A/N:
Heya everyone and welcome back!
I kinda broke a part of my spine and almost died...
But hey! Here's a new Oneshot chapter for you guys.
I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a like and/or comment!
Onto the story... (somewhat Cryptid! Izuku... more like sleep-deprived tbh-)
------------
-o-O-o-
It was a day like every other for the widely feared supervillain going by the name of All For One. The man is known as the underground world's mastermind, the monstrous villain that had forced All Might, the number one hero in Japan to retire. He sat silently in his prison cell, tightly chained to the metal contraption the guards called a chair.
Every day it was the same usual routine for him. Wasting away in the heavily armed and reinforced enclosure of quirk-suppressants and whatnot, monitored 24/7 throughout his bland day. And they didn't even let him stand up or walk around for once! Even going as far as not letting him make any calls.
How rude of them.
The only type of entertainment he could enjoy was either listening to the guard's banter or annoying his visitors, which usually just consisted of the blonde oaf or some government investigators. Some time ago he had made it a game of how fast he could make his guests lose their cool. And so far none of them had lasted very long, much to his displeasure, though he hadn't really expected any better from them, much less from that irritable, blood-coughing walking skeleton.
Sadly, there didn't seem to be any new visitors today with which he could distract himself, seeing as All Might had last tried to talk to him two days ago and the detectives and interviewers decided to just not bother trying to get any information out of him anymore. They had already lost quite a few of their workers just from them going crazy after All For One played his mind games during their interview sessions.
Frowning, the supervillain sighed and rummaged through his amassed quirks, which he could still utilize even though the suppressants were intact 24/7. Not that the guards knew about any of that. He could just use search to check up on Tomura's status or stalk the hero-hopeful child soldiers but the man had already done so just a few hours ago. Maybe he could test the limits of some new quirks that he stole? Or think of new "games" for his dear visitors in case they showed up in the near future.
All For One hummed thoughtfully, his infrared quirk combined with a motion-triggered sight quirk alerted him of the machine guns in his cell adjusting their direction on him as he silently leaned back against the cold metal backrest of the hell contraption called a chair. The guns whirred quietly and he could already hear the guards in the observation room freak out about his movement without having to use his enhanced hearing powers.
So he simply grinned, settling that he could just scare the prison guards a bit, and activated his hearing quirks to listen in on what was going on around him, solely to get greeted by deafening silence only interrupted by the occasional shuffle and banging from other prisoners in their nearby cells. But there was no talking between the guards, no hurriedly shouted orders, no nothing.
"Oh?"
This made All For One still, his grin stiffening as he sat up straighter. This was new, unexpected, even. Did they perhaps have some kind of incident? Were they changing shifts? No, that couldn't be it. They had a regulated schedule and even then there should always be a guard to watch over the cameras. He should know, having noted down all of these minor details in his mind the moment he arrived in Tartarus.
Straining his sense of hearing a bit further, the supervillain tried once more, only to be greeted by the same silence. Yet there still was that strange shuffling noise on metal. And it had gotten closer? "How curious... There are mice in the vents?" He thought mutely, tilting his head upwards to gaze up at the bolted-shut ceiling vents.
The soft pounding noises continued for another few minutes, getting louder and clearer the closer it got, only to stop when it appeared to be directly above him. All For One pursed his lips, anticipation building ever so slowly as he waited for the intruder's next move. He had already conducted from his infrared and heat-sensing quirk that it was something bigger than just a simple critter, piquing his interest even further.
After a strained minute of silence, the vent suddenly creaked dangerously, it's metal angling under a newly added weight. A few more loud bangs and curses followed, the bars of the vent bending further and further until-
A green tuft of curls popped out of the ceiling vent, the lid and screws falling onto the hard concrete floor with a loud clatter sound. Wide emerald orbs appeared and stared, blinked once, twice, before a bright, cheery smile stretched over freckled features. "Ah, I finally found you!" The intruder grinned happily as if they had not just broken into one of the most secure jail cells on earth.
All For One could only stare in complete bafflement, almost choking on the air his medical support machines provided him with as the child wormed their way out of the vent. The green-haired boy giggled as he finally dropped down a good 5 meters (about 16 feet) and landed gracefully on the white concrete tiles with a soft click of his shoes.
The boy stood upright, almost bouncing on the spot he had landed on as he excitedly waved at the shocked supervillain. "Hi, Papa!". Standing in front of him was a beaming Midoriya Izuku. His precious son, who had been corrupted by hero society at a young age and later on been led astray by non-other than his rival, All Might.
How on earth-
The supervillain, too stunned to say anything, simply nodded at his smiling child as a greeting. His mind was going a mile a minute, already feeling the incoming existential crisis. But he kept himself together for now and decided to preferably not to lose his mind, skillfully masking his surprise with a sly grin. "Greetings, Midoriya Izuku. It seems that you have finally found out about your heritage and my true identity-".
A wounded gasp interrupted All For One in his monologue, making him freeze up again in confusion. "No, no, no!" Izuku pouted, shaking his head at the villain. "Save it, Papa. I don't have time for this right now". The man did a double-take, his jaw falling open at the frowning teen in front of him. "Did he seriously just-".
A simple, piercing stare of emerald green eyes got the supervillain thrown in for a loop, helplessly observing the teen walking circles up and down in his cell as he proceeded with his chiding. "Honestly, I expected better of you, Papa". Izuku clicked his tongue and pointed at the security cameras in the corner of the holding cell.
On cue a loud beep rang through the cell, signaling that the cameras had seemingly died. If he still had eyes then he'd be sure that they would've popped out by now out of surprise. "This is a fever dream... it has to be. What the fuck. What in the world did he just do?". As if he had read his thoughts, the green-haired hero student grinned. "Oh, I hacked into those things a few minutes ago and made sure that all footage should be deleted!"
"Anygay, uncle Yoichi wrote this for you while I was passed out, I think-". Izuku cleared his throat, coughing dramatically as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his yellow bag. All For One groaned, silently praying for this nightmare to be over already. "Ähem- what's up bitch. It's me. Ya boy. Yoichi". Hisashi choked helplessly while the younger Midoriya continued his reading.
"How's prison treating you, you ballsack-headed hoe? Bet it's more boring than online schooling during Covid. Which is good because fuck you. Now you know what it felt like when I was stuck in that damn vault. Hopefully, you have enough time to think about all your bad life choices, which are you existing in the first place, and hopefully rot in there like the shriveled potato you are".
He could almost hear Yoichi gleefully laughing his ass off at his suffering.
Hisashi felt his thoughts slowly begin to switch off as his son continued to ramble on, too caught up in his existential crisis to pay half a mind to what his dear younger brother had decided to write him. So instead he focused on getting a closer look at the green-haired teen standing in his cell, noting the slightly dirty and ruffled clothes, along with the darker colors and plain mask he chose to disguise himself with. Nothing unusual...
Moving up to his son's face, he noted that it was still somewhat round, reminding the man of when he was still a cute toddler. His freckles were messily dotted around tanned and more refined cheeks, which he had inherited from Hisashi. His big, emerald green eyes glittered in the harsh white lighting of the jail cell and his hair was still as unruly as Hisashi remembered.
Upon a closer inspection, All For One finally noticed the monstrously dark eye bags his son was sporting as the puzzle pieces clicked together. Of course, his son had to somehow inherit his insomnia and crazed episodes when he didn't get enough sleep. And to top it all off he even managed to get the same unquenchable energy his little brother displayed when he fell into one of his rants about action comics after not sleeping for two days straight.
Well, that certainly explained all this madness.
"Son, how are you still awake and going-". Hisashi asked carefully only to flinch back as his son turned his head up so fast he should've gotten whiplash. "No idea! But I'm currently running with the idea that if I keep my body moving and my mind occupied at all times, I will avoid falling into a bottomless pit of despair. Plus I kind of lost count of how many energy drinks and expresso shots I've chugged so far". He enthusiastically chirped, sloppily folding the letter and stuffing it into his backpack.
At least he didn't have to hear any more of Yoichi's god-awful memes about him being locked up in prison and looking like a badly peeled potato. He still needed what remained of his sanity for any upcoming plans, thank you very much.
"Alright then? ...Anyways, you can send Yoichi my... kind regards concerning his letter-". Once again, Izuku cut him off with a quick shake of his head. "Nah, don't have to, uncle Ichi is right here. He can hear you, along with the others. Though they're not very happy about me being here and talking to you, ya know? They've been arguing for a while now. It's getting a bit annoying". The hero student murmured, rubbing his head and messing up his green curls even more than they already were.
Pursing his lips, the supervillain awkwardly deadpanned at his tired son, unsure how to proceed with this situation. Izuku seemed to completely space out for a good minute or two as Hisashi noticed how his son's eyes seemed to lose their focus. Thank god for the plenty of vision and sight-based quirks he had acquired during his years of being blind.
Suddenly the hero student snapped his head up and frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration. Izuku glared at him quizzically, crossing his arms over his chest as Hisashi rose a non-existent brow. "Why'd you go and turned into a supervillain in the first place? You know that usually worsens things unlike trying to help and talk things out".
Well, this is certainly not what he expected-
And so the infamous supervillain sighed, knowing that this would be a long talk, and straightened in his chair. His son blinked blearily at his movements but caught on pretty quickly, slipping down onto the concrete floor tiles and getting comfortable by leaning his head on his hands, expectantly awaiting his father's explanation. Hisashi inhaled deeply before starting at the very beginning of his story.
He told the teen about a darker time, in which those with quirks were shunned and hunted down to be used as specimens for experiments. He lamented about the many deaths, about the corrupted governments, and his uprising as the hero for the unfortunate quirked individuals, who had to suffer under the law and those fearing them for how they were born. Those who wanted them dead for something they couldn't control having.
All the while his son listened silently, not once interrupting him or taking his eyes off of him, even nodding at some parts of the explanation his father bestowed him with. The side of the story, of history he had never gotten to hear before since most of it had either been covered up or been forgotten as time went on. And the hero student seemed to understand, his face morphing into one of both confusion and uncertainty.
"I..." He started slowly, absentmindedly playing with one of his curls as his finger fidgeted around. "I knew that a lot of information about the pre-quirk era must've been skewed or brushed aside, especially the whole government operations. I've read all I could find on various sites and forums on the internet but for it to be that much...? I'm gonna have to start a whole new notebook for this, damn it". Izuku muttered quietly, taping his scarred index on his chin with a thoughtful expression.
His tired green eyes wandered around the prison cell before flitting back to his father's figure, the deep frown not leaving his lips. "Still, why did you use the methods you used? Why did you not try and... Negotiate later on? Or make it better for those that claimed you as their hero? You could've saved hundreds, thousands, even. So why did you not guide them in the right direction you saw and wished to obtain?".
"You know that people can be horrible beings, Izuku. Not everyone wants to be saved or can be saved. And some are just too stuck up with themselves to even consider that there are others around them suffering all the same. Humans are selfish individuals, my emerald. There's no changing that. There will be times when you have to act and leave your words behind". Hisashi reasoned calmly, observing his son's posture relax.
"Well, all these people just need a strong high five! ...in the face". Hisashi furrowed his nonexistent brows, unimpressed. Izuku gazed back before sighing and relented as he heaved himself off of the ground. "With a chair". The supervillain would've rolled his imaginary eyes but couldn't help the playful smile sneaking onto his lips. "That's my son. Now hurry up and get out of here before the guards take notice you broke into their prized prison. I would hate for you to get stuck in a cell as well. Even the vault would be better than this-".
The green-haired teen blinked sleepily, turning back around. "What?" But the restrained supervillain simply shot him an innocent grin, followed by a shrug. "I just said that you should be careful and catch up on some sleep". Izuku eyed his father up and down for a second before sighing and backing down. Clumsily picking up his yellow backpack and swinging it over his shoulders, the teen readied himself for his escape.
But before he jumped back up to the ceiling vent he halted himself, spinning back towards his father's direction as he fumbled with one of his pockets and pulled out a- ...self-made bracelet? "Ah, I almost forgot to give this back to you!". All For One felt like someone had just violently punched him in the gut, recognizing the bracelet almost immediately.
It was the bracelet his son had made for him for his birthday before he left them... A woven band of black and white strings decorated by pearls, tied together by a small red diamond charm Izuku had picked out because his eyes reminded him of it. The teen slinked forward, carefully wrapping the band around the supervillains chained wrist and smiling happily once it was secured.
His heart didn't just clench up. It really didn't, god damn it. And no, he wouldn't be crying if he still had eyes. Absolutely not.
The curly green-haired student nodded, satisfied with his work, and waved at his father as a final goodbye before he launched himself upwards, somehow managing to stick to the walls and scale them with ease. Hisashi didn't even bother questioning his son's spiderman abilities as he silently watched him disappear into the vent, putting back on the metal lid and merging with the shadows.
He listened for the thumping until he couldn't hear it anymore with his enhanced-hearing quirks, grinning as he fondly shook his head.
Now, when would the guards finally realize they had a break-in?
.
.
.
Omake:
(Early in the morning on a Friday at around 9 am)
All Might: Young Midoriya- where were you all night?! Your classmates alerted us that you weren't in your room this morning! Or to be found anywhere on campus!
Izuku, who just woke up on one of the couches in the dorm's common room: Aeh- Huh? Wha? Where am I? Whomest areth you-
Aizawa: Problem Child, I swear to god- (He sighs as he rubs his temples in hopes of somehow getting rid of the pounding migraine). How did you even manage to sneak past the security cameras and motion sensors without setting off the alarm?
Izuku: I did what now? Wait- why am I in the lounge? I thought I had fallen asleep at my desk.
Aizawa: (groans, glaring down at the confused green-haired student) That's what we'd like to know. Now come on and take your backpack so we can figure this out and-
(The raven-haired teacher's phone suddenly rings, the cheery tune of Present Mic's radio show intro interrupting him)
Aizawa: Oh for the love of god- (checks caller)
Aizawa: Fucking son of a bitch.
(Both Izuku and All Might silently gasp at the Underground Pro's colorful choice of words while Aizawa unwillingly accepts the call)
Nedzu: Greetings and good morning, Aizawa-kun! I see you and Yagi have already started the interrogation.
Aizawa, who had never looked more dead before: ...Yes, we have. I was about to bring him over to continue the questioning.
Nedzu: Good, good. Well, a few minutes ago I got a distress call from a certain high-security prison here in Japan...
(Yagi blanches dangerously as Izuku stiffens. Aizawa seems to be contemplating if he should just bash his head through a wall now or later)
Aizawa: Ah, I see... We'll escort him over immediately. (He ends the call before Nedzu can respond and slowly turns to the profusely sweating hero student)
Aizawa: God damn it, Problem Child...!
Izuku: I'm sorry?!
.
.
.
(Meanwhile, in the principal's office)
Nedzu: How peculiar, truly. (The furry mammal grinned, rewinding the CCTV footage he had dug up "illegally" and been sent)
Nedzu: It seems like I'll have to indulge myself to witness just how much my student's Problem Child is capable of. (He cackles and pauses the footage, almost spilling his jasmine tea as his beady black eyes took in the image of a half-conscious Midoriya Izuku dragging himself out of Tartarus)
Nedzu: I cannot wait to pick his brain apart...! Let's see what makes you tick, Midoriya Izuku.
.
.
.
(A few hours later, in Tartarus)
All Might: Y O U
All For One: Ah- Should've probably expected this...
.
----------
A/N:
And we're done with this Oneshot.
I hope you enjoyed it! If you did then feel free to leave a like and/or comment!
Sorry that the updates are so spaced out. Dealing with a broken spine and my crippling mental health at the same time is rather... tiring.
Welp, cya in the next one! And happy New Year, everyone :)
.
Word Count: 3284
Next up: 17 - "Little Nestling" (Wings! AU)
My Playlist (which I shuffle through while writing): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5lc5nWzR4MzMXpzLGLmOPU
.
08.01.2023