A Monument to his Sins
"And I deeply regret the loss of another young hero, one of the best and brightest heroes. I personally helped mentor him from his orphaned beginnings, and sadly, he was cut short by villainy before he had a chance to grow into his full potential. Rest assured that I will not rest until the villain that perpetrated this heinous crime is brought to Justice."
That has been on repeat for most of the morning. A city in mourning. All the villains he's killed, they never counted, but one teenager was cause for half-masts. He wonders what the cut off age is, when your death is a statistic instead of a tragedy.
In all of his two hundred years of life, All for One has never seen such hypocrisy. Bold face lies to the masses, perpetrated by the so-called Symbol of Peace. It makes the ancient villains blood boil, seething hatred forming that he's never held before towards a holder of One for All. It has always been business between him and his brother's successors, but All Might has crossed a line.
The villain stands from his wheelchair, pressing a button on the armrest. The voice of Kurogiri responds to the call
"I how can I serve you Sensei?" The gravely voice of his right-hand man coming through the speaker
"Warp me to the holding cells, I wish to visit our newest prisoner" AFO replies, his tone grim
"Y…Yes Sensei" His subordinate responds in shock, cutting off the call abruptly
A few seconds pass before a swirling black portal opens before him, Kurogiri stepping through. The smoke man extends his hand to his master, helping the crippled man step through the gateway.
He passes through the portal, stepping into a dark dungeon like area. Down the rows of cells, housed in the very last cell. A soft crying is heard from the dark hallway, faint and distant yet filled with untold sorrow. The sound tugged at the ancient man's heart, not expecting to hear such pain coming from a child. A sidekick of the might All might.
He slowly strolls down the halls, passing a few empty cells and a few housing his lifeless Nomu's. The sound grows louder as he comes nearer, stopping when he arrives at the cell. What the man sees inside shatters his already cold and shrivelled heart
The cell houses a thin looking teen of no more than fourteen or fifteen, clad in the tattered remains of his hero costume. Beneath the blood and filth, lay a road map of abuse and pain. AFO can see the healed scars and old bruises in dim light, that could not have possible been received in the battle and subsequent capture of the teen. The teens unruly green hair does little to hide the dead eyes that lay beneath. The boys arm juts awkwardly, ask if broken, improperly reset left to heal. The boy's hands are scarred beyond recognition, several fingers are crooked and out of place as if given the same treatment as his arm. His stomach drops as he sees just how thin the teen is, a few ribs showing beneath the ruined fabric
"He's not coming for you" The ancient villain says in a matter of fact tone, expecting the teen to rebuff his claim. He puts on a facade of indifference, trying to hide his pity of the teen
"I know" The green clad sidekick responds, once again shocking the man "I failed and got captured. I'm useless. If you're going to kill me, please make it quick"
"We're not going to kill you, young one. Do you think your life matters that little?" AFO asks in disbelief
"Yes" The teen responds immediately and without hesitation
"How did you get to be All Might's sidekick?"
"He bought me from my parents to pay off their debts."
The man stares at him for a moment, his mind trying to process what he'd just been told
"How is it? Being All Might's sidekick"
Tears fills the boys eyes, his body shivering violently as if plunged into an ice bath. The ancient villain can not fathom how the Symbol of Peace could mistreat the boy so much to cause this type of reaction but given the boys injuries, he is not surprised.
"I mean, I try my best to help, but I don't even know what he WANTS from me. I do things one way, it's not good enough, I do what he asks for, and I'm supposed to just KNOW that it was supposed to be done differently. I can't do anything right. I just want to be effective. It's not fun, it's terrifying. I don't even have good quirk, and ... I'm not the first of his victims. All might doesn't even give me descent food, he only ever feeds me bread, rice, table scraps and whatever junk he finds in the trash"
The man stares again for a moment, unable to comprehend the level of suffering the teen has endured.
"Can I get you anything?" The ancient man asks "Something to eat perhaps"
"I'm not hungry."
"I can tell you're lying, Young one. So don't bother trying. What do you want to eat?"
A vision of pizza crosses the boys mind, a flood of shame following soon afterwards.
"Rice? plain rice." The green teen responds, followed by an unspoken, "it's what I deserve."
Pizza was delivered a tense half-hour later, followed by some fresh clothing and bedding for the boy. The look of delight and adoration from the teen sends a warmth through the man's heart.
"W…Why don't you just kill me" The teen says, tears flowing freely "I'm useless and pathetic. So why treat me with such kindness?"
"Young one, you're a powerful young man but at the end of the day you're a pawn. A pawn for All Might and for the League of Heroes. I won't punish a pawn for being used and mistreated. It wouldn't be right to punish you further than you already have been."
"R-Right? How can you judge what's right? You are a villain, pure evil. All Might wouldn't lie about that would he?"
He narrows his eyes at the teenager
"We're fighting for the same thing. We've chosen fundamentally different paths to get there is all."
"What are you going to do to me? Use me as bait?"
"You'll heal and I'll let you go when you're strong enough to make your way back home. I already told you I won't punish you for being a pawn."
"All Might would do anything to beat you, you know that? If he had the upper hand, he'd use it."
"All Might and I are not the same. He is a monster."
The teen blushes and almost empathized with the villain. All for One's words echo through his head. He disagrees with his methods but at the same time he respected his refusal to use him.
"You know, you've treated me more human than All Might or any of the League ever have. I think I'm just another soldier to them."
"That's you heroes' problem. It's always so black and white to you lot. Things are a lot greyer than you realize"
All for One turns and begins to walk away, gesturing for Kurogiri to open a portal. As he stops at the threshold, he looks back at the young hero
"What's your name Young man?" The ancient man asks, turning back
"Izuku, sir" The verdant teen responds
"Izuku. You can be more than a mere soldier. There are greyer ways to life. I can show you if you'd like." The ancient villain offers, stepping though the portal
Then he was gone, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts.
A/N – Hey there everyone, my names Tamashi and I've come to invade this fandom like I've done to other fandoms. This was just a quick fic that, may or may not turn into a multiple chapter story. That depends on your feedback.
This will be rated an M rating as it will touch on the topic of Child Abuse, Neglect, Violence, Ect. If any of these thing bother you. Don't read it and message me bitching about it. You will be ignored otherwise and any reviews bitching will be removed.
I dunno if I am gonna have a pairing, I am open to suggestions.
You can leave your comments, question or criticism in a review or PM and I will address in the next chapter. So don't be afraid to tell me what you all think, I'm not gonna be mean or anything. I won't bite much :P
I also want to give a shout out to my friend Max, Kei, Bob and my friends on the Izuku show Discord for supporting my writing. I recommend you go checkout When All Hell Breaks Loose. You can find it here or over on AO3.
If you wish to join the Izuku show discord. Here is the link, come say Hi or rp if ya like. Be warned that it is a Teen rated server, so there are rules in place: /3vS2xC
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time. Ciao for now