14/12/2024

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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 78 - Let Me Explain

Tsukauchi didn't like questioning Doctor Garaki. The man was… Generally, with his quirk, Naomasa could tell if someone was lying to him, and that applied with the Doctor but… he also got the impression that the Doctor was oily. It wasn't a real feeling. It was all in his head, but it made him feel uncomfortable.

Even before they had definitively linked the man with All For One… For the first few days, after Doctor Kyudai Garaki had been brought in, he'd professed his innocence. His prints were in the warehouse because he went to that district to ensure supplies for the Hospital were in order. No, he didn't remember going to that warehouse specifically, because he didn't really notice which warehouse had the supplies.

The reasons were all very… reasonable.

But they had felt wrong. They had been skirting the truth and from what Tsukauchi knew the Doctor had been telling them the truth, but he'd been leaving out things. And then that… Well, he wasn't sure what to call it, had been found. The laboratory was filled with… things.

The heroes had killed those that had been loose. They'd had no choice. The things, small though they were, had attacked. The rest of them, those in varying sized tubes, had been left where they were. Except for the body. That had been taken to the station as evidence. The rest would be eventually dealt with.

When presented with the evidence the Doctor had known he was not getting out of charges, and he'd clammed up. He'd stopped answering questions. Not that his answers had been that useful, but the silence was disturbing.

Perhaps that would change today. Tsukauchi had a specific question to ask. And it was the only question that was going to be asked today. At least until they got a completely truthful answer. And if needs be, other officers would be brought in to assist.

Overnight one piece of evidence had disappeared from the laboratory. The evidence was guarded but the security cameras showed the evidence had been taken by the warp gate Kurogiri. Further examination of the cameras had shown that Officer Ito Senu had done something to the evidence earlier in the day. The evidence taken was one of the smaller tubes with…

No one was too sure what had been growing in it. Unlike the other tubes the thing inside hadn't been obviously human. With the others, you could tell that what was inside had once been human, and with the body… that of Tomura Shigaraki, they'd known exactly who that was. They were still trying to determine who the others were. The contents of that tube was… well it was flesh coloured but more of an amorphous blob.

But it had been the only piece of evidence the warp gate had taken. Which meant, it was important. Vitally important for Izuku to have risked taking it.

Except no one had any idea what it was, and no one had seen Ito Senu since.

Tsukauchi hoped the Sergeant was okay but knew, given the circumstances, the man was either a traitor, or dead.

The prisoner was brought in. Despite his age, the man was manacled securely with his hands and feet chained together, with a loop around his waist. The brown jumpsuit of those being held in remand did nothing for the man but fashion was the furthest thing from anyone's mind. Tsukauchi waited for the other officers to secure the Doctor and noted the man looking at the table.

There was a single tablet there, face down. It had one photo loaded and already displayed on the screen. There was one video loaded as well. A short snip from the security tapes showing the warp gate taking the tube. Tsukauchi would get instructions if he had to show Kyudai that.

Once the officers had left, the room fell into silence. Garaki showed no signs of boredom, or of offering random chit chat, but they hadn't started questioning this way before, so Tsukauchi knew he'd be curious about the change. For his part, the Detective allowed himself to examine the man. Kyudai was an elder man, over 150 years old if his records were correct, and they seemed to be. He had a quirk that appeared to slow down aging. And he had a long history of published papers. He was bald but maintained a bushy moustache and the medics who'd looked him over were surprised to find he had all his teeth. He was slightly portly but spry enough.

And… completely devoted to All For One, if Toshinori was correct, and Naomasa saw no reason to doubt that. Kyudai's goggles had been replaced with a pair of prison issue glasses. Not that there was a lot for him to see but, occasionally, like today, they wanted him to see the evidence.

A minute became two, before it turned into five. Tsukauchi knew this was today's tactic, but the time grated on him. Hopefully it was grating on Kyudai more, even though he had even less to do. Naomasa couldn't help but think of the paperwork he needed to fill out, and all the other myriad of tasks a Detective was drowned in.

Hopefully the time would be grating upon those who were watching. It was kind of eerie being in a room where the only noise was from the soft breathing of the occupants. Those watching knew better than to disturb him via his earpiece. Eventually, just as the time was about to reach 15 minutes, Tsukauchi got a signal.

Hiding his relief, he reached out to the tablet, and turned it over, pulling the stand down so that the screen was clearly visible to Kyudai.

Naomasa didn't see any response but from his earpiece there was a murmur. He's spooked. That confirmed the content of that tube meant something to Garaki. Tsukauchi could see him tracing his eyes over the image and knew Kyudai was wondering why they were showing him this one. Tsukauchi was prompted to speak.

"It took us a bit of work, but we figured out that this was the single most important thing in your-" The detective paused, searching for the right word. Most of the force was calling it a Lab of Horrors but you didn't say that to a prisoner. Laboratory seemed too tame. "Experimental area," he settled on. "It's more important than even Shigaraki's body."

Kyudai's lips twitched in a smile, though Naomasa could tell he was equally shocked at the information. There was no reason for the Police, or Heroes to know that tube was the most important. It hadn't been in a prime position. It was no fancier than the others. The only reason they knew was because it was the only one that had been taken. And while the video was on the tablet, Tsukauchi was to do his best not to show it.

Garaki's expression changed, schooling itself back into neutrality. "And tomorrow you will show me another item and tell me the same," he said, dismissively.

"No," Tsukauchi told him firmly. "Tomorrow, we will show you the same picture, and ask the same questions, and if we don't get answers, it, like the rest of the evidence, will be destroyed."

That got a reaction. One they weren't expecting. Kyudai lunged forward. He didn't get far, his manacles ensured that, but while they stopped him, they didn't really stop him. Tsukauchi watched as Garaki strained against them. The metal was digging into his flesh, but the man didn't seem to feel it and soon the manacles were drawing blood.

This was not the reaction they were expecting.

A few moments later several people ran into the interrogation room and pushed Kyudai back into his chair. The old man fought them and for a moment, Naomasa thought they wouldn't be strong enough, but they got him settled again and held him there. That took the pressure off the manacles and Garaki's blood flowed from the wounds. They were only superficial and one of the people who'd rushed in pulled some gauze from a belt pouch and began treating Kyudai. Many would say, given what they'd found, what they knew the man had done, it was more than he deserved but they were better than villains.

Eventually the bleeding stopped, and a thin bandage applied, before the others left.

Tsukauchi looked over at Garaki. The tablet had fallen over but Naomasa had retrieved it and placed it back on the table, showing the same image. "What is this?" he asked directly.

"Where is it?" Kyudai countered with his own question.

And telling the man was above Naomasa's paygrade, so he waited. Offer a bargain, came the instruction.

The Detective knew exactly what type of bargain he was being instructed to make. "I'll tell you if you tell me what it is," he told the Doctor. It had come as a bit of a surprise to some to find that Kyudai did legitimately have the title of Doctor… several times, actually.

Behind his glasses, Naomasa watched as Garaki's eyes narrowed and then the twitching smile from earlier returned, except this time, the man didn't suppress it. He allowed it to spread over his features before he actually chuckled.

The laugh continued, and actually got stronger before Kyudai tilted his head back slightly and laughed. "You don't have it!" he said finally, still laughing.

There was a note of relief in Garaki's voice that he did nothing to cover. Eventually he recovered and looked back at the tablet. Tsukauchi wasn't sure what he was seeing. "You don't have it anymore," the Doctor impressed upon him. "How many did you lose?" he asked viciously.

On that question, at least, the Detective could answer. "No one," he replied.

It appeared as if Garaki would object to that but then he nodded. "One," he corrected Naomasa's statement.

It took the Detective a minute to understand what the man meant and then he remembered Ito Senu. There were two theories about the Sergeant. One, he was a traitor or two, that he'd been kidnapped and the Ito who had touched the tube was actually Himiko Toga in disguise. The Doctor's response indicated the latter.

That was not a comfort. Not really. It meant Ito was dead. There was no way Izuku would leave him alive.

"Do any of you think about the lives you destroy?" Naomasa asked. He knew the question wouldn't have an impact, but he had to ask.

"Do you think about the lives you have prevented me from saving?" Kyudai countered. He actually looked serious.

"You have saved no one!"

At that Garaki shook his head. "I could have saved Tomura," he said with complete confidence.

"He's dead!" Tsukauchi growled.

"That's not that hard to fix," the man told him.

From the silence on his earpiece, Naomasa could tell the statement had impacted those watching the interview as much as it had him.

"What do you mean?" he asked without being prompted.

"It's not that hard to fix," Garaki repeated, as if it should be information everyone knew. "It's a bit challenging if the body is in pieces but when it's whole it's not that hard."

A horrible thought occurred to the Detective. "Did you-" he hesitated but then decided knowing was more important than keeping a secret that wasn't much of a secret anymore. Anyone who actually thought about it, would realise that the story about Toxic Chainsaw and Tsu was fabricated. "Did you resurrect All For One after Tsu?"

Had Toshinori actually succeeded but… It was too hard to actually complete that thought.

For a second Kyudai seemed confused but then he shook his head. "All For One's life force is the strongest I've ever seen," he said by way of answering.

It wasn't a denial, but it wasn't confirmation either. Noamasa still felt sick but at least that was one aspect he didn't have to be concerned with and while the Detective knew there would be additional questions for the Doctor about his claim to be able to resurrect people, Tsukauchi had to find out what the evidence was. "So, what is this?" he asked again, pointing to the tablet.

The Doctor snorted. "I take it Kurogiri got it," he said.

Tell him, the instruction came, and Naomasa agreed. There was no point in trying to keep the information confidential when Garaki obviously already knew. And with the number of people watching him, Tsukauchi didn't have to worry that it was just a really good bluff on Kyudai's part. There were people who could tell that.

He reached out and tapped the tablet, moving to the video. The Doctor watched it. It was only a few seconds. It showed the tube sitting in the laboratory and then a dark smudge appeared beside it before a pair of arms appeared from the smudge and grabbed the tube, yanking it back into the misty disk, that then disappeared the instant the tube was through.

"Ah," Garaki sighed. It appeared he was relieved. "As is obvious, that particular tank is special," he confirmed for them.

"Why?" Tsukauchi pressed.

"It contains a quirk," Kyudai said.

The Detective had a horrible premonition. "What quirk?"

The Doctor grinned. "All For One."

Most of those watching had no idea what the words meant. Naomasa did. He felt his eyes widen and his breath became short but before he could get too far, he remembered that the man had multiple quirks. No one could deny what they had seen at Kamino so…

"You lie," he snarled. "All For One displayed multiple quirks at Kamino," Tsukauchi gave the core of his reasoning to the Doctor.

"He did. He does have multiple quirks," Garaki agreed. "But I do know how to copy quirks," he explained, with another grin.

Tsukauchi wasn't sure what he was hearing. He didn't know what it meant. "So, it was a copy in that tube?"

"Oh no, that tube has the original All For One." The man laughed and then his expression turned cruel. It wasn't anything really obvious, but Tsukauchi could see the venom in his gaze. "Do you want me to explain?" Garaki offered.

The Detective wanted to say no. He wanted to leave the room. He wanted to have nothing more with the Doctor, but he knew he couldn't do that. Someone had to be here to tell Toshinori what had happened. Yagi was visiting All For One right now and… Tsukauchi didn't need the prompt from his earpiece to tell him to acknowledge the request.

"Please," he said as graciously as he could manage. This happened with other villains and criminals. Some of them, once they knew they were caught, once they knew they were not going to get away with it, wanted to explain everything. The Police and Heroes had gotten adept at letting them explain and then using that against the villain.

This was the same.

Except it wasn't. Not really.

Tsukauchi pushed that feeling away.

Garaki sat back, gathering his thoughts before he nodded. "After Tsu, I searched for ways to heal All For One, but… it wasn't possible. Not even with super-regeneration. The quirk is good but just can't heal that much damage to the head," Kyudai explained matter-of-factly. As if this was something anyone would investigate.

Naomasa held his tongue. There were questions he wanted to ask, like where the quirk had come from? He knew whoever had provided it would be dead but even knowing would give their family some closure.

"So I started looking for alternatives," Garaki continued.

"Alternatives?" Tsukauchi couldn't help the question.

"Other ways of fixing All For One's body," the Doctor told him.

The Detective wanted to object that Garaki had just told him it was impossible to fix that much damage. "Oh, not heal his body," Kyudai apparently anticipated his objection. "That's not possible but I could make it so that he had another body."

The statement was so bland that it took Naomasa a moment to understand it. "You were going to transfer his mind?" Tsukauchi gasped.

"For a Detective, you are quite astute," Garaki praised him. "Since I could not heal All For One's body, I could potentially transfer his mind to a new vessel," he elaborated.

Naomasa felt sick.

"And of course, All For One wanted his quirk," Kyudai continued.

"What were you transferring him to?" Tsukauchi asked quietly. If All For One had been transferred to another body, a healthy body then… That didn't bear thinking about. He reminded himself that the man was in Tartarus and still carried the horrific injuries from Tsu… just like Toshinori did.

"I thought about cloning him, but then there is no mechanism for transfer, especially since All For One refused to let me develop the mind of a clone."

Thank god for small mercies. One of them was bad enough. Tsukauchi could not imagine how bad things would be if there was a younger, whole, All For One out there, supported by his older self. Izuku was bad enough but if there were two of them…

Though, to be fair, that wouldn't be the reason All For One had refused the Doctor's suggestion. Naomasa could clearly see that the man had refused it because he wouldn't want to risk his younger self killing his older self. If the younger version was anything like him, and the younger self would have to be if he was a clone then… Yes, it did not take much to see the younger clone killing the crippled elder.

Tsukauchi didn't need to prompt the Doctor to continue. "So, the plan was to instead use Tomura's body."

That was almost worse. "Tomura's body was strong, and fit and would be a good vessel."

"Why not use Izuku?" Naomasa was surprised when he asked.

"I suggested it and in many ways, it would have been easier, especially with Izuku's quirk. I wouldn't have needed to copy All For One's quirk."

"But?"

"He wouldn't allow it," Kyudai said, and Naomasa could hear that the Doctor considered the decision weak, but he did not elaborate further on the villain's reasons. "So, I copied the quirk All For One, so that he could have multiple quirks still, and then he transferred the original to Tomura."

For an instant, Tsukauchi could see a future that never happened. All For One in Tomura… Tenko's body. Toshinori wouldn't have been able to fight. It would have been a disaster.

"At least, Izuku got All For One out before he killed Tomura," Garaki told them.

The statement was both comforting and concerning. Comforting because it told them that Tomura's death was not a part of the process to put All For One's mind into his body but it was also concerning because it confirmed that Izuku was definitely following in his father's footsteps. And if Izuku had retrieved the quirk then… He obviously believed he'd be able to reunite his father with his quirk at some point.

Even injured All For One was formidable and…

Toshinori had transferred One For All to his successor but…

The fight was not yet over.

-ted-

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-ted-

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