13/07/2021

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!

The Emperor's Dragon
Nestling 60

Chiyo Shuzenji read from a clipboard. She knew the injuries but she wanted to make sure that none were forgotten. A lifetime of dealing with heroes meant she knew how they were. They'd try to get up and out before they were healed correctly.

In that way, she was somewhat thankful for the side effects of her quirk. Heroes, or civilians couldn't get up if they were sleeping off the healing her quirk gave them. Chiyo wondered what others with healing quirks thought, especially those that didn't cause fatigue or other side effects to keep the subject subdued?

"Toshinori," Chiyo shook her head. "This is serious."

"I know," the Number One hero told her before gesturing for her to continue.

"All right, the strain on your hamstrings and ligaments will heal. Moving up to your groin and abdomen," she sighed heavily. "Your guts have been stitched together from the bits we could find. Your large intestine is about a third shorter than it should be and your small intestine is about half as long. You're on a whole suite of antibiotics to reduce the chance of infection and of course healing quirks have been used but there are going to be lifelong consequences. Your left kidney is gone and we had to cut down your liver down to save it. I don't know who you thank that your spleen is intact because your stomach and left lung took the brunt of the damage. And they have both been removed. Your heart had shrapnel in it and we had to stitch that back up." Shrapnel was not the right term. Bone was but it had acted in the same manner.

A lot of quirk healing had been done on his heart, and to give his body strength to endure. With wounds that bad the patient needed a lot of strength to pull through.

"You know what that means though, don't you?" Chiyo asked. Over the time she had learned that when discussing life changing news, it was best to make the patient say the words. It might be cruel but it made them accept it more.

It was odd to see All Might sigh. "I can't," he said finally.

"You can't what?"

"I can't retire," he told her.

Chiyo shook her head. "With these injuries, you aren't going to have a choice. You can't get into another battle!"

"I have to," he told her.

At that, Chiyo knew she wasn't speaking to Toshinori, but to All Might, the number one Hero. "You don't have to comfort me," she snapped. "You have to acknowledge reality," Chiyo added with a glare.

"The country needs a Pillar."

She shook her head. Definitely speaking with the number one hero and not the man. "At what cost?" Chiyo asked instead. "You can't go on with those injuries. Accept it, that you got him and retire on that note."

All Might shook his head. "Now is not the time. The country would be thrown into turmoil if I retire now. I have to continue."

Chiyo sighed again, blowing out her breath heavily and gave up for the moment. She knew when it was a lost cause. "See me about your diet when you are checked out," she said instead. "Though I know my colleagues will talk to you about that, but I can provide extra information," Chiyo clarified. She had faith that the Doctors would be giving Toshinori a full run down but she knew he probably wouldn't listen. When he ran into problems, she'd be there to sort him out.

He was going to run into problems if not with his digestion then with pins and needles in his left leg from compromised circulation, with blood or liquid on his remaining lung, with a whole host of potential problems that would arise from injuries that bad.

She took a step back, shaking her head as the Commissioner of the Hero Public Safety Commission stepped forward.

"Sir," Toshinori greeted Commissioner Haruta.

"All Might," the man replied before he took a seat. "Who was he?" The Commissioner asked. "I've read the reports, but who was he to you? They cleaned his brain matter out from under your fingernails. So who did you hate that much?"

Toshinori sighed. "I'm sure Mirai has told you?" he made the statement a question.

Commissioner Soukan nodded. "Sir Nighteye has been a great help but I want to hear it from you."

"All For One," Yagi murmured. "I don't know his real name. I don't really know much about him."

"It doesn't seem like many people do," the Commissioner agreed. "Hisashi Riji is a fiction we are quickly finding appears solid, but is like smoke, which is why I want to know what you know."

"If you've read the reports, then you know just about everything I know. His quirk was named All For One. It allowed him to take other people's quirks, to either use for himself, or to give to others so that they serve him.

"He was born when quirks were new and he's been fighting for something ever since then. He killed my mentor, Nana Shimura."

"But not before she gave you her quirk," Commissioner Soukan mused.

Chiyo could hear the man's longing and she was thankful she was standing behind him. She sent a sharp look towards the Number One Hero but All Might's visage displayed nothing. He had to have heard the desire in the man's voice though. It was impossible to miss!

"Not before she gave me her quirk," All Might confirmed. "But before I was fully trained. Once I was trained, I've been looking for him ever since."

"Well you found him and now we are here."

"Now we are here," All Might agreed.

Chiyo was thankful that he was astute enough to not say anything else. She worked with the Commission but that didn't mean she liked them. It wasn't anything the Commission did specifically, but rather that they were involved in politics. That always leads to compromises and they weren't always the best compromises.

Compromises such as pinning the blame on Toxic Chainsaw. She understood why. To the public, Hisashi Riji was a legitimate businessman. To reveal that he was deeply involved in the underworld would greatly erode public confidence in the system. To reveal that his quirk was to take other quirks would go a long way to destroying it.

She understood why the blame was put on Toxic Chainsaw. She understood why they couldn't tell the public the truth, but she didn't have to like it.

"He underestimated me. He underestimated how much I wanted… needed to take him out," Toshinori said softly. "He was arrogant, at first. Assured. He wasn't even desperate at the end. I think he still believed he'd win."

"He was a very powerful man," Soukan nodded.

That could be interpreted several ways. There was no doubt that All For One was physically powerful but Hisashi Riji had been powerful in the world of business.

All Might nodded. "I only hope those he killed can rest in peace now. And those he stole quirks from will… they will never know he's gone but I hope they can find some comfort."

"What else do you know about him?"

The pensive look gracing Toshinori's face vanished and he looked directly into the Commissioner's eyes. "For someone who wanted my quirk, he was very quick to use lethal force."

That got a reaction. "He wanted your quirk?" Soukan demanded. Chiyo could hear the horror in his voice at the thought. All For One was powerful with his own quirk, with All Might's quirk he would be unstoppable.

"I am the Eighth Holder of One For All. The original holder was his brother. My Quirk is the last remnant of his brother. He created One For All when he gave his brother a quirk," All Might summarised for the Commissioner.

Chiyo realised that it was all in one of the reports and she wondered how closely the Commissioner had read them. It wasn't really her concern.

"Ah," Soukan nodded. "So, when will you be back?" he asked, shifting the conversation away from All For One.

"He won't," Chiyo snapped at the same time as Toshinori said "Soon."

"You won't!" She growled. "Did you not hear me earlier?"

"The world needs me," Toshinori replied softly. "Especially now, when I'm sure there is chaos from his removal."

Soukan nodded sagely. Chiyo fumed, already knowing she had lost the argument. She huffed. "Just try to take it easy," she implored.

Apparently, that was all she could do for now.

-ted-

All For One breathed heavily as he lay back on the bed. Pain wracked his form and he held back a grimace. Copying quirks was painful but there was no other way of doing it. He forced himself to focus on other things.

Izuku was his choice of thought. His son had returned to school and Kurogiri had reported that there was no one looking at him. That was good. It meant that the Captain had done his job in pulling back the Detective. But it meant he had to see to Izuku's education now.

His son didn't want to replace him. That was understandable but his son would have to take a more active role. He would have to teach his son how to take quirks. That would need to be orchestrated carefully so that Izuku didn't feel guilty. But he would also need to teach his son about money and investment.

An education in investment could be done for Izuku's birthday. That was about six months away but there was no rush on that. It would be necessary to get Izuku to take a quirk before then. Something small but important.

How could he do that? He knew how it could be done but he wasn't sure how to arrange it. For the first time since the fight with All Might, Hisashi regretted losing one of his employees. Usually he could replace them but right at the moment, he needed Nasutto. He needed the contacts the man had.

Mentally he sighed but physically he grimaced. It was a consequence of allowing his organisation to become so large that he couldn't take care of everything himself. He dismissed that thought. There was no point in dwelling on it. Kurogiri had a broker who provided items. He would have to see how the man, or was it a woman, dealt with other requests.

Thinking of Kurogiri brought him to another point of Izuku's training. He would have to get an update, and if necessary accelerate it.

A wave of pain passed through him and Hisashi couldn't help the small gasp that escaped him. He stopped thinking about the present and cast his mind to the future. Tomura had a group helping him and was out in the world, attacking Heroes. Izuku stood beside him, a Prince of the Underworld, carrying out his will, and establishing himself as a power that was not to be trifled with.

And the buffoon that was All Might was kneeling before him, broken and bleeding. That image was carthic and for a moment it drove away the pain but All For One was realistic. He knew what it would take.

Him, fully healed, would be easily able to do it but…

He recognised that on some level that wasn't going to happen. At least, not now, not yet, not without some other change. That wasn't what he was meant to be thinking about, no matter how pleasurable it was.

However, if he could get Izuku to a certain degree of strength, then he could defeat All Might. Not now. Probably not for another eight to nine years but it could be possible.

Which is why he was going through this pain. Izuku would need these quirks. He would benefit from them and they would be the basis of All Might's defeat.

And… All For One didn't smile but he knew if he gave his son a goal then Izuku would embrace it. He might not yet fully hate All Might, despite everything that had happened. Izuku would probably view the man as a victim of the system but it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to shift that view from victim to sympathiser, and from there to collaborator to pillar.

If nothing else, it would please Tomura and…

A new thought came to Hisashi. Izuku's quirk was like his. He could take quirks and only through interference from Doctor Garaki could he give them away. He could not remove One For All from that buffoon All Might, but there were a number of possibilities for that. It could be because it was a feature of his Brother's original quirk. Or it could be because he gave his Brother the stockpiling quirk. It wasn't a function of his own quirk. He had taken and given the same quirk from the same person multiple times in the past. His Brother's quirk and his were related. He might not be able to take it simply because of that fact. However, while Izuku's quirk was also, technically related, it was not as strong a relationship. There was a possibility that Izuku could retrieve One For All for him.

Now that was something that bore thinking about.

It shouldn't be too hard to get Izuku into the vicinity of All Might to test his theory.

His fingers twitched at the thought as the pain continued to wash through him. So, for Izuku he had to see to his training, especially once he got the quirks that were being copied. Arrangements had to be made to ease Izuku into the thought that taking quirks was a good thing and when Izuku had his birthday, he would have to see that he began learning about finances and investment.

That would serve his son well. As for Tomura… no, nothing really needed to be done there. The teen was currently awash with hatred but was still too young to truly begin moving in the world. In a few more years, he would give the teen some tasks to set him on his path. Maybe Tomura could use the prototypes.

Yes, that would work.

He took a deep breath again, fighting against the respirator's rhythm. That would have to be changed. He was not going to breathe on the timing of a machine. It would obey him, not the other way around.

But for now, all he had to do was wait.

Things would come together. They might require a nudge but things would come together.

He would see the world at his feet. He would see yet another user of his Brother's quirk bloody and broken at his feet.

It was just a matter of time.

-ted-

Chiyo, there comes a time when it's best to walk out and leave them to their injuries. You could make a killing in the underworld. They need healers as well and... yeah you aren't obligated to care for them, just take their money! :D Less stress, my dear, far less stress for you because remember there is just no helping some.

AFO continues to copy quirks and thus be in pain. He so needs a different way of doing it but when you are a super-villain there are some sacrifices that must be made for the greater good of your plan.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!