Starlight: The Rise of a Hero
Prologue
Her breath was ragged, as she struggled to levitate in place. Her opponent's visage was grim, his proud features quiet and furious. The man's tailored suit was crumpled and torn, one arm slowly regenerating from the elbow down. It had taken her a great deal of effort to rip it off, but he seemed thoroughly unimpressed as he advanced toward her. Two black-feathered sets of wings spread out from his back, each producing tremendous bursts of air.
"I don't know why you still fight me, Nana Shimura," he whispered, almost to no one. The voice of All For One was dark and cold, his remark cutting through the dead silence of that November evening. "You've fought me for so long. It's been forty years, Nana, and you still haven't found a successor." His wings beat violently against the night, and he was close enough that he could caress her face.
Her face was showing the signs of age, and she recoiled as he tried to stroke her grey-streaked hair. She moved herself back a few feet, her grey eyes sharpening. Her voice was proud; "I've devoted my entire life to defeating you, and this world still needs me." Her eyes seemed to gloss over as her life flashed before her eyes.
She thought of the child she'd given up. The friends she'd lost along the way. The people she could and couldn't save.
"Nana," All For One remarked in a gentle way, "This world is doomed with or without you. I think you understand that, don't you? You're just afraid. And it's a shame, Nana Shimura, that I have to kill you to end the legacy of One For All."
They stared at each other, almost losing any will to continue. With the fire in his eyes rekindling, albeit slowly, All For One continued.
"It's a shame, because you're different from the others, the ones that came before. I don't hate you, and I don't think that I ever will. A shame, because deep within this blackened old heart of mine, I've grown to care about you in some odd, abstract way."
He paused, looking about at the destruction their fight had caused. "I don't care for meaningless death and violence. When I look to my past actions, I almost feel regretful. I have grown to admire you, and that is why it's a shame that this goodbye."
The clouds overhead darkened and the air seemed to vibrate with power. A crackling aura formed around All For One's right hand, and he seemed to steel himself at the last moment.
"Annihilate," he whispered, snapping his fingers with the force of a thunderclap.
Lightning arched from the metal littering the street, passing through her body and flashing out into the darkened sky, her silhouette dark against so much light.
Nana Shimura died upright, her fist in the air. A victor, it seemed, even in death. And so was the death of One For All.
A/N: Hello there. I'm MeridianPine, and this is my new fanfic. This is my first shot at the world of BNHA, so please be gentle. I know there's not a whole lot to analyze here, but please review. I wanted the prologue to be a single scene, the coming chapters will be much longer.
