Author's note : Once again, thanks for the nice reviews!
The Yui x Katsuki ship was truly a lucky thing : the whole tournament was decided by dice. And I mean everything : who was there ? Who fight who ? And especially who won.
I often find it boring when you just follow Canon. I prefer to randomize, like for the heroic exercise ! (yes. shouto vs Izuku happening earlier than before was because I am a TTRPG nerd).
Yui vs Katsuki was a fight I was at first planning to just throw away like Mei vs Hanta but a friend of mine dared me to make it epic.
The rest was history.
As for Katsuki winning... well it was the dice. Honestly could have gone both ways but I find it oddly satisfying as it shows that a better Katsuki had a more fulfilling tournament than the canon.
Anyway. Now, time for the prelude for Hoshu : Triceps Corporation. Second part : Tomura.
Chapter 29: Dust and blush
A knife went inside one of the smugglers, before he got nailed on the wall. Arazawa was a good smuggler: He didn't ask questions, he never pulled a fast one on his clients and he did his best to stay under the radar.
Suddenly, in front of him appeared this strange league of vigilantes, the one who attacked the hero school. Apparently, through some kind of persuasion, the man named "Boss" convinced Stain to work for him and they were into his business.
At first, he thought the man was here to buy a few things from him, as vigilantes often did, but he had the displeasure of seeing the two men dispatching his guards efficiently. Boss seemed to have a lot of knowledge in martial arts and Stain… was Stain. Why did he seem to anger them by asking them if they were looking to buy an animal with a quirk?!
"LOONY IS FUCKING PISSED!"
Arazawa, still wondering what the fuck was happening, saw a cartoon character getting out of a black spot on the wall… Followed by a rabbit family he bought recently. Some of them had telekinesis, and some others were simply green rabbits.
"So… You want to buy them?"
Wrong choice of word, as Boss twisted the knife in his hand. Loony looked up to her chief with a strange look. Stain too.
"I have a working brain, you two. Of course, I have spotted that Loony is a rabbit with a quirk. She has too much animalistic behavior for it to be normal… Either that or she would be part of the S.M.A.S.H."
"They are weak and prey on other humans. Rabbits don't eat other rabbits, unless there is no other choice."
Loony wasn't happy, as she pulled out of nowhere a giant hammer, to Arazawa's biggest fear. However, thankfully, the Boss held up his hand, making her stop.
"We aren't here to kill him, Loony. We are here to interrogate him."
Oh, good. That was way better. Stain in his noseless scariness, looked deep in his eyes, before explaining to the poor smuggler what they wanted.
"Why are there so many vigilantes in the area, and what happens to them?"
"… If I tell you that, and promise to stop smuggling animals with quirks, can I expect to get out of here with no other injuries?"
Tomura thought about the situation, thinking about asking for money… Before deciding against it. Being too greedy was a sure way to fail.
"We weren't planning to attack actually until we discovered you had Loony's family here. Tell us what we want to know, and we will leave."
Arazawa nodded and explained the situation.
The League of Villain wasn't happy with them.
—————
DarkCloud: So… Tomura, what are you doing now?
TheBoss: THE LOCAL HERO KIDNAP POOR MUTANTS IN THE AREA AND MAKE IT APPEARS AS IF IT IS THE CRC ACTING.
DarkCloud: Oh dear.
TheBoss: As Dust Guster is notoriously against the CRC, the local vigilantes try to team up with him to fight the supposed enemies. Then, he traps them and sells them.
DarkCloud: Oh dear.
TheBoss: The smuggler was left alive and relatively unharmed because he was actually outside of the operation. He specializes in animals because he doesn't hurt people. Considering he was threatened by Stain, Loony and me, I think he was honest.
DarkCloud: What is your next step then?
TheBoss: We hit the place where he stores them. It is in the underground of a bar, the Drunken Tengu.
DarkCloud: Don't forget to not come back too late!
—————
"So, what did you find, Nejire?"
Ryukyu looked at her intern, rather proud of her. The blue-haired girl was skilled at her job, knew how to connect links and also didn't count her working hours. Many of Ryukyu's attacks were done during the night, because a dragon was always scarier when you could barely see it in the dark. As a result, she was borderline an underground hero, or rather worked really often with them as the heavy hitter.
Seeing Nejire follow her steps was something she was proud of.
"This bar, Ryukyu-sensei! Too much space in it is not supposed to be used. However, the heating shows all of it used. Same thing about their expenses, the number of people they employ, their taxes…"
"So, if you summarize everything?"
"Their numbers are wrong. However, I think we should investigate undercover at first. It could be simply tax evasions and not something too dark."
"So, what will you do?"
"Well, seeing as you are too well known, you clearly cannot go. However… I have some dye and a fake ID!"
The dragon hero sighed before head-patting her young intern.
"We stay in radio contact, okay?"
"Yes, mom!"
——————
At first, Nejire was bored in the bar. She had to switch her hero suit to something… Way different, to stay polite, and of course it brought too much gaze to her. The barman had to repeat her demand to not serve her alcoholic beverage to every man in the bar. Instead, she was simply drinking some apple juice… At least, she was, until she saw a man sitting next to her with a charming smile.
"Hello, young miss. I am here on the behalf of my boss, who would like to ask you a few questions…"
Nejire was wondering what his boss wanted to talk about, and who he was. After all, she only asked a few questions about the general area, and who was the most known vigilante in it. It wasn't like there were a lot of them around here, according to the police.
However, meeting this man's boss would allow her to visit a more interesting part of the bar. What is the worst that can happen? Besides, her boss was still in radio communication with her.
It was with a smile that Nejire followed the man, ready to meet his boss.
—————
Nejire knew bars were often a suitable spot for underground and limelight heroes to gather information. She wasn't prepared to see Gust Duster, #56 in the ranking, as the owner of this bar. It was… really strange. As in "her instinct was telling her to run" kind of strange. As a precaution, she pressed her radio twice, to signal to her mentor to get ready to intervene.
Him clearly serving her a glass of an alcoholic beverage was a second red flag.
She was certain something was up when a man behind tried to cover her mouth with some kind of tissue, which smelled like ether or chloroform. He got quickly hit by a bolt of energy, as Nejire quickly jumped on one side of the room. Sadly, they were underground, and she was not sure at all she could accumulate enough power to blast her way out.
"Sir? We need to hurry! Our bouncer has detected the Dragon hero nearby!"
Another man entered, apparently panicked as someone would be when they learn a dragon is coming for them.
The Windy Hero sighed, as he towered above Nejire, being close to 2m high. Wind was already forming in his hands, making a round ball of compressed air known for its explosive power.
"Shit… If I wasn't warned that the League is coming for me, I would have simply sold you… But since you work with the League, I have no choice but to interrogate you on your team."
"Wait, I am not with them!"
Nejire tried to yell, defending herself… When suddenly, three black holes appeared, each on a different wall… And one of them was near her. On her left, a power baffle appeared and blasted "Butterfly". On her right, another one with the Canadian theme.
And from the hole next to her emerged first the infamous Boss, with his signature hand on his mask, and of course his suit, showing an incredible amount of pride. He was accompanied by Stain, the Hero Killer, a sight that made Nejire take a step back against the wall, and more importantly… The third person. The wanted Loony Tunes, one of the prime suspect for Thunderbolt's murder.
Stain gave Nejire a look before calmly speaking.
"Young lady, you should run before it gets messy. Because…"
Before Stain could speak, the Boss clapped with strength, getting the attention in the room on him, like an experienced showman.
"Gust Duster. For the crime of trafficking humans, selling them as goods and abusing your status as a hero… The League of Villains will do what society should have done!"
To that, the villainous hero answered by throwing his air ball, before Loony smashed it with her signature hammer… And getting sent against the wall with strength. Gust Duster was indeed an old hero, and while he wasn't the most famous, you weren't as old as Gran Torino without some serious experience under your belt.
"Well… Apparently, youngsters need to be taught. Scalamander? You take Stain."
The Hero killer looked at his designated opponent, some kind of raptor mutant, before switching blades. He would need something to pierce the scales.
"Loony! I will take care of Gust Duster! You save the people here!"
"Wait. THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE?"
For the first time since the LoV arrived in the field, Nejire spoke. Tomura, once again, thanked Izuku for the idea of a full face mask. Otherwise, Nejire would have noticed who he was and the fact he was completely horrified. WHAT THE FUCK WAS DOING NEJIRE THERE?!
"Yes, there are, kid. So unless you are a hero or something, get the fuck out!" Stain yelled this time to get her moving. He clearly didn't expect the woman to pull up a hero license card.
"I AM NEJIRE CHAN, THE SURGING HERO, RYUKU'S INTERN!"
"… They let kids do undercover stuff?"
"Hey, a true hero needs to be in the field to do her job right!"
The fact she took with these words a battle stance brought a smile to Stain's face, before he looked at his boss who nodded.
"If Ryuku gets here first, we shall take our leave and let him live for her, as she IS an authentic hero. As for you, young lady…"
Nejire didn't let him finish his sentence as she was already with the cartoonish bunny, blasting a man through a wall. First rule in this kind of engagement, save the civilians. They were the most important things; they needed protection and that way you also avoided a hostage situation. Sure, working with a villainous vigilante wasn't the best situation, but at the very least, they were focusing on the battle against the most violent threat, too.
"DON'T MISTAKE IT FOR AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR VIGILANTISM OR MURDERS!"
It simply meant she had priorities. Nothing more, nothing less, and she truly hoped for her mentor to come quick enough to catch them all in one swoop of attack.
"She seems like a fine future hero. Priorities straight, condemn villainy…" Gust Duster nodded with approbation, despite the strangeness of the situation.
"Mood. Now, we should do our best so people like her can replace people like you." Tomura answered, before reading his stance, throwing himself against the "Hero", and this time? The gloves were off. Also, he secretly rejoiced to know Nejire wasn't here to witness him potentially kill someone… And it was clearly because he didn't want his quirk to be recorded. Not because she might connect the dots between the Boss and Tenko.
Gust Duster, as a good veteran, had seen the USJ feeds. As a result, he actually knew Boss was most likely an expert in close combat. In the exterior, the Hero would have an impressive advantage against him, with more space to move. He would have been able to use the move he copied from his brother to fight from the air.
Instead, they were underground, in a large room, yes, but not tailormade for a fight… As he didn't expect his operations to be discovered. Even the Ryukyu's presence was going to be a tremendous problem and he needed to run away. Sadly, he was pretty sure the Youngster in front of him, damn quick, would not let him do that.
His vast frame being a problem in this kind of fight, Gust tried to get some distance by throwing another air bomb against Tomura.
However, the young man had seen how Loony failed and took notes of the how she got put down by the bomb. They were quick and powerful if it threw Loony down even for a second. As a result, Tomura shifted his weight, letting himself almost fall on his back. The ball tore some buttons off his suit, but didn't explode until it hit the wall, way behind Tomura, before he got up and continued his run.
Scalamender would have happily helped his boss to run away by making the young villain waste time, but sadly, the lizard mutant was quite occupied by Stain, who had taken what seemed like a fisher knife, made to gut scaly fish.
If usually, it would have made him laugh, the fact was that Stain was an experienced fighter. A very experienced fighter. Every report describing him as a coward who needed to strike from the shadow was idiotic: the man was moving extremely fast and Scalamender was wondering if he had a reflex quirk or something like that. Each time his knives connected with his skin, Scalamender felt the blade ripping on his skin, and while not hitting correctly, he still felt some almost ripped apart from him.
That and the fact each hit felt like a hammer on his arms.
"HERO, YOU SHALL BE JUDGED!"
"I AM NOT A HERO, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I AM A THUG!"
"… Sorry for the mistake. Still going to gut you."
Scalamender breathed out and, with renewed strength, hit Stain with a right hook. The man flew against the wall… Before rising as if it was something normal.
"That one hurt a bit."
The villainous mutant felt he should have followed his mom's advice and become something like a tax inspector. Still evil, but better respected. It was going to be a hard fight…
—————
"So… Young heroine?"
"… Yes."
"What's your opinion about Miruko?"
"Meh, not a fan of hers. I mean, sure, she is intimidating and everything, but if I were a civilian, I would be worried she prioritizes a fight over me. Sometimes, you need to run away with the innocent."
Apparently, Nejire said the right thing, as Loony smiled. Nejire had a hard time not shooting a blast at her, but from what she could see, Loony could make a small cartoonish portal and would help the evacuation. She was still a thief and a murderer even if Ryukyu might have hinted at her once or twice that Thunderbolt liked to have a situation where he didn't have any other choice but to break the neck.
"Yes! A good rabbit should know when to run, and when to fight. Not to always fight!"
That was a thing, apparently. Miruko had a hater.
"We should save the people down there. Can you create a portal for that? I can handle the enemy if they come."
One person to handle the evacuation, one to protect the evacuation. Classic scheme, and a vital one if you wanted the provisional license. She was going to be in hot water with the HPSC as she is technically working with some villains/vigilantes, but innocent lives were at stake and it was actually a good reason.
"HEY! STOP RIGHT HERE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE…. BWARF!"
Shoot first, ask questions later. It wasn't an usually accepted answer, but in this case, once again, it was okay. However, she would have a fuck ton of paper to fill afterwards.
Nejire-Chan, as a true hero, should always behave, and had a smile on her face, because she knew its double effect. It reassured people and often made the bad guys wonder if they truly had the situation under control.
Loony recognized she wouldn't like to be at the wrong hand of Nejire, as she used her hammer to slam another minion in the wall next to them… Right before slamming the door separating them from the hostages. She had a limit to how many holes she could make, mainly because after 5 holes, it was a pain to remember which went where. She indulged in the Boss' practical joke because he asked, but she had already closed the two of them.
However, while she was strong and trained with Stain to learn how to deal with stronger physical opponents, seeing Nejire expertly use her quirk to dispatch the incoming guards was something eye-opening.
She was clearly not strong enough to deal with Miruko. Stain told her that many times during their training session, as he improved his body through insane exercises, but Miruko was a mutant and as such, had improved her own body far better than what Stain can achieve.
Sure, Loony herself was stronger. Stronger than most humans and rabbits… But would that be enough? Loony herself knew she killed Thunderbolt through sheer luck, as he didn't know her quirk. However, it wouldn't be the case, most likely, with Miruko.
She needed to be stronger.
It was her main thought, as she created a hole connecting right outside the bar, and before she took the time to help the people down there escape their cells. It was going to be a long job… One where she doesn't have too much fight.Her inner rabbit was overjoyed, jumping all around the place, though, as she helped other preys to escape predators.
She never wanted to feel the helplessness of being one, ever again, as she broke even more steel chains and restraints.
She wanted the freedom only strength could grant.
———————
Stain was heavily breathing, as Scalamender proved himself a stronger opponent than what he expected. The mutant was one of the smart ones, learning how to fight properly and noticing what Stain planned initially: rip out his scale and make him bleed. In fact, his scale made Stain's quirk near useless at the moment.
Good thing Stain considered his quirk as an ace he could always use, never as his main weapon. The problem against this Komodo mutant was his thick skeleton and his durability. It was impressive and clear; he had some help in this training… Until he saw a certain mark on the lizard's back. Very often, mutants with unusual skins used that method to reproduce tattoos.
"Let me guess… A former Native's fan?"
Native. If some people thought the man was doing cultural appropriation, they were actually wrong. Native was actually the descendant of some of the last samurais who went to the USA and married in one of the native tribes. A little to almost not known fact that Stain learned when he tried to master bow, years earlier.
Seeing Scalamender growling intrigued Stain. Native was not on his list, as he was mediocre. Not good, however, not bad either. So why did this mean had a tattoo looking closely to Native's emblem… Until Stain remembered something, as Scalamender managed to punch him hard in the face. Maybe the pain and the shock triggered some neurons, as he wiped some blood off his mouth with a smile.
"Or maybe… A former employee."
Seeing the man trying to stay emotionless made Stain realize he hit something sensible… And furthermore that it was worth digging in. Native was one of Hoshu's heroes nearby. Either he wasn't aware of the situation, and Scalamender quit because he was unsatisfied with the job…
Or Native was aware of the situation and had a hand in it. A hero in the prefecture could easily help shut down the complaint and make the investigation stop until it was forgotten by everyone. It would also explain his abysmal statistics and why he could still operate.
"… I have another reason to kill you, apparently."
Stain readied once again himself, before assuming another posture, waiting for Scalamender. The lizard was quite surprised to see the man throwing down his knives on the ground, to grab his sword still in its scabbard, his right foot in front of him.
"Ready to die?"
"Come and meet your end, scum."
Scalamender jumped, with all of his power in his leg, ready to bite Stain's throat in one move.
A second after that, he wondered why he fell on the ground, past Stain… And why his lower part of his body was left behind.
Oh. Oh…
"Heated katana made by modern technology… And a few battojutsu. Using a weapon without training would be highly stupid."
Stain looked at the sword Giran got for him. Yep, it worked perfectly. He just didn't want to use it from the get go, to get more information and he had been right. Something was wrong and now he got a lead, thanks to the team.
Without a thought, Stain stopped Scalamender suffering by stabbing the crawling mutant in the brain, before beginning to wipe off his weapon.
"Do you need help, Boss?"
At that moment, Tomura was thrown on the floor by the older hero, making his fist crackle.
"Sorry, little ones, but this old man is not weak enough to be dealt with by some low-level thug who can only attack a school of children thanks to some daddy money."
Tomura got up, rising as if he was a zombie exposed to "Thriller", the attack clearly not as effective as the hero boasted. Once again, Tomura was smart. His suit was more than an homage to his Sensei. He had paid hefty money to Giran so the suit would have some ablative and compensation tissue. As a result, the suit was actually knife proof and impact was highly diminished.
His own training was also showing: Not wanting to be caught up easily by some young heroes, he had been training with Rabbit and Stain now, joining in their sparring, besides his lessons with martial artists.
"Three second when 12 cm diameter, 4 when 16… I got how your bombs function and their timing."
Stain looked at his boss, clearly focused on the battle… Before also noticing his fingers, telling him to go join the girls. Tomura was thinking ahead, knowing that if they were professionals in crime, they were most likely to protect their profits or if they couldn't, make some embarrassing witnesses disappear.
"So, you think knowing how my bombs detonate will be enough to beat me?"
"Well, all I have to do is get close to you and then you are done."
Our crusty hero inhaled, before he took a runner posture… and sprinted with a renewed speed toward the elderly buff hero.
Not one to be surprised by such a trick, Gust Duster answered in kind, by delivering a barrage of bombs, making the room a true bullet hell.
Unfortunately for him, Tomura had finished all Touhou's games in Lunatic difficulty. In fact, the way he dodged the attack made the former hero turn villain if he didn't have some kind of eye quirk… Anyway, it was not as if Gust Duster didn't have any cards left…
In fact, Tomura was not the first person to have deduced the timer on his bombs, as it was fairly obvious once you took the time to check it. As a result, the old hero had some countermeasures planned for that: Namely chained explosion to activate his bigger body earlier than expected. That was the reason he often made a chain of balls decreasing in size, while attacking in barrage and waves from his other hand.
Oh sure, now, he wasn't as strong as he once was. He was still a hero who had a considerable career behind him, and in the top 100 although he should now retire.
Tomura had to admit his quirk was useless against such an opponent clearly used for ranged fights. However, the explosion he thought he dodged in his back was definitely a surprise that threw him in Gust's arms. His arms were probably as big as Sensei's when he was fine. Gust Duster punched Tomura in the face, actually breaking the ground underneath him and making him lose his father's hand on the ground.
"Learn your place, BOY."
The elderly hero wasn't amused, as their little stunt fucked over their whole operation. Hell, Triceps Corporation was going to have a hard time sweeping that under the rug however it was still doable. All he needed to do was kill Nejire before she could contact her boss more and frame that blue-haired bitch (Boss) for it.
He would then need to play it low for a moment… Well, long enough to be actually too old to continue. Oh well. He had enough money to retire to an island now.
He then felt his feet being grabbed by a hand and in disgust to the villain who didn't know when to stop, raised his feet above Tomura to smash his head. Again.
He didn't expect to fall because his gravity center shifted a lot as his leg disappeared in dust.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, motherfucker."
Tomura rose up from the ground, clearly pissed. The last hit actually connected cleanly, and he felt his ribs. Nothing broken, though it was a close one.
Anyway, it had been a long time since he decayed anything, thanks to his gloves. Kurogiri was still choosing a gift for his friend as a thank you. But letting his quirk flow made Tomura so much better.
His face was still hidden by his mask, and as a result, Gust Duster on his last leg, literally, could only guess his manic smile.
"I FUCKING DISLIKE HYPOCRITE LIKE YOU! YOU PRETEND TO BE A HERO, WHEN ALL YOU DO IS CAUSING SUFFERING! WHY?!"
"Money."
The answer was simple, clean, and honest. Enough to take aback even Tomura.
"Listen. Until I got sponsored by the Triceps, my wages were miserable. Being a hero is hard work and I am proud to be one of the oldest. However, it also means that my retirement is fucking shit. Most of my work was against the CRC, as they are bastards. I really, really enjoy when I can fuck them deeply. However, because I am defending mutants, my popularity didn't rise at all. Being a hero is a nice feeling, but it doesn't give you enough food on your plate. So, I had the choice. Either continue to be a hero not really well known or not known by anyone important… Or take the money, have fun and finally have my work recognized."
Gust felt a heavy weight off his chest, as he looked at his missing leg.
"Sure, I am missing a leg. But thanks to the money I got, I can easily get a good one. That's all, kid. Money."
"… I honestly expected something more tragic than that, to be fair."
"Hey, not everyone can have a perfect tragic story like my brother. Sometimes, you have it simple."
Tomura sighed, as he took his position again… and suddenly the ceiling crumbled under a massive weight. The young man almost shat on himself, because he was suddenly confronted with a massive dragon. Izuku's summon wasn't bad, but it clearly didn't compare (yet) to the real Dragon that was the Top 10 hero.
Ryuukyuu entered the field, and she was mad.
"WHERE IS MY INTERN?!"
"With my men evacuating the hostages, ma'am!"
As she softly breathed fire from her mouth, she looked coldly at the insect who spoke to her.
"Boss. The one who attacked U.A. You are coming with me. Now, where is Gust Duster…"
"Under your right upper paw."
The dragon hero saw her leg on the hero turned villain, and blushed a bit. It was, again, one of these incidents… And she continued to speak, as Tomura grabbed his father's hand on the ground, fixing it magnetically on his face again.
"Oh. Oh… Well, he should be alright."
"Actually, I destroyed his leg. So, you can choose to garrotte him so he doesn't die because of the blood loss, or you can pursue me. Ta ta~~"
Tomura ran away, knowing the heroine's way of thinking thanks to Nejire constantly praising her mentor for being a caring hero who saved as many people as possible, even the villain if she could.
"YOU MOTHER FU…"
Tomura knew that they only had a few minutes before Ryuukyuu stabilized Gust Duster, and then she would run behind him to catch them, most likely in human form to not destroy everything on her path.
He soon joined Stain who didn't have his sword drawn… Mainly because there was a glorious and bloodied Nejire on a pile of bodies.
"I AM NEJIRE CHAN, AND NONE OF YOU WILL HARM ANYONE ANYMORE!"
Stain looked at her and asked to his boss, whispering,
"Not gonna lie, you have good taste in heroes."
"Thanks… WAIT A MINUTE?"
Stain gave a knowing smirk to his flustered boss who wondered if he could decay himself in shame, before something grabbed them in the back. Loony.
They quickly arrived in an alley, where people were clearly waiting for the police, and their identity was getting checked.
"We need to run!"
"Yes, I know, the Top 10 Hero is…"
"NO! I MEAN THE FUCKING TRICEPS CORPORATION GOT ATTACKED BY MR COMPRESS AND IT IS CURRENTLY A FUCKING HOLE IN THE GROUND! Apparently, even Endeavor was on site and now is missing!"
"And what about Compress?"
"Some say he managed to get away before the site exploded, but nothing confirmed. I have called Barman for an emergency extraction. The heroes think we colluded with the Levellers for our stunt!"
Just as she said that, Kurogiri appeared and grabbed the three of them back to the Bar.
The situation became really messy, didn't it?
———————
Meanwhile, in Garaki's Lab, a few minutes before the Triceps warehouse became full of cinder and ashes.
"Sorry, Sensei… I would have loved to pursue your work even more."
"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK AS IF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. YOU ARE GOING TO DO EVEN MORE EXPERIMENT WITH ME!"
"I… Highly doubt it. I have checked every issue and they are all in flames. My arm is crushed by a steel beam… And I am blocked on the ground."
Garaki was a man of science and many people thought he only had two things in mind: making Noumus and fawning over great quirks. He had a third one: Taking care of his disciples. As a result, AfO's son who was a dentist often sent him the teeth of heroes with great quirks for their experiments, prime material for cloning or extracting DNA. And Emilia… Emilia was a genius who continued and improved on his work about quirked animals. She was loyal to him and his research, and she was highly competent. HE COULDN'T ALLOW HER TO DIE.
"Emilia ? Do you trust me ?"
"Of course, Professor. I have already sent you all the data and…"
"You will explain them to me around a coffee shop. I need you to send me your picture right now."
Emilia was surprised before she obeyed. Suddenly, some kind of dark slime got out of her throat, before eating her.
When she could open her eyes again, she was in a strange lab. One she only heard of, since her mentor decided to work full time for All for One.
Mentor, on a flying chair, and giving her a hand.
"Professor?"
"I told you Emilia. You are too interesting to die such a pathetic death."
The blond scientist smiled happily, before taking his hand.
They had science to do.
"Oh, and don't worry about your arm, Emilia. I am sure we can ask… What was his name already… You know, that young guy in your promotion? The one who had his tuition paid by the Yakuza?"
"…Chisaki? I remember him! He was such a nice person! Never saying anything about my lack of quirk or anything!"
"Exactly! I am sure he would be happy to help us. I still have his number somewhere…"
And both scientists laughed, as they were surrounded by a noumu factory, a few times bigger than one could have expected.
———————
"Thank you for your report, Seijin."
"Happy to help, Dad!"
On his chair with his life support, All For One didn't smile. He lost a very useful pawn, an important factory, and his plan R to fuck with Gran Torino, by using his criminal brother against him. In addition, Seijin's report was disturbing. How did the HPSC know about his warehouse? Did he have a mole? He should seek them out and deal with them properly…
"Anything to add?"
"Nothing, thank you! Bye bye!"
At least his family was happy.
All he needed was Izuku, his missing granddaughter and One for All.
And then? Then, they would be a very happy family, all together.
For him.