Opening Notes: It's been a while, hasn't it? Real life keeps on trucking, after all. And seeing as it still is at the time of writing this, here's an admittedly short chapter to tide you over.

"Yeah! Yeeeaaaahhh! That's my man, right there!" Gyro screeched, pumping one fist in the air and using the other hand to point at his closest friend.

"Shut up, you fucking gaijin!" Bakugo loudly seethed from his seat.

The Neapolitan lost none of his enthusiasm as he twirled and smiled at the classmate he held the third least amount of comradery for. "Che ne dici chiudere tuo buco della torta?" Satisfied that only one person present understood even a slight amount of his native tongue, he sat back down, hands on the back of his head.

Momo leaned over, putting her mouth close to his lips. "Aren't you worried he'll catch on to just what it is you're saying to him?" She asked as quietly as a church mouse.

In response, her boyfriend let out a cocky "pfff" and twirled his foot nonchalantly.

Next to him was the sound of fervent scribbling. Midoriya's pencil was gliding across the page dedicated to Johnny so quickly, it seemed to be smoking. "So he can control the holes his nails makes, but can they divert their course? And if he shot two in the same spot, would it make the vortex bigger? And just what can they cut through? What-"

"I've got a sort of answer to that last one," Gyro butted in. "They don't work on metal."

Izuku took those words and put them on the page, quickly drawing a line from the kanji to just short of the sketch of Joestar's left hand.

Having heard them, as he was sitting behind them, Kirishima grinned at Joestar. "Guess that means you couldn't do so well against the robots in the Entrance Exam, so you must've really wracked up the Rescue Points, huh?"

"Perhaps. He's a Joestar, after all," Diego's voice offered. Some of 1-A looked towards him, only to find he had twisted his own back and neck to see the doorway behind the rows of seats. The rest followed his example, and found that it was not him who had spoken.

DIO leaned on the archway, arms folded over his chest. "Diego. You're free for a while. Walk with me."

The younger Brando stood up without a second thought. "Yes, Grandfather." He hastily left with his mother's progenitor, leaving everybody confused about a certain uncanny similarity between the two blondes.

"Did anybody else..."

"Notice that they sound exactly alike? Yeah." Gyro looked at Izuku, the only one among them without puzzlement etched on his face. "That doesn't strike you as odd?"

"Well, I... I've met DIO a few times. I noticed it, sure, but I didn't really think much of it. Besides, it's not so weird for family members to sound similar, right?"

Jiro kept her thoughts silent and to herself. It's like they speak the same range, but Brando seems to have more sharp notes in his key.

"It would seem you enjoyed putting your classmate under your heel." DIO felt a swelling pride. Diego had never been much of sadist, much to the Vampire's disappointment.

Diego paused for a moment, leaning on the wall. He seemed to hesitate with his answer. "A little."

"Just a little?" The bloodsucker leaned down, making it so that the two Brandos were as eye level as possible given his pilfered body and Diego's lacking in the aspect of height. "Why not have some fun with this? You aren't going soft, are you?" He continued before his heir could even part his lips. "Have I not warned you? They will eat you alive if you give them so much as a single opening. And mercy is always the crack in that wall."

"I understand, Grandfather. But-" He was cut off by DIO grabbing his chin.

"Maybe your medicine is wearing off."

"Medicine?" Diego echoed with confusion. He failed to recollect ever taking medication for... well, anything.

"Just hold still." DIO forced their eyes to lock, and then his own flashed like neon for only a brief instant. After which, Diego's own became unfocused and his body slacked, as if he were about to fall over and pass out. The Vampire kept him on his feet as the young one closed his eyes and shook his head.

The younger of the two Brandos looked around as if lost. "What just happened?"

"Oh, I simply wanted to give you some words of encouragement," DIO soothed with a smile.

"Oh. Alright."

"Give them no leeway, Diego. You're a Brando. You are above them. They live to be under your heels. They are all here to fulfill a pipe dream fantasy. You are here to show the world how innately superior you are, and how swift your vengeance shall be."

Diego looked to his hand, fingers spread wide. Slowly but surely, his digits curled back like the legs of a dying spider until they closed into an airtight fist. "Yes... Grandfather."

"No limits. No boundaries. No surrender."

While his tone remained level, his grandson's picked up steam. "No surrender!"

"I'll give you some advice. Mind games. Get in their heads. Your claws can cut, but those heal. Take a stab at their psyche, and they'll never regain balance."

"Mind games..."

DIO was proud. Though mostly of himself. "Why don't you go back to your classmates? Don't want to miss the next fight, after all."

Diego blinked before rubbing his forehead. "I think I will..."

The immortal Stand User watched as his progeny's only son lumbered off back to his seat. I should have made him more self-reliant...

Still, he was happy with all that had unfolded those last several months.

Had he not been so immersed in what his violet tendrils were showing him, DIO might have thought of what was on the screen as a mildly entertaining drama.

There was All Might, though a scarce few could have known that. He looked like a body all but ready to become a corpse corpse, thinner than a rail and delicate as a withered willow. The bloodsucker knew that under that white shirt was a positively massive scar, courtesy of his oldest friend.

Sure, he could have sent one of his... employees to take care of the Number One Hero, but DIO was not so stupid. All Might was far from defenseless, and this scrawny form could vanish to be replaced with the musclebound savior known to the world. And he could certainly attempt the hit himself, but no. All For One had plans for his nemesis. For now, it was suffice to watch.

In front of the Symbol of Peace was a green-haired teenager on his hands and knees with tears in his eyes.

"My Quirk is like a torch," All Might spoke with an air of solid importance and grandiose, "that can be passed from one to another."

The boy was absolutely bewildered. "A Quirk... that can be inherited?"

"Yes. And I've chosen you as the next bearer."

Those words made DIO's lips split and curl into a hellish smile. "There we go. Keeping tabs on this nuisance has finally paid off." His grin faltered as the greenette tried to rationalize what he had been told, rambling on and on about the genetics of Quirks. "Oh joy. A talker. Still..."

And so DIO kept watching. Systematically checking in on the ongoings of the latest and soon-to-be holder of the Quirk his friend had graced the world with...

And soon found that the boy had been given a task... that was cleaning up a beach, or rather, massive dumping ground, and was currently trying to haul an industrial refrigerator, all while All Might sat atop it.

"I should try something like that," DIO mused as the Number One Hero hopped down.

All Might looked out to the sea as he placed his hand atop the massive fridge. "Something I can't help but see that the latest batch of Heroes is too focused on flashiness and fame. But you, Young Midoriya, helped me remember that Heroism should be about always doing the right thing." With a mere flex and crouch, the metal cooler was flattened like a house of cards, causing the boy to stare with awe as the Pro Hero continued. "Mark this day as your first step towards achieving your dream."

"My dream..." the boy, Midoriya, spoke weakly. "And the first step towards it... is cleaning up all this trash?"

All Might looked him dead in the eye. "Young Midoriya. You're aiming to enroll at UA, right?"

The question caught his successor off guard. "Huh?! Oh, right, yes!" A few breaths later, he had collected himself. "It's where you went. So if I wanted to study anywhere, it would be there."

UA...

DIO's mind began to see several jigsaw pieces floating around... and they slowly fell into place. All Might had chosen who to pass his Quirk to. That person wanted to be a Hero.

And he, DIO, had collected himself a rather valuable pawn who wanted that exact same thing.

Gravity was showing him an opportunity. And damned if he was not about to seize it.

With only one hand needed to let him continue his surveillance, he used his free hand to grab and operate his phone. As he typed in his password, he could not help but think back to when he was technically young. How the most advanced piece of technology was the paper drinking straw and the gramophone.

A quick entry in a search engine and a fast read told him all he needed about the prestigious Hero academy.

The purple tentacles retraced from the television's frame and vanished as he turned on his heels and checked the clock. Well past sunset. Good. He marched out of his private chambers, down the stairs of the tower adjourned to his vast dwelling. Despite how extensive the manor was, he knew it like the back of his hand. And he knew where the piece he was about to use was. Coming to a thick, spotless door, he knocked. Common courtesy, among other things.

From the other side came one word. "Enter."

So DIO did just that. The door swung open to reveal a bedroom. The occupant had opted to have a canopy frame surround the mattress. All along the walls were shelves covered with trophies, ribbons, sashes, and photographs. Sitting on a chair in front of a currently unpowered computer was the pawn who was about to serve his esteemed purpose.

"Hello, Grandfather," he said as he polished a pair of boots.

"Evening, Diego." The Vampire walked in and stood next to him. "Excited for the Imperial Sprint?"

"Oh, most certainly." Diego grinned as he continued making his footwear shine.

DIO nodded before deliberately making his eyes wander to the one item that seemed out of place in the shrine to his grandson's talents. "Tell me... is that itch to be the next Endeavor still gnawing at you?"

The question did as he intended. Diego stopped dead, and looked to the object his savior was: an action figure of the Number Two Hero. It was rather old, having arrived at the retailer shelves nearly a decade ago.

Diego came clean. "Yes." He saw no reason to lie to the man who had pulled him out of the gutter.

"Well then, why not make it go away?"

"What are you talking about?" Diego asked, looking at his grandfather.

"I've been thinking about a change of scenery. And you're about the age to get into, oh, a certain Heroics school."

Diego picked up what DIO was putting down. "You're joking, right?"

"Oh, no, I assure you. I know you. Racing is your passion, but to truly be at the top of things, we both know that lies somewhere else. So, while you are whipping your steed all across Europe, I'll be moving us to Musutafu."

Diego's were wider than his torso. "This is not a joke? You're being serious?"

"Diego, only son of my late daughter, I would never be so cruel as to just dangle your dream in front of you."

Quick as a whip (no short thanks to Scary Monsters), his grandson got up and wrapped his arms around his torso. "I love you, Grandfather."

"And I you," DIO said through his teeth.

Time passed.

DIO knew that Diego was currently in Sagres, preparing for the opening of the Imperial Sprint (and saw the fitting rivalry between Diego and one Johnny Joestar, who had taken home the silver). But the Bloodsucker was not watching. He was housed in his coffin, safe from the vile sun as his closest minions oversaw the erection of Brando Manor. A rather big move, figuratively and literally, but he had everything to dispose of, and the years had taught him preparation and patience. This would all pay off...

Weeks flowed by steadily. DIO patted his heir on the back when he won the Sprint, and basked in his awe at the sight of their new home. While the young one familiarized himself with the city, DIO continued watching One For All.

Finally, it was time. He watched the glorified reality show from within the television in his library.

The boy was still cleaning up the garbage without fail.

Only today, things would get moving.

His eyes remained glued to the screen as, out of the corner, a speck of yellow entered the pixelation. One healthy dose of Diego's medicine had sent him off to one Dagobah Beach, intent on finding a subordinate.

The young Stand User watched as he went unnoticed before finally speaking up. "What are you doing?"

DIO smiled. "My move. Pawn to intercept pawn."