Fiendfyre

by Alexdoesthings

Summary:

Izuku Midoriya is abducted and becomes the first in a string of victims to be given villain Quirks they cannot control.

Chapter 1: Overt Movements

The other Pro Heroes were taking care of the press and injured while All Might slipped out the back of the empty industrial complex, barely holding his muscular form. He would get an earful from Tenko later and, really, he should have stayed out of it.

Still, he'd kept injuries to a minimum by joining the fight just as enemy reinforcements had arrived and he would never regret that. Between this and trying to contain the Tartarus breakout, however, he had been using far too much power this week. He leaned against a metal wall for support and his body wracked with a bloody cough.

"It's really you," a high, excited voice behind him exclaimed. “I mean, I knew it would be, but it really is you, All Might!”

All Might straightened up hurriedly, wiping his mouth for any traces of blood, and turned to the boy with a smile, barely taking in those bright, green eyes. “Hello there, young man! I'm sorry but I can't stick around to chat right now, but–”

“I know,” the boy said, some of his excitement leaving him. “You've had trouble keeping that form for long since your fight with All For One.”

All Might froze and his smile faltered. “How do you know that name?”

The boy’s expression grew sad. “I'm sorry, but I have a message from him.”

All Might's chest was cold and his hands shook with dread. That evil scum was sending children to do his bidding now. This boy was barely out of secondary school, if that. It was so sick it turned his stomach.

“He says, 'Let's relive the classics and remind you, you can't save them all'.”

“What's that supposed to mean?" All Might glanced around for any signs of danger. The alley between the two warehouses could fit two cars snuggly and the slanted roofs on either side were clearly visible from the ground. Nothing strange about any of it.

The boy drew his attention by shaking his head. “I just wanted to be a hero, like you, All Might, but I didn't have a Quirk, so I knew it was hopeless.” Tears were beginning to roll down the boy's face now despite his attempts to keep up a smile. “I'm sorry All Might, this is all my fault. When he said he could give me one, I should have known it was too good to be true.”

All Might took a step closer, keeping one eye on the buildings around him, but the boy seemed to have come alone. All Might held out his hands in comfort and appeasement as he asked, gently, "What is your name, young man?”

“Izuku Midoriya.”

“Izuku Midoriya, this is not your fault. Understand? A very bad man is using you, but I can see you're a good person at heart. You don't have to do anything he says.”

It was unclear if the boy heard that last part. Midoriya's eyes shut in a grimace and he began curling around his stomach, wrapping his arms around himself like he was trying to hold something back. His voice was more panicked now, “I can feel him letting go of it. Please, All Might don't let me hurt anyone. Stop me, stop me however you can!"

He punctuated this plea with a scream that turned into a fierce howling as his body became encased in swirling flames. As they grew, they took the shape of massive monsters.

All Might jumped back several meters, eyes wide. He knew that Quirk.

“Fiendfyre.”

The first time All Might had heard anything about the young man who would become known as the villain Fiendfyre, he was burning down his father’s accounting firm, a massive flame serpent diving in and out of the windows, swallowing everything it touched. He spent months terrorizing the coast before All Might and a special fire suppression taskforce cornered him.

They knew already how easy it was for him to send his monsters out to distract the heroes, thinning their numbers. None of them wanted to, but they had to change tactics. So, All Might had been ordered to prioritize capturing him over all else, even saving the screaming civilians burning to death around him. It had been one of the worst fights of his career. That manic laugh still haunted his nightmares.

The flaming beasts were wild, attacking at random and so numerous they easily cut off access to the rooftops and either end of the alley. It unbearably hot and All Might only just kept them at bay, blasting them with air pressure. He could barely hear the other heroes trying desperately to contain the damage and get to All Might. They were nowhere close. He was already running low on power and now he couldn’t count on backup.

One creature flew over him from behind and knocked him down, singeing the back of his costume and pushing the protective material to its limits.

“All Might, please! I'd rather die his victim than become a villain,” the boy was begging, terrified and helpless.

Then he gasped. The monsters grew more agitated as All Might pushed himself up with thin arms and staggered on legs that could barely hold him.

The hero forced himself to take a breath. Fiendfyre had been precise, his monsters well trained, but this boy was simply in the middle of a Quirk meltdown. He had dealt with worse.

"Calm down, kid, you haven't hurt anyone yet."

"But you-"

"A couple burns is nothing, I'll be fine,” All Might lied with a crooked smirk. “You said you wanted to be a hero, right, young Midoriya?”

He nodded, his tears evaporating as fast as they were falling.

All Might gave him his most confident and encouraging smile. “Well, now's your chance. You can control this; I know you have it in you. Don't give up!”

All Might opened his arms as he took a step closer to the boy. Midoriya was fighting himself with everything he had, shaking badly. All Might had seen that fear in a little boy's eyes before.

The hero heard another creature coming for him from behind, but he focused on Midoriya.

He saw it too and closed his eyes tight, desperate. The creature clawed at All Might in passing, catching his arm and the side of his head. He gritted his teeth until his jaw popped with the force of it. The creature’s passing though, however uncomfortable, was no more threatening than a match dragged along his skin. He was close enough to hear a muttering from Midoriya, a senseless stream of words begging the Quirk to stop.

The hint of a cool breeze touched All Might’s face and the creature closest to him dissipated to sparks on the air as it tried to reach a distended limb toward him. Another one burst just over his head.

Pride surged through All Might and he wrapped the boy in a tight hug. “Well done, Midoriya. I knew you could do it.”

Izuku's eyes flew open to take in the flames encasing them, all around them but not touching All Might. He looked at the aging hero in wonder.

Izuku grabbed his limp sleeve, his smile brilliant and his eyes sparkling. “I did it, All Might! I did it. I can be…” He never got out another word, falling unconscious in All Might’s arms.

Chapter 2: Return

The first thing Midoriya saw when he woke up was a bright, metal ceiling. He frowned up at it, confused and disoriented.

Then a voice from beside him said, “Hey, kid. Nice to see you’re awake.” He recognized that voice, All Might, but there was something odd about the tinny quality of it.

He turned his tender head slowly. It throbbed in protest, his cheek scraping against the heavy sheets. All Might was standing a meter away in civilian clothes. He gave a little wave.

“How you feeling?” The hero’s voice was not coming out of his mouth. Izuku followed the sound and found a reinforced speaker embedded in the wall.

“All Might? What’s happening?”

“The glass is just a precaution. You’re safe, don’t worry.”

Izuku’s sluggish brain finally registered the shine of clean glass reflecting the florescent lights overhead. It was floor to ceiling window with only All Might and a soft green wall behind it. There was a logo on the wall and it took Izuku a second to recognize it, the Center for Quirk Research and Rehabilitation. They had visited the building on a field trip in primary school. It was a smaller branch of a larger institute, mostly focused on recovery from traumatic Quirk accidents.

Izuku pushed himself into a sitting position, dizzy, his head throbbing worse than ever. There was table beside him with a thermos sporting the label water. He unscrewed the cap and sucked down a mouthful, almost choking on it.

“Take it easy,” All Might chuckled. “What’ll your mother think of me if she sees you like that?”

As though on cue, Inko Midoriya raced in, tears running down her cheeks as she sank to her knees beside All Might, relief written on every inch of her body.

Izuku hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted to see her until that moment. His eyes filling with tears he shoved himself off the bed and stumbled into the glass in front of her. “Mom!”

She pressed herself against the thick barrier, like she could phase through it with enough force and wrap her son in a hug. “Oh, Izuku, I’m so glad you’re alright! You have no idea how worried I’ve been!”

He started to lie, started to say he was okay, but the words died in his throat as he felt something burst out of him. The water in the open thermos was bubbling violently, spewing out the top like a volcanic eruption.

Dread freezing his muscles, he turned his head slowly to look up. He did not know what it was, only that the monstrosity had too many heads and was growing. It was so large already but it was going to fill the room, snap the glass like a twig, and finish All Might and his mother in a flash, taking the whole city with it.

“It’s okay, sweetie, just stay calm,” his mother’s tinny voice was too far away to really register but she was not nearly scared enough. Half a foot of glass would not protect her.

There were more sounds coming out of the speaker, but Izuku could hear nothing over the ringing in his ears. One of the giant mouths, twice as large as his entire body was crowding close to him, liquid fire dripping from it in some horrific parody of saliva. It was coming for her.

Without thinking what he was doing, Izuku stood up and took a step, shoving his hands forward into its distended snout. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but a mass pressing against him was not it. It was nowhere as solid as a real flesh and blood creature, more like a heavy, condensed mist.

Mist, however, could not scald skin. He cried out as his hands screamed at him to draw away, like he’d grabbed a pan straight off the stove by the bottom.

He gritted his teeth and pressed back anyway, gaining inches as the creature snapped and screamed like breaking metal. It was half again as large as it had been.

Then it vanished.

He tumbled forward and made the terrible mistake of catching himself. His singed palms screaming in protest. He curled around them on his side and stared at the red skin. It hurt but he had gotten worse burns from Kacchan in primary school and even the beach two summers ago. He frowned up at where the monster had been. Nothing.

He could still feel the Quirk there, the gnashing teeth of a hundred burning monstrosities, but he could not get to them and nor them he.

“I know everyone agreed to testing the kid’s control, but you got enough data,” a dry, authoritative voice crackled from the speaker. “He doesn’t need third degree burns on top of everything else.”

Izuku turned back to the glass to see a new man in the room on All Might’s other side. His hair was wild, flying up around his head, eyes a glaring red as he stared unblinking at Izuku.

It took him a second to put it together, but, “You’re Eraserhead, the underground hero!”

“We appreciate your help, Mr. Aizawa, but everything was under control.” A kindly looking woman in a lab coat with pointed ears and shiny skin stepped in front of the glass as well. She looked to Izuku with a gentle smile. “There’s some cream in the cabinet under the table and more water as well.”

His mother looked almost ready to shake the woman, her trepidation and worry mounting to dangerous levels. “What does all this mean, doctor? Is he going to be okay?”

While she spoke, Izuku pushed himself up with his elbows and used his wrists to squeeze the handle of the cabinet. The latch popped open to reveal a remarkably cool space with three more water thermoses and a first aid box.

“Since his capture, Fiendfyre’s Quirk has been well documented. Izuku’s manifestation of is almost exactly what we’d expected. If he could handle that, it is unlikely the Quirk will pose a danger to his life.”

The hinges swung shut automatically as Izuku retrieved the supplies and he just caught sight of All Might supporting his mother, his reassuring murmurs too quiet for the speaker to pick up on. The doctor met Izuku’s eyes again as he settled on the floor to sort himself out. “You were doing very well, better than we’d hoped. We’re optimistic about your ability to return to society.”

“Fantastic,” Eraserhead’s sarcasm was as dry as his normal speech. “But you shouldn’t be letting him injure himself.”

“As I’m sure you know, there are some inevitable complications in helping a child adjust to their Quirk, but rest assured we have taken every precaution.”

It was not an answer that seemed to satisfy the hero, but he let it go. His hair fell flat around his head and his eyes closed as he leaned quietly against the back wall.

“I’ll be in the other room if you need anything,” the doctor said with a bow to Izuku and then to the adults before she was out of sight again.

A man in a tan long coat over a police uniform walked into the room wheeling a swivel chair and offered it to Izuku’s mother. She took it with a grateful smile. All Might and he exchanged nods before turning to Izuku.

He introduced himself as Detective Tsukauchi. “I know this has been rough on you, but I have a few questions, if that’s okay.”

Izuku nodded, his hands clenching. The cream was becoming warm and unpleasantly sticky on his skin, but it was better than nothing.

The detective nodded and pulled out a notepad. “The last reported sighting of you puts you in a park not far from the school, about six in the evening on the twenty third, thirteen days ago, with–”

“Thirteen days,” Izuku couldn’t help the rise in his voice at that.

As far as he knew, he had spent maybe a few hours in the company of All For One before he’d ended up in All Might’s location. He was a bit fuzzy on some of the details, sure, but it couldn't possibly have been that long.

A rushing came over Izuku as another creature manifested itself, but it didn’t even get time to fully form before it vanished in a cloud of sparks. Eraserhead was staring him down again, hair and capture weapon floating around him.

It took a few minutes for Izuku to calm down enough to tell them the story, every face on the other side of the glass grim but for his mother, burying her own in a tissue.

The man called All For One had seen him fishing his freshly burnt notebook out of the coy pond and offered a kind, sympathetic ear. Izuku had not been able to make out his face, but it hadn't seemed strange at the time. All For One then told Izuku a spellbinding tale of greatness, of a Quirk that could give power and his own beautiful future as a hero if only he was brave enough to accept it.

Everything went horribly wrong after he’d said yes. He woke up in a dark room to a new story, one of two brothers and a stubborn old hero who refused to give up the fight. Things became hazy then, his steps taken in a daze until he was before All Might, delivering his message.

They spent a long time asking the same questions in different ways about what else All For One might have done to him, if he’d used other abilities, if he’d made Izuku do anything else. At the end of it, everyone’s eyes fell on Tsukauchi, waiting with bated breath. He nodded with no further elaboration and the room relaxed.

“We’re going to get a few more experts in here to check on you and make sure All For One didn’t leave us any nasty surprises, but, from what you and the doctors have told us so far, it wouldn’t seem so.” He bowed. “Thank you very much for the information. I'll do my best to keep you up to date on any developments. If you think of anything, the staff have my card.”

Chapter 3: Enter Tenko Shimura

Notes:

Quick warning that time starts to do weird things here and this part spans much of Midoriya's remaining months of middle school.

Tenko’s work with disaster relief had taken him far afield and it had been far too long since he had been back to volunteer at the Center. The place had helped him through one of the hardest times in his life and it still held a special place in his heart. He was glad he had an excuse to go back.

Toshinori liked to tease that he and the staff got on like a house on fire. That afternoon though, they were reluctant to allow him in. Midoriya was having a rough day. After a month and half of only seeing the doctors, he had finally been cleared to walk around the building and visit some of the other patients. That morning, however, he’d accidently set a fire serpent on one of the orderlies and they’d found out the fire suppression system was not as optimal in some parts of the facility as others.

Midoriya had wrestled the creature away and taken several burns for his trouble, only to let three more monsters loose. The system did kick in eventually and the orderly suffered no worse fate than some singed trousers, but the experience shook them both and Midoriya was having more trouble than usual controlling the monsters his new Quirk manifested.

While they weren’t stopping him, it was recommended several times that Tenko come back another day. He was tempted, the last thing he wanted was to push, but the undercurrent of worry on their faces gave him pause. Something about the thought of that poor kid his uncle doted on and fretted about for hours over the phone being surrounded by that at last made him put his foot down. They trusted Tenko to know what he was doing by now and let him through with only a few uncertain glances.

The moment he got to the kid’s room he knew he had made the right choice. The boy knew he was coming, they had planned this days in advance and he’d been announced, but Midoriya still jumped when the door opened.

His wide, innocent eyes were staring over in terror at the newcomer and his hands immediately wrapped around himself. It did nothing to stop the sudden appearance of some monstrosity with wings and wicked talons, dripping heat and screaming at him.

He glanced at the indicator light on the wall. It was blue. Someone was watching and the beast wasn’t dangerous enough to snuff out yet. That was good enough for Tenko.

He did his best to not even glance at the fire breathing life and gave the trembling boy a lip smile instead. "How are you doing, Midoriya? I’m Tenko Shimura."

Midoriya shrunk in on himself, ashamed and afraid. Still, he was polite as he said, "It’s nice to meet you, but I don't think you should be here right now, it’s dangerous."

Tenko dropped the forced cheer and let his face grow soft with understanding. He had sat curled up in a room just like this once, begging to be locked away from a world he could destroy with a single touch.

Tenko pulled out the block of wood he’d brought just for this purpose and clenched his fist around it, partly to calm his nerves and partly to make a point. It turned to dust in mere seconds. Izuku’s eyes went wide. The creature eyed Tenko with interest, promising an unpleasant demise but waiting, curious.

“My Quirk is called Decay and it destroyed the people I cared about once upon a time. After that, it took me years to learn the difference between having a dangerous Quirk and being dangerous.” He took a slow step closer. "You aren't dangerous, you know that, right?”

Midoriya clearly wanted to believe him but there was something hungry and hot with massive claws digging into his shoulder telling him otherwise. It snapped viciously at the air. Again, Tenko ignored it and took another step.

"It's going to be alright. You know why?" Midoriya shook his head, blinking as tears began to fall from his eyes. Tenko drew himself up with his widest smile and said, “Because I am here!”

Midoriya hiccupped a laugh through his tears at Tenko’s terrible All Might impression. The creature cut the boy off, snapping in a most threatening way, tongues of flame lashing around him. Midoriya recoiled and it grew taller, towering over him. The indicator light was a yellow warning at the edge of his vision, but Tenko showed no signs of fear, still smiling and not looking anywhere but at Midoriya.

"I know we just met and it’s a lot to ask, but do you trust me?"

Midoriya watched him a moment and then finally nodded, reluctant but earnest. Tenko took another careful step forward and held up his arms, trying to imitate Uncle Might anytime Tenko himself had had a breakdown about his Quirk growing up. Midoriya was trembling, barely holding the monster at bay.

"If you don't want to hurt me, you won't."

Tenko wasn’t sure he believed it, knew his uncle had probably only half believed the words himself any of the dozen times he’d said it, but he let none of the doubt show in his voice. When he finally pulled Izuku into his arms, the boy flinched and he heard the fire creature thrashing. It did not lash out at him though, jumping up to scrape at the reinforced ceiling.

A sense of accomplishment filling his chest, Tenko said the words he had needed to hear himself on the worst day of his life, "See? Having a villainous Quirk doesn’t make you a villain, Izuku Midoriya."

 

Tenko came to see Midoriya as often as possible. He was getting so much better at controlling Fiendfyre’s Quirk, months of concentration finally paying off. It would run wild on him at least three times a week, but it was not nearly the blaze it had been. It was still enough of a concern that he was not allowed out of the Center yet, but he was markedly less frightened for every person in sight and spent his hour outside tutoring in training.

His enthusiasm was infectious and Tenko always left feeling a bit better about life in general. He reminded Tenko in so many ways of Toshinori. At least the Toshinori of his younger days.

Tenko pushed his way into his uncle’s apartment, pocketing the key and calling out a greeting. His uncle was staring grimly out the window as though the city below would produce All For One if he just glared hard enough. Since Midoriya had appeared, he was in this state more often than not.

Out of the six macabre experiments All For One had pushed into his path, Midoriya was one of only two Toshinori had so far been able to save. He was the youngest by almost ten years and the only one who hadn’t had a Quirk beforehand. As of three days ago, he was also the only one still living.

Toshinori turned to acknowledge the greeting, but his eyes still far away. Then he asked, “How’s he doing today?”

Tenko dumped his grocery bags on the counter. “He didn’t flare up the whole time I was there, said he’d kept it under control for almost ten hours straight.”

His uncle nodded, his face softening just a moment, then he grimaced again. “They found Fiendfyre’s body. Looks like All For One killed him not long after taking his Quirk, if not during. He was scum, but no one deserves that.”

“What about the others who escaped Tartarus?”

“A couple more turned themselves in. They seem to think he’s got something even worse planned and wanted to try their luck with us instead of hiding. None of them know anything concrete, but I don’t think they’re wrong.” Toshinori shook his head with a sigh.

He looked so tired. He’d been trying to do extra patrols, but it was wearing badly on him. It didn’t help that they had almost nothing to go on. The victims seemed to have nothing at all in common, not even abduction method or length of disappearance. The whole country seemed to be holding its breath. Despite his reservations, Toshinori had agreed to make public that there was a villain who could steal Quirks so people could take proper precautions.

Toshinori’s face darkened in disgust and his fist began to tremble, desperate to punch something. “How can he have so little regard for human life? He just twists people to his whims like we’re all puppets on strings.”

Tenko crossed to his uncle and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. “You know he’s just sending them after you to mess with you, right?”

Toshinori shot an impatient look at him. “And let me guess, if I found a successor, he might stop giving Quirks away like candy?”

“It isn’t a bad idea.” This was an argument they had at least once a week and Tenko always had to fight to keep his voice even and logical. “A fresh face might just give us the edge we need to get him.”

“You sound like Nezu,” his uncle grumbled. “I agreed to teach at that school of his, but I didn’t promise any of you I’d pick anyone. There’s still too much I have to do.”

Tenko knew that was as far he was really going to get with this while his uncle was so keyed up, so he settled for a simple, “Just so long as you’re willing to look; UA has a lot of promising hero candidates who could carry the torch.”

Toshinori grumbled and turned toward the kitchen. “What’d you bring?”

Notes:

I love the idea of Tenko using his Quirk for rescue work.
Honestly, this whole fic basically came out of my needing a world where this was possible: https://ijessbest.tumblr.com/post/175009179667/hi-this-is-just-a-little-what-if-i-thought

Chapter 4: Homecoming

"You know, your father had a fire Quirk too," his mother said, stroking his hair. "It wasn't nearly so flashy, but it would still get away from him sometimes. I remember we were on a date and he accidentally caught the tablecloth alight with a sneeze."

Izuku chuckled and nestled closer to his mother. He had been okayed to return to normal society after a full month with no incidents. He had been so nervous about coming home, worried he would hurt her or burn down the whole building. In truth though, being home filled him with a sense of comfort and safety no amount of precautions could bring.

They had plenty in place in case something went wrong, of course, but he didn't flare up in his sleep anymore and he could, more or less, keep it from acting up when he was awake too. If he got too emotional, it still had a tendency to run away from him, but he was more confident now in his control. At the very least, he could keep it from acting up randomly. Using it was still largely out of the question, though he had been making progress.

The doorbell rang and Izuku jumped up to get it, excitement coursing through him. All Might and Tenko stood there on the other side with brilliant grins on their faces and congratulations on their lips.

The two men fit so perfectly into the Midoriya’s home it was as though they were always meant to be there. The conversation came easy and the love in the room seemed to spill out of every corner of the apartment, fit to bursting with it. Izuku could hardly remember laughing so much.

Between the main course and dessert, Tenko had him flex for the room. Izuku had spent months training as hard as he could and he was no beanpole anymore.

“You filled out almost as fast as,” All Might suddenly grew to his massive, well-muscled form and struck a mighty pose, “I CAN!” His mother and Tenko were in stitches while Izuku did his best to mimic his hero.

Then it all went a little sideways. All Might became small again in a cloud of smoke and turned away for a small coughing fit that left a smear of blood on the side of his mouth. The Midoriyas fussed over him, no amount of protest deterring them.

“That’s how it goes," Tenko said with a look of stubborn chastisement. "Someone younger can handle that kind of change, but your body just isn’t built for all this anymore.”

All Might gave him a flat look and barely stopped an eye roll as he said, like it was something he was getting very tired of repeating, “I’m fine, Tenko.”

His piece said, Tenko shrugged and announced he was bringing out the cake. His mother, never one to let an awkward air hang, ushered Izuku and All Might to the table and then ran to help Tenko rummage through the cabinets.

All Might was pensive. "I have a question for you, young Midoriya. Do you still want to become a hero?"

Izuku smiled, shy and sad, into his lap. "I want to be a hero more than anything, but I don't think it's safe to use this Quirk at the entrance exam, so I don't think I'll be getting in any hero courses this year. I'd still like to try for Gen Ed though. Then maybe next year I can switch."

All Might smiled broadly at him. "I was hoping you would say something like that. Do you remember my friend Aizawa?"

Izuku was confused. "Yeah, Eraserhead. He was there when I woke up and he came to watch me train the other day. Why?"

All Might pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Izuku as he said, “He and Nedzu talked and they think you have potential. Aizawa has agreed to be your homeroom teacher at UA."

Izuku's eyes went impossibly wide as he took the envelope in trembling hands, hardly daring to believe it. He had to read the message twice before it really sunk in.

"What does it say, sweetie," his mother asked him from the other side of the table, a laugh in her voice that said she knew full well.

He looked up at her with a brilliant smile dawning on his face and held it out as he said, “I’ve been accepted into UA on special recommendation!"

Izuku jumped up and threw his arms around All Might's neck. "Thank you so much All Might. I'll work hard and become a great hero, just like you."

All Might chuckled and ruffled a hand through his curls. "I know you will, kiddo.”

Tenko placed the round cake he’d brought in front of Izuku with a single candle and the message Congrats on UA. Izuku looked around at the three of them, his chest bursting with too many words that wouldn’t come up his throat. The world had never been so bright or so warm.

“Go on, blow out the candle before you melt the whole cake,” Tenko teased.

Izuku wiped tears off his cheeks and wished to hold this moment in his heart forever. The candle went out easily but there were more sparks on the air than there should have been. He glanced around at them, dancing and dying. He could swear, he saw soft shapes in them, smiling back at him.

Chapter 5: Lost Causes

All Might was usually on high alert during patrol, but somehow, a slender hand still managed to catch him off guard as it wrapped, timid and slow, around his wrist. To be fair, the top of a half-finished sky scraper was not where he expected to be meeting people.

He jumped badly and made a most unbecoming noise for the number one hero as he spun his head around, ready for some attack. The sickly, grey eyes he met held no malice though. The woman’s skin was ashen and she looked ready to collapse, but there was a fatalistic determination in her eyes.

“All For One gave me Chemicalia’s Quirk.”

The breath went instantly cold in All Might’s chest. Acid blood was a nasty Quirk, even for its original owner.

All Might hit the emergency alert at his hip and began scooping her into his arms, already planning exactly the path he would take. “I’ll get you to–”

“No.” She put a hand firmly to his chest, a letter clutched there. “You know there isn’t time. Please, get this to my son?”

The words sounded painful and heavy in her throat. He wanted to argue, beg her to reconsider, allow him to at least try saving her. She wasn’t wrong though. Without Chemicalia’s resistance, this woman stood no chance.

He took the envelope, a name and address lovingly scrawled on the front, in numb fingers and nodded. Her tired smile began the world cracking around him. He had seen that look on Nana’s face, a hero accepting death. He caught her easily as she collapsed and just held her in his arms as she shook, her body burning from the inside. The movement of her throat as she swallowed was agonizing to watch, as though she were eating glass.

“Is that boy with the green eyes okay?” Her voice was little more than a shaky whisper.

“Midoriya?”

“That was his name. Is he safe?”

“He’s fine." The smile returned to All Might’s face, full of pride. "He's going to be a hero one day.”

Her tiny laugh was little more than a whimper. “Not a surprise, he’s so brave. He stood up for all of us against that awful man even though he had no Quirk or anything.”

That certainly sounded like Midoriya. Now he was getting a proper handle on Fiendfyre’s Quirk, he was becoming a truly promising hero. He would throw himself between a civilian and danger without a second thought. All Might had rarely seen that kind of courage and raw instinct.

Then the implication in her words drew him up short. “All of you?”

She nodded, flinching with the movement. “There will be more, so many more. You have to be ready. He’s ready! He kept going on about how close he was, how he only needed a few more pieces.”

“What else did he say? Do you know where he is, where they are?” All Might’s questions were quick, frantic, each just as pressing as the last. She didn’t have long.

“I don’t know where he is. It was so dark; I couldn’t see much. But he was saying something about turning your hopes against you and–” Her eyes full of terror, she shoved away from All Might and, with a wet spluttering cough, she choked up a spray of red that began eating through the cement.

She dropped sideways, convulsing. All Might wanted to reach for her, but there was blood bursting through her skin now, the flesh sizzling. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she drew one final gasp.

All Might deflated on the spot. His body and his spirit wispy and weak. It was one thing to fight beside All For One’s victims for control of their bodies, but this wasting away left him utterly helpless. He cradled her letter while her body dissolved and melted a hole through the flooring.

A helicopter dipped in close. All Might was past caring if it saw him this way. Tsukauchi jumped off with several member of containment who immediately got to work. His friend set a comforting hand on his shoulder and drew him away.

Back in the station for his debrief with a cooling cup of coffee in hand, All Might finally shook his misery and in place he found only rage. “All his planning won’t be worth anything. Whatever I have to do, I’ll make sure he goes down this time.”

Chapter 6: Prickly Old Friends

Notes:

This short little chapter is a shameless plug to say I'm putting much of Izuku's first year into a separate work in this series.

“I heard you gave your flame-retardant training gear to the Center for me. It really helped a lot, thanks, Kacchan!”

He wouldn’t look Izuku in the eye as he said, “Fucking whatever. I didn’t do shit for you; it was just really annoying listening to Auntie cry all the time. Got it, Deku?”

He stormed away, hands jammed into his pockets and the slightest flush coloring his ears. Izuku smiled after him.

“He’s a real charmer.” Sarcasm dripped off Uraraka’s tone like battery acid.

“He does have a rather unconventional way of showing his concern,” Iida agreed.

“He’s really not that bad.” Izuku hadn’t brought up Kacchan’s part in the search for him or the snacks and training regime handouts he dropped at the front desk without a word every week. It was nice to know his old friend still cared.

Notes:

Go check out First Year Interlude now if you care to dig deep into that year and the many trials and tribulations Izuku goes through in order to become what he is in the next chapter.

You can safely not read it, however, and just roll with the next chapter picking up at the start of Izuku's second year just after he has gotten his Provisional Hero License.

Chapter 7: Agorophobia

All Might had gotten out of bed at dawn, his fridge completely empty but for a few condiments. The world around him had a distant, wobbling quality to it. He rubbed a hand over his face for the dozenth time, trying to shake the grogginess clinging to him like persistent fog. Perhaps there was something to Tenko’s concern.

He couldn’t quite remember what he’d walked into the living room for, but the wall of missing faces stared back at him accusingly, like he could forget any of them for even a second. There were six new faces just from last night joining the staggering thousands already there.

It was incredible how many people went missing in a year. A quarter of them would not stay that way for more than a week, simply skipping out on lovers and friends for a time, and every one of those faces he got to take down was a relief. Then there were those that would turn up dead, they had their own corner dedicated to what Quirks they had, but it was unlikely anything would come of it. It was the rest that troubled him. Any of them could be the next Midoriya or Luisa or Tanaka, a fifteenth victim to add to All For One’s sick little game.

All Might turned from the wall, the faces burning behind his eyes. He threw on a light coat, ignoring the turning, twisting in his stomach. He slipped a bit off the step and knocked a few of his shoes off the shelf, his depth perception playing odd tricks as his vision went hazy. Putting them away was easy, mechanical and he breathed properly for a moment.

Then he was almost ready, his hand hovering over his keys. He tried to tell himself his fingers weren’t trembling, that he was just organizing his list in his head before he took them and walked out the door. He had been stood there maybe ten minutes, gritting his teeth and trying to force his hand to take the cold metal. It was the first step, the easiest step, to getting out the door.

Frustrated he sat down hard on the step and buried his face in his hands. The cool darkness was a relief and he almost wanted to kick off his shoes and turn back to bed. He needed to do some shopping though and there was no better place on a Saturday morning than the market. His favorite sellers would have set aside their best products for him. And there would be no crowd.

He was the number one hero, going out and being among the people he was protecting should not fill his stomach with snakes and his lungs with dirt. It had been almost a month and a half since the last of All For One’s victims had found him. They never arrived in any set timeframe, the sixth and seventh only a week apart but the eleventh and twelfth almost three months. This felt like too long though. What was he waiting for?

This was all just a mind games, Tenko would have said. He latched onto the thought of his adoptive nephew like a lifeline. Perhaps he should call, check in. It had been a couple of days since they’d had dinner together, something Tenko tried to do at least twice a week. He could even bring Tenko along to the market, buy him a treat like he used to when the kid hadn’t turned anything in the house to dust that week.

The thought was too comforting, released the pressure in his chest too much. He didn’t need someone else to walk him to the market like some spooked shop owner closing up late after a break in next door. All Might stood stubbornly and grabbed his keys, he would not become that man’s prisoner.

His sweating hand slipped off the doorknob. He had just been wearing his coat too long indoors, that was all. He didn’t acknowledge that his apartment was pleasantly cool, didn’t let himself entertain the notion. He took the knob in both hands and turned it, not even able to hear the metal scraping or the hinges squeaking gently over his pounding heart.

It was a beautiful day, a few tiny, white clouds all that marred the crisp blue overhead. Every step was both easier and harder after that, the four blocks to the market the longest he’d ever walked.

He had almost managed to relax by the time he reached the stalls though, his head still on a swivel but the motion feeling less necessary and more automatic. It was strangely crowded for the hour. Probably just a holiday he’d missed or perhaps a sale.

He pushed his way through, made his purchases, and was about to turn back home when it happened. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye, the woman last seen at the Shibusawa station three weeks ago, never arrived for her brother’s party. His heart pounding in anticipation, he turned, but she was gone. His head whipped left and right.

“All For One.” He jumped and spun on the whisper, but it was impossible to tell who had spoken.

Someone brushed his neck. “All For One.” He swiped at them, but met empty air.

“All For One.” It was at least three voices this time, one of them a man directly in front of him, last seen stumbling out of a bar in Aoba Ward at midnight on a Tuesday.

The bodies were pressing closer, the crowd choking him. The more he looked, the more there were. “All For One.” Men, women, and children, missing from parks, streets, homes, all saying the name in perfect sync. “All For One.” They stared at him, unblinking, the faces from the wall ringing him on all sides.

“All For One.” He tried to push his way through them but every one had stopped moving. “All For One.” There was space around him but still no air to breathe. “All For One.” His struggles stopped abruptly as he spotted a tall figure at the back, disfigured but unmistakable.

As though in answer, they screamed, “All For One!”

He was shoved to his knees, several of his purchases rolling among their unmoving feet. “All For One!” Before he could do more than wince, he spotted someone shoving their way toward him. He’d know those red shoes anywhere; relief gave him the strength to lift his head.

“All For One!” His blood ran cold. Midoriya’s eyes had became a strange ice blue and his lips formed the words with the crowd. “All For One!” Burn scarred hands were grabbing his shoulders and he didn’t have it in him to fight. “All–”

“–Might! Are you alright?” Toshinori blinked. Midoriya’s wide, worried eyes were green again, had never been any other color.

He gripped the young man’s sleeve for all he was worth, clinging to the reality of him. Over his shoulder, there were maybe five other patrons. He cricked his neck whipping around to look behind him. There was only one person, maybe three yards back.

“All For One,” the words were feverish, confused, and the only he seemed able to produce for a moment.

Midoriya drew his attention again as flames roared to life over his shoulder. A phoenix as tall as All Might and breathtakingly beautiful took flight on massive wings, trailing sparks. Several of the patrons gasped, not a one frightened voice among them.

Midoriya’s eyes were that battle-ready steel as he helped All Might to his shaky feet and asked, “What happened?”

Toshinori could do nothing for a moment but look around. “He was… here. And there were… everyone was…” He could still feel those hands.

Midoriya bent and pressed Toshinori's groceries into his arms. He held them tight like they’d anchor him somehow. He didn’t care where he was being led as Midoriya wrapped the old hero’s arm over his shoulder and took his waist. One of the boy’s warm little creatures was curling itself around his neck like a scarf, nuzzling at his chin.

Midoriya had pulled out his cell phone and was pressing it to his ear. Toshinori was too intent on the sparse patrons to pay attention to the conversation. Something was still wrong. No one was at all bothered by Midoriya’s Quirk, despite the enormous bird wheeling overhead and the pack of small, fiery dog creatures running through the stalls.

They passed two women out with their newborns, practically melting as they gushed about the fine young hero in training helping the sickly old man. The context settled into place too slowly. Of course, they loved him. Midoriya had gained a bit of local notoriety after one of his massive flame dragons saved a crowd of elementary students from falling rubble during a villain attack. It hadn’t gone over well with the novice heroes that had been on the case, but they hadn’t managed to catch the villain so the news had had little else to report about the event.

“–All For One.” Midoriya’s voice finally drew his attention, those words in his mouth turning All Might’s stomach. He nodded to something on the other end of the line. “Do that. We’ll be there in a couple minutes.” His voice was full of confidence and authority Toshinori would not have believed of him even a year ago.

For a moment, Toshinori saw him clear as the smiling civilians did, a true hero in the making, ready and capable. They passed a window on the street and he caught sight of his own emaciated form hanging off the upright new generation of heroes, withered and frail. He yanked his eyes away.

A couple minutes later, a familiar door stood in front of them. Toshinori resigned himself to his fate as his nephew yanked open the door before Midoriya was done hitting the bell. Tenko had a rice paper square in one hand, fiddling with it as Toshinori had not seen him do in years.

He pulled his uncle inside and Toshinori tried very hard to pretend the two young men were not passing him off like a delicate, glass baton. He shrugged them off and began stepping out of his shoes and into the apartment.

Delivery made, Midoriya started turning away with intent, but Tenko grabbed his arm in a tight hold. “Where do you think you’re going?”

There was dust falling from Midoriya’s sleeve where it touched Tenko’s hand. Neither of them seemed to notice.

Midoriya drew himself up stubbornly. “If he’s out there–”

“Then it’s all the more reason for you not to be! You’re not a hero yet, this isn’t your job.”

“I can’t just sit around while he hurts more people!”

“I saw your bird; you’ve got eyes out. That’s good enough.”

Midoriya glared at Tenko, torn. His sleeve was becoming more threadbare by the second. Toshinori made to step back into the entrance hall and point it out, but his nephew’s voice dropped low, “If it’s really him, I can’t protect Uncle Might on my own.”

Discontent bubbling up his throat, Toshinori called to the pair of them, “Quit standing around and make an old man something to drink!”

As intended, the shout startled Tenko’s hand off Midoriya’s jacket. They both saw it at the same time. Midoriya poked his elbow experimentally through the ruined material, blinking owlishly. Tenko blanched, backing away, arms held close to his body as he shrunk in on himself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I just,” it had been a long time since Toshinori had heard that frail crack in his nephew’s voice, that old terror making his words skip. He could not make it back into the hall, however, forced to retreat several steps from a deluge of warm, flickering rabbits flitting through the air like ghostly impressions.

Midoriya had, without a second’s hesitation, stepped forward and let the door swing shut behind him, a huge cat with three tails springing forth. It made the space overly bright as it rubbed itself against Tenko’s side, its purr more a popping. Tenko stopped moving, his muscles all tense, waiting for the creature to burn him alive perhaps.

“I’m fine, it’s an old jacket anyway.” Midoriya’s smile was soft as he held out his arms in invitation. “You’re right, I should be here.”

He guided Tenko into a hug, as though they had done this a thousand times. A strange sense of helplessness planted itself in Toshinori’s chest watching them. He had comforted the both of them like that at one point or another, brought the two into each other’s lives, and yet now he felt a voyeur, unnecessary at best.

A rabbit pawed at his ear. Without thinking about it, he pulled the partially substantial creature into his arms and rounded the corner into the kitchen. The creature was not anchor enough. He had been in here before but the space was suddenly unfamiliar and he stared at the countertop, more unsure what to do than he’d been in a long time.

 

They found no trace of All For One. The streets surrounding the market were thoroughly searched and no one had seen anything unusual but for a skeletal man tripping over his fallen groceries and the provisionally licensed hero, Deku, helping him home.

There were certain looks thrown Toshinori’s way that put him ill at ease and quiet conversations with Tenko that got his hackles rising. It was insisted upon that he be taken to the hospital for a checkup and, while he did not fight them, Toshinori made it clear he was not happy about it. There were pamphlets and gentle suggestions about retirement and his health Toshinori could not even consider.

Then Naomasa called him back the next afternoon with something. It wasn’t much, but Toshinori clung to it all the same. They had managed to get hold of the video surveillance from inside one the stalls. None of the market’s cameras seemed to show anything strange, but this had been on a closed circuit and had fifty-eight seconds of footage the others were missing.

It was grainy and corrupt, but it was still possible to catch Toshinori spinning wildly in circles. It was hard to say if the quality was that bad or if there were shadows standing around him. Frames with Midoriya seemed to loop and his face was distorted, eyes dripping from his chin. The whole thing was nightmarish to watch, any millisecond paused showing something new that made the skin crawl, a dark figure against the wall, the top half of the footage cut away so no one in the shot had a head.

“What do you think it means,” Toshinori asked his old friend, pushing away from the desk.

Naomasa shook his head at the split screen, one showing the footage from the stall, the other from the security camera up on the wall. They kept looping at the point they diverged, the subtlest of jumps happening in both.

“Whatever this was, it was very cleanly done. I’d almost say someone was trying to discredit you or at the very least make you doubt your own sanity.” He glanced sideways at Toshinori. “How’ve you been feeling lately?”

The old hero clenched his hands in his lap. “It’s been bad. I’m scared to leave the house, I barely sleep, and when I do it’s just nightmares. I feel like I’m a rat running circles in his little hell maze looking for cheese that doesn’t exist.” He hated to admit any of that, but if there was one person he could trust with the truth, it was Naomasa Tsukauchi.

His friend put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “A lot of that might be stress, these last few months haven’t exactly been easy on any of us, but, given what we have here, there’s a strong possibility it was the effect of some Quirk. You should probably stay with someone for a while, try not to be alone anywhere. If you start to notice anything even a little odd, call me.”

Toshinori nodded absently. It was sound advice. If someone was messing with his head, it would easier to spot with witnesses. What was the point of all this though? Paralyze him with fear so he’d be easier to strike down?

“What is that bastard planning,” he growled, glaring at the jumping images on screen.

“I don’t know, but I’m worried he’s making us focus too much on you.”

Toshinori’s eyes cut to him, frowning.

Naomasa squeezed his shoulder and stood up to pull out a file as he said, “I just feel like we’re missing something. We know he has a grudge against you, he’s been sending civilians with villain Quirks after you and he probably had a hand in this too, but we don’t know if that’s part of his bigger plan here or if–”

“He’s just messing with me.” Toshinori finished with an exasperated groan at his own oversight. “You’re right, I’ve been too focused on that. He’s always running more than one game.”

Naomasa nodded gravely. “Half the villains who escaped Tartarus have been found dead, but we’ve seen no hint of their Quirks being used and now the underground has gone quiet.” He passed over a leaf from the file. It was a compilated report of over a hundred contacts who were either refusing to speak to them or were missing entirely. “Something big is coming.”

And the Symbol of Peace is cracking , All Might thought bitterly.

Chapter 8: Confrontation

A massive serpent burst from Izuku’s back and shoulders, tongues of flame licking along it and heating up the room. Aizawa was fast in activating his Quirk but Izuku yelled in a panic, “No, wait, don’t! Something's wrong.”

Aizawl released his Quirk warily. Izuku was still sitting there staring in horror at the table as the flame creature returned and raced out the door. A second later, Izuku jumped up and began running after it.

“He's here,” he shouted just before the alarms began blaring.

 

Izuku found All Might staring grimly out one of the forward-facing windows as the villain assaulted the gate.

He glanced at Izuku with a nod of acknowledgement before turning again to the baffling sight. “Why would he be doing a full-frontal attack? It doesn't make any sense.”

“I don't know. It has to be some kind of distraction. What should we do, All Might?”

All Might took his shoulder in a firm hand. “It’s been a slow day, I should have enough time; I'm going to go out there and take him down. You stay with the other kids and try to figure out what he's doing, if you can.”

 

Halfway back to his class’s evacuation route, Izuku stopped dead. This had to be a distraction, but what could he be looking to get? The students? He hadn’t had trouble grabbing anyone before though. It had to be something only UA possessed. He turned on his heel and began running toward the principal’s office.

Ectoplasm, or one of his copies, ran into the hall ahead of him. “Midoriya, go back to your class.”

“But–”

“I know you want to help, but it isn’t safe here.”

“Please, sir, he might have sent someone into the school and–”

“Nezu has us looking but we can’t do our jobs and worry about you too. Find Aizawa and get out!”

Izuku was torn, desperate to do something, but he nodded and reluctantly headed back the way he’d come. The whole building rattled. Izuku stumbled into the wall, waiting for everything to come down on his head. It stopped but now he wasn’t running Izuku felt the impacts vibrating up his shoes as two titans fought.

He rounded the corner to the bank of windows overlooking the pathway from the gate, their fortress wall in shredded pieces. All Might had met All For One on the front lawn and the two were in furious combat the like of which Izuku had never seen before.

The walls rattled fiercely as the two slammed into each other, the resulting wind pressure bending the trees nearly in half. Izuku knew he was in danger of being hit with a hail of glass if they managed even one more hit like that. Still, he couldn’t look away.

He had been right; the explosive force of their next hit blew the windows apart. Instead of being hit with glass though, Izuku’s creatures burst forth in a protective wall. They knew what to do. As soon as their creator was out of harm’s way, they rushed down into the battle to help All Might.

He had come a long way since the day he had been sent to attack All Might. The power rushing over him was his to command and the monsters he sent forth each held a raging inferno but burnt only what he wanted touched. A dragon bust from either side of him, their faces tall as All Might and their bodies nearly a kilometer long. Several medium sized creatures, some flying some running, followed with roars that shook the rest of the glass from the panes before him.

It was too much power at once. He doubled over, grabbing the glass dusted railing. Still, he ordered them on the hunt with all he had.

All Might whipped his head around as the creatures roared by and engulfed All For One. Something was wrong. All For One was suddenly gone from the desiccated battlefield.

All Might turned this way and that while Izuku’s creatures were becoming tangled in each other, momentarily disoriented. Then one flaming monstrosity with too many heads and wings where wings ought not to be, was rushing toward Izuku. He understood why in a horrible moment of realization and could do nothing.

All For One was in front of him, on him, holding him down. “This is getting troublesome, but I’m sure you won’t mind returning it. It wasn’t yours to begin with, after all.”

White hot pain shot through Izuku’s body as that strange, distended hand touched him. Everything went black.

 

Izuku woke among the rubble to a blurry world and a distinct emptiness. It was a familiar feeling, something he had never noticed until the intangible space had been filled. He tried to call on a rabbit, just one, but it would not come. He reached for something larger, egging it on, but still nothing. Fiendfyre was gone.

He sat up slowly, shaking and weak. His vision swam and it took a long time to register what he saw a few yards from him. There was a body crumpled there in a familiar uniform, now much too large for its occupant.

“All Might!” Izuku scrambled up, ignoring the way his world spun.

His hero turned his head, sluggish and pathetic, to look over his shoulder. “Hey. Good to see you’re alright.” All Might’s lips and chin were stained red with blood and his eyes wouldn’t focus. He looked a terrible mess.

Izuku dropped to his knees and scooped All Might into his arms, supporting his head on his shoulder.

“What happened,” he demanded, glancing around for anyone who could help. They were still up on the second floor, the building was dark and deserted. Outside, the battle was still clearly raging and not going well for the heroes with the Symbol of Peace out of action.

All Might grabbed the front of his shirt with more force than he’d have thought possible and dragged Izuku’s attention back. His eyes were blazing. "This is your fight now, kid. I know you can stop him.”

Izuku’s heart twisted. “But I don't even have a Quirk anymore. He took it.”

All Might smirked at him. “Yeah you do.” He held out a single, golden hair.

Izuku stared at it and turned wide eyes on All Might. “Are you sure?”

All Might laughed ruefully. “I should have done this a long time ago.” He wrapped Izuku’s hand tight around his most precious gift and smiled. “Get this guy for me, alright?"

Izuku nodded once with all the determination he could muster.

 

One For All was not what he expected. It was ludicrously powerful, certainly, but far kinder and easier to control than Fiendfyre. The villain’s Quirk had been a constant, wild maelstrom of activity under his skin seeking any outlet. This was much more subtle, less of a brute breaking down doors and more of a friend sitting down beside him. There were layers to the power as well, many he could not yet reach, as though he’d walked into a cavernous room with only a candle, so much potential waiting for him in the dark.

Experimentally, he let it flow over him, trying to use the same channels he’d allowed the flames through. An ocean being let through a tap, even a fraction of that power was more than he’d ever wielded with Fiendfyre. That there was more to it was staggering.

He put that aside for the moment as another yell echoed back to them from the battle. His shoes crunched broken glass as he stepped up to the gaping hole where the windows once stood. Many of the pro heroes were down or in critical condition behind the crumbling defensive line as All For One lazily slung ranged attacks like he was pitching for little league. They would last a minute more at most.

He caught All Might’s eye, his own grim assessment mirrored there. Then his hero gave him a bloody grin and an enthusiastic thumbs up, the full force of his belief in Izuku nearly sweeping him off his feet.

He took a steadying breath to compose himself, as he’d always done in battle before now, and found it unnecessary. The power came easily and exactly as he asked. Grinning, he channeled everything he had ever learned from Kacchan about aerial maneuvering, planning his jumps three ahead, and rocketed off the rubble that had once been the front of his school.

The angle was perfect. His fist slammed into All For One’s breathing apparatus. The shockwave had blown the grass flat for almost twenty yards and the metal under his fist had dented and bent, gas spraying out a punctured tube on one side. Still, All For One only stumbled; concentration momentarily thrown.

Izuku didn’t stop to celebrate, jumping up to deal a harsh kick while the villain was unbalanced and then a punch to the gut. Izuku did not have the luxury to think about holding back. The kick did monumental damage, tearing through cloth and metal, revealing bone, but he dodged the punch.

Izuku leapt away from a counterstrike that would have leveled him and shot off a fallen support beam buried in the lawn, building up his momentum, not staying even a millisecond in one place. His passing shattered the already splintering glass of one miraculously intact window as he shoved himself out of the way of flying hunk of tile and metal that had once been part of the entrance hall.

From out of the regrouping line of heroes, a whirlwind of loud explosions slammed into All For One. He was engulfed in a firestorm and Izuku almost stumbled. Endeavor was stalking toward the villain one slow step at a time with his arms out, his Quirk scorching.

Izuku saw from his angle what Endeavor could not. All For One was blinded but there was a smirk on that disfigured face just barely visible where the mask had smashed. His fingers were growing long and strange again.

Izuku smashed the ground at his feet, the infrastructure beneath crumbling in a jarring screech. Endeavor was forced to let up on his assault and retreat. All For One, still blinded, he threw himself right into the hit as Izuku hurled himself forward. Metal and then bone shattered into dust under his knuckles.

All For One was thrown and rolled twice, sprawling on the ground. Izuku was about to go in for another hit, the last one, when a shout from the top of the roof caught his attention. Someone was laughing triumphantly as they fell to the ground, but instead of landing they disappeared through a black mist.

“I do look forward to our next meeting, Midoriya Izuku.”

Izuku’s eyes whipped back to All For One, bloody and near dead but still with the sick parody of a smile. Then he too was falling through a black mist.

Izuku jumped forward shouting, “NO!”

Too late. He slammed his fist into the ground and left a crater where All For One had disappeared.

 

Izuku clutched the bouquet of flowers his mother had sent with him. Judging by the look in her eye, she had done it more to ensure he made it all the way to All Might than for any kind of sentimental value they might hold. He didn’t have any intention of backing out now, though his hands were still shaking.

He paused beside the open door of the hospital room and took a breath. Without realizing it, he had been unnecessarily holding down on his Quirk. Had he still been carrying Fiendfyre, he would have had creatures dancing around his feet and piled on his arms and head, whether he wanted them there or not. One For All simply waited, patient and ever ready, like the gentle pulse of magma at the heart of a dormant volcano. With what he needed to do, it shouldn’t have been comforting, but his muscles relaxed despite himself.

Tenko and All Might’s voices were soft rumbles, the occasional chuckle drifting through. He forced himself to swallow his doubts and stepped around the corner. They were sitting around a little table beside All Might’s bed, Tenko drawing endless amusement as All Might stubbornly did his best to eat yogurt with the wrong hand and nothing to hold the serving cup still. Had this been any other day, Izuku would have joined them without hesitation.

“All Might,” his voice was shaking more than he wanted, but it was still strong enough to draw their attention. Izuku couldn’t meet their eyes. He dipped into a deep bow. “I’m sorry! I got so close, but I couldn’t reach him in time. I don’t deserve to have One For All!”

“Don't you dare," Tenko snapped and Izuku's hand automatically stopped on its way to his head. "You did great out there. You'll get him next time.”

His certainty twisted Izuku’s stomach and he almost jumped out of his skin as one of the chairs scraped back. A waif thin hand gripping his shoulder with surprising strength. Izuku still couldn’t bring himself to straighten up, his tongue stuck down his throat.

“He’s right. Every holder since the first has been trying to take this guy down and you got closer on your first try than I did in twenty years. That's not nothing, kid.”

Not sure he could believe it, Izuku raised his head slowly. The admiration in All Might’s eyes was staggering as he smiled down at Izuku. “You did so much better than I could ever have expected of you and I’m honored to call you my successor.”

All Might pulled him into a fierce, one-armed hug. The world blurred and he sniffed as tears, like a cleansing water, raced down his cheeks.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Up In Flames