"you lose a part of your existence in wars waged against yourself."

-Unknown

All for One was briefly interrupted from his euphoria by the sickening wail of a cellphone. Like the dying wail of a dead bird. In any case, at the start of the call, All for One's irritation was quite evident, but as time went on he clearly was gaining some kind of perverse amusement.

"...These small fry villains really underestimate themselves, don't they? No matter, this will prove without a doubt the power that the League of Villains wields. This is a rather nice opportunity... I will send over our newest member."

All for One looked at Deku.

"There are no problems, correct?"

"None."

Deku did need to completely figure out his new power after all. As for his test subjects... Well, they were villains anyway. No-one would describe them as shining, illustrious members of society. These were people who murdered, robbed, and assaulted other people. Not that he was any technically any different, considering his actions in the past few days. He threw away the raging physiological questions with a ease that could only be attributed to a person who was dead inside.

A few mere seconds later, a purple fog made its home in the middle of the room.

"Zero, you're free to go. I'll forward the money to your account as always."

"I'll see ya then, boss. Being with your mon-, yourself always makes my day!"

He fades away into the darkness as All for One heaves a sigh of his own.

"He always loves to see what he can get away with. Deku, you know better than that, right?"

It was at that moment that All for One's presence turned a tad bit sinister. A sliver more merciless. That was all it took for Deku's survival instincts to reignite. Whispers of death swam about freely, as his body involuntarily twitched. A wave of goosebumps resurfaced on his skin. Cold sweat released itself from his pores.

It was a flavor not entirely the same, but similar to fear. It was copious amounts of adrenaline. It was the mortal flesh of a man integrated with the myth, the legend, of the Shinigami himself. It was the beckoning hand of death.

'...How many people has this man killed? How many has he made suffer? His killing intent is making my body scream in alarm.'

But... All that was afraid was the body. A puppet of flesh that was his to command. His mind had never been frightened by the whispers of death. It was almost a comfort in a way. He rehashed his control over his body, each cell following his rule. The goosebumps receded, the sweat he threatened to drown in, dried up, and all twitching ceased. Mind over matter.

"I dare not try my luck, Sensei. That is, if you are okay with that name."

"Sensei is fine, Deku. I'm glad to see that your priorities are in order. Now, we best not keep Kurogiri waiting too long."

His mind instantly clamped down on the information and memorized it. He never got the name of his 'captor' before this, after all.

They stepped through the shattered fragments of space, and they were gone. Like a pebble in a lake.

That very same pebble resurfaced in front of a classy, old bar. Battered and bruised bodies lay vanquished on the concrete, some with limbs twisted in a nausea-inducing way. Bizarre shades of purple mist floated around freely, giving off an aura of decay.

"This sensation is very peculiar... I wonder how fog can enable teleportation? Perhaps, it is composed of something that just shares similarities with fog," He turned around to grip a man's throat. "It's bad manners to interrupt someone talking. I personally don't care, but it's the principle of these things."

The man's face was starting to turn an alarming shade of purple, the lack of oxygen throttling his ability to think. Water vapor started to congregate and condense itself, but even that strenuous process failed with a slight increase in pressure. It was like the man was reduced to pure instinct, as he flailed around blindly.

"I see... If this is the average ability level of villains, no wonder heroes always win every single time. The ambush was slightly smart, but he made so much noise that it was irrelevant. He can't get past the pain to form his quirk, nor can he function without it, it seems. Heroes have years of systematized training, and so your average villains end up being just slightly more dangerous compared to a delinquent or gang member. Their, or our only advantage is that we play offensive, so to speak..."

He lowered his eyes down to the crumpled body on the ground, which was in the process of clawing out deep layers of crimson in order to breathe. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was blue, and blood was starting to trickle out of his ears.

"Well, I suppose you'll be happy that you died to a, no, my quirk in the end. Death by lightning is better than strangulation in my opinion."

Sparks danced. Electrons shivered in excitement. Waves of electricity burned. The nerves in the body were scrambled, as the organs and the nervous system slowly began to shut down. Lungs slowly stop contracting, the heart beats no more, and the brain... Well, the brain is fried.

As the lightning squeezes the last drop of its victim's life, it slowly coils back into its home. Unseen and unnoticed by all, is the slightest smudge of black on the tail end of the lightning. And while Deku certainly has not seen the minute discoloration of his quirk, he certainly felt it. An aching chasm of despair and hatred.

The lightning sings just underneath the skin, as it faithfully reproduces the last electromagnetic signals of its' victim. It was to get rid of that nasty electricity somewhere, right? It would keep the tasty parts to itself though. Its' prey's thoughts mutated on the verge of its' death. Something about a little sister, and a l..lover? In any case, those thoughts were rather crunchy, so it liked them.

Deku's eye widened uncomprehendingly at the unfamiliar feeling. He... he didn't have those. Not anymore.

'What... What is this?! I'm... I'm feeling something?! No... This is a tad bit too artificial, compared to what I remember.'

His gaze fell downwards uncontrollably, like a meteorite, to the body on the floor. A vague idea began planting itself in his chest. He looked up at the newest addition that appeared in front of him.

"So you're the newbie Sensei chose? Tsk." He narrowed his one visible eye at him, and he returned the gesture with a fake smile, entirely out of reflex. The man-child simply just continued to stare at him in disdain, before grudgingly opening his mouth.

"...Welcome to the League of Villains."