"Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen." Tsukauchi counted, and he double-checked the name list he was given. "Well, other than the boy on the way to the hospital, everyone else seems unharmed." He turned around, watching Sansa assist in rounding up the long lines of arrested villains to board the police buses parked just outside the USJ.

The last of the villains boarded the sixth coach, and he turned to the nearest sergeant. "Okay, we should get the kids back to their classroom. It's not like we're questioning them immediately, right?"

"Um, Mr Detective, sir," Tsukauchi turned to see a pink-skinned girl approach him, concern etched on her face. "Will our teachers be okay?"

"Oh, Eraserhead and Thirteen," he fished his notebook from his pocket. "The doctors said that Eraserhead's had comminuted fractures in his left arm and orbital floor. His quirk might be affected in some way. Fortunately, there's no serious brain damage."

"As for Thirteen, she has laceration from her neck to her lower back. Her vitals are stable, though."

A girl with chestnut hair ran up to him. "What about Dek– I mean Midoriya, sir?"

"Indeed, is Midoriya's condition stable as well?" a bespectacled boy with blue hair in white armor resembling Hosu's Turbo Hero: Ingenium joined the girl by her side.

"Mido– oh," Tsukauchi's eyebrows relaxed as a wave of recognition at the name washed over him. He ignored the comical fashion in which the mini-Ingenium was chopping the air with his arms. "The boy is still unconscious," some of the students looked crestfallen at the news. "But his injuries are being treated by Recovery Girl at her office."

That brought the smiles of relief back on the teens' faces. The smiles may not reach their eyes, but Tsukauchi took it as a win nonetheless. "Alright, let's get you kids back to class."

Ojiro felt a hand on his shoulder as he walked towards the school bus. He turned to see a pair of floating gloves. "Ojiro, I heard you fought off the Warping villain," Hagakure, his classmate with an Invisibility Quirk, said.

The boy began to smile sheepishly. "I mean, I just kicked Iida out of the way before the villain could get to him. What about you, Hagakure? Where were you?"

"I was at the Landslide Zone, with Todoroki," she pointed a glove at the two-colour-haired boy. "He took out all the villains on his own. He's so strong."

Todoroki couldn't help but eavesdrop. I didn't even notice her there. What if I accidentally froze her too...

"I refused to allow those trash faces to take me alive!"

Kirishima raised an eyebrow when they noted the feral look on Mineta's face. They turned to Tokoyami. "What happened? Weren't you guys dropped at the Downpour Zone?"

"... Mineta was having a... meltdown when we encountered the first wave of villains," Tokoyami explained briefly. "It took Dark Shadow bringing the abyss to him that when he looked back–" A black bird-like apparition appeared from beneath Tokoyami's cloak, looking smug while giving a thumbs-up. "–he didn't blink."

The phrasing confused the hell out of the redhead, but took it in stride nonetheless. What he wasn't told, however, was that Mineta had at one point used a sticky sphere to pummel a petrified villain with ferocious tenacity. Shoji and Sato walked up to the trio.

"Kirishima, you were at the central plaza, weren't you?" Shoji asked. Seeing Kirishima's nod, the masked boy continued. "Did you happen to see a pillar of light?"

Red eyes widened. "You guys saw that?"

"Yeah man," Sato answered. "How could you miss it when it was so bright?"

Tokoyami felt like he was out of the loop. "Light?" The gears in his mind clicked in place. "Are you perhaps referring to the earthquake?"

"It wasn't an earthquake," Kirishima clarified. "Midoriya somehow took out this huge monster with a light attack. Or at least, it looked like it was his doing."

"... I do not follow."

"I mean, there were wisps of smoke coming out of Midoriya's hand when the monster villain fell. So it's probably him," Kirishima turned to the spiky blonde just at the periphery of the group. "Right, Bakugo?"

The explosive teen remained uncharacteristically silent, replaying the scene in his head several times over since the trench coat detective confirmed Izuku was okay.

BREAK

Kurogiri materialized in the middle of the pub, and Shigaraki fell unceremoniously face first towards the floor like a domino tile with a soft "ow".

The warp villain stumbled while his young master lay on the floor coughing out smoke. Taking an explosion to the face, even in his cloud form, was painful and disorienting. Even worse, his suit was ruined.

"How did it go?" The static voice came from the monitor hooked up to the wall next to the bar.

"The mission was..." Kurogiri coughed into his handkerchief, "excuse me, the mission was a failure."

A pause, and then another voice spoke up. "And what about Master and my joint creation, Nomu?"

"Nomu was fucking deleted!"

The answer, or rather, yell came from Shigaraki, who shot up and stared at the monitor with raging round eyes. "You fucking lied to me! Your Nomu wasn't as strong as All Might! It lost to a fucking child!"

"What?!" The second voice yelled, his tone full of defiant disbelief. "That's impossible! We spent months perfecting the integration–"

"Patience, Doctor.," All For One placated, and the Doctor immediately complied. "Kurogiri, does Tomura speak the truth?"

"He does, Master," Kurogiri confirmed. He ignored the offended gasp that came from the Doctor and continued his report. "Nomu's head was incinerated by a beam of light that surpassed his Super Regeneration. No doubt the police would have his body by now."

"After everything your Master and I have done to make him as strong as All Might, you idiots went ahead and lost Nomu to some brat?!"

"Doctor," All For One repeated himself more assertively, before returning to Kurogiri. "You're saying a child defeated Nomu?"

"It was a boy in armor who fired the shot. Like this," he mimicked the hand sign that he saw the greenhead teen use.

"That pose!" The Doctor let out another gasp, this time of alarm. "Accompanied by a light beam attack! Master, you do think that he's–"

The Doctor didn't complete the question but it seemed All For One understood it anyway. The room was silent for a few long moments before All For One spoke up once more.

"Are you certain of this, Kurogiri?" Kurogiri was shocked not by the question, but by the tone his master used. It no longer was as confidently laid back as it was a minute ago, instead now laced with a layer of wariness that the man used since... never.

"Yes, Master."

"Master, we must consider putting our other plans on hold!" The Doctor was urgent, bordering on frantic, "With that power resurfacing, no doubt it's a signal for the other players to make their move."

"Indeed, Doctor," All For One agreed. "However, to go completely underground right now will only push our plans back beyond years I fear we may no longer have. From here on out, we need to move more cautiously, until we create a symbol in you, Shigaraki Tomura..."

Shigaraki felt his lips curl, pride swelling inside him as he recalled the destiny that his Master had bestowed upon him

"... one that not only humanity, but the universe, will come to fear."

BREAK

Midoriya seldom dreams. Or at least, he rarely remembers the details of whatever imaginary event his mind conjures up. Though, it wasn't the first time he found himself floating in red space. Every time, it would just be empty, except for the blue, green and white spirals that sprinkled the crimson void.

Except this time around, a figure walked into his periphery. Midoriya's blurry vision made it difficult for him to get a proper look at the stranger, only being able to make out the red markings that lined over its silver body. The individual began to speak, but all he heard was muffled gibberish.

It was like watching a movie in a theatre, but someone had hidden the speakers behind three layers of brick walls and covered the viewer's head with a bag.

The figure lifted a pen-shaped item in Midoriya's direction, and he heard a click. As flashes of white and red engulfed and blinded his vision, a question reverberated loudly like taiko drums in a hollow room:

"... Have you become fond of humans?"

"Woah!"

Green eyes shot wide open and Midoriya's body jerked upwards.

"Woah!" The greenette felt a strong palm press against his chest. "Easy there, young man! We don't want you to aggravate your body now!"

The deep, robust voice sounded so familiar to Midoriya, that the teen turned around to see two tufts of yellow hair entering his view. All Might turned his head behind. "Recovery Girl, he's awake!"

"I can see that, All Might, I'm old but I'm not blind!" The old nurse remarked dryly as she walked up to the duo. She whacked her cane against the hero's back. "And can you keep it down? The boy just woke up!"

At least All Might had the decency to look sheepish when being chewed out. He returned his attention to Midoriya. "How are you feeling?"

Midoriya couldn't suppress the yawn leaving his mouth. "S-Sleepy..."

"That's because your stamina was used to speed up your recovery," Recovery Girl explained, an easy smile on her face. "Your collar bone was broken, so it took quite a while for me to use my quirk especially when your energy reserve was so low."

Green eyes blinked. "A while? How long was I out?" he glanced out the window and almost dropped his jaw when he saw that the sky had turned dark.

"Almost..." blue eyes darted towards the only clock in the room. "Six hours." All Might whispered to Recovery Girl. "Six, right?"

The nurse had to bite back the sarcastic "you're the teacher, figure it out!" remark that almost left her lips. It was years of practiced professionalism and the fact that she had to still somewhat maintain her old friend's pride that kept her from embarrassing him in front of the teen.

"Six?!" Midoriya yelped, all signs of drowsiness leaving his body. He threw the blanket covering his legs to the side, fighting against the screaming protests of his sore muscles as he was about to leap off the bed. All Might placed a hand on his shoulder, halting the boy's rush.

"Take it easy, young man," the hero advised. "Do not forget that your body is still in recovery."

"But my friends–" the boy's eyes were frantic. "Are they hurt?!"

"Everyone else from Class 1-A is fine," All Might didn't fight back the small smile forming on his lips. This boy had just fought off a group of villains, and the first concern that came to his mind was the wellbeing of his classmates. "It is thanks to your bravery in holding off the villains that we teachers were able to come help in time."

"... Oh..." Midoriya blinked before falling back into silence. His head darted down as he started twiddling his fingers. He realized with a start that he was in his blue UA sports uniform, and green eyes searched the room for his armour. He found it in the open suitcase next to his bed, noting the indentation on his chest armor. A grim reminder of his encounter with the Nomu monster. His voice was merely above a whisper when he spoke again. "... When... When will I be discharged?"

"I was actually about to have you stay here the whole night if you hadn't woken up, sunny," Recovery Girl remarked almost too cheerily. "But since you're up, I've already updated your mother of your condition. She was relieved to know that you're up and about."

Green eyes widened and Izuku stiffened in his seat. "My mom!" Uh oh. In the midst of it all, the boy had managed to let the thought of his mom being worried sick for him slip his mind.

Recovery Girl, unaware of the boy's rising anxiety, turned on her heels and headed to her table. "She's on her way to pick you up."

"No!" Midoriya cringed at his own outburst. "I mean, I can make it back on my own. I don't want her to worry too much."

All Might raised an eyebrow. "In that case, would you like me to accompany you?"

Recovery Girl scoffed. "And let the media surround you? That'll just be detrimental to the boy, won't it?"

"... Oh yeah, right..."

Shaking her head, the nurse turned to Midoriya. "You can leave the suitcase here. The support company will take care of the damages. I just thought you should know the whole thing wasn't scrapped." She patted the yellow bag that was by the side of her table. "Your bag's over here by the way."

The sight of All Might scratching the back of his neck threw Midoriya into a loop, but the boy shook off his confusion and leapt off the bed. Taking the bag off Recovery Girl's hands with a soft thanks, he ran towards the door. But not before he turned around to face the two Oro Heroes.

"Thank you!" He bowed. The teen didn't wait for a reply, for he had opened the door and exited the room with speed that would have rivalled even All Might.

The door slammed shut, and the nurse's office was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. As the dust cleared, Shuzenji Chiyo turned on her seat. Where the massive, muscular form of All Might once stood, was now occupied by a skinny gaunt man who looked like he hadn't had a meal in months. "What's the matter, Toshinori?"

The alter ego of the Symbol of Peace didn't reply at first. His sunken blue eyes studied the grey armour belonging to Midoriya Izuku as he ran a lanky finger along the indentation on the chestpiece.

"It's nothing, Chiyo." Toshinori Yagi waved off the question. "Sorry, but I have a meeting to attend." He too headed for the exit. "Those villains made a dire mistake going after these first-years."

As the door closed one last time for the day, Shuzenji frowned. Her eyes darted towards Midoriya's suitcase and she let out a tired sigh. Having spent decades working with the Number One Hero, she knew exactly when her old friend was lying.

BREAK

Tsukauchi stood at the front of the meeting room as the teachers took their seats around the U-shaped table. He raised an eyebrow at the last attendee entering the room.

"I see you made the doctors give you an early discharge again."

"It was irrational for me to hog a bed when others might need it more than I."Aizawa grumbled as he glared at the sling his left arm was in. He suppressed a yawn. "Besides, the old lady overdid it with her healing," He made his way to his seat next to Present Mic. "Anyway, this meeting isn't about me, let's not waste any more time."

Tsukauchi nodded. It was classic of Eraserhead to get to the point. The man was probably in need of sleep, anyway. Definitely, if the yawn was anything to go by. The detective made a mental note to not prolong the meeting more than needed. Making sure that everyone was seated, he referred to the report in hand, focusing on the most important point the teachers would be interested in listening to.

"In total, the police have arrested seventy-two villains. As for the remaining members of the 'League of Villains', we've cross-referenced the name 'Shigaraki Tomura' across all databases for a match, along with a description of a disintegration quirk in the Quirk Registration for every citizen in their 20s or 30s, and nothing came up. The same could be said for the 'blackmist' character with a warping capability, Kurogiri.

Either they were never hit by the census, or they were using aliases. In any case, they are for all intents and purposes, people of society's underbelly.

"In other words," the muscular white- haired man in a blood-red bodysuit – Vlad King – scrunched his eyebrows in thought, "you're saying we don't know anything,"

"We must hurry. No doubt this recent failure would push Shigaraki to try again." came the synthesized voice of Snipe. "These young ringleaders can get really tenacious. He did it once, he'll do it again."

Aizawa scoffed. "I sincerely doubt that this Shigaraki is the ringleader type." That prompted Ms Midnight turned to her old friend

"What makes you say that?"

"I may have been incapacitated for the latter half of the fight, but I wasn't totally out of it," the left side of the Eraserhead's face was wrapped in bandages, Tsukauchi was reminded of a villain from an old Western movie he watched when he was a kid. "I recalled Midoriya coming in and a few moments later Shigaraki was throwing a huge fit. It was as if he wasn't used to things not going his way. The attack itself was a daring plan– irrational even if they didn't have the Nomu with them."

"Couple that with the Young Todoroki, Bakugo and Kirishima's statements of him bragging about the Nomu like it was his favourite toy, and the picture painted of 'Shigaraki' is one of a manchild." All Might, sitting in his gaunt form with his arms crossed, picked up from where Eraserhead left off. The Underground Hero raised an eyebrow. Of all the teachers he expected to pick up from the reports, the Number One Hero was definitely not at the top half of Aizawa's list.

He may have to reevaluate his opinion of the man after this meeting.

"Well, how do both your assessments tie in with the case?" Sniper queried.

"To start, all seventy-two villains arrested are back alley thugs." Tsukauchi explained. "Considering that all seventy-two willingly followed a manchild into a daredevil plan, it just shows that villains could easily be drawn to simple-minded evil in an era of oversaturated heroes."

That drew murmurs of agreement among the teachers present. Nezu stared at the copy of the report handed to him. "In some sense, he's like our students. There's still room to grow. If there was someone capable of backing him, cultivating his malice..."

The teachers stirred in their seats at the unspoken implications, though two pairs of black beady eyes noted that one certain gaunt man was looking distracted.

"Well, it was thanks to you heroes that we're able to devote ourselves to the investigation side of things," Tsukauchi coughed into his fist. "We'll expand our search network and continue to assist in arresting the perpetrators."

"And we'll develop and improve our security system to prevent a repeat of such events," chirped Nezu. The rest of the teachers began packing, some standing up. "Thank you for sharing with us whatever you can for this case."

Tsukauchi's lips curled up slightly, stepping aside to allow the other teachers to exit the room. "It's the least I could do."

"If you feel the need to investigate every corner of the school again, please do not hesitate to do so."

"I'll inform you in advance if that happens." The detective replied before closing the door, leaving the two remaining occupants in the room to themselves.

Nezu turned his head towards Toshinori, still sitting at the meeting table, his face deep in thought.

"Is something bothering you, All Might?" The principal asked. The Number One Hero had spent most of the time during the meeting looking as though his mind was adrift. Even when he brought up the fact that Shigaraki was a manchild he had a troubled look that was beyond the villain.

"Nothing, sir," the man denied. Despite not keeping eye contact, All Might could feel Nezu staring at him. The principal's face was often inscrutable, but over their many years of knowing each other Toshinori had come to pick up many of Nezu's small tells.

Right now, the gleam from black beady eyes meant that the principal was not buying into his half-hearted answer.

Nezu waited patiently as All Might mentally debated with himself before the man eventually let out a sigh.

"It's about Young Midoriya," he admitted. Taking Nezu's silence as a cue to elaborate, he continued. "He took down the Nomu – a creature that was suposedly meant to fight me – alone."

"You're concerned by the brutality he displayed in incinerating the Nomu's head?"

"No, not really. The boy was fighting to survive, it was probably his instincts reacting in self defense," All Might shook his head, "It's... His quirk is supposed to be enhanced strength. But he shot a light beam. From his hand."

Nezu nodded, seeing where the hero was going. "Light emission and strength modifiers are unrelated quirks."

"Exactly. At first I genuinely thought he had multiple quirks, and that he was connected to that man," All Might leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. His face darkened at the mention of the other person, before softening considerably. "But what if they aren't young Midoriya's quirks?" he prodded. "You remember what Aizawa reported after the first test: he couldn't erase the young man's strength. And we know for certain that Midoriya doesn't have a mutation quirk, we would have noticed if he did. And I saw with my own eyes an Ultra Beam being shot out of the USJ dome. We know someone who could do the same."

"We knew someone," Nezu corrected with a sigh. The number One Hero sounded so hopeful – like a child on Christmas hoping Santa was real – the principal's chest clenched all the more tightly. "Toshinori, don't you think that you're reaching somehow?"

"I know I'm not. Not when his armor and powerset are nearly identical to Zoffy's," All Might stood his ground, the same determination that pushed him to become the Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace all those years ago now filling his gaunt face. Blue orbs stared intently at the tiny principal. "Please be honest with me, Nezu. Who was young Midoriya's referral to the Recommendation Entrance Exam?"

Nezu closed his eyes and contemplated his options. Telling All Might the truth would only confirm the man's suspicion, and his sense of responsibility towards young Midoriya would only grow. On the flip side, lying would only delay the inevitable. The principal eventually decided on the former.

"It was from Edo."

All Might couldn't fight the small smile forming on his lips. "And you said I was reaching."

"I just didn't want to get your hopes up," Nezu explained. His facial features turned firm. "Toshinori, you must remember that the boy is not the man you once knew. You cannot let your sense of responsibility cloud your actions."

"Do not worry, old friend. Everything is under control," All Might buffed up, the smile on his face as bright as the day he made his debut. "BECAUSE I AM HERE."

Nezu had to restrain himself from sighing. That's exactly what I'm afraid of...

BREAK

The night at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint was quiet, save for the sound of water swishing from the fountain at the Central Plaza and the waterslide in the Flood Zone, mixed with the licking flames coming from the red dome of the Conflagration Zone. Chatter was kept to a minimum among the sergeants guarding the perimeter, all keen on keeping a watchful eye for signs of intrusion from anyone attempting to manipulate the crime scene, or even the telltale sign of a Warp Gate opening.

High above the night sky, there wasn't much to illuminate the clouds aside from the crescent moon. The absence of light did not hinder the figure, however, as it slowly descended from the heavens towards the large dome. Blue-lit visors the shape of eyes scanned the ground below, taking note of the guards patrolling the area.

Their eyes were focused on the ground they stood on. It was unlikely that they would notice his presence high above. Nonetheless, the figure exercised caution and he levitated towards his destination.

The large hole in the dome of the USJ was hard to miss, and several contraptions were built to allow the humans to reach that point so they would be able to study it. The figure had no doubt that these humans would find more than they were able three centuries ago.

A silver arm stretched out, allowing unnaturally slender fingers to linger above the melted metal braces. And he felt it. A faint, prickling warmth, reminiscent of an artificial sun that illuminated a world long gone.

Humanity's technological advancement ground to a halt in the past two centuries following the rise of quirks, and thus they – sans one organization – do not possess the necessary knowledge to properly decipher the residual energy aside from recognizing small traces of alpha, beta and gamma rays.

"Spacium," the figure hummed thoughtfully. He hovered back to the edge of the stratosphere, taking in the myriad of lights that now decorated the skylines of Musutafu. "It seems the son of Midoriya Hisashi's awakening... is at its first stage."

A/N: Right, so that's the first season of MHA covered. As some of you may realize, some parts are kinda like a retelling of the canon. Things will change eventually, slowly. And some scenes will feel familiar, but with a dose of twist.

Oh and shoutout to ZoomieZoomie324 for making sure the writing isn't 100% trash,and to TidalMoon2003 for keeping me sane (or insane idk)

If there's anything you like about this story, or you have theories of your own, don't be afraid to review/comment xD