Hefting a sturdy metal lunchbox over his shoulder and carrying a bucket of chicken with the other arm, Izuku hunted for a sturdy building with an excellent view to watch the impending fight. When he saw Hawks perched atop a nearby roof, Izuku hopped up, silently stalked behind the hero, and loudly chomped on a chicken leg. The winged hero jumped, and half their feathers pointed at him like a wall of knives.
"Jeez, kid, how'd you sneak up on me?"
"Very carefully." Izuku sucked the meat off the bone and chucked it over the side. After taking a second leg, he jiggled the basket and asked, "Want some?"
Hawks eyed the basket. "That's my thing," he grumbled as he took one. "I can even tell which KFC you got this from. South side chicken's always a little bit soggy."
Izuku shrugged and sat down. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nah, All for One's still monologuing. But I think they're about to start."
True to the hero's words, All Might threw a punch, and All for One melted around it. Izuku snapped a bone with his teeth and said, "Bastard's got better control than I. I've tried turning my arms into swords for weeks!"
"I imagine taking Quirks for two hundred years makes learning new ones easier."
Grumbling, Izuku shoved two more wings into his mouth. Hawks watched in morbid fascination as the food disappeared as fast as Izuku shoveled it inside.
"How'd you even find out they'd be fighting here anyways?"
"Mei hacked the HPSC servers."
"Pretty bold of you to say that to me."
"Eh, she can handle herself."
When All Might collapsed the street, Hawks sent the signal. A rocket deployed from a nearby rooftop, dropping a rubber sheet squarely over One for All.
"Gotta say, I'm a little underwhelmed with what she made," Hawks said. "It's just a rubber tarp."
"Delivered quickly, silently, and without using any electrical components," Izuku added. "It might have caught me off guard."
Hawks gave him a silent side-eye at that comment. As the rubber sheet swallowed up both combatants, Hawks asked, "Are you hoping to get your Quirk back? We can't promise anything, but the HPSC might be willing to let you visit him."
Izuku gave him a sidelong look and patted his lunchbox. "Why would I need to go through your alphabet soup brigade when he's down there?"
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to interfere. He's too dangerous for even top heroes like myself. With how you are now-"
An explosion cut him off. Hawks flinched and braced his feathers, but only found All Might, shrunken and beaten, lying amidst the strewn wreckage of his fight. Seeing no sign of the villain, Hawks said, "That's Plan A down the drain. You need to get out of here. Plan B is to drop a massive EMP on him. The ambient radiation will cook us like an egg if we're too close."
Izuku ripped off his shirt and flexed his neck. It was only then that Hawks realized that the kid was much bigger than he remembered.
"Tell them to hold off on it. It's my turn."
Izuku tipped forward off the tower. Just before he hit the ground, he planted his feet against the wall and leapt. His aim was a bit too far to the side, but he still caught him with an outstretched arm. Together, they crashed through a concrete wall into an office building.
Even as rubble rained down around them, All for One threw a lightning-fast punch at Izuku's face. Izuku caught it, crushed the hand, then flung him through a second wall.
All for One dissolved into mist around Izuku's fingers and made a hasty retreat. Visibly winded, the villain looked Izuku over and said, "All Might passed it to you, then."
"Nope! Hit the gym for a few weeks so I could properly kick your ass."
"I wasn't born yesterday, Midoriya. I applaud your attempt at deceit, but you cannot possibly expect me to believe it when you're the man's spitting image."
"Really? Sounds like you need to get your eyes checked. Oh wait, you don't have any."
Izuku felt the intent of the impending attack a millisecond before it happened. Confused by the sense of impending danger around him, Izuku got struck by dozens of bolts sprouting from the wiring embedded throughout the shattered building. All for One rushed to take advantage, readying a massive punch, but Izuku stepped into his haymaker. His own punch sent All for One hurtling back into the street.
Izuku leapt after him, but had to dart back as the streetlights crackled ominously. Each one fired bolt after bolt at him, making Izuku zig zag with Soru or deflect them with Haki. While Izuku was distracted, All for One rose to his feet and dusted himself off.
"You know, when I had time to process exactly what it was I took, I was furious. Whatever this Quirk is, it consumed All for One and all the other Quirks I had. I couldn't see. I couldn't contact my underlings. I couldn't even steal any Quirks. But the more time I spent understanding this Quirk, the more I realized that, in this world, complete dominion over electricity is one hell of a drug. Allow me to demonstrate."
All for One raised his hands, and the sky churned. Black clouds swirled like coiled vipers, poised to strike. Thunder rumbled ominously, and the blackened sky sparkled with forked lightning tongues.
All for One flung a hand down. A cloud plummeted out of the sky, with sparking serpent eyes and gleaming fulminous fangs. It swallowed Izuku and crashed into the ground with a massive cloud of swirling vapor. The entire inside crackled as the fury of a thousand storms tore through it and into the ground. The stench of ozone and burnt asphalt hung heavy in the air, and the rumbling of titans echoed off in the distance.
Panting, All for One smirked and readied a second attack as he strode forward. He leaned over the edge of the crater in the street, squinting as he sought out any signs that Izuku survived.
The ground shifted under All for One's feet. A hand lunged out of the ground and grabbed his ankle. All for One flung his second attack, striking them both, but Izuku pulled him under. The thunderbolt sealed them both in.
Smack. Izuku's fist smashed the villain's face. Smack. A hammer blow to the gut. Smack. Dislocated shoulder. Smack. All for One clawed at Izuku's face. Smack. Tried to turn into static. Smack. Pried at the blackened fingers tightening around his throat. Smack.
Blood crackling with sparks pooled in the crevices of the rock.
Smack.
Ozone smothered out the scant trace of breathable air.
Smack.
Water trickled in from the broken soil along the walls, gradually sapping the villain's strength.
Smack.
All for One felt his vision dimming. The world had been resplendent in vibrant currents of electricity, with tiny dots signifying cell phones scurrying about like fish, while power generators and refineries, resplendent from miles away for all the power they used, beckoning like lighthouses. Now, there was only the dark, the cold, the pain, and the faint flicker of static filling the contours of Izuku's face. He had started the fight with a smile on his face. No smile curled his lips in the dark. No glee, no rage, no grief or pleading or fear, just the sharp, subtle frown of firm concentration. And in that face, All for One knew he would find no mercy.
Smack.
He tried the same trick of making hydrogen gas, but with his back submerged in the rising water, his new power eluded him. Helpless, with Izuku continuing to rain blows upon him like a mortar strike, All for One felt himself coming to terms with his impending death.
Smack.
Stone crumbled under the villain's back. For a single moment, All for One hung there, power returning, as the water sloshed down into the exposed cavern. With that shift in balance, with the subtle slip of fingers away from his throat, All for One faded to static and zipped into a nearby pipe. He paid no mind to where he fled, only that he left Izuku as far behind as humanly possible. Escape plans spun out in his head, lists of contacts and safehouses scattered across the world. So long as Midoriya never found him, he could simply wait until the child died of old age.
The brief thought came to a crashing halt as the pipe shattered around him. Fingers dug into his incorporeal form, dragging him back into the tangible realm with a lurch of internal organs. Izuku flung him through a glass window. The shards sliced into him, leaving staticky wounds across his arms and shoulders.
All for One ran. He made it past another building when Izuku darted into place faster than his eyes could process it. He slowed down just enough to keep the fist ramming into his face from making him pass out. Moving with the punch's momentum, All for One fled in the opposite direction, only for Izuku to out-speed him once more.
All for One sped upwards. Izuku leapt from windowsill to rooftop to the air itself, defying gravity as he swung his foot in a vicious scythe-like kick. All for One doubled over the foot in his gut, then hurtled in the other direction. Izuku met him mid-flight and punted him back the way he came. Over and over Izuku went, as if he was playing tennis with himself, slamming All for One higher and higher into the air. The villain tried curling into a ball, anything to make each blow hurt less, but such was the speed he flew at that his limbs refused to tuck themselves into his chest.
The rooftops and streets had faded into an urban blur far below when the kicks stopped. All for One twisted about, trying to find where Izuku went, and felt a shadow fall over him.
Izuku hung in the air, arms splayed out, right leg pointing into the sky. Sunbeams splayed out across his back, painting him in the fiery glow of an avenging angel. All for One tried to flee, but he stood transfixed at the sight, awed at the sublime fury that radiated from Izuku's tense, stern glare, as though the young hero were squeezing him in place with sheer willpower.
"Hero move," Izuku said, "Orbital strike."
A sable sheen encased Izuku's entire leg. It plummeted down, catching All for One on the center of his chest. As the blood rushed out of his head, All for One's vision went dark.
The villain fell with a peal of thunder. Concrete and stone erupted like a geyser, windows exploded into crystalline dust, and buildings toppled like dominos. Car alarms raised their doleful cries down every street, and the earth rumbled with aftershocks from the impact.
The sound of footsteps crunching on gravel snapped All for One into consciousness. Groaning, he rose to his feet and surveyed the damage. He popped his dislocated arm back into place with a firm yank, and a quick cough confirmed that the broken ribs hadn't punctured his lungs.
Wheezing, All for One balled his fists and turned to face Izuku. "Most impressive, child. Even All Might in his heyday couldn't compete against you. But I'm afraid you've overplayed your hand. You've shown me the full extent of your abilities. Now allow me to show you mine."
A power generator shone in the edge of his vision. Drawing on it, All for One felt the glut of power blow out fuses and transformers across every block. The entire electrical grid dumped every stray Coulomb of power into All for One's body. His chest bulged out, his limbs grew, his entire body rose to titanic proportions.
Towering over the few buildings still standing, All for One flung a massive fist at Izuku. His fist shot with the speed of lightning, but Izuku proved faster. He darted aside an instant before the fist crashed into the ground with the force of a miniature warhead. Blow after blow rained upon the streets, shattering the landscape until nothing recognizable as an aspect of the urban environment remained.
Frustrated by Izuku's slippery footwork, All for One roared to the heavens, and the heavens answered him. Lightning coalesced into massive flickering orbs, drawing entire clouds into themselves. Saturated with electricity, the orbs descended in a massive column of fulminous fury, splitting the sky into stormy slivers as they tore the world asunder.
Hemmed in by the columns of lightning, Izuku had nowhere to run as All for One's fist plunged towards him once more. Izuku stood firm, Haki coating his hands, braced to take the blow, but he glanced down at the shattered ground. Blocking the hit wouldn't matter if the ground gave way beneath him and made him lose his footing. Either he could try to Geppo while holding up the giant fist, or he had to protect the ground beneath him.
Concentrating, Izuku extended his will into the ground. His control with Armament externally remained sketchy at best, considering his preference for hardening his fists, but faced with imminent defeat, Izuku pushed past his limits. Inky blackness stretched around his feet like a shadow.
All for One's fist crashed down with a crackling explosion. The sky went ablaze with a sparking electric sun as the villain dumped all the storm's power into the attack. A shockwave rippled through the air, snuffing out the clouds, pouring sheets of water over the ruined city, and returning the sun to the sky, a pale afterimage of the villain's electric corona.
Panting, All for One smirked down at his fist. Cracks spiderwebbed away from the impact, exposing deep fissures that wept the city's lifeblood. Before he could celebrate his victory, All for One felt his hand rising against his will. All for One pressed harder, but with a furious shout, Izuku stood tall, fist raised over his head. A flat, unblemished circle of stone rested under him, swept clean by the concussive blast.
All for One swung his second hand. With one hand still holding up the fist, Izuku caught the other hand. Grunting, Izuku flipped himself in the air and twisted both arms around. Wrenched around by his own power, All for One slipped off his feet and tumbled onto his back.
Using the villain's wrists as leverage, Izuku flipped over All for One's torso, kicked off the air with Geppo, and punched into his sternum. All for One gasped as he felt another rib crack. Izuku wound up for a second punch, but All for One opened a hole in his chest, letting Izuku drop inside.
The moment he sealed Izuku inside, All for One let his entire torso crackle with lightning. Stuck inside, Izuku's entire body spasmed under the powerful current. Fighting back the darkness creeping into his vision, Izuku hardened as much of his body as he could and started punching. All for One winced from the internal blows, but he held himself firm and kept shocking. His chest bulged and twitched in odd places as Izuku struggled to free himself. All for One squeezed his hands over his chest, resolving to end the battle there and then. The punches slowed, and for a moment, All for One felt hope for victory.
Izuku's vision dimmed, and bright sparks flickered before his eyes. He felt the Haki creeping back from his shoulders, letting more and more of the lightning shock him as his grip on his willpower slackened. He threw more punches, but he could feel how little leverage he had, how he had too much to punch through to break free. He needed to extend his reach, but his legs spasmed too much for Geppo. The only idea he had was infusing Haki into an air bullet, but he knew it would never work. But still, he had to try.
When he wound his arm back, he felt the lunchbox jostle against his ribs. Made to withstand the Rumble Fruit's power, it had a satisfying heft in Izuku's arm as he held it out. With a grin, Izuku whirled the lunchbox around, pushed all his remaining willpower into it, and hurled it with a mighty roar.
The lunchbox punched a hole out of the villain's back. Izuku tumbled free, and All for One howled in pain, clutching at the gaping hole that wept sparks. Gasping for air, Izuku checked his lunchbox. It had a sizable dent in one side. He slipped it back on his shoulder and gazed around the battlefield. A traffic light jutted from the ground, pole bent, lights dead, and scratches along its length where a building had collapsed on it. Izuku wrenched it out of the ground, spun it over his head like a staff, and pushed his will into it. The steel pipe gleamed with Haki.
Izuku leapt into the air and swung the traffic light down like a maul. All for One distorted away from the blow. Debris leapt into the air, as though the entire city block were a trampoline. Izuku pushed himself off a chunk of airborne masonry and swung at a boulder like a baseball. The rock split apart like a round of buckshot and pelted All for One all across his body. Seizing the opportunity, Izuku hefted the traffic light in a well-practiced motion, pressed as much Haki into it as he could, and hurled it like a javelin.
With the beam bent as it was, and with the light's awkward aim, it drifted lower, spearing him through the lower abdomen, ironically mirroring All Might's own injury. Power drained out of the villain, leaping in massive arcs through the traffic light and into the ground. Its lights shone brightly, pulsing in time with the villain's heart. As he shrunk from power loss, the traffic light tore a larger and larger wound. The green light shattered, and beads of glass dripped from the other two.
With a sharp yell, All for One yanked it out. Blood mingled with electricity as both gushed onto the ground. The traffic light hit the ground with a dull clatter, its lights flickering feebly as the last of All for One's power flowed out of it.
All for One made his hand gleam with power, and a heat shimmer rose from his fingertips. He shoved it into the wound, hissing in pain as his flesh burned. With the wound cauterized, All for One shakily stood and held out his hands.
"I surrender," he said. "I willingly enter the HPSC's custody and will not resist arrest. The battle is over."
Izuku froze midway through winding up his next punch. "How am I supposed to believe that?"
"I couldn't resist even if I wanted to." All for One gestured to his cauterized stomach. "I can barely stand up. So, you can either let Hawks over there take me away, or you can kill me in cold blood. I suppose it doesn't matter to me, at this point."
Izuku took a few steps forward, examining the villain. He tried to get a read with Observation Haki, but whether for lack of practice, the villain's own cunning, or an actual lack of ill intent, Izuku could sense nothing.
"I want to be the greatest hero in the world," Izuku said. "And truthfully, I don't need that Devil Fruit back to do it. And I wouldn't be much of a hero if I killed someone who surrendered."
All for One smiled. "I find that to be woefully naive, but heroes always are."
As the villain relaxed, Izuku said, "I didn't come here as a hero. I came here as a pirate. You took something precious from me, and I'm going to take it back."
"I'm afraid I couldn't give it back even if I wanted to," All for One said. "Whatever your Quirk is, it devoured mine entirely. I could certainly try, but I'm afraid all you'll find is disappointment."
"You misunderstand. I never needed your help taking it back. The only thing I needed was your death."
Izuku's fist plunged into All for One's chest. Every Coulomb of the villain's remaining power burst into Izuku's arm. It left electrical burns all the way down to his shoes as it discharged into the ground.
All for One staggered back. Sapped of all his power, he shakily felt at the ragged hole in his chest. Blood gushed out of the wound and onto his tattered suit. He opened his mouth to speak, and only blood dribbled out. Then, the villain tumbled to the ground and moved no more.
Hawks swooped down and checked for a pulse. "We won't make the same mistake twice," he said. "We're taking the body back into custody immediately."
"With me there as a witness, I would hope?" All Might, in his shrunken state, stumbled over the broken ground. He gazed down at the villain's ashen face and said, "Good riddance. For real this time."
As emergency service personnel came to cart away the villain's body, Hawks turned to Izuku. "While I can't approve of you rushing in like that, Japan owes you a debt. Had our efforts failed, no one would have been able to stop him. I can't exactly speak for the HPSC, but I will put in a good word for you, and I'll make sure they owe you a favor."
Ignoring him, Izuku opened the battered lunchbox hanging from his shoulder by a thread. Inside sat a pear. As Izuku pulled it out, its dull, smooth complexion grew shiny and spiky. Izuku took a big bite, grimaced, and swallowed.
"Ugh. It's even worse than I remember." After a second bite, and a third, nothing remained of the Rumble Fruit. Smacking his lips, Izuku raised a hand into the air. Sparks danced off his fingertips. He clenched a fist, and lightning coalesced into a spear. With a shake of his hand, the lightning returned to him.
All Might and Hawks both gaped at him. "Did you seriously just get your Quirk back by eating a fruit?"
Izuku grinned. "That's how I got it in the first place."
With a warm smile, All Might said, "Well, I'm glad it all worked out in the end. Now, are you sure you still don't want One for All? After today, I don't think I'll be able to use it any longer."
"Nah, find someone else."
"I suppose I'll have to."
While Izuku and All Might discussed their plans, Hawks felt a chill run down his spine as he ran the numbers on the cold, cruel calculus of killing Izuku on the spot. His hand remained glued to the deadman's switch for the EMP. On one hand, Izuku was exhausted, and he'd likely never get an opportunity this good to take him out. On the other hand, if he failed, it could very well be the event that precipitated him going on a global murder spree in the first place.
Hawks didn't have any way to contact his superiors. Any electrical devices were considered risks around Izuku's powers. For once, his decision as a hero was well and truly his own.
All to conscious of the switch in his hand, inert until his finger slipped, Hawks asked, "Any chance you're still hungry? I know the best KFC in town."
Izuku's grin lit up his face. Covered in dust, grimy and exhausted, the young hero said, "God yes. I could kill for some chicken right now." Then he looked sheepishly over at the blood stain on the ground and said, "Uh, too soon?"
All Might busted out laughing, and despite himself, Hawks joined in. Sadly, the medics decided that electrical burns, a busted eardrum, and broken bones were more important than fried chicken. But as the ambulances sped away with the injured heroes, Hawks wondered how they were going to disarm the EMP Mei had made.
A/N: I managed to lock myself out a few days ago. I always suspected it might happen, because I lock the door by twisting the lock on the inside and then closing it instead of twisting the key outside. Yet I never got around to leaving a spare key outside. Well, I stepped out to pick some parsley. Thought I wouldn't need the key, just dip out and dip back in. Well, I twisted the lock out of habit. And not only was I locked out of the house, my backyard is fenced in, and the gates were locked. So yeah, I was stuck in my own backyard without my keys or my phone on a weekday, right before I needed to go to work.
I hopped the fence and rang some doorbells until I found a neighbor that was home. They called up a locksmith for me. Locksmith said they'd be there in half an hour. They took twice as long to get there, then it took them ten minutes to get my deadbolt open on the front door. But as I was starting to lose hope, I finally made it back inside. Scrambled to get dinner ready, paid the locksmith, and made it to work with about thirty seconds to spare before clocking in.
I now have a spare key outside.
Tunkeytunkey: "Absolutely love this story! Only wish the chapters were longer, but with how good the pacing of each chapter is if it was any longer then it might drag on."
Bardothren: I aim for 4,000 because I feel that's what the sweetspot for my writing is. Personally, I think 2,000 to 10,000 is the optimal range for most stories. Below two grand feels too short to be properly satisfying, so any stories written in that length need to be more densely packed to compensate. Past 10,000, though I think is unworkable. Reading chapters past that length becomes a slog. And don't even get me started on chapters over 30,000 words in length. That's over half of an entire novel. If you're writing that long of a chapter, grab your metaphorical knife and get chopping. I don't have the energy to read half a novel in one sitting.
Helrio uzugaku: "i won't give you the satisfaction of a good reveiw. call it payback for the cliffhanger."
Bardothren: jokes on you, all reviews are good reviews. Pump those numbers up! Not to mention, I feel like it would've been more of a cliffhanger if I didn't show All Might getting saved at the last second.
Kishinokurobi: "God maybe Izuku does suck lol. Bunch of league chumps can beat him with magnets and a cold shower and All for One masters it to a far higher level in a week?"
Bardothren: this review made me slip in a bit from Hawks on the subject, so thanks for that!
I also picked a gallon of tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes. I lost count past two hundred of them. Please send help they're multiplying faster than I can eat them.