A/N: The first chapter of this story's prequel, The Ultron Imperative, has been posted! You can find it listed under my profile or simply find it through the search bar; it is listed under the Avengers category instead of the standard Marvel one. Please give it a read if you are interested!

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Kurogiri rummaged through rows and columns of bar glasses, sifting through assortments of cordials and flutes, plucking those resting in the far back for cleaning. It was always part of his routine—his favorite part if he were being honest—while maintaining his personal bar space. It was always something he saved for last: first the jukebox would be wiped down, followed by the burgundy countertop and velvety bar stools, proceeded by a meticulous sweeping of the floor. Only then would he glide behind the bar and administer his daily sanitization of the often untouched bar glasses.

Such was his routine, standing idly behind his bar, retrieving glass after glass for a mindless wiping while he relished in the silence of his workspace. It had become cathartic for Kurogiri to delve into his daily cleanings after each long day of overseeing Tomura for his master. A routine of stress demanded a routine of serenity, and the silence of the fledgling League's bar space brought more than enough calm to rejuvenate him at the end of each day.

Of course, for practical reasons, Kurogiri kept his bar open to the occasional outside riffraff who'd wander in for a drink now and then, but for the most part, he'd grown to detest late afternoon patrons who he saw as intruding on his relaxation.

Despite the composed demeanor he always made sure to display to friend and foe alike, Kurogiri was not a person who handled unexpected surprises or sudden changes to his routine well. After all, it had taken him plenty of time to adjust to Tomura's needs.

And it would take even longer to adjust to Ikiji Kokotsu.

Now, Kurogiri didn't carry a particularly negative opinion about the boy; compared to Tomura, Ikiji was typically quiet, polite, and could even be quite curious and talkative outside of his broody meditation sessions and when he wasn't being chided by the master.

No, it wasn't Ikiji's personality or even his presence that Kurogiri inwardly objected to, but rather, it was the sudden changes Ikiji brought onto his routine and that of Tomura that unsettled him so.

Adjusting to Ikiji meant adjusting to everything he represented and brought to the League: knowledge, power, all of it. And even after the numerous rituals and sessions he'd witnessed, as well as the operation at Kamar-Taj, it was still difficult for Kurogiri to fully wrap his mind around the concept of...magic.

Tomura thought similarly, if the tempestuous relationship between him and Ikiji was any indication. As expected of him, Tomura used a favorite video game analogy to justify his disdain for Ikiji: in his mind, to use magic is cheating, therefore Ikiji is little more than dirty cheater, besmirching his League with his magic 'cheat code' tricks.

So not only did Kurogiri have to adjust to the reality that magic existed—a reality he understood his master was more than knowledgeable about—but he also had to adjust to the various, unpredictable changes in Tomura's temperament that Ikiji inadvertently caused by being taken under his master's wing.

Joy. No wonder an increasing amount of his free time was spent idling away behind his bar.

Regardless, Kurogiri resolved to oversee the two young men as best as he could, if not for his master then for his own sanity, at least. Supervising their growth these past six years has been no easy feat, especially given their wildly different fighting styles and battle dispositions. Kurogiri definitely found Tomura to be the easier of the two; not only had he known that boy for far longer, but there was also far more to work with given that his powers were grounded in the laws of Quirks, not magic. Ikiji was somewhat similar in that regard—he had a Bone Spurs Quirk that caught his master's eye—but Kurogiri was at a loss when it came to the boy's forays into magic and rituals. He helped where and when he could, but most of Ikiji's growth came from trial and error, as well as accidental discovery.

Of course...keeping Ikiji's growth at a frustratingly slow rate had been the master's plan all along.

Kurogiri reached into the mini-fridge situated beneath the bar once the last glass was wiped, pulling out two small boxes. They were neatly folded, containing small samplings of sushi, white rice, and chopped vegetables he'd prepared earlier in the day. No need to bring them down to eat at the bar; after the infiltration operation at U.A, Kurogiri thought it best to let the boys remain in their quarters and rest for what tomorrow entailed.

With both boxes in hand, Kurogiri ascended the staircase to the boarding rooms situated above the bar. Tomura's room was the first on the left, and was conspicuously the farthest room from Ikiji's, which was the last room on the right of the hall. Tomura's pettiness knew no bounds, but Kurogiri had thankfully long since acclimated to that fact.

Kurogiri approached Tomura's door, the sound of clacking buttons and grunts of frustration followed by the occasional expletive emanating from within. Video games were Tomura's 'routine of serenity'. Just as Kurogiri withdrew into his own mind behind his bar, Tomura withdrew into the realms of the JRPG and fighting games. He played his games excessively, to the point Kurogiri considered it an obstruction to his training and duties. Their master, on the other hand, seemed to encourage it as a means of allowing Tomura to learn and grow in his own manner.

Sensei had a surprisingly hands-off approach to teaching Tomura, allowing the boy to experiment with minimal instruction, only offering guidance when it was asked of him. Given Tomura's desire to prove himself as the rightful leader of the League, it didn't happen often, though Sensei seemed to anticipate this, watching from the shadows in amusement as Tomura tried time after time to impress him.

He could simply warp the food into Tomura's room, but Kurogiri was courteous if nothing else. He gave a light rap against the door to announce his presence, knowing from experience that the door was almost always locked when Tomura played his games. The mashing of buttons and furious mutterings came to an abrupt halt. A moment passed before Kurogiri heard a disinterested grunt, the most he was probably going to get in terms of a response to his knock.

"Tomura," Kurogiri said.

"What?" Tomura responded with a raspy, irritated voice.

"I have brought you a light dinner," Kurogiri said, and no sooner had the words come out of his mouth did the door crack open. Tomura's gangly hand reached out and snatched one of the boxes closing the door promptly once he pulled his hand back.

In the brief moment that the door was open, Kurogiri got a glimpse of Tomura's room: it was disorganized and cluttered, with laundry and electrical cords and controllers strewn about. It was also incredibly dim, the blinds drawn shut and the lights barely giving off any luminance.

What was a surprising sight given Tomura's disposition were several piles of books stacked away in a corner. They weren't regular books of poetry or classical fiction—Lord knows Tomura hated reading those—but rather, gaming books: strategy guides, walkthroughs, magazines, etc..

It made Kurogiri wonder how their master was going to convince Tomura to willingly take up and read the Darkhold, knowing of the boy's distaste for magic and disdain for non-gaming books. He'd suggested merely ordering Tomura to read it, but Sensei thought otherwise; the boy had to be convinced of the book's merits on his own, with as little forcible input as possible. How he was going to do that given he never gave the book so much as a second glance or thought was beyond Kurogiri, but Sensei had a storied history of defying expectations. He would just have to trust that his master's foresight had not blurred since losing to All Might and Doctor Strange six years ago, and that all would remain on schedule and according to plan.

Time would tell.

Lingering no longer on the master's schemes for Tomura's progression, Kurogiri turned toward the end of the hall, to the room that Ikiji occupied. Unlike Tomura's room, however, the door was slightly ajar and the room itself seemed significantly brighter, too.

Assuming decency on the boy's end, Kurogiri rapped his hand against the door as he cautiously strolled in, only to stop short and nearly drop his carefully prepared meal out of shock. Ikiji was suspended in midair, loosely tangled in a mess of coiling threads of pure, white energy. The tips of the threads were probing against and piercing through his skull, ostensibly directly into his brain. The threads themselves emanated from a series of triquetras that at first glance appeared painted onto the floor, but Kurogiri quickly realized they were pure energy, too. The symbols were laced with various runes and symbols, spirals and arches forming complex shapes that defied imagination as much as it did explanation.

But that was pretty much magic in a nutshell, wasn't it? Defying imagination, explanation, even expectation. Small wonder Sensei was so fascinated by and well-versed in it all.

Kurogiri took an errant step toward the boy, unsure of this new ritual's function as well as his well-being. A loud creak in the floorboard beneath Kurogiri's step seemed enough to disrupt whatever Ikiji was attempting: his eyes snapped open in a panic, he collapsed to the ground, and the magic threads piercing his head swiftly dissipated back into the triquetras whence they came, which also vanished in a weak flash of light.

Kurogiri's first instinct was, of course, to rush to the boy's aid and administer what help he could, but something held him back. A familiar sensation—a presence even—that lingered in the air like a malignant haze, one that was noticeable to him but masked to Ikiji.

Sensei? Kurogiri asked himself. You must have had a reason for interfering in this ritual of his...

"...That ritual," Kurogiri spoke, formally announcing his presence to Ikiji. "I'd never seen one such as that before. What were you trying to accomplish?"

"It was...a memory-delving ritual," Ikiji said between pants. He kept his face turned away; was he perhaps upset by the intrusion? Or was it the failure of the spell that perturbed him most?

A memory-delving spell? Kurogiri wondered. He was now doubly curious as to why the master would interfere with such a venture, and also why he'd made his actions obvious to him but masked to Ikiji through dark, unknown means. Kurogiri decided he'd play along for now, and feign compassion to glean more answers if possible.

"I apologize if my intrusion is what sparked the failure of your...ritual," Kurogiri said with an apologetic bow. "If there is anything I can do to either make up for it or to help you succeed in your experimental endeavor—"

"No, no," Ikiji s said with a wave of his hands, turning to face Kurogiri now. His face showed lingering traces of disappointment, but he was making a conscious effort not to direct said disappointment toward Kurogiri directly. "I am unsure what caused that backlash to occur, but there is little that you could do to help...just as there is little that even could be done about it to begin with."

"My progression is wildly different than Tomura's. I've recognized that for a while now," Ikiji said as he picked himself up, patting the dust off his knees. "I can only utilize what scant magical knowledge All For One possesses, and experiment and train from there." His face briefly twists with resentment. "I must admit, though, that being without a proper teacher these past six years has been...frustrating. My skill with Dormammu's magic has improved greatly since joining you all, but I still feel as if my growth would have been unquestionably exponential if he would allow me to read the Darkhold—"

"That tome is the master's, bequeathed to him by yours after his untimely death at the hand of Doctor Strange," Kurogiri said with a bit of a noticeable edge to his voice, subtly reinforcing that no potential thoughts of treachery would be tolerated while simultaneously rubbing salt in the wound that was Kaecilius's death. "In time, it will be passed down to Tomura, as is his right as the official leader of the League of Villains."

"Patience, Ikiji," Kurogiri continued, injecting a bit more benevolence into his voice. "In time, the master will deem you worthy of reading through its pages. Its knowledge, as we both understand, is vast and nearly incomprehensible—he likely worries such ceaseless knowledge would only derail what progress you've made thus far." Kurogiri walked past Ikiji and gently set the dinner box at the end of his neatly arranged bed. "But if you wish to prove yourself to the master, then you would be wise to prepare for tomorrow's operation."

"The attack on the Unforeseen Simulation Joint..." Ikiji muttered. "The plan to kill All Might..."

"The so-called Symbol of Peace remains as much a threat to your goals as Doctor Strange does," Kurogiri said softly, hoping to provoke Ikiji a little. "After all, he helped obstruct your late master's plan six years ago by defeating your current one."

Kurogiri fell silent, allowing his words to stew within Ikiji's head. Satisfied that the seed of motivation had taken root, he turned to leave.

"Thank you, Kurogiri," Ikiji suddenly spoke, stopping the wispy bartender in his tracks. "Thank you for everything you've done, even if it may appear at first glance that it wasn't a lot. Thank you for tolerating me and my...impatience. I know it must have been a lot to wrap your mind around—with my magic and whatnot—but I appreciate your efforts nonetheless. And I promise to perform well tomorrow. If killing All Might will bring the master one step closer to merging our world with the Dark Dimension, then I will do whatever I can. This I swear; I will do whatever All For One needs me to do in order to finish my master's dream of saving this world."

Kurogiri remained silent and still after Ikiji's declaration. He gave the boy a solemn nod, hoping that it wasn't too stiff and disingenuous, before departing back downstairs. The stairs creaked with each step he took, punctuating the quietude that otherwise permeated throughout the empty bar. He ruminated on Ikiji's words, quietly thankful that the boy's frustration and impatience had not yet reached a point that warranted any suspicions regarding treason.

"Such a good boy he's become," The sickeningly suave voice of All For One spoke through the monitor.

Though this talk with his master was abrupt and unplanned, Kurogiri was not at all nonplussed by it; he had long been acquainted with his master's tendency to arrive unannounced.

"The memory-delving ritual Ikiji was attempting to complete," Kurogiri spoke in hushed tones as he approached the blank monitor behind the bar. "You interrupted it?"

"Indeed," All For One said.

The bar fell briefly back into a state of stillness, and Kurogiri wondered if his master was not going to explain his meddling after all.

"I will do whatever he needs me to do..." All For One said suddenly, parroting Ikiji's words and confirming he had indeed been listening in, too. "I am pleased to see the state of dependency Ikiji is demonstrating himself to be in. Now we must ensure he stays locked in that state until we are ready."

"And that is why you interfered with his ritual?" Kurogiri asked. "To ensure he remains dependent on the League?"

"His drive to prove his worthiness to me will keep him firmly under my service," All For One said, and Kurogiri could practically hear the sneer on his face through the monitor. "And his ignorance of the truth will keep him shackled in place regardless of his determination. The knowledge that even a simple memory-delving spell can offer could inspire him to seek independence and power from others outside my sphere of influence. Ikiji Kokotsu need not gain any more power than he has now, lest he surpass even my skill in magic with his own. The Darkhold will forever be kept out of his reach. He must stay on the path that I have paved for him...the path that will lead to 'the promised time' I have prepared so long for."

All For One's words hung thickly in the air, and the silence that followed was all too beckoning for Kurogiri to ignore. His body dissolved into a swirling mass, flowing through space directly toward his Sensei's coordinates at the Nomu warehouse. His body quickly reconstituted within his master's physical presence, though the man gave no immediate acknowledgment to his servant's arrival. The room remained nearly pitch black as it usually was, the monitor before All For One emitting just enough luminance to read the dark tome laid out before him.

Kurogiri thought long and hard before finally addressing his master: "You are referring to these...so-called 'Infinity Stones', correct, Sensei?"

"Such fascinating objects, are they not?" All For One said with a grin. The pages of the Darkhold began flipping rapidly, settling on a page illustrating all six stones beside a depiction of a golden gauntlet. With a wave of his hand, the six illustrations peeled off the paper, shining in their respective, unique colors as they swirled around his fingers. "Six Universal essences born at the dawn of the Universe, coalescing into concentrated ingots and scattering to the far reaches of time and space."

Kurogiri watched silently as the six depictions danced above his master's hands, his fingertips lithely reaching out to touch them, only to fade through the Darkhold's illusion again and again.

"The Darkhold has told me much about these stones: Space, Time, Mind, Soul, Reality, and Power." All For One continued. "Sadly, most of their locations are beyond even the knowledge of this ancient grimoire, and all but two of the Infinity Stones remain well beyond my reach, lost in a universe no human can traverse.

"But I was not deterred," he continued, the illusions of the stones drifting away from his fingertips and returning to the page whence they came. "I became determined that if the Darkhold could not help me acquire the actual stones in their entirety...then I would use its knowledge to find the means to create facsimiles that will make up the difference. Thus, I could gather faux Infinity Stones in my own manner."

"And Ikiji is the key to one such stone," Kurogiri correctly surmised.

Again, the Darkhold sprang to life, its pages flipping several times to a new section: one that listed information on the orange Infinity Stone they'd seen just moments before.

"Correct: the Soul Stone," All For One said as he peered down at the page, its contents long since etched into his mind. "There are many different kinds of magic, from the space-shifting magic granted by Dormammu to nature-based Druidic magic to the White, eldritch magic used by that accursed Sorcerer Supreme. There are numerous branches of magic, and each of them abide by their own unique sets of rules."

All For One traced a finger across the lines of text inscribed on the page. "With some types of magic, the rules can be bent or circumvented entirely with the right know-how; others cannot be. Soul magic is one such magic that abides by strict, inviolable rules, and the rule for acquiring something akin to the Soul Stone is no different: a soul for a soul. No exceptions."

The scarred supervillain chuckled darkly. "Ikiji will do whatever I need him to do? What excellent tidings! When the time comes, when the Tentoria Tenebris is finally in our grasp, the boy will need to fulfill his most important role: Ikiji Kokotsu will have to die to give me my own Soul Stone."

All For One continued chuckling over the boy's seemingly sealed fate, but Kurogiri remained silent and still, not offering anymore input into the conversation as he ruminated. There was a restlessness—a doubt—about him that All For One quickly picked up on.

"...You are skeptical," All For One said.

"I am, Sensei," Kurogiri responded honestly. "Forgive me if I come across as rude, but...it all honestly seems too good to be true. Tomura has similar thoughts, and you know as well as I do what his stance on magic is: he considers it 'cheating'."

All For One barked out a laugh. "Tomura must learn in his own manner, and I have no doubt that he will come to see the necessity of magic for our grand plans. Once he recognizes magic as a useful and necessary tool for his dreams of anarchy, he will jump at the chance to learn as much of it as he can."

"...How can you be so sure?" Kurogiri asked cautiously, being careful not to overstep his bounds.

"I believe our operation at the USJ tomorrow will yield a bevy of interesting results," All For One said as the hulking form of their specially-designed Nomu strode out of the shadows. "And I also believe said results will be more than enough to motivate Tomura and Ikiji alike."

Author Notes

USJ Arc finally begins! All For One and the League of Villains begin moving forward with their machinations, and a plot is hatched to gather Infinity Stones through the use of magic! Their motivations for assembling the stones will not be quite like Thanos's, but whatever they are, it can't be good...nor can their plans for the misguided Ikiji. USJ will be an arc of motivation for a variety of characters, and I hope I've motivated you all to continue reading in preparation for this story's eventual Infinity War Arc!

*Snap!*

Until next time! Plus Ultra!