All for One sat on his throne, flanked by Doctor Garaki. He was facing a screen, showing the servant he'd created all those years ago. Kurogiri stood in the center of the video feed, the Demon Lord could tell that much. He had a wide variety of Quirks at his disposal, a great deal of them being sensory in nature, but All for One had somehow not collected one to precisely detect the information presented on screens. The best he could do is know that it was on and transmitting clearly. He'd been waiting for a call from the Nomu, but it was early. Something had happened on Tomura's mission, All for One just knew it.

"You're ahead of schedule. Is something wrong, Kurogiri?" All for One asked.

"I'm afraid so, Master. Tomura Shigaraki was unprepared for the might of his opponents, and was subdued," Kurogiri replied. There was something off about his tone.

"I suspect that is not all. Why isn't the boy telling me this himself?" All for One asked.

There was a brief pause, and All for One would have thought that Kurogiri had signed off if it wasn't for his Quirks monitoring the electricity that was being provided to the building. He'd had one too many incidents where the power had been shut off without warning and he had almost been without his life support for too long, so he'd sought out a few that let him know if something like that was going to happen. If All Might hadn't done this to him, All for One wouldn't need all of this garbage poking into him, but he was working on ways to get the Symbol of Peace back.

"Tomura Shigaraki has been injured. I managed to retrieve him, but his injuries are severe. He needs assistance that I cannot give," Kurogiri admitted.

Ah, so that was it. Luckily, All for One had been prepared for that eventuality. He knew Tomura; knew that he was rash, arrogant and reckless. All for One had known for a while that he'd get into a fight he couldn't win one of these days. That was why he'd given the boy a gift before sending him out to battle. He'd had Garaki search for a low maintenance, subtle healing Quirk that would protect the boy from death but wouldn't make things too easy if he faced opposition. Not that Tomura knew that; his ego would inflate even more if he did. He was already bragging to random lowlifes on the street about how he was the pupil of Japan's greatest supervillain. He'd need to receive a reality check sooner or later, and All for One knew that this would only serve to help Tomura improve.

"Do not fret, Kurogiri. He'll be fine with some rest," he told Kurogiri.

"But, Master! Tomura—" Kurogiri tried to argue.

"—will be fine. Do you really think I would send something so valuable out into the world without contingencies? Oh, Kurogiri, you are sorely mistaken. Now, be gone. Tend to Tomura as best you can and report back to me on his condition later, in addition to the Nomu," All for One said.

All for One ended the call before Kurogiri could get a word in. He sighed, letting loose the ragged breath that he'd been keeping controlled for the sake of his image. Kurogiri and Tomura, especially Tomura, needed to think that he was just as healthy as ever since his defeat at the hands of All Might those years ago. He was in as stable a condition as All for One was going to get, but that didn't mean that condition was good . He needed this damn tube to even breathe for any meaningful amount of time.

"Would you like me to check up on the boy?" Garaki asked.

"If you wouldn't mind. It would be a shame if he were injured beyond the means of his new Quirk," All for One responded.

"Indeed. Those years would have been wasted," Garaki muttered, though he must have known that All for One heard him just the same.

All for One let him get away with that. Garaki had made his disdain for Tomura known to him throughout the years, but he knew that he'd have to stop that petty nonsense when the boy inherited the power to destroy the current order. Tomura was going to be the new All for One, and then Garaki would show some respect. It was then that everyone would know and fear both of their names. It would be glorious.

"Do you need a ride, Doctor?" All for One asked, not bothering to turn to his follower.

"You shouldn't expend your precious energy. I'll get Johnny to warp me to the boy's location. It's not as pleasant , but it'll do. I'll return shortly," Garaki said.

As the Doctor chose to take his leave, All for One got to thinking, as he seemed wont to do these days. Who was this person who was able to harm Tomura so much that it may require healing outside of the sleeper Quirk already inside him? It had to be a Pro, possibly one of the teachers of the class Tomura had attacked. Maybe it could have been a child, a student of UA, but they weren't anything special nowadays.

The last student of UA that had struck All for One as truly something special was a duo of students. One for them was Oboro Shirakumo, who he'd later molded into Kurogiri via Nomufication. The other had a Quirk that canceled out other peoples' Quirks, his name had been Shota Aizawa. He'd later become the Underground Hero named Eraserhead, and he had a very interesting Quirk. Meta-Quirks like his own always fascinated All for One, and he liked to toy with them in little thought experiments between reports from Tomura and Kurogiri.

It was this thought that drove All for One into another of the aforementioned thought experiments, this time one he'd put himself through countless times in the past. What would happen if All for One were to interact with a Quirk that stockpiled power? He had a feeling he'd be finding out the answer to that particular question very soon.

Tomura woke up in a dark room. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by that multi-Quirked bastard. He growled at the fact the brat was able to put him down, and noticed that his mouth was covered in a kind of cloth. Tomura lifted his hand to his face, finding that it was completely wrapped in what felt like bandages. He looked at his arm to see that it was also covered in bandages. Tomura sat up, discovering that there was little pain even though he was wrapped head to toe in thick bandages.

The room smelled of antiseptics and other chemicals, making Tomura curl his nose as he took stock of the space. It was his own room at home, Tomura noted, but things about it were different. Some things, like the pens on his desk, were the wrong color. Other, smaller things were wrong, too, like the shape of his desk. It was as if someone had come in and replaced everything from a vague memory of how it had looked before. It was his room, the walls were the same, but it was giving him a big dose of the uncanny valley as he woke up, setting Tomura on edge immediately.

Trying to stand was an ordeal. Tomura swiveled himself so that his feet touched the ground, and he was sitting on the side of his bed. It hurt to stretch his legs, but he knew that he needed it from how stiff they were. In fact, every muscle in his body was stiff. It was as if he had been in bed for weeks. Tomura stood, with great effort, and managed to stay up and on his feet after a few tries. He felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of Master seeing him like this, or even Kurogiri. The Doctor would probably laugh at Tomura, which was expected, and that thought brought Tomura's mood down even further than it already was. First, he wakes up after who knows how long in a room that isn't quite his, and now he's going to have to face humiliation for his failures. This was great.

"I swear, if I ever see that green haired brat again! I'll cave his head in myself," Tomura muttered to himself as he waddled over to the door.

As he approached the door, Tomura picked up voices. It was Kurogiri speaking to someone who Tomura vaguely recognized the voice of. After a moment of listening to the man go on about something that Tomura didn't care about, he recognized the voice as Giran, the man who'd gotten him the majority of his goons for the UA invasion. Giran, as Tomura understood, was an information broker who dealt primarily with information about people . He did good work, but he got on Tomura's nerves. He was so laid back all the time, it made him come off as disingenuous. It irked him in a way Tomura didn't understand. Maybe it was one of those things that just was .

He waited for Giran to leave. He listened the whole time, but didn't pick up much. Tomura's senses were still fuzzy from being asleep, so it took a whole lot of concentration to hone in on the specific words that Kurogiri and Giran were saying, and not just the broad sounds being made. Giran left after a few more minutes of discussion with Kurogiri, which Tomura suspected was mostly just banter about their lives since he heard a fair few mentions of himself and his new taste for bourbon. He really wished Kurogiri would leave him alone about it; Tomura was an adult now, so it wasn't like it would 'stunt his development' like he used to say.

When Giran left, Tomura stepped out into the hall that ran from behind the bar and toward what were mostly storage areas with a small room kept for Tomura to call his own, along with an adjoined bathroom. He made his way out, not being able to see anything over the light filtering into the hall from the main bar area. Tomura still didn't know why they kept up the front of a bar, even though plants had grown over the doors and windows years ago. They warped everyone they dealt with into the bar, so why did it need to look approachable? Everyone that dealt with people even close to Master's level of villainy were too far gone to need coaxing. They were already scum, so why the charade? Tomura had never gotten a real answer, just a dismissive 'you'll get it when you're older' from Garaki. He was always so condescending. Tomura was older now, and he still didn't get it. There was a lot he didn't get.

"Tomura Shigaraki, you are supposed to be in bed," Kurogiri said as he stepped into the light.

"I've had enough rest. My legs feel like wooden planks. Give me something strong," Tomura said as he worked his way toward a seat at the bar.

"I will not serve you any substances while you are recovering. It is detrimental to your health," Kurogiri argued, his face as blank as ever.

Tomura glared at Kurogiri, silently trying to convey his sheer annoyance at the bartender. He knew that Kurogiri wanted what was best for him. Of course he did, he was made that way. Master had made Kurogiri when Tomura was young, almost eight years old. Apparently he'd been working on Kurogiri for a while, but that was when he was revealed to Tomura. The mist man had been designed to be the best caregiver possible for Tomura, which he'd scoffed at, saying he didn't need a nanny. Tomura still didn't need a nanny, but Kurogiri was more like a weird friend now that they were both adults.

"I feel fine! That brat's bullshit cheating has nothing to show for itself. What happened after I was hit?" Tomura asked.

"The hit was so powerful that it was able to momentarily equalize the air currents keeping me from acting. I was able to warp you back here at once and inform Master of your condition," Kurogiri said.

"Then?" Tomura urged, his fingers twitching.

"The Doctor and I were able to provide the necessary conditions for you to be healed from the damage you sustained. That was a week ago, and you've been unconscious ever since. I am glad that you are awake, now, as Master has been waiting to speak with you concerning the specifics of the mission," Kurogiri explained.

Tomura jerked back at the mention of a week having passed between him passing out and waking up. It had been that long? It explained why his muscles were so stiff, he hadn't used them in a whole week. Had it taken that long to heal him, or had Tomura just needed time to regain energy? There were still unknowns. Normally, Tomura would ask questions later and opt to kill whatever problem was in front of him, but this situation wasn't normal.

"What happened to Nomu?" Tomura asked as the question popped into his mind.

"I was not able to recover the Nomu. I did not want to risk capture by going back, and I suspect that the Nomu would not have remained there in any case. The Heroes likely would have moved it when it went dormant," Kurogiri said.

Damn it, that made sense. Tomura wondered if they could get the Nomu from the Heroes, but disregarded that idea as soon as it entered his mind. They didn't need it; Master could just make more. Besides, it couldn't even kill All Might. He had no use for an Anti-Symbol of Peace if it couldn't do what it was made for. The thought that the Nomu, too, had performed differently than expected came into Tomura's mind briefly. Everything had been just slightly different than what Master had described, but it had all added up to a total loss for Tomura. Had Master known that would happen? No, Master only wanted the best for him, Tomura knew that. He did. He had to.

"I'm going to shower before speaking with Master," Tomura said, finally noticing that he smelled absolutely horrible from having done nothing but sleep for a week straight.

"Very well," Kurogiri said, bowing slightly.

Tomura began to walk back toward his room. Once he was alone, Tomura walked into his bathroom and looked at himself properly for the first time. He was covered head to toe in bandages, like he'd thought before. He'd noticed he had shorts on, but the rest of him was exposed, letting Tomura see that the thickest bandages were around his head and the arm that had tried to block that little fucker's hit. At least he had gotten the kid back, or at least Tomura thought he had felt the sensation of crumbling skin under his other fingers as he faded from consciousness. That was the good thing that came from this. It may not have killed the brat, since Tomura's Quirk needed extended contact to really do damage, but his power to decay was still devastating even in small bursts.

A vague memory surfaced as Tomura stared into his own eyes. A backyard, though he couldn't tell where. It was strange. He blinked as he tried to make the thought go away. Tomura started on his bad hand, using his good one to unwrap it gently. His left hand shook as he unwrapped it, though Tomura didn't think it really hurt. It was more from not using it, he guessed. Tomura kept going until his entire arm was uncovered.

It was bad. Tomura stared at it with wide eyes, not truly processing the scar that meshed faintly with his natural skin color for a few moments. It was a thick pink line that ran up from about the middle of his forearm, what he'd used to block the brat's punch, up to his shoulder where it stopped. It was as if someone had taken a knife to his arm and sliced all the way up. Tomura felt tingles going down his arm as he looked at it, speechless as he gazed at his formerly ruined limb.

His legs were okay, with no scars to speak of. His torso was also fine, with the few scars that were already there being recognizable. There were a few bits of scar tissue on his back that worried him. Tomura looked at them, fairly large patches of pink that dotted his back. He guessed that he'd rolled along the ground, or at least scraped up his back when he was launched by that kid's attack. It was time to unwrap his head, and Tomura felt uneasy about it. He didn't know what he was going to find. The bits of hair that stuck out of the bandages were dry and needed cleaning, just like the rest of him. Tomura sucked in a deep breath and got to work undoing the bandages. He noted, as he got closer to the final layers of his bandages, that his left eye seemed a bit off. Like it was somehow not healed all the way. Tomura pulled the bandages off and took a look at himself, and almost screamed out in rage and shock when he did.

Tomura stared at himself for a few moments, unable to grasp what he was seeing. His right eye was fine, perfect even. His left eye was gray. How he was just noticing that now was not on Tomura's mind as his gaze was drawn to his right temple. There was a massive jagged scar running from the top corner of his face down across his nose and tapering off at his chin on the opposite side. Tomura traced along it with his fingers, trying his best not to scream as the tough skin made it clear that he wasn't hallucinating or anything. Tomura frowned, though it tugged on the scar and made it throb slightly. It was an ugly scar, with the main tissue being surrounded by pink skin that was still likely healing based on the severity of it. Tomura now understood how he'd been out for a week. He wasn't even sure it was done healing yet, as it still looked like an angry god had struck him with lightning. Maybe one had.

"Shit," Tomura whispered.

He couldn't bring himself to remove his fingers from the scar, the texture of it grounding him somewhat. Tomura hesitantly pulled them away to refocus on his eye. It was gray, whereas his other, normal one was a bright red. He'd always known that he had an unusual pigment issue. Tomura's eyes had been red and his hair had been a very faded blue for as long as he could remember, and as far as he knew it was all natural. Maybe it was to do with his Quirk. Maybe it was Decay that made him look like this. Quirks did all sorts of things to the internal biology of people, that's what the Doctor kept going on about, so maybe this was some sort of side-effect. Tomura had discarded this line of questioning years ago, but if his eye had changed color, it could have had something to do with those initial thoughts.

Tomura pulled on his lower eyelid to get a better look at the eye itself. It looked fine enough, just a normal eye, except it was the wrong color . Maybe it was an extension of the problem he'd faced with his room; similar enough to be familiar, but wrong when he paid attention to finer details. That seemed likely, but Tomura couldn't be sure of anything yet. He still needed to speak with Master. To do that, he needed to shower.

Kurogiri had a bad feeling about Tomura talking to Master in person. They'd been in the same room countless times, but this time was different. Tomura had failed. Master pulled no punches in punishing failures, and he didn't think even Tomura could be spared from his wrath. Kurogiri knew, deep down, that he would at least try not to kill Tomura, for he had 'plans' that involved him in some capacity. But, there was a long way between his current state and death. A long way filled with pain. So, that was why Kurogiri had hesitated in opening the warp gate when he'd transported Tomura to the compound that Master resided in.

Tomura had complained, of course, but he had been much quieter since he'd discovered the extent of his injuries. Kurogiri had eventually acquiesced to Master's command to bring Tomura to him, but he readied himself to warp Tomura away if anything too bad happened. He lived to protect the boy, and he'd do that to his last breath. Even if it cost Kurogiri his life, he'd do what was best for Tomura. It's how he was made, he supposed. Everybody had a core nature. Most people were selfish. Some, like a few of the more genuine and honest Heroes, were kind and helpful. Kurogiri didn't want to compare himself to any Heroes, but he had the same core, he thought. He was helpful, and he didn't mind sharing that trait with Master's enemies if it kept him by Tomura's side.

The two entered Master's throne room to see him already facing them. He smiled, that toothy grin that Kurogiri felt chills at. Tomura seemed to hesitate upon seeing it as well, but they both quickly recovered and kept approaching Master. The beeping of medical equipment put Kurogiri on edge, and it seemed to do nothing to help Tomura's apparent nerves.

"Ah, Tomura. You've finally decided to join us," Master said.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Master. I got to you as fast as I could," Tomura said, bowing his head to the Symbol of Evil.

"I trust you did. How are you feeling? I heard that your mission was unsuccessful," Master asked.

"I feel fine. I'm a little sore, but I can manage. All that remains of my injuries are healed over scars. Thank you, Master," Tomura replied, putting a hand to his face as he spoke.

"That's good. Though you should know, I did nothing to aid in your healing," Master revealed.

Tomura stepped back slightly, clearly repulsed by the thought of it. Kurogiri knew he looked up to Master like a father, so the idea that he hadn't even tried to help obviously was going to take him a while to wrestle with. But, Tomura seemed to bounce back quickly enough.

"The Doctor?" he asked.

"Oh, no. You managed to recover all on your own. All we did was give you the chance," Master teased. He was always a fan of cryptic messages that they had to decode in order to understand.

"What? I'm afraid I don't understand, Master," Tomura said, sending a puzzled glance over at Kurogiri.

"You are far more powerful than you know, Tomura. Learn to tap into that inner strength, and the power to reshape society as you wish will be at your fingertips. Now, what happened to cause such injuries in the first place?" Master said.

Tomura froze for a moment. He seemed to pause to think, and Master's grin widened at the momentary silence. Kurogiri began to think that he'd been worried for nothing. Maybe Master really did simply want a report. Perhaps he cared for Tomura more than he let on. Kurogiri felt silly for doubting Master, but he also knew that he'd probably do it again given a reason.

"We invaded the UA facility on schedule, but All Might wasn't there. Instead, a bunch of brats pretending to be Heroes were the ones that held us back until he arrived. These two in particular were getting on my nerves. One of them had this weird mind control power. I don't know how it activates, but he kept getting me with it. The asshole called himself 'the Hypnotic Hero' or something like that," Tomura said.

"Very interesting. I don't suppose you got his name, did you?" Master asked, leaning forward slightly on his throne.

"Nah, just that weird codename. Oh, but then there was this other guy! He had green hair and he had more than one Quirk!" Tomura said.

Master's vaguely amused smile suddenly changed. Kurogiri couldn't pinpoint what about it was different, but it seemed even more fake than it had been a moment earlier, which was to say completely. He seemed to lose control of himself for a moment but quickly collected himself and put on a strained grin for Tomura's sake.

"Is that so? Would you care to elaborate?" Master asked, a strange quality to his voice. Was that worry ?

"Oh, it was so bullshit! He could fly, he could shoot these dark tentacle things and he had super strength! That's too many powers for one Quirk to have! He was cheating, Master! I showed him, though! I got him right in the face with Decay! He's the one who did this to me. I'll kill that brat the next time I see him," Tomura ranted.

"How did you say he injured you, again?" Master asked.

"He just got me with one really good hit. He was also really fast, probably only second to All Might. That kid is just too powerful for his own good!" Tomura explained.

Master's face was set in stone. He looked grim, like he had just gotten a bad diagnosis. Tomura waited for a response, any kind of reply, but he didn't get one. Master simply sat there, in silence, until a knock at the door interrupted the three's silent moments together. Master then put on one of those fake grins again and clapped his hands together as if he'd just made some kind of joke.

"Well, that's all the time we'll have today, Tomura. Please, get some rest, but I may have another assignment for you when you're finished recovering. Be well," Master said, pressing a button and opening the doors behind them.

Tomura smiled, and turned to leave. Kurogiri hesitated for a moment, trying to get a good read on Master's expression. Master turned his head toward Kurogiri, which was what made him snap out of his brief analytical daze. He turned and followed Tomura out the door, but was stopped by a sudden compulsion to stay still as he approached the door. The Doctor was there, standing to the side to allow Tomura passage, but was clearly annoyed by his very presence.

"I … will stay. There should be enough in the bar for dinner," Kurogiri said, activating his Quirk.

Tomura stopped in front of a warp gate. He waved his hand back at Kurogiri and muttered something under his breath before stepping through it. Once Kurogiri was sure Tomura was on the other side, he closed the gate and turned back to face Master. The Doctor moved to stand next to him, smiling like he did when he made a breakthrough on one of his experiments. The two looked at Kurogiri with such an aura that Kurogiri moved backward a bit, knowing that he was no longer safe in that room.

"I'm going to have to ask you to keep still, Kurogiri. This can be a lot, but you'll be fine," Master said.

The doors closed behind Kurogiri, and he tried to open a portal but stopped when a dark, jagged tendril forced its way into his side. The pain was barely present, just a prick, but the feeling of his Quirk being shut off made Kurogiri panic. This had never happened before. Master chuckled, his voice dripping with malice.

"Oh, I don't think you'll be going anywhere. You still have something I need," Master's voice echoed throughout the chamber in a way that wasn't natural.

The tendrils began to recede into Master's fingertips, where they'd extended from. They dragged Kurogiri with them, pulling on his puncture wound and making it so that the once small hole in his side was stretched and ripped as he was yanked forward by Master's power. He was brought close to Master, the closest he remembered ever being, and was forced to turn his head by one of Master's impossibly strong hands.

"Calm down. You'll live. You always do," Master said, before he put a hand on Kurogiri's forehead, causing him to lose consciousness.