he fell again.

All Might had arrived, and he wasn't alone.

"Get away from him," Ben said, his voice terrifyingly devoid of emotion as he turned into NRG.

"All For One!" In contrast, All Might was all fury as he glared at his nemesis. "This time, you won't get away!"

"Are you planning to kill me again, All Might?" All For One laughed. "Do you even have the strength this time?"

Rather than answer, All Might moved; in the blink of an eye, he was in All For One's face. To those watching the fight, they expected the Villain to get crushed in a single blow; instead, All For One calmly reached up and caught both fists as if they were nothing.

"The Nomu from the USJ attack had shock absorption," All For One said. "It had been crafted to fight you. Did you think I wouldn't have added a similar power to my repertoire after our last battle?"

"Shock absorption," All Might said, "not nullification! All I have to do is hit you with enough force! OKLAHOMA SMASH!"

There was a brief tornado as All Might grabbed All For One and spun around. Rather than toss the Villain away, as he usually did, All Might hurled him straight down into the ground. Before All Might could follow through, a blast of air sent him flying upwards.

"Air Cannon and Springlike Limbs," All For One said as he climbed out of the hole and dusted himself off. "It's difficult for me to move these days, so Quirks like that have become quite important."

"Openly admitting that you're barely able to move?" All Might grinned, but there was a fierce edge to it that people rarely saw. "You're as arrogant as I remember!"

"I'm arrogant?" All For One laughed. "I'm not the one who decided to shoulder the world's burdens, or decide to be the person everyone would look up to! What kind of Hero willingly tries to be the one the world depends on?"

"You're the last person to give lectures on what makes a Hero!" All Might dashed forward, arm outstretched. "DETROIT SMASH!"

This time, the punch slipped through All For One's guard and collided with his face; his helmet shattered, and he flipped backwards, but halted in midair, as if he'd landed on solid ground.

"Air Walk," he commented idly. "Quite useful when facing an opponent who can send you flying." He tilted his head. "Then again, I was expecting a much stronger blow. Are you holding back so that the boy can be saved? Quite noble of you; then again, my successor is down there, so I can't afford to fight at my best, either."

All Might was about to yell for Ben to hurry up, he saw Midoriya's cousin trapped in the jaws of what looked like a giant blue serpent.

Oh, what now!?

…

"You're young Midoriya's cousin, yes?"

Ben craned his neck to look up at All Might. "That's me… and you are very tall. Do you have to duck to get through doors?"

"More often than not," All Might admitted. "May I ask you a question?"

Ben looked back at his family—and All Might was still shocked that the man had brought his wife and children into a crisis, powers or no—and then nodded at him. "Sure, but we're moving out in a few minutes."

"That's fine." All Might pointed at the watch on Ben's wrist. "I understand that young Midoriya's Quirk relies on his use of a watch like that one. Why do you and your daughter have that?"

"First of all, I'm not telling you diddly about the needs of my daughter." Ben waited until All Might conceded that point before continuing. "Second, I like watches. Third… Izuku and I have the same Quirk. Just assume that I can do everything he can do, and more."

"That's impossible," All Might said. "Young Midoriya said that you two aren't related."

Ben grinned, but there was something in his smile that All Might didn't like; it felt like he was being lied to, but he couldn't say how.

"I made a discovery a while ago," Ben said. "I don't have time to explain, but there's something I call a Proto-Quirk. It's a one-in-a-billion thing, but instead of getting locked into one or two abilities, some people can do… everything. Strength, speed, elemental powers—you name it, we can do it."

All Might wanted to say that that was impossible, but All For One existed. If someone could take as many Quirks as he wanted, why couldn't someone exist who was already born with all those powers? What he was most skeptical about was Ben's claim that he and Midoriya had the exact same Quirk. However, he had no time to call Ben out on it; Nezu said that the Tennysons were trustworthy, and All Might trusted Nezu. He would have to save his questions for after the battle.

"Can you really fight?" he asked instead. "Young Midoriya claimed you were a scientist."

"I happen to know several scientists who are really good at fighting," Ben said. "And yes, I can. Actually, I've probably been doing this sort of thing for longer than you."

Since All Might had never heard of anyone like Ben during his stay in America, he could only assume that Ben was a Vigilante that was skilled at remaining under the radar. There was no more time to dwell on that, though; there was a student to save, and a score to settle.

…

"About time you showed up," Shigaraki snapped. "I was starting to think you'd gotten the better end of our deal, Nine."

On the other end of the blue serpent was a man wearing grey pants and a coat over lightweight purple-and-black armor. A mask covered the lower half of his face, and purple cylinders emerged from his back. Only the top half of his face, including his long white hair, was visible; his eyes looked out apathetically over the people fighting.

"I'm here now," Nine said. "I can cover your retreat, while All For One deals with All Might."

There was a blast of orange energy as Ben cut his way free of Nine's Hydra Quirk, and he landed heavily. "Okay, final warning—give up now, or you're going to get hurt."

Nine's eyes glowed yellow as he looked at Ben; the only sign of surprise was a single step backwards. "Your power… is impressive. You might actually be able to stop me."

If NRG had been capable of smiling, he would. "Who said I was going to stop you?"

Nine heard a sonic boom, and then saw something flying at him at incredible speeds. He held up one hand, and a series of yellow circles appeared, one in front of the other, each larger than the one before. The barrier formed an instant before Supergirl, flying at Mach two, smashed her fist into it; the shock of the impact bowled over everyone within twenty feet, including Ben.

"Why does everyone keep knocking us over!?" Magne complained, just as Ultragirl collided with her at just under thirty miles an hour; it would have been much faster, but she slowed down so that the impact wouldn't be lethal.

"We've got this covered, Dad," Ultragirl said, not taking her eyes off the League. "Get Izuku to Ultiman."

Ben was about to do just that, but another air-pressure blast sent him careening into what remained of All For One's base.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Ultragirl put herself between the League and Midoriya, who was now unconscious. "You want him, you're going to have to go through me."

"With pleasure." Shigaraki held his arms out and crouched; beside him, Toga drew two more knives, Magne hefted her magnet, and Twice readied his measuring tapes. With a groan, Dabi also regained his senses and joined his comrades, both arms coated in blue fire.

"C'mon, you three," Ultragirl muttered to herself, "I heard you talking, get Izuku out of here!"

…

Lemillion wasn't ashamed to admit that he felt fear; Sir Nighteye had taught him long ago that the day he stopped feeling fear was the day he would get killed. Fear sharpened the instincts and drove adrenaline, which could be the edge in a fight. It was only when the fear couldn't be controlled was it a bad thing.

Unfortunately, Lemillion was dangerously close to losing that control. The Big Three had been reserve members of Endeavor's team, only sent in for cleanup or if there was an emergency. Things had happened so quickly that no one was quite sure where they stood anymore—first, the building had exploded, All For One himself had shown up and stomped the Heroes into the dirt, and now… well, now Lemillion had no idea what was going on.

"Mirio…" Suneater looked as bad as Lemillion felt, but at least he hadn't tried to run. "What do we do?"

Nejire-chan pointed with a trembling hand. "Th-there's Izuku! We should get him!"

"You saw what that guy did to Ben," Suneater argued. "If we go near him, we'll get blasted, and we're not as durable as NRG."

"We…" Lemillion took a deep, shuddering breath; as he did so, he spotted his mentor as he arrived at the outskirts of the battle, along with several other Heroes. Sir Nighteye saw him at almost the same moment, and simply nodded. "We need to look for an opening; then we grab Izuku, and run."

Suneater flinched as Supergirl punched away two more of Nine's Hydras; each impact made the area shudder. "Okay, but what do we do?"

Lemillion thought about what he and his friends were capable of; a rough plan came to mind, and as All Might hit All For One with a series of rapid-fire punches, he explained. He didn't give them time to argue; Ultragirl was holding off the League for now, but they were starting to get closer to Midoriya, who was looking worse every second.

"Just trust me," he said, putting as much conviction into his words as possible.

"I trust you," Suneater said immediately, echoed a half-second later by Nejire-chan.

"Okay, on my mark." Lemillion readied himself, while Suneater sprouted talons and wings, and Nejire-chan hovered a few feet above them. "Go!"

Spiraling energy fired around the battlefield; Nejire-chan was doing her best to distract the Villains, not necessarily hurt them. The sudden bright light was enough to put a brief pause on the fighting; Suneater then grabbed Lemillion by the shoulders and carried him into the air, flying above Midoriya.

It was at that moment that Lemillion realized that there was a glaring hole in his plan.

I can't reach him! I'm too far up, and if we go lower, the Villains will all attack us at once! Nejire can't grab him, she's trying to keep everyone away, and Tamaki is carrying me! What do I do? What do I do!?

For split second, as Lemillion hesitated, he saw Shigaraki; he'd managed to get around Ultragirl while she was distracted by Dabi's fire. He was only a few feet away from Midoriya, and he reached out; all it would take was that one hand…

No! I can't let Shigaraki get him! I will save Izuku!

Lemillion had been desperately, futilely, reaching down for Midoriya, despite being more than twenty feet away. Then, he felt a strange pulse in his arm; his glove and most of his sleeve exploded as dark tendrils, almost like living shadows, burst from his skin. They writhed and lashed about for a moment, and then shot down to grab Midoriya; at first, Lemillion thought they were about to stab him, but instead, they latched onto him like they were made of glue.

Completely confused, but with no time to ponder just what was going on, Lemillion pushed One For All to twenty percent and heaved; Midoriya flew up like a fish on a line, but then the mysterious power ended as abruptly as it had appeared, and the tendrils vanished. For a horrifying moment, it looked like Midoriya was going to plummet back down, but then Nejire-chan swooped in and grabbed him before gravity took hold.

"I've got him!" she shouted.

"Go, go!" Lemillion dropped to the ground as soon as Suneater flew low enough and out of the battle, and took Midoriya from Nejire-chan. "I'll get him to the hospital!"

Suneater nodded. "We'll catch up, just run!"

This time, Lemillion pushed One For All as high as he safely could; normally, he would only go to forty percent for short bursts, but Midoriya's life was at stake. If it meant saving his young friend, Lemillion would happily shred the muscles in his legs. Only once Midoriya was safe would he let himself think about that strange new Quirk.

…

"Finally, he's gone." Ultragirl cracked her knuckles. "Now I don't have to worry about hurting him by accident."

"Please, don't tell me you've been holding back," Magne spat. "You've barely held your own!"

"Not my fault you're stupid," Ultragirl said. "Haven't you ever heard of feigning weakness?"

The insult caused a vein to pulse on Magne's forehead, and she aimed her magnet at the teenager. "That's it! I'm going to kill you!"

A glowing aura surrounded Ultragirl, and she started to get pulled towards Magne. She dug in her heels to slow the effect, but it didn't help much.

"Nice, isn't it?" Magne gloated. "My Quirk can make a people magnetic! Depending on which end of my magnet I use, I can bring them closer, or repel them!"

Ultragirl made a face. "Thanks for explaining how your power works. You really are dumb." She aimed a palm at Magne. "You only make people magnetic, huh? How about I show you the real thing?"

Magne's weapon vibrated in her hands, and was then violently ripped away. She was so shocked that her concentration ended, and without her magnet, she couldn't use her Quirk to its fullest. Magne snarled as her weapon landed in Ultragirl's hand.

"Give that back!"

Rather than answer, Ultragirl raised the magnet in both hands and snapped it over her knee like it was plywood. She then carelessly tossed the pieces off to the side and smirked.

"What else you got?"

"She's got multiple Quirks!" Dabi shouted as he launched a torrent of fire, only for it to fizzle out when jets of water shot from Ultragirl's palms.

"You're just figuring this out now?" Ultragirl kicked a rock as easily as a kickball; it nearly clipped Toga's head, but instead hit one of her messy buns, setting half of her hair loose.

In response, Toga threw a knife; as she'd expected, Ultragirl reflexively blocked it with her arm. To Toga's shock, the blade shattered, rather than dig into yielding flesh. Ultragirl reached out to knock Toga out with another punch, but Twice pushed his comrade out of the way just in time. Instead, he was the one hit, and the sound of his arm breaking was heard by everyone.

"Oh, crap!" Ultragirl grimaced at the sight of bones sticking out of Twice's arm.

Twice staggered back, staring at his arm with horror. "No, no, no—I can't get hurt! I'll disappear! I'll die, I'll—wait." He poked his arm, and then his chest. "I'm… I'm not disappearing? I'm not a clone? I'm real?"

"Not sure I want to know," Ultragirl muttered as she countered more of Dabi's flames, and outright ignored the recovered Spinner until he tried stabbing her in the back. His blade shattered, and he paid for his attempt when she reverse-kicked him thirty feet away.

"Everyone, get back!" The sudden iron in Twice's voice was enough to make them obey; for the first time since any of the League had met him, Twice had cloned himself, and each clone was making even more copies. Within seconds, there were dozens of him, all charging at Ultragirl. "SAD MAN'S PARADE!"

Ultragirl was buried under a pile of bodies, but a few clones were already getting punched back, turning into grey goop before they hit the ground.

"That's not gonna hold her back for long," Twice said, his voice full of pain as he clutched his arm. "We should get outta here, Shigaraki."

Shigaraki hesitated; he watched Supergirl dodge beams of purple energy from Nine's fingers, and All For One locked in place as he held All Might back. Part of him wanted to help his master, the man who had given him everything. However, All For One had always told him that he would one day take his place as the ruler of the shadows, and the prince could only become king when his predecessor was dethroned.

At this point, with everything he was trying to build about to crumble, Shigaraki knew that trying to rescue All For One and save himself simply wasn't an option.

"Toga, wake up Kurogiri," he said through clenched teeth. "Nine is distracting the flying one, and Sensei is fighting All Might—" he paused when he saw a full-sized Humungousaur smash his way out of the rubble and charge All For One. "—and that one. The rest of us just need to hold off the girl until Kurogiri can get us out of here."

Toga nodded, barely aware of the blood trickling down her scalp. She hurried over to Kurogiri and started to shake him in an effort to wake him up. While she did that, the rest of the League still on their feet turned their attention to the rapidly-shrinking pile of Twice clones. The pile bulged, and then burst apart as Ultragirl, now standing twenty feet tall, shook the clones off her.

"Now, where were we?" Ultragirl glared down at the Villains. "Right, I was beating you guys like an old rug."

Magne swallowed nervously. "Hey, Toga? Mind hurrying up a little?"

…

All Might bit back a curse as All For One punched him in his weak spot; he spat out blood and barely dodged a second blow that would have hit him in the throat. He was trying to create some space so that he could wind up a bigger strike, but for all his claims that he couldn't move quickly, All For One was doing a good job of staying in his face.

It's a good thing I weakened him the last time, he thought. If only I had gotten hurt, I'd be dead by now.

Fortunately for All Might, he wasn't fighting alone; Ben, as Humungousaur, smashed his fist into All For One that sent him flying into what used to be a wall.

"Now you know how it feels," Ben growled, and then turned into Heatblast as he glanced at All Might. "Please tell me you know this guy's weakness."

Does he have every transformation that young Midoriya has? All Might shook the thought away. "If he had one, he took a Quirk that nullified it. He's definitely weaker than the last time we fought, though, and that helmet looked like it was helping him breathe."

"Well, you broke that, so he's probably running on borrowed time." Ben ducked under a beam of purple energy that nearly took his head off. "Supergirl, that guy still bothering you?"

"Only because I'm not trying to kill him!" Supergirl flew between Ben and All Might, firing bursts of heat-vision behind her, but Nine already had his barriers up. "That's starting to get annoying."

Supergirl pulled up at a sharp angle, then flew straight down, tunneling through the ground almost as effortlessly as Armodrillo. She emerged just behind Nine, who used his Hydras again; Supergirl was ready for them this time, and froze them in place with her ice-breath. She slipped through his guard and punched him in the face, sending him hurtling through the air; he landed in a heap next to the other Villains.

"I'm going to help Jen," she said as she flew off. "You two quit playing around!"

Ben laughed, but there was little humor in it; people were injured, including Midoriya. All he wanted was to put the bad guys down and help anyone who needed it—particularly Midoriya.

"Time to take the kid gloves off," he muttered, and transformed again; this time, he looked like a large, white-armored robot, with green highlights that glowed with energy. "ATOMIX!"

"Now that's new!" All Might called as he rushed past, one arm cocked back as he neared All For One. "TEXAS SMASH!"

Despite how battered he looked, All For One smiled. "Replace."

Instead of All For One, suddenly Ben was in front of All Might, and he took the full force of the punch. Atomix flew back at the speed of an artillery shell, and the destruction he caused when he collided with what was left of All For One's base was impressive.

"What did you do!?" All Might demanded.

All For One, now standing where Atomix had been, laughed. "Oh, that? I was saving that one for a special occasion. It lets me swap locations with someone else within fifty meters; sadly, it can only be used once every twelve hours."

"Okay, that's getting on my nerves." Atomix blasted apart the rubble with an emerald explosion. "Does everyone explain their powers, or is this guy just being really polite?"

"There's nothing wrong with being polite," All For One chided.

"You kidnapped a kid, and your flunkies tried to kill him." Atomix held up one hand, and a ball of green energy gathered. "You don't get to talk about being polite!"

All For One fired another air-pressure blast, but Atomix launched his own attack; the energy cut through the air like it was a soft breeze, and collided with All For One. When the light from the explosion faded, All For One was still standing, but his suit was reduced to rags, and burns covered most of his exposed skin.

"Huh." Atomix floated over to All Might. "I hit him with about fifteen percent of what I can do. Not a lot of people can stand after that."

"He's got more powers than anyone I've ever met, except maybe you and young Midoriya," All Might said darkly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had a Quirk that reduced damage somehow."

"Got it, we hit him harder, and we keep hitting him until he doesn't get back up." Atomix's eyes glowed brighter. "If I get him in the air, can you put him down?"

All Might clenched his fists as he took stock of himself; he was hurt, especially after taking that hit to his old injury, but he figured he still had at least forty-five minutes left in his muscle form.

I've got more than enough left to hit him with my best shot, especially if Ben—what!?

Without turning away from his opponents, All For One had aimed one hand to his left. Black-and-red tendrils grew from his fingers and lanced out, where they struck the unconscious Kurogiri. He jerked like a puppet, and then a warp gate appeared behind the League of Villains.

"Tomura," All For One said, his weary voice full of pain, "take your comrades and go. Now is your time; go and fulfill your goals."

"I will, Master!" With a gesture, Shigaraki had several of Twice's clones carry the unconscious members of the League through the portal, while the rest kept Ultragirl and Supergirl occupied. "And I will avenge you!"

Shigaraki and Dabi were the last through the portal, the latter shooting out huge waves of fire to cover their escape. Both Supergirl and Ultragirl were frustrated that the Villains got away, but there were still over a hundred clones trying to scatter, and they were still replicating. If they made it into the city, there would be little to stop them before someone died. Fortunately, before they got too far, they ran into a wall of green energy, behind which stood an exhausted Ultiman.

"Do you know… how many people… I had to teleport to safety?" He glared wearily at the clones. "I am… just about done… with this place."

"Thanks for holding 'em there!" Ultragirl crossed her arms in an X-shape, while Supergirl's eyes glowed red; a moment later, a huge blast of green energy fired from where Ultragirl's arms met, just as Supergirl used her heat-vision. With the wall of Mana holding the clones together, they couldn't replicate fast enough to avoid getting vaporized.

"Fascinating." All For One grinned. "So many interesting Quirks today. In my younger days, I would have done anything to have taken them."

"You won't take anything from anyone ever again!" All Might shouted.

"Oh, but I already have." All For One threw back his head and laughed. "You have no idea, All Might! The last legacy of your dear master just fled this place as my successor!"

All Might froze. "What are you talking about?"

"Shigaraki Tomura is the grandson of Shimura Nana."

That simple statement, said as easily as one would describe the weather, shattered something deep within All Might. All For One was many things, but he wasn't a liar, especially when the truth was so much more devastating. Even though All Might wanted to deny it, a small part of him—perhaps the part of his predecessor that lived within One For All—knew it was true.

"Tennyson-san," he said quietly, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah?"

"Don't hold back."

"With pleasure."

Both heroes moved as one; Atomix's fist connected solidly with All For One's chin, sending him rocketing into the air. All Might spun around halfway through his own charge, and aimed his fist at the ground.

"NEW HAMPSHIRE SMASH!"

Using his own blast of air, All Might flew even faster than his nemesis, until he overtook him. He then spun around and stopped All For One's own ascent with one hand, while the other drew back; so much power was gathered in that one fist that it almost seemed to glow.

"You're done, All For One! This time, you really have lost!

"UNITED! STATES! OF SMASH!"

The shockwave from All Might's punch was devastating; any building within a mile that had somehow still retained their windows until now lost them, and more than a few structures that had been destabilized collapsed.

All For One was clearly broken as he rocketing back down to earth, but Ben wasn't done with him. With one hand glowing with green energy, he swung up at a man coming down far faster than terminal velocity; the resulting wave of energy turned most of the rubble to dust, and Supergirl had to brace herself in front of her daughter to make sure neither of them went flying.

When the dust settled, All For One was barely breathing in a hole ten feet deep; every bone in his body was broken, and steam wafted from his skin after the burns he'd received. Frankly, it was a miracle that he wasn't dead.

"Well, that happened," Ben said as he turned back to normal. "I haven't had to go Atomix in years. I mean, I probably didn't need to, but this guy was really annoying me." He glanced at All Might, who was staring down at the Villain. "Let me guess—archenemy? Killed someone important to you?"

All Might visibly started. "How did you know?"

"I've been there, dude." Ben sighed. "Believe me, I know how that feels."

"How should I feel now that it's over?"

Ben laughed softly. "Try to live your life without him hanging over you."

"Hey, Dad?" Ultragirl, now her normal size, jogged over. "I know you're having a moment or whatever, but we should really check on Izuku."

"Actually, we should do that right now," Ultiman cut in, his tone urgent. "I'm looking at him, and he's not doing well."

At that, All Might finally tore his gaze away from All For One, but he barely took a few steps before he coughed up blood and fell to one knee.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked; he tried to get All Might on his feet again, but the bigger man was several hundred pounds beyond what Ben was capable of lifting.

"I'm—" All Might violently coughed again, and wiped the blood off his mouth. "I'll be all right. I just overdid it a little."

"You overdid it a lot, you idiot!" Gran Torino shouted as he and Sir Nighteye climbed down the walls of the crater to join them.

Nighteye struggled to prop All Might up, but he managed to get him in a sitting position before turning to Ben. "Go check on Midoriya-san. We'll handle things here."

Ben nodded, and then turned to his family. "Okay, let's get going; tonight's not over yet."

…

Suneater was in the very strange position of being the most composed person in the room. Nejire-chan kept switching between sobbing uncontrollably and nervously playing with Suneater's cloak. Lemillion was pacing, hands clasped behind his back; strange red lines had pulsed over his arm, the one that had created those black tendrils, but they had faded after a few minutes.

The reason for their anxiety lay within the emergency room in front of them. Midoriya had gotten worse by the second, and by the time Lemillion had thrust him into the waiting arms of the doctors, he was barely breathing.

In retrospect, Suneater would find it funny that, because he was the only one actually keeping watch, he didn't react when the Tennyson family burst in, only about ten minutes after the Big Three had brought Midoriya to the hospital.

There were no words exchanged; the Tennysons brushed past the students and stormed the OR. Lemillion heard muffled voices of protest, probably the doctors, which were abruptly silenced. The Big Three shared a glance, and then cautiously followed. They found several doctors and nurses frozen in place, surrounded by a green halo of energy; Supergirl gently moved them out of the way, while the rest of her family was examining Midoriya.

"This is bad," Ultiman said grimly. "The physical injuries are serious, but I have no idea what's going on with his DNA."

"Can you heal him?" Ben asked.

"Not when I don't know what's going on," Ultiman admitted. "The Ultimatrix really messed him up when it was destroyed."

"There's only one person who would really know what's wrong with him," Ultragirl added. "You know I'm right, Dad."

Ben sighed. "Yeah, I know. Ken, can you put the pause on him, buy us some time?"

Ultiman already looked dead on his feet, but he nodded and held a hand over Midoriya; his hand glowed green, and the same halo around the doctors now surrounded Midoriya.

"I froze him in time," Ultiman explained tiredly. "Technically, I shouldn't do that, but it's more of a grey area. It just takes a lot of energy."

"You can take a nap when we get home," Ultragirl snapped, then turned to the Big Three. "We need to take him with us. We'll come back for his mom as soon as we can, just give Mickey Mouse a heads-up, will you?"

It took Lemillion a moment to realize she was talking about Nezu; he hesitated, but when he saw the broken and bloodied form of Midoriya, he knew he really didn't have a choice.

"I'll take care of it," he promised.

"Thanks." Ultiman snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared. "I'll keep you guys updated… oh, and I need to bring Brainiac back to give Uraraka her new arm."

Ultiman continued to mumble tiredly as Ultragirl pushed him through the portal. Rather than push the gurney Midoriya was on, Supergirl ripped the top of it off and carried the boy. Only Ben stayed behind for a moment.

"Thanks," he said, "for saving him."

Lemillion smiled. "Just bring him back, and we'll call it even."

"Deal." Ben smiled back, and stepped into the portal.

Though the Big Three had no reason not to trust the visitors, they also couldn't help but fear that they would never see Midoriya again.

…

Nezu tended to avoid coffee; he was already an energetic creature, and caffeine could send him into a hyperactive frenzy. However, as he sat down at the table with his ad-hoc council, he wished he had some espresso on hand. After everything that had happened over the last few hours, even he was starting to feel the strain.

On one side was Endeavor—now healed, thanks to Ultiman—representing Pro Heroes. Technically, it should have been All Might, but he had reached his time limit for the night. Then again, even if he had been ready for this meeting, he would have agreed that Endeavor was simply a better choice for such a grim topic.

On his other side was Aizawa, who represented UA. Nezu couldn't be that voice, since he was the one being interrogated. Normally, Nezu could rely on Aizawa to support his decisions, but the information the man had had quickly enraged him. If anything, they were all going to be in the unique position of Endeavor being the voice of reason between the two.

The third member of this informal inquiry was a tired man with messy blonde hair. His name was Mera Yokumiru, and he represented the Hero Public Safety Commission; it was by the grace of the HPSC that schools like UA remained open, and that Heroes had their licenses. Though they tended to be lax when it came to Nezu—mostly because he found loopholes in their rules more easily than he found lint in his pocket—he couldn't rely on them to take it easy on him tonight.

Aizawa was the first to speak. "Where is he?"

"You'll have to be more specific, Shota, I don't know everyone who identifies as male," Nezu said smoothly.

Aizawa slammed his palm on the table; Mera jumped at the uncharacteristic outburst, but Endeavor merely grunted. "Don't play games with me, Nezu! Where the hell did those Vigilantes take my student!?"

"I can't be sure," Nezu half-lied. "From what the witnesses told me, Midoriya-san's Quirk had been… damaged, and was preventing Ultiman from healing him. I can only assume that they took him to a specialist that Midoriya-san mentioned that they knew. They have assured me that they will keep us informed."

"I don't care what they told you," Aizawa growled. "They kidnapped my student from a hospital!"

"This is a serious matter, Principal," Mera said mildly. "There is already public outcry over the boy being taken by Villains. If word gets out that he was kidnapped by foreigners, we'll be lucky if we still have our jobs."

"We're lucky that only Heroes and a few members of the police even knew that the Tennysons were here," Endeavor added. "Most civilians are wary of anyone with multiple Quirks, and this 'All For One' is going to tarnish that image further; if it came to light that there was an entire family of people that strong…"

That was another thing Nezu was thankful for. While his family had had the fighting well in hand, Ultiman had used his powers to teleport any potential witnesses out of the area. The most anyone could report was a strange flash of green light before appearing several miles away; that had particularly annoyed the various news crews, who had been eager to show footage of All Might fighting a powerful Villain. As far as anyone outside of a select few were aware, All Might had defeated All For One, though he had suffered some injuries and was being checked at an undisclosed location. There had also been a brief press release that claimed that an unnamed Underground Hero had been the one to teleport everyone to safety, so that All Might could fight without worry.

It had helped suppress the panic, but the pile of lies and half-truths had grown rapidly, and was one of the reasons why the meeting with Nezu was happening. They needed to create a story for all parties involved, and though Nezu had lost some trust with them, it was agreed that he was the best person for the job.

Nezu was already making notes in his head, stringing together a narrative that made sense to the public, and was easy enough for everyone who knew the truth to remember.

"As for Midoriya-san," he said, "I'm afraid that we have to trust that the Tennysons know what they're doing. His Quirk is an anomaly by any and every use of the word, and his cousin knows it better than anyone here."

"Why should we trust them?" Mera's question wasn't accusatory, but simply curious. "They helped in the battle against All For One, but what else have they done to earn your trust?"

"When they first arrived, Ultiman healed every one of the students," Nezu said frankly. "When he found out that Uraraka-san had lost an arm, which he couldn't heal, he immediately called an associate to provide a prosthetic that will replicate her Quirk, allowing her to continue on in the Hero Course."

"For a hefty sum, I assume," Endeavor said bitterly.

"Quite the opposite," Nezu replied. "In fact, when Uraraka-san's parents mentioned that they couldn't financially compensate something like that, both Ultiman and his associate were almost offended that it had even been considered. They simply wanted to do the right thing; in fact, the only thing they wanted was to make sure that no one knew who they were."

The act of generosity stunned Endeavor, though Mera smiled. Aizawa just sighed in relief at the reminder that his student would no longer be crippled.

"That is good news," Mera said, but then his expression turned grim. "However, I have to ask—just how much of Midoriya-san's background did you already know?"

Considering that I forged most of his file, just about everything, Nezu thought with amusement. "Everything that was pertinent for a student. I knew that Ben Tennyson created the watch that stabilized and organized Midoriya-san's Quirk, and I investigated his work thoroughly to ensure that there wasn't a security breach."

"What was your conclusion?" Mera had obviously read Nezu's initial report; now, he was fishing to see if Nezu would slip up under questioning.

"That Midoriya-san's cousin was a brilliant scientist, if a bit eccentric and a recluse. There was no evidence that he was a Vigilante, and even if there was, it had no bearing on Midoriya-san."

A word-for-word retelling of his report; Mera couldn't pin anything on him, even if he suspected him of lying.

"Very well." Mera sighed. "We'll move on to discuss exactly how we'll explain everything to the public. However, the Commission is going to be keeping a close eye on you and Midoriya-san for a while."

"If you think that's wise," Nezu said, knowing that they would never find anything on him if he didn't want them to.

"I do. Now, Endeavor, how do you want to go over your part of the raid?"

As Endeavor grumpily summarized how his team had lost to All For One, Nezu couldn't help but think about the loose ends still out there; the League of Villains and Midoriya, of course, but something was scratching at the back of his mind, insisting that there was something else.

Whatever it was, he just hoped that it was something that could be dealt with.

…

In the ruins of Kamino Ward, repair crews were already hard at work clearing away debris so that reconstruction could begin. However, it would be a long time before any of them discovered All For One's secret lab… but that didn't mean it didn't go unvisited.

The power inside the lab was out, and pressure from the collapsed building above it was starting to cave in the walls and ceiling. However, there was still enough room for a single figure to appear in a flash of light. By all appearances, she was a young woman with short blonde hair, wearing a white, silver-edged jumpsuit.

Eunice, formerly known as the Unitrix, took one look around at the equipment, and then at the defunct satellite. She detached a scanner from her belt and ran it over the center of the satellite, and was rewarded with a quiet beep.

"I've got it," she reported into the communicator on her wrist. "Initial scans say that it's in one piece, but we'll need to do a full analysis at the lab."

"At least there's that bit of good news," Azmuth sighed on the other end of the line. "Commence retrieval and begin the disassembly process. When I get back, I'll conduct the examination."

"How bad is the kid?"

"Bad enough that Ben called me; honestly, I wasn't expecting to talk to him for another few months."

Eunice winced. "Is he awake yet?"

"I've already placed him in a medically-induced coma. I need him as still as possible until I can get him stabilized."

That told Eunice all she needed to know; if Midoriya wasn't halfway to recovery already, then it meant that his condition was serious.

"Call me if you need anything." She doubted that Azmuth would, but she had to offer.

"I may need you to run interference if the Tennysons panic, but we haven't reached that point yet." Azmuth paused. "But… thank you anyway, Eunice."

Eunice nearly stumbled and hit her head on the low ceiling. Not only had Azmuth thanked her, but for the first time in the decades of working for him, he had called her by name. Either Midoriya's condition worried him enough to make him slip up, or he was finally starting to change his ways.

"See you soon, boss," she said after a moment. "Good luck."

There was a flash of light, and then Eunice, the satellite, and all evidence of the alien technology ever being there vanished.

Okay, so Midoriya was rescued, which is good. However, he's super messed up, which is bad. All Might and Ben defeated All For One without revealing All Might's secret to the world or burning out his power, which is good. Unfortunately for All Might, there will still be consequences for the fight, which is bad. And Midoriya's cover is still intact, which is good. But he's part of the reason for a massive cover-up, which is bad.

Lot of good and bad with this chapter.

And here's the appearance of Nine! Obviously, he wasn't going to last long against Supergirl, especially since he didn't use his storm-Quirk, but the reason for that will be later. Even if he did, that would be an inconvenience at best. And Jen accidentally helped Twice with his mental issues, so he can now clone himself, which will have massive ramifications later.

Oh, and Lemillion just unlocked Blackwhip! Tintin has some 'splainin to do!

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or in physical format. If you like the alien conspiracies happening in this story, you might want to take a look at my book.

If more reading isn't to your taste, but you still want to help me out, please consider supporting me on P-atreon (link in my profile). Every little bit helps, and top-tier patrons get a free copy of my book anyway!

Speaking of which, I'd like to thank the patrons that have gone beyond:

Serious Muffins: SpaceEmperorSpar, Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, Shaolin Khalil, killroy225

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Next Chapter: Midoriya wakes up to his new reality, Uraraka gets a shiny new arm, and life at UA takes a drastic change…

Plus Muffin!