Discord: https://discord.gg/eHuxNeZfyS
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene
You.tube: @KeanuEugene
CHAPTER START---
Tartarus regulations demand that all communication devices be left above ground. Along with many reasons, one of the most prevailing is to limit the information gleaned by the prisoner about the outside world.
This prison is meant to be a void, in which you are trapped forever, forgotten bout by those beyond its walls.
And yet, with an absurd combination of Quirks and decades of preparation, All For One defies this simple rule.
From his seat, chained to the solid steel chair, he focuses his mind on the signals pouring into his mind from a special Nomu.
His receiver Quirk is part of a pair, collecting information from the transmission Quirk that was cloned into the Nomu.
And within his mind, he can process the data, as if watching TV, even from deep within this prison.
He sees the ceremony begin, and waits for the perfect, most dramatic time, for the demon lord to rise up and claim his nation.
"Welcome, everyone, to the annual Pro Hero billboard ranking ceremony. I know this certainly isn't our usual locale, but due to the Tokyo Chasm now existing. Kyoto will remain the operating capital of Japan until further notice…"
As President Pantu continues speaking on stage, he smiles.
The guard watching him sees an anomaly on this brain wave reading, a bump in activity.
Then All For One releases a massive electromagnetic pulse, powerful enough to cause every light and system on this floor to flicker.
He forces their systems to reboot, and in the three seconds that takes, opens his mouth.
He vomits out a dozen Nomu, shrunk and stored as part of his body with a combination of Quirks, they leap out and shatter the turret aimed at his head, along with his restraints.
The cameras come on for a second and the guards see him rising from his seat flanked by a dozen high end Nomu.
Then another EMP is released.
During the second of darkness, he grabs a Nomu and gives it one of his many copies of the electromagnetic pulse Quirk, enabling the much healthier body to constantly release waves, one before the previous one ends.
The hallways of the prison glow red as the paint takes effect. It glows in darkness, chosen for situations just like this.
"Go to the communication room, don't let anyone on the surface learn of this," he commands, and half the Nomu charge through the metal wall into the hallway, then follow his telepathic map to their prey.
Wearing his medical robe, he leans on a Nomu and coughs, transferring a copy of his EMP Quirk to this one as well. Then has it escort him into the hallway.
He enters the hallway to see a few corpses on the floor, guards that tried their best but were easily torn apart by his Nomu.
Looking at the impressive steel doors sealing each cell, he frowns.
'Emergency systems that keep them sealed as the default, so without the computers they can't be opened…amusing.'
He snaps his finger, and one of the six Nomu waves its hands, using a Magnetism Quirk to crumple the doors and rip them out of the walls.
"This one," All For One says while walking to one cell in particular, sensing the person he needed most. "How have you been, old friend?"
"Master!" Dr. Ujiko cheers, and he rushes out into the hallway, wearing a prison jumpsuit. "Is it finally time?"
"Yes, but first we must get out of here."
"Master?" Shigaraki calls out to All For One, averting his gaze as he and the other Villains exit their cells. Some of them are confused, while others were imprisoned after his public fight with All Might and recognize him.
But all received his telepathic request to refrain from doing anything if they want to see the sun again.
"Tomura, how have you been?" All For One asks.
"I'm sorry, master…I lost," he says before correcting himself. "No, I surrendered. I couldn't see a way to win. I just, it was too much, he was—"
"He was Horizon. There is no shame in losing to such a thing."
Beside All For One, Ujiko scoffs.
"But—"
"Enough of that, Tomura. We have work to do." All For One grabs Shigaraki's head and transfers one of his Telepathy Quirks to him. "There, catch all these people up to speed on the current affairs of the world. I don't want them acting out of line when we get to the first floor. You also have the authority to command the Nomu. Go, lead. Get everyone to the first underground floor, but don't go to the surface."
"Why not? Shouldn't we leave immediately?"
"My EMP Quirks only works below here. The outside has different systems. We can't bring down one unless we're willing to let the other activate. Keep everyone underground until we get there."
"Are you not coming with us? And what do you mean by 'we'? I don't want to lose you again."
"My precious pupil," All For One rests a hand on Tomura's shoulder. "Even with all the forces here, the defenses of Tartarus are too great. Without him, I don't believe we can escape. Well, not if I am to keep all of you alive…"
All For One steps to the side, revealing the large doors with Horizon's logo on them.
The other villains share concerned looks, having received small bits of information about Horizon from the telepathic link, but they don't dare question their only chance at escape.
"I trust you, master," Shigaraki says before turning and leading the others to the surface.
With all of them gone, All For One and his six Nomu quickly rip open the security doors leading to Horizon, and leap down the elevator shaft.
Descending the 500m -1500ft- and clearing all the defenses needed before arriving at the massive wall of steel separating him from them.
They do all of this while Dr. Ujiko is slung under All For One's arm, leading them through the defenses.
"Quite impressive," All For One says as they get to the steel wall, only to realize it can't be magnetized. "How much did this wall alone cost?"
"More than the taxpayers were told," Dr. Ujiko says. "But, such is the price of security. Or at least the feeling of security."
All For One laughs as he orders two Nomu to clear the path.
They both super heat their bodies until they're white hot, making Ujiko very uncomfortable as they melt and swim through the metal before absorbing the heat back into their bodies.
"I truly outdid myself with your personal guards. I wish you used them against All Might, then we wouldn't have been locked up at all."
"Then they would have found a way to pin the fate of Horizon's parents on me," All For One says as they step into the room, and Ujiko begins the protocol to release Horizon.
All the while his master jams the outgoing signals and copies the 'All Clear' signals, leaving everyone clueless about this incident.
"Spending a few years in prison is better than fighting this thing," All For One says as the doors hiding Horizon open to reveal him floating in the water.
Tubes connected to him, pumping nutrients into his stomach and flowing molten mercury through his veins.
"I'm releasing him now."
All For One takes a few steps back and orders his Nomu to stand down, swallowing nervously as the glass opens and the water rushes onto the floor.
Horizon falls forward, only to be caught by the tubes inserted into his body. Then the force causes his body to tear away and crumple to the floor in front of All For One.
Water, blood, a nutrient solution, and molten mercury pool at All For One's feet, causing him to wince at the thought of having that flowing through him.
'Could even he survive tha—'
Horizon coughs and immediately vomits up a liter of liquid metal, along with a lot of blood.
All For One barely has the time to be amazed before Horizon forces himself to stand.
Dr. Ujiko rushes over to his master and stands behind him, knowing it was useless, but still enjoying the false sense of security it brought him.
"Ngh," Horizon groans as he looks up at them from the ground, the one visible eye glaring through the crack in his visor.
Then, with a thought, his eye shines bright blue, and his wounds rapidly heal.
All For One takes a step back, as does Ujiko, while Horizon rises to his full height. He stretches, feeling the soreness in his body, still tasting metal in his mouth.
After a few seconds of looking around, which they know is him sensing the chaos above, he finally turns to them.
"So you're the mind behind the Nomu," he says, ignoring All For One.
Ujiko smiles nervously. "I hope one genius can appreciate the work of another."
"Tch, if you call sloppily sewing together genes 'genius', that's fine. But I don't."
Before Ujiko can respond, All For One cuts in. "Shall we?" he gestures to the destroyed hallway. "A short walk, and a chat."
Horizon takes a moment to think about it, then nods, deciding the least he can do is listen in exchange for them breaking him out.
He falls into step beside All For One, with the Nomu and Dr. Ujiko behind them.
'Master was cutting it too close,' Dr. Ujiko thinks, recalling the new data he just gleamed from Horizon's containment cell. 'Horizon was adapting to the poison faster each day. My assumptions were wrong. He would have broken out on his own in a few more weeks.'
He glances at one of the Nomu, smiling at the data it must have downloaded from Horizon's cell below. The blueprints for a perfected housing for All For One.
"So, what do you want?" Horizon asks as they all board the massive elevator platform, and he uses Takt to get them to Floor 5.
"Undying servitude?" All For One asks, jokingly.
"I'm out of that business. And this isn't worth enough for a perfected cure, so don't bother."
"Is it too much to ask for you to stay out of my way?"
"Depends." Horizon rests a hand on All For One's forearm. "Did you know?"
"I learned about your parents' real execution moments before All Might attacked me. I didn't have time to change plans and knew my existence was about to be public, so I allowed myself to be captured.
I removed myself from the list of people President Pantu can blame for their deaths. She likely would have had it framed as if I attacked Tartarus and they died in the chaos. A few years in prison is better than you wanting me dead."
"You mastermind types are the most annoying."
"We don't all have the luxury of being invincible."
They arrive on Floor 5 and step out of the elevator, walking over corpses and destruction to the main elevator shaft.
"And what do you plan to do now?" Horizon asks as they rise to Floor 4.
"World domination sounds nice."
"Except I live in this world. Think smaller."
"Will you be staying in Japan?"
"No, my assets should already be gone. When I'm done with Pantu, I never want to come back here."
"Then I'll settle for Japan."
Horizon shrugs. "Give people a chance to evacuate and don't overreach, then I won't have to come back here."
"Deal," All For One says, detecting no lies from Horizon. "Dealing with you is much easier than I expected."
"I don't have to pretend anymore, so we can just talk business," Horizon says as they rise through the elevator and walk through Floor 3.
On this floor, halfway down the hallway, they both sense something above.
Paying it no mind, they continue walking, then from a large crack in the ceiling, Stain drops in front of them.
He holds a pair of combat knives and glares at both men. His gaze then focuses on Horizon.
"You!" he throws a knife, only for it to freeze in mid-air.
"We've played this game before. You lose."
"You were supposed to be the next All Might!" Stain charges at Horizon. "Traitor!"
Beneath the visor, Horizon rolls his eyes, and Stain disappears.
He then continues walking forward as if nothing happened, allowing the knife to clatter to the floor.
"Where did he go?"
"Orbit, he'll hit the ground in a few minutes, and shatter."
All For One chuckles. "If you and I worked together, we could truly rule the world."
"I could do that by myself, easily," Horizon says as they begin the rise to Floor 2.
"Then why not?"
"Because then I'd have to rule the world…and that doesn't sound fun."
All For One laughs. "Such an interesting person. I'd say it's a shame, but I prefer you not to be the ambitious type."
"I get that a lot."
"Is there anyone you want me to avoid killing when I take over Japan?"
Horizon thinks about it while they walk through Floor 2, then shakes his head as they enter the next elevator. "Anyone who stays after the evacuation accepts their fate, do what you want with them. But if I think of one, I'll let you know."
As they get to Floor 1, a few dozen Villains are collected in the hallway, along with the two surviving Nomu from their group.
Shigaraki instinctively takes a few steps back as he sees Horizon, and the others stiffen.
Many have doubts about the memories that were shared about him and his accomplishments, but none are willing to test it, especially moments before their freedom.
"Horizon," Dabi says, arms crossed over his chest.
"Touya," Horizon earns a glare, but Dabi dares not act on his impulse.
"We've reached an impasse," All For One says. "The defenses outside are too much for our group to all survive, especially in my current condition."
"I'm not warping any of you anywhere, but the guards are a different story," with a thought, he warps all the guards back to mainland Japan, now alerting them that something was very wrong.
"That still leaves the automated defenses. All we need is to get outside, then I can use a Nomu to transport us out of here."
Horizon ignores All For One and approaches a woman he saw information about from All For One, a long time ago.
Wearing a prison jumpsuit with two-toned purple and pink hair, with her right arm locked in some sort of metal cast, he walks up to Lady Nagant.
With a thought, the extremely durable cast on her arm shatters and falls apart, surprising her and causing her to step back. "What are you doing?"
"Are you Kaina Tsutsumi?"
Her eyes widen.
"I saw your file in the confidential data. You were the Hero Public Safety Commission's hitman, before Hawks."
"Hawks?" There is a look of recollection in her eyes. "Keigo? That boy, they made him do those things too?"
"Hmm. You killed the last HPSC President because you hated what they made you into…so, do you want to be a villain, or would you rather start over, after telling me everything you know about them?"
"Can I be a Hero again? A real hero this time?"
The villains glare at her while All For One is merely amused, curious about Horizon's response.
"I don't care what you do with your life. After you tell me what I want, it's yours to live."
She nods, smiling at him.
"Now, about the defenses?" All For One asks.
Horizon simply steps forward and wraps an arm around Lady Nagant, holding her close to him. "I said I wouldn't warp you. I never said I wouldn't damage the prison. And honestly, I'm a bit cranky after they locked me in his place."
Lady Nagant gets over her surprise and holds onto him, expecting them to warp away.
Only for all of Tartarus, the entire island prison, to disappear.
All For One is startled but sends mental commands to the Nomu, who either catch everyone physically or with telekinesis while flying.
Horizon stands in the air, holding Lady Nagant, who stares down at the massive hole in the ocean below them that the water is rushing in to fill.
'This power, so that information he put in our minds, it's real,' most of the villains thought, now having witnessed Horizon firsthand.
"Hahaha, incredible, you truly are on a whole other level!" Dr. Ujiko breaks into maniacal cackles.
"Thank you, and I wish you all the best," All For One says, looking up at Horizon and Lady Nagant.
"Don't thank me yet, you still have to dodge it…" The pair warp away, confusing the villains.
Until a massive shadow descends onto them, causing them to look up and see the entire prison island less than a mile above them and closing in quickly.
'Such an absurd being…' All For One thinks as everyone around him panics.
END CHAPTER---