Last week...
Tartarus Prison.

"All Might, please, you can't just..."

"I must" the retired hero stated as he kept walking and ignoring the guards' warnings. He was too furious and regular citizens respected him too much to get in his way to confront a villain. "This is an emergency and I must see him. I already told Mayor Nezu."

Technically he didn't get the Mayor's explicit permission to be there since he hung the phone before he could reply, but time was of the essence.

The big cell All Might looked for wouldn't be found in any prison around the world. It was made to keep a very specific man on its inside. That one man the legendary All Might learned to hate a long time ago.

"Here you are" the disfigured intern's voice was like pure evil in amusement. "It's been long since your last visit..."

His visitor's semblance was a mess of emotions that included rage, confusion and worry. And of course, there was the frustration of remembering that he wouldn't be even a shadow of what he once was in the presence of All For One.

"I might be over a century but you... you look terrible, you know?" the villain among villains taunted with a teethed grin. "And to think you come from your dearly pupil's wedding. I must say the press was right: it was indeed the event of the year..."

"Don't bother, All For One: at this moment I couldn't be more furious. I want answers and I want them now" the crystal between the two men was thick and bulletproof, but All Might looled like he was willing to break it with his bare hand and grab his nemesis by the neck even without One For All. "Where are they all and what are you planning this time?"

"Well you won't believe I have something to do with that fiasco, will you?" All For One answered. "I haven't moved from here in quite a while."

"The League of Villains attacks the UA, takes David Shield and a child with them, beside two of my old students, sends Endeavor and other heroes to the hospital... and you expect me to believe you didn't plan this?" All Might was on his feet, almost hitting the glass with his forehead. Only when he was done with the question he realized how loud he must be talking and sat down.

On the other hand, the man immobilized from heads to toes inside the cell looked quite the opposite, for someone whose face was half missing. He visibly enjoyed his visitor's feeling.

"In case you have forgotten" he finally said. "Tomura has been the leader of the League for years, much like Deku has been the closest thing to you the citizens have had this decade. How fast do our children grow up, don't you think?"

"He is nothing yours" All Might replied in anger. "No matter how lost he's been, he's still Nana's grandchild."

"All these years and you still don't get it..."

"No" All Might kept pushing. "It is you who doesn't get that he is so full of hatred and has become so strong that he can't be controlled anymore. Not even by you. More than that, he's probably the smartest active villain today. It's just a matter of time he comes to realize how far you have manipulated him and start to..."

"Hate me, maybe?" All For One made his guess. "You still keep saying I am a monster who turned an unfortunated boy into a bringer of destruction and acting like you cared about him? All the power you once held, all the battles you won, all the merchandising wearing your face, and all the children cheering your name... won't change the fact you are as pitiful as Shimura was."

"Don't you dare..."

"Oh I dare. Because it's the truth" only the most evil man in Japan could be so menacing even tied and encaged. "She said she left her family behind to protect them and the world, and yet at the end of the day she wasn't able to save herself. And Tomura was the ultimate victim of your hero's irresponsibility. When I found him, he was a tormented boy destined to be rejected by the society his grandmother created. I gave him shelter, I gave him guidance, I gave him a new name, and I gave him a purpose in life. Where were you while all that happened? Signing autographs and smiling to the camera?"

"I didn't even know he existed!" All Might didn't care about alerting the guards anymore.

"Of course you didn't" All For One remained in his sinister calm. "She never told you. Why would she? Nana Shimura wanted to be a hero and one day she met a young student who shared her dream. A student she treated more like a son than the one she abandoned. What would she want him for, now she had you, as the perfect replacement for her former family?"

"Shut up..."

"Tomura used to admire heroes, like every child. But his father grew up fully resentful towards his grandmother and heroes, and it would be him who would take the beatings due to that hatred. Then when his Decay manifested and the Shimura family tragedy ocurred, he was alone and ignored. Then he learned the empty lies behind the sweet dream brought by heroes, and as his hatred grew up, I teached him to shape it and give it the best use."

"Use?" All Might was almost breathless. "You are the one who is using him..."

"I told you before. He is the leader of the League now, and he is the one who had made it what it used to be. My pupil is ready to unleash all the potential his hatred has made him worth of. Sure, as usual, I have my influence and my means to know what is going on, but... that attack on the UA, the thing with American mobs, the kidnapping... all that he has done by himself, not on my command."

All Might tasted the bitterness of impotence from his position. After all those years, the fire in his heart and his wisdom was everything that remained of the hero he once was. Now he was an old UA teacher that wouldn't be a bigger threat than an ant in the way of that lord of terror.

"Aren't you tired of always using me as an excuse, little Toshinori? I might have taken that creature of pure chaos under my wing, but I didn't create him at all. Everything I did was to help him get on his feet and face the harsh truth of his past" All For One wouldn't always need one of his multiple Quirks to make people suffer. "When it comes to Tomura's hatred it will always come back to you and your teacher. Because you stole the love and care Nana Shimura should have given to his son instead of you. And once that was taken from him, that man was unable to give that to his own son. How does it make you feel that your mother figure and you were the reason Tomura Shigaraki is the one destined to bring the hero society to its end?"

All Might needed a moment to recover his breath. There wasn't a day when he didn't think of it. He had had a lot of time for it since he retired and as Deku kept growing up and relying on his own skills.

"There was a time when I really felt guilty for it" the truth was his only weapon to fight back the truth. "I never wanted anyone to suffer as I followed my path as a hero, and I know Nana didn't either. The more I saw young Shimura doing evil the more I felt like I didn't deserve the glory I enjoyed and the name the people gave me. But there was one person to save me from my own remorse."

All For One was listening with interest. His reaction wasn't the one he expected.

"At first I wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea of my successor having a formal relationship, even with another hero. I would never consider my mentor as a bad person, but like you said, I felt the living responsible for your pupil's sins. And I didn't want Deku to face the same decision Nana had to, and that made us have some argument and put some distance for a while. But as I watched young Tenko become the villain he is today, I also watched Deku and Uravity become the heroes and power couple they are today. And I found out what made them so different."

"Oh, please, tell me you are not going to say what I think..." All For One snorted.

All Might ignored him and went on. Quirks had no role to play in some important battles.

"The young Izuku had a hard upbringing and worked harder than anyone to become worthy of the power he holds. But more than that, even when he was rejected or ridiculed by the majority, he always managed to see the good in people... because that's how he is and that is how his mother raised him, practically by herself. He told me that. And that is how I learned from my pupil what I had forgotten, and I became a stronger supporter of his new blossoming relationship to this day."

"Here it comes..." All For One failed to provoke him one more time.

"I've never been a parent, like Nana was, so I can't talk of her decision on leaving her family behind. But I knew her way better than you and I know she loved her son and did what she considered best for him, like Mrs Midoriya always has done for his" All Might would never doubt it.

"We have fulfilled our duties as master and pupil respectively. His competence is as tough as it could be, but I have never stopped studying his progress: Deku has the heart, the vision, and has become more powerful than he's aware of. And he remains as humble as ever: always saying he wouldn't have entered the UA and become a real hero without the support of his mother and friends, the lessons from his teachers, and his admiration for his idol. Heroes aren't made by Quirks or costumes or even schools, but by attachments and our determination to protect them. And nobody personifies that better than Deku."

All Might kept her blue eyes on the lord of evil. It was his time to strike.

"Tenko on the other hand received nothing of that. It's hard enough for a child not feeling loved, but not being able to love must be another level of hell. You took care of it, didn't you?" All Might knew that was the ultimate act of cruelty towards Nana Shimura. "You fed the hatred and resent in his heart and made sure he felt nothing more than that and loyalty to you."

"I fulfilled my role as a mentor too" All For One was euphoric. "Look how far he's reached, still so young. Oh, and I have done countless of horrible things to heroes, but I tip my hat to Tomura for ruining his nemesis' wedding. That must be glorious..."

"Don't you see it?" All Might got on his feet again. "He is out of control. He doesn't follow your orders anymore because he wants an empire of his own and knows how you have used him. And if he wins, he will come after you too!"

"My, my, I'm so flattered"  All For One's evil grin returned. "But since you still don't understand, I'd like to reply to your previous statement: yes, I have been poisoning Tomura's soul and using him for most of his life. And not only he knows that, but I want him to know it... and come to face me when he's ready."

"What...?" All Might felt as groggy as a boxer who was caught unguarded.

"I raised him and gave him everything he needs to become the new face of terror. But I have been the face of terror for a hundred years, and I won't get off my throne with ease. I taught him how this works myself: there is only place for one on the top of the mountain, and if he wants it he'll have to take it by force."

"You would kill your own disciple?" even for the most evil man in Japan, that shocked All Might for good.

"It is all about power, All Might, like it's always been. If he finishes me, I'll leave happily knowing I gave the world a new and even greater horror to dominate it; a man of the blood and flesh of the same woman who vowed to stop me. If not... well, it will be a shame for him, after all these years of work. But as you know I am a patient man, and I'll live more years to find a new candidate. Of course, he has plenty of heroes to eliminate before that. And I know he'll have something big and special reserved only for Izuku Midoriya" despite being behind the glass, the villain emanated an aura of absolute darkness. "Don't worry: you're unlikely to live long enough to see the result."

Despite the shivers and his frozen blood, All Might came back to his senses. If there was no answer to get from All For One, he wouldn't stay there for long.

"I don't know how longer I will live. But when I retired I committed to help Deku in everything I could, even at the expense of my own life" he declared. "He's young, but he's already a better hero than me and our predecessors. If someone can stop Tomura Shigaraki and give this lost child a chance to save himself and go back to be Tenko Shimura.. it is him. And I promise you, All For One: you will live long enough to see that."

"You definitely have no remedy, do you?" All For One asked. "Age and work are making you no good, Symbol of Peace. Perhaps it's time you put a woman in your life."

"You're not the first who tells me that..." All Might muttered without interest. He was already leaving. There was work to do and he had discovered nothing yet, but that talk had been pretty cathartic.

"Now I think of it... you get on particularly well with the Midoriya family, don't you?"

All Might froze right where he was. Suddenly it was like that sensation of catharsis never occurred.

"Can't say I am surprised of your good terms with Mrs Midoriya. For what I have heard, that boy must love you and his mother like you loved Nana Shimura. If only people could be protected by love..."

The retired hero shouldn't have looked back, but he did, and for one instance he didn't saw the disfigured and half faceless head of All For One, but the vile expression of that man during his mentor's last stand.

"All Might?" the lieutenant brought him back to Earth. "I'm sorry, but it is time. We have work to do here. And you have a call from the Mayor."

All Might didn't answer to the guard and got out of the place almost on the run. When he picked the phone, he didn't hardly let Mayor Nezu start with the questions.

"No, I am going to go ahead with the plan. I'll join Mirio and Melissa and will meet the League on the military ship.  And yes, I know we have all active heroes working, but until I return, please make sure Inko Midoriya lacks no protection..."

End of chapter 36.

Short chapter and it was all a flashback, but I had to introduce All For One somewhere, even if he is not the main antagonist in this story. And I have been feeling like writing about All Might's inner struggle on his mentor's grandchild being a villain and hating him because of his past and blah blah, you know the rest.

No, I am not making up yet another subplot, this is some character development and motivation I consider relevant.

Like Horikoshi, most of us are Star Wars fans and we know the first and only reality of the Sith:

"Always two there are: the master and the apprentice."

ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT! I WANTED TO WRITE MORE BUT THIS TALK AT THE PRISON WAS LONGER THAN I EXPECTED! AND I KNOW IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH BUT HELL I AM NOT ON VACATION YET (and I'll have few days, actually...) 😭😭😭

Writing and drawing as much as I can shall be the closest thing to a Christmas gift I can give you, Watties, but I'll do my best (I thought of something for the climax of the story I hope you like as much as me😱).

Mama Inko... please stay safe from the crazy imagination of this mean writer... :(

You stay safe too, Watties! I mean it, it won't take me another month to update this time.

See you in a few days!