Heroes vs. All For One is the ultimate battle of the Final War, fought between the remaining heroes and the reborn "All For One", and the final battle of My Hero Academia altogether.
Deku is also aided by the Vestiges of One For All and Tomura Shigaraki.
Prologue#
Inside Tomura's Vestige world, after Deku discovered the truth about Tomura's origin and desire for destruction, the Vestige of All For One swallows up Tomura, distraught at Yoichi Shigaraki's destruction. After telling Tomura that he was responsible for every tragedy in his life and eradicating his spirit, All For One expels Deku from the Vestige world.
Back in the physical world, the reborn "All For One" realizes that Yoichi is gone, and his plan has failed. He also notes that Tomura's hatred is gone, and Decay has been destroyed as well because of Deku forcibly transferring his Quirks to Tomura. "All For One" then decides that he'll move on to his final, yet hollow and pointless goal of world domination. Deku attempts to get up and continue fighting, only to find both of his arms gone, with "All For One" noting that both of them took severe damage during the previous battle.
Before "All For One" can dispose of Deku, Cellophane appears behind him and wraps the villain up with his Tape Quirk before he can attack; All For One remarks how his insignificance on top of his own tunnel vision on Deku made him not notice the Danger Sense warning. Deku is surprised to see Cellophane, who tells him that he and the other heroes have arrived to help him. Sugarman and Tailman arrive, using their Ultimate Moves, Sugar Knuckle and Tornado Tail Dance, to knock "All For One" away. Deku is happy to see the three safe and alive as Eraser Head then emerges from behind him in a Warp Gate, apologizing for being late.[1]
After being warped away from U.A. High School and left stranded in the middle of the ocean, Eraser Head and Present Mic were able to bring Kurogiri to their side, thanks to them being able to reach out towards him the day they visited him in Tartarus, bringing out a bit of Oboro Shirakumo's original light that mixed with Kurogiri's darkness.
Shortly after, they managed to communicate with Naomasa Tsukauchi, asking for an update on each battle and coordinates of whoever is available left to fight. With Kuriogiri's Warp Gate, they managed to teleport to every remaining Hero and began bringing them over to Deku and All For One's location.
While warping to the U.A. evacuation shelter, Eraser Head told Ectoplasm to gather up all available Heroes outside of the ones best suited for defense. Among the evacuation Heroes, Death Arms comes out of retirement and volunteers to join the battle, as well as a young hero who is able to create a spear in his hand. Eraser Head tells them to go to the main entrance, but before he can join them, one of the evacuees who helped Deku after he returned to U.A. offers his shirt to help him out. Other evacuees offer some supplies and Eraser Head thanks them.
Before he leaves, Eri rushes over to Eraser Head, revealing that she had broken off the horn on her head with help from Ectoplasm. She asks him to give the horn to help Deku, wanting to play a part in the upcoming battle as well. Ectoplasm apologies and tells Eraser Head that she's learned rational and irrational actions from him. Eraser Head warns her she might have damaged her Rewind Quirk, but instead of worrying about that, she tells him that she also wanted to help All Might and Kacchan the same way, but couldn't.
Remembering Class 1-A's band performance at the U.A. School Festival, Eri says she wants to sing for Deku and his friends once this bad day is over. She then asks Eraser Head to use her horn to let her fight too, and he accepts it. He surmises that the horn only has enough energy to rewind the target by two or three minutes as he rushes into the final battle.[2]
Battle#
After managing to gather all the other heroes, including helping finish the fight at Takoba National Stadium, they begin to initiate Eraser Head's phase 3 of his divide and conquer plan. As several other Warp Gates open up, "All For One" mockingly asks if they've come to get their Quirks stolen.
Eraser Head leans down to check on Deku, asking how long has it been since he lost his arms. Deku says he isn't sure how much time passed while in the Vestige world. He thinks about everything that happened during his battle and questions why All For One is back despite Tomura having been able to overtake him. Eraser Head pulls out Eri's horn and injects it into Deku's shoulder, allowing his arms to rewind back to before they got destroyed. As the heroes begin making their way out of the portals, Eraser Head tells Deku he can't die until he hears Eri sing.[2]
Emerging from the Warp Gates are Grape Juice, Chargebolt, Creati, Tentacole, Anima, Red Riot, Pinky, Can't Stop Twinkling, Invisible Girl, Froppy, Earphone Jack, Gentle, Gang Orca, Sirius, Burnin, Cementoss, Thirteen, Fat Gum, Gunhead, Snipe, Tiger, Kamui Woods, Ryukyu, Bubble Girl, Centipeder, Battle Fist, Real Steel, Vine, Vantablack, Gevaudan, Long Weizi, Comicman, Rocketti, Spiral, Shemage, Rule, Jack Mantis, Grand, Turtle Neck, Chewyee, Illus-o-Camie, Shishikross, Mawata Fuwa, Lemillion, Hitoshi, and more. Despite the injuries many of them received, they were all inspired by Deku continuing to fight against the odds, with Grape Juice declaring "We are here!".
"All For One" dismisses the army before him as a dull, ashen flesh. He acknowledges that as an integrated part of Tomura, he should have been shattered along with him, but upon hearing Yoichi breaking into nothing, all color faded from his world. With his obsession gone, all he has left is a gaping hole of loss; a chasm that no one could attack, which allowed his Vestige to avoid the fatal blow.
As he uses Omni-Factor Unleash to prepare every Quirk he has ever stolen, he generates a large amount of enormous tentacles from his arms and asks if Deku if he agrees that tragedy engenders true strength. Cellophane, however, chimes in and says he doesn't think so. Unlike others fighting today, he never had a life of wild highs and tragic lows, and that the main thing pushing him was average school stuff like not wanting to fall behind on the next practical test. Two portals open up right next to "All For One", as Cellophane rushes forward, saying that he has had some tough times.
Shoto and Endeavor come out of both portals, and as Cellophane says anyone would be better off not going through all of that tragedy, the father-son duo unleashes a Flashfire Fist attack against "All For One". Cellophane uses his Tape to reel both of them back to him as he says those thoughts crossed his mind after he heard that Shoto defeated Dabi.
Present Mic comes out of another portal and thanks "Kurogiri" for his help. He shouts that every available body is here, and today marks a turning point. "All For One", feeling nothing beyond forlorn, claims that the heroes are afterthoughts compared to All Might. He prepares to fire a laser, but, Thirteen, who is riding Hound Dog, uses her Black Hole Quirk to redirect the attack. Gang Orca comes in from above and unleashes an ultrasonic wave with his Orcinus Quirk alongside fingers from Shishikross' Meatball Quirk, but he is swatted away by one of "All For One"'s tentacles. Burnin and other heroes manage to divert the villain's assault, but they realize that it takes dozens of them to counter even just one attack, making this an uneven fight. Battle Fist tells them all to not let him split them up and to fight as a cohesive unit.
Deku tries to join them, but his body collapses from fatigue. Eraser Head tells him that he only regained his lost arms, and his previous injuries from his battle with Tomura have not gone away. Deku tells Eraser Head that he gave up the Quirks of One For All, but the Quirk itself was able to take root in his Quirkless body. Just like for All Might before his retirement, the leftover embers of One For All is still inside him, meaning that he can still stand up to All For One.
Eraser Head begins to hand Deku the supplies he was given by the evacuees, including the shirt which Deku immediately recognizes as the Men's Non-No Brand, Series Five, One-Size All Might T-Shirt. Can't Stop Twinkling offers his hand to Deku, asking him to run with them, as they need his strength just as much as he needs theirs. People across Japan watching the broadcasted fight begin to cheer for Deku to do his best, as the young man begins to run forward into the final battle.[3]
While running, Deku loses Can't Stop Twinkling's hand, as they get separated by an attack from underground. Can't Stop Twinkling smiles as he tells him to run as he blasts the attack away with Navel Laser. Eraser Head calls out to "Kurogiri" to use Warp Gate, but his body begins melting away. As the earth beneath the heroes begins to break, Deku continues to run forward, while other heroes continue their attack. Nothing they do is able to do any substantial damage while "All For One" continues unleashing powerful barrages, but Eraser Head tells them all to carve out a straight path in between Deku and All For One.
"All For One" tells the heroes to not assume that they have him outnumbered and fires a massive laser at Deku, but Invisible Girl is fortunately able to redirect the attack with her Invisibility Quirk before it hits. Creati and Chargebolt use their Creation and Electrification Quirks in unison to form an Electromagnetic Rail Gun, with the latter serving as its battery. The attack fires, countering another laser from "All For One".
In response, All For One launches a series of spikes that crater the ground and send several heroes flying. Seeing this, Deku angrily declares that "All For One" is done hurting people, but Cellophane, Sugarman, Tailman, Anima, and several Class 1-B members tank the barrage of spikes in his place. Tailman tells Deku he's on his last legs and to save his strength, and Sugarman says that only his power can deal any real damage.
Tentacole and Froppy both grab Deku using Dupli-Arms and Frog. While they aren't agile enough to get past the attacks, they still carry him part way there and launch him further. As Deku lands, a large tendril is about to crush him, but Red Riot, Pinky and Fat Gum block it using their respective Hardening, Acid, and Fat Absorption Quirks, with Pinky imploring Deku to get the job done.
"All For One" unleashes a second barrage of arrows, but before they hit, Earphone Jack links her remaining jack up with Present Mic to boost his Voice Quirk's power and blast them all away, with Earphone Jack encouraging Deku to keep progressing. More tendrils come in, but Battle Fist punches one away with Big Fist while Real Steel tosses away another one. Grape Juice glues some of them to the ground with Pop Off, but gets flung away by another attack while still cheering for his friend.
"All For One" is baffled at how the heroes refuse to stay down and die. There's little life to their actual movements, yet their eyes refuse to give up. He then recalls his meeting with Nana Shimura and Yoichi in the Vestige world during Tomura's first battle with Deku, and realizes that Deku's weakness, the one thing All Might lacked, is also his greatest strength and inspires his comrades to help him out and keep getting back up. With help from Gentle, Deku is able to dodge more of "All For One"'s attacks, as the reformed criminal tells him to do his utmost. Death Arms sees Deku getting closer while holding back another attack and tells him he can do it. As Deku almost tumbles down, Ingenium is able to rush in with his Engine Quirk and catch his hand, stopping his fall. "All For One" is about to unleash another attack, but realizes his face is beginning to crack.
People around the world continue to cheer for Deku to do his best, including Tsukuyomi, Hawks, Melissa Shield, Giulio Gandini, Anna Scervino, Katsuma and Mahoro Shimano, and Rody, Roro, and Lala Soul. Ingenium pushes Deku forward and asks him if he remembers their first day at U.A., finally realizing the meaning behind what Uravity told him that day. While being carried to Central Hospital in a helicopter, Uravity is barely able to remain conscious, but Pixie-Bob shows her everyone else doing their best and encourages her to do the same. Seeing him keep on running and remembering the day when she told Izuku she liked the name "Deku", Ochaco smiles and tearfully tells him to do his best. In the United States of America, while watching the fight, the president orders his subordinate to send every hero they've got into Japan, despite the risk of "All For One" winning and putting their nation in jeopardy.
Back on the building he was left on after his fight with the original All For One, All Might is being treated by Ethan Drive and the rest of the American pilots. As he thinks to himself that the day Izuku's body took action, that inspired him to do so as well, he raises his fist to the sky, saying that ever since that day, he's been his greatest hero. Deku can feel everyone calling to him to do his best as he uses One For All to jump high in the air, ready to unleash his full power against "All For One". Back with the evacuees, Inko runs to the front of the crowd and proudly shouts at Izuku to do his best as the young man rushes in and delivers a powerful punch towards "All For One"'s chest.[4]
"All For One" realizes that Super Regeneration isn't working, and that he should have notice something was wrong sooner. He blames not only Deku for this, but everyone who conspired to work alongside him. Individually, they only represent a feeble threat, but as a united force, they could somehow overwhelm him and dull his senses without him realizing. Back when Deku forced the Vestiges into Tomura's core, not only was his spirit a lost cause, but his body as well. Deku thinks back to his training with All Might to prepare his body for One For All, and says that after just two years, it's a little stronger than what the eighth successor could deliver, and that now he's facing the combined power of all nine wielders of One For All. Tomura's body begins to crack and shatter along with the tentacles "All For One" generated.
However, "All For One" is able to haphazardly use his Quirks to keep his crumbling body together, unleashing a purple shockwave while doing so. Since he hasn't achieved anything yet, he refuses to let anyone rob him of what's his. He angrily shouts that only his dream gets to come true, and no one will pick up his torch to become a new Demon Lord. He is desperate to repeat what he did with Tomura and grant Deku or anyone else his Quirk Factor to claim them as a new vessel. Deku, having had enough, charges at "All For One" once more as Eraser Head shouts his name.
Just then, "Kurogiri" sees that Deku is about to deliver the finishing blow to Tomura's body. Present Mic calls out to Oboro as the latter thinks back to his time with Tomura. He apologizes to Eraser Head and Present Mic, and warps right in front of Deku to block the attack, as he must protect Tomura Shigaraki. The Nomu, despite seemingly losing power, tells "All For One" to give Tomura his body back because his friend is waiting for him.
Suddenly, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight comes in and blasts the Warp Gate out of Deku's way with an explosion from his mouth, causing "Kurogiri" to fade away. Present Mic is shocked that he made it here with just his blasts, as Dynamight says he was able to make it in time thanks to Shoto creating an ice ramp for him to use. He tells Izuku not to let him surpass him as the ninth wielder faces off against "All For One" one last time. Deku tells "All For One" that he can never forgive him or look past what he's done, but that he's not a monster beyond understanding, nor is he some kind of "Demon Lord", but just a lonely man. The despairing "All For One" tells him to not look at him and futilely tries to stop Deku's finishing attack.
Within the Vestige world, All For One notices a feint spark of light, which is the last remaining trace of Yoichi's Vestige. Yoichi explains that Izuku adjusted the forced transfer in a way that enabled the smallest fragment of himself to remain intact, and thanks to the embers from his first punch, he was able to reawaken and do what he could with the last shreds of himself. Izuku was able to complete One For All as it was meant to be, but All For One doesn't care about any of that and begs Yoichi to not fade away from him and to show his face.
Yoichi is sorrowful that he couldn't guide his brother on the right path, but Izuku was at the very least able to conceive one last salvation for them at the end of the line. All For One insists that he is nothing without Yoichi and truly loves him, but the spark says that it's time to pay the price for exploiting people all for himself, as he is not the only awaken whose Vestige Izuku roused. Right behind All For One, Nana, Toshitsugu Kudo, Daigoro Banjo, Bruce Lee, En Tayutai, and even Tomura appear to deliver their own decisive punch, destroying All For One in the Vestige world just as Deku lands his smash attack against Tomura's body in the real world.
After All For One's defeat, the Vestiges of One For All swiftly follow him into the void, leaving only Izuku and Tomura's Vestiges facing each other with their fists touching. As Tomura's appearance slowly returns to how he looked during their first encounter, he reveals that he thought his spirit was annihilated when All For One swallowed him, but Nana and Kurogiri somehow kept him from fading. However, since his body had been destroyed, he will inevitably share his master's fate. Despite taking his body back, he hadn't managed to destroy a single thing, not even Izuku's hands. Tomura admits that in the end, he really was just a crying kid like Izuku said. Izuku says he couldn't let everything Tomura did stand, and that's why he fought to stop him, but he also wanted Tomura to stop himself, and to stop his grief and misery from spreading any further.
Before vanishing completely, Tomura asks Izuku to tell Spinner that "even to the bitter end, Tomura Shigaraki kept fighting to destroy" if he survived. Izuku tells him that he already destroyed enough, but Tomura replies that this will depend on what the heroes decide to do tomorrow, and tells Izuku to "do his damn best" with a genuine smile on his face. Deku's final smash clears the storm clouds in the sky away and completely disintegrates Tomura's body, marking the end of the Final War and All For One and Tomura's reign of terror.[5]
Aftermath#
A week after the battle, the gusts from Deku's punch continue to be felt across the world, creating strong breezes that cleared storm clouds reaching as far as the United States. Nations from across the world come over to Japan to help with their restoration efforts.
While recovering at Central Hospital, Naomasa managed to get Izuku and All Might to share a room with each other. Izuku is regretful that despite all his efforts, he couldn't save Tenko's life, and even after reaching into his heart and shattering his hatred, he still remained the League of Villains' leader until the very end. All Might tells Izuku to ask himself what Tenko's face looked like in the end, and that if he didn't look like a crying child, he saved his soul at the very least, and that Izuku did his duty to One For All. All Might says he felt the Quirk's transfer during the fight, and as Izuku says he still has its embers inside him, Katsuki and his parents barge in.
Izuku is relieved that Katsuki is okay, but he is more fixated on the fact that Izuku is once again Quirkless, having overheard what he said about having One For All's embers. Izuku puts on a brave face, telling his former childhood bully that since he didn't have a Quirk in the first place, he shouldn't be too broken up about it, and that he still had a glimpse of the most amazing dream. As the reality of the situation begins to settle in, Katsuki starts remembering the way he treated Izuku before coming to U.A., their rematch that cemented the two of them as rivals, and his final encouragement towards Izuku during the battle.
Katsuki begins to cry, which shocks Izuku as the former admits that he thought the two of them would be competing with each other for the rest of their lives. Izuku begins to get teary eyed himself and tries to assure Katsuki that he still has the embers for the time being. All Might looks at the two young men and is grateful for how strong they've become. Izuku was already a great hero in his eyes since the day they met, but now, he's encouraging the world to get back on its feet. Katsuki, on the other hand, made sure that he'd still be around in order to say these things.
Eventually, all three of them recover from the hospital, with part of Izuku's face being permanently scarred during the fight with Tomura. In the days following the final battle, numerous international heroes arrived in the country and helped with its reconstruction. Meanwhile, all the students, having recovered sufficiently from their injuries, return to the U.A. High School. While the fight is over, they will still continue to lead the way for a bright future and to go further beyond.[6]