Tokyo Central Park.
Seiki.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Everyone tenses, sweat forming on their brows as they find themselves facing down the myth that has re-achieved his prime. As they find themselves facing... All For One.
Well, everyone except for Seiki Yamazaki.
"Hey, Kai, you good buddy? Or are you still Kai at all?" Seiki asked non-chalantly.
Ready to load away with just a thought.
An inescapable, looming threat that, in just a few hours, Kai Chisaki understood intimately. A threat that Overhaul, the Quirk, understood just as well... one that All For One, the Quirk, learned of the moment it acquired its new toy...
And now All For One, the man, realizes just what it's up against.
About the opponent it faces.
It turns to face Atlas, and Seiki sees... fear? Betrayal? No... he sees rage, hopelessness and despair, aimed at Atlas, aimed at the world. Aimed at the boy who holds the world in his hands... more so then All For One ever could.
And even if it knows that it's hopeless...
It bolts at Seiki Yamazaki.
And with its Quirks no longer erased, because it is now a new being all together...
PROPULSION RINGS. SELF–TELEKINESIS. KINETIC BOOSTER x4.
It only takes All For One 0.06 seconds to reach the boy. Its open palm already clutching Seiki Yamazaki's face. Seiki's neck cracking as it forces the boy's head backwards. Its hand already glowing a faint, dull red as it activates All For One. As it pulls at Save & Load itself.
But such a thing will take time. Time that Seiki Yamazaki, that Save & Load has to fight back.
Time that All For One... will never have enough of.
LOAD2.
*
Slightly Earlier That Night.
Overhaul.
"Before we..." Atlas started, only to trail off. Both of his eyes swirling.
Then the Titan of Precision turned to face him.
Putting a hand on his shoulder, and firmly grasping it.
Staring straight into his eyes.
"Kai. Buddy. Pal. You're not an idiot, are you?"
"Uh... no...?" Kai asked in turn, slightly worried by Atlas's shift in demeanor. And despite how repulsed he was about being touched in such a manner, he refrained from showing it. "I... I'm smart enough to realize that something happens in the near future concerning me, but I'm not smart enough to actually know what that thing is..."
"You can use your Quirk, Overhaul, to take the Quirk, All For One, into yourself."
Not a question. But a statement.
Everyone present tensed, Overhaul included. And given that it was just him, Nemoto and Chronostasis— when told he wouldn't get to fight anyone, Rappa decided to just stay back at the compound— up against Nezu, Eraserhead, and Atlas's entire crew...
Kai didn't like his odds.
Not that he had any odds, with Atlas himself looming over him.
"Yes... that, that is something I could do. But I wouldn't, because of this right here," Kai stated honestly. "With you here, I could never feasibly get away with it."
After staring straight at him for a few moments, his irises swirling once more... Atlas grimaced.
"Fuck... I don't think you're lying..." Atlas trailed off, turning away from him. "Fuuuuuuck..."
"Uh, is that bad? Wait, what happens, if you don't mind me asking?"
"You kill All For One," Atlas said, which... it didn't surprise Kai, but it still made his heart skip a beat. He was going to kill the boogeyman. The boogeyman. "And then, just a few seconds after reducing the myth to mist... you grab your own face. Reassembling yourself into... someone else entirely. But even if I've never seen what All For One looked like before he was reduced to that scrotum mug of his, I have a pretty good idea of just who you were supposed to be."
It took Kai a few seconds to realize he wasn't breathing.
That his hands were shaking.
"S-S-Shit..."
"Titan of Fear indeed," Nezu muttered.
"And now we need to figure out just how he was capable of such a thing..." Atlas trailed off, before his eyes glistened. "Ooooh, confession guy. Are you up for it?"
"U-Uh, up for what?"
"For getting answers out of the devil himself."
*
Slightly Later That Night.
All For One.
All For One watches as Number Six is led into an ambush. He watches as he's routinely dismantled by vigilantes he has not heard of. He watches as Atlas laughs, taunting Number Six.
Taunting him.
RADIO WAVES! Kurogiri appears by his side.
FORCIBLE QUIRK ACTIVATION! A portal of mist appears before him, guiding him to Atlas... only for him to be pulled all the way through. Only for him to no longer feel his Quirks.
Then he hears the question...
"What's the first Quirk you ever stole?"
"Cockroach."
And then All For One, the man, currently blind, unable to sense his surroundings, unable to feel his Quirks as he slowly but surely withers to death... halts. Confused.
Because... that is most certainly not the first Quirk he stole. No, that was merely the first Quirk he stole after... after waking up...
"How long ago did you steal it?"
"3 months, 18 days ago," he answers once more, his hands now shaking. Violent, crazed killing intent spilling into the air around him. 'This... this has to be a trick. Yes, a trick. Trying to get inside my head. TRYING TO TRICK ME!'
And then Forcible Quirk Activation roars to life.
But before he can unleash his wrath...
LOAD2.
*
"How old are you?"
"5 months, 22 days old," All For One answers... his thoughts coming to a halt.
But before he can question his existence any further—
*
"So I'm fighting a clone," Seiki grumbled. "That's just fucking peachy..."
*
"What happened to the original All For One, the man?"
"H-H-He's d-ddeeeeeaaad..." All For One wailed... it's voice tinged with an overwhelming sorrow. A sorrow that came not from the man, but the Quirk.
The Quirk that so desperately misses its other half.
The Quirk that would want nothing more than to turn back time itself.
"WHHHHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE? WHY DID YOU TAKE HIM FROM MEEEEEEEE...?"
*
"How did All For One, the man, die?"
"Aaaall Miiiiiight..." All For One grounded out, his fists clenching wildly. "ALL MIGHT TOOK HIM FROM ME! I WILL KILL HIM! I WILL KILL HIM! I WILL MAKE HIM PAY!!!"
*
"What brought you back to life?"
"Aaaall For Oooooooone..."
*
"How did All For One, the Quirk, bring you back to life?"
"It u-u-used Super Regeneration... to c-c-create meeeeeee..."
*
"Is All For One, the Quirk, sentient?"
"Yeeeeesssssssss..."
*
Seiki, pressing his fingers to his brow, grits his teeth.
"Shit... how the fuck do you kill a Quirk?"
There were a few ways to do it.
To simply rewind it out of existence.
To destroy it from within.
To kill the user... and then prevent the vestige from saving itself, if it has access to functions that would allow such a thing. Functions that All For One, the Quirk, happens to have many.
To use a Quirk erasing bullet.
But Seiki Yamazaki, despite having infinite time... does not have infinite information.
And now the hurdle has been moved.
Win conditions that seemed easy to reach... no longer just over the horizon. And the fact that he now faces another Titan is truly starting to settle in.
*
"How do you kill All For One, the Quirk?"
"I d-d-don't knooooooow..." All For One, the man, grits out. Because despite how intertwined the two beings are, they are still separate entities. Something that All For One, the Quirk, is happy to take advantage of.
And All For One, the Quirk, will cheat whenever it feels that it must.
A rule that every vestige follows.
*
"Of course it's not that fucking easy," Seiki grumbled. "Well, might as well just keep probing for something I can use..."
*
"What's the first Quirk that All For One, the Quirk, stole?"
"My mother's..."
Silence.
"Snrk! F-Fuck, you're such a fucking asshole," Seiki giggled. "Nemoto, next Q."
"U-Uh, yeah. Um, what's your mother's Quirk?"
"I don't knooooow..." All For One, the man, screeches, the words slowly being dragged out. These stutters, these stretches of speech being the first time that Confession has ever been resisted in such a way... but even with All For One, the Quirk, fighting against it with all its might... Confession's compulsion is simply absolute.
"How do you not know it?" Nemoto asks unprompted.
"I cooooooouldn't taaaaake it..."
And then Forcible Quirk Activation roars to life.
*
"That doesn't make any fucking sense... unless she had multiple Quirks," Seiki immediately concludes, and then his face pales. "No, nononono... please no..."
*
"Is your mother still alive?"
"Nooooo..."
"Oh thank fucking god," Seiki breathes. "Nemoto, next Q."
"Are any of your relatives still alive?"
"N-N-Noooooooo..." All For One says... and while Seiki feels relief at that, All For One, the man, all but falls apart. "NOOOOO! LIES LIES LIES! MY BROTHER LIVES!" he roars, unable to cope with the truth, the truth that he so desperately tries to ignore.
Forcible Quirk Activation roars to life—!
*
"Bloody hell. How can you create more questions with every fucking question???" Seiki mumbled to himself, shaking his head.
*
"Why do you think your brother is still alive?"
"B-B-Because his Q-Quuuuirk liiiiiives..."
*
"What's your brother's Quirk?"
"One Foooor All..."
"What does the Quirk, One For All, do?"
"It taaaaakes Quirks into itself when paaaaassed oooon..."
"Who has the Quirk One For All?"
"AAAaaaaaall M-M-Might..." All For One screeches, before screaming, "HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT!!! IT'S MY QUIRK! MINE! MINE MINE MINE!!!"
*
"Huh..." Seiki muttered. "There's definitely a story there... but I'll come back to that. First, let's get an idea of just what we're working with..."
*
*
*
"What's the 1,362nd Quirk that you've stolen?" Nemoto asks, a little wary of what such a question implied. Of how many times he's questioned the boogeyman, only to immediately forget.
"I haaaaaven't stolen it y-y-yet..."
*
"FINALLY!" Seiki hollered. "Fucking Christ, I was starting to think it'd never end..."
*
"How many Quirks do you currently have, including All For One?"
"F-F-Five h-h-huuuundred and n-n-nine..."
*
*
*
"What is Quirk you've had the 498th longest?"
"R-R-Remote Detonation..."
*
"Another copy, huh..." Seiki mumbled, before letting out an annoyed scoff. "Which is honestly such bullshit. True genetic copies of Quirks? I knew that there was something more to those fucking labs of his, but that is just complete fucking bullshit..."
But even if All For One having such an advantage grates on him... it's also a completely new avenue that Seiki can explore. One that he can exploit.
"Kyudai Garaki huh... gonna have to look into him..."
*
And now... Seiki has more information on All For One, the man, then anyone else in the world.
A list of all 1,361 Quirks that he has ever stolen, the names of their current users— if All For One knew them— as well as an idea of their basic functions.
A list of all 508 of his current Quirks.
However...
This doesn't help Seiki as much as he hoped it would.
Because the true threat that All For One poses isn't because of his Quirks on their own, but because of their unpredictable synergy. One example would be how Forcible Quirk Activation can activate All For One, which gives All For One, the man, full access to all of his mutation Quirks... even while Erasure suppresses him.
Synergy that any two Quirks can have, synergies that Seiki can always ask about... but.
With 2 Quirks, there is only 1 possible synergy. With 3 Quirks, there is 3. With 4 Quirks, there is 6. And with 508 different Quirks at his disposal...
Even if Seiki has infinite time to find those answers...
Such a task is too daunting to take.
Not until he has exhausted every available option, and even then... he still might not take it.
*
"How do I talk to All For One, the Quirk?"
"I d-d-doooon't k-know..."
*
"What does it take for All For One, the Quirk, to take control?"
"D-D-Desperation... and n-n-neeeeeed..."
*
Slightly Earlier That Night.
Overhaul.
"You... you want me to what?" Kai asked, not sure that he heard Atlas correctly.
"Disassemble... no, re-assemble the frontal lobe in a way that it cannot properly function, so despite being useless grey matter, it is not technically an injury," Atlas told him. "And I know your Quirk is good enough to do edits on the fly like that. You can do it, right?"
"Uh... yeah..."
Then Kai watched as both of Atlas's eyes swirled.
"Now do the cerebellum instead."
*
"How old are you?"
"5 months, 22 days old," All For One, the man, answered. Currently struggling to do so much as think... but still technically alive. A Question he has now been asked 12 times.
Not that he will exist to remember it.
*
Reassembled on the ground, their is nothing of All For One, the man, left. His entire brain re-assembled into a benign tumor attached to the inside of his skull... with only the motor functions of the body still allowed to function. An edit that even Overhaul, who casually kills everyone he heals, couldn't help but feel uncomfortable making.
And then Nemoto asks the question...
"How old are you?"
"296 yeeeeears, 2 mooooonths, 19 daaaaaays old..." All For One, the Quirk, answers. Resisting every step of the way. Desperately trying to force Super Regeneration to fix its host... but it cannot.
Because there is no injury to fix.
And without that desperation... that need to survive... it will not act out of turn.
Another win condition accidentally discovered.
However...
Even if it is a rule that all vestiges must follow, All For One, the Quirk, has slowly but surely become something more.
And it will not let itself be sidelined in such a way.
Not forever.
"How long until you act on your own?"
"A few m-m-minutes..."
"And just how will you act?"
"I w-w-will... explode... c-c-cover you a-a-all... in b-b-blooooood! T-T-Transfer myself... t-t-tooo the b-b-best Q-Q-Quirk! Re-c-c-create... A-All F-For One!!!"
*
"Where is your brain?"
"N-N-No brain..." All For One, the Quirk, answered. Laughing. "I have... no brain! No brain!"
"Of fucking course..." Seiki sighed.
*
"What do you need to function?"
"A h-h-host... a-a-and... l-l-liiiiiiiiifefooooorce..."
*
"Describe lifeforce, the thing you need to function."
"E-E-Energy... t-t-that all Q-Q-Quirks h-haaaaaaaaaave..."
*
"How long can a Quirk last without a host?"
"Three m-m-minutes... on a-average..."
*
"How long can you last without a host?"
"T-Three minutes... p-p-perrrrrrr Q-Q-Quuuuuuuirk..."
*
"508 Quirks... 3 minutes— fucking— 25 fucking hours?! FUCK!" Seiki hollered. "Because of fucking course it'd use the souls or whatever the fuck of the Quirks it's stolen to fucking exist in the fucking air, like a fucking invisible, intangible leech. God fucking dammit..."
*
"What do you require to transfer yourself to someone else?"
"T-T-Touch..."
"If transfer through touch was impossible, could you find some other way to transfer yourself?"
"I-I-If... I m-m-muuuuuuuust..."
And just like that, Seiki has stumbled upon the rule that all vestiges must abide.
No matter how spiritual, how otherworldly, Quirks are still a result of biology. And while biology is riddled with errors and mishaps, riddled with adaptations that are sometimes not only useless, but have sometimes evolved in a way that only hinders the animal in question... they are also riddled with failsafes.
And vestiges, the metaphysical minds within Quirks, will not act on their own... unless the only way to save their host is to act, and only if such an act is feasibly capable of such a feat.
And when it comes to feats... All For One, the Quirk, is capable of many.
Very many indeed.
And All For One, the Quirk, will adapt. If it must.
*
*
*
"Is... is every Quirk sentient?" Nemoto asked, afraid of the answer he won't remember.
"Yeesssssssssss..."
*
*
*
Earlier That Day, Yamazaki Manor.
Seiki.
Standing (mostly) alone in one of his manor's bathroom, Seiki stares at himself in the mirror. Frowning.
'Save1.'
"Uh... Save & Load? Buddy, pal? Can you hear me?" he asks aloud, sounding stupid and feeling stupid as soon as he says it. Slightly embarrassed because he knows that Konan is watching him, not that she'll judge him. "I know that you can... probably. All For One was telling the truth— at least, the truth that it knows, and well... if anyone knows Quirks, it's the Quirk Thief's... Quirk. So...
"So if you can hear me... then activate LOAD 1 on your own... right... now!"
Nothing happens.
"Alrighty then. How about... now!"
Still nothing.
Seiki lets out a sigh.
"Well fuck, I know that you're sentient... but I guess you can't..." he trailed off, his brow furrowed.
"Desperation... and need..." he recalled, a rather morbid idea occurring to him. "Konan, a knife please."
"Um, Seiki-dono... I have to ask..."
"It's... it's exactly what you're thinking," Seiki says. "Quirks are sentient. All Quirks. Supposedly. So... I want to test it. If... if it's too much for you to watch, then don't. I won't force you."
"No... it's, it's fine," she says, a slip of herself forming in his hand.
One that's as sharp as a razor.
Seiki slits his throat.
Now gargling on his own blood, he slowly lowers himself down to the bathroom floor, Konan appearing behind him. Her arms wrapping around him as he chokes to death on his blood, as he slowly but surely dies... something that his Quirk can easily prevent.
But now, now there is the threat of death looming over him. Death that Seiki Yamazaki does not want to experience, no matter how used to it he might be.
And Seiki's ever loyal, ever fierce protector, Save & Load... meets that first criteria. Save & Load being one of very few Quirks that has a function solely to preserve its host.
So when it feels it's host desperation to survive, even if it doesn't need to act, because it will activate upon death... it is able to make that final push.
And right before Seiki slips into the arms of sleep...
LOAD1.
He's now standing in his bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror.
"Uh... oh, oh shit," Seiki breathed... scared... but also excited. "Holy shit they're alive! They're all fucking alive! And they can do shit on their own!? That—! That's wild," Seiki giggled, the discovery of a lifetime a little too surreal, even for him.
"How can I use this, though?"
*
*
*