Chapter 52 - Last Stand

Author's Note: Hello there Ladies and Gentleman! Please read todays note below as it is very important for the next weeks. As I will be away for a short while you will have more than enough time to come to a conclusion.

P.S. This chapter is for the guy that asked yesterday for another chapter in the comments. Just this once I will grant you this wish and rejoice for it has double the word count of normal chapters so ~2200 words. Enjoy!

----

After a few moments of observation had passed All for One let out a short laugh and shifted himself in a more comfortable position. With a wide smile on his face he began to talk.

AfO: "Well, well, well. What is a small child like you doing here to play hero? Are the heroes so desperate to defeat me that they already use children to fight their wars? You could be someone that possesses a quirk that allows you to shrink in size but that seems highly unlikely. Why don't you go home and bother your momma kid."

H: "How about you shut your mouth."

With that Hermann advanced with his shield raised and sword ready to stab. Evading without too much effort he continued talking.

AfO: "Is your momma not scared that you're fighting with other people? She must be worried sick for you. Why don't you go home and we forget this here ever happened, ok?"

Without giving an answer Hermann continued to advance towards him, trying to hurt him even more than the small cuts on All for One's fingers that he had caused moments ago and had begun to bleed steadily. Although All for One hadn't payed much attention to it previously he now seemed irritated by it. Perhaps he owned a quirk that allowed for a passive healing of his body which was rendered useless when matched with the abilities of Hermann's sword. While evading flawlessly both shield and sword he curiously observed his wounds. At this moment he decided to speak.

AfO: "You are quite an interesting child. You seem to possess a special quirk that allows you to harm my body that can stop my recovery. Truly fascinating. Let's test you some more. I've already seen you attack so how about you evade or defend from mine."

Following this long black wires emerged from his right palm and began to chase him like homing missiles. Careful not to be surrounded by them he tried to avoid by moving back and to the left or right. Watching for a while All for One seemed to grow dissatisfied by Hermann's performance began to throw fire balls at Hermann with his other hand causing him to evade at even weirder angles through twisting and turning his body while also keeping in mind the many wires that were homing in on him and tried to catch him and the slippery piles of rubble on the floor and the many pillars in the room. At this point Hermann had long realized the All for One was merely toying with him, reducing him to a mere source of entertainment for one of the strongest people in this world. After a few minutes All for One's excited smile switched to a bored expression and he finally stopped, sucking the wires back inside his palm and extinguishing the sparks in his hands that had previously formed the fireballs. While Hermann regained his breath while keeping All for One in his exact field of view. With a short round of applause All for One spoke up again.

AfO: "What a wonderful display of your capabilities. Considering your age you are an outstanding individual. The wound you caused me has still not healed. Your ability is extremely useful but..."

With that his left uninjured hand transformed into sharp blade that he raised over his head.

AfO: "now let us see what happens if someone removes the part that was injured by you."

As soon as he finished his sentence he hacked down onto his injured right hand, severing his fingers from the rest of his body. Merely a second later the stream of blood that fell from his hand stopped and from the remaining stumps new fingers grew until he stood before Hermann a few seconds later without any trace of an injury.

AfO: "So it was really that simple. Well it seems that I have seen enough."

Gesturing for his minions he ordered

AfO: "Surround him and aim at his arms, legs and torso. You only have to keep him alive long enough for me to absorb his quirk. You should feel honored boy. Not every quirk is strong enough for me to be added to my arsenal. In a way you will also take part in my achievements. You are becoming a part of something greater than yourself."

Slowly the minions began to circle him to cut off all possibilities of escape. A few formed a half circle behind All for One while the rest disappeared through the entrance of the building. When he took a quick look behind his back he saw that behind him someone had already created another large and smooth wall whose upper edges were curved towards him where the normal brick walls of the factory had formerly stood.

H: [This is getting ridiculous. How did Allmight even beat that guy. Is is strong in close as well as in ranged combat and has a great intellect. In the beginning he tried to enrage me to attack him without formulating a plan. When he saw that such an attack didn't work he decided to evaluate all my abilities by testing my limits. Now it seems that he thinks to know enough about me to defeat me effortlessly.]

At that moment Orion decided to intervene.

Orion: [Why don't we fight together? It's better than nothing.]

Incredulously Hermann replied in a sarcastic manner.

H: [What a ridiculous proposal. You have nothing. No armor, no weapons and your body might be destroyed in the process.]

Chuckling Orion replied.

Orion: [What need do we even have anymore for our bodies. Just like with you the only thing that matters is our soul. I for one don't mind losing this body for a good cause. As soon as I exit prepare our escape. Inform us at least a few seconds prior so we can return to you.]

H: [What about the rest of you?]

Tiamat: [It seems as though all hope is lost. Nevertheless I will support you although I would much enjoy sleeping for even longer.]

H: [And what about you Gaia?]

Gaia: [Hmpf! I suppose I can lend you my aid but I want something in return.]

H: [Let me guess. Food?]

Gaia: [More! I want more!]

Orion: [I wouldn't mind just having more food.]

H: [This is serious. How about we eat a lot when we finally meet again in the next world. And I will give your fur a long grooming session how about that?]

Gaia: [I suppose that is barely acceptable]

Although she might have sounded reluctant he could secretly feel her happiness that she desperately tried to hide from everyone. Although she constantly demanded things from him and the group he had often caught her gifting various things to others and sometimes she would even give their group many things when she had eaten much or was absent minded although she denied it vehemently when she was asked about it directly.

As much as Hermann wanted to rebuke Orion's proposal and the support of the rest he agreed that he had to do something that surprised One for All so that he would gain more time to try anything that wouldn't end in his death and in him acquiring a sample of All for Ones cells. Through everything he had noticed that One for All was a careful man and only acted once he was sure of his victory at the lowest cost possible so with yet unprecedented actions he might be able to buy more time. Luckily the exit of his Inventory was somehow tied to the range of his Energy&Matter Control which currently spanned about a radius of 25 meters. Although he still needed to touch things to store them taking them was way more convenient. To solve the current problem he decided to let Gaia fight against the minions behind the wall behind his back while Orion and Tiamat would fight together with him against All for One. As he took at good look at the villain the man smiled at him.

AfO: "You're back! Thanks to your patience we are now all set and ready to go. Because of your wonderful we decided to gift you a lot. A lot of pain that is. Now..."

He snapped his fingers to his right and a man besides him made a downwards pressing motion with his hands. Looking over his shoulder quickly he saw how the wall returned to it's previous brittle and half destroyed appearance. The most frighting thing about this was that everything had happened had been done in complete silence without any indication of environmental changes. At this point All for One continued with his small speech.

AfO: "… go ahead and die for our greater benefit."

At this point Hermann decided to intervene.

H: " Selecting Species.

Analyzing Appearance and Capabilities.

Recreating Behavior and simulating Intelligence.

Binding wills and intents to the Caster.

Materializing creatures."

Curiously All for One motioned for his minions to retreat until they understood what he was doing. Perhaps it was a bluff but it would be best to be cautious in this case it would do anything. Only a madman would risk anything in such a situation. Using various quirks to strengthen his body even further he decided to wait until the kid finished it's job.

AfO: "What are you doing kid? Have you given up?"

H: " Imagination creates Energy

Energy creates Matter

Matter creates Life

Life created me

and it shall set me free!

First act of creation: Genesis!"

Following this move Hermann pushed his hand against the ground and opened portals that were invisible for all that did not have a soul contract with him or were knowledgeable in spacial fluctuation, other dimensions or other things. Two portals to his inventory one to his left, one to his right and as the large wall had disappeared and the minions were aiming at him through the many holes in the walls another one opened up behind him. A body emerged out of each one and was immediately possessed by the souls that had rested inside his soul until now. As always Orion was convinced that he had done something unnecessary and could have done something different.

Orion: [Why did you do this? That was totally unnecessary!]

H: [But does he know that? Now he beliefs that I can create living beings. As they cannot see what I'm capable of they think I created you piece by piece instead of slowly pushing your bodies out of a portal. The fact that I called it the first act might incite the thought that I control even more of the power of creation. This can help in the grand scheme of us.]

Before anyone else could do something Gaia decided to interrupt grumbling.

Gaia: [All just excuses. You merely wanted to sound cool. You cannot deceive us!]

H: [A wonderful small side effect, that is all.]

Gaia: [I think it's the other way around but that's just my opinion]

At this point Orion decided to interrupt the discussion before this situation would get out of hand and ruin their entire plan.

Orion: [How about we focus on the situation at hand? I'm sure we will be able to continue this conversation at another time but we are in the middle of the fight right now.]

Proud that Orion had by now learned how to properly dissolve issues and strife in a calm, collected and efficient matter Hermann focused back on the situation they were in right now. When he looked around he merely saw confused faces all around him. Astounded by this odd scene he turned back to All for One who began to talk.

AfO: "Are you ok kid? You seem to phase out from time to time and just stand there. Is your armor to heavy? Do you get enough air? Is your armor getting to warm and uncomfortable? Your behavior is getting really weird. Are you already giving up? You must surely be exhausted from that creating."

H: [And it seems we are back at taunting. He must be unsure of my capabilities. After all what would stop me from creating a large dragon that kills him with fire, wind, water, ice or lightning?]

Suddenly outside the building police sirens began to howl and just a few meters outside the building he could hear a loud voice cry out.

Allmight: "HEROES ASSEMBLE! THERE ARE VILLAINS INSIDE, THE BUILDING IS ABANDONED AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS FOR OUR BATTLE PLAN! HIT THEM 'TILL THEY FALL"

At this moment Orion decided to ask one final question before they would try to end the battle quickly before the heroes arrived and made the situation even more complicated.

Orion: [ We have two options now. Either you stay back and kill him with your Energy&Matter Skills or we all charge him directly. What should we do?]