CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Skeptic observed, detached and analytical, as the conversation at the Hayami estate unfolded on his monitors. On one screen, the target's brother—visibly distressed—rose abruptly and began rummaging through his wardrobe.
'What a needlessly pointless existence,' Tomoyasu mused, already bored, as he switched feeds to another channel. This one displayed the room of Rio Hayami.
Now he was interesting.
When the boy wasn't out at school or visiting friends, he spent most of his time indoors... reading, of all things. A rare and antiquated habit. The younger generation was depressingly deficient in intellectual curiosity; it made Skeptic's stomach churn. The leader's judgment, as always, proved immaculate.
Then, movement on the previous feed caught his eye. "Oh? What's this?" he murmured, toggling back.
Takeru Hayami was packing. A mini suitcase, barely large enough to fit essentials. He methodically placed a few small items inside—an old stuffed toy, an action figure, and a couple of hard drives. Useless trinkets, likely sentimental.
Skeptic leaned in slightly as Takeru tore a page from a binder and scribbled on it with urgency. Once finished, he folded the note, sealed it in an envelope, and laid it gently on the bed.
Running away, then.
Pathetic. One failure, and the boy crumbled. How predictable. The quirkless represented the weakest evolutionary branch of the human genome. Their fragility offended him.
Still, this development was at least mildly interesting. Until now, his weekly reports to the leader had contained nothing of substance. Adolescent drama was tedious by nature. But this—this might warrant Re-Destro's attention.
Re-destro sat at the head of the conference table as he nodded smiling while the rest of the board argued incessantly. His stress was rising constantly and he was half the mind to squish every greedy bumbling fool in this room to paste but he held himself back.
A small beep from his wrist watch caught his attention and everyone else in the rooms attention as Rikiya Yotsubashi CEO of Detenrat rose to his feet. "I'm sorry to cut this little meeting short but I have more urgent matters to attend to." Rikiya smiled as he adjusted his crisp green tie.
"But sir we haven't settled our quarterly projections and you—" A bespectacled bald old man said impatiently as he turned to Rikiya.
Rikiya for his part didn't change his expression. Still wearing a benign smile he turned to the man "That can wait for later. Like I said I have an urgent matter to attend to." The man shuddered at that smile. It was deceptively warm but he felt the cold threat in those words 'keep bothering me and I'll destroy you'. He turned to the other shareholders in the meeting for support but saw them all looking down as if whatever rested on their laps were very important.
Re-destro's eye's turned cold and with a sigh he stepped out of the conference room. Tapping on his watch a small projected hologram of Curious came alive on the display. "Talk… now!" Re-destro was already so annoyed that black spots started appearing on his face.
Skeptic for his part didn't seem bothered by the display. His leader's quirk made him more prone to mental stress than the average person. The fact that he was able to maintain double identities and manage such an empire spoke volumes of the strength of his character.
"There's been an interesting development with your little pet project." Skeptic replied as he forwarded a file on the details of what occurred. He even sent a recording of the surveillance footage just in case.
Re-destro lifted an eyebrow at that statement as he browsed through the files. The more he read through them the more he contemplated, the more he contemplated dthe brighter the smile on his face grew.
"Good work Skeptic. All the pieces are falling into place. All we need is a catalyst to set the pieces straight." Skeptic nodded in response. Even though he didn't know what Plan his leader had cooked up he trusted that an intricate plan to ensnare the boy had just been plotted.
"Should I take any further action?" Skeptic asked as he watched new footage of the boy getting into an airport.
"Don't interfere; make sure he's able to get to wherever he wants to." Re-destro added as he readied himself to return to the meeting room.
Skeptic nodded, expression sharpening as he pulled up the data. "He's using a forged ID, booked the next flight out of the country. The forgery is decent, but customs will flag it."
"I trust airport security won't pose a problem for you."
Skeptic scoffed, affronted by the question. "Those amateurs? Their backend looks like it was coded by toddlers. I'll make sure their entire system believes his papers were signed by the Prime Minister himself."
"Excellent. I look forward to the good news," Re-Destro said before ending the call.
He chuckled to himself as he took brisk steps towards the meeting room. "Hero society fails another one…" he muttered, a gleam in his eye.
Let the boy go. Let him wander. When he searched to no avail to find his brother, he would fall into despair. Despair led to anger. Anger had always been a fine seasoning for conviction.
Meanwhile, in the middle of nowhere
"He's run away from home," Kurogiri stated as he stood behind his master.
The dark lord. The self-proclaimed demon king. The man who had plunged Japan into an era of darkness for over a hundred years… The one and only villain: All For One.
"Hmmm, I see. And which boy is that? Is it Endeavor's son?" the dark lord asked as he sat upon his throne, bored, trying to set a Rubik's cube.
"Unfortunately, Toya Todoroki is still at large. I'm talking about the young one. O'Clock's apprentice," Kurogiri stated as his head billowed like mist.
"Ah, sorry, sorry… truly, my age is catching up to me. I'm already so forgetful," All For One apologized, still seated on his throne, still playing with the Rubik's cube, and speaking in a tone so monotone no one would doubt that he didn't give a shit. "Oh? And why are you still watching him? I already acquired Overclock for Number Six, didn't I?"
"You never told me to halt surveillance," Kurogiri bluntly said.
All For One tilted his head, amusement curling at the edges of his mouth. "Ah, it seems my memory truly is failing me."
He then dropped the Rubik's cube, and the item hovered slowly before him. He chuckled. "But if I recall, Dr. Garaki has already started preliminary trials on cloning quirks. Promising results, too. There's no need to chase an inferior version of 'Overclock'."
"It's not the boy himself. It's his older brother," Kurogiri added, correcting his master's mistake.
"Does he have an interesting quirk? I'm quite curious," AFO added as he swiveled his seat to now face Kurogiri.
"According to my sources, he is quirkless," Kurogiri stated simply, to which All For One rolled his eyes and willed the Rubik's cube back into his hand.
"Then he is even more unimportant to me," All For One stated, clearly done with this conversation.
"Do you think the boy's quirk is inferior?" Kurogiri asked. Now, it was rare for Kurogiri to question his decisions, so All For One decided to humor him this time.
"I saw the boy's hospital report from when he awakened. 'Speed Force' is what he calls it. It's fast, no doubt. Fast enough to let a child compete with an adult hero in speed—someone like O'Clock."
Kurogiri was about to ask why, then, his master was dismissing the quirk.
"However—its use leads to muscle degradation, extreme dehydration. Now that's not very convenient. I don't need something that puts so much strain on my body. I have enough of those already."
"Still, I imagine there could be someone in your employ that could put it to better use," Kurogiri asked.
All For One chuckled at that question. It was good that Kurogiri had ideas of his own. He feared that the procedure done on him had made him lose autonomy. It seemed like the doctor was as reliable as always.
"Yes. It is safe to assume that I have such people at my disposal and could take it anytime soon." All For One sighed as if he found the matter pitiful. "He's been monitored by the Meta Liberation Front. I still have dealings with them for now. I find it best not to antagonize them by stealing their prey."
Kurogiri was quite surprised. As far as he was aware, his master was the second strongest being alive, even with his life-threatening injuries (A/N: Cap. Star and Stripes would wipe the floor with injured AFO). To think he would be wary of another was unexpected.
As if sensing his thoughts, All For One chuckled in amusement. "I understand your skepticism, but they have their use. It's an ancient organization, after all." All For One started to reminisce.
"In their heyday, they had comparable notoriety to me. Their founder in particular, Destro, had managed to amass such a strong following in a few years that he challenged the government. A real war of ideals." All For One laughed at the statement. "Foolish ideals. Just the ravings of a power-hungry man who believed his quirk would be powerful enough to make him a king in the new world he envisioned." All For One tutted as he shook his head.
"So where is this Destro now?" Kurogiri asked curiously. He sounded quite impressive.
"HAHA, funny. Sometimes I forget you're practically a newborn. Your previous incarnation wasn't quite bright either."
"When quirks first appeared, chaos ensued. People who were quirkless inflicted violence on those who had quirks, calling them strange, evil, or monsters. They were hunted down, maimed, raped, and killed," All For One narrated with a faint look of nostalgia on his face.
"Back then, people had to hide the fact they were quirkless from others. It was the only way to stay safe and live a normal life. Some disliked the idea, though. They wanted to use their quirks freely."
"Maim who they wanted."
"Eat whoever and do as their heart pleases."
"At their helm was Destro. The son of the woman who would term the word 'quirk' for these strange new powers. He amassed an army of those who shared those same ideals and challenged this country's government."
Kurogiri didn't bother asking how that ended. The fact that they lived in a hero-centered society was answer enough.
"He failed though. Miserably at that. His army disbanded and fled like rats. He was cuffed and chained, imprisoned by the mundane army." All For One laughed at that last part. Someone who was considered his equal facing such a pathetic end.
"And worse still," All For One said, his face scrunched up in disgust, "committed suicide and died in his cell like a bug."
After all, not everyone was cut out to be a demon king. He would be the only evil that endures throughout history.
"The Paranormal Liberation Army is the successor of those ideals. Helmed by the failure's whelp himself. I need them to supply me some rare materials, items, and financial support. Till they've outlived their usefulness, I'll indulge their petty wishes."
Silence stretched between them before he finally waved a hand.
"Pull back for now. I have plans for the Paranormal Liberation Army. No need to antagonize them yet by stealing their new pet project."
"Yes, Sensei," Kurogiri said with a bow before vanishing into the mist.
Author's note: Its crazy how AFO is immortal. Like in another two hundred years does he start speaking in idioms like "Toad lusting after swan meat" and "Have eyes but cannot see mount tai". Also new order is the strongest quirk in MHA. No one should contest me on this. I wanted to insert my Patreon link but I'm too ashamed since there aren't any advanced chapters up.