Thank you everyone for making it this far. This is the final chapter of this series. I think it's about time that I pulled it to an end. Maybe it's and underwhelming, predictable ending, but I just hope that you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Arcade narrowed his eyes. He couldn't say that he was surprised, necessarily. He just didn't think it was best course of action. He understood little about Midoriya's world, but he did understand that he was some kind of protégé.

"It's too late to change my mind now," Midoriya answered after seeing Arcade's reaction.

"It's never too late. I can forget you mentioned it and we can just keep on going about our day."

"What, you plan on living here? Not that I could force you to leave, but this place isn't what you're used to. Interesting, I'm sure, but you don't feel like you have a purpose. And I definitely don't belong here anymore. I tried, I really did, but…" Midoriya trailed off, staring off into the distance. There were few times that Arcade saw him like this, the most memorable of which being when he returned from the Divide.

"But you can't shake the Mojave off of you," Arcade finished. He understood perfectly fine.

Midoriya shook his head. "Not after everything I've done. I can't just pretend that I didn't do any of that. I can't ignore my responsibilities."

Arcade crossed his arms. "Don't you have responsibilities here, too?"

Midoriya smiled. Not a real one, just a mirror of one. There was no happiness behind it. "Not anymore, no. I'm worthless here, now."

Arcade's brows furrowed. "Wait. What do you mean?"

"I gave it up, Arcade. I gave it all up."

All Might was angry. Long ago, Midoriya wouldn't have been able to even fathom being on the receiving end of such an emotion from his favorite hero, and yet here he was, taking it as calmly as possible.

"After everything…you decided to quit?" The hero was barely keeping it together. Not that Midoriya could really blame him. He did promise that he'd do whatever it took to win against All for One all those years ago. And now he was telling him that he decided that he wasn't the one who could do it. Still, he seemed to be missing the point.

"After everything, I decided that I was needed elsewhere. I know I'm not special, All Might, but thank you for making me feel that way anyway. I think you'll find that Mirio will be a good replacement. Better, in fact, than I ever could be."

All Might sighed. He wanted to be angry. But how could he? The decision ultimately came down to Midoriya, and that was it.

"So what will you do now?" the hero asked, trying to calm himself.

"Go back. Shigaraki knows about the wasteland, and he's going to keep using it as a weapon. If I can work from that end, and stay on that end, then he loses leverage. This is something that only I can do, All Might. But somebody else can use One for All. I promise, this isn't some decision that I've made on a whim."

All Might nodded. He understood from the beginning; he just didn't want to believe it. And if he was being honest, Mirio was his second pick anyway. In reality, he just didn't want to see Midoriya go back to that place. He didn't understand much about it, but all of the UA teachers heard about it from either Arcade or Aizawa. They understood enough about it to know that it was hell.

"As your teacher…I feel like I need to report you."

"I'm not telling you this as your student. I'm telling you this as a friend. And colleague. We probably won't see each other again, but we'll be fighting the same fight. Besides, what good is a kid at UA without a Quirk?"

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight. Arcade said that there's a middle location where Shigaraki takes everything before releasing them onto the general public. I just need to sneak into there and I'm basically back in the Mojave."

All Might studied Midoriya's face. He was right; the Midoriya that he once knew was gone. This was someone else entirely. "Is this what you want?"

He laughed. "Since when do I ever get what I want? Let me be honest with you, All Might. I don't belong here anymore. Everyone knows that; it's not a secret. It's just time for me to let go of this dream of mine and face reality."

Rather reluctantly, the both of them said their goodbyes. All Might still was against his choice, but he didn't try to stop him any further than trying to vocally convince him to stay. When he saw that it wasn't going to work, he defeatedly let go of his student.

Midoriya closed the door to the lounge and breathed a sigh of relief. He half-expected All Might to be the hardest to convince to let him go.

"So. You're going back?" a voice startled him. He spun around to find himself face to face with a girl. Uraraka.

"You heard?" he asked, regaining his sense of calm.

She shrugged. "Enough to understand that you're going back to…that place. You're going to leave us for that?"

Midoriya sighed. He didn't really want to explain it to any of his classmates, because he knew that they'd ask too many questions. Now, however, it seemed as though Uraraka had backed him into a corner. "It's best for everyone. With me on this end, Shigaraki has leverage. Even if I just go over there and die, then it's more than worth it."

Out of nowhere, her hand struck his face. It wasn't like her to hurt others without warning, so it took him by surprise. "You're an idiot if you think that."

Midoriya chuckled. He couldn't help it, and it certainly wasn't appropriate, but the laughter escaped his lips nonetheless. "Sorry," he apologized. "You just took me by surprise. I'm sorry, Uraraka, but I'm serious about this. I have to take care of things over there. It's a hellhole, yeah, but that doesn't mean that there aren't people over there that don't need my help. And after everything I've done, I have a responsibility to take care of it. I don't have that here anymore."

Uraraka turned her face away, likely to avoid looking him in the eyes. "So that's it, then? You're leaving and you'll never see us again?"

Midoriya shrugged. "Probably. Time seems to move differently between these two worlds. If we ever did see each other again, the time gap might be more than just a few years. For either of us, really."

There was a heavy silence that hung between them. "Were you planning on telling us goodbye?" she asked softly.

Midoriya bit his lip. "No."

Now, it was her turn to chuckle. "You knew that we'd try to stop you, right? That's why?"

He put his hand on her shoulder. At his touch, she turned to look at him. Her eyes were brimming with angry tears. Midoriya's stomach dropped. Was that sadness he felt? "Goodbye, Uraraka."

He turned away, fearful of what she may say next, and began walking away.

"Goodbye," she whispered in reply.

He didn't expect her to be so reasonable. She still clutched him in her arms, tears running down her face, and yet she seemed to be expecting it.

"Izuku…I love you….be safe," Inko told her son between sobs. Honestly, he debated whether or not to tell her in person or to leave a note. Ultimately, he decided that he couldn't make his mother miss his last day on that Earth. She would have been devastated to receive a letter from her son, who she would never see again.

Midoriya clutched his mother back, relishing the last time he would ever see her, too. "I love you too, Mom," he muttered into her shoulder.

"You sure that this is the place?" Midoriya asked. He didn't doubt the look of the place, but just wanted to make sure that they weren't wasting time.

"I'm fairly sure. It looks about the same," Arcade confirmed.

Ed-E floated next to Midoriya. He gently patted the robot. "You ready to go back home?"

The robot replied with a few happy beeps. When he first repaired the eyebot, it was hard to decipher what it was saying. Now, it felt as though he were fluent in the eyebot's beeps.

Midoriya picked the lock on the outside of the warehouse, careful to not make any noise. Inside, he could hear voices. He wore his full armor, but even with that, Shigaraki could disintegrate it in seconds. He had to rely on a lot more than brawn to get him through.

"Look, what I'm saying is, my boys wanna go home. They got kids waitin' for 'em," someone said. He was speaking English, which was a dead giveaway for a wastelander.

"Your people were the one's who offered to fight. Now you want to go home?" Shigaraki replied in English, but with a thick accent. He must not have spoken much English before exploiting the wasteland.

"Listen, punk. We promised that we'd help you if we got to kill that Courier. But you don't even look close to it, so we're going to fuck off back home until you figure it out."

Midoriya peered around the corner. His plasma rifle was strapped to his back, but he hoped that he wouldn't need to use it. If they were going to open the portal, they needed to be quick about it. He could hide among the Jackals for a short period of time, but they'd notice him soon enough with his ranger gear. Luckily, there were a good number of them in the room to get lost in the crowd. As long as they could make it though the portal, they were free.

Shigaraki sighed. He probably recognized that in a room with a bunch of people with guns and grenades, he was at a bit of a disadvantage.

"Kurogiri, let them through," Shigaraki commanded the mist-like villain. Within seconds, the villain had conjured a portal, presumably to the Mojave.

Midoriya waited until at least ten of the members had gone through before he motioned for Arcade and Ed-E to follow him. They casually approached the portal alongside the rest, trying to be careful not to bring attention to themselves.

They made it to the threshold when someone opened their mouth. "Hey, wait!" a man next to him said, staring at him. Midoriya acted quick. He pushed Arcade back into the portal as he spun around, rifle in hand. Ed-E intrinsically understood what Midoriya wanted, as usual, and followed the medic into the unknown.

Without care, Midoirya fired upon the Jackals around him.

"Close it!" Shigaraki commanded the misty villain. Midoirya had moments to react. In that time, he smirked, held up his middle finger, and threw himself back into the portal.

He landed flat on his back against the sandy ground. There was nobody else around, save for Arcade and Ed-E. Presumably, they'd already taken care of whoever else had made it through the portal.

Midoirya remained sprawled out. His fingers grasped at the sand beneath his palms, feeling its texture. Above him, an ugly, orange sky stared back at him. It was threatening. But that was nothing compared to the smell that was entering his nostrils. Putrid scents of rotting flesh and decay. That wasn't even to mention the general stink of the place.

Midoriya closed his eyes and took it all in. A grin spread across his face. He was home.