"HEARTBEAT SURROUND!"

Izuku leaped to the right, avoiding the blasts of sound that blew out the candles surrounding the- his -memorial. Danger Sense flared as Iida shot towards him, Dark Shadow in tow.

"Iida, you have to-!"

"Silence villain!" Iida yelled and rage Izuku hadn't seen since that day in Kamino seemed to have overtaken his friend. "I will not hear a word of your filthy lies! Recipro Burst!" He shot forward like a rocket, his leg coming in at an arc. Izuku just barely reacted in time to duck, but wasn't quick enough to avoid his next attack as Iida swung his body around and rocketed his leg into Izuku's middle.

Izuku was thrown back, skidding along the pavement. Blackwhip shot out along his sides, punching into the ground to find purchase. A shadow fell over him as the darkness wrapped around him and began smothering him.

"Filthy villain, using the body of Fumi's friend!" Dark Shadow growled, his hold on Izuku tightening.

"I-I'm not-!" Izuku grunted, but he could barely speak. One For All hummed beneath his skin as he increased the output, blasting apart the darkness just enough to let himself fly out into the air. He flipped himself around midair to avoid the giant capture net that had been launched towards him, seeing a cannon in the distance situated behind some bushes. It looked to be one of Yaoyorozu's makes, but it was being manned by Hatsume, and seemed to be sporting some of her modifications by the looks of it-

The net exploded as it passed by him with explosive force, propelling him forward. Danger Sense flared hard to his right as Sato leaped towards him, muscles bulging against his hero costume. As Izuku shot Blackwhip at him, Sero leaped up from behind him where he'd been clinging onto the brawnier boy's back, his tape wrapping around Izuku's middle. Another flare in his head alerted him to the sounds of engines coming closer. He turned his head slightly to see Iida running along the side of the UA building, leaping off towards him.

Gripping the tape, Izuku tugged on it and his strands of Blackwhip, trying to yank both Sato and Sero around.

"FREEZE!"

Izuku felt something hit him from the beneath, jolting his body and freezing it in place. One For All ignited across his skin as he felt the combined voices of the vestiges yell out and his fingers clenched and shot out air blasts all around him. His classmates were sent flying as the spell over him broke and Izuku shot out a Blackwhip from behind him towards the school, latching onto the side and pulling him backwards. He grunted in pain as his back slammed against the side of the building, cracking the glass of the window. He tried to take a few seconds to regain his breath, only for his body to suddenly jerk down towards the ground, a purple hue surrounding him.

Below he could see Yanagi standing near Fukidashi, who must've been the one to cause him to freeze earlier. Channeling One For All into his legs, Izuku blasted out Smokescreen out all around him as he propelled himself off of the building and over their heads, completely enveloped in the purple clouds gushing out of him. Broken free from Yanagi's Poltergeist, Izuku aimed for the UA gates. He needed a reprieve and it wasn't looking like his classmates would be giving him some anytime soon.

"HEY, OVER HERE!" A voice yelled, the tone getting louder very quickly as if shooting towards him. Izuku reflexively looked only to be blinded by a searing bright light. He yelled out, falling before having to catch himself with Float and tumbling to the ground. His eyes burned, bright spots covering his entire vision.

Hagakure, Izuku realized, realizing why he hadn't seen the girl fly at him. He felt Danger Sense flare behind him and he dodged to the side, avoiding what felt like a rush of wind, hearing Sato grunt. Another flare, this time the telltale sounds of engines giving Izuku more of an idea of what to avoid. He swung out his arm, a burst of air successfully hitting his target as he heard Iida go sprawling.

He kept blinking rapidly, trying to restore his vision. He'd have to rely solely on Danger Sense for the time being. Another sound of the cannon and Izuku moved backwards with a burst of energy to avoid the net, only for one of his legs to be caught by one, hearing several more hitting the ground around him. He fell, his leg all tangled up.

As he lifted himself to tear it off, a burst of sound slammed into him, forcing him back down. The sound waves forcefully kept him down, his head ringing unbearably.

Don't have- a choice-! Energy surged in his legs as he managed to bend them. Fa Jin!

With an explosive force that ripped up the concrete and caused Jiro to yelp as her quirk stopped, Izuku flew backwards. He wrapped himself in Blackwhip as smokescreen blasted around him in an attempt to cushion his collision with whatever was behind him. Cement broke and gave way when he finally hit something solid after crashing through several bushes and fell out the other side.

After letting Blackwhip retreat back into his body and opening his eyes, he was finally starting to see again, bright white spots still dancing in his retina. He had crashed through UA's perimeter gate and had landed on the hill outside.

"Need to... get out of here," He mumbled, stumbling to his feet as he began to move backwards.

"They're not going to let up," Hikage informed him. Izuku didn't need him to tell him that; He could feel his classmates coming thanks to Danger Sense.

Then the biggest spike in Danger Sense yet shot through his skull in a burst of pain. He could hear it behind him, an all-too familiar sound. He turned, leg already swinging up and smashing against the oncoming ice, the burst of power shattering it to reveal Todoroki with perhaps the most expressive face he'd ever seen him with; A face of rage matched only by Iida's.

"How dare you impersonate my friend!" He yelled, flames erupting out of his left side and cascading towards him. Blackwhip shot from his left arm and attached to a still standing light pole and yanked himself out of the way. Green vines suddenly erupted from the ground beneath him, wrapping around his legs and slamming him back to the ground. Izuku planted his hands on the grass to see the hill writhing with vines.

"Cease this debauchery of our friend at once!" Shiozaki yelled from next to Todoroki, her vines plunged into the ground all around her. "We will not tolerate you staining his image any longer!" Then her vines detached around shoulder-length as she quickly backstepped. Izuku's eyes widened as Todoroki set the fallen vines aflame and suddenly the field began to be lit alight by the fire racing towards him.

Shit! Izuku launched himself into the air to avoid the vines tearing away from his legs in the process, and just in time as the fire consumed them. The fire was out as quick as it started, the vines burning up relatively quick and leaving only scorched marks on the earth. Izuku heard the sound of ice being created and saw Todoroki heading straight for him on a slab of growing ice.

"You're not going to get off easy for this!" He roared as blue flames suddenly sprang to life across his left side as he leapt for Izuku, his left hand clenched in a fist as the fire concentrated on that point. "FLASHFIRE FIST: JET KINDLING!"

With no way to take that hit directly, Izuku shot down with a burst of air. He could feel the intense heat rushing over him as he landed on the ground, only to nearly get sucker punched from behind. Izuku moved with the attack, seeing a flash of orange hair and the fiercely determined teal gaze of Kendo. Her quirk immediately came to mind and he ducked just in time to avoid her fist enlarging. She brought her big hand down and Izuku met it with his own, slapping the hand away and moving backwards.

His breaths were coming in short gasps now. He couldn't take much more of this.

Maybe if they take me prisoner, then I could appeal my case to them, Izuku thought tiredly as he leaped back to avoid getting into hand-to-hand combat with the big sister of Class 1B. Yeah...

He stopped, finding his back pressed up against something. He blinked, realizing he was having trouble concentrating. His head ached and his movements were sluggish. In his peripheral vision he could see the other fighters coming from the UA gate. His attention switched to Todoroki, who, with eyes still alight with uncontained fury, allowed his blue flames to surge from his side.

At that moment, Izuku became aware of two things. Todoroki was using blue flames reminiscent of his brother, flames that he needed to avoid. The second thing was the torn spandex fluttering gently in the wind above him, tied to the pole his back was against. Without even thinking, Izuku shot out both hands and swung them wide open. A blast of wind pressure shot out to both sides, dividing the flames around him and All Might's memorial.

But a wave of ice was now shooting towards him and he had finally run out of energy to stop it.

Sorry, All Might... Izuku thought, knowing that this attack would ruin the memorial.

"STOP!" A voice yelled out as a chain of explosions was set off. Someone in a hospital gown flew in front of Izuku and let off a massive explosion that shattered the incoming ice.

Izuku's eyes widened as he recognized the spiky blond hair. "Ka-Kacchan?!"

"He protected All Might's memorial." Kacchan's voice sounded ragged, his breathing labored as he stood hunched with his smoking hand still held out in front of him. "Only the stupid nerd would do that... during... a fight..." he trailed off as he fell forward, Izuku speeding forward to catch him. Blood dripped onto his costume, the red liquid already soaking parts of the hospital gown.

"Kacchan!" Izuku cried out.

"Izuku!"

Izuku's gaze whipped up, locking on Shinso. He spoke in his normal voice, his voice modulator nowhere in sight. He was supporting himself against the side of the gate, clutching his throat. When he removed his hand, it revealed a jagged scar. "Answer me, Izuku." His voice sounded hoarse, and he spoke quietly.

Izuku wanted to sob. Everything, everyone , was so different. So many things had clearly happened to all his friends and all he could think about was that he wasn't there when they needed him. But instead of breaking down and sobbing, he swallowed thickly and opened his mouth, staring directly at Shinso.

"Please," he croaked and immediately he was caught in Shinso's brainwashing. This was the only way he could get them to trust him. So he sat there with his childhood friend bleeding in his arms as his consciousness slowly began to fade away from him. He could hear garbled voices, Kacchan being taken from his arms, and the comforting presence of the vestiges wrapping themselves around him like a blanket.

Hitoshi Shinso stumbled forward as Ibara, Sero, and Sato rushed away with Bakugou. He shouldn't have gotten out of his bed, but the fighting had enticed him to look. Hitoshi tried to stop him up until the point he'd seen Izuku. Or someone who looked a lot like Izuku.

He was expecting a blank look from the boy when he approached him, but instead his eyes were closed, his breathing labored. Dark bags hung underneath his eyes and he nearly topped over before Hitoshi steadied him by grabbing his shoulders.

He wore himself into exhaustion, Hitoshi sighed, remembering when Izuku had done that before. The question is, is this the same Izuku?

Katsuki seemed to think so. And at the moment, the word of the childhood friend of Izuku was what convinced him to give "Izuku" a chance.

"Let me see him!"

Hitoshi turned to see a dark green haired girl pushing her way through the students of UA. She stopped, staring at the sleeping boy. One of her hands reached out, her entire body shaking as she stumbled forward. Sinking to her knees, she knelt beside Hitoshi and traced her fingers down "Izuku's" freckled face.

"He looks..." she swallowed thickly. "He looks just like..." Tears were beginning to well up beneath her eyes. "Can he be..."

"Maybe," Hitoshi told her bluntly. "We don't know for certain. We'll need to question him." He rubbed his throat carefully around his scar. "But Setsuna, if it is him, then-"

She held up a hand, using her other one to wipe away her tears. She took a couple seconds before speaking. "Take him to one of the holding cells. Tell me when he wakes up."

"Set," Itsuka started forward and Hitoshi had to try his hardest not to stare at where her left hand used to be.

"Stop." Setsuna's voice held a hint of pleading. "I need to be alone right now."

Hitoshi nodded, standing and pointing at Shoji, who had been one of the people out on patrol with Setsuna, and Yanagi, then to "Izuku". Nodding, they came forward and took the boy carefully and towards UA. Hitoshi spared one last look at Setsuna, who was staring off into the distance, seemingly not having reacted to "Izuku" being taken away. Sharing a concerned look with Itsuka, they opted to stay just inside the gate to wait for her.

"If he really is Izuku, then that's great news," Itsuka said quietly once everyone had left. "But if it isn't..." She didn't say anything else and Hitoshi didn't need to finish it. If this was some cruel joke on All For One's part, then it could very well be Setsuna's final breaking point. She still hadn't really recovered from Izuku's death and now this.

Hitoshi wasn't religious like Ibara. Yet he found himself praying that this was indeed the real Izuku. Because in the wake of this dark world where the heroes lost, they needed all the light they could get, and Izuku was the brightest light Hitoshi had ever known.

This story technically doesn't have a main pairing, but also technically does in the form of Izuku and Setsuna, but still technically doesn't. As to why that is can pretty much be inferred from the book's summary. Anyway, next chapter will likely be out within a week or so, so stay tuned. Toodles~