(Finally back. I've been trying everything I could to push myself back into this. Started thinking about making another fic. Then, I realized I wouldn't know what to write. Made some tea, back to writing again.)

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Hisashi felt lost.

There was no other way to describe the feeling. Lost. A fog filled his mind and his vision was almost glitchy. One moment he'd be sitting at the computer and looking for something to do with his son, and the next his vision would go green, then he'd wake up in bed and not be able to remember how he got there or what he was doing before. He felt as if he'd been hypnotized. Possessed. Manipulated. Controlled. It was violating, and he had no idea where it was coming from.

He vaguely remembered when it started, but not who did it. He woke up in the lab after making a deal. His body was healed back to his prime. He saw his son. His son looked the same as the day he died with his yellow cardigan, red shoes, fluffy green hair, and matching freckles. He was just as cute as the man remembered, with that baby fat still clinging to his face. Not a thing had changed. He really was dead.

Which left the question of what that would mean for him.

Sure, his son was a ghost now, but that still meant that Hisashi could have him back as long as he stayed. However, there were still things outside of this lab that needed to be done. Things he couldn't remember. Izuku had stated before that his memories could be found on the computer, and Hisashi had been alive for over two hundred years, so there were plenty to choose from. And yet.. and yet... he found himself forgetting.

There were holes in the information provided to him, and the deeper he looked the harder it became. His actions felt like they were being guided toward a certain path. He would wake up, take a shower, try on whatever new clothes appeared in his wardrobe, turn on the news while he made breakfast for himself and Izuku, and they would eat together while he listened to the "newsperson" drone on about the going ons of the outside world.

In the beginning, it would talk about upcoming challenges like the sports festival. It was entertaining to watch and filled him with pride seeing his boy bouncing around taking advantage of his enemies' abilities. Then it showed Izuku's reveal and slow integration back into the living world. He wasn't really living himself, but his presence was made known and that's what mattered in the end. After that, there was a training montage and rumors of villains being on the rise--Hisashi understood this as Tomura making a move in his stead.

But the other day, something strange happened.

He heard the pipes in his sink rattle and groan, but when he went to investigate, he got a sickening feeling of dread in his gut. He didn't pay it much mind--with his power back at its peak, there was nothing that could threaten him now--which became his undoing. That confidence led to his current disposition. One moment the sink was clattering and the next it was screaming. Then came the Green, pushing his mind back and taking control of him. The screaming stopped and he felt himself moving, then what felt like an eternity later, he woke up in bed like nothing had occurred in the first place.

Dazed and confused, he stumbled into the bathroom to splash some water on his face. The sink did not rattle when he leaned against it, it did not groan when he turned the handle, it did not clatter when water poured from the spigot, and there wasn't so much as a squeak when he washed away the fear of a nightmare he could not recall. He did not understand why these things did not happen, nor why he expected them to. He stood looking at his reflection for what felt like forever, trying to understand.

Maybe if he couldn't recall what scared him so badly through normal means, then perhaps he could look deeper. He dried himself off, noting how distant his body felt while doing so. It felt like he was running through the motions. He put on a comfortable sweater and baggy sweatpants. He wasn't in the mood to look presentable right now. He turned on the television and numbly cooked a simple meal of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. The news droned on about the weather, the latest rumors of hero drama, and an assassination attempt on some hotshot millionaire. Izuku skipped up to the table and ate breakfast with him all while they chatted about the meaningless little things children liked to talk about.

Once he'd dropped Izuku off at the Daycare and returned to his chamber, he sat down at the computer and tried to think back to this morning. Or was it last night? Time was meaningless here. He scrolled through countless files that might have an answer as to why the pipes were screaming. Memories of his own labs came into view. Nomu after Nomu filled the screen. He knew something was going on here, but he also knew that he was the only one capable of creating the Nomus. And he knew for a fact that he had yet to make a single one, which meant no Nomu labs. Useless information.

He then flipped into another folder in the archives. He didn't have much experience in plumbing, seeing as he could just use a repair quirk to fix everything, so he wasn't sure of any specifics. Two hundred years and he'd never thought to learn anything on basic house appliances? No, there had to be something useful. Rust and mold were never a problem, as the entire lab was spotless--always cleaned and sterilized to perfection regardless of whether or not he did the cleaning.

Wait, Izuku had once called this place the Dreamscape, right? Wouldn't a nightmare in the Dreamscape imply that Izuku would be the one having a nightmare and it transferred to him? Or did he have a nightmare and it transferred to Izuku? Urgh, this place was confusing. And what would screaming pipes have to do with a nightmare? Would having a nightmare in the Dreamscape become a problem in reality? Or would it stay in this false reality? Pocket dimension? Mirror world? His head was starting to hurt. Green filled his vision. The pain was gone. He woke up in bed. Everything was green.

Had the world always been so green?

. . .

Izuku was just on the verge of perfection.

Everything was going so smoothly. All For One was ready to deploy. The Nomus were prepared for action. The battle was set to begin. All the pieces were in place and there was only one thing left to do. He got up from the table, catching Bill's attention, "C'mon, I wanna show you something." Bill looked at him funny for a moment but followed regardless. He could feel Hisashi's control slipping, his memory and focus fading away as Izuku's power over him increased. The Nightmares were doing a very good job of keeping intruders out, Dipper especially. Everything is as it should be.

The two walked (or floated in Bill's case) to the diorama. Izuku had changed the scene to All For One's perspective. The man's mind-controlled body was currently standing next to The Doctor as the other counted the number of Nomus in the facility. There were now quite a few high-functioning Nomu, and Izuku even went out of his way to kill the ones whose files claimed to have a child's DNA in them. Izuku wasn't cruel enough to put a child through such pain and make them survive it only to turn them into a weapon. That didn't stop him from taking adults and rewriting their biology. He mainly only took people who hurt kids, because people like them would certainly not be missed.

(He'd have to kill the one in the basement. He hadn't known it was a child until a few hours ago when he'd just finished tormenting Dipper. He felt bad about torturing it now, even if it hurt Bill. Nomus only did as they were told, after all. It's not the Nomu's fault he didn't catch Shigaraki in time. No, taking his anger out on a fellow dead child won't make him feel any better. He'll have to put it out of its misery and take his anger out on Stain instead.)

Bill took in the sight of their plans coming to fruition with a thoughtful look in their eye. Izuku was quite proud of everything he'd achieved so far. They'd come so far and worked so hard, and here it was right in front of them. The Plan was finally complete and they were ready to move. All he needed was Bill's permission to press the metaphorical red button and launch this rocket into the stars. Bill looked over every detail on the table, searching for something. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be there. Maybe somewhere else then?

Izuku switched to All Might's perspective. The man was pacing in Nezu's office with one hand on his chin and another holding his arm. Nezu was sitting in his chair with his paws clasped together tightly in front of him. They both looked stressed about something. Seems like Toshinori took the hints Izuku left for him. The black pawn was now in perfect view of the white knight. Izuku was one move away from moving them both into the correct position for the knight to take the pawn. Unfortunately for All Might, that still meant he was in the line of fire for all the other pieces. So while those two fought to the death, Bill, his king, would take control of the board and conquer the enemy.

Everything was finally going right.

. . .

Bill wasn't sure whether to be proud or terrified.

They knew Izuku was capable of this kind of chaos, but it was a whole new experience seeing it in person. All For One had finished everything he'd been told to do and had left some faux labs with low-tier Nomu across the city. A warehouse here, an underground lair there, and there was a sewer somewhere with water-based Nomu as well. It would lead the heroes on a wild goose chase while they sat back and watched the show.

And sure there was no need to play nice anymore, but what fun would that be? Bill would be sitting pretty on their throne as they watched the heroes scramble and the world crumbled, and they'd still hail Cipher a hero. Izuku had some rules for the future written out that sounded like a cross between a crime lord and an anti-hero. This way, even if people found out about his crimes, they'd know the purpose of them and would be forced to watch from the sidelines. There would be peace and order, and it'd be all thanks to them.

And should the world view him as a villain-- well, Illuminati is always down for chaos.

Illuminati was very different than Cipher. Cipher would be a bloodstained hero, hailed as a King for being the hero this world really needs until "peace" comes to mean obedience. Illuminati would be the Dream Demon, spreading chaos and murdering the masses until "peace" comes to mean silence. Regardless of the path they take, it would end the same. Chaos would be freedom. Death would be mercy. Killing would be justice. Cipher would be a King. Illuminati would be a God.

And they had Izuku and his brilliant mind to thank for it all.

"Bunny, bestie, my partner in crime," Bill began, "you are the most amazing kid in the Multiverse!" they squealed, grabbing Izuku in a hug and twirling them around. Izuku laughed as they spun, "Hehe, I take it you like my present?" Bill glowed like the sun in approval. "Oh, I love it! This is the best thing anyone's ever given me!" Bill cooed. They really were so very happy. Not even Sixer had given them this much, and he was practically infatuated with Bill.

Finally, everything was going according to plan.

. . .

"He's back..."

Toshinori tried his best to control his emotions, but it seemed useless as he transformed from the stress. "How is this possible, Nezu?! He's dead! I made sure of it!" he told the small chimera. The other nodded solemnly, "Yes, I read your report from five years ago. But it's an undeniable fact that the Nomus from the attack in Hosu were created by All For One. Their multiple quirks are proof of this." Nezu told Toshinori, who continued to pace back and forth.

Nezu loudly clapped his paws, capturing the man's attention, and gestured for him to sit. Toshinori silently complied. "I can't fight him like this Nezu... I just can't... I'm not at my full power like I was back then, and I'm down to five hours. I can't win like this..." he bemoaned. Nezu hummed thoughtfully, "Then perhaps we should ask Young Cipher to build something that may help with this predicament," he offered. Toshinori's head snapped up to meet Nezu's gaze, "And tell him the truth?! That I, All Might, was unable to defeat my archnemesis?! And what about Izuku?! If he knew of my quirk, he would think me a heartless hypocrite..." he told Nezu, burying his head in his hands.

Nezu shook his head, "You don't know that, Yagi," Nezu told him. Toshinori sighed, "I know, I know. It's just... what if he can't do it?" he grimaced. Nezu hopped down from his chair and walked around his desk, placing a comforting paw on the man's leg. "Mr. Cipher has made a name for himself on that skill alone. Even if this proves more difficult than his previous works, this is Bill Cipher we're talking about. He can do it." Toshinori nodded and took a deep breath.

"Alright, we'll tell him tomorrow."

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(And that's all for this chapter.

I kept coming back to this one a lot. Every time I got close to an ending I reread it and decided I didn't like it. I have to keep changing the timeline and moving the plot to fit it. Then I go to the script and check that the changes aren't going to majorly affect the story. And for the most part, it doesn't, but then it does and I have to rewrite the script all over again.

I have an entire unpublished chapter in this book that keeps track of it all that's titled "storyline" and I have to go back and change it every time I see something I want to change. Then I go on Tumblr and read other fanfics and random writing tips from other authors and decide that I need to redo the whole plot again because it's too cheesy. Then it's too confusing. Then too basic... too chaotic... too cliche...

And I do all of this while eating ice cream, drinking fancy tea, and thinking about my life choices. Author vibes :D

But yeah, that's all for now. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!)