It took all of All for One's focus to keep All Might out of reach. All for One was powerful and experienced, more so than even All Might, but both knew the other needed only a single clean hit to decide the fight.
Had he been given the few more years he expected before this clash, All For One would have had many more quirks to combat the so called 'strongest hero' and crush him beneath his heel, but as it was he made do with the assortment he had. Air Resistance was ensuring All For One had solid footing, forcing All Might to actually land a hit to send him flying rather than his usual predictable tactic of using raw air pressure to destabilize opponents.
Blow after blow rained down for both fighters, an onslaught of grazes, narrow dodges and evenly matched strikes. Their 'arena' had started as All For One's hideout in the Coruscant District, but the intense fighting had left both combatants exposed to the cold morning air standing amongst massive piles of concrete rubble and twisted rebar. All For One silently took solace in the fact none of his subordinates or family were here to witness the titanic conflict.
All Might was panting heavily, neither of them had landed solid blows, the most damage either had was light scratches from debris and minor bruising. Taking a breath, deeper than most lungs could support, All For One released a torrent of white flames, making sure they would end just short of reaching their target. All Might took a defensive stance and braced with his arms in front of his face attempting to avoid the blinding light of the flame.
The brief distraction was all All for One needed, using Spring Leg, Air Push, and Drill Arm, he surged forward towards All Might driving his rapidly spinning arm drill deep into the flesh of his rival. He enjoyed the widening of All Might's eyes as his arm bore itself deeper into his side, blood spraying violently from his mouth. The edges of his arm hooked into the bloodied flesh and pulling it in deeper,until the drill tore itself out of his side in a spray of blood and viscera.
Confident with his strike, All for One reverted his arm to normal as he watched All Might, the so called 'Symbol of Peace', the world's 'number one hero', collapse to his knees, a gaping hole in the left side of his torso. A little lower than he would have liked, but certainly a wound that would be fatal before long.
Staying on guard, All for One watched carefully as All Might attempted to stand, bloody coughs wracking the Hero's frame as he attempted to stand on his feet before collapsing into the rapidly forming puddle of blood and organs beneath him. Blood gushed from his mouth as well as his side. As much as he wanted to sit and watch the pathetic hero bleed out into the dirt, it was only a matter of time before helicopters showed up and his face would be on national television and that wasn't something he could afford to risk.
"You're just like Nana, All Might. All talk and a relentless drive to stop me, but yet again it is the hero's blood on the ground while I stand all but untouched. Now if you excuse me, I have somewhere to be." All For One savored the look in All Might's eyes, an intoxicating mix of fear, desperation and rage that only a dying man could have.
As he walked away from the soon-to-be-corpse, he reached for his phone to dial Kurogiri. If he was quick enough he could potentially catch him before he contacted Inko. He hadn't gotten the call from Inko yet so she was likely still at the Doctor's with Izuku. An errant, distracted thought by the criminal mastermind was the moment All Might had needed.
In another world, a world where he had the four years he'd expected, with more quirks accumulated, he would have turned in time to see All Might charging him, organs trailing behind him in the wind. Perhaps if he'd collected a speed quirk, he would have managed to duck ever so slightly, losing his sight but keeping his life…
Here, and now however, All for One only managed to turn slightly, only catching a brief glimpse of the fist headed towards his face before he breathed no more.
As All Might stood there, hole in his chest, he fought the urge to vomit even though he wasn't sure he was still able to. He'd avenged his master, yes, but he felt no satisfaction from doing so. All he felt now was hollowness that he hoped was only coming from the gaping hole in his side.
As he stared down at the rapidly cooling corpse with a blood splatter for a head, he accepted the grim reality that the gruesome sight wasn't as pleasant to see as his darkest dreams had led him to believe it would be.
"Izuku, honey, it's time to wake up."
Gently shaking her son's shoulders, Inko hoped she was making the right choice. She could barely contain the feeling of dread that settled like rocks in her knotted stomach.
"Mmmrm, yeah mom?"
As her four-year-old son opened his eyes and let out a yawn that made her want to just wrap him in a blanket until this all blew over, she took in a deep breath to collect her thoughts and tried to figure out a way to avoid shattering her son's entire world.
"Your father… he... had an accident at work, sweetie. We're going to be staying with some friends of his for a little while."
Izuku's eyes widened a bit, before furrowing into what she called his 'Hisashi face' as he attempted to process what she had just said.
"Is… is Dad ok?"
Oh, her precious baby… No cheers about getting out of school, no worries about seeing Katsuki and their play date tomorrow. His first thought was to see if his Dad was ok. He truly had the heart of a hero…
She wrapped her son in a gentle hug.
"I don't know Izuku, we should find out soon though. Is there anything you want to take with us? I'm not sure when we'll be back."
Izuku took a moment to think. "My drawing notebook and my All Might figure and uh… my pajamas?"
Inko couldn't help but let out a snort despite the situation.
"Sure sweetie. I was planning to take your pajamas already, but we can take your notebook too. Do you want to help me fold the clothes while we pack?"
He smiled, perking up instantly at the idea of helping his mom.
"Never fear! For I am here! To help fold clothes!"
When Izuku slung on his backpack, he expected his mom to lead them out the door and to the car, but instead she asked him to sit on the couch while she glanced at the clock every few minutes. Quickly getting tired of waiting, he decided to amuse himself by kicking his feet into the couch as he rocked back and forth.
However, when purple smoke started pouring out of a rift in the open space of the living room, he lost his balance in his surprise and tumbled over with a shout.
A smokey figure dressed in a suit stepped out of the rift, and Izuku couldn't help but stare in wonder. He'd never seen a quirk quite like it before.
Kurogiri looked down at the source of the shout, narrowing his 'eyes' as they fell upon the All Might onesie Izuku was wearing before looking back over at Inko.
"Are you ready, Mrs. Midoriya?" Kurogiri's voice echoed with a serious tone.
Most children fled in fear whenever Kurogiri spoke, terrified of the echo and timbre of his voice. However, his newest young charge was unlike most children.
"Woah… So cool!" the green-haired boy exclaimed,voice devoid of the fear Kurogiri had anticipated.
As Inko grabbed their bags, Izuku walked up to Kurogiri with his backpack on his back, bouncing from one foot to the other in excitement. Kneeling down, Kurogiri looked him in the eye.
"So, you are the young master Izuku I presume?"
Nodding so fast Kurogiri was worried he'd hurt something, Izuku finally let loose the barrage of questions he could no longer hold back.
"Oh my gosh you just walked out of a cloud of smoke there was nothing and then you were all like WOOSH and mysterious and your voice sounds awesome! Are you always like that or can you turn your quirk off?! How far can you warp? Do you have to be able to see it or-"
Kurogiri cut the young child's energetic rambling off by patting him on the head.
"Calm down, young master. We will have plenty of time for questions later. We are going to get the rest of our group together before we head to your new home. Now, let me help your mother with the rest of your things."
Nodding quickly, Izuku stepped out of the way as Kurogiri grabbed the last suitcase Inko was struggling to pick up, receiving a relieved "Thank you." from Inko.
With that, Kurogiri opened another portal, and led the pair to the next chapter of their lives.
Tomura Shigaraki sat on the crate in the warehouse, staring across at the... man? sitting across from him. As tall as a shipping container even while sitting down, he cut an intimidating figure to most people, even while obscured with a cloak and hunched over.
Gigantomachia stared back from his spot, sitting hunched over on the ground but still towering over the small child, he wasn't sure what to think of the boy. When Kurogiri came to get him, Machia was excited at the prospect of a job that required him, but being told instead that they were fleeing the country with his master's heir quickly killed his anticipation. Being left alone with his master's ward leftt him with a feeling he couldn't quite describe. It didn't help that the kid just wouldn't stop staring.
He was used to kids gawking at him sure, but this was something different. 'Empty' was the only word he could truly use to describe the kid's stare. All he was able to gather from Kurogiri was that the kid had been recently taken in by Master, and that his quirk was very destructive. When the portal opened, Machia let his shoulders sag in relief. Finally something got the kid to glance away from him.
When an even smaller figure came literally bouncing out of the rift and looked around in wonder though, he almost wished to go back to the staring. As Izuku's eyes landed on Gigantomachia, the goliath saw them widen as they followed his figure from the ground to his covered head. He prepared himself for the imminent scream of fear, but all he got was an awed "So tall..."
Running back over to the portal, Izuku almost made his mother trip as he tugged on her dress to get her attention. Setting her bags down, she picked him up before finally looking at where he was pointing excitedly.
"Sweetie calm down! What's got you wor-oooh my God."
Gigantomachia let out a snort. That was more in line with what he was used to. As Kurogiri followed Inko out of his portal and it closed behind him, he asked the question that Gigantomachia was fairly sure he knew the answer to.
"This is the mistress and the young master I assume?" Maki's voice was deep, with a rumble to it that could be felt within your bones.
At Kurogiri's nod, he stood up, rising to his minimum height of 13'2 before taking a knee, still utterly dwarfing the small woman but making his intent clear.
"Greetings then. My name is Maki Gigan, though your husband tended to call me Gigantomachia. My lord wanted me to guard both you and the young master if something were to happen to him."
Waving her hands in front of herself as best she could with Izuku cradled in her arms, Inko's fear quickly turned into embarrassment.
"Oh please! You don't have to bow! Just call me Inko! Please, just call me Inko."
As Maki rose, Kurogiri made himself known again.
"With introductions out of the way-"
Kurogiri walked over and picked up Tomura, who had been staring at the newcomers blankly.
"- let us make our leave."
