Location: Streets of Tokyo
Date: Friday | 03:20 PM (Twenty Minutes Later)
SCREECH.
CRASH.
Cars slamd on their brakes right in the middle of the busy intersection.
Minor fender benders piled up, but nobody was yelling about insurance.
Drivers just opened their doors, stepped out onto the street, and looked straight up.
THUD.
A businessman dropped his heavy briefcase on the sidewalk. He didn't even notice.
"What the hell is that?" a woman whispered, covering her mouth.
"Did the sky just crack?" a teenager asked, holding up his phone to record.
"Is it a villain attack?! Are we being bombed?!"
Panic started to spread like wildfire.
Way up above them, the heavy blades of a news helicopter chopped through the cold air.
WHIRRR.
Hideki Sato leaned out the open side door of the chopper.
He used his cara-eye quirk with a new model cara to have a steady zoom while completely losing his professional composure.
He couldn't believe what he was looking at.
The sky was literally broken.
It wasn't a trick of the light.
A massive, endless canyon was carved directly through the clouds. It looked like a giant invisible blade had chopped the atmosphere in half.
The sheer air pressure had pushed the thick white clouds miles apart, leaving a perfectly clear blue line running from the coast of Japan all the way out toward the western horizon.
"Are you getting this, Boss?!" Nagi yelled over the headset.
"I'm getting it!" Sato yelled back, his voice shaking. "The whole sky is split! You can see it going straight over the ocean!"
"The teorological center is going crazy!" Nagi panicked. "They are tracking the disturbance. It goes over Taiwan! It goes past the Philippines! It's cutting across half of Asia! People think soone just dropped a doomsday weapon!"
Sato pulled his eye away from the cara lens and just stared at the massive cloud canyon.
"That isn't a bomb," Sato muttered, feeling a so excited. "Bombs make circles. This is a straight line. Sothing punched the sky."
"THIS IS BIG NEWS! Nagi prepare everyone. We should be the first one out here. Ask what exactly happened. Contact those people inside HPSC."
.....
Down on the ground, the internet completely exploded.
[User404: The sky is gone. Did All For One co back?!]
[TokyoCommuter: I'm underground in the subway and my ears just popped really hard. Are we under attack?]
[DoomsdayWatch: Another World War just started. I'm packing my bags.]
[HeroFanatic: Bombs don't do that! That's a pure physical vacuum!]
*-*-*-*
Location: Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters – Tokyo
Ti: 03:30 PM
RING.
RING.
RING.
The massive office floor was an absolute nightmare.
Every single telephone was ringing at the exact sa ti.
Dozens of governnt agents were running around holding stacks of paper, shouting over each other.
Agent ra stood at the front of the room. She was holding a ringing phone in each hand.
"Ma'am!" an agent yelled, running up to ra. "The Pri Minister is on line one! The Arican President is on line two! The WHA is screaming for an ergency briefing! The public thinks we just launched a nuclear weapon!"
ra grabbed her own hair and pulled it in sheer frustration.
"What is going on. That stupid brother of mine was out there," ra groaned loudly.
ra dropped the phones onto his desk and looked at the frantic agent.
"Send the file my brother gave minuts ago," ra ordered, rubbing her deeply bagged eyes.
"Ma'am?"
"The video file he gave us ten minutes ago," ra said, pointing at the main computer banks. "The silent drone footage from the uncharted island. Leak it to every major news outlet right now."
The agent blinked in surprise. "But ma'am, that's highly classified training footage!"
"If we don't release it right now, the global panic will continue," ra snapped. "Show the world it wasn't a villain attack. Show them it was just the Symbol of Peace stretching his legs. Do it now before soone actually launches a missile!"
CLACK.
CLACK.
The agent rapidly typed on his keyboard.
He hit the enter key, forcing the short video file onto every major broadcast station and internet feed on the planet.
*-*-*-*
Location: Midoriya Household – Izuku's Bedroom
Date: Saturday | 08:00 AM (The Next Morning)
"So if the air pressure creates a linear vacuum, the displaced mass has to travel at Mach speeds just to part the clouds at that distance..."
Izuku Midoriya wasn't acting like a stuttering fanboy.
He was sitting at his desk, staring intensely at the news loop of All Might's leaked footage.
He muttered at absolute lightspeed.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
He took his pen and violently crossed out an entire page of old notes labeled "United States of Smash." The old data was completely useless now.
"It wasn't an explosion. It was pure physical force," Izuku whispered, pulling out a blank blueprint paper. "If I can create a pressurized gauntlet that mimics a localized vacuum, I can throw a punch that hits the target a split second before the air pressure catches up. The delayed sonic boom would..."
BAM.
OW.
A small, black furry paw smacked the back of his head.
"Ow!" Izuku yelped, rubbing his head.
He looked over. Sitting on his desk was Kuro, his transforming black cat partner.
Kuro was sitting on his hind legs, wearing a tiny white lab coat and adjusting a pair of miniature reading glasses with his paw.
OW.
Kuro let out a very annoyed ow, pointing at the clock.
"I know, I know, I'm muttering again," Izuku sighed, giving Kuro a quick scratch behind the ears. "But look at this, Kuro. We need to figure out how to replicate that vacuum effect for our gear."
OW.
Kuro just rolled his eyes, hopped off the desk, and walked out of the room to find breakfast.
*-*-*-*
Location: Bakugo Household – Kitchen
"Katsuki! Stop staring at the damn TV and finish your food! It's getting cold!"
Mitsuki Bakugo yelled from the sink, scrubbing a frying pan loudly.
Katsuki Bakugo sat at the kitchen table. He was wearing an oversized black shirt and sweatpants.
A bowl of cereal sat halfway eaten in front of him.
He didn't yell back. He didn't scream at his mom to shut up.
Ever since he lost that 1v1 rematch fight against Izuku in the beach, Katsuki had matured.
He just stared silently at the television screen. The leaked drone footage played on a loop.
All Might vanishing. The mountain turning to dust. The sky splitting open.
Bakugo didn't blink. He felt the sheer, terrifying weight of that power pressing down on him through the screen.
CRACK.
His hands involuntarily sparked. A small, sharp explosion shot from his palm, shattering his cereal bowl into a dozen pieces.
Milk spilled all over the table.
"Katsuki! What did I just say?!" Mitsuki yelled, grabbing a towel.
Bakugo didn't even look at the ss. He slowly stood up from the table.
The mountain he needed to climb to beco Number One just got impossibly high.
But his eyes were completely focused. He was going to climb it anyway.
*-*-*-*
Kyoka Jiro sat cross-legged on her bed. She was completely in the zone.
She had her heavy headphones on, aggressively plucking the strings of her bass guitar.
She was playing along to the heavy, pulsing bassline of the Hero X the music she downloaded online.
"We're that whole new type of hero, hero
We gon' win wherever we go, we go
Explosions in the sky
Be-be-be-bending space and ti
We're that whole new type of hero, hero"
BZZZT.
The music suddenly cut out completely.
"Hey, what gives?" Jiro muttered, pulling her headphones down around her neck.
She looked at her TV in the corner of the room. The screen was flashing red with an ergency broadcast.
It showed the massive canyon in the clouds and the footage of All Might's punch.
Jiro's jaw literally dropped. She dropped her guitar pick on the floor.
Miles away, in a massive, incredibly expensive family estate.
Momo Yaoyorozu was sitting on a plush sofa in her living room.
She was elegantly sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea and reading a thick book on molecular chemistry.
The massive flat-screen TV on the wall suddenly switched from the morning talk show to the ergency news bulletin.
Momo looked up. She watched the drone footage. She saw the mountain vaporize and the sky split.
CLINK.
Her hands started shaking slightly. She hurriedly set her teacup down on the saucer before she spilled it.
Her brilliant mind tried to calculate the raw kinetic energy required to move that much air mass across an entire ocean.
"My quirk won't be able to achieve that kind of power."
*-*-*-*
Location: The Water Hose Residence – Kitchen
"Here cos the airplane, Kota. Open up."
The Water Hose hero duo were standing in their small, cozy kitchen.
The husband was holding a small spoon of mashed carrots, trying to feed their toddler, Kota, who was sitting in his high chair.
The small TV on the kitchen counter was playing the morning news.
The wife wiped Kota's face with a napkin and looked at the screen. They watched the sky-splitting punch.
"They are calling it the United Nations of Smash," she said quietly.
Her husband lowered the spoon. He looked incredibly serious.
"You've heard it, right?" he asked her. "About Kaito, his new contract right now?"
She nodded. "Yes. He should be together with All Might now."
"The League of Villains is getting worse. Those ash guys with the bio-bombs are popping up everywhere," her husband said, looking down at his son.
Kota babbled happily, reaching for the spoon. "If things get worse... I want to make sure we are strong enough to protect him. I want to make sure we co ho every night."
She placed her hand over her husband's.
"Maybe we can ask him to help us improve right?" the wife said softly. "After all, Kaito already contracted Mandalay and her team in the past."
"Hmm, what you said make sense. Kaito should be able to help us grow stronger. We could had asked him the last ti we t him right?"
*-*-*-*
Location: Top Hero Agencies
"Did you see this?!" Burnin yelled, bursting through the doors of the training room.
She held a tablet out.
Endeavor stood in the center of the room. He was covered in sweat, breathing heavily from pushing his lung capacity.
All the Flaming Sidekickers in the agency already knew the truth. It was the biggest open secret in the top ranks. Kaito Arisaka was managing All Might.
Endeavor took the tablet. He watched the footage. He watched the Symbol of Peace casually rearrange the weather across the hemisphere.
"....."
Endeavor didn't throw the tablet. He didn't rage. His competitive drive just snapped into absolute overdrive.
"He really did it," Endeavor grunted, his voice rumbling deep in his chest. "Kaito actually broke his ceiling."
He handed the tablet back to Burnin.
"If Arisaka helped him break the laws of physics, then my Sun-Armor isn't hot enough," Endeavor stated bluntly.
Burnin blinked. "Boss, you're lting the titanium floor plates."
"It's not enough," Endeavor said, turning his back to her. "I need to compress the flas until they reach the literal temperature of the actual sun. Reset the clock."
Burnin stood there, sweating. She looked genuinely terrified for his life. She didn't know how to tell him, that it is impossible.
Over at the Best Jeanist Agency, things were much quieter.
Best Jeanist stood by the window of his high-rise office, holding a cup of black coffee. His sidekicks stood behind him, watching the news on the monitor.
"Sir..." one of the sidekicks whispered. "How do we even compete with that?"
Best Jeanist took a slow sip of his coffee. He looked out at the Tokyo skyline.
"We don't," Best Jeanist admitted elegantly. "The gap between Rank 1 and us is no longer a gap. It is an entirely different dinsion. If we can take back Number 2 from Endeavor, then I'm happy."
*-*-*-*
Location: Egypt – Cairo Hero Headquarters
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Salaam, the Number One Hero of Egypt, sprinted down the massive marble hallway of his agency.
His traditional pharaoh headdress bounced wildly as he ran.
He kicked the double doors to his main office open.
BAM.
"Did you see it?!" Salaam scread at his top aide.
The aide was already standing by the TV, looking completely pale. He pointed a shaking finger at the screen showing All Might's leaked footage.
"I saw it, sir," the aide swallowed hard. "He split the sky."
Salaam grabbed the sides of his face and pulled down, looking like a man who just missed the last train to safety.
"I missed it last ti!" Salaam wailed loudly. "I hesitated! I was too late! That Golden Manager did this! He contracted Star and Stripe, he contracted Big Red Dot, and now he turned All Might into a living god!"
Salaam slamd his hands on his desk.
"Book a flight!" Salaam ordered.
"To where, sir?" the aide asked, quickly pulling out his phone.
"To Japan!" Salaam yelled. "I don't care if he signed an exclusive contract! I don't care if there is a waiting list! I will fly there right now and stand outside his office building until he agrees to talk to ! Get the private jet ready!"
*-*-*-*
Location: Might Tower – Top Floor Office
Ti: 10:00 AM
SLAP.
All Might dropped the thick stack of manila folders onto the glass coffee table.
He sat heavily on the couch. He was wearing his sharp yellow suit, but he looked completely defeated.
He stared at the glossy photos spread across the table.
Villains turning to ash in the middle of a crowded street. Imploded craters where bio-bombs used to be. Civilians running in sheer terror.
He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his massive hands.
"All those people," All Might whispered. His voice was thick with guilt. "They were terrified... they were getting hurt... and I was just sitting safe in a bunker."
Nighteye sat across from him. He didn't look away. He pushed his glasses up his nose, his expression entirely serious but soft.
"You weren't just sitting, Toshinori," Nighteye said quietly. "You were preparing."
All Might looked up. His blue eyes were full of sorrow.
"But I didn't know," All Might said, his voice cracking slightly. "I didn't know any of this was happening outside. Why didn't anyone tell ?"
Kaito sat next to Nighteye. He held a mug of black coffee. He didn't look away from the giant hero either.
"Because we blocked it," Kaito answered bluntly.
All Might looked at him.
"Nezu, Torino, Nighteye, and I," Kaito explained, keeping his voice calm and steady. "We made a joint decision on day one. We completely cut the news feed to the bunker."
All Might gripped his knees tight. "If I had known..."
"If you had known, you would have punched a hole through the ceiling and flown straight to the incidents," Kaito interrupted. "You would have abandoned the isolation. You have the biggest heart in the world, All Might. You can't ignore soone crying for help."
Kaito leaned forward and set his mug on the table.
"But if you left early," Kaito continued, giving him the hard truth, "you wouldn't have mastered the stockpile. You would have fought a global war with an incomplete core. You would have burned yourself out. We had to keep you in the dark so you could actually finish the training."
"....."
All Might stared at the floor.
He hated it. It went against every single instinct in his body to let others suffer while he hid away. But he knew Kaito-shonen was right.
Sigh.
All Might let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Endeavor," All Might said softly. "Best Jeanist. And all pros right here in Japan."
"They held the line," Nighteye confird with a nod. "They fought hard."
All Might slowly stood up. The heavy sorrow on his shoulders didn't disappear, but it transford. It turned into an unshakable, absolute determination.
"They bled for ," All Might said. He rolled his massive shoulders. "They bought the ti I needed to finish this. I owe them everything."
He looked toward the door.
"It's ti to take the burden back," All Might said. "Let's go."
*-*-*-*
Location: Might Tower – Main Press Room
Ti: 10:30 AM
FLASH.
FLASH.
FLASH.
The press room was absolute pandemonium.
Hundreds of journalists, reporters, and caran were shoved shoulder to shoulder.
The noise was completely deafening. Everyone was shouting in pure panic.
"All Might! Was that attack on the island a doomsday weapon?!"
"Are the rumors true?! Are the villains planting bombs inside their own bodies?!"
"What about the ash villains?! Are our cities going to blow up from the inside?!"
All Might stepped out from behind the curtain and walked up to the heavy wooden podium.
He didn't shout into the microphone. He didn't ask them to calm down.
He simply raised one massive hand.
"....."
The room went completely, dead silent in less than two seconds.
That was the sheer, overwhelming aura of the Number One Hero.
Backstage, Kaito stood in the shadows with his arms crossed.
Unlike the event with Captain Celebrity in the past, Kaito wasn't holding a tablet. He didn't write a PR script for this. You cannot script a man who has carried the world on his back for thirty years.
All Might looked around the room. He looked at the terrified, shaking reporters. He saw the genuine fear in their eyes.
"I have seen the news," All Might started. His voice was deep, booming, and incredibly gentle all at once. "I know what has been happening in our streets. I know about the villains who vanish into ash, and the bombs they leave behind."
He gripped the sides of the podium.
"It is horrifying," All Might admitted to the caras. "Seeing things like that leaves a cold, heavy fear in your heart. You look out your windows, and you feel like the dark is getting deeper. I understand that fear. It is completely natural to be scared right now."
A few reporters actually lowered their caras, just listening to him. So of them looked like they were holding back tears.
"But let tell you about the people doing this," All Might said. His tone slowly shifted.
The gentleness faded into sothing fiercely protective.
"The League of Villains," All Might called them out directly. "They use disposable soldiers. They hide bombs in the shadows. Do you know why they use these tactics?"
He leaned forward slightly.
"Because they are cowards," All Might stated firmly. "They use tricks and shadows because they are absolutely terrified to step into the light and face us in a fair fight. They know they cannot win."
The reporters held their breath.
"Yesterday, you saw a disturbance in the sky," All Might continued, addressing the massive anomaly. "I know it frightened many of you. But I promise you, that was not a weapon of war. That was a promise."
All Might stood up perfectly straight. His massive chest expanded.
"It was a promise that the heroes of this world have evolved," All Might declared loudly. "We have shattered our limits to match this coming darkness!"
The heavy, serious atmosphere in the room completely broke.
All Might flashed his trademark, brilliant, unmistakable smile.
He raised a hand and pointed a massive thumbs-up directly at the center cara lens.
"The night may seem dark, and the villains may hide!" All Might shouted, his voice echoing with absolute, world-shaking confidence.
"But fear not, citizens! Why?!"
He laughed, a booming sound that shook the walls.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!"
The silence hung for exactly one second.
Then the press room literally erupted.
Journalists dropped their professional neutrality.
CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.
"OOOOH."
"ALL MIGHT!"
They started cheering at the top of their lungs. People were clapping wildly.
A few reporters were openly weeping with pure relief.
The heavy, suffocating dread that had gripped the entire nation for the last months were instantly vaporized by a single smile.
Backstage, Kaito just shook his head slightly and smiled.
He realized right then that no marketing strategy, no script, and no PR campaign in the world could ever replicate a pure soul.
The Symbol of Peace was back.
*-*-*-*
Location: The Quirk Plane
Inside the deep, misty realm of One For All, the past users were sitting together.
They were watching the press conference through All Might's eyes.
Daigoro Banjo was laughing loudly, slapping his knee.
"Hahaha! Look at him go!" Banjo cheered. "He knows exactly how to work a crowd! The people love him!"
Kudo, the Second User, stood nearby with his arms crossed. He had a small, proud smile on his face.
"He did it," Kudo muttered. "He actually pulled it off."
"It was a perfect strike," En added quietly from the corner. "The internal Blackwhip held his bones. Fa Jin took the shock. It was flawless."
Kudo looked down at his own hands.
"The crazy part is... that was just a baseline," Kudo pointed out. "He just went from zero to Overdrive instantly. But what if he runs at Mach 100 or more, stores the kinetic energy, and then shifts into Overdrive right at the point of impact?"
"....."
Bruce, the Fa Jin user, widened his eyes
"If he overloads the quirk like that... he would probably shatter his own arm," Bruce said. "The internal armor wouldn't be enough to hold that kind of force back."
"Yeah," Kudo nodded slowly. "But the thing he hits would be completely erased from reality."
*-*-*-*
Location: Might Tower – Top Floor Office
The press conference was over.
All Might walked back into his private office and closed the door. Kaito, Nighteye, Nezu, and Gran Torino were already waiting for him.
A holographic projector on the table flickered, showing a live feed of David Shield.
"Good speech, Toshi," David smiled through the hologram.
"Thank you, David," All Might said, sitting down heavily on the couch.
He looked across the table at Kaito.
"Kaito-shonen," All Might started, his tone dropping the public persona and becoming pure business. "The training is done. But before our contract officially ends, I have one last request."
Kaito leaned back. "Na it."
"I don't want to wait for All For One to attack a city," All Might said firmly. "I don't want to play defense. Two and a half years ago, during the Trigger outbreak, you found their hidden warehouses by tracking the financial trails of the shell companies. You exposed them."
Nighteye adjusted his glasses. "It was the largest global raid in history."
"I want to do it again," All Might demanded. "I want you to use your skills. Track the money. Find the bases where they are holding Anna Scervino and making these ash bombs. I want to end this century-long grudge right now, in my era, so the next generation doesn't have to carry it."
Kaito didn't look surprised. He just nodded slowly.
"We can do that," Kaito agreed. "But if we find the main bases, local police aren't going to be enough. We need overwhelming force. A global Blitzkrieg."
"A what?" Torino asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Lightning war," Kaito explained. "We coordinate directly with the WHA. We secretly assemble the absolute top-ranked heroes. Star and Stripe from Arica. Captain Celebrity. Big Red Dot from Singapore. Endeavor. Best Jeanist. We drop them all on the hidden bases at the exact sa ti. Complete, total capture."
"That is a massive logistical nightmare," Nighteye pointed out, though he looked intrigued. "Keeping a strike force that big a secret from the League will be almost impossible."
"It is possible if we use the WHA's secure channels," Nezu chid in cheerfully.
The principal took a sip of tea.
"Then we agree," All Might said, looking around the room. "Kaito finds the targets. We assemble the strike team. We finish this."
*-*-*-*
Location: Unknown Underground Facility
The secret laboratory was entirely dark, except for the massive computer monitors glowing against the wall.
Every single screen was playing the sa news footage on repeat.
The canyon in the clouds. The split sky.
Standing in the shadows near the back of the room were two n.
Number Six pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders. He felt a genuine, cold shiver run all the way down his spine.
"He split the atmosphere," Six whispered, staring at the screen. "That isn't a normal quirk. That's a natural disaster."
Number Nine stood next to him, his face totally pale. He had multiple quirks implanted in his body, but seeing that footage made him feel entirely powerless.
"We can't fight that," Nine muttered. "If the heroes raid us and he shows up... we just have to hope the Master handles him."
Sitting inside of another room was All For One.
He didn't look angry. He didn't look arrogant.
Ever since Hero X completely humiliated him and trapped him in that 2D drawing years ago, All For One had dropped his arrogance entirely.
He watched the screen with a very slight, calculating frown.
He did the math in his head. The old United States of Smash was a city-level attack. This new move was continental.
All Might had gotten stronger.
SLIDE.
The heavy tal doors to the lab opened.
Doctor Garaki shuffled into the room, holding a clipboard. He looked incredibly excited.
"Master!" Garaki wheezed, adjusting his goggles. "It is done! The final clone is out of the tank!"
All For One slowly turned his head.
"The Seven Crowns are complete?" All For One asked smoothly.
"Yes!" Garaki laughed. "Humility, Diligence, Kindness... all seven of your elite clones are perfectly stabilized. They are ready to deploy."
"Excellent," All For One said.
He looked back at the screen showing All Might.
For the last few years, All For One's entire obsession was focused on one single person. Hero X.
He wanted the reality-manipulation quirk. He wanted the power that made him feel helpless.
He had completely written off One For All as a secondary issue. He thought of it as a stubborn, annoying ghost.
But seeing that punch... it changed his priorities.
One For All wasn't garbage. It was a tool.
"....."
All For One smiled. A dark, terrifying smile.
If he stacked two hundred strength and speed amplification quirks together from his own stockpile, he could easily match the raw output of that punch. He didn't need to fear it.
But if he could steal it?
If he could rip One For All out of his brother's stubborn successor, and combine it with his current arsenal? He already had New Order.
He had Overhaul. He had Decay. He had consud the God Serum.
If he added One For All to that list, he would have the ultimate, unstoppable power needed to finally crush Hero X.
The absolute, burning greed to steal his brother's quirk was completely rekindled.
"Prepare everything, Doctor," All For One ordered quietly, staring at the Symbol of Peace on the monitor.
.....
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