Archive of Our Own ^beta

All for One would never in a million years admit that he’d obtained One for All by accident.

Mother’s Day always put All for One in a good mood, because it was the anniversary of the day his own mother had died, leaving behind a suspiciously large life insurance policy. All for One had a special tradition to celebrate. On a yearly basis since Nana’s death, All for One had mailed All Might a card with “Happy Motherless Day” written inside. All for One had been forced to take a brief hiatus during the period of time when All Might have believed him dead. This year, for the first time since his grand reappearance at Kamino, All for One had included a picture of Tomura spitting on Nana’s grave.

Holiday spirit gave a spring to All for One’s step as he returned to his hidden underground compound. Judging from the sounds of music and cursing coming from Tomura’s room, he’d invited the League of Villains over to play video games. An apple Danish sat on the kitchen counter. The pastry had been crudely shaped like a face with green hair for frosting and a smiley face drawn on top. Clearly one of Tomura’s friends must have made this. Since the treat was inside his evil fortress, All for One considered himself well within his rights to eat it.

At the first bite, All for One gagged. Something rough and scratchy slipped his throat. He choked and sputtered. The thing tasted like hair. All for One spat out the chewed bits, then ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

No matter how vigorously All for One brushed, he still felt a tickle in the back of his throat. What if the pastry had been poisoned? Would he have to let Dr. Garaki force foul-smelling antidotes down his throat?

In his anger, his toothbrush snapped between his fingers. A spark ran down his arm.

All for One shuddered at the very, very familiar sensation. Even after a century, he would never forget the feeling of the stockpiling quirk he’d held so briefly. Not with what that cursed mistake had cost him. At first, he assumed that he must be under the influence of a quirk that caused hallucinations. He activated Air Purity, Mental Fortitude, and Quirk Analysis.

Yet he still felt the power of One for All itching under his skin.

All for One went to his bed and lay down, planning to explore his mental quirk hoard. But when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a different place. Shadows stretched around him in all directions. Eight tall thrones filled the vault. The Second and Third users stood facing the vault door in a guarding position. The other six ghosts had collapsed on their thrones, curled up in fetal position or staring blankly. They weren’t even aware enough to notice the intruder.

“How did this happen?” Yoichi screamed. He grabbed the misty form of All Might and shook the ghost vigorously. “Tell me how this happened!”

His little brother’s loud, piercing voice hadn’t changed one bit. As a child, All for One had used to tease his baby brother until his cheeks became flushed and his hair poofed out in all directions, just like now. It was a nostalgic sight. (All for One might be in a state of shock. He definitely hadn’t processed that his younger brother was standing in front of him, close enough to grab.)

Nana Shimura growled, “Stop shaking him. He doesn’t know any more than we do.” Beer cans scattered around her throne.

Misty Might gave an incoherent groan in response.

Nana wasn’t the only one who’d been drinking. Banjo slumped on his throne, unconscious and reeking of alcohol. En drank straight from a wine bottle as if he hoped that he would quickly follow his predecessor into dream land.

Yoichi collapsed to his knees with a sob. “I can’t accept this. It’s not fair. I know that’s a childish thing to say, but it’s true. This shouldn’t be possible. It breaks all the rules about how my original quirk works. One for All can’t be stolen by force. And my brother hasn’t even gone near us recently! He wouldn’t have had the chance!” His gaze fell on All for One. “You,” he growled.

“Me,” All for One said cheerfully. He had accepted that this was real. “How charming to see you again, little brother.”

Yoichi ran over and grabbed All for One by his collar. “TELL ME HOW YOU DID THIS!” he bellowed.

“That’s for me to know and you to go into hysterics about,” All for One said smugly. In the back of his mind, he wondered, How the hell did I do this?

Yoichi let go. His brows drew together. “You don’t know, either.”

“Of course I know. This plan was years in the making,” All for One lied.

Unfortunately, Yoichi proved as good at seeing through his brother’s lies as ever. He called over his shoulder, “Everyone, he doesn’t know either.”

A groan went up from the crowd. “That just makes it worse,” Nana muttered, drinking some more. “I can’t accept being defeated by sheer bad luck. It’s not fair. God, now I’m talking about fairness, too.” She tipped back her head and drained the can like a ghost who didn’t need to breathe.

Hikage was the only sober one. He sat on his throne in a lotus position, eyes closed as if meditation. One eye cracked open. “I’m convinced it must have been when Himiko Toga approached Nineth on the street in disguise. My Danger Sense was going crazy. If only I’d been able to warn Nineth, but we still can’t talk to him except in dreams.”

“She didn’t even try to attack him,” En muttered, staring at his empty bottle. “She just hugged him…and got his hair caught on her button. Nineth told her not to worry about it and cut off his hair. A hair. Huh. That is suspiciously like how most of us passed on our quirk.”

Yoichi tapped his fingers together. “She left with the hair, yes, but surely she wasn’t going to eat it. Was she?”

“Did that pastry actually have hair in it?” All for One felt nauseous. He could still taste it in the back of his throat. “Ew!”

Yoichi stared in horror. “You ate Nineth’s hair.”

All for One gagged. “Apparently. I’ll have a word with the stalker about leaving food lying around my house that I can’t eat.”

Throwing up his hands, Yoichi cried, “But what about consent? Nineth didn’t agree to pass along his quirk! The agreement is the sacred trust of One for All!”

Hikage said, “He gave her the hair willingly. He told her not to worry about it, that she could keep it. What if that counted?”

Yoichi stared with haunted eyes. “Surely not. That’s not how One for All works.”

All for One laughed out loud. “When would you have experimented? How often does someone eat a hair? This is wonderful! If I’d known, I could have stolen One for All years ago.” It was depressing to think of the decade he’d wasted making Tomura’s hatred stronger. He’d rather not focus on that. He’d rather rub his younger brother’s face in his triumph.

Yoichi wailed, “Dammit! I can’t have lost to my big brother for such a stupid reason! If we’d fallen to Tomura’s hatred, then maybe I could accept it…no, I can’t accept losing to my brother at all!”

Briefly, All for One felt an uncharacteristic pang of sympathy. He’d never have been able to accept losing to his brother, either. Except why waste time with sympathy when he could be gloating? All for One stepped forward with a smirk. “Do heroes always win now, my pathetic little brother? Huh? Huh?”

Yoichi glared. “Go away and let me get drunk in peace.”

“You can never make me go away ever again. I own this place. I own your quirk. I own you.” Leaping forward, All for One pulled Yoichi into a bearhug. “How lovely to be this close to you again.”

“Let me go!” Yoichi shrieked, clawing and kicking.

All for One used both arms to lock his rebellious little brother into place. “Hush. Now we’ll have all the time in the world to rebuild our relationship. In a world where you’re entirely under my control.” Yoichi’s look of horror amused him.

Yoichi howled, “Help!”

The vestiges (those who were awake) ran over and dragged Yoichi free. Even Second came from his place at the wall. All for One tried to imagine them all chained to their thrones. It didn’t work. How unfortunate. When he was in the mental landscape of his quirk hoard, he could completely control his surroundings. It was a useful tool for wrangling unruly quirks. But he didn’t have the same level of control over One for All. He’d need to keep that in mind.

If only All for One had used Tomura’s hatred to steal One for All, then he would have been in complete control of the Void. His research had suggested that he needed to subdue the vestiges’ wills in order to properly control One for All, hence why he’d poured so much time and energy into molding Tomura. This great stroke of luck had also ruined his old plan. Perhaps All for One could still bring Tomura over to this mindscape and use his hatred to overcome the current inhabitants? All for One barely paid attention to the vestiges as he tapped his chin, pondering.

“Thank you, my hero.” His face flushed, Yoichi glared at Third. “You could have helped, too.”

Third shrugged. “The others clearly had it under control. The door cracked open, so I was afraid to leave it.”

“Huh.” Second stared at the vault door. “It is slightly open. I wonder what happens if I do this?” He stuck his hand through.

The entire world shifted.

All for One saw the familiar sight of his bedroom outlined with his infrared vision. Somehow, he’d gotten kicked out of the Void when Second had opened the door. This was frustrating, but far from insurmountable. Now he’d have all the time in his immoral lifespan to explore the secrets of One for All and bend it to his service. The vestiges’ willpower would not last forever when they realized they’d completely and utterly lost to him.

“This is very peculiar,” someone said using his own voice. His body sat up and touched the scars on his face.

All for One tried to wrench back control of his limbs. Nothing happened. He felt the first twinge of concern.

“Ugh, I’m inside the potato head? Ew,” his voice said. The disdainful tone sounded familiar.

“Is that you, you spikey-haired terrorist brother thief?” All for One shrieked.

“Oh, you’re still here?” His own lips smirked. “How does it feel to be a prisoner in your own body?”

Telepathically, All for One shouted, “I’ll be taking back control shortly.”

“If you could, you already would have,” Second said. “Hmm, I wonder how best I can screw you over?”

All for One strained with all his willpower, but he couldn’t so much as twitch his finger. This was bad. Very bad. He’d experienced unruly quirk ghosts giving him nightmares many times before, hence why he’d been concerned about the vestiges running around in his head. But he’d never had a quirk ghost possess him. “When I get my body back, I’ll—”

“Kill me? Steal One for All? You’ve already done both.” Second laughed. “And you’re about to regret it. Hey guys, are you in here?”

Yoichi cried, “I’m here! This is wonderful. Everyone, wake up.” A rattling sound echoed in All for One’s head like Yoichi shaking a throne.

Second asked, “What should I do to him first?”

Yoichi cackled. “Burn everything in his bedroom. Especially his nice suits.”

“Don’t you dare!” All for One screamed. “When I get my body back, you’ll pay for this.”

Banjo laughed. “What are you going to do, kill us again? Let’s give away all his money to charity.”

Nana said, “Send my grandson to therapy.”

Second grinned with his stolen lips. “Why not all three?”

Using All for One’s voice, Second bellowed, “Dr. Garaki! I forget the lab passcode. Let me in, minion.” A bit of ash lingered on his suit from the earlier fire.

“I don’t sound that pretentious,” All for One grumbled.

“Yes, you do,” Yoichi said.

The door opened. Dr. Garaki rubbed his hands together. “Of course, master.”

As he involuntarily entered the laboratory, All for One observed how Second used his infrared vision to track the Nomu tanks. He could practically feel the brother-stealing bastard’s destructive intentions. It made him shiver with helpless rage.

Second sat down in front of All for One’s computer. “Dammit, it’s locked.”

All for One said smugly, “Dr. Garaki doesn’t know my password.”

Yoichi said, “It’s going to be some combination of ‘All for One’ and ‘Demon King.’”

“That’s completely wrong,” All for One lied. “Why would I have such an obvious password? You’re a fool, little brother.”

Second tried a couple different passwords. “DemonKingAll41 worked. I’m in.”

“Which charities should we send his money to?” En asked.

Second typed rapidly. “I’m searching for options. So far I’ve found a food bank, toys for impoverished children, an environmental advocacy organization, and a quirkless support group.”

“Ooo! Ooo!” Yoichi cried. “Let’s give away all his quirks to quirkless people.”

“Don’t you dare,” All for One hissed, finally feeling true panic.

Second said, “Let me see when the quirkless support group next meets. What luck! They have a meeting tomorrow.”

All for One moaned as his precious money was frittered away by a terrorist who’d never worked a day in his life and went around stealing other people’s money and brothers.

Hikage asked, “Am I the only one wondering why we can possess bodies now?”

Nana said, “We probably always had the ability. We just never tried before. Why would we take over our chosen successors?”

En asked, “Does this mean all of us can swap in and out of All for One? The door in the throne room is still cracked. What would happen if someone else walked through next?”

Yoichi asked, “We’re destroying this lab, right? Can I light the match?”

“Let’s see if you can take over,” Third said. “I’ll try holding open the door.” (Even through his fury, All for One paid attention to this highly relevant experiment.)

All for One’s arms jerked backward under a new person’s control. Yoichi cried, “Whoa! It feels great to have a body again! Shame about the blindness, though.”

Second said, “Yeah, his body is a total piece of crap. I was gasping for air the whole time.”

“The thief complains about the quality of his stolen goods,” All for One muttered.

Yoichi said, “I’m used to the difficulty breathing. I can tolerate it, especially when I’m about to start my first fire since I was alive.” He grinned in a maniac fashion, then threw back his head and blasted fire out his mouth.

Dr. Garaki rushed over and wailed as the lab burned. Yoichi rather unconvincingly claimed to have seen a mouse chew through a power cord.

While Yoichi was washing the ashes off his stolen hands in the sink, Tomura poked his head into the kitchen. “Sensei, what’s that burning smell? The doctor has been screaming so loudly I can’t hear my games. I pressed a button wrong and died because of him.”

“Tenko!” In a flash, Nana took over the body. She flung herself across the room and hugged her grandson. “I’m so, so sorry for everything.”

Tomura squirmed. “Jeez, I still have two lives left.”

Clutching her grandson to her chest, Nana sobbed, “I just want you to know that I’ll always love you unconditionally, no matter what.”

“Sensei, are you drunk?” Tomura demanded.

Nana said, “Also, I’ve signed you up for an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow morning. You’ll be volunteering at a soup kitchen in the afternoon. It will be good for you.”

Tomura groaned. “Do I have to?”

Steel in her voice, Nana said, “Yes, you do.”

All for One waited until the vestiges were distracted discussing which charities to distribute his hard-stolen money too. Then he materialized a body in the Void throne room.

Carefully, he ducked low and crept around the thrones toward the open door. If he could just take control for a few moments, then he could shove One for All into a Nomu. This would buy him time to figure out how to properly control the quirk.

Unfortunately, the door screeched as he opened it. Whirling around, Banjo screamed, “It’s All for One!” Black whip shot forward. All for One dove through the door just in time.

Darkness consumed him.

All for One opened his eyes to gaze up at a giant portrait of All Might. This was very strange, because 1. The only portrait of his archnemesis that he owned had dart holes all over it; and 2. He should be blind. All for One looked around. He recognized Might Tower from the blond buffoon’s publicity photos.

With dawning horror, All for One looked down at his gaunt hands. He tugged on a hair tuft.

He was inside All Might’s body.

“Ew!” All for One screamed.

Izuku’s vision had turned funny. Everything looked dark with brightly colored outlines. He concluded that this must be a dream.

He felt around his face. This scarring pattern was familiar. He was inside All for One’s body. What a weird dream. Izuku noticed a picture of himself as a young child on the desk. This dream had gotten even stranger. He tossed it in the trash.

Dr. Garaki knocked on the door, then opened it. “Master, I’m here to discuss rebuilding my lab. For some strange reason, all the money in my usual account is gone.”

Izuku said, “Nah, I’m going to go be a hero.”

Dr. Garaki stared. “Excuse me?”

Izuku beamed. “I currently have the strongest power, after All Might’s, of course. I want to use it! This is a very odd dream, but I can turn it into a fun one. Ha-ha, it’s going to be hilarious when I tell All Might tomorrow that I dreamed of being a heroic All for One.”

Dr. Garaki took a step backward. “Master, are you feeling unwell?”

The doctor was still blocking the door, so Izuku left through the window. He had an ability that let him walk on air now! It was awesome!

Katsuki couldn’t help noticing when the nerd entered the classroom with his shoulders oddly hunched over. Izuku was walking strangely, as if his legs weren’t familiar to him. His twitchiness was annoying. Katsuki stomped over. “The hell is wrong with you?”

Izuku looked up with a dazed smile. “Ah, young Bakugo. Have you seen young M—I mean, All Might? I desperately need to talk to him.”

The sheer wrongness sent shivers down Katsuki’s spine. Pointing, he shrieked, “You’re not the real Deku! You’re a fake!”

The imposter paled. “I’m feeling a little unwell today. I’m not Himiko Toga, I promise. If I could only talk to All Might—”

“Destroy the imposter!” Katsuki tackled him.

“Holy shit, we’re inside All Might!” Yoichi screeched.

All for One realized that he was inside All Might’s body with the vestiges, which made it even worse. He couldn’t give away One for All because the blond buffoon had only embers. He was tempted to throw All Might’s body off his own tower, but he wasn’t certain if that would kill him, too. He didn’t dare risk it.

En groaned. “This is bad. I can’t get the door open. We’re trapped.”

All for One grinned. “I’m going to give away all of All Might’s money to organized crime.”

“Don’t you dare!” Nana howled. “Toshi’s reputation will be destroyed! Second, Third, get over here and help me open this door.”

Aware that he had a limited time inside body, All for One turned to the computer. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to guess the blond buffoon’s password. A few variations on All Might’s hero name hadn’t worked. By some miracle, All Might had too many brain cells to use “password” as his password.

All for One gave up and stormed out of his enemy’s office. He swelled to a muscular form. What lovely power One for All contained. At least he could finally use it what he’d accidentally stolen. He found a secretary in the adjacent office. “I need you to help me set up a major donation to Humarise.”

The woman laughed. “Good one, sir.”

“I’m serious.”

She frowned. “Is this a test? Everyone knows how much you hate Humarise.”

All for One had picked Humarise hoping it would be a bit more plausible than the yakuza. No luck. Growling, he turned around and stomped away. “Fine, then. I’ll start slaughtering random people on the street. We’ll see what that does to All Might’s precious reputation.” He got onto the elevator.

Yoichi screamed, “Get that vault door open!”

“We’re all pulling as hard as we can!” Banjo shouted back.

The panic in the vestiges’ voices gave All for One a happy thrill. He hummed under his breath as he pushed open the front door of Might Tower.

A dozen cameras went off in his face. All for One was mobbed by paparazzi, shouting, “Can you confirm or deny rumors that Izuku Midoriya is your love child? Do you have anything to say about your sizzling hot love affair with Endeavor? Have you been secretly bullying Hawks out of jealousy?”

All for One had a bad feeling that he might be doing All Might a favor if he killed this lot. But when someone yanked off his jacket and ran away with it, he decided to murder them anyway. He could always kill some innocent people afterward.

Smirking, All for One formed a fist.

“I’ve got one arm through the door!” Nana cried. All for One’s fist halted mid-punch.

The paparazzi stared in horror at the demise inches from his face. “All Might has finally snapped! I must have gone too far when I photoshopped that picture of him getting spanked by the HPSC president and captioned it ‘How All Might Earns His Number One Slot’. He’s pulled a Lady Nagant. Run! Everyone run!”

Nana shrieked, “That was you? Go ahead and kill them, All for One.”

Her control slipped. All for One staggered, dizzy. He tried to grab a man’s face, but only got his camera. It shattered into dust in his fist. Around him, the paparazzi screamed and fled in all directions.

All Might’s body straightened, under new control. Yoichi said, “I get to be All Might! This is so cool. I’m going to live out all my hero fantasies.”

All for One groaned as the body ran off, carrying him along as a helpless passenger.

Izuku soared through the air. If he combined Air Walk with Springlike Limbs, he could better control the movements. He wondered what the effects would be if he combined it with a quirk that would lighten his body or even make it weightless, like Uraraka’s. He was mumbling again. He couldn’t wait to explore all the quirks this dream had blessed him with.

The infrared vision let him see through walls. He had enhanced hearing. Extending a hand, he let spikes shoot out of his fingertips. So cool!

Two city blocks away, he heard a cat’s agitated meow-ing. Concentrating, Izuku summoned his shadows and teleported.

An elderly tabby cat was stuck up a tree. Izuku hopped in the air, picked up the cat, and lightly landed on the ground. The cat purred as he petted its head.

“I’m here—ow ow ow!” All Might’s voice bellowed. The hero landed on his hands, back-flipped, then stood up and dusted off his knees. “Sorry, I’m still working on landings. I’m getting used to having limbs at all. Is it Eighth in there?”

“I’m the Nineth One for All user, if that’s what you mean,” Izuku said. He set the cat down.

All Might’s eyes widened. “Nineth!” He leapt forward and tackled Izuku. “It’s great to have hands to hug you!”

Judging from the way All Might ripped up the ground as he walked, he was having trouble controlling his powers. Izuku returned the hug. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Perfectly fine, just adjusting. My quirk wasn’t as strong back when I had it.” All Might tried to make his hair tufts stand up straight again with his fingers. “Want to be heroes together? It will be hilarious. My brother is screaming inside my head for me to stop. Ha. You wanted this, big brother! You murdered my successors trying to steal my quirk! Well, enjoy your reward!”

Izuku thought, Oh, is this a dream where I team up with All Might? He’d had that dream many times before. The parameters of this one were a little strange. But that was how dreams went. They didn’t have to make sense.

Nodding, Izuku said, “I’d love to.” A distant scream reached his ears, then a growled threat from a mugger. “Did you hear that?”

“I did!” All Might stretched his legs. “Last one to the rescue is a rotten egg. Let’s go!”

Grinning, Izuku teleported. He felt smug when he emerged from his shadows ahead of All Might, standing directly behind the mugger. He didn’t even need a quirk to grab the man’s knife with one hand and his stolen purse with another.

The mugger stared with wild eyes, then screamed, “I’m sorry, Your Evilness! I never meant to interfere with your prey!” He turned and fled.

An old lady peered at Izuku with wide eyes, looking uncertain as to if she’d been saved or pushed deeper into hell. Izuku attempted a reassuring smile. “Here you go, ma’am.” He held out the purse, but she made no move toward it.

“E-excuse me, are you the Scrouge of Kamino?” she asked.

“Yes,” Izuku said, since that was his role in his dream.

“Do you want my purse?” she asked meekly. “You can have it. I promise I won’t even report it stolen. Please don’t hurt me.”

Izuku said, “No, I got it back for you. Here you go. I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m a hero from now on.”

All Might crashed down from the sky. “Landed on my feet this time!” He looked at the crater in the sidewalk. “Whoopsie. Eight’s money will pay for that. Great job, Nineth.” To the old lady, he said, “Don’t worry, he’s with me.”

“All Might!” Her face relaxed. “You’re reforming villains now? You really can do anything!” She took her purse. Bowing toward both of them, she said, “Thank you so much.”

“You won that round.” All Might offered a fist bump to Izuku, who accepted. “Great job. Did you hear that?”

Izuku nodded. “It sounded like a bank robbery.” A kinda clichéd dream event, but he was having fun, so he’d roll with it.

“Let’s go!” All Might took off into the sky.

“Get off him,” Shouto Todoroki growled, seizing both of Katsuki’s arms from behind.

“The nerd is a fake, you fucking Half and Half bastard!” Katsuki head-butted him.

Lying on the ground, maybe-Izuku groaned. “Thank you for the help, young To—uh. Sho-chan?”

Shouto stared. His face turned white, then red. Fire and ice rose off his body. After a moment he said, “He’s a fake.”

Both Shouto and Katsuki tackled the fake Izuku, who screamed, “Aargh! Please be careful with young Midoriya’s spine!”

Izuku woke up tied to a bed in the nurse’s office.

There was nothing unusual about waking up in the nurse’s office. It was practically his second home. But he didn’t have any broken bones. He wasn’t even injured at all, except for his clothes being singed and an icicle in his hair. Heavy canvas straps tied him so tightly that he could barely wiggle.

A radio sitting on the table blared Present Mic’s familiar voice. “Imagine if you were going about minding your own business, when the Scrouge of Kamino appears and saves you from a mugger. That was the experience of one normal Musutafu citizen today. Ma’am, how do you feel?”

The voice answering belonged to the same old woman from earlier. “Was that real? I thought I might have gone senile.”

Present Mic laughed. “Such was the reaction of authorities around Japan when the Scrouge of Kamino stopped a bank robbery with All Might today! As a fearless hero, I braved the terrifying aura of the greatest villain in Japan to request answers. I will play my interview now. All for One, can you explain your change of heart?”

All for One’s voice answered, “I quit villainy. I’m a hero now. Heroes are way cooler.” Izuku could remember saying the exact same words in his dream.

All Might’s voice laughed. “That’s right! You’re my new sidekick. Tell the world that you’re my sidekick.” Mischievousness tinged his voice. “Please, it will be funny.”

Izuku-inside-All for One answered, “Cool, I’ve always wanted to be All Might’s sidekick. This is my childhood dream come true!”

“You heard it straight from his own lips.” All Might laughed malevolently. “Suck it, big brother!”

Lying strapped to the bed, Izuku tried to convince himself that he was still dreaming.

All Might burst into the room. His hair tufts flopped over his face. “Young Midoriya! I’m sorry, I didn’t do a very good job pretending to be you.”

Izuku whispered, “That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“I’m afraid not,” All Might said. “I was hoping you might explain to me what’s going on.”

Izuku stared at the wall. “I’m under the influence of a hallucination quirk?”

“No, I’m afraid this is reality.”

For one brief, glorious moment after the swap wore off, All for One regained control of his own body. He teleported to his lair, grabbed the nearest Nomu, and tried to transfer One for All.

The quirk stuck.

“Get out of here, you damn—” All for One growled.

“Cool, a free body,” Nana said. A brief tingle ran down All for One’s arm. Then the Nomu grinned at him in an infuriatingly familiar way. Nana cried, “I’m going to check up on Tomura,” as she ran off with her new body.

All for One’s control slipped. He found himself standing back in the Void. Six unamused vestiges and Misty Might surrounded him. Only Nana was gone. “What, I only got rid of one of you?” All for One sighed and clutched his head.

Yoichi crossed his arms. “We’ve been debating how to deal with you. You’re not the only one who can influence your mental landscape. We built this.” He gestured at a brand-new vault door. In other words, a vault inside the current vault.

All for One’s eye twitched. He pressed his lips together, determined not to give his little brother the satisfaction of protesting.

The vestiges dragged All for One by his collar and tossed him into the vault. Yoichi loomed in the doorway. He grinned widely. “I just want you to know that this is for your own good. I’m preventing you from committing more crimes and deepening your sins.”

All for One’s resolve broke. “I wasn’t that smug when I did it to you!”

“Yes, you were,” Yoichi growled. “I’m literally copying your monologue word for word, except you told me that you were preventing me from getting myself killed with stupid heroism.”

All for One snorted. “Which I was right about.”

“You’re the reason why I died, you horrible—” Yoichi stopped and visibly composed himself. “I’m not as cruel as you. I won’t leave you to rot in the darkness. I’ll let you continue seeing through your body in the real world.” His smirk widened. “You can either sit in solitary with nothing to do, or get a front row seat as I visit a quirkless support group and give away your quirks. The choice is yours.”

“You’re a monster!” All for One screamed. He threw himself at the door, only for Yoichi to slam it shut. His fists pounded futilely on the metal.

Yoichi’s voice called, “I’m giving you the same terms that you gave me, big brother. You can get out if you agree to join me and become a hero. Who knows? You might come to enjoy the warm glow that comes with doing good deeds. Like I said, this is for your own good.”

“I definitely wasn’t this insufferably smug when I said that,” All for One growled, kicking the door.

Izuku heard a rapping on his window. He opened it to see All for One’s familiar potato face.

With a fake smile, All for One asked, “Would you like One for All back?”

Izuku’s jaw dropped. “You’re the real one?” He knew about the body-swapping now, because Nomu Nana had dropped by Might Tower to explain everything and hug All Might.

All for One’s smile dropped off. “Apparently I’m the only one who can agree to give up One for All. They let me have control long enough to transfer the quirk. They won’t accept any other user except you. Hurry up and give me your hand.”

Of course Izuku wanted One for All back. He’d been a bundle of nerves about his quirk fading away ever since he’d found out what had happened. He wanted it so badly that his hands shook. But he knew he had to play it cool in front of the supervillain. “Then what would stop you from kidnapping or killing me once you have control of your body again? I’m not agreeing unless you turn yourself over the authorities first.”

All for One twitched. “No deal. Your idiotic predecessors aren’t quite as bad as Tartarus.”

It was on the tip of Izuku’s tone to say fine, they could negotiate something better than Tartarus. But he knew better than to show weakness to the likes of All for One. Better to strike a deal when the villain was desperate enough to beg.

Coolly, Izuku said, “I’ll give them another couple weeks to soften you up, then.” He slammed the window in All for One’s face.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: If Izuku Had Ended Up In All Might’s Body

Izuku: Good morning, Kacchan.

Katsuki: …It’s you in there, shitty Deku, isn’t it?

Izuku: Dammit, you caught me.

Katsuki: Good, because if you’d persuaded the real All Might to call me Kacchan then I’d murder you.

#

Omake: Teatime at Might Tower

All Might: Funny, the paparazzi haven’t bothered me at all lately. Did you do something while in my body, teacher?

Nana: Uh, I’ll happily take credit.

All Might: How is Tomura doing?

Nana: Pet therapy was a real breakthrough for him. I’m trying to help all his friends, but Dabi is proving a particularly difficult one.

All Might: Do you think it would help to get Endeavor involved?

Nana: It would certainly have an effect, let’s put it that way.

#

Omake: At the Quirkless Support Group

Yoichi: No need to rush, everyone. Form an orderly line. I have enough quirks for you and every single quirkless person you know. Big brother, when you look at all these smiling faces, do you feel anything? Maybe a tiny bit of satisfaction?

All for One: (Speaking in a flat, empty voice) Yes. I feel wonderful. I finally understand the joys of helping others. I’ve been redeemed now. Give me back my body.

Yoichi: Say it again, like you mean it. I know you’re just faking it, but if we keep at this long enough, maybe you’ll start to become your mask. I’m not doing this for revenge, I’m doing it to help you.

All for One: I’m positive I was never this smug toward you.