Chapter Text
The world dies quietly.
Flames fade, dust settles, and Izuku Midoriya breathes in the end of everything he’s ever known. There’s blood on his hands, smoke in his lungs, and only Mr. Aizawa left to witness what’s left of a dream.
The battlefield is silent now. Heroes who once stood beside him are nothing but memories scattered across the ruins. The air is thick with loss, heavy enough to crush what’s left of his heart. With a quick strike, he managed to send All for One to the other side of the city. Buying himself at least a few seconds.
Shouta sways on his feet, barely standing. “Midorya,” he starts, voice hoarse. Izuku turns and stares at his teacher, but All For One’s laugh drowns him out. He turns back around and takes a step back, his arm stretched to the side, ready to protect his teacher.
“You’ve fought well,” the villain says, calm as death itself. “But even the strongest candle burns out.”
Izuku’s grip tightens. His body screams in pain, his vision flickers, and yet, he refuses to stop. “I won’t let it end here,” he whispers— more to himself than anyone else.
All For One flares, brilliant and desperate. The world screams with him.
"Quite determined, Midorya. You should give up the fight. After all, there's nothing left to fight for."
Izuku’s hands shake. “You killed them. You killed everyone,” he breathes. “You took everything.” His friends, his mom, and all the innocent civilians. He can't handle any more deaths.
All For One tilts his head, amusement curling in his voice. “Not everything.” He raises one hand. In it glints something small, twisted, and glowing faintly gold.
A horn.
Izuku’s heart stops.
“You recognize it, don’t you?” All For One asks, stepping closer. “Such a fascinating little quirk. Rewind, they called it. Painful to remove, but worth every second.”
He tosses it forward, and the horn lands in the dirt at Izuku’s feet with a dull thud.
Eri’s horn. Cold. Empty.
Izuku holds his breath. He bends down and picks it up. His eyes widen in horror. There's no way. There's absolutely no way. She's been underground this whole time, and he's been up here fighting, so there's absolutely no way he could've taken this from her… From Eri…
Her horn. It's so small.
Something inside Izuku breaks.
He can hear Shouta’s horrified scream.
Before Izuku can move, space around them warps— thick and heavy, humming with power. Aizawa’s eyes widen in horror.
Bodies appear.
Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki. All of them— lifeless, broken, pale under the dead sky. All of his classmates were lying there. Izuku’s knees give out. His scream rips through the silence, raw and jagged.
All For One chuckles, then mimics him— mocking, echoing Izuku’s cries with cruel precision. "Why?" he howls in a false, trembling voice. "Why couldn't I save them?"
“No!” Shouta shouts, his voice cracking. “You monster!”
All For One’s grin only widens. “This is what heroes create, Eraserhead. This is your legacy. I'm unstoppable.” Shouta's hair starts to rise, and his eye soon turns red. It won't be much of help, but he's willing to hold on and keep his one eye open for as long as he can.
Izuku's hands start to shake. His throat closes up. For a long, terrible moment, all he can do is stare. His eyes switch from side to side. Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki. Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki. Bakugo, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki. Mineta, Kirishima, Mina.
Tsu
Ojiro
Tsu Aoyama
Todoroki
Ojiro
Aoyama
Bakugo Aoyama
Tsu Iida
Uraraka
Sero Shoji
Iida
Kaminari
Todoroki
Tsu
Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo
Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo
Bakugo Bakugo Bakugo
Bakugo Bakugo
Bakugo Bakugo
Bakugo
Yaoyorozu
Tsu
Kaminari Koda
Shoto
Tokoya-
He turns his head away.
His eyes closed, and his entire body started shaking. Izuku’s grief twists into fury.
"Now, Izuku!" He hears Shouta shout.
All For One roars to life, his glowing body splintering through the ruins. “I’ll kill you!” Izuku screams in agony.
All For One doesn’t flinch. “Show me, boy. Show me what’s left of your light. Show me what One For All can really do when there's no one left to save”.
Izuku charges. The world explodes around him. His power blazes brighter than ever, fueled by pain, loss, and something far beyond rage. He screams, charging forward, power crackling through every muscle, every cell, every vein.
The world itself trembles. Blackwhip lashes out behind him, thrashing like wild shadows. He activates float instinctively. Smoke floods the battlefield in a storm of purple mist. He pushes past the limits— past what his body can handle. Danger Sense pulses like a siren in his skull, but he doesn’t stop. Gearshift engages; everything slows. The world fractures into motionless fragments of time as he channels every ounce of power into one arm. Fa Jin compresses and releases. The ground shatters beneath him.
He vanishes then reappears in front of All For One in a flash of green and black light, fist drawn back and glowing with the might of every predecessor before him.
“This is for them!” He screams. The punch lands. The shockwave splits the air, bending metal and stone, tearing through the earth with a deafening roar.
All For One’s form wavers.
He laughs out loud
"Oh, you know absolutely nothing. Do you? Your quirk, your power, should be a gift, and yet, you can't understand it, now, can you?" Izuku gasps in shock as All For One places his hand against Izuku's chest and sends him to the ground.
Izuku’s breath catches as the impact drives the air from his lungs. Pain floods through his chest, sharp and bright. He struggles to move, fingers scraping against the cracked ground. All For One steps closer, his shadow stretching long across the rubble. “You inherited a legacy built on sacrifice,” he says, voice low and cold. “But you never truly understood what that meant.”
Aizawa’s voice cuts through the haze. “Midoriya! Run!” He’s limping toward them, bleeding, barely standing, but still fighting. Always fighting. All For One turns his head slightly. “Ah. Look, Midoryia, your teacher is coming. Still trying to protect his only student that’s already gone.” Before Izuku can react, a wave of dark energy flares. Spikes spread through the ground up, impaling Shouta. Aizawa’s body hits the ground hard, and the sound rips through Izuku like a blade.
“Mr. Aizawa!” Izuku crawls toward him, every movement trembling. The edges of his vision blur.
"No no no no no no nononononononono," He cries to himself, anxiety rising, tears already falling. He grabs his teacher, blood already spewing out from his chest. Aizawa looks up at him with a faint, tired smile. “Hey, problem child,” he whispers. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Izuku shakes his head frantically, tears streaking down his face. “Please, you can’t— I can still save you.”
“Midoriya.” Aizawa’s tone softens, almost gentle. Izuku closes his eyes and shakes his head in agony. “You’ve done enough. More than anyone ever should.”
Izuku grips his hand tightly. “I can’t lose you, too.”
Aizawa’s gaze drifts upward, to the darkened sky. “You won’t. I’ll be with Hizashi again… and you’ll keep moving forward. That’s what heroes do.” His voice grows quiet, steady. “Make it matter, okay? Everything we fought for. Don't feel guilty for all that's happened. Don't beat yourself up if you fail, do what you can, and we will see each other soon. Make it different this time." Izuku’s vision distorts through tears. He feels Aizawa’s hand loosen in his grasp, and something inside him breaks beyond repair.
All For One watches in silence, with an unreadable expression. “Now you understand,” he says softly. “Power is never enough.”
Izuku looks up, trembling.
I'm all alone
Izuku looks back down at Aizawa. He lifts his fingers and closes his eyelids, and clenches his fists. Izuku’s hands shake as he stares at it, the world tilting. “You— you took everything from me.” He stands and steps in front of his teacher.
All For One steps closer, his shadow swallowing what little light remains. His hand rises again, dark energy spiraling around his palm, humming with the stolen pulse of Rewind. He hums. "Correct. I mean, you didn't listen after the first few times of me telling you to give it up now, did you? It shouldn't be my fault for wanting what's mine back." Izuku stares up at him.
All For One raises his other hand. A yellow aura flies around from his hand, down to his arm. “I will build this world and put it on the right path,” All For One declares, his voice low and absolute. “But I cannot do that until every last hero on Earth is gone.” The air hums with power, vibrating with a pressure that makes Izuku’s chest tighten.
The aura lashes forward.
Pain explodes through Izuku’s body, sharp and blinding. He collapses to his knees as spikes of pure energy burst from the ground, spearing through the space around him, searing heat and light against his skin. Each pulse of power sends another shock through his nerves, until every breath feels like it’s tearing him apart.
He gasps, the sound broken and thin, blood and air mixing in his throat. His vision fractures into white and red, his body trembling uncontrollably as the energy digs deeper.
All For One watches him writhe, tilting his head slightly. “So much potential,” he muses, almost gently. “So much wasted on sentiment.”
Izuku tries to say something, anything, but only a strangled noise leaves his mouth. His fingers claw at the ground, reaching for strength that isn’t there. All For One uses the rewind quirk to twist time within his veins. Undoing, remaking, shredding the borders of his being. He screams, but the sound barely reaches his own ears.
“Do you feel it?” All For One whispers with a smile.
“Power unraveling power. Hope collapsing into nothing.”
All For One stands over him, calm, deliberate, almost studying him. “Rewind is a fascinating quirk,” he says softly, almost like a teacher explaining a lesson. “You heal… only to break again. You die… only to start over.”
Izuku’s body convulses as the Rewind surges through him. Undoing the damage, then repeating the agony. His wounds vanish, only to reopen. His lungs repair, only to collapse once more. Every heartbeat feels like it’s being crushed and reborn, over and over, in an endless loop of suffering.
He can’t breathe. He can’t think. Time becomes a blur of pain and pleading silence.
“Do you see it now?” All For One murmurs, crouching down beside him. “Power without understanding is just chaos. And you, my boy… You are chaos incarnate.”
Izuku tries to lift his head, but his body won’t respond. His eyes dart to the side… to the fallen bodies of his friends, strewn like shadows across the ruined ground. Every rewind drags him closer to them, every pulse of pain forcing him to crawl.
Over and over. Tortured, healed, and broken again.
Until, finally, he reaches Bakugo.
The world has gone silent except for the ragged sound of his breathing. His trembling hand drags across the broken ground until it touches a familiar uniform, the torn fabric of someone who once stood beside him.
Bakugo lies still, face turned toward the sky, eyes unseeing. Izuku presses his forehead to the ground beside him, choking on his breath. He still holds Eri's horn. He frowns and holds her horn close to his heart.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I tried. I really tried.”
All For One laughs softly behind him. Not loud, not triumphant, just… hollow. “How poetic. You die as you lived, reaching for ghosts, especially someone you admired most. Good thing I aimed for him first.” All For One raises both arms in the air once more. A bright, strong, and powerful energy struck Izuku's chest.
He screams.
The pain stops. All For One steps closer, his eyes unreadable. The tension of the energy is unimaginable. “You’ve always wondered why your quirk is so… exceptional, Midoryia. So resilient. So stubborn. It’s in your blood, after all.”
Izuku's eyes widen.
His voice drops, softening in a way that chills Izuku.
“My son.”
"No"
Once again, the pain starts. He screams in agony and cries out for his mom. Bearing the pain, his hand finds Bakugo’s one last time, fingers brushing against cold skin. His tears fall, streaking the dirt between them. Trembling, the light fading from his eyes as the horn beside his hand begins to glow. Faint at first, then brighter, pulsing like a heartbeat that doesn’t belong to this world.
The last thing he feels is warmth, and the last thing he hears is Mr. Aizawa’s voice, soft and steady, carried through the light.
“Make it different this time.” Everything dissolves into white. His screaming fades.
And time bends.
//////////////////////////////////////
For a heartbeat, the room is silent, then Izuku suddenly gasps, his body tensing like he’s been struck. He jolts up from the couch.
The sound that rips out of him doesn’t sound human.
It’s a scream, broken, raw, pulled from somewhere deep and shattered inside him. It fills the entire dorm, echoing off the walls, full of agony and disbelief and grief that has nowhere to go. Every breath that follows comes out as a sob, strangled and shaking, his voice cracking until it’s nothing but sound and pain. He sees his classmates all turn around.
Uraraka flinches, hands flying to her mouth. “Deku-”
Iida’s voice wavers. “Midoriya! Someone get Mr. Aizawa!”
Izuku rolls over and collapses onto his knees, hands clutching his chest as he trembles. “They’re gone— they were all gone—” His words spill out between gasps, too fast, too broken to make sense. “Aizawa— Eri— everyone— I couldn’t—”
Kirishima rushes forward, kneeling beside him, voice gentle but shaking. “Hey, man. You’re okay, you’re okay, look— we’re right here.” But Izuku can’t stop. He’s crying so hard it hurts, his chest heaving as if he’s trying to breathe through fire.
His voice breaks again, and he cries out desperately, “K-Kacchan… where’s Kacchan?!”
Bakugo hears it immediately. His eyes snap wide open, and without a second thought, he runs toward Izuku as fast as he can. Everyone else watches, frozen in shock. Bakugo sprinted across the room faster than anyone had ever seen him move. He drops to the floor and is at Izuku’s side in an instant. “Deku. What the hell is wrong?!” Bakugo asks, voice tense but concerned.
Izuku doesn't say anything. He presses a trembling hand to the center of Bakugo’s chest, right over his heart, and feels it thumping strongly beneath his fingers. Reality, warmth, life.
He’s alive.
“Deku,” he says, trying to steady his voice. “Look at me.”
Izuku lifts his head, and Bakugo feels his throat tighten. His eyes are wild, red, and glassy, filled with terror that shouldn’t exist in a world. Bakugo doesn’t know what happened, but for the first time, he doesn’t ask. He just pulls Izuku into his arms and holds him there.
A sob rips from Izuku’s throat, and he collapses forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Bakugo. He buries his face into his chest, shaking uncontrollably, his entire body trembling as relief floods him. Bakugo stays frozen, eyes wide. He’s seen Izuku cry before, during fights, in moments of frustration, but never like this.
“Shut up,” he mutters gruffly, voice low but grounding. “You didn’t lose me. You’re here. I’m here.”
Izuku clings tighter, tears soaking through Bakugo’s uniform, as the tremors in his body slowly begin to ease. The panic, the terror, the agony — it’s still there, but the simple, undeniable proof that Bakugo is alive calms him enough to breathe again.
“It’s over,” he mutters, low and rough. “Whatever it was, it’s over now. You’re here.”
Izuku’s sobs are quiet, but the tremors in his body don’t stop. He clings to Bakugo’s uniform like a lifeline, whispering through the tears, "I lost you.”
Bakugo’s jaw tightens. “You didn’t,” he says.
Izuku disagrees. He hopes it was all a nightmare.
The others hover nearby, exchanging worried glances, watching silently, realizing how real whatever he experienced, truly was.