All For Myself Chapter 48

"Take him out, Eraser can only go so long without blinking. We must defeat him before then!" Endeavour spoke with resolve in his voice as the rest of the Heroes finally made it onto the scene to join Hawks in battle.

Hawks was about to die before they made it to the battle sight. That was something the Heroes could see very clearly. He was being baited in so that their enemy could wipe them out in a massive attack. Just a second later and he wouldn't have survived.

Yet, Eraserhead managed to arrive on the battlefield just in time to prevent that monster from using his Quirks. As long as 'Erasure' stayed up they could beat him without a problem.

Several high ranking Pro-Heroes were with them right now. He's just one man, one Quirkless man. He can't do anything to them. He's powerless, he should be helpless.

So why? Why-

"What's wrong, so many of you and you can't handle one Quirkless man?! How pathetic!" 

Why, is he smiling?!

Endeavour had no idea how this was possible. The Villain they were fighting was under the effects of 'Erasure', wasn't he? Yet, he was able to smoothly glide through the air with nothing but a swing of his arm, almost like All Might!

Was that just his physical strength?!

Ryoto, grinning with utter glee written on his face, effortlessly avoided the flames of Endeavours Jet Burn, whilst he taunted the number two Hero, as though he was having no difficulty fighting so many Pro-Heroes at once without the use of his Quirks.

"What's wrong number two?! Are you so weak that even with so much help you can't even scratch me?! No wonder you could never beat All Might!!" He made sure to rub the weak spot of the number two Hero's ego, knowing full well just how much that particular topic would get under his skin!

Endeavour's eyes bulged out of his skull with rage, his fingertips lighting with compressed white hot flames which he unleashed in an ultimate move just a second later.

"SHUT UP!!!" He screamed as he unleashed Hell Spider, the fiery whips of heat unleashing themselves in a pattern which resembled a spiderweb. He was trying to slice the white haired Villain to shreds.

Though, it was a vain attempt.

Ryoto's grin suddenly sharpened. Quick as a flash, he disappeared in a burst of speed that enabled him to completely avoid the flame Heroes attack and appear behind his attacker.

"I don't think I will."

Those words were all the warning which Endeavour got. He turned around, a hand full of fire to set his enemy alight. However, it was too late.

In an instant, a knee buried it's way into his gut, causing his spittle to fly out of his mouth as his eyes widened from shock. The wind was knocked out of him and the force from the attack sent him flying downwards to the ground, though he was saved from dying a death by the fall when a few red feathers caught him midair.

Ryoto was smiling the entire time they were fighting, even as he sustained damage, he couldn't help but be overjoyed by the lack of vestiges screaming in his mind. Whilst they can't really do anything, the vestiges can get very loud and their constant cursing and yelling and screaming really does get annoying for him. It was one of the drawbacks of possessing 'All for One'. But, with his Quirk deactivated, he couldn't perceive these vestiges anymore. His mind was finally quiet.

It was liberating.

A volley of red blurs too fast for the eye to track shot his way, their pursuit being relentless and too fast for even Ryoto to dodge. However, he wasn't worried of those little darts.

"What are those peashooters even meant to do?" Ryoto questioned mockingly, the feathers sent his way merely breaking against his skin as though they were made of glass as his eyes searched for the slippery blonde himself.

"They're meant to distract you."

Ryoto immediately brought his hand to his nape, so that when Hawks' feather sword tried to strike at the same spot he did before, all he accomplished was breaking his weapon and wasting some of his Quirk.

His smile didn't falter though, his expression merely morphed into something more deranged as his eyes went bloodshot." Trying to kill me huh?"

After he spoke those words he immediately shot forward, his enhanced physique holding enough power to send him flying towards the number three Hero. His insane cries coming out in a scream of malice as he cocked back his fist.

"HOW FUCKING HEROIC!!!"

After he spoke those words he threw his fist forward in a full powered punch that unleashed a wave of air pressure which tore through the air itself and blew Hawks' visor away, along with the winged Hero himself having to use his wings as a shield.

Though, Ryoto failed to account for the blowback of such a manoeuvre. Unlike All Might, he was used to simply using his many Quirks to fly at high speeds, but with those out of use he was forced to rely purely on his own natural strength, and he wasn't used to constantly accounting for the many facts that come with fighting using air pressure.

Due to that, he was sent flying backwards, the momentum carrying him down to the ground, where he hardly had enough time to even put up a defense against his new opponents.

His suit's jacket and his pants instantly locked up and restrained his movements, this was due to Best Jeanist's Quirk, 'Fibre Master'. He could have broken out if afforded a few more seconds, but that was far too much time to ask for when on the battlefield.

Mirko launched herself into the air in front of him, drawing her leg backwards in a graceful arc that contrasted with the mad look on her face.

"It's time for a little payback, this is for last time!" She yelled as she kicked him with immense strength on the side. But, she was surprised at how sturdy her opponents bones felt. It was as though she were kicking into a wall made of titanium.

Regardless though, he was sent flying by the attack, skidding across the ground as he fought against his own clothing for sweet freedom.

Ryoto was actually not terribly injured by Mirko's attack. With his own modifications to his body, he knew exactly what his limits were. The answer was, far beyond that of a regular human body. And, it would take a ridiculous amount of force to do a substantial sum of damage to him like say, breaking a bone.

A long time ago, he realised that his Quirk did indeed hold some element of genetic manipulation to it. His version of 'All for One' could modify the body of whoever it's used on to perfectly suit the needs of whatever Quirk he chooses to give someone. For example, if he gave someone a fire Quirk then their body would be edited in order to best endure the side effects and burns of a fire Quirk.

This on it's own already makes his Quirk far better than All For One's original version. If he took a fire Quirk with enough natural resistance to fire, then his body wouldn't have to worry about being burned by anything but the hottest of flames.

But, as impressive as this ability was, he still had a massive issue that made him want to undergo the process of modifying his physique to begin with. No body is naturally able to handle multiple Quirks, it was a sad fact really. 'All for One' helped his body adapt an immense deal, however even that had a limit to what it could do for him. 

Whilst in theory, 'All for One' let the user steal and hold as many Quirks as they want, there was a very finite limit to how he could use them. Think of it as having a collection of cores inside you, these represent Quirk factors, but in order to use that Quirk factor you need to turn it on, think of it like flipping a switch. Simple enough, right?

Wrong. There are only so many of these cores which he could keep active at once, and he only had so much power in his body to maintain the energy which these cores needed to stay active. He couldn't just use hundreds of Quirks at once, he had to carefully pick out what Quirks were best for the situation and pick which Quirks he wanted to turn off so that he could pick new ones.

It was also a pain, because not all Quirks used the same amount of energy, and those with less energy were easier to activate. He can only assume that this energy he's constantly feeling is 'Quirk Radiation' however he could be wrong. Either way, switching between powerful Quirks constantly will cause his other Quirks to deactivate because he doesn't have the energy to maintain both them and the others Quirks he was using. Mutant-type Quirks like 'Crescent Wing' also took longer to activate than his other Quirks, which is unfortunate due to how those Quirks tend to have more effects in one than Emitter-types as a whole, so he preferred to use Emitter-type Quirks due to how quickly he can switch between them. Those were the limits to his Quirk.

Emphasise on were. Those were his old limits, with his new body those have been solved for him.

Two of his Quirks in particular made modifying his body to suit his needs an easy task. These were 'Autopsy' and 'Overhaul'. With the first Quirk I could get an accurate map of my own biology and improve it using 'Overhaul' to change my own biology to suit my needs. I didn't even need Garaki to do surgery on me.

He modified his bones to be tougher than steel. His strength to be comparable to All Might's. And forge his body to become perfectly capable of using multiple Quirks. His anatomy was closer to that of a monster than a human being.

This is what he meant when he told All Might that he finally had the 'hardware' to support his 'software'. Whilst he might've had the ultimate Quirk, his body and it's limitations were holding him back. Now though? He had no limits.

He was going 'plus ultra' as All Might would say.

A clawed hand came from above and wrapped around his torso, the two hands of Ryukyu crushing him with enough force to crush a regular person's bones. They were likely holding him still in some hope of restraining his movements enough for the others attacks to land a fatal blow. He had to escape.

He cursed his foresight to craft a ridiculously well made suit that gave him both style, and would guard him from harm. He was struggling against Best Jeanist's Quirk, and the durability of his clothing was coming back to bite him.

His muscles bulged and fought against the fabric of his clothing, though he was still grinning madly, it was forced due to the fact his body was struggling to overcome both the force of Best Jeanist's Quirk and the force Ryukyu was subjecting him to with both of her massive clawed hands.

The dragoon Hero grunted as she struggled to keep the white haired Villain in place, Ryoto strained and breathed in, his muscles tensing as his suit began to tear from his raw strength. Seeing this, the living dragon screamed out with urgency in her voice." Take him out, he'll break free soon!"

Hearing this, Mirko quickly began to move, her body arching in the air as she prepared to smash Ryoto's skull in and end his life. Every Hero on the scene was desperate to put an end to the Villain who'd single-handedly plunged Japan into the darkness.

Best Jeanist felt his Quirk strain and his eyes began to stain themselves red as he struggled to keep the enemy in place. He could feel the carbon fibres in the suit begin to tear under the power of Ryoto's enhanced physique. It caused his head to throb with pain, however he wasn't about to give up and let the enemy win!

"I can't hold him for much longer! Finish him off!" The denim wearing Hero all but ordered Mirko to finish the job which they started, knowing just how powerful this Villain was without his Quirks, the man didn't want to think about how strong he'd be if they managed to outlast Eraserhead.

The white haired Heroine's face was full of focus and determination as she screamed." Die you evil basta-" But, she was cut off, not by a sound or an attack. But, her own Quirk's instincts.

It was telling her to run.

Mirko was sent flying backwards as the ground shattered and splintered from the power of her enemy. Ryoto tore through both his own clothes, the black and white fabric of his blazer and shirt spreading everywhere in the process, and Ryukyu was sent reeling backwards as he crashed right into her face, pulverising her teeth as he shot himself into the air with nothing but his raw strength.

Ryoto was left half naked with that choice of action though. His torso was layed bare for the entire world to see, though he cared far more about the fact he tore a piece of clothing which he took the time to weave so perfectly to suit his needs.

What a waste.

He landed almost casually on the top of a nearby building, he decided to have a little bit of fun with his opponents. Afterall, he had time to spare.

Gazing down at his adversaries he mocked them with a few words." Look at all of you, worthless without your symbol of lies, I haven't even used a Quirk yet and you're all struggling so-" 

He cut himself off as he raised his arms to block a volley of red feathers aimed right at his throat. The harmless projectiles hardly even dented his skin, with them all doing about as much damage as you'd expect from a tog gun.

Ryoto, still not able to catch sight of Hawks, called out to the winged Hero as more of the blonde's feathers began to assault his skin. He took his time to mock the number three Hero, looking to make the other man slip up.

"Do you really think those peashooters are going to help you, Keigo? I guess the Commission didn't train you to be the sharpest tool in the shed." Immediately after saying those words, he snapped his head behind him and, with immensely sharp reflexes, he managed to dodge one of the feather swords Hawks was using to slash at him.

Hawks, with a cold look in his eyes, immediately questioned his enemy." What the hell do you know about me? How do you know my real name?!"

Ryoto had no intention of revealing what he actually knew about the Hero, whilst he doubted that it would do very much to phase someone as cool headed as Hawks, the idea of someone else knowing an unknown amount of information about you is something that would throw most people off their game. Plus, he couldn't resist a chance to mess with the number three Hero.

Grinning as he simply raised an arm to block the strike of Hawks' sword, the brittle little thing shattering like glass upon contact with his arm, and he answered very unconvincingly." What do you mean, are you telling me that the name of the number three Hero isn't public knowledge? My, I had no idea. Please do forget what I said."

In response to the taunt, Hawks just smirked back and responded." That's fine. Of course, now that I have your attention, would you please shed some light on your game plan. Your victory is inevitable afterall."

Ryoto smirked back as he noticed the well hidden glance behind him. So predictable." Nice try, but I'm no idiot. Therefore-"

In a quick burst of speed Ryoto dodged a jetstream of white-hot flames that would have scorched a regular person to death, and appeared behind Endeavour, who was relentless in his pursuit of the enemy Villain.

Finishing his previous words, Ryoto smirked in victory whilst cocking his fist back." -don't expect me to waste time monologuing!"

However, he was cut off when a few of Hawks' feathers appeared out of nowhere and moved Endeavour out of the way just before he could be swatted down like a fly. Ryoto internally cursed at that. 'Fierce Wings' sure was an annoying Quirk to deal with.

Ryoto was... very disappointed with their performance so far. They were all weak, even without Quirks he was utterly dominating them. They hadn't managed to land a single notable hit on him.

Then again, he had spent years amassing power, gaining Quirks and experience, along with the fact he knows a lot of their weak spots... this is more than slightly unfair for them.

Then again, life itself is unfair. They just haven't adapted enough.

But, maybe the lack of a challenge was a good thing. It meant that Izuku and the others would be just fi-

A blur going at absurd speeds suddenly cut his inner thoughts off, him not even being allowed to land before a fist caved it's way onto his face, though his enhancements stopped him from breaking anything, he was still thrown back by the impact of the attack.

Only one person could attack him that fast with that much force.

He came to a stop as he reached out his arm and dug it into the road nearby, the path becoming wrecked as he forced his own body to stop it's further advance by zeroing out all of his momentum.

He lifted his head up, and grinned upon seeing his own thoughts be confirmed. Standing with his fist upraised, yellow sparks slightly arching off his body, was All Might. However, he looked different to the normal him. Though not to the same extent as his small might form, his muscles were deflated and only half his face was a fraction as full as his muscle form, steam was constantly leaking from his muscles, and his Hero costume was torn, leaving his stomach would open for all the world to see.

But, there was one fact that made Ryoto second-guess himself. He was smiling. That skeletal bastard was grinning like an idiot in fact. Despite the situation, despite all his work coming down on him, despite being utterly curb stomped. 

Toshinori Yagi wasn't done yet.

"That stubbornness of your is going to be the death of you, Yagi." He spoke as a matter-of-fact as he rose to his feet, completely unphased by that previous attack. He was even weaker than before, that punch would have broken bones if he was at full power, the fact he was fine just attests to his weakness. he could beat an injured All Might. 

But, not giving him a moments rest, Hawks immediately dropped from the sky and slashed at Ryoto's neck again. His blade broke against his neck, but he felt a slight sting where he cut at. He was aiming at the same spot every single time he attacked the white haired Villains neck, the damage built up little by little. It wasn't much, but he had scratched him at least.

Flies can be so annoying.

But, the problems didn't end there. Ryoto caught sight of Endeavour's blazing silhouette. Soon all three of the top Pro-Heroes would be upon him, and he would likely get killed or caught. 

All Might noticed the slight worry on his enemy's face and his smile only grew." You will be brought to justice All For One. Just give up before you get yourself killed, you're wasting everyone's time here by-"

He was cut off by a dry and mocking sound. It was uncontrollable, it was almost hoarse. It was laughter. Ryoto was laughing at him.

The sound was bitter and hollow though, it didn't carry any humour or amusement. Only loathe for everything around it. Once he was done Ryoto just stated." Oh, that's what you think? Don't make me laugh. You talk about justice so much, but you can't live in a world without violence. Justice only exists because there's injustice. So, as the Symbol of Justice in this world, you need all the violence you can get to continue your little act of self-satisfaction. You talking about justice, how laughable. You're nothing but a bad joke, your shallow ideals, your high and mighty bullshit. You'll drop it all at the first sign of trouble. How many times have you said that killing is never the answer since you killed All For One?"

All Might's smile falters slightly, but only for a second, before he resumes his heroic persona." Now, you listen here All For-"

"My name is Ryoto! Quit pretending like I'm just some Villain born for you to beat up, well, at least that won't work for you anymore. Everyone knows what a fake you really are."

Those malicious words made All Might's smile nearly fall, though he did his best to maintain that mask as he responded." A heartless Villain like you can never understand the true meaning of justice. You'll rot behind bars for the rest of your life and that retched power of yours will never see the light of day again! You will be defeated tonight by my hands, that is my duty!"

Ryoto just gave him a cold glare that made All Might freeze for a moment, and make the other Heroes around freeze. This was the first time in this battle he'd shown emotions other than amusement or arrogance, he was hateful in that moment. His red gaze made the blonde's muscles lock up, and he felt like a cornered mouse as Ryoto just spoke.

"You pathetic little duty is like dust in the wind when compared to my destiny."