There are few surefire ways to take down a true master of the mystic arts. For those that fight against the learned ones the only suggestion they can put forward is to attack from incredible distance with a single attack. This made the possibility of a counterattack much lower than on average if only because the attacker would get a head start should they run into some defense they couldn't pierce.

Of course, the other method was to utterly silence a sorcerer and do something that threw their mind into utter chaos, like say, wrapping a body composed entirely of slime around their entire person and attempting to force yourself down their throats.

Izuku was of course face to face with this sort of situation, and the fact he wasn't trapped in a cycle of panic spoke well to the years of training he had received from Strange.

"Honestly kid I don't like this much more than you, but when you have a hero on your ass you do what you gotta do in order to survive," the slime villain's voice held no sympathy despite the horrible act he was engaging in, almost speaking conversationally to the younger boy. "Not that it changes anything, but you are my hero, kid."

Those words sparked a hint of anger in Izuku's mind, that mocking joking tone that reminded him of others, of a certain blonde haired boy who would often step on his dream during their younger days. If he died here, then all the people who had said that becoming a hero was impossible for him would be right. All those hours of training, all that time studying, all reducing to nothing.

Even as his thoughts burned from lack of oxygen he reached toward the greatest weapon in his arsenal, his mind. Without being able to speak he couldn't call upon the great majority of his powers, and even in his thoughts he couldn't focus enough to project his spirit and attack that way. But he had one power that didn't require a vocal component to activate, the only tool that had been with him even before Strange had found him on the street that day.

Izuku brought his hands up and dug his fingers into the slime villains body, closing his eyes even as the last few flashes of thought faded from his mind. And then he gave a single command, power arcing through his body as his innate magic did its work.

Feel

His main magical talent was in the realm of empathic magic, the ability to pick up thoughts and feelings from people and objects. It's what had allowed him to feel Bakugou's emotions that day at the riverbed, but all things that flow in one direction can be made to do the opposite. So with what little power he had left Izuku forced a connection to the villain and forced him to experience what he was doing to Izuku.

The lack of breath. The feelings of hopelessness. The utter terror of the thought of death.

"W-what the hell!?" the villain began to rapidly gush forth out of Izuku, his main body slinking away from the boy as if trying to put as much space as possible between them. "What did you do to me?!" the villain threw itself against the ground as if trying to knock the feelings he had just experienced free. "I don't want this, I don't want to know how you feel!"

Air filled Izuku's lungs, which while on its own was great still lead to a coughing fit trying to eject any leftover of the villain's form out of himself. He wanted to pass out, the experience he had just gone through was too much for most people to handle. Already he could feel darkness creeping over his mind. But if he passed out the villain would get away and try to do that to someone else. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt just because he was weak.

"By the Great Gates of Avalon, be sealed!" Izuku lifted his right arm and pointed the Guard of Avalon at the villain, his power flowing through the ancient artifact and casting forth his power and will into a spell. Around the villain a translucent orb appeared, entrapping him in an airtight and impenetrable prison. "You won't ...hurt...anyone else…"

And for a short time, he managed to keep that promise, holding the villain in a deadlock. If he had been more about himself he could have made a call to the police, but as things stood the moment he lost focus would also be the exact moment he blacked out.

But he wouldn't be caught in this stalemate for long, as a loud explosion drew his attention away from his target, the barrier bursting like a bubble in disbelief. At first he thought that his brain was making nonsense to give him a sense of peace, but even as he fell there was a sense of realness to what he saw.

The figure that had landed to take over the battle against the villain was the number one hero in Japan, the one known around the world as a pillar of justice. All Might had arrived to save him.

Izuku came back to the waking world to the feeling of a large hand patting him on the back.

"Come on now young man, can't sleep here." the strong voice of All Might filled Izuku's ears, flashing back to the odd situation he was in. Just moments ago he had almost been killed by a villain, and now he was face to face with the man who had inspired him to try and become a hero in the first place.

"I'm awake," Izuku said with no small amount of nervousness. He was sitting in the middle of the street with a national treasure right beside him. If there was ever a time to remember his breathing exercises it was this moment. "Wait, the villain!" Izuku jumped up, only to remember he hadn't exactly been steady on his legs when he had went down the first time. But All Might's reaction was faster than his fall, and he ended up being caught by one of the heroes hands.

"You needn't worry about that criminal," All Might made sure Izuku was steady before straightening out and revealing a large soda bottle in either hand. But rather then a sugary drink both were stuffed with the slime villain's form, compacted down to just enough mass to be held inside. "Not the most healthy of drinks, I much prefer a nice cold justice myself," he held for a laugh, but seeing the still shocked expression on Izuku's face put any expectations on ice.

When one had been in the hero business as long as All Might had little clues spoke volumes. The wetness on Izuku's clothing and the way he had been shaking when he had arrived on the scene painted a fairly clear picture of what had happened before he had arrived. If he was a less morally upstanding sort he would have given the bottles a few more shakes just to show the villain what for. But it bumped up the robbery charge to an assault charge, he wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a long time.

"You're...All Might," the hint of reverence in Izuku's tone was all too familiar to the world's number one hero, but it still managed to send a bolt of pride through his heart. "I was just saved by All Might...wait I almost just died but then I was saved by All Might?!" Izuku's brain was caught in a spiral of excitement, terror, and relief.

"Calm down kid," normally All Might would try and be a bit more comforting, but he could practically feel his wound burning in his chest, slowly ticking down the time he could remain in his stronger form. "It will be okay now."

Izuku took a few shaky breaths and gave a nod, remembering his lessons in composure from Strange and focusing on his hero. "Right I'm...I'm okay," he let out one more breath and looked toward his hero, trying to summon forth something to say. "Would-is it okay to ask to shake your hand, sir?"

All Might blinked for a moment, more than a bit surprised by the question. Autographs or a few words on a recording were a normal request upon meeting him, but something as temporary as a handshake was a rare request in this day and age. Still seeing his determined expression the hero put out a hand. "Of course son, put 'ere there." a quick shake and he could be on his way.

Izuku looked at the offered hand, large enough that it could probably crush a watermelon with a simple grip and put forward his own. This was a rare opportunity, and for the moment it was all he could do to thank the person who had inspired him.

But the moment their hands came into contact a link was created, because Izuku had never lowered his empathic abilities, not consciously anyway. After having trained it so keenly he could do much more then pull feelings, when he was focused he could get a glimpse of a memory that connected something they were strongly feeling.

All Might was in constant pain, to the point it was the dominating thought in his mind.

And all that pain linked back to one memory.

Despite being recognized as the world's greatest hero those who fought Toshinori Yagi, hero name All Might, would have compared him instead to a monster or demon. A totally unstoppable force that could only be cowered before while awaiting punishment. And on this day he was true to form, tearing through a massive skyscraper and hurling armed thugs and villains as if they weren't even there.

This was the final rat hole that All for One had left after his months long crusade against the Japenese underworld. He had worked his way from bottom to top in order to eliminate any support or protection the villain who had killed his master might have had. Along with the aid of the government and the other heroes he had cleared them away like trash.

Simply put, there was nowhere for All for One to hide any longer, and it was with the exact knowledge that this was where he would flee that the trap had been sprung. Heroes, police, even some military assets had surrounded the building and ordered the surrender of everyone inside. It was only after they opened fire that All Might and the other heroes had been given clearance to enter.

Most of his comrades at the moment were busy dealing with All for One's last line of defense, those who had been gifted Quirks and thus were the most loyal to the organization. They had told him to go forward and claim the king, once All for One was defeated the rest of the enemies within would topple.

So with a final push of effort he knocked away the last defender and stalked toward the door leading into the head office at the top floor, his fist balled tightly as he prepared to meet the man who had killed his master.

"Knock knock All for One," he brought up his foot and kicked the door, shattering it inward as he stepped through. "I am he-" his words died in his throat as the office came into full view.

The office looked like the scene of a massacre, bodies thrown about like broken toys. At the back of the room sat the figure that had haunted the heroes dreams for years now, the man who killed his mentor. His entire form was battered beyond recognition; ever square inch of his body riddled with some sort of disfigurement or ruination. But the most striking part of it was his head having been severed from his body, held in the hands of a figure behind him.

"It's a waste, but I don't really need a tool like you at this point," the figure turned its eyes toward All Might, and for the first time since he had become a pro hero fear exploded in his heart. Others villains could cause stress, even cause moments of doubt but this was something beyond that.

The cold dead eyes of the figure holding the severed head of his greatest foe didn't truly look at him, but rather through him, as if he were looking at a corpse in front of him. "Ten seconds faster, still a margin of error that I can deal with."

Those words broke All Might out of the trance the figures eyes had put him into, focusing for the first time on the person in front of him. But then came a new shock, as he genuinely didn't know what he was looking at.

There were parts that he could lock on to, the figure was most likely male and dressed well despite the various drying bloodstains that clung to his suit. Youngish, maybe early or mid twenties and built on the thin side but still with enough build that it was noticeable. Black hair, hellish red eyes, and oddly enough two spiral horns growing from his head. But when he tried to put it together, tried to think 'this is what the person in front of me looks like' nothing clicked. As if he were looking at the idea of someone standing in front of him.

"Perception Filter, it's a neat little ability that confuses the human mind and obscures my being toward those I choose. Despite a limited range its perfect for stealth missions." the man let the head of All for One drop out of his hands. "Unlike this. Unfair Evil: Rupturous Applause!" he clapped his hands together and a massive wave of force slammed into All Might, throwing him out of the room and through two walls before finally slamming against a third hard enough to leave a web of cracks in it.

"Who the hell are you?" All Might pulled himself free and focused himself on the task ahead. Whoever this guy was he meant business and had enough power to kill the most terrifying being on the planet in his own place of power. One way or the other he had to take him down.

The man walked out of the room, stretching his body out as if preparing for a workout. "Well that should be obvious. I can use multiple quirks, and I've already made myself your enemy. Wait no, I should introduce myself," the man made a sweeping bow to All Might. "I am All for One, a pleasure to meet you All Might."

"Enough games!" All Might roared and charged toward the man who had proclaimed himself to be All for One, the room shaking as he truly moved with his full speed and reared back a punch that could level a city block at his foe.

"It's no game All Might," All for One watched the approaching fist and took a stance at the last moment. "Unfair Evil: Danse Macabre!" he stepped into the approaching fist and seemed to pass through it, his entire body phasing through All Might so the hero hit nothing but empty air.

After finally stopping his charge All Might began to suddenly cough, his entire body shaking as blood and spittle escaped his mouth. "What did you-" he coughed again, staining the ground with more blood.

"Don't worry, the damage is superficial at most, passing through you like that played havoc with your organs but given your ability to heal and your strength it won't be enough to take you down." All for One was almost conversation, as if he had never taken this fight seriously for a moment.

All Might's only response was a roar, swinging his fist around to strike his foe, and even as All for One stepped back the force of the swing put a hole in the nearby wall. Normally he regulated his attacks to ensure he wouldn't punch a hole in a person by accident. But in order to fight someone on this level he couldn't hold back even a single bit of his power.

"Scary, Unfair Evil: Shadow Play!" All for One's body began to glow, and all around the room various copies of him came out of the shadows within the room, pulling themselves from any shade that was cast. The copies were not perfect, there was no detail except for the vague shape of body, pitch black silhouettes that seemed to dance and sway as they took solid shape. "Not my favorite army maker, but I'm low on supplies and they should ho-"

Before All for One could finish his speech All Might was already in motion, his fists flying in front of him with terrifying speed and power. The sheer force exerted acted like a ranged weapon, and the shadows copies were ripped the shreds where they stood. Before All for One could react All Might closed the distance and landed a blow that rattled the building directly into the villains chest. "You-" All Might rained blows upon All for One with his full power, lifting the other man into the air with his assault. "-Talk-" All Might delivered an uppercut that put a hole through the roof directly under All for One's chin. "To MUCH!" to finish his attack he grabbed All for One's head and threw him like a ragdoll into the ground, throwing the villain through three floors.

After taking a breath All Might dove down after his enemy, only to be blasted by the same sonic force All for One had opened their brawl with, throwing him up and through the hole in the roof created by his blows. Instinct took over, and with a flick of his fingers All Might threw himself onto the more solid part of the roof.

Out of the hole All for One floated out, looking none the worse for wear other then some scuff marks on his suit. "You are and will forever be my most terrifying enemy, All Might. But it doesn't matter, because so long as these horns are on my head, I will reduce all you do to nothing." his body flickered for a moment, and when he next spoke, it was from behind All Might. "That being said, Unfair Evil-Hero Killer." All for One thrust a hand forward into All Might's stomach, and ripped it out to the side, spilling blood and viscera on the roof.

What happened next would forever haunt anyone who heard it.

All Might screamed.

Izuku and All Might pulled away from each other in shock, a flicker of understanding flashing across both their eyes.

"You're hurt," Izuku said without much inflection, in the same tone a child might use when finding out Santa didn't exist.

All Might turned without a word, panic filling his entire form as he readied himself to leap away from the scene. That nightmare which constantly haunted him had been played out in detail and shared with a complete stranger. An utter breach of any sort of privacy, a display of the cracks that he worked so hard to keep hidden from the world. So he moved to get as far away as he could.

But even as he was hurtling through the air he could feel a weight on his back.

A literal weight as it turned out.

"Wait All Might!" Izuku tried to speak even as the air pressure buffeted his form. "I didn't, I'm...oh crap!" as if a switch had been turned Izuku realized the situation he had put himself in, clutching tight to All Might in a desperate attempt not to fall. The distance between the ground and here was much further than the top shelf of Strange's library, and he was too exhausted to even think about keeping himself in one piece.

All Might silently cursed himself for this situation, using what little remained of his power to adjust himself and landed heavily on a nearby rooftop, skidding to a halt. "Hell kid, that was…" he clutched his chest and stepped away from Izuku, only making it a few feet away before smoke billowed off of his body. When the smoke cleared the heroic visage of the number one hero was gone, replaced by his form. A skeletal runt who looked like a stiff breeze would knock him over.

"Oh," Izuku's eyes went wide but he quickly swallowed down his anxiety. "I don't...how?"

"So you really saw that huh?" as much as he wanted to be pissed about what Izuku had done All Might could see that there wasn't a drop of malice behind it, at least if the kid had gone fishing for something like that he wouldn't look so damn pale after finding out. Still this was a bit beyond an accident. "If you're asking how I survived, it was sheer luck."

"Luck?" Izuku couldn't imagine random chance had managed to save All Might against such a terrifying being. Unless he was meant to believe that All for One had tripped and knocked himself out.

All Might shook his head and took a seat on the ground, motioning for Izuku to do the same. Everything was out in the air now, and if he didn't answer the kid then who knows what would have happened. "So then, it stopped after the bastard put a hole in my stomach."

All for One laughed, his entire body arching back as he watched All Might scream. "It was worth all of the work just for this moment. Sure I slept through most of the wait but still," the villain raised a hand into the air to prepare for a final strike. "Any last words?"

All Might forced himself to look up at the man and did what little he could through the haze of pain that was clouding his mind. He spat a glob of blood directly onto his shoes.

"That's just childish." and with those words All for One brought his hand down toward All Might's head to deliver the killing blow.

But the moment his hand touched All Might's head All for One's entire arm was suddenly ripped apart.

The scream that rang out next certainly didn't belong to All Might, but it was haunting in its own way.

"No, damn it I should have still ha-" All for One backed away, or at least tried to. Whatever had happened to his arm hit one of his legs at the same time, the limb lost all function as it was ripped open as if by invisible claws. "Shit!" he tried to reach up with his remaining arm to touch the twin horns on his head, but at the slightest touch they shattered to dust. "No, you can't abandon me like this, I should have still had time!" blood began to leak from his eyes, mouth, and nose as more signs of trauma began to manifest across his entire body.

All Might watched his foe's sudden ruination, and even through the fog of pain he saw the opening of a lifetime. Even if it were a trick this was his last shot. So with every ounce of willpower left in his devastated form he pushed to his feet and charged. Blood and bits of his stomach were barely held in with one arm, the other rearing back for a blow.

All for One turned to watch the approaching hero, fear burning in his crimson eyes for the first time in their entire fight. He opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a gurgling sound as his vocal cords were ripped to shreds by internal trauma.

"SMASH!" All Might roared the only word left to him, digging in his heels and delivering a blow that could shatter mountains into the body of All for One, sending the man flying through the air, a web of cracks running all along the roof and down the sides of the building even as the villain cleared the horizon.

As he watched his enemy vanish All Might allowed himself a moments victory on his feet, before promptly collapsing onto the roof. He was vaguely aware of voices calling out to him, but he was too far gone to care.

"Master...I...did it."

"I pretty much lost consciousness after that, when I woke up I had been through almost a full days worth of surgery and lost most of my stomach," he lifted his shirt to show the gruesome wound on his stomach.

Izuku listened to the entire tale with rapt attention, trying to absorb the information as best he could. While most would be horrified by a tale of blood and carnage like that he was in a quite unique position. Most of the tales his mentor had told him were horrifying beyond reason, outer gods and planet eaters. Horror came hand in hand with magic.

"I can help," Izuku suddenly said, his good intentions outracing his brain in the moment. "I mean-I think I can."

All Might, or rather Toshinori Yagi now that he was in his true form looked at Izuku and shook his head. "I wish that were true, but this isn't something that can be fixed so easily."

Izuku shook his head. "No I mean, my power…" he bit his lip and tried to think of some reason he was going to be able to do what he was about to do.

One of the many conversations that he had his mentor had run over was how he should present his magical abilities to a world where most people were born with but a single ability. The answer they had come to was simple. He would simply say it was magic, and let the results speak for themselves. Even if people didn't really believe in it they could draw their own conclusions about the things he could do. However in this situation such a relaxed explanation wouldn't hold water.

"When I touch someone without thinking I can connect to what they are thinking and feeling, and when one thing is really on someone's mind I can even see it like I did with you. My mentor calls it 'empathy'. But I wasn't paying attention, so I got that memory, but I also understand a little bit about your quirk to," he closed his eyes, focusing on the content and what his powers had picked up.

"Your quirk boosts everything about you, strength, speed, durability. But it also helps you heal, because it has to in order for your body to deal with the stress of everything else. But your quirk is really straightforward, so it only really understands how to do simple things that a normal human body can do." Izuku dug deep into his own research of quirks, a field of study that had always interested him and his mentor had actively encouraged. "It probably couldn't fix everything, but if your quirk understood how you had been hurt it could um…" he realized how fast he had been talking from the confused look on Toshinori's face.

"I can tell your quirk what it's doing wrong and maybe it can...help out?" Izuku finished rather lamely.

Toshinori was caught for a moment, looking as far from a confident hero as one could in that exact moment. The logical part of his brain was telling him the kid was giving him a crock about how to help to make up for whatever weird thing happened with his quirk before. The heroic part of his brain told him that unauthorized quirk use should be punished with at least a verbal warning and a reminder of the laws of society. But the all too human part of his brain that wanted to wake up from sleep without constant pain was louder then the other voices at the moment.

"And if it doesn't work?"

Izuku considered for a moment. "Nothing," he took a breath and summoned all of the confidence his teacher had given him throughout the years. "Because it will." he offered a hand to Toshinori.

And for whatever reason, the man behind the hero reached forward and took the boys hand.

"By the All Seeing, All Knowing Vishanti who watch from above," Izuku spoke silently under his breath, feeling the stress of magic flowing into his body as the keepers of order heard his call to them. "Guide and grant wisdom, to the passage to a greater future," the power inside of his flowed out of his hands and into Toshinori.

The man felt a warmth flow through his body, but after a few moments it passed and he let Izuku's hand go. Maybe that was as far as things could go, that little nugget of hope had been foolish after all. Burying his disappointment in another false miracle he readied himself to ask the child for discretion in this matter when something happened.

For the first time in a good number of years Toshinori's stomach rumbled. It was a clear and vibrant sound, an embarrassing bodily reaction to most but to him it was something much different.

It was closer to being complete then he had felt in years.

"Young man," Toshinori looked up toward the young boy in front of him, who looked exhausted enough to drop. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Izuku Midoriya, sir." Izuku went for a bow, but given his exhaustion he just sort of stumbled a bit before righting himself.

"I see," Toshinori looked at the young man and pulled out a business card, handing it over. "I would very much like to talk to you again. I believe that we have much to discuss. Tell me young man, have you ever considered becoming a hero?"

Izuku's eyes widened, tears building up past his ability to force them down. "I...it's all I've ever wanted."

"Young man, I want you to hear my promise today, if you are willing to continue working hard I will make it my mission to see that you become a hero." he put a hand on Izuku's shoulder before walking past. "I'll be awaiting your call, young man."

He walked through the door and left Izuku to cheer and cry at the top of the roof as an explosion of emotions hit the young man all at once.

It wasn't until he reached the third floor that Toshinori realized that the bottle he had kept the Slime Villain contained in was missing.

There were few moments of pure bliss in Izuku's life that the young man could summon up off the top of his head. His discovery of his magic ranked pretty well up there, as did his first thanks from those who needed the help of the FEAST center. But meeting All Might, helping his hero. No above even that having the man he had looked up to for years saying he wanted to help Izuku become a hero. What that meant exactly didn't really matter in the slightest to him because he had All Might's phone number in his pocket.

Now all he had to do was explain the whole situation to his mom and Strange. Which would be far from easy but he figured so long as he downplayed the nearly drowning with the meeting All Might part it could still go through. At least it gave him an excuse for being so late coming home on a day that had been set aside for school work.

However his thoughts were torn away from him as a massive explosion shook the nearby area, with various people sprinting away from an area and shouting something about a villain attack. Normally Izuku would just brush it aside and continue on his way home. But then he picked up a certain phrase that many of the people running kept repeating.

'It's a villain made of Slime, he took a kid hostage!'

Realization struck him like a lightning bolt, when he had grabbed All Might from behind, with how his hands were placed it would make sense that one of the bottles would have fallen.

This was his fault.

Izuku didn't even realize he had started running against the crowd until he was already in the battlezone that had taken over the nearby block.

The entire area was on fire, various heroes standing at the mouth of an alleyway trying to hold back both gawkers and news crews who wanted to get the first shots of the incident. Still Izuku was small and could easily manage to slide through the wall of bodies to get a clear look.

He had been right about the Slime Villain having escaped, its grotesque pseudo liquid form having increased since he had last seen it. But what caught his attention most was the person at its center.

``you're nothing but a worthless Deku!'

"Why, why did he grab Kacchan?" out of all of the people in the entire world, the villain had grabbed middle schoolers in the same class. The odds of it all boggled the mind, but still Izuku was frozen for a moment. The pain and fear in Bakugou's proud yet defiant eyes was so utterly alien to him that it would have been easily to think he was someone else.

But this was no mistake, no rather this was his responsibility. For letting the villain escape due to his own reckless actions.

Izuku broke free from the crowd and weaved around the heroes, madly charging toward the villain without a thought in his mind. His instincts had jumped the gun on his mind. Strange would probably lecture him on that later, but there simply wasn't time left to think.

"What, no no no no get the hell away from me!" the Slime Villain reared back as Izuku charged, making an almost comical scene for those watching. A monstrous villain with an appearance ripped out of a horror movie, who had faced multiple heroes without flinching was now trying his hardest to flee from a middle schooler.

If he wanted to get Bakugou free the first thing he would have to do was prevent the villain from escaping. His own telekinesis wouldn't be enough, but there were plenty of beings that could hold someone tight. Normally the Bands of Cyttorak would be his go too for this sort of situation, but given the villain's form he wasn't sure if he could bind them tight enough.

"By the Hoary Hands of Hoggoth," he muttered the incantation under his breath and extended his senses to the villain, pushing forth vast telekinetic force to keep the villain trapped in place.

That was of course about as far as his plan went, casting multiple spells at once was still something that gave him trouble, not to mention he was still exhausted from the previous attack and invoking the Vishanti to aid All Might. Still he reached his hands into the very body of the villain and tried to dig Bakugou out, because he hadn't come this far just to give up on him now.

"Why are you-" Bakugou tried to speak despite the villain having wrapped itself around most of his head. "-trying to save me!"

"Because someone had too, I won't let you die," he finally made contact with skin and began to pull with all the strength he could summon. "But I can't do it alone. Help me Kacchan." he didn't know why he slipped back to that old name. He hadn't even thought of it since the day he had touched Bakugou and discovered the hate he held toward him. All he really knew in the moment was that he didn't want to watch someone he admired die.

"Damn it!" Bakugou closed his eyes and began to focus. "Pull, now!" the Slime Villain's body began to shift and bloat as a continuous series of explosions rang out from Bakuou's palm, and along with Izuku's pull he was wrenched free of the villains embrace.

But as they fell to the hard ground Izuku's concentration was shattered, and the villain loomed large over them. "I'm not going down without taking you brats with me."

Bakugou and Izuku watched the villain as it prepared to fall on them, but before it got the chance a figure put itself between them.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening villain. For I am here!" All Might stood between the villain and the two children, his eyes flaring with power. His body still hurt, and nothing that was wrong would be fixed so fast that every movement in this form wasn't agony.

But his stomach had felt hungry for the first time in years, and he saw some glimmer of hope that he didn't need to project into the world. And for even that much, he would shatter whatever limitations were before him.

After all, was he not a hero?

"Damn you all!" the villain reared back a tendril like arm, but it was all for not.

"Detroit Smash!" with a blow strong enough to bring a building down All Might took out the Slime Villain.

"So...cool." Izuku collapsed against the ground, darkness rushing to meet him as Bakugou shouted his name from someplace far away. "I'll just close my eyes for a minute."

He was snoring by a three count.

From a nearby rooftop the bandaged figure of All for One lowered a pair of binoculars from his wrapped face. "Fifteen seconds fast this time, something isn't right." he handed off the binoculars to Kurogiri.

The warp villain sent the binoculars away using his ever present quirk and focused on the man he called master. "While this has been an interesting sight, I am still unclear as to why this was something we had to view in person. Such pond scum rise each day."

"You aren't wrong, that's why I left Shigaraki to his games instead of bringing him along. But this is a clear divergent point so not being here to view it could lead to...complications." All for One seemed far off in his own mind.

Kurogiri watched the bandaged man for a moment, his own thoughts drifting to all those years ago.

Back then he was an up and coming villain amongst the various recruits to All for One's forces. At the time he had felt invincible, as if all he had to do was continue on and follow orders to receive the life he had deserved.

But soon enough All Might's grand crusade burned through the underworld, and the faction he ran with was utterly destroyed. It was only due to the man next to him that he had been allowed to continue on. Pulled away at the last moment he had sworn his loyalty to the man before him, who claimed the title of his former leader. He claimed to be the same man from another place and time, but the truth to the matter didn't interest Kurogiri.

During those few months they were active together he had seen miracles and horrors beyond imagination. He had seen the boss who had left him shaking torn from his throne like a bin of garbage, body desecrated beyond recognition and power swallowed.

Of course, after that he had been felled by All Might, or so he had believed at the time. His quirk had been forcibly activated, pulling his shadowy form and his new masters battered body into a lab he had never seen before.

With what little strength All for One had left in his body he had instructed Kurogiri to put him into a tank which was attached to a number of other tanks containing the bodies of what could only be monsters within them.

Once inside All for One had told him the full story. Before he had come to this world he had taken damage beyond anything he could have healed from, even with his thousands of unique powers. But there was one ace up his sleeve, an ability to send damage forward into the future. But doing so was exhausting, trying to calculate exactly when to be hit.

Even from within the tank he was able to effect the world through Kurogiri, acting as his hands in the world. Bit by bit he created the world so that when All for One was freed of his prison he could truly continue to create his new world.

"Let's go home Kurogiri," the bandaged form of All for One tilted his head. "Tell me, how are you? I've been keeping you busy so don't feel scared to ask for time off." his voice was rather kind, in the same way one would imagine a snake's voice as it led mice into its trap.

Kurogiri created a portal, following after his master. "No, the future you promised is more than enough of a reward to work toward."

"I see, your loyalty is utterly without measure."

The two villains disappeared, ready to take the next steps to the future.

Izuku jolted up in his bed, his breath caught in his throat for a moment before his mind came back into focus. After a quick look around to confirm he was safe he took a few calming breaths as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. It seemed like someone had managed to get him home, maybe one of the heroes or the police.

He pulled himself out of bed and stretched himself out, his body was sore all over, but he couldn't help but smile. If he had thought when he woke up this morning that all of this would have happened he might not have been able to believe it.

Once he got to looking around to make sure he still had all of his things he noticed two notes sitting on his desk that hadn't been there before. One was signed from All Might, and given how fast his heart was racing just looking at it Izuku decided to save it for later. The other one was more confusing, as it was signed with Bakugou's name and looked like it had been scrawled in a hurry.

Izuku opened it and read through the letter, what little of it there was.

'I'll beat you in U.A., so don't even think about backing out now.'

A smile came over Izuku's face as he put the note down, turning to see light coming from under his door, meaning that his mom was probably still awake, maybe even waiting for him. Feeling bad for not noticing before he steeled himself and walked out to find both his mother and mentor sharing a cup of tea, silently laughing over a shared joke before turning to look at him.

"Hey," Izuku felt a bit embarrassed by the way they were suddenly focused on him. "I um...had a pretty exciting day."

And like that another chapter down and out. As usual review, fav, follow to keep on updates for all future chapters. Now for a bit of house keeping.

On Stain being Venom- I saw a lot of excitement and some thinking that he was stepping a bit out of character to accept such a thing. But not all of that was him, as the symbiote by its own nature has a way to twisting people to want to keep it. That being said the next time Venom!Stain meets All for One's group he probably isn't going to be giving thanks for the gift.

On All Might and One for All- So there might be some questions as to what exactly happened when Izuku cast his 'spell'. For what we know about One for All (manga spoilers here, but then again manga spoilers everywhere in this story) is that it stockpiles powers, with that being explained as carrying over the power of everyone before it. In across the board stat boosting item. Izuku's spell gave it a baseline for how to start repairing the broken bits of All Mights body, like adding a new code to a piece of software to expand its horizons. Not a Deadpool or Wolverine style healing factor, but it will leave him in better condition moving forward.

Of course the consequences of this are still to be seen down the road, and I don't want to spoil too much of what I have planned. Anyway next chapter Izuku enters into a new stage of training in preparation to U.A., with a little help from his empathic abilities and a museum of heroic artifacts. Until next time Plus Excelsior!