All For None

"You rolled another freaking triple ten?" Shigaraki shrieked. "How are you winning every time on Mario Party? It's completely random!"

"Actually," Izuku replied as his character ran halfway around the map to collect another star, "By observing the dice and making a precise input, you can choose which face you get."

"You hacking bastard." Shigaraki dusted another controller and reached for the giant box of them that Kurogiri had left. "Alright, next game! Even you can't out-B.S. Mario Kart and its endless rain of blue shells!" Shigaraki cackled maniacally as he inserted the new cartridge.

The lights dimmed, and the temperature of the room plummeted. The plant in the corner leaned away from the door, its leaves wilting and turning yellow. Frost rimmed the edge of a drinking glass, and the mirror in Shigaraki's bathroom cracked down the middle.

All for One strode into the room. His shadow loomed over Izuku, seemingly choking out the light trying to reach him. The slow, steady hiss of his respirator drowned out the cheerful jingle of the Mario Kart intro screen. The cloying scent of formaldehyde and other preservatives wafted around him.

Izuku looked up at the embodiment of evil that had haunted Japan for the past couple centuries and said, "Hello there. Would you like to play as well? Shigaraki currently has plenty of controllers."

All for One chuckled. "I've never had any interest in videogames, not with all of Japan as my chessboard."

"I see." Izuku selected his cart, and the race started. After the first lap, All for One said, "I've never seen a Quirk quite like yours. Complete synthesis of a new body from just a head. Absolute control over the tiniest detail of your composition. Unparalleled ability to process and store energy. With your Quirk, I could be whole again."

"Whole?" Izuku looked away from the game, but his fingers kept pressing buttons. "Are you broken?"

"Yes. Five years ago, I suffered an… accident." All for One's mask popped off with a pneumatic hiss, exposing the scarred, misshapen lump of flesh that replaced his eyes and half his brain. "Even the greatest Quirks and cutting-edge medical science can't give me back what I lost. But your Quirk, with its ability to construct new organs without the original, can do what all else couldn't."

"I could construct a new head, but I do not have the interfacing technology necessary to attach it to another person."

"Don't worry about the interfacing, I have the perfect solution."

All for One put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. A long, silent moment passed between them. All for One withdrew his hand and looked at it.

"How strange. It's not the empty vessel of a Quirkless person, or the resistance of One for All. No… you feel… absent, somehow."

The ancient villain turned and said, "If you'll excuse me, I need to vent some rage."

As the building trembled, Shigaraki screamed. "You weren't even looking! How do you keep winning?"

498

All for One, shoving his hand into Izuku's chest: "It has to be in here somewhere!"