-67-

Overhaul Strikes Back

Izuku, Oliver, Nighteye and several more heroes and police officers were standing around the misshapen rocky mass that was once the Hassaikai hideout's inner hallways. They had managed to finally subdue the man shifting the corridors around them, one of the Hassakai enforcers named Mimic.

"Finally got you, you son of a bitch," said Fatgum triumphantly. Mimic said nothing, but began foaming at the mouth as if rabid, a look of deep hatred plastered on his face.

"What the hell?" The police captain said in confusion.

"It looks like the drugs are wearing off," Aizawa said, stepping forward.

"What drugs?" The captain asked.

Izuku immediately stepped forward, pulling a syringe from his utility belt and sticking it in the arm of their captor. Everyone stared in surprise as the boy withdrew a small amount of blood from the man.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?" The captain said. "You can't just draw blood from people!"

But Izuku wasn't listening. He pulled another device from his belt and placed a droplet of blood on it. The device was about the size of a smartphone, and had a small computer screen connected to it. He began typing into the device before nodding in confirmation.

"Just as I thought," he said grimly. "Arrow, come look at the chemical compound."

The Green Arrow walked over and took a look at the screen. "I got a D in chemistry in High School, kid," he said. "What am I looking at here?"

"That's the base compound found in the street steroid 'venom'," Izuku said. "If you look at the other chemical compounds that are with it, it has the signature of the Titan formula."

"So we were right, they are using Titan," Green Arrow said.

"It's been heavily modified, but at its core it's the same formula," Izuku said. "Overhaul is no fool, he must have found a way to alter it."

"If he got these on the streets, who knows what kind of havoc they could cause," the police captain said.

"We'll worry about that later," Aizawa said. "Remember, we also have Twice and Toga to deal with. We don't know how many members of the League of Villains are here, so we have to be vigilant."

"Toga..." Mimic growled in a low voice. He began to grow agitated, thrashing about at his bindings. "Toga and Twice! You traitors! I'll never forgive you!"

"Where are the other League members hiding?" Nighteye asked.

"I don't know!" Shouted Mimic. "But I'll hunt down every last one of them! I won't stop until I have crushed their skulls into dust!"

"Looks like those two are the only ones here for now," Nighteye said.

"Why did they betray their own allies like that?" Asked a police officer.

"Maybe they weren't allies after all," said another.

"Maybe," said the police captain. "But we have to assume that they are not on our side either. We can't let them escape!"

Izuku was ready to start moving when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Aizawa, giving him a stern look. Izuku remembered back to after the briefing, how he had warned him and his classmates that if the League was involved, they would be pulled from the case. But they were so close to saving Eri, Izuku wouldn't even think about retreating now.

"Eraserhead..." Izuku began.

"What are you fools standing around for?" Rock Lock shouted, getting their attention. "Let the cops deal with the League. You need to save the girl and stop Overhaul! Complete the mission, at all costs!"

"He's right," the police captain said. "We'll take the League from here. Your top priority is to the mission."

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on this piece of crap," said Rock Lock, nodding to Mimic. In an instant, the heroes and cops broke off, sprinting down the broken hallway before them. Rock Lock sighed, wincing slightly at his injury. Many wondered why he was so antagonistic towards the kids, but the truth was, he was simply worried for their safety. In his opinion, this was too big of a mission, too dangerous of a mission, to entrust to school kids, UA or not. He had a wife and son waiting for him back home, so he knew the value of life, and the terror when one is about to meet their doom. These kids were too young for that.

But it was too late now. They were involved whether they liked it or not. Now it was up to them, the Pro Heroes, to guide them to complete the mission, and above all else, keep them safe.

Twice and Toga were kneeling on a concrete ledge, having watched the heroes and cops down below them run off towards their mission. Toga looked wistfully at Izuku as he took off. He was most likely going to get really bloodied up in this battle. She wanted desperately to see that, but they had more important things to worry about.

"So what are we going to do, Toga?" Twice asked as they crawled along the ledge. "Now that the cops and heroes are gone, maybe we should make a break for it, meet up with Shigaraki?"

"No," Said Toga. "Izuku is going after Overhaul. As much as I want to be there to see it, we need to focus on what's more important right now."

"What's that?" Asked Twice.

"Making Overhaul cry like a baby," Toga said with a dark look in her eyes.

"In that case, I have no clue what to do," Twice said in a deep voice. Suddenly, he perked up, and said in a higher voice. "Here's what we're going to do!" He whispered into Toga's ear, who had a devilish smile sprout on her face.

"Perfect."

Mirio Togata was bleeding profusely, his side and shoulder having been pierced by one of the stone spires that sprouted from Overhaul's attack. He no longer had the benefit of his quirk, and he realized how vulnerable he was without it. Still, Eri was counting on him, and even if it cost him his life, he would be there to defend her.

"You're sick," said Overhaul manically. "You're all sick, and I'm the cure!" He reached down to the floor beneath him, ready to press his attack against Togata, when the wall beside them suddenly burst open with a mighty explosion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the black smoke and bright flash of an explosion, and recognized it immediately.

"Get away from them, you bastard!" Shouted Izuku, using the momentum from his explosion to propel him at breakneck speeds towards Overhaul, landing a fist on the crook of his elbow. He heard a sickening snap as Overhaul screamed in pain as he was sent hurtling across the room.

Following close behind him was Green Arrow, Eraserhead, and Sir Nighteye.

Eraserhead immediately used his quirk to restrict Overhaul's quirk. Nighteye ran at full speed towards Mirio, who looked to be barely able to stand. "Get Eri," he said weakly. "She's behind me." He moved slightly to show the frightened form of Eri, staring in horror at Mirio's battered condition.

Sir Nighteye immediately embraced the both of them. "Rest now," he said. "I've got you. Everything will be alright.."

Chisaki desperately hit the ground with his non-broken arm, but his powers were restricted.

Izuku, Eraserhead and Arrow immediately advanced on him. "Chisaki is backed to a corner!" Shouted Arrow, drawing his bow. "Let's end this now!"

Aizawa saw at the corner of his eye a flash of white, coming quickly towards them. Aizawa used his bindings to push Izuku out of the way before the white object sliced against his arm, cutting open a small flesh wound. As it did, he felt his body go rigid, and his movements began to slow, as if someone had put him in slow-motion. Aizawa and Arrow looked and saw that Chrono, Chisaki's right-hand man, had used his quirk to attack them while he was still incapacitated on the ground, a gigantic white arrow sprouting from his hood and stretching towards the heroes.

"My quirk will slow you heroes down," Said Chrono. "Too bad I couldn't get all of you."

Aizawa couldn't control his movements, as his reactions were too slow. He was horrified to feel that his eye was slowly closing in a blink. He tried to fight it, but it was too late, his eye had closed.

The floor around the heroes erupted in a sea of spikes and pillars. Overhaul's powers had returned, and his attack had leveled the playing field, causing the heroes to balk in their advance on him.

"You won't stop my plans!" Shouted Overhaul. "You sick people...I WON'T LET MY WORK BE UNDONE HERE!" He looked down to see the fallen body of one of his minions, Shin Nemoto. A loyal follower, who would gladly give his life for the cause. He reached down and touched his face, feeling his very atoms split apart as he pulled his final trump card.

Izuku watched in horror at the sight before him. The body of Nemoto disappeared, and Chisaki began to writhe and yell in pain as two more arms sprouted from his body. But as they did, all four of his arms transformed into large, gnarled appendages with large, clawed hands at each end.

"I admire your tenacity, heroes," said Chisaki. "Especially you, Lemillion. I admit that you were stronger than me. But I've come too far to be stopped. Now, give me back Eri!"

Izuku was horrified. Chisaki was a madman, and if anything proved it, it was this. He looked around the room, taking stock of the situation. Nighteye was a distance away, protecting Eri and Togata. Aizawa and Oliver were nowhere to be found in the wreckage.

He was on his own.

"You're crazy, Chisaki," Shouted Izuku. "Destroying yourself and merging with your minion. You keep talking about how we're the sick ones, but you're the only sick creature here.."

"A necessary loss,'' said Chisaki. "When people infect me with their touch, I lose control. You only have yourselves to blame. You were the ones to get involved with Eri, with me, and now, Lemillion has lost his quirk forever because of it."

"What?!" Shouted Izuku.

"If only you had given up sooner,'' said Chisaki smugly. "You could have held onto your pathetic dreams. And now, you will die along with your friends!" Overhaul used his own arms to launch himself forward with impressive speed, heading towards Mirio, Nighteye and Eri. He would be upon them in seconds, and they were defenseless.

Overhaul felt an explosion next to him, forcing him off his attack. Izuku was standing between him and his friends, a batarang in one hand and an electric brass knuckle in the other. "You will not touch them again!" He shouted.

"Toys and explosions?" Chisaki said, laughing. "That's all that you have to stand against me. You're pathetic." He reached down and launched another spiked pillar at him, which Izuku deftly dodged. Suddenly, Nighteye leapt from the pillars he, Mirio and Eri were hiding behind, running at full speed towards Overhaul.

"I'll take care of him!" Nighteye shouted, throwing the weighted seals at Overhaul. "Take care of Mirio and Eri!" Izuku knew better than to argue, immediately moving towards the upper-classman and the frightened girl. Overhaul had taken one of the seals to one of his malformed arms, causing it to shatter. As he quickly tried to reform it, Nighteye advanced on him.

"You destroy other people's quirks so freely, but when the tables are turned you become frightened," Nighteye mocked Overhaul. "You're a coward. A measly worm who was so frightened of my protege that he was forced to use one of his most prized bullets to remove him of his quirk, just to level the playing field in his favor. You're pathetic."

Overhaul roared, lunging towards Nighteye. In an instant, Nighteye activated his quirk, and was able to see every attack Overhaul was planning. Utilizing this, he was able to dodge Overhaul's attacks with relative ease. As he did, his mind moved back to his conversation with Gran Torino back at his agency. He was asked why he was so against using his quirk to look further than an hour into the future. The truth was, no matter how many times he tested it, no matter what he did, every single vision came to pass exactly as he saw it. Even if he changed his actions to be different from the way they were in the vision, everything would somehow balance out, causing the vision to come true somehow. This led him to believe that his quirk did more than just predict the future. Perhaps he was the cause of the future. Perhaps that vision came true because of his quirk.

And that thought terrified him, especially since his vision of All Might. Ever since then, he worked and worked to perfect his quirk, to desperately prove that he was wrong, that the result of his visions could be changed, only to grow more frustrated and despondent when they were proven correct in the end.

"And you can flip a coin a hundred times and have it land on heads each and every time. But so long as you keep flippin', there's always the chance it will come up tails."

Madame Xanadu's words flashed through his mind. Was he really neglecting his full potential? Was his fear that he somehow was causing All Might's demise restricting him from seeing the truth? He had to know. In an instant, he used Foresight to look further into the future. He didn't need to look far, just using repeating second incrementing to–

His eyes widened in shock. He had seen the future, and it frightened him to his core.

"Lemillion, Eri, how badly are you injured?!" Izuku said, finally reaching the pair. Lemillion looked horrible, blood leaking from various parts of his body. He was trembling, weaving left and right, looking as if he could barely stand. Izuku immediately reached into his utility belt and used his medical foam to pack off the largest injury, but because he had used so much on Rock Lock, he didn't have enough to patch every wound.

"I'm fine," Lemillion said. "But I failed you, Eri. I made you sad again. I couldn't keep my promise."

"That doesn't matter right now," said Izuku. "We have to get away from Chisaki." He looked to his left, spying the wall a few feet away from them. "Get behind these pillars." He instructed the two, who immediately complied. Izuku ran towards the wall, placing explosive gel and running back behind the pillar. The wall exploded upon pressing the detonator. He, Eri and Mirio began walking towards the hole in the wall, leading into the hallways, when Eri suddenly stopped.

"No," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "That's enough. I can't do it."

"What are you talking –"

Izuku was interrupted by a sickening squelching sound, followed by a gargled scream. They turned to the source, staring in horror at the scene before them. There stood Sir Nighteye, standing before Overhaul, having been impaled in the arm and abdomen by two spiked pillars.

"Sir!" Shouted Mirio. "NO!"

Izuku didn't hesitate. He immediately used his quirk to propel him towards Overhaul, blasting him with a Howitzer Impact. Overhaul was broken to pieces, but immediately began to heal himself. Izuku threw a smokescreen before him followed by several explosive batarangs, which embedded themselves into Chisaki's arms before exploding.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Shouted Chisaki as his arms repaired themselves. "You've lost. You're all going to die!"

"Don't count on it," Izuku countered. "No future is fixed, and nothing is set in stone. No matter what, even if you think the future is already decided, I'll blow that future out of the water!"

"It appears that the tide has turned," Said Chrono, watching the fight through a small crack in the wall. He had used his quirk on the hero Eraserhead below him, and he was moving at a snail's pace. Chrono slowly drew a knife. He had to end this hero quickly and help the boss. They had to retrieve the girl and leave this place quickly. They had to rebuild. Restart everything–

Chrono yelled in pain as he felt something peirce this raised hand, causing him to drop the knife. The momentum of whatever it was had carried him towards the wall, causing him to crash into it. Dazed, he looked up to see that his hand was pierced by an arrow, which had embedded itself in the wall. Suddenly, several more arrows came flying towards him, striking key points of his clothes, pinning him to the wall. To his shock, he could see the hero Green Arrow approach him out of his peripheral vision.

"Try not to look so surprised," The Arrow said before knocking him unconscious.

With Chrono incapacitated, the Green Arrow ran towards the fallen Eraserhead. He was still under the effect of the quirk, and didn't know how much longer he would be affected. "Stay here, try not to move too much," said the Arrow to Aizawa.

"Oh…..very…funny…."Aizawa said slowly.

Green Arrow found a small opening he was able to squeeze through. What he saw horrified him. Nighteye was speared upon two pillars, losing blood quickly. Arrow was surprised he wasn't dead yet. In the middle of the room was Izuku, squaring off against a horrifyingly deformed Overhaul. The boy was injured, having been speared in his arm and leg by smaller pillars, but was still standing. Oliver was worried. His first instinct was to back up Izuku, but if he didn't move quickly, Nighteye wouldn't last much longer, and could die before help could be provided for him. There were no other heroes or officers to offer support, and they were out of options.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small plunger syringe, attachable to an arrow that would administer to the target on contact. The Arrow usually filled these with anesthesia to knock out enemies during stealth missions. This time, it was filled with the substance that Bruce had given him, should the worst come to pass. Currently, the mission was in jeopardy, and more importantly, Izuku was in danger. If there was ever a time to use it, now was the time.

He quickly attached it to an arrow and drew it back in his bow, pointing it at the boy. He only hoped his aim would be true, and that whatever was in this, it would turn the tide back in their favor.

"Give up, kid," said Chisaki. "No matter how hard you hit me, I'll just put myself back together. You're almost spent. Give up or die."

"Never," said Izuku defiantly.

"Just like your friend before you," Chisaki sneered at Izuku. "He didn't want to give up either. And now, he'll die, and you will die along with him." Suddenly, a large mouth formed on the palm of one of the giant, malformed hands and began to shout so loud that Izuku had to cover his ears. "DID YOU HEAR THAT, ERI? ANOTHER PERSON IS ABOUT TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU! STOP BEING SO FOOLISH AND COME BACK NOW, BEFORE YOU HURT ANYONE ELSE!"

Izuku felt his blood boil. "You bastard," Izuku spat. "Don't you dare speak to her. I'll make sure you never use your quirk to hurt others again– augh!" Izuku felt something hit him on the back right-shoulder. Surprised, he looked behind him and saw it was an arrow attached to a syringe that was injecting some sort of serum into him. He looked back to see Green Arrow, who still had his bow raised, and began firing arrows at Chisaki, who jumped back to dodge them.

Izuku doubled over, a strange feeling entering his body. He felt as if his body was suddenly coursing with enough energy to power a city. His body began to shake as he felt the sheer electric power course through his veins. He drew back, letting out a yell as his body began to glow, a green electricity sparking over his body. He looked himself over as the power continued to grow.

He felt good.

He felt great.

He felt powerful!

All Might sat alone at his desk at UA high school. It was late in the evening, and he had fallen behind on grading papers. Truth was, he was worried about Izuku, getting his first hero assignment, and with his old sidekick nonetheless. He knew that Izuku had faced dangerous hero situations before, especially with the incident in Gotham a while ago, but it still caused him to worry.

Suddenly, All Might drew back, gasping for breath and clutching his chest. He felt strange, as if he was suddenly being drained of energy, as if part of his very life force was suddenly leaving his body. He stumbled off of his chair and fell to his knees on the floor, breathing heavily. He raised his head in shock as he suddenly realized what had happened.

One For All was gone.

It had passed on.

A/N: Okay everyone, I know there were mixed feelings on who should get All For One, but I want you to know that this is only the beginning. There is more to the story, and I think you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.

I also would like to apologize for being inactive for a while. I'm still getting used to my new routine now that I've started my new job, but I have more chapters and more stories (Such as the Loud House - Wild Card sequel) in the works, so I hope that you'll stay tuned.

Thank you for reading!