Archive of Our Own ^beta

     WITH A Thundering ‘CRACK’ Izuku was sent flying through the air and beyond the confines of the fight. A reverberating ‘SLAM’ was felt by all as Izuku's body skidded to a blood-streaked halt on the ground, a shriek of horror and a cry of his name escaping Momo's lips. Bakugou, Shouto and Kyoka saw this occur and redoubled their assault on the Demon King of the Underground. "AP SHOT!" from Bakugou, "FIRESTORM!" from Shouto, and "FLATLINER!" from Kyoka, all erupted split seconds after the other, countering with Air Cannon and Impact Recoil redirected All for One enough to give Momo a chance to go after Izuku. As the remaining members of class ‘A’ rained hell, every physical strike and quirk-fueled attack did nothing to even scuff All for One’s suit and life support equipment. Kyoka, Bakugou and Shouto, worn from nearly two days of constant action, were struggling to keep up the pressure.

A few hundred yards away from the fighting, where Izuku landed from the enhanced blow, Momo slid to a stop beside Izuku and began looking him over and tending to his injuries as best she could. "Come on Izu, please come back to me." Nothing but shallow, sporadic, blood-laced breaths came in response. “I’m sorry my creative Warrior, this damned war has taken all it can from me and this time was just too much. No matter what, do not back down, Rely on our friends for support.” A sob broke out from the Support Heiress as she watched him fade to the Abyss while she felt his grip go slack.  A cry of heartbreak and demand of revenge tore from Momo as she triple timed it to the fight with All for One. “YOU SON OF A BITCH!”  A cannon quickly appeared and fired before retracting, little attention was paid to the fact that Momo’s quirk had evolved with her shattered world. The cannon shot impacted center mass and All for One only scoffed. “You have no idea what you are up against, girl. It seems I’ve finally ended my brother’s lineage of defiance and I can take back what is rightfully mine.” With this declaration he swatted Momo’s attempted melee strike and sent her crashing to the ground a short distance away and with a cry of pain, she fell limp. All for One turned to the last three heroes and put an end to their efforts of resistance, cries of pain and a final deafening explosion marking the end of an era of centuries of fighting.

Deep within the mindscape of One for All, Izuku appeared. The vestiges all gathered around him shout of surprise, anger at All for One, and grief for the end of the seemingly endless battle against the Demon King. “Ninth! We’re so sorry it happened like this.” Nana said with a heavy heart.”I am too Nana. I did all I could, learned all that was recorded of your fights with All for One and still, nothing could beat him.” Izuku said, collapsing to the ground in tears, the ghosts all surrounding him to show their comfort. As The Nine were focused on each other, they missed the flicker of a Grey Orb coming into existence around the core of One for All. As the crying and shaking of Izuku and a couple others subsided, they helped each other up and a shout of shock was heard as the Grey orb was sighted. “What is that? That’s not one of ours.” Said Fifth. “Yes it is,” Said First, “Izuku has died and his quirk was added to the set within One for All. Also, look at his face, it’s no longer his own that he bears.“ 

“Wait what?! I have a quirk?” Izuku exclaimed in disbelief. He devolved into a mutter storm as he questioned all the pain he had been through since he was four and marked quirkless. “Wait….I’ve heard rumors of death quirks, they’re supposedly incredibly rare and only manifest upon death.” Izuku explained briefly. He suddenly jumped as First conjured a mirror to show Izuku his face, now the face of Jirou. “That’s amazing….” Nana said in shock. “Can you tell how the quirk works?” Second asked. “I think so, I was thinking of Jirou as I saw her get thrown pretty hard before I blacked out after being hit. So it seems I manifest the face of those who I know that died near me.” He confirmed this theory by showing the faces of his classmates and siblings in arms. He reverted to his own face for a moment, tears in his eyes. “I can’t get Momo’s face, she’s still alive and that bastard is still out there. THAT FUCKING MONSTER IS STILL BREATHING AND WE WILL TOLERATE IT NO LONGER. ” Izuku’s voice shifted , distorting to  hold the echo of countless others. With a deep ‘ thrum ’ he vanished from sight, leaving the other vestiges in shock. Outside the mindscape, as All for One marched towards Izuku’s body to reclaim the traitorous quirk for himself once and for all, clouds gathered overhead, rumbling loud and deep. As All for One got close, he was halted in his tracks by lightning striking Izuku’s body, vanishing as quickly as it flashed, taking the corpse with it. “NO!” He said in a rage as he saw nothing but a scorch mark leftover.

Moments later, lightning struck again and drew All for One’s attention. “ ALL FOR ONE!!” came a thunderous, distorted shout. There, mere feet in front of Momo stood The Ninth, Izuku Midorya, eyes and hair white with streaks of black throughout. This display of power did nothing to deter the Demon as he began sprinting to his enemy. As he got closer however, he saw in greater detail the Ninth’s face, shifting and blurring. Every so often a face different than the one the Demon knew to be his enemy’s would show itself clearly. “What are you? No quirk from the past users had this face changing capability!” 

“ WE ARE THE FACES OF THOSE SLAIN BY YOUR HAND. 

WE ARE THE FACES OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT BESIDE AND THOSE WHO DIED NEAR THE USERS. 

WE ARE THE ONES WHO DEMAND YOUR DEATH, AN END TO YOUR FAR TOO LONG WAR OF TERROR.

WE ARE THE UNSEEN LEGION, THOSE FORGOTTEN BY TIME AND THE COUNTLESS NAMES THAT CAME AFTER US.

WE DEMAND PAYMENT AND WE HAVE COME TO COLLECT . ” Rumbled the voices of millions in response with the rapid transition between thousands of faces.

“But most egregious of all, you have hurt my Love, that cannot stand, that will not be tolerated, and that will be answered for in blood and bone.” Said Izuku with quiet Hate.

 With not a sound nor a traceable movement, The Ninth unleashed the pain of centuries of suffering on All for One, One for All having augmented Izuku’s quirk to grant him access to the quirk of each face he bore. With ruthless efficiency, The Ninth pounded All for One into the ground, into buildings and rubble, high into the sky and back down. Each blow shredding flesh,  breaking bone, and rupturing organs. Burning and shocking and suffocation and crushing was felt by All for One in an endless instant. As he was thrown about with no chance for reprieve or reaction. After what felt like countless hours but was only a mere minute, All for One’s body hit the ground a final time. He let out a groan, unable to move even a muscle. The Ninth approached, kneeling down to come face to face with the Demon. “ May your soul forever burn in the deepest pit of hell. ” The Ninth’s face shifted one final time to that of Todoroki Touya. Placing a hand over All for One's face as if to close his eyes after death, a torrent of flame burst forth, reducing All for one’s face to nothing but boiling concrete and ash.

“ Our Debt is paid for, we have been granted peace, go and restore those who were taken too early.” Said the Legion, with a flash seen from miles away, Izuku Midorya was left on his knees beside Momo. Working quickly, he moved to Shouto, Bakugou, and Kyoka. Laid a hand over their heart and forehead and with a flash of light, they slowly came too. Moving back to Momo, he checked her over, only finding bruising in minor places. He gently shook her to consciousness. “Momo, wake up please. It’s over, we’re safe.” he said. “Izu? H-how? I watched you die!” She exclaimed as tears flowed down her face, launching into Izuku’s chest to hold him tightly. “Please d-don’t leave m-me…” she choked out. “I’m here, my love. I’m not leaving you anytime soon.” he whispered.

END