Just wanted to make a quick note before this chapter begins- this is an original chapter of mine, the first of hopefully many to come. However, this is only a brief reprieve from the adaptation of canon chapters before I get in to my own original story. I'll let you know when we're back to original chapters. Thanks for reading this far!
Chapter 298- Test Drive
Shigaraki watched the crowd of villains talk amongst each other, some with looks and tones of concern or interest, others with a clear disbelief. They were all confused- All for One stepping down? That couldn't have been his MO. All for One, choosing to let people talk and discuss this new offer he gave them, turned to Shigaraki with a grin. He wrapped an arm around the younger villain and steered him away from the group.
"I believe I owe you an explanation for something?" He said coyly. Shigaraki scowled in reply.
"Yeah. I'm not really happy right now. You and the doctor said I'd get all these great powers, and I did get them- for a few minutes. So now you're going to explain what's happened to me."
"Fair enough. Here is my explanation- you have received my quirk, All for One, as well as the quirks I had built up with All for One. However, those quirks were temporary. I'm afraid the good doctor couldn't figure out how to copy all those quirks perfectly in the time he had… So he created temporary copies that would only stay with you for a short period of time. I hadn't known it was such a short period of time, however."
"So basically… I endured months of hell and torture just for a temporary power-up? What was the point then?" Shigaraki snarled. This was getting ridiculous…
All for One merely chuckled. "Not at all! You see, you still have my original quirk, All for One, which means you can steal quirks for yourself. You can create your own kit of powerful quirks, perhaps some even stronger than the ones I had!"
"My own quirks…? So that means I have to go hunting for quirks of my own now… I'm not sure I have the time for that."
"You don't need to go hunting." All for One grinned, looking at the crowd of prisoners who were still talking amongst each other. "You have the perfect pool to select from right here."
Shigaraki also turned to the group of villains. He could sense that they had terribly powerful quirks- that much he was certain of. But what was he supposed to do? Interview each of them and decide if he liked their quirk enough?
No. Some of these people were going to be his soldiers. He had a better idea.
Shigaraki stepped towards the crowd of villains. They all stopped talking and began observing the young villain as he eyed the crowd. "Listen up… If you wanna join up with me, get on my left side. If you don't, get on my right side." The villains were confused at first, but eventually did as they were told. Most of them moved to his left side, including Muscular and Moonfish. However, there was still a group of thirteen or so villains on his right. Of the thirteen villains, one in particular stood out to him- a younger man with bright red hair styled into a curly afro. "You." Shigaraki pointed to the man, whose eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he put on his stoic facade once again. "Why don't you want to join me?"
The man looked at his cohorts, before standing up straight. "I don't much care to be controlled by someone else. I've been cooped up in here for too long… Bout time I get out of here." The others began nodding and vocalizing their agreement. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful you busted us all out… But I'm not going to wage a war for you. I just want to do my own thing."
Shigaraki nodded thoughtfully. "What's your name?"
"Ohba Goukazaru. I went by the name of Flint during my spree."
"Flint… Weren't you that villain who had that Flame Limbs quirk?"
Flint smiled at this. He held out one of his hands, and it ignited into a bright red flame. "Yep. I fought over thirty heroes in hand to hand combat and beat most of them because they couldn't get past my flames. They had to take me down from a distance. Cheap bastards."
"Fascinating." Shigaraki grunted. "You should probably know something, though. After we have waged our war here in Japan, and after I sit on top of my throne of rubble and corpses, I'll remember you. Then I'll remember how you wanted to go off and do your own thing… Then I'll come find you and kill you."
Flint snarled. "Oye, don't think you can threaten me-"
"Or I can save myself that headache and just kill you now. Which do you prefer?"
"Just 'cause I'm doing my own thing doesn't mean we gotta be enemies!" Flint retorted. "What, you're just gonna keep the whole world for yourself?! Why would anyone want to join you at that point?!"
"My goal is not to control or conquer the world." Shigaraki said plainly. "It's to destroy everything, and bring everything toppling down on itself. So again, which scenario do you prefer- do you want me to destroy you now, or later? Or perhaps you would like to reconsider joining me?"
"Like hell." Flint growled. "I'll take you on right now." He ignited both arms and began moving towards Shigaraki.
Shigaraki grinned. Flint leapt forwards with a flaming jab aimed at Shigaraki's face; he quickly dodged out of the way and retaliated with a side kick aimed at Flint's ribs. Before his kick could land, Flint used his free hand to propel himself away from Shigaraki by shooting out a quick burst of flames. The other prisoners had made a ring around the two by this point. Flint landed on some of the prisoners, who pushed him back to his feet into the ring.
"You think fast with that quirk." Shigaraki noted. "You can use it to propel yourself in and out of range, and the flames make blocking your attacks impossible."
Flint jetted back over to Shigaraki, this time swinging his right fist aimed at Shigaraki's torso. As Shigaraki dodged again, Flint used his flames on his legs to catch Shigaraki with a flaming kick. Shigaraki gritted his teeth as he was sent flying a short distance away. He quickly recuperated and dashed towards Flint as he was landing, swiping with his hand at Flint's face. Flint quickly used his arms to propel himself backwards, avoiding the swipe in time, and used his leg flames to stabilize himself.
"I beat you in hand to hand!" Flint shouted. "Gonna show off your quirk yet, or do I gotta beat it out of you?!" Shigaraki merely smiled.
"Give it your best shot." Shigaraki said. Flint scowled again, and charged Shigaraki once more.
All for One watched as Shigaraki traded blows with the other criminal. He had chosen to perch himself on a pile of debris for a bird's eye view, not daring to interfere with his young pupil's death match. This is what would prove if Shigaraki was truly capable of wielding All for One's true power.
As All for One watched, a certain other character caught his eye- a young woman with short cotton candy colored hair, carrying a man who looked quite familiar. She had been one of the people who sided with Shigaraki before the fight broke out, but she seemed to be concerned with keeping the man she was carrying upright more than anything. He had used Search on her a long while back, and what he learned was most valuable indeed.
The woman's name was Kaina Tsutsumi, a gun for hire and a professional at that. She was known by both heroes and villains alike for her swift assassinations- a wonderful asset for both sides to have. After all, both sides have had their chance to use her to her maximum potential…
"TREACHEROUS HERO LADY NAGANT!" All for One boomed out. At the call of her name, she looked to All for One on his pile of scrap, as well as some others startled by his loud call. Dragging the man she had with her, she climbed up the pile of junk to meet All for One face to face. "What an honor to meet you." All for One gave her a smile, which she returned with a half-hearted smirk of her own.
"All for One…" She mumbled. "There was a time where you were a target of mine."
"I am ever so grateful you did not follow through, then!" All for One chuckled. "Otherwise, I would not be able to ask for your services today." Nagant raised an eyebrow, but remained listening. "Shigaraki will build his army with these prisoners, as well as many others from across the nation; however, for you, lovely lady, I have a different request."
"Shigaraki… That kid's really gonna lead an army?" She asked as she turned to face the ongoing battle. Flint had managed to push Shigaraki against the wall of prisoners, and was furiously taking swipes with his flaming fists. Shigaraki was easily evading these attacks, a smile on his face all the while.
"Of course! His conviction is incomparable to anyone else's, even my own!" All for One stated. "However, there is one problem I would like for you to take care of for him. You see, there is a high school student out there-"
"Hang on." Nagant interrupted. "Why the heck should I do anything for or you? Everyone else here gets to blow this joint and then go wild doing whatever they want in Shiggy's army, why should I have to take on an assignment by myself?"
"You've killed heroes before." Nagant began to glare at him. "And furthermore, I believe you also seek the downfall of hero society. As long as this boy is around, I'm afraid you will never see your dream be realized."
"So, he's also clinging to those phony hopes, eh?" Nagant scowled. "So why're you giving me the order instead of Shiggy? I thought he was running this show."
All for One chuckled. "Oh he certainly is! But I fear that he is underestimating the importance of removing this boy from the playing field entirely before he may wage his war. That is why I'd like to keep this deal kept, ah, private. When you complete your mission, I'd like you to keep the details of our discussion a secret. I'd rather not have Shigaraki distrusting me."
"Boss…" The young man Nagant was carrying moaned. If he had been listening to their conversation, he made no signs of it; his mind seemed to be elsewhere.
"Ah, I see you've found the young Shie Hassaikai leader. Have you two become friends?" All for One asked.
"Nah. I just helped him bust out since… you know." Nagant nodded to his arms. "I figured he'd be useful to me, so I helped him out the rest of the way. He's definitely got some screws loose though… I can't say I don't feel bad for him."
"He, too, has been victimized by this hero society." All for One tutted. "He is clearly not of sound mind, and given his physical state he couldn't possibly be a threat to anyone. Despite this, they've locked him away on this god-forsaken rock and have chosen to forget him. Why is he not deserving of the care others in his state receive daily? Simply put, because he has been labeled a villain, a person who is undeserving of empathy." All for One began to reach his hand out to Lady Nagant's forehead. "Consider this a contract between us… and let us deal a death blow to this backwards society." He placed his hand on her head, and she began to feel a warm sensation pulse forth from it. "I would like you to take this, both as a deposit… and a gift."
The warm sensation faded, and Nagant felt a surge of energy in her body. She didn't know what exactly it was, but she knew All for One had placed something inside her… something powerful.
She would not let it go to waste.
Flint was breathing heavily, while Shigaraki seemed to be just as quick as ever. Ten minutes of fighting and what did he have to show for it? Shigaraki had not once used his quirk to Flint's knowledge, and he had used up a lot of his quirk's energy propelling himself around the makeshift ring of prisoners.
Flint waved his flaming hand around until the flames grew to the size of a whip- Shigaraki's eyes lit up at this- and he began unleashing a flurry of whip strikes in Shigaraki's direction. Shigaraki managed to dodge them all flawlessly, making Flint even angrier. Refusing to show this, he instead smirked with a facade of confidence.
"You challenge me to a fight, then all you do is dance around and never retaliate!" He shouted. "What kind of a demon king are you supposed to be if you won't even strike back?!" At this, Shigaraki's smile faded. THAT seemed to get through his mental barrier… now Flint needed to get through his defense and land a good blow.
"I'm waiting." Shigaraki said plainly.
"For WHAT?!"
Instead of answering him, Shigaraki dived past his flames and punched him in the gut, before landing two more body blows and an uppercut to launch Flint back.
'Dammit, Flint!' Flint thought to himself. 'You're not gonna get him like this… you gotta go all out! It might take down some other prisoners here, but who cares?! So long as you kill this guy, nobody's ever gonna stop you again!'
Flint began to kneel and hug himself. Shigaraki stood up with an eyebrow raised.
"Am I supposed to take this as your surrender?" Shigaraki asked.
"No…" Flint grinned. Shigaraki noticed that Flint's entire body had started to glow orange. "This is my ultimate attack… Even if you ran now, you wouldn't be able to escape its range!" Shigaraki's eyes widened as Flint began to glow brighter. "I commend you for pushing me this far, but I think our play time's over! So if you've got anyone you want to pray to, now's the time!" Flint was now glowing a bright white. "CROSS FLAME: SUPERNOVA- AUGH?!"
Before he could finish, the ground beneath him crumbled into a pitfall. Flint stopped glowing and looked around as rubble rained down around him. Shigaraki stared at him from the top of the hole. He had knelt down, his hands on the ground in front of where the hole was created.
"I've seen enough to be satisfied. We've hit the extent of your quirk's capabilities." Shigaraki mused. "I'll be sure to make good use of it."
"Wha-" Before Flint could realize it, Shigaraki had landed in the bottom of the pitfall and placed his hand on his forehead. A cold feeling passed through his body, as if there was some ice shoved under his skin. Flint spoke no more as he could feel his body dissolving into ash. Not a second later, the only sign of Flint's existence was the scorch marks left from his missed attacks.
Shigaraki could feel the new power surging through his body, making itself at home within him. He had used the fight against Flint to measure the full extent of the quirk's utility and power, and determined that it would be of use to him. He activated his leg jets, stumbling a bit at first, but quickly rose out of the pitfall. The other prisoners gasped and murmured in awe.
"He… he stole his quirk?"
"This guy… he's for real…"
"He dissolved him in one touch…"
Shigaraki could see All for One grinning at him, giving an approving nod. So this was the power of All for One… Now that Shigaraki understood it, he knew his next course of action.
"You there." He said, pointing to the group of villains who had stood with Flint. "What's your name and quirk?" The criminal gulped and stammered as the other prisoners watched. All for One, from his perch of rubble and corpses, smiled wide.
You're embracing your role well... He thought. To be a demon king, you must take control. Control your enemies, control your friends, control everything. You decide from here on out what is important for your success… I'll watch and cheer you on. Do your best, Tomura."