Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Izuku Midoriya Pov.
"Are you ready?" Dad asked carefully.
"I've been ready for years, Toshinori," Grandpa grunted almost impatiently as he stared at the door as if he could glare at it or look through it.
"I'm ready, Dad." I said softly, Dad took another deep breath as he nodded.
"Come on… we have a family to meet," Dad said as he opened the door in front of us. Inside stood Tomura Shigaraki… Tenko Shimura… Grandpa's granddaughter, Dad's niece, and my cousin.
"Well, well, well... looks like we're having a family reunion," Tenko said mockingly as the three of us entered the room where Tenko was being held. She was tied up and restrained far more than she had been at camp, yet she wore a mocking smile on her face as she looked at us.
The three of us approached and stood in front of her carefully.
"Don't you have anything to say? You just came to watch?" Tenko mocked, but none of us said anything; however, Grandpa moved carefully, taking a step forward.
"You're so…" Grandpa began slowly, his voice shaking, almost as if he were about to cry.
"Disappointing? Evil? Monstrous? Please continue." Tenko said mockingly.
"...Beautiful." Grandpa finished, Tenko froze mid-step, and Grandpa took the opportunity to place his hand on her cheek, making Tenko flinch and finally react. She bit down hard on Grandpa's hand.
Grandpa didn't even flinch; he just moved even closer to Tenko and hugged her so tightly that it belied his age.
"I'm so sorry, Tenko, I'm really sorry!" Grandpa began to cry as he hugged Tenko.
"Let me go, damn it! What's with this stupid family and the damn hugs?! " Tenko said as she thrashed about in her restraints.
"You'll have to get used to it, Young Tenko, you're part of this family now." Dad said as he stepped forward and hugged Tenko as well. Tenko shuddered even more and began to growl.
"Stop it at once!"
"No, even if you kick and fight against us… We won't let you go, not this time." I said determinedly as I joined in the hug. Tenko continued to thrash around, but none of us let go of Tenko, no matter how many insults and curses she hurled, especially Grandpa.
Eventually, Tenko seemed to stop struggling, though she still grunted every now and then, until we finally began to pull away from her. Tenko immediately sighed in relief.
"You hug me one more time and I'll find a way to kill you all," Tenko growled, sounding almost furious, although her face was a little flushed, perhaps it was due to the effort and the fight against us.
"You'll have to try harder, granddaughter! I may be old, but I'm not that weak! " laughed Grandpa, slightly more composed. Tenko clicked her tongue.
"Now… we need to talk about your future, Tenko." Dad said slowly. Tenko snorted.
"Now you tell me which prison I'll be locked up in for the rest of my life?" Tenko asked almost boredly.
"What? No, why would we do that? " Dad asked, confused. Tenko blinked in confusion as well.
"Why? Because I am a villain." Tenko said dryly. "Why did I kill my family? My father? And many other people? " Tenko asked dryly, not even caring what she had done. We all grimaced. Dad sighed.
"While that is... sad and worrying... none of it is entirely your fault... AFO was the one who completely manipulated you, gave you an uncontrollable quirk, 'found' you at the lowest point in your life, and manipulated you however she wanted to so you would act however she wanted." Dad said, sounding sad. Tenko groaned.
"You don't know anything about me," Tenko growled. "I wanted to kill those people! I didn't feel anything when I killed them! I was completely calm! I had every right to do whatever I wanted!" Tenko exclaimed, Dad sighed.
"And maybe so, but there's still time to change!" Dad said happily, but Tenko looked at him with a face that was unimpressed. "That's why, from now on, you'll be joining class 1A of the UA Heroes and Hunters course!" Dad exclaimed happily. Tenko froze.
"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, even if I say no, it won't be enough. I won't be a damn hero! " Tenko growled with so much hatred that it could be physically felt. "I hate heroes! I hate my grandmother, I hate my father! You're not going to change my mind." Tenko growled.
"It's okay to hate them," Grandpa said, sounding almost sad. "You have every right to do so. What happened is our fault. We could have done a better job with Kotaro... anything to prevent him from hating us, from resenting us, and passing that hatred on to you... I'm sorry," Grandpa said, bowing slightly.
"I don't care about your apologies," Tenko grunted. The grandfather simply nodded; he didn't seem discouraged by the slight, just more determined.
"Even if you don't want to… well, you need to continue your studies. Besides, you can't leave UA unless you want AFO to catch you immediately, so… the hero course! You also have to learn how to use Decay non-lethally! " Dad quickly intervened.
"I don't have Decay anymore." Tenko spat with a grimace. "All For One took it away from me to humiliate me; she gave me back my damn original quirk." Tenko growled. We all stood still and stared at her.
"Then even more so, you'll need training to master your new quirk!" said Dad, recovering immediately. Tenko growled.
"And you might make new friends! I'm sure the others in Class 1A would be happy to meet you!" I said with a smile. Tenko let out a growl in the back of her throat.
"I'll kill them... somehow." Tenko growled, and I just laughed lightly. The three of us continued talking to Tenko despite her refusal and hatred. Tenko seemed less angry than she had been at the beginning... perhaps... it was a step in the right direction.
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Izumi Pov.
"Enough, Cinder." I froze upon hearing the muffled voice; one of the screens suddenly lit up and showed All For One's face. My whole body instinctively reacted negatively to her figure; my entire body and my haki were fully alert, even if I was only seeing her behind a screen.
Damn monster.
It shouldn't seem strange to me that she was watching and observing the whole interaction, after all, it had also happened in canon when Bakugou was kidnapped.
Cinder clicked her tongue, but let go of me and let my Haki retreat, staring at the screen.
"Precognition and postconditioning, two pretty impressive abilities," AFO said, her voice sounding unimpressed at all; it was flat and bored.
"All For One, I suppose I should thank you for such treatment from your... close associates." I said slowly, looking at the screen. AFO just laughed lightly, which made my hair stand on end.
"Seeing the future is something that a few can do, an advanced form of Haki, but on the other hand, seeing the past... I don't remember it ever happening, at least not with Observation Haki." AFO hummed, ignoring me. I raised an eyebrow while smiling mockingly.
"Sounds like skill issues to me." I said mockingly. AFO hummed lightly.
"Maybe." AFO finally paid attention to me as she looked at me.
Or, well, I thought she was looking at me; she had the damn black helmet that should help her breathe, but I refused to believe she was hurt. All Might was completely regenerated, healing quirks are stronger in this world than in canon, and AFO should surely have some of them.
"So… to what do I owe the pleasure of your distinguished presence?" I asked slowly.
"I want Tomura and Kurogiri." AFO said directly, I smirked at her. I was about to open my mouth. "But you don't have them, right? " AFO said easily. I froze slightly before laughing lightly.
"I see you're better than your subjects." I said playfully. "But yes, I don't have them. I freed them before you managed to teleport me away without my permission." I said honestly. I could hear the grunts and complaints of the other villains. AFO just nodded.
"A pity really, I wanted to kill her in front of All Might." AFO said casually, and I shuddered slightly.
"I mean, I'm sorry for ruining your plans, but it wouldn't be true; in fact, I'm really glad I did." I said simply, AFO laughed hoarsely. I was really starting to hate her laugh; it went up my spine and made me shudder in the worst way.
"I'm sure you do," AFO said amusedly. "I must admit... I've gotten used to these setbacks lately. First, I wanted to plant a mole among the students, but a girl with an insect quirk wiped out her entire group, including the mole I'd chosen."
"That girl... disappointed me, but oh well, I got rid of her." AFO said casually, and I paled slightly. Aoyama was going to be the traitor in this world, too?! And because Taylor couldn't get into UA?! And those words... it would seem that AFO killed Aoyama... that... damn monster.
"Second, you told Tenko the truth, a truth that took me time and effort to hide, and she sought it out, questioned me, and it wasn't supposed to happen. So many wasted years…"
"But hey, I'm pretty good at adapting. I just want to get rid of her, a mistake I must correct, easy as that." I hum AFO easily.
"Good luck with that. She should be in UA now. Good luck trying to get her out of there." I said with a grimace, AFO just laughed.
"Oh, but dear Young Miyamura, the problem isn't 'how' to get her out of UA, but 'when', when it will hurt All Might the most if Tomura dies. Do you think I couldn't kill her when she escaped? When Kurogiri betrayed me and took her away?"
I shuddered slightly as I paled slightly. AFO just laughed and continued with her monologue.
"I could always do it, but that wasn't the point. I knew Tomura would choose the only way to ensure her survival, and just as I expected, now she's at UA, now she's with Gran Torino, with All Might, and with his son —a whole family together, now... It's only a matter of time."
"None of them are going to give up on Tomura, and Tomura, as traumatized as she is, thanks to her family and me, will keep them at bay, but she will slowly be eroded."
"They will form a bond, a family… and in that moment, when the bond is at its strongest… when All Might believes he has a new family in Tenko… I will kill her. The pain it will cause All Might and his family… will be glorious." AFO said, almost entranced in her reverie. I gritted my teeth as AFO laughed and looked at me. "And I have you to thank for that."
"You're a monster." I spat in her direction. AFO laughed hoarsely.
"Of course I am. I'm the Demon King." AFO laughed mockingly. "Tenko can play family all she wants, but sooner or later, I'll come find her and settle the score with her, just to watch All Might suffer."
"But I also have... other plans, and I must say I didn't expect you to destabilize my... subjects so easily." AFO said, almost disappointed. I could see more than one, especially Cinder, shudder slightly.
"I mean, I'm great with words, I'm such a sweetheart," I said dryly, AFO humming.
"And with me? Do you want to try it? " AFO asked playfully. I blinked at her as I narrowed my eyes at her.
"No thanks, I like chaos and provoking pitiful excuses for villains like the ones you gathered, but you're something else entirely. I want to live." I said dryly, AFO burst out laughing.
"I see you have some self-preservation, young Miyamura, but come on, don't be shy, I promise not to attack you." AFO said, amusedly, I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Sorry for not trusting your word… Zen Shigaraki." I hissed slowly, unable to stop her real name from rolling off my tongue. I often felt embarrassed by how foolish I could be at times. AFO froze for a few moments before smiling widely.
"Go on," AFO said, amused. I licked my lips, feeling my throat dry for the first time. This was a bad idea, a very bad idea.
"You... you killed your mother and stole her Quirk from the womb." I began slowly, AFO's smile freezing slightly. "You took advantage of your sister's weakness, humiliated her, and spent her entire life mistreating her... and finally killed her when she refused to join you." AFO bowed slightly.
"But to my surprise... You love your sister very much, in your own way... in your own twisted, obsessed, sad way. I don't think you're an incomprehensible monster... you're not a Demon King... You're just a very lonely person... and you're nobody without your sister, that's why you seek her legacy in All Might." I finished slowly while staring at AFO with all my determination.
AFO suddenly froze and then -
Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death! Death!
D̴͇̦̤̩͔͕̤̥̪̬̀͐͂̎͂̏́̾̒̌̍͒̀̅̈́̋͆͐̆̑͋́͐̀̑̅͑̑͘̕̕̚̕̚͝͝͝Ȩ̷̡̲̥̙̭͈̩̤̘̗̞̤̲̪̫̯͔̜̼́̑̓͒̈́̈́̈́̇̈́̚͜ͅA̴̛̛̟̖͊̑̈́̓͌̽̓̽̃̓̋͑̏̃͑̎̑͛͐̃͋̉̔̌̀́̈́̿̄͗͆́̄̿͗̉̆̅̓̕̚̚̚͜͜Ṱ̸̢̨̢̢̡͎̜̣͕̩̠̤̥͔̻͇͖̭̤̮̻̘̙̪̺̭͉̤̯͍̺͔̭͚͖͂̔̃̐̂̿̀̊̊̉͗̎̏̓͛̋̉̿̋̾̾̎̑́̓̋̐̀̕̕͝͠ͅH̶̛͍̲̱͙͚͉̼̭̟̔͛̀͆͑̈͌̎͒͂̇́̆̀̈̚͝!̷̢̨̛̘̣̘̜̗̝̖̦̠̺̱̖̙͕̝͖̳̗̳͔̗̟̥͚͓͈̣͖̗̮̯̟̫̪̯͈̯̭̃͗̊̋̎̏̽̄͆͂͆́̊̐̒̔̃̅̀́͂̀̆̂͗̊͑̑̏̐̇͂͑͑͆̚͘̕ͅͅ!̶̢̨̧̢̡͍̦̙̩͍̱̳̘͇̻͎̘͕͓̣͕̤̤͚̞͎̤̺́̇̋̽̓̑̈͐͊͐̽͑̇͜͜͝
I gritted my teeth as the Conqueror's Haki bombarded my entire damn soul like hundreds of tons. It was the most insidious, malevolent, and murderous Haki I had ever felt in my damn life.
My own Conqueror's Haki exploded and began to fight against AFO's Haki with all the strength I had.
And it wasn't even close! It was supposed to be far away! Behind a screen! And yet I felt it so strongly!! I felt like I was going to die at any moment! Monster! Damn monster!
Still, I gritted my teeth until my jaw hurt. I couldn't see AFO's expression through her helmet, but for some reason, I could see a damn skeleton of death on her face, yet I held my gaze against AFO.
I could feel the sweat running down my forehead as I stared at her, until it disappeared. All the pressure, all the feeling of death, vanished at once, as if it had never been there.
I took another breath, catching the breath I'd been holding, but I never took my eyes off AFO, who only started to move slightly and clapped a couple of times.
"My apologies, I must say, you're better with your words than I thought; they even affected me slightly," AFO said coldly. That was slightly!? Slightly, my testicles! Damn monster!
"Fuck you." I said so eloquently, and AFO just laughed deeply once more; her screen suddenly went black. I sighed in exhaustion, even though I knew she was probably still watching, I couldn't help it.
Feeling a little tired, I twisted my neck. These restrictions were really bothering me. I looked around and blinked as I saw all the villains.
To my surprise, everyone was unconscious, and some were foaming at the mouth, or well, almost everyone, Cinder and Dabi were the only ones who weren't; they were on the ground prostrate, trying to recover, their bodies visibly shaking without even being able to get up or generate any strength. They were completely pale and sweating profusely.
Well... what do I do now? I looked at all the unconscious villains in confusion before throwing away the chair and the restraints within my shadow, finally freeing myself. I stretched my stiff muscles and then looked around, considering my options.
I took a step back as a wave of blue fire tried to hit. I saw Dabi glaring at me, still on the ground, but with her hand raised in my direction. Cinder finally stood up awkwardly.
I could just… defeat them so easily right now, steal some of the scrolls, and call UA to come get them.
"You won't do anything," AFO said, reappearing on the screen. I grimaced and tried not to react. "I hope you'll be a good guest and stay and wait; otherwise, I'll go attack UA right now. Cinder, take care of him," AFO added nonchalantly before her screen went black once more.
I clicked my tongue, looked around, and started moving toward one of the pieces of furniture.
"Stay still," Cinder grunted with effort.
"Don't get so flustered, Cinder Fall. I'll stay put. I'm just checking to see if they have any chocolate. I really need it right now, or are they so villainous that they don't have any candy in this lair?" I asked dryly as I began to go through every drawer I could find.
Damn AFO, I definitely knew the heroes, especially All Might, would come to save me. I was waiting for the conflict, and I couldn't do anything but wait until it happened.
But that was good. I would be at the epicenter of the clash. I didn't have enough faith to fight AFO head-on, not on equal terms, but I could help All Might, and that would have to be enough.
A disappointment, I didn't find any chocolate.
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