Interlude time! Thanks for the reviews guys, and I hope you like this chapter as well! Thanks for reading!
Trees groaned in the wind, as rain poured upon the earth incessantly. The deluge did not break for even a moment, and the great Banyans cried out to their master for an easing of the strikes inflicted upon their broad backs.
Yet no such refuge was granted, for their master was a cruel one. Beyond the forest lay a tiny bungalow, but it was only tiny in the sense of being too tiny for its owner's desires. To any layman, it would have been a palace, for such was its opulence; made of white marble and gold trim, with a glimmering rampart of hard wood to curtain it within its tiny fiefdom.
Inside, the halls were all dark, save a single one, leading up winding stairs to the highest alcove within the mansion. Inside this room sat a man, behind a sturdy wooden desk. He was dressed in a fine silk white shirt, and a necklace wrapped around his neck.
His fingers drummed against the hard oak impatiently, and his eyes appeared as red as blood. But he wore a friendly smile as he stood up, and looked down, and finally, spoke.
"Tell me then," he uttered, with the gravity of such men that have only known the world in its extremes, "what you have found."
It was a paralyzing fear he had around him, the sort that seems to seep in the bones and never truly leave, constantly haunting. But he also had an impeccable kindness within him, a gentle love that seemed almost infinite.
O' to be like him, cruel to foes and loving to friends.
"Of course sir!" The other man handed him a folder, and smiled, "It appears he has made an ally in All Might."
The two vivid red orbs narrowed, before a quiet chuckle emerged from the darkness. "Splendid!"
"E–excuse me?"
"He should make many allies, many friends. It will make it all the more interesting when we meet. I might even grant him a favor."
"Sir, what do you mean?"
"Do you not see this man, friend?" His manner of speaking was akin to that of a father explaining things to a child. "He bears the name of Karna, and with such fine flame! Perfect! It shall only be a matter of time before he comes home, should it not?"
"I suppose."
"And with such charity, do you not think it a matter of time before he removes our mutual enemy?"
"Sir, you can't mean—"
"Japan is but a small rock in the ocean. My empire should straddle all the land, the entire world!" the speaker lifted his hand into the air, red eyes studying his fingers. A single ring, made of purple amethyst and wrapped with a band of shining gold lay upon them.
"I have no doubt in his ability to destroy the lingering remnants of that corpse." A warm smile then appeared on his face, "But of course, he might need some help, won't he? Last I remember, karma was not so kind to Karna…"
Dark circles appeared around the man's hands, rotating haphazardly around the air.
"Sir, you mean…?"
"Yes."
The power in the room suddenly disappeared.
"Unlike that idiot, I know when to work with heroes. Get a plane to Japan immediately, and summon my allies."
"Do you really believe in this Karna so much, sir?"
A harsh laugh was his answer. "When you choose an alias, it is chosen with clarity. Very few would take the name of our previous heroes, for who could live up to those men who wielded the very might of the gods?"
"I see, sir. I'll charter the plane right now."
"Wonderful." The other man left the room then, closing the door to the study behind him.
"To take pride in such a name? Absolutely splendid. I wonder what you'll do then, Don of Japan… a new piece has entered the board!"
