Ben was torn: On one hand, he feared for his and the lives of his friends as he knew they'd come to get him. On the other? He had DREAMED of seeing his father scared. On the other? It was… kind of disappointing to see him like this.
"Q-Quirkless?" All for One repeated for the umpteenth time. "Roger was…?"
The memories came back in full. The grin. The grander. The strength! The unwavering, terrifying will! It was no wonder Nana had fallen for that pirate obsessed fool!
"No. No, no." The 'Demon Lord' told himself. "He wasn't. He couldn't have been!"
But then he recalled that Roger had, with help from that brutish buffoon Garp, beaten Xebec. That had to mean…then All for One began to smile desperately.
"Yes, yes. I see it now! The HPSC and Heroes are desperate; trying to scare me and make us fumble! Cute. But they're no Kudo or Bruce. They must've edited footage of Dr. Vegapunk and Nezu together. Yes, yes that's it. Roger MUST'VE had a Quirk; Willpower or something like that. And it must've been like One for All; never to be stolen, only passed down! Yes. That's it."
"Sorry we're late," Tomura said as he suddenly came in with the rest of the League. "Rapunzel and Magne were getting a little too excited playing with Pixie-Bob."
"The filthy alley cat is still alive..." Rapunzel grumbled as she wiped some blood off her knuckles.
"We'll finish her off later," Magne reassured her friend.
"Um…sensei?" Tomura asked, seeing his master in a very uncharacteristic state of desperate laughter and delusion; a site that made the rest of the league look on in concern and shock.
Ben, despite it all, decided to cough and motion towards his father's little posse, getting the villain's attention.
"Oh, Tomura! Apologies, I was just….Where's Kurogiri?" All For One, snapped out of his self-help delusions, asked.
"Unfortunately, he got captured along with Muscular," Tobi said apologetically.
Sliming Sadist chuckled. "But there's no need to worry, my Quirk,Void Space, more than makes up for the deficit."
"Ah, right on time, Tomura-Boy!" Shiki smiled proudly as he floated down. "And the gang is all here as well!"
"Just what are you planning, Shiki?" All For One asked his old colleague.
"Why its quite simple, Mugen; Tomura's Awakening."
If the Symbol of Evil still had his eyes, they would be widening in shock and horror at what Shiki was implying as the Golden Lion reached into his coat and pulled out a familiar Stone Mask with a red stone in its forehead as he handed it to Tomura.
"Tomura-Boy, you've taken my teachings well. It's time for you to take the next step in your journey."
"What is this?" Tomura asked.
"This mask will grant you power. I recall that Benny over there stole your Quirk months back at the USJ?" Shiki gestured to Ben, who hung down silently in his restraints. "But what if I told you...Decay wasn't the Quirk you were born with?"
"What?"
"Shiki!" All For One snapped. "You'll ruin everything!"
The Autoscorers suddenly blocked his path, along with Thrax and Vetto.
"You did that yourself, Mugen." Shiki sneered, then turning back to the leader of the assembled villains. "Tomura...your real name is Tenko Shimura and you are the grandson of a legendary hero that your master killed; Nana Shimura AKA Nimbus. Now Mugen would say she died pathetically, but I'd say she died in a manner that would make her husband, Gol D. Roger, proud."
A silence fell over the room, Time seemed to freeze before Tomura faltered.
"Wait...then that means..."
Shiki smirked. "Yes...Gol D. Roger is your grandfather as well. How ironic that the man who defeated my old captain would end up having half his legacy join the dark side?"
"Whoa..." Spinner muttered. "That's...a lot to take in."
Rapunzel and Magne nodded in agreement.
"… 'half of his legacy?'" Deidara picked up on. "What does that mean? Is there someone else we should…?"
Tobi suddenly warped over and put a finger over his former partner's mouth.
"SPOILERS!" the masked man said in a sign-song voice.
"That reveal is probably coming soon enough though." Lafiette noted.
"But wait, there's more!" Shiki said. "You see, All For One, having REALLY hated Nana, tracked down her family after killing her and found that one of her children, Kotaro, had started a family. Now, Kotaro didn't like how his mommy gave him up so she could fight evil and was bitter all around. However, Mugen offered a shoulder to cry on and support, surprisingly enough."
Tomura's eyes widened as he felt memories suddenly resurface that he had long forgotten. He remembered a scowling man dragging him outside as he reached out for a kind woman, who was begging the man to take let the boy go.
"Of course, Mugen couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and took the Quirk Factor of Kotaro's newborn son...that son was YOU, Tomura." Shiki continued. "He then gave you Decay to compensate, all so that one day, you might accidentally kill your family so he could take you under his wing to spite Nana and Roger's legacy."
Vomit suddenly burst from Tomura's mouth as he fell to his knees. Burgess, Van Argur and Phara were quickly at his side.
"Bursting…!" Tomura wheezed as he began to scratch himself as the memories he had started began to play in full. "Everything…! Hurts!"
Flashback
The man throwing him outside. His corgi trying to comfort him before….before it died and burst into bloody bits in his arms. A girl, his sister maybe? Coming out and then screaming at the sight. He'd tried to grab her, to explain…but she turned to dust just as their mother and an elderly couple came out. Suddenly, everything was falling apart. The elders died quickly and in fear, but his mother, despite everything, reached out for her son, trying to comfort him.
It was only then that his father finally came around. And first thing he did? Grab and swing a weed whacker at his son. Tenko had leapt onto him, snarling and smiling as he watched his abuser beg for mercy he had denied and splattered into red dust and bits of flesh.
Present Day
Clenching his fist after catching is breath and rising to his feet, Tomura swiped the mask from Shiki, who did nothing but smirk.
"Nana Shimura, Mugen Shigaraki...I'll spite BOTH of them." Tomura snarled as he looked at the mask. "I'll take back my old family name...but put in the name of evil I was given!"
"Shiki, what have you done?!" All For One roared angrily.
"This was the plan all along, Mugen." Shiki sneered. "Your pitiful attempt to reclaim One For All by manipulating someone into becoming your next vessel was stupid from the start, nothing like how Rocks would have done it. If he were still here now, he'd be so very disappointed in how low you've sunk."
"Now, Shiki. Be nice to sensei." Tomura suddenly cut in. "Yeah, he has tunnel vision and planning, focuses on the wrong…but he DID save me from dying on the streets, give me the basics of villainy. And to be fair? For all his and even your greatness? Humans can only get so far, even with Quirks."
"W-what're you saying, Tomura?" Dr. Ujiko asked fearfully, his fear increasing as Tomura grinned an evil grin unlike anything he'd ever done before.
"For the sake of League and to truly change this world?" The young man smirked. "I REJECT MY HUMANITY!"
Tomura slammed the mask onto his face, screaming in pain as claws sprouted from it and dug into him. However, the screams became cries of euphoria as the red stone on the mask glowed brightly, black veins crawling across Tomura's skin as he gained slightly increased muscle mass, his light blue hair turning pure white and growing slightly longer.
Finally, the mask crumbled as the red stone shattered like glass. Tomura fell over, breathing heavily after the ordeal he went through before rising back to his feet, his blood red eyes glowing briefly as he grinned while flexing his fingers.
"W-What just happened?" Mustard asked fearfully.
"That mask, Mustard my boy, is something that Captain Xebec studied for years." Shiki explained. "When applied to someone's face and blood is spilled on it, the user gains incredible strength, bio-manipulation powers and boarderline immortality at the cost of needing to consume blood and flesh and never being able to walk in the sun again."
"…So it's a vampire making mask." Nniotora mused.
"One way to put it, yes." Shiki mused. "We Rocks Pirates, however, didn't see much worth in it…Until we learnt that if the Stone of Aja, a rare gem, was applied to the mask, they would gain all the powers, but NONE of the weaknesses. In the 40 years since Captain Xebec's death, every spare moment not dedicated to my own schemes has been dedicated to finding that stone. And wouldn't you know it? Around the same time Izuku-boy went missing? I finally found it."
"Damn..." Dabi muttered, genuinely shocked and slightly impressed.
Tomura breathed out, adjusting to his new powers: he could see better; x-ray and heat vision as well. He was stronger than ever, could feel EVERY movement in and around his body…and he was in peak condition.
He then smirked as he clenched his fist, which turned into a flower, a butterfly, and then a squirrel which scurried around before perching on Garie's shoulder, nuzzling the Autoscorer as she giggled and scratched its chin affectionately before it returned to Tomura's hand and turned back into his hand.
"…Anyone else need to change their pants?" Spinner asked. "Be honest."
"Well. Not in the way you mean, but…" Leuir noted, her sisters nodding in agreement.
"I might." Ben admitted in spite of it all.
"Say hello, ladies, gents and all non-binaries?" Shiki declared. "To the Ultimate Life form."
Burgess and Tobi led a mass of cheers as the League then fell to one knee each, awaiting their master's command.
"Everyone...the age of All For One has ended!" Tomura announced to his team. "No more manipulations! No more lies! No more so-called Demon Lords! Follow me and we shall become the very antithesis of what the Heroes stand for! We will set the world on fire so that they will stand to put it out and then we shall do it again! We will restore the balance of true good and evil! RISE UP AND I WILL LEAD US ALL INTO THE FUTURE!"
The League could feel Tomura's newfound will pouring outward, and while most would cower in terror, they instead felt invigorated, they felt powerful, they felt like they could take on the whole world!
"Oh yeah, I knew I picked the right team to join," Thrax smirked.
"Guess I'm sticking with you guys a little longer..." Dabi chuckled.
"You're amazing, Boss!" Twice cheered then jeered."You ain't the boss of me!"
Garou smiled. "Tomura...my loyalty is yours. By your side, we shall fight the strongest enemies and perhaps...meet a worthy end when the road concludes."
Tomura nodded proudly as his allies all voiced their support of him. Shiki gave a proud smirk of his own and nodded his head in approval as Tomura thrust his fist into the air.
"THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS BELONG TO ME NOW! I...AM...TOMURA SHIMURA!"
As the League of Villains all cheered triumphantly, All For One realized how long it had been since he'd felt genuine fear. As for Ben, he felt the oppressive wave of Tomura's newly awakened Conqueror's Haki, feeling the most helpless he had ever felt in years...
DEVIL
"Well there it is," Marco commented as he and the rest of Izuku's Crew looked down onto the hideout from a rooftop.
"All-Might and the Pro Heroes are going after the other hideout location with Class 1-A and 1-B acting as support. Something tells me that Tomura and his crew are waiting here." Izuku said.
As the crew began to move, Izuku suddenly felt an overwhelming force of malevolence explode from the hideout, nearly falling over as his eyes dilated in panic, much to everyone's concern as they felt it too.
"Did you guys feel that?" Chikara nervously asked.
"More or less..." Kohaku gulped.
"That power...it's on par with Izuku." Mukuro realized, her normally stoic face faltering.
"W-What's going on?" Lilique asked fearfully as Himiko and Bakara reassuringly held her close.
"It's Tomura..." Izuku realized. "He's...he's changed."
"I think I need to change my pants..." Yaato said.
"The fuck are you all acting like pussies for?!" Katsuki snapped. "Let's kick their fucking asses!"
"Bakugou is right. We can't give in to fear now." Mipha said firmly. "Let's do this...for Ben!"
With that incentive, Izuku led his crew down toward the hideout, where the League of Villains would be waiting for them.
"Hold on, Ben..." Penny whispered. "We're coming for you!"
DEVIL
"We're being attacked on both sides!" Tobi alerted the rest of the League as they gathered in their new meeting room. "The Heroes are raiding the Nomu Factory nearby and Izuku and his team are coming after us in particular!"
"Don't we have that group of new recruits outside?" Micha asked. "Maybe some of them can slow the heroes down."
"That doesn't change the fact that 23 angry pirate heroes are coming down on us as we speak." Sliming Sadist pointed out. "And they will be here to rescue All For One's son."
"His name is Ben and he's no son of All For One." Tomura firmly said. "Far as I'm concerned, his family is with Midnight and Midoriya's Crew."
"We can handle anyone that comes around here!" Twice insisted before switching."We need a plan of attack!"
"Don't worry, team. I'm going to face Midoriya head on in order to assess my new power." Tomura told his crew. "The rest of you will escape to Jaku, where All For One's doctor is stationed. He'll find us a new base to hole up in. As for Shiki...he told me that he has a plan in place for the Heroes side."
"So we're just gonna let them rescue Ben?" Vetto asked.
Tomura nodded. "Yes, he has served his purpose as bait. It's time for the real game to begin..."
DEVIL
"All Might is leading the heroes here and you've stolen Tomura from me!" All for One glared before picking up on others. "And now my wayward son's friends?!"
Ben smiled at that; now delight at seeing his father squirm as the so called 'Demon Lord' demanded Shiki explain his betrayal.
"…You never really were one of us, Mugen." Shiki admitted. "Kaido, Linlin and I knew that from the start. You only took the sea on a whim and kept yourself limited to Japan. You knowingly remained ignorant of the world around you unless those you met could be useful. Xebec had such hopes for you….Huh. Kind of funny, you were already over a hundred when you joined us, but you were always the most childish and weakest of us. Even now: You lose once, you stay hidden and double down on what you know works."
All for One only glared and ready to attack the Flying Pirate, who just motioned for him to wait a moment.
"Of course, as one last favor from beyond the grave, Rocks left behind a little gift..." Shiki smirked as he snapped his fingers.
Out of a portal that Tobi had left behind, Dr. Indigo sent in eight large capsules which soon opened up. All of them had dark bat symbols marked on them and All For One was shocked at what he saw.
"Figured you could use some back-up." Shiki grinned. "And the Dark Knights will be happy to oblige."
TO BE CONTINUED….
Knightmare Lord A/N:
It's time for the Kamino Raid to begin! Tomura has become the Ultimate Lifeform, All For One is slowly losing all the cards in his deck, and Izuku and his crew are charging in to save Ben! What will happen next?!
Also, I hope you liked the Transformers One reference I threw in, Mrotrax!
Mrotrax A/N:
I DID!
I cut a second planned conversation between Shiki and All for One because I couldn't think of anymore points to be made.