The familiar muggy air of the firenation graces his sense of touch before his eyes begin to slowly flutter open. As consciousness begins returning to him, he feels a few gentle taps of something wooden tapping him on the shoulder. Slowly he opens his eyes feeling exhaustion still grip his body but the strange sight before him pulls his attention away from his aching body. The sky far above him is a strange hue of green and white, with large mahogany trees spanning interconnected vines through the canopy. Tilting his head to the side he sees an older man with pure white hair around a bald portion on the top of his head, a large ancient scar over his left eye and a long white beard flowing down to the center of his chest. He's dressed in almost ancient looking firenation clothing, with a large wooden cane in his right hand. "Ah, Hello my friend. I was beginning to think you wouldn't wake up." The old man greets, his voice laden with relief and great wisdom. When consciousness returns to Izuku completely he recognizes the man standing above him. "I don't believe the swamp water is a very good bed my friend, care for a hand?" He asks, prompting Izuku to lift a hand up to be helped to his feet.

"Zuko?" Izuku asks as the fog in his brain begins to clear. "I must be dreaming... you've been dead for nearly 400 years." He says causing the older man to chuckle slightly hearing this.

"The body dies, but the soul lives on." Zuko responds, "It's been a long time since my friend the avatar set foot here when mortal." Izuku looks around the strange swamp around him, before Zuko sees the look of realization on his face. "We're in the spirit world."

"Am I dead?" Izuku asks, but Firelord Zuko merely chuckles to himself again hearing this.

"No, you're fine. Some dear friends summoned you here after you left the avatar state. Your mortal body is healing in the care of your wife and your friends."

"You're not mad that I'm married to Momo are you?" Zuko laughs when he hears this before motioning for Izuku to follow him. Izuku follows the ancient firelord through the swamps, watching as he walks across the surface of the water but Izuku has to trudge through it.

"Of course not. I'm happy that my sister found happiness in her life, and now in the next." Izuku arches an eyebrow at this statement from Zuko. "Oh, and here I thought you'd have noticed it by now Izuku."

"She's the next incarnation of Azula?!" Izuku shouts his realization causing Zuko to wince slightly when he hears this outburst. "That explains a lot." Izuku says before his voice trails off slightly.

"Now, no more dilly dallying Avatar Izuku, there are some people who would like to meet you." Zuko says before beginning to pick up the pace slightly as he leads Izuku through the swamps of the spirit world.

Time doesn't feel normal in the spirit world, though the avatar has spent more time here than all of humanity combined. It's exceedingly rare for a human soul to go to the spirit world after death, normally they'd just reincarnate. As Zuko leads Izuku through the spirit world, the swamps begin to change, and the ground starts becoming more solid. After a while of walking they come to an expanse of fields filled with long grasses and kind spirits floating by them. In the distance is a small series of cottages and Izuku can see there are some people seated at a table waiting expectantly for him. The winds that travel through the grasslands of the spirit world cause the wild barely and grasses to flutter back and forth, shimmering in the sun. Once they get close to the group of people Izuku recognizes the faces of those at the table four being his past lives and the last, being another dear friend of the avatar.

"Fall into the mud again Nephew?" The smooth wise voice of the elderly chubby man seated at the end of the table greets Zuko and Izuku as they walk up.

"Avatar Izuku had decided to take a nap in the waters of the swamp. Took me a bit of effort to wake him. Uncle Iroh." Zuko responds as he takes a seat beside an airbender with a chin strap beard and long orange and yellow robes over his body. "I'm sure you all would like to meet your newest incarnation." The figures seated at the table enjoying tea look between each other for a few moments nonverbally deciding on who will speak first.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Izuku. I am Avatar Genji." The man with olive tanned skin and sandy dirty blonde hair seated beside Iroh greets as he motions for Izuku to take a seat at the table but Izuku doesn't move, still studying the faces of his past lives. "We felt you used the avatar state, and summoned you here."

"Unfortunately this isn't a social call." The man dressed in regal firenation robes speaks up, his white hair and beard accented with the curled flame crown of the avatar of fire. "Before we get to that, I am your predecessor in Fire. I am Avatar Roku."

"I'm sure I don't need any introductions. I am Avatar Aang, and beside me is Avatar Korra. Please, take a seat." Aang motions for Izuku to take a seat at the head of the table in front of his past lives. "I'm sure by now you know that every avatar has events in their lives that are in common with the others. All of us have known love, have struggled, have suffered, have triumphed and have dealt with the spirit world in some way. And we all have mastered the elements, and it seems you are on the cusp of doing the same. All that's left now is for you to control the avatar state."

"We called you to the spirit world because there's been a great disturbance in the world of the living." Korra begins, her appearance in the spirit world exactly how she was when she faced Amon in Republic City. "An ancient spirit that both Avatars: Yangchen, Kuruk and Kyoshi all faced has resurrected itself and begun weaving his web once more. His power is even greater than it was back when they faced him. He is called The World Borer, or The Hole Within. He also goes by another name..."

"Father Glowworm." Izuku says aloud, finding the name slipping from his mouth as if on instinct.

"That spirit has an insatiable thirst for human blood, but it now has a new power since he resurrected himself. He can steal away the bending abilities of mortals, this process kills the victim." Genji continues, causing Izuku to suddenly remember something strange that he had seen during the attack on the USJ.

"Do you think he could be involved with the villain named Shigaraki? He was able to combustion bend and bend metal." The other avatars go silent when he says this, trying to think of a reason as to why this can be the case.

"It's best that you keep your wits about you Avatar, we may be spirits now but we are not omnipotent. The events of the human world are just as much a secret to you as they are to us. We are aware of the activity of Father Glowworm because his malevolent nature physically warps the world around us in the spirit world." Iroh adds, "I know that this is a lot to take in, but be mindful and remember your teachings. You have access to the spirit world and our wisdom whenever you need it." Iroh lifts a small ceramic cup of tea in front of his face taking a deep breath inhaling the scent and the vapors of the warm liquid before him. He slowly opens his eyes and blows on the vapors causing them to move forwards and increase in size to that of a small cloud before enveloping Izuku. The tea vapors swirl around him then vanish and with them disappearing Izuku vanishes from the spirit world as well.

"You could have at least offered him some tea Uncle." Zuko says as the vapors begin to blow away.

"I did, but not in this world." Iroh says with a slight chuckle before taking a slow sip of the heavenly liquid.

In the living world, Momo sits at the bed of her husband reading one of her books patiently waiting for him to wake up. Three hours ago, his body suddenly sat upright and his eyes shot open revealing the familiar glow of the avatar state. At first Momo flinched thinking he was triggering the avatar state for the second time but when he didn't move she realized that he was in the spirit world. His sudden movement almost gave the elderly doctor Recovery Girl a heart attack when he shot upright. Now that the shock had worn off, Momo was able to finally relax and began to read her favorite novel, The Lord of the Rings. As she flips a page to continue reading Samwise's antics with Bilbo a familiar sweet scent fills the air. She sets the book down before looking around the room and spotting two tea cups having appeared seemingly from nowhere on the bed side table. The cup's tall cylindrical shape reminds her of the statue of Iroh outside of their high school and the smell of jasmine and vanilla captivating her attention more than the book was. She puts a bookmark into the page before closing the book and resting it on the table beside her and reaching for one of the two cups. As her fingers touch the ceramic of the cup, she sees the light fade from Izuku's eyes before he falls back onto the bed. She sits the cup back down before standing beside Izuku as he wakes up.

"Have fun in the spirit world, Zuzu?" She asks as consciousness returns to her husband, his brain taking a few moments to register the question and start firing synapses in order to create a thought and an answer.

"I wouldn't call it fun." He responds before the scent of tea captivates his attention from the conversation.

"Ah ah ah, no tea until you answer my question, Mr. Tea loving cookieness." Momo says, whisking away both cups from his reach. "What happened?" She asks sternly.

"Spirit world or the USJ?" Izuku asks.

"Yes." Momo responds.

"Well, from what I remember, I got several ribs broken and stabbed through the leg by a piece of rebar from that earthbending freak-bag they called a Nomu. Then it all went white." Izuku responds, "As for the spirit world, my past lives, Iroh and Zuko wanted to talk to me."

"Wait, you spoke with Firelord Iroh? And Firelord Zuko?!" Momo echoes in shock. "Which one?"

"The first, for both." Izuku answers. "They warned me about an ancient evil spirit that came back from the dead. It has the power to steal a person's bending away." He continues, "It's called Father Glowworm."

"I haven't heard of that one." Momo responds before pausing allowing Izuku to continue.

"I also saw someone bend more than one element at the USJ." Momo's eyes snap wide open as he says this and she turns to lock eyes with him. "Their leader, the one with the samurai's mask over his mouth. I saw him combustion bend, then metal bend at Professor Aizawa, he shot the steel cables that the police use from his arms and wrapped up his left leg."

"If that Father Glowworm spirit can take bending away... do you think he could give it to someone too?" Momo asks but Izuku remains silent.

"I hope this isn't a bad time." The voice of Toshinori interrupts as he enters the room in the UA clinic. "I just came by to see if you two were alright and if you remember anything. The authorities are in a bit of a tizzie after the whole blue firenado that happened at the USJ. They saw that thing from space."

"It's fine, but have you heard of anyone that can steal a person's bending away?" Momo asks, taking the lead in this conversation. Both firebenders can sense the shift in All Might's body temperature, it's as if his blood physically turned into ice for a brief moment when she said this.

"Where have you heard of that?" He asks, his voice now stern and serious alerting the two firebenders in the room. He walks up to the stool beside the hospital bed and takes a seat.

"I learned of a spirit that could steal a person's bending away from the previous avatars in the spirit world." Izuku answers, causing Toshinori to breathe out a sigh of relief. "Why?"

"I once battled a human with the same ability, except his was to steal quirks not bending arts." All Might explains, "From what I've been told by Tsu and the others that witnessed your fight with the thing called the Nomu. It could not only earthbend, but also absorb shock from impacts and regenerate. It had multiple quirks."

"This means that the villain you're talking about is back. Doesn't it?" Izuku asks, seeing where this conversation is going. Toshinori nods his head yes when Izuku asks this question.

"His name is All for One, he was the one who gave me this injury, and now with this spirit capable of taking away people's bending mucking about, things are only going to get worse. Especially if they team up." Toshinori responds, leaving a distasteful silence in the air as the gravity of the situation begins to sink in. "Nezu isn't too happy about you reducing the USJ to a pile of molten slag and basalt. It was worth 12.7 billion dollars."

"Emphasis on was." Momo jokes causing All Might to have to hide a chuckle.

"Luckily, this is why we have insurance. But it does mean we're stuck at the test sights for the foreseeable future. Despite the damages, you did manage to defeat the invading villain force and save your classmates, he can't be that mad." Toshinori says before ruffling a hand through Izuku's hair. "Good to see you're still alright my boy, I'll leave you and your wife for some quality time and take my leave." He says before standing and exiting the room.