Chapter Text
Izuku stood on the edge of the tallest building still standing in Tokyo and stared out and the utter destruction and desolation surrounding him. He could hear explosions and screams and every part of his being was urging him to stop his madness and go help people. But the smarter, saner (logical, a familiar voice whispered in his brain) part of himself knows that while he could probably save a handful it would only be a stop gap. He couldn't save everyone that way. Eventually he and the rest of the heroes that were still holding on would be overwhelmed completely and it would all be over.
But there was still a way he could save everyone. There was still a chance.
All he had to do was close his eyes and take the first step. Just step into nothing and let the fates decide if he was worthy of second chance of being a savior. Worthy of the stolen quirk that his father had buried deep down inside him. The quirk so far underneath everything else that he'd never noticed it because he'd never taken the leap necessary to activate it. At least not on purpose.
(“Take a swan dive off the roof...”)
Izuku let's out a pained choked sound that seems almost but not quite like laughter. It dies in his throat which is fine because it honestly wasn't funny anyway. Ironic more then anything. How close Kacchan had possibly come all those years ago to stopping All for One's plans before they even really began. Izuku wonders where time would have been reset to. If things would have been better or worse in the new timeline that would have restarted in the place of the original because he had taken the other boy's advice.
There was a shift in the air pressure around him his ears popping slightly mere moments before a figure appeared on the roof behind him. He was out of time. He glanced again at the destruction around him. In truth he had run out of time a long time ago. He'd simply had had more time forced upon him by all the people in his life who had pushed him forward even at the cost of themselves. But now there was no where else for him to go other then into the unknown.
“My boy...”
Izuku shuddered as the voice that haunted both his reality and his nightmares slid down his spine. It was an open and obvious mocking of the way All Might used to address him.
He closed his eyes and tried to force away the images of a twisted and broken All Might dying in his arms those words on his lips for the last time as his bloody hand slipped from Izuku's cheek.
It was second nature to not want to think about it but he stopped himself halfway through forcing the memories back into shadowy corner of his mind where he kept them. Instead he grabbed onto the memory and held onto with everything he had right front in center of his mind's eye. He clung to the image of the smile, still so full of pride even in the face of Izuku's greatest failure, on his mentor's lips as the light faded from his eyes.
Then he pulled out other memories just like it he normally kept tightly under wraps and clung to those as well.
His mother buried underneath a building. Kacchan being sliced in half in front of him. Iida crumbling into dust in his arms. Present Mic spread out across bed he shared with Aizawa his vocal cords cut out hid mouth open in a bloody scream he'd never had the chance to utter. Uraraka sucked into a compromised Thirteen's black hole. Aizawa's blank nomu eyes as they'd faced off against each other in the Battle for UA. Denki's bright sunshine grin beamed over his shoulder in the seconds before he'd rushed off around a corner and let out enough electricity to fry everything, including himself, within a two miles radius, sacrificing himself to give Izuku precious time to escape. Izuku then having to drive Black Whip into Denki's stolen body months later in what had been the worst of so many horrific days his life had become.
Those memories haunted him every moment of every day even though he tried to hide them. Those memories that he'd come to think of as curse. They would be a blessing now when he needed them most. Because they reminded him that what he was about to do was for all of them.
Izuku reached down deep inside him and pulled up everything he still had left within him up to the surface. He straightened his spine and turned slowly to face his nemesis, his father, the one would would bring salvation to the world he was trying to destroy.
“You've made a grave mistake,” he said in a voice full of soft steel.
All for One seemed amused more then anything at the proclamation. He took a step in Izuku's direction, Izuku took a step backward his foot hovering off the edge of the roof. Something that was not quite a mix of annoyance and anger flickered across All for One's face as he stopped his movement.
“Look around you child,” he spoke slowly and raised his hands wide and a wide vicious grin sliced across his face. “The world as we know it is crumbling to dust around us as we speak. A new one with me at the center will rise from t he ashes. All of it is exactly as I planned, there are no mistakes here.”
“I know about Failsafe.”
For the first time that he can remember Izuku actually sees All for One falter. His next step stumbles slightly and the grin he wore like a mask slipped away leaving something unreadable in it's wake. Though he's not sure what the look means Izuku has seen it before. All for One had worn the same look when All Might had surprised him with his final push, when All Might had almost beaten him with the last of his strength. His father had not lost in that moment but he had come very close and that that same look was echoed on his face now sent a thrill of something Izuku had not felt in a very long time course through him.
Hope.
“Your biggest weakness,” Izuku said forcing the steel in his voice to bend into a mocking tone of his own. “Is that you like to talk. Oh you're smart enough not to give away all of your plans you're not a two bit villain after all but sometimes...just sometimes you let things slip when you think you can because you have to gloat about it. In your final battle with All Might...in the moment before you killed him...you told him about Failsafe. You killed him because you knew it would weaken me. It did, oh you didn't misjudge that, but you forgot something important. You forgot that through One for All I'm still connected to him. You thought you were telling him your greatest secret and that it would die with him. It didn't.”
He let the truth sink into the air between them. He didn't tell him that it had taken almost a year for All Might's vestige to get strong enough to share his memories with the group. He didn't think about how many people he'd lost in that year and in the time beyond it that had passed trying to understand exactly what Failsafe was and how it worked and to come and to come to terms with just how it was triggered.
As soon as he realized what Failsafe did Izuku wanted to use it right away. But the others, what was left of them at that point, had convinced him it was too risky. That it should only to be used as an absolutely last resort. He'd reluctantly agreed. Then he'd had to watch their safe house go up in flames when Todoroki's quirk had been forced into going out of control. Then he had watched the three remaining members of his found-family members die in front of him unable to save them as Yoarashi had pushed him out of the building with his literal dying breath.
When he had truly reached the End of All Things.
All for One's glare turned hard and dangerous as he took in the current situation with a cold calculated air. He sees where Izuku is on the edge of the building. It wouldn't take a scholar to figure out what plan was going through Izuku's brain right now.
“It won't do you any good to jump,” he says in a low, controlled voice. “If Failsafe is activated it will reset to where I have placed it to and trust me, My Boy,” you won't like it anymore then you like where see around you now. This time around All Might's death will come even sooner before he's of any use to you.”
Izuku smirked as All for One gave him exactly what he needed. Now he knew exactly what moment All for One thought was the most important to his plan. That first battle with All Might was the lynch pin moment that held his entire thing together.
“There's something you don't realize,” Izuku said in a voice that matched his father's. “See while you were in prison having your schemes interrupted once again by All Might...I died.”
All for One blinked in actual surprise at that declaration. There was no way he could have know. To anyone else that had been there in that underground cavern beneath Overhaul's base it hadn't been obvious that it had happened. Even Izuku hadn't realize it at the time. That Sir Nighteye's foresight had actually come to pass. That for a split moment in time when the rocks had impaled him his heart had stopped and he had died.
“You're lying,” All for One said. “If you had died and had managed to trigger Failsafe it would have put you back to the moment I programmed into it. There is no way around that fact.”
“But I did,” Izuku said firmly, meeting All for One's gaze head on. “I died and did trigger it and I restarted it at a point of MY choosing not the one you programmed into it.”
“That's impossible!” For the first time in all his interactions with All for One he saw the raw emotion of very real fear on the other man's face.
“Your biggest mistake was leaving me alone with it for too long,” Izuku said softly trying not to let his own emotions show on his face as he spoke. He needed to make his father believe that he knew far more about how the quirk worked then he actually did. “Failsafe wasn't my quirk when you gave it to me but it was there for all those years when you were not. It grew to recognize me as its holder. My instructions will override yours every time now.”
“You're not strong enough to do that,” All for One snarled at him.
“I am my father's son,” Izuku said mimicking All for One's earlier action by lifting his hands and gesturing around them. All for One looked momentarily startled. This was the first time Izuku had ever acknowledged their familial connection out loud. “I am also the holder of One for All and you gave me even more power by killing All Might and allowing all those decades of information and power that he held to be funneled directly into me by returning his connection to it. I am strong enough to undo what you did to me and I will be strong enough to undo what you've done to everything else!”
“Izuku,” his father said in a placating voice. “You may have made it work for you one time on accident but that doesn't mean that you can control it again. You don't even know for sure that it will work a second time at all.
“That is true,” Izuku conceded and it was a worry that had been brought up when they had first learned the existence of Failsafe, one of the reasons that the others hadn't wanted him to use it. “But it being a one and done quirk wouldn't make very useful to you and you pointing that possibility out to me only makes me suspect even more that it will work this time as well. And if it doesn't...well at least I'll rest easy knowing that One for All will die with me and that you'll never get it back.”
He took a step backwards his foot hovering over nothing. He did not waver in his conviction to follow through with this plan. He would either fix everything or he would keep something away from his father that he coveted above all else. Either way it would count as a victory.
“I have to thank you,” he said shuffling back a bit more far enough that he could tip off at any moment if he wished it. “You just gave me exactly what I needed....the point in time you feel was so important that it needed to be locked in to go back to if you needed a second chance!”
All for One's eyes widened as he registered the implication behind Izuku's words. He lunged forward, his face contorting into something dark and dangerous, something shot out of him to try and grab at Izuku. He was ready for it though Black Whip shot out, knocking aside what was reaching for him and wrapping around the villain. He knew he'd only have a moment before he lost the moment of surprise and All for One would fully regain his senses. His father was older and potentially stronger then he was and had a vast collection of quirks any of which could end the plan before it had a chance to start.
He squeezed Black Whip around All for One's body tight enough to drive the air out of him and then with every bit of strength he had left in him tossed him away from the building. The movement sent All for One flying far and fast. His father connected with a building smashing through the walls and disappearing out of sight inside. Izuku knew that his father had his own version of Float and would be quick to right himself if he wasn't completely incapacitated so he didn't fight against he recoil of Black Whip as it shot back into his body.
It sent him flying too, backwards off the roof.
For a long moment timed slowed down. He thought that perhaps All for One was using a time quirk on him but then images began to flash through his mind of his life. Both the times before things had turned back and the times after. Reminding himself exactly what he was doing this for. Swallowing he flipped himself over so he could meet this head on. He realized quickly this was probably a bad idea because now he could see the ground rushing towards him. He struggled for a moment he could feel Float threatening to kick on to try and save him and he pushed it down.
As he drew nearer to the ground and there was still no sign of All for One appearing out of nowhere to stop him he closed his eyes and stretched out his arms. He concentrated on the spot in his mind where he knew Failsafe to be. All the other quirks shifted away leaving him the ability to reach out in his minds eye and grab the one he needed. He forced his brain to only think about one thing after he wrapped himself around the quirk. One moment in time the quirk in his mind's eye glowed brightly and he could see the the date that All for One had put into it. He concentrated on that date and then pushed it backwards.
He didn't know how much time would be enough. He didn't know exactly how Failsafe would work on All for One's end. He knew there was some sort of connection a piece of Failsafe that was missing and still held by the villain. He didn't know how the connection worked or how aware All for One from that time would be of what had happened but it was possible he'd at the very least know that it had been triggered. It seemed All for One had thought he would know and be able to kill All Might the second time. Izuku didn't know if that knowledge would be there if he pushed them to a different time point but he had to go on the basic assumption that it could still be there. He couldn't give his father any real time to react to it to try and change things but he still had to give himself enough time to put plans into motion to if not stop the fight completely push it towards the outcome he wanted to meet. He settled on a week prior to the fight. Hopefully it would be enough time.
He prayed this would work. All for One hadn't been wrong when he'd realized that the last time Izuku had done this it had been by accident. He still didn't know how he'd managed to bypass the lock his father clearly had on the quirk to keep it hidden. He'd just felt the impact of the rocks spearing him thought really long and hard about how if he'd done just one thing differently a few minutes earlier he could have avoided all of it and then gasped what had apparently been his last breath. Then he'd opened his eyes and found himself flung back those few minutes he'd needed. He'd thought at the time that it was some sort of fluke. His mind's way of telling him what to look out for going forward. He hadn't had time to think too hard about not with Eri and all the others still needing his help.
So he tried to mimic his thought patterns from the last time. Concentrate long and hard on the moment he wanted to go back to the moment where he could stop all of this from happening. He thought about all the people he would be saving by doing this. He thought about it and pushed it deep into his mind and his heart.
He felt a change in the wind flowing around him and opened his eyes to make sure All for One hadn't finally caught up to him. Instead he found himself just meters above the ground. Without thinking he brought his hands up to protect his face and prepared himself for impact.
Luckily he didn't feel it when it happened. For him there was a bright flash of light and then suddenly he was hurtling downwards again through a murky void. There was the sensation of movement and speed but beyond that he felt nothing at all.
Then all the movement stopped and he found himself in a very familiar place. The vestiges of the other holders rushed towards him when he appeared and he took several steps in their direction and glanced down in shock. He had arms and legs. He'd never had arms and legs in this space before. He'd only been able to talk since All Might had died and been reconnected with the quirk again. He glanced over at the yellow tinged glow of All Might and fought the urge to throw himself at his mentor now that he could potentially hug him again. But there was more pressing matters and hopefully it all went well maybe he'd get to do it for real again someday even if it wasn't the him version of him doing it.
“So...uh...” he said waving his new appendages around. “Does this mean it worked or that it didn't?
“You are not dead,” a soft voice said and he turned his head towards the First holder. “And you are not one of us.”
“Are you...sure?” Izuku asked looking down at himself with a frown.
He wondered how he would be able to tell but then Nana reached out and tried to lay a hand on his shoulder only to have it pass straight through. He'd seen the others touching each other before even if they could not really feel it their hands still made contact with each other. Only First had been able to do that with him. So much for being able to hug All Might one final time.
“We're also still here,” All Might pointed out after a moment a small frown on his face and Izuku wondered if he had been contemplating the same thing. “I believe if it did not work that we would all have simply ceased to exist.”
Izuku nodded as the others murmured among themselves. That made sense. Can't exist in a quirk that was no longer active because the holder was dead. He looked around the room drifting closer to where All Might was standing though the man was in deep conversation with First.
“So...what happens now?” he asked. “How do I get into the restarted timeline?”
“Don't know, kiddo,” Nana said with a grim look. “Last time you dropped in and a door of light opened up almost instantly.”
Izuku's head jerked around and he stared at her with wide eyes. “Last time? You mean I showed up here the last time I did this? I don't remember that!”
“I'm not surprised,” Nana answered. “It happened so quickly you dropped in and rushed out as soon as you could.”
“You had not yet unlocked the ability to commune with us yet,” First reminded him. “Even if you had stayed with us for a while you probably would not remember it.”
Izuku nodded, it definitely sounded logical. He glanced around looking for any sign of a door that he could open. He saw nothing. “So a door full of light opened up the last time this happened?”
“Yes,” Nana said. “You went out through it.”
“And then ended up back in the altered timeline a few minutes earlier,” Izuku finished with a murmur.
He sighed softly and rubbed at his forehead. He was relieved that his hand didn't go through his own body. He contemplated what he was being told. It would make sense that the length of time he'd spent waiting the last time would have been shorter. He'd only gone back a few minutes. Now he was going back over a decade. Still there may be other ways to trigger the door opening. He hadn't noticed himself dying the last time. He'd been so bent on saving Eri and taking out Overhaul it was the only thing on his mind at the time.
He wondered...
He closed his eyes and concentrated again on the spot in time he wanted to transport himself to. He felt the Failsafe spark to life within him. It glowed so much brighter here inside One for All. Then the murky darkness of the quirk space was suddenly filled with a bright light and a warmth at his back. He opened his eyes and turned around finding himself face to face with the door of light. He couldn't see anything past the light and guessed it would be another leap of faith to trust what was on the other side.
“I guess this is where I get off,” he said softly.
He turned around and faced the others again. They smiled softly and quickly faded away leaving him alone with All Might. He ducked his head under his mentor's intense gaze.
“I am so proud of you, Izuku,” All Might said softly. “But I don't want you to ever do what you just did again. You are too young to join us here and far too young to fade into nothing.”
“Hopefully,” he said lifting his head to beam a smile in All Might's direction. “If this goes well I have to.”
He turned his head towards the door. If this went well there was no telling what it would mean for him and One for All. Changing this moment in time would open up so many more paths for All Might to choose in the past. Paths that might lead him away from passing the quirk on to Izuku. Even if it still did lead to the same outcome the Izuku from the new timeline getting the quirk it still could mean he would be cut off from being able to access to the quirk, from being able to come to this place, to seeing All Might.
“All Might...” he said in a voice that came out far more broken then he wanted it to be in this moment. “If...if...if something happens and I can't...come back here...”
“My Boy,” All Might said softly and his mentor reached out and placed a hand above Izuku's head and for a brief moment Izuku let his eyes drift shut and pretended he could feel the familiar ruffle of his hair. “I promise I will ALWAYS be with you. Even if you can't see me, even if you loose access to this place, to our connection to one another, I will still be with you.”
Izuku met his mentor's eyes and nodded. He hoped that All Might could read the depth of what he was currently feeling on his face because he didn't trust himself to speak. All Might nodded and took a step back. He didn't dissapear like the others had and Izuku was glad for it. He didn't think he wouldn't be able to do this without him there pushing him on with his steady stare and warm presence.
Then he took a deep breath, pivoted on his feet and rushed through he door into what he hoped would be a better future.
* * *
TBC