The bar was silent. Nobody dared to move. Izuku felt his breath halt as the voice of All for One permeated the air around him. It was honestly a little reassuring to see everyone else react the same way, seeing as how he'd only really gotten that form of validation from All Might and Ragdoll before. It was terrifying to hear that rumbling bass of a voice, and it always shook Izuku to his very core. It seemed that it had a similar effect on everyone else, as the conversation in the bar immediately stopped upon the screen flickering to life and All for One's voice ringing out, greeting everyone.
"Master. You're early," Shigaraki said, seemingly intentionally keeping any tone out of his voice, good or bad.
"Yes. I sensed that things were taking a turn, and decided that I would put a hand on the steering wheel, as it were. Do you need help, Tomura?" All for One asked.
"No. I don't need help, the brat's just being difficult," Shigaraki said, glaring at Izuku.
"How so?" All for One asked again.
"He's … asking too many questions that don't have good answers. He's comparing me to All Might. Make him stop!" Shigaraki whined.
"What questions is he asking, Tomura?" All for One asked again, the interested tone to his voice making Izuku's whole body shake for a moment despite how much it hurt his arm to do so.
"He said that he agrees with our message, but not our execution. He says that it all comes back to All Might, and that I'm inspired by him. It's disgusting bullshit, and I want him to stop, but he just won't shut up!" Shigaraki said.
All for One was silent for a long time. It was only after a few moments of heavy breathing from Shigaraki being the only sound in the room that the legendary Villain spoke up again, this time with a lilting voice that told Izuku that he was amused by what Shigaraki had told him. Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine at that, but quickly regained his composure.
"I don't think he's entirely wrong, Tomura. I think that you have some things to gain from Izuku Midoriya. I think we both do," All for One said, his tone becoming darker as he admitted, even if only to Izuku, that he was going to take One for All from him.
It was a split second reaction, and it immediately was masked by the annoyed expression Shigaraki always seemed to have, but Izuku could have sworn that he saw the Villain glance over to the screen in concern. That was odd. Concern, but for who? It clearly wasn't Izuku, so it either had to be for All for One or for Shigaraki himself. It was probably more like confusion, Izuku realized, as it was clear to him now that All for One didn't let Shigaraki in on his more intricate plans. Izuku knew that this had to have been one big ploy to get One for All from him, but if Shigaraki didn't know the name, and couldn't infer what it was based on that name, then he truly had nothing on One for All. He really was just an angry person lashing out at Izuku, who'd beaten him. That was disconcerting, but it also made Izuku realize something else.
Shigaraki was also just a piece on All for One's game board. They were all chess pieces, and though it was clear that Shigaraki was a valuable piece, he was a piece nonetheless. It seemed that Shigaraki didn't get that yet, that he was under the impression that he was in control. If Izuku was going with this chess analogy, he and Shigaraki were opposing Kings, and Izuku was in check, completely surrounded by both the King and his Pawns. The player, though — the player was an entirely different beast, impossible to fully understand unless one could see like they did, from above everything else. All for One had that bird's eye view, that detached nature that allowed him to carry out these plans. Izuku felt himself swallow, for almost his entire semester had been leading up to this, the final confrontation. Their little game was about to come to an end after all this time.
Admittedly, the chess analogy kind of fell apart when Izuku considered the player opposite All for One. The mastermind clearly wasn't in control of both sides … unless he was. Izuku had been thinking about it wrong. There wasn't a second player, because All for One was such a perfectionist, not to mention a narcissist, that he couldn't fathom, let alone allow for someone else to hold his amount of power and control over the board. He was the one that had sent Shigaraki to the USJ. He was the one who had invaded his mind during the Sports Festival. Stain, who was sitting not twenty feet away from Izuku at that very moment, was the one who'd cut Iida down. It had to have been All for One who'd sent that Nomu after him during the internship. It had been All for One who'd been acting as a leech on his power these last few months, and it was All for One who had allowed the attack on the camp to happen.
Izuku had known that he had been behind all of that, but it went deeper than that. All of those things had also been influencing the Heroes' actions as well as the Villains'. The attacks on the USJ and Izuku's mind had pushed him toward mastering his powers faster and had caused him to go with Aizawa for his internship. Those things, plus Iida's death pushed UA to change up the final exams and ramp up the intensity and change the location of the training camp. Those things had lined up the group of UA teachers and students to be vulnerable, emotionally and physically, to attack. Everything had lined up perfectly so that the Villains' attack on the camp would succeed. All for One had been playing both sides perfectly. He really was the player, because nobody could match his intelligence, and his scheming nature. He was in control. All for One was the most powerful man in Japan, now that All Might was winding down in power and the time he could wield that power.
All for One's voice crept into the room, that filtered something that kept coming through creeping Izuku out in the process. It didn't sound like the Demon Lord's voice was coming from the speaker. It never had. Instead, it was as if his voice just leaked into the air, coming from everywhere and nowhere. His voice hadn't been this way when he'd spoken in the vestige realm, so maybe this was something he was doing in order to seem frightening. Well, it was working.
"All Might isn't just a symbol for Hero society, Tomura. He's a symbol for us, too. He stands for everything that has oppressed, stifled and put us down. That walking brick wall has single handedly made the world see us as nothing, when they should see us as everything. We'll make them fear us again, Tomura. We'll be our own symbols," All for One said, continuing on from his speech to Shigaraki.
The way All for One was talking reminded Izuku of En, strangely. The way he'd spoken of everyone having their own Symbol, like All Might but more personal, and striving to embody that which they value, it sounded awfully similar to the way All for One was talking now. He wouldn't put it past either of them to philosophize with each other before fighting.
"If All Might is the waking world's Symbol of Peace and Justice, then we will be Symbols of Fear, and Chaos. We will show our underworld, our home, that we are above all the silly nonsense that he's drilled into the public's collective consciousness. I know we'll succeed, Tomura. You just need to make it into reality. You are destined for greatness, Tomura, so go and take it. I know that I'll be doing the same," All for One drawled. Izuku could feel the pointedness of that last comment, but kept steady.
Shigaraki smiled, but that smile quickly faltered. Izuku watched as several different emotions showed in his eyes, from hate, to confusion, to joy, but the one thing that kept steady was that it was all directed at Izuku.
"I know how to get what I want. One touch and I'll have it. But … I can't do that yet, can I?" Shigaraki said, keeping his eyes on Izuku but directing his words somewhere else.
There was a sigh from the disembodied voice of All for One. "Nothing impresses me more, Tomura, than your ability to surprise me," he said, a strange quality to his voice that Izuku couldn't quite recognize.
"You need him," Shigaraki declared, with no room for argument in his tone. There was a slight hesitation in his eyes however, a kind of want, and Izuku realized that he was probably going to ask why, but had stopped himself.
Izuku felt a kind of empathy for Shigaraki, and he didn't know why. He felt like he understood him. Maybe it was that their relationship was simply charged with some different emotions that neither of them could really resolve without punching the other, but it was like there was a connection there that he didn't really feel with anyone but All Might. It was something deep within him, but also … not. He'd never brought it up, but Izuku could sometimes feel when All Might used the remainder of his power. They were connected through One for All that way. It was like that, a feeling in his gut that wouldn't go away whenever they locked eyes. Strange.
"He's integral to my plans," All for One replied. "Rather, he is the plan. Tomura, have you ever noticed how special that boy is?" the Demon asked.
"Of course. The brat has multiple Quirks."
Ah, so they had clocked him.
"Did you ever figure out how or why he has those Quirks?" All for One asked, an almost teasing lilt to his voice.
"No, you nev—" Shigaraki said, but cut himself off halfway. His eyes, wide and angry, focused on Izuku for a second, but he quickly turned away from him to face the screen. "I didn't get it. What is this kid?" he asked.
"He's an heir to a very important legacy," All for One said.
Shigaraki glanced at Izuku again. He could see it in Shigaraki's eyes, that it was getting harder to deny that his Master was keeping things from him. The Villain paused for a moment to think, and then closed his hands into fists and turned back to the screen. As he turned, Izuku could see the strength in his eyes, a kind of fire that he didn't see anywhere else but in his classmates as they tried their best to achieve their dreams. Shigaraki was getting serious about this, and that thought made Izuku reconsider how immature the man in front of him really was.
"What's your plan for him?" Shigaraki asked.
"I don't see how that's important," All for One said, his voice clearly conveying his offense at the question.
"I brought him here. I captured him. He's mine. I want to know what'll happen to him," Shigaraki said, none of his high-pitched whining present in his voice.
"Tomura, why so many questions?" All for One asked, putting on a fake kind of curiosity.
"He's my kill. You told me he was mine if I caught him. If you kill him—" Shigaraki started.
"I won't. Killing him would invalidate everything we've worked to build," All for One admitted.
Izuku was sure that All for One wouldn't kill him before he could take One for All. Izuku wasn't sure that he could really do it, as Izuku would never consent to the transfer, but All for One sounded so sure that he could get what he wanted, so Izuku wasn't certain that he couldn't.
Something stood out to Izuku about this conversation, and that was the note of distrust between both All for One and Shigaraki, and that it seemed to go both ways. It was clear that All for One was trying to keep Shigaraki from killing Izuku until he could get his hands on One for All, but there was a good chance that would never happen, and it was likely that All for One himself knew this, so there was about a fifty-fifty chance that he was simply lying to Shigaraki in order to sate his desire for revenge, yet nurture it at the same time. That was dangerous, as it had lit the fuse to a bomb that was now in the same room as the trigger.
But, there also seemed to be some distrust coming from Shigaraki. He seemed to be hesitant in completely giving Izuku over to All for One, something Izuku himself was grateful for and skeptical of in equal measures. Why? Izuku couldn't know without provoking more out of either of them, and he wasn't willing to lose more of himself if Shigaraki's reaction to his taunts earlier had proven to be a consistent trait the two of them shared.
There was also the phrasing that All for One had used when referring to Izuku that bugged him. 'He is the plan' and that 'killing him would invalidate everything'. The vibe Izuku had gotten from All for One in their previous interactions was that of a man on a mission. He only cared about One for All, and not the person holding it. He'd gladly kill them if he thought he'd missed his window. He'd succeeded with every one of the holders he'd encountered except for All Might, even if he could've tortured the whereabouts of their successor out of them. That had always seemed strange to Izuku. It was like he wanted the cat and mouse game to continue. Izuku would venture a guess and say that if he really did manage to steal One for All one of these days, he'd fall into a crisis. He wouldn't know what to do with himself. He'd be lost. Izuku could likely use that to his advantage if he got into a confrontation with All for One, but that was a last resort.
The phrasing All for One had used in reference to Izuku, though, was strange. It almost seemed like One for All was secondary to Izuku himself. Maybe it had to do with the Quirks of the past users manifesting with him. That was probably it. All for One likely wanted to know how exactly he'd gotten the power to work for him in such a way, so that he could use those Quirks once he had the power. Izuku wished him good luck with that, as he'd never really gotten a concrete answer himself. Yeah, he'd gotten that line from Yoichi about having hit the point of singularity when he'd had his first vestige dream, but he hadn't figured out a concrete reason as to why he specifically was able to use all these Quirks.
Izuku had come to the conclusion that Quirks were like organs. Izuku, in this analogy, was hollowed out inside. He didn't have anything in there, so when One for All filled that space, it had a lot more room than it would've if he'd had a Quirk like every holder before All Might. So, One for All grew to fill the space, bringing the dormant Quirks of the past Quirked users to the surface in order to fill the extra space he had for them. That had made the most sense, but it still didn't really explain why All Might hadn't had the Quirks. After all, All Might had been Quirkless, too, and he'd never had any clue that the Quirks of past holders were stored in the core of One for All. It was his best guess, but he didn't know for sure. All for One probably hated that, as the control freak that he was.
"Just … give me some time to properly enjoy this," Shigaraki said, a kind of desperation lacing his voice that made Izuku's stomach squirm.
"Fine. You have some time, but if my plans come into danger of being foiled, I will not be as forgiving as I was after the USJ fiasco," All for One said.
A kind of mix of joy and worry came across Shigaraki's face, and Izuku felt himself tense at the odd expression. The older man looked at Izuku from his spot in the middle of the room, and grinned an awful grin that told of countless things he wished to do to the boy. Izuku felt another pang of that strange familiarity from locking eyes with Shigaraki, a kind of longing in his chest that was completely foreign, but also hit so close to home that it had to mean something. Izuku searched himself for where this feeling may have come from, what it may have been, but came up with nothing in the moment. He sighed, but focused back in on Shigaraki as he slowly approached.
"Midoriya. You've made a lot of trouble for me and my crew. That's not going to be a problem for much longer, though. Master is going to do what he wants with you, and then you'll be all mine. You'll regret the day you crossed me," Shigaraki said, getting a bit too close to Izuku than he'd really preferred.
"You really think you're in the right. You truly believe that you deserve this revenge. Let me burst your bubble, Shigaraki; you don't. I defended myself against your army of thugs, and so I deserve to die because of that? Even for a Villain, your logic isn't as strong as you think it is," Izuku said slowly, hoping to finally get his point across.
"I'm not weak!" Shigaraki screamed, bringing his hands down on both of Izuku's arms.
Danger Sense started pinging, and Izuku braced for another wave of Decay, but instead was surprised that Shigaraki had hit him with fists and had, knowingly or not, spared Izuku from the damage his Quirk would bring to his body. It still hurt his already injured arm, as it was broken and the skin on that arm had been shredded by Decay, but it was better than what he could've gotten. Izuku sucked in a breath and held it to avoid crying out, and held strong against the flood of pain that washed over him at the pseudo-attack.
"I didn't say you were weak! I said your reasoning skills are lacking. If you see every little criticism as an attack, then no wonder you've taken my retaliation to heart! Shigaraki, you've got to see what I'm talking about! You've got to see that I'm trying to help you!" Izuku screamed, finally letting his frustration bubble over.
"I don't want you to help! I want you to die!" Shigaraki screamed, and lifted his hands, one clean and one with a smudge of blood on it from Izuku's arm.
This time, Shigaraki's fingers were splayed out and ready to make contact. Izuku felt like everything slowed down as he realized that Shigaraki was going for the kill. A brief thought crossed his mind, that he should let him. Izuku knew that was bad, and that he should fight for his life, but he was coming at it from the angle that it would make All for One's plan fail. It all hinged on the question of if All for One could steal Quirks from corpses, though, and Izuku wasn't sure. He just didn't have the information he needed in order to come to a logical conclusion, so he decided to defend himself.
Izuku opened his mouth and reeled his tongue back. This technique was one he'd had for a while, since just after the USJ in fact, but he'd rarely had to use it. He'd first used it to help catch shards of a mug that he'd broken with his tests on Ochako's Quirk, and he hadn't had a name for it then, but he'd since figured that 'Froppy Style' fit best. He'd based it partly off how Tsu used their tongue and applied it to Blackwhip. This was really the first stepping stone to realizing that Blackwhip could be used with other limbs and body parts, not just Izuku's hands. He'd have to thank Tsu when he got out of this mess.
As he shot his tongue out, Izuku forced Blackwhip out with it, firing off a thinner, yet still forceful strand of the Quirk into Shigaraki's face as he paused for a moment before his attack. The Blackwhip landed square on his hand mask and knocked Shigaraki's head back, stopping his attack and getting the Vanguard to look at the scene unfolding before them with shocked expressions and slight smirks at their leader's misfortune. Izuku felt a swell of pride as his counter worked out, but his slight smile faded fast when he realized that he'd knocked the mask clean off, and Shigaraki was now staring at the ceiling with nothing between his face and the world.
Shigaraki stood still for a moment, not moving a muscle as he stared up at the ceiling. Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine at that, as he'd not seen him so still except for when All for One was speaking. It was an eerie stillness, one that told Izuku that he was about to be in for a world of hurt. That may have simply been Danger Sense humming in the back of his head, though. Shigaraki's hand twitched, and Izuku tensed, but nothing happened. Shigaraki simply laughed.
The Villain's laugh was an airy, strained sound that sounded like it hurt to make. Izuku wished he could cover his ears, but he was stuck listening to it as the man who'd kidnapped him started to cackle as he let his shoulders hang and his sick, twisted version of humor overwhelmed him. Shigaraki leaned over in a flash to scoop up his hand mask, but he didn't stop laughing. It was like he'd been set off, and couldn't, or wouldn't stop now.
As Shigaraki rose to his full height, much taller than Izuku even if he wasn't strapped to a chair, he gradually tapered off with the laughing. His hair was covering his face, which gave Izuku a bad feeling. Once he was in control of himself, Shigaraki sighed, and looked at his hand mask through the gaps in his hair, which still wouldn't allow Izuku to see through them.
"You know, I don't just hate you because you fought back. I hate you because you are an example of everything wrong with society, and that's not a lie. You hurt me, true, but you also hurt yourself. You were totally willing to die that day jumping in front of me like that, and you didn't care about what you'd leave behind if you did," Shigaraki said in a shockingly calm voice that contrasted so harshly against his behavior just seconds earlier.
Izuku realized that he was right. He was willing to die at the USJ, if he'd be able to save All Might by doing so. He was ready to sacrifice himself at the drop of a hat if it meant that someone else would live. It was that same mindset that led to him breaking his limbs as many times as he had. He knew it was bad to be so ready for that kind of thing, but he couldn't bring himself to hold back that burning desire to protect, no matter the consequence. Shigaraki had a point there, but Izuku didn't know where he was going with it.
"You're so ready to give yourselves up on a silver platter, and leave it all behind," Shigaraki said, his shoulders tensing as he spoke.
"It … all?" Izuku asked.
"Your families. Your friends. Those you could've saved. You're so obsessed with yourselves that you forget there are people other than yourselves. Then, without you, they fall through the cracks, like you said. Then those lost souls become Villains who kill Heroes, and then the cycle starts over again. I'm looking to end that cycle, and it starts with you. All the 'Heroes' will die, and be replaced by self-accountability, and the government's power over us will be placed in the hands of every single person who ever felt abandoned, betrayed and left behind by the world that promised to protect them. Every single one of my Vanguard will be saviors, and I'll lead them into the new world without Heroes. Without you," Shigaraki said, finally looking up at Izuku.
What Izuku was met with when Shigaraki lifted his gaze to him wasn't pretty. It was a jagged scar that went from one corner of his face to the opposite. One of his eyes was gray, probably because of the scar that just barely ran across that eye. His mole was … strikingly familiar. It looked just like Nana's, in the same place, the same size and everything. It was even more odd that the gray eye was just like Nana's own steely irises as well. Nana was tall, and built like a brick wall, and that definitely was reflected in Shigaraki as well, even if he didn't pack on muscle like she did — he had the frame for it, and he was certainly boasting his fair share of strength and speed by the times he'd seemingly been too fast to see, even for Danger Sense. Could they be related? It was possible, but the question was if Nana knew. That was when it hit Izuku that those pangs of familiarity and longing weren't from him, but from Nana's vestige in his mind. She must have recognized Shigaraki in some way, and her presence in his mind was weighing down his thoughts as he heard one singular word.
"Tenko," Nana's voice echoed in Izuku's head.
"Tenko?" Izuku said to himself in shock at hearing Nana's voice for the first time in months.
It seemed that saying that out loud was not in Izuku's best interests, as Shigaraki lost what little was left of his patience. His eyes widened, his enraged expression returning with full force. His hands twitched, and Shigaraki glared at Izuku as if he believed it would kill him right then and there. With the look in the Villain's eyes, Izuku wouldn't rule it out, as it seemed that every bit of the terrifying Villain he'd faced at the USJ was back and aiming all of his anger and hatred directly at him in full.
"Why did you say that name? Where'd you hear it?" Shigaraki asked, his expression faltering as he hesitated. He wasn't angry then. Was he … scared? Was Shigaraki afraid of that name?
"I don't know. Who's Tenko?" Izuku asked, seeing how it impacted him.
"Shut up!" Shigaraki screamed, pressing his hands up to the sides of his head. He seemed to be in pain, and Izuku kept pushing.
"Is that ... you? Are you Tenko?" he asked again, and Shigaraki fell to his knees.
"I'm Tomura Shigaraki. Master said so!" Shigaraki yelled, breathing raggedly.
"And you still believe everything Master tells you?" Izuku asked. He knew that he was playing with fire, but this was the best shot he was going to get at convincing Shigaraki to stop this.
"I have to," Shigaraki said, the heat in his tone entirely gone.
Izuku honestly felt bad for Shigaraki. It seemed like All for One had done his very best to brainwash him into submission, and into really believing all the horrible lies he told. What was worse, it seemed like Shigaraki had once been a Shimura, and that All for One had stolen him away and made him into his apprentice as what must have been some sort of psychological game directed at All Might. Nothing more mind bendingly horrifying than fighting the family of the one woman who believed in your dream. He had to tell All Might when he was safe. For now, though, he had an opening.
"You don't have to. There's a better way. You were allowed to fall into the hands of a two-hundred year old demon, and I was allowed to suffer in my own personal hell, tortured for a decade by the one person I thought was my friend. We both deserve more love than we got. We can make it better, though. We can show the world that people like us deserve a chance to be saved. So, let me save you. Please, Tenko. If you don't, you'll just perpetuate the things you hate, and I know you don't want that," Izuku said, trying his best to get Shigaraki on his side. It would be a tough sell, but if he could see what he'd been doing was bad, and that the way he was going about things wouldn't help anyone but All for One, there was a non-zero chance that he could get Shigaraki on his side. As far as Izuku was concerned, they had a common enemy.
"How would it work?" Shigaraki asked, still on his knees on the floor.
Izuku felt himself gasp at the question. Was Shigaraki listening to him? It was more than enough for the man to just entertain him, but from the look on his face, torn and hurt and … vulnerable, it seemed like he was actually giving Izuku a shot. Shigaraki's teammates, on the other hand, didn't look so convinced. Dabi looked bored, like always, Stain seemed interested, like Shigaraki, Toga and Spinner looked much the same as Dabi, and he couldn't tell what Magne and Compress were thinking as they were standing so far away from him. Izuku seemed to have grabbed Shigaraki and Stain, though, and they would surely sway the others that legitimately wanted to make a better world for them and people like them to live in, and together they could certainly defeat those among them who just wanted to destroy.
"We'd become Heroes, the legit kind, and fight against the unfairness of the system. We'd rise to the top and make everyone hear our voices, and make it known what people like us go through. We'd fund programs and get rules put in place that ensure that the downtrodden of today can give their children better lives. We'd save them," Izuku said.
"And that would make the ones responsible change?" Shigaraki asked.
"No," Izuku admitted, his enthusiasm fading slightly. "I don't think the kind of people we're talking about can change. You can't make people feel things they don't feel. But, we can teach the next generation. I've seen it myself, with Katsuki Bakugo. He's the one that … hurt me. But, he's been better, and I know that he feels bad about what he did. Bakugo changed, and that's how I know that if we light the way to a better future, the people that want to change will walk down it and become better. The people that don't change, we don't have to listen to, because who cares what a bunch of miserable people think about you when you have so many more people who will show you love and care? I don't. You shouldn't either, because I know that if you change, and if you help me, you'll have those kinds of people, too. You managed to find some going from back alley to back alley, so who knows what you'll be able to do if you had a platform like the one I'm offering? You could find out if you'd just let me go and come with me. Please, Tenko, do it. For your own sake, and the sake of everyone to whom you could be a Hero if you'd just come with me. Tenko, you can forge your own path; one supported by love and of hope instead of hatred and fear. All for One doesn't love you, but I could help you find the kind of love you're looking for. I can help you," Izuku said, hoping that he got his message across to the young man sitting in front of him.
Looking at Shigaraki's face, you'd never tell that he was ready to turn Izuku to dust just moments before. He was shaking, holding his own head in his hands and looking torn between two worlds. Izuku supposed that he was stuck between two worlds, being the family of a Hero, but being brought up to be a Villain. It wasn't fair that Shigaraki had become this, as he was sure that, given the right support, he would've made a fantastic rescue Hero. Maybe he still could be. That all depended on Shigaraki's answer, though, and Izuku waited with baited breath for the next words out of his mouth.
Before Izuku got his answer, though, he felt what was once an anticipatory holding of his breath had changed into a real inability to breathe. Izuku tried to suck in a breath, but felt a cold, watery substance enter his lungs instead. Danger Sense started going off at Izuku drowning on what was slowly coming up his throat, but Izuku couldn't do anything about it with his hands tied. So, Izuku just did his best to cough it up. But, once he managed to get some of the liquid out of his mouth, he spit it out to find that it was black, and sludge-like. It almost reminded him of the Sludge Villain from way back when he'd met All Might for the first time, but it was completely black. Before that thought could spring off into another, more slime came, and before he knew it, Izuku was being covered in the stuff.
"What in the world?" he could hear Stain ask.
"Master," Shigaraki said, the thought clearly bypassing his filter and being spoken without him meaning to by the look of shock on his face.
Izuku found himself feeling airy after a few moments, recognizing the feeling of suffocation from that day over a year ago. He hadn't had anything to drink or eat, so this couldn't be his fault. Not, it was probably All for One, like Shigaraki had said. Izuku tried his best to eject all of the slime, but it just kept coming, as if the source of the stuff was inside his own lungs. After about a minute of struggling like this, Izuku was completely covered, and felt himself become as light as air.
Before he could wonder if this was what dying felt like, Izuku landed on the ground, unbound, on cold cement. He looked around and saw that he was in some kind of laboratory. Izuku's mangled arm fell to the floor, at which Izuku shouted out in pain and cradled in his good arm.
A tiny movement in the corner of Izuku's eye met him with a man, at least seven feet tall, sitting on a grand throne at the wall. A hospital's worth of wires were slinking in and out of the man, from his head and face to his hands and torso, almost every available place on his body was hooked up to a wire. His large grin told Izuku that this could only be one man, and the intense scarring on the upper half of the man's face, the scars that Izuku had heard about but not seen, confirmed that fact. This was All for One. Seeing the Demon Lord in person was a whole other experience, and Izuku had to throw up on the ground beside himself due to all the pain from Shigaraki's torture session and the first look at All for One's true body. He'd looked different in the vestige realm, and in his dreams, so Izuku couldn't truly blame himself.
"Izuku Midoriya, how delightful it is to finally meet you in person. Care to talk?" he said, grinning down at Izuku like a feral animal who'd just cornered their prey. Izuku wasn't sure that was totally inaccurate.
This couldn't be good. He just had to stall for someone to come rescue him. Izuku could do that. Probably.
