Melissa stopped screaming as she and the unconscious Midoriya fell from the tallest point of the U.A. building. She "swam" in the air and approached the boy, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him as she pleaded.

"Midoriya, wake up! Your Quirk lets you summon swan wings when falling from deadly heights, right?! Summon them now!"

But the boy didn't respond.

"Midoriya, summon your wings!"

Still nothing.

"We're gonna die if you don't get those wings out, Izuku!"

By this point, it had become blatantly clear that the boy, while not dead, wouldn't manage to wake up quickly enough to avoid their messy fate. So, as tears escaped her eyes, Melissa held Midoriya close, wrapped him in a hug, and closed her eyes.

Somebody... save us...

"Save yourself."

Thanks, that's totally what I needed to... Melissa opened her eyes and began looking around. Wait, who said that?

"Look in front of you."

Melissa turned to what was front of her, and to be honest, if she wasn't curretnly scared for her life, what she saw would've sent chills down her spine.

She saw an apparition of a woman, probably in her thirties, with a ponytail and golden, glowing eyes. She couldn't make out much more beyond that, but she had a feeling that whatever she was wearing, it was her hero costume, and it seemed to be cheaply made.

"Hey there, sorry for popping out of nowhere, but I couldn't help but notice your cry for help," the apparition spoke, waving her hand. "So, what's up?"

"What's up!?" Melissa snapped. "I'm currently plummeting to my doom while a fusion between a pink jerk and a black fog portal is planning to kill my friends, and you ask me what's up!?"

"Hey, I've been dormant within your Quirk this entire time, I only recently woke up," the apparition replied. "However, I will admit that asking you what's up is kinda stupid: you clearly are in need of my help."

"Dormant? Within my Quirk? As in, you're part of One for All?" Melissa rubbed her head with her free hand. "What the hell's going on?!"

"I'll tell you later, but for now, I'll let you borrow my Quirk just this once. But after this showcase, you're gonna have to unlock it on your own."

The apparition disipated into light, and just as Melissa pondered whatever she was talking about, she felt herself... lighter. As if her descent towards the ground had suddenly been brought to a halt.

Then she looked down, and saw that she was hovering in place in the middle of the air, mere inches away from the ground. Not only that, but by simple thoughts, she managed to move around the place, even getting to move slightly upwards.

Eventually, the apparition reappeared right by her side. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"You bet," Melissa tilted her head. "What am I even doing?"

"You're still too young to get the full story," the apparition replied. "Maybe, when you manage to grow a little stronger, we can tell you what's going on."

"We?" Melissa turned to the apparition. "You mean you're not the only one inside One for All?"

The apparition shook her head as seven other apparitions appeared, one which looked surprisingly similar to All Might's weakened form.

"We're the vestiges that live inside One for All. For generations, we've held the power of One for All to-"

"Uh, yeah, interesting history lesson and all, but there's a psychopath trying to kill my friends, and she's already incapacitated Uncle Might-"

"All Might was incapacitated?!" the apparition exclaimed. "How did that even happen?!"

"According to the psycho, she tricked him into hitting his body injury with his own punch-"

"Of course it was self-inflicted," one of the vestiges spoke. "All Might was always all brawn and no brains. It was only a matter of time before his immense strength was turned against him."

"That's besides the point," the apparition stated. "The situation has to be really bad if All Might was taken out. It's clear that we have no choice."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"

"We'll give you access to all of our Quirks," the apparition responded. "And with the stockpiling aspect of One for All empowering those Quirks further, you should have enough strength to defeat this psycho once and for all."

Melissa dropped Midoriya in disbelief, and before she could protest the baffling statement, the vestiges turned into energy spheres and entered Melissa's body, the electricity around the bespectacled inheritor intensified until she gained a golden aura, and she opened her eyes to reveal glowing, golden pupils...

A massive purple explosion happened and Bakugou, as well as the other students, fell down and rolled on the ground until they stopped, the explosion soon vanishing to reveal Mina floating in place with a sadistic smirk.

"Damn it..." Bakugou hissed, trying to create explosions from his palm, but only being able to create firecrackers from the pain. "Damn you!"

"Impresive vocabulary, dear brother," Mina scoffed as she aimed Give and Take at the group. "But now, I've grown tired of your refusal to use your Quirks to their utmost potential. So I think I'm gonna take them and break their limits-"

"Wind Pressure!"

An intense gust of wind was shot, sending Mina flying away as Melissa entered the arena, carrying Midoriya in a bridal carry.

Notably however, her appearance had changed: her hair was flowing seamlessly, and a golden aura bathed her as she floated in place.

"She can fly!" the students exclaimed in disbelief.

"You can fly?!" Mina snapped. "What is this bullshit!?"

"Not bullshit, just a little extra something I could do all along!" Melissa answered proudly as she floated to the ground. "After all, I never said my Quirk only let me punch really hard!"

"Uh, no, I'm pretty sure you said just that when you introduced yourself at the start of the school year," Kaminari stated.

"Well, yeah, I did," Melissa turned to her class and smiled sheepishly. "But I was actually lying in order to not reveal how stupidly strong my Quirk is."

"I see," Bakugou scratched his chin. "It's like how I only make big explosions in order to not make myself look so much better than the extras."

"And your personality compensates for that, I presume?" Hatsume quipped.

Bakugou scoffed. "Perhaps."

Hatsume shook her head, and Melissa flew to her and placed Midoriya right on her arms, just in time for the boy to wake up and witness the glorious sight of the fully empowered Melissa.

Of course, he had no idea what was going on. "Melissa? Why... are you glowing?"

"It's okay, Izuku, don't force yourself," Hatsume said, rubbing his hair. "Melissa's going to take care of things from here."

"What? But... Mina's... done something with the fog and gotten stronger," Midoriya weakly replied. "How are you going to beat that?"

"Believe me, I'll find a way," Melissa responded, flashing a thumbs up. "I'm gonna put an end to Mina's reign of terror once and for all."

Midoriya let out a little smile, and nodded. He kept the smile as Melissa took a couple steps forward, and glared at Mina, who promptly floated to the ground with her arms folded.

"So, guess this is it, huh-?"

Before she could even finish, Melissa ran so fast to her that she seemingly teleported, and threw a smash right to her face.

"Less talking, more fighting! Wind Pressure!"

Another intense gust of wind was called forth, this time coming out of the winds released from the punch. This time, however, Mina managed to stand her ground and create a portal to appear right behind Melissa. However, moments before she could throw a kick, or punch, or anything, Melissa clenched her hand into a fist and slammed it against Mina's face, without even bothering to look at her as she spun and threw a kick soon after.

"Ki!"

With that exclamation, Melissa clenched her fists and screamed as she was surrounded by a volatile, fiery aura. After screaming for a moment, she placed her hands together, charged up an energy sphere, then aimed it forward and shot an energy beam at the fused teenager.

Mina, however, managed to hold the beam at bay with Give and Take, and even absorb the beam after a few seconds, allowing her to fly forward and throw the beam-empowere punch at Melissa...

Only to hit a square, crystal shield Melissa summoned in front of her.

"Reflection!"

The crystalline square shield glowed before unleashing the beam right back at Mina, the teenager being unable to block or dodge this time. The resulting beam sent her flying upwards before its explosion sent her spinning in the air.

"Alright, that's it!" Mina yelled as she regained her composure. "This has gone long enough!"

"I agree!" Melissa clenched her fists. "So let me drop the curtains!"

Melissa dodged the teleporting Mina's attack, and kicked her with enough force to send her back in the air... and also turn her leg purple and useless.

With that done, she got on her one good leg, and clenched her fists as she charged them with energy from One for All. It wasn't long before she gained enough energy to throw punches at the sky at such speed, that it almost seemed like she was going faster than the naked eye could perceive.

And in that moment, Mina stopped and watched the incoming attack in shock.

A hundred... no, a thousand giant fists, each coated in golden energy, and heading straight for her. Even using her portals wouldn't work, since they were heading too fast to be avoided or dodged.

Ergo, Mina got on the receiving end of a thousand giant fists, each one causing cracks on her form until she was left almost completely broken, her eyes barely holding any semblance of consciousness after the beating.

"By the way..."

And then Melissa appeared right in front of her, her arms and leg still looking purple... for about a second before they were surrounded by a green aura, and restored to full health.

"Thanks for the regeneration Quirk. Really appreciate it."

Mina's eyes widened in horror, and this was all she could do before Melissa reeled her fist back.

"Detroit Smash!"

Melissa shot a fist forward, the resulting hit unleashing enough force to not only complete Mina's cracking, but unleash a golden explosion twice the size of Mina's own, earlier explosion, even causing the sky itself to shake.

From the explosion came out the two halves of Mina, which soon reformed back into the full body of normal Mina, and Kurogiri, who kept just enough consciousness to swallow Mina and land back on the ground, with Melissa landing soon after.

"Well, looks like there's one of you left," Melissa took a battle stance and flashed a cocky grin. "Wanna take your chances?"

"Not at all, I believe any beating you could give me would be nothing compared to the catharsis of putting Mina Ashido in her place," Kurogiri answered. "You have done your part magnificently, child. May I ask for your name?"

"Hmph, as if I'd do something so dumb as to give a villain my name!"

"...I see... then it is true you're smarter than you seem, Melissa Shield," Kurogiri spoke, sending a chill down Melissa's spine. "Very well, you have done your part, and now it's our turn to deal with Mina. With that said, I bid you farewell."

"W-Wait!"

But it was too late, Kurogiri had turned into a portal and teleported himself out of the place, with Melissa's powered state disappearing soon after.

Dang it, One for All's empowerment finished too quickly! Melissa thought, looking at her hands. If I had just a couple seconds more I could've captured that guy! I didn't even get to ask that thing what it was all about. Why would he ask my name if he already knew what it was? So strange...

"Hey, Superglasses!"

Melissa winced and turned around, seeing Bakugou gesturing at her.

"If you're done kicking ass, we need you to help us! And trust me, it hurts me a lot to say that!"

Melissa nodded and clenched her fist.

Well, at least Mina's been dealt with... But I'm still worried about what that thing meant when he said they'd take care of her now...

Mina Ashido's eyes sprung open, and she found herself back in a medical bed. Only this time, she wasn't at the hospital. In fact, it was so pitch black that she couldn't even get an idea of where she could be.

But there was one other person beside her: the doctor, who looked rather... disappointed.

"It's quite lamentable that this is where you wound up afterwards, Mina Ashido. Broken, defeated, helpless against a beast so overwhelmingly strong you are lucky to still be alive, and the only one you have to blame for unleashing such a beast in the first place, was you."

"Save your condolences, old man, I did my job, didn't I?" Mina smirked. "You wanted to see if Quirk Synergy was a real thing, and the data you got proved it is. So, once I'm feeling better, I'll be more than ready to give it another shot-"

"You won't get another shot."

Mina's smiled faltered.

"In fact... you won't exist anymore. Individually, that is."

And it instantly turned into a frown. "What?!"

The doctor adjusted his glasses and stood up.

"Let me explain. You, Mina Ashido, are not a living organism. You were created using the corpse of a recently deceased teenage girl by the name of Himiko Toga, nee Bakugou, who was killed while under the custody of Stain, the hero killer. The name for a creature such as yourself... is a Nomu."

Mina's eyes were shaking, and she was honestly starting to lose her mind. Well, losing it more than she did before.

"W-Wait, you have to be shitting me!" Mina snapped. "There's no way she died while under Stain!"

"She was killed during a failed operation by pro-hero Power Loader," the doctor continued. "Stain managed to find out he was the teacher of the support course of U.A., and so, in order to get payback, he crippled one of his own students."

"N-No, t-that's not what happened..." Mina shivered. "I-I told Stain the idea h-he could t-try crippling a student! He did it for me!"

"Stain doesn't even care about you: he cares about the person used to make you," the doctor adjusted his glasses. "In fact, he decided to cooperate wth us once we told him that once your use had been fulfilled, his protege... his adoptive daughter even... would be returned back to life."

The doctor flashed a sick grin. "Of course, we never told him he wouldn't be incarcerated when it happened."

"No... No! You lie!"

The doctor began walking away. "Before you were a thing, there was a child. One that was abandoned and mistreated by society for having a Quirk that promoted nonconfirmity. A Quirk that made it difficult for her to be accepted in today's world."

"That... that kid was me!"

"Those kid's memories made you think so, but truth is, you weren't born when you were a child... as a Nomu, you were born when she died," the doctor explained. "And once you die, she'll live again. Perhaps with a little extra something, in order to guarantee her loyalty."

"Wait, you can't do this to me! I did everything you asked for!" Mina shouted, trying to hold back tears. "I proved the Quirk Synergy theory! I got two people to submit to me thanks to it! And I even managed to discover the identity of All Might's successor!"

The doctor wasn't amused.

"Yes, you proved the Quirk Synergy theory, by blatantly stating it in front of the police, who will now investigate it. You got two people to submit to you, but you rendered one Quirkless for failing and the other one you took the Qurk you gave her and put it back to its original owner. And the Quirks you took from the one you made Quirkless were given to people who weren't tempted by the synergy."

The doctor turned to Mina.

"Finally, you made All Might's inheritor known to us, but in return, you also revealed the existence of Give and Take. Something that could prove detrimental to us. Just like your continued existence."

The doctor kept walking, facing away from Mina, only to stop when he heard her fall own of her bed and crawl towards.

"No, please, you can't do this to me! I can still be of use to you! Surely there's something else I can do!"

"You've done everything we could use you for."

"I beg you, please listen to me! You made me from a dead body, right?!" Mina began shedding tears. "I-I can get you other dead bodies to create more Nomus!"

The doctor's eyebrow perked, and Mina finally reached him and grabbed his labcoat.

"I can manipulate people into joining your side! I can even serve as a mere power booster to your other operatives! Just please, don't kill me! I... I don't even know what'll happen to me once I die! Just please... there has to be something I can do... anything!"

The doctor scratched his moustache. "You know, now that I think about it, there is one thing you could do."

Mina smiled, but without any malice. In fact, fear and hope coated it. "Yes! Anything!"

The doctor turned back to Mina, and prepared to strike the nerve to knock her out.

"Have some dignity and accept your fate."

*SMACK!*

Back at U.A., the students of the hero and support courses left the main building and did whatever they could to calm down: take deep breaths, count sheep, stuff like that.

"Well, that was one hell of a day," Bakugou remarked as he pocketed his hands. "Who here wants to bet the media's gonna be up our asses looking for Info about it?"

"That won't happen, Bakugou."

The students stopped, and saw detectives Tsukauchi and Inko approaching them. They were both looking rather happy, given the situation.

"The media won't be allowed anywhere near U.A. tomorrow," Inko smiled. "If they even come close to it, they'll have to pay quite the fee for trespassing private property. And if that fails, All Might himself will show them the exit."

"Shit, Midoriya's Mom definitely got her point straight," Bakugou smirked.

"Miss your next anger management appointment and I will slap a restraining order on your face," Inko hissed.

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Uh, Mom? I... kinda found your Quirk," Midoriya spoke, taking a step forward. "But I don't have it with me. You see, Mina somehow found something that allowed her to give and take Quirks at will-"

"And she took your Quirk and gave it to me," Uraraka remarked, joining Midoriya's side. "I didn't go crazy with power, so I managed to fight back, but the deed's already done."

"Yanagi and Kodai said something similar during their interrogation," Tsukauchi remarked. "They said they were given a second Quirk, and the resulting surge of power made them willing to work with Mina in order to keep the Quirks."

"Goddammit, even when we arrested her, she still found a way to screw everything up," Inko sighed and shook her head. "How long until she attacks again?"

"I don't know, but, I don't think freaking out about it will help," Midoriya took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Mom."

"Oh, Izuku, it's okay, really! I didn't use my Quirk often anyway!" Inko chuckled. "I'm curious though, did anybody else gain and kept a second Quirk?"

Kendo wasted no time walking to Midoriya's side.

"Well, we're gonna need to ask you some questions, but it'll just be Info about your second Quirks and The energy you felt when you got it," Tsukauchi stated. "The rest of you are free to go."

Kendo and Uraraka bid farewell to the group, and the groups hesitantly separated, Midoriya and Melissa taking a moment to see the girls leave with the detectives before they joined the group.

"So, Kirishima, are you holding up well?" Kaminari asked. "I mean, your best friend just nearly killed us all, and now she's off to who knows where."

Kirishima lowered his head and frowned, but just as Bakugou turned to look at him, he raised his head and smiled, "I'm fine, guys, really. Sure, it'll take time for me to accept Mina's a villain now, but I'll manage."

Bakugou lowered his eyelids and kept quiet the rest of the way.

As for the Class 1-B students, Midoriya approached Pony, who promptly snapped a look at him, making everybody else stand back as she growled:

"Listen, I may have revealed my real nature, but I'd rather not be treated any differently than before, okay?" Pony folded her arms. "What happened in the lockdown, stays in the lockdown, capiche?"

"I don't know what that means, but sure," Midoriya answered with a nervous smile.

"Good, in that case," Pony's eyes widened and her voice gained a pitch or two. "Let's do our best tomorrow, 'kay?!"

Before her classmates could answer, Pony got on all fours and trotted away, leaving the beffudled teenagers behind.

"Well, with that out of the way, there's something I'd like to say, too," Shiozaki turned to Midoriya, and bowed. "I give you my sincerest apologies."

Midoriya took a step back, straight to Melissa's side. "F-For what?"

"Back when the school year first started, I snapped at you and said some things I shouldn't have," Shiozaki frowned. "I told you how you didn't know what struggle felt like, in my anger for nearly being rock bottom at the test."

"She did say something like that, huh?" Monoma asked. "There was some gossip about that the day after."

"I never apologized for that statement, even after I saw you struggle, and even after I got the full story of what happened that unlocked your Quirk," Shiozaki bowed again. "So, I once again ask for your forgiveness, Midoriya."

"It's okay, Shiozaki, I accept your apology..." Midoriya snapped his fingers. "But there's one thing I want to ask you."

"Yes?"

"You showed signs of anger during your match with Mina."

Shiozaki lowered her head knowingly.

"I want to help you, if you'd let me."

"...How?"

"I don't know... but once I find a way, I'll do everything in my power to help you."

"... I'll consider it. Thanks, Midoriya."

The vine-haired teenager bowed one last time and clasped her hands, saying a silent prayer as she left, leaving Midoriya with Melissa and Monoma, the latter who promptly left the duo, saying:

"I'm gonna let you speak with the 1-A girl, I gotta go home right now."

Midoriya stammered his words as he tried to convince Monoma to stay, but it was too late. He was now alone with Melissa, who was rubbing her arm and looking elsewhere.

"Yo! Izuku! Melissa!"

Oh thank All Might, a third wheel!

"Mineta's gonna go straight home, so I decided to join you guys!" Hatsume chirped as she walked to and wrapped her arm around Midoriya's shoulder. "So, what did I miss?"

"Not much, Mei," Midoriya shrugged. "People left me and Melissa alone."

"Melissa?" Hatsume turned to the ninth inheritor. "I thought you would leave with your classmates?"

"I had the idea, but..." Melissa played with her hair. "There's something I d to talk with Midoriya about. Alone."

"Sorry, Lissa, we're a package deal," Hatsume smirked. "You wanna talk to Izuku, you gotta talk to me too."

"I figured as much," Melissa giggled. "Okay, so, Mi... actually, could I call you Izuku?"

Midoriya blushed, and Hatsume commented, "Is this an American thing or something?"

"Yes and no. People in America tend to refer to their friends by their first names..." Melissa's cheeks glowed bright red. "But I want to be more than friends with Midoriya-"

"Izuku's fine."

The girls turned to Midoriya, who promptly blushed and looked away, only for Hatsume to make him turn to a giggling Melissa.

"Okay, Izuku... I... want to be more than friends with you. After all..."

Melissa scanned her surroundings, then leaned closer to Midoriya and whispered, "You're the one who convinced Uncle Might to give me One for All. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to defeat Mina and save everyone."

Midoriya blushed and scratched his head. "Oh... w-well... I-I don't know, I've never had a girlfriend before-"

"Excuse me?!" Hatsume yelled, separating from the guy and putting her hands on her hips. "What the hell have I been to you since the sports festival, then!?"

Midoriya flashed a sheepish smile. "My... best friend?"

Hatsume looked shocked for a moment... and then her frown slowly transformed into a sly grin.

"Well, I'm gonna upgrade into your best girlfriend!" Hatsume eyed Melissa with a cocky smile. "So I'm sorry, Melissa, but you'll have to stay with the position of second best girlfriend!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Melissa folded her arms and returned the cocky smile. "The motto of the school is to go beyond, isn't it? Well, I'm gonna go beyond in my relationship with Midoriya! So don't be surprised if I end up being the best girlfriend!"

"You won't beat me that easily!"

"E-Excuse me, don't I have a say in this?" Midoriya stuttered. "I-I mean, going by what you're saying, you're suggesting that we enter a... I don't know what's it called, but you two want to be my girlfriends at the same time?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Izuku, let me ask you a question," Hatsume put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Would you be happy having either of us for a girlfriend?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Melissa put her hand on his remaining shoulder. "And would you be happy to have both of us as girlfriends?"

"Definitely, but it wouldn't be easy."

Hatsume rolled her eyes. "Has anything up to this point been easy?"

"... You know what? You're right," Midoriya grabbed the girls' hands. "If you don't mind having me, I'd love to be your boyfriend."

"And we'd love to be your girlfriends," Melissa replied.

"I'm the first girlfriend, though," Hatsume cockily eyed Melissa. "And also the one you're closer with."

Melissa shrugged. "No comment."

Hatsume pouted, and the expression in her face caused Midoriya to let out a little laugh, which spread to Melissa, and finally to Hatsume herself as the trio walked back home.

All's well that ends well, as an old saying went.