Before the start of the Sports Festival, Nezu called several teachers to his office to ensure that everything would go smoothly—for example, to prevent another invasion.
"According to the Hero Commission, there has been no villain activity worth mentioning," Nezu said after finishing reading a report and placing it on his desk. Once he did, he looked at the teachers in front of him.
They were All Might, Midnight, Aizawa, Vlad, and Ectoplasm. The latter was a thin man with dark hair and glasses. He had large white eyes and exposed teeth; when he wore his hero costume, his body was covered by a white trench coat and he wore a somewhat frightening black mask.
"Principal, is everything alright?" Vlad asked with his arms crossed.
Nezu frowned. "Everyone knows we are holding the festival despite the new threats as part of a strategy to show that even in this state, everything continues as usual..."
Nemuri frowned. "You don't think the villains will attack again, do you?"
"That would be suicide," said Ectoplasm, adjusting his glasses. "We're talking about an event where, at worst, hundreds of professional heroes will attend. In addition, half of the top heroes will be present. Even All For One wouldn't be that arrogant."
"I think the same," Nezu said thoughtfully. "All Might-kun, could you give us your opinion? Among all of us, you are the one who knows All For One best."
All Might was in his thin form. There was no longer any need to hide his condition from the other teachers at this point, since even all the students of Class 1-A already knew.
"All For One is someone cautious. For many decades, as far as I know, that man has always existed. The reason he is so unknown is his desire to rule from the shadows. He is a manipulator, a puppeteer. He prefers to control important people rather than stand on stage himself. He is very strategic; he usually acts in advance and only makes a move when he is certain of it."
"No wonder," Aizawa muttered. "Putting the pieces together, this man has faced heroes for a long time... is he an immortal monster?"
"Wait, isn't that strange?" Nemuri frowned. "It's not like this guy killed every hero the first time he saw them. How is it that we didn't know anything?"
"That's because... the Commission kept it a secret."
"Tsk, I knew it..." Nemuri felt displeasure toward the Hero Commission; it was because of them that Allen had to grow up almost hidden from the world.
"As with any organization, there are all kinds of people," All Might said, easing the tension.
"In any case," Nezu continued, "what became clear from All Might's words is that All For One is not someone who would stand on the front lines unless it were part of a well-crafted plan, with the only flaw being his obsession with obtaining the best Quirks."
Vlad crossed his arms. "From what I understand, this guy desires All Might's Quirk and Allen Walker's with the obsession of a bear for honey, isn't that right? Isn't that reason enough to believe he might attack?"
Nezu thought for a moment before shaking his head. "All For One indeed desires Allen's Quirk, but if he were to attempt it, why would he do so during the festival? Besides, Walker-san is not someone who can be compared to other students. Taking his Quirk is not easy—especially not with hundreds of heroes present..."
"That's true," All Might said.
Neither Nezu nor All Might considered that All For One would appear. It made no sense. It wasn't logical. It was risky, flashy—unlike All For One's usual style. And that was precisely why they couldn't react.
....
Back at the stadium, All For One's appearance left Nezu stunned. Meanwhile, the crowd screamed. The audience tried to escape, but the confusion was overwhelming. In several parts of the stadium, conflicts broke out, putting people at risk.
Before confronting the villains, the heroes focused on protecting the innocent civilians, which only served to escalate the chaos.
All For One's mocking laughter left Nezu cursing.
"Damn it! You've outplayed me, All For One!"
Nezu understood. All For One, of course, knew how others perceived him. He knew how Nezu would analyze his personality, and he used that against him. He acted out of character, against his ideals, against his usual way of thinking—and all of it to seize this opportunity.
"The attempt to attack Ochako Uraraka and Toru Hagakure could only have been to lure Allen to the center of the arena, then isolate him from everyone and create an opportunity to steal his Quirk. This wouldn't be possible without someone holding back the heroes!"
Nezu observed as the heroes in the stands were attacked. All Might, Endeavor, and even Kaina, who was not far away, were unable to move after being engaged by that villain.
The lasers that had struck Kaina continued toward the crowd, but fortunately, three heroes stopped the attacks—one with a wall of earth, another with an energy shield, and the last by enlarging his own body.
Nezu sighed in relief that the people were safe, then focused his attention on the man, who easily blocked the attacks of Vlad, Cementoss, and Snipe.
Ectoplasm created many clones with his Quirk and attacked the man. He didn't even look at them; two dragon heads emerged from his feet and devoured Ectoplasm's clones.
"He has multiple Quirks?!" Nezu exclaimed.
"Who are you?!" Kaina said, taking a potion that caused her shoulder to regenerate at high speed.
For the first time, the man's expression changed when he saw this.
"Lady Nagant, what is that?"
"You're not very polite, are you?!" Kaina aimed her rifle and fired. The impact caused a shockwave that threw several heroes back.
At this moment, Kaina didn't have the delicacy to think about others. Even if she were fired from her job, she didn't care. She would eliminate anyone who stood in her way.
"You have formidable offensive power," said the man standing in the sky not far away. "First, I will answer your question. I am Nine, a failed experiment created to replicate All For One's Quirk."
Everyone was shocked by the revelation—and even more so by the man's frankness.
"Of course, unlike him, I cannot store infinite Quirks—only nine... well, that is more than enough to stop you from interfering." Nine's eyes grew colder.
....
"Bastards!"
Mirko also refused to stand by and jumped toward the arena. However, after advancing ten meters, her leg was grabbed midair by a massive arm made of muscle fibers, and she was thrown toward the stands.
People did their best to get out of the way, but it was too late. Fortunately, a humanoid dragon appeared and caught Mirko before she crashed.
It was Ryuko in her dragon form.
"Who dared?!" Mirko shouted while being held by Ryuko.
"Calm down, I understand your feelings, but right now there are many strong villains everywhere!" Ryuko said coldly as she looked toward the sky, where a portal opened by Kurogiri revealed the arm's origin.
"Haha, how wonderful—so many heroes gathered and all ready to be killed!"
The male voice coming from the portal was filled with cruelty, ill intent, and amusement. Soon a muscular blond man with a sadistic expression appeared.
"Muscular!" Ryuko growled.
Unlike Nine, both Wolfram and Muscular were known and extremely dangerous villains.
"I don't give a damn!" Unable to restrain herself any longer, Mirko pushed off Ryuko's draconic body and leapt toward Muscular.
"Haha!" Muscular laughed as he exited the portal toward Mirko, his body covering itself in muscle fibers.
Muscular was a very dangerous and powerful villain known for murdering professional heroes. His Quirk granted him armor of muscle fibers that made him extremely durable and gave him monstrous strength.
He clenched his fist, ready to face Mirko—but he soon regretted it.
Mirko's scarlet eyes flashed as she used one of her legs to receive the punch without difficulty.
"...!" Muscular was surprised, naively thinking Mirko would be easy prey like his previous targets, forgetting that before him stood the number five hero.
"Anyone who dares get in my way right now... will end up in a hospital for the rest of their life!"
Mirko used her other leg to kick Muscular in the abdomen. He spat before being sent flying. Of course, Mirko didn't send him into the stands but into the field between the arena and the seats.
Muscular crashed down, creating an explosion. He was still conscious but out of breath and in pain. Before he had time to react, he saw Mirko descending from the sky.
"What nonsense is that about the Rabbit Hero? This woman is a demon."
Muscular braced himself, but Mirko's kick crushed him against the ground, widening the crater.
"Ah!"
"You like killing heroes?" Mirko said with a terrifying smile as she raised her leg for another monstrous kick. "I like beating villains!"
'This is bad!' Muscular felt his muscle fibers loosening, part of his armor failing.
"Get lost!" Mirko shouted.
"This is stressful..." someone muttered.
Mirko was struck in the side by a giant jet-black arm. She was sent flying into a wall, where she created a massive hole.
"Rumi!" Ryuko shouted, then looked at the suited man emerging from a Kurogiri portal. He had a gloomy gaze, orange hair, and a pointed nose.
"Destro?!" Muscular said in surprise and then anger. "Don't interfere! I was having fun!"
The man looked at Muscular with contempt. "First of all, I am Re-Destro. Second, I'm already extremely stressed having to hold back two top heroes along with hundreds of heroes. Dealing with you stresses me out even more... I see now why I was paired with you."
Mirko shot toward Re-Destro, and Ryuko flew in as well. The pressure from the two top heroines was no joke.
Re-Destro's gaze darkened before he raised both hands and received both of their attacks.
"Fwee~" From behind, Muscular whistled with admiration mixed with a bit of sarcasm.
"Impossible!" Ryuko was surprised and pulled back.
"Tsk!" Mirko clicked her tongue before retreating.
Re-Destro was a villain with the Quirk "Stress." It allowed him to convert his stress into power, which was why, in such a disadvantageous situation, he was far stronger than he would normally be.
"The order is simple—stop the heroes..." Re-Destro said.
Mirko and Ryuko exchanged looks before readying themselves to fight.
"Don't forget about us!"
"We're here!"
"We're heroes!"
At that point, many professional heroes jumped into action. There were so many that, no matter how monstrous the villains present were, they couldn't win.
At that moment, Re-Destro showed a detonator.
"Don't move. We've planted multiple bombs throughout the entire stadium!"
Re-Destro's words froze the atmosphere. How many people were in this stadium? If the bombs exploded, it would be a massacre!
"If you do anything—"
Before Re-Destro could finish, his clothing transformed into a carbon-fiber-like shirt that tightened around his body, including his arm. Immediately, a thread held the detonator in Re-Destro's hand and snatched it away.
"Not so fast!" Best Jeanist appeared to the right, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
"As expected of the number four hero," Re-Destro smiled. "But the bombs also have timers."
The moment those words were spoken, several heroes moved. Multiple detection Quirks activated among them, and in less than five seconds, the locations of dozens of bombs were identified. The fastest heroes rushed to each one and dealt with them.
Some were frozen with ice Quirks, others were disabled with electricity Quirks, and some were carried to Thirteen, who absorbed them with a black hole.
In less than thirty seconds, all the bombs were gone.
"So that was your plan," Muscular mocked.
Far from worried, Re-Destro smiled. "On the contrary, gaining thirty seconds was a great success."
Everyone's eyes widened as another explosion echoed from inside the arena.
"Allen!" Ryuko shouted and tried to fly, but she was attacked by a metal pillar that fell from the sky. Being a dragon, she had no trouble shattering it, then looked up to see Wolfram smiling from above.
At that moment, everyone understood—the target was Allen. Only him. And by this point, he had already been locked inside with All For One for two minutes.
The muscles in Mirko's legs bulged while the ground beneath her feet cracked.
....
Going back in time, two minutes earlier, several things happened in other places.
One of them was in Class 1-A, where everyone was in shock. The fear of seeing All For One overwhelmed them, but unlike the rest of the spectators, having experienced this firsthand before, they were able to move.
"No way!" Momo shouted.
"We have to help Allen!" Itsuka exclaimed.
"Look, it's All Might!" Kaminari shouted.
For a moment, everyone felt relieved—until they saw him get knocked down by a man who looked similar to him.
"Impostor bastard!" Bakugo growled.
All Might got up from the ground and attacked the one who called himself Dark Might. The two clashed fists in midair, ending in a stalemate.
"That man was right!" Dark Might looked at All Might with hatred. "Where is the real All Might?!"
"...?" All Might didn't understand Dark Might's words.
"Don't play dumb. The real All Might wouldn't be this weak. The true Symbol of Peace would have defeated me!"
Dark Might's fist glowed before he struck All Might in the face, but he didn't go flying as Dark Might expected.
"...!"
"It's true, I've weakened..." All Might admitted. "But even if my body breaks, as long as there is blood running through my veins, I will remain All Might!"
All Might's eyes flashed. A look of fear crossed Dark Might's face as he tried to retreat—but he couldn't.
All Might's punch landed squarely, sending him flying until he crashed into Wolfram's metal wall.
This made the students and the crowd cheer. However, Dark Might stood back up and stared silently at All Might.
"I don't understand... my heart tells me you're All Might, but this strength doesn't match the All Might I admired... who are you?" Dark Might said as the space around him began to warp.
In the stands, Deku clenched his fists. He hated letting All Might face these villains alone—especially now that he had One For All.
'I have to do something!—What?!'
Deku immediately felt a terrible headache, the same one he had felt before when he trained against Allen. It was as if it were warning him of danger.
Deku looked around, and then he saw it—Shigaraki's hand discreetly emerging from a Kurogiri portal, aiming to touch Ibara and Shoji, who were the closest.
Deku's eyes narrowed, and for an instant, his limiter disappeared, allowing him to move at All Might's speed.
"No!"
Deku kicked Shigaraki's wrist, sending him flying.
"What?!" Mina shouted.
"What's going on?!" Sero exclaimed.
"It's the guy who hurt Aizawa-sensei!" Momo said with disgust.
Everyone else quickly understood the situation and panicked, remembering that this man could disintegrate things by touch.
"That hurt..." Shigaraki said as he stood up and cracked his neck. "Luckily, I got a bit of an upgrade before coming, or I'd be dead."
Shigaraki smiled. "Kid, don't you know killing is wrong?!"
Deku turned pale. At that moment, he wasn't thinking about Shigaraki's well-being at all—he had just attacked as fast as he could.
"I..."
Shoji placed a hand on Deku's shoulder. "Thank you."
"...?"
"Thank you, Midoriya-kun," Ibara said with a sigh of relief. She felt like she had been saved from a horrible death.
Deku calmed down and faced Shigaraki. "I won't let you hurt anyone!"
"Haha," Shigaraki laughed as his dry eyes narrowed. "Then you'll have to try harder~"
Several portals opened, and multiple Nomu appeared.
"Don't worry, they're not as strong as the anti–All Might version, but they're more than strong enough to kill professional heroes!~" Shigaraki said, enjoying the looks of terror on some of the students' faces.
....
Where Allen was, things were even more catastrophic.
The clash between the two caused massive destruction.
"This is outrageous!" All For One said as he collided with Allen's power. "Do you really have the audacity to protect those girls while fighting me?!"
All For One's power increased, his arm growing even larger. Even so, Allen withstood the force.
"You'll never understand," Allen said as he released even more lightning—yet not a single bolt struck Ochako or Toru. "Nemuri!"
In an instant, Midnight appeared, grabbing both girls and pulling them away from the fight. She wanted to help Allen, but she knew that if she didn't remove them, Allen would be put at a disadvantage.
"Heroes are always so sentimental—always protecting someone, always putting themselves at risk for others," All For One smiled as his other arm transformed into a steel blade, which he used to attack Allen.
Allen caught the metallic blade with one hand and then counterattacked with a surge of lightning that struck All For One's body.
All For One blocked the attack—which had the force of lightning—with a shield and stepped back.
"I've been watching you," All For One said before pointing his hand at Allen and attacking with fingers transformed into black spears lined with red. "I observed which girls you cared about most to lure you to this place~"
Allen swung his axe and shattered All For One's attack.
"It's boring to hear that. If you're just going to talk, then get lost," Allen said with a calm but alert gaze.
All For One spread his arms as the space around him filled with cracks, his body being covered by multiple Quirks.
"This is just beginning, Allen-kun."
His white eyes were devoid of any human mercy, and his smile was nothing more than a contemptuous mockery.
"..." Allen prepared to use the fifth of his cards if necessary.
====
A/N: Muscular with altered perception trying to defeat Mirko 🍷🗿