Inside a certain warehouse—a dark, suffocating room filled with all sorts of horrors—sat All For One, the criminal mastermind, the undisputed emperor of the underworld. One leg crossed over the other, his hand propped up his head as he watched the monitor before him.
And he was disappointed by what he was seeing.
Tomura Shigaraki, his "successor," had uselessly wasted precious time and resources attempting to secure a UA brat from their training camp, hoping to recruit one of them to their cause.
It was a foolish plan—and to prove it, Tomura had the bright idea of going after the most successful of the brats. The one student who had won the sports festival. The one who—from a simple reading of his former school files—was the most dedicated to becoming a hero.
All For One knew it was foolish, but he did not voice his opinion. This failure would nurture Tomura's experience. It would force him to grow beyond the simplistic mindset he currently held.
"Doctor," he called out to the shadows, "prepare the Nomus," he ordered with a sigh.
"At once, old friend," replied the figure in the darkness. The shadows were, in fact, not shadows at all—but Doctor Garaki, All For One's trusted and one of his most loyal subordinates.
The sound of the doctor's fingers tapping in authorization codes echoed in the room, releasing the unfinished Nomus from their tubes. All For One, watching in grim silence, prepared for the worst.
His contacts inside UA and the police department had already informed him of the upcoming raid.
And they were not ready for it.
All For One's original quirk still resided within him. The good doctor had yet to replicate such a complex quirk to a functional state that he could wield and transfer the original to Tomura. It would take time—time they no longer had.
Tonight, All For One would not only have to defeat the heroes in a grand demonstration of their' weakness... he would also need to escape with his protégé.
The odds were greatly against them.
But when were they not? They were villains, after all.
"The Nomus are ready, Master," Doctor Garaki said, stepping into view with a black helmet in his arms.
His new life-support helmet.
As if on cue, a sound came from the monitor—a knock at the door of Kurogiri's bar, followed by a voice calling out, "Pizza delivery!"
All For One stood up. His immense height seemed to darken the atmosphere of the room even further.
"It's time," he muttered.
He took the helmet from Garaki's hands and carefully removed the tube lodged in his throat—the one that provided him with air and nutrients.
"Just place it carefully and it will be automatically air-tightened, master," Garaki instructed helpfully.
All For One did as he said.
CLINK!
As the helmet sealed around his head, All For One felt his breath flow freely again. It wasn't as efficient as a high-end respiratory system, but it would make the incoming battle tremendously easier.
He took a deep breath and exhaled. "You have done an excellent job, doctor," he said, praising his oldest living subordinate. Garaki had served him well for many years.
The doctor chuckled lightly. "Oh, I wouldn't call it my best work," he admitted. He'd been forced to throw this helmet together from prototype scraps—still far from finished. He already had plans for a better one in the future. "I'd say this helmet will last you about a month, with enough care," he added with a shrug. "But… you're going into a fight, so it'll probably be destroyed."
All For One nodded silently and turned his attention to the awaiting Nomus—perfectly still, awaiting their orders.
"Now, to intervene in my protégé's foolish decisions," he muttered, then activated his warping quirk while simultaneously giving orders to the Nomus through a telepathic quirk.
A black liquid began to foam from the Nomus' mouths until it engulfed them completely, sending them all to Kurogiri's bar and its surrounding area.
"Now..." he thought of Tomura and his little band of villains, "I'll save you, Tomura. And again... and again... until you learn to walk and not crawl."
He was just about to warp Tomura and his group to a safe warehouse away from the heroes—when something made him stop.
A silhouette of darkness began approaching him—a hand straight from the realm of shadows. He could not see it, for he had no eyes.
But his instincts screamed that it was there.
Before All For One could question the nature of this thing—whether it was a quirk being used against him, or something else entirely—
He vanished.
"Hm~?" Garaki turned toward where his master had just stood.
Only to find nothing.
"You've already gone, master? Welp. Then time to abandon this whole facility."
And just like that, the emperor of the criminal underworld's story came to an end in Japan.
---
"This is..." All For One felt the instant shift in atmosphere—the brightness of the sun invading his body and the chatter of crowds echoing everywhere.
He was no longer in the warehouse.
"An unforeseen outcome," he finished with a troubled mind. His vibration detection quirk, alongside his infrared senses quirk, were the first to be activated by All For One at their fullest extent.
"Mommy, that man looks scary!"
Despite the limited sight, he could make out that people were staring at him from all around. He was the center of attention—likely because he had emerged out of nowhere, and because of his appearance.
You don't see a 225cm man wearing a full black suit with a helmet resembling a skull appear out of nowhere every day.
"Troubling indeed," he said calmly, as the architecture around him struck him as odd—resembling something old European in nature.
He needed to get back quickly. Tomura had likely been apprehended by now. He would need to free him before he was sent to Tartarus.
He activated a very unique, yet mundane, quirk from his vast arsenal: GPS. He had stolen this one from a tour guide during one of his visits to Korea while acquiring new quirk databases and building connections in that country—and he had found the quirk unique enough to keep.
Upon activation, All For One was certain he would be located somewhere distant—likely Europe, or close to it. He had to admit: he was quite impressed with the range of the teleportation. He would make sure to rip it off the corpse of whoever used it against him.
Yet... nothing came. No sense of direction to a familiar place. No dot to indicate he was in a different country.
He was out of range. Entirely.
"Annoying," he muttered with disdain. The murmur of the crowd around him was growing louder by the second, irritating him even more.
His last resort was to use his newly acquired quirk: Search—a high-range quirk that could tell him the locations of up to one hundred people, including their potential weaknesses from miles away.
He was being a fool for thinking that would make a difference.
The results were nothing. Just blackness.
He was nowhere near Japan.
"Excuse me, sir," a voice said behind him, catching All For One slightly off guard.
How had he not sensed him approaching?
He turned around slowly, not wanting to raise any suspicion.
"May I help you, young man?" All For One said with a calm and civilized tone. His quirk detected a tall—but nowhere near his height—man with fiery red hair.
He did notice the sword sheathed at the man's side, which was an odd relic of the past. Who even used swords anymore?
"It's Reinhard van Astrea!" the crowd around them murmured excitedly, recognizing the redhead.
All For One noted the name.
"I don't want to sound rude..." Reinhard said with a sincerely apologetic tone, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say.
His eyes suddenly sharpened with caution.
"...But I sense that you are a danger to this city." Reinhard finished with narrowed eyes, his tone low. "May you accompany me to the knights' garrison for a few questions?"
...
Is this a joke?
Murmurs intensified among the gathering crowds.
"Under what charges?" All For One asked with an irritated tone, not seeing why he should escalate the situation just yet.
Reinhard was silent for a moment before answering:
"Under the suspicion that you are a member of the Witch Cult and thus an enemy of the Kingdom of Lugnica."
Witch Cult? Lugnica? That didn't ring any bells. And this brat was becoming too annoying to deal with.
"Of course... I would gladly comply," he lied through his teeth.
Reinhard sensed it. "Sir, please," he sounded sincere—but All For One had no reason to listen to him.
Sighing, All For One raised his hand. "Rivet Stab." Instantly, sharp black tendrils formed in All For One's fingers and shot toward Reinhard's body, intending to cut through him and end this meaningless talk as quickly as possible.
Reinhard's eyes closed briefly as his enemy made his choice clear. The tendrils approached fast, ready to kill.
"So be it," he said with a sad tone.
In an instant, All For One's dark tendrils were cut in half by Reinhard's bare hands. Then, with impossible speed that even surpassed All Might in his prime, All For One watched Reinhard move toward a nearby armed civilian, draw his sword, and rocket toward him.
He had no time to react as a blinding light enveloped the area, and no matter how badly All For One wanted to move, he was just too slow to survive the upcoming annihilating attack.
Reinhard van Astrea had deemed the threat of All For One vast enough that he decided—in an uncharacteristic move—to go for the kill first, in hopes of sparing the civilians the suffering of a prolonged fight. His miasma was enough to daze. His intentions and character even more so.
Thanks to his Divine Protections revealing his nature, Reinhard wouldn't have to feel the guilt of killing an innocent man.
And just like that, in a show of pure raw power from the current bearer of the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint—Reinhard sliced the very space in half, and All For One with it, using one of his strongest techniques: a mana-draining attack that concentrated all the mana around them to envelop his sword and shatter the laws of physics and reality.
The earth shook.
And All For One died—alongside the fountain behind him, sending water flying in every direction, raining down upon the street like holy cleansing.
Reinhard's borrowed sword was reduced to dust. His expression remained neutral.
He did not want it to end like this.
"I'm sorry," he apologized—something he shouldn't do, considering who he had killed was a suspected Witch Cultist.
---
Light.
He could feel light.
He was no longer inside the warehouse. What happened?
All For One was confused.
"This is..." he muttered to himself, finding the situation odd.
"Mommy, that man looks scary!"
A crowd began to form around him, all whispering about his sudden appearance.
All For One didn't care.
He needed to get back to save Tomura from the heroes—before he was sent to Tartarus.
He tried to activate a rather mundane quirk in his arsenal: GPS. It was a quirk he had stolen from Korea—
'What?' All For One's train of thought came to a sudden halt, his head throbbing like someone was pounding it repeatedly.
The murmurs of the civilians grew louder and louder, further irritating him.
Where was he? How is he here? Why does he feel a very convincing déjà vu!?
"Excuse me, sir," a familiar voice said behind him—why is it familiar? He turned to the speaker and was met with a fiery-haired tall man with a sword.
Who even used swords anymore?
"It's Reinhard van Astrea!" some civilians gawked at his presence. Was he some kind of hero here? All For One couldn't tell—because he couldn't tell where he even was!
Reinhard, seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, continued speaking.
"I don't want to sound rude but..." Reinhard hesitated. His Divine Protection of Emotional Sight told him this strange person was in great confusion.
Nonetheless, he continued to do his duty.
"I sense that you are a threat to this city. Please accompany me to the knights' garrison for some questioning," he said with an authoritative tone—a rare sight—but his senses told him this man should not be taken lightly.
He had enough miasma and malice surrounding him that Reinhard suspected he might be an Archbishop of the Witch Cult.
All For One couldn't shake the feeling that all of this had happened before. Something about this conversation, this redhead, the murmuring civilians—all struck him with eerie familiarity.
Nonetheless, he was not in the mood to chat nonsense with children.
"Out of my way," All For One said as he raised his hand, activating Air Cannon, one of his most powerful quirks.
Reinhard's eyes sharpened. He dashed to the nearest civilian, took his sword, and raced back to All For One's position faster than anyone could track.
But All For One was already done preparing.
"Air Cannon." The built-up wind released in a devastating blow that hit Reinhard point-blank...
...but did little to no damage.
"AHHH!" The screams of civilians echoed as the Air Cannon devastated the cobblestone street, sent people flying, bones snapping, buildings crumbling.
Reinhard could hear it all.
With the level of devastation around him, he had no choice but to go for the kill.
Before All For One could ready his next attack, Reinhard descended upon him with far too inhuman speed, raising his glowing sword. And with a simple—yet deadly—slash, Reinhard quite literally split reality in half, alongside All For One's head, instantly killing him on the spot.
The fountain behind them exploded, water pouring over the ruined streets like rain washing down sin.
"AHHH, MOMMY!" a child cried as his mother was smashed to a pile of gore by a collapsing building. Multiple others were in similar states—dead, dying, or grievously injured.
Reinhard gripped his hand tightly.
What a failure of a knight he was.
He should have known better than to try a diplomatic approach toward a Witch Cultist.
Now, the innocent had suffered for his failure.
---
All For One awoke with a headache, the sun shining brightly on him as he processed what was happening.
He was in the same place. By the fountain. In the middle of who-knows-where. Surrounded by a whispering crowd, pointing at him strangely.
He was not in the warehouse.
And this was his third time waking up in this exact place.
"What is happening!?" he roared aloud, his patience running thin.
Is this the work of a quirk? Has he been placed into a loop? Is this what it's all about?
"Mommy, that man looks funny."
All For One had enough.
With a casual, uncaring hand gesture, he activated his Incineration Quirk—a wide-area attack that unleashed a blast of flames, engulfing everyone around him in terrifyingly intense fire.
"Ahhhhh! Help!"
"I'm burning!"
"Mommy!"
Screams echoed through the streets. Women, children, the elderly—it didn't matter.
All For One's flames didn't discriminate.
He turned around—
—and was met with a blinding light, carried by a familiar fiery red-haired man.
Reinhard van Astrea did not hesitate. Not after witnessing that.
"You—" Again, All For One didn't have the time to finish his thoughts.
Reinhard cut reality in half, and with it—All For One.
A clean, absolute execution.
The Sword Saint looked up at the chaotic scene. People were burning alive, shrieking in agony.
And with all his might, he dashed to smother the fires, to save what he could.
If only he had been faster.
What a disgrace of a knight he was...
---
All For One awoke with another headache.
This time, he didn't care about where he was or what this place even was.
He began slaughtering people instantly.
"Mommy, that man looks scary."
All For One aimed his hand and muttered: "Spring-Like Limbs." His arm coiled backward like a compressed spring. The crowd began to retreat—slowly, instinctively sensing the danger.
Then:
"Air Cannon."
FWOOOSH!
"AHHH!"
The result was catastrophic.
Far surpassing his previous attack—was there a previous one?—the devastating blast tore through the streets of Lugnica. Cobblestone, buildings, and bodies were shredded and scattered.
A whole neighborhood was leveled.
Dozens were killed.
Hundreds were injured.
All For One stepped forward, his body instantly vanishing as he evaded a blade coming for his neck—teleporting using his Spatial Manipulation Quirk, cutting through the space between himself and his desired destination.
It was Reinhard, eyes narrowed, face serious.
All For One chuckled. "Are you the hero here?" he mocked, his tone dripping with derision. "You saved a lot of people today!"
Reinhard did not answer.
Instead, he vanished—blindingly fast—and once again dashed for All For One's neck.
All For One activated a barrier quirk and began preparing another Air Cannon—
But Reinhard's blade was glowing white.
And it shattered the barrier instantly.
He cut the space—and All For One—in half.
Another instant death.
"Mommy, wake up!" a child cried. Her leg was missing. Her tears spilled for her unmoving mother.
Many others lay in similar states. Dead. Dying. Mangled.
Reinhard's viewpoint was filled with devastation.
A whole neighborhood leveled.
If only he had gotten there faster.
What a disgrace of a knight he was.
---
All For One woke up. Killed innocent people. All For One died at the hand of the red-haired man: Reinhard van Astrea.
All For One woke up. Killed people. Died—at the hand of Reinhard.
All For One woke up and died—at the hands of the Sword Saint.
All For One woke up. All For One died.
He died.
He is supposed to be dead.
This wasn't like his fight with All Might. This wasn't survival by barely clinging to life.
He was cut in half, multiple times.
He died.
Died.
Died!
And he hated.
He loathed.
He despised the red-haired man.
That unstoppable monster that managed to kill him every time with a single strike—always to his most vulnerable point: the head.
He hated.
Hated.
Hated Reinhard van Astrea!
He wants out.
He wants out of this loop.
How to get out!?
---
All For One woke up and instantly activated the quirk Search, locking onto Reinhard van Astrea.
The Sword Saint was moving toward him at a moderate speed and would reach his position in five minutes—if he stayed put.
All For One had learned from a few loops that Reinhard didn't immediately see him as a threat, and only reacted with hostility when he refused arrest.
"Mommy, that man looks scary!"
Without hesitation, he activated his Warping Quirk. A black foam enveloped his body, choking him briefly before teleporting him away from the fountain.
Later, the civilians would question the sudden disappearance of the mythic man who had appeared out of nowhere, only to vanish just as quickly.
In a nearby alleyway, All For One reemerged from thin air, the black foam fading as its job was done. A violent coughing fit escaped his lungs at the unpleasantness of the transportation method.
"I'll kill you one day," he muttered with malice.
He had discovered this alley after one of his longer fights with Reinhard. That particular loop had lasted longer than usual, resulting in a quarter of the city being obliterated by All For One's ultimate quirk combinations—which, to his great insult, had only slightly damaged Reinhard.
This alleyway was tucked deep within a maze of winding backstreets, buying him some time before that bastard found him again.
He had tried to exit the city in one loop—and Reinhard followed him through the gates. He had gone underground, and Reinhard still found him.
There seemed to be no escape.
"Hand over your money!" a skinny, uniquely dressed individual shouted at him, flanked by two lackeys—one very short and the other quite fat.
All For One turned to the trio with barely restrained rage at the interruption of his precious planning time.
The three would-be muggers froze when they got a full look at him. Their instincts kicked in faster than a ground dragon's.
"S-Sorry to interrupt, pal!" the fat one stammered, grabbing his two companions and taking off in a run. As they fled, All For One overheard the short one chastising his skinny friend.
"Did you have to pick the tallest and meanest-looking creep to mug, Chin!?"
"I swear he looked smaller from afar!" Chin defended himself.
All For One tuned them out, returning to his original train of thought: evading the Sword Saint before he found him again.
Should he go on another rampage? Use a hostage this time?
No—that didn't help during the eleventh death.
A strange feeling tugged at him. Dying so many times...
Maybe this was hell, and this was his punishment.
"Get out of the way, old man!" a blonde brat with tattered, old clothes sped past him in a hurry—likely running from someone, judging by her urgency.
He only gave her a passing glance, locking "eyes" with her before dismissing her. She disappeared into a dead end, then climbed up the walls with remarkable agility, aided by some kind of wind manipulation quirk and parkour-like skill.
No... those weren't quirks.
These powers—whatever they were—were something else entirely.
He couldn't detect any quirks from Reinhard. He had even landed a direct palm strike once and couldn't steal a single thing.
This world had a completely different system of power.
He reactivated Search again. Reinhard was getting closer. How did he always know exactly where to go!?
Light footsteps echoed into the alleyway.
What was with this crowd? It's just a damn alley—why all the interruptions!?
"Return what you stole from me, please!" a soft feminine voice called out to him with determined resolve.
All For One's patience was nearly gone. He was about to make this bitch pay for her interruption and simply rewind this loop—again.
Then he paused.
His mind began racing. A plan formed.
All For One clapped his hands together as he turned. "Forgive me, but I don't possess your belongings," he said in a courteous tone, trying to appear harmless.
The white-haired girl before him squirmed at his imposing presence—the height, the mask—but to her credit, she held her ground.
"T-Then who has it?" she asked, voice slightly trembling as she tried to stay confident.
Cute.
"I believe it was the young girl who passed through this alley not long ago," All For One said calmly, while internally racing against time.
"I believe she is well beyond your reach by now," he added, subtly inducing fear that her stolen item might be permanently lost.
The girl squirmed further. "Oh no…" she murmured, clearly distressed. "What am I gonna do?" she whispered in defeat. Whatever was taken from her clearly meant a great deal.
Time to play the role.
"...Miss," All For One called gently while stepping slightly closer. "Is it something important? Like family jewelry?" he asked, feigning innocence.
The girl shook her head. Were those tears in her eyes?
"N-No…" she said softly. "But it's very important to me," she revealed, sincerity etched across her face.
All For One hummed thoughtfully, maintaining his act. "How about I lend you my help?" he offered, trying not to appear overbearing.
Suddenly, a floating white-furred cat materialized from thin air.
"And why exactly should we trust you, Mr. Creepy Helmet in an Alleyway?" the cat asked skeptically, clearly unimpressed by All For One's charm.
All For One felt his nonexistent eye twitch.
"If I'm being honest with you…" he began, choosing his words carefully, "I need information about this city. I'm quite new here."
And none of that was a lie.
The cat scrutinized him with a narrowed gaze. It didn't buy his act—but couldn't call him out, either.
"...Can you really help me find my insignia?" the girl asked, hope glimmering in her eyes.
All For One nodded with absolute confidence. "I can. What do you say? Your knowledge, in exchange for my help?" he offered again, extending his hand.
The cat narrowed its eyes even further and whispered something into the girl's ear.
The girl closed her eyes and seemed to think deeply for a moment. Then she opened them and reached out.
"I accept your terms," she said, shaking his hand. The deal was sealed.
The cat slapped its own brow, clearly against it.
"Is everything alright in here?" came a voice that was beginning to haunt All For One—literally.
He and the girl turned toward the source... and met eyes with Reinhard van Astrea.
The Sword Saint.
"Oh!" the girl exclaimed in surprise. "Sir Reinhard! This is a surprise!"
The cat said nothing.
Reinhard's eyes moved between All For One and the white-haired girl, trying to piece together what he was seeing.
"Lady Emilia," he asked gently, "is this man with you?"
He didn't sound hostile—just cautious.
The girl, now identified as Emilia, tilted her head to the side. "He was going to help me..." she started to say "find my insignia," but caught herself.
If word got out that she lost the Royal Insignia, her candidacy would be as good as over.
"I mean... he's helping me with a job," she corrected herself.
Reinhard looked conflicted for a moment—torn between the suffocating miasma and malicious aura radiating off the masked man, and the pure-hearted presence of the Royal Candidate, Emilia.
...
Maybe he was overthinking it.
"I see..." Reinhard finally said, slowly. "Do you need my help, Lady Emilia?" he asked, just in case.
Emilia shook her head quickly. "T-That won't be necessary. Thank you," she managed to say, voice slightly shaky but composed.
A heavy silence fell over the group.
...
"I need to go now, Lady Emilia. It was nice seeing you again," Reinhard eventually said, breaking the silence with a farewell. He turned and left them alone in the alley.
Puck sighed. "You really didn't tell him, Lia?" he asked with a disappointed tone.
Emilia looked troubled. "I couldn't just tell him I lost the Royal Insignia. I'd be the laughingstock of the others!" she hissed, keeping her voice low.
All For One stood as still as a statue.
The moment he'd seen Reinhard appear, he mentally unplugged himself—trying to cleanse his mind as much as he could, hoping his gamble would pay off.
He turned toward Emilia, realizing, by some miracle, that she knew Reinhard—and had managed to defuse the situation without raising suspicion.
She may have just handed him the key to breaking the loop.
Oh yes... his gamble had paid off indeed.
---
The End
---
Hey hey hey!
If you are from my other fics, I'm just writing this one chapter to refresh my perspective a little
If you are new this is a one chapter work and will be updated in the unforeseeable future because I am busy with another fic
Note: I didn't beta read this so sorry if there are typos