A/N: Thank you for all of the support on the last chapter, and for not immediately throwing heavy objects at me for leaving you all on the cliffhanger. I do so love dramatic timing, as Mr Compress might say.

We're fast approaching the end of Act 2, with only three chapters after this before I take a break for the winter and come back in the New Year. There's a few people we need to hear from, of course, and I wouldn't dare leave you all hanging without an update on our many villains- I know they're the favourites of a few readers. But right here and right now, there's only one priority… the greatest villain of them all. Perhaps the one you've been waiting for since the start of the story.

All For One… returns.

(***)

The past… wasn't dead.

Izuku didn't really understand what was going on, or where he was, but what he could see in front of him was enough to send shivers down his spine. Out of the absolute void around him, he had emerged, an impossibility, long-dead and long gone. Even as faint and ghostly as he may have been, even though he didn't look completely real, there was enough there to make Izuku feel cold at the sight of him. His face was one Izuku could never forget.

This was the man who had changed Izuku's future, for better or for worse, handing him a destiny unlike anything he could have ever imagined. The man who had supposedly ruled from the shadows, unknown to the rest of the world, unmatched by anyone except All Might. The original holder of such a terrible power that Izuku was now afraid of. A power that was now his.

Izuku had watched him fall in battle, robbing the world of All Might and plunging it into darkness. Even now, Izuku's throat felt clammy, reminded of the man's final moments and how he had decided to force his power onto Izuku, how the light had faded from his eyes as he told Izuku that it was his power now. He… had died.

And now, here he stood with a smile on his face. All For One. Before Izuku, flickering like the flame of a candle.

"I'm sure you have questions." When Izuku had come face-to-face with him before at Incident Zero, the villain's voice had been wheezing and gentle, although that was absolutely no surprise. After being devastated by All Might's final Smash, and all the overwhelming power behind it, Izuku was amazed that the villain had survived at all. Now however, the voice was different. Izuku was hearing All For One in full glory, and his voice was everything he had expected of a villain equal to All Might. Smooth as silk and sharp as a blade, rich like treacle and dark like the night. So eloquent, so dangerous, and unmistakably amused underneath it all… the voice of pure evil. "You always have been inquisitive, my boy."
"I… watched you die." It was less of a question and more of a statement by Izuku. It was the immutable truth, after all. "All Might defeated you."

"As I defeated him." There was no sense of bitterness when All For One spoke, and it wasn't as if he was correcting Izuku. If anything, it sounded as if he was acknowledging him. "We both died that day. You are not mistaken. And yet…"

"So if you didn't survive… what does that make you?" Izuku narrowed his eyes, as he stared at the man before him. He had seen him as some kind of spectre before, and that was the only good way of describing the man, the way his skin seemed to be faint and his whole appearance seemed to flicker ever so often. Like he wasn't entirely there, not entirely real. "Some kind of… dream? Or hallucination-"

"The former is a better lie than the other to believe in, and yet both are wrong. I am real, I promise you." All For One directed a look at him, and Izuku couldn't help but flinch slightly under the intensity of his gaze. Amongst the flicker of humour in his eyes, there was something else; some strange sense of… encouragement. "You're a quick study, so don't hold back. You have all of the answers already, in a sense. Think, Izuku."

"O-Okay..." Izuku paused. "I have… all of the answers. From you, or from other people?"

"From both." All For One nodded, and seeing the villain approve like that gave Izuku chills. "Good question. Go on. All of the information is there for you, so… what is happening, Izuku? Where are we? And what am I?"

"Where are we…" Something about how the villain had asked that question made Izuku latch onto it. "You… you said it just then. Every voice I've ever heard? Inside my head."

All For One remained silent, as the cogs began to whir inside Izuku's head, analysis going into overtime. "..."

"The last thing I remember was… Nomu." Izuku's mind was filled with the sound of Nomu's hideous screams, and he looked down briefly at his chest, not seeing any of the injuries which had been inflicted by Doctor Garaki's nightmare creation. Nothing was broken or bloody. He was… too complete. "And then when I open my eyes, I'm not at UA, not in the USJ. And this place? This place is wrong."

Izuku reached down, pushing himself upright so that he was finally standing, but the dust and sand underneath him didn't feel right as he ran his fingers through it. It was there, and yet felt like it was just out of reach. "None of this feels right when I touch it. I can't see anything when I look out over there, except darkness. I should be in pain, I shouldn't be like this. Unless…" Izuku shuddered, his train of thought taking him to a destination which sounded illogical and fantastical. But what else could it be? "I didn't wake up. This is… all in my head. Including you."

"And what would that make me, if that's correct?" All For One had a poker face that was infuriatingly straight. "If not a dream?"

"It's…" Izuku frowned, and the face of an old man determined to hear him speak the truth about his Quirk crossed his mind. "The Doctor said something to Setsuna, before Nomu attacked. As I was telling Himiko about my Quirk. About Quirks… being fickle." Izuku bit the inside of his cheek as he paused. "How a part of a Quirk's former user… can remain, even if the Quirk is transferred. He said it could drive people mad-"

"I knew you'd get there in the end." All For One's interruption caught Izuku completely off-guard, as did the smile from the villain. Such genuine pride on his face… Izuku wasn't ready to see that. "Bravo."

"That's… what this is?" Izuku paused, and stared around at the sand underneath his feet, the dark void surrounding them. "This is… this is All For One."

"This is All For One. And yet, it is not." All For One moved from gesturing out towards the unknown horizon, to pointing to himself. "I am All For One… and yet, I am not."

"You're… a remnant? An echo?"

"Perhaps the better term would be… vestige." All For One straightened up, and folded his arms across his chest. Izuku was amazed that even as he flickered, the fabric of the spectre's jacket crumpled so realistically. "Where you are now, and what you see in front of you? I am what remains. The last gift of a power unlike any other, to preserve its history and ensure that it survives in some form? I am the symbol of endurance."

"And you're in my head…" Izuku trailed off, and the crushing weight of disappointment and frustration hit him. He had lost… the diabolical creation of Doctor Garaki had been too much for him to handle, and his first ever encounter with a real life villain had ended in disaster. Tenko had been hurt standing up for Izuku, carrying him in a fight Izuku hadn't unlocked the power to win on his own. Himiko had jumped into harm's way for him, paying the price, and even Setsuna had lost something along the way as she rescued Himiko. Nomu won.

He felt… useless. Useless, once again. And now, because of the injuries inflicted on him… "I haven't woken up after Nomu beat me. Was I… how badly am I hurt?"

"You're stable, for now. I would be telling you in no uncertain terms if you were not, considering that at present, my survival rather depends on yours." The spectre picked at a sleeve as if there was lint on his suit. As if it were real. "You're unconscious, and will be for some time. Injuries like those you sustained aren't the sort where you would be expected to get up and walk them off."

"I guess Recovery Girl is going to have her work cut out dealing with us." Izuku scratched the back of his head sheepishly, the feeling of his ghostly hand running through ghostly hair too strange to describe. But it was the small noise All For One made that which brought his attention back, the way the corners of his mouth seemed to curl slightly. "... What's that supposed to mean?"

"You think she's still here? I'm sorry to burst your bubble, young man, but…" All For One's eyes sparkled with something, and Izuku couldn't believe the sheer malevolence contained within that one spark of joy. "Recovery Girl will have left UA a long time ago."

"Y-You can't be serious!" Izuku's mouth hung briefly open for a second in shock. "How d-do you know that? I've heard nothing about-"

"Oh, I know. And you are fanatical about Hero culture, after all." There was disdain in his voice, so fast that Izuku could have blinked and missed it. "But I kept tabs too, Izuku. Those who were best placed to oppose me, if you like… Chiyo Shuzenji was one of those. Her healing Quirk was unparalleled, and I suppose in a sense I was rather envious."

"So why would you think-"

"Why would I think that she's gone? You and I both know why, Izuku; one look at this world tells you all you need to know. Picture it. Picture a world where the government and Hero Commission roll back the laws on what the supposed righteous can and cannot do. A world that paid no attention to the man behind the curtain, and suddenly realised how much he did behind the scenes to prevent the rabble from clawing their way into prominence. You have sorry excuses of villains, feeling bold because there's no All Might to stop them, feeling proud because I'm not around to put them in their place, and feeling unstoppable because the Heroes around them can't see the wood for the trees."

"That's…" Izuku stared at All For One, who appeared oblivious to how poetic and raw in equal measure his analysis had come across, how the devastatingly simple summary had slapped Izuku across the face and stung as it did. Izuku realised it wasn't that the spirit didn't believe he was wrong; it was the certainty with which he spoke that he was right that resonated. "... I wish I could say that was wrong."

"Precisely. And into that world, UA strode to try to fill the gaps. Your teacher who couldn't even handle one young zealot with a gun? She ranks highly as a Hero because necessity dictates that she takes to the front line. Thirteen becomes one of the highest-ranked Heroes in the nation, because the scale of disasters that face this country has grown tenfold since Incident Zero." All For One shrugged. "Is it too much of a stretch to accept that such a world burned out Japan's greatest healer? That her services became too in-demand from too many parties, that the pressure grew to separate her from a Hero school and help tackle genuine crises? You won't find Recovery Girl here at UA, Izuku. My bet is that she's long-gone, retired so she no longer has to face the burden left in the wake of catastrophe."

"B-But she's been a UA institution s-since even before I was born!" Izuku's mind was racing. "Surely that can't be? UA has b-built its entire reputation around how safe she can keep the students here! Even if she's retired… she can't have left UA behind completely, can she?"

"Perhaps. Time is a wonderful healer, after all. Perhaps she works part-time, ready for incidents like the USJ. Perhaps she left some means of replicating her Quirk to a lesser degree. If her Quirk worked based on a kiss… perhaps some form of saliva storage." All For One made a noise, and it took a second for Izuku to recognise that he had snorted. "In case of emergency, break glass. Imagine."

"T-That's not funny-"

"Oh, I beg to differ. But face facts, Izuku. Her healing power is second to none, and yet you still remain here, with me, lost in limbo in a spirit world?" All For One took a moment to look around into the darkness, before staring back at Izuku. "You're going to be here a while before somebody patches you up. So if you're staying on this vestigial plane with me, well… what better opportunity for a catch-up? Misery loves company, after all."

"Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?" Izuku didn't know how he wasn't being overwhelmed by the whole situation. "I'm talking to you… your vestige. How?"

"All For One is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be… unnatural."

Izuku paused, staring up into the face of his predecessor. "You survived for all this time. You've been here, in All For One, all along?"

"Remarkable, isn't it?" All For One leaned forward, and Izuku instinctively took a step back. "Since you first used the Quirk, I have been waiting for this. I've been here. I'm the voice inside your head that you refused to hear. I'm the face that you had to… eurgh."

"Eurgh?" Izuku blinked, and saw a flicker of disdain cross All For One's face. "What… why did you just stop?"

"... Eurgh." All For One groaned, and shook his head briefly. "Pop culture."

"Pop… culture?"

"You have no idea what it's like. I've been living inside the head of a young boy for the last seven years." There was a strange look on the ghost's face as he said that, just for a second. "I endure, but I have been constantly exposed to your idea of 'entertainment' as you grow up, to all those supposed 'classic' games and movies that you and dear Tenko seem to lap up. It's humiliating, you know. I live such a long life and achieve so much, and now because of this prison, I find I can't resist the urge to say things sometimes. It's infectious."

"I…" Izuku tried to process what he was hearing, and gave up, sagging slightly. "... I really don't understand."

"It's a lot to take in. As I said, I'm aware you will have numerous questions. And given the lack of company I have had for some considerable years, you'll find I'm rather in the mood to fill you in with some of the details." All For One had a twinkle in his eyes again, clearly enjoying toying with Izuku, but it wasn't as if Izuku had much choice but to go along with things in this strange and ghostly world. "The tragedy of All For One the great, if you will."

"Right... " Izuku shivered, and looked past All For One into the black void surrounding them. "So this is… All For One. This is my Quirk. I didn't know Quirks looked like… well, this."

"They don't. Not all of them, anyway. As I'm sure you have gathered, Izuku, All For One is a rather special Quirk, simultaneously many and one. This world in which we both find ourselves is but one aspect of that."

"It… looks strange." Izuku shook his head. "I never thought a Quirk could exist like this on a spiritual level, so I guess I never thought about what one might look like. I never expected to see anything like all this. But this isn't what I thought."

"Oh, all of this?" With a wave of All For One's hand, the inky black void behind him seemed to part like the tide, and something appeared from within the clouds. It took Izuku a second to realise what he was seeing emerge; a sheer and cold-looking stone chair, tall-backed and imperious and slightly gothic. No, it wasn't a chair. It was a throne. "I used to rather enjoy being referred to by those who knew of my existence as a 'demon lord'. They had many names for me back then, those special few aware of who I actually was, but that one seemed to stick, and I had lived for years enough to seek enjoyment where I could find it. This aspect of All For One… having things this way seemed fitting, as the Symbol of Fear. Even the vestigial plane began to mirror that name, after a while."

"So this is… a reflection of how you feel?" Izuku asked, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he stared at the throne. "I thought that the nothingness might be, um… well. I thought it might be a gap that gets filled a little more, every time another Quirk is added to it."

"That's part of why I chose it, actually. It's good symbology for the limitless potential that I possessed. That you now possess." All For One's smirk grew wider. "Great minds think alike, Izuku."

"I-I don't think we're anything alike." The idea of being compared to this villain made Izuku's gut twist, and he tried to force his voice to be a little firmer. "Not at all."

"Perhaps not. You know very little at the moment, after all, and I know so much I wish to impart upon you." All For One ran a hand through his sheer white hair, and hummed to himself. "Still, on that note, I can see that the atmosphere isn't quite right. It's possibly a little distracting, given that you need to be filled in on what you're missing."

"I-It's fine. We can…" Izuku trailed off, as the spirit turned around and raised both of his arms, facing the abyss. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"It won't do, like this." One of All One's hands moved like an orchestra conductor directing his musicians, and the smog around them began to writhe. "We can do better than this, for our first proper talk. You'll want to know all about the good old days, so let's get comfortable, shall we?"

Izuku's mouth hung open, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor, as the void rippled and suddenly began to change around him. It was as if their surroundings had pulsed away from All For One and his outstretched hands, a wave of smoke billowing out and changing before his very eyes. The sudden brightness made him screw his eyes shut to be able to cope with it, completely at a loss for what was going on, before as the light levels seemed to dim slightly and a strange sound filled his ears, he risked cracking his eyes open again. That sound was so familiar and yet so unexpected here… "That's… wait. What is this?"

Sand. The sand beneath his feet had changed. No longer the same dust as there had been on the floor of the Ruins Zone, this was different. Immaculate and pristine white sand stretched off some considerable way towards the distant horizon, to his left and to his right. Right in front of him, however, an even strange sight, the source of the noise he was hearing. Where there had once been a wall of incomprehensible dark matter, enclosing him in such horrifying claustrophobia, the sand eventually ran out, the end of the shore. Now from darkness, an entire sea had emerged, rolling blue waves lapping against the shoreline like something off of a postcard. It even smelled just right, the smell of saltwater and the feel of a slight breeze onto the shore… it was too real.

Izuku blinked once, twice, and turned around briefly. Right behind him was a forest line, verdant and imposing; the slightest flicker of black smoke between the tree trunks was the only giveaway of where he still was. As he turned around, the last straw was the sight of what had happened to the chair; where once there had been the stone throne of a demon lord, now there were two deckchairs, made of wood and colourful fabric. It was no wonder he struggled to find the words at first. "This… th-this is a beach. You… you made a beach? Inside All For One?! How-"

"It's been a long retirement, being stuck inside your head. Forgive an old man his few desires, to find some peaceful place from which I could watch the world slowly burn." All For One looked down at his sleeves, and made a strange noise. "Perhaps a little overdressed, even with this breeze. You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind wha-" Izuku was interrupted as the man made a complicated hand movement, and his spectral image flickered again, his clothes slowly transforming before Izuku's eyes. The black suit vanished, and to Izuku's confusion and horror the greatest villain Japan had ever seen now sported a red Hawaiian shirt over a simple white T-shirt, beach shorts and some strange sandals. He'd even, somehow, acquired a brown trilby hat. The sight of a villain of his caliber wearing something so ridiculous nearly made Izuku's brain short circuit. "... I'm so lost."

"You could do the same too, you know. It's your Quirk as much as it is mine." All For One looked over his own shoulder, briefly, and made an exasperated noise. "Clearly. Or monstrosities like this wouldn't happen."

"Like what?" Izuku's question was met with All For One briefly turning around, and the sight of the kanji for 'Hawaiian shirt' on the back of the shirt made him feel a little sheepish. "... Oh."

"If you ever wanted reassurance that All For One is becoming yours more and more by the day, there's your proof." All For One slid into one of the deckchairs, and patted the seat of the other. "You don't have to wear your wrecked Hero costume while you're here with me, no matter how attached you might have been. I'm sure your mother and your dear best friend will fix it, unless the Support Course at UA beat them to it."

"I'll…" Izuku looked down at himself, unclear as to what to do, but as an image formed in his head his own form seemed to ripple slightly, and soon he found himself in one of his normal white T-shirts, and what appeared to be sweatpants. "It's that easy?"

"This is your head, my boy, not mine. Think, and it shall be. You should, with some practice, be even better at shaping this vestigial world than me. I'm not the one in control, after all." All For One turned to look at him, and Izuku didn't even question how the ghost appeared to have acquired a drink of some sort. It looked blue, and smelled weird, and Izuku decided to just ignore it and strike towards some sense of normality. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Izuku was reluctant to agree with All For One, but even he couldn't dispute how picturesque their new surroundings were. "Yeah, I've… I've never seen a beach like it before."
"You never will, I'm afraid." All For One leaned back in the chair, and Izuku was struck by how melancholic he sounded for a second. "I modelled it after one I experienced in my youth, one I only ever visited once back when I had the freedom to travel across the world unhindered. It was on one of the Pacific Islands, back before they sunk into the ocean and everything changed. A shame, that we lost something so wonderful along the way."

"The Pacific Islands?" Izuku took the seat beside the villain, and stared at him. "Those islands… we learned about those at school. They sank around the time of the first-generation Quirk users. The Luminescent Baby… they weren't long after that-"

"You seem surprised I was around to see them."

"You don't…" Izuku looked All For One up and down, and searched across his face for a second before giving up. "You don't look that old."

"I'm flattered. But there's a simple explanation. And it's one involving somebody you've already met." All For One gave him an amused look. "You're familiar with the Doctor, I presume?"

Izuku twitched slightly at the mention of his name, the callous moustached man who had wrecked his dreams once and nearly killed him the second time they met. "I… what about him?"

"I met him a long time ago, back when he was first making a name for himself with theories of the Quirk Singularity. It blew his mind that a Quirk with the potential of All For One existed. So in return for standing at my side and exploring what we could do, he volunteered his own Quirk to me... " All For One took a sip of his drink. "Life Force. The ability to double one's own life-span."

"Life Force…" Izuku was briefly stunned at the implications of what this could mean. The man who had seemed to take such joy in telling him he was Quirkless… he was really that old. "But how… how long ago was this? Because if one of you took it, then I don't know how both of you have lived so long-"

"In terms of the latter part of that, Izuku, his Quirk was the first we were ever able to successfully duplicate. I returned a copy to him, so that he could continue to assist me, and so that I could continue to enjoy its benefits. As to the former part, well... " All For One shrugged. "I was young, and so was he. We've seen a lot since those days."

"Life Force… is that…" Izuku trailed off, briefly horrified about the logical next question. He had to ask, though. If he was the new holder of All For One's Quirk, and so many others had come with it… "Is that something that was passed to me, with the other Quirks?"

"You're worried about outlasting your friends, aren't you?" The directness of the villain's question threw him for a loop, but before he could reply All For One chuckled. "Of course you are. Every tale in human history of those who seek to become immortal is a cautionary tale. So many sad laments of watching those we love die before our eyes. You're worried that might happen to you."

"Were you never worried about that?" Izuku felt defensive about the way All For One spoke, as if he was being judged, but he realised it was a stupid question. "You… you never cared, did you?"

"Why would I, when it would just hold me back?" All For One's casual response was alarming. "Like the demon lords of the old comics, I accepted my role. I was a lonely god, destined to rise above and rule. I cultivated those around me who shared my visions, those I considered to be valuable and powerful and whose potential I could help bring to fruition in return for their allegiance. But I never once held back, fearing I would be left behind when they were gone. I was… superior, after all. It was only natural."

"So that's what's going to h-happen to me?" The thought of outlasting Tenko, Setsuna, Himiko and all of their friends hit Izuku in the gut. "I… don't want that."

"You'll be reassured to know that it hasn't been activated yet. Life Force still remains buried in the core of All For One, like so much else. As to when it might awaken…" All For One took another sip of his drink, and shot a look at Izuku. "You'll just have to find out, won't you?"

Izuku shuddered, unable to react quick enough to hide it, and the way the spectre's eyes lit up in amusement at getting under his skin annoyed him. But he needed to understand more, and so he was prepared to grit his teeth and continue; if talking to All For One helped him learn more about himself, then Izuku would roll with the punches. "You've lived for that long… since the first generation."

"Through everything. You should have seen the world back then, my boy." All For One appeared wistful. "The things I could tell you about the world back then… story-time with Shigaraki would last for hours."

"Shigaraki…" Izuku paused, the unfamiliar name drawing his attention. "That was your name before? Before you chose All For One?"

"It was my name once. A long time ago. Back when nobody knew what my Quirk was in order to fear it. Now… you know the rest." All For One chuckled to himself. "It's funny. The world back then, when I was coming to the fore. It was rather like the world now. Chaos and disorder, people scrambling to get a grip on it all and claim it for themselves. I can't tell you how easy I found it to gather Quirks back then, to attain power."

"Gathering Quirks…" Izuku didn't like asking, because the possible scale of what lay untapped within his own Quirk scared him, but so too did the lack of knowledge. "How many did you-"

"Far too many to count. It was so simple, my boy." All For One finished the drink, and with a lazy wave of his hand the glass appeared to disappear into nothing, blowing away like sand on the wind. "You have to realise that the status quo back then was different. Quirkless individuals were the majority, and modern medicine was in no way prepared for individuals with superpowers to rise up. It wasn't until much later that doctors were able to identify signs that a child might develop a Quirk, and establish Quirk registries to keep track of what the next generations were developing. I emerged at just the right time."

"We were taught about the upheaval, back in junior school." Izuku frowned. "Society collapsed, but… nobody told us anything about a villain who could take Quirks. There were so many villains out there that we were told about, sure, but you-"

"History is written by those who win, Izuku. And I… I did not win." All For One's face gave absolutely nothing away about how he felt about this, and neither did his voice. "For a time, I could do as I pleased. The Police couldn't work out what they were dealing with, and all those other villains fell at my hands, but it wasn't just this that helped me to grow. Some people even approached me to take their Quirk off their hands, back when Quirks were in their infancy and prejudice swung in favour of those without supernatural abilities. I amassed power, and allies, taking from those who viewed their Quirks as afflictions and even giving Quirks to those who felt helpless or envious among the changing times."

"So what happened? If you had all of that… how does nobody know about it?"

"There was… resistance. Of my own making, unfortunately." There was a look in All For One's eyes that Izuku couldn't quite understand, but before he could ask further the villain continued. "I wasn't prepared for it, and it was clear I needed to retreat for the time being; I had tried to bring order to my new empire, but others had different ideas. And so I returned to the shadows, and tried to make my mark on the world in different ways."

"That's… a lot to take in." Izuku meant it sincerely, because he was struggling to process some of it. "You've been there in the background all this time? All before Incident Zero?"

"Ah, yes. Apologies for what your friend Tenko might call an 'expo dump', but when you've lived as long as I have, frankly it's hard to tell an abridged version." All For One nodded. "I had to be more careful, but yes. I've tried to push back against the rebellious and the supposedly brave, and been rebuffed for numerous years. But it didn't stop me amassing more Quirks, over time. Not until what you all so delightfully dubbed Incident Zero, anyway."

"So all those years of gaining Quirks…" Izuku looked down at his own hands, unscarred and small and so unready to bear the burden of what this villain had spent years before assembling. All of that, brimming over inside him and ready to erupt like a volcano at any given moment… it was overwhelming, to say the least. "How did you not go mad?"

"The various Pro Heroes who died at my hands and called me the greatest villain to ever walk the earth would disagree with your assertion that I am not, in fact, mad." As Izuku blinked, All For One leaned back in his chair. "However, for your purposes, I assume you mean in terms of taking another's Quirk, and dealing with a vestige of that former user. Correct me if I'm mistaken, of course-"

"N-No, that's it. The Doctor said… in a few rare cases, somebody can hold more than one Quirk without going completely mad. But he also said that most of the time, the conflict between the two can cause that person to go b-braindead or… um." Izuku gulped. "Worse."

"Indeed. It makes your decision to give Setsuna a second Quirk exceptionally unwise. Although I must say, I was impressed to see you do it so willingly, and I was equally impressed to see her command it without being torn apart on the inside." The way his companion said it so conversationally was disturbing. "But yes, that is the usual side effect. The original Quirk of the user battles for supremacy with the additional Quirk, the invader, in most situations. The result is devastating, in the majority of cases."

"And t-that's what makes the Nomu-"

"Would you believe me if I told you that the first Nomu we ever created was an accident? An attempt at goodwill, when I tried to reward my former bodyguard's loyalty with another Quirk and lost him to catatonia. Since then, Kyudai has bio-engineered some miraculous things and somehow kept them balanced. And we have discovered a few rare instances where more than one Quirk can be held. Your cousin, included. Perhaps it's a genetic thing, or something else entirely… who knows. There are some mysteries even I cannot fathom."

"And that's just with one other Quirk." Izuku felt uncomfortable around the vestige, without a shadow of a doubt, but curiosity was a force to be reckoned with. There were questions bubbling in his head, and his desire to learn meant that when the chance to hear some answers arose, he took it. "You managed it with so many more, over so many years."

"That's the beauty of All For One, Izuku." Izuku looked down at his fingertips as All For One spoke. "There are no other Quirks like it which allow its user to take the Quirk of another person, to store that Quirk within a repository, and to use it. There are limits, of course, because some Quirks require a considerable amount of work and effort to use, and without any prior experience it's rather by luck that one gains the necessary skill to even begin to try in some cases. But that's not just what makes All For One unique. All For One… it's alive, in a sense. I am the embodiment of that."

"You are… hold on. You the vestige?"

"Exactly. The ability to manifest on this plane? I can't tell you when I discovered that I was capable of this, but it really is an inherent part of the ability to take a Quirk from another person. All of those individual vestiges, fragments of another's soul trapped within my own Quirk… it would overwhelm anyone else. I possessed the ability, however, to be one with my Quirk. To take the fight to all of those lost souls and eradicate them, purging them so that my voice is the only voice inside All For One. It's part of the process, see, part of the path towards using their Quirks myself without resistance."

"I see… in some way, it makes sense." There was something about All For One's nonchalance in how he described something so disturbing that, strangely, encouraged Izuku to ask more questions. Even so, he back-tracked slightly when he saw the look on the vestige's face. "N-Not in that way. I meant in terms of how you work. I-I guess overwhelming the vestige left behind meant there was no opposition, so… even if you couldn't immediately use it, you could dedicate some time to learning how to use it."

"Very well put. I had so many years of practice. By the time I met All Might, I could have bent anything to my will." All For One shot him a look, and every hair on the back of Izuku's incorporeal neck shot up in alarm at the way his red eyes flared. "You know, that's rather why I gave you my Quirk before I died, after all."

The way in which the vestige said it, so blunt and so cruel out of nowhere, came like a hammer blow to Izuku's train of thought. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and stared. "... What."

"Greatness was not thrust upon you because I intended to be charitable, Izuku. Greatness was thrust upon you because I saw potential… for myself." All For One rose from the beach chair and stepped forward past Izuku, facing out towards the waves on the sea of his own design. His back was completely turned to Izuku, but even with the waves his voice was the only sound Izuku could hear. "On a vestigial level, I was unstoppable. All For One is the epitome of Quirks, able to subdue anything, control anything. It is strong, and unique… and it would endure. I knew that even if the worst came to the worst, if the years caught up with me or some terrible battle would be my downfall, there was a way to survive. There was so much of me within the vestige of this Quirk that if it was to be transferred… All For One would battle for dominance with the Quirk. And All For One would win. I would have another host, a new body with such potential, and the cycle begins again."

There was a pause, briefly punctuated by the sound of a particularly strong wave. All For One didn't turn around, but his head tilted slightly in Izuku's direction, and when he spoke again he sounded intrigued. "You're not alarmed. I was expecting you to be beside yourself at the revelation. You didn't see it coming, and yet… you're not surprised."

"I… should be." Izuku's throat felt heavy, and there was a tear that formed in the corner of his eyes, but by some miracle of willpower he kept going. He couldn't look at All For One just then, choosing instead to stare down at the sand; he felt hollow at the realisation of what it meant. "But that's the thing. I-I'd lived my whole life until Incident Zero with people t-telling me I'm useless. Worth nothing. You… you just felt the same as all the rest of them. And now that you explain it like that… it makes sense why you did what you did."

Now he looked up, clenching one fist tightly and hoping his voice held out as his eyes focused on the back of All For One's head. "I was just a means to an end for you. But it didn't work. You asked me back then what my Quirk was, and when I told you I was Quirkless, you l-laughed. Just like all the others. But it didn't work, did it… you don't control me. It's my power, not yours."

"Do I detect a hint of defiance, dear boy? Now that is unexpected." All For One finally turned around, his haunting stare meeting Izuku's. "We will see about that, in due course. But since you seem to be so astute… it seems you're on the right track."

"My Quirklessness… it actually saved me from you." Izuku's eyes flickered down briefly to his own hand. "I remember it. Right before you died. You heard that I was Quirkless, and you laughed. You must have thought I'd be easy to replace, back then. That there would be no resistance and All For One would claim a blank slate for itself-"

"When in reality… there was nowhere for All For One to go." Izuku hadn't expected the villain to complete his sentence for him, willingly admitting that he had thought of Izuku on such terms. But it wasn't just that. The vestige was admitting far more; he was admitting, most of all, that he had been wrong. "That was… problematic. My gravest miscalculation. And one that has created this whole situation."

It was true. All of it. Everything that happened to Izuku… had stemmed from the megalomaniac before him making a mistake, and trying to use a Quirkless bystander to cheat death. Everything that had happened to him, all the trouble he and his friends had found himself in, was all because the man reviled as Japan's demon lord had refused to face the inevitable, and hadn't fully understood the consequences of what he was doing. Izuku took a deep breath, dark thoughts of how much his life had changed because of the man's greed and contempt, and soldiered on. "You gave your Quirk to me… and the vestige became trapped."

"In my defence, I had absolutely no cause to test my theory before All Might interfered as he did." All For One's face twitched slightly as he said the name of the Symbol of Peace. It was clear, even as he spoke so levelly, how much he hated All Might. "And when you said that you had nothing already, it sounded so simple. I had nothing to overcome, no biological opposition from you. It sounded even easier to make you mine. Instead… well. I became a passenger, along for the ride, and the rest is history."
"All For One… became mine." Izuku looked down at his hands and watched the black and red lightning he had become so accustomed to, dancing across his fingertips and the backs of his hands. "And I wasn't yours to control."

"Careful, Izuku. That almost sounds like pride, when you say it like that." All For One looked at him, something strange in his eyes. "I'm still here, after all."

"R-Right." Izuku didn't like the look on the vestige's face. "You've been here all along. And yet… you've only been able to talk to me properly now. I've had thoughts which I didn't recognise, but… USJ was the first time that I started to think there was something else going on. What changed-"

"Blunt force trauma does wonderful things to the brain." The cold way in which All For One replied sent a shiver down Izuku's spine, flashes of Nomu screeching running through his mind for a second. "That was rather a catalyst, in all seriousness. I've been there all along, and the more you've used All For One, the more I have been able to find at least some voice. When you first used one of the Quirks within it, when you took your first Quirk, when you gave one in turn, and every time you have unlocked one since, I have grown. Even before Nomu, every time you grew with All For One... I may only have been a whisper on the wind, a suggestion in the back of your mind, but the more you acted, the more I was able to speak up-"

"To try to influence me." Izuku hadn't expected himself to interrupt the spirit, and judging by the reaction from All For One, neither had he. "You… wanted me to use my Quirk more. But I don't understand. You could have said so much more than you did."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I'm… trying to use your Quirk to become a Hero. There were times where I thought I was asking myself harder questions about how I used it, and now that you're saying that you were making suggestions… you never resisted all the way along." Izuku blinked, stared All For One dead in the eyes. "I'm trying to become everything that you weren't. Why didn't you say more, before the USJ? Why didn't you try and stop me-"

"For three reasons. First of all, you're far too stubborn. Even if I had been able to speak louder and get through to you, no matter how forceful I could have been in my choice of words, I wouldn't have stopped you."

"Th-that's not fair-"

"I digress. Secondly, one remarkable positive of the path you have chosen for yourself is that you have dedicated plenty of time to training your own Quirk. Being born Quirkless, you were substantially behind your peers in applying your Quirk, and you've had the disadvantage of multiple new abilities to discover as you train. But your drive… it was impressive, and exactly what was needed to cope with All For One as it developed." All For One sounded disturbingly proud as he said this. Like a father complimenting his son after a game. "You've persevered in pursuit of a career in heroics, and you've handled the use of it better than I expected you to; you're already using some of the more powerful Quirks inside, like Air Cannon and Impact Recoil. Perhaps being Quirkless beforehand, and having no pre-existing conditioning to break, made you better suited to being able to claim it as yours after all."

"I see…" Izuku's arms tingled briefly, a reminder of the Quirk he used most. "So... it's called Air Cannon?"

"It is. Remarkable Quirk, really. One of the finest and most tricky tools in my arsenal, and you learned it first." All For One shook his head. "In the face of that, and when the path you're on will only provide you with further opportunities to train your use of All For One and what lies within, it's for your own good that you're allowed to continue."

"I've never felt it was tricky, but…" Izuku felt his love of Quirks pulling him away from the main conversation, and he shook himself. "Wh-what was the third reason?"

"Honestly..." The way All For One suddenly began to smile was terrifying. "Since you started using All For One, you've been determined to go to UA and become the next Number One Hero. That drive for the top… ironically considering you carry my vestige, I see a little of myself in you."

"Huh?" That wasn't what Izuku had been expecting at all. "What's that supposed to-"

"I was a demon lord, Izuku. I was at the top of the world. I used All For One to build myself a pedestal and change the world. You… you want to become more than just a Hero, you want to become the greatest of them. You want to be on top so that you can change the world, too. In a way… we're actually rather alike."

"We are n-nothing alike!" Izuku cried, alarmed by the suggestion. "I want to use this power to h-help! To save people-"

"You don't see it? I was dissatisfied with the world and wanted to use my power to change it to how I envisaged it. You are dissatisfied with the world too, and want to use your Quirk to change it. Our paths may be slightly different, but the end destination is remarkably similar." All For One's smile looked predatory, and he held up a finger as Izuku tried to say more. "Don't get me wrong, I think your dreams are childish. Your idolisation of All Might sickens me, as it does to hear you yell 'Smash' every time you use Air Cannon. And you are unbearably naive. But the world that is left behind needs somebody to bring balance. All For One is the one Quirk which can put all of those clamouring for greatness in their place, the one Quirk which can destroy the villains who otherwise pollute society with their inferior visions. It matters not to me if you climb to the top by becoming a Hero, or if you follow exactly in my footsteps; just as long as you embrace the superiority of the legacy, I will be satisfied."

"How…" Izuku wanted to argue, but the inevitability of how All For One described this was confusing to process. The way in which the villain described the state of superiority… how could such a powerful villain be willing to stand by and let Izuku train at UA, just to achieve that? "I don't understand you."

"I wouldn't expect you to. You're young, and just starting on your path. And your sole experience of those associated with me to date has been the dear Doctor, whose passion for what came before got the better of him." The vestige shrugged, and took a couple of steps away. "I admire Kyudai's vision in many respects, but he's always been rather fanatical. I suppose it's to be expected of the man who determined the Quirk Singularity, that he sometimes sees things in black and white. It's just that I hold a slightly different view to him on the paths you take."

"That's…" Izuku paused, trying to articulate everything that he had just heard. "Superiority by any means… that's what you want for me."

"What did I say to you, on the day of Incident Zero?" The question caught Izuku off-guard a little. "Before I died, after giving you my power, I told you something. I'm sure you remember, even after all these years-"

"You said 'it's your world now'". How could Izuku forget that? The memory of the villain dying before his eyes had dominated his dreams for months afterwards. "And then you told me… to use my power well."

"Precisely." All For One's fist, held down by his side, clenched. "Crush those who would pretend to claim my throne. Rise above the mediocre paragons of virtue left behind. Everyone talks of destiny, Izuku. That is yours."

"... Ready for you to take over?" Some dark thought had been nagging at the back of Izuku's head the entire time that All For One had been talking about his hopes for Izuku, and longer still. Izuku hadn't had any idea of the villain's motives for giving him his Quirk at Incident Zero at the time, but the more he had spoken in this strange spirit world, the faster Izuku had realised that the only thing he had been concerned about had been an attempt at securing his own survival. It was the logical extension of that which was making his stomach turn and his heart beat faster in his chest. That was then… but what about now? "Is that how this works?"

All For One seemed to stand up a little straighter as Izuku asked that question, and when he eventually turned round, his voice was cool and his face gave nothing away. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Izuku."

Izuku breathed out, trying not to let his legs wobble as the response hit home and hit hard. "The more I use All For One… you said that every time I do, you get a little louder, and considering what happened with Nomu I can now see you properly for the first time. You're stronger… and so am I. The boy you gave your Quirk to because you wanted a new host… you're just waiting, aren't you?" He took a deep breath, aware of how much his voice was shaking and how he was starting to sound like he was panicking; he couldn't do that in front of the vestige. But when he steadied himself, and looked All For One in the eyes, he saw the spark light up in those deep red eyes, and knew he had given himself away. "You failed before… but some day you'll be strong enough to try again."

"... Who knows? Perhaps." The lack of a straight answer was both frightening and infuriating, and Izuku had to get up and follow as the vestige began to walk off down the beach. "I miscalculated before, but I don't know what will happen to you going forward. Nomu was the tipping point to awaken something inside you, like a dam breaking. How that comes to pass… is yet to be seen."

"A-Awaken? More Quirks inside me? Is All For One going to be harder to control?" Izuku stumbled as he followed slightly, but kept going with his questions. "Are you… going to be around more?"

"I've always been around, but yes. This devil on your shoulder certainly just got a little bit louder." The vestige laughed out loud, but it was hollow. "I will watch with great interest as your strength increases, my boy. Whether you become a worthy successor to my legacy, whether you forge your own path and cast me aside, or whether you meet your end as my avatar in a new age… we will just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"No-"

"Now, I'd love to stay and talk, but…" All For One briefly looked up to the sky, and Izuku's gaze followed, seeing the horizon of the beach around him begin to ripple, faint lines of black smoke appearing like clouds in the sky above. "Ah, yes. This is the first time I've been able to manifest like this to you, and the first time you have seen this world. I'm sure in time it will last longer, but our time is short."

"But y-you can't go! There's so much more I want to-!"

"All in due time. I've given you rather enough to think about in the meantime, wouldn't you agree?" All For One's strides lengthened, and Izuku tensed up as he saw the treeline of the beach they were on begin to fade into nothingness again. "About your future-"

"One question! Please! Before you go!" Izuku raised his voice slightly more than he expected, out of desperation more than anything else. Luckily it had the desired effect, making the fading vestige pause and turn around, paying attention to him; Izuku cleared his throat, shocked at actually being able to ask something which had been eating away at him. "T-Tenko! Tenko Shimura! You… the Doctor said you were heading to his family on the day of Incident Zero. That you wanted to k-kill them… why?"

There was a heavy and long pause, and to Izuku's great surprise there was an awful look on All For One's face; so many emotions, and such dark hatred flashing in his red eyes. Izuku could have sworn that the vestige's jaw set for just a second, as if tensed in fear. "... Blame others present on that day. I just wanted to be sure."

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?!" Izuku stepped forward, as the sands of the beach around them began to run like wet ink. All For One's cryptic response… the vestige was withholding information from him about Incident Zero. And when he mentioned others present at Incident Zero… what dark secret could All Might be involved with? "Incident Zero? What did you want to be sure about?!"

"A good question… for another time." As the beach around them disappeared into the void, All For One's fading image seemed to gather itself, and shoot Izuku another diabolical smile. "So long, Izuku. I'm sure I'll see you soon. After all, I survived, didn't I? I am here."

Izuku cried out and reached out with a hand that was slowly starting to fade itself, but it wasn't to be. The image of his tormentor winked out of existence, so many questions left unanswered, so much anxiety created about All For One's plans for him and the future. Around him, the vestige world fell away from the paradise created by the spirit, leaving Izuku on a barren island at the heart of the void once more. Alone, once again, and with even the sand beneath his feet fading into nothingness now, Izuku felt his vision begin to blur, and darkness descend upon him...

Closing his eyes, Izuku Midoriya fell into unconsciousness with nightmares of the demon lord in his head, and the vestigial world was silent once more.

(***)

A/N: Happy Halloween!

One of the very first scenes I wrote with this story was the eventual meeting of AFO and Izuku, in the vestige world. It's been something I've built up for for some time, because there was absolutely no way in hell I was going to write an AFO!Izuku fic without some nefarious means by which the demon lord himself endured. He's been a real challenge to write, but hopefully you all enjoyed how he is written, and how he has (finally) got himself a voice.

In terms of AFO turning the vestige world into a beach, this has been a long-running thing on the Incident Zero channel of the Ignite to the Call Discord; the link to join/joining code if you would like to talk more about IZ and other brilliant fics, as well as My Hero generally, is nx2w86n3. What started as a joke about AFO's vestige taking early retirement sipping cocktails turned into something that inspired fanart and its own emote, and I just couldn't resist the chance to implement that in some small way in the story. The fanart came courtesy of Ernand- shoutout to him- and you can view this by checking out the story on AO3 and clicking the link.

Anyway, we're nearly (nearly) done with Act 2. For now, please review this chapter if you'd be so kind (just don't be a dick and flame if you want to criticise. I will never mind constructive comments, and manners cost nothing), and please do favourite or follow if you have not done so. If you also want to check out my other works, go for it! Chapter 1 of a new Stain fic, My Hero Killer Academia, is out if you want to show that some love? Hint hint…

Thank you all. Ya boy, out.