In an instant, the "Mustard" mask melted away, revealing Himiko's beautiful yet undeniably deranged face, a sight that sent a shockwave of realization through the gathered villains. They had been played from the very start. And to add insult to injury, armed with nothing but the dagger I had given her mere hours ago, Himiko proceeded to make life miserable for that bunch - even landing a solid stab to Cupid's thigh - in the blink of an eye.
That was the good news. The bad news? It was painfully short-lived. The moment she grasped the situation, Vault, that black-haired girl, pulled a katana directly out of her own body as if retrieving it from a locker, and alongside Spinner, began to steadily overpower Himiko with that very blade, even though it looked like the three of them were in a tug-of-war straight out of a Bruce Lee movie...
This wasn't good. Not at all. I had to do something...
Without a second of hesitation, I raised my gun, aiming directly at Vault - the wretched woman who had been trying to skewer Himiko this entire time. Just one pull of the trigger, and everything would be back on track.
But I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Magne. In the confined space of this tiny bar, her "Magnetism" Quirk was an overwhelming advantage. She polarized me to the south, then abruptly yanked me straight into her massive magnet, slamming into me with a force that left me dazed. Transforming my body into a tungsten-titanium alloy only kept me from being crushed into paste; the concussive force of the impact was still very much there, and it hurt like absolute hell since I had zero shock absorption. That single blow was enough to leave me - already far from my best - floored and helpless.
"Fuck..."
I groaned, the metallic taste of blood rising in my throat. The world spun before my eyes like a broken kaleidoscope. That damn magnet hitting me felt like getting T-boned by a truck at full speed. If not for my reflex transformation, I would have been reduced to a pile of gore inside a school uniform...
And over on Himiko's side, things were infinitely worse.
With Twice joining the fray, despite her superior Tantōjutsu and monster-like fighting spirit, the sheer numbers game eventually overwhelmed her. She was subdued in an extremely unsightly position: her right arm and part of her body were somehow being held and "inserted" inside Vault's body, as if that bitch's Quirk was literally a storage unit.
Honestly, seeing them locked together in such an intimate-looking pose would have inevitably reminded me of a billion My Hero Academia doujinshi on R34 if this were a normal situation. But in this "between a rock and a hard place" scenario, it was incredibly disturbing. Not to mention, associating the image of the person I love scissoring with another girl just pissed me off.
"Let her go, you bitch!"
I roared, trying to force myself up despite the splitting headache pounding against my skull. But Magne wasn't about to let me be. She sneered, raising that giant magnet high, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.
"Worry about your own pathetic life, brat!"
The dark shadow of the magnet eclipsed my vision. I knew if I took another hit like that to the head, even if I turned into diamond, my brain would be turned to mush. And hoping for a miracle in this situation was basically impossible for me or Himiko, because ultimately, plot armor is reserved for the protagonist.
Or maybe I was wrong.
The moment that magnet was inches from crushing my skull, a thick, viscous, and foul-smelling black liquid suddenly erupted from my mouth. The fluid poured out, enveloping my body rapidly as if it possessed a will of its own.
And it seemed everyone in the room, from Tomura gasping for air a few steps away to Dabi and Mr. Compress in the back, was experiencing the same thing. Probably everyone except Himiko, though she couldn't avoid being covered by the same liquid spewing continuously from Vault's mouth.
Above all, this wasn't anyone else's Quirk. It was his...
...
The moment the surroundings shifted, I realized just how fucked my situation truly was.
The "Warping" Quirk can transport something if and ONLY IF the target is someone he knows well enough, or someone at least standing near someone he knows well enough. The fact that I was warped here was proof enough of just how thoroughly my information had been compromised...
And this space. It looked like the inside of a warehouse.
The smell of mold, asbestos fibers or dust dancing in the moonlight filtering through massive holes in the roof, the patches of wet and dry floor from the sudden rain earlier, and the terrifying silence all painted a clear picture of just how desolate this place was. Not far away, dozens of Nomu were still resting in their tanks, staring out with lifeless eyes, their exposed brains pulsating as if mocking my pathetic state.
"Ugh..."
The sound of dry heaving right next to me snapped me back to reality. It was Himiko.
From that same pitch-black liquid, Vault - that bitch with a Quirk like a defective version of Doraemon's pocket -had "spat" Himiko out. She sprawled onto the cold concrete floor, covered in that slimy, foul-smelling fluid, looking just as battered as I was. Next to her, Bakugo, still tied to the chair but now fully awake, was trying to say something but couldn't get a word out past the bright red gag blocking his mouth.
"Himiko!"
I tried to drag my battered body toward her, ignoring the agony from Magne's blow that was still tormenting every muscle fiber. But before I could even touch her hand, an invisible pressure -heavy, dark, and suffocating, thousands of times more intense than Guren or anyone I had ever met -suddenly descended, crushing the space around us until the air itself felt thick and solid.
From the deep darkness at the end of the warehouse, slow footsteps echoed, accompanied by the rhythmic hissing of a life-support mask -sounding exactly like Darth Vader's breathing, but carrying a chilling sensation like the breath of death itself. Walking beside him was a short, portly bald man dressed like a doctor, trailing him as if he were a personal assistant.
"Tomura... You've failed again, boy. Doctor, take him to get treated."
A deep voice, distorted by the filtration device but still exuding absolute authority, rang out. A tall man, dressed in a pristine black suit, but his head was nothing more than an industrial mask filled with tubes.
All For One.
The feeling of facing this "Final Boss" was... truly indescribable. If Guren was a fierce tiger, or Aizawa a hunting cheetah, then the entity standing before me was a T-Rex...no, a walking natural disaster. Fear seeped into every cell, my survival instinct screaming at me to run, to hide, but my feet were rooted to the ground as if set in concrete.
He glided past the bewildered villains, his gaze - or whatever he used to see - passing over Shigaraki, who was being hurriedly carted away by the doctor because I had blown his liver to bits, before stopping on me.
"Oh? How interesting..."
He stepped closer. Every footfall felt like he was stomping on the meager hope of survival left in my mind. Himiko tried to lunge at him, but with a mere flick of his hand, an invisible shockwave blasted her away, slamming her hard against the wall, knocking her unconscious.
"HIMIKO!!!" I screamed, reaching for my gun only to realize it was long gone.
"Do not worry, the girl is still alive," All For One said, his tone as casual as if discussing the weather. He leaned down, that hideous mask inches from my face. "But you... Onodera Ryuga. It seems you don't have much longer to live either."
This statement seemed to deal a massive blow to Bakugo, causing the brat to struggle violently, though he could do nothing but sit helplessly in the chair binding him.
All For One suddenly placed a large, cold hand gently on my forehead.
"Your body is collapsing. Your Quirk is too powerful for this frail vessel. You are bleeding from the inside, cells dying every time you use your power. at this rate... you won't live past this winter."
His words were like a bucket of ice water thrown in my face, exposing the naked truth I had always tried to ignore. Recovery Girl had said it, the doctor on I-Island had reported it, I knew it, but hearing it from the man who possessed thousands of Quirks carried a terrifying weight of its own.
"So what? What the fuck does that have to do with you?" I gritted my teeth, trying to hold onto the last shred of my dignity.
"I can save you," He said, his voice becoming seductive like the serpent in Eden. "I can grant you the power to sustain life, knowledge, even absolute authority to protect your little girlfriend and that bound boy over there, and to realize your wild ambitions. In return... you simply need to become my friend. Someone I can trust."
Standing before this man, lying was an impossibility. The last time I met him, everything I said was hardly a lie, more like a delay, but in this situation, that was no longer an option.
Seeing my hesitation, he suddenly walked straight over to Bakugo, placed a hand on his forehead, and began to threaten:
"Choose. Either this boy and then that girl lose their Quirks forever, or you come under my wing, Onodera. I do not wish to ask a second time."
He wasn't bluffing. Red energy tendrils began to emanate from him, and with that sign, it would only be a moment before Bakugo truly lost his Quirk.
"Fine!!! Stop it right now, I agree!" I screamed with every ounce of desperate strength I had left. "As long as those two are safe, I'm ready to follow you!"
"Would have been less of a hassle if you agreed from the start..." All For One stopped his Quirk, walked back towards me, and squatted down. "Very good. A wise decision."
He reached out, his long, pale fingers placing themselves on my head. There was no gentleness, only absolute possession.
"GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
I screamed, the sound tearing through my throat, echoing through the empty warehouse, mingling with the humming of the life-support machines for the Nomu. It was unlike any pain I had ever experienced. Not like breaking a bone or being shot. This felt like someone was prying my skull open, pouring molten acid into every fold of my brain, while simultaneously dissecting every cell with a scalpel and stuffing something foreign, something alive, inside.
Blood. I felt blood gushing from my nose, my ears, and even the corners of my eyes. My consciousness seemed to be fading into a blur, and this wasn't good at all.
...
Honestly, it felt like my brain had been put in a blender and mixed with wet concrete. The pain was unbearable. But where the hell was this?
What hit my eyes was the image of a windy grassy field, bathed in warm sunlight and an unnatural silence. I had seen similar scenes on default computer wallpapers back in the day, but seeing something like this with my own eyes was somewhat amusing...
But that amusement vanished instantly when I saw myself lying unconscious like a corpse right next to me. Not exactly identical, like... he looked significantly younger, like a final-year middle schooler.
And what was even better? Yes. I was back to being myself, a half-Asian, half-Black weeb, wearing the exact clothes I had on the day I met that entity and was shoved into this world.
What the hell is going on?
I stood there, staring at the younger version of myself -the original Onodera Ryuga of this world -lying motionless on the grass. A shiver ran down my spine, colder than the chill from the Nomu back in the warehouse.
Is this the subconscious? Or the afterlife? Or did All For One throw me into some bizarre dimension with his hacked Quirks?
"This... This is interesting..."
A voice rang out from behind, deep and warm but carrying an undisguised mockery.
I jolted, spinning around. Standing there, a few steps away, was a man with white hair and eyes as red as blood, wearing a black suit, radiating a sense of danger that completely contradicted this fake peaceful scenery. He was none other than the man who had ripped my brain apart seconds ago -All For One, but a... younger version? And a billion times more handsome than that Darth Vader mask look.
"What kind of fucking joke is this?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible, even though my limbs had started to tremble.
"I am here to fulfill the contract, boy," He smiled, a smile both charming and terrifying. "And I am also surprised that there are two consciousnesses in one body like this. And it seems... you do not belong to this world at all, do you?"
Motherfucker, the worst-case scenario has happened...
Someone achieving "self-awareness" was inevitable, but I never expected, and certainly never hoped, that person would be the final boss of this series.