"To exist is to change,

to change is to mature,

to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."

-Henri Bergson

All for One was a tad bit mystified. And angry. With a pinch of confusion. For Deku to not rebel against him was one thing, but for him to try and save All Might, the one who broke both his dreams and him at the same time... It didn't make sense. Villains... Villains had no need for forgiveness! Deku had no need for it. All he had to do was continue on his path of vengeance, and his path would be perfect! He would arrive at the true summit of power, letting all of the mortals crawl and scream beneath his feet! He would be perfect, and stable.

Yet, somehow... His perfect specimen had been tainted. Corrupted, somehow. His sharp sword had dulled down.

He had grown soft.

Well, he'll just have to remake him again. Put the sword to the whetstone, and pound out all the impurities. This time, though...

His eyes shone with an insane glint.

He'd do it properly.

Deku furrowed his eyes at the distant All for One, as he felt a slight shiver run down his spine. Whatever he was thinking, it didn't bode well for him. But this was actually the best-case scenario. Even if he did tell All for One that Shigaraki had given him the boot and he was no longer able to be in the League of Villains (who was he kidding; the man surely already knew), he had a mere 50% chance to stay out of it. It was just as likely that he'd dump him back inside that hellhole. Of course, statistically, that was incredibly high, but now he could make it higher. By beating down All for One once and for all, he ensured that he wouldn't be manipulated in the future as well.

There was just one teensy, itty bitty, problem left.

Beating All for One.

It was going to be an almost impossible task, judging from the aura he was clad in. (Did All Might even stand a chance?)

"Tell me straight up. Do you think you can beat him?"

He hesitated, but he eventually answered.

"If it was before my injury, I'd say yes, but... It could go either way."

Deku didn't need any further elaboration. He had seen it in person that day, the red, crumpled mess of his stomach. It was a fairly terrifying injury. But All for One had been weakened as well. His eyes were straight out gone. Although his assortment of quirks allowed him to bypass that physical disability, it didn't change the fact that he was injured. Weakened. The same as All Might. There was still a chance.

Deku and All Might would just have to do their best to seize it.

"We'll have to make it go our way then."

"We'll? Oh no, Deku, you'll be coming back with me. And All Might will be dead. There is no 'we'."

It was sudden, dangerous, and very, very lethal. It was a sudden laser of light burning with all its might. It was a thick cut on the cheek from a sudden, twisting turn that barely got the person in question out of mortal danger. It was danger in a visible and non-conceptual form.

"Ah, I knew that you could dodge that~! I've indeed raised you well!"

'...This psycho. If I didn't notice it at the last second, I'd be dead as a doornail. I don't know if I can pull that off twice in a row...'

"...Young Midoriya, you must retreat from here immediately. A single glancing blow from him can kill you, and you don't have as strong a body as I do. Although I do not fully understand your reasoning for helping me, since you are here, I will protect you. But if you stay here..."

"Got it. I'll leave."

He looked absolutely befuddled at the reply, perhaps because he had been expecting more resistance.

He pitied what All Might must have gone through before now for him to expect people to defy his orders. Heroes were... unrealistic at times, that was for sure.

"Don't look at me like that. I know my limits. I may be somewhat strong, but it's nothing on a battle of this level. I'll probably end up becoming a liability, even." He hopped up on some rubble, eyeing a far off building in the distance. "That's only if I stay in close-combat, however. If you can, try and create some openings. I'll support you. I can't make any promises on sheer destructive might, but he will feel the sting-"

"Do you really think I'll simply let you go? Deku?"

Lines of light surged forward. But his face changed at Deku's reply.

"Nope. Why, that was the reason I talked so much. Because I knew that you would try to stop me."

He sprung up and around the pile of debris, letting the piles of trash and cement take the brunt of the damage. Harm free, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him (which was really quite fast) and while twisting and turning so much within the broken city, that even All for One's eyes would have been deceived. Well, not if he had a quirk similar to tracking, but the point was the normal human eye would have long lost sight of him.

Even if that was the case, All Might should be able to keep him busy, enough so to prevent him from immediately locking on to him again.

Then, he could fully carry out his on the spot plan.

He let lightning grow, and grow, steadily inching towards his absolute limit. He was concerned, a little bit, about the damage his body could potentially withstand, but didn't think about it further. Everything, every little sacrifice that he had ever made, and all the wrongs that he strove to make right would mean nothing if he was captured by All of One again. There was no telling what he would do now.

He felt his bones creak and crack from the sheer pressure of the energy within his body, and his limbs began to feel like goo, but he didn't stop. Not even when they started spasming erratically. One could see the electricity shining even through his skin, lighting up the surroundings.

He breathed in and breathed out, feeling a tad bit scared. It was one thing to suffer pain unknowingly, but it was another to anticipate it.

Once, it wouldn't have phased him at all, but he supposed he was just becoming a proper human.

He knew it instinctively. He had reached the limit his body could possibly bear, and if he didn't release it now, then he would break. With a surprisingly steady arm and a quickly cooling heart, he aimed it in the general direction of All for One. Perhaps sensing something wrong, he looked up and seemingly met eyes with Deku, even with the distance separating them ever so, but it wasn't enough. No human could possibly react in time, for this...

This was true lightning. Comparable to nature's brushstrokes of pure electricity even.

He felt his arm quiver, and he released it instantaneously.

Crack.