Flames of Hope

Chapter 84-

"Oh yes. I've done this plenty of times! You see, my father was a higher up in the Hero Commission, so he had certain... hmm... protection." The man gleefully tattled.

"Protection which extended to me! So I went into the underworld and practised my skills first hand with the people down there. Don't make that face, nobody cares they're gone. If it was a girl..." The man playfully let his statement hang, the implication there.

"Oh I had fun with them before I practised"

At that, Toshinori spewed his meagre meal up; what monster did that to someone?

It was that dark confession that caused Toshinori to dissociate completely. After all, finding out that the Hero system had failed so terribly that this man could walk free without any punishment would have, especially knowing he had fought for the system that allowed this man to work freely.

"Look what has become of you, All Might. But a shell of the hero you once were. Are you even here any more?"

Toshinori knew that voice. It whispered in his nightmares, it hounded his waking dreams, it echoed through his cells and Toshinori woke up for the first time in many days.

"All... For... One..."

At that point, Toshinori quite literally had no strength left; it was all being used to try and keep his body functioning. Speaking was irrelevant after all, if you were dead.

"So you are here. How quaint. For a moment, I thought my friend had truly broken you. Lucky for me, I suppose, that you are still as stubborn as ever."

Unable to shoot back, Toshinori simply glared at his captor, blue eyes blazing with a faded power. A power that was once a marble pillar of power, now a crumbling sandstone pillar in a storm, trying to withstand and hold against the worst odds imaginable.

Ignoring the glare, All for One pressed on, his tongue dripping with disdain.

"Your little successor managed to escape Japan. Annoying, I know. But I have the perfect little plan to draw him back."

At this, All for One grinned down at Toshinori, a dark foreboding trailed up Toshinori's spine at the sinister grin.

"I don't have his family, but I do have his 'mentor' or 'third' father or whatever. You. And his boyfriend. But he is for the finale." All for One added on, like an afterthought.

Like this was a game...

"You will be the lure, the key. All for One and One for All, finally together, thanks to you." Theatrically, All for One held his arms up, as he grinned manically.

"It will be you, Number 8, to end One for All. You brought a child into this war. And I will use that childish, naive boy and his ambition for a family he lacked to take what is mine." Holding a hand out, he smiled gently, so out of place on that face.