The Emperor's Dragon

Warnings

"That is most unlike you," All For One said softly.

The Doctor stood before him. The man was distressed. They were in the prototype warehouse, standing before a tube where Garaki's Grandson was.

All For One hadn't seen him when he came in but with his limited sight he could see that the teen was floating gently. He was lean and that was all he could tell now. The wings that were his quirk were absent but then the Doctor had said they were transformable wings.

Supposedly the boy was no longer independent.

"How could I have done this?" Kyudai asked.

All For One knew the question wasn't directed towards him but he couldn't help but answer. "Did you do anything? Did you make a mistake?" He didn't ask anything more. The man would pick up the implication.

Garaki trembled. He shook his head slightly. He knew what Sensei was implying. If he hadn't made a mistake, then the starting material must have been subpar. His grandson wasn't that weak, was he?

Except...

The fact remained that he brought his grandson in to make him stronger. That said without even needing to answer any question that he had considered Tsubasa weak. He thought he had an application for his research. He did have applications for his research but he thought he could use it this way as well. The results spoke for themselves.

Although... Kyudai realised there was a connection between Tsubasa and some of the earlier Nomu's he'd created. They were... barely functional was a nice way of putting it and for the most part their bases had been-

No. It couldn't be that, could it? It couldn't be that simple? Except it might be. With the earlier Nomu he hadn't been testing for mental function, he'd wanted physical enhancement so... Could it be that an immature mind was doomed to fail as a Nomu? Maybe not mentally immature, because many of the quirkless teens he'd used were adult like in their reactions, even if the accepted age for actual maturity was 25. Regardless, their physical brain development was... That was less understood. 18 was the accepted age for physical development but... Or it could be a combination of both.

Children could behave like adults but that was merely an act, or circumstance. Even in desperate times, a child couldn't think beyond what happened in the next few hours, or days, or sometimes a season or two but an adult could think in terms of years.

The potential answer didn't make him feel any better but it did contribute to his knowledge.

"There is no way to reverse it?" Sensei asked when he didn't answer.

The man already knew there was no way to change someone back. "There isn't, Sensei. You know that," Kyudai told him. Maybe if Tsubasa had been an adult but with an immature brain, if that theory was true then... no. There was no way.

The ancient man gave him a look. There was no smile on his face as the Doctor expected. "This is distressing for you," he said. It wasn't a question. "But it has happened," he continued. "If there is nothing that can be done to change things, then you must make a decision," All For One told him.

Garaki sighed. He knew that, he just didn't want to make it because in the end there was really only one decision to make about Nomu's like Tsubasa. "He can be your personal Nomu," All For One murmured.

It wasn't a comfort but... If Tsubasa was his personal Nomu then it would mean that he wouldn't be used in combat. Or at least, they'd have to ask his permission and ... There really wasn't any and that went with that statement. There is very little comfort in the choice.

He sighed. "Thank you," the Doctor said. He meant it but... He just wished he wasn't in this situation.

"How are the others?" All For One asked, moving away from the tube Tsubasa was in.