Tanya and Izuku spent the next bit of time at school helping the others study for the mid-term exams. They even spent some time at Momo's with most of the class on the weekend, because she was the only one with enough space to house them all at the same time.

Of course, Tanya and Izuku made it a fun game instead of just flat studying from their books and notes. They both knew that if you enjoyed something, it was much easier to remember things. Winning a hundred yen every time you got a question right had helped, too. Even Momo, who was rich, had hugged the money she won to her chest and looked quite proud.

The written exams over the next week were brutal for some of the students... in class 1-B. Class 1-A blew through them like they didn't matter. Their mood only improved as the week wore on and then Saturday came and their practical exam was scheduled. No one was allowed to watch the others as they did it and no one knew what the conditions were for it until they were brought to the relevant sections of the exam testing facility.

They were set into pairs to complete the test, whatever it was, then told that all they needed to do was face off with a specific teacher and to escape. Since the teachers were much more powerful and skilled than the students, they wore devices that hindered their powers and abilities like agility, to slow them down to make it a fair fight. Fair was relative, however.

Most of the students made a good show of things, handling their teacher opponents well. Some even forwent their trademark abilities to come out ahead, like Uraraka. Instead of making herself weightless and just flying out of there to easily win, she used her acquired skills and actually fought against her favorite hero, Thirteen.

At one point, Uraraka made a huge chunk of concrete weightless and threw it at Thirteen, who laughed and started using her quirk to suck it in and crush it. What she didn't know was that Uraraka had thrown a second one and cancelled the weight on both of them. Thirteen suddenly had a huge weight to suck in and then it blew apart as a laser blasted it and then a solid chunk of concrete flew right at her.

“AHH!” Thirteen yelled as she cancelled her quirk and jumped to the side. When she landed, she looked up to see a startling sight.

Uraraka hovered above her with that large chunk of concrete and was about to drop it on her. She had held onto it and ridden behind it to attack!

“I concede.” Thirteen said.

Uraraka tossed the concrete aside and jumped around as she yelled her victory. “YES! YESSS! YES!”

Thirteen stood up and nodded. “Good job, Uraraka Ochaco and Yuga Aoyoma. You pass.”

“Thank you!” Uraraka said and hugged her. “You're my favorite hero!”

“I know. That's why I picked you to fight against.” Thirteen said.

“Wait, you picked me?” Uraraka asked. “I thought it was random!”

“Who told you that?” Thirteen asked and Uraraka couldn't answer. “You assumed.”

Uraraka nodded and Thirteen laughed.

“Now that you know the truth, who do you think is still fighting whom?” Thirteen asked.

Uraraka was quiet for a moment, then she gasped. “Tanya and Izuku! They're fighting All Might!”

*

“You aren't going to need the restraints, All Might.” Tanya said and checked her guns. “If anything, Izuku should wear them, too.”

“You do realize you only have thirty minutes to get by me.” All Might said and flexed his muscles.

“That's twenty-nine minutes longer than either of us need.” Tanya said and nodded to Izuku.

“This exam is to make you face your weaknesses and let you grow as heroes.” All Might said.

“We don't have any weaknesses.” Tanya said and braced for an attack.

“We will see.” All Might said and disappeared from their sight.

“Ten degrees to the right for the air disturbance.” Izuku said and crouched. “He's going to rush us from underneath.”

“Power up and jump when I say.” Tanya said and flew away instantly.

They both watched the battlefield from their chosen spots and waited for All Might to attack. The ground started to rumble and shake a moment later.

“Now!” Tanya said over the whisper microphone and Izuku shot up into the air just as All Might's large arms broke through the concrete below him and tried to grab him. Izuku landed as All Might leapt out of the hole and Izuku was a little worried. All Might wasn't smiling.

“Tanya, we have a prob...” Izuku felt the fist connect with his face and heard his cheek snap as he slammed into the concrete and slid twenty feet, tearing up the street.

“Izuku!” Tanya shouted and shots rang out.

All Might moved his head to the side for each one as he calmly walked over to where Izuku lay. “I'm sorry about this, Young Midoria.” He said in a gravelly voice and pulled his foot back.

Izuku braced for the kick and then he was launched up into the air with a broken leg. He flipped end over end several times before his vision was blurred by a double fist that All Might used to smash him down into the pavement and created a crater twenty feet wide.

“ARRGGHHH!” Izuku yelled in pain as all that force had gone right into his broken leg.

“Izuku.” Tanya's soft voice whispered in his ear.

“Take... take him.” Izuku whispered back, surprised that the equipment still worked.

“Izuku.”

“Just... do it.”

All Might landed on Izuku's gut to make him lose his breath and shoved him even deeper into the crater. He stepped off on Izuku and looked down at his protege. “You still have far to go to reach...”

*BANG!*

All Might moved his head to the side to avoid the pellet coming and moved his head right into the path of the second shot. Blood splattered as the top of his ear disappeared and All Might let out a yelp of pain and jumped aside. He grabbed his ruined ear to staunch the bleeding and looked around for his assailant.

The sonic boom told him where she was coming from and he turned to catch her, except Tanya flew in at supersonic speed and shoved her pistol into All Might's chest and pulled the trigger. The Door Buster slammed into All Might's chest and threw him backwards fifty feet as Tanya came to a stop above Izuku.

“No one hurts my Izuku.” Tanya said in a deadly voice.

“N-no... you need to... run.” Izuku warned her. “All Might...”

“...is right here.” All Might said and was instantly standing behind Tanya. His face was shrouded in darkness and all that could be seen was his bright white teeth that were set in a snarl. “You...” He grabbed Tanya's head. “...hurt...” He picked her up and grabbed her hand with the pistol. “...me.”

Tanya screamed as All Might crushed her hand and the pistol.

“No!” Izuku said and tried to stand, only for his leg to make a bone grinding sound. He dropped to the ground and stared in horror as All Might started to squeeze Tanya's head. “No.” He shook his head. “No, this... this can't...” He closed his eyes and suddenly went inside of himself. He was in a weird white area and there in front of him were eight people. He didn't recognize any of them and they didn't speak to him. The eighth person was only just a shade and not fully formed, too. The seventh one was a tall, muscular, and handsome woman with long black hair and a kind smile.

“What is it you seek, Young Midoria?” The woman finally asked.

“Who are you?” Izuku asked.

“My name is Nana Shimura and I was the seventh holder of One for All.” Nana said. “I was Yagi's trainer and passed the power to him.”

Izuku's eyes went to the shade beside her.

“Yes, that will become an echo of All Might when he loses the last of the spark of power inside of him.”

“He still has it inside of him?” Izuku asked. “I thought he gave it to me?”

“He did give it to you. The power resonated with him and he's held it inside of himself for a very long time.” Nana said and walked over to Izuku, only to see that Izuku was as tall as her. “You're a lot bigger than Yagi was when he first came here.”

“I've been accessing a lot more of the strength and body enhancing parts of the quirk.” Izuku said and one of the men let out a grunt. “I also work out constantly to let my body adjust to the power quickly.”

“It shows.” Nana said and reached out to touch his chest. Her gloves faded away and she let her hands roam over his muscled chest for a moment, then she slid her hands up to grip his neck. “Answer my question.” She said and squeezed. “What do you seek?”

“Power. Power to rid the world of the evil that stains it.” Izuku said, completely honestly. Her hands on his throat were pressing hard and he ignored them.

“What would you do for that power?” One of the men asked.

“I won't say anything, because sacrificing my friends or my loved ones is not a price I will pay.” Izuku said and the others all nodded.

“That is a good answer.” Nana said and eased her hold on his neck. “I sent my only son away to stop him from being involved and I was killed soon after because of it.”

“All for One.” Izuku said.

Nana nodded. “He has killed each of the holders of One for All after they passed the quirks on. He also thought that I had given it to my son to hide it from him and that made him angry.”

“He defeated you all?” Izuku asked, surprised. “The same man?”

They all nodded.

“So, Tanya was right. He does have a special power to endure, no matter what's done to him.”

“She is an... interesting one.” Nana said and her hands slid down to Izuku's chest once more. “Would you give up her love for more power?”

“No. I would want the power to keep that love. To protect her. To keep her safe from those that would hurt her.” Izuku said and images of things floated through the white space. Government agents, assassins, gang members, and then the nutcracker doll.

“Yes, we know of this... Being X.” Nana said, her face changed to a scowl. “He is an abomination that shouldn't exist on this world. We have enough problems already with All for One without having to deal with him meddling in things.”

“He's already meddled and blessed All for One.” Izuku said.

The eight people gasped as one and then Nana was suddenly gone and huddled up with the others. They seemed to talk forever and two shook their heads while the rest nodded. Nana sighed and walked back over to Izuku.

“Two refuse to help you at this time, since you are not ready for their specific powers.” Nana said. “The rest of us agree that you need our help immediately to help fight against the darkness that All for One will unleash if left unchecked.”

“I don't understand.” Izuku said as the handsome woman stepped close and hugged him.

“You will, Izuku.” Nana said in a purring voice. “Yagi chose his successor well.”

“What do you m-mmMMMM!” Izuku moaned as Nana kissed him passionately, just like Tanya kissed him, and his mind was flooded with memories, images, and abilities that One for All had. A bright light suddenly encompassed them and Izuku felt himself charged up with power.

Izuku opened his eyes to see that no time had passed and All Might still had Tanya's head in a vice-like grip. “LET...” His mangled leg straightened out and healed as he stood up. “...HER...” He made fists with his hands and growled as his body expanded slightly. “...GO!”

All Might winced at the biting tone of Izuku's voice and his hand twitched.

“AHHHHH!” Tanya screamed as his fingers pressed in on her head by accident.

In the next second, All Might's hands were crushed, his arms were broken in three places, and then he felt his sternum break and all his ribs crack as Izuku's fist smashed into him and launched him up and out of the exam training facility like a rocket. He blew through the ceiling and flew three miles through the air before he hit the water. He skidded across it like a skipping stone for another half of a mile before he finally came to a stop and sunk into the water.

Perhaps I pushed him a little too far. All Might thought and closed his eyes. He hadn't felt this much pain since he had fought All for One.

*

“Tanya.” Izuku whispered and cradled her tenderly in his arms as tears came to his eyes. “Are you okay? Tell me you're okay. Please, tell me you're okay.”

Tanya opened her eyes briefly and blinked at him. “Are... you... bigger?”

“Yes, about 20% body mass.” Izuku said. “I've called for emergency medical relief.”

“It's a good thing... I barely did anything.” Tanya said and closed her eyes.

“No! Stay with me.” Izuku said. “Please. Don't go to sleep.”

“Hard to sleep... with you constantly talking.” Tanya said and opened her eyes half-way.

“You have several skull fractures and at least one concussion.” Izuku said. “If you didn't have all that wonderful hair on your head, your skull would look really deformed right now. Like an egg.”

“An egg... I'm an... egghead.” Tanya said and laughed softly. “Owww.”

“It's all right. They're almost here.” Izuku said and a vehicle skidded to a stop at the edge of the damaged street. “It's Recovery Girl and three medics.”

“She should have... changed name to... Recovery Woman.” Tanya said.

“No one recognized me when I tried that and thought I was a different hero.” Recovery Girl said as she deftly hopped over the damaged parts of the street and landed right beside them.

“Idiots.” Tanya whispered.

Recovery Girl nodded and touched her cheek as her quirk checked her over. “This is going to hurt and you're going to be unconscious for about a week.”

“That's... plenty of time... for camp.” Tanya said.

“We're going to miss watching I-Expo on the television, though.” Izuku said.

“Cheap price... to pay.” Tanya said.

“Hold onto her.” Recovery Girl said and bent down to place her lips on Tanya's forehead. She didn't press hard because her forehead wasn't quite attached at the moment.

It took nearly two minutes for Recovery Girl's quirk to repair the damage and Tanya fell into a coma.

“All right, be careful carrying her over to the stretcher. Any jostling and my healing could be undone.” Recovery Girl said and then stopped breathing when Izuku floated up into the air and over to the ambulance in only a few seconds. She shook her head at the sight and then made her own way back to the ambulance.

“We're taking her right to the medical wing at the school.” Recovery Girl said and Izuku nodded. “Give her a few hours of peace before you barge in to visit her with your friends, all right?”

Izuku nodded again and watched as the ambulance drove away. When it was out of sight, his eyes went to the long torn hole in the ceiling. The green lightning bolts were no longer external and flowed through his veins as he crouched down, then he jumped as hard as he could. He shot up and out through the hole even faster than he had launched All Might through it.

He followed the trajectory to where he had estimated that All Might had landed and came to a stop several hundred feet up in the air as he looked down to see a recovery boat pulling All Might out of the water. His arms were mangled even more from hitting the water and the man's chest was caved in. He was still breathing, though.

All Might opened his eyes and looked up just in time to lock eyes onto Izuku floating there. “Izuku.”

“You're wrong, All Might.” Izuku said, loud enough for All Might to hear. “Tanya's not my weakness. She's my strength. I will do anything to protect her. Anything.” He said and glared at his mentor. “Even if it means killing you for what you've done.”

All Might let a tear out. “It was a mistake. I twitched and...”

“...we've trained too much to let a twitch hurt the people around us.” Izuku said and his glare faded and his face went cold. “I think it's time that you officially retire from hero work. You're not up to it anymore if you could hurt your students like you have.”

All Might closed his eyes and nodded as more tears flowed out.

Izuku watched the boat take off back towards the shore and he turned to punch the air in the opposite direction. It gave him a bunch of momentum and he used Nana's Float ability to fly back to the training facility.