Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all happened about a month after the final battle against All for One and Tomura Shigaraki, and a month after Izuku Midoriya lost his quirk. 

It hurt him. The last year helped him make the quirk truly be his own. He no longer saw it as something that he was given, but as something that was his. To lose it… it made him empathized with those All for One robbed of their quirks. 

His friends were supporting him. He still had months of being able to use the vestiges of his quirk. They all intended to help him limit his usage of the quirk, so that it could last until the end of his education. 

He deserved to be a pro-hero. There were alternative ways of being one - All Might still had his license, even if it was technically deactivated when he retired (but there were cases of heroes unretiring themselves). 

All Might decided to dedicate himself to teaching people willing to follow his example and become heroes. Izuku’s plans for the future were shaping to be similar to those of the former Number One Hero. 

And then, he had an epiphany. 

It happened when he was babysitting Eri for a day. He could see her horn - that she shaved off to help him regrow his arms - already beginning to regrow and… then it hit him. 

It couldn’t be that simple, right? 

All for One wouldn’t just give up on his life after Yoichi was extinguished if it could work, right?

“Eri-chan.” He asks, the girl looking at him from her end of the couch that they were both sitting on, watching some cartoons together. “I have a question for you. Do you remember how you managed to rewind Lemillion’s quirk back into existence?” 

“Yes.” Eri nods. “I managed to save him like the two of you saved me!” It was adorable how enthusiastic she was about it. 

“Can you try to rewind me too?” Izuku asks. Eri blinks at him in confusion. 

“Oh, sure!” She then gives him another cheerful smile. “Here it goes!” 

Ten seconds after the light envelops Izuku, he can suddenly hear a very familiar voice inside his head. 

“... you have to dodge… wait a second.” Yoichi pauses for a few seconds, before speaking. “Wait, what just happened? Where is Tomura Shigaraki?! Ninth, what is going on?!” 

Oh, holy shit.

It was that easy. 

And that… that gives Izuku some very interesting ideas. 

“Eri-chan.” Izuku smiles at her, while giving her a well-deserved headpat. “Would you like to go with me somewhere? I need to test a theory. And I think it will let you help even more people!”

“Sure!” She reciprocates his smile. “Lead the way!” 

***

“All Might-sensei, we need to talk.” Izuku says a few moments later as he and Eri get to the teacher’s lounge. “In private.” 

“Oh, that won’t be a problem.” All Might replies. “There is no one here right now but us. And…” A solemn frown surfaces on his face. “Young Midoriya, I wanted to ask you again how are you dealing with the loss of One For All. I know that you say that it’s alright, and knowing your heroic heart I can believe in that, but I wanted to talk about what you’ll do in your fut…” 

Izuku raises his hand and immediately covers it in Black Whip’s tendrils. 

“W…what?!” All Might coughs out a mouthful of blood. “It’s… it’s back?! But how?!” 

“I’ll tell you in a second.” Izuku replies quickly. Ignoring or deflecting the numerous questions that the Vestiges were asking him was hard enough, he would rather not do the same for All Might! “Now, I need you to do something for me. I have a theory to test.” 

“Alright.” All Might replies with a wide smile on his face, the man looking as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. “What do you need me to do, Young Midoriya?” 

Izuku in one quick move pulls out one of his hair strands before extending it forward… and summoning his best All Might impression. 

“EAT THIS!” He then says. 

All Might freezes in place for a few seconds… then coughing out another mouthful of blood. 

“In hindsight, doing it like this was terribly stupid and… what was that term Kaminari uses so often? Cringe?” All Might deflates a little more. “But, uhm, if you need my help, I can do that. But… why do you want to give me back the quirk?!”

“It’s an experiment.” Midoriya replies with a smile. “And if I’m right, I think you’ll love the results.” 

And if it works, it was only the first step. His plans were endless! 

***

He tells Eri and All Might to keep the return of his quirk hidden for a while more. It’s absolutely necessary (and also going to make the resulting reveal much crazier!). And then they all wait until the quirk is finally properly transferred. 

Izuku gives All Might three more hours to have a talk with Nana Shimura in his mindscape (and cry - a lot) before having the three of them convene again.

“So, what is the next part of your plan?” All Might asks, his eyes looking really tired after all the crying. 

“It’s simple!” Midoriya gives him a mischievous grin. “Eri-chan, please rewind me to the same moment as the last time!” 

“Alright!” And so she does. 

“... you have to dodge… wait a second.” Yoichi pauses for a few seconds, before speaking. “Wait, what just happened? Where is Tomura Shigaraki?! Ninth, what is going on?!” 

Without a word, Izuku envelops his right hand in Blackwhip… while giving All Might the shit-eating grin. 

The man realizes what just happened about three seconds later… when he mirrors his motion of enveloping his right arm with Blackwhip - which works. 

And then he gives him a shit-eating grin in return. 

“I’ll get my car keys and tell Aizawa-kun that we’re leaving with Eri for a while.” All Might then announces with the grin not leaving his face for a second. “In fifteen minutes in the staff parking lot, Young Midoriya!”

***

When Ragdoll received a call from All Might that she needed to leave the Wild Wild Pussycats’ agency for a while and come to meet him in the parking lot next to it, she expected a lot of things. 

Seeing All Might and Deku - the two greatest heroes of Japan right now - and little Eri in between, all three of them sporting somewhat goofy looking sunglasses (with Eri also eating an ice cream) definitely wasn’t on the list. 

“Ragdoll, I have a very important question for you.” Deku is the first one to speak. “Do you want to become a hero once more? And do you want to become one of the greatest heroes to have ever lived not just in Japan but in the entire world?” 

“Err…” She blinks at him in confusion. “Yeah, obviously. I want to help others in the field and I would love to be able to save more people, but it’s not like I can thanks to All for One stealing Search, right?” 

Both All Might and Deku give her a very worrying grins while Eri remains completely focused on her ice cream. 

“What if I tell you that there’s a way?” Midoriya replies. “All you have to do is…” In one quick move, he pulls a hair strand from the top of his head before presenting it to her… with a horrifyingly perfect impression of All Might’s face. “...EAT THIS!”

***

As Ragdoll stumbles back to her agency to wait until her multiple quirks awaken in her body - without the ghost inhabiting them, as Yoichi and the others agreed that while they were close with All Might and Deku, they weren’t so with the other people and their copies would thus went into sleep (which they could apparently do) - All Might glances at Izuku sitting in the front seat of his car. 

“So, what’s the next person, Young Midoriya?” He asks. 

“Hawks.” Izuku replies. “I have something really special in mind for later, and I think that having the HPSC in on it might be a good idea before we start.”

***

“Uraraka-san, I have something very important to ask you for.” Two days later Izuku says to his best friend (that he definitely doesn’t have a developing crush on). “But for now it has to remain a secret between the two of us, alright?” 

“Uhm…?” She glances at All Might standing right next to them in the empty classroom, with Eri held in his arms, the girl wearing really really goofy sunglasses and eating an ice cream. 

“Oh, ignore them.” Midoriya replies quickly. “They’re a part of it, kind of. So… there is no good way of saying them, but I’ll try: I need you to eat my hair.” 

“... what?!” Uraraka stares at him slackjawed. “At least buy me a dinner fiiiiii…” She blushes furiously when she realizes what she was saying… and so was Izuku. “No, wait, what brought this up?” 

Izuku raises his hand and envelops it in Black Whip… and a second later, so does All Might. 

“Your quirk is back!” Uraraka gives him an excited smile before freezing when her mind registers the fact that All Might had it too! “Wait… what?!”

“Eri rewinded my quirk back into existence, like she did with Lemillion’s Permeation.” He cheerfully announces. “And it turned out that if I give the quirk to someone else, she can still rewind me back into having it! And now I want to give it to you.” 

“Uhm…” She gives him a shocked look. “I’m flattered, but… doesn’t that kill the user quickly?” 

“Yes, but!” Izuku grins. “What if I give you the quirk, and then you immediately pass it back to me? I’ll get Zero Gravity, but it will be stronger thanks to the access to the One For All’s stockpile. And then… Eri will render you completely quirkless before I’ll give you the full package and she rewinds me back to the moment before I got your quirk.” 

“So I’d get One For All… and stronger Zero Gravity… and with basically no threat to my lifespan?” Uraraka connects the dots in a few seconds. “That’s… Deku-kun, I need you to give me your hair, right now.”

Izuku already had it ready and now only extended his hand to her.

“EAT THIS!” He says with the same All Might impression on his face. 

She almost collapses on the floor during that laughing fit. 

***

When two weeks later All Might invites Eraserhead to one of the many hero training areas in the UA, he expects a lot from it - especially after hearing that the rest of the 1-A is already there and wanted to show him the results of their ‘special training’ with All Might that kept them occupied for most of those days. 

He definitely didn’t expect the entirety of the hell class to be very busy levelling the fake city to the ground, half of them flying around while the others throw punches that shatter buildings, all of them enveloped with sparks of power in various colors. 

All Might is waiting for him, wearing really goofy looking sunglasses… and cocking finger guns at him. 

Eraserhead stares at him in complete shock for about ten seconds, the man only waking up from his shock when something exploded… no, wait, that was the sound of Bakugou surpassing the sound barrier above his head when Uraraka punched him. 

“I quit.” He deadpans before turning around and walking away to submit his two week notice to Nedzu.

Chapter Text

They were almost ready. All the chess pieces were in place. The plan for the final battle against All for One has been finished. Soon enough… it would all be over. 

His era was over. His country was in ruin. His students were about to fight a war despite their young age. His successor… 

He was going to fight All for One. His new armor was ready - and so was he. He wouldn’t let Young Midoriya fight this battle alone. If All for One managed to shake off the heroes and threaten to intervene in his successor’s battle… he would be there to delay him. 

Even if it cost him his life.

Even if Mirai’s prediction would come true. 

His students and his successor were going to do their part… and so would he. There was simply no other option. 

All Might takes a deep sigh and leans back in his seat. So many years of fighting. So much he sacrificed for his country. So much he sacrificed to carry the torch Nana gave him into the future. To prevent the era of darkness and chaos that cost him his parents from continuing. 

In just a few days, his crusade would come to an end. And if they won… his every sacrifice would be validated. 

Was there anything else he could do? Most of the plan for the battle was his work, Nedzu helped a lot but in the end it was All Might who fought All for One for so long. It was All Might who could predict this man’s movements. It was All Might… 

A random thought crosses his mind. Should he… should he consult someone else? What if All for One stopped underestimating him after their last two battles and predicted his own movements? 

Countered his counter? Swallowed his pride for once and asked someone else for input on his plan? 

What if everything came down because All Might once again tried to carry everything on his shoulders? 

He will leave nothing up to chance. 

He gets up from his seat and walks towards Nedzu’s office. 

***

“All Might?” Nedzu asks the moment he enters his little kingdom. “I see I’m not the only person who is getting cold feet today, am I?” 

There is an almost empty cup of tea on his desk. All Might doubts that it’s the first one he emptied today.

“Yes.” All Might exhales sharply. “If you feel like that too… It just makes me more worried. I have a question for you.” 

Nedzu tilts his head a little, giving All Might a questioning look. 

“Can you set up a safe communication line to Okinawa?” All Might asks. “I have an acquaintance there that I want to consult about the battle.” 

“I cannot guarantee that All for One won’t find a way to breach it.” Nedzu shakes his head. “Especially with Skeptic still on the loose. But I should be able to get that person here to advise you. Who’s that acquaintance of yours?” 

“General Gabriel Robinson.” All Might replies, earning himself a quick blink from Nedzu. “The head of the United States’ military presence on the island. I saved his family once in the United States, and we’ve written to each other a number of times afterwards.” 

“Well, if he agrees, I don’t think that it should be a problem to get him here.” Nedzu replies. “He can probably get here on his own, I doubt that All for One will try to intercept a random transport helicopter. I’ll contact them through a secure channel just in case. He should be here tomorrow morning.” 

***

General Robinson finishes reading the battle plans that All Might made. He wasn’t as tall and muscular as All Might in his muscle form was - but he was close enough to it to have a truly intimidating physique. 

As expected from the high-ranking officer of the US Marine Corps. 

Then he immediately pinches the bridge of his nose. 

“That bad?” All Might asks shortly. He could read that from his face. 

“The idea is good.” Gabriel replies while moving his eyes from the document to All Might. “But I think that it’s a bit too… hero-like. And not pragmatic enough. You’re capable of using warpgates to relocate at least some of the enemy forces to places of your choosing. You have near total control of enemy placement and strength before the first shot will be fired. I think that I can recommend a few ideas on how to use that asset…. if you’re willing to put down the kiddie gloves… or, in this case, hero gloves.” 

“Go on.” All Might leans in while narrowing his eyes. If he can keep his students safe, he’s ready to become a tiny bit ruthless in his retirement. 

***

The battle starts. All for One’s initial plan of ambushing his successor fails thanks to Monoma using Kurogiri’s quirk to redirect the majority of the villain army. All for One remains behind with what’s left - and finds himself in front of a hero army. 

And in the middle of it, stands All Might. He recognizes his archenemy despite the armor. Endeavor and Hawks standing by his side are completely ignored.

So is Gang Orca, Miruko, all of his students and other Top Heroes. They are here. Everyone is here.

“How sly of you, Toshinori.” All for One speaks mockingly, both armies facing each other in silence, a single heartbeat away from total slaughter. “Is that your plan? To split us apart? Did you truly think that it could work?” 

“It already did.” All Might informs his coldly, the speakers installed in his armor making everyone on the battlefield hear his voice. 

All for One seems to realize that something was wrong. He finally takes in the whole battlefield… and how all of his enemies were here, easily outnumbering the villains five to one. 

“What did you do to the others?” All For One says, his voice alarmed. 

***

Dabi is enveloped by Kurogiri's warp quirk - only to find himself in an unfamiliar place. He was in a cell - but there were no doors. There was only a singular air vent, and what looked like… 

It was a food dispenser. MRE rations? And there was a water tank right next to it, with a single plastic cup right next to it. 

“I recommend staying where you are for the foreseeable future, brother.” A voice cracks from a hidden speaker. It’s … TODOROKI SHOTO! “There’s twenty meters of heat-resistant materials between you and the surface. The moment a sudden spike of temperature will be detected inside your provisional holding chamber, the airflow inside will cease. You will suffocate before you manage to melt your way to the surface - and that’s if you won’t simply overheat or get covered in melted metal before you get there.” 

Dabi fumes - but in the emotional way. 

“The only reason you’re not dead already is because mom wanted to give you the second chance.” Todoroki continues. “Therapy or self-inflicted death here and now. Your choice.” 

***

The moment the warpgate closes, Toga finds herself in the middle of a forest. Nothing but trees, bushes and nature in general in all directions. 

What just happened?

And she was alone! She didn’t even get to confess her feelings to Izukun! 

She was about to start venting her anger by shouting loudly (before looking for a way out) when she noticed a letter lying on the nearby fallen tree. 

There was nothing better for her to do, so she approaches it… and finds out that it was addressed to her!

And it was from Izuku and Ochako!

She quickly opens it up and starts reading it. 

Himiko Toga. We have an offer to you - but before we get to that, we need you to understand your situation. 

The warpgate you were just sent through sent you to an uninhabited island close to Japan. No one’s there and without knowing your general location All for One cannot summon you back with his sludge quirk. 

And even if you try to swim back to the Mainland, you’ll either drown or will show up a few days too late to the battle. 

It’s over. The war is over for you. 

We’ll pick you up in two to three days. Afterwards, we promise to try to help you get better. We cannot bring Twice back. But you were right - heroes should help people, even villains if they need help. 

And so, we’ll help you. 

Want to talk about love? We’ll let you talk about it with us. But, there’s a prerequisite to it - no stabbings and therapy. You love (either one of us or both, there’ve been some mixed signals from you in that field) but love is about both taking and giving. 

You wouldn’t want someone to force their idea of love onto you. But neither do we. If you’re ready to try to meet in the middle, you’ll have to make some concessions - and if you do so, so do we. 

Go north from where this letter is, and you’ll find a small shelter with all the resources needed to spend the next few days in comfort. 

Oh? They wanted… they wanted to talk about love with her? Maybe even… share it? She didn’t want to go to any ‘therapists’, but with such delicious bait in front of her… maybe…?

Another letter suddenly appears out of nowhere, the small warpgate spitting it out before disappearing. This one’s not in an envelope.

Update: We intended to send Spinner to your island as well, but All for One gave him multiple quirks and made him barely conscious and violent. He was incapacitated and teleported to a hospital to receive proper help. 

Oh, how kind of them!

***

The few hundred villains that were teleported en masse quickly reorganized themselves under command of Kunieda and Gashly Eijiju. No one wanted to double cross those two. Everyone was too afraid of them to say no. 

There was no enemy in sight. It was just a large, flat area without any cover to speak. What was going on? That wasn’t a plan! 

The moment they begin to march in the direction chosen by the two leaders, they realize that something was deeply, deeply wrong. 

One of them stands on a mine… and it wasn’t the one that you could see during the UA Sports Festival. 

The man who triggered it exploded into bits. A number of others around him were badly injured. 

Three seconds later, another mine explodes. 

Twenty seconds alter, the artillery shells start raining from the skies… and then the military helicopters and jet fighters begin their own attack. Missiles and bombs rain from the skies. 

There are no survivors. 

***

Tomura Shigaraki expected many things when he was suddenly teleported elsewhere. His will to destroy remained untouched. He would destroy all that he hated and he hated everything - including All for One at this point. 

He didn’t expect water. 

Five seconds after the warpgate closes, he finds himself hitting the water surface. It was only because of how surprised he was by where he was - he immediately used his quirks to make himself fly above the water.

There is nothing in all directions, just more water. 

The water is salty. 

Where the hell was he?

***

As All Might finishes replying, All for One does something that the former Symbol of Peace never expected to see. 

He lost all his self-control and confidence, instead staring in All Might’s direction while looking utterly flabbergasted. 

“We’ve also relocated almost every single police officer available in the country to deal with the mutant riot you’ve organized.” All Might decides to drive the nail home. The news just arrived, requiring some last minute improvisation. “Miruko, Gang Orca, Shishido, if you could lend them a hand? I think the rioters would listen to you before the police. Take Anima and Tentacole with you.” 

“Oh, yeah, take away all the fun.” Miruko grumbles, but a few seconds later she and all other listed people vanish in Monoma’s warpgate. 

“So, where were we?” All Might turns to still flabbergasted All for One. 

“Tomura will not stop.” All for One snaps back to attention. “I can’t even tell if he won’t immediately head to the bottom of the sea and begin to vaporize the seabed!” 

“Yeah.” All Might chuckles. “Good luck with that. We’ve teleported him to the Mariana’s Trench just to avoid this. We’ll deal with him once you and every single other villain is taken down, so that we can focus all our power on just him. Any other trump card, All for One?” 

Silence. All for One says absolutely nothing, but the rage on his face begins to bloom. 

“Oh, and before I forget.” All Might lets a (mildly) deranged smile bloom on his face. “Did I mention the fifty tonnes of explosives we’ve planted underground before luring your army to that exact spot?” 

He pressed the detonator button a heartbeat later. 

Chapter Text

“And to prepare your body to become a worthy vessel for the power of One For All…” All Might says loudly and with just the amount of theatrics the torch he received from Nana demanded. “... I give you this: Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan!” 

Young Midoriya’s eyes are practically gleaming as All Might hands him the small binder filled with the strict training schedule Nana had once given him. He knew how harsh it was - it contained precise instructions including daily calorie intake and more. 

Strict… but the results of it were wondrous. He never had to train himself even remotely as much once One For All was given to him - the exertion of holding the quirk in his body and daily clashes with the villains were all that he needed. 

Never before had he committed it to paper. But there were no mistakes in it. He remembered every single detail, memorized it in his mind and muscles. And now… he set Young Midoriya on the path to success. 

And he would be there for him every step on the way.

Clearing out the Dagobah beach was a Herculean task - but one that his student managed to achieve just in time for the entrance exam. 

When he calls it the Herculean task, he means it. As the time passed, Young Midoriya’s body grew stronger until the feats of strength he displayed would have amazed most pre-quirk athletes. 

Perhaps they even deserved to be called superhuman. Pulling a massive washing machine with All Might on top of it? It brings him back to his own time of following the routine. Nana did the same thing with him, except it was a car! 

A small one, sure, but still a car.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t there when Young Midoriya moved the ruined car to the corner of the beach… damn. 

He makes a picture of Young Midoriya - now sculpted and ready to accept the torch of One For All - and then shows it to him… before showing him the one All Might took at the start of the Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan. 

The progress is staggering. 

And then, the time comes for the torch to be passed down.

“EAT THIS!” He says as he extends his hand with one of his long, blonde hair towards his successor. A quick explanation later, Young Midoriya accepts the rather unorthodox way of transferring a quirk (then again, that was rather unheard of to begin with) and eats the hair. 

It does absolutely nothing.

“There was a kid…!” Tomura Shigaraki shouts as he wriggles on the floor, the bullet wounds - seriously, who let Snipe join the UA faculty, this isn’t Texas - in the process of being healed by a healing noumu doctor Garaki teleported into the bar. “...he was fast, he was damn fast and… his strength was on par with All Might!” 

He expected a lot of things to happen after he said that. A long silence coming from the computer monitor followed by All for One and Doctor Garaki screaming NO! in unison wasn’t on the list. 

“S-sensei?!” Tomura stammers out a question. Sensei remains silent for a few more seconds before speaking. 

“I think it is time for you to learn the truth.” He says, his voice sounding… empty and defeated. “Kurogiri, bring him to me once he’s healed.” 

“Of course, master.” Kurogiri bows.

Even after all that time and Doctor Garaki’s hard work, Shigaraki can’t help but shiver whenever he gets to see Sensei’s face. It was the mass of scar tissue, a testament to All Might’s immense strength and the great power behind One For All. 

He knows the quirk’s name. He knows that Sensei wants it. But all other details… Sensei never shared them with him. All that he knew was to never use the quirk’s name in front of anyone who wasn’t Kurogiri, Doctor Garaki and Sensei. And to not even imply he knows it.

“Sit down, Tomura.” Sensei says before pointing at the chair right next to his hospital bed. Despite resting in it while surrounded by life support machinery he is wearing his best business suit. Professionals have standards, he said. Shigaraki, naturally, obeys the order. “Let me explain what just happened. One For All is a very special quirk, one handed down from person to person, its first owner my own brother.” 

Shigaraki’s eyes open wide. Sensei had a brother? All Might’s quirk was transferable? If it used to belong to Sensei’s brother, that explained why he wanted that quirk so much! 

“The quirk stockpiles the physical strength of its users, before eventually being handed out to another.” Sensei continues. “It started when I granted my sickly brother a power stockpiling quirk, unaware that he had an undetectable quirk allowing itself to be transferred to another person.” 

Sensei… made a mistake? Wait, couldn’t he always tell when someone had a quirk? Should Shigaraki point that out…?

“It grants its user miraculous strength, speed and durability.” Sensei continues, unaware of his chosen successor’s internal confusion. “And the fact that there was a kid who could match All Might in at least two out of three categories can only mean one thing - my archnemesis already found his successor. This kid is the new holder of the so-called sacred torch handed down the line of absolutely infuriating spandex-loving Superman wannabes.” 

He pauses, and it lasts long enough that Shigaraki eventually decides to speak. 

“Sensei, thank you for telling me that.” He nods, the fury and hatred born out of his defeat washed away by Sensei sharing such a personal tale with him! “So, should I look for a way to incapacitate his successor? Once I bring him, you can just steal his quirk and it’s over, right?” 

“No, because the quirk can only be willingly given, not stolen.” Sensei’s fingers clench into fists, his muscles tensing as the expression of fury blooms on his face. “That is what my brother’s successors believe in, that is. All that I’ve just said is what they believe in. And all of that is wrong.”

What? 

“My brother…” All for One almost spits those words out of his mouth. “... wasn’t sickly at all. What he suffered from, however, was a crippling injury he got when he attempted to embarrass me yet again during the international weightlifting competition. He wanted to show our parents just how much better he was than me, the failed sportsman of this generation of a family of great athletes.” 

What?!

“But he still didn’t have enough, so he decided to fight his way out of his injury.” All for One continues, his words filled with barely constrained rage. “To show me that even with his injury he is still better than me. So he created it. His American Dream Plan. The world’s most powerful training plan, one capable of bestowing upon those who followed it a superhuman strength. One that somehow doesn’t require any maintenance whatsoever for the rest of your life. For as long as you’re not critically injured, you will be the world’s strongest no matter what.” 

“Wait, so you’re telling me that All Might is quirkless?!” Tomura’s mind buckles at the news. 

“Yes!” All for One throws his arms up. “Yes, he is! Those fools memorize the damn plan and hand it over to their successors because they somehow rationalized their strength as being quirk-related while in fact their strength is born out of their goddamned training regime! And they never share it with anyone else, because they kept hiding from me and trying to not endanger anyone else! But now All Might decided to teach at school, can you imagine what’s going to happen if he decides to share his training regime with a bunch of overly enthusiastic hero students, Tomura?!” 

Oh no. Oh no! If it was all truly a training regime… all those students… and what if they shared the results with other hero schools? The heroes would become invincible and the villains would be crushed! No wonder Sensei decided to make a move immediately after they found out that All Might decided to start a career in teaching!

He probably wanted Tomura to scare All Might into finding a successor real quick, to hopefully use his spy to learn the details of it by spying on him… or maybe use someone else to follow All Might’s every move. But right now…

“Now imagine this, Tomura.” All for One’s hands raise up as the old supervillain’s mind drifts off to a world known only to him. “A few months of severe training routine… and from then on, you have godlike strength and a bodybuild that makes all the girls swoon at you. If I had it… if I just had it, I’d have become unstoppable! I could create an army of All Might’s equals. And it’s not like it makes everyone into a juggernaut his size - instead, it pushes you into the peak of strength with a body-built appropriate to your size. My brother was lean, but he hadn’t a single gram of fat on his body - it was all muscles. Muscles powerful enough to blow apart skyscrapers if he wanted to. Can you imagine that power flowing through your veins, Tomura? Can you imagine being unstoppable? Can you imagine the popularity you would get among the girls… boys… or both, whoever you’re into, I don’t judge. Can you imagine being finally able to match that insufferable brother of yours and to show a middle finger to your parents who never believed in you?! WHO ALWAYS SAID THAT STEALING BODY STRENGTHENING QUIRKS WAS CHEATING?! FUCK YOU MOM, I WIN!” 

Uhm… What were the last three sentences about? Ehh, nevermind that. He doesn’t care about that, but… popularity among the girls…? Not having to train yourself ever again to achieve peak manliness and muscular body most men could only dream of…?”

“Sensei!” Tomura leans forward. “Thank you for sharing this with me. I promise you that I’ll do my best to help you steal that Dream Plan so that the girls will think I’m h… I mean, so that the heroes will tremble in fear!” 

The eternal rivalry between All for One and the Aim To Pass: American Dream Plan continues on. And if All for One’s end goal was to have Tomura go through the routine before stealing his body to achieve the ultimate power without having to go to the gym even once… Well, old habits die hard.

Chapter Text

“Deku-kun, I wanted to apologize for all that happened between us recently!” Uraraka said as quickly as she could in order to stop her best friend (and definitely not a crush, no matter what the others might be teasing her about) from shouting for help. 

The fact that Himiko Toga was standing awkwardly right next to her - wearing one of her UA uniforms - was the main reason for said hurry. 

Worst of all, they were in Deku-kun’s room, and she was feeling strangely excited about it, damn it! Which was definitely not because she had a crush on him. 

“I know that you were worried about my behaviour following Kamino, but the main reason for that is standing right next to me.” She continued her explanations. “Himiko ran away from the League and looked for a place to hide from both it, and, well, heroes. She came to me, and at first I almost threw her out the window…” 

“Uhm, you did throw me out of the wind…” Toga tried to pitch in, only for Uraraka to silence her with a gentle elbow to her side. 

“I know it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, but I figured out that villains also deserve help if they promise to behave and… well, I realized a bit later that I didn’t really think this through.” She then continued while scratching the side of her head nervously. “Like, I smuggled her into my dorm room before realizing that she can’t live in my dorm room forever and that the police will keep looking for her and…” 

It was best not to address the fact that smuggled her inside in a traveling suitcase. Just how did Toga fit inside?! She got to see it happen, but this didn’t clear the mystery any further. What was she, a cat with a human vampire quirk?! Where were her bones?! 

“I can live here forever if it’s you who asks me, Ochakochan.” Toga mumbled, just to get another gentle elbow. 

“But I figured out that I can’t keep her there constantly, so I let her attend some classes while pretending to be me.” Uraraka then shared another step of narrating the very confusing series of events born out of her stubborn refusal to admit that she made a mistake and thus committing even greater mistakes to hide the first one. “The strange acts…” 

“... since when is flirting with Izukun strange?” Toga mumbled very quietly. “It’s not like he isn’t too dense to…” She gets silenced by a slightly less gentle elbow. 

“The point is, the League was kind of breaking apart, nobody knew where Shigaraki was, and she had no one else to rely on.” Uraraka finished her explanations. “So please, don’t call the teachers and… maybe help me hide her? I’m sure that I’ll find a way out of it eventually, right?” 

Deku-kun continued to stare at her without a word, without even a single twitch from his very… eye catching muscles… no, bad Uraraka!

“I know that housing a villain is a bad thing, but I’m already there, so please, please don’t kick us out.” She stammered out in panic. 

Deku-kun said nothing. And then, in one quick move, he swung his closet doors wide open. 

“What the fuck, close the door!” Tomura Shigaraki shouted while almost dropping his handheld console… before realizing who the guests were.

…what?

As Momo leaves his room after they spent a while chatting over tea, Todoroki Shoto sighs loudly before speaking to his wardrobe. “You can get out.” 

The wardrobe opens from the inside, letting Dabi step out of it. “I swear, if I had anywhere else to hide in, I’d set you and the rest of this fucking building on fire.” 

“If you do it, the letter I left with a person I trust will be delivered to Fuyumi, informing her who you are, brother.” Shoto replied, utterly unimpressed with the threat. “Do you want her going after you?’ 

Of course, he didn’t have a lot of people he trusted outside of the UA. So, he left it with Fuyumi while telling her to, if something happens to him, move the letter to another room before reading it there. That meant ‘delivering the latter’ in a way, no?

“No, no!” Dark Shadow gestures its disappointments with its steel-rending claws. “It’s still not as dark and impressive as your first entrance. The sword of swords was cool, but you need to work on your inner darkness!” 

Tokoyami nodded quietly as Spinner showed off another of his - black like his soul - clothes, with a brand new sword he let him borrow. 

“Oh, c’mon!” Spinner groaned. “It might have been stylish, but it was broken too easily! And how am I supposed to be as black as you are when my scales are green!” 

“The true darkness…” Tokoyami and Dark Shadow speak in perfect unison. “... is in your heart.” 

Maybe Spinner should have agreed to move into Mezo Shoji’s dorm room instead?

As another gigantic explosion ravages her testing ground behind the UA building, Hatsume is forced to admit that her idea to equip the powered armor baby with a heavy flamethrower while you also used a diesel engine to power it was… flawed. 

There had to be a spark somewhere in it that ignited something that shouldn’t be ignited. Huh. Maybe removing the isolation from the cables to fit more of them inside was the problem? The world will never know. 

The testing dummy inside the powered armor is completely gone. Turned to ash. Atomized. How annoying. 

“Alright then.” She turned her head towards her partner in crime, one which was currently living in the empty dorm room right next to her (she had no idea why her fellow students didn’t want to live right next to her, it’s not like her dorm room can explode, right?). “Another dummy, please.” 

“Sure! Never!” Twice replied while giving her a thumbs-up gesture. 

Next experiment - the same powered armor but powered with the miniaturized nuclear power cell she achieved by having Twice copy a nuclear scientist she found on the internet. Who knew that if you timed it just right, he could create a copy of him as he was holding radioactive materials in his laboratory? 

It was a lot of pain to hack the security cameras in that lab, but she absolutely loved the results! Take that Power Loader! The villain she was housing in UA was better than the one he had!

“I’m home.” Eraserhead announced loudly as he entered his small apartment on the UA grounds. For once, it wasn’t because Ms. Joke was crashing on his couch (again, and seriously, how did she even get inside?! Wasn’t UA security top notch?!) but because of someone else. 

“How was work?” Kurogiri’s head pops out from the door to his kitchen.

“Annoying, as usual.” Eraserhead groaned loudly while taking off his boot. “Did I miss something?” 

“Me and Ms. Joke playing cards in your living room.” Kurogiri recounted, making Eraserhead groan loudly again. How did she break in again? “I teleported her back an hour ago. Then I fed and pet your cats while watching the TV. But I’ll be leaving for a date with Pixie-bob in a moment.”

“Oboro.” Eraserhead sighed loudly. “When I brought you to them for you to apologize because you felt bad about helping All for One steal Ragdoll’s quirk, I didn’t exactly expect you to start dating one of them. While still hiding from the police.”

And what a shock it was to find out the real identity of the Kamino Villain. Or Kurogiri while you’re at it. 

“What can I say?” Kurogiri shrugged. “Never underestimate the power of a middle-aged woman who didn’t have a boyfriend for several years despite wanting to. You should have seen the kind of acrobatics she’s ready to do just to…” 

“Too much info, get out of my house and don’t come back before the sunset.” Eraserhead cut him off. “I want some peace and quiet, please.” 

And he still didn’t figure out how to tell Present Mic and Midnight that Oboro was back to life. And a villain. And that he was housing said villain in one of the most illogical moments of his life. 

Pussycats and Ms. Joke took it surprisingly well (he came back one day to see the latter play twister with Kurogiri in his living room like it was the most normal thing to do), but when it was about his best friends, he couldn’t help but be worried.

“And then… like this!” Present Mic - finally - manages to pull out the card seemingly out of nowhere. Damn, the magic tricks were hard! 

“Good job!” Mr. Compress slapped his back while grinning at the man who was kind enough to let him crash on his couch while hiding from the police… for the low cost of cleaning the mess in his apartment and teaching him magic tricks. “I knew you could do it!”

“Everybody say YEAAAH!” Present Mic throws his hands up. 

“YEAAAH!” Mr. Compress, Present Mic and the Magic Hero: Majestic all scream in unison.

“You know, I had my reservations at the beginning…” Midnight decided to admit it finally. “... and, honestly, I sometimes wonder if agreeing to it without considering what the police or the Commission might say wasn't a bit rash, but it’s still worth it if it means having someone at home that I can talk about men with, who shares my love for good wine and that has a fantastic taste in clothes.” 

“You never know how lonely you are until you stop being lonely.” Magne raised a glass. “To finding your soulmate, who will always help you when you’re in trouble and that you can always trust!” 

“Cheers!” Midnight raised her own glass before clinking it.

It was a long and rather tiring day at UA. She had to heal a dozen students, even if most of them were small injuries! She should really go to Nedzu once and tell him to his face that he should stop venting his issues with Mankind on his own students! 

At least she didn’t have to go far - the rat offered her a proper house on the UA grounds in exchange for… discretion about certain practices in his school. How kind of him. But if she wouldn’t be able to rest her old bones in her own hot tub, how would she power her way through her slowly worsening arthritis?

It’s not after she finishes her bath does she make food for herself - and then, she goes downstairs, to her basement, holding a freshly made cup of instant noodles. 

Once she walks through the soundproof doors, she immediately cringes - the death metal playing on four loudspeakers in four corners of the room really wasn’t to her taste, and it was almost painfully loud, but it was an unfortunate necessity.

She still switched it off before approaching the cage in the center of the room. She then puts the cup of noodles right outside his reach. 

“So, have you changed your mind?” She asked. “I’m not asking for a lot, you know?” 

“NEVER!” Doctor Garaki screams. “I WILL NEVER BETRAY ALL FOR ONE!” He was much thinner than he was when she got her hands on him. How kind of All Might to hand him over to her without asking too many questions. Did it have anything to do with the woman oddly resembling Lady Nagant that he was living with for years?

And why was Garaki even trying to look for Tomura Shigaraki around UA?! How weird. 

“Well, I’ll keep you from sleeping with the music that you hate so much for three or four days then.” She decided. It was just one day of it, he could definitely survive five days in total with his quirk. “You’ll get… half of the noodles, how about it?” It would be all he could eat today, it’s not like he behaved well enough to get the rest of the cup.

Eventually, she’ll convince him to use his knowledge to grant her a copy of the immortality quirk he carried. Since it strengthened the user’s lifeforce, it meant that having it would rewind her age to one where she didn’t have arthritis. 

In her opinion, having arthritis fully justified kidnapping and torturing a villain to get rid of it. It’s not like she would ever find someone who could just rewind her age with a quirk, though it would be awfully convenient… and it would let her get rid of Garaki and let his corpse take an acid bath in the room next door. 

Maybe another day.

The comic in question (by Hotpotatopotat, https://x.com/HotPotatoPotat/status/1994457543029006598?s=20).