21/01/2025

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The Emperor's Dragon
Chapter 91 - Prison Tours

When All For One was brought into Tartarus, he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings, or to those around him. Over time, he had learned who was in the cells beside him, and across from him and it just confirmed his initial disinterest. While you had to be of a certain calibre to be housed in the deepest level of Tartarus, it appeared the prison knew the danger of putting the big fish together.

Those in the cells around him were comparative minnows. Oh, they weren't baitfish and no doubt they had been considered dangerous but… He had no interest in them. Consequently, their surprise at his ability to break out was rather grating. All For One sighed. He could easily deal with them but… That was in poor taste.

And he had the guards to deal with.

Over the years, All For One had become accustomed to using a variety of quirks to enhance his senses. Being unable to use them had been somewhat limiting and it felt freeing now to be able to use them all freely. Even if he didn't have them all.

Even without quirk enhancement he heard the guards running towards him. How tedious. He took care of them with Rivet Stab and used Air Walk to avoid the bodies and blood, before continuing to walk through the corridor.

"You're just leaving?" That sounded like Niryu, who had been in the cell next to him.

All For One turned to face Niryu. He didn't need to turn to see the man but people expected it. He was just leaving and there was no disadvantage in letting them lose. There were obvious advantages. Any prisoner he released now, who actually escaped would owe him, though some, no doubt would later get in the way.

Others had their own goals and desires for Japan and they would interfere with his plans. And others would… do something stupid and just end up back here.

But all of them would be hunted by the heroes and that would cause some distraction… It was a question of if it would be too much. He considered it. Probably not and… he had time.

"Ah yes, almost forgot," All For One murmured, and theatrically raised his hand, flicking his fingers towards the cell. With the motion he extended Radio Waves, just as he had for himself to release the holds on Niryu.

Niryu heard the click and laughed. All For One turned and released a few other cells before he resumed walking, releasing the other prisoners as he passed. They could get themselves out of their cells, once he had loosened the chain.

All For One paused and turned to face the prisoner. Those he'd released so far were trying to swarm the exit, and not so incidentally taking care of the guards, though he was pretty sure the guards would take care of some of them.

"What are you looking at cripple?" came the question.

The question didn't bother him. It was somewhat true, given that he was still hauling the oxygen pump with him, but the man offended him. "When I had heard Tomura had died, I wondered if any of his crew were loyal enough to die with him, or smart enough to follow their new leader. You appear to fall into the too stupid to follow either category," he replied.

Even knowing it was futile, the man strained against the bonds holding him. "Case in point," All For One murmured, as he turned away.

"You are going to leave him?" That was another prisoner. They actually sounded curious.

"I have no need to release him," All For One replied, turning to the speaker. From his quirks, he could tell the prisoner had a medium build but not much else. He vaguely recognised the voice and that was enough for him to raise his hand to release the bonds. Interestingly the prisoner didn't immediately move.

"Interesting," the man murmured. "You are the one All Might put in here, aren't you?" the prisoner asked.

The question was enough for All For One to remember where he'd heard the voice. Tomura had been complaining about a vigilante and Giran had mentioned something as well about a hero killer. It was the type of vigilantism he could appreciate, except for one thing. "Stain," he mouthed the name, almost sure he had it right. "I am," he said, giving the prisoner a grin.

The man glared. All For One chuckled. He definitely had the identification correct. "You have good ideals," All For One told him, "but your delivery is lacking," he added the critique. "Still, I'd like to see more of your work." The last was clearly an invitation to escape.

"I'm going to kill some of them," the vigilante told him. It didn't need to be defined who 'them' was.

"Be my guest," he replied, ignoring Muscular as he moved on. If Stain killed some of the prisoners, then they simply were too weak to survive. To his hearing, Stain didn't move until he'd gone past several cells. Wise man, but not his focus.

"All For One."

He moved to face the speaker. He didn't recognise the voice, and a cursory look indicated he did not recognise the figure. Though it was, admittedly, hard to recognise anyone when they were trussed up as Tartarus preferred to keep its prisoners. "Or do you prefer Sensei?" the man asked.

"Either works, Mr-?" his trail off was enough of a question.

"Mukosei. Kiraware Mukosei," came the introduction.

All For One vaguely recognised the name. The Doctor had… Yes, the Doctor had definitely complained about the name but he couldn't remember anything else. The Doctor complained about a lot of things. "Ah… And what brings you to these esteemed facilities, Kiraware?"

"They called it murder but really-" he huffed. "It's not murder when they are sub-human."

Ah, that explained why the Doctor had been complaining. Garaki liked studying the quirkless and since they were stablisers, the Doctor wanted to preserve them. If Kiraware was killing them… and he'd have to have killed quite a few to end up here, then he had, no doubt, annoyed the Doctor. Plus Kyudai sometimes needed the quirkless for a baseline in an experiment.

"Ah, yes. It is so frustrating when others believe they have the right to pass judgement," All For One agreed, and released Kiraware's restraints. Having him on the loose would offer another facet to examine the hero's reaction.

"You aren't going to ask for loyalty?" Kiraware sounded curious.

"There is no point in asking for something you won't give, is there, Bloodline?" All For One asked him facetiously, remembering the name Kiraware used to go by. "But you do owe me, and I will collect. Eventually," he assured the man. He sensed Mukosei's look before the man laughed and in the tone All For One heard acceptance. Kiraware wouldn't be loyal but the favour would be honoured.

"You're letting him go, just like that?"

It was a woman's voice. That was interesting. There weren't many women down here. All For One turned to the speaker. Again, he couldn't see much. Restrained as the prisoners were, all he could really see was a general sense of their build and their head. If they had any obvious mutations, then they had to break the expected silhouette. "I have no reason to keep him here."

"The fact that he's a murderer-"

All For One laughed, interrupting. "You object to that about the people here?" he asked.

She knew what he meant but didn't feel convinced

"You are?" He didn't know who she was.

"Nagant."

"Nagant… Nagant," All For One murmured the name to himself. "Ah yes, the hero with that lovely rifle quirk," he remembered her. "I take it you have history with Bloodline?" he asked.

She looked away.

All For One chuckled. "You brought him in," he murmured. The exhale from her was enough for him to know he had it right. "And the Commission was kind enough to put you in adjoining cells!" That was rather funny. Then he remembered why she was in Tartarus. "Which hero did you kill?" he asked curiously. She was supposedly here because she'd killed a Hero and the Commission couldn't have their precious heroes going rogue. That was the cover story anyway, but he knew enough to know it wouldn't be the whole story.

"Want a list?" she countered.

There was an impressive amount of venom in her voice.

For a moment All For One didn't understand, and then a number of things fell into place in his mind. Nagant was like Hawks. A Commission trained hero who would do anything for them. Except, something had obviously gone wrong. He chuckled. "So the murderer doesn't want a murderer released… Or do you think your kills were more honourable?" he was curious.

From the way she moved her head, he could tell she was looking at the ground.

"If I leave you here, one of the others will probably kill you, and that hardly seems fair," All For One said. If she was lucky, they'd kill her. If she was unlucky, they'd… well, it would depend on which prisoner took an interest. Some would simply take their pleasure; others would be more exotic in their efforts.

"I'm not following you," she spat, even as All For One directed Radio Waves to release her restraints.

Since he couldn't see, not exactly, All For One could hear nuances in tone that he would never have paid attention to in the past. He could hear her doubt. He gave a breathy little snigger. She was still… Even spending years in Tartarus had not broken her loyalty completely but it was close. "Not yet, you aren't," he agreed. "But, when the Commission offers you freedom, in exchange for the murder of a sixteen year old, come and see me," he instructed.

"And what makes you think one sixteen year old will make a difference?" Nagant asked.

Nothing Izuku would do would make a difference. The difference was her, but she obviously didn't realise that, not yet. "Oh, I know you could attempt it," All For One told her. "I know part of you will think the cost is cheap, when measured against the other's you've killed. But I know you will also think about what such a deal really means about the world…" He paused, letting her take in his words. He could almost feel her doubt already. It was that thought which was going to be the one to turn her to him.

"And I want you to think about how long it will take that sixteen year old to kill you, with me helping him, when you fail to kill him," All For One added. It was not a subtle threat. It didn't need to be. She was already wavering and all it would take…

He wondered how long the Commission would restrain itself?

Probably not long, he decided as he continued moving along the corridor of cells.

They were not all occupied. Tartarus was designed to hold a number of different types of prisoners and at this level, they were not meant to get out again. The above levels held lesser villains… Izuku would handle them but there was someone he assumed was on this level that he wanted to meet before his son did. He passed other cells, absently releasing the prisoners before he came to the one who interested him.

The man was one of those people whose quirk rendered his body into something like a very thick honey. It was reasonably firm but still dripped and to All For One's sight, there was a puddle of organic material underneath him… and a drain, he noted with some amusement.

"Come to see the celebrity, eh?" came the question.

All For One sighed softly. For the most part, he had thought about his Little Dragon's obsession with this man with tolerant amusement. It was one of those things that if it made Izuku happy then he saw no reason to stop him but at the same time he didn't exactly understand the drive. Hearing that question though… He began to see why his son was so insulted on his behalf.

Toxic Chainsaw, as Izuku had always said, was not worthy of being used to cover his existence. The man had a reasonable sense of presence, but so did everyone on this level but there was also something undeniably petty about him.

"If you want to call it that," he replied. "But you didn't do a very good job," All For One added. "All Might was still active for another seven years," he pointed out with a kind of morbid curiosity.

"But I still got him at his peak," the man replied.

"Ah, so you did," All For One murmured. He would have to ask Izuku if he could watch his son do something about this moron. "But you are not free, and I am," he added. He was going to release Toxic Chainsaw, but he didn't need the man wandering off. "And I'm sure I could benefit from knowing a man such as yourself." A little flattery went a long way sometimes, even if the words were like acid. He wanted to point out that for a truly strong person escaping Tartarus was easy and obviously Toxic Chainsaw could not be strong because he was not free but that would not suffice.

"Oh, you get me out of here and I'll show you how even someone with your disability can be great," Toxic Chainsaw agreed easily.

All For One heard the lie. Toxic Chainsaw thought he was weak. He thought he was nothing because of his 'disability' but the villain wouldn't betray him now. His limited intelligence went that far. No, All For One could already tell that Toxic Chainsaw would betray him as soon as they were out of Tartarus and relatively safe. The man thought once they got back to the mainland, he could charm All For One's other subordinates to take control, because of his supposed reputation. The ancient villain hadn't heard it all before, but he'd seen it.

He was going to enjoy this. Watching Izuku flay him or burn him or whatever his Little Dragon had planned was going to be a pleasure. Even if he couldn't properly see it. He knew enough to envisage what was happening.

"Then I will learn greatly," All For One lied, and raised one hand rather ostentatiously to activate Radio Waves. If he didn't, the moron would never believe he was the reason the restraints released. There was the now familiar click and Toxic Chainsaw hissed as he freed himself. "Come along," All For One said. He had to establish some superiority now. "I cannot guarantee those above will take you, unless you are with me," he explained with a somewhat mocking smile. It said without words that he had resources that Toxic Chainsaw only dreamed about. "They are somewhat overprotective at times."

Toxic Chainsaw would not be in a position to betray him but let him think of what it meant for him to have servants who'd protect him. It should effectively highlight the differences between them… If Toxic Chainsaw was smart enough to see it. He may not be.

"Now, let's see who else is here," All For One invited as he continued walking.

There was bound to be someone interesting.

-ted-

Yu was getting rather frustrated. When she'd come out from one of the emergency exits, she'd picked the biggest attacker to fight. He was a hulking man, with a quirk that had to be similar to hers. She wasn't offended at that. Enlargement quirks were rather common. At least, partial enlargement ones were and full ones like hers were probably more common than she believed. But that wasn't why she'd picked him to attack. She'd picked him simply because he was the biggest attacker and the way villains worked, if she took out the biggest one, then they'd see she was stronger.

It was just primitive school yard bullying. But it was what villains understood.

The problem was the big guy was not as weak as she'd thought. And she'd found out, to her pain, that what she had thought was an affectation of stone on his chin was actually flesh but was as hard as stone. Her knuckles still throbbed from where she had clocked him one there.

He'd simply grinned at the punch and his strange white eyes had been pleased. And then he'd hit her back and they'd been duking it out since.

She had been a bit afraid that the other creatures that were attacking would interfere, but he'd done something, and they were avoiding the battle. They were… It was kind of odd that they were avoiding them, and maybe it was more of that macho tendency that villains liked to display. Since it was working to her advantage, she wasn't going to question it, since fighting him and them would likely be too much. They may not be that strong, but they'd be pesky.

While her full conscious attention was on the fight, there was a very tiny part of her mind that was quietly gleeful at the events. This was going to be absolutely fucking fantastic for her ranking.

Yu threw another punch, not holding back. She couldn't hold back against this guy or he'd… He was stronger than she wanted to admit. He was stronger than anyone she'd ever fought and… was he getting bigger?

She didn't want to think about that, and hit harder. He'd started off smaller than she could be but now… Oh shit, he was getting bigger. How large could he go? And was his strength proportional?

Yu gathered herself. No! She was not going to be defeated here! She'd have to put him down now! And since she couldn't get the run up required for a Canyon Cannon, she'd have to use a Titan Cliff. Moving quickly she reached out, grabbing the man and before he could react she slammed her head down.

The collision was immense, and Yu was thankful she wasn't the only one to stagger back from it. She braced herself and firmed up her footing, looking at the man…. And felt her stomach sink.

He wasn't down. He was shaking his head but a grin that showed off his saw tooth teeth was forming and he was still growing.

She was about to charge to attack when a whir had her ducking backwards. A projectile spun through the space her head had been in a moment later and Yu tracked it with her eyes. Was that?

She glanced at the prison door. The one she hadn't come out of. The one she had driven this guy off… It was gone. And it had been flung at her. There was a man dressed in what appeared to be green leather standing in the doorway with the creatures streaming into the prison around him. He had to have flung it.

These villains… The big one wasn't the only strong one.

"Gigantomachia! Time to go," the man said and before Yu could react, he ducked into the prison.

"No!" She cried but… they were already within it and… The huge man she had been fighting had already recovered. He glanced between the door and her and Yu was thankful she was in his way. It was bad enough the villains had gotten in; they did not need his help!

And then she had to dodge a swipe from his hand.

Except something wasn't quite right. Yu looked down. Her costume was ripped. Granted, because the primary quality needed by her costume was the ability to stretch, the fabric wasn't as strong as some other hero's costumes, but it was still pretty tough. She couldn't get all the reinforcing into it, with the required stretch, though since signing up with The Lurkers, Tissu had put a bright, young support worker on the problem. Just another example of a bright young thing supposedly being better than someone with real world experience. How had her costume ripped? She'd dodged the hit!

The rumble was all the warning she got before the man charged. Yu thought she saw him discard a scrap of white fabric that probably came from her costume, but she couldn't be sure. She was too busy dodging.

"Urg!"

Pain radiated from her side. He'd marked her. She saw a flash of stone, different from his face and then, something slammed into her stomach. A moment later blood gushed from her mouth.

Stupidly, Yu looked down. He hadn't hit her. He'd impaled her and she saw metres long, grey brown claws on his hands. He didn't have claws, her mind supplied… except he obviously did. Fighting back the blood, Yu looked up and saw that his eyes were covered, and he had two protruding tusks from his mouth. As she watched, the tusks disappeared.

He grinned.

"No-" Yu managed to say, and she brought her fists down on his shoulders. From here, she couldn't miss. It was like he didn't even feel it. The motion brought more blood to her mouth and before Yu could do anything else, he leaned back and kicked her.

She felt every inch of the claws leave her body with a kind of shlucking noise and she fell back. There was blood all over his claws, which he flicked off with a contemptuous motion. Yu tried to get up but her legs weren't working and all she could taste was blood. Her vision was darkening too.

Yu knew that was bad but… she felt detached and then she was watching her body from above. The damage was worse than she thought… though given the man had claws that long… there were gaping holes in her torso, and a large pool of blood beneath her. Her chin was covered in it and her eyes were looking at the sky.

That image was not going to do anything for her popularity.

And then…

Everything faded away.

-ted-

Well, AFO is giving himself the tour. It was very rude of the guards to not provide him with a proper tour! And as you can see, while he's giving himself the tour, he's meeting all sorts of interesting people.

And... Mt Lady wasn't good enough to hold them off.

Discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!