The world screams. Deafening clashes echoed through the ruins of a broken city. Shockwaves of sheer force destroy even the bones of what used to be a prefecture. What remains of Japan's heroes, many of them still students, watch from a distance — broken, exhausted, praying that the green-haired boy still standing at the center can finish it.
Midoriya Izuku. Bloodied, limping, the last bearer of One For All, faces the monster once called Tomura Shigaraki.
The air itself crackles as their wills collide.
Tomura's hands oozing with decay and malice, his body a writhing mass of quirk energy that barely holds together. Izuku's aura burns green and gold, the embers of One for All roaring one last time.
Their voices cut through the thunder.
"You think saving them means anything?" The husk of Shigaraki screamed, the young man reduced to a puppet for the twisted will of All for One. A manic grin split his monstrous face, "I will kill you, but not before I reduce them to ash in front of you!"
"You won't get past me All for one," the green haired teen panted, "I'll save them, everyone. Even you, Tenko!"
A spark of something unidentifiable passes through the villain's eye for a split second, quickly replaced with the rage and malice of the symbol of evil. With a final, baneful howl he launches himself and the young hero.
The energy of one for all, a dazzling green and gold flares around Midoriya. "This is it," he thinks. "His body is breaking down, and I'm at my limit."
With a bone rattling explosion of force Midoriya launches himself forward.
The impact shakes the land.
Wind turns into blades, light into fire.
When the dust clears, both are on their knees; beaten, bleeding, but alive. Tomura's body flickers, breaking down under the strain of All for One's parasitic hold.
Blood leaks from between Midoriya's lips, his body a wreck cuts and bruises.
As the world holds its breath, a single black strand shoots from Tomura, piercing Midoriya with the power of All for One. He might not be able to take his brother's accursed quirk, but he would delight in tormenting the vestiges of its previous users.
A sibilant whisper sounds in Tomura's head.
"You are mine Tomura. The hate, the pain, the power, all of it mine." A smug sense of victory seeps into All for one's voice at this. "Just like this world."
A faint golden aura begins to emanate from Shigaraki's broken form. The final spark of rewind begins to repair it.
But then… something happens.
A small, trembling hand; the same boy's hand that once reached for a parent's touch, rises weakly.
And from deep within One for All, a pulse of warmth responds.
Izuku feels it.
His consciousness dives inward. Into the glowing vestige world, where the past wielders of One for All stand watching. The place is crumbling, fading away. But at its core, he sees it.
The form of a terrified boy lost in the darkness of All for One's dark machinations: Tenko Shimura.
Eri's power, the remnant of her Rewind quirk, still lingers faintly inside Izuku from their last battle together, and through the connection Afo made to drain him, he can feel more of Rewind's energy. A miracle of chance, a spark of life preserved through contact and empathy.
He understands what he can do.
He knows it will cost him everything
A tearful Nana Shimura stands behind him, looking at the two poor boys in front of her. Izuku, so bright and promising. The true soul of a hero, willing to risk even his own life to save others. Even if the person he's reaching to save is the one threatening his life.
And her grandson, Tenko Shimura. A boy she never got to know, the son of a child she gave up to protect from the very evil that would eventually claim her life.
Tears fell freely as she approached the two. "If you do this, Izuku, there's no coming back. It'll take everything you have left."
He looked at her from over his shoulder. Back straight, not an ounce of hesitation in his eyes, and a smile of contentment on his lips. "What kind of hero would I be if I didn't save everyone I could?"
He bent down and grabbed Tenko's reaching hand as Nana hugged him tightly. She kissed his forehead as she wiped her tears.
"You are everything a hero should be."
Leaving the hug, she fell to her knees beside the vestige of her grandson and pulled him into a strong embrace, kissing the top of his head.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you little Tenko," tears once again fell free as she fought back a sob. "Always remember, Grandma loves you."
In the real world the faint golden aura exploded into a bling light. In Tomura's head one for all shrieked in panic as he felt his very being unraveling.
Reality folds inward.
The decayed wasteland around them rewinds, dust reforming into buildings, ash returning to flesh.
Tomura's monstrous form collapses into particles of light, peeling away layer after layer of hatred, pain, and manipulation.
Where the villain once stood, a crying infant now lies, a newborn with silver hair and a faint scar beneath his eye.
Tenko Shimura, free of All for One's curse.
Midoriya smiles weakly, picking up the child as he feels his strength leaving him.
"I did it, All Might," He whispers to himself looking down at the child he now cradled, "I saved everyone, even him."
The last embers of One for All flicker and fade.
The Symbol of Hope collapses with the boy he saved still safely nestled in his arms, eyes filled with peace, a bright smile on his face.
"Welcome back… Tenko. You're safe now."
Hours later, the heroes find them.
The villain who destroyed the world is gone.
In his place, a baby; alive, untouched, crying softly in Izuku's arms.
The world mourns the hero who gave his life to end the era of hate. They call it "The Dawn of Hope." All made possible by the man that would go down as the world's #1 hero.
Izuku Midoriya.
But somewhere beyond the veil of reality, Izuku's soul drifts; glowing faintly, surrounded by starlight and waves.
He feels warmth again, not pain, nor exhaustion.
The stars ripple like water, and a gentle voice calls to him from the sea of light.
"Shishishi," a distinctive laugh sounds, "that was awesome, Deku."
He turns and finds a lanky teen in a straw hat and red vest, only a few years older than himself, standing before him.
There stands Monkey D. Luffy, smiling with a radiant grin that would inspire entire oceans of people.
"You saved everyone, huh? Even the bad guy. That's pretty cool." Luffy laughed.
Izuku smiled softly, "I couldn't let anyone suffer if I could help it." He reached out for a hand shake and introduced himself, "I'm Izuku Midoriya, but you probably already knew that since you called me by my hero name."
With another laugh Luffy confirmed, "Shishishi, yeah this mystery place let me see your whole life!"
Midoriya went a little pale at that "A-all of it?" There were a few parts of his life he wasn't exactly proud of.
"Yeah," Luffy answered, still grinning, "You were kind of lame for a while!"
Izuku blushed, "Yeah…" He really didn't have a way to defend himself on that front. He knew that before All Might, and even for a while after, he had never really believed in himself. Even after he obtained one for all, it was until after Gran Torino's training that he began to build his own confidence.
"What about you?" He clumsily tried to change the subject, "How did you wind up here?"
"Oh," Luffy immediately took the bait, "I was setting sail and a giant whirlpool showed up and I-"
Before he could continue reality shifts, the sea of stars receded, exposing a beach front. A warm light shone overhead, as the ocean of stars lapped in waves at the sandy shores.
"Not quite," a deep voice spoke out. There was no direction, it seemed to be sounding from every angle. "Your fate was not meant to end that day."
As the voice sounded the starry ocean began to deform and distort. A humanoid figure rose up, a radiant giant of a being. A golden wind seemed to form and flow around him, fluttering the tattered flag bearing a blazing sun he wore as a cape.
"You were meant to survive, little sun. Your life was a spark meant to ignite the seas, and light the way to liberation."
Various scenes played out in the celestial ocean. Luffy saving friends, liberating nations from tyrants, the very beat of his heart turning into a drum of liberation against nefarious forces that controlled the world from shadow. All of the echoes of what his adventure should have been laid bare before the two teens.
"But the shadow of corruption reaches far…" The scene changes to Luffy on a small raft being dragged towards a whirlpool. He reaches out to a barrel, attempting to stow away for safety. The world flashed, and a shadowed face with burning red eyes was revealed, each iris surrounded by a ring. A terrible aura, something far darker than anything the two had felt floods their minds., bringing both to their knees. Just as Luffy reaches for the barrel, a raging wind causes the whirlpool to massively expand, dragging Luffy and his raft to the ocean floor in barely a second's time.
"You were killed, Monkey D. Luffy, on the first step of your journey by the very evil you were meant to defeat."
"What!" Luffy shouts, jaw literally hitting the sand, eyes bulging at the revelation. "But I just wanted to be the freest person on the sea!"
A soft chuckle sounded from the other worldly figure. "Indeed," he responded. "You carry with you the very will of freedom and liberation. The exact opposite of the existence controlling that world. The very essence of control, eternal and stagnant, has consumed whatever humanity it once held. What remains is a twisted will that dooms the world to stagnancy."
Luffy tilted his head to the side, clearly having trouble parsing what he was just told. "So he's really old and mean and killed me so I couldn't be amazing?"
"Quite." The entity replied, clearly amused. "But the desire of the world itself is progress, and progress requires freedom. It latched on to your soul, and sent you here, to me."
"Not to be presumptuous," Midoriya cut in, keeping himself polite in front of this god-like being. "But who exactly are you?"
"I am the God of will, Vellor."
"Oh." Midoriya squeaked, suddenly very self conscious. "So… why are we actually here."
"I seek to balance the scales." The newly revealed god explained. "That creature has become a parasite of consciousness, thus an equal and opposite will must be created. One soul lived and died by their values, laughing at adversity as they sailed toward the future. The other shattered their body over and over to aid those in need, smiling in the face of evil. Together, a flame of liberation, and hero to the suffering. Not shunned by the mother sea, but embraced as its savior."
Midoriya understood. He and Luffy would become one. One being to fight against whatever darkness had ensnared the world. A mix of their two souls, the drive not only to be as free as they can be, but to save the people of the world, and ensure that freedom for each of them. His heroic spirit ignited at once, his decision already made.
"I agree."
"I don't really get all of this," Luffy started, carefree as ever, "but if it means I get to be free and sail with a nakama then I'm in!"
All at once the stars began to churn into a massive wave, rising and racing towards them.
"Very good!" Vellor boomed, obviously pleased at their answers. "Then rise as one, be guided by the sea, and go forth to fulfill the will in your soul!"
The wave engulfed them, and began pulling them deeper into the sea of stars. They felt themselves slammed together, and quickly lost consciousness.
Vellor chuckled as he watched the now combined souls descend back to the one piece world. After a few moments he reached into a different section of his domain, and pulled back a handful of light.
"It would seem the others are as tired of that abomination as I. Very well," smiling he blew a breath of life into the power in his palm. "This will aid you greatly, my champion."
The starry void once more reached up to meet his palm, as he allowed something new to enter the world..
"The deck is stacked, and now the die is cast. The rest is up to you, hero of liberation."