The Heroes Lost.

UA was nothing but dust thanks to Shigaraki's decay, All Might had a hole in his chest from where All For One had taken his heart as a mere trophy, and Izuku was missing every single limb sans his left leg.

Mirio Togata, due to his Quirk, was untouched, standing atop a pile of cement as he looked quietly at the carnage around him.

Buildings were nothing but remnants of their former selves, fire made pillars of black which climbed upwards to support a ceiling of smoke that blotted out the sun, screams and shrieks could be heard as if an anthem for what had transpired, and lastly; were the bodies.

So many, laying limp like puppets with their strings cut, eyes staring at something distant and without emotion. Most of them were strangers to him, civilians he couldn't protect, but a good amount were his own friends. Friends he thought he could save the world with.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

The voice sent shivers down Mirio's spine, cascading goosebumps wrapping around him like a blanket as he slowly turned to his left.

There he stood, the young looking All For One in his infamous black suit. White hair slicked to the side and glistening, red eyes swelling with mirth, and a small smirk that stroked his ego like wind to a forest fire.

"Hmm, didn't take you for the quiet type." All for One formed a cheshire grin. "Mirio Togata, student of the glorious UA, member of the Big Three, Pro Hero Lemillion, youngest to reach the top ten, and finally, my personal favorite: tenth wielder of One for All."

The last part hit harder than any blow Mirio had ever experienced, the loss and sadness he felt suddenly twisting into pure rage and spurring his body to move on its own.

"Shut up!" Mirio felt the tears on his cheeks slip away, body moving on instinct as he aimed a bullet racing fist at All for One's sternum. A hit that would put most on the ground in the past, and now with the added aid of thirty percent of One for All, Gear Shift making him faster, Float reducing drag, and Fa Jin empowering it all; the single punch could possibly even level a city block.

All it did was make All for One frown.

"You have much better control of that Quirk than the ninth, a pity. Only if you had more time to nurture it. However..." All for One lazily gestured to the city around them. "It's a little too late now, not that you would survive long with that accursed Quirk anyways. Although I must ask, how does it feel to slowly die from your own power? I wouldn't know personally."

Mirio screamed, throwing punch after punch, foregoing any backlash and pushing One for All to eighty percent.

"Stop scuffing my blazer." A command, not a suggestion, seeing as Mirio could barely react, his intangibility too slow as he felt himself lift off the ground.

In a single blink of his eyes, he was four streets down, embedded inside of a concrete wall belonging to a convenience store.

"Why?"  Mirio asked, pain the least of his worries as he managed to speak through gritted teeth.

"Why, you ask?" All for One walked out of a black swirling portal. "Well, let me give you the answer you deserve, seeing as you will be the last wielder of that filthy power my brother created."

All for One materialized a leather sofa from nowhere, casually sitting down as he cleared his throat.

"It's quite simple really, I am honestly a little more than curious to see the outcome of a Villian winning."

Mirio's face scrunched up in confusion, "What?"

"Comics, movies, TV shows, books, webnovels, fanfictions, and most of any media currently, and even back when meta abilities first started to appear were all alike. Do you know what they all had in common? The Hero always wins." All for One frowned. "No matter how resourceful, how many centuries an antagonist lives, no matter how powerful they become. They. Always. Lose."

Mirio laughed, hard enough that One for All empowered it enough to cause the few windows that weren't broken in the vicinity to shatter.

"All of this-" he barely managed to say through more laughter. "Because of that?"

All for One snapped his fingers, "Silence."

Mirio's mouth forcefully closed.

"Now, as I was saying. The villains always lose, the hero triumphs, everyone is happy. Yet nothing has changed. No progress has been made, the world back slides or gets comfortable with where it's at. No one realizes that most of these so-called villains had seen the true evil the current system could bring and simply wanted to change it. Hell, most antagonist's childhood justify every action, and for a good reason. They are able to see the darkness, have touched its tendrils and accepted its embrace, all in hopes of trying to change it for the better. To put it rather bluntly, I wanted to see, if I win—which I have—, what story will befall the world now? Will I create a utopia, a living hell, an empire that will reach the stars, will my future actions set humanity on the right course, or have I doomed it?" All for One closed his eyes. "After I kill you, a new untold story will be written, one with a Villain who has actually won for once, who has conquered his trauma and has overcome all obstacles. It will truly be glorious."

All for One took a moment of silence before opening his eyes, red irises gleaming.

"I truly apologize Lemillion, that you will not be a part of that story."

The couch vanished as All for One stood, Mirio knowing his time had finally come, unable to resist as the dark lord stalked closer.

A grip stronger than anything he had ever felt clasped his neck, prying him from the indent in the wall like it was sand, and the same hand easily holding Mirio up while All for One stared into his eyes. 

He could have used his Quirk to slip through his grasp, to run away to fight another day, scrounge up what was left of those willing and maybe find a way to win.

However, Mirio was tired, he just wanted all the suffering to stop.

"Any last words, they will mark the end of the prologue for when my story truly begins."

Mirio didn't hear him, nor did he even feel the hand that started to tighten around his neck, instead all he saw were flashes from memories of his life.

The times before UA, when it was just him and his Father, trying their best to figure out how to use his power for heroism. The times when he walked next to Tamaki Amajiki after school, doing everything to try and get the shy boy to break out of his shell and embrace his true self. To not cower from the bright rays of the sun, and to instead swallow it hole.

Next came the sports festival, when he was a simple Gen Ed student at UA with hopes big enough to crush the stadium he was in.

Nervous was an understatement but, as he saw the countless spectators with their roaring applause as he beat his first opponent in the start of the tournament, he knew he had made it. So many hours spent after class, honing his Quirk, breaking his body, and being totally exhausted to the point he functioned on only three hours of sleep.

Then, he was approached by Sir Night Eye, kicking off his real training arc that turned him from a somewhat confident fighter to an outright monster, all in preparation for what he would later find out was to take One for All.

How ironic, seeing as he had finally gotten it, having been given it from the blood of Midoriya's dismembered arm, the boy only giving him a faint smile and saying that Mirio deserved the power just as much as he did.

The previous was reinforced by the vestiges answering his call, giving him the power to wield the Quirks needed to fight back.

Next, he saw Nejire, her bubbly voice coming to him before the image of her beautiful long blue hair he was always tempted to touch. The times when they trained, eyes locking and heat emitting from both their faces as they caught their breath. Undertones of something other than friendship bubbling under their gazes.

However, she was dead now, body decayed to mere atoms.

Lastly, he saw the radiant smile of Eri as he held her on his shoulder, watching the school festival  with glistening eyes that kids her age should have, not the one of pain she always held.

She was ash along with UA.

"I will kill you." Mirio said through gritted teeth and the blood that gushed from his gums. "I promise, some way or another I will kill you All for One, no matter where I end up.

All for One scoffed, "Preferably hell, because we can assume that is where I will go, though, probably not anytime soon. Hmm, perhaps a few thousand years. It will be a long wait, but first, let's end this."

Mirio screamed, something inside of him lurching forward and being forcefully ripped from him, like a limb he didn't know he had.

"Gear shift."

Another wave of agony gripped Mirio.

"Fa Jin."

The pain made his screams simply die in his throat, Mirio unable to even muster the will to breathe any more as his vision blurred.

"Danger sense, Smoke Screen, Blackwhip."

Mirio wanted to die, truly, anything was better than this. He could hear the scream of the vestiges, calling out to him in distress before all that was left was the soft crying of Nana in his head.

All for One smiled.

"No worries Lemillion, I don't need the last three. One is just a stain on my legacy and no longer needed as I have now far surpassed its power, the second leaves a bad taste in my mouth as if I will be forced to remember that woman, and honestly your Quirk would be quite a bit tedious to learn how to use." His grip tightened. "Find solace in the fact you die somewhat originally whole."

Mirio fought through ragged breaths, using every ounce of his final strength to look down at All for One, the sheer boredom on the villain's face making Mirio rage.

"Go to hell." He spat through one more forced smile.

All for One simply laughed.

"You first."