Ochaco Uraraka was cold. She lay there on the hard ground, looking upwards. Above her, hundreds of thousands of the former villain known as Twice floated. The sad man's parade began to dissipate, revealing an array of heroes she tried desperately to guide gently down. There was a churning in her stomach, an urge to vomit; she had overexerted herself. Gone beyond. A coolness enveloped her. She almost welcomed it, a break from the pain.

"You never let anyone down, do you?" Her rival, her friend? She wasn't sure what they were, but Himiko Toga was still there, still standing in this self-proclaimed death match. Her face, framed by her blonde hair, looked solemn.

Ochaco tried to speak. She wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, that no one would hurt her again, but all she could manage was a weak, sickly gurgling sound.

Toga examined Ochaco. "You've lost a lot of blood. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I'm sorry I stabbed you. I... if I had known you before... maybe…" She teared up. Himiko Toga was a killer; she took to death like a second name. She knew what it tasted like, what it smelled like, and certainly what it looked like. Ochaco was dying.

It should have been me, Toga thought to herself. She always had a place in this world… maybe if I...

Twice had actually given her the idea. He saved her life with a blood transfusion from one of his clones; it was that—with extra steps. She would turn into Ochaco and transfer all of her blood into her. She would die. Himiko Toga would cease to exist, and the hero known as Uravity would live on. It was a win-win: society rids itself of a monster and saves a hero. But was this what she wanted? Yes, more than anything, to save Ochaco's life, to protect the person who truly accepted her. But she was scared.

"I... just wanted... to live without judgment…" Toga muttered and began to sob. She had surrounded herself with so much blood, so much death, and now she was hesitating? What was the alternative? Go to jail? Rot in prison? She couldn't live her life like that! She grabbed her support pack and hooked up, preparing for a blood transfer. Preparing to save a life instead of taking one. "It's gonna be okay, Ochaco. I'm going to give you my blood. You're going to make it out of this."

She began the transfer. The warmth from her body traveled towards Ochaco's. She lay down, tired. Physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. "You're kind of weird, Ochaco, but I think you're pretty too," Toga said with a warm, toothless smile.

Ochaco felt the warmth return, and with it, the pain. Her adrenals were shot. She understood the concept behind what Himiko was doing. Suicide. Death by hero. It was a situation that occasionally would arise, and they learned about it at UA. Himiko was trying to help and in the process end it, but Ochaco wouldn't let her take her own life.

Uraraka had known it was there. Hiding underneath her thigh. She had made it a point to land on it, just in case she didn't get through to Himiko; at the bare minimum, she could disarm her. But now it was here. A knife. A knife that had taken so many lives, offered redemption, and a chance to save one. Uraraka slowly felt for it, not trusting the tingling in her fingers, the numbness of her grip. She squeezed, feeling nothing but hoping that the blade would travel with her hand as she raised it and brought it down, severing the support line and ending the blood transfer.

"NO!" Toga screamed as she watched Uravity once again choose the path of the noble hero. "Why!? WHY!? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!" she screamed, pulling the limp girl into a hug, cradling her in her lap, tears rolling down her face. "What do I do!? Tell me what to do! Help. HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" She panically begged, pleading for anyone—civilians, heroes, gods, anyone—to save her friend. This was it. Ochaco Uraraka was going to die, and it was all her fault. She'd killed her only friend the only person who ever tried to understand her and not even Izuku Midoriya with all his quirks could help her now.

Izuku, she thought as a wave of green electricity crackled overhead. He was fighting Shigaraki... or All For One? She didn't really know who or what Tomura had become. But as their battle roared, she had an idea.

[Flashback]

"Why doesn't she just turn into Midoriya? Then we'll have Shigaraki, you, and All Might Jr. on our side for this battle," Spinner chimed, looking at the battle map. Normally Shigaraki was the one with the plan, but he was comatose, attempting to recover after his stalemate with the American #1 hero Stars and Stripes.

"Ahh, what an excellent suggestion, my dear Iguchi. However, that's something that we can't rely on. Ms. Toga's quirk is based upon her feelings, and who knows how she would feel during the battle. Tell me, Himiko, you've turned into Izuku Midoriya before, haven't you? Were you able to access the power of One for All?" All For One posed the question, leaving it to hang in the air.

"I did… it was brief… I only drank a little bit. I didn't feel any different. I still have some." Toga answered. She had to be truthful; AFO always knew when she was lying. Probably another quirk he had stolen. But she could leave out information. She had started small but eventually realized that AFO could only determine if she said something true, and as long as a truth was registered, he was satisfied. She didn't feel any different when she drank Izuku's blood—that was the truth. The lie was what she saw.

"You see everyone, One For All is a stockpiling quirk. It will build energy over time, and now that it has fused with other quirks, it has a way of releasing that energy. But that's not enough. The bearer needs to be willing to transfer it; otherwise, I would have just ripped it out of All Might long ago. Young Tomura's immense hatred will assist me in this. So even if our lovely Himiko did transform into Izuku Midoriya, and even if she developed intense feelings for the chivalrous hero, there would be no power stockpiled in the quirk for her to use."

"Ah, makes sense," agreed Spinner. All For One knew about quirks; he was a walking library of them, and very few things about them surprised him. But Toga knew in this case he was wrong.

Toga hadn't felt any different. There was no bone-breaking power, no electricity, no super speed. No feeling at all. But she did see things. Things she couldn't explain then but made a little more sense now. During Deku's battle with Chisaki, Toga swore to herself she had seen ghosts. Spirits surrounding and moving with him as he brought the former mob boss to his knees. It was one instance, and Deku never acknowledged them. But then he developed different quirks, multiple quirks—like the Nomus that filled their ranks. Shigaraki being massacred from the inside by Stars and Stripes' quirk was the final piece. Quirks lived on inside of people. Certain people, obviously—Izuku, AFO, Shigaraki, maybe even All Might—but they lived. They were more than just genetics. The quirk was the soul.

"I… I need to go find Dabi," Toga muttered. She walked out of the room and felt AFO's cold eyes on her back. He knew she had just lied.

[Present]

"Hold on. Ochaco, please, I have an idea. I don't know if it's going to work. Just… just hold on." Toga ripped through her support pack, tossing vial after vial of blood, manically searching for the one chance, the one slim chance at saving Ochaco. She found it and downed it. Green hair sprouted from her head, an arrangement of freckles appeared on her face, and soon she was a spitting image of the new symbol of peace. He was her only hope. If she could transfer the quirk maybe it could access some of the energy rifling off of the hero. Maybe she could heal.

"De… Deku…" Ochaco reached out to caress the freckled face in front of her. She was hallucinating, the sky was an array of bright colors, the final electrical bursts of her synapses. Her brain and heart in death throes.

Toga looked up. Amidst the falling UA sky coffin, she saw them. Shigaraki, Deku, the ghosts, and AFO. Nice plan, Himiko. Now what?! How do I transfer this? She rattled her brain; in her exhaustion, only one solution came to mind. It was childish, a completely improbable act, but she remembered it from stories, and it was this memory that popped up in her time of need. Gently kneeling down over Ochaco, she summoned the intent. Please work, she begged, bringing her lips to the girl's. A kiss of true love.

Ochaco's eyes closed, the last of her breath left her, and Himiko couldn't tell which was colder: the lips of Ochaco Uraraka or the long gaze of the AFO hybrid as he looked down from the Coffin.

[Izuku POV]

"It's over, Shigaraki!" the 9th bearer of One for All, Izuku Midoriya, shouted.

"It's not over until I destroy everything connected to that house!" the personality known as Shigaraki roared back. Their battle was intense. The world watched as All Might's pupil went head-to-head with a manufactured weapon, the epitome of Quirk Doomsday theory—death incarnate.

Finally, Izuku prevailed. Following the instructions of his former bearers, he activated his intent and began to transfer One for All into Shigaraki. Eight devastating blows would render him quirkless once more—a cruel joke of the gods, even giving him embers to grasp at. But there was no other way. With intent, he transferred all eight quirks into Shigaraki, a United States of Smash.

"Goodbye, One for All," Izuku whispered as Shigaraki crumpled to dust around him. He was known for his tears; throughout this whole battle, he couldn't stop crying. But as he lifted his face, he knew he had a job to do. He raised his hand in the air, not knowing how long he could keep it there. His fist was a symbol; he was a symbol—a symbol of those who save and win, a symbol of peace, a symbol of hope. As long as he had these embers…