Stain hated it when people called him Chizome Akaguro, but officer Tsukauchi never used his real name. Chizome Akaguro was dead. He'd shook off that name along with other human weaknesses and had been reborn.
But it hadn't been enough.
He had been beaten. By a naked boy and girl. He still needed to grow stronger. He still lacked resolve.
Tsukauchi yammered on and on without an end. It was always the same questions. Did he have connections to the League of Villains or Shi Hassaikai? Who turned his own Quirk against him? How many people had he killed? Where did he get his equipment? Where was his money coming from?
Stain gave Tsukauchi nothing, but silence. Finally, Tsukauchi grew bored with the one-sided interrogation and got ready to leave.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Akaguro. We'll continue this tomorrow."
When he was alone Stain was finally free to start planning his escape. It wouldn't be easy. The hospital was built with villains in mind and the room looked more like a cage. There were no windows and guards with powerful Quirks were monitoring the halls. He'd been tied to his bed like a raving lunatic and even if he could slip out of his bindings it didn't make him any less wounded. The naked brat had bitten off three of his fingers and snapped his Achilles tendon. The shape-shifting girl had almost gutted him and left him with internal bleeding and a concussion. Just getting up was torture. Fighting would be next to impossible.
Not that it mattered.
He had to escape. As long as there were fakers soiling the names of true heroes his work wasn't finished. There was also the naked duo. What had they called each other? Toga and… Izuku-Izuku? What a stupid name. What kind of a parent would give their kid a name like that?
The door opened, and a nurse walked in. She was an older woman who had been toughened by decades of treating villains. The door snapped shut behind her.
"So, how are we holding up today? Ready to take your painkillers?" The nurse said.
Stain stared silently at the ceiling.
"The least you could do is thank me." The nurse said.
Stain wondered what she had done to deserve thanks. Patching up criminals and sending them back on the streets?
Suddenly the nurse smiled like a crocodile.
"Or would ya rather run away, baby Stain?"
Stain's muscles tensed against his bindings.
"You." He barked.
"Ya remembered!" Toga said and pulled out a cellphone: "Yo, Kurogiri. It's yer girl Toga. I got him. Ya know where we are?"
A sophisticated voice answered from the other end of the line.
"Yes, miss Toga. Thank you. We will be right there."
Black mist started filling the room. A man dressed like a bartender whose body was made from the same black mist walked out of it. After him came a young man whose heavily scarred face resembled a skull.
"Miss Toga, would you be so kind as to cut Mr. Stain's restraints. Mr. Dabi. Distract the guards if you will." The man called Kurogiri said.
"Ya bet, Mr. Kurogiri." Toga said and pulled out a knife.
The scarred man Dabi stepped between them and the door. Guards were already trying to get in. In a hospital for villains the staff was used to handling whatever the worst of society could throw at them. That didn't make them fireproof. Black fire materialized in Dabi's hands and suddenly a wall of flame rose between them and the rest of the hospital.
Stain made a token effort to resist, but he was too weak from his wounds and the painkillers to fight back. He got pulled through the black mist and he… heard music. Someone was playing a guitar. When Stain fell in the dark office the playing seized.
"Kurogiri? I presume the mission was successful."
The voice was a powerful baritone and flowed smoothly, but there was a ragged edge to it.
"Ya bet and it was all thanks to me." Toga said.
The voice in the darkness laughed.
"Excellent. Hope you brought your fake I.D along, lass. Kurogiri. Take her to the bar and get her anything she wants."
"As you wish, master." Kurogiri said.
Another portal opened and Kurogiri stepped through it with Toga. Stain was left alone with Dabi and the man with the ragged voice. Stain managed to get on his feet but staying there was the real challenge.
"Who are you? Why is it so dark here?"
"It is? My apologies. When you're blind you don't really notice these things."
There was a clap and the lights turned on. Looking in the mirror couldn't be a pleasant experience for Dabi, but suddenly he looked ready to puke. Stain couldn't fight off a shudder. The man had no face. Everything above his lips was just a grisly mess of scar tissue. His nose, ears and eyes had been filed off. A tube was sticking out of his throat and connected him to a machine next to his desk. There were more scars hidden under his black suit.
The faceless man started laughing.
"I bet you and Dabi never thought you'd meet a man who'd make the two of you look fuckable. All for One is my name and grand villainy is my game. Welcome to my humble bachelor pad, Stain."
Stain hid his revulsion.
"What do you want?"
"Not look like the Devil's left testicle for starters, but until then I'll make do with helping you. How would you like to join the League of Villains, Stain?"
"Not interested. If that was all, I'm going. There is more work to be done." Stain said.
All for One smiled and somehow the boyish grin made his face even more horrifying.
"You drive a hard bargain, Stain. If you don't want to join, I won't force you. But I'll still help you. You won't go anywhere until you're healed."
"You think you can stop me, cripple?" Stain asked.
All for One's voice cut like a whip.
"Yes."
Dabi's body tensed and Stain instinctively braced himself for a fight. Something was terribly wrong. Somehow that broken body managed to emanate more power than he had ever felt. Even all the fakers he'd dealt with seemed like bugs in comparison.
"What have I done to deserve such generosity?" Stain said.
All for One adopted again his affable veneer.
"I have a soft spot in my heart for children who grew up in Mrs. Ikari's orphanage."
A chill ran through Stain and for a moment he was Chizome Akaguro again. Small and weak Chizome Akaguro who was full of fear and weakness.
"… how do you now about that place?"
"I'm over hundred years old, Stain. There isn't much I don't know. My Tomura spent some time there as well. So, did that lass with the knife. You two seem to get along well." All for One said.
"I'll kill her when I get the chance." Stain said.
"I said well, not great. Dabi, give this ray of sunshine the tour and show him his room." All for One said.
"This way, lord Stain." Dabi said.
Getting away from All for One was a relief and he followed the boy without a complaint. He'd break Dabi's neck and make a run for it when he got the chance.
"Take me to that girl Toga." Stain said.
"Sure." Dabi said and looked at him shyly: "I'm honored to finally meet you, lord Stain."
"How so? And I'm no lord."
"Sorry. When the League put out the word that they needed muscle to break you out, me and Toga knew we had to join up. I… we both really admire your work."
Stain clenched his fists.
"You think some punk could understand what I'm trying to do?"
"Perfectly. No one hates fake heroes more than I do." Dabi said.
"Big claim, boy."
Dabi smiled a scarred smile.
"Have you heard of Quirk marriages?"
"Who hasn't. You marry someone based on their Quirk to produce strong children. Eugenics bullshit." Stain said.
"That was father's plan when he married… forced my mother to marry him."
Dabi's eyes turned feverish.
"He forced mom to have his kids until he finally got one that had both fire and ice. All the… failures were cast aside. When father had the kid he wanted, he threw mom aside too. She's been locked in an asylum for years. Like a criminal! And people still call that bastard a hero! The second greatest hero in Japan!"
The air around Dabi had turned burning hot and Stain backed off before his hair caught on fire. Dabi forced himself to calm down and looked at Stain with the eyes of a fanatic.
"I had to meet you, so you could train me. If no one else is going to punish the bastard, I'll do it."
Stain didn't answer and passed Dabi when he noticed the door to the bar. Kurogiri was manning the bar and Toga was sitting in one of the tables sipping a milkshake. In the corner sat a young man with gray hair whose face was covered by a hand like a mask. He barely noticed Stain and kept staring at his handheld console.
Toga left out a squeal when she noticed him.
"Baby Stain! Yer up!"
"Evening, Mr. Stain. Would you like a drink?" Kurogiri said.
Stain passed Kurogiri without a word and limped towards Toga. Dabi stayed by the counter and looked on uneasily.
"Ya finally giving me that selfie?" Toga said.
"Why did you help me?" Stain said.
"I told ya. I'm yer biggest fan." Toga said.
Dabi coughed.
"After Dabi." Toga corrected.
"Flattery won't save you." Stain said.
"Is that round three already? How did the other two matches end for ya again?"
Why didn't he sense any fear in the girl? Then again what could possibly scare you after Mrs. Ikari? The best even All for One could do was shock him.
Stain looked around.
"Where's your boyfriend?"
"I don't think Izuku-Izuku would approve of the present company. He wants to be a hero."
Stain snorted.
"A villain dating a wannabe hero. How quaint."
Toga grinned.
"What Izuku-Izuku don't know about, can't bother him."
"Is that your plan. You want to make a villain out of him." Stain said.
It was the first time the man with the hand looked up and spoke. He had the eyes of an animal who had been caged for too long and driven insane. Stain recognized the eyes of someone who had survived Mrs. Ikari's care. That had to be All for One's Tomura.
"I'll kill any All Might fanboy who shows his face here."
"Besides, the dude's a pussy." Dabi said.
Stain held out his maimed hand.
"Count my fingers and call him a pussy again."
Toga laughed.
"Why ya all so serious? I want Izuku-Izuku to be a hero."
"What?" Stain said.
Kurogiri and Dabi were looking at Toga with curiosity. Even Tomura had forgotten his game for the moment. Toga grinned and suddenly All for One wasn't the creepiest thing in the building. She went on to an insane ramble that Stain had a hard time following but couldn't stop listening.
"Wouldn't it be fun? To have a hero as an archenemy? Ya would fight them for years and after every fight they'd hate ya a bit more. They wanna kill ya a bit more till ya are all they can think about. No matter who they are with, ya'll always be their real number one. Then when ya finally get killed, it still won't be over. Ya'll still be their real number one. Who could compete with an archenemy? They'll spent years looking for someone to fill the void, but no one is ever good enough. It will go on till they have chased off everyone else and all they have are memories of ya. Then they die and ya get to start it all over again in hell."
Toga fell silent to catch her breath before continuing. Everyone else were hypnotized like mice staring into the eyes of a snake.
"The only love that lasts, is love between archenemies. Everyone else will leave ya. No one will love Izuku-Izuku like me and he will never love anyone like he loves me. I'll always be his number one. Always. Always. Always! If I have his baby, the kid can pick up the fight when I'm gone. If Izuku-Izuku has babies with someone else, they can continue the fight when he's gone too. Then the kids will have kids and the fight will go on and on. Forever! It will be an eternal monument to me and Izuku-Izuku."
You could have heard a pin drop on the other side of the planet. Tomura was the first one to break the silence. He put down his game and looked at Toga between the fingers on his face.
"You're fucking crazy."
Toga wagged her finger.
"Naw. I'm having fun. Ya wanna know who's crazy? All the people not having fun. I'm the sanest gal in the world."
Stain pulled a chair and sat in the same table with Toga.
"Kurogiri. I'll have that drink now." Stain said without taking his eyes off Toga.
"Certainly, Mr. Stain. What will it be?"
"Apple juice on the rocks. And Dabi?"
"Yes?" Dabi said.
"I'll train you. Tell All for One I'll stay here for a while."
"As you wish, Mr. Stain." Kurogiri said.