'The greatest threat to any system is not military force. That helps, certainly, but the greatest threats are always ideological or cultural. An invading army can be beaten back. The greatest general will lose to nature. A nation can be retaken if the capital falls. But should the cultural identity be destroyed, then the old nation can never be reclaimed. Those who call themselves heroes hold both military might and ideological strength. They must not be allowed to falter or wane. As such we must hold them to a higher standard, that of perfection'
—Excerpt from 'Reaching Perfection: International Translation' by Dylan Salvatore.
Izuku Midoriya feels the change in the air on the twentieth day of his captivity. The air is sharp, acrid, and promises blood.
The Vanguard are tense and there is only one reason they would be so tense. It makes Izuku grin because everything will end this day. His plans will come to fruition and every moment of weakness will be worth it. Every humiliation and indignity will have meaning.
"People make their own choices," he says to the Vanguard. "There are consequences to those choices."
"Shut up," Shigaraki snaps almost immediately.
Izuku shrugs. "They're coming, aren't they? The heroes. All Might. All of Japan, really."
"You don't know anything."
"Shigaraki, just stop. For once, just stop. You're here stuck in a base with me. A base All Might will come to. Your boss is going to die today and there is nothing you can do about it. I'd suggest running."
"If you don't shut up, I'll kill the girl."
"Do it," he threatens, glaring at Shigaraki and Shuichi behind him. "And if you kill her, then what? I'll come for you and make it my life's purpose to see you die."
No one moves for a long second.
The room is dark, cast in ravenous shadows ready to consume everything in a tidal wave of cruelty. The only light comes from Izuku's eyes burning like green suns and the green lightning arcing across his body.
"Make your choices." Izuku smiles a bloody grin. "Live with your decisions. Die by them. Just make sure you own them before the end."
He lets the darkness fade. And then, he walks forward. He doesn't look back at them as he leaves the room.
All For One stands in his map room, observing the war of Japan calmly. There are close to a dozen battlefields, most along the coast and over the sea, but he's learnt to recognise Kurogiri's Nomu.
Where there was once a hundred following Kurogiri's orders, now there are only sixty. Still, it means that each villain or Nomu managed to take down no less than three hundred each.
"This is our last conversation."
"Perhaps," the villain agrees. "Perhaps not. The future is always in flux, dear boy. It belongs to those who are strong and determined, it belongs to those who are free. It's not something given with no strings attached. You must take responsibility for that freedom and prepare yourself for what is to come."
Izuku nods, genuinely surprised. "Keep walking forward and eventually you'll meet the rising sun."
All For One huffs fondly. "Quoting Toshinori. I believe that might have been the first thing he said that wasn't simply parroting Nana Shimura."
Izuku frowns. "You hate her more than you hate Toshi."
"Perhaps."
"What happened to her? Why does no one remember her?"
"People remember the Great Tyrants, not the heroes."
"I don't believe that's the whole truth."
"No, it isn't. I despised Nana Shimura. I despised her weakness and her reckless abandon. She inherited my brother's quirk, but she was not equal to his legacy. And so, I erased her from history. Just as I did all the previous holders."
"That's cruel and spiteful and petty. I'm disappointed."
"I am a villain, boy. Nothing has changed. They helped destroy everything I helped build. All my allies were killed or arrested at the hands of the government; their lives shattered by my brother's fists. To bear his legacy is something one must be worthy of. Nana was not. Nana was a pathetic torchbearer whose only achievement was to pass on One For All to Toshinori, and through him, to you."
Izuku crosses his arms over his chest.
"She died fighting you. She died making sure civilians didn't suffer because of your fight. She died proudly for those she loved. By your words, she lived the best life she could. She trusted Toshinori to live in her stead and he beat you. And when you finally die, I'll be right there beside him."
All For One smiles darkly. "I see you've shed the lie of weakness."
"It wasn't a lie. You still have four hostages."
"I doubt that very much. You told our dear Spinner to save Yaoyorozu and so he will."
"Why aren't you angry?"
"Because you're willing to accept their deaths for victory. The Pussycats mean nothing to you, but the girl is important to you. Letting them die is a lesser evil for a greater good. It is what I would do in your position."
"What do you fucking expect me to do? I can't save everyone. I know that. So, tell me how. Tell me how and I'll do it."
"There is little chance to save them," All For One says gently. "If you attempt to save them, I or one of the Vanguard will see to their deaths. If you go near them, your collar will set theirs off. Attempting to save the Pussycats will kill young Yaoyorizu and you will not risk that."
"I hate you."
"Your feelings don't matter. This is another lesson. You cannot save everyone no matter how hard you try, and some lives are worth less than others."
"Why? What purpose does it serve?"
"Toshinori would never accept that outcome. And yet, you do, against every ideal your mentor holds. Sometimes, one life is worth a dozen more."
"I want to be a hero."
The villain shrugs, uncaring of Izuku's desires. Why should a tidal wave care for those in its path? When has a hurricane ever stopped in its tracks to consider the destruction it causes?
All For One circles Japan calmly, something about Kitami drawing this interest. "This is where we are," he says, tapping a spot in Yokohama. "The assault will begin tonight. In many ways, it already has. Will you indulge my whims one last time?"
Izuku shrugs. All For One is a dead man walking. It doesn't matter what it costs, Izuku will see to it that he dies.
"One last conversation."
"We spoke of fears before. Do you know what your greatest fear is, my boy?"
Izuku sighs. "I don't. That I'll be trapped in my own madness. That this is all just a mental construct I've been reliving every day for the last few months. That I'll cause my mother's death. Maybe I was just born to end the world."
"Those are all genuine fears. But they aren't the one you hold deepest. You will never be a villain, but you will also never be a hero."
Izuku bares his teeth, a threat and a promise balanced on the sharp edge of his fangs. "I will."
"No, because you can't be a hero and change society at the same time. You abhor corruption, yet the heroics industry is run by a corrupt government. You loathe this system of monetary gain for heroes and the power they receive as a result. Most of all, you despise the indifference to the common man the government and Imperial Family hold. The goal deepest in your soul is that you wish to change society for the better."
"That's not…" the words die away.
To deny them is to deny the most fundamental truth. To refute that point is to argue away the existence of Izuku Midoriya. To so much as manipulate them is to destroy the image of himself.
He speaks the truth. Saving the forgotten is the pillar of your soul, brother.
"And you cannot be a hero if you wish to change society," All For One continues, as dark as space and just an inevitable. "Being a hero means maintaining society. It means doing the same as your mentor and perpetuating injustice."
"He does that only because you're here."
"You're angry because you know I'm telling the truth. Toshinori is a powerful man, but he does not seek change as you do. He does not seek a world in which your father and your teachers and the Royals are unnecessary. Just as he is not Nana Shimura, you are not All Might. He wishes to maintain the present. You wish to drag the entire world kicking and screaming to the future you desire. In the deepest recesses of your soul, the place you hide your greatest secrets and shame, that hidden vault is where your greatest fear lay."
All For One leans forward, a predator watching his prey.
"You fear that to be a hero is to betray all that you stand for. But, in choosing to stand for what you believe in, you must betray all that your mentor stands for. Your greatest fear, my dear boy, is that you must betray either yourself or your mentor to have a future."
Izuku's teeth are gritted so hard that one breaks and slices the inside of his cheek. His body shakes with rage and grief and denial.
"You're—I… I'm not…"
He fails to form any denial. To do so is to deny himself in his entirety. When has Sensei ever spoken a lie?
You've lost, totally and fully. I am so, so sorry for what you will become.
"An old panther once told me that it is hard for a good man to be a good king," Sensei says delicately as a knife on a jugular ready to spill red arterial blood.
"Izuku Midoriya, your name is already known to the world. If you continue down this path, if you choose revolution over your mentor's heroism, then you will have to oppose Japan, and then the world. You will need to learn the cold calculus of revolution, the nature of the Great Game and the laws of power. Just as you bathed your hands red with Muscular's blood as the lesser evil, there will be many others who oppose you to death. It will be heroes who see you tearing down their society that battle you. It will be the military watching you dismantle their power that will aim their rifles at you. You must learn to compromise with those you hate if it means another day of peace. If a compromise is unacceptable, you will need to use the tools of war. This is the path you walk."
He forces his jaw to loosen enough to hiss, "I'll oppose you every step of the way."
Sensei chuckles darkly as clouds pregnant with a coming storm that will flood a city. "I know you shall. You have the will to stand against everything you see wrong with this world. You have the intelligence to make the plan that will kill me and the physical strength to match blows with me. You are the perfect successor. How delightful that Toshinori would groom you so perfectly."
Remember brother, All Might claimed to know your greatest fear and he chose you anyway.
"I'll never be you."
"No, of course not," Sensei says, indignant. "I don't want a clone. You'll surpass me just as you will surpass Toshinori. And you'll do so by making a world where neither of us is necessary. You'll make a world where brothers aren't forced to fight. You'll make a world where a child isn't given a legacy of death and betrayal."
"It won't be a world you like. I promise you that."
"You'll make a world where a little girl in a sunflower dress doesn't have to suffer." Sensei smiles cruelly. "If you make that world, know that you make me proud. Goodbye, my boy. It was a pleasure to teach you."
That, of course, is when the base starts shaking.
-TDB-
Shuichi Iguchi knows what is happening the moment the base shakes. The attack has begun and if someone knew, they didn't bother informing him on the matter. Right now, he isn't certain if the other members of the Vanguard are still in the base. It's telling that he has no idea if his team has abandoned him or not.
They're not my team, he thinks bitterly, rising from his seat. They haven't been for a while.
He wears his armour quickly and retrieves his sword alongside the knapsack with a false ID, hard currency, and contact details to people who can get him out of the country.
It is time to make a choice. This is the most important choice Shuichi will ever make in his life. Does he side with Tomura or does he side with Izuku Midoriya?
It is madness that this is even a choice. Shuichi is a villain dedicated to the destruction of heroics as is Tomura. They both loathe the society they live in. Shuichi joined the League because this seemed the best way to see Stain's ideals of a better society.
And yet, hadn't Stain entrusted Izuku with the future?
Deep in his heart, he fears the choice was made long ago. When had things changed? He can't tell, but he does know that he isn't a member of the Vanguard, isn't really a villain and maybe never was. And even if he is, someone is willing to forgive him and grant him a second chance. That, more than anything, is enough.
Momo's next. She walks free next.
That had been Izuku Midoriya's declaration on the day the boy, Kouta, had left. Now, it seems less a declaration and more an order.
He grits his teeth and shoulders his bag, leaving his room. He heads to the other side of the facility, glad that they're underground as the shaking intensifies. No one is there to impede his path thankfully.
Momo's room is easy enough to unlock. When he enters, he finds it empty.
"No," he snarls.
There aren't many places she could be. If it was another Vanguard, they would head to one of the rally points, likely the one on the lowest level. Kurogiri is supposed to evacuate them should it come to that.
He sprints through the base, heart racing as he thinks of possibilities. Maybe she's dead and there's nothing he can do about it. He pauses at an intersection, hearing raised voices. They sound young, too young to be villains.
He risks a glance and finds a group of children huddled in discussion. They're going to come this way given enough time. This is the only way to get to the Pussycats.
The lights flicker then go dark. Shuichi takes that opportunity to move, hidden by the darkness. He keeps his steps light because that isn't a fight he wants to deal with.
The rally point is the lowest room in the compound, nothing more than a concrete slab with dozens of support pillars. He finds it silent and cold, his breath misting despite it being summer. Cautiously, he steps amongst the darkness of the pillars as he searches for her.
There, he thinks and runs forward.
The girl is still. For a moment, he fears the worst. This child is his best hope for redemption and survival. Sometimes, he wakes from nightmares of Izuku threatening them all with death and struggling so hard to find forgiveness. In those dreams, it's always burning green eyes and teeth that chew through planets.
Then she breathes, giving him hope.
Deftly, he unties her. His fingers don't shake. He's been in one too many high-stakes situations for that to happen.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Footsteps. Shuichi throws a knife in the direction of the footsteps, taking up a defensive stance. His sword is light in his hands and the weight comfortable. Familiar. He misses his larger weapon but that one was unwieldy.
He likes the concept of a weapon with a lot of reach. Maybe a spear, he thinks as the person comes into view, flipping his throwing knife.
"What are you planning, dear Shuichi?" Compress asks calmly, leaning against a pillar. "I had my suspicions that you would turn. Lima Syndrome. I've seen the symptoms before. He had you from the very beginning."
Shuichi raises his blade. "Are you going to stop me?"
He doesn't like his odds. Compress is fast, blindingly so, and if he touches Shuichi then it's game over.
"I don't have to win," Compress says. "Just stall long enough for Magne and Toga to get here. The odds aren't in your favour."
He grips the handle of his sword tighter, sweat slicking the rough grip. That means the only real option is to fight and win.
"I won't hesitate."
Compress huffs. "You will. You've never killed anyone. Tell me why you betrayed us."
"Because this isn't what Stain would have wanted. This war is madness and you're crazy if you think this ends well."
Compress merely observes him with that disquieting mask that gives away nothing.
"I have a gift for you," Compress says warmly. "Or make that two gifts."
Shuichi tenses. It could be anything.
The villain raises his hand, showing off two marbles. "Our dear friends, Toga and Magne. Would you like to get them out?"
He takes a step back, startled. "What?"
"A little boy that you kidnapped and held hostage is trusting you to rescue his friend. I think maybe there's a reason he has that faith in you. I'd ask Kurogiri but there's no guarantee he has any interest in anyone but Shigaraki."
This could be a trap to make him lower his guard. There's no way to verify those marbles or their contents.
"Why are you giving them to me?"
"No one will look for you. Misdirection is a magician's greatest trick," Compress says, walking past a pillar.
When he reappears, a second later, he looks completely different. Gone are the magician's clothes. Instead, he looks like a boring man in a hoodie. The change is so shocking that Shuichi nearly drops his sword.
"Why are you trusting me?"
"Because you're a good person and good people are predictable. Do this as your final act as a Vanguard. Do this as one moment of loyalty for those you're going to betray."
Shuichi growls. "You were planning on getting rid of me a long time ago."
"No, we weren't. Loyalty for loyalty. But you were never loyal to the cause." The shabby looking man glares at him, eyes a bottomless black.
"Why did you do this?"
"I'm a performer," Compress says, shrugging. "This is the greatest piece of stagecraft I've taken part in and the entire world is watching. I made it happen by taking Midoriya. And if I get away with it, well, they'll remember me forever in certain circles. This is my myth that I'm making."
Compress approaches him slowly, hands raised peaceably.
"Do this yourself," Shuichi says, taking one step to cover Momo.
"I can't. There are people I care about that I need to find first. I can't risk dying with these marbles beforehand."
Compress flicks his hand. Shuichi catches the marbles in one hand, the other still keeping his sword ready. He doesn't look away from Compress.
"What will you do?"
"Meet up with Tomura eventually. We'll find the marbles and then we'll vanish." He clicks his fingers. "Just like that. What do you say?"
He sets his blade down. "Where?"
"The hill we started this war on. It'll make for a fun story to tell in a stage far away from Japan."
Shuichi frowns but he gets no sense of malice from Compress. Maybe a hint of madness, but who doesn't have that.
He takes the girl in his arms. "Fine," he snarls.
Compress is already gone when he looks up. Shuichi shakes his head. But maybe Compress did give him an unspoken gift.
Shuichi sets aside the red cloth and the eye-wraps. They are too much like Stain, too much a reminder of blindly following without thought. But giving them up seems like a betrayal as well. He wraps them around one arm and heads through the base once more.
Izuku is being kept in one of the more secure areas. Shuichi moves quickly because things are blowing up, spewing clouds of smoke everywhere.
He stops right by the boy's door, nervous only until he hears another explosion. He opens the door, ready for what may be.
Izuku is tied to his chair, looking calm but incredibly tired as well. He looks up to Shuichi as though this is everything he expected. The boy merely raises his head and offers a tiny smile, nothing dangerous about it in the slightest.
"Have you made your choice?"
The answer is obvious, evident by the girl in his arms, but sometimes things need to be said.
"Yes."
"Tell me your reasons," Izuku commands, the final test of Shuichi's loyalty.
"I believe Stain was right. But his methods were wrong. I believe your methods will succeed where he failed." Shuichi nods towards the girl. "We must hold all who would call themselves a hero to a higher standard, that of perfection. I believe you'll find some means of perfection."
Izuku smiles, eyes wide. There is something so unbearably kind and compassionate in that smile that it crushes Shuichi.
"Dylan Salvatore. You've started thinking for yourself."
"Only after you manipulated me."
Izuku shrugs. "It was my only gambit. I had to hope there was a good and decent person beneath the villain. I'm glad I was right."
Shuichi swallows. "Do you think there's a future for me? They'll come after me no matter what I've done."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"Because you're worthy of my loyalty," he admits. "I'm willing to follow you. It's stupid and crazy, but I have faith in you."
"If you follow the path I set, then I'll fight the world for you. You will be my first disciple, Shuichi Iguchi."
That word sends a shiver down his spine. It is a promise built on darkness and madness, a power that he can't hope to comprehend.
"Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for saving me."
His… master smiles. There is nothing monstrous about it.
"You saved yourself when you chose to be better. Now go, I have a villain to kill."
The ground rumbles and Izuku's chair nearly tips over. His newfound master flexes his muscles. In a shower of green sparks, the chair and restraints shatter, and he stands, rolling his shoulder.
"You're gonna go to my home. It'll be protected. If you see a woman, tell her that Mikumo would have wanted me to be a hero. And if it's a man, tell him his ceiling is my floor."
Shuichi stares at him curiously. "I'll do it."
"Stay safe. Goodspeed, Disciple."
Shuichi nods and watches Izuku Midoriya walk away, head held high and power in every step that. Green lightning trails the footsteps of the boy he's chosen to entrust his future. It makes him smile.
Somehow, knowing that Izuku will fight for him is as good as having God on your side.
With a teenage girl in his hands, Shuichi leaves the base. He leaves the Vanguard and his short-lived life as a villain in the rubble of a collapsing base.
-TDB-
Enji Todoroki is prepared for the coming battle. There is a chance he will die this day, but he has long since accepted his eventual death. And, if it means destroying the League of Villains, he will fight to the death.
Most importantly, Toshinori—and how odd is it to call him a friend now?—has placed his trust in Enji to battle the villain whilst he rescues the boy he considers a son. This isn't something he ever expected a year ago.
Now though, he is willing to trust All Might to finish this battle if nothing else. And, if Enji goes down in a glorious blaze, then maybe that will be enough to earn forgiveness.
I love you, Rei, he thinks, flinging a burning spear at a villain.
The greatest difficulty is in dealing with the erratic movements of the villains. One moment they are attacking from the safety of the upper levels just before Enji sends a flare of fire towards them. The next, they've been warped just behind the soldiers accompanying them.
Enji must trust in Hawks to provide overwatch and make sure they aren't ambushed. He needs to trust Edgeshot's intel is accurate and up to date.
Most of all, he must be the leader they all look up to. He can't take a single blow, or it will demoralise the entire assault team. Every attack must be lethal, and he can never miss.
Shouto, take care of your family. You're a man now.
A portal opens, heralding a new wave of enemies. The most threatening, however, is one of the Nomu. This one has a long neck and its face is hidden by a hood made of skin.
He lets fire surround his fists, prepared to battle this creature and its allies. After All Might, he is the most powerful hero in Japan. In another life, maybe if he hadn't set aside his ambitions for his family, he might one day have equalled All Might.
Securing a world where the power of God wasn't inherited by a hate-filled child was more important.
"Go!" Hawks snaps. "We'll be fine. Hold him off and wait for us."
They both know there's little chance of Enji's survival. If All Might, the greatest hero of their era, a man whose physical capabilities make him unbeatable, fears this man, then there is little chance of Enji making it out alive.
But what choice do they have?
He nods and sets forward. He extends his arms and lets hellfire surround them. Then he flings them forward, an incandescent beam of fire and death dispersing the enemies.
Enji sprints through the devastation, trusting in Hawks and the others to provide cover. He slams through a wall then another, leaving the battle behind. With his eyes, he can see the trails of light and fading fires. There is one greater than all the rest, a magnificent fire more like a volcano ready to erupt. It can belong only to one person.
Let's see if you're worthy of your title.
With one flaming fist, Enji shatters the door and walks to what may be his final battle.
-TDB-
All For One sits in the darkness of his map room. The screens are off for the first time since he started using this base. It has served him well, but he no longer needs to know the state of the war. Why should he care about a war that he has already won?
With one perception enhancing quirk, he tracks the assault on his base. There are two major groups, one led by heroes attacking from the front and harried by a legion of Nomu and villains. The other, smaller group, is occupied in the depths of his base, battling the Vanguard and a small smattering of villains. That smaller group is most likely the children that call Izuku Midoriya a friend.
Four lives fade all at once, likely the Pussy Cats and a student. Then he feels someone die a few seconds later. He checks the vital monitors of each Vanguard. Dabi's have faded. Not a loss of any importance.
Tomura might mourn his passing, but Sensei won't.
"Kurogiri," he calls.
All For One waits a few minutes before his right-hand man materialises. Kurogiri's suit is ripped and scuffed, splattered in blood and stained by other fluids.
"We can't hold out any longer."
"I suppose it's time," All For One says. "You've done well, Kurogiri. You gave me the time I needed to win. Evacuate with the remaining humans. The Nomu will serve as a distraction. And see to it that Midoriya is teleported to the depths of the base."
"Understood."
He gestures to the box on the table, not caring that his facility is under attack. "That box contains the data drives of the League. It is time for my successor to take them and decide the future."
"The League was meant to be Tomura's."
"The League was intended for my successor," he says bluntly in reproach. "Tomura was just another candidate as were you and Gigantomachia. Do not fear. I will not leave you without direction. Tomura is your primary objective. I can only trust someone who loves him as a son to execute this order. Your primary goal is to make sure he dies old and happy, surrounded by those he loves. Secondly, follow my successor as you would me. And finally, do not go after Spinner. He is my successor's first disciple."
Kurogiri nods solemnly. "You don't intend on returning."
He considers that.
The heroes and soldiers won't be a problem for him to face. They will all die simply because Sensei wills it. But All Might is the true threat. He won't be here in time to save any of the heroes, but he may arrive when Sensei is at his weakest.
It will be a hard fight, perhaps the most difficult of his life. But the stakes are too high, and the deck firmly stacked against him.
"I very well may, but I have won the ultimate victory. Now I must set the stage for him. I will kill the greatest heroes so that none may oppose him. I will show the world the ultimate villain so that he will not have to bear the hate of the common people. When he fights, they will see a man battling against a society that could let this war happen."
"You're going to martyr yourself."
"Yes, I suppose you could call it that. I always wanted to be a saint."
"Every saint has a name."
All For One huffs in amusement. "I suppose you've earned the right."
For the first time in centuries, he utters a name forgotten to time. He says the name he was born to centuries ago, the name his mother christened him by long before being a villain was even an idea.
Today, on this day, he says a name last spoken after his fateful battle with his brother.
And when he has spoken that name, he says, "Do keep it a secret."
"It was an honour to serve you. I would stand with you till the very end."
All For One laughs, genuinely amused and perhaps a bit warm. "A long time ago I promised I would kill All Might in exchange for your loyalty. I don't mean to break that promise."
Kurogiri opens a warp gate. His friend and loyal servant bows to the waist in supplication. This is the first time Kurogiri has ever bowed to him, and only the second time he has shown his loyalty like this.
"I will always be loyal to you and your legacy." Kurogiri rises. "You are the man I respected the most."
Of all his subordinates in the last two centuries, Kurogiri truly is the finest.
He lays a hand on Kurogiri's shoulder, neutralising his mist quirk with one of his own. He grips Kurogiri's flesh shoulder and squeezes it tight.
"I'm glad I could call you my friend." All For One smiles. "Go, now. Take care and live a long life with your son. Should the worst come to pass, and if there is an afterlife, then know I will watch over your family."
He pushes his friend through the warp gate. Kurogiri vanishes, leaving All For One alone in the room.
He takes his time preparing and setting things to right. A dozen messages, final contingencies for this very eventuality, are sent to agents across the world. He gives an order for the VIVA to pull back from their fights with the Royal Guard and consolidate their forces. A message here and a message there tells agents in Brazil and Switzerland and every other country he influences to decentralise.
Finally, to every member of his network, he sends one last message set to delete after it is played.
"For the better part of a century and a half, I have been called the Strongest Man Alive. Today, I will show you why. Eyes up. If you call yourself a villain, then stand tall and never bend your back. You are stronger than you think. There is no hero more powerful than you. Show no fear and always be strong. Remember that we are patient. Remember that we endure. And when we are ready, we strike, even if only to destroy the weakness within us. Tonight, I will show you the meaning of power. Tomorrow, remember my strength. Remember my glory. Hold it tight to your heart and make your own future."
When his message is recorded and sent, he walks to the wall. It slides aside, revealing a groove large enough for one item. It is a suit he has never worn, kept specifically for this day.
Slowly, with meticulous care, he wears it as one hero heads deeper into his base, tearing their way through doors and barriers. The suit fits the contours of his body, designed to accommodate the latest collection of quirks he has and provide some layer of armour.
He straightens the cuffs just as the door blows open in a wave of fire.
With a quick surge of power, the fire disperses before it can reach him.
Endeavour walks through the smoke, grim-faced and wreathed in his fire. Every step melts the floor beneath and there is no indication of arrogance on his face.
This is a man who has come to die.
He activates an infrared quirk to supplement his eyesight and layers that with another perception quirk. With those quirks, he can accurately pinpoint the children nearby, hidden by a few walls. They will be the only ones safe from his power.
This may be his first fight in a decade and his instincts may be slow. He may have dozens of tiny injuries from two centuries of battle. He may be old and weary of life. But there is one fact he knows, one fact that Endeavour must know.
"You are not ready to stand on this stage," All For One warns, his voice gentle as the eye of a storm, the final bastion of protection before death.
"You're scum," Endeavour says, his flames surging and melting the concrete. "You'll die today."
All For One is willing to accept his determination no matter how futile it will be.
Sensei gather his strength. With a single, glorious punch, he shatters the wall behind Endeavour.
The force of the blow sends the hero flying outside and tears through the walls on either side. The pressure front is like a freight train, tearing through walls and, based on the sudden cold spot, Shouto Todoroki's ice barrier.
With measured steps, he follows the hero outside.
The night air is warm, clammy almost. The sounds of battle fill the air as the other heroes face the remaining Nomu, High-End leading the final defence. They're all fighting to All For One's left, protected by buildings and warehouses.
It takes him a moment to find Endeavour. The hero is hidden by a pile of rubble. After a moment, a flaming fist shatters the wave of rubble and Endeavour stands.
He extends his arms wide.
"Show me your power, Endeavour. Show me the futility of your resolve."
Endeavour roars and flings his arms out. A gout of fire bright as the sun lights up the dark. All For One scoffs in annoyance and bats aside the fire as though it is an errant concern.
"I said show me your power, boy." He cracks his neck. "I'll give you another chance and if you fail to impress me, I'll kill your son first."
It is a false threat, but maybe there is just a tiny shred of compassion in Endeavour. Maybe, just maybe, he's not the sort of scum who doesn't care about his child.
Endeavour falls still. And then the flames around him explode outward, a beacon of scorching power that reaches towards the sky. It is a pillar of pure heat and fire, a signal flare to the entire world.
The hero stands in the middle of his wasted power, eyes narrowed, and hands raised towards the sky. Then the fire coalesces towards his hands, the tower becoming a tiny sphere of compressed energy that glows brighter and brighter.
Then Sensei feels the change in the air, smells the ash of the burnt dead and the wails of the eternally damned. It sends a chill down his spine as, for a moment, he hears the rage of all those he has killed, millions upon millions calling for his death.
The fire condenses down to a single point. Then he feels the air become heavy and dry as Endeavour summons reserves of power.
Hm, I wonder if I underestimated him.
He knows exactly what's about to happen. Condensed energy attacks are nothing new. All that matters is how strong Endeavour proves himself.
The wave of fire is magnificent, a tidal wave of concentrated destruction a hundred metres wide. The temperature spikes so high that it blinds him. He can smell the melting concrete and the ozone of ions being stripped from the air.
This is the power that makes Endeavour the number two hero. It is the power that terrifies any who would invade Japan. There is no doubt that he could face an army alone.
It is not enough. It can never be enough. The power to face an army only makes him worthy of mild consideration.
He brings forth the second most powerful quirk he has ever wielded and raises his fist. The air seems to shatter as he gathers his strength.
With a mighty roar, he slams his fist forward.
Force and vibrations travel through the air, a stormfront of inexorable power to stand against the flames of hell. The two powers battle. The acrid flames of hell against his unstoppable vibration quirk.
This power is comparable to the quirk that gained him the title of Walking Nuke, the quirk that aided him in destroying Tianjin and a large swathe of South Sudan. He remembers his fight with an Emperor a century ago and the cataclysmic battle that shook an island and completely reformed the landmass. He remembers being pushed to the point of using his third and final charge of that quirk to eliminate the Emperor's Guard.
This quirk he wields now is the spoils of that battle, stolen from the dying body of the Emperor of that time. It is a worthy prize, one more versatile than the last.
The flames disperse, overwhelmed by Sensei's quirk. The air shimmers from the leftover heat and he swears he can hear the dead howling in agony.
Casually, he wipes the dust off his shoulder.
"Did you think it would be so easy?"
He savours the slow horror on Endeavour. It is the horror of knowing one of your ultimate moves, something you have developed and refined for years, has yielded no results.
The horror disappears suddenly, and only grim determination remains.
Good. Make this fun.
Endeavour is, however, nothing short of adaptive. He may not have the pure strength to match Sensei, but he does use his fire to make each punch a rocket.
Endeavour attacks relentlessly, attacking one spot over and over again. It makes him mildly predictable as All For One has seen this methodology countless times.
But he's never seen it from the greatest pyrokinetic he's ever met.
All For One steps past a burning fist and moves to grab it. A spike of fire immediately emerges from the fist and would stab All For One straight through the hand if not for his metal strengthening quirk that activates.
Endeavour twists, a long whip of fire coalescing in his free hand.
He activates his vibration quirk, blasting away the whip. All For One steps forward, past Endeavour's guard, and punches him in the chest.
Endeavour rises through the air, his face a rictus of pain.
The hero masters his pain at the apex of his arc and generates a pair of whips. He swings them down, burning lines of hellfire capable of melting through buildings.
All For One activates his quirk and annihilates the attack with a wave of force. The fire flares instead of dispersing, leaving him blind for a moment, and regretting using an infrared quirk.
The next moment, he sees a dozen lances of fire heading his way. He dances around the first few, cursing the slowness age and injury have imposed when one sears his right thigh. It will slow him down a fraction. Not much but enough to possibly be a problem later.
And then he notices Endeavour falling from the sky, a flaming comet of destruction.
The hero slams against All For One in a cataclysmic blow. An eruption of heat and flame spreads out from the impact.
All For One grits his teeth, feeling his body sink through the concrete. Endeavour intensifies the output of his flames, pushing Sensei deeper and deeper into the earth until his knees are trapped by concrete.
This is getting annoying.
He searches through his catalogue of quirks and finds a kinetic redirection quirk. For a moment, he considers that one that lets him fuck with the laws of thermodynamics but decides that will make the fight boring.
The quirk activates. Every iota of kinetic force Endeavour generates is suddenly redistributed in every direction. The blast wave frees Sensei and sends the hero flying away. It is so powerful that he hears the building behind him creak and groan.
He steps out of the crater slowly, listening to the whine of the camera drones observing the battlefield. No doubt every news feed is clogged with footage and commentary on the fight.
"Do you know who I am, boy?"
Endeavour rises from his kneel. "A villain just like the rest."
He flings his arm to the side and a row of buildings collapses instantly, crashing down to the ground just as Endeavour's determination will crash down.
"No, not like the rest," he says darkly. "I am the pinnacle of strength. Show me your worth."
This time, Sensei goes on the offensive. He wades through a gout of flame unflinching, metal skin granting him protection.
He slaps Endeavour with the back of his hand. The hero slams into the ground but rolls with the impact, rising and flinging fire.
Sensei bats the flames up and away, finding himself disappointed. Perhaps his standards are skewed from seeing the likes of Hero battle and even witnessing Toshinori's strength, but Endeavour is rather pathetic.
His attacks are uninspired, his defence shaky at best. The number two hero is just a well of untapped potential.
What could you have been if your ambition hadn't died with your children?
That thought makes Sensei rage. Having children is no excuse for weakness. Being a terrible father as well makes it less of an excuse.
"Get up, boy," he demands after having sent the hero into another crater. "You will fall and fail today. All that matters is the strength you show before the end."
A chill crawls down his neck, not of fear, but merely of perception. Someone wants him very, very dead.
He activates his vibration quirk and sends it through the ground and towards his base. With a tremendous crash, the base collapses, stalling the heroes within. Maybe it will kill one or two as well. Hopefully, it will slow Izuku.
Endeavour spits blood and rolls his shoulders. The flames around him calm from the wild inferno, compressing until they are a uniform layer of fire around him. The hero slides into a fighting stance.
"Bring it."
All For One is more than willing to oblige.
This is when the battle truly begins. He keeps his abilities simple: raw strength to overwhelm, metal to protect and his vibration quirk to disperse powerful attacks.
For an entire minute, he simply punches through Endeavour's defences. He slides around uninspired fire attacks and retaliates with ease.
Then it happens. Endeavour slides around one of Sensei's blows and makes a counterattack. It misses, yes, but the fact that he could impresses Sensei.
Something changes the longer they battle. Each block Endeavour makes becomes more precise and he shifts between offence and defence faster and faster till they are the same thing, one blow flowing into a block flowing into a blazing sword slash flowing into a wall of fire.
Is this all it took for you to surpass your limits? An enemy stronger than you?
All For One catches Endeavour's fist in his left hand. And nearly screams in pain.
There are three long claws protruding through his hand. Already, Endeavour moves to capitalise on his split-second of hesitance with a burning fist.
All For One takes the fist straight to his face, feeling his defence crack slightly. He snarls before slamming his head forward and striking Endeavour across the nose.
It dazes the hero and gives All For One the time to crush Endeavour's hand beneath his fist.
You could have been glorious, All For One thinks, kicking the hero away. Show me the limit of your power so that I can crush your hope.
Before he can take a step forward, a dozen lances of fire slice through the air. All For One sighs, disappointed. He doesn't bother doing more than step aside.
Endeavour keeps on flinging waves of fire, regardless that they aren't effective. Everything around him catches fire. He watches as the flames rise higher and higher, consuming the air and wood and concrete and everything in their path.
All For One cocks his head because that's not how normal fire behaves.
The streams of fire coalesce into a net around AFO, perhaps a hundred metres wide and just as tall. They burn with hate and loathing and death, so thick it makes AFO genuinely surprised Endeavour has this level of strength already.
He doesn't understand what Endeavour does with the air current… No, he's moving the air currents by manipulating regions of high temperature.
The level of fine control to funnel new and fresh oxygen to the burning strands of the net, to make them burn hotter and hotter until they can scorch any material, is astounding. Not only that, the air within the net is being sucked up by those temperature gradients.
The trap is twofold. The heat of the net to keep him in position and the direction of air flow creating a vacuum to choke All For One. It is magnificent in its simplicity and devastating because of the control Endeavour possesses.
What amazes him most is that he's never heard rumours or whisper of this technique. Simply practising it would have been impossible to hide. Which means this technique, this ability that Sensei admires for its ingenuity and skill and raw power, is something Endeavour came up with on the spot.
It is the crystallization of Endeavour, the perfection of his varied powers. It is magnificent and worthy of respect. This is the power of a man who has broken past his limits and ascended to new heights of power.
Sadly, he has already stolen a quirk to send Endeavour plummeting to the depths of irrelevance.
He draws on the power of the wind, on the quirk of Aizawa's former student. It is the strongest wind quirk he has seen since Stormwind and he barely has any control over it. But it lets him feel the air currents. It lets him grasp the air and send it the opposite direction.
Scorching hot air suddenly flows away from All For One. It seems to catalyse as the net expands, straining against the bonds Endeavour imposes upon it.
The net explodes outward suddenly, a wave of heat that will consume everything in its path.
It is a churning and roiling mass of hellfire, and somehow, he knows deep in his soul that anything burnt by this will be erased from existence in its entirety. Including the children that he's kept safe this entire battle.
He generates a rotating disc of wind around their position. He doesn't have the fine control to make this gentle, so he simply flings the cocoon away at high speed. They will likely survive with Endeavour's son amongst them.
He is many things, but he no longer can count himself a child murderer. For a few more minutes at least. Besides, he may as well leave his successor's friends intact. No reason to be needlessly cruel.
The wave of flame chews through everything indiscriminately. It consumes metal and concrete and all the oxygen in the air, leaving nothing but scorched earth.
Endeavour falls defeated, utterly and completely, by his own trap. Half his body is burnt black by the flames, but the other half is perfectly fine.
Sensei isn't certain how Endeavour survived that attack. He checks his watch. Seven minutes.
"Commendable," he says, willing to respect Endeavour for this singular act of defiance if never for anything else. "You are ready to stand on this stage. Live, and show the world your strength once more."
He flexes his wind quirk to the upper limit of his range, about five kilometres by his estimate. He plucks the streams of air, spins high pressure against low pressure, and creates a very sudden hurricane.
He lets his other quirks fade as he focuses on this one act. Creating two hurricanes at once is far beyond his control. But he is smart enough to make two from one. He forms a single high-pressure wall, breaking the perfect circle of the hurricane. All For One widens that pressure front along the arc of the circle until he is left with two-thirds of a circle.
Then he splits it, folding the high-pressure front to envelop the two hurricanes and send them in opposing direction to wreak additional havoc. Perhaps it is spiteful, but he hopes it slows Izuku down further.
This is the first time he truly has used the quirk. He can only imagine its potential, nowhere close to the realm of Stormwind, but perhaps one day it will also be whispered in the same breath.
This will be his final gift to his successor. One he thinks is fitting. Perhaps, he can become a sovereign of the sky.
He sees the flash of light and only his advanced perception quirks prevent him from dying. It is a bar of hardlight, the power Izanami of the Royal Guard wields. She is perhaps the best suited to deal with him. The power to strike faster than he can pull up one his quirks.
It is good that he has dozens prepared just in case.
In the space between understanding the threat and formulating a counter, he is already in the air from her first blow. By the time he selects a quirk, his body is assaulted by dozens of hardlight beams, each feeling like a jackhammer.
A metal sheen coats his body, deflecting the beams of light. It tears through buildings due to its new path and even crosses one of the hurricanes.
She fires blasts of hardlight, an endless deluge that he can't keep track off. But he has the laws of physics on his side.
With the metal sheen, she can't harm him any further. She may be fast and her attacks powerful, but they are subject to the laws of physics. Light reflects and right now, his body is covered in a perfectly reflective skin.
That initial attack had been her only chance to win. Should have gone for the head, he thinks, amused, because they always make that mistake.
He activates his vibration quirk in every direction, a sudden bubble of force transmitted through the air. Then he sees her a kilometre away before he's being attacked by more hardlight.
She tests his patience. He can't hit her when she is in her light form, but neither can she hurt him. What she can do, however, is stall him until the heroes arrive. And if they manage to hold the line for a long enough time, he'll have to face All Might as well.
Not impossible given that Endeavour has been… He scans the area and finds Endeavour missing. Did she retrieve him?
"I'm going to destroy the Villa right now," he threatens, summoning his quirk.
The air around him shatters and he lets his malevolence bubble forth. It weighs heavily, a physical declaration of his presence and might.
She materialises before him, a knife in hand. "The Royal lines will survive."
He smirks. "You think I don't know of your bunkers in what remains of Taiwan. I can still give the order for them to be destroyed."
Her features don't change. Then she's gone in a burst of light.
He's not foolish enough to think she's fled.
She has only one true weakness. Her quirk lets her become light and move as fast, but she retains none of the momentum when she becomes corporeal. She can't bring to bear the kinetic energy of her squared velocity. He knows this because the earth still stands and isn't annihilated by the atomic explosion a person moving that fast would generate.
So, he isn't surprised when she manifests behind him. He may not be fast enough to have tracked it, but like this, she is nothing more than a standard human.
He lets her stab his arm with her alien blade. Necrosis creeps up his arm as a result of the abyssal blade. It is a small sacrifice to ensure victory.
Instantly, faster even than light, his quirk rushes through his body and up the knife and then to her. The metallic skin covers her instantly.
It is the perfect trap. It may not kill her, but she cannot bring to bear her powers against him. Her light will simply reflect endlessly in the perfectly reflective coffin. And should she become corporeal then she will suffocate.
Just like that, he has eliminated the second greatest threat to his person available to the Emperor.
He stares at his dying arm and activates his regeneration quirk. It is nowhere near as fast as the one he gave the USJ Nomu, but it at least halts the spread of decaying tissue. And even with it like this, he can puppet it and channel his quirks through it.
He chooses to wait. He can afford that luxury. All Might is on the other side of the country, distracted by Gigantomachia. It may not hold him for long, but it will be enough. And even if it fails, Toshinori can't run half the length of Japan in a few minutes.
He wishes the world to see his power. Floating in the air, he wishes to remind them why every mention of his name has been stricken from the record books, why the alias he used in the past to wage war against the government is hidden in the deepest safes.
He spreads his arms wide, a dark god surveying his ruinous kingdom.
And ruined it is.
Buildings and warehouses have been destroyed by his shockwaves. Countering Endeavour's quirk has set fire to everything flammable. The only reason the world isn't aflame is because of the hurricanes he created that are still ripping through the city.
This is not the full extent of the power he wielded in his prime. But it is more than anyone alive has personally seen.
He may not be Titan or Stormwind, may never be able to win against them, but his power makes him a peer amongst legends.
"You children believe yourselves my equal. You believe you can stand against me. You have forgotten my power. You have forgotten my name."
He lets his malevolence bubble over, an almost physical manifestation of two centuries worth of hate and power and cruelty. It freezes Hawks who stands foremost amongst his enemies now that Endeavour has fallen.
"I have seen empires rise and fall. I have shaped history through my strength, fought wars alone and broke nations over my knee. I witnessed Hero's final battle and spoke to Hawkmoon as an equal. What have you children ever achieved?"
Which legend has Hawks defeated to stand before Sensei, a man who breaks legends regularly? What has Shinya Kamihara, that pathetic dress up ninja, achieved compared to Sensei? Who can Crust shield when All For One has destroyed every barrier set before him? When has Yoroi Masha fulfilled impossible oaths for his liege lord? And how dare Ryuko Tatsuma call herself a dragon when she is nothing but the palest and most insignificant imitation of a true dragon?
"Let me remind you."
He does not care for their attacks.
Hawk's feathers may be strong and sharp enough to tear through buildings, but Sensei can catch them with his wind quirk. He flings those captured feathers towards Crust who hastily erects a barrier to protect himself.
It gives him the time to meet Ryuko's massive blow. He catches her clawed arms with one hand and activates five strength quirks at once. He clenches his fist and crushes her arm, scales and bones crumpling like paper.
To her credit, she still has the presence of mind to attack with her hind legs.
Sadly, his left arm is already filled with his drill quirk. He stabs through her scaled torso and takes a moment to observe how the necrosis spreads from his arm to her.
And without a regeneration quirk, there is nothing to slow the spread of decaying tissue as it creeps to her heart.
He drops the dragon hero and lets her crash to the ground, nothing more than a pathetic heap of bones and failure.
Edgeshot and Hawks do not hesitate even with one of their allies dead. He jukes away from Edgeshot's grief-stricken blow meant to kill without mercy. He blocks Hawk's feather-sword, surprised when it cuts through his now metallic skin, and draws blood.
Still, he does not worry. He kicks Hawks in a blow that flings the hero aside, probably crushing half his rib cage as well.
His fingers stretch endlessly and stab Edgeshot. He forces the hero's quirk active, holding Edgeshot against his will as he sharpens to a needle long as a telephone pole.
Like a rocket, Edgeshot streaks through the air and breaks through Crust's barrier, cutting clean through the shield hero's chest.
All For One grins as the hero falls. It widens when he notices that Edgeshot will hit one of the hurricanes and die in their winds.
"I am an army unto myself!"
His fists shimmer with power. He can very well destroy Kyushu if he wishes. Once, centuries ago, he very nearly did after slaughtering those responsible for his brother's ultimate betrayal.
Only a little girl had saved Japan.
They will never know her bravery. They will never know the unshakeable nobility of a single child, weak and defenceless, but willing to stand defiant against him.
These fallen heroes arrayed before him are nothing compared to that child.
Yoroi Musha dashes forward wielding his odachi. His armour clangs with each long stride, each step a memory of samurai long past. His silver sword is a legacy to swordsmanship.
The hero spins and unsheathes his blade in a single perfect swing. In truth, it is three perfect swings all existing at the same time, impossible to dodge.
So, he doesn't.
With one shining hand, he catches the blade. Then shatters it, savouring the horror in the old hero's eyes. He turns and uses the hero to shield himself against Hawk's sharp feathers.
The armoured hero coughs blood. Amazingly, he has the strength to draw his shorter blade and slash it across All For One's chest.
He clicks in annoyance and crushes the hero's throat.
Only Hawks remains to battle him, defiant even in the face of death. He is stalling, perhaps waiting for All Might, but more likely hoping for backup from the soldiers All For One senses.
It is a respectable number if his estimate is right. They even have people with quirks trying to tame the hurricanes. They will succeed but only after many more casualties.
He errantly defends against Hawks as he surveys the opposition. He hasn't seen Japan roll out its tanks in decades nor has he seen hundreds of soldiers mobilised this quickly. The sky seems to be filled with helicopters.
They aren't foolish enough to give him time to wait. And they are more than willing to kill Hawks as well to stop a walking disaster.
He forms a wall of wind to stop the hail of bullets and rain of missiles. And just to be an asshole, he flings the armaments all the way to the battalion approaching a few kilometres from the vanguard.
He activates a perception quirk. It shows him clusters of life and intent. He finds the ones that match the soldiers shooting at him. There are three large clusters all converging on him, hundreds, perhaps thousands of soldiers, all ready to face Sensei. Foolish.
He raises one glowing fist and grabs the air itself.
"I am the greatest villain!"
With that roar, with that declaration of intent, he brings his fist down and pulls the sky with it.
The sky shatters.
Waves of force materialise above the army and slam into them. Bones and metal frames and helicopter wings are crushed beneath the immensity. They do not have time to understand before they are destroyed by his overwhelming power.
Hawks stares in horror at the shattered army. Thousands are dead, the greatest weapons made by men inconsequential in the face of his strength.
"You monster," Hawks rages.
He has killed many more without an ounce of regret. These lives will not weigh on him.
The hero twirls in the air. A barrage of feathers slams into All For One. Sensei blocks the first wave of feathers with his metallic skin.
It is when the ground beside him explodes beneath the force of one feather that he realises this is Hawk's ultimate move.
The feathers come faster and faster, more and more force in them until they are missiles carpet bombing the area more effectively than any piece of modern technology. They very well could kill him.
He layers wind and force and a few other defensive quirks to shield against this power. Even then, some of them slice through his flesh and one stabs him through the shoulder.
He takes a feather directly to the chest, the force of it pushing him back. It feels like someone taking a sledgehammer and striking his organs directly.
Sensei coughs blood, knowing that another blow like that will bring him to his knees. He doubles on his power, focused more on deflecting the feathers than blocking them.
For a boy of twenty-two, Hawks is more than worthy of his position as a hero.
However, like all things, it ends. The explosions stop and silence returns to the world. Sensei lowers his arms and looks at Hawks as he lands on the ground, his wings stripped of feathers.
In his hands are two feather swords. He holds both in a fighting stance, face grim but determined. His body is littered with dozens of cuts and bruises, his torso a mess of black and purple. Yet, despite that, he stands tall.
All For One inclines his head in acknowledgement.
He has a minor telekinesis quirk, and with it, he summons Yoroi Musha's broken odachi. Even with it shattered in half, it is still a respectable length. And, it has been so long since Sensei indulged in a good swordfight.
"Your determination is admirable."
He salutes with his sword and they battle once more.
The level of skill Hawks holds is surprising for one who has not dedicated his life to the sword. His blocks and parries are stiff and uninventive, but they are acceptable. There isn't anything truly imaginative about his footwork, no fluidity or that spark of brilliance that every natural swordsman has.
All For One is not a swordsman to any degree. But even a minor hobby practised for two centuries can grant mastery.
It isn't a fair fight by any stretch. Hawks is twenty-two, barely an adult, and holding his own against the greatest villain. With a sweeping blow, he disarms Hawks.
His feather blades clatter to the ground. Hawks lets his hands fall to his side, fingers twitching as though he wants to continue fighting.
Hawks breathes hard, knowing he is defeated, yet he still stands tall and unbowed. He is the last of the heroes still standing and now, knowing death is imminent, he refuses to submit.
He is the embodiment of why Sensei's methods have failed. Others will see the nobility of his final moments and seek to emulate his actions. These dead heroes will be a rallying call for another generation who will battle Sensei.
It is a seemingly endless cycle that must be broken for a new era to begin. Only his successor holds that power.
"I commend you for surviving this long against me."
Hawks shrugs, casual to the very end. It is a lie, a point of bravery against imminent death.
"Get it over with, ya hear."
Perhaps it is that arrogance, that refusal to bow and be conquered that makes Sensei change his mind. Perhaps he's grown old and soft. Regardless, he does Hawks the honour of a quick and painless death instead of something needless and cruel.
Just like that, six of Japan's greatest heroes are dead, seven in total defeated. In one single battle, he has completely changed the landscape of heroics. He is injured, yes, but he has fought with a hole in his heart before. Fought and won.
I'm getting old and slow, he thinks tiredly. A decade ago, I would have won without a scratch. A century ago it would have been over in a second.
The world is watching, judging, and fearing the strength he shows. What was once a single camera drone is now a dozen from every news network and a dozen more private drones. Undoubtedly, they watch him with satellites and planes. Perhaps the observatories are focused on him as well.
They do not remember him but now they are aware of the monster stalking them at night. They will never be able to forget him after this. No, his actions now will forever be immortalised alongside the Great Tyrants.
Sensei closes his eyes, seeing what he must do for the world to change. Everyone alive must hate him. More than that, everyone must hate the society that allowed him to rise. He must do this for his successor.
Do not forgive me. Do not forget me. What I do, I do for you. I do it willingly and gladly, my boy.
He raises both hands and grasps the sky once more. All For One grits his teeth and sets his feet in the ground as he summons forth the endless reservoir of his power, of his most powerful quirk.
"Do you!"
The very earth fights against him, the stable ground refusing to be moved. All For One does not care. He will move continents for his goals. The earth has no choice but to obey.
"Remember!"
There it is, the line where the vast plates of the earth's crust meet. The earth screams in protest as he shunts more and more power into it. It will obey for he gives it no option.
"Me!"
His arms strain and his suit sleeves turn to shreds as the sky seems to shatter for miles upon miles on end. The force of a continent-shattering quirk fills the air, permeates the entirety of Japan in an aura of dread and horror.
"Now!"
He pulls the shattered sky down.
Nothing happens for a long second that seems to stretch out forever. That second is filled with dread, with overwhelming malice and the certainty that the world will end. Not in the distant future or through nuclear warfare. No, it is the cruel assurance that the world will end today because one man wills it.
When it happens, no one can claim ignorance.
The world topples, the very bedrock groaning and crying out in pain as it is torn asunder. It is a grating sound, so loud it echoes in blood and bone as the earth heaves against its will, forced to obey the whims of one man.
The ground shatters, cracks that stretch for miles scarring the landscape. They spread like a network of veins, all originating from All For One. They will be the lifeblood of the destruction he causes.
Deep trenches form from those cracks. Magma bubbles up from those endless rips in the earth that seem to last forever.
Building collapses, their foundations destroyed. They slam into the ground, throwing up massive clouds of dust and debris. Some knock into each other before tilting together like lovers falling to their deaths.
He lets his strongest quirk run wild. He lets this cataclysmic quirk destroy without restraint, without empathy for the children and innocent that shall die. Doing this may mean breaking every oath he has followed this last century, but for his successor, it is worth it.
He will become the image people see when they think of a villain. When they see his successor battle to change society, it will be a society that let All For One exist that they will see.
They will witness one man destroy a city. They will witness as one man makes tectonic plates shift violently, generating massive tsunamis tall as a mountain. They will witness one man generate earthquakes across Japan in a single moment.
All of this will have a domino effect that will go on and on. It will be sudden mudflows and avalanches destroying remote towns. It will be collapsed bridges and cities with their very foundation torn out from under them. It will be coastal cities sinking into the oceans and volcanoes erupting.
Today, he will spill so much blood that his name will be synonymous with a natural disaster. Today, mothers will watch their sons drown, little girls will witness their fathers push them towards safety before being consumed. Today, the world will fully understand why Japan has never been invaded in the last two centuries.
That will happen now. Soon, people in the mountains will freeze to death without heat. Others will die slowly, suffocated beneath the rubble. More will die to plague and disease.
He feels it deep within the earth, an alien power that pulls him from his thoughts. Another force battles him for control over the earth. All For One snarls and pumps more and more of his power against the Emperor. He will not be defeated by a frail old man.
Do you think yourself safe in your palace?
The country seems to vibrate, tremors and shudders racking the length of Japan as the two battle for dominance. Slowly, All For One steals control from the most powerful earth quirk. And when he has control again, he shunts a stormfront of vibrations through the bedrock of Japan out of annoyance.
He doesn't consider what will happen from a sudden amplification factor slamming through Japan. Maybe other cities will have to deal with sudden gouts of magma like the one All For One avoids with a single step to the side.
He casts his senses to the coasts and feels the ships battling for Japan's dominance. With one mighty heave, he generates a wave to consume the enemy vessels. Perhaps no one will acknowledge it, but All For One has just won another war alone.
Then he feels someone pluck away control of the earth. The tremors still, the tectonic plates falling silent. And, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot take control of them.
It isn't the Emperor who has done this. No, he can feel that power attempting to mitigate the damage All For One has already caused. This is someone else, someone with a quirk capable of levelling an island and suddenly forcing a tidal wave to stop. And he knows of only one other person with that power.
So, you did live.
He feels how the volcanoes calm before they can make the situation worse. He feels the Imperial Heir stabilise Japan with his power, millions of tonnes of stone and rock rising from the seafloor to prop the foundation of Japan like a tourniquet.
Still, it has done its job.
He stares at the last remaining camera. The man holding it is struck dumb in awe of the raw power. That someone would be brave enough to approach an active warzone just for a better shot is commendable. Foolish beyond all doubt, but perhaps the eye of a storm is the safest place to be in.
He rips off his tattered jacket and discards the torn shirt, revealing the heavily scarred body of someone who has fought for centuries and earned his title.
In a voice no louder than a whisper, he states the most important fact in the world.
"I am the strongest man alive."
-TDB-
This is how it feels to be alive today:
You have just witnessed the rise of the greatest villain. You have just seen his proclamation. You have seen his battle against your heroes. No, it cannot be called a battle. A sheep may struggle before the slaughter, but that is no battle. Seven of your heroes have just fallen, putting up no true resistance.
Who is this man who calls himself an army and kills thousands of soldiers as easily as breathing? You wonder this as you ask the person beside you, only to realise they are frozen in terror.
You see this monster proclaim himself the strongest man alive and cannot find a flaw in that logic. How many others have destroyed a city alone? How many can reshape a landscape and stand indifferent to the power they wield? How many bring to bear the power to affect an entire country?
Stormwind. Titan. Hero.
The most powerful legends in history. All of them wielded power equal or greater to this.
It is terrifying that another legend now walks the earth as they did. It is inexplicable that the Strongest Man Alive in the world is a villain. It is also your greatest hope.
Stormwind surrendered to the winds of time. Titan fell to Hawkmoon. Hero died to poison.
All enemies can be beaten.
There is one person who embodies your hopes and dreams. One person who can stand against the greatest villain. One person who dominates your mind when you think of the word 'hero'.
"Never fear," you hear All Might say strongly.
He strides across the broken landscape, never walking faster than an easy stroll. He does not care for the many trenches or the flowing magma. It is the greatest reassurance you can receive for it means he has no worries.
"I."
And if he holds no worries, then victory is possible.
"Am."
You look to the person beside you and see hope in their eyes. You see them sit taller, back straight in imitation of the great hero. Their eyes burn with an echo of All Might's steely blue-eyed determination.
"Here."
You hope the greatest hero can win for there is no one else alive who can stand on this stage.