Chapter 261 - 51-52

Chapter 51: Missing

"Welcome to the home of the League of Villains," Shigaraki rasped.

Sonambulist gas, Momo thought, realizing that multiple villains aside from Shigaraki were clustered around her. A single blast of the pink vapors could knock them all of out, leaving her free to escape.

But...what was the chemical formula for the gas? She had drilled the knowledge into her mind to the point where she could summon it up and starting Creating it without even consciously thinking about it, but her brain felt sluggish and fuzzy. She couldn't seem to get it to produce the necessary information, let alone execute on it.

Shigaraki chuckled, the sound as dry as dead autumn leaves scraping across a sidewalk while being carried by the wind. "You're trying to use your Quirk and realizing you can't figure it out. I can see it in your eyes," he said. "We know how dangerous you can be, little hero. That's why we drugged you, to ensure your mind is too dulled to use your Quirk. So get comfortable. You're not going anywhere until we decide you are."

"Wha...?" Momo began, finding her mouth felt almost painfully dry. Her tongue felt as slow and clumsy as her brain did. "What are you going to do with me?" she eventually managed.

"Sensei wants to speak to you," Shigaraki said.

"Sensei?" she frowned in confusion.

"You'll meet him soon enough," the villain pledged. "But he's a busy man, so you'll be our guest until he's ready to come here."

"How did you get away from Izuku?" she asked, certain her boyfriend wouldn't have allowed the League to just spirit her off, even if they'd been separate since she'd ventured into the woods with Mineta.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" asked a man with a mask covering his whole head. "I made a copy of you for him to rescue! That's why I was taking your measurements before! I'm not a perv, I swear!" he added in the same breath.

Shigaraki sighed in a long suffering sort of way. "Twice...ugh, never mind," he said. "Toga."

A girl who looked only a little older than Momo herself, her honey blond hair up in two messy buns, straightened. She was wearing a frightening looking piece of support gear.

"You get first watch over our guest," Shigaraki said. "Don't cut her up, understand?"

"Yes, Shiggy," Toga replied.

The villain leader scowled at the nickname but didn't bother to scold the blond girl, departing the room and everyone except Toga filing out after him.

The moment they were all gone, Toga bounced in front of Momo, a manic gleam in her yellow eyes.

"So, I ran into that Midoriya guy during the attack," she said. "And wow, he is super cute!" she gushed.

Momo blinked slowly, dimly musing that this girl was giving off much the same energy she often got from Mina and Tooru, just in a much more disturbing and terrifying fashion.

"Are the rumors that he's your boyfriend true?" Toga asked, abruptly drawing a modest but wickedly sharp looking knife.

"I...yes," Momo answered, immediately cursing herself and whatever drugs the League had given her as soon as the word left her mouth.

"I knew it!" Toga giggled. "Guess he likes 'em big up top." She added with a smirk, running the flat of her blade along the side of Momo's right breast, the touch of cold metal so much more disturbing than Mineta's antics had ever been.

Momo swallowed.

"Can't really criticize his taste, though," Toga said, now running the flat of the knife against the heiress's cheek. "You're so pretty. I'd love to become you." She added, bringing her face close to the heiress's and looking directly into her eyes.

"Shigaraki told you not to cut me," Momo pointed out.

The blonde pouted at the reminder. "That's true," she said. "I hate people telling me what not to do, that I can't live the way I want, but Shiggy and the League does let me be myself way more than regular society does, so I guess I'll follow his orders."

Momo released a small sigh of relief.

"But just because I can't cut you, doesn't mean I should let this opportunity to get some of your blood for my Quirk pass me by!" Toga added, a long needle from part of her support gear suddenly popping up.

Momo's eyes widened.

"Don't worry," Toga said. "You'll be fine. I won't take it all."

The hours after Izuku discovered that the Momo he'd saved from the villains had merely been a Quirk-created copy of his actual girlfriend felt nothing short of surreal to the hero student.

He would've expected all of them to leave the camp almost immediately, but sometime after the new wave of alarm that the realization that Momo was gone had sparked, the teachers had announced that leaving tonight would be impossible, necessitating one more night at the camp.

Instead, it seemed that more and more people kept arriving, mostly police and other emergency responders, turning the relatively tiny campgrounds into a crowded bustle of activity that could've rivaled the urban core of a major city.

Izuku mainly kept out of the way and mumbled words of gratitude when his friends and fellow students came up to express sympathy, working on autopilot.

It wasn't until he saw a large luxury car somehow making its way up the crowded path to the campsite that he was shaken from his almost fugue-like state.

Izuku knew immediately who was coming in that vehicle.

His feet took him toward the drive up to the campsite without consulting his brain, and he found himself standing there just in time to see a finely dressed couple emerge from the back seat of the limo.

Einosuke Yaoyorozu looked exactly like Izuku would've imagined him, which was to say he looked like how he would've imagined a wealthy man related to Momo. He was tall, handsome, and wearing an impeccable suit, his otherwise jet black hair silver at the temples. A thin mustache was the only facial hair he sported.

Kayo Yaoyorozu, his wife, was a curvy, absolutely stunning woman who, even accounting for family resemblance, looked strikingly like Momo, except for having brown eyes rather than onyx like her daughter's. If Izuku hadn't known better, he would've guessed she was Momo's older sister rather than her mother.

Momo had once mentioned to him that her mother had a Quirk called Laserjet that allowed her to create thin sheets of nearly any material; it was essentially a 2D version of Creation, though the elder Yaoyorozu could also put any text or even images on the materials she created. Under just about any other circumstances, Izuku would've been wondering if the Quirk was somehow responsible for her youthful appearance (and, if he was being honest with himself, whether Momo would look so young and shapely at her age and after having a kid).

As it was, Izuku instead bowed to the couple, haltingly introduced himself, and then began to babble out apologies, the words flowing from him in such a rush that even he could barely comprehend them.

"I was so certain I had her!" he said. "If I'd thought, if I'd believed for even a second that the villains still had the real her, I never, I wouldn't have, I mean...!"

It dimly occurred to him that he'd been pretty scared of being introduced to Momo's parents, something she'd planned to do after the summer camp, but Izuku never could've imagined it would go like this. They'd probably hate him for not being able to tell the difference between their daughter and a Quirk-made copy when it had truly mattered!

"Young man," Mr. Yaoyorozu eventually interrupted him. "I'm glad that you want to protect our daughter so much, but that was not your responsibility here. That she was kidnapped was not your failure. I will be having words with Principal Nezu tomorrow, but for now, do you know where we might find your teachers and the police in charge of this investigation?"

Izuku nodded, dumbly pointing toward the main building.

"Thank you," Mr. Yaoyorozu said, before heading off in that direction.

Mrs. Yaoyorozu lingered for a moment. "I had hoped we could meet under better circumstances," she told Izuku, giving him a smile that somehow conveyed warmth while looking understandably forced. "Our Momo talks about you all the time. She's been happier than we've ever seen her since you two started dating. You'll have to come over for dinner sometime if – when this is all over with and she's back home."

"I...thank you," Izuku stammered out.

Mrs. Yaoyorozu nodded, then went to follow her husband toward the main building.

Izuku exhaled gustily when they were gone. That could've gone so much worse than it had, yet that didn't do anything to quell the feelings of guilt and worry churning away inside his gut.

Looking about, Izuku ducked away briefly, just outside the clearing that the main campgrounds sat in. Leaning against a tree, he brought his fist up, allowing his power ring to shimmer into visibility.

"Ring, locate Momo Yaoyorozu," he ordered.

"Warning: target Momo Yaoyorozu does not emit any exotic radiation or any other substances that would make it easy for this ring to locate her," the ring replied. "Scanning for her unique DNA could potentially take multiple Earth days."

"I don't care," Izuku snapped. "Start the search in Nippon, then expand to the rest of the Japanese islands, then the rest of Asia, then the rest of the planet until you find her."

"Complying."

"Alert me immediately once you find her coordinates," Izuku said.

"And that's the aftermath of the attack," Principal Nezu said grimly to most of the assembled teachers the next day in one of UA's main conference rooms. "The villains known as Moonfish, Muscular, Spinner, Magne, and Mustard were captured and are currently being held in Tartarus as they await trial. The other villains escaped, including the Nomu creature, which seemed to have disappeared by the time authorities went to collect it. Half a dozen students, mostly from class B, were injured as a result of the gas that Mustard emitted and are expected to make a full recovery. And worst of all, the student Momo Yaoyorozu was kidnapped by the League."

For a moment, the UA teachers just sat there in grim silence.

"Do we have any idea on young Yaoyorozu's whereabouts yet?" Ectoplasm eventually asked.

"Not yet," Nezu shook his head. "Though the police are currently engaged in a widespread search for any leads, and her parents have brought their own immense resources to bear, hiring a number of private investigators."

None of the teachers failed to note how the principal shivered when mentioning the Yaoyorozu's. They all knew that the wealthy couple had been in to see the principal earlier that day.

They didn't know what had been said during that encounter, but it was safe to assume the two had done more than threaten to cease the generous donations they regularly made to UA if their daughter wasn't found safe and sound soon.

"The media's going to have an absolute field day over this," Midnight remarked.

"Are they wrong to?" Snipe asked. "First the USJ and now this? If I had a youngin' attending UA, I'd be worried myself."

"To be fair," Present Mic said, "we knew that All Might was the League's target at the USJ attack, and that was part of why he didn't go to the training camp. We had no reason to believe the League would attack UA when All Might was removed from the equation."

"Where is the great oaf, anyway?" Aizawa grumbled. "Couldn't find the time in his busy schedule to grace this emergency meeting with his presence?"

"All Might is reaching out to his contacts in the police department and his other associates to try and speed the investigation into the location of the League's hideout," Nezu answered. "I gave him my permission to miss this meeting so he could do so."

Aizawa made a face like he'd bitten into a lemon but didn't try to argue with the principal about it.

"So, what are we to do now, other than increase security?" Cementoss asked.

"The first priority, of course, will be ensuring the recovery of Ms. Yaoyorozu," Nezu replied. "While I don't expect it, if any of your services are requested for either the investigation or a rescue mission, I fully intend to agree, so be ready for that."

The teachers nodded. Technically Nezu couldn't actually order them to participate in that sort of mission; it was entirely outside of the scope of their jobs as teachers, even hero school teachers. However, none of them were about to make an issue out of it at a time like this.

"Assuming Ms. Yaoyorozu is retrieved in good time and unharmed, I intend to press for the dorms again, so we can keep the students under our protection full time," Nezu added.

"That could be a hard sell, considering the students were under our protection at both the USJ and the training camp," Cementoss pointed out.

"Perhaps, but my first concerns are about the students' safety, not with with PR or salesmanship," Nezu responded.

That means you're going to make persuading the students and their families somebody else's job,several of the teachers thought simultaneously.

"In the meantime, classes are canceled, but I'm having the first year students come in for sessions with Hound Dog," Nezu said.

"Not a bad idea," Kan said. "I know I'd be more than a little shaken if I'd endured what they all just did, as a first year hero student."

"Hey, I know it feels good to just say we're going to focus on the students and ignore PR and the media, but there's real world consequences to that," Midnight put in. "We need to address the public's concerns and criticisms somehow."

Nezu sighed. "I'll have to call a press conference at some point," he admitted. "But I want the option of using it as a distraction as a critical moment if needed, so I haven't scheduled one yet."

Midnight sighed. "That's going to let UA's detractors set the narrative," she warned.

"A positive outcome from this debacle will do more for the school's reputation than any press conference we might call now," Nezu insisted. "Now, those of you who have agencies with an investigative arm, I suggest you direct whatever resources you can spare toward finding where the League has Ms. Yaoyorozu."

Izuku never would've said so, but while he understood why the school had mandated it, he really felt like the session with UA's in-house counselor was a waste of time.

He really wasn't in any kind of mood to talk about the ordeal at the camp, desperately wanting to dosomething about the situation instead. Even if he did have a desire to discuss his feelings about the attack and Momo being kidnapped, he would've preferred to speak to Mogo about it instead.

It probably said a lot for the sentient planet's skill at being a therapist that Izuku would prefer him to a human counselor, though then again, Mogo's speech didn't devolve into barks and growls whenever a particularly distressing topic came up, forcing him to spend a couple of minutes chewing a piece of rawhide to calm down...

Of course, he couldn't exactly decline the session on the grounds that he already had someone he could talk to such things about a few million light years away, so he'd gone, and he'd tried to say all the "right" things to Hound Dog.

Eventually, the canine hero had declared the session over, though adding that Izuku was more than welcome to schedule another session with him if he wanted. Izuku politely thanked him and tried to make good his escape.

"Oh, one more thing, Midoriya," Hound Dog said before he could. "All Might told me he'd like a word with you. He's currently alone in the north teacher's lounge."

Izuku blinked. "Oh, uh, okay then, thanks, I'll go see him now."

"You don't have any idea?" All Might asked, not able to hide his disappointment as he held his phone to his ear.

"I wish I could say otherwise, but no," a clearly exhausted Tsukauchi answered. "Perhaps if the chief hadn't pulled me off searching for the League to go after the Meta Liberation Army, we'd already have some idea as to where their hideout is, but as it is, I can't even confidently tell you which prefecture we think they're based out of."

"That's...that's not the news I was hoping to hear, old friend," All Might said, voice cracking.

"Are you okay, All Might?" the detective asked.

The pro hero, currently in his scrawny form, sighed heavily. "I just...I should've been there!" he said, balling one bony hand into a fist. "While my students were fighting for their lives, I was enjoying a hot bath, completely oblivious! The whole reason I became a hero was so I wouldn't be helpless to do anything while awful things happened!"

Tsukauchi was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Toshinori," he said. "Believe me, the police force is throwing everything it has at this investigation. It'll be a real embarrassment if it comes out that our focus on the MLA caused us to fail against the League, and the top brass around here is determined to avoid that."

They weren't exactly the comforting words he wanted, but it was probably the best his old friend could give him, and they were more than he had a right to expect from the chronically overworked cop.

"Thank you," he said. "I'll let you get back to your work now."

"I'll let you know as soon as we have a lead," Tsukauchi vowed.

"And I'll be ready to act as soon as we have a target," All Might pledged.

They ended the call, the pro hero's phone pinging almost immediately to notify him of a text.

Hound Dog: Midoriya's headed your way.

All Might tapped out a quick message thanking the canine hero, then set about the task of heating up some water for a quick couple of cups of tea.

A tap on the door sounded just as he was setting the cups down on the coffee table. "Come in, young Midoriya."

The green haired young man entered, a weariness in his eyes that the old pro understood all too well.

"Thank you for joining me," All Might said. "I'd ask you how you're doing, but that would be a pretty dumb question, wouldn't it?"

"I...yeah, I guess it would," Midoriya replied, something at least akin to gratitude in his eyes.

All Might gave him a wan smile. "Try not to think too poorly of people who ask those sorts of dumb questions," he advised. "Most people don't know what to do when things get bad, so they default to normal pleasantries, even though they're obviously silly in the face of disaster. Have some tea." He added.

"Thanks," Midoriya said, picking up the steaming mug. "And I'll try not to."

All Might nodded. "At the risk of repeating things Hound Dog's already said to you, I want to tell you that young Yaoyorozu's kidnapping was not your fault. From everything I've heard, you performed brilliantly, and the villains were very clever there. Not even the number one hero succeeds in saving everyone he sets out to save, believe me. In any case, the teachers and heroes present, not you, were responsible for the safety of you and your fellow students."

"Thanks," Midoriya replied, then he chuckled weakly.

"Something I said funny?" All Might asked, making sure to have no heat in his voice.

The hero student shook his head. "No, it's just, I grew up such a huge fan of yours. Under any other circumstances, I'd be thrilled at hearing you say I did good against villains."

"But you can't take pleasure in such things when someone you care for deeply is in danger," All Might said.

Young Midoriya blinked at him.

"I never allowed myself to become attached to a romantic partner, but that doesn't mean I don't or didn't have people I care deeply about," All Might said.

The hero student nodded then gazed down into his teacup.

"I don't want to give you false hope," All Might said, "but I can assure you that a lot of very dedicated, talented, and hardworking people are giving it their all to find where the League of Villains is keeping young Yaoyorozu. If it's possible to locate and free her, it'll be done."

Midoriya was silent for a moment after that. All Might suspected he merely didn't know what to say, but then the young man proved him wrong.

"Thank you," he said. "But I'm going to find her, and I'm going to go rescue her as soon as I do."

Blue, shadowed eyes blinked. "What?"

Midoriya raised a hand, and the viridian ring that he'd shown the number one hero months ago (had it really only been a few months?) shimmered into view.

"My ring is scanning all of Nippon in search of Momo right now, and it'll scan the whole world if it has to," Midoriya said. "Once it finds her, I'm going right to her."

"But you don't have a pro hero license," All Might blurted out.

"I don't care," Midoriya snapped.

The young man visibly regretted his outburst as soon as the words left his mouth.

"I'm sorry, All Might," he said, jumping to his feet and bowing. "I didn't mean to be short with you."

"It's quite all right, young Midoriya. I know all too well that nobody's at their best when someone they care is in peril and they can't help them," the pro hero assured him, gesturing for him to sit down again, which the student did. "And believe me, I'm not objecting to your intentions out of some slavish adherence to the rules, but if you confront villains yourself, your pro hero career could easily be over before it begins. It's even possible you could be arrested for vigilantism."

"I know," Midoriya said. "But at the end of the day, I'm empowered by a higher authority than the HPSC or even the WHA, and I won't just sit around while Momo's in danger when I can save her, even if it might have consequences for me."

Another person, someone who was less acquainted with pro heroes and the types of people who passionately pursued that career, might've tried to talk Midoriya out of it. But All Might knew the determined gleam in the student's green eyes all too well; he was sure he'd sported it himself, more than once. He was very familiar with the determination, the need, to save someone, and damn all the potential repercussions.

As the number one hero and vaunted Symbol of Peace, he was usually rewarded for acting on that kind of determination, but he knew all too well that young Midoriya wouldn't be. At the same time, he was all too aware how futile trying to deter him would be, not to mention how spectacularly intense the HPSC's freak out would be if Midoriya both revealed the existence of his extraterrestrial benefactors and claimed their authority overrode that of the HPSC itself.

Thankfully, he had a way of cutting this particular Gordian Knot.

"Then may I suggest not going alone to fight the villains when the time comes?" All Might asked. "Let me come with you. If things go well, we can rescue young Yaoyorozu without anyone ever knowing you were there. And if things don't go quite so well, I'll say I gave you permission to use your Quirk and handle the blowback."

"What?" Midoriya asked, taken aback. "But why...?"

"Aside from the fact that young Yaoyorozu is my student as well, and I'm a pro hero?" All Might asked, showing just a hint of amusement before turning serious. "I have good reason to believe that the true mastermind behind the League is an old enemy of mine."

He refrained from saying that it was the Quirk thief; the last thing young Midoriya needed was to worry about his girlfriend potentially losing her incredible Quirk to All for One, on top of all his other concerns.

"So, uh, how exactly would that work?" Midoriya asked, to All Might's relief.

"The moment your ring detects young Yaoyorozu, contact me," the pro hero answered. "We'll go to the League's hideout together. You get her out of there as soon as you can, and I'll handle any remaining fighting."

"And if, um, you have trouble against the villains and Momo's still in danger?" Midoriya asked.

"I'll make sure it doesn't come to that," All Might pledged. "But if it does, then you do what you need to do." He added, fearing he'd lose the young man if he didn't make that concession.

"I...okay," Midoriya nodded. "Thank you, All Might."

"Thank you, young Midoriya, for trusting me with your plans," the big hero said.

Izuku left the teacher's lounge feeling oddly drained by the intense conversation with All Might, yet guiltily relieved that an experienced pro hero had agreed to help him resume Momo. He never would've hesitated to rescue her on his own, regardless of the cost, but it was good to feel like he wasn't alone.

In any case, at this point, he just wanted to go home and try to get a little rest while he waited for the ring to finally locate Momo. As impossible as that felt at the moment, he knew he needed to be as fresh as he could be when the time finally came.

He thought he was about to finally make good his escape, too, when he was intercepted by one of the last people he ever would've expected.

"Midoriya," Todoroki called, approaching him just as he was nearing the UA barrier.

He blinked, surprised both to see the other hero student and that he was not only giving him the time of day but had apparently sought him out.

"Todoroki, hello," Izuku replied. "I didn't know you were scheduled for a session with Hound Dog today."

The boy with the two-toned hair nodded. "Yes. My session was actually earlier, but when I heard you were also scheduled for today, I stuck around after I was finished," he said. "I thought I had missed you for a while, when I realized that you were done with Hound Dog."

Izuku's eyebrows rose. "You were waiting for me?"

He and Todoroki weren't exactly friends. Indeed, ever since the other hero student had rebuffed his offers of help during the Sports Festival, Todoroki had been staunchly cold and stand offish to Izuku in particular.

"Yes," Todoroki answered, as though there was nothing strange about that. "I'm...sorry about what happened with Yaoyorozu."

"I, um, thanks," Izuku said awkwardly, taken completely off guard at this unexpected expression of sympathy.

"You're planning to try and rescue her yourself, aren't you?" Todoroki asked.

Izuku recoiled, really taken aback now. He just barely stopped himself from blurting out, "How did you know?" and giving his intentions away.

"Wha-what makes you think that?" he stammered out instead.

"You're the type," Todoroki said, like he was conveying a fact as self-evident and undeniable as the wetness of water. "I'm not criticizing you for it. I waited here for you to offer to help you when I do."

That one threw Izuku for even more of a loop. If what Todoroki had said before was surprising, this was completely, utterly out of left field, totally alien from what he would've ever expected.

He almost stammered out some generic words of gratitude and walked off before the obvious question occurred to him despite how he was mentally reeling.

"Why?" Izuku asked, eyes narrowing.

"What?" Todoroki asked, looking confused.

"Why?" Izuku repeated. "You haven't wanted anything to do with any of the rest of the class, least of all me, and now you're volunteering to go on a dangerous, illegal rescue mission with me? Totally unprompted? That makes no sense, so I want to know why you're doing it."

The other hero student hesitated, not saying anything.

"Todoroki," Izuku said.

The boy with the two-toned hair looked more distraught than Izuku had ever seen him before, even compared to the time he'd created the Endeavor construct during the battle trials. Izuku wouldn't have been surprised if he was about to be sick.

Finally, Todoroki gestured toward the front gates, and Izuku nodded, realizing immediately he wanted to avoid any chance of being observed by UA's formidable surveillance systems.

The green haired hero student could only wonder what he could be worried about revealing to the school when he'd been willing to propose illegal Quirk usage and vigilantism inside UA's walls.

The two exited via a concealed side entrance, avoiding the crowd of paparazzi camped out by the main entrance to the UA barrier. Izuku followed Todoroki a good hundred meters from the perimeter of campus, looking at him expectantly when he finally stopped.

"Shigaraki came and spoke to me at the mall," the boy with the two-toned hair finally blurted out.

"What?" Izuku hissed.

"It was when the whole class went to pick up stuff for the summer camp," Todoroki explained in a rush. "He just came out of the crowd and put his arm around me, pretending to be a hero fan. Then he was threatening to use his Quirk to kill me and a large number of civilians if I didn't agree to have a talk with him."

Izuku felt like he could barely keep up with these revelations. "He just showed up at the mall to have a talk with you?" he asked incredulously. "About what? And why?"

"He said he wanted to speak to me because I knew that all heroes aren't perfect, and he went on about Stain and needing to make people fear the League," Todoroki answered, words still rapidly pouring from the usually taciturn student.

"So, let me get this straight," Izuku said. "The leader of the League of Villains ambushed you in the mall to talk to you and you didn't tell anybody about it?"

"I...I didn't think it would make a difference," Todoroki stammered. "That all it would lead to is my father telling me I should've used his fire somehow."

"Didn't think it would make a difference?" Izuku growled. "Everyone assumed the League only cared about attacking All Might! The school probably would've taken more precautions if they knew the League was interested in our class specifically! Momo might still be here if you had just said something!"

He abruptly realized that he was shouting and had grabbed a fistful of Todoroki's shirt. Izuku released his grip and took a step back. The other hero student looked at him with wide eyes.

Izuku shook his head. "I...I don't have the bandwidth to deal with you right now," he proclaimed, then began to stomp away, determined to finally make his way home.

"Are you going to tell the school about this?" Todoroki asked in a small voice.

"I'll figure it out after Momo gets free from the League," was Izuku's terse reply.

He knew he was consigning Todoroki to no small amount of anxiety, but he just couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. Izuku was so furious that it was all he could to stop himself from lashing out in one way or another in his anger.

The ring couldn't locate Momo soon enough.

Momo had quickly realized that the members of the League didn't guard her very closely.

Not all of her jailers were lax, of course. The mist villain, Kurogiri, would dutifully stand in the room with her, silent as a statue unless she spoke to him or he was bringing her food and water. Toga would also remain nearby and stay alert the whole time, usually talking Momo's ear off with conversation that could've passed for stereotypical teenage girl gossiping if not for the dark and seemingly psychopathic twists about stabbing people and drinking their blood that the one-side conversations frequently took.

However, the flame villain Dabi obviously viewed the job of guarding her as an obnoxious chore and often didn't bother staying in the room with her, and the masked Mr. Compress seemed to feel much the same, though he was less loud and angry about it. Twice was clearly too disturbed to focus on the task of keeping an eye on her if he'd wanted to, often focusing on having drawn out arguments with himself instead, and Shigaraki would usually plop down in a chair and play with a handheld gaming system, ignoring her entirely.

It didn't help that several of their number had been captured at the camp. Momo suspected that Shigaraki wouldn't be taking a turn at guard duty at all if that wasn't the case.

In any event, it all meant that there were long periods where nobody was paying her very much attention, just leaving her tied up to a chair all the time, except for the moments when one of them would allow her to use the restroom.

More importantly, it meant they weren't terribly scrupulous about administering a fresh dose of whatever sedative they had been giving her since they'd captured her on time.

Which was why, only a couple of days after she'd been kidnapped, Momo saw a chance to make her move.

With a great deal of mental effort, she managed to activate Creation from her upper lip, creating a small amount of certain chemical she'd memorized the formula of for an emergency. She lapped at it with her tongue, grimacing at the awful taste.

A moment later, her eyes widened as she felt like the fog inside her brain was forcefully burned away, leaving her clearheaded for what seemed like the first time in an eternity.

At the same time, her heartbeat rapidly began to accelerate, until it was hammering at a rate that she would've found extremely alarming if she didn't know why it was racing like that.

Indeed, even though she did know, she still would've been alarmed if not for the next step in her plan.

She activated Creation again, and this time every visible patch of skin on her body glowed with the light of her Quirk, but nothing was made.

Or at least, nothing visible.

When it came to harmlessly neutralizing people quickly and effectively, nothing beat Midnight's Somnambulist gas, but she'd suspected there would be situations that called for something more subtle.

Momo felt her heart rate slowing to something much more normal as the gaseous sedative she was creating partially counteracted the stimulant she'd made. She countered to fifty, then stopped Creating the gas. Then she counted to one hundred, part of her expecting an enraged villain to burst into the room at any moment.

Activating Creation again, she formed a couple of small but wickedly sharp blades from her forearms, using them to cut the ropes that bound her to the chair. Freed, she got up, grimacing at the stiffness from being forced to sit for hours on end with barely any reprieve.

The door was locked, but it was just the cheap lock built into a doorknob designed for interior doors. Momo created a pin and was able to jimmy it open in less than a minute.

She had been kept to two rooms since she'd awoken in the League's hideout—the one where they'd been holding her and an adjoining bathroom they allowed her to use occasionally—so she had no idea how to navigate the place. Finding herself in a drab gray hallway, she randomly picked a direction, desperately hoping that all the members of the League were unconscious, or at least that she found an exit before she encountered one who was awake.

The heiress quickly found herself in the main room of what was clearly a bar. Kurogiri was collapsed on the floor behind the counter while Shigaraki was passed out with his head on the counter itself. She briefly considered stopping to restrain them, but quickly decided that escaping this place had to be her top priority. Once she had made her way to safety, she could worry about sending the authorities here.

Also, the almost painful pounding of her heart, which the stimulant had nothing to do with, demanded she get out as soon as possible.

There were no windows in the room, obnoxiously enough, but there was an exit sign indicating the way out, the glowing red letters promising salvation. Trying to balance stealth and speed, Momo followed it, finding herself in a slightly less drab hallway.

Another exit sign pointed the way. Surely, this had to be it. She desperately hoped the League didn't have anyone outside guarding the door, or that she'd be able to take them out if so. She headed toward the door as quickly as she dared.

She gasped as it opened an instant before she could touch the handle, and she found herself face to face with a towering man in a dark suit, a black metallic helmet that looked vaguely like a skull covering his whole head.

Strong but gnarled hands reached out and gripped her shoulders, and Momo abruptly felt her whole body go completely rigid, refusing to move. The effect of a Quirk, no doubt.

"Well, well, it seems you're even more impressive than I'd believed, Ms. Yaoyorozu," the man said. "After I see what you've done to Tomura and his friends to get this far, why don't you and I have a little chat?"

Chapter 52: Rescue

"I'm home," Izuku announced as he entered the apartment, after what had felt like an eternity at UA.

"Welcome home, dear," Inko said to him. "Dinner will be ready in a few hours."

"Thanks, Mom," Izuku replied.

Eri knew that her big brother had been upset ever since he'd come back from that school camp, even though he still smiled at her. The smiles didn't reach his eyes the way they had before, and they had a strained look, like he was trying too hard. The way he moved reminded her of how some of Overhaul's men would sometimes; like he had all this extra energy from being upset and didn't know what to do with it, so he went too fast sometimes.

She had been happy at first when he'd come home from camp early, but then Mama Inko had told her that something bad had happened there, and Yaoyorozu had been taken by villains.

Eri didn't know Yaoyorozu very well, but she'd been nice to her when she'd come over and had made Eri toys, including her most favorite doll of her big brother in his hero costume. More importantly, she made big brother happy, so Eri really hoped that the villains who had Yaoyorozu right now weren't doing the kind of things to her that Overhaul had done to Eri.

Somehow, Eri didn't think it would be a good idea to say that to her big brother, though.

She watched as he sat down on the couch and turned on the news, but he didn't really seem to be watching the TV.

Making up her mind, Eri got up onto the couch herself, then moved to get into big brother's lap.

She wouldn't have dared to try anything like this with one of Overhaul's men. Eri never tried to sit in their laps, of course, but she tried to avoid getting their attention at all when she saw they had that angry energy to their movements, knowing how quickly and easily it could get turned on her. But with big brother, she knew he would never hurt her.

Izuku automatically moved to pull her onto his lap. He was a lot more solid than Mama Inko, but he was just as warm, and she always felt safe when he put his arms around her. Nobody could possibly hurt her when Izuku was there, not even Overhaul.

"Big brother?"

He blinked. "Yes, Eri?"

"I'm sorry about Yaoyorozu," she said softly. "I'm sure she'll be okay, though! You're always talking about how smart and strong she is!"

Izuku blinked again, then his grip on Eri tightened a little bit, but not nearly so much that it hurt. "Thank you, Eri," he said softly.

"If it helps, you can borrow the dolls she made for me," the white haired child offered. "To remind you of her." She added quietly.

Izuku's eyes got all teary. "Thank you, Eri," he said, sniffing. "That means a lot to me, but you can keep them."

"Okay," she replied. "Is...is there anything I can do to help?"

"You're doing it right now," Izuku said, which Eri didn't really understand. "But if I think of anything else, I'll let you know."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he nodded.

They sat like that for a while, big brother holding her tightly and Eri just hoping it was making him feel a little better.

Eri was starting to wonder if dinnertime was soon when that green ring that Izuku sometimes wore around the apartment blinked, shining green light out for a second.

He tensed, then gently set Eri down on the couch next to himself. She didn't know why, but he seemed different than before, less sad.

"Excuse me, Eri," he said. "My after school job is calling me."

The villain who'd intercepted Momo's escape had quickly located the unconscious members of the League, growing some sort of energy tendrils from his back and using them to pick them up and place them into their beds without ever releasing his grip on the UA student, who could only wonder how the man could use a paralysis Quirk and that Quirk as well.

Unless...was he somehow involved with the Nomu creature and its apparent ability to gain a new Quirk after every battle? Did this man actually have multiple Quirks?

He deposited her back in the chair where the League had been keeping her, his tendril arms tying her up, then finally he released her, the effect of the paralysis Quirk abruptly ceasing.

"Ugh," she grunted.

"Before we begin, Ms. Yaoyorozu, let me just say that I won't be holding your escape attempt against you," the villain said. "In fact, I confess I'm quite impressed by how close you came to succeeding."

"Very magnanimous of you," Momo said sardonically. "But you have me at a disadvantage, as you clearly know who I am. I take it you're Shigaraki's mysterious Sensei?"

"Indeed," the villain agreed. "But most people refer to me by the name of my Quirk: All for One."

"All for One?" she echoed. For some reason, the name seemed very ominous.

"Indeed," the villain nodded. "It's so much more dignified than 'the Quirk Thief.' "

"The Quirk Thief?!" she exclaimed. Momo had heard rumors of such before, but they had been tales akin to those of the boogeyman or ghosts: something children used to scare each other, not a threat to be taken seriously. "Wait, does that mean...?"

He nodded. "Yes, my Quirk gives me the ability to take Quirks from people, and give them to others, if I so desire."

Momo's eyes widened in horror, and she felt like her chest was suddenly full of ice water. Was he going to take Creation from her? What would become of her if she lost the Quirk she had spent countless hours across her life studying and training to master? She wasn't like Izuku; despite what he might claim, she wasn't so amazing that she could be a hero without her Quirk. She needed Creation! Even if she didn't, it had been with her for almost as long as she could remember. It was such an integral part of her, that the thought of having it ripped away was nothing short of terrifying.

"Relax, Ms. Yaoyorozu, I have no intention of taking your Quirk away from you," All for One said.

It took all of Momo's willpower not to sag in relief.

"As mighty as Creation potentially is, it's obvious that it needs to be paired with an especially keen mind in order to reach that potential," All for One said. "Young Tomura doesn't have the correct disposition, and while I potentially could use it, my efforts are better spent elsewhere."

"Then why did you go to all the trouble of abducting me?" she asked.

"That power of yours is completely wasted on a hero," the villain said.

"What?" she frowned.

"I can only imagine how careful you need to be with Creation to avoid causing damage, how many things are restricted to you because of the path you've chosen," All for One said. "Whereas, if you were a villain, those restrictions would simply vanish. You could so easily be one of the greats. The world would tremble at a villain who could create a nuclear device or nerve gas on demand. Even if you wanted to avoid such violence, you could still wreck so much devastation from the safety and comfort of your headquarters. Flooding the country with counterfeit money that's indistinguishable from the real thing, single-handedly destroying the diamond market. Yes, Creation is truly wasted on a hero."

"Are you trying to recruit me?" Momo asked incredulously. "Why on earth do you think I'd ever join you?"

"Why indeed?" he chuckled. "I admit, you're quite different from the typical member of the League. Born to wealth, with an incredible Quirk and the intellect needed to properly wield it. No mutations that would cause you to face discrimination, and accepted to UA on recommendation. And your touched life has continued unabated since you've started there. Thanks to your performance in the Sports Festival, the country views you as a future top ten pro hero in waiting, an elite among elite students. Certainly not the type of person rejected by society who's usually vulnerable to my recruitment pitch."

"Then why did you pick me?" she asked. "For that matter, why not Izu—Midoriya? He was the one who won the festival, after all. I only came in second."

"His Quirk is powerful, but the fact that what he creates with it doesn't persist makes its utility limited," All for One practically scoffed. "I have acquired many Quirks that are formidable on the battlefield. Despite the spectacular displays his power is capable of, it's nothing special compared to yours."

You are so wrong about that, Momo thought, and despite how dire the situation was, she had to suppress a smirk.

"But we're getting away from the topic at hand," All for One said. "I'll be the first to admit that our superhuman society has given you no reason to reject it so far...but what if I told you that only a small change could make things very different?"

"What?" she frowned.

"One of the many Quirks I've acquired over the years is called 'What If?'," he said. "Allow me to demonstrate it." He added, placing one huge hand on the top of her head.

Momo gasped.

She knew that Tokoyami would be a tough opponent.

If she was allowed prep time or an environment she could potentially exploit, it would've been less of a problem, but the tournament format of the Sports Festival's final event didn't favor her and her Quirk.

(She ignored the odd tingle at the back of her mind that said the festival had happened weeks ago, and this match hadn't occurred.)

She'd just have to make the best of it and hope she was able to make a good showing of it. After Mineta hitching a ride with her in the obstacle race had resulted in her lackluster ranking there, and the embarrassing debacle with the cheerleader outfits, it was her last chance to make a good impression on any pro heroes who might be watching.

"And...begin!" Midnight shouted.

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami said, and immediately the inky Quirk spirit burst out from behind him and streaked toward her.

Not enough time! I can probably manage a shield!She thought, activating Creation, the metal barrier appearing on her arm.

(That felt...strangely basic for some reason. She had the nagging sense she should have more techniques up her sleeve.)

Dark Shadow slammed against her shield with shocking force, sending her staggering.

"Sorry, Yaoyorozu!" Dark Shadow said, even as he came in for another blow.

She raised her shield again, grimacing at the bone-jarring force the impact sent through her entire body.

She needed to do something! What did she have time to create that would at least slow down Dark Shadow?

Klang!

She released a grunt of pain as she was knocked even closer to the edge of the ring, but she barely registered it. Her mind was racing faster and faster as she tried to come up with a solution, but she could feel herself verging on sheer panic at this situation, brain threatening to stop running through potential solutions and just lock up instead.

I can't lose here! Not like this!

She had to at least make a decent showing of this! It was her debut to the wider world of professional heroics! She couldn't let it end like--!

Klang!

She released a yelp as the blow sent her flying, landing outside of the ring.

"Yaoyorozu is out of bounds!" Midnight announced. "Tokoyami advances to the next round!"

Momo returned to the real world with a gasp, her head spinning as she panted, taking in great lungfuls of air.

That vision had been so much more real than even the most vivid dream she'd ever had. She could recall the burning feeling of humiliation from knowing she'd done poorly for the whole world to see all too clearly. Indeed, despite it having ended, she found that she had to keep reminding herself of what had actually occurred. It felt like she was in danger of forgetting which version of the recent past was true if she wasn't careful about it.

"And that was just a taste of how poorly things could be going for you," All for One said, and though that black helmet covered his whole head, the smirk was clear in his voice. "Would you care to see a bit more?"

"N—!"

She didn't even get a single syllable out before he activated that Quirk again.

This time it was a rapid fire series of much briefer scenes she found herself plunged into, one after the other. Some of them felt less like being dropped into another version of her own life than just a brief blast of emotion.

She saw herself with what seemed like a painfully short list of offers for work studies but feeling a spark of hope when she saw Uwabami, a heroine who was fairly high in the pro hero charts, had extended her an offer.

Then she saw that spark of hope doused when Uwabami used her and Kendo as backup models in a TV commercial. She tried to convince herself that it was useful knowledge she was gaining, desperate for her work study to not be useless, but in her heart of hearts she knew she was merely being used as a pretty prop.

She saw herself having to endure what felt like an endless number of incidents of harassment from an unafraid Mineta, the feelings of disgust that those invoked becoming all too common a companion to her.

She remembered feeling so inadequate and foolish, not daring to even think about being able to help her classmates prep for the practical part of exams, and wondering why she had ever been confident in her abilities.

And she recalled feeling like a part of her that she was too restrained to let out wanting to scream that all UA seemed to be doing was exposing her weaknesses but not lifting a finger to help her address any of them.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Momo again awoke, returning to the existence where none of that had occurred.

Her heart was hammering again, and a stray part of her mind wondered if she'd develop some kind of cardiac issue if All for One kept this up for much longer.

"Not very pleasant, is it?" the ancient villain asked her.

She merely glared at him in response.

"Did you notice the thread that connected all of that?" All for One asked. "The proverbial horseshoe nail that separated you and that other version of you?"

"Yes," she answered softly.

In that other life, she – the other Momo – hadn't been close to Izuku. He was still in her class, and they were cordial enough, but she wasn't even sure she would've called them friends. They certainly weren't dating, and they hadn't shared lunch after the first day of school, where he'd asked her if he could do the write-up on her Quirk that had proven so invaluable to her.

"Indeed," All for One didn't quite chortle. "Your little boyfriend. If not for him, you'd suffer one setback and one embarrassment after another. UA and this superhuman society wouldn't do a thing to arrest your completely needless free fall."

"So what?" she snapped. "Because I'd be doing much worse without my boyfriend, you expect me to turn into a villain and make myself into his enemy? If that's your plan, you're not half as intelligent as you seem to believe!"

"Oh, Ms. Yaoyorozu, you misunderstand," All for One chuckled. "I'm under no illusions that what I've shown you will be sufficient to turn you to my side. This was merely the opening act."

"You will join me by the time I'm through," the villain said. "The only question is how much of what makes you you will be left by then."

The heiress did her best not to audibly swallow at the sheer level of menace in the villain's voice.

"Be honored. I rarely bother going to this level of effort to recruit someone."

He reached toward her with one large hand.

A knock at the back door of the bar interrupted him just before he made contact with her.

"Pizza delivery!" a voice called from outside.

All for One sighed. "Don't tell me one of those idiots ordered takeout for delivery to the bar..." he muttered to himself before turning his attention back to the hero student. "Don't try anything. I'll be back in a moment."

He stepped away, and Momo found her dizzied, confused mind racing, wondering if she dared to attempt escape, and how she'd even best do that.

She was nowhere near a conclusion when what sounded like an explosion rocked the entire building.

Earlier...

When his personal cell phone went off in the evening after business hours, All Might at first assumed it was Tsukauchi calling him, hopefully to let him know the police had managed to discover the whereabouts of the League.

A quick glance at the caller ID proved him wrong, and sunken blue eyes widened.

"Hello, young Midoriya," he greeted, masking his surprise.

On some level, he hadn't truly believed the young man's ring would actually succeed in tracking down young Yaoyorozu before the authorities did, or perhaps he'd just hoped he wouldn't. He had almost forgotten that he'd given the hero student his personal mobile number.

"Hello, All Might. My ring was able to locate Momo. I have her coordinates," he replied, voice tight and determined.

The veteran pro hero could hear the words that Midoriya wasn't saying all too well.

Help me save her right now, or I'll do it alone.

"I'm dropping a pin at my location" All Might said as he tapped at his phone. "Give me fifteen minutes. I'll meet you on the roof, and we'll go right away."

"Right, see you soon," Midoriya said, ending the call.

With a heavy sigh, the pro hero reached into his closet, withdrawing his hero costume, and traded his civilian attire for it, putting in his radio earpiece automatically out of habit.

He tried, as he always did, to ignore how comically oversized the garment was on his pathetically withered frame.

With more than 13 minutes left until Midoriya was due to arrive – pro heroes learned how to suit up quickly – All Might picked up his cell phone again and scrolled through his short list of contacts, selecting one of the oldest entries.

The call connected after a single ring.

"Toshi?"

"Hey, Dave," All Might replied, automatically mustering a weak smile despite the fact that his old friend couldn't see him. "Sorry about the late call; I'm sure it's the middle of the night there."

"Actually, I-Island is practically a stone's throw away from Japan right now, so we're in the same time zone as you at the moment. In fact, I was planning to reach out to ask if you'd be able to pop by for a visit while we're so close," David Shield said. "But you know I'm always happy to take your calls."

"Ah, yes, thank you."

"What's this about, Toshi?" Dave asked. "You sound...grim."

"I'm off on a mission that, well, it's a bit more dangerous than normal," All Might said. "I guess I just wanted to thank you for being my friend. I never had a lot of people I was close to, and I'm glad you were one of them. I know I'm not the easiest person to be friends with."

"Toshi, you're scaring me. What mission are you about to do?" Dave asked.

"It doesn't matter. The life of a pro hero is dangerous. Even the most mundane day can be the last," the number one hero said philosophically. "Make sure Melissa knows her Uncle Might is very proud of her, if it comes to that."

"Toshi—"

"Gotta go, Dave," All Might said, abruptly ending the call.

He left his cell phone on the coffee table, then headed up to the roof of the apartment building.

The old pro was unsurprised when he saw a green light in the dimming sky only ten minutes after his phone call with young Midoriya had concluded.

"Hi, All Might," the hero student said somewhat awkwardly as he touched down on the roof. "Are you all right?"

The number one hero supposed that even for those who knew about his weak form, seeing it was still a little jarring, if it was a rare occurrence for them.

He called upon One for All, shifting to his muscle form in a puff of steam. "Just fine!" he said. "Lead the way, young Midoriya!"

The hero student nodded, then quickly took back to the air. With a practiced motion, he pushed off the roof of the building, leaping skywards after the glowing green young man.

"So, where is the League holding her?" All Might asked.

"Kamino ward in Yokohama," Midoriya answered. "The coordinates correspond with the address of a bar downtown."

"I suppose it's better than the stereotypical abandoned warehouse," All Might grunted, trying for a little dry levity.

"I don't care where they are," Midoriya replied, the coiled tension of someone who'd had no outlet for his anxiety for far too long practically radiating off of him. "They could be on the Moon and they couldn't get away from me."

"Remember the plan, young Midoriya," All Might cautioned him, adjusting his path through the air with a super powered snap of his fingers, almost without thought. "I understand how much you must want to trade blows with the League right now, but once we find young Yaoyorozu, grab her and get out. Leave any remaining fighting to me. Getting her to safety is your top priority, and she wouldn't want you to risk damaging your future prospects so you can give the villains an extra emerald smash."

"I understand," Midoriya said. He clearly wasn't happy about it, but he understood.

All Might supposed invoking both young Yaoyorozu's safety and her likely desires had been a tad low of him, but he was determined to keep young Midoriya out of the crossfire tonight as much as possible.

It wasn't long before the two arrived at their destination, with the pro hero and the Green Lantern touching down on the rooftop of a building across the street.

The bar looked like any number of seedy establishments that existed all over the place, though it seemed a bit more well maintained than most of the ones All Might had seen in his days. There was no sign identifying the name of the place, though a currently dark neon sign of a beer mug, plus multiple posters advertising various types of liquor, made it obvious that it was a bar.

It was exactly the sort of hole in the wall that villains liked to frequent, though actually being based out of such a place was relatively unusual.

"How are we going to get in?" young Midoriya asked.

"Nothing like the direct approach," All Might replied.

With a single bound, he leaped from the rooftop to the street. Avoiding the front entrance, he ducked into a nearby alleyway, soon locating a side door. The towering pro knocked, rapping his knuckles smartly against the door. "Pizza delivery!" he shouted, doing his best to sound like anyone other than himself.

If the stakes were lower, he probably would've laughed at the way young Midoriya's eyes bugged out at the audacity.

There was a long moment of silence, nearly enough to make All Might conclude that the villains were either ignoring the knock or that nobody had heard him, but the sound of approaching footsteps from inside came just before he could decide to either break down the door or find another way in.

The door abruptly swung open, and hero and hero student found themselves face to face with a huge man in a dark suit, an elaborate helmet of black metal with an imprint meant to suggest a skull on him.

"You?!" both All Might and One for All exclaimed simultaneously, neither having expected the other one to be at the door.

The two old enemies might've stared at each other in shock for a couple more seconds, but the moment was interrupted when a green fist slammed into All for One's head with enough force to crumple the metal of the helmet and send the villain flying.

All for One crashed through a nearby wall, bits of wood and plaster joining him in the air, and went careening into the main bar room. The villain tried to scramble to his feet, but what seemed like thousands of jade tendrils wrapped around him as an emerald Best Jeanist lifted him off the ground and then hurled him into the shelves of alcohol against the far wall, bottles falling and glass shattering left and right in a cacophony of noise.

"You--!" the villain growled.

A green Mirko kicked All for One in the head, severely denting the already damaged helm of black metal the villain wore and sending him flying right into the viridian fist of Death Arms. A green Ingenium administered a roundhouse kick before All for One could hit the ground. The towering crime lord finally came for a landing in the center of the bar, knocking tables and chairs in all directions as he went.

However, the relentless assault that the Green Lantern was dealing out still didn't end. A small cluster of glowing green Ectoplasms roughly pulled One for All to his feet, just in time for a jade Star and Stripe to deliver a titanic punch right to the villain's gut.

For a long moment, All Might could only watch with a combination of amazement and shock as a hero student who hadn't even finished his first year mercilessly waled on the most dangerous villain the world had ever known, luminous doppelgangers of pro heroes materializing and vanishing with amazing fluidity as they took turns assaulting their foe, not even giving him a moment to rally.

All Might had always viewed the final takedown of All for One as something he would need to do alone, or else something a future bearer of One for All would need to do alone, should he fail.

After all, while there were any number of powerful pro heroes who'd happily fight by his side against the ancient villain, bringing allies with him in the fight against All for One had always seemed too great of a risk. An already fearsome battle could easily become hopeless if All for One were to successfully steal the Quirk of a top pro hero in the middle of it; All Might could only shudder at the thought of his old nemesis suddenly having access to New Order, for instance.

Yet though he didn't realize it, All for One couldn'ttake young Midoriya's power, because it wasn't a Quirk. Not only that, but Midoriya's power ring, combined with the young man's incredible willpower and encyclopedic knowledge of pros, meant that he essentially brought a small army of heroes into battle with him, if he desired.

All without the slightest risk of allowing the infamous Quirk Thief to obtain a new power.

It looked like young Midoriya had had a weapon just as capable of taking down All for One as One for All all along.

Yet he was still a student, and All Might couldn't allow one of his students to take this burden, especially not when another student was still in danger.

"Young Midoriya!" he shouted, even as a swarm of jade feathers from Green Hawks and glowing viridian rings from Green Majestic assaulted the villain. "Find Yaoyorozu and get to safety! Leave this scum to me!"

For a split second, defiance flashed in the hero student's glowing green eyes. He finally had an outlet for all the anxiety that had been boiling inside of him since the camp, and he wanted to release it all upon the villain.

Then the moment passed, and he nodded. "Ring, lead me to Momo," he commanded.

A string of green light burst forth from the hero student's power ring, then darted into a doorway leading to the back. The Green Lantern quickly followed it, vanishing from view.

Despite the incredible assault he'd just endured, All for One started struggling to his feet almost immediately. The once skull-like helmet he wore was so mangled and lumpy that there was no trace of the previous design, and the internal mechanisms were releasing grinding, scraping noises. His once immaculate suit was torn, ripped, stained with spilled alcohol, and even burned in some places.

"Done doing your best ragdoll impression?" All Might taunted, clenching one massive fist.

"You made a mistake letting the boy go, All Might," All for One growled.

"Let's test that," the number one hero said.

The bar really wasn't that big, and Izuku moved fastthrough its cramped back hallways, or at least as fast as he could through the confined space. Still, the couple of seconds it took him to reach his destination felt much, much too long.

He burst into the room the ring led him to, which was little more than a biggish closet where Momo sat, bound to a chair.

"Izuku?!" she exclaimed, onyx eyes widening at the sight of him.

His girlfriend was still wearing the clothes she'd had on when she'd been abducted, which by now were dirty, damaged, and rumpled. It was clear she hadn't been allowed a shower since then, and her hair was a complete mess.

Izuku didn't think she'd ever looked more beautiful than she did right now.

He almost moved immediately to free her, then halted. "Ring, confirm this is really Momo and not a duplicate created by a Quirk or something."

"Confirmed."

He felt like he could've collapsed with relief, if the situation wasn't still so dangerous. Green blades suddenly appeared in the air and began to cut her bonds.

"Izuku, what are you doing here?" Momo asked, even as she used her Quirk to create her own blades from her limbs to help cut the ropes. "How are you here?"

"My ring found you. I came with All Might," he answered.

"You came here with All Might?" she exclaimed.

"Long story," he said as the ropes started falling off of her. "I'll tell you all about it later. We need to get out of here."

He pointed his ring against the far wall and released a blast of emerald light, punching through the side of the building and creating an impromptu exit into the alleyway outside.

"Let's go," he said, taking her hand as she rose to her feet, and the two dashed to freedom.

Outside in the alleyway, Izuku scooped her up into his arms in a princess carry and took to the air, darting over to the building where he and All Might had surveyed the bar from only a few minutes ago, coming in for a landing on the roof.

It was only when they were behind an AC unit and out of sight of anyone in the bar that Izuku allowed himself to even marginally relax.

"I am so happy to see you," he said, taking hold of her shoulders. Only the fact that an incredibly dangerous villain was still nearby prevented him from pulling her into a kiss.

Momo chuckled weakly. "I'm very happy to see you, too, believe me," she said. "But…you came with All Might? And he's in there fighting that villain?"

"Yes," Izuku said, gazing across the street. "He told me to grab you and get out, but…"

"You don't want to just run away when he's dealing with such a powerful enemy," the raven-haired girl replied. "I understand that, but what are you planning to do? We don't even have any way of knowing what's going on in there."

As if on cue, the bar erupted at that very moment, pieces of lumber, concrete, drywall and other debris exploding into the air and flying in all directions. Several cars that had been driving down the street in front of the bar swerved and crashed into each other as the drivers were seized with panic, car alarms blaring after the impacts. People on the sidewalks screamed and went running.

Izuku immediately created a dome of green light around himself and Momo, and several pieces of debris went bouncing off the emerald force field.

"…I stand corrected," Momo said.

As the dust cleared, the two hero students saw that nothing but a crater in the ground remained where the bar had once stood. All for One hovered a few meters in the air, one of his arms mutated and grotesque with irregularly bulging muscle and rocky protrusions. All Might stood before him, not smiling for once. The number one hero's costume was damaged in places and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he stood defiant in the face of the villain.

And behind All for One lay the supine forms of the League.

"The other villains are unconscious?" Izuku frowned in confusion.

"I knocked them out," Momo said. "I was about to make my escape when All for One happened to arrive."

Izuku stared at her in amazement.

"Long story," she said, mustering a tiny smile. "I'll tell you about it later."

The young Green Lantern would've laughed if the situation was less serious.

As they watched, jagged bolts of black energy arched out of All for One and slammed into Kurogiri. The misty villain didn't wake, but his Quirk did activate, causing a swirling portal to consume him. In seconds, the other villains were sucked in, vanishing. The portal closed, revealing that Kurogiri was gone as well.

"My, my, taking the trouble to get your protégé and his lackies to safety," All Might scoffed. "If I didn't know better, I'd even think you cared about him."

"Believe what you like, All Might," All for One said. "Now, have at you!"

The two charged at each other, massive fists colliding.

The force of the impact was like a bomb had gone off. A shockwave burst out, sending more dust flying and causing Izuku and Momo to grit their teeth as it washed over them.

"How can such a powerful villain exist without everyone knowing about him?" Momo wondered aloud.

"I…I think All Might injured him, a long time ago," Izuku said. "He's probably been laying low and acting through other villains."

"So the League is just a puppet of this villain," Momo said. "It makes sense, I suppose. Shigaraki never seemed like the sort who could organize such a thing."

As they watched, All Might and All for One continued to trade titanic blows, the neighboring buildings groaning under the duress of the constant shockwaves. In only minutes, all the civilians in the area quickly fled, while police started to arrive and hastily set up barricades to keep away potential onlookers who were no longer present.

Just as the battle seemed to be about to reach a crescendo, the villain said something to the number one hero, too quiet for the pair of students watching from across the street to hear. All Might recoiled as though struck by a blow more powerful than any that All for One had managed to land so far.

"What did he say?" Momo wondered.

"I don't know," Izuku said. "I'm pretty sure they know each other, but I have no idea what he could've…is All Might crying?"

"He is," Momo whispered, seeing the tears trickling down the pro hero's chiseled face.

Izuku tensed. If All Might had lost the will to fight, he couldn't just sit here while the villain murdered his childhood hero.

He felt his girlfriend's hand on his shoulder. "The villain has terrifying powers," she said. "Please, don't jump into this unless there's absolutely no choice."

Izuku opened his mouth to reply, though he didn't really know what he wanted to say. Did he want to argue, to say that as a hero-in-training, he couldn't just be a bystander until it was too late? Did he want to agree, to do as this amazing young woman who he cared about enormously wanted?

Ultimately, he never got the chance to say a word before All Might leaped at the villain once more, his assault more furious than ever.

"I've never seen All Might fight so…savagely," Momo remarked with wide eyes.

"Neither have I," Izuku agreed quietly. The number one hero was unleashing blows that would've no doubt killed less durable foes many times over, not letting up for even a moment. All for One repeatedly tried to counterattack, and several of his blows even landed, but he never came close to gaining control of the fight or even making it seem even again. "This definitely isn't a normal battle for All Might."

"United States of….SMASH!" the pro hero roared, unleashing one final, tremendous blow to All for One that shattered the villain's helmet like it was made of glass and deepened the crater in the ground where the bar had once stood.

"I've heard of that move, but I've never seen it," Izuku whispered, even as he automatically created another bubble of green light to protect himself and Momo from the shockwave. Despite everything, he couldn't keep the fanboy awe out of his voice. "Supposedly, he only used it once before, and nobody got video of it. It's supposed to be All Might's strongest, ultimate super move."

"I can certainly believe that," Momo whispered as she gazed at the suddenly quiet battlefield.

All for One lay sprawled out on his back, clearly struggling to breathe without his elaborate helmet and whatever mechanisms had been built into it. For his own part, All Might looked worse for the wear as well; the hero was still on his feet, but he was bent forward, using his offhand to hold the arm he'd used to unleash his final attack, as though it were injured.

Izuku was just about to express relief that it was finally over when All for One began to sit up.

All Might wasn't sure he'd ever recover from the knowledge that All for One had managed to locate Nana's son and twist her grandson into a villain, even though he knew that was what his nemesis wanted.

He had always been against never checking up on Kotaro Shimura; it had felt too much like abandoning the boy in his opinion. However, Gran had always insisted that maintaining any contact with Nana's only child would just endanger the boy, so he'd reluctantly respected both his wishes and those of Nana herself.

And it had all been for naught. Could he and Gran have prevented this fate from befalling Nana's grandson, if they'd kept tabs on her family? There was no way to know, and he suspected that uncertainty would torment him for the rest of his days.

God, how would Gran react to this knowledge?

He was pulled from his glum musings by the sound of All for One's wheezing. The ancient, battered villain was struggling to sit up.

"Stay down," the number one hero growled. "You've got no fight left in you. Don't give me an excuse, because right now, I will take it."

All for One released a gasping, shuddery laugh. "Perhaps I don't, but…"

Black ooze suddenly materialized in the air near to the villain. Before All Might could react, it rapidly expanded in size, then seemed to burst like a giant, disgusting pustule.

The towering black Nomu that seemed to have been stalking his students since the USJ landed on the ground with a deep thud.

"This Nomu was…designed to fight you…All Might," All for One coughed. "Time for it…to finally…get its chance."

"We need to help him," Izuku said.

"What?" Momo hissed.

"We need to get in there and take down that monster," Izuku said, rising to his feet.

"But the media's already starting to arrive," Momo protested. "If we do, everyone will know we're guilty of vigilantism. Surely, All Might can take down the Nomu!"

"No, he can't," Izuku said grimly. "He's been keeping it a secret as best he can, but his power's been fading for years. He doesn't have much left. There's no way he can take down that Nomu after that battle."

"Izuku…"

"We can't just stand here and let him die," Izuku said. "We've taken down the Nomu before, twice. You did it on your own last time. We can do it again."

"I…what is that?" Momo frowned, abruptly looking skywards.

They had both heard the approaching plane but thought nothing of the noise. Only now did they realize just how low the black aircraft was flying.

"What's the…matter…All Might?" All for One wheezed. "Not up for…another round?"

Damn, should've ended him when I had the chance. Now I'm about to fight to the death against a creature my own students have bested repeatedly. So much for my reputation, He thought with a grim smirk.

At least young Midoriya had no doubt taken young Yaoyorozu and departed the area by now. The last thing he wanted was for his students to draw All for One's ire more than they already had. He'd rather be another sacrifice in the generations long war against All for One and his empire than put them in the firing line.

Also, he wouldn't need to break the news about Nana's grandson to Gran if he happened to fall here.

Not that it meant he wasn't about to go down swinging; he would never give All for One the satisfaction of his surrender, but he was acutely aware of how diminished the strength of One for All within him was.

He clenched his fists and prepared to fight.

The earpiece he'd donned entirely out of habit suddenly crackled to life.

"Looks like you could use a hand."

His eyes widened. "No!" he said, putting a hand to his ear. "It's not your time yet! Leave this to me!"

"I can't just hunker down and stay safe forever. I have to make my debut at some point. If I just sat by while you fought to the death when I can help you, I wouldn't be worthy of this Quirk."

All Might cursed himself for calling Dave before he'd left and for failing to check how close I-Island currently was to Japan.

"It's okay. I'm ready for it to be my turn now, Uncle Might," Melissa said.

The number one hero sighed, his heart twisting at the thought of how many villains would shortly be turning their gazes upon his surrogate niece and how incredibly proud he was of her.

"Someone just jumped out of that low flying plane!" Momo gasped, gazing up at the person who was now plummeting toward the ground with a pair of binoculars she'd created a moment ago.

Izuku quickly created a pair of emerald binoculars for himself, locating the rapidly falling figure.

He was just starting to wonder if he needed to fly out and save them when the mystery person unleashed a massive punch toward the ground. The resulting shockwave was so powerful that he could actually see it from the way the air moved. It rapidly decelerated the person, who readjusted their position at the last moment, landing gracefully in a three-point stance.

"That's All Might's technique," he said softly.

"What?" Momo asked.

"It's his technique. It's how he slows himself down after leaping really high into the air. She did it exactly like he does," Izuku elaborated. "I've seen him do it in a ton of videos of his fights and stuff."

"Who is she?" Momo asked.

Izuku looked out at the new arrival to the scene. She had long blond hair and was overall slim but with broad shoulders and muscular arms. Her hero costume consisted of what looked like a sort of gown made of numerous strips of some kind of metallic substance over a tight black bodysuit, accompanied by blue goggles. More of the strips of the metallic material made up her boots and gloves that went up to the middle of her upper arms.

She didn't look that much older than himself and Momo, he noted.

"I don't know," Izuku admitted.

His girlfriend actually did a double take at that, shocked that there was a pro hero he couldn't identify.

"She must be new," Momo decided eventually. "Do you think she can actually take the Nomu?" the raven-haired girl wondered.

For a moment, the mystery heroine and the bio-engineered monstrosity merely stared one another down, the air tense with the promise of violence.

The heroine lifted her arms slightly, then made a quick little flicking motion with her hands. The metallic strips that made up the outer layer of her hero costume abruptly coiled tightly around her body, going from looking like a sort of sloppy gown to a sort of jump suit.

Then she launched herself toward the Nomu with a single titanic bound. A crack like thunder reverberated through the area, and Izuku immediately knew that the blond heroine had briefly broken the sound barrier.

The Nomu took a swing with one of its enormous arms, the mere fact that it could attempt a counterattack a testament to its own enormous speed, but it might as well have been moving in slow motion for all the good it did it. The heroine easily avoided the blow, her fist colliding with the creature's jaw.

BOOM!

The impact was like a bomb going off, even more powerful than the blows that All Might and All for One had traded mere minutes earlier. The buildings nearby trembled as though caught in a mild earthquake.

The Nomu went staggering, amazing considering the beast's Shock Absorption Quirk, but it wasn't done yet. It quickly regained its bearings and charged forward with a roar, throwing a wild punch, its total lack of finesse made up for with pure power.

The heroine grabbed its wrist, which was roughly as thick as her waist, with both hands and threw the Nomu, sending its bulky body careening through the air.

Another crack of false thunder, and suddenly the heroine was standing in the Nomu's path. She pulled back her fist.

BOOM!

This time the beast outright went tumbling, bouncing across the ground like a stone skipping across the surface of a lake.

Somehow, the Nomu recovered and leaped into the air, snarling as it soared toward its foe. The heroine bounded upwards to meet it.

BOOM!

The Nomu slammed into the earth with the force of a meteor. Izuku automatically threw his arms around Momo as the building they were on shook violently.

The beast rose to its feet, looking punch drunk.

Izuku didn't think he'd actually seen the Nomu genuinely look the worse for the wear in the multiple times he'd encountered the creature.

The heroine charged forward.

BOOM!

"Yeah, I think she can take it," Izuku said as he watched the beast soaring into the sky, rapidly shrinking until it was a tiny dot and then vanishing entirely from view.

There was a moment of shocked silence in the wake of the thunderous battle. The blond heroine kept the fist she'd unleashed the final, devastating uppercut against the Nomu raised, the gesture now looking like one of triumph. All for One lay motionless on the ground, clearly unconscious, if not worse.

Then the paparazzi who had scrambled to the scene of the massive villain battle surged forward, jumping the hastily erected police barriers and overwhelming any attempts to stop them through their sheer numbers, quickly swarming All Might and the new heroine.

Under just about any of circumstances, Izuku would've been all too eager to stay and watch and hopefully learn about this new hero, who already seemed destined to be a big name.

With his newly liberated girlfriend next to him, however, he wasn't about to linger.

Or spend too long gawking at the scene across the street from them for that matter.

"Izuku—"

She didn't get any further before he kissed her, deeply and passionately, pouring his immense relief and joy at having her back into it. Though initially caught by surprise, Momo quickly returned the kiss just as enthusiastically.

They were panting for breath by the time they finally parted.

"Glad to see me, then?" Momo asked with a little grin.

"More than I can express," Izuku smiled back. Right then he wanted nothing more than to just stay there and kiss and hold his girlfriend, but he knew it would be a bad idea to hang around the area. "But we should get out of here and get you to the authorities. Your parents will lose their minds if they hear about this battle and nobody knows where you are."

Momo agreed, and Izuku flew the two of them away as stealthily as he could, landing a short distance away from the nearest police station. The two took a moment to agree on what exactly the heiress would tell the authorities (and to promise to see one another again as soon as possible, as well as exchanging one more kiss), then Momo headed into the station to report herself liberated from the League of Villains.

Despite knowing how needless it was, Izuku couldn't help but linger until he'd watched her go inside.

Only once she'd vanished into the station did the young Green Lantern finally leave, taking to the air and flying back home.

He could barely believe how little time had passed since he'd left. All the intensity and worry made it feel like it had been hours and hours.

Allowing his Green Lantern uniform to change back into his civilian clothes, the hero student made his way to his apartment.

"I'm home," he announced.

To his surprise, his mother almost immediately appeared in the kitchen, throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug.

"Mom?" he asked, automatically patting her back comfortingly. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," she assured. "I was just worried. Eri mentioned that you'd left to do your 'afterschool job' and that made me afraid you'd been involved in what the news started reporting and that you might've been hurt, and—!"

"I'm fine, Mom," he broke in gently, recognizing that she was working herself into a Midoriya-style ramble that would culminate into Midoriya-style crying if he didn't interrupt her. "What's the news reporting?" he asked, even though he had a pretty good idea.

"See for yourself," Inko replied, leading him into the living room, where she grabbed the TV remote and turned it on.

As he'd expected, the news was all over the abrupt battle that had levelled the bar where the League of Villains had been headquartered, the media not caring that they still had more questions than answers about the incident. Someone had somehow caught video of the bar basically exploding with their smartphone, and the footage was being replayed every few moments.

"It seems like it's still a bit of a mystery who that new pro hero who showed up at the last moment was," Inko remarked. "Though they did get her hero name."

Izuku, eternal hero fanboy that he was, perked up immediately. "What is it?"

"She calls herself Aegis, the Iron Protector Heroine," Inko answered.

"Aegis," Izuku echoed.

Something told him he'd be hearing a lot of about her in the future, and not all through the news and online articles.

Then he shrugged it off, heading to his room to get his smartphone.

He wanted to make sure he had it on him as soon as Momo was able to reach out to him to allow him to officially know she'd escaped.