04/02/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 44 - Bad Timing

All For One sighed as he heard Tomura call upon him. It was a good choice but the timing was bad. The heroes, or at least one group of them, were attacking the warehouse. If Tomura had called upon him earlier, he could have ensured that both UA students were ready to join the League. It was interesting though, the explosive boy was full of surety of his ability and Endeavor's son, the one Dabi wanted them to grab, was far more restrained. It was possible that it wouldn't have taken much to get Shouto Todoroki join them. Especially given Endeavor's likely expectations. But that opportunity was now over.

It had been over for the last few minutes.

He couldn't see the screens but he could hear the heroes raiding the warehouse. From the noise it sounded like Mt Lady and Best Jeanist. The Nomu, while active, had not yet been given orders so were rather passive.

That would change soon enough.

And then there was the knock on the door of the bar.

He shook his head. This was not going well. Maybe they should have kept Moonfish on. The rather psychotic villain would have kept the heroes distracted, even if it meant losing him but Tomura had thought it best to pay him and let the man go. He wasn't an option now, so the best case was that Kurogiri would get Tomura out, and the worst… Well, that was why he had sent Gigantomachia away.

He rose, disconnecting the oxygen tube as he reached out for his mask. The Doctor had worked wonders and while it was not as good as being healed, it would serve well enough. He fitted it to his head, tightening the straps so that the drug injectors pierced his skin. He felt them engage and waited for the drugs to take effect. His helmet was always kept fully stocked for situations just like this.

He listened to the bar. He still needed to discover how bad this situation was before he decided to act.

The knock was quickly followed by a huge crash and All For One hissed as he heard All Might. It sounded like the so called hero came through the wall. He obviously didn't care about the students! One of them could have been injured by the brickwork. He heard Tomura call Kurogiri. That was good but before anything else could happen, All For One heard another hero. Given the cry, it was Kamui Woods.

This could be short. Dabi would make quick work of him but another voice intruded.

Gran Torino. Interesting. Very interesting. Maybe it was time to get rid of that old man, once and for all?

He did not need to hear the announcement from All Might to tell him who was present.

"Garaki, get ready to transfer Nomu's to Tomura's location," he ordered. He'd let it play out a bit more and then he'd go deal with the pest in the warehouse.

All For One cocked his head slightly. He ignored the calls from Tomura's companions. All Might had come through the wall, and Kamui Woods and Gran Torino had followed him but someone had opened the door. He heard the hinges and there was the sound of footfalls. Another hero… and the police, he decided.

"The delivery is not just us! We have many skilled heroes surrounding this place with the Police," the new hero announced.

Ah, that was Edgeshot. Endeavor was probably outside, but with his son being one of the kidnappee's he'd be excluded from taking action today.

All Might was saying something to the students but All For One could feel Tomura's frustration even from here. He could hear it in his voice. "Damn. We went to such lengths. Why the hell has the last boss hunted us down? Usually it's the other way around, right?"

All For One sighed. Maybe Tomura's speech would appeal to younger villains but the constant game references were just one of the reasons the boy was not going to be able to go all the way. Oh, he would bring down the heroes, that was not the issue but Tomura would have no idea what to do once he won. It was allowable. He didn't need to know because by then, he would have taken over Tomura's body.

"I've got no choice," Tomura was saying. "'It's not just us', you say. The same goes for us too! Kurogiri! Bring as many of them here as you can!"

All For One sighed. That wasn't going to work with the other heroes at the warehouse but he could probably get some Nomu from a different warehouse.

"Now?" Garaki asked.

"Not yet," he instructed. This was a good opportunity to reinforce to Tomura that he controlled things.

"I'm sorry, Tomura Shigaraki but the Nomus that should be at the designated location aren't there?" Kurogiri sounded confused.

All For One took several deep breaths, doing his best to ignore the drivel All Might was spouting.

"As I thought, you are still just a green horn, Shigaraki! You villain alliance underestimated too much these boy's spirit! The diligent investigation of the police and our fury!"

Oh, All Might actually displayed some emotion there.

"No more games. It ends here, Tomura Shigaraki."

"It ends here, you say? Don't joke with me…" Tomura replied but All For One could tell that he was getting desperate.

"Hold," he ordered the Doctor. There was time yet.

"We've only just gotten started! Justice. Peace! This rubbish heap society, capped by such vague concepts. I will destroy it and I'll start by removing the cap that is All might!. I've only just begun to gather comrades! Nonsense! This is just the beginning. Kurog-"

The pause was interesting. All For One could only interpolate that something else was happening.

"What just happened?" That was Compress.

All For One reviewed the sound in his mind. There had been the sound of a tear… Ah… Edgeshot had done something.

"Is he dead?" Whisper demanded. She was afraid. All For One could tell they were all afraid.

"I played around inside a little bit. He'd stunned. He won't die," Edgeshot reported. "This guy is the most troublesome of all. I just wanted to put him to sleep."

All For One sighed. Sometimes it was annoying when heroes were astute. With Kurogiri out of the mix, he was going to have to fight. There'd been a chance until that point that the warper could get them away.

He heard Gran Torino snort. "I already told you, didn't I? Behave yourself and comply. It's for your own good."

He heard a roar. Muscular, All For One figured and there was a crash before a high pitched whine came through the speakers.

"What did you do?" That was definitely Muscular and All For One frowned at the question. There had been no other crashes and from his tone, he was both outraged, and in a great deal of pain.

"We are prepared for you," Kamui Woods said.

All For One wasn't sure exactly what the Heroes had done but the whine was a hint. Whatever they had done was probably linked to Muscular's cybernetic eye. It looked small, and insignificant but to be effective, it had to be linked into his nervous system and... The Heroes probably had some sort of override device. It would be the easiest way of dealing with someone like Muscular when you were not prepared to rely on overwhelming force.

"Josai Shizukana, Goto Imasuji, Atsuhiro Sako, Jin Bubaigawara, Himiko Toga, Chou Konchu. With a little bit of information and time, the Police were able to ascertain your identities and background in their night work. You get it, don't you? There's nowhere for you to run."

Gran Torino still spoke too much. "Hey, Shigaraki, I wanted to ask. Where exactly is that boss of yours?"

All For One smiled. No doubt Tomura was wondering the same and he could well imagine what was going through Tomura's mind. The memories and his reinforcements. Everything he'd ever told the boy about heroes, had even shown him would be there. The heroes might have interrupted his plans but he'd just have to make this an opportunity.

"Not… like this!" Tomura spat. He wasn't very coherent but All For One understood why. "Nonsense! Get out of my sight! Vanish!"

"Where is he right now, Shigaraki?" All Might demanded.

"Send them now," All For One ordered and heard Garaki tap several commands. There were more Nomu than the heroes thought. These ones were still free to move and he'd go free the others now.

"I hate you!" Tomura screamed, but the end of the shout was lost in the roar of the emerging Nomu.

He almost wished he could see the confusion on the Heroes' faces but he had to go deal with the plague at the gate. "Transport them all to the warehouse in a minute or so, including the UA students," All For One ordered. If he could get the students away, and make the timing work then… Tomura would still have his followers. Or maybe Izuku would. At the very least, Tomura would have his sacrificial lambs and that would still be a lesson to the world.

Yes, if Kyudai could get Tomura and his comrades away from All Might, while he dealt with the nuisances here, then there was a chance they'd lose facilities but essentially win the day. He could always get more facilities.

"Are you sure?"

All For One gave the Doctor a look. "Kurogiri would be chiding me on the timings," he said. "And he'd probably be right, but this is the only way," he said as he walked away, still absently amused by the confused shouts from the heroes at the bar.

Really, one would think they expected everything to go their own way!

-ted-

Izuku looked at his phone. He'd finished his homework and had been hoping to talk to Himiko but she wasn't answering. He sighed. What did Tomura have them doing? It was kind of annoying that he could talk to her now but… not always.

He didn't want to disturb Ochaco 'cos she was stuck at UA and for some reason the General Studies students had an exam on that Hitoshi was studying for. Mei would be asleep by now too. While she gave off the impression of mad inventor, she actually kept regular hours, except when in a creative frenzy. She'd laughed once and said that the regular sleep was to make up for the frenzy hours.

And he'd messaged Inasa but the other boy was… well… if he was honest, they had never been great friends. Great acquaintances but they'd usually exchanged texts a bit more often. While they had exchanged texts recently Inasa was more interested in pumping him for information about the quirks the UA hero students had. He'd be fine with that but Inasa was slow at answering his questions. He said they were too routine and boring.

They might be boring to Inasa but they were interesting to him! He wanted to know what the differences were between schools and without actually going, asking Inasa was the only way he could do that. Inasa didn't see his interest.

Well… if no one was answering then he should send Himiko a joke and go to bed. Maybe she'd reply in the night.

What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire? Izuku smiled at the line before he sent it.

He hoped people could talk tomorrow.

-ted-

In hindsight they should have realised that the street was too empty. Even for an area that was supposedly abandoned, it was too close to more populated places to be this empty! It made sense when Mt Lady's foot went through the wall. The heroes would have prevented people going here but not everyone, because that would have warned the villains… How did they get through then? That was a thought for another time.

The heroes probably thought they'd left but at least they were out of the way. When they'd spotted the Nomus, they'd pulled back to plan. Iida had been eager to come on the mission but he was having doubts and his nerves were strangely settling. It was making Kirishima and Kaminari consider their moves. No doubt the two of them would have just rushed in. They couldn't rush this. Thankfully the two from Class 1B seemed much more restrained. Maybe it was because they were both recommendation students. Shoji wouldn't say they were content to make observations but they were insistent upon them. But from all the observations they'd made, it didn't appear as if Bakugou or Todoroki were here.

That was disappointing but it kind of made sense. The villains were obviously well supplied. They had multiple bases and Yaoyorozu had gotten her tracking device on the monster, not on one of the villains.

From where they were, behind the adjacent wall they could hear Mt Lady talking to Best Jeanist who seemed to be in charge of the operation. Gang Orca was there as well and when Shoji peaked he could see that they were all holding Nomus. Best Jeanist was showing his skill and had multiple Nomus subdued. There were ranks of riot police drawn up in the street ready to engage. It made him feel better to know that the heroes and police were here. It meant that the villains wouldn't be running around for long.

"Oh wow! These things are actually alive?" The question showed how disgusted Mt Lady was. "Does having this easy of a job sit well with you Jeanist? Shouldn't we have gone with All Might?"

Kirishima jerked at hearing that.

"There's two operations," Momo whispered to keep him calm, before he yelled it and gave away their position.

"Let's not conflate the degree of difficulty of what we're doing with its importance, rookie," Best Jeanist retorted. "Riot Squad, come and hold position. There might still be more of them around here. We're counting on you."

Shoji listened as the police moved in.

"We should go," he said softly. The others were about to agree when another cry took their attention.

"Ragdoll! Say something?"

The others, who had been going down the stairs again stopped and peaked over the ledge.

"What did they do to you Ragdoll?" That was Tiger and he was carrying Ragdoll.

Shoji watched as Gang Orca went up to Tiger. The Riot Police were spreading through the facility but there was a darker part, near some rubble that they weren't going near. No one was going near it.

"Amazing!" Kirishima said, probably too loudly but soft enough not to be heard. "The heroes were making their move long before we were!"

"The best thing we can do is get back to UA," Iida announced.

"What about the other mission?" Kaminari asked.

Momo huffed. "We aren't here to sight see," she half growled. It was difficult to tell if she was acting or genuinely annoyed. "If All Might is there, then that's all the more reason for us to get back to UA," she agreed with Iida.

Shoji nodded. That was the sensible thing to do, given they shouldn't be here. He was about to gently push the others to keep moving down the stairs when a new voice came from the operation… accompanied by a feeling. His breath caught in his throat and Shoji felt his eyes widen.

He wasn't alone. The others were frozen as well. Kaminari looked faintly sick.

"I'm sorry, Tiger. I thought she had a useful quirk long ago and since the opportunity fell into my lap, I decided to take it."

Shoji heard a footfall to accompany the voice. It sounded like a death knell.

"Stop right there! Don't move!" Gang Orca ordered.

To Shoji the hero just didn't sound as strong as the other voice. He couldn't see the man but… He really didn't want to. It was coming from the darkened area no one had gone near.

"Another member of the League?"

"Shine a light!" The order was given but no one moved.

"Ever since my body became like this, my stock has fallen quite a bit," the voice said. He sounded oddly nostalgic.

Best Jeanist moved. Shoji saw the fibers he could control whip out into the darkness.

"Ho-hold on Jeanist! If that's a civilian?" Mt Lady asked.

It wasn't a civilian! Couldn't she feel that?

"Think about the situation. A moment of hesitation could decide everything!" Best Jeanist countered. "Don't let the villain do anything!" He ordered.

Shoji wasn't sure what happened then. He saw it. He heard it but he didn't know what it was.

One moment there was a building beside them. The next, there was nothing but rubble and dust. He felt sick. The heroes were gone… The police were gone…

All that was left was the villain and he was hanging in the air with his head bowed…

Shoji managed to shift an eye to his companions. Kaminari was on the ground and looked like he was choking. Iida was in a similar condition. Honenuki was staring at nothing.

"Just when Tomura was starting to become useful… and when my Little Dragon has yet to make a decision. When you would have had peace for a few years yet…

"If possible, I'd like for you all to stop interfering…" the villain said. Shoji wasn't sure who he was speaking to. He prayed with a fervor that would do Ibara proud that it wasn't them.

Kirishima was hauling in each breath with obvious effort. His eyes were wide.

The villain was crushing them and he wasn't even doing anything. How was he doing this?

"Well then, let's get this over with," the villain announced.

If he could, Shoji would have closed his eyes and waited for death. He knew though, even if he closed his eyes he'd see the villain. The man was dressed in a suit. He was hovering in the air and had some sort of helmet on his head. It was armored and was obviously a piece of support equipment. There was a quasi feeling that support equipment made a hero weak, even though they all used it. He'd never think that again. That's if he could think again. As it was… all he could do was stand there in fear. He couldn't even tremble because he couldn't move. All he knew was this man… was evil itself.

And there was no way they could fight that.

-ted-

The League, while having a successful go at the camp, is down a few members still but the boss is now coming out to play and the heroes better watch it. And Izuku better enjoy that blissful ignorance for a few minutes longer, at least until the media get on the case. I figure, in canon, they used the apology as cover to distract the media and then when the actual battle at Kamino erupted, it obviously became very public but the raid on the bar? Eh, the public would have heard about it in the morning when the Heroes announced that they had retrieved the kidnapped Bakugou and captured the villains. In canon. But we know what happened there. For here, at least for now, it's a similar situation, the bar raid isn't a media known event but All For One had now emerged and that will, eventually, be noticed.

And Izuku will hear about it.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

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