Everything escalated way faster than Izuku would've liked, because his friends just had to track him to Jikan's base. Izuku knew they didn't fully trust his judgment right now, not after Kacchan told them about how he spiraled during his time in their headquarters. So they'd taken it upon themselves to intervene as soon as possible, having Kacchan track him down with their weird quirk link as they surrounded and attacked the building as an illegal raid party. God, Shouta was going to be furious with them after this...

"Ikyu! In here! Quickly!" Kohaku yelled, pulling him into one of the storage rooms within the facility. She locked the door with the multiple mechanisms that were installed, a bit of an overkill if Izuku didn't know they had a past of being attacked over and over again. "Damnit! How the hell did they find this place so quickly?!"

"Who- Who are they?" Izuku asked, still a bit shaken up from the sudden alarm and panicked evacuation that was going on. Something crashed and exploded somewhere in the facility, yells and screams echoing through the halls as they ran to safety. He could sense Kacchan, though, so he knew who they were. Knew it was the Alliance attacking and not some other villain group or gang that wanted to claim this territory for their own. It was a small comfort amid all the chaos. "What do they want? Why are they attacking us?"

"They're people who wish to stop us," Kohaku sighed, pushing Izuku further into the room, between the racks of devices and spare parts. As if that would keep them hidden enough not to be found. No, if Izuku was their goal, Kacchan would be here within seconds. "They don't want to see All Might standing tall. Instead, they wish to see him fall so they can take the spotlight. They think they're better than All Might! Can you believe that?!"

Izuku wanted to argue, wanted to tell her she had it all wrong. They weren't doing this because they thought they could do a better job- I mean, All Might is All Might for crying out loud! No one is a better hero than him! But he deserved his rest. He deserved to retire peacefully after all the years he put his life at risk for the people. He deserved to lay back without worry, knowing the next generation of heroes had it handled. Because even All Might was human, not some immortal god. Not now, at least. Not now that Jikan hadn't succeeded yet. They won't. Ever. Izuku needed to make sure of that.

"All Might is the best," Izuku confirmed, keeping his eyes on the door as they reached the back of the room, hiding away between the racks and boxes. He watched Kohaku type away at a small phone-like machine. A bit like a walkie talkie, but with a lot more buttons. She was probably messaging the crew that stood guard over the rewind machine. They were gonna fire it up, weren't they? They always used the time machine as a means to escape whenever things got dire.

"Come on, we need to move."

"But we're safe here," Izuku said, wanting to stall as long as possible.

"Not for long, come on," Kohaku said as she pulled him along once more, glancing down at the communication thingy more than once on their way there, cursing under her breath as words popped up on the screen. "Where the hell is he..?"

"Did you expect them to come?" Izuku asked, yelping as he stumbled and fell against a wall when Kohaku pushed him aside. They just dodged flying debris, probably caused by the fight not even two meters ahead, and quickly turned to take another route. It happened too fast for Izuku to make out who was who in the blur of limbs and quirks. "Are we looking for someone?"

"No one that concerns you," Kohaku stated rather harshly, before taking a deep breath. She probably realized her tone wasn't helping anyone. That, and that keeping answers away from him was no use at this point, not with how involved he already was. "Their leader. He hasn't been sighted yet. He could be a problem, but we don't know yet."

Their leader..? The Assembly didn't have a formal leader, though. And if Izuku were to point at someone, he'd say either Tenya, Momo or Kacchan were the leader, and they all had their memories at this point so they should be here. Yeah, Shoto had pulled his weight there, bringing in their more, uhm, prestigious friends by pulling some strings. But she said 'he', so that left Tenya or Kacchan, and neither of them were really the stealth type in missions like these. Izuku couldn't imagine Tenya staying behind, either. So who did they think their leader was..?

"You don't need to worry about any of that, though," she added, forcing a smile. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

Izuku knew his friends wouldn't hurt him, and by extent her too if she was too close to him. So he knew he was safe. He was still wondering about this leader figure as they rushed to the heart of the complex. It didn't take long before they were in the same room as the machine that contained One For All. He couldn't see the rest of the time machine though. Not until the floor around him started to open up, creating a platform that slowly descended down to a hidden basement.

"Any sign of Deku?" Kohaku asked as they started their descent.

"No madam," one of the others said as Izuku's heart skipped a beat. Oh. Oh, yeah, uh, that... That checked out. He was All Might's successor, their biggest enemy, a thorn in their eye, so it only made sense they saw him as the face of all who defied them. If only they knew Izuku was their smallest obstacle. He'd been ready to give up on One For All for a long time, maybe due to the manipulation thing they were pulling off, but he'd been willing either way. It were his friends that made sure the quirk stayed with him. They were the ones keeping Jikan from achieving their dream more than he ever did.

"Is Deku their leader?" Izuku asked, still feigning ignorance.

"He's a traitor," Kohaku hissed, getting angry just talking about him. "A selfish quirkless brat who wants to steal All Might's power and keep it for himself. He calls himself nobel and a hero, but he's been the downfall of our true hero more times than I'm willing to count. He's nothing but a fake."

Her words cut through his soul like a sharp knife, stabbing him in the chest with every line she spoke. Izuku Midoriya was a fake, it's true. He wasn't born with a quirk, so why should he get to wield one anyway? But if he was a fake, so was All Might, because Yagi hadn't been born with a quirk either. He'd received One For All just like Izuku did. He'd make it his own, just like Izuku did. They were both faking it, had been for a long time, and yet Jikan only acknowledged one of them as the real deal. It was unfair, but what else was new, really?

"They've broken through to the labs," someone reported, making Izuku look up to where they came from. The ceiling had closed above them by now, so there was really nothing to see. Still, he was sure at least Kacchan would be able to find him without any trouble. Their quirk connection functioned as a pretty reliable tracker in this scenario.

"We need to move fast," Kohaku said. "Be ready to place the energy source as soon as we arrive."

Izuku couldn't let that happen. He had to stall long enough for his friends to get here, even if he didn't agree with this raid. He knew why they did it, could feel the worry and concern coming off Kacchan in his dreams. He knew they wanted to fix this as soon as possible, but he still didn't like the fact they hadn't included him at all. Huh, so that's how it felt... To be left in the dark while the people around you planned things you didn't know about. Things that could alter their fate, the flow of time, the reality they lived in. It was best not to think about the implications too much, Izuku had learned that the hard way.

The platform came to a halt soon after, and panic started to set in. Izuku needed to stop this before everything was in place, before they could activate the machine and rewind everything again. He needed to buy the others some time to accomplish whatever they set out to do here. He needed-

"Found them!"

Izuku's head shot up, looking straight into the deep red eyes of none other than Katsuki Bakugou. He came falling from the sky, followed by several others. Ochako, Tsuyu, Hanta- He was pulled away before he could identify any more of them, dragged off the platform to safety as the rest of the crew wheeled the OFA container towards the machine as fast as they could.

"Got eyes on the target," Katsuki reported, looking straight at Izuku. Oh, he didn't like where this was going... Whatever it was, Izuku had to make sure to get to their energy source, to be in their way as hard as possible and make things difficult for them. If he could keep them from inserting One For All into the machine before the fight was over, it would be their victory.

"Counting about a dozen enemies, more could be hiding out in the back," Ochako called out, probably reporting back to the ones that were still behind. Maybe some of the others were still fighting above ground, or were making their way over here. Izuku didn't know how many of them were here. All he knew was that Kohaku seemed absolutely livid as she pushed him behind her, straight into the machine holding onto a part of his quirk. It was like a spark of electricity jolted through him as his back hit the reinforced glass, and he tried very hard not to make any sound.

"You can't win from us!" Kohaku yelled, sounding a bit deranged as she did. "No matter how many times you think you've defeated us, we'll always come back! You can't escape us! You can't escape our inevitable victory! We will succeed!"

"Don't think so," Katsuki grinned, locking eyes with Izuku once more. There was something unspoken said between them and suddenly everything clicked. This raid, this whole mission- Izuku suddenly realized what it was for and why he was here. It was clear which part he had to play. "Now, Deku!"

The room got really quiet in an instant as Jikan fell into a defensive formation, ready to protect the energy core at all cost. Their eyes darted around, searching for Deku, wondering where he was coming from. They looked anywhere but behind them. Izuku sucked in a deep breath as the green energy started cackling around him. Kohaku turned around just in time for her to see him smash the glass with one punch, allowing the piece of One For All to escape and reunite with its user. There was a flash of light and a blast of energy as it shot straight into his body, making everyone around him topple over. Ha, so that's what always created the blast, huh?

The raid party had braced themselves, but even so some of them had stumbled back from the sheer force alone. All Izuku could do was gasp as the energy entered his body, making his quirk whole again. But at the same time, Jikan's ideals soared through his mind a thousand times stronger than before. It was strong and overwhelming, but it all ended in a single flash. And then... Everything was back to normal. His body hadn't exploded and his mind was his own. After all these years, he was back to who he was meant to be. Jikan couldn't manipulate him anymore, couldn't use him to power their dreams.

"YOU-!" Kohaku cried out, lashing out at him with her quirk. The orange substance flew towards him, only to be blocked by a piece of rubble attached to Hanta's tape.

"Not today, crazy lady," he said, using his other elbow to wrap her up so she couldn't try to attack again. She trashed and screamed, but Hanta was quick to seal her mouth. The others shot into action, too. Rounding up the unconscious Jikan members and tying them up while Katsuki guided Izuku to the ground so he could sit down and catch his breath.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'll be fine," Izuku breathed, a hand clenching his shirt as the shock left his body. "That was, uh, a lot."

Kacchan grunted, mumbling an agreement under his breath. He must've felt it too, then.

"Come on, we need to get these guys back upstairs," he said as they finished cleaning up. "All Might wants to have a word with them."