All for One and All Might clashed in the center of the wreckage, only for All Might to be pushed back, spiraling backward until he crashed through an entire block, bringing down multiple buildings on top of him. Meanwhile, All of One gave us all a lecture on his Quirk.
"Air cannon and spring-like limbs. Kinetic booster times four. Strength enhancer times three. What a delightful combination.'
Mechanical tendrils then shot from his fingers and stabbed the warp villain, Kurigiri, in the chest. This caused his Quirk to forcibly activate, and a portal was created. All for One ordered his underlings to flee, but they refused to leave with Bakugo. As All Might and All for One exchanged city-leveling blows, Bakugo poised himself and faced the League of Villains by himself.
There were more of them than you could count on one hand, yet Bakugo was able to hold his own against them. Still, it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by their numbers, exhausted, and taken away again.
All Might tried to step in and save Bakugo, but All for One would foil every attempt. There was a moment when All Might got close, just a few meters away from swooping up Bakugo and fleeing the scene with him; however, All for One was able to pin him down with his metal tendrils.
"That's not going to happen, All Might," said All for One as he dragged All Might through the rubble. "Because I am here!"
Hearing him use All Might's own phrase against him sent a shiver through my entire being. He was masked, but I bet he had the most warped smile on his face when he said that. With All Might's hands full, the only ones who could save Bakugo were us.
Everyone else was too scared to even think of saving him; they just trembled where they stood, closing their eyes as if it meant that they weren't actually there. Midoriya and I were the only two with our eyes open; we looked at each other and exchanged a nod. We were on the same page. We couldn't fight All for One; that's suicide, but we could make a move to save Bakugo and give All Might enough room to take down this villain once and for all.
"I have a plan," Midoriya said. "But it's going to all have to depend on Bakugo. Kirishima is the key to this plan, since he's his closest friend."
I could see the pressure hit Kirishima like a truck, but he acted as if it didn't even affect him.
"Morales, I want you to use your webs to attach me, Kirishima, and Iida together. After that, I can combine my Quirk with Iida's to propel us forward. Using Kirishima's hardening, we will break through the wall. Then, Todoroki will create a ramp of ice as high as he can, which we will use to launch us into the air. We'll cross the battlefield at a height that no one can reach — no one but Bakugo. The final step is the most important; no one else can do this but Kirishima. Extend your hand and call out to Bakugo, and hopefully, he will listen and he will fly up to us."
"This sounds absolutely insane," I told him. "But it also sounds like it'll work. I'm in. What about everyone else?"
They all agreed, though I could tell Iida and Momo were the most skeptical.
Just as Midoriya had planned, I tied him, Iida, and Kirishima together using my webs. If things went south, Kirishima and Midoriya both had the strength to free themselves, so I wasn't worried about them getting stuck like that. Once they were all secured together, tied by the hip, Midoriya and Iida charged their Quirks. At the same time, Kirishima hardened his body. They blasted through the wall, and with perfect timing, Todoroki created a ramp of ice, which the trio skated upward. All for One tried to stop them, but All Might socked him in his jaw, sending him stumbling backward. Meanwhile, Bakugo and the villains watched in awe as the boys soared through the air.
It was then that Kirishima extended his hand and called to his best friend. "C'mon, Bakugo!"
Bakugo didn't even hesitate; his palms exploded, and he flew toward the sky, toward his friends. Kirishima caught him, and the trio continued flying away using Iida's Quirk to propel them forward. There wasn't any time to celebrate, though. Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and I were still in danger. We began to flee, but that was when I noticed that the villains were planning to counterattack their escape.
Todoroki and Momo kept running, but I stayed behind.
"Get scared. Get scared. Get scared!" I told myself, trying my best to control my invisibility Quirk. I started picturing the scariest, most horrifying moments of my life. My father's death, seeing All for One for the first time, the attacks at the USJ and summer camp, landing a plane all on my own, and that burger date I had with Yaoyorozu. As I'd hoped, reliving my fears activated my invisibility Quirk.
One of the villains, a muscular one named Magna, grabbed two other villains and prepared to throw them at my friends. However, before Magna could throw them, I fired webs in her eyes, blinding her. She went to throw her companions, but missed completely, instead hitting Mt. Lady in the face, who had gotten up for a moment to intervene. Mt. Lady was knocked out, and the villains fell to Earth. Meanwhile, Magna searched around frantically for me, but I fled while I was invisible.
I was the last to catch up with the group; apparently, I scared them all to death when they looked around and I wasn't there. We didn't waste time chatting, though; we immediately ran away, fleeing into the city until we found a massive crowd watching the fight on a TV in the city square.
Feeling safe, we finally celebrated a successful rescue; however, Bakugo refused to use that word.
"First of all, I wasn't rescued. You guys were my easiest escape route," he told us. We all laughed. I was relieved to see that he hadn't changed after being kidnapped. I was afraid that the event might've caused some sort of trauma, but Bakugo's mental fortitude was just unmatched.
"But, thank you," he said, looking up at the TV, watching All Might fight. "I needed to get out of there so All Might could kick that guy's ass."
At this point, All Might was on top of All for One. They were exchanging words instead of blows, but the news camera couldn't pick up what they were saying. I saw All Might's body emanating steam, which made me think about the USJ incident where his body reacted similarly. If that was the case, it meant that he didn't have much time.
All for One's body released a blast that sent All Might flying toward the helicopter crew recording the battle, but luckily, another hero stepped in and grabbed him before he could crash into them. The guy was some old man wearing a white costume and a yellow cape. Midoriya muttered something about a 'Gran Torino', so I guess that's the guy's name.
They landed with a crash. When the dust cleared, it was evident that All Might was weakened by that attack. The entire city block had been flattened; it's no surprise that it did some damage to a weakened All Might. The people watching us either were certain All Might was gonna win or were doubtful, saying he looked weak, washed up, or old.
All for One fired another blast of wind pressure at All Might, which the hero had to absorb to protect the civilians stuck in the rubble behind him. Had the city block not already been flattened, this attack would've done the trick. When the dust settled once more, the world bore witness to All Might's true form. His costume could hardly cling to a skinny, frail body as he held one fist up to his face. His other arm dangled, looking broken or at least injured beyond use.
When the camera zoomed in on All Might's shrunken body and sunken eyes, the crowd, and probably the world, went silent. Then there were murmurs. Some mocked him, calling him a skeleton; others thought that the camera must've been playing tricks on them. However, it wasn't doctored footage; it was reality.
Despite All Might's weakened state, his spirit remained unbroken; at least, it seemed that way for a moment. All for One must have said something because in an instant, All Might looked as if he were in immense, emotional pain. Despite it all, All Might was still the symbol of peace in the eyes of the world. Maybe it's due to desperation, but the crowd, nor the world, doubted him anymore. Suddenly, the world began to cheer his name, chanting it to the heavens. It didn't matter where in the world you were; everyone was chanting his name.
"All Might! All Might!" the voices rang out so loudly. Tears started to well up under my eyes, and before I knew it, a puddle of tears had formed beneath me. It wasn't just me, but Mirodirya too. Everyone wept. It was so painful seeing our hero like this, the man who was seen as the savior of the world, even outside of Japan. But still, our tears weren't only salty tears of sorrow; no, they were happy tears too. Tears that knew that All Might, even if it's for the last time, will save the day as he always does.
I doubt All Might could hear everyone's voices. The city around him was flattened. The people who inhabited them were either dead or unconscious, but that's the thing about All Might. He knew that our voices were out there. He couldn't hear us, but he still listened.
All Might was able to regain his muscle form, but only in his right arm. That passion and light in his eyes shone bright once more, and his smile grew as radiant as ever. I didn't know much about One for All, but I knew that since it was passed on to Midoriya, it was more than likely in limited supply in All Might's body. If true, then I think that arm was filled with the last bit of One for All that All Might had in his body.
Endeavor appeared soon after, as did some other heroes like Edgeshot and Kamui Woods. Endeavor fired a wave of fire at All for One, but the villain shooed it away like it was nothing. Endeavor was yelling something at All Might. I learned later that it was apparently words of motivation. The other heroes started escorting the injured away from the battlefield, giving All Might enough space to fight.
All for One could tell that All Might's drive alone may have been enough to defeat, so he pulled his ace in the hole. He started to transform, his right arm growing into a grotesque, mutated mess of metal and flesh.
All Might's fist of hope collided with All for One's fist of despair. The crash created a spark of light, followed by an explosion so emphatic that we could feel the ground shaking beneath our feet across the city. All Might's body slid backward as he was overpowered by All for One's raw power. Just when it looked as though the fight was over, All Might planted his feet and transferred One for All into his left arm and punched All for One in the face, shattering his mask.
His right arm was broken; it looked just like Midoriya's, but nonetheless, All Might dug deep, transferred his entire being into his right arm, and yelled so loud that the planet could hear.
"UNITED STATES OF SMASH!"
All Might's fist slammed into All for One's face, caving it in, and All Might punched him into the ground, creating a city-block-sized typhoon of rubble and a tremor that was felt throughout the entirety of Japan. That tremor was the last words of One for All within All Might, the period at the end of the final sentence in the story of the Symbol of Peace.
The world was once again silent as the dust settled around All Might. When the world could see that All for One was defeated and All Might's fist was held high, they cheered for the hero one last time. He transformed into his muscle state for a few seconds, stumbling forward as he tried to maintain it for as long as he could.
"All Might! All Might!" the world screamed one last time as our hero stood victorious.
The city was evacuated after that. As we fled from the city, a different news broadcast that was on the ground managed to get a close-up on All Might, who had returned to his skinny form. We stopped and looked at the screen, seeing All Might pointing to us all.
"Now... It's your turn."
The crowd erupted. That message was for all of us. It was the sequel to the phrase that made me want to become a hero in the first place. Put the two phrases together and you get the complete sentence: You too can be a hero; now, it's your turn. It's our turn to carry the torch; the symbol of peace lies within us all, but that wasn't the only meaning behind his message. I looked at Midoriya, who was on the verge of tears because this message had a whole different meaning to him. All Might had used up every last drop of One for All. The rest of it was within Midoriya, and it was his turn to carry the torch of One for All.
I placed a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, saying nothing, but smiling at him. I wanted him to understand that, despite the immense amount of pressure that was just put on his shoulders, he wasn't alone.