Chapter Text
Following one of Katsuki’s detonations, All For One’s body crashed into a building. Katsuki lost no time before shifting his body mid-air to make his way up to the villain again. In spite of the fact that each discharged spark ignited a sharp stabbing pain in every fiber of his being, he let his palms heat up and blow up his nitroglycerin.
“Fuck – this hurts!” Katsuki laughed through the agony.
Fast-paced explosions seemed to be tearing his body apart, but that wasn’t enough to slow him down. He pushed through his suffering as if the entire world depended on him. Coughing up blood, he felt unstoppable. All eyes were on him. He knew this was his moment, his fight. No matter the pain or injuries, he would be victorious.
Katsuki felt like he was destined to win this.
Yet this wasn’t only destiny – Katsuki felt like he had no choice but to win. Not only did All For One need to be killed for good, but Katsuki also had to live to see the end of this war. He needed to catch up with Izuku, leave that nerd in the dust, and rank number one – and now that he could use his Quirk like this, he was certain he could. But he also knew competitiveness should be an afterthought. Above all else, right now, Katsuki needed to stand victorious over a defeated All For One. He needed to smile at the setting sun as his future status as one of the greatest heroes of all time was cemented into the history books.
The blood in his veins boiling, Katsuki felt confident, perhaps overly so. He was convinced no one would ever manage to stop him from running toward his dreams. Not even death had managed to get in his way. Nothing would.
As he closed in on the villain, All For One’s eyes flashed with recognition before widening in rage. “This is all your fault, Kudou!” All For One screamed, his voice now squeaking like an angry teenager.
Kudou? Katsuki thought through a snort. Who the hell is that?
For the ‘Demon Lord’ who was supposed to be the final boss, for the man that had wrecked society centuries ago, for the villain that had almost managed to kill All Might, this was beyond pathetic.
“Your memory’s fucked, huh, gramps?” Katsuki ridiculed. “I’m Kacchan of the Bakugous, you dumbass!”
Outraged to his core, All For One didn’t seem to comprehend his words. The man’s face simply twisted in fury as he lunged at him.
Katsuki’s chest burned in effort as he created large blasts through light rain, blasts which All For One took head-on in hopes of attacking him when he least expected it. Not that it worked; overcoming his pain, Katsuki dodged All For One’s attacks and blasted himself upward out of his reach. Mostly-clear skies made it easy for him to navigate through the air without losing sight of the villain. Drizzle and scarce rays of sunlight washing over him, Katsuki let his body float for a moment as he prepared himself to redirect his trajectory – as he got ready to kill All For One once and for all.
“You ruined everything!” All For One yelled from below him, his boyish voice overflowing with grave loathing. “It is your fault my brother died!”
Katsuki ignored the demented man’s incomprehensible comments and grinned.
Feeling the rush of burning stings take hold of him, Katsuki gritted his teeth. With every ounce of sweat in his being, he blasted himself back down to All For One quicker than anyone could have reacted. At speeds of light, Katsuki forced All For One’s body to violently collide with the ground, making the cement crack and open up for miles around them.
Confident this meant victory, Katsuki swiftly wrapped a hand around the now-young man’s neck and pointed his palm directly in front of his face.
“I will never forgive you,” All For One screamed through a wheeze. “I hate you, Kudou!”
Whoever this Kudou guy was, Katsuki was certain they would have gotten along just fine considering how badly the guy had managed to piss off All For One. Curious to know more, Katsuki made a mental note to ask Izuku if the vestiges of One For All had answers. But that was for later. For now, he pushed his curiosity aside, ready to destroy the world’s most infamous villain. The corner of All For One’s mouth tweaked, seeming ready to scream at him some more.
Grinning from ear to ear, Katsuki’s palm started glowing.
“See you in hell, you demon fuck,” Katsuki spat out.
The man’s eyes, filled with nothing but rage and disbelief, glared into his soul. All For One’s small hands grabbed the arm pinning his neck to the ground in an attempt to fight back, but it was already too late. The childish villain barely had time to squirm one last time before Katsuki went for the kill.
Katsuki let out a multitude of powerful blasts straight into the man’s face, submerging both of them in a blinding light. He felt his entire body blaze up as his explosions caused the surrounding ground to start melting under them. The temperature becoming intolerable, his sweat glands opened up even more – and Katsuki only took that as an opportunity to push himself far beyond his limit. He cackled through excruciating stings and broken ribs. The sound of the earth-shattering detonations muted everything out, making Katsuki’s ears ring.
Although his explosions blinded and deafened him, Katsuki could feel All For One’s hands shrinking against his arm.
In between his blinding explosions, Katsuki noticed a new source of light appearing around All For One. It gleamed frantically around his body such as a raging fire made of blinding whiteness. The man was probably making a last-ditch attempt to rewind himself to avoid his imminent death. Wanting to make sure the bastard would rewind himself straight into an inescapable oblivion, Katsuki ignored all his pain signals screaming at his body to stop and kept going.
Focusing all his sweat into his palms, he screamed in anguish and determination to end this.
Pure white light flooded his vision for good. With the light, a tingly feeling crawled out of All For One’s miniature hands and shot up Katsuki's forearms. In an instant, it surged through Katsuki’s entire body, not necessarily painful yet definitely not enjoyable or normal.
Whatever was causing that tingling, Katsuki couldn’t care any less – because the hands finally disappeared.
All For One was gone.
Still blinded in the light, Katsuki let his burning palms go numb. He smiled widely as he took a deep breath.
Saw that, Izu? Katsuki thought through a chuckle. I won.
Victorious, he tried to raise a proud fist in the air, but his exhausted body wouldn’t cooperate. Weaker than ever before, he let his tingling body fall backward – however, his back didn’t come to rest on the street’s half-molten concrete. Wind rushed past him for the longest of moments before he finally realized his body was now in a freefall. He was plummeting head-first into a white void, gravity dragging him deeper and deeper into the surrounding light.
“What’s happen– ” Katsuki tried to speak, but the wind carried his words away quicker than they could reach his ears.
For a moment, Katsuki thought he was dead.
He reached up a hand in the nothingness – and he found that it was still visible. He could see his own descending body, but nothing else. Katsuki blinked, trying to see colours again, trying to get his eyes to see the rainy sky, trying to ground himself back to reality. But there was nothing but white.
As he kept falling, his blood grew hotter. Although he was no longer activating his Quirk, Katsuki felt the same unbearable stings shoot through him again, but far stronger than before. The excruciating pain kept rising with no signs of stopping. Katsuki’s entire body tensed up as he let out an agonized shriek so sharp and loud it threatened to tear his vocal cords apart.
Then, the wind, the white void, and all his pain mysteriously disappeared.
And so did everything he knew.
No longer surrounded by light, Katsuki suddenly found himself in a soaked green uniform that wasn’t his own. Panting for air, he was now in the middle of a debris-covered street, moonlight only barely lighting up the damaged path ahead of him.
Perturbed by his new surroundings, he tripped over pieces of rubble.
His sense of orientation all over the place, Katsuki barely managed to stop himself from falling over. His feet clumsily stepped on themselves as they splashed in dark puddles of water. With far too much momentum, Katsuki realized his body must have been sprinting, seconds ago. He must have been running toward something – or away from someone.
Yet Katsuki knew that wasn’t the case. Moments ago, he was pinning All For One against the floor.
Katsuki’s heavy breathing ached in confusion. His body felt far too different to cooperate on command. The floor seemed further away than it should be. His feet continued running by instinct, awkwardly carrying him along his pre-determined path in the destroyed street.
Heavy raindrops washed down his dirt-covered face. Moments ago, it also hadn’t been raining this roughly. And it hadn’t been anywhere near nighttime.
Wanting to make sense of this odd change in time and space, Katsuki started slowing down, trying to get his unusually tall and stiff body to a halt. With a lot of difficulty, he managed to ground himself. The first thing he did once he came to a halt was try to locate someone – anyone – but the ruined streets were deserted. Glancing down, he saw rough and bloodied hands that were covered in scars he had never received. One of his hands was partially hidden in a shooting-type device Katsuki had never seen before. It covered most of his forearm, much like his own equipment, but it was crude and far heavier.
Something was wrong. Horribly wrong. That much he could understand. However, before Katsuki could try to figure out what was happening, a heavy block of cement was thrown in his direction. He only just reacted in time, the debris scraping the back of his head as he jumped out of the way.
The block of cement reorganized his thoughts. Whatever was happening, Katsuki knew he had no time to waste. The pain was gone, which meant he could still stand – he could still fight. Without a moment’s hesitation, he picked up the pace and continued down whatever path he was previously on. Now that All For One was defeated, Katsuki had to find Izuku again. The green-head would need help detaining Tomura. As he ran and dodged more debris, he looked up at the raining night sky. His eyes darted between dark clouds, desperately trying to find his way and locate the duo fighting in the air.
Nothing made sense, but Katsuki ran anyway. Confusion fueled his determination to put an end to this war.
Everything made far less sense when his voice pierced through the rain.
“Of course, you are the one behind this,” All For One called out from afar, his deep voice now controlled, stern, and very much alive.
The voice echoing in his head, Katsuki abruptly stopped running. Something was off. That didn’t quite sound like All For One. The All For One Katsuki knew spoke with a small rasp this voice didn’t have. Yet it was undoubtedly him.
You’re dead, Katsuki thought, turning around to try to locate the villain, you’re supposed to be fucking dead.
“Always ruining my precious arms deals,” All For One growled, his voice coming from around a street corner. “What a pest you are.”
Although very confused by the arms deal statement, Katsuki snarled in annoyance. The man really was losing his mind, repeatedly calling him 'Kudou' and speaking utter nonsense. Annoyed and wanting to blast himself over to the villain to get this over with, his hands twitched. Concentrating on his palms, Katsuki tried to activate his explosions.
But nothing came out.
What the fuck did that rewind shit do to me? Katsuki thought as he stared down at his scar-covered hands once more.
Despair slowly creeping up on him, Katsuki tried using his Quirk again. And again. To no avail.
Menacing footsteps resonated in puddles of water. Katsuki snapped his head in the direction of the sound, only to lock eyes with a tall, suited man. His posture stood as imposing as All For One – if not more. The white-haired man grinned in a familiar manner once he saw him.
Katsuki took a step back, his instincts begging him to flee.
“It is about time I put you back in your place, Kudou,” the man said as he raised a hand in Katsuki’s direction and activated multiple Quirks on his arm. “Make this easier for the both of us and let yourself die quickly.”
Realizing this really was All For One, Katsuki’s skin flushed in fear.
All For One lost no time before dashing up to him, his eerie eyes clearly filled with murderous intent. By habit, Katsuki tried to activate his explosions to dodge and maneuver through the air, but, again, his palms stayed cold. The world around him having lost all sense of coherence, Katsuki stared at the approaching villain, far too lost and confused to even begin trying to figure out what to do.
As if Katsuki needed his disoriented brain rocked into more confusion, he blinked and all of a sudden his body came crashing and rolling against the floor.
Rain no longer fell on him.
Wincing, he opened his eyes and saw that he was now safe, several floors up in a half-demolished building. A headache slowly setting in, Katsuki pushed his weird body off the floor. From beside him, he heard someone – the person who had saved him – grunt in pain. Katsuki turned his head and saw it was a buff man with spiky silver hair tied up on his head and with clothes similar to Katsuki’s mysterious new green uniform. Breathing heavily, the stranger seemed far more injured than Katsuki.
Injured or not, Katsuki didn't trust him. He struggled to get up to his feet as quickly as he could. The new height still messing with his brain, Katsuki almost fell over again but caught himself by taking a few uneasy steps backward.
“The hell was that about, Leader?” The man panted out as he weakly lifted himself off the floor. “Why'd you – ”
“Leader?!” Katsuki interrupted, somehow growing even more confused.
Katsuki’s voice resonated in his head. It was wrong. It was deeper. Older.
Dazed and exhausted, his lungs started to sting. Katsuki warily eyed the silver-haired stranger, shaking slightly as he took a fighting stance – just in case.
“Kudou?” The stranger said, a concerned frown on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Again with that name? Katsuki thought, his brow twitching in irritation. Do I have a doppelganger or some crap?
Before he could demand answers from the still-panting man, Katsuki’s eyes landed on a stagnant water puddle right in between them.
He stared at his reflection – yet the face staring back at him wasn’t his own.
“Oh, what the fuck.”