Location: Unknown Ward – Underground Laboratory
Date: Wednesday | 01:00 AM
HUMMM.
The computer servers in the underground lab hummed quietly.
Dr. Garaki sat in his rolling chair, staring closely at the main monitor.
The glow from the screen reflected off his thick goggles.
He was watching the leaked footage from the Atlantic Wargames on a continuous loop. On the screen, Star and Stripe stood on top of a moving jet, catching a laser beam and turning it into a solid chain.
"Look at her," Garaki muttered, scratching his chin. "She isn't just throwing wild punches anymore. She's actually fighting smart. Someone probably helped her Quirk development and gave her strict rules."
"It's that Golden Manager's work," All For One said.
"Him? He finished working on Japanese pro-heroes and now he proceed to work internationally?"
"Forget about that civilian, doctor."
AFO was standing a few feet behind the doctor's chair.
He watched the screen, but his mind drifted back to Ota Ward again.
Hero X.
All For One slowly clenched his hand into a fist. He still remembered the suffocating feeling of being thrown into that flat, two-dimensional void.
It was completely empty. No depth, no way out. When he finally got out, he found out only a week had passed in the real world.
But inside that void, it felt like he had been stuck there for a whole year.
It was a harsh reality check.
"Fighting a guy who can just casually bend reality is basically suicide if you only have one life," All For One muttered softly. "If Hero X decided to leave me in that void, or just trap me for eternity, it would all be over. One body isn't enough anymore, Doctor."
Garaki turned his chair around, grinning widely.
"Well, then you'll be happy to hear the good news," Garaki said, rubbing his hands together. "We finally finished it. The first flawless clone body is ready."
All For One raised an eyebrow. "Completely stable?"
"Completely," Garaki nodded. "Those giant, consumable Nomus we pushed out before were totally useless against Hero X, so the legion plan was scrapped. We focused entirely on making a perfect, empty copy of you instead. It's sitting in the vault right now."
"Good," All For One said, walking over to the metal table. "But having the body is just the first hurdle. Jumping my mind into that clone is going to be a massive headache."
SIGH.
"The vestiges," Garaki sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Yes Master.. Moving your mind means moving your Quirk Factor. And that means bringing the thousands of angry ghosts from every Quirk you ever stole with you. If they all panic at once during the jump, they'll tear your new brain apart."
All For One didn't look worried. He just picked up a datapad from the table.
"We already have the tools to handle them," All For One said calmly. "We don't need to look very far, Doctor. We just use Tomura's Decay. I won't use it on the outside. I'll use it on the inside to rot those ghosts away completely."
Garaki frowned, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "And what about the physical strain, Master? Doing that inside your own head is going to cause massive damage to the clone's brain."
"That's why we have the other kid," All For One replied, looking back at the doctor. "Chisaki's Overhaul. We just use it to instantly fix whatever physical damage the decaying process causes."
"That kid's quirk. Okay, fine. But there's still a huge risk," Garaki pointed out. "If you rot the vestiges away Master, you might accidentally destroy the actual Quirks attached to them. You'd be left with a perfectly healthy clone that has no powers."
"..."
All For One smiled. He pointed a finger at the monitor showing Star and Stripe.
"That is exactly why I need her," All For One said.
"...."
Garaki blinked, looking at the screen, and then his eyes widened in realization.
"New Order," Garaki gasped.
"Exactly," All For One said, placing his hands behind his back. "If I can steal her Quirk, or at least get a perfect copy of it, I don't have to worry about destroying the vestiges. I just use New Order to command the Quirks to stay intact after I rot it away."
Garaki let out a raspy laugh, slapping his knee.
"Hehe... Decay the vestiges, Overhaul the brain, and use New Order to force the Quirks to stay put. It's a complete wipe!"
"It's a blank slate," All For One agreed, his red eyes gleaming. "If I can get my hands on her Quirk, I can jump into as many clone bodies as I want. I will be completely unkillable."
"Even if Hero X trapped me in his dimension swapping move, I can just jump into another cloned body or the people who I designated as back up."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Meeting Room
Time: 02:00 AM
CLACK.
A heavy metal door slid open.
All For One walked into the quiet meeting room.
Sitting at the far end of the long table was a tall, blue-skinned man with a sharp, red eye.
Flect Turn.
He wasn't a cult leader yet. Right now, he was just a brilliant, disgraced scientist operating in the criminal underground.
Flect stood up slightly out of respect as All For One entered.
He was a smart man. He knew exactly who he was dealing with, and he wasn't going to do anything to disrespect the most dangerous man alive.
"Please, sit," All For One said smoothly, taking the chair across from him. "Doctor just sent me your final lab reports."
Thud.
Flect sat back down. He kept his posture stiff and guarded.
"The formula is stable," Flect said, keeping his voice carefully neutral. "The modified Trigger drug works exactly as you requested. It doesn't enhance Quirks. It forcefully overclocks and incapacitates them. And If a hero breathes this gas in too much, their own Quirk will burn their body from the inside out within minutes."
"It is a masterpiece of biochemistry," All For One praised him easily. "You are an incredibly gifted man, Flect."
"It isn't just a weapon," Flect said quietly. "It is a cure. Quirks are a disease leading to the Quirk Singularity. If we don't start cleansing the population, the world will tear itself apart."
"Heh."
All For One chuckled. It was a soft, polite sound, but it made the temperature in the room feel like it dropped ten degrees.
"Sociologically speaking, that is a terribly flawed reasoning," All For One said, resting his elbows on the table.
Flect frowned slightly but didn't dare raise his voice. "Flawed?"
"Completely," All For One nodded. "Think about the logistics of the modern world, Flect. Our entire infrastructure is built on Quirks. Construction, medical advancements, global shipping. If you wipe out eighty percent of the population with that drug to 'cure' them, society doesn't heal. The power grids go dark. Supply chains collapse. The survivors starve. You wouldn't be saving humanity. You would be plunging it back into the Dark Ages. So just remove the part where those heroes died and just incapacitate them."
"...."
Flect tightened his jaw.
He knew the math. He knew the collapse would be catastrophic, but he had justified it in his own head for years.
"A harsh reset is better than waiting for the Singularity," Flect answered, keeping his tone perfectly respectful.
"You are too intelligent to actually believe that," All For One said, his red eyes locking onto Flect. "You don't care about the sociology of a reset. You don't care about the grand design."
"...."
Flect didn't move. A cold feeling started to creep up his spine.
"I look at people very closely, Flect. I look at what drives them," All For One said, his voice dropping into a smooth, terrifying hum. "And your psychology is painfully obvious. Your Quirk is Reflect. It automatically reflects any energy or physical touch away from your body. It is absolute."
TAP. TAP.
All For One tapped a single finger on the table.
"You have never shaken a hand," All For One stated. "You have never felt a hug. You couldn't even touch your own mother without your body violently throwing her away. You have lived your entire life in absolute isolation."
"...."
A single drop of sweat rolled down the side of Flect's face.
THUMP-THUMP.
His heart hammered in his chest, but he kept his hands perfectly still on his lap.
He was terrified. This man was sitting here stripping away years of his ideological defenses in thirty seconds.
"You don't want to save the world," All For One smiled. It wasn't a warm smile. "You just hate your own power. You want to wipe out Quirks because you want everyone else to be as normal, powerless, and untouchable as you are."
"..."
HUFF-PUFF.
Flect closed his eyes for a second. He took a slow breath, trying to keep his composure. He was sitting across from a monster who could read his soul.
"Why did you bring me here?" Flect asked quietly, dropping the ideological act entirely. "If you know I don't care about your League of Villains, what do you want from me?"
"I want you to work for me," All For One said simply. "I want you to run the factories for this drug. I want you to help me crush the heroes."
Creak.
All For One leaned back in his chair.
"And in exchange, I won't give you a dead world," All For One offered. "I will give you the only thing you actually care about."
Flect looked up, his red eye whirring slightly.
"Garaki and I have been altering Quirk Factors for decades," All For One said. "When I take control of this world, I will personally reach inside your body. I will alter the mechanics of your Reflect Quirk. I will give you an off-switch."
"..."
Flect stared at him.
"You will finally be able to touch another human being," All For One promised softly.
"...."
"...."
The silence in the room was deafening. Flect was a genius.
He knew exactly what was happening. All For One was taking his deepest, most painful desire and holding it hostage.
If Flect agreed, he would be a slave to this man forever.
But the thought of finally feeling a hand against his own... he couldn't fight it. The manipulation was perfect because the reward was undeniable.
"I understand, Boss" Flect said, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked down at his own blue hands. "I will manage the factories. You will have your drug."
All For One smiled.
"I knew you were a reasonable man, Flect. I'm glad to have you in my side."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Ketsubutsu Academy – Conference Room
Date: Wednesday | 09:00 AM
RUSTLE.
Kaito slid a stack of graded test papers across the conference table.
It was the first day of the faculty masterclass. Kaito stood at the head of the table, wearing his white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Makabe, Shirakumo, and Emi sat around the table, looking at the papers.
"Look at the grading rubric you used for last month's indoor rescue drill," Kaito said, tapping the top paper with his pen. "Tell me what you see."
Shirakumo leaned in and adjusted her glasses.
"We graded them on completion time and hostages secured," Shirakumo answered. "It's the standard national rubric."
"And that is exactly why you keep producing brawlers," Kaito said simply. "You gave the highest score to a kid with an explosion Quirk because he blasted through a concrete wall and reached the dummy in thirty seconds."
Makabe scratched the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. He was fast."
"He was loud," Kaito corrected him. "If that was a real villain hideout, the villains would have heard the explosion, walked into the hostage room, and shot everyone before your student even cleared the dust. Speed doesn't matter if you trigger the alarm."
Kaito walked over to the whiteboard.
"You need to change how you reward them," Kaito said, writing three words on the board. "Efficiency. Silence. Creativity. If a student breaks a wall, deduct points. If they make a loud noise, deduct points. You have to force them to use their brains, not their muscles."
"...."
The teachers nodded slowly. It made complete sense, but it went against everything they were taught when they were students.
"Alright," Makabe sighed, grabbing a red pen. "Let's rewrite the rubric."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Ketsubutsu Academy – Indoor Training Gym
Date: Thursday | 02:00 PM
FWEEEEET!
The sharp blast of a sports whistle echoed across the massive wooden floor of the gym.
"Alright, listen up!" Makabe shouted.
A group of twenty second-year students stood in a line. They were wearing their gym uniforms.
They looked tired and a bit confused. Their teachers had been acting completely different for the past two days.
Kaito stood quietly on the bleachers, watching from a distance. He let the teachers take the lead.
"Daiki, step up," Makabe ordered.
A skinny boy with messy hair nervously walked to the front. He was the kid with the Temperature Shift Quirk.
Makabe pointed to a heavy steel door set up in the middle of the gym. It was locked with a thick, heavy padlock.
"Your objective is to breach that door and secure the dummy inside," Makabe said. "You have two minutes. Go."
"...."
Daiki stared at the heavy steel door. He looked down at his own hands. He couldn't blast through metal. He couldn't kick it down.
Normally, the teachers would just tell him to practice his martial arts kicks against it.
"Sensei, I can't break that," Daiki muttered, looking embarrassed. A few of the brawler kids in the back row whispered to each other.
"I didn't tell you to break it, kid," Makabe said, his voice surprisingly calm. "Look at the environment. What else is there?"
Daiki blinked.
He looked around the door. Sitting on the floor right next to the wall was a standard red fire extinguisher.
Daiki looked at the extinguisher, then at the heavy padlock. His eyes widened slightly. He remembered learning about thermal shock in science class.
He didn't say a word. Daiki ran over, grabbed the extinguisher, and sprayed the liquid CO2 directly onto the metal lock.
The padlock frosted over instantly, freezing cold.
Then, Daiki dropped the extinguisher. He grabbed the frozen lock with his bare hands and activated his Quirk, instantly dropping the temperature another twenty degrees.
CRACK.
The super-chilled, brittle metal snapped clean in half right in his hands.
The heavy steel door swung open quietly.
"..."
The entire class of second-years went completely silent.
The students in the back stopped whispering.
Their jaws were practically hitting the floor.
Daiki, the kid with the "weak" Quirk, just breached a reinforced door in fifteen seconds without making a single sound.
Daiki stared at the broken lock in his hands. A massive, bright smile broke out on his face.
"Whoa!" Daiki yelled, looking back at his classmates. "Did you guys see that?! I actually did it!"
"Holy crap, that was awesome!" one of the students yelled back.
Makabe crossed his arms and grinned. He looked up at the bleachers.
Kaito just gave him a small nod of approval. The kids were finally learning how to be specialists.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Ketsubutsu Academy – Staff Lounge
Date: Saturday | 04:30 PM
SIGH.
Emi collapsed onto the small sofa in the staff lounge, letting out a long, exhausted groan.
"I am officially dead," Emi mumbled into the cushions. "My brain is completely fried."
Makabe and Shirakumo walked in right behind her, looking just as tired. They practically dragged their feet to the kitchenette to pour coffee.
It was the end of the week.
They had spent five straight days completely tearing down and rebuilding their entire teaching philosophy.
They ran drills, rewrote tests, and completely changed the way they interacted with their students.
CLACK.
Kaito set his briefcase on the low table and snapped it shut. He looked a bit tired himself, but his posture was still straight.
"You survived," Kaito said, a small, genuine smile on his face.
"Barely," Makabe laughed, sitting down heavily in a chair. "I swear, Arisaka, you pushed us harder this week than the villains do on patrol."
"But it worked," Shirakumo said. She held her warm coffee cup in both hands.
Her eyes were bright despite the exhaustion. "Did you see Daiki's face yesterday? And the rest of the kids today? They aren't just punching things anymore. They're actually thinking. They're looking at the battlefield like a puzzle."
"That is the goal," Kaito said. He picked up his briefcase. "You don't need me to hold your hands anymore. You have the syllabus, and you know how to apply the mechanics in the field."
Emi lifted her head off the sofa cushion.
"So, what's next for the Golden Manager?" Emi asked, smiling tiredly. "Going back to fixing the top ten?"
"I am taking the weekend off to sleep," Kaito replied smoothly, walking toward the door.
He paused at the door and looked back at the veteran teachers.
"You have a good group of kids," Kaito said. "I look forward to seeing them ace the Provisional License Exam. Say goodbye to the principal for me."
Makabe grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "We won't let you down, Boss."
Kaito nodded and walked out of the lounge, leaving the teachers to enjoy their coffee.
Ketsubutsu Academy was officially on a new path.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: U.A. High School – Principal's Office
Date: Saturday | 06:00 PM
CLINK.
Nezu set a small porcelain teacup down on his polished desk.
Gran Torino sat on the large leather couch across from the principal.
He had his arms crossed and looked as annoyed as ever.
Next to him sat All Might. He was in his absolute prime, wearing a simple white t-shirt.
He took up most of the space on the couch just by sitting there.
"Thanks for the tea, Nezu," All Might said, his booming voice filling the room. He smiled. "It's really good."
"A special blend from Kyoto," Nezu replied cheerfully. He reached across his desk and pulled out a plain manila folder. "But I didn't call you two here just to drink tea."
Nezu opened the folder and tapped the paper inside.
"Kaito Arisaka."
All Might leaned forward to get a look. "That kid's name is all over the top hero networks right now. The American agencies are going crazy trying to hire him."
Gran Torino grunted. "Detective Tsakauchi showed me the classified military footage from the wargames. Cathleen usually fights exactly like you do, Toshinori. She just punches the problem until she passes out from exhaustion, after all she idolized you too much. Even her tufts is longer than yours. What the Golden Manager kid did was give her a solid game plan so she stops burning herself out."
All Might let out a loud, booming laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Haha.. I still remember the time when I saved her when she was still little... Well, I'm just glad she's doing well. Cathleen pushes herself way too hard sometimes."
Nezu smiled and looked down at the folder. "I pulled his old school records from his junior high and high school."
Torino raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. Straight A's? A total genius on paper?"
"Actually, no," Nezu said, looking amused. "Arisaka barely passed. He never joined any clubs and never did extra credit."
"Wait, he was lazy?" All Might asked, blinking in surprise.
"Not lazy," Nezu corrected. "He just didn't care. He figured out early on that standard classes weren't going to help him. So he did the bare minimum to get his diploma, and spent all his free time focusing on other things."
Gran Torino uncrossed his arms. "Street smart. He didn't waste his energy on stuff that didn't matter. You have to respect that kind of hustle."
Nezu closed the folder and looked directly at All Might.
"I think you should hire him," Nezu said. "I want him to take a look at your Quirk, Toshinori."
"....."
All Might stopped smiling.
The mood in the office completely shifted.
"Hire him?" All Might asked quietly. "Nezu, you should know exactly how my power works."
"I know, you told me a long time ago." Nezu nodded.
Only few people in the world knew the truth about One For All.
It wasn't just super strength. It was a torch passed down for generations, filled with the vestiges of the people who held it before.
"It's the biggest secret in the country," All Might said, shaking his head. "You want to drag a normal twenty-two year old kid into this? It's way too dangerous."
"He has already handled countless hero agencies in Japan," Nezu pointed out gently. "He doesn't leak information. He has his own principles and standards."
"...."
"It's not just about trusting him to keep his mouth shut," All Might replied.
He looked down at his own massive hands. "My Quirk is complicated. It's full of history. A normal civilian can't just fix something like that."
"He just helped Star and Stripe get a handle on a Quirk that rewrites reality," Nezu said. "I think he can handle it."
"..."
All Might looked out the window. He wasn't saying no because of pride.
He was just genuinely terrified of exposing the One For All legacy to an outsider.
"I'm not ready to open that door yet, Nezu," All Might finally said.
Nezu just nodded and took another sip of his tea.
"Take your time, Toshinori," Nezu said. "But don't wait too long. The world is changing fast, and we can't just sit still. If your quirk can get more stronger, then you might fix all the problems before you retire. Time is moving forward. You're already 52 years old."
_-_-_-_-_
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