This is to be my last chapter before my deployment. I want to thank you all for all the support you've given me. I will see you all when I get back.

Warning: Mildly depicted scene of torture that begins with the phrase, 'I am brave.' repeated multiple times.


"A child stolen is a hope lost."

There was an aura of despair over the entirety of UA.

Nearly a hundred clones were dead.

And precious lights, gone.

They had failed .

If one paid attention, they could hear the thuds echoing across the school.

"He's still at it." Tenya muttered.

"Can you blame him?" Kyoka asked. "Denki's the same…" she sighed, thinking back to how her boyfriend had been sparking electricity almost the entire time. "His uncles have been helping get rid of his excess energy but I'm worried about his mental state."

"Haven't seen Tsu since we got back, I think she's been using her camouflage to keep to herself, her parents say that she won't even speak to them."

"Shishida just burnt himself out of his rampage." Kamakiri muttered. "Now he's just…there on his bed."

Both of the classes were together in the common room barring a few. Even Bakugo was there, though he was still silent.

However, even he knew not to say anything right now.

They were all affected by the tragedy.

"He's going to hurt himself if he keeps at it." Tenya grimaced.

"I'll go." Ochako whispered and headed off to find Izuku.

Not that she would have to look very deeply.


Five Days Ago

Jin Bubaigawara was a complicated man.

A broken man.

'What's important is to know who you are…'

"Going to work with those content faces…that's no good…I think that's wonderful! They're all just decent people!

'What am I doing?...What I do every day…'

"Something special…"

'Just smoking and people watch-'

Jin narrowed his eyes at the flash of white in the distance.

'They're getting closer.'

A spark of fear mixed with envy shot through his spine. The clones were expanding their reach farther and farther from U.A.

"Toy soldiers…they'll slaughter us."

He remembers the camp all too well. He'd nearly lost his head from a shot, and then Camino was an entire different matter altogether.

'How do they do it? How can they stand each other?'

He knew that his clones were inferior, as much as he didn't want to accept that. But he also wanted to desperately know that boy hadn't snapped under the pressure.

In the month and a half since All Might's retirement, the boy known as Mand'alor was quickly starting to get the spotlight thanks to Camino. Japan had their eyes on him, and if he wasn't mistaken, some of the world too.

At first, people were worried, with All Might's fall, Endeavor was expected to pick up the mantle.

Or at least, that was the original idea.

Now people were looking to the next generation instead, and Mand'alor had become more active after whatever had occurred a few days after Camino.

Both he and Endeavor were being compared to All Might.

Both were found lacking in different ways, whether it be age and experience, or power and demeanor.

Not only that though, more attention was being brought to the students that had helped Mand'alor and the Vod'e out during the battle. Shigaraki was apparently looking for more information on his 'Rival's Party.'

Nevertheless, public favor was still for Endeavor considering his track record, though if you asked him…

The Symbol of the Weakening of Heroes? No, thank you.

Every day, more and more complaints against the regular heroes that people saw down the street, and even the Top 10, were increasing.

Endeavor had a track record for more than one thing after all.

Jin turned off the TV, he'd been barely paying attention to the reporter anyway.

Too many things were on his mind, especially in regards to the Vod'e.

After all…armies fought with armies, and he didn't know how the droids would fare in the long run.

Eventually…he'd have to step up to the plate, no matter how much he didn't want to.

Jin grunted as he struggled against himself for a moment before leaving his apartment.

He stuck to the sidelines…despite him being a wanted man, it was ridiculously easy to blend in with the crowd.

'I am here…that is what he always said. A blessing for those who were normal, a curse to those left behind.'

Jin grunted in surprise as the convenience store in front of him suddenly had its front blown out to pieces as a villain carried away an entire counter.

'And once that curse is lifted…Villains, who only think for themselves, can finally act freely.'

He observed as the hero tried to interfere before getting ambushed from behind with a bat to the head, the group of criminals calling themselves Team Reservoir Dogs drove off.

That's when the crowd heard the whirring and Jin gulped in slight dread.

A squad of troopers on those fancy hoverbikes sped past the crowd, all of them gasping and cheering.

One drifted to a stop before getting off and treating the fallen hero, meanwhile the other four surrounded the speeding pickup in almost no time flat before one of them threw a device at the hood, sending a current that disabled the engine.

The robbers panicked as the clones then surrounded the vehicle with their weapons raised.

"Out of the car, hands up!" The squad leader ordered.

In response, a blob of… something out of the car window, sticking to the helmet of the clone, causing him to fall on his ass while trying to get the tar-like substance off of his helmet.

"Stun them."

The crowd cheered as they saw the criminals get gunned down. Something that sent chills down his spine. Yes he knew they were only stunned, but still! Cheering for pointing guns at people just felt off, even he knew that!

'This is the future for villains…either they rise up, or they're gunned down in front of the masses.'

Jin walked away, cigarette still burning.

'Already, the different factions have been moving systematically but apparently what the League's looking for is…'

Jin's train of thought was derailed as his phone rang.

"What's up, Giran? Doin' good?"

#Long time no see! How've you been?#

"Don't know yet either way…you know how it is…"

Giran nodded, not that Jin could see.

"That's tough."

"Don't run from the question…what about you?#

Giran grinned widely, looking at his desk full of phones and cases.

"I'm doing great! Business has been better in years! So much on the black market for suits and items. The League's the darling of the idiots now!"

#That's great-no, it's not!#

Giran hummed as he heard Jin start to break down.

"Oh well, it looks like you're having a hard time…do let me know if you can find Dabi though, Shigaraki wants to talk to him."

Giran ended the call and meanwhile Jin struggled desperately with himself.

"Hey, are you ok?" A voice asked him as he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him look, with the person behind him causing his eyes to go as wide as dinner plates.

A clone.


'The League of Villains is scattered all across the country…' Spinner thought to himself as he walked in a park. His new arm came with replaceable attachments, so he traded out his bulky one for a sleek, incognito one.

His shoulder still burned from where Sentinel had skewered him.

Being forced to face death so closely had changed his perspective of a lot of things.

Not to mention it had given him a wakeup call to just how scary that armor could make them look. If he hadn't known any better, he'd have thought it was the Grim Reaper himself or one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

He growled to himself, but kept up his hunt.

They needed to find new recruits, and he had an idea as to where to find them.


Dabi glared balefully at the pitiful group of villains in front of him.

They didn't deserve to be called villains in his opinion. They barely made the cut to be called criminals.

"Hey, bastard! Your face looks gross!"

"What you lookin' at!? I'm gonna kill you!"

"Tear off that shiny arm of yours, too!"

Dabi narrowed his eyes before raising his cannon.

"We don't need guys like this…"

And blue hellfire consumed them.

As they screamed he merely sighed.

"Stay down…if you're gonna be trash, at least burn and be kindling for me…"

The cannon hissed as it shifted, exposing the cooling vents.

He despised that clone for taking his arm…but he couldn't deny the benefits of not having his flesh being seared just by using his own power.

It would serve him well when he blew the clone's head off in front of dear little Shoto.


Twice huffed as he felt himself stabilize as he left the alley alone.

As he walked, he couldn't help but remember how this entire situation came to be. The unintended side effect of his quirk, Twice.

Yes, he named himself after his quirk, if it worked with others, he could do it too, thank you very much.

But to get back to the point…his own power betrayed him, leaving him physically and mentally scarred so much that he didn't even know if he was real.

'There isn't anywhere a crazy person can belong…no matter what heroes say, they only save the good ones. Which is why I help the League…cause maybe that way I can feel normal, too.'

He walked by an alley before hearing a group start to speak amongst themselves.

'In the end, I just want to find people who are crazy like me…those that also want to belong.'

"It's pitiful."

Twice blinked as he heard the slightly muffled voice.

"A group of adults got together, and all they could think about was robbing a convenience store and they couldn't even manage that ."

Twice looked into the alley, spotting the group of people observing.

"It's disgusting…and ridiculous. After all, a group of that size should be thinking bigger."

A man wearing a beak shaped mask along with a faded green jacket with a plume of black feathers stepped out of the shadows.

Jin took a small step back, before hiding behind the corner of the alley and strained his ears to listen to the conversation, not liking someone who looked like a plague doctor being in front of him, nor did he like any of the other masked goons he had brought with him

"It's sickening. They're all sick. They all need to get better." He said, tapping his mask.

"Should we attack, Overhaul?" One of his followers asked but his boss shook his head.

"They're all sick…every last one of them." He muttered, glaring at the clones in the street.

Twice kept observing them.

'Looks like some more crazies are looking for a place for them to belong.'


4 Days

After the sheer confusion that had been the last few weeks, life in Japan seemed to have returned to relative normal, people going about their business, with villains sticking to the shadows, even with the power vacuum the retirement of All Might had caused.

Even U.A was getting back to normal, well… as normal as it could be.

Despite their climactic confrontation, Izuku and Katsuki had remained silent, both agreeing to continue their house arrest with exceptions so that Katsuki could visit his home and Izuku could chaperone Eri's play dates.

The students were getting ready for class, though there was also a minor event with Shinso, who they'd noticed had gained some muscle and was even seen talking to one of the members of Ponds' squad.

The students were eventually gathered outside for an announcement by Nezu, who extolled to them the importance of physical health and good sleep habits before segueing into a discussion about how the societal changes were affecting all of them.

And then…he mentioned Hero Work Studies.

There were slight mutterings as they wondered about what the work studies would entail but they continued to pay attention to their principal.

"Remember however, that all of you; hero course, business course, support course, general education, are the successors of our society." Nezu cheerily finished.

"And now, a few words from our Vice Principal for updated security measures."

Surprisingly enough, other than the HPSC, no one really had any objections to the appointment of Cody to Vice Principal.

Students had originally asked their teachers if they felt overlooked and each one of them had been nearly laughed out of their offices.

As it turns out, there are reasons why nobody was the Vice.

Other than that, Cody had proven himself to be intelligent, respectful and impartial to boot whenever there were disturbances. Punishments for situations involving students, Vod'e, or both at the same time were regarded to be ultimately fair and unbiased.

He was the mark of a true professional.

That, and he was a whiz with paperwork.

Although his… Colorful complaints about how much he hated it could be worked on a bit.

"Thank you, Principal Nezu. Now then, students-"

As Cody began to speak, Toshinori's thoughts turned to Nezu's words and how they'd applied to him.

How originally he'd joined UA to find a successor here, before finding Izuku and Jango that fateful day.

There was an announcement about fighting at the dorms, in regards to the incident before the sanctioned fight and the need for cooperation and respect before they were let out for their classes.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" A young woman with periwinkle colored hair slapped the back of her tall and blond friend. "I hear it was a couple of firsties from 1-A! The blonde boy and the freckled one who's walking all over the place at the same time!"

"I hear they fought twice! The second time overseen by the teachers in that new place they're building!"

"Oh?" The blond smirked, eager for the opportunity to know his kouhai.

"Do we really have to do this? I just wanna go home…" a third, purple haired student who was looking down at his own feet asked while doing his best to not make eye contact with anyone.


"Alright, today we're starting our regular classes…I know that a lot of things have happened recently, but you need to refocus on your schoolwork." Aizawa addressed the class. "We'll be staying inside the classroom today, but this semester will have even harsher training than before."

The students however, immediately asked about the work studies previously mentioned by Principal Nezu, including how they were focused for upperclassmen.

Aizawa-sensei sighed and rubbed the side of his head before nodding.

"I was going to tell you all at a later date, but I suppose now would be more logical." He took a moment to pop his neck. "To put it simply, they're advanced versions of the internships you did, with more actual work being done."

"Oh, so like what Midoriya and the Vod'e been doing?" Sato asked.

"Indeed, before you ask, the reason for internships was for you all to develop connections, an introduction to networking if you will. Work studies are dependent upon you to get, and, now that most of you have licenses, you'll be able to do more work for more time." Aizawa further explained.

"However, you won't be doing it to the same extent as him, as he's a special case due to a lot, and I mean a lot of legal stuff." Aizawa stated dryly before facing his most troublesome student. "Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

Izuku's left eye twitched.

"So much paperwork…"

"You ain't dumping that on me, brother." Cody's voice said over Izuku's wrist comm.

Izuku merely groaned.

"Regardless, it's far from the norm for first years to gain their provisional licenses, but that combined with the increasing villain activity means that we're seriously considering letting you all participate."

Many of the students nodded solemnly, understanding the responsibility that was being given to them.

"More information will come at a later date. For now, however, Mic?"

Present Mic boisterously opened the door.

"ALRIGHT! WHO'S READY TO START ENGLISH CLASS!? YEAH!"


Izuku, as part of his punishment, had taken on half of the dorm's chores, while Katsuki had taken the other half.

At the moment, he was taking the trash out to the dumpsters.

For the moment, he was thinking about his current duties and responsibilities, as well as the increasing reports of villain activity he was receiving from the Vod'e Commanders.

Though he'd been forbidden from participating while he was under house arrest, he was still in command of the Vod'e and kept up with them.

'Still no sign of Shigaraki or any members of the League…nor of the Yakuza that want Eri…I don't like it. Despite how much villainous activity has been increasing, there hasn't been a peep from the League or a hint of the droids…'

"...just what are you planning, Shigaraki?"

"Well, I don't know anything about a Shigaraki, but I can certainly tell you about that trash you're carrying. You know you can throw the trays with the burnables, right?"

"Hm? Oh, thaannn…"

Izuku paused as he stared at the disembodied face staring at him from the wall…

'I recognize this face.' he thought as he dropped the trays slowly, the mouse droids in the building rushing over to take them away so they wouldn't be left in a mess.

"...Lemillion?"

The boy in question blinked in surprise.

"Wait…you know me?"

"Sir Nighteye's prodigy…among other things. I, or failing that, one of my brothers, like to keep track of upcoming heroes. You're at the top of the list alongside your team, Nejire-Chan and Suneater." Izuku explained as he finished putting the bags away.

"You were honestly an inspiration…to take what was obviously an unwieldy quirk, though I'm yet to know what it is, and turn yourself into what you are today…gave me hope that I could do the same."

'Before One For All, all I had was Jango without any real prospects of unlocking the other Vod'e…or even the rest of the armory…he was one of the people who inspired us to keep moving despite any setback.'

"Were?" Mirio asked, smiling.

"Are." Izuku corrected with a smile of his own. "Sorry, I'm talking in past tense because I'm reminiscing." He said while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Understandable."

Izuku's smile was soft.

"My brother would have liked to have met you."

"Ah…" Mirio's tone turned somber. "The one from the USJ, right?"

"...Yeah…"

"I'm sorry about that…I haven't lost anyone that close to me, I can't imagine how you feel."

"Some days are better than others." Izuku replied. "But his memory, and the memory of those lost, have pushed me to keep improving myself. And they still do to this day and till the day I leave this world." he said as the blonde boy, (and wow that was a lot of muscle!) came out of the wall and stood himself up to his full height, causing one of the mouse droids to bump into his foot before fleeing in fright.

"That's…inspiring too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I also know you guys cause you helped save my life in the Mindscape…my brothers told me a lot of the valor of your friends."

Mirio nodded again, though he was quiet, remembering the clones that had died right in front of him.

It still haunted him a bit, just seeing a boy, just barely younger than himself, shot down so many times, many turning into dust along with the faces of others of his peers having to watch them crumble to dust, sometimes even in their own hands.

He wanted to say something, anything, but he felt like it wasn't his place to do so, especially with how much of an emotional burden the other boy was already bearing on his shoulders.

"So…not gonna bring it up? Usually somebody says something about it…don't worry, I've gotten used to the screams and jokes."

"I'm trying very hard to ignore it actually." Izuku said with a wry smile, Mirio only now noticing the fact cold sweat was running down his kouhai's face, with his legs also shaking slightly.

"Understandable, have a nice day."


3 Days

"I am telling you, biscuits and gravy are delicious! Harp growled, his forehead pressed against one of his brothers.

"And I am telling you that it is a poor people's food and deserves the name 'shit on a shingle' because it looks and tastes like it! It is an affront to the culinary world!" Dust retorted, the two going at it like two rams while arguing about the particular food in question.

"I'm with Dust! It looks nasty and is just a sad sight!" Grid said, his tongue sticking out.

"For once, I am with the squirt…" A gruffer looking clone yawned.

"You take that back you goddamn cretin!" Kurama hissed at his brother, Saga who was holding a mug of coffee. Or rather, it would have been one if not for the literal mountain of sugar in the mug.

"Or what? You won't do shit…" Saga yawned and was about to bring the mug to his lips before his face was smacked into it, covering him from chin to hair in sugar.

"I will!" A new clone huffed as he shook his hand slightly, having used it to smack his brother with. "You take back that heresy about biscuits and gravy!" the newly arrived clone, Harp hissed.

"That's it! Killing you both! Especially you, Harp!" Saga roared, jumping at his two brothers, chokeslamming them into the ground by knocking his arms into their necks with a double lariat takedown.

"Hah! Serves those two right! No taste at all!" Grid guffawed only to freeze up with sweat starting to run down him like a waterfall after someone put his skull in a deathgrip.

Slowly looking behind him, or rather having his head forced to look behind him, he saw Torc and Breach standing and glaring at him, the former with one of his sheathed blades on his shoulder, tapping it against his armor while the other cracked his knuckles.

"Ehehe… Mercy?" the younger clone asked, before he was flung into the fray with a yelp, as the previous three man brawl had devolved into a mosh pit of clones, with a few students cheering them on.

"GO DIE IN A DITCH!" Torc and Breach shouted in unison as they joined the brawl with a dual people's elbow.

In the kitchen, Draluram let out a sigh as he observed the chaos in the cafeteria.

"Why can't any of them just agree that the taste is somewhat bland and therefore in the middle ground and be done with it?" He asked himself as he put down the plate he had been cleaning for the past five minutes.

"Says you! It's a staple of an all American breakfast!"

"It's mid at best and-"

"WHO DARES DEFILE THE SANCTITY OF BISCUITS AND GRAVY!" All Might roared as he puffed up to his full size before-

POOF!

BLAGH!

"Dammit…still can't go back to full size…" he groaned, before he got tackled by one of the clones who didn't share his view on the breakfast food.

While all of this was happening, Scratch was helping himself to another round of the lunch buffet, making it his sixth helping.

"Idiots…" he muttered as he took a bite of one of the tonkatsu on his somewhat stacked plate while reaching for a bowl of rice and getting a spoonful of chili on top of it along with a mug of hot cocoa to wash it all down with.

"Do I even want to know what's going on?" Izuku asked as he approached him, sitting next to his always hungry brother who had also snatched a handful of bread rolls.

"Nah, just a standard food war." Scratch shrugged as he ate another piece of tonkatsu.

"Ah, carry on then." Izuku said and was about to dig into his own lunch, before noticing the meat was gone. "Wha?! Scratch!" he said in faux betrayal as he tried to use his part of the tonkatsu with his chopsticks, only to be blocked by Scratch's own while the currently eating clone wasn't even looking..


As class started, Aizawa addressed them again about the work studies by introducing upperclassmen that had experience with them.

"Listen to them carefully, the three UA students who stand at the top of all other UA students."

Izuku knew who they were.

Togata Mirio, Hado Nejire, and Amajiki Tamaki.

Lemillion, Nejire-Chan, and Suneater.

"The Big Three."

They were those closest to pro heroes among the upper years of UA.

Amajiki was the first to be called to introduce himself.

It…didn't really work as planned.

"The potatoes don't work!"

Nejire was excitable to a fault, asking questions to the point of rudeness but never getting an answer because she would jump from one person to another.

Izuku hid a chuckle as he noticed Aizawa beginning to get annoyed with them.

"This isn't exactly rational."

Togata then tried to do some kind of call-and-response thing with the class only to ultimately fail.

Izuku facepalmed.

Still, he was able to properly gain their attention.

"Well, we're supposed to be here to explain to you guys how work studies work, but you guys are first years who managed to get your provisional licenses…one of you even holding the record for earliest UA student."

There was no confusion as to who that was about.

"This year's first years are really…energetic, right?"

He snapped his fingers.

"How about you all fight me all at once?"

Everyone began to mutter while Togata grinned at their teacher.

"It's the most rational to have you all experience our experience firsthand, right?

That however, wasn't the best thing to have said if some of the dead stares he received were anything to go by.

"Heh… Firsthand experience he says…" Ochako said in a low voice with dead eyes as she stared dead ahead into the void.

"Talks about experience like he's seen death before…" Kyoka signed, no emotion in her hands or eyes as her earlobes hung lifelessly.

"He did help us in the Mindscape…many brothers died there…" Denki softly reminded her and she nodded in agreement but still couldn't help but feel that there was a stark difference between seeing the death of someone that was dedicated to die,and someone that had no business being near death.

"Besides, we don't know what he's been through."

Kyoka sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Sorry."

"Hey, no worries, we're all a bit high strung recently."

"Alright, then… Get changed into your gym uniform and meet him in the training hall." Aizawa said, pointing towards the door, with the class standing up nearly uniformly as they marched outside in an orderly manner, before breaking into a run.

"Certainly disciplined, aren't they?" Mirio said while scratching his head.

"Not by choice, mind you. Not by choice…" Aizawa sighed as he swirled the last amount of cold coffee in his mug around.

Later in the training hall

Approximately five minutes later, the entirety of 1-A stood spread around in the hall, each of them performing different types of stretches and exercises to warm themselves up for the upcoming match against the strongest third year of their school, with a few clones having come to observe them by sitting at some rafters.

Some of them wanted to join, but a quick look from Aizawa had prevented any of them from doing so. Scratch however, had to be restrained by a few of his brothers to stop him from just charging into what he knew would be a good fight.

"Everyone ready?" Midnight asked the two groups, several of them nodding while a few others looked slightly unsure about the situation, if them hyping each other up was anything to go by.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mirio?" Amajiki asked from the wall. "It would have been easier to just talk about our experiences. Not everyone is filled to the brim with ambition, and it would be tragic to lose more students because they aren't able to recover from it."

"What does he mean by that?" Kirishima asked.

"Oh, that's easy!" Nejire called out from the side while messing with Mina's horns. "In the past there was a student who got so frustrated that he dropped out of the hero course, caused a lot of problems for everyone. So if you're not ready, well…"

"We've faced heroes and we've faced villains." Kirishima said as he cracked his neck.

"And we have encountered war." Tenya said as he stood forward.

Izuku narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing.

"[We stand together!]"

"OYA!"

Mirio smiled.

"Right, you can come at me anytime, anywhere!" He called out. "Who's first!?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he was rushed by the melee oriented fighters, followed by being flanked by Tenya and Mina while the students who focused on range had Tsu give them a boost into the air with her legs, before preparing to unleash a barrage of all sorts of projectiles.

"Whoo! You guys sure do take initiative!"

"Oi! Make sure you put your all into this!" Their sensei called out to them. "This is going to be a good experience for you all!"

All the attacks passed through him as his shirt suddenly fell off.

Then his pants limply fell onto the ground.

Everyone gasped in shock but Izuku immediately felt his head start to twinge.

"[STAY ON YOUR GUARD!]"

"K'OYACYI!"

Danger Sense pinged and Izuku wrenched himself back, Togata's fist passing his face, the tip of his knuckle brushing against his hair.

He idly noticed Togata's eyes were wide.

He didn't notice Togata's friends stare at him in shock.

Before he could capitalize on that however, Togata had already disappeared.

"How about the long range fighters first instead?" Izuku hears him call out and then he sees his friends start to fall one by one.

He was moving too quickly!

'How does he-?'

"KAGH!"

'Over there!?'

"ARGH!"

'He's too quick-'

"DODGE!" He felt Hikage warn him and he ducked just in time, much to the Big Three's surprise once more, while also shouting the warning to his classmates.

"What do you mean do-ECK!" Sato, who had happened to be behind Izuku the moment, and in return received a punch straight to the solar plexus.

With a grunt Izuku rolled forward before focusing and leaping into the air, gripping his fingers into the ceiling, clinging to it like a spider.

Doing this made everyone stop what they were doing for a brief moment as they stared up at him.

'Think, Izuku, think!'

Something then caught his attention, the fact that everyone had practically stayed in place.

'They're sitting ducks!'

"STOP STAYING IN ONE PLACE! SCATTER!"

"Doesn't that hurt?" someone asked him, seemingly not hearing what he said.

With a grunt he pushed with his legs, causing the group to immediately lock into combat mode again, dodging the attack, before spiking the ground, splintering and shattering the concrete.

Standing up again, he looked towards his nearest classmate, Yuuga.

"His quirk lets him phase through things as you can see! However his body might be manipulating the light spectrum to be able to do so! Blast him!"

"Oui!"

Amajiki and Hado blinked in unison, surprised at the admission.

'When did he-?'

"Ooh, nice theory!" Togata grinned, before grabbing both their heads and pushing them into the ground, their skulls bouncing off of the floor.

While Yuuga was out like a light, Izuku immediately clutched his head as a sharp pain shot through it upon contact with the floor, making him blurt out a small bluestreak.

Taking a second to let the pain subside a bit, he got back on his feet while the others kept trying to either hit or locate Mirio.

Something that was quite easy as a shriek of shock went through the air, courtesy of the currently butt naked third year student appearing behind Kyouka who soon after let out a series of coughs, causing most to stop again, with even Mirio kneeling down to check on her.

What they didn't notice however, was the downright evil grin the purplette sported.

'Well…if the opportunity is there…', she thought, jabbing her jacks at him, managing to prick one of his eyes while he managed to catch the other, much to her horror if her currently pale complexion had anything to say.

"Smart move! Also, ow!" Mirio said with his usual grin as he managed to remove the jack, which had luckily not caused any permanent damage, just merely some blurriness and pain for the next few hours.

Kyouka whimpered out, unable to speak, now as pale as a sheet and having a veritable waterfall of cold sweat cascading from her.

"Don't sell yourself short! It was a good idea to try and lure me in! I do, however , still have to knock you out though, so sorry in advance!" Togata said, before kneeing her straight in the gut.

" HURK!"

"Oooohhhhhh…" a handful of the others winced in sympathy, as they saw their friend slump over like a ragdoll.

"Denki, do something!" Momo called out to the stunned boy who shook his head before getting into a pose and put his quirk into his arms.

Taking a few deep breath, he concentrated on the power flowing through his body from the tips of his toes to the end of each strand of hair, the energy slowly building up in his arms as it moved towards his fingertips, before he started moving them in the shape of an infinity symbol, first the left and then the right, his fingertips connecting at the middle and then pointing his left hand at Mirio, a bolt of lightning shooting from them and towards the blonde boy with a boom and crackle of electricity.

The training he had been doing with his uncles had paid off!

However…it passed straight through!

"Oh that's just bull- KAGH!" Denki tried to swear but was laid flat on the ground by a solid punch.

"Eughh…" Togata shuddered. He did not want to go through that again.

'Okay now this is just getting weird. Midoriya I can somewhat understand, he's got power and a good amount of experience for his age, but this kid just did something to me no other lightning user's ever done before…'

Mirio blinked.

'Pause.'

As he continued to bound forward between students, he noticed some very odd peculiarities.

The students were good, yeah, but there was something about a few of them that just…seemed different.

They were faster to react, faster to notice him, and they quickly followed Midoriya's orders as he tried to box him in.

For a third time, Midoriya dodged a blow by the skin of his teeth.

'Okay, that's not normal…' he thought as he did his best to observe the remaining ten students still standing whom he hadn't knocked out yet.

The ones remaining consisted of Asui, Shouji, Hagakure, Sero, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Mineta, Koji, Mashirao and Midoriya.

'They're extremely coordinated, even the ones who have most likely seen less action than the others along with being able to both function in a command structure and outside of it. A blend of soldiers and warriors.' he thought as he phased back through the ground and emerged again, this time grabbing Mineta and incapacitated him, before barreling through the rest of the group.

Izuku was trying his best to track the older student but wasn't having much success.

'They're scary for first years.'

Nevertheless, he pushed on through!

"POWER!"

Izuku sprinted forward and kicked, his foot going through the other's body completely and he glared at the fruitless attack before grunting as he brought his arms together in time to block a strike. Meanwhile, Mirio continued to move forward and attack the others and Izuku could see that he'd stopped going through the ground from where he'd crashed.

He glared and got to his hands and knees.

Something began to twinge in his head as One For All sparked.

'Izuku…' Nana warned from inside the Mindscape. 'Something's reacting to you!'

'Just need to keep him in place.' He replied.

He didn't notice but his perception of time was starting to slow down as he instinctually brought his hand up.

He could hear an odd ringing sound mixed with a subtle, dark groan in his mind.

A precarious, yet still unknown balance to him.

He reached out and closed his hand, his fingers tightening against something invisible that resisted him.

Mirio grunted, his eyes widening in surprise as his foot landed flat against the ground, his body freezing, .

Everyone else stared in shock as Mirio grunted, trying to force his body to obey his commands.

"What the-?"

Izuku tried to stand, his body shaking and trembling with each step before he fell to his knees, his power sparking across his body as he focused.

'I can't phase through! He's stopping me somehow! What the hell is this guy's quirk!?'

Izuku roared out.

"NOW!"

Shaking themselves out of their shock, the others quickly made their move.

'I can't even move!' Mirio thought to himself.

He snorted.

'These firsties really are something else.'

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone paused as they felt their quirks stop working, looking over to Aizawa who was rushing over to a coughing Izuku.

"Dammit, problem child!" Aizawa muttered as he helped him up. "You need to stop doing this to yourself!"

Izuku coughed a bit more, spitting out some blood, his friends quickly approaching, yet maintaining their distance as he raised his hand.

"I'm fine…I'm fine…it looks worse than it actually is."

"Let RG be the judge of that." Aizawa scolded him before turning silent. "Midoriya…you were coughing like him."

Izuku met his gaze before turning away.

"What's going on?"

"...Synchronicity…too much, too early…" Izuku semi-cryptically said.

The doors to the training room suddenly burst open, mediclones quickly reaching Izuku with Recovery Girl at the ready.

"You. Tests. Now."

Izuku sighed.

"Yes, ma'am."

As he was escorted out of the building, Hado and Amajiki checked on their friend.

"You alright, Mirio?"

Mirio nodded.

"Yeah…but dang, not gonna lie, that kid is scary."

"He stopped your permeation…how could he do that?"

"He was sticking his hand out! Do you think he was holding you together with his mind? A form of small-scale or even molecular telekinesis that has been created as a subset of his original quirk due to what happened to him during the Battle of Camino? As if he was manipulating your atoms and forcing them to stay together, thus negating Permeation?"

Mirio and Tamaki blinked in unison.

"...That was oddly specific?"

They remained silent for a moment before grabbing the class' attention.

"Well!...That was definitely different than expected! So…who here thinks that my quirk is strong?" He started off, which was met with several pained groans.


Recovery Girl's Office

"You should have stopped the moment you felt that feeling, you know that you're not ready to use the quirks. One For All and Legion are hazards of their own, Danger Sense is pushing the limit. Not to mention Float , Blackwhip , and whatever that Mavan thing you're dealing with. I swear, If I catch you coughing up blood again or is on the verge of a total body shutdown from your own quirk, I am locking you inside a bacta tank !"

Izuku sighed in slight frustration…annoyed at his own limits and weaknesses.

"Nana says that none of the others have that…any idea what caused it?"

Chiyo harrumphed and moved to a different table.

"You're lucky that the Shield girl has been so helpful, otherwise this would take weeks…ever since she came by, I've had access to better technology to diagnose you with." She gestured to a machine next to her.

"I've been doing DNA sequencing, Q-DNA(1) tests to be precise, among others to take a look at the quirk factors in your body as well as keeping an eye on the structural integrity of your cells, your DNA strands, everything."

Izuku grimly nodded. He and his mother had given their permission to do so after the fiasco of the Mindscape with how his body had practically torn itself apart at the seams from the inside out for several hours.

"Recent events have…shed light on what exactly has been going on with you. As you know, All For One's attack on you was also on the genetic level, although you were saved…it left things…open, so to speak."

"What do you mean?"'

"Your genetic code is currently unstable, which is why your powers seem to have been fluctuating recently. We need to get a proper gene therapist to look at this before your condition worsens even further which may result in you keeling over before you reach 20 if it keeps up like this."

She sighed again.

"We have been able to determine two things however, the genetic instability is what is making you activate traits from your parents that were previously hidden, as explained to you before when your eyes turned yellow due to your anger and now when you unlocked this new power. It looks like it's a variation of your mother's quirk which works on an even smaller scale."

"Mom's quirk…" Izuku whispered, barely catching the last thing she said.

He couldn't help it.

He teared up and began to smile.

"I have mom's quirk."

"Yes. I just hope this won't spread to all of your brothers though… Just imagining some of the crazier ones pulling apart things on the molecular level is enough to give me a headache…" she sighed, but with a small smile.

"Well, let's just hope that if it has spread to them, Grid is the last one who got it. Who knows what that little firecracker would do with this," he chuckled over his rather… chaotic younger brother who like Rookie, had come out as a younger version of himself.

Izuku lied back down and stared at the ceiling.

'Mom's quirk.'

The feeling just wouldn't leave him.

He loved his quirk, both of them, though now they were one.

But he always remembered growing up and desperately wanting a power like his mom.

"Just remember, and please…try to keep to this. But stick to your limits…the only other person who's ever been able to hold multiple quirks without becoming a brain dead beast is the same monster who did this to you." Recovery Girl said, to which Izuku nodded.

"I won't become a monster like him. Never in this or any other lifetime."

A knock on the door caught their attention.

"Come in." RG said, before walking away.

Ochako smiled as she poked her head in.

"Hey…you doing alright? Gave us a slight scare there…" she said as she walked over to him, gently holding his hand.

Izuku felt a pit develop in his stomach.

"Ah, crap…I'm sorry, Ochako…I didn't mean to scare you or the others…turns out I unlocked something new."

She sat on the bed and they talked, Izuku explaining how his genetic instability had led to the unlocking of his mother's quirk and she in turn explained what happened after he left, including the details of Togata's quirk and his story.

"Fascinating…to think that he could turn something so unwieldy into a force to be reckoned with. Hm, no wonder that Nighteye had an eye on him for the next wielder of One For All if All Might hadn't found me," He said as he wrote things down in a notebook he had pulled from… somewhere .

"Wait, what?" Ochako asked.

Izuku blinked before wincing.

"Eeee…wasn't supposed to mention that." Izuku whimpered, something that wasn't helped by several thousand voices calling him all of the synonyms for 'idiot' at the same time inside of his head.

"Izuku, What. Was. That?"

"Okay…okay…so, basically, All Might was supposed to come here to UA to find a successor, his old sidekick's apparently been training Togata to become that successor but then All Might found me instead. From what I've heard, they got into a big fight about it, along with some other stuff and they haven't spoken since."

"Wait…so you…"

" If you want to get technical about it, I was never meant to get OFA, after all, I met him completely by chance. But I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I do…though I'm not looking forward to the day that I meet him, if I ever."

Ochako let out a sigh as she dragged her hand down her face.

"You are going to end up giving me a heart attack if you keep doing this… I know you have secrets that you and only you are privy to, but sometimes I would like it if you didn't bottle up everything… It's not good for you…" she said as she sat down on a chair.

Izuku took a breath, as if to speak but stopped.

"...ask me."

"What?" She asked, meeting his gaze.

Izuku opened his mouth again, taking a deep, slightly shaky breath before clutching her hand.

"Ask me. Ask me anything…I trust you…you deserve to know the truth…so ask me anything you want."

Ochako looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity in them.

"Okay…"


Earlier that week

"So…you want my help to capture a target?" Shigaraki asked.

"Indeed." Overhaul replied.

Overhaul had been forced to be cordial to this festering mongrel.

He could taste the filth in the air that was emanating from this brat who looked like he would be ripe maggot food if he ever decided to lie down on the floor for more than ten minutes.

But despite the fact that the League had lost the support of All For One, he still had the support of General Grievous (where the hell did he come from?) as well as the machines.

"You might know the target already. She is very important for me to continue my operations on developing a cure for a sickness that is running rampant in the world." He said as he took out a picture and flicked it towards the blue haired villain who caught it between two fingers and gave it a lookover.

Shigaraki looked at the picture and raised a brow as he handed the picture over to Compass who inspected it, the picture then going into a metallic hand belonging to one of the droids that were currently with the group as security.

For a brief, brief moment, Shigaraki hesitated as memories of a similar child with red eyes looked at him.

"And why should we help you?" He finally asked.
"Provide us with droids and weaponry and you will receive some of our assets for your own use."

The droid seemed to scan the picture, before it discarded it completely, opting to go back to holding its blaster while staring into nothingness.

Their presence had filled their current hideout more, that was for sure but it felt a bit awkward having them around while mostly being silent. Not to mention they were somewhat unnerving when standing in the dark, looking like metallic skeletons from a distance.

"Tsk. Could you have these machines remove themselves? They're distracting." Chisaki scoffed at Shigaraki who just gave him a sickly smile.

"You would like that, wouldn't you? So you have more leverage when you bring the four NPC's you brought with your party out of the bushes?"

As if on point, the bushes started to rustle, revealing three four men, three who all wore different types of masks with the third being some faceless mook, who then walked up to stand besides their boss, an action which caused the droids to take aim at the quartet.

Just as the two droids took aim however, their blasters were snatched from them, as if someone had held a big magnet at them, the two guns flying into the hands of one of the blonde Yakuza who looked the weapons over and then gave one to his bald companion.

A few moments later, Shigaraki looked back at the mask wearing yakuza with slightly squinted eyes.

"Only getting a few drugs seems to not cover the risk that doing this action poses to us." Shigaraki said, leaning forward in a mock imitation of how a Yakuza boss would in a lot of movies and video games, an action that irked the four actual Yakuza in the room.

"We can try the diplomatic way, something that you are hurriedly exhausting by wearing down my patience." Overhaul said as he flexed his hand slightly, the biggest of the three men with him activated his quirk, making crystals sprout from his hand while the blonde slowly pulled out a gun and the scarecrow looking guy tore open his mask, revealing a set of sharp teeth.

"Or we can use the old fashioned method of coercion."

The moment he did so however, the B2 droids in the room immediately pointed their blasters at them, these one being attached to their arms and therefore impossible to steal.

"Well, it looks like we have to do this the old fashioned way." Magne said, taking a hold of her steel girder and swung it towards the masked man who uncovered one of his hands, sidestepping the girder and pushing his palm against his assailant.

In the next second, where Magne had been standing tall prior, now the entire upper half of her were missing, splattered across the backside of the warehouse and the nearest of the droids.

"Filthy. I hate doing this."

Compress went on the move, but something hit his skin and though he touched Overhaul his quirk didn't work.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Overhaul roared as hives broke out on his skin.

Compress' arm was also destroyed while Shigaraki went on the attack.

A shot fired but missed and Overhaul called for a shield.

The hapless fellow immediately disintegrated into dust.

That's when the backup for both sides arrived, with more Yakuza breaking into the warehouse and droids popping out from everywhere, all of them pointing their weapons and charging them.

Overhaul growled before sighing.

"It'll be hard to make objective decisions like this…Right. It's unproductive to cut down each other's forces, anyway. We're even right now with one corpse on each side. It's a good time to stop. Let's cool our heads and talk another day." Overhaul said as he walked away.

Tomura stopped his subordinates from attacking and walked away. Overhaul had been talking about having a plan. And he could see merit in that.

'He took one of my players.'

He had an army. He had resources and generals…but he needed a plan.

Overhaul was a threat now, and had insulted him.

Tomura paused.

'That could work…'


"Mand'alor's greatest strength is his tactical superiority. But in war, nothing remains superior."

The mall was a frequent stop for all of them.

It had started with Denki's idea to have playdates with the kids.

As such, he'd been the first to introduce his little sister, Noshiko to Eri. The two had become fast friends, even if the former hadn't really been the most talkative type.

Soon after, Tsuyu had introduced her siblings, Satsuki and Samidare as well. Eri had become friends with Satsuki almost as fast as Ochako and Tsuyu had, and she had also taken a liking to Samidare with how much he reminded her of her cooler 'uncles' so to speak.

That's when Jurota had introduced Gungi as well.

Meeting the younger boy had been a bit of an experience for her, especially since he seemed to prefer to growl and grunt rather than use actual words.

It however, didn't take long before she took a liking to him. In her words, he was fluffy to hug and therefore reminded her of a giant plushie.

Right now however, the kids were currently all enjoying their playdate in said mall, visiting different shops, mostly toy shops along with convincing some of the clones accompanying them to buy some of the toys for them.

The clones in particular were all part of Horn Company who had been founded to act as Eri's personal escort no matter where she went to protect her.

The one currently with them was CC-4142, more commonly known as 'Lock' due to his expertise in security and locking down areas whenever something troublesome seemed to show up.

Out of all of the clones, he had quickly become the favorite of the kid groups with how much time he usually spent with them.

Alongside him was Izuku who was taking the time to stay with her and to relax a bit from more recent events.

He spent the day chatting with Eri, glad to see her having opened up fully to her new friends.

"Eri! Eri!" Satsuki called out from a bit ahead. "Come on! There's new stuff from the hero store about Mand'alor!"

Eri's eyes sparkled and she began to bounce in place.

"Let's go! Come on, buir!" She took a few steps before Izuku's voice called out to her.

"Eri?"

She froze as her mind caught up with her.

She refused to look at him but he gently took her hand and walked to a bench before sitting down and facing her.

"Eri…are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…just…sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud…"

"Oh, ad'ika…do I really mean that much to you?" Izuku softly whispered as he brushed her hair out of her face.

Eri shyly looked at him.

"Yes…you…you saved me…you gave me a home…a life, everything…you're my buir." She said before smiling brightly at him.

Izuku had to hold back his tears as he smiled back before hugging her tightly.

"You are brave, Eri. And kind, and beautiful and so many things I can't even begin to put into words."

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace.

"Here, I want you to have this…it…it belonged to my brother. Unfortunately, it's no good as armor anymore, but I wanted you to have it so that you remember just how brave you are."

She smiled again at him and he grabbed her hand and let himself be dragged away towards the store.

Twinge

Izuku grunted in slight pain, holding his hand to his head.

'What's going on?'

He stopped, Eri looking at him questioningly as he started to look around for the danger.

"Buir?"

Then he heard it, an odd…whistling noise? No, not quite a whistle…it was…a howl?

Another twinge and he looked up, the open roof of the mall showing objects flying down towards them, four in total.

"Lock…pass me your binoculars."

Sticking out his hand, he was handed a pair of binoculars from Lock and took a look at the incoming objects and squinted slightly, before he got a better look at the incoming UFO's.

"Maybe a new type of drone from the JSDF?" Lock asked, screening his eyes from the sun as he continued to look.

"No… The JSDF hasn't developed anything in decades…" he muttered, before his eyes widened in horror as the incoming fliers dropped something from their bellies, with a distinct whistling sound.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Izuku roared into the crowd before everything went black as explosions echoed in the mall.

Izuku quickly tackled Eri while some of the clones grabbed the kids as debris fell around them.

Citizens started to scream and panic as fires broke out and concrete collapsed.

Izuku coughed as he got his comm out.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Mand'alor at Kiyashi Mall! We're under attack! I say again, we're under attack! Unidentified aircraft just bombed the mall! I need immediate hero and Vod'e support!" he shouted into his wristcomm while Lock got up from where he had been, pulling out a pair of blaster pistols and threw one to Izuku.

#Copy that, Mand'alor! Reinforcements from UA are on the way!#


#GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS! THERE IS AN ATTACK ON KIYASHI WARD MALL! FIRST COMPANY TO THE SPEEDERS, LAATs, STANDBY FOR CASUALTY RECOVERY, WALKERS BEHIND SPEEDERS! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS…!#

There was a ruckus as the clones took their battlestations, students being right behind them scrambling to put on armor and whatever gear they had time to equip.

"Who do we have over there!?" Toshinori said as he entered the command center.

"Mand'alor with Horn Company, as well as Uravity, Gevaudan, Froppy, and Buurenaar!"

"What's the situation?"

"Mand'alor reported that there's been an aerial bombing on Kiyashi Ward Mall, no positive identification on whether it's the League or not."


"To attack the Mand'alor will be no easy feat. You must strike when he is alone and vulnerable, and rapidly enough that time is not on his side. That is where my troops will come in."

Izuku coughed as he clapped his hands, using the force from it to dispel some of the fire and smoke.

"Lock! Get the kids out of here! I need to be the first responder!"

"Aye, sir!"

"W-wait!" Eri called out to him and Izuku quickly knelt to meet her eyes.

"I'll be with you as soon as I can, okay, Eri? Stay with Lock and Horn company, stick together with the other kids. I love you, and I'll be back, okay?"

"...Okay." Eri swallowed and nodded.

"Be brave, Eri."

She nodded and he sped off to help.

"I love you, too." She whispered before running off.

Izuku charged forward, using his power to lift rubble off of people and get them to safety.

'Too many people nearby for me to summon clones, and the Vod'e are-'

He heard clacking of metal and the hiss of blasters.

One moment he was there, the next he was tearing apart droids with his bare hands.

"All units! Droids have appeared at the mall! Be prepared for a fight!"

"And you must cut off his support. Isolate him."

More explosions rocked the city causing a minor earthquake.

#Mand'alor! We're cut off! Multiple streets have exploded and droids are popping up everywhere! The only thing that will be able to help you will be the LAATs-!#

#MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS THE NEGOTIATOR, WE JUST GOT HIT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!#

#This is Oddball! We're getting hit in the sky! Some kind of jet or plane! I don't know! It's shooting at us, I can't dodge good enough-AGH! My wing! We're hit! We're hit! We're going do-! KRK!#

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' Izuku panicked as he tried to open a portal but grunted as a shot nearly took his head and he was forced to dodge.

'Just a blaster!'

Quickly summoning a rifle, he used his quirk to pick up a slab of concrete and use it like a shield as he opened fire on the droids.

#Mand'alor! Reports are coming in on the HeroNet, local heroes and police are responding but they're also getting caught up by the droids, the only ones with any training are you students and the Vod'e! You have full permission to act! Be careful!# Eraserhead called out over the comms.

"Roger that! Gevaudan, Uravity, Buurenaar, and Froppy, do you guys copy!"

#I'm here, Mand'alor!# Uravity called out over the comm. #I was at the north side of the mall when the roof collapsed, and got some of Horn Company here, too! We don't have a lot of droids but we're completely cut off from you and I need to get the civvies out of here!#

"Understood, anyone else!?"

#Buurenaar here, mall staff is having me help with the power. How are the kids?#

"They're all together with Lock and some of the others! I had them evacuated immediately while I fought! Froppy?"

#Kero! I'm helping in the lower level of the mall! Some of the water pipes burst and I need to get them to higher ground!#

"Copy, stay safe!" Izuku grunted as he dodged another shot. "Gevaudan!?"

#Hurgh…safe for the moment, Sir Mand'alor. But I am in need of assistance! The western roof collapsed and I am the only one holding it up!#

Izuku froze a bit before forcing himself to move.

"Got it, I'm on my way! UA, do you copy!?"

#Solid copy, Mand'alor! Best of luck to all of you. Reports from the front lines are giving a deadlock combat-wise! Be on the lookout! We still have no sign of any of the League.#

"Understood!" Izuku barked out. "Gevaudan, I'm heading your way!"

#I look forward to seeing you!#

Izuku charged towards the west side, gunning down droids as he made his way through the mall.

'I can't evacuate them into the open…'

"Get inside the shops!" He ordered the civilians! "Take cover and stay safe!"

He moved as quickly as possible before seeing the shaking rubble from where Gevaudan was holding it up.

"GEVAUDAN! I'M HERE!"

"Here, Sir Mand'alor!"

He came up to the edge of the rubble and began to pull off some of the excess weight before helping him remove the giant slab.

Something then crashed through the roof, making them fall to the ground as a metallic screech rang out in the mall.

Their eyes widened in horror as they saw the giant machine in front of them. Balanced on four legs with a flat body and a head that poked out with glaring red optics.

"What the hell…"

Clones in the surrounding area immediately redirected their fire at the four legged monstrosity that stalked around the plaza, before being cut to ribbons by a pair of rapid fire blasters installed in front of the head..

Izuku immediately leaped forward and punched its head, knocking the 'chin' upwards and making it stumble. It screeched at him in fury and he was forced to dodge retaliatory fire before it backed up and jumped, flying away with a screech.

"What the hell was that thing!?"

Looking around he saw how a dozen of his brothers had been riddled with holes, some of them twitching slightly due to the muscle spasms all of the blasts had caused when overloading their nervous systems.

"Damn it…not again…"

He made a choice.

With a pop, the Darksaber was summoned to his hand. A weapon of last resort, but he would stop at nothing to keep his precious people safe.


"Eri."

Eri froze, as every single cell of her body was consumed with terror as she heard a voice, not the voice she hoped she would never hear ever again.

Trembling, she looked over to the man that haunted her dreams, droids flanking him.

"Eri, who is this guy?" Samidare, the second eldest of the Asui family and by this point one of her best friends asked.

She continued to tremble but managed to spit the name out, despite her tongue feeling like it had been tied into a dozen different knots.

"O-O-Overhaul..." she wheezed out, taking a step back in terror as a sheen of cold sweat began to run down her forehead.

"You've been a naughty child, Eri." Overhaul said. "Did you really think you could escape from me forever?" he said cooly, slowly approaching the girl with a few of her friends grouping up around her.

She took a deep breath to try and settle her nerves, something that in the end proved to be a futile attempt in trying to calm herself down.

"H-he'll stop you." She said in the loudest voice she could muster while trying to find the courage in her heart to stand up to him as defiantly as possible.

Overhaul tilted his head at her continued defiance, his patience rapidly running out as he fingered one of his gloves.

" Nothing will stand in my way." He declared as he stalked forward and something in Eri snapped as she saw those accursed gloves start to come off.

Just as the piece of cloth had slipped off, a small zap of electricity hit him, not enough to hurt him, only to annoy him, his eyes leveling a glare on the one responsible, the little yellow-haired girl whose hand was currently outstretched and sparking slightly.

"Stupid scary men should go away." She said, this being the first time she had spoken up around the others, who would have been surprised had the situation not been different.

Her troubles however, would only end in pain as the masked man walked over and smacked her out of the way with his gloved hand, sending the youngest of the Kaminari family sprawling onto the ground, a small trail of blood running from her nose and mouth as her unconscious and prone form landed on the ground.

As he took another step, he felt something being pressed against the back of his head.

"Not one more step, creep." A familiar voice said.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw one of those pesky clones pointing his gun at him, making him click his tongue in annoyance.

"If you know what's good for you, you will lower the gun and let me take back what is mine."

"I don't think so, punk. Chisaki Kai, by the order of the Vod'e, the Japanese Police Department and U.A. I place you under arrest for attempted kidnapping, child abuse, creation and experimentation of illegal drugs and being the leader of the Yakuza group known as the Shie Hassakai." Lock said as more clones came out from different stores, weapons at the ready.

Chisaki tsked, before backhanding the clone away and then touched the ground, causing spikes to shoot out of the ground and impale half a dozen of the clones in the mall, others only being grazed.

Seeing this, she sprinted at him and he stopped, assured at her submissiveness.

This had happened multiple times before after all. All he needed to do was to make a gesture, fiddle with his glove and she'd come running back to-

He screamed as her horn ignited and the little child tackled him to the ground, his hair slowly starting to recede while he began to shrink ever so slightly.

He could feel his body being transformed and slammed his hand onto her face, feeling how his curse slowly started to deconstruct it.

SPLAT

The other children shrieked in fear and horror as their friend splattered across the concrete, Lock staring in complete shock and horror before Overhaul heaved and slammed his hand on the ground again to reform her.

Eri reforms, gasping in pain but glaring hatefully at him.

"You…insolent…child…" He gasps out, his body still reeling in agony. His mind was also reeling from the recent revelation.

Her power had changed , everything had changed , and this might put their entire operation at risk!

"I won't go back…" Eri said as she got up.

The pain was familiar to her, as tragic as that was, but she refused to back down from her tormentor.

"You are brave, Eri."

The words of her buir echo in her mind and she clenches her fist.

Chisaki snarled and moved but yelled as he felt a shot hit his shoulder once again.

"VERMIN!"

Lock quickly moved forward, as well as other clones that were nearby and he was forced to defend himself, sending a spray of concrete spikes at them.

A few were crushed instantly but he was forced on the defensive as they aimed to kill.

He was threatening the most precious of their brethren.

He would be offered no mercy.

Overhaul in his zeal had come alone, fully expecting to be able to whisk away the child with these droids.

They'd proven themselves efficient, if nothing else.

In a way, he envied them. They were clean, free from the filth that plagued this world that had taken everything away from the Yakuza and forced them to scuttle away like rats in the sewers. They were pure, and well maintained, for a given measure of maintenance.

They were not diseased.

And they could not betray.

Though they could fall, as they were shot down by the spores.

They were not like these loathsome roaches, these clones , byproducts of a disease, a virus spread a quirk, fettered to a society that oppressed them.

With a roar of rage, he grabs Lock and their hands grapple with each other.

His eyes widen as his quirk doesn't immediately turn the clone into mush, instead only the armor of his bracers shatter into pieces, but then they narrow in glee as he realizes what exactly it's doing to the abomination of nature.

The clone is weakening.

He can feel it, his quirk had the ability to manipulate any kind of matter and shape it to his bidding, but some quirks themselves weren't technically matter, though that could be argued in any kind of scientific or philosophical circle.

It's a similar effect to the Maggot's Decay, but in reality he's using his power only now he witnesses it in slow motion as the clone's body fails him.

In his glee however, he forgot that even without arms, the clone had one more trick he could use.

CRUNCH

"AAAAGGH!"

With a yelp if pain, he held his now broken nose, the clone's bloodied helmet reeling back for another headbutt, cracking the gear against his skull once again.

"BASTARD!" He roared, kicking the clone away, whose arms at this point bow only barely counted as not being mush as he landed on his back with a grunt.

He turns to face Eri, furious and in clear pain.

Eri meanwhile glared at him from where she was, supporting a groggy Noshiko.

"You will come, Eri. You are my tool. You will obey ."

Eri stood against him defiantly.

"Never. You are not my father. You are not my master. I am not your tool. You don't control me anymore!"

Overhaul narrows his eyes, glaring hatefully at her before turning his gaze to the other children.

"Perhaps not of your own accord, Eri." He mutters, before snapping his fingers. "Because as long as they live-"

The droids quickly raise their rifles, making the entire group gasp.

"I will always control you."

They approached the children.

"Since you have been infected by the heroes, then it would only make sense that you would care about these innocent souls."

Eri freezes again this time in fear for her friends.

"You are a monster."

"I am the one who will change this sickened world." He retorts.

Overhaul stands up once more and adjusts his suit.

"So what will be, Eri. Will you come along peacefully or will you watch your little friends be shot down?"

Eri bows her head and lets herself be grabbed by a large droid much to her friends' protests.

"Take the others."

"WHAT!?" Eri screams at him. "WHY!?"

Overhaul narrows his eyes at her as the others struggle and scream.

"Consider it… insurance."

And they scream as the droids suddenly jet into the sky.

Turning around he started to walk away, before a burning pain coursed through his left arm, making him turn around to see the perpetrator. A surviving clone, one of the many who had been accompanying the brats and the same one who had left him with a broken nose and a concussion, right arm hanging limply to the side while the other shakingly held a smoking pistol, left side of his helmet had cracked open, revealing the eye behind it glaring at him in pure unfiltered hatred.

It was disgusting.

"Do you… really think, you'll get away with this?" the clone wheezed, firing another shot but missing.

Overhaul merely tapped the wall, causing the roof to collapse on top of them.


Ochako had managed to clear her way through the mall and assist Tsuyu in helping those trapped by the water with no major injuries to any civilians.

She burst through a section of the mall that had recently collapsed and gasped upon seeing all the dead clones and destroyed droids.

"Lock!"

She gasped in horror upon seeing the state he was as he weakly looked at her.

He barely managed to raise his hand and she clasped it, paying attention to the damage that had been inflicted on it..

"The kids…they took the kids…went that way…" he coughed up a mouthful of blood, seeping through the filters of his helmet.

Ochako nodded fretfully.

He weakly breathed his last.

"I'm sorry…Commander…" he whispered out, a bloody tear running down his cheek as he breathed out, his hand slowly going limp as it slid out of her hand and onto the ground.


"Do all these things, retrieve your target and you will not only have a win against Mand'alor."

#Uravity to all units! Eri and the other children have been kidnapped! Be on the lookout!#

"WHAT!?" Izuku roared and his attention was caught by the screams of the children as they were being flown away.

Eri's eyes met his and he leaped towards her extended hand.

"BUIR!"

"ERI! I'M COMING!"

He flew at the group, eyes focused on them completely.

That was his mistake.

"INCOMING!" Hikage screamed at him.

Izuku looked to the side to where more of the flying droids were coming at him.

They opened fire, launching missiles at him that rapidly met their target.

He cut through one and slapped another away so that it exploded away from him but the shockwave still knocked him off course and he took another one straight on.

Izuku screamed as he fell before forcing himself to stop in the air, unheeding of the pain and damage accumulating in his body. Using One For All, he flicked and sent himself rocketing in the air.

There it was, some kind of aircraft, less of a plane and more of a flying ship. Small and hidden in the sky.

'How did they do this!? How did they counter everything I have!?'

He sees the children being led in, Eri's eyes meeting his before she's shoved inside by a tall man with a beaked mask.

He screams as he charges at them, flicking again and crashing into the back of the ship even as it starts to pick up speed.

"You're too late, Mand'alor! " Overhaul shouts as the ramp starts to close, the wind rushing past their ears. "You should have returned her when you had the chance and we could have avoided all of this!"

"She's not your property!" Izuku shouts back as he clutches to the metal, fighting against being dragged out of the ship by the momentum. "She's her own person! She's my daughter and I will get her back!"

"Is that right?" Overhaul asked. "Well then, the first thing you should worry about…IS YOURSELF!"

"IZUKU!"

Izuku gasped as he turned to the right just in time to see the flying droid hit him off the ship, angling itself towards the ground to crash the two of them against the ground into a fiery ball of death.

The Darksaber flies out of his grip and he starts punching down at the metal, splitting it into pieces.

Before they even reach the ground, it explodes, spiking him into a crater of his own and causing him to black out momentarily.

He woke up with a gasp and a scream before stumbling to his hands and knees, unheeding to the injuries he sustained, even as blood ran out and stained his clothes even further..

Izuku crawled out of the rubble from where he crashed, frantic as he stared at the sky where the small ship was leaving.

He'd failed.

Other people were gathering around him and he looked at his hands as fury began to rise up.

"NOOO!"

His scream of rage echoed throughout the mall.


"You will break him." General Grievous explained as Overhaul admired the new creations and tools at his disposal.

He smirked.

"Then let's get started."

'Finally, everything's coming to a head.'


That night

Ochako walked into the training room where mountains of concrete had been reduced to rubble.

She could hear Izuku grunting and the sound of impacts as he repeatedly punched without care.

Her spine chilled as she saw the blood splatter on the concrete and his gloves as he continued to punch away.

He wasn't even using his quirk.

"Izuku…" She whispered.

He continued to punch.

"Izuku. Izuku, stop."

SLAM CRACK KRK POP

"STOP!"

SNAP CRACK

Izuku stopped, turning towards her with a heavy gaze, even beneath the helmet.

"Stop." She pleaded as she grabbed his wrists before taking off his helmet.

"Just for today." She continued. "Don't be Mand'alor…don't be the leader."

She wiped away the tears that fell down his face and he whimpered, trying to hold himself together as she cupped his face.

"It's okay. Let it out. Just for tonight."

He grasped her hands, breaking down as he fell to his knees.

"Let yourself fall apart…" She whispered as he gasped.

"I promise to hold you together."


The next day, Izuku looked out at his commanders, his eyes blazing yellow with cold rage and festering grief while his body sparked and crackled, the Darksaber, retrieved and at the ready, also crackled furiously as if it was responding to the emotions of its master.

"Summon the Legions." he snarled as a portal opened up behind him, the ground starting to shake shortly after.

"We go to war."


'I am brave. I am brave. I am brave.' Eri thought and whispered to herself, a personal mantra as she idly resisted the straps that held her down.

"You have been very naughty, Eri. Our product was on the verge of running out, that means that we need to make up for lost time." Overhaul menacingly said as he stalked forward, scalpel in hand.

She began to breathe deeply, refusing to look away from him even as it began.

'I am brave. I am brave. I am brave! I AM BRAVE! I AM BRAVE! I AM BRAVE!'

She whimpered.

'Buir…save me…'


A few days later

Tomura walked down the street until he found a payphone, a rarity nowadays in modern Japan, but that was the good thing about old heads in power.

They kept the stuff that a lot of people found useless.

Phase 1 of his plan was complete.

The bait had been set, the trap was being set up and Overhaul was none the wiser.

He'd done his research thanks to Giran's connections, and had planned it out.

"Do what you wish."

That's what he'd said to Twice and Toga when they'd been recruited by the Shie Hassakai.

"You shouldn't have come under false pretenses…shouldn't have killed a member of my party."

Though it'd been for a short time, he knew that Magne had been important to his party, especially to Toga and Twice. Though to be honest, he hadn't really taken advantage of the opportunity to get to know Magne apart from her goals.

Still, regardless of how important Magne was in the grand scheme of things, Tomura was a jealous person, and he liked to have his possessions intact .

Despite his previous habits of…disintegrating things.

Hey! He could mature!

Kurogiri still hadn't let him live down the fact he had trashed the first bar they had set up shop in.

"Now…to set the stick…and one more competitor will get taken care of."

The phone rang.

#This is the U.A. School Student Complaint Line. If one of our students is acting in a manner unbecoming of a student of U.A., please tell us your complaint in as much detail as possible.# An automated voice declared, but he had a feeling there was somebody behind the line.

"This is Shigaraki. I want to speak to Mand'alor and Mand'alor alone. If anyone else answers this line, he can consider the brats gone for good." he grinned.

The line remained silent for a few minutes.

"What do you want, Shigaraki?"

He laughed.

"Now…is that any way to greet the man who's about to lead you to your kid?"


I know it's a horrible move, but I'm afraid we have to end it here.

I will see you all when I come back! In the meantime, please, review, comment, etc and check out my other stories!

And yes, I am cackling on the inside because I'm leaving you all on that cliffhanger.

Until next time!

Also, hey! Really glad to see that people are interested in making art for Legion! Sorry I haven't responded but I mostly respond through AO3. My story partner is linked to it there so if you comment about wanting to make art, he can talk with you about it!